Chapter 18

Kyungsoo became very fond of Krystal. At school, she started hanging out with him and his friends during lunch. Baekhyun and Minseok both adored her. It was only Chanyeol who had a hard time warming up to the girl, who efficiently had snatched away his best friend. Plus, she was slowly changing him. I mean come on. Today he actually smiled at the girl who had bumped into him in the lunch line. What the hell was that about? Previously, Kyungsoo would have scowled at her, making her wince at the scrutinizing stare. Maybe even make her cry. Now he was all... nice? Chanyeol shuddered at the thought.

At the age of 15, he discovered the joy of singing. He and Chanyeol would hide away in Chanyeol's basement, jamming when they weren't busy with school and homework which was seldom. He still walked Krystal to and from school but aside from that and lunch breaks, they didn't spent much time together. Even though they were neighbors, they opted to texting or calling, instead of spending time face to face.

"Do you like James Morrison?"

Chanyeol was scrolling through his Ipad for songs they could practice.

"Never heard of him." Kyungsoo went over to his best friend to see who he meant.

"He's not my usual cup of tea but his songs would fit your voice perfectly!" Searching a song on YouTube, Chanyeol handed Kyungsoo the Ipad in favor of his guitar. As the music began playing, so did Chanyeol.

'You give me something that makes me scared alright

This could be nothing but I'm willing to give it a try

Please give me something cause someday I might know my heart.' 

Kyungsoo hummed along to the lyrics. Chanyeol was right. This would fit him perfectly. Finding the lyrics and notes Kyungsoo easily followed the melody. But Kyungsoo was a perfectionist. Not deeming his pronunciation good enough, he found himself knocking on the Jungs' front door. Krystal's mother had gladly let him in, patting his behind in the process. He made a quick bow before heading up to Krystal's room. He gently knocked on the door before letting himself in. Krystal was deeply immersed in... sleeping at her desk. Kyungsoo couldn't hold back the endearing smile on his face. Silently he tip-toed towards her. For a moment, he just studied her sleeping face. She looked so angelic. Kyungsoo reached down to caress her hair. He fondly sighed at the softness of it. He leaned down, kissing the top of her head when she started to stir.
"Kyungsoo?" She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Sorry if I woke you up..." Kyungsoo's voice trailed off. He didn't really know what to do with himself. That had been the first time he'd actually kissed her. He might even have blushed. And blunt Kyungsoo did not blush.
"No, it's fine. What are you doing here?" She stifled a small yawn before turning around in her chair. Was Kyungsoo actually fidgeting? He had always been blunt with her, but now it looked as if he was having a hard time forming words.

"I... Y-you. You were from Canada, right?" Krystal's eyes widened at hearing her boyfriend stutter for the first time ever.

"Yes...?"

"And I hear you speak English with your parents all the time."

"Yes...?"

"Well. I was wondering if you could help me with English phonetics... But if you're busy, I understand." Kyungsoo let his eyes run over the big pile of homework covering her desk.

"I'd love to!"

It was no secret that Krystal indeed wanted to spend more time with her boyfriend. Seeing as she had been in love with him since... Well since a good time past forever. But she had always held herself back in the fear of frightening him away.

Even if they actually were a couple, they acted more like close friends, than what they really were. Kyungsoo had  just always been very reluctant to do anything remotely couple-y. For their 100th day anniversary, she had bought couple t-shirts for the both of them. Kyungsoo had handed her a small box of chocolate before his 'I don't give a ' facial expression had swooped in out of nowhere.

"I'm not wearing that."

And that had been the end of discussion.

Since then she had been afraid of getting on his bad side. Letting him do all the initiative or dropping small hints like 'It's cold' or 'I didn't get to eat breakfast today'. That would earn her a candid 'you should've worn more clothes' and 'If you for once got up when your alarm rings the first time, you wouldn't have that problem.' It was blunt, but it was Kyungsoo. And even thought he complained about her, he would still shrug off his own jacket to put around her or buy her chocolate croissants and steam cake at the Paris Baguette on their way to school. He wasn't romantic, but he was kind and took good care of her. And even if it wasn't always evident, he did make her feel loved, special.

She quickly abandoned her homework in order to help Kyungsoo with the correct pronunciations of James Morrison's "You give me something". In the beginning it had been a pain and a half but Kyungsoo was a quick study and soon the English words rolled off his tongue like melted butter.

They were sitting on her bed, facing each other.

"That's really good. You got it," Krystal praised.

Kyungsoo looked like he was contemplating something not able to make up his...

"Can I kiss you?" Kyungsoo used the same line he had used years ago. That time it had worked pretty well, only this time he actually waited for an answer. Krystal's heart was beating so fast, she might have had a heart attack. A slow nod yes, and Kyungsoo leaned forward. Krystal closed her eyes,  hoping she wasn't sleeping at her desk again and this would all turn out to be a dream. It wasn't. Lush, soft lips, carefully brushed over her thin lips, pressing gently into the kiss.

Kyungsoo wasn't sure what this feeling was but he thought he liked it. Even though it was scary but also really... nice? Was that the right word to use? His stomach was churning but in a good kind of way. He retreated from the kiss sooner than he would've liked. His mouth formed a perfect 'o' before a heart-shaped smile spilled from his lips.

"Thank you." Kyungsoo had said the same thing to the girl with pig-tails, although this time, he was grateful for an entirely different reason.