“I can’t sleep.” Baekhyun whispered into the darkness that night, barely able to see Chanyeol’s face.

Chanyeol gave him a sleepy smile and lifted the blankets.

“Come here. Which side do you want?”

Baekhyun beamed at him in return and quickly snuggled underneath the blankets. “Right side,” He mumbled. And promptly fell asleep at the warmth.

Chanyeol doesn’t tell Baekhyun that he can’t sleep on the left side of the bed.

When he woke up in the morning, he felt like . His muscles were aching due to the lack of sleep and being squished against the wall. But even so, the sight of a sleeping Baekhyun made him feel slightly better, and he gently removed the hair that had fallen into his friend’s face.

Of course, today was first day of their concerts. That was why Baekhyun had been unable to sleep last night.

The rapper attempted to manoeuvre around the bed to not wake the smaller male still sound asleep next to him. Somehow managing to succeed, he made his way into the kitchen to make himself some food and found most of EXO already awake and ready to go.

“Is Baekhyun up yet?” Junmyeon asked as he poured cereal into a bowl.

“No,” Chanyeol replied. “He’s had problems sleeping lately so I let him sleep a bit longer.”

He didn’t miss the “And whose fault was that,” from Kyungsoo, but he chose to ignore it. Today was not a day for petty arguments. And to be fair, it was his fault.

“Alright. Just make sure he’s up in an hour and ready to go by ten.”

“Okay, hyung.”

Chanyeol moved to sit next in between Sehun and Kyungsoo.

“Did you make up with him?” Kyungsoo asked, not looking up from his phone.

“Yeah.”

The vocalist looked up at the taller and smiled.

“Good. Oh! Good morning, Baekhyunnie.” Kyungsoo smiled at the figure in the doorway. “Don’t forget to eat breakfast. You’re going to need lots of energy today.”

“Mm.” Baekhyun yawned and rubbed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Chanyeol attempted to think of a way to make it up to him. He could buy him another present, but that seemed kind of dull considering he’d already done that for him. He could make him his favourite food, but that’s really not enough. He really couldn’t think of anything else besides just simply loving him, but that wasn’t something Chanyeol was doing for the sake of making amends, and Chanyeol still didn’t really know exactly how far or deep that love went. His mind was in a state of confusion.

As they made their way to and prepared for their concert, Chanyeol was out of sorts. He didn’t ignore anyone, he just felt as though he wasn’t really there; like what was happening wasn’t actually happening. Almost as though you’re seeing everything that’s happening through a screen, or it’s some kind of augmented reality.

And the feeling became more and more intense as the day moved on and they got closer to the start time. It was normal to feel like this before a concert, but he’s never really felt it to this extent. He figured it had something to do with his conflicting feelings.

He felt a surge of energy rush through him when he went up on stage and heard the cheers of the fans. He looked towards the other members and saw that they were feeling the energy as well. They performed the first batch of songs with such intensity that the fans were left gobsmacked, EXO always performed powerfully but this – this was on a whole other level.

When their first ment began, the members were visibly tired, but they still had plenty of energy. Even if their bodies were exhausted, their mental energy was enough to keep them going for the entire two hours.

Chanyeol looked around, from the fans to s, and upon glancing at Baekhyun he noticed his hood was upturned. He moved towards the smaller boy and fixed it without a word, making the fans go wild with their strange fantasies. Not so strange after all, Chanyeol thinks, when the pink, fluffy-haired singer faces him and gives him that absolutely precious smile that makes the rapper’s entire body warm. Like he’s sitting by a fireplace, warm and snuggly.

The taller male returns the smile with one of his own. His ‘teeth-rich’ smile, as the fans have termed it, and moves back to his position.

The concert continues on much like that, with the two only smiling at each other – not saying a single word. They didn’t need to, though. They somehow managed to understand what the other was saying without a word. Which was something new to Baekhyun, who had difficulty understanding what others meant even with words involved.

The last ment of the day was Baekhyun’s, and he was terrified. Understandably so, considering the fact that there were still a few fans that disliked him being in the group. Particularly those who didn’t agree with the shippers of the newly formed ‘ChanBaek.’

Baekhyun didn’t pay attention to the haters, though. And the other members were thankful. Even if they loved the boy to bits it didn’t mean everyone else did, even though he did have quite a substantial fanbase already.

“Um,” He spoke into the mic, the uncertainty in his voice was as clear as day. “Hi.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say – this is the first time I’ve ever done this, but today has made me really happy. It’s very fun to do concerts, huh?” He said rhetorically, but the fans cheered in agreement nonetheless, bringing a sweet smile to Baekhyun’s face.

“I tried really hard to learn all the songs!” He exclaimed. “My favourite was ‘Run.’”

“Why don’t you sing a bit for us, Baekhyunnie?” Jongdae asked.

Baekhyun hesitated for a moment before taking in a deep breath.

“Follow me and run, from the beginning, hello hello-o-o-o, e-yo-o-o!” He shouted excitedly into the mic, the fans as well as Jongdae and Chanyeol joining in with his crazy antics.

The other members of EXO watched on fondly, they were so glad that majority of the fans had accepted Baekhyun into their group, especially after they’d just lost members.

“So, um, yeah. I… I know there’s a lot of people that don’t like me,” He began after finally calming down, his smile faltered a bit and the fans screamed in disagreement. “But I’ll try really hard to make you like me.”

Minseok put his hand on Baekhyun’s nape and rubbed it soothingly, and was mildly surprised when the shorter male became like putty in his hands and leaned into him. A weak spot, it seemed.

They concluded the concert and Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Sehun, and Jongdae went out to the store to buy some cheap snacks and drinks, as a celebration of sorts.

“Baek, you stay here with the bags. We’ll be back in a bit.” Jongdae said, they didn’t want the younger to be seen with them buying alcohol.

“Okay~” The younger boy replied happily, and the others left.

“Hey there, sweetie,” An middle-aged man wearing a long trench-coat and sunglasses called out to him not too long after. “What are you doing out here alone?”

“I’m waiting for my friends!” Baekhyun said with a smile.

“Out here in the dark so late at night?” The man smirked. “What kind of friends are they to let someone as cute as you alone like this. Who knows what could happen.”

“They said they’d only be gone for a little bit. But they’ve been gone for ages!” Baekhyun pouted.

“Maybe they forgot about you.” The man rested his hand on the small singer’s lower back and pushed him lightly. “Why don’t you let me take you home? Just tell me where they live and I’ll take you there – for free, even.”

Baekhyun shook his head.

“I’m fine waiting here, but thank you for the offer.” He smiled again.

The man frowned for a moment before putting a crooked grin back on his face.

“Now, now, we don’t want anything to happen to you now, do we? It’s very late and cold and there are all sorts of shady people around here, I really think you should just come with me.” The man urged, face twitching slightly in restrained anger.

Baekhyun thought about it for a moment. Jongdae said they’d be back in a few minutes, and it’d been almost ten. Maybe they did forget about him? It was probably safer to let this man take him home than risk catching a cold from the winter air.

“Okay.” He grinned, and the man looked relieved, grabbing his wrist firmly and leading him away from the store. Baekhyun figures this man must be really caring if he’s willing to take strangers home so they don’t catch a cold.

“Baekhyun? Who is that?” A voice sounded from behind them and the small singer felt the man’s hand tighten on his wrist.

He turned around and saw the others standing there, each with their own bags.

“Oh! I thought you guys forgot about me. This nice man said he would take me home.” Baekhyun beamed and moved to walk towards the others but was stopped by the tight grip on his wrist. “Um, Mister?”

The other member’s faces darkened, immediately realising the situation they were in.

“I suggest you let go of him right now, Sir. Or we’ll have to call the police.” Jongdae growled, and Baekhyun looked at him in confusion.

“Police? Why would you call the police?”

Jongdae didn’t spare a glance at Baekhyun, still staring down the man. “Not now, Baekhyun.”

“He’s not a bad person, he offered to take- ”

“I said not now, Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun flinched harshly at the forceful tone, unwanted flashbacks making their way into his mind. No, Baekhyun, you’re safe. They won’t hurt you. They’re not like the others. You’re safe. You’re safe. But you’re not safe. They’ll do bad things to you. You have to get away. The members failed to notice his sudden shaking, but the man noticed it right away when he felt the wrist in his grasp slightly trembling.

“Look, you’re scaring him,” The man said before turning to Baekhyun. “Maybe you should just come home with me. They don’t seem like very nice friends to yell at you like that.”

The smaller looked at the man with wide, frightened eyes. He didn’t even register the man’s words before tearing his arm out of his grasp and running in the opposite direction, not paying any mind to the shouts of not only the man but s as well.

“.” Sehun and Jongdae cursed simultaneously under their breath.

“Chanyeol-hyung, you go after Baekhyun. Us three will stay here and keep this piece of trash here until the police arrive.” Jongin ordered after seeing the panic in Chanyeol’s eyes as he watched his tiny friend run away.

They should never have left Baekhyun alone. He thought as he got out his phone to dial the police and watched Sehun and Jongdae grab the man’s arms to prevent him from escaping.