Chapter 14 Cakes and Pororo

First week in March

Kyungsoo was surprised to find a note hanging on his locker one fine morning It had been almost more than two weeks since he received such notes, only this time, he knew well enough who wrote it. The handwriting was the same; neat, straightforward and clear, and a signature 'God bless' was added at the end of the short note, which brought a smile on his face.

> Dear Do Kyungsoo, I hope you enjoyed the performance yesterday night with your significant other. I'm sorry for not texting you recently, because I've been busy with school. Anyway, can you cook? Why don't you prepare a meal for the boy of your dreams? God bless. 

Kyungsoo kept the note in his uniform's pocket and made his way to class. Class was boring as usual, but being a scholarship student, he couldn't afford to fail his class, so he forced himself to stay awake. The teacher was doing algebra that day, a topic that Kyungsoo had fortunately studied in advance a few nights ago. He knew the class was going to be boring---Mr Park is always boring----so he made himself study the topic earlier. 

An hour later, it was time for Chemistry again, and Chanyeol was there this time. After skipping out more than three classes for the last three months---on accounts of so many stupid reasons---Mr Jaejoong no longer took any bull from him. The teacher passed out their worksheets and wrote something on the board. 

Quiz Day. Kyungsoo definitely heard a groan from his lab partner. He gave Chanyeol an apologetic look---but really, the asswipe deserved this for skipping out too much---and proceeded to complete his quiz. He was only five minutes into the questions when he felt a nudge on his side. Sighing, he turned to look at his partner. 

Chanyeol slipped a note across the table to him. Help me?

"Why?" Kyungsoo softly hissed back, venom dripping from his word. Chanyeol visibly flinched when he saw the glare Kyungsoo shot him.

"I can help you with Jongin." Chanyeol timidly whispered back.

Kyungsoo's anger had substantially reduced after that. He was more curious than angry now, because how the hell does Chanyeol know that he likes Kai?

Oh right, Baekhyun.

"Baekkie told you, didn't he?" The shorter male could only sigh, when Chanyeol gave a slight nod. "Well don't bother. It's not like he'll ever like me the same way."

A sharp pain shot through Kyungsoo's heart and his eyes began to water. Oh not now! You're such a girl, Do Kyungsoo! He scolded himself, cursing Chanyeol on 32 levels of hell for bringing up Kai at a time like this. 

Another note slipped to his side of the table, and Chanyeol's messy handwriting wrote, Are you sure about that? 

That got Kyungsoo's attention ultimately, and his curiosity was just drilling over the roof by then. He turned to stare at Chanyeol once more, wide eyed and teary. And Chanyeol was honestly a little freaked out when he thought he made the shorter male cry. He wrote another note and flashed it at Kyungsoo. Don't cry. 

"I'm not, you asswipe." Kyungsoo said, forgetting to use his quiet voice this time.

Mr Jaejong's ear immediately perked up at the noise and his eyes landed straight on Kyungsoo. "Care to tell me something, Mr Do?"

"N-nothing, Mr Jaejoong." He blushed, instantly drawing his eyes back to his paper again. Crap, he was still in number 4.

Well, at least Chanyeol was still stuck in the first question. The lanky male seriously looked upset over the whole quiz thing and he kept sighing at his paper. After the tenth sigh, Kyungsoo had had enough. He finished off his own quiz, fuming with annoyance, before exchanging their papers to do Chanyeol's one. The happy virus was beaming in excitement by then, pumping a fist in front of him and mouthing a hushed 'fighting!' to cheer Kyungsoo on. 

When Mr Jaejoong announced the end of their quiz time, Kyungsoo finished off the last question with a triumph 'hmph' and exchanged back their papers. 

"Alright, kiddos, pass up your quiz and I'll see you on Wednesday. There's an assignment for you today, and I want each of you to grab a name from the jar on my table. No one is allowed to reveal the person you're getting, and you have two weeks to prepare something for that person." Mr Jaejoong announced as he went around the classroom to collect their papers.

"It should be something fun and of course, related to chemistry. You may use the lab after school, provided that I'm there to supervise you. But if I'm not around, you're allowed to ask another teacher for help."

"Coach Yunho." Someone (presumably Jongdae) spoke out, and Mr Jaejoong visibly blushed. He cleared his throat and continued, "This is a class project, so that means marks will be given to those who've done their work well. If you fail to finish up your project before this two weeks is up, you're not only disappointing me, but your parents, and of course, your friend. None of you want to see a sad face on that day right?"

A few heads nodded in agreement, and Mr Jaejoong was honestly glad to see this. This Secret-Santa---Scientist?---Project was supposed to be fun for the kids, and he needed them to remember all the chemical properties on the periodic table before the mocks exam in June anyway. So it was like killing two birds with one stone.

The class was dismissed and all the students crowded the teacher's table to pick out a name each. Kyungsoo had gotten Jongdae's name, and Chanyeol had gotten Kyungsoo's name. Jongdae got a girl's name, which made him ecstatic as because woohoo, time to bring out my charm! and someone else in the crowd had gotten Chanyeol's name. She was also an avid stalker to everything Park Chanyeol, but the lanky male obviously didn't know about this. 

Kyungsoo made his way over to the cafeteria where his friends were already waiting for him. The table seemed bigger now than it used to be, with Luhan and Minseok making out in one corner, Baekhyun pressing himself closer to Chanyeol in another corner---but the tall giant was too busy talking about chemistry class to notice---Sehun (whoa, where did he come from?) stalking a certain scary--looking dude from another table, Kris (that of a liar!) trying to ignore a newcomer at the table by playing with his food, and of course, Kai, still handsome as hell, actually ignoring the girls who were too dense to notice his discomfort.

Kyungsoo suddenly felt the need to help him out. "Hey Jongin." He greeted the boy first, much to the surprise of all who were present at the table. Minseok and Luhan stopped making out instantly and gawked at their little squish. Even Baekhyun and Chanyeol were presently surprised. Kris looked like he was ready to mangle a chicken, while the newbie beside him simply looked impressed---Kyungsoo swore he saw the guy somewhere before---Sehun tore his eyes away for a short glance before resuming his stalking activity, and Kai, sweet-loving Kai, had the hugest smile on his face. The girls around him shot Kyungsoo a dirty look, but the short male was certainly not bothered by it. He also ignored his friends' stupid faces for a moment as he focused on the boy of his dreams.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Kai was a little surprised by the request but he got up nonetheless, shoving the girls aside. Kyungsoo gave his friends a knowing look before leaving the cafeteria, with Kai following behind him.

Once they were out of earshot, Kyungsoo said, "I guess your lunch time is not going as well as you hope it would be?"

Kai cutely smiled back at him. "Yeah, I don't even know why they bother to talk to me. I clearly told them I would never like them that way." 

"Oh? You don't like girls?" Kyungsoo was expecting a quick denial, because really, this was Kai. The Kim Jongin, who, in the short span of Kyungsoo's life in school, had never been seen dating any other genders that did not possess a pair of s and a . Kim Jongin had probably dated more girls than Kyungsoo could count for the last two years. It wouldn't even surprise him if he suddenly found out that Kai wasn't a anymore. Pushing the sad thoughts aside, he waited for the younger male to reply him.

Surprisingly, Kai gave him a shy smile and said, "No, I don't like them." He profusely scratched his head after that, a little embarassed to finally come out of the closet. But he knew that Kyungsoo also liked guys, so he assumed the older male would be okay with it.

Kyungsoo was actually having a mini spazz attack. HE LIKES GUYS! HE ING LIKES GUYS! OH MY GOD, HE COULD LIKE ME! 

"Oh, good to know then." Kyungsoo said, blushing from head to toes. , he was showing signs of interest. Abort mission, Do Kyungsoo! Jump ship, fall off a cliff, roll around, do something you little . Don't let him see you blush like a little . "Let's go back inside before they make up stupid assumptions about us." Kyungsoo choked out an awkward laugh, mentally kicking himself for being so obvious.

Stupid Do Kyungsoo, you're so stupid. He'll notice if you act strange and you don't want him to know that you KNOW about him, right? What if he stops talking to you after this?

"Let them talk." Kai shot him a wink. "I wouldn't mind being seen next to someone so y."

If death was a living, breathing person, Kyungsoo might have seen him---or her---coming, and he would have done nothing to stop death from ripping his heart from his chest and tearing it into two, because that was exactly how he felt at that very moment. He watched Kai return back to their group of friends (whoa, they were a group now!) and he watched his best friends shot him an amused look, which he was quite sure would lead to some intense interrogation in their dorm tonight.

He didn't give two s about what's going to happen tonight. He only cared about what Kai said a few seconds ago. I wouldn't mind being seen next to someone so y.

Sekshi. 

He called me sekshi.

Monday night was spent baking a cake for his lovely Kai, and when Kyungsoo started baking, nothing could get in his way, not even Xi ing Luhan.

"You're baking a velvet cake for your boy toy, but not for me?!" Luhan wailed, crossing his arms in a defiant manner as he watched his little squish busying himself around the kitchen. Kyungsoo had his favourite pororo apron on, a gift from his two best friends last January. And he was whipping up the ingredients inside a bowl; flour, baking soda, eggs, almond nuts, and melted chocolate.

He was actually baking a brownie. "I'm making a brownie, . Since when did velvet cakes have chocolate?"

Luhan gave him a sheepish smile and poked his finger into the well-beated mixture. "Delicious. I like the almond."

"Don't finish up the batter, hyung! It's for Kai."

"Sure sure. It's not like he could finish up all that. Could you bake some for me?" Luhan shot his little squish the sweetest, most adorable smile he could muster, and he knew it would always work on Kyungsoo. He saw the sigh escaping his best friend's lips and he knew victory was on his side.

"Fine...now could you call Baekhyun up and ask him where the hell he is? I need my butter."

Baekhyun had left twenty minutes ago to get some butter for Kyungsoo, and the convenience store was just five minutes away.

"Sure thing, baby poop. Do you need anything else?"

"I need you to call Chanyeol too. If Baekhyun isn't home in five minutes, tell Chanyeol I'm going there myself to drag both their sorry asses here for keeping Baekkie with him."  

"I'm sure Chanyeol would like that." Luhan thought for a moment. "Yeah, he would like that very much. And I guess you'll be wanting Kai and Sehun to tag along too, right?"

Kyungsoo swore he could see stars over his head for the next five minutes. 

Chanyeol's nose was the first to poke in through the door. Kyungsoo almost died the second time that day when he heard Kai's voice in the background, laughing along to something Sehun had said. Luhan greeted them at the door and told the boys to come in. While Chanyeol, Kai, Sehun and Tao (it's that scary-looking dude from the cafeteria!) lazed around in the living room with Luhan, who had oh-so-brilliantly fixed Kyungsoo playstation for them, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. The cake was finally baking in the oven by then, emitting a trail of delicious aroma in the air. 

Every few minutes or so, Chanyeol would ask if the cake was ready, and Kyungsoo would curtly reply 'no'. There was still twenty minutes left before the cake was ready for human consumption, so both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun joined the boys in the living room. They were playing Fatal Frame that night, and Kai was the one of the controller, while the others cheered him on. Well, Baekhyun had his face under a pillow most of the time, and Chanyeol wrapped an arm around him to keep him close. Sehun and Tao were talking in hushed voices at the side. Kyungsoo found out that they were actually dating, but apparently Sehun wasn't allowed to say anything about it in school. Luhan called Minseok over and now the two of them were making out again.

So it was really only Kyungsoo who was paying attention to the game. And Kai, of course. The guy still looked smoky hot, despite wearing a pororo pajama. "Do you like pororo?"

Kai glanced at the older male for a second and shyly nodded his head. This was the first time he showed his pajama to the world, besides the crazy duo of his best friends, and Kyungsoo was there, oh god kill me now, so he couldn't really act normally. Thank god he had a game to distract him.

Oh god, he's just too cute to be true. It was hard to believe they were actually high school students. "Me too." Kyungsoo said. "I love Pororo."

"I like Krong." This was obvious of course, because Kai's pajama was actually so full of Krong right then. It was only too bad Kyungsoo's pajama had a band of angry penguins printed all over it. If his pajama was pororo instead, the both of them could definitely pass off as a couple. 

"I can see that." 

A light blush painted Kai's cheeks after he said it, and Kyungsoo instinctively reached out to give the younger male's cheek a pinch, causing the blush to turn ten shades redder. Someone on the couch cleared his throat loudly and Kyungsoo realized it was Baekhyun, who was grinning at him. Luhan also had a sneaky grin on his face. 

"W-what are you guys grinning about?" 

"You cheesy little poop." Luhan teased. 

"Don't think we didn't see that, baby soo." Baekhyun added, high fiving Luhan after that.

"You guys are horrible." Kyungsoo huffed, crossing his arms angrily. They just had to ruin the moment, don't they?

"Why are you baking all the sudden?" Chanyeol asked, and Kyungsoo tried not to blush. He couldn't say it was for 'Kai', so he simply looked down at his feet.

"It's for his boy toy." Luhan snickered, and a pillow slammed against his face, undoubtedly from Kyungsoo.

"That guy you like is in this room?" Kai asked this time, and Kyungsoo felt like dying, honestly.

"You bet he is." Baekhyun answered, high fiving Luhan again.

"Can you guys just shut up? God, what must I do to keep my sanity around here?"

His sanity was thankfully saved when they suddenly heard a loud ping from the kitchen and Kyungsoo knew that the cake was done. Finally! "Time to eat some cake, guys. Let me go get it."

When Kyungsoo got up to check on the cake, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. It was a message from Kris apparently, his self-proclaimed love guru. But Kyungsoo didn't ignore it of course, knowing that none of the boys knew that he knew. He hurriedly checked the message. A short straightforward one asking him for a favour.

From: Kris-hyung

Hey, can you go out with me on Monday next week? I can't see you this week cause I have a load of assignment all the sudden, and they're due this week. I want to ask you something. 

Kyungsoo typed in a reply and said yes. He wanted to confront Kris about the whole love guru thing too, and Monday was the perfect chance for him. He didn't usually have any club activites after school on Mondays, except to spy on Kai of course.

Alright, so I've introduced a few pairing already. There's Han + Seok. Tao + Hun. Kai + Soo. Baek + Yeol. Kris will be with Joonmyeon. And Jongdae will go with Yixing. But the last two are just in a 'good friends' context. They won't be dating. 

HM:

> Dear Do Kyungsoo, I hope you enjoyed the performance yesterday night with your significant other. I'm sorry for not texting you recently, because I've been busy with school. Anyway, can you cook? Why don't you prepare a meal for the boy of your dreams? God bless.