Chapter 10 Happy Friday

First week of February, going into the next

It was amazing how his life took a 720 degrees turn----wait, wouldn't that bring him back to the original state? Screw that---1080 degrees turn from the point he received that unique white-inked note from his love guru. It's all thanks to him, Kyungsoo thought breathlessly, it's because of him I'm no longer hiding in the shell of who I was in the past.

He watched his friends fight over the last pizza on the floor and a large part in him was grateful. Not only was he friends with Kai now, he also gained two new friends in the making, and Minseok was way cooler than he thought. Three times better than Luhan, in fact. He could so totally get along with Minseok. Maybe share a secret or two about Luhan.

"Hey hyung, why don't you take the last piece?" Sehun suddenly offered, and all eyes were on Kyungsoo in that instant.

"Why does he get the last bit?" Luhan whined. Baekhyun sent him a great big whallop on the backside.

"Ouch, that hurts, you freak."

"Soo deserves the last piece. We're celebrating this because of him. No offense, guys, I mean---" Baekhyun let out a nervous chuckle when he saw the sad look on Chanyeol's face."You guys did lose that game, and I bet Coach Yunho is probably crying at his mama's house right now." The last part was meant to comfort the giant, and it seemed to work. Chanyeol had a tiny smile on his face after that.

"My mama's house." Kyungsoo corrected him, albeit a little scornfully. "She called me."

No one questioned him about it, and the last slice of pizze eventually ended up in Luhan's mouth.

"You piece of , that wasn't yours to take!" Baekhyun scolded him.

But Kyungsoo didn't mind. He was happy. Everything felt right. His life was finally clicking into place. Kai was where the older male wanted him to be. His best friends were still lovable psychopaths. Chanyeol was actually a friendly giant, and really, the only intimidating thing about him was his height. And Sehun had the cutest lisp whenever he was shy. Minseok was cool as hell, and Kyungsoo's stomach was full of pepperoni pizza.

There was only one last thing to do though.

To thank his love guru.

While everyone was busy fighting over the TV remote----oh, these mindless idiots----Kyungsoo whipped out his phone and typed down his message. He kept it short, because if his love guru was actually a male in reality, he might not like long winding messages. But if he turned out to be a 'she', then hell be damned, Kyungsoo shall ing write an in-between length. Not too long as to make him seem gay (then again, he IS gay). But not too short because that would be rude.

Hey, just to let you know. I'm having the best time of my life right now with the guy I like. I want to thank you for it, and I'm glad that I met you.

A reply instantaneously came back to him.

From: Le Guru

I'm glad you're happy. At least you're talking to him now. Are you planning to confess soon?

No, Kyungsoo replied. I'm not ready for that yet. What if he says no?

From: Le Guru

You never know until you try. Check your locker tomorrow. God bless.

Kyungsoo honestly looked forward to a day in school tomorrow.

> Good morning, Kyungsoo! I hope you slept well last night. Well, congratulations for making that jump yesterday. That was beautiful. I knew you could do it. Anyway, after receiving your message last night, I decided that I'm not done with you yet. There's still ways to go before you could finally confess to him. And I'm here to help. Why don't you get him a gift? Valentine is coming.

Kyungsoo mentally groaned at the message.

(A week later, on a Friday...)

Ugh! Valentine's Day. It was that one day in the year when Kyungsoo spent most of his time alone; watching an old movie in that old cinema back in his hometown, or maybe hang around in the nearest convenience store and drink ten cups of slurpee. Anything was fine as long as he avoided annoying couples walking around with their hands disgustingly laced together, and stupid smiles gracing their lips, before the guy leaned down to kiss-----Ew! He didn't even want to go there.

Do Kyungsoo was probably the biggest er in love, no doubt about that. He had a little green monster inside of him that made everything worse by a tenfold. But what else could he do on Valentine's Day? Kissing Baekhyun and Luhan was like marrying a germ, so NO! Double ew.

"Oh Soooooooo, guess who has a tongue down Minseok's throat this morning~?"

Kyungsoo pretended not to hear his best friend's attempt to make him squirm all over in disgust. Minseok came over early this morning, and the first thing Luhan did was to drag his boyfriend over to Kyungsoo's bedroom and make out in front of the sleeping boy. Kyungsoo had to shield his ears with a pillow while Luhan continued to annoy the out of him with his overly messed-up moans. Poor Minseok got all flushed and trapped that he couldn't do anything but reciprocate to his boyfriend's advances.

"You're seriously sick in the head, you . Get out from my room before I unleash Baekhyun on you."

"Oh him? He's out stalking Chanyeol right now. It's Valentine's, Soo. No one is sane on this auspicious day. Everyone's chasing someone, and someone's bound to get hurt, and you're not helping yourself by staying in bed  Go out there and grab some asses."

"Don't wanna. I wanna sleep in and be alone." Kyungsoo whined, crawling back to his pillow. Luhan subsequently rolled the younger's out of bed and only then did Kyungsoo finally crack his eyes open, albeit with some insults thrown at the Chinese male.

"Lu baby, you shouldn't disturb Kyungsoo if he wants to stay in bed." Minseok chided his boyfriend.

"Yeah Lu baby. Let me stay in bed." Kyungsoo repeated.

"You shouldn't baby him, Minnie. And Lu baby my , Do Kyungsoo. You're getting out of here or else stay to watch me have with my boyfriend. I'm giving you ten seconds to get ready, eat and leave, or else, it's gonna be steamy in here with a ." Luhan smirked.

Kyungsoo could literally see his life flash before his life.

"One..."

He scrambled out of bed and ran for his pants. Do Kyungsoo never slept with pants on.

"Two...."

! Toothbrush was too far out of reach. Abort mission to the toilet.

"Three..."

He figured socks could keep his feet warm because there was no time for him to dress out of his penguin jammies.

"Four..."

Le pillow............HNNNGH! Cannot leave without it. High chances of continuing sleep in the hallway. Must. Take. Pillow. Along.

"Five...."

Books could so totally keep him out of boredom for an hour or two, so he grabbed Narnia. The thick hardcover book could also serve as a security measure.

"Six..."

The pitcher of water on the kitchen counter had to come along too.

"Seven..."

There was still so much left. He grabbed the granola bar from the fridge and took Luhan's yogurt.

"Eight..."

Blankets. Ugh!

"Nine..."

Phone and ipod. With earphones.

"Nine and a half..."

He finally shut the door behind him and everything went silent, save for the sound of birds chirping somewhere. , that was close.

An hour more of sleep in the hallway wouldn't kill him, right? Everything he needed for a few more hours of nap were there, and he hoped the walls were thick enough to shut out (or in) any unwanted noises inside. The last thing he wanted to hear was Luhan's moan. After arranging his pillow and blanket accordingly, he laid down on it and finished off three pages from his book. He played some music on his ipod and ignored the people walking past him. Some of them even threw a few won at him, and he thanked them much to their amusement. In case he needed food, he had money at least. He'd forgotten to take his wallet along earlier.

"This is how Valentine should be spent." He reminded himself, fulfilling yet again another year of spending Valentine's alone.

Until someone kicked him at his foot.

He looked up from his book, and found Kai staring down at him. Oh dear jesus.

"Kai!" He muttered, getting up in a panic.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I got kicked out by Luhan. He's in there."

Kai chuckled, offering a hand to Kyungsoo. "Wanna go out and grab a bite? You seem like you need it."

"Yeah sure. I've got a few won on me. But...I'm still in my jammies though." Kyungsoo's cheeks turned a pink shade when he looked down at his penguin jammies. It was a Christmas gift from Luhan and Baekhyun two years back, when they thought it was fun to give innocent-little Kyungsoo weird jammies with violent penguins printed all over it. But Kyungsoo loved it, and he still did, actually. It was very unique.

Kai suddenly took off his coat and draped it over the doe-eyed male's petite body. "Here, you can have my coat."

Kyungsoo blushed harder than ever when he realized that KAI JUST GAVE ME HIS COAT! Omygoshomygoshomygosh!  "T-thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, come on. I'm craving for some Chinese food today." And Kyungsoo wondered, for a moment, if Kai knew it was Valentine's Day. He probably does. I'm sure he gets alot of chocolate from girls, Kyungsoo thought sadly.

Kai was a nervous wreck inside, but despite his internal turmoils, he managed to put a smile on Kyungsoo's face whenever he brought out a topic he thought Kyungsoo would like, and it felt like a lifetime achievement to him. The older boy had Kai's brown coat wrapped around his petite body, breathing in the scent of everything Kim Jongin and loving every single moment of it.

It felt like he was floating in the clouds, all fluffy and sweet and white and bliss. Pure bliss. And he never wanted to come down from it. Ever.

Kai talked about sports, because he assumed Kyungsoo liked football too. And he'd seen firsthand how amazing Kyungsoo's basketball shot was. In that kind of distance, no one would be able to pull it off. And moreover, who would ever spend their free lunch time watching the football team practice on the field everyday? Kai didn't know Kyungsoo then, but after giving it some thought, he realized that it had always been Kyungsoo sitting on the far end corners of the left side bleacher of the field. And it had always been Kyungsoo with the longing expression on his face and the pout on his lips whenever someone scored a goal. Kai thought the boy was just upset that he couldn't be a part of the team. 

But after hearing what Luhan said...and Kyungsoo confirming those words himself....

I like someone in school, Kai.

For some reason, that broke his heart. He didn't expect this beautiful boy to even like someone as a friend, from the way he treated his own best friends Luhan and Baekhyun, but to know that he actually liked someone, romantically speaking, it certainly left a little scar in Kai. And now that he finally put two and two together, Kai realized that the guy Kyungsoo liked may as well be in his soccer team. After all, who would spend all his free time watching a couple of guys sweat over a ball?

So, being the most popular soccer player in school, with astounding academical results to match and good looks that went beyond Chanyeol's , it was only natural for Kai to ask, "Who is that person you like, Kyungsoo?", almost causing the older boy to choke on his ramyun.

"W-what?" Kyungsoo coughed, staring at Kai with those owlish eyes of his as if the world had just gone red. Maybe it did. Kai looked redder than a tomato.

"Sorry if this is too sudden. I've just been wondering is all." Kai said, stirring his ramyun to distract himself. Kyungsoo could certainly affect people in very odd ways whenever his eyes turned massive like that. It gave Kai one of those feel-good ASDFGHJKKL feelings in his stomach and he'd probably be turning purple at this point.

Kyungsoo seemed to be at loss for words. And instead of answering back, he asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, you know, just curious and all. I thought that since we're friends now, you wouldn't mind letting me know."

"I'm not very good at telling people my secrets. I have....trust issues. But it's not that I don't trust you. I just need time to trust someone deep enough before I could tell them anything."

"I see..." Kai exhaled slowly, immediately making Kyungsoo feel bad for even bringing up that reason. Of course he didn't have a trust issue. He could easily tell Kai his secret now, but the problem was that Kai was a party to it, and that was the only thing hindering him from expressing his feelings. Also, the fact that he was a piece of wuss.

"I'm sorry, Kai. Maybe someday. When I'm ready."

"When you're ready." Kai repeated wistfully. "Anyway, how's that love advice coming along?"

Kyungsoo's eyes went all wide again, and he was embarrassed to admit what the notes said. He already felt bad for not telling Kai his biggest secret, so instead of avoiding the subject, he thought that maybe Kai might have his own tips about getting the person he likes. A thought struck him suddenly.

What if....what if this is my chance of knowing what kind a person Kai might like? And I could smoothly invite Kai to the concert with me, and it'll be my gift to him. Hah! Killing two birds with one stone! Eventhough those tickets were for Korea's upcoming philharmonic orchestra, and classical music had never always been on Kyungsoo's list of music preferences, it would still give him a chance to go out on a date with Kai. An official date. He was not counting this sudden Valentine-ramyun-outing time as a date.

Anyway, it was too good of a chance to pass, so Kyungsoo excitedly told him. "He gave me concert tickets for a philharmonic orchestra. And I don't have anyone I wanna go with."

"What about that guy you like?" Kai asked.

"Uh, he's busy. With midterm and all that."

Kai raised an eyebrow. Midterms were only starting in June, and it was still February, way too early to be studying like crazy. This guy must be a nerd. He'd have to check the library someday.

"D-do you want to go with m-me instead?" Kyungsoo stuttered, and thought that maybe it was too direct for him to just ask Kai. So he started mumbling out reasons on why he had to ask Kai instead. "I really don't want to waste this, you know. And we're friends now." Omigod, I'm friendzoning him. "Plus, I don't think you're busy in two weeks, because the match is over and the next one is in April. A-and well, I thought that maybeyouwouldenjoysomeclassicalmusic to----"

A finger flew to his mouth and Kyungsoo shut off immediately. Kai was staring at him with those deep brown eyes of his, making his insides melt into goo. And that finger.....ooh, he could do wonders with that finger.

"Stop talking for a moment, Kyungsoo, and let me reply. I get it. I'd love to go with you." Kai said, all smiles and happiness and....hnnngh, Kyungsoo's heart just soar through a rollercoaster ride.

"R-really?" He asked, when Kai pulled back his finger. The feeling of Kai's finger on his lips still tingled, and it made the butterflies in his stomach flutter uncontrollably.

"Yeah. i love orchestras."

There goes my liver, Kyungsoo thought. "O-ok then. It's in two weeks, on a Sunday."

"It's a date then."

A date.

"Y-yeah." Kyungsoo mumbled, getting back to his noodle. His face was red, and his hands felt clammy and sticky with sweat. He can't believe he just asked Kai out on a date. A date.

Jesus christ.

Do you see flying cheese everywhere, guys? I can see gouda coming my way. Oh, hello parmesan. Hahahahahah.

HM

> Good morning, Kyungsoo! I hope you slept well last night. Well, congratulations for making that jump yesterday. That was beautiful. I knew you could do it. Anyway, after receiving your message last night, I decided that I'm not done with you yet. There's still ways to go before you could finally confess to him. And I'm here to help. Why don't you get him a gift? Valentine is coming.