The next few days, it was difficult to see Joonmyun around.

Baekhyun was always at vocal practice or extra dance practice since he was the one in the group that had to catch up, learn everything that the others took years to learn in the time period they had before they would really start promotions. It was more than a little stressful and a whole lot more tiring than normal. That's probably because when they perform as a group, he could watch the others, react and play off of what they are doing. But it was just him, alone with the dance teacher, alone with the vocal teacher, then just alone to practice and repeat. Copy and paste the image of the others with him in the practice room when he was alone because the others had all gone home or were doing other things. At the end of the day, he'd somehow dragged himself back home but more times than not, Chanyeol or a manager hyung had to carry him home.

He got scolded for it, of course, in between conciousness, their manager hyung would be telling him not to get sick because they are just debuting and what would it look like if there was sickness on top of Jongin's back pains. Baekhyun usually fell asleep after that, passed out more than fell asleep. Then when he got up the following morning, Chanyeol would be scowling at him as he rolled over on the bed, letting out groans as he rolled from side to side.

"You need to stop push yourself so hard." That's what Chanyeol would always say.

Baekhyun would just smile and shake his head, motioning that he needed to work harder.
"Babo. You're going to get sick if you keep this up."
But Baekhyun insisted that he wouldn't then he'd smile over at Chanyeol.
Seeing the smile, Chanyeol would just rub his hair and tell him to go back to sleep.

Chanyeol was always kind and Chanyeol was always playful. That's what Baekhyun liked about him.
But he knew he had to keep his space, keep that distance between them because he didn't like Chanyeol like that.
Chanyeol was just his friend and nothing more. So he would always gently push Chanyeol's hand away and lay down, grumbling about his hair being messed up and Chanyeol would sit there, patting his head until he fell asleep. Baekhyun let him because the feeling of his head being patted was always nice.

But Baekhyun felt guilty because something inside him knew that this wasn't right. The feeling wasn't right.
Maybe it's because he knew the Chanyeol had feeling that were more than just friendship or maybe Chanyeol's hand was just too big and awkward for his small head. Either way, it wasn't right. He just wasn't sure what right was, not that he could dwell on it for long since he would always fall asleep, too exhausted to think about anything but the dance steps and the melody of their title song.

_______________________________________________

(Joonmyun P.O.V.)

"KIM JONGIN! YOU CUT THAT OUT RIGHT NOW!" Baekhyun screamed as he chased after the tall dark boy who seemed to have made fun of Baekhyun's not-so-not obvious fanboy crush on 'a certain group of older females in a group in our company' as Jongin stated when Baekhyun somehow managed to catch him, probably since Jongin let him, laughing as Baekhyun smacked at his arm.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Hyung. That hurts~" Jongin whined as he tried to pull away but Baekhyun wouldn't give and they are playing a game of mouse literally dragging the cat in his attempt to escape. Sehun is watching the two of them from the side with a grin, obviously amused by this while Kyungsoo is teaching Chanyeol the steps again since Chanyeol can never get all the steps down right.

Joonmyun contemplated on who to go to. His roommate who was standing there or the pair trying to fix the tallest members steps. But he doesn't get a chance to make that decision as he's met with a oncoming Jongin train with a Baekhyun engine attached. Jongin tried to stop, of course, but with Baekhyun struggling behind him, he ended up being pushed forward so that the three of them were toppling to the dance room floor like bowling pins.

"Strike~" Sehun called out. In between the groans, Joonmyun remembered to give Sehun a smack over the head at a later time. The three members that weren't involved in the crash just stared at what Joonmyun was going to do. Obviously he was going to scold them. But even before he got a chance to open his mouth, Jongin wrapped his arms around the older boy in a tight hug while Baekhyun used his puppy aegyo.

Sehun is snickering from beside them and Kyungsoo and Chanyeol are back to practicing since they already know how this is going to turn out. Because it's always like this when Jongin and Baekhyun mess around. Jongin and his large limbs will trap him and Baekhyun will aegyo him until he finally gave him and said he's not mad and not going to punish them.  It's always Baekhyun's aegyo that made him cool down more than anything else. Whether he liked to admit it or not, Baekhyun just had that effect on him.

Perhaps because he knew the others for too long. The others were his brothers, literally his family, that had suffered with him through the many years of practicing and waiting, anticipating for their possible debut. But Baekhyun had just come in when they were about to realize their goal when there was no real reason to know anything about the younger boy until they had to start living together. 6 months of training is what Baekhyun got and of those 6 months, Joonmyun didn't even get to see Baekhyun much because he would have acting lessons and speech lessons when Baekhyun would have dancing and singing lessons. Really thinking about it, they were practically strangers.

Realizing that fact made Joonmyun sad and so without a word, he moved over to give Baekhyun a tight hug before leaving the room for the meeting that he had to attend which left the members staring at Baekhyun in confusion and Baekhyun to just stare at the door that Joonmyun just walked out of.

_______________________________________________

Baekhyun was messing around on his laptop, waiting for the older boys return. Joonmyun was running late again when despite telling Baekhyun that he'd be home by midnight. If this was going to be the case, he would have just stayed in the practice room until Joonmyun was finished with whatever business he had to take care of and walk back with him. He doesn't blame him though. He admired Joonmyun for working so hard but at the moment, he was so tired and all he wanted was to see the older boys face before crawling into bed.

But one hour, two hours later, Joonmyun still wasn't home. Baekhyun doesn't panic though, sending texts instead asking where he is, if he's coming home soon, and to message him back. Six texts in, he realized that he was probably being annoying so he set his phone down beside him and sat on the couch in the dark, hugging his knees with his body facing the door.

Just as he's about to close his eyes, the screen from his phone lit up and he picked it up immediately. It was a message from Joonmyun but he couldn't tell what the message said, having to rub his eyes to read the message properly.

From: Joonmyun
To: Baekhyun
Received: 02:45

Sorry. I'm sorry...

Baekhyun's not sure what he's apologizing for but he's too tired to think about it.
But he replied back as it seemed like Joonmyun wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

From: Baekhyun
To: Joonmyun
Sent: 02:52

Are you okay? When are you coming home?

From: Joonmyun
To: Baekhyun
Received: 03:00

Soon. Sorry... Baekhyun ah. I love you.

From: Baekhyun
To: Joonmyun
Sent: 03:02

I'll be up. Just get home safely.

From: Joonmyun
To: Baekhyun
Received: 03:10

Baekhyun ah. Really... I love you.

From: Baekhyun
To: Joonmyun
Sent: 03:12

Okay. Just please come home soon.

From: Joonmyun
To: Baekhyun
Received: 04:00

Go to bed. It's late. I'm coming home now.

That last message woke him up from his sleeping position on the couch.
He looked at the time and let out a small sigh. He wouldn't be going to bed. There was no way he could sleep now.
So he sat and watched as the sun rose, waited until he heard that door open and their completely drunk leader stumble into the dorm. He seemed surprised to see Baekhyun sitting there but Baekhyun didn't say anything, just helped Joonmyun into the bathroom to help his wash up then put him to bed before finally crawling into his own.

Tomorrow he'd ask Joonmyun all the questions that had been floating around in his head.
Why he drank so much. Why he's apologizing. Why he's suddenly saying he loves him.
In reality, he knew he wasn't going to ask any of those questions. He would just ask if he was okay, maybe ask why he drank or who he drank with. But other than that... they'd get lost somewhere in his mind like it always does.
That restless feeling settled in again but he's not sure why but knowing that Joonmyun was home and having heard the small 'Thanks, Baekhyun ah' from the other after he put the older boy to bed was strangely comforting in a way. With that thought, he's finally able to fall asleep.