Baekhyun trembled while he walked fast towards the gym.
He was literally going mad.
After he heard what seemed like Kyungsoo's voice over the headphones, he unplugged them and threw them on the bed like they were poisonous. He put on his team tracksuit, grabbed his bag and rushed out of the house, not thinking for a second.
His feet found the way towards the gym, but his mind was somewhere else.
He needed to get that imaginary nonsense off of it, and the only thing that could help was practicing serves.
He entered the training facility which was supposed be empty at late afternoon, so he just headed to the locker room to put on his sneakers and knee pads on, as well as his knee support.
Just when he was about to enter the gym, he heard the sound of ball being repeatedly slammed against the court.
A tall, black haired boy had his back turned to Baekhyun while he was leaned against his knees, catching his breath after another serve.
His arms were muscular and he was extremely well built.
And Baekhyun immediately knew who it was.
Park Chanyeol.
He had heard the rumours about Hangseong's untouchable ace.
Everyone at Jungsan excitedly whispered when the Park Chanyeol transferred from Hanseong to their school after he got expelled.
Reportedly, he beat some guy up and broke his nose, a rib and sent him to hospital for weeks.
In Baekhyun's opinion, it probably wasn't far from the truth.
Even though he had never heard that Chanyeol was a type who would pick a fight without reason, he knew that the boy definitely wasn't all flowers.
Chanyeol was well known for his golden rule.
Don't date them, don't break their heart.
He had never dated anyone, but he made out with girls and fucked them if that was the only thing they wanted. He never let any emotions get included, and the only reason was that everyone was simply out of his league.
Baekhyun's and Chanyeol's story included none of the matters of that sort. They knew each other from the court and only met on the practice camps and matches. It was odd though, that being the bubbly personality he was before, a person who got along with everyone- for some reason Baekhyun just couldn't handle Chanyeol. He irked him but he couldn't explain it. Maybe it was his arrogance, maybe his star-like behavior on the court, but for all that mattered Baekhyun couldn't stand the sight of the guy, while Chanyeol treated Baekhyun like any other opponent- with teasing and insulting.
And Chanyeol was there, in his gym, and Baekhyun would probably have to endure him for the whole year.
Baekhyun snapped out of his thoughts when he found Chanyeol looking at him.
"Well hello, captain." Chanyeol gave him one of his famous narcissistic smirks, tilting his head.
Baekhyun didn't show the same amount of interest as he walked over to pick one of the balls from the ground.
"Park." he said shortly and walked over to serve position on the other side. Chanyeol followed, walking with his hands on his back.
"Not really talkative today, huh? You were a loudest chatterbox the last time a saw you."
Baekhyun spared him a glance.
"I don't recall being talkative with you, ever."
Chanyeol leaned against the wall while Baekhyun served one ball after another, not minding him at all.
"You could toss to me." Chanyeol said after some time, when it already started to get boring to watch the brunette serve, even though it was impressive.
"No."
"Why not?" he walked over and picked a ball up, spinning it on his finger.
"In this team, you have to deserve the setter's trust. That is, if you even get on the team." Chanyeol could see Baekhyun's lips twitch into a sly smile as he said that.
Baekhyun knew that Chanyeol could get in the team without lifting his finger just for his reputation, but he wanted to make him sweat a little bit.
"I see." Chanyeol shot a smile back.
"Well, Byun Baekhyun, challenge accepted."
With that, Chanyeol walked over to the other side and started practicing his own serves.
Baekhyun didn't know where he wanted to be less. At the gym with an arrogant newbie he would have to handle on Saturday morning practice or home, stuck with his own thoughts and imaginary voices.
He decided it was better to go home and just stop thinking about it, so he said simple 'bye' to Chanyeol before leaving and headed back home.
He took a longest shower ever, most of which was just standing and letting the water pour.
It was around midnight when he came back to his room.
Those old headphones still layed on his bed, reminding him of strange event that day.
He tried to ignore the headphones and go to sleep, but after lying and staring at the ceiling for half an hour he just couldn't resist it anymore.
Even though he kept telling himself that his mind went mad and he had just imagined it, there was a spark of hope somewhere in his heart.
He carefully plugged the headphones back in his iPhone and put them on his head.
A static noise again.
Baekhyun closed his eyes in anticipation, and then he heard it.
"Baekhyun."
He wanted to take them off and run away again. He was freaking out, but tried to find some composure to continue.
"S-Soo?" he stammered.
"Don't run away again, please." Kyungsoo's voice was calm and soothing, just like all those times when he comforted Baekhyun. He was the only one who could calm him down.
"I... I won't." Baekhyun said, biting his lip, even though his heart was beating so hard that he thought it could jump out of his chest.
"Is it really you?" he asked when his voice came back to normal. For a moment he thought he literally went crazy.
"I know this all seems like you're going crazy, but it's really me, Baek. I'm not here as a ghost, but as a voice in your head. You needed me and you created a bond between us so I'm able to talk to you like this for some time. I am connected to these headphones and you will use them to talk to me, but you will have to destroy them eventually."
Baekhyun's heart fluttered in thought of talking to Kyungsoo again, even if it wasn't permanent and Kyungsoo wasn't real. But even that was enough.
"For how long?"
"Until my job is finished." Kyungsoo said, and Baekyun's heart tensed in anticipation of something bad coming up.
"What is you job?" he asked silently.
There was a moment of silence from Kyungsoo, and then he answered.
"To help you forget me."
* * * *
To help you forget me.
Baekhyun couldn't get Kyungsoo's words off of his mind as he walked towards the gym on Saturday morning.
How could he forget him? In his opinion forgetting Kyungsoo and moving on just like that was the worst thing he could do.
At least now he knew that he didn't make it all up, because he definitely wouldn't imagine Kyungsoo telling him to forget him.
Baekhyun was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice he had reached the gym.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard voices and sound of ball slamming against the floor coming from the gym.
"Yah, Junmyeon-ah, that's too weak! Give me a nice spike like you usually do!" Minseok, their team's libero, shouted to the boy on the other side of the net.
"Good morning, captain!" Tao noticed Baekhyun first and greeted him, and others followed.
"Morning!' they said in unison, but Baekhyun noticed one person that stood out.
"Good morning to you all." he replied. "You too, Park."
Chanyeol was the only one not wearing their black and red practice clothes. His black hair was pushed back and Baekhyun couldn't understand how a haircuit could look so neat so early in the morning.
"Good morning, captain." the giant smirked at him and put his hands on his back, standing in line in front of Baekhyun with the rest of the team.
"Since you're new here I'll introduce the rest of the team to you, even though I think you pretty much know everyone." Baekhyun said, ignoring his provoking greeting.
"Junmyeon, middle blocker and vice captain. Zitao, setter. Minseok, libero. Kris, wing spiker and future ace, I hope." he have Kris a small smile, and Kris instantly put on a huge grin.
"Definitely a future ace!" he stated proudly, which made Chanyeol roll his eyes.
"Other boys are not here today, but there are other candidates for ace title. You will have to fight for it." he smirked, and Chanyeol bravely looked him in the eyes with a devilish grin on his face.
Baekhyun was the one to turn his gaze away first. How could the giant be so arrogant?
"Warm up until coach comes, and then we will test out our newbie." he said calmly.
Chanyeol thought that he was the only one in the room that found their captain's behavior strange.
While he was at another school he played matches against them. Even though they were rivals, he found Baekhyun a person with bright and bubbly personality. It was admirable how he always encouraged his team even before he became their captain. He could lift up their confidence even when chances of winning a game were equal to none.
And this boy standing in front of him wasn't that Baekhyun. It was another person.
No one of his soon to be teammates thought Baekhyun's behaviour that morning was strange, which made it even stranger to Chanyeol.
Something had happened to Baekhyun, and he wanted to know what.
* * * *
"You are Hanseong's ace, aren't ya?" Coach Lee asked when boys had finished their warm up.
"I was, sir." Chanyeol smiled, and Baekhyun wanted to roll his eyes at his fake politeness.
"Well, we are glad that you're ours how. Our ace left last month due to a bad shoulder injury, but you'll still have to earn the title. There are boys who want it here as well." coach said, patting his back.
"He has to pass the trials." Baekhyun said loud enough for everyone to hear.
After giving him confused look, their coach laughed.
"This boy doesn't need trials." he said, and Chanyeol just smirked at Baekhyun.
So he's already coach's new favourite.
"But those are the rules." Baekhyun tried again. He knew all his teammates agreed with him.
Coach Lee was the one who undestood Baekhyun's change the most. He understood that it would take a miracle to bring them back a boy he was 10 months ago.
He also knew that there is no way to change Baekhyun's mind if he had set it on something.
"Alright." coach said. "Zitao, come here." he called their other setter.
"You will make a team with Chanyeol and Minseok, and Junmyeon, Kris and Baekhyun will be another. You'll play one full set."
"Why one?" Minseok frowned.
"Because it's just a formality to see how you work with Park and to satisfy your stubborn captain." he glanced at Baekhyun.
"It doesn't matter who wins, I already know Park will be your teammate from this day on."
* * *
"Chance ball!" Kris shouted as Jummyeon received the ball and passed it on to Baekhyun.
Baekhyun's skilled fingers tossed the ball on the right place where Kris jumped, making the timing perfect.
Kris slammed the ball against opponent's side of the court.
"Yeah!" he shouted, hugging Baekhyun.
The score was now 20:17 for Baekhyun's team. He caught Chanyeol's pissed expession and smirked teasingly.
"We're in twenties now, this won't be hard get over with." Junmyeon said.
Baekhyun stood on a serving position and spun a ball between his palms.
"Let's finish this." he said, throwing a ball in the air before taking a few steps and jumping up.
He slammed the ball with all his might, directing it as further from Minseok than he could.
Towards Chanyeol.
He knew Chanyeol was not that good receiver, and he proved it once again.
Chanyeol touched the ball but didn't manage to keep it in the game.
"Damn it!" Baekhyun heard as Chanyeol sweared, returning the ball on their side.
Even if his team was losing, Baekhyun was impressed by Chanyeol's skills. He remembered that from time of their rivarly that it was hard to deal with Chanyeol.
He would always have to come up with new strategies and tricks to fool the giant or get past his spikes.
His height didn't help either, since he could block half of their spikes.
But now that he was on their team's side of the court, things were different.
Baekhyun's team won 25:23 to Chanyeol's dissatisfaction. He gave Baekhyun poisonus glare before standing in line with the others, while Baekhyun was pulled aside by the coach.
"I think situation here is pretty clear." coach started.
"You might not like Park for your rivarly in the past, but that also means you are familiar with his qualities. This boy is our ticket for the Nationals if you two match your moves. Ignore everything you have against him and think of what's the best for the team."
Baekhyun knew that coach couldn't be more right. Even though it was hard for him to admit it, he agreed with every word.
He just had to step over his pride and accept it.
He stood in front of his teammets that looked at him with mixed feelings. They all felt the same things he felt.
They had to accept their enemy as one of them.
"Park Chanyeol, welcome to Jungsan."