Thursday A.M.
Seven Days
As they pull away from each other, Kai’s face is flushed with crimson and his emotions start to fade, cloud, and ebb. He’s starting to regain his sense of space and time now and a perplexed feeling replaces the heated ones. His eyebrows are wrinkled, furrowing together in a puzzled arch as he brings his fingertips up to his moist lips. The corners of those lips curve downwards into a frown as he contemplates further.
Was Baekhyun lying about Kyungsoo never touching anyone? Maybe he was just trying to trick me?
“What?” Kyungsoo inquires, confounded by the other’s unexpected expression. Shouldn’t his expression be one of happiness instead of the confused one marring his features? Maybe he was a bad kisser?
“No, nevermind.” And they part ways with a strange electricity jumping through their fingertips.
❁❁❁
Kyungsoo awakes with a jolt from dreaming about his intimate kiss last night when the insistent beeping cuts through the stillness of his bedroom, staining his dreams with annoyance and a crumpled face. His clothes are clinging to him for dear life, up the rivulets of salty sweat tumbling down his clammy skin. He tries for a second to bury his head underneath of the over-fluffy pillow as if the cacophony of noise would magically disappear if he did so. After failing miserably, he slams his hand down on the piece of plastic.
Eyes still half-lidded with the dregs of a restless slumber and the sound of water flowing in the sink in front of him, he automatically brushes his teeth and washes his exhausted face. As the plush towel is soaking up the water droplets, a quick examination of himself in the mirror ends with a rather strange realization.
It’s happening again... I keep taking his jokes seriously. Is it because I keep falling into his pace? That’s how it’s been up until last week, right?
❁❁❁
The cement wall is cool against his back with human whirlpools churning and spinning busily around him in the subway station. Automated voices and a whiff of cigarettes with a dash of newspaper ink and the residue of life. Hands in the pockets. No, hands by his side. Fingers laced together? Feet together, feet apart, shift once, twice-- What kind of expression should he wear when he faces him today? It’s been awhile since he’s felt something even remotely close to this sensation and it’s been harassing him, gnawing at the hair follicles on the back of his neck.
Maybe Kai’s attitude towards him will change if he asks him to break up with him.
If he’s been taking our dating relationship as a joke up until now... if that’s the case... even being friends is--
“Yo. Morning.”
Tensed muscles into a surprised flinch that successfully slices through his train of thought like a hot knife. His muscles are still stiff with apprehension as his wide eyes slide over to look at his boyfriend before choking out, “Ah... morning.”
There’s an awkward tangible silence brewing in the air as Kai inspects him, his handsome features molding into one of suspicion and curiosity as the other tries not to wiggle from the apparent discomfort.
“You were acting normal yesterday so why are you so quiet now? I don’t get you,” Kai finally states, noticing that something is a bit off. He pauses for a second to think about his words and, as he thinks that he’s pieced everything together, an evil smirk colors his face. “Oh, I get it. You better not try anything like a morning kiss. Yesterday’s was an accident. It’s all your fault.”
Kyungsoo just stares at him dumbfoundedly before his anxiety shatters and a light-hearted laughter washes away his concerns, transforming his face into an abundance of sunshine. “It wasn’t an accident! It was a trap!”
❁❁❁
“I’m sleepy,” Kai announces, an immense yawn following soon after as he leans back against the slightly damp wall, the chemical smell of chlorine misted throughout the air. “Eating always makes me sleepy.”
Kyungsoo unfolds his legs to gather up the pieces of plastic and dirty napkins from their lunch and stuffs them into the trash can in the corner by the wooden box of colorful foam floating noodles. “Why don’t you take a nap? There’s still some time before your next class.”
Kai contemplates this suggestion before remembering the last time he fell asleep with Kyungsoo around. “You know, I fell asleep during the movie too,” he comments, turning to check the older boy’s reaction as if asking for further permission.
“I don’t mind,” he responds in a cheerful voice before folding his legs again on the floor.
“Yeah? Okay, lend me your lap then. I’m gonna use it as a pillow,” the younger answers before shifting his body closer and startling Kyungsoo. He lets out a shriek in surprise as Kai flops his head down against his thigh and the mixture of embarrassed and shocked emotions are tumbling around in his body as his hands flail around in the air, unsure of what to do.
Kai shuffles his head around on the limb before letting out an amused laugh and remarking, “It’s all muscle!”
This causes Kyungsoo to react with a cute pout and Kai finds it awfully adorable. “I’m not a girl, you know.”
“I guess that’s true. I can’t expect you to have nice, soft thighs. This is alright though,” he counters with bubbles of joy floating around him as he closes his eyes and snuggles into the thigh.
Kyungsoo glances away, his eyes shifty from the unexpected situation, and he thinks, Alright for you, maybe but for me... it’s a bit...
“Oh, hey!” Kai shouts suddenly, his head shooting up from the lap in a flurry of espresso-colored hair strands before turning to stare into Kyungsoo’s once-again startled face. “There’s this guy in my class. He’s a good friend of mine and you used to date him. His name’s Byun Baekhyun. Do you remember him?”
Kyungsoo pauses for a small eternity to decipher the numerous faces and fragments of lost memories, sifting through the lists of names and interests categorized from person to person before he finally uncovers the identity that Kai is referring to.
“Yeah.”
“I knew it. Baekhyun’s got a strong personality and he’s fun to have as a friend, isn’t he? Do you still keep in contact with him?” Kai’s voice is racing with energy at having found a common point of similarity between them as he beams at the boy in front of him.
The melancholy is apparent on Kyungsoo’s soft expression as his eyes fluctuate between blindness and consciousness and he shakes his head slowly, unable to maintain eye contact with anything except for the floor. “I don’t stay in contact with anyone I’ve dated.”
Kai’s smile washes away with the aches of disappointment as he processes this bit of information, a knot of tension twisting painfully in his stomach. There’s still a tinge of hope though as he tries to brush off the feeling. “But don’t some of them call you? They do, right?”
“I don’t know. I don’t answer calls from unknown numbers,” the older boy answers darkly, growing increasingly uncomfortable with this string of questions about his past.
Sadness is itching at his veins as Kai questions further, “You delete their numbers? Just like that? No more contact? Isn’t that kind of cold?”
“Well, could you stand it if the person you were dating kept getting calls from their ex?” Kyungsoo tries to reason, furrowing his eyebrows at why his boyfriend is so curious about his previous relationships.
“In other words, next week you’ll delete my number too.”
Gravity is suddenly a lot stronger than before with a zing of stillness and bated breaths between frozen heartbeats and a whisper of what sounds like an inevitable future for their relationship. The prickling of what feels like confusion is pooling on Kyungsoo’s brow but there’s an abrupt wave of a certain person’s familiar ringtone coming from inside of his jacket pocket.
He breathes a sigh of relief before slapping a polite smile onto his face. “Excuse me for a second. I have to answer this.” After he’s taken a few paces away from the awkward atmosphere he answers with, “Hello?”
A shrill voice slices through the receiver. “You know what?! Sehun’s such a jerk! I ended up calling him but he was still mad!”
Kyungsoo walks a few more steps away from his boyfriend while trying to maintain a calm and collected voice as he responds to the older man. “Well, did you apologize to him properly?”
“Why should I have to apologize?! Are you on his side too?”
“It’s not that I’m on his side, Luhan, you cheated on him.”
Kai’s ears perk up at the name and his mind swirls back in time to the day when he had asked Kyungsoo out; flashing backwards to the gorgeous light-haired male driving the shiny car.
He's the person I dated a long time ago, Luhan.
Something not unlike a skitter of irrationality stalks underneath his skin as he saunters up to Kyungsoo and whips the phone out of his hand, ignoring the confused expression on the other’s face, before jabbing the ‘end’ key. Dark eyes set in a menacing glare as he shoves the device back into Kyungsoo’s chest with limbs shaking with frustration.
“So you can just delete the numbers of all the people who like you as if it was nothing but you still have the number of the one person you like? That’s not fair, is it?” he hisses.
Puzzled at the sudden outburst and uncomprehending the current situation, Kyungsoo asks hesitantly, “...Why are you so angry?”
“Why? Well--!” Mouth open to counter but there isn’t a coherent train of thought or explicit reason for his impulsive action so he’s suddenly embarrassed at himself, a flush coming to color his cheeks as he blurts the first thing that comes to his mouth. “Because-- I’m the one who’s dating you right now! Why shouldn’t I be angry?!” And he storms away towards his next class.
Kyungsoo watches his receding figure for a moment, still trying to figure out Kai’s motivation for having done such a thing. His brain rests on the one reason possible with his heartbeats palpitating irregularly in his chest. He lets out a tired sigh as he calls Luhan back.
The call connects but there’s no noise on the other end. “Are you crying?” he asks softly. “Why don’t you just forgive him? He’s only ever cheated on you once and that was a year ago. Haven’t you had your revenge?”
There’s the tremors of a sniffle on the other end before Luhan responds in a quivering voice. “It doesn’t have anything to do with how many times. Once, twice, ten times; it’s all the same.” Because to Luhan, it doesn’t matter how many times betrayal stabs him with its sharp edges because the scar will always be there.
“Yeah, I guess it is hard because you love him more than anyone, Luhan. I’ve always envied him for being so important to you.”
The wisps of a giggle starts to color Luhan’s voice. “Kyungsoo, you must be some kind of masochist...”
“I’m not,” he responds, mildly offended.
Some more sniffling and movement from the other line and then the sudden statement that comes because of loneliness and maybe the feeling of wanting to be loved, “Kyungsoo, I love you... Kyungsoo...”
“Yeah. I love you too.”
Currently undergoing construction. Chapters will be posted according to completion. [20120906]
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