The band was disappointed. A sudden family emergency had called away Mr. Kim, the owner of The Library, to England, where he’d be staying undeterminably. Sufficed to say their audition had been postponed and everyone had a nasty case of the grumps.

That is except Chanyeol. He had been disappointed along with everyone else at first. He too, wanted to rise to fame, and The Library had seemed like the most excellent place to get started. Yet he couldn’t help but feel some relief that he wasn’t potentially going to be responsible for putting Baekhyun out of a job, at least not for a little while.

Their friendship was still tender. They saw each other in Economics and when they had extra time after classes, Baekhyun would tutor him in the subject. But aside from school they never saw each other.

However, Chanyeol was starting to slowly piece together Baekhyun’s schedule. He had strict parents, he’d told Chanyeol, and that meant that he had to do a lot of studying. When he told Chanyeol he went to the library often, a small smile had danced across his lips and it hadn’t gone unnoticed. And so Chanyeol had wondered. One of those days when Baekhyun had complained about the massive amount of studying he needed to do, Chanyeol went to the bar district. He went to The Library and sure enough his hunch was correct and the piano man was playing a lively tune, captivating his audience.

Chanyeol soon learned that Baekhyun most often had to go to the library on weekend nights, but he was also prone to suddenly go Wednesdays and Thursdays. With the amount of time he spent playing piano at a bar, Chanyeol figured Baekhyun must be some sort of genius to still do so well in school.

Seeing him in class and at tutoring was starting not to be enough for Chanyeol. He made it his new mission to see Baekhyun outside of school, and had started by walking him home one day, feigning that he also happened to be going in that direction. The exact same direction. He thought it must be some sort of miracle Baekhyun never caught on because he walked him right up to his front gate before strolling off. He noted that the neighborhood was very well off, Baekhyun’s house being the crown jewel, its hedges trimmed to perfection and its walls a perfectly pristine white. He had no doubt of the strictness of Baekhyun’s parents and wondered what kind of life they lived inside that perfectly molded house.

His interest in Baekhyun was little like a crush and becoming more like an obsession, Sehun pointed out to him. But he didn’t care. He just wanted to understand the little black haired mystery who floated in and out of his dreams at night.

He decided suddenly to take his new mission to the next level. He and the guys were planning to go out clubbing that night, as it was a Friday, and he was stunned to find out that for the first time in a while Baekhyun wasn’t going to be studying that night. But he was rather disappointed when he found the reason being was that his parents had wanted to have a nice dinner at home with him, and had insisted on his being there.

They sat at the university café, freshly finished with tutoring and Chanyeol looked down at Baekhyun over the rim of his mug and decided. His urge to know him was just too great. it, I’ll ask anyway.

“Do you want to come out with me and my friends tonight?”

“Oh, um, well like I said, my parents want me to eat with them-“

“But after that,” he said quickly. “Can’t you come out after you eat? That’s when most clubs get going anyway.”

Baekhyun squirmed uncomfortably in his chair, “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s really not that. It’s just that my parents really wouldn’t like if I went to a club.”

Chanyeol wanted to point out that he went to a bar every weekend, but he couldn’t give himself away. “Why would they be upset?” he asked instead.

“It’s just…they’re always telling me how they hate people like that. That those people are no good,” he said looking down.

“Those…people,” said Chanyeol slowly. “What are those types of people?”

“The type of people who party all the time. Or go out just to drink, I suppose.”

“So, people like me, and all of my friends,” he glared pointedly.

Baekhyun gasped a little and covered his mouth, “Chanyeol, I didn’t mean-“

He held his hand up, “It’s fine. I know what you meant.” He tried to be reassuring but he could feel his lips pressing into a hard line. Baekhyun looked sorry and worried and Chanyeol immediately regretted his tone, but it was too late now. An awkward silence fell between them and Chanyeol stood from the table, making an excuse to leave.

Baekhyun opened his mouth but let it fall closed again, his eyes looking a little watery. But Chanyeol left, tearing open the café door a little more violently than necessary and sending the bells into an undignified jingle.

Needless to say he was not in a good mood when he met up with Sehun, Kyungsoo and Kris. He hardly had a word to say to them even when Sehun tried to find out the reason for his bad mood. It was making him even snappier.

It was 11 PM and Chanyeol was sure Baekhyun’s “good people” dinner had ended. He thought about it bitterly. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but rather Baekhyun’s parents and their weird ideas, but that didn’t stop him from seething at their prejudice. It was like they were saying that Baekhyun was too good to hang out with his sort and he was angry for putting that idea in his head.

Ultimately, his desire to see Baekhyun at that moment won over his attitude and his pride. When they got to the entrance of the club Chanyeol halted in his tracks, he had made a split second decision to calm his anger and Kyungsoo turned to stare at him, “What are you doing?”

“Hold on. You guys go ahead. I forgot something.”

Before any of them could protest he had his heels and ran off, down the narrow streets with their bright glowing lights and litter of flyers. He ran, hardly stopping until he reached the affluent neighborhood and stood in front of the house. He panted, out of breath, but rung the buzzer at the gate anyways.

He heard a gruff man answer irritably after a few moments, “Can I help you?” and a woman in the background say, “Who could that be at this hour?”

He put his face down to the camera, having to stoop a little, “Hi! Sorry about the time,” he could only think to say. “I’m Baekhyun’s friend, Park Chanyeol.”

He heard the buzzer sound indicating the gate had unlocked and as he walked into the well groomed yard he noticed the front door swing open and a much older man appeared in the light. He walked up the steps to the door frame and also noticed that he towered over Baekhyun’s father. Baekhyun seems to have inherited his height. He looked into the house and saw a wide eyed Baekhyun appear at the top of the stairway, clad in a white t-shirt and red and blue striped pajama pants. Chanyeol gave him a two- salute and he just stared, mouth agape.

Baekhyun’s mother appeared at the door then in her pink robe, wondering what all the fuss was about. “Oh my! So handsome!” she exclaimed putting her hand on her cheek and covering her blush, “and tall too! You’re friends with our Baekhyunnie?” He could see that Baekhyun looked exactly like her, even the way they colored was the same.

“Yes, mam,” he answered, politely as possible. He looked between them, “I’m here as a representative for our friends, you see. It’s just not quite the same without him with us, and we want him to come out and play.” He grinned, “If that’s all right with you?”

“It’s quite late,” said Baekhyun’s father, folding his hands behind his back and making a dignified huff.

“I’ll return him safely,” said Chanyeol.

“Oh dear, let’s let him go! He’s been such a good boy, and this seems like a responsible young man.” She looked at Chanyeol with stars in her eyes.

Chanyeol put on his most charming and warm smile.

Baekhyun’s father just grunted in response and walked away. Chanyeol was unsure what to think but Baekhyun’s mother excitedly clapped her hands and looked at her son. Chanyeol looked at him too in confusion.

Baekhyun raised his hand in the air in front of him and yelled, “Hold on a minute! I need pants!” and he dashed to his room. Chanyeol laughed.

Moments later Baekhyun dashed down the stairs, jacket and wallet in hand, now wearing dark jeans. His mother pecked him on the cheek, handing him his keys, and he and Chanyeol set off down the street. There was a time where neither of them spoke, for just a minute, before Chanyeol finally said, “Don’t get mad at me but I feel like I’ve just slayed a dragon and rescued the princess from her high tower.”

Baekhyun sputtered a “Wha-!?” and blushed a pretty pink before they both fell into laughter. And with just that the awkwardness from earlier was gone.

“I can’t believe you remembered where I lived.”

“I can’t believe you think I’d forget. I might be stupid but I’m not that stupid. You know it’s only been like a week since I walked with you there?”

“Has it?” said Baekhyun with a frown, “It feels much longer.”

Chanyeol texted Sehun as they neared the club and was glad to read that they were still inside. When they walked in it was packed wall-to-wall and from the corner of his eye he saw Baekhyun gulp at the sight of the crowd. He realized suddenly that it was most likely his first time in a club like this. He saw Sehun waving from across the room near the bar where he said they’d be and he found himself grabbing onto Baekhyun’s hand to lead him across the floor. He felt the sudden need to protect him, like someone so large should make it his duty to protect someone who seemed so small.

It was loud and bodies pressed hot against them as they waded to the bar, but there they found Sehun, Kris and Kyungsoo heartily into what was at least their fourth drink each.

“Look who decided to show up!” Sehun said slovenly, poking Chanyeol in the chest.

“How many times do you need to use that line before it starts getting old?”

“You-“ he hiccupped, “you brought your girlfriend?” Sehun pointed accusingly at Chanyeol’s hand, which was still holding Baekhyun’s, and he felt Baekhyun immediately stiffen and drop it.

“You ,” he elbowed Sehun in the ribs and he tipped slightly. He Kyungsoo who was the only one unoccupied, Kris had found a lady friend and was chatting with her drunk albeit animatedly. “You know Sehun’s a lightweight why’d you let him drink so much?”

“You!” shouted Kyungs