Chapter 8 Kim 'Kai' Jongin 

February 2014

It wasn't easy bending a metal pole like Kyungsoo, but Kai was determined to change that, even if he had to change the whole ing laws of physics, he'd rather bend than break. Figuratively speaking.

Kyungsoo, on the other hand, knew that in life, 'no pain means no gain', so in order to earn Kai's approval, consequently impressing the younger male to fall for an imperfection like him, Kyungsoo was ready to bend all the way to hell even if he had to rush to the clinic right after. He didn't need to tell Kai about the aches he suffered after their first six hours of practice. Nor did he bother to tell the younger male about the sound he thought that he had heard from his hips when he stretched a little too hard.

Synthetic drugs and 400,000 won worth of therapy could cure his pain away but it wouldn't cure the grievous disappointment he knew he'd gain if he messed up this game on Thursday. Ten schools would be there to watch the match, and that would mean ten schools' worth of audience. If each school was bringing along an estimation of 100 students to support their respective teams, then there would be around 1000 students watching him that day, give and take.

That was a lot of pressure for Kyungsoo.

"Good, now stretch to your left." Kai commanded, joining along with the stretch. His body fluidly stretched over to the left, while Kyungsoo struggled a little.

They met up early in the school's field that morning, and Kai thought that maybe the morning air would do Kyungsoo some good. Yesterday's practice had been tough on the older boy. Even though Kyungsoo didn't complain about it, he certainly noticed the pain in the other's eyes after practice, and the forced smile he flashed at Kai by the end of it simply made the guilt worse.

"Change back to your right." He watched as Kyungsoo stretched to the right and cringed when he heard a soft but obvious sound of something snap.

He didn't question it though. He barely heard a whimper coming from the older male seconds later, and wondered if they should stop for a minute, but then it was still too soon for a break. They'd only just begun ten minutes ago.

"Are you okay, Kyungsoo?" He asked, worried.

"I'm...great." Kyungsoo lied. He sensed the concern in Kai's voice and forced his muscles to work harder. His body was probably still asleep, thus creating all that awful creaking noises when he stretched. It was just downright humiliating and he wondered if god was taking back all the happiness he felt yesterday and crushing it like paper.

"Ok, take it easy for now. We're just warming up."

"Sure."

The next three hours after that, however, was nothing short of excruciating for the doe-eyed male. He had to do a full split, roll around over wet grassy field, attempt a proper handstand for ten seconds, more full splits, squats, some cartwheels and finally, a failed attempt of an aerial spin. He may have broken some bones, particularly his fingers, but by the end of it, Kyungsoo was more than amazed at his ability to do all these. The old Kyungsoo would have shriveled up at the first sign of danger and hide like a somewhere. With Kai turning up more frequently in his life lately, the doe-eyed male was ready to take on the devil and swear to make Kai notice him even if it killed him.

"You look like , my squishy." Luhan smirked, pinching Kyungsoo's cheeks cutely until the younger boy slapped his hands away.

"That hurts, er. Where's my lunch? I'm already dying from physical torture for the last 36 hours, and now you're starving me on purpose."

"Don't be so harsh, baby soo. I'm just looking out for your best interest. You really do look like turd though. Not joking. What have you been doing lately? Taking up your stalking abilities to the next level? Did you find out where he lives?"

Kyungsoo gave him a look.

"What? Not telling me now, are ya? Tsk tsk tsk, just because you've been spending so much time with Kai doesn't mean you should ignore me. Omona, don't tell me. Did you let him get into your pa----?"

Kai happened to be walking past that moment and thankfully, Kyungsoo noticed him first before Luhan could finish off his sentence. His hands instinctively clamped over Luhan's mouth a second later, almost causing the Chinese male to choke on his spit,aAnd when Kai saw this, he frowned.

"Are you trying to kill me, Lulu?" Kyungsoo whispered into his ear. "If he finds out I like him, he'll laugh at me for sure, and I won't get to spend anymore time with him, and then I'll blame you for it and ew, DID YOU JUST MY HAND DAMMIT?!" He pulled his hand back instantly, groaning in disgust when he could practically feel the germs dripping from it. DRIPPING from it.

"What the , man?! Haven't you heard of germs?"

"Calm down, baby soo. Let's not get mad and act irrationally. This is payback for not baking that cake I asked. Karma's a , isn't it?" Luhan grinned.

"I'm allergic to the colouring, dip. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Hand sanitizer...hand sanitizer...where the is it?! Kyungsoo mentally screamed, fishing through his bag.

"Put on a glove or something. Come on, Soo, I reaaaaaaaally need your help. Oh pretty please~ I'm willing to pay for it."

"Get it from the bakery then if you're so desperate for it. I'm not baking it for you even if you----"

"Oh hello Kai." Luhan suddenly chirped, and Kyungsoo froze. He's kidding, right? This better not be a prank, or I'll haunt him in his sleep tonight and bite his off. Kyungsoo hoped it was just another one of Luhan's stupid pranks because if it was really Kai, then he might have heard something Kyungsoo wasn't ready to admit.

"Hey Kyungsoo. Um...and hey to your friend too." Kai greeted back, albeit a little awkwardly. His honey deep voice made Kyungsoo's heart soar ten feet high into the air, eventhough it'd only been five hours, twenty one minutes and nine seconds since he saw the boy, and no, he hadn't been counting.

Well, it was definitely not a prank, but Luhan was still damned for almost causing him a heart attack.

"I'm Luhan, Kyungsoo's gay partner." The Chinese male introduced himself.

Kyungsoo gave his gay partner a hard slap on the arm, barely noticing the frown on Kai's face.

"N-nice to meet you then."

"Wait, Kai, it's not what you think. He's just a pabo sharing the same dorm with me. Not my gay partner, not in any relationship with me in fact, not even my best friend." The frown on Kai's face turned into a smile. Odd, Kyungsoo thought, it's like he's relieved.

"Awww...that hurts, bunny boo. Especially after that amazing time we had last night. You and your muscle sprains and me trying to ease your pain with a massage. And the moan...ooh, you're so nasteh, sweety."

I'm gonna kill him. I swear. Last night's 'massage' had been the worst back therapy in the history of therapies. Luhan claimed that stepping over another's back would ease the pain faster, and Baekhyun almost burned him, using steamed---BURNING---hot towels to cover his back. Those s shouldn't be alive right now if Kyungsoo hadn't been so drained by the end of it.

"You were trying to kill me, dammit. Baekkie almost burned me. Kai, don't listen to this . I'm okay, my back is fine, and I'm late for class...oh, a note." The other two turned to face locker number 12 after that, and a small piece of white paper was taped there. Kyungsoo took out his pencil and started shading the words out.

> Hey, Kyungsoo. You haven't given me a reply yet, and I hope you've forgiven me. As a token of my apology, I slipped in some concert tickets inside your locker. I hope you could make it. You can bring the person you like with you.

"It's that's love guru." Kyungsoo said, balling up the note before tossing it into the trashcan nearby. "He gave me concert tickets." 

"What? Seriously? You're taking love advices from him now? Congrats man! Thanks to him, I finally confessed to Minseok. And guess what, it turned out that Minseok likes me too. He's just too shy to say anything." Luhan told Kyungsoo before switching his attention to Kai.

"You're with Minseok hyung?" Kai asked, smiling a little wider after knowing this. His Kyungsoo is safe for now.

Minseok was the Red Eagle's main goalkeeper, so Kai knew him well, but he was still surprised to find out that the older male was actually dating someone right now, who also happened to be Kyungsoo's friend. Small world.

"Yeah. We've just started dating a few days back. Officially, mind you. He's the reserved and quiet kind of guy. I'm the loud and obnoxious one, so we sorta fit together well, you know."

"Like a in a hole." Kyungsoo suddenly remarked, earning him a surprised gasp from Kai.

So Kyungsoo could too. I guess innocent Kyungsoo is just a thing in the past now. For some odd reason, Kai actually liked this feisty and sarcastic side of Kyungsoo. It showed him that there was more than meets the eye.

"You're the one to talk. I guess you're just jealous cause you haven't your boy toy yet."

Kyungsoo and Kai gasped in unison this time.

"B-boy toy?"

"Ah---that's not how it is. He's a boy, yes, but he's not a toy." I have feelings for him. Real feelings, Kyungsoo mentally added. "And I guess there's no hiding it anymore since the bugger here already blurted out everything. I like someone in school, Kai."

While Kyungsoo was trying to figure out how to chop Luhan up into sizeable bits that would fit his gym bag, Kai was staring at the boy with sad eyes, thinking that maybe it was best for him to stay away from Kyungsoo. After all, why would Kyungsoo even have feelings for him?  At least, it was good to know they were both ually attracted to the same gender, so there was still a chance for him and he didn't have to back off completely. Kai would rather not go down without a fight though.

Do Kyungsoo was just...perfect. Perfect eyes, perfect lips, perfect skin, a little short but perfect nonetheless, perfect grades, perfect everything! And me....well, I'm just Kai. A regular high school kid who plays football like every other regular high school kids.

"I should get going. I'm late for my soccer practice. We'll meet up after that, Kyungsoo."

"Ok. See you later, Kai."

"Yeah, see you."

HM:

> Hey, Kyungsoo. You haven't given me a reply yet, and I hope you've forgiven me. As a token of my apology, I slipped in some concert tickets inside your locker. I hope you could make it. You can bring the person you like with you.