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Ten rings the doorbell to the dorm the third time, annoyed by the lack of response. His legs ache after a long day of dance practice. Yes, Ten is aware it is nearing midnight but it is too early for any of his flatmates to be asleep. Even if Yangyang turns out to be at the Dreamies dorm again, there is no way Kun won't be home. The eldest has been locked away in his room, glued in front of his midi for the last two days, working on his music.
Ten is about to ring again when the door opens to reveal tired looking Kun. Ten is about to make a snarky comment on the other's increasing age but Kun simply turns his back on him without any greeting whatsoever. He watches the elder sadly plop himself back onto the couch.
Ten let's himself in and takes in the scene as he puts down his bag. The dorm is silent save for the movie playing on the TV which means Yangyang is at the Dream dorm. Leon lays halfway on Kun's lap while Louis sleeps by his feet. Kun blankly stares at the screen ahead holding ice cubes in his slightly trembling hands. Ten can see the whole ice tray on the table in front and one ice cube makes its way to Kun's mouth. Ah, it's one of those days , Ten comes to a conclusion.
Kun had often used the same ice cube trick to help Yangyang with his anxiety. Sicheng could be calmed down by making him focus on something visual. Ten has Louis and Leon to cuddle and care after to stop thinking. Sometimes even Kun who would sweetly distract- anyways, no time for that now.
While Kun knows how to help each of his lovers perfectly, he forgets how the same techniques won't work for him. Ten also worries about the leader catching cold, the leader already prone to them during the changing weather. Ten picks up the ice tray without receiving any complaints from the other, who seems lost in his own head. He deposits the nearly empty tray with the other empty one in the kitchen and comes back with a stress ball in his hands. He hands it to Kun with a soft heads up about going for shower and then that's what he does.
He comes back to find Kun missing from his place and the balcony window slightly open. He approaches it, finding Kun standing near the railing like a mindless robot. Ten is not surprised to find Kun there, it has been his favorite place in the dorm after his own room. The elder has even taken to planting a few small pots in one corner which Ten may or may not have tended to or talked to when the elder was busy.
Ten walks closer, taking Kun's cold hand in his and pulling him back to sit on the swing Ten insisted on installing. (What's the point of the balcony if you don't have a relaxing swing or armchair? Besides it goes with Kun’s old man aesthetic)
Ten stands behind Kun and starts messaging his tense, rigid shoulders. Ten works through the knots in his back, being unexpectedly careful and gentle. The other doesn't say anything but Ten feels his muscles giving in to his touch, relaxing ever so slightly. Ten doesn't hurry, he keeps going until the other's shoulders slowly but surely completely lax, his posture deflating.
"I am such a loser... I can't do it right, Tennie. I can't get the melody right. I am not getting the choreography right. I can't lead them right. I can't sing right. I am failing at everything, Tennie." Kun sobs, finally breaking out of his thoughts, letting go. Ten's fingers make their way up, carefully working on his neck and then nails scratching his scalp soothingly.
Ten understands where Kun is coming from, they all do. They all have had days, even long phases where nothing has gone right and each time Kun had been there for them. Their members had been there for them, easing things for them. Some of them need a distraction, some of them need physical affection, some of them need a way to organize their thoughts and make a plan and some of them need to just cry it out. This is what Kun needs, to just let go. Say it all of it out aloud, not hold back his thoughts and his frustrations. So Ten waits. Waits and listens to his friend talk, fingers in his hair never stopping to let him know he is here and he is listening.
Once Kun stops, Ten does too. He turns the swing to make Kun face him and climbs onto his lap, making himself comfortable. He holds out his hands for Kun to see before slowly placing them on his shoulders, steady.
"Qian Kun, I know everything seems out of hand, worse than it is right now but it's just a bad week, okay? Everything has an end. You do everything that's possible in every situation and that's more than enough. You are more than enough, Kun. We love you so much and you give us endless love back. You're not alone, we are right here with you." Ten cups his face between his hands and strokes his cheek with the pad of his thumb.
"It's just all anxiety fucking you over, Kunkun. You have done so much for us, for others, for yourself. I, we have watched you grow, baobei." He boops his nose gently, earning a choked half-chuckle half-sob. "You haven't rested in the last two days and I know you haven't eaten well. Don't even start me about drinking enough water. So, Qian Kun, for once let us take care of you, hm?"
Ten smiles as Kun nods slightly. Ten hugs him, making him rest his head on his shoulder, fingers threading through his hair again. He finds relief in Kun's calmer breaths against his neck, finds gratefulness in the tired slump of his lover's posture.
He pulls away and gets up when he feels Kun yawn, it must have been one or later than that. Kun let's Ten tug him into the kitchen, helps him reheat the food dorm auntie left for them.
Ten is about to play music when they sit down to eat before deciding otherwise at the last second. He doesn't want the music maniac with him to lose himself in his own head again. Instead he plays some ambience sounds and focuses on the delicious food in front of him.
The pair move out of the kitchen only after the dishes are done, choosing to settle for the night in Yangyang's room where the cats are. Ten brings his softest blanket to drape around them, knowing Kun's skin tends to be unusually sensitive when stressed or distraught. Kun snuggles into him, steadily claiming all of Ten to himself. Ten smiles, indulging the other as he too wraps his arms around him. He hears a faint thank you in his ear just as he is about to drift off to la la Land.
Yangyang quietly groans when he walks in to find his bed hogged again but he still captures a few pictures of his entangled boyfriends to send them in the group later. He decides that the only way to get back at the pair is, of course, by sleeping on top of them, crushing them in the process.