pairing: BaekLay
length: 2290 words

Baekhyun’s right leg twitched as he stared impatiently at the clock on the wall.

Any minute now…

Any minute…

“You’re still waiting?”

Baekhyun turned to see Junmyeon blearily rubbing his eyes as he stood at the hallway entrance that led to the bedrooms in the dorm. “Of course. He’s due to come back around this time.”

“But you’ve been waiting for,” a loud yawn punctuated the leader’s sentence, “more than half an hour.” Junmyeon blinked sleepily as he gestured to the bedrooms behind him. “We have to wake up in a few hours for the music video filming. The next few days are going to be really busy, so you need to rest properly.”

But Baekhyun only waved his hand, as if to brush away Junmyeon’s concerns. “I got enough rest during the workshop. I didn’t have any other schedules like you and Chanyeol did, so I’m not tired,” he said cheerfully. “You look exhausted though, so get some sleep. I’ll go to bed as soon as he’s home.”

“Are you sure?”

Baekhyun nodded resolutely and beamed brightly at the group’s leader.

Junmyeon didn’t look convinced, but he was too tired to push the issue any further and only answered drowsily, “Well, if you say so…” He yawned loudly again before turning back towards his bedroom. However, before he left, the leader added, “But if he isn’t back within the next hour, then you need to stop waiting and go to bed. You’ll see him in the morning like everyone else will anyway.” When the other male only smiled at him silently, Junmyeon narrowed his eyes as he said, “I’m serious, Baekhyun. You need to sleep.”

“I know. Don’t worry about me,” Baekhyun reassured the leader as he shooed Junmyeon away. “I promise I’ll go to bed soon. I just want to make sure he gets home safely.”

Junmyeon’s expression softened, knowing that Baekhyun had good intentions, as he nodded in agreement. “Just don’t stay up too late, okay?” the leader reiterated softly before disappearing down the hallway and into his bedroom.

Once the door to Junmyeon’s bedroom closed, Baekhyun leaned back into the couch seat as he resumed the agonizing wait for Yixing. His gaze flitted between the front door and the clock on the wall as the seconds ticked by. The thin white hands of the circular black clock moved so slowly that Baekhyun’s palms began to sweat with nervous anticipation.

Would Yixing even be happy to see him?

They hadn’t properly spoken to each other in so long. Although they sent each other encouraging text messages almost every week, both of their schedules were too packed for them to engage in anything further. And it was frustrating, because Baekhyun wanted nothing more than to show the world that their group’s bond was everlasting and strong.

But it was like the world was conspiring against them to prevent that from happening.

Sometimes, it felt like he was the only one who really cared about the nine of them being together forever.

No, that wasn’t true. The other members were just as serious as he was about staying with each other until the very end.

Whenever the two best friends had some precious free time to hang out with each other outside of group schedules, Jongdae repeatedly expressed how lonely he felt on stage without the other EXO members by his side any time he was contracted for a solo performance. It was one of the main reasons they had opted to form a subunit with Minseok instead of attempting to be solo artists, even though the two main vocalists were completely capable of doing so. It was just more comfortable and fun to perform with the rest of the group as opposed to the loneliness that came with being a solo artist.

Baekhyun wondered how Yixing had felt when he finally debuted as a solo artist last year. The Chinese male had been preparing for his solo debut while Baekhyun, Jongdae, and Minseok had been recording as a trio for their subunit debut. Although Baekhyun was completely supportive of the talented musician’s solo endeavors as he chased after his dreams, it was also weird to think of Yixing moving forward alone.

Without him.

But Baekhyun tried not to worry. Yixing wouldn’t ever forget him, would he? Although the older male was so busy in his home country, winning the hearts of Chinese citizens everywhere, Yixing still made time to check up on Baekhyun, and check in with Jongdae and Junmyeon.

He was still there. Just…less tangibly.

All of a sudden, the front door creaked open and Baekhyun snapped his head towards the entrance, his eyes lighting up instantly when a familiar man stepped into the dorm. He jumped up from the couch and raced towards Yixing, his arms outstretched while he squealed the Chinese male’s name.

Yixing placed a finger to his lips, signaling for the younger male to quiet down since the other members were fast asleep in their bedrooms at this time. “How are you?” he asked quietly as he let go of his duffel bag to hug Baekhyun tightly.

“I missed you a lot,” the Korean male answered while burying his face against Yixing’s neck and deeply inhaling his familiar scent. He squeezed Yixing even more, not wanting to release the older male from his embrace in case he disappeared. But that was a silly thought.

Yixing wouldn’t suddenly vanish. He was physically here. Baekhyun could feel his smooth skin, his strong arms, and his sturdy chest. Yixing was here.

“Welcome home,” Baekhyun said softly, his thin lips ghosting over the older male’s skin.

“I’m glad to be back,” Yixing answered affectionately with a deep, dimpled smile decorating his face as he gazed at Baekhyun.

--

They spent the next hour sitting on the couch in the living room and catching up on the various projects that they had been working on over the last few months since The EXO’rDIUM in Hong Kong. Yixing had wrapped up filming for his latest drama, which was now airing, and was currently busy filming the newest season of his variety show. In between, he had been attending various press conferences and red-carpet events, like the previous night’s gala in Shanghai for Jackie Chan Action Movie Week. And all throughout, Yixing had been steadily working on his second solo album.

Baekhyun smiled whenever Yixing fondly referred to it as his second son. There was so much love in the Chinese male’s eyes as he gushed about the newest tracks he had composed, written, and produced by himself. Even though he had dark circles and large eye bags, which were accentuated by his deathly pale skin and thin cheeks, Yixing still glowed like a star as he talked animatedly about the preparations for his second solo album.

The younger male felt a bubble of pride expand in his chest just hearing Yixing talk on and on about his newest passion project. And Baekhyun mentally chastised himself for being selfish earlier and not wanting the older male to progress without him. Because that wasn’t fair to Yixing, who worked tirelessly every single day to be the musician that he had always dreamed of being.

Baekhyun was almost reluctant to speak about the group’s newest album, because of the circumstances they were placed in. The previous week, the rest of the group had gone to the album jacket photo shoot, which Yixing had missed since the company had decided that he wouldn’t be joining this promotion cycle. The tensions between China and South Korea were too high at the moment, and Yixing had already been criticized heavily by Chinese citizens for EXO’s endorsement of Lotte.

To keep their foot in the door of the lucrative Chinese entertainment market, SM Entertainment wanted Yixing, as well as Song Qian of f(x), to focus primarily on Chinese promotions until the political issue between the two countries had blown over. Baekhyun had been extremely unhappy when the members were informed of the final decision, but he also knew that Yixing’s reputation in China was tremendously important for the success of the older male’s future career in his home country.

It was hard for Baekhyun to keep his personal self-interests out of the equation, even though they didn’t matter as much as Yixing’s did in this situation. But he continuously told himself that if he were in the same position, Yixing would be wholly supportive of whatever Baekhyun did and cheer him on with only the Korean male’s best interests at heart.

So Baekhyun tried not to think about the gaping hole in the group’s newest album and in his aching heart.

As time passed, the younger male’s eyes began to flutter shut since his exhaustion had finally caught up with him. Yixing held him closer and the younger male’s red-streaked hair. “You’re tired, aren’t you?” the Chinese male murmured sympathetically.

A low hum sounded in Baekhyun’s throat as he nuzzled against Yixing, wanting to feel the older male's warmth wrap around him like a wreath. It was so comfortable sitting together like this on the couch. Their bodies were pressed up against each other like fitted puzzle pieces. The steady rhythm of Yixing his hair was beginning to lull Baekhyun to sleep and he sighed in contentment under the Chinese male’s ministrations.

But their manager suddenly walked into the living room and beckoned for Yixing to follow him. The two idols quickly jumped apart to make it look as if they hadn’t been cuddling very closely earlier. “We’ve got a meeting with the executives about your future promotions. We’re releasing a statement later today about how you’re not participating in the comeback.”

A deep sigh escaped Yixing’s mouth as he glanced sideways at Baekhyun, who was unable to mask his sad expression fast enough. “Okay. Give me a few minutes and then I’ll meet you at the car. I want this headache I have to pass,” he slightly fibbed.

Their manager knew how exhausted Yixing was from his atrociously hectic schedule, so he nodded in understanding and exited the dorm to wait for the idol in the parking garage.

“The album is fantastic,” the Chinese male commented reassuringly as he scooted closer to Baekhyun again now that they were alone once more.

“But you’re not part of it,” the younger male answered quietly with a note of bitterness. “It’s not the same without you.” It’ll never be the same without you.

“Byun Baekhyun.” Yixing angled himself and tenderly placed his cool, thin hands on the main vocalist’s soft cheeks. He stared directly into Baekhyun’s dark brown eyes before saying, “I’m still in this comeback with you and the others.”

“But the ban­—”

“Doesn’t affect anything,” Yixing cut in, his voice gentle yet resolute. “As long as I’m here,” he continued while removing his right hand from Baekhyun’s face to lightly poke the younger male’s chest, “I’ll always be with you guys both on and off stage. This political mess isn’t going to come between our brotherhood. We’re all stronger than that.”

It made the younger male feel ashamed for complaining, because Yixing was so optimistic and confident in all of them while all Baekhyun had done was worry about their future. He should have had more faith in the group and in Yixing to do the best that they could with what they had.

It wasn’t the end of the world just because the Chinese male wasn’t in EXO’s newest album. At least they were all promoting, one way or the other, and keeping each other in their thoughts.

Yixing was right. Politics and nasty netizens wouldn’t keep them apart, no matter how hard they tried to.

EXO was strong. No matter where Yixing was, he would always be an EXO member.

The older male’s phone vibrated with a text message from their manager, so the two reluctantly let go of each other. “It’s late. You should get some sleep.”

“So should you,” Baekhyun answered worriedly. “I can’t believe they’re making you go to a meeting just after you landed.”

Yixing only smiled tiredly as he replied, “It’s fine. I’m used to this. I’m just sorry that the news will probably negatively affect you guys.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Baekhyun said firmly, placing a hand on the Chinese male’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. It’s never been your fault, no matter what anyone else says.”

Yixing’s phone vibrated again with a more urgent text message from their manager. “I’ve got to go now, but I’ll be back soon. Don’t wait up for me though,” the older male said, knowing that Baekhyun was foolhardy enough to sacrifice even more sleep to wait for his return. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

The two males hugged once more before Yixing stepped out and closed the front door behind him. A sharp click sounded as the door was locked and Baekhyun fell back down onto the couch. It would be so easy for him to just continue waiting for the Chinese male in the living room, but Baekhyun knew he would be scolded by both Yixing and Junmyeon in the morning if he did.

So after a few minutes of limply sitting in the living room and mindlessly staring into space, Baekhyun pushed himself up from the comfy couch and tiptoed down the hallway to his bedroom. It was a hot summer night, so he quickly stripped off his shirt and his pants, leaving only his boxers on, before kicking aside the blankets and falling onto his bed.

As sleep claimed him for the night, Baekhyun comfortingly remembered that, despite what was happening, at the very least, Yixing was finally home for the first time in months.

♈♈♈

A/N: Sorry for the slow updates! August was a difficult time for me and I'm back in school now, so I have to keep on top of my studies. Updates will be released when they can. Anyway, EXO has come back for the summer and I just want to say that I love this album so much. Like this is seriously AOTY material. I love every single song so much and I've been jamming out to this album non-stop since its release. As for the repackage, I really love Power and it's one of my favorite comebacks from them under Monster (which I love with my entire soul). I know it got a mixed reception, which honestly surprised me, but I think it's pure gold. The song, the visuals, the concept, the MV, and the choreography are all amazing. The upbeat, EDM sound is completely my style (LDN Noise always delivers) and I absolutely love the superhero/comic book concept. Not to mention, the boys look like they're having so much fun in the MV and on stage. ^^

On a more serious note, I know people are upset about Yixing not being in this comeback or the repackage. I'm upset too, but I know it's not his fault that he can't, because promoting in Korea right now would be career suicide for him. Regardless, I still hate how he's being used as a political and economical pawn by both countries. The poor guy just wants to make music for his fans and for himself. But instead, he gets caught up in the THAAD mess, and he now has both Chinese and Korean netizens after him. He can't promote in Korea, because Chinese nationalists will crucify him for "betraying his country." But by not promoting with EXO, the OT8 fans attack him and his loyalty to EXO by spreading nasty rumors of him leaving the group. And so many companies, both Chinese and Korean, are exploiting Yixing for his hard work, because they know he's popular and his fans will pay extra to see him. It's so frustrating as a Yixing stan to see how hard he works to please everyone, only for people to fling more hate at him because they don't understand the difficult position he's in.

Even though it's easy to blame SME for the lack of Yixing this summer, we can't completely lay the fault on the company. Lay and Victoria are their two most popular Chinese idols who make bank doing solo activities in China. No other Chinese K-Pop idols have the same status that they do, which means f(x) is also impacted (and as a MeU, I'm very upset about almost two years of no group promotions; as an Amber and Luna stan, I'm even more upset by how frustrated they are about the situation and their lack of official activities). We probably won't see either of them with their respective groups for the rest of the year, unless the political situation changes. But don't let that stop you from supporting Yixing! He's been teasing his second album for the last two months, so when it finally drops, make sure you support his solo comeback as much as possible! And he also recently had his wax figure revealed, so check that out if you haven't already! He's been spending a lot more time in Korea as well these past few months (he flew in just last night!), so I'm hopeful that he'll be able to join the rest of the boys soon. EXO is made up of the nine of them, so let's do what we can to support them and let the world know that they're still one of the kings of K-Pop!