The weekend passed well enough. Baekhyun was locked up his room doing God knows what. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, a song would break the silence, sad and pained.

Monday came and Baekhyun finally finished all the papers Mr. Vernon assigned him. The said teacher also gave a pop quiz about Hamlet. All of the items have the words ‘according to our discussion’ before the real question. He giggled. That was clever, he admitted. No doubt Mr. Vernon anticipated his sarcastic and far from discussion answers and kept him in mind during the making of the test.

He gladly left a note at the end of the test, correcting the word discussion. It was supposed to be lecture because Mr. Vernon did not welcome any response from his audience like a real discussion should be.

During lunchtime, he excused himself from the group to go to the library. He had been researching on the state of saliva every day for a week after death. Since he couldn’t really search Google because of the crappy internet connection and he was pretty sure he wasn’t allowed to stick a severed head inside the refrigerator either, it would be best to check on the library.

Although, that wasn’t the exact excuse he gave his comrades.

There were several books about science, much to his relief, but nothing about saliva.

Of course.

Baekhyun decided it would be best to read the local newspaper instead. Just so he knows what his brother is up to. He grabbed the latest one from the stack and sat down on the chair away from the AC. Cold doesn’t suit her very well.

Wild beast kills its third prey

Excuse me, what? Wild beast kills its third prey? Baekbeom never mentioned anything about Forks’ wildlife having tantrums and killing people. He continued reading.

Like its previous preys, the recent victim has three snake-like bite marks, one on each wrist and another on the neck... Autopsy says that the victim experienced extreme blood-loss and damage around the heart and lungs, seemingly from cytotoxic venom that targets these areas... no drop of blood was left…  but there are no signs of poisoning… Local doctors are still identifying…

Baekhyun hated news articles. Writers and reporters usually exaggerate things. They’re no more than civilians who knows a thing or two about what’s happening and has a knack for words. Most of them makes theories based from incomplete data.

Saliva forgotten, Baekhyun brought his phone out and sent a text message to Charlie.

“Wild beast kills its third prey?”

He loves this kind of news, however, shady and thrilling at the same time. If only Baekbeom would allow him, he considered working with the police force one day, in some investigations department where his big brain can be of use. His mother wouldn’t be too happy though.

In less than a minute later, his phone pinged.

“Talk at home.”

Baekhyun grinned. If he showed interest enough, maybe his brother would let him to see the corpse. He could easily steal a saliva sample from there and feed them on the school’s spare microscopes. Back in Phoenix, he has no way of doing the investigations he wants but now, in Forks, where his brother is the chief of police…!

His excitement was cut short when the bell rang.

The walk towards the laboratory was short. Ideas from what little information he read rushed through his mind. Most were rejected by the sheer implausibility of it. He considered vampire attack, for Heaven’s sake. Nothing is as absurd as that. More information is required and he’ll be squeezing them from his brother a few hours from now.

Grocery first, of course.

Before the genius was back from her reverie, he was already sitting on his chair, in the lab, beside Chanyeol.

Chanyeol!

The oaf wasn’t glaring anymore. In fact, he was smiling at him. Baekhyun felt is blood pressure started boiling. Wherever Dr. Park took his kids last week certainly took care of Chanyeol’s anger management.

“There are five slides in front you,” Dr. Banner said. “I want you to identify the phase the cells are in. The first pair to accomplish the activity wins the golden onion.” The teacher juggled a large onion a few times. The students groaned. It was, in all modesty, a useless prize.

Both of them didn’t move for a full minute. As soon as Baekhyun realized they were going nowhere, he took a slide, numbered 1, and slipped it under the lens.

“Hi,” a voice he never heard before whispered. It was deep and cold and y, almost laughing.

The boy didn’t reply, he was too busy fixing the microscope and finding that damn cell, which, by the way, took a very long time.

Chanyeol didn’t seem the one to grow impatient easily.

“Anaphase,” Baekhyun said and scribbled his answer on the piece of paper the teacher provided.

“Mind if I look?” Chanyeol asked. Baekhyun nodded.

“Anaphase,” the monkey confirmed.

“Of course.”

“I’m Chanyeol.”

“I know.” Baekhyun slipped the second slide.

“You’re Baekhyun Byun, right?”

“I know that, too.” His blood pressure continued boiling. The grin on the boy’s face annoyed the hell out of Baekhyun’s being. He pushed the microscope towards his seatmate. “I can’t find it.”

Chanyeol took the instrument and saw the cell immediately. The lens was already focused on it, in fact. “Metaphase,” he grinned wider.

“Do you mind if I look?” Baekhyun looked on the eyepiece. “Metaphase.”

“Like I said.”

Baekhyun scoffed. He liked Chanyeol more when he was all quiet and just glaring at him.

It was Chanyeol who slipped the third slide in. “So, what do you think of the weather?”

“You glared at me the first time we met.” Baekhyun said through gritted teeth. “You were gone for a week. Now, you’re asking me what I think about the weather?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol chuckled. Idiot! “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“You don’t. I do.”

“I like it cloudy.”

“I like you to quit your chattering and focus on the task at hand.”

“Why did you moved in to Forks?”

The dramatic scene he had last Friday fought its way to the surface of his thoughts. No! Baekhyun chided. Concentrate!

“It’s a very complicated matter. Idiots like you can’t-“

“I can keep up.” If Chanyeol’s grin can grow any wider, it did.

“Why is it any of your business?” Baekhyun turned to face Chanyeol. What he saw shocked him much more than the Forks’ rampant wildlife. There was something different, something out of place. They stared at each other for a while then it hit him.

The monkey knows how to wear contact lenses!

Chanyeol’s eyes were golden, not anymore black, as golden as the painted onion he has on his hands after class. Chanyeol was on his trail, following him towards the lockers.

“Stop following me!” Baekhyun almost screamed but he didn’t want the attention he’ll be receiving if he did.

“I want to know you more,” Chanyeol said like it was the most normal thing in the whole universe.

“My life is no concern of yours, but I thank you for trying.” Baekhyun slammed his copies of Shakespeare’s plays inside his locker. “The contact lenses are a nice touch by the way.”

“I’m not wearing contact lenses.” Just like that, Chanyeol stormed off.

Rude monkey.

Minho appeared behind him. “Quite the weird one, isn’t he?”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it.”

At least, he’ll buy one less onion from the store.

The photojournalist accompanied Baekhyun towards his truck and left with a hard smack on the face for his failed attempt on stealing a kiss. He saw Chanyeol laughing at him behind the semi-tinted windows of the familiar shiny black Volvo.

Ah, so they’re the owners.

Despite being the genius, Baekhyun didn’t know how to shop for groceries. He never understood how Yeonhee knows which fruit, vegetable, and meat are fresh. His eyes weren’t trained for this kind of activity. So, he did what every normal people do, ask questions.

He asked the store clerks, the customers, even the security guards for tips. The general populace was kind enough but there are still those who ignored him. That was to be expected, though. By the end of the hour, his cart already had enough food to last until the end of week. Baekhyun continued strolling along every aisle, anyway, just check if he missed something – highly unlikely, by the way- and kill time.

He wandered past his eighth aisle when he saw it, a row full of sweets and candies and chocolate and sandwich spreads and… there it was.

Nutella, the holiest of all creations.

Needless to say, the bill went a little over budget, but it matters not. He has, in his possession, three jars of the food that could conquer the world apart from pop tarts and granola bars.

Baekbeom could only smile that night when, instead of hearing the usual piano, Baekhyun began singing his heart out.

Saliva and wild beast altogether forgotten.

His voice, by the way, is as lovely as the songs he produced when playing piano.