first of all, i'm sorry for abandoning this fic for almost 3 months. i wrote this part before baekhyun revealed his brother's name, so it'll be different in this fic. please enjoy the first part of prologue! the last one will be kris'. sorry for error and mistakes.

First love is like first wisdom tooth. When it grows it’ll be a bit painful, but in the end it’ll be alright, or be worse and needs to be taken away.

Unfortunately, Byun Baekhyun has to experience the latter.

“It’s okay, buddy, you’re okay,” his older brother, Seunghyun, pats him in the back while he’s lying on his bed in fetal position and hiding his face with the pillow he’s hugging. That afternoon, he got rejected by his drawing teacher, Junki, after he confessed his feelings to the older guy. His teacher smiled, a bit dimmer than he used to, and ruffled Baekhyun’s bowl cut hair while saying ‘I’m sorry, Baekhyun-ah’. Baekhyun just nodded after that, and he felt relieved that he confessed when the manhwa class had been dismissed because at least it hadn’t turned awkward when he bolted out of the classroom a minute after Junki retreated his hand from his hair. He didn’t want to cry but in the end he does; it’s his first love ever, and it doesn’t end nicely.

Seunghyun sighs and continues his brother’s back softly. He’s known Baekhyun’s infatuation over his own drawing teacher since a long while ago. Being born mother-less and genius, Baekhyun’s emotion is never really stable because there has never been one to stay with him to teach him about life; his father has to be away from home to work while Seunghyun has been busy with school and college long after, and he couldn’t attend regular school because no institution could provide his education needs. Baekhyun had gone panic when people from ministry of education came to their house, offering an admission to the school for geniuses. Baekhyun immediately rejected the offer, afraid of being away from his father and brother more than he already was, and decided to take homeschooling. For the sake of socializing, Baekhyun had also been enrolled to a drawing class in the next town; it was a famous drawing course which had been established by a few of well-known manhwaga. There Baekhyun first met Junki; the latter was still a senior student at that time, and Baekhyun immediately took a liking to the older guy. After 5 years of admiration, Baekhyun finally admitted his feelings to his teacher.

And now, Seunghyun thinks, he regrets what he did greatly.

“How’s Baekhyun, Seunghyun-ah?” asks Junki carefully. He and Seunghyun are having a lunch together; they’ve been friends since Baekhyun enrolling the drawing course and they also happen to go to the same university.

“Bad, to be honest. He cried at the first day, and has been locking himself in his room since then,” Seunghyun munches on his French fries and raises his hand when his friend is opening his mouth. “I don’t blame you, I know you only look at him as a younger brother. I think he needs this to be mature. He should live with heartaches and pains to grow up, just like wisdom teeth.”

“But he’s still twelve, he doesn’t need to be mature so fast,” counters Junki.

“And that’s why you rejected him, right?” Seunghyun points at his friend with the deep-fried shrimp. “He should realize that he has been harboring feelings to a guy 7 years older than him. He should know there’s a term called ‘ia’, and he would make you look like one if you accepted him.” Seunghyun smirks when Junki feigns hurt. “But he couldn’t be immature any longer. You know that I took him to Hongik University entrance exam last week, don’t you? He will face adult’s life soon, and he needs to be prepared for that even at his age. If he couldn’t handle broken heart, I don’t know if he could deal with other adult problems.”

“But it shouldn’t be so painful,” Junki nods nonetheless. “Can you tell Baekhyun that he’s always welcome to the course?”

A few months later, Baekhyun gets the announcement that he passes the entrance exam, but he makes another decision: he prefers staying at the course and being Junki’s co-worker as a drawing teacher.

~*~

Seunghyun sighs for the nth time that evening as Baekhyun slams his bedroom door and locks himself in it. He knows what the matter is this time; Baekhyun’s editor, a diligent and kind-hearted young guy named Yixing, has to move out of the country because of some family matters and a new editor will be assigned to replace him. Baekhyun likes the publishing company he’s working with right now because they can keep up with his odd behavior and unstable mood; he could turn in 5 chapters in a month if he’s in a very good condition, but at the worst situation he couldn’t get any chapter done 3 months in a row. But he especially likes Yixing, who’s patient and always smiling even when Baekhyun is in his weird state. So when he knew that his dearest editor has to leave, he can’t take it really well; Baekhyun likes to keep people he likes close and he cannot trust new people easily.

Sometimes Seunghyun thinks that his brother’s life is too sheltered for his own good. Sure, he’s socialized enough as someone who never takes a formal education other than homeschooling sessions, with him teaching in the drawing course he’s been attached to since he was seven, but it’s probably not enough to deal with real life. It’s nice enough that the current publishing company is keeping him with them, because even though Baekhyun is really talented but his mood swings are also his low point. He’s gotten better than when he was younger, of course, but sometimes he would just explode like that.

Seunghyun runs his fingers through his hair and pads his way to his brother’s room. It’s his job to lift Baekhyun’s mood everytime it goes down, and he’s been doing well at it. He knows what his brother likes, because although he’s already nineteen, Baekhyun’s been as simple as little kid.

“Baekhyun-ah, it’s almost 8pm right now,” says Seunghyun through the door. “The drama is going to start.”

Seunghyun hears shuffling sound from inside the room, and then there’s a click from the door. Baekhyun opens the door and walks out, albeit with sulking face and swollen eyes. He’s a fixed audience of this Mon-Tue drama because his favorite rookie actor, Kris Wu, is starring in it. No matter how busy he is, even when the due date is in front of his nose already, he will always take a break and sit on the couch to watch his idol. In his honest opinion Seunghyun thinks that the plot of the drama isn’t that good, but he knows Kris Wu’s in it and though his acting skill isn’t very good but he’s been progressing nicely through various characters he’s played. It’s not like he likes the drama, though, he just likes to sit with his brother after he gets home from work. Baekhyun won’t drift attention from the drama and keep gluing his eyes to the screen; he’s been infatuated by the rookie actor.

The older of the two is in the middle of making two cups of hot chocolate when he hears a sob. He quickly finishes his job and strides into the living room, finding his brother hugging the plush tightly while hiding most of his face behind it. He joins the younger into the couch while placing the mugs on the coffee table. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Kevin —Kris’ character— is breaking up with his girl. He’s crying.”

Seunghyun chuckles silently as he watches Kris Wu looking at his ex-girlfriend’s retreating back in the screen; everything’s fine again.

~*~

Seunghyun thinks Baekhyun’s too young to get into a relationship, considering his mental age is comparable to a 15 year old and he’s never been in a real relationship before; when he studies how Yifan looks at his younger brother with such overflowing adoration and love, he gives them a chance. Wu Yifan might be able to guide and protect Baekhyun in the way he never could.