It was probably an hour after Baekhyun had finished his shower that he realised that the mental note he had left for himself on the back of his palm remained, his forearm was covered in red blisters after the harsh scrubbing he had done in order to remove the insults that had covered his artwork. He stared down at the word that continued to remain on his skin no matter how many times he attempted to wash it off, the letters spelling out something that Baekhyun didn't even understand the meaning of anymore. 

Nothing in his eyes were beautiful, not the way he smiled or the countless paintings he created. Beautiful lost it's meaning to the poor student and there didn't seem like there would be a way to renew his faith in it's definition. Baekhyun was hollow, his body having grown used to the constant pain and heartbreak he had to endure daily. He had often thought about ending his life, but he couldn't stand the idea of Lay finding him, even when Baekhyun was willing to give up everything he still thought of the one man who had been with him through it all. Lay was much more than just a simple professor to the boy, he was a friend and probably the only person Baekhyun could actually call his family. With that in mind Baekhyun was able to do anything, he was strong and willing to pull through his dark days if it meant that Lay would continue to remain by his side until he was strong enough to stand alone. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts after hearing a faint knock on his apartment door, he stood up from the couch (which had helped his injured ankle) and hopped over to his door keeping in mind to keep his foot off the ground. When he unlocked his main door Baekhyun wasn't surprised to see Lay standing in front of him with a takeout bag in his hands and a funny grin on his lips. 

"Hey Baek," the professor smiled, casting a glance down to the boy's ankle. Baekhyun jumped backwards allowing the teacher access to his apartment, Lay stepped inside without a problem, offering his arm out to help steady his friend. "I had a chat with the principal after you left and he's agreed to give you a couple days off due to your injuries. He's stated in the letter I have for you that the bullying in which you have endured will no longer be acceptable, he said that he has suspended Wonho and his friends from school they'll only be back for graduation." 

Baekhyun allowed himself to sit back down on the couch, Lay offering him a kind smile after making his way to the kitchen to get the food ready to be eaten. "That's a relief, my ankle has been in pain ever since my painkillers wore off. You don't think you could give it a look could you, I know it's not broken but I really do need you to wrap it up properly for me." 

"I'll wrap it as soon as I'm finished with this!" the professor called with his back to his student. Baekhyun watched as the latter moved around in kitchen in ease, grabbing everything he needed before coming to rest back by his side. 

Baekhyun accepted the held-out plate with a small smile on his lips, he had expected Lay to begin eating himself but was surprised to see his professor get on his knees before him. "Here" he whispered, offering his student a to go cup of soda. "drink this while I dress it, it will help you feel better."

Without thinking twice Baekhyun brought the straw to his lips and began sipping away at the carbonated drink, he watched in curiosity as Lay began moving his ankle around with a gentle touch. Baekhyun half-expected himself to whine and feel a pain shoot through his leg but he was stumped, his ankle wasn't sore anymore and the pain that had been present in the beginning was long gone. He wanted to question what Lay had done to him but figured it best not to once he saw his friend begin to wrap his ankle around in the bandage. 

"Your healing hands never cease to amaze me hyung!" Baekhyun chirped, his smile brightening once Lay had allowed his foot to rest back on the pillow. 

"Have you received a call from Kyle today?" Lay wondered, taking his plate and began eating while remaining on his seat on the floor. Baekhyun rose a brow, turning his attention on his noodles. 

"No" he admitted with a shake to his head. "has he been looking for me?" 

"He called me earlier and asked if I could get you out of school early so that you can go and help him in the café, he needs some help with the new customers since he moved locations. I told him that you had gotten hurt and that I thought it best that you rest, but he wanted me to relay the message onto you anyway." 

"I'd love to" Baekhyun said through a mouth-full of noodles. He loved working at Kyle's café since the atmosphere was always so homey and comfortable, the owner -Kyle- had received a promotion from the local council. They had given him a grant and a larger place to work, which meant great news to Baekhyun who occasionally offered up his free time to work in the café. Kyle paid him a great deal of money for his time and effort, Baekhyun having to thank him countless times for the generous amount that his boss gave every time he worked. Other students could only dream to receive that amount and Baekhyun considered himself the luckiest. "but I'm worried about my ankle." 

"That's why he said that he would happily accept you to work tomorrow, the swelling should be gone by tomorrow which will help you stand and move around a bit. As for the pain, it will greatly decrease but I think you should bring some painkiller with you just in case." Lay smiled, gently resting his hand down on Baekhyun's knee. His student offering him a keen grin as he nodded his head in thanks. "I'll let him know about your decision now!" 

Baekhyun turned his attention onto the television hanging over the fireplace in front of him, he had decided on watching some Disney movies while he was drying his hair earlier, Princess and the Frog was playing right now. It was one of Baekhyun's favourite movies since the songs were quite enjoyable. He found himself getting lost in the storyline he didn't even realise that Lay had finished talking with Kyle. 

"He said that he would be glad to see you at about 8 o'clock in the morning tomorrow, he said that you'll be behind the register so you don't need to worry too much about your ankle. He also told me to give you his new address." Lay explained the information to his student who was only half-listening as his eyes remained on the animated classic in front of him. 

Baekhyun held out his wrist and instructed Lay to write down the details, with a soft sigh the teacher produced one of the markers from the cup in the centre of the table and began writing the address of the new café location. The soft flutter-like feeling tingled as Lay continued to write, his handwriting looking oddly similar to the beautiful on his wrist. 

Kyle's café
Harlem Street
8 am

Chanyeol was sitting in the castle's library, glancing through the countless shelves filled to the brim with books of all sorts, ranging from dictionaries to gardening guides, to the average story and finally to the vampire history section. Chanyeol's fingers had glossed over the spines of most of the books in the library, his eyes raking through the titles until his eyes lay on one that actually caught his attention. 

He plucked it from the shelf and carried it with him as he travelled back to his table where he had left his research materials. The Prince clambered into his seat and gently rested the book directly below him right next to the notebook that was opened on a fresh page, just reday to be used. 

The book basically laid out the countless communication methods between soulmates, Chanyeol obviously skipped the first couple chapters that touched on the effects that could develop if a pair of soulmates willingly went against the pull towards each other. The Prince already had a fair idea of what happens since he witnessed the effects in action daily with his Appa and the King. It was different for everyone in that situation but in Chanyeol's parents case they seemed to have gotten the worst effects aside from immediate death, Kris grew resentful while Suho became easily killable. 

He scanned through the chapters, passing The Senses that had brought his brother to the love his life. A small smile had slipped onto Chanyeol's lips as he thought for a moment, Jongin had been quite annoying soulmate since he had been the one to figure out their situation before Kyungsoo. 

Finally he landed on the Body Art chapter, it was highlighted as one of the rarest mate communications. Chanyeol ignored the colours and scanned through the paragraphs, jotting down the various notes and tips that the book had to offer. 

According to the notes he had taken, his mate-finder took some time to work which explained the delay he had with receiving messages when he could clearly feel the tingling sensation. Apparently the longer the couple took to find each other after the first marking was recognized the more they would be able to communicate, which in turn meant that they wouldn't be limited to only Body Art if a long amount of time had passed, the example that the book gave to help aid Chanyeol understand was; 

'If the couple have continuously communicated with one another during the period of a week and neither of them had attempted to meet the other then both soulmates would gradually evolve. If one of the soulmates is harmed in any way it will effect the other to some extend.' 

Chanyeol didn't like the sound of that, but seeing as how the universe worked in making these soulmate pairing he expected nothing less to attempt to get them together. "It's been a day already" Chanyeol sighed, scratching his nails against his scalp in frustration. "you still have another six days until things start to get a bit scarier Chanyeol." 

It was a pep-talk. Park Chanyeol was trying to see the positive side of his situation even though his brain couldn't help but bring up his father's threat of marriage if he was unable to find his mate. Chanyeol glanced towards the plastic globe in the corner of the room, he had six days to find his soulmate who could be anywhere in the entire world right now. At the thought of having to search every corner of the world within a given time-limit Chanyeol felt like he should just give up before he even started, his mate could be anywhere and with Kris' determination to ruin his son's life Chanyeol couldn't imagine a life where he could do this. 

Just as he was about to toss everything to the floor (including the table) a familiar tingling feeling took place on his left wrist, his lips naturally pulled up into a small smile as he waited patiently for the words to show up on his skin. In that time he cleaned up his mess, tossed the crimpled paper into the bin, placing the soulmate book back on the shelf and grabbing his material in order to return to his bedroom where he planed to view the new message or drawing waiting for him. 

The address stood out on his skin in pretty blue ink, he figured that his soulmate liked writing in blue. The handwriting was oddly familiar to the Prince but he shook off the feeling and allowed excitement to course through his veins, even though he was positive that the boy had absolutely no idea what was happening he was still grateful that his beautiful had completely spooked him out. 

Chanyeol felt his shoulder lightened from the weight that been ed upon him, his entire future rested on his wrist and the excitement bubbling in his stomach got the better of him. Pulling out his phone Chanyeol searched the internet for a Kyle's café on a Harlem street, he was beyond surprised to see one so close to him in Seoul just beyond the hill in which his mansion sat. 

The Prince let out a sigh of relief, dropping his phone onto his bedsheet as he sprung to his legs with his head in his hands. His mate was going to Kyle's café tomorrow morning and there was a high possibility that Chanyeol would defy all the rules drilled in him since he was young and to go, with his mate so close the prince couldn't help but get nervous. The fact that his mate was so deep in human territory had the prince wondering all sorts of what if's but he quickly dismissed the thoughts with a simple shrug to his shoulders. 

"I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow.." the prince chuckled, racing towards the shower to prepare himself for tomorrow.