Baekhyun was wasting away his after-class hours in the storage cubicle of the council room. He was supposed to segregate those student files from ten years ago and set them aside for disposal to a more antediluvian storeroom. As usual, he wasn’t even doing half the job. He played with the folders, folded the crunchy parchments inside into shapes and unfastened and then refastened the metallic fasteners.

“You’re only making it harder for yourself if you’re not gonna do your task properly, Baek.”

Baekhyun laughed, emerging from the wooden cubicle and planting his chin onto the edge of Aya’s table. “They’ll get tired of me slacking around and then they’ll let me go.”

“They won’t do that. You forget that your detention this time isn’t on an hourly basis. You really have to finish that before you’re off the hook.”

“You’re bluffing,” Baekhyun craned his neck to one side, assessing Aya.

“Maybe,” Aya grinned. “But I’m not the one who’s gonna be stuck there for the rest of the school year, am I?”

Baekhyun pouted and then kneel-walked back inside the cubicle. Aya had to bite her tongue to keep from grinning further at his cuteness.

“Man, I’m supposed to have a date later,” mumbled Baekhyun into the piles of student profiles.

Aya smiled. “It’s a pity you’re going to have to ditch your date then, Mister Byun.”

“Nah,” he said. “I like being with you more, baby.”

“Shut up.”

Baekhyun burst into laughter.

The mischievous boy’s anecdotal record continued to lengthen. Tardiness, nuisance, loitering during classes, hanging around after school hours, and even vandalism. He didn’t contest most of his offenses, but the last one had ruffled his feathers.

“I didn’t write that!” Baekhyun spat one time when he was summoned to the counselor’s office at lunch.

“Only you have a messy handwriting like that, Byun Baekhyun.” The counselor scribbled angrily on her record book. She hauled out her drawer and tore a piece from her mini pad of slips. “I’m making sure your parents are coming this time.”

“What?” Baekhyun rose from his seat. “But I didn’t do it!”

“Sit down, boy!”

“No!”

“Baek.” He turned sideways to Aya who was standing by the corner and was silently taking down notes for his offense.

Baekhyun set a pair of disbelieving eyes at Aya. “What, don’t tell me you believe her?” His scowl deepened when she could not answer. “Are you kidding me? You don’t even have proof! Except that you associate the crappy handwriting to mine!”

“Do not raise your voice, Byun Baekhyun!” But he ignored the counselor and stormed out of the office. “Baekhyun!”

“I’ll fetch him, Ma’am,” Aya offered. “We’ll be back in no time.”

She scurried after Baekhyun. Even the way Baekhyun’s feet scraped along the tiled corridor reflected of his indignation. It was the first time Aya witnessed him lose temper, and even then, she didn’t seem to find him repulsive. Unlike Sehun’s angry fits that seemed to frighten her, Baekhyun’s outburst didn’t intimidate her. Maybe because she knew the reason behind and she knew he had the right to be angry.

“Baek!” She walked faster. “Hey, wait up.” She half expected him to ignore her just as Sehun often did. But Baekhyun was not Sehun. Baekhyun was Baekhyun and Baekhyun didn’t normally ignore people who were calling for him, even in his aggravated state.

So when he swirled around, Aya found herself skidding to a stop to avoid collision. “What?” he demanded.

“Don’t just walk out like that,” she replied, gasping. “The counselor was in the middle of talking to you.”

“She was in the middle of accusing me and reprimanding me for an offense I haven’t done!”

“Well…” He was right, though. She tried to look into the situation in every angle and she figured Baekhyun had a right to walk away. It was such an overrated act of defiance, walking away. But underneath, it could be the only justifiable reaction if someone wanted to defend himself. And Baekhyun did just that.

“I don’t mind that you council people report me for all the other trivial offenses I’ve done,” he said, “but I am not tolerating an act of injustice. Please tell that to the counselor.” And then he walked away and Aya could not run after him because… because he was right and he only wanted to make sure he was understood.

Such an act of defiance was so alien to Aya. She’d been so used to adhering to everybody that the idea of opposition from her end did not even cross her mind. She might be defying her parents at the moment (by sharing dance sessions with Sehun in private), but defying her parents to their faces was not something she had ever imagined doing.

Two days later, Aya exited her class to Baekhyun waiting for her by the corridors. She hadn’t seen him since his outburst, but with the grin playing along the boy’s lips as he leaned by the post, she could tell that his anger had long evaporated.

“Hello there, sweetheart.”

Aya rolled her eyes at his usual cheesiness. “What’re you doing here, Baek?”

“I’m here to tell you that I’ve been summoned to the principal’s office earlier. And that—hey, be careful.” He held out a hand to steady her. Aya nearly tripped at the mention of ‘summon’ and ‘principal’s office’ in one statement. “You okay?”

“Yes,” Aya breathed. “Yes, sorry. I was just… you were saying?”

Baekhyun smirked, scooping Aya’s books from her sloppy grip and gathering them all in one strong clasp. “Is the idea of going to the principal’s office really that revolting to you?”

“No,” she defended. She reached for her books but Baekhyun held them up high. “Give them back, Baek.”

“Only if you promise to have dinner with me.”

Aya tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. “Do not take me for an easy girl, Byun Baekhyun.”

“Whoa,” he grinned wider. “I never said you are an easy girl, honey. Why do you, females, always jump off to the strangest of conclusions? A guy passes you a smile and you read it as flirting. A guy calls you endearments and you take it as leading you on. A guy offers to take you to dinner and your translation is that he sees you as an easy chic. Really?”

“Sounds straight from your bank of experiences.”

Baekhyun cackled.

“Whatever.” She reached out for another attempt at retrieving her books, but to no avail. “And to answer your condition; no, I’m not going to dinner with you so please, can I have my books back?”

“Playing hard to get?” He started hopping ahead.

“No,” she scoffed. “Baek, I’m serious.” But the boy simply ignored her. He sauntered ahead, humming tunes that Aya didn’t recognize. “Baek.”

“Yes, baby?”

She strived to keep up. “Please give me—"

“Oh, she wants me. Oh, she’s got me—"

“What’re you—"

“Oh, she hurts me.”

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