It’s happening again, isn’t it?

Onew’s words rang through Kris’s head like a bell, which wasn’t doing his headache any favours.

He’d met with the headmaster in order to talk about the recurring head pains that had returned. On some level, he knew it was his own fault for pushing so hard. But he needed to push to be the best he could be.

It had happened before his first shift too. With his ever evolving powers, when sometimes new would come into play it was headaches galore.

Kris was happy with his powers, he was, but the part by where he took favourable properties from the things he could shift into, though to an extreme in most cases, could be rather painful.

The ringing in his ears was getting louder and louder until Kris couldn’t take it anymore and collapsed to the hard stone floor until everything became silent. Too silent, until it wasn’t and all of a sudden he could hear everything. Everyone talking in the building, the wind, the scurrying of mice in the words, he could hear it all, and it wasn’t going away.

He tried to block it out, to hear himself think, trying to remember what the hell he’d shifted into recently. If there was an animal that’d he’d made a first shift to… And then it came to him.

It made sense. Impeccable hearing… He’d shifted into a bat only a week ago for the first time and now it was catching up with him.

The noise invaded him again as he got back to his feet to seek out Onew once more.

“A bat,” Onew’s voice hit him before he’d even reached the man’s office, “Of course. I should have known.”

Kris scrambled into his office, flinching at what should have been a quiet click of the door closing, “Sir, it’s horrid” Kris gasped, “I can hear everything! All of it!”

“Focus on my voice” Onew commanded and Kris did his best to, “Remember when you turned into an Eagle for the first time? Your eyes made you see everything. You were only eight back then, but I’m sure the memory stands out. The lights were too bright, the colours too vivid. But you learned to control it in a matter of hours. A feat not easy for a young boy without control. So think now, how powerful you are and control it. Hear only as you wish to”

And just like that, Kris’s head was quiet again. As though by magic, “I… What? How did I…?”

“Control” Onew smiled easily, “See now, isn’t that so much better?”

“Tons” Kris agreed, “Thank you”

“For what? You stopped it. I simply goaded you into it. Besides, now you have to learn to use it. So, off you pop. I’ll check in with you tomorrow and see how you’re getting along” Onew said simply.

“Yeah, yeah of course” Kris nodded, “Goodbye, sir” he said before making his way out of the office for the second time that day.

He headed down the cold stone halls feeling mightily better, with his headache gone, at least for the time being. He was too caught up in feeling a lot better that he didn’t notice there was a man walking towards him until the two of the collided.

“Who are you?” Kris asked the familiar looking man.

The man looked back at Kris with a smirk, “Your worst nightmare,” he answered.

“Funny” Kris rolled his eyes, “Your name. What’s your name?”

The man looked rather amused. He was very handsome, and just slightly taller than Kris. His eyes practically screamed mischief and the teasing smirk on his lips only confirmed the suspicion. “I’ll tell if you do” he said.

“Kris” the student spoke easily.

“Ah, the dragon” the man nodded, “Well Kris, I’m Changmin. One of the guards”

Kris opened his mouth in an ‘o’ of understanding, “You’re the… the voodoo doll”

“…‘The voodoo doll’…” Changmin snorted, his hands forming quotation marks around the words as he said it, “Sure, whatever. But if you can close your fly-trap and let me past, I have a meeting to get to” he said pointedly, gesturing for Kris to step aside. It was only reluctantly that the younger did so.

Kris wasn’t usually one to get in business that wasn’t his, but in light of his new power, he saw it was a good chance to try it out. He waited until Changmin was out of sight, then sat and pressed back against the wall. It took him a few minutes but he managed, in the end, to find the voices that he wanted to hear and tune in on their conversation.

“… attacks are getting worse out there” Kris heard Changmin say calmly.

“How so?” Came Onew’s voice next, laid back as ever.

“They’re getting closer to the perimeters. They won’t get in, my guys know how to handle that, but talk on the street is that The Rogues want the boys dead. Or worse. They think you’re building an army, and want to put a stop in that” Changmin replied, his voice still light despite the heavy topic of conversation, making Kris frown.

There was what sounded like someone shifting out of their seat and walking a few steps, then Onew spoke again, “I see” he said.

“Are you going to tell them?” Changmin asked, sounding bored.

“No. no, I fear they shall believe that I am only using them as soldiers, should they find out. For now, let’s keep this between us. And tell your men that they’re doing a stand up job”

“Yes well, if that’s all, Jinki?”

“That is all. You may go, Changmin”

Changmin coughed as Kris heard his chair scrape against the floor.

He assumed the tall guard was standing up, so took that as his cue to get out of there.

He didn’t waste any time in getting back to the dorm. It should have been empty, since the others were in class, but it wasn’t. Sehun was sat in the corner looking completely done with the world.

“Why aren’t you with Key?” Kris asked, moving to sit next to the youngest of the bunch. “You still have over an hour of class left”

Sehun shrugged, “Got kicked out of the lesson” he told Kris, “I have a meeting with Onew later because of it”

“What did you do?” Kris asked, Key had never kicked anyone out of a lesson before. Despite being a dickhead, he seemed to want them to learn.

Sehun sighed, “I refused to do any work, then when he asked why I told him that I’m not doing work for a piece of ‘teacher’ that gets off on watching his students suffer. Luhan fell over on the way in and hit his head pretty hard. He cut it, and Key wouldn’t let Yixing heal him. Said it served Lu right for not watching his steps. ing prick” he seethed, “I’m not sorry for what I did.”

“He wouldn’t let Yixing heal him? Are you serious?” Kris demanded angrily.

Sehun nodded, “Lu had to sit there looking pale as with a massive bump on his head and blood trickling down the side of his face. He’d caught it on the corner of the table, so it was a nasty bump. Luckily, Yixing hyung healed it when I was getting shouted at”

“Well, I’m proud of you for doing the right thing, and if Onew tries to give out any for it, tell him ‘Kris knows about the meeting you and Changmin had, and he will tell the others’, okay?” Kris said, “Key is such a prick, I swear to god”

Sehun hummed, “Our own Severus Snape” he said lowly.

“You got that right, kid” Kris grunted back, “Honestly though, what was he thinking? We might need to learn to fight through our injuries, and , but not like that. This is a place of learning, not a place of seeing how far you can push a twenty-two year old guy until he breaks. ing hell”

Sehun pursed his lips with a nod of agreement, “Tell me about it. I don’t get the guy, I heard he used to be one of the nicest teachers here. What happened?”

“I wish I knew” Kris said, “One day he was fine, then the next it was like he was a completely different person. It was really weird”

Sehun nodded, “I need to take my mind off of this… D’you wanna help me replace Jongin’s matress with jelly?”

“Sure, but where are we going to get that much jelly?” Kris asked, “And what flavour will it be?”

Sehun grinned, “Don’t worry, bro, I got us covered. And raspberry, since I couldn’t find grape”

“Gross,” Luhan shuddered, “I still have dried blood in my ear”

Yixing snorted, “nice” he rolled his eyes, “It’s like a day can’t go by in this place without someone getting bloodied up”

Luhan shrugged, “ happens” he replied, “At least nobody’s dead yet”

“Yeah, yet” Yixing repeated morbidly. He gave Luhan a withering look, making the elder scoff.

“Xing, relax. None of us are gonna pop our clogs over a little fall. I’m fairly certain we’ve all had worse than a little bump on the head before. Stop worrying” Luhan said, linking arms with Yixing as they walked.

Yixing made sure to link them tightly, “A little bump? Han, did you not see how much blood you lost? You looked as white as a ghost”

“It was a head wound, they just bleed more. No biggie. Luckily, I had my not-so-little knight in shining armour, eh?” the elder laughed, succeeding in making Yixing crack a smile.

“Knight in shoddy clothing is more light it” Yixing teased, “Nah, he may pretend to be a little brat, but we all know our Sehunnie is a sweetheart. Definitely my favourite baby in the group. I think I like him even more than you, Han-ge” he poked out his tongue playfully.

Luhan scoffed, “Please. I’ll always be your true love and you know it”

“I-”

“Careful how you answer that, love. I might get the wrong impression” Junmyeon said as he walked up behind them and back-hugged Yixing as they walked.

With a tut, Luhan pulled his arm back to allow his best friend to rest his hands atop of his lovers, “You know he loves me best. Don’t get jealous, gramps”

“Of course he does, Luhan. Of course” Junmyeon laughed against Yixing’s shoulder and Yixing appreciated the avoidance of his ticklish neck, “How’re you feeling anyway?”

Luhan shrugged, “Same as always” he said easily, “Felt a bit woozy until XingXing came to my rescue,” he joked lightly, “Honestly though, I’m fine. You need to stop worrying”

“I’m student leader” Junmyeon pointed out, “But more than that I’m your friend. So it’s my job to worry about you”

Luhan paused, looking at Junmyeon in shock before his face split into a grin, “you’re stupid” he said fondly.

“Alright, you’re both stupid and love each other dearly, now can we please get a move on? We’ll be late for lunch!” Yixing rolled his eyes, beginning to walk faster and pulling the other two along with him, both of them giggling as he did.

They were the last to make it to the dining hall, much to Yixing’s dismay. They were quick to grab their food and join the others at the table.

“What took you?” Tao asked, “We all left at the same time?”

Yixing snorted, “I had two boys fighting for my affections” he answered cheekily.

“And the best man won” Luhan said, puffing out his chest.

Junmyeon smirked, throwing an arm around Yixing, “That I did” he said, planning a sweet kiss on Yixing’s pouty lips.

Yixing grinned as Junmyeon pulled back, “My, oh my, Kim Junmyeon, how dare you steal an innocent boy’s virtue?” he joked.

“Yixing, sweetie we all know that he took that a long time ago” Baekhyun piped up with a wink.

Yixing gasped, placing a hand over his heart, “The very nerve of you, Byun Baekhyun! I am so virtuous I could be a sacrifice, I’ll have you know” he said, clearly fighting back a grin as he scooped a spoonful of food into his mouth.

The others were cackling with laughter as they watched the exchange. It wasn’t often that Yixing got to be the centre of attention, but when he was, he sure made the most of it and gave everyone a good laugh.

Baekhyun grinned, nudging Yixing with his toes beneath the table, “If that’s what you need to tell yourself” he smirked, “However, I could remind you of last Halloween, if you’d like?” he wiggled his eyebrows at the other boy.

“I would very much not like” Yixing quipped back, “Though thank you for the kind offer”

“Wait, what happened last Halloween?” Luhan asked, looking between the pair.

“Well~” Baekhyun sang.

“Baek, don’t you dare!” Yixing warned.

Baekhyun smirked, raising a testing brow as though to say ‘try-me’, “But the people deserve the truth, hyung!” he sand playfully.

“Hoe, don’t do it” Yixing glared back, though continued to eat his lunch throughout the battle of wills.

“So everyone was at the party as usual, right,” Baekhyun started, grinning at the look of defeat on Yixing’s face, and the look of utter embarrassment on Junmyeon’s, “And I’m feeling a bit tired, so I tell Chanyeol I’m going to go lie down for a while. So anyway, I’m minding my own business, and walking to the common room and right in front of the fire place there’s these two, going at it like nobody’s business. Yixing on his back, legs akimbo and ‘Myeon ploughing into him like a bloody jack hammer, you know as though other people don’t live with them”

“Oh my god,” Sehun laughed.

Baekhyun hummed, “That’s not even the worst part. Yixing sees me and goes ‘Baek, would you kindly sod off, please?’ as though I’m in the wrong by being there. Junmyeon goes to stop, looking all embarrassed, but Xing wouldn’t let him, and literally kept eye-contact with me until I managed to run up to my room!” he laughed loudly, “the next day, he comes up to me and says ‘I’m not sorry. I had fun, and it’s you that’s gotta live with me and ‘Myeon on your mind’, gives me a pat on the shoulder then walks off!”

It was amazing how red Junmyeon had turned in comparison to Yixing’s nonchalant disposition at the others hearing Baekhyun’s story. He even grinned as Jongdae slapped him approvingly on the back.

“You dog!” Minseok laughed, shooting a wink at Yixing as Junmyeon died of embarrassment beside him.

“Please stop,” Junmyeon whined, “It’s not like you guys are the ing Mary”

Chanyeol let out a deep  chuckle, “Yeah, but we can keep in in our pants long enough to make it up to one of the bedrooms” he pointed out easily.

“’sides,” Sehun said, “Some of us haven’t even made the beast with two backs yet”

“You’ve not?” Luhan asked, a look of genuine horror on his face.

Sehun gave him an odd look, “Not me…” he said slowly, shooting a look at Jongin, who was staring interestedly down at his now empty plate.

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, “Well it’s not like it matters. Having doesn’t determine a person’s worth” he stuck up for the younger boy, effectively stopping the sniggers that left a few of the others, “Stop making fun of someone who’s literally in the same boat you’ve all been in too.”

“Don’t worry, Jongin” Tao spoke up, “I’ve never had either”

Jongin looked up and shot a grateful smile at Tao, “Thank you” he said softly, then gave Kyungsoo a nod that meant the same.

“Thanks for not doing the do?” Tao teased, “You’re welcome, I guess” he said, making the others laugh fondly.

“Man, I’m so full” Baekhyun said after the laughter had died down, steering the conversation in another direction, much to Jongin’s relief.

Chanyeol huffed, “Yeah, since you ate half of my food” he said.

“Sharing is caring, baby” Baekhyun grinned, blowing Chanyeol a kiss before turning to look back at Yixing, who was whispering something into a grinning Junmyeon’s ear, “Oh god. Are you planning your next public display?”

Yixing turned to look at Baekhyun with a sly look in his eyes, “damn Baek, you caught me. I was suggesting your bed actually, but Myeon reminded me that we’ve been there and done that. Still though, no harm in doing it twice, am I right?”

“Just Baek’s bed?” Kyungsoo got in.

Yixing nodded, “Just Baek’s” he affirmed.

“Oh, cool. In that case, continue” Kyungsoo said, shooting his best friend a dramatic wink.

“Kyungsoo! I thought we had something special!” Baekhyun whined, shaking his shoulders at Kyungsoo, who only rolled his eyes.

“We do, but only in private, Baekhyunnie” Kyungsoo raised his brows suggestively.

Baekhyun giggled, “Oh Kyungsoo~” he sang.

“On that note” Jongin stood up and grabbed his tray, “I’m off, at the risk of throwing up should I stay to witness any more of this”

They all watched him go before Kyungsoo stood up with a sigh, “Bye guys” he said before dumping his tray and following after Jongin.

He managed to catch up with Jongin fairly quickly, since the younger preferred to walk rather than teleport when he was in a mood – Kyungsoo was pretty sure it was just for dramatic effect, but thought better than to mention it. They didn’t speak as they walked to the common room. Kyungsoo knew they were going to be late for class at this rate, but he didn’t care that much. Taemin was fairly okay with late comers as long as they picked up the slack.

As soon as they got to the common room, Jongin spun around to face Kyungsoo, “Why are you following me? Don’t you have people to entertain?” he said snappily.

Kyungsoo sighed, “You can’t be serious right now. You’re mad at me for jokingly flirting with my best friend? It’s not real, Jongin”

“None of this is though, right?” Jongin shot back, “All of your feelings are make-believe? What you feel for me isn’t real, right?”

“Jongin…”

“No, no I get it” Jongin said menacingly, “But it’s stupid. You think you’ll need to look after me and all that, but you don’t. And you won’t. I’m a big boy, Kyungsoo”

Kyungsoo sighed, “I know you are. Believe me” he said softly before looking at Jongin with tired eyes, “but I just… What happens if I say yes, and then one of us gets killed?”

“You think it’ll hurt any less if we’re not together?!” Jongin shot back angrily. He didn’t want to lose his temper, and he really did understand Kyungsoo’s reluctance, but that didn’t make it okay. None of this was okay, they were in a war and though everything else should have been mundane in comparison, it only seemed more important.

“Yes!” Kyungsoo yelled back, “Because at least then I know that I won’t have to miss you holding me, or kissing me, or anything like that because it’ll have never happened!”

Jongin laughed in anger, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before turning back to look at Kyungsoo, “you know, for someone so smart, you aren’t half stupid” he said lowly.

“Jongin…”

“No, I’m serious. Kyungsoo, if you think it’ll hurt any less if you die… you’re so goddamn wrong. I’ll hate that we never had that time together and so will you. Me dying, you dying, it won’t change the fact that I’m in love with you!” Jongin shouted.

Kyungsoo looked back at him in shock, “Don’t say things like that” he pleaded, “you’re not in love with me. You barely even know me. I’m not… I’m not good for you!”

“And who are you to decide what’s good for me? Who are you to decide how I feel?” Jongin raised a brow, “I may not know your past, or the you’ve been through, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know you. Why can you just give this a bloody chance?!”

Kyungsoo scoffed, “Yeah, because giving into this during a fight would be a swell start to a relationship” he said, “God, do you even hear yourself right now? Jongin, this… whatever this is between us, I don’t know how to deal with it, I’ve never felt like this before and to be quite honest with you, that scares the out of me. I like you more than I’m used to liking people, but I don’t know if this can be anything”

“Why?” Jongin shot back, “Why are you so damn against letting us give this a shot? Why do you keep letting being scared control all of your life choices?”

Kyungsoo tugged at his hair in frustration, “Because being scared is literally all I know from life! You don’t get it, Jongin. It’s like I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t! I can’t win and it’s complete bollocks! I was constantly in fear all my life because of my parents being active members of the community in stopping The Rogues, then I was barely thirteen when I had to stand there and watch them get killed! I didn’t know if I’d even survive. Then I was alone and homeless for, god, I don’t even know how long until Baekhyun found me. And then I come here, and I get told that I have to fight. That I have to do this, that and the other just to live. What kind of life is that?! You know why fear rules my life? My choices? Because I don’t want to ing die! I don’t want to have to watch any more people get killed, and I’m so ing scared to let you into my life because losing you would ing kill me, okay! So don’t that there and talk about things you don’t understand, don’t tell me I’m stupid for not wanting to wear my heart on my ing sleeve. You don’t get to act like you know what’s best or me, okay? You can either wait and maybe never have me, because I honestly don’t know how this could go, or you could move on and I wouldn’t blame you for that. I know I’m being unreasonable. And hard to deal with, but I can’t stop that, so it’s up to you,” he sighed, deflating slightly as all of the pent up anger left him and only tiredness at the situation remained. “And you need to stop getting moody every time I’m being playful with Baekhyun. He’d not a damn threat. This kid has been through things that you couldn’t even dream of. He needs all the love he can get, so just leave him be if he wants to be playful with me”

Jongin too, found that all the anger he’d felt had dissipated, and now he was just feeling guilty, “I didn’t know you felt that way” he admitted, “Wow, I’m a complete douchebag. I… I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go this way. I was just embarrassed from before and frustrated about a conversation I had with Yixing the other week. And I shouldn’t have taken it out on you like that. I’m really sorry, ‘Soo” he said genuinely.

Kyungsoo sighed, feeling far too tired, “Come here, idiot” he said, holding his arms open for a hug, “Don’t get the wrong idea though. I’m still pissed off at you” he added, pressing his cheek against Jongin’s shoulder and burying his face in the younger’s neck.

“I know,” Jongin whispered, tightening his hold on the elder, “I’m sorry”

“I know” Kyungsoo whispered back, “So am I”

“I’m really insensitive sometimes” Jongin muttered against Kyungsoo’s hair, “I need to work on that”

Kyungsoo hummed, “Yeah, you do” he replied with a small yawn.

“You weren’t supposed to agree” Jongin laughed quietly, making Kyungsoo smile.

“I know,” the elder said, “but you deserve my brutal honesty”

“Touché, my little owl” Jongin retorted, breathing in the scent of Kyungsoo’s shampoo, “You smell nice”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that” Kyungsoo snorted.

Jongin grinned against him, “the smell nice part or the owl part?”

“Both”

Jongin chuckled before sighing, “We should probably get to class” he said rather reluctantly.

“Or…” Kyungsoo said, “We could blow off class and go have a nap upstairs?” he suggested, pulling out of the hug to look at Jongin with a raised eyebrow.

Jongin smiled, “Nap it is then” he took Kyungsoo by the hand and led the way upstairs. The two of them kicked off their shoes before clambering onto Kyungsoo’s bed and getting beneath the covers, cuddling close together despite the argument they’d just had.

Kyungsoo let out a yawn as he let himself melt into Jongin’s warmth. He was very conflicted when it came to Jongin, because on the one hand, everything he’d said to the younger was true, but on the other hand, what Jongin had said to him was staring to make more and more sense.

“Kyungsoo” Jongin whispered softly into the elder’s ear, as though he’d heard what Kyungsoo had been thinking, “Can I just say one last thing?”

Kyungsoo hesitated for a moment before relenting, “I’m listening” he said.

“You know how you’re scared of letting me in? Of giving us a chance? I just wanted to let you know that I am too. Only, the way I see it is if you change your mind, we can be scared together”

Kyungsoo sighed against Jongin’s neck, “I’ll think about it, okay? That’s all I can give you right now. I’m sorry, Jongin”

“That’s more than enough for me, ‘Soo. It’s a step in the right direction as I see it” Jongin smiled.

“Go to sleep, Jongin” Kyungsoo laughed gently.

“As you wish, little owl” Jongin teased.

Luhan tutted in annoyance as the table began to shake again thanks to Sehun’s twitching leg. He’d been doing it since they sat down and it was getting on Luhan’s last nerve.

“Would you stop that!” he hissed to the younger under his breath, shooting him a glare also, for good measure.

Sehun frowned, “Sorry” he whispered back, so not to gain Taemin’s attention, “I’m just worried about Jongin. You don’t think Kyungsoo hyung will be too hard on him, do you?”

“They’re going to be fine, Sehun” Luhan replied, doing his best to remain patient with the sensitive younger boy. “It’s a little spat. They’re bickering at most, okay, so relax. They’ll kiss and make up soon enough, alright”

“What makes you so sure? Kyungsoo doesn’t seem like he wants Jongin as much as Jongin wants him. I just don’t want Nini to get hurt. And Kyungsoo has all the power to make that happen, whether he likes it or not” Sehun shot back with an ever deepening frown.

Luhan frowned back, “It isn’t all on Kyungsoo, you know. Jongin can’t expect ‘Soo to just fall at his knees whenever someone flirts with him. Kyungsoo doesn’t belong to him, and him being a complete child about it won’t sway Kyungsoo’s vote in his favour” he said bluntly.

“Well Kyungsoo isn’t exactly being an adult about the situation, is he?  They’re both at fault here” Sehun replied grumpily.

Luhan rolled his eyes, “Are we seriously arguing over someone else’s argument right now?” he asked pointedly, and the sheer truth of it had Sehun cracking a grin.

“We actually are, aren’t we?” he laughed quietly, “We haven’t even had our own argument yet, and now we do it’s not even about our own relationship. This is brilliant”

Luhan snorted, “Yeah, if by brilliant you mean absolutely ridiculous” he replied amusedly.

“Is there something you’d like to share with the class, boys?” Taemin’s voice called across the room, making the others all turn to look at the pair, “If you need to talk so much, I can move you apart”

Sehun looked up sheepishly, “Sorry, sir. We’ll be quiet” he said in response.

“You better be. And where the hell are Kyungsoo and Jongin?!” Taemin huffed.

“Don’t know, sir” Sehun answered, “Haven’t seen them since before the end of lunch”

Taemin raised a brow, “And you expect me to believe that?” he asked.

“Yes, sir” Sehun nodded.

Taemin sighed, “Alright, fine. Let’s get on with it then. And stop with the ‘sir’ thing, it’s weird”

“Yes, sir” Sehun repeated, earning a room full of sniggering.

Even Taemin cracked a small smile before continued to teach, “As I was saying,” he said, “The first and second war with The Rogues ended, but a third began to start up. They went into hiding for years, but ten years ago things got bad again. They began surfacing, and it’s starting to look as though it’s time to fight again. Who can tell me what The Rogues are aiming for with this third war?”

Minseok raised a hand, “they’re looking to kill off all of The Normal leaders, it was in the news this week” he said.

Taemin nodded, “Okay, that’s their action plan. What’s their long term goal?”

“The same as it always is. To overthrow the good, kill off anyone that disagrees with them, or isn’t powerful, then build up the world again with just Rogues. Only this time, they don’t care how many they lose in order to achieve that goal” Jongin said grimly, “They’ve become creatures with no conscience.”

Taemin hummed approvingly, “well done” he said, “Alright, I have a quick ten minute quiz for you on the second war, then you can leave early, okay? Chanyeol, come hand these out please. Start once you’re all seated, and work in silence” he said, picking up a pile of papers and handing them to Chanyeol.

They all finished their quizzes and handed them in with a smile.

“Before you go, Baekhyun, can I talk to you?” Taemin said as they all packed up to leave.

Baekhyun waited as the others left and gave Taemin a small smile, “What’s up?” he asked.

“Nothing much” Taemin said, “I just need you to pass on a message to Kyungsoo and Jongin for me. Tell them that they’ll be making up the time they missed tomorrow after classes, okay?” he said, “And give them these to hand in tomorrow too” he handed Baekhyun two copies of the quiz.

“Will do” Baekhyun nodded, “is that everything?” he asked, tucking the papers into his bag.

“No. I also wanted to ask how you’re doing. I heard about what happened with Kibum a few weeks back,” the teacher frowned, “I’m sorry you had to go through that” he said earnestly.

Baekhyun nodded, though he was a little surprised, “Oh, yeah. Well, what’s done is done. There’s no changing that now” he shrugged, “I’m fine anyway. You know me, I’ll keep on trucking”

“Yeah. Well, just don’t truck too hard. Even they need to re-fuel from time to time” Taemin said wisely, “just look after yourself, alright, Byun?”

Baekhyun smiled, “I always do, Lee” he shot back cheekily.

“Sod off, Baekhyun” Taemin said with a laugh, “But really, if you ever need anything. Anything at all, you know where to find me, alright?”

Baekhyun smiled gratefully, “thanks, Taemin” he said softly, “I appreciate it. A lot”

“Any time” Taemin gave him a friendly pat on the arm, “go on then, get lost, Byun”

“See ya, teach” Baekhyun grinned before darting out of the room, literally glowing with glee as he did.

He made his way leisurely back to the common room, feeling happy for no particular reason. It was just nice to know that even I they didn’t show it all the time, people still scared about him.

“Has anyone seen the two trouble makers?” he asked as he pushed into the common room.

Jongdae was the one that answered him, though not how he’d expected. The other boy grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him up to their room with a grin so bright it almost outshone Baekhyun himself.

He was about to question what the hell Jongdae was doing as he pushed open the bedroom door, but when Jongdae pointed to Kyungsoo’s bed, it all made sense.

There on the bed, asleep and wrapped up in one another with a child-like aura of innocence surrounding them.

Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile slightly as he looked at his best friend. For the first time in forever, Kyungsoo’s features were completely relaxed, as though he didn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He didn’t know what to feel when it came to situation with Jongin and his best friend. On the one hand, he just wanted to see Kyungsoo happy, wanted to see the younger boy able to breathe and finally seem like there was someone in the world that he could give himself to and not have to worry about the consequences.

But on the other hand, he knew that if Jongin were to get his best friend, then he had all the power in the world to make him hurt. And if there was one thing he knew that Kyungsoo didn’t need from this world, it was more hurt.

He wasn’t an idiot, he could tell that Jongin cared a lot about Kyungsoo, that in the younger boy’s eyes, Kyungsoo was everything he wanted, everything he needed from life. And he knew that it was the same for Kyungsoo. But that didn’t make him any less cautious.

Just as Kyungsoo had seen him at his lowest, Baekhyun had seen Kyungsoo at his lowest and it was a place he never wanted his best friend to be in again. He didn’t ever want Kyungsoo to have to go through that.

All he wanted was for Kyungsoo to be happy, and it didn’t matter what it took to make that so.

“Oh” he said softly, more for Jongdae’s benefit than anything, “Well, I guess I can tell them that they have detention when they wake up…”

Jongdae hummed, “Quiz for homework?” he asked.

“Of course,” Baekhyun nodded, “Did you get pictures of this?”