There’s something undeniably exciting about graduation. When they stand in the entrance of the stadium rented out specifically for the event and they fuss over their graduation caps and gowns, it feels like they’ve gone a long way since the first moment they stepped onto their high school campus. When they walk into the stadium to the beat of their high school’s band playing the graduation song, it feels like the start of something special. This is the moment they’ve rehearsed for over the past few weeks. This is everything they’ve worked for over the past four years.

But the excitement wears off gradually as the night continues. Jongdae loses interest as he sits through the seemingly endless speeches given by students and faculty and other important people. By the time they receive their diplomas, Jongdae is counting down the minutes until the event is supposed to end. They were supposed to be finished half an hour ago, but it seems like there’s still a lot left.

Jongdae passes time poking Kyungsoo’s side and complaining about how late it is. “We still have to eat dinner after this and I’m starving.”

Kyungsoo retaliates by hissing at him to shut up and nudging his ribs with his elbow. Pretty soon, it feels like there are bruises on Jongdae’s side, but it’s worth it.

Finally, they’re told that they can throw their caps in the air. Jongdae cheers with the rest of his graduation class as they toss their caps, but Kyungsoo holds on to his.

“Why didn’t you throw yours?” Jongdae asks, as he searches on the ground for his cap.

“So I didn’t have to look like an idiot finding my cap,” Kyungsoo says. He doesn’t take his words back even when Jongdae kicks him in the shin. When Jongdae reaches out to take his cap, Kyungsoo takes advantage of Jongdae’s teetering balance to pull on his arm.

Jongdae barely saves his face from crashing to the ground by throwing an arm out before he lands. He winces as he stands up, cap successfully held in one hand. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Have you grown up at all over the past four years?” Kyungsoo replies, rolling his eyes.

They’re obligated to take a few pictures before leaving. Jongdae smiles and purposefully leans into Kyungsoo’s side more than necessary. The moment they can escape, Jongdae takes Kyungsoo by the arm and leads him out.

“Let’s go. We’re going to be late for the reservation. I bet Baekhyun’s already there.”

Baekhyun, who is also in their graduating class, had been separated from them in the seating arrangement. Jongdae had noted where he was sitting when they’d first stepped into the stadium, but now, with everyone walking around everywhere, it’s nearly impossible to locate Baekhyun.

There are many people and cars outside, and it’s starting to drizzle lightly. Jongdae holds onto Kyungsoo’s hand tightly as they walk through the crowd.

Even though they’re so close, it’s hard to hear above the racket around them. It takes Kyungsoo several tries to get Jongdae to hear what he’s saying, his lips brushing Jongdae’s ear with each syllable.

“I just got a text from Baekhyun. He’s at portal G.”

“Portal G?” Jongdae repeats. “We’re at portal P right now.” The stadium is too large, and there aren’t any signs at all.

“Let’s go this way.” Kyungsoo starts walking off, and Jongdae has to run after him.

“Don’t run off without me,” he says, taking Kyungsoo’s hand and linking their fingers together tightly. He holds on tighter when Kyungsoo tries to wrestle his hand out of Jongdae’s grasp.

“Stop holding on so tight,” Kyungsoo snaps. He’s looking up, a concentrated look on his face as he tries to find a sign.

“Stop trying to leave me behind,” Jongdae counters, wincing when he feels Kyungsoo’s nails digging into his skin.

They narrowly miss the ever moving crowds of people and the puddles of water starting to form on the sidewalk. Eventually, they find portal G, after going around nearly the entire perimeter of the stadium. Baekhyun is already there waiting for them.

“You guys took so long,” Baekhyun complains, coming between them and draping his arms over both of them.

“You could have tried to find us, you know,” Jongdae says.

Kyungsoo finally wrestles his hand out of Jongdae’s grip, and Jongdae lets his arm fall back to his side. It’s not like they’re fighting through the crowds anymore.

“You forget whose car you’re riding in,” Baekhyun says, dangling his car keys in Jongdae’s face.

It’s just because Baekhyun’s parents decided to buy him a new car as a graduation present. Jongdae can drive too, but his parents both already have two cars and aren’t willing to pay for another car and the insurance that comes with it. Jongdae doesn’t want to get a job and sacrifice what little free time he has, so it’s a lose-lose situation.

“Please don’t get us killed,” Kyungsoo says, opening the door to the backseat when they reach Baekhyun’s car.

Jongdae stares at the sleek black surface of the car. “I wonder how long it’ll take you to scratch this,” he says, as he gets into the car.

“You guys have no faith in my driving skills.” Baekhyun doesn’t sound particularly offended, though, and Jongdae can see Kyungsoo rolling his eyes in the backseat.

Other than the fact that they’re still in their caps and gowns because they’re in too much of a hurry to take them off, it feels like any other night, when they’d all go out together for a late dinner or just to spend some time together. Baekhyun and Jongdae sing loudly to the song playing on the car radio, while Kyungsoo chimes in from time to time to tell them that they’ve gotten the lyrics wrong. Baekhyun narrowly misses crashing into a car when they pull onto the freeway, and he complains about “reckless drivers these days” during the next commercial break.

“You were the one who was supposed to yield. You were turning left onto his lane,” Kyungsoo says.

“Shut up. You don’t even know how to drive yet.” Baekhyun leans back into his chair, trying to strike a pose of a careless, handsome driver, only to sit up straight with a yelp when Kyungsoo knees the back of his chair. “Don’t distract the driver!” he says, turning around to glare at Kyungsoo.

“I wanted to do more in life than just graduating from high school,” Jongdae says, wincing when the car behind them honks its horn loudly as they lean too far into the other lane.

“Why don’t you hurt him, too?” Baekhyun asks, turning his head awkwardly to keep his eyes on the road and Kyungsoo at the same time.

Jongdae sits up indignantly. “You want to see what’s under my shirt?” Maybe it’s true that Kyungsoo does tend to hurt Baekhyun more when Baekhyun is around, but that’s only because the kid really deserves it. Jongdae might be annoying, but he’s not that bad. Still, he can feel the bruises layering his ribs.

“Um.” Baekhyun gives Jongdae a swift once-over. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.”

“Not like that, you idiot.” Jongdae puts his cap down on the ground and shifts so he can pull his gown off. “Kyungsoo was being mean to me during the whole graduation ceremony.”

“Because you were being an annoying little ,” Kyungsoo says, just as Baekhyun screams, “No stripping in the car!”

“Relax, I’m just taking my gown—” Jongdae nearly bites off his tongue before he can finish his sentence when Baekhyun makes a sharp right turn, narrowly missing two cars as he switches to the exit lane.

“Pull off,” Kyungsoo says. “Let Jongdae drive.”

Baekhyun just laughs loudly, seeming unconcerned that he had been inches away from death. “We’re almost there. Live a little.”

Somehow, they manage to make it to the restaurant alive. When they walk into the restaurant, they’ve all taken off their caps and gowns, leaving them in a messy pile in the car. They’re laughing and joking as they take a seat, limbs knocking together comfortably as they’re handed menus.

It doesn’t matter that, in a few months, they’re going to be separated. What matters is that, for now, they’re together with each other. They don’t even talk about it. It’s too early to start thinking about what they’re leaving behind when their future is just starting.

Jongdae remembers the first time he met Kyungsoo. His mom insisted on introducing Kyungsoo to him, and practically ordered him to include Kyungsoo in his and Baekhyun’s games.

“He just came to America,” she told him, “so he doesn’t understand much English. Kyungsoo,” she said, addressing Kyungsoo in Korean, “this is Jongdae. You guys should go play.”

Jongdae was aware that his Korean wasn’t great. It felt awkward trying to speak in the tongue; while he could understand it, he preferred speaking in English. He shifted awkwardly in place when Kyungsoo looked up at him and his mother left them alone. “Hi,” he said. That was one phrase that he could say without stuttering. When Kyungsoo didn’t respond, he searched for something else to say. “Um… do you want to come with me?” Kyungsoo still didn’t respond, but he followed Jongdae into the kitchen, where Baekhyun was sitting on one of the tall stools playing with toy soldiers. “That’s Baekhyun,” he said, hitting Baekhyun lightly on the head and taking a seat beside Baekhyun.

Kyungsoo clambered onto the stool beside Jongdae, turning his stare onto Baekhyun, who only waved with a toy soldier in his hand. “Here, do you know how to play?” Baekhyun asked, handing a few soldiers to Kyungsoo as Jongdae grabbed some for himself.

Kyungsoo shook his head. Baekhyun and Jongdae spent the next ten minutes explaining the rules, each speaking over the other when one of them got stuck in the terminology. They were used to speaking to adults in formal Korean, but it was difficult explaining a game to another kid in Korean, especially when their vocabulary wasn’t nearly sufficient. Most of the explanation included random English words and a lot of wild hand gestures and quite a bit of bickering.

“Did you understand that?” Baekhyun asked, when he decided that he’d finished.

Kyungsoo shook his head, his face completely serious. He hadn’t spoken a word since he’d met Jongdae, and Jongdae was starting to wonder whether he could speak at all.

“Oh my god. I’m not explaining that again,” Baekhyun groaned, hitting his head against the counter. He’d seen the move on a TV show before and insisted on doing it to show his despair, no matter how much it hurt.

Jongdae hit Baekhyun on the back of the head as Baekhyun started to sit up, causing Baekhyun’s head to hit the counter again with a loud thud. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Kyungsoo cringe a little. He flashed a disarming smile at Kyungsoo. “Let’s eat some ice cream. We can try to play later.”

The day before, Jongdae’s mom had bought him drumsticks, his and Baekhyun’s favorite snack. Jongdae grabbed three packets from the fridge, handing one to Baekhyun and one to Kyungsoo.

Jongdae started to tear open his wrapper, but he noticed that Baekhyun was staring at Kyungsoo very intently. Confused, he turned to observe Kyungsoo as well. Unaware of the two eyes on him, Kyungsoo opened the wrapper, pulling the ice cream out by the cone. Jongdae could hear Baekhyun laughing softly from beside him, but he didn’t understand why. It seemed logical to open the wrapper from the bottom if you wanted to hold the ice cream cone by the bottom.

But Kyungsoo didn’t turn the ice cream cone right side up. Instead, he held it by the tip of its cone, turning it this way and that. “Why does this thing have a hat?”

By this point, Baekhyun’s shoulders were shaking uncontrollably from laugher, and Jongdae was covering his mouth to contain his own laughter. Kyungsoo still looked confused, which only made the situation funnier. Jongdae leaned across the table, holding a hand over his stomach and another over his mouth. He didn’t want to appear rude, but he’d never heard of anyone describe an ice cream cone like that.

He hadn’t known, back then, that Kyungsoo had grown up in the countryside with his grandparents. Kyungsoo had never even seen an ice cream cone then, and he was used to drinking orange juice mixed in with a lot of water. Kyungsoo hadn’t even heard of some of the small things in Jongdae’s life that he took for granted.

But he did know that, rather than being insulted or sad that Baekhyun and Jongdae were laughing at some joke he didn’t understand, Kyungsoo chose to laugh with them instead. It was a small, hesitant smile at first, one that lit up his face and made his eyes sparkle. The sweet smile stretched wider across Kyungsoo’s face, and Jongdae found himself staring at Kyungsoo as the laughter died in his throat.

That smile was like the first offer of friendship. Even now, Kyungsoo doesn’t smile often, but when he does, Jongdae finds that he can’t look away.

They see Baekhyun off at the airport at the end of summer, waving as Baekhyun boards an airplane headed for Pennsylvania with promises to meet up again one day.

They don’t really feel Baekhyun’s absence as much, though. Through texting and frequent calls, Baekhyun’s voice and obnoxiously loud laugh just a dial away, it doesn’t feel like Baekhyun is on the other side of the country.

Besides, Jongdae and Kyungsoo are getting ready going to college themselves. They’re both attending Georgia University the coming autumn, and they’ve chosen to room with each other over the next four years.

Going to a university just a few minutes from where he lives means that it doesn’t feel as big of a deal to Jongdae. It doesn’t feel like a huge step in his life. During the summer, some of the glamour that came with graduating from high school had worn off, so it almost feels natural to step into the dorm room with Kyungsoo by his side.

Jongdae’s convinced that, as long as Kyungsoo is there, he won’t have problems getting through the four years of being an undergrad.

The first problem, of course, is opening their dorm room.

“I’ve got it,” Jongdae insists, when Kyungsoo sighs exasperatedly and tries to push him out of the way. “Almost…”

It takes several tries, but eventually, he unlocks the room. Kyungsoo pushes past Jongdae, nearly knocking him into the doorframe as he enters and drops his stuff off, immediately claiming the bed on the right side of the room.

“I can’t believe I’m stuck with you,” Kyungsoo grumbles, collapsing onto the mattress.

Jongdae just smiles as he closes the dorm room. He puts his stuff down and sits on the edge of his bed, looking at Kyungsoo. He’s already used to Kyungsoo’s complaints, and besides, it had been Kyungsoo who had suggested that they room together, saying, “I’m putting you down as my roommate,” as they’d filled out their college application forms.

“Who even uses keys these days, though?” Jongdae says, starting to unpack his suitcase onto his bed. “They’re so old fashioned.”

Kyungsoo mutters something under his breath as he starts unpacking his things, too. Jongdae leans forward, cupping a hand around his ear. “What? Say that louder. I can’t hear you.”

Kyungsoo throws a pillow at his face. “Don’t treat this like your room. I don’t want to see your dirty laundry on the ground.”

“Most of the clothes on my floor are actually yours and Baekhyun’s,” Jongdae protests, and it’s true. They tend to borrow each other’s clothes sometimes, and Jongdae keeps meaning to give them back, but they always end up forgotten on the ground. It’s a nice substitute for carpet, though, especially during the winter months. Apparently, it’s too hot in Georgia to turn on the heater during the winter, but it can be pretty cold in the morning, especially since the floor in Jongdae’s room is wooden. So the clothes actually serve a purpose.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Kyungsoo says, folding his clothes and stacking them neatly.

Jongdae just sorts his clothes into piles and carries them an armful at the time to throw into the closet. When he finishes, he sits on Kyungsoo’s bed, watching the other fold his clothes. “That’s going to take you forever.”

Kyungsoo glares at him, but obviously thinks that Jongdae isn’t worth the effort to talk to, since he goes back to folding his clothes a moment later. Jongdae just shrugs and starts looking through Kyungsoo’s things.

There are still a few clothes in his suitcase, but under that, there are many books. Most of them are notebooks, the pages blank and unused, and the others are used textbooks. There’s one book in particular that catches Jongdae’s eye, though, and he laughs as he pulls it out.

“The Roommate? Really?” Jongdae laughs as he looks up at Kyungsoo, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. “Now I know what your secret fantasies are.”

Kyungsoo puts down the shirt he’s folding and leans forward. Jongdae can already tell from the look in Kyungsoo’s eyes that he’s not going to survive this one. Throwing his arms in the air in surrender, Jongdae tries to get off the bed, but he already knows that he’s too late.

This is going to be fun.

The more Jongdae got to know Kyungsoo, the more he liked him. Although he had been initially reluctant to befriend someone who couldn’t speak English that well, Kyungsoo learned the language quickly. They lived next door to each other, and took the bus to school every morning. It was only natural that they spent a lot of time together, but most of the time, it was Jongdae talking to fill up the silence. Sometimes, Kyungsoo would chime in with a word or two, but mostly, he’d just stare at Jongdae, seeming to listen as the other spoke.

It was hard to get close to someone that didn’t really speak back, though. There were times when he’d ignore Kyungsoo in favor of talking to Baekhyun, since he’d known Baekhyun longer.

However, it all changed during their next summer.

They were going into fourth grade, which made Baekhyun old enough to attend a summer camp a few hours away from Athens.

Jongdae had been disappointed to see his friend go, since summer was usually the time that he and Baekhyun could play together all day, ignoring everything else as they ran through the woods nearby and played in the swimming pool.

But whereas the previous summers had been filled with Baekhyun’s jokes and antics, that summer, Jongdae discovered Kyungsoo’s soft laughter and playful side as he pulled Jongdae underwater. He’d expected the summer to go be boring, but it went by surprisingly quickly with Kyungsoo by his side.

It was Kyungsoo running by his side, holding his hand as they raced through the faint trail through the woods. There was no reason at all for them to run other than the rush of the wind in their ears, the thrill that thrummed like blood through their veins, and the smiles that they had for each other in the end when no one else could see.

It was Kyungsoo who helped Jongdae corner the ducks and feed them, something that Baekhyun had refused to do. Kyungsoo sat by Jongdae’s side, tossing bread at the animals and scaring them away with a wave of his hands when they got too aggressive. And Kyungsoo was actually the one who suggested that they go into the pool, running to the edge and dipping their feet in, then eventually pulling their pant legs up to their knees and running into the water. Naturally, they ended up getting wet anyway, teeth flashing under the bright sunlight as they splashed water on each other. Then they lay down in the grass, side by side, bare feet touching, as they waited for the sun’s rays to dry them off.

Summer was long, lazy conversations under the shade of a tall tree. There was no rush to speak the words, since they had all the time they needed to just listen to each other. Their conversations probably wouldn’t be understandable to anyone else; they were a mix of Korean and English, with little made up words in between. It was with patience that Jongdae listened intently as Kyungsoo struggled with words to convey his thoughts; it was with encouragement that Kyungsoo taught Jongdae new Korean words.

Summer was like a secret dream that they both shared, smiles and words hidden away from others. It was made up of sand castles that they built together, labored on for hours to perfect every detail, only to be knocked down before they had to return home for lunch. It was the laughter they shared as they played on the swings together, trying to see who could go higher than the other person. It was also the words they exchanged, filling up the spaces between them like the way their palms fit together so effortlessly.

“Do you want to go back to Korea one day?” Jongdae asked one day, when they sat on his back porch, hiding away from the worst of the noon heat.

“Maybe,” Kyungsoo replied, carefully balancing a worm that he’d found on his finger and grinning when Jongdae flinched away. “Not forever, though,” he added, setting the worm on the ground between them and pulling both ends closer together to form a circle. It wasn’t much of a circle, though, since the worm kept squirming between Kyungsoo’s fingers. “I’m happier here.”

“Let’s go back together one day,” Jongdae suggested. According to his parents, he’d been to Korea when he was a toddler, but he had no memory of it. He hadn’t really wanted to go back before, either, since he liked America just fine and he didn’t want to embarrass himself by speaking Korean. But maybe, with Kyungsoo, it’d be okay.

“One day,” Kyungsoo agreed. He was still messing with the worm, and Jongdae made a note to remind him to wash his hands later so he wouldn’t be eating worm flavored ice cream. “Look, it’s a heart,” he said, finally removing his hands, seeming satisfied by the final product.

It was a heart, at least for a few minutes, before the worm moved again and slid back into the dirt. But that was okay, Jongdae thought, as he looked up at Kyungsoo’s smile. Because the shape of Kyungsoo’s lips made a much better heart, and a measly worm couldn’t compare to that.

Jongdae wanted to mention it, but he didn’t think he had the adequate words to describe his feelings, so instead, he reached out and took Kyungsoo’s hand into his own, worm flavored and all. Even without Baekhyun, this was the best summer ever.

Somehow, although they’re attending the same university and they’re roommates and they see each other before sleeping and waking every day, they don’t get to spend much time together. Part of it is because they’re in different majors, and they’re busy with work most days to really talk to each other.

Which is why, a month after the beginning of the school year, Jongdae decides that he has to make an effort to spend more time with Kyungsoo. It’s a shame, really, that it feels like he talks to Baekhyun more than Kyungsoo these days.

He starts off by forcing Kyungsoo to get lunch with him. Considering their conflicting schedules, it’s not much of a success.

“I already ate lunch,” Kyungsoo tells Jongdae as he sits in a chair across from Jongdae at the dining hall.

“You know, the point of us getting lunch together was so that we could eat together,” Jongdae says. He picks up one of his slices of pizza and holds it out to Kyungsoo. “Want one?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head, taking his phone out of his pocket. “It’s okay. I’m full.”

And Jongdae knows what’s going to happen next. Kyungsoo is going to get so immersed in texting someone and Jongdae is going to going to be so occupied with eating that, even though they’re sitting right across the table from each other, they’re not really going to be with each other. So he reaches over and covers Kyungsoo’s phone screen with one hand.

“Kyungsoo, pay attention to me,” he says, not caring if he sounds irritatingly whiny. Because the point of them spending time together was so that they could actually spend time together.

Kyungsoo looks up at him with a small frown. “Why? You’re not even doing anything interesting. You’re still eating.”

Jongdae points his fork at Kyungsoo. “Then you talk.”

“About what?” Kyungsoo looks amused, but also somewhat uncomfortable. Jongdae knows that Kyungsoo hates being put on the spot, that Kyungsoo is actually a really talkative person. If you engage Kyungsoo in an interesting conversation, he can keep up with you for hours. But Jongdae has kind of run out of topics to talk about.

He shrugs, spearing pasta with his fork. “I don’t know. About your classes, I guess.”

“But you don’t care about my classes.” Kyungsoo looks puzzled, but at least he’s looking at Jongdae now—really looking at him, not the way their eyes would just happen to lock early in the morning.

And it’s true, Jongdae doesn’t, but he does care about how Kyungsoo is doing, so he points his fork at Kyungsoo with more insistence. “Talk.”

Kyungsoo hesitates, but when Jongdae stares unrelentingly at him, he does. It’s a little awkward at first, but soon, he’s talking enthusiastically about a project he’s going to be working on in class with this boy, Park Chanyeol—

“When are you guys going to meet?” Jongdae interrupts, and Kyungsoo looks at him curiously.

“This Saturday at the library.”

“Oh, can I go too?” Jongdae asks, lowering his head to take a bite of his pizza to avoid Kyungsoo’s curious look.

“Why would you want to go? You’re just going to be a distraction.”

“Ow.” Jongdae winces dramatically. “It’s not like I have anything to do,” he says. “I’ll just study quietly in the library. I won’t bother you guys, I promise.”

Kyungsoo continues staring at Jongdae doubtfully, but eventually, he allows Jongdae to go with him to the library.

When Saturday comes, Kyungsoo tries to sneak out of the room while Jongdae is still looking for his student ID that had somehow detached itself from the lanyard. Jongdae barely manages to grab Kyungsoo’s foot before he can walk out.

“Hold on, I just need to find my ID…”

Kyungsoo tries to kick Jongdae, but Jongdae refuses to give up on his grip. A few minutes later, he finds his ID between the pages of his calculus textbook, and he remembers that he’d been chewing on the edges as he’d stared at his homework. “Are you a kid?” Kyungsoo grumbles, wiggling his foot in Jongdae’s grip, although he doesn’t put any strength in his efforts to break away.

“I found it!” Jongdae says proudly, waving his ID in Kyungsoo’s face as he gets up.

“That’s great, but I’m going to be late now.” Kyungsoo looks down at his phone; there are still five more minutes until he’s supposed to meet with Chanyeol, and according to Kyungsoo, that’s not enough time to get halfway across the college campus. Jongdae, however, thinks differently.

“Let’s hurry,” he says, taking Kyungsoo’s hand and dragging him into the nearest elevator.

He doesn’t let go of Kyungsoo’s hand even as they walk outside, breaking out into a run and nearly getting them killed several times as they cross the street right in front of passing cars. It’s the first time Jongdae’s heard Kyungsoo scream in a long time. It’s oddly refreshing.

Kyungsoo hits Jongdae hard on the side of his head when they arrive at the library’s front steps. It makes Jongdae stumble a few steps, but even Jongdae has to admit that he deserves it. “Were you trying to kill us?”

“Hey, at least we got here on time,” Jongdae says, and sure enough, it’s exactly three in the afternoon.

Kyungsoo glares at Jongdae, a look that tells Jongdae this isn’t going to be the end, but he clearly thinks that being on time is more important than killing Jongdae just then, since he continues walking into the library.

Jongdae follows closely behind Kyungsoo, ignoring the anger obviously radiating off of his friend.

“You didn’t tell me he was this hot,” Jongdae says, stopping shortly when he sees who Kyungsoo is working with. He ignores the sharp jab that Kyungsoo delivers to his ribs.

The boy, Chanyeol, raises his eyes and flashes him a smile. “I guess nothing’s better than the real thing, huh?” He stands up to offer Jongdae his hand, and wow, he’s really tall too. “I’m Chanyeol.”

“Jongdae,” Jongdae replies, instead of the, “I know,” that he’d almost blurted out. He shakes Chanyeol’s hand, purposefully making his touch linger a moment longer before dropping his hand.

“Leave,” Kyungsoo says, pushing Jongdae away with a serious scowl. He must be madder about the death incident than Jongdae had originally thought. “You told me you wouldn’t bother us.”

“Let me get his number at first,” Jongdae says, and he raises his eyebrows at Chanyeol while flashing him an undoubtedly charming smile.

Chanyeol just laughs and gives Jongdae his phone number, while Kyungsoo sits, looking almost murderous until Jongdae walks away.

It progresses steadily from there—a few texts, mostly an awkward “what are you doing,” a phrase that seems to take up a good part of most of their first conversations. But eventually, talking to Chanyeol becomes a more natural and common occurrence. They don’t meet up often, but Jongdae gets to know Chanyeol better through late lunches on Thursdays and texts sent between seconds of free time.

Sometime between consistent text messages and late night calls, Chanyeol suggests that they begin dating, and it’s something that Jongdae readily agrees to. They still don’t meet up often, but they make up for it by the amount of time they spend messaging and calling each other.

“Why do you keep texting him?” Kyungsoo asks him one day, kicking Jongdae’s foot when he catches the other staring at his phone instead of the textbook on his desk.

“Because.” There isn’t really a reason, other than that Chanyeol is fun and easy to talk to. When Kyungsoo keeps glaring at him, Jongdae puts down his phone and walks over to Kyungsoo and hugs him. It’s awkward from this angle, since Kyungsoo is sitting down, his back stiff and unyielding when Jongdae first puts his arms around Kyungsoo’s neck. But after a few moments, Kyungsoo melts into the embrace, putting a hand on the small of Jongdae’s back. “You don’t have to worry, you know. You’ll always be my best friend.” It’s an almost childish term, but Kyungsoo doesn’t laugh. He also doesn’t squirm away when Jongdae bends down to bury his face into Kyungsoo’s soft hair.

“I know,” Kyungsoo says, after a few moments of silence. “Just take care of yourself, okay?”

Jongdae nods, the tip of his nose still touching Kyungsoo’s hair. “Okay.”

This is why, despite Kyungsoo’s death threats and abnormal behavior at times, Jongdae still likes him the best: Kyungsoo really cares, even if he doesn’t always show it.

Jongdae came out to Kyungsoo when he was thirteen, a few months after he'd told Baekhyun and his parents.

"I've kissed Baekhyun before," Jongdae confessed randomly one day after school, when they'd stopped by at a convenience store to buy ice cream. He was chasing after a drop of the rapidly melting snack, his fingers sticky and cold, his eyes crossed from staring at his cone.

Kyungsoo's reaction had been different from Baekhyun's (smug and unsurprised) or from his parents' (shocked and relenting) initial expressions. He'd stopped chewing on his cone for a few seconds, nose scrunched in disgust like he'd eaten something unbearably sour. "Do you have any taste at all?"

It hadn't been bad, honestly, but Jongdae didn't tell him that. "I bet you haven't kissed anyone else."

Kyungsoo snorted softly and went back to eating his cone, crunching it loudly between his teeth. "Unlike you, I don't have to stoop that low to get my first kiss." A few more chews, and then he turned to Jongdae curiously. "What was it like?"

"It was..." Jongdae caught a drip of ice cream with the tip of his tongue, buying time as he searched for words. "It wasn't that bad." He wasn't sure why he was divulging this information; other than Jongdae and Baekhyun, no one knew about it. But Jongdae was as close to Kyungsoo as he was to Baekhyun, if not a little closer.

Kyungsoo looked at him, his gaze steady and unnerving. Jongdae ignored him, tipping his head back to get the last of the ice cream out of the cone. He lowered his head after a few minutes, his neck sore from the strain, and twisted his neck from side to side, flipping his bangs away from his eyes.

"I'm done," he said, catching Kyungsoo's eyes and realizing that the other had been staring at him the whole time.

Kyungsoo was nearly done, too, with just a small stub of his cone left. "You're not going to eat the cone?"

"No." Jongdae had taken a small bite of the cone before deciding that the ice cream was better. "I don't like these cones."

They walked over to the trash can to throw away their wrappers. They'd left their backpacks by the front door of the store.

"So does that mean that you're gay?" Kyungsoo asked conversationally, as Jongdae started to bend to grab his backpack.

Jongdae turned to face him, his hand still outstretched, just a few inches away from reaching his backpack. "I guess?" He laughed, feeling a little awkward under Kyungsoo's direct stare. "I mean, I'm not dating Baekhyun or anything, and nothing's going to change. It was just a kiss..."

Kyungsoo pulled Jongdae up by his shoulder, and before Jongdae could ask him what he was doing, Kyungsoo's lips were against his.

Jongdae gasped quietly against Kyungsoo's mouth, his eyes wide open from surprise, but then Kyungsoo tilted his head to one side, sliding their lips together softly. And this--this was nice too. Jongdae slowly brought his hand up, letting it rest lightly, tentatively on Kyungsoo's shoulder.

After a moment, when Kyungsoo didn't move, Jongdae opened his mouth slightly, letting his tongue flick over the corner of Kyungsoo's mouth, the sweet remains of ice cream lingering there.

Then Kyungsoo stepped back, turning away from Jongdae to grab his backpack. Jongdae's hand slid off his shoulder. After a moment of standing dazedly in place, Jongdae grabbed his backpack as well. He took a deep breath, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and ran after Kyungsoo.

"What was that for?" he teased, fiddling with his backpack strap. He could still taste the stickily sweet mint ice cream on his tongue.

Kyungsoo looked over at Jongdae, his eyes unreadable, before he fixed them to the front again as they paused at an intersection. "We're even now," he said. His lips were a glossy red, and Jongdae didn't try to hide the way he was obviously staring.

"Are you going to kiss Baekhyun, too?"

Kyungsoo scoffed, a weary exhale of air. "I've got better taste than that."

So did that mean he thought Jongdae was acceptable enough to kiss? Jongdae was tempted to ask, but instead, he said, "Well, I'm honored that I got this chance."

"You know, that wasn't my first kiss either." The moment the signal changed to indicate that pedestrians could cross, Kyungsoo brushed past Jongdae before Jongdae had a chance to ask anything else.

Their first year of college goes by surprisingly quickly, one deadline at a time, days blurring together until they’re on the steps outside of the lecture hall, having just finished their last final exam of the year. It feels almost surreal as Jongdae packs his things again, cramming as much as he can in his suitcase before stuffing the remainder in his backpack. He can still remember the three talks he had to sit through before college, from three different sets of parents—his, Kyungsoo’s, and Baekhyun’s.

The door opens as Jongdae is contemplating how to fit his pillow somehow, and Kyungsoo walks in, tossing his sweatshirt onto his bed. His cheeks are flushed a light pink, no doubt from the heat outside. They haven’t entered into the worst of summer yet, but the steady sunlight overhead doesn’t make the temperature any lower.

Jongdae drops the things in his hands and hugs Kyungsoo from behind, his arms wrapping around Kyungsoo’s waist and his nose pressing into the softness of Kyungsoo’s hair. Kyungsoo freezes for a moment, his whole body tensing since he hadn’t been expecting the contact, but he relaxes gradually. His hand comes up to pat Jongdae’s arm, a touch that feels awkward, like he’s trying to find a way out of the hug. It’s just Kyungsoo’s way of reciprocating, though, so Jongdae holds him for a moment longer.

“We’re done with school,” Jongdae says, his breath falling on Kyungsoo’s neck, and Kyungsoo flinches away slightly. “Are you ready for summer?”

“Not if it’s with you,” Kyungsoo says, and Jongdae makes a soft noise of protest as he steps away. “Besides, don’t get too excited yet. You still haven’t gotten your final results yet.” From the faint upward curl of Kyungsoo’s mouth, it’s obvious that Kyungsoo is saying this just because he knows exactly how to dampen Jongdae’s mood.

“I’m sure I passed.” Jongdae’s confident of that, at least, although the way Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows at him makes him fidget.

They drive back home that evening, Kyungsoo’s and Jongdae’s family eating dinner together for the first time in a while. It feels different, since Baekhyun’s family isn’t here too. They’re gone to visit Baekhyun’s older brother somewhere up north, so this summer is just Kyungsoo and Jongdae again.

When Jongdae receives his finals results, he makes sure to show Kyungsoo. He’d made higher than a B-average in his classes and hadn’t failed any of them. Kyungsoo smiles, an indulgent but faintly condescending smile as he accidentally lets his phone slip to show Jongdae his nearly perfect GPA.

They both get jobs at a local restaurant that summer, escaping the worst of the heat in a constantly air conditioned building. It’s not easy work, waiting tables for small tips and washing the piles of dirty dishes after the customers leave, but it’s nothing to complain about either.

Working with Kyungsoo makes it easier, since Kyungsoo makes sure Jongdae doesn’t mess up on the orders, deciphers his illegible handwriting for him, and makes sure Jongdae keeps his shirt tucked in. Sometimes, when there’s no one around, they’ll flick soap bubbles at each other as they do the dishes, getting each other’s clothes wet at the end of the day. Even though Jongdae fills Baekhyun’s phone with complaints afterwards, he knows that there couldn’t have been a better way to spend his summer.

There are worse days, though, like when they have to work overtime waiting on tables during Friday evenings, or when they have to walk around so much that they don’t even sit during their breaks in case they can’t get up again.

Jongdae finds Kyungsoo one evening, after their shifts are over, staring down at one of the tables with a frown. He walks up and nudges him with his hip. “What are you staring at?”

Kyungsoo points at a piece of paper lying beside one of the plates on the table. His expression seems to be caught somewhere between amusement and disgust, the thin line of his lips softened by the dim light overhead.

Jongdae leans over his shoulder, laughing loudly into Kyungsoo’s ear when he sees the numbers scrawled on the paper. “Someone left you a phone number instead of a tip?”

“I didn’t ask them for it,” Kyungsoo mutters, dropping the paper into the dish and stacking the other dishes up with practiced efficiency. “He even asked for my name.”

Jongdae smiles at this, since Kyungsoo always his name badge turned the wrong way. “I can’t blame him, though. You look really cute in the uniform.”

Maybe it’s the way Jongdae’s arm is pressed so close to Kyungsoo’s, but he doesn’t miss the way Kyungsoo shivers slightly.

When Jongdae isn’t busy with his work shifts, he has long conversations with Chanyeol over the phone or through their text messages. Sometimes, when he has a day off, he catches up with his high school friends, the ones who are still around in the city. Most of his days are spent with Kyungsoo, and it’s almost become a routine now, the way they end up spending their summers together, purposefully or otherwise.

Summer is sitting out in Kyungsoo’s backyard while Kyungsoo’s dad fries meat on the barbeque. There’s an umbrella above their heads, and Jongdae stretches his legs over the chair to press his toes against the covering over Kyungsoo’s pool.

“Why don’t you open the pool?” Jongdae asks when Kyungsoo kicks his foot away.

“Too much effort,” Kyungsoo says, leaning back in his chair.

They used to play in this pool when they were still kids, plunging underwater when the heat got to be too much. Now, it’s become another one of the things that are just for seeing, like the clusters of oranges that hang from the trees in Kyungsoo’s backyard when autumn comes around that no one bothers picking anymore.

Jongdae wants to argue, but Kyungsoo’s dad has already finished frying the meat. “Mr. Do, can we take some to eat in the park?” Jongdae asks, getting up from his chair.

“Of course,” Kyungsoo’s dad says, stepping aside to let Jongdae grab some of the skewers from the grill.

Jongdae holds the plate in one hand and takes Kyungsoo’s hand with the other, leading him across the road without looking either way.

“You didn’t even look for cars,” Kyungsoo says, once they’ve reached the other side.

“There weren’t any,” Jongdae points out.

Kyungsoo jerks his hand out of Jongdae’s grasp with a glare that’s mostly harmless. “I take it back. You’re worse than Baekhyun.”

Jongdae and Baekhyun used to have this game, back then, about who Kyungsoo liked better. It changed from week to week, and they used to make a big deal out of it, but now Jongdae just laughs, throwing an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder as they walk. “You’ll take that back when you see Baekhyun again.”

The walk to the park across the street from Kyungsoo’s house is short, and other than the longer grasses reaching up their ankles, it hasn’t changed at all. Even the swing sets haven’t changed, although they creak slightly as Kyungsoo and Jongdae get on. They don’t talk as they eat the barbequed meat, and Jongdae uses the silence to remember the times they’d come here after school years ago, running directly here from the bus stop in the afternoons.

“Remember when we used to come here?” Jongdae says, breaking the silence and dragging his feet in the dirt so he comes to a stop. “You used to be so small, even smaller than you are now, but you pushed me down the slides.”

“I could push you down now,” Kyungsoo threatens, but it isn’t nearly as scary when he’s a safe distance away.

Jongdae grins and gets off his slide, going to stand behind Kyungsoo. He gives Kyungsoo a light push, dodging Kyungsoo’s foot that stretches backwards to kick him when Kyungsoo swings back. After a few tries, Kyungsoo gives up, letting Jongdae push him higher as he tips his head up towards the sky.

Afterwards, Kyungsoo insists on pushing Jongdae down the slide, and they end up laughing as they finish the last of the barbequed meat, walking back across the street hand in hand.

Jongdae and Chanyeol had made promises to see each other over the summer, but they’d never found time. Soon, classes started again, and though they managed to grab lunch together sometimes, most of their interactions occurred across the phone.

“You know, the point of being in a relationship is actually seeing each other,” Kyungsoo says, when he catches Jongdae texting intensely on his phone.

Jongdae does know how much distance can eat into relationships, how even technology can’t make up for the familiar warmth of a person’s presence. But it’s hard with all the work they have, especially since they’re in entirely different majors and don’t have an excuse to spend much time together. “I’m trying,” Jongdae says, letting his pitch rise into a whine as he lays his phone face down on his desk.

“Invite him over to the dorm sometime,” Kyungsoo suggests, leaning over the space between their desks to nudge Jongdae’s foot with his own. “I don’t mind.”

Somehow, it’s Kyungsoo who ends up inviting Chanyeol over to their dorm, and it’s Kyungsoo who ends up sitting between the two of them on Jongdae’s bed as they pick a movie to watch on Jongdae’s laptop. Chanyeol brings several bags of freshly popped popcorn, the outsides of the bags stained with butter and still hot to the touch. The popcorn grows cold as the movie starts, but they eat it anyway, finishing kernels as they talk over the movie’s soundtrack.

They’re on their last bag of popcorn before the movie is even halfway over. Chanyeol cautions them to slow down, but that only encourages them to finish the bag even more quickly. Kyungsoo grabs the last few pieces, popping them into his mouth just as Jongdae reaches into the bag only to find the buttery remnants of popcorn kernels.

Kyungsoo gives him a small, apologetic smile as he leans across Jongdae to grab a napkin. “I’ll buy you some later,” he says, his tone consoling. When Jongdae sticks out his pinky to seal the promise, Kyungsoo just rolls his eyes and uses the napkin in his hand to wipe the butter off of Jongdae’s fingers.

Jongdae opens his mouth to complain, since he’d been planning on his fingers, but Chanyeol interrupts before he can, silencing them with an insistent, “Hush. This is the best part.” Jongdae turns his attention to the screen, and the exploding cars are almost enough to distract him from the way Kyungsoo slips his fingers between Jongdae’s, pressing their palms together.

The only light in the room comes from the screen of Jongdae’s laptop, and for a while, the only sounds are from the explosions happening in the movie. Kyungsoo keeps holding Jongdae’s hand until the credits are rolling onscreen and the theme music is playing in the background. When he finally lets go, Chanyeol is already standing up and stretching his limbs, saying that he needs to get back to his room to work on a paper.

Jongdae gets up to see him off. Somehow, even the hug that Chanyeol gives him outside the door isn’t enough to make up for his sudden lack of warmth. The implication behind that thought brings a flood of unusual feelings, chaotic emotions that he tries to block out as he closes the door behind Chanyeol.

It’s funny that, for all their bickering and differences, they don’t fight often. Part of it came from the years the spent together, to the point that they were familiar with the slightest change in each other’s body language.

They bring up old fights sometimes, usually during days when they’re sitting around with nothing better to do. It’s usually the easiest way to get Kyungsoo flustered, especially when Baekhyun, Jongdae, and Kyungsoo are trying to outdo each other in telling the most embarrassing stories.

There are some stories that they’ve told often enough that they can finish each other’s sentences. There are also some stories that are rarely brought up.

One of the worst fights between Kyungsoo and Jongdae had occurred during their freshman year of high school. It started one day during PE, when they were playing soccer. They’d made a big deal about winning during the game, but afterwards, when they dispersed into their own groups, no one brought it up again. For whatever reason, there were times when Jongdae was drawn into this rush, too, influenced by the screams and cheers.

He remembers short scenes from that day—standing on the field and trying to pass the ball to the right people, even though it was hard to remember who was on his team and he never played soccer outside of gym class. He was the only one on that side of the field, other than the goalie, and he looked up just in time to see Minseok a few feet away.

Minseok was small, often underestimated, but he was fast. He’d scored the last two goals for his team, and Jongdae was determined not to let Minseok get past him. Looking back, it was a futile attempt, but there was no one else to help him. So Jongdae rushed forward, without any real finesse. The only goal in his mind was to steal the ball away from Minseok.

Minseok looked up, eyes widening in surprise like he hadn’t expected Jongdae to rush at him, but he reacted quickly, kicking the ball backwards with his foot and spinning it towards one of his teammates. Jongdae was staring at the ball one minute, and it was gone the next. He’d tried to avoid Minseok, thinking that the other had regained his footing, but they’d both underestimated the power of momentum.

Jongdae had tried to slide to the side, avoiding collision with Minseok, but it had been too late. Minseok tripped, somehow crashing into Jongdae and knocking them both onto the ground.

The game was still going on, like no one had noticed what had happened. Jongdae hadn’t even registered what happened until a few moments had gone by, and he stared up at Minseok, trying to move but unable to. Their legs had somehow gotten tangled in the fall and Minseok was on top of him, so he was unable to move.

“Hold on,” Minseok said, wincing as he braced himself on his palms to avoid crushing Jongdae.

Then Minseok was knocked backwards onto the ground, and Kyungsoo was standing by them. “What are you doing?” he asked, his tone unnaturally sharp.

Minseok stood up, brushing grass and dirt from his shorts. “It was just an accident. My bad,” he added, directing the sentence to Jongdae, but Kyungsoo stepped between them.

“What was that for?” Kyungsoo demanded, the obvious anger in his voice making Minseok flinch. “It was an infraction.”

“Hey.” Jongdae got up, pulling on Kyungsoo’s arm because Kyungsoo looked like he was seconds away from punching Minseok. He’d never seen Kyungsoo so worked up over something this insignificant. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a game.”

“Just a game?” Kyungsoo echoed. Maybe he’d caught some of the soccer fever too.

“You need to calm down,” Jongdae said, running a hand down Kyungsoo’s back. “I’m fine.”

Kyungsoo shook Jongdae off, turning his glare onto him. “You don’t understand.” There was exasperation in the furrow of his eyebrows, the same expression he’d wear when he had to explain a concept to Jongdae or Baekhyun again, the one that told them they would understand if they actually paid attention.

“You’re right, I don’t,” Jongdae snapped, since he really didn’t understand what the big deal was. It was just a game, and Kyungsoo was acting like it was the end of the world.

Kyungsoo opened his mouth, but he shut it again after a few seconds with a shake of his head. “Never mind,” he muttered, walking away.

Jongdae didn’t try to follow him, but as he watched Kyungsoo walk off, he had a feeling that there was more than Kyungsoo was telling him.

“Are you hurt or anything?” Minseok asked, turning Jongdae’s attention back to him.

“No, I’m fine.” Jongdae waved a hand dismissively. “Let’s get back to the game.”

Maybe his leg hurt a little afterwards, but Minseok had apologized, and it wasn’t like he’d tried to trip Jongdae or anything. If anything, it had been Jongdae’s fault for trying to intercept Minseok. It certainly didn’t make sense for Kyungsoo to give Jongdae the silent treatment for a whole week.

“What happened?” Baekhyun demanded, after another agonizingly quiet lunch.

Jongdae sighed, resting his cheek against the cold cafeteria table. Kyungsoo had gotten up the moment he’d finished lunch without giving either one of them an excuse. “I don’t know,” he admitted, spinning his milk carton on the table. “He’s getting mad over nothing.”

“You guys better figure it out,” Baekhyun said, pointing a fork threateningly in Jongdae’s direction.

Jongdae hadn’t wanted to apologize, since he hadn’t done anything wrong, but Kyungsoo was unusually stubborn. Jongdae knew he wouldn’t admit to being irrational, so Jongdae had to be the one to approach him.

“Here.” Jongdae handed Kyungsoo a plastic container before class the next day. At Kyungsoo’s curious look, Jongdae explained, “They’re rice cakes. My mom made them.”

It wasn’t much of an apology, but Kyungsoo had called him that weekend. “I have two tickets for the movies tomorrow,” he said.

It hadn’t even been a question, much less an explanation, but Jongdae had smiled as he held the phone to his ear. “Okay.”

When Jongdae walked to the movie theater, Kyungsoo was already there, hands in his pockets as he stood before the ticket booth. Jongdae came up behind him, startling him with a hand on his shoulder. Kyungsoo looked back over his shoulder, only relaxing when he saw who it was.

“Here.” Kyungsoo gave Jongdae one of the tickets, still warm from being in his pocket.

Jongdae smoothed the edge with his thumb before throwing an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Let’s go,” he said.

They bought popcorn and drinks inside and chose a seat near the middle. The large bag of popcorn was between their seats, the arm rest between them brought up to make room for it.

Sometime near the middle of the movie, when the protagonist seemed to be caught in a moment of indecision and the popcorn started running out, Kyungsoo intercepted Jongdae’s hand before he could reach into the bag again. Jongdae turned his head, ready to protest, but Kyungsoo just linked their fingers together.

This was okay, too, Jongdae thought, as he sits back to watch the movie. Their fingers were both buttery, the popcorn was growing cold, and the movie didn’t make sense, but he was happier here than he had been the past week.

They sat like that, holding hands in the darkness, until the movie ended and the lights flickered back on. Kyungsoo started to pull his hand away, his other hand reaching for his empty cup, but Jongdae held it tighter.

“What?” Kyungsoo asked, turning back to look at Jongdae.

Jongdae had a fleeting thought then, wondered what would happen if he crossed the distance between them to kiss Kyungsoo, had been tempted to just find out what Kyungsoo’s lips would taste like then. It would be like paying Kyungsoo back for what had happened a year ago, but in the end, he only shook his head and let go of Kyungsoo’s hand. He didn’t have an excuse, he reminded himself, and he wasn’t sure enough to cross the distance. “It’s nothing.”

“You’d better have a good reason for calling me right now,” Kyungsoo greets Jongdae the moment he picks up the phone.

Jongdae laughs, tapping a mindless rhythm on his desk. “Chanyeol and I broke up.”

“Oh.” Then, louder: “Oh. You’re at the dorm, right? I’ll be right there.”

The call ends abruptly. Jongdae sets his phone down, staring at it as the screen fades into black.

Kyungsoo opens the door just five minutes later, seeming a little breathless. Jongdae wonders if he’d ran across the campus without stopping at the intersections, but he doesn’t get a chance to ask before Kyungsoo is hugging him tightly.

Kyungsoo doesn’t usually initiate skin contact, so Jongdae is too surprised to move for several seconds. Eventually, his arms come up to naturally encircle Kyungsoo’s waist, his head falling onto Kyungsoo’s chest.

“You didn’t have to come here,” he says, words muffled by Kyungsoo’s shirt. “I know you have an important assignment due…”

“Shut up,” Kyungsoo says, but there’s nothing sharp in his tone. His hand is rubbing Jongdae’s back, the same motion his mother used to comfort him when he had nightmares as a little kid.

Jongdae laughs, the sound abrupt and too loud, dying away as quickly as it came.

“You want to talk about it?” Kyungsoo asks, stepping away after a while and sitting down on his bed.

Jongdae turns in his chair, resting his chin on the back of the chair to stare directly at Kyungsoo. “It’s not that big of a deal. Chanyeol and I haven’t been seeing each other that much these days, and we’re only going to get busier the next two years, so we decided that we should just split up now.” It had been too simple, actually—a mutual separation without the drama Jongdae had been expecting. No messy emotions, no unfinished business. It was like all they’d done was just toss off a label. “You can go back to the library. I didn’t mean to distract you—”

“I told you to shut up,” Kyungsoo admonishes, getting off the bed so he can hit Jongdae on the head.

“I thought you were supposed to be comforting me,” Jongdae says, “not beating me up, for once.” He’s just teasing, a smile threatening at the corners of his lips, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at him.

“Come over here.” Kyungsoo pats the space next to him on the bed.

Jongdae takes the invitation immediately, getting up from the chair and invading Kyungsoo’s personal space. He rests his head against Kyungsoo’s shoulder, despite the awkward angle, and throws a leg across one of Kyungsoo’s. They don’t say anything as Kyungsoo’s soft humming fills the silence around them.

“I don’t feel sad,” Jongdae says, and Kyungsoo stops humming, putting a hand over one of Jongdae’s to show that he’s listening. “But it’s like I’m not happy, either?” He lets out a soft noise of frustration, turning his face so his nose is pressing into Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Feelings are so annoying.”

Jongdae doesn’t look up to know that Kyungsoo is smiling, even as he pats Jongdae’s hand consolingly. “You’ll be okay.”

It’s not often that Kyungsoo lets him stay this close, so Jongdae takes full advantage of it, closing his eyes and breathing in Kyungsoo’s familiar scent. He isn’t been sad, but it’s upsetting nonetheless. The longer he and Chanyeol stayed together, the more he’d known that they wouldn’t work out in the end, but maybe…

“Your head is too heavy,” Kyungsoo complains, pushing gently at Jongdae’s shoulder.

“Sorry,” Jongdae says, sitting up, although the smile he gives Kyungsoo is anything but apologetic. “Hey, are you going back to the library?”

“Do you want me to?”

Jongdae should probably say yes, except neither one of them wants Kyungsoo to leave. Besides, Kyungsoo can always do his assignment tomorrow, but they’ll only have this moment now. He shakes his head, dropping his head on Kyungsoo’s lap. “Stay with me?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t reply, but the way his fingers comb soothingly through Jongdae’s hair is enough of an answer.

Somehow, they fall asleep like that. They rearrange themselves slightly, so Kyungsoo isn’t bent in such an awkward position. His head is right next to Jongdae’s on the pillow, their legs entangled under the blankets. Kyungsoo’s hand is still in Jongdae’s hair, the position still the same as the way it had been when Jongdae had fallen asleep.

Kyungsoo wakes up first, and his movement causes Jongdae to move as well. “What is it?” he asks, his voice still raspy from sleep.

Kyungsoo jumps a little, turning to frown at Jongdae. “Go back to sleep.” He’s trying to disentangle the blankets from his legs, and from the looks of it, he’s not very successful.

Jongdae bites down on the inside of his cheek to hold back his laugh, pulling Kyungsoo’s hand until it’s wrapped around Jongdae’s fingers instead of the blankets. “Don’t go yet. We still have two hours until class starts.”

Kyungsoo makes a soft, distressed sound, but he doesn’t protest as he falls back into bed beside Jongdae. It’s something as simple as this, Jongdae thinks, feeling the steadiness of Kyungsoo’s breaths from where their bodies are pressed close together. It’s in the little moments they manage to steal to spend time together, and Jongdae thinks, closing his eyes, that he’d like to keep these moments forever.

“Hey.” Kyungsoo pokes him in the nose, rudely awakening him from the half-slumber he’d fallen into. “You do know you take an hour to get ready, right?”

Jongdae has a snarky remark ready, but when he opens his eyes, Kyungsoo is much closer than he’d expected. There are many reasons why he refuses to face anyone in the early morning, like his messy hair and the streak of dried drool on his cheek. Because it really isn’t fair that Kyungsoo looks so awake and good in the mornings. His eyes are wide, captivating, and Jongdae drops his gaze to the smooth skin of Kyungsoo’s cheek, following the slope of his cheekbones until he’s staring at his lips.

There are times over the years when Jongdae had wondered what would happen if he closed the distance between them, if they would ever take the step beyond just friends, even best friends. The label is comfortable enough, safe enough, but Jongdae can’t help thinking—

“What’s wrong?” Kyungsoo asks, waving a hand before Jongdae’s face.

It makes Jongdae blink and shake his head. I’m just in love with you. “I’m just tired.” He sneaks closer to Kyungsoo, close enough that he can feel Kyungsoo’s breath by his ear. “I want to sleep.” I want to stay with you.

Kyungsoo laughs softly, running a hand through Jongdae’s hair. His fingers get tangled in the messy strands, but he carefully sorts out the knots, patting Jongdae’s head when he’s done. Jongdae leans into the touch. “Just one more hour, okay?”

Jongdae's clearest memories of childhood were those past summer days marked by nothing in particular, when the sky overhead had always been clear blue. There was the stickiness of summer air drifting in the light breeze, the sunlight slipping past the branches overhead.

The woods weren't far from home, just a holler or a few minutes' walk away. It was close enough that his parents weren't worried if he chose to spend the entire day there, but also far enough that it seemed like a different world.

He spent most of his fourth grade summer with Kyungsoo, chasing and feeding ducks by the pond, sitting at the edge of the water and trying to skip stones.

Sometimes, they ran through the woods, wandering off well-traveled paths and stumbling through dense undergrowth without a clear destination in mind.

So maybe it isn't accurate to say that Joonmyun was his first love, or that Baekhyun was the first person he'd kissed outside of his immediate family.

It had happened suddenly, yet without the element of surprise that should have been present.

One moment, Kyungsoo was running by his side, their hands brushing with each step. Then his foot caught on a stray rock, and it didn't take more than a misplaced step and unstoppable momentum that made him trip and fall to the ground.

Jongdae stopped and turned back, offering his hand to help Kyungsoo up. "Are you okay?"

Kyungsoo slipped his hand into Jongdae's as he stood. "It's not that bad." There was a barely noticeable grimace on his face, and the way he tightened his fingers around Jongdae's hand when he took a step betrayed the meaning in his words.

Jongdae glanced down at Kyungsoo's knees. His left knee was barely scraped, but his right knee was bleeding, blood spilling over the open wound. "Let's go back and get a Band-Aid."

Kyungsoo's mother disinfected the wound, cleaning it thoroughly with rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball. Kyungsoo sat on the edge of his bed, biting his lower lip as he watched. He didn't cry out or flinch the way Jongdae would have if it had been Jongdae who had tripped, but Jongdae knew that it couldn't be as painless as Kyungsoo was trying to make it seem.

He reached over to take Kyungsoo's hand, giving Kyungsoo a wide, harmless smile when Kyungsoo turned to look at him. Kyungsoo's grip around his hand was loose at first, like he didn't want to hold Jongdae's hand, but his grip tightened when his mother wiped the last part of his wound. He didn't let go of Jongdae's hand even after his mother put a Band-Aid on his knee and left with a warning to stay safe.

"Is it better now?" Jongdae asked, scooting closer to Kyungsoo on the bed.

Kyungsoo swung his legs out a little, glancing down at the bright blue Band-Aid against his skin. "A little."

"You know what my mother always told me?" Jongdae didn't wait for Kyungsoo to respond as he continued, "A kiss will make a wound hurt less."

But instead of laughing, Kyungsoo just stared at him. It took a few moments for Jongdae to realize, and the smile on his face faded.

He was nervous, and he didn't know why. He kissed his parents goodnight, and he had to kiss his aunts during family reunions. But at school, he'd been taught the idea of personal space, that people don't like others leaning in their face.

Kyungsoo was still holding Jongdae's hand, though, a small reassurance. It was enough to encourage Jongdae to lean forward and barely peck Kyungsoo's cheek.

Maybe it didn't actually count, just something that could be written off as a childish action when they didn't know any better. But Jongdae still remembers Kyungsoo's smile when he pulled away that day. The full implications behind that gesture hadn't dawned on them yet, but Jongdae thinks that they never really left, either.

Jongdae doesn't often go to parties, but Kyungsoo goes to parties even less. That's why, after they've taken their last final exam, Jongdae drags Kyungsoo with him to a student hosted party.

Looking back, maybe that hadn't been the smartest idea ever. There's loud music playing from the living room, and the cups on the table are mostly filled with alcohol even if a good portion of the students here aren't twenty-one yet.

Kyungsoo takes an empty cup and insists on going to the sink to pour water, distrusting the drinks available. "I'm not taking any chances," he says when Jongdae points this out in jest.

Jongdae takes a sip of the beer then, wincing inwardly at the taste but forcing it down anyway. He throws an arm around Kyungsoo's shoulder, feeling lightheaded even though he'd barely drunk anything. It's the dizziness from the crowd of people around them and the faint smell of alcohol and smoke in the air, the pounding beat through the speakers. "Live a little. We just got through our first two years of college."

"With two more to go," Kyungsoo says, ducking as he tries to get away from Jongdae.

Jongdae tightens his grip a little. They're in the doorway of the living room, and he has to lean in close and speak directly into Kyungsoo's ear to be heard. "You want to dance with me?"

"Go dance by yourself." Kyungsoo forcefully pushes Jongdae away. "You can make a fool of yourself alone."

"What's the fun in that?" Jongdae returns, but he leans against the wall next to Kyungsoo. He can feel the vibrations from the beat in his bones, and he almost wishes he could dance because there's a kind of restless energy in his limbs.

Someone nearby stumbles, nearly falling into Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo shifts closer to Jongdae, just barely managing to avoid any physical contact. He looks distinctly uncomfortable, looking out with wide eyes from behind the brim of his cup, and Jongdae almost feels guilty for bringing Kyungsoo out here. They could have gone somewhere quieter, spent some time together, just the two of them.

Jongdae had made an excuse that Kyungsoo needed to experience more of the college life. But here, with Kyungsoo pressed to his side in a room full of people, he thinks that the whole four years of college wouldn't really mean anything without Kyungsoo beside him.

"What are you thinking about?" Kyungsoo asks, leaning closer to Jongdae. He's close enough that Jongdae can feel the rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

“Nothing.” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow, his gaze doubtful, and Jongdae sighs as he looks away. “It’s just…” His eyes fix on someone at random, and he points into the crowd. “You know that kid?”

Kyungsoo looks away from him, following his finger. “Who?”

“The one dancing in the middle.” Jongdae hadn’t even been really looking, but now that he sees the kid, he can’t really look away. There’s something mesmerizing in his movements, his confidence evident in the way he dances. It’s like he knows that there are people staring at him, and he’s soaking in the attention.

“Jongin Kim? Yeah, I think so.” Kyungsoo tilts his head back as he finishes his water. He crushes the paper cup in his hand before saying, “He was in a class with me. I think he’s a freshman.” He pauses and frowns. “Or he was a freshman. Why?”

“How did I not notice him before?” Jongdae says it aloud, but he’s talking to himself more than he’s speaking to Kyungsoo.

“He’s pretty popular around here.” Kyungsoo chuckles lowly, and Jongdae feels the vibrations more than he actually hears it. “Do you think he’s hot?”

“Depends on if he’s single or not.” Jongdae tilts his head as he looks at Kyungsoo, the question clear in his tone.

Kyungsoo snorts softly. “You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Why not?” Jongdae bites down on the edge of his lip. He thinks he looks pretty good today. He’d actually tried to do something about his clothes and hair before coming here, unlike the usual days when he’d put on anything within his range.

“Because.” Kyungsoo steps in front of Jongdae and looks over him, like he’s trying to spot all of his faults and imperfections. Jongdae squirms a little under his almost clinical gaze, as Kyungsoo’s eyes finally reach his face, and he’s staring into Jongdae’s eyes.

“What is it?” Jongdae asks. His pulse echoes in his ears as Kyungsoo leans in a little closer.

Kyungsoo doesn’t answer, but there’s no doubt that the distance between them is getting smaller. When Jongdae takes a small step back, Kyungsoo takes a step forward, until Jongdae’s back is flat against the wall and there’s no way for him to move. And Kyungsoo is close, so close that it’s like he’s stealing Jongdae’s breath. Jongdae can feel the breath Kyungsoo lets out against his lips. Kyungsoo isn’t even looking at him anymore; he’s staring down, somewhere between Jongdae’s nose and lips.

The room is too hot, too crowded. Jongdae is tempted to break the awkward moment, whether by pushing Kyungsoo away or by stepping closer and closing the distance between them. He’s too aware of their surroundings, of the people who can see them in this position, of Kyungsoo’s hand against the wall next to his side.

Then Kyungsoo pushes away abruptly and it’s like he hadn’t been there at all, like they hadn’t been a breath away from crossing the line between friends and something more. Jongdae inhales deeply, trying to clear his mind, but the rush of oxygen in his lungs only leaves him feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

“Your eyes are crossed,” Kyungsoo says, a small smile on his mouth as he taps his forefinger on Jongdae’s nose.

Jongdae frowns, wrinkling his nose as Kyungsoo laughs. “Kyungsoo.” He reaches out to take Kyungsoo’s hand and opens his mouth to say something, anything to break this tension that’s hung above their heads for years, but Kyungsoo interrupts before he can say anything else.

“Let’s go back.” His voice is steady, calm, a complete contrast to the trembling in Jongdae’s hands.

Jongdae drops his arm and lets Kyungsoo take a few steps before he follows him, close enough to keep track of him in this place but not too close that their hands would touch. “Did you drink after all?” he asks, trying to force some resemblance of playfulness into his tone.

“No, but you did.” Kyungsoo reaches over to mess with Jongdae’s hair, and Jongdae ducks away from him.

“Not that much,” Jongdae protests, but the world spins before his eyes then. He stumbles, and it’s only Kyungsoo’s hand at his elbow that keeps him from falling face-first into the ground. “Thanks,” he mutters, blinking as his eyes adjust.

“Don’t drink so much if you can’t handle it,” Kyungsoo chides, his fingers surprisingly cold along the inside of Jongdae’s arm.

“I won’t,” Jongdae promises, his tone tilting upwards at the last syllable in an almost sing-song. That’s it, he thinks as they step outside into the warm summer air. The unsteadiness in his pulse and the lurch in his stomach aren’t any more than the side effects of alcohol.

He feels Kyungsoo’s fingers trail down his wrist, so he grabs onto Kyungsoo’s hand. It doesn’t mean anything more than this, he thinks. It’s always been like this, and there’s no reason why it should change now.

When Jongdae wakes up the next morning, his brain is clearer, and he’s determined to talk about it with Kyungsoo. He’s hesitant to get up at first, rolling over in his bed as he tries to hide from the sunlight slipping through the blinds. As the school year had come to an end, he’d gotten used to staying up late and waking up early in an attempt to meet all of the deadlines and finish all the studying that the teachers seemed to stack up on them during the last few weeks of class. It’s hard getting back into the habit of waking up late and getting more hours of sleep. He’s still used to waking up from before his alarm at six in the morning, stumbling out of bed already stressed from all the things he had to finish.

It’s no different today, when he wakes up already listing the things he has to finish, with having a proper conversation with Kyungsoo as one of his top priorities.

Jongdae opens his eyes after a few minutes, turning his head to the side so that he can look at Kyungsoo’s sleeping form. Like this, Kyungsoo looks so young, his facial features relaxed, no different from the young boy Jongdae would steal glances at when they slept over together years ago.

Kyungsoo’s alarm disrupts the moment, and Kyungsoo opens his eyes immediately. His gaze falls on Jongdae immediately, and he frowns a little as he sits up.

“What are you doing?” he asks, and Jongdae gets his legs tangled in the blankets as he sits up.

“Nothing.” Jongdae smiles, trying to look convincing.

Kyungsoo looks at him a moment longer before he swings his legs over the side of the bed and gets up. “Okay. Don’t forget to pack up. We have to drive back today.”

“Yeah.” Jongdae glances around the room, at all the things scattered on his half of the room, and even some of his belongings that had ended up on Kyungsoo’s side. He shudders inwardly thinking about how long it’d take to fit all that in his suitcases. It’s a distracting enough thought that he barely remembers why he’d even woken up so early in the first place. “Hey, wait,” he calls, just as Kyungsoo opens the door to their dorm.

Kyungsoo looks over his shoulder, his hand still on the doorknob. “Is there something wrong?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something.” Jongdae stumbles a little over his words, but he continues, “Can you stay for a minute?”

“It can’t wait until I go to the bathroom?” Kyungsoo asks, and Jongdae hesitates.

“I guess it could,” he says, his disappointment obvious enough that Kyungsoo shoots him another weird look before he walks out of the room, leaving the door swinging wide open.

Jongdae ends up going to the bathroom, too, and by the time he’s finished with his morning routine, Kyungsoo is already sitting by his bed and packing his things.

“You had something to tell me?” Kyungsoo prompts, raising his head slightly as Jongdae closes the door behind him.

Jongdae sits down across from Kyungsoo, leaning his elbows on his crossed legs as he watches Kyungsoo pack. “You don’t have a lot of stuff. Do you mind putting some of my things in there too?”

Kyungsoo glares at him and throws one of Jongdae’s socks at him. “You managed to fit all these things on the way here. Just put them back in.”

“It’s not that simple,” Jongdae says, picking up the sock from where it’d landed on his shoulder. He wraps it around his hand, picking at the loose threads absently. It’s hard, putting his emotions into words, but he knows that he can’t avoid it any longer. Ever since he’d realized his feelings for Kyungsoo, he’d wondered why he hadn’t realized sooner. It’s so obvious but so normal at the same time, the flutter in his chest offset by how comfortable he is around Kyungsoo. In his past relationships, he’d always felt pressured to do something more, be something more, to keep the other person happy, but it’s not the same way around Kyungsoo.

“You were going to kiss me last night, weren’t you?” Jongdae asks suddenly.

He doesn’t miss the way Kyungsoo jumps slightly and turns to him with wide eyes. The surprise on his features is obvious, but Jongdae can’t tell if it’s from Jongdae speaking so abruptly after a long silence or from what Jongdae is saying. He stares at Jongdae for a long time, and the silence eventually becomes unbearable.

Jongdae turns away, swallowing hard. Maybe it had been foolish to hope for so much. “Never mind, I was just—”

“Did you want me to?” Kyungsoo interrupts him, setting down the things in his hand so he’s staring at Jongdae and only Jongdae.

“I don’t know.” Jongdae can’t hold Kyungsoo’s gaze for long. He laughs, an attempt to dissolve the tension, but the attempt falls flat. “I really like you, you know? So I just thought…” He breaks off, shaking his head.

“As more than a friend?” Kyungsoo presses.

“As more than a friend.” It feels like he’s relieving a burden saying it aloud, but at the same time, it feels like he’s handing over his fate to Kyungsoo. Normally, he would trust Kyungsoo with his life, but right now, he’s handing over more than a decade’s worth of friendship. He doesn’t want this to end awkwardly, but at the same time, he doesn’t want to keep hiding his feelings from Kyungsoo. When Kyungsoo doesn’t respond for a long time, though, he says, “Look, it’s okay if—”

“I lied,” Kyungsoo says. “Six years ago, I think?” He pauses, as though calculating back to the exact moment, and nods before he continues, “When I told you that wasn’t my first kiss.”

It takes a few seconds for the words to click in Jongdae’s head. The implications are enough to make Jongdae grin widely. “Is that your indirect way of confessing to me too?”

Kyungsoo visibly rolls his eyes as he goes back to folding his clothes. “I think you can figure that out on your own.”

“Is that why you never dated anyone all those years?” It’s probably too much of an assumption, but Jongdae’s noticed the way that Kyungsoo never seemed particularly interested in any offers that came his way, whether they were guys or girls.

“Don’t be so full of yourself,” Kyungsoo says, putting his books into his backpack with more force than strictly necessary. “There just wasn’t anyone who really caught my eye.”

“Except me?” Jongdae asks, smiling and placing his palms under his chin as he tilts his head to the side in an attempt to use cuteness as a defense against Kyungsoo’s exasperation.

“I never said I made the smartest life choices.”

“So does that mean we can date?” Jongdae sprawls across the floor when Kyungsoo tries to walk around him to reach the dresser, and Kyungsoo nudges him in the ribs with his toe.

“How long did your longest relationship last?” Kyungsoo asks instead, walking over Jongdae as he opens one of the drawers.

It takes a moment for Jongdae to get the hint, and when he does, he sits up suddenly. “You can’t hold my reputation against me. Kyungsoo,” he whines, purposefully dragging out the syllables. “Come on.”

Kyungsoo sighs and sits down on the floor across from Jongdae. “I’m not holding it against you. I’m just saying that we shouldn’t rush into things. I’ve already waited for years. I can wait a little longer if you’re not ready.”

“Are you also the kind who doesn’t believe in kissing until after a certain number of dates?”

“We’ve already done that,” Kyungsoo reminds him.

Jongdae blinks. “That didn’t count.”

Kyungsoo laughs, leaning closer to press his lips to Jongdae’s forehead. “Does that count?”

He’s just teasing, and Jongdae makes a note to get him back. There are more important things to do now, though. He takes Kyungsoo’s hand before the other can get up completely. “Does that mean you’re my boyfriend now?”

Kyungsoo seems to be caught off guard for a moment before he smiles, the same smile that he’d given Jongdae all those years ago. “Of course.”

The summers had always been theirs, and this summer isn’t an exception.

Somehow, Jongdae manages to convince Kyungsoo into chasing ducks with him. They manage to get one sufficiently far away from the water that they trap it between the two of them, blocking it from trying to escape but dodging away when it gets too close. Kyungsoo eventually lets it slip past him, laughing when Jongdae complains about it.

“Don’t torture the duck too much,” he tells Jongdae. They end up feeding half of their lunch to the ducks as a way of apologizing, and they run away when the ducks start crowding around them for more food.

“We shouldn’t mess with ducks next time,” Kyungsoo says, sitting down as he catches his breath when they’re a good distance away from the ducks.

Jongdae shakes his head and laughs. That’s a lesson they probably should have learned a long time ago, but so far, neither one of them have actually been harmed by a duck. Other than a few scares sometimes, it’s amusing playing with the ducks.

Being Kyungsoo’s boyfriend also comes with certain advantages. It means that he can lean in and steal some of Kyungsoo’s ice cream, taking a bite from the top the moment Kyungsoo tears open the wrapper. It also means that, later, when Kyungsoo is finished, he can lean in and kiss Kyungsoo, into his mouth and tasting the sticky sweetness of the vanilla ice cream.

Even if Kyungsoo hits him and scolds him for taking his ice cream when Jongdae has a melting cone in his own hand, Kyungsoo’s the one who drags Jongdae in for another kiss.

It had been harder introducing Kyungsoo to his parents as his boyfriend, telling them that the boy they’ve come to see as their other son would one day become their son-in-law. His parents had been pleased, though, as had Kyungsoo’s parents. They hadn’t even been surprised, a minor detail that Jongdae couldn’t help noticing.

When Jongdae can’t fall asleep one night, he goes over to Kyungsoo’s house. He’s become used to sharing a room with Kyungsoo, to falling asleep with his breaths in rhythm with Kyungsoo’s, to staring at Kyungsoo until he fell asleep, that staying in a room by himself is unfamiliar.

The alarm beeps as Jongdae opens the back door, louder than it usually sounds during the day, and Jongdae stills for a moment. He breathes as shallowly as he can, hoping that the sound hadn’t woken his parents up. After a few moments, when there’s no noise, he steps out and gently closes the door behind him.

He walks through the grass, walking through his backyard to get to Kyungsoo’s house. The moon overhead casts a gentle light on his surroundings. Jongdae grabs a handful of small pebbles from Kyungsoo’s mother’s garden and tosses them at Kyungsoo’s window.

This is something he’s done before when he was younger, and Kyungsoo just looks annoyed when he looks through the window. He steps out a few minutes later, dressed in a T-shirt several sizes too big and shorts.

“What are you doing out here?” His voice is scratchier than usual, and Jongdae guesses that he’d been sleeping before Jongdae woke him up. It almost makes him feel guilty.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Jongdae smiles, shifting in the grass. He moves around in place to keep any nearby mosquitoes away. “Do you want to go to the park?”

“I want to sleep,” Kyungsoo says, covering a yawn with the back of his hand. He follows Jongdae, though, walking beside them as they cross the street on the way to the park.

Kyungsoo sits down on one of the swings, his feet dragging through the dirt. Jongdae sits down in the grass, removing a dandelion flower from the ground and pulling the seeds off. He scatters them in the wind before holding the dandelion flower up to the moonlight for inspection.

“You know you can’t make a wish like that, right?” Kyungsoo asks.

Jongdae nods, setting the remnants of the dandelion on the ground. “I don’t need to make a wish. I already have what I want.” He grins at Kyungsoo as he says this, and he thinks he sees Kyungsoo roll his eyes.

Jongdae sits down on the swing next to Kyungsoo’s, pushing himself off without any intentions of going higher. “Are you going to pick up Baekhyun, too?”

Baekhyun was arriving tomorrow, as his classes ended several weeks after theirs did. He was going to spend the whole summer here, and it was going to be the first time they’d see Baekhyun in person in years.

“Yeah.” Kyungsoo turns in his seat, tangling the chains of his swing together. It makes him swing into Jongdae, and Jongdae laughs as he grabs onto one of the chains in an attempt to stop Kyungsoo from going into circles. Jongdae ends up spinning with Kyungsoo, their chains getting tangled together until they eventually spin apart.

“What do you think he’d say about us being together?” Jongdae asks, once his swing has come to a stop and the dizziness has alleviated.

“ing finally,” Kyungsoo says, mimicking Baekhyun’s voice in the way he stresses the syllables.

Jongdae smiles as he kicks off from the ground and stretches his legs out before him in an attempt to swing higher. Beside him, he can see Kyungsoo doing the same thing.

Tomorrow, Baekhyun will be back, and the three of them will be together again. Right now, though, Kyungsoo is by his side, and even as the skies darken from the clouds covering the moon, Jongdae still feels safe, content. There are hundreds of dandelions in the grass around them, but Jongdae doesn’t need anything more.