Location: EXO Dorm
Time: Four Days Later

“Do you think George Clooney would have made a better Batman in this?” Chanyeol asked. “No way! Christian Bale killed it. Did you hear the way he made his voice so husky? It takes talent to pull off a voice like that, you can’t fake it.” Chanyeol shrugged, plopping another piece of popcorn into Baekhyun’s mouth. They were only half way through the movie and almost out of popcorn. All of the members had off today so most of them had gone out to do personal things.

Baekhyun had woken up not feeling well so they decided to have a lazy day on the couch and watch The Dark Knight. It was nice to be back on good terms with no weirdness between them. Chanyeol put a lot of thought into what happened between them in the field last December. He decided that neither him nor Baekhyun were gay so it was pointless to over think things. He made it a point to greet Baekhyun with a hug the next day like he always did – showing that everything was normal.

Baekhyun was beginning to understand what Chanyeol had gone through being stuck inside all of the time. He opened his mouth again to accept more popcorn from Chanyeol. “You guys are seriously so weird,” Tao said, trudging into the living room. “How can you two not feel weird doing that? Because it’s really weird to watch.”

Feeling daring, Baekhyun picked up a handful of popcorn and slowly placed each kernel into Chanyeol’s mouth one by one while making intense eye contact. Baekhyun smiled as Tao got up, storming out of the room.

“You can join if you want to!” Chanyeol yelled. Baekhyun giggled and then coughed, wincing at the internal pain in his throat. He hunched up, pressing his forehead into Chanyeol’s thigh. “Hey, are you okay puppy?” Chanyeol asked with concern. “Yeah,” Baekhyun nodded, “I think I might have the flu or something.”

“We should take you to the doctor.” “No!” Baekhyun whined, “I’m going to go lay upstairs for awhile.”

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Baekhyun suffered from strep throat the next couple of days. Suho had forbid Chanyeol to go anywhere near him in case his compromised immune system reacted more seriously to the bacteria. Still, Chanyeol was always popping in to bring Baekhyun juice and soup. All of the members tried to cheer Baekhyun up but he just wanted to lay in his bed and wallow.

By Monday he was feeling much better. It was EXO’s first performance together again since Chanyeol first passed out. They were set to perform their new song “Love Me Right” on the After School Club. Chanyeol was nervous about passing out again, especially since it was a live broadcast. “Are you ready Chanyeol?” Suho asked. Chanyeol nodded as Suho squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Finally the boys were ushered onto the set. Chanyeol sat on the couch with Tao, Luhan, Sehun, Xiumin, and DO, while the rest of the members stood behind them. Baekhyun softly massaged Chanyeol’s shoulders soothingly.

Eric, Jimin, and Kevin chatted with the members while they waited for the broadcast to start. “Well hello everyone. Thank you for watching After School Club today. My name is Eric Nam and today we have the privilege of being joined by none other than EXO!”

“We have been teasing you all week and they are finally here!” Jimin added, “They’re going to be answering some questions from our viewers and then we will get to see them perform Love Me Right live!”  All of the members clapped and cheered.

“This will be the first time in months that we will see all twelve members perform together!” Kevin added, “that’s right EXO-Ls, EXO’s Chanyeol is here!” Chanyeol blushed as the other members cheered even louder. “As most of you probably remember, Chanyeol had to be rushed to the hospital after passing out after EXO’s performance at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena. It has been a long road to recovery but he is back and looks better than ever! Welcome Chanyeol!”

“Thank you,” Chanyeol muttered. “The last time EXO was here was actually two days after Chanyeol was taken to the hospital. Chanyeol have you seen that interview?” Chanyeol shook his head. “Do we have the clip? Jimin asked, “Let’s play it”.

Chanyeol sat there staring blankly at the screen as the interview replayed. His heart broke every time the camera passed over one of the members showing the devastation on their faces. Chanyeol’s throat seized up as his gazed focused on Baekhyun, tucked under Suho’s arm. He was so touched to see how much Baekhyun obviously cared for him. Something was building inside his chest, some emotion he couldn’t understand. Without a second thought, Chanyeol turned around and hugged Baekhyun tightly, burying his face into Baekhyun’s stomach. He knew he was going to have to post some half statement on Instagram later explaining his actions but in this moment – he didn’t care.

The other members let it happen – no one tried to pull them apart which Chanyeol was grateful for. Eventually, they pulled apart and Baekhyun whiped his eyes with his sleeve. Jimin smiled at Chanyeol when he turned back around, “I can see how much you were affected by seeing the other members so upset.”

“I…I don’t really know what to say honestly. I love all of the other members like brothers. They were there for me every day, taking care of me, and keeping me entertained. I owe them so much. I really hate that I made them worry so much.” “You were worth every minute of it,” Baekhyun replied with a smile.

Tao leaned forward on the couch, “and that soppy line probably just broke SNS.” Eric laughed, “You guys are obviously very close. Sometimes being close all the time can cause arguments. Have any of the members ever gotten into a fight with one another?”

They all looked at each other before Suho replied, “Uh..not really fight. We do exchange some heated words sometimes but I think by now each other know what makes one another upset so we try to avoid that.” “It’s always good to be respectful of your fellow members,” Kevin added. “Who would you say is the best dancer in the group,” Jimin asked suggestively.

All of the members pointed to Kai and everyone laughed. “So Kai, all of the members say you’re the best dancer. Where do you get your inspiration from?”

“That’s hard to say…I usually close my eyes and just let the music move my body.” “Yes, you can certainly see the passion behind your dancing,” Jimin replied. “Now for the number one question asked by our viewers! Are any of the members currently dating?” The members looked at each other, clearly uncomfortable by the question. “Um..well..I’m sort of seeing a girl,” Suho said cautiously, “but the rest of the members are single.” “We don’t have a lot of time to spend with others outside of our schedules.” “We have plenty of time left in our lives to finish our careers, find a partner, and settle down,” DO added.

“Such wise young men,” Jimin chuckled, “Well that is it for our viewer’s questions, when we come back EXO will perform Love Me Right!”

During the advertisement break, EXO moved from the interview area to the stage. They quickly took their places and waited for the countdown from the camera man. Chanyeol quickly caught Baekhyun’s eye and smiled with a wink. Baekhyun smiled back as the music began.

(Baekhyun) “Take your time, for some reason, it’s a heart pounding night.”

(Suho) So tonight, let’s run to the end of the moon.”

(Chanyeol) “Just right, ignite your engine, step on the pedal. Everything is special, you and I look good together. Whatever you want, Imma make it work.”

(Sehun) “Shawty, Imma party till the sun down. What is this mysterious feeling? Come to me, hurry, before the sun rise. Wherever I am, me without you is a nobody.”

(All) “On this highway, it’s a runaway. Your eyes that look into mine are the milky way. Just love me right. Baby love me right.”

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Location: SMTOWN Halloween Party
Time: Saturday, 1 week later

SMTOWN’s annual Halloween Party was a legend in the KPOP World. All of the SM artists looked forward to going every year. Many people who go to the party remember arriving, but don’t remember leaving. At least now, all of the members were legal to drink, so there was no epic plan to sneak under-aged drunks past the press this year. Sehun and Luhan were taking this as some kind of dare to see who could drink the most. They were currently entertaining the crowd with their rendition of Crayon Pop’s dance from their “Uh-ee” music video.  Key was filming – no doubt for his SNS followers – and Baekhyun and Chanyeol were sprawled on a couch happily watching. Neither of them wanted to push their luck with drinking since they both had their own slew of health problems recently.

“Hell yeah!” Tao said, suddenly jumping on the couch from nowhere, “this party is so sick!!!” Chanyeol laughed and scooted over to make room. “How’s it going bros?!” Tao yelled. Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “you’re drunk”, he accused, a little annoyed at losing his place next to Chanyeol. Loud chanting suddenly caught their attention as Taemin’s head appeared over the crowd that was currently watching two members of EXO making fools of themselves. “Guys! You’ve got to come see this!” Taemin yelled. They joined the rest of the members who were staring at the scene with wide eyes. “OMG!” Baekhyun yelled, “is this really happening?!”

Sehun and Luhan had started a heated game of Pepero. Both of their lips were moving down a Pepero stick with their eyes closed. Sehun had a death grip on Luhan’s shoulder. “One of them has to lose right?” Chanyeol asked hesitantly, unable to take his eyes off of his friend. Both of them were rosy cheeked and giggling – neither backing down from the challenge. Their lips were within an inch and everyone watching was holding their breath. One of them had to pull back, the stick broke almost at the beginning. Sehun’s shoulders relaxed but instead of pulling back, he pushed forward, smashing against Luhan’s lips.

Luhan flailed, obviously shocked but still didn’t pull back either. Everyone continued to watch in horror. Chanyeol was internally screaming “my eyes! that’s so gross!” while another part of him was thinking that this sight of Sehun and Luhan kissing was actually kind of hot…in a weird way. “Guys, you can stop now!” Baekhyun yelled.

Sehun wrapped his hands around the back of Luhan’s head, holding him steady. It was clear that Luhan had reciprocated the gesture by opening his mouth. Baekhyun covered his eyes screaming, “oh my god! I can’t watch this!” “Come on guys, you won the bet, stop this.” Chanyeol added.

“Oh my god! Are they…?” Tao asked in shock. Baekhyun peeked out of the corner of his hands to see Sehun slowly moving his hands down the back of Luhan’s jeans. “OMG! Someone stop them!” Baekhyun squeaked.

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Location: SHINee Dorm
Time: Next Day

Baekhyun woke up with the sudden urge to pee. Shivering from the cold temperature, he opened his eyes and realized that he wasn’t in his own bed. He looked around and groaned at the sight of all of the empty bottles of Soju. He pushed the blanket off of him and noticed all of the bodies sleeping around him. Taemin was in one bed, Baekhyun was using Chanyeol as a pillow on the floor, and Tao was in the other bed snoring. Shuffling to his knees, he softly placed the blanket over Chanyeol before getting to his feet.

After relieving himself in the bathroom, he wandered into the common room. Key was sitting on the couch trying to watch the television on mute. “Hey,” he said before sitting down. “Hey Baekhyun, did you have a good time last night? You and Chanyeol didn’t talk much.” “Oh sorry, we just didn’t feel like drinking. But we still had a great time,” he said with a smile.

“That’s good to hear. So how’s Chanyeol doing anyways?” “I think he’s going to be okay now,” Baekhyun replied. “And what about you?” Key questioned. “Me?” Baekhyun asked surprised, “I’m fine. I’m great actually.” “That’s good,” Key said as he poured two cups of coffee, “Can I offer you a piece of advice?” “Of course hyung.”  “When something major like that happens in your life, it can cause you to feel emotions you didn’t know you had.”

Key bit his lip continuing, “It can make you want to do things you never wanted to do before. Sometimes these things happen as a wakeup call. Life is telling you to sit up and pay attention to something important, you know?” “You shouldn’t run from these kinds of things Baekhyun; it will only make the problem worse. Not being honest in a relationship can be worse then what ever it is you’re trying to hide.”

Baekhyun’s heart started beating rapidly, “how…how did you know?” he croaked. “Know what?” Key replied coyly, cocking an eyebrow, “I’m just speaking generally.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun said with a sigh of relief. He felt breathless and weak. The incident between him and Chanyeol on the bed was something he was not ready to think about and certainly did not want to discuss with someone else. “But if there is something you need to talk about, I’m here for you,” Key added.

“I…” Baekhyun’s words were interrupted by a shirtless Chanyeol walking into the room. His hair was sticking out at all angles and his eyes were half shut. “Jesus,” Chanyeol yawned, “what in the hell happened last night?” “I had the weirdest dream last night. Kai and Taemin were having a dance off in thongs, DO was dancing on the stripper pole, and Sehun and Luhan almost got off in front of everyone forgetting that in the Pepero game, someone is actually supposed to lose.” “It..” Baekhyun started to reply but was interrupted by Chanyeol holding his hand up, “If you’re about to tell me that all of that actually happened, please don’t. I can’t even deal with that without about five cups of coffee.”

“I have to admit though, I never thought Luhan had it in him,” Key chuckled. “The real question is what happened? I mean they were obviously drunk but what’s the damage? It might have been funny last night but you know things are going to be awkward when they wake up and see their video all over Weibo,” Chanyeol added.

Baekhyun sighed, “I guess it’s their turn. We’ve been hogging the limelight recently. Let them take some heat from the media for awhile.” He shared a small private smile with Chanyeol before taking a sip of his coffee. Chanyeol groaned, “Ugh, remind me next time that sleeping on the floor is a bad idea.” “Does your neck hurt?” Key asked. “Yea, right here, owe.”

Key stood up and walked over to Chanyeol. He slowly worked out the sore muscle in Chanyeol’s neck until he heard a pop. “Uhh, that’s it. Thank you!” Chanyeol shifted his gaze to Baekhyun’s half filled cup of coffee. “Hey puppy, are you going to finish that?” “No, you can have it,” Baekhyun said as he slid the cup over to Chanyeol. Chanyeol picked up the cup and slowly downed the hot coffee. Baekhyun couldn’t help but notice how Chanyeol’s upper lip slowly puckered as he pulled away from the rim of the cup. “You’re staring,” Key whispered into Baekhyun’s ear. Baekhyun almost fell sideways off of the couch, blushing hotly. He glared up at Key, his heart in his throat. Key just winked at him and walked into the kitchen, leaving Baekhyun’s heart thumping at the thought that maybe Key did know his secret after all.