Chanyeol stuck by Hanbyul's side like glue after the incident. He sat next to her in all their shared classes and even wore his glasses since she liked sitting in the back so much.

"You can go back to your seat," Hanbyul whispered. It was their third and final class together for the day and she could tell Chanyeol mustered up all his courage to wear his frames. "You don't need to do this for me, Chan, it's okay. You looked stressed," She chuckled.

He was. Chanyeol's felt his ears turn red as he looked at her. "I'm going to save money and go to the city to get laser eye surgery so I can sit next to you wherever you go!"

She her teeth. "Just wear glasses! You don't even look bad, a matter of fact, your fan club probably doubled." It was true, Hanbyul heard the squeals of almost all her classmates throughout the day. "Don't you have ears? The entire female population thinks you're the iest man in the country right now."

"Really?" He grinned. "Do you think I look y? Byul?" 

"No, I have perfect vision, remember?"

"Hey!"

She laughed. "I'm kidding,"

Sehun waited outside of the building and watched keenly, he felt happy for Hanbyul, he was also grateful too; the spirit was thankful that she had someone like Chanyeol by her side. "It's great that you have a best friend who is willing to do anything for you. If only I was human, Hanbyul, then maybe I could too."

The nature spirit observed from a distance and listened as the football team complained a few meters away in the field. After learning that the team had been suspended for causing Hanbyul's accident, he couldn't help but have some fun himself, he used all the forces of nature to make the field as messy as possible. The wind blew all sorts of nonsense into the arena and all the animals nearby left their droppings there too. Sehun chuckled. "This one's for you, Byul."

"Ah, ! Is this ?!"

"It's all over the ing field!"

"What the hell the field has never been this dirty!"

"The one time we need to clean it and this happens!"

Sehun only listened, covering his mouth as he didn't want his laughter to escape even if no one would be able to hear it. "That's funny."

Hanbyul walked home alone that day surprisingly, Sehun didn't know why but he appeared near her the moment he noticed. 

"Hanbyul!" 

"Huh?" She turned her head to see the spirit. Hanbyul gasped. "Sehun!" She paused. "I haven't seen you in almost a week..."

"Chanyeol's been taking care of you and he's been by your side, I didn't have a reason to hang around," He explained. "But you're alone today so I figured that we'd walk home together. How come you're alone?"

Hanbyul smiled. "I convinced him that I'd be okay going home without him, I said that you'd be here to protect me if he couldn't. Maybe he's starting to believe in you, Sehun."

"Really?" Then he put his excitement away. "Ah, but even if he did, there would no difference. He still wouldn't be able to see or hear me."

"It's okay, it's better than being doubted all the time, right?"

"Yeah," Sehun looked at her. "Do you want to sit by the river? Xiumin is there and he said he hasn't seen you in a long time."

"Alright!"

--- 

"Hanbyul! Oh, Hanbyul! It's really you!" Xiumin waved an arm in the air furiously as she approached him with Sehun. "It's been forever!"

Hanbyul smiled and waved back. "It's only been a few weeks at most," She said. "You seem excited to see me,"

"Of course! You're the only human I know who can see me." Xiumin gasped. "Wait, did something happen? Is that why you haven't been coming to the river?" He asked, taking notice of the bandage on her knee.

"It was a lot worst a week ago," Sehun said, relieved. "She got into a little accident and hurt her knee, the wound was worst than we expected."

Xiumin furrowed his brows. "What happened?"

"It's not a big deal," Hanbyul whispered shyly to Sehun. "I was walking home and the football team at my school were fooling around, they ran into me, literally, and I busted my knee open. That's all."

"Except it got infected and you had a fever from it, you even had to go the city!" Sehun frowned. "I felt horrible that I couldn't do anything for you until today,"

"Huh?"

Xiumin grinned. "What did you do? You did something mischevious, didn't you? I can see it on your face..."

Sehun flashed a toothy smile. "Well," He cleared his throat. "I heard the team had to clean the field so I wrecked havoc and made it hell for them. There are all sorts of garbage and poop on the field now!"

Hanbyul's jaw dropped. "No way! Sehun! That's terrible!"

Sehun pretended to nudge her, a soft gust of wind blew on her shoulder. "But I saw how the players reacted to you getting hurt, most of them didn't care, they let the captain take the blame even if it wasn't his fault. I yelled and screamed at them but they didn't hear me, so this is what I did instead."

After a few minutes of chatter, the three of them sat on the boardwalk that acted as a small bridge at the end of the river. There was Hanbyul, then Xiumin, then Sehun. Xiumin was the protector of the two, he ensured that they never touched.

"Hanbyul, I was at your school a few days ago." Xiumin began. "I was exploring and I stumbled upon the building, all the kids were outside playing but I couldn't find you." He looked at her. "You weren't even inside!"

Hanbyul chuckled. "I must've been in the principal's office with Chanyeol, he got suspended for putting up a fight with one of the players."

Sehun gasped. "W-Why? He was just standing up for you! I would've done the same!"

Xiumin clutched his chest. "I'm not human in any way but hearing that makes my heart want to flutter!" He clasped his hand together. "You know what else would make me flutter?"

"What?" Said Hanbyul and Sehun in unison.

"I saw some posters up in the hallways about a talent show, are you going to be in it? Oh Hanbyul, it would be so awesome seeing you up on stage doing something cool! It'd be epic!"

Hanbyul shook her head. "I haven't done anything for it in two years," She said. "I don't think I will," She admitted. 

"Aw, why?" Xiumin counted his fingers. "If high school is four years, does that mean you did something during your first year?"

"I did," Hanbyul remembered her first year. "I played the piano and even won second place."

Xiumin gawked. "That's awesome!"

"Chanyeol is very handsome, you guys know that. Sehun's seen him multiple times and Xiumin, you must've seen him too; he's very hard to miss. He's the gentle giant with colorful hair." Hanbyul turned to the boys. "He's popular."

"And?" Xiumin raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with you playing the piano?"

"He stood in the front row and cheered me on, he screamed my name the loudest and chanted for me. The girls in my school got jealous and they all began to hate me. Chanyeol never paid any attention to them despite what they did to get his attention, and he didn't care for them either."

Sehun stuck his head out behind Xiumin. "Byul, why don't you do something this year?" He asked. "Forget about the girls, they will be insignificant to you a few years from now. When you're an adult, high school will just be 4 years of your life, and the people who hurt and bullied you won't matter anymore."

"Yeah! You won't even remember their names!" Xiumin said. "It's your last year, what if you never get to do this ever again?" He asked. "Put yourself out there and have all the fun you missed out on, plus, Chanyeol, Sehun, and I will be there. We will all cheer for you."

Hanbyul couldn't help but smile, her brows lifted skeptically. "Should I?"

"Of course!"

Sehun pretended to play some notes in the air. "Play the piano," He suggested. "I'll play with you, we can make music together, they won't even know!"

"I'll think about it,"

"Come on, Byul. Let's play the piano together!"

[a/n]: Are you stuck between Chanyeol and Sehun? Cuz I am!

comments are much appreciated!