Morning comes too quickly for Baekhyun. He feels like his head just hit the pillow, but his alarm sings for him to get up. He smacks the off button, offended by this little box that’s interrupted his sleep. He doesn’t remember what time he laid back down or how many hours of sleep he’s gotten, but he knows it’s not enough. As badly as he wants to stay in bed, he knows he needs to get up like the good student he is and make it to his first day of classes, not to mention he needs to check on his roommate to make sure he’s still alive after last night.

            It’s all a blur in his mind, but Baekhyun clearly remembers there being a horrible wound accompanied by a lot of blood. Sitting up, he feels as if his head will split open and he fights hard, resisting the urge to lie back down. Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, he gazes over at Zitao still resting; the sound of the alarm didn’t faze him at all.

            Baekhyun stands and crosses the room to get a closer look at his roommate. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes before leaning in and spotting a sheen of sweat covering Zitao’s brows. He tentatively places his hand against Zitao’s skin, feeling a vast difference in their temperatures. He’s worried but there’s not much he can do because Zitao doesn’t want anyone to know what happened and he refusing to get help.

            In the end, Baekhyun wets a washcloth with cold water and places it over his roommate’s forehead hoping this will help a little. He dresses quickly, set on getting to the cafeteria as soon as possible and bringing food back for Zitao so he can get him to take some more medicine, not to mention Zitao needs something to replenish his loss of blood. Baekhyun’s not very scientific and never paid much attention in health class, but he’s sure his roommate’s iron levels are probably low.

            Luckily he woke up to his six thirty alarm and is able to make it to the cafeteria exactly at seven. He’s one of the first one’s there. This is probably the mid-semester slump when student’s start thinking that sleep is more important than food. Baekhyun asks the lady at the check-in counter if he can get a take out tray because he doesn’t really know this schools policies. She reaches beneath the counter and gladly passes him a large Styrofoam container and a matching cup.

            Just as Baekhyun reaches the main food line, someone calls his name. He recognizes it as Kyungsoo’s voice and faces him with a smile.

            “I see you actually made it to breakfast. If you want, Yixing and I are sitting near the fruit bar.” He gestures towards the right side of the cafeteria.

            Baekhyun holds up his tray. “I’m actually getting take-out this morning. Maybe next time.”

            “What? Why?” Kyungsoo frowns. “You should eat with us.”

            “Sorry, I really need to get back to my room.”

            A thought passes through Kyungsoo’s mind and his eyes widen. “Is your roommate there?”

            “Yeah.” Baekhyun steps up as the line moves. “I need to bring him breakfast.”

            “Why? Is he bullying you already? You can tell me.” Kyungsoo places his hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder, stepping close. “If he bullies you, then you have a good argument for moving out.”

            Shaking his head, Baekhyun shrugs off Kyungsoo’s hand. “He’s not bullying me. I offered to bring him food. He’s too sick to come get it himself.”

            “Really?”

            Baekhyun nods. “Really.”

            It’s finally his turn, so he passes his tray to the server and asks for a little of everything. He’s not sure what Zitao wants and Baekhyun’s not particularly picky when it comes to good food and everything looks delicious anyways. Next he loads up on some fruit and fills his cup with orange juice. While he’s at the fruit bar, Yixing spots him and tries to usher him towards his table, but Baekhyun declines in a rush because he really does need to get back to the dorm if he wants to have enough time to eat and get to class.

            Luckily his dorm isn’t far from the cafeteria, so he makes it back within minutes. Zitao’s still sleeping and Baekhyun feels bad about waking him up, but he really wants to see him eat something so Baekhyun’s less worried later when he has to go off to class all day.

            He sets the food container and juice on Zitao’s nightstand before attempting to wake him. He doesn’t want to startle his roommate, considering how jumpy the guy is, so Baekhyun speaks softly and uses the damp washcloth on Zitao’s forehead to wipe the sweat off of his face. Upon further inspection, he doesn’t think Zitao looks as scary as everyone thinks he is, although the whole coming back after hours with a stab wound only adds to that predetermined idea that he’s a bad guy. But after witnessing the unconscious version of Zitao, Baekhyun’s concept of him has kind of been ruined because his sleepy face looks innocent and childlike. Baekhyun thinks that maybe Zitao just puts up a front for protective purposes, but then again that stab wound is hard to overlook.

           Remembering his motives, Baekhyun pats his roommate’s cheek softly, speaking just a bit louder as Zitao’s eyes start fluttering. He wakes with a groan, rolling his head to the side and coughing a bit. After blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Zitao sees Baekhyun who’s smiling at him. Zitao coughs again and shifts uncomfortably beneath his covers.

           “You okay?” Baekhyun asks hovering beside the bed unsure of how to help. He examines the nest of hair on Zitao’s head and the darkened bags under his eyes wondering if his sleep was restful at all.

           “My throats dry,” Zitao says hoarsely.

           “I’ve brought you some juice.” Baekhyun reaches for it. “Do you need help sitting up?”

           Zitao tests his strength finding that it hurts just a bit too much to sit up on his own and accepts Baekhyun’s assistance much more easily than he did last night. Baekhyun perches on the edge of Zitao’s bed and holds out the cup of orange juice, watching as his roommate gulps down half of it.

           “Feeling better?”

           “Yeah.” He hands the cup back to Baekhyun. “What time is it?”

           “Seven thirty.”

           “Are you serious? No wonder I feel like crap. I’ve only been asleep for a few hours.” Zitao makes an attempt to lie back down, but Baekhyun stops him.

           “Sorry.” Baekhyun wonders how many times he’s already apologized to this guy. “I got you some breakfast.”

           Zitao finally notices the container on his nightstand and says, “Thanks, but I’m not hungry.”

           Baekhyun’s finally annoyed. He places the cup down a bit too harshly. “I don’t care.”

           “What?”

           He picks up the container and opens it, placing it in Zitao’s lap. He grabs a pack of disposable utensils, handing them to Zitao. “I don’t care if you’re not hungry. You’re going to eat. You need to eat and once you’re done eating, I’m going to give you some more medicine and then you’re going back to sleep. But you’re eating first.”

           Zitao makes an attempt to push the container away.

           “Eat,” Baekhyun’s order sternly. “Or do you need assistance with that as well?” He narrows his eyes and gestures towards the food in the other’s lap. “Hurry up before it get’s cold.” He takes his own pair of utensils and eats a melon chunk.

           Zitao his head to the side, staring at Baekhyun a bit shocked by his outburst. He laughs to himself before opening his utensils and shoving a piece of pork into his mouth. “You’re feisty. That’s good.”

           Baekhyun gets that hot feeling behind his ears again; still unsure as to why it happens, especially when Zitao laughs. “Just eat,” he says, a bit embarrassed. He devours a chunk of meat and some rice before gulping down some juice. “Sorry,” Baekhyun says. “I’m not really a morning person and you kind of interrupted my sleep last night.”

           “Yeah, I’ve never really been a good roommate.”

           “So I’ve heard.”

           They grin and laugh, working together to finish off the contents of the container. Baekhyun retreats to the bathroom to rewet the washcloth for Zitao’s head and to get more medicine, letting Zitao finish off the rest of the juice. He helps him get situated on the bed again, now in a hurry to get to his first class, which starts in ten minutes.

           “I’m not really used to this.” Zitao tenses once he’s on his back again.

           “To what?”

           “To someone taking care of me. I usually deal with these things on my own.” He yawns until his eyes water. “It feels nice, having someone take care me.” He gazes at Baekhyun with half-lidded eyes. “Thanks for caring.”

           Baekhyun shakes his head. “It’s the right thing to do.” He pulls on his backpack and makes sure he has his phone and keys. His class schedule is tucked in his left hand and he checks the time once again as he steps towards the door. “Make sure you get some sleep.” By this time, it’s pointless for Baekhyun to say so because Zitao is already producing light snores.

           After closing the door quietly and locking up, Baekhyun runs down the hall staring at his schedule. He has about six minutes to make it to class on time and he has no idea where building “C” is because all the buildings look the same and who thought that was a good idea anyways to have such uniformed building structures. Luckily someone else is running late and since second years room on the same floor Baekhyun calls out to him. He finds out that they are headed to the same place, so they keep each other company. The guy’s name is Jongin but he prefers to be called Kai. Their classrooms are adjacent to one another. Baekhyun thanks him before they separate.

           He enters the already packed class, glad that the teacher isn’t there yet and takes one of the unoccupied seats at the back. Once he’s seated he takes a look around noticing Yixing a two rows away and four seats up. They wave to one another, but there’s no time to talk as the teacher walks in and clears his throat to silence the class of rowdy boys. He starts with attendance, checking off names as he spots each student.

           “Huang Zitao? Has anyone seen him?”

           Baekhyun raises his hand. “He’s sick sir.”

           “And you are?” The teacher looks to his list of students unable to recognize him.

           Baekhyun stands nervously, hating all eyes on him. “His roommate, Byun Baekhyun. I’m the new transfer student.”

           “Oh.” It doesn’t sound like a very nice “oh” to Baekhyun. It’s too loaded with judgment and pity. “Nice to meet you Byun Baekhyun. I’m your homeroom teacher Mr. Nam. Can you make sure that Zitao gets his work for today?”

           Baekhyun nods, taking his seat. He senses a change in the room’s mood. Classmates keep glancing his way, some with frowns, others with sad smiles. Baekhyun guesses that this all has to do with him being Zitao’s roommate and he hates it. He doesn’t want their pitiful smiles because they don’t know. They don’t understand his roommate. They haven’t seen his humanity the way Baekhyun has and it irritates him because he doesn’t like how this entire campus seems to be against Zitao. It’s true that Zitao doesn’t make a good first impression and he’s bad with people, but past that cold exterior there’s just a regular teenager. Maybe Baekhyun’s more understanding because a part of him knows how Zitao feels, what it’s like to be completely alone even when you’re surrounded by people.

           Because he fumes during the first part of his history class, Baekhyun misses most of the notes and decides to ask Yixing for his during their break between classes. At that time, many other students approach Baekhyun curious to find out more about him. Most of them already know the basics about where he’s from because news travels fast, so after the usual introductions and standard inquiries about what he thinks of the school and how they hope he’s adjusting well, the talk turns to none other than Huang Zitao.

           “What’s it like living with him? I heard his room is y-trapped.”

           “Don’t you think he’s scary? It’s like his eyes cut through your soul. He’s definitely hiding something.”

            “I’ve heard he goes out and parties with older women. Is he really sick or just recovering?”

           Baekhyun listens to them talk, tossing around accusations and doesn’t say a word. He refuses to buy into their lies, biting his tongue and trying to ignore them.

           “Has he done anything suspicious yet? I’ve heard he threatened all his past roommates.”

           “You should be careful. He’s going to hurt you like he hurt all of the others.”

           Baekhyun can’t take it anymore and snaps, “Enough! You guys don’t even know him. Hell, you don’t know me either. Maybe I’m just like him. Maybe looks can be deceiving and the person you should really be afraid of is me.” The circle surrounding him widens, full of bulging eyes and open mouths. His outburst stuns them into silence and he enjoys watching them drift back to their seats, whispering words like “crazy” and “psycho”. The only one who stays is Yixing, who cracks up at the sight of Baekhyun scowling at everyone.

           “You sound like an angry puppy. All bark and no bite.” He shoves Baekhyun on the arm playfully. “Just so you know that scowl of yours isn’t really scary and it doesn’t fit your cute face.”

           “Shut up,” Baekhyun says pushing Yixing back without any real force. “And don’t call me cute.”

           “But it’s true. That’s part of the reason everyone’s so interested in you.” Yixing leans in to add in a whisper, “You’re the new campus cutie and everyone’s worried that the bear in 218 is going to attack you.”

           Baekhyun snorts, covering his face and lying out on his desk. He laughs so hard he cries. After a few moments, he sits up, wiping his eyes. “Don’t worry this angry puppy can handle the bear.”

           “I sure hope so.” Yixing notices the teacher walk in and moves back to his desk for their next class, world literature.

           His outburst after first period keeps his classmates away during their breaks after each of the following periods. Baekhyun’s able to focus a bit more during his following classes, but he doesn’t think lunchtime could have come any faster. Again he gets a takeout plate from the cafeteria and heads back to his room. Yixing and Kyungsoo don’t try to dissuade him this time, finally understanding that Baekhyun is a bit stubborn when he sets his mind on something.

           Baekhyun doesn’t attempt to wake his roommate up because he knows Zitao probably isn’t hungry and it’s best for him to keep resting. He looks much more peaceful now than he did this morning. Baekhyun carefully checks his temperature, relieved to find that it’s much lower than earlier.

           He hurriedly eats part of the lunch he brought back. Once he’s had his fill, he brings the bottle of pills from the bathroom and a glass of water. He writes a note telling Zitao to make sure he eats and takes some more medicine because Baekhyun won’t be back to the room until after study hall ends at five thirty. He doesn’t really know how else to help Zitao, so the least he can do is make sure he’s fed and well rested.

           The rest of the day passes in a flash and Baekhyun promises Yixing and Kyungsoo that he’ll have dinner with them because he feels bad for ditching them during breakfast and lunch. He tells them he needs to check on Zitao first and drop off his books. They don’t argue because they also want to drop off their books and considering their dorm is on the other side of the campus, closer to the theatre, Baekhyun has more than enough time to check on his roommate.          

           There’s only one problem with Baekhyun’s plan. When he gets back to his room, Zitao isn’t there. Baekhyun checks the bathroom and everything but he’s nowhere to be found. He does find that the food left during lunch is gone and there’s a scribbled “Thanks –Z” written at the bottom of the note he left. Even so, Baekhyun’s nervous because Zitao’s still hurt and there’s no way he could have recovered his strength so quickly. The fact that he’s up and about has bad idea written all over it and Baekhyun can’t do anything about it. He doesn’t even really know his roommate. He doesn’t have his phone number, doesn’t know any of the places he frequents, doesn’t know where his home is. It’s frustrating because Baekhyun cares so much and Zitao’s inconsiderate because all he left was a “Thanks –Z.” He could have left some indication of where he’s going and what time he’ll be back, but nope, Baekhyun gets nothing.

           He doesn’t have time to fret over Zitao though because he has to meet Kyungsoo and Yixing in the cafeteria before six. Since there’s nothing he can do, Baekhyun tries to push thoughts of Zitao to the back of his mind so he can enjoy dinner with his friends. Of course it doesn’t work and he ends up being completely distracted during the entire meal, but the guys don’t ask. Instead they talk about classes, teachers, homework, and other meaningless things that students discuss. Baekhyun’s thankful for the slight distraction and their lack of questions because he wouldn’t really know how to answer them about why he’s so distracted without going into detail about Zitao’s situation.

           Dinner lasts an hour and in that time, Zitao still doesn’t come back. Baekhyun tells himself he doesn’t care and attempts to work on the homework he wasn’t able to complete during study hall. He pretends that Zitao’s absence doesn’t annoy him, but he’s only kidding himself. In the end, he gets nothing done and chooses to take a nap to make up for his lack of sleep the night before.

           Right before curfew, Baekhyun wakes up to the sound of his roommate jiggling keys in the door. He staggers in, carrying a small brown package with his coat only halfway on. Baekhyun stands, crossing the room to face Zitao who no longer looks threatening in Baekhyun’s eyes. Without thinking Baekhyun punches Zitao in his left arm, hard.

           “Where have you been?”

           Zitao flinches because the punch is harder than expected and completely unexpected so he didn’t have time to prepare himself for the hit. Holding his arm, he cries out in pain. “Ow! How can you hit an injured man?”

           “Exactly! You’re injured. How can you just go out without telling anyone?”

           “I did tell someone. My driver came to pick me up.”

           Baekhyun rears back to hit Zitao again, but the latter moves and the hit only grazes his arm. “You didn’t tell me. What if something else happened? What am I supposed to do?”

           “But it’s fine, I was with someone.”

           “But I didn’t know that!” Baekhyun yells.

           “I didn’t think that I had to tell you my every move.” Zitao steps past Baekhyun, dropping his brown bag on the bed. A small bottle of pills rolls out. He then removes his coat, draping it on the back of his chair. “Anyways, I went to the clinic to see a friend. He patched me up and prescribed me some antibiotics.”

           Baekhyun glances down at Zitao’s right side. He’s calm now. “So, is everything okay?”

           Zitao hesitates before sitting on the edge of his bed. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I got seven stitches.” He rubs his left arm trying to massage the soreness out of his muscles. “My friend told me I should thank you for your help. He says that you did a great job cleaning me up. Although, I wouldn’t go this far, but he says that you saved my life.” He pauses, staring at Baekhyun who’s standing in front his own bed gazing at the floor with his arms crossed over his chest. “Baekhyun, I’m really thankful for everything you’ve done for me.”

           “Good. You should be.”

           “Hey!” Zitao says aghast. “You should know I never thank anyone and I’ve already thanked you half a dozen times. You should feel special. I’m not the kind of person who…”

           “Hey, Zitao.” Baekhyun says unperturbed, interrupting his rant.

           “What?” Zitao says fully annoyed.

           Baekhyun sighs heavily, dropping to the edge of his bed burying his face in his hands.

           Zitao scoots forward on his bed concerned. “Hey, you okay?”

           Baekhyun’s shoulders hunch as he says, “I’m just so…relieved.” He rubs his face before combing his fingers through his hair. “You have no idea how worried I’ve been all day. Is it always like this with you? Do these things always happen?”

           He shakes his head. “No. Yesterday was an accident. It should have never happened.”

           “But there’s talk about all of the accidents. That’s all I’ve heard today, that I should be careful because something could happen to me. Should I be worried?” Baekhyun rants, finally letting out stress.

           “No. I’m not…”

           “You’re not a bad guy,” Baekhyun continues. “I don’t know how I know, but I know. You’re not bad and I have nothing to worry about right? It’s okay if I stay here right? Is it weird that I want to stay, even with all of the rumors? Is it weird that I’m curious about you?”

           “You know I can’t tell you certain things.”

           Baekhyun shakes his head. “I won’t ask. I’m not going to ask. I’m just curious and I want to stay, but I need to feel safe here and if you tell me I’m safe and that I can trust you, then I will. I want to believe you. I don’t…it’s not fun…I don’t like…” Baekhyun trails off.

           Zitao moves from his bed to Baekhyun’s, sitting with his good side to him. “What are you trying to say?”

           “It’s just…” he pauses. “Being alone isn’t fun. You don’t like it, when your roommates leave, do you?”

           Zitao looks away from Baekhyun.

           “I don’t like it either, when people leave and I don’t want to be the one leaving either.”

           “Then don’t leave.”

           “Is it okay? Can I trust you?” Baekhyun looks to Zitao with hope in his eyes.

           Zitao awkwardly pats Baekhyun’s head before resting his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders. “It’s safe. I won’t let anything happen to you. You can trust me.”

           Baekhyun leans into Zitao’s side. “I’m glad.”

           They sit quietly for a few moments before Zitao feels Baekhyun’s weight grow heavy. He gazes down to find that Baekhyun’s asleep, probably exhausted from the day of stress. It takes some effort, but Zitao situates Baekhyun into a comfortable position and covers him up. He brushes the hair out of Baekhyun’s face wondering why this guy is so different from all of the others. Seeing Baekhyun’s peaceful, sleeping face makes Zitao smile. A part of him is happy that someone like Baekhyun became his roommate, but at the same time he’s afraid that he might not be able to keep his promise. He knows he’s being selfish by keeping Baekhyun here, but he justifies his actions by telling himself that he’s doing this for Baekhyun because he doesn’t want to be alone anymore and Zitao knows all too well what it’s like to be alone. So if Zitao gets something out of this situation as well, then that’s only a plus, but overall, he’s definitely doing this for Baekhyun; at least, that’s what he’s going to say if anyone asks.

So yeah...I wrote some more. I still have no idea where this is going.

Here's to progress! ^-^

Thanks for reading!

<3 Jae