Word Count: 1641

Preparing for the yearend activities were hell. Everyone became doubly busier, some even triple with their schedules back to back. The festival was near, finals were near, and of course, the holidays were near. Although the atmosphere around them was filled with the coming holiday spirit – Christmas lights being put up, projects that fit the holidays, twice the number of people everywhere most probably due to the holiday preparations. The once simple Dulce Café now filled with decorations left and right, inside and outside, curtesy of Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. However, despite all that, majority of the students of Éileeit University were too busy to feel it or even so much as notice it.

Yet amidst all the busy schedules and barely anytime for distraction, gossips will always and forever be a part of a person’s daily life. Word of Team E.B.’s Kim Jongdae getting in between Bang Yongguk’s gang and let free a no-name student spread across student after student like wildfire. It was the first time it happened and since it is so, ridiculous rumors were born – the clashing of the two famous elite groups, something must’ve happened behind the student’s backs, Baekhyun must be a ‘someone’.

The classroom had barely any people, Baekhyun was one of the early students to arrive and chose to focus on the note he found by his locker as he waited for break to end. He was smiling and feeling all giddy and excited reading the content, wishing the day to end sooner.

He was too busy looking at the note that he fails to notice the arrival of another student beside him.

“So the rumors are true.”

A voice startles Baekhyun that he nearly jumped out of his seat. Frozen and with wide eyes, he turns to his seatmate – a familiar face but also a complete stranger, and tries to form a coherent reply.

“Whu-what?”

“That you know Team E.B. personally.” Baekhyun’s seatmate nonchalantly says as he eyes the paper in Baekhyun’s hands – it was a small post-it note from Junmyeon inviting him to a last minute gathering tonight.

Gulping and panicking, Baekhyun immediately hides the paper in between his sketchbook. “No. No I don’t.” He tries to adamantly deny.

His seatmate chuckles at the red, panicked and alarmed state of Baekhyun; finding a flailing, trying but failing to cover up a lie, boy beside him very amusing.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

Baekhyun looks up at his seatmate and looks if he is serious, not knowing whether to believe him or not.  His once calm heart is now rapidly beating.

Sensing the doubt in his eyes, his seatmate reassures him again. “I promise, cross my heart and hope to die.” He gestures with a finger as he ends with a smile – a smile oddly reassuring enough for Baekhyun.

At the reassuring gesture, although still slightly doubting, Baekhyun lets out a breath of relief he did not know he was holding. After a moment of trying to calm his rapid beating heart but failing, he turns to his seatmate again with a pleading look.

“Please. Don’t tell.”

The fear in Baekhyun’s eyes were evident, it was as if the reveal of truth would result to something immensely disastrous. His seatmate’s eyes softened as he understood.

“Don’t be afraid. I understand.”

Out of panic, Baekhyun looks around him seeing if anyone was near earshot. The beating of his heart hasn’t slowed down at all, worry filling his mind with different thoughts and reasons – if it’s revealed, the truth he has been hiding all this time may be revealed too. If that happens then…

“Hey, calm down.” His seatmate pats him on the shoulder, an attempt to calm the now fidgeting in fear Baekhyun. “Don’t worry about me. I know how important it is to keep your relationship with them hidden. I understand why they do such.” He adds the last rather contemplatively.

“Do what?” Baekhyun his head in question, distracted at the odd understanding of his seatmate.

“Protect you.” He says with a smile that Baekhyun found rather, bitter.

Not sure how to reply, Baekhyun simply looks at him. There were a lot of questions in his head but they did not know each other enough for him to ask further, sensing the unknown underlying meaning of his words.

“You should be careful th