Chanyeol was happily running around on the court as he played basketball for today’s PE game. Adrenaline high and excitement even higher, he was in it to win it. He wanted to make himself look really good today too because you were watching, or he at least he hoped you were.

And you were. Or kind of anyways. The cool wind blowing through your loose athletic clothes was making it kind of hard to stay awake. Sitting down under a tree next to the soccer field, you watched as Chanyeol jumped up for another slam dunk, cheering once again to boost his spirits. His self esteem had gotten a lot better since you’ve met him, but there were a couple times when he’d come to you with tears running down his face, crying with another story about his friends or his teachers.

Last night was a bit of a doozy too, since Chanyeol had been texting you nonstop about literally everything a person can think about. After having to consult with Sehun about contacting him, he made sure that you would have his number favorited and put on speed dial on his phone. Sehun had made sure to sneak his number in when Chanyeol wasn’t looking and he figured Lay would want to add himself in there, so you got Sehun to do it for you afterwards.

The two other boys on cleaning duty with you wanted to exchange numbers as well and you did, with Chanyeol’s disapproving eye not far away. Now you had five more contact numbers in your phone: Chanyeol, Sehun, Lay, Hyuk and Jungkook.

They texted like little girls and it was funny at first, but now you wished that they would stop. Chanyeol texted you whatever and whenever he liked, while Sehun did the exact same, but his messages never had any purpose.

You felt your pocket vibrate and took out your phone to find another text message from, of course, Sehun. He even had his own special nickname after he put in his number, how great.

    From: King Sehun

    Look up.

Glancing up into the trees, you saw nothing and grew confused. You eventually ended up eyeing out the sides of the school buildings in search of him, but still finding nothing. Right as you were about to text him back, another message came in.

    From: King Sehun

    Made you look.

You sighed and let your phone slide out from your hand and onto the grass. This is what you meant by meaningless and without a purpose. He rarely texted you for consultation on anything and only sent messages to bug you. Sometimes it was funny, but in most times, it was exactly like this.

Strange and pointless.

Another buzz from your phone and you tapped the screen to find something from Lay. A bit appalled, you let the message show and a small smile broke out on your face.

    From: LayLaycorn

    Exercise is good for the body, so stop laying around. So is vitamin D.

And yes I can see you.

Lay always sent little worrying messages about your well being and you thought it was sweet, especially since he was so quiet most of the time. It was thoughtful and simple just the way you liked it.

Giving a small thumbs up into the air, you let your self text back another message when something plopped down next to you. It was a bit of a shock and you figured it was a person, when in fact, it was just a soccer ball?

“Can you pass that here?” A voice called out, most likely for the runaway ball.

Had they seen you? Usually when you sat here, nobody was able to find you, not even the teachers. It wasn’t like you wanted to skip either, but it felt nicer to relax in the shade instead of standing around in the sun. Going unnoticed did also mean that your classmates never noticed you during team sports, so.

Before you could touch the ball, something kicked it, another figure randomly appearing out of what seemed to be nowhere. You could feel the air around your fingers whip around from such a strong kick. It made a really loud ‘thump’ noise too. Those sudden noises all almost giving you a heart attack at once.

“Play without me! I need to take a break!”

Deep voice and super thick thighs pointed towards a male and you were right. He sat down and turned to face you with a smile.

“Hi! I’m Xiumin! Are you and Chanyeol dating?”

“Hello Xiumin sunbaenim, and no, Chanyeol and I aren’t dating.”

You literally just found out this guy’s name and he’s already asking about your personal life? That only meant one thing.

“So, you’re Chanyeol’s friend I’m guessing?”

His cheeks jiggled as he nodded happily, almost making you coo at the sight. It wasn’t hard to know who this guy was since he was apart of Chanyeol’s group of friends. One of the best players of the school soccer team with the brightest of personalities. He was a sports freak and obsessed about anything athletic, which he was also extremely good at.

“Oh, that’s strange... Would you date me then?”

Again, Chanyeol’s friends with their strange questions. “No, I wouldn’t think so.”

“Huh, how strange.” The boy propped himself up using his arms, leaning back to let the sweat drip backwards out from his hair. “Most girls would say yes. Or at least be somewhat surprised when I asked that.”

You hummed and watched Chanyeol take another shot. Assuming that this was the ‘three point line’ everyone was shouting about, you let yourself cheer again when he made it. He was so caught up with his shot that he hadn’t seen you cheer, but that was okay since he looked like he was having a lot of fun.

Xiumin leaned side to side as he watched you cheer for Chanyeol. Your soft features looked mature, but the sparkle in your eye every time Chanyeol made a shot was so endearing. It would have been better if you weren’t ignoring him though.

“Would you date Chanyeol?” Xiumin asked again, distracting you from the game.

You pondered over it seriously because it hasn’t crossed your mind before. “I don’t think so. We both have our own problems to deal with, so I don’t think it would work out. Plus, I wouldn’t want to break our friendship.”

“So you wouldn’t ask because you’re afraid to be rejected?”

This guy was really starting to push your buttons with the questioning. You’d think you’d be used to it after meeting Chanyeol, but since they were about much more mature topics, it had begun to get under your skin a little.

“Well, it wouldn’t be rejection if I never really thought about dating him before.”

He watched as the space between your eyebrows crinkled together and laughed at your irritated face. Maybe he was taking it a little too far, but this was for his friend after all. Xiumin looked back towards the court to see Chanyeol jogging over to their little spot with a glower on his face, signaling his time to leave.

“Well it was nice talking to you. You’re pretty cute too.” He whispered into your ear before pressing a small kiss to your temple.

Xiumin was long gone before Chanyeol even made it under the tree.

“Did he just, oh my god... I’m so sorry, uh. He’s a bit weird.” Chanyeol sputtered out, still not sure of what to say.

“He has soft lips.” You muttered.

It was true that Xiumin had extremely soft lips for a boy and you couldn’t help but wonder why they were like that. Chanyeol on the other hand looked really agitated and kept fidgeting every few seconds.

“He asked if we were dating. And if I wanted to date him.”

By now Chanyeol’s face was burning red from anger and embarrassment. “Damn it, that guy…”

“But that was it and he just kissed me out of nowhere. It could have been worse.” You added.

All of the other kids were getting ready to move into the gym for part two of class and you dusted off your pants before pulling Chanyeol along. Turning around, you saw him still a bit confused.

“It could have been worse. He could have kissed me on the lips.”

--

The gym was hot and smelly, jam packed with way too many kids that needed to shower. It was disgusting and luckily, your class got to enjoy it with five other classes.

What joy.

“Okay class, we’re playing dodgeball so suit up or shut up!” The teacher yelled, blowing the whistle to signal the game to start.

Dodgeball was not your thing, but blending in was. All you had to do was wander into a game when it began and move to another court when the amount of people was dwindling down to about ten. That way you didn’t get hit or have to touch a sweaty ball.

“Chanyeol! Get your back into a game right now!” You heard the teacher bellow, spinning around to find Chanyeol quietly following behind you as you walked.

“You know you’re blowing my cover right?” Chanyeol shrugged and continued to stand next to you as you pretended to be interested in the game.

“Why don’t you just play? I know you hate sports and all, but it’s really fun!”

Right at that moment some kid in your first year class was blasted in the face with a rubber ball, sending him out of the game for the rest of the period. You cringed and looked back towards Chanyeol who had also seen the poor boy get beamed in the face.

“You call that fun?”

Chanyeol winced and gave a small shrug afterwards. “Well, if you don’t get hit, but that’s okay because it’s how you play the game!”

That was almost impossible for you though. Each first year class was paired up with a third year class, which meant that the freshmeat were going to be dominated by the seniors of the school. There was one class that shagged balls if they left the court, but even they weren’t safe from getting hit.

You could see Xiumin playing ferociously down on the opposite side of the court and regretted being nice to him when you had the chance. Every time you two met eyes, he would wave enthusiastically and completely ignore the game itself to get your attention to wave at you. That was something Chanyeol always did and you didn’t need two Chanyeols in your life.

“Just play with me! I’ll protect you if anyone tries to aim the ball at you.”

And the chances of that happening were a little closer to none. Why would they aim for a target they don’t even notice on a daily basis? Sure you were hit by a few strays, but it was never on purpose. Plus the teachers never saw it happen either so you’d never be deemed ‘out’. Waving him off, you let him go and play while you hid in the background.

Just at that moment something whizzed past your face and momentarily froze your body, the shock settling in after almost being hit. Maybe it was a fluke? You kept wandering around in the back areas when another ball came sailing for you from above, causing you to side step and scan the court for the really bad player.

The only person who was looking back at you was none other than Kris himself. Once he had gotten your attention a small smirk appeared on his face and you felt yourself moving even faster to try and get out of the way.

He was the one throwing dodgeballs and you were his target. He was a third year and you were a first year. The entire situation screamed dangerous and the look in his eye burning viciously as you frantically tried hiding behind other people. Every time you hid, he would get that person out in the most painful way possible, without getting in trouble somehow too. Kris even moved courts with you to your dismay and eventually he had found the right time to whip a ball at your face while the teams were switching out.

You closed your eyes and braced for impact, only to hear a sharp intake of breath as you collided into someone’s back. The boy was tall and your face level only reached up to his chest, right where the ball had hit. His back view was familiar though and only after he started coughing did you realize it who those pair of giant ears belonged to.

“See? I told you I’d protect you...” Chanyeol wheezed, clutching his chest and falling onto his knees.

The teacher jogged over to where Chanyeol was currently gasping for air and called two of his student helpers over. “Howon! Sungyeol! Take Mr. Park here to the health room.”

“I can take him.” Your mouth protested before your brain could process what you just said.

Your teacher laughed and stomped his foot against the wood floor. “You can take him? He’s like triple your size young lady. You’re as big as my wrist.”

That was a complete lie, but you let the two upperclassmen drag Chanyeol away as the teacher continued to compare you to little sticks and sparrows. Chanyeol managed to give a small wave before he was pulled out the doors and you were now one on one with your homeroom teacher. Now that he’s calmed down, he gave you a look and with the loud clap of his hands, everyone’s eyes were on him.

“You kids stink. Hit the showers! And you,” his eyes trailed down to look down at you. “You’re cleaning the gym for talking back to a teacher. Honestly, what kind of teacher lets you speak like that.”

Standing baffled as your homeroom teacher strutted out of the gym. You let him clear out from the room before letting out a huff of air. The sound of your breaths echoed off the metal walls of the building and you sighed once more before heading back to pick up five classes worth of dodge balls.

With each bend of your back, you could feel your body start to ache more and more until you had to sit down in the pool of balls. The pure bliss of getting off your feet felt too good to stop, so you opted on sitting down while tossing the balls away into the bin from the floor. You missed a couple shots, but eventually got the hang of shooting from a distance.

Before you had managed to fill the first bin though, a ball had sailed into it perfectly from behind you. You turned around to find Kris with a cocky grin playing on his lips and you already knew this was going to be bad.

“Nice shooting for a girl.” He said monotonously, still tossing the balls in one by one. “Too bad you hide behind people’s shadows.”

You stood up and wandered away from Kris, taking another empty bin to fill on the far side of the room. It was his fault that Chanyeol and all of those other kids had gotten hurt. Loud crashing noises and the sound of wheels squeaking against the floor made you turn around to see Kris standing with full bins of dodgeballs around you.

“How did you-”

“I’m the one asking questions here.” With each step forward, you took another two steps back, but even then he was still advancing towards you. Once your back hit the wall of the gym he was already hovering over you, and boy did he look scary.

“That teacher, he’s your homeroom teacher isn’t he? Or at least one of them anyways.”

You peered around his tall figure and saw no one else but you two in the gym. “Yeah…” But how would he know that?

“Figured since Tao won’t shut up about you and your secrets. He’s a bother, but some people just don’t have secrets. Like you, I’m guessing.”

You had almost forgotten that Tao, Kai and Sehun were in your homeroom. Before Kris had asked another question, you had taken a small step to your left and tried to walk around him as calmly as possible, plan stopping short as his giant hand clamped down onto your head. The way he held onto you was like how a rude adult would hold back a small child. He was being extremely rude right now too, so the image was fitting.

“Can you let go of me please, sunbaenim.” You couldn’t let yourself hiss after still showing respect to Kris, even if he was older than you.

He chuckled and spun you around so your back hit his chest, locking his arms around you and holding you tightly. “If you can free yourself then sure.”

Kris was having fun with this. It’s been awhile since someone’s look at him so angrily and he wanted to prolong the moment. You struggling was also amusing to him since he was much stronger than you. It was like watching a cat play with a mouse, and he was the sneaky cat.

Five minutes passed and you had already given up on trying to get out of Kris’ hold. The warmth surrounding you was strangely inviting and you let your eyelids close for a second before it was gone.

A sitting duck was no fun and just as quickly as you had given up, Kris had gotten bored. He sighed and pushed you forward to let you go, but didn’t expect you to completely topple over and land on the floor. Your wrist had bent in an awkward position and you let out a small whimper as your weight pushed down on it even harder. Because of that, even your knees were bruised from the impact.

He would have been lying if he said he didn’t feel bad. Heck, Kris was even worried when you didn’t bother to pick yourself up. Your body looked dead and just lay on the floor like a broken puppet.

“Hey, uh. Are you okay?”

“What does it look like?” You groaned. The pain had been so bad that it wasn’t like you didn’t want to move, but rather, you couldn’t. So you just stayed there and prayed that he wouldn’t try to do anything else to you. “Can you just go away? Please? I need to call someone to come and get me.”

Kris moved forward again to help you, but you yelled for him to stop. It was more out of anger than pain, maybe with a bit of fear mixed it. You didn’t know. All you could feel was the immense pain in your temple where your head kissed the ground.

“Just, go.”

Using your good hand, you reached into your pocket and pressed a few buttons, hoping whoever you called wasn’t busy. The tone rang twice before someone picked up, his voice sounding like a symphony of angels in your ear.

“Hello?”

“Lay? Can you come and help me at the gym? The teacher left me with cleaning and I’m almost done, but the shelves are too high. Don’t tell Chanyeol either, please.” You sighed, resisting the urge to try and move from your spot, though you knew you had to sometime. Managing to flip yourself over onto your back, you winced as the pain shot down to your legs and stifled another yelp. Lay was quick to agree and you hung up, eventually just staring up at the ceiling.

“You should go before Lay gets the wrong idea.”

“Why are you trying to protect me?” He asked incredulously.

“The same reason why I told Lay not to tell Chanyeol.” You sighed, pushing yourself up so that you sat up somewhat straight. Your back was killing you.

You just didn’t want to become a bother.

“You’re really pitiful, you know that.” Kris’ words almost offended you, if only you didn’t know that it was true.

It was a given that you looked like a coward for standing in the shadows for so long. And the fact that you opened up to these boys out of everyone in the school was even stranger. Why them? Why not any of the others? Was it because Chanyeol’s persistence?

Or was it because you just couldn’t handle being so lonely?

“Yeah, I know.” You bit your cheek as you stood back up, stumbling over to the nearest bin to keep yourself steady. “But I’ve fallen too deep to just run away again.”

Kris laughed. Why? You didn’t know. He left afterwards and eventually it was just you and the equipment.

Lay had arrived a few minutes after Kris left and he helped you drag all of the bins back into the storage room. He was a real help and the two of you managed to get everything done in under five minutes. It was a shame though, since you could tell he was doing a lot of the work, but if you had moved any faster, you might have blown your cover.

“So are you going to the library for lunch?” He asked as you two walked side by side.

“Lunch is almost over, so no. I’ll probably just go to my next class.”

You turned and gave a small smile to the boy. “Thank you Lay.”

And with that, you were out the door, limping to the locker room to get your belongings. Hopefully he hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary and you prayed that the throbbing sensation in your head would die down before class started. You didn’t want to endure class with a headache.

If Kris hadn’t told him, Lay wouldn’t have known you were injured. He had kept quiet to see if you would tell him yourself, and to his dismay you didn’t. It was a surprise to see Kris come out of the gym as he was about to walk in, but to be stopped and told that he was the one to hurt you was an even bigger shock.

Lay didn’t want you to suffer on your own, seeing that you always did that own your own  anyways. He wasn’t going to let you any longer either. This kind of longing was so strange, but meeting a girl like you was even stranger.

A/N: I dunno man!!! The story is slowly progressing more or less and that's good! Especially since I have no plot for this whatsoever! I'm surprised I've gotten so many nice people to comment about it too haha it always makes my day!!!