Edited; Re-uploaded

                Baekhyun didn't know exactly what was wrong with Tao, but the younger teen had suddenly asked to stay the night with him and Chanyeol for a while during the evening dinner of their first day off. Baekhyun wondered what caused him to want to get away from his own room, but that answer would be obvious to anyone who looked. Tao mumbling something about making a mistake gave off a few hints, too.

                Something had happened between Kris and Tao on Christmas. Baekhyun wasn't sure what, but the date gave him a pretty good idea, and that made him feel pity for Tao. One way or another, Baekhyun came to the conclusion that one of them confessed or made a move on the other for the occasion, but things didn't exactly work out. After Luhan and Sehun became a thing, everyone seemed to grow more confident, and Baekhyun could visibly see the other relationships blooming. Tao and Kris must have hit a pretty rocky road for Tao to avoid him, though, so Baekhyun didn't deny him when he asked to stay in their room.

                For days, Baekhyun and Chanyeol allowed Tao to sleep with them and use their room on breaks. The bed, though large, was still a little crowded with the three of them, and Tao would often sleep on the floor instead. Even as the days turned into weeks, Baekhyun could tell things weren't getting better. Tao slept more on the cold, blanket-less floor than in an actual bed, and his individual training only got more rigorous. Tao would return to the room sweating and limping more and more often, and Baekhyun was seriously starting to get worried.

                Already, it was nearing the middle of January, with things continuing on like this. Baekhyun talked to Chanyeol about it, and they decided it was time to put a stop to how Tao was acting.

                One early morning, Baekhyun followed Tao out of the room when he went off to train. Baekhyun found him waking up earlier and earlier, along with his increased work outs, and the time he slept only grew shorter. It was like he never gave himself a break, and it hurt Baekhyun to see his friend doing such things to himself. He knew Tao woke up extra early each day, so he followed him with hopes of a chance to talk to him alone.

                For being as early as it was, there were quite a few people wandering the halls. Some looked like they were freshly woken and others looked like they were about to collapse from not getting to sleep yet. Others were in between, but Baekhyun didn't pay much attention to them as he focused on following Tao without getting caught.                

                The younger boy stayed facing forward, thankfully. Baekhyun trailed after him without any problems, and they eventually came to one of the several training areas that were open to everyone. Most others were personal, so only a few could pass through, but ones like these allowed anyone to come whenever they wanted. It was similar to the room where they meet with Sungmin, but it was smaller, and the equipment was different.

                Baekhyun hung back when Tao walked inside, then he waited a few more seconds before peeking into the room. No one was inside other than his friend, who had still not turned around to see him. Baekhyun remained silent, not yet revealing himself as he saw Tao walk over to a punching bag that hung in the far-left corner of the room. He expected Tao to warm himself up a bit, but Baekhyun was shocked to see him go straight into punching the sand-filled sack.

                Baekhyun's eyes were wide as he watched his friend from the doorway, punching the rough cloth bag with bare fists after absolutely no safety precautions or stretching. The teen wasn’t even completely awake, yet his grunts echoed around the room as he forced himself on, and it was only a few minutes before Baekhyun was forced to intervene.

                "Tao, stop!"

                Tao finally turned to face him, his eyes wide in surprise, and Baekhyun ran over to grab onto his hands. Neither one of them said anything as Baekhyun held Tao's tense fists and gently uncurled his fingers. His knuckles were red and on the verge of tearing, and it looked like this wasn't the first time. The thought of Tao doing this for so long nearly brought tears to his eyes as he looked up at his friend.

                "What are you doing Tao? Why are you hurting yourself?"

                Tao didn't look at him, and Baekhyun could feel him trying to pull away as he spoke. "Why aren't you sleeping? You look tired."

                "I could say the same to you." Baekhyun said, only holding his hands tighter. "Why are you pushing yourself so hard? You're going to get injured."

                "I'm fine. I do this a lot." Tao's voice was quiet and calm, but Baekhyun knew he was faking it. He had to be.

                "Is this about Kris?" Baekhyun finally asked, cutting to the reason he came in the first place. He awaited Tao's response, and the way the teen's eyes grew slightly bigger was enough to tell him that he was right.

                Baekhyun sighed softly and gently squeezed Tao's hands. "Tell me what happened."

                When Tao didn't say anything, Baekhyun pushed on, his voice fiercer. "Come on, Tao! I know you like him, I'm not blind! Just man up and tell me what happened! What did you do to each other!?"

                Tao suddenly yanked his hands away, and Baekhyun stumbled forward at the force. He looked up to see Tao was walking away, and Baekhyun could only stare after him.

                This wasn't the Tao he knew. The usual Tao wouldn't beat himself over stuff. He wouldn't keep his mouth shut. He wouldn't show any weakness, even when Baekhyun went overboard with teasing him. The usual Tao didn't shut himself out and stop talking to Kris. Tao was stronger than this.

                "Tao!" Baekhyun yelled after his friend, running to catch up to him before he made it to the door. He grabbed onto Tao's wrist and pulled him hard so that they were facing each other. Tao's eyes were darker than usual, and Baekhyun blurted out his thoughts before thinking. "Did you confess to Kris!?"

                Tao's eyes went wider than before, but then they shrunk to slits. He easily resembled a vicious tiger, and Baekhyun found his grip going weak.

                "Did I confess to Kris?" Tao's voice was laced with bitter amusement and he let out a humorless laugh. "Oh no, it's much worse. You see, he tried confessing to me in the cutest way possible! And you know what!?" Baekhyun saw tears gathering in Tao's eyes, the smile on his face not matching anything else about him. His voice went higher in pitch, and he sounded almost crazy as he went on. "I was too thick headed to ing see it! I'm the one that rejected him without even realizing it! He probably hates me now! Isn't that hilarious!?"

                Baekhyun stared in shock as Tao finished with heaving breaths and an insane look in his eyes. He'd already let go of his friends' arm, and Tao took the moment to leave, tears running down his cheeks, leaving Baekhyun to stare after him in complete shock.

                "Oh, Tao..."

                Tao tried to hide. He didn't want to see anyone and he didn’t want anyone to see him. He had thought Baekhyun would be a good choice and wouldn’t bother him, but he was wrong and now he didn't want to see Baekhyun, either.

                He was a horrible person. He liked Kris a lot, he really did, but he messed things up. Now it was the same with Baekhyun. Something had come over Tao and he exploded a bit. He made the mistake of keeping his emotions to himself, and then he lashed out as punishment.

                Tao couldn't face them. He wanted to distract himself, but now Baekhyun was out there, aware of everything. Well, mostly everything. Tao hadn't gone into detail, but he gave the jist of what happened, so Baekhyun would be sure to tell the others and come looking for him.

                Tao wanted to hide from them, but there was nowhere he could go. He couldn't go to his room and face Kris. He could only wander the halls in hope of avoiding the others. Though, that could and would only last so long.

                "Tao! There you are!"

                At the sound of Baekhyun's voice, Tao turned and saw the older teen running towards him. He stopped a few feet away, his mouth opening to say something again, but Tao held up a hand and interrupted him.

                "Stop! Don't you dare say anything!" Baekhyun froze on his own accord, and Tao watched his mouth close again through narrowed eyes. He thought he caught something flicker on the edge of his vision, but it was gone when he blinked, so he chose to ignore it. "I told you what happened already, so why are you still here?"

                Tao's voice began to shake, and he cursed the tears that began to blur his vision. He wasn't ready yet. Not to face Baekhyun. Not to face Kris. Not even to face his own feelings and emotions, but he let it out anyway.

                "I told you. I made a mistake!" He said. "Kris probably wasted a whole day to make everything, and I completely blew his efforts! I didn't know what it was until Kris left and by then it was too late!"

                Tao ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the overgrown locks. "He hates me, Baekhyun, I know he does. But you're right. I like Kris. I might even love him!" Tao bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut to hold back tears. "But it's too late. I hurt him and he probably won't even want to look at me. What makes you think he'll like me back?"

                Tao hung his head so that Baekhyun couldn't see his face as a tear finally broke through. He waited for Baekhyun to say something, but another voice came through, deeper and much more familiar.

                "What happens if I say I do?"

                Tao's head jerked up at the sound of Kris' voice. They were alone. They were alone the whole time in a hallway in the middle of nowhere, but Kris' voice was there. How was Kris there? The area was empty around them.

                Tao came to the conclusion that he was hearing things, but then Baekhyun's body broke away in fragments of color to reveal Kris standing in front of him. Tao's eyes went wide, and Kris walked forward with an unusually confident expression on his face. He came so close that Tao had to tilt his head up to look at his face, trying to figure out what was going on.

                "What will you do if I say that I know he likes you back?" Kris' mouth moved with the words, and Tao felt his knees go weak. He wasn't hearing things, after all. Kris was there. He'd heard everything. His eyes were playing tricks on him, and he had confessed to Kris thinking it was Baekhyun. Now his breathing was coming faster and shorter, to the point where he was probably hyperventilating, and Kris' hands grabbed onto his arms.

                "Say something, Tao."   

                Tao's mouth opened, and he almost couldn't get words to form. "Why...? Why don't you hate me?"

                This brought a slight smile to Kris' lips, and he felt the other's breath when he spoke. "It's been almost a month, Tao. I was never going to give up on you, and I'll admit that my craft skills aren't exactly the best." Tao stared up unbelievingly at Kris as he went on. "Yes, I was kind of mad. The idea was nice, but I was angry that I couldn't pull it off. I was excited and I thought I could do it, but it turns out that I should just be straightforward when I do these things."

                Tao found himself shaking his head the tiniest bit, and Kris' smile left his face as his thick brows furrowed. "What's wrong?"

                "You don't want me..." He whispered, his voice only able to come out that softly. "I avoided you for so long, yet you say you won't give up on me... You shouldn't say something like that after what I did."

                "Tao..." Kris inched forward, and they were brought even closer than before. Now Tao could even smell him. He could smell the hair gel that he knew Kris liked from the bathroom, and even the scent of the magically laundered clothing he wore reached his nose. He was too close, and Tao's heart started going crazy in his chest.

                "I'm the only one who knows what I truly want." Kris said, his hand raising to Tao's neck, where his thumb wiped away the drying tear on his cheek. "And I'm telling you right now, that I still like you." Kris' eyes darted down, and his confidence shattered for a moment when a light blush spread across his cheeks. "I might also love you, too...."

                Tao's eyes grew to an enormous size. His mouth opened, but he couldn't form any words. His heart was hammering against his ribcage, but he couldn't breathe. The tears in his eyes stilled, as did everything around them. Only Kris moved, and even Tao was frozen as he leaned in to capture his lips in a kiss.

                Warmth flowed through Tao's body at Kris' touch, though he wasn't thawed. He couldn't feel the rest of his body when Kris' mouth was on his, as if only his lips had the sense of touch. His mind went fuzzy and his eyes began to close while he still struggled to breathe in the midst of kissing. Kris seemed to notice his struggle, and he slowly pulled back, his lips lingering for a moment that was savored.

                Tao's chest ached. His lips ached. His everything ached. He could hardly open his eyes again, and when he did, he saw Kris smiling at him. "Breathe, Tao." And as if Kris' words were magic, he found himself in-taking a long gulp of air. He shuddered as he exhaled, and then he managed to finally speak.

                "Kris, I..." But he didn't know what to say. Tao's sentence died off, and he was filled with a worry that Kris thought he didn't want him. Though, after his little confession, he realized that wouldn't happen. "I'm so stupid..."

                Tao's head hung down, and he heard Kris' deep chuckle from above. "That's okay. I was the one that didn't man up and talk to you again."

                "Yeah, but I was the one to avoid you..." Tao murmured. "I didn't even try talking to you about it, and then I just..."

                "You buried yourself in your training." Kris finished the sentence softly. Tao kept his eyes down and saw Kris reaching to grab his hands, and the elder's thumb trailed over his bruised, red knuckles. "I'm sorry, Tao. I should have been more clear with you."

                "Well we can be clear now." Tao said, and it took him a moment to figure out how weird that sounded. His face turned warm in embarrassment, but Kris only laughed and tilted his head up with a hand. Tao was forced to look into his eyes with burning cheeks as he was given a sincere, heart-warming smile.

                "I've liked you since you first showed me your martial arts skills, and even up until now." Kris spoke the words so naturally that Tao's face turned twice as hot. He wanted to look away, but Kris' hand still prevented him from looking anywhere other than his face.

                "Since day one..." He mumbled in response. "I guess you could call it love at first sight..."

                Kris' eyes were wide for a moment, and then he was letting out a loud laugh that showed a gummy smile. He leaned his head back a bit, then he let it all forward onto Tao's so that their foreheads touched. "You're too cute..."

                Sudden gagging sounds interrupted their moment, and Tao shoved Kris away to glance around them. Baekhyun stood in the hall with Chanyeol, Luhan, and Sehun, his finger pointing at his mouth as he pretended to vomit everywhere. Heat swarmed through Tao's body as he realized they were being watched, and he couldn't help but yell out at them.

                "What are you guys doing!?"

                "Aw! You two are so cute!" Luhan cooed, ignoring Tao's question. "I'm so glad you made up!"

                "Congrats, guys." Chanyeol added, giving two thumbs up and his usual grin.

                "Did you see everything!?" Tao asked next, seeing as they weren't answering his previous question, and they all gave a few nods.

                "Baekhyun planned it out." Luhan said, pointing to the black-haired menace who paused in his fake gagging to stare at Tao with enormous eyes.

                "Oh, did he now?" Tao turned to stare at Baekhyun, who gave a nervous laugh.

                "Yeah... It was time you guys made up, so I got some help and did a few magic tricks to get you to confess." Baekhyun rubbed his neck as he gave an apologetic look. "Sorry... I only made a small illusion. Nothing too big..."

                "Wait, so I wasn't just seeing things?" Tao asked, referring to when Kris first appeared, and Baekhyun hummed through pursed lips as he thought of how to explain.

                "Sort of? I just covered Kris up with the illusion of myself in hopes that you would confess in me." He explained. "It worked, thank God, but I still have a few bugs to fix. You probably saw them without realizing it."

                Tao recalled the flicker he saw and assumed that's what Baekhyun was referring to as he gave a nod. Then he was back to being embarrassed. "But did you all have to watch!?"

                "Of course we did! We had to make sure everything turned out okay!" Luhan said.

                "And now I have something to tell the others." Baekhyun snickered, resulting in a threatening glare from Tao. He quickly cleared his throat and nervously went on. "I mean, we had to make sure you didn't punch him or something."

                Tao could live with that, but it didn't make him any less embarrassed. And to make it worse, Kris felt the need to put an arm around him and tilt their heads together to try and lift the mood. "Well, you saw everything you need to see. The show's over."

                "That's too bad. I was just about ready to pull out some popcorn." Sehun spoke up for the first time, his lips tilted in a smirk. Luhan laughed at that, and Tao could only hide his red face behind his hands.

                Kill me now...

                Lay was tired. It was a feeling he had often, but he found that one person was able to rid him of the exhausting sensation, while also making him all the more tired in the process. He was watching the boy now, sitting on the floor, messing around with droplets of water in the air.

                Lay smiled at Suho from where he lay on his stomach in the middle of their bed, finding that the show being put on for him was quite amusing. Suho was like a child with the way he moved the water through the air. He was very clearly enjoying himself, and the way he moved the water to form different things was interesting.

                They'd all been training hard in the many weeks since they’d come here. Lay could see it, and sometimes, he could almost feel the pain of Suho when he came into the room after a tough lesson of physical combat. Though, he just thought it was because of his vivid imagination.

                Lay still hadn't gotten anywhere with his own powers. He absolutely hated it. Suho tried to cheer him up about it, and Lay truly was thankful for that. They'd become close after the first awkward period between them passed, and Lay was really beginning to like him.

                He often remembered what Youngjae had told him when they first met. That Suho would come around and turn out to be nice. He was right, but something about him and the others felt off. He felt like he was missing something when he talked or even looked at them, but he couldn't figure out what.

                "Lay." The boy perked up when Suho said his name, and he found that the teen was standing in front of him instead of sitting on the floor. Lay quickly got up to a sitting position to talk more comfortably.

                "Sorry. Did you say something?"

                Suho shook his head with a smile, sitting down on his usual side of the bed. "Are you tired? It's getting late."

                With a look at the clock, Lay realized that he was right, so he settled down under the covers with Suho at his side. He was indeed very tired, so he wasn't surprised that Suho noticed, and it wasn't long before he eventually fell into darkness.

                When Lay opened his eyes next, he was in a forest. It was bright outside, and he had to cover his eyes against the blinding light. He'd almost forgotten how the sun looked, and a soft yelp from somewhere nearby caught his attention. It had him walking towards the source in curiosity, a dull static feeling pricking at his hand.

                Twigs crunched and snapped underfoot, and Lay soon saw a form standing from the ground. It was a male, and his knees were dirty from where they'd hit the ground. He seemed to have just fallen, and Lay reached forward to grab his wounded hand.

                They exchanged a few words, but Lay couldn't seem to make out what they were. He tried searching the face to place a name to the person, but it was like the glare of the sun was in the way and he couldn't make out the boy's features.

                There was a hand. It was the injured one and he was holding it. He wasn't sure why, but a second later it wasn't injured anymore and there was a fresh Band-Aid on it. The boy's face filled his vision again, but then it was his retreating backside that he saw, and a feeling of disappointment washed through him.

                Suddenly, the sunny world around him twisted in a blur, and when things next cleared up, it was dark. He was in a forest again, though he wasn't sure if it was the same one as before. It was cold, and he could barely see anything in front of him as he found himself stumbling forward in a run. There was a person holding his hand, but it was too dark to see who it was. Again, he couldn't make out any words that were being said by this person. He wasn't even sure how he knew they were talking, but things were moving quickly.

                There was a sudden sound that made his ears ring, and he could faintly see a figure collapsed on the ground in front of him. His head spun, and then there was something on his arm, pulling on him. He fought to remove it, but it tightened so hard he thought his arm would be ripped off. He screamed for help, and a name flowed past his lips. He called out again and again, and he strained to make out what he was saying.

                Then there was someone else. A friend, he assumed, for they were trying to help him. He couldn't recognize this face, either, but they were pulling on him, trying to get him loose. They both tried their best, but in the end, they were both slammed into the ground. For a few seconds, all he could hear was his pounding heart. Dirt scraped against his face as he was grabbed by what felt like ropes, and then he was being dragged across the ground.

                A single word passed through his lips, and this time, he was able to catch the distant sound of the name "Joonmyun" as he was swallowed in darkness.

                Lay sat up in bed with a gasp. His chest heaved and sweat dotted his skin, making his clothes stick. He gazed around to make sure he was actually awake, and he sighed with relief to see that the nightmarish dream was over.

                Lay curled his legs to his chest as he tried to get his breathing under control, the images from his sleep still clear in his mind. As clear as they had been, anyway. He still never got a good look at any one of the people in his dream, and he repeated the name Joonmyun in his head multiple times. He didn't know someone by that name, but maybe it was the person that had been beside him in the first scene. Or at least one of the others.

                Lay shivered with a sudden chill. He had experienced his dream as though he were really there, and it was scary how vivid it was. He didn't know what brought it up, but his head was starting to hurt now that he was awake.           

                "Water..." Lay mumbled softly to himself as he slowly pulled off his covers. He shivered once more, and was quick to get to his feet. He hurried across the room to the bathroom and got himself a drink from the sink, too lazy to leave the room to get a proper one, and then he returned to his bed.

                He was freezing by the time he lay back down, and he shuffled closer to Suho's sleeping form to warm himself up. The boy was radiating heat, and Lay welcomed the feeling as he pressed closer. His eyes were already beginning to close again as he mumbled incoherently to himself, but then Suho started to speak, too.

                "Xing... Xing... No..."

                Lay propped himself up on his elbows to gaze at Suho in the dark, and he noticed the way the boy's brows furrowed in his sleep as he curled up in a ball. His hand was gripping tightly at the sheets beneath them, and he continued murmuring things as he slept.

                "Please... Come back... Xing..."

                Suho sounded like he was in pain, and Lay wondered if he was also having a nightmare. He didn't know who Xing was, but it sounded like it was someone that Suho missed. He hadn't heard the name before, just like the Joonmyun he spoke about it his own dream, and thinking about it made his head hurt again.

                Lay laid back down on his side, and he let his arm fall over Suho's body as he gently took his hand. "It's okay, Suho... It's just a dream..." He murmured, wondering if Suho would even be able to hear him. Probably not, but he continued whispering to the boy until he, too, returned to sleep.