Chapter 43

This was nice.

Kris and Kyungsoo sat opposite each other, munching on the waffle. Kris was plain happy as he ate another spoon of blueberry ice cream. Boy had he missed eating this stuff. He was about to eat another scoop when he stopped, contemplating for a little while.

"Say aaaah." He continued to make vrumvrum sounds while directing his spoon at Kyungsoo's hangar. The wide eyed boy had looked around him to see if anyone was watching.

"You can't be serious."
Kris lowered the spoon for a second but quickly plastered a creepy smile on his face, lifted the spoon and changed his voice.

"Kyungsoo oppa, say aaah."

At that the poor guy choked on air, shooting Kris a deadly stare.

"You gotta be kidding me. There are people watching."

"So?" his voice was back to normal.

"Didn't think you were the type to care about what others thought of you. Apparently I was wrong."
That seemed to do the trick because before he knew it, a spoon was dancing in front of his lips.

"Kris-ah, open your mouth for Kyungsoo oppa."

A voice, dripping with honey met Kris's ear canals and automatically he opened his mouth at the suggestive words, coming from the child-looking guy's lips.

"Good?"
"...Good."
"Aaaah."

Confused, Kris observed as Kyungsoo opened his mouth and closed it again.
"Doesn't oppa get a taste?"

Oh right. Smiling widely, Kris shoveled up some ice cream and watched how two plush lips engulfed the spoon... very slowly.

"Hey Kris."
"Huh?"
Something cold hit his nose. Kris's mouth fell open.

"No. You. Didn't."

In a flash, he stuck his finger into the dessert and swiped it over Kyungsoo's cheek. A second later both their faces were covered in sticky ice cream, both bursting out laughing while clutching their stomachs until one of the waiters asked them to quiet down. As their laughter died down, the smaller man made a come here motion with his hand as he leaned in over the table. Instinctively, Kris did the same.

"What?" Kris whispered.

"You. Look delicious."

Kris was too stunned to react when he felt lips on his cheek and... was that a tongue swiping against his skin? And God no, don't blush! Don't do it!
"Mhmm. I was right."

When they left the café the sun had gone down. It also meant that the weather was now awfully chilly. Kris wore a light shirt which didn't do much against the cold.

"Brr... It's kinda cold, huh?"

"I guess."
"Mhmm... kinda, freezing my nips off here. But you look cozy. That's good."
"Aish, you always do this. How many times have I told you to dress warmly Krystal..."

"Krystal?"

The smaller man's shoulders sank. He slowly took off his jacket and put it around Kris before quietly walking away. Leaving behind a baffled  Kris in the middle of Hongdae's busy streets.

It was getting colder but Kyungsoo didn't notice. He had turned off his phone after leaving Baekhyun's apartment, not daring to turn it on. He was sure that his friends would've tried calling him by now, he just couldn't deal with any of it.
Actually, he hadn't thought about any of that while he had been with Kris. He hadn't had so much fun in, who knows how long. But of course it had, had to be ruined by none other than... It had reminded him of all the times he had scolded Krystal for not dressing according to the weather. 

Why was it so hard to forget about her? He was over her, wasn't he? So why did his chest suddenly hurt?

Kyungsoo really felt like getting a drink.

"Okay. I'm lost."

Kris had been walking around for the past 30 minutes, trying to find his way back to the subway. So far it had proven fruitless. The entire time, he had circled the 1st shop of coffee prince, three times. Three. Times.

He could've asked any Korean on the street for directions but instead he found himself dialing Joonmyun's number.

"Hello?"
"Joonmyun? Hi, it's Kris."
"...Is something wrong?"
"Why would you think that?"
"You've never called first..."
"Oh! Right, sorry about that. Now that you mention it, I do kinda need a favor..."

Kris heard laughter on the other end.

"Sure. What do you need?"

 Around ten minutes passed before Joonmyun showed up in front of the café. He looked rather disheveled compared to how impeccably he usually carried himself.

"Sorry it took so long. I was writing an assignment and then you called and I was only wearing sweats and yeah, it was a mess."
"I should be the one apologizing. Sorry for disturbing you but I'm really not familiar with this area."
"It's fine Kris. I'm here whenever you need me."
Joonmyun looked to the coffee shop.

"You wanna go in? It's a pretty famous café. They shot a drama in there before they turned the set into a real coffee place."
"Oh, I was already in there."
"Right. Well I... guess I better take you home then."
Joonmyun's voice was laced with disappointment, that was easy to hear. Kris knew he was being selfish but he wanted his visit with Kyungsoo to be special which it had. If not very memorable."
They sat down in Joonmyun's car, driving off in silence.

During the ride his mind kept wandering off. Who or what was Krystal? The look in Kyungsoo's eyes had seemed so melancholic, border lining miserable. He remembered back to Kyungsoo falling asleep on his couch. To the holding of hands, to the tear but most of all he remembered back to those pitiful words that had escaped through his lips, 'please don't go.' For a moment Kris had thought Kyungsoo sounded like a kid. His words had sounded like the plea of a small child. Krystal...

"Kris?"
"Huh?"
"I just asked you a question."
"Ah, sorry I was... What was the question?"
"I was just asking what you were doing in Hongdae by yourself?"
"Oh, I was forcing Kyu... Someone, to go to the 1st shop of Coffee Prince."
Kris was afraid to upset his friend after everything that had happened today.

"Kris. You are allowed to have other friends even if that other friend is Do Kyungsoo."
"You know him?"
"I know him alright."

"You don't like him very much do you?"
"Until the start of this semester I didn't know much about him. I still don't and I'm afraid you'll think me petty if I tell you why I dislike the guy."
"Do you... do you know anyone named Krystal?"
Joonmyun took his eyes off the road a second to stare at Kris.

"Krystal? Very sweet girl and incredibly talented. She could've been one of the best pianists had it not been for her accident."
"Accident?"
"I'm not sure about the details, only that her hand was messed up. She dropped out last semester. Why do you ask?"
"Does Kyungsoo have any connections to the girl?"

"I should hope so. They have been dating ever since they entered the university. Not sure if they are still together though... Last I heard, the guy has been sleeping around with anything on two legs. Of course this information is from Luhan so I wouldn't take it too seriously if I were you."
"Sure, okay. Thanks."
Joonmyun pulled to a stop in front of the school.
"So I was wondering. Why did you need my help when you were with Kyungsoo earlier?"
"He sort of left me. He mentioned something about this Krystal person who should dress warmer when he just gave me his coat and left."

"He left you? In the middle of Hongdae? That's awful."

Kris's didn't really care about being left behind. What he did care about was the miserable expression on Kyungsoo's usually cheerful face.

"KRIS!"
He had only just entered the apartment when he was greeted with the shouting of his name. Kyungsoo stood in the middle of a cardboard box surrounded by polystyrene.

"Look what someone left on our doorstep. Can you believe it? It's a glass table but without the crack. Heh, Crack."
The small man proceeded to jump out of the box and run towards a flabbergasted Kris. Kyungsoo pulled him by his belt, closer to the table. He smelled of booze and... Escada?

"I was kind of sad when they took the other table because of the whole crack thing, so I carved our initials on the new table. I claim this table in the name of K and C!

Kris dared a look at the table where a clumsy K + C now resided on the probably expensive table.    

" 'C'? My name is spelled with a 'K'"
Kyungsoo awkwardly ruffled his own hair.

"I know but K+K stands for Kyungsoo + Krystal. And Krystal is a . Hey, that begins with a 'B'... huh. I guess it's okay then."
Kyungsoo grabbed the pretty large kitchen knife that was lying on the couch and carved a vertical line in front of the 'C', creating an odd looking K.

"That's... Nice, Kyungsoo. Are you drunk?"
Kyungsoo held up his hands and dropped the knife to the ground, missing his foot by mere inches.

"You got me! Are you gonna kick me out as well, if I don't sleep with you?"

"What? No! Did you friend..."
"It was so difficult to stop but I haven't slept with anyone, sober since ... the last time, which was... Canada." Kyungsoo's words were slurred by alcohol but Kris understood just fine.

"Had I been drunk. Yeah! I would probably have ed his brains out. I could your brains out. Just don't kick me out okay?"
"I'm not going to ask you to have with me, Kyungsoo." He didn't want to admit it but a small curiosity lingered on his mind.

"Aw, thank you man. Because. I wouldn't even know how to go about it." Kris was embraced by two arms around his waist and a face most likely suffocating between his pecks.

"Erh, Kyungsoo?"
"Nmus hibe minukts brease"
"What?"
Kyungsoo detached his mouth from Kris's chest.

"Just five minutes, please."

Involuntarily, his heart beat faster as he put his own arms around the drunk guy and pulled him closer.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" Kyungsoo whispered.

"?!"

Kyungsoo snorted.

"No funny business. I'm just used to sleeping next to someone... I guess I should try and kick the habit now. Sorry for asking."

Kris could see the dejection in the smaller man's eyes.  Without thinking he took Kyungsoo's hand and  started towards his bedroom.

"You can kick it tomorrow."