“Hmm… hm hmm…”

Kyungsoo hummed to himself softly as he watched the bristles from the broom he was using sweep across the tiles of the restaurant he worked in, collecting dirt and small food crumbs. It was quiet beside the vibrating of his throat and the click of his converse on the smooth floor when he moved on to a new spot, and he found it very peaceful.

Until the peace was broken, that is.

His boss, a very loud, booming man, burst through the door of his office, located in the very back of the building, emerging in the sea of upturned chairs and freshly wiped down tables. “Kyungsoo, can you lock up for me?” he asked rather loudly, causing Kyungsoo’s head to snap up, eyes wide.

When he saw it was just his boss, asking what he always did, he relaxed, his head quickly bobbing up and down. “Uh, yes, sir. I’ll lock up.”

“Thanks. Have a nice night.”

Kyungsoo bowed to his back as his boss quickly left the restaurant, pushing the glass door open and activating the small bell hanging above the entrance that dinged every time someone left or came in to the facility. Running a hand through his smooth hair, he went back to work, sweeping the rest of the dirty parts of the floor.

This had become routine. In fact, all of his day had. He would wake up, fight with Baekhyun over who got shower privileges, eat, get dressed, go to school, come to work as a waiter, clean and lock up, and stay up until clear into the early morning just to get his homework done. He didn’t even have time to go to extra classes to bump up his poor grades, much less study for his upcoming exams.

He was stressed to the max.

By the time everything was clean, Kyungsoo turned in his apron and pulled the small, bronze key out of his bag to lock up the restaurant. It was 11:15 pm when the lights were shut off and he began his long walk home.

Though it was dark, and the nipping wind made things almost impossible to focus, Kyungsoo would always pull a textbook out of his backpack—he didn’t even have time to change out of his uniform after school before his shift started, so he brought everything to work—and get just a little studying in. He switched off subjects every night, and when he ran out, he started over again.

His small home—if you could even call it that, considering it was a broken off abandoned trailer—that he shared with Baekhyun wasn’t that far from his workplace, so it only took him twenty minutes to get home. That didn’t leave much time to study, but over the months he had learned his route to where he didn’t even have to look up from his books to see where he was going.

Before he knew it, his converse were crunching against the familiar grain ground of the trailer park, and he was closing his book. His was one of the outlining trailers that stood at the corner of the “entrance”, so he only had to pass one other to get to his.

The two small windows were both lit, meaning that Baekhyun was inside. Kyungsoo pulled his house key out of his backpack and climbed the three small creaking steps leading to the door. The paint-chipped block of wood was the only thing that separated him from warmth, and his y best friend.

When he opened the door, nothing looked out of place or any different; the counters were still ridiculously clean, thanks to Kyungsoo, and everything was stacked neatly. Baekhyun sat on the tearing recliner, earbuds in and a textbook cracked open on his lap. He didn’t even notice Kyungsoo come in or kick his shoes off, so, to get his attention, the younger slammed the door shut, causing Baekhyun to jump up and a gasp to erupt from his throat.

Kyungsoo cracked up. Baekhyun glared at him. “.”

“You were asking for it.” A small smile grew on his face as he tossed his backpack by the door and started removing his blazer. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?”

“Uh… Oh! I got a lot of studying done!”

“Does your definition of studying include five hour naps and texting Chanyeol until your fingers go numb?” Kyungsoo teased, undoing his tie as he watched Baekhyun roll his eyes.

“No.”

“You at lying.”

“I’m sorry! It’s so boring!”

“If I were here, I’d rip your phone out of your hands and hit you over the head with it.” Kyungsoo sighed. “You’re lucky your shift ends before mine, though.” When he was down to the wife beater under his dress shirt and his slacks, Kyungsoo walked over to the fridge and opened it, surprised to find a sealed cup of tea and a metal box on top of what little supplies they had. Someone needed to go grocery shopping, but they got discounts.

“What’s with the box and the cup?”

Baekhyun peered into the fridge, and then smiled. “Oh, I made tea earlier and I picked up a bento box. I already ate mine, so that’s your dinner.”

Kyungsoo grinned and sat down opposite him, setting his newly acquired food on the table before getting out his books. “Thank you, Baekhyun.”

He nodded. “No problem.”

It was around 2:30 am when Kyungsoo was satisfied with where he was in studying and his homework assignments were complete. Baekhyun had already disappeared to their shared bed in the back of the trailer, so Kyungsoo had flipped on a small lamp and turned off everything that was making noise so he wouldn’t disturb him.

Just as he was putting on his pajamas, he heard a mumble from the bed. “Soo…?”

Kyungsoo sighed. “I’m coming, Baekhyun.”

“Okay,” the older boy whispered, rolling over. After his teeth were brushed, Kyungsoo climbed into bed and was instantly pulled into a cuddle by Baekhyun, who didn’t like to sleep without someone right next to him. Kyungsoo smiled faintly and put his arm around his best friend, shutting his eyes.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo had been together so long. After Baekhyun’s abusive parents divorced, he ran away with Kyungsoo, whose parents rarely even remembered he existed, to a small, free trailer in the middle of nowhere. Money was tight, but they made do, and they were together.

Kyungsoo never wanted that to change.

~*~

A couple of days passed, and soon it was Thursday, the one day besides Sunday that Kyungsoo had off from his job as a waiter. He took advantage of this day. Not to study, but to get time away from everything. Baekhyun took Thursdays to go hang out with Chanyeol, his boyfriend, so Kyungsoo changed out of his uniform and into something else, locked up the trailer, and went for a walk.

He enjoyed walks. They held lots of serenity, and he really liked that feeling, since he didn’t get it much from a rowdy classroom or bustling through a maze of tables to get someone their food. It started out in front of his home and ended wherever it led him.

Today, he went through the park. There were woman, watching their children play on the playgrounds protectively from the benches, and other civilians were strolling. Students were playing soccer, and it was all a very normal, expected scene. Kyungsoo, nodding and smiling to some people as he passed, took rhythmic steps down the sidewalk, his sneakers clicking on the pavement.

He stepped off of the path and walked across the grass, just to be more alone. The nature was well groomed, many colors blooming and sprouting from the plants and trees. It was gorgeous. A cobblestone bridge crossed two ending fields, the small river below clear to the dirt on the bottom. Kyungsoo marveled at it all, until he saw a figure walking across the bridge.

From what he could see, the figure was a handsome young boy, and he looked sort of familiar to Kyungsoo. His dark brown locks were covered by a cap, and big headphones rested over his ears. His jaw was firm, but his eyes soft. He still had his school uniform on and his backpack over his blazer.

The colors were yellow and black.

No wonder he looked familiar. They attended the same high school.

Kyungsoo squinted his wide eyes, trying to recognize him, but the distance and the hat made it almost impossible to tell. He quickly got an idea, though, when the figure began moving, and he felt his lips part in shock. He couldn’t hear what he was listening to, but it caused him to dance, his movements so clear and precise that he couldn’t help but stare, transfixed.

He wasn’t sure how long he was standing there, but soon the figure was done dancing. Instead of walking away, though, he slinked his backpack off of his shoulders and climbed up onto the cobblestone railing, standing up and staring out at the water. Kyungsoo was confused, until he realized what could be going on.

He wasn’t about to… was he? The water was two feet deep; his bones would crumble.

Without thinking, Kyungsoo quickly ran up hill, entering the bridge and shouting “Don’t!”, startling the figure and making him stumble back onto the concrete bridge, his bright yellow sneakers hitting it first. Panting from his exercise, Kyungsoo stared at him. “What are you doing?!”

The figure’s voice, smooth with calm flowing right from his throat, spoke as he held his hands up, palm first, eyes wide. “I was just standing on there. Why, is that a crime or something?”

Oh. Just standing there. “U-Uh, no, I just thought you were doing something… else.”

The man stood there, pondering what Kyungsoo had just said, before laughing nervously. “No, no. My life isn’t that bad. I’m sorry if I, uh, scared you.” He bowed deeply as an apology.

Kyungsoo shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, I just assumed…” He trailed off, noticing the pendant design stitched into the blazer with the words “Seoul Arts High School” written above it. Definitely attended the same school. “You go to school there too?”

The figure looked down at his uniform, following Kyungsoo’s gaze, before looking up and smiling. “I’m a junior. Do you really go to school there?”

“Yeah, I’m a senior… hey, why aren’t you in hagwon?” Kyungsoo had an excuse not to go to the optional cram class, as did Baekhyun because of their jobs, but this boy was just wandering.

“I never go to those extra classes. I need to live, too,” he chuckled. “Why aren’t you? Don’t you have those huge exams later in the year?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “I have a job. It’s my day off.”

The figure nodded back in understanding. “Right. Well, my name is Jongin, but I like to go by Kai.”

“Tough. You look more like a Jongin,” Kyungsoo teased, shoving his numbing hands into the pockets of his denim jeans. Jongin laughed, his breath coming out in one big puff of steam. He turned back to stare at Kyungsoo, who was instantly melted by his soft, big brown eyes.

Jongin let out an awkward chuckle. “Are you going to tell me your name?”

Kyungsoo startled and nodded feverishly. “Oh, yeah. Kyungsoo.”

He smiled slightly and Kyungsoo noticed his hand moving towards his, picking it up and handling it like a prize before shaking it up and down. His fingers were callused, but warm, and Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrowed. Jongin laughed once more, all but making fun of him. “I’m shaking your hand. That’s courtesy, you know.”

Catching on, Kyungsoo scratched the back of his neck with his fingernails. “Right. Sorry.”

“You act like you’ve never interacted with a human in your life,” Jongin teased, even though it was kind of sadly true. Besides Baekhyun, he hadn’t really met any friends before. He just shook off the comment, though, as Jongin said he had to go.

“I’ll see you around?” he asked, picking up his backpack from the path.

“Yeah, you will,” Kyungsoo promised with a smile. Jongin grinned at him and walked away, putting his headphones over his ears once more and slightly dancing as he moved along. Kyungsoo smiled at his new acquaintance’s movements before making his way home.

~*~

“Damn, I wish I had been there to watch the awkward first hand.”

“I hate you, Baekhyun.”

“Good to know, because I pissed in your tea.”

Gagging at the sentence, Kyungsoo quickly spit the tea in his mouth out, causing Baekhyun to cackle and double over. “You idiot, you’d be able to taste it. I was kidding.”

Kyungsoo, bitter about the prank, took another sip from the cup of green tea in his hand, his knees tucked close to his chest as Baekhyun and him sat across from each other, Baekyun leaning against the pillows of their bed and Kyungsoo sitting at the foot.

Baekhyun sighed happily. “I can’t believe my baby Kyungsoo has a crush. You’re growing up.”

“You’re really mean.”

“I know.” He grinned, his eyes crinkling as he took another sip of his own cup. “So he really goes to our school? We share breaks with one of the junior classes; maybe you’ll see him around then.”

“I don’t know. I don’t really think he likes me. He probably sees me as a moron,” Kyungsoo groaned, resting his chin on one of his knee caps and sighing sadly. Baekhyun shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll be okay. I’m sure he doesn’t mind you if he gave you the time of day. I wouldn’t have after that hand shaking thing,” he teased. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

“You don’t give anyone a chance, Baekhyun.”

“I gave you one!”

“You had to.” Kyungsoo smirked. “We were both losers, remember?”

Baekhyun frowned. “Oh, yeah.”

Kyungsoo smiled and took another sip of his tea.

~*~

The next day at school, at break, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo all but ran through the halls, pushing past unfamiliar juniors and trying to find Jongin. They had no luck, until Kyungsoo caught sight of a bright yellow sneaker, the same he had seen at the bridge yesterday. No doubt they were Jongin’s.

“Baek!” Kyungsoo whispered furiously, causing Baekhyun to turn around and duck with Kyungsoo behind a set of lockers. Jongin was just a few feet away, digging around in his locker, alone. Baekhyun whistled at the sight of him, making Kyungsoo reach over and smack him roughly on the arm.

Baekhyun pouted. “Ow! Why don’t you just go over there and say hi? He’s alone.”

“I don’t know…” Kyungsoo trailed off. He figured he could, until a kid with neatly combed hair and a very blank expression greeted Jongin and walked away with him. Kyungsoo sighed, defeated that the opportunity was taken from him. He turned back to Baekhyun. “Well, at least we know he takes our breaks.”

“We’ll get him next time.” He patted Kyungsoo on the shoulder before looking around the hallway, finding it clearing out. “Come on, class is going to be back in soon.”

~*~

It was Saturday evening when Kyungsoo next encountered Jongin. He was on his shift at the restaurant, where business was blowing in heavily, and orders kept coming and going. He couldn’t seem to get a break. He’d been at it for almost four hours now, and he was ready to drop.

This always happened on the weekends.

“I’ve got table sixty one ready!” one of the chefs called out, and Kyungsoo hurried to collect the plates, remembering that was one of his tables. He piled the hot plates onto a tray and maneuvered his way through the many people in the crowded area. After handing out the food to the family of four and moving on to the next table to take their order, Kyungsoo began his monologue as a waiter.

“Hello, my name is Kyungsoo, what can I get for you to dri—Jongin?”

Upon mention of his name, Jongin looked up and smiled in realization. “Kyungsoo? This is your job?”

Kyungsoo nodded and smiled. He couldn’t believe he’d find Jongin here… with two other of his friends, but still here. Kyungsoo looked around the table and noticed that one of his friends was the same one who took him away from his locker. He ignored them, though, as he turned back to Jongin. “What can I get you guys to drink?”

“I’ll take a Coke,” Jongin answered.

The other two took their order, and Kyungsoo went back to turn in the information. As he did it, though, his heart was pounding, butterflies were skyrocketing in his stomach, and his legs were wobbling.

He wasn’t sure why he was like this.

Is this what love feels like? He thought as he loaded the drinks onto a tray and mentally prepared himself to see Jongin again.

Later, when Jongin was long gone and Kyungsoo was sent out as a bus boy to clean their table, he found a few bills of money laying on the table. Satisfied with the rather large tip, Kyungsoo flipped through his newly acquired money, but instead founding a piece of white blank paper tucked between them.

He pulled it out and flipped it open, reading the inside.

Had fun, here’s my number. Meet me here, tomorrow, at two, since you said you have it off.

Kyungsoo stared at the ten digits, repeating them back in his mind, before shutting the paper with a grin, tucking it deep in his pocket with his money, and wiping down the table.

~*~

Kyungsoo had triple checked his appearance before he had gone to the restaurant, avoiding glances with his co-workers—he hated all of them, so he didn’t speak to them—and looking around. It wasn’t as crowded as the night before, so he quickly located Jongin, sitting in a corner booth, and sat across from him with a shy smile. “Hi.”

Jongin grinned, his fingers intertwined, resting on the wooden table. “Hey. You look nice.”

Even though he knew what he looked like, Kyungsoo looked down at his baby blue dress shirt. “Thanks. You don’t look too terrible yourself.”

Taking the compliment, Jongin smiled before looking at the menu. “Are you hungry? I’ll buy.”

Kyungsoo shook his head. “I’ve eaten this place too many times in my life. I hate it now,” he joked, even though it was completely true. He had to stay through his lunch break—the busiest time on Saturdays—so that caused him to have to suffer through eating his own food on many occasions.

“Understandable,” Jongin agreed with a small smile.

“So what did you want to see me about?” Kyungsoo asked, watching Jongin’s face as he replied to the question.

“I don’t know… just to talk, I guess. About anything you want. You seem nice enough, so I figured any chance for a new friend is a good chance,” he explained, pursing his lips and shrugging sheepishly. Kyungsoo couldn’t take his eyes away from Jongin.

Everything down to the collarbones peeking out of his white v-neck was perfection.

“I’m not a very social person,” Kyungsoo reminded him. “You saw me when we first met.”

Jongin laughed, his hair swooping as he bent his head down. “Yeah, that was pretty outcast like. Is there a reason for that? I mean, do you not have a lot of friends or something?”

Kyungsoo shook his head. “Besides for one, I’m pretty much alone.”

“Hopefully I can change that to two. Maybe three, but Sehun’s kind of a …”

“Sehun?”

“The one who had a lisp when he ordered last night,” Jongin explained. Kyungsoo nodded, remembering the small slip in Sehun’s words when he ordered his food last night.

The two continued talking about anything. Kyungsoo talked about his parents, Baekhyun, their home, everything leading up to this point, anything that popped into his head was spoken. He felt like he could trust Jongin a lot more than he should, so he told him everything.

Jongin obviously felt the same, because he told Kyungsoo about his friends, how his dad died when he was little and it was just his mom and his siblings, and how dancing was his passion and he wished to pursue it for a long time. Kyungsoo felt inspired by all of his stories, how despite all that’s happened, he can still enjoy what he loves to do.

In the middle of Jongin’s story, his hands slowly s over to Kyungsoo’s, grabbing both cautiously and cradling them shyly. A small smile came to Kyungsoo’s face, as well as bright pink cheeks. The same hands that had shaken his when they first met on that bridge were now holding his.

Jongin treated nothing of it.

When they had been there for a long time—the time flew by with Kyungsoo—Jongin sighed and told him he should probably get going. Kyungsoo agreed; Baekhyun hated being left alone for a long period of time. Trust issues because of the abuse.

They both stood up, letting their hands drop to their sides. Jongin smiled warmly at him as Kyungsoo spoke. “We should do this again. It was nice to talk to someone.”

“Oh, we will do it again,” Jongin promised with a smile. “I’ll see you around in school?”

“Yeah, you will.” Just as they separated, Kyungsoo turned around, suddenly remembering something. “Oh, and, Jongin?”

Jongin turned around, pursing his lips. “Yeah?”

“I want to see you dance again. Not just from eavesdropping this time.”

Jongin grinned. “I’ll let you know when you can.”

~*~