What's going on...?
The Dark Side of Our World
Yesung knew that being the rookie group could be a hassle in a lot of ways. Everyone has their eyes on you and all the hard work put in is never anywhere near enough.
“Hyung, please, I need your help talking to Kris.”
Of all people, Yesung felt least qualified to be having any sort of leader talk to Kris. Leeteuk was a much better option as leader of Super Junior. Shindong could probably handle a situation a lot better than Yesung, too. Kyuhyun really was the best option since he could even speak Mandarin and talk to both Kris and Tao more personally.
“At least help me find a way to confirm my suspicions so that if I do have to talk to Kris, I at least know for sure that I have something on him.”
Yesung wanted to punch a wall when he got home. And he probably would have had Eunhyuk not given him a concerned look as he walked in. “How was hanging out with our favorite rookie boys?”
“I...where’s Kyuhyun?”
Eunhyuk shrugged, pointing to Kyuhyun’s vacant room. “He’s been out all day. Why, what’s up?”
“Have you heard the rumors about EXO and Tao?”
“You mean all the stuff about him acting weird?”
“Acting weird? Maybe it’s true then...”
“Wait, it is? It’s true that Tao might be going solo?”
“What?” Yesung threw a look at Eunhyuk. “No, I heard that he was getting replaced. Who told you he was going to get a solo shot?”
Eunhyuk shrugged again, noting that he just heard from some people the last time he made a trip to the company building. “Maybe I heard them wrong, but if there are rumors about Tao splitting, then maybe there is some truth to what we know.”
“Truth to what you know?” A third voice entered as a half-sleepy Donghae slunk towards the kitchenette fridge.
Yesung waved his hellos before roping Donghae into the conversation. “The EXO rumors. You heard anything?”
“Nope.” Donghae mulled the idea in his head as he drank some water. “Oh...actually...”
Yesung and Eunhyuk zoned in on Donghae as he walked to a couch. The two followed him to the living room. “I heard that Luhan might be put on a short probation for some sort of contract violation. I don’t know what for, but I did see him yesterday and he seemed kind of panicked.”
“Yeesh, that’s no good...”
“Yup. Well that’s my piece of gossip, now spill what you two know.”
Yesung repeated his news - just the small bit about Tao - and Eunhyuk reported his. Nothing seemed good, and the three Super Junior boys were starting to feel anything but super. They were supposed to help, guide, and protect their juniors, not gossip about their problems. They quickly ended their conversation before anyone else could join in.
“If either of you see or hear from Kyuhyun, tell him that I need to talk to him.” Yesung said as he got up from his seat and vacated to his room.
~~~~~
Sehun dragged himself off the bed. It took effort to untangle his leg from Luhan’s and to unwrap the stained sheets from his torso, but Sehun mastered the technique of not waking up the sleeping angel by his side.
The night before was another late night for a lot of the EXO members. EXO-M was returning to China soon, so free hours were turned into party nights. Of course, being famous, the EXO members had to be careful, so they moved around frequently and rarely visited the same place twice in two weeks. It was safe to say that most of the members did not remember most of what happened on any given night. Even Sehun and Kai had a few nights where they out despite being underage.
The lot who had been out returned to EXO-M’s hotel. Everyone planned on staying at the EXO dorm, but after a few miscommunications between the leader line, Kris asked for a hotel to be arranged so that Suho wouldn’t have to rush to get the dorm fixed up for another 6 bodies. Sehun was adamant about staying at least one night with them so he could be with Luhan. No one objected, but no one wanted to share a room with the two -deprived boys who always had a little too much fun when they had some alcohol in their system.
“Se...hun...”
The younger boy turned around to see his boyfriend rolling around in the bed clawing at the empty air. “Dork.” was all Sehun had to say as he watched Luhan. Sehun quickly changed into his day clothes and fixed his hair before stepping out into the hallway.
The hallway was empty, and the hotel still seemed very quiet. According to Sehun’s phone it was already past 1 PM.
“You’re already wake?”
Sehun turned to see a tall, broody male walking up to him. “Ah, Tao. Yeah I am. And it’s “awake”. Anyway what are you doing up so early?”
“Walking.”
Sehun nodded before asking about the other members. Tao replied with a shrug, only knowing that Kris was up late taking care of the members who had too much to drink. “Want to get lunch?” Tao asked.
“Uh...I’ll wait for Luhan to wake up.” Sehun turned to walk back into his room. “I’ll see you la-omf!”
“Morning~” Luhan draped himself around Sehun. “Oh. Morning Panda~” The sleep was still evident in Luhan’s voice, but he still made an effort to smile despite his tired body.
Tao waved awkwardly before walking away.
What’s wrong with him... Sehun pushed Luhan away from himself after Tao disappeared from sight. “You came back in late.”
“Sorry...Kris, Baekhyun and I wanted to make sure everyone else was taken care of before going to sleep ourselves.” Luhan shook himself awake. “So. Food?”
~~~~~
Kai decided to room with Lay and Suho for the night. Really, that meant he passed out and Suho volunteered to look after the boy since he was just a little tipsy. After waking up around 10 to call Kyungsoo, Kai tried to fall back asleep. Kai’s splitting headache rudely reminded him that he really should never have more than two shots a night. “Suhooo...!”
“On the table!” the younger leader said from the bathroom. “Yours is on the right next to the phone and Lay’s is on the left next to the lamp.”
Kai looked up and pawed at the table. His fingers collided with a small glass and a couple tiny pills Kai recognized all too well. “Thanks...” Kai muttered before taking the hangover pills.
Suho walked back out looking as clean and pure as ever. No one would think he could down two beers and three jello shots and get away with being tipsy. Poor kid still learning how to hold his liquor. he thought when he saw Kai rubbing his circles into his forehead. “Tell Lay to take his pills when he wakes up. I’m going to check on everyone else.”
~~~~~
“Yeah, Yeol. Everything is fine, we’ll be home in a few hours when everyone is awake. No. I mean no. No, you cannot-ow!” Baekhyun turned around to see a very grumpy and blonde haired mess glaring at him. He picked up the pillow Kris threw at him and sent it back to his assailant. “I’m on the phone, .”
“Well shut up. I’m still tired from taking care of everyone.”
“Psh...yeah...that’s why you’re tired...”
“What was that?”
“I said-”
A knocking on the door followed by Suho’s questioning interrupted the pending fight. “I’ll call you back Yeol.” Baekhyun tossed his phone onto his bed before he let Suho inside with a caution that Kris did not want to be disturbed much. “Be wary of flying pillows.”
Suho looked at his Chinese counterpart and snickered at the passed out man. He decided against waking the older man before turning back to Baekhyun. “Just make sure he’s ready to leave by 3.”
Baekhyun playfully saluted before kicking Suho out the door. He turned his attention back to Kris and pulled the cheap covers off the tall man’s limbs. “Get up, oaf.”
“I have an hour.”
“Too bad. I said get up, so get up.”
~~~~~
The reality was that Baekhyun and Kris got along great. Just not when Kris was sleeping. He doesn’t get along with anyone in his sleep or in the first hour of being awake. Baekhyun was just too much for Kris to handle first thing in the morning. How Chanyeol put up with it was something he would never be able to understand.
Baekhyun had resumed his conversation with Chanyeol over the phone while Kris helped Suho take care of their rides home. The ride back was fairly calm as everyone tried to put the pieces of last night in order. The puzzle wasn’t even half finished when they got home.
When they group of boys walked inside, Chanyeol greeted them all. Chanyeol had declined the invitation, being the one of two members who did not particularly enjoy alcohol. Instead, he awaited their return and dragged everyone into the living room so he could laugh at their drunk stories and figure out who was caught kissing the wrong significant other.
“Yah, Kyungsoo, come here and have some fun with us!” Kai called from his seat. When there was no answer, Kai got up and looked in the obvious places for his lover - the kitchen and their shared room. When Kai saw him in neither place, he decided to return to the group.
“Can’t find the wife?” Kris joked as Kai sat back down.
Kai just rolled his eyes. “Whatever, you cradle robber.” Kai glanced at Chanyeol for an answer.
“He was here earlier.” was all Chanyeol had to say on the matter. “So what was Xiumin doing on the table, again?”
Chen was about to answer when Kai interrupted. “Babe!” He rushed towards the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo. “Where were you?”
“Around.”
“Come join us!” Kai said as he pulled on Kyungsoo’s arm. “Come on, you didn’t come with us and I missed you.”
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes - a habit he picked up from Kai - and allowed himself to be dragged to the doorway. He glanced at the occupants of the room and stiffened when his eyes landed on the tuft of blond hair peeking out from behind Tao’s head.
Kai noticed Kyungsoo’s sudden change in body language and asked him what happened. Kyungsoo turned his attention back to Kai and gave him a reassuring smile.
“It’s nothing. I...On second thought, I’m going to take a nap.” Kyungsoo gently pulled himself away from Kai. He looked back at the group and locked eyes with Kris before walking off. Kris watched as Kyungsoo disappeared into the hallway. His attention was brought back to the group when a gentle jab in his side perked his senses.
“What’s wrong?” Tao asked.
Kris shook his head. “Nothing...” But the entire time Chanyeol egged on for more stories, Kris couldn’t help be think about the younger and shorter male and his cold stare.
“Hyung, please, I need your help talking to Kris.”
Of all people, Yesung felt least qualified to be having any sort of leader talk to Kris. Leeteuk was a much better option as leader of Super Junior. Shindong could probably handle a situation a lot better than Yesung, too. Kyuhyun really was the best option since he could even speak Mandarin and talk to both Kris and Tao more personally.
“At least help me find a way to confirm my suspicions so that if I do have to talk to Kris, I at least know for sure that I have something on him.”
Yesung wanted to punch a wall when he got home. And he probably would have had Eunhyuk not given him a concerned look as he walked in. “How was hanging out with our favorite rookie boys?”
“I...where’s Kyuhyun?”
Eunhyuk shrugged, pointing to Kyuhyun’s vacant room. “He’s been out all day. Why, what’s up?”
“Have you heard the rumors about EXO and Tao?”
“You mean all the stuff about him acting weird?”
“Acting weird? Maybe it’s true then...”
“Wait, it is? It’s true that Tao might be going solo?”
“What?” Yesung threw a look at Eunhyuk. “No, I heard that he was getting replaced. Who told you he was going to get a solo shot?”
Eunhyuk shrugged again, noting that he just heard from some people the last time he made a trip to the company building. “Maybe I heard them wrong, but if there are rumors about Tao splitting, then maybe there is some truth to what we know.”
“Truth to what you know?” A third voice entered as a half-sleepy Donghae slunk towards the kitchenette fridge.
Yesung waved his hellos before roping Donghae into the conversation. “The EXO rumors. You heard anything?”
“Nope.” Donghae mulled the idea in his head as he drank some water. “Oh...actually...”
Yesung and Eunhyuk zoned in on Donghae as he walked to a couch. The two followed him to the living room. “I heard that Luhan might be put on a short probation for some sort of contract violation. I don’t know what for, but I did see him yesterday and he seemed kind of panicked.”
“Yeesh, that’s no good...”
“Yup. Well that’s my piece of gossip, now spill what you two know.”
Yesung repeated his news - just the small bit about Tao - and Eunhyuk reported his. Nothing seemed good, and the three Super Junior boys were starting to feel anything but super. They were supposed to help, guide, and protect their juniors, not gossip about their problems. They quickly ended their conversation before anyone else could join in.
“If either of you see or hear from Kyuhyun, tell him that I need to talk to him.” Yesung said as he got up from his seat and vacated to his room.
~~~~~
Sehun dragged himself off the bed. It took effort to untangle his leg from Luhan’s and to unwrap the stained sheets from his torso, but Sehun mastered the technique of not waking up the sleeping angel by his side.
The night before was another late night for a lot of the EXO members. EXO-M was returning to China soon, so free hours were turned into party nights. Of course, being famous, the EXO members had to be careful, so they moved around frequently and rarely visited the same place twice in two weeks. It was safe to say that most of the members did not remember most of what happened on any given night. Even Sehun and Kai had a few nights where they out despite being underage.
The lot who had been out returned to EXO-M’s hotel. Everyone planned on staying at the EXO dorm, but after a few miscommunications between the leader line, Kris asked for a hotel to be arranged so that Suho wouldn’t have to rush to get the dorm fixed up for another 6 bodies. Sehun was adamant about staying at least one night with them so he could be with Luhan. No one objected, but no one wanted to share a room with the two -deprived boys who always had a little too much fun when they had some alcohol in their system.
“Se...hun...”
The younger boy turned around to see his boyfriend rolling around in the bed clawing at the empty air. “Dork.” was all Sehun had to say as he watched Luhan. Sehun quickly changed into his day clothes and fixed his hair before stepping out into the hallway.
The hallway was empty, and the hotel still seemed very quiet. According to Sehun’s phone it was already past 1 PM.
“You’re already wake?”
Sehun turned to see a tall, broody male walking up to him. “Ah, Tao. Yeah I am. And it’s “awake”. Anyway what are you doing up so early?”
“Walking.”
Sehun nodded before asking about the other members. Tao replied with a shrug, only knowing that Kris was up late taking care of the members who had too much to drink. “Want to get lunch?” Tao asked.
“Uh...I’ll wait for Luhan to wake up.” Sehun turned to walk back into his room. “I’ll see you la-omf!”
“Morning~” Luhan draped himself around Sehun. “Oh. Morning Panda~” The sleep was still evident in Luhan’s voice, but he still made an effort to smile despite his tired body.
Tao waved awkwardly before walking away.
What’s wrong with him... Sehun pushed Luhan away from himself after Tao disappeared from sight. “You came back in late.”
“Sorry...Kris, Baekhyun and I wanted to make sure everyone else was taken care of before going to sleep ourselves.” Luhan shook himself awake. “So. Food?”
~~~~~
Kai decided to room with Lay and Suho for the night. Really, that meant he passed out and Suho volunteered to look after the boy since he was just a little tipsy. After waking up around 10 to call Kyungsoo, Kai tried to fall back asleep. Kai’s splitting headache rudely reminded him that he really should never have more than two shots a night. “Suhooo...!”
“On the table!” the younger leader said from the bathroom. “Yours is on the right next to the phone and Lay’s is on the left next to the lamp.”
Kai looked up and pawed at the table. His fingers collided with a small glass and a couple tiny pills Kai recognized all too well. “Thanks...” Kai muttered before taking the hangover pills.
Suho walked back out looking as clean and pure as ever. No one would think he could down two beers and three jello shots and get away with being tipsy. Poor kid still learning how to hold his liquor. he thought when he saw Kai rubbing his circles into his forehead. “Tell Lay to take his pills when he wakes up. I’m going to check on everyone else.”
~~~~~
“Yeah, Yeol. Everything is fine, we’ll be home in a few hours when everyone is awake. No. I mean no. No, you cannot-ow!” Baekhyun turned around to see a very grumpy and blonde haired mess glaring at him. He picked up the pillow Kris threw at him and sent it back to his assailant. “I’m on the phone, .”
“Well shut up. I’m still tired from taking care of everyone.”
“Psh...yeah...that’s why you’re tired...”
“What was that?”
“I said-”
A knocking on the door followed by Suho’s questioning interrupted the pending fight. “I’ll call you back Yeol.” Baekhyun tossed his phone onto his bed before he let Suho inside with a caution that Kris did not want to be disturbed much. “Be wary of flying pillows.”
Suho looked at his Chinese counterpart and snickered at the passed out man. He decided against waking the older man before turning back to Baekhyun. “Just make sure he’s ready to leave by 3.”
Baekhyun playfully saluted before kicking Suho out the door. He turned his attention back to Kris and pulled the cheap covers off the tall man’s limbs. “Get up, oaf.”
“I have an hour.”
“Too bad. I said get up, so get up.”
~~~~~
The reality was that Baekhyun and Kris got along great. Just not when Kris was sleeping. He doesn’t get along with anyone in his sleep or in the first hour of being awake. Baekhyun was just too much for Kris to handle first thing in the morning. How Chanyeol put up with it was something he would never be able to understand.
Baekhyun had resumed his conversation with Chanyeol over the phone while Kris helped Suho take care of their rides home. The ride back was fairly calm as everyone tried to put the pieces of last night in order. The puzzle wasn’t even half finished when they got home.
When they group of boys walked inside, Chanyeol greeted them all. Chanyeol had declined the invitation, being the one of two members who did not particularly enjoy alcohol. Instead, he awaited their return and dragged everyone into the living room so he could laugh at their drunk stories and figure out who was caught kissing the wrong significant other.
“Yah, Kyungsoo, come here and have some fun with us!” Kai called from his seat. When there was no answer, Kai got up and looked in the obvious places for his lover - the kitchen and their shared room. When Kai saw him in neither place, he decided to return to the group.
“Can’t find the wife?” Kris joked as Kai sat back down.
Kai just rolled his eyes. “Whatever, you cradle robber.” Kai glanced at Chanyeol for an answer.
“He was here earlier.” was all Chanyeol had to say on the matter. “So what was Xiumin doing on the table, again?”
Chen was about to answer when Kai interrupted. “Babe!” He rushed towards the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo. “Where were you?”
“Around.”
“Come join us!” Kai said as he pulled on Kyungsoo’s arm. “Come on, you didn’t come with us and I missed you.”
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes - a habit he picked up from Kai - and allowed himself to be dragged to the doorway. He glanced at the occupants of the room and stiffened when his eyes landed on the tuft of blond hair peeking out from behind Tao’s head.
Kai noticed Kyungsoo’s sudden change in body language and asked him what happened. Kyungsoo turned his attention back to Kai and gave him a reassuring smile.
“It’s nothing. I...On second thought, I’m going to take a nap.” Kyungsoo gently pulled himself away from Kai. He looked back at the group and locked eyes with Kris before walking off. Kris watched as Kyungsoo disappeared into the hallway. His attention was brought back to the group when a gentle jab in his side perked his senses.
“What’s wrong?” Tao asked.
Kris shook his head. “Nothing...” But the entire time Chanyeol egged on for more stories, Kris couldn’t help be think about the younger and shorter male and his cold stare.
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