Length: 4,1k

Genre: fluff

Rating: PG

Summary: Kyungsoo stared in mild  Kyungsoo just thought that having a kitten or something magically appear one day for him to take care of would be a lot less nerve wracking than... whatever THIS was... at the little... thing staring balefully up at him from the diner table.

"It's not so much of a big deal," Minseok had lightly commented, as his own little thing crawled happily along his shoulders in the middle of the cafe, a jumbo marshmallow hanging from his mouth and another one tucked possessively under his arm. The poor creature's entire head was only just slightly bigger than the treat it was gnawing on. "Just think of him as a pet... That... happens to look exactly like your supposed first true love."

Kyungsoo's little thing, this little four inch person that looked like it might be straight out of a child's Japanese cartoon, was currently trying to follow the example Minseok's sprite was making, teetering dangerously on the arm Kyungsoo had laid carefully on the table. With his dark hair and skin and full lips, Kyungsoo tried his hardest to imagine how the full size version was going to look like and could only come up blank.

"But it's not... natural," the flabbergasted male insisted.

His thing couldn't talk, but it could certainly give Kyungsoo the most wounded look he had ever seen from a living organism. And he maybe might have felt a tiny bit bad at those cute lips pouting up at him.

Minseok made an offended sound, scooping his own little sprite into his hands so that he could hold him defensively against his chest, aghast. "Xiao Lu is not unnatural," he scolded heatedly, even though the sprite he was so fervently defending seemed much more preoccupied with cheerfully snuggling closer to him and nibbling on his second marshmallow, his cheeks still full of the previous one. Kyungsoo thought it reminded him of a chipmunk. "And your sprite isn't, either. Everyone who turns of age gets one, that's just how it goes."

Kyungsoo let his guilt get the better of him, hesitantly offering a marshmallow to the little sprite he had upset, partly worried it would bite him or something. He sighed when the thing turned petulantly away, eyes watery with crocodile tears.

He had to stop himself from asking Minseok back why people hadn't even questioned the strange phenomenon, knowing he's already complained about it enough. But how the hell was he supposed to just be okay with randomly waking up one morning to find a little chibi person ("soulmate," Minseok fervently insisted, ever the romantic, even if the word was a very far stretch because not everyone actually ended up together) cuddled in the juncture of his neck and shoulder? And he was expected to take care of it? Most of the time he forgot to wash his own laundry!

"Have you even asked him his name?" Minseok asked reprimandingly, raising an eyebrow at him. Kyungsoo was sheepish again, as the quick shake of a tiny face from his sprite gave answer to that well enough.

"He can't talk," Kyungsoo defended weakly when his friend narrowed his eyes at him, scrabbling for excuses, "How do I know?"

"How about you ask him," Minseok deadpanned, "They're sentient, you know."

Kyungsoo gave a long suffering sigh, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. The little sprite was still turned away from him, ignoring him.

"Yah," he muttered, giving it a good poke. The sprite turned and batted at his finger irritably.

"Be gentle!" Minseok scolded, scandalized.

"I didn't hurt him," Kyungsoo complained. "Yah, little thing. What's your name?"

The sprite proceed to turn his nose up at him and marched his way to hide behind Kyungsoo's coffee cup. Kyungsoo gave Minseok a look as if to say "see?"

"That's your fault," the older sniffed. Xiao Lu had finished his marshmallow and was staring pleadingly up at Minseok. Kyungsoo watched as his hyung's eyes softened down at the sprite before he gently patted his head with a single finger. "No, Lu, you'll get a stomach ache."

Kyungsoo expected Xiao Lu to act as much of a brat as his sprite was acting, but instead he simply smiled up at Minseok and nodded. Kyungsoo wondered if he could ever be that soft with his sprite, or with anyone. Minseok acted like he loved Xiao Lu, and if sprites were really just a smaller version, a small piece of your true love (soulmate, kindred spirit, best friend, whatever, the point is that they were supposed to be life changing) like some people said, then wouldn't Kyungsoo at least like his, too?

"You need to be nice to him," Minseok insisted. "And certainly don't jab your finger at him."

Kyungsoo grumbled, chastised, and rested his chin on his folded arms. He watched his coffee cup, seeing his sprite peak around the edge of it curiously before realizing it was seen and promptly pouting even harder.

"You said they look like our true loves?" he wondered distractedly. He waited for the sprite to peek around again, but this time when he did he playfully tapped the top of his head with a finger. The sprite was disgruntled, but not angry, and tapped Kyungsoo's finger back with the whole of his hand. "So whoever this is has one of me."

"If he's of age," Minseok calmly replied, more at ease now that Kyungsoo was actually being less antagonistic to his sprite. Xiao Lu struggled, tongue poking out cutely in concentration, to get into the pocket of his shirt, his normal place to be carried in, and poked his head out curiously to watch the other two. When Kyungsoo offered a marshmallow again, he was relieved to see that it was actually accepted this time. Kyungsoo sighed heavily, blowing his bangs out of his face.

"What's your name?" he tried again, more softly this time. He didn't like how warily his sprite stared at him, realized that he hadn't been the best person for him to be around since he woke up this morning and immediately started wriggling as if he had a bug on his neck and not the miniature fairy-esque version of his true love.

But the sprite scrambled over to the menu laid out on the table, stared hard at it for a moment before he began to run along it and hop on specific letters.

K... a... i...

"Kai?" Kyungsoo said out loud, and little Kai grinned, nodding his head vigorously. Kyungsoo grinned a little, too, tapping Kai on the head teasingly again. Even if having a sprite made him nervous, Kai was still undeniably cute.

"You should get him a few things," Minseok offered, happy now and smiling at the two. "Clothes and stuff are really cheap for sprites. You should get him a few snacks too. They need to bathe, but they don't need to use the bathroom, or at least I haven't seen Xiao Lu need to..."

They looked down at their respective sprites, and watched Xiao Lu shrug and Kai shake his head.

Kyungsoo sighed yet again, still watching his little sprite stare innocently back at him. This was something people had been living with for who knows how long after all. It wasn't as if he didn't like sprites, but just having proof that he might have a lover out there, waiting for him, gave him in a strange feeling of anxiety and impatience. There were just too many "if"s, too many little clues that he might not pick up on.

Because this person might not even be the one he could be happy with. It could be a dud like what had happened with his parents, where the sprite they had recieved was not actually their true love but someone who would lead them to their true love. Or his homeroom teacher from highschool, where the relationship couldn't work out and so they had just taken their respective sprites and separated. What if the man his sprite looked like had a sprite of someone else? What if Kyungsoo never even met him, since just having a sprite didn't mean you get a find-yourself-true-love-gaurantee card?

"I guess we do need to go get you a few things," he relented, nudging Kai's soft cheek with the tip of his finger. Kai would be a permanent fixture whether he thought he was ready or not, and when Kyungsoo wasn't pissing him off, he actually seemed like he might be really sweet. Kai smiled up at him and leaned in to the contact, nibbling shyly on the marshmallow Kyungsoo had given him.

"Good!" Minseok exclaimed, glad that Kyungsoo was accepting him. He leaned forward excitedly, and Xiao Lu shuffled a bit in his pocket so that he wouldn't fall out. "Okay, so I know the best store you'll want to go to..."

Kyungsoo had to get really creative, really fast. Because Kai was only four inches tall, and nearly everything in his entire apartment was obviously much too big for him. Thimbles became Kyungsoo's new favorite thing, because they were the perfect size to put liquid things into like juice or soap, and he had taken to using coins, of all things, as plates for dinner (after boiling them for quite some time to make sure they were clean because money is germy and ew). Kyungsoo might not have known how to mince food before but had certainly made himself learn now, after searching through the grocery store for the smallest things Kai could eat without choking.

For him to bathe, he simply placed a bowl in the corner of the shower, out of the way of the spray, a thimble of soap carefully placed next to it. His ungodly amount of clothes (because holy , they were cheap and both Kyungsoo and Kai might have both gone overboard) were organized into neat piles which Kyungsoo just kept on his dresser, to make it easier for Kai to go through. Kai apparently really liked shoes but absolutely despised socks, even though Kyungsoo had downright squealed when he saw the tiny little things in the store.

Kai, Kyungsoo had discovered, was also a troublemaker. As in Little with capital letters. It wasn't so much that he was mischievous as he was naive, and thought it was perfectly fine to do things like play in the flower pot, mess with the neighboor's mean cat or, God help him, crawl into the sink disposer. Needless to say though, if Kyungsoo's reaction was extreme enough, he would not do it again. Especially after the sink thing, since Kyungsoo had freaked out so much that Kai wouldn't even look at the kitchen sink, let alone go near it again.

One day, weeks after Kai had popped up in his life, Kyungsoo found himself staring in dismay down at Kai one day, the little one beaming happily up at him from under a pile of hot chocolate powder, of all things, the sloppily opened bag lying a few inches away from him.

"You're going to get sticky," Kyungsoo flatly stated, too used to this kind of stuff now to do anything more than just stare.

Little Kai didn't look very perturbed by the knowledge, but saw the look on Kyungsoo's face and meekly offered one of the tiny marshmallows that came with the packet as a peace offering. Kyungsoo chuckled without meaning to, and Kai beamed back, relieved that Kyungsoo wasn't mad at him.

"You've probably ruined that outfit too, you know," he pointed out, sitting on the ground in front of him. Kai suddenly looked absolutely dismayed by that, looking down at the chocolate powder as if it had betrayed him and then back up to Kyungsoo with big brown eyes. It was his favorite shirt.

"Do you want to take a bath?" A quick nod. "Do you promise not to do it again?" Another nod, more vigorous this time. Kyungsoo laughed at him again, Kai was smiling bashfully. "Close your eyes." He blew at the dust and Kai, making most of it go all over the floor instead of piled up on him, little Kai rocking back onto his hands because even if, to Kyungsoo, it was a light breeze, to Kai it would have almost been enough to fall over. Kyungsoo couldn't help a grin when Kai slid his little feet over the floor, making partial cocoa angels and not helping the mess. It would be easy to sweep though, so he didn't mind. Kai's little arms reached up eagerly after that, making grabby motions towards him that Kyungsoo cooed at, carefully scooping him up into his hands.

As the months progressed, something began to change with Kyungsoo. It started out small, so small he hadn't noticed, but as the days went by and by it began to get more prominant and actually catch his attention. His chest was becoming tight with anxiety, like he was waiting for something, and it made him so uncomfortable that some nights he couldn't sleep. Those nights, little Kai would notice something wrong, and climb up his pillow to come comfort him with soft pats against his forehead. Kai soothed the strange ache Kyungsoo felt, made it twist in his chest a little less harshly, and he would smile and let Kai lay down next to his head, rubbing the little sprite's back calmly with a couple fingers as they both drifted off.

It took three years after Minseok first got little Xiao Lu for his big Xiao Lu to finally come into his life. It happened while he was at school, and the most Kyungsoo had heard from him for nearly an entire week was a simple I found him, Soo, before he completely dropped off the face of the Earth to, presumably, spend quality time with his newfound "soulmate". Kyungsoo met him at the usual cafe when they had finally come out of whatever place they had locked themselves in, looking absolutely smitten with each other and making the anxiety in Kyungsoo's chest twist even more.

"I'm Luhan," the Chinese exchange student had laughed in near-flawless Korean, arm slung comfortably around a positively beaming Minseok. They had met since Luhan was doing a study abroad program, just happening to be attending Minseok's college. "And this is actually Xiumin."

Xiao Lu had little Xiumin in the tightest hug imaginable. The first thing Kyungsoo noticed about him was that he looked almost overwhelmed from Xiao Lu's affection, but still never tried to push him away, nuzzling back and smiling sweetly when Xiao Lu would peck his cheek. The second thing he noticed was that he had the roundest cheeks he had ever seen on a sprite.

"Dumpling," burst from Kyungsoo's mouth without it even meaning to as he stared down at little Xiumin. God, his cheeks were so round, it was unreal. Kyungsoo had never seen anything more adorable than the two snuggling together, but he scrunched his face up when Xiao Lu gave Kai a possessive glare when his sprite tried shyly approaching them.

Luhan positively died laughing at that, clapping his hands in his mirth while Minseok flushed in embarrassment. "I told you!" he crooned, jostling Minseok teasingly. "Baozi~"

"Shut up," Minseok complained, but he was still smiling like a fool, and he easily let Luhan pull him back into his side. Kyungsoo felt the twist in his chest again and grimaced, then smiling weakly to reassure Kai when the sprite touched his arm in concern. Minseok's eyes darted down to where Kyungsoo was rubbing his chest and something strange crossed his expression that Kyungsoo couldn't catch, wondering for a moment that it might have been amusement.

"If you insist," Luhan sighed happily, looking down at Minseok as if he meant the world to him. Kyungsoo wondered if he could ever be that happy.

The feeling in his chest began to get even worse. It took his breath away, sometimes, made him stop in whatever he was doing just so that he wouldn't collapse. He'd called his mother over it, but all she had done was giggle and change the subject, and he'd been brushed off the same way by Minseok and his hyung and even his friend Junmyeon, who was a doctor, and so he had assumed that it wasn't anything serious.

But the worst part is that it began to affect Kai. On the same days when he would feel worse, Kai would spend the day morose, lethargic, and not play around as much as he usually did. He was more open to cuddling with Kyungsoo those days, seemed soothed by how he would press him to his neck and hum light tunes to ease him.

The worst night by far began with Kyungsoo being torn from his sleep by the pressure in his chest, jerking awake with a gasp as he trembled. He blearily saw Kai, laying on the pillow in front of him, thought he was asleep, but as he began to wake more and more he had realized that Kai was sobbing.

That detail woke him up just as much as the following thunderclap had, jolting up in his bed sharply despite the pain in his chest. His mind vaguely registered the sound of heavy rain, of wind beating against the building, but he focused on the miserable sprite that had cracked his eyes open to look up at him. Kyungsoo didn't know something so small could shake that hard.

"Honey," he cooed, covering Kai with his hand and wiping at his cheek with his thumb, alarmed, "Sweetie, Kai, what's wrong?"

But Kai only sniffed, shoulders jerking with the force of his crying, and Kyungsoo's chest pulled even harder. Anxiety made his mind spin, feeling like he was forgetting or missing something. Thunder struck again, illuminating the inside of the bedroom. Kai cowered, frightened by the noise, and tried to tuck himself more fully under Kyungsoo's hand.

"Come here, sweetie," Kyungsoo murmured, thinking he was scared of the storm even if his reaction made it seem like it was more than that. Kai had slept completely through storms before, even if loud noises tended to make him jump often. He scooped little Kai so that he was tucked against his neck, rubbing his back and beginning to hum again. It broke his heart that Kai continued to cry even then, albeit less violently, and it eventually brought tears to his own eyes. He kissed his little sprite on the top of his head, whispering, "Please don't cry, baby..."

But Kai continued all through the night, until the storm had passed and they both had fallen into a fitful sleep.

When Kyungsoo finally met his "true love", it was actually his mini me that he ended up meeting first.

Minseok decided to take Kyungsoo to the mall, sans Luhan for once, who was watching both of their sprites. He had picked up on Kyungsoo and Kai's recent mood changes, wanting to help cheer them up and distract them, but Kyungsoo had noticed he had something secretive in his expression the entire day.

Mildly confused, Kyungsoo kept Kai pressed to his neck through the whole trip. His sprite had been upset nearly nonstop ever since the night of the storm, and nothing he could do would help except to hold Kai in his favorite spot. Today seemed worse in particular, with Kai tearful since they woke up that morning. Kyungsoo had resorted to painkillers for the tenseness in his chest.

They had been waiting in line for lunch, Minseok chatting animatedly about Luhan with Kyungsoo listening grudgingly, when Kai made a sudden noise from his spot on Kyungsoo's collar, drawing theirs and even strangers' shocked attention.

It was short, just a quick and surprisingly loud, "Ah!" that made Kyungsoo jump, looking down at Kai in bewilderment.

"Did he just-?" Minseok began, taken aback, and Kai began squirming almost violently, batting frantically at Kyungsoo's hands to be let down, and if only because he was worried that he would fall, Kyungsoo quickly kneeled and placed him on the ground.

Kai immediately darted off, and Kyungsoo panicked, because Kai was so small and so easy to step on, but Kai only ended up going just a few feet and everyone around them had halted anyways, stopping to stare at the little sprite who had run to tightly embrace another.

"Holy !" burst from Minseok's mouth, because Kyungsoo had frozen and the little sprite Kai was hugging so hard and who was hugging Kai back looked exactly like him.

Kyungsoo's mouth fell open as he watched the two, and vaguely he began to hear frantic shouts of, "Dyo! Dyo-  please have you seen a sprite anywhere, please-" before the crowd parted to let a man through, the stranger worried to death with even tears in his eyes, coming to a halt as his gaze focused onto the two sprites.

His terror-pale face evened out in shock as he realized what he was looking at, blinking quickly and letting a few stray tears fall, and Kyungsoo's breath felt like it had frozen in his chest. The stranger's eyes slowly rose up to look past the two sprites and to meet Kyungsoo's stunned gaze.

Kyungsoo's first thought was that he was handsome, oh, before he was hit with a sudden barrage of emotions, tears coming to his own eyes as he struggled to breathe past his hesitation. This was it. This could have all been for nothing, he could be rejected, he could lose his Kai-

The man swallowed, straightening up and rocking back onto his heels, eyes never leaving Kyungsoo's despite the brief retreat making Kyungsoo flinch, before he suddenly lurched forward and walked around their sprites towards him. Kyungsoo felt something bubble up in his throat as he watched the other approach, breath quickening with how the man's familiar features had twisted into some heartbreaking expression of pure relief.

Minseok placed a calming hand on his back before giving him a shove, so that he fell right into the man's arms with a disbelieving sob.

The crowd around them erupted into applause, and normally Kyungsoo would have been embarrassed, but he was too busy being wrapped up in big Kai's arms, fitting his face into his neck and trying to keep himself from crying. It just felt so undescribably good having his arms squeezing around big Kai's middle, feeling him, leaning into his embrace with all he could while the other actually cried into his shoulder.

"It's okay," he found himself muttering into tanned skin, feeling how the other shook. Big Kai's emotions had probably already been high because of his fear for his sprite, but Kyungsoo was still in no better shape, trembling uncontrollably as well. The pain in his chest had unraveled into nearly nothing, replaced with only relief. Minseok had gone to stand over their sprites, making sure no one stepped on them.

"Dyo," the man mumbled, voice deep and like chocolate, sniffing, fingers toying with the ends of Kyungsoo's sleeves.

Kyungsoo pressed closer, if possible, to soothe him. "Kyungsoo," he murmured, "My name."

"'M Jongin," the taller man stuttered, face pressed tightly to Kyungsoo's shoulder. "Been waiting to..." His sentence was cut off with a sudden hitch in his breath, and Kyungsoo unthinkingly nuzzled into him the same way he would've done to his little Kai. It seemed to work, because even though Jongin was still crying, he had begun to quieten down.

"I'm here," he soothed, "I'm here now, it's okay, we're okay."

Minseok let them be that night with a fond smile, knowing what it was like, and as little Kai and Dyo resolutely refused to separate from each other had the two even wanted to go separate ways for the night, they just decided to hold it out at Kyungsoo's apartment together, Xiuhan style. But for two weeks this time, school and work both be damned.

"I didn't expect to know you already," Kyungsoo had murmured one night, both of them laying together on his bed, a small space between them because he still might have felt a little shy. Kai and Dyo were curled up on a throw pillow between them, sleeping peacefully together.

"Because we have known each other," Jongin whispered, voice low and eyes fond as he watched their two sprites. "The sprites are a piece of us. They are us, just... like a demo version."

Kyungsoo couldn't help the laugh that burst out at such a reference, shuddering with laughter into his pillow while the younger flushed and giggled as well. His chest hadn't hurt in the slightest since he had found Jongin, and he didn't know yet if Jongin would be this so called true love, or a brother, or a best friend-- but he could still tell that he was no doubt important and so he had no problem waiting to find out.

=o=

Next Update: 07/02/2015