It’s weird. Extremely weird to be looking at your own face. And it’s especially so when you know you’re not looking at a mirror. Chanyeol tries his utmost best to not move his eyes away from his own face, forces himself to stare at his philtrum, his nose, then his eyes. Well, maybe not his eyes because his eyes aren’t exactly staring right back for Kyungsoo seems hellbent on not returning the eye contact.

Chanyeol opens his mouth, about to say something along the lines of you look so calm but I’m sure you’re as freaked out as I am when the glaring fact that he hasn’t held a proper conversation with Kyungsoo in six years suddenly shoots through his head and instantly makes him shut his mouth with a loud clack of teeth. Chanyeol winces. He hadn’t meant to do that to Kyungsoo’s teeth. Fearing repercussions, Chanyeol glances up, expecting to be greeted with a glare. And, a glare is what he receives. Chanyeol forces the corners of his lips to rise, a wry smile forming on his stiff face as he says, “Oops.”

The room lapses into silence. Chanyeol takes this time to look around, taking in the setup of Kyungsoo’s bedroom and chuckling on the inside when he realises that Kyungsoo still likes the colours of white and black; almost everything in the room is one of the two colours, with the exception of a purple unicorn soft toy that’s placed next to an adorable penguin soft toy on the bed. The unicorn is picked up then, and Chanyeol watches in a not-very-subtle awe as Kyungsoo nuzzles its nose with his own before bopping it with a finger. Something pleasant stirs within Chanyeol’s chest when he sees the corners of Kyungsoo’s lips pull upwards. Resisting the urge to clutch his chest, Chanyeol quickly tears his eyes away from the sight, confusion washing over him when the pleasant feeling within him abruptly turns sour. To distract himself from this strange happening, Chanyeol blurts out, “Why are you living with Yixing?”

After taking small breaths to calm himself and dispel the weird confusion, Chanyeol finally looks up and at Kyungsoo, who doesn’t seem surprised. Though, on his face is an expression that Chanyeol can’t decipher. “Things happened,” says Kyungsoo as he brings Chanyeol’s long legs up to his bed, folding them before hugging the unicorn to his chest. “So Yixing’s parents took me in.”

“What happened?”

With the way Kyungsoo is partially maintaining eye contact with him, Chanyeol hadn’t expected to be met with silence, honestly, and was half-expecting Kyungsoo to reply. When the silence drags on far too long for Chanyeol’s liking (plus it’s rather creepy to have your face staring back at you every couple of seconds), Chanyeol decides to drop the subject. There’s no point in waiting for an answer that will probably never be given. If Kyungsoo had wanted to tell him what exactly happened for him to end up living in Yixing’s home, he would done so, and they wouldn’t be in such an awkward and uncomfortable situation right now. The silence is palpable and Chanyeol hates it. He doesn’t like this static state of no one talking, and he urges himself to quickly think of something, anything to talk about with Kyungsoo to break this unsettling silence.

“It’s okay, let’s not talk about that then,” Chanyeol finally says, eyes shutting for a split second. He then looks across the room at Kyungsoo, expecting to meet with his own eyes but seconds pass, a minute passes, and Kyungsoo still doesn’t return his gaze.

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol calls. Kyungsoo doesn’t look up. “Kyungsoo.” Chanyeol tries again, but to no avail. “Do Kyungsoo.” Chanyeol says a little louder. It’s a futile attempt.

Tendrils of anger begin to emanate from within Chanyeol because it’s been almost four minutes and Kyungsoo still seems hellbent on avoiding any eye contact. Seeking purchase in his pants, Chanyeol’s fingers grip on the fabric tight as he tries to maintain status quo. He’s not going to flare up, he’s not going to shout, he’s not going to get mad. Chanyeol is going to remain calm and collected, and he will channel how Kyungsoo always seems to remain so relaxed every time when Chanyeol picks on him.

With a (forced) smile, Chanyeol continues to say, “Let’s talk about what happened for us to turn out like this.” He picks up the empty cup that Kyungsoo handed to him when they walked past the Zhangs’ kitchen (with Chanyeol feeling absolutely freaked out as he watches his body potter around a foreign kitchen), fingers tracing the adorable features of the cartoon giraffe printed on it. He smiles down at it, tip of his index finger resting longer on the animal’s cute nose. Chanyeol is so amused by the giraffe, he doesn’t register a hand gently sliding under his chin and pushing his head up until it happens and Kyungsoo suddenly fills his vision.

“You’re not listening to me, are you?” There is amusement in Kyungsoo’s tone, which surprises Chanyeol. Given their current circumstances, there is hardly anything worth being amused about. Though, Chanyeol is kind of glad that Kyungsoo isn’t so uptight and serious as he had been moments ago. Chanyeol really was at a loss of what to do in order to get Kyungsoo to look at him. Now, he seems to have Kyungsoo’s undivided attention, except for the occasional glance at the adorable unicorn nestled in the space between Kyungsoo’s folded legs. The way its head is perched on Kyungsoo’s thigh and how its smallish eyes seem to be looking in Chanyeol’s way causes Chanyeol’s insides to turn into a puddle of goo and makes him want to coo at the cute toy.

Fortunately, he doesn’t. Squashing that thought, Chanyeol shakes his head and bites the insides of his mouth to prevent a smile from forming when Kyungsoo sighs exaggeratedly (yes, Do Kyungsoo just did that!!) and rests his hands on the unicorn. “I was saying that I don’t know what might have happened for us to become like this, but whatever it was, it must have been a huge thing.”

“Something huge?” Chanyeol says, a hand leaving the cup to scratch his head. “I don’t know what could have happened, though.”

“Exactly,” Kyungsoo replies. “I don’t know either, because I out when I was falling off the stairs no thanks to someone–”

And Chanyeol receives a murderous glare.

“–only to find myself waking up in the infirmary in someone else’s body and I panicked and was really confused when the nurse ing glared at me–”

“Oh, the nurse kind of hates me.” Chanyeol unhelpfully interrupts, ignoring another glare from Kyungsoo as well as the sting that suddenly attacks his chest upon hearing Kyungsoo curse. It’s weird to hear a curse word from Kyungsoo. That same Kyungsoo who’d flinch whenever he heard curse words from the movies nine-year-old Chanyeol had stolen from his parents’ stash and put it on the TV for them to watch. Kyungsoo cursing. Chanyeol finds himself not liking it much.

“–and I ran out and almost bumped into your friend–”

“Which one?!”

“–and– um, I don’t know why he was standing next to Yixing but they looked about the same height, so–”

Chanyeol immediately brightens up. “Baekhyun! It was Baekhyun!” At the thought of his longest (well, not exactly) best friend, delight suddenly courses through Chanyeol, and he can’t help but want to do something. And, Chanyeol does something: he puts down the giraffe cup and grabs Kyungsoo’s hands. “Baekhyun cares about me!”

Perhaps it’s not the best idea to grab the hands of someone who’s never been a big fan of physical contact or shove a face into that person’s face, because Chanyeol finds himself receiving the most disgusted scowl he’s ever been the recipient of and it effectively shuts him up and gets him to settle back into his own seat on the floor. A huge pout makes its way onto his face but Chanyeol pretends to not notice that he’s still grabbing onto Kyungsoo’s hands, and how Kyungsoo isn’t flinging them off. In his chest, the pleasant feeling returns.

Seemingly truly oblivious to the fact that his hands are still in Chanyeol’s, Kyungsoo just looks at Chanyeol with a softer, but still disgusted, look. “I don’t care if he cares about you. Because I kind of shouted at him to off when he followed me to the washroom–”

“You what?”

“–and I was not going to break down in front of someone who tears up while eating the canteen’s watery and spiceless kimchi jjigae. And also, I think I got glared at by my own best friend when I first ran out of the infirmary.” Kyungsoo huffs. “And now I’m in your ing body. Thanks a lot, Chanyeol.” It’s then does Kyungsoo’s eyes suddenly dart downwards and a second later, Chanyeol’s hands are being flung away. “Ugh, why were we even holding hands! Park Chanyeol!”

It shouldn’t be funny. The way Kyungsoo had just practically ranted for a good thirty seconds (in Chanyeol’s voice) shouldn’t even pique a semblance of a tiny smile but somehow, Chanyeol finds himself bursting out into loud laughter, filling Kyungsoo’s room with his own laugh. Tears begin to well in his eyes and Chanyeol promptly swipes them away, only to have more appearing and Chanyeol resumes to wipe those tears of joy away. God, he hasn’t laughed like this in a long while. His best friends are funny, especially Baekhyun, but they’re not hilarious. Technically, neither is Kyungsoo (just look at those furrowed caterpillar brows and frown) but this rare outburst from Kyungsoo is just pure gold. Chanyeol laments the fact that he hadn’t recorded it down; even an audio clip would be amazing for playback.

Of course, the person being laughed at isn’t at all amused. Emerging from his hiccups, Chanyeol belatedly realises that and he hurriedly apologises. It’s useless, for the deadpan expression on Kyungsoo’s face remains throughout the entire time Chanyeol tries to get him to forgive him (by attempting cringeworthy aegyo). It only softens (a teeny tiny bit) when Kyungsoo clears his throat before saying that since they’re probably going to be stuck in each other’s bodies until they figure out how to change back, they would have to stay at each other’s respective homes. And that would mean knowing each other’s routines, habits, and the people in their respective social circles.

Chanyeol mindlessly points out that Kyungsoo doesn’t need to be updated much with regard to the people in Chanyeol’s life, seeing how he knows Chanyeol’s parents and that they’re still staying in the same apartment. The only thing Kyungsoo would have to take note is how to interact with the three best friends of Chanyeol’s, and that in itself is a huge problem right now because...

“So you’re saying,” Kyungsoo deadpans. “I’d have to first apologise to the three of them because you ed up and chased them all away before I can interact with them.”

It’s still weird to hear Kyungsoo cursing, but Chanyeol nods anyway, a sheepish smile on his face.

“But here’s the thing: what if I don’t want to? That way, I won’t have to interact with them, and they won’t find out that I’m not you. It’s a win-win situation, y’know.”

The wail that comes out of Chanyeol’s mouth is foreign and Chanyeol would have found it funny (because it sounds like Kyungsoo is wailing) if not for the fact that Kyungsoo is threatening him to shut the up I don’t want to hear myself screaming and that Kyungsoo doesn’t want to apologise to Kris, Sehun, and Baekhyun on his behalf. He doesn’t care that Chanyeol won’t have friends when he returns to his body. He doesn’t care that Chanyeol will be a loner in the future. Kyungsoo doesn’t care about Chanyeol anymore now that they’re no longer best friends. The sour feeling forms within Chanyeol’s chest.

After wailing for a good minute, Chanyeol suddenly shuts up and glares at Kyungsoo, who looks taken aback by Chanyeol’s sudden intensity. “Look, if you don’t apologise, you won’t have any friends until you return to your body. Would you like that?” Chanyeol says, eyes staring at Kyungsoo’s. He notices how they flicker. “Also, you shouted at Baekhyun too! You practically added fuel to the fire and dug a deeper grave for yourself. And in case you’re not seeing it, I still have your friends. They’re still going to hang out with me because they don’t know it’s me and not you, and I won’t be lonely and going nuts while waiting to return to my body. Unlike you.”

Chanyeol purposely hisses the last word to emphasize it, to get Kyungsoo to realise the consequences of not wanting to apologise to Chanyeol’s friends. It won’t be a win-win situation, frankly, because a) Kyungsoo will be lonely, b) Chanyeol will be lonely after, and c) Baekhyun might know something about what happened to them since he was hanging outside the infirmary with Yixing.

“... You sure about that last bit?” Kyungsoo asks monotonously, his body slumping against the wall. “That maybe Baekhyun and Yixing might know something?”

“I’m… not sure, but there’s always that possibility? It’s just weird that he was there without Kris and Sehun, if what you recalled was correct,” says Chanyeol. He looks away from Kyungsoo’s (technically Chanyeol’s) ugh--my-life face and starts to fiddle with Kyungsoo’s unicorn instead, having taken it from the floor where it was abandoned by its owner who had crawled over to the wall. “And if Yixing was there with him, Yixing must know something, too.”

Life returns to Kyungsoo’s countenance, his facial features perking up a little. Yet, seconds later, his face falls. “But we can’t just directly ask them. Because if Yixing hasn’t told me—or you, technically—that would mean that he either wants to keep it a secret, or he really doesn’t know anything. And asking them outright might make them suspicious of us, because why would we want to know what happened after the fall when we’re already fine and not dead and most definitely ourselves.”

Chanyeol stares at Kyungsoo’s dejected face. He blinks. Blinks again as he tries to register Kyungsoo’s explanation. It makes sense. Blatantly asking Baekhyun or Yixing if they’ve seen what happened to both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo after they’ve fallen and landed at the bottom of the stairs might lead them to worry and be suspicious, and then they’d start probing and Chanyeol doesn’t think he can handle that. He still has to memorise the names of Yixing’s family, Kyungsoo’s daily routine and the responsibilities he shares with Yixing in the Zhang household. (Chanyeol mentally laments the fact that Kyungsoo had volunteered for laundry duty on alternate evenings, having deemed it easier than washing the dishes every night.)

“So basically, we’re still at square one since we can’t ask neither Baekhyun nor Yixing for information.”

“Yep.” Kyungsoo nods, his tone a tad too bright for a person who isn’t in his own body (and probably in the right state of mind). “Also, please memorise the things that I’m going to be writing on these papers.” A stack of papers suddenly appear in front of Chanyeol’s face. “Do not my life up. Do you hear me, Park.”

Chanyeol can’t help but wail (again).

---

It’s just a . A body part that Chanyeol himself has. A body part that his best friends and