Turn Up The Bright Lights

"I'm a bartender. I don't do happy hugs and flowers."

"Can you get home alright?" Now that the scene was over, Sarang was carefully solicitous. Chanyeol would have appreciated it more if it wasn't interfering with his buzz. His body was humming in the aftermath of devastating pleasure, such as he'd never even known with the girls he'd slept with in high school.
"It's only a short walk," Chanyeol insisted, pulling on his clothes.
"Very well," Sarang said. "Just know that once you step foot out the front door, we are no longer accountable for your safety. You can still be struck by a car, or mugged."
"Maybe lightning will fall out of the sky and strike me dead," Chanyeol muttered. "I'll be fine."
"One last thing," Sarang said, and produced something from his pocket. "Until your training is over, I expect you to wear this at all times in my presence, do you understand?" The tone of command was back in his voice. Chanyeol submitted patiently while Sarang fastened the thing around his neck. In the mirror, he saw that it was a necklace, a simple black string with a charm dangling from it. Upon closer inspection, he realised it was a stylized "S" with a tiny, engraved sign beneath it. The sign read "Liebe." Chanyeol blinked at it. "It signifies that you are my sub. It identifies you as claimed to the other doms, and is a sign of my domination. I don't care what you do with it when you're not here," Sarang added carelessly. "But do not. Under any circumstances, lose it. Do you understand?"
"Yes, master," Chanyeol said. It was oddly touching. He let himself out of the room and half-staggered through the crowded floor.
When he made it back to the dorm, he was surprised to realise the whole encounter had taken less than two hours. It wasn't even eight o'clock yet. Moving on autopilot, for halfway home a bone-deep tiredness had settled into him, he let himself into his room, and - ignoring Baekhyun's startled yelp - fell face first across his bed.
"Where have you been?" Baekhyun demanded.
"Out," Chanyeol mumbled. Without even undressing or bothering to take his shoes off, Chanyeol fell asleep right then and there.

Baekhyun was gone again when he woke up. Since Baekhyun usually woke up before him, this wasn't alarming. The fact that his shoes were missing, and someone had covered him with a blanket was. His hand went first to the necklace Sarang had given him, and he sighed with relief to realise it was still around his neck. He took it off and shoved it under his pillow. Then, fearing that wasn't safe enough, he went to his jewelry box and hid it in one of the little drawers among his earrings.
When the initial burst of panic-fueled adrenaline had worn off, he found himself stiff and sore. He stretched and winced, half-afraid to look in case he found bruises. Grateful that they at least had private showers, he took some clean clothes into the bathroom with him.
Clean and dry and dressed in fresh clothes, he found himself feeling better. He still felt relaxed, languid, and had a sudden insight into Baekhyun's motivation for seeking out the club, and Sarang. Wandering into the sitting room, he found Kyungsoo and Kai on the couch, and Sehun stretched out on the floor, watching cartoons.
"Suho and Baekhyun went to get coffee," Sehun said when he noticed Chanyeol in the doorway. "Apparently we're out."
Chanyeol grunted in reply, and turned back around. On a whim, he looked through Baekhyun's jewelry box. At the very bottom, beneath a pile of bracelets, he found a necklace that looked just like his. The little sign on the bottom read "Starling," though. If he'd had any doubts, the discovery of the necklace dispelled them. He hurriedly put everything back together, and returned to the living room just in time to see Baekhyun and Suho burst in through the front door, laughing hard and soaking wet.
"It started raining," Suho explained. Baekhyun sobered when he saw Chanyeol, and for a moment there was an awkward silence between them. Sehun broke it by bounding up to Baekhyun and demanding the coffee.
He was disappointed by the newfound awkwardness between them, and wondered how long it would take Baekhyun to confront him over it. As it turned out, not long at all.
"Where were you last night?"
Chanyeol glanced up from the lyrics he was reading, confused. "What?"
"Last night. Mysterious disappearances. Ringing any bells?" Baekhyun closed the door behind him and leaned against it. Chanyeol set the lyrics aside and folded his arms across his chest.
"Mysterious errands," he said. Baekhyun blanched. "Unexplained disappearances. Are those ringing bells?"
"I do have friends and a life outside of Exo, you know," Baekhyun said.
"So do I. And you're not my mother; I'm not answerable to you over what I do in my free time."
Baekhyun scowled. "Were you at the club last Friday night?"
There was no way to weasel out of that one. Chanyeol flinched. "I was," he said slowly. Baekhyun went white. "But it's like I just said to you. I'm not your mother either, and you're not answerable to me about what you do in your free time."
"You won't tell the others?"
"It's none of my business."
Trembling, Baekhyun nodded jerkily, and fumbled for the doorknob before stumbling out of the room backwards. When Chanyeol emerged a few minutes later, he was told by Kai that Baekhyun - looking like the hounds of hell were after him - had left on one of his 'errands.' Chanyeol sighed, and wondered if it was going to drive them apart. What could they do, bond over Sarang's methods of punishment? Chanyeol had been expecting Baekhyun to run to him tonight anyway, seeing as how they had a performance the next day, but he didn't like thinking that he was the cause of such haste.
And Baekhyun had forgotten his necklace. Chanyeol was half-tempted to follow him to the club again, just to see if Sarang would make good on his threat over appearing without it, but decided discretion was the better part of valour. He chose instead to watch a movie with the others, lounging on the floor beside Sehun, who spent the entire time texting Luhan.