Lilac.

That was the first thing that Baekhyun noticed.

Her hair was really purple. He had never really seen anyone with such exquisite hair before, he liked it because it was different and bold not something he was used to.

The first time Baekhyun had met her was at The Lips, a nightclub that his friend had owned. Clubs weren’t really his type of scene at all, but it was where his friends had chosen to hang out most Saturdays, and Baekhyun enjoyed seeing his friends far too much to care for the location.

He first saw her a couple months ago, their friend Kai was working at the bar that night, and he had come down with Chanyeol to grab a couple of drinks for the rest upstairs. 

He noticed her hair first, her back had faced him as she sat on the bar, conversing deeply with Kai, her purple and black locks curling loosely down her back. He had wondered what type of girl this purple haired mystery was.

“Baekhyun! Chanyeol!” Kai had beamed once he had noticed the duo. “Shots for the guys?”

“You know it.” Chanyeol laughed as they made it up to the counter. 

Baekhyun approached the counter, leaning against the edge of the bar counter, his eyes wandered a little to his right as he was met with the owner of the purple locks.

“Oh! This is my friend, Mara. Mara, these are some of the guys I always talk about, Baekhyun and Chanyeol.” Kai introduced once he noticed that the two had made eye contact. 

Mara had seemed to send a shy smile towards the two men, before leaning over the counter to whisper a bit too loudly at Kai. “Your friends are really cute.”

Kai laughed “She’s had a bit too much to drink tonight. I gotta get her home soon.”

“Look at you, being a responsible gentleman.” Chanyeol chuckled, before taking the tray of shot glasses from his friend. “Thanks Kai, we’ll see you after work?”

Baekhyun had barely heard the conversation between the two men, as his eyes were still fixated on the lilac haired girl. She was really pretty, was all he could think, and suddenly it made sense. Her face suited her purple hair, it somehow made sense to him at least..

The second time Baekhyun had met the lilac haired girl, known as Mara, had been a couple weeks after their first encounter. Baekhyun had been looking for Chanyeol, who always seemed to be on the dance floor. Baekhyun personally wasn’t a fan of dancing, he didn’t enjoy a bunch of sweaty bodies and strangers pushing up against him, he just never saw the appeal of it. 

He managed to spot Chanyeol near the middle of the dancefloor, thanks to his above average height. Chanyeol always stuck out, much to Baekhyun’s advantage. 

He was about to head over to grab Chanyeol’s attention, when he noticed his friend dancing with a couple of girls.

But that’s not what caught his eye.

Among the group of girls was one girl in particular, lilac. He managed to catch a glimpse of the purple hair once again. 

“Baek!” Chanyeol exclaimed once he saw his best friend. “Come dance with us!”

Baekhyun shook his head as he made his way over to his friend, stopping in front of him and the group. “You know it’s not really my thing, Yeol.”

Just as the words left his mouth, Baekhyun felt a tug on his wrist, soft hands wrapped around it, urging him to come forward.

“Come on! Dance to one song, stranger.” 

Baekhyun pursed his lips, a hint of a smile beginning to form as he let himself be dragged away by the pretty girl with lilac hair. 

They danced a lot that night, body against body, chest against chest, they had felt their own heartbeats grow louder than the music itself. 

It was a bit disappointing because she didn’t seem to remember him from their first encounter like he did, and it wasn’t likely that she’d remember dancing with him that night as well. Regardless, Baekhyun had wanted to speak to Mara once the song had been over, he wanted to introduce himself properly, not just another stranger she shared a brief moment with on the dance floor.. 

But before the last verse, she had sent him a smile and slipped away from the crowd, leaving him to take in the sweet scent of her absence that she left behind.

The third time they met, Bakehyun wasn’t in a good mood at all. He had been going over his student roster that Saturday morning right before classes were to begin. He had just gotten to one of his 5000 level courses when he noticed a similar name.

Mara.

He pursed his lips, it couldn’t be the same Mara, could it? He had opened up his laptop and logged onto the university’s student portal, which allowed him to access every student’s transcript where their ID picture was also present. 

He had searched up Mara Mun, and to his dismay the identification picture that had appeared was one that he knew all a little too well. 

He had gotten rid of one of the girls that kept lingering around him at the club later that night, accidentally bumping into Mara on his way. He didn’t mean to come off as an , but it wasn’t like he was happy either. He wasn’t exactly mad at her exactly, rather his fight was with the universe instead.

It was ironic. So ironic, it was almost funny.

Because for Baekhyun, finding a girl was never hard for him, he was blessed with good looks, the brains, and charisma. Girls would throw themselves at him left and right, it wasn’t anything new. 

But honestly, it bored him. 

He tried going out with some of the women many times, but he was always…bored. None of the girls ever piqued his interest to begin with. 

But for the first time in a long time, Baekhyun shows interest in a girl, one that feels different and intrigues him, then before he can even get to meet her, the chance is taken away from him.

It was ironic because the one girl he wanted to get to know, he can’t. 

She was his student, and Baekhyun cared about his job a lot, he liked being a professor more than anything, he liked making his own curriculum, his own rules, he enjoyed seeing his students overcome his challenges that he placed in their paths. It was satisfying for him. 

He was a professional career man, and it would be inappropriate for him to ever go for his own student. 

However, when Baekhyun had seen Mara go to someone else for his assignments, it bothered him a lot. Was he not a good teacher? What flaws did his curriculum have? Why couldn’t she have come to him instead? 

It bothered him a bit too much and he didn’t really understand why. 

So when Mara had appeared before him, saying the very words that continued to replay in his head.

Nothing inappropriate with just being friends…

Baekhyun wanted to take that chance, that risk. Maybe