“London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down-n-n-n~”

“Shut up.”

Kyungsoo chuckled once as she sipped her drink. She looked up just in time to witness Luhan throwing a small pillow in Tao's direction. However, thanks to Tao's quick reflexes from years of doing martial arts, she effortlessly blocked the attack. It definitely managed to irritate her though as she glared at Luhan in response. Sensing danger, Luhan was quick to take off in the direction of the nearest bedroom, which just so happened to be Tao's shared room with Suho. Kyungsoo immediately made a mental note to buy some ointments for Luhan later.

“What's so funny?” Baekhyun asked as she suddenly plopped down on the couch next to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo glanced once at her. “Nothing.”

Baekhyun raised a brow, but didn't press further. She snatched the remote control on the coffee table, and instantly flipped through the channels so fast it will give you headache just trying to keep up with it. 

“You're going to ruin it.” Kyungsoo scolded as she slapped Baekhyun's arm lightly.

“Oh, please, it's a tough . Like me.” replied Baekhyun off-handedly. “Speaking of which, are you alright? Any headache anywhere or something?”

“I'm fine.” 

“Just making sure.” Baekhyun shrugged while leaning back against the couch. “You know the doctor said you should tell us if any of the symptoms start popping out of nowhere.”

“I'm really fine.” Kyungsoo insisted before looking down all of a sudden. “My heart is not though.”

Baekhyun instantly became alarmed, and whipped her head around to face Kyungsoo. “Why? Is it hurting there? Do you want to go to the hospital?”

“I just came back from the hospital yesterday, and you're trying to send me back there all over again? Do you hate me that much, Byun Baekhyun?” said Kyungsoo dryly.

Baekhyun snorted loudly. “If that's what it takes for you not to be stubborn, then yes, I hate you so much, Do Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo instinctively rolled her eyes before pulling the other's hair slightly out of spite.

“Ouch! Not the hair, you big, fat meanie!” whined Baekhyun while wrapping her arms around her head protectively. Kyungsoo huffed in response. “Alright, what is it, girl?” Baekhyun finally relented once she noticed that Kyungsoo's sense of humor was almost dried up as a prune at the moment.

“What what?” Kyungsoo shot back, and it wasn't hard to detect the hint of sulkiness in her tone.

Baekhyun sighed. “Come on, spill it out right this instant, young lady. What exactly has been bothering your mind? Or so help me, I'm going to finish the groceries twice the rate I'm going at right now.”

Kyungsoo gasped, and made a move to pull the other's hair again out of annoyance. But, Baekhyun was fully prepared this time as she quickly slapped the other's hand away while protecting her head with her free hand.

Kyungsoo huffed loudly when her attempt failed miserably. “Alright, I'll tell you, but promise first to take my groceries out of this.”

Baekhyun only smirked in response.

“Byun Baek—”

“Alright, alright, I promise.” Baekhyun rolled her eyes. “Now, go on.”

Kyungsoo narrowed her eyes in her direction suspiciously, but didn't argue further. She leaned back against the couch instead, taking her time to calm herself down first.

“I was at the library today—”

“Urghh, I hate it there especially when the old witch keeps on scrunitizing my every move whenever I stepped into the place. Is she seriously expecting for me to steal the books or something?” A deep frown crossed Baekhyun's features at the thought.

“Are you going to listen or not?” said Kyungsoo irritatedly.

“Oops, my bad. Go ahead, m'lady.”

“Well, I was just enjoying my time there with a couple of good books..”

“Every book is a good book for you.”

“Quiet please.”

Baekhyun instantly made a motion of zipping up.

“And then, there was this one guy appearing out of nowhere and asked for the book that I was currently holding.”

“Are you being serious right now?” Baekhyun stared at her incredulously while Kyungsoo raised one questioning brow. “Is that it? The reason you look so mighty po-faced about something is because some random guy attempted to steal your book? What, did you get possessed by a librarian ghost or something?”

“It's not just some random guy though..” Kyungsoo muttered quietly.

“Right, as if that matters so much.” Baekhyun snorted loudly before something occured to her. “Is he hot though? Is that why you're so shaken? Who is it? Is it one of those hot seniors? Damn, I've been trying to flirt with one of them yesterday, but it appeared that all of them are taken already.”

Kyungsoo facepalmed herself. “You and your shameless . It's not like that, okay?”

“Then, what exactly is that that?” said Baekhyun mockingly while doing an air quote with her fingers. “And, you haven't answered my question.”

“Which question?”

“Is he hot?”

Kyungsoo's first reaction was to physically harm the other, but since her head was still fully protected, she opted to flick her forehead instead. Hard. Real hard that the sound faintly echoed off the four corners of the living room.

“Ouch?” Baekhyun yelped loudly, the word coming off more as a question than she originally intended as she stared at Kyungsoo in disbelief as if she couldn't believe how could the other had the heart to hurt her in the first place.

“This is what you get when you don't listen to me.” Kyungsoo said nonchalantly.

“But, I did listened to you!”

“I meant, until the very end.” Kyungsoo corrected. 

Baekhyun pursed her lips. “Well then, what are you waiting for?”

Knowing Baekhyun, she would just ended up of interrupting her real soon anyway even if you got her to swear on her life or something, and Kyungsoo knew this very well. Inevitably, she heaved a heavy sigh.

“Look, this has nothing to do with the book, alright? You could say it's sort of the cause or even catalyst, whichever that you prefer, but no, I wasn't upset solely because someone tried to steal my book.” Kyungsoo began, shifting slightly to get comfortable. “Ever since I got discharged yesterday, all I could ever think about is the vague memory of my savior.”

“Ah, the knight in shining armor.” As expected, Byun Baekhyun was never one to disappoint. She smiled knowingly as she poked Kyungsoo's arm.

Kyungsoo rolled her eyes. “Anyway, you already know that I didn't really get to see him, right?” Surprisingly, Baekhyun just nodded in acknowledgement. “At the same time, we also know that a guy brought me to the hospital.”

“A very good-looking one.” Baekhyun agreed while bobbing her head up and down.

“There was no guarantee that it was the same guy..” Kyungsoo trailed off. “—but it does seem a little bit too much of a stretch for both of them to be two completely different individual with insanely good look, don't you think so?”

“What makes you think your savior is just equally good-looking?” Baekhyun narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “You said you didn't even get to see him in the first place. He could be a creepy grandpa with a shining bald head for all that you know.”

Kyungsoo's first instinct was to deny the statement because she just knew that wasn't the truth. Partly because she did saw him after all, albeit only a short glimpse of his back, and also partly because she knew there was just no way in hell that velvety voice belonged to someone else than a healthy, good-looking young man. Someone like her deskmate. In fact, now that she could properly think like any sane person on earth, she realised that the voice matched her deskmate's inhumanly features so perfectly that it could only be his all along. Kyungsoo stared at Baekhyun, and slowly shook her head.

“No, he's not some creepy bald grandpa. That much I'm sure of.” Kyungsoo said quietly.

Baekhyun raised a skeptical brow. “And, how exactly are you trying to support this statement?”

“I saw him.”

“You did what now?”

“I saw.. him.” Kyungsoo said hesitantly, her voice not more than above a low whisper. “I may or may not had forgotten to tell you guys that I met him in the supermarket before the incident. As you can tell, I'm blessed with this incredible height to the point that I need someone to help me reaching for a bottle of sesame oil. He just so happened to be that very someone.”

Baekhyun's jaw literally dropped to the floor. “You forgot? You freaking forgot this little piece of possibly most crucial information of all?”

“Yeah, well..” Kyungsoo scratched her head. “I didn't really see his face though. Just a short glimpse of his back, but it was quite enough to tell that he was certainly not someone in his late 60s or something. Besides, I doubt an old grandpa will be able to save me from my kidnapper. He was quite a big guy with an intimidating height.” Another thought quickly occured to Kyungsoo the moment she finished her words. Her savior might not had been the old grandpa that Baekhyun assumed, but he wasn't exactly built to fight someone as big as her kidnapper either. She immediately began picturing his tall, and lean figure in her mind, and quickly found it rather hard to imagine for someone like him to hold his own in a fight unless there was something more to him than meets the eyes.

“How come you are so sure that your savior and that guy is the same person though? You barely saw the guy, and you didn't even get to see your savior.” Baekhyun's question snapped Kyungsoo back into reality.

“His voice.” said Kyungsoo distractedly. “He talked to me in the supermarket, and I heard that same voice again while I was losing my consciousness so I knew that it had to be the same person.”

Baekhyun formed an 'O' with . “Alright, that explains a lot.”

“There's more.” Kyungsoo added, her voice returning back to its whispery state. “I nearly fell in the supermarket after trying to reach for the goddamn bottle, and he managed to catch me before I further embarassed myself. His skin was so cold that I could still feel it even through layers of clothing. Then, I felt the same cold sensation on my cheek before I was completely knocked out cold.”

Baekhyun was positively gaping by the time Kyungsoo looked at her.

“Holy - crap!” was Baekhyun's first response when she finally recovered enough of her wits. “Girl, you could turn this into a lengthy novel and I'll bet my y that there will be a long line all the way to Busan on the launching day!”

“Don't be ridiculous.” Kyungsoo scolded while slapping the other's arm lightly.

“I'm not!” Baekhyun pouted while rubbing the sore spot. “But, now that you've said it, I agree that it is kind of a little bit too much of a stretch for two insanely good-looking guys coming to your rescue all in one day.” She abruptly looked at Kyungsoo up and down. “It's not like you're Kim Tae Hee or something after all.”

“I'll pretend not to hear that.” Kyungsoo said through her gritted teeth.

Baekhyun briefly stuck her tongue out before turning serious again. “Alright, so all of them turned out to be the same person after all. Then, what about it? I don't see much of a problem there. You still can't find him anyway since he wished to remain anonymous.”

“That's the thing.” Kyungsoo whispered, feeling the loud beats of her heart pounding in her ears. They were so close to the truth, yet so far. “I think I've found.. him.”

Baekhyun gasped loudly. “You found him? Already? How? When? Where? Holy guacamole, tell me, tell me, tell me all about it!”

Kyungsoo briefly wondered why in the world did she even chose to confide in Byun Baekhyun out of all people in the first place. Because as of right now, she was starting to regret that decision as she covered her ears from the other's loud babbling.

“God, I swear you're going to make me go deaf permanently one of these days.” Kyungsoo complained when Baekhyun had toned down her excitement a little bit.

Baekhyun grinned. “Oh, just shush, you big baby. Let's move on to the much more interesting stuffs. I want to know everything. Do you hear me? Every - single - thing.”

“You're shushing me, and yet, you want me to tell you everything? Aren't you supposed to pick only one between the two or is that already too overrated for you?” Kyungsoo gave a pointed look towards her.

“Overrated.” Baekhyun confirmed without missing a beat. “Stop trying to change the topic. Details please.”

Kyungsoo inhaled sharply. “Alright, so remember when I told you that 'someone tried to steal my book'?” Her fingers instantaneously mimed air quotes, using Baekhyun's own words. “Well, he obviously had to speak when he asked me for the book, right?”

“Oh My God!” Baekhyun interrupted, already slapping a hand across . “Don't tell me..”

Kyungsoo raised a brow. Baekhyun was a smart girl despite her appearances, and judging from the way she was reacting, Kyungsoo immediately knew that the other had slowly began putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.

“Yeah, it's the very same one.” Kyungsoo threw her head back, and sighed as she stared into the ceiling. “The very same voice that I heard yesterday, and I accidentally grazed his skin too while handing the book, and it's the same cold skin, alright. But, guess what? That's not the end of it.”

“There's more?” Baekhyun asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

Kyungsoo hesitated for a split second.

“Well, it's not one of the seniors.”

“Huh?” Baekhyun tilted her head to the side.

“You did asked who is it earlier, don't you remember?” Kyungsoo was positively deliberating at the moment. It was evident from the way she started to fiddle with her fingers, and the way her lips was set in a straight line.

“Right. So, who is it?”

“My.. deskmate.” Kyungsoo's reply was barely audible that Baekhyun had to strain her ears to catch the words. When she finally did though, her first reaction was to gasp out loud, blink a few times, and promptly shake Kyungsoo's shoulders.

“You meant to say that it was Kai all along? That Kai? Girl, you just hit the jackpot!” Baekhyun whistled appreciatively.

“K-Kai?”

Baekhyun stared weirdly at her. “Yeah, his name is Kai. Well technically, it's Kim Jongin, but I was told that he prefers not to use that name. No idea why, but if that's what he prefers, then there must be a story behind it so I'll respect that. You don't know?”

Kyungsoo slowly shook her head, looking like a lost puppy.

“Gosh, Kyungsoo, it's a good thing that you have me then.” Baekhyun tsked while not so subtly hinting at her smugness. “How come you don't know anyway? And come to think of it, how could you not recognize his voice in the first place when you could easily recognize your savior's voice and the guy in the supermarket as the same guy?”

“I never talked to him.” said Kyungsoo simply. “He was always sleeping in class so there's not much of a chance there, you know. Besides, it's only been what, two days since we enrolled into the school? Unlike some people, I don't go around introducing myself because I'm too shy for it so excuse me for not knowing stuffs.” Kyungsoo huffed, and crossed her arms.

“Jeez, calm down. I was just saying.” Baekhyun looked mildly offended. “And excuse me, but I don't go around introducing myself either, alright?”

Kyungsoo raised her brows skeptically. “How do you explain this whole thing of knowing about my deskmate more than I do then?”

“Yuri.” Baekhyun shrugged. “The girl's even worst than the entire cast of Gossip Girl combined, and apparently, the whole group is a must-know if you're going to attend the school.”

“The whole.. group?”

“Yeah, there are six of them, and they're like the One Direction of the school or something. People literally worship them according to Yuri - I suspect her included - because they are simply, in Yuri's words, mind-blowingly, crazy good-looking.” Baekhyun explained while examining her nails.

Kyungsoo instantly furrowed her brows. “That's just weird. It's not like they are celebrities or something.”

“True, but have you even seen them?” Baekhyun cocked one brow. “They are like the reincarnations of the Olympians in mortal body. If those myth is anything to go by, I'll bet that Hades will look something like your deskmate. You know, devilishly handsome sort of guy.”

“You do know Hades is not really considered as part of the Olympians, right?” Kyungsoo questioned pointedly. “And, the ancient gods are supposed to be able to shift into whatever that they want so there's no way possible of knowing their real form unless you are miraculously granted godhood or something.”

“Stop going all Greek mythology geek on me, Kyungsoo. I had enough of that with Tao and her Gucci.” Baekhyun rolled her eyes. “Besides, that's besides the point. My point is they are the popular kids around here so it should hardly come as a suprise if I know one or two things about them.”

“Only one or two?” said Kyungsoo mockingly.

“Yeah well, they don't exactly do this whole friendship thing except with each other. You should've seen the look on Yuri's face while she was telling this particular part. It's so full of pain that it's almost hilarious to watch. According to her, they mostly kept to themselves and constantly avoided from talking to others except when it's really necessary so we'll have to be satisfied with only the most trivial things about them.” Baekhyun said in one breath before abruptly looking at Kyungsoo appraisingly. “So, I wonder..”

“What?” 

“It's just a wonder really if Kai really turned out to be your savior. If Yuri's words are nothing but the truth, I imagine that someone like that wouldn't even be bothered to save you in the first place, don't you think so?” Baekhyun tapped a finger on her chin. 

“You don't know that.” Kyungsoo disagreed. “It's wrong to judge him that way. You can't just naturally assume that he's a heartless, cold being just because of his refusal to talk to people. He could be just shy or maybe even traumatic because of a bad past.”

Baekhyun instantly wiggled her brows. “Did you just indirectly coming to your knight in shining armor's defense? Alright, I was wrong.” Baekhyun quickly amended her words once Kyungsoo glared daggers into her direction. “But think about it, I'm pretty sure anybody would've jumped to the same conclusion if they were in my shoes, right? The most important part if he's really your savior though had to be the fact that he's simply the real deal. I meant, just look at the guy. He's simply the real epitome of a knight in shining armor even without the deed.” Baekhyun gushed with a rather dreamy look plastered across her face.

“That's not the important thing here.” Kyungsoo said disapprovingly. “If he's really the one, I have to know for sure.”

“Damn, leave it to you to make it sound like you've found the love of your life.” Baekhyun said jokingly, which earned her a reproving look from Kyungsoo. How she could still even had the nerve to joke around at this time was beyond Kyungsoo. “If you really want the confirmation that badly though, there's actually a real simple solution to that, you know.” She piped up after a prolonged silence.

“What?”

“Well, all you have to do is square up your shoulders, come up to him with those murderous glare of yours, say something along the line of, 'Yo, did you happened to hang around ABC Mart in the last few days and conveniently saved me in the process before disappearing without a word, you mysterious little ?' and then, there you have it. All of these secrets officially out in the open.” Baekhyun concluded while grinning widely.

Kyungsoo blinked once, twice. She took a few deliberate seconds to fully digest the other's words before abruptly kicking her off the couch.

“What the f—Ouch!” Baekhyun whined in pain for the umpteenth times today. She was sprawled across the red and black carpet at an awkward angle, her hands flailing around aimlessly behind her.

“That is not even funny.” Kyungsoo deadpanned while folding her arms across her chest.

“I wasn't even trying to be!” Baekhyun argued while turning her head to one side to locate Kyungsoo's whereabout. “I was dead serious about that and excuse me, but that's a rather fantastic plan in my opinion. Well alright, maybe you should alter the words accordingly, but you get what I mean. It sure beats sitting around at home wondering about it, don't you agree?” Baekhyun finished with a huff as she struggled to heave herself into a sitting position.

And though Kyungsoo was highly doubtful about Baekhyun's suggestion, by five minutes later she realised that was actually the best, and also the only reasonable course of action in this situation. When in doubt, a direct confrontation and communication are obviously always the key. 

However, it was definitely easier said than done. Not even including Kai's apparent refusal to talk to others else than his own group of friends, there was already much more important complications such as Kyungsoo's lack of courage combined with her shyness around strangers and also the matter of Kai himself, who had opted to remain anonymous after saving someone's life. It certainly brought a whole lot of deep-rooted questions to the fact as Kyungsoo wondered just why would anybody even do that. If this was a normal person, Kyungsoo was sure that he would've been asking, or demanding even, for some sort of reward or even a simple gesture of gratitude for the deed. Kyungsoo promptly sighed, already foreseeing an incoming headache. She was so going to have a sleepless night tonight while trying to think this over.