a/n: Junmyeon, Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun share a group hug.

Drabble 4

“Junmyeon?”

“Yes, Baekhyun?” Junmyeon looked up from his plate. The rest of Exo had already eaten dinner; Junmyeon and Baekhyun were the last ones at the table because Baekhyun had been out late while Junmyeon had fallen asleep after coming back from the mall with Minseok and Kyungsoo, and no one had had the heart to wake him up.

“It’s my turn to do the dishes today…”

Junmyeon glanced over at the sink and winced in sympathy; the plates were stacked a good foot over the edge of the sink and everything was covered in curry sauce and bits of rice. “That . But at least I remembered to pick up a new pair of dish gloves the other day.” There was no way that Baekhyun was conning him into doing the dishes tonight; he was exhausted from spending all day outside.

“Yeah.” Baekhyun fidgeted restlessly in his seat. “You went out with Minseok and Kyungsoo, right?”

“That’s right. We went to go get Sehun’s new coat.” Junmyeon frowned when Baekhyun nearly dropped his fork. “Are you quite alright Baek?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” Baekhyun took a deep breath and carefully picked up his fork again. Despite that, Junmyeon could see that Baekhyun was still jiggling his leg beneath the table.

“Are you sure?” Junmyeon gave him a dubious look. “You don’t seem fine to me.”

“Honestly, I’m fine! I just—I’m just nervous,” Baekhyun blurted out.

“Nervous? Nervous about what?” Junmyeon blinked in surprise. He hadn’t been aware that anything was going on with Baekhyun that Baekhyun could be nervous about.

“Well—I don’t know. I guess I’m still really tense even though the Shinee dispute has been resolved,” Baekhyun admitted with a soft sigh. “We had that pack dinner and everything and I thought that it was going to be alright, but I keep waking up at night halfway ready to transforming into a wolf because Shinee are attacking us again.”

“Exo doesn’t get a lot of territorial disputes, does it?” Junmyeon asked thoughtfully.

“No, we don’t. I guess that’s why I’m so affected by it.” Baekhyun stabbed moodily at a mushroom.

“My old pack had a lot of territorial disputes. I’m used to shaking them off by now, I suppose.” Junmyeon popped a glob of rice into his mouth. “Eat some more, Baekhyun. You’ll feel better when you have something to take your mind off of it.”

“Maybe.” Baekhyun poked moodily at his food a little more and then set down his chopsticks with a depressed clink. “I’m going to start on the dishes. I’m not that hungry.”

“Alright. Leave your plate, I’ll put your food in the refrigerator for later.”

“Thanks.” Baekhyun got up from the table and went over to the sink. Junmyeon continued to eat his dinner at a leisurely pace as Baekhyun started the water in the sink and began to wash the dishes.

When Junmyeon finished eating, he put Baekhyun’s food in the refrigerator as promised and then went over to the sink with their dirty dishes. Baekhyun grunted at him, and Junmyeon let out a small sigh. He set the dishes down and reached out to wrap Baekhyun up in a hug.

Baekhyun leaned into the hug and nuzzled his nose into Junmyeon’s hair. “Thank you,” he whispered after a few moments.

Junmyeon just shook his head and hugged him tighter.

Someone cleared their throat from the kitchen entrance, and both Junmyeon and Baekhyun craned their necks to see Kyungsoo standing awkwardly on the threshold.

“Am I interrupting something?” Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at the pair of them.

“No. Baekhyun’s upset, come give him a hug Kyungsoo.” Junmyeon smiled at Kyungsoo and hoped that the blush on his cheeks wasn’t too obvious.

Kyungsoo blinked in surprise, and then padded across the kitchen to join them. He wrapped one arm around Baekhyun and the other around Junmyeon so that they were all huddled together. “What’s wrong, Baekhyun?”

“I’m still pretty anxious, even though all the fighting is over,” Baekhyun mumbled, twisting his head around so that he could bury his nose into Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “It’s exhausting. I hate being like this.”

Kyungsoo rubbed Baekhyun’s back soothingly. “This will pass,” he murmured softly. “We’ll be back to normal eventually.  You can be strong and weather this through.”

Baekhyun didn’t say anything, and the three stood in quiet solidarity in the kitchen until Baekhyun had slowly pieced himself back together.