With everyday getting closer to exams, the more tense Kyungsoo was. These exams meant everything; if he didn’t pass at least four of the seven exams, he was never allowed to come back to Seoul University as a student again. He was studying every free minute he could, and even put off his story for it.

He could write massive loads later; these were more important.

So when class ended the next day, Kyungsoo loaded his textbooks into the backseat of his car—he took his car to school every day so he could do that—and got in the front seat. Just as he was about to drive off to continue studying Physics, he heard his phone ding from his pocket.

Groaning, he pulled it out of his pocket and read the text that someone had just sent him.

From: Kai <3

Hey baby. I’m at the North Park with Sehun. Come meet me here?

Kyungsoo sat there for a second. He had bigger priorities than hanging out with his lover; writing and studying wise. But he couldn’t help but type back that he would meet Kai there. The desire was too strong.

Damn Kim Jongin.

Driving over to a park he hadn’t visited in years, Kyungsoo devised a system. He’d only be here for an hour or so, and then he could go home for three hours of studying and one for writing so he could get his eight hours of sleep. Of course this could work.

When Kyungsoo parked and stepped out of his car, the chilling weather struck him. He hugged his sweatshirt closer to his body as he searched around for Kai. He quickly found him kicking a soccer ball around with another boy, who he assumed to be the infamous Sehun that Kai had mentioned.

As Kyungsoo got closer and Kai didn’t notice him still, he shouted a nice, “Yah!”, making Kai and Sehun both look over in his direction. Kai grinned and ran over to Kyungsoo, Sehun slowly following behind him, the soccer ball temporarily forgotten.

“Hyung!” Kai squealed, pulling Kyungsoo into a hug and kissing him on the cheek. Kyungsoo laughed and they pulled away, now both of their attention on the other boy. Kai noticed Kyungsoo staring, too. “Kyungsoo hyung, this is Sehun. My best friend.”

Sehun was a little funny looking. Rather than his hair being gelled up and carefully styled like Kai’s, his hair was smoothed down and a light brown. He had a serious look on his face, but his nose, red from the cold, threw everything off. “Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo-sshi.”

Kyungsoo almost giggled. Sehun had a little lisp.

“Nice to meet you, too.” They shook hands and bowed to each other. Kai grinned at the exchange, and then shouted, “Come on, guys! Let’s play soccer!” Kyungsoo was dragged by the hand over to the big green field that the two had been playing before in. A few kids sat on the playground, but, besides that, they were alone.

Kyungsoo kind of at soccer. He used to be awesome, and even made the team in middle school, but ever since high school, his skills slowly decreased, to where he got beaten badly by Sehun and Kai. They laughed at Kyungsoo’s frown. “Aw, it’s okay, Kyungsoo hyung,” Sehun laughed, more comfortable with Kyungsoo than when they met.

“I got beaten by my dongsaengs? How does this happen?” Kyungsoo mock cried. All of them ended up laughing and joking, still regaining their breath from running so much in chilly weather.

“So you guys are dating? How long have you been together?” Sehun asked when the laughter from Kyungsoo’s last joke died down. Kyungsoo was confused why the question came up so suddenly, until he noticed that Kai was holding his hand.

He hadn’t noticed from how numb it was.

“Almost two weeks, I think,” Kai mused. Kyungsoo nodded in agreement, trying to remember exactly when Kai had asked him out. Sehun smiled at them.

“Ah, I wish my boyfriend was here… too bad he’s so far away,” Sehun explained with a frown. Kyungsoo was lost as to what he was talking about.

“So far away? Where is he?”

“Sehun’s been dating a guy in China named Luhan for a couple years now,” Kai filled in, squeezing Kyungsoo’s hand. Kyungsoo looked to Sehun for confirmation, and he nodded, almost a little sadly.

“We had this thing in Mandarin class where we got a pen pal from China and wrote to them a few years ago. Luhan was mine, and after the project was over, we got closer because the teacher couldn’t read our messages,” he laughed. “We’ve been dating ever since.”

“That’s so cute,” Kyungsoo cooed. “Is he coming here to see you or are you going over there?”

“Neither of us can afford it right now. But we’re saving up,” Sehun explained. After that, they continued talking for what seemed like seconds but was actually several minutes. It wasn’t until Sehun checked the time on his phone did the conversation end.

“I’m sorry, hyungs, but I have to go,” Sehun sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket. Kai frowned and hugged Sehun, while Sehun high-fived Kyungsoo. They said their goodbyes, and soon it was just the two standing there.

“What now?” Kyungsoo asked, rubbing his numb hands together.

“I’m cold,” Kai whimpered. Of course, the idiot didn’t bring any form of jacket; he was in jeans and a t-shirt. Kyungsoo sighed and wrapped his arms around his lover, kissing him on the forehead. Now that it was just them, they could be as lovey dovey as they wanted. They walked over to a tree in the corner of the park, far from people, and leaned against it.

Kai was between Kyungsoo’s legs, leaning on Kyungsoo’s stomach. Kyungsoo had his hands wrapped around Kai’s tummy, and Kai was gently nibbling and kissing Kyungsoo’s neck while Kyungsoo warmed his boyfriend up. “Stop it,” Kyungsoo laughed.

“No, I like feeling you squirm,” Kai replied, his breath hot against Kyungsoo’s neck, making him shiver. He saw Kai smirk. “You’re so vulnerable, yet you’re older.”

“Shut up.”

“Nah,” Kai teased, starting to and making Kyungsoo moan. Alarmed, Kai began giggling. “I found your sweet spot,” he teased once more, not even looking into Kyungsoo’s eyes, his gaze solely on his hyung’s neck.

“Shut up, you brat,” Kyungsoo breathed.

After Kyungsoo got Kai to stop, they laid there, until Kyungsoo noticed the time. It had been almost two hours since he had gotten here. “Ugh, I was supposed to go study, not be with you all day. Now I don’t want to leave,” Kyungsoo mumbled.

“So don’t. My exams are tomorrow and you don’t see me studying.”

Kyungsoo gave Kai the biggest glare he had ever given him. “Kim Jongin, I want you to study for those tests. I know it might not seem like it matters to you, but, trust me, it does. How impressive will it be if you audition and they see you at school? They won’t like it. You don’t have to go to college, I don’t care. But I want you to graduate. Please don’t drop out. Take those tests and finish high school because, god dammit, you’ll need this.”

Kai stayed quiet. Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

“Will you help me get through this?” Kai asked quietly. “I need help.”

Kyungsoo nodded, and they stood up to go.

~*~

Kyungsoo got nothing of his own done. It was all about Kai. He had read to, asked, and quizzed Kai so many times that all of the material was pretty much drilled into his brain. It was about one in the morning when they finally finished, and had finished paraphrasing and covering all of the material Kai needed. He wouldn’t ace them, of course not, but it was enough to pass.

Kai yawned. “Am I done?”

Kyungsoo nodded, shutting the last textbook. “I’m proud of you, baby. Classes aren’t happening tomorrow, so I can take you to school and be there when you come out. What time do you want to get there at?” he asked, putting all of Kai’s books in a neat stack on his desk.

“Does 7 work for you?”

“I’ll be here at 6:45. Get some rest, arasso?” he asked. Kai nodded feebly, yawning again. Kyungsoo pecked him on the lips before walking out of the room and shutting the door. Kyungsoo expected Joonmyun and Jaesu to be asleep, but, instead, Joonmyun was watching the television downstairs. Kyungsoo, startled, bowed. “Chesonghamnida. I was just leaving.”

“Wait a second, Kyungsoo,” Joonmyun called, turning the TV on mute and standing up. Nervous, Kyungsoo approached Joonmyun. But instead of looking angry, he looked happy. “Thank you, Kyungsoo.”

“For what?”

“Without you, Kai never would’ve did what he did tonight. I can’t be more grateful.”

Kyungsoo smiled. “Let’s just hope he passes.”

Joonmyun laughed, clapping Kyungsoo on the back. “Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome, Joonmyun-sshi. I’ll be taking him to school tomorrow, so I’ll see you in the morning?” Kyungsoo suggested.

Joonmyun never took the smile off of his face. “Of course. Annyeong.”

“Annyeong.” Kyungsoo left.

~*~

“Stop jittering. You’ll be fine.”

Kyungsoo couldn’t stand seeing Kai like this. Instead of the carefree attitude he had yesterday, he was sitting in Kyungsoo’s car, fully dressed in uniform, fidgeting and shaking. Kai shook his head. “No I won’t. I don’t know if I can do this, hyung.”

Annoyed, Kyungsoo grabbed either of Kai’s cheeks with his hands, cupping them. “Listen to me, Kim Jongin. You can do this. I didn’t spend 5 hours helping you study for this for nothing. You’re going to do great. Understand me?”

Kai nodded feebly. Kyungsoo kissed him.

“Now go before you’re late.”

Kai hesitated as Kyungsoo let him go, but stepped out of the car, waving before shutting the door. Kyungsoo walked him fidget as he walked into the building. Many of the lower years were outside cheering for every senior that walked in, and many of the seniors looked as nervous as Kai.

Kyungsoo felt so bad for him.

They were just semester exams, but they mattered as much as the end of year exams.

Just as Kyungsoo was about to go leave to amuse himself for ten hours, he heard his phone go off. Who’s texting me this early in the morning? Still, he opened the message.

From: Baekhyun

Is Kai at school already? I think the tests are starting now.

Kyungsoo smiled. Baekhyun was still the only one who liked Kai.

To: Baekhyun

Yeah, I just dropped him off a few minutes ago. I helped him study a lot last night. I’m exhausted. This stress can’t be good for him…

He got a reply quickly.

From: Baekhyun

You have to remember, we went through this too. He’ll be okay. If we managed, he should be able to too.

Kyungsoo shrugged to himself.

To: Baekhyun

Yeah, I guess you’re right.

Kyungsoo didn’t get a reply back, so he sat his phone down in the cup holder and began driving around. He heard it ding a few minutes later, so when he got to a long stop light, he pulled his phone out and read what had just been sent to him.

From: Baekhyun

Hey, Chanyeol’s going to be with his cousins all day, and I’m bored. Wanna come over? Since, you know, it’s going to take a long time for Kai to finish his tests and all.

Kyungsoo had nothing better to do.

To: Baekhyun.

Yeah. I’ll be there in a few minutes.

~*~

Kyungsoo was leaning against the side of his car, arms crossed as he waited. It was a little before 5:30, but some students were already emerging from the school. Kyungsoo was yards away, but he still searched until his eyes lay on the person he had been looking for.

Kai looked absolutely exhausted; his uniform and hair were intact, but he had a miserable look on his face, his head bent as he walked over to where Kyungsoo was standing. When he got close enough to Kyungsoo, he stopped. He didn’t say anything, just looked down at his dress shoes. “I’m sorry, hyung.”

“Bwuh? Sorry for what?” Kyungsoo asked, uncrossing his arms.

He whimpered. “I don’t think I did good.”

Kyungsoo opened his arms, frowning, and Kai shuffled into them. Kyungsoo wrapped his arms around him tightly. “I don’t care if you failed or not, honestly. Did you try your best?”

Kai nodded into Kyungsoo’s chest. He smiled. “That’s all that matters. I’m proud of you. Now let’s go home.”

~*~

It only took two days for Kai to find out his results. He had texted Kyungsoo that they had arrived in the mail and that he didn’t want to open them without Kyungsoo there. Even though he was only dressed in sweats, Kyungsoo hurried to get to Kai’s house and the not even two seconds after he rang Kai’s doorbell, the door opened.

“I’m scared, hyung.”

“Me too.” Kyungsoo kicked his shoes off and they ran to sit on the couch. Kai was visibly shaking, just like when he took the tests. The envelope tumbled around in his hands; he couldn’t keep still. “Ready?” he asked, obviously hesitant.

“Ready,” Kyungsoo sighed.

Kai’s finger tore the seal of the envelope and pulled the paper out.

BYUNGHEE HIGH SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Dear Kim Jongin,

Your semester exam scores have arrived. If you are passing all of the 5 tests, that means you are not going to be placed into extra academic classes. Congratulations, because this includes you. Good luck on your college exams in a few months.

Here are your scores:

Once again, congratulations.

Sincerely,

Byunghee High School Staff

Kyungsoo couldn’t comprehend what he was reading, and, apparently, neither could Kai. He was shocked and frozen in place, his eyes still glued to the paper. Finally, he spoke. But it was a whisper. “I… passed?”

Grinning, Kyungsoo replied. “Yeah. You did.”

Suddenly, Kai jumped from his seat, startling Kyungsoo. Kai was smiling so big, and he suddenly swallowed Kyungsoo in a huge hug. “I can’t believe it!”

“Me either! Those college exams will be a breeze for you!” Kyungsoo shouted, ruffling Kai’s hair.

Kai stopped. “Actually, I have five more subjects to study for in the mean time.”

Kyungsoo frowned.

Kai laughed nervously. “You’ll help, right?”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever.”

~*~

HOLY CRAP THIS A BIG CHAPTER.

Well, kind of. Bigger than usual.

Please comment~