And Then There Was You

The Beginning of the End

Falling back into the plush mattress Baekhyun sighed exasperatedly. In his hand was the slightly crumpled envelope he received in the mail about a week ago, he had yet to read it until today feeling the letter was unimportant. He held the letter up in the air; fanning it above his face. The note was short and brief; never veering from the point.

*

Seoul National University.

Dear Mr. Byun,

After careful consideration; your appeal to graduate during the spring intersession has been denied. It has been recorded that during your Sophomore year one of your elected courses was never completed. Due to insufficient credits you will not be able to graduate as requested.

Apologies.

*

He would not be graduating as he had planned. The news infuriated the small boy.. this was simply unacceptable. Byun Baekhyun's life had been perfectly planned since the young age of thirteen. His parents had carefully and successfully coordinated his way through his teenaged years, preparing him for the perfectly planned path they had carved out for his university self. None of them included 'son becomes failure that can't even graduate properly', he was sure.

Life was fairly simple once you took all the problem solving and decision making aspects away. Baekhyun didn't mind.. It's not like he had a choice to mind. Baekhyun was the only child; let alone the only son his mother and father ever had. He felt it obligatory to follow suit of his parents' wishes and demands to become the perfect heir to the Byun family name . His objectives were simple enough,

He was to join his father in becoming a lawyer and assist in running the Byun family law firm.

He was to (very soon) marry his girlfriend of two years; Zhou Tzuyu; whom his mother had carefully handpicked for him.

He was to move into the Byun home; becoming master, thus taking over the duties and responsibilities of running the Byun family.

.. that's about it, not much of a list.

Simply put, Byun Baekhyun had an orderly life. It was completely and absolutely planned out to perfection.. And it completely and absolutely did not include him fucking up graduating.

~*~

Baekhyun sighed in frustration as he made his way into the head university counsellor's office. This had to be the single most ridiculously absurd obligation he has ever been made to do. He would really have to stay the additional semester to solely finish one class?.. ONE class.

He already received quite an earful about his lack of dedication from his parents last night as they lectured him into nonexistence. Literally; was he even an actual person anymore? And if that didn't put a sour enough taste in his mouth it surely did when he arrived back at his apartment to find a very annoying Tzuyu waiting for him in the hallway to do the same exact thing. Could you really blame the boy for his agitated state?

Knocking on the door he was welcomed into the small office by an overly cheerful elderly woman. Seeing someone so excessively happy made the boy internally cringe. No one was genuinely happy , you worked your whole life for the single chance to be happy. His parents had taught him at a very young age that even for simple happiness you had to work you balls off.. maybe not in such colorful words but you get the point.

"Good morning Mr. Byun, it's a pleasure. I've been waiting to see you all morning." The aging counsellor cheerily spoke as she held out her hand to receive Baekhyun's. The boy felt a slight ping of remorse in the pit of his stomach as he took her hand in his; bowing to greet the woman. The woman technically had booked the appointment to see Baekhyun about two and a half hours ago, Baekhyun just didn't think the meeting was all that important; his previous mind being hazy with aggression. He immediately pushed the wavering feelings away, Byun's never feel remorse; it shows weakness.

"Mrs. Uh- Kim.." He quickly searched for a name plate or something to clue him in on the woman's name. "My apologies for keeping you waiting so long. I had tried to get here as soon as I possibly could, traffic and all.." The boy flashed the lady a brilliant smile; his words rolling off his tongue like honey.

Mrs. Kim laughed boisterously at the small boy as she held her newfound crimson cheek. "My you are such a well-mannered young man; your parents must be very proud," Yeah.. that's what you could call it, proud..

Motioning her hand at the desk to her right she beckoned Baekhyun to sit down. Putting on his best chivalry act he proceeded brightly to the seat facing frontward of the long desk.

"Now Mr. Byun, since second semester has technically already started; available classes for you are very limited. I have pulled the few classes that still have remaining seats and printed them out for you. I hope the information makes your decision a bit easier." The elder slid the small pile of paper over to Baekhyun, smiling brightly while awaiting the small boy to accept. Placing his folded hands over top of the pieces of paper he flashed a breathy smile to the woman.

"Mrs. Kim you are truly a gracious woman, thank you for going through such a hassle for my sake," The young boy cooed, making the woman blush bashfully. "But with my only missing one simple class; an elective at that, don't you think we could maybe look past such a small blemish. I was on track for early graduation.. couldn't we perhaps look at all my other classes and grade myself accordingly. I think it would only be just." Baekhyun was a fox, he knows how to get what he wants and if he has to work his way around the heart of an old bat don't think he wouldn't.

Placing her hands lightly over top of Baekhyun's small delicate ones she looked up to meet the boy's gaze; reciprocating his widening grin. "Mr. Byun. You're such a charmer," She softly tittered as the statement fell through her thin lips. She reached her hand to take the glasses away from her aging face; making direct eye contact with the boy. "But if you thought you came here to try to woo me into diminishing your course requirements you are sadly mistaken." Baekhyun's rectangular smile slowly fell completely from his face. This woman..

"Please choose your course Mr. Byun, we don't have all day." The woman stated curtly, motioning to the papers once more before placing her glasses back on the bridge of her nose and beginning to type away.

Baekhyun rubbed the back of his neck in dismay.. Aish, fine..

Sifting through the four or so pages Baekhyun could feel his mood slipping further into the pits of hell. What on earth was he supposed to take? None of these would be acceptable. Art History.. Narrative writing.. Environment awareness studies.. These were all useless. The only course that slightly stood out to Baekhyun was Music; he always took a slight interest in music since he was young and he knew he was vocally talented, but if his parents found out that he took such a carefree course they would literally push him out of his 6th story apartment window.. but there literally is no other option! Aish... well, his parents wouldn't technically find out anyway, right? He would just have to bluff.

Handing the she devil of a councillor the chosen piece of paper he awkwardly gazed around the room trying to avoid eye contact. She took it without a glance in his direction; processing everything into the computer placed in front of her. You could hear the object whirring in exhaustion from excessive use.

"Ahh, there Mr. Byun! You're all set. You begin class tomorrow afternoon. Please enjoy the rest of your year!" the old woman beamed at the boy once more as he rose to leave. Baekhyun threw back a smirk that was anything less than sarcastic and strode out of her office. He needed a shot.. or maybe five. This was going to be a long rest of year.