~ Sehun's POV

I turn around on the street when someone taps my shoulder. ”Sehun?” Jongin's voice asks and I release the breath that I was holding. ”Is he okay? Baekhyun?” I ask quickly and look into Jongin's eyes. The sorrow reflecting behind them tells me some bad news. ””, I whisper and feel a sting in my eyes. Immediately, like a natural reaction, Jongin wraps his arms around me and I can feel his body shake a little. ”It's okay”, he whispers to me. I want to believe him.

”I'm heading to Luhan's place. You should find Taemin”, I mumble and push Jongin away from me. He stays still and I keep rushing towards Luhan's apartment.

I catch the petite boy right before he enters the skyscraper he lives in. He turns around after I call out his name, and a smile rises to his lips. He looks tired and kind of sad, so I wrap my arms around him as a greeting.

”Hey, what are you doing here?” Luhan asks carefully as we pull apart from the hug. ”I need to... Talk to you. Can we go in?” I ask quickly and hurry to open the door for Luhan, who walks inside after looking at me weirdly. The lobby is round, and the large windows let in a lot of light. There are three elevators on the back wall and two staircases surrounding them. There's a small fountain in the middle but it's off, and the clear water stays still. The lights are pretty dim, and cast a cold light all around the lobby. All the details are chrome on gray walls and a shiny marble floor, so the general feel of the lobby is drastically different from the apartment Luhan has.

We walk to one of the elevators in silence. On the long way up, a beautiful view of the night sky opens up. Our old home is not visible, but a cloud of smoke on one side of town gives me the general idea. There's a soft glow around it. ”What did you want to talk about?” Luhan's small voice asks and I turn my attention to him. He looks cute in that collared shirt and a loose, black tie. A jacket is tossed over his shoulder and his hair is just slightly messy. He's carrying a small, black bag decorated with pins of unicorns, rainbows, and Pusheen the Cat.

”It's... It's a long story. And a difficult topic”, I mumble and take a deep breath. I probably look so out of place here, with clothes that are torn and dirty, shoes that are worn and hair that's messy not because I was working hard but because there's nothing to style it with. I take a deep breath and release it when the elevator doors open. The walk to Luhan's door and into the apartment is silent. Luhan slips into a pair of slippers that are apparently new – I haven't seem them before. They're light blue and there's a flower on them. I take off my shoes but before I can get into the apartment, Luhan hands me something. A pair of slippers. Larger than his, white, and with a small black ”S” on the corners. ”I bought them for you. I didn't know your exact size but I hope they fit”, he says and I can see a small tint of red on his cheeks when I take the fluffy slippers into my hands. He smiles but turns away quickly to hide it when I slip into the white shoes. ”I'll get us some tea, we can sit in the living room”, he says and hurries through the kitchen door next to his bedroom. I walk to the couch never taking my eyes off the slippers that feel soft as a cloud and fit perfectly. I sit down and look at the fireplace. There are pictures of Luhan's family on the edge, as well as candles and a small silver statue of a deer. There are thin bracelets and necklaces hanging from it's antlers.

Luhan returns without a tie and carrying two cups of tea. He hands me one before sitting down next to me. ”I'm sorry, it's been a long day”, he says quietly. It might just be my imagination but his voice sounds a little hoarse. ”Why? What happened?” I ask softly and Luhan looks me in the eyes knowingly. ”Cut to the chase. We're not here to talk about me, right?” he asks and takes a small sip of the tea. ”No, tell me, what's wrong? I want to know”, I say genuinely and turn my upper body slightly more towards him. He smiles and looks down at the tea. He takes a moment before speaking.

”I messed up at work. I mean, it's a record company, and obviously there's going to be lots of singing and stuff, and I got too caught up in one of the recording studios daydreaming about being a singer and then I was late for a meeting and I think dad almost lost a client because of me and he's really mad now and as a punishment I had to do boring- paperwork for the rest of the evening”, he moans the last words out in frustration. ”It was terrible! One of my co-workers covered for me in all the interesting stuff like meeting other singers and introducing them to their new songs and I feel so left out now”, Luhan mumbles and looks at me with a pout and sad puppy eyes. ”I'm telling you, my dad is a tyrant”, he growls under his breath and drinks a little more of the tea. I take a moment to think about how to respond.

”Did he hear you sing?” I ask softly and Luhan's face shows confusion. He answers nonetheless. ”Uhh, no, I think not, I was singing quietly so people wouldn't notice”, he says and looks down again. ”Dad has never heard me sing. He says that for me, it's a waste of time”, he adds with a quiet voice. There's probably more things his dad has said about singing. I smile a little and lift his face to meet mine with two fingers. My voice is quiet when I talk to him. ”You need to make him listen. I don't care if you have to blast it through the central radio system or secretly make it his ringtone, you have to make sure your dad hears how well you sing. As a producer or CEO or whatever...” ”CEO”, Luhan butts in. ”...I'm sure he'll recognize your talent.”

There's a long moment when neither of us say anything. Not necessarily an awkward silence, but one where we both just think about our lives and drink tea. Luhan smiles a little.

”So now you. What did you need to tell me?” he suddenly asks and I jump a little. He giggles and I notice myself smiling wider. ”I uh. Could I... If it's not any trouble... Could I stay here for a night or two?” I ask softly and look at Luhan. He's looking back at me with a pair of dark brown eyes, wide from curiosity. ”Why?” I bite my lip, how the hell could I answer that?

That's it. I've lied about way too many things for someone like Luhan.

”This is going to be a long story.”

Luhan shifts on the couch and leans his elbow on the backrest, pressing his temple into his hand. ”I have time. All night, if that's what you need”, he says with a kind, comforting smile and sips the tea.

~ Jongin's POV

”Oh my god”, Taemin whispers and looks down to his hands. He's sitting on his bed, I'm standing up, no further than two steps from the door of Taemin's room.

Spilling my entire life story out to him felt difficult, but I'm so glad it's over. My entire body is aching, like I've just been in an exhausting boxing fight, now I'm waiting for the final punch from my opponent, the one that would knock me down and out, and the pain would be over. I close my eyes and pull back my hair with my fingers before lowering my head towards my chest. I can hear the bed springs creak when Taemin gets up and when I open my eyes, I can see his socks appear in my view. A hand is placed under my chin, and it lifts my head up. I can see a small flash of Taemin's face before he wraps his arms tight around me.

My moment of confusion is broken when he shifts his weight from side to side, mumbling to my ear softly: ”I'm so sorry.” I wrap my hands around Taemin. His breath seems heavy, like he's holding in a cry.

The hug feels neverending. Taemin doesn't want to let go even if I lower my hands back down to my sides. After the long silence, I finally swallow a lump in my throat and speak up.

”Are you scared? Of having... A murderer in your house?”

Taemin finally breaks the hug, but keeps his hands on my shoulders. His eyes are gleaming, tears almost pooling in his eyes. ”I... I don't know”, he whispers and wipes away his tears. A forced chuckle rises from his throat. ”Honestly, I'm pretty sure you're not even strong enough to beat me up. I know my way around self defense”, he says and smiles a broken smile. I look down again and Taemin lets go of my shoulders, walking a couple of steps away from me. A silence lands in the room again.

”Do you have anywhere else to go?” Taemin asks and I look up. His face is calm, inscrutable. I swallow nothing again and shrug. ”I won't force you to keep me here”, I whisper and turn away quickly, rushing out of the room ignoring Taemin's voice behind me. He doesn't follow me.

~ Chanyeol's POV

My senses are blurred. I can't see, I can't hear, I can't feel... My mouth is opening and closing, screaming out a name that I can't even spell out in my head right now.

He's somewhere in here, my mind keeps telling me that, but I can't see him through these flames or the heavy smoke. He's somewhere in here and he's dying and I need to find him right now.

A staircase creaks behind me and I turn around quickly to see one side of the flimsy contraption almost falling down. And right beside the very top of the staircase, a small body lying on the floor, unmoving. My eyes widen and my heart feels like it has stopped entirely.

BAEKHYUN.

Now the name flashes in my mind, I can hear myself screaming it out, my voice rising above the roar of the flames. I can see slight movement upstairs before my feet practically carry themselves to the staircase, the one that is close to collapsing at any moment, but he's alive, he's ing alive, and I have a chance to save him, and I'll take it.

You'll always take that chance, my mind reminds me when I start to climb up.

Every step I take, I can see more and more of his face, his hair, his body, and I scream out his name when the staircase threatens to fall apart right underneath my feet. I push myself up strongly, grab the edge of the wooden flooring and land on the second floor right before the iron stairs collapse and crash on the ground loudly. I manage to pull myself up onto all fours. I made it.

”Baekhyun”, I gasp and crawl to the small man. He opens his eyes – he smiles. He's alive. ”Chanyeol”, I can hear him say softly. Hearing his voice drowns out the fury of the fire blasting in my ears. His eyes close again. ”Baekhyun. Look at me”, I say, and when he opens his eyes, I can tell just how afraid he is. He's panicking. ”You're safe. You're okay”, I say calmly when I scoop his small body into my arms. It feels lighter when adrenaline is rushing in my veins. He shifts slightly in my arms.

”Chanyeol... I love you”, he says with a raspy voice. Tears fill my eyes immediately.

”No. Don't say it like you're dying, because... Because I'm not going to listen to your last words here!” I practically cry to him before getting up to my feet and carefully drop myself back down, with Baekhyun tightly in my arms. My feet can barely carry the both of us. When I'm faced with the doorway blocked, my head starts to hurt even more and a new wave of adrenaline rushes through my veins.

Baekhyun is not dying here. I'm going to make sure of that.

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A/N: I'm sorry it's so short! I wanted to end it there before starting the next chapter. Okay bye~