The night was punctuated by bursts of light. The columns of smoke rose, swaying tantalizingly in the slight wind. The air was hot, suffocating, and Jongin’s lungs felt like they were about to burst. There were screams everywhere, but words were unintelligible, lost in the din. The flames leapt from the windows of the ten story building; they seemed to reach out at Jongin, trying to draw him in. Jongin instinctively drew back from the heat, and was met with a soft wind on his neck.

            Wake up, someone whispered. Wake up.

            Jongin’s eyes flew open, and the first thing he saw was his blank white wall staring back at him. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his mind, to remember what had happened.

            “You still talk in your sleep.”

            Jongin rolled over on his bed to see Sehun on his chair. His legs were drawn up to his chest, and he was curled up, his chin resting on his knee.

            “What?”

            “You kick, too.”

            Jongin laughed, his throat slightly hoarse from sleep. He glanced at the clock, and saw that it was only 7 A.M. Sehun’s eyes were tinged red, and there were bags under his eyes.

            “Did you sleep at all last night?”

            “Yeah.”

            “How many hours?”

            Sehun paused, nibbling on his lip. “Three?”

            Jongin groaned, burying his head in his hands. “Why, Sehun-ah?”

            “Because you kick really hard.”

            “Well why didn’t you just put me on the floor then?”

            “Because of your back.”

            Jongin winced at the mention of his back, and Sehun uncurled himself from the chair, and was by his side, helping him up.

            “Where are your painkillers, hyung?”

            “On the dresser.”

            Sehun reached over and plucked the bottle from the cluttered surface and handed them to Jongin. Jongin threw two pills back; he didn’t need water anymore. He caught Sehun’s worried expression out of the corner of his eye, and felt that familiar, yet unfamiliar, tightening in his belly.

            Sehun opened his mouth, as if he were going to say something, when the phone rang.

            Joonmyun was on the other end, yelling at them to get to the studio, and quick. Sehun hastily flung some of Jongin’s clothes on and brushed his hair while Jongin just lay there, willing the pain in his back to go away. The painkillers should have kicked in by then, but the pain throbbed insistently.

            “Hyung?”

            Jongin lifted his head to see Sehun looking at him worriedly.

            “Stop looking so worried.”

            Sehun glared at him. “How am I not supposed to be worried?”

            “Just don’t worry about me.”

            “Can you even get dressed?”

            “Yes.”

            “Oh really.”

            “Really.”

            Sehun glared at him some more.

            “Okay no I can’t. Happy?”

            “No.”

            “Then what do you want?”

            Sehun extended an arm, and Jongin took it, letting the younger pull him up on his feet.

            “I want you to be okay.”

            Jongin felt that weird tightening sensation again, but he fought to keep his face straight.

            “But I am okay.”

            Sehun didn’t say anything, but he dropped his hand.

            By the time they arrived to the studio, Joonmyun was pacing back and forth. The ten others had already gathered, and were sitting down in the studio, waiting.

            “FINALLY.” Chanyeol looked pained.

            “Are we that late?” Sehun asked with a perplexed expression. Jongin couldn’t help but laugh at his face.

            “Only like an hour.” As he spoke, Luhan made his way next to Sehun, wrapping both of his arms around the younger. Jongin turned his head, and went to sit against the wall so his back wouldn’t be injured more.

            When Kyungsoo settled himself next to him and whispered, “Is your back okay?”, Jongin just nodded, trying to look anywhere but where Sehun was sitting with Luhan.

            About twenty minutes after Jongin and Sehun arrived, their managers burst in the door, faces flushed. There was dead silence in the room for a couple seconds before, “You’re debuting. All of you. You’re all actually debuting.”

            Sehun pulled Jongin to his feet, jumping up and down in excitement. He flung his arms around the elder, screaming, “Hyung, we made it! We actually made it! Together!”

            Jongin hugged Sehun tight, and only grudgingly let go when Kyungsoo tugged on his arm.

            Luhan was the one who glared daggers at Jongin later, especially when they found out about the Chinese/Korean subgroups they would have. Jongin didn’t even mind that Sehun was with Luhan, because soon Luhan would be gone, and he would have Sehun to himself. Jongin knew it was outrageously selfish of him to think this way, but he couldn’t stop himself.

             It’s not that he had anything against Luhan. Luhan was a nice guy, and Jongin got along with him well enough. Except when it came to Sehun. Luhan wasn’t willing to share, and neither was Jongin.

            Jongin didn’t know what it was about Sehun that drew both of them to him; maybe it was the attitude in which Sehun accepted the attention. Sehun wasn’t an easy person to love, because he was so inattentive to his surroundings. He never noticed anything that happened, and even when he did, he usually didn’t care. Jongin remembered all the girls that had sent him love letters, and how Sehun had brushed it off, laughing.

            It hurt Jongin because he knew Sehun would treat him the same way if he ever confessed. Like a joke.

            Their managers let them celebrate for about five minutes before sitting them all down and giving them their teaser assignments.

            “Jongin, you have the most to learn, but if your back is injured–“

            “My back is fine.” Jongin saw Sehun flinch at his words, but he didn’t take them back. He wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to finally finally show everyone what he could really do.

            “Then get going. Your first meeting with the choreographer is in…ten minutes. Now Baekhyun, here’s the music for you and Kyungsoo, learn the lyrics, and learn them fast. Same goes for you, Jongdae, and work with Luhan for your pronunciation. Your first recording is soon, in a couple days or so.”

            Jongin nodded and was out the door and in the hallway when Sehun caught up with him.

            “Hyung!”

            Jongin couldn’t help but smile at Sehun, his cheeks slightly flushed, his hair a mess. But Sehun wasn’t smiling.

            “Why did you say your back was fine?”

            “Because it is.”

            “Stop lying.”

            “I’m–”

            “Why do you do this to yourself?”

            Jongin was confused.

            “Do what?”

            “Push yourself like this. Why don’t you ever give yourself a break? Take it easy for once. Its okay to mess up every once in a while, because the only direction you can go from there is forward. You can only improve, but if you push yourself past your limit, you’re putting your health on the line. Don’t do that, hyung. Please don’t.”

            “Sehun-ah–”

            “There are people that care about you, hyung.”

            Jongin stared at Sehun, not fully processing what the younger was saying.

            “I care about you.” Sehun’s voice was almost a whisper.

            “Sehun-ah–”

            But Sehun whirled around and left, leaving Jongin staring after him.

            They moved into their dorms that weekend, and Jongin was hauling his suitcase in the front door when Kyungsoo ambushed him.

            “Hi-uunf!”

            “Jongin-ah! You’re rooming with me!”

            Jongin noticed that Sehun was avoiding his eyes. The younger was curled up on the couch, next to Joonmyun, who was whispering in his ear something that made Sehun smile. Jongin felt his hand curl into a fist, but smiled at Kyungsoo.

            “Great! Can you help me with some of this?”

            Kyungsoo nodded and proceeded to help Jongin drag his suitcases and boxes to their room. There were two beds, one on each wall of the room. Between them was a window, and a desk under it.

            Jongin collapsed on the left bed, wincing because of his back, and promptly fell asleep. Kyungsoo smiled at the scene and covered him with a blanket, carefully, so he wouldn’t disturb him.

            Jongin woke up to Sehun shaking him gently. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes, disoriented.

            “How’s your back?”

            “Hi to you too.”

            “Hi. How’s your back?”

            “Fine.”

            “Well I found this massage cream at that store across the street that’s supposed to help a lot. And you have nothing to lose.”

            Jongin regarded the tube of cream warily.

            “How am I supposed to put that on myself?”

            Sehun looked at him strangely. “What do you mean, on yourself? Now lay on your stomach.”      

            Jongin obeyed, still half-asleep. When Sehun gently tugged his shirt up, he stiffened, but didn’t move. He stayed still as Sehun massaged the cream into the skin of his back, not wanting to disturb the younger.

            “And…there. Does that feel better?”

            Sehun sounded so worried that Jongin felt obliged to say that he was feeling great, but in reality, nothing had really changed.

            “It doesn’t feel much different…”

            “Well, effects are supposed to kick in after about an hour, so we’ll see then.”

            Sehun extended a hand and pulled Jongin off the bed, the latter complaining that he was too tired for all of this.

            “Oh, come on, hyung. We’re eating dinner soon, and I know you don’t want to miss that.”

            Sehun was right, so Jongin let himself be pulled out the door.

            The massage cream was actually effective, and Jongin found himself sighing in relief for the first time in what seemed like forever.

            Right before they dispersed for bed, Jongin caught Sehun’s arm.

            “Hey, Sehun-ah.”

            “Yeah?”

            Jongin bit his lip. “Thanks. Uh..thanks for the cream.”

            Sehun smiled, his eyes crinkling. “It’s nothing. Glad to see that you’re feeling better.”

            Jongin watched Sehun disappear behind the door to his and Joonmyun’s room. He would’ve stood there for a lot longer if it hadn’t been for Kyungsoo’s insistent tugging on his arm.

            “Jongin-ah! You have to get more rest. You have a lot of choreography to learn, and you’re going to need a lot of energy for that. Now sleep. SLEEP.”

            Jongin obeyed. He let the soft clutches of sleep wrap around him cloyingly until he was immersed.

A/N: /hits head on desk

This will be the last chapter with Jongin falling asleep at the end omfg. I need to stop. oh and look. another crappy edit. OTL.

THE NEXT CHAPTER IS MORE EXCITING. I PROMISEEEEE. ><

and omg I just got a new theme for my EXO blog so PROMOTING IT HEREEE. xD

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Thanks for reading!!!

abusing this gif until the end of time