When EXO-M came over again, Chanyeol was ready. He restrained himself when the doorbell rang and remained on the couch, greeting them with bright smiles as they came in to the house. His smile only faltered slightly when Chen leered at him from the door.

Kris nodded at him. “Still here, huh? How’s the injury?”

Chanyeol gingerly pressed fingers to his wound, wincing. “Getting better, I think?”

Baekhyun scoffed from the other side of the room where he was reading a book. “Don’t touch it, you moron. Let it heal.”

Chanyeol quickly retracted his fingers and blushed. “Okay.” Chen snickered and Baekhyun twitched but did nothing.

“Are we never going to see you again once your injury’s okay?” Lay asked.

“I have a year-long project that Baekkie’s agreed to help me with so I’ll be around for a while,” Chanyeol said sheepishly. “If that’s alright with you. I’ll try to stay out of your way.”

“Baekhyun did? Agreed to help you?” Xiumin asked, wide-eyed.

Baekhyun remained silent in the corner.

“That’s adorable,” Chen cooed. “Whoops!” He narrowly dodged the TV remote Baekhyun threw at him. “I’m not Kai,” he winked at Chanyeol who only blinked at him.

“What project?” Lay asked.

“An art project,” Chanyeol said. “To draw the side of life no one knows about. I’m an art student.”

“May I see?” Lay asked and Chanyeol slid out his sketchbook from his backpack and handed it to him. As he did, Chanyeol snuck a look at the folder in his backpack, in which Baekhyun’s picture was safely tucked. That was for him and only him.

“Wow. These are really good,” Xiumin said and Chanyeol smiled. He looked over at Baekhyun, but the other wasn’t paying attention. “You must’ve been pretty lucky to not meet any thugs while you were drawing these,” Xiumin looked thoughtful. “Maybe K gangs are getting lazier about territory nowadays.”

“More like Yeols is just inhumanly lucky,” Kai grinned as he came in from the kitchen.

Chanyeol just grinned into his sleeve, eyes glancing over at Baekhyun who was still reading his book.

Yes, in this, at least, he was very lucky, very lucky indeed.

“I discovered something interesting today,” Park Soo Jin said.

“Oh?”

“Something…we might be able to use in our plans.”

“And what could it be?”

“Something…someone important to Baekhyun.”

“Baekhyun?” The unknown voice scoffed. “Nobody’s important to Baekhyun except himself.”

“Well…a soft spot then.”

“Most of EXO’s current members have had the ruling spots of the East and West for a long time, but Baekhyun is a recent addition. He’s still tough. Why would he be the weak link?”

“Recent addition or not, many have challenged all the members for their positions since his addition. None have succeeded. They’re indisputably the best no matter how recent their addition. Baekhyun will only be the weak link if we can find out how to exploit his weakness. ”

The unknown man thought for a moment. “And you are sure Baekhyun has a soft spot for this one?”

“He cares for this boy,” Soo Jin said. “The boy follows him around like a pet and Baekhyun allows him by his side.”

“We’ll see then. Maybe we can use him.” The unknown man narrowed his eyes. “I guess we’ll need to find out more about him.”

That night, Baekhyun and Chanyeol got ready for bed in silence. But Chanyeol was having a hard time falling asleep. As did Baekhyun, seeing as no puppy noises had come out.

“Lay-hyung seems nice,” Chanyeol said conversationally to the ceiling. “So different from Chen, that buttface.”

Baekhyun snorted. “Chen would love that you called him that. He thinks you’re hilarious. You react too much when he pranks you.”

Chanyeol frowned. Chanyeol was now, it seemed, Chen’s favorite target. He’d been shocked and mortified and pranked so many times that day it was bordering on ridiculous. “I can’t help it.” He turned to Baekhyun. “Can’t you ask him to stop? Aren’t you guys friends?”

There was a pause. “We’re…not exactly friends,” Baekhyun said slowly. “I’ve only known these guys for about a year.”

“Only? You all seem so friendly with one another…”

Baekhyun shrugged. “You stick together when everyone’s aiming for you.”

“Aiming?”

Baekhyun sighed. “I told you we ruled West Underworld, right? And M ruled East Underworld?” Chanyeol nodded. “You don’t get to become rulers without stepping on people, Chanyeol. This is not kings and queens. The Underworld has only ever been a place where only your skill will put you on top.” He paused. “I ­– I’ve stepped on a lot of people to get here.”

“What do you mean?”

“EXO was and is a gang. But EXO isn’t like most gangs. Most gangs, you join if you want and you’re in until you’re kicked out by the leader or die. But EXO’s not like that. EXO will only ever have 11 members. Because you don’t get to join just like that. You can only join if you defeat one of the members and then take his place. That’s why we’re the rulers. Because we’re the best of the best. We’re the only ones that are undefeated.”

Chanyeol was silent for a while. “Who did you replace?”

“A guy called Jino. Don’t know where he is now. People that fall from EXO fall hard.”

“But not you though right Baekkie?” Chanyeol said sleepily. His eyelids felt so heavy.

“Not for a while I – tch.” Chanyeol’s breath had evened into sleep. Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “I hate people who fall asleep while I’m talking,” he said to the ceiling. His eyes landed on Chanyeol’s sleeping form and softened. “But good night Chanyeol.” 

A/N: hi update here yes pls don't be too mad at me :)) plot is thickening and stuff etc etc i think im done explaining things about the Underworld and how it works so hopefully things will move faster starting from now :) anyways, hopefully you enjoyed that and if not, im sorry, please leave me a comment if you liked it (or if you didn't like it that's cool too) :) and upvote if you liked it :DD bye for now~