As he looked at the university building, Chanyeol doubted he had passed the examination. He had not got enough sleep the night before the examination, because of the fire alarm of his apartment block that had been screaming for the whole evening and a few hours in the night. It was more than likely that he had not got the average. Yet, he wanted to go and have a look at the notes. He wanted to prove his parents that his bad luck was not something that could prevent him from becoming a great doctor. It was only bad luck, and it had not prevented him from entering high school or university, after. He had always been stronger than that. The only thing he needed to do was cross the portal and join the flow of students who were already gathering in front of the board on which the results were displayed.

“Do you really think you passed it?” asked Nahee, his best friend, who lived in the same block, crossing her arms in front of her chest. They were walking in the same direction, but she was looking way more serious than Chanyeol, who was smiling and looking around like a child hoping to meet Santa on Christmas Eve.

“Of course I did.” He answered, letting of a soft laughter as he looked at her. “By the way, you should smile. You look like you’ve been sentenced to death.”

“And you looked like a dead warmed up the day you took the exam. I don’t know how you could possibly have passed it.”

“My guardian angel, maybe?” Chanyeol looked at Nahee, a lopsided smile curling his lips as he walked further towards the board. Being tall could be quite useful at times. “Well, you passed it.” He said matter-of-factly. It was indeed no surprise that Nahee had passed it. She was one of the best student of her promotion. And he was trying his best to match the level, in spite of his legendary bad luck.

“What about you?” She said with a singsong sounding voice, as thought she had already known the answer to her own question.

“I…” Chanyeol squinted, looking for his own name where it should have been on the list, at the end. And for the first time in months, his ever-present smile fainted, giving place to a more serious expression.

“Chanyeol?”

“I didn’t pass.” The student pinched his lips and stepped back, his fingers clenching on the straps of his bag as he headed for the stairs of the main building, not even glancing at Nahee who was following him.

“Don’t act silly, you already knew it.” She said, her moralizing tone giving away her thoughts. “Did you honestly think you could do it with so little sleep and study?” 

“No.”

But he liked to think he was able to do it. It was an illusion he cherished. He wanted to become a great doctor, to pass that exam, the most important one, and get his graduate once and for all. And he felt let down. He knew his mother had been wrong all that time: guardian angels did not exist.

“Chanyeol. Keep your chin up!” Nahee called, walking behind him.

“I wanna go home.”

“Chan…”

“I don’t feel like going to the library anymore. I’m sorry.” His lips were forming a thin line at the bottom of his face as he turned away and went down the stairs they had just climbed.

He went back home dragging his feet, thinking about a B plan. How was he supposed to tell his parents?

Was he even going to tell his parents? They would never understand that their dear son had failed an exam because of a fire alarm. Chanyeol knew it; they would say it was an excuse to cover a lack of study and tell him that if he had worked harder, he would have passed the exam. If Nahee had not heard the alarm, she would have thought the same.

But he worked. He worked hard every day, trying to get his head around complex definitions and protocols. He tried to understand.

Something always went wrong.

He entered his apartment block, banging his feet on the steps as he was climbing the stairs leading to his floor, and he slammed the door shut after entering his apartment. Then, he collapsed on his bed, looking at the ceiling, which seemed to be the most interesting thing in the world at that moment. Maybe he should have stayed home with his family instead of moving into town to attend university. Even Nahee had told him to take some time and go back home for a week or two. She said that he needed to reload his batteries, that he needed a breath of fresh air. But the only thing he really wanted was graduating.

And his hard work seemed so vain that he wanted to give up.

But giving up was too easy and so not like him that he decided to have a nap and go out in the evening to forget about his problems.

Because a party was always a good place and Chanyeol had lots of good friends to hang around with.

He took his jacket and left home after eating a quick dinner: ramyeon, because he had no time to lose on healthy eating. Not on a day like that.

As he arrived at the club, he noticed how empty it was and felt a bit disappointed.

Okay, he thought. That’s that kind of day. Nobody wants to party.

Feeling it was going to be the saddest party he had ever been at Chanyeol sat near the bar and started looking at the crowd. It was still early, maybe people would arrive and flow inside the club like the see when the tide is high? He just had to wait for it to happen.

After ordering a second glass – the first one had been emptied in less than a second – Chanyeol’s eyes caught a figure in the crowd.

It was not so much the person themselves as the way they behaved that had the student eyeing them the way he did. He, because it was not hard to determine that they were male, was moving around the room as though they had been looking for someone; not in a I-know-my-friends-are-there-and-I-am-looking-for-them way, but rather in a I-have-not-the-slightest-clue-of-what-I-am-looking-for way. He knew it, he had been there before.

As he finally arrived at the bar, Chanyeol looked at him from the top of his high stool, his lips curling up in a smile as their eyes met. Then, the other looked away.

“A double vodka, please.” The stranger said to the barman, as if he had ordered a soft drink, a thin smile forming on his lips as he took place on the stool next to him. He was dressed quite normally for someone going in a club, but something did not seem right. Chanyeol gave him a sceptical look.

“What’s that look? Is it the first time you hear someone ordering vodka?”

The stranger’s cheeky tone caught Chanyeol off guard and it took him a second to realize he had been talking to him.

“No, I just…”

“You just nothing, liar. I can tell it by the look on your face.”

Chanyeol’s mouth opened and closed several times, then he decided to stop acting like a fish out of water, and he pinched his lips, taking a gulp of his own drink. How could someone so small be that angry? He had barely said a word and Chanyeol could already sense his nervousness!

“Hey, calm down. You don’t know me.”

The stranger looked puzzled for a moment, and the student could have bet that he had seen a glimpse of sadness in his eyes if he had not been busy wondering why the boy was so full of anger. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

The apology seemed so sincere that Chanyeol had no other choice than accepting it and he shrugged before emptying his glass. It was not the first time that someone told him off because of his bad staring habits.

“My name’s Baekhyun.”

“Chanyeol. Are you new in town?” He answered, a smile forming on his lips.

“No, why?”

“I never saw you around.”

“It’s because I don’t go out a lot.” Baekhyun seemed to always have something to answer. Another surprise, Chanyeol thought. It could explain why the other had looked so lost in the crowd a few minutes ago. “Do you mind if I stay with you?”

The student thought for a second, looking around to see whether he could recognize other faces in the crowd before going back to Baekhyun, giving him a smile.

“No. Of course I don’t.”