"Baekhyun, it's time," Suho announces as soon as he exits the house and approaches Baekhyun, sitting with Sehun and watching him train; who sits in his swimming trunks, taking a break.

"What?" Baekhyun looks up at Suho in confusion. Reaching over, he grabs a towel and wraps it around Sehun. Due to Kai being on many missions lately, Sehun has been interacting more with the other boys. Due to Suho noticing that he stuck to D.O or Kai's side and told him to try and break away sometimes. "It's time for what? Dinner? It's only-"

"It's time for Kyuhyun to die," Suho interrupts and Baekhyun slowly stands straight. The atmosphere takes a sudden seriousness. "That got your attention, good. Let's talk in my office," he stops and motions for Sehun. "You too." Sehun looks up at Baekhyun in confusion before hugging the towel around himself. He follows the two into the house and up the stairs, getting no chance to change first. Once inside his office, Suho locks it and goes to his desk; Baekhyun and Sehun sit in front of it. "Kyuhyun, as you both know, is extremely dangerous. Both of you had deadly run-ins with him." 

Sehun looks at Baekhyun again and he sighs. "I was fighting alongside Tao when he..." He swallows hard. "When he killed Tao; I turned my attention to him and Kyuhyun took me by surprise," Baekhyun explains.

"It left Baekhyun stuck in the hospital for two weeks," Suho reveals and Sehun widens his eyes. "Ever since then, Chanyeol has been...overly protective."

"You can't blame him," Baekhyun answers quietly. "I almost died."

"Of course not," Suho nods as he stands and goes to look out the window. He lowers his head in contemplation before turning back around to face them. "Kyuhyun's death will play a big part in getting rid of Siwon. With one of his pure magic users gone, we can focus on the remaining ones. Now, Sehun, this is where you come in," He explains. "Kyuhyun will only have one person with him tonight, and that's the group's healer, Leeteuk. You'll distract him while Baekhyun fights Kyuhyun; do not allow Leeteuk to get close enough to heal him. He doesn't need to die, but do whatever you can to keep him from Kyuhyun."

"Is he really ready?" Baekhyun asks and Suho smiles.

"Leeteuk won't be much for Sehun, considering he relies on his own physical ability, not his power."

"My martial arts skills are..." Sehun trails off as he fiddles his thumbs. 

Suho shakes his head. "I'm not worried. Have confidence and you'll do just fine."

"So, it'll just be us?" Baekhyun asks and Suho shakes his head.

"No, I'll have Chanyeol nearby as a back-up, just in case."

Baekhyun sighs and leans back in his chair. "Now you're asking for the boy to worry."

"Sadly, he found out I was going to send you and got mad. So, he insisted on being the backup."

"Sounds like Chanyeol," Baekhyun beams fondly. "So, we go tonight?"

"Baekhyun, don't let your anger get the best of you again, alright? You remember what happened the last time..."

Baekhyun stands and crosses his arm, his demeanor suddenly irritated. "I'm not going to, Suho! I learned my lesson!" After Suho excuses them, The redhead seems to almost storm out. Sehun quickly runs and catches up.

"Um...what happened...when you lost control?"

Baekhyun stops and lets out a long sigh. "Well, when...I..." He looks down at the floor, guilt-riddled on his face. "I saw Tao's body, he was limp and lifeless, hung up on Kyuhyun's ing rocks!" He takes a deep breath as if to calm himself. "Rage replaced air for me and that's all I breathed. I remember attacking Kyuhyun and trying to stab him as many times as I could." He leans against the wall. "Chanyeol...tried to pull me back. I couldn't control myself- I didn't know what I was doing, okay? I grabbed his face a-and..." He brings his hands up to cover his face. "My light just shot out of me...into Chanyeol's eyes." Sehun slowly frowns as he goes on. "I suddenly stopped when I heard him cry, he...I..." Baekhyun clears his throat as he rubs his face. The memories must be painful for him. It makes Sehun sorry he asked. "I almost blinded him...the love of my life."

"You..." Sehun shyly goes to Baekhyun's side and touches his arm. "You had no idea, Baek. It's not your fault."

Baekhyun lifts his head and catches a tear before it falls. "I almost blinded him permanently, Sehun. I'M the ing reason he needs glasses."

Sehun goes to the window, looking towards the training yard. Chanyeol is happily irritating D.O. He doesn't see the guy wear glasses very often. And when he did, Sehun always thought they were for fashion. "He wears contacts most of the time, especially during missions," Baekhyun goes and looks out as well. His smile is bitter when he looks at his partner. "He almost lost his sight permanently and it's all because of me." Baekhyun shamefully looks away. "I love him so much, Sehun, I...I never wanted to hurt him, not ever." 

Sehun stares at Chanyeol for a moment. The boy is so much stronger than he originally thought. To withstand powerful light such as Baekyun's and to recover from the wound. Not only that, but he finds the strength to forgive and keep on loving Baekhyun; with an immense devotion at that too. Sehun suddenly has respect for him. 

"It didn't make him think any less of you, did it?" Sehun asks and Baekyun shakes his head. "He forgave you. So...maybe it's time to forgive yourself? He...showed a lot of strength by forgiving you, you know? He still really loves you too and he's fiercely loyal." He pauses for a moment. "I bet Chanyeol never thought about it."

"What...do you mean?"

Sehun shrugs. "I'm not an expert on relationships, personally. And everyone knows that" He chuckles. "But doing photography in my free time, I do observe a lot. And I've seen the way he is towards you. I bet he didn't even consider NOT loving you an option."

Baekhyun looks like he wants to say something but he stops. Staring out in thought, they stand there in silence for a brief moment. "You're right," He finally agrees. "It's really...hard but I have to try, for him."

"And for you," Sehun points out. "I hear when you have nightmares sometimes."

Baekhyun studies him curiously before shaking his head. "Your...ability to hear with the wind amplifies your hearing, doesn't it?" Sehun nods and goes quiet briefly. "...You're a lot stronger than you think you are, Sehun." Without an explanation, Baekhyun turns away and enters his room, shutting the door behind him. Sehun stands there, feeling a bit puzzled. After a swift glimpse back to Chanyeol, he goes back to his room to rest for tonight.

Kai only gets back when Sehun is preparing to leave for the mission and by the confusion on his face, Suho never told him about it. And for good reason; knowing full well that Kai is going to get mad.

"Kai, calm down," Suho stands in the doorway, holding Sehun's staff for him. "Do you remember the last time he went on a mission without you? D.O and Xiumin told me he did amazingly! He grew stronger from that."

"But even then, there were three members, not two!"

Suho shakes his head. "Kai, he'll do fine. You can't always be there to protect him- he needs to do this."

"But, I promised-"

"I know you promised to protect him, Kai, but you need to understand," Suho interrupts. "What happens if Sehun gets so accustomed to you being there, he isn't properly prepared? If Siwon attacks him again and you're not there, he's dead." Kai winces and looks away. It's harsh but Suho has a point. Sehun will never learn to fight if everyone keeps protecting him. If D.O thinks he's ready, he must be. If Sehun was unprepared, his teacher would never let him go on a mission like this. 

After pulling his shoes and strapping his staff onto his back, he stands to face Kai. He reaches over to grabs his hand and pulls him closer. "Kai," Sehun smiles now. "I really, really like that you're worried about me."

"But?"

"But I need to do this," He sighs when Kai wraps is arms around him. "I wanna prove to you guys that I don't have to be protected anymore." His voice, for once, sounds confident. And he is. He's been working extremely hard since the group went to negotiate a treaty. Sehun wants to protect someone for once; he wants to help. 

Kai's grip on Sehun is tough but Sehun can tell he's holding back most of his strength. "Baekhyun better bring you back unharmed."

"I'LL bring both of us back unharmed!" Sehun leans back to look up at him. "I'll be fine, I promise!"

Kai stares into his eyes for a moment before finally nodding. It's an uncertain one but he agrees. After brushing Sehun's hair out of his eyes, Kai leans down and kisses him.

"Oh," Suho glances between the two. "...O-oh!" Sehun shyly looks down to his feet when something connects for the leader. "Y-you two are..." Kai, unlike Sehun, doesn't appear to be embarrassed at all. He brings his hands up to cup Sehun's face and forces their eyes to meet.

"I swear to god if they hurt you..."

Sehun grins at him. "What?" It's the curse of being strangely invisible his whole life; no one quite paying attention to him. He's not used to people shielding him in the first place. But having someone this attentive and protective over him makes him feel almost giddy. Like his life actually means something to someone and he'd be missed if he were to somehow disappear. 

"I'll kill all of them, one at a time," Kai promises. A fluttering sparks inside Sehun. "I'll rip them all apart with my bare hands, even if I'm fueled with rage- I don't care." 

Sehun tries to hide his smile, but he fails miserably. "You don't mean that."

Kai's grip relaxes into a caress. "Yes, I do," He states. "But don't you dare give me an opportunity to prove it." He lets go and looks out the door. "You know what? I'm gonna have a word with Baekhyun." Sehun sighs after Kai quickly heads out and down the hall.

Suho slowly turns to Sehun, his eyebrows raised. "When did you two...get together?"

Sehun fiddles shyly with the strap across his chest. "I mean...I don't know. We didn't really talk about it..."

"That sounds like Kai," Suho leads Sehun down the hall and stairs. "He never likes to talk about his feelings. He's probably hoping you'll understand the way he feels through his actions." 

Sehun sheepishly glances back at the stairs. "You...you think?"

"Trust me," Suho chuckles. "Kai's always been like this. But I must ask; Is Kai your first, Sehun?"

Sehun widens his eyes at the leader, his mouth opens in surprise. "W-wh-"

"Oh, come now," Suho scoffs as he goes to check on Chanyeol. "You think I didn't know what was going on?" 

"I...I thought we were pretty sneaky about it..."

"Sehun, you slept in his room. Not to mention all of the looks he gives you lately." Sehun blushes wildly, rubbing his cheeks to try and erase it. He knew he was being loud that night but he didn't think anyone would really pay attention or call them out on it. Sehun doesn't mind that everyone might know, he just didn't really want to talk about it; especially with Suho. "So, he IS your first boyfriend, isn't he?"

"W-what?"

"That's what we're talking about, right?" Suho smiles and Sehun covers his mouth for a moment, realizing the man's innocence. "About how Kai is your first boyfriend."

"Kai's your boyfriend?!" Chanyeol practically shouts. Sehun grumbles when a couple of boys turn to look at the ruckus.

"Chanyeol, why not yell louder next time? I don't think Siwon all the way across town heard you," Sehun mutters.

Chanyeol grins widely. "Why shouldn't everyone know?! This is great!"

"What are you shouting about now, babe?" Baekhyun asks, with Kai in tow. "And Sehun, get your man- he's pissing me off."

"Oh my god," Sehun groans. "Does EVERYONE know?"

"Everyone except this oblivious boy," Baekhyun snorts and motions to Chanyeol. "We all kinda figured though." Sehun crosses his arms, glaring when Kai throws an arm around his shoulder; giving a lazy smirk. "Your jackass lectured my ear off about making sure you don't get hurt; as if I'd LET you."

They all step back, giving Chanyeol room as he morphs and changes into his wolf. As soon as Baekhyun hops onto his back, Kai grabs Sehun's hand and helps him up behind Baekhyun.

"Be careful," Kai says, a slight desperation in his voice. Sehun squeezes his hand reassuring before kissing him on the cheek. After another squeeze, Sehun lets go and wraps his arms around Baekhyun's waist, to keep himself from falling off. 

"I will."

--------------------------

GET yo MAN,