Morning brought no hesitation. They were close, legs tangled, Jongin's bruised nose prodding Sehun's throat and the others face buried in Jongin's hair. But there was no comfort in waking up. His face was sore, headache pounding like a hammer and the pain traveling down his back. Sehun wasn't awake yet.

Jongin pulled away, reaching out his arm behind him to try and locate his phone, which he had hopefully remembered to leave charging next to his pillow. He had. The time startled him. They only had an hour to get to class.

He faltered a bit before shaking Sehun's shoulder. The other boy only flipped onto his back, sniffed a bit, and continued to sleep.

“Sehun,” Jongin croaked. Embarrassed at the sound of his own sleep blanketed voice he got up quickly and went to drink a glass of water, taking some advil with it. When he came back, Sehun's eyes were open and he was squinting at his own bright phone screen.

“This time can't be right.”

“It is.” Jongin set down a second glass of water and a second pill for Sehun. He wasn't sure how the other would be feeling, considering they had ended up drinking the coolers, not the beer. “We should probably get going.”

He watched Sehun pick up the glass and pill before digging into his closet. He pulled out a sweater and some sweatpants for himself and for Sehun too, tossing the second set of clothes at the boy still sipping the water.

Sehun frowned. “What's wrong with what I'm already wearing?”

Jongin scrunched his nose, regretting the facial habit as sharp pain shot through between his eyes. “You kinda stink.”

He entered the bathroom immediately after the comment, not wanting to look at Sehun anymore than necessary until he knew what the night before had meant. He knew what kisses meant. He knew what kisses like that meant. Sehun wasn't even intoxicated at that point, and Jongin couldn't have looked all that great if what he looked like in the mirror right now was anything to go by. The bruise, starting right in the middle of his face, branched out onto his cheeks and around his eyes his eyes before fading out. It was several different shades of black and blue, messy like the canvas of a finger painting child.

He washed his face and brushed his teeth quickly, wanting to look at himself even less than he wanted to face Sehun. Getting ready took no time at all and he opened the door to see Sehun lacing up his shoes.

Sehun looked up and smiled. Jongin smiled back.

“I really want to kiss you again,” Sehun said quietly.

“Right now?” Jongin asked.

“But my breath probably smells worse than yesterday's clothes right now.”

Jongin sat down next to him to pull on his own shoes. “Probably. I can wait, though.”

“Okay, cool, but personally, I don't think I can.”

Jongin laughed and took Sehun's face in his hands. Dragging his lips along Sehun's jaw at first, he came to stop at his chin and pressed a small kiss there. He had done the exact same thing the night before, long after making out and right before they had fallen asleep. He didn't know what had come over him, but he had hidden his face from Sehun quickly after that, as he did again now. Getting up and grabbing his bag.

Sehun picked up his own bag and followed Jongin out the door, his eyes upturned into crescents and a blush on high cheeks. Jongin only noticed when he turned to lock the door. He mimicked Sehun's smile as they walked to the elevator.

----

Sehun ducked into a convenience store on their walk to campus for a few minutes. Jongin didn't follow him inside. He watched the cars flooding into the entrance of the campus and all the people crowding the sidewalks. This was a popular route as it faced the main part of the city, whereas on the other side of the campus, there was a more suburban feel. Not too many students came from that side. Apartments were cheaper downtown.

Sehun came out with a small grey plastic bag that he shoved into his—or, well, Jongin's—sweater pocket, and they continued down the road, running across the street seconds before the light went red.

“I always challenge cars to hit me when I'm crossing the road,” Sehun said.

Jongin raised a brow. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Sehun mused. “Like I don't wanna get hurt badly but like I'd definitely play it up so I could sue their asses. You know?”

“I guess. I heard somewhere if you get hit by a car on campus property they'll wipe out your tuition fee for that year.”

“Well I know how I'm paying for my education then.”

“That was my first thought,” Jongin said, laughing.

But Sehun turned to him and addressed him rather seriously. “But you're not really going to like jump in front of a car or anything right.”

Jongin frowned. “No, of course not.”

“Oh, good.”

“Why? Are you?”

“No.”

“Please don't.”

“I said ‘no’!”

Jongin snorted. “Whatever, I got my eye on you.”

Sehun pulled him into the bathroom as soon as they were in the right building. He produced the plastic bag and shook out its contents. A toothbrush and a mini tube of toothpaste.

Jongin awkwardly watched Sehun rinse his mouth, remembering his words from earlier. But Sehun only straightened up afterwards and suggested they hurry before they get late.

They spotted Baekhyun and Chanyeol standing outside whatever class they had, waiting for the doors to open and for the other class to leave. Jongin sent them a smile as the pair raised their gazes and saw him. Both their jaws dropped but before they could approach, their classmates started pushing towards the opening doors, crowding them and guiding them in the opposite direction.

Jongin remembered how he must look. Only then did he realize the looks people were giving him as he and Sehun made their way down the hall. They arrived at Sehun's class and found that everyone was already inside.

“See you after?”

“Yeah.” Jongin held his backpack strap tightly in his fist.

“Aren't you going to class?”

“Yeah.”

Neither moved.

“You first this time,” Sehun said. “Don't make me do all the work.”

Jongin averted his gaze for a second. Looking both ways down the hallway to insure that they had their privacy. There were a bunch of people milling around. It was never empty. Nevertheless, Jongin closed the distance between them. Sehun moved forward at the same time, colliding their faces, causing Jongin to let out a groan as he pulled back immediately and held onto his nose.

Sehun's eyes widened as he apologized profusely.

“Oh, damn, Jongin I am so sorry. , are you okay?”

Jongin nodded, but there were involuntary tears forming in his eyes from the impact. He blinked them away and nodded again. He pulled his hand away from his face and looked at it. No blood.

“I'm just- I'm gonna go now,” he said, laughing a little.

Sehun looked worried, but he nodded. “Yeah, that's probably a good idea.”

Jongin gave him a small wave before he continued down the hall.

----

“What happened to you?” Chanyeol asked as Baekhyun only stared on, when they met up for lunch. It was just three of them. Sehun was still in class. He didn't share any breaks between classes with Jongin on Mondays.

“Just a misunderstanding. Nothing major.”

“I didn't know you had it in you. You're not the type to fight. I wonder what the other guy looked like at the end of it.”

“It was not a fight. There was some misinterpreted information given to the wrong person that got me punched. And then it was cleared up. That's it.”

“Was it Sehun?” Chanyeol and Jongin both turned to look at Baekhyun. He had only been quietly regarding Jongin's face since they had sat down, surprisingly not commenting till now. Jongin frowned.

“No… it was a neighbour. But Sehun was there.”

“And he let it happen?”

“It wasn't exactly expected.”

“Did he take you to the hospital?”

“No there was no need.”

“Oh so did he just kiss it better then?”

Jongin froze. Could Baekhyun really tell?

He had passed Sehun on his way to his second class of the day and Sehun had pulled him behind the student services building to make up for the mishap earlier.

Then he'd made a cheesy comment about kissing his nose better by doing exactly that before realizing what had just happened and excusing himself, leaving Jongin feeling strangely accomplished.

There was no way Baekhyun knew about that, though.

Baekhyun's expression convinced Jongin that the smaller boy was only joking, so he let himself relax.

Until, Sehun plopped down next to him, a still steaming slice of pizza in hand.

“What are you doing here? You class doesn't end till two.”

“Finished early,” Sehun said, raising the slice to his mouth. Jongin caught Baekhyun frowning at the boy next to him as he burned the roof of his mouth and his face contorted in pain.

“Sehun…”

Sehun looked up, surprised as always when Jongin's friends addressed him.

Baekhyun gave him a small smirk before continuing. “Where'd you get that sweater from? I swear Jongin has one just like it.”

Of course, Jongin should have known that letting Sehun borrow his clothes wouldn't escape Baekhyun's hawk like eyes and attention to detail.

Chanyeol collapsed in laughter next to Baekhyun. “You slept over??”

“Yes,” Sehun said at the same time Jongin said “Shut up.”

Sehun cleared his throat. “Couldn't leave after watching him get er punched could I?”

Chanyeol continued laughing. Baekhyun only smiled. “Of course you couldn't.”

----

“Kyungsoo, you- your face…”

This was his first time seeing Kyungsoo after Friday night. His heart almost leapt out in surprise seeing Kyungsoo sitting outside his apartment with his back leaning against the door. Besides the cut lip, Jongin couldn't see any sign of the bruises that he'd made out in the dark that night.

At first, he looked confused as to what Jongin could mean, but then he seemed to realize. He looked down at his feet sheepishly. “Oh, um, the miracle of makeup shouldn't be underestimated.”

“Make up?”

“Gotta save face, I guess,” he said laughing awkwardly.

That wasn't the answer Jongin was expecting, but it made sense. If Jongin was trying to hide a secret like Kyungsoo’s, he supposed he'd do the same. He just nodded in response, as he had begun to realize just how much he stuttered in situations that were uncomfortable for him.

“What happened to you?”

Jongin froze, he didn't want Kyungsoo to know that he had talked to Yixing about him. He had been meaning to clear things up with his landlord, but it might be best left alone for now. Jongin didn't want any more trouble or any more misunderstandings.

“It's nothing. Just an accident.”

They remained quiet, avoiding each other's gazes, for a few seconds.

“H- how are you?” Jongin asked carefully.

Kyungsoo’s wide eyes met his own and he couldn't help but think of what he had on the balcony. Kyungsoo was gorgeous. Now that he saw him in proper light and with all the swelling having gone down and no visible blemishes on his skin (though he supposed the makeup was a factor in that), Jongin thought he was absolutely glowing. Again, he wondered how anyone could want to hurt that face. Especially under the gaze of those large eyes.

He wanted to shake his head to get himself out of the daze he'd fallen into, but he realized how weird that would look, so he just stared back, hoping that his unease wasn't apparent on his face. His heart swelled for some reason at Kyungsoo staring back at him. He barely knew this man but he was so nervous to be around him. Nervous, but happy. He was happy that Kyungsoo seemed okay, but he realized that the longer he stared into those eyes, he recognized the redness and fatigue in them, similar to the night they had met, and his heart swelled again, painfully this time.

Then he realized that Kyungsoo hadn't responded to his question. And that Kyungsoo wasn't even looking at him anymore, but instead past him, towards the elevators.

“Uh, Kyungsoo?”

“Huh?” Kyungsoo’s eyes flickered back to him. “Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me.”

Jongin scratched the back of his head. “Do you…maybe wanna come in? For some coffee maybe?”

If I could set myself on fire right now, I would, he thought to himself. What am I doing??

“I really shouldn't, Jongin.” His gaze kept shifting to the elevators. Jongin turned around with a confused expression, there was no one there, but it was quite possible that Kyungsoo was expecting someone.

Jongin didn't want to make him cry like he had that night, so he didn't push the limits of the conversation. Instead, he nodded politely and offered Kyungsoo a small smile, which was returned to him graciously. He tried not to stare at Kyungsoo’s face any longer than deemed socially acceptable and unlocked his door, slipping inside, and closing it quietly.

A while later, once he was started on his assignments he heard voices. Whoever Kyungsoo had been waiting for had arrived. The whispers were rushed and harshly spoken, agitation and frustration evident. He could easily pick out Kyungsoo's voice among the garbled sounds.

Before he could think about what he was doing, he crept closer to the door, only to be met with the echo of Kyungsoo's door opening and then closing.

He sighed softly, resting his head against the wood. If only he could do something. Kyungsoo had asked him not to call the police, not to tell anyone. After trying, and failing, to talk to Yixing about it, it was clear that Kyungsoo had worked hard to keep it a secret. It wasn't his secret to tell, but it wasn't right to keep something like this a secret. He wasn't going into criminology for nothing.

But the dreadful feeling inside him, telling him something bad could happen, that he could make it worse, that Kyungsoo, technically a stranger to him, could possibly hate him if he did anything, stopped him. He made up his mind. He couldn't talk to Yixing again. He'd apologize for causing trouble to him and to Minseok and Jongdae and he wouldn't mention what was happening to Kyungsoo. He didn't want Kyungsoo to hate him. That was the most prevalent fears out of everything he was feeling at the time.

So for the next little while, as accusations flew back and forth as he was trying to study, he did his best not to eavesdrop.

Kyungsoo sounded angry. Though Jongin could only hear snippets of the conversation, he pieced together a pretty clear picture. This person, that had been tormenting Kyungsoo, Jongin could only guess that it was a boyfriend, was married.

The accusation was what caught Jongin's attention right away.

He moved closer to his wall. The other person replied calmly, though Jongin didn't catch the words properly, but the next ones were clear.

“I want you out.” Jongin's chest surged. Was this really happening? Would this person only hurt Kyungsoo more for trying to get out? He felt ready to intervene if anything happened. Chanyeol had pointed out he wasn't one to fight, that didn't mean he wouldn't try.

The person replied, again too softly to hear. This was a big change from what he had heard the week before.

“I don't care!” Kyungsoo yelled, also different from the soft spoken Kyungsoo that Jongin had only seen so far. “Get your out. I want it all gone tomorrow or I'll throw it off the ing balcony.”

The other person didn't argue further. He heard the sound of the door opening again and then clicking shut. He could hear Kyungsoo shuffling around next door.

He was compelled to go and knock, maybe ask Kyungsoo if he would need any help throwing things off his balcony. But he instead he moved back to his desk and continued his assignments until his eyelids drooped and he could no longer keep his head up.

More Kyungsoo!!!!!

(This chapter is brought to you by Jongin's hair. He's blond again and I'm living)

Don't hesitate to leave a comment because I love reading them :D