LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES...CHAPTER 18.2/???
Title: Love Knows No Boundaries
Author tikibuddy91
Characters: EXO (Kyungsoo and Jongin)
Word Count: 4800 out of 10000
Rating: PG-13
Summary: College students. Blind, Deaf, and Mute. Their lives deal with the ups and downs, like a roller coaster. They find relationships, and companionships. Life does not always have a happy ending, but they can try to get their own.
Author Note: Kyungsoo and Jongin go on a date. :3
Sign Language Guide
Families
Chapter 17 Part 1 Chapter 17 Part 2 Chapter 17 Part 3 Chapter 18 Part 1 |
Half past noon, Kyungsoo gets out of the bathroom, having freshly showered and wearing casual attire for the rest of the day. He is wearing a white graphic tee shirt with an unbuttoned tan plaid long-sleeved shirt over, and denim jeans. Putting on his hearing aids, he is about to leave the room when he hears his cell phone vibrating. He looks to his desk and retrieves his cell phone, glancing at the caller ID that happens to be Jongin, flipping it open.
From: Kim Jongin
To: Park Kyungsoo
Kyungsoo-hyunngggg~ Good afternoon! ^_^; I’ll come by your place around 1PM, and we’ll go to this cool place near the Han River Park. They have some arcades and a movie theater.
“Kyunggie-yah!”
“Here, hyung!”
“No, come here!”
“Oh, okay!”
Kyungsoo replies to Jongin’s text quickly with an “Ok, sounds good :)” and, pocketing his cell phone, goes to Jonghyun’s bedroom via their shared bathroom to see Jonghyun standing there half-naked in his dark blue denim jeans.
“Uhhh…hyung? Why’re you…?”
“I can’t decide which shirt to wear,” Jonghyun points to his bed. Kyungsoo looks at the bed, and he sees four shirts laid out. There is a long-sleeved blue shirt, a white v-neck shirt with black netting on top, a casual black shirt that has some kind of enlarged version of a laundry tag with symbols and words, and then a green long-sleeved shirt with some buttons at the top.
“Uhh…and this is for…?”
“My date with Kibum! I wanna surprise him, but I don’t know which shirt to wear. I tried to ask Baekhyun, but Baekhyun already left to hang out with Chanyeol and Youngjae.”
“Oh, ok, hyung. Uhh…” Kyungsoo looks out the window, and notice that the sky is clearing up from a gloomy morning. He looks back at Jonghyun’s bed, and picks the green long-sleeved shirt. “That one looks fine, just wear a light jacket over it. Dark or white, it doesn’t ma…actually dark would be fine.”
Jonghyun walks to his bed and puts on the shirt Kyungsoo selected before going over to Kyungsoo, giving him a hug. “Thank you, Kyungsoo-yah~” Jonghyun pecks Kyungsoo on the forehead while patting his head. “Now I’m gonna be gone until around 8PM, so don’t wait up for me. When is Jongin coming by?”
“He said he’d come by around 1PM.” Kyungsoo answers. Jonghyun nods and says, “Alright, you two are just gonna be hanging out and watching a movie?” Kyungsoo nods. “Really? You sure he’s not asking you for a date?”
That makes Kyungsoo stares at Jonghyun with a blank expression. “It’s just a movie. And a dinner. There’s nothing romantic about that that screams ‘I’M HAVING A DATE WITH KIM JONGIN’, hyung…”
Jonghyun makes an “eehh” sound. “Well, you never know~ I took Kibum to the movies a while back after we got to know each other more, and I confessed to him afterwards. We both knew it was a date.” Jonghyun winks at him, “I’ve seen both of your Romeos, you’re gonna have a hard decision, but remember, life is full of chances; take it lightly!~”
Kyungsoo shakes his head amusedly. Jonghyun has used that quote one too many times, but he knows Jonghyun is right with that quote. Life is too exciting to be serious; it is also too unexpected to be expected. Experimentation and exploration make life more appreciated.
There is a knock on the door and Jonghyun goes to get it. Kyungsoo follows him out of his bedroom and sees Jongin waiting for him outside the door. Jongin is wearing a navy blue v-necked shirt with khaki pants, his autumn jacket draped over his left arm. Kyungsoo realizes how handsome Jongin looks, and he starts to wonder to himself, Is this going to be a date? He looks down at his clothes and thinks to himself, Well, this is a pretty casual hang out…so…these clothes should be fine.
“Kyungsoo-yah, get out of here!” Jonghyun smiles at his brother. “Go have fun with Jongin-ah. I’ll be on my way out soon to surprise Kibum. Come on!”
“Wait, lemme get my wallet, hyung.” Kyungsoo rushes to his bedroom to get his wallet before putting on his shoes at the entry door.
“You look really stylish, Kyungsoo-hyung~” Kyungsoo is tying his shoes when he hears Jongin’s bold yet filled with aegyo comment, and he feels his heart melting as he looks up, smiling. He is not the only one, as Jonghyun coos at Jongin, “Aigoo, you’re cute. You and Taemin almost look alike, I swear…but you two are still cute.” He ruffles Jongin’s hair.
“Hyung! Not my hair…” Jongin whines and Jonghyun gives him a pointed look. His hair is styled messily, but swept to his right side
Kyungsoo stands up and waves to Jonghyun, “We’ll be off now. I’ll text you when I’m back home. Baekhyun should be home later tonight, he told me earlier this morning, but I don’t know if he’ll be home before or after I get home. Have fun with Kibum-hyung!” Jongin bows to Jonghyun before waving as he joins Kyungsoo.
Once outside the apartment building, Kyungsoo and Jongin look at each other in a moment of awkward silence.
“Uhhmm…”
“Ermm…”
The two of them chuckle at their simultaneous lines of hesitation, before Jongin lets Kyungsoo talk.
“So…what do you have in mind, Jongin-ah?”
“Oh, do you wanna watch a movie first? Grab some popcorn? We can grab a small lunch at the movies before we go watch one, if we’re gonna have dinner later.”
“Sure,” Kyungsoo nods
Jongin imitates Kyungsoo’s actions. “Let’s walk to the movie theater nearby. See what's good to watch.”
When the duo arrives at the movie theater, they grab a salad and some sandwiches to dine and share, before they head to the one of the theater booths
“Hyung, why don’t you go ahead and pick which one you want to watch? I’ll pay for the tickets.”
Kyungsoo looks at his friend in disbelief, about to take out his wallet before putting it back into his pocket. “But…I’m the hyung. I should pay.”
“I’m the one taking you out, remember?”
“…” Kyungsoo stares at his friend, and he wonders if this is going to lead somewhere. But he shoves that thought to the back of his mind and turns around to look at the movie poster displays located around on walls of the cinema, posters of animated movies, graphic movies and more. He bites his lip in thought, Which one should we watch?
“What movie to watch…what movie should we watch…” Kyungsoo mutters to himself, staring at the poster of five people standing in formation. One has a green body build and is the biggest of them all. Kyungsoo cocks his eyebrow, shaking his head. His eyes continue to jump from poster to poster, often finding himself drawn to a simple poster nearby him. He reads the poster’s title.
‘The Dark Knight Rises’. Hmm…
Kyungsoo bites his bottom lip in thought, staring at the dark poster with the silver Batman symbol against a black background. It looks so mysterious…I wanna find out more about this movie, Kyungsoo thinks to himself.
“Shall we find out for ourselves then? Two tickets for the ’The Dark Knight Rises’, hyung?” Kyungsoo hears Jongin says. His head whips around to see Jongin staring back at him with a gentle smile.
“Er…” Kyungsoo glances back at the poster. Did I just voice that out loud? The inner Kyungsoo says. “Yeah, sounds good,” Kyungsoo nods.
After Jongin has paid and they have walked into one of the many theaters in the building, Jongin, being a gentleman, lets his friend enter the theater booth first. Kyungsoo gives Jongin a curious stare but he takes it to be a simple polite respect towards the elders.
The theater room is one of the several largest rooms in the building, and they are lucky to get good movie viewing seats, considering that there were quite a huge amount of people watching the movie as well. They take their seats in the center, with the big movie screen at their eye level.
When the movie starts with an airplane hijack scene by a villain and several of his minions, Kyungsoo anticipates to hear some dialogue, but he gets shocked when he hears the villain talks.
Wha…that’s an awfully raspy voice…oh…I don’t think that mask will be taken off at any point of the movie. Kyungsoo stares at the villain, his shoulders sagging a bit. The raspy voice continues to talk and Kyungsoo is slowly starting to lose interest, a little annoyed that he cannot read the man’s lips nor can he understand a single bit of the dubbed sounds. Suddenly Kyungsoo jumps in his seat when there are explosions and screams in the movie as the plane is falling apart and the villain and his minions are getting away. Once everything has quieted down and the audience then sees a wake held for a man, Kyungsoo winces when he hears a loud ringing in his left ear. Oh, not again…argh..owoW OW...OWTHATREALLYHURTS.
The high-pitched ringing gets louder and louder, lasting about eight seconds. Kyungsoo is pressing his hand against his ear, trying to block out the sound, his eyes closed and his face scrunching in pain. His body slowly recoils, moving away from the armrest on his left. Having experienced tinnitus often in his lifetime, he waits until it finally subsides
Kyungsoo takes a deep breath, opening his eyes, and continues to watch the movie when Jongin taps his arm with his other hand, as their elbows are laying on the shared armrest.
“Hyung, are you okay? You looked like you were in pain…” Jongin whispers. Both guys are in the dark, but the light from the movie scene illuminates their faces slightly and Kyungsoo is left confused at what he hears, it is all a mumble of whispered sounds and soft hisses of air. Crap, I can’t read Jongin’s lips…it’s too dark in here…
Kyungsoo is left with his mouth slightly open, unsure of what to reply back to what he heard. “Uh…mm…” Uncertainty must have shown on Kyungsoo’s face, and Jongin somehow understood that Kyungsoo did not understand a word he had said, because Jongin then moves closer and whispers in his friend’s ear the same thing he said earlier, adding a simple touch of his hand on Kyungsoo’s forearm.
Kyungsoo does not deny that the distance between them is almost nonexistent as he can feel Jongin’s cheek lightly brushing against his cheek. As luck would have it, there are sudden loud chatters from the movie as Jongin whispers, and Kyungsoo misses out once again. He glances down at where his friend is resting his hand on his arm. When Jongin pulls back, Kyungsoo looks back up and realizes that he still did not hear what Jongin had said, partially due to the softness of Jongin’s whispers in contrast to the movie’s loud effects.
Kyungsoo can see Jongin raising his eyebrows with a soft smile, his facial expression displaying concern, thanks to the movie scene getting a bit brighter. Kyungsoo only guesses that Jongin is asking about his ear condition. Smiling at his friend’s genuineness, he nods before leaning closer to whisper in Jongin’s ear
“It’s just tinnitus, it happens every now and then when I hear loud sounds, especially when the noises die down. Don’t worry too much about me, Jongin-ah. I’m fine.” Kyungsoo pats Jongin’s arm with his other hand. Jongin nods in understanding before they pull away and lean back on their seats, watching the movie. Jongin notices that Kyungsoo has not retracted his hand from his arm.
Whenever the villain in the movie, ‘Bane’ as he is called, talks, Kyungsoo finds himself losing interest before it gets picked back up when there are intense fights or dramatic story scenes. He hates it when he cannot read lips, especially when the mouths are covered; and that he cannot make out any distinct sounds from distorted voices. Strangely, it seems to be more of his concern than anything else in the movie, even when the camera is filming from behind a person as the said person is speaking. He feels his attention dwindling here and there, and just when he thinks the movie is about to end, there is a sinking feeling in his chest when a new scene appears.
…How much longer?...
Unaware to Kyungsoo’s eyes, Jongin has been often checking on him, noticing how fidgety Kyungsoo was in his seat, how his face obviously shows disinterest with a scowl, a look of confusion or a furrow of eyebrows, and how his subtle sighs are audible enough for Jongin to hear. It is with a pang of guilt that he realizes that his friend is not like him, that he is a deaf person, as Kyungsoo calls himself. Glancing at the movie, his mind clicks as to why Kyungsoo is acting this way. Not sure of how to approach his older friend with that issue, he settles for asking him later. Right now, there is a movie to watch, and might as well just focus on that for now, Jongin thinks.
“Well…that was a pretty good movie, for the most part,” Jongin comments to Kyungsoo as they join the audience filing out after the movie ended. Slowly nodding, Kyungsoo lets out an “mm-hmm”, averting his eyes for a brief moment before looking at Jongin. He hopes that Jongin does not catch that he was a bit uninterested with the movie story plot, though the graphics were nice to look at. He feels bad that it has led to this point, an awkward silent conversation between two friends in the middle of the cinema building.
“Did you like any parts of the movie, hyung?”
Kyungsoo’s eyes focus on Jongin, and his mind goes blank as he is left stammering. “Uh…er…well…um…I…liked the…scene with the hole…w-where Bruce is trying to…um…climb to the top along the walls, and everyone’s watching him…you know, trying to succeed.” Kyungsoo breaks the eye contact.
“Ahh, I know what you’re talking about,” Jongin nods, before he starts walking, hoping that Kyungsoo gets the signal to start walking too. “I like that part too, especially with the flashbacks.”
“Although I’m not too sure what the little boy has to do with him,” Kyungsoo mutters as he walks next to Jongin. Jongin hears it and dares himself to ask.
“Hyung, were you…able to hear the movie?”
Kyungsoo stops in his tracks, staring at Jongin. Chuckling weakly, he averts his eyes. “Jongin-ah, wh…what do you mean? Yes, I was able to hear the movie. I have hearing aids, you know.”
Jongin facepalms at his own stupidity. “No, I meant…were you…able to understand it? There were scenes when I noticed lip-reading was impossible for you when the camera’s behind the person speaking, and when there are voice-overs, and when there’s annoying raspy voi-“
“Jongin-ah.”
Jongin stops his rambling, looking at his friend, who is staring back at him with a curious look on his face, his head tilted slightly.
“I enjoyed the movie, regardless if I was not able to grasp the dialogues. Sometimes the things in movies that come out of this” - Kyungsoo lifts his hand to mimic mouth talking - “don’t matter to me, I can ignore it and focus on the details of the scenes and the graphic effects
“Although yes, it does bother me a bit that I cannot be able to understand every single thing that is going on in the movie, and how this lead to that, in terms of speech…” Kyungsoo explains, “but that’s life. We’re smart people. We can figure out what happened if we look around. I appreciate your concern, Jongin-ah, I really do.” Kyungsoo pats Jongin’s shoulder with his hand. “But I’m the hyung here. No need to worry about it. At least we…sort of enjoyed the movie, hmm?”
Jongin bites his lip, feeling a bit ashamed before he nods. Kyungsoo gives him a smile, and Jongin does not realizes how stiff his posture was while Kyungsoo was whispering to him. His body slackens as Jongin sighs internally in relief, I almost messed up…
“Shall we go to the park, then, hyung?”
- - -
Jongin takes Kyungsoo to the Han River Park where they spend the rest of the afternoon walking around, and fooling around at the playgrounds. Kyungsoo admires how playful Jongin can be, despite his cocky, bold personality at school. He can see how Jongin has been very caring, and it slightly bothers Kyungsoo. Jonghyun’s voice is nagging in his head, chanting, “it’s a date, it’s a date, it’s a date.&rdquo
Meanwhile, Jongin admires how much fun and wonderful it has been hanging out with his friend that day, even if Kyungsoo often showed a mature side at campus. They finally sit on a bench near the Han River, exhausted from playing around. Jongin lays his jacket next to him, and both of them just stare out to the Han River. Kyungsoo notices how serious the atmosphere has become.
“Hyung?”
Kyungsoo looks at Jongin, slightly raising his eyebrows in a wide-eyed expectant look. Jongin takes a deep breath.
“I…had fun today,” Jongin is surprised at how the words came out of his mouth so easily, these are not the words he wanted to say. But Kyungsoo smiles and raises his hand to pick away lint and a few leaves from the back of Jongin’s shirt.
“Me too, Jongin-ah…me too. I’m glad we had a break to relax and have fun.”
Jongin looks over his back to see what Kyungsoo was picking at but Kyungsoo is already patting his shoulder, dusting it off. His mind gets distracted from the contact.
“W-w-wait, hyung”- Kyungsoo looks up to Jongin’s eyes before moving down to read Jongin’s lips - “that's not what I’m trying to say, although I did have fun. What I meant to say…i-is…” Jongin stutters, feeling butterflies in his stomach with the way he is trembling.
Kyungsoo stares at Jongin in concern, “Jongin-ah, are you okay?” He lowers his hand to pat one of Jongin’s thighs; he can feel it trembling slightly. He looks down to Jongin’s thigh and then back up at Jongin’s eyes.
Jongin takes a deep breath, “F-Fine. Yeah, I’m fine. Hyung, what I’ve been meaning to tell you is th-th-that…” Jongin’s throat does an involuntary hitch and he is left tripping over his words. However, Kyungsoo is patiently watching him, waiting for him to go on. Jongin feels a gentle squeeze on his thigh as he bites his lip to stop himself from moaning at the pleasuring sensation of his hyung’s hand so close to his private zone. Jongin glances at Kyungsoo and sees no dirty intention in his eyes, but only pure concern.
How is it that I get like this when Kyungsoo-hyung touches me, but when I touch him, I feel bold and daring? This does not make any sense. Jongin thinks to himself. And how is it that Kyungsoo is oblivious to what he is doing to me?
“Hyung…I like you,” Jongin blurts out without control, staring Kyungsoo in the eyes. Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he stares back.
ldquo;I like you too?...”
“Wha…really? No wait, not like that, hyung. I like you. As in, I really really like like you.” Jongin gulps as he holds his fierce gaze with Kyungsoo. “A lot.”
Jongin can see Kyungsoo’s eyes wavering, searching for honesty behind these words. He notices that Kyungsoo looks downward to where Kyungsoo’s hand is placed on his thigh.
“O-oh…was this all a date?” Kyungsoo lifts his hand from Jongin’s thigh. Jongin would be lying if he said he was not disappointed at the loss of contact. Jongin bites his lip.
“More or less, but it was a casual date, hyung…”
“And you like me…”
Jongin sighs deeply, mustering up the courage to be assertive. “Yes, hyung, I do. I know you treat me as a dongsaeng, but I want you to treat me more than that, hyung. I want you to treat me like a lover, a companion. I’m not asking for attention or anything. Ever since I first met you, I’ve been trying to control my urges to hold your hand, to kiss you, ‘cause you’re just so freaking adorable, hyung
“I’ve been trying to make you see me as someone just for you, but you only saw me as a dongsaeng. I love that you did not hesitate to show your concern with me, and with other people. I want you to see me in a different light, Kyungsoo-hyung…I feel like every time I’m with you, it’s always an adventure, learning more about you as I fall into your world.”
Kyungsoo stares at Jongin, blown away by that confession, feeling overwhelmed. He blinks at Jongin, his mouth trying to form sounds.
“I…” Kyungsoo falters. “I…” He looks away, staring at the river.
Jongin deflates a bit as he sees Kyungsoo looking unsure of what to say. He braces for the seven dreadful words, I don’t like you in that way.
“I’m sorry…Jongin-ah…this is all so…sudden. Can you…give me some time to think about it?” Kyungsoo says.
Jongin’s ears perk up at the change of direction. Maybe there is hope for me, Jongin thinks. “O-okay, hyung,” he smiles. “I can do that. We’ll be okay, right?” He cannot help himself to bring up that question. Kyungsoo nods with a smile, “Of course. You’re still Jonginnie to me; to be honest, I like that I get to be called “hyung” for once.&rdquo
Kyungsoo looks down at Jongin’s hand, and makes a move to hold it, surprising Jongin. “This is okay for me, for now. You can cross that off your list. I don’t mind if you want to hold hands with me. The kissing will have to wait after I’ve given this some thought, okay?” Jongin nods. “Okay, come on, it’s getting dark. Let’s go eat dinner, shall we?”
The two head to dine at an Italian restaurant. Kyungsoo has spicy lasagna with a small salad, while Jongin has spaghetti with chopped prosciutto, basil, parmesan cheese, and meatballs. Their conversation revolves around getting to know more about each other, their habits and hobbies, their skills and life philosophies.
After they have eaten their dinner and dessert, they continue to talk for a while. There is such a natural ease of discussion between the two of them
“Oh, how’s the project coming along? Did we decided to meet sometime soon or something like that?”
“Ah, yeah, Daehyun and I thought about working on it tomorrow on our own, but we might meet up at his place. Will you be able to make it?”
“I might…it depends on Kibum-hyung. We might go shopping for the café necessities, but I’ll let you know if I can make it to Daehyun-hyung’s place; just text me the address, and Kibum-hyung can take me there. I have some more notes already covered on Mount Halla to share with you two.”
“That’s good; don’t worry if you can’t make it. We’re still in the researching process right now but we’ll be taking out some notes for the presentation. We’ll leave some space for your own research too. Later on, we will meet together to work on writing that research paper as well as creating the presentation display. We don’t know if we’ll do PowerPoint or just a poster board, though I think PowerPoint seems effective.”
“Yeah, PowerPoint seems like a better idea,” Jongin nods. “But yeah, hyung, just let me know when is the next time we can meet.”
When the bill comes, Jongin insists to pay for both of them with his debit card, despite Kyungsoo’s protests. Having done so, they wait for the waiter to return with the receipt. While waiting, the discussion jumps from their school project to their residences, as Kyungsoo tells Jongin that he has noticed few weeks ago that Jongin’s house was gated inside with few other houses. Jongin then describes his house as a medium-sized modern styled residence, and gives Kyungsoo a written tour, drawing the two floor layouts on a napkin with a pen that came with the bill case
“So yeah, our uncle decided to install a dance room inside our house, with mirrors, and it also helps Kibum-hyung with his fashion mindset. It may seem funny that we have the dance room next to the library, but Uncle placed a really thick soundproofing wall in-between. I should have you come over sometime, what do you think?”
Kyungsoo looks at Jongin’s slightly messy drawing on a paper napkin that shows the layout of the house. He can easily picture the house in 3D just by looking at the layouts. Nodding in approval, he looks to Jongin and replies, “Yeah, I would love to see your house! It looks really cool, something we don’t see in typical houses.”
The waiter comes in and hands Jongin back his debit card. They thank the waiter and take their leave, before the waiter cleans up their table.
- - -
Jongin and Kyungsoo are walking hand-in-hand, admiring the evening sky. Kyungsoo feels a little shiver run through his body due to the chilly breeze, and Jongin gently squeezes his hand, before letting go and lifting his arm to drape it around Kyungsoo’s shoulders and pull him gently closer to him.
Kyungsoo blinks at the gesture and looks up at Jongin with his wide eyes as they continue to walk. He can feel Jongin’s body heat emitting from the contact, and he would be lying if he said he did not like it. Jongin shrugs with a small smile. “You seemed a bit cold, so I’m just giving you a bit of warmth here. Even though you’re wearing a shirt and a long-sleeved shirt on top of it, you still seem a bit cold.”
There is a light tint of pink on Kyungsoo’s cheeks as Kyungsoo looks away and smiles, uttering a soft “thank you”. He becomes self-conscious about his height; realizing how tall Jongin is compared to him.
When Kyungsoo and Jongin finally arrive at Kyungsoo’s apartment building, they instantly look over across the street to see Jongin’s house and a few others peeking out from above the wooden gate that stretches about six meters long, with one set of double doors in the middle of the gate.
It takes a few seconds for Kyungsoo to realize that he has been staring at the wooden gates, oblivious to Jongin calling his name softly. Jongin had shifted his attention to his hyung earlier with a slightly amused look on his face. Kyungsoo is shaken out of his thoughts when Jongin gives a light peck on the cheek, still having his arm over Kyungsoo’s shoulders. Kyungsoo’s hand instantly shoots up to touch where Jongin’s lips made contact with his skin.
Kyungsoo stares at Jongin in wonderment. “D…did you jus…Did you just kiss me?”
Jongin is biting his bottom lip, a grin itching to show as the corners of his lips twitch upwards. He lifts his draped arm to rake his hand through Kyungsoo’s hair and replies calmingly, “Maybe, maybe not. I gave you a peck on the cheek, to be exact.”
Lazy raking of Jongin’s hands through Kyungsoo’s hair…
Goosebumps on Kyungsoo’s arms and neck, and a shudder runs through his body once more…
Kyungsoo closes his eyes at the sheer sensation of his head being petted, shivering a bit. He gives a content sigh, slightly cursing his head for being sensitive to the touch. He automatically leans closer to Jongin’s hand before realizing what he is doing, snapping his eyes open.
“J-Jong…Jongin…ah, s-stop. M-my head.” Kyungsoo feels Jongin’s hand withdraw quickly from his shoulder, and blinking, he notices Jongin looks a bit guilty, as if there is something in Kyungsoo’s head that he was not supposed to touch but he did anyway.
“It’s nothing wrong, it’s just…my head is a bit sensitive to the touch.” Kyungsoo softly chuckles, giving some cheeriness into Jongin’s mood. “Anyway, that was quite a move you did. Giving me a peck on the cheek, I would’ve bolted away if I knew that was coming. But,” Kyungsoo says as his hand looks for Jongin’s hand, and finally holding it, “…I liked it.”
Kyungsoo sees Jongin’s eyes flickering between his eyes, searching for any denial. Jongin starts to smile when Kyungsoo gives a gentle squeeze and leans closer to peck Jongin on the cheek, shocking him.
“That makes two of us.”
Author tikibuddy91
Characters: EXO (Kyungsoo and Jongin)
Word Count: 4800 out of 10000
Rating: PG-13
Summary: College students. Blind, Deaf, and Mute. Their lives deal with the ups and downs, like a roller coaster. They find relationships, and companionships. Life does not always have a happy ending, but they can try to get their own.
Author Note: Kyungsoo and Jongin go on a date. :3
Sign Language Guide
Families
Chapter 17 Part 1 Chapter 17 Part 2 Chapter 17 Part 3 Chapter 18 Part 1 |
Half past noon, Kyungsoo gets out of the bathroom, having freshly showered and wearing casual attire for the rest of the day. He is wearing a white graphic tee shirt with an unbuttoned tan plaid long-sleeved shirt over, and denim jeans. Putting on his hearing aids, he is about to leave the room when he hears his cell phone vibrating. He looks to his desk and retrieves his cell phone, glancing at the caller ID that happens to be Jongin, flipping it open.
From: Kim Jongin
To: Park Kyungsoo
Kyungsoo-hyunngggg~ Good afternoon! ^_^; I’ll come by your place around 1PM, and we’ll go to this cool place near the Han River Park. They have some arcades and a movie theater.
“Kyunggie-yah!”
“Here, hyung!”
“No, come here!”
“Oh, okay!”
Kyungsoo replies to Jongin’s text quickly with an “Ok, sounds good :)” and, pocketing his cell phone, goes to Jonghyun’s bedroom via their shared bathroom to see Jonghyun standing there half-naked in his dark blue denim jeans.
“Uhhh…hyung? Why’re you…?”
“I can’t decide which shirt to wear,” Jonghyun points to his bed. Kyungsoo looks at the bed, and he sees four shirts laid out. There is a long-sleeved blue shirt, a white v-neck shirt with black netting on top, a casual black shirt that has some kind of enlarged version of a laundry tag with symbols and words, and then a green long-sleeved shirt with some buttons at the top.
“Uhh…and this is for…?”
“My date with Kibum! I wanna surprise him, but I don’t know which shirt to wear. I tried to ask Baekhyun, but Baekhyun already left to hang out with Chanyeol and Youngjae.”
“Oh, ok, hyung. Uhh…” Kyungsoo looks out the window, and notice that the sky is clearing up from a gloomy morning. He looks back at Jonghyun’s bed, and picks the green long-sleeved shirt. “That one looks fine, just wear a light jacket over it. Dark or white, it doesn’t ma…actually dark would be fine.”
Jonghyun walks to his bed and puts on the shirt Kyungsoo selected before going over to Kyungsoo, giving him a hug. “Thank you, Kyungsoo-yah~” Jonghyun pecks Kyungsoo on the forehead while patting his head. “Now I’m gonna be gone until around 8PM, so don’t wait up for me. When is Jongin coming by?”
“He said he’d come by around 1PM.” Kyungsoo answers. Jonghyun nods and says, “Alright, you two are just gonna be hanging out and watching a movie?” Kyungsoo nods. “Really? You sure he’s not asking you for a date?”
That makes Kyungsoo stares at Jonghyun with a blank expression. “It’s just a movie. And a dinner. There’s nothing romantic about that that screams ‘I’M HAVING A DATE WITH KIM JONGIN’, hyung…”
Jonghyun makes an “eehh” sound. “Well, you never know~ I took Kibum to the movies a while back after we got to know each other more, and I confessed to him afterwards. We both knew it was a date.” Jonghyun winks at him, “I’ve seen both of your Romeos, you’re gonna have a hard decision, but remember, life is full of chances; take it lightly!~”
Kyungsoo shakes his head amusedly. Jonghyun has used that quote one too many times, but he knows Jonghyun is right with that quote. Life is too exciting to be serious; it is also too unexpected to be expected. Experimentation and exploration make life more appreciated.
There is a knock on the door and Jonghyun goes to get it. Kyungsoo follows him out of his bedroom and sees Jongin waiting for him outside the door. Jongin is wearing a navy blue v-necked shirt with khaki pants, his autumn jacket draped over his left arm. Kyungsoo realizes how handsome Jongin looks, and he starts to wonder to himself, Is this going to be a date? He looks down at his clothes and thinks to himself, Well, this is a pretty casual hang out…so…these clothes should be fine.
“Kyungsoo-yah, get out of here!” Jonghyun smiles at his brother. “Go have fun with Jongin-ah. I’ll be on my way out soon to surprise Kibum. Come on!”
“Wait, lemme get my wallet, hyung.” Kyungsoo rushes to his bedroom to get his wallet before putting on his shoes at the entry door.
“You look really stylish, Kyungsoo-hyung~” Kyungsoo is tying his shoes when he hears Jongin’s bold yet filled with aegyo comment, and he feels his heart melting as he looks up, smiling. He is not the only one, as Jonghyun coos at Jongin, “Aigoo, you’re cute. You and Taemin almost look alike, I swear…but you two are still cute.” He ruffles Jongin’s hair.
“Hyung! Not my hair…” Jongin whines and Jonghyun gives him a pointed look. His hair is styled messily, but swept to his right side
Kyungsoo stands up and waves to Jonghyun, “We’ll be off now. I’ll text you when I’m back home. Baekhyun should be home later tonight, he told me earlier this morning, but I don’t know if he’ll be home before or after I get home. Have fun with Kibum-hyung!” Jongin bows to Jonghyun before waving as he joins Kyungsoo.
Once outside the apartment building, Kyungsoo and Jongin look at each other in a moment of awkward silence.
“Uhhmm…”
“Ermm…”
The two of them chuckle at their simultaneous lines of hesitation, before Jongin lets Kyungsoo talk.
“So…what do you have in mind, Jongin-ah?”
“Oh, do you wanna watch a movie first? Grab some popcorn? We can grab a small lunch at the movies before we go watch one, if we’re gonna have dinner later.”
“Sure,” Kyungsoo nods
Jongin imitates Kyungsoo’s actions. “Let’s walk to the movie theater nearby. See what's good to watch.”
When the duo arrives at the movie theater, they grab a salad and some sandwiches to dine and share, before they head to the one of the theater booths
“Hyung, why don’t you go ahead and pick which one you want to watch? I’ll pay for the tickets.”
Kyungsoo looks at his friend in disbelief, about to take out his wallet before putting it back into his pocket. “But…I’m the hyung. I should pay.”
“I’m the one taking you out, remember?”
“…” Kyungsoo stares at his friend, and he wonders if this is going to lead somewhere. But he shoves that thought to the back of his mind and turns around to look at the movie poster displays located around on walls of the cinema, posters of animated movies, graphic movies and more. He bites his lip in thought, Which one should we watch?
“What movie to watch…what movie should we watch…” Kyungsoo mutters to himself, staring at the poster of five people standing in formation. One has a green body build and is the biggest of them all. Kyungsoo cocks his eyebrow, shaking his head. His eyes continue to jump from poster to poster, often finding himself drawn to a simple poster nearby him. He reads the poster’s title.
‘The Dark Knight Rises’. Hmm…
Kyungsoo bites his bottom lip in thought, staring at the dark poster with the silver Batman symbol against a black background. It looks so mysterious…I wanna find out more about this movie, Kyungsoo thinks to himself.
“Shall we find out for ourselves then? Two tickets for the ’The Dark Knight Rises’, hyung?” Kyungsoo hears Jongin says. His head whips around to see Jongin staring back at him with a gentle smile.
“Er…” Kyungsoo glances back at the poster. Did I just voice that out loud? The inner Kyungsoo says. “Yeah, sounds good,” Kyungsoo nods.
After Jongin has paid and they have walked into one of the many theaters in the building, Jongin, being a gentleman, lets his friend enter the theater booth first. Kyungsoo gives Jongin a curious stare but he takes it to be a simple polite respect towards the elders.
The theater room is one of the several largest rooms in the building, and they are lucky to get good movie viewing seats, considering that there were quite a huge amount of people watching the movie as well. They take their seats in the center, with the big movie screen at their eye level.
When the movie starts with an airplane hijack scene by a villain and several of his minions, Kyungsoo anticipates to hear some dialogue, but he gets shocked when he hears the villain talks.
Wha…that’s an awfully raspy voice…oh…I don’t think that mask will be taken off at any point of the movie. Kyungsoo stares at the villain, his shoulders sagging a bit. The raspy voice continues to talk and Kyungsoo is slowly starting to lose interest, a little annoyed that he cannot read the man’s lips nor can he understand a single bit of the dubbed sounds. Suddenly Kyungsoo jumps in his seat when there are explosions and screams in the movie as the plane is falling apart and the villain and his minions are getting away. Once everything has quieted down and the audience then sees a wake held for a man, Kyungsoo winces when he hears a loud ringing in his left ear. Oh, not again…argh..owoW OW...OWTHATREALLYHURTS.
The high-pitched ringing gets louder and louder, lasting about eight seconds. Kyungsoo is pressing his hand against his ear, trying to block out the sound, his eyes closed and his face scrunching in pain. His body slowly recoils, moving away from the armrest on his left. Having experienced tinnitus often in his lifetime, he waits until it finally subsides
Kyungsoo takes a deep breath, opening his eyes, and continues to watch the movie when Jongin taps his arm with his other hand, as their elbows are laying on the shared armrest.
“Hyung, are you okay? You looked like you were in pain…” Jongin whispers. Both guys are in the dark, but the light from the movie scene illuminates their faces slightly and Kyungsoo is left confused at what he hears, it is all a mumble of whispered sounds and soft hisses of air. Crap, I can’t read Jongin’s lips…it’s too dark in here…
Kyungsoo is left with his mouth slightly open, unsure of what to reply back to what he heard. “Uh…mm…” Uncertainty must have shown on Kyungsoo’s face, and Jongin somehow understood that Kyungsoo did not understand a word he had said, because Jongin then moves closer and whispers in his friend’s ear the same thing he said earlier, adding a simple touch of his hand on Kyungsoo’s forearm.
Kyungsoo does not deny that the distance between them is almost nonexistent as he can feel Jongin’s cheek lightly brushing against his cheek. As luck would have it, there are sudden loud chatters from the movie as Jongin whispers, and Kyungsoo misses out once again. He glances down at where his friend is resting his hand on his arm. When Jongin pulls back, Kyungsoo looks back up and realizes that he still did not hear what Jongin had said, partially due to the softness of Jongin’s whispers in contrast to the movie’s loud effects.
Kyungsoo can see Jongin raising his eyebrows with a soft smile, his facial expression displaying concern, thanks to the movie scene getting a bit brighter. Kyungsoo only guesses that Jongin is asking about his ear condition. Smiling at his friend’s genuineness, he nods before leaning closer to whisper in Jongin’s ear
“It’s just tinnitus, it happens every now and then when I hear loud sounds, especially when the noises die down. Don’t worry too much about me, Jongin-ah. I’m fine.” Kyungsoo pats Jongin’s arm with his other hand. Jongin nods in understanding before they pull away and lean back on their seats, watching the movie. Jongin notices that Kyungsoo has not retracted his hand from his arm.
Whenever the villain in the movie, ‘Bane’ as he is called, talks, Kyungsoo finds himself losing interest before it gets picked back up when there are intense fights or dramatic story scenes. He hates it when he cannot read lips, especially when the mouths are covered; and that he cannot make out any distinct sounds from distorted voices. Strangely, it seems to be more of his concern than anything else in the movie, even when the camera is filming from behind a person as the said person is speaking. He feels his attention dwindling here and there, and just when he thinks the movie is about to end, there is a sinking feeling in his chest when a new scene appears.
…How much longer?...
Unaware to Kyungsoo’s eyes, Jongin has been often checking on him, noticing how fidgety Kyungsoo was in his seat, how his face obviously shows disinterest with a scowl, a look of confusion or a furrow of eyebrows, and how his subtle sighs are audible enough for Jongin to hear. It is with a pang of guilt that he realizes that his friend is not like him, that he is a deaf person, as Kyungsoo calls himself. Glancing at the movie, his mind clicks as to why Kyungsoo is acting this way. Not sure of how to approach his older friend with that issue, he settles for asking him later. Right now, there is a movie to watch, and might as well just focus on that for now, Jongin thinks.
“Well…that was a pretty good movie, for the most part,” Jongin comments to Kyungsoo as they join the audience filing out after the movie ended. Slowly nodding, Kyungsoo lets out an “mm-hmm”, averting his eyes for a brief moment before looking at Jongin. He hopes that Jongin does not catch that he was a bit uninterested with the movie story plot, though the graphics were nice to look at. He feels bad that it has led to this point, an awkward silent conversation between two friends in the middle of the cinema building.
“Did you like any parts of the movie, hyung?”
Kyungsoo’s eyes focus on Jongin, and his mind goes blank as he is left stammering. “Uh…er…well…um…I…liked the…scene with the hole…w-where Bruce is trying to…um…climb to the top along the walls, and everyone’s watching him…you know, trying to succeed.” Kyungsoo breaks the eye contact.
“Ahh, I know what you’re talking about,” Jongin nods, before he starts walking, hoping that Kyungsoo gets the signal to start walking too. “I like that part too, especially with the flashbacks.”
“Although I’m not too sure what the little boy has to do with him,” Kyungsoo mutters as he walks next to Jongin. Jongin hears it and dares himself to ask.
“Hyung, were you…able to hear the movie?”
Kyungsoo stops in his tracks, staring at Jongin. Chuckling weakly, he averts his eyes. “Jongin-ah, wh…what do you mean? Yes, I was able to hear the movie. I have hearing aids, you know.”
Jongin facepalms at his own stupidity. “No, I meant…were you…able to understand it? There were scenes when I noticed lip-reading was impossible for you when the camera’s behind the person speaking, and when there are voice-overs, and when there’s annoying raspy voi-“
“Jongin-ah.”
Jongin stops his rambling, looking at his friend, who is staring back at him with a curious look on his face, his head tilted slightly.
“I enjoyed the movie, regardless if I was not able to grasp the dialogues. Sometimes the things in movies that come out of this” - Kyungsoo lifts his hand to mimic mouth talking - “don’t matter to me, I can ignore it and focus on the details of the scenes and the graphic effects
“Although yes, it does bother me a bit that I cannot be able to understand every single thing that is going on in the movie, and how this lead to that, in terms of speech…” Kyungsoo explains, “but that’s life. We’re smart people. We can figure out what happened if we look around. I appreciate your concern, Jongin-ah, I really do.” Kyungsoo pats Jongin’s shoulder with his hand. “But I’m the hyung here. No need to worry about it. At least we…sort of enjoyed the movie, hmm?”
Jongin bites his lip, feeling a bit ashamed before he nods. Kyungsoo gives him a smile, and Jongin does not realizes how stiff his posture was while Kyungsoo was whispering to him. His body slackens as Jongin sighs internally in relief, I almost messed up…
“Shall we go to the park, then, hyung?”
- - -
Jongin takes Kyungsoo to the Han River Park where they spend the rest of the afternoon walking around, and fooling around at the playgrounds. Kyungsoo admires how playful Jongin can be, despite his cocky, bold personality at school. He can see how Jongin has been very caring, and it slightly bothers Kyungsoo. Jonghyun’s voice is nagging in his head, chanting, “it’s a date, it’s a date, it’s a date.&rdquo
Meanwhile, Jongin admires how much fun and wonderful it has been hanging out with his friend that day, even if Kyungsoo often showed a mature side at campus. They finally sit on a bench near the Han River, exhausted from playing around. Jongin lays his jacket next to him, and both of them just stare out to the Han River. Kyungsoo notices how serious the atmosphere has become.
“Hyung?”
Kyungsoo looks at Jongin, slightly raising his eyebrows in a wide-eyed expectant look. Jongin takes a deep breath.
“I…had fun today,” Jongin is surprised at how the words came out of his mouth so easily, these are not the words he wanted to say. But Kyungsoo smiles and raises his hand to pick away lint and a few leaves from the back of Jongin’s shirt.
“Me too, Jongin-ah…me too. I’m glad we had a break to relax and have fun.”
Jongin looks over his back to see what Kyungsoo was picking at but Kyungsoo is already patting his shoulder, dusting it off. His mind gets distracted from the contact.
“W-w-wait, hyung”- Kyungsoo looks up to Jongin’s eyes before moving down to read Jongin’s lips - “that's not what I’m trying to say, although I did have fun. What I meant to say…i-is…” Jongin stutters, feeling butterflies in his stomach with the way he is trembling.
Kyungsoo stares at Jongin in concern, “Jongin-ah, are you okay?” He lowers his hand to pat one of Jongin’s thighs; he can feel it trembling slightly. He looks down to Jongin’s thigh and then back up at Jongin’s eyes.
Jongin takes a deep breath, “F-Fine. Yeah, I’m fine. Hyung, what I’ve been meaning to tell you is th-th-that…” Jongin’s throat does an involuntary hitch and he is left tripping over his words. However, Kyungsoo is patiently watching him, waiting for him to go on. Jongin feels a gentle squeeze on his thigh as he bites his lip to stop himself from moaning at the pleasuring sensation of his hyung’s hand so close to his private zone. Jongin glances at Kyungsoo and sees no dirty intention in his eyes, but only pure concern.
How is it that I get like this when Kyungsoo-hyung touches me, but when I touch him, I feel bold and daring? This does not make any sense. Jongin thinks to himself. And how is it that Kyungsoo is oblivious to what he is doing to me?
“Hyung…I like you,” Jongin blurts out without control, staring Kyungsoo in the eyes. Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he stares back.
ldquo;I like you too?...”
“Wha…really? No wait, not like that, hyung. I like you. As in, I really really like like you.” Jongin gulps as he holds his fierce gaze with Kyungsoo. “A lot.”
Jongin can see Kyungsoo’s eyes wavering, searching for honesty behind these words. He notices that Kyungsoo looks downward to where Kyungsoo’s hand is placed on his thigh.
“O-oh…was this all a date?” Kyungsoo lifts his hand from Jongin’s thigh. Jongin would be lying if he said he was not disappointed at the loss of contact. Jongin bites his lip.
“More or less, but it was a casual date, hyung…”
“And you like me…”
Jongin sighs deeply, mustering up the courage to be assertive. “Yes, hyung, I do. I know you treat me as a dongsaeng, but I want you to treat me more than that, hyung. I want you to treat me like a lover, a companion. I’m not asking for attention or anything. Ever since I first met you, I’ve been trying to control my urges to hold your hand, to kiss you, ‘cause you’re just so freaking adorable, hyung
“I’ve been trying to make you see me as someone just for you, but you only saw me as a dongsaeng. I love that you did not hesitate to show your concern with me, and with other people. I want you to see me in a different light, Kyungsoo-hyung…I feel like every time I’m with you, it’s always an adventure, learning more about you as I fall into your world.”
Kyungsoo stares at Jongin, blown away by that confession, feeling overwhelmed. He blinks at Jongin, his mouth trying to form sounds.
“I…” Kyungsoo falters. “I…” He looks away, staring at the river.
Jongin deflates a bit as he sees Kyungsoo looking unsure of what to say. He braces for the seven dreadful words, I don’t like you in that way.
“I’m sorry…Jongin-ah…this is all so…sudden. Can you…give me some time to think about it?” Kyungsoo says.
Jongin’s ears perk up at the change of direction. Maybe there is hope for me, Jongin thinks. “O-okay, hyung,” he smiles. “I can do that. We’ll be okay, right?” He cannot help himself to bring up that question. Kyungsoo nods with a smile, “Of course. You’re still Jonginnie to me; to be honest, I like that I get to be called “hyung” for once.&rdquo
Kyungsoo looks down at Jongin’s hand, and makes a move to hold it, surprising Jongin. “This is okay for me, for now. You can cross that off your list. I don’t mind if you want to hold hands with me. The kissing will have to wait after I’ve given this some thought, okay?” Jongin nods. “Okay, come on, it’s getting dark. Let’s go eat dinner, shall we?”
The two head to dine at an Italian restaurant. Kyungsoo has spicy lasagna with a small salad, while Jongin has spaghetti with chopped prosciutto, basil, parmesan cheese, and meatballs. Their conversation revolves around getting to know more about each other, their habits and hobbies, their skills and life philosophies.
After they have eaten their dinner and dessert, they continue to talk for a while. There is such a natural ease of discussion between the two of them
“Oh, how’s the project coming along? Did we decided to meet sometime soon or something like that?”
“Ah, yeah, Daehyun and I thought about working on it tomorrow on our own, but we might meet up at his place. Will you be able to make it?”
“I might…it depends on Kibum-hyung. We might go shopping for the café necessities, but I’ll let you know if I can make it to Daehyun-hyung’s place; just text me the address, and Kibum-hyung can take me there. I have some more notes already covered on Mount Halla to share with you two.”
“That’s good; don’t worry if you can’t make it. We’re still in the researching process right now but we’ll be taking out some notes for the presentation. We’ll leave some space for your own research too. Later on, we will meet together to work on writing that research paper as well as creating the presentation display. We don’t know if we’ll do PowerPoint or just a poster board, though I think PowerPoint seems effective.”
“Yeah, PowerPoint seems like a better idea,” Jongin nods. “But yeah, hyung, just let me know when is the next time we can meet.”
When the bill comes, Jongin insists to pay for both of them with his debit card, despite Kyungsoo’s protests. Having done so, they wait for the waiter to return with the receipt. While waiting, the discussion jumps from their school project to their residences, as Kyungsoo tells Jongin that he has noticed few weeks ago that Jongin’s house was gated inside with few other houses. Jongin then describes his house as a medium-sized modern styled residence, and gives Kyungsoo a written tour, drawing the two floor layouts on a napkin with a pen that came with the bill case
“So yeah, our uncle decided to install a dance room inside our house, with mirrors, and it also helps Kibum-hyung with his fashion mindset. It may seem funny that we have the dance room next to the library, but Uncle placed a really thick soundproofing wall in-between. I should have you come over sometime, what do you think?”
Kyungsoo looks at Jongin’s slightly messy drawing on a paper napkin that shows the layout of the house. He can easily picture the house in 3D just by looking at the layouts. Nodding in approval, he looks to Jongin and replies, “Yeah, I would love to see your house! It looks really cool, something we don’t see in typical houses.”
The waiter comes in and hands Jongin back his debit card. They thank the waiter and take their leave, before the waiter cleans up their table.
- - -
Jongin and Kyungsoo are walking hand-in-hand, admiring the evening sky. Kyungsoo feels a little shiver run through his body due to the chilly breeze, and Jongin gently squeezes his hand, before letting go and lifting his arm to drape it around Kyungsoo’s shoulders and pull him gently closer to him.
Kyungsoo blinks at the gesture and looks up at Jongin with his wide eyes as they continue to walk. He can feel Jongin’s body heat emitting from the contact, and he would be lying if he said he did not like it. Jongin shrugs with a small smile. “You seemed a bit cold, so I’m just giving you a bit of warmth here. Even though you’re wearing a shirt and a long-sleeved shirt on top of it, you still seem a bit cold.”
There is a light tint of pink on Kyungsoo’s cheeks as Kyungsoo looks away and smiles, uttering a soft “thank you”. He becomes self-conscious about his height; realizing how tall Jongin is compared to him.
When Kyungsoo and Jongin finally arrive at Kyungsoo’s apartment building, they instantly look over across the street to see Jongin’s house and a few others peeking out from above the wooden gate that stretches about six meters long, with one set of double doors in the middle of the gate.
It takes a few seconds for Kyungsoo to realize that he has been staring at the wooden gates, oblivious to Jongin calling his name softly. Jongin had shifted his attention to his hyung earlier with a slightly amused look on his face. Kyungsoo is shaken out of his thoughts when Jongin gives a light peck on the cheek, still having his arm over Kyungsoo’s shoulders. Kyungsoo’s hand instantly shoots up to touch where Jongin’s lips made contact with his skin.
Kyungsoo stares at Jongin in wonderment. “D…did you jus…Did you just kiss me?”
Jongin is biting his bottom lip, a grin itching to show as the corners of his lips twitch upwards. He lifts his draped arm to rake his hand through Kyungsoo’s hair and replies calmingly, “Maybe, maybe not. I gave you a peck on the cheek, to be exact.”
Lazy raking of Jongin’s hands through Kyungsoo’s hair…
Goosebumps on Kyungsoo’s arms and neck, and a shudder runs through his body once more…
Kyungsoo closes his eyes at the sheer sensation of his head being petted, shivering a bit. He gives a content sigh, slightly cursing his head for being sensitive to the touch. He automatically leans closer to Jongin’s hand before realizing what he is doing, snapping his eyes open.
“J-Jong…Jongin…ah, s-stop. M-my head.” Kyungsoo feels Jongin’s hand withdraw quickly from his shoulder, and blinking, he notices Jongin looks a bit guilty, as if there is something in Kyungsoo’s head that he was not supposed to touch but he did anyway.
“It’s nothing wrong, it’s just…my head is a bit sensitive to the touch.” Kyungsoo softly chuckles, giving some cheeriness into Jongin’s mood. “Anyway, that was quite a move you did. Giving me a peck on the cheek, I would’ve bolted away if I knew that was coming. But,” Kyungsoo says as his hand looks for Jongin’s hand, and finally holding it, “…I liked it.”
Kyungsoo sees Jongin’s eyes flickering between his eyes, searching for any denial. Jongin starts to smile when Kyungsoo gives a gentle squeeze and leans closer to peck Jongin on the cheek, shocking him.
“That makes two of us.”