Time is the best healer, they say. Day by day, the EXO members learned to forget about that one horrendous day. No proper, general apology was heard in the dorm but the members made sure through little daily interactions that everyone wanted to live in peace again. After all, there was no use for fighting.

Joonmyun was the first one to take the big step and sat down with Sehun for a serious discussion. The maknae had felt a bit uncomfortable talking about his feelings for Donghae with his leader, now without any shouting or exchange of insults: just two roommates talking about relationships in general.

“I can’t lie, I can’t really support your relationship. I am not saying I think you should…stop doing what you feel is right. But I think it’s stupid from both of you to play with your reputation – and not just yours, but ours too – like this. Just remember that no more scandals are needed. The rest of the world will not understand like we, people close to you, do.” Joonmyun explained calmly, patting the younger boy’s back affectionately. Sehun nodded. “I promise me and Donghae will never cause any harm for anyone. We just want to…see each other.” “I believe you.” Joonmyun smiled.

The two boys sat on Sehun’s bed for a while in awkward silence. Suddenly Joonmyun cleared his throat and leaned closer to Sehun to speak quietly - even though they were the only ones in the room. “Sehun, I’m asking this just because I care about you. As you have probably noticed, Donghae is older than you…” Sehun chuckled, rolling his eyes at his leader’s worried face. “…and what I mean by this is that he might…is he forcing you to do something you don’t want to do? Always remember that no one has a right to touch your body without your permission!” Joonmyun lectured Sehun worriedly, Sehun choking in his awkward giggles. “What is this, hyung?” Joonmyun smiled awkwardly, placing his hand on the younger one’s shoulder. “If there is anything you feel uncomfortable with, remember that I will always…” “Joonmyun! I'm not a child!” “I’m just worried! Are you practising safe ?” “Yes!” “So you guys actually…Okay. Spare me the details. I’m lucky you can’t get pregnant.” Both guys laughed awkwardly. Joonmyun sighed and hugged his roommate affectionately.

“My little Sehunnie, remember that I will always love you no matter what. Oh, I never thought I would need to have this conversation with you out of them all, my little baby. But you grew up so well, you’re not my baby anymore.” The leader sighed wistfully, Sehun smiling against his shoulder.

The only person beside the leader giving any direct comment on Sehun’s sudden relationship status was Jongin. Sehun and Jongin had been really close ever since their trainee days: the boys had basically grown up together. It felt just weird to act like they’d hated each other.

At one evening at the dorm, when nearly everyone was sleeping, Sehun and Jongin happened to cross each other in the kitchen. Even though Sehun tried to just pass him without a word, to escape the situation as quickly as possible, he couldn’t help but make a remark that Jongin was staring at him like he’d been willing to talk again. No matter how good their relations were, even they didn’t spare each other in the horrible fight back then. “You think everything you do is okay just because you’re Kim ing Jongin.” “You’re not man enough to admit that you’re just as gay as I am.” Sehun recalled saying to Jongin, regretting each of the words deeply now.

Jongin placed his glass in the sink loudly, starting to walk away. Sehun sighed and decided to try to break the silence between the two of them. “Do you know where Kyungsoo has hidden all the crisps?” Jongin stopped in the doorway. “N-no. I didn’t know we even had crisps.” He murmured quietly, walking back in the kitchen and looking confusedly around him. Sehun opened a couple of shelfs before shrugging his shoulders. “Nah. I’ll just go to sleep then.”

The maknae was almost about to quickly escape the kitchen when Jongin opened his mouth. He was standing without a movement, staring at the floor when speaking.

“I am not gay, you know?” He said quietly, Sehun stopping at his place. The kitchen filled with the steady hum of the conditioner. “I’ve thought about it ever since you said that to me and came into the conclusion that I’m not gay.” Jongin stated out seriously, Sehun glancing at him. It was hard to believe that from all the horrible things they had set out of their mouths, that one little witty remark had had such a deep effect on the boy.

“Out of all things…you were touched by that?” “I’m not gay!” Jongin shouted like to defend himself. “I believe you!” Sehun shouted back with a smile, patting Jongin’s shoulder friendly. Jongin nodded happily, flipping his hair back nervously. They both sighed from relief after a short silence.

“And I wanted to say…I forgot how I was supposed to say it but…I-I support you.” Jongin said quietly, finally having enough confidence to look his friend in the eyes. Sehun smiled at him, not even bothering to try to cover how happy those words made him. “Thanks.” “Kyungsoo also supports you.” Jongin added randomly, giggling innocently. Sehun nodded with a happy smile. Out of all the people, he knew that the fact he was gay would never come to Jongin as a very big surprise. Ever since their junior high days, it was always Jongin who tried to ask girls out and Sehun who kindly worked as his wingman.  

However, there was one member among the group who seemed not to be looking for peace. Tao had become like the worst enemy of Sehun’s: despite the younger boy’s active attempts to apologise the Chinese boy rejected him and tried to make things even worse. “You disgust me” “I hate to see you around” were few of the lovely things Tao let out of his mouth whenever Sehun tried to even approach him. Even after all they had gone through, Sehun still cared about Tao and didn’t want him to feel bad. Every time he was having good time, the crying face of Tao flashed in front of his eyes.

Once, on the backstage of another SM Town concert, EXO members were sitting in the dressing room, each of them doing different things. Even though basically everyone had already forgiven each other, it still felt difficult to gather together like this. Sehun read the last message Donghae had sent him before going on stage: “I’ll be singing all the songs for you, baby” and tried to cover his smile from the others. He loved the cheesy texting he and Donghae had all day, all night, through every single day. He was just about to answer back when he was interrupted by the manager’s angry face.

“The press wants to take a photoshoot. Please go get yourself tidied up.” “But I look perfect already!” Sehun moaned out, the manager without mercy grabbing the phone from him and showing him the way towards the door.

“They wanted to have only two of you first. Zitao and Sehun, hurry up.” Someone shouted. The boys immediately found each other’s eyes over the room, both looking away as soon as noticing their eyes had met. “How nice.” Tao murmured by himself, giving the maknae a murderous glance before walking away from the room. Sehun took a deep breath and followed him.

“You can’t escape from me now” Sehun said quietly when both of the boys were sitting on the chairs, make-up noonas hassling around them. Tao didn’t answer, but just stared in front of him expressionlessly. Sehun sighed, starting with the exact same wording he had started for the last five times.

“Tao, I don’t want us to be like this anymore. I’m tired of fighting, I don’t want anyone to feel bad for this! I wish you could…”

“Have you by any chance happened to notice that those sweet words you have planned in your thick head don’t mean anything to me?” Tao said quietly, his eyes fixed on his own mirror image. Sehun sighed, glancing at him in despair. “Tao, I never wanted to insult you. There was nothing personal about…” “Nothing personal?” Now Tao finally turned to look at Sehun, who blinked his eyes as honestly as he could.

“Do you even believe it yourself?” Tao spat out, murmuring something by himself in Chinese before standing up and walking in front of the cameras. Sehun cursed quietly by himself before following the boy again.

It seemed like the cameramen were willing to take a happy, warm-tempered photo-shoot of the boys. “Imagine a sunny summer day, ice cream and a beach!” The director yelled, the two idols glancing each other disgustedly. “Smile, smile more! Now, Zitao, please wrap your hands around Sehun. Yeah, just like that!” Sehun glanced at Tao, who was busy smiling the widest smile he could physically form. “Forgive me, Tao!” The maknae whispered, smiling back at the camera. “Never!” The other boy spat back immediately, neither of them breaking their poses.

But today Sehun had decided not to give up until he got what he wanted. He knew Tao well enough to know the boy wasn’t even angry at him anymore, but just wanted to act difficult to get his attention.

“Tao! Believe me, I won’t give up until we’re like we used to be!” Sehun kept on nagging while the idols were walking back from the photoshoot room, Tao walking as fast as he could. Sehun walked even faster. Tao finally stopped, turning around on the empty corridor to stare at Sehun, his eyes widening from annoyance. “Like we used to be? So now you’re wanting me back, right? “No, I…” “Did you already get bored of Donghae? Was he too old and now you want some young flesh again?” Tao spat out, breathing heavily. Sehun took a step closer, looking at the older boy with the cutest face he could do. “Please. Forgive me.” Tao bit his lip. Both of them stared at each other intensively. No words were to be heard but there was a wordless conversation going on. “Tao…for me.” Sehun whispered, carefully taking the boy’s shaking hand into his own. “Okay?” He said, Tao still staring at him wordlessly. He looked like he might start crying at any given second. Sehun sighed and crossed their fingers together, not breaking their eye contact…

“Sehun?” Out of nowhere, Donghae stood suddenly next to them in the dark corridor. Sehun quickly unlinked his hand with Tao, smiling confusedly at his boyfriend. Tao rushed out of the corridor immediately like he never was there.

“Well, what is wrong with him?” Donghae whispered, glancing the back of the furious Chinese boy suspiciously before he disappeared behind the corner. During their relationship, Sehun had noticed that Donghae seemed to have never liked the idea of Tao. The man went all tense from even mentioning the name Tao – probably because he knew all about the past he had had with his boyfriend. Sehun shrug his shoulders indifferently. “Tao being difficult again.” “Surprise.” Donghae said with a smile, grabbing the boy’s waist after making sure the corridor was empty. “Did you miss me?” The man whispered quietly before pushing the taller boy against the wall and kissing him passionately.

During the past weeks Sehun’s relationship status was not the only thing that had changed amongst the EXO members. After Sehun had initially brought up the gay-topic, Luhan and Minseok had finally admitted to their members that their relationship had extended beyond mere fanservice (everyone can imagine poor leader Joonmyun’s face at this point). Most of the members were okay with this, or at least didn’t make a big show of their disagreement. Nobody wanted that kind of a fight again.

This was a good chance for Sehun: as Minseok and Luhan were sharing a room anyway, they were now letting Sehun to occasionally spend a night or two at Donghae’s place just for the sake of treating everyone equally. As long as the maknae didn’t bring the man at their dorm or overlap their dates with any EXO activities, no one – apart from Tao – complained. All in all, things were going much better than any of them could have dared to wish a month ago. Sehun's romance with Donghae was blooming and there was absolutely no way to stop it.

“Donghae! Hae! Lee Donghae! Where are…” Eunhyuk suddenly ran in the corridor in which Donghae and Sehun were secretly kissing. “Yes?” Donghae asked calmly, breaking their kiss slowly without really bothering about being watched. He never broke his eye contact with Sehun while Eunhyuk started speaking. Eunhyuk cleared his throat awkwardly, giving Donghae an annoyed glance. “If you still remember, there happens to be a group called Super Junior and they are waiting for you to come on stage!” He said, rolling his eyes when realising Donghae seemed not to be listening at all. He his heels and walked away. Sehun tried to look after him with an apologising glare - he had tried his best to act nice towards the man that he knew was so close to his boyfriend - but he was interrupted by Donghae's eager embrace.

“One more…” Donghae breathed out and attacked the boy with his lips aggressively before running away, Sehun following with hi eyes his small figure  disappearing behind the corner. Good lord, that man will be the death of me, Sehun thought, smiling lightheadedly by himself. He was still leaning against the same wall where Donghae had pushed him. Taking a deep breath, he brushed his hair from his face and followed his lover.

Despite being physically really into each other, Donghae and Sehun had also grown to have their more mellow moments. Donghae being a hopeless romantic, he loved to arrange Sehun little surprises and sometimes succeeded in being so cheesy with his romantic dates and love confessions that Sehun felt like puking – but only in all the good ways.

As the autumn was coming closer and closer and Donghae’s birthday was approaching Sehun realised it always was, and had always been Donghae making surprises, and Sehun being on the receiving side. He decided that for once he should try to come up with a great surprise for his boyfriend who probably was not expecting anything special.

“Yixing hyung…this is a bit random but how do people usually surprise their partners on their birthdays? Like…normal people?” Sehun found himself once wondering while stretching after a dance practice. Yixing glanced Sehun from the corner of his eye, chuckling by himself. That wasn’t the most usual thing to ask. “How am I supposed to know? Do something romantic.” “What is romantic?” “You know, bring him flowers and chocolate. But he’s not a girl. I don’t know. Buy him a car.” “A car? Why a car?” “I don’t know! What does he like?” Sehun cringed, stopping to think for a moment. “Many kinds of things. Mostly me.” Yixing chuckled. “That should be easy then. Give him yourself.” Sehun was first about to laugh but then he realised it actually made sense. “Thanks, Yixing, you’re the best!” He exclaimed with an excited tone, grabbing his belongings and running out the practice room.

It was the morning of Donghae’s birthday. The sun hadn’t even risen yet when Sehun hopped out of the taxi a safe distance before Donghae’s house. He knew that if someone parked a car in front of the house it resonated through the walls so that it could be heard from Donghae’s bedroom exceptionally well. He didn’t want to burden the man by waking him up too early.

Sehun was walking towards the house, wearing a black cap, sunglasses and a huge black hoodie so that he wouldn’t be recognised. “Are you sure he’s not going to get scared by you? You look like a burglar.” The boy’s driver had warned but he had overlooked his comments arrogantly. He knew what he was doing. The magnificent idea Sehun had in his mind was – in all its simplicity - to be there when Donghae wakes up and surprise him with his presence. He knew this would be, without a question, what Donghae would want the most.

The boy had the key for Donghae’s backdoor. With care, Sehun sneaked through the garden all the way to the backyard, from where he opened the door carefully, trying to be as quiet as ever possible.

The house Sehun had been in for tens of times felt suddenly really creepy. He closed the door behind him, waiting for a few breaths before starting to tiptoe through the pool room. In the dark, the pool seemed suddenly so deep and threatening. Sehun walked past it with his back against the wall: it wouldn’t be nice for Donghae to start playing a lifeguard before the sun would even rise.

The staircase had never felt longer. Sehun kept a tactical pause between every step, trying to listen if the man’s sleeping sounds were to be heard - he was very well aware that his boyfriend was a loud snorer. The house was creepily quiet. Was Donghae home at all?

After taking a deep breath Sehun opened the bedroom door just to see there was no one. The sheets were lying messily half on the bed, half on the floor, like someone had slept on it and left in a hurry. Sehun walked in worriedly, seeing that the man’s phone wasn’t there on the night table where he usually keeps it while sleeping. What was going on…?

Suddenly Sehun heard quiet steps from the hallway. Maybe Donghae had been just in the bathroom? He mustn’t see me yet or the surprise is ruined, Sehun panicked and ran into the only place to hide in the room: the wardrobe.

Feeling like a spy, Sehun stood there in between Donghae’s tidily folded clothes. He heard the steps approaching the room, entering the room. Then, suddenly leaving the room. What was Donghae doing? Sehun wondered and after a few breaths opened the door to get some air.

The next thing he knew was that something hard hit the back of his head, making him fall on the floor. He hit his forehead painfully against the corner of the night table. “What is t-th….” Sehun mumbled in terror, covering his head with his both hands.

“SEHUN!!?!?” A voice shouted in horror, Sehun letting out a terrified squeak when someone touched him.

Sehun raised his head: his vision starting to become slightly blurry of all the hits. “D-Donghae?” He asked with a shaking voice, feeling so embarrassed of being discovered like this.

Donghae, wearing his night clothes, dropped on his knees, confusedly throwing a floor brush from his hands. He cupped the boy’s face, staring at him in panic while raising him in sitting position, checking both sides of his head. “You’re bleeding!” He whispered, lifting the tall boy with all his strength to lie on his bed. Sehun raised his hand on his own forehead, just to realise it was all sticky. “What have I done??!” Donghae cried out, running out of the room to get his first aid pack.

“I seriously thought there was a burglar! I was lying on my couch and heard someone creeping from the backdoor. Then I saw someone walking up the stairs in all black, then hiding in the closet, I honestly thought I was being robbed!” Donghae explained hastily, wiping the boy’s face with a towel. Sehun was sitting on the toilet seat, the older man kneeled in front of him. “I’m sorry…it’s my fault…I was…” “What were you trying to do? Why were you sneaking in like that?” Donghae sighed in frustration, kissing the boy’s forehead after finally wrapping it up with roll bandage. Sehun noticed that the man looked really tired and there were dark circles around his eyes. This perhaps wasn’t as good idea as he had thought in his mind.  

“I…it was supposed to be your birthday surprise.” “To rob me?” Donghae smiled slightly, helping the boy who was still feeling slightly dizzy. He wrapped the boy’s arm around his neck, holding his waist with both hands to help him walk back into the bedroom.

They were just entering the hallway when they heard the front door being opened. Donghae glanced Sehun in horror. “Damn…I just realised I called police before I started following you to upstairs!” “You w-what?” Sehun whispered, Donghae starting to push him into his bedroom in panic, closing the door just before the policemen ran the stairs up.

“Yeah, sorry, it’s me Lee Donghae here. It was a misunderstanding, there was no burglar in the house.” Sehun cringed in the room while listening to his boyfriend trying to set things up. “Are you alone in the house?” A low voice asked. “Yes, I…” “Someone entered the room behind you just before we came. Who is in the room?” “Oh, yeah, I mean my…son…it was my son.” “Your son? But weren’t you supposed to be alone in the house?” The same voice asked curiously, Sehun facepalming himself while leaning his head against the wall. Donghae, what the hell? Son? “”Yeah, and there’s not actually my son, it’s just my nephew. And he’s here. And me. No burglars.” “Okay. A wrong alarm then?”

After helping the policemen out Donghae walked into the room, hitting his head with his hands while laughing nervously. “Donghae…son?” Sehun asked, trying not to laugh as it hurt his head so much. The man walked to Sehun, checking the condition of his bandages. “It was the first thing that popped in my mind!” He smiled, Sehun chuckling. “You could’ve just said a friend, you know?” “Don’t blame me! I’m in fever!” Donghae defended, carefully moving Sehun to sit on the bed and sitting next to him. “Fever? Really? Are you ill?” Donghae sighed with a nod, Sehun leaning out his hand to touch the man’s forehead. It was hot. Perhaps that was the reason he had looked so tired. “It’s actually nothing. I just felt really weak last night and the fever started rising. That’s why I wasn’t in my bed, I was reading in the living room. I couldn’t really sleep.” Sehun nodded, regretting his stupid plans. This was going to be the last time he ever planned a surprise for anyone.

The couple soon found themselves sitting in the living room, both cuddling under a thick blanket, Donghae’s head resting on Sehun’s shoulder. “I still can’t believe I hit you. I can never forgive myself.” Donghae sighed out sadly, Sehun laughing and caressing the man’s legs hidden inside his thick black trousers. “I caused your beautiful face to be on bruises. Your forehead actually looked pretty bad, there will surely be a big mark on it. Just blame me if someone asks, I can take all the responsibility. I’ll invent something.” Donghae explained worriedly, leaning up to check his boyfriend’s head again. “Don’t worry. It’s my fault: I was really behaving like a burglar.” Donghae chuckled, caressing the boy’s cheek affectionately before leaning his head back down on the taller boy’s shoulder. “W-why were you even in the wardrobe? What were you trying to do, scare me when I wake up or what?” The younger boy shook his head confusedly. “It was supposed to be romantic. But I at being romantic.” Donghae hummed, cuddling closer to the boy. “It’s okay. I still love you.”

The open book and an empty tea cup on the floor reminded Sehun that Donghae was actually the one being ill in here. “Can I do anything for you? Like, I’m the one who is supposed to be healing you and not the other way around.” Sehun asked, feeling how the older man immediately shook his head. “No, no. Just rest. I think we’re equal considering I caused your head to bleed.” They both laughed. “I’m so sorry. The worst birthday present ever.” “What? I think this was pretty cool. What matters the most is that you’re here now. I would kiss you but I don’t want to make you ill too.” He said while staring at Sehun’s lips intensively. “I don’t care.” Sehun said quietly, leaning closer to the man who pulled away immediately, covering his lips with his hand to protect them from the eager boy. “No! I’m not going to take any risks with your health!” He mumbled seriously, moving himself a few inches away like it would’ve helped something. Sehun pouted sadly and Donghae gave up without further resistance and cuddled back into his arms.

However fine Donghae acted, his fever seemed to be raising all the time. They were lying on the couch, Sehun spooning Donghae from the backside and kissing the man’s hair from time to time. It was so unusual for them to be like this - usually it was Donghae who took care of the younger one. They were watching TV, and after the man had asked Sehun to decide what to watch they were now in middle of the tenth episode of Sailor Moon in a row. Donghae, even though thinking why the hell his boyfriend was enjoying such a pointless, girlish anime, felt so comfortable that he hoped he would become ill more often. .

“Sehun?” “Yes?” Sehun answered cheerily, Donghae hearing from his voice that he was quietly laughing at the silly scene going on in the anime. “Please don’t tell me you have to go soon.” Donghae moaned out quietly, pushing himself closer to the boy’s warm body and pulling the boy's arms tighter around his chest. “I still have an hour. Don’t worry.” Sehun answered, kissing Donghae’s ear. Donghae closed his eyes, just enjoying the moment.He was ill, he was in bad fever, but this was without a doubt the best birthday of his life so far, he thought with a happy smile. Thank the Heavens for giving me a chance to call this wonderful creature my boyfriend..

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