04: Council

"Baekhyun, wait!"

Baekhyun almost slipped on his rug as Chanyeol's loud voice rang throughout his small apartment. Placing a hand over his rapidly beating heart from having been surprised, he turned around to see his new roommate (forced on him by Lu Han) looking panicked and lost.

"Good morning, Chanyeol. Are you, uh, okay? Did you need something?" Baekhyun asked, fixing his bag's strap on his shoulder and mentally checking if he was late already for his first class or not.

"Where are you going?"

Baekhyun frowned slightly before jerking his thumb in the direction of the door. "Uhm, to school. Where else would I be going on a Monday morning?"

"Oh...oh, right, I have school, too. Uhm...wait for me?"

Baekhyun found himself nodding at Chanyeol's puppy look, not to mention, his hair was messed up in such an adorable way that whoever had the courage to say no to that, Baekhyun would deem heartless. He leaned against the wall and watched as Chanyeol literally ran around the place, emerging from the bathroom after a quick bath (Baekhyun rolled his eyes in amusement as he spotted some soap bubbles on Chanyeol's hair) and grabbing his things in a flurry.

"Chanyeol, calm down. We still have an hour until classes start. The trip to Rouge U takes thirty minutes, max." Baekhyun supplied helpfully, and Chanyeol flashed him a bright smile enough to make Baekhyun grin back like an idiot.

After Chanyeol was finally done, they both walked out of the apartment and out to the bus station. They fell in line wordlessly, Baekhyun pulling his coat closer to keep himself warm and Chanyeol huddling into his personal space, trying to combine their body warmth (or that's what Baekhyun thinks, at least).

Baekhyun was about to say something to Chanyeol when the taller male suddenly waved his hand enthusiastically. Baekhyun followed Chanyeol's gazes, and found himself staring at a tiny little black poodle carried by an old lady. Chanyeol was still waving at the dog, and what surprised Baekhyun more was the fact that the dog was waggling its tail excitedly, trying to paw his way out of his owner's arms and towards Chanyeol.

"He's so cute. He's saying hi, and he thinks that you smell nice, Baekhyun." Chanyeol leaned closer to Baekhyun, his warm breath ghosting over Baekhyun's ear.

"What?"

"The black poodle, Coffee." Chanyeol said matter-of-factly. Baekhyun frowned at him, getting more confused by the second.

"I'm sorry. You want coffee?"

"No. The poodle's name is Coffee, and he's saying that you smell nice...and that you're pretty." Chanyeol mumbled the last few words, his cheeks reddening at the words. But Baekhyun could only frown in confusion, his gaze flitting back and forth between Chanyeol and, well, Coffee.

"The...dog spoke to you?"

"Yeah, sure."

"...and you understood him?" The bus soon came, and the line started moving forward.

"Why not? Don't you?" Chanyeol tilted his head curiously, eyes blinking rapidly. Baekhyun shook his head slowly.

"...it's a dog." Baekhyun muttered lamely, inching forward as the line moved towards the bus.

"He."

"...uh?"

"Coffee's a boy. Don't call him, 'it'." If Baekhyun dared to admit it, Chanyeol might have looked slightly hurt.

Baekhyun was literally at a loss for words. He could only nod his head in understanding (more like, confusion) as Chanyeol gently pushed him forward and into the bus. They occupied the farthest seats at the back, and all throughout the trip, Chanyeol was staring at Coffee, waving his hand from time to time and sometimes shaking his head, too. Baekhyun just watched him, unsure of how he should feel. He resorted to texting Lu Han.

To: Lulu

holy crap, chanyeol's a dog whisperer

he's talking to a freaking poodle, man

a frEAKING POODLE

As they got off the bus, Baekhyun pushed all dog whispering thoughts to the back of his mind and took hold of Chanyeol's wrist, pulling him through the throng of loitering students in the school's open field. The main building of the school loomed up ahead, and Baekhyun pointed at it.

"Chanyeol, that's the main building. That's basically the heart of the school. It branches out to all the different departments here, so you'll be there most of the time. What's your first class by the way?" Baekhyun scowled slightly as a student in front of him accidentally elbowed him in the side. Morning classes weren't really his thing, but he had no choice.

"Uhm...it says here, INTROLIT101. I don't know what that is, though..." Chanyeol frowned at the schedule in his hand.

"That's Introduction to Literature. We all take that. Actually, that's my first class, too. Where is it?" Baekhyun pulled Chanyeol closer, taking a look at his schedule.

"Uhh...A506."

"Awesome! We're classmates, Chanyeol!" Baekhyun smiled at him, and the smile that Chanyeol gave back might have been the happiest that Baekhyun's seen him ever let out yet.

They navigated through the crowded hallways, and finally reached A506. The room had a high ceiling to accommodate way the seats were arranged. Each row was on a separated step, going higher as it reached the back so that everyone had a clear view of the front. There weren't many students in the class since that particular subject had so many classes. Baekhyun's smile grew wider, however, as he saw Kyungsoo sitting at the far back, eyes wide and lips pale.

"Kyungsoo-yah~!"

The smaller boy snapped his head up, and relief washed over his features as he finally saw somebody he knew. He waved them over, pulling two seats beside him and letting himself smile slightly.

"Hyung, you have this class, too?" Kyungsoo asked in a hopeful voice as soon as Baekhyun was in hearing range.

"Yep. I ran out of slots last term, so I'm taking it now." Baekhyun promptly took the seat next to Kyungsoo, dumping his bag on the table and patting the available seat next to him for Chanyeol.

"Cool. I'm so glad you're here, hyung. I was so scared earlier..." Kyungsoo trailed off, his gaze flitting back to the front where a group of rowdy boys sat in a huddle.

Baekhyun stifled a laugh. He stood up slightly, leaning over his desk and cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Jiho-yah!!"

Beside him, Kyungsoo tensed, and Baekhyun threw him a smile to let him know that everything was okay. Up front, the group of the rowdy boys collectively calmed down, turning to look back at Baekhyun. They all grinned, one of them even standing up and stalking his way towards Baekhyun.

"Yah! I told you to call me Zico!" He had blond, spiky hair, and he looked like a thug, really, what with his red varsity jacket and constant gum-chewing.

Baekhyun only stuck his tongue out at him, waving his hand dismissively. "You should really cherish the name that your parents gave you, Jiho."

"Then you should cherish the pretty face that your parents gave you, Baekhyun." Zico leaned on their desk, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Don't you dare hurt Baekhyun." Chanyeol cut in, and both Zico and Baekhyun turned to look at him.

Baekhyun was the first one to laugh. Placing a hand on Chanyeol's shoulder, he patted him reassuringly before gesturing at an amused-looking Zico.

"Aigoo, Chanyeol. He won't even dare to hurt a hair on my head. This is Woo Jiho, the president of the student council and also a good friend of mine and Lu Han's." Baekhyun explained, but Chanyeol was still frowning at Zico.

"Hey, man, nice to meet you." Zico held out a hand, and he turned to Kyungsoo. "And who's the other one? He looked sick earlier, and we wanted to help but Taeil said to leave him alone because he seemed scared."

"This is Kyungsoo, and yeah, I guess he was scared earlier. He thought you were bullies, I guess." Baekhyun laughed, and Zico grinned.

"A common mistake by freshies."

"You should've seen his pink dreadlocks, then. Man, he looked like a gang lord."

From behind Zico, another one from the group walked up. He was, by far, the prettiest in the group (in Kyungsoo's opinion), and he looked really gentle and calm. Baekhyun waved at him, and he smiled.

"I'm Ahn Jaehyo. Sorry for suddenly butting in, but Zico's needed in a discussion back at the group, so I'll be taking hi--

Jaehyo suddenly stopped mid-sentence as his gaze fell on Chanyeol. Baekhyun watched as Jaehyo, the vice-president of the student council, stared long and hard into Chanyeol's eyes. Chanyeol, on the other hand, also stared back. Their faces were unreadable, and before Baekhyun could ask what was wrong, Zico clapped his hands, totally pulling Jaehyo and Chanyeol out of their trance.

"Okay! That's enough staring, Jae. Let's, uh, go. See you around, Baek! Nice meeting you, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo!"

Baekhyun watched as Zico pulled Jaehyo back down to the front. He  turned to Chanyeol, wanting to ask him why he was having a staring contest with Jaehyo, but the look on Chanyeol's face was enough to shut Baekhyun's thoughts. He looked so serious, so un-Chanyeol, that Baekhyun could only bite his lip in answer, turning to Kyungsoo instead.

Before class started, Baehyun texted Lu Han again.

To: Lulu

i thought chanyeol only knew me and you

how come he seemed to know jaehyo-hyung?

^{A/N: Block B will have a big role in this. Heeheehee. Baekhyun will find out Chanyeol's nature soooooooon, just you wait /wink wink/}

^{Twitter: @alevuy95 | Tumblr: baekoneggs}