Kyungsoo is walking towards the school gate after swim practice, the afternoon sun beating down on him making the nape of his neck sting slightly. He whips out his cell phone and scrolls through his contacts until he reaches ‘Kai’. His finger lingers on the ‘call’ button as he hears his name being called.

“Good work today!” the fellow swim team member smiled, patting him on the back.

“Oh, Chen,” he acknowledges.

“I’m surprised you’ve been properly showing up at practice recently!” he remarks with a chuckle.

“Ah. Yeah, because if I don’t participate I’ll be scolded,” Kyungsoo replies. Chen looks at him, slightly confused, but assumes that it’s probably the coach who will reprimand him for skipping too many practices.

“Well, whatever,” he says, brushing off his thoughts. “Hey, want to go somewhere for lunch together?”

Kyungsoo looks down at the phone in his hand, eyeing Kai’s name and responds politely with a smile, “I’m sorry, I’m already meeting someone.”

Chen, noticing the phone, lets out a gasp and points his finger towards the phone. “Ahh, the rumored weekly girlfriend?” he says slyly.

Kyungsoo averts his gaze slightly, bothered by the words. Weekly... He feels himself feeling more bothered than he expected as he freezes in his steps and let his thoughts wander, eyes staring blankly at the ground.

Chen takes his silence as a ‘yes’ and continues playfully, “I see! So if I wait until the day after tomorrow, it’d be fine... right...” He notices his friend’s silence and stops himself. Uwah! Did I upset him?

He breaks out of his thoughts and turns to a flustered Chen. “Can I make a phone call?”

“U-uh, sure.” Did I say something wrong...?

They’re at the gate now and a moment after Kyungsoo pushes the ‘call’ button, he can hear a ringtone wafting through the air. Recognizing it, he rushes the the other side of the gate to confirm his suspicion.

“Ah,” Kai says through the phone, looking over at his boyfriend. “I thought I heard something like your voice... Waiting at home was boring so I kinda ended up here.”

Kinda ended up here, he says... That’s... cute. Kyungsoo glances down at the electronic in his hand and ends the call. He recalls Kai being weird on their way home together yesterday after visiting his house and looks gently at the man in front of him. It was Kai who had asked to meet today. He brushes away the thought as he remembers that Chen was following him.

“Ah~ I see! You were meeting with Kai-sshi! Forget what I said then,” Chen waves his hands in front of him, smiling with his eyes. “Kai-sshi, if you’re at school then you should have stopped by the pool for a bit!”

Kai smiles at his friend from the swim team and replies, “Well, if a person who quit shows up too often it’d be annoying.”
 

“What are you saying? It’s not like anyone hated you. If you drop by for a bit then everyone would be more motivated!” Chen laughs.

“No way! Well... if you say it like that then maybe I’ll come to tomorrow’s practice....”

“Really?! You have to, okay?” They laugh and give each other a high-five.

Overly affectionate chitter-chatter... Kyungsoo thinks staring at the two, annoyance starting to pool up inside of him. Aren’t they a bit too close?

Kai looks over at Kyungsoo then with a curious face. The older flinches slightly and starts to feel nervous. Just now... what kind of expression did I...? If it was a horrid, terrible face then...! Augh, jealousy is scary! He averts his gaze and grips his hair with both hands. A few more swim team members exit the gate and notice them, giving their greetings and leaving.

“Well I’ll be going then. See you tomorrow, maybe!” Chen says, waving as he trots away, catching up to the other members ahead of him.

Calm, calm, Kyungsoo chants as he tries to control his facial muscles and bring up a natural smile. “You sure are popular!” he manages, turning to his boyfriend.

Kai has a pout on his face as he gazes absently at the gravel under their feet. “What was the ‘forget it’ with Chen just then?”

“Eh?”

“Chen asked you to forget something,” he mumbles quietly.

“Ah... Oh, if we could have lunch together...” Kyungsoo looks up at Kai under his lashes, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Ooh, what, so you were charmingly invited. Don’t cheat on me,” he says curtly, turning on his heel away from the older boy and stalking away. “I’m so hungry I’m overreacting too much.” He takes a few more steps before turning back and asking, “Hey, what do you wanna eat?” His face freezes as he takes in the trembling older boy with a blush on his face. He approaches him and pokes him gently in the chest. “Yah...”

Kyungsoo stops biting his bottom lip and replies, “I’m happy. I’ve said it before, right? I’m the type that likes to be restrained.” He looks up at his boyfriend and smiles a gentle smile before bouncing away singing, “Don’t cheat, he said~” He only bounces a few feet away before tottering back. Their bodies are only a few inches away when Kyungsoo says, “Say it once more.”

Kai feels his body stiffen a bit by the proximity and a blush creeps onto his face. “Y-yo-you... masochist!” he shouts, stomping away.

Kyungsoo watches him, a warm expression on his face, for a moment and exhales through his nose. His gaze is half-lidded and sad as he remembers what day it is.

I can’t imagine it. Even though he’s next to me now like it’s a given, to think that it’ll all change tomorrow... I don’t want to imagine it.

⥈⥈⥈

Plastic white seats and red tabletops surround them as they finish up the salty fries on their trays. Quickly checking the time on his phone, Kai sighs. “It’s two, huh... What to do... wanna just laze around?”

Kyungsoo picks up one golden fry daintily with his index finger and thumb. “Ah. Then want to come over?”

“No thanks,” Kai replies immediately, darkly gazing out the window. A heavy atmosphere surrounds him and Kyungsoo remembers his outburst yesterday.

“Let’s forget my house then...”

Kai’s eyebrows furrow and a wrinkle can be seen above the bridge of his nose. He glances over at his boyfriend. “...Luhan... will be there again, right? At your house.”

“Eh?” Kyungsoo’s surprised by the statement. Seems like he’s back together with my cousin. “Yeah. He might be there.”

Kai whips his head back to the window and pouts. “Definitely not going.”

Misunderstanding the situation, Kyungsoo looks at his boyfriend with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry about yesterday. He’s just like that to everyone. He is.”

The younger boy looks down at his thighs and pinches the fabric of his jeans, rubbing the material between his fingertips. “Doesn’t matter....” he mumbles quietly.

The older boy smiles a bit. “He probably doesn’t mean any har--” He stops himself and stares.

Kai, noticing the abruptness of his words, looks up. “What? Why’d you stop?”

I wonder why...? Kyungsoo thinks, his heart squeezing. “Eh? Ahh... What was I saying...” he fumbles, still staring with wide eyes. Somehow... I thought I saw Kai’s face look a little pained...

Silence falls upon them and Kyungsoo picks up his finished milkshake to up the last remaining bits.

“Wanna... come over?”

Kyungsoo looks up, surprised at the sudden invitation. Kai's stare directs itself at a smudge on the window, his ears starting to burn slightly. “Don’t want to?”

The older boy shakes his head vigorously. Kai stuffs the last of his fries into his mouth, wipes his hands on the flimsy napkin and stands up.

“Then it’s decided.”

____________________________________

Sorry for the epic angst going on right now but things will be a bit better in the next chapter :c Maybe...

I apologize for the confusion (ahh my bad writing skills... trying to make the story fit). Sehun is Kyungsoo's cousin and “Then it’s decided.” means that they've decided to go to Kai's house.