Chanyeol was happy. His friends finally came to properly eat at his restaurant instead of begging him for leftovers. His bright smile was even wider as he was observing Amber and Tao chatting while eating their pizza and he wished he could join them. Patience, he reminded to himself, ten more minutes and you'll be sitting with them.

"Park Chanyeol, I'd greatly appreciate it if you ing moved". A short man with spiky, ginger hair was standing behind him and just then Chanyeol realized we was blocking the way to the kitchen.

"Oh, sorry!". He stepped aside so that the irritable waiter could pass but he still got Xiumin's infamous death glare.

"You're as tall as a bloody giant", Xiumin mumbled, "the least you could do is watch where you stand".

Chanyeol often got comments on his height, his ears, his lively personality and yes, sometimes it hurt. But he wasn't going to waste his time by listening to any of it or responding, that wasn't his style no matter what Baekhyun said to him about standing up for himself. His response was nothing more than a smile, a genuine smile that made Xiumin roll his eyes and leave.

That's the fastest way to deal with it, Chanyeol thought and went back to watching his friends. Amber was loud and cheerful as usual but Tao didn't seem that well. He kept glancing around the shop nervously, like he was expecting someone to show up.

And that was when Chanyeol started wondering why Tao was there with Amber and not with Sehun. They probably fought, he concluded, and he's waiting for Sehun to show up and apologize or something. The answer was simple but for some reason, Chanyeol wasn't happy with it. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it and thank god, his shift just ended.

Without wasting a second he ran to the back of the shop to change into his normal clothes, pushing aside a very angry Xiumin. After ing his shirt he decided to call Kyungsoo before talking to Tao. In the end, he wanted to hear Sehun's side as well and Kyungsoo would definitely know all about it.

"Yo, what's up with Sehun and Tao?", he asked as soon as Kyungsoo picked up.

"What? I don't know, did something happen?". The boy's response made Chanyeol freeze.

"Uuh, no, I just-... No", he decided to say, waiting for Kyungsoo to call his bluff.

But strangely enough, he didn't. "Okay then, I have to go so bye", Kyungsoo mumbled and hung up.

"Okay... That was weird", Chanyeol whispered to himself. Should he look into that as well? No, he thought in order to restrain himself, one weird thing at a time. "If Sehun didn't contact Kyungsoo he must be with Baekhyun!", he announced to the empty room and his fingers typed his boyfriend's number in no time.

"Hey baby!"

"Park Chanyeol, you stupid elf, do you want me to pick you up again? I am NOT walking to your restaurant in this ing cold".

"No, no, I can walk just fine", Chanyeol explained, feeling a bit hurt by Baekhyun's words. "I wanna ask you about Sehun".

"What about him?".

Wait, Baekhyun didn't know either? Maybe Chanyeol was wrong and the two of them didn't have a fight after all, maybe Tao was worried over something about work, that's why he was with Amber. He remained silent as he was putting the pieces together in his mind but Baekhyun was not known for his patience.

"Baby, I love you but I am not wasting any more money on bills just to hear you breathe, I'm hanging up".

"Yeah, okay", Chanyeol mumbled but the line was already dead. The ominous feeling from before had returned and he didn't know if he should get involved or not.

In the end, he shrugged the worries away. It's Tao's problem, he thought, not mine. If he wants me to get involved, he'll tell me all about it.

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Kyungsoo was staring blankly at his phone. Chanyeol was obviously hiding something but he didn't have the energy to care. He had just helped the owner close the bakery and he swore, he had never felt so tired in his entire life.

He thought about calling Jongin, maybe offer him a few of the leftover muffins as a reward for his hard work but he immediately changed his mind. His boyfriend was probably still studying and he didn't want to be disturbed. Without even trying to contact him, he picked one of the chocolate muffins from the paper bag he was holding and started eating while wondering if Baekhyun would allow him to sleep over for the third night in a row.

Immersed in his thoughts, he didn't notice the tall, muscular silhouette that was waiting for him across the street smiling.

"Baby? Are you okay?". The deep voice made Kyungsoo look up in utter surprise. Jongin was right in front of him, arms open, waiting for a hug.

"What-... What are you doing here?", he managed to say before burying his face in Jongin's coat, allowing the latter's hands to wrap around him and protect him from the cold.

"I decided to take a break and come pick you up, I wanted to surprise you. But I didn't expect you to start crying".

"I'm not crying", Kyungsoo defended himself and pressed his tear stained cheeks against Jongin's chest, feeling his loud heartbeat even over the thick layers of clothes. Jongin smiled and instead of arguing with him, he ran his fingers through Kyungsoo's chocolate colored hair and ruffled them as if he was a little kid.

"What's wrong?", he whispered softly while kissing the top of his head and Kyungsoo felt his warm breath on his neck.

"I'm tired", he whispered back, "And all I wanted was to come back home, watch a movie and cuddle with my boyfriend until we fall asleep. Maybe eat a muffin or two. But I didn't want to distract you from your studies".

Jongin's fingers moved down Kyungsoo's spine, giving him pleasant chills and his hoarse laughter made the tears stop. "I'm sorry", he started saying after a while but Kyungsoo didn't let him finish.

"No, don't be. This is more than enough", he said and tightened his grip around Jongin's slender waist, wishing that they could stay like this forever. Just the two of them, away from studies and work and bills and real life in general.

"Would we seriously just cuddle? Your imagination is way too innocent", Jongin mumbled and received a punch in the stomach.

"Don't ruin the moment", the smile on Kyungsoo's lips revealed his true feelings, "You remind me of Chanyeol".

Jongin laughed and held his boyfriend's hand. "What have I done to deserve such cruel treatment?", he asked while theatrically rolling his eyes to imitate their over-the-top friend, something that made Kyungsoo laugh and then feel bad for laughing (he actually liked Chanyeol a lot, even though he didn't know how act around him most of the time).

"Oh, yeah", he suddenly remembered Chanyeol's mysterious call, "He called me a while ago and he was acting pretty strange".

"Is my great detective going to solve the case?". They had been dating for years, ever since they were both high school students but Kyungsoo felt like no matter how much time passed, he'd still feel like melting while looking into Jongin's warm, chocolate eyes.

"No", he said and intertwined their fingers, "Not tonight".

                                                                       _________________________

Tao wasn't able to relax, not even when they exited the restaurant with Amber and Chanyeol. The man on the phone was definitely Kris but instead of talking to him, he had decided to hang up and keep his mouth shut the entire night. Thankfully, Amber's phone didn't ring again and neither Kris nor Sehun made any attempts to contact him.

After Amber wished them both goodnight, she got on her skate and rolled away, leaving Tao and Chanyeol all alone. Their apartments were fairly close so they silently walked next to each other until Chanyeol finally decided to talk.

"Dude, are you okay? You seemed kinda weird the whole night". His eyes were filled with genuine concern so Tao decided to trust him.

"Not so much, actually. I had a huge fight with Sehun, it's a long story". He was thankful to Chanyeol for caring but he couldn't possibly go over the details of the fight twice in one day. He was emotionally drained.

"Oh, well... That's... Weird".

Tao turned around and examined Chanyeol's face with a raised eyebrow. "Weird? How come?".

"You know, I figured something happened between you two so I called Kyungsoo and Baekhyun but-..."

"You did what?", Tao asked shocked, wondering whether he should get angry or let the man talk. Did he want to hear how Sehun was after their fight? No, he wasn't ready. But Chanyeol didn't give him much choice.

"Just shut up and listen", he said firmly and raised his finger to silence him. "I called them but they hadn't heard anything from Sehun".

Tao remained silent and stared at the concrete pavement for a while. "That is weird". Sehun would always crush at either Baekhyun's or Kyungsoo's after their big fights, since they were the first to take care of him. Baekhyun would show his affection by getting angry and swearing at Tao's stupidity while Kyungsoo was a bit more reasonable and he'd usually help by offering his advice and a cup of hot chocolate.

"He's probably sleeping at our place", Tao concluded, unable to think of another alternative. "The fight was probably exhausting for him as well".

"What are you going to do?". Chanyeol was glancing at the alley he had to go to in order to arrive home, thinking that before he parted ways with Tao he had to ease his conscience and get rid of that horrible feeling that had been tormenting him all night.

"I'll go home, apologize to Sehun and show him how much I love him", Tao immediately responded. He couldn't bear the guilt any longer, he had to make things right.

"Sounds like a good plan!". Chanyeol winked and wished him goodnight before leaving, something that had a warm, calming effect on Tao. Chanyeol was another one of Sehun's childhood friends but maybe, he did actually care for him. Maybe he had underestimated all of them. Maybe their friendship was more genuine than he had originally thought.

He opened the door to their small apartment with an inexplicable optimism, ready to face whatever was hiding behind it, which was... nothing.

The lights were still but Sehun wasn't waiting for him on the sofa and there were no sounds coming from the kitchen. Tao rushed to their bedroom, hoping to find his boyfriend sleeping on their bed but that wasn't the case either.

Anxiety started to take over Tao's body and he found himself throwing pillows everywhere and frantically searching every inch of the apartment for a note, something that would suggest Sehun's whereabouts. But no matter how much of a mess he created, he couldn't find anything so he placed the sofa pillows back to their proper place and sat down, feeling defeated.

He opened his phone without expecting much; he knew that if Sehun didn't want to be found, he simply wouldn't pick up. And he was right; the phone kept ringing without any responses but that didn't stop Tao from calling again and again and again. If I annoy the hell out of him, he thought, he might decide to pick up.

However, the tenth time Tao tried to call, he heard a nasal voice on the other side of the line, informing him that "the number you have called..."

Dumping the phone on the floor, he dropped his head on the sofa's pillow, closed his eyes and let out a fake laughter.

"I'm such an idiot", he whispered and wiped his tears, "Of course he'd turn off his phone".

He didn't call anyone else, he didn't tidy the mess he had created in the apartment, he didn't move. He just kept lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, letting the tears silently roll down his cheeks, wondering if he'd be able to fall asleep. He could call Chanyeol and ask for his help but if Sehun wasn't at his apartment, passionately agreeing with Baekhyun's angry swearing, Tao couldn't see what kind of assistance Chanyeol was able to offer.

"It's gonna be a long night", he mumbled and opened his eyes.

He then spent hours staring at the door, hoping that it'd suddenly open and Sehun would barge into the apartment either yelling angrily or crying. He kept thinking over and over again how he'd calm him down and what he'd say to make up with him and let him know that didn't mean what he said before, that everything was a lie and he actually loved him more than he could handle. And finally, he pictured the exact way he'd kiss Sehun and hold him in his arms, enjoying every bit of his body heat while whispering apologies to each other in the dark.

But at some point, Tao felt his eyes closing again and as he was slowly falling asleep, Sehun was still nowhere to be found.

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Author's Note: Chapter three is done, yehet! I feel like I made tons of grammatical errors in this chapter so please forgive me (english is not my first language TT^TT). 

Also, I decided to add a bit of kaisoo fluff just because it makes everyone's lives better~

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