26 hours, 39 minutes and…

Baekhyun began to space out, vaguely aware of the ticking second hand of his black matte g-shock. Blinking out of his daze, he quietly gathered the empty cups that once held his (diluted) iced americano and deposited them into the trash bin. He really needed sleep. Or a fourth cup of coffee.

Scattered around his desk were loose pieces of sketches, a blunt pencil and a worn down eraser, still warm from rubbing. The deadline for the Spring release was days from now and he was a sketch or two away from completion, even after burning the midnight oil. Baekhyun knew he should be feeling jumpier than he was, maybe it was the lack of sleep.

Just then, his silent phone pinged and lit up, indicating an incoming mail. He squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of the contents that were too much for his current tired brain to digest.

‘Photography exhibition’… … ‘awareness project’… … ‘displayed along corridors’… … ‘starting today’

Exhibition starting today?! Repeating the words in his head, Baekhyun barely registered that before scrambling to his feet. Speed dialing Chanyeol’s number, he paced about, waiting for the call to go through.

“Yeol! Did you hear about the exhibition?!”

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“Yes yes, stop panicking baek! Yours is probably the best, as usual! That should be your focus, not whatever reason you’re flailing about for. What are you even worried about?” Listening to his bestfriend’s worries through his earphones, Chanyeol opened his line app, creating a temporary group to send out a message.

“Our school’s pretty open to the public, I’m planning to meet up with hun, Jongin, dae and Yixing hyung to hunt for your piece after training hahahaha~” He teased, waiting for the rest to reply.

“Come on baek, don’t be mad~ I’m really not teasing you! We’re all excited to see your masterpiece! I promise!” When Yixing’s reply came, Chanyeol smiled at his phone. Sehun and Jongdae were already planning to meet at their Science block, combing the art pieces from top level to bottom while waiting for Yixing to arrive.

“I promise I won’t take a picture and show him baek! hahahahhaha alright alright, see you later, in front of your art piece!” Ending the call, Chanyeol laughed, wiping at a stray tear. Baekhyun was being funny, why would he take a picture to show his crush when he would be there in person? Sometimes his bestfriend does things that don’t make sense. Checking the line group, Chanyeol noted that apart from the excessive rubbish texts, the plan was already finalised.

He would join the others, with Jongin, after training and they would explore the other faculty blocks to find Baekhyun’s photograph.

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Jongin hadn’t plan to join the hunt.

It wasn’t until Chanyeol created the group that it occurred to him. They were talking about Baek here. Baek whom he might, might, have a growing – miniscule – interest in. More importantly, Chanyeol would have pestered him till he agreed.

He didn’t, of course, expect Chanyeol to invite Chen, Sehun and Yixing. He had forgotten that Chanyeol was Baek’s m