Thousands of years ago, human evolved into two distinct intelligent species. Once, they coexisted together for hundreds of years. Once, they lived in harmony together.
Then, one day, it all changed.
No one knew how, and no one knew why. 30 years ago, one of the intelligent species spiraled out of control, turned aggressive and murderous, and killed. It wasn't war - it was pure slaughter.
These killers were then named the Monsters.
Two years after the Mass Attack, the other intelligent species began fighting back, using their weapons and research, targeting the Monsters' weaknesses so they would be unable to play to their strengths. Although the Monsters were more powerful, there were less of them. This movement of retaliation was called the Movement of Assassination, and it lasted four years. The surviving victims escaped and found refuge in a place in which only the richest of them live, inside an island bubble beneath the deepest waters of Earth, a place in which little to no Monsters thrived. It was a man, a clever and well-known man, that led them towards the island bubble which was named SQUAOII. He then became a legend, and went by the name "FREQSE".
These surviving victims that Freqse led were called the Lucky Ones.
Since then, the Lucky Ones lived in harmony inside SQUAOII, with all the Monsters they found executed or taken in for investigation. Freqse used his knowledge and power to build a laboratory to investigate the origins of the MAMA War, and what made the Monsters turn into Monsters, in an attempt to bring back harmony between these two species again. Ever since, this laboratory, called the EX'ACT Lab, had become the centre of admiration and attention. Ever since, no one inside SQUAOII, aside from scientists, has ever seen, or remembered seeing, what a Monster looked like.
Year 4032, SQUAOII
And here Byun Baekhyun, nearly 24 years old, stands today, right in front of the doors of EX'ACT Lab, ready to start his first day as a trainee.
It's been a dream ever since he was young, and he, like so many other children his age, had strived for this job with this urge to make this small world a better place. Quirk is, they only accept ten out of hundreds of thousands of people per year ... as trainees. Then for the next few months, they will pick two as their official staff.
You could say Baekhyun is halfway through achieving his dream.
Without further ado, Baekhyun, nearly 24 years old and holding his home in his backpack, walks into the building that he has been watching his whole life, and now knows he'll be a part of, whether he becomes official or not.
"ID please." The guard standing behind the door holds out a gloved hand. Blinking, it takes a few moments for Baekhyun to register that in his head, and then he's pulling a card out of his pocket, handing it to the guard with both hands and a bowed head.
The security guard returns the card, then steps back, as if resuming his job as just a guard on watch. Feeling a little lost at the lack of guidance, Baekhyun holds the card tightly in his hand as he continues striding in, this time taking his time to look around him.
The EX'ACT Lab is the tallest building in SQUAOII, overlooking the entire city in its height and grandiosity. Inside is just as marvelous, with polished marble floors and a ceiling that Baekhyun cannot see. The first thing hanging on the wall is, of course, a portrait of Freqse himself, and Baekhyun runs to it, excited and fascinated.
'My goal now for the rest of my life is to bring world peace, and find a way to solve this Monster problem once and for all.'
"So cool ..." Baekhyun whispers to himself, taking out his notepad from the back of his pocket, flipping it over before writing down the quote. Then he lifts his head up again and looks around, finding more paintings everywhere.
It's, really, probably the most wondrous thing Baekhyun has ever seen in his entire life, for someone like him who is curious about the world and passionate about peace. And he's still close enough to the front entrance to see it.
Imagine all the possibilities this entire building holds! Baekhyun can feel his heart racing in excitement, his skin jumping along with his heartbeat. It's all overwhelming him, there is just too much to see and he doesn't think he'll have the time and -
- He bumps into someone so hard that he falls to the floor. Or rather, the person had probably walked too hard and pushed him against the floor in the process of all the rush.
"Sorry." Baekhyun mumbles, immediately moving up to stand, feeling warmth seep into him as if he had experienced sunlight (how does that feel?). Is it because of all the excitement? He catches a bag not far off that doesn't belong to him, and he grabs it just as the other person grabs it, their skin brushing against each other.
"Uh ..." Baekhyun is about to hand out the bag, but the person snatches it from him. Shocked, he blinks and looks up, staring into the dark eyes of a man wearing a long white coat, black hair pushed back, forehead wide and glorious. He looks like he's in his early thirties.
"Sorry." Baekhyun says again, immediately pushing himself off the floor from a crouch to a stand, bowing 90 degrees because damn, only official staff get to wear them cloaks! Aside from trainees, that is, but Baekhyun's sure a trainee wouldn't walk out that quickly.
The man doesn't look at him twice, and once he has the bag in his hands, he strides out, pace fast yet elegant.
"At that pace, you could obviously make anyone fall to the floor if you bumped into them ..." Baekhyun mutters to himself, rubbing his butt as he bends down to pick up his notepad, briefly wondering why that man was in such a hurry.
After around half an hour, he sees more people around the deeper he enters the building, and finds people wearing casual dress like him, eyes looking just as lost yet more confident and a little more mature than he feels inside. He follows them, and finally finds the place he's supposed to meet with the staff of this Lab.
"All of you are present." A woman, wearing the same coat as the man he bumped into before, announces the moment he enters, and the door behind him automatically closes. Never seen such high tech before, Baekhyun flinches, turning to watch in amazement at the door that's moving by itself. "Before we accept you as a member of the EX'ACT Laboratory, first you have to undergo a series of tests -" At that, the small crowd of ten whisper to each other, and all Baekhyun's thinking is No, not again. I thought we went through hundreds already to get here. "- Physical tests, to check if you have any diseases, allergies, or special requirements. We have to ensure that every single member here will not pass down any virus to one another, and can remain healthy throughout their contribution towards the EX'ACT project."
"What happens if we don't pass the tests?" One woman whispers timidly.
"Then we won't be able to accept you." The woman replies swiftly, flipping through the pages. "Park Bom."
A woman steps forward.
"Please proceed into the room behind this door and we will begin our examination." The staff gestures towards the door to their far right, and Baekhyun watches curiously as Park Bom strides confidently over, then disappears behind the door.
"Um ..." Baekhyun puts him his hand. The woman with the white coat turns and sees him, and nods. Then suddenly he can feel eight other eyes watching him. "What ... do we call you?"
"My name is Choi Jiwoo." She replies, then turns back to look at the papers in her hand. I can't exactly call you that, can I ... Baekhyun thinks to himself, setting down his hand and frowning at his vain action. Somehow, he seems to spark curiosity in everyone, because suddenly one of them comes over.
"Hey, are you really going to be a trainee like us?" She asks. She's pretty, and looks only a few years older than he is.
"Yeah ..."
"How old are you?"
"... Twenty three."
"Really? Wow, I thought you were like eighteen or something."
"I get that a lot." Baekhyun mumbles.
"Well." Her eyes widen even more than they already are. "You do realise that they don't usually accept anyone that young, do you? Twenty four, I mean."
"Yes." Baekhyun mutters.
"Wow." She tilts her head in amazement. "You must be a genius then. I heard there was only one other person who was accepted below twenty four years old. Anyway, I'm Park Sandara. Call me Dara. I'm thirty two."
"Byun Baekhyun." Baekhyun replies, attempting to smile even though he still feels a little awkward.
"Park Sandara." Choi Jiwoo calls, and Dara waves at him before striding over to the door.
Baekhyun stands by himself awkwardly, a little reluctant to mix with the other trainees only because he doesn't want another repeat of 'You look so young!', 'You're a genius!'. One by one, the trainees disappear into the door, until he's left with the Professor ... or at least, that's what he decides he'll call them.
"... Waiting for our results won't take long, will it? ... Professor?" Baekhyun asks. Even though his voice is soft, it rings through the otherwise silent air. Choi Jiwoo continues looking at her paper, preoccupied. "Professor ... Choi?"
She looks up immediately, surprise in her eyes, before she turns and finds Baekhyun standing by himself.
"No." Throughout the last few hours of watching trainees disappear one by one to take their tests, Baekhyun had noticed Choi Jiwoo's eyes had hardly left the paper, except to sometimes look up upon calling someone's name. He had even wondered whether her hand was glued to one of the papers. After all, anything is possible with EX'ACT technology. But now, her eyes are completely off the paper and she flips the papers again, closing them, and then letting her hands fall to her sides.
"You're twenty four." She states. At her sudden change in action, and her confident statement on a stranger's personal information, surprises him, and he stands straighter before nodding stiffly.
"It will be difficult, for someone with hardly any experience of the world." She says strictly. "Only one other person in the entire EX'ACT history has ever been accepted under the age of twenty four. And only two people has ever been accepted under the age of twenty five, excluding you."
"Oh." Baekhyun falters, wondering what she's trying to say. Discourage him? Encourage him?
"But you'll be fine." She finishes, and her eyes soften. Baekhyun bites his lip, wondering whether he should smile back (is that too informal?) or nod (is that too small a reaction?) or do nothing (is that too rude?). Instead, he bows, opening his mouth to thank her, but then she gestures towards the door. Gathering his bag, he hurries towards the door, and when he looks back, curious to see whether she'll say something more, he finds that she's back to staring at the papers in her hand, as if her eyes had never left.
Confused, Baekhyun opens the door and steps in.
He walks out, clutching his arm that had been patched up. The first half hour was them running tests on him when he was conscious, then for the next hour, they put him to sleep to run more tests.
Grabbing his bag, he immediately sees one of the white-coated staff walk out and hand him a piece of paper. He passed all the tests.
"Okay, so now I'm officially a trainee." Baekhyun whispers to himself, giving himself an encouraging smile as he lifts his bag and slides it over his shoulder. At the same time, someone wraps their arm around his shoulders, and he turns, blinking at Dara who's grinning at him.
"All right, let's go to our next stop." She says, dragging him before he can protest.
This time it's a different person showing them around the dormitories, a burly, unnamed man who, until the end, never truly introduced himself. Baekhyun doesn't mind though, because he's too focused on admiring everything around him anyway. One by one, Baekhyun once again watches as the trainees disappear into their very own rooms, until he's, once again, left last.
He spends the next hour unpacking his little bag, sitting on his huge bed and looking around the huge room that is probably half the size of his home. It's so spacious, so wide, and so empty, and even though Baekhyun had predicted he would love it, instead, it reminds him of his family.
"You can do this, Baekhyun!" Baekhyun whispers to himself, standing up and turning to face the mirror that's standing right next to his bed. Even though his first day ended and he's running into the morning of his second day, the fatigue and lack of energy seen through his composure is unsatisfactory. Taking a deep breath, Baekhyun jumps and lands squarely on his feet, fists bundled up against his waist.
"YOU CAN DO THIS, BYUN BAEKHYUN!" Baekhyun shouts, punching his fists into the air. "HAH!"
Silence answers him.
Quietly, he moves back into a normal standing position, rubbing his head and yawning. They did say they would start at 9 o'clock in the morning, so he can sleep for a few hours.
As Baekhyun lies down on his new, strangely large bed and stares up at the ceiling, he realises that the glow-in-the-dark stars that his mother made for him aren't here. He's so used to them that he assumed it would be everywhere, but of course not.
The ceiling is dark and dull in comparison to his old one, and suddenly he feels lonely.
I'll find my place in this world soon. Baekhyun thinks to himself as his eyelids start drooping, thinking to himself that once he's settled down, he'll find a way to make this place his new home.
The next day, a completely new person leads them around, this time introducing all the staff in the Lab. At first, Baekhyun had tried really hard to remember their names, but after seeing around a hundred to two hundred, he gave up. He would be happy if he could even remember their faces.
The short hours of sleep that he had gotten the night before is now creeping up on him. Rubbing his eyes, he drags himself after the crowd and almost bumps into Dara when the group stops, hearing muttering at the front.
"Everyone, this is Zhang Yixing, an Experimenter and Researcher, joined EX'ACT project when he was twenty four." Curious, Baekhyun tilts his head and peeks at the front, eyes widening.
That's the man from yesterday. He thinks to himself. The fast walker.
"He's one of those who's been here longer. Seventeen years." Zhang Yixing bows slightly towards the trainees. Wow ... he doesn't look a day over thirty. Baekhyun tiptoes, watching Zhang Yixing's flawless and wrinkle-less forehead shine. Without another word, said man begins walking away, as fast as he had been yesterday.
He sure is always rushing somewhere. Baekhyun thinks to himself as he watches Zhang Yixing's back retreat.
"He's a busy man, and also one of the valuable staff in our community. Please bow deeply to him every time you see him." They continue walking and Baekhyun involuntarily zones out again.
By the time it's nine at night, Baekhyun's eyes are closed as he blindly follows the group along. Once again, for the nth time, the group lines up one by one for their hand to be shaken by another staff member of the EX'ACT Lab, and Baekhyun holds out his hand, waiting and actually not caring anymore whether the other finds that he's half asleep.
A hand takes his into a warm grip. A very warm grip. Baekhyun shivers and nods, pulling his coat around him tighter as if to conserve this energy. As they walk away into yet another room to shake yet another staff member's hand, Baekhyun briefly hears the other trainees whispering.
"He's the other member that came before the age of twenty four."
"He's so warmhearted! He makes me fuzzy all over."
Mm ... Lady's man, huh. Baekhyun thinks to himself groggily. By this time, he's letting Dara hold his hand, dragging him around places so he doesn't need to open his eyes.
After what seems like forever, he's finally allowed back into his room to rest after a long, tedious day of walking around meeting new people. Immediately, Baekhyun rushes to shower, knowing that'll wake him up a little so he can think about the events of tomorrow. Wearing the bathrobe that EX'ACT Lab provided for him, Baekhyun walks towards his bed, then over to the window that stretches from the ceiling to the floor. The whole side of the wall is just glass, so Baekhyun can look outwards and see the entire city below him, all those little houses and he used to live in one of them, off towards the far side and near the edge of SQUAOII. It's crazy, thinking that this was the building he used to look up to, and now he's at a position where he can look down on where he used to be.
Turning away, Baekhyun tightens his robe and walks back to his bed, closing his eyes as he tries to remember what their instructor had told them.
Tomorrow, we need to be tested in several areas, then put our preferences on which field we would prefer to work in. The fields are Experimenting, Research, Field, Technology, Logistics, Trainers ...
Baekhyun continues thinking about the fields, and before he can finish listing them, he has fallen asleep.
The next day flies by quickly because they have so many things to do in such little time. Baekhyun passes every field test with flying colours, but then again he had expected it because he worked so hard for it.
He's one of those people that were born stupid, but if he worked hard enough for it, his weaknesses can become his strengths. And hell, did he work for it. Every single day he would train for this job, this position at the EX'ACT Lab. He worked at least thrice as hard as everyone else, hardly got any sleep because of it, because that was how bad he wanted this.
And now, after 7 bowls of pasta (yes, all the trainees stared at him hard at how much he actually ate), he sits in his huge room once again, staring at the device in his hand. Their instructor had taught them how to use it, and he taps on the screen in amazement, watching the things inside the screen change.
Sure, he had heard of these things before, and had seen screens before, but never had he ever touched one and allowed it to change.
"Okay ..." Baekhyun whispers to himself, curling up so his chin is resting on his knees. "First preference ... I think I'll do well in Field." Baekhyun taps 'Field work' and moves on. "Second preference ... Logistics would be nice ... Third preference ... Training new people would be nice too ... Fourth preference ..." Baekhyun stares at his next best score, which is Experimenting.
But thinking about that makes him go sick.
Experimenting was his best score but it was, ironically, the field he wanted to work in least. The thought of cutting up a rat was bad enough, and now thinking about cutting up bigger things is worse. Although he had no idea what Monsters looked like, at least he knows they're as big as him, and the thought of possibly giving them pain, although for the greater good, really hurts him.
Monsters may look like any other animal, but even so, Baekhyun would never do anything to hurt them.
There's really nothing else. He had little to no interest in almost every other job in this Lab and when he runs his eyes over all his results again, they fall on one piece of paper.
Technology.
"There's nothing else." Baekhyun tells himself, as Technology, although not the best score, is still better than the other jobs he has no interest in, so he puts it down.
Setting down the device on his bedside table, Baekhyun falls on the bed, concluding the third day at the EX'ACT Lab in his head, still unable to believe how he's living his dream.
We find out what field we're in tomorrow. Baekhyun thinks to himself, even though he's sure he'll either get first or second preference, since they were both better than his third and fourth preference. Yet, his heart is beating gently fast, as if waiting in anticipation.
Hopefully I'll be able to make a difference, and help shape the world to be a better place. Baekhyun thinks to himself, closing his eyes as he once again falls asleep to his starless ceiling.
The very next day, after a breakfast of seven toasts, Baekhyun receives a piece of paper telling him the results of what field he would be working in. Munching on the eighth piece of toast that he got from the breakfast table, his eyes blink in surprise.
Byun Baekhyun
is awarded the field of
Researching
Huh? Baekhyun flips over the page, then flips it again. He's pretty sure he didn't put Research in at all. In fact, he's definitely sure, because he remembers Researching was one of his lower-ended scores. Is there a glitch?
He looks at the page again, and on the bottom left there is a sticky note.
Room: 530
Floor: 19
Time: 9am
Immediately Baekhyun jumps out of his bed, stuffing the rest of his bread in his mouth as he runs to wash his face and brush his teeth.
Ten minutes later, he's running along the hallways, avoiding the staff members who all let out a noise of surprise every time he nearly bumps into them. He yells a 'Sorry!' to all of them, praying that his Professor or Trainer or Master, or whatever he calls the person that'll train him, isn't strict and is actually the nicest person in the world.
Stepping out of the elevator to Floor 19, Baekhyun runs out and once again nearly bumps into a person. This time, he's sure he'll run full on into the man, but thankfully the man is alert, his hand holding out to grab Baekhyun by the arm.
"Sorry." Baekhyun says hastily, stepping back and bowing, feeling the warmth run over his cheeks and his heart racing. When he looks up, he sees that it's that same man that he bumped into on his very first day.
"Watch your step." Although his face is stern, his voice is gentle, and his grip secure. There is no smile on his face as he finally lets go and walks inside the elevator. Baekhyun turns back, watching as the doors close on the man - the man that is apparently forty, but really, looks only a few years older than he is.
Baekhyun watches, fascinated and mesmerized, staring at the closed doors for such a long time that he doesn't realise he's been blanking out until the doors open again and this time new people file out. Cursing in his mind, Baekhyun runs again, this time to look for Room 530. He finds it later, a closed door that holds just about anything and possibly everything and potentially nothing on the other side. Taking a deep breath, he stands straight, feet together, and hands out to reach for the doorknob.
He opens it.
"S-Sorry I'm late." He mumbles, stepping in and closing the door behind him before he dares look up from the floor. When he does, the sight before him surprises him.
Someone is sleeping on the table.
"Uh ..." Is this supposed to be the person that's training me? Or is this person another trainee? Baekhyun walks slowly towards the table, softly, as if afraid he'll disturb the other. It's a man.
Baekhyun stands by his side, watching his youthful face. HIs lips are pouty, making him look as if he's only a few years older than Baekhyun. Not knowing what to do, Baekhyun stands there for a moment, hoping that his presence might wake the other up, but of course not.
"Uh ... Excuse me?" He whispers. The man continues sleeping, as if he doesn't have a care in the world. That really crushes Baekhyun's expectations of staff members at EX'ACT Lab, who, so far, have all seemed alert and serious and strict, yet this one ...
"Hello?"
Baekhyun calls again, hands still by his sides because he's unsure whether he should touch someone superior to him. In the end, his patience gives up on him and his hand reaching out, finger pointed, inching closer and closer to the man's face ...
The man shifts.
Flinching, Baekhyun retreats and steps back, hands immediately winding around his back as if to hide all the evidence. The man opens his eyes, and Baekhyun thinks: Wow, his eyes are huge.
"Urgh ..." The man groans, shutting his eyes again as he stretches on the table. Then he stands up, stretching his back and then waist. Baekhyun's eyes are wide in shock, for the second time in the past few minutes not knowing what to do. In the end, the man finishes his stretching routine, reaching out a hand.
"Welcome! I'm Park Chanyeol, you can call me Chanyeol." Chanyeol introduces, grinning widely. Baekhyun stretches out his hand hesitantly, letting the larger one grab his own. It feels really warm, in such a contagious way that it almost spreads all over to his body.
It feels familiar.
"Hey! I saw you the other day, didn't I?" Chanyeol asks, still gripping his hand as if it's normal. "We even shook hands the other day."
Really? Shit, I don't remember. Baekhyun thinks to himself, biting his lip as he nods and smiles uncertainly.
"Anyway, I'm your trainer now." Chanyeol says, finally, finally letting go of his hand. Immediately Baekhyun pulls back and stuffs it in his pocket, feeling the hotness of Chanyeol's hand spread onto his thigh that his hand is pressing up against. "So I guess for the next few months you'll be under me?"
"Oh, yes. That was my question." Baekhyun stands straight again, pulling out his hand so he can look more formal and serious. "I didn't put Researching in any of my preferences ... Is there a reason ... why I'm in Researching?"
"It happens a lot." Chanyeol replies, and now he's the one shoving his hands into his pockets as if they're casual friends. "There're a few reasons. Sometimes it's because there are too many people in the categories. Sometimes they don't need anyone in that category. Most times it's because your scores weren't enough to get you into that category."
"Oh ..." Baekhyun sinks into silence, trying to accept the idea, but in the end he just can't. "But Researching was one of my lowest ... I doubt ..."
"Then I guess they just don't need you in the preferences you put." Chanyeol shrugs. "Anyway ... how old are you?"
"Um." Baekhyun blinks, once again taken aback by Chanyeol's casualness. "Nearly twenty four."
"What?!" Chanyeol's eyes widen. Here we go again. "I would've sworn you were sixteen!"
"I doubt I'd be here at sixteen." Baekhyun mutters, then shuts his mouth, staring at the floor and trying to pretend Chanyeol hadn't heard that. But of course he did.
Instead of stiffening and turning stern or annoyed, however, the older laughs.
"Of course." He says, and they fall into silence.
"How old are you then?" Baekhyun has decided to cut his formalities some slack, probing because he has a right - after all, Chanyeol probed first. There's also this feeling that Chanyeol gives - this friendliness that allows Baekhyun to fit right into this entire room, as if he belongs here and he had been friends with Chanyeol for a long time. A usually shy Baekhyun, strangely, isn't shy here.
"How old do you think I am?" His trainer asks, grinning handsomely.
"Thirty." Baekhyun replies. He acts like he's a kid though.
"Nope." The older grins wider. Right ... because even most of the trainees here are thirty. Of course he can't be thirty.
"Wait. When'd you become a staff here?" Baekhyun asks. Chanyeol shrugs.
"Guess."
"This is never gonna end." Baekhyun mutters as he closes his eyes. The only information about age he had on staff was there were two members who joined before they were twenty four. Really, that's the only clue he has.
"When you were younger than twenty four."
"Correct!" Chanyeol grins, and Baekhyun blinks in surprise.
"What, really? Aren't there only two people ..."
"Yep. Now you can guess how old I am now!" Chanyeol laughs. "You'd never guess."
Yes, Baekhyun's aware of that, which is why the next number is absurd. Plus one to make it seem more exact, as if he knows exactly what he's doing.
"Forty one."
"Wow, you actually got it right." Chanyeol's jaw drops open, same as Baekhyun's.
"Uh..."
"We'll work well together." Chanyeol stretches out his hand again. Frowning out of shock, Baekhyun takes it, and when Chanyeol grins at him, Baekhyun can feel the warmth pooling into his heart.
The whole day passes by until it's 6 o'clock. Baekhyun had held out his notepad, eager to write down everything his professor had said, but then Chanyeol told him not to take notes, and so he had dejectedly put his dear notebook away. At lunch, he had been excused to eat with the other trainees, but Baekhyun had been stuck here for the rest of the day after lunch, reading up on thick books and so concentrated on processing the information in these thick books that he forgets he's supposed to be let off already. He only realises it's 6 o'clock when someone enters with food for them.
Baekhyun asks for three more bowls of dinner, then sits at his own table on the other side of the room from his trainer. As he eats his first bowl, he watches his trainer. Chanyeol had also been focused, his aura completely different from how he was before. Baekhyun's surprised at how much his trainer has changed, so focused that even he is leaving his bowl of dinner to the side.
Interesting. Baekhyun thinks to himself. He totally would start annoying the other, but first: this man isn't his hyung - this man is almost an uncle. Second: this man is his trainer, and can prevent him from being an actual staff. Instead, Baekhyun sulks quietly as he waits for his other noodles to arrive.
When the delivery man returns to pick up Baekhyun's empty bowls, Baekhyun asks for another bowl. Watching the man leave, this time it catches Chanyeol's attention, whose eyes finally leave the paper and watch him instead.
"How many bowls have you eaten?" His trainer asks.
"Mm... four?" Baekhyun answers with a full mouth, grinning even though he knows his lips are stained with the sauce. "M'getting another bowl."
"Really? And you haven't grown?"
"..."
"Also, how's your studying going?" Chanyeol points his chin at the books. "How many pages?"
Baekhyun flushes in embarrassment, attempting to cover up his shame by stuffing the rest of the noodles in his mouth, munching slowly and hoping Chanyeol would change the subject. But the older continues to stare at him, watching him patiently.
"Um ..." Baekhyun licks his lips, setting down his bowl as his eyes dart around. "...Twenty ..."
"For the last ... 7 hours? So you're a slow learner?" There's this wide grin on his trainer's face, and Baekhyun is reddening even more.
"Yeah."
"Tell you a secret ..." Chanyeol stands up from his seat, and Baekhyun blinks as the older walks all the way right up to him, hands slamming down on his table and leaning in until his lips are next to Baekhyun's ear. "I am too."
"Okay." Baekhyun responds, a little taken aback at the proximity.
"You can go now." His trainer grins, waving subtly with his fingers. Baekhyun shakes his head, and just as Chanyeol straightens his back and away from him, the door opens and in comes another bowl of Baekhyun's noodles.
"I'm staying." Baekhyun says. "So I can catch up to the others."
"Sure. Don't stay up too late." Chanyeol chirps as he returns to his table on the other side of the room. Frowning at how weird his trainer is, he spreads out the books again, then grabs his bowl of noodles, eating as he reads.
At 11pm that night, Baekhyun calls it a day, closing his books and packing up his things. Chanyeol is still there, however, looking just as alert and concentrated as he was a few hours ago, as if he isn't tired at all.
"Uh ... Goodnight, Professor Chanyeol." Baekhyun says, after contemplating what else to call Chanyeol. At first, Chanyeol looks as if he hasn't heard, so Baekhyun repeats what he said, this time louder. The older jerks up his head, concentrated eyes turning wide as he nods.
"Get lots of rest and sleep well." He says, for the first time sounding like an actual old man and not like the kid that he had been acting the whole day when talking to Baekhyun. Once more taken aback, Baekhyun stands on his spot.
"You too ... Professor." Baekhyun says genuinely.
"Call me Chanyeol." Chanyeol replies, smiling softly before he stares down at his work again, once again immersed.