*edited 1/15/2021

It had been a week since Jongin and Kyungsoo's date under the stars. Slowly but surely, the two opened up more to each other. A few of the things Kyungsoo discovered was that Jongin was a single child, his parents were overly religious, and he can't go to bed without feeling the minty freshness from brushing his teeth. Jongin learned that Kyungsoo's favorite movie is She's All That, he learned English by watching Disney movies and Friends, and that he doesn't know how to ride a bike. There wasn't much that Kyungsoo wanted to say about his family, but when the topic of his mom came up, he could talk about her for hours.

"My mom is a cook at this one restaurant a few blocks from here. Maybe we could visit sometime. I think you'd love their food," he rambled on as he was helping Jongin shave his face.

Jongin smiled as his heart fluttered, "I'm sure I would, Soo."

Kyungsoo smiled back in response, "You know, I use the exact same ingredients and everything as my mom, but my food still tastes different than hers. Maybe it's because I'm missing the whole 'love' aspect."

"I think it's because all your love is put into me, babe," he teased.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, scoffing as he put the razor down, "Oh whatever you dumbo!" He held in a giggle, "I'm done anyways get outta here." He turned around to face the mirror and fluffed his currently fading red hair which was starting to look orange and even pink in some places. "Do you think I should redye my hair? Or change the color? Or should I just go back to black?"

Jongin wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo's waist from behind and rested his chin on Kyungsoo's shoulder, "I think you should do what you feel is right. But I have to say," he placed a tender kiss on the shorter's neck, "You do look hot as all hell with the red and shaved sides."

Kyungsoo hummed, leaning into Jongin's touch, "I feel hot as all hell with it too. Will you help me redye it later?"

"Of course I will!" At that moment, the doorbell rang. They looked at each other. "Soo, were you expecting anyone?" Kyungsoo shook his head, and the two made their way to the intercom next to the door. "Who is it?"

"Kyung! Jongin! Let us in!" Luhan's voice rang through the speakers followed by Sehun, "Yo, it's a special occasion. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are here too."

Kyungsoo bit his lip, his wide eyes looking anxiously at Jongin, "I uh-- It's my birthday." Kyungsoo hated celebrating his birthday, and he didn't think his friends would actually remember and visit him especially since they hadn't spoken a word to each other in weeks.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" He said in a hurt voice. Jongin assumed Kyungsoo was comfortable around him so why would he keep it from him? 

Kyungsoo shrugged and opened his mouth to speak but before he could, Sehun spoke through the speaker again, "Let us in! We're dying out here!" Jongin sighed and pressed the button to open the front door, going forward to open the door and meet the others in the hallway without giving Kyungsoo a chance to explain himself, giving the other a slight stink eye on the way out. Jongin didn't know why he felt so hurt, and Kyungsoo didn't know how to ease the situation. 

Yet the two put on grins to greet their friends whom they hadn't seen in a while. Jongin and Kyungsoo led their guests who had arms full of presents and food into their apartment. "Kyungie, it's been so long since we've seen each other! I'm so so so so sorry, but Sehun and I were caught up in some adulty things, you know?" Luhan rambled on, wrapping his arms tightly around Kyungsoo. "Happy birthday! How have you been?" He pulled away and grabbed Kyungsoo's arms, looking into his eyes with sympathy.

"Thanks, Luhan," Kyungsoo smiled, "We've been really good! It's been nice."

There was a silence. No one expected Kyungsoo and Jongin to have gotten along that quickly. No one wanted to pry so everyone just gave Kyungsoo their happy birthday greetings. "We're sorry for dropping by unexpectedly, but we thought a fun little birthday surprise might make up for disappearing off of the face of the Earth," Chanyeol said.

"It's fine, guys, really! Let's sit down and catch up. I really missed you guys," Kyungsoo said as he led them to the couch.

Jongin, not wanting to intrude on the group of friends, led Sehun to the dining room. Sehun followed Jongin silently, eyeing the peculiar couple as he passed. They sat down in chairs next to each other at the table, and after a long silence, Sehun leaned forward and cupped his head in his hand as he raised an eyebrow, "Well? Weeks without a word from you and suddenly you're getting along fine with the kid you used to bully everyday of our entire middle school and high school career?" Jongin just pursed his lips, still ashamed of his past actions and unable to explain the situation now. Sehun sighed, tapping his fingers on the table, "Here I was thinking that you were just too busy trying to find other girls to date." Again, silence. Sehun huffed, wanting to poke fun at Jongin to get a rise out of him, "What happened to 'I'm not gay, dude' and 'I would never fall in love with a goblin like that' and 'I want a hot wife with curves.' Hm?"

The other answered abruptly, "Well people change! New experiences happen and perspectives change! Life isn't black and white. I just... I learned more about stuff and feelings... you know."

"So everything is fine all of a sudden?"

"Well it's--"

"--more than fine!" Kyungsoo was too flustered to make eye contact with any of his friends, "It's just-- I don't know! Things happened and it led to good places."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, "What a lame excuse! We want the full story how did you guys deal with things, what does 'good places' mean, details, Kyungie, DETAILS!" He exclaimed. Chanyeol had his arm wrapped around Baekhyun's shoulder and nodded, "We're just concerned."

"Okay, okay jeez. It kinda started the night of the graduation party, I think? There was this whole thing with the guy I came home with, you guys already know about that, and Jongin took care of me. We made rules for each other at first so it wouldn't be awkward and stuff, and one of them was that we both could go out and meet other people and go on dates with them so I went to a cafe and met this guy. Jongin got jealous, and it led to other stuff." He blushed, remembering the intimacy that occured between them. "

Luhan squealed, "I know what that face means! You and Jongin did the do!"

Kyungsoo covered his face that had a smile plastered onto it, "Shh, he might hear you! It-It's not that big of a deal." The three other friends sitting across from Kyungsoo exchanged glances and wiggled eyebrows. "Anyways that kinda stuff kept happening, but we agreed it was strictly like," he coughed, ". Then, uh, my parents visited." Everyone's faces fell, and Luhan leaned over to squeeze Kyungsoo's hand. "What usually happens happened, and Jongin got protective. It was--"

"--really weird." Jongin paused, "I had no idea Kyungsoo's family life was like that. It was so tense, and I just knew I didn't want Kyungsoo to have to ever go through that again. Man, the way his personality just changed completely and the way he acted for days after that," he shook his head, his eyes solemn, "It's tattooed on my mind. I never stop thinking about it. I think it was that day that I realized how dumb I was before. I wanted to protect him."

Sehun raised his eyebrows, leaning back into his chair, "This is some heavy , dude. I had no idea."

"Me neither," Jongin nodded, "And the next few days he was just so distant and not himself. I wanted to help but I--"

"--didn't know what to do! I felt so bad because I knew he was worried but I genuinely didn't know what to do! But then he actually asked me how he could make me feel better, and he took me out on this date and, my god! It was beautiful! We drove for like 2 hours to the countryside and we were in this field of cherry blossom trees and we had a picnic with fried chicken and we stayed until nighttime so we could see the stars. And ever since that, it's been good. I think... I think we actually maybe kinda sorta love each other." Luhan, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol all smiled, happy that Kyungsoo actually looked happy for once in such a long time.

Luhan spoke up after a moment of silence, "Kyung, we've known you for a long time. Through all the times we've hung out to get ice cream or gone to the arcade, this is the first time I've seen you this happy in years."

"Yeah, I mean, I'm still wary of Jongin due to your history with him, but if you really think that he's changed and that you love him, then I support you two," Baekhyun smiled gently.

"But," Chanyeol interjected, "If he hurts you in any way, I'll beat him to hell and back!"

Kyungsoo chuckled, "Thanks guys, I missed you. Anyways, enough about me! What about you guys? I know Luhan and Sehun got along fine at the start but," he shifted his gaze on Baekhyun and Chanyeol, "I'm more curious about you two."

Baekhyun confidently intertwined his hand with a blushing Chanyeol, "We're great! It took us like two weeks after we last saw you in the cafe, but I forced us to have a real talk. We agreed that we would try it out, and it led to 'good things.'" He laughed, intentionally quoting Kyungsoo's previous use of the term.

"I was a dumbo," Chanyeol pouted as he confessed, "I was raised to think that masculinity and pride was this huge thing that had to be preserved! But I made myself become more open minded, and it turned out great." As he said this, he was gazing lovingly at Baekhyun who returned it. Kyungsoo smiled, happy that his friends were finally happy too.

Jongin and Sehun finished their overview of Jongin and Kyungsoo's relationship, but Jongin still had more concerns. "I'm afraid that Kyungsoo doesn't think my love is genuine! I have a bad reputation, but I can't fix it. But like, for example, he didn't tell me about his birthday! I didn't even know his birthday was today until he told me right when you guys said happy birthday to him through the intercom!"

Sehun sighed, already sick of Jongin's childish whining. "Dude, if you're so concerned about it then talk to him. Sit him down and have a conversation. I know we just got out of high school but, jeez, try to be adults about it. Don't have a high school relationship." He stood up from his seat, "Anyways, you can discuss that with him later. Right now, let's go celebrate your husband's birthday." He opened the door into the living room, gesturing for Jongin to walk through first, which he did grudgingly. 

Jongin walked up behind where Kyungsoo was sitting and wrapped his arms around him. "Happy birthday," he whispered into Kyungsoo's ear. "I'm not mad, I promise. We can talk later." 

Luhan jumped up from his seat, "So Kyung, it's your birthday. What do you want to do? There's food and presents." He grabbed Sehun's arms and wrapped them around himself to which Sehun chuckled, squeezing the other in his embrace.

"I don't know," he shrugged, "I guess we can eat."

Hours passed and it was finally nighttime. Everyone exchanged goodbyes and parted their ways from Kyungsoo and Jongin's apartment. Kyungsoo received fairly expensive presents from his friends, and he wondered how they even gathered enough money to get them. He got a 3DS from Luhan and Sehun along with Animal Crossing New Leaf. From Baekhyun and Chanyeol, he got the entire physical set of the Harry Potter series. Kyungsoo's father didn't allow him to play video game or "read childish books" like Harry Potter so he was ecstatic. Right when Kyungsoo sat down on the couch, he opened his 3DS right away and popped in the Animal Crossing cartridge. 

Jongin chuckled, grabbing a blanket and snuggling up next to Kyungsoo who tugged the blanket over him. Kyungsoo groaned as he had to sit through the 3DS settings and tutorials. He mindlessly clicked through as he said, "Do you want to talk about stuff now or...?" The other wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo tightly and kissed the top of his head, "We don't have to right now. I know how much you want to play."

"It's getting kind of late so I don't think it's the optimal time to play anyways." He quickly finished filling out the settings on the 3DS then turned it off. "So..."

Jongin hummed, "Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"

Kyungsoo shrugged, shifting around into a more comfortable position in Jongin's arms, "I just don't like celebrating my birthday. I didn't think it would be that important."

"Why do you think that?"

"I just... I," Kyungsoo paused, "I don't know. My dad always treated it like a burden, and I didn't want you to have to go out of your way to do something for me just because woohoo it's the day the earth has orbited the sun 19 times!" 

"When you say it like that, I can see why you'd think it's so mundane." Jongin laughed. The way Kyungsoo could find a different perspective about different things was peculiar but unique. "If you don't want to celebrate your birthday in the future, I can respect that. But I'm happy that the day you were born came because if it didn't, we wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be in my arms, and I wouldn't be in love with you--"

Kyungsoo gasped.

Jongin tilted his head, but suddenly he realized that that indeed was the first time either of them said the words "I love you." 

Silence.

"I love you too." Kyungsoo said quietly, softly placing a tender kiss on Jongin's cheek.

Jongin blushed and croaked out, "That's good." Kyungsoo laughed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AYEEEEE CHAPTER UPDATE! I feel like this chapter was pretty iffy but eh the story has to progress somehow and not all of it can be as great as the other chapters!

Thank you for reading! Your support from comments gives me so much motivation so thank you so much! It makes my heart soar to know that people still support this fanfic :,)

Have a good day and be safe!

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