“Okay. Okay. Okay.” You close your eyes and pull back into your meditation pose on top of the bench in the cafeteria, trying to calm yourself down. You have absolutely no idea what you are doing. You don’t really know the right way to meditate but you’ve seen your mum doing it and it works for her all the time, you think. Maybe she’s just as clueless as you are. “Okay.” You repeat with a calm tone. “Kai, whatever it is, just act normal and don’t do anything stupid.”

“Pft,” Kai scoffs and continues digging into his plate of rice with a pair of chopsticks. “If there is anyone looking oh so ever stupid right now, it’s you.”

You open your eyes abruptly and glare at him. Really, what else can you do but glare at him? You’re good at that. You do it all the time. “What are you doing?” you question him in the angriest manner, which he learned to ignore. He knows your anger towards him is never permanent. Never.

He looks up at you, the end of the chopsticks still in his mouth, “What?” his right eyebrow raises.

“Why are you eating with a pair of chopstick?” you question again, the question being more obvious than the one before.

He shrugs. “Why can’t I eat with a pair of chopstick?” He looks around the cafeteria. Girls and maybe even some guys who were staring at him turn to look away, almost like they didn’t want Kai to know they were staring. As unbelievable as it seems to you, you know very well that they were staring not because Kai is eating like a nutcase. Kai can always choose to ignore their stares but you are aware that they stalk Kai almost everyday. Like he’s some sort of god. A star. You wonder why you don’t see Kai like how his stalkers or fans see him, whether you need to get your eyes check. Are you really missing something? “There’s no sign saying I’m not allowed eat with a pair of chopstick, no?”

You roll your eyes then gesture at his plate of rice. “With a plate? You’re using chopstick,” you pause; you notice the stares are back to where they were, “to eat off a plate?”

“I bet you’ve never seen anyone eat like this before,” he says, rather proudly.

“No one normal,” you state, almost insultingly but in a playful way.

He nods, “Normal is for boring people,” he points at you with the chopsticks then to himself. “I’m special.”

“Specially retarded,” you added.

“Who’s retarded?” another voice joins in. You recognize the voice too well even though you’ve only heard it once. You beam happily inside and it shows on your face unconsciously. Firstly because Baekhyun’s here. Secondly, you finally get to eat because you are starving.

You look up slowly, wanting to scan Baekhyun’s face bit by bit so you can enjoy every moment of it, there’s no rush. Food can wait. “Me…” you mutter, soft enough for Baekhyun’s auditory system to not sense anything but it didn’t escape Kai’s.

“I’ll say.” Kai chuckles.

“Pardon me?” Baekhyun asks politely because he didn’t quite hear what you said while Kai chokes, trying not to die of laughter at your stupidity.

You then realize you sounded stupid, maybe even looked stupid, and shake your head. “No, wait,” you turn and point at Kai. “I mean, he is. I… uhm… yeah.” You look down, quite embarrassed.

“So,” Baekhyun pauses, his bag pack still hanging at his right shoulder, “don’t I get to sit?”

You look up at Baekhyun who is now looking at Kai; you guess he is waiting for Kai to scoot over so he can sit down. You turn to look at Kai as well who isn’t aware both of you are looking at him. He’s too busy with his chopsticks. So maybe you don’t need an eye checkup, those stalkers need an appointment to get their brain scanned. Or removed.

You quickly clear you throat and Kai finally looks up, “Oh,” he looks at Baekhyun and then points to your face, waving his hand as if asking you to move in for Baekhyun instead. Now, Baekhyun’s eyes are on you.

What is he doing?You quickly push your bag away and move in as well, making some space for Baekhyun. He sits down and you eye Kai, trying to read his motive but his smile is in the way. His smile seems almost innocent. “You’re dead meat.” You mouth the words out.

You want to thank Kai, though; because now, for the very first time, you’re sitting so close to Baekhyun. About few inches away, you think to yourself, feeling all jumpy inside. You can now only imagine how it is like to be wrapped in his arms. Or maybe, the feeling of being able to lie your head on his shoulder. Slowly, you look at the corner of your eyes; Baekhyun didn’t really notices you staring dreamingly at him. Instead, he is packing some books into his bag. He must have rushed here right after class but he’s still late. By 13 minutes and 45 seconds. You’ve been keeping track on the time.

Your head tilts and almost leaning towards Baekhyun.

Kai clears his throat, “So…” stopping you from embarrassing yourself again. You wake up from fantasyland almost immediately and look away. “How’s class?”

Baekhyun looks up from the stack of papers in his hands; you come to notice they’re music sheets and his name was written at the corner of the first paper of the stack. There aren’t any titles printed anywhere and the music notes were inked down. No sign of errors or cancellations.  He must be some music genius, you say in your head. Maybe he writes his own music. “Oh, it’s okay.” He replies with a smile. “By the way, are you guys in any clubs?”

“I—“

“—why?” you cut Kai off. “You planning to join any?” you ask, your eyes filled with interest suddenly and your question came off quite eagerly too. You don’t notice it, neither does Baekhyun but Kai notices, making him roll his eyes after that. You choose to ignore Kai faking a vomiting action just opposite the both of you, your eyes locked to Baekhyun’s which are also looking directly into yours.

“Well, I was planning to join choir…” he trails off when the light you had in your eyes 5 seconds ago dims down. “Why? Is it full?” he asks after seeing your reaction, your disappointed look must mean something bad right?