Scary Eyes and Heart Shaped Smiles

❧❧❧

As it turned out, Minseok never got to Jongdae into oblivion the next time they saw each other. When Jongdae showed up at Minseok's and Baekhyun's dorm the next morning, his wrist (the one he used to himself with) was double in size from the exhertion it had been put through the day before. When Minseok saw the state of the younger's arm was in, he growled and pulled the other into the cottage, pulling out his emergancy-bag. 

"How the , Jongdae" he mumbled, annoyed. "How did your wrist turn out like this?"

Jongdae blushed slightly. "Well... yesterday was... intense."

Minseok sighed, and shook his head, while he wrapped Jongdae's wrist in a bandage. "Well," he mocked, "there will be no more until this is healed, as punishment for not being careful enough."

"But MINseoooook" Jongdae whined, but the older shut him up with a simple glare. 

"No buts. You brought this onto yourself. If you so much as manage to hurt that wrist more than what you have now, you will not like the consequences."

Jongdae grinned. "Ooooh, bossy. I like it," he laughed, as Minseok smacked his in annoyance.

"Shut up. Now, I'm sorry, Dae, but you can't hang out with us today."

Jongdae's smile fell, and he looked at Minseok with sad eyes, "why?"

"Because the camp is doing this 'Let's get to know each other thing' and we have to participate, which means that you can't be there, because ousiders aren't allowed. So scram, squirt" Minseok said, not unkindly, as he shooed the other towards the door. "Come back tomorrow, and we can play then, okay?"

Jongdae grumbled. "I'm not a ing kid" he whined, and Baekhyun's laugh could be heard from the bathroom, where he had just finished showering.

"Then stop acting like one," he yelled, and Jongdae looked at the bathroom door like his glare itself could burn the door down. 

" you," he whispered. 

"Naah," Baekhyun called back, "I'd much rather you, thank you very much."

Jongdae groaned as Minseok choked on his saliva, and turned around to leave. "Later losers," he called as he left. "You better be free in the morning!" He then walked out of the cottage, closing the door behind him and sighed. What the hell would he do now, that he couldn't stalk Baekhyun, or get ed by Minseok? Life was far too boring at home, so that was not an option. The woods were... gross, and the water was scary and unsafe (still couldn't swim, nope, no one had taught him, yet sadly (maybe they just hoped he would die, he thought)), so what other options were there? Jongdae thought and thought about it, and as he walked passed one of the camp's buildings, he was hit by an amazing idea.

Or better yet, smell. One of the windows to the larger cottage was open, and out came the fresh smell of chocolate chip pancakes (Jongdae could smell those from miles away) and a soft voice singing a song, which Jondae had never heard before. The voice and the song were beautiful, though, so Jongdae stopped outside the window to just listen. But after a while (2.5 seconds) the curiousness and hunger for pancakes got too big, and Jongdae decided to sneak a peak. He turned to the window, and slowly peaked inside. There he found a lonely boy, his back facing the prince, mixing another batch of chocolate chip pancakes. He was quite short, had narrow shoulders, and thick, brown hair adorning his head. Since the boy looked alone and quite safe to talk to, Jongdae opened his mouth. 

"Shoulnd't you be with the other campers at the 'get to know each other?' thingy?" he questioned, amused. He expected the boy to be surprised, maybe jump a little, or perhaps scream just a little bit, but he did not expect to get hit in the head with a bowl pilled with unfinished chocolate chip pancakes. But he did, and the next thing he knew was laying on the ground, staring up at the sky with butter running down his body. His head was spinning from the impact of his head hitting the ground, and he thought he saw an owl floating just above him. But what would an owl be doing there?

The owl, as it turned out the more he blinked, was not an owl after all. It was the small boy he had seen mixing the butter with cookies, and Jongdae realized, as he sat up groaning in pain, what had happened.

"Don't you think, throwing the whole thing on me was a bit of an overkill?" he questioned, looking at the boy standing in the window.

The boy blushed. "It's your own fault, you creeper! Don't just stand in the windows like an old geezer staring at people. What are you, a ert?"

Jongdae stared. "For one, I wasn't staring at you, I was staring at the cookies. Secondly, I am pretty sure I would have to be a bit more touchy feely to be a ert. Oh wait, forget what I said. I might be a ert after al,l" he mumbled, thinking of all the life choices he had ever made. The boy in the window let out a breath of relief, with a hint of laugter in it. Jongdae smiled at him, and stood up. "I am really sorry I scared you. My name is Kim Jongdae."

The boy's at the window eyes grew bigger (how was that even possible) and he let out a shocked squeak, "K..Kim Jongdae as the prince Kim Jongdae?"

Jongdae smiled slightly, and the boy freaked out.

"OMG PLEASE DON'T TELL MY MOTHER I HURT A ROYAL SHE WILL HANG ME HERSELF OMG WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!?!?!?!?"

Jongdae started laughing, which cut of the boy's loud ranting and made him stare at the prince in silence. Once Jongdae calmed down enough to form proper sentences, he opened his mouth, "chill out, bro. I might be a prince in real life, but my own mother sent me away cause I was being a pain, so right now I am no one other than Jongdae. No prince, no title you need to worry about, no guards who can kill you for hurting me. Just.. Jongdae. Okay?"

The boy stared at Jongdae, and then a small smile formed on his face. "Okay" he nodded, and stretched out his hand. "My name is Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo."

Jongdae took his hand, eyes crinkling in a smile. "It's a pleasure."

Kyungsoo laughed, "the pleasure is mine. Now tell me, Jongdae, since you were staring at my cookies, would you like to help me make another batch? If you're good, I might let you eat some of them once they're done."

Jongdae whooped, fist pumping the air as he made a little dance of victory. "Yeyey!! Thanks, Kyungsoo. But, aren't you supposed to be with the others?"

Kyungsoo shook his head, seeming a bit stressed out at the idea. "NO! I don't usually like being around people. I am not very social, and I don't like how load the others are."

Jongdae tilted his head, confused. "Then why are you here?"

Kyungsoo sighed. "To make my mother happy. She had been going on and on about how I need to make more friends, so I said yes to this thing just to please her. But I've been hiding in the kitchen ever since I realized that no one here can actually cook, so I decided to do that for them. That's my excuse for not being with the others today. Besides, I don't think they will notice that I'm not there. I'm not exactly trying to be noticeable."

Jongdae shook his head, laughing. "You're a bit werid haha, going to a camp when you don't like people."

"Hey!!".

Jongdae laughed. "But don't worry. I like weird people. I can't have normal people as friends, since I'm the biggest missfit of them all."

Kyungsoo wouldn't help to smile. "Then let's be missfits together, shall we?"

Jongdae nodded. "Yeah!". He then asked Kyungsoo to move away from the window, after which he grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up in one smooth move. Once he landed safely on the floor inside the room, Kyungsoo was looking at him with just a little bit amazement. 

"You're not as clumsy as you look, or as people make you to be."

Jongdae laughed, "no, not quite as much."

❧❧❧

After Kyungsoo had taken out a shirt for Jongdae to wear instead of his sticky one, they started baking a new batch of cookies, talking about their lives and what they liked and didn't like. As they were making shapes of the cookies, they were emerged in a heating conversation about which Harry Potter movie was the best.

"But the first one is the best!!!" Kyungsoo argued. "They're all small, and cute, and adorable, and it's the story of how it all began!"

"Oh, but come on, Soo! Daniel Radcliffe didn't get hot until the later movies! He was a real babe in the seventh one, and the eight one was amazing with all the special effects and I just love how Voldemort FINALLY died and how they all, well almost all, got to live happily ever after!"

Kyungsoo laughed. "That's your argument? He got hot?"

"That wasn't the only argument, though," Jongdae whined, "but it's still true!"

Kyungsoo laughed harder, smacking down a huge cookie on the baking tray. "Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right. Does that mean you like boys better than girls then?"

Jongdae smiled. "Isn't that obvious?"

Kyungsoo shook his head. "I wasn't actually sure until you got all dreamy talking about Teen Wolf."

"Teen Wolf is filled with babes, Kyungsoo," Jongdae sighed happily, laying down the last cookie on the tray. "It's my feel good show. That and Disney films."

"You like Dinsey films as well?!" Kyungsoo called out excitedly.

"YES!"

"Omg me too! I love Mulan the most I think!"

"I can't choose just one," Jongdae said, looking horrified. "But she is badass as , I admit that."

Kyungsoo nodded, and at the same time they started singing.

"IIIIIII'L MAKE A MAAAAAN, OUT OF YOUUUUUUUUUU!"

❧❧❧

After about half an hour, the lovely smell of freshly baked cookies filled the air, and Jongdae stood beside Kyungsoo as the latter carefully put the cookies on a plate.

"Have I been good, Kyungsoo?" Jongdae asked, not taking his eyes off the cookies, as if they would disappear if he did.

Kyungsoo chuckled in amusement. "Yes, you have been good" ("YEES") "so go and sit down at the table and I'll get us some milk to eat with the cookies."

Jongdae whooped, and prepared to do as he was told. Before he did, he hugged Kyungsoo quickly, and the boy froze in shock. Jongdae let go after just a couple of seconds, and danced away towards the table. "Thanks Soo!" he called out, and Kyungsoo stared at the other's backside, blushing slightly. He didn't like Jongdae more than as a friend, but it had been a really long time since he last felt human contact, and by some reason, it wasn't as revolting as it usually was. Jongdae was warm, and small, not ovebearing as many others were with their hugs. Getting a hug from Jongdae had been, surprisingly, nice.

Kyungsoo quickly prepared the cookies, and then he went to sit down opposite Jongdae, putting the plate of cookies in the middle and two large glasses of milk before them. "Let's eat," he smiled, and enjoyed the way Jongdae's eyes lit up.

"I'll eat well," he called, and immediately started munching. After only one bite, Jongdae practically moaned as the cookie just melted in his mouth. All the flavors were amazingly well mixed together, you could taste a little of everything and nothing was overbearing in taste, and it tasted nothing like the half-burnt cookies he and Joonmyeon used to make when they were younger. "These are amazing, Soo," he got out over a particularily large bite.

Kyungsoo's eyes almost disappeared (again, how?) as he smiled, munching happily on his own cookie. "Thank you," he laughed, "I am glad you appreciate them."

"Of course, I do!" Jongde called out, "home made are the best, especially, when someone as amazing at baking as you makes them."

Kyungsoo blushed again, and Jongdae chuckled at him, shaking his head. The next few minutes were spent in silence as the two ate their cookies, enjoying the flavors in each other's company. But after a while, Kyungsoo remembered something. "Oh, yeah I almost forgot. I was meant to ask you, how did you end up here at the camp anyway? I mean, I understand you live out here for the summer, but why were you at our campsight?"

Jongdae grinned. "Oh that is a pretty logn story."

Kyungsoo shrugged. "I've got time."

Jongdae laughed, and nodded. "Okay then. Well, it all started one day when I decided to follow my brother out in the woods, to try to figure who he was seeing..."

Kyungsoo listened with interest to the whole story, gasping at all the right moments, and Jongdae found himself appreciating the younger's (he had asked and found out about the age difference earlier, but it didn't really matter to Jongdae) company more and more. It had been a long time since someone listened to him with so much interest, without asking anything in return that Jongdae had almost forgotten what it was like. To have someone who would listen without judging, was something he'd probably had never experianced. Once he finished his story, Kyungsoo's eyes were the size of plates ( logic, his eyes could probably shoot lazer as well).

"So, you and Minseok have been engaging in... strenous activities?"

Jongdae laughed. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Are you together or nah?"

"Nah. We're just casual."

Kyungsoo nodded. "Okay. is nice. Just, remember to use protection!"

Jongdae laughed. "God, Soo, you're such a mom!"

The other hit his shoulder, muttering under his breath. 

Jongdae whinced at the punch, but he kept smiling nonetheless. "Now, how about a Disney movie?"

Kyungsoo's happy face was the best thing he had seen all day.

❧❧❧

One Disney film turned out to be two, which turned out to be three. They sang loudly to all the songs, and once the last movie ended they were laying in Kyungsoo's room, inside a provisional fort made of pillows and blankets, doing a meddly with songs from the Little Mermaid, lauging their asses off once they finished. Jongdae felt at ease, there was no electric feeling, which he always felt when he was in the company of Minseok, but rather a soft, nice feeling of comfort and blooming friendhsip. Kyungsoo was nice, really nice.

"I love Little Mermaid" Kyungsoo sighed happily, and Jongdae nodded in agreement. 

"Yeah! Ursula is a lot like my mum, actually."

"How so?"

Jongdae sighed. "Well, I love my mother and all, but she can be a bit overwhelming at times. She tries to take my voice away, so to speak, since she doesn't trust me to say anything wothwhile."

Kyungsoo looked at Jongdae, studying him for real. "It hurt you, didn't it? When she sent you away."

Jongde looked up in the darkness of the blankents above, and sighed. He didn't think he'd been that obvious. "Well... yes. I know I ed up and all, being casual with that boy and all, but sending me away with the words of how everyone wanted me to go, so that they wouldn't have to have me around, did hurt, yeah. But I am used to it, so it just stings for a while, and then it goes away."

Kyungsoo was quiet for a while, and then he quietly took the older's hand in his own. "I am sorry."

Jongdae smiled. "Don't be. Like I said, it goes away. This will go away as well."

Kyungsoo looked at Jongdae with admiration. "You're really strong, you know that?"

"What?" Jongdae said, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Kyungsoo sighed, "you go on, even if it hurts. That's difiicult to do. But, Jongdae remember, it's okay to be sad sometimes. Being hurt is okay."

Jongdae swallowed down the clump forming in his throat. "Thank you, Kyungsoo," he whispered, and the other squeezed his hand harder in reply. It was when he was with the younger, that Jongdae was nothing like his usual self. He wasn't the sassy, I-don't-give-a- bad boy, but rather he was softer, more like the Jongdae he had been when he was younger. Before the things that made him the way he was happened. Before his life turned into a living hell. Kyungsoo made him feel more at ease, more like himself.

His quiet relfection made him start thinking about Minseok. The older really riled up his wilder side, but that side was also a big part of the real Jongdae. The submissive, happy Jongdae, whose eyes were shining like stars in the dark night. Baekhyun was the one to bring out his fighting spirit, and his laughter, Kyungsoo was the one who brought out his softness, his kind side. And Minseok, well Minseok, was the one who made him feel like he was alive, truly alive, for the first time in a long time. Without him knowing it, a smile had turned up on his face.

He felt alive.

❧❧❧

Kyungsoo and Jongdae said goodbye just before the last of the day's light disappeared. They had made dinner together, skillfully avoiding the rest of the campers, and then they ate the said dinner, while watching ,yet another, Disney movie while Jongdae asked Kyungsoo questions about his family and friends. Kyungsoo's mother sounded nice, but a bit overbearing, while Kyungsoo's father was said to be almost as quiet as Kyungsoo, only ever really talking excitedly when he was alone with his wife, or son. Kyungsoo didn't really have any friends, only classmates he liked, but never really hung out with them, as they made him feel anxious at the thought. They were nice and all, but they were nothing like Kyungsoo, which made the said boy feel uncomfortable beign around them.

Jongdae walked with a smile on his face, humming quietly yet another disney song, as he thought about the day. He didn't properly notice his surrounding, or the fact that there was someone standing in front of him until he walked straight into the person's chest.

"Uumph!" Jongdae groaned, as he bounced backwards, but the boy in front of him grabbed him before he could fall. For some reason, the grip around his wrist was oddly familiar.

"Jongdae?" an eerily familiar voice asked, and Jongdae's eyes went wide. 

"Jongin?!"

❧❧❧

Author's note. 

I at updating my stories. I am going to blame school for everything, and then proceed to cry over all the coming tests^^^ Oh and I apologize for making people wait so long for the nex chap, as well as my incredibly kind co-author, who had been nothing but supportive! 

-Kpoploveralways

[side note from badblood: I did not expect this story to be updated with this chapter before like, the end of school year, or sth, so well, yeah, I did not put it on my list of stories to update, so.... there happens to be around 9 other stories I gotta deal with before I write another chapter (who am I kidding it will not be this long), but please, be patint! Cheers!]