Before You Know It | BAEKHYUN

09

Mondays meant another boring day at school, but not for Byun Baekhyun. He believed that school was only boring because students believed it was, and only the wise could use them to their advantage.

"Should we wake him up?" Jongdae asked, peering over Baekhyun's sleeping form towards Hyora.

Yes. Truly the only way to make school bearable is to sleep through it.

"Nah," Hyora answered in a monotone. "Let him be scolded by Mr. Song for all I care."

Hyora, on the other hand, was busy finishing up an art piece to be added to her portfolio as they wait for their homeroom teacher. It wasn't anything grand, just a portrait of her mother from her teenage years to showcase her skills in drawing realistic portraits.

Once again Hyora was reminded of the conversation she overhead last Saturday. Were her parents really talking about what she thought it was? And if it was, she couldn't wrap her head around the idea that her own mother had seen the deed with her own eyes, the very cause why Luhan has been going through hell.

Ara, her mother, had worked as Mr. Lu's secretary ever since they'd left for China and Hyora was left behind. It made sense that Ara had been the one to discover his infidelity, but Hyora couldn't help but think of a different turn of events.

What if Ara had never walked in on him? Would none of them ever know that any of Luhan's parents had cheated? Would the divorce never have happened? Would Luhan still be in Korea with them, going to college with the rest of the gang?

Guilt began to claw at her insides, even if Ara wasn't at fault anyway. She just happened to arrive at the wrong scene at the wrong time.

Or perhaps it was the right time. It wasn't a mistake, because it was inevitable.

Had Ara not seen it and reported it to Mr. Lu's wife, Luhan would still be living a lie until now. Ignorance, no matter how blissful, only prolongs the time before everything blows up. It was better to know now than later, even if it was fucked up.

Still, Hyora couldn't keep the negative thoughts away. Luhan has been by her side for many years, helping her in every way he could. Is this how she repays him? 

Hyora was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard the door open, and in came their homeroom teacher. The class stood up to greet him, but when everyone went back to their seats, Mr. Song noticed Baekhyun who was snoring gently on his desk.

"Jongdae," Mr. Song called, "kindly wake your seatmate up, please."

Jongdae obliged, shaking Baekhyun's shoulder aggressively. "Dude, wake up! We're all about to die!"

Baekhyun awoke with a violent start, his bleary eyes fluttering open. "STAND BACK, ZOMBIES!"

The class erupted into a fit of laughter while Mr. Song only shook his head in distaste.

"That wasn't how I wanted you to wake him up, but that will do," he sighed. "Anyway, Mr. Byun, now that you're finally awake, mind telling me why you chose to sleep before class?"

Baekhyun blinked at him sleepily, as if trying to register who the hell was talking to him. "Huh? Was I sleeping?"

More laughter. Hyora turned to look at him. His face was all puffy, like it always was whenever he wakes up.

Mr. Song sighed in resignation. "Forget it. Let's proceed with the new topic for today."

Immediately the laugher died down and was replaced with whines and grumbles of protest. Mr. Song only raised a brow, which further pushed the class to complain.

"Aren't you all used to Monday mornings by now?" 

As expected, everyone yelled a resounding "no".