A Piece of Perfection

[1]

Baekhyun stared at an unfamiliar reflection. Strange, hollow eyes stared back at him from the mirror. He had his shirt pulled up and was staring intently at his stomach. His ab-less stomach. He poked at the soft skin with distaste.

He had heard the whispered comments. The fans' snickers.

He knew he didn't have abs or the perfect sculpted body like some of the other members. He just hadn't thought it mattered. Until now.

He thought he would be loved for who he was. Why did it matter that he didn't have a six-pack? Did it change who he was? Make him any less funny? Any less of a good singer?

But only now did he realize just how flawed he was. His body was ugly. He was ugly.

Baekhyun bit his lip and willed himself not to cry.

-

Yixing walked in on Baekhyun staring at himself in the mirror. At his own body—to be more exact.

Suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place in Yixing's mind. Now he understood why the younger boy had eaten close to nothing at dinner. Why he had seemed so down at the concert the other night. Why he refused to change in front of the other members all of a sudden. Why he had showered alone this morning.

To Yixing, Baekhyun had always seemed to one of the most confident out of all the members. He felt completely comfortable traipsing around the dorm, wearing close to nothing. He was loud and flamboyant and embarrassing. And Yixing loved him just the way he was.

And to think that he now felt self-conscious of his beautiful body—that hurt Yixing.

-

Baekhyun hadn't noticed Yixing slip noiselessly into the bathroom. Hadn't caught the way the older man looked at him.

Now his eyes met Yixing's gaze in the mirror. He quickly pulled his shirt down and willed himself not to blush.

Yixing looked at him intensely with some dark, unreadable emotion in his eyes.

He was about to stammer out an excuse and brush past Yixing when Yixing suddenly strode forward and swept Baekhyun into a hug.

"Wha—What's this for?" Baekhyun let out a surprised yelp.

Yixing clutched him tightly, "I know what you're thinking Baekhyunnie. It's not true. You're absolutely perfect."

Baekhyun wrenched himself out of Yixing's grasp and looked at the older man with sad eyes, "But that's just it- I'm not."

-

A pang shot through Yixing's heart.

Why would anyone even dare to hurt his Baekhyun?

He was suddenly angry. Baekhyun didn't deserve this. Only those closest to the younger boy would understand how hard he worked to please the fans and the rest of the group.

Yixing would get a warm feeling whenever he came back from China and found the younger boy waiting up for him in the living room. Baekhyun would be eagerly awaiting his arrival and would doze off from fatigue. But nevertheless, he'd be there- waiting for his hyung to come back to him. A spark of something Yixing couldn't put a name to, would flare up in the pit of his stomach when Baekhyun snuggled up to him and fell asleep on his shoulder. When he curled into him. Yixing would look forward to going back to Korea just to be in the other boy's presence again.

Yixing shook his head earnestly, "No. Baekhyun—baby—you're absolutely perfect just the way you are. You don't need to change for anyone. You're talented, smart, funny, and beautiful. You're the light and joy of Exo and it hurts me to see you like this. To see you think that you're not enough. You're more than enough. You're perfect."