There were few things that Byun Baekhyun would ever stay up for in his adult life.

1. Late night Overwatch/League game binges with any member willing to participate with him (or rather, with whichever member Baekhyun made his victim for the night),
2. Compilations of cute dogs doing adorable things, and
3. Zhang Yixing

It wasn’t that he liked Yixing more than the rest of s, though the others would beg to differ. Okay maybe he liked Yixing a bit better than the rest but that’s beside the point. It wasn’t often that Baekhyun got to see Yixing nowadays, what with their busy comeback schedule and complications that restricted the Chinese member from participating in it. It was rare that they were even in the same country anymore, and if he was being honest, Baekhyun felt the comeback without Yixing was… lacking.

He missed the elder’s soft smiles and his grabs (it often comforted Baekhyun knowing that they were similar in their levels of ersion), his contagious laughter, the way he’d mutter Mandarin under his breath whenever he spoke to himself.

It became evident to the rest of the members exactly how ‘Yixing deprived’ Baekhyun had become when he had legitimately contemplated stealing a cardboard cut-out of the member when they passed by a store that they were promoting.

“I don’t see the big deal! Chanyeol did the same before! Why is it wrong when I do it? It’s not like they’ll miss it- They don’t appreciate him the same way I do!”

So of course, it didn’t come as a surprise to the other members when Baekhyun insisted spending the night on the couch, waiting for their Chinese member’s return.

“Baek,” Junmyeon began. “I know you miss Yixing, we all do, but we have to get up early tomorrow morning for our flight. You should sleep while you can.”

Baekhyun pouted. “But if I’m asleep, no one will greet Yixing.”

The leader sighed. “Alright. Just don’t stay up too late, okay? I know you want to see him, but your health is important too.”

The younger smiled. “I know, I know. Don’t let me keep you up, just go to sleep, gramps.”

Junmyeon rolled his eyes with a small smile. “Alright, tell Yixing I say hi when you see him.”

“I will.”

11pm

Baekhyun shifts on the couch cushions, the surface seeming a lot lumpier than he remembered it to be when they were freshly debuted. He supposes this might’ve been a matter of how long they’ve owned the couch- had it really been 5 years already?- or maybe because he didn’t have much time to just sit and reflect on the lumpiness of the couch with all of the schedules.

He can hear a few of the other members in the dorm, either doing some last minute packing, or getting whacked in the face with a boxing training ball *cough cough* Chanyeol *cough cough*. He had half a mind to go check that all his belongings were in place in his suitcase, but he couldn’t risk leaving the couch in fear that Yixing would walk through the door and be greeted by no one.

Yes, Yixing’s flight was set to touch down in a few hours, but there was no way Baekhyun was taking any chances.

12am

He spends the next hour scrolling endlessly through his social media accounts (though it’s mainly just to look at pictures of dogs). He frowns the longer he scrolls, finding himself missing his own dog.

It takes a while of convincing (read as: begging and pleading, and maybe the promise of signed albums from any girl group in his company) before his brother was willing to get out of bed and send Baekhyun pictures of Mongryong. And when pictures were no longer enough to sate his desire to see his dog again, a full video call, complete with all the cooing and kisses that would come if he was with the dog in real life.

“Thanks Baekbeom, you’re the best!” Baekhyun called out when he was met with the face of his scowling brother in place of the dog that the camera had been pointed at for the past half hour.

“I hate you.”

“Love you too!”

1am

Baekhyun sighs as he checks the progress on Yixing’s flight. There was still another half an hour or so before his plane would touch down. Most of the others had gone to sleep at this point, leaving the dorm almost silent. Baekhyun rolled onto his stomach, scanning the dorm until his eyes fell on the desktop. He grinned.

Surely, he could fit in a game before Yixing made it home. In fact, Yixing would probably be back by the time Baekhyun finished.

In the end, Baekhyun plays 3 games.

In the end, Baekhyun loses 3 games. Not unexpected losses, just losses.

And by the end of it all, Yixing still isn’t home.

2am

Baekhyun soon finds it harder to stay awake, eyelids growing heavy as he sat on the old lumpy couch. It took all the energy left in his body to force himself up, trudging into the kitchen in hopes of finding something to keep him occupied, and hopefully, more awake.

He searches the cupboards endlessly, digging and digging through the fridge and cabinets for anything to eat.

It was also at this time that Baekhyun had begun stress eating because the flight should’ve been here 45 minutes ago, why hadn’t he heard anything from Yixing, was everything alright, was Yixing alright-

It was somewhere between his second serving of ramen and third bag of chips that he retires back to the couch, too sleepy to think of anything else.

3am

Baekhyun’s never been much of a heavy sleeper. He’d often wake from as little as another member getting into the shower- from the sound of the water running or the innate desire to grab a pair of chopsticks and break in, he’s still not sure. All he knows is the soft creaking of the front door, old hinges still ungreased. He sat up on the couch, blinking away the sleep when he sees him.

After so long, it feels almost like a dream, as if the Zhang Yixing standing at the door isn’t real, but when he sees the elder tilt his head for a moment, eyes wide in shock, he knows it’s real.

“Baekhyun?” Yixing asks softly. “What are you still doing up? Don’t you guys have an early flight tomorrow? You should be in bed, the couch isn’t comfortable enough, you’ll wake up with shoulder pain if you keep sleeping there.”

The younger took in a deep breath as he jumped off the couch, running up to Yixing to envelop him in a hug, heart hurting a bit because it was just like Yixing to put ’s wellbeing before his own, even after full schedules left him exhausted.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Baekhyun murmured, burying his face in the crook of Yixing’s neck, causing the elder to squirm a little. It wouldn’t stop Baekhyun from holding on any tighter. He could feel a chuckle reverberate through Yixing’s chest, his arms wrapping around Baekhyun.

“I missed you too, Baekhyun.”

“But you should really get to bed if you want to make that flight tomorrow-“