“You know, you are only torturing yourself like this. Soo is not going to wake up any faster.”

The dark skinned male, currently trying to catch his breath, glares up at the puppy eyed male speaking so plainly.

“What do you know?” he spits back at him. “This is not your best friends that is…”yet somehow he can’t bring himself to say the words. Instead he responds with: “ you, Byun Baekhyun. You wouldn’t understand. No one does. ” With that he gets up from his star fish like position, bending over, hands on knees to feel the sweat dripping from his face, still trying to catch his breath.

At least he’d breathing on his own.

Baekhyun walks over to his friend, but unlike before where he looked like someone trying not to spook a wounded animal, he’s got this predatory gleam in his eye. “Yah, Kim Jongin, say it. Say the words.” When Jongin does nothing, going as far as averting his gaze rather pointedly to the floor, he continues with a disbelieving chuckle. “Why you cannot say it, huh?” At this point Jongin can feel Baek’s eyes boring into the side of his head, merciless and unforgiving. “Say it, Jongin. Kyungsoo is in a coma. Just say it, I promise it’s not that hard. ”

Jongin is still trying to catch his breath after the grueling and insane dance practice that he put himself through, grasping onto his uneven breath as an excuse not to answer his friend. He can hear Baekhyun walk over to him, hands in his pockets like he doesn’t have a care in the world. After hearing what Baekhyun had to say, Jongin clenches his fists in anger, feeling his blood boiling.

The audible swallowing sound the smaller male made ought to have satisfied Jongin, but it hadn’t. Baekhyun began to back away slowly, hands dropping from his pockets and Jongin grinned to himself, a bitter smile. It was like he had provoked a bear. When he realized Jongin was glaring up at him through fringe of his bangs like some mad man, he realized he had likely, once again, gone too far.

“L-look, glaring at me, or even hitting me, is not going to solve anything.” His voice sounded small even to his own ears but it was that moment Jongin started charging at him like a raging bull with his fist raised.

“Oh .” Baekhyun whisper. This is it, he thought. The day I get murdered. So, resigned to his fate, he closed his eyes and braced for impact that was sure to come.

Baekhyun dared to crack his left eye open a bit, when he felt nothing. No pain from the punch or jarring impact from hitting the floor. But he was not the one that got hit. The one that took the punch for him, is currently laying on the floor with a busted lip and cheek that is turning red from the punch.

He could only watch, stupidly as his savior moved his jaw around to make sure it’s not broken, rubbing at the site of injury. Wincing in pain went he realize his lip is cut. He then wipes at the blood on his lip with the back of his hand, only succeeding in smearing it.

“What the in’ hell Jongin? What the are you doing? Attacking your members now? Have you lost your ing mind? ”

 

“Kris warned you, he in warned you to stop it. One of these days you’re put one of us in the ER because you can’t control your temper and you best believe the media will get wind of it.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Good luck explaining it to our fans and the media outlets why the hell one of us is in the hospital.” Baekhyun widen his eyes in shock when he finally realizes just who his savior is.

 

*********************

 

The young girl widened her eyes, when she spies what is most likely a giant. She had to stretch neck up to just to see the whole of him. Funny, the giant looks so eerily familiar. Wait a minute, it cannot be…can it? The big brown eyes, ears that are way too big so that they stick out at odd angles. Oh hell no. By the time she realize who it was she just saw, the giant man had left the store with a jingling of the shop bell.

“Oh my god, I think I just saw Park Chanyeol from Exo.”

 

“Hullo, hmm, yes, I got your boyfriend honey butter chips.”

“Oh, no, please, don’t misunderstand, he is not my boyfriend.”

“Are you sure, Chenchen? I mean the way you hover over him, take care of him, make sure he has been fed...”

“Go to hell, Yoda.”

Chanyeol let out a chuckle when Jongdae call him that. “I will see and talk to you later as I am at my car now. I want to get in before I got spotted by one of our beloved exo-l’s. Thanks for staving off the boredom.”

Chanyeol hears Jongdae hang up with a rapid click. He takes one look at his cell wallpaper and a gentle smile full with love and fondness that appears that he can’t hold back. Gently caressing the picture, he still thanks his lucky star that got to work with and be a friend with an angel.

 

Closing his phone and putting it in his kangaroo pocket, he fishes out his car keys, and lazily puts the grocery in the back along with 2 boxes of honey butter chips that he manage to find with a of luck. Even after the craze for the chips is over, they are still pain in the to fine. The things he does for his friends.

As of right now, their future as a group is unknown. They have no idea what their future holds. With the company being under investigation and their group on hiatus until Soo’s condition is stabilized. With their main dancers out, one recovering from minor injuries and another one quick on his way to becoming what is essentially a border line alcoholic.

 

That is actually one of the reasons alcohol is forbidden in the dorms. The last thing they need is tabloids getting wind of that Kim Jongin, aka Kai, the main dancer of Exo, has become somewhat of a booze connessiuer. They are still trying to locate where the hell Jongin hides his alcohol.  When they walk into his and Soo’s shared room there is always, literally always, empty soju bottles laying around. It’s not even just one or two, that wouldn’t be so bad, but a dozen of them lay scattered around the room. They even had to call Taemin up and tell him not to buy alcohol for Jongin, no matter how much he might beg. It’s kind of sad how bad things have gotten.

 

Chanyeol plugs in his phone and starts the car, BTS Butterfly blaring out from the speaker to soothe the nerves. ‘I have to call up Taehyung and tell him to take Baekhyunnie to a movie or something’ he thinks to himself.

Baekhyun means well, usually, but Jongin being so volatile and unpredictable, is just recipe for disaster waiting to happen. Not to mention Kris has threatened Jongin on more than one occasion already.

 

As he drives away from his parking spot, before he can head home, he has to drop by the Incheon Airport to pick up their “guests” arriving from china.

 

***********************

 

When Jongdae opens the door to the room he was walking to, he can’t help but let out a smile at young man that is sitting in front of his mac. Putting down the tray that is laden with food and drinks, a feat amazing in and of itself, he goes to greet him. Normally, they eat their meal outside on the dining room table, like one big happy family, but due to inconvenience of moving the wheelchair in and out of the bedroom and a certain someone refusing to use crutches, saying using it “hurts his armpits and is too cumbersome to move around with, they bought a small round table that can easily pack away went is not in use instead.

 

The short male let out a small huff and soft pout forming when he realized the noise of the putting tray down and the smell of food did not rouse the young man from whatever he is doing, so he walks over to the other male and gently places his hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

“Yixing, is time to eat. I have make curry omlette with rice since I noticed your appetite have been lacking lately.”

 

Yixing felt a hand touch his shoulder gently, looking up he gave Jongdae a beautiful dimpled smile.

“Sorry, Chenchen. I didn’t hear you come in.” he took hold of the hand and give it a small kiss of apology.

Rolling his chair backwards and turn it around headed to the table.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No, I have not.”

 “Then we will share. How’s that?”

Yixing scoop bit of rice with curry and egg feed to Jongdae with an impish smile. “Does it taste good?” Jongdae gives an embarrassed nod and a small smile.

“You eat though, Yixing. I cooked it for you.” he took scoop of rice with curry and egg, mimicking the taller male’s earlier actions, essentially spoon feeding the other male like some cheesy drama lead.

“Hmm, your cooking is getting better, Chenchen.” Yixing supplies and Jongdae can’t refrain from blushing a bit at the compliment but accepts it graciously before continuing on in a rush.

“Here have some soup too.” At this Yixing halts, inquisitive by nature.

“What soup is it?”

“Buddha Temptation.”

Jongdae answers, picking up the small bowl of soup and feeding some to Yixing, who looks skeptical.

“Good?” He asks when Yixing finally gives a thumbs up in response, swallowing down the soup in a gulp.

 

************

Not long after Jongin left the practice room. Baekhyun savior has fallen to floor once again. Partly from relief he does not have to fight one of his best friends and partly he is in a lot of pain.

“ that hurt.”

Baekhyun let out gasp, when he finally realizes who is his tall and dashing savior is. Running over to the figure that has once again fallen to the floor.  Cupping the man’s face and upon closer inspection, he let out a scream. When that was finished he was reduced to nothing more than letting out a little choked sob of his savior’s name. Then he broke down and start hysterically crying and screaming,

“CHANYEOL, WHY?”

The sound of running footsteps drowns out the sobbing of one Kim Jongin, who is clutching a black sweater, smothering his face in it as if to absorb a smell that is barely clinging to the fabric and bury himself in it. The cry is heart wrenching enough and it let’s the entire world know that the very same Kim Jongin is so very much broken.