The company recovers by Monday, not that they have much choice in the matter. The dance season begins in earnest now and Baekhyun can barely believe that all the fuss building up to the weekend’s performances were little more than a precursor to all the work and hours they’ll spend preparing for the real stuff: festivals, workshops, tours. It makes him tired just thinking about it. And also very, very excited. It’s the life he always imagined living for as long as his body can take it, and hopefully even then some.

For now though the week will be spent revising their repertoire, incorporating Yixing more into the mix since Suho’s injury, and clearing their minds in preparation for new choreography.  Mrs. Kim promised them a new project to begin midweek with a local student choreographer as part of their outreach program.

“Oh that will be fun,” Luhan says out loud, rolling his eyes. “Student choreographers. My favorite thing.”

“You know you did that yourself when you were that age,” Minseok kindly reminds him, holding back a smirk.

“That’s so different though. I was actually good at that kind of thing!”

“Says the man who only learns now, and doesn’t teach.” That sets them off.

The two bicker off and on for the rest of the day, and while Baekhyun notices how generally cool Minseok is about the whole thing, he can’t help but notice how frustrated Luhan becomes over time. It can’t only be the quarrelling, because they happily do that every day of their lives and so far it hasn’t changed a single thing about their relationship. Later on though he overhears Luhan pestering Minseok once more about the infamous ‘blonde’ but Luhan still receives no concrete answer. Baekhyun doesn’t bother telling Luhan that the blonde he’s so curious about is actually in the room with them most days, or that Minseok generally treats her the same as every other dancer in the company, male or female. 

Kai calls up Baekhyun out of the blue early Tuesday afternoon while both on are break. They haven’t seen much of each other since the performance except for a quick meal Sunday after Baekhyun woke up super late in the day. Kai’s g’day speech is crisp and to the point. “I miss you. Been too long. Want to hang out later today?”

Baekhyun chuckles. He takes his phone and walks out into the hallway for a little privacy. “What’s your definition of hang out? Go out or stay in?”

“I’m feeling like a bum. I’ve spent two days either in classrooms, doing homework, and or wandering around outside. Can’t we just do something easy, like eat food and watch a movie? By the way, I have no TV in my room. Hint hint.”

Baekhyun leans back on a wall with his head tilted, cradling the phone between his ear and hand. He looks around first to check his surroundings, confirming that no one is around to hear. “I guess we could do that. I have to warn you though that Tao will be there and I feel a little weird about kicking him out. He doesn’t really go out much. Are you comfortable hanging out with with my third-wheel possible squeal monster teddy bear of a roommate? I mean, I could always just hint that he stays inside his room, but that’s kind of awkward.” Plus whenever Tao had someone over, he’d always insist that Baekhyun could hang out with them too. Not that he’s had the opportunity in the past few days. Baekhyun hasn’t seen Kris in days, and after Tao’s little confession Saturday night, Tao’s maintained a pretty solemn attitude, a half step away from being outright mopey. 

Kai exhales over the phone good-naturedly. “Sure why not. Actually, what about this: I bring Sehun and we can just have a friends’ night thing at your place. Would that be okay?” 

“Are Tao and Sehun even friends?” 

“Aren’t they? They can become friends. They’ll get along fine, I promise. Third wheels always gravitate towards one another.” He laughs, and Baekhyun thinks it’s a good enough plan. Anything to see his boyfriend again and also form a distraction for Tao.

“Deal. See you tonight then around 8? Text me later if you have an idea for what to eat.”

Sehun arrives last at half past eight lugging several bags of to-go-cartons of Thai food. He heaves breathlessly upon Baekhyun’s front door when Baekhyun opens it, relieved he got the right address, and eager to remove the plastic bags suspended around his wrists.

“Hello, Baekhyun. Hello, Tao,” he wheezes. “Now where the hell is Kai? Next time he invites me out to this part of town, tell him to go and get his own damn food, or at least meet me at the restaurant! That order you guys texted me was confusing. Guy at the place looked at me like I was a dunce trying to get the right dishes. Who the hell orders green curry with alternate-ingredient specifications from a restaurant that only wants to you to say one number when you place an order?”

Baekhyun’s lips form an ‘o’ and he glances awkwardly at Tao. “Tao, you didn’t give that weird order to Sehun through Kai, did you?” He clucks in disapproval, though he is most obviously amused.

Sehun doesn’t get any less put out when he spots the actual source of his misery. He glares at Tao who mumbles a brief apology, furrows his brow and says, “Huh. I’ll deal with you later, I guess. Where is Kai anyway?”

“He went to the bathroom?” Baekhyun answers. 

“Well, tell him food’s here. I didn’t rush five blocks just so he could eat it cold.”

“Ay ay. I’ll go tell him that His Highness awaits.” 

Baekhyun enters his room to knock on the bathroom door that jointly opens up between his and Tao’s bedrooms. 

“Kai! Food. Sehun. Come out already. What are you doing in there besides polluting my toilet?” He hears the water turn off and the door unlatches just as he’s about to start pounding for the second time. 

Kai opens up with a smile on his face. “What, are you that impatient?” 

“Sehun’s the impatient one. He’s already grumpy. I can tell this will be a good night. No, I was just curious what you were up to since you’ve been in there a good while.”

“You really want to know that, Baek?” 

“Do I? Maybe not.”

Kai grins mischievously, and Baekhyun prepares himself for whatever horror Kai’s about to spew, but instead Kai inclines his head towards the shower. “I was just checking out your shampoo rack actually – you know, in case I ever want to wax poetic and spout some romantic nonsense about what scent you always have about you. Like how I’m supposed to recognize if you always smell like vanilla and oranges…”

Baekhyun laughs nervously. “What are you on about?”

“Vanilla? Actually it’s worse than that. What is this off brand Head and Shoulders dandruff shampoo you use? That’s not at all romantic, Baek! At least I use a regular, recognizable brand of shampoo/conditioner!”

“You also use a cucumber and green tea scent body wash, Mr. Romantic.”

Kai’s mouth drops open. “What? I do? Wait, how do you know–?”

“I showered once in your apartment, remember? Somehow I never figured you for a cucumber and green tea scent kind of guy,” Baekhyun teases him lightly.

“It must have been Kyungsoo’s…”

“Oh was it now…?”

“Yes… Kyungsoo must have bought it. He’s the cucumber and green tea guy, not me. Haven’t you noticed he smells like that when he gets out of the shower?” 

“Okay, you can stop thinking about Kyungsoo in the shower now.”

“Then what am I supposed to think about while I’m in the shower?”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and groans. “Enough! Seriously though, why are we talking about shampoo and body wash?”

He laughs, but Kai winces, embarrassment starting to flood his face, and Baekhyun braces himself, arms crossed for the answer.

“Because… your bathroom is so tiny that when I got up I elbowed the shower curtain and that knocked over the shampoo and then I tripped on it, and it was open and it got all over the floor and… that’s what I’ve been cleaning up all this time.” 

Baekhyun stares down at the floor which he finally notices looks polished and squeaky clean. A pile of dirtied paper towels fill up the trash can. 

“So, you basically cleaned my floor with Head and Shoulders?” 

Kai grins like a two-year old. “Surprise?”

Baekhyun considers their movie night a success, in that he got to spend plenty of mindless time with Kai, and that after squaring off against each other, Tao and Sehun managed to find some common ground. They are brothers in arms against the cheesiness of the couple in the room, just as Kai predicted, turning their heads away and scowling every time Kai or Baekhyun even touch each other in the slightest. To Sehun it becomes more of a game as the night progresses and finally Tao relents and lets himself be entertained by it.  After several hours of Lethal Weapon and halfway into the sequel, however, the texts start to arrive.

Baekhyun receives the first one. He pulls out his buzzing cell phone and quickly unlocks it.

Minseok: This may sound weird but do you know where Luhan is?

Baekhyun frowns, and replies with a brief no.

“Who is it?” Kai whispers. Baekhyun shows him the text just in time for Kai’s own phone to buzz with the same message from Minseok. “I guess he’s lost him?”

“How does Minseok lose Luhan? Aren’t they like glued together?” Baekhyun whispers back. Kai shrugs and they continue watching their movie.

Twenty minutes later a phone actually rings. Sehun answers his to the grinding sound of Skrillex dubstep. He stands up to answer it, his eyebrows clenched and puzzled, and Kai pauses the movie.  

“Hello?” Sehun answers.

The others stare up at him as he moves around the couch, as if waiting for important news. The clock on the wall that Tao finally bought batteries for shows it’s half past eleven. 

“What’s wrong? — I’m with Kai at Baekhyun’s place — Yes, of course you can come over.” Sehun looks desperately at Baekhyun to confirm. Baekhyun mouths back a ‘Who?’ but he’s pretty sure he knows who it is. He nods his head anyways. 

“No, no, it’s alright. Where are you at right now? — Okay you’re not far. I’m going to hang up and text you the directions. Come straight here, okay? — Alright — Alright, I’ll see you soon.” 

Sehun lowers his phone and bites his bottom lip, scowl starting to blossom across his usually stoic expression. 

“Was that Luhan?” Kai asks knowingly. He gets up too to stand by Sehun. 

“Yeah. How did you—“

“Baekhyun and I both got texts from Minseok earlier — about twenty minutes ago? — asking if we knew where Luhan was.”

“Well he’s on his way here now.” Sehun coughs.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen between them?” asks Baekhyun.

“I don’t know exactly. He was just crying and weeping and halfway hysterical sounding and there was something about Minseok but he didn’t say what… Anyways he’s probably about ten minutes away. I’m going to go wait downstairs for him to get here.”

“Did he sound drunk?” Kai asks. 

“No. Not specifically. He just sounded like a mess. Guess we’ll find out. If he’s in any fit state I’ll bring him back up here if that’s alright with you.” Without waiting for an answer, he grabs his coat off the back of the couch and exits through the front door.

The room is quiet after he leaves. Tao sits motionless on the couch, his eyes fused in one direction, and Baekhyun quietly stands up to turn off the movie player and TV. 

“Is this… is this typical for Luhan?” he asks Kai.

Kai ruffles his eyebrows. “Not, really? I mean, sometimes I’ve known him to overreact a little, but calling crying in the middle in the night… and for Sehun and not Minseok? That’s the strange part. Sure we’ve all known each other for years and years, but I’ve never heard of him and Minseok fighting before. And Sehun hasn’t mentioned anything about it. I can’t imagine much changed while I was… while I wasn’t here.”

Tao gets up and stretches. His yawns almost cover up the worried look on his face, but instead of sitting around for the show he says, “I think I’m going to sleep… I’ll just be in the way here. Uhm, tell Luhan I said ‘Hello’. Hope he’s alright.” He closes his bedroom door and it’s just Kai and Baekhyun waiting up for the apparently hysterical dancer to arrive. 

They don’t have to wait very long. Less than ten minutes later Sehun opens the door, ushering in a tear-stricken Luhan, one arm around his shoulders as he guides him in the doorway. He looks quiet enough, sniffling only every other breath, but when he sees the concerned expressions on Kai’s and Baekhyun’s faces he starts crying again. He steps forward out from under Sehun’s arm as the taller boy closes the door. Behind Luhan’s back Sehun waves at the other two and mimics the action of drinking, then waves his hand before his nose. Baekhyun gets the picture. Luhan may not be drunk right now, but he reeks of the smell of an earlier drunken spree. 

Luhan bounces from Sehun right into the arms of Kai, who cradle walks him to the couch and sits them both down. 

“Hey, hey, what’s the matter?” Kai asks softly, eyes narrowed in focus. Sehun hovers next to them perched on the arm rest and Baekhyun decides it’s time to put his coffee maker to good use. Firstly though he discretely places a tissue box next to Sehun, and the youngest of them presses a tissue into Luhan’s fragile hands. 

Luhan gulps and dabs at the tears on his face. “It’s… It’s… UGH, I’ve done something so stupid!” His voice is raspy and harsh, though surprisingly not loud.

Behind the couch, Baekhyun takes the liberty of texting Minseok back. 

Baekhyun: He’s here. We found him. He called Sehun, who’s over here with Kai. What happened? 

“What happened?” Sehun asks. “You said something about Minseok…”

“Y-y-yes…” he gulps again. “I— He—he got mad at me.” 

Minseok: Good!

Minseok: Did he just get there? Is he okay??

“Why’d he get mad at you?” Kai asks now.

“Because I showed up at his house drunk.” He looks more than just mournful now, edging on completely dejected.

“You went drinking by yourself?”

Baekhyun: He’s sobbing pretty badly. He says he went to your place drunk.

Luhan clenches his eyes closed and nearly chokes on his spittle. “I… well, I didn’t go with him. I went out with some other friends. Non company friends… 

Minseok: He left right after rehearsal and said he was going out with friends. 

Minseok: Then he showed up at my door about half an hour ago drunk and shouting at me.

“I didn’t mean to get drunk on a weeknight, it just seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Baekhyun: What about?

Minseok: And.. I kind of lectured him for getting wasted like this

Minseok: Stupid crap that doesnt even matter

Minseok: And raving about me and some blonde… does he think I’m dating Mint?? 

“Sehun! He’s so not fair! I asked him if he was dating some girl and he wouldn’t answer me! Why won’t he tell me if he’s dating somebody or not? Why can’t he just come out with it and tell me! Why’s he got to lie and then turn the tables on me?? How come he can date but I can’t go out and have a good time and hook up with some chick either?” Luhan officially breaks down again for the possibly nth time this night, his hands covering his face as Sehun and Kai both rub his back. 

Minseok: I was kind of mean. I asked what he'd been doing tonight

Minseok: Did you see his neck… He looks like he’s been attacked

Baekhyun instantly looks closer at the skin partially obscured behind Luhan’s messed collar, and then he sees it. The blossoming purple marks starting to stain his skin along both sides of his neck. Even from where stands he thinks he can see the indentations of someone’s teeth, probably from the ‘chick’ he hooked up with. Baekhyun waves his arms again to get Sehun’s attention and the two play a complicated game of charades. He indicates his own neck, points at Luhan’s, then at his phone, mouths the word ‘Minseok’ and raps his fingers together in the symbol of talking, nagging.

He sees the dawn of understanding in Sehun’s eyes, and Sehun looks down, touching his fingers to the collar. Luhan stiffens when he notices where all this attention has gone, and sits back up hastily, hands covering his neck as he cries anew.

Minseok: Baek… I got really upset… I shouldnt have gotten so mad

Kai notices the marks belatedly, even through Luhan’s badly concealing fingers, and his eyes widen in shock. Sehun curses loudly, but none of them know what exactly to do. 

Baekhyun: We see them.. 

Minseok: It shouldn't be any of my business what he does

“Luhan,” Sehun pries. “Hey, hey, buddy it’s okay.”

“No it’s not. It’s not okay. He got so mad at me. Sehun, why did he get so mad at me?”

Minseok: I just wish it really was my business… 

Baekhyun sets his phone to the counter, and starts pouring out the pot of coffee. He hands one cup of coffee over to Sehun who offers it to the crying man on the couch. Luhan shuts his eyes, his hands still occupied, and refuses the mug. Sehun gently unlatches one of Luhan’s hands and brings it down to anchor around the steaming sides of the coffee. Finally Luhan relents and he holds it in his lap with two hands. His tears slow again, and Baekhyun, still sitting on a stool behind them all, receives another silently mouthed directive from Sehun. He obeys quickly.

Baekhyun: Come over now. 

3,055 words

Ahh I feel so miserable leaving the chapter at this particular cliffhanger. Just know that Minseok is on his way! I've got to get off the computer soon because a major's storm about to hit, and besides - I'm already depressed enough to want to talk about Xiuhan anymore today. 

BTW - Are any of you going to KCON this year in L.A.? Because my mom and my sister and I are all going. Hooray! Cnblue! OMG. We have our plane tickets already. 

Ahh this storm is crazy sounding! My dog is shivering. Poor baby! Fun fact: my husband named her Choa after one of the twins in Crayon Pop. Anyways. Goodnight!

<3 Rosie