Night wasn’t kind on Baekhyun. He had tossed and turned all night long, unable to fall asleep and when he finally did, his dreams were plagued by Sooyoung and her ominous words.

When he entered the kitchen that morning, Tao actually commented on how he had bigger dark circles than he had, which caused Sehun to immediately appear next to him and fussing over his hyung, leaving him rather flushed. Truth to be told, Baekhyun loved this little moments, moments where his little maknae would fuss over him or clung to him for a cuddle. It was the sincerity and the affection behind the younger’s actions that made Baekhyun fall hard for him. Sehun was uncomplicated, simple and innocent. He was breathtaking.

Despite his troubled state of mind, Baekhyun let the maknae slid into his lap for a cuddle, petting the auburn locks on the head nestled on the crook of his neck while the maknae snuggled to him.

Jongin, from the other side of the table, was berating himself, how did he not notice those two? It was so obvious. Sehun was the light of Baekhyun’s eyes and Baekhyun was kind of a beacon to Sehun, as the younger tended to gravitate to his hyung more and more. Chanyeol had told him that Baekhyun believed that his affections were one sided, seeing this, Jongin had his doubts. He looked at his own boyfriend and gave him a meaningful glance. He wanted Chanyeol to clear things ups with Baekhyun as soon as possible and while he hated to ruin Baekhyun and Sehun’s moment, he had to because his boyfriend was a guilty mess since yesterday and Jongin didn’t want to see him like that.

Chanyeol approached his best friend and almost felt bad for intruding. Baekhyun was busy rubbing soothing circles on Sehun’s back, talking to him in a low voice, while the other was clinging to Baekhyun’s shirt, eyes closed, totally at peace. He touched Baekhyun back and the other looked at him.

“Can I talk to you? It’s important.”

“Sure! Sehunnie, hyung need to go talk to Chanyeol for a moment.”

“I don’t want you to!” complained the maknae while snuggling further in Baekhyun’s arms. “I want you to stay with me.”

“It will only take a moment; I’ll come back to you afterwards.”

“You better!”

Sehun got up from Baekhyun’s lap and let the other stand, pouting all the way. He turned to Chanyeol and demanded the giant to bring him up his hyung as soon as he finished talking to him.

Baekhyun laughed at the maknae’s cuteness and kissed him on the forehead briefly before following Chanyeol out of the room and into the balcony. As soon as he closed the doors, Chanyeol opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

Baekhyun was truly confused. Why in the world would Chanyeol be sorry? He hadn’t any reason to be sorry. If anything it should be him apologizing.

“I’m sorry for yesterday and for my words. They implied that I didn’t trust you and that is not the case at all. Baek, you are my best friend and I trust you with my whole heart but the secrecy of mine and Jongin’s relationship was thrilling. And I was scared of your reaction…I mean I know you wouldn’t mind my preferences but I was dead scared of you thinking I wasn’t enough for him or him for me. But I never, ever, once did it because I don’t trust you and I don’t want you to think otherwise. That’s not the case at all.”

Baekhyun looked at his friend and smiled at the sincerity of the others words. He had been worrying so much that Chanyeol didn’t find him trustworthy. He felt more at ease and a bit lighter.

“You have nothing to apologize for. I get what you are trying to say and I sincerely apologize for leaving like that yesterday. It was quite a brat move on my part.”

“It wasn’t Baekhyun; don’t start with that stupid deprecating self-thing. Your actions were more than justified and I am truly sorry for not telling you before. I really am. You are my best friend and I feel guilty enough because you had to find this way instead of me telling you.”

“Ok let’s compromise then. Everything is alright, no more apologizing!”

Chanyeol laughed out loud at his friend and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you for being understanding.”

“Thank you for sharing your secret. And, for the record, I actually think Jongin and you are kind of perfect for each other.”

The taller beamed at him before addressing the other matter that he wanted.

“You seemed really troubled this morning. Is everything alright?”

He felt Baekhyun stiffen in his arms, which alerted him that something was not right.

“It’s nothing Yeol. I just had a bad night that’s all.”

Chanyeol wanted to say more but he was interrupted by Baekhyun’s phone, alerting them to a new text message. He saw his friend reading the message and the way he got paler after reading it, he was about to comment on it when Baekhyun spoke, while opening the balcony’s doors in a hurry.

“Yeol, I got to leave really quickly okay? Tell Sehunnie I’m really sorry but something urgent just came.”

Baekhyun walked briskly through the still empty streets of Seoul. It was still very early and the air was so cold that he doubted that anyone would dare to leave their houses to stroll around the city. He however had to, Sooyoung’s message had been very clear and Baekhyun didn’t think it was a good thing to mess with her, especially since she had the upper hand.

He one of the streets and entered on a little, cozy coffee shop. It was fairly discreet and he could see why it was the perfect place for such an encounter. He didn’t bother to buy anything; he simply marched to the table, on the back corner, where he was seeing Sooyoung animatedly waving at him.

Baekhyun had barely time to sit down before Sooyoung got down to business.

“Have you made your choice already?”

“You know my answer. You knew my answer from the moment you make me this proposition. If I had a choice I wouldn’t be sitting here. Which I guess it was what you wanted.”

Sooyoung smiled at him and he could see her eyes burn with coldness.

“True enough. It was exactly what I wanted; I wanted you to have no option at all. I know you very well, you are those one of those chivalrous knights who fight everyone else’s battles, suffer as martyrs, go to hell and back in order to protect those who they love. So I knew I had you in the palm of my hand all along. Golden hearts are a beautiful thing Baekhyun but the sheer trouble they bring is astounding. You just had to be one of those, huh? But let’s get down to business, since we all know you are a scintillating knight. This will be very simple, there are a few things at the moment that displease me or, more accurately, some people and, to put it simple, I want them out of my way, that’s when you get in. You are an influential, charming, young man, people listen to you and you are noticed, so you will aid me in my little quest. It is as simple as that.” Noticing the shock and horror in Baekhyun’s face, Sooyoung rolled her eyes at him, quickly understanding what the boy was thinking. “I am not talking about murder Baekhyun. There are more ways to get someone out of someone’s way other than sending it to its grave. Be original!”

“At what cost? Are you seriously telling me you don’t think about the consequences?”

“I don’t, not at all. There are reasons for me to doing this, egotistical reasons I give you that, but reasons nonetheless and what I want, I get! The end!”

Baekhyun was absolutely disgusted by the woman sitting in front of him. She had the compassion of a rock and the cruelty of a ravenous beast.

“I’m not comfortable with this. You are going to ruin someone’s life.”

“And you are going to help Baekhyun, so you better get comfortable, just think of all the things that could happen to your precious band members if a certain photo leaked. That should be enough motivation.”

And with those words, Baekhyun grew cold. He really had to follow her orders. He had no options. Sooyoung noticed the younger’s turmoil and found it to be very amusing.

“So listen up pretty knight. Mission number one is on. As you know, SDSN lost a member recently, Jessica, and while this brought us some attention, all eyes are focused on Jessica now, waiting for her next step, it doesn’t help that all the things media has been saying about us is whether it was our fault or not. After all that SDSN has done for Jessica, this is how she repays us? I’m not really happy about it; therefore I must do something about that. WE will do it.”

“Are you really going to do that Sooyoung? Isn’t there another way?”

Sooyoung’s good mood was apparently gone because she leaned over the table, a menacing look on her face, nails digging into the skin of Baekhyun’s own hand.

“Listen to me. I will not change my mind, so don’t try to persuade me into doing so. I am tired of your hesitance. You will do as I say or else you kiss your little band bye-bye once half of them are hauled to China, or banned out of freaking Korea because they like men and the other is too busy being beggars because SM sued them so hard they are going to be paying them until next reincarnation. Understood?” When Baekhyun nodded, Sooyoung continued her speech “Good. Now, I know you have group schedules this afternoon in a TV show. Go in there, use whatever method you want, but lead them to talk about Jessica. Persuade them into think that, in your opinion, she’s the lowest of the low for gaining recognition while her group buddies are struggling with her absence, something like that. Never, ever, claim that you have talked to someone or know something that, in reality, you don’t. I don’t want media to try and validate facts that we know that aren’t true at all. You claim that is is only your opinion.”

Sooyoung stood up abruptly, threw her Styrofoam cup into the garbage can and checked her hair on the reflection of a mirror before addressing Baekhyun for the last time before leaving the coffee shop.

“I really hope you try really hard to pull this off because if I’m not pleased with the results you are going to be very, very sorry. Keep your phone near you, in case I want to contact you.”

When she left, Baekhyun remained sat in his chair. He was having an insane urge to cry. The impact of her words was finally hitting him. He had to find a better solution to this because she was clearly out of mind. He had to! But until then he would have to deal with her craziness, he wasn’t sure how far would she go if he denied her, he thought to himself as he gazed at his scratched hand, following a little bead if blood trailing from the it’s back to the tablecloth.

As soon as Baekhyun opened the door he was faced with a pouting Sehun. Despite feeling tired beyond belief, Baekhyun had to smile, especially when the younger latched himself to him.

“Hi baby maknae. What’s with the pout?”

“You promised to come back after talking with Chanyeol.”

“I know and I am very sorry. Didn’t Chanyeol warn you I had to get out for a while?”

“He did but it doesn’t mean I enjoyed it!” with a small voice, looking through his lashes at Baekhyun, the maknae continued his attack. “What did you have to do that was more important than me?”

“What?! Don’t say that! Nothing is more important than you, I’m sorry! Hyung is sorry!”

Sehun grinned immensely seeing his hyung so flustered and blabbering. Sehun didn’t think that Baekhyun was aware of his own words, or rather the meaning of his words. Sehun wasn't stupid he knew very well that Baekhyun had feelings for him, it was kind of obvious; the way he took care of him, the loving glances, the warm embraces. The fact that he had caught Chanyeol talking about it to Jongin had also been a big clue. And, to tell the truth, Sehun liked Baekhyun as well. He loved the big sunshine that was Baekhyun, his smile, his eyes, his gentleness, his warmth, everything!

“I forgive you if you cuddle with me right now.”

“Deal!”

Sehun pushed Baekhyun into the couch, making him sit down, and plopped himself on his lap and immediately felt Bakehyun’s hands caressing his locks, pausing from time to time to massage his scalp.

“Where is everyone else?”

“Chanyeol and Jongin are upstairs. Tao is still sleeping and the rest went to get coffee. Minseok said that he couldn’t deal with long hours on s TV show without coffee.”

Baekhyun froze hearing those words, remembering what he had been force to do. He felt an acidic taste burn on his tongue.

Sehun, feeling the halt in Baekhyun’s movements, looked at him only to find him staring blankly ahead. He dropped his entire baby act immediately and asked if everything was okay. Baekhyun told him that everything was okay but he didn’t believe for a second; Baekhyun’s smile was too forced and his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“Are you sure?” He asked again softly.

“I am. Everything’s fine. I just need a hug from my Sehunnie.”

Sehun complied and hug Baekhyun tightly in his arms, trying to shut the nagging voice on the back of his head screaming at him that something was wrong.

Baekhyun almost cried when he felt Sehun’s long limbs wrapping themselves around his torso. In a few hours he would have to turn into a nasty creature and he feared his friends’ reactions. He feared that these little moments with Sehun were on the verge of extinction.

While in Sehun’s arms, he begged to the high heavens to allow him to, not only, continue to have these moments but also to make his friends stay forever by him.

What Baekhyun didn’t know was that his prayer must have been lost somewhere in the stars because high heavens never heard of his prayers.








A/N: Hi everyone! First of all, thank you all for subscribing! It really touched me! Here it goes the second chapter of this story! I hope you like and continue to follow its journey until its end. 
A big, big, biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig hug to you all. Have a wonderful day!