Kyungsoo was lying on his stomach on his bed, trying to read the bull chapters to his Philosophy class that he was only doing to get credits. He flicked the page absentmindedly, not caring that he hadn’t even read the page before it when his phone started vibrating.

Stomach dropping in anticipation, he glanced at his phone’s surface to confirm his suspicions- Jongin was calling. Oh my god Jongin was calling. Oh my god what should he do? Oh my god, Kyungsoo was freaking out.

He decided to stare at the screen for the whole minute before the vibrating stopped, and the notifications for a missed call and voicemail being recorded popped up.

“Uhm.. Hi Kyungsoo,” Jongin’s nervous voice said. “Um.. I was just calling to see if you were doing anything on Thursday? There’s this new movie out in the cinemas and I was wondering if you wanted to see it with me, because I know you would like it and do you want to see it with me? Oh wait I already said that. Um. Let me know! Bye.”

Kyungsoo wanted to kiss and smash his phone at the same time. It was sort of want he wanted to do to Jongin. So Jongin wanted to hang out? Kyungsoo would hang the out of him.

“You look nice,” Jongin said shyly when Kyungsoo found him awkwardly hovering around a ddeukbokki stand in front of the mall. Kyungsoo used to find that cute about him. His heart did an ugly flop when he caught sight of Jongin, because it was always a war between his heart and mind when it came to him.

“I’m wearing a sweatshirt,” Kyungsoo plainly stated, playing with the sleeves of his black sweatshirt with the English words “Sonic Youth” on them. Kyungsoo had no idea how to pronounce that, let alone the meaning of it.

“Well you still look nice,” Jongin insisted, wiping his hands on his black jeans.

Kyungsoo crinkled up his nose- was Jongin getting nervous? It felt sort of weird to be nervous when it wasn’t really a first date. They had lived together for a while- Kyungsoo knew what Jongin’s B.O. smelt like.

“The movie doesn’t start for a while,” Jongin said as they walked into the mall together stiffly. “Do you want to go shopping? Are you hungry?”

Kyungsoo shrugged, nibbling his lips.

To be honest, he was really nervous. He wanted to be all nonchalant and too cool but his insides were doing flips.

“I don’t mind,” he replied quietly, absently bringing his fingers up to his mouth and beginning to chew on his nails.

“Don’t do that,” chided Jongin, tangling their fingers together to hold hands even though Kyungsoo’s fingers were wet with spit before they both flinched apart.

Kyungsoo started to feel even more uncomfortable knowing that Jongin also knew him really well. Jongin used to tug Kyungsoo’s fingers out of his own mouth all the time, and knew he chewed his nails whenever he was even slightly nervous, stressed or unhappy. For a second Kyungsoo hadn’t even realised what Jongin had just done, it was so familiar.

“You want to go to the pet store, maybe?” Jongin said. “They have some really cute puppies.”
He nodded, not really knowing what to say so he just didn’t say anything.

“Look at that one,” Jongin said, pointing ferociously at the glass. “Look at his little face. Oh my god he’s so cute, I’m going to die.”

Kyungsoo peered at the poodle Jongin was salivating over, still silently playing with the little white Pomeranian who was his fingers.

“How are your dogs?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Sorry, could you repeat that?” Jongin said, turning to him with a frown.

Instantly Kyungsoo shrunk back and flushed. He hadn’t realised how quiet his voice was, and the chirping of the birds nearby was not helping.

“Um,” he flubbered. “Never mind.”

“No no, I’m really sorry,” Jongin said, looking panicked. “That parrot squawked just as you said something, I’m really sorry. You don’t have to repeat yourself if you don’t want to.”

Kyungsoo mentally headdesked because Jongin obviously remembered how Kyungsoo hated being told to ‘speak up’ or ‘talk more’. It made him clam up. He wanted to punch Jongin and/or burst into tears as Jongin made sure to lean in closer as he followed Kyungsoo over to the kittens.
“I asked how your dogs were,” Kyungsoo said again, this time a little louder. That might’ve been better if he was facing Jongin, but he refused to make eye contact, instead poking through the bars at a little ginger and white kitten.

“They’re great!” Jongin said, keeping his distance and Kyungsoo smirked because Jongin was scared of cats. “Monggu keeps getting fatter and fatter. They all really like playing with Rahee. I was scared that they might be jealous since we- whoooa!”

Kyungsoo smirked as one of the salespeople scooped the kitten out and into Kyungsoo’s arms, and Kyungsoo bought the kitten up closer to Jongin.

“Isn’t she cute,” Kyungsoo cooed, rubbing his cheek against the kitten’s head. “Jongin, pat her.”

“No, I’m alright,” Jongin said.

“But she’s so cuuuutttee,” Kyungsoo cooed again.

“You’re cuter,” Jongin blurted out.

“Welp, that ruined it,” Kyungsoo muttered, turning around so that the cat wouldn’t have to look at a hater.

“I’ll pat her,” Jongin blurted. “Please Kyungsoo? Let me touch the kitten.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo said suspiciously, turning back around. Jongin was going to willingly touch a cat?

“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” mused Kyungsoo as he watched Jongin’s finger hesitatingly the cat’s head.

Jongin’s finger came up to tilt up Kyungsoo’s chin.

“Anything to get to see this pretty face,” Jongin whispered.

And when Kyungsoo looked into those brown eyes all filled with that electric sincerity and flirtation that Kyungsoo a few months ago would’ve believed in more than he believed that the ground was under his feet, all he could think about was how sick it was that Jongin expected him to fall for him again.

How easy Jongin thought it would be, that Jongin could waltz in and out of Korea and Kyungsoo’s life and Kyungsoo would always be pulled back to him.

He was sick of the feeling of making Jongin his world. Did Jongin really think he could literally crook his finger and Kyungsoo would stop being mad?

Jongin really didn’t know Kyungsoo at all then.

Kyungsoo silently glared at Jongin’s back as Jongin paid for their tickets and bought him nachos and cheese as well as drinks and a large popcorn. His glare turned into a weak grin when Jongin turned back to smile at him, laden down with food.

Noone was in the theatre when they walked in, since the movie had been out for a while and it was a weekday. The joys of being a student and not having class until the evening.

“You know I’m surprised you asked me out to do this,” Kyungsoo murmured to himself.

“Kyungsoo,” Jongin said, his long legs swinging up to rest up on the seat in front of him. God, Jongin’s legs were so y. “I don’t know how to say this in fancy words, or delicately. So I’m just going to say it.”

Kyungsoo started nibbling at his nails again. His heart was fluttering, like a little bird in his chest.

“I love you Kyungsoo. I still do. I love you. I want to see your face. I missed you for so long. I want there to be an us again. Please, I just… I just love you so much. I never stopped.”

“You’re a liar,” Kyungsoo whispered. “I don’t believe you.”

Jongin sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Sweetheart, really. Kyungsoo, when I think of you, I think of love. Nothing but love. I’m in love with you-“

“You’re not,” Kyungsoo keened, putting his head in his hands. “Jongin if you were in love with me, why the would you break up with me? That’s not what you do when you’re in love with someone. You go to ing Spain and you don’t know who I am. You don’t get to come back to Korea and remember you had a boyfriend!”

“That was a mistake, a stupid mistake, I shouldn’t have done it-“ Jongin rambled, now hugging Kyungsoo and Jongin’s cologne was everywhere. Kyungsoo could feel Jongin’s breaths hitching, sounding like he wanted to cry? Cry? And he could feel Jongin’s heart hammering against his shoulder-  this was all too surreal.

“Then why did you?” Kyungsoo asked. “And if it wasn’t a mistake, why didn’t you try fix it? You broke up with me. You didn’t contact me for months. If it was a mistake, if you were really in love, you should’ve been begging me for forgiveness the next day to see if you could undo it.”

“I’m sorry Soo, but I’m begging you now,” Jongin said, his voice thick. “Please. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

“How does even ‘making a mistake’ even make sense,” Kyungsoo knew he was starting to go into a rant but he hadn’t had one in ages. He had never been so angry before.  “You don’t just accidentally break up with your boyfriend. You don’t just wake up and accidentally type a paragraph about how it’s not working anymore and how you’re too busy and that you’re really sorry, but you don’t think we should be together anymore. Sooo not on purpose.”

“I’m sorry,” Jongin rasped. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Shut up,” Kyungsoo said, his own voice thick. “People are coming in. The movie is starting.”

He had no idea what was happening in the movie. He had been staring at the screen and all he could think about was how he wanted to leave, how he wanted to get out of the theatre and how this day was just so, so confusing. He fidgeted in his seat, turning to face Jongin.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” he whispered. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Jongin nodded, reaching out to squeeze Kyungsoo’s fingers when Kyungsoo shimmied past his knees.

He opened the door of the theatre, letting the bright lights blind him temporarily and not stopping for a second as he made a beeline to the exit of the mall.

Kyungsoo kept walking, his footsteps quick as he wove around the streets, getting closer and closer to an area that he normally would never frequent. The windows had red lights tinting them, and the people speak louder, look tougher. He spied a convenience store with some guys laughing at a table outside, green bottles of soju on the picnic table. They had their shirts untucked and looked like the high school gangsters that Kyungsoo had seen in the crappy dramas Chanyeol was weirdly obsessed with.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo called, trying to get their attention as he walked toward them. “Excuse me, hey.”

One of them who had their hair bleached to a horrible orangey yellow noticed him and frowned.

“Hey, can I ask you a favour?” Kyungsoo asked.

The boys were all looking at him now.

“What do you want?” asked one of them, looking quite mean.

“Can you beat me up?” Kyungsoo blurted out. “Please. Give me a black eye or something. Please? I’ll pay you.”

“Sorry,” said the mean looking one and they all started gathering up their things. “Um…we have to go.”

“No, no, please, it’s for something, I really need to look like I’m bruised and- hey!”

Kyungsoo frowned as they all ignored him and started bustling away.

God, if he couldn’t get someone else to do it, he was going to have to do it himself.

Do it himself?

He scanned the street, seeing how several scooters zoomed past, all carrying parcels. Probably delivery food.

He didn’t really think about it. Common sense had nothing to do with it, all he was thinking about was how he needed it done in a way that wasn’t too harmful for him or the driver. It was a spur of the moment thing.

All he knew was that he saw one scooter that was more of a bicycle with an engine and his feet started running and WOW THAT DIDN’T EVEN HURT!

Kyungsoo gaped at the sky as a random couple passing by and the driver gathered around him and omo-ed loudly and asked him if he was okay. It hadn’t hurt when he got hit by the bike, it just felt like a large thump, or a giant shock and now the road was prickling his back. He gasped as feeling started coming back to him, and parts of his body started stinging and throbbing. Now it was starting to hurt.

Slowly getting up, he assured the people that had now gathered around him that he was okay, most of them looking horrified at the big grin Kyungsoo had on his face. He accepted someone’s offer of calling a taxi, because his leg really hurt and so did his back. He shook his head at all of the scooter driver’s questions. No he wasn’t going to sue, no he didn’t need his number plate, no he wasn’t mad, no he wasn’t getting his insurance on this. Limping and holding his back, he hopped into a taxi and gave Sehun and Baekhyun’s address.

Picking the rocks out of his grazed palms and hissing at all the raised and burnt skin, it felt like he was living a dream and everything had just zoomed past.

Baekhyun was furious.

“He did what to you?” Baekhyun demanded. His voice was quiet but the serious steel in his eyes made him look quite ugly and that was when Kyungsoo knew Baekhyun was truly angry.

“Baekhyun, I’ve never seen him before like this and he was so angry and-“ Kyungsoo hiccupped, the tears easily dripping off his face because the antiseptic Sehun had put on Kyungsoo’s wounds really, really hurt.

“I don’t believe Jongin would do something like this,” Sehun said, his face shocked and pale. “I can’t believe it.”

Baekhyun glared at Sehun as he held Kyungsoo’s arms. “Are you calling Kyungsoo a liar?” he snapped. “Go away if you’re not going to be helpful.”

“But I don’t understand,” Sehun said. “You said Jongin got angry because you threw all his stuff from your apartment away? Where were you guys? You’ve got dirt on you, were you outside?”

Kyungsoo started breathing faster as he got annoyed at Sehun for questioning him, but to Baekhyun and Sehun it looked like he was panicking.

“I fell down on the street a f-f-few times before I got a c-cab,” Kyungsoo stuttered, chewing on a hangnail and being relieved at the comfort it bought him.

“I can’t believe Jongin did this,” Sehun repeated again.

“Please stop saying that,” Kyungsoo said. “Stop. Just stop. Make it stop. Just stop. Don’t say it. Stop talking about it. Stop stop stop-“

Kyungsoo was sort of satisfied when Baekhyun started hugging him as he barked at Sehun to shut up and Sehun did (sort of because he wasn’t really a big fan of touchy feely and he sort of cringed in Baekhyun’s hold because this was really too cheesy but thank God it helped his case).

“I’m sorry hyung,” Sehun said, patting Kyungsoo’s shoulder and hugging him from the back so he was in a sebaek sandwich. “I’m sorry. I love you, and everything will be okay. I’ll protect you.”

Kyungsoo smiled for a second into Baekhyun’s flannelled shoulder before he hid it and buried his face into Baekhyun’s neck.

He was going to make everyone hate Jongin forever.

A/N I'm back! sorry for the infrequent updates. Still trying to get the voice of this story!