Baekhyun smiled, looking around the apartment. Their apartment. They had gotten all of the furniture moved in already and were now working on bringing up the rest of their belongings, so the place was covered in boxes. Finding one of the smaller boxes that he knew belonged to him, Baekhyun picked it up and headed for the bedroom. He made it two steps before he heard Chanyeol approaching the front door, lugging a particularly heavy box with Suho’s help. They each had one end, Suho maneuvering backwards through the already open door while Chanyeol checked behind him to make sure he wouldn’t bump into anything. They were just through the door when Chanyeol noticed the box in Baekhyun’s arms. He immediately let go of his end, running into the room to take the box from Baekhyun. Suho struggled under the weight of the box without Chanyeol’s help, dropping it unceremoniously onto the floor after a few seconds.

“Baekhyun, what are you doing?” Chanyeol asked, a hint of frustration in his voice. This was not the first incident today. “You’re not supposed to be lifting anything.”

“So I’m just supposed to sit here and watch you do everything then?” Baekhyun countered, hands on his hips. “I’m getting really sick of this, I’m not a cripple.”

“You just got your cast off three days ago!” Chanyeol argued. “The doctor said no heavy lifting, period. I’m sorry if I don’t want you to hurt yourself again.”

“It wasn’t even heavy!” Baekhyun protested, gesturing to the box which Chanyeol had lifted with ease. “I get that you’re worried, really, but this is ridiculous. I’m not made of glass, Chanyeol, you can’t keep treating me like I’m going to break at the slightest touch.”

Chanyeol paused to think of a response, knowing this was a touchy subject with Baekhyun. He needed to choose his words carefully. Baekhyun took the opportunity to snatch the box back from Chanyeol, stalking off into the bedroom with it before the taller man could do anything. Chanyeol stared for a second, mouth hanging open, then followed him into the bedroom. “Baekhyun, wait!”

Suho, who had taken a seat on top of the box he’d dropped, watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow. He had a feeling there was more to the argument than lifting boxes, but it wasn’t really his business. Instead he pulled out his cell phone, smiling when he saw he had a new text message. He began typing out a reply, and was so engrossed in it that he didn’t notice Kai coming up behind him. Suho jumped when Kai spoke.

“Who’re you texting?” Kai asked, tone playful. He tossed the two trash bags full of clothes that he had been carrying down in the nearest open space. “New girlfriend?”

“No,” Suho replied, rolling his eyes. Instinctively he covered the screen with his hand, knowing Kai would try to read it. “For the hundredth time, I’m not dating anyone.”

“Sure, that’s why you were grinning like an idiot when I walked in.” Kai wasn’t that easily deterred, however, and he was faster than Suho. He reached for the phone and managed to pry it out of Suho’s hands, holding it away from the older man when he made a grab for it.

“Come on, seriously Kai?” Suho tried to get the phone again, but Kai ran to the other side of the room, reading as he went. “What are you, five?”

Kai laughed as he finished reading the text. “Yes. Who’s Xing Xing? There’s even a heart next to the name, how cute.”

Suho’s face turned red, their leader looking more flustered than Kai had probably ever seen him. The other three chose that moment to show up, Kyungsoo and Sehun carrying boxes while Luhan trailed behind them innocently. Come to think of it, Kai couldn’t remember seeing Luhan lift a single thing all day.

“Oh, what’s going on?” Luhan asked, taking in the scene. Kyungsoo gave his boyfriend an exasperated look, like he already knew Kai had done something wrong, while Sehun just shook his head in amusement. The two of them set their boxes down, then followed Luhan to where Kai and Suho were still fighting over the phone.

“Take a look at this!” Kai threw the phone over Suho’s head to Luhan, who caught it expertly.

From: Xing Xing <3

‘I’m okay. You-know-who has just been working us harder than usual, to make up for the time we took off =(

Anyway, call me when you’re done? I miss you.

XOXO’

Kyungsoo and Sehun read the text over Luhan’s shoulder, wondering like Kai who ‘Xing Xing’ was. Luhan, on the other hand, was just laughing. “Oh my god, you’re dating Yixing?”

“We’re not dating!” Suho finally succeeded in getting his phone back, Luhan too busy laughing to actually hold on to it. He glared at them, though it was hardly threatening, and headed back down to get more boxes.

“Xing Xing is Yixing?” Kai asked through his own laughter, leaning against the wall for support. “That’s, wow…”

“Well, that was very… uncharacteristic of him,” Kyungsoo said, choosing to ignore his boyfriend’s childish behavior. “But, good for him I guess. Where are Baekhyun and Chanyeol?”

“No idea,” Sehun shrugged. “Bedroom, maybe?”

The bedroom door opened then, Baekhyun stepping out with an irritated expression. Chanyeol tried to follow, but Baekhyun slammed the door shut behind him, walking into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass out of one of the cabinets – they had unpacked a few of the dishes already so they’d have something to eat off of – and went to the sink, filling it with water. He heard the bedroom door open again and sighed, knowing Chanyeol wasn’t going to let this go. Baekhyun leaned against the kitchen counter, glass in hand, waiting for Chanyeol to figure out where he’d gone. It didn’t take long.

“Are you really that mad?” Chanyeol asked, his anger fading into worry. They didn’t usually fight like this, and he didn’t like it, not today of all days.

“No, I was just thirsty,” Baekhyun replied, taking a sip from his glass to prove his point. His tone said otherwise.

“I just want you to be okay, is that so wrong?” Chanyeol actually looked kind of sad now, and Baekhyun’s expression softened. He didn’t want them to fight either, but a month of pent up frustration at not being able to do things he normally could had gotten to him.

“It isn’t,” Baekhyun said. He set the glass down on the counter. “The thing is that I am okay now, and I need you to realize that. All I’m asking for his a bit of breathing room here; I know my limits, so you don’t have to freak out about every little thing I do. If I say that it’s okay, then it is, and you have to trust me on that.”

“Okay. Okay,” Chanyeol agreed, sounding more sure of himself the second time. He could do that. Baekhyun was right, he had been a bit… overbearing lately. “I’m sorry.”

Baekhyun stepped closer, finally cracking a smile. “It’s okay. I’m sorry for blowing up on you. Thank you for looking out for me, I know you mean well.”

Baekhyun wrapped his arms around Chanyeol’s waist, resting his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Chanyeol returned the embrace, kissing the top of Baekhyun’s head. They stayed like that for a moment, glad that things had been resolved, before re-joining the others.

“Crisis averted then?” Kai asked when the pair finally emerged. Their joined hands were his answer. “I think Suho’s still mad at us, he hasn’t come back yet.”

Chanyeol gave him a questioning look, and Luhan was more than happy to explain what had happened while the couple was busy arguing. Suho did eventually return, far more composed, and the rest of the day went considerably well. Together they got everything into the apartment by six o’clock, and decided to go out for dinner to celebrate.

“Looks like we’ll have to make another trip to California soon,” Kai said once they’d gotten their food, “So Suho can see his new lover.”

Suho just sighed, having realized by now that Kai wasn’t going to stop until he got it out of his system. “In all seriousness, it would be nice to take another trip together, all twelve of us. We should plan something together this time, start saving up.”

“That would be great,” Baekhyun said, words muffled as he did a wonderful impression of Chanyeol speaking with his mouth full. He swallowed. “I promise not to bring any cursed objects this time.”

“I think we would all appreciate that,” Kyungsoo said. Like Suho, he’d given up on trying to get Kai to stop. It wasn’t helping that Luhan was encouraging him. “It would be good to spend time with everyone again though.”

“We should go to another country!” Chanyeol chimed in. “I bet they have all kinds of cool ghost stories.”

“Oh, oh, yes!” Luhan agreed excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to check out a European castle. We should definitely do that. I know for a fact Yixing would love it too.”

“Just for that I should say no,” Suho replied, though his cheeks had gone slightly pink. “We’ll see. It will be awhile before we can afford anything like that, but it would definitely be a good learning experience. I’ll talk to Kris, see what he thinks.”

They spent the rest of the meal talking about different places they could go and what they could do there. It was fun, thinking of all the adventures they could have, even if they would probably never get to go to most of these places. It was good to be talking about the future, for once, with all of the time they had spent focused on the past lately.

A few hours later found Baekhyun and Chanyeol together in their new bedroom, just relaxing on their bed. It was the only thing they’d managed to get set up in the room, the rest of the space still covered in boxes.

“So, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said quietly. He was laying half on top of the younger man, head resting comfortably on Chanyeol’s chest. “Remember our conversation earlier? About listening when I say something’s okay?”

“Yes…?” Chanyeol’s eyes were half-closed, the exhaustion from all of the work he’d done today setting in.

“Well, we’re in our new bed, in our new apartment… it would be a shame if we didn’t celebrate properly, don’t you think?” There was something in Baekhyun’s voice that Chanyeol had only heard a few times, and suddenly he was finding it a bit hard to breathe. He definitely wasn’t tired anymore. “I’m okay, I’m very, very okay. If you turn me down now, I’m going to start thinking you don’t want to.”

Oh, but he did want, and really, how was Chanyeol supposed to say no to that. “You’re sure?”

“I’ve been sure for a month,” Baekhyun replied. He sat up slightly, tilting his head up to look at Chanyeol, and leaned closer until their lips were almost touching. “So don’t make me wait any longer. Let’s make tonight even more special.”

Chanyeol thought that every night with Baekhyun was special, but he didn’t say that. Instead, he decided he would show Baekhyun exactly how special he was. Neither of them got very much sleep that night, but they didn’t mind. Really, it was perfect.

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A/N: So there it is, I have finally, FINALLY finished this. Final word count: 107,379. Thank you, all of you, for sticking with me this far. It's been almost a year since I started posting this, and I could never have gotten this far without my wonderful readers. Even if you didn't comment, I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who has taken the time to read this story. I hope it didn't disappoint, and I hope my future works will be even better. For those of you who may be wondering, I've got a few things in the works now that this is done. I've mentioned to some of you in the comments that I'll be working on a sequel to this, as well as a couple of one shots in this verse. My main project however is going to be a new AU, inspired by the show Supernatural, featuring members from all of the groups under SM. The main pairings/characters will be Baekyeol and Yewook, with a heavy emphasis on other members of EXO and Super Junior and appearance from the rest of SMTown. If any of you are interested in it, I thought I'd give you a little preview:

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“Are you sure you don’t want me to come?” It was the fifth time the question had been asked in ten minutes, and Chanyeol was starting to get annoyed. He glanced up from the bag he was packing to glare at the man who had spoken.

“I’ve done this how many times? I can handle it without your help, thanks,” Chanyeol said. He felt a twinge of guilt when the other man’s expression went from concerned to hurt and sighed, gaze softening. “Seriously Jongwoon, I’ll be fine. I bet it won’t even take an hour, so stop worrying. Ryeowook worries enough for the both of you.”

Jongwoon snorted at that. “True enough. I know you’ll be fine, I just don’t like sending any of you out alone. I wish you’d at least wait for Kai to get back.”

“You know I can’t do that. For all we know it’s already out killing, and if we miss this chance we’ll have to wait another month.” As Chanyeol spoke he went through the contents of his bag, making sure he had everything he needed and nodding to himself when he was sure he did. “You’ve got things to take care of here, and no one else is really available. I can do this.”

“Alright, just be careful,” Jongwoon said, giving Chanyeol a stern look. “Let me know the second you get back, and call if there’s any trouble.”

Chanyeol nodded and picked up his bag, turning to leave. Jongwoon’s brow furrowed as he watched the younger man go out the front door, get into his car, and drive off. It was a simple hunt, just in the next town over, and really it should be easy enough for Chanyeol to take care of. So why did he get the feeling that this wasn’t going to be simple at all?

It took barely fifteen minutes for Chanyeol to reach the town, parking his car on an out of the way side street. He knew the general area where the werewolf had been attacking each month, so he grabbed a silver knife and his gun out of his bag and started walking. It would be easier to spot the creature on foot, especially if it was prowling around in some dark alleyway as they often did, looking for unsuspecting prey.

He made almost no noise as he made his way down the street, keeping his footsteps light with practiced ease. The last thing Chanyeol wanted was for the creature to spot him before he spotted it – Jongwoon would kill him if he got himself injured, especially after he had sworn he could handle this just fine by himself. As he went, he listened for any sign of movement nearby, but the streets were fairly empty considering the time of night. It was probably a product of the damp weather, forcing the usual nightlife indoors. Even so, he kept his weapons carefully concealed, within reach but not visible to any passersby. There was no need to draw any extra attention to himself.

He had only been searching for a few minutes when he heard a gut-wrenching scream, a woman from the sounds of it. It was distant though, at least a few blocks off, and Chanyeol broke out into a run in the vague hope that he could save her. He knew it would only take seconds for the werewolf to kill her, so he pushed himself as hard as he could, following the sound of her continued screams. He absently wondered why no one else was coming to her aid, surely someone else could hear her? But it was probably for the best; a normal human would just get themselves killed along with her. Fortunately, Chanyeol wasn’t normal.

It didn’t take long for him to find the alley that the sounds were coming from, though to Chanyeol it felt like a lifetime. Just before he reached the alley’s entrance the screaming stopped, and he felt his heart drop, knowing he was probably too late. Chanyeol knew that realistically, they couldn’t save everyone, but it still hurt each time he failed. Still, he kept going. The werewolf was likely still there, feeding, and if the girl was dead the least Chanyeol could do was make sure her killer couldn’t hurt anyone else.

The sight that greeted him as he entered the alley was not exactly what he had expected. It wasn’t the girl lying dead with her chest ripped open. While it was a very sad and gruesome sight, Chanyeol had seen plenty of werewolf victims before and he knew what to expect. What he hadn’t prepared for was the man on the ground a few feet away from her, half slumped against the dirty brick wall that formed one side of the alleyway. The man was bloodied but alive, eyes filled with pain and grief as his gaze fell on the dead girl. He didn’t even seem to notice the werewolf stalking towards him, claws out to finish the job. It was obvious what had happened, and it made Chanyeol feel even worse about not getting there sooner. They were a couple, walking home at night, caught by surprise just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The man had obviously tried to protect his girlfriend, but the wolf had incapacitated him and flung him aside, more interested in the girl. The poor man had watched her die, helpless, and was now waiting for his own life to end. Well, Chanyeol wasn’t going to let that happen.

Just before the creature reached the man Chanyeol charged, silver knife in hand as he knocked the werewolf away. It managed to get in on him, which he was sure would leave a bruise, but Chanyeol didn’t let that stop him. The creature growled as it tried to fight him off, teeth bared in a menacing grin, but it was no match for the experienced hunter. Chanyeol found an opening and took it, plunging the knife straight into the creature’s heart. It fell to the ground with a cry of pain when Chanyeol removed the knife from its chest, and within seconds it was dead. The girl’s heart was still in its hand, or what was left of it anyway, as if the wolf had remembered halfway through eating that there was another victim to kill. Chanyeol shook his head sadly – another life lost needlessly.

“What’s your name?” Chanyeol asked as he approached the other victim, putting his knife away. The man didn’t seem to hear him, which wasn’t much of a surprise considering he was barely conscious. He was a live, but Chanyeol knew that wouldn’t last if he didn’t do something, now. The man was bleeding out from gashes across his arms and torso, and his right leg was bent at an unnatural angle, most likely from being thrown into the wall. Chanyeol kneeled down next to him, noticing there was also a cut on his forehead. As he gently brushed away the man’s blood-matted bangs, Chanyeol couldn’t help thinking that even like this the man was beautiful. “Hey, you’re safe now, everything’s okay. You’re going to be okay, I promise.”

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So yeah, there's a bit of chapter 1! If you liked it, then please look out for it soon. I want to get a few more chapters written before I start posting, but it shouldn't take too long. Anyway, thank  you all again for reading! <3