“Sunhee?”

The woman smiled, as Chanyeol looked on, with his mouth half open.

 “BOKCHOY!” The woman cried out, smiling a mouthful. Chanyeol’s eyes widened in wonder. 

“JOHNSON!” Chanyeol cried out as well, as he extended his arms to pull this woman, Sunhee, into a very friendly hug.

“How long has it been? Ten..eleven years?” Chanyeol said as he went on to touch Sunhee’s hair, and lift it. “Where did your stupid pigtails go?”

“Hey, hey. I got my hair done, don’t mess it up!” Sunhee said, slapping Chanyeol’s hand away, fixing her beautiful locks in place once again.

“Pfft.” Chanyeol chuckled, and looked on.

“So...” Sunhee smiled. “What’s up?”

“Everyone, we have a new student joining us today.” The homeroom teacher said as she signalled the new boy to step inside the classroom. As he walked in, the sight of the new boy made the class whisper among themselves, and laugh silently- he was exceptionally tall, for a thirteen year-old, lanky, and had large monkey-like ears.

“Introduce yourself, child.” The teacher said, raising her hand to pat the boy’s shoulder. The fact that the boy was slightly taller than the teacher herself, irritated her, just a little bit. “Come on!”

The boy had been looking around awkwardly all this time, till his teacher's loud voice brought his attention back. “H-hello. My name is Park Chanyeol. I like to play the guitar. I hope we get along.” He smiled the most beautiful smile there can ever be.

His voice, too, was deeper than most of his classmates. Everything about this boy, Chanyeol, was odd. And as much as people mistreated "odd" things, they did the same to Chanyeol. So much, that in the next few days, he was starting to get bullied. From getting pushed off his chair, to people sticking bubblegum to his hair, and ripping his homework off- he was bullied so much that the poor boy spent hours in the park, crying to himself.

To prevent his mother from getting worried, he’d never tell her. When his mother asked him why he was so late, he’d say he was at the park playing with his "new friends", and smile a bright smile. Which he, obviously, didn’t mean. It seemed to work a little bit. Over the next few months, he’d learnt to smile himself out of troublesome situations. When his teacher asked for the homework, Chanyeol would only smile. It seemed to work because she’d always make him stand outside class, and he’d be freed from his classmates just for once. Soon, he stopped doing his homework, in order to be punished. Even if he did, his efforts would go to waste anyway, thanks to his bullies.

One such day, Chanyeol’s parents were called to school for one of those terrible parent-teacher meetings. They were told of his continuously undone homework, lack of attention in class, general inactivity in class events and extrememly poor performance in the class tests. They were told that Chanyeol’s scores were going down. Any further, and he’d have to repeat a year. Chanyeol’s father- a Seoul University topper from his time- had been so embarrassed, and furious, he hit his son back at home. Once, twice, thrice. As many times as he thought was necessary to make his son learn the lesson. Chanyeol’s mother only cried, and clung onto her husband to stop him, but in vain. However, Chanyeol was unaffected. He only smiled, and apologised. After his father left for work, Chanyeol excused himself and went to the park- to his usual spot under the giraffe-shaped slide. He sat down, and no sooner than he did, that tears clouded his vision, and he began to cry. What had he ever done, to deserve this pain? He cried silently, covering his mouth with his hands, his teeth clattering ever so slightly, gasping, and whimpering in between. It hurt. His father, who loved him so much and always showered him with cuddles, and gifts, hit him today. It hurt. As he thought of the happy moments with his family, his pain only worsened. He began to make sniffling sounds, as he folded his knees, and buried his face between them.

“Hey, are you okay?” The voice of a girl spoke up, after a while.

Chanyeol, who had stopped crying by then, was startled, and flinched in position.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” The girl had two little pigtails on the sides of her head, but the light from above made it impossible to see her face. “Is everything okay?” She bent down, sitting down on her knees beside Chanyeol.

Chanyeol turned his defensive mode-on, and moved away from the girl, positioning himself so as to face opposite to her. Soon, it struck Chanyeol that he was being unnecessarily rude to someone who was being unnecessarily kind to him. He turned in her direction.

But, she was gone. Chanyeol sighed.

The next day, at the park, he sat on the swing, and waited. He thought he must apologize for his rudeness, and thank her for being so kind. He waited and waited, looking around every corner, stirred by the shadow of every little girl that appeared. But, the pigtails were nowhere to be seen.

“Hey! You’re the cry baby from yesterday.” The voice of a girl spoke up from the back. He was startled once again. Chanyeol had forgotten about the back entrance.

He turned around to have a look at the girl. The same pigtails. In the light of the lamp, he finally saw her face, and noticed that her large eyes were an unusual colour-a mixture of gold and orange.

“I-I’m really sorry about yesterday. I was just having a bad day, and didn’t mean to be so rude to you.” Chanyeol said, bowing.

The girl looked at Chanyeol for a while, then chuckled.. Chanyeol looked up. Her smile was angelic.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry to barge into your privacy too.” The girl said. “So, do you come here everyday?”

“Yeah, I guess...” Chanyeol said, looking away from here sharp eyes.

“Great!” She smiled again. “What’s your name?”

“P-Park Chanyeol.” He mumbled, his eyes facing the ground, this time.

“What? Bokchoy?!?” She misheard his name.

Chanyeol looked up, and corrected her. “No. It’s CHANYEOL. PARK CHANYEOL.”

The girl laughed out. “I’m so sorry, Chanyeol. I’m Jeong Sunhee.”

Chanyeol, who was in the mood for some fun, pretended to mishear her name too. “What? JONHSON?!” He said, as he laughed out.

“It’s JEONG SUNHEE, BOKCHOY.” The girl spoke out, laughing along.

“Oh, JOHNSON? Oh, that’s a great name!”

The two bickered for a while, and soon, their meetings at the park became a regular event. Playing around, Chanyeol had never laughed like that for ages.

He had made his first friend.

One day, Chanyeol was standing outside his class,having been punished for ruining one of his bullies’ homework. He had begun to take action, as Sunhee had told him to.

‘Listen up, Bokchoy. No one can help yourself, but yourself. You’ve got to fight for you. And don’t just throw fists and kicks. Be smart. Infuriate them, force them to bully you, gather the proof, trap them. And then.’ Sunhee would smirk at this point. ‘Then, - oops, bad word- them up, Bokchoy.’

He closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall, and recalled Sunhee’s words. He smiled to himself.

“Is that you, Bokchoy?” Chanyeol’s thought he heard Sunhee’s voice, but he ignored it, thinking it was his own mind.

“BOKCHOY?!” His thoughts sounded a little louder this time, forcing him to open his eyes and look around. It was Sunhee, after all. The pigtails were gone, transformed into a prettier, more feminine ponytail. Her eyes weren’t the usual amber, they were black. And she had the senior badge on.

“JOHNSON?!” Chanyeol’s eyes widened. “Wait. Y-you- wait. That uniform, the badge....y-you’re my SUNBAE?!”

“Come to think of it.” Sunhee chuckled while placing her folded fingers on her chin, and supporting her elbow on the wrist of the other hand. “We never talked about school, or our age, for that matter.”

Chanyeol was a little embarrassed. “Su-Sunbae. I’m so sorry for calling you names.”

“It’s okay, baby bokchoy!” Sunhee playfully slapped Chanyeol on his arm.

“S-so, I can still call you Johns-oh lord, this is so embarrassing.” Chanyeol covered his face with his palms. "Also..you're wearing contacts?"

"Oh, yeah. That's..a necessity."

The commotion brought the teacher out of the classroom, and Sunhee, as intelligent as she was, immediately knew what to do.

“Oh, thank you so much.” Sunhee said, making a pouty face at Chanyeol, who looked extremely confused, stared at her face, and blinked.

“What’s going on here?” The math teacher asked, surprising Chanyeol. Soon, he understood the point of what Sunhee had been doing.

“Sir, how do I even tell you..” Sunhee’s acting was weird. Chanyeol pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh out. Sunhee stepped on his toe to shut him up. “These few boys were teasing me at the hallway, and this boy –is he in your class- he helped me out~”

Even though her acting was terrible, and overdramatic, the maths teacher- who loved his daily soaps- immediately complied. Sunhee went on to elaborate on her apparent “rescue”, as she praised Chanyeol on and on. At the end of her rant, both the math teacher and Sunhee wiped a tear from their eyes, drowning in praise of Chanyeol's bravery. Chanyeol, on the other hand, was dying to be able to laugh. This said and done, the teacher invited Chanyeol in, and told the tale of Chanyeol’s valour to his class. "Sunhee-sunbae" was pretty popular, it seemed. After all, she was one of the school's most beautiful students, and also the Vice President of the school student council. Other than his bullies, Chanyeol was immediately seen as a hero in the eyes of the class, having rescued everyone's beloved sunbae. 

This, of course, aggravated the bully situation. But, unlike other times, Chanyeol.now, was ready.

“You think you’re too smart?” One of his bullies said, pushing Chanyeol against the washroom wall, spraying water inside his nose with a little spray gun. Chanyeol struggled as he coughed, his nose running, and his nasal tract feeling like hot fire. “You think everything will be okay if you involve Sunhee-sunbae?” They punched him. “And how dare you ruin my homework?” More water in the nose. “You know what? I don’t care. You ruin my homework again, and I will ruin you, Park Chanyeol.” Chanyeol snickered, as he looked up at them. “You laughing, you little ?” Chanyeol was punched, again. This time, harder. His nose began to bleed. This was perhaps, the first time Chanyeol had gotten beat up this bad. They continued to land punches and kicks to his face, and his stomach, and his legs. But, Chanyeol didn't say anything, until-

‘I will ruin you, Park Chanyeol.’ The sound of an old recorder sounded from somewhere around the washroom.

“What was that.” The bullies began to look at each other, in fear. They searched Chanyeol’s pockets for a recorder, but they were empty.

It played again. “What the hell are you upto you-”

“YOU-” Chanyeol coughed, and it shut them up. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in court of law.”

His bullies immediately let go of Chanyeol and his collar, and fled. Chanyeol dropped to the floor, laughing, and in pain.

“Sunbae...did I do well?”, he said out loud before collapsing before a blurred figure. The last thing he heard before his vision faded to black, was “It’s Johnson, you idiot.”

Sunhee had positioned herself inside the boy's washroom, tactfully, when Chanyeol had signalled her with the help of his wrist watch, by reflecting sunlight reflecting off it's glass dial. Sunhee had recorded everything on her phone, and she had cried when she saw Chanyeol like that. Soon, the school authorities were notified, and the bully case was resolved. The three boys who bullied Chanyeol were suspended for four months' time. Chanyeol, though, had to spend about two weeks in the hospital. The water from the spray gun had travelled all the way down to his lungs, causing him extreme pain in his chest. A broken nose made things even more painful. It was nothing severe, and the water could be absorbed by the body. But, he needed time. He was in pain, yes. But what was more painful to Chanyeol was not being able to see Sunhee-sunbae, and thank her. 

When he got back to school after that, he realised the seniors had already graduated, and he never saw Sunhee-sunbae after that.

“Oh, so his name is Baekhyun~?” Sunhee smiled, as she blushed ever so slightly, closing her eyes. Her face mirrored the happiness she was feeling. Was it the wine, or her fantasy of finally having a gay friend, she did not know. “I can’t believe that my Bokchoy is really in loveee~”

Chanyeol blushed so hard, his ears turned red too. “I-it’s not love....or anything, Johnson.”

“Says the boy who’s blushinggg~” Sunhee had a little more of her wine, as the two stood by the edge of the roof, looking to a very bright skyline.

“Anyway, Johnson, why’d you disappear after I returned to school?” Chanyeol finally asked.

“I graduated, you .” She said. “I couldn’t contact you because I had no idea where you were.” Sunhee looked at Chanyeol lovingly. “Then, I saw you on television, you know. The Park Chanyeol. EXO. All these daesangs. And everything. At first I couldn't even believe it was you. But, these ears gave it away." She pulled at Chanyeol's ears. "It was all so bright, and beautiful. You were....up there, shining. I didn’t know how to be on your level once again. Then my boyfriend – oh, did I tell you I have a boyfriend now? - he told me that I could audition for SM as a model because I kept telling him about you. And so I did. And, here I am.” Keeping the empty wine glass on the table placed on the roof, she continued. “I had never expected to see you again, Bokchoy.”

Chanyeol smiled softly, while looking at the Seoul skyline.

“Excuse me madam, I got more wine for you, seeing there wasn’t any left.” A waiter in white, kept the drink on the table. Chanyeol looked at the waiter, not knowing how he knew of their presence. The waiter excused himself, and left.

“Sunhee, you don’t have to drink any further. You’re already flushed.” Chanyeol stopped Sunhee.

“But, come onnnnn.” Sunhee pleaded. “I’m so happy today~”

Chanyeol needed a way to stop Sunhee from drinking, because any more of the drink, and she’d be drunk off her spirits (A/N: Wait. Did I just pun). She had gotten a job at SM very recently. A stain on her reputation, at this point, may cause her getting sacked. He didn’t want that, and so he pouted a little and said, “But, I didn’t have a single drink tonight?”

Sunhee looked at Chanyeol for a while, then went on to hand the drink to Chanyeol. “Okay. Just this once.”

Chanyeol smiled as he took a gulp of the drink. “It’s a little salty for wine.” He said, but continued to drink it anyway.

The two continued to talk. About school, about the people they loved, about their lives after they separated. 

“Chanyeol, are you okay? You look you’ll fall asleep anytime.” Sunhee said, concerned.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Chanyeol’s hands trembled. “Johnson, do you think wine is supposed to be salty?”

Sunhee got worried. “N-no, bokchoy.” By this time, Chanyeol’s eyes looked drowsy, and his speech slurred. Nothing of what he said, could be understood.

“Iyreedwashoom.” Chanyeol said something, and tried to get up. But he was so dizzy, Sunhee had to grab him so he doesn’t fall. 

“Chanyeol, give me your phone.” Sunhee put her hands in Chanyeol’s pocket, while holding the giant by the waist. She opened his phone, and dialled up the first number which appeared on the list of starred contacts.

ring ring ring

“Hello, Baekhyun? This is Sunhee, Chanyeol’s friend. I think Chanyeol has been drugged.”

It was two-something in the morning, and Baekhyun had been working late-yawning, and chugging his coffee in between. His work shifts had been getting cramped by the day, as more and more projects kept coming up.

Baekhyun shut his computer, changed into his pyjamas, and was just about to get in bed, when-

Chogiwa danbeone neukkyeo....

“Ugh. Why. Just why.” He said, getting up again, to grab his phone. The name had him startled.

‘Chanyeollie?’ He immediately picked it up.

“Chanyeol, is everyth-” Baekhyun was about to say, but he was interrupted by the voice of a woman.

“Hello, Baekhyun? This is Sunhee, Chanyeol’s friend. I think Chanyeol has been drugged.”

“Sorry, what?” Baekhyun’s heart throbbed. “Drugged?”

“Yeah, we’re at a party, I’ll tell you the details later, but can you come to Seoul Medical Centre? Now?”

“Yes, I’ll be right over.”

Baekhyun changed his pants, locked his apartment, and literally ran out onto the street. There was no sign of a taxi, anywhere. He checked his phone for an Uber. None nearby. He ran all the way to the main road. And, when he was there, he was panting. Maybe he should really have quit smoking by now. 

'Chanyeol, please be okay. Please.' He chanted this on, and on. 

After a few desperate minutes of wait, he finally saw one of those orange taxis dash by. In an urgent attempt to catch it, he screamed at the taxi to stop, and ran behind it. A few hundred metres in, the taxi stopped. 

"Please. I need to go to Seoul Medical Centre immediately." Baekhyun panted. "It's an emergency." 

Hello, people of the fanficnation!! 

THANK YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH ME AND MY STORY I LOVE YOU ALL.

On a scale of 1-10, how worried are you, about what happens in the next chapter? Do you guys like Sunhee? 

I love you, for all the comments and the subscriptions. As usual, I am still the happiest bun, ever. <3