“Are you nervous?”

The sudden question startled Yixing out of his reverie and he turned sideways to look at an animated Luhan who wouldn’t stop fidgeting. He chuckled slightly; it was adorable how his boyfriend was more excited than he was now, but Yixing was still sceptical. It was better not to get his hopes up.

“Not really,” he mumbled, stifling a yawn that drew concern from Luhan.

“Did you not sleep well? Too thrilled to sleep?” Luhan asked, wriggling his eyebrows.

Yixing pretended to cough, hiding his expression behind his hand. Nope, he did not sleep a wink last night. Not after the new knowledge he learnt from Baek Hyun.

His phone had been silent ever since he sent the text message six hours ago. It shouldn’t be surprising since Kris was quite a heavy sleeper who normally wouldn’t be up until the morning hours had passed, but it didn’t stop Yixing from worrying. What if Chanyeol got to Kris?

Had Luhan not appear at his doorstep at 10 in the morning, Yixing might already be sitting in Kris’s fancy living room. With no choice but to push the Kris issue to the back of his head at least for the moment, he had followed Luhan uptown to the Exo Artists headquarters where they were told to wait for Junmyeon to finish up a meeting.

He was rescued from having to answer Luhan when the door opened to reveal a smiling Junmyeon.

“I’m glad you’re here! I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he greeted them, ushering the couple into his office and gesturing for them to sit. Junmyeon glanced at Luhan curiously. “You are...?”

Before Yixing could reply, Luhan already supplied the agency rep an answer. “His boyfriend,” the photographer said proudly, to which Yixing blushed. It was one thing to be attached, but another thing to announce it to the public.

Fortunately for him, Junmyeon didn’t comment on the strange relationship between the two men, instead only raising an eyebrow at it. He sat down across the two and slid an official-looking folder towards Yixing. “This is the contract,” he said, motioning for Yixing to take a look. “It’s for 5 years, starting from the date of your debut—”

“Wait.” Yixing in a deep breath. Next to him, Luhan tensed. He had stopped dreaming about the possibility of becoming an artist for a long time. But as fantastic as it was to be offered a contract so quickly, and as much as he wanted to sign on the dotted line, there was still the issue of his criminal record. There was a 90% possibility that Junmyeon would retract the contract after he found out but Yixing would rather he know now then have the agency deal with the consequences of the scandal later on.

“I... I’ve been to jail,” he whispered almost inaudibly, his gaze falling onto his lap. “For... drug abuse.”

“And?”

He was taken aback by the single word answer. Yixing’s eyes flew to Junmyeon’s face, which held the same smile he had been seeing all this while and betrayed no other emotions. Why didn’t he look surprised at all? Why wasn’t he kicking him out?

 “Yixing,” Junmyeon continued gently. “This isn’t a contract for an idol. It’s for a musician.”

Hope and some bewilderment flashed across Luhan’s face as he slid his hand over to hold Yixing’s. “What is the difference?”

 “I’m sure you are aware through your years of training that an idol is a product of the company,” Junmyeon said. “The company chooses your concept, your music, your appearance... I’ll be honest and tell you that you’ll have little say in the decisions.

“True, as an idol you’ll rise to fame a lot quicker. But as a musician,” he continued, “You’d get to write your own songs. You pick your own image, you choose the people you want to work with – you’ll have to be responsible for your own progress.” He paused. “I understand you’re worried about your criminal record but since the level of interest for a musician isn’t as maniacal compared to an idol’s, it is possible no one will ever dig up the history. Either way... if it is exposed, we’ll be ready to counter it.”

When Junmyeon put it like that... Yixing chewed on his lower lip. Years ago, he would have loved to stand onstage as part of a group and be identified as a good-looking, talented and charming young man... but now he honestly wasn’t sure if he could stand the restrictions that came with being an idol.

Plus Yixing enjoyed songwriting. If anything, his favourite part of the training period was to submit his own songs for reviewing. Some of the fellow trainees complained then that it was too tough to write a new song every week, but Yixing liked the challenge of it and liked the constructive feedback he received. If he were to become an idol, it could take as long as years for the company to publish any of his own songs.

He suddenly recalled a Mandopop singer in his childhood who had been famous for keeping his face hidden earlier in his career and only used animated graphics to represent himself. Becoming a faceless singer.... he could do that. It’d test his capabilities in singing, just providing a voice to the public with no visuals.

Yixing scanned through the documents quickly, slightly surprised at one of the clauses in the contract. The contract can be terminated anytime at the request of the artist? That was... unique. Most agencies he heard of wouldn’t allow that since it could mean huge losses for them if the artist were to jump ship.

“I’ll sign it,” he declared determinedly and picked up the pen to do just that.

***

His phone started ringing the second he and Luhan stepped out of the Exo Artists headquarters. Yixing took a glance at the screen and immediately jabbed the Accept button.

“Is something wrong? What happened?” Kris asked urgently over the phone.

“Kris. Are you okay?” was the first question Yixing shot at him. “I need to talk to you. I’ll come over.”

Only when Yixing hung up the phone did he remember Luhan was still there. The look of betrayal on his face caused Yixing’s heart to drop to his stomach.

“It’s not what you think,” said Yixing immediately. “I just have something important to discuss with him. You trust me, don’t you?”

Luhan stared at the ground unhappily. “Can’t I come along?” he asked in resignation, as if he knew what the answer to that would be.

“I’m sorry, Xiaolu, but it’s... between Kris and I,” Yixing said uncomfortably and tried to smile at his boyfriend. “We’re just going to talk. Nothing to worry about, okay?”

The photographer’s shoulders lifted as he sighed. “Okay,” Luhan muttered and leaned over to press a kiss on his lips. “Call me when you’re done?”

As he nodded in agreement to Luhan’s request, it occurred to Yixing that he hadn’t been the one to initiate the kisses for a long, long time.

***

“What’s going on?” Kris greeted him as he opened the door.

“Is anyone around?” Yixing demanded to know, tiptoeing in an attempt to look over Kris’s shoulder into the house.

The actor shook his head, moving aside to let Yixing into the house. “What’s going on, Xing?” he repeated himself, his thick eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Did someone hurt you?”

“It’s Chanyeol.”

Alarm flashed on his handsome features. “Chanyeol hurt you?”

“Not me, you!” Yixing interjected. “I talked to Baek Hyun this morning – it turns out Chanyeol’s been lying to you all this while because he’s trying to ruin you.”

The last reaction he’d expect out of Kris was for him to burst out in laughter. Yixing toyed with the idea of physically knocking some sense into him.

“That’s not possible. I don’t know why Baek Hyun’s words are relevant but Chanyeol’s a really good friend.” Kris looked amused. “I thought it was something important.”

“He’s taking revenge on you,” Yixing said flatly, and told Kris everything Baek Hyun had told him, about the drama role, about Kyung Hee stopping Chanyeol’s debut for Kris and how he got kicked out of his agency.

“... and your letters never reached me,” finished Yixing, swallowing at the flash of disbelief and shock across Kris’s face. Yixing tore his gaze away, knowing exactly how Kris felt for thinking all along that Yixing never bothered to reply. Because he had felt like that too, when he thought Kris didn’t write him.

“I need to talk to Chanyeol,” Kris said in a controlled voice. “There must be a better reason—”

“Do you have to?” Yixing interrupted, eyes wide. He tried to hold back but what if... what if...

The urge to reach over to hug Kris tightly was overwhelming, so much so that he clenched the edge of his shirt rigidly to prevent himself from doing that. He knew very well that he shouldn’t be touching Kris, not after his promise to Luhan and especially not after the ultimatum he had reached with their relationship. But he was terrified at the prospect of Kris’s life in danger.

“W-what if something happens to you?” he whispered. “If he can plan such an elaborate scheme to get to you, there’s no telling what he can’t do. Can’t you just... avoid him?”

His words ignited a reaction in Kris and the next moment Yixing found himself in Kris’s tight embrace. The sound of his heartbeat thrashed in his ears but as much as Yixing forced himself to remain stiff in his hug, he couldn’t help burying his head into Kris’s broad chest.

“I’ll be fine,” were the not-very-reassuring words Kris offered.

Yixing really, really wanted to believe him.

***

When he stepped out of the elevator to the apartment he shared with Kyung Soo and Jongin, a different set of words greeted him.

STAY AWAY FROM KRIS.

His backpack dropped to the floor with a thud as he stared in disbelief at the words that were painted a loud, angry red on the white wall next to their unit. The first person that came to mind was Baek Hyun; just because Yixing had ignored the stupid handwritten note, he was now resorting to letting their neighbours know too?

Cheeks flushed in embarrassment, Yixing looked around to see if their neighbours were around and heaved a sigh of relief when he was met with silence. He should quickly get it cleaned away.

He was just about to press the passcode when he realised the door to the apartment was ajar. Did one of his housemates forget to shut the door? Or… were they robbed? Yixing cautiously pushed open the door, relaxing a little when he saw that the house was still in tip-top condition.

“Kyung Soo?” he called out, poking his head into the rooms. “Jongin?”

A strong stench violated his nose when Yixing backtracked to the kitchen. It almost smelled like… gasoline. The thought briefly registered in his head before searing hot orange flames dashed towards Yixing.

Barely jumping out of the way, Yixing snapped out of his initial shock and quickly grabbed a damp kitchen towel, hopelessly trying to smother the fire with it but it took less than a second for the towel to catch fire. He quickly stumbled backwards, looking around helplessly for something to stop it when the table next to the wall collapsed in front of the doorway. , he needed to get out –

“Help!” he shouted, the muted fear now a full-blown terror as the flames leaped higher by the second. There was no way he could walk out without the fire touching him –

Yixing looked up abruptly when he saw movement in the living room. The person who started the fire! He had to know who it was –

His jaw dropped.

Baek Hyun stood on the other side of the door.

A/N: If anyone can guess the Mandopop singer I mentioned in the chapter, maybe I’ll write a spinoff BaekYeol one-shot after this fic. XD

Also, thanks to _Melie for making the above poster. ;___;