The school was in chaos. The students have never seen such a scene. Maya was put down. The richest girl in the school was stopped. By the new kid. This was truly a sight to behold. Everyone was talking about it. The school newspaper made it their headline. That was why Baekhyun was struggling to open the door. He didn’t want to face anyone. He didn’t want to talk about it. His hands rested on the door knob. The coldness of the handle made him shiver. He took a couple of breaths but his nerves didn’t calm down. Maybe he shouldn’t go to school today. “Should I stay home?” Baekhyun whispered under his breath. Chanyeol stood behind Baekhyun the entire time he was having a midlife crisis. “Are you going to open the door or do you want me to do the honors?” Chanyeol asked as he realized that he has been waiting for Baekhyun to open the door for five minutes. “What?! OH..oh. No...I can...I can do this.” Another minute passed before Chanyeol decided that Baekhyun really couldn’t do it. He reached over and rested his hand on top of Baekhyun’s. “Baek, don’t worry. I’ll be next to you.” Baekhyun could feel Chanyeol pressed on his back. These were the moments where the height difference between the two were very obvious. Baekhyun smiled. “I like it when you call me that.” He said in a quiet tone before turning the knob. Chanyeol smiled at Baekhyun’s back while watching him struggle to keep walking without looking down. How strong he was.

Class was about to start yet the noise level didn’t die down. Rumours about what happened had spread throughout the entirety of the school. “I heard She spat in his face and slapped him.”

Sehun was getting annoyed at the noise and so he ignored everyone who asked anything. Kai was talking to kyungsoo about where they were gonna go later that day. “Can't you see I'm in a desperate situation here?” Sehun finally said to the couple. “well you probably shouldn't have told everyone what u saw.” kyungsoo replied while showing kai a nice restaurant on his phone. Sehun crossed his arms. “ But I couldn't help it. Just think about what's going to happen. Maya’s dad is a huge influence on the school. He was the main contributor for funds. This school could shut down with a simple phone call from the bratty daughter.” kyungsoo set down his phone and thought about the situation. “ you're right.” kai was shocked. “ he is?!”

“of course I am. Now that you peasants know the existence of thee, go buy me a juice box.” Sehun said proudly. Sehun pushed kai towards the door but they collided with baekhyun and Chanyeol. The other students immediately noticed baekhyun and began surrounding him with questions.

Baekhyun was cornered by questions that begged for answers. He looked at everyones face. “They say they are worried. Yet all I see are devils at play.” Everyone stopped talking at once. Chanyeol also heard what Baekhyun said. “What did you say? We were worried about you and here you are calling us devils?!” a student said. Chanyeol quickly dove in front of baekhyun before the guy could hurt him. He grabbed his wrist and shoved him toward the crowd. “GUYS! You need to chill. Don't you realize you're scaring him.” He pleaded with the crowd. The student straightened out his shirt and quickly charged at Baekhyun. Baekhyun shielded himself with his arms and prepared for the impact but a foot appeared and soon enough the student was flat on the ground. The foot belonged to Kyungsoo who was busy grabbing his backpack and books. “ if you guys are gonna block my way I'll make all of you fall.” the crowd dispersed to let Kyungsoo through the door to his class. The bell rang and everyone shuffled into their seats. The teacher walked in briskly and began handing out packets. “These will be your assignments and criteria for your final project of the year. I expect well developed ideas and effort or I’ll fail you.” Everyone sat up a little straighter due to the murderous undertone. “Oh and before I forget, Baekhyun and Chanyeol, go to the principal’s office.” The two walked quickly to the office not knowing why they were called. Chanyeol opened the door and saw a big man sitting on a leather chair behind a massive desk that looked like it could support an elephant. On the other side of the desk was Maya who looked as if she was going to explode any second. Her hair was a mess and her makeup was not as perfect as usual. Baekhyun walked in after and immediately glared at Maya who also glared back. “gentlemen. Please, have a seat. I don't think you would like to stand while talking about this.” the principal’s deep voice echoed. They quickly sat down with Chanyeol in the middle. Even without words, Chanyeol could feel the tension between the two and regretted sacrificing himself. After they were settled, the principal began taking out files filled with photos of what happened yesterday. “I would like an explanation of what happened here.” Chanyeol stared at the photos that captured an enraged Maya and Baekhyun. The others captured the time when Maya had slammed her hands down on the table causing the papers on it to scatter. “Sir, I was being threatened and I believe I showed no aggression toward her.” Baekhyun said calmly. Chanyeol noticed that his hands were shaking so he quietly reached over and enveloped them in his own. Maya noticed what Chanyeol was doing and gave a dark chuckle. “Even now you are seducing someone. Can’t you hold back on your ual urges in front of the Principal?” The principal’s eyebrow twitched. “Miss. I believe you were being quite rude just now. Is this the same behavior you showed in these photos?” Maya’s eyes became round and her voice became a little higher. “Of course not sir. It’s just that Baekhyun is giving me a hard time and I can’t seem to focus on my education here at this establishment.” Chanyeol wanted to puke at how whiney she sounded. “My father would be very displeased with my grades if they were to ever drop down from the high percentiles but it seems like it will happen if Baekhyun isn’t removed from my learning environment.” She batted her eyelashes and gave a cute pout. How fake could she get thought Chanyeol. He squeezed Baekhyun’s trembling hands in comfort. The principal pushed up his glasses and pondered over the situation. Maya noticed how unconvinced he seemed and became impatient. “He might even pull out the funds for this school.” At this remark the principal became nervous. Maya became confident that she was going to win. “However, he might be willing to add more to the funds if you agree to my simple request.” Her voice was so sweet and yet it left a bitter taste in Chanyeol’s mouth. But he could do nothing. Did he have the right to interfere? He looked over at Baekhyun who was blankly staring off at a figurine on the desk. “I’m sorry baekhyun. My hands are tied. In order to run this school we need money and I don’t want one of my best students to face problems.” The principal said reluctantly while looking down. Chanyeol watched as the big man before him started to look like a tired old man. His shoulders had drooped and the air of confidence that once surrounded him was now replaced with regret. He watched as money had manipulated what could have been a simple chat.He was about to plead with the principal when he felt a tight squeeze on his hand telling him not to. Baekhyun had finally looked at the principal. He gave him a small smile. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I know how much this school means to you but  have you ever considered ending the contract with Maya’s family and signing one from mine?” now all eyes were on Baekhyun. “It’s not that easy Baekhyun. Her family is the main funding that goes to the school. That kind of money doesn’t just come out of nowhere.” Baekhyun nodded along but didn’t seem to be bothered. “Oh but it is.” He simply said while sporting a smirk.

A few phone calls was all it took and soon the room was filled with men in black suits. They situated themselves behind Baekhyun and bowed slightly before pulling a manila portfolio out and handing it off to the principal. “In there should be the details of our contract and information on how to reach us if there are any questions.” The man in the middle said. “I would like to stay and discuss the issue at hand however this is a busy hour for us and so someone else will arrive shortly to negotiate. I hope you are well Baekhyun sir.” And with another bow the men  took off. The principal started looking through the documents and was amazed by the negotiations. “It says here that you will fund for all outside and inside activities as long as we show some of your company’s products?” Baekhyun nodded along. “I guess so. I didn’t come up with the plan.” The Principal continued flipping through the pages. “You want the school to perform in other events? Are you saying that we are allowed to have stages at your company events?” Chanyeol realized how crazy the principal started to look. “Sir, I think you need to calm down.” The man looked up and stared at Chanyeol with wild eyes. “Young man do you realize what this means?!” He slowly shook his head. This geezer looked like he was gonna have a heart attack. “We could publicize every talent we have! This means more opportunities!” The guy continued to ramble on about what they could do while the three students sat there in silence. Chanyeol was confused and didn’t understand why he was there. Maya was beginning to produce dark storm clouds. And Baekhyun was enjoying every bit of turmoil Maya was enduring. The principals delusions continued on until the loud slam of the door caught everyone off guard. In walked a woman who was dressed head to toe in red. Her warm brown locks swayed perfectly and her smile was flawless. Chanyeol noticed she looked a lot like Baekhyun. But not look like him at all at the same time. Weird. He glanced down at Baekhyun and noticed how stiff he had become. He lightly tapped his hand to see if he could get a reaction. “Baek, you okay?” He whispered. But he didn’t whisper quietly enough as the red woman looked directly at him and Baekhyun and started walking over. “Oh my, Baekhyun. Did he just call you Baek? How close you two are.” Although her words were sweet it sounded like she was mocking them. Chanyeol wrinkled his eyebrows and stepped in front of Baekhyun but a gentle hand told him to stop. Baekhyun was now staring back at the woman but with empty eyes. “Nice to see you too, mother.” An explosion of confusion went off in Chanyeol’s mind. This woman birthed Baekhyun? This twenty year old looking woman gave birth to a now seventeen year old child? His state of confusion must have shown on his face as Baekhyun’s mother chuckled lightly and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Young man. What’s your name?” Chanyeol felt her cold fingers. “Park Chanyeol.” She smiled. “You and Baekhyun are roommates, are you not?” He slowly nodded. “Thank you for taking care of him. He can be quite a handful.” This time Baekhyun laughed. “And you would know? I don’t ever remember you taking care of me.” The woman’s smile slipped off and her eyes became cold. “I see I’m not welcome.” Baekhyun looked away with disinterest. “No matter. I am here to discuss the contract my employees have dropped off.” Her smiled returned and the students were escorted out of the office. The minute the door closed Maya walked away in fury. Baekhyun was silent on the walk back to class. Chanyeol didn’t know what to do. Would it be awkward to want to hold his hand? “So uh, your fingers are really slender, huh?” Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol then stared at his hand. “You could say that.” Chanyeol lifted his hand next to Baekhyun’s. “My hand is almost twice as big as yours.” Baekhyun let out a chuckle. “Yeah, since your a giant.” They continued walking but they both had their hands held out in front of them. Chanyeol stared at the contrast. His hands were coarse and big but warm. Baekhyun’s were slender and pale but cold. He moved his hands closer until it wrapped Baekhyun’s hand. “I could crush your hand with my palm?!”

“....You wouldn’t do that would you?” Baekhyun asked quietly. Chanyeol stopped walking. “Of course I wouldn’t.” He watched Baekhyun’s eyes falter but he covered it up with a smile. “I’m joking you big oaf. I know you wouldn’t. You’re too nice.” Baekhyun pulled his hand away and began walking faster. “We gotta hurry or else we will miss all of first period.” Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun got further and further away. He didn’t like how far apart they were. He sped up to match with Baekhyun. He wanted to be next to him. But just as he reached Baekhyun, the smaller one sped up some more. Chanyeol got frustrated and grabbed a hold of his arm. “Stop walking ahead of me. Stay next to me.” Baekhyun slowed down and secretly smiled to himself. Chanyeol was happy that Baekhyun’s smile was still there. He got scared that it disappeared.