Turn Up The Bright Lights

Doms Don't Submit. Ever.

True to his word, the next time Chanyeol opened his eyes, Baekhyun was still there. His head was pillowed on his arms and he napped, but he was there. As an almost delightful change from the last few awakenings, Chanyeol found he was too hot, and kicked off some of the blankets covering him. A bowl of covered soup and a glass of water were on the table beside him, and he drank both gratefully.
He realised then, looking around, that he had no idea what bedroom he was in. Nothing was familiar, and he experienced a momentary disorientation. Then other parts of his body made themselves known, and he eased up out of the bed. His movement didn't disturb Baekhyun, and he wondered how long the singer had been by his side. A quick check of his phone told him he'd been in that bed for nearly three days. He sniffled, but his nose was both running and blocked up somehow. Fabulous, he thought. Fever broke but now I'm sick.
When he left the room, the first thing he noticed was that everything was backwards. The bathroom should have been a right turn from the doorway, but it was left. A Chinese proverb above the toilet told him that he was in Exo-M's dorm. That cleared up a lot of the disorientation, but he wondered why he was there and not his own room.
And he felt disgusting. Wrinkling his nose as he washed his hands, he decided he needed to go and find someone to tell him why he was still in Exo-M's dorm, then head back to his own room and take a shower and get some clean clothes on.
He met Kris in the sitting room. Tao and the others crowded out of the kitchen when Kris exclaimed in surprise to see him up and about. The attention quickly became stifling, however. Tao noticed first.
"Duizhang," he said, and Kris looked out over them, and clapped his hands.
"Alright everyone, give him some room. How are you feeling, Chanyeol?"
"Like I was run over by a truck and then dumped in a sewer, but I'm getting better. I'm out of bed at least." He tugged on the side of his sweat-soaked tee shirt. "I need a shower," he added. "And why am I here?"
Chen chuckled. "Suho was having a meltdown when they brought you back, and no one could figure out what to do with you, so Kris made an executive decision. The manager stopped by a couple times to make sure you didn't need to go to the hospital. He'll be relieved that you're up and about."
Chanyeol yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. "For a while, anyway."
"Come on," Kris said. "You're coming back here when you get your shower, since I don't trust the rest of your group to know what to do with you. Chen," he said, and broke into Chinese. Chanyeol vaguely recalled asking Tao to speak to him in Chinese, and wondered what he'd said. He'd never have admitted it in his right mind, but he found the language extremely pretty. Kris escorted him to Exo-K's dorm across the hall, and helped him gather fresh clothes. Chanyeol wondered for a moment if he was going to offer to stand by in the bathroom as well, but he stopped in the hallway. He did insist that Chanyeol leave the door cracked, just in case.
Under the pounding spray, he found himself getting dizzy, and had to sit down. It was slightly embarrassing, but he decided he'd rather have sat down in the shower than fallen over and had all of them staring at him while he was naked.
Besides which, the impish part of his brain supplied, Baekhyun would probably object.
Once he was clean and dry and dressed, he exited the bathroom to find Kris still on guard. Tao lurked at the end of the hallway, waiting for them. It was uplifting to know that if something had gone wrong, they cared enough to take time out of their day and just be near him.
"Back to bed? Luhan's gone to the store to get some cold medicine. And you need to eat something. And water."
"Kris, you really don't have to. I mean, I'm not really hung-"
Kris whirled on him. "You will eat," he demanded. The part of Chanyeol that had submitted so easily to Sarang sprang to life, and he dropped his eyes.
"Okay," he said.
He couldn't see Kris's expression, but he saw out of the corner of his eyes the way the older rapper drew back in surprise at his sudden acquiescence. When the silence stretched and neither of them moved, he risked a glance into Kris's face, and saw the other man considering him with more interest than the situation warranted. Suddenly embarrassed - Kris wasn't Sarang, he reminded himself forcefully - he cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Well, now that that's sorted out," he started, but the words trailed off when Kris neither moved nor responded. "What?"
Kris shook himself. "Nothing. I was just thinking about something, that's all. Xiumin's conspiring with Kyungsoo to make you some more soup and I think toast."
Lay burst into Exo-K's dorm with a slightly wild look on his face. "Baekhyun's awake and is freaking out," he said. Chanyeol had the impression of a lesser officer reporting to a general. Kris glanced at Chanyeol, and by unspoken agreement, they started back to Exo-M's dorm. He gave his bedroom a backwards glance, wondering why they wanted him in Exo-M's room, but remembering the fierce expression on Kris's face when he'd ordered him to eat, he didn't press the issue.
"Whose room is this, anyway?" Chanyeol asked when they'd returned.
"Mine," Kris said shortly. Chen was bent over the bed, straightening the sheets. Chanyeol noticed they'd been changed while he was in the shower, and felt guilty that they were all taking care of him.
It was good care, and that wasn't why he was objecting. It was the necessity of having to be taken care of in the first place. Baekhyun appeared in the room like a tornado, stirring the currents despite doing nothing but stand still. The energy coming off him was palpable. "You changed," he said, and then visibly relaxed. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Kris said, and noticed Chanyeol putting a hand to his head. "Are you in pain?"
Chanyeol was beginning to feel stifled again. "Just dizzy," he said. Three pairs of hands immediately reached out to help him into the bed. As promised, Kyungsoo and Xiumin appeared with a tray containing soup, rice, water, orange juice, crackers, and even some fresh fruit. It would rest lightly in his stomach, but still provide nourishment. At the smell of the soup his stomach gurgled, reminding him that he hadn't really eaten much of anything in several days. Kris shooed everyone but Baekhyun out of the room while Chanyeol ate, making a point of asking where Tao was. Chanyeol knew he was going to become the topic of even more discussion, and wondered what they were going to say about him.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Baekhyun hovered, looking guilty and unhappy while he ate.
"Tired," Chanyeol said. "I think I'm sick now on top of everything else."
"That's what you get for wandering around in the rain," Baekhyun said firmly, but the lines around his eyes said he was more worried than he was letting on.
"That wasn't your fault," Chanyeol reassured him. "None of it was your fault."
"It was too. If -"
"It was not. Kris and Tao lied for you. That makes it their fault. Do you see me holding it against them?"
Baekhyun's expression turned sulky. "No."
"Then don't hold it against yourself."
Baekhyun stuck his tongue out at him. "Merong," he said. Chanyeol grinned.
"Don't stick it out unless you plan to use it."
Heat entered Baekhyun's eyes. "Don't tempt me."
Chanyeol sighed. "Don't do it anyway. I don't want you to get sick as well."
"Why not? It would just give them more to do. And maybe we could get you out of here and back into your own room where you belong."
Chanyeol surprised himself by eating everything the others had supplied for him with good appetite. With his stomach pleasantly full, and finally a decent temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, he found himself getting tired again. "This is becoming a pain," he muttered. Baekhyun understood, and put a hand on his forehead.
"Your fever's definitely gone," he pronounced. "But Dr. Kris says you've probably caught a cold now since your immune system was compromised by the fever. Get some sleep. I've already said I'm not going anywhere."
"I know."