Chapter 6: Light Bleeds Too

...“They called me the light, but they never asked how much darkness I swallowed to shine.” — Baekhyun...

There’s a peculiar silence that settles after the cheers fade.

Baekhyun sat alone on the stage, the stadium empty, the lights dimmed to a soft gold. His chest still rose and fell from the final note, his fingers trembling slightly from the adrenaline. He had given them everything—again. Every note, every smirk, every wink. The fans had screamed, cried, chanted his name. Baekhyun.

But now? Only silence.

And silence was always the loudest thing he knew.

He stood and walked toward the edge of the stage, looking out over the sea of empty seats. The same stage where once, twelve shadows had danced and laughed and sung together. Now, only echoes remained. He could still hear Chanyeol’s deep laughter. Jongin’s quiet focus. Suho’s calming leadership. Even Kyungsoo’s sharp remarks that hid warm glances.

Baekhyun closed his eyes. Where did it all go wrong?

He still remembered the day Luhan left. The first domino to fall.

Then Tao. Kris.

The EXO they had built, brick by brick, dream by dream, fractured like glass under pressure.

And Baekhyun? He had smiled through it all.

Laughed louder. Worked harder.

Because someone had to hold the light.

But it was getting harder to hold.

The light was changing. Not the one on stage—the one inside him.

It started months ago. A flicker in his fingertips. A static pulse whenever he hit high notes. Then came the dream—fire, lightning, and a voice whispering in a language he didn’t understand. Ancient. Familiar.

And that night in the alley when a man tried to grab his wrist, the light exploded. Not metaphorically. Literally.

The attacker had been thrown twenty feet, blinded temporarily by a flash of white. Baekhyun had stood there, frozen, his hand still glowing.

It terrified him.

So he ran. Not physically. But emotionally. He dove into solo work, schedules, exhausting himself so thoroughly that the power would stay buried. Sleep became his enemy—dreams kept dragging him to places with red skies and broken moons.

He told no one.

Until now.

Because today, after another concert in Busan, a name appeared in his inbox. A private message.

Junmyeon-hyung.

“We need to talk. It’s happening again. Let us in.”

Baekhyun didn’t reply. But he left the venue doors open.

He heard them before he saw them. Suho's calm steps. Lay’s almost-silent presence. And then—

“Sehun?” Baekhyun blinked.

“Missed me, hyung?” Sehun grinned, voice softer than usual.

Baekhyun tried to smile, but his throat closed up. Sehun had changed. Taller, sharper, eyes older. There was pain there. But also strength. Familiar wind curled slightly at Baekhyun’s wrist.

“You awakened too,” Baekhyun whispered.

Sehun nodded. “We all are. One by one.”

Suho stepped forward. “You’ve felt it too, haven’t you?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer. Instead, he raised his hand—and let the glow spark.

It wasn’t just light. It was energy. Alive. Pulsing. Like a heartbeat made of stars.

Lay stepped closer, cautious but unafraid. “You’re one of the strongest.”

Baekhyun scoffed. “Then why do I feel so broken?”

They moved backstage to the dressing room—Baekhyun’s sanctuary. A place where masks came off, both makeup and emotional.

Suho sat across from him, hands folded. “Baek, we’re forming again. Kai’s already with Kyungsoo. We’ve found Sehun. Now you.”

Baekhyun leaned back against the vanity mirror. “Why now? After all these years?”

“Because the Red Force never died,” Lay said. “It just went quiet. Watching. Waiting.”

“And we forgot,” Suho added. “We forgot who we were. What we are.”

Baekhyun looked at his reflection. His eyes were tired. But the light still danced there.

“You think we can become EXO again?” he asked softly.

Suho met his gaze. “Not like before. But stronger. Truer.”

Later that night, Sehun found Baekhyun sitting on the beach behind the hotel.

They sat in silence, listening to the waves.

“I hated you for a while,” Sehun said suddenly.

Baekhyun looked over, startled.

“When everything fell apart, you kept smiling. I thought… you didn’t care.”

Baekhyun's laugh was bitter. “I smiled because I was scared if I stopped, I’d never stop crying.”

Sehun glanced at him, and for a moment, he saw the truth—the cracks beneath the glitter.

“I get it now,” Sehun said. “You carried the light so we didn’t have to.”

Baekhyun blinked fast, surprised by the sting in his eyes.

“You don’t have to anymore,” Sehun added, his voice gentler.

The wind swirled around them. The ocean reflected stars. And for the first time in years, Baekhyun let himself lean—just a little—against someone else.

Back in his hotel room, Baekhyun pulled out a notebook. One he hadn’t opened in a long time.

He wrote three words on the first page:

Project Phoenix: EXO Reborn

Underneath, he drew nine stars.

He didn’t know what was coming. But for the first time in years, he wasn’t afraid of the darkness.

Because now, he remembered:

Even light needs shadows to shine.

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