On the day that celebrates EXO’s fourth year as a boy band, Sehun gets a fever.

“Darn this,” The youngest curses, a hand adjusting the cold, wet towel on his forehead while the other attempts to reach across the space between the couch and the coffee table for the remote control. He gets it and immediately changes the channel after realising that perhaps watching Catching Fire on one of the movie channels wouldn’t help his current predicament; he feels like he’s already on fire, what with the numerous comforters that Joonmyeon’s wrapped him up in before he left with Minseok to grab some dinner. “The heat is killing me.”

So, while an episode of Pororo is playing in the background, Sehun manages to caterpillar-crawl himself to the space between the kitchen and the living room without slamming his head against any furniture (which is a feat considering how cramped and messy their dorm is), and proceeds to unroll himself until he’s lying atop a single comforter while the others are spayed all around him. Sehun feels accomplished, and he pumps a fist in the air before getting up and gathering all the comforters into his arms. Dragging the large pile behind him, Sehun heads towards each room and deposits the respective comforters, saving his and Joonmyeon’s for last since their room is the farthest from the dorm’s common spaces. The distribution just makes Sehun sigh, for wow I was wrapped in twelve comforters seriously Joonmyeon-hyung?

His mind doesn’t realise his mistake until he plops himself down onto the couch, eyes lazily dragging past the television console and resting upon one of the several photo frames that the boys have placed. It’s a natural reflex — one that every EXO member has come to develop due to the number of members in their group — that has Sehun counting the faces present in the photograph. There are nine. Huh, Sehun frowns, didn’t I count twelve comforters just– ah.

.

Sehun lightly smacks his forehead when the realisation of his mistake dawns on him, only to cringe when he finds himself still feeling feverish, and he quickly leaves the comfort of the couch to search for the towel that fell off him when he rolled himself onto the floor. Slapping the now cold and wet towel onto his forehead, Sehun lies sprawled on the couch once again, and he would have, under the lull of the music that Pororo and his friends are currently dancing to, drifted off to sleep if not for the sudden beep coming from the door.

“Tch, who the hell got the passcode wrong this time…” The boy mumbles to himself as he reluctantly stands, hand coming up to secure the towel on his forehead, and makes his way to the door where it’s been beep-ing for far more times any of his group mates can get the code wrong. (Jongin currently holds the top record of being locked out at an impressive count of twenty-two.) Sehun’s about to open it, when ding — the idiot (whoever he is) has finally entered the correct passcode. The door swings outward, and Sehun finds himself face-to-face with one person he’s resigned himself to never be able to see again.

“Oh, hey, you’re awake.”

The youngest openly gapes with his eyes blown wide, and he allows himself to be lightly pushed aside as the person strides into the apartment, for somehow the shock that came instantly after laying his eyes upon the person’s face seemed to have overwhelmed his senses. Sehun returns to Earth when he feels warmth enveloping his hand and a chill suddenly assaults his forehead. He sees a fond smile, feels warmth spreading across the crown of his head as a large hand ruffles his hair, and hears the sound of the towel being thrown into the sink.

“Your fever seems to have subsided, so you don’t need the towel anymore.” Then Sehun hears the sound of water. He walks towards it, stopping when his bare feet feels the difference in flooring. “Unless Joonmyeon comes back in a while and insists on keeping it on you, then so be it.” The figure turns around, and the smile has grown to a grin. A gummy grin. “Otherwise, you’re deemed to be fever-free by Kris the doctor.”

Kris. Kris-hyung.

“So, go watch television.”

No. Yifan. He’s Yifan now.

“The others will probably be back with the stuff soon.”

Yifan-hyung.

“Last I checked the chat, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol have bought the cakes while Baekhyun, Jongdae and Jongin are still at the supermarket. Minseok and Joonmyeon are still queuing for who-knows-what, and Yixing–”

“Why are you here?” Sehun blurts out, the question surfacing in his mind as it contemplates its next course of action at the sudden appearance of someone who shouldn’t be in Seoul, much less here, in EXO’s dorm, the home that he had given up for more opportunities the company couldn’t provide. Sehun can’t come up with probable reasons for Kris’ appearance, so he can only attribute to the fact that he’s dreaming. I’m hallucinating, he thinks, the fever’s damaged my brain.

Yeah, that’s gotta be it. Sehun’s dreaming, dreaming of the impossible because shouldn’t he be in China but he’s here. Kris– no– Yifan is right in front of him. He’s standing in the kitchen, dried towel in hand, looking as though he’s been staying in the apartment for the past two years. He looks as at-home as much as Sehun does. But how? How does he look like he belongs here when– No. That shouldn’t be the pressing question. It should be–

“Why are you here, Yifan-hyung?”

It’s Yifan’s turn to be shocked. His eyes grow bigger and his mouth opens slightly, giving his usually-handsome facial features a comical look. It doesn’t stay for long, for Yifan pushes away his bewilderment to retort, “Why shouldn’t I not be here? And since when do you call me Yifan-hyung?”

“B-Because you–” Sehun stammers, a single finger coming up to point at Yifan, who’s withdrawn himself into a defensive stance of arms folded across his chest and a hardened expression on his face. “–you’ve quit–”

Beep.

“We’re home!” Joonmyeon’s voice travels through the space between the front door and the kitchen and just barely manages to break the silence that had descended upon the two persons standing in it, their faces looking similar, expressions formed the same, yet different in the reasons for forming such looks. “We’ve got the pizza and chicken and–”

Joonmyeon stops short, the smile on his face drooping slightly when he sees both Yifan and Sehun staring at each other. It’s then does he finally feel the weird atmosphere lingering in the kitchen. “What’s going on? Why does Sehun look like he’s about to murder somebody– and yah! Where is the towel that’s supposed to be on Sehun’s forehead!?” At this, Joonmyeon bustles into the kitchen, pushing past both of s to set the bags onto the countertop before snatching the towel in Yifan’s hand and wetting it. He’s about to rush towards Sehun when Yifan finally speaks.

“Sehun’s crazy,” He gives the mentioned boy a look, as though horns have grown out of his head, before darting his eyes to Minseok, who looks downright confused with the situation, then at Joonmyeon who’s too worried about the absence of the towel upon the maknae’s forehead to be confused. Yifan sighs at the sight of EXO’s leader forcing the towel onto Sehun’s head, but nevertheless, he continues, “He was spouting some nonsense about how I’ve quit something.”

“Quit what?” Minseok asks, turning to the youngest. “Sehun, what is Kris quitting?”

“EXO.” Sehun unabashedly answers, his hands pushing at Joonmyeon’s. Joonmyeon seems to have made it his life's mission to ensure that the forehead of his youngest charge is glued to a wet towel, for no matter how Sehun squirms and blocks, his hyung’s hands always seem to be able to find a loophole. Sehun doesn’t give up. And he also doesn’t give in to everyone’s dumbfounded expressions when he adds, “Yifan-hyung quit EXO two years ago, just before we had our first concert.”

If the atmosphere isn’t so charged and tense, Sehun would, no doubt, find the sight of his hyungs’ slack jaws and open mouths extremely hilarious and amusing. The bugged-out eyes on Joonmyeon’s face could very well be the funniest thing the leader’s ever done (both intentionally and unintentionally). Hence, where is my phone when I need it? Unfortunately, the atmosphere doesn’t allow for fun and games, so Sehun promptly dismisses those inappropriate thoughts and arranges his expression into a solemn and unamused one.

Yifan manages to snap out of his bewilderment, and immediately s his hands wildly at Sehun. “See? He’s crazy! Mad! Why would I quit EXO!?”

“Because you thought you were going to die from–”

“Die? Me dying!? What the–”

“Stop–”

“–heart something something–”

“–a heart attack–”

“Stop–”

“–I don’t know that something something but–”

“–oh my god what ing nonsense–”

“Stop–”

“–you left anyway–”

“–are you blabbering about–”

“I SAID STOP!”

Joonmyeon bellows, effectively shutting up both Yifan and Sehun who literally jumped a foot in the air upon hearing their leader’s rarely-heard yell. His bugged-out eyes remain, but the confusion and shock swimming within have been replaced by a new and seldomly-seen emotion. Sehun gulps, fear suddenly washing over him as he takes in the vehement shake of Joonmyeon’s shoulders and reddening face. . , , . Joonmyeon doesn’t raise his voice when he doesn’t have to, instead choosing to intervene by going between the quarreling (thank goodness they don’t fight) parties and physically stopping them without wreaking havoc upon his precious throat.

Sadly, Yifan and Sehun are just exchanging petty blows with each other. They aren’t even looking at each other, eyes darting all around, never focusing on a single object. So Joonmyeon knows that his usual tactic is pretty much useless, which just means that he has to use the other option. Ugh.

“What is up with this senseless quarreling!?” Joonmyeon (tries to) shout, but it comes out hoarse and rough, and he sees both members wincing at the strain he’s putting his throat through. He hopes they feel guilty. “You’re behaving like children! So fine, okay, you want to behave like children? I’ll treat the two of you like children.”

Joonmyeon turns to Yifan. “You. Go help Minseok in the kitchen now, and I don’t care how much you say you don’t like fried chicken, you are going to help him with whatever he wants to do with it.” At Joonmyeon’s stab of a finger towards the kitchen and Minseok’s back view, Yifan slumps and obediently follows his leader’s orders. Minseok greets him with a hard thump on the back while the smug smile on his cherubic face warns Sehun of the terrible times ahead for his tallest hyung.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, Oh Sehun.”

“I–”

“You’ll be washing the dishes, if any, when the celebration is over.” Joonmyeon instructs, his expression hard and Sehun gulps, again. The expression on Joonmyeon’s countenance is foreign to him, since his roommate always has been forgiving and caring towards him, letting him off the hook for the mischief he’s done because he’s young and reckless and hard teachings will only backfire. (Sehun always notices everyone rolling their eyes whenever their leader recites that.) So when the furrow of Joonmyeon’s brows and downward tug of the corners of Joonmyeon’s lips are all he can remember of his actually-angelic leader as he collapses on his bed (for Joonmyeon had sent him to their room until the celebration starts), Sehun knows he’s gotten himself into serious trouble.

“But, seriously,” He murmurs. “What the is going on?”

Why is Yifan-hyung here?

Why did Minseok-hyung and Joonmyeon-hyung look at me as though I’ve gone insane when I told them that he had quit being one of us?

WHAT IS HAPPENING OH MY–

Sehun doesn’t get to finish his train of thoughts, for the sandman has arrived and he dutifully invites EXO’s youngest to the land of dreams.

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