Belated Bloom - Lay (EXOxLay)

Misstep

The dorm was nearly empty seeing as NCT-U were beginning preparations for debut that was only a few months from now, and the others were all working hard (hoping to be apart of the next unit after U). So, Johnny had free reign of the dorm for the day, no dongsaengs running about or chaos (as usual in the dorm)- just lovely, lovely silence. He smiled in contentment as he walked into the small kitchen to make some lunch before they all returned.

It wasn't his usual shtick (cooking), Taeyong was the one who loved to cook for the boys (it was usually the maknae or eldest omega's chore but Taeyong always insisted, even though he was the alpha) but he was busy today with NCT-U and would probably want lunch prepared before they returned from practice, so being the loving hyung and dongsaeng Johnny was he decided to cook just this once.

'As long as nothing gets burned I think they will eat it...hmmm, maybe just stick to soup then? Just to be on the safe side'.

*ding* *dong*

Johnny panicked, 'Oh no, are they back early!? Shit, Taeyong's gonna flip!' no joke though, Taeyong could hold a grudge- and it was NOT pretty. Johnny stomped his way through the dorm as he ran full tilt to the door, his feet slid on the wood floor as he came to a sudden stop in front of the door.

*thunk* *beep*

"Hello?"

To his surprise, and utter relief really, it was not any member of NCT- it was his favorite hyung Yixing!

"Hyung!" he cried, jumping the poor soul before he could even get one word in. 'Still too skinny' he thought as he squeezed Yixing's slim figure tightly, completely encompassed by Johnny's bulkier figure.

He had not seen Yixing for quite some time, he knew of course his hyung had been in China- they had received many calls over the past three months- but seeing him and holding him, even smelling him, it so much better than any call he could have made. Speaking of smell though, his hyung smelled ... off? Which was weird since Yixing-hyung never smelled different. He was like a rock, his scent never changed. Johnny gave him a tight squeeze before backing away fully to get a good look at his sweet hyung.

It was then he realized something was wrong, beside the fact Yixing had yet to greet him back, he wasn't smiling. His eyes- they looked...dead. Those gorgeous, perpetually shining mocha eyes now looked dark and lifeless- something was definitely wrong.

"Xing-hyung" he asked hesitantly, hands now lightly resting on the other's shoulders, "Has...has something happened? In China?...or here?" he asked dumbly, unsure how to translate his worries into words.

Yixing gave no response at all. The lithe, pale man before him didn't even move, his gaze seemed far off and his eyes took on a glazed look, "hyung?"

"It's...can I stay here for a bit?" even his voice sounded dead and it scared the shit out of Johnny.

"What? Why? I mean, not that you can't! Of course you CAN hyung, I just mean... um, did Exo do something again?" Johnny was almost sure Exo had done something but there was no telling the extent or details and Yixing was so far gone Johnny couldn't gauge his reaction to the question because he literally had none. Yixing just continued staring off down the hallway with a sad, almost confused gaze.

The only people who effected his hyung this deeply were his band members, Exo. Whenever Yixing comes to them crying, it's because of Exo crap- whenever he's hyper and happy, it's usually Exo's doing as well. It always came in waves and most of NCT had witnessed them because they were the ones that held him when he cried or received the excited calls from Yixing during the good times.