“Let’s go. I don’t think they’ll be back anytime soon.” Baekhyun stated and stood up from his seat. The rest followed and all ten boys made their way out of the cafeteria.

A confused Kyungsoo looked at Baekhyun, thinking he might know the reason for the sudden disappearance of Chanyeol and Sehun.

“Baekhyu---”

As Kyungsoo walked faster to catch up with Baekhyun, he bumped into someone. He looked to his side, only to be met with two familiar eyes that had been haunting him in his dreams for the past few years. The same pair of eyes that he had long resisted to look at. The same pair of eyes that always left a tingling effect on him whenever he looks at them. The same pair of eyes that belonged to someone he’s been trying so hard to avoid for years now.

“Sorry.” Jongin awkwardly apologized, stepping back to let Kyungsoo pass.

Kyungsoo blinked at the sudden interaction between the two of them. He opened his mouth to speak only to have his throat dry and his mind out of words. Jongin stared at him and waited for him to make a move. Unfortunately, no one dared to move and they simply stood there, looking at each other.

“Kyungsoo, hurry up. We’ll be late.” A voice coming from outside the cafeteria brought Kyungsoo back to reality and he swiftly walked towards Baekhyun, Jongdae and Lu Han, almost slipping along the way. The three went

“Well…” Jongdae started. “That was awkward.”

Kyungsoo’s shoulders stiffened but he pretended not to hear anything and continued to walk.

“What exactly happened to you guys? You were so close before.” Baekhyun tilted his head to observe Kyungsoo who was now struggling to keep his balance while walking.

“It’s nothing.” He whispered, almost to himself.

“I never knew Kyungsoo and Jongin were close before. So that’s why there’s an awkward aura whenever these two were around each other.” Lu Han whispered to Jongdae who just nodded in response.

Kyungsoo quickened his pace, not wanting to hear any more inquiries about Jongin and him.

“Only the two of us know what happened. And I plan to take this secret to my grave.” Kyungsoo thought.

“So what actually happened between the two?” Lu Han asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“We don’t really know. Neither of the two ever talks about it. It’s like their whole friendship didn’t even exist in the first place.” Baekhyun answered, looking at Kyungsoo’s back as they walk a few meters away from him.

“We tried asking him about it but he won’t spill a thing. His lips are sealed.” Jongdae sighed, followed by a sigh from Baekhyun as well.

“Do you think they became lovers without you guys knowing then when they broke up, they suddenly cut all connection together?” Lu Han half-joked, imagining if that could really be the story behind Kyungsoo and  Jongin’s sudden coldness towards each other.

“I don’t think so. We would know if Kyungsoo was hiding something.” Jongdae shook his head.

“But…” Baekhyun stopped walking and thought deep. “We did notice that Kyungsoo seemed to develop feelings for Jongin.”

“You think…” Lu Han hadn’t even finished his sentence when the school bell rang.

----------

“Hey, you’re Kyungsoo, right?” A wide-eyed boy looked up from his phone as he heard his name being mentioned. There standing in front of him was a tall, tan-skinned boy who looked much about his age with eyes that turned to crescent moons as his plump lips curved into a smile and jet black hair that was pushed back. Kyungsoo nodded and stood up to be at eye level with the boy in front of him.

“I’m Jongin. I heard you were the one who helped Chanyeol bring the band together for his surprise to Baekhyun. Thank you for helping my friend.” The boy named Kai offered his hand and Kyungsoo reached for it and shook it. The two exchanged friendly smiles that soon turned into laughs as they started to get to know each other.

What was thought to be just a simple conversation of getting to know one another turned into deeper conversations about their favorite movies, genre of music and preference about food. The two found lots in common as they discovered each other’s favorites. Jongin almost hugged Kyungsoo when he learned that wide-eyed boy also has a thing for cheesy friendship movies that brought tears to Jongin every time he watches them on his laptop. Kyungsoo didn’t believe at first that Jongin was more of an R&B person rather than a rap music-loving person. Jongin had to prove himself by singing at least four songs from Usher, Ne-Yo and his all-time favorite Boyz II Men. Kyungsoo had to stop Jongin from singing because as much as he liked knowing that Jongin really loved R&B the same as him, he didn’t want to hear more of Jongin’s desperate singing. Jongin slapped his shoulder playfully as Kyungsoo complained about going deaf from his voice. The two boys clicked together the moment they met and that was when they realized they found another best friend in the form of each other.

Since Chanyeol and Baekhyun were together, it was easier for Jongin and Kyungsoo to hang out together. One time, they even offered to do a double date with Chanyeol and Baekhyun to which the two agreed to, thinking that they might be dating as well. Unfortunately for the love birds, Kyungsoo and Jongin only decided to tag along with them so that they could disturb the two while having their moments and laugh at their expressions after being ed.

Everything was going well, Jongin hanging out at Kyungsoo’s house to watch Jongin’s favorite movie Sunny to which Kyungsoo’s favorite actress Kang Sora starred in and Kyungsoo barging into Jongin’s house to clean his messy room and cooking dinner for him when Jongin’s parents are away. The two felt so comfortable with each other that they even sleep over at each other’s house sometimes. Brothers. That’s what they preferred to identify their relationship as. But soon, everything fell apart. And all started when Kyungsoo felt like being brothers was not what he really wanted with Jongin. Every brush, every smile, every contact was sending Kyungsoo slowly to a different world. A world where Jongin only existed. A world where he thought happy endings existed. But that wasn’t really the case. Jongin saw a different world from his. His world was filled with his passion for dancing. He never really cared about being in a relationship because his mind was focused on his future career as a professional dancer. He never minded not having a partner in life, as long as his friends were there including Kyungsoo.

So when Kyungsoo snapped one day and his feelings for Jongin flowed like running faucet out of his mouth and into Jongin’s ears, the so-called friendship ceased to exist.

Jongin apologized to Kyungsoo who, at that moment, had his heart jumping off the cliff and diving straight into the water where it would drown forever. Jongin never wanted their friendship to end but Kyungsoo was too embarrassed and hurt from the rejection that he tried shutting Jongin out of his life. Jongin could not accept their situation so he tried and tried talking things out with Kyungsoo but only ended up failing numerous times. When he thought there was no point in persuading Kyungsoo to be friends again, he simply gave up.

All of their friends started wondering the moment Kyungsoo asked Baekhyun if they could eat at a different table from Chanyeol and his friends. Jongin never complained and simply stared at the neglected food in front of him.

Sehun was the first to question the sudden gap between the two.

“Jongin, how come you two never talk anymore? Did you have a lover’s quarrel?” He jokingly asked, though he was serious thinking this was the case.

“No, it’s nothing.” Kai said in the most serious tone he has ever used with anyone. And that’s when Sehun knew it was not a lover’s quarrel but rather a broken friendship.

Despite the questioning look given to them and the frequent inquiries about the sudden change in their relationship, no one revealed the story behind it. The two stayed quiet when asked about it and they would be isolating themselves from the group for a few minutes before going back and acting like nothing happened.

This went on until their senior year in high school up until college. The only thing that was different was that everyone was now used to it. Everyone just got used to having two boys who refused to sit anywhere near each other and avoided eye contact or any physical contact with each other. Everyone got used to it, even Jongin and Kyungsoo… or so they thought.

---------

When Kyungsoo’s group met Lu Han, he was intrigued by the Chinese boy a little older than them. He had a feminine body that matched his baby face and a voice Kyungsoo thought would fit just right with their trio. Every good impression he had of Lu Han though soon went down the drain when the Chinese boy met Chanyeol’s group of friends including a certain tan-skinned boy. Kyungsoo got irritated more and more as his ears were filled with Lu Han’s squealing and confession about how nice and handsome he thought Jongin was. He wanted to shut Lu Han up but he could not do it because deep inside him, he envied Lu Han. He envied how Lu Han would always run to Jongin and chat with him until the bell rings. He envied how Lu Han would always drag Jongin to buy bubble tea with him along with an aloof Sehun following them behind. He envied Lu Han simply because he was the one beside Jongin, making him laugh, when in the past, it was him who would usually brighten up Jongin’s face.

Things weren’t going well for Jongin as well. Not only did his secret hope for reconciliation with Kyungsoo seem impossible until now, but a person was threatening to take Kyungsoo away from him more. Suho was just like any of his new friends. He had handsome features that could almost compare to their new Chinese friend Kris and an angelic smile that could beat Baekhyun’s. Although his height was not really enviable as he was a few centimeters shorter than Jongin, it was almost the same as Kyungsoo’s. And that’s what made his height enviable to Jongin. Suho’s short stature was what brought Kyungsoo and Suho to talk in the first place. Jongin could hear from across the long table about Suho complaints about Chanyeol and Kris’ towering heights and relief that he at least had met someone whose height was not as intimidating as theirs. From then on, Jongin listened in on their conversation throughout lunch time. And he wished he didn’t because it only had his heart acting in a very peculiar way, especially when he hears Kyungsoo’s contagious smile as Suho shares one of his memories of high school.

“Lu Han likes Sehun.” Baekhyun said one day while they were on the way to school.

“What?” Kyungsoo screamed, earning glares from a few people around them.

“Was that really surprising for you to shout that loud?” Baekhyun deadpanned.

“Yeah. I mean, no. It was not that surprising. As if I haven’t seen that lingering smile he had when he looks at Sehun.” Kyungsoo said.

“Then why did you scream?” Jongdae asked.

“Nothing. Let’s go, we’ll be late for class.” And Kyungsoo was pacing once again towards the school, leaving Baekhyun and Jongdae alone.

Ever since he heard Lu Han likes Sehun, Kyungsoo can’t seem to stop himself from being upset. He was disappointed at Lu Han for having a change of heart in just a span of weeks. He was upset that Lu Han did not treasure what he had with Jongin at the moment but rather pushed his attention to Sehun instead. He could not blame Lu Han because it was his heart anyways but he could not help but be sad that Lu Han does not admire Jongin anymore. In his heart, he wished he could easily stop his feelings for Jongin or divert it to someone else. Maybe then, I would have the courage to face you again with a smile. Kyungsoo thought.

It did not take long for news to spread that Sehun and Lu Han are now together. While Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and Jongdae were worrying to death thinking where Lu Han ran off to in the middle of the class, their cellphones vibrated.

“Meet us up at the school gates. Now. Lu Han hyung and I want to celebrate our first day together with you guys.”

“So they did end up together, huh?” Baekhyun commented before sneakily walking out of the classroom together with Jongdae and Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo could not do anything but be happy for his friend that he finally had his feelings for Sehun reciprocated. All his irritation and disappointment was left behind and he just felt genuine happiness for the two.

If only my feelings were reciprocated as well. Kyungsoo shook his head to keep the thought out of his head.

“Hey! It’s the love birds!” Jongdae pointed at Lu Han and Sehun whispering at each other and giggling like there was no tomorrow.

“Oh, and there goes the creepy couple.” Kyungsoo laughed at Jongdae’s remark as Baekhyun ran towards Chanyeol as soon as he was in sight.

Soon, all twelve friends were in front of the school gates. Noise filled their surroundings as they made their way towards the noraebang where all the attraction between Sehun and Lu Han started.

♪ ‘Cause you and I both loved
What you and I spoke of
And others just read of
Others only read of love
Oh the love that I love, yeah ♪

Chanyeol and Baekhyun got lost in one of their moments once again as they sang their favorite songs. It took three and a half songs to pull the two away from the microphones. Sehun held both microphones and began to search for a duet song that he could sing with Lu Han but just as he was about to suggest G.NA and Lee Ki Chan’s version of “Count on Me”, something popped in his head.

“Jongin-ah.” He called out and the said person looked up from the song book.

“What?” He asked indifferently.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” A playful smirk crept up Sehun’s face that sent chills down Jongin’s spine.

“No.” He simply said, trying to ignore the nervousness that was building up at the back of his mind. He was thinking of all the possible things that could make Sehun smile creepily like that but nothing reasonable came in his mind.

“Have you forgotten about our deal?”

With that said, everything clicked and two bodies visibly froze. Sehun’s smirk grew wider as he knew they got it.

Quite getting what Sehun was planning, Lu Han stood up and went towards Kyungsoo. “Come on now. We want to hear a duet from you guys.”

The room was filled with cheers and encouragements as Jongin and Kyungsoo were being dragged over to the center. Kyungsoo kept fidgeting as he could feel Jongin’s elbow brushing against his. A physical contact he had never had with Jongin in a long time.

“Here, pick a song.” Chanyeol shoved the song book to them.

Kyungsoo put the song book on the table at the side and flipped through the pages. His hand stopped mid-air though as he felt Jongin’s hot breath ghosting behind his neck, a sign that Jongin was close, dangerously close.

Jongin felt Kyungsoo’s body stiffen and realized that he was leaning a little bit too close, invading Kyungsoo’s personal space. He could feel the heat emitting from Kyungsoo’s body that it had him reminiscing about their wrestling moments back when they were still glued to each other. A soft cough from the person in front of him had him going back to the real world and he quickly backed up to give Kyungsoo some space.

“I have no idea of what to sing. Just pick a song.” Kyungsoo breathed out before standing up, almost leaving Jongin unbalanced. Jongin sighed, thinking of how pathetic their relationship has gone to, and flipped through the song book until a particular song caught his eyes.

He stood up and pressed the buttons without telling Kyungsoo the song. Kyungsoo stared at Jongin expectantly when everyone clapped as the song started to play. Kyungsoo immediately turned around as the familiar song began to fill his mind. Jongin, on the other hand, was smiling brightly as he saw Kyungsoo’s eyes going wide as ever. He expected Kyungsoo to react that way, knowing that his favorite singer was still Bruno Mars.

♪ If you ever leave me, baby
Leave some morphine at my door ♪

Everyone cheered as the room was filled with Kyungsoo’s beautiful vocals. Jongin could not help but feel a little nostalgic, remembering how Kyungsoo taught him how to sing the right notes and how he taught Kyungsoo how to dance without two left feet.

♪ ‘Cause it would take a whole lot of medication
To realize what we used to have, we don’t have it anymore ♪

Kyungsoo tried to sing the song with the right notes without breaking apart but as the lyrics registered in his mind, he could not help but feel broken. His voice cracked and soon, he was rushing out the room with tears rolling down his eyes.

Dumbstruck. That was the expression on everyone’s face particularly Jongin’s. He was too much engrossed in Kyungsoo’s voice that he did not notice his shoulders shaking, a sign that he was trying to suppress something.

Jongdae started to stand up when Jongin looked at him.

“I’ll handle it.” He announced, leaving the people inside the room even more confused.

----------

“Kyungsoo!” A breathless Jongin called out as Kyungsoo ran down the stairs.

It took all Jongin’s might to match up with Kyungsoo’s pace and catch him by the wrist. He took his time regaining air when he felt that Kyungsoo was not going anywhere.

It was silent and all that could be heard was the ragged breathing of the two and Kyungsoo’s muffled sobs.

Jongin moved his hands from Kyungsoo’s wrist to his shoulders and with little pressure, he tried to turn him.

“No!” Jongin was startled by Kyungsoo’s protest. “I’m so ugly and embarrassed right now. Please, just go.”

Kyungsoo heard a soft chuckle from behind him and it almost melted his heart.

Jongin tried to turn him around once more and he finally succeeded. But once Jongin caught sight of Kyungsoo’s flushed face, puffy eyes, disheveled hair and shaking lips, he was left more breathless than he was from running. In Jongin’s eyes, he looked strikingly beautiful. And it took all his self-control down the drain. He found himself closing the distance between them before his mind could even stop him.

----------

Kyungsoo’s eyes grew as wide as humanely possible when he saw Jongin’s face moving slowly towards his and realized what was about to happen. It took him a moment to register in his mind that Jongin’s lips were now crashed against his and that Jongin was actually the one who initiated the kiss. He was confused.

Why kiss me now when you rejected me before?

As Jongin noticed that he was not getting any reaction from Kyungsoo, he felt dejected and was about to pull away when Kyungsoo grabbed him by the neck and pulled him closer. The two soon melted into oblivious happiness as they share their first kiss. The kiss was innocent and filled with emotions. All their bottled up feelings for each other was finally being released through this connection of lips between the two. They felt like the whole world did not matter anymore at that moment as long as they were in each other’s warmth.

When Jongin pulled away from the kiss, Kyungsoo spoke first.

“I still love you. I never stopped loving you. No matter how hard I try to ignore you and look for someone else worthy of my love, I always end up comparing them to you. I thought I would forget about you when we got to college especially since there were more people I could meet but…” his tears were falling down once again and Jongin wiped them away as he continued, “it always comes back to you. It would always be you no matter how hard I search.”

Jongin hugged Kyungsoo tightly and softly whispered to his ears, “Please don’t say you’ll be looking for someone else again. I don’t want to imagine you in anyone else’s arms but mine.”

Kyungsoo cried harder, hearing those words he had only imagined before from Jongin’s mouth.

“Don’t cry anymore. I’m right here, and will always be. I never left your side even during those times we ignored each other. I carefully watched you from afar, making sure you were doing fine.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo pulled away to look at Jongin’s eyes with a small smile on his face.

“Yes, and if ever I was given a chance to have you confess to me the second time, I’d properly accept you this time so that we wouldn’t have to suffer being apart from each other again.” His face brightened from the cuteness of Kyungsoo but soon turned serious. “Wait, I take that back. Don’t confess to me.”

Kyungsoo’s smile faltered and Jongin kept himself from laughing so hard and pinching Kyungsoo’s cute nose.

“I’d rather do it the right way and be the one to confess.” He started. “I love you, Kyungsoo. I rejected you before because I lived my life focusing on my dream of becoming a professional dancer. I never really put ‘falling in love’ in my list of priorities. But the day you ignored me, I realized that being a professional dancer was not my number one priority anymore.”

Kyungsoo blinked, too much engrossed in Jongin’s words that he was speechless. “W-What’s your num-number one, then?” He managed to croak out.

“To be your boyfriend.” He gave Kyungsoo the most genuine smile he could muster, one that only Kyungsoo could bring out of him. “Will you let me be your boyfriend?”

----------

Everyone was deliberating to go out of the room and follow the two. It had been twenty minutes since the two left and Jongin did not even call to tell them if he caught up with Kyungsoo. Minseok was pacing back and forth while Kris stood up from his seat time to time, in thoughts of looking out for the two. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were about to make his way out the room when the door suddenly opened to reveal a smiling Jongin and Kyungsoo, with their hands intertwined together.

“Let’s continue our duet, shall we?” Jongin winked at Kyungsoo before grabbing the microphones from the table. Kyungsoo scanned the song book, looking for that specific song he’d always sang while thinking of Jongin. He pressed the buttons quickly and positioned himself next to Jongin, holding his hands tight.

Jongin smiled as he recognized the song and kissed Kyungsoo’s forehead.

The looks on their friends’ face were now a mixture of relief, happiness and confusion as they watch the two happily singing for each other and showering each other with kisses. But never will they know the real story behind their love story because…

“Only the two of us know.”

A/N: Okay... it has been more a month since I last updated. I do hope there are still people who are waiting for this update. haha.
I have been very, very busy lately since classes have started again and I'm on my third year of college. Also, my aunt and her family came back here after ten long years for a vacation. So I hope you guys understand why it took me so long to update this.

I do hope you guys like this. I'm kind of satisfied with what I did here although it didn't really turn out the way I wrote the outline. lol. Anyways, do comment what you think about it. I'd love to hear your opinions. ^.^

Take care guys~ 'Til next time! ♥