Another night, another girl. This time it was the chief secretary, one of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and with the spirit of a lion; she had left him bite marks to prove, but he still felt that something was missing.

The highlight of his days had become talking with Junmyeon, the most awkward guy he knew, but also the most caring. They usually sat in his office at the theatre when Junmyeon was on lunch break or when the other actors were trying out other scenes. That day was no different: they were talking about a new actress who was giving Yixing some difficulties with her script and suddenly the writer felt the urge to ask his friend something.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" He asked out of the blue.

Junmyeon looked at him with a surprised face, he obviously didn't anticipate the question, then put on an embarrassed smile.

"I don't. I'm not really a girl’s type of guy"

Yixing wrinkled his lips in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Junmyeon's cheeks were getting redder and redder.

"Well... you know... I don't like girls"

"Then what do you like?"

Junmyeon looked at his friend in disbelief: sometimes talking to him was exhausting, even if very funny at the same time. He was just so clueless all the time.

"I like guys"

Yixing opened his mouth in an oh sound, finally understanding. He turned his head and watched the actor trying to cool his face with his thin hands.

"Was it a difficult thing to say?"

"Kind of. There are not many people here in Korea that could take my preferences as normal"

Yixing almost laughed.

"If you can talk with a guy that goes with a new girl every night like me without rejecting me, I think we are good"

"About that..." Junmyeon shifted uncomfortably in his usual spot in Yixing's office "Is there a reason? I mean, if you don't want to say it it's ok, but..."

Yixing closed the book in front of him and wondered with his eyes through the room.

"I once had a girlfriend I loved, so much I proposed to her. Maybe it was too soon, but she was so cute, with her tiny smile and her long hair. She never went to the church, got away with her family before I could even see her. Only sometime after that I learned she got married her lover. Now nights are just hollow and it's hard to survive them alone"

"But you don't want to attach to anybody so you switch every day" finished Junmyeon for him, a sad look on his face "have you ever tried spending the night with a friend, watching TV and eating something together?"

"Sometimes with my roommate, but he loves to sleep so I end up having many long hours to spend alone in the dark"

Junmyeon opened his mouth several times, trying to think about the perfect words to use to express what he wanted to say.

“Why don’t you come to my house tonight then? We can watch something you like and spend a night between friends”

Yixing gaze was lost in the floor and the actor couldn’t say if he was thinking or if he was on the clouds like always. Then, a dimple appeared on his right cheek, along with a tiny smile.

“Why not? Might be relaxing”

Junmyeon had to cover his face with his sleeve, pretending to wipe out his cheek from something, to hide his cheesy smile. It had been such a long time since he had guests in his house, let alone a guy: since graduation, he had focused entirely in getting a stable position in a troupe, somehow drifting apart from his college friends. Of course he had cherished some relationships with the ones he had grew the strongest bond with, but there could now be counted on his fingers.

Yixing was something new, unknown and full of mysteries for him; beautifully melancholic. He couldn’t wait for that night.

Kyungsoo sighed at his friends: could Baekhyun and Chanyeol be more obvious with their giggles and sly look to Jongin? Fortunately, the dancer seemed lost in his thoughts, paying attention only to his lunch.

There was a warm wind, moving idly the trees’ leaves, carrying with him flower petals and a feeling of freedom. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to guess which direction it was coming. From north, he decided. He opened his eyelids and the sunlight blinded him for a second. The wind whispered sweet words in his ears, almost like it was singing and, for a second, he forgot where he was, losing himself in the sky. That day, it was Sistine blue.

He knew more about shades of blue than anything, even obscure literature and Independent music artists.

“Do you mind?”

Kyungsoo snapped out of his day dream only to find Jongin looking at him with puppy eyes.

“What would I mind?”

“If I came to hear you sing. I have no lesson this evening but I don’t want to ride the bus alone. So, can I?”

The singer looked at him, then at Chanyeol and Baekhyun, who still had not got rid of their vicious smiles. The latter spoke before he could.

“Are you sure? I mean, a lot of people come to their lesson to hear, so you would found yourself surrounded by screaming girls”

“Yeah” sighed Kyungsoo “I still don’t understand why do they think that screaming on top of our singing could not irritates us. Why do they come anyway?”

The other three boys smiled.

“You’ll get it when you grow up” said Baekhyun jokingly, only to receive a killer glare.

“Jongin, you can do what you want. Come if you feel like it, I’d be happy to see you there”

The dancer lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Then I’ll go”

What Baekhyun had said was true: there were a lot of girls outside of the music room, some with phones raised to capture some picture of the singers. He walked into the crowd, some people recognizing him and stepping aside to make him room. From the glass walls, he could see Kyungsoo, sat near to a piano played by the professor. Near them, another group of the music course's students were waiting for their turn. Apparently they were rehearsing a song he then had to perform at the concert at the end of the summer lectures.

Kyungsoo had his eyes closed, listening to the melody one other time before starting to sing, his hands peacefully placed on his thighs, breathing slowly. Jongin could see the somatic of an angel, ready to gift them with his beautiful voice, to soothe all his problems away and transport him into a dream world.

His mouth opened and Jongin’s eyes closed. He was no longer outside the music room, he was standing on a land of fantasy: crystalline water under him, cloudless sky over his head. A few meters away, Kyungsoo was weaving the landscape around them, wings growing out of his skin, feathers flying in the air, like tiny fireflies.

Jongin felt his legs grow weak when, suddenly, the melody stopped. Everything was back to normal as Kyungsoo was discussing some details of the refrain, leaving the dancer stunned. He remained still for a couple of seconds, until a phone call made him wake up again.

“Jongin? It’s Yixing”

“I… Yeah. Hi, Xing, do you need anything?”

“I just wanted to tell you I’ll be off with a friend tonight. Are you sure you are ok?”

It took Jongin some moments to realize he had to reply and couldn’t just nod silently at his phone.

“Yeah, just… it’s nothing. You with a friend? That is rare”

“I know, maybe I’ll have more fun with him, I don’t know. Well, see you tonight if you’ll be awake”

“Bye Xing”

He put away his phone and breath in. Sehun was right when he said Kyungsoo was the best singer on the campus. He never felt so moved by a melody in his life, even if it was questionable if it was entirely because of his voice. 

“Hey”

Jongin almost jumped, startled by the singer’s voice. He was staring at him with doe eyes, hair flailing in front of them, making his gaze gain a new veil of cuteness.

“Hey, are you already done?”

“Yes, I got my song down as the professor wanted so I’m free to go home early. Are you coming with me?”

“Sure”

Kyungsoo was walking slowly, almost like he wanted to savor that part of the day longer: the gentle wind, the strong sunlight, the beautiful sound of thousands of life forms moving along with him, Jongin first. His long legs were making elegant strides, as though he was weightless; he wasn’t doing it on purpose, it was just the way he was, born graceful.

Kyungsoo was shorter and less lithe, but he couldn’t even notice the difference, lost in a day dream as always. The clouds were painting a story in the sky for him to read every day, different and beautiful, poignant and sorrowful, happy and ephemeral.

Could the future be predicted based on those stories? He didn’t believe that, he didn’t quite believe in anything, but somehow he hoped it was, so that it wasn’t his fault when his hand bumped into Jongin’s and locked his fingers with it.

“Thank you” he whispered.

“For what?” asked the dancer, clueless and too absorbed into Kyungsoo’s delicate touch to even try to think.

“For last night. It wasn’t pretty, yet you didn’t turn around, you helped me. So I thought… you know that other time when you said that we could eat something together, before I freaked out; we could actually do that. My treat”

Jongin’s eyes widened and Kyungsoo swore he could see sparkles in them.

“Will there be chicken?”

The singer refrained himself from chuckling.

“Everything you want, you decide”

“Then I’m in”

-Having a bad day? -

-As always. The professor said my chemical explosion with bubble tea isn’t worth an A. Damn that clod-

-Oh my God, I think I’m in love with you. You call your professors clods? -

-Not to their faces, obviously. Who do you think I am? -

-The great majesty Oh Sehun ahaha. -

Sehun’s hands were shaking. Apparently that summer was all about taking risks he never wanted to face.

-Are you really in love with me? -

The response didn’t come quickly as always. One minute passed. Then two. Then three.

-I think I am. It’s complicated to confess to someone you never met-

-You are the one who asked to never meet in real life-

-And for this exact reason. I didn’t want to find a real friend, or even something more, I just wanted to get out of my usual boredom. But you… you were so much more than I ever expected. My mum think I have a real addiction to my phone-

Sehun laughed, so hard he had to block his mouth with his hand not to show everybody in his evening class he was. Then he clutched his cellphone between his fingers, reading again and again the last text. A few words from Luhan, the right ones, and he was now on the moon, dancing the samba with a deer. 

And then it came. The text he was waiting for years.

-OK, I think it’s time. Let’s meet-

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Phew, interconnecting storylines is difficult! Anyway, here's another chapter with the usual additional images that I love, hope you like it so far^__^