He blinked a few times, allowing his vision to slowly readjust, and soon came into realization that he was back at home. BaekHyun found his father sitting beside him. His forehead was creased in worry, immediately causing BaekHyun to feel remorseful about his impulsive actions.

            “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

            “I’m fine. Aboji, why are you back so early? I thought you—“

            “Your mother called me. She told me you left last night and didn’t return home. I had to drop everything back in Thellion and come back to find you,” Han explained sternly. “BaekHyun, you must control yourself. It is not the time for you to duel with those Lycanthopes yet, and you know that even better than I. I know it’s hard for someone as hotheaded as you, but if you don’t think before you act, it’ll not only affect you, but it’ll affect our entire family. After your wounds healed, you returned back to human form. If you were unlucky, you could’ve been discovered by the mortals—and you know how dangerous that is. Mortals don’t understand us; they’re closed-minded creatures. Who knows what they’ll try to do if they find out about our true identity. It’s best to steer clear from their paths. So, please, be more careful about what you do from now on, all right?”

            BaekHyun nodded apologetically, “I understand father. Mianhae.”

            “It’s fine. Just be more cautious. Your mother called in this morning and told the school that you won’t be coming, so just take the day off and rest. I’ll be going now.”

            “Take care aboji.”

           “APRIL LEE!” a hazy voice called out from a distance. April felt her heart bursting in joy as she walked up to the front, beaming proudly as she received her award for “Best Vocalist” of the year. She waved at the flashing cameras and sweaty screaming fans—feeling dignified and joyful that she had finally reached her goal of becoming a singer.

           The voice suddenly pealed out once again—this time, sounding a lot less foreign to her, “APRIL LEE!”

           “Yes? Is it that a fan calling out to me? Would you like an autograph?” she questioned with haughtiness filled in her tone.

           Instead of having a “yes” or “no” in response, she received an explosion of laughter. April quickly gasped awake, realizing that she was in school and had unintentionally fallen asleep. Her teacher, Mrs. Son, seemed to be stifling a laugh behind her tight pursed lips. The entire class, on the other side, continued to chortle uncontrollably at April’s sleep talking. Her cheeks began to burn up viciously in embarrassment and shame as she looked down at the ground—feeling as the tears began to form in her eyes. She knew sleep talking was a bad habit of hers—it had always been, ever since she was young—but she never would’ve expected it to happen in a public place. April began to mentally chastise herself for not sleeping earlier last night.

           “So like I was saying… April, you will be paired up with BaekHyun for the project. But because he is absent, you will work alone for today,” Mrs. Son cleared . “By the way, you didn’t get much sleep last night, did you, April?” she lightly ridiculed, causing April to shrink down even more in humiliation.

           ChanYeol watched her from the back of the room, watching as she slumped further down in her seat. First, she had to deal with trouble from a bunch of hooligans, and now, teasing from her classmates. He suddenly felt sympathetic for the poor girl, wishing that he could do something to help her.  But at the moment, ChanYeol knew that it was best to leave her alone.

            April purposely slowed her walking pace to school—rather being anywhere else but there at the moment. Although a day had already passed, she was sure the rumors were only just beginning to spread around. After all, her school was filled with a bunch of snobby and arrogant low-life kids with nothing better to do than gossip and trash talk about others.

            As soon as she arrived into the halls, she decided to linger around her locker until the last five-minute warning bell rang before she finally allowed herself to leave inside.

           The moment she stepped into the room, all eyes immediately shifted onto her—making April feel extremely uneasy. She quickly retrieved to her seat to prevent further attention attraction and waited for instructions from her teacher.

            “Alright class, today, I will allow you all a free working period. Please continue on with your outlines. Do not waste any time—the more you get finished in class, the less you will have to do at home,” Mrs. Son announced before seating herself back down onto her bulky work chair.

            April glanced over at BaekHyun—whose head was now rested on his folded arms. She patiently waited until his seat partner left to their corresponding group before she headed over and quietly sat down beside him. However, the boy was completely unresponsive towards her blatant presence. April cleared a few times—implying that she desperately wanted him to cooperate with her—but he refused to move from his resting position.

            After a few minutes of their precious time had flown by, April decided to build up the courage to mutter, “B-BaekHyun-sshi?”

            She waited only to find herself looking like a complete fool when she realized that the boy was not going to reply. April exhaled in defeat before she got her work game on—accustomed to the fact that she was always going to be paired up with lazy people who never bothered to lift a finger in group projects because they simply did not care about their grades. The majority of the time, April always ended up doing all the work—although it wasn’t always a con, since she was given the advantage of being able to mold everything to what she pleased without having to ask for anyone’s opinion.

            Halfway through class, BaekHyun shifted position—allowing his face to face towards his partner. He had not been sleeping, but had been deep in thought—still concerned about the concealed coming future. After a while, he peeked through the thin slits of his eyes and watched as the girl worked. It was then that he realized that she—and the girl he had saved at the back alley—were one.

            “What a small world,” he thought to himself.

           BaekHyun continued to observe her as she carefully sketched the outline—delicately shading in the regions to code and map out exactly what she wanted to do on future the life-sized model. The second the bell rang, BaekHyun abruptly stood up and collected his belongings before swiftly heading towards the door to escape from the hellhole of the classroom he dreaded.

           Before he could leave through the doorway, April’s piercing voice pealed out—holding him back, “Excuse me! B-BaekHyun-sshi!” He stopped dead in his tracks, but refused to turn around to meet the girl face-to-face. Although it was very unlikely—probably even impossible—BaekHyun was afraid that she would recognize him and remember that he was her supernatural savior. “M-My name is April. Do you think we could meet up sometime this week to finish the project?”

           “Ani. I’m busy,” he stated coldly, not saying any more or less.

           “H-How about next week? Is that fi—“

           “We’ll see,” BaekHyun interrupted before he sped off—leaving April behind in complete puzzlement.

           “Geez… Don’t have to be so rude,” she whispered under her breath as she made her way over to the cafeteria.

           As soon as April found her best friend in the dense crowds, RinA, the two settled down onto their everyday lunch table and began to dig into their food.

           “Ohmygosh, have you seen the brothers that just moved here?! THEY ARE SOOOO HOT! OHMYGOSH!” RinA squealed in excitement as she stuffed a spoon of mashed potatoes into . “ESPECIALLY BAEKHYUN. Oh my God. Is he even human dude. Like seriously. He’s too beautiful to be human.”

           “BaekHyun?” April thought for a while and found it ironic that she had not once been able to see his face although he was her partner. “I haven’t seen him yet. Is he really that cute?”

           “GIRL YOU ARE TOTES MISSING OUT. Someone told me that his ideal girl type is someone that has long hair and a cute nose. Is my hair long enough, April? Should I get extensions? I know this place that carries really nice extensions for a decent price. Wanna go with me after school and help me pick out some?”

           April broke out in laughter over her friend’s unnecessary freak out session, “No you’re fine! I promise. Just be yourself and I’m sure he’ll like you and your sense of humor whether you fit his physical standards or not.”   

           “Aw really? Thanks April,” RinA planted a hand over her heart and sniffed as she smiled—genuinely appreciating her best friend’s compliment. “Holy crap, April! They’re coming in! LOOK IT’S MY FUTURE HUBBY! BAEKHYUN! HE’S THE ONE IN THE VERY MIDDLE!” she suddenly hissed—pointing directly behind April—as her eyes lit up in excitement.

           April turned around to find a group of eleven tall alluring boys—all dressed in their snug uniforms. Just as RinA described, they were all very charming. However, the person that stuck out the most to April was indeed the one in the center. With his dark wavy hair, puppy dog eyes, and inviting lips, he was surely the most captivating out of them all. Unexpectedly, the boy looked back at her—securing his eyes tightly on hers. April felt her heart beginning to race as she met face-to-face with BaekHyun for the very first time.