Shinae groaned. The world in her dream shook violently, and she grunted again. Her face contorted, brows furrowed. A loud chainsaw then whirred to life. She rolled over again. Her body was sore from the motion. Then the chainsaw went off again, this time coupled with the earthquake, and Shinae jumped awake. 

Her eyes snapped open, and she looked around, bewildered. She blinked a couple of times, confused by what she saw-Baekhyun was standing in front of her. His backpack hung from his hands, and he was already dressed for school. His hair coiffed perfectly. His dark brown eyes narrowed in on her, and she looked around, realizing she was still on his desk. She turned her head again. A satisfying crack skittered down her stiff spine. And she stretched a little, almost forgetting about Baekhyun’s looming presence.

“Get off my notebook-I need it.” His words were even and cool. Shinae looked up to see he was clearly annoyed. His jaw was tense once more, his lips in a straight line, and his gaze hard. She nodded her head and leaned forward to stand up, but yelped out when she suddenly felt her makeshift dress tighten against her chest as she was yanked up abruptly. She flailed and tried to look up, but was lifted up off the notebook and dropped unceremoniously back onto the desk. Baekhyun grabbed his notebook and bent down, shoving it into his bag.

Shinae was left speechless, her heart in and her lungs tight in her chest. He just grabbed her by the back of her clothes and plucked her up without any warning. The way it felt was nauseating. Like being on a swing that was out of your control. She stared at him and quickly stood up. 

She could tell he was still mad about last night, but he didn’t have to grab her like that. But before she could speak, he stood back up and whipped around to grab something else off the desk. Without acknowledging her, he turned again. The harshness of his movements was creating a weird current. A gust of wind shoved her forward awkwardly. 

She stumbled and yelped out again, but once more Baekhyun completely ignored her. He grabbed his pencil pouch this time, the movement so quick that Shinae couldn’t stop what happened next, even if she tried.

She tripped forward, opened to let out a scream as she saw everything on the ground slowly getting closer. Her arms flailed, she tried to scream, but the sound was lodged in . Her stomach slammed into her spine, along with all her other organs. Her eyes narrowed as they watered the air that whipped past her, drying them out. But before she could hit the ground, she noticed what looked like a large zipper, then a large gap, and then complete darkness. 

She finally managed to get the words out, “No no n-oof” She grunted her body slammed into books that towered above her. The pain that shot through her was excruciating. She blinked repeatedly, her brain still reeling from what had just happened. She felt the thunderous crash of the pouch being dropped next to her. She shook her head and tried to turn to shout up at Baekhyun, but before she could get a single thing out; she heard the sharp loud sound of the zipper closing. The light from before quickly diminished and Shinae slumped over. 

“,” she groaned. The pain from her fall radiated outward. She tried to rub at her body to ease some of the aches, but felt her world shift. The bag was raised up quickly, he organs dislodged themselves from her spine and now dropped through her to the floor. She was going to be sick..

“B-Baekhyun!” Her voice came out rough and scratchy. There was no way in hell he heard it. She tried again, but he must’ve readjusted the bag because she slipped down between some of his books as the world around her shook again. She wiggled, but the action caused more pain to shoot through her body. She gasped as the bag jostled again and the books slammed into her a little. The pain this time pulled an agonized scream from her lips. Her head knocked back against the books. The room spun and her vision darkened. 

“Ba-Baek,” she gasped as the word died on her lips along with her consciousness. 

+++

Baekhyun paused for a second. His head tilted a little as he could’ve sworn he heard a high-pitched sound. He waited for a moment to see if it happened again, but heard nothing. He shrugged his shoulders and made his way out of the apartment with his friends. He felt a strange swell of pride at how he handled things a moment ago. He wasn’t cruel to Shinae, but he felt as though he got his point across. 

He was not going to be a pushover anymore. She needed to apologize, and it was as simple as that. 

He walked alongside his friends and finally, for once, felt at ease. Today he’d get to see Seulgi again. He’d be able to prepare for a nice weekend. He’d even get to enjoy his classes for once. Not worried about what was going on at home. He knew Shinae would actually be thinking about how she messed up.

He dropped his head and smiled a little, and Chanyeol easily caught the look. “Ohhhh, looks like someone is having a good day!” Chanyeol teased, his tanned finger poked into Baekhyun’s side, causing him to flinch away and slap the offending hand.

“Maybe.” Baekhyun couldn’t help the smirk that slid crossed his face. 

“Did you meet someone on your midnight excursion?” Chanyeol whispered conspiratorially, the tone elicited a laugh from Baekhyun.

“Actually, yeah I did.” Baekhyun smiled softly to himself, “Her name is Seulgi, and she starts today at our school.”

“Is she cute?” Sehun let the question slip out fast, before Junmyeon swiftly hit him in the gut.

Sehun coughed and winced. “Ow!”

“Can you ask something for once that doesn’t deal with shallow bull?” Junmyeon snarled. But Sehun shrugged, his hand rubbing his sore gut now. 

“Anyway…” Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol, “She’s actually really nice and is already aware of our popular predicament.”

Chanyeol snorted, “You act like being popular is horrible.”

“And what? It isn’t?” Sehun chimed in. 

“Oh, shut up. You benefit from the status the most out of the four of us,” Chanyeol retorted, giving a pointed look at Sehun. 

Sehun smirked, eyebrows raised: “You could benefit too if you weren’t such a prude.”

This time Chanyeol’s face colored quickly and his mouth snapped shut.

Junmyeon tensed once more, then shot another scathing glare in Sehun’s direction. “Sehun, stop being an .” His eyes trailed over to Chanyeol. “You know he’s holding out for someone specific.”

This time Chanyeol’s face flushed with color. His large puppy dog eyes darted around as he turned away from all of them. Baekhyun’s wide eyes followed his best friend's movements as he felt his stomach drop. Chanyeol likes someone?

“Wait Chanyeol-” But the sounds of screaming fangirls cut Baekhyun off. He hadn't realized how close they had gotten to the school. The roar of high-pitched screeches and I-love you’s stabbed his eardrums. The invasive swarm of manicured hands had begun before they had even fully made it past the school gates. 

The confusion over Chanyeol left his brain with the pure and strong need to survive being grabbed at to this extent. You’d think you would get used to it after so long, but Baekhyun still struggled with the overflow of adoration and lust. The quartet managed to make it through the schoolyard and into their homeroom alive, albeit a little disheveled. 

Baekhyun reached up and readjusted some strands of his hair before he walked into the classroom. His eyes inadvertently looked for Seulgi. He bit his bottom lip before he forced himself fully into the room to take his seat. He didn’t know why he was so eager to see her again. 

It wasn’t a crush. It was intrigue. Baekhyun hadn’t had a friend who was female in ages. His status at the school made it nearly impossible for him to get close to anyone and in his mind-he hoped that Seulgi was different. That she genuinely meant it when she said she wasn’t scared of crazed fangirls. 

Baekhyun plopped down in his seat and his friends followed suit. He felt Luhan’s heavy gaze a second later. He whipped around to see Luhan’s eyebrows furrowed, eyes narrowed into thin slits. Yixing sat nearby, doing his best to get Luhan to stop, but to no avail. Baekhyun couldn’t help the annoyance that crept up.

He turned around in his seat to glare at his desk. His nails dug mindlessly into the wood before a pang caused his hand to twitch. He opened his palm and cringed at the sight. The tiny slivers of cheap pencil wood were still embedded in the tender skin. He tried to use his unwounded hand to dig out the small bits, but failed miserably. The small bits of wood were stuck. He continued trying to pick at the skin. His mind and body wanting some sort of distraction. 

He felt oddly restless. His legs shook, his feet tapped relentlessly against the floor, and he kept blinking to the point that he could not properly see his surroundings. He was just now realizing he hadn’t completed his schoolwork. He turned to stare at his backpack, his hands just about to reach the zipper, when Mr. Kim cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the entire class. Baekhyun’s hands dropped, and he turned to face the front.

Mr. Kim stood as tall as he could as his hands hung out to the side of the room, where Baekhyun immediately recognized Seulgi. Her cat-like eyes met his and her pink lips quirked up slightly into a smirk. Her black locks were pulled back into a high ponytail. Her pale skin seemed to almost glow under the fluorescent lights. 

“Class, meet your new classmate Kang Seulgi,” Mr. Kim smiled at her as she bowed to the class. “I’m sure she’s nervous since this is the start of the senior year and she’s new, so please be kind to her.” The class responded with mumbled acknowledgment before Mr.Kim directed Seulgi to her seat. 

The second she plopped down, her head turned and her eyes met Baekhyun’s. His face heated up quickly before he waved at her and looked back to the front of the class. Chanyeol snickered off to the side, along with Sehun.

“She is cute,” Sehun cooed. 

Baekhyun shot a glare in his direction. “Can you stop being a child?”

“Never,” Sehun snorted.

The rest of the first period went off without a hitch, but as the students were getting their school supplies in order. Baekhyun got up and bent over to grab his backpack when he stood back up and yelped out in surprise. Mr. Kim was right behind him.

“Sorry, Baekhyun, didn’t mean to startle you I just need to talk with you for a moment before you head off to your next class,” he said matter-of-factly, as though he didn’t just sneak up on a student.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun nodded. Throwing his backpack over his shoulder, he made his way up to the front. His friends watched, confused, but he waved his hand in their direction, letting them know they were free to leave without him. He’d meet them later.

Mr. Kim had settled back into his chair, and leaned back comfortably, legs crossed. His feline eyes narrowed, his lips twisted somewhat bitterly before he sighed and leaned forward. 

“I don’t know how to really say this, but,” he paused before meeting Baekhyun’s eyes: “Basically you may get your wish of getting a new project partner.”

“Wh-what?” Baekhyun stammered. 

“I can’t go into detail because of privacy, but Shinae may no longer be a student here soon, so if that ends up happening we’ll have to give you a new partner.” Baekhyun’s mouth stayed open as he slowly nodded his head. He knew Shinae would be kicked out by this next Monday, but for some reason didn’t foresee it actually being a reality. It was like seeing a rock coming, but not expecting it to actually hit you.

He could only nod in response. He didn’t know what he could say in response without exposing that he knew all along, but anything more would feel forced and awkward. So he just nodded. Mr.Kim’s dark brows furrowed as his lips puckered in silent judgement.

“I assumed you’d be happier about this news,” he paused; “but I don’t want to be responsible for you being late to class, so I suggest you go.”

Baekhyun nodded. He tried his best to reign in his shock before exiting the classroom. The second he passed through the doors, Seulgi’s feline gaze and coy smirk bombarded him. The shift from the dismal words of Mr.Kim to Seulgi’s uplifting energy was dizzying. She whipped around to walk right next to him, ignoring the furious glares she had received from his fan club.

“What was that about?” Her fingers twisted around the straps of her backpack. 

Baekhyun shrugged, not sure what to say in response. He didn’t really want to talk about Shinae with Seulgi, and he wasn’t exactly sure why. 

He sighed, “Uh nothing, just…I may get a new partner for my senior project.”

“The senior project?” Seulgi’s words lilted with the question, her curious gaze roaming the halls as though she wasn’t talking to him.

“Yeah, uh you may not be a part of it yet since everyone is already assigned, but it’s kind of like a last ditch effort for all of us in the senior class to get to know each other better before we all move on.” He cleared his throat, now feeling the weight of everyone’s gaze upon him. Or well, on Seulgi. He wasn’t used to the seething hatred that was emanating from everyone.

“So I assume if your current partner is no longer your partner…I would be your new partner?” Baekhyun stopped in his tracks at the words. His stomach clenched and he couldn’t pinpoint what about that sentence bothered him. It would be a dream come true to work with Seulgi instead of Shinae, but he couldn’t shake the strange uncomfortable feeling that settled into his gut. 

Seulgi stopped a couple of steps ahead of Baekhyun, spinning to look at him. Her head tilted. 

“What’s up?” The second the questions left her lips, one corner quirked up slightly and she winked. “Were you a ballerina as a kid or something? Wouldn’t want to share that with me, would you?”

He felt the worry settle slightly before he shrugged and forced a tight smile on his lips. I am absolutely nuts to think this would be bad. 

“No, of course not.” He walked up to her side, and they continued down the hall. “I was actually more nervous about you finding out about my toenail collection.”

The confession caused Seulgi to stumble as an abrupt laugh fell out of . Baekhyun couldn’t help the way her laugh made his chest swell with pride. He was nuts. Being Seulgi’s partner would be amazing compared to the train wreck that has been being partnered with Shinae. 

The conversation between them flowed easily after that little joke and they parted ways as Baekhyun stepped into his advanced calculus class. He sat down in his usual spot and ignored the chatter from his fellow classmates as he ped his bag and started to rifle through his books when his eyes landed on something odd. It was small and white. He shifted more of the books around the small object before he finally found the spot it was lodged in.

Its form rolled over limply, and then his eyes widened. The color drained from his face and his heart clenched in his chest. ! Baekhyun shot up out of his seat, the bag he held moving with him. His chair legs screeched against the linoleum flooring as all the chatter in the class stopped, and all eyes landed on Baekhyun. 

He cringed, but could not form any words. His hands shook and his heart was pounding so loudly he couldn’t comprehend what was going on around him. “I-I bath…room.” The words were barely words as he pulled the bag close to his chest and rushed out of the room. He stumbled over his own feet and his head spun. He raced down the almost empty halls, his frantic eyes scanning the doors, hoping to God no one was in the damn bathroom. 

His heart stopped the second he saw the familiar little white emblem signaling the boy's bathroom and pushed into the room. The sudden rush of emptiness and quiet was a shock to his system. His hands shook as he gently set the bag down on the floor. He stumbled through the bathroom, eyes scanning the floor and pushing open all the doors to make sure he was alone. Once he confirmed that he was, in fact, alone, he raced back to the partially opened bag and pressed his back against the entrance door. He hoped with all his might that nobody would attempt to enter the room. 

He pulled the bag in front of him, and his eyes dropped to the opening. He nearly threw the words up, “Please…oh please.” 

He begged quietly, as he peeked into the darkness of the bag and saw her tiny hand stretched out past the tall walls that were his books. He pushed them farther apart and reached down. His fingers gently eased their way under her back as he pulled her out slowly. Her figure was so small and feather-light, it was like holding a pouch of air. He rested his hands right in front of his eyes and let out a shaky breath. He still wasn’t a big fan of holding her, but she was covered in bruises and completely limp. 

Her body swayed slightly in his trembling hands. How had she gotten in there?! Was she breathing?! She was too damn still. He shook his head and closed his eyes. No, she was not dead. She could not be dead. He slowly lowered and turned his head to try and hear if she was breathing. He held his own breath, doing his best to listen for the small inhales and exhales. He waited, his heart sliding down in his chest. He felt a cool wash of short-lived relief the second he heard a soft whoosh come from her.

He pulled away to watch her small form, and he shook his head again. His breaths were coming easier now. His heart wasn’t pounding so hard anymore, but his hands sti