☩

Sehun has never been to Baekhyun’s house before, and seriously, this shouldn’t surprise him considering he lived in Kai’s sleek, futuristic all-made-of-pure-glass mansion before, but Baekhyun’s place is like a ing castle.

“You can house like, an army in here!” Sehun exclaims, eyes wide. The place is straight out of a medieval fairytale movie.

“He just likes to show off,” Jongdae scoffs.

“Shut up, Jongdae. As if your place isn’t as equally loaded.” Baekhyun rolls his eyes as he leads them further in. “Man, if I knew you would like my place so much, I would’ve invited you over earlier, Sehun!”

“Don’t think he needs it. He was living in Kai’s house before, remember?”

“Kai’s place is nice, but it’s nothing compared to mine.”

“Your place looks old, like in an 80's movie,” a fourth voice resounds as Baekhyun ushers them into one of the numerous rooms. “Kai’s is like from a sci-fi. It’s much cooler than yours.”

“Excuse you―”

“Chanyeol-hyung!” Sehun exclaims happily, spotting the older. Immediately, he runs up and crashes into him in a hug.

“Hey Sehun. It’s been half a year since we last met, huh?” Chanyeol smiles, patting his head.

“Yes! Though we’ve talked on the phone.”

“How come I don’t get a 'hyung' from you, Sehun? I’m even older than Chanyeol!” Baekhyun grumbles.

“Hear, hear!” Jongdae chimes in.

“I told you, because you guys are creepy!”

“You’re breaking my heart!”

Chanyeol barks out a laugh as they settle on the plush couches. “You guys are a riot as always. It’s nice to see things haven’t changed around here.”

“Nope, we’re same old, same old,” Jongdae gives him a thumbs up.

“Just like the old times.”

“Just like the old times… if you visit us more often, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun points out. “Seriously, did you have to choose a place to work so far away?”

Chanyeol gives an awkward smile. “At first it was to, y’know, run away from both the police and Exo. We wanted to find a more obscure place. Guess we don’t need to do that anymore, huh?”

“No, because if anyone in Exo dare to aim for you, I’d slaughter them myself!” Baekhyun says passionately, and Sehun can tell he means it.

Chanyeol rubs his neck sheepishly, his smile turning grateful. “Yeah, I guess it was pretty stupid of me to assume that, huh? Kai wouldn’t do that to Kris, anyway.”

Sehun looks up as he notices the change of tone in the other’s voice.

“I think Kris knew that too, but he was just… indulging me? So I was the only clueless one all along.”

Baekhyun’s eyes soften. “Is this why you’re here?”

“Did you… find something out?” Sehun adds.

“Sehun, you’ve been monitoring Kai, right?” The younger nods. “Considering he’s been under house arrest for months now, I can’t see how he could possibly get into contact with Kris. Which means someone else had.”

“That someone being… Kyungsoo,” Jongdae deducts.

Chanyeol nods. “Must be. Honestly, I’m still not sure how to react to Kyungsoo. I talked to him through a screen for a year while he gave me information on how to initiate into Exo, thinking he was a cop. Then when he got reinstated into Exo, I was no longer in it. So I don’t really know much about him.”

“Neither do I, but I do know he’s a prick,” Baekhyun growls.

Chanyeol laughs. “Yeah, I hear he’s not too well-liked in Exo.”

“Not at all, which is causing tension within the organization, to be perfectly honest,” Jongdae divulges, to Sehun’s surprise. He hadn’t known this. “It’s hard to tell our tens of thousands of members to suddenly obey a completely new face that arrived less than a year ago, right? Some members don’t understand why it’s him. Why a completely new Elite instead of the older members.”

Sehun gets it―that as much as Jongdae and Baekhyun try to hide it: they’re jealous. They’ve been in Exo for so long, yet when Kai is gone, he had placed a new face up to take his place instead of them, or someone they know and trust.

“I wish Kris was still here. He’d lead us well…” Baekhyun notes sadly.

“Yeah. There wouldn’t be any discord between the members because everyone knew of Kris’s power, and―Oh. Sorry, Chanyeol,” Jongdae winces upon seeing Chanyeol’s frozen expression.

“Haha, it’s okay. I get it,” Chanyeol scratches his head awkwardly. “I know how much power Kris held in Exo. I’m… sorry for stealing away such a vital member from you guys…”

Baekhyun sighs. “Don’t say that…” 

The mood turns heavy, everyone in deep contemplations. Sehun finally breaks it, “So we’ve concluded Kyungsoo is no good for Exo… That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”

The others snap their heads up, as if they had almost forgotten.

“No one understands why it was Kyungsoo who was placed into power,” Sehun continues. “Because of that, there is no longer unity among the members. This isn’t healthy for Exo. That’s why Kyungsoo needs to go down.”

“I am worried about the state of Exo because of Kyungsoo, yes,” Baekhyun agrees. “But what’s in it for you, Sehun? I doubt it’s something as petty as jealousy.”

Sehun blinks. It hadn’t even hit him to be jealous of how much trust Kai puts into Kyungsoo. Should he be jealous? Does he need to be?

Kai might not trust Sehun in Exo’s affairs―for good reasons―but Sehun trusts Kai and his love for him.

So. “No, I’m not jealous,” Sehun answers honestly. “But I do think Kyungsoo is a bad influence on Kai. So I want him gone.”

“Bad influence,” Jongdae repeats.  

“Yes. It is obvious he doesn’t like me. Therefore, he will keep implanting ideas inside Kai’s head that might not… bode well for me. I want to snip that bud before it can bloom.”

“Wow, you’re pretty vicious, huh?” Jongdae says, looking impressed.

Sehun gives a bland smile. “I only learn from the best.”

“I want Kyungsoo down, too,” Chanyeol chimes in. “One less person to order Kris around, the better.”

Jongdae and Baekhyun stare at them for a long moment, before saying, “Okay. So we’re all in.”

“We’re all in.”

All four nod.

“To take down Kyungsoo,” Jongdae begins. “You have to know where he’s weak at.”

“He has the power because that is what Kai says,” Baekhyun elaborates. “So Exo members listen to him. But others might not.”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter