"Um, Kris...sorry to bother you, but can I talk to you about something?" 

Kris, who was just then stuffing his face with chocolate pie, whipped his attention upward to see a very nervous looking Kyungsoo. 

"Yesh?" He tried to speak through his pie-filled mouth. "What do you want?" 

"Well, you see..." Kyungsoo twiddled his fingers a little. "I...don't think I can train Jongin. Can you put him with someone else, maybe?" 

Kris swallowed his mouthful, though there were still plenty of chocolate remains around his mouth. "What? Why?" 

"I don't feel...um, I just don't think I have what it takes!" Kyungsoo lied. "I think Luhan would be better at this, that's all."

At that, the manager leaned back in his leather, revolving chair, seemingly thinking. He then slowly began to size Kyungsoo up-and-down, making the small cashier squirm a bit. "Luhan is training for customer service. Y'know, the place for people who like to work hard."  

"N-no, it's not that I don't want to work hard!" He paused, trying to choose his words carefully. "Jongin is just...he's just--"

Kris put his hand in the air, interrupting Kyungsoo mid-sentence. Kyungsoo couldn't help but stare at the traces of pie still on his face as he began to speak. 

"No, I think you're just lazy!" 

"That's not the case at all! Just listen--" 

"I don't want to hear anymore about this, Mr. Lazy!" Kris smiled to himself, as Kyungsoo grimaced. "Yeah, that's right! That's your new nickname from now on!"

Kyungsoo internally rolled his eyes. Oh, brother...

"Now, hurry up and get out there! Jongin is probably here by now, waiting for you."  

Although he bowed politely and closed the door behind him quietly, Kyungsoo's face held a menacing frown as soon as he left the back office. 

Stupid lousy manager...I hope that cheap pie gives him indigestion. And he's not even on break...

He continued grumbling to himself as he walked along. It was especially irritating that he didn't even get a chance to explain himself. Although, even if he did, Kris probably wouldn't understand. Kyungsoo sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets.

It's not like Kyungsoo hated Kai or anything. Not yet, anyway. But he did feel incredibly awkward around him, and even more so now that he blew up on him the day before.  

Kyungsoo went to the employee bathroom, which he was happy to see was empty. He splashed water on his face, and dried it with a sigh. He shook his head as he exited, trying to figure out a solution on his own since Kris was useless. 

Maybe I should just apologize...Kyungsoo began to think to himself. He then stopped in his tracks. But then again...what if he gets the wrong idea and starts acting creepy again because I'm being nice? I think that's what tipped him off in the first place.

The small cashier was making his way down one of the aisles and back to his register, when he noticed a familiar face. One that he was just thinking about, actually. There stood Kai, with an eldely woman in an electronic, mobile cart. He was struggling to reach a box of Bran Flakes that sat on a high shelf. Kyungsoo squeaked a bit, and hid behind the nearest corner so that neither person would see him watching.

When Kai finally pulled the accursed breakfast food down, he was panting a bit.

"There you go, ma'am. Anything else?" He smiled. 

"Where can I find 'dates'?" The old lady squinted at him, without saying thanks for his recent effort. 

"Uh, I don't know? Online dating sites?" Kai looked left-to-right nervously. The woman frowned deeply, and shook her head. 

"No, boy, I mean 'dates'! The fruit! D-a-t-e-s!" She spelled out condescendingly, as she poked Kai's arm. He politely brushed her finger away, and scratched his head. He had no clue what that even was.

"Um, I'm not sure where to find those, actually, haha..." He chuckled anxiously, trying to break some tension.

The lady groaned loudly. "Look, I need them!! I can't have a successful bowel movement without my dates!!"

Kai's eyes widened, and Kyungsoo couldn't help giggling to himself on the side.

Ah, his first pain in the customer...okay, I should probably help him out.  

"Ma'am, dates are on aisle five." Kyungsoo stepped out from behind the corner as he spoke. 

"Alright." She said without looking at Kyungsoo. "I thought you'd be the least of my problems today!" 

Kai's mouth dropped open at he rudeness. As she sped away in her little cart, the two employees stood in an awkward silence. Kyungsoo shifted his mouth to the side, thinking of what to say. He noticed that Kai wasn't looking at him at all, though. He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Um, Jongin?" He stepped around to meet Kai's eyes, just like the day before. Kai shot up in his skin, and turned his head to look elsewhere again.

"Y-yeah?" He scratched his arm. "Oh, I mean, uh--thanks for helping me just now. Like, what are dates, anyway? Haha..."

Kyungsoo squinted at him for a second, then stepped in front of his line-of-sight once more. And once more, Kai darted his eyes to another place. 

Why won't he look at m--Oh, wait.

Obviously, Kai was trying hard not to look at him in even the slightest because Kyungsoo blew up on him about his 'staring'. The smaller man swallowed, suddenly feeling extremely guilty. Kai really took his words to heart, didn't he?

"Hey...you can look at me. It's okay, really." Kyungsoo tried to smile a little when Kai hesitantly turned back towards him. "And I'm...sorry about yesterday. I overreacted." 

Kai breathed in slowly, both relieved and uneasy. "N-no, I'm sorry. I was staring at you. A lot. Must've been creepy, I know."

"So, um...why did you stare so much?" The smaller was almost scared to ask, but felt he had to.

"Th-that's--" Kai coughed. "Uh, you see...I'm an artist! Yeah! And I was feeling inspired by your looks; y-you have a great profile!"

 Kyungsoo pressed his lips into a firm line. "Okay...I guess that makes sense. Can I see your drawings?"

"No." Kai said flatly. 

"What? Why not--"

"KAI. KYUNGSOO. COME TO THE FRONT. KAI. KYUNGSOO, FRONT DOORS." 

The two boys' conversation was cut short by the harsh sound of Sehun's voice on the loud speaker. It was pretty clear that he was pissed off at them for not being on their registers, but damn, was he trying to hold it back. 

When they reached the front of the store, Kai found himself nearly gasping when he saw something strange. Sehun was...smiling. He was chatting away with a boy who's couldn't see, but judging by his uniform, he was a fellow cashier. Just as Sehun was about to say something else, another good-looking man, with slanted, cat-like eyes, walked up and took the other stranger away. 

Sehun held the same friendly smile on his face for a second, until the two were completely out of sight. He then stuck up his middle finger at their backs, kicked the air, and scowled. 

"Stupid Xiumin...I'm gonna kill him one day." Sehun mumbled under his breath. Hesitantly, Kai and Kyungsoo went towards him, and the angry supervisor whipped his head towards them in a quick, snappy motion. "Where the hell were you? Jacking each other off?" 

Kai rose a hand to his mouth, covering his uncontrollable smile.  

"No! Never! Don't even joke about things like that!" Kyungsoo burst out loudly. 

"Y-yeah, never! Yeah..." Kai pretended to agree, his smile dropping right away. He almost forgot Kyungsoo was straight as an arrow. 

 

 

As the day dragged on, Kai only sunk deeper and deeper into a depression. It took all his strength to not try and flirt with Kyungsoo, who only seemed to be getting more adorable as Kai spent more time with him. He was already picking up on his little quirks and mannerisms that made him even cuter, and they were adding to Kai's frustration. Even worse than that were the moments where it seemed like Kyungsoo was throwing him hints or flirting too, but Kai had to force himself to remember that he misinterpreted those moments just the day before. Yeah, there was no chance at all with a straight guy.

I might as well give up now. Kai slumped in his chair as he unpacked his lunch. 

Without realizing it, Kai was sighing and groaning loudly, and it filled the entire break room. He caught the attention of the three-idiot trio, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Chen, who were sitting across the table from him. They stared at him for a second, then turned back to each other and continued their nonsensical conversation.

"I'm telling you, the sky is actually black! It gets blue because of the ocean's reflection, or something." Chen said.

"No, no, no, it's always blue, no matter what! I read an article on that !" Baekhyun added.

"Guys, guys." Chanyeol interrupted. "You're both wrong. It's actually white, then gets tinted blue at exactly 6 am." 

Kai rolled his eyes at their stupidity. These people are Korea's future...

His mouth curled into a little smile, but dropped back into a frown when his brain reminded him of his situation. Kai sighed loudly once again, causing the other three in the room to stare at him once more. Chen started whispering something to Baekhyun, to which he responded by shaking his head furiously, and he then whispered to Chanyeol, who responded the same.

"No, I don't wanna do it!" Chanyeol kind of whispered, even though Kai could actually hear him perfectly.

"Well, I don't wanna either!" Baekhyun whined. The two bickered back and forth for a minute, until Chen shushed them both, and stood up.

"Fine, fine. Guess I'll be the bigger person here..." 

Kai looked up at Chen, now standing over him. Kai took a big bite out of his sandwich, his face still holding a miserable expression.

"Hey...why so glum, chum?" Chen grinned. He sat down in the chair next to the sad cashier, and put his arm around his shoulder. Kai slumped a bit more in his seat.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." 

"Well, that just sounds like a load of hoopla! A desperate cry for help!" Chanyeol closed his eyes and clenched his fists dramatically.

"Yeah, maybe you just need some friends!" Baekhyun smiled widely. 

"Uh...I have friends..."

Chen pulled Kai closer in his shoulder embrace. "Wanna play our meat-flinging game? We call it, 'Fling the Meat'."

Kai gently removed his hand. "Nah, I'm good..." 

"C'mon! It's very, uh--" Chanyeol looked to the ceiling, trying to think of what to say. "What's the word? Giberating?"

"Gubilirating?" Baekhyun questioned.

"...exhilirating?" Kai added. The three then gasped in unison. 

"That's it! Dude, you can be the brains in our group!" Chanyeol exclaimed in excitement.

"If he's the smart one, what does that make us?" Chen inquired, pointing back and forth at himself and Baekhyun. 

"Well, let's see...Chen, you're the happy one!" 

"Oh, that's good." 

"And I'm the handsome one." Chanyeol placed his own hand on his chest, pretending to be arrogant. 

Baekhyun looked down, then back up at his tall friend, shyly. "Then...what does that make me?"

Chanyeol immediately grabbed Baekhyun's chin, bringing their faces really close together. "You're the y one." 

"Really? And are you sure you're not the erted one?" Baekhyun seemed to blush, turning his head away. 

"If I am, it's only because you're such a tease." 

"Oh!" Baekhyun squeaked when Chanyeol started to grab at him and try to pull him closer. The smaller boy pretended to struggle, and Chanyeol continued to touch him all over. 

"Chanyeol stop, your'e embarrassing me!" Baekhyun giggled, and Chanyeol then took both his hands and held them between his own.

"Not until you're mine." 

The two then burst out laughing again, just like the day before. Kai furrowed his eyebrows as he watched their weird little interaction. He raised his hand, hesitantly.

"Um. Question." 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol turned to him, pausing their little scene. "What?"

"Okay, uh...just wondering. Are you guys, y'know...dating?" 

Just as Kai asked that question, Chanyeol picked up a can of coke that sat next to his food. "Hold on, I need to do a spit take."

The man then took in a mouthful of soda and sprayed it all over Chen. 

"Wh-what?!" The tall employee yelled at the top of his lungs, even though Kai was just two feet away from him. There were streams of Coke falling from his lips still.

"Me...and Chanyeol?" Baekhyun's mouth dropped open. "What the--dude, that's so freaking gross!! That'd never happen!!"

"Yeah!" Chanyeol agreed, sliding down in the seat next to Baekhyun. 

"I dunno...you just seem like...you're closer than what would be considered 'normal' for most friends." Kai shrugged.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol paused, and stared at each other for a second wordlessly. 

"I mean, unless you're also all touchy-feely like that with Chen." Kai pointed at Chen, who was still soaked with soda. He puffed out his cheeks, seemingly wondering himself if Chanyeol ever would be like that with him. 

"Err...I don't know. Baekhyun's, uh--" Chanyeol scratched his chin, thinking of a proper answer, for what felt like an eternity. Baekhyun pouted, watching him quietly.

"We've been close friends for a really long time!" He interjected, since Chanyeol still wasn't saying anything. "We can joke like that!" 

Kai put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. But I've seen real gay couples, and I've seen bromance. What you guys are doing seems like a little more than bromance. Just saying." 

With that, the two now uncomfortable friends looked at each other for a second, then scooted their chairs further apart. 

"Well--" Baekhyun started, with a mocking expression. "What about you, Kai? Are you gay? 'cause y'know, you seem to know a lot about gay couples!" The three friends then leaned in closer to Kai, invading his personal space. His eyes widened at the sudden question.

"M-me?"

At that moment the door to the break room swung open, and there stood Kyungsoo, holding his little brown lunch bag. He stopped in place when he noticed how the three were interrogating Kai, as he didn't want to interrupt by walking through.

"Yeah, you heard me! Are you gay or what?" Baekhyun pushed once more.

Kyungsoo jolted a bit where he stood. He was pretty curious to know the answer to that, too. When Chen looked up at Kyungsoo standing there, Kai then noticed that he was in the room. He started panicking now, because he knew that he had to choose his words carefully, or risk having Kyungsoo be more uncomfortable around him.

"O-of course not!! Haha! I'm totally straight!!" In his excitement, Kai stood up from his chair, and pressed both his hands onto the table in front of him. "Yeah, I remember just last night I was getting some, big time! She wouldn't let me sleep! Haha!! Ha..."

As the three boys, and Kyungsoo, stared at him, Kai dropped back down into his seat without another word. Not knowing what else to do, he started awkwardly twiddling his thumbs.

After a few seconds of silence, Chanyeol beamed, "Yep, he definitely belongs in our group!"

To Kai's delight, Kyungsoo sat down next to him, and began unpacking his lunch. 

Huh? Did that stuff I said just now...make him less weirded out by me or something?

Baekhyun skipped over to Kai, who glanced up at him confusedly. "Wanna play Fling the Meat now?" He grinned widely. Kai examined the slingshot in his hand, as he extended it towards Kai. Somehow, even though this trio was kind of stupid and childish, Kai couldn't help smiling. It was nice to feel accepted into a group on just the second day of work.

"Here you go!" Baekhyun dropped the slingshot into Kai's hands. "Fire away at whoever walks through the door next!"

"Okay, here goes nothing!" Kai laughed. He aimed a piece of meat that Chen handed to him right at the room's entrance, waiting for it to open. Once he saw the knob turning and the door opening, he closed his eyes and fired.

He heard the food slap onto someone's skin, but instead of being met with cheers and high-fives from his new friends, the room was silent. Kai slowly opened his eyes, and his face fell pale. 

Sehun had been slapped in the face with old bologna.

 

 

"Chen, are you sure your eye is okay?" Kai asked concernedly. 

"Yep! He only threw a printer at my face, no biggie!" 

"You didn't have to take the blame for me, though. That black eye looks serious..."

Kai stood beside Chen, who was restarting his register. He was clicking buttons with one hand, and holding a huge bag of ice to his left eye with the other. Thankfully for Kai, when the lunch meat hit Sehun's forehead Chen decided to take the blame, as he now saw Kai as a new friend and addition to his little group. Well, he was happy to do that for him until Sehun yanked a twenty-pound printer from the back office and chucked it at Chen's face. Now he had a black eye the size of Texas to show for it.

"Eh, at least he missed all my vitals, so that's good." The plucky cashier smiled. 

"What's his deal anyway? Why's he so mean to everyone?" Kai questioned, annoyed. "He shouldn't be able to do things like this and get away with it!" 

"Nah, dude, it's cool. Not like Kris or Suho will do anything about it, anyway. There's so friggin' lazy." Chen sighed.

"Uh, no, I wasn't thinking of calling the police, actually." 

Chen starting laughing really hard, and Kai scrunched his face up. He was dead serious. Off to the side, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were walking along to their own registers. Kai noticed something interesting about them this time around, though: they were just a little farther apart from each other than before. 

His thoughts were interrupted suddenly when Chen jumped in front of him, making him shriek a little.

"Hey, Kai!"

"Yeah, hey..."

"I was thinking about something..." Chen began as he massaged his bruised eye. "Y'know, you should do me a solid!"

"A what?" Kai leaned back in confusion.

"Well, ya see, if you reaaally feel bad about my poor, damaged eyeball, you should invite me over for some beers!" Chen smiled pluckily.

"Uh, how about I get you some ice instead?" Kai shrugged.  

"Oh, come on! I want beer, at your house! Don't be a weenie!"

"No." 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun perked up, now joining in the conversation. "Yeah, we wanna see your place too! Didn't you just move in?"

"Th-there's literally just boxes..."

Chen pulled Kai closer, grinning in his face. "We can have a welcoming party!"

"Yeah!" Chanyeol cheered off to the side.

"What do you say, Kai?" Baekhyun added.

Feeling pressured, Kai slumped down where he stood. After a few moments, he nodded slightly, as he hesitantly gave in.  

The three best friends all smiled so widely that it looked like their mouths would trail off their faces. 

"Woo, free booze!! We're so there, man!" Chanyeol exclaimed happily. He threw his arm around Baekhyun without looking at him, and pulled him closer. Baekhyun glanced up at him with a huge grin, which then slowly dissapated into a hesitant smile after a few seconds. 

"S-so, when can we come?" He wiggled out of Chanyeol's hold as he spoke. Kai gave him a questioning look, and Baekhyun coughed into his hand. 

"Tonight, I guess. We're all getting off early, aren't we?" 

Let's get this over with...

"Yeah, and we can bring Kyungsoo along, too." Chanyeol said, stretching. 

Kai whipped his head around, now sweating a little. "W-what?" 

"Kyungsoo. We should bring him. That little dork always just stays holed up in his room all the time, unless he's working. It's like, we never see him until he comes out for water at 3am. Then he goes riiiight back!" 

Ooh, he's mysterious...Kai rubbed his chin, intrigued.

Baekhyun his teeth. "Aww, no. He's such a party pooper. Whenever he's around me, he just nags me about the laundry and cleaning the house and helping him with bills. Bleh." 

"Bills? What're you talking about?" Kai asked.

"Oh, we all live together! We're Kyungsoo's roommates." Chanyeol beamed.

"We freeload!" Chen gave a thumbs up. 

Kai bit down on his bottom lip slightly, thinking. "Err, well, my place isn't that big, but...y'know, the more the merrier, right? S-so, maybe you guys should bring, um...what's his name again?" 

"Kyungsoo?" Baekhyun rose an eyebrow.

"Yeah, him! Right...I forgot." Kai chuckled, trying not to sound too excited about having Kyungsoo over.

 

 

That night, Kai found himself in a frenzy as he scrambled around his apartment, picking up as many cups and other random items that were laying about. His place had to be spotless. His newfound..."friends" were coming over in just a little while, but more importantly, Kyungsoo was coming too. This would be Kai's first real chance to impress him, without putting the moves on him. 

Kai jumped up when he heard his doorbell ring. He threw another dirty cup into the dishwasher as he hurried to the mirror to make some final adjustments. Fixing his fringe one last time, Kai cleared his throat and made his way to the door. 

Here goes...

Once Kai opened the door, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Chen all burst in, nearly knocking him over.

"Yeah!! I'm ready to party!!" Chanyeol hollered obnoxiously. The other two cheered and bellowed along with him, though that quickly died down once they took notice of how empty Kai's apartment actually was.

"...wow. There's like nothing here. Lame." Baekhyun said as he looked around. "You don't even have a couch?"

"Dude, why would you invite us over when you don't even have something for us to sit on?" Chen questioned, almost sarcastically.

Kai squinted at them both, but perked up when he turned around to see Kyungsoo standing in the doorway. He was just quietly listening, not making his presence a big deal. Kai's heart skipped a beat when he realized the smaller boy was out of uniform, as he was wearing a plain black t-shirt and grey jeans. It made Kai notice just how tiny he really was. 

"Hi, Jongin." Kyungsoo smiled. 

Without thinking, Kai leaned against the door frame, pushing his hair back with one hand. "Heyyy. 'Sup..." 

"Not much." Kyungsoo walked past Kai, not noticing his slight attempt at flirting. The student sighed, and followed the other back inside. 

 

As the evening progressed, Kai struggled to keep the hyperactive trio entertained, all while trying to talk to Kyungsoo, who was sitting on the side, watching them. Kai couldn't help feeling more and more embarrassed by the second, as Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Chen kept complaining about his lack of furniture, seeing how they were forced to sit on the floor, and how generally boring his place was. It didn't help that they were getting super drunk, too, which made them speak their minds even more.

"And y'know what else you need besides some dang furniture?" Baekhyun slurred, holding his third, half-empty Budweiser beer in his hand. "Lamps. Lots and lots of lamps. Like, one here, one there. And one over there."

Chen hiccupped, and laughed, joining in. "Yeah, we'll take you to Ikea so you can buy some."

"But you guys can't even drive. I take your everywhere." Kyungsoo chimed in, flatly.

Chen paused. "...Kyungsoo will take you to Ikea so you can buy some!" 

"Y'know what else he needs?" Chanyeol added. "A couch, 'cuz my friggin' hurts!" 

Sick of their complaints, Kai scoffed, and stood up. "Well, you guys know what--"

"Yo, do you at least have some food? I'm so hungry!" Chanyeol interrupted. Kai sunk back down to the floor, feeling defeated. 

Kyungsoo slowly raised his hand, making Kai perk up in delight. "Yeah...I'm kind of hungry too, actually." 

"O-oh!" The excited student jumped to his feet again, and ran over to his fridge in a flash. He yanked the door open, hoping more than anything that he had something decent to serve his love interest. "I think I have something--"

A half-eaten apple. Two nearly empty bottles of water. Some ranch dressing. 

God, this can't be all I have!!

Chen snuck up behind Kai, and exhaled heavily enough that the other felt his breath in his ear. "No food, either? Man, you really don't know how to throw a party." 

"I wasn't trying to! You guys just basically invited yourselves over!" Kai snapped.

"Hey!" Baekhyun clapped his hands together. "Let's order a pizza, from Pizza Planet! They have the pizzas that are like, thirty inches wide or something." 

"That'd hit the spot." Chanyeol grinned. "Yo, Kai. Can you go get it?" 

"Are you serious?" Kai sighed. "I don't even know my way around town yet." 

"Oh, I know where it is."

Kai immediately directed his gaze towards Kyungsoo, who just spoke up. "You do?"

"Yup. I'll go with you to get the pizza. It feels nice outside tonight." Kyungsoo said, getting up from the floor.

"J-just the two of us?" Kai tried not to smile too widely, as he didn't want to appear too excited. 

"Well, I don't want these three drunk guys coming along." The doe-eyed boy shrugged. "We can take your car." 

Kai puffed out his cheeks. Dang, I barely have any gas in the engine but this is a rare opportunity...

"One of you guys order in a few minutes so it'll be ready when we get there." Kyungsoo said as he picked up his keys and walked to the door. Kai was nearly bouncing from his pure happiness, but remembered to breathe in deeply to contain it. He followed to the door, but then turned back to face the three who were still chugging more beers down carelessly.

"Hey, don't touch anything while we're gone, alright?" He uttered in a half-serious tone, since he was still too hyped to be completely stern with them.    

Once the door shut, Chen glanced up at his two best friends, who were almost as far-gone in their drunkness as he was. 

"...what'd he say?" 

"Drink more beer!" Chanyeol shouted, happily. 

"Yeah!!" 

The three clanked their glasses together, without a care in the world. 

 

 

While Kai and Kyungsoo drove down the streets of this new town, Kai couldn't help but glance at the other from time to time. Kyungsoo placed his chin on his hand as he stared at the passing streetlights with dreamy eyes. 

Kai gulped. Ok...gotta think of something to say quick, so he doesn't get bored! 

"S-so, uh...you like pizza?"

He internally smacked his forehead.

Kyungsoo looked over at him, and shrugged. "I dunno. I guess. I don't eat it that much. And the stuff from Pizza Planet is really greasy, but those three are always making me order it for them. Though I've never been to the actual place before."  

"Um...haha. Cool. Cool..." Kai almost mumbled. It didn't take long for him to get stuck again. Kyungsoo then pulled out his cellphone and began scrolling through it, making Kai silently gasp.

Crap, I'm losing him!!

"Sorry, I'm just making sure we're going the right way. But you for sure have to turn left at this next light, that much I know." Kyungsoo said as he continued scrolling.

"Okay--" Kai was cut off when Kyungsoo suddenly put on a pair of wide, circular glasses as he read the screen. 

"I can't see anything..." Kyungsoo mumbled. At the sight of Kyungsoo's dorky, but somehow adorable glasses, Kai lost his focus on the road and nearly crashed into a tree.

"Whoa, WATCH OUT!!" The terrified smaller boy shrieked. 

"Ah, !! Sorry, sorry!!" Kai yelled as he swerved past the tree and back onto the road, resulting in several other cars honking loudly at him. 

"I-it's okay, just be careful! What were you looking at?" Kyungsoo asked, concernedly. 

Coughing into his hand, Kai had to lie once again. "N-nothing. Just the streetlights." 

Just your adorable face...

"Really? They're not that interesting." Kyungsoo chuckled. He began to twiddle his fingers a bit, thinking of something to talk about. Kyungsoo had trained with Kai for hours, but he hadn't learned anything about him beyond his name. They were here, driving along together, so he might as well try to be more friendly with him. "So, where'd you move here from?"

Kai turned his head suddenly, not expecting Kyungsoo to continue talking to him. When he looked at him again, he felt choked up once more. His throat was getting dry, and he didn't have anything to drink. "B-Busan." 

He didn't say anything beyond that, his nervousness taking control. Kyungsoo blinked at him, waiting for more elaboration. When none came, he started again. "Um...are you going to school here?"

"Yes." 

Kyungsoo began rolling his hand, motioning for Kai to keep going. "...which school?"

"Seoul University."

The sound of Kai's car wheels rolling over the gravel was the only thing filling the increasingly awkward air. 

"...to study...what?" Kyungsoo was becoming exhausted trying to pull longer answers out of Kai. 

"Doctor."

"Oh, okay. That's really impressive." 

"Yeah."

At that, Kyungsoo simply gave a vague smile, and turned back to watching the passing streetlights. 

Maybe he doesn't want to talk.

The next pause that followed was even longer than the previous ones. As Kai stared at the red light, he felt like banging his head on the steering wheel. Kyungsoo then sighed lightly, which made the other jump in his skin.

Oh no! He's sighing! God, he really is bored out of his mind!! Beads of sweat began forming on his skin. Say something interesting!! Hurry up!!

"Uh, I've always wanted to become a doctor, so it's really cool that I'm actually doing it, y'know?" He smiled like a doofus. "I-it's a lot to study though, but I love it! Haha!"

Kyungsoo shifted his body back to face Kai, as he was taken aback by his more elaborative response. "Ah, really? Yeah, I've heard the amount of stuff you have to read is brutal."  

"Uh-huh..."

"But if you pull it off now, it'll be worth it in the long run." Kyungsoo smiled sweetly. "And...a lot of girls would be impressed, too."

"What?" Kai blinked. 

"Yeah, actually, I heard two girls at our job talking about you. They were saying you were hot." 

Kai wasn't sure what kind of expression his face should have after that comment. Should he look happy? Surprised? Flirtatious even though said girls were no where to be found? He eventually decided on neutral.

"Oh, uh...that's cool." He wasn't sure what to say either but he figured that, since Kyungsoo thought he was straight at this point, that he should play along and pretend to be interested. "A-are they cute?"

Kai almost wanted to gag at his own fakeness.

"Hm, I think so." Kyungsoo scratched his chin. "But that's my opinion. What's your type?"

"Uh...female?"

Kyungsoo burst out laughing, causing Kai to blush. "Haha, what? Not a picky guy, then?" 

"N-no, guess not." The taller young man rubbed the back of his neck shyly. The cuteness of Kyungsoo's laugh was almost too much to handle. 

"Oh, look! We finally found Pizza Planet! I swore I knew where it was before, but I was wrong." 

The two pulled into the parking lot of the cheap looking establishment, which took much longer to find than intended. But honestly, Kai wasn't complaining anymore, because of how long he got to spend time with Kyungsoo, even if most of it was uncomfortable. Just as the doe-eyed boy began to open the passenger's side door, Kai's brain clicked.

"W-wait!" 

Kyungsoo turned to face him, his hand still on the handle. "What's wrong?"

"Um...do the girls at the supermarket notice you at all?" Kai smiled hesitantly. "I mean--are they into you, or...are you into any of them?"

Kai's palms grew increasingly sweaty as Kyungsoo simply watched him without saying anything. 

"...nope! I'm too busy with other things to worry about dating right now." 

Th-then...he's single?!

"O-oh. I see." 

As Kyungsoo rose from his seat and shut the door, Kai stayed behind for just a second, cheering to himself.

 

 

Meanwhile, back at Kai's house, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Chen lay on the floor, as they were deprived of anywhere to sit. They were surrounded by empty beer bottles, and the room echoed with hiccups and slurred speech.

"Man...for real guys, what kinda loser doesn't have furniture?" Chanyeol whined, and pouted his lips.

"Kai, dude. Obviously." Chen responded.

Baekhyun sighed loudly. "Ughhh, what's takin' them so long?! I'm hungry now!!" 

"I know, they've been gone for like--ten whole minutes! How long are we gonna wait?!" Chanyeol added, sitting up with messy hair. He immediately felt a pang in his head, as he got up too quickly in his drunken state. "Ow..."

Baekhyun followed him in sitting up, and felt the same pang. "Hey, maybe...Kai's got somethin' good in his cabinet? Like... a bag of rice."

"Yeah! We can make that!" Chanyeol grinned crookedly.

"But that'll take foreverrr..." Chen groaned, followed by another hiccup. "You guys don't even know how t' make rice!" 

With a of his teeth and a slight scowl at Chen's skepticism, Baekhyun rose to his feet and walked, or rather, clumsily stumbled, over to the kitchen. He yanked open the fridge, then the cabinet when he found no rice in the former. "Aha! He's got some here. Now...let's drop some water on it and pop this baby in the good ol' microwave..."

Chen and Chanyeol rushed over to join him, excited for food. Chanyeol then got an idea. "Hey! Y'know how this'll cook faster? With some aluminum foil!" 

"Uh...I don't think that's a good idea...I think that'd like...blow up the microwave." Chen mentioned.

"Well, stop thinking!" Baekhyun pushed Chen aside playfully. "They put aluminum in the toaster oven, so what's the difference if I put it in the microwave?"

"I just don't know..."

"Gah, enough chit-chat! Just hurry up already!" Chanyeol whined. With that, Baekhyun nodded, and grabbed the foil, wrapping it over the rice filled bowl several times. He threw it in the microwave, and turned to cheer with Chanyeol.

"I mean really, Chen. What could go wrong?" Baekhyun hiccupped once more. 

 

 

As Kai and Kyungsoo drove home, greasy pizza in the back seat, the younger felt like he was floating. Sure, their little excursion had some bumps, literally, but in the end, he was ecstatic that Kyungsoo seemed to be getting more comfortable around him, bit by bit. And he learned that the small cashier was single. Even if Kai had no chance, it was still awesome to know that no one else was with him.

Anything bad could happen in this moment, and Kai would still be happier than ever. A typhoon could hit from out of nowhere. He could step on a Lego brick, barefoot. His apartment could be on fire.

Wait.

"What...what's going on?!" Kai screamed.

Just as they were pulling into the apartment complex's parking lot, the two caught sight of a huge cloud of smoke over the building, along with some firefighters running inside, while a few others were spraying at a fire with their giant hoses. All of Kai's neighbors were outside as well, standing in the grass, watching the action.

"Oh my God, someone's apartment's on fire!" Kyungsoo gasped. Kai's eyes widened when he noticed the side of the building that the smoke seemed to be coming from.

Once the car was parked, Kai and Kyungsoo immediately ran out into the grass field where everyone else was. Kyungsoo pointed out Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Chen standing a few feet away, relieved that they were okay.

"Hey, guys! What happened?!" Kyungsoo yelled over all the other commotion going on around them.

The trio simultaneously averted their eyes from Kai especially, who then gave them an increasingly suspicious glare. Just as he was about to start questioning them, a firefighter ran up to the group, with something under his arm.

"Excuse me, are any of you the owner of Apartment 215?"

Kai stepped up, feeling like streams of sweat were now falling down his face.

"Y-yes." He squeaked in a high-pitched voice.  

"As you can see...your apartment has been completely destroyed by the--"

Kai squeaked again.

"...the fire." The older man finished. "We've collected as many of your belongings as we could. And we also attained this."

He handed Kai a burnt item, which he could barely make out to be a bowl. 

"We believe that this bowl was covered with aluminum, and was put in the microwave. It caught fire, and exploded...it spread to the carpet...and the rest was history." 

Kai stood silently, and dropped his gaze to the ground for a minute, trying to process everything. The fireman patted him on the shoulder, and walked away. After what felt like forever, Kai almost mechanically turned his head to the three friends standing next to him.

"...you guys..." He began to mumble under his breath, his voice filled with both terror and ferocity.

"Um..." Kyungsoo stepped back, nervously.

"It was all Baekhyun's fault!! He wanted stupid rice because he couldn't wait five minutes for the pizza!!" Chanyeol yelled out suddenly, throwing his friend under the bus.

"No, it wasn't!! You guys could've stopped me!!" 

"I told you both it was a bad idea to put foil in the microwave!!" Chen added frantically.

"And I told you guys not to use my kitchen!! Now my freaking apartment is gone!!" Kai shouted. 

"Yeah, well--" Baekhyun started, then paused. "Ooh, wait, you got the pizza?" 

Kai looked at him, his eyes wide with disbelief. He then grabbed the pizza box from Kyungsoo, who was just as much in shock, and threw it on the floor. Kai proceeded to step on it violently and then kicked it aside, huffing as he was now out of breath.  

"Dude, you just wasted twenty bucks." Chanyeol commented.

"Yeah, now what're we supposed to eat?" Baekhyun frowned, as he rubbed his growling stomach.

The scream that then escaped Kai's throat and echoed into the dark sky that night did not sound human. 

 

 

Soooo that was chapter 2!! Hope you guys liked it :DD

I know things seems really bad for Kai now lol but it will get better next chapter heheheh

Thanks for all your comments and upvotes on the first chapter!! I really appreciate it!! :D

and Thanks for over 300 subbies too!!! 

If you like the story so far please leave comments, upvote and subscribe!! 

I will see you in the next chapter called, The Best Torture lololol 

THANKS FOR READING!!! <333333333