Baekhyun stood, laying down of the comfortable mattress of his room, or at least had been designated as his room ever since he had set foot on this darned mansion. He couldn’t care less about what Siwon would think if he ever found out that he was staying in a different room from Sehun; none of that mattered, at least not at the moment.

He would like to say he was hurt but that wasn’t the case, not in the slightest; right now he felt sad; a deep kind of sadness that was laced with his bones, due to constant heartaches throughout the years, that made his body feel heavy and drained at the same time, a duality that made him smile bitterly at the mere thought of it.

Never could he imagine that Chanyeol had lost his sister at such a young age and that Sehun had been her lover. Truth to be told, Sehun didn’t really looked the man to have a lover, he was too serious, too concerned with work and overly cold, but he had had one and she had died. Baekhyun knew somethings about Park Yoora, after all he did share a bond with Chanyeol and the taller male did told him somethings about his past life, like the fact that he cherished his sister a lot, since she was the one taking care of him while their mother worked day in and day in to provide for them because when his father abandoned them, he left them without a dime in their pockets.

He also knew that Chanyeol hearing had been severely impaired due to an explosion that occurred meters away from him and that the taller had troubles in socializing with others ever since he had been left with the hearing problem; after all, who would want to talk with the kid that couldn’t exactly hear them?

It did made him understand a little bit more from where Chanyeol had come from, why he was so awkward in the beginning and why, even now, he had trouble vocalizing his thoughts but, more than Chanyeol, it made him see Sehun in a whole different way from what he had so far; he had to go through a major loss in his life and Baekhyun would bet everything he had that the recovery wasn’t easy, especially if Sehun seemed reluctant to even touch the subject. In a way, he guessed that Sehun was the way he was because he hadn’t allow himself to mourn Yoora properly, choosing to ignore his own feelings, as to not appear as a weak person, hence the reason why he was like that.

As for Siwon, he was still a douche. Neither Sehun nor Chanyeol had explicit how much of the incident had been the other’s fault, the only thing mentioned was that it might not have been consciously, so Baekhyun would stop himself from judging the man on that accord; he didn’t know what happened, therefore he couldn’t say a thing. Regardless, he still thought the man was a horrible ert, an inconvenient bastard and an annoying jerk that he would very much would love to see being obliterated from planet Earth, which would’ve be a bonus to whoever remained, since more oxygen for everybody and everything.

Baekhyun hadn’t seen anyone since he had left them on Sehun’s office, after the older man had implicitly or not, accused him for being the reason to why a murderer was staying under their roof. He knew the others were worried, Chanyeol had knocked, Jongin had knocked, Yixing and Luhan, Kyungsoo, his own brother, even the maids but, at the moment, he felt that he wasn’t capable, or in the right state of mind, to talk to anybody. That moment had brought up all of his insecurities and laid them upon his skin, making him feel unworthy of the life he was living, that he didn’t deserve all the luck he was having while others had died or were injured because of it. He wasn’t feeling suicidal, nothing of that sort, just down. He needed the time to think, gather his thoughts and recompose himself before he could make an appearance, like he always did when the darker side of his mind whispered words of hate in his hears, making him break down. Eventually the bad thoughts would go away and he would be himself again.

The petite man curled himself further under the comforter, releasing a small sigh and scrubbing his face with the back of his elegant and soft hands to clear the tear marks that had made their way down his cheeks without his permission; he wasn’t the one to cry but sometimes it happened and he was an enough man to admit it.

He heard a small click echoing around the room but paid no attention to it, after all noise wasn’t something that the house was lacking, until a shadow fell upon himself and he turned to see the tall figure that was near the bed, staring at him with a strange light in his eyes.

“What do you want, Sehun?” he asked, voice rough from a long time without talking “It past three in the morning.”

“I know!” replied the taller male “But you haven’t been opening to any of them, so I doubt that you would open the door for me.”

“Well, at least you got that right…” muttered Baekhyun with a raise of his eyebrows “Still, I am not in the mood to deal with you, no offense.”

“Not offended.” drawled Sehun sitting on the bed, near Baekhyun’s folded legs.

In a cute gesture, Baekhyun put both is hands under his cheek and tilted his head down to watch Sehun, red and sleepy eyes focused on him and only him.

“Why did you break inside the room?”

“Siwon asked for you at dinner.” started Sehun, ignoring Baekhyun’s question “We all told him you were not feeling well and were staying here in case of contagiousness.”

“Not what I asked but thank you, even if I don’t really care about what Siwon thinks. He can go throw himself from the top of a building for all that I care.”

“You really don’t like him.”

“I really don’t!”

There was a moment of silent between the two of them, where they just looked at each other and basked in the comfortable, even if unfamiliar. Sehun thought that it would be Baekhyun the first to break the silence, since the younger man wasn’t adept on silence and, true enough, Baekhyun was the first to speak.

“Why are you really here?” asked Baekhyun “We both know that you are not the kind of man that breaks into other people’s room just to change little pleasantries.”

“You have quite the astute eye.”

“So I’ve been told…”

“But it is true, I am not here to just chitchat with you, as you very well pointed. I am here to apologize to you for my words.” Sehun looked directly into Baekhyun’s eyes as he spoke, noticing how the other’s eyes widened slightly “I believe that my words were, in a way, misunderstood. I did not intended my words to get out like they did neither did I meant what I am imagining you did. First of all, I did not mean to accuse you, in any shape or form. When Chanyeol spoke and I replied to his speech, I never meant to say that this is your fault; that the situation that we are in, specifically, the fact that Siwon is temporarily in here is your fault, because it isn’t. I know that probably I was a little inflamed, Chanyeol pressured me about the subject and I did blow up. I was merely trying to make him understand that while I do not like Siwon, we need to stay in his good books until your brother is off the police records, until he is safe, but also it’s important to keep you safe because I am pretty sure that if Kris was ever arrested you’d be out of this house in a second and I am trying to keep you safe and I am invested in that believe or not. I am not saying that people have to like it but I am saying that it is necessary for the moment. Do you understand that?”

“Now that you explained it, I do; I really do; but truth to be told, you are never really able to talk these things with me, or pretty much anyone, and you are many times misunderstood because of that. It is kind of frustrating that I am seriously trying to make this word, this only fake world that we created but I feel like I am not really getting anything for you. It feels like I am going to do rappel without a rope. And it makes me feel uncomfortable, untrusted and stupid, mainly because I am kept in the dark about many things. And that makes me feel insecure about… everything.”

Sehun winced internally when he heard the tinier male’s speech; his intention hadn’t been to make the other feel that way, while he and Baekhyun weren’t exactly the best friends, he could say that he had grew accustomed to the other presence and that had made them tolerate and, in certain moments, enjoy each other’s presence. Baekhyun had been first and foremost a card that they could use against Jia, at least that was what Sehun though in the beginning but Baekhyun was smart and he knew to play his part right, also, he had brought a certain spark and livelihood to the house that hadn’t been there for a long while and it was rather nice. People were happy and he was enjoying seeing so, after all, despite not showing much, he cared.

“I am sorry that you feel this way. If I am perfectly honest with you, at first, I didn’t matter to me but you helped us all, time and time again, took whatever it was thrown at you and never complained, hence the reason why I am apologizing. I have not been fair to you, nor to anybody for the matter.”

“You have reasons.” declared Baekhyun, shrugging his shoulder a bit “I understand some of them, from what has been said today. But you got to understand my point of view. It’s hard for you but for me too. I spent all my life running away from all of this and it’s not been easy on me.”

Sehun nodded at the other’s words; he got it, especially after what Yixing had told him, more so from what Kris told him afterwards. The poor kid had even gone hungry after his mother’s death because there was no one to help him. He noticed the picture standing beside Baekhyun on a bed. A beautiful woman stood there, with a chubby cheeked Baekhyun on his lap. Raven hair, high cheekbones and plump lips and the exact same eyes as the smaller male; the resemblance was striking.

“Your mother?” asked Sehun gently, seeing the smile appear on the other’s lips.

“Yes!”

“She was beautiful.”

“She was, the most beautiful woman ever. When I was little, we didn’t have much money, she worked a lot just saving for my school books and school supplies, so we when she needed to explain something for me, it was hard since there was no paper, so she just wrote things on the back of receipts or she would take me outside and wrote on the soil.”

“Sounds like an amazing mother.”

“The best!”

“Tell me more…” requested Sehun, a suddenly wish to know more about the other’s mother, since his had died without him knowing her, and to actually bond with the gentle nurse who was slowly but surely capturing the heart of everyone with his radiance.

Baekhyun seemed a little surprised at the request, obviously not expecting it, much less from Sehun. Sure, he had told several stories to Chanyeol, to Yixing and Jongdae, even Minseok and Luhan asked about it but never once he had expected Sehun to ask for them. But he could see the offering as it was, a peace offering and an apology from Sehun, who could try as he wanted but didn’t quite erased the hidden message in his eyes, at least not to observant Baekhyun.

He smiled a little; eyes alight like two embers as he re-told his life to the auburn haired man. Sehun listened attentively; interested in knowing more about that intriguing character that was Baekhyun.

When Sehun appeared at the dining room the next day, Luhan, Kyungsoo and Jongdae, who were getting ready for work, shot him a surprised looked. If he had to guess he would say that it had something to do with the disgruntled look he supported. He and Baekhyun talked for almost two hours, mostly about the shorter male, since Sehun didn’t really talk about his own life and he had only left the younger’s room when the other fell into an exhausted sleep around five in the morning. He had made sure the other was covered with a thick blanket, to fight any cold drafts, and left him sleeping peacefully; face blissfully serene before going to sleep in his own bed.

“Why so disgruntled, Sehun?” asked Jongdae with a mocking smile on his lips.

“None of your business.” barked the man, using his head to ruffle his hair a bit, making it falling into his eyes.

“Has it something to do with you leaving Baekhyun’s room this morning?” asked a deceptively calm Junmyeon entering the dining room and sitting beside Jongdae, eyes never meeting Sehun’s.

“Woooow!! You were in little nurse’s room yesterday?” asked Jongdae, mouth agape. Sehun knew the other meant nothing with his words, but somehow, it sounded lewd enough. He guessed it was Jongdae’s ability or something.

“I was.” replied Sehun vaguely; as much as he would like to not answer, things were never a secret long enough inside his household, so no point of lying.

“What were you doing there?” asked Junmyeon, line distorting his forehead from its usual smooth self.

“We talked.”

“Just talked?” pressed the other man.

“Yes.” deadpanned Sehun looking over at Junmyeon, who still refused to look at him, choosing to concentrate instead on his toast.

“I seriously doubt that Sehun, you have absolutely zero reasons to talk with him, especially after what happened yesterday.”

“I apologized to him.” muttered the auburn haired man, staring weirdly at Junmyeon, mostly due to his atypical behavior.

“You apologized to him?” asked Junmyeon, half screaming the question, eyes swinging to finally look at the taller male. “When do you do that, especially to him? You don’t even like him!”

“I apologized because I took it too far. Also, Baekhyun is an ally and I should try, we all should try, and treat him like so.”

“Are you really being serious? You’re calling him and ally?” there was a clear trace of disdain in Junmyeon’s voice, that made everyone look at him. Ultimately, it was Luhan who put a stop to that nonsense.

“I am not sure what is wrong with you Junmyeon but you really are sounding like a bitter lover towards someone who is respected within this household, therefore I would like to keep that in mind and restrain your words.”

“That boy” growled Junmyeon “is bringing a lot of unwanted attention towards us. We were completely at peace with everyone until he and his brother appeared and our house gets broke into, bombs start maiming buildings. What is next? What if someone gets killed? That is going to be all on him!”

“Junmyeon!” called Sehun, a sharp, steel like, intonation that made Junmyeon shut up immediately. “Everything that is happening right now and will happen is nothing more than the consequences of my decisions, no one else’s, so control yourself and your mouth.”

Junmyeon angry, blazing eyes shot him an accusing and quite murderous to put it frankly, before he stood up and left the room, food still half eaten in his plate. A few seconds later, a drowsy but mostly awake Baekhyun waddle inside the room, inspecting the people at the dining table with careful eyes, before deeming it safe to eat. Ever since Siwon had come into the house, Baekhyun had stopped eating in the kitchen, joining them on the dining room and this wasn’t an exception. Yuna hurried to fill his cup with tea, something that Baekhyun was very fond of, earning a smile from the male.

“Thank you. Is everything okay with Junmyeon though? He almost ran me down just seconds ago.”

“He’s fine.” Said Jongdae, mouth full of food, which had Baekhyun grimacing at the sight. “His Feng Shui was unbalanced!”

“What?” asked Baekhyun, face twisting in confusion at Jongdae’s absurd answer.

“Don’t mind Jongdae. How are you today Baekhyun?” asked Kyungsoo, eyes a little concerned as he took in the other male’s tired demeanor.

“I’m fine Kyungsoo. Just a little bit tired.”

“Does it have something to do with Sehun’s visit to your room until early morning?” asked Jongdae with a mischievous smile painted on his lips, intending to make Baekhyun look embarrassed.

“Actually, yes!” replied the smaller looking completely at ease. “We were awake until pretty late, or early if you see it like that. I didn’t really get much sleep.”

“Was it really such a wild night?” asked a voice from the doorway and nobody had to turn on their seats to know that it was Siwon.

“Yes, we did.” deadpanned Baekhyun with a face that screamed ‘stupid’ at the other. “He barged into the room where I quarantined myself and we had long, passionate, rounds of .”

“Really?” asked Siwon with an excited look on his face.

“No! We do have a little more class than you, we don’t go around screwing everywhere, or at least trying to!” replied Baekhyun, sarcasm pouring from his lips, while everyone hid their smiles behind their hands and the remark.

Siwon actually smirked at the other’s words before, with a lewd and frankly disgusting look on his face, directing a few words at Baekhyun.

“If only you’d let me sweetheart I would…”

“Finish that sentence and I will stab your hand with a fork.” warned Sehun with a serious face, interrupting Siwon.

“You are so protective of your little fiancé! Can’t he fight his own battles?”

“Oh he can. He is a very capable person but I am a firm believer that if I’d let him near you, you’d end up dead and I am in still in need of your services.”

Maybe it was Sehun’s serious tone of voice or maybe it was Baekhyun’s feral smile but Siwon his heel and stuttered that he was going to eat in the kitchen.

As soon as the male was out of the room, Baekhyun started to laugh; it was an unrestrained and beautiful sound, the way he laughed with his whole body was fascinating and compelling. It was no surprise to anyone when everyone followed him and started laughing too; even Sehun chuckled a bit. It was nice to have that kind of happy vibe filling the house to the brim.

Jongdae smiled as he saw how lighter Baekhyun looked. After these few last days he feared that his characteristic spark was gone but no, there it was, the breathtaking smile and eye crinkling in amusement. He looked at Sehun and noticed the lighter air about the older male as well. It was as if the animosity between them was broken and they had climbed up an important ladder on their budding relationship; they weren’t best friends, that was clear, but they weren’t enemies anymore and they were more than acquaintances. It made Jongdae intrigued as were would this relationship evolved

It was even more interesting when Jongin entered the room; Jongdae had long stopped being fazed about the flurry of people moving around the house, in and out of rooms, a long time ago. He noticed how Jongin’s eyes hardened exponentially when landing on Sehun before softening when they set themselves on the tiny figure sitting next to Sehun on the table. With long strides he sat next to the male, hands grasping the other’s soft and long hands in his.

“Are you okay Baekhyun?” he asked softly, eyes gentle as he looked into the smaller male’s puffy eyes.

“I’m fine Jongin. Don’t worry about me, honestly.” replied the other patting Jongin’s hands, trying to calm him down.

“But I can see that you have been crying and we all know whose fault is that!”

The remark had been very direct and everybody tensed slightly when they heard it, knowing fully well who it had been directed at. Sehun said nothing; he didn’t had the time because Baekhyun, in a soft, quiet tone of voice, replied to Jongin’s accusation.

“Don’t do that Jongin. Please don’t. Whatever happened is now solved. So no more bitter words, okay? No on my account.”

Jongin gritted his teeth but said nothing more, turning to face the table, grabbing the juice pitched with one hand while the other encased Baekhyun’s hand. The smaller male seemed surprised and even a little flustered. Sehun’s eyes were poised on the clasped hands, an indescribable look on his face.

“Jongin…my hand…I need it…to eat?” stuttered Baekhyun, not really knowing what to say.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” apologized the bronzed skinned male letting go of the soft hand while squeezing it lightly one last time.

Breakfast was a tense occasion; nobody spoke the entire meal, except for Baekhyun, Jongdae and Luhan, who tried, without success, to diffuse some of that tension. Baekhyun actually seemed quite happy to leave the room once Chanyeol entered the room looking for him. The small male went after the taller without two thoughts about it, content in leaving the room.

Kyungsoo and Luhan were the next to leave, needing to go to the company; even if Sehun had taken the week off, they still had a lot of work to do. Jongdae was the last to leave, he didn’t work at the company but he had some business to take care of, as he had told everyone.

As soon as Jongin and Sehun were left alone, the auburn haired man was not shy with his words.

“I am not against the fact that you are friends with Baekhyun, Jongin; but please remind yourself that, truth or not, he is still my fiancé for all effects and purposes. That being said, I would appreciate if you keep your hands off Baekhyun.”

“What if Baekhyun wants my hands on him?” asked Jongin, clearly trying to rile Sehun up.

“It’s not my concern whether he wants it or not. However, it is mine and your concern to keep him safe and that implies you not touching him, as you clearly want to. A warning for you, the next time I see you doing something like that, I can guarantee you that I’ll switch you with Minseok and or Tao and I will punish you, be sure of that.”

Jongin was red with fury after hearing Sehun’s words.

“I like Baekhyun, I won’t deny that and I can guarantee you that when this charade is over I will do anything in my power to make him fall for me.”

After hearing Jongin’s words, Sehun turned to look at the younger male, a gentle but firm expression on his face.

“Do as you may. However, remember one thing, love can’t be pushed over someone, it’s something that comes natural.”

He stood up, intending to leave the room and maybe going to the pool in a while but Jongin’s voice stopped him.

“Do you like him? Is that what you are trying to say?”

“I don’t like him.” stated Sehun, pausing for a second before continuing “But it is not impossible for it to happen.”

And with that last sentence, he left Jongin standing alone in the dining room, fists closed tightly on top of the table cloth. He didn’t quite understand the meaning behind Sehun’s words and that scared him more than anyone would imagine, because that meant that Sehun thought about the possibility of having a relationship with Baekhyun and Jongin wasn’t quite sure he could win against Sehun.

He closed his eyes, ignoring the tears that had gathered around in them and breathed slowly to calm himself. When he opened his eyes, he had made a decision: no matter what, he was going to fight for what he wanted, come high or hell water. 

A/N: Oh God sorry for the dealy, internet is being a pain in the bottom for the last days. I hope I made up for it with this chapter. What do you think of it? About all that you leaned with Sehun and Baekhyun's conversations and Jongin's admition. Especially, what do you think of Sehunnie's attitude? Hmmm? Tell me all about it. Leave a comment and I'll reply to you for sure! Upvotes and subscribing are love so please do!! ^^
As usual, I wish every single one of you a magnificent day and that you can stay healthy, happy and loved!

Sooo, be happy, love and be loved! <3