Blood of the convenant

Chapter 5

The silence in car was oppressing and cold. Suho spared a glance towards Xiumin who was driving. Luhan had gone missing for a month now. They couldn't even find a trace of him. The rest of EXO weren't really talking to him. Baekhyun and Kai don't attend the weekly gatherings in Suho's house anymore. The atmosphere was subdued, when the rest of EXO did visit. The young men even left earlier than usual. Suho sighed in frustration as he leaned his head against the headrest of his seat. He hated this feeling.

Though he didn't actively participate in EXO's gatherings, these men were his best friends. They were the reason he didn't go crazy in the first few years after his mother left. They were his pillars of strength. He loved their laughter in his otherwise quiet and sad home. Now he had lost years of friendship thanks to a kid they had met 3 months ago and barely knew. He needed to them back. Suho bit his lower lip as he sneaked another look at his friend.

"Xiumin?"

Xiumin started. He hadn't expected Suho to break the silence. But it was the tone Suho had used that affected him. The insecure waver in his voice didn't go unnoticed by Xiumin. He was immediately concerned. Suho hadn't sounded like that for years. The last time Suho had called out to him like that when Xiumin had found him crying in his bedroom after his 13th birthday, the first one after his mother had left.

Xiumin remembered holding Suho in his arms, soothing him and telling him to let all the pain out.

"Yeah, Suho?"

"Let's...Let's have dinner together...today?"

Xiumin almost braked the car in shock. Suho had never initiated any kind of dinner gathering ever. Were the walls in Suho's heart finally crumbling?

"Min?" Again the tone.

Xiumin almost laughed.

"You haven't called me by that nickname for a long time, Suho! I missed it."

Suho smile sadly as he watched Xiumin took a deep breath.

"I can have dinner with you." He replied.

Suho sat up.

"That's great! We could call the rest as well..."

Xiumin smiled.

"Sure."

***

The silence was uncomfortable. Suho looked around the table.

"Baekhyun isn't here." He observed.

Xiumin bit back a sigh.

"I left a message for him. He didn't reply -"

Just then Baekhyun walked in, avoiding eye contact with Suho. His mouth was set in a thin line.

"I'm here." He muttered.

The awkwardness continued as everyone simply studied the menu quietly.

"I'm sorry."

The rest of Exo looked up at Suho in surprise. Suho flashed an apologetic smile at them as he made eye contact with each and every one of them.

"I hurt you guys and I'm sorry."

Baekhyun sighed.

"Its...I'm not mad at you Suho. I just wish you'd be more ...open...I want the old Suho back. The guy who cared about everyone."

Then rest of them nodded in agreement.

"The old Suho ...he would have gone out every night to search for the kid. " Baekhyun continued as he ran a tired hand through his hair. "He wouldn't have sat back and not done anything."