Baekhyun woke up a while ago but didn't bother to move as he replayed last night's events and tried to figure what to do next, because man did he screw things up. Listening to Junmyeon get on and about with his morning routine was a calm distraction, making him feel more at ease.

He felt a gentle caress on his shoulder and a dull headache pulsing through his brain.

“Hey, how are you?” Junmyeon asked concerned as he brush the purple hair out of his face. Baekhyun groaned tiredly hiding his face against the pillow -realizing his throat felt awfully dry. “Had too much to drink?” he asked with a hidden chuckle as he sat down on the edge of the bead. “What happened Baekhyun? Why are you here?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing hyung,” he said closing his eyes, trying to ameliorate the headache. “Just a stupid misunderstanding, that’s all.”

“Baekhyun.”

“I just needed to sleep,” Baekhyun hid his face from the interrogator.

“Did you have a fight with Chanyeol?” he asked worried.

“No.”

“What happened Baekhyun?” Junmyeon insisted.

Baekhyun sighed, looking up at the other. “He found out.”

“Found out what?”

“That I like him.”

“You like Chanyeol?”

“No,” he looked away, resting his head back on the pillow. “Yixing.”

“Yixing?” Junmyeon sounded surprised. “But what does that have to do with you sleeping here?” His expression turned into shock, “You guys didn’t…”

“What? No,” he quickly sat up and immediately regretted moving. “Nothing happened,” he stressed as he lay back down.

“Okay, sorry,” Junmyeon looked as awkward as he sounded. “So, umm… You and Yixing; Kyungsoo and Jongin; Sehun and, well, Sehun,” Junmyeon ruffled his burgundy hair and then let his hands fall to the side as he looked back at Baekhyun with a flabbergasted expression. “When did this group become so gay?” he said with sincere curiosity, causing Baekhyun to crack up laughing.

“Ugh,” Baekhyun complained as laughing too hard made his head hurt. “We’re not all gay. It’s just hormones,” Baekhyun said as he rubbed his temple. “Don't you have any?”

“Apparently not,” Junmyeon shrugged.

Baekhyun slowly sat up, careful to make himself dizzy. “Hyung, can Yixing even feel stuff like that?”

“What do you mean?” Junmyeon frowned.

“If he keeps sedating himself all the time, then he shouldn’t be able to notice any other emotion than feeling pacified,” he explained. “Right?”

“Why do you assume he still does that?”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “I know he keeps doping himself, hyung. I heard you scolding him the other night.”

“Oh,” Junmyeon looked down embarrassed. “Yixing,” he sighed. “Yixing’s used to a certain level of chemical composition. Minseok, Yifan and I agree that he has become addicted to doping himself. We’ve talked to him and he says he’s trying to reduce the chemical effects and all, but it takes time.”

“So, you’re saying that there’s a chance that he might like me back one day?”

“Yeah,” Junmyeon smiled. “Maybe one day he’ll be able to feel like a normal person -well, relatively normal.”

Baekhyun stayed silent as he thought about it. One day, maybe one day they could live some form of a normal life -something close to one where they could have lasting relationships with other people, whether of love or friendship. Maybe one day they won’t be living under strict surveillance and would be allowed to meet and hang out with people outside of the group. Maybe, if Yixing never reciprocates his feelings, then he could fall in love with a boy or a girl outside of the group.

But thinking about that was scary. Was it even possible for someone like him to lead a normal life with a person without mutant abilities? It was scary to think about fighting for Yixing, to heal the healer from his addiction and get him to reciprocate his feelings. But it was worse to think about being alone and trying to find someone to replace the spot Yixing had in his heart.

“What are you going to do Baekhyun? Now that he knows what you feel,” Junmyeon asked concerned.

Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders, he honestly didn’t know what to do or if Yixing liked him back at all. Yixing had pushed him away when he tried to kiss him. Though it must have been because he knew Baekhyun was drunk and didn’t want it to happen that way. Or maybe he didn’t want to be kissed at all.

“Can I use your shower? I feel all icky,” he abruptly changed the topic. He had indeed fallen asleep after dancing, without sparing time to wash up.

“Uh, sure.” Junmyeon got up and walked to his closet. “I’ll lend you some clothes,” he said as he opened the doors.

“Holy ,” Baekhyun said scurrying to look inside. “How does that not fall?” he asked astounded as he looked at the mountain pile of clothing.

“It’s not that messy,” Junmyeon frowned.

“Yeah, right. And Jongdae’s real name is Chen Chen,” Baekhyun said sarcastically. “So, what, you just, like, take your clothes off and throw it in there?”

“No, these are all clean. The used ones go downstairs in the laundry room,” Junmyeon said as he picked black sweatpants, a white shirt and a grey hoodie. His shirt rising up and exposing his back.

“Good to know,” Baekhyun said as he accepted the clothes. “Hyung, I think you’ve got a rash,” he informed, lifting Junmyeon’s shirt to expose his back.

In the expanse of fair skin there was pinkish-red rash running from above the hip towards the spine. The skin at the bottom part, closest to the hip, looked dry and scabbing, while the rest was red and swollen.

“It happens because of the dry weather,” Junmyeon explained. “Hopefully during the summer it gets better.”

“Does it hurt?” Baekhyun asked concerned.

“It itches,” Junmyeon replied as he tried touching the spot.

“Don’t scratch it,” Baekhyun slapped his hand away.

“I just want to feel how big it is.”

“It’s like this big,” Baekhyun said, stretching his thumb and forefinger long enough to represent the size of the dermal rash.

“I hadn’t noticed it got so big. It was just a little scratch.” Junmyeon said.

“You should get Yixing to check it,” Baekhyun suggested.

“Yeah.”

Before letting his hyung free, Baekhyun tickled his lateral line, the tan skin that ran down the side of his abdomen, causing Junmyeon to squirm from the feeling. Baekhyun ran into the bathroom before getting hit.

 

All freshen up, he felt ready as he could ever be to confront Chanyeol. So when he opened the door to their shared room he expected to see the giant inside but he didn’t expect to see Yixing still in there sitting next to Chanyeol, arm wrapped around the other’s shoulders in a comforting way.

“Oh,” Baekhyun stupidly said at the door. “Should I, umm, leave?”

“No,” Yixing stood up. “I was about to leave anyway,” he calmly said as he walked towards the door. “Are you feeling better?” he lightly pressed his hand against Baekhyun’s forehead.

That caught him off guard, especially since Yixing had no sense of space and was standing so close to him just to check his temperature. Baekhyun shyly looked away from Yixing’s knowing gaze, while mentally swearing at his heart for being so easy to startle.

“It’s just a dull headache,” Baekhyun informed, trying to sound confident. “It will pass.”

“Hmm,” Yixing hummed in agreement.

Baekhyun closed his eyes as he felt Yixing graze his soothing fingers against his scalp, vanishing his headache as his fingers worked their magic. Baekhyun wanted to lean into the touch but he remembered Chanyeol’s presence in the room.

“Better?” Yixing asked finally letting go and acting as if everything was normal, ignoring the effect he had on the younger boy.

“Yeah, thanks” Baekhyun smiled gratefully.

No matter how warm his heart felt for Yixing, he had always appreciated how caring the healer was with him and the rest of the group. That was what he most admired about Yixing.

“Good,” Yixing said, taking his leave.

“Wait, umm, Junmyeon.” Baekhyun blabbered.

“What about him?” Yixing asked.

“He’s got a bad rash on his back,” Baekhyun informed.

“Oh, better check on him,” Yixing nodded. “Goodbye Baekhyun,” he said before closing the door behind him.

Baekhyun stared dumbfounded at the door. The way Yixing spoke those last words felt almost like a real goodbye. He had to be over thinking it, but the goodbye crossed his heart in an unsettling way.

Baekhyun took a deep breath, trying to calm away the silliness of his beating heart and preparing himself to speak to Chanyeol. It shouldn’t be that hard, they were best friends after all. He just had to talk to him like the kiss wasn’t a big deal and that’s it.

“Hey,” he said turning around.

“Hey,” Chanyeol meekly said, not daring to look up from the floor.

Baekhyun sighed, knowing that talking was going to be harder than he thought. He went to sit beside him. “Chanyeol? Chanyeol look at me,” he insisted.

Slowly the red head lifted is gaze, revealing the remaining redness in his puffy eyes. He had been crying -no wonder Yixing stayed by his side.

Baekhyun smiled sadly, he hated seeing Chanyeol so hurt. His ever vibrant and childish gaze was now blurred with sadness and pain. The thing about Chanyeol that made him so special was that he embodied and expressed his emotions in the most extraverted way. When he was happy he wasn’t just happy, he was overjoyed, excited and active. But when he was sad, he was completely heartbroken and depressed. Chanyeol felt the purest of emotions but life wasn’t happy go lucky all the time -that was something they all knew too harshly.

“Come on Chanyeol, don’t be sad. Please don’t be sad,” Baekhyun softly said as he rubbed Chanyeol’s back soothingly. “I’m not mad at you Chan.”

“You’re not?” he asked surprised.

“No,” he smiled reassuringly.

“But you never came back.”

“I freaked out a little,” Baekhyun lightly excused. “I can’t ever be mad at you. You can be infuriating and all, but I’ll never stay mad at you,” he joked.

Chanyeol let out a small chuckle. “I’m infuriating?” he asked holding an innocent gaze.

“The worst,” Baekhyun teased, ruffling Chanyeol’s outgrown red-brown hair.

Chanyeol caught his hand away from his head and held it with both his hands, silly smile turning serious. “I’m sorry Baek.”

Baekhyun felt his heart clench. “It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it was just a kiss. We were both drunk so stop feeling guilty about it,” Baekhyun insisted. “I, I’m sorry too.”

Chanyeol bit his lower lip, looking away towards the floor. Baekhyun knew what that meant, he was thinking of something else to say, something that’s probably hard to say. It never failed to amaze him how easy it was to read Chanyeol’s expressions.

“Can’t we be like those cool guys on TV and just blame it on the booze and forget about it?” Baekhyun quickly said.

Chanyeol chuckled. “No, it’s not that simple Baek.”

“It doesn’t have to be complicated,” he reasoned.

Chanyeol tried to smile -tried, but it turned out like a grimace. Baekhyun clenched his jaw, knowing that now was the time to shut up, be a patient friend and listen. Chanyeol let go of his hand and rested them on his thighs. Baekhyun reverted to his old habit of fiddling with his fingers, pressing the tip of his thumbnail against the diodes hidden underneath the tips of his fingers.

“I don’t regret what I did Baek,” his voice strained as he confessed. “You’ve always been there for me, since the start. Since the day we got out of that damned place. I really care about you Baek, but I took advantage last night.”

“We were both drunk,” he quickly interrupted but Chanyeol gave him a look to keep silent.

“We both were drunk, I know,” he began again. “But it was me who started it,” he paused, and Baekhyun was ready to interrupt again but decided to stay silent and patient, giving Chanyeol time to think. “You keep saying it’s just a kiss but it’s not. When I,” he struggled to speak, “when I finally realized I liked Kyungsoo, I also learned that being gay is wrong, at least here it is.”

“That’s bull,” Baekhyun thoughtlessly commented, receiving another ‘shut up’ look. “Sorry, keep going.”

“It might be silly for you, but for me it’s been hard to accept that I like boys,” Chanyeol continued explaining. “I’m not that brave to just admit it to the world, it still frightens me. It still scares me to accept who I am.”

Baekhyun felt his heart sink. He never imagined Chanyeol had so much hidden inside. It hurt him to know all these insecurities that had eaten Chanyeol inside. But he hated himself more for being a ty friend and not learning about it sooner. He should’ve paid more attention to Chanyeol.

“So last night,” he gulped. “Yeah last night we might have been drunk, but it took all the courage I had in me to kiss you. And I,” he huffed out a sad smile, “I enjoyed it so much that I didn’t stop to think if you even liked me back.”

Baekhyun let the silence sink as Chanyeol’s words resonated in his mind.

“Wait,” Baekhyun said confused. “You like me?”

Chanyeol smiled sadly and Baekhyun felt a part of his heart break.

“I think I do,” he shyly admitted while looking away embarrassed.

“Oh…” Baekhyun unintelligently said. Finding out that Chanyeol could have feelings for him changed everything, it made the whole situation a lot more complicated than what he expected.

“But, but I’m not sure about what I feel anymore,” Chanyeol said sorrowfully. “I still feel things for Kyungsoo, but it hurts to see him happy with Jongin. I try to ignore it and feel happy for them because I don’t want to mess that up. I couldn’t do that to them. But,” he let out a sad shaky breath, “I’m so tired of feeling lonely, Baek.”

Baekhyun felt his heart clench at the heartfelt confession. It killed him so see Chanyeol battling back his tears in silence -trying to seem strong when he wasn’t alright at all.

“Hey,” he tried to get his attention by grabbing Chanyeol’s hand, “You’re not alone,” he tried to comfort without letting his voice waver. “You’ve got the whole group to care for you. There’s always Tao to bother and Jongdae to tease. There’s always Junmyeon and Minseok waiting to nag at us. There’s always Yifan, Jongin, Sehun and Lu Han to hang out with. And there’s always Yixing willing to make you feel better,” he said encouragingly. “Kyungsoo,” he hesitated, “well, he might not know what you feel but he’s still your friend. And you’ve got me. I’m still here”

Chanyeol looked up at him hopefully -silent tears rolling down his face. Baekhyun pulled the sleeve of the hoodie of his right hand and held the side of Chanyeol’s face with the left. He used the sweater’s sleeve to wipe away the tears that keep falling down.

“Please don’t cry Chan, or you’ll make me cry,” he cooed as he felt his own tears threatening to fall.

“Why can’t it just be you?” Chanyeol whispered.

“What?”

Baekhyun saw it coming this time and this time he managed to react quickly. Instead of letting Chanyeol’s lips fall onto his, he turned his head and moved forward holding Chanyeol into a much needed hug.

“You can’t keep doing that,” Baekhyun spoke against his shoulder. “It’s not fair.”

Chanyeol’s hands gripped onto his sides, hiding his face into the crook of Baekhyun’s neck. “Sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry, stupid,” he lightly scolded with his sarcastic touch.

“I thought there was a chance,” he spoke softly.

“A chance?”

Chanyeol lightly pushed away to be able to look into Baekhyun’s eyes. “A chance with you.”

Baekhyun gulped, finally getting through his thick skull that a tearful Chanyeol was confessing to him -and damn it, he had no idea what to do. He knew he couldn’t say something comforting, anything that could encourage Chanyeol to believe he might like him back when his own heart was beating for Yixing. But he didn’t want to turn him down either, he didn’t want to hurt him anymore.

“I…”

“Is there?” he asked hopefully.

“What about Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun asked instead.

Chanyeol shook his head. “He’s never going to like me the way he likes Jongin.”

“So what, I’m like your second choice?” Baekhyun said hurt.

“No, no, not at all,” Chanyeol quickly negated. “It’s not like that.”

“Then what is this?” he asked, getting scared.

“It’s not like I suddenly decided to like you,” Chanyeol tried to explain. “It happened slowly. I, I don’t know how to explain it.”

“So you still feel stuff for Kyungsoo, but realized you like me as well? Is that it?”

“Yeah, sort of,” Chanyeol said. “Yixing is better at explaining these things.”

“Wait, Yixing? You told Yixing?” Baekhyun felt like he was about to explode.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said cautiously.

“What did you tell him?” Baekhyun asked alarmed.

“Everything.”

“Everything!” Baekhyun backed away, trying to calm himself down.

“I always tell him everything. He’s been helping me ever since I realized I liked Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol explained.

Baekhyun gulped, trying to keep his mind from imagining the worst scenarios. “What did he say? What did Yixing say?”

“He encouraged me to tell you what I feel,” Chanyeol spoke cautiously, realizing that something was off. “He said he knows you might not have feelings for me now but that I should still take the chance to try.”

Baekhyun felt like he was punched in the gut.

“So you know I don’t like you that way?” Baekhyun asked, not daring to look into Chanyeol’s eyes.

Chanyeol looked away sadly. “Yeah.”

“So why are you doing this to me?” Baekhyun asked painfully, feeling his own emotions stir.

“I,” Chanyeol looked frightened. “I thought there was a chance between us.”

“Why?”

“You kissed me back, Baek,” Chanyeol spoke softly.  

“I didn’t,” his voice hitched.

“You did,” Chanyeol said serious and Baekhyun knew he couldn’t be lying.

“I did?” he held his head between his hands, trying to remember the blurry moments of the previous night.

“Yes, you did.”

“I, I…” Baekhyun was caught in a turmoil of emotions.

What the hell was he supposed to do? His best friend was confessing to him while his crush practically left the fight and gave them the chance to try to work things out, even though he knew Baekhyun liked him and not Chanyeol. Why the hell would Yixing tell Chanyeol to give it a shot if he knew Baekhyun wasn’t interested? Was it that Yixing didn’t want to be with him? Was that why his goodbye felt off?

“What did Yixing say?” Baekhyun asked again, trying to clarify the mess in his head.

“To not give up on you,” Chanyeol replied.

Baekhyun turned away, stomping towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Chanyeol asked alarmed.

“I’m going to smack some sense into that idiot,” Baekhyun said before slamming the door shut.

 

It wasn’t hard to find Yixing, almost as if Baekhyun knew where he would be. He walked towards the study room of the left tower, third floor, but didn’t need to search inside since Yixing was at the bridge that connected the two towers. He was resting his arms against the railing as he gazed at the small garden around the entrance of the safe house.

“Hey!” Baekhyun quickly caught his attention.

“Baekhyun?”

“Why the hell did you say all that to Chanyeol?” he seethed as he walked up to him.

“What?” Yixing was taken aback.

“Oh, don’t give me this bull,” Baekhyun exasperated. “Why did you tell Chanyeol it was okay to ask me out? Huh?” he shoved Yixing backwards. “You know how I feel, so why the hell did you do that?” he shoved him again.

Yixing frowned. “Did you not feel his pain?” Yixing asked instead, squaring his back to show Baekhyun he was serious too. “I hate seeing him so sad, he’s been hiding all this misery for so long. And when he finally told me he was starting to feel things for you,” he poked Baekhyun’s chest, pushing him backwards, “I thought great, finally. Finally he’s going to get the chance to be loved as well,” he explained, catching Baekhyun off guard.

“He told you everything?” Baekhyun mumbled dumbly, finally understanding what Chanyeol told him.

“Yes, of course I knew,” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I’m the one he goes to when he needs help. He’s been slowly coming to terms with his feelings, slowly getting over his unrequited crush and starting to develop feelings for you,” he pointed at Baekhyun. “Of course I was going to help him out, he needed my help.”

“But,” Baekhyun felt his head ache as he slowly pieced things together. “Last night?”

“Last night you kissed Chanyeol, not me,” Yixing said with a sad smile. “Yes, it took me long to realize that you were feeling things for me, but what could I do? I couldn’t just ignore the fact that Chanyeol likes you. I’ve been helping him for so long, I can’t just turn my back now.” Yixing looked away, biting his lip, “So I’ll back off.”

Back off? he repeated in his mind as he felt his gut twist and heart shatter.

“But what about me?” Baekhyun raised his voice, pain coursing through his throat. “What about my feelings? Don’t they count?” he felt hot tears run down his face. “Do my feelings not count at all?”

Baekhyun saw pain cross Yixing’s eyes, an expression he hadn’t seen yet. And something in him, some sadistic part was happy to see pain in Yixing -because damn it he was hurting too.

“I can’t betray Chanyeol,” Yixing said softly. “I can’t hurt him, he doesn’t deserve that.”

“But what about you?” Baekhyun said as he furiously wiped the tears away. “What about your feelings?” he felt his patience die. “You’re always putting everyone’s need before your own. You ignore your health, you ignore your feelings to make sure everyone else is safe and happy,” he stressed. “Don’t you deserve to be loved too?”

Yixing looked back at him in utter shock. Brown eyes startled by the harsh truth he had been blind towards before. This was what Baekhyun feared, that Yixing never thought about himself at all.

Slowly he walked closer to the healer, making sure not to scare him away. Baekhyun tried to search for anything inside those hazed eyes, knowing for sure that Yixing was lost in his thoughts.

Baekhyun softly pressed his hand flat against Yixing’s chest, causing the older boy to look down at his actions. “What do you feel Yixing?” he asked softly, ignoring his pain and anger. “Do you even feel anything? Anything at all?”

Yixing remained silent, hands fisted at his sides, jaw set tight while his gaze remained on Baekhyun’s hand. Baekhyun could feel Yixing’s strong heartbeats against the palm of his hand, slow and steady, drastically contrasting the erratic beats of his own aching heart. His eyes fell onto Yixing’s chest, watching how calmly he breathed. He couldn’t explain what kind of trance he fell in but he effortlessly found himself calming down, forgetting all the pain and anger he felt before -his breathing imitating Yixing’s soothing pace. He felt the strangest and most inexplicable feeling of all, when his heartbeat matched Yixing’s pace -both hearts beating at the same rhythm, strong and alive.

He felt pressure in his heart evoking a warm feeling -not pain but affection, closeness and longing to be loved. He watched Yixing rest his hand on top of his own. Slowly Baekhyun dared to look up into Yixing’s chocolate eyes. There was so much warmth, so much life in them -so different from the ever passiveness he expressed. He felt his insides in flames, heart ready to burst from the mixture of emotions wrecking his soul. He closed his eyes as he felt Yixing’s thumb wipe the remaining tears away -his touch so soft, so real.

They heard a small sneeze above them. Baekhyun’s eyes opened in shock as he quickly looked up. Zitao and Sehun were eavesdropping their conversation from the window above, at their room on the fourth floor.

“,” Zitao said, shoving Sehun back into the room and then quickly hiding inside.

“There’s no ing privacy in this house,” Baekhyun growled, pulling the hood of his sweater over his head in an attempt to hide his tear stained face.

“Chanyeol,” Yixing said surprised.

Baekhyun felt the blood drain from his face as he turned around to see the taller boy standing at the other side of the bridge, eyes wide in shock observing them for who knows how long. Chanyeol turned away to run back inside the house.

“Go,” Yixing pushed him to run.

“Chanyeol wait!” he yelled as they dashed behind him, Yixing quickly passing him.

Chanyeol turned right, quickly opening the door of the study room of the left tower. Yixing had been fast enough to ram against the door, preventing Chanyeol from hiding inside and managing to get them both in the room. Baekhyun entered right after, closing the door shut.

“Go away,” Chanyeol yelled, turning around to not show his face. “Leave me alone!”

“No,” Baekhyun said firmly and wrapped his arms around the taller boy’s body, trapping Chanyeol’s arms with his encircling arms, while pressing his chest against Chanyeol’s back.

“I don’t want your pity,” Chanyeol’s voice was a mixture of hurt and frustration as he tried to break free.

“It’s not pity,” Baekhyun fought back, not letting the other go. “I don’t want you to -stop moving damn it!” Chanyeol abruptly stood still. “I don’t want you to hurt anymore Chanyeol,” he admitted.

Milky white arms wrapped around him, reaching all the way to hold Chanyeol’s arms. Baekhyun felt Yixing pressed behind him, trapping him between them two. It took only seconds for Baekhyun to feel soothed -completely calm. Chanyeol was relaxed in his hold, not trying to escape anymore and feeling just as pacified as Baekhyun felt.

“We don’t want you to hurt anymore,” Yixing spoke as calm as ever.

Chanyeol hung his head down, hiding his face from them. They stayed silent like that, just holding each other to feel better and giving Chanyeol time to understand and cope with everything that was said at the bridge.

Baekhyun rested his head back against Yixing’s shoulder, trying to look at the healer’s face. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Yixing smiled kindly but then looked to the left, towards the desk. “Hyung, can you please leave?” he politely asked.

It wasn’t until Yixing said those words that Baekhyun noticed Minseok sitting at the desk staring at them with bewilderment. He was using a laptop, had headphones on and a half munched sweet bun still in his hand. Clearly he was inside the room before they decided to barge in. Minseok closed the laptop shut, leaving it on the desk with the headphones and taking only his snack with him as he left the room -no questions asked.

Baekhyun sighed. “There seriously is no ing privacy in this house,” he commented.

Chanyeol began to chuckle, surprising them both as he found Baekhyun’s comment amusing. “You can let go of me now,” he said calmly. Baekhyun and Yixing shared a doubtful look.  “Seriously guys, I want so sit down,” Chanyeol said with more confidence.

They decided to sit side by side, on the floor with their back against the wall -Baekhyun between them both. The room was oddly tranquil contrasting their whole predicament.

“So… How much did you hear?” Baekhyun dared to break the silence.

“Enough. I heard enough,” Chanyeol replied slowly. “I followed you when you ran out of our room,” he explained. He let out a long sigh. “I don’t think you did the right thing hyung,” he said looking towards Yixing, “but I understand why you did it.”

“I’m sorry Chanyeol,” he sincerely apologized. Chanyeol nodded -his silent way of accepting his apology.

“So,” Chanyeol rested his head against the wall and peered at him sideways. “So you like Yixing.”

“Let’s not do this,” Baekhyun didn’t want to have the uncomfortable conversation.

“Baekhyun, just answer,” Chanyeol was serious -he needed this.

“Yeah,” he admitted.

“And Yixing?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Baekhyun cut off, fearing Yixing’s answer, “because I’m not dating any of you two idiots.”

“What?” Chanyeol said surprised while Yixing remained silent.

Now it was Baekhyun’s turn to sigh. “I don’t want to change things and make it complicated,” he said, but knew that wasn’t the best answer he could give. “Love isn’t just about dating. It’s about caring for the other and I care about both of you,” he spoke with sincerity, reaching out to hold Chanyeol and Yixing’s hands. “I don’t want anyone to feel hurt or lonely anymore, I just want us to be happy again.”

“But Baekhyun-”

“No,” he shut him up. “This is my decision. I don’t want anyone to hurt anymore.”

Their conversation was cut short as they heard a knock before the door opened. Agent Moon was standing at the other side, staring at them weirdly.

“I don’t know what kind of sissy talk you kids are up to,” he said with disinterest, “but the boss called for a meeting so get your asses moving,” he pointed towards the hall.

The three of them quickly got up.

“So eloquent as always,” Baekhyun said sarcastically as he walked towards the agent.

“Bite me,” the Agent shot back.

Baekhyun growled showing off his teeth, making the ever sardonic agent laugh.

 

Downstairs the whole group congregated in the living room -all curious gazes lurking on them as the trio entered the room. Baekhyun was sure that the gossip had already gotten around.

Agent Choi and Agent Maxwell were standing in front of the TV screen, with Jr. SA Kim standing to the side. They were rewinding a video on the screen. It was rather dark but with many bright colorful lights flashing now and then. Even without the audio Baekhyun realized the video was similar to the partying they had last night.

“Alright,” Agent Choi said once the video was set at the part they wanted it to be. “Sorry for calling you all so early, but last night we discovered something… odd?”

“Possibly a good thing though,” Agent Max commented.

“If we’re right,” Agent Choi corrected. “Last night Agent Kim was in charge of surveillance duties and he saw something strange in the video we’ve got here.” He gave the subordinate agent a nod as permission to speak.

“When you guys were partying last night, the images showed some defects -or at least I thought they were pixeled defects,” Agent Kim explained. “I tried to figure out if there was something wrong with the camera or the equipment, but I couldn’t find any so I called Agent Maxwell to check on it this morning.” Agent Max nodded. “But there wasn’t anything wrong with our equipment, which can only mean that, well, see for yourselves,” he said and played the video.

As Baekhyun figured out, they were dancing to the beat of the music. It was quite embarrassing actually, since none of them was in their right minds when they started fooling around -all but Yixing and Jongdae -though Jongdae was always a fool when it came to dancing. Sehun, Jongin and Zitao burst out laughing as they watched the older boys dance like fools.

Baekhyun wanted to look away to avoid more embarrassment but he saw himself messing around with lights, coloring the dark scene and in a second the only light in the room came from everyone’s body. Everyone’s skin suddenly faintly glowed with weird markings in the dark. He frowned, wondering if his eyes played a trick on him. But then it happened again. The Baekhyun in the video shined an invisible light and smudges on their skin began to faintly glow a clear, slightly purple-ish white light.

A small fuzz began to grow among the group as they all observed the strange phenomena occurred again and again.

“You can understand now why we thought something was wrong with the camera,” Agent Choi said.

“It looks like one of those blacklight body paint parties,” Agent Moon commented, receiving curious looks from his superiors. “Not that I’ve ever been to one,” the agent awkwardly coughed into his hand.

“Baekhyun can you shine UV light?” Agent Max asked.

“I can, but I shouldn’t,” he quickly replied. “Mama never let me use UV light because it’s dangerous for the skin,” as soon as he said those words his mind clicked, piecing everything together. “Oh,” he said realizing the real reason Mama never let him practice using UV light.

Agent Moon and Kim moved around the living room, closing all the curtains to shade the morning light from the room. Everyone’s attention was on him as he prepared himself to emit the correct wavelength -around 400 nanometers so it wouldn’t be harmful for the skin. He rolled up the sleeves of his sweater and shine a long wavelength light towards his arm; a light only visible with his eyes. Small clusters of specks glowed under the UV light, emitting a fluorescent light of white with soft violet undertone color. It wasn’t a neat design; it looked more like he had small glowing cracks on his skin.

“What is this?” Yifan asked as he rubbed his finger against Baekhyun’s skin, testing to see that it could be something removable, but the marks didn’t disappear. In fact, Yifan’s hand had the same weird marks when exposed under the UV light.

“Baekhyun,” he heard Yixing call him.

He turned and radiated light at Yixing’s exposed arms. The healer examined his skin curiously, turning his arm to see that the unusual marking covered the whole expanse of his skin.

Curiosity reigned over the bewilderment of their discovery and soon everyone wanted to see if they had the same condition. It was strange how fluorescent marks on their bodies held no pattern or meaning at all, as if it was an unwanted trait in their skin. Baekhyun doubted the marks held any meaning or that Mama might have mutated it into their bodies for a purpose.

“We have to inform the Chief,” Agent Max said. “This will definitely help to discriminate between normal people and clones that could be working for EX’ACT. It’s much faster than biometric identification.”

Agent Choi nodded. “We got damn lucky,” he said before taking out his satellite phone.

Agent Max and Yixing tried to hypothesize how they could have those marks without collecting samples to examine in a lab. Even though it was interesting to figure out the biogenesis of their fluorescent pigments, Agent Max couldn’t risk keeping any samples of their DNA. So he and Yixing had a long chat to come up with some idea. But one thing was certain, it was either an established trait or a side effect of cloning their bodies. The abnormal fluorescent pigments in their dermis could be an identification trait, but the irregular smudges favored the idea of it being a side effect from the cloning process.

Whatever it was, Baekhyun was simply amazed how secrets were hidden under different lights.

 

After the meeting, Baekhyun wanted nothing more than to be alone. So he hid back into the study room they were in before and used Minseok’s laptop to log in and play an online game. He knew it was against the rules but he used a fake ID and no one should have any reason to track down his IP address anyway, it was just a game. He needed it, a distraction from all the confrontations and emotions he felt that day. It was just too much.

His team lost the round. Annoyed Baekhyun took his headphones off.

“You’re not supposed to do that,” he heard Yifan’s deep voice beside him.

Baekhyun jumped in his seat, startled to see the other boy inside the room. He was sitting next to him but against the wall, staying away from his peripheral vision. Baekhyun didn’t even know when he entered the room. Yifan wasn’t even looking at him; he sat with his legs crossed while drawing on a sketchbook.

“Freaking doors,” Baekhyun sighed annoyed, remembering the doors can’t be locked in the common areas. “How long have you been in here?”

“Quite a while,” Yifan answered, finally looking up at him with his sharp eyes. “I was looking for a quiet place to stay, but you’re awfully noisy when playing that thing,” he indicated at the screen with his pencil.

“What about the other study room?” Baekhyun asked.

“Zitao and Jongin are using it. They’re noisy as well,” he simply explained.

“Are you going to tell on me?” he asked, looking back at the computer screen.

“No,” Yifan said, setting the sketchbook down. “I’ll let it go this time.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m worried about Yixing.”

“Well Yixing’s worried about Chanyeol, so nothing is going to happen,” Baekhyun spoke with reluctance.

“I worry about that too,” Baekhyun frowned, not understanding what the other meant. Yifan smiled softly, “I worry he’ll never give himself a chance. It’s always been everyone else’s needs before his own.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun looked down to his hands, “I worry about that too,” he confessed.

“Will you give him a chance?”

Baekhyun averted his gaze, catching a glimpse of Yifan’s drawing. Without a word he picked up the sketchbook to see a realistic depiction of his shaded silhouette contrasting the light emitting from the sketched laptop. Yifan's details with the light and shadow contrast gave a third dimension effect, making the illustration appear more real.

“This is really really good, hyung,” he complimented.

“Thanks,” Yifan nodded. “I used to at drawing.”

“Really?”

He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “Answer my question Baekhyun. Will you?”

“Aren't you worried about me?” Baekhyun asked instead.

“All this time we’ve been together, you never gave me a reason to worry about you,” he sincerely said. “I don't think I need to start now.”

Baekhyun nodded appreciating Yifan's sincerity.

“I can't promise you anything Yifan, I don't want to hurt Chanyeol,” he finally answered. “But maybe, one day.”

Yifan nodded as he stood. “I better not catch you playing that game again,” he lightly threatened before leaving the room.

 

To say things weren’t awkward would be a lie, but it wasn't as bad as Baekhyun thought it would be. Chanyeol didn't avoid him and instead was nearly always around, acting as if nothing bad happened between them. While Yixing, well he didn't show that he was affected by anything so it was hard to tell that was going through his mind. Baekhyun was grateful that neither tried to make things difficult and continued as best they could with their friendship. But there were these small moments, tiny moments were Baekhyun felt a line between them, an invisible wall that wasn't meant to be broken. It wasn't just awkward, it was an awareness that they could never be as carefree as they used to be, not after learning their true feelings.

A few days passed. Lu Han, Sehun, Jongin, Kyungsoo, Jongdae and Zitao went out shopping and for bubble tea -a sweet tapioca beverage the maknae was highly addicted to. Baekhyun felt like taking some air so he accompanied Agent Moon who was up at the roof on a smoke break -apparently smoking cigarettes was a common habit amongst the population of Seoul. They watched the basketball match down at the court, Yifan and Junmyeon versus Minseok and Yixing.

Baekhyun hated Yixing’s sleeveless shirt, it showed too much of his milky white skin and toned muscles -it made it hard for Baekhyun to not stare.

“I’ll leave you two alone, I got more important to do,” he heard Agent Moon say dismissing himself and Baekhyun finally realized Chanyeol came up to the roof.

“Hey,” Chanyeol greeted, resting his arms against the railing to lean on it the same way Baekhyun did.

“Hey,” he smiled.

“Who’s winning?”

“Well, despite Junmyeon’s utter uselessness, Yifan and him are winning,” he informed.

Chanyeol laughed. “Yifan’s really good at it.”

“Yeah, because he can slam dunk,” he commented.

“I thought you went out with the others.”

“Didn't feel like it,” he shrugged. “Last time I drank bubble tea I swallowed like four of those tapioca balls.”

“Oh right,” Chanyeol burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny, I could’ve choked,” Baekhyun tried to sound grave despite laughing as well.

“Sorry,” he apologized with a cheeky grin. “Have you bought Tao a present already?”

“Yeah, I got him those sunglasses he was whining about.”

“.”

“What?”

‘I got him the same,” Chanyeol said smacking his hand against his forehead.

“,” Baekhyun said alarmed. “Same brand?”

“D&G.”

“Oh great,” he said relieved. “I got him the Ray-Ban ones.”

“Uuh, that was close,” Chanyeol laughed, playfully pushing him.

Baekhyun pretended to stumble and leaned against the railing while hanging his arms low, as if he was hanging off of it.

“Don't do that,” Chanyeol warned and grabbed him by the shirt to pull him backwards.

Baekhyun’s back collided against Chanyeol’s chest, he felt the warm hand naturally fall onto his waist. Baekhyun felt surrounded by so much warmth whenever he was this close to the fire bender. It took a moment of realization for Chanyeol to back off apologizing, bringing up the invisible wall between them. Baekhyun laughed it off and safely leaned against the railing to watch the basketball match.

“Hey Baek?” Chanyeol called after a moment of awkward silence.

“Yeah?”

“I just, umm…” Chanyeol looked nervous, which only meant one thing: serious talk.

“Just say it,” he encouraged.

“I just want to know how?” he blurted. “When did you start liking Yixing? I mean, you two haven’t been close since we’ve got here. So when?”

Baekhyun laughed softly. “That’s because I’ve been avoiding him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “When we were brought to the agency and they wanted to separate us into those interrogation rooms, I,” he a huffed an embarrassed smile, “I was really afraid, I thought we were done for. But then, out of nowhere, I felt so relaxed and at ease -it was Yixing, he was holding my hand.” Baekhyun smiled fondly at the memory, “I didn’t want him to ever let go and when I was alone in that room all I could think of was Yixing’s hand holding onto mine. I just wanted him there with me,” he confessed. “But things were changing, we didn’t know what the hell was going to happen with us. So I thought it was best if I ignored my feelings and acted like nothing changed.” He shrugged his shoulders, “I guess I’m good at hiding stuff too.”

Chanyeol didn’t say anything in return. They just fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the other’s play the game -Minseok and Yixing managed to turn the table and ended up winning the match.

 

“I really don’t want to do it,” Baekhyun said and returned his attention to his drawing.

“Come on, don’t be scared I really have control over it now, I swear,” Jongdae said hopefully.

Baekhyun looked skeptically at Jongdae’s uncovered hands. He knew the other had worked hard on learning to control his abilities and stop shocking everyone whenever he tried to touch them. It had been nearly a month since he’s been practicing and finally got to a point where he was confident enough to not hurt anyone or leave static behind whenever he showered. But Baekhyun didn't want to be his first test subject.

“Baekhyun please help me out,” he implored.

Baekhyun let out a huff. “Alright, alright,” he put the picture and drawing down. “Let’s get this over with,” he pushed up his sleeves and extended his hand forward.

“Okay,” Jongdae said excited as he reached forward with his ungloved hand and held Baekhyun’s.

The light boy was expecting to jump from an electrical current running up his arm, but nothing happened. He looked up surprised at Jongdae.

“See?” he said gleefully with a wide toothy smile. “All under control,” he assured as he held Baekhyun's arm with both hands to prove his point.

“Wow Chen Chen you finally got it,” Baekhyun said content. “You won't have to wear those stupid gloves anymore.”

“They're not stupid,” Jongdae defended.

“But they’re annoying to use all the time right?”

“Well, yeah,” he shrugged.

An evil grin appeared on Jongdae’s face as his hands moved too fast for Baekhyun to defend himself. Jongdae giggled maliciously as he tickled Baekhyun all over, making him fall and squirm on the floor.

“Hey gu- what the heck? Am I interrupting something?” Zitao said with a silly smirk as he walked into the living room.

“I can touch you now,” Jongdae said excited, jumping to is feet and tackling Zitao into a hug.

“Holy ! Get it off me,” Zitao asked for help as Jongdae hung onto his side.

“Better you than me,” Baekhyun laughed as he dusted off his clothes and went back to his seat.

“Man you guys are the worst,” Jongdae whined as he let Zitao free.

They all sat together on the couch.

“What’s that?” Zitao asked pointing at his drawing.

“Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun innocently said as Zitao picked up his drawing.

Zitao cracked up laughing for the drawing exaggerated Kyungsoo’s features, making him look like a penguin cartoon on the other picture Baekhyun had. But the Kyungsoo version had a crazed eyes murderous expression -one Kyungsoo made after head locking Chanyeol.

“Hey Chen Chen, call Minseok hyung,” Zitao suggested. “He’s going to love it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He’s at the kitchen,” the time teller said.

Jongdae obeyed and went to call the oldest hyung.

“What’s going on?” they heard Minseok say as he got closer.

“Hyung! Hyung come look,” Jongdae said over-excitedly.

Minseok walked up to see what the commotion was about. He looked down at the picture in Jongdae’s hands, frowned disapprovingly and smacked Jongdae in the back of the head.  

“That’s not funny Jongdae,” he scolded.

“But hyung,” Jongdae whined. “Just look at the pictures. They’re the same,” he chuckled.

“That’s mean Jongdae,” Xiumin said and walked back towards the kitchen.

“Hyung! Minseok hyung. Wait!” Jongdae complained and left after the other.

“Where are your gloves?” they heard Minseok scold.

Baekhyun and Zitao laughed at Jongdae’s misfortune.

“I totally knew that would happen,” Zitao laughed as raised his hand to high five with Baekhyun.

“Do you always know what will happen?” he casually asked.

“No.”

“But you could right?” Baekhyun tilted his head to the side. “If you reverse time every moment, then you could always know what happens next, right?”

Zitao frowned and shook his head. “That would be horribly exhausting.”

“Oh, right,” he said slightly disheartened.

Zitao gave him a suspicious look. “What do you want to know Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “Nothing specific, I was just wondering about that.”

“Alright,” Zitao didn’t sound convinced.

“Hey Tao,” Baekhyun called.

“What?”

“Hypothetically speaking, if you knew something bad would happen, would you tell us?”

Zitao looked at him with an unreadable expression that made him believe the other wouldn’t answer his question.

“Depends,” Zitao said. “If something bad happens that can be avoided, I can just reverse time and change it,” he explained. “But if I don’t know how it happens or maybe I see that it’s unavoidable, then no, I wouldn’t tell.”

“Why not?” Baekhyun frowned feeling a little disappointed.

Zitao sighed. “I don’t know when things happen. I wouldn’t want to worry you guys and live in fear of something, without knowing how long it’ll take,” he said sincerely.

“But wouldn’t it be best to know and prepare for it?”

“I’m not sure,” Zitao smiled sadly.

 

Baekhyun felt restless the night before Zitao’s birthday. He went downstairs to the kitchen to brew some tea, but the faint sound of music caught his attention. Baekhyun found Yixing dancing in the gym room again, just like a week and a half ago. Lights dimmed, Baekhyun stood with his back against the wall as he observed Yixing’s silhouette move with the beat of the music -he looked just as mesmerizing as he did before.

When Yixing finally noticed his presence, Baekhyun was frozen in place -too shy to approach the other without alcohol encouraging him and too hypnotized to try to escape.

Yixing walked up to him with an encouraging smile. “Either dance or leave,” he said as he extended his hand.

Baekhyun shyly accepted his hand and let him guide him towards the middle of the dance floor. They danced at a comfortable pace, using steps Baekhyun had learned the previous night. It wasn’t awkward at all, being with Yixing made him feel at ease and soon they were fooling around dancing carefree and laughing every now and then at the silly steps Baekhyun invented.

A slow tempo song appeared and Baekhyun used it as the perfect excuse to get closer to Yixing. He hugged the healer, moving their feet side to side at the slow beat of the song. Simple and comfortable, just holding on to each other. Baekhyun relaxed and rested his head against Yixing’s shoulder and breathed towards the other’s neck. Yixing suddenly squirmed in his hold, trying to get away.

“What’s wrong?” Baekhyun asked alarmed.

“It tickles,” the healer complained as he rubbed his neck.

“What? My breath?” Baekhyun raised his brows amused.

“Yeah.”

An evil smirk crossed his lips -Yixing should’ve ran when he had the chance. Baekhyun took advantage at Yixing’s newfound weak spot, blowing air onto his neck and making his squirm until he fell onto the floor.

“Stop, please stop,” he begged trying to escape from Baekhyun’s torture, but Baekhyun had a firm hold on his wrists.

“I’ll stop if you promise me something,” Baekhyun blackmailed, continuing to blow air towards Yixing’s sensitive neck.

“I’ll do it, I promise. Just stop,” Yixing quickly agreed without thought.

Baekhyun laughed as he let him free. Yixing quickly held his neck with his hands, trying to keep his neck safe as they both sat on the floor.

“I didn’t know you were so ticklish,” Baekhyun commented.

“I didn’t either,” Yixing pouted as he rubbed his neck. “This never happened before.”

“Odd,” he tilted his head to the side. “So, my birthday is this Sunday.”

“Does this have to do with the promise?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you want?” Yixing quickly understood what Baekhyun intended.

Baekhyun smiled shyly, looking away. “A kiss,” he dared to say.

He looked at Yixing’s reaction through the reflection of the mirror. The healer looked dumbstruck at the request, eyes wide in surprise. He didn’t try to get out of the blackmailed promise though, so Baekhyun took that as a good sign.

“Okay,” Yixing spoke softly, looking away shyly.

Baekhyun bit his lip to try to hide his ever-growing smile.

“Don’t stay up too late,” Baekhyun bid as he looked at Yixing, who was staring at the floor deep in thought.

Baekhyun took advantage of the aloof healer, he leaned in close and pecked his cheek before getting up and shuffling out of the gym room -not daring to look back at Yixing’s reaction.

 

Zitao ended up receiving three sunglasses for his birthday and the Gucci bag he’d been pestering Yifan to buy -among other things. They had cake for breakfast, went out to a traditional Chinese cuisine restaurant for lunch and were now at the park bordering the Han river.

Baekhyun accompanied the group that offered to go buy snacks for them all. They walked at the sidewalk of a very busy street, since the roads near the river were highly congested because drivers would want to cross to either side of it through the bridge. They got separated because of all the pedestrians. Yifan, Yixing and Jongin were walking further at front with Agent Jeon, at least two blocks away. While Kyungsoo and Baekhyun walked much slower behind with Agent Moon. It was a beautiful sunny day in which Baekhyun could enjoy the warm feeling of sun rays against his skin.

“I’m definitely getting some ice cream,” he cheerfully said.

“Me too,” Kyungsoo smiled.

They heard loud honking and people yelling. Baekhyun frowned as he turned to see a little boy running into the busy street, trying to catch his soccer ball that drifted towards the middle lane. Baekhyun felt his chest clench in fear as he saw the truck trying to stop its motion -air breaks not fast enough. He didn’t notice when or how, but suddenly he saw that Kyungsoo was in front of the boy. He stomped the road with all his strength, a little patch of asphalt rose into a peak, causing the truck to crash through it, but not stop its movement.

“Kai!” Baekhyun screamed, trying to see him in the crowd.

Kyungsoo pushed the boy back and stood in a defensive pose, acting like a human shield.

“Kai!” Baekhyun screamed as loud as he could.

Everything happened so fast.

“Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun screamed as the truck ran over someone.

Baekhyun felt his heart break as he saw the blood. There was so much blood, everywhere. The truck finally managed to stop some meters away, leaving black track marks on the asphalt.

“Yixing!” he heard Yifan yell.

“Oh !” Agent Moon said as he grabbed his phone.

Baekhyun saw Yixing run into the street -unaware drivers still speeding up. Acting on instinct, Baekhyun flashed red warning lights towards the drivers, trying to make them stop and not hurt anyone else. He ran into the road behind Yixing, but wasn’t as fast as the other. Baekhyun closed his eyes as he heard the breaks shriek -but strong arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him upwards into the sky, car missing him by seconds.

“Careful,” Yifan scolded, though his voice was more concerned than angered.

Yifan flew them both to where Yixing was, in the middle lane, trying desperately to save the injured person.

“No!”

Baekhyun looked at the other side of the street, where Jongin stood holding onto Kyungsoo who barely managed to stay on his feet -his leg was broken. He let out a sigh of relief, knowing that his friends were safe.

“What did you do?” Kyungsoo cried out painfully , “He was just a kid.”

Jongin didn’t say anything as he stared in shock towards the horrible scene in front.

“Lay, Lay stop,” Yifan tried to intervene. “Lay he’s dead.”

Baekhyun didn’t dare to look at the kid’s body and kept his focus to the front, shining warning lights and getting all the damn cars to halt.

“Oh! Oh my baby,” he heard a woman cry out.

“The mother’s coming,” Yifan warned.

“Distract her,” Yixing ordered.

“But Lay-”

“Damn it Kris! A mother shouldn’t see her child like this,” Yixing snapped. “Just let me fix him up.”

Baekhyun looked around, finally realizing how bad the scene was. Busy street filled with people watching them, nearly everyone with a damn phone in their hands recording all the events. Drivers finally getting out of their cars, confused at how just one guy managed to emit so much light instead of a whole patrol of police cars.

Yifan stalled the mother, saying some lie about them being paramedics. Agent Moon was trying to take control of the situation, spewing out orders through communicational devices. Kyungsoo was crying in pain and agony, while Jongin and Agent Jeon tried to protect him from the onlookers and the people yelling threats at them.

The loud noise of a chopper was heard above them -wind blowing strong and pushing people away. It didn’t have where to land other than the roof of two parallel cars. The agents worked fast to extract them from the scene. A troop got off the helicopter and helped them into the flying vehicle.

“Wait,” Baekhyun yelled over all the ruckus. “Tao can reverse time!”

“Get in kid,” the field agent said as he tried pulling him towards the chopper.

“Tao can reverse time! He can save him,” he yelled like a maniac as he was forced into the helicopter.

Getting home was a daze, Baekhyun didn’t even notice the time pass as he was still in shock from everything that happened -slowly trying to comprehend the gravity of the events. Yifan didn’t say anything as he sat in silence, face filled with fear and worry. Yixing quietly and diligently healed all of Kyungsoo’s broken bones, while Jongin cried in silence.

Jongin hadn’t been fast enough to safely get Kyungsoo out without getting hit by the truck. He hadn’t been fast enough to save the kid. If only they hadn’t been separated when walking down the street, if Jongin was closer to the accident. Or if Kyungsoo hadn’t pushed the kid away and kept him closer so that Jongin would’ve caught them both. Baekhyun shook his head, not wanting to think anymore. It was a complete disaster and everything just went horribly wrong -there was nothing they could do now.

Back at the dorm they were escorted into the living room. Agents ran here and there, calling numbers and estimating the backlash of the compromising event.

“Call every news and TV station, this can not get out,” Agent Choi ordered. “Get me on the line with the Chief and the Director. Hell, get me the ing President.” Agent Choi brought his hands to his head. “If this goes to we’ll have to apply code E,” he said distressed.

“Is anyone hurt?” Agent Cha asked them, holding a first aid kit.

Silently they shook their heads.

The rest of the group finally arrived, quickly they ran into the living room.

“What happened?” Junmyeon asked alarmed, walking up to Yifan with Zitao -who was already crying his eyes out.

“If only I was strong enough,” Kyungsoo cried into his hands -loud and full of sorrow. Chanyeol and Jongdae quickly ran to his side in an attempt to comfort him.

Jongin shook his head. “It’s all my fault,” he cried. “I wasn’t fast enough. I, I, I could’ve saved him.”

“Jongin stop,” Minseok said sternly as he went to his side.

“I didn’t even see him,” Jongin lamented.

“Don’t dare blame yourself,” Minseok said as he hugged the younger boy. “This is not your fault. You did the best you could,” he tried comforting.

Sehun was crying but he went to Jongin’s side, hugging them both.

Baekhyun watched as Lu Han stayed away, back against the wall as he held his head with his hands. His gaze clearly distraught as he listened to all their thoughts.

Everyone was crying, even he couldn’t hold back his tears. All but Yixing. Baekhyun gulped in fear noticing how unresponsive Yixing was amongst the others, sitting still like as statue as he kept his gaze on his bloodied hands.

Where did all that blood come from? Baekhyun thought in horror as noticed Yixing even had blood smeared on his face.

He couldn’t stand it. Baekhyun got up and held onto Yixing’s arm, pulling him up to his feet -Junmyeon quickly joined to help. They guided the healer up into a bathroom. Junmyeon prepared the shower as Baekhyun took off Yixing’s clothes -the latter not even reacting to what they were doing to him. They managed to get Yixing inside the shower, Baekhyun stepped inside with him not caring about getting his clothes all wet.

“I’ll get new clothes,” Junmyeon offered and left, taking the bloodied clothes with him.

Baekhyun used the sponge to rub off every speck of red on Yixing’s fair skin, scrubbing furiously against his arms, neck and face. He hated seeing so much red on Yixing -he hated seeing how unresponsive Yixing was, mind far gone in his catatonic state.

“Yixing,” Baekhyun tried to get him to look at him. “Yixing please,” he held the healer’s face between his hands, staring into those darkened eyes. “You’re scaring me,” he pleaded with tears in his eyes.

He brushed Yixing’s hair out of the way and pressed his lips against Yixing’s forehead -skin cold against his trembling lips. He tried to convey how much he cared into the chaste kiss, trying to get Yixing to come back to reality. When he leaned away he saw a little spark in Yixing’s eyes -a glimpse indicating he was still there.

Junmyeon was quick to arrive with fresh clothes and towels. He helped Baekhyun dry Yixing off and put clothes back on his body. Yixing slowly began to move, cooperating in getting the clothes onto him.

“You should change too,” Junmyeon said, pointing at the spare clothes he brought.

Baekhyun didn’t argue and did as told, quickly changing as Junmyeon managed to get Yixing out of the bathroom.

Back in the bedroom Baekhyun noticed that everyone was inside, worried about Yixing. Chanyeol was hugging the healer to keep him warm but he suddenly jumped away, holding his hands against his chest in pain. Yixing began to cry and everyone panicked, not knowing what to do to help the healer, not even daring to touch him. Baekhyun felt his heart break as Yixing’s sorrow was felt by everyone in the room. Baekhyun didn’t care what the others were saying as he forced his way through to get to him. He wrapped his arms around Yixing’s trembling frame and held his as close as humanly possible -ignoring all the pain running through his heart.

Now Baekhyun understood why Chanyeol let go and the others didn’t dare touch Yixing. It was too much. Yixing’s sorrow was intensified in a way Baekhyun had never felt pain before. His first instinct was to let go and step away, fearing he could actually die of a heat break. But he didn’t want to, he didn’t want to leave Yixing. He held onto Yixing tighter, his hands into his clothes as he tried to ignore the horrid aching of his heart, the unbearable pressure in his chest and throat, the shortness of breath and the ever flowing tears streaming down his face. With each beat of his heart, he felt as if he was breaking inside.

Yixing wrapped his arms around Baekhyun’s waist, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. Baekhyun felt hands on his back and the pain in his heart gradually decreased into a dull throbbing ache much bearable than before. Baekhyun didn’t have to look around to understand what was happening. The group had all joined hands sharing the pain their healer felt and bearing with it the way Yixing has always been there for them.

 

 

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A/N: 2

Yeah…

I don’t know if everyone who’s reading has figured out the secret yet, since most of you guys are quite silent. But few have figured it out, most of it. So it’s time for me to reveal the last hint I’ve been keeping: the date of the video Mama sent from the future. Just google that with Exo and you’ll know what I’m heading towards.

Thanks to aswarfades, Flawless1802, biitina, xLacey, Areumhee10  and  ANGELNIM_SIRA for subscribing. And thank you to everyone who has upvoted my story. It's nearing the end so, I guess now is the best time to upvote if you want to but haven't done it yet. It's all up to you.

It’s close to the end of Exo Trials, I hope you guys enjoyed my story so far despite all the angst. I’ll have the last chapter done by the end of the month. Have a great week guys. Annyeong!

-Blackie.

PS: Anyone interested in me making a Q&A or Trivia thing for Exo Trials? Like a place where I can answer your questions and reveal fun facts about making the story, or reveal the codes, or hidden hints or whatever.