Summary: Amidst the rubble and ruin and mess, Kyungsoo realizes he's fallen in love.

Kyungsoo keeps laughing

Jongin watches him with fake indifference from where he is sitting, table upon table away from the object of his staring.

As if connected with some sort of invisible string, Kyungsoo breathes out the last of his chuckles and looks to the side, eyes effectively catching Jongin’s who quickly turns away and pretends to be busy with his own plate of salad.

Kyungsoo snorts.

“Who’re you snorting at?” Chanyeol asks loudly, his nosy self always present as he looks around and tries finding the culprit. “I don’t see anyone being stupid.”

Kyungsoo picks up his fork and points it at the tall male, face blank. “You’re stupid.”

It’s Baekhyun who snorts this time, bits of rice blowing from his mouth and Kyungsoo swears some came out from his nose as well.

The table erupts with shouts of disgust (and Chanyeol’s seal like guffawing) and Kyungsoo uses the chance to catch Jongin’s eyes who quickly raises his left wrist, subtly pointing at his watch and looking away when Kyungsoo nods.






It’s just three in the afternoon when Kyungsoo walks out of school, Jongin following behind close by until they reach the gates where the usual car is waiting for them.

Kyungsoo goes in first, purposely leaving some space next to him which is quickly filled up with Jongin sliding a few seconds later.

“I hate parties.” Kyungsoo grumbles, resting his elbow on the armrest and propping his chin with his palm. Beside him, Jongin hums something that is neither a disagreement nor an approval.

Kyungsoo jolts when he feels something on his thigh, Jongin’s fingers skirting gently over the fabric of his pants.

“You’ve got rice all over.” Jongin says, flicking the white spots away before going back to sitting straight, completely unaware of the way pink blisters color Kyungsoo’s cheeks.

“Is everyone going to be there?” Kyungsoo asks, distracting himself from the stuttering his heart is doing.

“Yes, young master.” the driver answers and Kyungsoo sighs in disappointment and annoyance.

“Is Yeon Seo going to be there?” Kyungsoo asks again and it’s Jongin who answers this time.

“Yes.”

If possible, Kyungsoo’s mood turns even sourer at the thought that his older cousin would be there.

“You would know.” Kyungsoo grumbles, shooting a glare at Jongin who quickly notices a returns it with a confused frown.

“What?”

Kyungsoo sits up straighter, frown getting deeper as he pokes a finger at Jongin’s chest a couple of times. “She. Likes. You.”

Jongin drops the frown but the confusion is still there, head tilting to the side. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

A cry of frustration comes out of Kyungsoo’s lips, throwing his head back and slumping on his seat.

“Young master?”

“What?” Kyungsoo snaps, glaring at Jongin who looks at him with his head still tilted, expression cutely confused and it makes Kyungsoo look away as quickly as he could.

“You’re upset.” Jongin states.

“I am not.”

Jongin doesn’t look away, eyes staring straight at Kyungsoo’s face. “I’m sorry.”

The frown disappears, something inside his chest effectively stealing all negative emotions away when Kyungsoo meets Jongin’s eyes. He smiles tiredly, an apology bitten at the back of his tongue because it isn’t really Jongin’s fault.

Jongin smiles back.






It’s six in the evening and the whole house is buzzing with people and excitement, the Dos laughing and welcoming the guest who’s slowly starting to fill every corner of the property.

“Jongin, it’s too tight.” Kyungsoo whines and Jongin has lost count on how many times he’s heard that already for the past hour.

“It’s perfectly fine.” Jongin says, eyes raking over Kyungsoo who’s wearing a simple black suit over a white shirt, a black tie perfectly in place. Jongin glances at the mirror, looking at himself wearing the same exact clothes, only bigger.

Kyungsoo turns around and faces him, his face doubtful as he scans Jongin from head to toe.

“Not as perfect as you.” he mumbles but Jongin catches it quite alright.

Kyungsoo’s head is hanging low, fingers pressing his anxiousness over the edge of his suit when Jongin comes closer and stills in front of him.

Kyungsoo looks up, mouth opening but no words coming out because Jongin is leaning closer, hands coming up in between them.

“Kyungsoo.” Jongin says softly, fingers pressing against Kyungsoo’s tie and smoothing out the creases made by doubt and worry. “You’re perfectly fine.”

And it’s dark and silent in the room but Jongin thinks he sees the pretty pink blossoms on the other’s skin, spots warm and elated as Kyungsoo finally smiles.

“You’re very good with words, Kim Jongin.” Kyungsoo’s words trips over themselves even when his fingers are steady, straightening up Jongin’s already pristine tie.






“Jongin!” Yeon Seo calls, quickly striding over where Jongin is standing beside Kyungsoo.

She’s impeccable as always, tall and beautiful and stunning with her deep red dress that makes Kyungsoo feel even smaller than he already is.

Jongin bows beside him, dipping his head down which Yeon Seo quickly dismiss with a bright smile and a flurry of her dainty fingers.

“Still keeping guard over our Kyungsoo as always.” she teases, briefly smiling at Kyungsoo’s way before returning her whole attention to Jongin as if her cousin isn’t there in the first place.

“Won’t you reconsider transferring to us?” she asks once more and the question is thrown at Jongin far more times than Kyungsoo can count but it still manages to drown him in suffocating fear and anxiety.

With hesitation, Kyungsoo glances at Jongin just in time to see him smile and something clutches at his heart painfully, tendrils of spikes wrapping itself around him and slowly making him bleed out yellow and green.

“I owe my life to Master Do.” Jongin answers simply and Kyungsoo is suddenly able to breathe.

Yeon Seo pouts, red lips puckering up as she nods.

“Well, if you ever get tired of little Kyungsoo, you’re always welcome to stay with us.” she says playfully before blowing a kiss at her cousin and leaving to mingle with the other guests.

Kyungsoo remains looking at her, watching the people around her get mesmerized by her sheer presence and it’s not until he feels a hand on his forehead does he jolts back into reality; into Jongin’s concerned eyes.

“Are you okay?” the taller male asks, low voice lulling to relax at the touch. “You look pale.”

Kyungsoo stays quiet, unabashedly staring at Jongin’s brown irises before his emotions catches up to him and he nods. “I’m fine.”

Jongin still looks doubtful but he puts his hand down, standing closer instead to the smaller male and Kyungsoo bites back a smile at the warmth of Jongin beside him.

The night goes by smoothly, Jongin sticking by Kyungsoo’s side and offering reasonable excuses when the smaller male seemed tired of answering endless questions; whirling him around to another empty spot before a new batch of nosy acquaintances comes up again.

It’s almost two in the morning when the crowd thins, the guests milling out by pairs or in groups.

“I’m so sleepy.” Kyungsoo mumbles as they sit down on one of the empty chairs, absently watching the catering staff pack their things and clean up.

Jongin lifts a hand, settling it on Kyungsoo’s cheek and starts rubbing his thumb against Kyungsoo’s temple.

Kyungsoo closes his eyes, enjoying the touch in so many ways his malfunctioning heart can’t explain. He on the verge of falling asleep when Jongin swiftly slides his hand behind him and pushes him down on the ground.

“Jongin, what-”

His next words dies down when a series of gunshot permeates the air, the smell of gunpowder slowly filling his nostrils. Beside him, Jongin has taken out his gun, body poised in a protective manner and shielding Kyungsoo’s against any possible harm.

Kyungsoo wills himself to calm down; remembers that he’s used to this. He allows his eyes to travel, lips pursing when he sees some of the guys from the catering lying lifelessly a few meters away from him.

“Jongin!”

Kyungsoo is quick when Jongin grabs his wrist and tugs him to run forward. He focuses on his feet, trying not to trip as he hears gunshot after gunshot firing from Jongin as well.

He sees his older brother on the opposite side, Changmin and Jinki standing guard beside him along with a couple more men from the Do household.

It’s too sudden when Jongin yanks him to the side, bits of broken woods digging at his skin as Jongin drags him behind one upturned table just as a strong blast knocks them both down on their feet.

Kyungsoo looks with wide eyes, worry and fear on them but not for himself but for the man heaving in forced silence beside him. Jongin’s eyes are wild but oddly focused at the same time, looking and watching at everything with his hand still firmly wrapped around Kyungsoo’s wrist.

The warning comes a little bit too late, Jongin shouting at Kyungsoo just before another grenade explodes just a few meters away from them. The sound renders Kyungsoo deaf for a few seconds but it’s not the explosion that tears through his body into painful shreds but the sight of Jongin’s bloody arm.

Jongin makes no move to acknowledge it and only the slight tug at his lips tells Kyungsoo that it’s probably hurting a lot. The sleeves of Jongin’s suit is teared, bloody gashes marring his skin and Kyungsoo knows he should be prepared for it but nobody ever told him it would hurt more to see someone he loves take the brunt of it.

“Kyungsoo.”

“Kyungsoo!”

Jongin’s face slowly swims into focus, the sound of gunshots coming back to life. Kyungsoo focuses his gaze on Jongin’s face, determined to not look at the bloody mess on the other’s body.

“Do you see Seungsoo?” Jongin whispers and Kyungsoo catches the strain on his voice.

Kyungsoo nods.

“I want you to run to him as fast as you can, okay? No looking back.” Jongin continues in a hush whisper, shaking his head when Kyungsoo opens his mouth to say something. “Trust me.”

Clenching his jaw, Kyungsoo tears his gaze away from Jongin and focuses on his brother standing a few breaths away from them. There are gunshots firing everywhere and his heart is threatening to claw out from his throat but then Jongin is shouting ‘Go!’ and he pushes forward.

It’s something in between sprinting and training, Kyungsoo thinks, as he zigzags his way through the mess on their once beautiful household. It isn’t new to him, by all means, but it’s his first time ever seeing Jongin get hurt even if the other male would not tell him so.

One shot misses his left foot by mere centimeters. He runs faster, thighs burning from the effort until he topples over behind one of the table, hurling himself forward and meeting a firm grasp as Jinki and Seungsoo hold him by both arms.

“Are you okay?”

Seungsoo’s face is blank but Kyungsoo could see the panic in his eyes. He turns around, almost making himself dizzy as he tries finding Jongin amidst the smoke and ruins; gunshots and explosions.

“Jongin.”

“He’ll be okay.”

Kyungsoo hears his brother say and when he doesn’t move, a hand firmly wraps around his arm, tugging him backward even as he tries and tries to catch Jongin’s shadow - Jongin’s anything.

“He’ll be okay.”

Seungsoo’s whisper against his ear doesn’t make sense but Kyungsoo could see a lot of familiar faces walking towards where they came from. This makes sense and he allows himself to be dragged outside, limbs weak and shaky and threatening to fail him until Jinki pushes him to sit down.

It’s then that the night sky wakes him up, the cold breeze sending shivers down his spine. He could see Seungsoo and his father talking, a huge crowd around them and Kyungsoo doesn’t need any explanations to know they’re all bodyguards stemming from branch families to the main.

The gunshots behind the wall slowly dies down, men clad in black slowly filtering out from the place, some chattering and some coughing from the smoke permeating the ruined air.

Kyungsoo stands up, the blanket draped over him by someone he fail to recognize falling lamely from his shoulder to the pavement.

Something lodges up in his throat, keeping him from breathing as he waits impatiently for the familiar silhouette to go through the fallen entrance.

Minutes pass by, the men slowly dispersing and something painful gnaws slowly inside him. It’s slow and distracting, a nagging feeling at the back of his mind and it steadily grows to stab needle after needle on his veins.

He’s not aware of stepping forward; not until Seungsoo grabs at his arm and stops him. He looks at him, eyes wide and wild but whatever the both of them were going to say gets cut off by the sound of footsteps, faint and staggering, uneven in its wake but still so very familiar and warm.

“Jongin.” Kyungsoo says first even before he has enough visibility to see the man stepping out of the rubble. Seungsoo doesn’t stop him this time as he wobbles forward, not from the exhaustion but from the relief constantly flooding inside him.

“Jongin!” he shouts, running and almost tripping when Jongin’s crooked smile comes into focus. Kyungsoo steps on the frustration and pain welling deep in him when he sees the bloody mess on Jongin’s arm, the cut on his cheek and the limp he’s enduring; focuses instead on the fact that Jongin is alive and he’ll be better.

Kyungsoo will make sure he gets better.

He fights the urge to throw himself to his best friend now standing awkwardly in front of him for fear of causing him more pain than necessary. Jongin’s smile turns apologetic and Kyungsoo furiously rubs at his nose with his arm, the tattered fabric of his suit rubbing his skin raw.

“Let’s get you treated.” he mumbles and it’s familiar when Jongin hooks his uninjured arm over Kyungsoo’s shoulder, the latter helping him forward even when they’re both staggering at the awkward angle.

Jongin’s breathing is ragged but still soft and undisturbing and it makes something flutter in between the spaces of Kyungsoo’s heart.

“I’m glad you’re alive.”

Jongin doesn’t smile but he does edge closer, almost stepping on Kyungsoo’s foot.

“I cannot die.” Jongin answers softly, eyes trained on Mr. Do and Seungsoo waiting for the both of them a few more steps away.

Kyungsoo hums and something faint touches at his temple; something akin to a caress as Jongin leans his head on Kyungsoo’s for the briefest of seconds.

“I was born to protect you.”

Kyungsoo’s heart stutters.

He's fallen in love.