“Ah!” Baekhyun flinched awake, finding himself sat at Zora’s desk from last night, staring at one of the pages of his history books. He clutched onto his chest and tried to pace his pounding heart and labour his breathes.

The sun was out and shining and by the bed (not on it) was Zora, for some reason curled up on the rug still in dreamland, wrapped up in a toasty burrito of blankets with her sketch book by her feet. Baekhyun sighed from relief. “Just a dream” He whispered, “Just a stupid dream”

He glanced over to his phone to check for the time, seeing that he was already late for school, Baekhyun quickly got up from the desk and snatched his school bag to exit Zora’s room. He got himself ready at the speed of lightning, hesitantly deciding to skip breakfast for today seeing as how late he was running. Instead he went for a bottle of vitamin water from the fridge and hurriedly headed out of the house. Luckily, he got into school right on time, just before the school gates could close.

“Byunbaek!~ Waddup man? Not like you to almost be tardy” Kim Jongdae; one of Baekhyuns close friends suddenly wrapped his arm around his shoulders for a friendly squeeze as they walked into the main building.

“Over-slept” Baekhyun one-word replied him before taking long gulps of the vitamin water, almost choking on it when he felt someone smack him over the shoulders.

“It’s not like you to over sleep” Another friend of his smiled at him. “Having issues at home?” Lay questioned as if expecting an interesting answer, although as his friends, they should know better but to expect Baekhyun to dish out some juicy gossip about his tedious life.

“Nice try, he won’t budge” Jongdae snorted, Baekhyun narrowing his eyes at his friend as if insulted. “Please man, you never talk about your life to anyone! I’ve known you since pre-school and all I know is your name and that you live with your uncle” He said before opening the little locker that kept his white school shoes inside. Baekhyun sighed before tugging open at his own mini locker, only to find several boxes of nicely wrapped boxes and mini letters with heart stickers stuck everywhere.

Not again.

“And that you’re every girl in Shota high’s ‘prince charming’” Lay teased after catching a glimpse of the heaps of love letters inside.

Jongdae tutted his tongue against his teeth and shook his head hopelessly at Baekhyun. “’Charming’ my , he’s as cold as frost. I don’t get why you get all the presents man, it’s not even fair!” He whined.

Baekhyun pulled a grimace. He was almost tempted to tell them about how he got his step-sister a gift for her 18^th just to prove his warm-hearted-ness, but of course, they didn’t know that he had a step-sister, and they weren’t gonna suddenly find out, so he just brushed off the idea and cleared his throat.

“I guess chicks just dig musicians, ey?” Lay nudged Baekhyun with a little smirk on his face.

“Ah~! Of course! The old musician card, I shoulda known~” Jongdae chuckled whilst playfully shoving Baekhyun by the arm. But the joke wasn’t funny to Baekhyun.

“Are you done?” He practically growled at them before slamming the mini locker door shut, the sound piercing through their ears and making them jolt from surprise. Baekhyun strolled away from him two friends, only to have the two follow up behind him right after.

“Come on dude, it’s cool…well, the whole ‘his voice casts spells’ thing is total gag, but- fear not, we can overlook, right?” Jongdae casually swung his arm over Baekhyuns shoulders yet again, but this time shaking Baekhyuns broad shoulders left and right as they walked to first period class together.

‘Gag’ was right. Baekhyun shuddered just from hearing it. ‘A voice that casted spells’, who did they think he was, merlin? It was ridiculous what some people came up with in this school.  “Not like I do it anymore” Baekhyun mumbled, turning to his two friends who still had wide knowing grins plastered on their faces.

Baekhyun had an interest in music in his previous years. Playing piano and singing brought him joy and happiness whenever he couldn’t go for taekwondo practice or soccer practice with his friends when he was a child, and without sounding too egotistic; he couldn’t deny that he was good. But for some reason that had already been forgotten, he stopped doing it. Just like that, singing and piano was something he’d rarely do even on special occasions and the piano back in his house became nothing but something that collected dust and made the house look sophisticated.

“Whatever” Lay scoffed before entering the classroom; a group of guys at the back suddenly welcomed them with a loud and obnoxious cheer. “Just don’t let us find out that you’re hiding your girl somewhere Baekie, dibs on the first introduction mate” He whispered the last part.

“Ya, Yixin-“ Before Baekhyun could address his real name, the teacher had entered and had almost immediately started the lesson.

Hiding a girl huh? No shock that Zora was the first to pop up into his head. And the thought of Zora only reminded him of the peculiar dream he had earlier. But could he really call it a dream? It seemed too vivid to be a dream, yet too unbelievable to be real. But if it really happened then he would have remembered what happened afterwards- right? He couldn’t have suddenly jerked awake. Does that mean that none of yesterday ever happened? Does that mean that he never actually took Zora outside and he never got slapped by his uncle? No way, he felt that one for real…

“Lay” Baekhyun leaned over his desk and hissed to the friend sitting in front during class. Lay willingly responded by bluntly turning to him, not at all worried that the teacher would catch him and he’d risk getting chalked thrown to his head. “…What’s the date?” 

“25^th…why?” Lay retorted, somehow a little amused to be hearing a person like Baekhyun blatantly asking for the date. Usually he’d check his phone or even ignore his curiosity and wait until the next day.

So yesterday did happen, but how much of it? Baekhyun pulled a poker face and acted nonchalant.

“Nothing” He shook his head, but before he could lean back, Lay noticed something and pointed towards the front of the class. A couple of girls batted their eyelashes and flirtatiously waved at them, Lay having to pull off the best smile he could make, whereas Baekhyun was just about able to fake a millisecond smile before turning back to the teacher ramble on about something he wasn’t interested in.

Not that he was being rude or anything, but he wasn’t going to deny, most people in Shota High were shallow; even some of the teachers. If someone were to run for Student council or captain of a sports team then they wouldn’t hesitate to pick out appearance and popularity over true talent and/or potential. He didn’t know about anybody else, but for Baekhyun, getting nominated for class president or MVP for the soccer team was nothing to be flattered about. Not to mention other discriminating qualities the school seemed to have; people with problems and disabilities wouldn’t even get accepted into this school. But from what he’s experience, he knew that basically; if you have the connections or the looks, then you’d pretty much get away with murder.

But because Lay reminded him, he couldn’t help but zone out during lesson and let his mind wonder about useless things. About the argument with his uncle, about that bizarre dream he had. Maybe it was the aftermath of hanging around with Zora for so long, after all, he spent so much time with her yesterday- willingly- it was out of character for him. It was probably the longest he’d ever spent time with her in his entire life summed up. Maybe he softened up to her because it was her 18^th, or he just felt bad for almost mentioning the taboo and thought that being nice to her would compensate his guilt? Either way, it was strange to actually take notice of her properly. There would be the odd scolding and blunt greetings to her day by day, which was simply how their relationship worked; a regular everyday conversation was rare most of the time.

School dragged on and was nearing an end. A few of Baekhyuns friends were all ready to go home and started leaving the classroom to go and hang out together. They’d invited him, however as usual; Baekhyun had passed on the offer to listen to his friends’ belt out 90’s songs in a noraebang all night when their midterms were coming up.

He sighed to himself as he gazed out the window, alone near the lockers, seeing how the rain outside was getting heavier and he hadn’t brought a raincoat or umbrella with him. “Perfect” He said with sarcasm to no one in particular.

“What’s ‘perfect’?” A muffled deep voice asked.

Baekhyun scoffed. “I was being sar…” He turned towards the voice, but saw no one. “…Who…who said that?” He called, turning left and right but still seeing nothing but the rows of grey lockers.

“Over here” The muffled voice spoke again, making Baekhyun tilt his head towards the top of the lockers. A boy with oddly familiar orange hair sat crossed legged on top of the tall metal cabinets, his mouth stuffed with chocolate with a pile of boxes and letters piled between his legs. Baekhyuns immediately backed away; not only was this boy not in uniform but the fact that he was amazingly familiar made him weary and uneasy. “Man, these are so good!” His deep voice sounded energetic, like a child on sugar hype as he stared at the white envelopes with heart shaped stickers on.

“Are those…are those mine?” Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows, pointing at the empty boxes of chocolate on the boys lap.

“If your name is- Baekhyun-oppa, then yeah, these are yours” He said, reading the front of the envelope and continuing to snack on the chocolate. “I found them in a pile somewhere unattended” He said with a full mouth before taking one of the heart-shaped chocolates and stretching it out towards him. “Want one?”

Baekhyun was too busy scanning him from top to bottom, determined to figure out why the boy had looked so familiar until the black imprints on his neck finally struck a bolt of recognition through his brain. 

"What?" Baekhyun pulled a face at the tall, handsome guy with light orange hair with a blonde tint, glaring at the black imprints that ran from one side of his ear down his neck. A weird looking tattoo, he thought. The boy shivered as he walked closer to him, glancing his amber eyes around the stalls.

"You should be more careful with that mouth of yours man" He sighed, rubbing his hands together and blowing into them; radiating a bright red glow in his cupped hands as he casually walked passed Baekhyun; who needed to blink several times before recalling what trick he just pulled. 

“…You’re that guy from the market!” He pointed his finger at him in recognition, ignoring the chocolate offering in front of him. The boy gave it a thought and nodded.

“Probably”

Baekhyun shot him another glance before deciding to escape. He picked up his school bag and started making his way out. “Where are you going?” the guy asked.

“Away from you” Baekhyun retorted, refusing to turn back and exited the building. Weirdo.

Baekhyun speed-walked down the streets, letting the heavy, brutal rain drench his clothes inside out as he hugged himself for warmth.

“Umbrella, honey?” A hand with shimmering rings around her five fingers suddenly held out an open black umbrella over him, already sheltering him from the rain.

“No, it’s al-“ Before Baekhyun could finish, he finally made eye-contact with the lady and practically yelped from shock as he stepped away from her. It was no other than the modernized fortune teller from the calligraphy store yesterday.

“Aigoo~ I see you remember me!” The lady shone a toothy grin at him, adjusting her own glittery umbrella as she held out the duller one for Baekhyun. It seemed as though even in the most horrific of weather, the women still remained high on her loopy gas, the rain hadn't taken away or even faded her insanity. However Baekhyun had backed away from her so far that the umbrella was no longer sheltering him and he was willingly standing out in the rain. “What’s the matter? Come on! Get in! Look at you, you’re soaked right through already!” She chuckled, shoving the umbrella towards him which only made Baekhyun flinch backwards.

“N-No! I’m good, thanks” He dismissed her, having to blink away the cold droplets of rain that splashed into his eyes before strolling away.

“Are you sure~?! You might catch a cold~!” She yelled as Baekhyun practically ran for his life.

Trying to ignore two very sudden and bizarre appearances, Baekhyun finally arrived home, coming through the front door drenched inside out. “I’m home!” He announced out of habit as he headed upstairs, entering his bedroom and flinging his damp school bag onto his bed before suddenly realizing that someone in particular hadn’t made their ‘welcome back’ greeting yet, however shook it off as her being too engrossed in drawing or writing to have noticed that he’d come home. Yesterday…was it real…Or maybe…am I still dreaming? He wondered, still curious as to whether or not he’d actually brought her a present for her 18^th. Baekhyun somehow got lost in thought as he gazed at the mirror that was stuck on one side of his wardrobe door, his black hair still dripping wet and his school shirt turning see-through.

“Should I ask her?” He murmured, debating whether or not he should act out of character for another day or wonder for god knows how long, which part of yesterday happened and which part of merely a dream. He sighed at himself before ing his shirt and peeling it off his body because the dampness made it stick to his skin.

He flung open the wardrobe door, however was greeted by a figure that sat inside.

“CHRIST!” Baekhyun jumped out of his skin, flying backwards onto his bed before clutching his chest to steady his heart rate from the heart attack. “What the hell?!”

“Gee, way to greet someone” The male suddenly jumped out of the wardrobe, stretching out his body as his bare feet landed on ground.

Baekhyun had to take a moment to take in the current situation, his eyes nailed to the handsome stranger wearily before the recognition for the 3^rd time today.

Dark toned skin and mysterious dark eyes that sparkled with mischief. 

Déjà vu

“Y-you…You’re…” Baekhyun stuttered nervously, secretly pinching his hand and finding the proven sting hard to believe.

The boy knitted his eyebrows together as he glared his dark orbs towards him. “What…?” He snorted, as if climbing out of someone else’s closet was completely normal.

Baekhyun suddenly exploded. “ZORA!” the whole house shook from the volume yet it still had no effect on the other male in front. He just stood there casually with his hands buried in his pockets as if he didn’t know hot from cold.

At Baekhyuns call, Zora came dashing through the door with possibly the widest, brightest grin Baekhyun had ever seen her pull. She dramatically gestured towards the male with her sketchbook and shoved one of the pages to Baekhyuns face; showing him her drawing of the stranger who just so happened to be standing in front of them. He pulled a face at her, like he couldn’t believe that she could even be smiling at the situation. “I can see him!” He barked. “I want to know what that thing is doing in here!”

“How rude” The boy commented, his lips curving into a gentle smile as he spoke. “I’ll have you know, I’m as much of a human as you are, Byun Baekhyun”

Zora nodded rapidly in complete agreement, however was ignored. But it was true as he said, Kai looked like a regular, handsome, 18 year old human boy excluding the odd clothes and weird tattoo, but he wasn’t buying it, it was just the way Zora had designed him, so his term of ‘human’ to Baekhyun didn’t count.

“…you know my name?” His eyes warily scanned him from top to bottom.

“Yup” The boy initiated towards Zora with a little smile. “Zora told me”

“…You…understand her?” His eyes flickered from Zora to the male.

“It’d be strange if I didn’t” He scoffed, suddenly turning back, grabbing a random shirt from Baekhyuns closet and handing it over to him. Baekhyun, for a second, had wondered about the sudden shirt offering before he realized his bare upper body. “Come on, there’s a lady in the room, dude…” The boy joked before having the shirt snatched away by Baekhyun without a single ‘thanks’. Once he pulled the shirt over his body, Baekhyun glanced over to Zora, but she could only shrug her shoulders at him with a happy grin on her face- she couldn’t have looked happier, which for some reason irked him inside.

“We’re not keeping him!” He growled at her through gritted teeth, Zora’s eyes suddenly widened, almost pleading him of letting the boy stay to Baekhyun disbelief. “No! Zora, if uncle Max won’t even let us keep a stupid dog then he’s not gonna let us keep…whatever he is!”

“Speaking of which, where’s King?”

“King?”

There was a high-pitched bark that startled him before the stranger brightened upon the sight of the miniature white puppy that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere, barking at him from Baekhyuns window sill. “King, boy!” The boy called as the small puppy charged at him, he picked him up and blinked curiously at it. “You’ve shrunk!” The puppy’s ears seemed to deflate. “Who put you in the washing machine now, ey?” His lips curved into a sweet smile as he played with its fur.

“Wait…Don’t tell me…that thing is also…” The same time as everything became clear; Baekhyun’s reality came crashing down. Yesterday wasn’t a dream…none of it was. He suddenly felt a migraine attack his head as he clutched his damp hair between his fingers. He just knew he was in for trouble. He thought that if Uncle Max -slapped him across the face for taking Zora outside, then he would get a knee to the crotch if he found out that Baekhyun let a dog and a stranger into the house without his consent. Just thinking about it made him wince. He glanced towards Zora, only to see her eyes glistening at the stranger in admiration whilst he played with the dog, she was grinning ear to ear with her risen cheekbones blushing pink. “I want him out!” Baekhyun had to rain on her parade. Her smile instantly faded as she glared at him; but in terms of intensity, it was a battle she couldn’t win. “That dog too! If Uncle Max comes home and finds out, I’m the one who gets murdered!”

“Dang, looks like the rain wasn’t cool enough to calm you down” The boy chuckled, the puppy barking at Baekhyun in agreement.

“You can shut it” He scowled at the dog, catching Zora chuckling beside him at the corner of his eye. “And you too” He darted at Zora, who instantly held in her chuckle and bit onto her lips. “Why did you even let him stay in my room?!”

Zora gestured something towards the male and shrugged her shoulders, her expression a little concerned. But Baekhyun couldn’t understand her.

“What?”

“She says I helped her” The male replied, much to Baekhyuns surprise. To think that he could understand her to that extent already. “Right?” He turned to Zora for her acknowledgement and she nodded her head. Baekhyuns brows instantly furrowed.

“Helped her from what?”

“These two blokes suddenly broke into the house somehow. They weren’t burglars I don’t think, but of course, it freaked her out so I helped her hide”

“What? When?”

“This morning, a little after you left. Don’t worry though, they left when they couldn’t find something. I don’t think they stole anything and nothing was broken either”

And finally the migraine appeared, painfully throbbing at Baekhyun brain. How was he gonna explain this to Uncle Max now? Of course he has to tell him somehow, right? Or maybe not saying anything would be better? But he should call the police, and it’d be a bad idea to get the fuzz without Uncle Max’s acknowledgement. Either way, he's doomed.