A/n: Slightest of all ual content. Not sorry. 

Sehun became Kyungsoo’s main priority, and fortunately, it seemed like Jongin was backing off. Good, because otherwise I would have to kill him. He did not want to have to deal with Kim Jongin, ever again. Not after everything. Not when Kyungsoo had opened up to that traitor, and he’d turned it all around on him. Jongin had known he cared about Sehun, yet he had just been trying to push them apart all along. So that was it. The boy could stay out of his life for all he cared.

Meanwhile, Sehun had gratefully welcomed Kyungsoo back, forgiven him for being so horrible, and their friendship was back as if it had never left. Joonmyun – whom Kyungsoo had seen nothing of since before Halloween – returned to them, having heard about Sehun’s breakup. And Kyungsoo was glad, because it made it feel as though things were just as they had been – before Luhan, before Jongin. It would be good for Sehun, and for himself. It was still hard though, because Luhan sat only a few tables away with Minseok, and though he seemed to at least be trying to keep his displays of affections on low, it still felt like a smack in the face, and there was only so much Sehun could take.

But Kyungsoo all but forced Sehun to spend the weekend at his house, and he didn’t try to avoid the Luhan-topic, but encouraged Sehun to vent out his emotions about it. By the end of the weekend – after many tears and Kleenex boxes – Kyungsoo thought that Sehun was at least a little more optimistic about things.

Monday seemed more or less the same, until English class. When he arrived, just a minute after the warning bell rang, he saw Jongin already there – unusual, because normally he never made it to class on time, let alone three minutes early. Kyungsoo took his seat beside him, feeling uneasy.

He had to admit that he wasn’t all that surprised when Jongin spoke.

“Hyung?”

Kyungsoo ignored it.

“Hyung, please let me explain.”

Still nothing.

Jongin sighed as the class filled, the bell rang, and they were told to open their books and read a passage alone or with a partner, and Kyungsoo continued to refuse to acknowledge him. As people began to read aloud, he tried again.

“Kyungsoo, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you about Sehun, but I thought you wouldn’t want to know, or at least wouldn’t want to hear from me. I mean that. I realize it was stupid, hyung, and I’m really sorry.”

“You were trying to keep us apart,” Kyungsoo hissed. “You told him to stay away from me, and then you tried to take his place.”

“No, it was never like that! I never wanted to be your best friend, Kyungsoo. Your friend, maybe, but not your best friend. I could never, ever replace Sehun, or even compete with him.  I wanted you two to make up, and, honestly, I did worry that you might stop wanting to be my friend if you did, but I still wanted you to get him back. I didn’t want you to be hurting like you were.”

“ off, Jongin,” Kyungsoo said under his breath. “You didn’t care about anything but yourself.”

“Kyungsoo-”

“Just shut up.”

“

Kyungsoo started having trouble falling asleep at night, his mind filling with thoughts that fought for his consciousness. He worried about Sehun, and that he would never get over Luhan, and spend the rest of his life sad and alone. Or worse, he would lose hope, and only see one way out. This thought scared him a lot, and it would get to the point that he would text Sehun and ask if he was okay, and tell him to stay strong and that his hyung loved him. Sehun would respond by telling him to go to sleep, but the next morning he would be affectionate towards Kyungsoo, and go on about what a wonderful best friend he was. Kyungsoo didn’t believe it at all, he was just selfish and didn’t want to lose Sehun, but he didn’t care – whatever kept him alive, whatever would help him heal.

He also thought about his strange relationship with Jongin. Even now, he struggled to unravel the confusing ties between them. Mostly, he could pin it down to his desperation after losing Sehun. But something fought him on it. Because, with Jongin, he’d felt the emptiness Sehun had left, and he had though Jongin had filled some of it. But with Sehun back, and that piece whole again, he realized that Jongin hadn’t been taking the place of Sehun – he’d been filling a place Kyungsoo had never realized was missing. And Kyungsoo didn’t even know what it was. Jongin hadn’t been the best friend piece in Kyungsoo’s puzzle. Maybe it was the thrill that he brought with their secret friendship – if the broken mess they had for that short time could be called friendship. And now Kyungsoo’s life was back to it’s boring self – well, maybe not; Sehun was keeping things difficult for him.

Life became even more complicated for him at the end of the month. February went out with a bang… in a sense.

It was the end of gym class, and, as per usual, Kyungsoo was one of the first kids to leave the change room after showering. He sat with Sehun who was talking about who knows what, and Kyungsoo was vaguely paying attention, but then they were dismissed for lunch and everyone was scurrying out and then Kyungsoo realized that he had left his sweater – where? He looked around, but it was nowhere to be spotted in the gym, so he assumed he had just left it in the change room. He promised Sehun to meet him in the cafeteria, and then went to go find his lost sweater. When he reached the change room, he found it locked.

Sighing, he went to the gym teacher and asked for a key to the room. The teacher told him it shouldn’t be locked – he hadn’t remembered locking it – but Kyungsoo assured him that it was indeed locked and he had left his sweater inside so could he please just have the key because he didn’t have time for the teacher’s memory loss. (Okay, he didn’t really say that, but he was thinking it.) When he finally obtained the key, he once again returned to the change room, unlocking the door and slipping inside. Surprisingly, the light was still on, and… there was the sound of a shower running? He supposed someone might have forgotten to turn off their shower, and pressed on, heading to the hangers, and, to his pleasure, catching sight of his sweater. He hurried to it, grabbing it and turning to leave.

And immediately regretted ever walking into the room.

There was a reason the door had been locked. There was a reason the lights were on, a shower still running. There was a reason he, like a complete idiot, dropped the keys in his hand, where they landed on the tile floor with a loud clink!

Kris had Tao shoved up against the wall with the younger’s legs wrapped around his waist, holding the boy’s wrists against the wall above his head, Kris’ mouth on Tao’s bite mark-covered neck, water raining down on their bodies. Kyungsoo hadn’t picked up the sounds of Tao’s soft moans, Kris’ teasing, the slapping of skin against skin, over the sound of the running water. He wanted to cover his eyes, or better, just disappear, and time seemed to have stopped, but he still couldn’t take it all in, and Kris had gone from ing his hips deeply into Tao to turning in shock at the sound of the keys falling, and Kyungsoo was so terrified that he couldn’t even manage to mumble an apology. Before anything could be said, he dove for the keys and sprinted out of the room. He tossed the keys onto a bench and just kept running. He was just going out the door as someone else, coming in, reached it, and they ran into each other. Instinctively, the person caught him, and Kyungsoo was thoughtlessly relieved when he saw it was Jongin, throwing his arms around him and letting out a cry.

“Hyung! What-?” Jongin looped his arms around him on impulse, but Kyungsoo shook his head quickly.

“I can’t be – I need to go!” He was too close. Kris could come out any time, see him, kill him. He let Jongin go and started running again, no idea where he was going. Jongin followed after him, and they ended up outside, hidden under the bleachers on the soccer field.

“Hyung, what’s going on?” Jongin asked, panting as he ducked under the seats. Kyungsoo’s heart was racing, the image of Kris and Tao tangled together burning into his mind. Again, Kyungsoo allowed Jongin to hold him, because he was afraid, oh, he was so afraid. Kris was going to kill him. He would have to switch schools or maybe countries, because he may or may not have just found out one of Kris’ biggest secrets (or maybe his only secret, Kyungsoo didn’t know; Kris seemed like a pretty open guy).

Kyungsoo tried to explain what he’d seen, but his words got so tangled, so he just pressed his forehead into Jongin’s shoulder, and Jongin just told him to breathe. Jongin pulled the smaller boy into his lap, waiting until Kyungsoo’s breathing was even again to speak.

“What happened?”

“Just – Kris and Tao,” Kyungsoo managed. He didn’t even know how to word what had happened. They were ing in the showers.

“What did they do?” Jongin insisted.

“They were – I went in the change room and they were… showering – together.”

Jongin was silent. Then Kyungsoo felt him shaking, and heard a chuckle escape from him. Kyungsoo pulled away to look at him, and then several things hit him at once. Jongin. This is Jongin. His shock-induced desire for comfort that had led him to Jongin wore off rapidly, and he wanted to hit the boy who was laughing at his pain now. Of course Jongin would mock him. It was what he did best.

“You mean they were having ?”

Kyungsoo nodded, and Jongin laughed again. “I knew those two were hooking up!” Then he picked up on the raging vibes Kyungsoo had suddenly started giving off, and was quick to add, “I’m not laughing at you, hyung! I’m just really not surprised that they’re together. I’m sorry you, uh, had to see that.” Jongin held back a smile.

“It’s not funny!” Kyungsoo snapped, standing up. “Do you know what Kris is gonna do to me now?!”

“He won’t do anything!” But Jongin’s voice was entirely doubtful. Kyungsoo just scowled and stormed off, ignoring the boy who called after him. He didn’t see him again until next period, and the boy muttered “He’s pissed”, sending anxious shivers through Kyungsoo. But then Jongin added, “I won’t let him hurt you,” and Kyungsoo’s worry turned back into annoyance, telling Jongin off again before refusing to speak to him.

“

“Where the hell is Kyungsoo? Oh, hey Jongin, where were you? We need to talk.”

Jongin sat beside Yixing, making up an excuse that he’d been caught up talking to a teacher who wouldn’t let him go. “What’s up?”

“I’ve decided we need to put Do Kyungsoo in his place,” Kris explained. “He’s just getting way too high on his horse.”

Jongin held in a grin, knowing exactly what he really meant. He pretended not to know anyway, wanting to see how Kris would react. “What’d he do now?”

“Who said he did anything?” Tao cut in, blushing and looking flustered, covering his neck with his hand. Jongin noticed it was bruised with red marks.

“I’m just getting sick of him,” Kris said, completely vague.

“He’s a little anyway,” Chanyeol agreed. “What’s your plan?”

“Find him first,” Kris said, glancing to Kyungsoo’s usual table, where Sehun and Joonmyun were sitting without him. “And then make his life a living hell.”

Jongin felt his stomach twist. “You already said yourself he was no fun to pick on – I mean, he hardly gives a reaction and he’s just a waste of time. Why are you suddenly changing your mind?”

“Why are you sticking up for him?” Tao returned. Jongin stopped there, knowing he couldn’t go any further without drawing attention to himself.

They saw Sehun and Joonmyun standing, and Kris ordered everyone to get up, get to the door before the other two boys did so they could cut them off.

“Where’re you two going?” Kris said as he stood in Sehun’s path. Sehun glared up at him, but didn’t speak. “Where’s Kyungsoo?”

“Mind your own business, .”

“Watch yourself, kid,” Kris said dangerously. “Don’t act like you’re so tough. We all know you cry yourself to sleep because your boyfriend dumped you – since he never really wanted you anyway, he just used you to get to the guy he really loves.”

Sehun’s face fell, tears springing immediately. Kris’ words were loud enough that they reached Luhan’s table, and, as he’d been watching the confrontation anyway, he too looked heartbroken.

Joonmyun stepped in. “Is that what you tell Jongdae?”

Kris lost his smirk, and Joonmyun pushed past him, dragging Sehun along. Kris turned to Jongdae, who was biting his lip. “Jongdae, I didn’t-”

“It’s cool,” Jongdae brushed him off, giving a bit too big of a smile to the older boy.

Kris’ embarrassment only seemed to anger him more, and somehow he managed to blame it all on Kyungsoo. He told them they would back off for a couple days, and then they would have free reign to torture him however they could.

“

During second period the next day, Jongin noticed Kyungsoo was missing, and went up to Sehun to ask about their hyung’s absence.

“He’s changing in the washroom,” Sehun said, pouting. “And you stay away from him! You and all your stupid friends. I know he’s afraid of you, even if he won’t tell me. Just leave him alone!”

“Sehun, I just want to warn him,” Jongin pleaded. “I don’t want to hurt him, really! Kris is out to get him, and I want to protect him if I can. I know you won’t believe me, but when it comes to Kyungsoo, I’m not like them. I don’t want to see him get hurt.”

Sehun frowned, but his curiosity won out. “Why not? What’s he to you?”

“I care about him,” Jongin explained quietly. “He’s a friend – or, I think of him as one. Even if he hates me.”

“He hates you because you’re a to him!”

“I’m not! I’m really not! Or, I try not to be. He means a lot to me, Sehun.”

“You don’t – have feelings for him, do you?” Sehun wondered suddenly.

“I do,” Jongin confessed. “I like him, a lot. And I’m afraid of what will happen if Kris gets a hold of him. I know he won’t listen to me, but please, just tell Kyungsoo to be careful, okay?”

Sehun nodded. “I will.”

“

“Hey hyung, did you, uh, know Kim Jongin likes you?”

“What?” The question had sprung up out of nowhere, as Kyungsoo sat with Sehun and Joonmyun at their table at lunch. Joonmyun raised his eyebrows, turning to give Sehun a strange look, but Kyungsoo nodded. “Uh, yeah I did, actually. How did you know?”

“You knew and you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Kyungsoo said defensively. “Besides, it’s not like the feeling’s mutual. Why are you asking me this?”

“He told me about it last period,” Sehun admitted. “And he also told me to tell you to be careful. Apparently his friends have their sights set on you, and not in the way he does.”

Kyungsoo’s face pinched up in frustration. “I know. Don’t be his owl, Hunnie, okay? He’s just an .”

“I dunno,” Sehun argued, stealing a bite of Kyungsoo’s salad. “He really did seem worried about you. And he’s probably going against Kris and them to look out for you like that.”

“Ugh, not you too,” Kyungsoo groaned. “He. Is. An. . Okay, Sehun? End of story. s are not nice – they are just s! Jongin is not an exception to this rule.”

Sehun shrugged. “I guess so, hyung. I’m sure you know more about him than me.”

“Wait, did I miss something?” Joonmyun put in suddenly. “Why does Kyungsoo know Jongin?”

“They were friends when… well, when we weren’t,” Sehun explained.

“That’s not true!”

“It is so,” Sehun fought. “You went to dance practice with him! You never even go to my dance practice! Tell me how that isn’t being friends.”

They argued it until Joonmyun told them to stop. “Why aren’t you friends anymore then, Soo?”

“Because,” Kyungsoo sighed. “He is an . We’ve just gone over this.”

“I need a better reason than that,” Joonmyun said simply.

For some reason, Kyungsoo couldn’t give him one.

“

The next day, Kyungsoo and Sehun went straight from the gym to the library after class, both needing to study for tests they had next period. After about ten minutes, they heard the library door open, and looked up to see Jongin entering. Kyungsoo wanted to duck his head and hide under the table, but Jongin had already seen him, so Kyungsoo just returned to studying, hoping the boy would not come bother him.

Of course he did.

“Hyung, can I talk to you?” Kyungsoo shot him a glare. “Please.”

Under the table, Sehun kicked his shin, and Kyungsoo’s glower turned to him. It can’t hurt, Sehun mouthed.

Yes it can, Kyungsoo thought, but he groaned and stood, leading the way to the back of the library, the place where he for so long had spent his lunch period. It was almost comforting to come back here again. Wordlessly, he turned and faced Jongin, crossing his arms, making sure everything about his body language said, Don’t waste my time.

“Please let me back in your life.”

“When are you going to give up on this?” Kyungsoo said under his breath.

“Kyungsoo.” Jongin took a step towards him, which Kyungsoo immediately countered by stepping back. Jongin held his place. “Even Sehun agrees-”

“I don’t care what Sehun thinks! Don’t bring him into this!” Kyungsoo’s voice was strained as he tried to keep it low. He hated the feeling of pressure. Because everyone thought he should be friends with Jongin, and it didn’t seem to matter how he felt about it. “Do I not get a say in who I’m friends with? Does the word ‘no’ mean nothing to people?!”

Jongin’s shoulders sunk. “Hyung, I just-”

“No, Jongin! N-O.”

It seemed to be effective. As Jongin nodded sadly, mumbling an apology before slowly turning and making to go, Kyungsoo felt the guilt that only Jongin seemed able to evoke from him arise. He hated Jongin for it, because he was sincerely going to leave – he would; he listened to Kyungsoo, and he would never bother him again – and carry all his worries about Kyungsoo with him. And Kyungsoo hated the both of them when he said “Wait!” and Jongin turned around looking not-quite but almost hopeful.

“I’m not saying yes,” Kyungsoo began. Every time, he chastised himself internally. You give in to him every damn time. Why is he such a… weakness with you? You’re making it too easy for him! But he couldn’t just let Jongin go. He was still a missing puzzle piece, and Kyungsoo couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t figure out what that piece was before he tossed it away. “But, if I did – if – what would you want? What’s your plan?”

“I want to be your friend,” Jongin whispered. “Not your best friend, not your Sehun. Your Jongin. I want to protect you, and love you. Whatever you want. I know it’s not easy with us, but… I can’t give up on you, so I won’t if I don’t have to. I want you in my life, and I want to be in yours. But I won’t – I wouldn’t – push you or anything. I just don’t want you to hate me, not when I like you so much.”

Kyungsoo swallowed, slowly taking in Jongin’s words. He didn’t know quite what Jongin meant to him, only that he meant something. Like a mosquito buzzing around a room in the middle of the night, Jongin was something that, no matter how small and insignificant he might seem, Kyungsoo couldn’t ignore. So, rather than trying to avoid it, he decided, why not let the mosquito in? Have it come to him, rather than trying to chase after it. Let it land on his skin, thinking it could have it’s chance to his blood.

That would make the mosquito so much easier to kill.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo nodded. But of course he couldn’t give in just like that. He tapped his cheek with his finger, raising an eyebrow at Jongin. “Kiss me right now then. Without caring who might see you.” Not that anyone would, of course, not in this tucked away area of the library. But Jongin still glanced around, before stepping forward, closing the space between their bodies. He tilted his head to kiss Kyungsoo’s cheek, and a second before his lips touched, Kyungsoo turned his head to face Jongin, pressing their lips together.

Electricity flowed through his veins at the risk of his actions, his heart thudding excitedly from the rush. Jongin pulled away a second later with a gasp, eyes wide, hand flying to his mouth, and Kyungsoo was pleased to see him blush.

“This doesn’t mean I forgive you for before,” Kyungsoo said warningly. “I’m just giving you a chance – one last chance. I really hope you’ll prove me wrong.”

This chapter was short, I know, but I'll update again today or tomorrow! Taoris is official, sort of! ㅋㅋㅋ Kaisoo makes a comeback! Next chapter will be lots and lots of things oh man! ㅎ