^AU.

Baekhyun entered the quiet room, looking around to understand what he needed to do. He was so nervous that his heard was almost beating out of his chest, and when he located the secretary’s desk, he walked to it at an uneven pace.

“Hello.”

He greeted the woman behind the desk, who looked up to him with the least interested stare. She had probably faced many of those shy young people that day, so Baekhyun understood if she wasn’t in the best of moods; he wouldn’t be if he were in her shoes.

“I’m here for a job interview…”

He quietly said, feeling that in the silence of the room, everyone there was listening to him.

“Fill this out and bring it back to me, then wait until I call your name.”

The woman said in a normal – and rather loud for Baekhyun’s taste – voice. He quickly took the board and sheet of paper she handed him, and scurried away for a seat, feeling rather embarrassed, though he didn’t quite know why.

Maybe because it was his first job interview, or maybe because everyone around him seemed smarted than him, but he felt incredibly small while sitting in that waiting room.

The atmosphere alone was highly intimidating, as there was no chatting going around – it gave of a feel of ‘each for its own’ to Baekhyun, and he didn’t like that. He was a pretty chatty fellow.

He quietly scribbled away, taking occasional peeks at everyone else. And every time a name was called, even though he hadn’t even handed in his paper yet, his heart raced, as he thought it was his name that had been called.

When he was finally done, and handed the paper in, he got even more nervous. And if before he was felling startled every time the woman called a name, now he observed her carefully, wishing that the next name wouldn’t be his. Sitting there in that waiting room, he suddenly felt completely incompetent. He felt he was not ready to try this anymore, but he felt too embarrassed to just leave, now that she had all his information.

He just had to tough it out. He was so nervously watching the woman at the desk, he didn’t even notice the man next to him staring at his face.

“Hey.”

Baekhyun heard a calling, and turned over, catching the man staring right at him.

“You’ll do well. Don’t worry so much.”

The man simply said, smiling.

Baekhyun had no idea why that stranger was suddenly trying to encourage him. It made even less sense when he thought that the man was there to interview for the same spot they all wanted; so why would he try to help his competition?

Baekhyun opened his mouth, intending to say something – what exactly he didn’t know – but he didn’t get a change to, as he heard his name being loudly called.

It took a couple second to realize that it was his turn, but once he did he sprung up on his chair, looking sacredly at the hallway all the other people had gone to. He took a step forward, but before going all the way, he looked back at the man, who was still smiling at him.

“Good luck.”

He mouthed, and Baekhyun turned back, marching onto the interview.

He didn’t quite know why, but as silly as it sounded, that stranger helped him. Maybe because it was nice to hear encouraging words, or just because that interaction made Baekhyun confused enough not to feel anxious anymore, but whatever it was, it helped. He left the room feeling good about the whole thing, he didn’t feel like he made any mistakes.

He wanted to thank the man on his way out, and maybe even extend the same courtesy and wish him good look, but he wasn’t there anymore. Baekhyun felt a bit disappointed about that, but there was nothing he could do, except to be grateful. If it wasn’t for that push, he’d probably have been a nervous mess at that interview, but now he truly felt he had a shot at getting the job.

_{The End. 690 Words.}