First Love | EXO Fanfiction (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 12

Baekhyun's next round of tours started just a week later. This time in China and Japan before everything wrapped up in Seoul. Mina kept up with news on Baekhyun, watching his performances almost religiously since his lack of communication with her continued. She noticed he had a slight limp at the show in Japan, but he waved it off as a waist injury from getting too excited during certain choreographies.

Mina still knew it was something else though. He was fatigued, his eyes didn't have the same shine in them, and he was on the brink of tears at the last show in China. She noticed the other members did not comfort him like they did the others, in fact, they rarely spoke to him. The fans still treated him the same, and Mina appreciated that.

On the night after his last encore show in Seoul, Mina had took it upon herself to make an extravagant dinner for them both. It was impossible for them to go out and eat, and she wanted him to know he was loved and somehow make him feel better.

She prepared his favorite dish, and kept it warm in the oven until she heard the front door open, signaling his arrival. She stood to her feet to greet him, but the air around him was different. His aura was anything but normal.

"Hey, babe." She greeted him as usual, watching as he started his usual routine of taking his shoes off and stretching.

"Hey." He met her eyes only briefly.

"Congratulations on a successful tour." She tried to stay upbeat and happy, but she saw the sadness written in his eyes. "I have a surprise for you!"

"Mina... baby... I'm tired." His response was dry, aching.

"But you're hungry too, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Just come in the kitchen. Then you can rest." She took his hand, but it was limp in hers. She dropped his hand to get the food from the oven and place it on the counter. "I made your favorite," she said happily, trying to ignore his bad mood.

He let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. "Mina... we need to talk."

She froze. Oh no...

The words seemed to be hard for him to produce as he stopped mid-sentence to tangle his fingers in his hair. It was then she saw the outline of a purplish blue bruise right below his wrist. She frowned, remembering a very similar injury on his shoulder on the same side of his body.

"Mina... I just can't..." he sputtered before she could ask him about the wound.

"You can't what?"

"I can't... keep seeing you. We can't be together." He kept his gaze averted from hers as he dropped his arm.

She couldn't help but laugh under her breath in surprise, but her heart felt like breaking. "Baekhyun... what are you saying...?"

He looked so hurt Mina thought her heart would break. "I want to break up with you."

"But... why...?" Her voice nearly dropped to a whisper. "Baekhyun, we have everything-"

"We have nothing." He sighed. "Mina, I have to hide you not just from my fans, but from my friends, from my job, from my family... do you know how hard that is?" His voice cracked. "I love you so much, but this relationship... it's not healthy."

"Where is this coming from? You never had to hide me from anyone. We're fine. You're over reacting-"

"We're not!" He suddenly snapped, his voice becoming deeper. "You don't know half of the stuff that's going on when you're not around!"

"If you told me then I would! We're supposed to communicate with one another! That's what a relationship is!"

"Don't tell me what a relationship is, Mina!"

Is he seriously stooping that low? She flinched, but stood her ground. "But you haven't been communicating with me at all about your problems! That's what I'm here for! All you've been doing is pouting around like you lost your best friend! What's going on Baekhyun?"

He paused. "I... I can't..."

"Does it... have to do with your arm?" she asked quietly as she walked around the kitchen island to approach him.

His eyes widened before he turned on his heel. "That's none of your business."

"You know I'm always here for you! Why won't you let me help you!?" She grabbed his wrist to stop him and he cried out in pain. "Baekhyun..."

"I'm fine!" Every muscle in his body tensed, and she knew he wanted to push her away but he couldn't because he was afraid of hurting her.

"You're not!" She rolled the sleeve of his white button up shirt up to his elbow. She pressed her lips into a thin line at the sight of the bruise.

It's bigger than I thought... She glanced up at his face, but he still refused to make eye contact with her. "Baekhyun, what's going on? Talk to me. And don't tell me it's nothing."

He sighed, a look of utter defeat crossing his face.

"Are they hitting you?"

"I..."

"Yes, or no?"

He made eye contact with her for a split second before looking away. "It's a stage injury. I tripped and fell going down some stairs and hit my wrist on the handrail. My shoulder hit the stair. It's nothing. Stop worrying about me." He snatched his arm away from her, wincing in pain. She heard him whimper before he stormed off to their bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

She wanted to yell after him, but he was so closed off she knew she'd get nowhere. Instead she plopped down on the sofa, wishing she could talk to anybody about what was happening with her boyfriend, but there was no one...

Wait... Yes there is. She raised her head from her hands. She had played with fire this entire month, she knew it burned, but she needed answers and there was only one person she could talk to.

Oh Sehun.

---

A/N: Yikes...!  What an update, huh? Do you guys have any ideas on what's actually going on? Do you think Baekhyun's telling the truth or is something darker going on behind the scenes? But I guess the big question is why on earth would Mina talk to Sehun after everything? Discuss your thoughts below if you want!

Once again, thank you all for reading and thank you even more for voting and your comments! As the chapters continue more and more things will unfold, so I hope you all are looking forward to it! I'll see you all next update :)