Baekhyun opened his eyes. The sunlight bathed his skin as he laid on his side. He tried closing his eyes. His head felt heavy. The pain throbbed and pulsed in his skull, not a sharp pain like a knife-inflicted wound, but more of a dull pounding. He slowly pushed himself up on the bed and flinched as the pain in his head got worse. He pulled out his phone. It was now 5:00 am. 

Yesterday was all a blur. Baekhyun could barely remember what happened last night. It's nothing uncommon for Baekhyun to suddenly break out a fever ever since the chemotherapy treatment. He suddenly remembered how he was coughing like crazy at the practice yesterday. It was because he forced himself to eat the pancakes yesterday's morning when he wasn't supposed to. Also, it's been 2 years since Baekhyun used his voice to sing again and it caught him by surprise. His vocal chords weren't ready. As soon as he sung the first word, his throat burned. He tried to suppress the urge to cough but he couldn't do it in the end. He remembered running to the bathroom and seeing blood literally splattered everywhere on the toilet's seat. He asked to go home because he didn't have the strength to sing anymore.

A snore interrupted his thoughts. Baekhyun looked to his left. Chanyeol was sleeping peacefully on his own bed. He was sleeping in a weird position while a drool dribbled down his chin. The morning Chanyeol wasn't exactly a pretty sight to look at but Baekhyun still thought Chanyeol was adorable no matter what he did or how ugly he looked right now. Baekhyun went over to Chanyeol's bed and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders so he won't catch a cold. He noticed the dark circles under Chanyeol's eyes. Has he been getting enough sleep? 

Baekhyun walked to the bathroom and closed the door. He was startled by his own reflection. His lips were chapped. His eyes were swollen. His face was even paler than usual. But that wasn't what caught Baekhyun's eyes. He looked down at the shirt he is wearing. Isn't this Chanyeol's shirt? He took off the thin t-shirt and observed it carefully. It was definitely Chanyeol's all time favorite t-shirt: a baby blue V-neck that he bought on a trip to London. What the hell happened last night? Baekhyun tried to remember but he can't seem to recall anything. This often happened to Baekhyun. His fevers were usually high so he always ended up being unconscious and didn't have control over his actions. He would always wake up from a fever the next day and not remember a thing. Oh God, did he do anything weird last night? He was praying that he didn't say anything stupid. 

Baekhyun shook his head. He will deal with that later. He quickly brushed his teeth. He went to change his clothes in one of the changing room that the engineer had inserted to their bathroom to make it easier for the members to change. He returned and went to the mirror to comb his hair. A big chunk of his hair fell to the floor. Baekhyun heart throbbed at the sight of it. It was a reminder that he didn't have much time left. He disposed his falling hair to the trash can and quietly walked back to the room. Chanyeol was still sleeping and so were the other members. Perfect. Baekhyun picked up his phone and quickly went downstairs. He dialed Taeyeon's number.

"Hey, it's me," Baekhyun said as soon as Taeyeon picked up, " you can come to our house right now. Everyone is still sleeping. I'll meet you outside." Taeyeon said she will come over in 5 minutes. Baekhyun went outside and sit on the front porch, waiting for her.

Taeyeon's white Honda Civic appeared at the corner. Baekhyun stood up and went over to her car. She opened the door and Baekhyun sat on the passenger's seat. Then she drove him to a little coffee shop nearby.

They asked the waitress for a private booth. She lead them to the booth at the very back of the cafe. As soon as they sat down, Taeyeon quickly took out a container from her purse. She had prepared the food for Baekhyun.

"I blended some fresh strawberries for you since it's your favorite," she smiled genuinely at him.

Baekhyun took the silver spoon from Taeyeon's purse and started scooping up the mushy food in front of him. He swallowed. A sweet scent of strawberries embraced him.

"How is it going?" Taeyeon looked at him, her eyes full of concern.

"It's going great," Baekhyun lied. He didn't want to stress out Taeyeon.

"You can tell me anything you know. Don't try to keep it to yourself," Taeyeon reached over and squeezed his hand.

"Everything is going great right now. Don't worry about me. I'm fine," Baekhyun offered a small smile. He was nowhere near being fine though. If he told her about how he broke out into a fever last night, she would freak out.

"I talked to your manager. He seems really concerned. He's really worried about your health," Taeyeon said, "he said you're really talented but it's a shame that such a sickness picked you to become its victim. He also said since you've decided to return to EXO, he will limit your singing. He will be there to support you on the way. I also asked him to kept your sickness a secret from the members," she paused, "I know you can't eat normal foods so I prepared the foods that you can eat. I will give them to the manager and he will give it to you before breakfast. I'll make sure to make a lot so that you'll have enough to last the whole day. As for you, your job is to continued taking your daily medicine to keep you alive... as long as possible," Taeyeon was quiet.

"Thank you for everything," Baekhyun felt like a burden. Taeyeon was a person with a really busy schedule. Being the leader of Girls' Generation was a tough job. Now, she also had to take care of Baekhyun. He felt so guilty.

"It's 5:45 right now, I'll drive you back to your house before the members wake up," Taeyeon stood up and grabbed her car's key. She drove him home but she parked at the corner of the house, not wanting anyone to see them. Baekhyun quickly said goodbye and walked toward the house. Taeyeon drove away.

Baekhyun slowly opened the door as quietly as he can. As soon as he is inside the house, he turned and slammed his face against something. Or rather, someone.

Chanyeol face hovered above him. His face is scrunched up into a scowl. He slammed Baekhyun against the door. Baekhyn in his breath.

"Where the hell have you been?" Chanyeol shouted to his face.

"I...," Baekhyun felt so intimidated right now," I was going out for a walk."

"A walk??" Chanyeol eyes nearly popped out of his head, "You went out for a walk right after you barely got over your fever? What were you thinking?? You nearly died last night and that scared me to death! I literally stayed up the whole night and took care of you! And now you're telling me you went out for a walk when it's freezing outside?? What if you got sick again?" Chanyeol was angry. His face turned really red. His voice was loud and it was echoing. 

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," Baekhyun was surprised by Chanyeol's words. Did Chanyeol stay up the whole night to take care of him? The memory was so vague, Baekhyun could barely remember.

"Fine whatever. Go change into something warm," Chanyeol leaned away from Baekhyun and walked toward his room. This is the first time they've talked since Baekhyun returned. Even though Chanyeol was angry, Baekhyun was still happy that Chanyeol cared about him. At least a tiny bit. But Baekhyun can't have his hopes up because expectations usually lead to disappointments.

Baekhyun went to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out a water bottle. He looked at the counter. 

The counter is a mess. Greens onions are everywhere. Little pieces of carrots and potatoes are scattered on the cutting board. Did someone forget to clean the counter after using it yesterday? Baekhyun starts throwing the leftover vegetables into the trashcan and clean up the mess. He noticed a pot sitting on the stove. Seriously? Who is this messy person? Baekhyun went over and picked up the pot. There was something inside. It looked like soup. 

Soup? An image flashed to his head. Someone was feeding him the soup when he was sick and unconscious last night. It was Chanyeol. Baekhyun thought he was having another sweet dream of Chanyeol but looking at the pot now, Baekhyun realized it wasn't a dream. Chanyeol had made the soup for him to help him recovered from the fever. The thought made Baekhyun teared up. So Chanyeol still cares about him after all.

After cleaning up, he went to their room. Chanyeol is standing in front of his closet, trying to pick out an outfit. Baekhyun slowly went over to him.

"Thank you for everything you did yesterday," Baekhyun spoke after a moment, " and for the soup. I know you can't cook but it was really kind of you to made the soup for me. My fever has gotten a lot better," Baekhyun felt awkward. He didn't know what to say to Chanyeol. It was a strange feeling because 2 years ago, he wouldn't care to speak his mind to Chanyeol. Now, it seemed like he was talking to a complete stranger.

"No problem. Don't get sick again," Chanyeol didn't look at him. He finally decided on black joggers and a gray hoodie. He went to the bathroom to change.

Baekhyun smiled happily. After all this time, it's a good feeling to know that Chanyeol still cared about him. He opened the door to go downstairs. He nearly jumped at what was in front of him.

Kyungsoo was standing in the doorway. He seemed to be very upset. There were tears in his puppy eyes. He jumped back an inch when Baekhyun opened the door. With one glaring of hatred at Baekhyun, Kyungsoo angrily stomped back to his room.