An overwhelming feeling of dryness nested itself in Jongin’s throat in the middle of the night.

He groaned audibly before shoving the duvet covers off his frame. He staggered out of his room in a desperate pursuit of water.

When he opened his door, his eyes landed on Baekhyun lazily sprawled across the sofa in the living room.

"It's 3 ing AM, hyung," said Jongin, placing his hands on his hips. "What’s wrong?"

The older boy gave him a reticent smile but ignored his question. His peripatetic eyes wandered hazily over the coffee table and remnants of sleep lingered under his heavy eyelids. He seemed to be in a world of his own, only vaguely acknowledging Jongin's existence. 

Sighing in exasperation, the younger boy slipped into their tiny kitchen and grabbed a glass of water to pacifiy his arid throat. Upon returning to the living room, he found Baekhyun reclining in the same position, with the same hazy expression painted on his face. His eyes ran left to right and back again like a haunting piano piece.

"Baekhyun?" Jongin asked gently. No response. He tried again and shook his hyung’s shoulder lightly. Baekhyun’s eyes snapped up immediately and gave Jongin a confused look.

"Are you okay? You should sleep ... we have to wake up at 6AM for school,” said Jongin, violently rubbing his sleepy eyes.

The older boy bit his lip and tilted his head.

"I can't."

Jongin's dark eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Why?"

"I don't know."

Jongin rubbed the back of his neck, and leaned against the side of the sofa, his hip almost grazing Baekhyun’s face which looked bright under the glow of city lights that seeped in through the window.

 "Are you nervous about meeting Chanyeol?"

"Of course not!" said Baekhyun, folding his arms. "I just can't sleep that’s all."

"Well Baekhyunnie, scientifically speaking, insomnia is a potential sign of anxiety." said Jongin, mimicking his hyung. 

"Pfft, since when do I get nervous?"

"You do when I do this," replied the younger boy, his hand slowly creeping towards Baekhyun’s face. 

Blushing, the older boy smacked his hand away harshly, "That's only because of my claustrophobia, idiot."

"I know...but aren't all phobias psychological?"  

"Oh shut up." said Baekhyun, remnants of a smile appearing on his lips.

Baekhyun liked when Jongin joked about it. He liked seeing his claustrophobia dissipate into something he could laugh about, something he could control instead of vice versa. But Jongin knew Baekhyun would never be the one in control, and as foul tasting as this truth was, he scrunched up his nose and swallowed it whole.

"Come on, let's get you to sleep," said the younger boy, smirking as he pushed Baekhyun off the sofa. 

"I told you I can't sleep."

"Okay, then tell me what the problem is? C'mon hyung, we're best friends for god's sake."

Baekhyun turned his face and stared at the ground as he spoke. "You were right. I’m-uh nervous about tomorrow.” He said it quietly, half wishing Jongin won't hear, half wishing he will.

"Don't be nervous. He'll think you're wonderful. Why wouldn’t he? Now be a good boy and go to sleep okay?" Jongin gave him a small, sincere smile before going off to his room with a glass of water in his hands. Even after three long chugs of the drink, the staggering thirst still lingered in his throat.

The older boy exhaled from his nose and walked slowly into his room. He slipped into a cozy bed that felt empty for some reason. The white linens felt as cold as the ocean, and ruffled loudly when he moved. Once he was comfortable, his eyes lingered on the ceiling and his mind went straight to Jongin. How on earth had he become so empathetic?

It was sort of ironic that Baekhyun was seen as the good-natured, courteous nerd around campus when deep down he was rather insensitive. He didn't mean to be of course; he just didn't get feelings. Sure, he had etiquette and good manners but he lacked empathy, sincerity. Jongin, on the other hand, was seen as mysterious and aloof when in actuality, he was the good-natured, courteous nerd. He was shy, chatty, mischievous, loving, funny, interesting, romantic and so many people would never see the real him because of his fame as some sort of cult star. 

Baekhyun laughed inwardly at the lack of correlation between who people actually were and how they portrayed themselves to be. There was so much to uncover about others but they only ever showed fleeting glimpses of their entire being.

Regardless, Baekhyun was a firm believer that some people (like himself) were better off not being uncovered at all.

Park Chanyeol, however, did not fall into that category. Baekhyun bit his lip hard and slammed his eyes shut as he thought of seeing the scientist later today. What if he couldn't handle the work? What if the research was too hard for him? And worst yet, what if Park Chanyeol ended up hating him? It wasn't impossible. As intelligent as Baekhyun was, he couldn't deny he had some shortcomings. He wasn't a "natural" like Jongin; he had to work at things. He had to spend hours upon hours studying to comprehend new concepts. What if hard work wasn't enough for Park Chanyeol? 

Baekhyun shifted in his bed, and threw the covers off in frustration. He tried to direct his thoughts elsewhere, but they kept tugging on his wrist and leading him back to his fears. He mentally slapped himself and tried to be more positive, imagining himself stepping confidently into Park Chanyeol's lab and shaking his hand. Chanyeol'd have a firm grip, and then give Baekhyun an outline of the internship again, which involved doing clerical work with Kris, and assisting him with his research on the Palvolia virus.

 Baekhyun repositioned himself into a tiny ball and a smile fluttered  to his lips as he pretended that he and Chanyeol found the cure. They stood together hand in hand with a plethora of sparkling confetti raining down on them.

Baekhyun then fell into a deep slumber, with pleasant images running through his mind.

Additional information for intern: 

​The palvolia virus is one of the rarest diseases in the world. Due to the paucity of people diagnosed, very little is known about the virus. This is why I want to focus on it. You'll be accompanying me on my efforts to find a cure or maybe some sort of treatment. I am not sure how well acquainted you are with organic chemistry but I'll be needing help in building the molecular structure of the virus. In this way we will discover how to weaken and destroy it. I also have smaller experiments I conduct here and there and I've been informed you're rather handy in the lab - which is fantastic since my hands aren't as sturdy as they used to be. (I got bitten on the hand by an exotic bug during my time in the Amazon. Perhaps you read about it in my latest book?) Anyway, I apologize if this is a lot of information to take in but my secretary Kris encouraged me to make all these pages, outlining everything, and leaving you little notes and reminders. He did warn me not to be to personal but like I said earlier, we might as well be friends, right? 

​Sincerely, 

​Park Chanyeol

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So um wow I just finished editing this and it's all over the place. Sorry about that OTL. And sorry it's short too! Also, if you're confused about Baekhyun's claustrophobia, then just wait. It will all unfold for you. 

Here have some Luhan- (gif not mine)

~electricsherlock