Belated Bloom - Lay (EXOxLay)

Missing Pieces

A/N: 'nnn' - thoughts "nnn" - dialogue/Korean "nnnn" - Chinese

Four SM idols quietly sit in the back of their van as it swiftly traversed Tokyo, moving along the quickest route to the SMTown venue near the city center.

One of the idols sighed deeply, Renjun.

He had been holding back questions since he, Johnny, and Taeyong had picked up Yixing from the hospital. Renjun was silently letting his precious Xing-ge cuddle with him, but he knew he couldn't hold back his curiosity for much longer.

He couldn't stand the awkward and tense silence that had fallen upon the occupants of the van. Yixing lounged lethargically in his arms, curled up against him- seemingly unaware of the world around him. And it was literally driving him crazy.

'Easy now...' he paced himself.

His hyung was obviously in a fragile state at the moment, he had to be gentle but he wanted answers- no, he stopped himself. 'We need to comfort first then question'. But...the only way they could really help is to find out what happened in the first place...

Renjun bobbed his head in finality before bolstering himself mentally to question Yixing.

"Hyung" Renjun paused giving Yixing a small shake, "Why were you at the hospital?"

He calmly waited for his dazed hyung to react...a few seconds ticked by without any answer from Yixing.

Yixing had been doing that the whole ride to the arena; staring out the window blankly, silent and morose. And now, as Yixing turned to look at him, he felt something shift- the once fresh beta-like smell around him turned a bit acrid and a dark look crossed his hyung's face as well.

Renjun's face crinkled into a confused look. Yixing had smelled a bit off earlier, but this was something different- something familiar he couldn't quite place-

'This scent...doesn't smell like a beta. But, Yixing hyung is a beta...so where is it from? Or more accurately, whom is it from?' Renjun questioned, giving the inside of the van a once over, as the strange scent continued to assault his senses. It smelled...omegan? Maybe? but none of the van's occupants were omega...

"Do you smell that hyung?"

Renjun continued to sniff the air hoping to somehow recognize the vaguely familiar scent. Moving ever closer to the 'source', he found himself leaning over further- closer to Yixing's neck.

"Did you get into a fight with an omega?" Renjun paused, taking a few whiffs once more. When Yixing shifted away from him, Renjun moved back to sit up right once more. 'Why is he reacting so strangely to me? He's never been so stand off-ish with me before.' especially considering half the time they are together, they are cuddling.

"I mean, it's definitely not Baekhyun hyung-nim or Jongdae hyung-nim, and I know you have fought with them before- but this smells different and I don't know who's it is- but I'll kick their ass!" Renjun vowed in Chinese, continuing his rant as his urge to protect his hyung grew stronger with every word.

"I can see the bruises on your neck too! And you look so thin and so sad- did the omega do that to you? Did they jump you in the street? Who would do tha-"

"Xiao-Jun...it's not like that" his hyung sighed, turning away to look out the window- turning away from Renjun.

"Hyung, I know you and I know your scent. This isn't you," Yixing seemed to flinch at his words, but Renjun pressed on. "It's kinda...familiar actually...is it another omega from SM? Is that why you disappeared? To get away from them?"