Byun Baekhyun usually wasn’t the type to argue with his parents; personally he felt he was verging on the ideal son. He studied hard and he didn’t get into trouble at school. He wasn’t really the type to want to drink excessively nor would he stay out late. Baekhyun would do as he was told, if he was told to do anything at all. Truthfully, he didn’t ask for much. This may have been because he generally got given what he wanted without having to ask, but maybe he deserved it. What he didn’t deserve, in his opinion, was to be kept in the dark about something for so long.

“What the hell do you mean can’t afford it?” Baekhyun raised his voice in both volume and pitch, spluttering on his dinner causing the other three parties at the dinner table to pause, staring at him warily.

“I think I’ll eat this in my room…” Sanghun was quick to grab his plate, tossing his napkin onto the table as he made a rapid beeline for the door leaving his parents sitting in an awkward air of silence whilst their youngest son stared them down. Baekhyun’s eyes flickered from parent to parent, fiery eyes demanding an answer.

“Honey, what you have to understand is,” His mother began her sentence but stopped, looking desperately at her husband for backup. Baekhyun’s father cleared his throat, looking at Baekhyun for a split second before back at his meal.

“Son, don’t you think it would be nice to share a room for once?” He flinched a little at the sound of metal chopsticks being tossed carelessly aside, wood on wood as a chair was pulled back as somebody else left the table.

“Nice?” Baekhyun repeated. “This is a ing joke.” He spat, not batting a single eyelid at the reaction his sudden cussing had drawn from his parents. A series of doors were slammed as the younger boy stormed through the house until he reached his own room, still frowning as he collapsed face first onto his bed. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been laying there feeling sorry for himself and wishing away his sanity when he heard a quiet knock on his door.

“Baekhyun? Honey?” His mother called lightly through the wood, easing the door open and moving inside, perching gingerly on the edge of the bed. “It won’t be so bad.” She tried to smile, reaching out for her son’s arm only to have him turn over, his back facing her. She flinched a little at his coldness but cleared anyway, getting up and wandering over to shut the curtains.

“Why are you shutting my curtains?” Baekhyun glared at her. She stopped and looked at him, a little confused. “I don’t sleep with them shut. You know that.” He grimaced, eyes settling on the two packed suitcases at the foot of his bed. He was still more than just angry that they’d waited until the night before he returned to school to inform him of his new rooming arrangement.

“Right. Of course.” She sighed, opening them once more and trying to force a smile. “You know, we bought some popcorn and a new movie. We thought we could watch it since this is your last night at home for a while.”

“No thanks.” Baekhyun started to pull back the covers of his bed. “If you can splurge on popcorn and a new movie but not a single room for me at school I’m not interested.” He mumbled bitterly, “Sanghun can drive me tomorrow.” He added, pulling the covers over him as he nestled his head into the pillow, still frowning.

“But your father and I always drive you!” She tried to insist, but Baekhyun scoffed, not saying another word to her. “It’s not my fault your father was made redundant, can’t you be a little more understanding?” She asked quietly. Baekhyun yawned, whilst looking at the door expectantly. His mother soon got the hint and walked towards the door the leave, flicking the light switch off as she left.

“Mom!”Baekhyun yelled, leaping out of his bed and switching it straight back on, glaring at her before shutting the door. Feeling even more wound up than before, Baekhyun grumbled under his breath whilst flicking the switch directly next to his bed. The small LED cylinder plugged into the socket lit up instantly, leaving the room with a dull glow. Choosing now to shut of the light, the disgruntled teen dragged his feet back across the floor and wrapped himself up in the covers, hoping for a peaceful night’s sleep.

The following morning was awkward to say the least. Already changed into his uniform, complete with navy blazer, Baekhyun straightened his red tie and sighed, picking up the first of his suitcases and began dragging it down the stairs.

“Be careful not to scratch the wood, Baekhyun.” His father commented unhappily from the bottom of the stairs. Baekhyun shrugged. It wasn’t long before he’d let them hug him goodbye, anything they said to him about how his roommate would be nice going over his head. Before he knew it, he was sitting in the front seat of his brother’s car and out onto the highway for the almost two hour journey to school. The first twenty minutes were spent in silence, neither one saying a thing until Sanghun reached over to switch on the radio.

“You know,” He began which only caused Baekhyun to roll his eyes and begin staring out of the window. “No, hear me out, here.” Sanghun demanded. “Whoever your roommate is will understand, I’m sure of it.” Baekhyun let out a sigh.

“Not likely.” He mumbled.

“You might even get roomed with one of your friends.” He tried again.

“Most of my friends file in their roommate requests as soon as they reapply each year. I wasn’t given the luxury of knowing at that point.” He muttered begrudgingly.

“Hey, give Mom and Dad a chance, they’re really struggling for money right now, you’re lucky you can still go to this school, it costs a bomb.” He pointed out. Baekhyun frowned. Sanghun rarely stuck up for their parents.

“I’m on a 50% scholarship, Hyung. The price between single and double rooms isn’t that much.” He sighed again and turned up the volume on the radio, implying the end of their conversation. Sanghun returned the exhale of breath and ran a hand through his shaggy, brown hair, shaking his head and keeping his eyes on the road.

The drive down the gravel road right ahead of his school usually made Baekhyun feel almost happy and at home but this time he could only feel unpleasant apprehension settle heavily in his gut. The large parking area in front of the main building was awash with cars, students and parents. Sanghun messily parked the car as close to the entrance as he could before hopping out and opening the trunk, pulling out his younger brother’s suitcases. Neither said anything as they lugged them 200 yards towards the steps and eventually into the foyer.

“It’s okay, Hyung, I can tell when you feel uncomfortable.” Baekhyun forced a smile, indicating that he’d take it from here. He joined the line to sign for his room key and stood awkwardly, scanning the area for somebody he knew.

“I think it’s more inadequacy than being uncomfortable.” Sanghun joked, rubbing the back of his head uneasily as he too glanced around at the student body. “You know I’m only a phone call away, buddy.” He mumbled after forcing the younger into a more than awkward man-embrace that left Baekhyun’s cheeks red in embarrassment. Pausing one more moment to ruffle the shorter boy’s hair, Sanghun flashes him a smile before turning to leave, nonchalantly strolling back outside with hands in his pockets. Whilst muttering under his breath, Baekhyun was quick to fix his hair, paying little attention to his surroundings.

“Look who it is.” Baekhyun yelped in response to the hands on his shoulders. He groaned, placing a hand on his chest to catch his breath.

“Don’t do that.” He whined before looking properly at the smiling, honey-blonde boy in front of him.  “Luhan,” He blinked, “What the hell are you doing here?” He asked wide-eyed. “You’re supposed to be in China!” He grinned finally, accepting the hug offered to him.

“Yeah well, my parents had a change of heart.” The other shrugged, eyes still smiling. “Did you sign for your room yet?” He asked, swiftly changing the conversation as if neither of them had been away for summer. The mention of rooms caused the brunette’s heart to drop instantly.

“No, not yet.” Baekhyun mumbled. “My parents signed me up for a double room this year.” He grimaced.

“What, no way!” Luhan raised his eyebrows. “You always get your own room. Do you know who it is yet?” He asked, helping  Baekhyun drag his cases closer to the desk.

“Nope, I found out it was a double room only last night. Who are you rooming with?”Baekhyun asked, still feeling pretty glum about his situation.

“Yixing.” Luhan grinned. “Luck of the draw, too.” Baekhyun groaned. It was only typical that Luhan was rooming with a good friend of theirs; knowing his luck he’d be roomed with a complete psychopath. After signing for the key and being given his room number, Luhan tried to lighten the situation by pointing out they were at least on the same floor. Still, it wasn’t enough to lighten Baekhyun’s foul mood.

“Thanks for helping me with my bags.” The brunette forced a smile as they reached his new room on the fourth floor.

“Any time,” Luhan returned the smile with a little more enthusiasm. “I guess I’ll see you at dinner?” Baekhyun agreed, waving a little before he turned to his door, pushing in the key and turning. He pulled down the handle with his elbow and used his shoulder to nudge the door open. He hadn’t realised he’d been holding his breath until he released it after he learned there was nobody else in the room. He wasn’t the first here, however. That much was clear by the belongings tossed on the bed on the right hand side of the room. The door swung shut behind him after he dragged his bags inside, pulling them over towards his bed where he sat down and exhaled. It was a little bigger than the usual single room he stayed in at school but that was a given since this had to occupy two people. Two people. Baekhyun swallowed. He was barely paying attention enough to notice the sound of the door opening suddenly.

“Sure, I’ll see you later!” A deep voice called into the corridor before the door shut behind him. “Oh.” He stopped in his tracks and blinked, eyes set on Baekhyun. The former stood up and bowed lightly, head a little messy having not expected to come meet his roommate so suddenly. “You’re here.” The boy in question smiled. It was a smile, Baekhyun noted, that went all the way up to his eyes. “I’m Chanyeol.” He beamed.

Chanyeol, from what Baekhyun could tell, was tall. Very tall. His body seemed lean and verging on lanky but Baekhyun couldn’t quite see for sure because of the uniform. His hair was a shaggy mess of auburn with reasonably pale, milky skin that seemed not to possess any flaws. His eyes were kind of beady but it was a little endearing the way they crinkled upwards when he smiled widely; like he was doing now. It took Baekhyun a few seconds to realise he’d been addressed before he bowed again and nodded.

“Baekhyun.” He tried what he think was a smile but feared it came out a little strained- like his stomach hurt or something. His stomach was hurting because under any other circumstances, Baekhyun thinks he’d like Chanyeol. It almost pained him to wish he wasn’t his roommate. His bright and beautiful personality was going to make it increasingly difficult.

“Nice to meet you, Baekhyun.” Chanyeol beamed again. He was going to have to stop that, it was making Baekhyun feel guilty to be in such a foul mood. He wasn’t sure if the taller boy was expecting some sort of development in the conversation but it was making him feel incredibly uneasy that he was just sort of hovering there. Smiling. The two of them said nothing more and the silence was eventually going to cause really embarrassing word vomit for Baekhyun if he didn’t think of something soon. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, the two of them were taken by surprise by the sudden ringing of Baekhyun’s phone. Ordinarily, the brunette wouldn’t have been too enthusiastic upon seeing his caller ID read ‘Sehun’ but this time he was glad to accept the call.

“Hyung!” The chipper voice on the other end called favourably. “I heard from Luhan you have a double room this year.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes at this, mentally cursing Luhan who, for a small guy, had a big mouth. Apparently, Yixing could vouch for this.

“Why doesn’t this surprise me?” Baekhyun sighed audibly down the receiver.

“You should have roomed with me, Hyung!” The younger boy whined, almost deafening Baekhyun by yelping down the phone. He could vaguely hear a third party insult the younger boy on that end of the line knowing fully well who it was. “Jongin’s abusive.”

“I’m sure you deserve it.” Baekhyun smiled. He wedged his phone in between his ear and his shoulder whilst he one of his suitcases onto the bed, ping it so he could begin unpacking. “What did you call me for, anyway?”

“No reason.” He admitted openly. “Oh, but Hyung? I think I might have burned myself could you come and see if it’s bad?” He added happily. Baekhyun mentally facepalmed. He opened his mouth to question what he’d just heard but closed his mouth again. It was Sehun, that was all the explanation he needed. He sighed before agreeing and hanging up the phone, delving into his suitcase for something he could use for wrapping Sehun up- worst case scenario of course. Whether that really translated to most probable scenario or not, Baekhyun tried not to think about.

“Sorry, I, well, my friend burned himself.” Baekhyun stammered after turning around to see his roommate still looking at him with curiosity. The shorter started to move towards the door awkwardly.

“What’s that?” Chanyeol asked, eyes fixed on his suitcase across the room. Baekhyun followed his case and swore, hurrying over to shut the case quickly.

“Just a battery charger. Didn’t mean to bring it with me.” He muttered, cheeks turning crimson as he wondered how he could have been so stupid to leave his suitcase open and lying around for people, or Chanyeol, to see. He didn’t say goodbye to Chanyeol when he left, and he didn’t come back until late that evening after dinner.

I'm still working on the end of this story but the plot just keeps getting more detailed when it shouldn't and I just ugh.
but it's officially the new year for me in England, so Happy New Year!
thank you /omg/ for you people subscribing already to this pile of nonsense.
but here, have the first chapter like I promised and if you're lucky you'll get the next one soon. idk when.

let's all just hate luhan together though.

and baekyeol.

and exo. all of them. the little s.
/shot/

ok I'm done I swear.