t h r e e 

 

Never in Kira’s whole life did she think seeing that familiar mop of blond hair could feel the same as being reawakened, reborn. Someone pushed past her, their eyes widening for a moment before muttering a quick apology. They dashed at the sight of her before Kira could assure it was okay, leaving her baffled at how people gave her side glances but kept their distance.

 

Kira hitched her purse higher up her shoulder. She knew this place. The familiar chipped off paint from the walls, the chatters of the students and the dark circles under their eyes, along with a faint aroma of coffee in their breaths – it was unmistakable.

 

She was back in college.

 

“Baekhyun?” she ran to him, eyes already folded into half moons. Her arms were stretched out, and he was so close she could touch him. He’d ditched his usual sweatpants for denim jeans and leopard print shirt, but she knew it was him. She’d recognize that blond hair anywhere.

 

He was surrounded by a bunch of guys who smacked one another as they laughed. Baekhyun chuckled along with them, only to let out an oomph when Kira crushed him with her arms. “Baekhyun! Oh my gosh, I missed you!” she cried, not even caring anymore that people could see or that the guys surrounding them fell silent. Baekhyun grew rigid under her touch. “You have no idea what I’ve been through. Where were you?!”

 

“Damn, Baek, you and Kira are dating already?” a deep voice piped in. Kira furrowed her brows, pulling away from him to see a pale hand outstretched to her. The guy couldn’t be any older than them. He was attractive, extremely. Tall, lean, dark and alluring – Kira stared at him with her lips hanging open. 

 

“I’m Sehun,” he grinned. Kira failed to respond in surprise, and he took it wrongly because he drew his arm back, scratching the back of his neck. “Usually we’re aware of the girls Baekhyun hangs out around with, but I never imagined you’d actually say yes to him,” he playfully slapped Baekhyun’s shoulder, wiggling his brows at Kira. “Unless...he bribed you?”

 

“What?”

 

Baekhyun smirked. The next thing she knew, his warm breath tingled down the shell of her ear, the heat of his skin surprisingly close to her back. “Sorry, sweetheart,” he crooned, his husky voice sending shivers down her spine. “You made me wait a long time. Now it’s your turn to wait in line if you want me.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” she whipped around, ready to knock some sense into him because he was acting stupid. Just as she had her arm raised to hit him, Kira pulled it back just as fast.

 

Though the hair and features remained the same, the man in front of her lacked warmth in his eyes. Instead, they danced with humour, of mischief. A smirk tilted his lips upwards, hands shoved inside his pockets as he stared at her challengingly.

 

This was not her Baekhyun – this was not her world.

 

“Oh-oh...I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to. I mistook you for someone else.”

 

“Pretty sure I heard my name though,” he shrugged with an amused chuckle leaving his lips. He bent down forward until Kira stepped back, only to nearly stumble in her haste. Baekhyun grabbed her by the waist with ease, their noses almost brushing one another’s. Kira gaped at him. “I’d love to hear you scream my name like that again. Are you free this weekend?”

 

A flurry of emotions clouded her mind. It began as anger that burned through her fingertips, followed by that sinking feeling of extreme repulsion. Kira slapped his hands away. Baekhyun laughed at her defiance, but before he could say anything else, she pushed him, hard. “You’re disgusting,” she snarled the moment Baekhyun’s back hit the wall.

 

A collection of ‘ooooh’s’ resonated around them. His friends all fell silent with jaws hanging open while their friend fought back a grimace, rolling back his shoulders to ease the tension. 

 

He didn’t even seem the least bit bothered. Pushing himself off the wall, Baekhyun clutched his sore shoulder, masking his pain with a smirk. “I wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction, but I guess I just have that effect on women.”

 

Kira’s face fell. Out of all the possibilities he could be, he had to be like this? She shook her head while he and his friends roared in laughter. Like a tunnel closing in on her, their voices and mocking chortles echoed in and out of her senses. She heard her name being said, then his name, followed by murmurs of something she couldn’t understand. Kira breathed heavily as she saw that people had now pulled out their phones to record the scene.

 

She flushed red. 

 

Baekhyun and his posse began to walk away from her, not the least bit affected that she had the urge to rip him apart to his pieces. No, she clenched her fists, I won’t let you walk away just like that. 

 

“Yah, Baekhyun!” he whipped his head around at her calling, his smile transforming into a wicked smirk. The mere sight of it had her quivering in anger, but she’d cut his celebration short.

 

“Can’t get enough of me, huh?”

 

Kira swung her arm back to slap him across the face. The sound of skin hitting skin echoed in the hallway, effectively shutting up all the spectators. Even Baekhyun went still as he caressed his now red cheek, eyes blank as they stared at the floor. 

 

“You, Byun Baekhyun,” she began, “are a pig.”

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

“What the hell were you thinking?!”

 

Kira stopped mid-way from eating her apple. The familiar voice made her look up curiously, but she dropped her apple on the table when the tuft of dark hair and wide eyes came barrelling through her. 

 

“Yui, oh my gosh!” she scrambled away from her seat, clutching her best friend’s shoulders as her hands shook. Yui was solid, real to the touch. She was real, she was real, she was real! She had to be real! “I had a weird dream that I was in another universe and I was twenty-seven working for my annoyingly attractive boss!” Yui scrunched her nose at Kira’s words. 

 

Kira held Yui’s hands up to her cheek, waving her limp arm. “Please hit me. If this is another universe and you’re not real, I need you to wake me up. I don’t want to believe that Baekhyun’s gone different again. If it’s true, I don’t think I can handle it, Yui.”

 

To her surprise, Yui scoffed. She retracted her arm before pulling Kira out of the cafeteria until they reached a desolate corner. Yui looked around to see if there was anyone. When no one turned up, Yui pressed both thumbs to her forehead as she took a deep breath. “Chise Akira,” she warned, “Do you even realize what you just did?”

 

Kira reeled back, “What did I do?”

 

“You idiot, that was Baek! I thought you said you didn’t like him?!”

“He-he’s real?”

“Of course he’s real! Why wouldn’t he be?” she grunted. Kira opened to speak, but Yui beat her to it by poking her chest. “You know what else is real? Your reputation is going to plummet. I’m so telling you, Kira, you are so in it for a time of suffering. Baek will either keep making fun of you, or his posse of fan girls will cut your throat. I thought you said you were going to stay away from him. Imagine my surprise when I saw that you threw yourself at him this morning!”

 

“No, that’s not it,” Kira defended with a stammer, “No, that can’t happen. Y-you’re here! And we’re in college, this is our world! How can it be any different? I’m home, aren’t I?”

 

Yui groaned. “You’re not making sense,” she hissed to herself, taking Kira by the wrist to plop back down where she sat. Upon feeling the cold metal behind her thighs, Kira looked down to see that she wore a tennis skirt paired with a very fitted pink blouse. Kira tugged her skirt down and crossed her legs on top of one another to offer herself some decency, when Yui scrambled to pretend she was eating Kira’s apple. “You need to get your together. He’s looking at you.”

 

Kira followed her line of sight, and really, she wished she hadn’t. At the other end of the room was no one other than Byun Baekhyun himself, perched on top of a table before crushing his juice box. He swung his arm around, shooting it to the nearest trash bin. His friends whooped and slapped his back as he made the shot, and the blond idiot cheered as if he won the World Cup.

 

Subconsciously, Kira stabbed her mashed potato, her lips upturned into a scowl.

 

Baekhyun jumped off his table, sauntering towards their way in an oh so suave manner. Kira didn’t miss the way he winked at everyone he passed by, the girls falling into a fit of giggles. 

 

“What an idiot,” she ducked her head down. She tried so desperately hard to ignore his presence, though the giggles and flirty remarks growing louder proved her mission a difficult one. With clenched teeth, she stabbed her mashed potato one last time, his name almost falling from her lips when a cold sensation tingling from her feet froze her.

 

White. Everything was white. The roads were covered in snow, looking almost as if the sky and land had reversed and now they walked amongst the clouds. Kira tucked ehr nose behind her scarf, her nose now red from continuously scratching it. 

 

The season was unforgiving on her skin. She grew dried and flaky; no amount of lotion or water ever saved her from it. Kira scratched at her nose before she cursed under her breath just as a snowflake fell on the tip of her nose. “Get off,” she rolled her eyes, flicking it away. Her boots crunched underneath the pelt of snow that made her shiver even under layers of clothing. 

 

Kira groaned, adjusting her bonnet closer. Curse the winter season – it always made her look like she had a bad case of dandruff with her dark hair. Playing with the tendrils of its mass, Kira debated on whether she should dye it blonde. Yui said she could pull it off, but Kira liked her dark hair and wouldn’t trade it for anything else – even for the aesthetics.

 

Once she reached the hall, Kira shrugged off all the snow that had wetted her coat. This was so not her season, but she made a mental note that autumn would come in no time and she’d finally get to bask in it.

 

Too distracted from her self-cleaning, Kira failed to notice the slight cough behind her. She continued to shake off the snow with the occasional “I hate snow,” muttered under her breath. A double tapping on her shoulder broke her out of her reverie. She turned around; the sickeningly sweet smile she knew weakened men already plastered as if it was second nature to her.

 

“Oh,” she breathed out. Baekhyun stood in front of her, seemingly an equal victim of the snow. His nose was red, cheeks frozen and lips quivering, while his dark hair flaked in white. Kira held her smile permanently, unsure what he would want. Baekhyun was one of the most troublesome guys in school with his reputation of sleeping around and Kira guarded herself for whatever trick he might pull. She’d heard enough rumours from the girls’ locker room to know this man meant bad news. “Hello, Baekhyun. Is there something you need?”

 

“Yeah,” he smirked, flipping his hair to get rid of the snow. Kira narrowed her eyes at the gesture. She figured many girls would’ve swooned, but she knew better than to be fooled. “I was wondering if you wanted to go with me at the winter party held at Jongdae’s frat next week? It’s an invite only party and I thought you might want to come along.”

 

Kira in a breath. The thought was enticing. She hadn’t partied in two weeks to study for her finals, and she desperately needed that break – plus the free alcohol wasn’t so bad. The truth was, Junmyeon – Jongdae’s senior – had already asked her a week ago if she wanted to come with them. Kira turned him down, well-aware that as much as she loved to party, nothing ever good happened with frat boys, especially with the deceivingly innocent-faced Baekhyun.

 

“Sorry, I don’t think I can go.”

 

“But,” his laugh was confused, as if it didn’t make sense that he got turned down. The sight of his pride easily crushed made her chest swell with pride, although she hid this with a polite smile. “Finals would be done by then. You’re not busy anymore. Or are you coming back home to Japan for winter break? Is that it?”

 

“Let me rephrase that,” she cooed, taking three steps until she was a breath away from him. His eyes lit up when her perfume swam to his senses, one of his arms snaking from her waist to her back to pull her closer. She allowed him to do so; after all, nothing felt better than letting a man celebrate for a prize he’d never get. “I meant, Byun Baekhyun, I don’t want to go. Especially not with you.”

 

His face fell at the same time his boots crunched with the snow. His grip on her loosened, and gently, she tipped him away from her with the tip of her finger. “I-I don’t understand,” he shook his head, “Why wouldn’t you want to go? You go to everyone’s party and Jongdae holds one of the best.”

 

“I know that,” she nodded reassuringly, “But I also know you’re not someone I’d like to date or hang out with.”

 

“But—”

 

“You’re not a very nice guy, Baekhyun,” she cringed with a fake apologetic smile, pretending to inspect her nails as if they were more interesting. She figured it really was. She’d gotten them manicured recently and now she wore pastel pink acrylic nails, the perfect complement to her infamous soft and angelic image – a contrast to Baekhyun’s devilish (as much as she hated to admit it) appeal and charisma. “I’m not stupid, I know what you’re after.”

 

“Yeah?” he challenged with gritted teeth, “And what am I after, Kira?”

 

“Me,” she said confidently, her head held high and proud. 

 

There was no point in pretending she wasn’t aware that people stalked her Instagram or the way her peers stared at her in class. The attention was a mix of bad and good – people called her all sorts of names that she wished she never heard, but it wasn’t like it ever mattered because by the end of the day, she was the Chise Akira, daughter of one of the wealthiest businessmen in Tokyo and a young woman who was wanted by men and hated by their girlfriends.

 

“So my answer is no,” she flipped her hair back over one shoulder, showcasing the pearl drop earrings her mother got her from a Parisian auction. Her gaze travelled from Baekhyun’s offended ones to the mature, gentlemanly guy behind Baekhyun who was showcasing the late exchange students around. “Actually,” she looked back at Baekhyun, “I’m going with Junmyeon. He and I are dating now.”

 

The scraping of a chair scratched at her ears. Kira blinked back to life. Baekhyun had pulled out a chair from their table before he plopped down on it backwards, his chest pressed over the back of the chair. His arms were lazily drawn on top of it, a strawberry lollipop dangling from his red-stained lips.

 

“So I’ve given some thought about it,” he on the lollipop harshly before pulling it out with a loud ‘pop’, “You’ve always been pretty hot, and you’ve actually got very nice . I know, because I felt them,” Beside her, Yui choked on her drink while Kira’s mouth fell open “I came here to say I’m giving you a chance. You’re not exactly my type anymore-” he looked her up and down, lips turned up in what seemed like careful evaluation, “-But an average looking woman and a hot woman is still a pair of legs,” Baekhyun shrugged nonchalantly, “I don’t mind us being together. You need to understand it’s only going to be a purely physical relationship though-”

 

“Are you ing serious?” 

 

Baekhyun didn’t look the least bit bothered by her small outburst. “I know it sounds hard to believe right now, but I am serious, baby. I’m giving you a chance. Maybe you’re not that bad as I always thought you were, you know?”

 

“I cannot believe my luck,” Yui swallowed audibly, covering her head with her arms.

 

“Nah,” Baekhyun chuckled, “I think your friend is pretty lucky I’m forgiving her after what she did to me last time.”

 

Kira scoffed. At her reaction, Baekhyun turned to her with a -eating grin, intentionally circling his tongue around the lollipop before winking. From the table next to them, she heard their peers whispering that Kira’s ‘hard to get’ charade she’d had for years would finally break.

 

Instead, the only thing that broke was her patience. Reaching across the table, Kira grabbed Baekhyun with his collar, taking the man by surprise. His lollipop fell and his hands wound up to her slender waist. “Listen here, you stupid little . I’m having an extremely bad day, and I’m this close to knocking the living daylights out of you,” she fisted his shirt tighter until their noses collided, the heat of her glare bringing more amusement to his eyes. “First of all, you like a wannabe character from a cheap Indie film set in the 90’s Wild West. You look ing lame, your mouth is as dirty as your overused limp , and your perfume makes me want to gag. Instead of drowning in too much Old Spice, why don’t you actually try showering?”

 

His table filled with his friends, who was spectating the scene with utmost interest, barked in laughter.

 

“I am so sorry,” Yui packed her bags in a rush, “I don’t know her at all, Baek, she just sat down on my seat.”

 

“Yui – what? Where are you going?” she pushed Baekhyun back to his seat, watching with wide eyes as her supposed best friend rushed out the room. Kira groaned as she too, fell back in her seat with her hands pushing through her skull. “Ugh, what is wrong with everyone today?!”

 

 “Perhaps I lied,” Baekhyun piped up, his fingers cradling his jaw. He was now leaning across from her, his smile filled with mischief. “I still like you even after all this time.”

 

“ off.”

 

“Cute,” he grinned, “Nothing’s more exciting than breaking stubborn little girls like you,” his tongue darted out to moisten his lips, those dark eyes of his trailing down to her own plump ones. “At the end of the day, I get what I want.”

 

Kira fought back the urge to shudder. “You wish, dude. I’d rather be driven over with a ten wheeler truck than ever be clumped with you.”

 

His attention snapped to hers, his gaze darkening for a split second before it burned. Baekhyun rounded the table and gestured her to stand up. Kira refused and remained seated on her spot, only to gasp when Baekhyun tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear. “Wait until next time,” he warned, “I’ll do things that’ll make you lose control within seconds.”

 

In a flash, the heat of his skin was gone, her skin replaced with an odd set of tingling sensations. Baekhyun had strolled back to his friends who all pretended they didn’t see anything, and she was left flushed in her seat. Extremely flushed. 

 

This was the worst Baekhyun.

 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

 

Clearly, the world had no mercy on her. This was the longest day of her life, and she didn’t even have enough time to worry about the fact she still wasn’t home when her phone beeped to remind her for her next class. The stunt they pulled in the cafeteria was still a hot topic, and she had people flanking her left and right to tell her that she and Baekhyun looked together.

 

With her own memories and this Kira’s memories piecing together, she struggled to remember the names of the people she believed were her friends. They were all excruciatingly loud, always adding ‘like’ to their sentences.

 

“Like,” the girl on her right giggled, “Baek was sooo into you, you should’ve seen. I really don’t get why you rejected him back then! We really thought you’d be quite an iconic couple.”

 

“Totally,” someone named Heesung added, playfully smacking Kira’s shoulder. “Like, that’s Baek, girl. Everyone wants him, even the ones who claim they hate him! Like, whether you want to or not, you just gotta admit he’s one fine specimen.”

 

Kira snorted. Thankfully, their chatters were too loud to ever notice that she hadn’t a single word. They parted ways for their respective classes, and Kira shuffled inside the nearly overflowing hall. She hadn’t even realized the whole ‘gossip time’ took ten minutes of her time. The hall was almost packed to the brim and Kira ran up and down stairs in search for a seat.

 

There were some sleezy boys who pushed away their seatmates, waving her over before pointing beside them. Kira ignored them as she ran to the last row where only one seat was left unoccupied. The professor and his power points were way too far for her liking, but she’d have to make do. 

 

“You know, for someone who claims to hate me so much, you sure can’t resist showing up everywhere,” Kira looked up, a scowl immediately making its way to her face when Baekhyun loomed over her. He gestured to her spot, “That’s my seat.”

 

“Well, I sat here first, so sit somewhere else.”

 

“Or you can just sit on my lap. I don’t mind.”

 

“Are you always this blunt?”

 

“Girls like it.”

 

“I don’t.”

 

He smirked, “You will.”

 

Kira sighed. The professor was already beginning his presentation and turning the lights down low. As much as she despised him, she wasn’t heartless enough to just make him stand there. Kira crossed her arms against her chest, but not before hesitantly picking her things up. “The hall is full. Where else do you want me to go?”

 

“Move aside,” he flicked two fingers at her. “Let’s share seats,” he explained with a raised brow, slight amusement dancing in his face. “Don’t look at me like that. It would’ve been easier for the both of us if you just sit on my lap and get this over with. Now move.”

 

A disgruntled sigh left Kira’s lips. There were no more available seats left and sitting on the floor was a worse idea than being right next to him. She moved her things aside, placing her purse between them with a firm glare. Baekhyun raised both his palms in surrender, although it didn’t comfort her one bit. Soon enough, class began, and Kira watched as Baekhyun’s head fell down on the desk.

 

“Is he serious?” she muttered under her breath. It hadn’t even been five minutes and soft snores could be heard inside his enclosed arms, the tendrils of his hair covering his eyes. Oddly enough, when he was asleep like this, he looked harmless, peaceful.

 

Although Kira knew better. Nothing about Byun Baekhyun ever meant good news if her memories proved correct.

 

It was best to keep her distance.

 

Kira flipped her notes open, mouth falling aghast when she saw the amount of numbers and percentiles. Everything was messily scrawled in a lame attempt of Hangeul, the Japanese translations beside it filled with exclamation points. The real Kira of this world drew the charts and statistics using bright yellow highlighters with stickers almost everywhere on the page.

 

She drew closer to the notebook, eyes narrowed when not a single thing registered in her brain. This Kira took accountancy and finance. Immediately, Kira drew back with her face devoid of colour.

 

Her whole life, she wanted to be a lawyer but always hated – absolutely despised – the article and section numbers. She was average in everything, but numbers were her complete weakness. The digits danced before her eyes before they switched from one place to another, the zero suspiciously looking like an eight. Kira blinked back as her hands trembled in her lap, dread curdling deep in her gut as her notes mocked her.

 

She couldn’t understand a single thing.

 

“As for this semester’s project, we’re going to have to do it by pair. I already have your names listed here. I’m going to randomly draw and announce who your partners will be,” the professor spoke up, holding up a glass bowl with rolled papers. Kira shut her notebook back before hiding it from view, attention now solely focused to her professor who was reaching inside the bowl. She grabbed two from the bottom, unrolling it as she announced, “Byun Baekhyun and Chise Akira. You’ll be tackling investment banking.”

 

The professor danced from side to side in Kira’s eyes. She grew blurry, matching the rasped breathing of her lungs that struggled to give her air. Kira ducked her head down, lips trembling when she heard Baekhyun mutter something about financial planning under his breath. 

 

He’d woken up, eyes crinkled as he sat up half-asleep. “Professor?” 

 

“Yes, Mr. Byun?”

 

“I don’t kno