After successfully driving away both the stranger and the dog, Baekhyun dried himself and mustered up the courage to report to his Uncle about the break in. Via phone call of course. He’d rather have his ear drums burst than be beaten up. But when Baekhyun explained to him what happened (avoiding the dog and the stranger subject of course) Uncle Max was taking it awfully well…

“[Do you know what they looked like?]” His uncle questioned, his tone oddly calm.

Maybe Baekhyun wouldn’t have to go death in one ear after all?

“I dunno. He- I mean- she didn’t tell me” Baekhyun replied, a little suspicious. It’d make sense if he was in a meeting, or a place where he had to keep his volume on the down low, however his Uncle had said that he was having lunch with his co-workers, so unless one of them was the queen, that couldn't have been it. Baekhyun just about heard his uncle let out a sigh at the other side of the line. 

“[Alright…]”

There was a pause where he was expecting him to say more. “Should I call the police or…”

“[There’s no need. They didn’t steal or break anything, so there’s nothing for them to investigate. I'm coming home soon, i'll talk to you then]”

Just like that, the call came to an end and Baekhyun ended up pulling a face at his cell phone. Has his Uncle gone mad too? But if this was the result of his uncle’s madness, in that case, he wouldn’t mind having another nutter in the house.

It relieved him that he didn’t need to call the police. It would have been so troublesome to have to translate to the police whatever they Zora had to say. But it made him think. What kind of people randomly breaks into someone’s house and doesn’t take anythin? Sure, their house wasn't exactly a millionaire’s mansion, but it’s not like their house didn’t have anything worthy of taking. For one, there was the 23 inch flat screen TV they could have taken easily, especially if there was two of them. So why did they just come in for no reason? It was mind-boggling

And now that he’s driven away 'Kai', Baekhyun’s guess was that Zora would be in a strop. Not that he cared. Whether she was in a mood with him or not, Baekhyun couldn’t really care less. If that’s what he gets after trying to be nice to her on her 18^th then fine, it was a lesson learnt that he shouldn’t do anything nice for her again, not that he was planning to in the first place. It’s what he gets for spending so much time with her in the first place. Maybe if his uncle hadn’t reminded him that it was her birthday and it’d completely slipped his mind then none of this would have happened.

Now that he finally accepted reality, it freaked him out. A part of him was starting to question reality. Zora’s drawing coming to life? It sounded like one of those badly written fantasy movies. But why those characters? Surely she’s drawn more than just those two in her life time. Hek, there must be billions of them by now if that was true. So why did two suddenly pop out of nowhere?

Baekhyun found his mind wondering off and quickly shook his head to snap out of the useless thoughts that drifted in and out of his head. He figured there was no use in thinking about things that he'd never get an answer to. 

Much to Baekhyun’s surprise, he went to bed easily and comfortably that day. The migraine had gotten to him and his drowsiness probably exceeded his need to rethink everything that had occurred. In fact, he was in such a deep sleep that for once, the alarm on his phone was what had woke him up. Not blinding rays from the morning sun or not the pitter-patter of the rain knocking on his window, but the annoying electronic tune from his bedside table.

Rubbing his tired eyes, Baekhyun lifted himself up from his bed and clicked the ‘dismiss’ button on his phone to shut the thing up when someone’s voice from downstairs startled him. 

“Byun Baekhyun! Wake up!” The voice belonged to no other than Uncle Max. It hadn’t surprised him that Uncle Max was home this time. It might be rare, but sometimes- when his work told him to- he’d actually be home in the morning and go to work the same time as Baekhyun would go to school.

After getting ready, Baekhyun walked down the stairs and found Uncle Max at the dining table with a cup of coffee (Baekhyuns mug actually) and two plates of omurice, his laptop out in front of him as he busily typed away on the keyboard.

“Whoa, who died?” Baekhyun joked as he closely examined the nicely cooked omurice. It wasn’t the first time he saw his uncle in the morning before school, but as for him making him breakfast- he’d never even dreamt of it.

Uncle Max glared at the computer screen, not amused. “Where’s Zora?”

At his question, Baekhyun rolled his eyes. At least it was proof that his Uncle was still his uncle and not some alien in disguise. “I dunno. Asleep I gu-” Someone suddenly shoved him from behind and made him jump out of his skin. If his eyes hadn’t caught sight of her, then he would have swung a fist the millisecond he spun around. He saw Zora’s cheesy grin greet him before his gaze dropped to her familiar clothes…

They weren’t her usual white pyjamas.

“Are you…wearing my uniform?!” He gawked, glaring at Shota high’s uniform that had fitted her perfectly.

“Of course not, they're hers, unless you wear skirts to school” Uncle Max added, his glare not leaving the computer screen. Baekhyun took a double take before his eyes widened at the golden plaque on the plate of her tight-fit blazer reading ‘Han ZoRa’ in black. “She’s attending your school from today onwards” His uncle casually added, taking a sip of his coffee.

“What?! Wait!” Baekhyun laughed off his confusion. “You went ape at me for taking her outside and now you’re suddenly making her go to school? My school?!”

“Glad you understand”

“Why? It’s not like she needs to go”

“Byun Baekhyun” His Uncles voice was stern enough to shut him up. But once his gaze lifted towards him, Baekhyun knew it was an argument he couldn’t win and gave up whilst he still could, admitting defeat with a groan before plopping onto the chair, Zora sitting beside him as they ate breakfast together. “I don’t want her staying home alone anymore…So she’s entering Shota with a scholarship”

“Do they even know that she’s a mute?” Baekhyun scoffed in the midst of chewing his omulette and judging from his uncles’ silence, it was as he expected. Sure they didn’t know yet. They wouldn’t have accepted her otherwise. It was just the way shallow Shota high worked.

“That’s why she’s in your class”

The rice and eggs came back upstream from shock. Baekhyun violently spluttered and coughed. “She's what?!”

“She’s clever enough to skip a few grades” Uncle Max added, taking another sip of his coffee before Baekhyun peered over to Zora. Another cheesy, clueless grin plastered on her face.

“Don’t get cocky just because you’re skipping grades, Einstein” Baekhyun snapped at the girl trailing behind him on their way to school. “When you get there, you’re on your own. I won’t help you get around or work out your class schedules and you better act like you don’t know me or I’ll really treat you like a stranger” He gave her an edgy glance and just about caught her nodding her head. That was probably the best thing about her, she didn’t argue- or maybe it was just that she couldn’t even if she wanted to.

Just before they came close to the school gates, Baekhyun sped up, distancing himself from Zora before people could associate them as going to school together.

“Ay~! Look who it is!” Jongdae greeted the moment Baekhyun passed the opened school gates and found an arm wrapped around his shoulders before he could even greet him back. “You should have gone to the noraebang with us man, I’ve got abs just from laugh-”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, let’s just get to homeroom” Baekhyun practically dragged his friend inside the building.

“Did you hear? she can’t even speak Korean”

“Ooh~ a foreigner?”

“No, I heard that she’s got some disability, like she seriously can’t talk”

News about Zora travelled faster than Baekhyun had hoped. It was only 2^nd period and already his friends wouldn’t shut up about it which resulted in Baekhyun trying to escape from his friend group again. His elbow propped onto his desk as his hand held his head up for him to comfortably enjoy the grey clouds and waving tree branches that swayed in the wind. But he couldn’t help but eavesdrop into their conversation out of pure curiosity. 

“Pft! No way man”

“Seriously! She got in with a scholarship, she’s even skipped grades! But the principle didn’t realize she was a mute”

“I don't care dude, have you seen her, i mean hubba hubba~” 

Baekhyun gag reflex’s accidentally triggered and he got caught by his friends who all simultaneously turned to him.

“You alright there, Byunnie?” Lay questioned, although he wasn’t involved in the conversation, he couldn’t help but notice Baekhyun almost hurl at him since he ws sitting right in front. Baekhyun awkwardly cleared his throat before turning back to the window and acting as though nothing happened. For some reason, having his friends talk about Zora in such a manner made him uncomfortable, he was even praying for the teacher to appear already so that they could finally shut up or at least move onto a different subject.

Zora hadn't appeared in homeroom for some reason. His only assumption was that she’d gotten lost and wondered around the school for the first 45 minutes of the day. But she’s smart. Baekhyun wouldn’t be surprised if her photographic memory helped imprint the map of the school into her brain. Although, he was impressed that Zora found her way to this class without any help- he highly doubted that she would actually recieve any help even if she asked for it, since most of the people here would probably get tired to trying to understand, laugh in her face and walk away.

Without realizing, Baekhyun gaze wondered around the class and couldn’t help but notice Zora at the front of the classroom. No one was permitted to dye their hair in this school, so most people had either black or dark hair, but since Zora was naturally light-haired, it was funny how she stuck out like a sore thumb. She was just sitting there at the front of the class, still as a rock. She could probably tell that people were talking and glaring at her. After all, she’s a mute, not death, she had no hearing problems for her to block out what everyone was saying.

The girls sitting near the front were eyeing her, whispering and giggling to each other before one of them decided that it’d be funny to throw her heavy world history book at her, just to see if she’d at least be able to yelp in pain.

Baekhyun and few of the other guys flinched when the hard-covered book slammed against her skull and Zora didn’t urge a single cry. Good thing that most of his friends weren’t as shallow as most of the people there. If they were then they would have been laughing their heads off like some of the other students that saw. Zora just winced and rubbed her head before glaring down at the book, picking it up and handing it back to the girl before sitting back to her seat.

Everyone was so surprised by her peculiar behaviour, not to mention the girls were completely dumbfounded. It seemed like Baekhyun was the only one who scoffed internally to himself. He expected no less.

Lunch came, and Baekhyun was less than looking forward to listening to his friends ramble on about the new student.

“What’s wrong with you today dude? You’re quieter than usual” Jongdae asked as he grabbed a tray from the canteen to get his food served. Baekhyun brushed it off with a simple, “Tired” and a fake yawn before also grabbing a tray to pick up his lunch from the friendly lunch lady who shone him a sweet smile before placing a small silver pot of rice for him. After everything got put onto their trays, they sat in their usual spot- the glossy white table in the middle of the canteen.

“Where’s Sehun?” Lay asked as he joined the table.

“Skiving probably, he had a test this morning that he forgot to cram for” Minseok replied, bringing laughter to the table until one of them spotted something. When one of them called her the ‘transfer student’ Baekhyun couldn’t help but dramatically roll his eyes, getting caught by Jongdae who decided not to say anything about it just yet.

“Who the hek is that?” One of the boys on the table suddenly gawked at someone. “Don’t tell me it’s her boyfriend!” He scowled, much to Baekhyuns sudden curiosity. Without making it too obvious, Baekhyun decided on turning his neck to the direction where his friends were glaring at and his eyes suddenly caught sight of someone standing in front of Zora, an unfamiliar handsome looking boy with the whitest skin and the whitest hair, however the darkest pupils that he’d ever seen. And the boy wasn’t even in the school’s uniform.

Zora stood there, holding her tray full of food with a curious look on her face when she suddenly beamed at the boy and silently laughed, her perfect smile showcased to everyone watching. The person shyly rubbed the back of his neck and Baekhyuns sharp eyes detected a black mark of a crown.

“No way…” He murmured quietly to himself as he watched Zora laugh inaudibly, but happily.

She looked so strange in the uniform, probably because he’d seen her wear nothing but white pyjamas all his life apart from that one time when he lent her his over-sized clothes. But seeing her standing there, in a proper uniform…it made her look older. No. It made her actually look her age.

“You know, a lot of people aren't liking her already” Lay suddenly mentioned before taking a spoonful of rice and stuffing it into his mouth.

“Of course, just look at some of the guys, they’re going gaga over her, I bet the girls are turning into incredible hulk already” Jongdae chuckled, waving around a piece of Kimchi with his chopsticks and dropping it into his mouth.

“That and they don’t believe that she’s a mute”

“What?” Baekhyun accidently urged aloud. His friends suddenly jolted when he decided to join in with their conversation. Baekhyun quickly acted casual, clearing his throat and shoving another spoonful of food into his mouth before Lay could reply.

“Yeah, people are saying that she’s only doing it to get attention” Lay shook his head. Baekhyun made sure to swallow the food in his mouth along with the words he wanted to say. “They’re doing all sorts to try and get her to say something, it’s ridiculous…” Lay’s gaze lifted before his head suddenly cocked towards something. “Look there, that guy’s probably gonna try and throw something at her and see if she starts yelling”

They turned to a table of mixed gender and watched as a guy with eagle like eyes took aim of an egg he seemed to have retrieved from one of the lunch ladies. The girls on the table eyeing Zora as she sat down onto an empty table with the white haired stranger in anticipation, wondering whether or not the egg will actually hit her and she’d start to throw a hissy fit or not. With a powerful over-shoulder throw, the egg darted through the air, about to hit Zora perfectly at the back of her head when suddenly, a figure appeared, easily capturing the egg into his bare hands without even smashing it.

Baekhyun became frozen when he recognized the figure standing there in school uniform, his eyes twinkling with mischief as his plump lips curved into a little smirk as he played with the egg. Kai.

He teasingly wagged his finger at the eagle eyed boy before surprising Zora from behind, greeting her with a sweet smile before sitting beside her and fluffing the phantom boys' hair. The eagle eyed boy was completely humiliated; his face turning red as a tomato as he fell back down to his seat and silenced his friends laughter with a glare. 

“D-Did you guys just see that?!” Minseok shook Lay back and forth by the arm in total amazement.

“Yeah…But who is he? He’s wearing the uniform but…I don’t think I’ve really seen him before…or have I?” Lay thought deeply to himself before noticing Baekhyuns attentive glare towards the two males who sat at either side of Zora. Kai, in mid-conversation, glanced towards Baekhyuns direction. His gaze telling him something that Baekhyun couldn’t exactly figure out at first glimpse. A victory smile? A taunting smile?

“Dude, do you know him?” Jongdae nudged him, detecting the tension between their glares. 

“…Never seen him before in my life” Baekhyun replied bitterly. 

A/N: Really long chapter~ Thank you for everyone who is Subscribing, commenting, i really appreciate it. And also a personal thank you to 'NoOnionsPlease' for being the first to vote for Inkheart~ *hugs*. I love you all~! <3