“Kyungsoo, you promised,” you groan into your phone.

“I know, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you heard him huff. “I totally forgot about meeting somebody for one of my classes tonight. I promise to buy you lots of food tomorrow and talk with you and do whatever you want to do. But this is really important.”

“Kyungsoo, finals are coming up, and you promised you would help me with this final paper,” you hiss exasperatedly into the phone.

“Tomorrow. We’ll talk about this stressful paper tomorrow, alright?” he asks, as if you’re totally not pulling your hair out and gorging coffee at midnight because of this paper and its cursed deadline. “Gotta go. Hang out with Jongin tonight. See you.”

The phone silences.

It’s surprising how easily your thoughts are thrown into a flurry at the thought of your final report but so easily washed into demented fragments of indescribable emotion at the mention of that one name.

Jongin.

Your mind slowly drifts into a state of euphoric rest, only for your quiet heart to start pulsating, as if to remind you of last night’s events.

Jongin’s arm had been draped around you, your skin flaring with sparks of excitement each time his fingers brushed against your arm. It had been somewhere among the loud clamor of a battle in whatever movie you were watching and Jongin’s soft humming that your eyelids fell heavy with sleep, your head slowly bobbing.

“Hey,” Jongin murmured, his shoulder lightly pushing you awake. “Hey, you, time for bed.”

“It’s time for you to go to bed,” you had grumbled, letting yourself fall against the couch once more.

“You’re so stubborn,” he had sighed.

Jongin tucked his arms beneath you and carried you to your room, and perhaps you had been along the blurred lines between dreams and reality, for you swear you felt Jongin’s lips brush against your forehead.

But desires and fantasies were often projected in dreams.

Right?

You throw your head back as you feel yourself drowning in stress and befuddlement.

“Busy?” a voice asks, and you whip your head behind you, sighing in relief when you see Minseok with two cups of coffee.

You eagerly accept a cup, as you ask, “What’s up?”

“Just wanted to talk to you,” Minseok smiles. “You seem stressed.”

“You don’t even understand,” you groan.

Minseok huffs your name before crossing an arm over his chest while the other brings the cup up to his lips. “I’m two years older than you, which means  I have suffered two more years of college than you. So tell me what’s wrong and maybe I can give you some terrible advice.”

You roll your eyes.

“I just have this terrible final report to write, and it’s due in a few weeks,” you begin rambling. “It was assigned like a week and a half ago and I should have started it earlier because it’s so much work.”

“Well, that’s nothing new,” Minseok simply nods. “You’ll get it done quickly enough. Anything else on your mind?”

“I’m also just having trouble with myself,” you sigh. You can confide in Minseok- he’s proved to be more than trustworthy, and you could use some advice from someone who probably has more experience with people than you. “And how I feel about someone.”

“Jongin?” Minseok blurts, eliciting a heavy sigh from you.

“Maybe.”

“You know, he’s totally into you,” Minseok chuckles. “I see him all the time because of writing club, and let me tell you, I’ve never seen him so lovesick before. I swear, he’s obsessed with you.”

It’s with a spark of realization that an image of Jinhee flickers in your mind. She said the same thing to you, didn’t she?”

“He absolutely hates it when any guy other than Kyungsoo goes near you,” Minseok sighs. “I can’t even go near you without him glaring at me like I’m some criminal. He gives you all his attention, you know that?”

“Not all of it.”

“You could be at a stadium or concert with hundreds of others, and Jongin would literally only see you,” Minseok deadpans. “He likes you.”

“If you say so,” you lowly murmur. You feel excitement and some kind of content when Minseok tells you that Jongin likes you. But you shouldn’t be envisioning images of Jongin’s gaze fixated on you and only you. You shouldn’t be envisioning Jongin’s arms around you.

“Oh yeah,” Minseok suddenly recalls. “You’re coming to my graduation, right?”

You decide to joke with him, rolling your eyes. “Only because you asked me to.”

Minseok playfully nudges at your leg. “Is that really all my friendship meant to you?” he asks.

You stick your tongue out at him, scurrying away when he threatens to throw his coffee at you.

“You know, you’re a lot more pleasant when you’re being yourself,” Minseok smiles. “Jongin helped you, right?”

You simply stop in your tracks and kick a few pebbles around. You’ve definitely slipped back into your old skin, which feels familiar but doesn’t fight perfectly, especially around the cracks and holes that have been made by hurt and betrayal.

“I think Jongin’s really helping you.”

Whether you like it or not, you know, you don’t want to go back to a life without Jongin.

You step into the room where writing club meets every Saturday, alone, since Jongin had gone out to run some errands.

You don’t know why you still come to writing club, when Jongin hasn’t insisted on you coming for the past few weeks and you don’t particularly do anything productive. Your heart tells you it’s because you want to be with Jongin, but your mind says it has simply become a habit.

You’re hunched over a desk, stressing out for the hundredth time about your final report with a blank paper sitting before you, until you feel a pair of arms wrap around you tightly.

A low voice purrs, “Hey, you.”

Blood rushes to your cheeks that have become hollowed by the stress of classes, as your eyes travel to the male behind you.

“What are you doing?” you hiss, a quiet part of your mind whispering for you to shut up so Jongin’s arms can remain around you.

“Greeting you,” Jongin answers. “Can’t I give my favorite person in the whole world a hug?”

“Stop joking around and get off me,” you mumble between trembling lips. Why did Kim Jongin make you so damn nervous?

You can almost feel Minseok watching you, rolling his eyes and probably wanting nothing more to laugh, “I told you so.”

“Are you busy tonight?” Jongin asks, almost seductively. “You were avoiding me last night.”

“I was stressing out over my final paper last night,” you sigh, “and yes, I’m busy tonight. I still haven’t finished the paper.”

“I know you secretly have nothing to do, which means I have no choice but to take you somewhere nice and relieve your stress,” he laughs.

Jongin’s arms finally fall from their tight embrace, but he slides into the seat next to you, his leg pressed against yours and his hand settling against your back as he asks you to review some story he’s working on.

Your head lifts up when you feel a heavy gaze on you, and you’re not surprised to Jinhee standing by the door with her eyes sharp and her lips tugging into a grimace.

You don’t blame her for hating you.

You had told her you wouldn’t fall for Jongin, but you did. You like Jongin, and she does, too.

And you wonder, how could anybody not like him?

However, you know Jinhee doesn't like you for an even bigger reason- Jongin likes you back.

And she’s probably wondering, how could anybody like you?

“There she is,” Kyungsoo chuckles as you walk into his apartment. It reeks of cologne and dirty laundry, but something about it is homely. You realize how long it’s been since you last stepped into the place. “How was your day?”

“Same as always,” you shrug. “Stressful and tiring. And I’m starving.”

“There’s takeout from the Thai restaurant on the kitchen counter,” Kyungsoo yells from his bedroom. “You can open it up. I’ll be out once I find my laptop.”

Your fingers reach eagerly into the bag, setting out two plates and two sets of utensils at the kitchen counter for you and Kyungsoo. It’s as you’re scooping fine noodles and chicken onto plates that Kyungsoo walks in with his laptop and glasses fixed crookedly upon his nose.

Kyungsoo slides into the chair beside you, pushing the plate aside and opening his laptop.

“About your paper,” he coughs, “where should we begin?”

You do the liberty of slapping your hand on his laptop and closing it, sighing, “We eat first. We eat when it’s time to eat, and we work when it’s time to work.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and mumbles, “Yes, your majesty.”

You simply watch as he picks up his chopsticks and gingerly picks at the vegetables in the noodles. You eat in silence for a few moments, before you muster up the courage to splutter, “Kyungsoo, can we talk?”

“Sure,” he shrugs, his glasses sliding down to the tip of his nose.

“It’s about Jongin,” you sigh, stabbing at your food.

“Oh yeah,” Kyungsoo says, as if he’s suddenly reminded. “I’ve been talking with Jongin, and the roommate thing went a lot better than I expected. I told him it was experimental, and he’s hoping you’ll let him stay, even after this semester. You don’t have to stay with him anymore, but I feel like it’s done you a lot of good.”

“That’s what I need to tell you, Kyungsoo,” you mumble. “I don’t want Jongin to move out.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes light up with a mixture of surprise and content. “That’s great, then,” he smiles. “You and Jongin have become really good friends.”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” you hiss. “I mean, I don’t want Jongin to move out. Ever.”

Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow as he says, “You mean-”

“I like Jongin,” you confess, your fingers retreating from the chopsticks sprawled on your plate and onto your lap where they intertwine and untangle repeatedly. “I like him more than just a friend and roommate, but I can’t tell him I like him because of what happened the last time I liked a person. I’m so afraid and I feel so stupid for liking him.”

Kyungsoo’s hand rests against your back and you lean into it, as he assures, “Your feelings aren’t stupid, alright? Chanyeol just happened to be a jerk, and he should never have treated you like that.”

Just mentioning Chanyeol’s name sends your mind into a swirling vortex that leads your thoughts into misery and has your stomach coiling into a knot. You feel once again the iron mask that contorts your soft features into an expression of distrust.

“But I don’t want the incident with Chanyeol to affect you,” Kyungsoo continues. “He doesn’t deserve anything from you, even your thoughts. You shouldn’t have trouble trusting people because of him, and you shouldn’t be afraid of liking anyone.”

A smile crawls up your face, because Kyungsoo always knows the right things to say.

“When did you get so cheesy?” you scoff, accusingly pointing your chopsticks at him and sticking out your tongue.

“Hey, it’s the truth,” Kyungsoo laughs, nudging your elbow with his.

You’re resuming your hearty meal with a lightened heart and a more confident smile on your face, until Kyungsoo blurts, “Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“You know, I think Jongin likes you, too,” Kyungsoo says. “He won’t shut up about you.”

“Hey,” you playfully respond.

“Yeah?” Kyungsoo asks.

“I already know,” you answer.

~~

Note: There's a lot less going on in this chapter, but I needed it to set up for the next one. I guess you could call it the calm before the storm. ^^