Chapter Ten

When Sora wakes up the following morning, she’s taken by surprise. It wasn’t that she forgot Baekhyun had spent the night on her living room couch, but that he was making a ruckus in her kitchen. The clatter of metal pots and wooden spoons was more than enough of a wake up call for her. She stands in the doorway of the kitchen, watching in confusion as Baekhyun moves back and forth between the counter, stove, and refrigerator like he owns the place. Last time Sora checked she was the one paying rent. Baekhyun’s chestnut brown hair appears soft through the morning rays that peek in through the window. Chef Baekhyun in the kitchen on a school morning is yet another side of him Sora is meeting. This Baekhyun is soft and mundane. No mystery shrouding his presence. Just a simple Baekhyun.

“I know I’m handsome, but you don’t have to gawk at me like that.” The sassy Baekhyun is here now. Immediately, Sora fixes her posture and diverts her eyes anyplace else other than on him. Was she staring at him that long? How embarrassing.
“I wasn’t.” Sora retorts.
“Sure, you weren’t.” He sarcastically chimes as he continues his breakfast routine.
“Do you need help?” Sora offers, mainly to switch topics.
“I’m almost done, you can just wait.” Baekhyun says as he checks on the omelets. Compliantly, Sora sits across the counter from him. Her apartment was small, so the island doubled as her dining area.

Once again, she finds herself watching Baekhyun’s every movement. This Baekhyun seemed much more like her. Simple and ordinary. Thinking back on her encounters with Baekhyun, this was probably the first time she witnessed him doing something that everyone else does. Previously, they had always been running on the edge of excitement, literally: running from the university security guard, running from the wedding security, that was probably the most exercise she’s done in a good minute. Baekhyun cooking breakfast seems like a total flip of the pool jumping, wedding crashing, party hard Byun Baekhyun she thought she knew.

“Alright, now you’re definitely obsessed with me. My charms are irresistible, I know.” Baekhyun’s lips curl into a smirk as he sets two plates on the counter. Sora bets her bank account that her face was the color of strawberries right now. He takes up the bar stool beside her, not that he had any other option, but instead of facing forward, Baekhyun turns his body to face Sora.
“Taste it, I bet you’ll fall for me after one bite.” Baekhyun declares with that overflowing amount of confidence of his. Sora’s stomach churns slightly at the words fall for me from Baekhyun. As an attempt to ignore it, she takes a bite of the omelet. Moist, yet still fully cooked. Salted, but not overpowered. All in all, Baekhyun didn’t fail. It was indeed the perfect omelet.
“You’ll have to do more than cook an omelet to win me over.” Sora states.
“You didn’t say it was bad though.” He points out.
“Trust me Baekhyun, eggs are not the way to a girl’s heart.” Sora tells him in that matter-of-fact tone of hers. He playfully pouts, sending another round of unexpected butterflies through Sora.

With her hands tightly wrapped around the straps of her backpack, Sora glances reluctantly out of the passenger side window. The familiar clutters of college students flash by as the vehicle moves down the street before pulling into the university parking lot. Sora holds her breath out of anxiety. The last thing she wanted was for everyone to see her walk out of Byun Baekhyun’s car in the morning. She can already imagine the rumors that would start spreading like a wildfire among the student body. She throws a frustrated glare at the male in the driver’s seat. It was his fault. She had insisted that she would take the bus like she usually does, but he didn’t give her any choice. Much like the other day Baekhyun had snatched her backpack right from her grasp, ending the conversation. This was practically a kidnapping, right?
“You and your staring today, do I look that good?” Baekhyun teases as he runs his hand along his jawline.
“This isn’t staring, this is glaring.” Sora clarifies with a huff as he pulls in a parking spot.
“Oh? So, you admit you were staring all morning at me then.” He grins.
“No.” She adamantly claims.
“You need to get better at lying, sweetheart.”

Baekhyun opens his door first, leaving Sora to prepare herself to make her exit. He breathes in the fresh morning air, a satisfied smile pulling at his lips. It only takes a moment before the appearance of a certain red head ruins his good morning. He lets out an exasperated sigh as he prepares himself for whatever she has to talk about today.
“Baekhyun, I’ve been waiting for you all morning, what took you so long? You didn’t show up to dinner last night and-” Yuri’s words are cut short when the passenger side door slams shut. Sora is a deer caught in headlights. She had been so worried about making a smooth escape from Baekhyun’s car, that she hadn’t noticed Yuri’s presence. The red head’s eyes burn with fire and Sora can feel the unrelenting heat of Yuri’s glower. Finally, Sora’s acquire the strength to move on their own and she’s gone, walking as fast as she can to get as far away from the situation as possible. Baekhyun simply glances between the two ladies and provides a lopsided smirk.
“I didn’t come from home.” Baekhyun answers Yuri’s question, the smirk still dancing on his bruised lips. He closes his door and begins strolling away, leaving the stunned and infuriated redhead behind.

She slept with Baekhyun.

We all saw it coming, they’ve been hanging out so much.

She’s sleeping around with an engaged man.

It’s always the quiet ones.

No shame.

Sora clenches her jaw as she rushes down the crowded halls of the university. Word travels fast, unbelievably fast. She was only able to make it through 10 minutes of her first lecture before the whispering of students and judging stares caught up to her. The whole hour of lecture she could only feel all the eyes burning into her skin. Even in the library, curious glances are thrown in her direction as she makes her way to her usual table. Who knew being the center of gossip was so exhausting? Sora plops down into the wooden seat. At least this area of the library was a bit secluded, granting Sora some type of peace. Making effort to move forward with her day, Sora pulls out her notebook and pens and begins reviewing the class notes. It doesn’t serve as a good distraction though.

Was Baekhyun actually engaged to Yuri? They had plans for dinner last night according to Yuri this morning and he didn’t really deny it either. What was an engaged Baekhyun doing knocking on her door in the middle of the night, let alone spending the night? Was he just being the Baekhyun she knows? Reckless and playing dangerous games? What are Baekhyun’s intentions? Now that she thinks about, what are his intentions? He just showed up one day and randomly embedded himself into Sora’s simple life. He wasn’t consistent, but when he did appear it left an impact. Was Baekhyun just bored and chose her life to disrupt? Did he like her too? Sora scratches that last one. Baekhyun was like an A-Lister and Sora was just part of the masses. It made sense why she would fall for him, but the other way around? Nope.

Just what exactly are Byun Baekhyun’s intentions?

“I knew I’d find you here.” Jongin’s soft voice stops Sora’s train of thought. His entrance was a strange relief from her unending questions.
“I mean, I’m usually here at this time.” Sora says as she taps the time on her phone screen. Jongin glances at the girl peculiarly before he takes his seat across from her as always. He could hear the difference in her tone today.
“Did you want coffee?” He asks as he begins putting together his study setup. It was routine for him to ask her and then go fetch it. She never said no, but it was just courtesy to ask first.
“No, I’m good today.” Sora replies. Jongin raises a brow at her surprising response. She looks up at him, confused by his confusion.
“You never say no.” Jongin explains, tilting his head to think about it a bit more.
“I don’t?” Sora awkwardly mumbles.  
“Are you okay, Sora?” Jongin asks, his brows furrowed with concern. Sora smiles, a forced grin that she hopes is convincing enough.
“Of course I am.” Jongin shakes his head, rejecting her answer. He leans back in his chair, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
“Kang Sora, I’ve known you throughout high school. I can tell when you’re stressed.” He says. Sora purses her lips, not exactly ecstatic that Jongin could read her so easily. She didn’t want to exactly pour out her emotions onto her ex.
“It’s just classes.”
“You’re also the worst liar ever.” He adds. Sora sighs. Jongin was indeed the person who knew her best.

“Do you want to skip classes today?” Jongin suddenly asks. Sora blinks with a blank expression on her face. Jongin liked routines, that’s why they got along so well in high school, but now he was willing to veer off his schedule all of the sudden?
“How unusual of you.” Sora reaches the back of her hand out and presses it against his forehead.
“Are you okay?” She turns the question on him now. Jongin chuckles, gently pushing her hand away from his face.
“You just seem really stressed. You don’t have to tell me, but I can help distract you. The lab is just waiting for results all day anyway, so I have the time.” Jongin shrugs his shoulders. He begins packing up his belongings, already making up his mind for the both of them.

Sora should have known. It was Kim Jongin after all.
“An arcade?” Sora stares at Jongin as he pops a coin into an arcade game. It had something to do with shooting as far as Sora could tell. She remembers every time Jongin went to the arcade she had refused and opted to just wait outside. It wasn’t her thing and she didn’t like wasting money on something as trivial as an arcade game.
“Come on Sora, give it a chance.” Jongin pleads as he motions for her to take the second player spot. She looks back and forth between the boy and the game, contemplating on just walking back to campus to try to study again.
“Just one game.” He’s practically begging at this point with desperation in his dark brown irises.
“One game.” Sora caves in. It wouldn’t hurt, right?

Sora holds the plastic gun with uncertainty. This was completely foreign ground to her. She watches the brightly lit screen move as Jongin sets it up to start.
“Basically, just shoot all the zombies that you see before they get to you.” Jongin instructs her, focusing intensely on the screen. He leans downward and holds the gun in position, Sora awkwardly attempts to resemble his posture.
“Easy enough.” Sora murmurs as the bright red numbers count down.

3… 2… 1…

Immediate panic. Her mind freezes and her body shrinks to her center. Sora’s heart races heavily in her chest as she sees the zombies toppling their way towards her.
“Ahhh!” Her fingers frantically press the trigger as her eyes squeeze shut. The sound of gunshots and vibration of the gun come to an abrupt shot, signaling Sora to open her eyes again.
“Did I win?” She asks. Jongin stares at the girl in disbelief.
“You’d have to open your eyes and aim if you want to win. You died.” Jongin snickers. Sora frowns at him.
“It’s my first time. Start it again, I’ll look this time.” Sora insists as she raises her gun into position. Jongin can’t hold back his wide grin as he watches the newfound determination in Sora’s eyes light up.
“If you say so.” He chuckles as he pops in a few more coins into the arcade machine. It’s only a few moments before the gun shots cease again. Sora frowns again, not satisfied with the outcome. This was a lot harder than she imagined.
“Start it again.”

Exhausted. Sora squeezes her eyes shut, silently cursing Jongin for letting her play hours upon hours of arcade games. She could still see the flashing lights of the machines and the colorful screens even behind her eyelids. Sora is standing on her balcony, elbows leaning against the iron barrier that keeps her from falling. It was chilly, but the icy evening breeze running through her dark locks was exactly what she needed to wind down. Out here, she truly felt alone and clear minded. She glances up at the night sky, littered with stars.

You weren’t at dinner last night.

I’m not engaged.

Baekhyun’s voice echoes in her head, uninvited. The thoughts that she’s been running away from all day are finally catching up to her. Who is Byun Baekhyun and what was he doing in her life? His sudden presence in her dull life brought exhilaration, adventures, and a warm sensation inside that she hadn’t felt in ages. Sora thought she knew what she liked: routines, the quiet, safety, but Baekhyun proved her wrong. She loved the excitement and unpredictable mischief that dances in his chocolate irises, the teasing pull of his pearly smile, and the mystery of what was next when she followed him. Why did he choose her to meddle with? What was he thinking and planning in that head of his? Was this just how Byun Baekhyun was? There one day, gone the next. Was he just here for the ride before his next stop? Was she just the small vacation away before he returned to Yuri? Eunhae had said they had some type of history with one another, and based on this morning, it’s not old history. For all she knows, Baekhyun was not going to stay in her life for long. With all their encounters, they never really talked to one another. She knew nothing about him and vice versa. He never asked, neither did she. He only showed up when he wanted to do something, and nothing else. He was like a bright star against an endless black canvas to Sora, always appearing but never close enough to grasp, and she must just be the wet dirt after a rain shower to him.

He was going to come and go like the four seasons: summer, winter, spring and fall. Sora hopes this one would last a bit longer for Baekhyun has become her favorite season.

Do yall ever just think about how Byun Baekhyun just exists? What talent and beauty. How does such a person exist so perfectly?

*cries in feels*

Anyway, yallllll, I've been surprsingly on a roll with this updates for once LOL. I'm literally just writing as a I go with no plans ahead, so please excuse the random scenes and plot that comes. I've tried planning my stories before but then it just goes off the rail.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter even though it's shorter :)