Yifan is ready to kill someone when he wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing. He turns his stiff neck to look at the digital clock sitting on his nightstand. It’s 4:15 am, and Yifan wants to cry. He’s been asleep for only thirty minutes. That’s the curse of being captain of the basketball team and an AP student.

The tall boy buries his head back in his pillow, ignoring whoever’s calling, and tries to go back to sleep. The phone stops ringing and Yifan sighs in relief, only to be cut off a second later when it starts ringing again.

Yifan snatches his phone and hisses into the receiver, “Who the -”

“Yifan?” Yixing says from the end of the other line. His voice is so soft that Yifan can’t help but relax a little (he also can’t help but feel the beating of his heart increase, but that’s not important, right?). “Yifan, are you there?”

“Yeah, Yixing, I’m here,” Yifan sighs. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Um, can you look outside your window right now?” the other boy responds.

“Yixing, you’re scaring me,” Yifan says as he climbs out of bed. “What’s wrong?”

He looks out the window to see Yixing standing there with his backpack in one hand and phone in the other. Yifan runs out of his room, down the stairs, and throws open his front door.

“Yixing! Oh my god, what happened?” Yifan asks, embracing the other boy.

“Can I stay with you for awhile?” Yixing murmurs into Yifan’s chest, burying his face in the taller boy’s shirt.

“Yeah,” Yifan nods his head. “Yeah, of course you can stay. You can stay as long as you need. Come inside, okay? You’re freezing.”

He leads the shivering boy into his house, putting his finger to his lips to signal the other to be as quiet as possible. The last thing he needs right now is being caught bringing a boy into his room in the dead of night by his parents. Yifan gently closes the door of his bedroom behind them and tells Yixing to make himself comfortable. The other takes off his shoes and curls into a ball on the bed, tightly hugging a unicorn plushie to his stomach. He’s still shivering so Yifan digs through his closet to find the smallest hoodie he owns. Yixing flashes the other boy a dimpled smile (gosh, his dimples are cute) when he receives the clothing and slips into it quickly. He’s practically drowning in the black hoodie, but he’s grateful for its warmth and he’s strongly aware of how it smells like Yifan’s cologne.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Yifan asks softly as he sits on the edge of the bed, brushing strands of Yixing’s hair away from his face. The curled up boy shakes his head no and Yifan just nods understandingly. “Then get some sleep, alright? We have to get up for school in two hours.”

The other boy whimpers as he curls up into an even smaller ball, making space for Yifan on the bed. “Good night, Wu Wu,” Yixing whispers, hugging the unicorn plushie closer to himself. His gentle voice is growing heavy with drowsiness. “Thanks for everything. You’re the best.”

“Anything for you, Yixing,” Yifan mutters. His reply goes unheard as the other boy is already snoring softly. “Anything for you.”

/*/*/*/

Yifan is nearly late when he takes his usual seat next to Junmyeon and Tao just before homeroom begins. He slumps deeper in his seat than usual, praying that the day goes by quickly so he can just go home and sleep.

“What happened to you?” Junmyeon demands, his eyes growing wide with worry. “Are you okay? You look like Tao.”

“Hey! What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Tao snaps. “If anything, looking like me should be a goddamn compliment.”

Junmyeon frowns. “Have you seen the state of yourself recently? I mean, really, look at yourself in the mirror, Tao. You’ve had those same sweatpants on for three days straight, your hair is a mess, and don’t even get me started on those bags under your eyes.”

“Don’t listen to him, Tao,” Yifan says. “I think you look great. Just remember that there’s something called a bed, okay? And a shower.”

“I hate you guys,” Tao grumbles. “But seriously, Yifan. Are you okay? You look half dead.”

“I didn’t catch much sleep last night, that’s all,” Yifan shrugs. “Yixing called me at four and stayed the night. I think something’s wrong but he won’t talk about it.”

“Don’t push him. When he’s ready, he’ll talk,” Junmyeon advises. “You know how open he is with you. He can’t keep whatever he’s hiding for long. Especially from you.”

“Especially from me? What does that mean?” Yifan his head to the side.

“Yeah, I don’t follow,” Tao agrees. “Junmyeon, what does that mean?”

“You don’t see it? Really?” Junmyeon frowns. He leans over to whisper something in the ear of the cat-like boy, leaving Yifan slightly pissed that Junmyeon won’t tell him what the hell is going on. Tao’s eyes widen as Junmyeon pulls away.

“Oh!” Tao exclaims, grinning like crazy. “Oh! I get it!”

“What? What do you get? Guys,” Yifan tugs on Junmyeon and Tao’s sleeves. “Guys, come on. Don’t do this to me.”

“Someone’s getting cranky,” Junmyeon teases. “Do you want to go to the nurse? Maybe he’ll let you sleep for a bit.”

“Maybe you’ll see Chanyeol there!” Tao claps his hands together gleefully.

“Hm, maybe I will,” Yifan replies. “And listen you guys, don’t tell Yixing I told you about anything that happened last night. I don’t want to see him have a meltdown in front of the whole school, okay?”

/*/*/*/

Tao’s prediction is proven correct when Yifan enters the nurse’s office and sees Chanyeol already there. He’s sitting in one of the plastic chairs, smiling happily as he’s pressing an ice pack to his forehead. His face lights up when he sees Yifan come in, his smile growing even wider.

“Hey, Yifan!” Chanyeol beams. “What are you doing in here? You look super tired.”

“I didn’t get much sleep last night. Yixing came over. I was hoping to catch some sleep here. What about you?” Yifan squints at the other boy. “How are you already here? First period hasn’t even started.”

“Well I was dropping some stuff off at my locker when Minseok and Jongdae came up to me and offered me some of the cookies they baked last night. Actually, I think it was just Minnie who baked them. Dae probably just sat there and ate batter from the bowl like the useless guy he is,” Chanyeol begins. “And I know, I know it was only 7am and I shouldn’t be having cookies that early in the morning but they were double chocolate chip and you know how great of a baker Minnie is so I thought it was a good idea to take a few. But when I was stepping forward to take some of the cookies I tripped over my shoelaces and crashed face-forward on the floor. I was so embarrassed! Everyone in the hallway was looking at me and Minnie wasn’t helping ‘cause he was just standing over me with the plate of cookies and Jongdae was rolling on the floor, laughing his off.”

“And you’re still smiling because…?” Yifan asks, trying not to snort at the clumsiness of the other boy.

“Minnie felt so bad that I bruised myself that he gave me half the plate!” Chanyeol replies. He holds out a ziploc bag filled with cookies. “Want one? They’re delicious. I’ve had, like, five already.”

“I think I’ll wait for a reasonable time to eat those monstrosities, thanks,” Yifan shakes his head in disapproval. He can’t help but smile at Chanyeol’s childish personality. “You know, Yeol, if you’d just tie your shoelaces once in awhile you would trip less often.”

“I do tie my shoelaces!” Chanyeol protested. “And I did have my shoelaces tied this morning! I double knotted and everything! Look!” He points to his Converse.

“Then how the hell did they get untied?”

“How am I supposed to know that? Anyway, what was Yixing doing at your house?” Chanyeol questions. “I mean, I know you two are super close and all, but what happened?”

“I’m not sure,” Yifan frowns. “He called me around 4 and asked if he could stay with me for awhile. I’m guessing something’s wrong?”

“Gosh, I feel so bad for him,” Chanyeol says. “I mean, not because he has to stay with you. Because there’s something wrong. Do your parents know that he’s there?”

“Nah. They didn’t see him this morning and they’ll be out of town for a few weeks so I won’t have to hide him in my bedroom or anything.” Yifan runs his hands through his hair. He hadn’t woken up early enough to put gel in his hair so locks are sticking out in different directions and frankly, he looks like a mad scientist.

“Ah, I see. Well, let me know if you need any help, okay? I just got my paycheck yesterday so I can always help with groceries and stuff,” Chanyeol offers.

“Thanks, Yeol, but I think we’ll be just fine. Take care of yourself first, alright? You need to stop hurting yourself and get some sleep before you start looking like Tao,” Yifan jokes.

“Hey, I think Tao looks great,” Chanyeol protests. “Especially considering the amount of sleep he gets. Though I’m starting to think that it’s his fault for being sleep deprived. Nowadays, I only see him playing Buzzfeed quiz after Buzzfeed quiz on his phone.”

“He needs to delete that goddamn app,” Yifan sighs. “And that Tastemade app. If I hear him tell us one more food pun, I might strangle him.”

“Hm, that’s a bit violent, Yifan. I really think you should get some sleep. I’ll tell the nurse when he comes back. I think he went out for a quick coffee run or something.”

Yifan just nods gratefully and draws the curtain over the bed for some privacy. He tries to get a few more minutes of sleep, but whenever he closes his eyes, the only thing he can see is Yixing curled up in a ball on the bed, hugging the unicorn plushie close to his stomach. He ignores how his heart races every time he pictures the other boy’s dimpled smile and dreamy eyes.

/*/*/*/

Yixing is unusually quiet during lunch, which concerns Yifan. But he doesn’t want to push the shorter boy so he just stays silent and observes the conversations going around the table. Jongdae is complaining about his massive load of homework to Minseok and Junmyeon, but Junmyeon seems to be the only one listening.

“I don’t see why teachers have to give us so much homework,” Jongdae grumbles as he picks at his mashed potatoes. “I mean, let’s look at this logically, okay? If each teacher says that they give us an hour’s worth of homework and then you factor in the fact that we have eight teachers, that’s eight hours of our day spent on homework. Plus, we all have extracurricular activities. There’s no way in hell any of us has even the slightest chance of getting sleep. Or having a life.”

“Didn’t you expect that much homework when you decided to take eight AP classes?” Junmyeon questions. “Besides, I would assume that the teachers are giving you homework to help you? So you can practice what you learned in class?”

“But whyyyy?” Jongdae complains. “I don’t want to do it. It’s so boring.”

Minseok, who’s really not listening to Jongdae complain (he’s heard too much of it already and quite frankly, he’s a little bit done with the boy), is talking to Tao about the cookies he had baked last night while the other boy is sprouting cookie puns he’s memorized from the Tastemade snapchat stories.

“You see, Tao, I actually substituted the baking soda for baking powder this time. I found out that baking soda actually contains sodium bicarbonate, which is acidic. So when I was leaving the batter out, the sodium bicarbonate in the baking soda was actually reacting with the carbon dioxide and forcing it out of the batter and that’s why my cookies ended up so flat. And then I found out that baking powder has sodium bicarbonate and two other acids that counteract it so carbon dioxide ends up forming in the batter. That’s why my cookies were so fluffy this time! Because I put baking powder in it instead! Isn’t that so cool?” Minseok exclaims.

“Did you know that the kind of cookies rich people like the best are fortune cookies?” Tao collapses into a fit of hyena-like laughter. “Get it? Because rich people have a fortune? Fortune cookies? Minnie, isn’t that so funny?”

“I think I might try baking a baguette tonight,” Minseok responds thoughtfully as he rips off a piece of the cafeteria biscuit and throws it in his mouth only to spit it out because it’s one of the worse things he’s tasted, like, ever.

Chanyeol seems to be getting along really well with the new kid, Baekhyun. They’re sitting together again and Yifan watches as the taller of the two gives the silver-haired boy half of his sandwich. Baekhyun takes the half, smiling gratefully, and devours it. He takes large bites of the bread and its filling, chews quickly, and gulps it down. Chanyeol watches the smaller boy with a hint of amusement in his eyes. Baekhyun catches Chanyeol staring and blushes a little, mumbling something inaudible. Chanyeol laughs loudly, playfully slapping Baekhyun on the shoulder in the process. Baekhyun grasps his shoulder as he laughs along and Chanyeol bursts into a million apologies, which just makes Baekhyun laugh even harder.

Lu Han is showing Sehun a video of him figure skating to his new full program on his phone. Sehun’s eyes are wide with amazement and his mouth is slightly open in awe. “Gosh, Lu Lu, you just keep getting better and better!” Sehun compliments. “I mean, really, look how graceful you look! And your triple axel looks so smooth. And your music choice is just phenomenal. Let me come to your next competition, okay?”

“Kiddo, my next competition is upstate. Do you really want to travel four hours just to see me lose?” Lu Han smirks.

Sehun smacks Lu Han’s head lightly. “Shut up, you’re not going to lose. You’re program looks too good. And I’ll be there to witness you getting a gold medal. I just, uh, need to ask my mom.”

Lu Han laughs a little to hard, making Sehun blush furiously. “Our little maknae!” Lu Han squeals, pinching the (horrified) freshman’s cheeks. “So cute, having to ask your mom if you can come to a figure skating competition!”

“You know what? Nevermind,” Sehun snaps, playfully slapping Lu Han’s hands away. “I hope you lose.”

“No, Sehun! Forgive me,” Lu Han teases, ruffling Sehun’s rainbow-colored hair. “C’mon, my little maknae. Forgive me please?” He bats his long eyelashes and looks at the younger boy with his large doe eyes.

“I hate you,” Sehun grumbles.

“You love me,” Lu Han grins.

Kyungsoo and Jongin are deep in conversation as usual. Kyungsoo is pointing to something in his AP Statistics notebook and rapidly spewing words at Jongin.

“Nini, I swear to god I’ll kill him if I find another one of these in my notes!” Kyungsoo is clearly exasperated. “I don’t care if he’s the oldest one out of all of us and I don’t care if he has a baby face. I’ll kill him, Nini. I’ll do it.”

“To be fair, Soo, it’s a really well-drawn baguette,” Jongin frowns at the doodle in the notebook. “I mean, look at the details. He’s got the crumb on the sides and the air holes in the bread and everything.”

“I don’t care, Nini! I’m trying to focus in class and he’s just leaning over my desk and drawing this freaking baguette where my notes are supposed to be. You know, the teacher was passing by the other day to check our homework and I opened up my notebook to find that there was a baguette drawn next to the homework and the ing teacher saw it. Do you know what she told me? She told me that it was a nice drawing but I should reserve my art skills for a different class and focus on doing the math in her class instead,” Kyungsoo snaps.

“Well at least she said it was a nice drawing. I guess that doesn’t really help you, though, because it’s technically Minseok’s drawing and not yours. But still, it’s a compliment,” Jongin shrugs.

“Nini, do you know how many baguette doodles I’ve found in just this notebook so far? Fifteen. Fifteen drawings of the same freaking baguette. And it’s only October.”

“Fifteen drawings of the same baguette does seem a bit excessive. Maybe he should change it up. To like, cupcakes or egg tarts or something. Or bears! You can’t get mad at finding drawings of teddy bears in your notebook.”

“Or, or he can stop drawing in my goddamn notebook,” Kyungsoo sneers. He catches Yifan’s eye and the taller boy can’t help but to burst into laughter at the younger boy’s agitation. Yifan’s joy is short-lived, though, when Kyungsoo’s eyes trail over to Yixing, who’s sitting there quietly and chewing on one of Minseok’s cookies.

“Wait a second. Guys,” Kyungsoo calling the entire table to attention. “Guys look at what Yixing’s wearing. Isn’t that Yifan’s hoodie?”

Yifan freezes. Yixing drops his cookie. The two boys stare at the table as rest of the boys stare at them. Jongdae gasps. “Oh my god. That is Yifan’s hoodie!”

“Yeah! Yeah, you’re right! I remember it because it has the teddy bear holding the heart in the corner!” Jongin laughs gleefully. His laughter closely resembles the sound of a dying weasel, and Kyungsoo can’t help but snort a little at the other boy.

Yifan looks toward Chanyeol for help, knowing that the boy is too nice to let this torture continue. Chanyeol immediately recognizes Yifan’s cry for help and jumps in quickly. “Hey guys, lay of those two. If we really want to make fun of someone’s attire today, I suggest we turn our attention to Minseok. Can we please take a moment to admire that sweater.” Yifan mouths a thank you to Chanyeol and the other boy just responds with a wink. But of course, being Chanyeol, he fails at the wink and ends up closing his eyes at the same time, making him look slightly idiotic.

“What?” Minseok snaps. “What’s wrong with my sweater?”

“Hm, Chanyeol’s right,” Sehun hums in agreement. “Look at yourself, Minseok. You’re eldest out of all of us and you’re still coming into school wearing a bright pink sweater with My Little Pony characters all over it.”

“I think you need to burn that sweater, Minnie,” Tao says. “It’s disgraceful, really. At least when Yixing comes into school wearing a bright pink sweater, it has unicorn patterns on it. But My Little Pony Characters? Really?”

“You’re going to critique my fashion sense? Really, Tao? Really?” Minseok rolls his eyes.

Tao scoffs. “Why do the insults always come back to me? I think I’m doing just fine in life, thanks very much.”

And the whole table bursts into laughter.

Authors Note:

Hey, everyone! I figured that I should introduce myself after two chapters. I’m Amanda and I’m super new to EXO and basically all of k-pop (I literally just started listening to EXO in March of this year). Because I’m brand new to k-pop and EXO, I’m have a bit of a hard time getting the characterization of the boys right. So, if you have any suggestions of what to do, please don’t be afraid to shoot me a comment!

I literally have no planning for this fic and I’m kind of just making it all up as I write so updates might be pretty inconsistent (I apologize for that).

In addition, Baekhyun’s backstory about the $2-a-day poverty life is actually a thing in America (what???). All of the information I’ve written about being a kid in $2-a-day poverty is all true and facts I’ve gotten from the book $2.00 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America.

You can find my on tumblr: @exolsuniverse

I hope you all enjoy this update! :-)