Baekhyun sighed, furrowing his eyebrows as he sat on the piano bench. School had been dismissed fifteen minutes prior and Chanyeol had already left, leaving Baekhyun with Kyungsoo who was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the piano. Kyungsoo sighed, furrowing his eyebrows as he sees Baekhyun's frown.

"What's up?" Kyungsoo asks, quirking an eyebrow. 

Baekhyun shrugs in response, not feeling up to writing out a response or responding in general. Baekhyun's slender fingers graze the surface of the ivory keys, contemplating playing or not. Kyungsoo stands from his seat and stretches his arms above his head before making his way to Baekhyun and pushing him slightly. Kyungsoo plumped himself down on the bench next to Baekhyun, their thighs touch, not that the contact bothered the two. Well, normally it didn't. Baekhyun's frown creased his cheeks, making small little indents. Baekhyun scooted away from Kyungsoo on the bench, his fingers dragging against the piano keys as he brought his arm closer to his side.

Kyungsoo sighs, pressing a key on the piano, his usually wide eyes slightly narrow as he frowned, "Come on Baek, you've been acting off all day..."

Baekhyun shrugged, not feeling up to talk about his sudden, strange feelings for the new giant that joined them just the day before. Baekhyun's lips formed a tight line as he pressed down on one of the piano's keys, following it by a connected stream of notes. Kyungsoo sighed internally before he too began to play the keys of the piano, playing the accompanying part of the song Baekhyun had been playing. Soon Kyungsoo's voice fills the room, matching with the melody being played by the piano. Baekhyun frowns yet again, Kyungsoo doesn't see though. 

The song being played by the two continues as it normally would, until Baekhyun's finger's crushed down on the keys, a discord of notes filling the room and echoing through the nearby halls. Baekhyun's breathing is slightly heavy, his chest rising and falling in an uneven pattern. Baekhyun quickly stands to his feet, grabbing at his hair with his hands and letting out a silent scream, to which Kyungsoo stands and tries to walk towards Baekhyun. Episodes like this were common whenever Baekhyun wanted to verbally say something and grew frustrated when he couldn't, however, those times were rare. 

"Baek, calm down..." Kyungsoo says softly as he takes another step towards Baekhyun.

Baekhyun's hands fall from his head and back to his sides before grabbing the nearest object, a folding chair, and throwing it across the room. The sound of the metal chair hitting the wall sent an earsplitting echo through the music room as well as the rest of the school. Baekhyun brings a hand to his face, covering his eyes as he feels tears well up in his eyes. Baekhyun wipes the forming tears before they can fall before a harsh smack fills the air.

Kyungsoo looks to Baekhyun in horror, the older's head turned slightly to the side due to the impact of his own hand against his face. Baekhyun picks up another chair, throwing it in the same direction as the last and once again begins to pull at his hair. Kyungsoo knew that there was no point in trying to calm Baekhyun down at this point, this was the worst his episodes had ever been and in all honesty, Kyungsoo was afraid of his silent friend, not only fearing for his own safety but for Baekhyun's as well. Baekhyun draws his arms close to his small body as he forces himself into the wall behind him, sliding down and covering his face with one hand while pulling his hair with the other as a silent sob bubbled out of him.

A strained croak escapes Baekhyun, alarming both Kyungsoo and himself at the sudden noise. For all the years Kyungsoo had known Baekhyun he had never heard the slightest noise come from him, aside from the sound of breath escaping him at times. Baekhyun was just as surprised, for as long as he could remember he was never able to make a sound, even the night before he kept mouthing the same words over and over again only to produce nothing but silence and quiet breaths. Kyungsoo takes a step towards Baekhyun, and Baekhyun removes his hands from his face and hair before wiping at his eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"Baekhyun..." Kyungsoo begins, his eyes hold Baekhyun's gaze.

Baekhyun swallowed hard, not sure of what Kyungsoo was about to say. "This morning... You had such dark bags under your eyes... Even now, they've only gotten darker. You didn't sleep last night did you?"

"Baekhyun..." Kyungsoo began after a small smile formed on his lips, "Last night... You didn't sleep, did you? You were up all night... Trying to find your voice... right?"

Baekhyun swallowed again before hanging his head and nodding it slightly.

"And right now... You're frustrated. Because you tried all night, even to the extent of depriving yourself of your rest, to speak... But you couldn't... and all day today, your lips would form words and never once would a sound come out..." Kyungsoo hung his head slightly, "And I was so damn selfish, I knew you were trying so damn hard today... And yet... In here, I did something that upset you. You were so hesitant to play the piano today, I should've asked what was wrong... Even before now..."

"Yet you played anyways... and I played too, I was hoping that you had begun to feel better... But your shoulders were stiff and your fingers pressed on the keys harder than usual and instead of helping you I did the one thing you've always wanted to do and never been able to do..." By now tears had slowly begun to trickle down Kyungsoo's cheeks, "I'm really sorry Baek, I'm so god damn sorry..."

Baekhyun stood from his spot on the floor and stepped towards Kyungsoo, cupping his face in his hands and wiping at the tears on his cheeks, mouthing words as he did so, "It's alright Kyungsoo... Because I know you believe in me... "

A small sob bubbled up from Kyungsoo and his cheeks grew hot in embarrassment. "S-sorry..." 

Baekhyun only smiled slightly, he knew his best friend wasn't used to expressing these kinds of emotions, even around him. Baekhyun ruffled Kyungsoo's hair slightly before wiping the tears from his eyes.

"It's alright Kyungsoo..."

Kyungsoo nodded his head slightly, a few stray tears escaping from his eyes before he lowered Baekhyun's hands from his face, "I know..."

Baekhyun's smile grew as Kyungsoo's lips tugged upwards slightly. Baekhyun twisted his face slightly, scrunching up his nose and raising his eyebrows while exposing his teeth almost like the way of a protective dog. Kyungsoo's eyes crinkled as a large, toothy smile spread across his face, his lips forming what Baekhyun considered as a heart shape. A laugh escaped Kyungsoo before he quickly pulled Baekhyun towards him in a hug.

"Even if you are never able to speak, or if you lose your mind... You'll always be my best friend. Know that I love you just the way you are Baek. Please only change for yourself, never for others." Kyungsoo whispered, his cheeks growing hot due to the affection he was expressing.

Baekhyun nodded his head, hugging Kyungsoo back. "I'll always believe in you... just like you believe in me..."

Kyungsoo pulled back from the hug, smile still present on his face. Baekhyun ran a hand through his hair before walking over to the two chairs he had thrown, picking them up and setting them back in their rightful places. Baekhyun scrambled over to his backpack and grabbed his notepad.

"Can we try again?" Kyungsoo nodded, sitting back down on the piano bench.

Baekhyun makes his way over to the bench, sitting next to Kyungsoo, right hand placed over the keys. Baekhyun plays the first note, followed by a stream of other notes. Kyungsoo joins in, playing the left-handed accompaniment, his voice also joining the song. 

Kyungsoo arrives home that night to see Jongin sitting on his sofa, "Dude... Why are you here?"

Jongin turns his head nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow as he responds, "Why are you home so late?"

"Why does that concern you?" Kyungsoo asks, taking off his jacket and hanging it on the coat rack.

Jongin hummed, "Maybe because I've been waiting for you for like four hours? Two of which I spent outside until your mom came home and let me in?"

"And? What do you need?" Kyungsoo asked, walking to stand behind the couch.

Jongin picked a notebook up from the coffee table before flipping it open and shoving it in his face. Kyungsoo's expression flattened as he looked at Jongin's notebook and then to Jongin himself.

"No." Kyungsoo said dryly before walking towards the stairs. "Get out. Go home."

"Oh come on Soo!" Jongin whined, tilting his head over the back of the couch to see Kyungsoo's right foot moving up the first step.

"No." Kyungsoo repeated, "Go home."

Jongin frowned, "Oh come on Soo! Don't be like that..."

Kyungsoo slowly turned towards Jongin, glaring daggers at the younger, "I said no."

"Now drop it and leave."

Jongin sighed, "I can't."

Kyungsoo huffed, "And why exactly can't you?"

"Got kicked out," Jongin said casually.

Kyungsoo rested his head in the palm of his head, "How the hell did you get kicked out?"

"My parents heard a stupid rumor about me. Can't go back to the house till I've 'shaped up'..." Jongin grumbled. "Fricken bogus if you ask me, it's just a damn rumor, I don't see why they chose to believe it. Especially to the extent of when I got home I was given a bag of clothes and shoved out the door. Didn't even give me time to explain myself or say if it was true or not."

"And? What was the rumor?" Kyungsoo grumbled, now pinching the bridge of his nose and leaning against the