The next Monday, Kyungsoo arrived at school almost 15 minutes earlier than his usual, passing on mini tea times during breakfast because his dad scolded him for drinking too much teas in one day. He hurried to school instead and quickly grabbed a bubbletea on his way to Shinjae because he literally cannot go for the whole day without drinking any kind of tea in the morning. He's just that type of guy.

When he reached his classroom, he was surprised to see Joonmyun already sitting at the desk beside him, yawning and wiping his eyes sleepily.

He approached his desk quickly and beamed the other a warm greeting. "Good morning!"

Joonmyun was surprised and he almost fell off his seat at the sudden greeting; he wasn't expecting Kyungsoo to arrive that early for today. "Whoa, you're early, Soo."

"I'm always early," the other replied with a chuckle as he settle his bag and his large bubbletea on his desk.

"But you don't usually arrive this early," Joonmyun rubbed his sleepy eyes for the last time and faced Kyungsoo's direction. "So how's the party last Saturday?"

Kyungsoo halted whatever activities he was doing and did his best to avoid Joonmyun's gaze. "W-What do you mean?"

"The party," the other continued casually. "Jongin was there, right? Did he... do something weird?"

Kyungsoo swallowed a sudden lump in his throat, suddenly remembering that little hugging session he and Jongin had last Saturday evening. He quickly fought off a blush from springing up and said, "H-He didn't... We hardly saw each other anyway since it's a big party..."

"Oh, alright," Joonmyun replied back, oblivious to the other's hesitations. "If he ever do something weird, just tell me." he quickly added.

"O-Okay," Kyungsoo replied with a guilt; he didn't exactly like the thought of lying to his friends, especially to Joonmyun.

While it is true that Jongin and Kyungsoo already had some sort of an agreement, the latter just can't casually open it up to Joonmyun. He knows Joonmyun, the guy literally hates Jongin far more than he does, and he's been very protective of Kyungsoo ever since he left his old school due to Jongin's possessiveness. He knows Joonmyun won't accept any promises or swears that will ever come from Jongin, and he knows it's not a very good idea to tell him about the talk they had during the party.

Kyungsoo appreciates Joonmyun's concern, he will forever be grateful for that. But he knows there are things he has to do and decide on his own, and giving Jongin another chance to enter his life is one of them.

After a couple of minutes, the door swung open again and a lean guy with a slightly darker skin tone entered the room, rubbing his eyes adorably and almost tripping on the platform at the front of the classroom. He snapped from his sleepy state after that and chuckled lowly to himself, then continued walking to go to the fourth row of seats where his desk is located.

"Morning, Kyungsoo!" he called out while looking at the shorter boy as he walks past him on his side.

The other didn't reply and just simply nodded, too shy and awkward to actually respond with a greeting of his own.

Joonmyun, on the other hand, cannot miss that sudden comfortable interaction between the two as he looks incredulously at Jongin then at Kyungsoo then back to Jongin and then back to Kyungsoo again.

Jongin may have been hanging out with them during lunch breaks and after schools over the past week, but never once did Kyungsoo and Jongin actually interacted. They never talked, never looked at each other, never sat near each other, and now they were casually greeting each other with good mornings? Kyungsoo may have not actually greeted the other, but he nodded; he accepted his greeting, he accepted his presence, and the Kyungsoo he knows will never do that when it comes to Jongin.

Joonmyun knows there is something off, and it makes him feel a little uncomfortable.

-----

The two transferees didn't sit with them today during lunch break, saying they have to discuss something about their dance practices and about the school clubs they are planning to join in. Kyungsoo can't feel any more relieved, knowing that he won't have to endure the awkwardness of lunch breaks with Jongin around.

You must be thinking that Kyungsoo will be more comfortable now with Jongin's presence after finally talking everything out on the party, but apparently the doe-eyed boy is far more shy and awkward than he ever was. But it's not because he's scared, it's not because he's terrified of Jongin, but because his embarrassed. He's feeling shy and timid after hugging the guy rather intimately that Saturday night, and he suddenly can't bring himself to look at Jongin again because of the heat he feels in his cheeks whenever he does.

"Hey, Kyungsoo," Jongdae called out to him from the other end of the table, not minding the food he was currently swallowing inside his mouth as he continued to talk. "Where did you and Jongin go anyway during the banquet? I suddenly cannot find the two of you after dinner."

Kyungsoo's stomach folded into an unknown form and he was frozen on his spot, eyes wide as an owl's at the sudden question thrown at him. He let out an awkward chuckle and quickly said "W-What are you t-talking about? We weren't together on the party!" he said with a panic as he thinks of a good way out of this tight spot. "Y-You probably cannot find me because I was looking for a restroom for almost the entire tea time. I wasn't with J-Jongin..."

"Ah, is that so?" Jongdae replied, "I thought you two were together since I can't find him as well." Jongdae finished casually, seemed to be oblivious to the other's stuttering words. Kyungsoo sighed in relief.

Minseok wasn't sure if it was just him or what, but he thought he actually saw Joonmyun sulk a little and slump his shoulders when Kyungsoo answered Jongdae's question. He then just brushed it off and said, "So where's our popular transferees?"

"They said they have to talk something about dance practices and school clubs so they won't be able to sit with us," Chanyeol answered while holding a fried chicken leg in his hand.

"It would be nice if they will join my soccer club." Minseok replied back. "They'll make a good addition to the team."

"But Jongin and Sehun will fit more in model club or something, if there will be a club like that." Baekhyun teased to the group and they all laughed comfortably.

Kyungsoo's stomach returned to it's normal shape and he recovered from his frozen state, he was glad that Jongdae bought that and actually believed him.

That was close, Kyungsoo thought to himself.

-----

"Guys, let's all go to the malls!" Baekhyun exclaimed in such an excited manner as they all walk side by side through the corridors. "Chanyeol's bugging me all day to accompany him to one of their family's malls coz he have to go buy a new guitar or something."

Classes just ended and Kyungsoo can't feel any happier when both Jongin and Sehun hurried to go out of the room as quickly as possible, laughing and talking to each other nonstop. Honestly, he never thought that Sehun can actually manage to be carefree and happy like that; he thought the guy was a cold-blooded fiend or something. But he is surprisingly very giddy and energetic with Jongin around, and Kyungsoo wonders why he's suddenly noticing little things like that.

"Sure, I don't mind." Minseok replied as they all walk themselves out of their enormous school buildings. "I don't have to go to practice today anyway."

"Do you wanna go?" Joonmyun asked Kyungsoo who was very quiet all throughout their walk.

Kyungsoo was busy thinking of stuffs (about how close Sehun and Jongin is, to be exact) so he was pretty much caught off guard when Joonmyun suddenly asked him. "Oh, uhm... I don't know..."

"C'mon, Soo!" Baekhyun blurted out teasingly, nudging an elbow to the other. "Please say you'll come with us, please?" he said while doing his infamous aegyo that no one can honestly resist.

Kyungsoo let out a chuckle and said "Alright alright, I'll go."

"Yay!" Baekhyun replied (shouted) energetically.

While Kyungsoo may be a timid and awkward wallflower, he is actually kinda normal when around this group of people. He loves them, he feels comfortable around them, and he can do things with them that he knows he can never do if it's a different group of people. He'll definitely say 'no' if it's a different person who asked him to go to the malls. He'll definitely turn down the offer of hanging out after class or during lunch breaks if it's a different group of people that asked him to. He's quite different when he's with this group; he's more relaxed, laid back, and natural. He loves his friends more than anything in this world (well, okay, aside from his family and his teas and collection of teacups, of course).

That's why he is a hundred percent sure that he'll protect them should Jongin tries to threaten them. He's still scared of attachments, he still have serious trust issues, but he's been friends with these people long enough to know that they are worthy of his trust, and he knows they will never leave him no matter what, either.

Chanyeol and Jongdae are already at the malls waiting for them, as Baekhyun explained to the group. When they all reached the parking lot where hundreds of expensive and elegant cars stays like some sort of an extravagant car show display, they all split and hurried to go to their own cars one by one. Everyone has their own expensive sports car or something equally grand as that so they just drive themselves to their school, except Kyungsoo who has 0% driving skills and still depends on their family driver (and except Jongin who, despite having tons of sports cars, says he still prefer riding their family limousine on his way to school because he's very lethargic in the morning and he won't be able to drive properly, but Jongin is hardly Kyungsoo's friend so he doesn't really count).

These are the times when Kyungsoo feels mostly awkward; when his driver and his butler waits for him to arrive while his friends hop in on their sports car to drive themselves, but no one in his group of friends ever made fun of him because of it. They care for Kyungsoo's feelings way too much to make fun of him about silly, simple things like that.

After Kyungsoo instructed his butler and driver to take him to that certain mall that Chanyeol's family owns, the driver started the engine and swerved the car out of the school without asking any questions. The same goes for his butler, eyes just focused on the road in front of them without asking any questions or queries at all.

When they were nearing the mall since it isn't a really long drive from Shinjae, his butler asked him a question for the first time since they started driving. "Young master, is Mrs. Do informed that you are not going back to the Do's estate yet?"

Kyungsoo cringes at the overly formal way this man talks to him. "Uhh, not yet. I'll just give her a call, I guess..."

"Of course, young master," the butler replied as their driver enters the parking lot of the mall, looking for the VIP area in the parking lot. "We will wait here until the young master arrives."

"No, it's okay," Kyungsoo protested calmly, not wanting the other to assume that he's mad or he's commanding or something. "I can just use a ride from one of my friends, they can take me back safely. You can go back to the house."

This, though, wasn't what the butler was expecting to hear. "Young master, I am sorry to say but Mrs. Do's instructions is to take young master to and fro from the estate and school. I am deeply sorry but we have to wait for you and take you back to the Do's estate ourselves, young master."

Kyungsoo furrowed his eyebrows and pouted like a little kid. These are the times he wish he can be as free and independent as his friends and other people around his age. "Okay," he simply responded.

His butler nodded with an apologetic look and didn't ask anymore questions, focusing on the parking lot around them again.

When their driver finally pulled over a spot between two elegant and sleek cars (it was Baekhyun's and Minseok's, Kyungsoo noticed), he quickly hopped out of their car and bid his butler a quick goodbye before hurrying to catch up to his friends who're all entering the prestigious, high class mall one by one.

"So where's the giant and the troll?" Minseok asked Baekhyun when they all entered the magnificent entrance of the mall that kinda looked more like a palace than an actual mall. Chanyeol is definitely one of the richest kids in school, considering that this is only one of their mall branches that are scattered all throughout Korea.

Joonmyun laughed at the silly names Minseok called the two, then said "I'll call them and tell them to meet us here."

So Joonmyun grabbed his expensive phone and dialled Jongdae's number. It took the device two rings before Jongdae picked the call up.

"Hello? Jongdae?"

"Myunnie? Hey, where are you guys?"

"We just arrived, we're at the main entrance."

"Okay, the four of us will go there. 5 minutes."

And Jongdae cut the call off. Joonmyun stared blankly at his phone, then lowly said "...Four?"

"What 'four'?" Kyungsoo asked the suddenly bewildered Joonmyun.

"Jongdae said 'the four of us will meet you there'... Since when did Chanyeol and Jongdae became four people?" Joonmyun dumbly said, then realized what Jongdae might have meant.

But before he can even say it out, Jongdae was already waving at them like a little kid from afar, 3 boys walking side by side with him. One is exceptionally (abnormally) tall, the other two is just semi tall but is still taller than Jongdae himself, and Kyungsoo felt like his whole stomach suddenly twisted into an unexplainable form again.

"Hi guys! So I brought Jonginnie and Sehunnie along to hang out with us! This'll be fun!"

No, this will be awkward, Kyungsoo sulked and thought to himself.

(NOTE: okay, filler chapter. I'm not happy with the way I wrote this update but, meh, whatever.
Sorry for the lack of action in this chap btw. Wait for the next update, I'll make it better than this one. Yay KaiSoo. xD
Saranghaja!)