“What the hell does he think he’s doing,” Baekhyun muttered, kohl-lined eyes narrowed into slits as he stared up at the stage. Rehearsal for the concert was still in session and Chanyeol was laughing loudly at something Taeyeon had just said.

Lay rolled his eyes and tugged on Baekhyun’s arm, but the other boy refused to budge from his spot. “Just let it go. Chanyeol’s probably practicing his reactions or something.” All Lay received in return for his efforts was a withering glare (really, why did he even bother?).

“How do you expect me to let it go when he’s obviously trying to flirt with my lovely noonas?”

“I think ‘trying’ is the key word,” Chen piped up through a mouthful of goldfish crackers. “Doubt he’ll get very far if he decides to go for the greasy pick-up lines.”

“You mean that trombone one he was telling us about?” Lay asked. Chen nodded and dodged neatly aside when Lay tried to snatch the snack bag from his hands.

Folding his arms across his chest, Baekhyun grumbled, “Even still, it’s clearly a violation of Article 87 of the Bro Code.”

“Technically speaking,” Chen intoned as he lobbed a cracker at Lay, who stepped out of harm’s way in the nick of time. “Article 87 states that ‘ex-girlfriends are off-limits’, which doesn’t apply in this case because sleeping with a Taeyeon pillow isn’t the same thing as sleeping with the real thing.”

When Lay guffawed and muttered a quiet “objectophile” under his breath, Baekhyun cast him another glare and said indignantly, “I don’t care. They’re my noonas and it should be me standing on that stage, not him.”

“Well, he’s the ‘face’ of the group for a reason,” Lay said with a shrug. “Plus, he’s a lot taller than you.”

Chen nodded in consent. “True that. Even with your insoles, I bet you can’t even reach your beloved Taeyeon-noona’s-“

“Oh, go yourselves,” Baekhyun snapped before swiping the bag of crackers and stalking away.

*****

Lay found Kris on the opposite side of the stadium, staring up at the stage with a very different expression than Baekhyun’s. His usual half-scowl was gone and there was an almost dreamy look on his eyes.

“It sure is warm in here, isn’t it?” Lay said casually as he approached. As expected, Kris flinched and quickly averted his eyes, Adam’s apple bobbing as he gulped nervously.

“Uh, yeah,” Kris mumbled, clearing his throat. “California’s supposed to be pretty warm in spring.”

“Oh really? I guess that means it’s going to be a hot, hot summer.” When Kris stared blankly back at him, Lay suppressed a sigh. Perhaps he should push things just a little further. Waving his hands wildly in the air, he shouted towards the stage. “Hey, Victoria!”

Victoria turned towards them, lips widening into a sunny smile. From the corner of his eye, Lay could see Kris with his head bowed, tugging nervously at the cuff of his sleeves. It was always amusing to watch their esteemed leader lose his cool (not that he had much to begin with) so with a grin, Lay called out loudly, “Kris says ‘keep up the great work’!”

Mild confusion crossed her face, but she nonetheless flashed another smile, this time in Kris’s direction. It took a herculean effort not to laugh at the dopey grimace on Kris’s face, which might have passed for a grin from a hundred feet away.  

It was the first time Lay had seen their esteemed leader so flustered‒the man had nearly torn the buttons right off his sleeves in his anxiety‒which meant that Suho’s revelation was spot on.    

*****

Deafening screams and blinding lights accompanied them as they made their way off the stage. The twelve of them had just finished their group performance and was being herded by the managers backstage. Fatigue clung to Lay’s weary limbs and it took all his strength to make his way to the washroom. The sound of hushed voices behind the door made him pause.

“What am I supposed to do?” said a familiar voice that held an uncharacteristic trace of desperation.

“Look,” the second speaker replied hesitantly. “I don’t think I’m in any position to give advice about women...”

“But you’re the only one who knows about her. it all. Everything’s just one, big mess now and I can’t face either of them ever again. ”

There was a long, exasperated sigh. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. You’re probably just overreacting.”

“She called me ‘oppa’ today.”

“So what? She calls everyone‒”

“No she doesn’t. When was the last time you heard her address us with anything other than‒”

Lay yelped when he felt a finger jab him in the ribs. It was Sehun, whose assault was followed by, “Hyung, can you not space out in front of the washroom? Some of us actually need to get inside before we piss our pants.”

Smiling weakly, Lay hurriedly stepped aside. When Sehun pushed the door open, he caught sight of two figures standing next to the urinals.     

It was Kris and Suho.

*****

As per usual, Lay’s cravings struck shortly after midnight and he was compelled by his grumbling stomach to climb out of bed. The few pieces of Chen’s goldfish-shaped crackers that he had managed to steal had been absolutely delectable, so he pocketed some change and snuck past a slumbering Luhan out the hotel room. When the metal doors of the elevator slid open, he found Kai slouched in the corner with his forehead pressed against the mirrored walls, a pained expression on his face.

“Long day, huh,” Lay nodded. Kai let out a non-committal grunt as he pulled his hood over his eyes. Eyes which, Lay noted, were so red that it couldn’t have been caused by mere fatigue. “You okay?”

A barely audible “no” was the curt response.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Doubt it.”

Silence stretched as Lay stuffed his hands in his pockets and watched the flashing digits on the panel count down the floors. With Sehun and Tao around, it was sometimes easy to forget that Kai was also a maknae and that, in spite of his stage persona, he was just like any other eighteen-year-old with typical teenage problems of his own. Lay had never been very good at consoling others (and usually ran the other way when things like feelings were involved) so he suggested the one thing he knew could lift anyone’s spirits.

“C’mon, I’ll treat you to some ice cream.”

Ten minutes later, they were back in the elevator with ice cream bars in hand. Lay flinched as Kai ripped the wrapper off in one violent motion and bit off a large chunk of the bar, not unlike a wolf tearing into a fresh piece of meat. 

“Have you ever liked someone so much that you hate their ing guts?” 

Lay carefully unwrapped his own popsicle and shrugged, “Can’t say I have.”

“It’s always like this,” Kai continued after swallowing. “Everything’s great at the beginning but then we start fighting and she starts ing and I start yelling and we both go ing crazy. And yet, whenever we break it off, I start to miss her and we get back together, but I know we’re going to be at each other’s throats again because it’s a long, vicious cycle that never ends.”

By the end of his tirade, Lay has forgotten all about his ice cream and was doing his best to appear nonchalant (despite his growing desire to escape through the elevator trap door).

“Uh, have you two tried talking about it?” he asked hesitantly after a beat of silence.

“Can’t. She’s giving me the silent treatment,” Kai replied darkly as he took another angry bite.

“Well then,” Lay said finally, noting with relief that the elevator had almost reached his floor. “I guess you’ll just have to wait it out. Oh, and if I were you, I’d apologize when you get the chance, because women are always right‒even if they’re wrong.”   

BLOGROLL

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