Room 42161: Where lightning strikes, creating light and fire.

"Please, let us out," Baekhyun slammed his fists against the door, then pressed his forehead against it, whispering, "I can't be stuck in here with these two; we might end up killing each other." Silence answered him and in despair, he sunk down on his knees, releasing a shuddering sigh. No one was going to open the door. The other two stood apart from one another, eyes cast at the walls surrounding them.

Chen walked to one corner of the room and sat down. If they weren't getting out, he might as well get comfortable. He wasn't going to forgive Baekhyun for using him when all he did was try to help.

"Why don't we just make up?" Chanyeol asked, but the tone in his voice indicated he wasn't serious, just desperate to get out. He sat on one of the chairs that were glued to the floor, staring at Baekhyun's kneeling figure by the exit. "Give up it Baekhyun."

"I pity you," Chen stated as he also looked at Baekhyun. Baekhyun met his eyes for half a second before turning away, standing up, and walking to the corner diagonal from Chen. 'How interesting,' Chen took note of where the three chose to place themselves. Baekhyun in one corner, Chanyeol in the middle, and him in the other corner.

'It's the farthest we can be apart from each other,' Chanyeol was thinking the same thing as Chen. He turned his head to the only other door in the room, 'That's probably a restroom.' He went to investigate, and behold it was. He returned shortly to his claimed chair.

Thick tension drifted in the confines of the room, slowly suffocating the three young men.

"Were they planning to give us food?" Chanyeol asked, resting his head on the table.

"Who cares? Better if we all just die to prove how stupid this was," Baekhyun said angrily, tossing his jacket on the floor.

"I'm not quite ready to die," Chen stated, eyes still shut. "If you die, I won't be at your funeral, just know that."

Baekhyun felt a small jolt of pain at Jongdae's harsh statement and his anger nearly doubled, but he refrained himself from speaking. He hated everyone in the room, everyone. He was disgusted at Chanyeol for leaving him, was it that hard for Chanyeol to be friends with Baekhyun and the others? He was disgusted at Jongdae for turning against him, but he accepted that it was partly on himself for being dishonest, but still, did he have to go isolate himself from them, from Baekhyun? He was mostly disgusted with himself, for even having the thought of using a good friend to make another jealous. 'Stupid, stupid fool,' he told himself. He was just lonely and hurt, that was all.

Chen saw the brief hurt on Baekhyun's face, but he quickly brushed it aside. Baekhyun was just trying to manipulate him, like he did before. No, Kim Jongdae was not falling for that, not again. Baekhyun can have Chanyeol, who seemed more forgiving than him, after all, Chanyeol wasn't the one who'd been taken advantaged of. Besides, it was Chanyeol that Baekhyun was originally after.

Chanyeol could feel an electric, static sensation fly through him from the two in the opposite corners of the room, making the hairs of his neck and arms stand up. He knew the three of them had problems, he just didn't know whether or not they could be resolved. Baekhyun was too ashamed, Jongdae was too wounded, and he was too upset. He couldn't pinpoint the origin of their distance toward one another, but he had a suspicion when it began with his fight with Baekhyun.

The three said nothing, sitting in their spots staring off into space. They were going to get nowhere.
They could keep up the act for hours on end, but would they last day after day? They could care less; there was nothing anyone could do to make them repair their relationship. The void was too vast.

Several hours passed before it was Chanyeol who got up and began kicking and banging on the door. "Let us out, this isn't the right method."

From his lonely corner, Chen muttered, "There is no right method."

"Hey, people make mistakes," Chanyeol replied.

"You should have thought of that before leaving that thing over there," Chen fired back, never breaking his gaze from the wall. "All he cares about is you."

"I care about you too," Baekhyun said from the opposite corner.

"Yeah, sure seemed like it," Chen muttered under his breath.

"What's your problem?" Baekhyun's voice rose. "Why are you so upset? I didn't just use you, we were actually friends."

Chen chewed his lower lip as he attempting to keep himself calm. "You were trying to make Chanyeol jealous. When he wasn't around we barely interacted, but when you saw him you couldn't keep your hands off me."

Baekhyun remained silent, acknowledging the truth in Jongdae's words. He had done exactly that; when Chanyeol was around, he would get closer to Jongdae and act as if they had been best friends sharing a secret or joke since they were young children. The more time that passed, he became more distant with Jongdae, unless Chanyeol showed up. When Chen confronted Baekhyun, uneasy tension coursed through them and they stopped talking altogether.

'We're acting like a bunch of teenage drama queens,' Chanyeol rolled his eyes and returned to the table in the center. He rested his head and drifted off to sleep.

'Damn giant bastard got the table,' Baekhyun thought sourly, exhaustion washing over him. He laid his head against the corner of the wall and shut his eyes. Unknowingly, Chen mimicked the same action the exactly same time. Then the three were asleep.

From outside of Room 42161, the onlookers blinked incredulously. "They're sleeping," Kris stated flatly. "They're never going to make up."

"Give them some more time, it's only the first day," Lay replied.

"It's perfect," one of the SM team members said. "We'll wait a few more minutes then slip some food in."

"You're really considering keeping them locked up?" Suho asked incredulously. "Until they resolve their issues?"

"Until they resolve their issues."

---

Hours passed and still the three boys stayed silent in their respective places. They'd eaten their food in silence, took turns using the restroom in silence. It was quiet, too quiet; it set the three on edge. It was Chanyeol who broke the silence first as he began kicking one leg of the table. The repetition of the noise sent both Baekhyun and Chen on edge, but they did nothing at first.

Finally Baekhyun snapped, "Chanyeol! Stop."

Chanyeol smirked, "Why, does that bother you?"

"Yeah, so you better stop," Chen growled from his corner. "I'm in the mood to kill someone and it's very tempting with you right here."

"Someone's hostile," Baekhyun commented while staring at the wall.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes before closing them, "I'd like to see you try."

"I would but it's too much of an effort; you're not worth it," Chen sighed, resting his head back into the corner where the walls met.

"I thought so," Chanyeol replied with a yawn.

Baekhyun brought his knees up to his chin and fell asleep.

It was silent again.

When Jongdae came to, he was sore as hell so he got to his feet and began stretching. When he heard the toilet flush, he realized what it was that woke him up -- a full bladder. He waited several seconds for Baekhyun to come out, but the door remained shut. Irritated, Chen was about to pound his fist on the door when he heard Baekhyun's voice muffled through the wooden door.

"It's really is my fault, isn't it?" Baekhyun sighed, looking at his reflection. "Foolish Baekhyun, couldn't you have been satisfied with Jongdae?" He inhaled deeply as he turned the faucet on, running his hand under the rushing warm water. A knock on the door made him jump under his skin.

"Are you done yet? I have to pee," a voice said from the other side.

"Hey Park Chanyeol!" another voice shouted. "Obviously I was waiting before you!"

"Why don't you two just use the restroom at the same time?" Baekhyun turned off the faucet and wiped his hands on his pants before opening the door. He was nearly trampled by the other two trying to get in. They pushed and shoved him in, shutting the door. "Wh-what's going on?"

"They can't see us in the bathroom," Chanyeol answered, "no cameras in here. Now, as much as we hate each other," Chanyeol stole a glance at the two, "I hate being stuck in the room even more. We need a plan to get out."

Baekhyun scrunched his face in distaste, he had not expected this to happen out of nowhere. The feeling seemed mutual to Jongdae, who crossed his arms across his chest, "Is that what this whole thing was about?"

"Come on, let's just get out of here," Chanyeol pleaded with large eyes.

"No," Chen replied, "I'm not working with Baekhyun."

Baekhyun frowned, "Well, Kim Jongdae doesn't seem to want to get out. I guess we're staying."

"Don't be such stubborn asses!" Chanyeool angrily shouted, wanting to strike them across the face. "Why don't you two just apologize?!"

"Us?" Baekhyun gasped in disbelief. "You're here too! You started all this!"

"He did?" Chen raised a brow. "It was you, Baekhyun! You couldn't stand the fact that your best friend went off to someone else! I was trying to be the good guy, but you used me! Nobody likes to be used!"

Baekhyun averted his eyes, face flushed with anger, "I'm getting out of here."

"No!" Chanyeol stood guard in front of the door. "No one is leaving until we have a plan."

Baekhyun glanced around the room, his eyes finally landing on the toilet paper dispenser. He removed it and gripped it tightly in one hand, "If you don't move, Park Chanyeol, I'm going to hurt you."

"Why aren't they coming out?" Kyungsoo asked worriedly.

"What if they're killing each other?" Sehun questioned, standing on his feet.

"Someone go check on them, hurry," one of the employees ordered.

Xiumin, Luhan, Kris, and Suho took off.

"Do it, I dare you," Chanyeol replied. "You can't hurt me with something like that."

"You're the perfect height for us to knee you in your privates," Chen smirked and raised a brow. "You've got four knees to choose from, whose do you want?"   

Chanyeol flinched when Chen took a step closer. Then he shouted in alarm when someone pounded against the door behind him. The three boys in the bathroom stepped together back in surprise, their hearts threatening to beat out their chests. 

"Hey, what's going on in there?!" Kris' familiar voice came from the other side.

The three glanced at one another. 'Should we make a break for it?' Chanyeol's eyes asked.

"Worth a try, right?" Chen replied as Baekhyun shook his head.

"We can't beat them," Baekhyun hissed, "where will we go? Do you know how to get out?"

"Guys, open the door," Minseok said.

"No," Baekhyun replied, "you wouldn't open the door for us, why should we open the door?"

"Just let us know you're all alive," Luhan said, pressing his ear to the door.

"Well, you know Baekhyun's alive. Me too now, I guess," Chen said. Chanyeol kept silent.

"What about Chanyeol?" Kris asked.

Baekhyun attempted to imitate Chanyeol's deep voice, "I'm right here."

Suho kicked the door, "Open up guys!"

Chanyeol glared at Baekhyun, whispering, "I do not sound like that."

Baekhyun caught a smirk on Jongdae's face before it was replaced by a frown. Chen glanced at the other two guys, "We know there's four of them. Kris, Luhan, Minseok, and Joonmyun."

"I'm sorry, but no matter how much I want to escape, there's no way I can fight them," Baekhyun shook his head.

"You freakin' know hapkido, put it to use," Chanyeol rolled his eyes. "Besides it's not like you're alone."

"I can hear Chanyeol," Luhan said after backing up. "They're all still alive."

"Not for much longer if we don't do anything; maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Suho said.

"Oh now you admit it," Chen rolled his eyes.

"Guys, please come out," Luhan pleaded, twisting the door knob. To the others he said, "We have to remove the lock."

"Get the key, if you so desire to open the door," Jongdae said, sitting down on the toilet lid cover. Baekhyun and Chanyeol leaned against the wall, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Suddenly remember his full bladder, Jongdae quickly got up and began ping his pants, much to the other two's disgust.

Five SM team members finally arrived in Room 42161 and unbolted the door, removing the lock altogether.

"Great," Baekhyun muttered, "now we can't even pee in privacy."

"We know how to knock you know," Chanyeol rolled his eyes. The three exited the bathroom and returned to their territories, staring silently into space.

Bored out of his mind, Chen wandered into the bathroom and ran his hands under the warm water. He closed his eyes, relishing in the warmth, forgetting about being locked in Room 42161; he was alone by himself simply washing his hands. He stayed there for a good two minutes before turning off the faucet and drying them. 'Did I overreact?' he asked himself. 'Maybe I did...' He shook his head; something caught his eye.

Chen picked up the piece of scrap from the floor in the bathroom, gently running it across his arm as a test trial before cutting deeper into his skin. The blood trickled from the wound and created red vines on his arm, covering the sink with red liquid. Why was he doing this? He didn't know, but he wasn't planning on stopping. 'Because I want to go back, but I can't. This is the wound of our friendships,' he thought miserably, tears b in his eyes.

Chanyeol, having drunk too much water, desperately needed to pee, but Jongdae had gone inside and hadn't yet come out. He approached the door, knocking, "Jongdae, can I come in?" The door slightly opened and Chanyeol spotted Chen leaning over the sink with a bloody arm. He shoved the door open, "What happened? Are you okay? Why are you doing that?!" The last question erupted from him when he realized Chen was intentionally hurting himself.

Baekhyun's eyes slowly fluttered open at Chanyeol's outburst. 'What is it now?' he thought irritably. 'I was having such a nice nap.' He heard signs of a struggle and shouts from the bathroom. Suddenly worried, he sprang up and made his way over. As soon as he held the door knob in his hand, the boys inside silenced.

Chanyeol was leaning over an unconscious Jongdae, both covered in blood. Eyes wide in fear, Chanyeol immediately told Baekhyun, "Call for help!" He glanced at Chen, gently pressing his sweater against the cut to prevent more blood from pouring out. With tears glistening in his eyes, he whispered, "I'm so sorry Jongdae. I was only trying to help but you overreacted."

Some people came and hauled Chen out while others escorted a blindfolded Chanyeol and Baekhyun someplace else. "What happened?" a worried Suho asked.

Still blindfolded, Chanyeol replied, "I was trying to stop Jongdae when he decided to fight back. He hit his head against the counter and out. I never meant to hurt him, I was just trying to help."

"Well, you should have gotten me to help," Baekhyun said bitterly. He'd never thought Jongdae would resort to cutting himself, it was out of character.

"It all happened so fast, there was no time," Chanyeol replied.

Several hours passed before the two were relocated back into Room 42161, strapped to chairs facing one another. "I feel so violated," Baekhyun muttered, trying to pull his wrist free from the bonds keeping his wrists to the arm rest of the chair. 'What the hell is going on now?'

"I don't understand what you three are going through," a familiar voice said through a newly installed intercom, "but we need to get things straight. Baekhyun and Chanyeol, you two will begin repairing your relationship starting now."

"Joonmyun!" Baekhyun shouted. "Let us go!"

"No! You three have created a deep rift and we're trying to close it but only you can."

Chanyeol frowned, "Is you tying us up is not intervening? This. Will. Never. Work. I am trying, I am honestly trying, but the other two won't cooperate!"

"Who do you think started all this?" Joonmyun asked.

'Me,' Baekhyun instantly thought, but aloud he replied, "Chanyeol."

Chanyeol went ballistic, "Me?! It was you!"

Anger flared inside the two, both wanting desperately to throw a punch and a few kicks at one another... maybe tear an eye out. Joonmyun's voice blared from the intercom, "We're all friends, all brothers. We are one, but we can't be one without you three. When one member is sad, we are all sad; when one is hurt, we all feel the pain. As of right now, Jongdae is sleeping after getting stitches on his head." Both boys felt a lurch of guilt.

Kyungsoo's voice replaced Joonmyun's, "Baekhyun. Give us your reason for placing the blame on Chanyeol. When we hear his story, Chanyeol will go next. If you don't cooperate with me, I'm going to get in there and unleash hell."

Baekhyun eventually replied, "Chanyeol deserted me."

"I didn't-" Chanyeol began but Kyungsoo cut him off.

"Park Chanyeol! Do not interrupt!" Kyungsoo threatened, sending goosebumps to both Baekhyun and Chanyeol. "Go on, Baekhyun."

After clearing his throat, Baekhyun continued, "When we went from twelve to six, I started feeling lonely and all I had to talk to really was Chanyeol since everybody was off doing their own stuff with everybody else. Then one day Chanyeol and I got into a fight about what to do and he started hanging out with Kai and Sehun. I wasn't interested in the things you guys were doing, so I would stay back at the dorms by myself." Jongdae's smiling face flashed into his mind. "I started texting Jongdae, asking him how things were going in China. When EXO-M returned, Jongdae and I started hanging out. At first, we we okay, but then... I felt lonely again."

Chanyeol avoided Baekhyun's gaze as the eldest of the Beagle line finally revealed what was on his mind. 'It's true, we got into a fight because you couldn't make up your damn mind; always whining, always wanting everything your way like a spoiled little girl.'

Baekhyun raised his chin at Chanyeol, "Tell us your story, why don't you?"

Chanyeol glanced at Baekhyun, "Honestly, I needed a break from you, so I sought others' company... I never knew you felt lonely. How could you when there were five, and then eleven, of us?"

'Because they weren't you,' Baekhyun thought sadly.

Chanyeol continued when Baekhyun gave no audible reply, "You were always on your phone, so I figured you were okay. You smiled, laughed; when EXO-M returned you and Jongdae were inseparatable. I figured you were happy and didn't need me anymore... so I ended up isolating myself from everybody because you were happy without me, because you were happy with Jongdae."

"I was happy with Jongdae, but I needed you too," Baekhyun replied.

"Like EXO's motto: we are one. We need each and every one of of our members," Yixing said through the intercom.

"Yeah, so stop fighting and make up like the grown men you are," Sehun said.

"So all of this hardship was because of loneliess?" Chanyeol asked, looking deep into Baekhyun's eyes.

Baekhyun smirked, "I guess so. I was lonely, then you were, then Jongdae..."

"You three brought loneliness upon yourselves. You had each other, you had us," Kris said, "but you three were too stupid and selfish to see that."

Baekhyun and Chanyeol locked gazes, allowing silence to envelope them in a cold caress. Their EXO brothers were right, they did this to themselves. When things got bad, they withdrew from everyone when they should have sought for comfort and companionship. Chanyeol flashed the tiniest of smiles, "I'm sorry if you are."

Baekhyun replied with, "Sure, why not?"

But the two remained staring at another in silence. Chanyeol pursed his lips, "So... I guess we're okay?"

Baekhyun nodded, "Now it's all up to Jongdae."

"That's going to be difficult," Chanyeol chuckled nervously, "he hates you with a passion."

Wincing, Baekhyun agreed. He glanced at his wrists, trying to pull free again. From the intercom, Kris asked, "Will you guys still attempt to kill each other?"

"No, I don't think so," Chanyeol answered. "Not us anyway, can't say the same thing for Jongdae."

'It won't be as easy as this,' Baekhyun thought, his mind on Kim Jongdae. 'I really hurt him.' He could still feel the tension between him and Chanyeol; they may be talking right now, but it wasn't going to last for very long. He had to say something to heal themselves. "Chanyeol-ah, you know there's nobody in the world that can replace you, right? No one can replace Jongdae either, or any member of EXO. I just needed company."

Chanyeol smiled, "I wish I understood that before. Maybe if I'd thought more clearly back then, we wouldn't be here right now."

"No, it wasn't just you. Jongdae was right, I did use him. The longer that time passed, we became more distant because I still missed you; I used him to make you jealous," Baekhyun admitted, eyes downcast.

"That's where the problem began," Chanyeol muttered.

"Kim Jongdae is returning," an unfamiliar voice said, "beware."

Baekhyun and Chanyeol turned their heads to the door that swung open. Some men and women began untying them from their chairs before three men hauled a struggling Chen inside. As soon as the door slammed shut and locked, Jongdae's frown turned into a scowl, "We have to get the hell out of here."

"Well, last I checked it was you who had the big issues," Baekhyun replied.

"Me?" Chen approached Baekhyun. "I'm the one who has the issues? You're joking with me right?" When Baekhyun didn't reply, Chen shoved him back, "Stop lying to yourself!"

Baekhyun returned the shove with more strength than the injured young man. Chanyeol, in alarm, stepped in between the two, "Hey, stop it!"

"You!" Baekhyun shouted, on the verge on the tears. Chanyeol was taken aback by Baekhyun's sudden outburst of hostility after what had just happened earlier. Baekhyun shouted at Chanyeol in a cracked voice, "Stop acting like everything's okay! Nothing is going the way it's supposed to be!"

"How is supposed to be, Mr. Byun Baekhyun?" Jongdae asked.

Baekhyun looked away, "Just not like this!" He retreated to his corner, burying his face in his knees. He wanted to go back to the days the three of them were the best of friends; his heart ached for it.

Chanyeol and Chen locked gazes before looking at Baekhyun's sobbing figure in the corner. Both felt a small prick of pain seeing the eldest of the trio cry alone. It was Chanyeol who crossed over and knelt down, placing his hands on Baekhyun's shoulders and giving it a firm squeeze. "It's okay, Baekhyun, I'm here."

"You came too late," Baekhyun sobbed, "you never should have left. You left me so lost and confused; even though there were twelve of us I felt like I was alone..." He sniffed and turned to look at the young man walking away to the corner hidden behind the table in the center of the room. He wasn't alone, he had one friend, he had Kim Jongdae. He didn't realize how stupid he was until now; he was never alone, he just isolated himself because he only wanted Chanyeol's company. He wanted desperately for something lost, instead of being grateful for what he already had -- a friend named Kim Jongdae.

Baekhyun stood up and sauntered to Chen as he wiped his tears away. He knelt down a cringing Chen and placed his arms around him, despite Chen's attempt to pull away. "What are you doing?" Jongdae asked questioningly, failing to untangle himself from Baekhyun.

Baekhyun didn't say anything, he just held onto Chen tightly. After several silent moments, Baekhyun finally whispered, "You're a great friend, Kim Jongdae. I'm sorry I never saw it before."

Jongdae was stunned into silence. Did Byun Baekhyun just apologize to him? He listened to Baekhyun's steady breathing, feeling the warmth from Baekhyun traveling through to him.

From Baekhyun's corner of the room, Chanyeol smiled. It was a step toward mending their friendships, a step to getting out of here and on with their lives. Chen's gaze landed on his for a split second before he turned away and that only made Chanyeol's smile grow bigger.

In all honesty, the embrace felt nice. Jongdae didn't want Baekhyun to let go, even if they were both crying. Baekhyun asked the question looming over his head, "Why did you hurt yourself?"

Chen subconsciously felt the wound on his forearm throb. "I felt numb, and I was thinking of us, of how we made a deep cut that severed our bonds." He desperately wanted all the drama to end.

"If it makes you feel better, I give you permission to use me all you want," Baekhyun said with a smile, tightening his hold around his friend.

"Hey, that's not how it works," Chen chuckled, gently brushing his fingers across Baekhyun's forearm.

"Jongdae?" Baekhyun whispered. "Will you still not attend my funeral?"

Chen blinked back in surprise, "Of course I'll be there, whether I'm standing and saying my goodbyes or laying in another casket beside you."

"Don't forget me!" Chanyeol grinned, squashing the two on the floor.

"Hey, be careful! You're going to hurt him!" Baekhyun shouted in alarm, pulling Jongdae and himself away from Chanyeol.

"The occupants of Room 42161 have passed," a man said. "They are free to go. If anything should occur again, the room will always be ready to welcome some guests."

Baekhyun and Chanyeol helped Jongdae to his feet. Together, with Jongdae in the middle, the three walked out of Room 42161, smiles on their faces, their wounds slowly mending. It would take some time before the rift was completely closed, but for now, they headed into the arms of their nine brothers. Each young man had eleven shoulders to lean on, eleven pairs of ears willing to listen, eleven pairs of eyes watching out for each other, eleven voices to listen to.

They were one. There were EXO.