Baekhyun was laughing. His shoulders shook as he threw his head back, his laughter traveling further than he intended. For a split second, he wondered if he was coming across like a maniac. Perhaps that was the reason why Luke was still there, staring at him despite clearly being uncomfortable by how their conversations was turning out. Not that Baekhyun blamed the kid, some days, he could barely understand the motives behind his actions.   “Don’t be like me.” Baekhyun agreed, propping the side of his face lazily on his hand as his elbow rested on the table before him. He was done laughing, and he found himself staring straight at the seven-year-old. There was so much innocence in those eyes. When was the last time Baekhyun looked at the world with wide eyes? “There was no one in school that did not know my name. Everyone wanted to be my friend. My grades are awesome. I landed a job that made everyone envious right after college and this year, I became the quickest to rise to the rank of senior manager in the whole company. But you know what, don’t be like me. Because you are right. I am alone. And that is the worst, isn’t it?”   The air between them was tense, as the young boy struggled to look for the right words. Still, not once did Luke ever look away from Baekhyun. Baekhyun could almost sense the gears turning in the child’s head.   “You are upset.” The child finally decided.   “No, I am happy.” Baekhyun said. “I am happy being alone. You hated that your classmates made fun of you, didn’t you? Guess what? That won’t go away when you get older. The people around you, will never understand. At the end of the day, you only got yourself. Don’t trust your family. Don’t trust your girlfriend. And don’t bloody trust your best friend.”   Luke was staring as Baekhyun ran a hand through his messy hair. He had not bothered to style them today, and his fringe fell limply across his eyes. Just as well, for the young boy could not see them, as those black orbs turned cold when Baekhyun next spoke.   “There’s no such things as friends.”  

 

Life was easier for good looking people, Baekhyun had reasoned.   He wasn't ugly. Well, not anymore after he lost all that baby fats. Granted he had a good built as compared to other sixteen-year-olds who spent their time stuffing their mouth with junk food, Baekhyun was losing out in the height department. Puberty was kind to him, but not enough.    If Baekhyun ever thought kids were cruel, high school teens were a lot worse. Every action was overly magnified. Every word was brought out of context.  Everyone seemed to think they know everything about that person, then again, every person that walked the hallways were like cookie-cut, identical and fit perfectly into a box. Why was it so easy for them?   Baekhyun was an observer. He had spent the last sixteen years of his life in the shadows. He watched people and he took notes. He analyzed the words that came out of people’s mouth and their contrasting actions after. It was a habit. Like how he had witnessed his parents breaking every promise they ever made. How flawed, adults could be. Right then, Baekhyun knew, he would never allow himself to be anything less than perfect.   It made Baekhyun angry. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was angry about. But as he stood on the outside looking in, looking at how imperfect the majority of his peers were, how easy their lives were, Baekhyun was angry. Baekhyun didn’t think he care much about his parents’ divorce, but then again, he admitted, he didn’t used to be so angry. It was unfortunate that anger landed him in detention, but at the very least, it wasn’t going to stay in the records.   A small roll of paper hit Baekhyun rudely at the back of his head, interrupting his thoughts. Annoyed, Baekhyun spun around in his seat, only to find himself staring at a rather familiar face. The culprit was a good-looking boy, with distinctive high cheek bones and a strangely piercing gaze. Baekhyun was sure he had seen him along the hallways. He was the type that naturally had a glow to him, one in which you couldn’t help noticing even if he was technically, just another face in the crowd. The boy grinned, the upturned corners of his lips making him looked quite like a devilish cat.   "Hey." The person nodded slightly, not at all aware that Baekhyun was still deciding if the smile was a friendly one.   "Mr Zhang will be back soon." He ended up replying. Baekhyun's eyes traveled to the door of the classroom in which he was forced to stay in for the past hour. The teacher on detention duty had decided it was so stuffy that he went out for a breather, hence trapping Baekhyun with the other problematic students of the school without any authoritative figures. Not that Baekhyun liked adults. It was just that he had doubts about the kind of characters in this room currently. Like this boy with the cat-like smile. Baekhyun had always been a dog person.   "Why are you in here?" The boy asked, obviously glad that they were free to talk now. Baekhyun had heard the impatient tapping of the ends of his pencil during the entire detention.   "I got into a fight." Baekhyun answered simply.   "I figured." The boy nodded towards Baekhyun's bruised knuckles. Baekhyun didn’t said a word, instead he shifted himself to face the front of the classroom again, to hide his swelling sense of pride. He had won that fight.   "Were you the one who plummeted Jun's face?" Baekhyun heard the question.   "He had it coming." Baekhyun commented, clenching his fists at the memory.   "Jun is being stupid again, isn't he? Still, I saw his face when I tried to get the nurse to write me a letter to get out of detention today (it didn’t work by the way). You showed no mercy, did you?" The boy commented in a light tone.   "He's a bully." Baekhyun growled. "I ought to rip his tongue out for saying that sort of things to a girl."   Without skipping a beat, the boy behind him replied quite calmly. "Jun is my friend."   "You have terrible taste in friends."   There was a moment of silence, long enough to make Baekhyun very uncomfortable, before he heard a stifled chuckle coming from the seat behind his. Quite bewildered, Baekhyun stole a quick look behind his shoulder, only to stare at the grinning boy who had stuck a hand out to him.   "Let's be friends. My name is Jongdae, Kim Jongdae."     "Hey man."   Baekhyun raised an eyebrow at the sixteen-year-old boy who was leaning casually against the lockers next to his.   "We are going out of campus for lunch. Are you joining?" Jongdae asked with a big grin.   It wasn't the first time Jongdae had tried to include Baekhyun, but Baekhyun had his reasons for not warming up to Jongdae immediately. He glanced around him, noticing that Jongdae's friends were all standing around him, waiting for his answer.   Noticing his stare, the boy with the sharp almond eyes spoke up, "We are taking my car. There's plenty of space."   Jongdae shot his friends a wide grin. "I am calling shotgun though since I found that eating spot. You will have to squeeze in the back with Nayeon and Ji Soo. Do you know them?"   "Hi." The shorter girl beamed at him, running a hand through her thick red hair as she spoke. "Nayeon."   Baekhyun knew perfectly well w