So I made this chapter to stir things up a little. Double updates is looooong. anyway, this is my apology for having stupid exams in too long a time.

_______________________

List of things to do to steer clear of ing Kim Jongin

1. Avoid all public restrooms , unless bladder is near exploding. Use toilet stalls only
2. Spend time in the library
3. Finish up a gazillion assignments
4. Delete cafeteria from memory
5. Avoid the gym area like a plague. Use wig if necessary
6. Moustache is a big no. May hazardly attract more humiliation and unwanted attention
7. Attend music classes
8. Practice for recital
9. Check with Joonmyeon-hyung again - EXO's gig next Saturday
10. Change perfume brand. Possible chances of Jongin sniffing out location
11. Group discussion for upcoming mooting competition
12. Troll Jongdae
13. Hit Baekhyun
14. Think of more nicknames for Luhan
15. Hang out with Hyunsik
16. Get a dog
17. Return Minseok's CD
18. Cooking
19. Bury myself in a heap of pillows and think about flowers
20. Repeat Step 1 to 19 once more.

Kyungsoo reads through his list again and heaves out a contented sigh. Some of it are actually warnings, instead of a reminder, but warnings should be valid as points too. After all, movies are always wrong if they think using a moustache is a good disguise. And besides, Kyungsoo looks horrible in a moustache. His baby face would be the last place where any sort of hairy growth could flourish.

One last check through his list before he goes off to class.

____________________

"Hyung! Good morning! How are you this morning?"

All activities in the hallway stop when Jongin greets the older boy in front of him. Kyungsoo mentally curses his luck for running into Jongin first thing in the morning. He should have included avoid normal means of getting to class. Use Luhan if necessary.

Oh well, it's too late for that now.

"Hyung?" Jongin questions once more when Kyungsoo doesn't reply.

The older male could hear hushed whispers all around him as he wills himself to look at everything except Jongin's face. Yeah, pretend that the boy is not there. Pretend that he's not talking to you right now. Pretend that the world doesn't know who you are and just get to class. Pretend that everyone looks like Luhan. 

Perfect.

Completely ignoring Jongin now, he turns on his heel and hurries off to class, hoping for a miraculous intervention to step between him and Jongin and stop the younger boy from following him. The world watches in silence as Jongin's gaze follows the petite figure walking away from him after that, with a sad smile on his face, ignoring all the hard stares and hushed whispers thrown his way. He doesn't care about his stupid reputation anymore. And if someone dares to make fun of Kyungsoo because of this, he'll do whatever he could in his power to protect his ex lover. 

Or quite soon, his lover-to-be again.

_______________________

Lunch time proves to be a difficult ordeal for our young Jedi master, Do Kyungsoo. Luhan agrees to accompany him that day because Baekhyun and Joonmyeon have a meeting for the Chess Club. Kyungsoo's not in the main committee anymore so he could sit out of this one. He'll have to attend the Moots Club meeting in two days though, but that's still 48 hours left to go.

For now, there is a matter at stake. Yes, lunch.

He's hungry and ing Luhan only bought food for himself. "You should just buy a quick lunch at the cafeteria and run out before anyone catches you. Like a ninja, Kyungie poo. Remember what Minseok taught us."

Kyungsoo groans. "Cafeterias don't exist in my vocabulary anymore. Not after knowing that Jongin would be there with all his...ugh, peeps. Those gangly-looking males with feromones oozing out from their armpits."

"You sound like a ." Luhan chuckles lightly.

"Aren't we all, -han? Anyway, I'll just text Baek to bring me lunch once he's done with the meeting. Where's Minseok-hyung, anyway?":

Luhan suddenly goes quiet, and Kyungsoo knows that something's up. Did he find out about Jongdae already? Did Minseok tell him? Oh no, is Luhan...regretting his relationship with Sehun? "You break another boy, I will break your , Lulu." He blurts out before Luhan could say anything.

The Chinese male is a little taken aback with Kyungsoo's remark but the frown on his face remains. "I found out." He says, in a voice one pitch lower than usual. He looks like he's about to cry.

"And why is this upsetting you so much? You're the one who left Minseok-hyung first to be with Sehun."

"Well, technically, we weren't even together. But...." Luhan stares at his lunch, wondering how his life had changed so much for the last few months. Just last Christmas, Minseok had been his everything. His first kiss (though it started out as an experiment, but they liked it after that), his first warm hug, first crush, first best friend, first night...

And now...

"Sehun is your everything now, Luhan. You can't always have everything to yourself. It'll be too selfish of you to tie Minseok down to your bedpost and expect him to enjoy watching your life with Sehun."

"As if I would do that, Do Kyungso. He's my best friend. I would never hurt him like that." Luhan lashes out,

But Kyungsoo's calm demeanor doesn't falter as he continues, "Ah, but you have. You broke his heart the moment you left for Sehun. You knew how much he loved you, but you never felt the same way. And now you're upset about this. I think you're being selfish."

"Sometimes I wish I could squish you to death. But I love you too ing much for that. Anyway, I know I sound selfish right now, but what you said about me not feeling the same way is not true. I did feel the same way, but I was also scared of the consequences it bore. What if...you know, what if we ended up being together and he...we break up? It'll destroy our friendship, and I can't bear to lose Minseok, Soo. He's my first in everything. He's the first person who helped me out when I was bullied back then. He protected me."

Kyungsoo is quiet for a moment as he takes in the sight before him. Luhan is actually....tearing up? "Hyung...you can't break Sehun right now. Isn't it enough that Minseok got hurt? Do you want another person to suffer the same heartbreak? If you really did love Minseok back then, you would have been with him regardless of your internal conflict. Why are you so afraid of losing him when you didn't even try to keep him?"

Luhan doesn't reply.There isn't anything he could say. The damage had been done, and now Minseok is happy with Jongdae. The older boy deserves to be happy, after all the Luhan had put him through. "You're right, Soo. I should be happy for him."

Kyungsoo could only sigh in return. Eventhough it's not his place to in and take sides, he can't help feeling sorry for Luhan. Minseok and him had something special there, eventhough they weren't officially together. It's just sad to see all of that gone down the drain. He gently rubs circles around the small of Luhan's back and hums out a song the beta boys know all too well.

(cue sad background song: Officially Missing You)

_______________________

Jongin feels like punching a wall. Or at the very least, punching a certain someone's face named Seung Hyun. How dare he...HOW DARE HE! In just a matter of days, rumours have circulated the whole campus, claiming that Kim Jongin is gay and that Do Kyungsoo is his boyfriend. Well, it's not like Jongin's mad about that. He actually plans to tell the world about his relationship, but not this way. Not in this manner.

And now he hears another rumour about people going after Kyungsoo. .

There's no way he would allow anyone to hurt his precious baby. After hearing the rumour, he immediately vows to follow Kyungsoo everywhere, but then the tiest of all ing thing happened, and now he's sitting in an airport next to Chanyeol and Kris, waiting for a flight that would whisk them off to Japan for a soccer match in a Japanese university there. How much more ed can his life get?

"Hey check this out, Jongin." Chanyeol suddenly says, and Jongin edges himself closer to the giant. "Tao found out that Nu frat is the one who started everything."

"Seung Hyun hyung." Jongin gritted out bitterly. "Why the did I not know that? I should have suspected he would have something to do about this. That ing prick. Ugh, what am I gonna do, Kris? What if they hurt my baby?"

Kris, who has been mindlessly scrolling through his phone for the last twenty minutes, finally looks up at Jongin. "I don't know. Get rid of him? And it's Kris-hyung, by the way."

"Ugh, you're not helpful at all. Chanyeol ah, any ideas? I've been trying to call Kyungsoo but he's not picking up." Jongin whines, a little deflated over the fact that Kyungsoo is still ignoring him.

"I'll call Baek then. If he's staying at home, then he should be safe. At least until we get back. Don't worry, Jongin ah. We also have Tao, Sehun and Yixing hyung there. They will take care of this."

Despite his growing worries, Jongin feels a little assured after that, knowing that could count on Chanyeol. The beta boys should be able to watch out Kyungsoo and since everyone knows the rumours by now, Kyungsoo would do well to stay hidden.

Right?

Oh god. He tries to give Kyungsoo another call, out of concern. But yet again, there's no reply. "Hyung....please answer my call."

_________________________

"Where the is Kyungsoo?!" Baekhyun panics, rushing down the stairs so suddenly that he almost trips over his own feet. Minseok manages to catch him on time, thankfully, chiding the boy to be more careful next time.

"Now's not the time to be worrying about me, hyung. Has anyone seen Kyungsoo?" He asks again.

"Did you call his phone?"

"He left his ing phone at the charger!"

They all exchange silent glances at each other before Luhan gets up to get his coat. "Well, let's go find him then. He couldn't have left campus. Any idea where he could have gotten to this morning?"

"I think he said something about practicing for his recital. But I'm not too sure though. He left early this morning." Joonmyeon says.

"Then let's try the music room first."

They heard the rumour yesterday, but Kyungsoo was already asleep by then before they could tell him anything. Baekhyun had gotten a panic call from Chanyeol this morning to keep Kyungsoo safe and hidden, because Jongin was ing about it whole morning. And of course Baekhyun had said yes. He's worried about his friend too. There's no way he could allow Kyungsoo to roam feee like that, knowing that there might be a mob of angry s after him. 

But then Kyungsoo just HAD to go missing after that. And on top of it, forgot to bring his phone too. So now it's no longer just a petty worry in Baekhyun's mind. It's a full-blown panic attack, and unless he could be sure that Kyungsoo is safe and sound, he'll continue to worry for his friend's safety. 

Now, if only he knows where the doe-eyed male might be.

The music room is empty when they finally arrive there twenty minutes later. No signs of instuments having been used too. Everything is kept aside neatly, exactly the same way it had been yesterday. In fact, there's no scent of Kyungsoo ever being in this room this morning. It smells musty, like the wooden floorboards beneath them, and the trash can is empty, which the boys found it odd because Kyungsoo always brings along a carton of chocolate milk with him whenever he plans to practice for his recital.

"He never came in, guys." Minseok says, horror spreading through everyone's faces when they realize that their best friend did not actually reach his destination this morning. 

"Where could he be then?" Jongdae asks. "It's either here or the library and we passed by the library just now. He's not there."

"Relax, guys. He might be in the cafeteria. Let's check over there first."

They rush off to the cafeteria after that, and to their dismay, Kyungsoo is nowhere in sight. They check the gym, the pool area, the computer lab, all the bathrooms in all the three wings, even the locker rooms and still there's no sign of Kyungsoo. Classrooms are the only place left for him to be. And also the field and the botanical gardens outside.

So the boys split up into two search teams. One team will check all the classrooms, while the other will check around the campus.

Half an hour later, they return empty handed and worry begins to set in like a brewing storm. Could Kyungsoo have gone out of campus? That's impossible. He didn't even bring his phone with him.

"Guys, the only place left is the janitor closet. If he's not there, then we'll have to ask for help. Alert the office." Joonmyeon says with a solemn look.

"Let's just check in there first. Fingers crossed we won't find anything." Minseok replies, silently praying for his dongsaeng.

They rush over to the janitor closet located in the East wing. The whole place is deserted because it's at the back of the university, away from the busy bustle of classrooms and noisy corridors. It's here where all the eerie stories of SM's University occur. They say a woman killed herself here once, leaving a note behind with promises to haunt SMU forever, and the police never found her body. It's like she just disappeared without a trace, with only a note to remind people that she once existed.

They say that if someone mentions her name out of spite, she would haunt that person in his dreams and he would disappear after that, just like her. Without a trace. With only a note.

Jongdae doesn't believe in ghost. So stories like these don't bother him, but Baekhyun couldn't stop himself from talking too much, hoping that noise could overcome his fear of dark places.

"Aish, they should fix the lights in here." Joonmyeon says, albeit a little squeakily. He's not one to admit his fears, but he still gets a little jittery. "I'll have to remind the main office again. What if someone trips in here?"

"Then they'll have to get up and keep walking." Minseok says simply. Luhan is holding on to him tightly, much to Jongdae's annoyance. He lets it slide for now. After all, Luhan looks like he's about to faint anytime soon.

"We should walk a little faster." Minseok says after a while.

They agree to walk a little faster, and Jongdae takes the lead. "Over here, guys."

The janitor's closet is at the very end of the dark, empty corridor. And while Joonmyeon's complaning about the bad layout designing of said closet (like who the builds a janitor's closet all the way at the back of a dark empty corridor?!), Jongdae reaches for the handle and wrenches it open.

"Kyungsoo!"

Kyungsoo is curled up into a ball on the cold marble floor, hugging his knees to his chest as his body trembles in cold. He's wet from top to bottom, his face a mask of pale complexion, with bleeding lips and tear-stained cheeks. The boys immediately pull him up from the ground and a coat is draped over his wet body. 

"Oh my god, who the did this to you?!" Minseok says, pulling him into a hug.

"I thought I was gonna die." Kyungsooo sniffles. "I really thought they would kill me. I thought they wanted to drown me in that pool. Oh god, I'm so scared. Take me home, guys. Please..."

"Come on. Let's go back before anyone sees us." Luhan carries the younger male on his back and they hurriedly return to the frat house. No one utters a word as they toss blanket after blanket of thick comforters and warmth hugs over Kyungsoo, telling him that everything is alright now. He eventually drifts to sleep, feeling much safer with his beta frat mates next to him.

And Baekhyun calls Chanyeol after that to tell the giant everything.

When Chanyeol tells Jongin, the dancer's first action is to take the next flight home. Thankfully, the soccer game had ended hours ago. The boys aren't supposed to leave until tomorrow, for an afternoon flight. But Jongin couldn't bear to wait any longer. Every second away from Kyungsoo is painful for him. And now that he knew Kyungsoo had been hurt, there's no way he could sleep through the night without worrying about the older male.

"I'm going home tonight, Yeol. I'll take a private flight if I have to. I can afford it, remember?"

"Fine. There's no stopping you even if I try anyway. You never listen sometimes." Chanyeol says with a sigh.

"He never listens everytime." Kris butts in.

"What I do is not the problem here, guys. I need to be there with him."

"Be careful then. Call us once you arrive."

There's a flight back to Seoul in three hours and he boards that. He may be physically exhausted over all that running he did that day, but his mind is on Kyungsoo the whole time. And when he finally arrives home five hours, way past midnight, his legs drag him to Kyungsoo's frat house first, hoping to catch a glance of his boyfriend to make sure everything is alright with his own eyes. 

Kyungsoo is safely asleep on the couch when Minseok lets him in, snuggled up next to Baekhyun in a tight fit. Jongin brushes his fingers over the cut on Kyungsoo's lips and winces. That looks like it hurt a lot. He feels like an for leaving his angel's side, and now the damage had been done. He'll have to fix it of course, for Kyungsoo's sake.

"Thanks for taking care of him, hyung." Jongin tells Minseok. 

"You don't have to thank us. He's our friend too."

_________________________