#1:    The Hypothesis

 (or)

The Unbearable Lightness of Not Knowing.

Do Kyungsoo was always aware of the fact that she was different.

Not the kind of different that gets people to gaze at you with envy-tainted wonder but rather, the kind of different that makes you ponder over the exact purpose behind your measly existence on this planet. Right from her childhood, her irrevocable abhorrence towards physical contact and human emotions and her questionable fascination towards all things dead were a constant worry to her parents, peers, teachers, school counsellors, psychiatrists and all the Guardian Angels residing above. Needless to say, once she joined college, she opted to major in the only course where she would not be judged for her preferences— Forensic Science— which also provided her with the additional advantage of not having to interact with any other living human presence, making everything much simpler for her unsociable being to thrive through the tumultuous journey that is college life.

Sadly for her, her worries did not end there. 

She was cursed to carry an obnoxious burden that weighed 58 kilos and measured 174 centimetres, going by the name of Byun Baekhyun, all the way from high school to college. Quite unlike her, he was outspoken, clingy and a perennial victim (and the root cause) to her violent outbursts. He could be a bit block-headed at times yet she still considered him a person of satisfactory intelligence, which was a great thing in itself since the average college population had a collective IQ which, much to her distaste, was way below her own level of intellect. Despite their clashing personalities and differences in several opinions, they had an amicable relationship with each other, full of trust and respect, and their hearts were loyal to each other till the bitter end. How they even managed to come to that point was beyond Kyungsoo's comprehension. But she was never the one to complain. After all, he was her only friend.

Things looked mellow when Baekhyun chose to major in Neurobiology, leaving Kyungsoo in peace for most of the time, but recently, two months ago to be precise, everything seemed to go downhill for him. To put it in a nutshell, the professors of the Neuroscience Department rendered him incompetent to study the subject after he flunked a series of basic tests, and posed to him the ultimatum of a humiliating transfer to one of the more "casual" disciplines like Home Science if he didn't get his grades up. Baekhyun eventually turned to his dear friend, the only one who could save him from losing his face. And that's how Kyungsoo began tutoring Baekhyun about the intricacies of the nervous system.

The past few weeks saw the two of them frequenting the library for a few hours, trying to cram even the slightest bit of information into Baekhyun's thick head. Kyungsoo seemed to think that they were making progress, that is, if you could consider covering a page per hour a success of some sort. Her friend's sluggish cognitive skills and reduced memory power never deterred Kyungsoo (of course, it would be foolish of her to think that everyone could be as sharp-witted as her). Tiny drops make a mighty ocean and she firmly stuck to that motto.

But right now, with her current situation being  worse compared to what she faced during the regular days, Kyungsoo wondered if she could hold onto that hope any longer. All the other students in the library were either busy writing essays or taking down additional notes but Byun Baekhyun was upto his own devices... as always. He was so immersed in whatever task he was partaking in that he didn't heed the question Kyungsoo put forward. 

She carefully looked up at Baekhyun through her eyelashes to study him in detail. Balancing his chin on his hand, he kept darting his eyes from his notes to the ceiling and then to something/someone by her left-hand side, where his gaze lingered for a maximum of fifteen seconds. Twiddling fingers. Ridiculous smile plastered on the face. Incessant hum of a catchy tune. He was definitely not bored so she was left with no other choice but to pry open that scheming brain of his. Putting herself in his shoes for a moment to try and understand what an individual of unsophisticated mental prowess would find interesting, Kyungsoo finally came to the conclusion that her friend's distraction stemmed from a certain Kim Taeyeon he always kept babbling about, courtesy of whom her precious time was currently being wasted. Without even having to turn and look, she was pretty sure that Miss Tae-Tae (Trust Baekhyun to come up with such vile pet names!) was sending him those God-awful flirtatious winks and the racket caused by the rusty ceiling fan above their heads was only adding to the tension building up in Kyungsoo's nerves. At last, she quit her little deduction session to bring them back on track.

'What function does the Broca's area have and where is it situated?' asked Kyungsoo through gritted teeth, her eyes boring into the book on Neurology in her hands. She calmly waited for a nanosecond before she flipped her dark hair out of her eyes to glare dangerously at the person in front of her, who was still as ignorant as ever to his impending doom. If her stare could literally throw daggers, then Baekhyun would be dead twice over. Huffing, Kyungsoo wondered why for heaven's sake she'd agreed to tutor this dolt on the complexities that lie within the brain when he himself acted like he didn't own one. Wanting to get this session over as fast as she could, Kyungsoo aimed a good kick that nearly shatttered knocked Baekhyun's knee.

'OWWWWIIIEEE!' squealed Baekhyun, the impact completely wiping away his smug smile as he lurched forward to grab his patella, and through scrunched eyes, he spat,'What the hell was that for?!'

'You ungrateful brute! I utilise my precious time to help you out and in turn, you simply ignore me?' hissed Kyungsoo, her eyes mere slits. 

'Sorry...' muttered Baekhyun, not looking one bit apologetic, 'Guess I should stop concerning myself with things that involve you.'

'I don't see and don't care how Kim Taeyeon concerns me.'

Now this was one opportunity so enticing, Baekhyun couldn't help but fall for the temptation. If there was one thing Kyungsoo couldn't stand, it was not knowing something; she just has to be the smartest person in the room and her penchant for deducing the backstory behind every single person in her vicinity was as zealous as it was exceptional. It was fun to play with her head, especially since he was the one who held the key to a secret. Besides, who wouldn't want to play a little game after a strenuous hour of studies? 'Who said I was talking about her?'

'You were looking at her, weren't you?' inquired Kyungsoo, her curiosity obviously piqued, as she tried her best not to scan the crowd for Taeyeon.

'Was I, now? Are you sure about that?!' he hummed, his smirk widening at the profound happiness that Kyungsoo fell for the bait.

'Cut it out, Baek,' clipped Kyungsoo, annoyed that Baekhyun was having the upperhand,'You can spit out what's going on in that twisted little mind of yours. I'm not a little girl.'

Baekhyun instantly put a mockful pout on his face. Leaning closer, he whispered, 'It's something I noticed for a while now but I think you've got yourself a stalker.'

The rational side of her brain warned Kyungsoo that Baekhyun was only pulling her leg but when it comes to such pressurising situations, she completely short-circuited. Before Kyungsoo could spin around in her seat and find the culprit, Baekhyun pulled her down by the arm and playfully placed a finger on his upturned lips in an attempt to shush her. Kyungsoo rolled her eyes and said, 'Is this a joke? Because if it isn't, I need to have a talk with my stalker.'

'Oh Soo, I was exaggerating about the stalker part,' said Baekhyun teasingly, 'but considering the fact that the guy has been hopelessly ogling at you for months on end, it's obvious he has feelings for you—' and before Baekhyun could even finish his explanation, he got the reaction he was expecting from Kyungsoo. Her shoulders visibly tensed at the mention of the notion of a male specimen, a stranger no less, fancying her. Her eyes looked glazed, which was a sure sign that her mind was running at a million thoughts per second. Taking a slow, deep breath, she tried to calm her racing heart before addressing this life-threatening crisis.

'Cut it out, Baek,' she spoke through gritted teeth, trying to look unbothered but mightily failing at that since she couldn't stop trembling, owing to the fact that her body temperature was gradually dropping by a few degrees.

'Jeez, Soo. I don't get why you feel so threatened by someone who has feelings for you— yes, like a crush! It's totally natural for a guy to have a crush on someone from the fairer  so you've got to stop being so afraid. If anything, he should be the one fearing for his life.'

'Oh please! I'm not scared of some imaginary bloke you've fabricated using your hyperactive imagination just to make fun of my social condition,' whisper-yelled Kyungsoo defensively.

'You're not fooling anybody here. I can literally see the cogs in your mind working out a new plan like holing yourself up in some corner of the library, refusing to see the light of day, just so you can avoid this crush, who is a pure, harmless human being.'

'And how would you know that? He could be a psychopath for all we care—'

Now it was Baekhyun's turn to hush-yell. 'Jesus, Kyungsoo! It's Park Chanyeol! For heaven's sake, he wouldn't even hurt a fly, no less go on a killing spree around campus.'

Kyungsoo blinked twice before exclaiming,'Who the bloody hell is Park Chanyeol?!'

Resisting the urge to bang his head on the table, Baekhyun cried,'Do you live in a cave, woman?! Everybody knows him! The sweet Psychology student with a million-watt smile. And don't even think about strangling him since he's like six feet tall, and you're barely over three feet...'

'Har har. Very funny. Let's not remind ourselves that you're just as tall as me. Now for the love of God, will you please stop talking about him? This topic is boring me...'

'Hell no. I'm not letting this pass, okay? I really think this guy is interested in you and I feel obliged to help your love life bloom, seeing as I'm your sole friend. If only you could just stop being so hostile for once, you would find him and the prospect of falling in love quite pleasant.'

'And exactly what have you based your silly presumptions on?'

'Uh...okay, uh... well for one, I've spotted him situated around you several times on different occasions, trying to sneak looks at you as much as he can. Surely it can't be coincidence since my sixth sense keeps telling me that there's something special about his presence beside you.'

'I'm sorry for being such a spoilsport, O Great Oracle, but I don't think your sixth sense provides enough evidence that he likes me, let alone have a full-blown crush on me...'

'Full-blown crush, eh? Sounds like you're getting a little fidgety, I'll say.'

'Nobody asked for your useless opinion, Sigmund Freud.'

'Let's not get sarcastic here, beloved friend of mine,'—and Kyungsoo nearly face-palmed at that—'All I'm saying is that you should expose yourself to something we normal humans call relationships.'

'Do I have to remind you that it involves stuff like touching and being in close proximity with one another?'

'It'll seem alright after a month or so...'

'Sorry, but I think I'll pass.'

Baekhyun instantly threw his hands up in exasperation. 'Unbelievable! You can handle touching a dead man's innards but a loving touch from a live one sends you running to Mars.'

'Technically, I can't run to Mars; I'll probably have to contact NASA to lend me a rocketship. Besides, it's not like I'm entirely convinced about the existence of this Park Changmin anyway.'

'Park Chanyeol. The guy wearing a blue-grey checked shirt, sitting by your nine  o clock, who's checking you out like right now, you crazy sceptic!'

Fuelled by her curiosity (and not by something so utterly ridiculous like, say, hormone-induced desire), Kyungsoo discreetly angled her head for a quick survey and saw the person in question for the first time in her life. Baekhyun's words turned out to be not so far from the truth after all. He was six feet full of happiness and cheer as he sat beside a morose-looking friend, and by the way they were hunched over their text books, it was evident that the both of them were trying to write down a difficult essay. His hands were buried in his mane as he went over the notes with his companion who seemed to grow sulkier with every passing second. And just then, when Kyungsoo was about to safely conclude that this was a ruse set up by her dear friend, the most dreadful thing happened right in front of her eyes.

During the process of arranging his files, the sneaky wretch, whom Baekhyun had called "a pure, harmless human being" just a few minutes ago, let his eyes wander along the length of her legs (seriously, of all the days in a year she chose to wear a knee-length skirt, which happened only once in a blue moon), all the way up to her face and finally meeting her eyes— he looked like a deer caught in the headlights at the shock of being caught. Almost at once, their faces turned an identical bright pink colour before he buried his face behind the nearest book he could find, his smile completely turning into a look of fear. Despite turning her eyes away in fuming rage, Kyungsoo could not block out certain images pertaining to Park Chanyeol that were clouding her mind like a thick fog, for instance, his unkempt hair, his tattered sneakers and his black undershirt that somehow brought out the prominence of his collar bones—

 Kyungsoo squirmed uncomfortably in her seat as she did her best to knock such thoughts out of her head (probably sent telepathically by Baekhyun), telling herself that the specimen did not have any glorious appeal to him; instead, she convinced herself that harmless observations like these could be made if it were to help the scientific pursuit of knowledge. Flustered by the sudden drastic changes taking place within her usually methodical mind, Kyungsoo forcefully tore her thoughts away from him and instead, pretended like she didn't care as she flipped through pages describing the limbic system and cranial nerves and whatnot.

'Let's get back to work: what's the longest cranial nerve in the human body?' barked Kyungsoo, not desiring to face Baekhyun's pompous smirk.

'Park Chanyeol.'

'Enough.'

'What? I said, the vagus nerve. Isn't that the right answer?' cooed Baekhyun, batting his eyelashes, a metaphorical halo looming over his head.

'You little critter! Don't you dare act innocent. I know what you said,' growled Kyungsoo, her fists clenched into a ball.

'Well, in my defense, Park Chanyeol does seem pretty long, if you know what I mean.'

'Ewww... can you take your mind out of the gutter?'

'If I remember properly, you claimed you weren't a little girl anymore. It's alright though. Atleast your crush seems to think you're all grown up.'

Before Baekhyun even saw it coming, let alone register the pain enveloping his jaw, he was sent backwards on his chair by a single punch from Kyungsoo. As he lay sprawled on the floor, emitting psychotic laughter from his bleeding lips, Kyungsoo packed her stuff and left for class before the librarian could kick her out as she was in no mood to face any more stress. Just as she crossed the threshold, her eyes unwittingly flitted across to a specific messy-haired individual gawking at her, his facial features written with what seemed to be astonishment mingled with... admiration? Shaking her head like a wet dog, she vowed to find a solution to all this mayhem, thus ending her predicament once and for all.

After a whole three hours of reading into the techniques of DNA fingerprinting, Kyungsoo decided to return to her dorm. Her mind was back to its usual state of calm and drowsiness was slowly setting in as she walked down the corridors of her residence hall. Sadly, the sight she was met with about ten steps in front of her room was enough to ruin the mood. Her good friend Park Sunyoung was pushed up against the wall by some scrawny fellow, in a fierce battle of "tongue hockey" as Kyungsoo liked to put it. Their clothes were nearly falling off and before it could turn into something worse, she decided to step in.

'Won't you kindly finish that in your room, Sunyoung?'

Immediately the pair broke up, their faces flush and panting for air. Sunyoung began to apologise profusely like the sweet girl that she was while her beau simply stood there with a sheepish grin on his face, inconspicuously trying to fix his shirt. Scrutinizing him, Kyungsoo felt as though she knew this guy from somewhere— Arts, Business, Music? Yes, Music! He was always a part of every grand concert hosted by the Department. Kim Jongdah or Jongdeok or something. Waving off the bowing girl and the embarrassed boy, Kyungsoo walked past them and into her safe haven that was her room.

Kicking off her shoes, she noticed that her room-mate, Zhang Yixing, was busy meditating in front of a large Jackie Chan poster as she usually does during the evenings. She was a bit of an odd creature too which was why they decided to share a room in the first place. But, much to Kyungsoo's admiration, Yixing was a carefree girl with a happy-go-lucky outlook on life. Last year when Kim Jongin, her fellow classmate from the Dance Department, had confessed his feelings to Yixing, she had casually accepted without a second's hesitation and from then on, they've been going steady. And here she was, the almighty Do Kyungsoo, trying to run away from a situation that might not even be real. All at once, Kyungsoo felt the memories from that mishap of a morning flood back and she felt sick.

What if Yixing knows how to fix this? I mean, she's been in a somewhat similar situation before, hasn't she? Okay, maybe not like this but atleast she has experience when it comes to understanding men and she wouldn't judge—

'Something bothering you, Soo?' came Yixing's smooth voice, one eye cracked open to look at her room-mate. Kyungsoo stood there, fidgeting with the strap of her bag. Debating within herself for the most logical approach, she finally decided to give in.

Well, here goes nothing.

'I need some advice and I'd prefer total confidentiality.'

'Sure, I'll try my best.'

Now came the difficult part. 'I-I don't know how to say this and trust me, I never thought this day would even come, but...thereisaboythreateningmyverysanity!'

Yixing's eyes widened the moment she managed to decode Kyungsoo's train of words but her expression relaxed just as quickly. 

'Someone confessed to you?'

'No; it's worse. Baekhyun's put the idea in my head that someone likes me and I desperately want to assure myself that he's making it up, but after what I've seen today, I'm not so sure anymore. I don't know how to go about this and you're a sensible person— so please, before I go mad from not knowing the truth, you have to help me.'

'Calm down and tell me what happened.'

And thus Kyungsoo began relaying her saga in the most concise and specific way possible, with Yixing following her words keenly. After she finished, Yixing patted her hand comfortingly and asked,

'Who's the guy?'

'Park Chanyeol, if I remember correctly.'

In spite of her composed demeanour, Yixing gave a little snort. 

'What's so funny?' demanded Kyungsoo.

Yixing shook her head. 'I never took him as the type to drool over a girl's legs.'

'You know him?!'

'Of course!!! Who doesn't?' exclaimed Yixing like it was basic knowledge which even kindergarteners were aware of.

'Me apparently. This is the first time I've  even heard of him,' sulked Kyungsoo.

'Silly fellow, isn't he?'

'I wouldn't know.'

'Well, atleast he's easy on the eyes.'

Kyungsoo huffed. 'I disagree.'

'Not even a bit?'

'I'd rather not comment, thank you every much.'

Yixing smiled knowingly. 'So what have you decided to do about it?'

'I don't know! Where do I even start? I mean, Baekhyun could've just been trying to prank me and then, by my worst luck, that ert had to show his true colours. I know it's nothing serious and could even be the result of what these silly romantics call 'Fate'— I much prefer the term 'Coincidence'— but Baekhyun seemed so certain and now I can't get over it until I have all my facts.' And with that lengthy monologue, Kyungsoo fell flat on her bed. 

'Then go get your facts.'

At once, Kyungsoo's head shot up from the pillow. 'What?!'

'You heard me,' said Yixing, her eyes twinkling with mischief,'You are an expert in Forensics. You ardently worship Sherlock Holmes, not to mention you're as good as him. So why not go about it the systematic way like you always do?'

'But this is different—'

'No, it's exactly the same. If you can deduce a stranger within five seconds, then what's so difficult when it comes to Chanyeol, who wears his heart on his sleeve?'

Kyungsoo tried to retort but Yixing's confidence in her silenced all other thoughts. Giving it a few minutes of thought, she got up and headed for her bath but not before placing a spare notebook and a pen on her desk, preparing herself for the experiment.

Rubbing her head with a towel, Kyungsoo sat down to write her hypothesis. Yixing had gone out for one of her nightly escapades with Jongin which left the room in complete silence. Taking some time to gather her thoughts, Kyungsoo began:

Hypothesis

Park Chanyeol does not like Do Kyungsoo in any way, because Byun Baekhyun is an absolute snotty little liar-

Kyungsoo stopped herself. Looking down at her hypothesis, she groaned inwardly. This was unprofessional. Unscientific. She had no right to be biased, especially to her own case. The portrait of Sherlock Holmes on the cover of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' seemed to admonish her, his piercing eyes looking down upon her from that hawk-like nose with disdain. She could almost hear him questioning her over formulating a hypothesis without having any data to back it up. What data? The meagre shred of evidence Baekhyun provided was only hearsay and how was she supposed to base an entire scientific experiment on that?! Well, desperate times call for desperate measures and the only thing Kyungsoo needed now was an answer. And if that meant pursuing an investigation guided purely by the words of an idiot, so be it.

Grumbling, she tore out that paper, took out a fresh sheet and scribbled out another statement, this time with no prejudice.

Hypothesis

Park Chanyeol, Psychology student, has a crush on Do Kyungsoo, Forensic student, assuming that Byun Baekhyun's statement is true.

Not bad, she thought to herself, not bad at all...

Aim of the experiment

To determine whether Park Chanyeol, Psychology student, has a crush on Do Kyungsoo, Forensic student, thereby validating Byun Baekhyun's statement.

Now if Kyungsoo were to prove the opposite of her hypothesis, then it would render Baekhyun's statement false. And that was just what she needed. Smirking at the picture of her fictional mentor, she brought the Consulting Detective's face close to hers and raised her hand in a mock-salute.

Time for some hell lot of disproving.

Author's Note: Yes! Kyungsoo likes to deduce, Baekhyun likes to stir up mischief and Yixing likes to make things better (or worse?). The story will be a bit slow but I'm trying to make it as similar to an experiment as possible. The additional title was inspired by the book and movie (starring Daniel Day-Lewis) that shares half the name. And I have absolutely no idea why I imparted that useless bit of information to you guys...Anyhoo... Please do leave a comment and tell me what you think.

And it's best not to wait for an update anytime soon since I'll be very busy for the following two months. Sorry!