Being in the broadcasting club was difficult at times, like that very morning. Mr. Gu would threaten him into doing the broadcast for the day and he wouldn’t be able to excuse his way out of it considering he didn’t want to force his voice into sounding like a pill of happiness when he didn’t feel so. 

Things weren’t going right in Kyungsoo’s life. And all he wanted to do was lie down somewhere and disappear. He lied his head down on his desk and brought his palms in front of him. He moved them slowly so that his line of sight to the rest of the class was cut off gradually. Kyungsoo sighed. If only it was that easy to hide himself.

“Hey Kyungsoo.”

Someone softly said next to Kyungsoo’s ears and he sat up straight, startled. He turned his head and saw Chanyeol’s face next to his, too close for comfort, his lips still curled up to the goofy smile he always carried, the one which was equal parts charming and endearing.

“C-chanyeol…” he mumbled, realising how unintelligent he must seem, zoning out.

“Where did you go yesterday after school? I was worried about you. You ran off in such a hurry.” 

Kyungsoo tried to fight down the blush he knew was creeping up his face and the stupid smile that threatened to show at the moment. Because Chanyeol had just told him that he was worried about him, which basically meant he cared. But now Kyungsoo had to reply about his whereabouts, a question he had sincerely hoped Chanyeol wouldn’t ask. 

“I had to pick up my brother?” Kyungsoo replied, hoping it was convincing and that Chanyeol wouldn’t ask anymore.

Chanyeol nodded and took his seat beside Kyungsoo’s. After a few seconds, he looked back at Kyungsoo and asked, “Hey did you finish that book I told you about the other day? Replay by Ken Grimwood?”

Kyungsoo looked back at him and replied, “I haven’t really had the time to read it lately.”

Chanyeol’s face fell, the disappointment on his face obvious. Kyungsoo’s heart dropped at his sour expression and he searched for more words “I will read it soon though.”

Chanyeol smiled at him again and replied, “Great.”

The teacher arrived shortly after and gave out their results for the test they had some time back. Kyungsoo got an A which he was pretty satisfied with. 

“What did you get?” Chanyeol nudged him.

Kyungsoo was surprised and was confused for a moment. “Uh,” he looked back down at the paper he held and replied softly with a smile, “A. What about you?”

Chanyeol smiled, “A+.” He replied with a shrug.

Kyungsoo was enamoured by the fact that Chanyeol got the highest grade, again. It never failed to enrapture him when he thought about how blessed Chanyeol seemed to be with everything. He was good looking, smart, athletic and had a family that was well off. But despite everything, he was never arrogant or condescending. He was always nice to everybody and friendly towards everyone. In Kyungsoo’s eyes, he was beautiful. 

Park Chanyeol was perfect.

*

Lunch was an affair which Kyungsoo enjoyed, because it was one of the rarer moments of the day when he was alone, away from the rest of the world, having himself, all to himself. It wasn’t quite that he was a loner, because he wasn’t. He just believed that sometimes one needed a break from everyone else. And the broadcasting room at lunch was that safe haven that tore him away from the prying eyes of all others.

He wasn’t surprised to see a tape in the player again. It was almost routine now. Almost. Kyungsoo wasn’t sure he wanted it to actually be a routine to follow. Because there was nothing pleasant about having it be one, Kyungsoo thought.

He wondered why he was even going along with the boy’s antics but nevertheless went ahead and played the tape.

"I never lied about anything. The cassette is still lying in front of me on the table because you didn't pick it up from here. And it is 2014. I don't know why you date your tapes 2007 though. If you do want to find me, just find me at the end of school in front of the gym since I have Mr. Jung Yunho's PE class. My name is Kim Jongin.”

Kyungsoo sat there dumbfounded after the recording ended. There was too much going on in the context of his statements and Kyungsoo’s mind was in a frazzled state of thought and confusion. Everything the boy said just sounded so alien to him, the words spoken understood but not comprehended.

The boy sounded so sincere in his refute against the accusation of not telling the truth but to Kyungsoo it was crazy. Because if it was the truth then some things didn’t quite add up. Unless it really was the year 2014 for the boy. Kyungsoo shook his head. How could he even remotely entertain the idea that there somewhere in the universe some wormhole had opened up and that the rusting old cassette player was allowing him a glimpse into the future, seven years from now. It was not possible. 

And then there was the PE teacher Kyungsoo had never even heard the name of. He wasn’t sure they even had a teacher with that name at school. There was too much going on and Kyungsoo wasn’t sure why someone would pull such a joke on him. 

*

Later in the day, Kyungsoo saw Mr. Gu again. He was telling Kyungsoo about some plans he had to recruit more members. The broadcasting club always had terrible participation by students. And if Kyungsoo were to be honest, he wouldn’t have been a part of the club either if it wasn’t for Mr. Gu’s insistence and his own inability to say no to people.

While Mr. Gu went on about his grand plans regarding the club, Kyungsoo’s mind was elsewhere. He kept thinking of that stupid Kim Jongin boy and how Kyungsoo almost believed him. He looked at Mr. Gu and decided that he should just ask.

“Excuse me sir” Kyungsoo interrupted his speech about how he’d get the hypothetical new members to clean their room as their first activity as a member.

“Yes, Kyungsoo?”

“I wanted to ask, uh, about someone. Do you know of a student named Kim Jongin?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Well not that I’m aware of.’

“Well then do we have a teacher named Jung Yunho in the school?”

Mr. Gu blinked twice before replying, “There is a Jung Yunho at our school. He has been hired as a trainee teacher only last week. His department is physical education I believe. But he’s not teaching students just yet. Why do you ask?”

“No reason sir. I just heard some students talking.” Kyungsoo replied politely, “I have to get going now sir.” He bowed and walked away, leaving his teacher confused about what just happened.

But that did not matter to Kyungsoo. Not at that very moment anyway. Because at that very moment all Kyungsoo could think of was that Kim Jongin was attending classes with a future teacher of the school.

He felt dazed by the knowledge and ran off to the broadcasting room again. He picked out one of the spare cassettes kept in the room and proceeded to record a message,

“You…are you speaking the truth? Are you really from 2014?”

He stood there and watched the cassette sit in the player, until it disappeared.

A/N there was some ChanSoo today! my second favorite dyo ship <3

And as always, thank you for reading ^^