4

Sehun comfortably sits in the back of the class, skinny legs crossed. There's one more empty seat next to him, and that seat's for Jongin. Sometimes, the two walk together to class. Other times, Jongin gets to class before Sehun and Sehun is usually never on time. But today, Sehun's ten minutes early and Jongin is the one that overslept.

"Yoon Hyunbin," a random voice says out of nowhere.

Sehun turns his head towards the right to see the victim sitting in Jongin's seat. Sehun wonders how long he's been sitting there.

"My name is Yoon Hyunbin," the victim restates.

"Yoon Hyunbin?" Sehun mimics. He raises an eyebrow. "That's a very...unique name."

"B-But you can call me Tao for short," Tao hesitates to say. He pulls his backpack up on his desk and s its zipper. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

The name Tao sounds way too familiar to Sehun. No wonder when Sehun first saw the victim's face, it looked somewhat familiar. It automatically makes Sehun think back over to his childhood. "Could you be that Tao, perhaps?" Sehun thinks out loud. "No, it can't be."

"What?"

"No, it's nothing. It's just you kind of remind me of a Chinese friend I had when I was little. His name was Tao, too," Sehun laughs at himself. "But you're Yoon Hyunbin. The names Tao and Hyunbin are totally different, right?"

Tao rolls his eyes.

Sehun continues, "Are you a Chinese, too? Did you make up a Korean name for yourself or am I stupid and you're actually a Korean?"

Tao really wants to answer this question. He wants to say that Sehun's really stupid, but it doesn't come out of his mouth. "Wait, who are you?"

"Oh, I apologize. I never introduced myself. I'm Oh Sehun."

Tao's body immediately stiffens. His binder and pencils easily slip from his grip and for a quick second, he's not able to hear the rapid beat of his heart. It's beating faster than usual.

It's not a coincidence that the boy he's sitting next to is named Sehun. This Sehun is not just any random Sehun. It's Oh Sehun and he looks and acts exactly like he did seventeen years ago. Tao wants to smile. He wants to pull Sehun into a hug and cry, but he knows that's not allowed. Stuff like that is against the rules and consequences will be given.

Tao starts to feel sick. He rubs his stomach in a circular motion before putting his hand over his chest. He tries to feel for his heart. His breathing is heavy, and his lips tremble. They slightly open and it looks like he's about to say something but again, nothing comes out.

Sehun tilts his head to the side. He can easily tell Tao's struggling with something. "Are you okay?" He asks. "Why are you breathing like that? Do you have asthma or something?"

"I'm fine," Tao says, trying to hold back the vomit. "Don't worry about me."