Byun Baekhyun never felt so warm before.

Except that time when he actually tried to dip his hand into the boiling water once. That was the day he swore that he would never take advice from Kyungsoo again.

So as he cuddled with the warmth, tucked under the embrace of it, he started to slowly flutter his crusty eyes and welcome the new and bright day with a beam. Adjusting himself a bit upwards, he moved a toe and in his faint surprise, it touched something... foreign like...  

Unable to fully open his heavy eyes, Baekhyun unwrapped himself from the cocoon and lifted his arm, which had been stuck from the weight of somebody...

"Wait." With a sudden jolt of energy, he snapped his eyes open and saw a very familiar face.

His mouth worked faster than light.

Baekhyun's unflattering girly screech was enough to be heard from the moon. With that, almost everyone in the building thought that something caught fire, especially the other EXO members in the neighboring rooms.

The loud kid stood on his bed, eyes widened in horror as he tried to cover his remaining dignity. The other person that was beside him a while ago sat upright, his shirt ed halfway. He blinked his sharp eyes slowly, as his dark hair hung like vines all over his eyes. He turned to the frightened Baek, as realization came into him like a tidal wave.

Minseok's unflattering girly screech was enough to be heard from the sun.

Under a minute, Suho and the others came barging into Baekhyun's unlocked room. "What happened?!" The leader had his eyes narrowed in worry, the others behind him wearing the same expression.

As the scene unfolded itself between EXO, it was Jongdae who bravely stepped forward and tapped Minseok's shoulders, while his eyes focused on Baekhyun. "You guys had fun last night?" His teasing smirk was enough to pierce through the souls of the two, as all eyes fell on Chen. Most especially that one pair of cat eyes that threatened to strangle Chen right there.

As the air of awkwardness came lingering after Chen's remark, Xiumin exhaled audibly, flipping his legs off of the bed, looking away from anyone.

Baekhyun turned away as Minseok stood, his shoulders visibly tensed. Chanyeol and D.O. looked at each other and suppressed a giggle.

"Umin hyung is perfectly dressed, Baek." Jongdae obviously looked like he was having the best time of his life, as the boy addressed pouted and rolled his eyes here and there.

"Yeah, unlike you, hyung." Sehun chimed from behind, which earned a snarl from Suho and Kyungsoo, and a smile from Kai and Chanyeol. The maknae quickly retreated and shrunk down at the back.

"Minseok-hyung, Baekhyun, let's talk about this after-"

"There's nothing to talk about."
 

Everyone in the room straightened up after the rather ominous and dark declaration of the eldest in the room. Minseok sharply glared at Suho and the others, literally freezing them under his chilling gaze. It had been a long time since they last experienced this power and some of them even had a nightmare; mostly Baekhyun because it was his fault.

No one dared to move a muscle until Xiumin walked towards the door, his brothers promptly made a curtain to let him pass peacefully, without them getting an arm dislocated. Even Kyungsoo seemed tensed, just like them.

As soon as they were sure Minseok was out of earshot, they quickly entered the room and shut the door closed.

They gathered around Jongdae and looked at the standing cocoon before them.

"I feel miserable." Baekhyun whined, sniffing.

"Seriously, what happened to you two?" Junmyeon looked genuinely concerned. "Or..." He turned to Jongin and back at the cocoon. "...did you...?"

Everyone anticipated Baekhyun's answer, but instead, they received a meek whimper.

Chanyeol shook his head, smirking, "We won't get anything from him at this rate."

"Yeah. Let's give him a break." Kai nodded once, tilting his neck a bit.

Suho curved the side of his lips sighing in resolve. "Alright. Pull yourself together and clear this out."

"Also, wear something." Suho elbowed Sehun.

Suho, Chen, Chanyeol, Kai, Lay and Sehun orderly and silently went out of the room. They had their eyes on the cocoon they called Baekhyun, their minds wondering the mental state of their brothers.

"Lay-hyung?" Everyone paused in front of the door after Chanyeol. "How long have you been here?" His eyes widened.

Yixing drowzily turned to Chanyeol. "Huh?" Lay blinked in confusion. "Been here since the screaming. Why?"

"Ah." Chanyeol chuckled. "Nothing." He then smiled, his dimples showing.

"What about D.O.-hyung?" Sehun looked around and found no sign of the aforementioned.

"He followed Umin-hyung." Lay pointed at the dark and eerie hallways.

The rest simultaneously looked at the direction, eyes glinting with curiosity. Another morning for EXO, and it was as normal as ever.

---------

Kyungsoo silently followed Minseok's heavy footsteps, his eyes focused at the back of his hyung. He was completely unaware of D.O., as his hand went holding his head and then put down. The movement had a distinct pattern, as if following a rhythm, as Kyungsoo observed. However, that was normal for Minseok. What worried D.O. was Xiumin's limping walk. It prompted him to faithfully follow, eyeing him.

Finally, Xiumin took a halt and opened his room's door. Before he could completely close it though, Kyungsoo stepped forward, surprising the heck out of Minseok. He jumped slightly and when he realized it was just D.O., he quickly shut the door with a blank, unamused look.
 

"Hyung, wait!" Kyungsoo slammed his tiny fist against the oak door twice, until he resigned with a deep sigh. "I'm not going to nag you. I'm just going to ask you a question."

D.O. waited until Minseok's footsteps silenced. Even though his request was declined, Kyungsoo stubbornly waited, leaning against the wall beside the doorway.

"Kyungsoo, you still there?" After a deadly five minutes of silence, Xiumin finally spoke up from the room. D.O.'s eyes widened for a second and chose not to answer yet.

"I don't remember anything."

In a split-second, the door was opened and then closed, leaving a stunned Xiumin staring dumbfoundedly at his little brother.

Kyungsoo took a seat on the bedside, prompting Minseok to do the same. "Are you sure?"

Xiumin pinched the upper bridge of his nose, clenching his eyes closed for a moment of recalling. "I'm not sure... I have a terrible hangover." He cringed, biting his lip.

"I thought you had a high-alcohol tolerance?" D.O. tilted his head. "I didn't drink that much because I didn't want to deal with headaches."

Minseok huffed, scratching the back of his neck. "I have my limits too, and I believe I drank far too much." He glared at the infuriating floor.

D.O. took the moment to inspect his hyung's physical state. His eyes were the first thing he looked at; glossy, puffy, lined with dark and slightly reddish. It was an obvious sign of hangover and it was enough to indicate that Minseok had lesser time dealing with nonsense. Tracing down his left arm, Kyungsoo noticed that his hyung hadn't took off his hold of it. Not hesitating even a bit, he swiped off Minseok's hand, which obviously took the latter in surprise.

"Bruise?" Kyungsoo furrowed his brows, as he raised his head, his look perfectly conveying confusion.

Xiumin looked like he was about to cry and D.O. must do something before he erupted.

"Ah-wait! Uhm." Kyungsoo tried to put up an encouraging expression, attempting to divert Minseok's attention. "This doesn't mean that you actually did it with Baekhyun but-"

"What if it does?" Xiumin looked pitiful. "How am I supposed to face the others? Baekhyun? Everyone?" He covered his face with both of his hands and in shame, he muttered, "I'm doomed."

Kyungsoo squinted. "Still there is a huge chance you didn't. I am not sure myself, but the only thing you can do to solve this is to talk to Baekhyun and try to remember stuff.”

Minseok just groaned in response.

Kyungsoo shook his head. "Minseok-hyung..." He almost sounded like a kid begging for a candy.

Receiving no response, D.O. just sighed, adjusting his position. "Do you remember what happened to your leg?"

"It's my hips, not leg and no, not even a speck."

Kyungsoo ran out of advice to say and for once he remained as speechless as a rock. For a minute, he pondered how he was surprised to the core after waking up by simultaneous screeches and unbelievable scenario. As far as he knew, Minseok wouldn't dare to sleep into another room -unless in an emergency- even so in Baekhyun's. It was far from his imagination. Although if it would be proven that they truly did, he honestly wouldn't be surprised. Those two were like night and day.

"What if we do this;" Kyungsoo blurted out suddenly, an idea brilliantly sparking.

"Let's recall everything during that evening when we drank. I'm sure you can still remember that." D.O. looked at his brother earnestly, patient for an answer.

"Okay, so." Xiumin straightened up, squaring his shoulders before he got back haunching slightly. "Last night at around nine p.m., we started to drink. You all know that I don't like the idea of drinking with many people but I didn't want to be a party pooper. So I stayed."

Kyungsoo just nodded, prompting his hyung to continue.

"I took a lot, confident of my tolerance. One by one you went until it was just Chen, Baek and Lay in the table with me. Chen didn't even drink that much but he stayed because he obviously didn't trust us. He insisted on leaving last." Minseok paused for a while to look at the ceiling. "I think I'm already drunk that time because I remember feeling really dizzy.    

"So Baekhyun was babbling nonsense about illuminating snowflakes and Lay got fed up and dragged him. Chen followed him and dragged me as well, and we all went to our rooms.

D.O. nodded once. "So Chen accompanied you to your room?"

"Yeah. I'm one hundred percent sure about that, so I have no idea how I got into his room." Xiumin furrowed his brows, frustration obvious in his eyes.

Kyungsoo still wasn't convinced. "You didn't come out of your room, then?"

"No, because the last thing I remember was hearing Chen saying goodnight." Xiumin said firmly, clenching his fists.

D.O. furrowed his brows, tapping his chin. "How did you end up there?" He whispered to himself.

If Chen was with Xiumin during that night, how could Minseok go there? Having Yixing and Jongdae in the scene would seem like they would be getting some answers soon. There was a possibility that Xiumin remembered wrongly, but still Chen stood as the witness. Perhaps, he might help trace what really happened. Kyungsoo thought deeply. Jongdae could also have trolled them and brought Minseok to Baekhyun's room…

"Will you be alright if I go now?" Kyungsoo stood up, looking at his brother.

Minseok nodded. "Where are you heading at?"

D.O. smiled a bit, his teeth showing slightly. "I'm gonna talk to Lay-hyung."

----------
                          
The rest of EXO members except Baekhyun, Xiumin and D.O. gathered in the main lobby, claiming their seats rather uneasily. It was like they were waiting for one of them to break the ice. Usually, it would be Baekhyun, but since he was not there, Jongdae would take over.

Chen was sitting beside Suho. The latter was wearing a rather expectant yet forced smile. His job was to keep s' heads straight, but if his wasn't, a certain hyung would make him. But then, Xiumin needed this help. No one could keep his head straight now.

Junmyeon felt so much pressure.

Jongdae cleared his throat and Suho regained five years of his life. "Don't you all think we're making such a huge fuss about this?" He asked, looking at his co-members who tried to avoid his gaze in any way possible.

"Why won't we?" Suho countered, turning to Chen with focused and serious pair of eyes. "They are our brothers, of course we'd be concerned. It's been given that we are to help each other in times like this". He furrowed his brows, eyes squinted slightly. The rest had a look of approval, but Chen had another thing in mind.

"You're right, and I know that, but this seems too..." Jongdae gestured, as he trailed off a bit.

"Personal". Yixing spoke up, nodding once.

"Yeah, and meddling like this makes them uncomfortable". Chen reasoned, looking at his brothers as if trying to convince them.

Kai sat up straight, laying his arm against the arm rest. "So what do you want us to do? Just watch them like that?" He almost looked irked, but everyone was so used to that, coming from Jongin and his strong opinions and his sharp words. Some would label him insensitive, but Jongin viewed it as honesty.

Jongdae smiled sightly, expecting that remark. "That's not what I mean, but it looks like it, doesn't it?" He turned to Kai, who just looked back with the same expression.

"Let's give them their space and not pressure. They are confused, too and we never want to be insensitive of that, do we?" Chen waited for a response, looking at each one of his brothers.

A collective nods and "Mmhm", echoed in the room, indicating that Chen's point was considered.

"We still can't leave them on their own. We have to do something." Sehun insisted, brows furrowed.

"How about this; Kyungsoo is talking to Umin-hyung, he could surely help him, right?" Suho moved from his seat a bit forward, his voice firm and loud with authority. The rest then nodded.

"We'll treat them like nothing happened so they won't feel out of place and awkward. And please," Junmyeon directed his stare at Sehun. "... Don't make any unnecessary jokes and remarks." The youngest smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Nah, that won't happen." Chanyeol chuckled lightly, earning a frown from Suho. He quickly replied with a cheeky smile, his mind formulating an excuse. "What I mean is that, we can't avoid any slips. I have quite the big mouth." With his last remark, the rest turned to Chanyeol with different expressions of disgust and disbelief.

Junmyeon just shook his head and let it pass. They have a lot of time for discipline later. "Since you would obviously make this even more complicated, Chanyeol, I would like to ask-"

Chanyeol thought of all jokes and annoyance he could throw at Baekhyun; it was over nine thousand!

"-Jongdae to talk to Baekhyun about this".

The tallest member haunched and pouted. "But Chen doesn't-"

"No." Suho eyed Chanyeol, as Jongdae didn't even bat an eyelid and dashed upstairs and to Baekhyun's room.

Not a long while after, Kyungsoo emerged from the staircase. All eyes quickly drew to him, stopping him from his tracks.

"Why?" D.O. looked at them, as they blinked and looked at each other.

"What did hyung say?" Junmyeon asked, a bit in rush.

Kyungsoo's expression didn't even twitch, as he blinked once. "He said nothing." He then quickly snapped his stare towards Yixing, disregarding the looks of disapproval from the others and their whines.

"Lay-hyung," Kyungsoo gestured the aforementioned to follow him, as everyone widened their eyes at Lay.

Yixing obediently followed, standing up towards D.O. As the exchange happened, the rest couldn't resist the urge to ask something, and it was Chanyeol who spoke for everyone.

Chanyeol's brows furrowed in puzzlement, as he stood up. "Why do you need Lay-hyung?"

Kyungsoo turned around, rolling his eyes before he did. "Just going to talk about something." He shoved Lay softly, directing him upstairs.

Chanyeol knew that Kyungsoo was up to something and he wouldn't let him get away with it just so easily. The rest was thinking the same, he felt that. "Does Lay-hyung know anything about what happened last night?" He smirked, albeit faintly, knowing that he pressed the right buttons.

Kyungsoo and Yixing stared at each other for a short while until the former just let out a sigh. "Yes, he does but I'm gonna need to talk to him privately. We'll discuss it afterwards."

Chanyeol's mouth formed an 'o' as he turned to the rest, who had the same reactions. "Why not now? Right here with us. We are one anyway." He crossed his arms and smirked cooly.

D.O. had to smack himself on the face.

"Let's talk about it here, Kyungsoo-ya" Lay said softly, having a gentle look on his face.

Having claimed the victory, Chanyeol sat back with his legs and arms crossed, a smug look on his face. Everyone wanted to hear another part of the tale, and the silent Yixing seemed to know more than a lot. As Kyungsoo and Yixing took their seats, all eyes followed their movement, making D.O. huff.

"You can start talking now, Yixing." Suho said, earning a narrowed pair of eyes from D.O.. Kyungsoo wanted to protest, but since Junmyeon was the one who said it, he had to keep it for a short while until he gained a momentum to do so.

Lay nodded once. "Something happened last night between Baekhyun and Minseok-hyung."

Sehun choked and everyone looked like they just saw a ghost.

"Say what?" Jongin raised a brow, totally not getting the grasp of the bomb that had just been dropped.

----------

Jongdae was calming himself down. He would want to laugh loudly for a minute and then feel bad for his brothers for a second. He was in between, and he had to keep it cool.

"Baek?" Chen knocked at the door, leaning his ear against the wood, trying to hear any sign of life from the other side. There was a faint sound of the rustling of the covers and Chen couldn't help but to smile.

"Don't be a baby and come on out." His knocks grew stronger, getting annoyed with each passing second.

From the other side of the door was Byun Baekhyun, covered with white blankets from head to toe. He did not want to come out anymore because of the shame. What if they really did something that night? He and Minseok were heavily drunk last night and inevitably, they both didn't know what events could have occurred. He wanted to think that none, but since he always slept , chances were slim.

Perhaps, they were all just making this issue such a big fuss, even if they could always laugh it off and let it pass like a normal day. Whether or not, nothing would change between them, right?

However, though. No matter how much he tired to shake it off, his heart kind of... beated faster.

Groaning with annoyance with how his mind processed things, Baekhyun just decided to stand up and open the door, his face crumpled and hair sticking out from all direction.

As soon as the door was opened, Baekhyun was welcomed with a snicker, Jongdae's face wanting him to break something. Surely, Chen got the message, hence he continued. Baek furrowed his brows, his mouth pouted like a little puppy as his eyes were either glaring or rolling. “What?” He asked the smug-looking Jongdae, whining.

Chen flashed his eye smile, as if trying to make Baekhyun comfortable, which wouldn't work in any way and it never did. Baek would just scoff as he made sure that nobody was eavesdropping or whatnot. He couldn't afford to be embarrassed once again.

“If you came here just to tease me, the door is open.” Baekhyun huffed and glared, stomping a foot.

Jongdae’s bright smile didn't falter and it annoyed Baekhyun. It was as if, he could read him and he knew everything about him. It wasn't good, so Baek grabbed Chen’s arm and tugged him out of his room.

“Ahh, no. I won't tease you or anything.” Jongdae nodded once and pulled himself back from Baekhyun’s grasp.

Baek eyed Chen carefully. His smile wasn't malicious in anyway, but he couldn't pinpoint the element that made it uncomfortable. Jongdae's ridiculous haircut? Baekhyun shook the thought. “Go on, then. I don't have the entire day.” He sat on his bedside and turned his head away from Chen. He heard him chuckle a little, and Baekhyun didn't remember telling a joke.

“Baekhyun,” Chen sat on the chair he just pulled from the computer set, as he tried to make Baek look at him.

It didn't fail, Baek was too attentive when his name was being called, so he raised his head slightly.

"Don't you remember anything?” Jongdae asked rather softly.

Of course he didn't remember a thing. Baekhyun exploded into saying random phrases, the most prominent among were “How” and “Why”. He settled into saying, “I wouldn't react like that if I do!”

Chen flashed a smirk which gone unnoticed by his brother. “Why are you so defensive if you really didn't do anything?” He crossed his arms and raised a brow.

That was right, but Baekhyun couldn't afford losing like that. “I-It’s just…” Baek's expression quickly turned down from his recent assertive look. “... I doubt myself.” He bit his bottom lip and smacked himself internally. He couldn't believe that those words really came from his mouth and covered it immediately.

That was the time Chen’s expression also changed. His brows were furrowed and his smile turned into a gape. “Wh-What? What do you mean?”

It's over. I'm so done. “Nevermind. Don't let me out of this room ever again.” Baek buried his face on his pillow and went unmoving.

Jongdae composed himself and shook his head. “Hey, don't be like that. If you act like this, we'll only get suspicious of you.” Chen said, looking at him almost pitifully, as Baek imagined him to.

“Minseok-hyung must be mad at me.” Baekhyun mumbled, letting out an audible sigh.

Jongdae growled lowly, indicating that he was slowly losing his patience. “Stand up there. We still have a practice later. Don't let the managers see you like this.” He pushed Baekhyun’s leg, trying to stir him.

Baekhyun let out a whine, until an idea came into him. He raised his head and turned to Chen, his eyes wide. “Tell me, Jongdae; did you see us somehow last night?”

Chen looked dumbfounded, as he squinted his eyes. “What? After dinner, yes. I brought Umin-hyung in his room. Yixing-hyung was the one who carried you to your room. Both of you were really drunk.”

“Like, how drunk?” Baekhyun tilted his head.

Jongdae pursed his lips and nodded once. “Really drunk.”

Baek let out a whiny huff, as he sat upright. He then turned to Chen with a brighter pair of eyes. “Yo, Jongdae-ah.”

Chen looked at Baek rather uneasily. He felt like something was gonna come out form his brother’s mouth that he'd soon regret. “Yeah?”

Punch me, am I dreaming? “N-nothing. Forget it.” Baekhyun shook his head and frowned.

Now it got Jongdae even more curious. “What is it?”

“It's nothing.”

Chen stared blankly at Baekhyun, unamused. “Don't leave me hanging like that. Tell me.”

Baekhyun sighed. “It's just a thought that popped out of my mind. It's nonsense.”

Jongdae lowered his head. Baek could almost hear a growl.

“Fine, fine, fine! I just thought that I regret not remembering Minseok-hyung’s-” Baek stopped at that point, his eyes narrowing.

Chen was at the edge of his seat. Only if he could pull off the words from Baek, he'd done it already. “What?!”

“His face!” Baekhyun yelled. “His face, I tell you! There, I said it!” He pouted, stomping his feet on the floor.

Jongdae’s mouth twitched. “Byun Baekhyun, what the actual heck?”

“Don't you ever think other things, okay! I know he looks… cute when he's drunk but even that I don't remember! So how would I ever remember something beyond that!” Baekhyun narrowed his eyes, blurting out the words he badly wanted to say.

Chen took three seconds to reevaluate his own thoughts. He blinked and squinted his eyes. “Oookay, Baekhyun. You're really creeping me out. No offense”. He raised his hands and shook his head, his eyes particularly scanning Baekhyun’s.

Baek rolled his eyes and let out a huff. “I'm not a ert, you sick of a friend! How am I supposed to lay a finger on him when he clearly shows he hates me! I'm not that shameless”. He crossed his arms and raised his head, a hint of pink appearing on his cheeks. He didn't know how to approach this kind of turmoil and by now, Chen would think of him as some kind of weirdo or even a ert.

Jongdae choked on his own saliva, as he bursted into a fit of laughter.

Baekhyun stared at Chen, his face twisted with mixed annoyance and confusion.

After a few seconds when Jongdae had recovered, he turned to Baek and suppressed a giggle. “Yah. No one's telling you that and how do you know hyung hates you? What's the significance of that with whatever could have happened last night?”

Baekhyun gulped. He was drove to his edge and he seriously had no way out. He wished that the ground would just swallow him whole right that moment and disappear.

“Are you not telling me or rather us, something?” Jongdae’s annoying smirk sent Baek shivers into his spine. It was like as if Chen was dropping that bomb he didn't want to drop.

Baek had to get away as soon as possible or else he'd die on that spot. Wait, that's actually a good idea.

“Kim Jongdae, I would honestly hate you to hell and back if you are having some other thoughts”. Baekhyun tried to sound threatening. He somehow did, at least in his ears.

Chen just sat up straighter, crossing his arms. “Am I?” He smirked.

Baekhyun glared and growled. He tried really hard to be intimidating, but Jongdae let out a short chuckle instead. His pride was hurt. “Jongdae…” Baek said lowly, as if begging.

Jongdae stood up and placed a hand on Baek’s shoulder, smiling a bit. “I already know, Baekhyun-ah. Don't hide your feelings anymore.” With that puzzling remark that left Baek dumbfounded, Chen headed the door, a smile plastered on his face. “Let's go out, now. We still have to pack up for the flight.” He glanced at Baekhyun.

Baek felt like Chen knew something and it seriously boggled his mind. He wanted to know what or he'd go crazy. He was already in such a confusion already.

Standing up from the bed, Baekhyun held Chen’s wrist, stopping him. “You know something, do you?” He asked him seriously.

Jongdae just stared with that smile. “Hmmhm.” He hummed, nodding softly.

“Then tell me!” Baekhyun shook his hand once, eager to know whatever was it Chen was hiding from him.

“You two kissed”.

“We did what?!”