Practice

CHAPTER NINE.

"PRACTICE"

IV.

The room, filled with the stench of sweat and the sound of their sneakers slipping on the floor, was as rhythmatic and concentrated as all of EXO genuinely practiced together. Cold air hit their faces as they swiftly ran to their proper places and moved their body according to the music. It was days before they got to meet EXO-M again. Of course, Sehun was probably stumbling towards the door when he saw Luhan. And it was no doubt that they all missed each other since they haven’t practiced for a while now.

Half-way through the song, Chanyeol felt this irritating headache that made him stumble through his dancing. It was a good thing that he easily picked himself up and managed to finish the song. With a loud huff, he sloppily crawled to the side of the room and grabbed a bottle of water. While drinking the water, Chanyeol quickly glanced at Baekhyun who was quite preoccupied with Luhan. Little did the giant knew, a smaller and much thinner boy walked over and faced him. Kyungsoo waved his hands in front of Chanyeol, trying to catch his attention.

He sighed and realized that there was no way that Chanyeol would easily look away from Baekhyun. Kyungsoo grabbed a dry towel from Chen’s hand and gently wiped off Chanyeol’s sweat, earning a flinch and two big eyes widening from the other.

“Kyungsoo, I didn’t notice that you were there,” Chanyeol said drowsily with a tone that’s slightly not caring as his breathing pace went normal. He enjoyed the touch of the soft fabric that was carefully caressing his pale cheeks.

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Kyungsoo huffed as he rolled up his eyes. “You were too busy staring at Baekhyun to even—“

“Why?” Chanyeol cutted off, “Am I not allowed to stare at my Baekhyun?” He hissed while glaring at the small boy in front of him. Knowing that Kyungsoo also likes Baekhyun, the statement kind of annoyed him.

“First of all, he’s not your Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo brought down the cloth and placed both his hands on his waist. “And second, I never told you that you were prohibited to look at Baekhyun. You can stare at him for a whole day, see if I care,” He paused for a while and continued to rub the towel on Chanyeol’s bare neck. “Just here to remind you to take care of yourself first before getting distracted by anything or anyone else.”

The statement kind of touched Chanyeol and he felt really loved. He smiled and surprisingly hugged Kyungsoo. “Lighten up, Kyungsoo!” He tightened his embrace making Kyungsoo grasp for air. “I was just teasing you!” Chanyeol then brought his mouth closer to Kyungsoo’s ear. “And besides, I shouldn’t get jealous since I know that Baekhyun likes me more,” With that said, Chanyeol took the towel from Kyungsoo and walked towards Baekhyun, leaving Kyungsoo alone at the corner.

Kyungsoo thought that Chanyeol’s actions were kind of childish. Yet it irritated him somehow. Because it felt kind of… true. But in all, that wasn’t a reason for him to easily give up his feelings for Baekhyun.

↧↧↧↧

At that same moment, Kai saw his hyung dazing off at one side of the practice room. He saw what Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were doing moments before, but decided to just quietly ignore them and have a chat with Lay. He can’t stop himself from glancing back and forth from his hyungs. Gritting his teeth in displeasure as he saw Kyungsoo rub a towel on Chanyeol’s face. Kai wanted to be in that place so badly. He was now happily approaching his Kyungsoo hyung who seemed to be still dazing off. He wrapped his arms around his hyung’s waist which made the other one flinch in surprise. He calmly slumped his head on the elder’s shoulder.

“Are you okay, hyung?” His warm breath hitting the elder’s neck ever so lightly. The act came off as a seductive and loving way of showing affection. Arms still tightly wrapped around Kyungsoo, Kai asked again, “Hyung? Hello? Earth to Do Kyungsoo?” The singer quickly shot up both his eyes at his dongsaeng. “Is there something wrong?”

The elder shook his head furiously, trying to shake off what he was thinking before. “Um… I’m fine”

“Really? Cause it seemed like you were—“

Kyungsoo broke off from Kai’s embrace. Looked straight at his dongsaeng and silently huffed:“I’m okay,” before walking away.

↧↧↧↧

Chanyeol quietly snuck up behind Baekhyun. But it seemed that the singer didn’t quite notice him. The happy virus quickly covered Baekhyun’s eyes making the latter unable to see. He was about to start to speak but was cut off.

“Chanyeol…”

The rapper pouted and took his hands off Baekhyun’s eyes. “How did you know that it was me?”

“You’re burning hot," Baekhyun said not answering Chanyeol’s question while looking guilty. “You really should-“

“Hyunnie! I told you I’m fine. I can—“

“Guys! Listen up!” Suho shouted at the top of his lungs for everyone to hear. “Who would like to volunteer to buy our lunch?”

No one answered. Pairs of eyes stared at him for like an eternity.

The moment felt like crickets just waiting for day time—the same way they were waiting for someone to volunteer. All of them felt really lazy that day. But someone surprisingly raised his hand.

“I’ll go.” Byun Baekhyun said.

Everyone’s eyes lit up in delight of Baekhyun sacrificing himself. Some of them patted him on the back and some started to tell him what to buy.

Chanyeol felt a sudden cring in his body and automatically turned his head towards Kyungsoo, who was seemingly trying to speak up. That moment, Chanyeol knew that Kyungsoo was planning to volunteer on helping Baekhyun. No way will I let that happen.

“Hyung!” Chanyeol shouted and ended up bringing all attention to him, “I’ll come with him. I’m sure that Baekhyun can’t handle our orders himself and at the same time bring all of those foods here.”

“Sure. I’m glad that someone here cares for Baekhyun.” The guardian roughly retorted while looking at the other members.

Baekhyun didn’t approve of this. It wasn’t because he was annoyed to be with Chanyeol nor that he wanted to be alone; he just thought that Chanyeol’s fever might get worse if he insisted to go with him. He knew that it was his conscience that was eating him up but now, it wasn’t just about the guilt.

“Hyung, Chanyeol is—“

“Baekhyunnnniee! Let’s go now! Everyone is getting hungry” Chanyeol yelled while dragging Baekhyun out of the practice room. He didn’t want Baekhyun to tell Suho. Especially when he knew that Baekhyun would be the one they’d blame it on.

The two eyed each other outside the room. Baekhyun rolled up his eyes in displeasure of his roommate’s stubbornness. He glared at the giant while waiting for an explanation. Chanyeol cutely gave Baekhyun a what-did-I-do pout. The elder just sighed and walked ahead.

“Fine. Come on. Everyone’s waiting.”

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MIANHAE.
REALLY BUSY LATELY. I MEAN REALLY.
CAN'T HARDLY BREATHE WITH ALL THESE FEELS I MEAN HOMEWORK.