5. Because I’m a Hyung 

 

Kai woke up well rested and incredibly comfy. There was a torso in his arms which he thought belonged to Baekhyun hyung since he was the only one willing to hug him to sleep. But then Kai realised that this body was slightly smaller, had a distinct softness and smelled differently from Baekhyun. Kai blinked down at the serene face of his roommate. Why was he sleeping so awkwardly? He was half sitting on the chair next to the bed and half lying on the bed, chin placed on the crossed arms and torso in Kai's arms. He was also wearing a jacket over his pyjamas. What a weirdo.

 

When the door started to open slowly, Kai immediately feigned sleep in blind panic. There was a sigh before Baekhyun's voice wafted into the room. "That pabo. He obviously stayed up all night. Even when I told him not to." Kai forced his face to stay relaxed as confusion took over him. Why would Kyungsoo stay up all night? "Good thing today is Sunday." Baekhyun said as he pulled Kai's arms away from Kyungsoo's torso. Kai peeked open his eyes to see his hyung wrap his arms under Kyungsoo's knees and around his shoulders and lifted the sleeping boy in the famous princess style. "Woah. Does this kid even eat? How is he so light?"

 

Baekhyun walked out of the room slowly, cradling the sleeping boy and closed the door after him using his foot. Kai sat up slowly with a frown. What's with Baekhyun hyung coming in and taking his roommate away? Well, not that he cares. Kai stretched and noticed he was out of his uniform and in a pair of track pants and a black t-shirt. His frown deepened before he huffed in disbelief. That little ert. Did he change him in his sleep? Kai clicked his tongue and swung his legs off the bed. Something crinkled under his feet.

 

"What the hell?" There were plastic packaging everywhere. Kai picked one off and blinked. Icy-hot patches? Medicine for fevers? Bandaids? Menthol rub?? Speaking of which, he does smell very minty. He patted around his face and felt the smooth surface of bandaids stuck around his face and wait.. what the h- Kai peeled something off his forehead. A fever cooling patch? It must've been cool once but it was now warm. "I had a fever?" Kai blinked confusedly. But he felt perfectly fine..

 

Kai's eyes widened. Did that ert take care of him all night? Kai felt a pang of something in his chest. Guilt. "Fine." Kai barked into the empty room, to his conscious. "Maybe he's not a ert." He grumbled.

 

 

~*~

 

Chanyeol frowned as he looked down at Baekhyun's bed. "Yah. How long are you going to just lay there?" He asked. Baekhyun smirked at his roommate and shrugged his shoulders.

 

"What can I do? He doesn't seem to want to let go." Baekhyun chuckled, looking down at the boy sleeping peacefully. Baekhyun had just wanted to take Kyungsoo to his bed since he thought the boy would appreciate having a bed to himself rather than having to share with Kai but when Baekhyun tucked Kyungsoo in his bed, Kyungsoo suddenly latched onto Baekhyun's shirt in a vice grip. Baekhyun was left with no choice but to lay next to the boy while he slept. His wanting to stay had absolutely nothing to do with how cute Kyungsoo was being or how soft he felt.

 

Chanyeol pouted. "You stink." The giant said childishly, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

"But umma seems to like it." Baekhyun said teasingly. Chanyeol puffed out his cheeks and sat on Baekhyun's bed. Kyungsoo mewled in his sleep as the mattress sunk behind him, making him turn away from Baekhyun. "Yah! Get off! It's already crowded without your titan on the bed." Baekhyun hissed, wrapping his arm around Kyungsoo's shoulders and pulled him back close to him.

 

"My isn't that big." Chanyeol retorted, scooting closer to the small sleeping male. Baekhyun glared at his best friend. Chanyeol ignored it in favor of grinning to himself when Kyungsoo nuzzled into Baekhyun's chest. "Aw~ look at him. He's so cute." Chanyeol cooed.

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes but had to agree. Kyungsoo acting like a baby koala was really cute. And his stomach was doing weird flips and turns. Baekhyun chuckled to himself. He was starting to get attached, wasn't he?

 

"Oyeeee! Yeolie~ Have you seen m-" Chen started cheerfully as he barged into room before he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes going huge. Chen’s jaw dropped and for a moment he just gapped at the roommates before he shrieked. “W-what the hell are you two doing?!!!”

 

"ChenChen. Stop yelling. Your voice early in the morning is very grating." Kris groaned as he walked past the room, patting his face dry with the towel that hung around his neck.

 

"I will when these two stop molesting my Soo!" The veins on Chen's neck throbbed angrily as he stomped over to Baekhyun's bed and grabbed Chanyeol's arm, trying to pull the giant off the bed.

 

Kris froze. Molesting Soo? He ran back to the BaekYeol couple's room and his jaw dropped at the sight of the sleeping boy, sandwiched between the two Beagle liners who both hissed at the third Beagle liner, Chen, to shut the hell up.

 

"Hmm?" Everyone froze as Kyungsoo's eyes fluttered open. He eyed Baekhyun sleepily, still quite out of it. Baekhyun chuckled as he watched Kyungsoo's eyes focus. Kyungsoo blinked his huge eyes slowly before turning onto his back and blinked at Chanyeol too. The roommates and best friends snickered when Kyungsoo turned a brilliant shade of red.

 

"Baekhyun hyung! Chanyeol hyung!" Kyungsoo squeaked, finally letting go of Baekhyun's shirt and sat up.

 

Chanyeol pouted. "Yah. I told you. Call me Chanyeol, not hyung."

 

"Slept well?" Baekhyun grinned. Kyungsoo rubbed the back of his neck, still flushing a brilliant red but gave a small nod. Chen grabbed Kyungsoo and pulled his head into his chest, crying about how poor he was to be molested by the idiot pair in his sleep and how everything will be okay now that ChenChen was here.

 

"Who'th molethting Kyungthoo?!" Sehun appeared in the doorway behind Kris, eyes wide and hair wild. His just-awoken state made his otherwise unnoticeable lisp incredibly prominent. His eyes landed on Chen who was still hugging Kyungsoo and rocking him back and forth. His face quickly defaulted into his JPG face before he scowled and stomped over to rip Chen away from Kyungsoo. 

 

~*~

The kitchen was rowdy. Kyungsoo yawned as he flipped the pancake, indifferent to all the chaos and noise around him with Sehun latched onto him. The younger man kind of refused to let go with the completely invalid secure reasoning that Kyungsoo was too vulnerable. In reality, Sehun just didn’t like sharing his interesting toy. And with a cocktail of guilt trips and aegyo, Kyungsoo let the maknae do whatever he wanted.

 

Meanwhile at the table, Chanyeol was stealing pancakes off unsuspecting victims. Tao was threatening him with his Wushu stick whilst on the verge of angry tears. Kris and Suho both tried to calm the Kungfu panda (although both of them refused to share their pancakes with the M dorm's maknae). Chen was singing a song he'd just composed about the majesty of Kyungsoo's blueberry pancakes as he ate. Baekhyun and Lay were teamed up together against Xiumin and Luhan in a Kaibaibo tournament where the winner wins the other team's pancakes. It wasn't long until Baekhyun noticed one of his pancakes was missing and was choking Chanyeol, the culprit.

 

Baekhyun saw Kai lingering around the doorway of the kitchen from the corner of his eyes before the younger man walked away.

 

"That ungrateful brat." Baekhyun clicked his tongue, releasing the choking giant. He could at least thank Kyungsoo who'd lost sleep taking care of him. Baekhyun got up from the table and went after the tanned teen before backtracking and took his plate of pancakes with him (Xiumin, Luhan, Lay and Chanyeol all groaned in disappointment before hounding the adorable cook for extra pancakes). "Jongin." Baekhyun started as he stopped at Kai and Kyungsoo's shared room.

 

"Hyung." Kai looked up from his task of disposing the many plastic packaging on his floor and grinned. "What is it?"

 

"You could thank him you know." Baekhyun said, raising an eyebrow at Kai. He could tell Kai knew exactly what he was talking about when Kai halted and his smile slipped off. "He stayed up all night looking after you."

 

Kai said nothing but Baekhyun thought he saw Kai bite down on his lower lip with a remorseful look on his face before it was gone. "If there's nothing else..." Kai trailed off. Baekhyun narrowed his eyes at Kai's nonchalant face and his heels, heading back to the kitchen slash dining room with a huff.

 

Kai ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. Great. Now even Baekhyun, possibly his favorite hyung out of all the EXO members, was backing up that ert. But he was right. He should thank the guy. Kai remembered Kyungsoo was sleeping with a jacket on. He probably forgot to even change out of it. "I need a smoke." Kai muttered.

 

 

~*~

 

"Concept makeover week?" Kyungsoo asked, watching the lot clean up after themselves. Suho had said it was unfair that Kyungsoo cook and do all the other housework so before he could make an actual chore assignment list or something, everyone else was to pitch in on the chores.

 

Hence why Luhan and Sehun were washing the dishes, Tao and Suho wiping them dry and Chanyeol putting them away. Kris, Lay and Chen were sorting out the laundry while Xiumin and Baekhyun cleaned around the kitchen.

 

"Oh yeah! It's next week, isn't it?" Chen clapped with a grin. "That's right, Luhan hyung and Kyungsoo don't know about concept makeover week." Chen shoved a handful of white clothes into the washing machine and opened his mouth to talk again but Xiumin cut in cheerfully.

 

"Concept makeover week is a little more than just a makeover week." Chen deflated and pouted as he shoved in another handful of white clothing as Xiumin continued explaining. "It's an important week for everyone but it is perhaps especially important for those who are in special dorms. Everyone in the campus can get a complete makeover at the Academy's makeup studio; haircut, colorings, even surgery is available to the students should they desire it." Kyungsoo whistled lowly. Cosmetic surgery even? "Then comes the evaluation. If you are choosing your own concept, the head of the hair and make-up, fashion and photography departments will see if that concept fits you and if not, back to the makeup studio you go. Usually for those in a special dorm, there's already a base concept which we’ll have to match."

 

"Exo's concept is kind of fantasy, mythical sort, if you’re wondering." Baekhyun added. "And of course, there's an evaluation of your talents."

 

Xiumin nodded and continued from where he left off. "The judges will change according to what you're training to be. For us, it'll probably be the heads of the music and dance department. It's more specialized for the labelled dorms because this evaluation usually leads to members being a designated role; like main vocals or the main dancer, etc." Xiumin stopped abruptly and looked up from wiping the dining table. His face broke out into an enormous smile that puff out his chubby cheeks. "My Donut! I think you’ll look great with red hair!"

 

In perfect unison, all the other members stopped whatever they were doing and looked over at Kyungsoo who looked surprised by their synchronization. Then, as one, they abandoned their chores and surrounded the boy who was sitting on the kitchen island with recommendations of what kind of concept the human-owl bunny should go with.

 

“If it’s Kyungsoo then it must be princely! But a little delicate!”

 

“What are you talking about? My Soo is manly!” Chen said, flexing his own arms.

 

“Che. You’re just saying that because you know Kyungsoo doesn’t like being treated as delicate.”

 

“RED HAIR!”

 

“Ohh! A little red riding hood concept! How about it?” Chanyeol snapped his fingers, reaching an epiphany. "Think about it." They all stared off to space and envisioned Kyungsoo as the Little Red Riding Hood. 
 

 

"My, what big arms you have." Kyungsoo would awe, small hands would squeezed around the biceps and his marble like eyes would blink rapidly in disbelief. Softly curled red hair would sway with the wind, making the paleness of his skin stand out even more.

 

 

He would be wearing a white ruffled shirt, red shorts that stop just above his knee and his legs would be covered with long white socks (adding a slight touch to the outfit) and on his feet would be black dress shoes with a gold buckle. The outfit would be complete with a baggy red hood tied together with a ribbon. The arm Kyungsoo was squeezing would then wrap itself around Kyungsoo, making him take a small breath in as a gasp and his cheeks would bloom with a blush deliciously. 

 

 

"Better to hold you with~"

 

 

Everyone snapped out of their shared imagined scene, ‘ohhh’ed and applauded Chanyeol’s geniusness.

 

Kyungsoo on the other hand was not very impressed. He looked at Chanyeol who looked at him with a hopeful glint in his eyes; like a dog looking for approval from its master. “I’m not little.” He deadpanned making Chanyeol whine. The others quickly yelled at Chanyeol for suggesting such idiocy and suggested more manly concepts.

 

 

~*~

 

"So he really did help me." Kai muttered to himself rubbing the back of his neck, looking at the orange sky. He was standing outside the pharmacy. For god only knows what reasons, SM town had only just one medical assistance building; the pharmacy. There were no clinic or hospital in the campus, other than the nurse's office in the study hall. But there being only one source of medical help meant Kai got to get his facts straight.

 

Kyungsoo, according to the store clerk, ran in into the store at around 3 in the morning looking like a bunny that was being hunted by wolves; the store clerk's words, not Kai's. He didn't even bother with his change apparently, which was why Kai had about 1,000 won spare change given to him by the store clerk (barely enough for a chupa chups). Kai frowned as he started heading back to the dorms. It's weird. From what Kai knew, Kyungsoo didn't like Kai all that much since Kai kept picking on him (Kai liked to see the smaller but apparently older male on the verge of tears for some reason that reason being he was a sadist). So what the hell was Kyungsoo doing in the dead of the night then, running around town to look for medicine for him? Or more importantly why?

 

Kai stopped and fished out his pack of smokes from his pockets. Smoking was strictly forbidden by the academy but damn if he cared. He needed some kind of outlet for his stress. He sealed his lips over the cancer stick and fished out his lighter. "Kai."

 

Kai jumped at the sound of his nickname and fumbled with the lighter that had slipped out of his grasp when he jumped. He quickly shoved the cigarette and the lighter back into his pocket and turned to see Kyungsoo staring wide eyed at him in confusion. Kai cleared his throat awkwardly and raised a hand. "Yo."

 

The air became awkward after Kyungsoo returned his greeting. Well, what was one to say to a person they pick on whenever they meet when the night before that person went around and helped them out? "How are you feeling?" Kyungsoo asked, shifting his weight between his legs.

 

"A-ah. I'm good." Kai shrugged. Silence again. But that silence was quickly broken by sounds of footsteps. Kyungsoo felt a sense of déjà vu as he turned. Sure enough, like a repeat of last time, a crowd of delinquent-like people from another high school was walking towards them. Oh and look, they're back at the tunnels. What a strange coincidence.

 

Kai narrowed his eyes at the sight of a familiar school uniform. Kanga high. Probably looking for revenge for last time, when Kai sent nine of them to the hospital. A small whimper reminded him of the presence of his roommate. Kai turned to see Kyungsoo's eyebrows furrowed fearfully and he was clutching the handles of his 7-11 bag close to his chest. Kai blinked at the sight of the products inside the translucent plastic. Sports drinks, more icy hot and fever relief packages, a first aid kit, calorie bars... Kai blinked gobsmacked at Kyungsoo. Were those supposed to be for him as well?

 

"Well, if it isn't the ‘Black Panther’ of SM." Kai swore under his breath. Those pricks really had bad timing, didn't they? He unnoticeably tapped at a number from his dorm member's contact list on his phone before he turned to the group of Kanga High students with a lazy glare. "Ohh? Who's that there?" The delinquent bared his teeth at Kyungsoo in a menacing smile. "Annyeong~"

 

Kyungsoo took a step back and gulped before all of a sudden, the view of the crowd of delinquents was gone. Kyungsoo blinked at the back of Kai's grey hoodie that was shielding him from the eyes of the terrifying delinquents.

 

"You have balls. Coming into our turf. Were you and your mutts planning to ambush us in our dorms since you're here at the tunnels?" Kai said loudly, his eyes sweeping past his phone which he saw had connected for a while. Good. Then the dorm members probably know where they were. "Kyungsoo, go back to the dorm."

 

"But-"

 

"Ahh~ how romantic. Sorry but we intend to hurt you really bad~" The Kanga High leader sing-songed. "Since you seem to care for your little friend there, we'll hurt him too~"

 

Kyungsoo yelped when his arms were snatched up from behind him. Somehow, a couple of Kanga high's delinquents had gone around behind Kai and Kyungsoo. "Leave him alone! He has nothing to do with this!" Kai growled furiously as he punched and kicked away the people holding onto Kyungsoo.

 

"Kai!" Kyungsoo screamed but it was too late. Kyungsoo could only watch as a wooden plank slammed down on the younger male and break in half at the force.

 

"Run." Kai managed to grunt out as he slumped onto the floor. Kyungsoo's eyes widened even further than they already were. The leader laughed a little maniacally at Kai’s fallen form and stepped down on his back. Kai groaned in pain and tried to shake off the leader who just giggled and stomp down on Kai’s back again.

 

“Stop it!” Kyungsoo yelled, shoving the leader off his roommate and helped Kai up. The leader stumbled away before blinking at Kyungsoo with disbelief. Kyungsoo glared at him with such fierceness that the leader flinched.

 

“You idiot. I said to run.” Kai hissed at the smaller male who was shielding him from the other high school’s delinquents. He couldn’t believe that Kyungsoo would stay behind. Seriously. What is wrong with this kid? Even though he was a huge to Kyungsoo, when he got sick, Kyungsoo ran around town to get him medicine. Now that he was getting his kicked, Kyungsoo stayed behind and was even shielding him. Kai could see him shaking ever so lightly, from fear most definitely but nonetheless Kyungsoo was still shielding him, huge eyes sweeping around wildly.

 

“What year were you born on?” Kyungsoo asked shakily.

 

Kai never took his eyes off his opponents. The situation wasn’t looking good. They were outnumbered a dozen to one. He might've stand a chance if he was there alone but with Kyungsoo here, Kai's movement was more restricted. Now, why the hell was Kyungsoo asking such weird questions at a time like this? “What are you talking about?!” Kai barked. Where the hell were the hyungs?! When Kyungsoo didn't answer, Kai hissed, "94.”

 

“Thought so.” Kyungsoo chuckled nervously as the leader slowly walked towards them. “I can’t just leave you alone. I’m a 93-liner. Do you understand now?” Kyungsoo turned his head over his shoulder and gave Kai a strained smile. “I’m a hyung. So I can’t just leave a dongsaeng alone.” Kyungsoo turned back to the front. “Even if he’s a bratty one.”

 

Kai’s eyes widened before a small smile broke out on his face. “Ohhh~ This is interesting. The little bunny hyung biting back at the hyenas for his dongsaeng panther?” The leader chuckled, before cocking his head at the pair. At the signal, the ones closest to Kyungsoo and Kai attacked.

 

Kyungsoo let out a weird battle cry, swinging his 7-11 bag wildly at the delinquents. Kai snorted before he turned so he was back-to-back with Kyungsoo and threw his limbs out, taking down delinquents with his legs or fists. Kai looked up at the sound of loud footsteps to see the rest of the EXO members running towards them. “Took them long enough.” He panted with a grin.

 

“Damnit!” The leader snarled at the sight of the other ‘beasts’ running over and picked up a fallen baseball bat and swung it towards Kai. Kai turned instinctively, feeling the danger and that’s when everything went into slow motion. Somehow Kyungsoo appeared in front of Kai, protecting him and the baseball bat that was aimed for Kai slammed down on Kyungsoo. The smile on Kai's face wiped itself off, he gasped and watched with wide eyes as Kyungsoo fell to the floor. “.” The leader too was horrified.

 

Hearts skipped in horror and quickly the 'beasts' crowded around their fallen dorm member. “UMMA!” “KYUNGSOO!”

 

Kai’s hand shakily reached out for the small male as Suho carefully turned Kyungsoo and he froze. Red. Blood. Thick streams of blood flowed down Kyungsoo's left side of the face. And Kai snapped. He saw red, the red of Kyungsoo’s blood. He let out a most terrifying roar and launched himself at the leader of Kanga High. Bones cracked, blood covered his knuckles and the tunnel grounds, yet Kai didn’t stop. Once one was a bloody bag of broken bones and bruises, he moved onto the other.

 

"What happened to your face?" Kyungsoo gasped.

 

It hurt. Not the pain when one of the Kanga high delinquents caught him with a punch, kick or a swish of a pocket knife. Those pain didn’t register. No, it wasn’t that kind of pain. It was a different sort of pain. His chest. His chest felt heavy with guilt. Kai howled, slamming the head in his grasp hard onto the walls of the tunnels.

 

“He’s snapped!” 
“Damnit. Kai! Stop!”

 

"How are you feeling?" Kyungsoo asked, shifting his weight between his legs.

 

He could hear his hyungs calling him to stop. That he was going to kill them. But it sounded muffled. That weird ache in his chest was still there. Why was he fighting again? 

 

… 

 

Right. It was because of that ert… why couldn’t he just mind his own business? He didn’t need the reactions. He was used to being ignored. By his parents who never really understood his passion for dancing. His so called friends who left him hanging when he needed them the most back in his old school. Even the Exo members... they didn’t care that he would pick fights, smoke or drink. Why did that moron have to involve himself?

 

Kyungsoo turned his head over his shoulder and gave Kai a strained smile. “I’m a hyung. So I can’t just leave a dongsaeng alone.”

 

His vision was blurry. Kai realized he was crying. Somewhere along the lines, the dam had broke and all pent up sorrow and anger spilled in forms of tears. A pair of hands covered his eyes from behind and Kai growled. “It’s okay. You can stop now.” Kai felt himself tense immediately at the sound of the soft smooth voice. “Jongin, let it go.” It’s the voice of that ert- no... Kyungsoo... hyung... The grip Kai had on the shirt of the Kanga’s student loosened and Kai relaxed. “That’s it.”

 

Kai reached up and clutched the thin wrists gently as he sobbed silently for reasons he didn’t know. Kyungsoo continued muttering soft words into Kai’s hair. Kris turned away from the pair and noticed most of the others had done the same. They all felt it. The feeling like they were intruding on an intimate moment between Kyungsoo and Jongin. Kris met eyes with Suho and they nodded at each other before they split up into groups; Suho’s group was going to do damage control. Suho was already chattering away in his phone, probably to the head of security. Kris’ group grudgingly helped the Kanga High’s students up, giving subtle threats to keep this incident quiet.

 

Baekhyun continued to watch as Kyungsoo who was ignoring the blood dripping down his closed left eye as he rocked Kai gently. He looked down in confusion at a dull sting in his hands. Baekhyun blinked. His hands had unconsciously balled into hard fists and his nails had dug into his palm, making thin red crescents on the flesh. Baekhyun sighed, running his left hand (which hadn't broke the skin since it wasn't his dominant hand) through his hair. Ahh… Looks like he had gotten too attached to umma.

 

~*~

 

“Hyung.” Kyungsoo started seriously. “Could it be… that you really are an unicorn?”

 

Lay laughed making Kyungsoo grin as well. Lay was the dorm’s unofficial medic (only for minor injuries though) which was why Kyungsoo was in Lay and Kris' shared room. "Maybe I am! Here! I'll make sure your cut is healed! Shushhhh~" Lay wiggled his fingers like he was playing the piano above Kyungsoo's left eye where a Pororo bandaid was stuck on.

 

Lay relished in the giggle that Kyungsoo gave. Thank god that cut wasn't very deep or wide for the matter. It wouldn't even leave a scar. Lay would hate to think what would happen to Kai if Kyungsoo did get a scar or something like that. All Most of them blamed Kai for (accidentally) involving Kyungsoo in his fight, particularly Sehun who was very vocal about it, though just not around Kyungsoo. The maknae wasn't the only one who was distraught about the whole thing. The call made all their blood run cold.

 

[An hour back]

 

"Pabooo~" Baekhyun laughed at his best friend. "You should've known Kyungsoo would react the way he did."

 

Chanyeol pouted. "I didn't know he had a complex about his size. Why should he?! His size is what makes him all soft and squishy and cute and-" Chanyeol wrapped his arms around himself and did a weird body wiggle to emphasize his point.

 

Kyungsoo was incredibly not amused when Chanyeol continued to suggest more feminine character concepts (e.g. Alice In Wonderland) or small character concepts (e.g. Bilbo Baggins) one after the other. As a result Kyungsoo sulked and Kyungsoo's way of sulking was by the silent treatment. It was super effective against the very talkative half of the 'Twin Towers'. And now, Kyungsoo had gone out to god knows where, to do god knows what. Being the oh so good friend that he was, Baekhyun teased that it was to avoid Chanyeol.

 

"But seriously, what sort of concept should we go for?" Suho wondered. As a labelled dorm, these concepts could later on transfer to their concepts when they debut.

 

"Our base concept is fantasy so anything and everything goes really." Kris frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "We should have a dorm meeting. Kai is a part of the dorm too so he needs to be part of the decision making."

 

They all nodded when a cheery ringtone went off. Lay pulled out his cell phone and whispered a small 'wow'. "Speak of the devil." He laughed, taking the call and putting it on loudspeaker. "Kai where are you?"

 

"Get your tan back to the dorm. We're going to have a meeting." Sehun called out. Suho immediately chided Sehun about respecting his elders which, of course, went ignored. Suho sighed; why did he even bother?

 

"Annyeong~" They all stopped whatever they were doing at the sound of a stranger's voice. It sounded slightly muffled and a little echoey but it wasn't Kai's voice.

 

Lay checked the number. But it was Kai's number. "Ah. Excuse me, who is th-"

 

"You got balls." Kai's voice came on. But he didn't seem to be answering Lay. Did he buttdail Lay or something? Kai's next words got everyone's spine tingling with a rush of adrenaline. "Coming into our turf. Were you and your mutts planning to ambush us in our dorms since you're here at the tunnels?"

 

"The tunnels." Sehun said, throwing on his jacket. The 'wild beasts' who were more into fights (namingly Sehun, Tao, Kris, Baekhyun and Chen) nodded and grabbed their jackets quickly, ready to head out. Kai wasn't one for calling for backup so him calling meant it was serious, that even he the 'Black Panther' may not be able to handle.

 

"Kyungsoo, go back to the dorm." Kai's voice rang out. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Kyungsoo? Kyungsoo was with Kai?

 

"What's he doing with Kai?" Luhan demanded to no one in particular. They all became rooted to the floor when they heard Kyungsoo's voice protest against Kai's command for him to leave. This whole situation was all beginning to sound very surreal. 

 

"Ahh~ how romantic. Sorry but we intend to hurt you really bad~ Since you seem to care for your little friend there, we'll hurt him too~" That's when they finally snapped out of it. Tao was the first to react, rushing out the door at once followed by Lay.

 

Kyungsoo yelped and there were sounds of struggle that continued to echo off Lay's phone that was still clutched in his hands. "Leave him alone! He has nothing to do with this!" Kai's voice screamed.

 

Lay tried not to think because thinking about what might be happening just played out very badly in his head so he put his mind on autopilot. He ran after Tao, urging his legs to get to the tunnel as fast as possible. It finally came into view.

 

There was a small burst of relief when Lay saw Kyungsoo swinging his plastic bag at the delinquents like a whip. Then that thing happened. Kyungsoo shielded Kai from an attack that took him down with a loud ugly crack-

 

"Hyung?" Lay snapped out his thought when he saw Kyungsoo waving his hand in front of his face with a worried frown. "Are you alright?"

 

No. He had a series of mini heart attacks that evening. And to be honest, a part of him was still a little jittery and paranoid that some kingka from another high school would pop out of nowhere and strike Kyungsoo down. Lay shook it off quickly and beamed at Kyungsoo who just blinked his enormous twinkling eyes at him before the heart shaped smile broke out on his lips and he started poking Lay's dimples.

 

"Hyung." The pair turned towards the door and saw Kai standing there with a misplaced looking bashful expression on his face.

 

"Jongin!" "Kai!"

 

At once the sweetheart pair had crowded around the tan teen and were rapidly asking questions about his state. Soon enough the doorway was crowded with the rest of the members. Kai dropped to his knees and bowed his head. "I'm sorry!"

 

Lay and Kyungsoo blinked at Kai before exchanging looks of confusion. "Because of me, hyung got involved in my fight and got hurt badly too." Kai said softly. Sehun rolled his eyes but kept quiet despite wanting to burst out yelling at the older male. Kyungsoo would probably not like it if he yelled at Kai. Sehun paused. Wait. When did he start caring about what Kyungsoo likes and dislikes?

 

Kyungsoo gapped at Kai. "H-Hyung?" He pointed at himself. "You mean me?" Kyungsoo asked slowly. Kai raised his head and nodded. The brilliance of Kyungsoo's smile stunned the Exo members momentarily and they watched jealously as Kyungsoo hopped over to Kai, excited over the simple fact that Kai called him Hyung.

 

Kai cleared his throat awkwardly. "You don't have to keep calling me Kai, you know. You can call me Jongin." Like you did in the tunnels, he said silently in his mind. His mind supplied cheekily, 'while I was bawling my eyes like a baby'. Kai shifted, embarrassment making his blood boil.

 

"Jongin!" Kyungsoo said brightly. Kai gave a small smile, thankful that his tanned skin hid the small blush on his face. How the hell is it possible that a guy is this cute? Is he really older than him? Seriously.

 

"Yeobo! You can call me Joonmyeon then!" Suho said cheerily, suddenly appearing in front of Kyungsoo with a wide grin.

 

Kyungsoo blinked but quickly regained his happy state and called out, "Joonmyeon!"

 

"Me too, Donut. Go on, call me Minseokie Hyung~" Xiumin said, not so gently pushing Suho aside to get into Kyungsoo's direct line of sight. Suho yelped but since Xiumin was the older one, he couldn't say anything so he just sulked in the background. Kyungsoo smiled again, "Minseokie Hyung."

 

“Yifan.” Kris said from the doorway. Kyungsoo blinked a couple of times as the others also joined in on telling Kyungsoo that he could call them by their first/real name. His confused stare met Kai- ah, Jongin who just snorted at his hyungs.

 

 

---

 

 

Fiend's Thoughts

 

Finally rejoice! The mothership has made up! All because our Soo managed to reach out and touch Jongin's heart~ Now, let the fluffy moments begin! And awww, our beloved unicorn is so concern about our owl-bunny, it's adorable. In my personal opinion, Lay would make the sweetest boyfriend out of all Exo members. Everything about him screams boyfriend material~ Hmmm... What do you think, my lovely readers? 

 

I have to apologize but this is the last update before the mini-haitus because of exams and stuff TTATT I won't be back until June probably. Mianhae! But once again, please shower me with comments and votes so when exams are over I'll get my into gear. Be sure to subscribe for more~ ;D Saranghae ♡

 

Sneakpeek~

 

Kyungsoo laughed innocently, not understanding the erted nature of the oldest hyung's hug.

 

Lay chuckled softly but Kyungsoo could hear the self depreciation in his laughter.

 

Chen felt something wash over him. It wasn't just admiration of Kyungsoo's singing or respect of his vocals. It was something that ran deeper.