Featuring: BaekHan, Chen, Yixing

---------

"Luhan oppa! Over here, I saved you a spot!" A girl waved enthusiastically once the school's most handsome and popular guy stepped into the classroom. 

Luhan was often referred to as the school's Prince Charming that all the girls and more than half the guys swooned over. He was down to earth, kind, friendly, athletic, smart and basically all the words that had a positive connotation could be used to describe him. His fan club consisted of nearly the entire school population.

Baekhyun perked up upon hearing the name and focused his attention on the said male. His lips subconsciously tugged upwards revealing an adorable rectangular shaped smile. 

"And then she..." Chen stopped in mid sentence once he realized his best friend was no longer paying him any attention. "Byun Baekhyun my disaster date is not a smiling matter!" 

"Huh?" He flinched at the sudden outburst and averted his attention back to Chen. 

All Chen managed to do was roll his eyes displeasingly before both were distracted by more shouting. 

"No! Oppa, come sit over here!" Another girl yelled out from the other side of the room. 

But instead of replying, Luhan just politely smiled and waved at his classmates. He then spotted his best friend and walked over to sit beside Yixing.

"Everyone sit and settle down. Class is starting." Their professor Ms. Zhou called out as she closed the door behind her.  She began speaking once the noise dissipated. "Today's class will be short. About your project that is due next week, your challenge is to create your own music and write your own lyrics. The topic is love. Now I've decided that this time it will be done in partners-" 

However, before she was able to finish her thought, the class broke out in commotion once again with most of the girls and some of the boys arguing over who was to be Luhan's partner. 

Clearly fed up with her students, Ms. Zhou slammed a textbook down on her desk. "You just proved to me that none of you are capable of choosing your own partners."

She looked through the class list and randomly started pairing the students. Groans and sulking was heard when they found out they weren't partnered with their Prince Charming. "And lastly, that leaves Byun Baekhyun and Lu Han. Alright that's it for today." 

Baekhyun was packing up his bag when he noticed someone hovering over him. He looked up and instantly felt the blood rushing to his cheeks, his heart thumped erratically; skipping beats. A funny fluttering feeling was also invading his insides. And his palms felt sticky with sweat. The smile he tried flashing at Luhan came out looking more like a grimace. 

"Uh Baekhyun? Are you alright?" Luhan's tone of voice was laced with genuine worry. 

"Y-yeah, just fine." He replied. For once the full of confidence, loud mouthed Baekhyun couldn't find it in himself to make any eye contact. On the outside he displayed himself as shy. However, in contrast to that, internally, he was anything but calm. Baekhyun was shocked to the core, he never imagined that Luhan knew his name! Except he couldn't quite understand why he was reacting in such a way. 

Luhan was skeptical as he watched Baekhyun's grimace turn into a look of confusion but decided not to pry any further. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my dorm after school today so we can get started on the project?" 

Luhan awaited Baekhyun's response but the latter just looked too stunned to react. 

Chen  heaved a heavy sigh. This sorry excuse for a conversation was such a painful sight to see. He couldn't stand there watching any longer. "Baekhyun will be there for sure. He'll see you later." He answered on behalf of the love struck male. 

"Uh, alright. See ya." With an uncertain smile, Luhan and Yixing walked out of the classroom; followed by the flock of fans that didn't forget to glare in Baekhyun's direction as they exited. 

---------

"Seriously Byun? What the heck was that?" Chen finally asked after they'd purchased their lunches and sat themselves down at a table in the cafeteria. 

Of course Baekhyun understood what Chen was referring to but he wasn't going to admit to it. "I don't know what you're talking about." He looked away and stabbed at his food. 

"Really? Dare to look me in the eye and repeat that?" And when Chen received silence in response, he smirked in victory. "Alright Byun Baekhyun, quit playing dumb." 

Baekhyun took in a deep breath and released it through an exhausted sigh. "Chen, there's no easy way to tell you this but I think I've developed an incurable disease." 

He raised an eyebrow in question and shook his head in disapproval. "Baek, stop trying to change the subject. What relevance does this have about what I'm asking? Don't joke about something like this." 

"I'm being serious here! Every time I see Luhan, even when I'm around him, I can't seem to control my feelings. My heart goes way out of whack, my face heats up like I've got a fever or something. My hands get all clammy, and there's this bubbling in the pit of my stomach. For some reason I get angry when I see him and Yixing together! And the most absurd thing is I suddenly become shy, like I'm unable to react properly or I often zone out when he talks to me; and we all known Byun Baekhyun is anything but shy!" His eyes then widened in realization, practically hysterical. "Oh my god Chen! What if I'm on the verge of dying?!" 

The next thing that came out was a string of incoherent nonsense. Chen had had enough and finally got Baekhyun to calm down with a smack to the back of the head. 

"Ouch! That was uncalled for!" Baekhyun whined in protest as he rubbed at the dull aching pain. 

Chen rolled his eyes, completely disregarding Baekhyun's complaining. "Honestly, what kind of an idiot are you?! Look Baek, what you just described isn't some kind of incurable disease!" 

"How would you know? You're not a doctor!" 

"I don't have to be one to tell what's wrong with you! You're not sick, you have a crush on Luhan!" Chen retorted in a tone of annoyance.

Baekhyun's eyes dilated comically as he slumped back in his chair; slowly but surely allowing the information to sink in. 

That was ridiculous, impossible even. Baekhyun has heard all those fairytales as a child and had never believed in such silly things because they simply didn't exist. Falling in love can end in two ways, one: in happiness or two: in heartbreak. Contrary to his bold and confident personality, Baekhyun feared of getting hurt. That was one risk he was not willing to take. Thus he had never found himself to be attracted to anyone before, unfortunately Luhan seemed to be an exception; and the most frightening thing is, he had no control over what he was feeling. 

--------

As promised, Baekhyun arrived in front of Luhan's dorm. His heart was racing at just the thought of spending time with Luhan in his personal space. 

The door opened and he was greeted by Yixing. "Hey Baekhyun, come on in." 

"O-oh, hi Yixing hyung." Baekhyun had been caught off guard as he hadn't expected Luhan's roommate letting him in. 

Yixing allowed Baekhyun to make his way inside before he stepped out. "I won't be back for dinner tonight. See you later." He called out to Luhan. 

"Okay, bye." Luhan hollered back. He then noticed Baekhyun by the door. "Hey, I've got my stuff set up in the dining room." 

Luhan took his seat and Baekhyun followed suit. He noticed an array of snacks and drinks laid out on the table and was practically drooling. 

Luhan noticed this and couldn't help but smile. "I thought we could use some brain food. Go ahead and take whatever you want." 

The younger male nodded, feeling the heat creeping up on his cheeks; he couldn't differentiate if it was out of embarrassment or because of Luhan.

The silence in the room caused the atmosphere to become awkward. Baekhyun was uncomfortable with this. He hadn't meant to be uncooperative but he couldn't find it in himself to initiate the conversation. 

Moments later, Luhan cleared his throat to slice through the silence. "So uh, what are your thoughts about love?" 

Upon hearing this, Baekhyun who had been in the middle of sipping from his juice box began choking on his drink. "E-excuse me?" He managed to squeak after having calmed himself down. 

"Are you alright?" Luhan had been alarmed. 

Baekhyun nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm okay." 

Luhan relaxed back into his chair after he heard the confirmation. "Uh, the reason I asked that is because the topic for our song has to be about love." He clarified. 

Baekhyun never wished so much to be swallowed by the ground. Of course it was because of their project, why else would Luhan have asked in the first place?  'Stop embarrassing yourself Byun Baekhyun!' He mentally scolded. 

He recollected himself before answering Luhan. "Right. Well um, I suppose it depends which kind of love you're referring to." 

The taller male gave the response some thought. Baekhyun did make a valid point. After all, aside from lovers, love also existed between family and friends. "Is there a particular type of love you want to incorporate into our song?" 

Baekhyun pondered the question for a moment as he munched on a bag of chips. All the while a cute pout subconsciously formed on his lips as he contemplated. "Maybe we could generalize it. As in our lyrics don't have to speak specifically about one type of love." 

Luhan's doe eyes lit up at the suggestion. "That's a great idea. And most people probably wouldn't think to do that so it'll make ours look more unique and original." 

---------

Over the next couple days they brainstormed ideas for the message they wanted to convey across in the lyrics. Luhan volunteered to write the lyrics as Baekhyun would compose the music. 

Once the lyrics and music had been finalized they would meet up after school as often as they could to practice their performance. 

It amazed Baekhyun that the more time he spent with Luhan the less shy he was around the latter. Of course his heartbeat was still irregular from time to time but otherwise he felt comfortable just being himself. It was almost as if they'd been friends from the beginning. Chen had been impressed at the progress. 

On the day of their performance, Baekhyun had been very nervous but his nerves seemed to have settled down immensely after being reassured by Luhan that they worked hard and their performance would be just as great. 

"Alright class, before we get started here, I just wanted to remind everyone that marks will be available to pick up at the end of class." She made herself comfortable at her desk before she continued. "Now, any volunteers to go first?" 

Baekhyun turned his head towards Luhan when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Want to just get this over with?" 

He would've been against going first but Luhan's touch seemed to give him the strength and courage he needed. He replied with a nod and raised his hand up. "We'll go first." 

Luhan handed Ms. Zhou the lyric sheet for their song before taking his place in front of the mic stand, adjusting its height. Baekhyun situated himself behind the grand piano, also fixing the mic beside him.

He took in a deep breath before nodding his head at Luhan to indicate he was about to begin. 

Baekhyun's dainty fingers began drumming elegantly at the black and white keys filling the entire room with melodious music. Shortly after, Luhan's gentle but powerful singing voice intertwined with the music. They each had their own individual lines and harmonized during the chorus, finally ending their performance with a glide over the keys.  

The audience broke out into a thunderous applause once Baekhyun made his way over to Luhan and they both bowed. 

"Nicely done boys!" Their professor praised as a smile graced her lips. 

The weight was finally lifted off their shoulders knowing they were officially done. And they were overjoyed to see that Ms. Zhou seemed to have liked their performance. They high fived each other for a job well done. 

----------

Baekhyun was pacing around his room nervously as Chen was rummaging through his closet. 

Luhan had suggested they go out to dinner at a restaurant not that far off in distance from the university to celebrate the A+ they received on their music  project. 

Baekhyun enthusiastically agreed but now was regretting it. There was still an hour before he would be meeting up with Luhan but his biggest problem at hand was being indecisive about what to wear. 

At first he hadn't been bothered at all. It didn't matter what he'd end up going in as long as he looked presentable and was comfortable in his attire. But Chen was immediately horrified at the idea. He insisted that Baekhyun needed to make a good impression on their "first date". Therefore, Chen delegated himself to dolling his best friend up into perfection to impress Luhan. 

"Baek, why don't you have anything eye catching in here!" Chen complained as he gave up looking through the older male's clothing. 

"There's nothing wrong with my clothes!" He scowled defensively. 

Chen rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time that day. "Maybe not in general. But for a first date with your crush that happens to be our school's Prince Charming, this simply won't do!" 

"For the last time, it's not a date! It's just a celebration dinner." 

Chen just waved him off. "Psh, same difference." He suddenly perked up as an idea came into mind. "Wait right here, I think I have something you can borrow!" 

After Chen forcefully shoved him into the washroom to change, Baekhyun emerged clad in all black; leather jacket and skin tight skinny jeans. 

"I can't go out looking like this!" He exclaimed. 

The approving smile Chen had plastered on his face earlier faded and was replaced with an appalled expression. "What? Why not? You look amazing, better than in those graphic tees and ripped jeans any day!" 

Baekhyun shook his head in disagreement. "It's bad enough that I can barely move my legs in these jeans, why aren't I allowed to at least wear a shirt underneath this jacket?"

Chen rolled his eyes. "It's supposed to give off a y look, but Baek you're really not doing yourself any justice!" The zipper on the jacket was put up all the way to his neck. Chen took it and pulled it down to reveal his clavicle. "There, much better." 

He looked down at himself and felt even more uncomfortable. "I'm going to change." Baekhyun tried to make a run back into his room but Chen stood in front of him successfully blocking the elder's path. 

"No! There's not much time left, you have to leave the dorm in about 15 minutes and I'm still not done with you yet." 

Before Baekhyun could even think to complain, Chen had already pulled him back into the washroom. 

After nearly 10 minutes of struggling to get a very reluctant Baekhyun to cooperate with him, Chen took a step back to admire his work of art. "I must say Byun, you should really use makeup more often, you look hot!" 

Baekhyun scrunched his nose up in disgust. "Ew Kim Jongdae, coming from you, that's not very reassuring." He shuddered as he looked at his reflection through the mirror. He was definitely never going to get used to seeing himself with smoky eye shadow and thick eyeliner. 

"Whatever. Now out the door you go or else you're gonna be late!" 

Baekhyun's eyes enlarged with panic. "No Chen! I can't be seen like this!" 

Chen sighed. "Baekhyun, do you want to impress Luhan?"

 Baekhyun nodded shyly. 

"Exactly! And have I ever lied to you before?"  

His response was a skeptical glare from the other. 

Chen chuckled rather awkwardly. "Alright never mind, don't answer that. But trust me on this one, you look absolutely stunning!" When he noticed that Baekhyun seemed to be deep in thought, he took this chance to push the elder out the door; slamming it in his face. 

Baekhyun sighed. He didn't have much of a choice now, he really was going to be late. He would just have to hope for the best. 

--------

When Baekhyun walked into the restaurant he was greeted by the host. "Good evening, table for one sir?" 

Baekhyun's eyes wandered around the room and spotted Luhan already seated and looking through the menu. He smiled at the man informing him his friend had arrived. 

As he made his way to the back of the room he couldn't help but feel self conscious about his appearance. Out of the corner of his eye he could see people staring, pointing and probably whispering about him. But he reminded himself that Luhan's opinion was the only one that mattered to him, thus choosing to ignore the others around him. 

"Hey Luhan hyung, sorry I'm late." He greeted the other male sheepishly. 

Luhan lifted his head upon hearing his name. The mesmerizing smile he displayed faltered once he laid eyes upon the person standing in front of him. 

"O-oh my. B-Baekhyun?" The diameter of his eyes doubled in size, his mouth agape. "W-wow, I uh, almost didn't recognize you." His tone was flat with complete shock. 

Well that definitely wasn't the reaction he was expecting from Luhan. Baekhyun felt like he'd just been struck with a million arrows. He bit down harshly on his lower lip in an attempt to lessen the pain that was slowly accumulating within his chest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come tonight." 

At first, Luhan couldn't quite comprehend why Baekhyun was apologizing. But then the next second realization hit him hard. "Oh no! Gosh Baek, that wasn't what I meant. I-" 

"No, it's okay. I got the message, loud and clear." He interrupted Luhan and looked back at him with glossy eyes and a forced smile. "I'll see you around."

---------

Baekhyun made his way back to the university. He wasn't ready to be bombarded with questions from Chen just yet so he opted to walk around the soccer field instead. 

His thoughts drifted back to what happened previously. What had he been thinking in the first place? He shouldn't have listened to Chen. Moreover, he shouldn't have for one second even thought that there would be hope for anything more than friendship between them. 

"Byun Baekhyun you pabo.  I told you fairytales don't exist. Why did you even think you had a chance with Luhan? Prince Charming ended up with those commoners in those children's books but this is real life; and in reality Prince Charming doesn't fall in love with a nobody!" He ruthlessly scolded himself as tears cascaded down the sides of his cheeks. He sat down against the net, burying his face into his knees as he hugged them to his chest. 

"Baek! I-I finally found you!" Luhan was bent over beside the sobbing male as he tried to catch his breath. 

"Leave. I just want to be left alone." Came the muffled cries. 

His heart clenched at the sight before him. Baekhyun was one of the most optimistic people he knew, and this image in front of him was very much unsettling. "Baekhyun, please. Just let me explain myself. Five minutes, that's all I ask of you. After that, if you want I'll never bother you again." 

Luhan waited for some kind of protest but when he received none, relief washed over him.

He took in a deep breath. "Look Baek, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to offend you back there. I was merely shocked by how differently you dressed. And the makeup, that was the first time I'd ever seen you wearing any. But don't get me wrong, you look amazing, you really do." 

Baekhyun willed himself to look up once he deemed that Luhan's tone sounded sincere. He knew his makeup was ruined but he couldn't bring himself to care. "So then why the big reaction?" He sniffled. 

"Because that wasn't the real you. That wasn't the Byun Baekhyun I developed feelings for. " Luhan's eyes shied away and at the exact same time Baekhyun's increased in size at the sudden confession as a baby pink color reflected on both their cheeks. 

There was a moment of silence before Luhan took the initiative to help Baekhyun up from his sitting position. He held a firm grip on the latter's shoulders, daring to stare him square in the eyes. "I overheard you yelling at yourself earlier. Despite what everyone else thinks, I'm no Prince Charming. And Baekhyun, don't you even for one second think of yourself as a nobody. I like you just the way you are, so don't ever think you have to change yourself for anyone. If you reciprocate my feelings too, then the opinions of others shouldn't matter; because you're perfect just the way you are."

He nibbled at his lip nervously as his confident composure wavered. "Well, uh. I guess that's it. Like you said, I'll see you around." Luhan offered a small smile before turning his back to Baekhyun.

"So that's it?" Baekhyun finally spoke up.

Confusion spread over Luhan as he turned back around.

"You can't just leave after all that! E-especially since you know how I feel about you too." He avoided eye contact as he once again felt the blush creeping up on his cheeks.

A beautiful eye crinkling smile broke out on his face as he walked back over to where the shorter male stood. "How about we make us official then?"

Baekhyun's heart swelled with delight, pounding loudly against his chest. He was too overly stunned for words. His eyes curved into crescents when his lips transformed into that unique box shaped smile. All he could manage was a nod.

Luhan enveloped his arms around Baekhyun's waist and slowly closed off the distance between them.

Knowing what to expect, Baekhyun shut his eyes and it felt so right when their lips connected; almost as if this was how it was meant to be from the beginning.

And maybe, just maybe, fairytales really do exist after all.