“That was great, Mr. Park” Ms. Hwang said, applauding. Chanyeol scratches his cheek in embarrassment and smiles sheepishly. “Your voice was great, your guitar skills were great, and the thing that I really took notice of is the emotion in your voice.”

Chanyeol slightly flinches at the mention. He hopes he didn’t give too much, he hopes his voice didn’t give him away.

“The lyrics and your emotion really were great.” Ms. Hwang smiled. “You did good, Mr. Park. I’m delighted to have you in my class.”

Chanyeol bows at her, his voice weak and his emotion still in frenzy. “Thank you, Ma’am.”

He walks toward his chair in hast before another round of applause from the students startle him, not noticing the girls and guys alike giving him the eye as he bows in gratitude. Chanyeol had always been oblivious.

“Woah,” Chen says, awe in his voice. “That was good, man.” He raises his hand in for a high five and Chanyeol laughs at him.

“Thanks.” Chanyeol says, embarrassed.

“No, seriously.” Chen smiles at him, “You look like you were remembering something though? Bad past?”

Chanyeol bites his lips, snow and ice and coldness flashing before his mind, before he shakes his head no. “Nah,” He starts, “watched too many dramas.” He doesn’t want to reveal too much, not because Chen might judge him—although he just knows he won’t, he doesn’t even know why he trusts the guy he barely met a day ago—but because he doesn’t want to open that part of his life ever again or as much as he can.

Chen looks at him, disbelief in his eyes but he doesn’t retaliate and instead opts for nodding and gives Chanyeol a pat at the back for a job well done. It wasn’t his place to say that Chanyeol looked like he was in pain when he was singing, like he was taken back to that time—whatever time it was, Chen doesn’t know, like every release of the words from his mouth was a plea.

Chanyeol smiles at him one last time, droning out what Ms. Hwang was saying before he looks down at his quivering hand, he takes a deep breath and shoves them down his pocket before raising his head.

His eyes lands on the back of Baekhyun’s head, a glare on his face before it transfers to Jieun. Smiling, he tells himself that this was the new him.

That whatever was in the past, stays in the past.

Baekhyun doesn’t lift his face up even when the class resumed, he doesn’t try because he knows he’ll break down and he can’t afford to do that. Not now.

Not now when 3 years have passed.

He looks at his hands all through out the class, knowing Kyungsoo was giving him a worried glance. He slightly shakes his head before taking a breather and then once the bell rang, indicating for dismissal, Kyungsoo holds him by the wrist and drags him out, letting himself be led to the place he was always familiar with.

The cold air startles his body eliciting a shiver when they reach the room and before he knows it, Kyungsoo had him envelop in his arms.

“B,” He starts, “You okay?”

Baekhyun hums in response, forcing a smile. “As I have always been.”

Kyungsoo tightens his hold before releasing him, taking his hand and pushing him down the couch. “Wait.” He says, “I’ll make tea.”

Baekhyun smiles at him gratefully. His eyes travel to the window, the sun scorching and the laughter of the students both in the hall and out the window swallowing him up. It was like the first time he met Chanyeol.

Baekhyun looks through the school with awe and curiosity in his eyes. Looking at the walls and then at the locker and then at the scenery, it was… it was amazing.

The structure of the school and any other else seemed to fascinate him. Well, who could blame him? He’d never really seen a school so colorful and loud in probably his entire lifetime and the school he’d grown up in had tones of grey and grey and more grey and you were never really allowed to talk loud or run.

Be poise, they said.

He looks at the bunch of students scattered all over the grass, some boisterously laughing, and some reading. The school wasn’t as grand and posh as his last school, no chandeliers on the ceiling, no marbled floors, no monotonous gray walls, no glasses for windows and air-conditioned room—although, that part he badly missed—and obviously no guards scattered at the place.

Just a bunch of students interacting without a care in the world and for some reason, Baekhyun loves it all the more.

He looks at them one last time before a sudden bump and a knock out of breath greets him, the next thing he knows is his is aching and someone is unintelligibly spewing something. He opens his eyes to look at the person before taking another breather for a whole different reason.

“Oh my god,” The other had said, “Are you okay?”

It takes a while for Baekhyun to answer and instead opts for looking at the person’s facial features. From his prominent nose to his chiseled jaw, the smooth expanse of his skin, his long lashes, and lastly his pink, almost red lips.

“Uhm…” The other asks again, unsure, and this time it all but took Baekhyun to stop himself from staring.

He smiles at the latter before the other smiles back at him, relief written on his face. “Are you okay?” his voice was hoarse and deep and Baekhyun almost shivered. It was smooth and Baekhyun was having a hard time to stop himself from staring at him again. He made him giddy and Baekhyun doesn’t know why but he kind of liked the feeling.

He gathers himself and takes hold of the outstretched hands, “Grand.” Because he was, despite the slight ache on his and the humiliation, he felt grand and delighted.

“Uhm…” Baekhyun starts because the latter kept looking at him as if he didn’t believe him. “I’m Byun Baekhyun… uh sunbae?” he scrunches his nose in question. It was still new to him, calling someone sunbae or hyung or any addresses, he didn’t really interact that much with people from his old school.

And even if he did, they use to call others by Miss or Mister. It was a shock for Baekhyun, really, when he had applied for the school and the student assistant called him Byun, he didn’t know how to react and the other just looked at him in question before it dawned on him that Baekhyun was just as confused as he is.

Do you prefer if I called you Baekhyun, he asked and he shakes his head no and bowed, ‘It’s alright, Mister Shin.’ He said and the other laughed at him for being too ‘formal’ and ‘as expected from someone who grew up in an elite private school’.

“Park Chanyeol.” The other—or Chanyeol—informs. “And you can call me hyung.”

Baekhyun repeats it one too many times in his head all through out the day.

The name of his first friend in his first normal school.

Baekhyun smiles at the memory, even chuckling a little. How time and experience had changed them both. He looks up at Kyungsoo who hands him his cup of tea before the latter seats down the opposite couch.

“Good thing we’re smart, else we’ll have to bathe in the sun.” Kyungsoo snickers.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “And I know how much you hate heat.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes back, “Not as much as you—okay fine, maybe I’m a little more but we’re the same.”

Baekhyun throws him the pillow next to his hand and the latter yelps. “Yah, Byun Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo scowls, looking at Baekhyun’s flushed smiling face before a smile covers his own. “You should just smile more.”

“I can’t do that.” Baekhyun shakes his head. “Everyone already loves me, they’d go crazy if I smile more.”

Kyungsoo scowls at him again.

The silence envelops them as they take their time to drink their tea and read some of the books—mostly Baekhyun’s—waiting for the bell to ring.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo breaks the silence, Baekhyun humming in response. “Do you plan on telling him?” he asks, they both know what the question was about and both know the answer to it but it was always worth the try.

“Nope.” Baekhyun answers back. He flips the page of the book like it didn’t affect him but Kyungsoo could see the light twitch on his lips.

“I think you should.”