Classes began and Chanyeol had somehow managed to evade all of them. Even Baekhyun had failed to catch the tall male despite being flatmates. There were signs that he had been in and out of the flat, but always when Baekhyun was out or asleep, meaning that he was purposely keeping himself hidden. Everything seemed to point at what Sooyoung had said to be true.

Soojung was completely out of it while Baekhyun was furious at his childhood friend’s behaviour. Hayoon insisted on waiting for Chanyeol to explain his side of the story, give him the benefit of the doubt, but even for her, it was becoming increasingly hard to maintain her faith in the male.

Rumours of Chanyeol’s supposed cheating had spread. It was no secret that Chanyeol had been aggressively courting Soojung, and with Soojung being the popular and beloved star of the acting department, the possibility of her being cheated on by her boyfriend had become the juicy gossip that the bored students were more than eager to consume. 

To make matters worse, the identity of the girl Chanyeol had supposedly cheated with remained a mystery, the only clue being that it happened during summer camp. Someone from the summer camp had recognised Hayoon from when she had sneaked in and consequently, she too got caught up in the rumours, making her a prime candidate to being the mystery girl. Hayoon only realised this however when she walked past the music department hoping to find Chanyeol, only to be met with curious glances and weary whispers.

KNUA was a large university with a dense student population, so relatively speaking only one small portion of the student body who were directly associated with Chanyeol and Soojung — mostly classmates and such — were aware of the rumour. Nonetheless, Hayoon felt the weight of being the centre of such unwanted attention and felt extremely self-conscious.

One time when Hayoon and Baekhyun were heading towards the library they saw Chanyeol’s familiar figure walking up the stairs, but by the time they reached the stairs, he was nowhere to be seen, hidden by the swarm of students that were swarming out of a lecture.

During her own lecture, Hayoon chose to sit at the furthest corner of the lecture hall, ignoring the paranoid nudge in the back of her mind that was convinced everyone was staring at her. She tried her best to maintain a stoic expression, but inside, she was counting down the seconds to when she could escape.

A large shadow however suddenly cast over her, blocking her surroundings. Tentatively glancing to her right, she realised that Sehun had plopped himself next to her, extending his body so that he was fully covering Hayoon’s petite body from the rest of the class.

“How was your summer shortie?” The tall male asked, his tone nonchalant.

“Uneventful,” Hayoon replied with equal nonchalance.

Raising an eyebrow of disbelief, Sehun poked her between the brows and Hayoon instinctively reacted by threatening to bite his finger.

“Stop frowning or you’ll get wrinkles.”

Lowering his left hand, Sehun proceeded to cup Hayoon’s cheek, using his thumb to push the corner of her lips upwards.

“There,” mused the male. “Much better when you smile.”

Rolling her eyes, Hayoon used her pen to peel Sehun’s hand off of her face. Facing forward again, Hayoon let her hair fall in front of her face, hiding the small smile that she was trying to bite back.

Sehun however had caught her smile. Crossing his arms across his chest while facing forward too, he grinned smugly to himself, proud of his little achievement.

・・・

The rumours persisted but Hayoon knew better than to engage in them. Nonetheless, it was hard to ignore the gnawing sense of unease. She knew she had not done anything to be ashamed of and so did Baekhyun and Soojung. However the whole ordeal was taking a toll on Soojung, and sometimes Hayoon suspected that the girl almost wished that Hayoon was indeed the mystery girl, just so that she could have an outlet to vent her anger, to be able to lash out at someone and not be faulted for acting irrationally.

“Hey isn’t that the chick that Chanyeol cheated with?” 

Hayoon flinched, burying her face deeper in the book she had just taken from the bookshelf. Annoyed at herself for accidentally hearing the comment, she flipped loudly through the book, failing to zone out his voice in the otherwise quiet library.

“I don’t get it, Soojung is such a catch. Why would he cheat with someone like her?”

Hands tightening around the book, Hayoon’s knuckles turned white. Her mind screamed at her to just get out of there, but her feet refused to listen.

“Do us all a favour and shut your damn trap will you? I’m trying to study here and you’re being a nuisance,” a deep voice sneered at the male.

Looking up from her book, Hayoon saw Jongin throwing the male a menacing stare, causing the male to jolt out of his seat and bolt away, his friends following closely behind.

Ruffling his hair in frustration, Jongin stood up from his seat, heading straight towards Hayoon. Seeing her tense state, his gaze softened, a helpless sign escaping his lips.

“Ignore those idiots,” grunted the tan male.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” murmured Hayoon, returning the book she was holding to the shelf. “They’re just bored and in need of entertainment. No need to get so worked up.”

“But they’re doing it at the expense of you,” rebutted the male. “You can’t possibly be fine with that.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Hayoon leaned against the bookshelf, staring at Jongin, her eyes filled with fatigue.

“Tis life.”

Frowning, Jongin opened his mouth to say something but was cut short by the buzzing of Hayoon’s phone, signalling that she had received a message.

Moonchild Baekhyun:

Come over to Soojung’s.

NOW.

“I have to get going.” Hayoon pushed herself off the shelf. “Thanks for earlier.”

Not waiting for Jongin’s reply, Hayoon turned towards the direction of the exit. Picking up her speed, from the corners of her eyes she caught Jinyoung and Jaebum sitting at a table behind the shelf she was standing by earlier, both of them wearing an identical apologetic expression on their faces. Hayoon made a mental note to hunt them down later, because surely Jaebum knew something and she was going to dig it out of him.

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