Kyungsoo started acting even stranger after Baekhyun had given them the bribe money. He started getting on his laptop all the time and would spend hours researching things that he refused to talk about later.

Kai had completely stopped pressing him about it because he didn't want to fight, not with the fragile state he knew that the older must be in at the moment. Instead he just tried to figure things out through sneaky glances or stolen looks at the screen, but that didn't help at all.

Everything seemed so random and he wasn't comprehending it at all, but he was trying to keep an open mind about things. Eventually Kyungsoo was going to talk to him about it, Kai was sure of that .... at least he thought he was sure of that.

Each day less was making sense, each day he felt Kyungsoo slipping away. He was terrified of this and what scared him most was that he couldn't do anything to stop it. If he tried being assertive, it might enflame whatever the older was going through, but if he kept trying to ignore it, it would only allow the affliction to spread.

It was a week later that he woke up and Kyungsoo was gone.

There was no note, no text, no call. Nothing to tell him that the older was coming back besides the fact that none of his clothes seemed to be gone nor were his few personal belongings and plushies. There weren't any obvious signs that he'd run away, he just simply wasn't there right now.

Kai sat down and tried to stay calm after he'd inspected the house for any clues as to what was going on. Flipped through the channels on the television, made left-overs as per usual, and just hoped that something would happen.

Later it finally came time for classes and he was very happy for the distraction, but it ended too soon afterwards and he found himself back at home, lonely again. Is this what it would be like if Kyungsoo wasn't with him anymore? The overwhelming quiet he was facing was deafening. It was tearing him apart and at all times he felt tears start to well in his eyes.

When did he become this codependant? There was a time in his life when he was happy with no people around. When it was good to have 'alone-time' and he didn't want anyone intruding on his 'me' moments. But that's not who he was anymore.

He guessed this was what it was to grow up. This must have been the feeling that Baekhyun had been trying to describe to him so long ago. The maturity one feels when they get into a relationship this serious.

No longer was he just a lone person and the thought of going back to that state repulsed him. No, it wasn't just Kai. It was 'Kai and Kyungsoo' and he wasn't sure he if he was going to make it if things changed back to a singular title.

This was one of those times he wished he still had Chanyeol in his life. Very long ago he would have taken this problem to Yeol because that's where he would get all of his manhood advice.

His former best-friend had lived so much more than him and always seemed so confident in what he was doing. It was hard to believe there was ever a time when Chanyeol was his role model, but it was true for not so long ago.

Coming back had changed so many things for him ... he couldn't decide if these changes were positives or negatives anymore.

He was less illusioned and naive than he was when he first arrived and in the process, he'd lost someone so very close to him. At least he'd gotten closer to Sehun in the process. But what he had with Hun was so different from what he used to have with Yeol and he knew they'd never get to that point together.

Sehun just wasn't exactly a natural born leader like Park Chanyeol was. He didn't have the same commanding presence nor did he have the bizarre wisdom of their giant.

Kai took a minute to stop himself and reconsider. Chanyeol turned out to be a lying, cheating, bastard in the end. He definitely wasn't the superhero the younger was building up in his head.

The weight of everything crushed him further while Kyungsoo was gone. In the still, his mind was spinning like a wheel and it all seemed to be tumbling down on him.

Kyungsoo was the only thing that could take him away from this, make the world vanish, ease his worries back, wipe away all the pain. This was part of their union. This is why it was so important to no longer separate like what had happened today.

It was very late in the evening when the older finally got home and Jongin was going to let out his frustrations on him for leaving like he had ... before he fully saw Kyungsoo enter.

But when the older finally got home, his anger dissipated.

Soo was sporting a bright smile and the outfit he had on was reminiscent of the things he'd worn way back when Kai first moved in --- skin tight, black jeans and a white knitted sweatshirt. Soo actually kind of looked like himself again.

What was happening? He was so unsure, but he was happy about it. Kai had been feigning for the day that things would go back to their pre-assault state and something about Soo told him they'd found a way there again.

And suddenly, things just started to work. The older started wearing his clothes again, started opening up again, watching television again, being super cuddly again.

It was just all slipping back. They'd even begun being intimate with each other again, though they hadn't gone very far with it and certainly not all the way. Neither was ready to go there again for so many reasons, but they'd been touching in a way that he'd longed for.

Still, he