The Exo-k dorm is quieter tonight, more so than past months Junmyeon notes as he pads through the dim hallway to the kitchen. Hes not usually opposed to the quiet, having to manage the other 5 members and the noise that comes with having Chanyeol and Baekhyun in the same vicinity.

But Chanyeol's away filming Roommate and Baekhyun's been unsurprisingly subdued since his scandal with Taeyeon. So even though it’s only midnight the dorm is quiet, the sounds of muffled laughter and music coming from each room that he passes, but no screaming, no door slamming or thumping feet as s chase each other down the hall.

Junmyeon shivers as his bare feet hit the cold kitchen floor and he grabs a cup from the drying rack before filling it up with water for tea. He's unsettled, and almost disturbed by the change in s. He places the cup in the microwave, Junmyeon's too tired to make it with his teapot, and hits the start button, the gentle hum of the microwave replacing the quietness of the kitchen.

Junmyeon watches his tea cup spin in the microwave and it lulls him into a trance before he's startled by the vibration of his phone in his pajama pocket. He fishes it out, wondering which manager is calling him this late. He stares at his phone for a moment, an international number flashing across his screen.Junmyeon has a strong suspicion of who it is and while he doesn't want to answer, he's compelled to. He taps the answer button with a shaking finger and brings the phone to his ear.

“Hello, he whispers into the phone, afraid that if he speaks louder his voice might crack.

“Hi Junmyeon”, the deeper voice says back quietly and Junmyeon knows his intuition was right.

“What's up, Yifan”, the younger man replies back, voice coming out louder and stronger, if Yifan can speak normally then he should try to, he has the option of hanging up after all, if this phone call becomes too much for him.

“I wanted to know how Taozi is doing, I heard he hurt his feet.”

Junmyeon snorts, because isn't that typical, Yifan only caring about Tao and disregarding the others, him. Junmyeon cuts the thought off, he won't finish it, won't go down that path right now, not ever.

“You're a week or two late on that one, but yes, he did hurt them, filming a reality show. They are doing better but he he still can't walk long distances or dance on them just yet.” he speaks slowly, watching the seconds count down in green on the microwave to distract himself. He takes a breath in at 10 seconds and lets it out at 8 seconds.

“That's good to hear, I guess”, Yifan says, and he sounds sadder than he did before he asked the question.

“Look, Yifan, thanks for calling I guess. But I’m still not ready to talk to you”, Junmyeon says with a hint of sadness and frustration.

“That’s fine, Myeon--”

“Don’t ing call me that.”

The line is silent and only Yifan’s shallow breathing on the other end tips Junmyeon off that the other man’s outburst didn’t make him hang up.

The microwave is blinking at him, his tea is done and so is his ability to deal with this particular conversation.

“I’m going to go, Yifan.” Junmyeon says it slowly, carefully, trying to show both of them that he’s not as angry as he was a moment ago.

“You can call again, sometime. Maybe when I’m not so tired”, he laughs, weakly, a half hearted apology for his behavior hidden in the words.

“Ok”, Yifan replies, and the line goes quiet, the been in Junmyeon’s ear alerting him to the call ending.

He places his phone back in his pocket and grabs his mug from the microwave. Junmyeon turns towards the hall just in time to see Baekhyun yank open a door and tear off down the hall, Luhan on his heels. A small smile flits across Junmyeon’s lips, maybe things aren’t so changed after all.