decipher reflections from reality [2/2]

[seafoamblues]

ACT II

SCENE I.

The signature knock on his door at six in the morning wakes Kyungsoo up, and he swings the door open to see Baekhyun standing there in an orange-and-black coat and a huge backpack.

"Pack your bags! We're going camping!"

Two hours later they're on a bus headed for the mountains. Baekhyun has graciously provided him with a matching coat that he tries his best to disappear into, letting the collar and hood swallow him up.

"You look like a turtle," Baekhyun remarks.

Kyungsoo has never been camping. He's never been to the mountains, either, and he doesn't exactly trust Baekhyun's equal lack of experience enough to feel safe doing this. However, like most occasions, Baekhyun hadn't given him much of a choice. Kyungsoo just hopes neither of them ends up falling off a cliff.

The hike up the mountain has Kyungsoo wheezing and relying on his inhaler more than once. Baekhyun eyes him warily, cracking jokes about him being an old man or asking for reassurance that he isn't going to pass out. If he does, Baekhyun offered to carry him bridal-style the rest of the way. The struggling boy breathlessly refuses, taking another hit from his inhaler. Sometimes Baekhyun is too much.

It's all worth it in the end. He's taken up telling himself that it'll be worth it once they finally reach the mountain's peak, because then he can shove Baekhyun over the edge. He's about ready to, as soon as he recovers from panting like an overheated dog with his hands on his knees. Baekhyun comes to a halt several yards ahead of him, his back turned.

"Kyungsoo, come look at this." He can't distinguish the emotion in his voice.

Kyungsoo draws in another breath and laboriously propels himself forward, coming up to stand beside Baekhyun when he speaks again.

"Wow."

All the plots he'd formulated involving Baekhyun's demise vanish as soon as he sees what Baekhyun is seeing. The view is stunning: a valley that cascades down into a small turquoise stream, the slope blanketed with deep emerald pines and other foliage. The azure sky above the backdrop of mountains is strung with sparse, wispy clouds that encircle the mountaintops. The air is clearer at this altitude, more so than in the city, and even though it's thinner, Kyungsoo feels that he can breathe more easily (after he's recovered from having the breath knocked out of him by the awe-inspiring sight).

"It's beautiful," Baekhyun says.

Kyungsoo reluctantly tears his eyes away from the mountainside to glance at him. His face seems to glow with a blush rouging his cheeks from the cold, harsh breeze and exertion from the trip. He can't stare for long before he looks away.

"It is."

As cliché as it sounds in his head, on top of this mountain Kyungsoo has never felt more alive.
When he's no longer humbled into stillness by his surroundings, he's aware of his body thrumming with an energy that has previously been untapped. The scenery is better than it has ever been depicted in any movie. It's real. Right there, in this moment, he's experiencing life. And he's living it with Baekhyun.

The urge to say something bubbles up in his throat, threatening to spill from his lips. Instead, he sucks in a breath and yells incoherently into the canyon, hearing his voice echo and successfully startling a couple of tourists nearby who are also enjoying the sight. The call jerks his companion out of his trance. Until now, the embarrassing one has never been Kyungsoo.

"You're crazy! You've finally done it. You've snapped. You're insane," Baekhyun exclaims, but he wears a pleased expression. He giddily joins in with Kyungsoo's yelling, scaring the few stragglers away. Their voices meld with each other, creating a single, drawn-out shout.

To quote Walt Whitman: "I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world."

Setting up the tent before dusk is a trying endeavor. Baekhyun had bought it from one of the home stores and pores over the instructions with a puzzled look on his face, frowning every so often. Kyungsoo helps pitching the tent, gifted with a little more knowledge about engineering and the way things work, and in an hour it's decently inhabitable.

They start a fire (Baekhyun attempts rubbing two sticks together before forlornly retrieving a matchbook from his pocket) and lay out a blanket to cover the earth once night falls. Reclining on their backs, they lay beside each other with their eyes on the stars. It isn't too different from the nightscape the planetarium had painted, black velvet sky dappled with scintillating lights.

Baekhyun stretches, cat-like, with a strangled sigh of content. He folds his arms behind his head to use as a pillow while Kyungsoo lays still.

"You can't see stars like this in the city," Baekhyun says.

Kyungsoo has never bothered looking for stars in Seoul.

"This is better than the planetarium," Kyungsoo states.

"Yeah. This is real."

The passing wind chills him and he shivers. He moves closer to Baekhyun, searching for warmth. Baekhyun doesn't seem to mind. He maps constellations and planets, naming each one and telling Kyungsoo their stories. His insight isn't extensive, though, and Kyungsoo wonders how much he's making up. He soon moves onto something else, pointing out one of the billions of stars above them, and Kyungsoo follows his finger and thinks he knows which he's directing him to.

"See that? That's your star!"

The shorter boy side-eyes him. "Why?"

"Because it's really small but it shines so brightly."

Kyungsoo falls silent. After a few minutes he pipes up again.

"That one, there," he says quietly.

"Which one?" He doesn't have to see Baekhyun to know that he's squinting for it.

"That one."

"Which?" The excitement in his voice turns into frustration.

Kyungsoo jabs his finger into Baekhyun's side, making him squeal, and then forces him to pay attention to his finger when he lifts it again.

"Look, stupid. That's yours."

Baekhyun lets out a huff. "There are too many to tell."

Kyungsoo lowers his finger. "I think that one's mine, actually," he murmurs.

"No way. I know your star best."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive!" Baekhyun chirps.

It's too dark for Baekhyun to tell that Kyungsoo had been pointing at him.

They retire to their tent once it's time to sleep, zipping themselves into sleeping bags that hug their bodies. Baekhyun wiggles close to Kyungsoo, like an endearing grub, and he can feel his hot breath on his neck. He opens his eyes, body going rigid, but is distracted by an intense glowing above him.

"Are those-"

"I stuck glow-in-the-dark stars on the roof so we can see the stars right before we go to sleep," Baekhyun chortles.

Kyungsoo slowly relaxes, appreciating the added warmth as Baekhyun snuggles closer. It's silly, because the pale green phosphorescence can't compare to the brilliance outside, but he finds some comfort in the effort as he closes his eyes. Their emitted light remains tattooed on the inside of his eyelids as he falls asleep.

SCENE II.

Romance isn't one of Kyungsoo's favourite movie genres (Casablanca is an exception), and Baekhyun likes complaining about chick flicks, but one evening they find themselves sitting on Kyungsoo's couch and watching A Walk to Remember. The next day Baekhyun propositions The Princess Bride, and so they watch that, even though Kyungsoo has to listen to his Inigo Montoya impression (which honestly isn't half-bad) and endure him yelling "Inconceivable!" the rest of the week. The following night is The Notebook, and then two nights later, Romeo + Juliet (Baekhyun's choice again). They're on a romance kick and they can't get out of it, and on the fifth day Baekhyun pops in the disc for Moulin Rouge! and settles back onto the sofa next to Kyungsoo.

"Elephant Love Medley" comes on and Nicole Kidman's and Ewan McGregor's voices fill the room. The film studies major can't help but feel his attention move elsewhere, namely to the boy sitting beside him.

Kyungsoo has a problem. The romance movies are really getting to his head and he can't keep his thoughts from wandering back to Baekhyun every time he imagines something. His head is full of scenarios and clichés that involve him and Baekhyun together, reenacting scenes that make him grimace. But he keeps letting Baekhyun hang around him, keeps letting him choose the movies, and keeps letting himself think of things he'd like to do with Baekhyun. Baekhyun is a problem.

"Come What May" is the song that plays when Baekhyun leans over and kisses him. His lips are warm and soft against his, and Kyungsoo has half the mind to let Baekhyun go further, but he snaps out of it quickly.

Kyungsoo stands up abruptly. His lips are tingling and he's shaking.

"You need to leave."

Baekhyun merely looks at him and walks out of his apartment without a word.

That's the end of their romance film marathon.

SCENE III.

A couple weeks later they meet with each other again, acting as though nothing had happened between them.

It had been Kyungsoo's first kiss.

Somehow the topic of their conversation digresses into Baekhyun telling Kyungsoo about his favourite actresses. It's probably because of the Korean drama that's playing on the television as background noise.

"Han Chaeyoung is kinda old but she's still hot," Baekhyun says off-handedly, glancing at the TV. "You know?"

"I guess." Kyungsoo shrugs his shoulders noncommittally.

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow. "Who do you like?"

He thinks for a second. "Amanda Seyfried is a decent actress."

"Yeah, but do you think she's hot? She's got those big creepy eyes going on, sorta like you," Baekhyun observes.

"Her character in Les Misérables is fairly attractive," Kyungsoo supposes.

"Not the character. The actress, the actress. Do you think the actress is hot?" He might detect some exasperation in Baekhyun's voice.

"I . . ." A frown creases his lips. "Think so?" To tell the truth, he's never really thought of her that way.

"Are you like, fictisexual or something?"

"Is that even a word?" Kyungsoo inquires, narrowing his eyes.

"It doesn't matter." Baekhyun throws his hands up in the air dismissively.

"I think Marius' love for Cosette was based mostly off of her looks, and since Amanda Seyfried plays Cosette, then yes. She is attractive."

Baekhyun stares at Kyungsoo blankly for a few long moments before slowly shaking his head.

"You're weird."

The smaller boy bites his lip. He feels a twinge of something that he can't quite place and curls his hands into fists, bunching the material of his jeans.

Kyungsoo avoids Baekhyun at school and ignores his calls for days. Baekhyun came over to his apartment once but he'd lain in bed, refusing to answer. Eventually one evening he listens to the copious amount of voicemails on his phone after Baekhyun calls again, adding another to the tally.

He lays motionless on his bed, phone resting against his ear. The first message plays and he notices that Baekhyun's voice sounds slightly different when it's recorded.

"Hey, I'm sorry I called you weird, okay? I didn't mean it like that, or whatever you thought."

Next message.

"Actually, I think you're pretty attractive. More than those actresses, even. Definitely more than Amanda Seyfried."

Kyungsoo has to wait a few minutes before he can continue onto the next recording.

"You know how I said I'd date Han Chaeyoung even though she'd be like my sugar momma? Well, I'd rather date you."

He pauses for several more moments before he hits play again.

"Like, I like guys, too. I like you."

Kyungsoo can feel his heart pounding in his chest. It isn't a pleasant feeling.

"I just-I really like it when I can make you smile and laugh. You have a heart-shaped mouth, you know that?" He didn't. "It's really cute."

"I'm… I'm sorry I kissed you, too, that one time. I just really wanted to."

Baekhyun's voice changes in the next message. His phone alerts him that he called the day following the previous messages.

"Shit, ignore that last message. I was drunk."

He is dismayed to find that his heartbeat doesn't slow down by much.

"I hope this doesn't mean you're never gonna talk to me again."

That's the end of his voicemails. He lets his phone fall back onto the bed and lies awake for another hour before finally falling asleep.

He can't stop thinking about what Baekhyun had said.

Kyungsoo wakes up several hours later in a panic. He turns on his laptop and hopes that his friend Jongin is still awake. He probably is: if he hasn't changed much since going to college, he'd still be up playing videogames because it's the weekend. The boy feels some relief seeing the green online icon next to Jongin's name in his list of contacts and calls him up. All though they've been friends since elementary school, they haven't really kept in touch after graduating high school. Their Skype calls and texts have become less and less frequent over the years. Kyungsoo figures out only after clicking the call button that using his phone would have been easier, but he desperately wants to see his friend's face.

Jongin answers on the fourth ring. His face swims up on the display, slightly pixilated, and his room - or what appears to be his room - is dark except for the glow of his computer screen. His friend looks surprised to see him, as it's been a handful of months since they've last contacted each other, and Kyungsoo realizes that he must look distressed. He tries smoothing out his expression, checking the small box in the corner of the video that shows his reflection.

"Kyungsoo!" He crows affectionately, grinning despite his perceived worry. "How are you?"

"Jongin. I like someone." Kyungsoo isn't one for trivialities.

His friend's boyish visage is unchanging. "Yeah? From what movie?"

"No. Not from a movie. Like a real person." He takes a deep, uneven breath, his eyes fluttering closed. "I like a real person."

Jongin whistles lowly. "I never thought I'd see the day." That doesn't make him feel any better. "Honestly, Kyungsoo, I'm proud of you."

Kyungsoo buries his face in his hands. "I don't know what to do."

"Do they like you back?"

He thinks of the kiss. "I like you."

"I don't know." There's a beat. "Yes. I think. I don't know."

"Can I tell you something?"

Kyungsoo lets him.

"I actually liked you back in high school. I never did anything, though, because I knew you'd just be confused by my feelings." His friend laughs softly.

At first, Kyungsoo doesn't comprehend what he's saying. "Why . . . ?"

"Why did I like you? Or why didn't I tell you I liked you?" There's a buzzing sound and Kyungsoo assumes Jongin's phone is vibrating, but he ignores it. "You aren't a bad person, Kyungsoo. People want to be around you, and it's okay for you to want to be around other people, too. Especially those you like. But I knew you weren't ready for something like that, so I didn't tell you. It would have complicated things."

"Then why are you telling me now?"

"I want to encourage you, I guess. If you like them, then hold onto them."

"This has never happened to me before." Until Baekhyun happened, a lot of things had never happened to him before.

"You'll learn. I believe in you." Jongin pauses. "If anything, just do like they do in the movies. They aren't real, but they're an example."

Kyungsoo wants to groan. "I've had enough of romance movies. I'm not going to follow their advice. People sometimes end up dying."

He laughs. Off to the side, his phone vibrates again. "You know, I'm dating someone right now, actually. His name is Chanyeol. He's really loud and has terrible taste in movies. He's the one that keeps texting me right now."

"That sounds like Baekhyun."

"Is that the person you like?"

He hesitates. "Maybe."

"Hey, 'Soo. Before I go, I wanted to tell you that I'm gonna be in town on Friday for a party Chanyeol's cousin is having. I want you to come, and bring Baekhyun along, too."

"What are you planning?" He asks cautiously.

"I just wanna see you again? And I want to meet him. If he's anything like my boyfriend, then you've made the right decision to fall for him."

His wording strikes Kyungsoo with fear. "I haven't fallen for him. I just-I just like him."

"Whatever." The corner of his mouth twitches into a slight smirk. "Good night, Kyungsoo. I better see you Friday!"

"Jongin? . . Thanks."

A warm, easy smile crosses his lips. "It's no problem. Call me any time. I'm serious. 'Night, hyung."

He crawls back into bed and stares at the ceiling for approximately twenty minutes before sleeping again. Not long after the camping trip, Kyungsoo bought a pack of glow-in-the-dark stars and stuck them to his ceiling. They begin to fade, losing their phosphorescence as he falls asleep thinking about who they remind him of.

SCENE IV.

Kyungsoo decides that asking Baekhyun to accompany him to a party after he's ignored him for a full week seems suspicious, and he's relieved to find out that Baekhyun had attended the same high school as Chanyeol and his cousin, Sehun, and that they'd been friends. So, when Chanyeol invited Baekhyun, Baekhyun called Kyungsoo and asks him the impending question instead.

"Sure." Baekhyun sounds surprised by his answer.

"Great. I'll, uh, see you there then."

"Let's just take the metro there together," Kyungsoo suggests.

"Cool. Yeah. Sounds good."

Their first phone call since the incident wasn't as awkward as Kyungsoo had foreseen. Still, Baekhyun seemed nervous. The ride is uncharacteristically quiet until Kyungsoo persuades Baekhyun to tell him about Chanyeol.

"Chanyeol's a really nice guy," Baekhyun says, easing into a brief introduction about All Things Chanyeol. "Me and him used to get into a lot of trouble back in high school, though. Detention was like our second home. Sehun's kind of a little shit but he's cool."

Kyungsoo is the type of person that tends to space out at parties and sit in the corner petting the host's cat. Sehun doesn't have a cat, however, and Baekhyun, Jongin, and Chanyeol aren't going to let him get away with being antisocial.

When they walk into the house, a lanky boy booms Baekhyun's name and bounds toward him like an excited Labrador, enveloping him in a hug. Kyungsoo assumes it's Chanyeol.

He hugs Kyungsoo next, throwing his arms around him like he's an old friend. Kyungsoo stiffens, unable to look over the taller boy's shoulder to see Jongin walking up to them.

"It's nice to meet you, Kyungsoo! Jongin's told me a lot about you!"

"Oh," he squeaks, slumping visibly when Chanyeol releases him. "I hope they were all good things."

"Of course," Jongin says smoothly, embracing his shorter friend much more elegantly and briefly than Chanyeol had. "I'm glad you could make it." When he pulls away, he turns to his boyfriend. "I told you not to tackle him," he chides.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. He just looks so cute," he says bashfully. Jongin knocks him on the temple with his knuckles.

"You must be Baekhyun," Jongin says, averting his attention to the aforementioned person. "Please treat Kyungsoo well."

Baekhyun sticks close to his hip. "I do."

"Honestly, Jongin, you sound like you're giving him your blessing," Chanyeol mocks, hanging off his shoulder. "Let's get this party started, yeah?"

"Sounds good," Baekhyun agrees, making his way to the kitchen bar. Sehun shares a house with two other people, Zitao and Yixing. Yixing and Jongdae are already sitting on one of the couches, arms wrapped around each other's waists. Chanyeol and Jongin settle on the same couch and Kyungsoo sits down with Sehun and Zitao on the couch opposite from them. Baekhyun returns with some kind of fruity-tasting mixed drink with too much grenadine for him and he sips it timidly through a straw. Baekhyun slides into place beside Kyungsoo; it's the closest proximity they'd been in since they'd kissed.

Chanyeol is an enthusiastic and attentive co-host, asking Kyungsoo questions about himself and passing him an abundance of soju bombs. Kyungsoo isn't a heavy drinker, but he finds that Chanyeol is almost as difficult to deny as Baekhyun, and conclusively downs every drink that's offered to him. After an hour passes they break out the bottle of tequila, and that's when Kyungsoo begins to feel a little light-headed. They talk about university, music, and movies and play drinking games like Baskin Robbins 31, a game of counting, and Shock, a more incoherent game of yelling (for when they're all considerably tipsy or drunk).

Kris, another guy from Baekhyun's high school, insists they should make use of Sehun's karaoke machine (which Kyungsoo wonders how he'd been able to afford), and Kyungsoo winds up belting out Korean ballads with Baekhyun and Jongdae. They even delve into trot music, which Kyungsoo, who is thoroughly wasted at this point, tragically dances along to. Sehun and Zitao retire early and seek refuge in their room (they'd been eyeing each other hungrily all night) and Jongdae and Yixing have started making out on one of the couches when Kyungsoo climbs up on the coffee table to continue his swaying.

"Kyungsoo, get down, you'll hurt yourself," Baekhyun frets, but Kyungsoo waves his hands in the air.

"I want to dance for you, Baekhyun." Why is he trying to ruin his fun?

Baekhyun sighs, apparently not nearly as intoxicated as his friend, and grabs him around the hips. Kyungsoo yelps as he's pulled off the table, his feet landing on solid ground. He leans into Baekhyun for support, suddenly dizzy from the movement, even though he'd been dancing just minutes before.

"I think it's time for you to go home, Kyungsoo," Jongin advises, coming up to them.

"Go home Kyungsoo, you're drunk," Chanyeol giggles, having had too much to drink as well. He hiccups, clinging to Jongin's arm to steady himself.

"I'm taking him home," Baekhyun reassures them, holding onto Kyungsoo's wrist firmly. Kyungsoo plays with the collar of Baekhyun's shirt, suddenly fascinated by it. The boy bats his hand away and he pouts.

"Baekhyuuuuuun," he whines, "I'm having fun. I like your friends. They're nice."

"It's late, 'Soo. Let's go." Baekhyun begins to tug him toward the door.

They say their goodbyes and share hugs in parting. Kyungsoo feels like he's being passed around in a daze, loath to let go of Baekhyun.

"Take care of him," Jongin says to Baekhyun.

"Yeah, you take care of yours," Baekhyun replies, nodding at Chanyeol. He thinks he hears him snicker; "Oh, he'll take care of me, all right. Good luck, Baekhyunnie."

"Byyyeeeee," Kyungsoo drawls, waving clumsily right before the door closes. He shivers in the sudden cold, inching closer to Baekhyun. The taller boy regards him almost warily.

"Kyungsoo, can you walk to the station?" he asks quietly, the pad of his thumb sweeping over his pulse on the soft underside of his wrist. Kyungsoo thinks that maybe his heartbeat jumps in that moment.

"Speak louder, I can't hear you," he slurs, digging his fingers into the dip of Baekhyun's shirt collar. Baekhyun removes his hand with a strangled noise, which Kyungsoo mimics in frustration.

Somehow they make it to the train station without Kyungsoo falling down or throwing up. Very gradually, Kyungsoo feels like he's sobering up, but it's probably just to make Baekhyun stop being so concerned about him.

"I can take care of myself," he snaps, rejecting Baekhyun's proffered hand as he boards the subway. Baekhyun shrugs, but still let his hand brush against the small of his back protectively.

It's late and their compartment is sparsely occupied. Kyungsoo drops down on the seat beside Baekhyun, falling silent. Whoever is left in their car exits on the first stop, and Kyungsoo leans over and tries to catch Baekhyun's lips.

"Kyungsoo," he hisses, jerking his head back so that Kyungsoo falters and misses his mark. "We're in public."

"There's no one here," he retorts, looking around pointedly. "Live a little."

The role reversal is unexpected, but it doesn't take long for Baekhyun to comply with a tiny whimper. After all, he's probably been waiting for something like this to happen for a while, right?

"Okay," he whispers.

He allows their lips to touch, almost feather-like in quality - tentative and innocent - before Kyungsoo presses back assertively. Baekhyun gasps against him, allowing Kyungsoo to mold his mouth around his thinner lower lip and suck it in.

Kyungsoo crawls onto his lap, straddling his thighs. The smaller boy slowly works his mouth open, feeling Baekhyun melt into the hard metal seat beneath him as he slips his tongue inside. This is definitely new territory. Kyungsoo explores his mouth while rocking his hips experimentally, a low moan stirring in the back of his throat at the sensation it brings. Baekhyun inhales sharply, grabbing and holding onto Kyungsoo's hips to keep him from moving them again.

"Don't do this, Kyungsoo," he warns, breaking away from the kiss. Kyungsoo puts his arms around Baekhyun's neck, his palms hot on his nape.

"What do I taste like," he murmurs, trying for something more sensual and sliding a hand down to clutch the front of Baekhyun's shirt. Their noses brush.

"Alcohol," Baekhyun says simply, kissing him again nevertheless.

They stumble into Kyungsoo's apartment, all tangled limbs, heated kisses, and wandering hands. After kicking off and nearly tripping over their shoes, Kyungsoo directs Baekhyun to his bedroom, pushing him back through the open door.

Baekhyun falls onto his bed and Kyungsoo climbs over him, nuzzling into his neck and peppering it with kisses. He doesn't notice when Baekhyun glances up in the dark room.

"You have stars on your ceiling," he comments.

"They remind me of you," Kyungsoo explains. He tries kissing him on the mouth again, but Baekhyun turns his face away, so he kneads his lips along his jawline instead.

"Kiss me," he says. Baekhyun ignores his demand.

Kyungsoo nibbles on his ear lobe before moving downward.

"I think I want you," he sighs, sucking a bright red mark on Baekhyun's porcelain skin.

"I think you're drunk, 'Soo," Baekhyun tells him gently, moving his hands to Kyungsoo's shoulders and rolling him off of him. Kyungsoo curls into his side, licking up his neck. "And you might regret it."

"I won't," Kyungsoo whines, but feels his eyes drifting closed as drowsiness overtakes him.

"Shh, sleep now," Baekhyun coos, stroking his hair to calm him.

Kyungsoo awakes to the morning's light streaming through the blinds and an empty bed. After a few seconds of consciousness, his headache hitting him like a bullet to the brain. He groans miserably, throwing an arm over his eyes and turning onto his side.

He had really let himself go last night.

Eventually he forces himself to get up and walk into the kitchen, resembling nothing short of a zombie. The strong smell of coffee enters his nostrils and he feels a wave of nausea, swaying on the balls of his feet.

"The trash bin's over there," Baekhyun says, looking at him from across the kitchen. Kyungsoo covers his mouth: half in shock, half to stifle an unpleasant noise.

"I'm not going to throw up," he says weakly.

"Good. Then come and eat your breakfast, handsome."

Kyungsoo is glad he doesn't have a mirror in his kitchen, because he really doesn't want to see his reflection and the state he's in. He doubts Baekhyun's compliment entirely.

"And I know where my own trash bin is, thanks," he adds as he sits down at the table, eyes falling on the steaming bowl of soup before him. It appears that Baekhyun had ordered hangover soup.

"I didn't know how much you'd remember." Baekhyun smiles ironically.

"I've never been that drunk before," Kyungsoo tells him. "I don't think I've ever even been drunk before."

Baekhyun says nothing.

Kyungsoo blow on his spoonful with caution, lifting his eyes to the boy sitting across the table. He doesn't speak for a few seconds.

"We didn't . . . ? Did we?" Fear creeps up on him like a rising tide.

Baekhyun snorts softly. "Of course not."

Kyungsoo lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Thank god."

Baekhyun merely watches him, opting not to say anything.

The film studies major looks down at his Styrofoam bowl, stirring around a chunk of congealed ox blood. "You look . . . angry." He saws it into two. "I'm sorry."

Baekhyun gets up from his chair, moving over to the coffee maker. He brings back a mug of vanilla latte for Kyungsoo and two aspirin, setting them on the table. "I'm not angry," he says quietly. He ruffles Kyungsoo's hair sleepily. "Just tired."

"Yeah, you're the tired one." He takes a sip of his drink, the foam leaving residue on his upper lip. Without a second thought, Baekhyun wipes it away with his thumb, letting it linger just above the curved line of his full upper lip. Kyungsoo freezes, watching him expectantly.

"Can I kiss you?" Baekhyun asks suddenly, and Kyungsoo nods, his jaw dipping only centimeters. Baekhyun leans over and cups the side of his face with his hand, tasting his coffee-laced lips and running the tip of his tongue across the top before drawing back.

"I'm going to go back home."

"Please," Kyungsoo says, hanging onto his the sleeve of his shirt. "Stay."

"I can't," he confesses, retreating to the living room. "You're still coming with me to the audition, right?"

"I won't miss it," he says.

"Good. See you then." He bites his lower lip and departs, leaving Kyungsoo alone in his apartment.

SCENE V.

Their university is performing Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Baekhyun is trying out for the roles of the two male protagonists. "I'll take whichever I can get, all though I have a fondness for Algernon," he says. He encourages Kyungsoo to try out with him, and all though Kyungsoo used to act in high school, he assures him that he's retired.

Kyungsoo sits in the auditorium while Baekhyun goes through his lines up on stage. He really has a talent for dramatics and getting in character, but apparently those who are well-versed in theater classes are better, and Baekhyun is assigned a minor role.

"This sucks," Baekhyun says, kicking a loose piece of concrete that had cracked off of the sidewalk as they wait for the train. "I thought I had it. Algernon, at least," he scoffs.

"It's okay," the shorter reassures him. "You did well. They're probably just biased."

"I wanted to be a star," Baekhyun pouts. They board the train once it arrives.

"I'm glad you didn't make it," Kyungsoo says after a few minutes. Baekhyun shoots him a look.

"What?"

"The characters don't fit you. You aren't a Bunburyer. You don't pretend to be someone you aren't." He isn't Jack Worthing, the main character who leads a double life, faking a brother and embodying said brother whenever he wants to switch to being someone else. He isn't Algernon, who delights in being paradoxical, and invents the imaginary Bunbury, using him as an excuse to get away from undesirable obligations. Kyungsoo likes Baekhyun's personality more than any of those characters'.

The RTVF major views him critically. "Isn't that what acting is, though, Kyungsoo? You're supposed to detach yourself from your self and assume someone else's personality - one that isn't your own."

"Still, it doesn't suit you."

"Is that how you say you like me better?"

Kyungsoo doesn't answer his question until they get back to his apartment.

"I like you more because you're real and I can touch you. Those characters are on a page, a script, a stage. Movie characters are trapped inside a screen."

His friend looks at him mutely, sitting on the couch where they'd watched their first movie together and shared their first kiss.

"You're just Baekhyun."

Kyungsoo grasps his hand tightly, threading his fingers through Baekhyun's tapered ones.

"The memories we have together aren't fabricated. I didn't dream them up. They weren't scripted or based off of some movie that isn't even relevant to real life. Now I can only fantasize about things that might actually happen." Gone were the wizards, the elves and the impossible daydreams. Last night he'd found himself growing bored of watching The Fellowship of the Ring, which he never thought could be possible. He always got lost in the adventure, but his thoughts constantly returned again and again to Baekhyun, who had been sitting next to him. Thoroughly distracted, all he had wanted to do was kiss him.

He feels his throat tighten with the stress of all he'd just said.

"I think I need my inhaler," he breathes. A minute more and he would start wheezing.

Baekhyun retrieves his prescription refill from the table closest to him, glancing at the packaging before ripping it open. Kyungsoo fumbles with the new bottle of medicine, fitting it into the slot on his mouthpiece.

Baekhyun's voice.

"Huh. It's a placebo."

Kyungsoo looks up.

"What?"

He feels himself grow numb except for the rising feeling of suffocation in his windpipe.

"It's non-medicated. It isn't real."

Kyungsoo blinks in shock. He's been dependent on something that's fake for god knows how long.

The feeling of his throat being constricted intensifies.

He lifts the inhaler to his mouth when Baekhyun's fingers encircled his wrist.

"Hold on, I have something that'll work better."

The device falls from his trembling hand as Baekhyun presses his lips to Kyungsoo's. Almost immediately, Kyungsoo can't feel Baekhyun's lips on him as his body focuses in on the blockage of his windpipe and the inability to breathe. But just as quickly, he begins to relax. He inhales through his nose, filling his lungs with air. Baekhyun is still kissing him and he slowly kisses him back.

Baekhyun cups his jaw, tilting his chin back and Kyungsoo sighs softly into his open mouth.

Kissing Baekhyun is better than any placebo.

The light-haired boy wraps his arms around Kyungsoo's waist and kisses his neck all over, soothing the affected area. Inch by inch he leans Kyungsoo against the couch, covering him with his body. They take their time, kissing the afternoon goodbye and drawing the curtain on their internal conflicts.

SCENE VI.

"This is gonna get a NC-17 rating real fast," Baekhyun says, panting lightly as he hovers over Kyungsoo. They are breathless from kissing for what seemed like hours on Kyungsoo's bed, their shirts unceremoniously removed. The taller boy lowers himself enough to keep steady as he reaches down with one hand, palming Kyungsoo's hard cock through his sweatpants. He bucks his hips at the touch, growling out a moan.

Kyungsoo places his hand on the back of Baekhyun's neck and pulls him down, bringing their mouths together. Baekhyun pinches the skin on his hipbone and rolls his hips down on Kyungsoo's. The friction is delicious, but it isn't enough. Precum is already leaking through the thin material of his pants, and he wriggles out of them with Baekhyun's help. Baekhyun thumbs the head of Kyungsoo's cock, gliding over the slickness as he appreciates the sight of Kyungsoo breathing raggedly below him, his chest flushed and nipples perked. He bites one teasingly while fisting the boy's cock, causing Kyungsoo to cry out and arch his back up off the mattress.

Baekhyun trails kisses down his torso, gently biting the yielding flesh of his stomach and swirling his tongue on his hipbones. He takes Kyungsoo into his mouth, the younger's breath hitching as intense, warm wetness swallows his length. Mewling helplessly, he watches Baekhyun start a rhythm, sinking further down his cock with every bob of his head. A steadily growing heat pools in his lower belly, the muscles of his abdomen tightening and skin beaded with sweat. He's close, and Baekhyun senses it, pulling off with an obscene pop and wrapping his fingers around his cock. He jerks him off with quick, expert flicks of his wrist, and Kyungsoo lifts his hips as a wave of pleasure courses through his entire body, bringing him to orgasm.

He spills over Baekhyun's fist, some cum splashing on Baekhyun's chest. He continues tugging at his cock, though much more slowly, squeezing until Kyungsoo is limp and pliant beneath him. Returning the favour, Kyungsoo angles his arm to stroke the older boy's cock, which is curved insistently against his belly. Baekhyun's breaths grow louder as he goes faster and starts rocking his hips, fucking into Kyungsoo's fist. The hurried pace of his thrusting stutters to a halt when he drops his head and groans into Kyungsoo's neck, coming on Kyungsoo's stomach.

After wiping the both of them down, Baekhyun collapses beside him on the bed, pressing his lips against the tender skin of his neck. That night, Kyungsoo thinks he slept the best he had in months. Before he falls asleep, however, he makes sure to gaze at the stars on his ceiling and the one at his side.

END OF ACT II.