Chanyeol went back in his room and didn’t come out. Not when Suho, chipper despite carrying a huge and heavy-looking haul of home-made food, arrived back at the dormitory and Kai, as well as Sehun who until then had also stuck to his room, came out to join him for lunch. He asked about Chanyeol, but Kai and Sehun just made up some excuse about “not feeling well”, “taking a nap,” and “leave him be for now.”

He didn’t even come out when D.O. came back with some of his favorite snacks; he’d been filming in a location nearby one of the few shops that still carried them, and had made sure to pick some up for him.  His eyes went wide with curiosity when he came in to see Kai, Sehun, and Suho sitting back together in the living room with the setting sun coming through the windows, but the tall giant nowhere to be seen even though his slippers being by the door meant that he was clearly at home. Unlike D.O., Chanyeol wasn’t the type to isolate himself when everyone else was together. Seeing his expression, Kai and Sehun gave him the same explanation they’d given earlier. Suho glanced over at them. They’d said the same things six hours earlier, and none of them had gone to check on Chanyeol, nor had he stirred at all. The leader shifted uncomfortably, but said nothing.

In fact, no one gave a single indication that Chanyeol was still alive until Baekhyun came in the door a couple of hours later.

He gave a hurried greeting but quickly dashed off to Chanyeol’s room before the conversation could go any farther. Suho didn’t fail to notice the look Kai and Sehun passed each other. Kai noticed Suho’s noticing him, and quickly broke eye contact, getting to his feet and heading to the kitchen.

“Anyone else hungry?” he asked as he rummaged in the fridge, examining the different colorful and delicious-looking tupperwares of food Suho’s mom had packaged. They’d be eating good for a while. He got affirmative responses from the other three, and decided to go ahead and assume that the other two were hungry as well. D.O. and Suho got up to help him, and in no time flat dinner for six was ready.

“Guys, food,” D.O. called down the hall.

“Chanyeol still probably doesn’t feel good and Baekhyun’s probably tired,” Kai reasoned, keeping in his mind the real fact that the last thing they’d want to do is show their faces. He quickly put the meal and utensils on a tray, and called over to the maknae. “Sehun-ah, carry this to Baekhyun.”

There was no need, as the bedroom door finally opened and two trepid, pale-faced men came out.

Suho and D.O. looked on with concern, which was only augmented when they realized that the two looked as if they had been crying, but before they could open their mouths to ask if everything was okay, Kai was already speaking.

“Oh, we were just gonna bring you guys some food.”

“Nah, it’s fine…” Chanyeol mumbled before clearing his throat and taking his usual seat at the table, alongside Baekhyun. “I feel better.”

Suho and D.O. exchanged glances this time. He sure didn’t look or sound it. He also didn’t look or sound in the mood to be asked what was wrong.

They ate with Chanyeol and Baekhyun sitting in relative silence, and Kai and Sehun trying to keep the conversation alive as best they could. They succeeded somewhat, and Suho and D.O. seemed to mostly forget about the two gloomy ones at the table.

It was Chanyeol’s turn for dish duty that night, but without prompting, Baekhyun was the one who stayed by the sink while everyone else dropped off their dishes and took care of it. The taller and younger tried to protest, but Baekhyun shook his head and told him that he wanted something to do, anyway. Chanyeol chose not to insist, instead returning to his room.

Which is where he found Sehun, laying back on Kai’s bed like he owned the thing.

“Hey, hyung,” Sehun said as he put his phone aside and turned his attention to the newcomer.

“Hey...”

He didn’t bother asking what the maknae was doing in his room. He just went to his desk to grab his laptop and take it somewhere he could be alone. He wasn’t sure where that was, but he would think about it on the way-

“Wait.”

Chanyeol turned his head to see that Sehun had brought himself up to a cross-legged sitting position. The younger cleared his throat before speaking again.

“I’m sorry. I know sorry doesn’t mean anything, and that I don’t usually say this sort of thing, but… I really am, and I want you to know it.”

Chanyeol sighed, looking aside for a few brief seconds before replying. “I mean… you didn’t mean to share it, but why did you record it in the first place?”

Sehun frowned a bit. He hadn’t considered why he’d done it for a moment, not even when he’d been asked earlier (he’d been too angry to think about it at the time.) “I don’t know. But I wish I hadn’t.”

The other nodded and sat back down on his bed with his computer. “Honestly… I’m still kind of pissed that you recorded it. That’s just gonna take some time to go away. But you’re not the bad guy here, either. Say…” He looked up from the computer and met eyes with Sehun. The latter didn’t fail to notice that Chanyeol’s normally bright eyes looked more dull and weary than he’d ever seen, even more so than all of those nights he’d spent straight hours practicing his dancing and occasionally collapsed in the doorway.

“You know him better than we do. What do you honestly think he’s going to do with that file?”

Seeing Sehun nervous was almost as rare a thing as hearing him give an earnest apology.

GROUP CHAT WITH: Xiumin, Chen, Lay

‘Guys listen to my new track!’ –Me, 4:06 p.m.

File: ‘3954.mp3’ –Me, 4:06 p.m.

‘Dude what is this’ –Chen, 4:32 p.m.

Tao grinned sadistically.

‘Wat just a song I made’ –Me, 4:35 p.m.

‘Uh dude, wrong file 0_o’
‘Did not need to hear that…’ –Chen, 4:36 p.m.

‘O sht O_O’ –Me, 4:36 p.m.

‘Do I even want to no y u have that’ –Chen, 4:36 p.m.

File: ‘3953.mp3’
‘Just forget about it,’ –Me: 4:37 p.m.

‘Uhhh, is that CY and BH?’ –Xiumin, 5:02 p.m.

‘Yup. Pretty much definitely,’ –Chen, 5:04 p.m.

‘Oooooook…’
‘Ear bleach needed’ –Xiumin, 5:05 p.m.

‘IKR?’ –Chen, 5:05 p.m.

‘Guys I said forget about it…’ Tao, 5:14 p.m.

‘Ur funny,’
‘Sending us tapes and expecting us to ignore them’
‘Man, what do we do?’ –Chen, 5:14 p.m.

‘IDK,’
‘Let’s talk when we all go home’ –Xiumin, 5:17 p.m.

‘Hey guys Im headed home do we still need milk?’ –Lay, 7:23 p.m.