Kyungsoo sat on the stairs by himself, eyeing the school playground that was mostly empty apart from the janitor who was idly picking the leaves off the benches lined up on one side. He had more than an hour to go before it was time for the first class of the day. No student would come to school so early, and certainly a portion of students were habitually tardy, but Kyungsoo had a purpose. Rather than staying behind after school in the practice room, he chose to arrive early and practice singing to his heart’s content. Since food and drinks were not allowed in the practice room, here he was, quietly eating his breakfast.

Like Kyungsoo, his classmate Yifan had a similar purpose in mind, except his interest was in playing basketball. Early morning practice was also his style, and he could have the entire court to himself. It was these mutual habits that brought the two together as close friends.

“So…?” Yifan asked, sitting down next to Kyungsoo and stretching his long legs that seemed to go on forever. “Have you made up your mind yet? Today’s the last day if you wanna sign up.”

Kyungsoo shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Come on, you’ve been practicing for such a long time. It would be such a waste if you just let this opportunity go,” the tall boy urged, nudging Kyungsoo and then resting his arm on Soo’s shoulder.

“Of course I want to join, but I can’t without a pianist or a guitarist or a violinist or, you know, some sort of accompaniment since that’s the theme and requirement of this year’s singing contest. It’s not just about vocals but also making the instruments sing,” he explained. “The only person that I thought could help me out is Chanyeol, but he’s part of the organizing committee so it wouldn’t be fair for him to be on any contestant’s team.”

“Well, there’s always someone else you could ask. You see the columns of trophies over there?” Yifan pointed in the direction of the foyer. “Every year, the school adds a new shining gold trophy on that row because we’ve got one outstanding pianist who consistently outdoes himself. And as far as I know it, he hasn’t entered the competition or allied himself with any side yet.”

“...Yifan, you’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m serious. So what? You have a crush on him, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ask him to be your pianist,” Yifan insisted, leaning back with confidence. “There. Problem solved. You’re welcome.”

“No. I do have a crush on him, and that’s precisely why I can’t ask him,” Kyungsoo whined. “I haven’t even got the guts to talk to him!”

“I’m just saying, it doesn’t hurt to ask if he might be interested in helping you out. It’s not like you have to ask him out,” Yifan joked. “Although I mean, if you ask him out too, then, sure, I suppose that’s cool as well.”

“I don't know,” the shorter boy replied reluctantly knowing that this was his last hope. Resting his chin on his palm, he let out a sigh. “I’ll think about it.”

“Well, today’s the last day you can pull this excuse on me,” said Yifan gently, glancing at his watch. “Anyway, time for practice. See you in class.”

After eight dreary hours, Kyungsoo was finally finished with his classes. As everybody packed their bags, glad to get to leave this hellhole, Kyungsoo was stopped by Chanyeol.

“Kyungsoo,” said Chanyeol, sounding concerned and looking surprisingly stern. “I’m about to collect all the application forms and hand them in to our Music teacher. I still don’t see your entry.”

“Yeah…” Kyungsoo drawled. “Because...I didn’t sign up.”

“Soo!” Chanyeol admonished. “I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you!”

“Err, maybe next time…” Kyungsoo uttered and scratched the nape of his neck.

Chanyeol was visibly getting worked up now. “Of all the things you could pick up from Yifan, why not his guts to just ask…”

Kyungsoo shrugged apologetically and swung his backpack over his shoulder. “I'll see you tomorrow, Chanyeol. Gotta go.”

Chanyeol merely grunted lazily. Luckily, the giant had a backup plan and it was devised with the other giant in the house. And when the twin towers put their minds to do something, they would get things done.

“Are you sure this will work?” Chanyeol asked Yifan, secretively and keeping his voice down.

“Yeah. Trust me, brother,” said Yifan in reassurance.

“I don't wanna get in trouble for this,” Chanyeol shuddered. “Kyungsoo will hit me if he finds out that I filled out the application form for him.”

“Don't worry. We're doing this for his own good. It's for a good cause,” the Chinese boy replied casually.

Chanyeol scratched his big ears and shrugged. “I really want this to work. They've been pining after each other for so long.”

“And if we don't intervene, they're really gonna keep doing this for the rest of eternity, wondering if they'll ever stand a chance with each other, and stubbornly believing there's no way their feelings would be reciprocated. Won't even consider the possibility,” Yifan commented. Although he was friends with both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, he did not think it was his place to disclose either’s feelings to the other. “It's funny because the truth is right under our noses but they're really blind to it. I wonder if I'm also gonna be like this when I'm the one all tangled up in my own feelings.”

The Korean boy chuckled. “They should feel blessed that they have us as their wingmen. By the way, did you really get the entire basketball team to spread the rumor that Kyungsoo’s accompanist is gonna play...the triangle?”

Yifan laughed too. “I thought about that, but I doubt anyone would buy it, so I made them say that Yixing would play the guitar for Soo. And I made sure their conversation was ‘accidentally’ overheard by Baekhyun. Wasn't easy, but anything for them, right?”

“Absolutely anything.”

“Please, please, please,” Baekhyun whined to Yixing, even resorting to using his limited Mandarin to plead. It was broken and a bit cringe-worthy but he definitely deserved kudos for the effort. “Let me join your team too.”

“Baekhyun, I, I don't know, I think you should really ask Kyungsoo—” Yixing stuttered and appeared to panic, but was actually not at all worried. He was confident that his cover would not be blown as Baekhyun’s actions lied perfectly within the bounds of Yifan’s expectations. It was exactly as what the captain of the basketball team had explained to Yixing when he came to persuade the guitarist to be part of this grand, wicked scheme to bring Kyungsoo and Baekhyun together. Yixing was even more convinced now that Baekhyun must care about Kyungsoo a lot, considering how desperate he was in asking to be part of Kyungsoo’s team in the singing contest.

“The rules didn't say that there can only be one accompanist, right? I can play any song that Kyungsoo chooses. You don't believe me? I can do it! I promise I won't get in the way either. I’ll just—”

“Well, I guess…” Yixing continued to hesitate, keeping his façade entirely believable to Baekhyun.

“Please!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “I'll do anything. I'll even do your homework for you!”

“Whoa!” Yixing blurted, and this time the surprise was genuine. “No, you really don't have to go that far. You know what, I can tell that you're really committed to this and, well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt for Kyungsoo to have one more teammate who’s so happy to help him out, right? I think we might stand a bigger chance of winning that way, so I'm going to put in a good word for you with Kyungsoo, and if he's cool with it too, then I'll let you know our practice schedule.”

Baekhyun squealed, completely overjoyed. As he dramatically kowtowed before Yixing, he mentally admonished himself for not making a move until the last minute. Actually, not even the last minute, but in fact when it was, to the best of his knowledge, already too late. If only he dared approach Kyungsoo rather than only indirectly attempting to draw the boy’s attention…

Still, he had Yixing to thank for getting this chance to get close to Kyungsoo. He got it and that was what mattered. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and hoped that his upcoming encounters with Kyungsoo would amount to something. That all this pleading and begging would be worth it.

Kyungsoo went to school the next day, still completely oblivious. Yifan’s mysterious behavior came across as slightly odd to the smaller boy, but he attributed it to the basketball team captain’s nerves as a big game was coming up.

Until Kyungsoo reached the practice room and the commotion outside made him frown, concerned. Dozens of students gathered, when normally nobody would want to be at school that early (or at all). They all looked annoyed, either grousing under their breaths or outwardly cursing. Some tried to push their way to the front, repeatedly slamming their palms on the door and windows to convey their frustration. Kyungsoo remained standing at the other end of the corridor, not tall enough to see what was really going on, nor bold enough to wade through all these students to get to what appeared to be the frontline of the battlefield.

Amidst the chaos, a sharp, clear voice pierced through the disorganized noise, turning heads instantly. “Kyungsoo! Kyungsoo!”

Now everybody was looking at tiny Soo who merely blinked and remained unmoving. He was sure that whoever was calling his name would want him to make his way over to where they were, but he simply could not as there were too many people in the way. Their grumbles arose again and he could not even figure out why they were so pissed off.

Suddenly a hand reached out to grab Kyungsoo. It landed on his forearm at first and although the grip was firm, it was not threatening. He looked up to see who it was, only to find that a painful expression was drawn across Baekhyun's face. The source of the pain could be traced back to his foot — somebody had stepped on him and the situation was simply too messy for anybody to tell if it was an accident or a deliberate attack. But Baekhyun merely grimaced and hissed momentarily, fixing his gaze on Kyungsoo and, with all his energy and at all costs, dragged the confused boy into the practice room, locking the doors as if to emphasize how much he desired to shut out the unwanted noise from outside and just keep Kyungsoo in here all to himself.

It was after all that hassle and in the peaceful quietness that Baekhyun looked down and realized that he had been holding Kyungsoo’s hand all this time.

Kyungsoo was perhaps slightly more conscious of their hand-holding, to the extent that he saw Baekhyun trip and almost lose his balance just now, causing his hand to slide further down to Kyungsoo’s wrist. He thought he must be dreaming, but not even in his wildest dreams did he think his crush would be holding his hand.

Baekhyun’s heart was beating so fast he thought he might pass out, but he also kept reminding himself that he must keep calm and look cool in front of Kyungsoo. Determined to impress his crush, Baekhyun cleared his throat and even though he was extremely nervous, he refused to let it show.

“Sorry about that,” said Baek as calmly as possible at the same time as letting go of Kyungsoo’s hand. He did not really want to, but feared that Kyungsoo would not appreciate this kind of intimacy. Perhaps more importantly, Baekhyun did not want his heavily sweaty palm to give away how nervous he was in the presence of the boy he liked.

“No worries,” Kyungsoo replied, calm too if not a tad bit disappointed that his happy dream had come to an end. “What was that all about anyway?”

“Yeah, well, normally this practice room is open to all but one month prior to the singing contest, it becomes reserved for students who signed up for the contest. Or at least they will take priority over others,” Baek explained, his throat getting dry and he had the urge to clutch his chest to slow his thumping heart.

“Oh…” Kyungsoo faltered. “Then I shouldn't be here. I should probably, um, go…”

“What?” It was Baekhyun’s turn to be confused. “Don't you wanna practice? We could choose a song...or do some vocal exercises.”

“No…? I'm not a contestant. If you've bagsied the room for practice then please go ahead; I won't disturb you,” said Kyungsoo quietly.

Baekhyun shook his head. “I don't get it. I thought we were a team. I thought Yixing told you...no, wait, how are you not part of the contest? Did you change your mind and drop out?”

“No, Baekhyun, I didn't put my name in the goblet of fire…I just have the habit of coming here to practice every morning because I could have the whole room to myself,” Kyungsoo replied. “What gave you the impression that I'm one of the contestants? And what does Yixing have to do with any of this?”

“Uh, a little bird told me?” Baekhyun scratched the back of his head. “Anyway, you have to stay in the competition otherwise you won't get to use the practice room. And I didn't spend the night here just so you wouldn't be able to get your chance to practice…”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened. “You slept here?? And didn't go home?”

Baekhyun nodded. “I had to be absolutely sure that I would get here way before any other student could. Clearly, it worked. Obviously plenty people are not pleased about this but I'm not doing it to please them,” he shrugged, deciding not to specify who he was really doing this for. “So yeah. Come on, let's practice. You're a contestant now and I’m your accompanist along with Yixing. I don't know why he's not here yet but it matters that you’re here. So, what song would you like to sing?”

“I can't believe…” Kyungsoo was absolutely shocked. He had yet to figure out how he ended up in the competition, and how he had Yixing and Baekhyun as his accompanists, and most importantly why Baekhyun would go to such great lengths for his sake. He could really use a moment to process this but time was ticking. He had a competition to prepare for and the least he could do was not make a fool out of himself so he had to deliver at least a decent performance. Decisively, he cleared his throat and said, “anyway, let's do some warm-up first. And then I have a few songs in mind that we could try.”

“Why aren't you eating, Soo-ya?” Chanyeol asked as he sat down opposite to Yifan and Kyungsoo in the canteen during lunchtime, carefully placing his full tray on the table as his soup was threatening to spill from the full bowl. “You should eat more; it'll help you grow so that you'll be as tall as we are.”

“Shut up,” said Soo softly. “I can't eat. I'm too nervous.”

“And why is that?” Yifan asked lazily as if he did not already know the answer. Sipping on his juice he crossed his legs and observed Kyungsoo intently.

“I can't stop thinking about this morning. I held hands with Baekhyun,” he gushed.

Yifan exchanged a secretive glance with Chanyeol, glad that their plan was working but also pleasantly surprised by the intimacy of the interactions between Kyungsoo and Baekhyun.

“This is some really good character development,” Yifan remarked, inwardly congratulating himself on the job well done.

"How did practice go?" Chanyeol asked, shoving a spoonful of rice in his mouth to conceal his giddy, mirthful smile.

"It went well, I suppose. Surprisingly well, considering how nervous I am when he's around. I just hate how shaky my voice was. I'm not normally like this. It's like I couldn't even stand still. It's a miracle I didn't go off-key," Kyungsoo rambled, shuddering. "Seriously, how am I gonna do this? How am I gonna perform when it's time for the contest? I'm gonna freak out. Oh my goodness, this is really too much."

"No worries, you're gonna nail it as usual. You're talented as and I have full confidence in you," said Yifan blithely. “Our Soo is gonna be the best. I just know it.”

"Easy for you to say! Have you seen the competition this year?" Kyungsoo groaned. "I heard that Kim Jongdae and Lu Han are gonna do a duet. They have godly vocals; I'm sure they're gonna win. And I know a lot of people agree with me; so many people are placing bets already."

"Yeah, my money would be on them too. But they're in the group category; you're in solo. It's not gonna affect you. Let me assure you, you've got nothing to worry about," Chanyeol replied confidently. "I'll say this though: I've had a look at the list of contestants and the competition in the group category is really strong. I think this year's contest will be even more interesting and more intense than last year's."

Chanyeol proceeded to mention something about the panel of judges, but Kyungsoo was only listening halfheartedly. As he was too preoccupied with dealing with his feelings and exchanges with Baekhyun, he had neglected to solve the mysteries of how they ended up on the same team as well as the extent of Yixing's involvement. But now that Chanyeol had brought this up...

"Chanyeol," Kyungsoo cut in. "You're part of the organizing committee of the singing contest and the person in charge of collecting application forms, right?"

"Yeah," Chanyeol blinked innocently. “What about it?"

"Then, that means every single application form will pass your hand before it reaches the Head Teacher of the Music Department."

"That's right."

"So if you were to tamper with those forms, perhaps...put in something that's not supposed to be there...before they're submitted to the teacher, you can get away with it?" Kyungsoo prodded.

"Well, technically..." Chanyeol gulped and looked up at Yifan gingerly. The Chinese boy cursed and bit his lip in realization of the epic fail.

"I will strangle you." Kyungsoo glowered at the two giants, tightening his grip on his unused utensils as if he was ready to grab a pitchfork.

"Mercy, mercy, please!" Chanyeol dropped his spoon and held up both of his hands in surrender. Kyungsoo was already bolting to his feet so Yifan, in a desperate attempt to rescue his brother, stammered and added, "if it weren't for this you wouldn't get to hold hands with Baekhyun or have any sort of physical contact with him! You never even thought you could talk to him but he was the only one you ended up talking with all morning, right?"

"Our impact!" Chanyeol squeaked.

"We all know you wanted to join the contest anyway. You just needed the right accompanist and you didn't want it to be anybody but Baekhyun. Yet you're too nervous to ask him, so we took things into our hands and got Yixing and a few other guys to make that happen," Yifan explained. "You can't back out now but you'll get to see Baekhyun a lot more frequently and you guys can get to know each other better. I don't see a downside to this."

"Well, I suppose, when you put it that way, you guys did do me a favor," Kyungsoo admitted, shrugging as he sat down. "Thanks, guys. I will eat now."

In class, Kyungsoo was about to fall asleep, but was kept awake by Baekhyun who kept passing notes to him.

"Ya! Byun Baekhyun! Do Kyungsoo! Are you two done playing yet?!" The teacher barked, extremely irritated. "What do you take me for? A fool? You think I'm stupid? That I won't see you two fooling around passing notes instead of listening to what I'm teaching?"

"Bold of you to assume you're teaching us anything at all," Baekhyun shot back right away and the whole class erupted in laughter.

The teacher grew red in the face, so much like a tomato, and more giggles arose. Stomping, she made her way to Baekhyun's seat and tore the crumpled piece of paper from his hand. "Let's see what you two are discussing that's so important that you feel the need to neglect your studies and your