OK thank you so much for the support even though I said I wouldn't be continuing my stories, my personal problems are doing better and I really wanted to try and keep updating this :) thank you to all who sent me support and told me how much they loved this story. I love you all and I hope this chapter makes up for my absence ((probably won't but I'm thinking positive)) ON TO THE CHAPTER!!

The first time Kyungsoo sees Baekhyun silent is when he introduces him to Chanyeol. His secretary goes rigid, seemingly speechless and terrified. Baekhyun looks up at the extremely tall man in front of him and blanches when he smiles down at the secretary. Kyungsoo immediately wonders if something was wrong, or if Baekhyun was sick. 

"Are you okay?" Chanyeol asks before Kyungsoo can, and Baekhyun nods quickly. 

"I'm fine." He says with a nervous laugh, although both boys see the falseness in it. 

"It's understandable to be nervous at a company dinner. Just stick with Chanyeol and you'll be fine." Kyungsoo advises.

He completely forgets the lie he told his secretary earlier that day about Chanyeol needing someone to show him around. Now it seemed like Baekhyun was in more need of help than the tallest male. Baekhyun's wide eyes watching everything Chanyeol does tells Kyungsoo that he hasn't noticed the flaw. 

"Y--yes, sir." Baekhyun nods at his boss' words, although he's still staring at Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo decides to take his leave and waves slightly to Chanyeol. The taller smiles back before turning to Baekhyun, seeming to guide him through the crowd. Kyungsoo turns then, scanning the crowd for Jongin. He's sure that the boy can't be that far-- the ballroom was only so big, right?  It proves to be very, very big. And although Jongin is tan and tall, he can't pick him out anywhere. 

He sees a familiar head of dark brown hair through the crowd and recognizes it as Suho. He walks over towards the group Suho is standing in, smiling and listening to someone else's story. He slides in next to Jongin's friend and offers a small smile. Suho recognizes him and smiles back widely, stepping out of the group to talk to him. 

"It's good to see you." Suho greets. 

"You too." Kyungsoo replies sincerely. He thinks Suho is his favorite of Jongin's friends. He's respectful and nice, and not anything like Krystal-- who he doesn't even want to think about. 

"Where's Jongin?" Suho questions seconds later. Kyungsoo is surprised and flushes slightly. 

"That's what I was going to ask you." 

Suho laughs and shrugs, looking around the room. Kyungsoo follows his lead and studies the people around the room. He notices that almost all of them are in small groups, joking and making small talk. They all remind Kyungsoo of himself. Polite and businesslike. Which is just another reason that he feels Jongin should stand out in this room-- the younger boy was too casual in most social situations.Yet, he doesn't. 

"He's probably outside on the balcony. I remember when he was younger and we went to parties like this he'd freak out a little at all the people and take a breather." Suho suggests after their search. Kyungsoo nods and heads towards the doors leading to the balcony after waving goodbye to Suho. 

It surprises him that Jongin would be one of the people to need a breather during a party, but he supposes that there's a lot about Jongin he doesn't know. His second surprise of the evening is seeing Jongin and Krystal outside, alone, through the windows. Kyungsoo feels something in his throat close up and he doesn't know why it makes it so hard to breathe. He convinces himself that it's dislike of Krystal that makes his veins feel like fire. He feels his bad temper flaring up, although the last time he lost it was when he was told of the plans to marry Jongin. 

He watches as Jongin laughs at something she says. Kyungsoo gets the feeling he first felt when Sehun and Jongin were laughing together; it felt almost like he was being excluded in the worst way possible. 

He tries to not let the light shining in Jongin's eyes make the sinking feeling in his stomach any worse. 

It's when Krystal leans in and kisses Jongin's cheek, causing him to break into another round of laughter that Kyungsoo feels like he might actually explode. He frowns and turns away from the window, feeling like fire was within him. He kept thinking about how rude Krystal had been to him, and how Jongin had laughed it off and avoided the topic. 

He had a sudden thought, and although it was brief, the realization hit him hard. Jongin was probably in a relationship with Krystal. It all made sense. Why he'd defend the girl over Kyungsoo, why he listened to her before he listened to Kyungsoo, and why Kyungsoo sometimes heard Jongin crying at night when he thought the younger was asleep. 

Kyungsoo doesn't know if he feels bad for pretty much ruining everything Jongin liked-- friends at school, the pants he accidently shrunk the other day, his relationship with Krystal-- or if it just makes him mad. He reasons with himself that they're a fake couple and Jongin had a life before, so it shouldn't matter if they are or were ever together. But then he feels all the more that if Jongin gets to go off and kiss girls when they're at a public event, he shouldn't have to stay "faithful" to Jongin, either. 

Kyungsoo ignores him later when they're eating, much to the frustration of the younger. He scoffs after his third attempt at conversation is ignored by Kyungsoo. Jongin talks to the people seated around them instead, reasoning to talk to Kyungsoo the next morning when he's not so cranky. 

--

"I think Baekhyun and Chanyeol really hit it off." Jongin laughs out as he reads through his texts. His breakfast is untouched, only adding to Kyungsoo's annoyance. 

Kyungsoo still feels so angry that he barely looks up at the other boy. He ignores his comment and can feel Jongin's nervousness at his lasting anger. He takes out his pent up frustration on the omelet in front of him, stabbing it violently.  

"Tao told me he found them kissing outside-- like, apparently Baekhyun was all shy, but the second they left the main room, they were all over each other."

Kyungsoo wants to roll his eyes. He hadn't intended for those two to get together, but it's not like it mattered much to him. The thing that's tugging on his conscience, though, is the fact that Jongin seems oblivious to any reason Kyungsoo could be mad at him. 

"Yeah, some people really go crazy once they go outside." 

Kyungsoo feels like he's almost begging Jongin to realize what's he's referencing. Jongin, on the other hand, seems oblivious and nods at Kyungsoo's statement. 

"Some people do really stupid stuff outside of parties." Kyungsoo looks Jongin in the eye for a split second and he can see the confusion swimming through the younger's brown eyes. 

"Are you mad at me?" Jongin asks suddenly. Kyungsoo is surprised that he brought it up so bluntly and feels almost guilty for the look on Jongin's face. 

"Why would I be?" Kyungsoo asks the question in a way that doesn't sound like reassurance, but more of an open invitation to confess. 

Jongin remains silent, glaring, and eats his food sullenly. After a bite, Jongin stands up abruptly. 

"You know, for a fake husband, you're just as moody as a real spouse." This is the loudest Jongin has been since their first meeting, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. 

"You're so immature." Kyungsoo retorts, still feeling angry over Jongin's actions the night before. 

"You're worse. I'm younger than you, you should be more responsible. I don't know why you're mad at me--" 

"I'm not mad at you!" Kyungsoo screams. Jongin raises his eyebrows, obviously doubting his statement. 

"Sure, whatever." Jongin huffs. "I'm going to school." 

"You don't have to tell me." Kyungsoo points out. 

"Well I'm going anyway!" 

"I never said you couldn't!" 

"Shut up!" 

"Shut up more!" 

Jongin makes a loud, frustrated noise as he storms out of the kitchen. Kyungsoo groans and stands up, heading to work, too angry to think about cleaning up the dishes. 

--

"And then he turns and says he's not mad at me, but I'm sure he is. He had that angry look in his eyes, you know?" Jongin asks, angrily flipping to a different page of his textbook. Sehun stares at his friend, worried. 

"Not really. The only time I've seen him mad was when you beat that guy up, and he never looked at me." Sehun shrugs. Jongin frowns and looks at his for barely more than half a minute before raising his head again. 

"Well, he has this mad face. And he was using it." Jongin sighs. 

"Did you do anything?" Sehun asks curiously. 

"Not that I can think of. We just went to this dinner thing for his dad's company. When we got there he went to talk to someone and so I went over and got a drink and ran into some friends. I just hung out with them because I couldn't find him. And then when we sat down to eat, he wouldn't talk to me."  

"Maybe because you didn't find him?" Sehun suggests. Jongin shrugs before shutting his book. 

"I don't know. I don't care. He's being a baby." Sehun scoffs at Jongin's choice of words. "You want to go eat something? Studying is boring." 

"What would he say if he knew you weren't studying like you're supposed to be?" Sehun jokes, but nonetheless he packs up his bag. He follows Jongin out of the library and down the path towards his car. 

"Probably that he hates me or something." 

--

"I hate him! He makes me feel like I'm a teenager because I get so nervous. I am glad you introduced us, though. His smile's so nice and his voice is so deep and his hands are so--" 

"Baekhyun, please be quiet." Kyungsoo feels as though his head might burst. He has a killer headache, and his secretary's constant talk of his long-time friend is making him more uncomfortable. 

"Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to be weird. I know you're his friend--" 

"You're fine, Baekhyun." Kyungsoo waves him off with a glare. Baekhyun swallows thickly and follows his boss towards his office. 

"You have a meeting with the CEO of the Chinese branch in ten minutes. Nothing else today after you finish that, sir." 

"Thanks, Baekhyun." Kyungsoo smiles at him halfheartedly, his headache pounding. Baekhyun leaves the room immediately after, still feeling awkward for talking about Chanyeol.

He doesn't know if it's because he didn't sleep well the night before, or because of the fight with Jongin, but his headache was making him really stressed. Kyungsoo puts his head down on the desk, sighing at the relief the cold object gave. He hears his phone buzz from next to him and grabs it immediately. 

From Chanyeol: thanks for inviting me last night!!! helping you was more fun than i expected ;)

Kyungsoo feels like he might throw up at the thought of Chanyeol's idea of 'fun'. He scrunches his nose before responding hesitantly. 

To Chanyeol: you're disgusting. i didn't want you to date my secretary. weird ual giant

From Chanyeol: thats exactly what baekhyun said last night ;)))))

Kyungsoo actually snorts out loud at his response. Was Chanyeol in seventh grade? He's about to respond with something to the effect of "baekhyun said you smelled gross" when there's a knock on his office door. He turns off his phone and calls for whoever it is to come in. 

"Sir, this is Kris Wu, CEO of the Chinese branch." Baekhyun introduces a tall man. A really, really tall man. 

Kyungsoo has to look up very far to meet his eyes when they greet each other. 

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Do." He smiles at the shorter man in a charming way.  

"Call me Kyungsoo. I'm not the CEO, just his son." Kyungsoo jokes before ushering Kris inside his office. Baekhyun ducks out and closes the door behind him, smiling at his boss the whole time. 

"Okay, Kyungsoo, I look forward to working with you." 

Something in the way he says it makes Kyungsoo feel uncomfortable, but he smiles anyway. He ignores the feeling in his stomach that Kris is looking at him oddly, and instead focuses on the work in front of him. It's halfway through talking through the companies plan, when Kris lets his hand stay on Kyungsoo's a second too long, that Kyungsoo wishes for Jongin to be there. 

ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU okay i really do have finals and stuff tomorrow so i really should go study oops BYE THANK YOU BEAUTIFUL PPL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I LOVE YOU~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~