Kyungsoo lives on his tip-toes. Well, supposedly, until his manager had demanded he started using insoles instead. He also lives off powder, and a smidgen of concealer--he decides the others aren't all that necessary. He lives on runways, striding down that aisle with a strong, fierce expression even though all he really wants to do is laugh (at how the press, the media, the critics, everyone still loves those charming wide eyes). He lives off bubble gum and tons of nutrition pills that don't even really do what they're supposed to, and celery. (Sometimes when Kyungsoo's alone, he remembers the warm aroma of kimchi spsghetti and he almost misses it. Almost.) Do Kyungsoo lives everyday pretending everything is not enough and he needs more when all he really wants is a clear, absolute halt; Junmyeon the manager (who's really a lot more horrible than he looks) gets scratches on his face from Kyungsoo's knuckles, clad in golden rings. Every day something expensive is broken, just so Kyungsoo can feel and let everybody know that everything is rubbish to him, just so he feels superior. And, at the end of each day, Kyungsoo realizes he's not Kyungsoo.  

It's the first time Kyungsoo's been home in Seoul for months. Strangely, even after all the other luxury he'd lived with all that time, he doesn't complain about the dusty stench or the small rooms and the old sofa. Junmyeon seems surprised he doesn't have a wild yapping Kyungsoo grilling him out for a new place when he leaves Kyungsoo's luggage by the door. He leaves within the next two minutes, and when he does, Kyungsoo hears him outside on the corridor screaming into his phone to someone named Jongdae, and it's the first time Kyungsoo'd ever heard him speak so nicely. For a second, Kyungsoo just stands there, in the middle of everything, just admiring his home. He wonders if he should call some of his old friends, but then he remembers the people he used to eat lunch with during high school have all debuted as some kind of boy band with some lame alien theme. And besides, he has another photoshoot in two hours and he hasn't slept on a real bed in like five months.  

"Alright, alright," Kyungsoo groans into his phone, two and a half hours later. "I'm getting in the car, Junmyeon. Relax." Another roll of his eyes and he hangs up, tosses his phone onto his bed so he can put on his makeup. Strangely enough, he enjoys doing it.

He's shrugging his coat on when he reaches for the door and comes face to face with a young man. His hand is hovering between them like he was just about to knock when Kyungsoo'd swung the door open. Kyungsoo gives him a look, takes in white-washed polo-shirt and dark jeans and a cap, there's an envelope in his fingers and his lips are incredibly luscious (It's the only thing that stops Kyungsoo from shoving him away).

  "Who are you?" he snaps. His eyebrows furrow when he hears Junmyeon yelling at him in his head.

  "Uh, mailman," the boy grins and it makes Kyungsoo want to squint. He realizes the boy has beautiful white teeth and tempting tanned skin.

  "Mailman? You don't quite look like a mailman," Kyungsoo murmurs, glancing at his watch.

  "Oh, um. It's kind of a summer job. I'm still in university," the boy's grin kind of just fades to a smile as he hands over the envelope. Kyungsoo shoves it in his bag with not a single thought and nearly scowls when the boy hands him a form and a pen. He signs it where it needs his signature and ignores the rest. But the boy hands it back to him.

  "We can't accept this. We need some information just in case something happens like, mail swapping or something." When Kyungsoo impatiently glances at his watch again, the boy adds, "You can just put in your name, address and contact number."  

So Kyungsoo does, handwriting small and scribbly. The boy thanks him, smiles but doesn't leave. Kyungsoo's about to yell when the mailman leans over and steals a kiss from his lips, hard and sloppy and the only reason it lingers for a few seconds is because Kyungsoo almost kisses back. Except he can't because the boy pulls away, smiles one last time and walks over to the next door, pulling out another envelope from his bag. It takes Kyungsoo a few seconds before he realizes he's running late.  

And it's not until he's in the  cab, in the middle of traffic when he realizes that it's not even summer. When he gets to the photoshoot, Junmyeon yells at him 100km/h for five minutes before he subtly asks, when Kyungsoo's nearly to his dresser, "Why is your lipstick smudged?" And later, much later, after the photoshoot, when Kyungsoo still lingers in the set for a punch of wine, he gets a call from an unsaved number.

  He recognizes the voice easily. "Kyungsoo, huh. Cute name. I can't believe you really bought it." And, when he laughs, Kyungsoo laughs with him despite him being the first to ever smudge his lipstick. (It's the kind of laugh that has Kyungsoo deciding that very second that he'll come back to Seoul more often.)