Chapter 17 Knowing Baby Soo

Third week of March
 

> Why don't you find out if it's truly Kris that he's in love with? Do you even know Kyungsoo well? Maybe it's time you try to learn a little more about him. Maybe you can start by checking out what he does after school.

It was Thursday, and school had just ended. The final bell rang five minutes ago, and Kai purposely rushed to his locker to see if there was a message for him. He wanted to catch his love guru in the act, but when he got there, a note was already taped to his locker, and no one paid any attention to it. Students filed out from the hallway to either get home in time for an afternoon nap, or rush for some club activities somewhere. Kai had dance lessons in an hour, so he had time to kill till then.

He read the note and sighed. Up until this point, he knew nothing about the beautiful boy named Do Kyungsoo, except that he had a very beautiful smile and his eyes held a genuine sincerity of displaying his emotions. Eyes really are a window to the soul, as Kai had learned, and Kyungsoo's honest display of being himself certainly made the butterflies inside Kai's tummy grow by the millions each day.

Before he knew it, he was falling hard for the doe-eyed male.

"Learn more about him, huh?" An idea formed in his head after he said this, and he nearly facepalmed himself for being so stupid. Of course! I'm still his love guru. Ugh. How could I have forgotten that, Kim Jongin?!

Smiling widely to himself now, he grabbed a piece of empty white paper from his locker, and wrote down a message for Kyungsoo. Then he hurriedly taped it to Kyungsoo's locker, and left for the library after that. It was customary of him to borrow a book from the library every Thursday before going for his dance lessons. But along the way, he hoped that he could learn a little bit more about Kyungsoo, maybe starting from the books that the shorter male usually reads.

It wasn't so long ago when Kai discovered that Kyungsoo spent a lot of time in the library too, especially after club meetings, browsing through the section somewhere at the back of the library. It was a section that Kai had never bothered to check, because his reading preferences were mostly centered around self-motivation books and non fiction. He enjoyed reading about science, especially facts that required the gears inside his brain to start working. It made him see the world a little different, from a perspective of a person who cared about how atoms affected his everyday life, and why some things happened the way they are. Thursdays were his 'Study of Evolution' day, primarily about the origins of homosapiens and primates. He'd been looking forward to this all morning.

When he got to the library, instead of heading straight to his usual section, he opted to check out the section that Kyungsoo frequented first. It was a romance section, surprisingly. And Kai picked out the first book he saw. Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella.

So this is the kind of book he reads? Kai thought, half amused. He flipped to the first page, and found the library card attached to it. It appeared that Kyungsoo had been the last person to have borrowed it, dated 4th February 2014. It wasn't recent, but Kai felt like reading the book then. He wasn't a big fan of romance though, but he wanted to know something his angel knew. Taking the book with him, he went over to the counter and proceeded to borrow said book. It would keep him occupied the whole night, and he was already itching to start reading it as he made his way to his dance lesson after that.

What is happening to me? He thought, smiling to himself. His head felt giddy and weird from all the feels exploding inside him, and those damn butterflies kept coming back whenever he thought about Kyungsoo. Borrowing a romance novel was certainly something only a lovestruck baffoon would do, and Kai had never thought he was so capable of being corny. So this is what love does to a person. He liked it.

Kyungsoo squealed like a banshee when he found a note on his locker after his chess club meeting that day. He knew it was from Kai, but he still couldn't stop his childish little heart from pounding like a mad bull everytime he received something from Kai. "Okay, calm your down, Do Kyungsoo. You can do this." He breathed in and exhaled loudly, his head spinning from the overload of nerves flowing inside him. "It's only been almost two weeks, five hours, three minutes and thirty nine seconds since you received a note from him. You can do this, Do Kyungsoo. Shade the out of the note."

He grabbed a pencil and started shading it out, afraid to see a message that said, I know it's been you all along.

Someone suddenly smacked a hand against the back of his head and he jerked forward in surprise. Nervousness now replaced with anger, he swiveled his head around to see who was daring enough to ruin his moment. Luhan's face grinned back knowingly, a smug look on his face that Kyungsoo wished he could hit with a baseball bat.

"Why do you always show up at a crucial moment?!" The little one flailed in frustration, groaning inwardly as he leaned back against his locker. Minseok stood beside Luhan, looking apologetic as hell. Kyungsoo didn't want a petty apology from his best friend's boyfriend. He wanted to stuff Luhan up with cooking herbs and toss him in the oven.

"It's fate, dear squishy one. And also, I bring to you the batalion of slaves who shall obey your every command from now on." He made a sweeping notion towards the approaching group of friends---holy ! They legitly grew in numbers!---with his hand, and Baekhyun shot him a raised eyebrow.

"Slaves, my , Luhaen. Anyway, let's head home now. I'm starving and I'm craving for some carbonara tonight. Oh, what do you have there in your hands, Kyungpoo?"

Kyungsoo nervously looked down at the note in his hand once more, and glanced at his friends. They were obviously waiting for him to read it out loud. He noticed the expressions they bore on their faces; Luhan had the widest anticipative grin as usual, and Minseok looked ready to smack his boyfriend if the situation renders it so. Baekhyun, on the other hand, simply looked impatient. His giant of a lover was mildly interested though, but he seemed more attracted to Baekhyun's . Kris was there too, raising a casual yet cocky eyebrpw at him, as if to say I'm still better than all these little dips standing around me (which Kyungsoo presumed would indirectly include Kai eventhough the younger male was not there).

Joonmyeon, the new kid who was head over heels in love with Kris, had his arm linked around the taller male's arm tightly, and Kris didn't seem too bothered about it anymore. Kyungsoo assumed he was warming up to Joonmyeon. The senior looked like he would sail across the oceans just to be with Kris, and Kyungsoo somehow admired that. Right behind them was the star couple, Tao and Sehun, who were too busy being in their own world to care about those around them. They were playfully whispering into each other's ears and Tao repeatedly hit Sehun's arm.

A few feet behind them were Jongdae, and a new kid that Kyungsoo had never seen before. He had hazelnut-brown hair, which complimented his fair complexion, and his eyes were pretty, a hue of almond brown and black mixed together. He was happily engrossed in a conversation with Jongdae, the both of them smiling warmly at each other, and Kyungsoo almost took them as a couple on first impression. The air was already thick with love blanketing the atmosphere. Adding another couple to it wouldn't make a difference.

He shaded out the notes and faced his friends once more. "Have you achieved the objects of your dream? Have you confessed to him? You seem to shine brighter each day. I'm happy for you."

Luhan snorted, wondering how dense could Kai be that he still couldn't notice Kyungsoo's feelings for him. "Both of you are just three words away from being a couple, and neither of you have confessed yet. Chicken , all of you."

"What happened to the notes you sent him? Did he try to approach you yet?" Baekhyun asked, looking at him expectantly. 

"I wanted him to find out my true feelings by himself, and until he stops thinking that I'm together with Kris, I won't stop sending him love advices. Plus, it's too much fun to stop right now anyway."

"He still thinks you're head over heels for me, huh?" Kris remarked, and Joonmyeon shot Kyungsoo a quick glare. His grip around Kris tightened considerably, and everyone noticed that. 

"Chill out, Joonie. Kyungpoo's too in love with Kai to steal Kris away from you anyway."

"I know." Joonmyeon sighed. "Sorry for overreacting. I'm hungry as , man. When are we leaving for dinner?"

"Dinner? I'm craving for steak." The guy that had been talking to Jongdae the whole time suddenly spoke up, and everyone's eyes were on him now. Kyungsoo looked at him weirdly, but the others seemed to have known him already. Baekhyun saw the confused look on his best friend's face and said, "That's Yixing hyung, baby soo. He's one of us now. I don't know what we are, actually, but it's nice to have more retards around us. Its make me feel less incompetent." The others jeered at him, throwing harmless insults that he simply shrugged off with a cheeky grin. Chanyeol wrapped a protective around him, glaring back at them.

"I thought you hated Kris." Kyungsoo remarked.

Kris's attention perked up at the mention of his name, and he turned to Baekhyun. The poor puppy was so embarrassed over his mindless hatred for the tall blonde, that he tried to ignore it after meeting Kris for the first time. And now stupid Kyungsoo was bringing up the issue again. "S-sorry, Kris. I don't actually hate you anymore. It's j-just that I mistook you for a-a...player before. You were trying to steal Kyungsoo away from Kai."

"Oh."

No one lingered on the subject after that, and Baekhyun exhaled a relieved sigh. Their attention was back on Kyungsoo, or the note in his hand. But then someone's stomach released a horrid growl, and their minds switched to dinner again. Kyungsoo agreed to make dinner for them that night, so everyone crashed over at LuBaekSoo's dorm that night. Chanyeol called Kai over by the time Kyungsoo had finished his cooking, and almost caused the shorter male to have a mini spazz attack.

Trying out his cake the other day was nothing, because he'd always been confident about his baking skills, but cooking a meal fit for twelve empty stomachs should garner him a medal. He made enough food that day to feed 28 stomachs, and the dining table wasn't big enough, so they had to eat on the floor. Kai came ten minutes later, and Kyungsoo purposely made a point to sit beside him.

"This is delicious, Kyungsoo." Kai complimented him, and he blushed beet red at the small acknowledgement. He could be a very good wife---WAIT A ING SECOND, I'm a dude! I should be a husband, not a wife!

He glanced at Kai, who was happily scooping another helping of rice onto his plate. The other guys seemed to be enjoying their meals too. This is good. Yes, this is very good. I didn't know I'm so good in cooking. At this rate, they're gonna be too full to leave soon enough, and I'll get to hang out with Kai a little longer. I could give them some alcohol after this.....holy , you're a genius, Do Kyungsoo. Feed them alcohol and make them tipsy. Then you're free to do whatever you want with Kai. Hm...but what should I do?

He didn't know that Luhan and Baekhyun were eyeing him suspiciously.

Oh yes, I could kiss him. Dear geezus, how much of a ert did I get over these last few months?! I could even think about kissing him now.. What the , Do Kyungsoo? The only person you've ever kissed in your life is your mama. How the hell are you gonna pull off a full liplock with Kim ing Jongin?! What if he spits in your mouth? Drunk people spits a lot, right? But he likes you, so I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon. And I like him too. I LOVE him!

He forgot about his food by then, and the spoonful of kimchi he scooped hovered near his mouth, unmoving. Well, you've always been a ert anyway, Kyungsoo. Remember the time you jerked off in the eagle costume. I wonder if Eunkwang noticed anything fishy yet. Not that my smelled like fish. That's just... ew. And people who love each other kiss all the time, right? So there's nothing perfectly wrong with kissing Kai. I just need to get the angle right. Maybe if I tilt my head a little to the left.

"What on earth are you thinking about, baby soo?"

He snapped out from his thoughts and stared at the people around him. They were all staring back now, some amused while others were curious. Kyungsoo cleared his throat and shrugged. "Nothing. Just lost in thoughts. How's the food?"

"They're really good!" Kai chirped out first, smiling cute at him. "I didn't know you're such a good cook, Soo. I would love to eat your food forever."

"Yes, I bet you do, Kai. And I bet little squishy here would also like to eat his c---" Kyungsoo punched Luhan's face before the Chinese male could finish his sentence. The other guys gasped at this, surprised to know that Kyungsoo was not as weak as they thought he would be. The only person who feigned indifference was Baekhyun, who reached out for more carrots.

"Did you just punch my boyfriend?" Minseok asked. He wasn't angry. Just surprised, is all.

"Yes I did. deserved it." Kyungsoo said.

Luhan rubbed his bruised cheek and corrected his jaw. "Whoa...that was...weak, Soo. You used to be stronger than that."

Another burst of surprised gasps echoed through the whole dorm, and Baekhyun smirked at this. "Don't be surprised, guys. Luhan's been training Soo how to fight, and both of them could take punches like that on a daily basis. It only gets annoying after that, cause I'm in charge of first aid, and I hate blood. It makes me dizzy."

"Really? I'll make sure you don't have to look at blood ever again." Chanyeol said, much to his boyfriend's joy. The both of them shared a loving gaze, and Luhan faked a choke.

"Ew, get a room, Baekho."

"Shut yer trap, Lulu."

"Aaaaaanyways, I'm not doing the dishes after this, so whoever finishes last will be doomed to clean up everything." Kyungsoo stated.

The others gawked at him. "Even your guests?" Sehun asked.

"Technically, you guys aren't just normal guests. Normal guests don't eye each other during all the time, and they don't..." He directed this to Luhan. "...openly caresses his boyfriend's too."

Luhan shrugged. "I'm not a guest."

"Yeah, but Minnie-hyung is. Normal guests also don't throw peas over someone's head." He shot a glare at Jongdae, who looked down at his unfinished food, embarrassed. He'd been fooling around with Yixing, who chose to sit directly across Jongdae because he wanted to speak to Tao in Chinese.

"And normal guests don't feed each other food." This was for Kris and Joonmyeon. Well, technically, just Joonmyeon. He'd been trying to fill up Kris's plate for the last twenty minutes, which proved to be a hard mission indeed. Kris was adamant on taking his own food himself.

Joonmyeon pouted at the remark. "What's wrong with feeding someone you like? Couples do that all the time. The girlfriends always feed their boyfriends."

"Just in case you forgot, hyung, we're all dudes." He finished off his rice and got up. "I'm done, and I'm taking Kai with me."

Kai choked on the chicken he'd been munching on and stared up at Kyungsoo in surprise. "W-what?"

"I want to show you something. Now, come on. You're done with your food anyway."

"W-wait, let me finish off my drink first." He forced down the sweet honey drink Luhan had offered earlier and got up to join Kyungsoo. The others protested against washing the dishes, but Kyungsoo simply hmphed at them and pulled Kai to his room. Serves them right for messing up my train of thoughts.

Kyungsoo wanted Kai to learn more about him, so it seemed fit to show the soccer player his room first. His room was simple and neat; a single bed in the middle, with his wardrobe and full-body-length mirror at the side, a study desk near the window (with a pink curtain! Mothers, I swear!) and a small shelf beside it, where he kept all his reading books. His textbooks were mostly in his locker at school, so there was hardly a need for another shelf. Another shelf hung on the wall near the door, where he kept his winning medals and trophies for all the competitions he partaked during his years in school. Most of them were trophies from chess competitions and spelling bee. There weren't many sports medals, but he prized the few that he had; a bronze medal for winning third place in a race back in elementary school, two silvers for a team tag marathon back in middle high, and a gold for tug-of-war last year.

"It's...nice." Kai said, admiring the neatness. "It's cleaner than mine, that's for sure." At least he was right about Kyungsoo being a neat freak. The boy just seemed like that kind of person; the ones who cared a lot of cleanliness.

"My mum comes in once a while to lecture me off if she finds so much as a speck of dust on the desk. I guess it becomes a habit after a while. I'd rather avoid her lectures."

"I totally get you." Kai chuckled. "My mum lectures me about my room all the time. But it's not my fault that Sehun messes it up again after I try cleaning it a bit. He shares a room with me."

"Oh." Kyungsoo didn't expect that. But Sehun has a boyfriend now, so he guessed it was fine. "Lu and Baek sometimes sneak into my room and sleep on the floor. I'd only know about it in the morning, when I step on their faces."
 

"You're really close to them, huh? How long have you been friends?"

"More than I could count. We've known each other since...." Kyungsoo really couldn't remember. They'd been friends for years! He couldn't even remember how they met. "Does it matter? You seemed close with Chanyeol and Sehun too."

"Yeah, I guess being roommates force me to bear with all their . And they're not so bad after a while. Oh, by the way, I bought something from the bakery nearby before I came here. Let me go get it."

Yes, he bought a cake for Kyungsoo. It was also his favourite; a rainbow cake covered in chocolate cream, and macaroons decorated on top. He wanted Kyungsoo to try it, because cakes always made the best desserts after dinner. The other boys were already done with the dishes when he got out the cake, and they were excited to try it. But Kai wanted Kyungsoo to have the first taste. After all, he bought it for the doe-eyed male.

"Come on, Soo. Say ah." Kai ordered, feeding a spoonful of cake to Kyungsoo first. The older male was a little skeptical about the ingredients used in the cake, but it looked like a chocolate cake on the outside, so he assumed it was chocolate, and took a hearty bite from it. Everyone else soon dived in for a bite too.

Only after swallowing down their first bite, Luhan and Baekhyun noticed something very wrong with the taste. "Uh, Kai, did they put any colouring in it?" Baekhyun asked.

"Uh yeah. It's a rainbow cake. You guys don't like it?" He looked hurt.

"We like it, but Soo's allergic to the colouring. Holy , KYUNGSOO!! Someone call the ambulance!"

Kyungsoo didn't really take much, but his allergic reaction was always quite extreme. By the time his brain could register what his friends said, he was already lying on the ground, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

HM:

> Why don't you find out if it's truly Kris that he's in love with? Do you even know Kyungsoo well? Maybe it's time you try to learn a little more about him. Maybe you can start by checking out what he does after school.

A/N:

Mianhae, I had to hurt our little baby. Anyway, the next update will be out tomorrow, because it's a cliffy again. It'll focus on Kai. And where there is Kai, there is Kaisoo, ofc.