»Baekhyun»

I knew it was getting serious when my mother walked into the room. "This is our new student, Bae Suzy," Mrs. Kwon, my mother, Principal of Top Academy, and owner of half of the shares of Gersh Academy Korea beamed proudly as she introduced the new student. "Tell us a little bit about yourself, Suzy."

Then the girl who was turning today into the most miserable day of my life began to speak. Her words became lost in all of my thoughts. 

I widened my eyes, even blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing correctly. When I confirmed that the girl standing before me was indeed the same person I had scolded and yelled at a few minutes ago, I groaned with frustration. 

Bae Suzy... Damn it. She's connected to the fastest growing enterprise in Korea, and I told her she smelled like a dog. I couldn't help but feel stupid, which wasn't something that happened very often. An encouter like this morning's was absolutely unacceptable, for me, especially. How could I have made such a careless mistake? Something like this could be the sole deal-breaker in a business pact, or could potentially begin a war between our two families. Oh, and of course, it takes away the possibility that we could ever be friends. But that wasn't what I was worrying about right now.

She was still talking. Her eyes wandered in my direction, and I quickly shielded my face so that she wouldn't see me. Oh God, please tell me she didn't notice me. After a few moments, I looked up to see that she was looking in another direction. I sighed out in relief. 

I peered at her carefully. Her face was no longer smudgy or dirty, and her uniform looked freshly ironed, instead of the wrinkly mess I had encountered before. She had even taken the liberty to place a white bow in the midst of her reddish-brown hair, which had been neatly brushed down. She looked... decent. Pretty good, to be honest. That made me even angrier. How dare she deceive me into thinking she was a... a... sewage rat or something?! Now I'll just look bad. I put my finger to my lips, and an attrocious thought made its way into my mind. What if this Bae Suzy mentions what happened in the main hall? Then I'll be done for. I ducked my head down again and stared down at my desk, making sure my face wasn't visible. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she stopped talking and Mrs. Kwon left the room. 

"Suzy, we are very pleased to have you join our school," Ms. Lee announced, much to my demise. "Now, you can take the empty seat in front of Baekhyun." I froze in my spot. 

"Um... Where?" Suzy asked tentatively. 

"Right there." Ms. Lee pointed in my direction. "Baekhyun, please raise your hand so Suzy can see you." 

Ever so slowly, I raised my hand, still keeping my head as far down as possible. I heard Suzy near my desk and sit down only a few centimeters away from me. What are the chances... Why did Suho have to go on that business meeting today! Now I have to sit behind Suzy for this entire class! 

"Alright, class," Ms. Lee began. "Today's another practice day, but before you get into your groups, I have a little announcement..."

I found it hard to listen with so many things on my mind. What am I going to do... Gosh. I have to fix things, but how!? Burrowing my head in my arms, I just tried to relax and think about happy things.

I suddenly remembered. The Exhibition. When EXO performs... Myungsoo and his little cheersquad will be blown up to shreds. The thought made me smile.

I soon became lost in my thoughts for the future, as well as thoughts from the past...

"And the winner, of the 2013 Top Art Exhibition, is..."

I grasped the hands of the rest of the EXO members and held on tightly as the drumroll played in the background. Eyes closed, I prayed. 

Please let it be me. Please let it be me. Please let it be me.

I opened my eyes for a slight moment, and scanned my eyes over the crowd. Everyone was looking up at the stage with anticipation. Turning my head, I glanced towards Myungsoo, and his team, Infinite. They just stood there, faces completely blank. Suddenly, L shifted his gaze upwards, and our eyes met for a splitsecond. He grinned. I quickly shut my eyes, but the image of his smirk was imprinted in my brain and that was the only thing I could see and he was just smiling at me and I could still feel his burning gaze on my face and I just wished this moment would go by faster and I had to beat Myungsoo and would they just announce the winner already-

"Team EXO!" 

The crowd erupted into cheers, and I opened my eyes only to be blinded by a wild set of lights all pointed at my head. A rush of relief and gratitude ran over me and my face broke into a wide smile.

"Yes!" I yelled, and ran towards the end of the stage, towards the crowd. "Yes, yes yes!" I was just so happy, because I had worked for it, I had worked so hard, and it was just so worth it. I looked back to see all of EXO jumping up and down, cheering and screaming. Something caught the corner of my eye and when I turned, I saw a figure in the midst of the crowd. 

Choi Sulli. She was standing up with the rest of the audience, beaming at me. She was so... beautiful. 

All of a sudden, I was standing right in front of her, looking straight into her eyes. She smiled at me.

"Congratulations, Baekhyun." She giggled. I wanted to say something, but my words were all choked up and I could only move my mouth awkwardly. Giving me a confused look, she turned away, her long, brown hair swishing behind her. 

Why is she turning away from me? Why can't I say anything?

I could only see her soft, shiny hair. I tried to look towards the stage, but I was unable to look away. Mesmerized, I moved my hand towards her head and touched the bottom of her curls. So soft... I began to twirl one of her brown locks around my finger, in awe of its beauty. 

Sulli began to turn towards me again. With a curious look, she opened to speak.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" 

"Huh?" 

Snapped out of my thoughts, I looked around at my surroundings. I was still sitting in singing class. Suzy had turned around, and was glaring at me. I curiously stared back at her. Her eyes widened as she recognized me from the earlier incident. Crap.

"You," she hissed, with twice as much fury in her face as before. "Let. Go. Of. My. Hair."

"What?!" With horror, I suddenly noticed that one of my hands was at Suzy's head, while I clutched a clump of her hair with my fingers. "Oh my G.NA!" With a shock, I quickly let go, but as I sharply pulled my hand away, it became apparent that a few strands were still stuck around my fingers.

"Owwowwwoooww!" Suzy yelped, her head attached to my hand at an awkward angle. 

"I'm sorry!" Taking my other hand, I struggled to untangle her hair from my fingers. Suddenly realizing that the entire class was staring at us, I immediately reddened. Byun Baekhyun isn't supposed to be like this! Urghh!

Finally, after a few very long moments, I was able to free her head from my hand. Thankfully, Suzy didn't say anything more, whirled around in her seat, and just stared straight ahead. Ms. Lee was watching us strangely.

"Are you two... okay?" My face must be so red right now. 

"Yes!"

"No!" Suzy blurted at the same time. 

"We're fine," I insisted. "Her hair just got tangled a little bit, hehe." I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable with the attention. I mean I liked attention, but not this kind of attention.

"In your fingers?" Ms. Lee asked, obviously unconvinced. 

"Yep," I laughed awkwardly. "It happens a lot more than you think." Then there was another awkward silence. 

"Okay, then," Ms. Lee sighed. "That concludes my lesson, so you may all now get into your groups." She glanced down at her watch. "You have one hour."

Thank God. 

As the class began to move around and talk, I felt someone's gaze on me, and I turned to see Ms. Lee watching me intently. I looked back at her curiously, and when she didn't look away, I gave her a puzzled face. She finally lifted a hand and waved me towards her. 

"Is this about the hair thing? Because I really didn't do that on pur-" Ms. Lee shook her head, her dark brown hair bouncing about her head. 

"Baekhyun, I need to ask a favor of you." I looked at her suspiciously. 

"What... favor?"

Ms. Lee took a deep breath. "Be Suzy's partner for this project."

"No," I declined immediately. "I can't."

"I don't see why you ca-"

"Ms. Lee, I already have a partner. What am I supposed to do-leave Kyungsoo out to dry? I mean, I had everything planned."

Ms. Lee just gave me a pleading look with her eyes. "Kyungsoo can work with Suho, when he returns. Wasn't Suho working alone?" 

I sighed deeply. "Ms. Lee, that would put my entire act for this Exhibition in jeopardy! What happens if Suho and Kyungsoo don't have enough time to practice and they fail? Then I won't have a team for the Exhibition!" 

"They'll figure something out. They always do," Ms. Lee pleaded. "Suzy is the new girl, and what better way is there to make her feel welcome than to perform a duet with the most talented singer in the school?" 

I clenched my fists with anger. "Then she can work with Suho!" 

"But Suho isn't here right now, is he?" I my lips angrily, but didn't say anything. Ms. Lee continued. "Baekhyun, I want you to work with her. She's an incredible singer, you'll love it!" 

I narrowed my eyes. "What will my mother have to say about this?" I knew it was kind of dirty, playing the 'my mom is your boss so you have to do what I say' card, but I was desperate. 

"Actually, she was the one that suggested it," Ms. Lee admitted, throwing me completely off guard. "So really, you don't have much of a choice." 

My mother? Why would she do this? This could potentially ruin my entire act! Anger surged through my entire body. "Why would my mother-"

"I don't know, Baekhyun!" Ms. Lee interrupted, growing irritated. "Look, I've been letting it go this far because you're the principal's son, but this is something that I'm asking of you right now and I expect you to listen to me. If you have a problem with it, take it up with your mother."

Fuming, I whipped around and stalked away. I knew I was being rude, but I couldn't help it. I had to beat Infinite, and all of the members of Exo had to score high on this exam to qualify to the auditions. I couldn't risk something like this. Why would my mom do this..? 

I reached Kyungsoo's desk. "Everything alright?" he asked, seeing my expression. 

"No," I growled darkly. "We're not partners anymore." 

Kyungsoo's eyes grew extremely wide. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, I have to be Suzy's partner so you're going to work with Suho." I snapped. "So I guess you can have a free period, I don't know. But I have to work with Suzy right now." I looked in Suzy's direction. She was looking around nervously, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. I pitied her. 

"Whatever." I looked back at Kyungsoo. "Just work on Suho's solo together. You have to do well, you understand me?" Kyungsoo nodded, looking annoyed yet calm. With that, I began towards Suzy's desk. 

"Hey new girl!" She turned around in her seat and met my eyes. Giving me a look of disgust, she turned away. Oh what, do you think I want to work with you? "New girl," I called out again, and this time I put my hand on her shoulder. 

"Oh look at that!" She exclaimed. I looked down at her in confusion. "I thought you would put a restraining order on me if I ever touched you again. Oh, does it not count when you're touching me?" I scowled, and quickly lifted my hand off of her.

"Look. Suzy. I'm sorry about what happened earlier, alright?" I struggled to explain myself. "It's just-"

"It's fine. Whatever. I'm over it." Suzy grunted. "I honestly don't care anymore." 

"Really?" I asked, surprised and relieved. "Well, then, Um." The part that I dreaded. "You don't have a partner yet, for this project... do you?" I felt my cheeks growing rosy. Damn it. 

"No..." Suzy answered, slowly. 

"Alright then. Well, um." Why am I so nervous? You're Byun Baekhyun! She's just some new kid! "You see..." Suzy raised a brow, watching me confusedly. "We have to be partners," I rushed out. 

"Have to?" 

I felt my usual self return. "Ms. Lee ordered me to ask you. So we're going to be partners. Kapish?"

I saw an irritated look pass over Suzy's face. I rolled my eyes. "We don't have a choice. Don't act like you're the one who's annoyed be all of this because I certainly would not have chosen to work with you. Trust me, this is way more bothersome for me. Do you even know what I'm putting on the line to be your partner?" 

"Alright then! Gosh!" Suzy exclaimed. "Let's just get this thing over with then!" 

"Fine!" I yelled back. I took a few swift steps over to Kyungsoo's desk and grabbed the lyrics and arrangements we had planned, then walked right back over to Suzy's desk. "Follow me," I barked, and began for the recording studio. When I reached it, I looked back to see whether Suzy had followed me. She was standing right behind me with a shaken look. I opened the door and motioned for her to walk inside. I quickly followed her and locked the door behind me.

Suzy was staring around with awe in her eyes. "You guys actually have a professional recording studio?" 

"Of course," I replied blankly, as if it should have been obvious. I sat down at the chair in front of the recording equipment, which was facing the recording room or the 'dead room.' I looked at my reflection in the glass for a while, then briskly turned around. "We have to get started. We only have a week left." I sighed. "Do you think you can sing this?" I tossed the chord arrangements to her, which she caught with a bewildered look. 

"Um, yeah," she answered hesitantly. "But before we start, can you explain what this project even is?"

What!? Is this girl-What the-Why do I-This is just all some-ARHGHGHGH- "Every end-term, you choose a song, recompose it, and sing it in front of the class. You can create your own song as well, of course. This is all done with a partner, or alone, if you want, but you can do so many more things with two people like harmony and you get extra marks for teamwork, so I always work with a partner." Suzy nodded slowly. 

"And also," I continued, "only the students who score higher than a 95 are able to qualify for the art exhibition auditions." 

"They get to perform in the exhibition?!" Suzy asked excitedly. I impatiently stamped my foot, surprised that this girl could be so amazingly simpleminded. 

"Uhh, no." I sighed. "They qualify to audition. As in, you can only get to the auditions by scoring higher than a 95. If you pass the auditions, then you can perform."

"Oh," Suzy said, sounding much less excited. She then sat down in the chair beside me, looking kind of dejected. Don't tell me she actually thought that anyone who got a good mark would perform in the exhibition. The purpose of the exhibition is to showcase the most talented students of our school, not to give everyone their "fifteeen seconds of fame." 

"Let's start then, we don't have all day," I said, anxious to get this done. "I'll just sing my part for you so that you kind of know the direction we're going in." 

I began to sing the song I had chosen, which was 'Eyes, Nose, Lips' by Taeyang, oddly conscious of the fact that Suzy was staring right at me. I finished my entire part with perfection. Almost immediately, Suzy began to sing her part. 

I didn't even tell her how she should sing the song yet! I opened my mouth to correct her pitch, but then I realized that she was in the correct key. I stopped to listen to her singing properly. 

My jaw dropped open.

Of course, her singing was good, as expected of a student of Top Academy, but I had never heard anyone sing like her before. It was the quality of her voice, just the mere sound of it that was truly captivating. It was absolutely perfect! The feelings, the emotions... she captured it all perfectly as she sang. She... she didn't even practice it before! 

I watched her face as she sang. Her eyes were closed, and her hands moved with her singing. It was... mesmerizing. Her singing was so good to the point where I actually forgot about everything else and just enjoyed her voice. I was only snapped out of my faze when she finished her part and opened her eyes.

She brushed her hair behind her ears. "How was it?" She looked at me expectantly.

It was the most perfect and beautiful singing I've heard in my entire life. "Umm... It was alright. You'll need to work a bit on the facial expressions though, they're a bit lacking." A total lie. 

Suzy nodded understandingly. "Anything else?"

"The high notes were kind of pitchy here and there..." Another lie. "I didn't really feel like you were giving out the proper emotions. You're going to have to work on that." Lies. They were all lies. I honestly didn't know why I wasn't telling her the truth. In all honesty, she was better than all of the other female singers in this school. So why couldn't I just tell her that?

"Eh hem, let's take it from the top then?" She nodded, and I began. When my part ended and she began to sing again, that's when I realized what was happening to me.

I was scared. Yes, I was a great singer, known as the best singer at this school, but... Suzy was the first singer from Top Academy to have fully blown me away. I had no idea how my abilities compared to hers. I was frightened that she would take my title away from me. The title I had carried so proudly for years.

When we went into the harmony, she sang so flawlessly and wonderfully, which only made me more jealous. And as the song went on, I began feeling... angry. Bitter. She didn't even practice once. How good does she sound when she does practice? When the song ended, I was quite furious. I had no idea what to do. I felt like I had to protect my image, my name. But how?

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The only way to keep her from beating me... is to keep her in the shadows. I had to thank my mother for sending Suzy to me first, before anyone else could see how good she was. What's to stop her from auditioning for the Exhibition? And if she auditions, she'll definitely pass, and if she passes... that's a threat to my team. And to me. 

I knew what I had to do. I had to make sure she wouldn't perform at the Exhibtion. And the only way to do that was to audition together, but drop her a few days before the big performance. Yes... That's really the only way I can make sure she can't participate. 

I suddenly remembered what my mother had told me once, a few years ago. 'You keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.' I hadn't understood it at the time, but I fully understood it now. 

And that was exactly what I was going to do.

And that is my update! I haven't put out a chapter in... a while. I know. I'm sosososososo sorry, but I hope this long chapter kind of makes up for it... I hope you guys enjoyed, and please comment if you have any suggestions for criticism! <3 <3 <3