“We need to go to London,” Jongdae declares an hour later on the thin mattress the homeless shelter supplied to Baekhyun, arms still hooked firmly around his boyfriend’s waist. “Pick Jongin up, and continue from there.”

After their emotional reunion out on the streets of Lyon, Baekhyun lead Jongdae back to his temporary home so they can have a bit of privacy as they shared the information they had and thought up a plan. While Baekhyun himself barely knew enough English to communicate (let alone French) and relied on gesturing and making sounds to communicate, Jongdae smiled disarmingly at the shelter workers and exchanged a few sentences in slightly accented English. Baekhyun had the feeling that Kyungsoo might have something to do with it- out of all of them, he had the best English, and seemed to soak up any bits of foreign languages that came to his ear; he probably taught Jongdae some English over their connection.

As they sat on the bed in the corner of the sleeping hall, Baekhyun curled himself up against Jongdae’s side and refused to let go. Still overwhelmed and slightly weakened from his power burst, he allowed himself to soak up his boyfriend’s presence- how warm his body was, how thin he’s gotten since the last time they saw each other, how he smelled slightly of metal and copper, but also of home. Baekhyun buried his face in the crook of Jongdae’s neck and shared the little information he had from there, voice muffled against Jongdae’s neck and his lips brushing soft skin.

(Words cannot describe how pleased he was whenever he felt Jongdae shiver at the little kisses he pressed there every once in a while. He knew they were both bursting with want, but this wasn’t the place or the time to do anything about it.)

They spoke in low hums and hushed whispers, even though Baekhyun was fairly sure no one in the shelter knew Korean. It added to their sense of safety and brought them back to familiar days.

Baekhyun frowns, fingers playing with the hem of Jongdae’s shirt. “Won’t it make more sense to at least pick up Junmyeon first? He’s closer. I’ve felt him in France.”

Jongdae shakes his head. “Jongin can get us anywhere faster. It’d be a lot easier to just zap around then have me flying us both across Europe. We can cover more ground in less time like that.”

A soft hum leaves Baekhyun’s throat and he closes his eyes, feeling his eyelashes brush against skin as he does. Jongdae’s playing with his hair, nails scratching against his scalp, and it makes him sleepy; he has to force himself to stay awake, because this is important. “So after we pick up Jongin,” he starts, waiting for Jongdae to pitch in. He always did have more of a strategic mindset, being the smartest one of them all.

The lightning bender thinks for a while, thumb rubbing small circles into Baekhyun’s nape. “We can pick up Sehun, too, since he’s closest to Jongin. Then Minseok and Junmyeon. After that-”

“Yixing,” Baekhyun interrupts, voice leaving no room for argument. He misses his Parallel, the distance between them feeling like a fresh burn that screams for ice. It agonizes him; he needs to see his Parallel, needs to know that he’s okay. The presence in his head is comforting and steady, but it’s nothing compares to having Yixing in front of him, being able to touch him.

He’s turned quiet, he realizes, after mentioning the healer. He probably sounds miserable; he definitely feels the part.

“Yixing,” Jongdae agrees, arms pulling Baekhyun closer. Baekhyun feels a kiss being pressed into his hair. “How is he?”

“Good, actually,” he replies happily. He’s pleased with how well his Parallel managed to survive, but that was Yixing all over: adaptable. “He’s staying at some halfway house in Yunnan. He charmed the owner into letting him stay.” Baekhyun can’t help the bit of amusement that slips into his voice at that. Yixing could charm a crocodile.

Jongdae laughs, a hearty chuckle that Baekhyun feels vibrating through his throat. “That’s Yixing, alright.”

He’s laughing, but Baekhyun can detect slight sadness in his boyfriend’s voice. With a jolt, he realizes what it’s about; spread all across the globe like that, they all have each other to miss, but nothing can quite match to the pain of an absent Parallel. “Kyungsoo?” he asks, voice small.

The breath that Jongdae takes stutters on its way in. “He’s okay. That’s enough for me. I can’t imagine if-”

He stops himself short, wincing at what he was about to imply. Baekhyun hisses with pain at the mere thought of it.

What if he died?

A dead Parallel was a sensitive subject in their rag-tag team. Taboo, even; ever since Wufan died, the first of their friends to go and leave Chanyeol without a Parallel, they all held onto their Parallels that much tighter, afraid to let go, scared that the next day will be their last one together. Chanyeol withdrew into himself completely, lashing out at whoever approached him, flames burning in his eyes and at his fingertips. None of them could imagine what being alone inside their head would be like; they didn’t want to.

Then Luhan died. Jongin crumbled into nothing. He stayed in his cubicle for weeks, not eating and barely drinking; he didn’t struggle when the red nurses came to take him to the daily inspections, just laid on the operation table like he wasn’t even there. They watched as he almost destroyed himself and felt helpless. Parallels walked in pairs in the halls- Minseok and Junmyeon held hands at all times, Zitao and Sehun curled up together in Sehun’s cubicle whenever they could; even Kyungsoo, strong, stony Kyungsoo, who rarely touched anyone of his own free will and scowled at those who tried, buried his head in Jongdae’s shoulder and shivered in his arms. Baekhyun and Yixing held onto each other viciously, with the resolve of a mother bear protecting her cubs.

They all thought the same thing- if he goes, I go with him.

Zitao’s death left Sehun a hollow shell. Nothing got through to him. He cared about nothing. His usually skinny frame got even skinnier, skin pale like a ghost and his signature emotional stare now genuine. Chanyeol, who was beginning to recover from the loss of Wufan, sat with him and comforted him silently.

They were all doing better now. Time helped, and the support of their friends. They got better, but at what cost?

Baekhyun presses himself into Jongdae’s side, slipping a hand under the lightning bender’s shirt to rub patterns into the smooth skin of his hip. This close, he can feel Jongdae’s body shaking; he despises it. His Jongdae was always so brave, so considerate, so selfless, that seeing him display negative emotions was an indicator that something was truly wrong. He can smell copper in the air and feel the hair on his head standing up and tenses, lifting his head from his boyfriend’s neck to look at his face.

Jongdae’s eyes are closed and his brow furrowed, lips pursedd into a tight line. Baekhyun moves to cup one of Jongdae’s cheeks and turn his head so he can face him, but as soon as his fingers make contact with Jongdae’s skin he feels a sharp zing of static shoot into his fingertips. Baekhyun frowns. Something’s wrong. Jongdae never loses control over his power like this; he’s too collected for that.

“Jongdae,” he tries carefully, a bit of alarm slipping into his voice. “Baby, you’re projecting. You have to calm down.” he throws a quick look around- nobody’s noticed, but if Jongdae doesn’t get a hold of himself soon, they will. Baekhyun doesn’t want to think of what will happen if that happens.

It looks like Baekhyun got through to him; slowly, Jongdae’s eyes open. They’re electric blue, but the color fades as Jongdae regains control over his power until they’re back to their natural, dark brown color. Baekhyun’s hair smoothes back down. The smell of copper is gone. Jongdae’s back, staring at Baekhyun like he just first saw him, and Baekhyun does his best to give him a reassuring smile. He doesn’t get a static shock when he cups Jongdae’s cheek this time, nor when he presses their foreheads together.

“Did I hurt anyone? Did I hurt you?” Are the first words out of Jongdae’s mouth the moment he’s settled down enough to speak, voice wavering on the edge of panic. Baekhyun shakes his head and Jongdae exhales in relief, grabbing the hand Baekhyun has on his cheek and pressing a sweet kiss to the palm before holding it to his chest, close and possessive. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Baekhyun chuckles. “I know you didn’t, idiot. It’s okay.”

Jongdae’s voice is painfully honest when he answers. “I don’t know what I’d do if I hurt you.”

They settle into comfortable silence, all wrapped up in each other, breathing the other in. Baekhyun feels Jongdae’s heartbeat under his fingertips, calm and steady and matching exactly with Baekhyun’s, and it fills him with unimaginable warmth. After everything that’s happened- their escape, crash-landing in Lyon, his power burst- it feels so nice to just relax and be without having to worry about anything, at least for the time being. Having Jongdae there with him is a privilege Baekhyun is immensely thankful for- while everyone else is alone, they’re together, safer. Baekhyun’s tired eyes slide shut. Nothing can scare him while Jongdae’s with him.

“I’ve missed you,” he mumbles. This close, he can feel it when Jongdae smiles and leans forward to steal a soft kiss from his lips.

“Me too,” he whispers back, chuckling when Baekhyun chases him for another kiss. He kisses back, though, dragging Baekhyun closer by the back of his neck.

The kiss is cut abruptly when a huge yawn escapes Baekhyun, surprising them both before sending Jongdae in a hysterical laughing fit (which Baekhyun shushes because people are looking).

“Go to sleep,” Jongdae says after he’s calmed down, leaning back and dragging Baekhyun down with him until they’re lying down on the bed with Baekhyun practically on top of Jongdae. “I’ll watch over you.”

“Mmmkay,” Baekhyun hums, getting comfortable and closing his eyes.

He hasn’t slept this well in days.

------

Jongin is actually ridiculously easy to locate, considering how huge London is and how easily Jongin could pop off to another country or even another continent.

“Jongin!” Baekhyun practically screams as he runs over to him from the other side of the busy street, dragging Jongdae after him by the hand. They’ve flown over there using Jongdae’s newfound power and used their senses to pinpoint Jongin’s exact location- the closer they were to him, the easier it was to do. Not to mention that Jongin himself was pretty easy to detect- a tall, handsome man walking about London with a jacket draped over his shoulders like some kind of model. Baekhyun should really give him a lesson on how to blend in.

The young teleporter’s eyes widen as soon as he turns around and spots Baekhyun racing towards him through the crowds; they widen even more when he sees Jongdae tripping over cracks in the street and cursing behind him. “Hyung?” he asks, bewildered and disbelieving, when the two finally reach him and engulf him in a hug. “What are you- how-”

Baekhyun can’t bring himself to stop smiling when he pulls back to examine his younger friend, one hand on the teleporter’s shoulder and the other clasped tightly in Jongdae’s. “Look at you!” he exclaims, practically vibrating with excitement. “You fashionable young man! You’re gonna dazzle the world, you are-”

Jongin gapes. “Hyung-”

“-and you’re doing so well, matching your colors like a pro, I didn’t teach you how to do that-”

“Hyung-”

“-where did you even get these clothes, you sneaky little bastard, what the -”

“Hyung!” Jongin finally cuts in, exasperatedly fond. “What are you even doing here?” throwing a look at Jongdae, who’s looking around and trying to seem like he has no connection to Baekhyun even though he’s literally holding his hand, Jongin does a double-take, then smiles. “Of course you’re both here. Nothing can separate you two.”

Jongdae flushes a bright red color; Baekhyun smiles pleasantly and flicks Jongin on the forehead. “Brat.”

Holding his forehead, Jongin whines. “Are you gonna explain to me what the hell is going on?”

They take turns in telling the story, occasionally cutting into the other’s sentences to supply some much-needed information (“Baek totally cried when he saw me.” “Shut up, I did not!” “Yes you did. And it was adorable.” “You two are gonna make me gag.”). By the end of it, Jongin has an idea of what the plan is- and he is not happy about it.

“I mean,” he defends himself when he receives glares (Baekhyun) and surprised looks (Jongdae) after stating so, “I’m just not sure I can do that. Teleporting takes a lot of power, especially if I’m teleporting over long distances and taking other people with me. It’ll drain me.” He looks between them apologetically, shrugging. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

Surprisingly, Jongdae smiles and claps a hand on Jongin’s shoulder. “I have a theory,” he starts as they both stare at him. “I don’t know if it’s true, but if it is, you’ll be able to do it.”

Baekhyun narrows his eyes at his boyfriend. He’s hiding something. Granted, Jongdae does have the tendency to come up with ideas and keep them to himself until he’s sure they’d work (their escape plan was made mostly by him), but something about this feels… fishy.

Jongdae squeezes Baekhyun’s hand and does the same to Jongin’s shoulder. “Trust me,” he says, voice warm.

Jongin’s eyes flutter over Jongdae’s face, unsure; he bites on his plump lower lip for a few seconds, then nods. “Okay.”

Then they both turn to look at Baekhyun. He feels like a bad magician in a kid’s birthday party, caught in the limelight with no clue to do, but then he looks at Jongdae’s smile and something inside him melts. He knows Jongdae would never hurt any of them.

Raising his boyfriend’s hand to his lips, Baekhyun kisses his knuckles. “Always,” he promises, looking into Jongdae’s eyes.

Jongin pretends to vomit.

------

Sehun jumps into their arms the second he sees them and refuses to let go for a good solid minute, and when he does, his face is streaked with tears. Baekhyun cooes and Jongdae kisses his forehead and cheeks; Jongin tugs him against his side as he teleports them away.

Junmyeon kisses all of their faces and barely holds back tears as he tells them how proud he is of them. They don’t even pretend to be disgusted- they’re all truly happy to see him.

Minseok hugs them all, but he latches onto Junmyeon like a vice. They all smile and look away; it’s always great to see Parallels reunite, but it also feels like they’re intruding on something private, intimate.

“Can you teleport us one more time?” Jongdae asks Jongin while they’re giving the Parallels some time alone.

Jongin nods, smile wide with the happiness of seeing his friends. He hasn’t let go of Sehun once since they picked him up. “Sure,” he chirps. “Where to?”

Jongdae looks at Baekhyun and smiles, one eyebrow raised knowingly. Baekhyun beams as he retreats inside his own head and looks after his Parallel.

Yixing? We’re coming for you.

ok so it looks like this is gonna be a threeshot/fourshot. fine whateves apparently i have no control over my own writing

soon ull all learn just how much im trash for platonic chensoo