It was the first day of junior year and the excitement could be felt through the halls. Friends congregated and chatted along down the corridors gossiping about the latest news. One student was walking with his thick glasses on and brushed his bangs forward. He slung his backpack onto the desk in the very back corner of the room. As soon as he sat down the bell rang for students to start class. The boy watched the other students file in slowly until almost all of the seats were filled up. Except for one. The seat next to his. Baekhyun sighed under his breath. Of course no one would want to sit next to him. He knew he didn't give off a good impression but he couldn't help it. He felt scared and was extremely shy going to a new school. A minute before the tardy bell rang a tall figure walked in with a bright smile. Baekhyun noticed he was quite popular and gave off a warm aura. He wished he could shine like that one day as well.

The tall boy scanned the room to find a seat. His friends gave him an apologetic look but he waved them off. He knew there was no way the seats around his friends wouldn't be filled up by now. He continued walking down the aisle until he reached the back of the room and plopped his belongings down next to a small figure. Chanyeol wasn't one to ignore a classmate so by reflex he extended his hand and greeted the quiet stranger.

“hey, guess you’ll be my seat buddy this year. My names Chanyeol, hope we get along.”

Baekhyun was frozen. He didn't know what to do. So instead of saying hello and introducing himself all he did was slowly snake his hand around Chanyeol's and gave a quick shake before ducking his hand back into his sleeve.

Chanyeol was expecting to find out his seat buddy's name but he guessed the kid was shy so he let it go. He scratched his head and slowly took out his textbooks for the start of class. His friends had sent text message after text message apologizing about the seat arrangement. He didn't reply to them.

He wasn't mad. Chanyeol just wanted his friends to pay him back by buying lunch for him. He didn't mind sitting in the back. Actually, he preferred the back seats due to his height and big ears. He wouldn't be blocking anyone's view and he could still see from the back.

Class had begun and so the teacher entered the classroom with quick steps.

“ good morning students of class 614. I will be your teacher for the year and I hope all of you will be able to follow the curriculum of this school. As you may know, this campus is highly prestigious for their musical and performance awards. This school has different rules, and different guidelines to follow. If you want to excel in here, than you better buckle down and get serious because this school doesn't allow talentless graduates.”

The room buzzed with nervousness and excitement. Everyone knew about the school's reputation but it was required for all teachers to start the year of with a speech about what the school curriculum was looking for from the students. One student in particular was shaking in his seat. He regretted choosing this school. He knew how to sing but he never sang in front of anyone before. How could he have been so stupid as to choose a performing arts school.

Cursing under his breath, baekhyun slowly tilted his head to the side letting his bangs expose his forehead.

Chanyeol couldn't help but stare at his seat buddy. He first turned towards his direction when he felt the table shake slightly and saw that the boy was turning paler by the minute. But before chanyeol could ask him what was wrong the boy had suddenly started muttering curse words.

Chanyeol was fascinated. He had never seen such a comical scene before. The guy was pouting and slowly banging his head on the table while chanting gibberish. Without thanking he chuckled.

Baekhyun stopped rolling around in remorse when a low chuckle had entered his ears. What a nice sound. He opened his eyes and turned towards Chanyeol. The giant had a small smile plastered on his face and a twinkle I'm his eye which would have rivaled any star. What a nice smile. What a beautiful face. What a beautiful hairstyle. How nice it must be to be tall.

Baekhyun didn't notice he was staring and Chanyeol didn't care that he was being stared at. However baekhyun’s eyes lingered on him for so long that he felt uncomfortable and wondered if there was something on his face.

“um……….is …….is there something….on my face?” chanyeol asked carefully. Baekhyun snapped out of his daydream and immediately started adjusting his glasses while a hot blush could be felt on his face.

“uhhh…. Not really….your just. Really really ……...handsome?” baekhyun said with uncertainty. He wanted to slap himself. Handsome? Really? Why couldn't he have said something else. Like cool? Or nice? Or friendly? Out of all the goddamn words he chose handsome. What a wonderful way to sound gay.

It's not like baekhyun was gay. He was bi. Huge difference. It's just he had a hard time find a friend let alone a girlfriend. And his feminine figure didn't help with the situation either. Baekhyun remembered the bullying he had endured in middle school and suddenly felt a wave of sadness engulf him. Not wanting to cry in class, he squirmed in his seat and tried to forget about his past by listening to the lesson. Baekhyun didn’t notice the stare that Chanyeol had casted on him.

Chanyeol for the second time that day was intrigued. His seat buddy was flustered one second and then gloomy the very next. Not wanting to pry any further with the small stranger, Chanyeol simply turned his head towards the front of the classroom where the teacher was still passionately talking about the expectations and prestigious awards the school had.

When the lunch bell rang, students shuffled out of the door towards the cafeteria to meet up with friends and buy food. Chanyeol got out of his seat and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He looked over at Baekhyun and wondered if he was going to eat at the cafeteria as well. “Hey, are you planning to go to the cafeteria?”

Baekhyun gave an awkward smile and nodded.

Chanyeol didn’t know why but he really liked it when his seat buddy smiled. Like REALLY REALLY liked it. He wasn’t sure what came over him but before he realized what he was doing he had invited him to sit with his friends. Baekhyun was happy that Chanyeol invited him to sit together with his friends at lunch. He wasn’t sure where to go or what table to sit at.

When the two boys had arrived to the lunch table, most of the seats were already taken except for two. They both sat next to each other and quietly got themselves comfortable. It didn’t take long for the other people at the table to notice the newcomer with Chanyeol.

“Hey Chanyeol, who’s the new kid? Didn’t he sit next to you this morning?”Baekhyun noticed that the dude was even taller than Chanyeol and had a foreign accent when talking.

“Yeah, apparently it will be our official seats this whole year so he will be my seat buddy. His name is….”, Chanyeol glanced at Baekhyun when realizing the shorty never actually introduced himself to Chanyeol.

“Um. Hi. My name is Baekhyun and I just moved here this year so I don’t really know anyone sooo...yeah.” Baekhyun mentally slapped himself for the overly awkward introduction. Everyone was silent for a few seconds before the guy who seemed taller than Chanyeol spoke up

“My names Kris and I did not just move here this year.” He playfully said while earning a light smack on the head from Chanyeol.

“My names Kyungsoo, I hope you will enjoy it here at SM high.” Baekhyun turned his head towards the voice and saw that it came from a rather small fellow who had big eyes and an adorable smile. The members boys continued to introduce themselves and Baekhyun found them to be a very friendly group. He hoped he could continue sitting here.

While munching on their lunch Baekhyun saw multiple pairs of eyes linger on the boys he was sitting with. He also wondered why so many girls came up to some of them just to greet them and then squeal while leaving.

“Are you guys already famous or something?” Everyone turned towards Baekhyun and sort of shrugged.

“Not really. I guess they were just fans of our group. We created this group called EXO last year during a performance for the school and a lot of people loved it. But its not on the level of famous, just well known in this area. We are planning on continuing our musical activities under the name EXO this year.” A short handsome male across the table announced.

“Oh. but doesn’t that take a lot of time and we have a mandatory club we have to join.”

“Yeah, well the school allowed us to make EXO our ‘club’ since it was so successful.”

“That must be nice. I wonder what club I should join.” Baekhyun pondered while scrunching up his face in concentration.

“Why don’t you join our club. There is only eleven of us and twelve members make it seem more balanced.” Another chinese man going by the name Lay said while chugging down some water.

“Are you sure? I can’t really do anything else besides sing.” Baekhyun shyly admitted. He hoped that was good enough.

“So you’re a vocalist? Well Chen, Luhan, and Kyungsoo are also singers.” The three respectively smiled at the newcomer agreed that they might need another vocalist.

“Okay, so far we have 3 main dancers, 3 rappers, 4 vocalists, Xiumin the all-rounder, and Junmyeon is basically the leader. Sounds like a plan!” Chanyeol said excitedly.

Before lunch ended all twelve agreed to meet up at the clubroom. Baekhyun walked with Chanyeol and he couldn’t help but notice quite a few pairs of eyes landing on not only Chanyeol but himself. He kept his head lowered while tracing the steps chanyeol took in confidence. When they arrived at the clubroom only three people were there. Suho was looking at some documents, Kyungsoo was adjusting the mic and testing it to see if it worked, and Lay was practicing his dance moves. Chanyeol held the door open for Baekhyun so he shuffled in quietly. But not quietly enough. All three boys raised their heads and started congregating to the center where Baekhyun was.

“Hey Baekhyun, you ready to sing?”

Baekhyun’s eyes grew wide. Now? Here? “Um..*cough* s-sure. What would you like me to sing?”

“Why don’t you sing the lyrics on this music sheet. It’s something we just put together and I want to know if it will go well with your voice.” Said Chanyeol as he passed the sheet to baekhyun.

Baekhyun nodded dumbly as he scanned the sheet a few times and warmed up his vocal chords. Chanyeol tuned his guitar and started strumming. Baekhyun guessed that was the cue and started reciting the lyrics meaningfully.

Contrary to how I feel, painful words come out

I made you struggle and I’m struggling too

Unlike my determination, nothing is getting better

I always disappoint you, and I regret it too

Slowly more people gathered in the room but Baekhyun didn’t notice as he was lost in the song. Everyone in the room watched silently as the duet continued their performance.

I’ll search the universe

Until I an find you again

I won’t let go, even the smallest memories

Memories engraved in the seasons

They come and go several times

But I will still call out to you

Baekhyun now had his eyes closed as he let his last notes linger in the air. Soon after applause could be heard from behind him. He turned around and noticed all of the members had arrived and were listening to him. A hot red started spilling on his cheeks and he quickly bowed.

“That was incredible! Oh my god! You absolutely have to join us!” Junmyeon said while racing towards Baekhyun with admiration in his eyes.

“I couldn’t agree more. You’re like a powerhouse! With that kind of vocal range, imagine all the new sounds we could add into future compositions!” chanyeol was racing around the room while talking and trying to find a pen and paper to write down new ideas. All throughout the afternoon, the members were singing, dancing, rapping, or just playing around. Baekhyun got extremely close to Chen, Luhan, and Kyungsoo as they worked on synchronizing together. Chen was the talkative one and always asked the questions.

“So, how long have you been singing?” “I’ve been singing to myself every since I was small.”

“You have really long bangs, ever thought of cutting it off? I know some people who run a salon shop. Wanna go there tomorrow?”

“Oh. Um. Sure, when do you want to go?”

“After school tomorrow it is!” Chen roared with enthusiasm while throwing his hands up.

On the other side of the room Kris and chanyeol were discussing something.

“Dude, Baekhyun is the bomb. He totally rocked our new song!” Chanyeol whispered excitedly.

“I know Chanyeol, I was there. Anyway, we have to make sure he is okay with performing in front of large crowds. And he first needs to look the part. Does he need those glasses or can we ditch them?” Kris continued asking questions at rapid speed and Chanyeol stood there still fascinated by the midget. “Why don’t you go ask him yourself?”Chanyeol said nonchalantly. “Without another word Kris migrated towards the vocals who were sitting criss cross in the center of the room. He slowly bent down and joined them and soon after was into a conversation while forgetting the original goal. Chanyeol sighed and plopped himself down next to Baekhyun. He noticed that Kris probably forgot his initial mission and decided to do it himself.

“Hey, good job today. Your vocals are already perfect for our song. Would you like to perform it with us for next months acts?”

Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol for a split second before grinning wildly. “Absolutely, as long as everyone else is okay with me joining on such short notice.”

Chanyeol was blown away by the radiant smile Baekhyun had. He should do that more often thought chanyeol. It made him a lot cuter. Without a second thought, Chanyeol raised his hand and pulled the glasses away from Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun was frozen the entire time.

“Do you need these glasses or are you okay with contacts?”

“Ah- I - uh, not really. I never wore contacts before but if I have to then I’ll try. I’ve been meaning to get a new prescription anyway.” A very flustered Baekhyun said.

“Do you two lovebirds want us to get out of the room or stay and watch you guys smooch each other.” Chen said disgusted.

The two realized how close their face was and both burst into laughter while a grumpy Chen watched them slowly pull apart. The day got darker and Baekhyun realized that he has yet to get his stuff from the office to move into the dorms. He quickly stood up and put on his jacket.

“Where you goin?” Chanyeol said lazily while flipping through his math notebook. The first day of club activities were spent doing nothing but chatting and homework.

“I have to move my things into the dorm. By the way, which way is it to the dorm?”

“Since you’re going to the dorms then I guess we will too. I’ll show you where it is and the others can catch up. See ya guys later. Come on Baekhyun.”

The two boys carried Baekhyun’s luggage until they stopped in front of the dorms

“Which room are you assigned for?”

“It says here that I will be in room 614. Wonder who I will board with..”

“Dude!! That’s me! Your gonna be rooming With The One And only!!