“Maybe I could do a dance number while singing.” Baekhyun said, his eyes twinkling in excitement. “I used to attend ballet class when I was younger. Do you remember that, Lu?”

“Yes.” Luhan answered grimly. “I’d rather not remember those days.”

Baekhyun pouted. “Why? I was a damn good dancer back then. I bet I could still do it now.”

“No, no.” Luhan’s eyes widened in panic. “No dancing. That’s final. This is a very emotional song, Baekhyun. You have to make sure you convey the message of the song with your voice.” Luhan pointed to his eyes. “And your eyes. Eye contact with the audience is essential.”

“Wow.” Baekhyun breathed. “I almost forgot you used to be a professional singer.”

“I’d hardly call myself a professional. Aside from my family, you’re the only one who has heard me sing.” Luhan laughed.

“But still, you’re good.” Baekhyun insisted. “I bet if you applied to change your course they’d take you in the music program in a heartbeat!”

“I’m flattered, Baekhyun-ah, but I’m happy with where I am right now.”

“Where, behind the camera?” Baekhyun smiled softly. “Don’t get me wrong. You are amazing at what you do, Lu, but it would be nice if you went under the spot light every now and then.”

Luhan readjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. “Don’t be silly. I’m perfectly fine staying behind the scenes. You’re the one who was born to be under the spot light.”

Baekhyun forced a smile. “I’m just saying… you’re more than what you show the world.”

“Thank you, Baekhyun.” Luhan’s smiled with gentle eyes.

They stood there in silence for a while before Baekhyun clasped his hands and exclaimed, “Alright, are you ready to help me ace my performance, Mr. Luhan?”

Luhan giggled. “Of course! You’re going to take the house down, most definitely.”

“Learning Chinese is hard.” Baekhyun frowned.

“I told you, you should’ve picked a song you’re comfortable singing.”

“No, no.” Baekhyun shook his head. “My professor’s Chinese. I bet she’d flip if she knew I can sing in Mandarin. Do you know how many extra points I could get for that?”

“No.”

“Well it might be a lot.”

“Alright then. Let’s take it to the top, shall we?” Luhan said, walking over to the grand piano.

He made himself comfortable, his fingers hovering just above the white piano keys. He took in a deep breath and began playing, the sweet tune of Where Is The Promised Happiness by Jay Chou ringing in his ear.

“Ni de hui hua ling luan zhe, zai zhe ge shi ke…

(Your reply is still reverberating chaoticly, at this moment in time)”

Baekhyun closed his eyes, getting the feeling of the song as he sang the lyrics. Luhan had told him what the song meant. It was an emotional song indeed, and Baekhyun wanted to make sure he conveyed the message of the song perfectly. He wanted to pronounce every word right, he wanted to reach every high note with ease, he wanted his audience to feel what the song meant. And with Luhan’s help, it was no time before Bakehyun finally perfected the song.

“You did it, Baekhyun-ah!” Luhan beamed, standing up to envelop Baekhyun in his arms.

Baekhyun simply grinned widely in response, his eyes speaking for him. He really was very grateful to his best friend.

“Sorry to interrupt.”

A menacing voice surprised the pair, causing them to jump slightly. They simultaneously turned towards the entrance of the music room to meet the taunting gaze of Kim Jongdae, one of Baekhyun’s more sinister rivals.

To Luhan, he seemed harmless enough, but because of Baekhyun’s stories, he found himself frightened of Jongdae.

“What are you doing here? Spying on your competition now, are we?” Baekhyun spat, crossing his arms defensively.

“Keep dreaming,” Jongdae smirked.

“Jongdae,” another voice chimed in. Zhang Yixing, one of Jongdae’s band mates, entered the room, panting slightly. “It’s not nice to leave your friends behind.”

“It’s not my fault you guys are slow.” Jongdae shrugged casually.

Yixing frowned, then turned to Luhan and Baekhyun. “Oh, hello! Are you guys practicing here too?”

“We were,” Baekhyun answered. “Before your friend here rudely interrupted us.”

Yixing’s eyes widened as he turned to Jongdae. “Guess we’ll have to find another room then.”

“No, we don’t” Jongdae firmly stated. “I asked permission from Professor Ling. She said it’s fine if we use the music room.”

“But she said I could use it.” Baekyun snapped.

“Oh,” Yixing said. “Guess we have no choice but to share then. Hi, my name’s Zhang Yixing, but you already know that, Baekhyun. Who’s your friend?”

Luhan gulped nervously, instinctively hiding behind Baekhyun. He wasn’t much of a social person.

“This is Luhan.” Baekhyun replied.

Jongdae smirked. “What, your friend can’t speak for himself?”

Baekhyun, trying his best to control his feelings, said through gritted teeth, “He’s shy.”

Yixing gazed at him gently. “Aww, there’s no need to be shy, Luhan. We don’t bite!”

“Can’t say the same for myself.” Jongdae grinned evilly.

“Jongdae,” Yixing warned, turning to glare at his friend.

The atmosphere started to tense. It felt like chaos was about to explode at any form of sound.

“Jongdae! Yixing!” a loud, booming noise exclaimed. It wasn’t long after when a rather tall person barged inside the room. “Great job leaving me with those two.”

“Ah, Chanyeol,” Yixing greeted. “I thought you were right behind me.”

“Well I was,” Chanyeol scowled. “But Jongin just had to stop by the cafeteria to get some cake. I swear if he eats too much sweets…” Chanyeol’s words were cut short when he realized they weren’t alone. “Oh, hello, Byun Baekhyun!”

“Don’t ‘hello’ me, Park Chanyeol. You’re not even allowed to talk to me.” Baekhyun glared.

Chanyeol simply grinned in response. “Still feisty, are we?” He turned to Luhan, his eyes slowly widening. “Oh, it’s you! I know you!”

Luhan started to panic inwardly. He was highly uncomfortable with the fact that someone who is a complete stranger to him knew who he was.

“What do you mean ‘you know him’?” Baekhyun glared.

“Oh, he’s-” Chanyeol’s words were once again cut short by another voice.

“Yah! Park Chanyeol! Why the fu-”

This voice, Luhan was familiar with. It belonged to the boy he bumped into yesterday – Kim Jongin.

Jongin was forced into silence when he saw who was with them in the room. As soon as he entered, his gaze landed on Luhan. It wasn’t long until his lips stretched into a wide smile.

“Luhan! Funny bumping into you again.”

Luhan simply nodded. “Hello.”

“So he does speak!” Yixing exclaimed joyfully.

“Of course he does. He just doesn’t have the time nor the patience to talk people like you.” Baekhyun spat. He sharply turned to Jongin. “And how do you know him?”

“Baekhyun-ah~” Luhan cooed, tugging on the sleeve of Baekhyun’s shirt. All the confrontation really did make him feel uncomfortable. “Let’s just leave. You can practice at my house.”

Jongin, sensing Luhan’s discomfort, turned to his band mates and said, “You know what, maybe we should just find somewhere else to practice. They were here first anyway, so…”

“No way! I already asked permission from Professor Ling. If anyone’s leaving it should be them.” Jongdae replied, bobbing his head towards Baekhyun and Luhan’s direction.

“Here’s an idea,” Yixing began. “Why don’t we all practice here?”

“I already told you, unicorn boy, that won’t work.” Baekhyun said. “There’s no way I’m letting Kim freakin’ Jongdae hear my piece before the performance.”

“It’s not like it’s worth hearing, anyway.” Jongdae countered.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Chanyeol suddenly said, raising both his hands in the air, as if motioning everyone to stop what they were doing. “Where’s Sehun?”

At the mention of Sehun’s name, Luhan’s palms started to sweat. He didn’t know why he was so nervous about meeting Sehun again.

“Right here,” Sehun said nonchalantly as he stepped inside the room. He observed everyone inside the room, eyes landing on Luhan last. “I thought we had this room to ourselves?”

“We will, as soon as Baekhyun here leaves.” Jongdae replied.

“No way, no way we’re leaving. We got here first.” Baekhyun said, stubbornly crossing his arms.

“But Baekhyun-ah~” Luhan pouted, tugging on Baekhyun’s sleeves once again.

Baekhyun turned to face him. “I’m sorry, Lulu, but there’s no way I’m going to surrender to Kim Jongdae.”

Jongin’s eyes started to twitch as he observed Luhan closely. “So… cute.” Noticing everyone’s gaze on him, Jongin started to stutter. “I meant… YOU DIDN’T HEAR ME SAY ANYTHING!”

“I’m surrounded by idiots.” Sehun said with a sigh.

Luhan bit his bottom lip. “Why don’t I go and talk to this professor of yours to clear things up?”

“That would be a good idea.” Yixing nodded.

Baekhyun thought about it for a while before replying, “Alright. You know where the faculty room is, right? Do you want me to accompany you?”

Luhan shook his head  wildly. “No, it’s alrgiht. I can go by myself.” And with that, Luhan was out the door.

☆ ☆ ☆

Okay, so maybe Luhan lied. He had no idea where the faculty room was. He was hoping he’d bump into someone who could show him the way, so for a few minutes, he casually strolled through the hallways. Luhan began to hum to himself, unaware of a pair of eyes silently observing him from behind the pillars. When the person was sure Luhan was completely alone, he showed himself.

“Hi there, Lulu.”

Luhan visibly paled at the sound of the voice. He carefully turned around, coming face to face with none other than Ji Hoo.

“W-what are you doing in this building?” Luhan squeaked. He was baffled as to why Ji Hoo was at the Performing Arts building. He wasn’t aware Ji Hoo had friends from that department.

“Visiting a friend.” Ji Hoo answered with a shrug.

As if on cue, a friend of his appeared from behind him. He was equally tall, although he was a bit lanky. Ji Hoo’s friend still scared Luhan nonetheless.

“You got a few lucky breaks, Lulu.” Ji Hoo begain, slowly approaching him. “That Oh Sehun kid saved you a few times, but I’ll make sure he won’t interrupt us this time.”

Luhan swallowed nervously. He was now visibly shaking. “W-w-what are you…?”

“What am I going to do?” Ji Hoo grinned menacingly. “Why don’t I show you?”

☆ ☆ ☆

“No, Chanyeol, I won’t play the piano for you!” Baekhyun shouted, the tip of his ears turning red from anger.

Chanyeol pouted. “Oh come on, why not? Jongdae says you’re good.”

Jongdae, who busied himself with planting a toy spider inside Yixing’s backpack (Yixing was already fast asleep), instantly looked up at the mention of his name. “I never said such a thing!”

“I knew you were insecure of me.” Baekhyun smirked at Jongdae, who simply huffed in response.

“What’s taking Luhan so long?” Jongin frowned. “Isn’t the faculty room just around the corner?”

Sehun perked up at the mention of Luhan’s name. He too had been wondering what was taking Luhan so long. He had been annoyed at first – after all, his time was precious – but now the annoyance was replaced by an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

“I don’t know.” Baekhyun’s brows creased in worry. “Let me try calling him.”

Baekhyun grabbed his phone and quickly dialed Luhan’s number. The phone rang several times, but Luhan never answered.

“I’m going to go look for him.” Baekhyun announced. He turned to Jongdae. “And don’t even think about locking me outside the room while I’m gone.”

Jongdae smiled sweetly. “I’d never do such a thing.”

“I’ll come with you!” Jongin volunteered, a little bit enthusiastically.

Baekhyun stared at him weirdly. His gaze flickered towards Sehun for a split second, and he noticed that Sehun looked somewhat annoyed.

“I don’t need anyone accompanying-”

“Byun Baekhyun?” an authoritative female voice interjected.

The group turned towards the door, instantly quieting down when they realized that the female voice belonged to one of their professors.

“Yes, ma’am?” Baekhyun spoke, stepping forward.

“I need you to come with me to the infirmary.” She replied. 

“The infirmary?” Baekhyun repeated. His heart rate significantly increased as he thought of the worst possible scenario. 

“You friend, Luhan… he was attacked.”

Baekhyun could feel his face draining of color.

funny story, as i was editing the layout for this fic, i accidentally deleted my foreward... which real bad. so, i'm going to attempt to re-write it (if i manage to remember it). anywho, in the mean time, please enjoy reading this chapter! i know it barely has any HunHan moments but we'll get there :D 'til the next chapter! ta-ta.