Prologue - Night Before (aka Wang Wang Baekhyun)

A/N: half of the Husky two-shot, obviously. Can you guess which "husky" definition this is?

x

SM was unfair sometimes.

Just a few hours after they debuted, Wufan and the rest of the EXO members scrambled onto a commercial plane and were shipped to China for their Beijing debut. It went perfectly, mind you.

After the showcase, Wufan and Joonmyun played their part as leaders and ushered the half-dead boys onto the van before they all toppled over. Most of them immediately passed out once forcibly thrown inside. The only complication was when Yixing became delirious from exhaustion and started laughing hysterically at mundane objects like telephone poles. Wufan had to knock him out before he emotionally scarred Kyungsoo. Again. He dragged an unconscious Yixing to the van and launched him onto the nearest seat.

Joonmyun, Wufan, and Jongin took turns watching the members, spreading out in a strategic fashion across the van. Wufan himself was sandwiched between a yawning Baekhyun and sniffling Chanyeol. All in all, it could’ve been a lot worse.

And then Baekhyun started barking.

Wufan had been counting buffalos in his head when a yip startled him awake. His eyes darted across the room in alarm, but no one appeared to be conscious.

What the hell was that?

Wufan reasoned with himself. He was most likely just hearing things. After all, he’d only slept an hour the night before, overcome with sudden anxiety about the second debut. Of course, it wasn’t an actual dog. A dog would never sneak past Luhan’s allergies. It was nothing but his mind playing tricks on him. All he had to do was go back to his counting and the noises would go away.

“Wang, wang!”

Wufan jumped out of his skin and tried to distinguish the sound. It came from his left. Unable to move about with a drooling Chanyeol on his shoulder, Wufan carefully tilted his head towards the side and glanced beyond his shoulder. He paused.

To his left was Baekhyun.

Baekhyun was not a dog.

..But Baekhyun was barking.

Wufan’s eyebrows rose to the sky. He watched in amazement as Baekhyun shifted about in restless sleep and yelped once more.

“Wang, wang…”

This time, the barking sounded pitiful and sad. Against his better judgment, Wufan leaned closer to him and rested an awkward hand on Baekhyun’s head, patting it occasionally.

Baekhyun moved.

He forced himself from recoiling as Baekhyun clutched onto his hand and buried his face into Wufan’s shoulder. It’s fine, he consoled himself. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. Wufan attempted to get into a more comfortable position.

It’s only for a little while anyway.

-

Half an hour later, Wufan was no longer willing to be a human pillow.

Although Baekhyun was a wonderful portable heater against the van’s cold air conditioning, his unyielding hold cut off the circulation in Wufan’s hand, and he could feel drool piling up in the crook of his clavicle. The singer rested one leg on top of Wufan’s thigh and wrapped a measly arm around his waist.

Plus, his nose itched.

He needed to get rid of Baekhyun.

Wufan wasn’t cruel enough to wake up the sleep-deprived singer, no matter how uncomfortable he was. However, if he didn’t free himself from Baekhyun’s evil clutches, he wouldn’t be able to sleep until they arrived home in a few hours, and it would be the longest hours of his life.

Suddenly, Zitao began to stir. He had been seconds away from sealing his fate as it was. Wufan praised the gods as Zitao opened his eyes through a sea of smudged eyeliner and met his eager gaze. He must have looked a bit crazed, as Zitao raised a brow at him before speaking.

“Duizhang,” Zitao muttered, “what time is it?”

 “A little past midnight,” he whispered back.

Wufan grinned.

“Taozi di, I need you to do me a favor.”

Zitao looked taken aback at his beaming face, but Wufan couldn’t help it. He was saved! His smile grew wider until his mouth showed a row of teeth. A splutter of pink splashed across Zitao’s cheeks and his jaw became slightly ajar.

“Maybe. What’s in it for me?” Zitao asked warily.

“I’ll get you Gucci when we get back,” Wufan promised. “Three Gucci bags.”

Zitao’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

Wufan nodded. Anything to get him off me.

“Alright,” Zitao said. “What’s the favor?”

He didn’t know it was possible for his smile to grow even wider. Without further ado, Wufan leaned into Zitao until his face was beet red and dropped a drooling Baekhyun onto his lap. Baekhyun immediately adjusted accordingly, gripping the befuddled boy’s wrist and nuzzling his head into the side of his neck. Zitao shivered and awkwardly pat the messy waves atop Baekhyun’s head before settling back into his seat.

“All you have to do is let him sleep on you,” Wufan instructed.

“Whatever,” Zitao replied. “It’s not a big deal.”

Wufan massaged circulation into the back of his hand and smiled.