Kai leaves the building long after everyone’s gone. The sky’s gone black and after turning the first corner at the end of the block, only a few street lamps light up the road and the sidewalk home. His tiny hole of an apartment is only 5 blocks away from the studio. It’s an easy walk, even in the dark. Kai likes the darkness more these days. It’s better than the bright lights he grew up under, those blinding spotlights he no longer misses.

Who is he kidding? Of course he misses the spotlights.

Kai thrived on the stage, the heat from the mega wat lamps, the roar from the rafters above. They fueled his smile and put fire in his bones. He feels butterfly rush of his stomach muscles just remembering how it feels to stand in front of an audience of hundreds. Someday he would make that an audience of thousands. So he once thought.

Kai fiddles with his keys at the doorway to his mercifully first floor room. No menacing stairs to climb. Unfortunately though the windows face the street and with the curtains open there is no privacy if any passers-by care to look in. The keys slip out of his fingers and clatter onto the ground. The light’s on inside, but he can’t see his roommate anywhere. Unless the boy’s in the bathroom or playing hide-and-seek under the window sill, it doesn’t look like he’s home. That means he's in luck.

He shoves the door open with a twist of the right key and a hard kick of the foot. Timing is important here. The door bangs open with a sound more audible than if you’d just slammed it closed. Kai misses the spacious single-person apartment he had back in Texas. This lousy excuse for a room rents out at twice the price, and that’s not including the other half of Kyungsoo’s contribution.

A small pile of mail lies on a table beside the door. Most of the junk mail distributors haven’t caught up on his address change yet. That’ll change soon, he knows. With a groan he lunges onto his bed in the corner, the sheets unmade from the night before, and lets his shoe-clad feet hang over the edge. Half a minute later the shoes go flying, and he inches the socks off one at a time with his toes.

Now he can relax.

There’s a blessed silence, strangely unmarred by street noises or the thumping of his upstairs neighbors’ feet. But it doesn’t last for long. Kai’s cell may have been silenced, but the buzzing noise of an incoming call echoes twice as loudly in the stillness of the room.

“Hey.”

Kai doesn’t feel like talking right now, but he kind of owes Sehun for not personally telling his former best friend about his return to the city.

“I heard you were back.”

“Yeah.”

“How long now?”

Kai hums, as if in deep thought. He lays back on his head pillow, phone hand up to his ear with his right elbow splayed out flat on the pillow. “Two weeks?”

There’s a brief silence, followed by a single curse word on the other end of the line. “Well then, welcome home. Thanks for telling me.”

“No problem, buddy.”

Sehun curses again, then with a frustrated sigh continues as if nothing is changed. “You and me, some of the old gang… how about drinks next Friday?”

“That’s a week away.”

“Okay, then let’s meet up Monday for lunch. But still drinks next Friday.”

“I shouldn’t right now.”

“Huh? Ohh. Oh, right. Well, we’ll figure out something then.”

“Yeah…”

Kai raises his legs up until his toes block the light from the harsh overhead lamp. With his toes spread wide, the plain old ceiling fixture transforms into rays of light. Like the sun, he thinks, but not as bright. Not as powerful as a spotlight either.

“Hey, Kai?”

“Hmm.”

“How’re you doing?”

“I’m fine, Sehun.” He drops his legs down with a bounce. 

“Sure you are. How’s your mom? I haven’t been over there in a couple weeks.”

“She says hi, what do you think? You probably know more about what she’s been up to than I do. Why bother asking me?”

“Because you’re such a model for mother-son relationships,” Sehun scoffs. “She’s been lonely, you know.”

“Like I can fix that now. Anyways, she had you. You’ve always been like a second son.”

“And you’ve always been a stuck-up pain in the .”

“And proud of it.”

“You’re so full of crap.”

The two share a small chuckle. Kai knows that Sehun’s been missing him, and the truth is Kai missed Sehun too. They were best friends since middle school, dance pals and partners in mayhem. There isn’t a single thing Sehun doesn’t know about Kai, but it bothers Kai now that there seems to be more and more things that Kai doesn’t know back. Not because Sehun never told him, but because Kai never asked.  He’s cut himself off from too many things these last few years. His best friend is one of them.

“You know you can fix that now,” Sehun continues quietly. It’s almost as if they aren’t still speaking on the phone. Kai swears Sehun is sitting in the room with him now, just like old times.

“Fix what?”

“You and your mom. Us. Your life back here?”

Kai’s tongue won’t form a response. The world seems to be choking him, and all the stress and pain he’s allowed to bury deep inside himself threatens to come loose, like vomit making its escape.

His eyes burn a little. “Yeah, I’ll try.”

“Good.”

Another pause. “Hey do you know a Byun Baekhyun?” Kai asks.

“Yeah. He just got promoted to soloist, right?”

“You do hear news fast.”

“Boa may or may not have mentioned it when she may or may not have called to tell me she saw you slinking around the studio earlier.”

“Geez, I’m can’t even cough around here and the whole world’s reporting it.”

“As I told you, welcome home. What about this Baekhyun though?”

“I’m supposed to observe him practicing tomorrow. Mom’s orders.” The last words come out bitterly.

“He’s good.”

“And?”

“Not as good as you were.”

“Not as good as I was, Sehun?” Kai’s tone glitters, but it’s still evident he’s a little taken aback by that remark.

“Not as good as you could be right now if you tried, Kai. Why is she making you shadow Baekhyun though?”

“She says our styles are ‘complementary’.”

“I guess that could be true. He’s got a load of potential. Makes me a little bit jealous, personally. Just be careful though. I think he’s got a foot .”

Kai snorts loudly into the receiver.

“I’ll count myself warned. Hey I should hang up. If I don’t fall asleep soon I’ll probably get woken up when Kyungsoo gets in. Kid’s so irritating, honestly.”

“You’re rooming with Kyungsoo?”

“Yeah. Why? Does he have a foot too?”

Sehun laughs. “I’m just saying…”

“You’re not saying jack, Sehun. Yeah I know he’s weird, but at least he’s not a complete stranger. He’s tidy too.”

“Like you actually care about tidiness.”

“Hey, I do! Especially when it’s other peoples’ crap.”

“Only when it’s other peoples’ crap. You don’t do a single thing to keep your own stuff organized. Whatever. Goodnight. Food on Monday. Text me a place.”

“Gotcha. ‘Night.”

It's barely 10:00 pm and Kai swears it's 4 in the morning by the way his body refuses to budge from the bed. He should put on some different clothes, brush his teeth, or drink some water to temper his aching muscles. He knew he lost some of that muscle tone from being out of practice, but he didn't consider how inflexible he'd become. He's going to pay for this tomorrow morning when he wakes up. His body's going to cringe and groan like an old man's and there's nothing he can do to prevent it for now. Except sleep. He pulls himself out of the bed just far enough to hit the light switch, then lays down pulling the comforter completely over his head.

-----------

It’s 10 o’clock in another part of town, and the night is still young.  Baekhyun doesn’t know how it’s possible but they’ve managed to squeeze at least a dozen people into a tiny little noraebang and the theme of the night is Kpop. It’s hardly Baekhyun’s favorite kind of music. ‘Just because half of us are of Korean origin doesn’t mean we all like Kpop!’ he ranted to Tao when they first got there. Luhan’s not Korean though, and he loves the stuff. And since Luhan’s the most depressed, they let him pick the evening's entertainment. Actually, even when he’s not depressed he ends up picking the place. The last time it was a sports club and they got thrown out when Luhan insisted on picking a soccer-inspired fight with a man who only liked American football.  Luhan was so drunk Baekhyun’s pretty sure he never realized he was comparing apples to oranges.

Speaking of the drunk, Luhan’s not doing so well tonight either.

“Hey, Baek!! Baek! Come over here for a sec!”

Baekhyun’s already sitting right next to his caller, their knees touching in the small space of the leather couch. He groans, but truly he’s enjoying the night, the group’s choice in music aside.

“What!” he yells extra loud, just to see Luhan’s reaction.

“Yeeeesh, not so loud Baek!” Luhan covers his ears protectively. “Hey, come here.” He motions like he wants to whisper something, for Baekhyun’s ears only. “See that boy over there.” Baekhyun looks. Minseok’s sitting on the other side of the room, clapping his hands and cheering for the trio of dancers currently singing in the most embarrassing of ways. His hair looks matted on one side, standing up in tufts on the other, a testament to the two rivals’ earlier scuffle. “I want you to trip him up tomorrow. Then they’ll give me his role, and the balance of the world will be set right, and there’ll be no more starving people in China. Because I, Luhan, will feed them all. With my salary increase.”

“I’ll try my best! For, you know, the starving children.”

“I knew I could count on you, Baekkie!”

“Anytime.”

Baekhyun takes a swig from the nearest soju bottle and grimaces. He’ll never like the taste. He’s also a bit of a lightweight, but so far no one in the group besides Tao has figured that out. Baekhyun does a good job disguising this fact by alternating water and soju, and thank God they both have the same clear color. He doesn’t want to think about the last time he ended up totally wasted. There most definitely won’t be a repeat of that incident, because Tao doesn’t need any more pictures for blackmail material.

The music changes and a chorus of cheers erupt from the other side of the room, and from Luhan. It’s Girls’ Generation “Hoot” and Baekhyun knows what’ll happen next. He settles in for the show as his seatmate hops into action, demanding a mic. Several of the dancers shuffle around as one of their female principals also springs to life. Min sways on her feet, the effects of alcohol having already taken a toll on her sense of gravity, but there’s no holding her back.

Baekhyun relaxes back, his hands clasped behind his head and waits as the intro passes and the performers proceed to embarrass themselves, to the rest of the crowd’s immense enjoyment. There’s nothing in the world quite like drunk singer Luhan with his backup dancer Min. The two are boisterous on a normal day, but put them together for karaoke and the effects of their merriment could probably energize a small town for weeks.

“Hey Luhan, why are you a dancer again?” somebody yells out.

“Should’ve been a singer! I heard SM was holding trial auditions for their upcoming girl group!”

Luhan scoffs but doesn’t miss a beat.

Minseok's laughing outrageously from his seat, but mostly because of the ‘arrow shots’ Min’s shooting him with her aggressive dance cover.

“Non yokshi trouble trouble trouble…” sings Luhan, blissfully unaware.

Baekhyun and Tao are just waiting for him to notice, wide grins set on their faces, and Tao pulls out his phone, recording setting ready. Min does this every time to upset the overly touchy Chinese dancer.

“-ttaereul noryosseo noneun shoo shoo shoo naneun hoo hoo—YA! MIN WHAT ARE YOU--? QUIT THAT!”

The music plays on without its singer, and Min collapses to floor in a riot of tears and laughter while Luhan fake pummels her on the head.

"What do you think you are now, 2-Min??" Luhan screeches. 

Minseok protests, one hand shaking before Luhan, the other holding his own chest as loud sobs wrack through his body. 

"What a night," Baekhyun sighs. It's not even half past 10 but he wonders if he can slip out now, before it gets that much later. Call him an overachiever or something, but he's looking forward to tomorrow's early morning practice. Or dreading it, he can't decide which. The only thing he's certain about is how he wants to be at his best. Because, he's a soloist now. There's surely no other reason...

"Tao, I'm out of here. Tell the guys I'll see 'em around later."

"Sure. You're rehearsing tomorrow?, right?"

"That's the plan. Oh, and try not to wake me up when you get home this time."

Tao chuckles. "Right! I'll do my best." 

"Why do I not believe you?"

"Can I apologize in advance?"

"Long as you don't expect me to accept it."

Tao makes a cute face but it doesn't work on Baekhyun. He scowls and turns around to sneak out the door. Okay so maybe it does work, but Tao doesn't need to know that. He'll forgive him later, depending on his mood, though he seriously hopes for a good, solid night's rest. Tomorrow feels like it will a long day.

2,343 words

Waahhh, this chapter was fun to write! I've been looking forward to seeing a few of these characters at the party, but actually the Sekai phone call was even more invigorating to write. I've been longing to introduce Sehun, so here he finally is.

Sorry if I drop a lot of hints about their stories, without providing any answers. Heh Heh. I'm evil. 

No I'm not. But just wait. I'm just paving the way for now. :)

Rosie

Btw, Ever since I watched a video of Miss A's Min dancing to Hoot, I've wanted to insert that into the story here. Watch the video here. Enjoy.