Guts (EXO)

To Save a Life

"You okay?"

Hyerin lifted her gaze up to meet Baekhyun's pretty brown eyes. "Huh? Yeah, I'm okay. Why'd you ask?" she asked, fixing the cuff links of the waitress uniform she was wearing. She moved on to tying her bowtie, although she was having difficulty with it.

Baekhyun clipped on his suspenders before slipping on his coat. "You look pretty down. What's the matter?" He stared at Hyerin's fingers struggling with the bowtie. "Did something happen?"

"What? No, no, it's just that," she sighed, giving up on the tie. She propped a hand on her waist before continuing. "I'm just worried about Kai. Ever since that night he got drunk, he's been so quiet," she said, looking down on the floor.

Baekhyun let out a breath before slowly sauntering over to Hyerin; he took her bowtie in his hands and tied it for her. "You know, just like the rest of us, Kai can hold his own," he started as he worked on her tie. All she can do was stare up at him. "He'll get over it sooner or later. He can't stay sad forever. There," He pulled on the bow to tighten it. He proceeded to dust invisible lint from her coat to top it off. "All done."

Hyerin couldn't help but smile. She liked the contact. "Thanks," she mumbled. "And yeah, I guess you're right. He'll get over it sooner or later." She shrugged.

"Mhm. Kai's a big boy." He returned the smile, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine." It traveled up to the crook of her neck, squeezing slightly. It made her shiver, but in an oddly good way.

"Everyone ready?"

Hyerin and Baekhyun broke the contact once Kris came into the room along with the others.

Baekhyun nodded. "Yeah. We're good to go."

It was already the day of Suho's family's grand party held in their humongous garden. The first time Hyerin stepped inside the household, she thought it was like a real-life palace. Their house was nothing compared to the Kim's manor. It made her wonder if Kai's home was as big as this.

The gang decided to not put too much attention on them, deciding it would be best to disguise a few of them as waiters, while the rest can pose as guests without attracting any familiar eyes.

"Check your earpieces everyone," Kris commanded. Hyerin, Baekhyun, Lay, Xiumin, Tao, and Luhan did as he said, all the while adjusting their black and white waiter uniforms.

"Alright. Suho, Kai, can you hear me?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Perfect. Let's do this," Kris sighed, walking out of the kitchen along with the others who were holding trays of either appetizers or drinks.

Once they stepped outside into the garden, they parted ways.

The venue was beautiful. Big round tables spread out along the vast garden, with pretty red and white centerpieces placed on top of each table. There was no need for excessive amount of decoration as the variety of flowers in the garden grown by Suho's family were already beautiful by itself. Tall white posts surrounding the venue provided dim romantic lighting, and a platform was placed at the end of the garden against a wall covered with English ivy. That was where Suho and Kai's families were, along with another table for their honorary guest; the mayor.

Hyerin made her way around the tables and served wine to the elite guests.

She spotted Suho and Kai in their respective tables, both doing exactly the opposite of each other; Suho was actively participating in the conversation that was going on in his family's table, sometimes even looking like he was sharing a story of some sort, while Kai was slumped in his chair, staring down at his food as he blocked out his family's conversation. She spotted what looked to be his father beside him as he practically appeared like an older version of Kai.