I wouldn’t have gone to school the following day if it weren’t for EXO’s performance.

I sat with my head in my arms, determined to ignore anyone who came over to my desk. I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with anyone right now.  I just wanted to be alone.

That is, until Baekhyun came along.

“Hyeonsung-ah.”

...

“Hyeonsung-ah.”

...

“HYEEEEONSUUUUNG-“

“WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?!”

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun asked me.

“Does it look like I’m okay? The guy I liked bet on my feelings like a ing race horse. ”

“Cheer up, Hyeonnie. I’m still here~”

I looked over to wear Baekhyun was stooped down so he was at eye-level with me.

“Oh, yeah? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to love you until the day I die!”

A bark of laughter came up my hoarse throat. I threw my head back and kept laughing, and Baekhyun threw a hurt look towards me.

“Hyeonsung, are you alright?” Jongdae asked, genuine concern shining through his eyes.

I looked over at him. “No, I’m not alright. I want to go home and sleep forever.”

“Let me cheer you up, babe,” Baekhyun said, tilting my head to his direction. I shook my chin from his grasp.

“Gross,” I said, inching farther away from Baekhyun. “Don’t do that.”

“Aw, come on, but when Kai did it you were totally fine with it! Be mine for a day, too. That’s what you do, isn’t it?” he said. I raised an eyebrow at his statement. “Are you saying I’m easy?” I asked.

He shut his mouth and looked thoughtful before he said, “I said no such thing.”

“You totally did. You said I was easy.”

“I didn’t!”

“But you implied it!”

“Only because it’s true,” he muttered, but I caught it and I got mad.

Not because it wasn’t true but because it was. How could I fall for Jongin like that? Me? I thought I was supposed to be a professional manager noona who keeps all the little idiots in check. I never signed up to be the flirty manager who hit on the club members. What the hell was I doing?

“You know what? You’re right.”

“I am?” he asked, blinking in disbelief.

“It was my own fault, falling for Jongin like that. I’m sorry. I’ll try to work harder from now on,” I said, patting Baekhyun on the head.

“Whoa, for a second there I thought you’d get mad!” he said with a big smile on his face. I just shrugged and shooed him off to his seat as the teacher stepped into the classroom. We were going to have the festival after so I couldn’t really bring myself to perform well in class.

As the teacher was discussing about superhero ethics, a note landed on my desk. I opened the clumsily folded note and read Baekhyun’s messy handwriting.

Are you going to watch us perform later?

I quickly scribbled a reply as to not garner the attention of my teacher.

Of course. I’m your manager.

I folded the note equally two times and passed it over to Baekhyun. It was back on my desk, folded clumsily again, in a moment.

Only look at me, okay? ♡

What are you up to?, I scribbled before passing the note back. It never returned to me.

Pretty soon, the festival was upon the school and EXO was performing. They’d already performed a whole bunch of songs and now while the other members took a rest, the vocal line was entertaining the audience with their voices.

And, boy, what voices they had.

To be completely honest, my favorite out of the vocal line was inarguably Kyungsoo umma. He could take the worst song ever written and make it beautiful just by singing it. But then Baekhyun...

Baekhyun’s singing is, in one word, effortless. He sings so well and so beautifully without even trying. His voice hits all the right notes and blends with the others really well when it needs to. I love hearing him sing when they’re not performing, like that one time when he helped Kyungsoo umma and me bake and he started crooning while mixing the batter. Baekhyun may be annoying, but I love his voice and I love his singing.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when my name was called from the stage.

“Please give it up for my love, Hyeonsung!”

Suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on me. I turned my face away from the crowd and tried to concentrate on the performance. I could feel my face flushing but thankfully the night sky provided the darkness I needed to hide my red face.

My eyes strayed to Baekhyun’s face and there he was, singing effortlessly, staring straight into my eyes.

“I lost my mind the moment I saw you~”

Okay, calm down, it’s just a song. It was probably written about one of their past girlfriends. He’s just performing. It doesn’t mean anything.

“Everything except you gets in slow motion~” he sang, and it was ironic because at that moment everything else around us went into slow motion and I felt like we were the only two people in the entire venue.

The girls screaming went mute, the stalls calling out for customers died down, it was just Baekhyun and I on top of the world.

Yup, Baekhyun was right. I was way too easy.

The moment their performance ended, I set out to go backstage only to be pulled back by two strong arms on my midsection.

“Hyeonsung-ah~”

I turned around, the temperature of my face rising again, and kept a nonchalant face.

“Oh, it’s you, Baekhyun.”

“Did you like my performance?” he asked, brushing my bangs behind my ear.

“Yeah, your singing was very good. Good job,” I said, prying his arms off of my waist.

He pouted a little but went back to smiling really wide.

“Hey, I kind of wanted to ask you something.”

That’s funny. For a second there, I thought I saw Baekhyun blushing. Must be the lighting in this place.

“Shoot.”

“Would you...” he trailed off, looking off to the side and mumbling to himself, apparently.

“What? I didn’t quite get that.”

“Would you like to...” he trailed off again, this time looking at the ground and shuffling his feet.

“For the love of all things good, Baekhyun, just spit it out already-“

“Will you go see the fireworks with me later?” he asked hurriedly, nervously.

“I... Sure, okay,” I replied. His face lit up and his face was filled with victory.

“Great! I’ll see you later, then,” he said turning around and walking off, doing a little fist pump.

I smiled and shook my head before heading backstage.

The moment I got to EXO’s dressing room, everyone quieted down. They probably thought I was there to scold them for not performing well. I slowly brought my hands together and clapped, my applause getting louder with each clap. They cheered and lifted me up onto their shoulders.

“Hey, hey, put me down,” I said, laughing.

“Not until you say you love us, noona,” Chanyeol said.

“Fine, I love you all very much! Now, put me down!”

They put me back on the floor and enveloped me in a great big group hug of thirteen and I couldn’t be happier, being squished in between everyone.

I noticed Jongin wasn’t feeling very in the festive mood unlike everyone else. Maybe he was still upset about what happened yesterday. I didn’t want that to dampen his mood, so I walked over to him.

“Hey, Jongin-ah. Good work on the dancing,” I commended, patting him lightly on the back.

He jolted and looked back at me, surprised. “Uh, yeah, thanks,” he replied.

“Don’t let yesterday bring you down, okay? I’m over it, really,” I said. Truth was, I wasn’t, but I didn’t really want to make a big deal out of it anymore. We were in high school. Stuff like that happens all the time. It doesn’t mean it’s good, but it happened and I didn’t want to dwell on it anymore.

He remained silent, only bowed his head and went back to his thoughts.

I sighed and walked away, only to be stopped by a hand gripping my wrist. I turned around, only to be greeted by Luhan oppa’s handsome face.

“Hyeonsung, let’s meet after the festival, okay? I have a favor to ask of you,” he said. I smiled really wide and nodded my head, unable to speak in the presence of my one true love. He smiled and let go of my wrist before leaving me to twirl around and smile like a goofball to myself.

Around 9 o’clock, I was lead away by my Baek in shining armor by the hand to the roof of the school. He didn’t stop holding my hand even as we stepped onto the rooftop, alone with the cold night air.

“Hyeonsung-ah,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“I was just wondering why you liked Kai. What’s he got that I don’t?”

I laughed. There were plenty of answers to his second question, answers he wouldn’t be able to accept, so I decided to just answer his first question.

“Well, he dances really well, and he’s cute, and he’s hot,” I enumerate, ticking the reasons off on my fingers.

“I’m not?!”

I laughed again, squeezing Baekhyun’s hand which was intertwined with mine.

“You’re... something else,” I said, a bright smile on my face as I touched his cheek.

Then a boom sounded off.

We looked up at the sky and saw countless fireworks, green, red, gold, violet, exploding in the dark night sky, illuminating the clouds. We were in awe at the rainbow-colored rain that didn’t touch our skin, only our line of sight, and I thanked whoever was up there for giving this moment to me with someone I really cared about.

I felt Baekhyun staring at me so I returned his stare, looking into his deep brown eyes.

Closer...

He leaned in closer and tilted his head a little to the side.

A little more...

He put his hand on my cheek and pulled me in, closing his eyes as his lips landed on mine.

He kissed me slowly, gently, lips touching mine as if he was scared I would break if he put any more force into it. I rested my hands on his shoulders and pulled him in closer, savoring the taste of his dry, soft lips as they enveloped mine over and over. As soon as I did that, he started to gain a little more courage. He wrapped his arms around my waist and closed whatever distance was left between us. He kissed me deeper, like he was afraid if he didn’t I might disappear, like I was a dream he didn’t want to wake up from just yet. He swept his tongue along my bottom lip and...

Wait.

I broke away and gasped for air, jumping from Baekhyun’s hold. What the was I doing?!

I looked back at Baekhyun, standing there, looking disappointed and hurt.

“Baek, I’m sorry...”

“Hyeonsung-ah, why? Why don’t you like me?”

“I like Luhan oppa-“

“Luhan oppa this, Luhan oppa that, he doesn’t even notice you!”

I fell silent.

“I’ve always been here for you. Always. I’ve always helped you out with homework and school. I even took care of you when you were sick! What does he have that I don’t?” he ranted, eyes overflowing with intense emotions.

“I don’t know, either...”

“I love you, Hyeonsung-ah.”

I looked up at him wide-eyed.

“More than you will ever know. More than anyone or anything.”

I was speechless.

“I know that, to you, I’m just a tactless joker who pesters you a lot, but I only annoy you because if I don’t you won’t notice me at all. If you only gave me a chance, I swear, I could be so much more. I could love you so much more.”

I looked down at the ground. We stayed in silence for a few uncomfortable minutes.

“...Nothing, huh?”

The echoes of his footsteps as he left the rooftop were the beat my heart took up as soon as the door closed.