Things had been a little strained in the dorms lately and people were not pleased about it, especially the leaders. After all the showdown that had happened, Baekhyun had tried to talk to Kyungsoo several times but the other refused to listen and avoided Baekhyun and Jongdae like the plague, to the point where he almost didn’t stay in the same room as them anymore. Jongdae had been obviously devastated, liking the other so much, and being clearly ignored, had him troubled.

At one point, Baekhyun told Jongdae he was going to back off for a while so that Kyungsoo wouldn’t feel uncomfortable with their relationship; that proposition had earned him a scoff from Jongdae and their friendship has been as tight as always, they were almost together all the time, bringing Jongin and Chanyeol with them and being their usually lively selves.

Kyungsoo had become closer to Yixing and Tao, spending a lot of his time with them. Yixing, bless him, for the most part was really oblivious as why Kyungsoo had turned to him but welcomed him with open arms nonetheless; Tao, on the other hand, being a closer friend to Sehun and not as innocent, figured out pretty soon that they were being used as Jongdae’s replacement, however he made no complaints, especially because Kyungsoo was very nice and fed both of them a little bit more than the others, much to his delight.

Junmyeon and Kris were going absolutely crazy with all of them, ever since the punch episode Sehun and Baekhyun had been arguing quite a lot, or at least, one would say something that undoubtedly ignited the other and the other, most likely Baekhyun, would give a snarky answer and chaos occurred. There had been a particularly hilarious episode, Luhan at least thought so, since he always found this things very amusing, when Sehun, in a rage fit, had destroyed Baekhyun’s music sheets, of a song he was trying to compose on the piano and to which Baekhyun had dedicated a lot of time; as a response Baekhyun had incinerated a lot of Sehun’s clothes. Junmyeon had reproached both boys for their actions and Kris had teared Luhan a new one for egging them on like he did; obviously Luhan didn’t really care about things because he was one cool badass manly man.

The leaders, tired of their discussion and the general awful mood that had seeped into the dorms had warned both members that if they didn’t start acting civil towards each other, they would report the situation to their manager and, to be honest, neither Sehun nor Baekhyun wanted that; their manager was a scary man when he wanted too and if he knew about their shenanigans they would probably be grounded, meaning no public appearances, no going out for shopping, not going out for anything, just going to practice and coming home; which was exactly the punishment that they’ve got not two days later after promising the two leader nothing would happen: Baekhyun had been in the kitchen, preparing to eat an yogurt while talking to Luhan and Minseok, when Sehun arrived and stolen his spoon, Baekhyun had protested and Sehun had the spoon thoroughly before playing with it. Suffice to say Baekhyun hadn’t thought of it has funny and had tipped a thermos filled with hot water on top of Sehun’s hair, drenching the other, telling that hot water ‘helps to kill bacteria' and then Junmyeon had entered, tattled them to their manager which was why both of them were inside the dorms while everyone else was out, having fun.

Baekhyun had been sprawled on the couch watching a documentary about Nordic Mythology when Sehun joined him. The older was so entertained by what he was watching that he didn’t acknowledged the maknae’s presence.

“Where is everybody?” he asked since the silence was awkward and made his nape tingle in discomfort.

“Luhan hyung and Minseok hyung went with Yixing hyung to play basketball, momma Myeon and Kris hyung are in a meeting with our manager, Kyungsoo is out shopping with Tao and I think that Jongin went along with Dae and Yeol for a drink. Why are you talking to me anyway?” asked the smaller of them averting his eyes from the screen to look at the maknae with a raised brow.

“I’m bored and the silence is eerie. And because Junmyeon hyung told me to be civil to you.”

“Good thing for you that you are such an obedient little boy, aren’t you?”

“Bite me!”

“You’d enjoyed that far too much!” replied Baekhyun with a smirk before returning his attention to his documentary.

Fortunately for Sehun, Baekhyun had diverted his attention, hence missing the slight flush that painted his cheeks. Ever since Jongdae had pointed out, Sehun find impossible not to notice Baekhyun’s features. The other was just handsome with pretty angles and Sehun was impressed with himself with not knowing that he really had a contagious smile or twinkly mischievous eyes. And the body on that tiny person was so squeezable and he would fit right in Sehun’s arms.

The maknae stopped his train of thoughts right there, he already admitted that he found Baekhyun pretty, no need to push things over by another painful philosophical reflection about why did his mind didn’t mind much at the thought of holding his hyung.

He tried to distract himself by the documentary and, few minutes after, couldn’t tell, for the life of him, why did Baekhyun found it interesting, it would be more entertaining to watch paint dry in his opinion, but Baekhyun was so engrossed, clearly enjoying it, that he didn’t have the heart to change the channel.

He was actually dozing of when Baekhyun’s phone rang and woke him up. He saw the pint sized man fish the phone from the pocket in his shorts and answer it.

“Hi Momma Myeon… No, I’m at the dorms with the maknae…Sure hang on a minute and I’ll put it one speaker!”

Not two seconds later their youngest leader was speaking to them both.

“How is everything is the dorms?”

“Quiet Junmyeon hyung! What do you expect, no one is here!” complained Baekhyun.

“Good! Maybe this way you’ll get along.”

“Very unlikely!” answered Sehun nonchalantly.

“We haven’t killed one another, that’s progress!”

“No, it isn’t Baekhyun. Progress would be you two not at each other’s throats all the time!”

“If you say so…”

“Anyway, I just called to see if you are actually home Baekhyun…”

“Hey! I’m offended. Why am I the one with the probability of escaping?” interrupted Baekhyun looking absolutely scandalized and Sehun had actually to hold on the laughter.

“You would escape, Baekhyun, you would!”

“Actually, yes I would but I am not really interested on having more ‘grounded time’ than I already have!”

“Good for you. Kris and I are leaving SM building just now, we are going to pick dinner and we’ll be going there.”

“Okay hyung!” they both replied at the same time.

“What are you doing? I am kind of curious to know what is the reason why are you both so quiet and not screaming complaints about each other.”

“Hobbit is watching some documentary and have nothing better to do.” answered Sehun ignoring the venomous glare sent his way.

“Of course you would, Baekhyun. You really like documentaries.”

“Yeah, but I think I am going to recorded and sleep for a bit!” commented the other in a quiet tone of voice and Sehun actually turned to him.

“Tired?”

“I am actually…”

“Have you been sneaking out again to practice, Baekhyun? I’ve told you already you’ve got to sleep too if this is because…”

Sehun could see that Baekhyun was increasingly getting uncomfortable as Junmyeon was speaking, when the leader managed to speak the last words, Baekhyun took the phone from speaker and pressed the phone to his ear. It was only then that he realized how tired the other appeared, even his posture screamed exhausted.

“Hyung? Not on speaker anymore. We’ll talk as soon as you get home okay?”

With a final goodbye Baekhyun hung up the call and went to the TV; with a few clicks he put his documentary recording, before lying again on the couch.

“You can change channels.” said the shorter of the two handing the remote to the maknae.

“What was that all about?”

“Nothing…”

“I head Junmyeon hyung talking about you practicing at night.”

“Mind your business.”

“Trying to cover up the fact that you are lacking?” retorted Sehun, gazing at the older. When he did he immediately regretted his words because Baekhyun wasn’t quick enough to mask the flash of hurt that took over his face for a second.

“Listen Sehun, I am really tired and not in the mood for arguing okay? So just change the channel, watch something and let me sleep.” he requested in a soft voice.

“Why don’t you sleep in your room then?”

“Because Chanyeol broke the AC and it’s really cold in there.”

“You sleep there every night…”

“Only if Dae or Chanyeol sleep beside me. Are you done interrogating me?”

Without bothering to wait for a reply, Baekhyun shifted on the couch, making himself comfortable and blinked tiredly at the TV for a few minutes before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep, making those puppy like noises he was known for. Sehun changed the channel and tried to focus on an episode of some sort of drama but he too started to feel drowsy and sleepy and, soon after, he was also drifting off lulled by the sounds of Baekhyun steady breathing.

There was something that was troubling Sehun’s peaceful slumber, what he couldn’t really tell, there was just this loud noise at the back of his mind and he woke up with a start looking at a freshly awake Baekhyun.

“Are you hearing this too?” asked Baekhyun with a faint, tired voice.

Sehun nodded, now that he was awake, on his way to full consciousness, he could hear the sound of very loud voices followed by thumps.

“What on Earth…” muttered Baekhyun standing from the couch, staggering a little bit; apparently, he wasn’t truly awake either.

They both trailed after the noise until Baekhyun seemed to realize what it was.

“Oh my… are you serious?” he asked to himself, all wide eyed, making a dash through the living room, Sehun right behind him.

The tinier male made his way to the front door before opening it fully, revealing a red looking Jongin struggling with a very drunk Chanyeol and a very drunk Jongdae. As soon as Chanyeol spotted them he threw himself into Baekhyun, making the other step a couple of steps back.

“Baekhyun! My favorite friend in the world!” slurred the giant.

“What the heck happened?” asked an incredulous Baekhyun to a horrified Jongin.

“They just started drinking and they never stopped hyung. I tried to make them stop but they didn’t listen, so I brought them back.”

From the look on Baekhyun’s face, Sehun really thought the older was going to scold Jongin but, to his surprise, their hyung let out a tiny smile, going around Chanyeol to pat Jongin in the arm.

“Hey, not your fault okay? We’ll deal with this.”

“But Junmyeon hyung and Kris hyung are going to find and they are going to scold me for not taking care of my hyungs properly.” whispered a petrified Jongin.

Baekhyun seemed to muse about it for a minute before letting out a sigh.

“If anything happens” he began with a soft voice “you will tell them that you came home earlier and I was bored and made them drink a couple beers. Manager hyung has them in the fridge for himself. I’ll just empty a few bottles.”

“But Baekhyun hyung…”

“No worries Jongin, I’ll take the blame okay. I am already grounded so, no big deal okay?”

Jongin was torn about it, Sehun could see it in his face, but when their hyung insisted again, the younger nodded.

“Okay then. Let’s take them to bed before they get here.”

Of course it was easier said than done. Jongdae kept on either singing or crying about his bad luck with Kyungsoo, yelling that he wasn’t loved; Chanyeol on the other hand, was really hyperactive and was practically bouncing of the walls with drunken energy.

Sehun had been successful in taking Jongdae’s shoes and leading him to bed, covering his hyung and letting him talking about his dreadful love story with a rilakkuma plushie he had stolen from Chanyeol’s bed. It had been quite easy since his hyung was light and easy to push and because he was rather compliant.

When he returned to the dorm entrance, the story was another; Jongin was trying to unlace one of Chanyeol’s shoes while the giant kept on squishing Baekhyun to his chest, claiming that the older was adorable. He knew that Jongin had managed to be successful in his mission when the tanned male let out an ‘aha’ and lifted the shoe victoriously, earning a chuckle from Baekhyun.

“Let’s go to bed Yeol. You need to sleep it off before either Junmyeon or Kris catches you, or else you’ll be dead meat.”

Sehun watched amusedly as Baekhyun tried to steer the rapper to their shared room but the taller male kept stumbling and, well, Baekhyun stumbled with him since the other was much taller and heavier than the little midget. Jongin had actually tried to help but Chanyeol had, without meaning too, smack him in the mouth with one of his flying hands when the taller was explaining to Baekhyun that dinosaurs had appeared first not the chicken nor the egg.

It had been entertaining to watch until Chanyeol tripped on an invisible something and fell dragging Baekhyun with him. Sehun and Jongin both knew that something was wrong as soon as they heard Baekhyun pained whimpers.

They quickly approached their hyung, accessing first that Chanyeol had indeed pass out and was snoring away. They took the giant dead weight from top of their hyung who clutched his arm right away.

“Are you okay?” asked Jongin concerned.

“I landed on my elbow. It’s hurting right now but I’ll be okay. We have got to take Chanyeol to his room.” managed Baekhyun with a tight smile.

Between the three of them, they carried Chanyeol’s into his bed and, like it had been done to Jongdae, they left the giant snoring his heart away in the room. They closed the door quietly, as to not disturb the two drunkards. As soon as they got out Jongin let out a gasp.

“Hyung, your arm.” he pointed at Baekhyun’s arm that was starting to swell and was quite reddish near his elbow.

“It’s nothing…” muttered Baekhyun sagging into Jongin’s, who had embraced his older friend.

Sehun sighed and approached, verifying the elbow carefully, feeling a little bid bad when his hyung would flinch or let a pained gasped. It didn’t appear to be broken but it was better to have it be looked at by a doctor.

“Call Junmyeon hyung, Jongin. I think it’s nothing but I could be wrong.”

Jongin nodded depositing Baekhyun into Sehun’s awaiting arms, scrambling for his phone afterwards.

“Never knew you cared.” commented the smaller male in a pained whisper.

“I may not like you and would normally I would find it amusing to see you land on your face but even I have limits. You’re hurt and whether I like it or not you are a team member and I should help you.” defended Sehun, while squeezing the other to his body, preventing the smaller from moving too much

“I’m shocked” replied Baekhyun while Sehun led him to the couch again “you used to hate me, where have that gone?”

Sehun didn’t reply he would very much like to know the answer for that as well.

Sehun and Jongin were still waiting in the living room for Junmyeon and Kris to return. When they had rushed home and found a small dongsaeng in pain they went ballistic; Kris had resorted to pick Baekhyun, bridal style, and take him to the car while Junmyeon looked at both of them with suspicion making Jongin squirm in his seat.

Tao and Kyungsoo still weren’t home, and Sehun, knowing Tao so well, doubted that they would come home early and the older hyungs had called just an hour ago saying that they were going to grab a bite.

Their momma Myeon was the first to appear through the door when it opened followed by Kris who was dragging Baekhyun.

“What did the doctor say?” asked a frantic Jongin standing up to embrace his smaller hyung, concerned about him.

“He’s okay, his elbow is sprained and really bruised thanks to the fall but he’s fine. And I’m very upset with you.”

Jongin stiffen slightly hearing that but Baekhyun grabbed his arm and squeezed it tightly.

“You should have stopped Baekhyun. What were you thinking? Allowing him to let Jongdae and Chanyeol drink. But most of all I’m disappointed in you Baekhyun! But for now I’ll let it slide, your injury is punishment enough.”

With that he left the room and entered the kitchen to deposit the bad full of food for them. Kris was left in the entrance with them.

“I don’t know what happened but I am not happy either and contrary to popular belief I am not stupid as to think you are telling me the truth, Baekhyun sure isn’t but I am not going to pry on it, Baekhyun will not tell either way.”

“What in the world did you tell them?” asked Jongin when Kris left them alone.

“What we had agree on. Now go on and eat.”

“Aren’t you coming?” asked Jongin.

“No, not hungry. I am going to sleep.”

“It’s still early…”

“But I need to sleep Jongin. Also I need to check the other two and make they don’t choke on their vomit while they sleep.”

“But hyung…”

“Go eat Jonginnie. Hyung is fine; he’s just going to rest.”

The younger seemed a little unsure but the older’s smile made him enter the kitchen albeit hesitant. He stopped at the entrance and gave Baekhyun a look over his shoulder and the smaller gave him a nod.

“Why are you doing this again? I see no point in this bunch of lies.”

“I do. Family is family, no matter where they came from.”

And with that sentence Baekhyun marched to his bedroom, holding his arm close to his chest and wobbling slightly.

Despite whatever Baekhyun thought, Sehun understood the meaning of the other’s words; spending so much time apart from their family was painful and they looked upon each other to fill that gap, they felt. Baekhyun was just looking out for his dongsaengs, even if that meant taking blame for something he was absolutely innocent for. Sehun smiled a little, he had to give it up to the hobbit; he was nothing but bad news but he had a heart that cared and protected his kind.

“Who knew?” whispered Sehun.




A/N: Even though I have yet to write chapter 8, I while post this chapter because I had some extra stuff to do these days and I couldn't write! Anyways, little filler chapter to prepare you for the emotional next one! I hope you enjoy it and if so, subscribe vote and comment! It's always appreciated!
Love you all have a fantastic weekend! ^^