You Slow Down (Then You Speed Up) [2/3]

[thebakaberry]

It doesn’t take long for the terrible smell to dissipate and when it does, they return back inside. “Don’t you think we should clean up?” Kyungsoo asks just as Jongin’s about to collapse onto the sofa.

Jongin frowns. “Jongdae did it. Jongdae should be the one to clean up.” He sounds like a child and Kyungsoo can’t help but crack a smile.

“Come on,” He waves Jongin over as the other groans. “It’ll be a lot faster if we both just do it.”

“It’d be a lot faster if neither of us do it.” Jongin mutters bitterly but he’s pushing himself up anyways and walking to the kitchen. “There are so many dishes. How does anyone use this many dishes when cooking?”

“I have a feeling you’ve never really cooked before.” Kyungsoo answers back as he goes to the sink. Pushing up the long sleeves of his shirt, he slips on the pair of plastic gloves that are hanging off from the side. They’re neon pink and Kyungsoo is questioning Jongin’s (or Jongdae’s?) taste.

“They were on sale.” Jongin is quick to point out, as if he can read Kyungsoo’s mind. “And what should I do?”

“Just wipe down the counters for now. Bring me the dirty dishes too.” As Jongin moves to get a paper towel, Kyungsoo grips the sponge (pink, as well) and begins to scrub.

Zitao picks him up around 7. Four hours after the scheduled pickup time. Kyungsoo doesn’t even get a text of notification that Zitao’s arrived; there’s just the sound of insistent knocking from Jongin’s front door and then the sound of someone coming in.

By that time, they’ve already managed to clean up the disaster in the kitchen, and have moved on to just sprawling lazily atop the couch and watching whatever’s on TV. When they hear the door open, Kyungsoo startles, jumping up in his seat.

“How many times did I tell you not to pick my lock?” Jongin calls out, not even fazed by the presence of the intruder. He doesn’t even spare a glance to see who came in, he already seems to know. “One day, someone’s going to arrest you for breaking and entering, Sehun.”

“No worries,” Sehun rolls his eyes as he stalks in. Kyungsoo’s surprised to see Zitao file in after him. “I’m never going to be caught.”

“That’s what they all say.” Jongin snorts and it’s only then that he decided to lower the TV volume and actually face the new guests. “You here to pick up Kyungsoo?”

“You’re four hours late.” Kyungsoo quips.

“I said I was going to be late,” Zitao shrugs as if Kyungsoo is just overreacting. Kyungsoo glares at his roommate. “I’m here now so let’s go.” He’s beckoning Kyungsoo over and he seems like he’s about to turn and leave.

“Pay Jongin first.” Kyungsoo reminds him and that has Zitao turning back around.

“How much do I owe him?” He asks as he gets out his wallet.

“$40. But you should also compensate for that four hours of babysitting him that you subjected him to.”

“Do you really want to consider your precious moments together as babysitting?”

“If that’s what it takes to make you give him more money, then yes,” Kyungsoo shrugs and Zitao only rolls his eyes at Kyungsoo as he traverses across the living room to press the bills into Jongin’s hand.

“Now let’s go,” Zitao says as he tugs Kyungsoo out of the apartment.

/ / /

They end up going back to the new cemetery. Repeatedly. Until Kyungsoo’s comfortable enough with actually driving on a legitimate road with more than the occasional driver, Jongin declares that they’ll practice there despite its fairly out-of-the-way location. Everything goes smoothly for the first couple of sessions; it’s all pretty uneventful.

Things only change on their fourth time there.

The majority of the reason why Jongin doesn’t want to move toward real roads yet is not because Kyungsoo’s a bad driver (he’s improved, thank god) but more in the idea that Kyungsoo’s a slow driver. It’s not the worst thing to be, certainly, but it’s also not the best thing to be. Especially in a place like Los Angeles.

They’ve been working on speeding up for the past couple of lessons, but it’s been more on the side, hasn’t taken as much priority as actually learning to turn or remembering to signal. Their fourth session at the new cemetery is when they actually begin to capitalize on this problem.

It’s when Kyungsoo’s finally comfortable with going fast without killing anything -- or at least anyone -- and it comes with a shrill scream from Jongin and then a sickening thud. Kyungsoo’s not exactly sure what the matter (he hadn’t been able to decipher what Jongin had shouted out) but there’s a noticeable difference in Jongin’s demeanor. He’s stiff and he looks a bit like he’s going to cry. “Oh my god.” Jongin breathes out, his eyes wide with fear. “You hit a squirrel.”

Kyungsoo lets out a breath of relief; he was afraid he’d killed someone or something. “It’s just a squirrel.” Kyungsoo shrugs, glad to have that weight off his chest. “So that next fork in the road should I turn left or--”

“You just hit a squirrel!!” Jongin repeats incredulously, giving Kyungsoo an accusatory look.

“It’s okay, the driving manual said this kind of thing is common and that--”

Jongin interrupts with a hushed whisper: “You murderer.”

“THE MANUAL CLEARLY SAYS THAT IN THE CASE A WILD ANIMAL JUMPS IN FRONT OF THE CAR, IT IS BEST TO RUN IT OVER AS SWERVING CAN BE DANGEROUS TO THOSE AROUND YOU.” Kyungsoo huffs out. By the end of it, he’s breathing rather heavily and he has to calm himself down before saying, “Come on. If you’re gonna freak out about this, let’s go give the damned thing a proper burial.” With that, he hastily unbuckles his seatbelt and throws the car door open.

“Open the trunk.” Jongin says quietly as he follows Kyungsoo out. “There’s a shovel in the back.”

“Of course there is.”

They end the session with a misshapen lump in the dirt and secret between them.

/ / /

“We’re going back to the old cemetery?” Kyungsoo asks during their next session when he notices Jongin taking an oddly familiar road. “What was wrong with the other one? The nicer one?”

Jongin explains, “I’m not taking you to the old one, either. I think you’re ready to start on some actual streets.” And for some unperceivable reason, Jongin feels the incessant need to add in, “And plus, it’s best for a murderer is not to return to the scene of the crime.”

“I’m not a murderer. It was a squirrel.” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes to which Jongin can only retort with, dejectedly, “You’re a squirrel.”

True to his words, Jongin doesn’t bring them to the cemetery but at the same time, he doesn’t bring them to practice on a main street, either. Instead, Kyungsoo’s brought to a neighbourhood. It’s only when Jongin parks at the side of the road and tells Kyungsoo to switch places does he even realize that they’re going to drive here.

“There’s children here.” Jongin says out of nowhere; it sounds like he just remembered that. He drops his voice and leans close to where Kyungsoo. “Don’t hit the children. Please don’t hit the children.”

“I know I know.” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes as he turns the car keys, “Children would be a bit harder to bury without anyone noticing.”

Jongin looks like he’s about to cry.

Kyungsoo’s actually okay at driving around the neighbourhoods. Maybe even better than okay, maybe even good though Jongin would probably never admit that. They only spend a total of two sessions driving around the place and then Jongin’s upgrading him to some small streets. Before he knows it, he’s being told to try going onto one of the main streets and Kyungsoo feels grossly underprepared.

“I can’t do this.” Kyungsoo breathes out. His knuckles are white and his heart is beating much too fast to be considered healthy.

"Come on," Jongin urges, rubbing Kyungsoo's shoulder in a way that's meant to be comforting. “It’s not that difficult. You just have to go for it.”

It’s their twelfth session and Kyungsoo is pretty sure that his twenty-four hours of instruction time has still not been enough preparation for what Jongin’s trying to get him to do now. “It’s so busy!” Kyungsoo hisses out. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to get in there!”

"Turn on your turn signal." Jongin instructs, "And speed up, they're not going to slow down for you."

“They’re going to run us over!” Kyungsoo yelps out as he watches the cars in the main lane flash by about 20 miles above the speed limit. “There is no way--”

“It’s just merging! You can do it!” Jongin insists but his voice is slowly growing in volume. “Just have your turn signal on and SPEED UP!!”

“Stop yelling at me!” Kyungsoo screams and suddenly he’s gunning it, he’s accelerating to match the speed of those zooming past him on his left. Before he knows it, though, the merging lane is coming to the end and there’s still no clear space for him to pull into and he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do and--

“Pull in! Now!” Jongin exclaims with a flurry of hand motions. and Kyungsoo does as he’s told.

“We’re gonna die. We’re gonna die. We’re gonna die.” Kyungsoo repeats beneath his breath as he maneuvers his car into the lane of traffic.

"You're doing fine," Jongin says, soothingly, “Look you did it!” He announces happily before a frown mars his features. “Wait. Kyungsoo. You need to speed up.”

“I’ve had enough heart racing excitement for today.” Kyungsoo shakes his head as he begins to slow down, “I’m going at the speed limit and no faster.”

“Soo,” A nickname slips out of Jongin’s mouth easily as he whines. “The other driver’s are going to get mad. What happened to Speed Demon Kyungsoo?”

“Speed Demon Kyungsoo had given up his ways a long time ago. They can go around me if they want. I’m not going any faster than this.”

Jongin rolls his eyes but lets him be.

After about ten minutes of driving along the busy road, Jongin eventually tells him to pull off onto a quieter road. “So we’re gonna have to work on getting you comfortable with merging and going a bit faster but you’ve driven on a highway!” The way he says it sounds like his words are synonymous with Kyungsoo finding a cure for cancer. “We should go celebrate.”

“What do you have in mind?” Kyungsoo asks.

Jongin takes a second to ponder, his eyes drifting to the roof of the car in thought. “At the next light, take a right. There's a McDonald's. My treat."

“McDonald’s?” Kyungsoo mutters under his breath, “You sure know how to treat someone.”

“I’m poor and you’re hungry. This is the best you’re going to get.”

Kyungsoo lets out a scoff but he follows the directions anyways. He’s about to go through the drive-thru but Jongin stops him. “Let’s eat in.” Jongin insists, adding an entirely unnecessary wink at the end.

“Oh now we’re getting real classy.” Kyungsoo laughs as he pulls into a parking space. His parking is shitty, to put it nicely, but they haven’t really worked on parking, and there’s no other cars around so Kyungsoo can’t be bothered.

Surprisingly, Jongin doesn’t force Kyungsoo into straightening it out. He clambers out of the car quickly and somehow reappears outside of the driver’s side with a look of anticipation. “What are you thinking of getting?” He asks as he opens Kyungsoo’s door for him. “Because I have a fairly limited budget.”

“You should not have a fairly limited budget,” Kyungsoo snorts, “Considering I get Zitao to pay you more than what you should be getting.”

“I’m treating you and I think you should be happy with just that.” He also holds open the glass door of the entrance and Kyungsoo slightly ducks his head in a bow as he passes. “Get the meal.” Jongin suggests though his words sound more like an imperative more so than anything.

Kyungsoo leans up against the counter behind him.. “Isn’t that more expensive?”

“But you also get more.” Jongin answers as he slides up next to Kyungsoo,

“What happened to being on a budget?”

“Saving money also involves searching for the best deals.”

“Well what’s good around here?” Kyungsoo asks as his eyes get lost in the multitude of colours and options on the menu. There’s just so many prices and calorie counts put on displayed and he feels a little lost.

“It’s McDonalds.” Jongin answers blankly. “Nothing’s good.” The cashier waiting to take their order only looks slightly offended.

Kyungsoo squints at the tiny font of the menu before ultimately giving up. “Just get me whatever you usually get.” He says in defeat as he goes to snag a table near the window.

The service at the fast food place certainly lives up to its name when Jongin approaches the table a grand total of 2 minutes later. He’s precariously carrying a tray full of fries, burgers, and drinks. “That’s a lot of food.” Kyungsoo comments as he scrambles to his feet to help Jongin transport the food safely on the table.

Jongin offers a sheepish smile. “You told me to get what I usually get so…?”

Despite the multitude of food that he had ordered, Jongin somehow manages to inhale all it in about two seconds flat and for the rest of the time, he’s left just sipping at his iced tea, waiting for Kyungsoo to finish. It’s when Jongin's bored, balling up his trash when he blurts out, “If you liked someone but you had to see them everyday, what would you do?”

Kyungsoo bites his tongue. “Ah shit!” He yelps out and Jongin looks startled.

“Hypothetical situation!” Jongin shouts out, attracting a lot of unwarranted stares from the other customers. As his face heats up, his voice turns softer. “It’s not like a legit thing. It’s just a hypothetical situation. For like a friend. A friend’s hypothetical situation.”

It’s painfully obvious that Jongin’s lying but Kyungsoo doesn’t call him out. It sounds like Jongin’s asking advice and it’s a bit weird that Jongin’s asking his student for this kind of thing. Kyungsoo’s fairly sure that they aren’t close enough for this kind of conversation but he also doesn’t voice this thought.. “I bit my tongue.” He says instead, explaining, “And uh. I don’t know. Are you talking about like a co-worker?”

“I’m not talking about anyone.” Jongin frowns.

Kyungsoo’s eye twitches. “Okay. Well are you talking about a hypothetical situation about a friend with like a co-worker?”

“Well when you put it that way.” Jongin draws out the phrase and it’s like he’s aware that he’s being annoying. “No. Not a co-worker. But kind of like a co-worker.”

Kyungsoo cracks a smile. “You do not seem to be clear about your hypothetical situation.”

“It’s hypothetical and it doesn’t have to be clear and please shut up and just answer.” Jongin blusters, throwing his wad of paper trash at Kyungsoo.

He only narrowly dodges the trash. “Okay well I’ve got to say no. Especially since you have to see them every day. I mean, if you have that relationship, then there’s no reason to mess it up with a confession?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t know if it’s just him but he swears Jongin seems to deflate upon hearing his words. “But what if makes it better?”

“And what if it doesn’t?” Kyungsoo shrugs.

“You’re quite pessimistic, aren’t you?”

“I prefer the word realistic.” Kyungsoo heaves a sigh, “Okay. Maybe it would be better for your--”

“Their.” Jongin cuts in. “Not mine.”

“Their relationship. It just depends on the kind of situation you,” Kyungsoo looks straight in the other’s eye as he says this but Jongin doesn’t balk, just slightly shakes his head. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes but makes a big show of correcting himself. “I mean, they have at hand. So tell me more about this hypothetical situation.”

Jongin looks offput, his expression teeming with visible nervousness. “What kind of things do you need to know?”

“More than the fact that you’re -- they’re -- with each other a lot and you -- one of them -- likes the other.”

With the way his eyebrows furrow and his lips purse, Jongin looks frustrated but he doesn’t bother to correct Kyungsoo, figures that there’s no point in telling Kyungsoo to stop because he technically is correcting himself. Sarcastic tone and all. “Well. Uh, They see each other a lot, like on a near daily basis.”

“What about your -- their -- feelings for the other?”

It takes a bit of time for Jongin to answer this one. As he thinks, he lolls his tongue around in his mouth, running them over his teeth through habit. “I don’t know.” He admits after a while, “I mean there hasn't been really been many instances where they've hung out outside of their obligated time together but while I--” Jongin suddenly freezes and Kyungsoo can’t help but laugh at his slip up. “ONE OF THEM! I mean one of them!” He insists but it’s already too late. He keeps going though, as if his mere persistence of the third person perspective will make Kyungsoo forget who this is really about. “While one of them really likes the other, tries to drop a lot of hints about the other, I don’t think the other notices. He seems pretty dense.”

Kyungsoo notes the use of ‘he’. The person Jongin likes is a guy. “He could be dense. Or he could just not reciprocate the feelings. You know, ignore the problem so it goes away.”

And if Kyungsoo wasn’t sure if he had imagined Jongin’s reaction before, he’s definitely sure this time. This time around, he looks a bit like a lost puppy that’s been kicked repeatedly in the stomach. It leaves a sour taste in Kyungsoo’s mouth. “But,” He begins again in hopes of rewording his words to make it sound less pessimistic (realistic, he mentally corrects himself), “I don’t know. Maybe the situation’s a bit different than how you’re imagining it.”

Jongin offer the tiniest semblance of a smile but it’s nothing compared to his enthusiastic grin from before, “Yeah maybe.” And he doesn’t say any more, instead opts to drop his gaze to the table as he fiddles with his hands. It’s silent for a while; Kyungsoo continues to eat and Jongin just sits there.

“Sorry about that,” Jongin says after a while, shaking his head, “I know we aren’t really all that close and here I am asking you for relationship advice. That must be weird, I’m so sorry--”

“I’d like to think we’re close,” Kyungsoo interrupts because he senses that Jongin’s about to go off into another ramble. “I mean we see each other a lot. We hand out a lot -- even if it is for lessons. I don’t know about you but I consider us friends.”

Jongin’s not looking at him. He’s staring at the table, inspecting the plastic of the table. It takes another minute or so for Jongin to finally meet his eyes, and when he does, there’s a small smile splayed on his face. “If we’re really good friends.” He starts out slowly and his hand is inching toward one of Kyungsoo’s burgers. “You should give me this burger.”

Kyungsoo blink before letting out a laugh. “Take it. You bought me like four.”

Jongin grins and he’s now unwrapping the food and sinking his teeth into it. Kyungsoo returns to his remaining burger as well.

It’s only when Kyungsoo’s stopped to get a fry that something suddenly clicks. A person who Jongin has to see. Nearly everyday. And there’s no way of getting out of it. Who doesn’t seem interested in him. Who-- “Oh my god, do you like Jongdae?” Kyungsoo blurts out.

Jongin doesn’t say anything for a while but slowly, his face contorts into a look of disgust. “Why would I ever do that?”

It’s weird but hearing him say that is almost like a weight off of Kyungsoo’s chest.

After the next session, as some sort of reward for getting onto the highway again (this time without the arguably unnecessary screaming), they go out again and this time it's a step up from McDonald's. It's Burger King.

"How's it going?" Kyungsoo feels obligated to ask as he unwraps one of his many Whoppers. "With that crush of yours, I mean."

"It hasn't really been all that long," Jongin reminds him but there’s a certain unmistakable happiness that’s in Jongin’s demeanor. "So I don't know exactly how much development you're expecting."

Kyungsoo shrugs, "Just making conversation..."

"Something did happen though," Jongin cuts in, blurting out his words, "He finally admitted that he thinks we’re friends.” Jongin looks giddy, oddly exhilarated by the fact that he’d been (presumably) friend-zoned by his crush.

“That’s… an improvement,” Kyungsoo replies politely.

"Yeah I also somehow convinced him to let me take him out to eat, it was pretty nice." Jongin says with a smile and he looks so ridiculously happy at the mere mention of the memory. Kyungsoo can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the idea that Jongin's crush gets treated to some (presumably) nice restaurant and he only gets McDonald's. He doesn't say anything, though, because that's understandably bae privilege.

"That's enough about me, though," Jongin says abruptly, "We should talk about other things."

Kyungsoo acts comically surprised, freezes just as he's about to eat a fry with his mouth opened wide for effect. "You mean... You mean you actually have other interests apart from your crush, making mixtapes, and driving?"

"I'll have you know that I have a grand repertoire of interests," Jongin insists, picking up one of (Kyungsoo's) fries to point at him accusingly, "I mean I like to watch TV, I like to dance, I..." He falters after naming a grand total of two.

"You sound like a very interesting person." Kyungsoo affirms with a tight lipped smile, he’s trying his best to stifle the laughter bubbling at the back of his throat. “But you dance. Tell me about that?”

And he does. He proceeds to spend the next hour or so just talking about how he got into dance, what kind of dance he does, what he likes about dance, and so on. Kyungsoo’s never really been interested in dance or really anything that requires exercise but it’s oddly endearing to watch Jongin’s eyes sparkle as he talks about something he’s so passionate about.

They go out to eat a lot more after that, though, it begins to detract from a reward into more of just a thing as they start eating out more and more often. Jongin’s always insistent on paying, saying that hanging out with Kyungsoo is a treat in itself. Kyungsoo never knows quite what to say to that.

/ / /

Soon after Kyungsoo’s actually managed to master driving on the highways, it becomes time for them to move onto the night driving part. On their first attempt to take such a momentous step, of course, there’s complications.

“Is it okay if you could actually come over here to meet up?” Kyungsoo asks. He cradles the phone between his ear and shoulder as he opens the cabinet, looking for something to eat. “Zitao has to go out somewhere soon and he doesn’t have time to drop me off at your dorm… Sorry about that.”

“Nah it’s cool,” Jongin replies, his voice crackling on the line because of his shitty reception. “I’ve always wanted to see the inside of your fancy penthouse apartment.”

“It’s really not that great,” Kyungsoo says and habitually, he shrugs but that only results in a disturbance in the precarious balance of his phone and a near-death moment where his phone almosts slips off his shoulder and plummets to the ground. Almost. “You’re setting up your expectations way too high; you’re only going to be disappointed when you see the mess that Zitao makes of this place.” Slowly, very slowly does Kyungsoo move to try remove the assortment of ramen packets stuffed in the kitchen cabinets. It’s harder than you’d think with a phone balancing on your shoulder.

From behind him, someone lifts the phone off of Kyungsoo’s shoulder, places it on the counter, and then proceeds to hang up. “What do you think you’re--” He spins around to say but stops, “Sehun? What are you doing here?”

“Tao’s going out tonight. Who do you think he’s going out with?” Sehun says as if that was the stupidest question there is. Kyungsoo only watches as he goes over to the fridge and fishes out a can of Sprite.

“Isn’t he going to like one of those fancy ass parties?”

“Yeah.” This time Sehun’s moving to retrieve a glass. “And?”

“And he’s bringing you?”

“Is that a problem?” Sehun asks distractedly as he pours in some Sprite and then fishes out a hip flask. He then proceeds to pour.

“I think your actions speak for themself.” Kyungsoo says solemnly but Sehun only laughs.

“Have you ever been to one of these parties?" He hasn't actually. Zitao's never brought him. "Alcohol is the only way to make it through them. Speaking of which,” Sehun stops, tilting up the flask so that no more spills out. “Where do you keep your alcohol? I need to preserve my precious supply.” He shakes his flask for emphasis.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes but leads him to their stash anyways. Sehun’s jaw drops as soon as he lays eyes on their fairly large minibar. “How did I not find this before?” He gasps before dropping his voice to a whisper. “Oh I am going to have some fun with this…”

Kyungsoo only shrugs and walks away; his work here is done. Only after he’s left their alcohol at Sehun’s full disposal does he return back to the kitchen to sort through his ramen choices.

Surprisingly, Sehun is the one to open the door for Jongin when he knocks on the door. “Yo,” Sehun greets, backing into the apartment to let Jongin in.

“What are you doing here?” Jongin asks curiously, “And where’s Kyungsoo?”

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer.” Sehun says cryptically as he shepherds Jongin to the dining room table where there’s full glass of some sort of drink on the table. “He just got in the shower. He literally just spilled his bowl of ramen all over himself.”

“Oh.”

As Jongin takes a seat, Sehun pushes a drink closer to him, a sly look in his eyes. “Here. How about you drink this while you wait.”

Skeptically, Jongin leans in to take a sniff, “What is this?”

“Iced Tea.” Sehun answers quickly, “Mixed with some juices. Zitao has this really cool mixer and I couldn’t let that just go to waste.”

“I don’t know about--”

Sehun interrupts, “Drink it.” He accentuates the words as he wraps Jongin’s hands around the glass and Jongin obeys. He’s still not entirely convinced but Sehun’s insistent on him having at least one sip. And then another. And then another.

The moment Kyungsoo steps out of the bathroom, he can hear Sehun’s breathy sounds of laughter. Which is weird. Considering that Zitao’s still preoccupied in his room and it hasn't been that long so Jongin probably hasn't arrived yet. It’s only when he arrives in the dining room does he see Jongin blinking up at him blearily. He’s slowly rocking back and forth as he holds a glass cup between two hands, nursing the drink into his mouth. “What the hell did you do?” Kyungsoo bites out as he sees Sehun shaking with laughter.

“I gave him a little something to drink. He’s such a lightweight.” Sehun snorts as Jongin slowly puts down the cup.

Jongin slams his cup down startling Kyungsoo and Sehun both. “He’s lying!” He exclaims, far too enthusiastically. “I’m not drinking. I just had some tea. Tea that tastes a little funky but just tea.”

Kyungsoo looks at Sehun incredulously. “Why would you even?"

“Drunk Jongin is the best Jongin.” Sehun justifies and he has to bite his hand to keep from laughing too hard.

“Drunk Jongin cannot teach me how to drive.” Kyungsoo frowns.

And Sehun blinks. “Oh.” He says, his hiccups of laughter finally subside. “That’s what he’s here for?”

“Why the hell else?!” Kyungsoo snaps and suddenly Sehun looks small. Oh so very small. “How much did he drink?” He demands, rushing to Jongin’s side.

“Like four glasses maybe?” Sehun says sheepishly.

“It’s been like less ten minutes, how did you even manage to get that much in him?!”

“I may or may not have convinced him into chugging them down as fast as he could.” And when faced with Kyungsoo’s menacing glare, Sehun shrinks back. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Kyungsoo's never actually seen Sehun apologizes so his words to are enough to mollify him. "Whatever. What's done is done. Just drop him back off at his dorm or something..."

"No can do," Zitao says as he emerges into the dining room clad in a well-tailored suit. “Sehun and I are already running late and I cannot miss this party.”

“Sehun is the one who got him like this in the first place.” Kyungsoo protests, “He has to take responsibility. Plus, if you’re already late, what’s fifteen more minutes?”

As Zitao shrugs on his coat, he answers, “I don’t think you understand how important this party is.” At Kyungsoo’s blank stare, Zitao lets out a sigh, “My father wants me to be there because that’s where he plans to finalize a business negotiation. You know how pissed he got at me last time when I didn’t show.”

Kyungsoo does indeed remember. He remembers quite clearly that terrible time when he and Zitao had to survive purely on rice and water for a month. Their electricity had gone out in the middle of the month, as had the heat. In the middle of winter. He shudders at the thought. Sucking in a deep breath, Kyungsoo asks, “Okay, well. I should call his roommate. Tell him that he needs to pick him up.”

“You’re gonna ask Jongdae?” Sehun snorts, “On a Friday night? You’d have a better chance of praying to God and asking him to send down a golden chariot.”

“Well. Then when are you getting back?”

Zitao and Sehun both just blink. “Eventually.” Sehun shrugs as Zitao rushes them out the door. “Bye, Kyungsoo.” Zitao says before slamming the front door closed.

Kyungsoo stares at the door for about a minute, a bit taken aback by what just happened, before he glances at Jongin who immediately perks up and gives him a little wave. Kyungsoo groans before hauling Jongin onto his feet. “Well okay buddy. I guess it’s just you and me.”

Nothing eventful really happens. For the next two hours, Kyungsoo just sits on the couch, watching TV with Jongin right by his side. Jongin’s quiet. Oddly quiet. Only when Kyungsoo looks back over to him does he realize that Jongin had fallen asleep. For a while longer, Kyungsoo just lets him rest his head on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, but after another show, he begins to worry if the angle will bother him later. Ultimately, he decides it’d be best to relocate Jongin to his bed. He could sleep on the couch.

It’s difficult to move a drunk Jongin but it’s even more difficult to move a passed out Jongin. He’s not strong enough to actually lift Jongin’s body and Jongin’s not conscious enough to hold onto him for a piggy back. Instead, he has to pull up Jongin’s arms across his neck and drag the body to the room. It’s a long process and there’s a couple moments where Kyungsoo swears he’s going to drop Jongin down the stairs but they somehow make it safely to the bedroom. Putting Jongin onto the bed and then throwing a blanket over him, Kyungsoo leaves the room to watch some more TV.

The next time he goes to check up on Jongin is about an hour later. He’s hungry, not having eaten since lunch apart from those three bites of ramen he managed before spilling it all over himself. It occurs to him that maybe Jongin wants something so he walks back upstairs to check. He’s surprised to see Jongin squirming around in the dark when he opens the door. “Are you awake?” Kyungsoo calls out and he gets a groan as a response. “Do you want something to eat?”

Jongin mutters something but Kyungsoo doesn’t quite pick it up. Taking a couple of steps closer to the bed, Kyungsoo says, “What did you say?”

Again, Jongin mutters something and this time Kyungsoo kneels at the side of the bed, moving his head closer to Jongin to actually hear him. He repeats, “You want something?”

This time Jongin shakes his head. He’s lucky that Kyungsoo is close enough to see the movement in the dark. “Okay,” Kyungsoo shrugs and he’s starts to get up and leave when Jongin somehow manages to stop him, catching his arm and tugging him back. “Yes, Jongin? Do you want something?”

“Don’t leave.” Jongin whispers, barely audible. “Stay here with me.”

“Do you want something?” Kyungsoo asks again for what seems like the billionth time but instead of a response, Jongin does something else. A drunk Jongin is surprisingly a strong Jongin as he pulls Kyungsoo onto the bed next to him. Before he knows it, Jongin is snuggling closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist, and pressing lips to the nape of his neck.

“I want you,” Jongin whispers out and Kyungsoo can’t help but shiver at the feeling. He gulps. He doesn’t know what to say in this situation. What to do in this situation and whether or not Jongin means something with his words or if it’s just drunk Jongin speaking and it’s all just very confusing.

Jongin somehow falls asleep about five minutes later and Kyungsoo thinks that now’s the perfect time to escape, but Jongin’s tightened his grip on Kyungsoo and entangled their legs and it feels oddly nice to be cuddled like this. Kyungsoo decides that it’d be more trouble than it’s worth to get out and ends up falling asleep not too long after.

When Kyungsoo awakens, he finds himself underneath blankets that he was most definitely not under last night. Rolling around, he finds Jongin sitting up against the headboard, one of his hands massaging circles into his forehead as his eyes remain closed. He looks angry.

“‘s the hangover bad?” Kyungsoo asks quietly and his words have Jongin eyes snapping open, darting to look at the older. He looks terrified, Kyungsoo notes, but soon after, his mouth twists into a tiny smile.

“It’s a bitch.” He answers. “Why are you here, by the way?” Jongin asks and as soon as he says it, he feels the need to add on, “Not that that’s… bad. Just like. It’s weird. Waking up with you in my arms. Not that you’re the reason it’s weird. I suppose it’d be weird with anyone I mean I just--”

“I’m not the one hungover and yet I already feel a headache coming on.” Kyungsoo snaps before softening his tone, “You don’t remember dragging me into bed?”

Jongin sputters, “What?! I did that? Why didn’t you just get out of--” He stops himself, deciding to go with an apology instead. “Sorry.”

Kyungsoo shrugs but Jongin continues anyways, “And not just for that, but for also getting drunk. We were supposed to try out night driving last night too…”

“It’s not your fault. It was Sehun’s.” Kyungsoo says with a small smile. “I’m just surprised you have such a shit tolerance.”

At his words, Jongin reddens, “I don’t drink all that often. I don’t like to, at least.”

“So why’d you drink last night?”

“Sehun made me something and it tasted pretty good and he told me it wasn’t alcoholic so I kept drink and--” He cuts himself off with a groan, “I am so stupid to trust Sehun.”

Kyungsoo shrugs. “It happens to the best of us.”

“Wait.” Jongin says suddenly as his eyes fall on Kyungsoo’s bedside clock. “Is it already 8:00?”

Kyungsoo glances back before shaking his head. “That clock is about 9 minutes ahead but nearly. It’s nearly 8:00.”

And all of a sudden, Jongin’s scrambling up; It’s only when he’s forced himself out of bed that he winces, his hand going up to his head. “God, I hate hangovers.” He mutters under his breath.

“Do you have somewhere to be?” Kyungsoo asks inquisitively as he sits up.

“Yeah. My class is supposed to start at 8:00… The lady’s going to kill me…”

Kyungsoo nods before swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. “I got it. At least let me walk you out. I can get you some motrin too for your headache.” He beckons Jongin to follow him as he goes to the bathroom to find the pills. “Are you sure you’re in a good enough state to dance?” He asks, looking for the correct bottle.

“I’m always in a good enough state to dance.” Jongin returns.

“I suppose that’s true.” Kyungsoo shrugs as he grabs the bottle and pops open the cap. Lifting his gaze to Jongin he asks, “How many do you need?”

“All of them.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “I’ll give you two. And let me get you something to eat it with so you don’t get an ulcer.” This time he walks downstairs to the kitchen, Jongin following close behind, practically tripping on Kyungsoo's heels. Handing him a banana and a breakfast bar, Kyungsoo waves Jongin off. “Now go. Before you’re later than you already are.”

Jongin nods and he rushes to the front door to slip on his shoes. He’s about to leave before he stops, turning to Kyungsoo. “Thanks for taking me care of me.”

“Thanks for being an easy-to-care-for drunk and just falling asleep.” Kyungsoo replies and Jongin only grins before leaving the apartment.

/ / /

They try the whole night driving thing again about a week later, meeting up at Jongin's apartment instead so that there's no Sehun to get him drunk. The driving itself isn’t too bad; it’s really nothing different nor more difficult than driving at night. Especially since they’ve decided to go fairly late at night and are avoiding any particularly busy street, it’s actually pretty relaxing to be driving in the dark of the night.

“Most people don’t like to drive at night,” Jongin comments after he instructs Kyungsoo to take a turn at the intersection. “But you seem so much more comfortable in the dark. It’s surprising.”

Kyungsoo only shrugs because he really doesn’t know what to say to that.

They only end up looping around the area near Jongin’s apartment for the entirety of the two hours, not really venturing into any streets with traffic. At the end of their lesson, it’s approaching 1 am and Kyungsoo’s really not used to staying up so late. He can feel the heaviness of his eyelids but he tries his best to fend off the sleepiness as Jongin volunteers to take them home.

He tries to stay awake, he really does, but sometime on the drive home, the rich sound of Jongin’s voice lulls him to sleep.

It’s awhile before he wakes up again. The first thing he notices is that they’re stopped. The second is that they’re parked at a street and Jongin’s staring at him. “Hey,” Jongin says with a little wave, “Did you have a nice nap?”

"Why didn't you wake me?!" Kyungsoo practically squeaks, wiping at the drool around his mouth. Gross.

"I tried!" Jongin insists, "Multiple times! On the third time, I’m not sure if you were sleeptalking or something but you threatened to strangle me so I kinda gave up."

"Oh. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be.” Jongin says as a grin begins to pull at his mouth, “I'm getting paid by the hour."

“How long have I been sleeping?” He mumbles out as he stretches out his neck. He had fallen asleep at a weird angle and he’s totally regretting it now.

“An hour?” Jongin shrugs, “An hour and a half?”

“And have you just been here… watching me sleep?” Kyungsoo asks slowly and it’s dark but he swears that in the dim illumination of the streetlight, he can see some semblance of a blush colouring Jongin’s face.

“No.” Jongin answers quickly and he’s just as quick to change the topic. “So how about we get you home. It’s late.”

They don’t really speak as they go up the elevator. Not even as they enter the penthouse. Kyungsoo only silently motions for Jongin to wait as he goes to wake up Zitao.

The door to the bedroom is open about halfway but he still feels the need to knock. “Zitao?” He whispers out when there’s no response. He repeats again a bit louder and this time there’s actually the sound of groaning and shuffling out of the bed. As the figure comes out of the room, though, it's not actually Zitao like he expected. It's Sehun.

"Shut the fuck up." Sehun groans, running his hand through his hair. "What are you even doing?"

Kyungsoo blinks at Sehun but ultimately decides against asking the obvious question of "What are you doing here?" And instead opts to just ignore Sehun's pants-less state. "Wake up Zitao. I need him to pay Jongin."

"Why are you coming home so late?" Sehun asks as his lips curl into a smirk.

"Wake up Zitao. Get the money."

Sehun opens his mouth to say something more but he promptly closes it as he meets Kyungsoo's glare. "Hang on a second." He says and he holds up a finger before disappearing back into the room. He returns about a minute later but Zitao doesn’t seem to be any more awake.

“What? You’re gonna pay?” Kyungsoo says with as much sarcasm as he can muster upon Sehun’s return. He’s surprised when Sehun shrugs.

“Well I’m not going to wake him.” Sehun says before revealing what he’s been hiding from behind his back. It’s Zitao’s wallet in all its glittery glory.

“Why does Zitao trust you with his money and not me?” Kyungsoo has to comment but Sehun shrugs and just walks back down to the front door where Jongin is. Kyungsoo follows close behind.

Jongin looks just as confused when Sehun walks up to him. “No Zitao?” Slightly frowning, he asks and the question is more aimed at Kyungsoo, but Sehun cuts in instead.

“I’m paying you,” Sehun says, waving around Zitao’s wallet in front of Jongin’s face. “You should look a lot happier to see me.” Jongin shrugs and Sehun rolls his eyes, “So how much do we owe you?”

“Since when were you considered a part of ‘we’?” Kyungsoo snorts but he answers anyways. “Just the usual two hour session.”

Nodding, Sehun opens the wallet and begins to sift through the bills. Sidestepping closer to Kyungsoo, Jongin whispers, “Zitao trusts him with his money but not you?”

“Zitao trusts me with a lot of things!” Sehun interjects.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes but adds in as Sehun’s still plucking out the necessary money to pay Jongin “But wait, I fell asleep in his car too. So you should pay him for that extra hour and a half as well.”

“You don’t have to do that!” Jongin protests, waving his arms frantically.

“No, I insist!” Kyungsoo urges, “I’ve wasted your time.”

“I could have woken you! It’s not your fault; it was my own doing!”

“Jongin! It’s late and I--”

Sehun clears his throat, effectively cutting off conversation and gaining back the attention of the two of them. He then proceeds to give Kyungsoo possibly the most smug look ever. “Are you sure you're comfortable with paying him for sleeping with you?”

Kyungsoo’s tired. His brain is a bit sleep addled but that sure as hell does not go over his head.
“Give him the money.” He snips out before stalking off to his room.

/ / /

They have a couple more sessions during the day but there’s nothing really special until the eighteenth session. Although they had steadily grown closer with each fast food meal shared between them, the eighteenth marks the first time they actually upgrade to a legitimate restaurant.

They arrive at the restaurant after their session. It’s only about five minutes from the dance studio so Jongin says that he’s eaten there often. He also swears that they’re one of the best Korean barbecue places around.

“It’s a buffet?” Kyungsoo asks uncertainly as Jongin instructs him on where to turn.

“Yeah,” Jongin affirms, “But it’s more of a barbecue place. They just offer you infinite amount of meat.”

“That… That actually sounds pretty good,” Kyungsoo admits. As per Jongin’s instructions, he pulls into a parking spot along the street with practiced ease. “You sure you have the money for this?”

“Yeah. I think it’s high time we go somewhere that’s not a fast food restaurant.”

“Is this because I complained last time?” Kyungsoo asks, straightening out his parking so that his car isn’t obnoxiously poking out. “Because I was totally kidding. I’m cool with whatever so long as you’re paying.”

Jongin shrugs, peering out of the window to make sure Kyungsoo’s not about to go over the sidewalk, “I’m getting a little tired of burgers, anyways.”

When Jongin’s finally satisfied with the parking job, he leads them both out of the car to the restaurant across the street. Kyungsoo can already survey the place through the windows and it looks pretty nice. He can’t help but feel guilty about the dent he’s about to make in Jongin’s wallet. “You sure about this?” He repeats again, glancing up uncertainly at the younger.

"Yes yes. Stop worrying. Oh and by the way, I have to cancel tomorrow's night driving lesson." Jongin announces as soon as he opens the door for Kyungsoo. From the abruptness of his statement, it seems as if he had forgotten up until then. "I have a big test in Economics and I'm already kind of failing that class."

"No worries, I get it." Kyungsoo nods, ducking under Jongin’s outstretched arm to get into the restaurant. The place is pretty much empty, save for an elderly couple who are dining off to the side, so they’re told to sit wherever they’d like.

“This is such an improvement from the usual McDonald’s.” Kyungsoo muses as he randomly takes a seat at one of the tables. Jongin sits on the opposite side and doesn’t reply, instead turning toward their server and already placing their order in Korean. His pronunciation is smooth and natural and the words fall easily from his mouth and it just sounds so nice and Kyungsoo may or may not have a thing for guys who can speak another language.

“You’re fluent?” Kyungsoo asks as soon as the waitress walks away.

Jongin shrugs, “I don’t use it as much anymore but it comes in handy. How about you?”

“My parents spoke it a lot at home but they never actively made an effort to teach me until I was about 14. So I can understand it for the most part but I’m not so good at speaking.”

“So you could understand what I said?” Jongin asks just as the waitress comes back with the two waters that Jongin had ordered.

Kyungsoo nods, “Yes. And I happen to know that you ordered the cheapest thing off the menu. Your secret is out.”

“It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet.” Jongin insists, “So you’re still getting a lot of food. I’m not cheap, I swear!”

“I think we both know that that’s a lie.” Kyungsoo snorts, “But hey, I wasn’t complaining.”

The server comes back about a minute later, this time with a tray full of side dishes and the meat. As she sets down the individual dishes, she asks if Jongin knows how to use the grill and Jongin replies with a yes. He then says something that Kyungsoo doesn’t quite understand and the two burst out laughing. It must have been an inside joke.

As soon as the grill is running, Jongin begins to spread the pieces of meat onto the sizzling stove top. “So I was thinking of confessing to the guy soon.” Jongin brings up when he’s in the middle of arranging the meat. “What do you think?”

“Why do you always ask for relationship advice while we’re eating?” Kyungsoo asks as he breaks apart his wooden chopsticks.

“Why are we always eating is the real question.” Jongin points out.

“You’re the one that’s always redirecting us to a restaurant.” Kyungsoo answers. “I mean you’re the one who brought us here.”

“True,” Jongin nods. He takes the opportunity to pick at some of the side dishes and shove some kimchi into his mouth, “Okay, how about next time, I’ll take you someplace else.”

“I’m totally cool with you treating me to food..” Kyungsoo says, grinning as he munches on a biteful of bean sprouts. “Especially a place like this.” At Jongin’s expectant look, though, Kyungsoo answers his question with “Why now, though?”

“Why confess now?” Jongin echoes but he keeps a close eye on the meat on the grill. “I don’t know. I feel like now would be a good time?”

Kyungsoo throws back a question: “Has anything changed between now and back then? Like has he started like… I don’t know. Showing signs?”

Jongin chokes on a laugh at Kyungsoo’s wording. “Showing signs? What is he, pregnant?” He stops when he sees Kyungsoo’s gaze narrow. “Okay. Well. Uhm. Kind of?” Kyungsoo’s instigating gaze eggs him on. “Okay. Well. No. But I swear! I feel like now would be good!”

“But if he hasn’t really changed, hasn’t realized your feelings… Is it really a smart idea to just spring this on him?” Kyungsoo says, fiddling with his chopsticks. “I mean you said you value your friendship. I think it’s a little sudden to just go and confess.”

“But isn’t it worse to wait?” Jongin prompts, “I mean isn’t it better to get him thinking of me as a potential boyfriend, not just a friend?”

“I don’t know.” Kyungsoo admits, “I’m not exactly an expert on relationships and you don’t have to take my advice but if it were me, I would feel a little taken aback if my close friend just suddenly dropped all of that on me. It’s quite a lot to take in and there’s no way that nothing will change. This is pretty big and I think that it needs to be perfectly timed.”

“So don’t confess?” Jongin asks looking significantly less enthused than he had just seconds ago.

“So don’t confess. Better safe than sorry?” Kyungsoo offers and Jongin only returns with a grimace.

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