The three of them end up sprawled across Kai’s couch in the living room, Kai pulling Sehun into his lap, explaining to a grinning Yixing and a flustered Sehun that it’s the only way for all three of them to be able to sit on the small couch, which isn’t really that small.

            But Sehun doesn’t mind once he’s gotten over his initial embarrassment and learned to ignore Yixing’s amused glances, snuggling back against Kai’s chest with his head under Kai’s chin, enjoying the feel of Kai playing with the fingers of one of his hands.

            When Yixing hears about Kang-Dae, he looks just as murderous as Kai had, but he is soon more preoccupied with Sehun’s injuries.

            With a little coaxing from Kai, Sehun timidly pulls the hem of his shirt up, letting the two other boys see the bruises covering his ribs and stomach.           

            Yixing swears, Kai stiffens under Sehun, and Sehun drops his shirt quickly.

            “That son of a ,” Yixing says, jaw clenched, eyes flashing.

            Kai makes a noise of agreement in the back of his throat.

            “So he told you that you weren’t allowed to dance with us?” Yixing asks Sehun, running the story over in his mind.

            Sehun nods, feeling his eyelids grow heavier by the second. He’s exhausted from the day, ready to crawl into bed and disappear into sleep. And the pain is starting to reside to a gentle ache again, thanks to Kai giving him two more painkillers right after Yixing showed up.

            Vaguely, somewhere in the back of his tired mind, Sehun wonders if he should call his parents and tell them about what happened. He hasn’t talked to them in a couple of months due to the cost of overseas phone calls, so they don’t know about dancing or Kai or Kang-Dae.

            Right now, Sehun misses them more than anything.

            Kai is speaking, shaking Sehun from his thoughts, murmuring something to Yixing, who nods and stands up.

            Sehun feels himself be lifted again, mumbling a protest in return, but Kai is already walking back to his bedroom again, setting Sehun down on the bed and pulling the covers up to his shoulders.

            Sehun reaches out sleepily, fingers clumsily running over Kai’s hand before they find his wrist, not wanting him to leave.

            “I’ll be right back,” Kai says softly, pushing Sehun’s hair back over his forehead, a motion that Sehun is slowly getting used to.

            Sehun lets go of Kai’s wrist, watching Kai leave the room to say goodbye to Yixing, before letting his eyes close.

“Sehun’s not going to be able to dance for at least another two or three weeks,” Yixing says to Kai as soon as the younger boy is back in the living room.         

            Kai blows out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck, finally letting Yixing see how tired he is, circles under his eyes, shoulders falling forward, moving to pick up the empty pizza boxes from the table.

            “I know,” he says. Yixing follows Kai into the kitchen, pizza