54: Whispered words of promise don't mean a lot with their history. Pairing!SuLay, BarelyThere!BaekYeol, Hurt/Comfort, PostDepartures!Canon

“SPAO’s New Limited Edition EXO Ad Missing Lay?” Kyungsoo reads aloud from his phone before muttering “I’m sorry to the fans.”

Baekhyun nods and Jongdae adds, “They probably worry that Yixing-hyung is going to leave us.” The unspoken “Like duizhang, Lu-hyung, and Taozi did” is obvious and hangs heavy in the air.

“I worry that he’s going to leave us.” Junmyeon’s whine is petulant and he hates the tone in his own voice, but they all know he means it. Jongin flops the entire upper length of his body across Junmyeon’s body where the elder is seated at the kitchen table, and Sehun pats Junmyeon’s hand before getting up to make them all tea. His babies, Junmyeon thinks fondly; when did they get grown enough to start taking care of him instead of the other way around?

When Chanyeol reminds his leader that Yixing will be home in a couple of days, his voice is uncharacteristically soft. Junmyeon might find the gentleness strange if he wasn’t wallowing so deeply. As it is, Minseok’s the one to catch Baekhyun’s grateful kiss to Chanyeol’s cheek; he’s old enough to know a good distraction when he sees it and is soon good-naturedly teasing his two dongsaengs about their happy union. Baekhyun’s furious blush and Chanyeol’s blunderingly terrible attempt at a denial make Junmyeon smile, albeit a little sadly, and the matter of Yixing’s absence is laid to rest a little while longer.

Junmyeon doesn’t know which one of the members gives him away—or if all of them did—but when Yixing arrives late from China a few nights later, the very first thing he does is pull Junmyeon close and murmur with his mouth close to Junmyeon’s ear that “As long as you’re here I’m not going anywhere.” Yixing knows, though, that whispered words of promise don’t mean a lot with their history, so he wastes no time in using his lips to show Junmyeon exactly how committed he is to staying.

This is a drabble in the truest sense of the word because writing about this makes me sort of sad, you know?