Jongin stood leaning on the counter, his face distorted into a slight frown. His back was hurting again from the night before. He had found himself thinking of Ken again as he walked to the studio in the afternoon – he hadn’t thought of him for months yet perhaps the apprehension involved in being close to Sehun brought his long hidden sentiments – he was reminded of the times he felt weak and ended up spending hours in the dimly lit studio dancing continuously until Yixing came in and found him slumping over the shelves, his back aching. Yixing was worried of course and wanted to drag him back to his service apartment but he remembered the need to get Sehun’s present and hobbled off into the cold despite Yixing’s calls. He was certainly stubborn yet remembering Sehun’s reaction, it felt like it was worth it. He smiled a little as he swallowed his pills and limped back to the sofa. Peering at the cardigan lying on the sofa, he picked it up and folded it before placing it on the table and fell into light slumber again while the drowsy effects of his medicine sank in.

A level below him Sehun lay on his own sofa, his cold against the leather sea of brown and closed his eyes gently. He was genuinely worried for once, and contemplated whether to either go up and check on how he was or to call him; he played with the pendant lying on his chest as he pushed himself up and reached for his phone on the table, hastily typing a message – Are you feeling better? Thanks for the gift though. Yet as he pressed the send button it occurred to him that he might be resting and a message probably meant an alert would sound and he might wake up. Flicking his own forehead, he sighed. He was certainly not used to thinking for others or expressing his concern did he; he shivered a little – what was he doing lying in right below the aircon, which was blowing against his bare chest. Foolish idiot didn’t know how to even take care of himself. He chuckled a little and got up to get his shirt while he picked up his phone for a little while – no reply. He must’ve been resting then, he smiled and rushed into the room. It was 8pm, close to time for dance practice. Yet with Jongin being sick he wondered if there would be class; nonetheless he grabbed his phone and left the house. Pressing the lift, he flipped his phone open to stare at its empty screen. As the lift doors opened, he looked up and entered the lift – Jongin was slumped against the walls of the lift.

“Jongin? Aren’t you not unwell…what are you even-where are you going?” Sehun’s eyes widened for a moment as he rushed towards Jongin and supported him as he began to fall to one side. He was not used to seeing this side of him, as he had always been a cheerful and strong boy who didn’t ever seem to have any ailments or problems. Sighing, he let Jongin lean on him as the lift moved down the building slowly.

“Where else could I be going…it’s almost 9 you know.” Jongin spoke in a bare whisper, his voice hoarse. He shifted his head to see the pendant lying against Sehun’s white shirt as he smiled, “Ah I see you’re wearing it.”

“Well. Yeah. Thank you but wait aren’t you not feeling well, dude are you still going to dance?” Sehun nodded awkwardly as he tilted his head upwards and stared at the lift door. Jongin’s head rested against his shoulder as he could feel him breathing heavily – he was really enduring his pain well was he, his back trembled slightly.

“Of course. Its just a usual ailment, my back gets cranky because I love dancing more than I love it.” Jongin smiled and pushed himself back up as they reached the ground floor. He walked out of the lift as Sehun hurried behind him, “I’m fine don’t worry.” Sehun shrugged as he walked slightly closer to Jongin than he ever had as they walked towards the dance studio with oddly synchronized steps. Walking down the same road against the blurry backdrop of the busy night city, they both felt less lonely as they had each other’s company. They walked down the steps to see Yixing lying in the dance room as he slept with his arms propping his head up. He seemed like a small kid who had randomly decided that the spot was good to sleep after playing at a playground for hours as he snored faintly.

“Yah Yixing! Stop sleeping, class is starting soon!” Jongin laughed as he kicked Yixing’s repeatedly, causing Yixing to squirm a little and whine as he stretched slowly – he certainly looked like a small child.

“Ahhhhh Kai I want sleep….” He sat up and scratched his head as he opened his eyes carefully to see Sehun staring back at him beside Jongin, “Ah you’re here. The one Jongin likes eh??? Damn I think I’m starting to hate you, Jongin never spends time with me proper anymore.” Sehun stared at Yixing rolling about speaking with his eyes half closed with a finger pointing at him. The one Jongin liked? Sehun turned to look at Jongin who seemed a little perplexed at how easily Yixing had blurted things out as he laughed awkwardly while inching towards the half-asleep boy to pull him away. Before he could utter another word, Jongin pulled him up which proved to be an arduous task given his injury and dragged him out of the room without looking at Sehun. His eyes were fixated on the ground as he hurriedly brought his friend out of the room. Sehun watched him silently as he noticed that most of his difficulties lay in bending down as he winced slightly. If he was in such pain, why bother dragging Yixing out for speaking; yet the things he had said triggered a string of thoughts as he remembered how it was when he spent time with Rei – and he skipped off the ice cold trampoline to recall the times when Jongin looked at him with concern, the moments where he felt like he was a lone soul falling into a masquerade amongst the mystiq