Byun Baekhyun had been driving him slowly insane, or at least Sehun thought so, and not for the reasons one would think; his hyung had been in a serious gloomy mood lately and it was dragging all of them under, his hyungs seemed to feed on the energy provided by the pint sized male and having him so down had brought everyone down. Sehun could probably imagine the cause of Baekhyun’s dark cloud, especially considering that he had heard the conversation between him and Jongdae. However, the fact that they had been on a really tight schedule for a while had made it impossible for Baekhyun to visit the hospital, which probably added to the worry of his hyung.

They had finally arrived from Thailand, after almost a week in that country, and as soon as they had foot on the dorms, Baekhyun threw his backpack on his bed and set his suitcase neatly beside his wardrobe, mainly because Chanyeol had things of his inside Baekhyun’s suitcase and seeing the treatment that the backpack had received he thought it was better to loudly voice his complains. After glaring at Chanyeol twice for throwing himself at him, Baekhyun quickly scurried out of the dorms with Jongdae in tow, ignoring Kris and Junmyeon's pleas.

“Where are they going?” asked Jongin, looking in confusion at the closed door. “We have just arrived, aren’t they tired?”

“They’re probably going to the hospital!” replied Sehun, letting his hyungs secret slip out.

“What? Are they okay?”

“They are okay, calm down.” begged Sehun in a whisper, looking around to see if Jongin’s panicked yell had drawn any attention. Apparently not, since most of the hyungs were moving into their rooms for a good rest, except Tao who was already snoring away sprawled in the thick carpet in front of the TV.

“Why did they go there, then?”

“Jongdae hyung and hobbit volunteer there or something. They visit children’s ward from time to time!”

“And you know that why? You aren’t exactly fond of either of them so the probability of them telling you that is…well, actually is zero!”

Jongin watched as Sehun averted his face and mumbled something under his breath.

“What was that?”

“I said I followed Baekhyun to the hospital one day!”

“You are insane! Why the heck would you do that? If he finds out you’re screwed!”

“You helped me getting out of the dorms, so be quiet!”

“If only I knew…”

“You didn’t! Anyway, I found out that they sometimes go to the hospital and entertain small children who pass a lot of time in there.”

“That is so awesome of them!”

Sehun snorted at Jongin’s words and the other realized that quickly, turning to face the maknae with furrowed eyebrows.

“It is nice of them; don’t let your dislike cloud your judgement upon this.”

“I still feel like they are doing this for some reason.”

“Not everybody does things only because it brings benefits; specially Jongdae hyung and Baekhyun hyung. They care about people more than you’d know.” deadpanned Jongin. “Or do you think that those cups of bubble tea that appear on your side table are Luhan hyung’s present! Even he hasn’t got that much money to allow you to keep your addiction. And that snapback you found yesterday on your hotel room was a present from both of them. They bought one for each member!”

Sehun felt himself flush a little; he would always assume that the bubble tea he often found in his room was a present from Luhan, or maybe even Junmyeon but he would never assume that Jongdae, or even Baekhyun would buy him stuff. Especially Baekhyun!

“You are really stubborn to the core aren’t you?” commented Jongin airily, making Sehun look at him. “You just don’t give people a chance, do you? Not even Dalai Lama or even the Pope, if you had something against them!”

“Probably not, no. “shrugged the maknae. “I don’t really understand why you liked me so much!”

“Well, Jongdae hyung is really funny and he’s really an honest and direct person, you always know what you get with him and Baekhyun hyung is also very funny and he’s, like, really tiny and adorable, and he snuggles a lot and I feel loved!” replied the older boy innocently.

“You sell yourself at a really low price! Shame on you!”

And that comment earned him a smack on the face with a pillow, before Chanyeol got inside the living room, eyes bright and alert, and demand that they played games with him.

Playing games, especially when all the strict hyungs were asleep, mainly Kris, Junmyeon and Kyungsoo was the most fun thing to do, even if they had to take Tao to bed because the Chinese maknae kept on snoring and rolling away on the carpet, making them all laugh at him and that would probably woke up the hyungs.

At least until the tiny hurricane known as Byun Baekhyun burst into the dorms with a force and a speed that a person his size shouldn’t have and most likely waking everybody in the dorms, Jongdae following him, looking a little flustered.

“Where is he? Where’s the little rat?!” yelled the pint sized man.

“Calm down Baek!”

“No!”

“Why are you yelling?”

And yes, Sehun was right, as soon as that manic hobbit entered the dorms, slamming doors shut and walking like a goddamn dinosaur, every single person inside had woke up and they were now coming like a little swarm of bees, probably meaning that Junmyeon was sending them to rest and taking the cables of their console, meaning no more gaming for them. He looked at the other two to see them pouting.

“There you are you little imbecile!”

Sehun felt all the eyes turn to him as the little midget advanced towards him.

“Are you talking to me?” asked the maknae pointing at himself; he hadn’t done a single thing to his hyung today, he was too tired to bother the older man.

What Sehun didn’t expect was the punch precisely delivered to his jaw, with enough force to send his head reeling with the force.

“Baekhyun!”

“Sehun!”

Quickly everyone was separating the two of them, Jongdae holding Baekhyun tightly in his arms while the older just spewed profanities at him, letting an alarming amount of f-bombs slip though his lips while he panted angrily, pupils blown out and cheeks tinted red. Junmyeon and Jongin held the maknae, the leader already inspecting the bruise forming in his jaw.

“Can anyone explain to me what in the world is happening?” asked Kris in a no nonsense kind of voice.

“I don’t know, this psycho just came here and hit me!”

“And I would hit you more if I could! I’m tired of you and all of your stupid conspiracies against me; get a life!

“Conspiracies?! To prove you’re an ? I don’t need one, the proof is right here, you punched me without a reason you good for nothing midget!”

“Don’t play innocent! You know very well what this is all about: your lack of boundaries and your narrow pea sized mind! You really think I didn’t find out about your little trips to the hospital?” spat Baekhyun with a crazed glint in his eyes.

“Oh! He found out Sehun!” exclaimed Jongin loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“That’s why you wanted us to get you out? To go to the hospital?” asked Chanyeol very confused.

“What are they talking about? One of you explain and explain now!” demanded Junmyeon, looking from one to another.

“The truth is that Baekhyun and I do some volunteer work in the children’s ward at the hospital. Junmyeon and Kris know, along with manager hyung. It was something that I started along with him on our trainee days, as sort of thank you for the chance that we were allowed to have. It wasn’t really a secret but it was our thing and we wanted to keep it that way, mostly because it’s a part of us that has nothing to do with EXO, just us, as Kim Jongdae and Byun Baekhyun, as individuals. I guess that Sehun followed one of us and found about that!” explained Jongdae.

“I am sick and tired of this all! I am sick of having this little kid here, thinking that it is his earthly right to know everything in my life. Worst of all, spying on me! I am fore and foremost a person and I have a life beside EXO, my personal life, which I would gladly discuss with you as long as you ASK. I have nothing to hide, not from you, not from anyone but it’s aggravating to know that I am being submitted to an invasion of my privacy, by my own team member, because he is a snotty little brat who thinks he’s God on Earth and has to judge every single move I make. I’m so tired of it! I’m tired of having to come here, to my second family and not find the peace that I seek because he’s always in the corner waiting for me to make a mistake to strike! So why the heck do I have to be guarded at the place I am supposed to call home?”

With a harsh pull, Baekhyun managed to get away from Jongdae and now Kris’ grip, and turning on his heel, he marched upstairs. Kris could almost swear he saw the other’s eyes turning misty as he slipped past him.

“While I do think that he exaggerated a bit in his attitude, and I do not commend him for losing his mind, especially against a dongsaeng, and certainly not the way he did, I must say, Sehun, that he has some pretty valid points.” commented Jongdae in a light tone of voice, trying to diffuse a little bit of the tension that had been gradually building itself in the room.

“Shut up!” spat Sehun “You’re only defending him because the two of you are screwing each other behind everyone’s back!”

“What?!” That had come from Kyungsoo who was staring at Jongdae in shock and disappointment. “I can’t believe you Jongdae!”

The wide eyed boy disappeared from the room, following the same steps as Baekhyun and leaving the room in a hurry, ignoring Jongdae’s frantic calls. Jongdae turned to Sehun with a vicious glare.

“You really are poisonous!”

Jongdae threw him another bone chilling glare before he too left the room, whether to find Kyungsoo or Baekhyun, Sehun couldn’t tell.

“Am I the only one confused?” asked Chanyeol, his wide eyes looking from face to face in search of an answer to what had just happened.

“You are a blabber mouth!” said Sehun turning himself towards Jongin.

“Me? What about you? You really said that to Jongdae? Did you even think about Kyungsoo?”

“Why would I think about Kyungsoo?”

“Because they are dating!” replied Tao from the other side of the room “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice!”

“I…”

“He didn’t, you really think that someone who is this focused on ‘tiny midget’, which is a lovely term of endearment, don’t feel embarrassed by it, would notice anything else about anyone?” interjected Luhan, while munching on an apple, receiving an elbow to the gut, courtesy of Yixing, while Minseok laughed behind his hand.

“Stop that Luhan!” barked Kris, pleading the other to stop adding fuel to the enormous fire already.

“Just saying…”

“Don’t!”

“Alright, alright!”

“Now, everybody out! I want to speak to the maknae!”

“Oh come on Kris, now you’re cutting the show short?”

“Luhan, go away!”

“Boo, you !”

Minseok pushed a rather rebellious Luhan out of the living room, aided by a reluctant Yixing who stared at his hyung as if he was crazy, which was the probable choice when it came to Luhan!”

Tao left the room without complaints throwing a Sehun a undecipherable look and Jongin and Chanyeol followed after, telling the leader that they were going to check on Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. When everybody left Junmyeon turned to him.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I was punched in the face by a crazy hobbit! What kind of question is that hyung?”

“He’s fine Junmyeon, let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? Frankly Sehun, Junmyeon and I are getting tired of having this conversation with you. You need to stop provoking Baekhyun and respect him a little bit more. He’s your hyung!”

“Are you seriously going to chide me? He punched me!”

“And we’ll have a conversation with him about that, when he calms down and is willing to listen.” explained Junmyeon softly.

“I don’t get it, you always come to me when these things happen and it wasn’t even my fault this time! I did nothing! You always show favoritism towards him even when he’s wrong!”

“The thing is, Jongdae was right: he shouldn’t have lost his temper the way he did but you have to understand that you really cross the limits. Spying on him? It seems as he is a criminal and you’re just waiting for evidence to arrest him! You need to stop that and realize that Baekhyun is allowed to keep things for himself, like the hospital thing.”

“You knew about that!” accused Sehun pointing fingers at them.

“Of course we did; Baekhyun talked with us, asking for permission and so did Jongdae. What you did was invade their privacy and pry into business that isn’t yours. That is what I have to criticize.” remarked Kris in a tone that Sehun would hear often from his father.

“Really Sehun, we are telling you this for your own good, you are too set on picking on Baekhyun for a thing so minimal and, quite frankly, stupid. It would be all more peaceful if you stopped pushing his buttons; he, who I remind you, is your hyung.”

“This is complete crap! You’re sitting here patronizingly berating me for something it was not my fault! I refuse to listen to this.”

With these final words, Sehun stood up and fled the room. Kris, not liking the way the maknae had left, made a point to chase him but Junmyeon grabbed his wrist before he could move.

“Don’t! It won’t do any good, not with him like this. It would only get him more ignited and feeling like we’re against him!”

“He’s being a brat!” grumbled Kris.

“He is a brat, a young brat at that. He’ll learn. If not by our warnings then by Baekhyun’s unfiltered words.”

Kris looked at Junmyeon and found the other looking at him with a knowing look on his face, a look that assured him that, in the end, it would all end up great, so he sighed and let it go… for now.

Baekhyun was standing on the balcony of their dorms; the one that was most secluded and covered up by a big piece of metal that Kris had put in there, to shield them all from the fans and the media. He had his back against the wall and was playing with his hands. Now that he had calmed down, he felt a little bit guilty for punching Sehun, albeit admittedly, the bigger part of him felt very satisfied when his knuckles connected to the other’s pretty and defined jaw. He couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why on Earth did Sehun hold such a grudge towards him and he was even willing to bet that, if not for their stupid feud, they could get along rather well: Sehun had a sharp sense of humor that he appreciated, he was fun to be around, with his devious mind, and could be really sweet when he wanted, so why the heck did he had to get the short end of the stick? It was tiresome.

He heard the balcony’s door slide open and a body sat next to him. He recognized the scent right away and let his head lean against the bony shoulder.

“Want one?”

Baekhyun turned his eyes to Jongdae’s hands and accepted without a fuss the cigarette that the younger had offered him. He placed the cancer stick on his mouth and ignited it with the zippo that Jongdae had brought along, the nicotine way deep into his lungs before releasing the smoke with a puff.

“We haven’t done this in a while, what’s the occasion?” he asked returning the cigarette to his mouth.

“You’re pissed and Kyungsoo isn’t talking to me at the moment.”

“And why is that?”

“Sehun thought it was funny to announce loudly that we were screwing each other.” explained the other deceptively calm, since Baekhyun could see the slight trembling of his hands, almost burning himself with his own cigarette.

“Are you okay?” asked the older concerned. He knew how much the younger liked Kyungsoo.

“Not at the moment, no. Sehun might’ve just ended things between Kyungsoo and I. We’ve only just started.”

“Want me to talk with him? I will gladly clarify the story: we are not screwing each other.”

“Now you mean!”

“Details…” interjected Baekhyun absentmindedly, taking a drag from his cigarette and trying to make rings out of smoke.

“Kyungsoo was really unsure about starting a relationship with me, especially knowing that you and I fooled around for some time and that we still have a close friendship.”

“Key word: friendship, major clue: had. Past tense Jongdae, we don’t anymore, not since you started to grow fond of Kyungsoo. Also, beside friendship, there was no romantic feeling whatsoever; it was merely a way of releasing tension.”

“I know that and Kyungsoo knows about it too, I didn’t hide that from him. I am kind of bothered that he didn’t hear me out and the fact that was so shocked about it: he knew, Baekhyun.”

“You’ll have to talk to him when he’s calmer. I can talk to him if you guarantee me that this pretty little face doesn’t get punched.”

Jongdae let a little laugh at Baekhyun’s statement before falling into silence. Baekhyun lifted his head from Jongdae’s shoulder drawing the attention of the younger man.

“I mean it Jongdae. You have been my friend, and a fantastic one at that, throughout very difficult moments of my life and you’ve been my support and my rock for a very long time. I was joking when I said that earlier, no matter what I’ll talk to Kyungsoo and have this all fixed, your happiness is important to me. And I am truly sorry that mine and Sehun’s problems are affecting you and Kyungsoo.”

The younger man smile and moved his hand to relocate Baekhyun’s head on his shoulder.

“I know you will! I do, Baekhyun. And you have nothing to apologize for; for better or for worse I got your back, no matter what!”

“Not if it cost you your happiness you stupid troll!”

“Baekhyun, if he doesn’t believe me, he doesn’t; end of story. I can’t be with someone who doesn’t believe in my words considering the fact that I’ve never once lied about anything. I'm a straightforward person.”

“I still hope that everything will work out with you.” replied Baekhyun with a little pout on his lips.

“I know you do. You always do!” muttered Jongdae clasping Baekhyun’s hand in his and relishing in the warmth and safety that it provided him. They both stayed like that way after the sun had set, feeling oddly peaceful despite the chaos that their minds had been just minutes ago.

Hiding partially by the bookshelf, Sehun listened to the conversation of his hyungs, peering from time to time when the silence stretched for too long. It had been a shock for him to see both vocalists smoking and talking about their past relationship. However, what had bothered him the most was the fact that something, that he could almost call jealously if he wasn’t so stubborn, was bubbling up in his chest. He felt really angered seeing both looking so cozy and natural around each other, dropping all of the pretenses and letting down their guards.

When the conversation had subsided he had left the room quietly, not making any noise and gone to the bathroom, bypassing Tao and ignoring the boy who called him.

In the bathroom, underneath the punishing stream of the soft water cascading down his body, he let himself mull a little over the subject but, in the end, there was no answer for his question.

“Why am I so jealous of them?”

A/N: So? What do you guys think of this chapter? Few important things on it, did you catch them all? I must confess, I have just finished 7th chapter and I am emotionally drained! It is such a heavy chapter. Anyway, did you like this one? Let me know, comment, VOTE (like, pretty please, cherry on top?) and suscribe and let me now all about it.
A lot of love to you and have a magnificent day! ^^