To Be Replaced

Part 8

You sit on one of their couches and twiddle your fingers in anticipation. Junmyeon had made you choose to either call Baekhyun yourself or let Jongdae do it. Obviously, you let Jongdae do it because you weren't ready to talk to Baekhyun, but you were curious about what happened next.

You thought you heard a shout at one point when Jongdae was on the phone with Baekhyun, but Jongdae wouldn't tell you anything that was said, so you couldn't be sure.

"I can't believe you were a missing person for eight hours," Chanyeol mumbles, causing Jongdae to curiously tilt his head.

"Where did you go anyway?"

You freeze at Jongdae's question because you didn't know how Chanyeol was going to react to your answer. If you tried to give a vague answer like "I was just with a friend", they'd hound you until you gave them the name of whoever this "friend" was, so you knew you had to tell the truth.

You look at Chanyeol through your lashes and quietly say, "I went to Miyoung's..."

Some of the boy's eyes widen at the name, while the rest of them look over at Chanyeol for his reaction. He stares at you for a long moment, like he was trying to decide how he felt about it, before slowly nodding.

"At least you were safe."

You raise your brows in surprise. For some reason, Chanyeol nonchalantly saying okay wasn't on your expected list of reactions, and you weren't the only one.

Sehun, who had been glued to your side since you sat down, says, "Wow. That's all you have to say?"

Chanyeol shrugs his shoulders and looks away from the rest of the group, not offering any more information.

The rest of you fall silent after that. The boys were too exhausted to do much else, and you were too lost in your own thoughts to offer much in conversation.

You were such an asshole for doing this to them, for making them worry so much. You had just never expected this outcome. You didn't expect Baekhyun to immediately call them and let them know what was going on. You thought he'd probably tell them at some point today, but Baekhyun must've been more worried for you than you realized he'd be.

You think back to what Junmyeon had said about Baekhyun being out of his mind with worry. That, paired with Jongdae's face when he was on the phone with Baekhyun, made it hard to breathe. You quickly noticed the heartbroken look Jongdae tried to hide from the rest of you as he listened to Baekhyun on the phone. You wonder what caused that reaction... but you don't try to think about it too much because you were sure it would break your heart.

Baekhyun being hurt, upset, or panicked always broke your heart.

You also think about Junmyeon's comment about all of you being childish. Maybe this entire thing seemed stupid to the other members... Maybe –

The front door of the dorm room slams open, shaking you out of your thoughts and making you sit up in surprise. The members, who had begun to fall asleep around you, jump up at the sudden sound, and you all look over to see Baekhyun flying into the living room. His eyes frantically search the room until he spots you, and then he makes a beeline straight for you.

You only see a flash of his face as he runs toward you, but what you can see makes your stomach flip. He looked completely distraught. His hair was wild and unkempt, his face was puffy, and the dark bags under his eyes make it look like he's been to hell and back. The men around you looked bad, but Baekhyun... Baekhyun looked beyond worse.

The second he reaches you, he pulls you up from the couch and squeezes you tightly to him. He tucks his head into your neck as you hear him mumble how sorry he is over and over. You stand there motionless until you feel your neck begin to grow wet from his tears.