A dark silhouette slumped lazily against the suede black couch that lay facing the open balcony; it took a deep breath before reaching for a remote control that it knew would be there unless one his naughty little puppies -  Monggu, Jjangu or Jjangah -  took it for a ride. His fingers brushed the hard edge of the device, two flicks and a soft neon glow lamp lit up the surrounding, revealing the silhouette’s haggard form. He threw back the hood that masked his identity, basking in the rare breezy nights of Seoul. ‘Ahh.. I need to take a bath..’ The catlike form rose languidly, stretching and rolling out the kinks in his weary body before traipsing down towards the basement.

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‘ this! my life! Aargh!!’ The door slammed shut, loud in the silent night, mirroring his feelings. He ripped his tie off his stifling shirt; running a free hand through his already ruined locks. Frustrated beyond words, he fisted his hands in his hair and ran towards the bathroom before letting out a bloodcurdling scream in the air. Chest rising up and down furiously, he walked towards his showerhead and stood still, allowing the cascading sparks of chilled water to numb his soul. A reel of his most recent memories played, and Kyungsoo relinquished himself to the river of tears that choked his airway and served him his torture.

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Jongin came out of his bathroom sufficiently rejuvenated; he decided to forgo the necessity of a shirt as the warm night did not seem to be simmering down any moment in the nearest future. Fetching himself a glass of pre-made cold chocolate from the fridge, he set out to his library, intent on confining himself to his speech recital (due tomorrow!) as EXO Inc.’s newly anointed president. He’d dallied enough; it’s time to open the curtains for a brand new act.

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Kyungsoo sat on his bed, meditating on his current predicament: He’d just been dumped by his 5 years long boyfriend because he’d suddenly found his calling and this silly business (how dare he label Kyungsoo a ‘business’?!) of involving himself with Kyungsoo had been nothing but a mere infatuation in his part and that he was sorry but he had other responsibilities that needed his presence elsewhere, these past 5 years had been nice (nice? Nice?! I’ll show you ing nice you conniving bastard!) but there’s no point in continuing it any further and that it was better to cut off their relationship right now. How nice would it be to wrap his fingers around that idiot and strangle the living lights out of him?

Kyungsoo grinned evilly as he imagined doing just that in his mind before the smile dropped. Nah.. there was no way he could do that to Josh, he loved that man more than he’d ever cared for himself. Kyungsoo pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, the beginnings of a hot stream of tears making his throat ache and heart pound heavily in his ribcage. Was it his fault being born a man? Was it his fault that he could not, could never fall – as a normal man would – for a woman?  Was it his fault that he found more pleasure in a man’s touch than woman’s kiss? How was he supposed to know he would end up being gay in matter of few years? And why the hell was he a Korean anyway? It’s not like there’s a leeway for homouality over here...

“Huh.” He scoffed, big difference that made. Josh was a New Yorker, and here he was now, lamenting his sorrows away. Gods, this was seriously going to kill him, he had a new job to attend to tomorrow for crying out loud! “..” He buried his head in his pillow, “, ing, ity !!” His hand hit the firm side of an unknown object and yet another colourful curse flew off his mouth, “!” Removing himself from the pile of misery he’d created, he grabbed the culprit that hurt his hand and glared at it for a second as an earlier conversation he had in his office surged up:

“Oh well, Soo..” Baekhyun, his colleague, fellow fan-boy and his most trusted confidante reached out and patted his shoulder. They were currently the only occupants their office lounge which was empty due to lunch hours and he was only being accompanied by Baekhyun because the cheery Bacon was waiting for his date to come pick him up for their lunch date. He was leaning back 180^o on his retractable-flexible chair (for which he had, by the way, gone through an arduous fight with his boss claiming that brilliant ideas could only be produced in a conducive environment) and stuffing a delicious, homemade cream cheese bagel down his throat.

“Oh wehl, ish nop like ish meffers..” He reached for another piece and shoved it into his awaiting mouth.

Baekhyun pinned him with a solicitous gaze, “It’s not like that and you know it, Soo. That guy mattered more to you than yourself, and trust me, it takes someone real good to keep yourself on edge about anything other than yourself.”

“Am I that much of a narcist?” The brunette looked up the Bacon, peeved.

The blond smirked, “Hell if you aren’t, D.O~” He groaned, “Baek, please, stop that!” The name was given by one of his abundant exes, a cute Chinese man called Yixing, and it’d stuck till this very day. Apparently Kyungsoo was hard for him to pronounce. He smiled at the memory. Yixing had been a really nice guy, a diamond in the rough, in fact it was he who put an end to them. Sad but true. The brunette did not know what possessed him to ditch Yixing, and as much as he did not want to admit, he recognised a light pang of regret every time he caught a look of the A4 sized picture that decorated his soft board, a picture of them together at his working studio near his home in China. They had been so happy back then...

Kyungsoo shut his eyes, tight, wading the remnants of his memoirs vehemently, refusing to be caught in their bait. “Hey, I’ve gotta go now, Chanyeol is waiting for me downstairs,” Baekhyun looked at his friend, worrying his lower lip in a sign of distress. He opened one eye, allowed a smile to grace his full, heart-shaped lips and said, “Go ahead, and quit worrying like a mother hen! I’m more than capable of taking care of myself,” while patting his friend’s head.

The pixyish blonde hesitated for a second, tore a Post-It from his table and scribbled something on it before pressing into his hands, “Don’t judge me,” he said softly while closing Kyungsoo’s  hands around the piece of paper, “And use it only when you’re really, really in a pinch.” The brunette looked down at the paper, “What’s this?”

Baekhyun grinned in answer, “Just a lil’ titbit to let off your steam, remember! Use it only when you’re dire need, kayh? Ciao~!”

Would this count as a dire enough? Kyungsoo slipped it out from the plastic cover at the front most page of his notebook, fingers absent-mindedly tracing the words written. It was a phone number, he wondered whose.. A slow smile graced his lips, should he probably try it out? After all, it would be bad of him as a friend to simply ignore Baekhyun’s offering wouldn’t it? He grabbed for his iPhone 6 and dialled the number, the dial tone started, he took a deep breath and prepared to say something, anything, but then a voice, male, richer than any melted chocolate he’d ever tasted before greeted him, “Yoboseyo?”

Neither of them knew that they were acquainted before hand, nor were they expecting the catastrophic outcome of this phone call. One thing was for sure, Jongin, was in for s surprise..

Chapter 1, kansei~! ^^ Enjoy~ 

Aoi.V