(Part 3)

The increasingly frustrating doorbell continued to ring as Sehun made his way towards the door. His head still throbbed lightly from the fever he has yet to fully recover from. Baekhyun was already prepared for bed, sprawled onto it and just waiting for Sehun to get on it when the doorbell rang. He dragged his feet towards the door, clueless as to who would come and visit at this time of night but not really surprised when he opened the door to a sheepishly grinning Taemin. The older boy flashed him an innocently sweet smile, scratching at his nape as a gesture to say sorry for interrupting.

Sehun couldn’t help the smile that stretched at his lips as he stepped a little back so Taemin could enter the house before closing the door and locking it. “What brings you here?”

There was actually no need to ask; Sehun knows that if Taemin’s visiting at this hour it only meant that he needed to talk to someone. He doesn’t know why Taemin’s lingering there in the living room, though, so he wrapped his fingers around the older’s wrist and pulled him into the room, where Baekhyun stayed sprawled on the bed with only his Mickey Mouse tee and briefs. He smiled upon seeing Taemin and Sehun couldn’t really help the urge that built up his spine when he saw the stretching of Baekhyun’s lips, so he let go of Taemin’s wrist to climb onto the bed, quickly giving those soft pair of lips a few pecks. He chuckled when Taemin rolled his eyes.

Settling onto his side of the bed, Sehun pulled Baekhyun closer so as to make room for Taemin, which the said boy took willingly as he took off his sweater and laid down next to Baekhyun with a sigh. The lovers waited for Taemin to say something, but they were silent for a whole five minutes. Sehun took this moment to drape an arm over Baekhyun’s torso, hand clasping Baekhyun’s as he rested his head onto his palm, a position which allowed him to see Taemin clearly.

“Guys,” Taemin started, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately.”

Baekhyun interrupted, “About what?”

Taemin blinked, turned his head so he was facing both Sehun and Baekhyun. “Life, mostly. I think about us a lot, too. I thought about what would have happened if we never met. What do you think would have happened, Baek?”

The oldest of the three bit at his lower lip and Sehun was afraid he might cry again – he’d been crying a lot since the visit to the beach. Sehun was starting to wonder if he’d failed to make Baekhyun happy since he kept shedding a tear or two. He made sure to talk about it later when they’re alone. Sehun watched as Baekhyun smiled again, relieved to know that his boyfriend wasn’t close to tears. “What would have happened, huh? I think I’d still be working where I am now if I lived through the hardships I’ve had to face for the past couple of years. Maybe less happy, if I was still alive.”

Sehun wished he would stop saying that. He wished Baekhyun would stop mentioning the possibilities of him dying and leaving Sehun behind. He made another mental note to talk about it to Baekhyun later on. It was only a few seconds later that he realized his two best friends were waiting for him to say his part. He flashed them a smile, shrugging a shoulder. “Maybe I’d be somewhere in London, in love with another and perhaps have a family. If fate was to be that I am sad, I’d change it.”

He could see Baekhyun’s face fall, and he was sure he had said something wrong but any apologizing would have to wait. Pursing his lips, the moment fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence in which Sehun kept his gaze elsewhere, slightly guilty and Taemin watched Baekhyun continue biting at his lips. Taemin chuckled, breaking the silence and shaking his head before he said his part.

“Do you know where I’d be?” Taemin started, a smile grazing his lips. “I think I’d be stuck in my mother’s bakery doing something I hate for the rest of my life. I mean, if I never met you, Sehun, I’d still be lacking miserably in my studies and fail all the damn time.”

Sehun raised his brows in question and both he and Taemin glanced at the all too quiet Baekhyun, who lay in the middle and gazed up at the ceiling. Sehun his lip, shifted a little and tightened his hold around his boyfriend. “Why would you fail all the time, though?”

“Because, well,” Taemin hesitated and Sehun could feel the bubble of laughter the older was going to let out. “I used to really like you, Baekhyun hyung, and when I heard you complimenting Sehun a lot about his studies, I wanted you to compliment me too. And I was jealous because Sehun is younger but he could solve a freaking algebra problem that was only taught to juniors. He was literally a freshman, goddamn it. Well, just got out of freshman year but still. So I studied and I got an ‘A’, but your compliments weren’t as amazing as the ones you gave Sehun and I figured then, being the smartest, that you had feelings for our maknae. It’s too bad you only realized it like, two years later.” Taemin chuckled again and Sehun heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Baekhyun joined in.

“But I do realize that I don’t like you that way when I found out you two were hiding feelings from each other, and this was before you graduated, hyung, and I wasn’t even mad. Like, it was almost funny and I was so tempted to smack your faces together or something but that would be gross.”

Baekhyun laughed, pressing his back further into Sehun’s chest and reaching out to playfully pinch at Taemin’s arm. “See? You’re successful now because you put those thumb tags in Mr. Zhang’s seat.”

“I knew it was the right thing to do.” Taemin laughed again, and this time both Sehun and Baekhyun joined in. They fell into another silence as they began to catch their breathing, and they stayed silent until Taemin broke it once again.

“Guys?” He prodded, smiling again when Sehun and Baekhyun hummed in response. “Promise we’ll stay together forever?” He turned to look at his two friends and Sehun smiled so wide his cheeks were beginning to hurt, grinned because he had to hide the raw emotion that was thawing at him. Why did it feel so heavy? How could it be that he felt so sad somehow, with just those words Taemin had said?

It was Baekhyun who got up into a sitting position, pulling both Sehun and Taemin into each of his arms like a mother would her sons. He flashed them a smile, not one that Sehun loves that reached his ears but a smile nonetheless. “I promise we’ll always be together, no matter what.”

Sehun added on, “And when we need help, we can always depend on each other.”

“I’m taking your words, dudes. Like oh god, I’m so emotional right now.” Taemin faked a sniffle, causing Baekhyun to roll his eyes and smacked his arm lightly.

Taemin yawned then, tired as he snuggled into the pillow he was lying on, bidding the other two good night before Sehun could hear him snoring softly. Baekhyun sighed, lying back down onto the bed and shifted so he was properly facing Taemin. Sehun parted his lips to speak, find out if Baekhyun was really mad at him but it was late and he decided they could always talk when they wake up. Pursing his lips, Sehun laid back and tried to let slumber take over him.

He ended up spending the whole night awake.

Taemin had left in the middle of the night, waking up with a groan and stretching his arms up above his head at five in the morning. Sehun had been awake still and he asked why Taemin wouldn’t go back to sleep. The older boy whispered to say that his mother would be waiting for him at home and had quietly slipped off the bed so as to not wake Baekhyun up, not forgetting to thank Sehun before he left. Sehun had stayed awake even long after Taemin locked the door, staring up at the ceiling until the sun peeked through the curtains and forced him out of bed, preparing breakfast at seven.

He absently stirred his coffee, eyes tired from lack of sleep and waiting for the toast to be ready. Once they were, he placed them on a plate for Baekhyun to have. It had been quite a while since he last made breakfast for Baekhyun, seeing the older was always the first to wake up. He never forgot how Baekhyun liked his toasts though, and the result of his breakfast preparation had satisfied him, leaving him smiling as he sipped at his black coffee until Baekhyun emerged from their room.

Sehun grinned up at his lover, placing his mug down onto the table. He could see that Baekhyun wanted to smile, but as if he just remembered something, his lips froze in the form of a pout he was born with. His bedhead made him look all the more attractive, but Sehun had a feeling that now is not the time for him to play around. Baekhyun was clearly upset about something he had said the night before and Sehun was just about to ask when Baekhyun broke the silence after a sip of his tea.

“I am mad at you.” He said, looking straight into Sehun’s eyes.

The younger pursed his lips and frowned, heaving out a small sigh. “Was it something I said?”

Baekhyun huffed, puffed out his cheeks and you would think he was trying to play cute but Sehun knew that was just how he gets when he’s upset. His lips formed into the pout that Sehun adored so dearly and he had to fight the urge to smile. “Last night you said if we never met, you’d probably be in London, in love with another, create a family even! It’s like it doesn’t even sadden you that we could have met but we didn’t. And what did you say again? That if you were fated to be sad, you’d change it? Did you ever wish you’d met me, Oh Sehun? Because it seemed like you didn’t.”

There was a strong urge to pull Baekhyun into his arms as he continued to purse his lips, rephrasing his words in his head so as to not upset Baekhyun even further. He liked it, somehow, the way Baekhyun made him jealous about that colleague of his and in turn he made Baekhyun all worked up like this. He liked that he could get that kind of reaction out of his boyfriend. at his lips, Sehun smiled and reached out to pat Baekhyun’s cheek. The boy flinched back, frowning deeper.

Sehun chuckled. “The thing is, honey, Taemin asked what would have happened if we never met.”

Baekhyun’s eyes watered and Sehun almost regretted it. “What’s your point?”

“My point is, we never met. So obviously I would not feel sad because I wouldn’t know that we could have met. Of course I never regretted meeting you. I’d wish to do it all over again.”

His boyfriend seemed to have given up, resting his forehead onto the heels of his palms and soon his shoulders were shaking. Sehun frowned, concern as to why Baekhyun had cried again. He had gotten off his seat to kneel by Baekhyun’s side, taking one of his boyfriend’s hands and squeezing it reassuringly. “Baekhyun, you’ve been crying a lot lately. Do I not make you happy, love?”