“You’re leaving to America tonight.”
    “I’m staying,” Baekhyun sternly said to his father.
    Upon hearing that, Senator Byun furrowed his eyebrows at his son. “You’ll get nothing from rebelling against us, Baekhyun,” he warned him.
    Baekhyun huffed a sigh. “I’m not rebelling against anyone.”
    Baekhyun saw this coming. And he has no intention of explaining himself to his parents, because they will never understand. Closed minds will remain closed, unless it open from the inside. The least he could do is reassure them that he is not rebelling. They won’t listen to him, anyway. They never did.
    Baekhyun was on his way to his unit from university when his father summoned him to their ancestral house, where both of his parents are staying. Baekbeom, his older brother, and him has moved out of their house a long time ago.
    He’s been expecting a call from his parents throughout the day, because there is no way that the news of him attending Korea University has not reached them yet. News, like they all say, spread fast. After all, he was supposed to be in America by now to study Law, yet there he was, in Seoul, studying Journalism. He could imagine his father slamming the table out of anger upon hearing the news about him.
    And he was right.
    When Baekhyun arrived at their ancestral home, he found his father in the living room being checked by a doctor due to high blood pressure. His father dismissed the doctor upon seeing him enter the house. Baekhyun was actually contemplating whether or not to let the doctor off because they will probably call him back after he talks with his father.
    “Then what do you call that, being stupid? Stubborn?” said the senator. “Stop bringing shame to this family.”
    “Stop?” Baekhyun echoed the word. “So, I’m already bringing shame to this family even before this? Why, because I can’t be like my brother?”
    It has always been a competition between them. That’s how they were raised. Like, who excels the most gets on their good side. While the one left out will get the leftovers. He grew up learning to hate his brother along with his parents because of that.
    The main door opened.
    “Baekbeom,” the senator acknowledged the arrival of his elder son. “I didn’t call you out. What brings you here?” he asked, already forgotten what his younger son had said earlier.
    Baekbeom walked to Baekhyun’s side. He placed down a newspaper he’s holding onto the table in front of his father. Then he straightened up and fixed his posture.
    Baekhyun looked at his older brother in confusion. The last time he checked, he’s against as well about him studying Journalism instead of Law.
    “It’s already out in the news,” Baekbeom started, pointing at the headline of the newspaper that said: ‘The Youngest Byun Is Attending Korea University to Study Journalism’. “You can’t just send him off to America all of a sudden. Not with the entire country being aware that he’s taking up Journalism in Seoul. That will affect your early campaign for the upcoming election. Let him stay,” he told their father.
    The senator cleared his throat and looked at Baekhyun. He does not want to admit defeat, but he has no choice but to agree with his elder son.
    “I am giving you one semester. Then you’re off to America to study Law.” With that, the senator stood up and took his leave to his office. Baekhyun and Baekbeom bowed to pay respect to their father.
    When the senator was out of their sight, Baekhyun faced his brother, confusion but with relief is still evident in his eyes.
    “Hyung…”
    Baekbeom had cut him off promptly, “Not a word, Baekhyun.” Then he turned his back to Baekhyun to take his leave.
    Baekhyun hesitated to say something, but when he saw Baekbeom getting out, he finally blurted out, “Thank you, hyung.”
    Baekbeom left the house without looking back to his brother. But he heard him clearly.
    Baekhyun tiredly sighed. He looked down at the table where Baekbeom placed down the newspaper. Look at that, he’s in the front page. He chuckled sadly at the sight and took it with him as he got out of the house.
    He once swore to never move back in that house once he got out. He never thought that a home could be that suffocating. He wasn’t even sure if he could call it home. Not even a shelter. It’s just… a house. Prison, perhaps. It brings so many bad memories to him.
    Once he’s inside his car, he straightened the newspaper to read it.
    “I hope they wrote something good about me, at least.”
 

“This morning, the news that the youngest Byun had broken his family's legacy shocked a lot of netizens,” Haru read the article. “The irony lies in the fact that a Byun is pursuing a career in journalism, given that President Byun, the late dictator, was forced to resign from office due to exposure by numerous national journalists during his administration,” she continued.
    She scoffed. Look at that, she has a famous classmate.
    “I doubt his parents let him off that easy to study Journalism,” Haru’s father said as he placed down a cup of warm milk on the table for his daughter.
    “Who cares?” Haru said as she folded the newspaper and sat up straight from the sofa to drink her milk. “He can still be a politician without a license in law.”
    Her father laughed at her ignorance. “They are all lawyers in their family, Haru. Even his mother is a lawyer. Like what the article said, it’s like a legacy to them. And it’s a very big deal to have a non-lawyer in their family. I admire the bravery of that youngest Byun.”
    Bravery? How is that bravery?
    “Are you joining the strike this weekend?” her father asked casually.
    Haru nodded. A group of factory workers are doing a strike to end contractualization. It’s been a while for Haru since she’s been busy at her last year in high school. And while college life is being easy with her, she’ll grab the chance to fight with the people again.
    “Is Yixing coming along?” her father asked again.
    Haru shook her head. She did not bother to inform her childhood best friend about it.  “It’s just a strike. What bad could happen to me there?”
    The next day, Haru is uncomfortably sitting in class out of her will. She was walking to her class earlier when Chanyeol grabbed her wrist, dragging her faster to their room. She let him drag her, because they were heading to the same room, anyway. But when Chanyeol sat in the fifth row, where Baekhyun was sitting alone, she tried getting out of his grasp but failed.
    She was forced, yet again, to sit in the same row as Baekhyun. Good thing that Chanyeol chose to sit in their middle.
    Haru leaned closer to Chanyeol and whispered, “Why are we sitting with him again?”
    Eyes on the professor in front, Chanyeol retorted, “Because he’s lonely.”
    Haru furrowed her eyebrows at him, controlling herself from smacking Chanyeol’s head really bad for being stupid. “He’s not lonely, he’s alone,” she whispered sharply.
    Chanyeol tilted his head before turning to the woman beside him. “I could see that he’s alone, but you can’t see that he’s lonely?”
    Haru shifted her eyes to Baekhyun. It’s normal to see him quiet, because he’s alone. But when she arrived with Chanyeol and sat with him, he didn’t even budge from his seat nor acknowledged their presence. Baekhyun didn’t ruin her day today. That’s a relief.
     When the class ended, Haru took her time putting her things in her bag, while Baekhyun hurriedly stood up and walked out of the room.
    “Hey,” Chanyeol called him out. Baekhyun halted and turned around to face Chanyeol. “Where are you heading to?” he asked Baekhyun.
    “Out,” the youngest Byun simply responded.
    Chanyeol carried his bag over his shoulder. “I know you’re going out, but to where specifically?” he asked again.
    Baekhyun hesitated, but still muttered, “…Why?”
    Chanyeol shrugged. “You want to come with us? Gryffindor and I are heading out for ice cream.”
    We are? Haru thought.
    Baekhyun shifted his gaze to Haru. She arched an eyebrow at him. Then he turned his gaze back to Chanyeol. “Maybe next time. Thanks for the invite.” Then he left the room in a hurry.
    Haru stood up from her seat and hung her bag over her shoulder, then she crossed her arms as she faced Chanyeol. “Ice cream, huh? You really think he’ll go eat ice cream with us?”
    Chanyeol playfully grinned at her. “I suddenly craved for ice cream. Let’s go?” Then he started walking out of the room.
    Haru took a deep breath. “It’s lunch, Chanyeol. Lunch! Who eats ice cream for lunch?” she blurted as she walked faster to match Chanyeol’s pace.
    “Us, apparently,” Chanyeol responded. He turned his head to Haru who is now walking beside him. “Fine, how about ice cream after class?” he haggled.
    With Chanyeol dragging her around wherever he goes, Haru defeatedly sighed.
    “Do I even have a choice?”
 

“Yes, and Baekbeom gave you one,” Minseok told Baekhyun as he took a bite out of his sandwich.
    “What? How is that a choice? All he did was prolong Baekhyun’s agony,” Jongdae countered Minseok.
    Baekhyun sighed as he took a sip from his frappe. The two guys have been arguing before he even came in the restaurant to meet them. They were debating whether or not Baekbeom had made his situation even worse.
    “Okay, fine,” Minseok blurted. “Say Baekbeom wasn’t helping you out, but let’s look at the other angle of your situation, Baekhyun. Your father gave you one semester to stay here. Which means…?” he implied, looking hopefully at Baekhyun to understand his situation.
    “That he has one semester to study Journalism,” Jongdae dumbly answered.
    “No, Jongdae. Shut up,” Minseok scolded him. He rolled his eyes and faced Baekhyun. “You have the entire semester to think of a way to get out of this, Baekhyun. Whatever intention Baekbeom has for doing that, it made you a great deal. You grab the chance or not, your choice.” He slammed a hand in the table, startling Jongdae.
    Baekhyun groaned, rubbing his face. “I’ll think of something.”
    “Are we done with this topic?” Jongdae boredly asked, causing him to receive a glare from Minseok. “Well, anyway, I’m throwing a party this weekend. You coming, Baek?” he asked the dejected Byun.
    Baekhyun shook his head as a response. “I’m doing something this weekend,” he said as he stood up and draped his bag over his shoulder.
    Both Jongdae and Minseok furrowed their eyebrows.
     “What could you possibly do on a weekend that will prohibit you to party?” Minseok declaimed at him.
    Baekhyun tiredly sighed and started to walk away. “Homework,” he mumbled.
    Jongdae scoffed, following Baekhyun through his gaze. “Who the still says homework in college?” he shouted.
    Minseok chuckled. “Apparently, Byun Baekhyun.”
 

Chanyeol nodded in agreement. “Apparently, Byun Baekhyun is the only one who can ruin your day.”
    “Wrong,” Haru murmured, munching in her bibimbap.
    After a long debate of where they will eat, they ended up settling for the cafeteria in the university instead of going outside the campus to eat fast food.
    Chanyeol raised a brow at her. “Who else?”
    Haru shrugged. “Someone named Park Chanyeol or something,” she teased, earning a pout from Chanyeol. “Why does he looked down earlier, anyway?” she asked, pertaining to Baekhyun.
    “Who, Byun Baekhyun?” Chanyeol asked with his mouth full of noodles.
    Haru frowned in disgust. “Who else?” she mocked Chanyeol.
    Chanyeol raised an arm in the air, pouting. “Park Chanyeol,” he bawled.
    Haru jeered at the sight of a moping Chanyeol. “That’s your fault, pinhead. Who the heck doesn’t know the father of journalism?”
    Earlier in class, Chanyeol was asked by the professor to name the father of journalism, but the man failed to give an answer. Apparently, Chanyeol has a habit of taking things to heart, and failing is one of them.