Monday, November 5, 2012.

Baekhyun’s POV.

It had been days since I saw Tao and had a conversation with him in the staircase, and since then, I’ve avoided him like the plague. So suddenly, I keep seeing him everywhere I go. Every corner, every door, every room and just everywhere without reason, and then he just disappears. I mean, is it my fault? I didn’t know who he was and he gave me a solid answer when he decided to flee. I had spilled quite a lot of things about me, so it worried me that he used my weaknesses against my will. I haven’t told anyone about this. Chanyeol’s been worrying a lot and it puts me through hell that he thinks that he’s done something wrong. He hasn’t even brought up that night ever since I supposedly started acting ‘’off’’. Suho was also suspecting, since I had started to go out with more people, instead of myself when I was grocery shopping. The cops had already left the school, so it was allowed again, the use of the shops and whatnot, but I used to go by myself, maybe with Chanyeol, but no more than that. Recently, I’ve gone out with Sehun, JongIn and Suho and they both saw me randomly gazing out of the window when I swore I saw something moving near the trees. It was weird and I haven’t gone out since.

Today was a school day, but it was a Friday thankfully, and I wasn’t in the mood to see Tao again. It was beginning to weird me out because I knew he was looking at me during classes at some points, but I ignored it because some of the Legendary had somehow noticed, too, and it was inevitable to listen to their conversations even though they were in Mandarin, but I understood well.

After classes, Suho and I went to get the others from their lockers to meet up at the cafeteria.

‘’Where was Kai again?’’ Suho asked, tapping his chin.

‘’I think history, should I go check?’’ I asked, blinking and pointing to the history classroom less than five feet away. Suho nodded.

‘’Yeah, go check, I’ll be looking out for Sehun and if you got Kai, go ahead and look for Chanyeol if I haven’t come back. I’ll look for Kyungsoo meanwhile,’’ I nodded and started walking towards the history classroom. The hallways were empty, and the lunch bell was about to ring, so it was only Suho and I on the narrow halls of the academy, so it was kind of the first time I patrolled the halls by myself, and I had to say that it was a bit overwhelming, because Suho had once told me that you never really did know what could suddenly pop up out of the corner, so that was a surprise. I was leaning against the wall next to the history room, and it wasn’t really so bad, but I was still looking around just in case. I sighed and checked the time, and it was already time for the bell to ring, so when the bell rang, I walked my way to the front of the door, and right there was Kai, waving to me. I waved back, and when I did so, the teacher tugged him back and I furrowed my brows. It looked like they were talking about something serious because the teacher was practically pointing his finger at him, so I just went back a few steps and waited for him.

When the students came out, I saw JongIn was still talking with the teacher, so I sighed and kept waiting until someone randomly bumped shoulders with me. I looked around and saw no one because I guess that person must’ve been tall, so I ignored it until it happened again, but when I turned around to see the person, fear spread across my face instantly. I recognized those eyes and that look anywhere, and he was so close to me that I could practically hear his heartbeat just a few inches away. I opened and closed my mouth and he furrowed his brows and I know I looked like an idiot but I quickly ran off, completely forgetting about Kai, who came out not even a minute later. I ran till I reached the bathroom, and I could wait for Kai here, so I texted him where I was.

‘’What the was that, Baek?’’ I gasped and turned around to see Kai there, with a brow raised. I placed a hand on my chest and took a breath.

‘’I-I uh…needed to go to the bathroom?’’

‘’Good enough, where’s Kyung—I mean D.O?’’ Kai slapped himself and shook his head from the confusion he had just now as I shrugged.

‘’Uh…Suho-hyung said he was going to go pick him up with Sehun later,’’ Kai scoffed,

‘’But Kyung—‘’ He slapped himself again, ‘’—D.O and I planned on meeting by the lockers awhile ago,’’ I furrowed my brows.

‘’When was that?’’

‘’Oh, I was texting him in class,’’ I face-palmed, ‘’that’s why you saw the teacher hold me up and I was later than usual,’’ I thumped his forehead.

‘’Yah! Do you want any more faults, Kim JongIn?’’ He shook his head and pouted, ‘’Then I suggest you turn your phone off, now come on, let’s go find Chanyeol, he’s probably—‘’

‘’Missing you?’’

‘’—worried about us,’’ I sighed and thumped his forehead again as he laughed and rubbed the abused spot.

‘’Fine, fine,’’ He rolled his eyes as I tugged his arm and went to the Pyrokinesis class a few feet away and we peeked and saw that everyone was gone, but Chanyeol was still there, working on something with a test tube with frozen liquids and a small container full of what looked to be man-made shadows. He was pouting and probably trying to melt the frozen liquids but he wouldn’t budge. The teacher was still looking at him from her desk and talking to him, and he nodded and focused on the test tubes in front of him. He arranged his safety goggles from sliding down his nose bridge and took a breath, staring at the tube and I noticed he was trying to melt it, but still couldn’t for some reason. I sighed and kept watching him with Kai behind me, confused as to why Chanyeol couldn’t do this. He was a star student in this class, so it kind of bothered me to see him try so hard in something that he was actually good at but was suddenly failing.

‘’I’ll be right back,’’ I told Kai, and he was about to tug me back, but I had gone inside the classroom already, and Chanyeol wouldn’t even look at me. He was too concentrated.

‘’Ah, Byun Baekhyun, what brings you here?’’ I turned my head from Chanyeol when he looked up at me, confused, and talked to the teacher,

‘’U-Uh…well, actually, I just wanted to come and get my friend for lunch but I see that he’s—‘’

‘’Pretty busy, yes,’’ She sighed and nodded, ‘’Mr. Park has been trying to melt the iced holy waters and blind the shadows, but he’s been having some trouble,’’ I sighed. I looked back at the door and saw that Kai had reunited with Kyungsoo and the two left without me. Suho was going to kill both of us, meaning Chanyeol and I.

‘’Is he okay?’’

‘’He’s doing well in class, but can’t concentrate well,’’ She said lowly, ‘’he claims he’s been having some problems at home, do you know any of these problems?’’ I furrowed my brows and shook my head,

‘’No, ma’am…well, that I know of,’’ I bit my bottom lip as she shrugged.

‘’He’s under a lot of pressure, I can feel his blood boil from all the way over here,’’ I nodded, ‘’he has a lot of hormones that need to be eliminated, too; it could be dangerous for him to have a lot of weight on his shoulders. Since his powers are a bit off lately—‘’

‘’Wait, what? What do you mean off? He’s fine,’’ I looked at her and back at Chanyeol. It was a relief that he couldn’t hear us because of the amount of concentration that he had and because of the security headphones he had put on when I walked inside the room, plus, he didn’t know Chinese as well as I did.

‘’Mr. Byun, my homeroom students like Chanyeol take a digital test every week concerning their blood and their hormones. You take a small sample of blood and it gives you the result in less than a minute. It helps them know how they’re doing and how they should take care of their abilities and what they should and should not do, but since he’s a natural flamer, he’s more at risk of danger than my other students, has he not told you this?’’ I blinked and shook my head slowly, ‘’well, he took another digital test today and his blood is literally boiling and scorching hot, which means he’s at risk of setting something on fire if he dare put his hands on it,’’ I widened my eyes.

‘’W-Why is this happening?’’

‘’Stress, lack of sleep, lack of food and water and too many emotions going around the poor boy’s head. It’s a miracle he’s still standing tall right now while working on this,’’ I looked at her in shock, ‘’he could’ve burned the seat, but he’s holding back so much that he could blow any second, so when he gets home with you, please take the time to try and calm him down, it would help a lot and I bet the teachers will be glad that you helped your friend,’’ She sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder comfortingly as I looked at Chanyeol, who was almost losing his patience there.

‘’M-Mrs. Ling?’’ She turned her attention to me, ‘’I-Is it okay if I help Chanyeol just this once? I kinda need to meet up with my friends and I need to talk to him about what you just told me so can I—‘’

‘’Byun Baekhyun, you’re one of the few students that I have that are naturally good in this class, and so is Chanyeol, and I don’t want you two to lose your potential, but once you help Chanyeol, you need to realize that he needs to learn this from you because if there’s one thing I know, it’s that he listens to you and that he does his best to please you and to make you proud, so if you want him to be happy, do me the honors, but don’t do the job for him, just explain it to him thoroughly and watch him do it on his own,’’ She smiled and I nodded happily and walked over to Chanyeol and scooted next to him. I tapped his shoulder, and he turned his head and took out his headphones and looked at me.

‘’B-Baek, w-what are you—‘’ I picked up the container of shadows and shook it next to my ear.

‘’Relax, the teacher let me help you,’’ He slowly nodded, and I continued, ‘’Do you get this?’’ He was about to say something but instead, shook his head, ‘’it’s very simple actually, you just take this in both of your hands like this,’’ I cupped the container with a firm grip and passed it to Chanyeol, ‘’I understand that you don’t have the potential I have when it comes to light, but just understand that everyone has just a bit of light ever since they’re born, and as you grow, the light grows with you and it looks like yours is just a little too small since you haven’t really put this ability in practice, but I’ll help you okay?’’ He nodded,

‘’Okay, Baek…but, what if I don’t know how to practice it?’’ I chuckled.

‘’Yeol-ah, I’ll help you,’’ I smiled, ‘’look, let’s think of life…as a train track. You like train tracks right? Well when you’re inside a tunnel and you see a little glimpse of the other side and you can actually feel the heat radiating from that other side, it’s just like when someone starts growing and their light as well. The light becomes larger and larger and larger every time you get closer, and once it’s finally there, you can’t wait to feel it in your skin and even in your pores, Yeol. That’s what you have to do, pretend you’re in a tunnel and you’re getting to the other side and once you get there, it’s like a whole ‘nother sensation!’’ He smiled and nodded.

‘’But…how do I get to the other side, Baek?’’ I laughed and brought another chair from the tables nearby and sat next to Chanyeol.

‘’Well, that’s when you practice. When you practice, you get better, and when you get better, you get closer until you’re on the other side, and that’s what I’m going to teach you now,’’ I took one of his hands and placed it on mine and paid attention to his face. He blushed a little, and I smiled, sighed and closed my eyes. I peeked from one of my closed eyes and giggled as I saw his eyes still widened while he looked at our hands in shock, ‘’Yah, Park Chanyeol, close your eyes,’’ He looked up at me quickly and shut his eyes, ‘’close them,’’ I said again and he relaxed and closed them lightly. I took a breath.

‘’U-Um, Baek, what am I supposed to—‘’

‘’Shh! I’m trying to do something,’’ I whispered loud enough for him to hear and tried lighting my hand up so I could transfer it from my palm to his. I took another breath and felt my hands begin to slowly heat up, and when they were fully lit, I slowly transferred it from my hand to Chanyeol’s with my mind, ‘’Open your eyes,’’ I opened mine and so did he and when he looked at his hand, he gasped. He must’ve been too used to heat in his hands that he didn’t even notice.

‘’H-How did you—‘’

‘’It comes from within you, Chanyeol, you were just too concentrated to really…concentrate,’’ I laughed and he kept looking at his hands like he’d never seen anything like that before. He even turned it sideways and backwards to get a better view. He looked like such a kid now, ‘’now take this,’’ I handed him the container and the shadows immediately vanished as he gasped.

‘’B-Baek, I-I didn’t do any—‘’

‘’Shh! Relax! The more you get altered, the more it’ll be impossible for you to concentrate,’’ I smacked his arm lightly.

‘’Is that why you’re interrupting me every time?’’ I nodded and laughed as he rolled his eyes, ‘’I knew—‘’

‘’Okay, okay, now close your eyes and think of yourself without the light, and it’ll go away and we can move on,’’ He nodded and closed his eyes for a few seconds before the glow disappeared from his palms. He opened his eye again and widened them when he saw the light wasn’t there anymore.

‘’W-Whoa…’’ He looked at me and then back at his hands.

‘’That wasn’t me,’’ I chuckled and so did he before I sighed and stared at the tubes, ‘’okay, Yeol, I know nothing about your power, you’re the one that knows here, so just relax and take a deep breath and focus on cooling yourself before you melt the water in the tubey thing,’’ I blinked and he looked at me and chuckled.

‘’Yeah, yeah, just stand back, smoke might get in your eyes,’’ I nodded and stood back a bit before he grab the test tube and stared at it for awhile. He visibly tightened his hold on the tube and took a breath before the water inside it bubbled a bit and emitted a blue-ish smoke, making me wave my hands in front of my nose, coughing a bit as Chanyeol mumbled an apology.

I bit my lips and waited for something to happen before the test tube was visibly bubbling itself and it took me a bit to realize that the thing was actually melting.

‘’Ch-Chanyeol—‘’

‘’Shh!’’ He snapped back while still staring at the tube. I face-palmed.

‘’But Chanyeol, you’re—‘’

‘’Shh!’’ I rolled my eyes and propped my chin up with my palm while looking at him as my brow rose. He kept staring at the tube as it dripped from its sides and he didn’t even notice it, being as dense as he was. Sometimes he could be so dense and unknowing and it made me anxious to know what was in that big head of his. It always made me curious how he even got good grades in this class when right now, he was melting what he wasn’t supposed to be melting and he won’t even allow me to tell him. Was this even part of the project? I wasn’t going to ask the teacher anyways.

I waited. Waited as the tubey thing kept melting, and soon, the water inside it started melting too, and I couldn’t help but stare at his face. He looked concentrated, but not the type of concentrated that made him anxious. Concentrated like really, really into this. I was proud, but anxious for him to get it over with. I was hungry. He stared at the thing like it was going to melt anytime soon, and I stared at him, already bored of waiting. I sighed and checked the time. , I was really hungry.

‘’Baek…’’ I turned my attention to him, ‘’I-I can’t...only the test tube melts and I’m going to fail, what do I do?’’ He whispered and pouted, and I sighed and patted his back.

‘’You’re not failing, just tell the teacher and she’ll answer your questions, okay?’’ I smiled comfortingly, and he nodded and slowly stood up, walking up to the teacher and talking to her quietly. Her expression suddenly changed and she smiled and shook his shoulders. Was this supposed to be good? Wait, what?

‘’Baek!’’ I blinked and looked up at Chanyeol, who was suddenly happy, ‘’the thing didn’t really need to melt! It was a test to see if we would be stupid enough to think that frozen holy water actually melted!’’ I kept blinking and dropped my jaw.

‘’Really? So you tried to melt that thing but it wouldn’t melt and that’s what was supposed to happen?’’ He nodded happily.

‘’I got a B!’’ He scratched the back of his neck and shrugged, ‘’the teacher thought I should at least get that because you helped and it wasn’t really fair, but she still graded me well, isn’t that great?’’ I smiled and nodded.

‘’Yeah! That’s great, Yeol, but—‘’ my tummy growled and I gripped it, blushing embarrassed. Chanyeol covered his mouth, threatening to laugh, and I blushed even harder when I looked up and he poked my nose.

‘’You’re hungry, I know,’’ He chuckled and tugged on my arm to stand me up, poking my tummy, and by now, I was blushing like crazy. I was so embarrassed, ‘’let’s go then,’’ he giggled and waved to the teacher while dragging me behind him as I dropped my red face.

Along the way towards the cafeteria, Chanyeol wouldn’t let go of my hand, no matter how much I tried to wiggle out, he still held onto me happily. I was red all the way to the lunch room, and hungry. People along the halls also started looking at us weirdly. It made me feel a little uncomfortable, but it set a little feeling in my stomach that I couldn’t explain.

‘’Yah,’’ He said, looking ahead as he kept dragging me. I blinked and hummed for him to continue, ‘’Byun Baekhyun, are you okay? You haven’t said a word to me ever since we left the classroom,’’ I blinked and noticed he was right. I opened my mouth and closed it again, unsure of what to say exactly.

‘’U-Uh…I’m just hungry, Yeol,’’ I said, but that was clearly a lie even though I was really ing hungry and the guys would kill us when we got to the lunchroom.

‘’Hmm,’’ He nodded, ‘’so you aren’t mad at me or anything?’’ I sighed and shook my head even though he wouldn’t see me. I then thought of something. He never told me what was going on at home ‘’supposedly’’ and that was a good reason to be mad at him. I didn’t want to scold him or be mad, but what are friends for anyway? Can’t he trust me? Just thinking that he would be able to lie to me and tell me that everything is okay when it’s not hurt me a little, it made me mad and a little disappointed. He could’ve gone through something painful for all of us, and painful to himself if he burned himself or anyone else, especially when he’s around me the whole time. And I haven’t even given him an answer, I just looked down and gripped his hand tighter, and I bet that led him to know that I was a little mad without me even realizing this. Anyways, holding his hand like this, I could feel his heartbeat beating faster, I don’t know why, but at the same time I do. A little tighter and his blood would start to bubble and eventually burn me like that time in the gym.

I knew he could control his powers, but something sets him off, makes him extremely nervous or whenever he’s having an intense moment, in the blink of an eye, he could turn into the spawn of Satan. I didn’t wanna stick around for that, but I had to, he’s my best friend.

‘’Baek,’’ He dragged me to a corner and sighed as I snapped out of my trance, ‘’are you or are you not?’’ He wanted answers. That I knew, but what was I supposed to answer when I couldn’t even open my mouth. Plus, I was hungry and couldn’t make up coherent sentences.

‘’I-I…’’ I tried, fidgeting with my fingers, ‘’Yeol…I’m not mad…’’ He sighed, relieved, but not quite fully, ‘’just disappointed…’’ I said honestly, below a whisper. He heard.

‘’Baek, I tried, I tried really hard to do what you told me to do but it still—‘’

‘’Not about that, Chanyeol,’’ I said, sighing. He blinked and looked at me expectantly, ‘’you never told me what was going on. You always said you were fine but that was a lie. Chanyeol, you’re on the verge of practically blowing up and destroying everything if you don’t calm the hell down because whatever is in here,’’ I tapped his head with my index finger, ’’whatever is in there, it’s too much for you, so stop thinking about it and relax please,’’ I practically begged and he sighed and looked down.

‘’I’m sorry, Baek…I just didn’t want you to worry,’’

‘’Too late, Chan, I’m already worried, and I could’ve helped you with this…whatever the hell is going on because I care about you and I’m here for that, and I’m disappointed because you didn’t tell me this, and now you could be in danger,’’ I tilted his head up to make him look at my concerned eyes, ‘’what’s going on, Yeol?’’ He hesitated to answer that, but sighed,

‘’I…don’t know…a lot of things, Byun Baek,’’ I nodded as he continued, ‘’I-I’m sorry…I just don’t think I’m ready to tell you,’’ I blinked.

‘’N-Not ready to tell me? Tell me what?’’

‘’What’s going on,’’ He answered, ‘’Baek, I trust you—‘’

‘’Then tell me, Yeol, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me—‘’

‘’I-It’s embarrassing, Baek, I don’t want this to screw me over with you…’’ He blushed, and I blinked in realization. Oh…

‘’Ch-Chanyeol, nothing will screw me over with you, we’ve been friends for a long time, nothing is going to change the way I view you,’’ I made a bold statement by holding both of his hands and looking at the floor, nervous. I can’t believe I’m doing this, ‘’Y-Yeol…I think I already know what’s going on a-and I…’’ He gasped and gripped harder on my hands.

‘’B-Baek, I can exp—‘’

‘’Stop, Yeol, don’t run away from this and let me finish,’’ I said and he stopped talking, allowing me to continue, ‘’Yeol, I think I feel—‘’ However, fate had other plans, and my stomach started rumbling again. I blushed harder when I realized that Chanyeol had let one of my hands go to cover his mouth.

‘’S-Sorry, c-continue,’’ He held in his laughs, and I let go of his hands and cupped my face, embarrassed as my tummy rumbled more. He giggled, ‘’Baek, I think you should go and eat or something,’’ I felt like crawling under a rock and staying there for most part of my life because I was too embarrassed to form coherent statements and I did not want to stick around to hear my tummy growl again after I was about to confess to Chanyeol and oh god why is this room suddenly closing up on me and getting all warm because I know that it’s not Chanyeol even though there is a possibility that it could be too but the point is, I needed to get out of here.

‘’I-I think I should, too!’’ I kept covering my face and ran away from the spot I was in with Chanyeol without even letting him answer. I was so at shame that I didn’t even wanna look at him anymore. I felt like ignoring him, too, but that would make things worse. I knew he would be the one to reach out to me first because he always does, but I will not tell Chanyeol what I feel—god no—if he asks me what that whole dramatic moment was about.

Nobody’s POV.

Suho ate his salad calmly; looking around his table and looking at everyone eat calmly as he waited for his two lost friends to arrive. He sighed and looked to his side, noticing Sehun wasn’t in a mood for some reason or another and was poking his food with a fork.

‘’Stop sulking, Sehun,’’ He rolled his eyes  and nudged Sehun on the shoulder as Sehun only slumped on his seat and pouted, ‘’eat your veggies, your mom told me to look out for that,’’

‘’She did not…’’ Sehun mumbles and Kai drops his fork and starts staring at Sehun.

‘’Alright, princess,’’ Sehun blinks and looks up, ‘’you’ve been acting dead this whole morning, what’s up? Luhan dumped your ?’’ Sehun the gasped and stood up, banging his hands in the table.

‘’Sh-Shut up! He didn’t! I-I hope not…’’ Suho then stood up as soon as Kai made the first attempt to talk, placing a hand in his face as Kyungsoo just looked up in horror.

‘’Yah! Okay, Sehun, sit down, go over this with us slowly please?’’ Sehun nodded slowly and sat back down, followed by Suho, who patted his back, ‘’what happened? Got in a fight?’’

‘’N-No…he just…hasn’t talked to me during the whole weekend and I haven’t seen him and I’m afraid that he might have gotten m—‘’

‘’Where have you two been?’’ Sehun was momentarily interrupted as Chanyeol and Baekhyun walked in, Chanyeol a bit too far behind Baekhyun, a sign that told the others that something had happened as Suho stood up and glared at them for being late after he had warned them not to be. It was all a bit too odd, ‘’Baekhyun. Explain,’’ Suho crossed his arms, raising a brow.

‘’W-Well, I uh—‘’

‘’It’s m-my fault, hyung,’’ Baekhyun looked at his friend with widened eyes and a red face. Suho quite didn’t know what was going on still, ‘’I-I held Baekhyun back because I was having troubles in class…h-he helped me, it’s not his fault,’’ Chanyeol lowered his head and fidgeted with his fingers, playing extra attention to the floor as Baekhyun looked the other way, and Suho, not buying the clamor, sighed and nodded.

‘’Fine, just sit down, you can eat later,’’ They nodded and sat down, a bit farther away from each other, when they were usually elbow tight next to each other, eating like wild animals and enjoying each other’s company. Even Baekhyun seemed a little frustrated. Chanyeol just looked a bit…emotionless? ‘’Continue Sehun, I’m sorry about the little outburst,’’ Sehun nodded and kept looking at his plate. It seemed like today, the only people who were alive and eating were D.O, Kai and Suho.

"Well, Luhan and I haven't talked all weekend for some reason..." Sehun sighed, leaning his cheek on his palm, drumming his other fingers on the table as Suho patted his back, "I don't know what went wrong, and I haven't even seen him around." 

"Maybe he's busy, Sehun, you know how busy they all are," Sehun nodded at Suho's words. 

"Yeah..." Sehun straightened up and trailed off; sighing as he once again looked around for his boyfriend. 

"Hey," Suddenly, Sehun and Suho turned around, finding Lay above them, a small smile on his face, "I need to talk to Suho and Kai, is that okay?" Suho nodded and stood up, and Kai did as well, as Sehun looked up at Lay, silently asking the obvious. 

"Alright," Suho sighed and buried his hands in his pockets, "what's up?" 

"Um, it's kinda private, you guys," Lay said, looking around, "serious, too..." Suho looked at Kai for a second, and both agreed to talk, before Sehun tugged on Lay's sleeve. 

"H-Hyung," Sehun bit his lips, "W-Where's Luhan-hyung?" Lay smiled an patted the other's head. 

"He's..." Lay looked around again, "I saw him like awhile ago, but I haven't seen him around with you...why?" Lay tilted his head. 

"I don't know," Sehun pouted as Lay chuckled, "I haven't talked to him since like Thursday, hyung," Sehun cooed and Lay sighed. 

"I'll try and get him for you then," Sehun offered a small smile and nodded, letting him drag away his two other hyungs, and hopefully find out what was wrong with Luhan.    

While walking out of the cafeteria, Suho asked, "What’s this all about?" Lay stopped and turned around to face him, including Kai into the equation, who was also confused and was probably going to ask the same question anyway. 

"Guys, we have a problem," Lay sighed and the others stared at him, dazed momentarily. 

"W-What kind of problem?" Suho asked, somehow concerned. 

"Well, I did what you told me and looked for my key—"

"The one that opens the entrance to the school?" Kai curiously joined the conversation, and Lay nodded. 

"Yeah, I—"

"I thought those broke with the lock," Kai tilted his head to the side. 

"Apparently not, Kai," Suho shrugged as Kai blinked in confusion but heard what the others had to say, "they're not supposed to break, mine just broke because the lock was too old for my new key," Suho sighed. 

"Exactly," Lay nodded in agreement, " happens right?" Lay chuckled nervously and scratched his nape as the others looked at each other and furrowed their brows.

"Okay, so what happened that's so important? I was enjoying my duck blood soup," Kai raised a brow. 

"You can worry about food later, let's just listen," Lay nodded slowly and took a breath, stepping back a few feet away. 

"Well, we have a problem with our escape plan." 

"Which is...?"

"I forgot where I put it." 

"Put what?" Suho and Kai asked in unison. 

"The key, guys, I lost it, I don't know where I put it," Everyone but Lay dropped their jaws, and Lay lowered his head, scratching the back of his head, too ashamed to look up. 

"Are you ing kidding me? We just started!" Kai lifted his arms in protest as Suho lowered them back down and thumped Lay's forehead, obviously frustrated.

"Hey!" 

"What the hell were you thinking?" Suho raised a brow and his voice a little, hands on his hips as he sent a death glare towards Lay. Lay gulped. 

"I didn't know I was going to use it anymore!" 

"You could've put it somewhere you would remember!" Kai spat back, Suho supporting his statement as Lay stuttered, too scared to fight against two who did kind of have a good point. 

"Well, I don't have the memory of an elephant! You guys are lucky I even remembered to talk to you today!" Suho face-palmed as Lay panted and gulped while Kai just stared at Lay in beyond amazement. 

"Okay okay," Suho massaged his nose-bridge with his head tilted back, sighing, "okay, what the hell are we going to do now? Mind explaining, Lay?" Kai nodded. 

"I, uh," Lay looked away and scratched his head awkwardly, "I don't know..." He mumbled. 

"Wait what," Kai raised a brow and stood closer to Lay to hear him better, "you don't what? You don't know?!" he scoffed and cupped his face, screaming into his hands, his sounds mumbled. 

Lay and Suho just stared at Kai having a mini-rant, Suho wanting to secretly smack the grin out of Lay's face as he glared at him again. He might as well do it now, his face was scrunching and it could hurt. 

"oh my god I swear I will ing END YOU," Kai threatened as he tried to put a hand on Lay. Suho thought otherwise, grabbing Kai’s wrist and putting it down as Kai, shocked, blinked repeatedly, silently questioning. It was of impulse, Suho thought, he just didn’t approve of this. Maybe he was just mad that Kai was really exaggerating or something, but he didn’t want Lay to get hurt.
"Yah," He spoke, "hands off the Chinese, let's talk like adults now okay?" Kai blinked because a second ago he thumped Lay’s forehead. Now he kinda looked scary. Lay on the other side, hid behind Suho, pleading for Kai to get away from him. Kai groaned and stepped away from Lay, arms folded over his chest as he rolled his eyes and nodded,

Lay nodded and added, "y-yeah, let’s talk like adults now,’’ Suho nodded.

‘’Well, we can’t stay here much longer,’’ Suho pulled Kai closer by his forearms and whispered into both of the other’s ear, ‘’half of the cafeteria is staring at us…’’ the others went ‘oh’ and nodded, starting to make their way from the cafeteria. Lay released his grip from Suho and stepped a bit too far from Kai, who was side-glaring at him. Lay looked away quickly and kept walking and making his way from the cafeteria, pulling Suho a bit closer just in case he needed to hide again.

As they made their way out, they stood next to a few lockers and a water fountain, and Lay was going to lean against them before something suddenly pulled at his pants. On impulse, he kicked and held onto his pants just in case, and Suho and Kai stared at him, startled.

‘’Hey!’’ The unknown force kept pulling at his pants and he looked around everywhere and on the floor to see that there was no one.

‘’Yixing-ah! It’s me! Luhan!’’ He stopped shaking his feet and looked around to hear Luhan’s loud whisper. He sighed, relieved.

‘’Luhan?! What the ? You scared the out of me!’’ Lay gripped his chest and let out a breath. Luhan came out from a corner and approached them, looking around and walking carefully. Lay cocked his head to the side in confusion and scratched his head as Suho and Kai stared at him with their brows raised while Luhan slowly approached them.

‘’What the was that?’’ Kai raised a brow.

‘’oh, I just used my mind to tug on Yixi—Lay’s pants,’’ Lay nodded and frowned, pulling his pants back up around his hips.

‘’Sehun’s not around here right?’’ Luhan looked behind him and behind Lay as Lay shook his head, brows knitted together,

‘’Umm no,’’

‘’He’s not; want me to get him for—‘’

‘’No!’’ Luhan interrupted Suho, waving his hands in the air as Suho widened his eyes and Luhan calmed down a bit, starting again, ‘’I-I mean, I don’t wanna bother him,’’ Suho blinked a few times.

‘’He was looking for—‘’

‘’I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you, come on, Lay,’’ Suho was once again stunned as Luhan dragged Lay to a corner and hid behind a dumpster, crouching down and looking up at Lay, who looked lost for a few seconds, ‘’look, I’m ignoring Sehun on purpose, how is he doing? Did you see him? Is he ma—‘’

‘’Okay okay,’’ Lay widened his eyes and looked around, sighing, ‘’you’re doing this on purpose? Why? The kid’s hurt, he thinks you’re mad or something, he even asked me to look for you but I—‘’

‘’You forgot didn’t you?’’

‘’A little but that’s not that point,’’ Luhan sighed and nodded, ‘’why the hell are you doing this to him? He’s not even eating, you better fix this, Luhan,’’

‘’I-I will, I just…’’ Luhan sighed and looked around again, signaling Lay to come closer to him with his fingers as Lay crossed his arms and furrowed his brows, scooting down to place his ear next to Luhan’s lips as he spoke slowly again, ‘’…my libido is pretty damn low, I don’t wanna have to tackle him in the middle of the halls, so I’m hiding because—‘’

‘’You couldn’t even text the poor boy over the weekend?’’ Lay raised a brow and looked down at him as Luhan pouted.

‘’I…I was afraid that I might mention something like that, I don’t want to make him think awkwardly of me even though he’s pretty frustrated, too,’’ Luhan bit his bottom lip and shrugged.

‘’Then why don’t you guys just and get it over with?’’

‘’Hey!’’ Luhan stood up, frowned and covered his mouth, looking away blushing, ‘’I don’t want to move too fast...he and I aren’t ready yet…’’

‘’Oh so you’re ignoring him because you have low libido and you don’t wanna jump him suddenly but you can’t because you’re not ready?’’

‘’Technically.’’

‘’You sicken me,’’ Luhan dropped his jaw and smacked Lay’s shoulder, sighing.

‘’Seriously though…I can’t risk losing him because of my problems,’’ Luhan looked down and Lay patted his head.

‘’There, there,’’ Lay sighed and rolled his eyes.

‘’I am eighty-five percent sure that you just rolled your eyes at me,’’

‘’Shh, shh, shh,’’ Lay placed Luhan’s head on his shoulder and patted his back, ‘’it’s okay, don’t talk,’’ Luhan groaned and pushed Lay away.

‘’I’m going back to the bathroom!’’ Luhan stomped away as Lay laughed.

‘’You’ve been hiding in the bathroom?’’

‘’It’s the only place he hasn’t gone to!’’

‘’He’s gonna check there sooner or later!’’

‘’We’ll see about that!’’

‘’Good luck!’’ Lay shouted, and Luhan groaned and kept stomping away and deliberately turned a corner to enter the bathroom as Lay shook his head and went back to the others, chuckling as Suho and Kai looked at him weirdly, ‘’ah, don’t mind him, he’s dealing with a lot of ,’’

‘’Is he dumping Sehun?’’ Suho asked, concerned.

‘’Nah, he’s just embarrassed because of something,’’ Suho blinked and shrugged as Lay kept chuckling and face-palming because of Luhan’s pathetic behavior towards this situation. He believed it though, but couldn’t understand why. He thought it was stupid. This thought only made him roll his eyes subconsciously.

‘’Okay,’’ Suho sighed, hands on his hips, ‘’what’re we gonna do?’’

‘’I think I have an idea,’’ Kai raises his hand slowly and bites his lips as Suho and Lay look at him. Suho beckons him to continue, ‘’but don’t be mad…’’

~*~

Moonkyu hadn’t heard of Kai in awhile. He was busy these days and Moonkyu was starting to wonder if Kai would actually remember him by the end of the week. He seemed stressed by the way he glanced at him all the way from the back of the History class; he was acting jittery, drumming his fingers on the desk and a sharp eye on the clock. He could’ve teleported all the way out of the classroom wherever he wanted if it weren’t power-proof. Moonkyu worried. He worried because Kai has been having it bad these days; he’s been working too hard. Moonkyu heard he’d been trying to improve his grades for the next semester, that he will be working hard to get what he wanted, and Moonkyu supported him and gave him time to do so. Who was he to stop him? No one.  But he still couldn’t help that perturbing thought on the back of his mind that he was going to be alone for longer that he wanted to believe.

He sighed and rested his chin atop his palm, sighing, and looking out the window of the window of the classroom, watching leaves fall and occasionally, Kai’s head, wondering what was in it that made him so anxious and restless.

He couldn’t care less of what the teacher was saying. He already knew about the Korean War, the teacher’s been repeating the same for about 3 weeks now, so he started doodling on his notebook when he should be taking notes. It was boring, drawing the cycle of life of a tree, but he couldn’t think anything else to draw.

‘’Mr. Kim Moonkyu,’’ He gasped and closed his notebook, looking at the teacher and gulping. The teacher pointed towards the door, making his blood pump. Was he being kicked out now? ‘’Principal’s office, he’s asking for you,’’ Moonkyu groaned and stood up, slinging his bag on his shoulder and picking up his books.

‘’Of course…’’ he mumbled and passed by the other students, his pencil falling onto someone’s desk as he apologized after and tried to pick it up, but since his hands were full, it was to no avail. The person picked it up and looked up, handing it over to Moonkyu, and it was none other than Kai. Moonkyu took a breath and grabbed the pencil, bowing, ‘’Thank you,’’ Kai nodded and resumed staring at the clock as he made his way out.

Moonkyu’s POV.

As I walked over to the office, I couldn’t help but feel eyes on me. I gulped and turned around to see there was nothing there, and I kept my eyes focused to the front and tried not to pay attention to those noises that suddenly started popping up out of the sudden, though it was hard not to because I could really feel energy behind me but I was too afraid to turn around again and see nothing when it could probably be one of those ghosts that lurk around here sometimes, thought it was rare. I sighed and kept walking, my left eye turning to look to the sides when there was really nothing there. I shook my head and tried to walk a bit faster, but the sounds kept increasing as I got closer to the office, and that’s when I began to run my way to the office, and the sounds followed me all the way there and I could feel my heart race and thump hard against my chest, so loud that it could come out of my mouth and eventually—

‘’Gah!’’ I exclaimed, breaking my running spree and running into my father’s face all of the sudden. I gasped and stood back a bit, catching my breath and gripping my chest as I looked behind me, my father looking down at me with a brow raised. I coughed, ‘’U-Uh…I—‘’

‘’Don’t mention it, come with me,’’ He beckoned me into his office as I hesitantly nodded and followed him.

"Take a seat, MoonKyu," Father sighed, and as I sat down on the leather chair, I gulped, seeing the way my dad looked at me. It didn't look good, "Your father and I...we've talked," I blinked. 

"Talked? Really? That's great!" 

"No, Moonkyu," he sighed again and I took a breath and waited, "I mean...we've talked...seriously," 

"Okay," I started, furrowing my brows, "what's this all about then?" 

"Son, we've talked about you, and we came to an agreement..." I blinked twice and listened as he said, "you're going to be sent back to your father--"

"What?! No! I don't wanna--"

"Kim Moonkyu!" He stood up and slammed his hands against the desk, making me gasp as he rubbed his nose-bridge and sighed, "it's just for an extended period of time, you won't be there for long," 

"S-So like a week right?" He shook his head and I bit my lips anxiously, "two?" 

"Moonkyu, you're staying there until after the 25th--"

"Of November?!" 

"December," He sat back down as I gasped and slowly shook my head. He nodded, "I don't want you to go either, Kyu, but your father wants to have a talk with you," 

"A talk? What about?" I blinked and gradually shifted in my chair, playing with the hem of my shirt while looking down. Dad just sighed again for the nth time. 

"I don't know, I just think that it would do well for you to go since you and your father have not talked," 

"What about school?" 

"I already told the teachers and they'll give you a break to recover all material," I looked away, stuttering,

"A-And my friends?" 

"You can text," 

"They won't answer me all the way in Korea, dad, they've got better things to do," 

"Well then make something up," He shrugged, "nobody even writes letters anymore, but when I was young it was--"

"Dad, please, I don't need a reminder of what else you did during your childhood," I rolled my eyes. 

"Well, I'm sure as hell about that," He cleared his throat and crossed his legs, playing with his tie as I looked at him and rolled my eyes again. 

"Whatever," I sighed, "when am I leaving?" 

"Tomorrow," I went wide eyed and looked at him in shock before he cut me off, "so pack your things, sleep early and--"

"Dad!" I practically pleaded to be heard for once, tears almost b in my eyes. 

"--here's your ticket," He picked up an envelope from the desk and handed it to me as I took it in between my fingers while shaking and trying not to cry, "don't lose it," I nodded and gulped. 

"B-But, dad, I--" 

"But nothing, go and pack up almost 50 days worth of clothes and say goodbye to your little friends," I sniffled and nodded again, standing up slowly and walking towards the door, taking the knob between my fingers and twisting it before I felt my dad grab my wrist. I shuddered and let a tear slip shamefully from my eyes, "this'll be the last time I see you in awhile, Moonkyu, you should at least say goodbye to your father if you're leaving bright and early in the morning,"

He turned me around and smiled gently as I sniffled and suddenly hugged him, wiping my tears in his suit, "it'll be okay," he said, and brought a hand to my back, "your father loves you a lot," I nodded again and hugged him tighter. 

Awhile after, he released me, "D-Dad, I--" He shushed me and patted my head as I wiped my tears. 

"Go," he said, "and take care of yourself there, don't backtalk and respect your father, remember to hug him, too.  I love you, son, and I'll see you soon," My jaw dropped and I was about to say something, but he decided to open the door and push me out gently as I turned around to open it but chose not to. I had other things I needed to take care of. 

A/N:                                                                                                    I am. The worst. Author. Ever. 

I love you all so much OTL T.T 

~Bianca