Location: EXO Dorm
Time: 1 hour after argument

“What are they saying?” Tao whispered. Xiumin leaned closer into the door, “Nothing.” “Nothing?” Tao asked. “It’s completely silent.” Tao and Xiumin looked at each other, concerned by the silence. “You don’t think something happened do you?” “What, like they’re dead?” Xiumin replied. “But what if something happened to Chanyeol and Baekhyun thought he died so Baekhyun killed himself because he can’t live without Chanyeol?” Xiumin shook his head, “You need help Tao.” “I’m just saying…” Tao mumbled.

Rolling his eyes, Xiumin lightly shoved Tao to the side and gently opened the bedroom door. Nervous about what was on the other side, Xiumin slowly peaked his head around the door. “No blood,” he whispered to Tao in relief. Xiumin’s eyes scanned the room before falling onto the bed. His eyes softened as he saw Chanyeol and Baekhyun curled up together, sleeping.

“I can hear you grinning Xiumin,” Chanyeol said. “Awe but you look so cute! I need a picture!”. “Do it and die,” Chanyeol said sharply, “and can you keep it down? I don’t want Baekhyun to be woken up.” “What’s going on in here?!” Tao shouted as he walked in. “Shhh! He fell asleep on me. And when you’re done staring, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

“Well excuse me!” Tao said as he walked out pouting. “You don’t have to get upset Chanyeol, we’re just messing with you. I think it’s really sweet that Baekhyun trusts you like that.” “Mhm…” “All of the members are going to go out for meat in an hour. Please wake him up before then so we can go?” “Okay hyung.”

As Xiumin quietly closed the door, Chanyeol sighed in relief while playing with some of Baekhyun’s hair. He could feel Baekhyun’s steady breathing warmly against his neck and couldn’t help but smile. “Baekhyun?” he whispered. “Mmm?” Chanyeol wrapped his arms around Baekhyun and squeezed gently. “Are you falling asleep on me puppy?” he teased. “You’re so comfy,” Baekhyun said with a sigh. Chanyeol felt hot from where their bodies lay intertwined. Although Baekhyun was heavy against his chest, it was not an uncomfortable weight, it actually felt really nice. He closed his eyes and listed to Baekhyun’s slow breathing. Everything in this moment was perfect. So, why was he holding onto Baekhyun so tightly like he might disappear if he didn’t?

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Location: EXO Dorm
Time: 1 hour later

“Chanyeol…Chanyeol…CHANYEOL!” Chanyeol snapped awake at the sound of Xiumin’s voice. “What?” he groaned. “It’s time to leave for dinner.” “Oh right…I’m sorry hyung, I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.” “Make sure Baekhyun comes too,” Xiumin said as he left the room.

“Huh?” Baekhyun said sleepily, “What’s happening?” Baekhyun yawned and stretched vertically, causing their legs to slide together. Baekhyun froze; his stomach suddenly feeling the low sensation of Chanyeol’s leg sliding against his. He blinked and slowly sat up, slipping off of Chanyeol’s lap. Baekhyun and Chanyeol locked eyes as Chanyeol smiled at him. Baekhyun’s stomach flipped as his heart skipped a beat. “Hi,” he breathed. When did Chanyeol’s eyes get so caramel? And how did they suddenly get so close? He could feel Chanyeol’s breath against his cheek. Baekhyun’s eyes slipped to Chanyeol’s mouth, watching him in fascination as he bit his lip.

Baekhyun started to lean forward, “Now, you two!” Baekhyun fell backwards off the bed at the sound of Xiumin’s voice. “Hyung managers are here, let’s go!”

“We should probably get downstairs,” Chanyeol said as he stood up from the bed.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun nodded, “I’ll be there in a minute.”

As Chanyeol left the room, Baekhyun fell onto the bed, his heart was racing. He put his hands over his eyes and took a few deep breaths. What just happened? What had he been about to do?

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Location: EXO Dorm
Time: Next day, 12:04 pm

“I’m going to go to Bucheon to do some shopping,” Chanyeol announced, “does anyone want to go with me?” “I’m in!” Sehun yelled, jumping over the couch. “Do you think Chen wants to come?” Chanyeol asked. “EXO-M are doing a Sina Weibo Live Talk” Suho replied. “Oh right…well what about you two? Are you coming Baekhyun?”

“I can’t. I have some things to do,” Baekhyun said shaking his head. “What things?” Chanyeol asked, annoyed. “Just stuff ok?” he said as he stormed up to his bedroom. Suho watched Baekhyun leave in surprise. Baekhyun never turned down spending time with Chanyeol, alone or with the other members. He looked back at Chanyeol who was trying to hide his disappointment. “Okay then hyung we will be back later,” he said.

Once Chanyeol and Sehun left, Suho walked up to Baekhyun’s bedroom. The door was ajar so he walked in without knocking. Baekhyun was lying on his bed watching music videos on his laptop. “This is what was so important?” Suho asked, raising an eyebrow. “Have you ever heard of knocking hyung?” Baekhyun said harshly. “The door was open, I didn’t think I had to.” “Pff,” Baekhyun huffed. “That’s enough Baekhyun. Why didn’t you want to go shopping?”

“Like I said, I have other things to do.” “Like what?” Suho questioned, “Watching music videos? Playing video games?” Baekhyun glanced up from his laptop and glared at Suho, “What I do outside of my schedule is none of your business hyung.” Suho felt hot, “If it affects EXO then yes Baekhyun it is my business.” “And just so you know, you hurt Chanyeol’s feelings when you brushed him off like that.”

 Baekhyun’s shoulders tensed, “We’re not joined at the hip Suho! We can do things separately, okay?!” “Look, I don’t know what your problem is but you need to chill out. Don’t come downstairs until you’ve had a cup of attitude adjustment.” Suho stormed out of the room and slammed the door. Suho tried to calm himself as he walked down the hallway. He knew that Baekhyun would come to him when he was ready. He just hoped that whatever was bothering Baekhyun wouldn’t affect the other members.

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Location: EXO Dorm
Time: Three weeks later

“Chanyeol, stop!” Suho called desperately. Before he could reach the stairs, Suho heard Chanyeol slam the door to the music room. Suho winced and turned to the other members. “What the hell were you thinking Baekhyun?!” Tao yelled, “How dare you go off saying something like that about Chanyeol!” Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “OMG guys I was just joking!” “Telling the media that EXO doesn’t need a rapper is not a funny joke Baekhyun,” Suho snapped. “You guys are over-reacting,” Baekhyun said as he tried to walk away. “Get back here!” Tao said, grabbing Baekhyun by the arm. “Why did you bring up Chanyeol’s performance on Unpretty Rapstar?!” “We agreed to move past that Baekhyun,” Suho said sternly, “Chanyeol just got caught up in the moment. You know he’s a good rapper.” “I was being sarcastic. If Chanyeol can’t see that and wants to act like a little baby then maybe I might have been right”.

Slap! Baekhyun touched his cheek as the other members stared with wide eyes. “Tao!” Suho said harshly, pulling him backwards. “Baekhyun I think you should go to your room for a while, I’ll bring you some ice.” “Don’t bother,” Baekhyun said as he stormed upstairs.    

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Location: EXO Dorm
Time: 15 minutes later

“Here,” Suho said as he threw a bag of ice at Baekhyun. “I believe you owe all of us an apology.” Baekhyun glared up at him from the bed. “Not really,” Baekhyun mumbled. With a sigh, “You’re really going to be like that? Just so you know, you’ve made Chanyeol so upset that he’s locked himself in the music room. I could hear him crying through the door.” When Baekhyun remained silent, Suho walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment Suho closed the door, Baekhyun broke into tears. Why did he think that distancing himself from Chanyeol would solve his problems? He was making all of the members miserable and now he had just hurt his best friend in the worst way. But what else could he do? He had to make sure that he only saw Chanyeol as a friend and he couldn’t do that unless he stayed away from him. He knew talking to the media would make Chanyeol like him less but it had to be done. It had to – for the sake of the group. Even if it meant that his heart would break into a million pieces.  

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Location: EXO Dorm
Time: 6 hours later, 3:09 am

Suho was having trouble sleeping. He kept playing over what happened during their interview. Nothing was making any sense. From the moment Chanyeol and Baekhyun met, they were inseparable. Out of all of the other members, they were the closest, and always spent time together. They could hardly be in the same room without being in each other’s personal space. They had limitless boundaries and affection for one another. So what happened? It had to be a problem with Baekhyun because Suho saw the hurt in Chanyeol’s eyes every time Baekhyun dismissed him. Plus anytime a member even mentioned Chanyeol around Baekhyun recently he would almost bite their head off. Whatever Baekhyun was trying to achieve, it certainly worked. Suho had never seen Chanyeol so upset before – Baekhyun’s actions must have deeply hurt him. Suho just hoped that Baekhyun figured it out soon before he caused un-repairable damage between the members.

Suho thought back through the past couple of week until something finally clicked. Why would Baekhyun risk his friendship with Chanyeol? It had to be something serious, why else would he be pushing Chanyeol away? What could Chanyeol have possibly done that had Baekhyun so on edge? Suho tried to think back to when Baekhyun started acting differently. He remembered Chanyeol yelling at Baekhyun for smothering him but he thought they had worked that out? Baekhyun had even fallen asleep on Chanyeol’s chest later that night…oh…oh..oh my god! Could that be it?! It was a very intimate position….maybe something happened? But what? Was Baekhyun trying to run from what had happened? Was he trying to run because he was scared? Suho nodded determinedly as he got up to turn off the lights. He was going to have a very long conversation with Baekhyun in the morning. Even if his hunches were wrong, Suho was going to get to the bottom of it.

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Location: EXO Dorm
Time: Next Morning, 9:26 am

The moment Baekhyun walked down the stairs, still half-asleep, Suho jumped up from the couch. Before he could tell Baekhyun that they need to talk, Kris suddenly yelled, “Suho!!” from upstairs. Kris loudly ran downstairs, almost crashing into Baekhyun. “He’s gone!” “What?” Suho frowned. Kris handed him a note, “Suho! He’s gone! Chanyeol is gone!” Suho snatched the note from Kris and scanned through it. Filled with anger, Suho turned to Baekhyun and shoved the note against his chest. “I think you should read this. And then you have eight hours to find him, apologize for the damage you have caused, and bring him home before our concert this weekend.”