Kai’s half of the room looks marginally better than it did a week ago. There’s a least an open chair for Sehun to sit down on while Kai digs around in his closet for a previously stashed suitcase. He’s being uncharacteristically fussy tonight and it’s amusing the hell out of Sehun.

“All this for a sweater?” he taunts.

Kai doesn’t answer. Instead he yelps and Sehun just smirks at the sound of something falling off a shelf, crashing apparently onto Kai’s head.

“I’m getting bored, Kai… Tell me again why I came all the way up to this cursed side of town just to watch you get all prettied up?”

“It was your choice to come this early,” comes the muffled reply. He emerges from the closet a moment later, shirtless but clutching a navy blue ribbed sweater. It looks hopelessly wrinkled and Kai grimaces as he tries his best to shake it out.

“I just wanted to see what kind of place you got here. How come you moved in with Kyungsoo anyways? It’s not like you guys are best of friends.”

Kai pauses, reflecting for a moment on how this all came about. It was true he and Kyungsoo weren’t all that close, though the three of them and their families had known each other since the boys were in middle school.

“I heard Kyungsoo was starting college and looking for a roommate.”

Sehun sighs and pretends to look hurt. “Well it’s good to know that Kyungsoo knew you were coming back before I did. By the way, just how many people did know you were coming back before you bothered to tell me? Oh wait. You didn’t tell me. I heard about it from somebody else.”

Kai recognizes the glazed over expression on Sehun’s face and chooses not to poke at his friend’s hidden nerves. “My mom set it up. It just worked out this way,” he says quietly.

Sehun nods to himself but seems to accept this.  “You could’ve moved into my place," he says a little livelier.

“You live too far away. The commute would’ve killed me.” He laughs and Sehun chuckles back.

“Ever the impatient one. Some things don’t change, huh?”

And sometimes it’s better to live with people you aren’t as close with, Kai thinks.  Kyungsoo wasn’t a dear friend, despite the fact that they’d known each other for years before Kai moved away, but he makes a good roommate. He might have a dozen obnoxious quirks, but he is silent when Kai wants silence, respectful when Kai needs a sanctuary. Most importantly, he doesn’t ask any hard questions when Kai isn’t ready to answer them.

He thinks for a moment about Baekhyun in the practice room last week.  It should really bug him that Baekhyun was so nosy. But here he is picking out his favorite sweater to wear out tonight and…

 “F--- it’s covered in dog hair too.”

 Sehun has no pity. “It looks like it’s been buried in that suitcase for two years.”

 “Thanks, Sehun, for that brilliant observation.”

“You need an ironing board.”

“This place is too small for an ironing board.”

“You don’t have a washer/dryer?”

“Down the street and three blocks to the left.”

“Then sit on it.”

“What?”

“Sit on it and the warmth from your will iron it out.”

Kai freezes to stare at his best friend, his lips drawn up into a horrified scowl. Sehun inclines his eyebrows.

“What?” Kai repeats, incredulous.

“Hey I’m a poor college student too. I’ve had to learn a few tricks.” Sehun lays his words out real sad.

 “I don’t believe you. I think you live in a mansion with a dozen personal maids, a butler and an elevator boy.”

“I look forward to confirming your career as prophet. What happened to your dog anyways?”

Kai’s breath draws in unexpectedly, the unbelief of the moment catching him off guard. Slowly, so as to control his voice, he says, “As you can see, there’s no room for a dog here. I left him in Houston with my half brother, why?” He runs a hand heavily through his hair, ruffling it into an unbecoming style.

Sehun doesn’t answer and a thick silence hangs over the boys as they gaze off in different directions. “It was cute. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. Well. David fell in love with Monggu too. It’ll be good for him. Th-they can grow up together now.”

“I see…”

Kai huffs, determined to change the subject but he can’t think of anything else to talk about, and Sehun isn’t helping. He tosses the crumpled sweater onto his bed, reaches underneath it in for a cream colored belt and proceeds to wrap the belt around his wrist in irritation rather than putting it on. The alarm clock on his dresser reads 8:14 pm. It’s way too early to do anything or go anywhere, and they can’t leave until Kyungsoo gets back anyways. That leaves at least another half hour to kill with just Sehun for company. He feels exhausted suddenly.

Of all the things that had gone wrong in Kai’s life, of all the even heavier topics Sehun might have mentioned, he just has to pry open this one.

“It’s alright. Someday I can get another dog, and in the meantime, Monggu’s not dead. I get facebook picture updates at least once a week.” He smiles painfully.

“What are you doing?” Sehun asks when Kai throws himself backwards down onto his bed.

“Ironing, dummy.”

Sehun snorts. “Maybe you should put the sweater flat before you lay on it then.”

“Uhm… oh, right.”

It’s too comfortable, lying down. Kai wants to nap, wishing more than anything that today was like old days where he wouldn’t need to entertain Sehun. But there’s no TV in this tiny room, no video game systems, and his ratty laptop isn’t going to do any good when they don’t even have the wifi set up yet.

“Hey, Kai.”

Here it comes. He doesn’t blame Sehun for being impatient, curious, interfering, prying, or anything at all really. It’s been two years since they truly hung out. Today is only the second time they’ve met since Kai’s return, and the first time earlier in the week hadn’t been a very lengthy reunion.

“Hmm?”

“Are you going to tell me about Baekhyun?”

Kai exhales a breath he didn’t know he was holding, a twinge of relief washing over him. At least this is a subject easier than the one he was expecting.

“What about him? I thought I already mentioned him.”

“You just said he was a good dancer and would do well in your mom’s company. You never mentioned you’d be making me ditch all my other friends to ride shotgun on your date tonight.”

“It’s not a date.” It's not, right?

Kai warily remembers a conversation he had with Sehun three years – or was it four years – ago, and Sehun’s pleasantly shocked expression, neither fearsome nor condoning. 

‘I think, I l-like… I mean I can’t be sure because it’s not like I’ve tested this out on anyone- or anything yet, but… you know how I-I’ve never really talked about girls. Well, I think it’s because I l-like… because I don’t, like girls…’

Sehun had scoffed, weaseling the actual confession out of Kai (I like guys) but he’d given his friend a comforting pat on the shoulders all the same.

‘How cliché… Well, just to clarify things. You don’t want to “confirm” or “test” anything with me right?”’

‘Absolutely not, man.’

‘Good. I mean, cool. Hey, thanks for telling me though.’

‘Yeah. Thanks for… well, you know. You’re not weirded out?’

‘Only a little, but I’ll get over it. Hey you’re not in love with Kyungsoo, are you? Because honestly that would be weird.’

‘No! Ugh you’re right. That would be weird. Who’d even think that anyways…?’

‘I know, right. It’s weird.’

‘Totally.’

‘So who or what person has made you think this way?’

“You’ve never actually dated anyone, have you?” Sehun’s remark nails it exactly. He sighs as Kai shakes his head, admitting the truth. “Going out with friends to the movies is like me saying to a group of my friends and their acquaintances, ‘Hey, ‘sup. Movies tonight. Hell yeah okay.’ Dating is you asking a guy you’ve only met once and don’t really know if he wants to meet up later. Okay, so that’s not actually getting to the dating stage yet, but it’s just a step away. You get it? You essentially asked him out.”

“I said he could bring his friend…”

“That’s a pathetic excuse for a cover.”

“Kyungsoo was with us…”

“He’s never met Kyungsoo before this morning.”

“I said you were coming too?” Kai pleads with a boyish smile. Even he’s aware how lame it sounds.

“I’m not his friend and –” Sehun gives up with a groan of frustration, biting his lower lip to keep the grin from coming out. His hopeless friend flops on the bed again, arms up over his head with his elbows drawn together covering his face. “Your hair’s not gonna get any better like that.”

“I asked him out, didn’t I?” Kai cringes. 

“Maybe yes, maybe no. Maybe you should find out if he likes you first?”

“I’ll be sure to ask him the moment we meet.”

The sound of a key fiddling with the lock turns their attention to the entryway, and with a crash Kyungsoo kicks in the jammed door with his knee and nearly overbalances. He halts his fall by grabbing onto the open doorframe, right leg wrapped around the inside, his left still in the hall.

“Safe!” He shouts. “Oh, hi, Sehun.”

“Hi, yourself. You okay?”

“Perfect. Thank you.” Kyungsoo rights himself and steps into the room. He lugs his full backpack to his bed in the opposite corner, and gingerly removes a few of the items onto his bedside table. The backpack disappears in a cubby hole under the table, his shoes beside it.

“Still neat as ever, isn’t he?” Sehun says to Kai, who nods noncommittally.

“What time is the movie?” Kyungsoo asks. He grabs a clean shirt from his closet and disappears into the tiny bathroom as Kai shouts back the time. Emerging less than a minute later with fresh clothes, water-rinsed face, and his hair quickly combed he looks ready to go. “We should leave here soon then…” Kyungsoo hates even the thought of being a little bit late to things.

“Agreed,” Sehun adds, nodding to Kai. They both stare at the boy on the bed.

“What?”

“You’re going to put on a shirt, right?” asks Kyungsoo.

Kai takes that as his cue to fish the sweater out from underneath his body. He lifts one hip up only to discover the blue cloth tucked away under the other cheek, and Kyungsoo rolls his whole head in the shame of it all.

It takes him ten minutes in the bathroom to complete his attire and artfully craft his hair into something resembling a natural, messy look. When he’s done he finds Sehun and Kyungsoo whispering something that leads to a squawk from Kyungsoo and a stoic grin from Sehun when they catch him watching.

“What’re y’all talking about?”

“Nothing interesting.”

“Yup.”

“Fine. Well I’m ready.”

Sehun stands up, verifies that nothing’s fallen out of his backpack as he hoists it around his shoulders. “You sure? How come Kyungsoo gets changed in 2.5 seconds flat and it takes you half an hour?”

“Whatever. Let’s go.”

Baekhyun was really starting to regret not persuading Tao to come with him tonight. He’d been trying all day, expressly mentioning how Kai had invited him too. But Tao would not bite, not even when Baekhyun said there would be a gang of Kai’s friends there as well. ‘If you go with me, you’ll only stand next to me,’ he said. ‘But if you go by yourself you’ll have no choice but to hang out with Kai and make friends him and with his friends.’

That was problem number one. Why exactly should he force himself to socialize solo. If Kai invited him, Kai should talk to him whether or not Tao or anyone else was around. Baekhyun’s already nervous though. The thought of being at the mercy of a pack of strangers is somehow more intimidating than the thought of Kai alone. If he even makes it that far into the night.

Problem number two is this part of town. He’s barely been up this far and not on a subway line, and even in the daylight he remembers things could get sketchy. It’s dark now and the throngs of people on the streets aren’t doing anything to calm him down. He’s not necessarily scared of crowds, but at night the shadows loom longer, the street lights are alternately too bright and then too dark, and he imagines every other loitering pedestrian giving him the once over. Look like you know where you’re going. Act confident. Don’t meet anyone in the eyes. Don’t act like you’re lost. You’re not lost. It’s just two block west and you’re there.

They’re long blocks now though. Baekhyun resists the urge to jog a little, keeping his footsteps evenly spaced and his breathing likewise. Maybe it’s a mistake, accepting this silly invitation to the movies. He doesn’t go to the theater often and he’s pretty sure there isn’t a single movie he’s remotely interested in. Mistake, mistake, he repeats to the rythmn of his muffled steps.  

Halfway to his destination he stops to wait for a crosswalk. Bodies crowd around behind him. It's nothing unusual but for some reason Baekhyun's got a bad feeling about this. Maybe it's his nerves but he notices a tall stranger with a dark purple hoodie standing way too close behind his left shoulder, and it's making him paranoid. He knows he doesn't have any open pockets containing important documents or money, but that guy won't know that. What if he's about to get mugged for $20 in the middle of the street? He's heard stories of people beat up or robbed in broad daylight while dozens of pedestrians walked on by without a care in the world. And that wasn't even in a shady area of town, but on a broad street full of tourists and office workers. 

The light changes and before the crosswalk sign even turns white he steps into the street, a little too hurriedly. His right foot falters a bit but he refuses to go down. He gets his balance back on track and determinedly marches across the street. He meets the wave of oncoming people from the other side and weaves through with the skill and precision of a dancer on shaky ground. Made it, he chants as his feet step up over the curve. Just another long block and he should see the theater. On a whim he looks back over his shoulder and freaks out when he sees the purple hoodie man reaching a long arm for him. He's about to get grabbed and dragged off, and there's no way he's going to let that happen! He twirls to avoid the oncoming hand and topples to the ground backwards with a loud shriek. Several people nearby look over at him but sure enough, none stop to help. Except for the attacker himself.

"Hey, mister. Hey I'm sorry!" 

"What do you want?!" Baekhyun shouts, his mind officially losing it as the man crouches down next to him. He barely registers the foreign accent, a lilting sound, as the man takes Baekhyun's arm to pull him back up.

"I d-didn't mean to make you fall over. I just wanted to ask you- I think I'm lost. I mean I've checked the map but I don't even know which way is west or east or north or if I'm just walking in circles now." 

"Oh." Baekhyun forces himself to calm down. "Uhm, I don't really know this area well either. Where are you heading?"

"The movie theater? It's supposed to be on 124th or 125th and I think I'm still on 125th. Oh yes. There's a street sign." 

Baekhyun laughs a little nervously when he realizes the man's going the same direction as he is. But now that he looks at the stranger up close he seems vaguely harmless. "Actually, I'm going that way. It's... close. I'm meeting some guys outside the theater too!" He makes sure the man knows he won't be entirely alone, just in case.

"Oh awesome. Can I walk with you then? I'm meeting some people there too. I hope they picked a good movie. I don't want to see anything scary." Baekhyun and his new charge head off again, side by side, while Baekhyun eyeballs the man's movements, just to make sure he doesn't try anything funny. "What's your name?" the man finally asks, pleasantly.

"B-Baekhyun... ehh, and you?"

He smiles. "Yixing."

2,822 words

Ahaha, and another character has made his entrance. ;) Lay btw is my official Exo life ruiner. I love him to pieces.

Sorry, date night will be in the next chapter, so be prepared and expect some big revelations finally!

(Is it just me or do my chapters keep getting longer and longer - I can't help it! There was just so much to say between Kai and Sehun and then Kyungsoo, and I refuse to write a chapter without Baekhyun in it)

Hope you liked the chapter. :)

Question to all my readers: Who is your Exo bias and/or who or which character would like to see more in this story? I have 2 still to make an appearance, I know, but I will fix that soon. Promise.

Good luck surviving the Exo comeback!!!

Rosie <3

P.S. Kai's outfit (or at least that silly sweater) and hairstyle is inspired by this lovely photo. Enjoy the pretty.

Note on the geography: Some of you might have guessed or thought about this, or maybe you haven't and that's fine, but this story is loosely set in New York City, mostly on the upper west side, even with Central Park. I'm not a native, but my sister lived there for a year and I've been privileged to spend many, many vacations in the city and I know and love it well. Also, for whatever sights I can't remember, google maps street view is kind of incredible. I walked Baekhyun's entire journey through Harlem with him, because like him I haven't actually walked it. I took one harrowing taxi trip down that street and that was enough.