---

Some hours later, at three in the morning, Jongin's lying awake on his bed. It's not anything new to him, but this time, listening to classical music isn't helping him fall asleep at all. So, he decides to call someone to help him with his problem.

He doesn't want to disturb Yixing, and Taemin would literally come over and kick his if he tried calling this early, so Sehun's the best person to call right now. While yawning, he presses Sehun's name on his contact list and waits for him to pick up. On the last ring, Sehun answers the phone.

"Yeah?" Sehun greets, sounding groggy.

"Hey," Jongin softly replies.

"What's up?"

"I...need some advice."

He hears some shuffling on the other end and Sehun now sounds more awake than before when he asks, "Huh? With what?"

Jongin blushes and lowers his eyes to play with the belt loop of his pajama pants. "It's--it's gotta do with Kyungsoo...I..."

"Just ing say it already, man."

"It's just...do you think it'd be too soon if I asked him out? Like...as my boyfriend?"

There's silence on the other end, and Jongin blinks and calls Sehun's name a few times before Sehun finally responds. "So...you called me at three in the morning for this?"

"Well, I..."

Sehun sighs. "Just ask him out, Jongin."

"But what if that's moving too fast? What if he says No?"

"Then, you'd have your answer."

Jongin pouts and Sehun lets out a yawn and tells him that he's gonna go back to sleep now.

"But what if--" Jongin starts to say.

"No."

Then, Sehun ends the call.

Jongin blinks and looks at his phone before sighing to himself and laying back on his bed with his arms outstretched. Maybe calling Sehun this early wasn't his smartest idea.

--------

Some hours later, Baekhyun wakes up with dry eyes and a cottony-feeling in his mouth. When he shifts his head, he feels dried tear stains on his pillow and blankly looks at his bedroom wall.

Yeah, he's been feeling like this ever since confessing to Chanyeol. And now it's finally the day of a major holiday and Baekhyun just feels like utter with barely any energy to do anything.

His grandma immediately noticed his mood when he got back home Tuesday night but she didn't pry until Wednesday morning. Then, she got it out of him that he confessed to Chanyeol and got rejected. Heck, he even told her about the whole Chanyeol and Kyungsoo drama too.

He ends up laying in his bed for a good half-hour or so, staring at the ceiling and just thinking about things. His phone dings a few times over the half-hour and he chooses to ignore it in favor of covering his face with his hands. He hasn't even touched his phone since Tuesday night.

He doesn't want to feel pitied.

---

Eventually, he slinks out of his bed onto the floor after his grandma continuously knocks on his door--asking him to help her cook for dinner later. He wouldn't actually be cooking though, since the most he can even cook is instant-made foods. Nah...cooking's something that both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol are better at.

He then sighs after thinking about his best friends and pushes himself off of the floor. Then, he remembers how every year on this day, Chanyeol's and Kyungsoo's families end up getting together for dinner and his stomach lurches with envy.

"Baekhyun!" his grandma calls from the other side of the door.

He jolts and then sighs again before walking towards the door to open it. His grandma looks up at him with worried eyes from her wheelchair and she asks him in Korean if he just woke up.

"No," he mumbles in Korean.

"No, what?"

"No, grandma."

He moves to get around her wheelchair and she rolls the wheels back with her hands before calling out to him as he walks away towards the bathroom. She then wheels herself over to the bathroom entrance as he steps inside and turns the sink knobs to splash water on his face.

"Baekhyun."

He lifts his head from his hands at that to look at her--water dripping down his face. She frowns deeply at the lost expression on his face, and for once, doesn't even scold him for the water currently dripping onto her nice rugs. Instead, she stretches her arms out, signalling for him to come closer, and he bends down and lets her ruffle his hair.

It's something she used to do when he was younger to comfort him, and coincidentally, it's also something that Chanyeol liked to do as well. He breaks down thinking about Chanyeol again and covers his face as she starts to hum a song that she used to sing to get him to sleep as a child. An old Korean song about strength and perserverance.

He feels like dropping to the floor and sobbing uncontrollably as she finishes the song but he's pretty sure that he'd get a whack to the head for being that dramatic. So, he tries to calm himself down and sniffles when she wheels herself back and gives a small smile to him. Then, while wiping at his eyes, Baekhyun stands up again and turns off the pipe before grabbing a paper-towel to dry his face with. She then gently reminds him to wipe off the counter too before wheeling herself to the kitchen.

Baekhyun closes the door after she leaves and then looks at himself in the mirror. It's only been a day and some hours and already he can barely recognize himself. Because the person in the mirror just reminds him more of his y