Her voice rang clear. It even echoed in his mind as it processed her words.

“Aniyo, I don’t know him”

She said it with a straight face and Kris felt his heart was slowly torn with a sharp invisible knife. The pain – he felt it. Did she love the one who held her hand now? Or the one whispering into her ears just a moment ago? She knew him but her answers defied her previous sentiment. Kris felt a twitch of anger – slowly building up and wanted to consume him.

‘Alright, if this is what she wants’

“I’m sorry,” Kris apologised tersely, “I must’ve mistaken you for someone else, miss.” He bowed politely – a cold look began to form on his defined face.

Swiftly, Kris turned around and vowed he would get his mate back – no matter what.

Seoul National University, Music Faculty

Morning, 9.17 am

“AH~!!!”

And he sneezed. His nose was red and his eyes were a bit on the teary and swollen side. He wanted his glasses back.

Nonetheless, he still looked ‘beautiful’. He finally came to his lectures after being sick for 2 days. He was still unwell though.

As he walked down the hallway passing by other students with his notebooks and folders wrapped in one arm against his chest, he blew his nose onto the tissue and let out a moan. His sling bag was opened – a tissue box peeked out. A hybrid sound – a cross between a hiccup and a sob escaped his dry lips as he let out another sneeze. He wrinkled his nose in distaste of the painful aftereffect of sneezing too much on his already sore throat.

It was still early but Park Chanyeol wanted to get away from the annoying crowd and decided to enter class early. Pushing the double doors to the main music room (Music Room 1) open, he entered the theatre. The room was mostly empty but a few diligent students were seen sitting sparsely from each other – heads bowed and hands busy scribbling. Chanyeol saw one of his closest classmates – Luhan bobbing his head softly to the music from his white headphones. The slender Luhan was doodling random notes on his score.

Slowly sitting down on the seat next to the Chinese transfer student, Chanyeol took out his purple tissue box and put it on the table. He blew his nose again and took another Kleenex. Apparently, his stretched hand had caught Luhan’s attention and the smaller turned his head in surprise.

Chanyeol with his bleary eyes uttered a husky ‘hello, Luhan’ and slightly bowed his head. His long hair dangled on the side of his blushing face. Chanyeol swept his hair back again – a habit now since Baekhyun put those annoying extension on. 

Luhan blinked his eyes and slid down his headphones to his neck. Faint music emanated from them. Who was this?

“Chan…yeol-sshi?” Luhan asked. He knew the face but who was this?

“Yes, Luhan-sshi?”

“Oh”

Chanyeol looked at the older one and remembered he wanted to borrow the notes for the lessons he missed from him.

“Luhan-sshi, may I borrow your notes? From two days before”

“Oh, sure” Luhan handed him a few clipped papers and Chanyeol’s eyes widened in excitement. If there was anything he loved more than reading and acting, it was writing notes. He may be weird like that but people were different. They could think whatever they want as long as the 21-year-old was happy.

As he was busy filling the time copying Luhan’s neatly written notes, a gasp suddenly broke him of his concentration.

He swivelled his head to find Luhan staring at him with a strange expression. Shock? Fright?

“What’s wrong, Luhan-sshi?”

“You-you…Park Chanyeol??”

“Yes?”

“Wha-wha-,” Luhan’s skinny arms flailed up and down gesturing Chanyeol’s appearance.

Oh…right.

He was cross-dressing right now, he just realised. With a cream-coloured slack, an oversized white t-shirt and a grey sweater…Chanyeol definitely looked like a girl. He let his long hair down his back – Baekhyun didn’t listen to him when he begged to shorten the tresses. He said they were all ‘important for the drama’.

“Ah,” Chanyeol smiled awkwardly, “this?” he lifted his hair.

Luhan gulped visibly and nodded. His doll-like eyes still widened.

“It’s for Drama…” he tried to explain. “I’m chosen as the main heroine and Baekhyun put me up into this. So, I’ll look like this until the end of the drama festival.”

Luhan was silent as his features softened.

“I really thought you changed into a girl,” Luhan sighed out. “So, the hair, the clothes…the voice…all?”

Chanyeol nodded. His utter loath for Baekhyun’s plan finally diminished as he accepted the fact.

“…You look pretty, Chanyeol-sshi,” Luhan praised. “I never notice your eyes are…mismatched.”

Chanyeol chuckled. “No one does actually. My glasses did their job well.”

“Can you see without them?”

“I never really had the need to wear them in the first place. My eyesight is twenty-twenty. I just wear them to…hide my freaky eyes.”

“Oh, what are you saying?” Luhan gasped. “They’re beautiful. They suit you!”

Chanyeol laughed at the comment. “Not everybody thinks that way, Luhan-sshi.”

He remembered the bitter memories of his not so colourful childhood days. Luhan’s movement distracted him and he was thankful for it.

“Hello?” Luhan answered his phone. His face suddenly brightened as a grin appeared.

“You’re here? I’m in class now…Oh?...Alright…Yup…Hmmm…Arasseo…Bye~”

Feeling curious, Chanyeol asked,” Who was it?”

The now rosy-cheeked Luhan answered with a blinding smile, “Jongin…”

“Ah~” Chanyeol giggled. He knew Kim Jongin or better known as Kai – the dancing machine of their school, a year younger than him. Dance major.

Kai was basically in the popular crowd as he was also one of the basketball players. There was also the fact that his handsome face was always one of the talks of the ladies. Whenever he saw Kai from far away, the younger one was always wearing that bored and arrogant look. However, Chanyeol knew his personality didn’t really match his cold looks.

Kai was a friendly person – and he knew this because…

Kai was Luhan’s boyfriend.

“Oh, I’m going out for a while, okay?” Luhan hurriedly said and out the doors he went – that childish smile still plastered onto his face. Chanyeol smiled and it was just him there now, the others were so far away.

The smile slowly left his face…

-FLASHBACK-

“I must’ve mistaken you for someone else, miss,” he bowed and left Chanyeol there. The man’s voice was indifferent and Chanyeol wished he would look back so he would correct his mistake and said he knew him.

‘I did the wrong thing…’ Chanyeol felt his heart ached for the now gone man. ‘But what would I say…?’

A whimper escaped him and Baekhyun worriedly asked whether he was fine or not.

“I-I’m not feeling so well…must’ve been the heat,” Chanyeol said drowsily. He blinked his eyes a few times to clear his mind. It failed. His limbs felt so heavy and he felt as if he was breathing too slowly – the air didn’t feel that relieving.

“Omo, Yeollie-ah, you’re so hot!” Baekhyun exclaimed.

“This is no time for jokes, Baekhyun!” Chanyeol wanted to snap but his voice came out barely a whisper.

“No, I mean, you’re burning up!”

Really? He couldn’t really tell but he guessed that was it. So the cool contact against his forehead was Baekhyun’s hand…

“Chanyeol-ah, can you still walk? If not, Tao will carry you”

“I’m fine; I just…want to…sleep.”

“Not here, Yeollie-ah. Come on, Tao! Let’s get him out of here!”

He must have fallen asleep because he didn’t remember walking back home and now he was waking up on his bed – at 3 in the morning. text messages from a certain ‘bacon’ told him that he was MC-ed for 3 days since his state was so weak and all his lecturers were informed – and other random stuffs.   

One thing he remembered though…

He didn’t dream that night.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

~~~

12.12pm

Chanyeol scanned the cafeteria for any empty seats. Soft sniffling accompanied the slow pace of his slim and long legs. A crumpled tissue was over his nose as he tried to manoeuvre his way carefully among other busy students. He held onto his brown tray tightly, afraid he might spill anything. His long brown hair was braided again to the side and his cheeks flushed. His mismatched doe eyes looked innocent.  

A few people he passed murmured and he was not that deaf yet to not catch what they were saying. Ugh…people and gossips – funny how the two sometimes could not live without each other.

“Omo, who is that girl? She’s so freaking tall!”

Yes, yes, I inherited the good genes, so what??

“Is she a new transfer student? A pretty foreigner! I bet you can’t even talk to her!”

Pshh, whatever. It wasn’t my fault my eomma was mixed and he got his grand mamma’s eyes…wait, eye.  

“Hey, hey! Who is she?”

Please, couldn’t you be polite and ask directly instead of stage-whispering behind my back? So obvious.

Park Chanyeol widened his eyes when he realised what he just thought. He mentally slapped his face.

“Oh my god, I sound just like Jiyeon noona! Aish, Park Chanyeol! Are you really turning into a girl now?” Chanyeol muttered as he frantically searched for any seat. Thankfully, his prayer was finally answered.      

“Yeollie-ah~! Over here!” 

The call made him turn. An overexcited Baekhyun was frantically flailing his arm at him. His happy smile beckoned Chanyeol over to take a seat at his table. Tao was smiling on Baekhyun’s side.

As he got closer, he noticed that Luhan, Kai, Suho and D.O were also with them. Judging from the smile on Suho’s face, Baekhyun had definitely told them all about his cross-dressing. They didn’t seem to mind when he saw a matching grin worn by D.O. The more close he got, those beams morphed into expressions of awe. Kai was looking at him with one of his bored faces.

Chanyeol sighed in relief and his hand fell down to grip his tray and hurried his steps. A cheery smile adorned his childish demeanour. Chanyeol was seriously beautiful. One glance, one might think he really was a mixed American-Korean girl with his Pan Asian look (well, he was except that he was not a girl).   

A few more steps were all it took for Chanyeol to reach his friends.

Just a few more.

Just a few more when his wrist was grabbed from behind and he instinctively turned around to face the culprit.

Saying he was shock would be an understatement.

Chanyeol’s smile froze and slowly vanished as he laid his eyes onto those same familiar brown eyes of the taller one.

Those brooding eyes that seemed to know the depth of your soul and all its secrets.

“Can we talk? I have something to say to you…Chan-yue.”

A/N: Another stress-relieving chapter from yours truly (you know which one is the other!) Comment and subcribe~ ^^ xoxo 

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