Before You Know It | BAEKHYUN

06

Had Baekhyun known that his vocal lessons were going to be cut short, he would have been off to meet his girlfriend now.

He walked out of the building with a frown, remembering that Taeyeon had texted him earlier that morning.

my taengoo:

do you have time after school today? let's meet up!

Baekhyun reread Taeyeon's message in dismay. He'd already said no to her since he had to attend vocal lessons, but then his teacher had to dismiss class early due to an emergency.

It has been a few days since he started attending vocal lessons after school, and then he'd have to rush to cram school afterwards. He massaged his temples, his head aching just with the thought of studying almost 24 hours everyday. At least he was singing in between, which was almost his only consolation.

He wasn't supposed to enroll. His parents would never approve of it. And yet here he was, exiting out of another class, feeling rather proud of himself. He'd considered every factor already—the time in between actual school and the academy would suffice for two hours of vocal lessons. And since his parents couldn't afford it, then he'd wholeheartedly accepted the responsibility of paying for it.

No one knew about this yet. For a while he's been planning to tell Taeyeon in person, but he hasn't gotten a chance so far.

"Should I still meet up with her?" he muttered to himself as he walked along the sidewalk of Hongdae.

He still had time to spare before cram school starts, so perhaps he should.

He was just about to call Taeyeon when he saw someone walking from a short distance away. Nam Hyora was gleefully skipping down the pavement while holding a brown envelope in her arms. The joyful look on her face reminded him of one thing only—she must have gone from the university they've sneaked into ages ago.

His eyes flew open when Hyora met his gaze. Since they were walking in the opposite direction, they stopped right in front of each other.

They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them knowing what to do. Eventually Hyora looked away and stepped aside as if to continue walking, but somehow Baekhyun's mouth suddenly had a mind of its own.

"You came from the university?" he asked.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you talking to me?"

"Well, you're not a ghost, are you?"

"Don't you use that smart mouth of yours. Why are you talking to me?"

"Am I not allowed to?"

She rolled her eyes. "Baekhyun, in case you haven't noticed, you have been deliberately avoiding me ever since I got back to Korea. Mind telling me why?"

He avoided her gaze awkwardly. "Um, no I wasn't."

She scoffed, so he looked at her again. She looked like she wanted to hit him with the envelope she was holding, but he figured that its contents were too important.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing a finger towards the brown envelope.

"Changing the topic, are you?" she said with a roll of her eyes. "These are just some entrance credentials. I passed a few requirements to the university earlier."

His face lit up. "You're applying to your dream university?"

"Yeah, for their scholarship."

"Hyora, that's great!"

Hyora grimaced. "Suddenly you're so happy for me. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?"

Baekhyun reached for his nape, smiling sheepishly. "Um, so, about me avoiding you..."