The approach of winter holidays meant that all students were now loaded with deadlines. That was especially the case for Hayoon who had chosen assignment heavy modules. The plus side of that was barely having any exams at the end of the academic year, however at the moment, Hayoon was heavily questioning her life decisions as she sulked in the library surrounded by countless academic journals, biographies and books for reference.

The poor girl had five assignments and one presentation due the end of the week. Fortunately she was also an organised person, and had began working on the assignments about one month ago. What was left to be done thus were the final edits of the essay analysing the prevalence and influence of Japanese horror film, memorise her presentation on the transition from silent films to sound, and power through her media theory class essay.

The last proved to be a major obstacle. In a moment of delirium — which Hayoon blames Baekhyun to be the cause for feeding her too much chocolate that day — she decided to choose not one but two philosophers, thus doubling the amount of research needed. Rather than focusing and extrapolating one key theory, Hayoon had the oh-so-wonderful idea of writing an argumentative paper, placing two philosophers — specifically Walter Benjamin and Theodor W. Adorno —  against each other to then reach her own conclusion on who’s theory was relevant for the current state of the film industry. Only issue? Hayoon had done so much research that she was simply overwhelmed by all the information. Her brain had gone into overdrive, unable to process the strings of theories laid in front of her.

Hayoon bit her lips and wondered why she was always putting herself under so much stress. Should she have opted for modules that were more about practical skills like Baekhyun and Soojung? But then she remembered her dislike of being in the spotlight so that thought was shaken off immediately. What about composing? Chanyeol always seemed to be so relaxed when working on his music. However that idea was tossed out too, because well, Chanyeol wore his emotions on his sleeves, he was oozing with emotions, so it was only natural that he would need an outlet to express himself. Hayoon however, was the opposite of that. Rather, it would be more suitable to describe her as being too emotionally constipated. Heck, Hayoon herself barely understood her inner workings, so how could she be expected to express it?

Sighing, Hayoon stared blankly at her laptop again. The highlighted words of the printout next to her danced in the corner of her eyes as if taunting her, mocking her inability to form a concrete structure for the essay. The longer Hayoon stared her her screen the tighter she gripped her highlighter, her knuckles turning white. A wave of nausea hit the girl, and suddenly she felt as though she was staring at the world through water, her vision unfocused. Her breathing became erratic too, as each mouthful of air seemed to bring her less and less oxygen.

It’s happening again.

Was the only thought zooming through her mind as she attempted and failed miserably at regaining control of her mind and body. She kept blinking, hoping that the repetitive motion would clear her sight but to no vail.

Just then, a large hand landed on Hayoon’s head, raffling her hair softly before gently pulling Hayoon’s head, letting her forehead lean against the torso connected to the large hand. The subtle scent of spiced apple washed away the tension in Hayoon’s body. Letting out a shaky breath, Hayoon inhaled more of the familiar scent. Blinking against the fabric of Chanyeol’s shirt, Hayoon regained focus and clarity.

“What did I tell you about stressing yourself too much? And taking a break when needed?”

Chanyeol’s low whisper sent shivers down Hayoon’s spine. Finally she pulled back, lifting her head to stare at the wide eyed giant. His hands left her head and Hayoon immediately missed its warmth. However she could not ponder on that thought for long because Chanyeol squeezed both her cheeks, forcing them into an awkward smile.

“Stop frowning and smile. Look at Baekhyun, the fool hasn’t even chosen the scene for his monologue assignment, and he is supposed to memorise it. Memorising a ten minute long monologue! That is ridiculous. Yet he is still prancing around without a care int he world, choosing to disrupt me from my composition assignments instead. If you ask me, he is the real masochist of the group.”

Hayoon let out a snort. In her mind she could already picture a panicking Baekhyun when realisation hits that he had yet again left a very important assignment to the very last minute.

Sensing that Hayoon’s mood had significantly improved, or at the very least stabilised, Chanyeol let go of her cheeks and sat down in the seat next to her, his body facing her while leaning against the table.

“So, what is worrying that little head of yours this time? I swear, I could see fumes rising from your ears from how much you were overusing your brain.”

Glancing again at the pile of books next to her and then back at Chanyeol, Hayoon slumped into her chair. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself for the upcoming rant.

“I overestimated my abilities — or maybe I was simply too high on chocolate, in which case it is all Baekhyun’s fault — and am now stuck with an assignment topic that is completely out of my grasp. I mean, if I were to filter it all down to the basics, Benjamin is a bundle of optimism while Adorno is the epitome of pessimism. Although the two have shared similar views in the past, ultimately their defining works are antithesis of each other. And yet both apply to the contemporary society and might I add, that although I have never met these two individuals and never will, it is clear as day that they are both stubborn as mules.”

Catching a break from her rant, Hayoon removed her glasses and massaged her eyes to soothe the strain they were feeling from staring at a computer screen and tiny letters in old books for too long.