(for baekmebacon) make a wish ✸ part 2 of 3
❊ for: baekmebacon
❊ title: make a wish
🎈🎈🎈
For the entire last half of the week, Kyungsoo’s feeling restless because he’s looking forward to Friday so much.
Friday afternoon. Student council’s just about wrapping up, and Kyungsoo is packing up his stuff so he can leave. Kyungsoo tugs on one of his folders, not noticing that his binder is slipping from the grasp of his other hand. The binder crashes to the floor, its contents now splayed all over the floor.
“Shoot,” Kyungsoo murmurs, shoving his folder into his backpack before kneeling down to try and cram his papers back into the binder.
Another set of hands begins to help out, and Kyungsoo looks up in surprise. Jongdae smiles at him, before shuffling the last of the papers and sliding them into Kyungsoo’s binder.
“Hey, Kyungsoo.” Jongdae says, handing the binder back to Kyungsoo, who slides it into his backpack.
“Hey!” Kyungsoo says. “How’ve you been?”
Jongdae adjusts his backpack straps, considering. “I’ve been better, but… Eh. You looked really excited throughout the entire day. Aren’t you going to tell me what’s going on?”
Kyungsoo grins, glad to have his friend back.
“I have a date. Well, kinda, he only invited me to his dance performance, but there was definitely an undercurrent, and oh my godhe’s so hot,” Kyungsoo gushes.
“Whoa, whoa, chill. You sound like some lovestruck twelve-year-old girl,” Jongdae laughs. “So, you have a dance-performance-slash-date and the guy is hot?”
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “What if I am a lovestruck twelve-year-old girl in disguise, huh? And to answer your question, he is hot as hell. The sun has nothing on him.”
“Ew, ew; that’s more than I need to hear, you can drool over him on your own,” Jongdae teases, becoming the Jongdae that Kyungsoo’s used to. It’s nice to be able to see him smile again, and for a moment Kyungsoo’s convinced that everything will be fine.
Kyungsoo zips up his bag, and stands up.“Anyway, the performance starts in about two minutes, so-”
“Yeah, yeah, no hurt feelings! Text me about it whenever you get a chance-” Jongdae stops cold.
“It’s nice to know that you guys are still friends,” a voice spits, and Kyungsoo whirls around. Baekhyun stands behind them, an unreturned school library book in his hand. His eyes are dark and angry, and Kyungsoo opens his mouth to say anything.
Jongdae gets out of his seat, waves to Kyungsoo, and makes his way towards the door. He’s scowling, but to Kyungsoo it looks fake and unconvincing.
Baekhyun steps in front of Jongdae, blocking him off.
“What did I do to you?” Baekhyun asks angrily, crossing his arms. Jongdae doesn’t make eye contact.
“Get out of my way.” Jongdae mumbles, staring at his shoes. Kyungsoo tries to say something again, but Baekhyun cuts him off with a nasty glare. Jongdae steps to the left to get around Baekhyun.
“Tell me what I did to you!” Baekhyun demands, stepping to the left too. Jongdae moves right, and Baekhyun goes right too. “I deserve that much, don’t I?”
“Move.” Jongdae glares up at Baekhyun. “Get out of my way.”
“Calm down, you two!” Kyungsoo chides, eyes wide. “Baekhyun, just… Just move.”
Baekhyun’s mouth drops open in shock, before quickly closing in a betrayed grimace. He throws up his hands, but makes no move to get out of Jongdae’s path.
“Fine. I see how it is. Leaving Baekhyun out of the loop is a fun game, huh? Why can you just tell me what’s going on?” Baekhyun hisses, glaring at Kyungsoo and Jongdae in turn. The hurt shows on his face; Baekhyun’s eyes are watering even as he yells at them.
“I thought… I thought you guys were my friends. Aren’t we supposed to tell each other everything?” Baekhyun shakes his head, backing up away. “What the hell is this?”
“Baekhyun-”
“Don’t try to convince me there’s nothing going on! There’s something you two know about, that I don’t, and now Jongdae hates me and I don’t fucking know why.” Baekhyun blinks in shock after saying it all, as if even he hadn’t processed it until he said it out loud. A tear slips down his cheek, and rubbing it away angrily, Baekhyun leaves.
“I don’t,” Jongdae says. “I don’t-”
But Baekhyun’s footsteps have already retreated down the hall, and Jongdae’s words die off.
“I fucked that one up, didn’t I,” he says quietly, and looks at Kyungsoo. The smile from before is totally gone, and Kyungsoo’s shocked by how much Baekhyun affected Jongdae.
“No, Jongdae… You… It’s fine.” Kyungsoo crouches in front of his friend, at a loss of words. “He’ll come around.”
It sounds so much like what he’d told Baekhyun earlier, and Kyungsoo feels hollow.
“Kyungsoo… Your date.” Jongdae motions to the clock. “You should go.”
Ice runs through his veins, as Kyungsoo remembers that there’s another place he should be, another person he should be with. Jongin’s probably waiting for him in the cafeteria
“Oh, shoot; oh my god, Jongdae-- I’m so sorry,” Kyungsoo says, dashing out of the library.
He’s panting hard by the time he gets to the cafeteria, having run halfway across the school. The doors are shut, though, and Kyungsoo doesn’t see anyone inside.
Jongin’s already headed to the dance studio, without him. Frustrated, Kyungsoo checks his watch-- and winces when it’s been at least fifteen minutes since student council ended. Kyungsoo catches his breath, and then continues running out of the school, down the street until he sees the dance studio.
Unfortunately, Jongin had never actually told him the name of the dance studio, and Kyungsoo’s forced to walk up and down the nearby streets, looking for a dance place. Finally, he passes by Black Pearl Dance Studio, and prays that it’s the right one.
“Hello,” Kyungsoo pants, pushing open the door. The skinny blond that had driven Jongin home once (Sehun, Kyungsoo remembers,) is sitting at the receptionist’s desk, with his feet propped up. Dark eyeliner lines the outside of his eyes, and he’s dressed in full costume.
“Oh. So you did show up. Jonginnie was really sad when you didn’t, you know,” Sehun says flippantly, sounding absolutely emotionless.
“Uh, should I wait here, or something?” Kyungsoo leans against the wall, trying to catch his breath. He’s a solid twenty-five minutes late, and feels quite out of shape.
“Nah, you should come into the auditorium. ‘Cept it’s not an auditorium, because Black Pearl is broke. Have a seat in one of the plastic folding chairs in the back.” Sehun motions to a door behind him. “They’re performing the Nationals piece right now; you’re lucky that they only just started it.”
Kyungsoo thanks him, and carefully pushes through the doors, not wanting to interrupt into the dance. The door doesn’t open directly into where the dancers were performing, which is good, but it doesn’t open straight into the back row of seats, either.
It’s not an auditorium, for sure, but the room isn’t overly small. There isn’t a stage, but instead a chalked-off area of wood floor. There’s only around twenty people there, either dancers or family and friends.
Kyungsoo stands, watching, as the dancers on stage fly through their choreography. It’s ridiculously fast, but every single one of them hits every single move. There’s one in the front who catches his eye, clearly the leader of the dance group. He’s wearing a black snapback, and Kyungsoo can’t see his face from the angle he stands at.
He scans the rest of the group, trying to find Jongin. Kyungsoo doesn’t see him, and assumes that Sehun had gotten the performance order wrong.
The dance group suddenly freezes, and the music changes, going more mellow and soft. The dancers in the back change formation, letting the leader solo in the front. Kyungsoo’s entranced.
At the end, the main dancer gets out of the way for a kid in all-black, who runs up and then promptly executes a perfect flip. The audience goes wild.
Kyungsoo’s clapping as hard as he can. The dancers disperse, and the next group prepares to go on. Kyungsoo squints in the bad lighting, trying to find Jongin again.
“Hey, you made it!” Jongin’s voice suddenly says, from above him. Kyungsoo snaps his neck to the side, grinning when he sees Jongin. “C’mon, it’s too dark in here.” He grabs Kyungsoo’s arm, and drags him outside.
Sehun sees them from behind the receptionist’s desk, and with a knowing smile, slips out from the desk and walks away.
“Did you like the dance?” Jongin asks sheepishly. “Actually, how much of it did you see?”
“I missed the beginning,” Kyungsoo admits, “But I got to see most of it. You guys are amazing, seriously, and so in-sync! That backflip at the end, though… That was awesome!”
Jongin scratches the back of his neck, grinning happily. “I’m glad you liked it! I was worried you weren’t going to come…” He trails off, studying Kyungsoo. “Where were you? I know you had student council, but I waited for ten minutes after that.”
Kyungsoo winces. “Sorry, there was a slight misunderstanding I had to sort out at the library, and…”
There’s a beat of silence as Jongin digests the information, and Kyungsoo holds his breath. Then, Jongin suddenly breaks out into a smile.
“Well, you’re here now, right? That’s what matters. C’mon, I’ve finished performing for today; we’re only doing the nationals choreo. I’ve already seen all the other performances, Eunhyuk won’t mind.” Jongin grabs a bag from the floor, and fixes his hat. “There’s an afterparty for just my team, because we’re celebrating our win? Will you come with me?”
“Uh, sure. That’d be awesome.” Kyungsoo says calmly, but on the inside, he’s floating somewhere in the clouds, and he’s not going to come down. “Will your team be okay with it, though?”
“Yeah, they’ll be fine! People bring dates all the time to the party.” Jongin says, and holds the door open for Kyungsoo.
Dates, Kyungsoo suddenly registers. People bring dates to the party. Does that mean that Kyungsoo’s Jongin’s date? Are they dating? Does he want to date Jongin?
“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to; if you have other responsibilities, you should go deal with them--” Jongin says hurriedly. Kyungsoo’s reminded of when Jongin asked him to come to the performance, and he shakes his head quickly.
“We’ve been over this, right? I like you, and you-- you like me, so…?” Kyungsoo trails off, and stares at Jongin. “I’ve never-- I haven’t-- I mean-- ack, I’m so embarrassing.” He covers his eyes with his hands, blushing furiously.
Jongin laughs.
“You’re so squishy,” he says, and wraps Kyungsoo in a hug. “Come on, we should go!” He half-drags Kyungsoo out the door, and laughing, Kyungsoo tries to push him off.
“Maybe I’m squishy, but I can still walk, okay?” He holds his hand out, and Jongin takes it. They exit the dance studio, and Kyungsoo spies a black Mustang idling in the small parking lot. An older boy sits in the front seat, arms crossed and waiting for Jongin. Sehun sits in the passenger seat, feet kicked up on the dashboard.
That kid sure does know how to relax, Kyungsoo thinks snarkily.
The Mustang’s car door opens, and the driver pops his head out.
“Yo, Jongin. Going to Luhan’s?” he yells. Jongin grins, and tugs Kyungsoo over.
“Kyungsoo, meet Minseok. He’s the owner of this sweet car, and the oldest person in our dance group. Minseok, this is Kyungsoo, my…” Jongin looks at him, raising an eyebrow.
Kyungsoo balks, eyes wide and looking confusedly between Sehun, Minseok, and Jongin.
“Boyfriend,” Sehun coughs, and Jongin’s ears turn a bit red. Minseok doesn’t seem to notice, though, and shrugs. Kyungsoo gapes, speechless.
“Nice to meet you, kid. Hop in the back. I don’t have many rules, just keep your pants on until we get to the party, ‘kay? I don’t want any stains in the back.” Minseok says, closing the door.
Embarrassed, Jongin opens the door, and motions for Kyungsoo to get in first. He does, swinging his backpack around and shoving through.
The air conditioner’s on full blast. Jongin sighs with happiness, and relaxes, but Kyungsoo’s shivering like crazy. Two minutes in, his teeth begin to chatter, and Minseok frowns.
“Too cold for you, Kyungsoo? I can turn it down, if you like,” Minseok offers, drawing Jongin’s attention.
“Oh my god, your lips are blue,” he frets, rifling through his school bag.
“Y-Yeah,” Kyungsoo says, shivering, “It’s the middle of winter, and your air conditioner is on. How- How are you guys not freezing?”
“We were just dancing actively in a freezing building,” Sehun responds. “You should have been at nationals, Luhan’s fingers stopped bending because of the lack of heat in the competition hall.”
Jongin makes a worried noise as Kyungsoo gets even colder, digging through his school bag with renewed effort. Finally, he produces a thick fleece sweater and brandishes it proudly at Kyungsoo.
“I’m already wearing a down jacket,” Kyungsoo protests weakly, but Jongin doesn’t listen to him. He grabs the zipper of Kyungsoo’s jacket and pulls his jacket off. Kyungsoo yelps, and tries to tug it back up, but Jongin’s insistent.
“Hey, you two. I told you to keep your pants on,” Minseok gripes from the front seat.
“Shut up, Minseok. It’s not like that.” Jongin responds, face red. Minseok grumbles, but doesn’t say much more. “Kyungsoo, just trust me, okay?”
Reluctantly, Kyungsoo stops. Jongin peels off his down jacket, and Kyungsoo shivers as the cold air hits. Almost immediately, though, the thick fleece sweater in Jongin’s is tugged over his head. It’s so warm, and a little big for Kyungsoo, so he’s able to snuggle comfortably into it.
Then, Jongin re-zips the down jacket up, and holds his hands up.
“Good?” He asks, crossing his arms.
Kyungsoo makes a contented noise, rubbing his nose against the soft material on the inside of the sweater. “Better than good. I owe you one.”
“Nah, you don’t,” Jongin says, ruffling Kyungsoo’s hair. “You can keep it on later, if you want.”
Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows, one of the only parts of him that are showing out of the combination of Jongin’s sweater and his jacket.
“Really? Because if so, I’m never giving this back. It’s too comfortable.” Kyungsoo shakes his arms, and the long sleeves dangle out of the ends of his jacket. He laughs, and playfully hits Jongin in the face with one of them.
“You-” Jongin splutters, but he’s smiling.
“Ugh, stop with the PDA,” Minseok complains. “We’re still here.”
Sehun snorts.
“Like you’re one to talk-- I know Luhan, I see what you guys get down to. It’s gross, and you guys sometimes don’t even close the door.” He opens the car, and Kyungsoo sees a tall apartment building.
They walk to a building labeled with a large three, and Sehun punches a few numbers in while Minseok checks the mailbox.
“What floor does Luhan live on?” Kyungsoo asks, glad that the building is at least warmer than outside.
“Fifth.” Jongin grimaces. “No elevator, either.” Kyungsoo groans, and takes off his jacket. He doesn’t touch the sweater though, and doesn’t plan to, either.
Minseok and Sehun walk up, and they share a look with Jongin before grinning.
“Race?”
“Hell, yeah!”
Kyungsoo looks at Jongin, panicking, but Jongin grabs his hand and tugs him to the base of the staircase. Sehun shoots up like an arrow, feet slapping loudly against the cement stairs. Jongin lets go of Kyungsoo, and he runs up right before Minseok does, effectively blocking off the older boy’s path.
They run the first three floors side-by-side, but by the time they start the fourth round, Kyungsoo’s stomach is cramping, and he has to lean on the railing. Jongin stops with him, too, and Minseok passes them.
“Hey, you okay?” Jongin asks, seemingly not even tired.
“I- I hate… I hate you athletic people. You’re not even tired!” Kyungsoo exclaims, gesturing Jongin’s lack of weariness.
“You’re not bad yourself, though. Stairs are steep, you’ve gotten through three of the five floors. Can you do one more?” Jongin asks, and then considers. “We could just walk, too.”
Kyungsoo pants heavily, but nods. “One- One more should be fine.”
At the fourth floor, though, Kyungsoo is soaked with sweat, and takes Jongin’s sweater off. He leans against Jongin’s chest, laughing weakly.
“Sorry, you would have beaten Minseok if not for me,” he apologizes, trying to shove Jongin forwards. “Go on, I’ll catch up. There’s only- ah, only one more floor.”
Jongin stands still for a few seconds, considering. Suddenly, he sweeps Kyungsoo up into his arms, and Kyungsoo squeaks.
“Man, you’re light!” Jongin remarks, and then begins running up the final flight of stairs, Kyungsoo’s arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Kyungsoo’s hands are still clutching his jacket and Jongin’s sweater is tied around his waist.
Jongin stops, and raps twice on a wooden door. The door creaks open, and a tinkling laughs rings through the hallway.
“Jongin… I was a bit worried when you didn’t come up, turned out you’d been carrying your date!”
“Hi, Luhan. This is Kyungsoo.” Kyungsoo waves weakly, still slightly tired from the amount of running he’d done.
The boy standing in the doorframe is not much taller than Kyungsoo, and is very pretty. Light brown hair frames an almost feminine face, making Luhan seem much younger than he really is. The apartment is nice and cozy.
Jongin pushes Kyungsoo into the apartment, and settles comfortably on the couch. Kyungsoo hangs up his coat, but leaves Jongin’s sweater around his waist. It’s comforting, the sweater, and Kyungsoo decides that he’ll wear it everyday he can.
“Stay here, I’ll get us some drinks.” Jongin pats Kyungsoo twice on the shoulder, before rising up to walk over to the small kitchen to get some of whatever Luhan and Minseok had.
“Hey, you made it,” Sehun settles on the couch, crossing his legs. “Thought you’d stop at the second floor. Count me impressed, you actually ran up to the fourth. It’s tiring, but Luhan and Minseok have to keep in shape somehow, eh?”
Kyungsoo smiles awkwardly. “Thanks? I guess?”
Jongin comes back, holding two glasses of magenta liquid, and Kyungsoo quietly prays that it’s only grape juice. Upon seeing Sehun sitting in his spot next to Kyungsoo, Jongin pouts, and nudges the blond with his foot.
“My boyfriend, my seat,” he whines. “Move.” Kyungsoo laughs, and shifts over amiably for Jongin to have a place between Sehun and him.
“So, how many kids are on your team?” Kyungsoo asks, accepting the cup Jongin hands him.
“Seven. We’re the top group, so--” Jongin stops, counting on his fingers. “Me, Minseok, Sehun, Luhan, Yixing, Taemin, and Zitao. Yeah, seven. Zitao’s not coming today, though. He’s got a daaaate.”
Kyungsoo eyes the liquid in his cup. It’s too viscous to be wine, but it doesn’t smell like grape juice, either. He takes a hesitant sip of it, and promptly spews it everywhere.
“What- what the heck is that?” he splutters.
Jongin roars with laughter, grabbing the nearest paper towel and ripping off a piece for Kyungsoo. Under any other circumstance, Kyungsoo would have been embarrassed, but the disgusting taste in his mouth just about stopped him from thinking about anything else.
“I forget how weird this must taste to you-- This is freshly-pressed beet juice, mixed with Red Bull and raw egg,” Jongin says. At the face Kyungsoo pulls, Jongin breaks into fresh peals of laughter, apologizing and helping him clean up.
“I’m never accepting another drink from you again,” Kyungsoo huffs, and goes over to where Minseok is clutching his stomach and holding a bottle of spring water.
“Here- take this, take this. Jongin, you idiot,” Minseok says, “How could you give him our special recipe without any warning?”
Gratefully, Kyungsoo grabs the water bottle, and downs a solid half of the water. When the nasty taste is finally gone from his mouth, he sits back down, and slides Jongin’s sweater back over himself. Even though it’s warm in Luhan’s apartment, Kyungsoo’s not warm enough to be only wearing a t-shirt.
The doorbell rings again, and three more people show up at the door. Jongin introduces them: Yixing, another Chinese transfer like Luhan; Junmyeon, Yixing’s boyfriend; and Taemin, the “nut case.”
That address earns Jongin a smack in the stomach, but he laughs it off.
Later, they’re sitting in the living, playing Mario Kart and snacking on tasty foods that Luhan had bought earlier. Kyungsoo had made a plate of spaghetti kimchi, and basically won the hearts of everyone there.
“I have a question-- Sehun, I saw you this afternoon, while Jongin was performing. If you’re in their dance group, why didn’t you dance with them?” Kyungsoo asks, taking another sip of the water bottle.
Around him, all of the dance team people are drinking the gross blend of the drink that Jongin had given him earlier. Junmyeon quietly taps his boyfriend on the shoulder, and tries a small sip of it. He has an ever-smiling face, but even he has to make a face when he tries it.
“Gross,” Junmyeon says, sticking his tongue out and looking for water.
Sehun finally tilts his head, considering.
“You’re asking why I seem to be in their dance group, but I didn’t dance today?” he says slowly.
“Sehun has a torn ligament in his knee,” Taemin supplies. “It doesn’t look like it, but that’s because he’s on so many pain meds that he’s high as the clouds.”
Sehun grabs the nearest pillow, and whips it at Taemin, who is focusing on his Mario Kart game with Jongin. He doesn’t react fast enough, and his controller is knocked out of his hands. Jongin passes him, whooping loudly.
“Rematch! I demand a rematch, Sehun hit me with a pillow!” Taemin yells, standing up.
Sehun sticks out his tongue childishly. “I am only on two pain meds, thank you very much. Plus, it’s been three weeks, it’s better. I tore it right after nationals, so we were very lucky.”
Kyungsoo nods.
The fire alarm suddenly goes off then, and a wall of smoke wafts out of the kitchen. Luhan pokes his head out apologetically, before hacking and motioning for everyone to get out.
“I- I was trying to bake cookies, and… I just kind… Forgot about them. Everyone, I think we have to evacuate. To the hallway?” he suggests weakly..
Taemin coughs, and steps into the hallway.
“It’s- ack, not much-, not much better. I think we should leave this floor, at least.” he sniffs, and regrets it.
More billows of black smoke come out, and the air condition worsens.
Kyungsoo breathes in stupidly, and ends up doubling over with coughs. Jongin pushes him out the door, wrapping his arms protectively around Kyungsoo.
Suddenly, Kyungsoo’s standing in the hallway, and Jongin motions for him to run downstairs with one hand. The other hand is covering his mouth.
There’s two other people in the hallway already. Junmyeon’s not coughing at all, and when Kyungsoo squints, he can see why. Yixing’s jacket is in his boyfriend’s arms, and Junmyeon has his face buried in it.
The people in Luhan’s apartment burst into the hallway, and run down the stairs to get to the fourth floor. They release a collective breath.
Kyungsoo thinks he can still smell smoke, but the air is much better than upstairs. At least, his eyes have stopped watering.
“Guys… Can we go down another floor? Junmyeon--” Yixing begins, but Junmyeon cuts him off weakly.
“--is fine, Yixing. You don’t need to bother them. I’m good,” he mumbles, breathing through the sweater still. Yixing frowns.
“You’ve got bad asthma, and I’m not risking anything.” Yixing stands up, gently tugging on Junmyeon’s arm. “C’mon, let’s go to the floor below. You guys don’t have to go, I’ll do it alone.”
Jongin stands up, too.
“I think it’d be good if all of us went down another floor, just in case.” He tilts his head downwards, and the rest of the room acquiesces, Kyungsoo included.
They spend the rest of the time outside, playing in the snow. At the end of the night, when Minseok drives Kyungsoo home, Jongin kisses him once on the nose.
He feels like he’s floating.
🎈🎈🎈
Spring creeps on gentle tiptoes, and along with the fresh air, deadlines come.
It’s one day before Jongin’s exam, and the two are over at the library once more, drilling problems.
“Shoot, I can’t figure out how to do this,” Jongin suddenly says, putting his pencil down and staring at Kyungsoo. “I could have sworn I knew this…”
“Let me take a look,” Kyungsoo offers, and Jongin pushes the textbook at him. It’s a nasty polynomial problem, and Kyungsoo grabs a piece of scrap paper to solve it. Still, when he finishes, he raises an eyebrow at Jongin.
“Remember, we went over this just last week?” Kyungsoo walks him through the problem, but Jongin has no recollection of it. He blankly stares, and then flips the book back to the chapter on polynomials.
“Whoa, I did this. Why can’t I remember how to do this?” Jongin furrows his eyebrows, and copies an example problem down. He stares at it for a few seconds, and then huffs angrily. “Kyungsoo-- why?”
“No problem,” Kyungsoo says. He’s seen worse cases of forgetting right before the test, and knows that the key point is to not panic. “We can just re-learn it. It took you about an hour to learn it last time, and then you practiced for about another hour or two. You’ve got plenty of time.”
“But what if that’s not the only thing I forgot? What if I forget which way parabolas open, or what if I even forget the quadratic formula?” Jongin nervously ruffles his hair.
Kyungsoo grabs the hand in Jongin’s hair and brings it back down to the table. “You want to do well on this test, right?”
Jongin looks at him.
“Well, yeah, I do.”
“Then stop panicking. Start doing, and on the test, just stop thinking about it. People ask me, how do you get into student council? How do you get good at math?” Kyungsoo traces circles on Jongin’s hand. “I used to be awfully shy, and I was terrified of speaking in front of more than three people. Now, I’m on student council. The answer? If you’ve done as much as you could, whatever happens next is out of your control.”
Jongin tightens his hand around Kyungsoo’s. “Sorry, you’re right.” he says sheepishly. “I shouldn’t be freaking out…”
Smiling, Kyungsoo leans his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. Jongin shifts his other arm reflexively, wrapping around Kyungsoo.
“That’s the spirit,” Kyungsoo muses. “Though, it’s okay to panic for a while, everyone does it. I panic a lot.”
Jongin hums in agreement, and puts his head on Kyungsoo’s. They sit in silence for a while, just comfortably leaning on each other without saying a word.
“Should we get back to doing polynomials?” Kyungsoo asks quietly after a few minutes, and Jongin picks his head up.
“Yeah, probably should.” He grins at Kyungsoo, and even though his brain knows that Jongin likes him already, Kyungsoo’s heart races out of control.
Kyungsoo re-explains the chapter to him, making sure to go through every potential part that Jongin could have forgotten. Afterwards, he forces Jongin to retake the practice test at the end of the chapter.
“Kyungsoo,” Jongin whines. “I understand it all, plus I’ve already taken this test at home! I’ve done it, why don’t we do other things?”
The book is pushed in front of him by Kyungsoo, and Jongin pouts angrily, before rolling his eyes and reluctantly grabbing a pencil.
“You owe me something,” he grumbles. “Like a kiss.”
“Once you finish, alright? Now do it.” Kyungsoo says. Jongin grins, and starts working.
Three minutes pass with Kyungsoo silently observing what Jongin’s doing. Happily, he notes that Jongin’s actually got it down again, and isn’t struggling too much with the harder questions.
“I think I’m done! Now can I have a kiss?” Jongin turns around and makes puppy-dog eyes at Kyungsoo. Laughing, Kyungsoo brings up his hand and shoves Jongin’s face away.
“Only if you get them all right.” Kyungsoo teases, and Jongin opens his mouth to complain. “I’m kidding!”
He checks through them, and there’s only one wrong. Kyungsoo turns to smile at Jongin.
Suddenly, two people burst through the library doors, and when they see Jongin, they rush over to their table. Kyungsoo recognizes Sehun, and the other one as the one who had done a flip at the dance performance.
“Jongin!” Sehun pants, out of breath. “Sorry for interrupting your study date, but there’s a fight going on at the middle school, and we were wondering if you want to bet on it.”
Kyungsoo frowns, setting Jongin’s test down. The sophomore shoots a quick glance at Kyungsoo, and turns to look at Sehun.
“First off, I don’t like betting on fights-”
“That’s ‘cause you’re actually a super big buzzkill even though you look cool,” the other boy interjects.
“Shut up, Zitao,” Jongin says offhandedly, before continuing to Sehun. “Second, it’s like four in the afternoon, school’s been out for an hour. Why would there be a fight?”
Sehun shrugs.
“I dunno, we were coming back from dance, and we happened to pass the middle school,” he jabs a finger at Zitao, “He was the one who saw the crowd. They’re actually high schoolers, I’m not sure why they were fighting in the middle school parking lot, but...”
Zitao continues. “Anyway, it’s a super easy bet this time. There’s one guy I recognize. His hapkido class is at the same place as my wushu class, and I see him sometimes when our classes are right after each other. He’s actually pretty good, but they haven’t actually started throwing punches yet.”
Kyungsoo’s blood runs cold.
“What did they look like?” he asks suddenly, looking intently at Zitao. Everyone turns to look at him, and Kyungsoo turns a bit red.
“Uh, I didn’t get a good glimpse of the other person, but the guy who does hapkido is brown-haired and pretty short. Wait.” Zitao squints at Kyungsoo. “I think he’s your friend. I see him walking with you a lot.”
“The other guy is short too, and has black hair,” Sehun adds. “Why, do you want to bet?”
“Shit,” Kyungsoo hisses, and starts shoving his stuff into his bag. Jongin jumps, having never heard Kyungsoo swear before.
“You need to go or…?” Jongin asks, trying his best not to sound sad.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, think I know who’s fighting.” Kyungsoo gives him the test back. “You got all of them right, except for number seventeen. You identified the wrong degree for the first part. I have to go, bye!”
He rushes out before he can hear what Jongin says to him about the kiss.
Ten minutes later, Kyungsoo’s at the front of his middle school.
True to what Sehun had said, a sizable crowd stands on the softball field. Kyungsoo runs closer, and curses again when he sees Baekhyun punch Jongdae clear across the face.
“Come on, hit me back!” Baekhyun roars, grabbing Jongdae’s collar and shaking him. “You hate me anyway, just punch me!”
Jongdae has a vicious bruise blooming on the side of his face, but he doesn’t say anything. Baekhyun slams his hand into Jongdae’s chest, knocking him backwards, and yet, Jongdae makes no move to hit Baekhyun.
“You said that you’d be better off not knowing me, prove it! It’s not that hard, is it? Punch me!” Baekhyun yells, and jostles Jongdae again.
Kyungsoo makes it there, and shoves through the crowd. Baekhyun doesn’t even notice him, too busy clutching at Jongdae’s collar and yelling. Kyungsoo tackles Baekhyun, and the two crash to the ground.
“What the fuck, Byun Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo nearly screams, but falters a bit when the dust clears and Kyungsoo can see the tear tracks down his cheeks.
“Get- get off me, Kyungsoo. Jongdae fucking hates me, and so I’m giving him a chance to take out his anger on me. He won’t do it, so I’m trying to piss him off enough. Turns- turns out,” Baekhyun laughs weakly, “I took out my issues on him.”
Kyungsoo trembles with anger, seconds away from slapping Baekhyun himself.
“You idiot!” he shouts. “Jongdae doesn’t hate you! He never hated you! You idiot, in fact, he’s--”
Kyungsoo stops.
“He’s what? Oh wait, you can’t tell me!” Baekhyun snaps. He twists out from under Kyungsoo, trying to break free.
The doors to the middle school fly open, and the principal stomps out, face flushed with anger.
“What is this?” she screams, and the crowd scatters. “It is four thirty-seven, a solid hour after school has ended, and there is a fight going on.”
Kyungsoo scrambles to his feet and spies a bit of snow in Baekhyun’s hair. Without thinking, he reaches up and dusts it off. Baekhyun doesn't move.
“You two-” the principal points at Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. “In my office.”
Quietly, the two duck their heads down, and slowly shuffle towards the school.
“Wait,” Jongdae calls, and the principal turns to look at him. Baekhyun slaps his forehead. “I was part of the fight, I should be in trouble too.”
The principal flinches at the injuries on Jongdae’s face, and glares pointedly at Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. “You should come in too.”
Three high school boys follow their middle school principal into a building they hadn’t been in three years, behind a woman they hadn’t seen in three years. She sits them down in her office, giving the individual seat to Jongdae and forcing Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to stand.
“Explain yourselves.” she hisses, crossing her arms. “You do not fight on school property. No matter what.”
Baekhyun looks at the ground, ashamed. “I’m sorry,” he starts, but the principal isn’t looking at him.
“Name?” she asks Kyungsoo, and although confused, he gives her his name.
“Do Kyungsoo? No, he was always such a good student. You can’t be…” the principal studies him for a while, before sighing. “I guess people change.”
“I’m- I’m sorry, Mrs. Lee?”
“You were such a nice kid. The high school principal is not going to believe this when I call him. Star student, beating up other kids,” the principal scolds, shaking her head. “You’re looking at a solid week of suspension, at least, Mr. Do. Look at the state of these two boys.”
“What?! You can’t be serious!” Baekhyun and Jongdae exclaim together, before Kyungsoo even has the chance to open his mouth.
The principal jumps, and frowns. “I saw Mr. Do tackle you right there, in the softball field. I saw the other young man’s bruised face, and assumed…”
Baekhyun looks livid.
“I’m the one with anger issues! I beat up Jongdae, not Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo’s the only one with some common sense between us, if you put him in suspension, that’s-- that’s-- that’s insane!” Baekhyun yells.
Mrs. Lee frowns again, and turns to Jongdae. She grimaces at the slight bruise on his face, and hands him an ice pack. Jongdae winces when he presses it on his face.
“Who punched you? Don’t be afraid to tell me the truth, I’ll make sure no one is able to threaten you-”
“Kyungsoo would never threaten anyone!” Baekhyun injects angrily.
“--Just a precaution. You do realize, if you’re speaking the truth, you’ll be the one in trouble?” Mrs. Lee stares at Baekhyun, who swallows thickly.
“Yeah. But, I- I kinda-... No, I really deserve it.” He shoots a look at Jongdae.
“No one’s going to threaten me,” Jongdae says quietly. “And Kyungsoo didn’t punch me.”
The principal grabs a sheet of paper, quickly jotting down some more notes. She looks confused as she writes down their names.
“So you’re implicating the other person, this Mr…?”
“Byun Baekhyun,” Baekhyun supplies.
Jongdae winces again, but Kyungsoo’s not sure if it’s from pain or the fact that he’d just thrown Baekhyun under the bus.
“It’s not his fault, though- It was my fault--” Jongdae starts, but Baekhyun cuts him off.
“Shut up, Jongdae. It was completely my fault. I punched you in the face. No excuses.” Baekhyun tries to smile, but falters a little.
“So let me get this straight- Mr. Byun here is the one who injured Jongdae, and Kyungsoo has nothing to do with this.” The principal puts her pen down.
“Yes, he’s got nothing to do with this,” Baekhyun and Jongdae chorus.
“No, I should go with them.” Kyungsoo protests.
“Well,” Mrs. Lee says, rubbing her temples, “You three have to report to the high school principal anyway. Don’t leave yet, though, I want a word with Kyungsoo.”
No one moves.
“Alone,” Mrs. Lee prods, and reluctantly, Jongdae and Baekhyun leave the room. They mumble a couple words to Kyungsoo as they leave, telling him that they’d be in Baekhyun’s car.
“Y- yes, Mrs. Lee?” Kyungsoo’s mouth is very dry.
“I believe your story. I remember you three very clearly, and you never gave me any reason to suspect you. It seems that none of you want each other to be punished, and I recommend you tell that to the high school principal.” She looks pointedly at Kyungsoo. “The high school principal adores you, and he will not be happy to see you in trouble.”
“I understand.” Kyungsoo says meekly. The expression on Mrs. Lee’s face suddenly changes, going from anger to a soft sadness.
“You three were always such good friends, never separated. I remember the only time you ever got in trouble was because of those two.” Mrs. Lee stares at the sheet in her hands. “What happened?”
It’s a good question, and Kyungsoo knows why. Because Jongdae loves Baekhyun, he wants to scream. He wants to scream it at Chanyeol, at Baekhyun, hell, he’d scream it to Jongin at this point.
“You should go.” Mrs. Lee prompts, and hands him the paper. “Give that to Mr. Jung.”
Kyungsoo nods, and leaves.
Baekhyun and Jongdae are already in Baekhyun’s car by the time Kyungsoo gets out, and he slides into the back seat silently.
“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun mumbles quietly. “God, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why you stopped talking to me, but now-- Now, I’ll be lucky if you spit on me the next time you see me.”
There’s a silence in the car as both Jongdae and Kyungsoo struggle to find words to say. Despite the stifling warmth in the car, Kyungsoo still feels cold. Baekhyun rests his head on the steering wheel and begins to cry.
“Oh my god, Jongdae. I’m… I’m so fucking sorry,” he sobs. “Look at your face! I once promised to protect you guys… Holy shit, I’m horrible.”
“Don’t- Don’t say that,” Jongdae says, looking out the window. “You’re not horrible. I started it, after all…”
Baekhyun turns in his seat. “Can I see your face? Just… I want to know if I should drive you to the hospital or not.” He reaches out tentatively.
“I’m… I’m good, I think.” Still, Jongdae angles his head up so Baekhyun can trace a finger down the bruise on his face. He presses a tad too hard at Jongdae’s jaw, and the latter flinches. Baekhyun immediately draws his hand back, apologizing.
“Guys, we have to go to the high school,” Kyungsoo gently reminds them, and Baekhyun nods, clicking his seatbelt and waiting for Jongdae and Kyungsoo to do the same.
“Do we have to?” Jongdae asks quietly. Baekhyun pauses, in the middle of backing up out of the middle school. “Can’t we just ditch?”
“Jongdae, do you want to get in more trouble than you’re already in?” Kyungsoo chides. “I know you two get into trouble pretty often… How do you both have straight A’s?
The light in front of them changes to green, and Baekhyun drives slowly out of the middle school parking lot.
“Eh, I dunno. You positive you don’t want to go to the hospital, Jongdae?” Baekhyun asks, voice cracking a little.
“Nah. I’m- I’m good.” Jongdae says.
There’s an awkward silence in the car. It’s not hostile, though-- which is nice for a change. Jongdae turns around, and smiles at Kyungsoo.
“Hey, I didn’t get to see you after your date. How was it?”
“What? Our Kyungsoo got a date, and no one told me? You texted me about clothing choices way back, but…” Baekhyun grins in the rearview mirror. “So, how was it?”
Kyungsoo’s backpack crunches as he shifts, trying to not smile and failing. Jongin’s sweater is still crammed at the bottom of his bag.
“It was wonderful,” he gushes. “Jongin’s perfect, and he’s so nice, and he’s an amazing dancer. We went to a party afterwards, and basically talked and sat around.”
“Oh? Jongin? Kim Jongin, sophomore?” Baekhyun asks. “Didn’t he sign up for tutoring? I saw his name under yours at the tutoring sign-ups.”
“Having a relationship with a student? Tsk tsk,” Jongdae jokes, and Kyungsoo’s surprised at how light the mood is in the car, and it seems that Baekhyun is too.
They pull up at the school within ten minutes, Kyungsoo’s the only one sitting outside while Baekhyun and Jongdae are being chewed out. The principal had taken one look at Kyungsoo’s record, and forced him to stay outside.
He opens his backpack, and tugs out Jongin’s sweater. Kyungsoo stares at the gray sweater, and then tugs it over his head.
Mr. Jung isn’t at the school when they pull up, and both Baekhyun and Jongdae curse when they realize that they’ll have to deal with the crabby vice-principal, Mr. Kim, notorious for hating kids with a passion. The little amount of favoritism that Kyungsoo has with Mr. Jung is totally useless.
Still, Mr. Kim takes one look at Kyungsoo’s record and forces him to sit outside while he talks to Baekhyun and Jongdae. It’s unfair.
Baekhyun’s voice can be heard shouting at the principal, along with Jongdae’s somewhat quieter protests. Finally, the door slams open, and Baekhyun storms out, Jongdae trailing behind him with an annoyed look on his face.
“That geezer had the nerve to try and land Jongdae in detention, too!” Baekhyun huffs, crossing his arms. “Jongdae tried to get Mr. Kim to lessen the detention I got, and got yelled at instead.”
“He said something about how if I would defend him, I would join him in detention. I almost did, but Baekhyun somehow produced a student handbook from nowhere and read through the cruel and unfair punishments section.” Jongdae laughs. “I’ve never seen a human turn that shade of red before.”
Baekhyun cracks a smile, and Kyungsoo does too. “I carry that thing around everywhere, and today it finally served a purpose.”
They’re in the car when Baekhyun clears his throat, in the middle of an interesting conversation about how much chemistry sucked.
“Would- would it be too soon for me to ask for you guys to forgive me? I’m really not sure how you’re even sitting in the same car as me right now, so…” he starts quietly.
“It’s okay,” Jongdae says. “The bruise will heal, I’ll be fine. I should apologize for all the stuff I’ve said… It was uncalled for.”
Baekhyun smiles shyly, and holds up his hand for a fist bump.
“Bros?”
There’s a sad twinkle in Jongdae’s eyes.
“Bros,” he agrees softly, and gently fist-bumps Baekhyun. Jongdae doesn’t say much after that.
Kyungsoo’s dropped off first, and his phone buzzes less than a second after he waves goodbye to Baekhyun and Jongdae.
Jongin’s name shows up-- wish me luck for the test today~ even tho u weren’t there at the end :(
i’m so sorry! ’ll make it up to you! ~(o3o~) good luck on your exam!, Kyungsoo responds.
i was thinking-- dinner with me saturday? 5.00?
Kyungsoo replies back happily, and Jongin sends an address over.
He goes to bed that night in Jongin’s sweater. It’s warm and soothing, and Kyungsoo has no problem at all falling asleep in it.
It’s only later when he realizes that he never gave Jongin a kiss after the practice exam.
( part 3 )
❊ title: make a wish
🎈🎈🎈
For the entire last half of the week, Kyungsoo’s feeling restless because he’s looking forward to Friday so much.
Friday afternoon. Student council’s just about wrapping up, and Kyungsoo is packing up his stuff so he can leave. Kyungsoo tugs on one of his folders, not noticing that his binder is slipping from the grasp of his other hand. The binder crashes to the floor, its contents now splayed all over the floor.
“Shoot,” Kyungsoo murmurs, shoving his folder into his backpack before kneeling down to try and cram his papers back into the binder.
Another set of hands begins to help out, and Kyungsoo looks up in surprise. Jongdae smiles at him, before shuffling the last of the papers and sliding them into Kyungsoo’s binder.
“Hey, Kyungsoo.” Jongdae says, handing the binder back to Kyungsoo, who slides it into his backpack.
“Hey!” Kyungsoo says. “How’ve you been?”
Jongdae adjusts his backpack straps, considering. “I’ve been better, but… Eh. You looked really excited throughout the entire day. Aren’t you going to tell me what’s going on?”
Kyungsoo grins, glad to have his friend back.
“I have a date. Well, kinda, he only invited me to his dance performance, but there was definitely an undercurrent, and oh my godhe’s so hot,” Kyungsoo gushes.
“Whoa, whoa, chill. You sound like some lovestruck twelve-year-old girl,” Jongdae laughs. “So, you have a dance-performance-slash-date and the guy is hot?”
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “What if I am a lovestruck twelve-year-old girl in disguise, huh? And to answer your question, he is hot as hell. The sun has nothing on him.”
“Ew, ew; that’s more than I need to hear, you can drool over him on your own,” Jongdae teases, becoming the Jongdae that Kyungsoo’s used to. It’s nice to be able to see him smile again, and for a moment Kyungsoo’s convinced that everything will be fine.
Kyungsoo zips up his bag, and stands up.“Anyway, the performance starts in about two minutes, so-”
“Yeah, yeah, no hurt feelings! Text me about it whenever you get a chance-” Jongdae stops cold.
“It’s nice to know that you guys are still friends,” a voice spits, and Kyungsoo whirls around. Baekhyun stands behind them, an unreturned school library book in his hand. His eyes are dark and angry, and Kyungsoo opens his mouth to say anything.
Jongdae gets out of his seat, waves to Kyungsoo, and makes his way towards the door. He’s scowling, but to Kyungsoo it looks fake and unconvincing.
Baekhyun steps in front of Jongdae, blocking him off.
“What did I do to you?” Baekhyun asks angrily, crossing his arms. Jongdae doesn’t make eye contact.
“Get out of my way.” Jongdae mumbles, staring at his shoes. Kyungsoo tries to say something again, but Baekhyun cuts him off with a nasty glare. Jongdae steps to the left to get around Baekhyun.
“Tell me what I did to you!” Baekhyun demands, stepping to the left too. Jongdae moves right, and Baekhyun goes right too. “I deserve that much, don’t I?”
“Move.” Jongdae glares up at Baekhyun. “Get out of my way.”
“Calm down, you two!” Kyungsoo chides, eyes wide. “Baekhyun, just… Just move.”
Baekhyun’s mouth drops open in shock, before quickly closing in a betrayed grimace. He throws up his hands, but makes no move to get out of Jongdae’s path.
“Fine. I see how it is. Leaving Baekhyun out of the loop is a fun game, huh? Why can you just tell me what’s going on?” Baekhyun hisses, glaring at Kyungsoo and Jongdae in turn. The hurt shows on his face; Baekhyun’s eyes are watering even as he yells at them.
“I thought… I thought you guys were my friends. Aren’t we supposed to tell each other everything?” Baekhyun shakes his head, backing up away. “What the hell is this?”
“Baekhyun-”
“Don’t try to convince me there’s nothing going on! There’s something you two know about, that I don’t, and now Jongdae hates me and I don’t fucking know why.” Baekhyun blinks in shock after saying it all, as if even he hadn’t processed it until he said it out loud. A tear slips down his cheek, and rubbing it away angrily, Baekhyun leaves.
“I don’t,” Jongdae says. “I don’t-”
But Baekhyun’s footsteps have already retreated down the hall, and Jongdae’s words die off.
“I fucked that one up, didn’t I,” he says quietly, and looks at Kyungsoo. The smile from before is totally gone, and Kyungsoo’s shocked by how much Baekhyun affected Jongdae.
“No, Jongdae… You… It’s fine.” Kyungsoo crouches in front of his friend, at a loss of words. “He’ll come around.”
It sounds so much like what he’d told Baekhyun earlier, and Kyungsoo feels hollow.
“Kyungsoo… Your date.” Jongdae motions to the clock. “You should go.”
Ice runs through his veins, as Kyungsoo remembers that there’s another place he should be, another person he should be with. Jongin’s probably waiting for him in the cafeteria
“Oh, shoot; oh my god, Jongdae-- I’m so sorry,” Kyungsoo says, dashing out of the library.
He’s panting hard by the time he gets to the cafeteria, having run halfway across the school. The doors are shut, though, and Kyungsoo doesn’t see anyone inside.
Jongin’s already headed to the dance studio, without him. Frustrated, Kyungsoo checks his watch-- and winces when it’s been at least fifteen minutes since student council ended. Kyungsoo catches his breath, and then continues running out of the school, down the street until he sees the dance studio.
Unfortunately, Jongin had never actually told him the name of the dance studio, and Kyungsoo’s forced to walk up and down the nearby streets, looking for a dance place. Finally, he passes by Black Pearl Dance Studio, and prays that it’s the right one.
“Hello,” Kyungsoo pants, pushing open the door. The skinny blond that had driven Jongin home once (Sehun, Kyungsoo remembers,) is sitting at the receptionist’s desk, with his feet propped up. Dark eyeliner lines the outside of his eyes, and he’s dressed in full costume.
“Oh. So you did show up. Jonginnie was really sad when you didn’t, you know,” Sehun says flippantly, sounding absolutely emotionless.
“Uh, should I wait here, or something?” Kyungsoo leans against the wall, trying to catch his breath. He’s a solid twenty-five minutes late, and feels quite out of shape.
“Nah, you should come into the auditorium. ‘Cept it’s not an auditorium, because Black Pearl is broke. Have a seat in one of the plastic folding chairs in the back.” Sehun motions to a door behind him. “They’re performing the Nationals piece right now; you’re lucky that they only just started it.”
Kyungsoo thanks him, and carefully pushes through the doors, not wanting to interrupt into the dance. The door doesn’t open directly into where the dancers were performing, which is good, but it doesn’t open straight into the back row of seats, either.
It’s not an auditorium, for sure, but the room isn’t overly small. There isn’t a stage, but instead a chalked-off area of wood floor. There’s only around twenty people there, either dancers or family and friends.
Kyungsoo stands, watching, as the dancers on stage fly through their choreography. It’s ridiculously fast, but every single one of them hits every single move. There’s one in the front who catches his eye, clearly the leader of the dance group. He’s wearing a black snapback, and Kyungsoo can’t see his face from the angle he stands at.
He scans the rest of the group, trying to find Jongin. Kyungsoo doesn’t see him, and assumes that Sehun had gotten the performance order wrong.
The dance group suddenly freezes, and the music changes, going more mellow and soft. The dancers in the back change formation, letting the leader solo in the front. Kyungsoo’s entranced.
At the end, the main dancer gets out of the way for a kid in all-black, who runs up and then promptly executes a perfect flip. The audience goes wild.
Kyungsoo’s clapping as hard as he can. The dancers disperse, and the next group prepares to go on. Kyungsoo squints in the bad lighting, trying to find Jongin again.
“Hey, you made it!” Jongin’s voice suddenly says, from above him. Kyungsoo snaps his neck to the side, grinning when he sees Jongin. “C’mon, it’s too dark in here.” He grabs Kyungsoo’s arm, and drags him outside.
Sehun sees them from behind the receptionist’s desk, and with a knowing smile, slips out from the desk and walks away.
“Did you like the dance?” Jongin asks sheepishly. “Actually, how much of it did you see?”
“I missed the beginning,” Kyungsoo admits, “But I got to see most of it. You guys are amazing, seriously, and so in-sync! That backflip at the end, though… That was awesome!”
Jongin scratches the back of his neck, grinning happily. “I’m glad you liked it! I was worried you weren’t going to come…” He trails off, studying Kyungsoo. “Where were you? I know you had student council, but I waited for ten minutes after that.”
Kyungsoo winces. “Sorry, there was a slight misunderstanding I had to sort out at the library, and…”
There’s a beat of silence as Jongin digests the information, and Kyungsoo holds his breath. Then, Jongin suddenly breaks out into a smile.
“Well, you’re here now, right? That’s what matters. C’mon, I’ve finished performing for today; we’re only doing the nationals choreo. I’ve already seen all the other performances, Eunhyuk won’t mind.” Jongin grabs a bag from the floor, and fixes his hat. “There’s an afterparty for just my team, because we’re celebrating our win? Will you come with me?”
“Uh, sure. That’d be awesome.” Kyungsoo says calmly, but on the inside, he’s floating somewhere in the clouds, and he’s not going to come down. “Will your team be okay with it, though?”
“Yeah, they’ll be fine! People bring dates all the time to the party.” Jongin says, and holds the door open for Kyungsoo.
Dates, Kyungsoo suddenly registers. People bring dates to the party. Does that mean that Kyungsoo’s Jongin’s date? Are they dating? Does he want to date Jongin?
“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to; if you have other responsibilities, you should go deal with them--” Jongin says hurriedly. Kyungsoo’s reminded of when Jongin asked him to come to the performance, and he shakes his head quickly.
“We’ve been over this, right? I like you, and you-- you like me, so…?” Kyungsoo trails off, and stares at Jongin. “I’ve never-- I haven’t-- I mean-- ack, I’m so embarrassing.” He covers his eyes with his hands, blushing furiously.
Jongin laughs.
“You’re so squishy,” he says, and wraps Kyungsoo in a hug. “Come on, we should go!” He half-drags Kyungsoo out the door, and laughing, Kyungsoo tries to push him off.
“Maybe I’m squishy, but I can still walk, okay?” He holds his hand out, and Jongin takes it. They exit the dance studio, and Kyungsoo spies a black Mustang idling in the small parking lot. An older boy sits in the front seat, arms crossed and waiting for Jongin. Sehun sits in the passenger seat, feet kicked up on the dashboard.
That kid sure does know how to relax, Kyungsoo thinks snarkily.
The Mustang’s car door opens, and the driver pops his head out.
“Yo, Jongin. Going to Luhan’s?” he yells. Jongin grins, and tugs Kyungsoo over.
“Kyungsoo, meet Minseok. He’s the owner of this sweet car, and the oldest person in our dance group. Minseok, this is Kyungsoo, my…” Jongin looks at him, raising an eyebrow.
Kyungsoo balks, eyes wide and looking confusedly between Sehun, Minseok, and Jongin.
“Boyfriend,” Sehun coughs, and Jongin’s ears turn a bit red. Minseok doesn’t seem to notice, though, and shrugs. Kyungsoo gapes, speechless.
“Nice to meet you, kid. Hop in the back. I don’t have many rules, just keep your pants on until we get to the party, ‘kay? I don’t want any stains in the back.” Minseok says, closing the door.
Embarrassed, Jongin opens the door, and motions for Kyungsoo to get in first. He does, swinging his backpack around and shoving through.
The air conditioner’s on full blast. Jongin sighs with happiness, and relaxes, but Kyungsoo’s shivering like crazy. Two minutes in, his teeth begin to chatter, and Minseok frowns.
“Too cold for you, Kyungsoo? I can turn it down, if you like,” Minseok offers, drawing Jongin’s attention.
“Oh my god, your lips are blue,” he frets, rifling through his school bag.
“Y-Yeah,” Kyungsoo says, shivering, “It’s the middle of winter, and your air conditioner is on. How- How are you guys not freezing?”
“We were just dancing actively in a freezing building,” Sehun responds. “You should have been at nationals, Luhan’s fingers stopped bending because of the lack of heat in the competition hall.”
Jongin makes a worried noise as Kyungsoo gets even colder, digging through his school bag with renewed effort. Finally, he produces a thick fleece sweater and brandishes it proudly at Kyungsoo.
“I’m already wearing a down jacket,” Kyungsoo protests weakly, but Jongin doesn’t listen to him. He grabs the zipper of Kyungsoo’s jacket and pulls his jacket off. Kyungsoo yelps, and tries to tug it back up, but Jongin’s insistent.
“Hey, you two. I told you to keep your pants on,” Minseok gripes from the front seat.
“Shut up, Minseok. It’s not like that.” Jongin responds, face red. Minseok grumbles, but doesn’t say much more. “Kyungsoo, just trust me, okay?”
Reluctantly, Kyungsoo stops. Jongin peels off his down jacket, and Kyungsoo shivers as the cold air hits. Almost immediately, though, the thick fleece sweater in Jongin’s is tugged over his head. It’s so warm, and a little big for Kyungsoo, so he’s able to snuggle comfortably into it.
Then, Jongin re-zips the down jacket up, and holds his hands up.
“Good?” He asks, crossing his arms.
Kyungsoo makes a contented noise, rubbing his nose against the soft material on the inside of the sweater. “Better than good. I owe you one.”
“Nah, you don’t,” Jongin says, ruffling Kyungsoo’s hair. “You can keep it on later, if you want.”
Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows, one of the only parts of him that are showing out of the combination of Jongin’s sweater and his jacket.
“Really? Because if so, I’m never giving this back. It’s too comfortable.” Kyungsoo shakes his arms, and the long sleeves dangle out of the ends of his jacket. He laughs, and playfully hits Jongin in the face with one of them.
“You-” Jongin splutters, but he’s smiling.
“Ugh, stop with the PDA,” Minseok complains. “We’re still here.”
Sehun snorts.
“Like you’re one to talk-- I know Luhan, I see what you guys get down to. It’s gross, and you guys sometimes don’t even close the door.” He opens the car, and Kyungsoo sees a tall apartment building.
They walk to a building labeled with a large three, and Sehun punches a few numbers in while Minseok checks the mailbox.
“What floor does Luhan live on?” Kyungsoo asks, glad that the building is at least warmer than outside.
“Fifth.” Jongin grimaces. “No elevator, either.” Kyungsoo groans, and takes off his jacket. He doesn’t touch the sweater though, and doesn’t plan to, either.
Minseok and Sehun walk up, and they share a look with Jongin before grinning.
“Race?”
“Hell, yeah!”
Kyungsoo looks at Jongin, panicking, but Jongin grabs his hand and tugs him to the base of the staircase. Sehun shoots up like an arrow, feet slapping loudly against the cement stairs. Jongin lets go of Kyungsoo, and he runs up right before Minseok does, effectively blocking off the older boy’s path.
They run the first three floors side-by-side, but by the time they start the fourth round, Kyungsoo’s stomach is cramping, and he has to lean on the railing. Jongin stops with him, too, and Minseok passes them.
“Hey, you okay?” Jongin asks, seemingly not even tired.
“I- I hate… I hate you athletic people. You’re not even tired!” Kyungsoo exclaims, gesturing Jongin’s lack of weariness.
“You’re not bad yourself, though. Stairs are steep, you’ve gotten through three of the five floors. Can you do one more?” Jongin asks, and then considers. “We could just walk, too.”
Kyungsoo pants heavily, but nods. “One- One more should be fine.”
At the fourth floor, though, Kyungsoo is soaked with sweat, and takes Jongin’s sweater off. He leans against Jongin’s chest, laughing weakly.
“Sorry, you would have beaten Minseok if not for me,” he apologizes, trying to shove Jongin forwards. “Go on, I’ll catch up. There’s only- ah, only one more floor.”
Jongin stands still for a few seconds, considering. Suddenly, he sweeps Kyungsoo up into his arms, and Kyungsoo squeaks.
“Man, you’re light!” Jongin remarks, and then begins running up the final flight of stairs, Kyungsoo’s arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Kyungsoo’s hands are still clutching his jacket and Jongin’s sweater is tied around his waist.
Jongin stops, and raps twice on a wooden door. The door creaks open, and a tinkling laughs rings through the hallway.
“Jongin… I was a bit worried when you didn’t come up, turned out you’d been carrying your date!”
“Hi, Luhan. This is Kyungsoo.” Kyungsoo waves weakly, still slightly tired from the amount of running he’d done.
The boy standing in the doorframe is not much taller than Kyungsoo, and is very pretty. Light brown hair frames an almost feminine face, making Luhan seem much younger than he really is. The apartment is nice and cozy.
Jongin pushes Kyungsoo into the apartment, and settles comfortably on the couch. Kyungsoo hangs up his coat, but leaves Jongin’s sweater around his waist. It’s comforting, the sweater, and Kyungsoo decides that he’ll wear it everyday he can.
“Stay here, I’ll get us some drinks.” Jongin pats Kyungsoo twice on the shoulder, before rising up to walk over to the small kitchen to get some of whatever Luhan and Minseok had.
“Hey, you made it,” Sehun settles on the couch, crossing his legs. “Thought you’d stop at the second floor. Count me impressed, you actually ran up to the fourth. It’s tiring, but Luhan and Minseok have to keep in shape somehow, eh?”
Kyungsoo smiles awkwardly. “Thanks? I guess?”
Jongin comes back, holding two glasses of magenta liquid, and Kyungsoo quietly prays that it’s only grape juice. Upon seeing Sehun sitting in his spot next to Kyungsoo, Jongin pouts, and nudges the blond with his foot.
“My boyfriend, my seat,” he whines. “Move.” Kyungsoo laughs, and shifts over amiably for Jongin to have a place between Sehun and him.
“So, how many kids are on your team?” Kyungsoo asks, accepting the cup Jongin hands him.
“Seven. We’re the top group, so--” Jongin stops, counting on his fingers. “Me, Minseok, Sehun, Luhan, Yixing, Taemin, and Zitao. Yeah, seven. Zitao’s not coming today, though. He’s got a daaaate.”
Kyungsoo eyes the liquid in his cup. It’s too viscous to be wine, but it doesn’t smell like grape juice, either. He takes a hesitant sip of it, and promptly spews it everywhere.
“What- what the heck is that?” he splutters.
Jongin roars with laughter, grabbing the nearest paper towel and ripping off a piece for Kyungsoo. Under any other circumstance, Kyungsoo would have been embarrassed, but the disgusting taste in his mouth just about stopped him from thinking about anything else.
“I forget how weird this must taste to you-- This is freshly-pressed beet juice, mixed with Red Bull and raw egg,” Jongin says. At the face Kyungsoo pulls, Jongin breaks into fresh peals of laughter, apologizing and helping him clean up.
“I’m never accepting another drink from you again,” Kyungsoo huffs, and goes over to where Minseok is clutching his stomach and holding a bottle of spring water.
“Here- take this, take this. Jongin, you idiot,” Minseok says, “How could you give him our special recipe without any warning?”
Gratefully, Kyungsoo grabs the water bottle, and downs a solid half of the water. When the nasty taste is finally gone from his mouth, he sits back down, and slides Jongin’s sweater back over himself. Even though it’s warm in Luhan’s apartment, Kyungsoo’s not warm enough to be only wearing a t-shirt.
The doorbell rings again, and three more people show up at the door. Jongin introduces them: Yixing, another Chinese transfer like Luhan; Junmyeon, Yixing’s boyfriend; and Taemin, the “nut case.”
That address earns Jongin a smack in the stomach, but he laughs it off.
Later, they’re sitting in the living, playing Mario Kart and snacking on tasty foods that Luhan had bought earlier. Kyungsoo had made a plate of spaghetti kimchi, and basically won the hearts of everyone there.
“I have a question-- Sehun, I saw you this afternoon, while Jongin was performing. If you’re in their dance group, why didn’t you dance with them?” Kyungsoo asks, taking another sip of the water bottle.
Around him, all of the dance team people are drinking the gross blend of the drink that Jongin had given him earlier. Junmyeon quietly taps his boyfriend on the shoulder, and tries a small sip of it. He has an ever-smiling face, but even he has to make a face when he tries it.
“Gross,” Junmyeon says, sticking his tongue out and looking for water.
Sehun finally tilts his head, considering.
“You’re asking why I seem to be in their dance group, but I didn’t dance today?” he says slowly.
“Sehun has a torn ligament in his knee,” Taemin supplies. “It doesn’t look like it, but that’s because he’s on so many pain meds that he’s high as the clouds.”
Sehun grabs the nearest pillow, and whips it at Taemin, who is focusing on his Mario Kart game with Jongin. He doesn’t react fast enough, and his controller is knocked out of his hands. Jongin passes him, whooping loudly.
“Rematch! I demand a rematch, Sehun hit me with a pillow!” Taemin yells, standing up.
Sehun sticks out his tongue childishly. “I am only on two pain meds, thank you very much. Plus, it’s been three weeks, it’s better. I tore it right after nationals, so we were very lucky.”
Kyungsoo nods.
The fire alarm suddenly goes off then, and a wall of smoke wafts out of the kitchen. Luhan pokes his head out apologetically, before hacking and motioning for everyone to get out.
“I- I was trying to bake cookies, and… I just kind… Forgot about them. Everyone, I think we have to evacuate. To the hallway?” he suggests weakly..
Taemin coughs, and steps into the hallway.
“It’s- ack, not much-, not much better. I think we should leave this floor, at least.” he sniffs, and regrets it.
More billows of black smoke come out, and the air condition worsens.
Kyungsoo breathes in stupidly, and ends up doubling over with coughs. Jongin pushes him out the door, wrapping his arms protectively around Kyungsoo.
Suddenly, Kyungsoo’s standing in the hallway, and Jongin motions for him to run downstairs with one hand. The other hand is covering his mouth.
There’s two other people in the hallway already. Junmyeon’s not coughing at all, and when Kyungsoo squints, he can see why. Yixing’s jacket is in his boyfriend’s arms, and Junmyeon has his face buried in it.
The people in Luhan’s apartment burst into the hallway, and run down the stairs to get to the fourth floor. They release a collective breath.
Kyungsoo thinks he can still smell smoke, but the air is much better than upstairs. At least, his eyes have stopped watering.
“Guys… Can we go down another floor? Junmyeon--” Yixing begins, but Junmyeon cuts him off weakly.
“--is fine, Yixing. You don’t need to bother them. I’m good,” he mumbles, breathing through the sweater still. Yixing frowns.
“You’ve got bad asthma, and I’m not risking anything.” Yixing stands up, gently tugging on Junmyeon’s arm. “C’mon, let’s go to the floor below. You guys don’t have to go, I’ll do it alone.”
Jongin stands up, too.
“I think it’d be good if all of us went down another floor, just in case.” He tilts his head downwards, and the rest of the room acquiesces, Kyungsoo included.
They spend the rest of the time outside, playing in the snow. At the end of the night, when Minseok drives Kyungsoo home, Jongin kisses him once on the nose.
He feels like he’s floating.
🎈🎈🎈
Spring creeps on gentle tiptoes, and along with the fresh air, deadlines come.
It’s one day before Jongin’s exam, and the two are over at the library once more, drilling problems.
“Shoot, I can’t figure out how to do this,” Jongin suddenly says, putting his pencil down and staring at Kyungsoo. “I could have sworn I knew this…”
“Let me take a look,” Kyungsoo offers, and Jongin pushes the textbook at him. It’s a nasty polynomial problem, and Kyungsoo grabs a piece of scrap paper to solve it. Still, when he finishes, he raises an eyebrow at Jongin.
“Remember, we went over this just last week?” Kyungsoo walks him through the problem, but Jongin has no recollection of it. He blankly stares, and then flips the book back to the chapter on polynomials.
“Whoa, I did this. Why can’t I remember how to do this?” Jongin furrows his eyebrows, and copies an example problem down. He stares at it for a few seconds, and then huffs angrily. “Kyungsoo-- why?”
“No problem,” Kyungsoo says. He’s seen worse cases of forgetting right before the test, and knows that the key point is to not panic. “We can just re-learn it. It took you about an hour to learn it last time, and then you practiced for about another hour or two. You’ve got plenty of time.”
“But what if that’s not the only thing I forgot? What if I forget which way parabolas open, or what if I even forget the quadratic formula?” Jongin nervously ruffles his hair.
Kyungsoo grabs the hand in Jongin’s hair and brings it back down to the table. “You want to do well on this test, right?”
Jongin looks at him.
“Well, yeah, I do.”
“Then stop panicking. Start doing, and on the test, just stop thinking about it. People ask me, how do you get into student council? How do you get good at math?” Kyungsoo traces circles on Jongin’s hand. “I used to be awfully shy, and I was terrified of speaking in front of more than three people. Now, I’m on student council. The answer? If you’ve done as much as you could, whatever happens next is out of your control.”
Jongin tightens his hand around Kyungsoo’s. “Sorry, you’re right.” he says sheepishly. “I shouldn’t be freaking out…”
Smiling, Kyungsoo leans his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. Jongin shifts his other arm reflexively, wrapping around Kyungsoo.
“That’s the spirit,” Kyungsoo muses. “Though, it’s okay to panic for a while, everyone does it. I panic a lot.”
Jongin hums in agreement, and puts his head on Kyungsoo’s. They sit in silence for a while, just comfortably leaning on each other without saying a word.
“Should we get back to doing polynomials?” Kyungsoo asks quietly after a few minutes, and Jongin picks his head up.
“Yeah, probably should.” He grins at Kyungsoo, and even though his brain knows that Jongin likes him already, Kyungsoo’s heart races out of control.
Kyungsoo re-explains the chapter to him, making sure to go through every potential part that Jongin could have forgotten. Afterwards, he forces Jongin to retake the practice test at the end of the chapter.
“Kyungsoo,” Jongin whines. “I understand it all, plus I’ve already taken this test at home! I’ve done it, why don’t we do other things?”
The book is pushed in front of him by Kyungsoo, and Jongin pouts angrily, before rolling his eyes and reluctantly grabbing a pencil.
“You owe me something,” he grumbles. “Like a kiss.”
“Once you finish, alright? Now do it.” Kyungsoo says. Jongin grins, and starts working.
Three minutes pass with Kyungsoo silently observing what Jongin’s doing. Happily, he notes that Jongin’s actually got it down again, and isn’t struggling too much with the harder questions.
“I think I’m done! Now can I have a kiss?” Jongin turns around and makes puppy-dog eyes at Kyungsoo. Laughing, Kyungsoo brings up his hand and shoves Jongin’s face away.
“Only if you get them all right.” Kyungsoo teases, and Jongin opens his mouth to complain. “I’m kidding!”
He checks through them, and there’s only one wrong. Kyungsoo turns to smile at Jongin.
Suddenly, two people burst through the library doors, and when they see Jongin, they rush over to their table. Kyungsoo recognizes Sehun, and the other one as the one who had done a flip at the dance performance.
“Jongin!” Sehun pants, out of breath. “Sorry for interrupting your study date, but there’s a fight going on at the middle school, and we were wondering if you want to bet on it.”
Kyungsoo frowns, setting Jongin’s test down. The sophomore shoots a quick glance at Kyungsoo, and turns to look at Sehun.
“First off, I don’t like betting on fights-”
“That’s ‘cause you’re actually a super big buzzkill even though you look cool,” the other boy interjects.
“Shut up, Zitao,” Jongin says offhandedly, before continuing to Sehun. “Second, it’s like four in the afternoon, school’s been out for an hour. Why would there be a fight?”
Sehun shrugs.
“I dunno, we were coming back from dance, and we happened to pass the middle school,” he jabs a finger at Zitao, “He was the one who saw the crowd. They’re actually high schoolers, I’m not sure why they were fighting in the middle school parking lot, but...”
Zitao continues. “Anyway, it’s a super easy bet this time. There’s one guy I recognize. His hapkido class is at the same place as my wushu class, and I see him sometimes when our classes are right after each other. He’s actually pretty good, but they haven’t actually started throwing punches yet.”
Kyungsoo’s blood runs cold.
“What did they look like?” he asks suddenly, looking intently at Zitao. Everyone turns to look at him, and Kyungsoo turns a bit red.
“Uh, I didn’t get a good glimpse of the other person, but the guy who does hapkido is brown-haired and pretty short. Wait.” Zitao squints at Kyungsoo. “I think he’s your friend. I see him walking with you a lot.”
“The other guy is short too, and has black hair,” Sehun adds. “Why, do you want to bet?”
“Shit,” Kyungsoo hisses, and starts shoving his stuff into his bag. Jongin jumps, having never heard Kyungsoo swear before.
“You need to go or…?” Jongin asks, trying his best not to sound sad.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, think I know who’s fighting.” Kyungsoo gives him the test back. “You got all of them right, except for number seventeen. You identified the wrong degree for the first part. I have to go, bye!”
He rushes out before he can hear what Jongin says to him about the kiss.
Ten minutes later, Kyungsoo’s at the front of his middle school.
True to what Sehun had said, a sizable crowd stands on the softball field. Kyungsoo runs closer, and curses again when he sees Baekhyun punch Jongdae clear across the face.
“Come on, hit me back!” Baekhyun roars, grabbing Jongdae’s collar and shaking him. “You hate me anyway, just punch me!”
Jongdae has a vicious bruise blooming on the side of his face, but he doesn’t say anything. Baekhyun slams his hand into Jongdae’s chest, knocking him backwards, and yet, Jongdae makes no move to hit Baekhyun.
“You said that you’d be better off not knowing me, prove it! It’s not that hard, is it? Punch me!” Baekhyun yells, and jostles Jongdae again.
Kyungsoo makes it there, and shoves through the crowd. Baekhyun doesn’t even notice him, too busy clutching at Jongdae’s collar and yelling. Kyungsoo tackles Baekhyun, and the two crash to the ground.
“What the fuck, Byun Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo nearly screams, but falters a bit when the dust clears and Kyungsoo can see the tear tracks down his cheeks.
“Get- get off me, Kyungsoo. Jongdae fucking hates me, and so I’m giving him a chance to take out his anger on me. He won’t do it, so I’m trying to piss him off enough. Turns- turns out,” Baekhyun laughs weakly, “I took out my issues on him.”
Kyungsoo trembles with anger, seconds away from slapping Baekhyun himself.
“You idiot!” he shouts. “Jongdae doesn’t hate you! He never hated you! You idiot, in fact, he’s--”
Kyungsoo stops.
“He’s what? Oh wait, you can’t tell me!” Baekhyun snaps. He twists out from under Kyungsoo, trying to break free.
The doors to the middle school fly open, and the principal stomps out, face flushed with anger.
“What is this?” she screams, and the crowd scatters. “It is four thirty-seven, a solid hour after school has ended, and there is a fight going on.”
Kyungsoo scrambles to his feet and spies a bit of snow in Baekhyun’s hair. Without thinking, he reaches up and dusts it off. Baekhyun doesn't move.
“You two-” the principal points at Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. “In my office.”
Quietly, the two duck their heads down, and slowly shuffle towards the school.
“Wait,” Jongdae calls, and the principal turns to look at him. Baekhyun slaps his forehead. “I was part of the fight, I should be in trouble too.”
The principal flinches at the injuries on Jongdae’s face, and glares pointedly at Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. “You should come in too.”
Three high school boys follow their middle school principal into a building they hadn’t been in three years, behind a woman they hadn’t seen in three years. She sits them down in her office, giving the individual seat to Jongdae and forcing Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to stand.
“Explain yourselves.” she hisses, crossing her arms. “You do not fight on school property. No matter what.”
Baekhyun looks at the ground, ashamed. “I’m sorry,” he starts, but the principal isn’t looking at him.
“Name?” she asks Kyungsoo, and although confused, he gives her his name.
“Do Kyungsoo? No, he was always such a good student. You can’t be…” the principal studies him for a while, before sighing. “I guess people change.”
“I’m- I’m sorry, Mrs. Lee?”
“You were such a nice kid. The high school principal is not going to believe this when I call him. Star student, beating up other kids,” the principal scolds, shaking her head. “You’re looking at a solid week of suspension, at least, Mr. Do. Look at the state of these two boys.”
“What?! You can’t be serious!” Baekhyun and Jongdae exclaim together, before Kyungsoo even has the chance to open his mouth.
The principal jumps, and frowns. “I saw Mr. Do tackle you right there, in the softball field. I saw the other young man’s bruised face, and assumed…”
Baekhyun looks livid.
“I’m the one with anger issues! I beat up Jongdae, not Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo’s the only one with some common sense between us, if you put him in suspension, that’s-- that’s-- that’s insane!” Baekhyun yells.
Mrs. Lee frowns again, and turns to Jongdae. She grimaces at the slight bruise on his face, and hands him an ice pack. Jongdae winces when he presses it on his face.
“Who punched you? Don’t be afraid to tell me the truth, I’ll make sure no one is able to threaten you-”
“Kyungsoo would never threaten anyone!” Baekhyun injects angrily.
“--Just a precaution. You do realize, if you’re speaking the truth, you’ll be the one in trouble?” Mrs. Lee stares at Baekhyun, who swallows thickly.
“Yeah. But, I- I kinda-... No, I really deserve it.” He shoots a look at Jongdae.
“No one’s going to threaten me,” Jongdae says quietly. “And Kyungsoo didn’t punch me.”
The principal grabs a sheet of paper, quickly jotting down some more notes. She looks confused as she writes down their names.
“So you’re implicating the other person, this Mr…?”
“Byun Baekhyun,” Baekhyun supplies.
Jongdae winces again, but Kyungsoo’s not sure if it’s from pain or the fact that he’d just thrown Baekhyun under the bus.
“It’s not his fault, though- It was my fault--” Jongdae starts, but Baekhyun cuts him off.
“Shut up, Jongdae. It was completely my fault. I punched you in the face. No excuses.” Baekhyun tries to smile, but falters a little.
“So let me get this straight- Mr. Byun here is the one who injured Jongdae, and Kyungsoo has nothing to do with this.” The principal puts her pen down.
“Yes, he’s got nothing to do with this,” Baekhyun and Jongdae chorus.
“No, I should go with them.” Kyungsoo protests.
“Well,” Mrs. Lee says, rubbing her temples, “You three have to report to the high school principal anyway. Don’t leave yet, though, I want a word with Kyungsoo.”
No one moves.
“Alone,” Mrs. Lee prods, and reluctantly, Jongdae and Baekhyun leave the room. They mumble a couple words to Kyungsoo as they leave, telling him that they’d be in Baekhyun’s car.
“Y- yes, Mrs. Lee?” Kyungsoo’s mouth is very dry.
“I believe your story. I remember you three very clearly, and you never gave me any reason to suspect you. It seems that none of you want each other to be punished, and I recommend you tell that to the high school principal.” She looks pointedly at Kyungsoo. “The high school principal adores you, and he will not be happy to see you in trouble.”
“I understand.” Kyungsoo says meekly. The expression on Mrs. Lee’s face suddenly changes, going from anger to a soft sadness.
“You three were always such good friends, never separated. I remember the only time you ever got in trouble was because of those two.” Mrs. Lee stares at the sheet in her hands. “What happened?”
It’s a good question, and Kyungsoo knows why. Because Jongdae loves Baekhyun, he wants to scream. He wants to scream it at Chanyeol, at Baekhyun, hell, he’d scream it to Jongin at this point.
“You should go.” Mrs. Lee prompts, and hands him the paper. “Give that to Mr. Jung.”
Kyungsoo nods, and leaves.
Baekhyun and Jongdae are already in Baekhyun’s car by the time Kyungsoo gets out, and he slides into the back seat silently.
“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun mumbles quietly. “God, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why you stopped talking to me, but now-- Now, I’ll be lucky if you spit on me the next time you see me.”
There’s a silence in the car as both Jongdae and Kyungsoo struggle to find words to say. Despite the stifling warmth in the car, Kyungsoo still feels cold. Baekhyun rests his head on the steering wheel and begins to cry.
“Oh my god, Jongdae. I’m… I’m so fucking sorry,” he sobs. “Look at your face! I once promised to protect you guys… Holy shit, I’m horrible.”
“Don’t- Don’t say that,” Jongdae says, looking out the window. “You’re not horrible. I started it, after all…”
Baekhyun turns in his seat. “Can I see your face? Just… I want to know if I should drive you to the hospital or not.” He reaches out tentatively.
“I’m… I’m good, I think.” Still, Jongdae angles his head up so Baekhyun can trace a finger down the bruise on his face. He presses a tad too hard at Jongdae’s jaw, and the latter flinches. Baekhyun immediately draws his hand back, apologizing.
“Guys, we have to go to the high school,” Kyungsoo gently reminds them, and Baekhyun nods, clicking his seatbelt and waiting for Jongdae and Kyungsoo to do the same.
“Do we have to?” Jongdae asks quietly. Baekhyun pauses, in the middle of backing up out of the middle school. “Can’t we just ditch?”
“Jongdae, do you want to get in more trouble than you’re already in?” Kyungsoo chides. “I know you two get into trouble pretty often… How do you both have straight A’s?
The light in front of them changes to green, and Baekhyun drives slowly out of the middle school parking lot.
“Eh, I dunno. You positive you don’t want to go to the hospital, Jongdae?” Baekhyun asks, voice cracking a little.
“Nah. I’m- I’m good.” Jongdae says.
There’s an awkward silence in the car. It’s not hostile, though-- which is nice for a change. Jongdae turns around, and smiles at Kyungsoo.
“Hey, I didn’t get to see you after your date. How was it?”
“What? Our Kyungsoo got a date, and no one told me? You texted me about clothing choices way back, but…” Baekhyun grins in the rearview mirror. “So, how was it?”
Kyungsoo’s backpack crunches as he shifts, trying to not smile and failing. Jongin’s sweater is still crammed at the bottom of his bag.
“It was wonderful,” he gushes. “Jongin’s perfect, and he’s so nice, and he’s an amazing dancer. We went to a party afterwards, and basically talked and sat around.”
“Oh? Jongin? Kim Jongin, sophomore?” Baekhyun asks. “Didn’t he sign up for tutoring? I saw his name under yours at the tutoring sign-ups.”
“Having a relationship with a student? Tsk tsk,” Jongdae jokes, and Kyungsoo’s surprised at how light the mood is in the car, and it seems that Baekhyun is too.
They pull up at the school within ten minutes, Kyungsoo’s the only one sitting outside while Baekhyun and Jongdae are being chewed out. The principal had taken one look at Kyungsoo’s record, and forced him to stay outside.
He opens his backpack, and tugs out Jongin’s sweater. Kyungsoo stares at the gray sweater, and then tugs it over his head.
Mr. Jung isn’t at the school when they pull up, and both Baekhyun and Jongdae curse when they realize that they’ll have to deal with the crabby vice-principal, Mr. Kim, notorious for hating kids with a passion. The little amount of favoritism that Kyungsoo has with Mr. Jung is totally useless.
Still, Mr. Kim takes one look at Kyungsoo’s record and forces him to sit outside while he talks to Baekhyun and Jongdae. It’s unfair.
Baekhyun’s voice can be heard shouting at the principal, along with Jongdae’s somewhat quieter protests. Finally, the door slams open, and Baekhyun storms out, Jongdae trailing behind him with an annoyed look on his face.
“That geezer had the nerve to try and land Jongdae in detention, too!” Baekhyun huffs, crossing his arms. “Jongdae tried to get Mr. Kim to lessen the detention I got, and got yelled at instead.”
“He said something about how if I would defend him, I would join him in detention. I almost did, but Baekhyun somehow produced a student handbook from nowhere and read through the cruel and unfair punishments section.” Jongdae laughs. “I’ve never seen a human turn that shade of red before.”
Baekhyun cracks a smile, and Kyungsoo does too. “I carry that thing around everywhere, and today it finally served a purpose.”
They’re in the car when Baekhyun clears his throat, in the middle of an interesting conversation about how much chemistry sucked.
“Would- would it be too soon for me to ask for you guys to forgive me? I’m really not sure how you’re even sitting in the same car as me right now, so…” he starts quietly.
“It’s okay,” Jongdae says. “The bruise will heal, I’ll be fine. I should apologize for all the stuff I’ve said… It was uncalled for.”
Baekhyun smiles shyly, and holds up his hand for a fist bump.
“Bros?”
There’s a sad twinkle in Jongdae’s eyes.
“Bros,” he agrees softly, and gently fist-bumps Baekhyun. Jongdae doesn’t say much after that.
Kyungsoo’s dropped off first, and his phone buzzes less than a second after he waves goodbye to Baekhyun and Jongdae.
Jongin’s name shows up-- wish me luck for the test today~ even tho u weren’t there at the end :(
i’m so sorry! ’ll make it up to you! ~(o3o~) good luck on your exam!, Kyungsoo responds.
i was thinking-- dinner with me saturday? 5.00?
Kyungsoo replies back happily, and Jongin sends an address over.
He goes to bed that night in Jongin’s sweater. It’s warm and soothing, and Kyungsoo has no problem at all falling asleep in it.
It’s only later when he realizes that he never gave Jongin a kiss after the practice exam.
( part 3 )