15. DYNAMIC OVERLAP

"Ryeowook?" Kyungsoo breathes the name, soft and hopeful, as if a tone louder might make something shatter. His gaze transfixes upon the new arrival - the russet brown hair, bow tie, blue suit, twinkling, twinkling eyes. They catch each other's gaze, a split, weighted moment of recognition passing across both of their faces, and then it's like the air rushes out of him, reality hitting, and Kyungsoo's smile widens tenfold.

"Ryeowook!" He repeats, louder and surer as he shuffles forwards and meets the other for a hug, the force propelling the elder boy back a step. Ryeowook repeats his name in his ear, a warm, pleasant rumble of a sound, Kyungsoo delirious, too caught up in his presence to feel the intent pairs of eyes watching the easeful exchange.

He melts into Ryeowook's arms, smiling at the familiar tinkling laugh of the elder boy that follows, and the sweet scent which has always surrounded him makes him cling even tighter for a short, indulgent moment before pulling back.

"How've you been, Kyungsoo?" Ryeowook asks, a hand on his arm, the other reaching up to rifle fingers through Kyungsoo's hair - (his smile hasn't changed even in the slightest, Kyungsoo notes, and that thought makes his eyes crinkle into crescent moons).

"I've been good," Kyungsoo smiles, ignoring the hysterical laugh in his head and the image of the leader's face which swims there. "Good? Good? I'm not doing my job right," he imagines the leader jeering, and he has to focus his efforts on forcing the thought away. "What about you?"

"You know I'm always fine, kiddo," Ryeowook chuckles, cocking his head to the side. "Though I guess I can't really call you that anymore, can I?"

He gives Kyungsoo a quick once-over as he says it, and Kyungsoo can't help the way he flushes slightly at the attention. He turns his head minutely to the side to hide the red in his cheeks, and the movement draws his attention back to the two figures in his peripheral vision.

"Ah, let me introduce you," he says aloud, tugging on Ryeowook's sleeve to pull him further into the room. He trails his gaze over Jongin's and Taemin's faces, a brief, sweeping scan which turns into a questioning stare at how strung tight the two look, like they’ve been having a whole soundless conversation whilst Kyungsoo has been speaking aloud. The two bristle immediately at his raised brows, lips twitching into matching smiles that don’t do a thing to reassure him, but at their insistent, unwavering expressions, he shakes his questions away, turning back to Ryeowook. “This here is-“

"Lee Taemin, and Kim Jongin. Yes, I know." Ryeowook grins broadly, attention now fixated to the two dancers stood side-by-side before him. The expression on both boys' faces, edgy before, falter in confusion, the wash of caution ebbing slowly out. 

"Do we... Know one another?" Taemin asks, warily eyeing Ryeowook and the unnervingly bright smile on his face. 

"Not personally, no, but your dance coach raves about you two often," Ryeowook provides. "Two of the best dancers at this school, an unbeatable duo in the yearly showcases and a tight, indeterminable battle in the solos." His smile tugs up, cheeks full and eyes squinted pleasantly. "You're quite the model students amongst the Arts' teaching staff."

Taemin and Jongin are so alike, so in-tune to one another: their matching, rapidly blinking eyes; the proud, somewhat embarrassed flush to their cheeks – their reaction is almost identical. Even if the information is startling to them, Kyungsoo knows the whole student body has long since acknowledged their talents. Kyungsoo had known who both of them were even before he’d spoken to them, and the details of their performing arts expertise was common knowledge. In a school like this one, it would be stranger not to know. And that also makes their responses to the praise infinitely more endearing than Kyungsoo is prepared for, and he has to change the subject.

"You teach here?" Kyungsoo hears himself asking, unable to keep the subtle accusation from his tone.

Ryeowook had been Kyungsoo's music coach when he was younger. He was the one responsible for his love of music, a senior student at this school where Kyungsoo hadn't even started yet, and Kyungsoo had been completely enraptured by the man's voice, his talents, his wise, wise lessons. He had been Kyungsoo's favourite teacher, even if he wasn't qualified, and Kyungsoo had been lost when he'd left for university, stuck with a teacher he couldn't quite relate to in the same way. This had all been before the bullying began, when Kyungsoo could long for things like this without fear of the sneers and chortles following him behind his back.

That Ryeowook has come back, and that he hadn’t thought to tell Kyungsoo upon arrival, stings in a way that Kyungsoo wouldn’t have expected it to sting.

"I've only been teaching for a couple of weeks," Ryeowook assures, but Kyungsoo is sure that it’s more of a justification by the almost imperceptible remorse laced in his tone, "though I was wondering when I'd see you. I thought for a while that you might have gone to another school, or transferred elsewhere. I'm surprised we didn't bump into one another here earlier."

Kyungsoo isn't. He bites his lower lip, swiping a palm over the nape of his neck and abruptly diverting his gaze to the varnished wooden floor beneath his feet. Of course Ryeowook couldn't possibly know that he'd quit music, but the thought of having to explain his departure from the art to one of the people who helped him the most to flourish in it-

Kyungsoo can't do that; he wouldn't even know where to begin. Ryeowook was, is, and always will be, a person he never wants to disappoint. 

"Yeah, it's weird," he agrees - it's the only thing he can think to say. He feels how the words make Jongin look at him, a sharp, questioning bite of a look that makes Kyungsoo curl his tongue against the roof of his mouth and scrunch his nose, but the taller boy (thankfully) doesn't say anything.

"Who's your current music coach?" Ryeowook asks, the question making Kyungsoo tense where he is stood. "It's strange - with a voice like yours, I was expecting more boasting in the staff room, but I don't think I've heard your name even be mentioned once..."

Kyungsoo blanches visibly at Ryeowook's speculative words, at his curious, brooding eyes that train on his guilty expression like the connection is magnetised. He opens his mouth to respond, closing it again when he can think of nothing to say, and he sees how Ryeowook starts to frown at his subdued, inexplicable silence.

"Kyungsoo, do you..?" Ryeowook trails off, puzzlement etched in the furrow of his brows, and Kyungsoo wants so badly not to disappoint him, that he can feel his eyes welling up with tears, irrepressible fear coursing harsh in his bones. 

"I-"

"I'm sorry, Mr...?" Jongin says then, diverting Ryeowook's attention his way. Kyungsoo had almost forgotten about his and Taemin’s presence, and the sudden reminder catches him off guard.

He looks at Jongin urgently, trying to meet his gaze, to figure out what he’s doing right now, where this is all going, but the taller boy doesn’t look his way.

"Kim. Mr Kim," Ryeowook takes the bait, though a furrow still remains etched between his brows. 

"Mr Kim," Jongin starts anew, granting the teacher a small smile. "We're in the middle of practice. I don't want to interrupt, it's just..." His pupils draw to Kyungsoo, darting and fast. "Would it be possible if you could..."

"That's fine," Ryeowook says, but Kyungsoo can feel the elder's eyes locked to the top of his head, a silent question teasing at the edge of his lips. Ryeowook isn't stupid; he must know that Jongin is being tactful, trying to distract from the two-and-two he'd been about to put together. If anything, it just makes his theory more certain - the hesitant droop to his eyes and the tightness to his lips proves it even further. But Ryeowook also isn't cruel - he doesn't say a thing, even if he might want to, and even if he may still be intent on doing so later on; he wouldn't do that to Kyungsoo.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you guys." Is all he does say, teacher-smile etched like a safeguard on his lips. "I'll take my leave now," and then he meets Kyungsoo's gaze, zones into the wetness in his eyes with faint, protective worry. 

"I'll see you Kyungsoo," he says, enunciating each word carefully, purposefully. Kyungsoo can only nod his head, and he hates it; Ryeowook, someone once so important in his life - he deserves words. 

They watch him walk away and Kyungsoo's reminded, suddenly, of the first time it had happened. Ryeowook had driven personally to their house, hugged Kyungsoo close, told him to “keep singing, just keep singing Kyungsoo”, and then left Kyungsoo lost and longing. If Kyungsoo hadn't already had a crush at the time, he sees himself having fallen for Ryeowook and his soft, soft smile - a wondrous, unattainable image of perfection.

Kyungsoo hadn't responded when Ryeowook had whispered that instruction in his ear; he hadn't promised. Even then, he couldn't see a singing without Ryeowook, couldn't see a normal. And when it was, and he got used to practicing without the elder boy's presence, someone ripped up his song book and it all crumbled anyway.

"You know one another?" Taemin asks it, but when Kyungsoo looks up he can see that Jongin wants to know even more. 

Superseding words, he remembers, staring between the two. Ryeowook was the closest Taemin to him as Taemin is to Jongin. Dynamic overlap. He used to read him better than Eun-Seo could. When he fell asleep in their studio during practice, vocal chords spent, Ryeowook would put a blanket on him and let him rest because Kyungsoo can't sleep soundly without one. When he couldn't concentrate, Ryeowook made him speak, for words made song sound so much lighter. It's such a peculiar assortment of their past relationship, such a mis-fit accumulation of aspects and details.

He knew Ryeowook, but he doesn't know him; not anymore. 

"Yes," Kyungsoo answers; he can't bring himself to divulge too much. "He was my music coach, when I was younger."

Taemin parts his lips, raises his brows. "You can sing?"

I could. No- I used to.

His gaze veers to Jongin, and he doesn't know what anything means, but Taemin doesn't know about a few days earlier, doesn't know about all that they'd talked about: not the crutches, not the song book, or the forgotten singing, or the dinner on his couch, the soup in the clear white takeout bag. Jongin's keeping him private, closing a book he's always kept open for Taemin to read. 

"It's in the past," Kyungsoo says, walking back into the room, chastising in his head. No Kyungsoo, no, don't make yourself more important than you actually are. He shakes his head, settles back against the wall with his arms slung over his chest. "Now, let me see you guys dance."

Kyungsoo isn't wholly, completely ready when the two start dancing, but he is instantly enthralled by the view before him. 

“They truly deserve their titles”, he thinks, “the two best dancers in the school.”

The way they move around one another is like nothing Kyungsoo has seen before in any sort of performance. They dance a story, a life story, in the way they flirt around one another to the beat of the music, their real-life bond shining through in each move they make. 

It's probably just the dance - no Kyungsoo knows it's just the dance, must just be the dance - but God he's almost positive that the two must be exaggerating just to see him flustered - a sharper, crisper of the hips; touches which linger a moment longer than the beat should allow; smirks which smoulder far more professionally than what is needed in the comfort of a dance room practice. The contact between them is short but purposeful, a swipe of a hand over the stretch of a back or the suggestion of fingers against a chest, and then straight after an intense synchronisation of motion, as if one person is dancing, but the audience sees a mirage of two figures - that's how in tune they are to one another, how wired in. Kyungsoo has never been more captured by a performance before, never this unable to draw his eyes away from another person, or other people, before-

And God Jongin looks so good. He's so hot. Of course Kyungsoo already knew that - it's always been a word Kyungsoo has used to describe him -, but after knowing him, and spending time with him, getting to know him and getting to see his cute and his shy and his gentle too-

It's like Kyungsoo had forgotten how attractive Jongin was just anyway, like he’d gotten lost in discovering all the other things to find beautiful – the taller boy’s looks pushed to the back of his mind. And now Kyungsoo's been reminded, in the way Jongin moves, twists, muscle and lithe, plush, expressive lips and dark, dark gazes to steal a crowd's breath-

"God," he thinks, unsure if he'll be able to forget anytime soon and-

Jongin turns, meets his eyes, lips curling in a smirk that makes Kyungsoo's breath catch in his throat and

-Kyungsoo needs to find an excuse to leave, and leave quickly, or else. 

you, hormones, he yells wildly, creeping his hands down to tug his shirt out of his trousers and over the front of his school pants (just in case because he really doesn't trust the heat whirring softly in his gut).

He’s trying to focus on his breathing when at last, at last, the song starts to draw to a close, the movements settling, fading into something watchable. He gulps in air, hands still firmly curled around his shirt, tugging harshly to cover up what may or may not be visible (he really doesn't want to take the chance), and both Taemin and Jongin, breathless from their performance, the exertion, whip around to face him, looming, looming figures from where Kyungsoo is sat, cross-legged, on the ground. 

"So," Taemin starts, eyes darting, amused, to Kyungsoo’s hands, making him splutter, and-

"What did you think?" Jongin finishes, stealing his attention away and- and, wrong move because there's still some Kai wavering in him, still some Kai in the tease of his question, the subtle tick to the corner of his lips and settled embers in his eyes, and how the is this the same person who wrote him a cute ‘get better soon!’ post-it note just a few days ago?

Kyungsoo's throat feels dry. He opens his mouth once, closes it again when he tries to speak and only a feeble sort of croak escapes him. Taemin raises his brows, an odd sort of smile settling on his face and God he knows, he knows, he-

"Ah, Eun-Seo's calling!" Kyungsoo exclaims, cracking under the expectant, expectant silence. He waves his phone at them, the line of his lips wobbly and his eye twitching from the lie; Taemin's expression doesn't waver, but Jongin looks confused, and it makes Kyungsoo's breath hitch. "I have to take this..." He trails off, and then he hurries towards the door and out of the room before either of them can even say a word, trying to erase the image of Taemin's glittering eyes from his mind.

He stumbles out into the corridor, and it's only now that he can feel the heat in his cheeks, down and up his throat and still, quietly incessant in his gut. He's so intent on putting distance between himself and the two talented (read: torturous) dancers he'd left behind, that he nearly bumps into someone on the corridors leading out of the studio.

"Oh, sorry!" Kyungsoo exclaims, bowing his head when he realises it's a teacher. 

The teacher waves the apology away, and makes to carry on walking, but his eyes trail down and he hesitates, calling Kyungsoo back.

"Yes, sir?" Kyungsoo questions, trying not to fidget too obviously. 

The teacher's eyes narrow, lips tightly pressed together and appraising. "Tuck in your shirt, could you?"

Kyungsoo chokes on air. 

Jongin is waiting by the gates today after school, silent and unassuming. Kyungsoo halts a few feet from him, wide eyes trailing over Jongin's lithe body - long, and (Kyungsoo knows) firm with muscle. Images from the morning in the practice room has Kyungsoo blushing so hotly he can feel it in his cheeks, blinking fast as if to try to erase the thoughts from his mind. He shakes his head for good measure, and then walks forwards to meet the boy. 

Jongin raises his head when Kyungsoo's a couple metres away, a wide smile stretching over his face.

"Lets go?" He nods to the pathway which leads to the support group building, and Kyungsoo agrees.

Unlike other times that they've been alone together, this journey has few silences, as if the hours spent together when Kyungsoo was ill, conversing and wasting away, had broken a damn between the two. It's unbearably easy to talk to Jongin - dangerously easy. Kyungsoo doesn't have any of those moments where he has to scan wildly for a topic to fill an awkward silence as they walk; everything just flows, in a peculiar, effortless way, as if they've been friends for far longer than is in actuality. 

Kyungsoo also doesn't fail to notice the way both he and Jongin slow down their paces as they talk, reluctant for the conversation to reach an end. It makes Kyungsoo feel light, giddy, and he's sure he's probably blushing a little too, unable to recall someone enjoying his company quite so much. 

If they'd kept with their default speed they would've arrived at the group with time to spare, but the twenty minute walk is stretched out into what must be longer than an hour, considering that everyone else is already there when they arrive.

Kyungsoo halts, however, at the entrance to the group's hall, suddenly remembering his last session in vivid, painstaking detail. He peers through the clear glass doors, blood pounding in his veins. He feels Jongin, and the warmth of his chest, hovering just behind him, staring at the same circle of people as silently as Kyungsoo is now. It feels like security, but it's welcome, and it gives Kyungsoo comfort.

"I feel like I haven't been here for a lifetime," Kyungsoo breathes, eyes glassy and so, so soft. He presses a hand to the door, fingers spread purposefully; from the right angle, it would look like he's holding the entire group in the cusp of it.

He feels Jongin's stare on him, and he adds, "I don't know if anything has changed," but no- no that isn’t right. “I'm afraid something has changed,” he corrects his words, “and I’m afraid of… being treated differently, all because of- because of one thing.”

These people know so much about him, and they know the weakest version of himself. He fears how they might stare, when they think he isn't looking. 

"Nothing." Jongin's voice is firm, fierce with certainty. "Nothing has changed, and nothing will. They're much better at people then you think, Kyungsoo. They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't even think it. They know."

It hurts-

Kyungsoo turns around, meets Jongin's gaze, understands how much belief he has

-and it hurts that it makes Kyungsoo believe it too. It hurts that one look from this boy could make him trust. It terrifies. 

When he steps through the doors, the reaction to his presence is exactly like Jongin knew.

"Kyungsoo!" Tao exclaims, all smiles and twinkling cat eyes. Kyungsoo's gaze, like it often does in Tao's presence, darts to Kris' face, sees the fondness there, as he watches Tao light up.

"Your crutches!" Tao gestures to his legs, snapping him from his thoughts, even if his gaze trails over Jongin as he approaches, a curious, knowing flicker that makes Kyungsoo feel embarrassed and has Tao looking horribly smug. 

The whole group fusses over him, glad to see him back for his last session of absence. Jongdae is loud, Cheshire grin and winking flirts, Minseok subdued but gentle, Luhan by his side, Baekhyun silent with shining, inviting eyes and Chanyeol with his twitching smile and too-small clothes. Even Sehun looks glad to see him there, though that might be more because of Jongin. Kyungsoo hadn't realised how much he'd been scared about things being different, about being treated like a victim and not an equal, until now. He's so relieved he can't even form words.

"Your cold has improved?" Yixing asks when he settles into the seat by his side, Junmyeon leant forwards to listen in as everyone else chatters. Kyungsoo nods his head, mouth poised to speak, but Yixing hasn't finished.

"Did he help?" Yixing questions, gesturing discreetly towards Jongin a couple seats down, settled by a clingy Sehun. Kyungsoo's cheeks blossom a deep red almost immediately, the subtle tease on Yixing's lips and the smile on Junmyeon's face catching him off-guard. He turns to stare at Jongin's profile, the way his mouth opens wide and his eyes crinkle up when he's absorbed in a light conversation. Kyungsoo sees him - the way he uses his whole body when he laughs, bent forward, hands slamming together in an exuberant clap, shoulders quivering with the force of it - and he has to look away. 

"I-I-um... Yeah," Kyungsoo concedes, eyes drawing to the ground, avoiding Yixing's victorious smile. 

Oh my god, I'm being shipped, he thinks, a fluster peeling down his neck. His hands twist over one another in a nervous gesture, clammy and warm - he could cry he's so easy to read. 

Could he read me too? Kyungsoo wonders, a face he hasn't thought of in a long time pressing to the forefront of his mind, sudden and unwanted. The image makes swallowing hard, a lump settling uncomfortably at the base of his throat, so he forces it away. It was so long ago, but he hates how it feels like it was only yesterday. 

"What are you thinking of?"

Kyungsoo looks to Baekhyun as the question, sat by his side. Tao had already settled with Kris when he and Jongin had arrived. He hadn't wanted to interrupt, so he'd chosen the seat by Yixing instead, Baekhyun on his side. Baekhyun...

Baekhyun is easily the quietest member. His words are few, even fewer than Kyungsoo's, his countenance still and shy, and his eyes are droopy and soft - impossibly understanding. Kyungsoo has always wanted to know him more, but has never known how to approach him, social skills lost in another era. This is one of the few times Baekhyun has spoken to him.

"It's... I was just thinking of someone I used to know," Kyungsoo admits, granting a wry, bitter sort of smile as the image returns. 

"How did you know them?" Baekhyun asks, and then, like he's only just realised that they haven't spoken much, "you don't have to tell me."

But Kyungsoo likes Baekhyun's eyes, and how genuine they are as he looks his way, so all he does is smile.

"We used to go to school together," Kyungsoo says, "he was my first crush."

Or at least, that was one story. 

And even Baekhyun, this boy, who cannot possibly know him, who he has never really even spoken to before now, stares back at him like he knows that there is more brewing at the tip of Kyungsoo's lips, knows that he's holding something back. Kyungsoo reckons that he will ask, this quiet boy, that something in his eyes burns with a want to know more about him, but Yixing starts to speak before he can, and the thoughts between them shatter.

"Right," Yixing says, settling the group down within a few seconds, the chatter ebbing into silence, Baekhyun slowly looking away. "We should probably get started, yes?"

"Today... I want to touch on a subject I've been wanting to bring up for a while," Yixing announces to the group, a curious smile on his lips. He raises a hand, a vague gesture playing on his fingertips, and that's the first sign Kyungsoo gets from him to know that this topic is taboo: the image of an empty hand, and Junmyeon's hesitantly spread one, eerily empty and unmet for the first time since Kyungsoo has started to go to these sessions, is something that stops his thoughts short.

Kyungsoo has never seen that before. They're usually wrapped together, - their hands - discreet or not, an infallible show of devotion. And they're not today. And that means what Yixing is saying is bigger, greater than that symbol of love, stronger than words and necessitating motion. 

"What happens when I say the words, 'self confidence'?" And Kyungsoo gets it.

The announcement, like a spell, sends a solemn shockwave over the group. 

Kyungsoo isn't the only one who shrinks at the words, clings to their seat. The slate is clean but- but, no, this isn't something Kyungsoo wants to talk about, this isn't something Kyungsoo can ever verbalise without feeling weak, and small, and-

"I know already. It's okay," Yixing says, meeting Kyungsoo's gaze for a brief, heavy moment as he stares around the circle. "I know this isn't something we've ever really spoken about. I also know that it's something that everyone here, without a doubt, has struggled with. So I don't want us to just talk about this, no."

Yixing suddenly leans back, reaching something behind his chair, appearing a second later with a box full of - what is that?; disposable cameras? - and a gleaming smile playing on his lips.

"Instead," he repeats, jiggling the box with his knees, "I want us to break the silence."

Kyungsoo blinks, the words washing over his head like water. His brows furrow, teeth tugged over his lip, and he's not the only one who doesn't get it. Eventually, when the stillness has dragged a bit too far, Jongdae is the one who asks.

"Sorry but... Isn't that the same thing as talking?" he questions, brows raised and curled lips straighter than Kyungsoo has ever seen them.

Yixing smiles; his dimple, deep and sweet as ever, makes an appearance.

"Talking is not the only act that breaks silence."

There is something wonderfully ethereal about the way Yixing poses an idea. His words, even if they aren't the spotlight to his profession, are wielded with a practiced ease, like an artist exercising his craft, and it's impossible not to be impressed by them. 

The task he sets is simple, and Kyungsoo can tell in his eyes that he has tweaked it to near perfection. Each member is to take a disposable camera from the box, and capture any image within this room, of the people in this room, that they consider to be beautiful. 

"Snap whatever you want," Yixing insists, expression earnest, "even if it may not be what people expect. This, today, is the hardest part, so I ask that you only focus on your own camera, and on what you want to capture on your film."

Junmyeon pitches in, "in other words, don't be distracted by what everyone else is doing, and don't feel awkward if someone takes a picture of you. Keep your camera raised; the lens is your eyes today."

Junmyeon turns to Yixing as if asking for approval of his words, and Yixing's answering smile, proud and loving, is something Kyungsoo thinks he'd like to take a photo of. 

Jongdae is the first to get up and grab a camera, the beat of his footsteps against the wooden flooring piercing through the loud silence. He whispers something to Minseok when he settles back into place, and whatever it is has the two of them laughing silently to themselves in a hunched, private little bubble. 

Oh, Kyungsoo thinks, watching the exchange, that's interesting. 

Kris, of all people, is the one who follows after, large hands delving into the box and retrieving two cameras from its depths. Tao is handed the second, and Kris becomes the first to take a photo when he captures Tao's small smile at the action, the click of the shutter purposeful and telling. 

"He-hey!" Tao exclaims, startled and flushed a pretty red. "Why would you-"

Click.

"Kris," his cheeks tint even further, "stop wasting your film."

Kris' expression twists into one of amusement, and then he settles into his seat again, and leans his mouth close to Tao's ear to whisper something to him, much like Jongdae had to Minseok before him, and the similarities in the exchanges makes Kyungsoo stop and wonder about how many stories he still doesn't know about the people around him, how many friendships, how many more than friendships. The dusty rose Kris leaves on Tao's cheeks makes him smile even wider, and Kyungsoo thinks, a more.

He laughs at the exchange anyway, sending Tao a teasing grin when the younger looks his way, but his view of Tao's answering faux-annoyed face is abruptly blocked. 

Kyungsoo peers up, lips parting in surprise, and sees Jongin holding out a camera for him - much like Kris had for Tao. He only has a second for his heart to raise at the new overlap of dynamics, when Jongin speaks.

"Because you won't think about it yourself," Jongin says, dropping the camera on Kyungsoo's lap, "you should be careful with your leg," leaving to sit down immediately after, Kyungsoo unable to respond. 

He makes the mistake of looking to Tao at that moment, eyes still vacant and wide, and the answering smirk that Tao sends him snaps him harshly out of his shock. He wrinkles his nose and Tao, the er, laughs elatedly at his expression, and it strikes Kyungsoo right there, right then, that Tao teases him like he teases Tao. And then, inevitably, that Jongin acts to him like Kris acts to Tao.

Suddenly overwhelmed by the realisation, Kyungsoo looks away, eyes drawing to the camera in his lap, heart racing for reasons he cannot discern. A hundred questions make themselves known in his mind, a hundred unanswerable questions. 

What he does know is that the connection makes him smile goofily to himself, fingers clasping around the disposable with wary, shaky happiness, even if it too slices a line of fear through his bloodstream. 

Everyone else gets up after this, getting their own respective cameras and settling back into their seats, conversation bubbling up in a dull rumble of sound.

Yixing takes one for himself, so does Junmyeon, and then he asks everyone to stand. 

"Use up all the film," Yixing says, "in whatever way you want." And that's what everyone makes to do. 

The circle disperses almost immediately, people wandering about to capture images as they please, the clicking of cameras reverberating sharply in Kyungsoo's ears. Kyungsoo stands, routed to the spot, teeth rubbing over his dry lips and eyes darting unsurely about himself.

"Hey," Baekhyun's voice sounds, small and soft and warm, warm, warm. "Do you want to walk around together?"

Kyungsoo sags a little, relieved at the suggestion, and nods his head yes, moving to Baekhyun's side.

"How old are you, anyway?" Baekhyun asks, raising the camera to his eyes as he talks.

Oh right, Kyungsoo thinks, doing the same in a clumsy movement and taking a step forward. 

"I'm 17," he answers, peering through the small eye piece, head twisting to find something worthy to capture. 

"Same," Baekhyun says by his side, and Kyungsoo raises his head when he hears the click of Baekhyun's camera. Another click sounds, and Kyungsoo follows Baekhyun's view to Yixing and Junmyeon, whose cameras are snapping wildly at one another, laughs and lingering touches thrown between them like a playful song. They're so comfortable with one another, everything easy, effortless. 

Kyungsoo smiles at the interaction, and his first image captures Yixing's hand pressing shyly against Junmyeon's chest as the other takes a head-on picture of him, beaming smile and twinkling eyes caught from behind the camera. 

"They're so adorable," Baekhyun muses aloud, pulling back from the camera, crescent eyes on full display. They chuckle as they watch the exchange of the oblivious two before them, the oldest, but so infinitely youthful in how much they love one another. Kyungsoo watches, intent on the way Baekhyun positively lights up when he smiles, cheeks pulling up and square mouth stretching as he laughs lowly along with it. 

Click.

Kyungsoo's head whips around and Baekhyun's laugh dithers down at the abrupt sound, his droopy eyes blinking rapidly at the camera pointed to his face, and then to the person holding it.

"I'm sorry!" Chanyeol says, ears red as he lowers his hand and fast walks away, Baekhyun staring silently after him.

Kyungsoo's lips twitch up into a grin at the exchange; he clears his throat purposefully, eyes drawn to the flush in Baekhyun's cheeks.

"And... you two aren't?" He questions, an amused lilt to his tone, eyes glittering with mirth. 

"Oh, shut up," Baekhyun grumps, but he's smiling a private smile to himself regardless, sweetly pleased, and it makes Kyungsoo laugh heartily.

"What about you and Jongin, then?" Baekhyun counteracts, and that's enough to make Kyungsoo shut up. 

Kyungsoo's brows scrunch, and he feels the sudden need to clear his throat, raising the camera back to his face. "What about me and Jongin?" He asks, even if a voice inside of himself accuses straight after, stop playing dumb. He flushes, shaking his head, and Baekhyun scoffs.

"You know what I mean," he accuses, tone adamant and unquestioning. 

Kyungsoo takes another picture - of Luhan this time, face scrunched mid-laugh - and he vaguely wonders why he ever thought Baekhyun was sweet and quiet.

"I don't really know what it is," Kyungsoo admits after a moment, pulling the camera down to look at Baekhyun. He sweeps a gaze around, spots Jongin chattering with Jongdae, and Sehun, a little way back, taking indiscrete discrete photos of Jongin from afar. The image makes Kyungsoo chuckle and he snaps a picture, turning back to see Baekhyun staring back at him with knowing eyes. 

"He looks at you when you don't realise," Baekhyun states, deadpan and absurdly emotionless for what it is he's said.

Kyungsoo's automatic reaction is to laugh at the claim, lips falling into their characteristic heart, but when he turns Baekhyun's way and sees the sternness in his expression, he realises, with a start, that he's not making the information up.

"I-" Kyungsoo stutters, heart suddenly pounding in his chest, a thump, thump, thump beating in his ears. "I don't know how to respond to that..." He answers honestly, raising the camera to cover the expression on his face. 

More clicks sound, the two winding through people and taking photos as they please in silence. Kyungsoo sighs after a moment, biting the inside of his cheek as he looks back to Baekhyun.

"How? Does he look at me that is...," he questions, voice low and quiet and cheeks blossoming with a red he can feel as he waits. 

Baekhyun lowers his camera, eyes glittering, almost amused, but he doesn't tease Kyungsoo like Kyungsoo thinks he will.

"I don't know," is what he says instead, cocking his head to the side, remarkably puppy-like in that moment. "He... Kind of looks at you like he's trying to figure you out. All the time."

The words make Kyungsoo halt for a short moment, brows raising in surprise. "He's trying to figure me out?" He asks aloud, like he's giving Baekhyun the chance to realise he might be wrong.

It's such a peculiar concept - that the unknowable boy who Kyungsoo can never seem to grasp, is just as confused by Kyungsoo in return. Kyungsoo's mulling the idea over in his head, trying to make it sound right, when Baekhyun speaks up again.

"Sometimes... Sometimes he looks at you like he's thinking about something sad."

That makes Kyungsoo stop. 

"Sad?" He questions, forehead crinkling slightly at the choice of word. His lips press together, eyes drawing to the ground as a cold wave passes through his system. 

I make him sad? Kyungsoo asks himself, breath coming out stuttered and odd. It's not an effect he ever thought he would have on Jongin, and the idea of it makes his stomach lurch unpleasantly. 

"Like... Like he feels sorry for me?" Kyungsoo can't stop himself from asking, even if he isn't sure he wants to know the answer. He stares down at his hands, watching the way they twitch unsurely around the camera.

"No," Baekhyun says eventually, so assertive that Kyungsoo looks back up at him. Baekhyun meets his gaze, eyes steely and sure. "No, Kyungsoo, it's not like that at all. It's-it's more like he has a lot that he wants to say to you. But... I- I don't know, I'm probably wrong." He shrugs off, forcing a chuckle to make the atmosphere lighter. 

When it clearly doesn't work, Baekhyun's face mellows, and he reaches a hand out to touch Kyungsoo's shoulder, comforting and warm. "It's an observation, Kyungsoo," Baekhyun says, "if it bothers you that much, just ask him about it sometime. It feels like there's always so much you guys want to say to each other."

Kyungsoo blinks his eyes, releasing a shaky but genuine laugh. "How do you know so much about us?" He questions, raising his gaze to meet Baekhyun's.

Baekhyun's lips twitch, bashful and soft. "I usually watch more, talk less," he admits, and Kyungsoo feels his heart warm.

"Me too," he agrees, meeting Baekhyun's smile with his own.

The rest of the session makes it one of Kyungsoo's most positively memorable. He can't know for sure how his pictures are turning out, only knows the definitive click as he captures an image, and the swift pass of the moment that makes him question what he's etched onto film. Walking with Baekhyun is a lot of fun, a lot of conversation he hasn't had with anyone else. If Kyungsoo had known how much they would have in common, he wonders if he would have approached the other boy first. 

But, of all the fond memories of the session, nothing compares to what Kyungsoo feels when he himself turns to see a camera pointed his way, and a soft click to go along with it. 

Kyungsoo blinks wildly, unable to stop the way his cheeks and neck fill with warmth, with a hue of colour. The hand pulls down, and Jongin doesn't even say anything when he meets Kyungsoo's eyes. But the way he smiles, pleasant and teasing, undefinable words in the curve of his lips, makes Kyungsoo's heart race, even after Jongin has turned to capture the rest of the room.

A/N

Wow this update was a crapton too late. I'm sorry guys - life is getting busy with UCAS stuff and whatnot >.< But I shan't give up on this, dw.

So it was RYEOWOOK! Woooo! I’ve been wanting to add him in for a while now ^-^

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! Comment your opinions below :D x