Junmyeon wasn’t quite sure of what to do; he hadn’t expected for being called in the middle of the night much less by Baekhyun, not because he didn’t like the male, but because he wasn’t aware that Baekhyun would have such a high impression of him to call him, out of all people, before his friends and coworkers, when he was in need.

Junmyeon had been awaken from his sleep and he groggily marched into his cars, after dressing himself in an old pair of sweatpants and a light coat to help him fight the breeze of the night. He had drove until the place that he a coaxed out of Baekhyun, between the other’s sobs, and found the young man sitting on the sidewalk, eyes hidden by his hands and shoulders shaking with a force of his sobs. Next to him there were scattered boxes, no more than five large boxes.

He got out of the car and approached Baekhyun, gently wrapping an arm around the other’s shoulders and asking him what was wrong. Baekhyun, the poor boy, had looked at him, eyes filled of tears that fell down his cheeks in rivulets.

“My landlord kicked me out.”

Junmyeon seemed a little surprised at the news, looking behind Baekhyun, to the shabby looking apartment block behind him. Naturally, Junmyeon had asked him if he wanted to call Minseok, he even actually offered to call Yixing just to ask for the other’s number, but Baekhyun just looked at him with the most sorrowful eyes and told him that Minseok did not want to have to do anything with him.

There was a sense of astonishment surrounding the older man at the words clearly spoken by Baekhyun, the younger male made sure to enunciate them perfectly.

“Did something happen?” asked Junmyeon, words paused and worried.

“Minseok broke with me.” replied the other man, looking at the cement. “He hates me.”

“I…are you sure? Isn’t it some misunderstanding?”

“No. It isn’t. He’s never looking back into my face.”

Junmyeon didn’t really push on the subject; Baekhyun didn’t seem really keen to share more than he already did. He help the other man stand up and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

“Okay, let’s get you out of here and you’ll stay at my place for the time being. Okay?”

To Junmyeon it was unprecedented to do something like this but Baekhyun seemed like a good enough person and he looked beaten down, he did not had the heart to not lend a hand to help him; he was judgmental, not cruel.

He sat the other man on the car and placed each and every box on the available places on his car before entering it and turning on the heat, since Baekhyun was shivering slightly, whether if from cold or from the nerves, he didn’t know.

They arrived quite quickly to Junmyeon’s house and the older man took the other upstairs, making him sat on the couch, while he went and picked the boxes, taking him four trips, and he placed them on one of the spare rooms he had, one with a bed that Jongdae used to sleep on whenever he went to his house.

He joined Baekhyun soon after on the couch and threw a blanket on top of both of them, keeping them warm and comfortable. The weather wasn’t really that cold but the warmth was appreciated, Junmyeon felt that the younger man might need that warming feeling to stop him from looking so numb.

Now, in this safe environment, Junmyeon asked again what had been the problem and if he could help in any way. The older man’s earnest eyes and the sincerity of his words made even the shy and reserved crumble and, soon enough, a torrent of words came out of his mouth, narrating every single episode of his miserable life: how his parents never loved him and beat the crap out of him when he was a kid, mostly because he was gay, partially because of other unknown reasons, how the battle in court had been exhaustive but he finally managed to stay with his grandfather, who became ill and forced him to take care of the man by putting him on a nursing house, the financial struggles after that, even with half scholarship, the many works he had to take to pay off everything, jobs that made him so tired when he needed to study and to sleep, the struggles with money for food and even the fact that his ex-boyfriends didn’t like the fact that he worked so hard and never had time for them, the fact that he lost his job for not being a woman, the fact that he lost another job because he prioritized Sehun over it, the incident that happened today and caused Sehun to be taken to the hospital and Minseok to never wanted to see him again nor near Sehun and now, the final blow to it all, the crappy house, where he slept on a mattress on the floor, that he couldn’t really afford anymore because he either had the house or not enough money to pay for his education and to take care of his grandpa.

He had also confessed that he didn’t dare to call Chanyeol because his best friend lived with Jongdae and the space for a third person was not much, since they lived in a cozy little house. Yixing was working and wouldn’t answer the phone and he didn’t dare to call Luhan either.

Shyly, he even told Junmyeon that he thought about him first of them all because he was gentle and warm and he just wanted to feel safe. Junmyeon was actually quite shocked and a little pleased that Baekhyun saw that in him, despite the fact that he was so old fashioned and narrow minded at the best times, as he told Baekhyun.

“You’re not a bad person.” said Baekhyun, voice hoarse, coming out with a rasp and a croak. “You think a little bit differently than most people but, I can see in your eyes a gentleness and comfort and love that kind of seems like those of a father or a brother. The ones that you read on books.”

Junmyeon patted the male on the knee, claiming that he was going to prepare something hot for Baekhyun to eat; the man protested but Junmyeon ruffled his hair and told him not to worry.

In reality, Junmyeon also needed to be alone for a while; it had been a lot of hurtful confessions and the man felt overwhelmed by the revelations. The struggled that the younger man had been through was much to bear for someone so young and the lack of affection that he had received as a child was preposterous; his parents were not going to win an award any time soon but, at least, they loved him.

Junmyeon also felt a surge of anger towards Minseok, instead of trying to understand Baekhyun, he had shoved him away without taking time to ponder or question himself about the situation. He understood the protectiveness but the things he had said and done were too much for him to wrap his head around.

Remembering that Minseok and Luhan were actually friends, Junmyeon picked up his phone, passing by the living room to see Baekhyun curled into himself, looking at the space. He had advised the young man to take a warm shower and to dress comfortably.

Baekhyun had replied that he didn’t want to bother him much but Junmyeon had merely stated that Baekhyun was staying with him for the time being, until he needed and reassured the younger that, yes, he was welcomed, and no, he wasn’t allowed to leave.

While Baekhyun took a shower, after much of Junmyeon’s insistence, Junmyeon got into the kitchen. When he was upset or feeling particularly down, he had a habit of making some bibimbap to eat. It was his comfort food and he thought that he could share that special comfort food of his with the younger male. While he cooked, he called Luhan.

“Hey sweet cheeks!” he heard as soon as the other male answered the phone, with a teasing tone of voice. “Miss me?”

“Not the time Luhan, we have an urgent matter on our hands.”

Luhan seemed to realize the worry in Junmyeon’s voice and he adopted immediately a more serious posture, voice dropping low and asking what was the matter.

“Baekhyun is at my house. Something went horribly wrong because he was evicted and, apparently, Minseok broke up with him.”

“…what?” asked Luhan, apparently surprised and quite shocked at the news. “Are you sure that it isn’t a misunderstanding?”

“No, it doesn’t seem like it. He called me a little while ago and I went to pick him up. He was sitting on the street, boxes with his stuff behind him, crying his eyes out. He was a wreck. I think he is calmer now but…somewhat numb. I am really not sure of what to do…I am not even sure why he called me on the first place.”

“Give me your address, I am going there.”

“Luhan…”

“Don’t even argue with me. I am worried about him and I know that you are overwhelmed.”

Without much option, or even space to disagree, Junmyeon gave Luhan his address and continue to made something to eat, adding a little bit more to the pot, since Luhan was coming, this might be an emergency situation but he was still going to be the best host that ever was, be it after midnight or not.

Luhan had arrived at, approximately, one o’clock in the morning, dressed up in shorts and a sweater, makeup still on his face, from what Junmyeon could assume that was a fun night, and looking a little haggard and flustered, as if he had hurried himself.

Junmyeon had informed Baekhyun that Luhan was going to arrive; knowing that the younger male had been on the end of enough bad news for the night, so it was better not to add more fuel into a dimmed, yet present, fire. Baekhyun hadn’t even opposed, or did anything, aside from shrugging his shoulders lightly, understanding that Junmyeon was concerned.

He had hugged Junmyeon briefly, much to the man’s surprise, before moving into the apartment and looking for Baekhyun, who was sitting at the dinner table, eating the bibimbap that Junmyeon had so kindly prepared to him.

“Hey! How are you doing? I heard what happened.” questioned Luhan sitting down on the chair next to the raven haired man.

Baekhyun nodded but other than that he continued to eat.

“Look at me.” asked Luhan softly “Look at me, Baekhyun.”

He other male looked, eyes a little dull but paying attention to whatever it was that Luhan was telling him.

“I don’t know what happened. I tried to call Minseok, since I understand that he is somewhat responsible for this situation but since he didn’t answer the phone, I can only imagine that he isn’t really too keen on talking to me, or anybody for that matter, for the time being.”

“He is furious at me, it is not really…”began Baekhyun before Luhan cut him off.

“Why?”

“Because of me, Sehun is in the hospital! It’s my fault!”

“And why is it your fault?”

“I should have been watching over him but I choose to study when he was asleep and I thought that everything would be okay. And then I fell asleep and Sehun got hurt. It’s my fault.”

“That he hurt himself? That is bull and you know that as well as I do; there was not much you could do, heck as tiny as you are you’d probably got more hurt than him if he fell because you would fall with him.” When Baekhyun tried to interrupt, Luhan cut him “And don’t say it’s better that way because it really isn’t. He appeases your need to throw the blame on yourself to justify the words I know Minseok must’ve told you. And I know he did; I know him enough to know that he would explode like this.”

“Did he say something at work?”

“Not quite; I can tell that he has been far more uptight than usual and he mentioned something about not knowing what to do. Why don’t you explain to me what happened?”

Reluctantly, Baekhyun did, a little animated at the prospect of someone thinking it hadn’t been his fault; it was an unconscious move on his part but it was there nonetheless, Junmyeon recognized it all too well.

He was quite surprised at Luhan’s attitude, caring and gentle, handling the younger male like a brother would do: lovingly but firm at the same time. He hadn’t expected that from the blond male but then again, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect of Luhan half the time.

He had learned to count on the other male’s humor and intelligence, of his honesty, especially during the last couple of weeks, since he and Luhan had been hanging out, as Luhan was obstinate and pushy and, quite frankly, Junmyeon didn’t mind as much as he thought he would.

Junmyeon listened as Baekhyun finished his story and Luhan gave a big snort, clearly displeased at whatever he had been told, if the frown on his face was anything to go by.

“Let me tell you a thing Baekhyun, Minseok is full of crap and a whiny bastard who is thinking more about himself than about others. I can understand that he has a relationship with Sehun first, who is demanding, needy, pushy and actually needs to constantly be showered as a sign of love. You, on the other hand, are the opposite: quite, reserved, independent…you don’t need much, small gestures make you feel appreciated and loved and Minseok does have a hard time understanding that he doesn’t need to constantly be hovering you to love you, he doesn’t ponder other options, explore ways of making you feel loved and, sorry to say, he is forgetting that you, my friend, are a totally different person from Sehun and that was his first mistake. Blaming you for something that wasn’t your fault was the second, saying those things to you, the third, and allowing the leave, the fourth. Do not, ever, blame yourself for this but please, have yourself higher into consideration when that bastard comes crawling for you, because he will, and don’t forgive him easily, if you choose to forgive at all.”

Baekhyun looked at Luhan and nodded tiredly. He understood what the man was trying to say and the message the he was trying to convey. It surely helped to have someone’s reassurance, to feel like somebody was siding with you and having your back, as Luhan and Junmyeon had done, but on the other side, it was really difficult to simply erase all the words that had been uttered by Minseok; they kept resounding on his head, sometimes louder, sometimes just in whispers.

He wasn’t okay, not by a long shot, not even a mile. He was tired; he had lost his boyfriends and his house. He was aching and he wasn’t a kid anymore to think that things were miraculously turn fine just because he wanted them to, they never did when he was a kid, let alone now that he was older. He had never allowed himself to believe in fairy tales, why start now?

“If you don’t mind,” he spoke, voice very softly, eyes focused shyly on the two men in front of him. “I am going to…just…to…”

“To your room.” interrupted Junmyeon gently “It is your room for as long you stay here.”

“It’s not my room, this isn’t my house.” replied the younger man.

“You know what Baekhyun, sometimes, it’s okay to ask for help and it is also okay to accept help when you need. It doesn’t make you weaker, it doesn’t make you look lesser than you are.” reminded Luhan grabbing a trembling hand in his. “You seem to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, all the time, at any circumstance but, isn’t that tiring? Doesn’t that drain you and leave you feeling incapable of breathing, of sleeping serenely at night without something to worry about?”

Junmyeon watched, a little transfixed, as Luhan spoke with the younger man with such care and such gentleness that was impossible not to melt a little at the scene. Luhan might be a deviant, at least in Junmyeon’s eyes, at times that is, but he cared and he was impossibly sweet when he was worried about something and there was a little burn of want on his stomach that he so desperately tried to ignore.

“It doesn’t have to be like that. You are allowed to have a little rest; you should allow yourself to rest, Baekhyun, there is so much we can take and I know that you’re strong, stronger than most of the people I know but you have people that are standing right here, near you, with a hand held out, ready to catch you when you needed so, please, don’t let pride mess with your self-worth. Most importantly, learn that admitting that you need help is one step you take to be okay. Let others bear the burden for you. Okay?”

Baekhyun wasn’t capable to say anything but he cried. Loud, unabashed sobs that came out of his mouth, as he covered his eyes with one arm and a hand came to his mouth to muffle the sounds coming from him. Luhan pulled the younger man forward and allowed him to cry on his shoulders, letting what Junmyeon imagined was a really long time of pent up frustration, hurt, loneliness, bitterness…all those negative feelings that Baekhyun had unconsciously fed all these years.

Junmyeon approached, eyes a little misty over the emotion of the moment, but mostly sad about the young man who had ate the bread baked by the devil, and rubbed his hands softly, making patterns on the younger’s back, helping to sooth some tense muscles and simple showing that he was supporting the younger male.

“We’re here Baekhyun, we’re here.”

They managed to get Baekhyun in the room, beneath the sheets, as the younger man struggled to keep his eyes opened due to the exhaustion that was, no doubt, reaching up to him and leaving him sleepy and pliable, hence the reason why the two men could actually lead him to bed.

As they left the room, Junmyeon was surprised to notice how weary Luhan looked.

“Are you okay with having him here, Junmyeon? I know you like your space and if you want I can take him to my place tomorrow.”

“Of course not!  He called me Luhan, he trusted me! You really think I am going to kick him out? I invited him to stay here. He is a good kid and he’s been through a lot…”

“So much that I think he is a little jaded.” Interrupted Luhan, a hand coming to rub at his face, so uncharacteristically serious and worried, a side of him that Junmyeon wasn’t used to and it was so nice.

“He is going to be alright. I can relate a little bit to what he is feeling now, even though it’s not the same. Even though it was a while ago I still broke an engagement because my fiancé said it was too much and it turned out he was actually screwing with another guy, for a year, behind my back.*

Luhan looked at him in shock and Junmyeon gave a bitter smile at the man standing in front of him.

“Yeah… Everyone comes with a sob story that just happens to be mine.”

“Wow…so underneath all that politeness and allergy to rule breaking and everything deemed improper you actually have a bitter side, full of teenage angst and full fat ice cream in front of the TV while watching a romcom?”

“Of course you would…” commented Junmyeon with a glare.

“At least got you to lose the bitter smile.” cut Luhan with a chuckle, much to Junmyeon’s surprise. “Anyway, I am going now, you two need to rest and so do I to tell the truth; I actually work, although I am tempted to call in sick. This has taken too much out of me.”

“You work?” asked Junmyeon with a little bit of malice in his voice.

“I do actually; I just dance on your lap for fun.” Junmyeon shot him a glare and Luhan just laughed before looking warmly at Junmyeon. “Without the jokes, I really appreciate the fact that you are doing this for him, although you don’t really know him that well, he’s a really good kid, often misunderstood, and I seriously cannot think enough. I’ll try to talk to Minseok and see what that giant douche has got to say. In the meanwhile, you take care also; I can see that this is affecting you a lot too. If you need anything call me.”

“I…I…I mean…I...”

It must had been the first time that Luhan had put Junmyeon stuttering like crazy, for another reason than pissing him off, that Luhan already was good at.

Gathering a little bit of courage, Junmyeon stood up on his tippy toes and gave Luhan a small, appreciative kiss on the cheek.

“I will take care of me and I’ll take care of Baekhyun, don’t worry.”

The gesture made Luhan stop for a while; there was something in the blonde’s eyes that the shorter man couldn’t quite decipher, like molten chocolate and it was actually quite difficult to look away from him.

Luhan only tore his eyes away to kiss Junmyeon’s forehead, a sweet and quite affectionate gesture that Junmyeon likes, although he would never admit it; it had been way long time before someone had done that do him without it being in brotherly love.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Rest, Junmyeon.”

And with those final words, Luhan was out of the door, in a flurry of blond hair, a spicy perfume and long lashes.

And Junmyeon? He just let himself fall against the door, heart beating way faster than he would like, although he wouldn’t know the reason, or at least, because he refused to say that Luhan wasn’t indifferent.

Baekhyun woke up in the middle of the night. He wasn’t sure why but he suspected he had something to do with the dream he had. He didn’t remember what it was about but, yet again, who could guarantee him that he wanted to remember? If he had woke up, good could be easily crossed out of his list.

The door to his room opened and he saw Junmyeon’s silhouette.

“Can I come in?” asked the older man in a whisper.

“It’s your house.” replied the younger with a shrug.

“But it’s your room.” said Junmyeon moving forward into the room, clearly taking the words as an invitation. “I heard you whimper. I just came to see if you are okay.”

“I think I was having a dream. I don’t remember what.”

Junmyeon nodded before sitting on the corner of the bed.

“I also wanted to check upon you. First night is always the trickiest, the hardest. The fact that you wake up alone in your room and there is no one there to hold you, there is no one there to kiss away your fears, no one that can scare the monsters in your mind away, to shut up the voices…”

Baekhyun was sitting against the headboard knees draw up to his chest, looking over at Junmyeon with intent eyes, slightly rimmed read and puffy from all the tear that he had spilt over the day.

“That can be hard. It is hard and it hurts and it feels like an open wound that keeps getting infected. I had many people to try and help me when it happened to me, people who tried their best and whom I pushed away at times because I wasn’t ready to talk, because I wasn’t ready to face the reality and because it was really scary to face the facts. I should have known better. So I am here because I understand and because I don’t want that to happen to you, no matter how hard you protest, no matter how hard you may push me away. I’m here for you, okay?”

Baekhyun nodded at him, laying his head on top of his crossed arms. Junmyeon smiled at the younger male and patted his knee comfortingly before standing up. A soft, rough voice stopped him from going further.

“Could you stay and fight my monsters tonight? I don’t think I can fight them right now.”

Junmyeon looked at the pale face staring at him, eyes scared but hoping. He smiled at Baekhyun, approaching with small steps and a lighter heart.

“Scoot over.”

A/N: I'm sorry for the delay...Can we have 48 hours in a day? Please? That would help a lot. Trying to balance work and social life with writing is hell! I'm really sorry for not being more organized and managing my time better.
Anyhow, Junmyeon did, in fact, help Baekhyun and he even called Luhan's help. What do you think of it? Of Luhan's words? Or even Junmyeon's? And what about Baekhyun? Has your heart cried enough for him? Tell me everything, I cannot wait to know your reactions to this chapter!
I wish that you all have a fantastic day tomorrow, filled with good news and good moments.
Also, don't forget, be safe, be healthy, be loved and love unconditionally, and be happy!
Lots and lots of love!
<3