Kyungsoo kicked a box in the reception area out of curiosity, and a suprising screeching noise of metal against metal resounded around the bare walls. He then quickly retracted his steps and stared at the road outside as if nothing had happened.

The music school hadn't been decorated and styled up, as Chanyeol had said. The walls, white, reminded Kyungsoo of the very first dream he had with the boy. Pushing the thought aside, he turned his head around to stare at the boxes of musical intruments lying around the room. Chanyeol hadn't been a very neat person, Kyungsoo supposed he still was one now.

"Sup bro," Chanyeol's voice reverberated through the empty space. Kyungsoo looked up to see the other strolling into the reception area from another room. He asked, wondering how Chanyeol had gotten into the building, "How did you come in?" "Hmm?" Chanyeol asked, as he pushed a box to the side, followed by another. "Oh I got in by the back door. Help me push the boxes to the side?"

That left the two of them scrambling around, stacking some of the smaller boxes on top of larger ones for a while. No conversation ensued until Kyungsoo commented, patting a particularly large box, "I thought you were a messy person, Chan."  Kyungsoo then turned and looked at him expectantly. Chanyeol mumbled, "Were" as he placed a small box on top of the piano.

Weird, Kyungsoo thought to himself. They worked for another few minutes but now Chanyeol kept looking over at the glass doors once every few minutes, as if he were expecting someone. They had just pushed the last box when the wind chime sounded behind them, signalling the entrance of someone. "Chanyeol?" an unfamiliar voice asked. It belonged to a girl's.

By the time Kyungsoo had turned his body around, Chanyeol had already run off. "H-hey Sunyoung!" Chanyeol greeted the girl. She had shoulder length hair, slightly shorter than Chanyeol and a pair of sparkling eyes which Kyungsoo thought was strangely matching with Chanyeol's. She smiled at Chanyeol and asked, "How are you lately?"

"Great! I've just been setting up the school," Chanyeol grinned back, slightly with too much enthusiasm. Sunyoung looked impressed when Chanyeol said that. She commented with her smile still intact, "That's really cool, Chanyeol." Kyungsoo could see Chanyeol's chest puff out with pride upon hearing Sunyoung's praise. Kyungsoo then laughed discreetly to himself when he noticed Chanyeol unconsciously ruffling his hair. Kyungsoo had studied animals and he knew all too well what all those actions suggested.

"So. Are you ready to go for the movie?" Sunyoung asked suddenly, touching Chanyeol's arm. Kyungsoo had to turn around and laugh silently when he saw the shocked expression on Chanyeol's face. This was certainly not an everyday happening and Kyungsoo wished he could snap a picture but he did not want to risk the other coming after him later on.

All the while while facing the wall, Kyungsoo listened in on their conversation.

"Can we watch The Pyramid?"

"S-sure!"

"Are you sure? I've heard it's quite scary."

"It's perfectly fine, Sunyoung. I'm not afraid."

At this, it came naturally to Kyungsoo to turn back around and stare at Chanyeol. He caught Chanyeol's sight and he mouthed with concern when Sunyoung was distracted by the musical instruments, Dude are you even sure? Chanyeol gave him Kyungsoo a side look and answered, Shut up. Kyungsoo sighed afterwards. He's digging his own grave.

It took a while for Sunyoung to notice Kyungsoo was had been trying to hide behind the piano to evade questions. After Chanyeol had introduced Kyungsoo to Sunyoung, the girl asked curiously, "What do you think of Chanyeol?" "Well he's..." Kyungsoo started, then looked at Chanyeol who was giving the evil eye. He smiled and looked back at Sunyoung, "He's nice, but clumsy. You could say it's in the endearing way."

Sunyoung laughed as Chanyeol's cheeks began to be tinted with pink, "That's adorable." His cheeks glowed more brightly after that, making Kyungsoo laugh harder on the inside. He tried to hide it without looking like an idiot, which was a difficult task. Sunyoung asked brightly as she held onto his friend's arm again, "Let's go now. Then we can have lunch together."

"She's the reason you came back," Kyungsoo told Chanyeol the moment Sunyoung went to the washroom. Chanyeol's face flushed once again and he nodded his head. Kyungsoo still could not understand though. "Because of her? Only?"

Chanyeol looked as if he was about to lecture Kyungsoo but he let out a breath at the end, "Yeah. That's about it." Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel mystified and opened his mouth to argue but Chanyeol cut in, "I know you're going to say that it's absurd." At that, Kyungsoo flitted his eyes downwards to the carpeted floor and closed his mouth.

The other put a hand on Kyungsoo's shoulder and continued with a sympathetic tone, "This will sound harsh but... Truthfully you've never fallen in love before. You don't know how it feels like." Chanyeol put away his hand and leaned against the glass pane, staring outside. Following suit, Kyungsoo then asked after a moment of silence, "How is it like?"

"It's like, you'll do anything for the person. Everything the person does, is just like heaven to you. The way he or she smiles, or even when making mistakes..." Chanyeol let out a dreamy sigh as the sun's rays started to simmer through the glass onto them. Kyungsoo scoffed at Chanyeol, "Isn't heaven a bit too much?" Chanyeol shook his head, as a smile spread across his face and he replied, "No it isn't. Soo, when the time comes you'll know. By the way, Sehun's flying back today."

He then left Kyungsoo alone after walking upstairs to check on Sunyoung. Kyungsoo then threw all his weight onto the glass pane and leaned onto it in exasperation. First the love lecture, then Sehun. Kyungsoo swore Chanyeol had given him a knowing look before he left. Why was it that everyone was trying to pull Sehun back?

Kyungsoo rested his head on the glass and closed his eyes. He didn't want to acknoledge it, but deep down in his conscience, he knew Oh Sehun was the one who made him fall out of love. Oh Sehun, stop haunting me.

There had been once when Kyungsoo smiled more often and when the days seemed sunnier. All was well. His paintings had been recognised by the professors and teachers, his parents less aged and his sister. What to say about her? Well, she had Kyungsoo's intriguing eyes, his smile, his eternally tangled hair.

They did everything together, attending the same lectures, painting giant murals on walls in the neighbourhood, making fun of Chanyeol and Junmyeon. It was as though they had painted a paradise for themselves, one full of color and a certain smudge of grey, as anyone would experience.

Then in came Sehun, the transfer student. He was wealthy, good looking, an angel- And he stole Kyungsoo's own angel away, minute by minute, day by day. Months passed, and Kyungsoo was no longer her faithful sidekick. Sehun, had taken the place in her heart, and the boy returned it with his own heart. Kyungsoo never complained for it was her happiness. Whatever her happiness, was his as well. Twins, they were.

Kyungsoo walked on the pavement in silence back to his house in the freak wave like memory. Today he could meet his demons. Could. The weather was cooling and the sky was a cloudless blue, making him question if everything was mocking him. The walk back felt shorter than expected, and he numbly fumbled with the keys to unlock the door.

Just as he swung the door open and about to call for his mother, he heard her scream in terror, "Who are you?! How did you get in?!" A second passed and she shouted in a panicked voice, "Kyungsoo there's a boy inside your room!" Kyungsoo widened his eyes in shock and ran towards his room at top speed. He stopped himself before he could slam into the door post and looked inside frantically. 

And his heart nearly stopped when the boy stared back at him with his dark orbs. He was dressed identically as in the dream. Stunned, Kyungsoo froze. His mother held a feather duster in a threatening way at the boy, but she was shaking terribly. "I'll ask you one more time, who are you?" When the boy made no response except give the feather duster a curious look, his mother lunged at the boy with an intent to kill.

That sudden move made Kyungsoo unfreeze and he lept forward to restrain his mother, very afraid that she would harm the boy. However, the boy just whispered something inaudible into the air and the feather duster exploded into sparrows, chittering and messy, just as it was about to hit him. Unable to take any more surprise, his mother collapsed onto the floor unconscious.

"Mum!" Kyungsoo shouted worriedly as he knelt down beside her. He shook her shoulders gently and a soft groan escaped her lips, "K-kyungsoo... Is he still there?" He gave a tentative look at the boy who was just standing at the same place, staring at his mother. The sparrows had settled onto his shoulders comfortably. Kyungsoo bit down a curse and he stood up.

Kyungsoo swiftly walked over to the boy with determination and grabbed him by his arm, then broke into a run towards the door. "Where are you going?" his mother questioned feebly. "I'll be back soon," Kyungsoo promised, then he cast a dubious look at the boy whose gaze never left him. Putting a tighter grip onto his arm, Kyungsoo ran out of the house with the boy.

"You don't need to run so fast, Kyungsoo," the boy commented behind Kyungsoo as he was dragged along by him. Kyungsoo made no effort to respond and did not stop running until they reached an isolated corner in the park. He then released the boy's arm.

The boy asked ruefully while rubbing the area where Kyungsoo had held a little too tight, "Is your grip always this tight?" "Are you even real?" Kyungsoo asked immediately with a frown as he stared at the boy. The other put on an offended expression and stared at Kyungsoo, "Of course I am real." A sparrow with a dusty brown plumage then chirped into the boy's ear.

"Yes I'm still the Nightingale."

Tweet tweet.

"He's kind! He won't hurt you."

Tweet tweet tweet 

"Yes of course! Go on now."

The group of sparrows then took flight from the boy's shoulders with a chatter of excitement and Kyungsoo stared at the boy as if he had gone mad. Did he just talk to the birds? The boy turned his head around and must have seen the bewildered look on his face since he said, "Don't stare at me like that." The other stretched his arm over his head afterwards like he had just woken up from bed and yawned, "I've never been in this form for a long time."

Dumbfounded, Kyungsoo couldn't help but look at the boy. Granted, it was terribly weird, from his dressing to his talking with birds, but he was still the boy in his dreams. He needed answers to all of the riddles the boy had given him.

Kyungsoo cleared his throat and asked slowly, "You're not... Human?" "I'm not. Goodness Kyungsoo. I thought you would have known," the bird-whisperer answered with sincere shock. "Then what are you?" he asked again, getting more intrigued by the second. "Not what," the other corrected, "Who. You can call me Kai."

"Kai," Kyungsoo repeated, the word sounding foreign on his tongue. "And, you can?" Kai gave a discreet smile and replied, "I go by many names. Maybe I'll tell you after you do what you need to do." Hearing this, Kyungsoo became alarmed. He asked, "What I need to do?" Kai laughed and before he knew it, the person in front of him shrunk into... Kyungsoo felt faint after seeing the little creature. Oh my god.

The yellow bird chirped in a carefree manner and zoomed off into the distance. "Hey!" Kyungsoo yelled as he quickly shook himself out of his stupor and ran after the bird. As he ran, his mind buzzed with the new information. His pet bird was Kai, the person in his dreams. Before he could wrap his mind around the bizarre situation, the bird chirped loudly above his head and flew off into another direction.

Blindly, Kyungsoo followed, bent on getting Kai back. His eyes fixed on the bird above him, he paid no attention to the path in front of him. So distracted he was, he collided into another person. "Hey watch where you're going!" came the cold voice in front of him. Kyungsoo suddenly felt the chill spreading throughout his veins.

Kyungsoo gritted his teeth and looked up slowly into the familar yet hauntingly empty eyes. "Sehun," he said through his teeth unnervingly. Old hatred twined with jealousy crept up his throat like venom. The chirping had gone, so was the owner of the voice and Kyungsoo realised in that instant that Kai had led him to Sehun in his moment of confusion. The taller then gave Kyungsoo a wry smile and cocked his head, his blonde hair shining in the sunlight like a halo.

"Hello friend. It's been a long time." Friend.

you may not know, the person who hates you hates himself as much