Baekhyun whistled a tune to himself as he walked through the first-floor corridor. The glorious day had been quite eventful so far, what with the two new students going around and causing new rumors to spread like wildfire. He found the one about the greenhorn decking Tao with a punch to the jaw and then escaping out the window to be the most amusing one, seeing as it wasn’t even remotely credible. The more recent one about the new third year pissing Lay off wasn’t all bad either, but it was more likely to hold an ounce of truth – Lay had always been fairly easy to tick off after all.

“Hey Baekhyun, got any news?” A random third year asked when he passed by.

“Not really, but I recommend you keep your distance from Lay, and Yongguk – apparently his recruits had a bit of a run-in with D.O. earlier.” He replied with a crooked smirk. This was the main reason he was liked around the school – he knew what was happening; he made it his business to not miss a single conflict, treaty or juicy rumor. Of course there were people who hated him for it all the same, but he really couldn’t care less about them as long as they let him be. Let haters hate.

At the moment he was torn between two places to visit – Chen and Xiumin in the library or Kris in the east wing. With the first alternative he ran a very high risk of being hit in the face with literature and get snapped at to leave, whereas the other option included meeting a gang of cutthroats led by a stone-faced over-religious hunk with the emotional mood-swings of a pregnant woman. It was a tough choice, and Baekhyun considered leaving both of them alone for a few more hours until he could properly make up his mind. It wasn’t like they weren’t going to call on him when they wanted the day’s happenings listed in order of importance.

Suddenly there were a stream of cusses from the staircase ahead, and nosy as he was Baekhyun couldn’t help but sneak over to see what it was about. The moment he got there however he had to take a swift step back to avoid being thrown to the ground by the figures that came stumbling downstairs. One of them looked almost half-dead and was largely supported by the less injured friend. From the tags on their uniforms he could see they were second-years like him, but he had to admit that he couldn’t remember their faces at all. He supposed there were guys like that around as well.

“What’s up?” He grinned, stepping in front of them before they could toddle off. The day’s events lead him to think that the two likeliest suspects of the day were Tao, judging by the handiwork, and Yongguk, simply because he was probably more than ready to break someone’s neck with a smile on his face; even his patience had its limits. D.O. would’ve been an alternative if it wasn’t for the morning rumble where he probably got most of the aggression out of his system for a while. “So, are you going to tell me whose you were bothering?”

“Dunno his name… keeps himself holed up in the music room – didn’t give a damn if we were even there or not.”

“Yeah, until I accidentally knocked over an old guitar or something. He just flipped, crazy bastard…”

“Oh man…” Baekhyun couldn’t help but chortle at the two morons in front of him. “I guess you forgot about him then, but he did give clear instructions that anyone who s around in his classroom will suffer the consequences.” He chuckled when remembering the speech the lanky fellow had given a year and a half before, and how many people actually ignored him until the message got through and the entire middle stretch of the fourth floor corridor was swiftly vacated. It was embarrassing but in all sincerity the boy had slipped his mind as well. “Alright, sorry for getting in the way.” He chirped, not leaving any time for the two to respond before he skipped up the stairs. Maybe he should’ve thanked them for providing him with an escape from the two alternatives he’d been trying to avoid?

As far as he was concerned stopping by for a chat shouldn’t count as very provocative behavior, but when he reached the fourth floor landing he became a bit hesitant. There were no signs outside of the classrooms to indicate what was inside, which was slightly worrying, but even worse were the small red smudges on the floor. Baekhyun figured they must’ve been the result of the supposed clash between the recluse and the other two that occurred only minutes earlier.

Then it reached him – the low sound of a piano. It was out of tune, so it was hard to distinguish if the piece was being played correctly or not, but he liked it nonetheless and followed the sound gingerly. It seemed to be emanating from the second to last door, and Baekhyun took a deep breath to steel himself before carefully pulling it open. The clanging of the instrument hit him like a ton of bricks, and he was close to slamming the door shut just to get away from it, but forced his feet to carry him inside. Much like in the hallway there were traces of blood on the floor, some of them faded, some looking appallingly fresh. A slight shiver went down his spine as he looked around the room. He was sure it must’ve been bright and inviting at some point in time, but the dusty furniture and old cobwebs made it look even more forlorn than the rest of the academy. At least the air was relatively good, courtesy of the single open window that was letting a slight breeze sweep in across-

“Who are you?”

Baekhyun practically jumped out of his skin at the deep voice – he hadn’t even noticed the music stop. The boy his eyes fell on was thin, but probably quite a bit taller than himself, a blank and almost empty expression on his face. It was sort of eerie and Baekhyun felt himself force a slight smile that most definitely didn’t look as friendly and confident as he would’ve wanted it to.

“Who are you?” The other repeated tonelessly and stood from his seat by the old grand piano.

“Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun. We’re in the same year?” Baekhyun tried with a light laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit, but it didn’t seem to be very effective.

“What are you doing here?” The lanky boy took a few slow steps towards him. Was it a threatening move? Completely innocent? He couldn’t tell. Why couldn’t he tell? A sudden nervousness settled on him, and he did his best to keep his voice from sounding strained.

“Uhm, well, just checking in on you I guess?” It was a stupid answer, but better than nothing.

“Why?” Damn, was this the nature of Park Chanyeol? He’d had a similar gloomy feeling the first time Baekhyun had seen him as well, but this almost robotic state seemed to have gone a bit too far.

“You did re-arrange those guys’ faces... did you think no one would notice?” He cocked a brow and pursed his lips as the other came closer still, stopping less than a meter from him. He got a really bad vibe from it all.

“That doesn’t answer my question; why are you checking in on me?” Baekhyun gulped – no matter how good an idea it’d seemed at first he was starting to regret putting his hyungs aside to visit this creep.

“I was curious to see what you were up to after a year and a half.” This was as true as it got, but as a fist came flying at him Baekhyun figured it hadn’t been a very satisfactory explanation according to the other. He dodged the punch by the skin of his teeth by taking a few unbalanced steps backwards, not at all expecting the robot to kick his legs out from under him. He hit the floor with a loud yelp, gritting his teeth at the pain that shot through his spine at the impact.

“Get out.” He heard Chanyeol say, yet despite the hint of anger in the guy’s voice Baekhyun couldn’t tell his current expression apart from the previous one. It was at times like these that he hated being a busybody with little to no self-restraint once he caught onto something. This time unfortunately the target didn’t seem so appreciative. He coughed a bit as he stood, brushing himself off whilst frowning.

“If I promise not to touch anything, can I stay for a-“

“No. Leave.” Well, that wasn’t very friendly. Baekhyun considered trying another approach, but came to the conclusion that the only option apart from the harmless-puppy-act was -kicking-hulk-hyun. And he wasn’t very fond of that second side of his.

“Just let me-“ This time Baekhyun was ready for the punch aimed at him, grabbing the taller boy’s arm and twisting it in an awkward angle, forcing the other onto the floor quite gently if he was to say so himself. The pained groan Chanyeol let out when he bent said guy’s arm behind his back however told him otherwise. “Sorry, but you didn’t leave me much of a choice.”

“Get. Off. Me.”

“No can do.”

Baekhyun wasn’t entirely sure how long they stayed in that position – him holding a struggling and clearly frustrated Chanyeol down on the floor with one hand on the boy’s arm and the other to his neck. It must’ve been at least five minutes, probably more if Baekhyun’s sense of time was anywhere as good as his sense of direction; and he was a guy who had never experienced the harshness of getting lost.

“Byun Baekhyun, please let go of me.” He blinked in surprise when the taller finally decided to speak, and a warped smile showed itself.

“Do you promise not to try to exert violence on me to get me to leave?” He asked suspiciously, getting as much of a nod as was possible when he was holding the boy’s head down by the neck. Baekhyun thought he was being careful and attentive when letting the other go, but when he was sent crashing into a row of dusty chairs he had to reprimand himself for taking the other’s strength lightly. His head was spinning, dark dots disturbing his already dimmed sight. He barely made out the towering figure that lifted him by his collar, and all he could do was stumble after as best he could when he was dragged out of the room and then thrown against the wall outside. He tasted blood, but was more concerned about his legs that seemed to refuse to keep him standing. Much to his dismay they gave out a second later, and he practically crumbled to the floor.

“Warned you.” Chanyeol said tersely from somewhere in front of him, but he couldn’t really make the other out anymore. If he’d had the energy to snap back he would’ve done so, hell he wanted to do it even now, but his lips wouldn’t move. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing and trying to get rid of the dizziness whilst the other’s echoing steps told him their encounter had ended, the closing of the door shutting him out completely. He let out a rueful sigh as he leaned back against the wall and just breathed. Had he always been weak? Or was this because he’d been able to stay out of physical conflicts all together for the past year? Baekhyun wasn’t sure which reason made the most sense, but he was regretting not putting his skills to use for so long.

After a few minutes the sound of the grand piano started leaking out into the hallway again, and he opened his eyes, carefully blinking at the light. At least the dots were gone and he could see his surroundings somewhat clearly. Judging from the orange light that managed to seep in through the grimy windows the sun was setting already.

His phone was vibrating in his back pocket, but he had no intention of answering – the only thought that even crossed his mind was how the fragile thing had survived the several bumps against the hard floor. So for another couple of minutes he just stayed on the ground with his back against the wall, trying his best to enjoy the out-of-tune piece despite knowing a complete was playing it. And then his phone acted up again.

“Oh for Christ’s sake…” He managed to grumble as he lifted himself slightly to get the device out, sighing in slight frustration at the caller. Wasn’t there an expression that went something like ‘speak of the devil’?

“Hello Kris, to what do I owe the pleasu-” He was rudely cut off.

“Get your up here right now or I swear to God I will-“

“Bite my head off, spit it out and feed it to the crows?” He’d heard it many times before; this particular threat seemed to be one of the older one’s favorites for some reason. Baekhyun himself didn’t quite see the appeal of that particular combination of words, but would never tell the other.

“…”

“…”

“…Well?” The voice on the other side demanded, and Baekhyun rolled his eyes tiredly before responding.

“I’ll be there in a few, don’t call again.” He hung up as soon as he finished speaking, not in the mood for one of Kris’ fits. Baekhyun sighed again, deeply; he now had to figure out how to get his sore excuse for a body off the floor, not to mention down the long corridor and up a rickety flight of stairs. All in those goddamn ‘few’ minutes. His day didn’t feel so glorious anymore…

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A/N: Alright, finally managed to finish the chapter~ yaaay! And it turned out decent~more yaaay! No but really, I set myself up pretty bad because now I have no idea who I should focus on for next chapter. Stupid! Anyhow, we'd at least run into Baekhyun once before, hadn't we? So it's not like they're both completely new... *comforts self because of lackluster introduction* But hey, Chanyeol's a good guy isn't he? *awkward cough to break awkwarder silence*

Thanks a lot to all subscribers~ I say this every time but I love you all~! <333 And like always there's extra love set apart for you wonderful few who comment and cheer me on~! ^3^o<333 You know who you are lovelies~! *too lazy to put your names on the list*

Herpaderpderp, thanks for reading, hope you liked it! Me will gones to racks brains after newest better stuffs. Okay, bye now!

~Fi

PS: If anyone thinks I should rate chapter because of language or poorly written violent acts or the likes, please let me know because I'm not too sure about what's considered Mature content on here~ *big sigh*