Cànliè...

“Did you think you’d end up here? When all this started?” Chanyeol asked as he and Yixing laid side by side, staring up at the ceiling above.

“Honestly? No,” Yixing said, “And after everything with Yifan, and Lu-ge… Tao… I thought for sure that we’d crumble, even though I pretended not to. Yet here we are”

Chanyeol hummed softly, “I miss them” he said simply, his eyes staring holes into the ceiling.

“Me too, Chan” Yixing sighed, “Me too…”

Chanyeol paused for a moment before turning his head to look at Yixing, his eyes guarded, “You won’t go though, right?”

“Never”

“Because I’d really miss you a lot”

Yixing smiled slightly, a sad, small smile, “I’m not going anywhere, Cànliè” he said, making Chanyeol smile at the use of his Chinese name.

Chanyeol liked it when he used that name. Yixing had taken to calling him that as a sort of term of endearment, and it’d just stuck.

“Promise?” Chanyeol asked, his eyes searching Yixing’s for any trace of a lie.

Yixing looked back at him, no trace of dishonestly on his features, “I promise” he said softly, shifting closer to Chanyeol as they laid on the floor of the practice room.

The others had long since left, but Yixing and Chanyeol had stayed because Chanyeol had wanted help with his dancing. He could have asked Jongin, but he'd wanted more time alone with the group’s last remaining Chinese member.

“You really think I’d go? After all we’ve been through? After all I fought for with China and all that? After I’ve already had to spend so much time away from you guys?” asked a little sadly, turning onto his side and brining his hand to rest on Chanyeol’s stomach.

Chanyeol sighed gently, shifting so that his arm was beneath Yixing’s head, allowing the older man to use his arm as a pillow as he hugged him closer, “It’s not that,” he whispered, “I just… I feel weird when you’re not around. It’s different from the others”

Yixing frowned, tilting his head slightly to look up at Chanyeol in confusion, “What do you mean?” he asked.

“I wish I knew” Chanyeol answered, letting out a small laugh without humour.

“Cànliè…”

“It’s not important” Chanyeol brushed him off, but hugged him closer all at once, “I just… I don’t really know what I’d do if you left too”

Yixing sighed, “I’m not going to leave, Cànliè. I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a man that goes back on his word. I promised to be with EXO until the very end. I promised all of you that I would be here, and this is where I’ll be. Beside you, through good and bad”

“Yixing… Why do you stay? I mean, the others… They obviously left for a reason, but you… You won’t say a bad word about this damn company. Even I know they’re slave drivers…” Chanyeol asked hesitantly.

Yixing, though, laughed softly, “Because, despite how terrible I’ve been treated, they gave me my chance to do what I wanted. Sure, I had things in China, but because of SM I became an artist. But it’s not just them, you know? I don’t say bad things, because I can’t be dealing with the repercussions. But my main reason is because of the backlash that you guys would end up getting. I have so much respect for the other three for doing what was right for them, but that’s not where my path leads. My path is alongside EXO, and sometimes I can branch out, and I think because of them leaving, as bad as it sounds, it’s given me more… flexibility when it comes to the company. If only to protect their own backs, but hey, it works in my favour.

 “But honestly, I don’t think I could bear to leave you guys. You’re my strength” he admitted sheepishly, “That was cheesy. Sorry”

“You mean a lot to us, you know” Chanyeol told him, “To all of us. We miss you when you’re away from us, but we’re also really, really proud of you”

Yixing chuckled, “Thanks, Cànliè. I miss you guys when I’m away too, I sometimes think you’ll forget I’m a member” he joked.

“That, could never happen, dumb-dumb” Chanyeol laughed softly, “You’re the missing piece to our puzzle, Xing, there’s no us without you” he didn’t think it would be the time to add ‘there’s no me without you’, because although he knew it was true, he didn’t know why.

Yixing hummed in response cuddling closer to Chanyeol, “You should stop thinking so much” he said, “Because it doesn’t matter. None of it does. I’m not leaving, I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying put, and nothing that anyone says or does to try and push me away, could make me go”

“Did you practise that?” Chanyeol joked easily, liking that the heavy conversation was finding it’s end and that they were just cuddled close together on the floor of the practise room.

“Maybe a little” Yixing chuckled, “But I needed to sound smart when questions popped up”

Chanyeol hummed, “I suppose so” he said with a small laugh, before looking down at where Yixing’s head is laying on his chest.

He wasn’t too sure why he did it, but he leant down and pressed his lips softly, but firmly to Yixing’s before pulling back to stare up at the ceiling.

“Did… Did you just kiss me?” Yixing asked after a moment or two of deafening silence.

Chanyeol shrugged, “I guess” he said, trying to be as nonchalant about it as he could manage.

“Why?”

“I don’t really know” Chanyeol admitted, “I just… I think I’ve been wanting to for a while”

Yixing nodded, twisting himself slightly so that he was half on top of Chanyeol, his face closer to Chanyeol’s than it had been, “It wasn’t much of a kiss” he said.

“Sorry for not snogging your face off?” Chanyeol rolls his eyes.

Yixing grinned, “Shut up” he laughed, before his features softened, “You should try again”

“Are you serious?” Chanyeol asked, raising a brow, “You know how… weird, this is right?”

“Mm” Yixing agreed, “Still, you obviously did it for a reason, so you might as well do it properly”

“Do you want me to?” Chanyeol asked curiously, eyeing the man above him.

Yixing smiled back at him with, “I wouldn’t mind it” he told Chanyeol, “So how about it, Cànliè? Shall I show you what a real kiss feels like?” he teased.

It was that, more than anything, that made Chanyeol take Yixing by the back of the neck and pull him down to connect their lips once again.

It surprised Chanyeol a little, how much Yixing put into the kiss. If he didn’t know any better, he’d have said that Yixing wanted the kiss just as much as he did.

He decided not to dwell on it too much as he lost himself in the moment, trailing his tongue over Yixing’s bottom lip, loving the way that the elder gasped slightly, allowing him to slip his tongue inside that wonderful mouth, and trace patterns everywhere he could.

Yixing hummed into the kiss as his hands moved to tangle themselves in Chanyeol’s hair, not concerned in the slightest about how it meant he was resting his whole body on Chanyeol, and crushing him a little, but Chanyeol didn’t say anything, didn’t stop, so neither did Yixing.

Chanyeol brought his arms down lower to wrap them around Yixing’s waist, holding the other man close against him as the kissed.

And even when the need for air became overwhelming, they only broke apart for a small moment before they were attached once more at the lips, and Yixing was sinfully on Chanyeol’s tongue, earning a surprising moan of delight from the taller man.

“What was that?” Yixing breathed out a laugh against Chanyeol’s lips.

Chanyeol flushed embarrassedly, “It was nothing, shut up” he muttered before pulling Yixing in for yet another kiss.

--

“Why are you two back so late?” Junmyeon asked when they got in, “We have so much to do tomorrow, you need to eat! You need sleep!”

Yixing winced slightly, “Sorry, we lost track of the time” he said, “But we got food on the way home, so… I’m just going to head to bed”

“Not yet” Junmyeon said, “Chanyeol, you go and get some sleep, I need to talk to Yixing for a minute”

Chanyeol looked hesitant, but Yixing gave him a subtle nod. “Alright. G’night” he said quietly before taking his leave.

Junmyeon and Yixing walked into the kitchen after that. Junmyeon went about making them both a hot drink, “How’s your hip?” he asked, “You’ve been taking care of it, right?”

“Of course I have. It’s fine” Yixing said, accepting the tea that Junmyeon handed him as they moved to sit at the table.

Junmyeon nodded, “I bought you more heat pads” he said softly, “I just… I worry about you. Especially when you’re at the practice room for so long, you know?”

“I know, Junmyeon” Yixing smiled softly, “But honestly, I’m not over-doing it”

“That’s what you said before you ed up your hip” Junmyeon pointed out, “Sorry. That wasn’t fair”

Yixing shook his head, “No, I get it. I get that you’re worried, but I swear, I’m looking after myself now. I’m not going to hurt myself. We spent most of the time just… anyway”

“Which brings me to my next question…” Junmyeon said, “What’s going on with the pair of you”

“The pair of who?”

Junmyeon sighed, “Don’t play dumb” he said, before taking a sip of his tea, “you know exactly what I’m talking about”

“I… We… I don’t know. We kissed” Yixing let out a long breath, “I don’t know what it is…”

Junmyeon hummed, “Are you attracted to him? Do you… like him?”

“I think I do” Yixing answered quietly, “I don’t know… he makes me feel fuzzy”

“He’s like you for a while, you know? Whenever you guys would go play guitar together, he’d talk my ear off about it” Junmyeon laughed, “I was jealous at first… But I see happy you guys are around each other”

Yixing sighed, “Are you sure you want to talk to me about this?”

“We’ve been broken up for four years, Xing. I’m not going to crumble over you moving on” Junmyeon smiled slightly, “Besides, I’m happy that you’re happy”

Yixing smiled back, shaking his head slightly, “What would I do without you, Kim Junmyeon?”

“Wither and die” Junmyeon joked.

Yixing rolled his eyes before getting up and rounding the table and pulling Junmyeon into a hug, that the slightly older man returned with equal verve.

“I love you” Yixing smiled into the hug.

Junmyeon sighed happily, “I know. I love you, too” he replied, “Now, off to bed with you. We have a long day tomorrow. I’ll be talking to Chanyeol too, because let’s face it, he’s an idiot and tends to forget we’re in the public eye”

“Night, Myeon” Yixing laughed softly, giving EXO’s leader one last hug.

--

“So, Junmyeon hyung cornered me this morning” Chanyeol said. He and Yixing were sat in the back of K’s van – Sehun and Kyungsoo hand chosen to ride in M’s van, to keep the other two company.

Yixing hummed, glancing up to where Junmyeon was sat beside their driver, whilst Jongin and Baekhyun were sharing earphones in the middle to listen to music, “Is that so?” he asked, though he’d already known it was going to happen.

“Wanna know what he said to me?” Chanyeol laughed, “He said ‘Yeol, I’m happy for you. But if you hurt him, so help me god, I will break your skinny little legs, ‘kay?’ and literally, all I could get out was, ‘okay’ in his little squeaky voice” he groaned in amusement.

“y” Yixing snorted, “But you know… We haven’t actually talked about what happened last night, and uh, what it means… for us…”

Chanyeol sighed, “Yeah, I know. I’m just… kinda confused as to what it all means, you know? Like… I… I have feelings for you. But I don’t know what to do with that information”

“Well, if it helps any, I have feelings for you too” Yixing smiled, a little shyly, “So… we’re in the same boat”

Chanyeol shrugged, “But you’ve… wow this is gonna sound really insensitive, but you’ve liked guys your whole life. This is kinda new for me”

“Didn't you have like some huge crush on Yifan?” Yixing pointed out, raising a brow, “Damn, do you just have a thing for Chinese guys or something?”

“You literally dated Junmyeon hyung, you can’t talk about anything right now” Chanyeol shot back, an amused quirk to his lips.

Yixing laughed softly, “Touché” he grinned, “But anyway, we’re getting off topic”

“And you’ll have to stay off topic” Baekhyun piped up, “Because we’re here”

Chanyeol let out a pitiful groan as the five of them climbed out of the van and met up with the other four members to head into the Mnet building.

Their schedule lasted longer than any of them would have liked, and from there it was straight over to the radio station to guest on Kiss The Radio, so Chanyeol and Yixing still hadn’t had the chance to talk.

They might have been able to talk on the way, but Minseok and Jongdae had decided Yixing was spending too much time with K and needed to remember his M roots – or at least that’s how Jongdae had put it. Minseok had just told him that it was because of their managers’ say so, since they needed to show that the remaining M members were sticking together. Something about unity to reassure the fans that none of them – and by that, Yixing knew they meant him – were going to up and leave.

“So, what have you guys been doing when you’ve not got schedules?” Ryeowook asked, flipping over to the next page of his script.

Junmyeon smiled brightly, “Mostly we just visit family, or catch up on sleep. Sometimes the members will spend the day together somewhere fun, like a theme park, or we’ll take out the dogs to play. Just things like that”

“Is there any members that are as though they’re stuck at the hip?” Ryeowook asked with a smile, “I hear that Baekhyun-ssi and Chen-ssi are very close, and with Chanyeol-ssi also?”

Baekhyun laughed, “Yes, we’re all very close. That’s why we’re the beagle line” he joked, making the others laugh, “But lately Chanyeol has ditched us for another member. He’s become Lay hyung’s fan lately”

“No, it’s not like that” Yixing denied, “We just like to share music together, since we both play guitar”

Ryeowook nodded, “Ah, but what does Chanyeol-ssi have to say about it?”

Chanyeol coughed, clearing his throat and doing his best not to look at the warning look that Junmyeon was flashing his way, “Of course I’m Lay hyung’s fan, but I’m all of EXO’s fan. Lay hyung is just someone that I admire, because I find it really heart-warming that he’s promoting not only in Korea, but in China also. He’s doing very well, and all of the members are proud of him. But I wouldn’t say I’ve ditched beagle line! I say they ditched me! They always go off to places and don’t invite me!”

“That’s not true” Jongdae laughed, proving that it was, in fact, true, “We just never know where to find you anymore, because you’re always with the others! If not Lay hyung, then with Sehun!”

“Speaking of Lay-ssi” Ryeowook piped up, “Chen-ssi, the last time you were here, you said that if you could date any member, it would be Lay-ssi. Is that still the case?”

Jongdae beamed, shooting a mischievous smile at Chanyeol, “Of course!” he sing-songed, “Lay hyung is someone that would make a perfect boyfriend to anyone”

“How about you, Lay-ssi?” Ryeowook smiled, “Would you date Chen-ssi if you were a girl?”

Yixing chuckled softly, “Of course, Chen would make a really good boyfriend. He’s very sweet and caring, but he has a joker side, so he’s fun to be around. I think I would date him if I were a girl” he smiled.

“Maybe you guys should date for real” Ryeowook joked.

“Yah, hyung, you can’t say things like that” Junmyeon chastised lightly, “what will our fans think?”

Ryeowook laughed, “Ah, I see. I’m sorry, my words were wrong to say” he said before turning to Baekhyun, “So a lot of fans are curious. It came out recently that you have ended your relationship with SNSD’s Taeyeon?”

Baekhyun shifted uncomfortably, “Yes, that’s right” he answered, “We are both very busy with schedules, so we just naturally moved apart. We’re still friends though and have a good senior-junior relationship”

“I think we should talk about our latest song, don’t you?” Junmyeon spoke up, his voice showing there was no room for argument despite their song having been out for a while.

“Right” Ryeowook nodded awkwardly, “Well, who would like to tell fans something that we don’t know about Love Me Right?”

The radio broadcast moved on smoothly from there and before long they were saying their goodbyes and heading back out to their vans, where they were taking to their next schedule, which was filming a CF for Pepero.

They were all utterly exhausted, but sadly, they were used to it.

Yixing went in the M van again, not really wanting to hear the teasing or digs at having said he’d date Jongdae.

“You should have seen his face, man” Minseok said sadly, “I thought he was gonna swing for Dae right then and there”

Yixing groaned as he slumped back against the side of the seat, “We wouldn’t be having this problem if you’d two would just admit you’re ing” he snapped.

“Uncalled for” Jongdae snorted, “Besides, we don’t want anyone knowing”

Yixing lifted his head slightly to look at his best friend, “Why?” he asked, “It’s not like they’d care?”

“Because it gives them ammo, and it gives them the chance to do like I just did to you” Jongdae grinned, throwing an arm over the back of the seat to better look at Yixing, “Simple”

“And,” Minseok continued, “We just aren’t ready for people to make a big deal over it yet”

“Well, he’s not” Jongdae corrected lightly, “I couldn’t give a rats , but if it makes him happy, then I’m cool”

Yixing laughed softly, closing his eyes and tilting his head back again, “you guys are so ing stupid, I swear”

“Yeah, tell me that when you and Yeol have sorted out your , mm?” Jongdae teased.

“ you, Kim Jongdae”

“In your dreams, Zhang Yixing”

Yixing cracked open an eye, “Mate, I love you and all, but not even if you were the last man on earth”

“You say that now, but those long lonely nights’ll get to ya” Jongdae winked, only to be slapped on the chest by Minseok.

“Did you want to sleep on the sofa tonight?”

Jongdae grinned impishly, “Sorry babe” he laughed, just in time for them to be pulling up outside the studio they were filming at.

It was with great effort that Yixing managed to heave himself up and out of the van after Jongdae and Minseok and begin to make his way inside to hair and make-up.

“Cànliè!” he called as they neared the door to where the make-up artist were, “Wait up!”

Chanyeol harrumphed, “why don’t you go walk with Jongdae, since you love him so much”

“Oh will you get over yourself. We aren’t even a couple yet and you’re already being jealous” Yixing rolled his eyes, “It’s called fan-service, Chanyeol. You don’t see me getting pissed off when you’re all over Baekhyun or Kyungsoo, do you?”

Chanyeol glared slightly, “Well I didn’t even know you liked me until last night!”

“Me either!” Yixing shot back, “So why are you being funny about it?”

Chanyeol paused, glaring for a minute before his shoulders sagged in defeat, “I’m sorry” he sighed, “I’m just… I’m tired and we haven’t eaten all day, and it’s just… I really ing like you, you know? And knowing you like me back is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be”

“I know” Yixing smiled softly, “But we can talk about it later, alright? Let’s just get this shoot out of the way, then we can go eat, and talk this whole thing out”

As things turned out, they did get to eat after filming, but they didn’t talk, since they’d ended up going to eat as a whole group. And by the time they were back, everyone was knackered to the point that they ended up going straight to bed.

--

“Psst, Yixing…”

“…”

“Yixing? Are you awake?”

“…”

“Xing!”

“Duhisguinon?” Yixing slurred sleepily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and blinking to see what was going on.

Chanyeol smiled down at him sheepishly, “D’you mind if I sleep here? I had a bad dream…”

“Sure” Yixing yawned, moving over, “Get in”

It was obvious that the older man was a little out of it, since he was still half asleep, but Chanyeol was still grateful as he climbed into bed and wrapped the covers better around them both.

He pulled Yixing into him, thanking the almighty that Yixing was a naturally warm person, because the bitter autumn air had gotten to him as he’d walked over to the elder’s room, which he shared with Minseok, though the eldest member of EXO wasn’t in his bed.

“Thanks” Chanyeol whispered, cuddling closer to Yixing.

“For the love of god,” Yixing groaned, “Cànliè, go to sleep”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, but smiled against the side of Yixing’s head, “Sorry” he said, not sounding it at all.

Yixing sighed before turning his head to press a lingering kiss to Chanyeol’s lips, “Sleep, Cànliè”

--

It was when they finally woke up in one another’s arms that they finally spoke, though it wasn’t a very long chat.

“So,” Chanyeol said nervously, “I… uh… um… with this thing… us…”

Yixing sighed, “Cànliè,” he said, “I’m gonna make this real easy. Do you wanna date me, or not?”

“I do” Chanyeol said, a grin spreading across his lips.

Yixing nodded, “Cool. Awesome. We have no schedule Thursday, so we’ll go on a date then”

“Sounds good,” Chanyeol nodded, “Oh, and Yixing…”

“Mm?”

“You talk in your sleep…”

Yixing smiled slightly, having known what his dream was about, but still he asked, “What did I say?”

Chanyeol smiled back, “…‘Cànliè’…”

A/N: So this happened.... *shrugs*