Recording and filming for new albums and music videos was never an easy task, and they were happy with whatever breaks they could get. Being in a place with few people as they filmed their new music video meant that they could go outside during the day without an excessive number of bodyguards.

They were supposed to be relaxing, this being the only break they’ll have for a while, but when Minseok had turned to ask Baekhyun what shops he wanted to visit in the town centre, he was greeted with nothing but thin air.

Panicking, he looked around for any sight of the shorter boy but was unsuccessful.

“Guys!” He shouted, catching the attention of the other seven members. Their looks turned concerned when they saw Minseok’s frazzled state. “Baekhyun is missing. He was right there a minute ago and now he’s gone and I tried to look for him but he’s so short I doubt we can find him oh my god…” His rambling got softer and softer as he began to panic more and more.

“Woah, chill, Minseok-hyung. We’ll find him, it’ll be find. We have a beacon in the group, remember?” Jongin said, motioning to the unreasonably tall rapper who looked as though he was having a panic attack as well. “He’ll be able to see Chanyeol-hyung over all these people and Chanyeol-hyung will be able to see him. So we should just backtrack a bit and we’ll find him. He probably just entered some shop along the way or something.” He assured, desperately trying to calm the older down.

Soon enough, Minseok had cleared his head and they set off trying to find the currently missing singer.

Baekhyun, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. He was never allowed to go out like this without someone to accompany him, everyone always thought he was too stupid to be able to handle himself. He’s not that dumb.

He entered one of those shops that sold cheap last-minute gifts. They always had such interesting things like cute figurines and statues and strange looking objects that caused you to spend at least ten minutes trying to figure out what it does.

“Hi there, young man! It’s strange to see such a young person around here, and in this shop no less. What brings you here?” The nice-looking old lady who was previously standing behind the counter at the front of the shop had somehow made her way over to him. He was the only one in the shop so he supposed that no other customers would get annoyed.

“Hello! I’m Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun.” Baekhyun smiled, bowing at the elder respectfully. “I’m here with my group! It’s nice to meet you.”

The old lady’s smile widened impeccably as she gushed over Baekhyun. “Oh, aren’t you just the sweetest. Your cute little cheeks!” She cooed as she pinched the brunette’s cheeks not-so-gently. “You’re here with your group, you say? Where might they be, then?” She asked, and the realisation that Baekhyun had lost his new group within the first hour of going out dawned on him.

“Oh no.” He exclaimed, startling the old lady.

She looked at him concernedly, “What’s the matter, dear?”

“I was with my group and we were walking around and I saw this shop and entered it without even thinking and now they’re gone and I don’t know where they are, they’re probably worried or looking for me and it was supposed to be relaxing but now they have to find me and it’s all my fault!” He whined, slightly out of breath after all of that.

“Hey, don’t fret, young child. I’m sure you will find them soon. And if they’re looking for you then it means they care, right? So you should show them how thankful you are for them looking for you.” She smiled, and Baekhyun was momentarily mesmerised. This old lady had such a pretty smile, the kind that made most of her teeth show and the corners of her eyes wrinkle up endearingly.

He beamed at the elder, “I will!” he was about to leave, but paused before taking the last step outside the door and turned to the woman who had returned to her position behind the counter. “Your smile is very pretty.”

The old lady watched him as he ran out the door with a sad smile on her face. No one had said that to her since her husband had passed.

-

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol called out after spotting a short brunette run out of a store, seemingly in a rush. There was no mistaking that it was Baekhyun, everyone else in the town was either at school at this time or they were above fifty.

They’d all spent the past twenty minutes looking for the missing vocalist, eventually they’d decided to split up and call each other once they’d found him.

Jongin was right when he’d said he was a beacon, he’d managed to spot the small Baekhyun without much issue, the only problem now was trying to catch up to him. The kid was a fast runner, but Chanyeol’s legs were longer, so he automatically held the advantage.

“Baekhyun!” He shouted once again as he got close enough to Baekhyun for him to be able to hear him.

Said male stopped dead in his tracks and instantly whirled around to face the direction of his deep voice. His face lit up upon seeing Chanyeol running after him and he met the taller half way.

Both were panting, a result of their chase and the fact that they were hungry and tired.

“Where did you go?” Chanyeol asked, his voice unintentionally stern.

Baekhyun was a little taken aback by the tone of his voice and his happy expression faltered slightly.

“Uh, I saw a shop I really wanted to go in and so I did. I’m not really used to being able to shop by myself like this and with everyone else. I’m sorry that I made you guys look for me. I-I was going to buy you all something to make up for it.” He smiled sheepishly, not wanting to upset him any further than he already had. He didn’t want to make Chanyeol mad. He hadn’t noticed himself start shaking.

Chanyeol, however, did. “No, no, no, it’s okay. I’m not angry with you, Baekhyunnie.” He rambled frantically, hoping that the use of Baekhyun’s nickname would make the other stop trembling. He hadn’t meant to make the smaller male scared. He ed up. “None of us are angry with you, we were just worried. You shouldn’t disappear like that. We’re a group now, right? So we’ve got to stick together. Even with simple things like going out to shop.” He gave Baekhyun his best smile, wishing that he could reach out and give him a reassuring hug, but he knew that that might just make things worse.

The shorter was silent for a moment, before he bit his lip and mumbled out a small “O-okay.”

Chanyeol’s smile dropped a bit at the stutter, hoping that they hadn’t gone back to square one and that this was just temporary. He gently grabbed Baekhyun’s hand to make sure he didn’t wander off again and pulled out his phone.

“Hey, Junmyeon. I found him.” A pause. “Yeah, he’s fine.” Another pause. “Okay, see you then.”

Chanyeol turned to the silent brown-haired boy next to him and frowned when he refused to meet his eyes. “Junmyeon said he will call the others and we’ll meet up at the coffee shop around the corner from where we were before.”

Baekhyun didn’t reply, only nodded meekly. He gripped the smaller hand in his a little tighter, hoping it would ease the atmosphere that had built up around the two.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

Another nod, and Chanyeol was starting to get really worried.

“What’s the matter?”

This time a shake of his head.

“I know there’s something wrong, I can tell.” He urged.

When he didn’t reply, Chanyeol leant down to be on eye level with the tiny singer, but Baekhyun still wouldn’t look him in the eye.

“Is it because you think I’m angry?”

There was a small moment of hesitation before he shook his head again.

“What is it, then? Why won’t you talk to me?” Chanyeol whined.

This seemed to get a bit of a reaction out of Baekhyun. His eyes widened and he finally looked at the taller male, whether it was because of what he said or how he said it, Chanyeol didn’t know.

However, as soon as he made eye contact he was back to avoiding him.

“Come on, Baekhyunnie. I won’t get mad; I wasn’t even mad in the first place.”

The other slowly returned his gaze and held it for a few moments before sighing.

“I’m – I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“…I don’t know. I just am.” He huffed.

Chanyeol wanted to laugh a little, Baekhyun acting like a spoilt brat while also being the sweetest person he’d ever seen was really something to be admired. But he didn’t laugh, thinking it would only make the situation worse.

“Alright, I accept your apology that I haven’t done anything to deserve.” He teased.

The edges of Baekhyun’s lips twitched in what Chanyeol hopes would have been a smile had everything in the past ten minutes not occurred.

They made their way back to the coffee shop in silence. Chanyeol knew that the others were worried about Baekhyun, even if he wasn’t mentally handicapped they would have been worried. He’s only seventeen after all, and that’s not exactly the age someone should be adventuring unknown towns at.

“Oh my god! Baekhyunnie!” Jongdae yelled and rushed to hug the smaller male. Baekhyun had a small smile on his lips and Chanyeol couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at the fact that the other member could make him smile so easily. “We were so worried, where were you?” Jongdae asked as he removed his body from Baekhyun’s.

“I saw a shop I wanted to go to. I was going to buy you presents but then I realised you weren’t there anymore so I started looking for you.” He smiled at them, hoping they wouldn’t be mad at him.

Everyone’s eyes widened, they were certainly not expecting him to say that. “You were going to by us presents? You don’t have to do that.” Sehun spoke up from next to him.

“But you all are so nice to me! I want to repay you.” Their hearts melted. They hadn’t done anything other than be a friend to Baekhyun and yet he felt the need to repay them.

“You don’t have to repay us for being nice to you, Baekhyunnie. You deserve it.” Sehun rubbed Baekhyun’s upper arm.

"But the old lady told me to."

Sehun blinked. "What old lady?"

"The old lady from the shop I was in. She was very kind to me. She said I should show how thankful I am." He grinned.

Minseok gave him a gentle look. “You just being here is good enough, Baekhyun."