When Kyungsoo went for his books the next day, the halls were empty due to everyone being in class. An occasional person passed through, but, for the most part, it was deserted. He exhaled deeply as he entered in his locker combination, hiding his sadness under his skin.

“Hey! Why aren’t you in class?”

Kyungsoo froze and hesitantly turned around, finding the dean standing at the end of the hall. As soon as he recognized the nineteen year old, however, his stern expression fell. “Oh, Kyungsoo, I’m sorry, I—“

“It’s okay, sir,” Kyungsoo replied with a bow.

He continued to put his books in his now empty backpack, having to take a trip to the library afterwards to turn them in. His figure tensed when he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. He looked up, and the dean looked concerned. “Are you okay...? After yesterday and all of that…”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry that happened, but I’m okay now. Thank you for your consideration.” His voice sounded like a forced monotone, almost a mocking one.

“Yes… well, I’m sorry we had to let you go. Hopefully I’ll see you back here in two years.”

“Hopefully. Thank you, sir.” He bowed once more.

The dean walked away, and Kyungsoo let out a shaky breath of anger. It was like the dean was taunting him almost. Walking the halls proudly as the man in charge, while Kyungsoo couldn’t come back as a student for two years. He mumbled a profanity as his last book was put in, shutting his locker for the last time in two years.

~*~

A few days passed, and the semester came to a close with people getting their exam results. The professor that had passed them out, the runner of the class that Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were in together, knew about Kyungsoo’s situation and played that his were graded wrong and would be late so Chanyeol wouldn’t find out.

Kyungsoo didn’t have the heart to tell them.

He was leaving because of his stupid mistake. Kyungsoo’s time with his friends would be so limited now, all because of some Soju. It was frustrating having to hold off the truth from them.

“Have you gotten your results yet?”

Kyungsoo let out a frustrated sigh. “No, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun sounded offended over the phone. “It was just a question. It’s weird that yours haven’t come in yet. Anyway, Chanyeol and I are double dating with Jongdae and Minseok as an approval date tonight. You want to bring Kai and triple date?”

Kyungsoo shrugged, even though his friend couldn’t see. “I’d have to ask him.”

“He’s not with you?”

“It’s not like you and Chanyeol with us,” Kyungsoo teased. He heard a voice in the back shouting “Yah!”, making him laugh. They couldn’t stay away from each other.

“Yeah, yeah. Just get back to us if he can. We’re going to that restaurant a few buildings down from the SM building. You know, that beef one? Jongdae says it’s really good, and since it’s his date, he gets to choose,” Baekhyun reminded him.

“Of course. Anyway, I’ll talk to him about it. Most likely he’ll be able to. He’s kind of a loser, so he shouldn’t have plans,” Kyungsoo joked, powering up his laptop so he could get another chapter done before the date.

Baekhyun sounded disapproving. “You’re not nice to him.”

“He’s not nice to me!”

“Whatever. I have to go, Chanyeol keeps nipping me.” He paused, before laughter was heard. “Stop it, you!”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. His friends were complex creatures. “Alright. I’ll let you go screw each other.”

“Hey!” he heard Chanyeol shout.

“Don’t even deny it, you!” Kyungsoo shouted with a laugh. “Bye, Baekhyun.”

“Bye!”

Kyungsoo didn’t even set his phone down before he was dialing Kai.

~*~

“You look good.”

“Thank you, hyung.”

“I don’t like hyung. I’m not your brother, I’m your boyfriend,” Kyungsoo commented on the realization with a frown. Kai turned from buttoning his light blue dress shirt to raise an eyebrow at him.

“What do you want me to call you, then?”

“I don’t care.”

“Doe Eyes,” Kai joked. Kyungsoo gasped, faking anger.

“Yah! Be nice to my eyes!”

“I’m allowed to make fun of your eyes, baby,” Kai teased, leaning down and kissing Kyungsoo on the cheek. When those very cheeks turned pink, that just amused Kai more.

“Or Rosy Cheeks. Like Santa. You just need to gain some pounds.”

“Kim Jongin, stop being mean.”

“Nah.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and stood up, pacing Kai’s room as he continued to get ready. They had to be at the restaurant in half an hour, and it was a good distance away by walk, so they had to hurry a bit. When Kai was done, though, they walked in a comfortable silence down the street.

They had managed to get a couple blocks before Kai grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand, the two intertwining fingers. Kyungsoo smiled faintly to himself; he always liked it when they held hands.

“I really hope this Minseok guy is going to last. Wouldn’t it be good if all six of us were dating each other?” Kyungsoo mused. “Then no one would be left out on dates and such.”

Kai smirked. “It’s all fun and games until one of them breaks up.”

Kyungsoo turned to him. “It’s not going to be us, arasso?”

“Arasso, baby,” Kai said with a grin, pecking him on the lips gently.

“Is ‘baby’ your replacement for ‘hyung’ now?” Kyungsoo asked as the restaurant came into view. This part of town wasn’t the prettiest, but it was nice if you wanted a lot of food. Kai nodded with a sheepish smile, and Kyungsoo laughed as the two entered the eatery.

It wasn’t kind of dark, most of the colors being dark red and black, with curtained booths and laid back service. Kyungsoo and Kai kicked off their shoes and walked over to the four who were waiting for them with an open curtain. Kyungsoo shut it once they were in.

That was the first time Kyungsoo saw Minseok; he was good looking in a cute way. His cheeks were fluffy and his face held an optimistic glow. He smiled and bowed from the neck at Kyungsoo and Kai. “Hello, my name is Minseok. Nice to meet you.”

“Hey, he’s polite,” Kyungsoo commented, bowing as well. “I’m Kyungsoo, and this is my brat, Kai.”

“I am not a brat!” Kai defended.

“Yes you are. You can’t even deny it,” Kyungsoo teased. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were talking amongst themselves while Jongdae and Minseok were making conversation with Kyungsoo and Kai. The two’s hands had never left each other since they came together on the street.

A peppy woman came up to the table and smiled warmly. “Hello. Are you ready to order?”

When they had ordered and their food arrived, Baekhyun piped up. “Hey, can all of us get a bottle of Soju?”

Minseok spoke up. “Oh, no thank you.”

“Make that 5,” Baekhyun corrected.

The woman nodded. “Are all of you of age, though?”

Chanyeol snuck a glance at Kyungsoo, and Jongdae’s was to Kai, but Kyungsoo spoke up. “Yeah, all of us are of age.”

She smiled. “Good. I’ll be back with your drinks in a minute.”

When she was gone, Chanyeol scoffed. “She didn’t even check the IDs? Pabo.”

Kyungsoo shrugged. “At least Kai can handle his alcohol well, and he looks older than he is. We’ll be okay.” When the waitress returned and everyone had dug in, it was quiet besides the occasional point and the clinging of chopsticks against the plates. It was Baekhyun who spoke up.

“Ugh, I have a Languages project due when we go back. I have to read a book.”

Jongdae swallowed a bite. “What book?”

“The Skull Beneath the Skin by that one author that’s anonymous. D.O. or something.”

Immediately, Kyungsoo stiffened and butterflies filled his stomach. If it weren’t for Kyungsoo taking his hand out of Kai’s to eat, he would’ve felt it easily. However, he didn’t say anything. He just continued to listen intently.

“I read that. It was pretty good,” Kai commented, taking a bite.

“It’s lengthy, though. I don’t want to read it.”

“I don’t understand that guy. I mean, you’re famous. You’re published. Why don’t you just reveal who you are to the public?” Chanyeol commented, in a grumbling manner.

“I know, right?” Jongdae sighed.

Kyungsoo fidgeted and played with his food, unable to speak anymore.

“Something wrong, baby? You look troubled,” Kai whispered in Kyungsoo’s ear. He quickly shook his head, denying anything was wrong, even though there totally was.

“I want him to reveal himself.” Chanyeol.

“Yeah, I think he needs to.” Minseok.

“Watch him come out in some kind of conference.” Baekhyun.

Kyungsoo couldn’t take it anymore.

“Why do you think he needs to reveal himself? If he wants to keep himself unknown, then he should be allowed to do that and not be judged,” he blurted out, silencing everyone at the table.

Chanyeol was agape. “Why so defensive?”

“Because that author that you think needs to stay so anonymous?” He paused, unsure of whether he wanted to do this. If any time was a good time, though, it was now. “That author… he’s me.”

You could hear a pin drop.

All five pairs of eyes were watching Kyungsoo as he finally took a safe bite of food, his secret out. Kai was the first to speak, and it was rather bravely. “You’re… D.O? The published one?”

Kyungsoo nodded. More shocked stares.

“Why didn’t you ever tell us? We deserve to know,” Chanyeol defended, crossing his arms.

“That’s the point. I wanted to stay anonymous because I’m so young and everyone would treat me differently at university. And please don’t tell anyone that you know, because I would like to keep my identity still a secret to the public,” Kyungsoo added, in a pleading tone.

“Okay. We won’t,” Jongdae sighed. “But why D.O? Why not another name?”

“Do Kyungsoo. D.O. It was just popped into mind. It would be like you being K.I.M,” he explained, taking another bite, completely finishing off his meal and leaning back in the leather booth seats.

“Aren’t you working on a new book? That’s what I heard.” Baekhyun.

Kyungsoo nodded again. “I’ve been balancing everything that’s been happening on bottom of it. It only gets worked on when I have free time. Is the rest of the night going to be questioning me about my career?” Kyungsoo asked with a laugh.

Chanyeol nodded. “This is a big deal, Kyun—D.O.”

“Oh, come on. You don’t have to call me that.”

“You’re famous, though! People look up to your stories!” Minseok reminded him, pretty shocked himself. What a great date this was. Instead of an approval date, it turned into an interrogation to Kyungsoo about what he did in his spare time.

Aish.

“It’s not like I’m a singer or anything. In fact, this is something that I should be able to keep on the down low,” he retorted. “You’re just not making it that way.”

However, the questioning didn’t stop there. It was more spread out, but he had gotten a lot even as dinner was finishing. Kyungsoo was more than annoyed, but he didn’t voice it. So, once the bills were paid and everyone was getting their sneakers back in, he sighed. “I’ll see you guys later, okay?”

“Okay!” they chorused. Minseok bowed once more, making Kyungsoo smile and bow with his head. Kai grabbed his hand once they had left, and Kyungsoo let out an angry sigh. Kai, who hadn’t asked as many questions as the others, looked over at him. “You okay, baby?”

“No,” Kyungsoo grumbled, deciding to be honest now.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Kyungsoo sighed and leaned against the side of the restaurant, the farthest they had walked. Kai watched him with concern. “I just wish they wouldn’t make such a big deal out of it. I confessed because I figured that they could handle it. I guess I was wrong. It’s not like I’m an idol or something, I’m just a writer,” he grumbled.

“The thing is, your books are really popular. It’s like that one book about the survival games in the United States that Joonmyun told me about; it’s all over the place, and at least one person a household has read them. So it is a big deal. But the whole question was too much,” he concluded.

Kyungsoo ran a hand through his hair. “I just wish I never got into this stupid business.”

“Don’t be silly, Kyungsoo. You’re just upset. You like writing, and you like your friends. Don’t let either get in the way of the other, okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was such a big deal as them. I still love you as much as I did before,” Kai explained.

He nodded feebly.

Kai held both of Kyungsoo’s hands, resting on the wall, as he leaned in and kissed Kyungsoo softly on his plump lips. Kyungsoo smiled and embraced him, breathing in the scent of Kai’s cologne and the smell of the restaurant. “I love you, Kim Jongin.”

“Love you too, baby. Let’sgo.”

~*~

Hi, guys... sorry, this is too late and not very good. >.< I was busy because of Halloween, and then yesterday I auditioned for a two-day thing where you got picked to be in the top band or the second band made up of people in the area, but with, like, 9 different schools auditioning. I got 4th chair in the top band. ^^ Anyway, hope you enjoyed~

I'm off to go play my new music. xD

Please comment~ Thank you!

P.S: Did you get my Hunger Games reference up there? :b