Chapter 41

What had he done? Kyungsoo had almost taken advantage of his friend and why? Out of spite. Out of hurt.

He hadn't had the courage to face Baekhyun in the morning. He had left a cowardly note saying 'I'm sorry Baek. I'll be out by the end of tomorrow,' but where was he supposed to go?

Kyungsoo was like a zombie as he made his way to class. His sudden fame had finally died down which allowed him to walk in peace. He was happy about that but somehow it made him feel lonely again.

"Kyungsoo!"

Kyungsoo was not in the mood to entertain his best friend. Nevertheless, he pasted on his best fake smile and tried not to resist the involuntary hug Chanyeol had encased him in.

"You're alive! Man was I worried. I was gonna call the police but Baek stopped me every time. He's lucky you're alright or I would've had to kill him... But you're okay, right? No injuries I need to know of?  I'm so sorry buddy, I shouldn't have freaked out about that list but seriously some of the stuff  you've written is really out there."

The giant released his hold, allowing Kyungsoo to breathe again.

"If you need to talk or anything at all, I'm here for you."
"Don't tell me you're planning on offering me your body as well."
"What?"
"Nothing. Don't you have to get to your economy class?"

His friend checked his watch, letting out a surprisingly high-pitched squeal.

"Aish, crap-weasel! Okay, I have to run but you're fine, right?"
"I'm fine." His voice wasn't very convincing but Chanyeol was already backing away from him, not wanting to be late for class.

"Good. See you at lunch!"

Classes went by way too fast for Kyungsoo's liking. He wasn't looking forward to lunch, not that he planned on joining his friends. And so when the bell rang, he made his way towards the canteen, hoping to buy lunch and leave the cafeteria as fast as possible.

Kris had been looking for Joonmyun all day. The man hadn't answered any of his texts or calls and for some reason Kris didn't blame him. He hadn't been the best of friend to Joonmyun lately. Sure Joonmyun wasn't the most fun person in the world and there had definitely been a lot face-palm moments. But still, Joonmyun had shown him nothing but kindness and how had he repaid the man? By looking for someone more fun to spend time with. Now, Kris knew that if the chemistry wasn't there then it wasn't anyone's fault but Kris had secretly been dying to make friends with the stranger from the plane and now that he had, Kris would rather be with Kyungsoo than the guy who had taken him under his wings the first day of school. It was wrong to say that Kris owed the man but he did feel guilty about ignoring Joonmyun's offer of getting together and study this weekend as he would much rather want to call Kyungsoo, which he had.

Kris couldn't get Joonmyun's sad expression out of his head since last night. He had seemed so defeated and somehow much older than he really was. He knew that the man was under a lot of stress what with taking multiple subjects and the pressure from his parents to do his very best. How did he do it? He had so much stuff going on and yet he took the time to... hang out with Kris. Okay now he just felt even worse.

He found Joonmyun sitting alone in the farthest corner of the library, nose buried in a 300 paged book. Sighing deeply, Kris took a seat across from him.

"Hi."

No response. Not even a glance.

"What are you reading?"
Zilch. Nothing.

"About yesterday..."
"Kris."
The smaller man shut his book, folding his hands.

"I don't have many friends. But I treasure the few  I have. In return, I don't expect much. I know I can be a challenge or at least that's what I've been told. I'm not fun, I don't have the time to be. And apparently I am ignorant of my closest friends problems... But I do expect honesty."
There was no expression on Joonmyun's face. He was guarded yet he looked incredibly vulnerable.

"If you don't like me, tell me. If I'm being obnoxious or annoying or in any way a bother to you, voice it out. Don't go and ignore me until you think I have taken the  hint and start leaving you alone. Because that is just mean. I'd rather people being upfront with me than hiding their true opinions of me. Why else would I still be friends with Luhan?"

Kris squirmed in his seat. He felt awful. Mostly because what he had said was the truth. Kris had humored him with pretty much everything when in reality he had face-palmed at the many things Joonmyun had described as 'having a good time'. He wanted to be honest, he just hadn't wanted to hurt the man's feelings. As it turned out, he had hurt him even worse by not doing so.

"You are a very good friend Joonmyun. You just try too hard. I know you must be having a hard time, I mean, you're always studying. Isn't it about time to unwind?"
Even if he knew it would be weird, Kris took Joonmyun's hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"As your friend of almost two months now I say we go out this weekend. Just the two of us. But no books, no libraries and no concerns of the future. We can get a few beers, maybe even meet a couple of cute girls." Kris winked.

"What do you say? I'd hate to lose a friend who would show up at my place, half past 2 in the morning, just to ask me if I was okay."

He finally received a smile from Joonmyun.

"One beer. That's it. I still need to study the following day."

"Yes! Yes. You won't regret it."

"So... You're not going to push me aside now that you have this other friend?"

"Of course not. There is more than enough of me to love the both of you. Platonically! Like friends. And nothing more. Not even the slightest. Just, friends.

Kris felt like he deserved the laughter erupting from Joonmyun's throat. He just always knew how to make things awkward. Damn it Kris! You're not a turtle anymore, so stop it!

" 'Just friends' is all I'm asking."
Joonmyun dried his eyes.

"I'm starving. Let's go to lunch."
"Sure."
"Kris?"
"Yeah?"
"You can let go of my hand now."
 

Together they walked to lunch, surrounded by a comfortable silence. As they entered the canteen they immediately saw TCA already occupying their usual table. Although something looked out of place. Something was different.

They both joined the table, sitting down in what could only be described as an uncomfortable silence. That was what was wrong. There was no talking or rather, there was no Luhan blabbering about anything colorful. Said male was staring at his salad, hands slumped in his lap and upper body bent in over the table. Could Luhan really be depressed?  That ball of sunshine actually knew how to frown? And what was up with Jongdae? He was... smiling? Happily gulping down his lunch while staring at the pitiful sack of blond hair across from him. Needless to say, Kris was freaked out. As if Lay had the ability to read Kris's thoughts, Lay voiced out what was on Kris's mind.

"We don't know either. They were like this when we got here."

Kris watched as Tao stuck his chopsticks up Luhan's nostrils, the later responding with a heavy sigh but made no move to remove them.

"Earlier Tao poured water in Luhan's lap, same response."

"Why would he..." Kris recalled the many, many times Luhan had made fun of the moody guy with a stick...  hehehe, fish cakes. He internally laughed at his own stupid joke suddenly in the mood for odeng... and Kyungsoo?

The petit man was exiting the cafeteria with a sandwich in his hand. Instinctively, Kris pushed his chair out with a wailing screech, managing to even get a surprised response from the Zombie, now with noodles for hair, courtesy of Tao.

"I'm sorry but I gotta go. See you later guys."

Kris rushed after Kyungsoo who was quickly making his way outside. Where was he going? And why the hell was he following him?! Pushing away his stalker intentions, Kris decided to run up beside Kyungsoo while yelling his name.

"Kyungsoo!"

"Kris?"
"Hi!"
"... Hi?"
"... So what's up? Sandwich huh? Chicken and bacon? I'm more of an egg and shrimp person myself. That's unnecessary information, I'm sorry about that... Will you give me a second?"
Kris ran 10 steps away from Kyungsoo only to turn around and run back.
"Kyungsoo hey, where are you going?"
Kris earned a light laughter and a few butterflies doing summersaults in his tummy.

"I should probably have taken you to see a doctor instead of playing patient with you. How's your head?"

"Oh, I have a thick skull." Kris knocked on his head.

"So where were you going?"
"Just felt like getting some fresh air while it's still warm outside."
"Do you want company? You know, whatever."
"I'd like that."

They sat down on the grass enjoying the nice weather. It was in the middle of October which meant the days were warm but the evenings were very chilly. Kris hesitantly accepted half of Kyungsoo's sandwich. For some reason chicken bacon tasted really delicious.

"Hey, is everything okay?"
They had sat in silence for a while, sandwich long gone. Kris couldn't help notice how Kyungsoo seemed to be having a hard time smiling. The guy kept sighing to himself, he almost seemed like Luhan in the zombie mode he had just witnessed.

"I don't know. I kinda think I'm homeless."
"Homeless?"
The smaller man leaned back, resting on the grass.

"I can't stay with my friend anymore but I have nowhere to go. I'm pretty much screwed."
"Why? Did something happen? What about your parents? Can't you stay with them?"
"I am currently not on speaking terms with my parents. And Baekhyun, my friend, it's just not working out. I don't wanna talk about it, it's..." he sighed.

"... It's nothing I can't handle."
"Okay."
The bell rang. Kris watched Kyungsoo get to his feet and wave his goodbyes.

"See you later Kris."

"Yeah. Thanks for the sandwich."
It was easy to see how forced Kyungsoo's smile was. It made Kris's insides clench.

"MOVE IN WITH ME!"
'Could you be more desperate?' Shut up brain.
"Okay. That came out a bit weird, I mean that's usually something you say to a boyfriend... GIRLFRIEND! Something you say to a girlfriend! Jeez! But I mean, like you know, I already have a spare room and I can pay you to live there. No not like pay you but like help with the costs and... stuff." (Insert deep, deep, deep sigh.)  

'Why can't you just act like a normal human being, you big freak of nature?'

"I have to go to class, Kris."
And with that, the little man turned to leave.

'In case you were wondering, that was him, rejecting you. Twice.'

"I know."