✽ dul • cet [duhl-sit] (adj.)

"the soothing impact of your smile"

3

Byun Baekhyun has always had a thing for gore, violence, and plain old creepy stuff. His room's pretty plain, but once you dig through the multitudes of boxes in his closet, you'd find a treasure trove of horror collectibles. With that said, it's pretty ironic that he also has a thing for anything cute. His bed sheets range from Disney themed ones to those with Mamegoma and Hello Kitty prints. Basically, he was a very unpredictable person.

When the school year started, he wasn't really expecting anything extraordinary to happen. Aside from the fact that his best friend, Lu Han, was finally back from China and that he was classmates with his childhood friends Kim Jongin and Park Chanyeol, he expected the school year to be normal. Kris, of all people, was going to be his homeroom teacher, too. It was bound to be a normal year with just the right amount of fun and boredom.

But then Do Kyungsoo happened.

Baekhyun doesn't really know him personally, but with the amount of dumb people around him, he got to know that Kyungsoo was labelled as "the creepy kid" from their junior high, and that he didn't really have any friends. Honestly speaking, Baekhyun didn't understand why majority of the people were scared of Kyungsoo. Sure, he sometimes resembled Toshio from The Grudge, but most of the times, Baekhyun found the kid really cute and squishy. He was the epitome of "creepy and cute", and Baekhyun really wanted to be friends with him but he never got any chance to talk to him. When they were still in junior high school, Baekhyun always saw that Kyungsoo was alone. When he found himself in a room full of people (aside from class), he would always scurry away undetected. Baekhyun always felt bad for Kyungsoo. He never really saw him with any other person, and now that Baekhyun thought about it, he has never seen the kid smile.

~ ✽ ~

"Hey, Byun, wait up!"

Baekhyun rolled his eyes before turning around and letting his annoyed gaze fall on Kris. It was lunch break, and he was already running late for his daily football game with his friends. If he turned up any later, Lu Han was going to make him pay (the Chinese kid was already a football genius on his own but he hated getting sweaty so he just ran around letting Baekhyun do all the work).

Kris was leaning against the doorway, a lazy look on his face as he waited for Baekhyun to acknowledge him. Baekhyun didn't though. He continued on merry way until he heard Kris click his tongue in annoyance, a series of hurried footsteps following after him. Kris blocked his path, and Baekhyun groaned in frustration.

"What?! I have somewhere to go to!" Baekhyun whined, trying to dodge out of the way but Kris blocked him again.

"Tsk, I'm your teacher, have some respect, kid."

"No, you're not. Your house is right in between my house and Chanyeol's, and you're the best friend of Jongin's brother. We've been bugging you ever since we were kids. Also, you're a very noisy neighbour."

"Still your teacher, Byuntae. I have something for you to do."

"That was one time! Stop calling me Byuntae, you ." Baekhyun snapped, glaring at Kris before slumping his shoulders in defeat and crossing his arms over his chest.

Kris grinned smugly before speaking. "Go find Do. I have some papers that need distributing."

Baekhyun quirked an eyebrow at him, a knowing look on his face. "You mean you forgot to bring the papers during homeroom so now you're saddling the squishy kid with it. Aish, talk about responsible."

"Just look for the kid, Byun! God, you talk too much."

Baekhyun sneered at him before walking off, mentally preparing himself for Lu Han's wrath. For now, he had a squishy social outcast to find.

~ ✽ ~

Kyungsoo was nowhere. Baekhyun couldn't find him in the library, in the cafeteria, on the rooftop, even in the bathrooms. He stopped in front of the field, hands on his hips as he looked around and took a moment to gather his thoughts. The game he was supposed to be playing in was already halfway through, and he could see Lu Han giving him obscene and rude gestures. Baekhyun sighed, looking around him.

"Where the hell did that kid go?" He mumbled under his breath, totally oblivious of his classmate standing beside him.

"Who?"

Baekhyun almost had a heart-attack. He turned to his classmate, an annoyed expression on his face. "Don't scare me like that, Taemin!"

Taemin grinned sheepishly, rubbing his neck. "Sorry."

"Damn it. Anyway, have you seen Do Kyungsoo anywhere? Kris is looking for him."

"Oh. I saw him go to that large tree over there earlier. He looked so glum and scary, you feel?" Taemin shuddered for added effect, and Baekhyun slapped him on the arm.

"No, I don't feel. Stop picking on him."

Baekhyun started walking away, leaving Taemin alone. He kept his eyes trained on the large cherry blossom tree behind the field. Now that he squinted, he could see a tiny figure sitting against the tree, a lunchbox on his knees. Picking up his pace, he jogged to Kyungsoo's location, and as soon as he near enough, he reached a hand out, clapping the boy on the shoulder.

Kyungsoo jolted like a scared stray puppy. Baekhyun watched with his mouth half-open in surprise as Kyungsoo literally rolled away, face scared and eyes wide as he stared at Baekhyun. His lunchbox lay on the ground in a sad heap, and they just stared at each other until Baekhyun cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Hey, Secretary, Kris wants to see you. He's in the facult--"

Kyungsoo suddenly grabbed his lunch box in a hurry, bowed deeply to Baekhyun and ran off. Baekhyun stared at his figure, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Did I say something wrong?"

~ ✽ ~

Baekhyun stared at the form on his table. It was dirty and slightly crumpled. He subtly turned around to look at Kyungsoo, and the poor kid looked pale and scared what with all the endless complaints flying out of their classmates' mouths. He knew that Jongin, Sehun and Chanyeol had helped Kyungsoo with the papers (they came back late for the game), so he looked at his friend, and Jongin looked pissed.

"Saem! My paper has a freaking footprint on it!"

"At least yours only has one. I have two. What the hell. Who distributed these anyway?"

Kris turned to Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun watched as everyone followed their teacher's gaze. If possible, Kyungsoo cowered lower into his seat. Baekhyun was about to speak up when a ball of crumpled paper suddenly flew across the air, nearly hitting Kyungsoo's face. Baekhyun felt his eyes widen, and he saw that it was Son Naeun, resident bad girl of their school, who threw the paper. Baekhyun narrowed his eyes at her, but she only raised an eyebrow in response, ignoring Kris and Jongin's sudden outbursts.

"Hey! No throwing of in my class!" Baekhyun watched as Kris glared around the room, his face looking much like a dragon.

"Who the hell threw that?! That's not nice!" Jongin added, even standing up from his seat and looking totally pissed.

Baekhyun noticed Kyungsoo on the verge of tears, and he felt really bad. He wanted to add in to the discussion and say a thing or two but Naeun suddenly spoke up.

"That piece of paper aside, the creepy kid's not only creepy, but also useless. Surprise, surprise." Naeun drawled, legs up on her table and chewing a gum obnoxiously.

Kris struck his table with his fist, pointing his finger at Naeun. "You there. Raise your hand if you want to talk. There will be no gum chewing in my class, and keep your dirty shoes off the table. You're wearing a skirt, for God's sake. Sit properly."

Naeun clicked her tongue in annoyance before complying, throwing Kris (and a smug Baekhyun) dirty looks as she crossed her legs underneath the table. However, the heavy atmosphere didn't go. Baekhyun noticed how his classmates were all glancing at Kyungsoo disapprovingly. He saw Sehun and Chanyeol exchanging looks of pity (for Kyungsoo, probably). Jongin, still standing from his outburst earlier, abruptly and loudly stomped his foot in annoyance.

"Tsk. It wasn't Kyungsoo who distributed those damn forms. It was me, okay? I tripped in the hallways and kinda stepped on them while collecting them." He settled back into his seat, sitting back as he tipped his cap over his face and shoved his hands into his pockets. The class mumbled in understanding, and they all let the matter go.

Baekhyun felt a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Jongin meddling with class matters was a first, and it was for Kyungsoo's sake to boot. Baekhyun felt a light bulb light up in his head, and he caught Lu Han's gaze. They were thinking of the same thing.

Before Baekhyun turned back to the front to listen to Kris go on about grammar rules in English, he chanced to see Kyungsoo beside Jongin. His cheeks were a bright pink, his gaze planted on his table as he scribbled on a small piece of paper. Suddenly, he smiled. Just a small smile, but definitely a big change from his usual surprised and scared face. Baekhyun felt like he just saw the light.

~ ✽ ~

"Soooo, Knight in Shining Armour. What's gotten into you?"

Baekhyun wiggled his eyebrows at a guilty-looking Jongin, Sehun and Chanyeol enjoying the scene. Lu Han was grinning at Jongin knowingly, and the latter could only splutter in embarrassment at having been caught.

"N-nothing, guys. Lay off me, Baek!"

"Not gonna hap-- oh?"

Baekhyun stopped mid-sentence, looking past Jongin's head and spotting Kyungsoo tucking something underneath Jongin's messy notebooks. He couldn't help but smile as Kyungsoo left in a hurry.

"Baek?" Lu Han called, and Baekhyun turned back to them, a teasing grin on his face.

"Jonginnie~. Better check your table." Baekhyun teased in a singsong voice.

He watched as Jongin looked at him in confusion, walking back to his seat. They all followed, watching as Jongin moved his stuff around, looking for something. Baekhyun saw a little paper fall out of the mess, and he pointed at it.

"You missed it, I think."

Jongin bent down to pick it up, and everyone huddled around him to look at the paper over his shoulder. The handwriting was tiny and neat, and Baekhyun and Sehun laughed as Jongin's ears turned pink.

Thank you :)

~ ✽ ~

Baekhyun watched as Sehun and Jongin went on their merry way, their houses in the opposite direction. Lu Han was on the phone with someone, his face depicting annoyance. Baekhyun knew well enough not to disturb Lu Han during his phone calls. Leaning against the school gates, Baekhyun turned his head back to the school and smiled when he saw Chanyeol jogging up to them, cap threatening to fall off his head.

"Sorry if I made you guys wait! Kris held me up." Chanyeol slowed down as he reached him and Lu Han, and the two started walking ahead. Chanyeol followed.

"Hey, don't you think Kyungsoo's really cute?" Baekhyun suddenly asked, twirling around and walking backwards as he looked at Chanyeol seriously.

Chanyeol frowned slightly, quickly reaching a hand out to steady Baekhyun. "Do Kyungsoo? He's okay, I guess...kinda creepy, but-- Byun Baekhyun, watch your step."

Chanyeol's grip on Baekhyun's arm was firm, so he didn't trip. Instead, he fixed his walking and looked up at Chanyeol, beaming his usual bright smile.

"I'm okay 'cause you're here, Park. Calm your boxers."

Baekhyun patted Chanyeol's arm mockingly before laughing, walking ahead and leaving Lu Han and Chanyeol behind, missing Lu Han's voice as the Chinese initiated conversation with Chanyeol. Baekhyun doesn't know why, but an idea just popped into his head. He suddenly felt himself get in high spirits, a wonderful idea brewing in his mind. He wasn't doing it out of pity or anything. He was just really drawn to the creepy (but cute) kid.

He wanted to become friends with Do Kyungsoo,  even if it was the last thing he'd do.

^{mamegoma -->} 

^{A/N: I am so sorry for the crappy update after like, what, forever? Don't expect anything great because I was halfway done with this when the Kris issue happened. I'm crying, I'm in pain. EXO's hurting more than we'll ever know, and we can't do anything about it.}

^{I just want somebody to hold them while they're falling apart.}

^{Twitter | Ask.fm}