Kyungsoo yawned.
And reached for his coffee.
He was half-heartedly listening to yet another CinemaSins video on Youtube, shamelessly exploiting the school's wi-fi and effectively spoiling yet another movie beyond return.
Actually he barely even looked at his mobile phone screen, all too busy attaching more wooden pearls onto the long cape. He felt like it was some sort of a black hole, swallowing all the work and time (and pearls) without showing any signs of progress.

The loud and happy atmosphere was long gone by now - it always calmed down as the hours ticked by. Chen had been the first to leave at half past nine, stating that he'd promised to do an online raid with Xiumin at ten o'clock sharp('Whatever the heck that means, nerd', Baekhyun graciously said), followed by Baekhyun who left at twelve.
No one knew for sure whether he was joking when he contemplated going to a club to top the night off.

Now it was 2 in the morning and only Kyungsoo and Luhan were left, having moved their stuff into a room further into the school where not every passerby had a good look at their pathetic demeanor.
And Kyungsoo kept stitching. Pearl for pearl for mothering pearl.
While he listened to some guy listing the endless flaws of one of the many Paranormal Activity movies he would have never bothered to watch in the first place, every cliche and stupid aspect accompanied by a resounding 'ding!'.
As long as he had something keeping him up he was all good.

'Oh noes, my wife has an emotional breakdown, tiiime to film it - ding!'
Kyungsoo wondered whether he'd EVER see the end of this.
'I know how you feel you can't possibly know how I feel-cliche - ding!'
Whether he'd be able to make it in time for the shoot.
'Scene does not contain a lapdance - ding!'
Or whether he would ever get a lapdance.
Focus.
Chanyeol is hardly gonna be the lapdance type with that stupid, uncontrollably long limbs of his.
He'd probably fall over the chair and pull both of us to the ground.
Whiiich would be fine by me - ding!

Kyungsoo shook his head to get rid of the thoughts.
He'd never see the end of it if he started counting the sinful thoughts he had about Chanyeol.
I should rather focus on this stupid cape first. Embarrassing myself in front of Wu-in'-Fan is not an option.
He's probably gonna murder me if I make him look y.
Even though it was ridiculous, Kyungsoo always found it very motivating to actually have a model chosen. It was spurring him on to work even harder so that the model won't be disappointed. However silly this may be, it at least prevented him from doing half-assed stuff.
He was so immersed that he had soon watched(or rather listened to) the whole end credits and before choosing another video he took the liberty of checking his KakaoTalk for new messages.

It was at times like these that the stupid different time zones finally came in handy.
By now(2:13 AM, oh the horror) all of his friends had gone to bed and no one was willing to entertain him even the slightest bit or keep him virtual company at least - even Chen had gone to bed after his raid since he had to get up early.
And even though he liked Luhan - and he really did -... He was hardly very talkative or cheerful at this point and who was Kyungsoo to blame him.
So it was a good thing that two of his friends were currently in Europe and therefore wide awake.
Unfortunately both of them were kind of busy as well.
Henry was currently packing his stuff and getting ready to leave for Poland while Amber was diligently fulfilling her slave work internship duties.
Nonetheless he had a wonderfully promising notification of a new message. It wasn't from Europe though.

 

[2:03]
From: PCYeol
Wah, fashion students work hard, don't they?
I just passed by your school and the lights are still on
Workaholics much? :P
(Sorry if I woke you up...)

Okay, now I'm definitely wide awake.
Kyungsoo nervously tapped along the sides of his phone, his garment temporarily forgotten.

[2:15]
To: PCYeol
Look who's talking - you're STILL at work?
Don't worry, you didn't wake me up
But you kinda prevented me from falling asleep *kkk*

Was that too much? Well, now it was too late and he had already sent it and quickly closed the app afterwards as if trying to deny anything had ever happened.
Before Kyungsoo had mentally come to terms with his reply the screen lit up yet again.
And even though he swore to himself not to appear too desperate he didn't even manage to wait a minute before re-opening the chat.

[2:16]
From: PCYeol
So it IS you
Man, you're working too much
I'm just on standby at the workshop.

[2:17]
Wanna grab something to drink?

Kyungsoo blinked.
Now would be a good moment to take a mental sin off of him since his very first thought was:
But I gotta work. I need to finish this.

But directly after that followed the mini panic attack consisting of thoughts like:
'Chanyeol asked me to meet up. Me, not Chen. Chanyeol. ME.'
'ME.'
'Ohmygod I look awful and have no concealer on me or anything'
'I'm wearing my old flowery pullover for god's sake, I CAN'T.'
'HE asked ME. It's gonna be just us two and I can't let this chance get away!'

Interpreting the silence the wrong way, another message followed.

[2:19]
From: PCYeol
You don't have to.
I mean, I know you probably have a lot of work, so no pressure or anythin'

[2:19]
To: PCYeol
Oh, nonsense
Taking a little break once in a while is alright
But... I look like a total mess, so you've been warned.
Don't judge me

[2:20]
From: PCYeol
Psh, whatever
People who look good at 2:20 are either on drugs or aliens anyway

[2:21]
To: PCYeol
I'm glad we got that straight.
I'll be out in five minutes?

He didn't even wait for the simple 'Sounds good' and had already sauntered to the bathroom with an amount of energy that earned him a raised eyebrow from Luhan.
"Oh my god. Why. I should've washed my hair this morning instead of yesterday evening. Maybe then I wouldn't look like a thug right now... !" he cursed while trying to re-adjust his fringe to make it look less greasy. Neither his hair nor skin were particularly fond of this time of the day, and rightfully so. Still, there was nothing he could do about it, so he just splashed some cold water on his face, hoping to cool his slightly puffy face a little and look more awake.
He earned himself the second lifted eyebrow when he told Luhan that he was leaving him alone for just a bit.

When he stepped into the cold he was welcomed by the sight of Chanyeol, who was already waiting for him, dressed with a plush padded jacket and a wide smile.
A wide smile that turned his head to mush immediately.
"H-hey. Have you been waiting long?"
"Nah, I just got here, don't worry~"
'Have you been waiting long no I just got here'-cliche - ding!
"So... let's go then?" Kyungsoo hesitantly said to which he got a happy nod in return.
"Sure! So what's keeping you up at this hour?" Chanyeol conversationally started as they crossed the street to visit the only open convenience store around.
"Just a few wooden pearls. A few THOUSAND." Kyungsoo groaned, not liking to be reminded of the monster waiting for him back at the classroom.
"Are there that many pearls for just one outfit?"
They entered the tiny store, greeted the sleepy clerk and went to grab some chilled drinks while Chanyeol kept pondering.
"Come to think of it I have no idea what kind of clothes you make."
"Hah, neither do I..." Kyungsoo murmured, 101% done, while reaching for a can of ice tea.
"I just... I do this and that, the overall topic changes every semester. I don't know whether I got a clear style just yet." he vaguely answered while they paid and left the store.
"So with all the pearls... Is it a dress or something?" Chanyeol asked, his deep voice laced with genuine curiosity.
Kyungsoo stopped fumbling with his can for a second to deny this quickly.
"No, this year I'm doing men's wear. Or rather, uni wear. Unlike Luhan I don't do dresses for men. Or rather... My themes don't require stuff like that. I'm not saying his stuff is bad or weird."
As a second thought he shook his head while finally opening his can with a satisfying click.
"That is, it's definitely weird. But you know how it is."
Chanyeol didn't look like he knew exactly how it was, but went nodding along regardless.
"This time I'm making clothes for a made-up avantgardistic theater stage with historical origins. Just three outfits, but damn if that's not more than enough already."
When he looked sideways at Chanyeol he realized that he had mentally lost him.
"Uh, so you're making... Theater stuff that's abstract?"
"Basically, yeah. It's just a lot of layers and capes with historical themes. I have an inuit-inspired one with faux fur and everything and one inspired by Asian and African tribes each. I'm not gonna bore you with details about the tribes, but the latter one includes said pearls."
"Wah, this sounds pretty awesome. You gotta show me when you're done!"
"Ah, it's not gonna be that awesome..."
The redhead only hummed and took a sip of his coke.
By now they were standing on the street, perfectly positioned between their workplaces.
"Then show me regardless and let me judge for myself how awesome exactly it is." he suggested brightly.
Not even waiting for any possible protests of Kyungsoo he threw his head back and groaned a quietly.
"Such a pity though. If you were the women's fashion type of designer, you could have surely given me a little advice."
Womenswear? What? WHY? I'm not gonna pick out a dress for your girlfrie-
"My sister's birthday is coming up and I don't know what to do..."
Oooooh.
"Isn't she... young?" Kyungsoo carefully asked.
"She'll turn nine. And I just don't know what to give her. I mean, you probably think it's easy to get a present for a nine-year-old, but... I just. I'm broke, you know? With paying the rent and all the things that come up I can't afford buying her something very special, since the month's barely half-over and I know she's gonna have that school festival and-"
"So you need a cheap idea for a girl's present?"
Chanyeol nodded dejectedly.
"Yeah... I'm the worst, right? I should have begun to save up earlier..."
"And... You think I know what to give to a girl?" Kyungsoo continued, still probing.
"I know! It was a silly train of thoughts. Just because you're doing fashion doesn't mean you know about what kids like these days. Sorry man, it's late..."
Kyungsoo shook his head with vigor, dismissing the apology.
"No! It's no problem at all! It's normal to think about price ranges when it comes to presents, right? I'm sure she doesn't expect you to buy her something very expensive anyway."
Chanyeol still looked a little down and Kyungsoo found that it did the worst to his heart.
He quickly racked his brain on what his little cousins always got for their birthdays, but it was all expensive toys and the likes.
"Can you tell me what she's like? What does she enjoy?"
"Hm... She's very, very mature for her age. I don't mean she's quiet or shy, but she's patient and sensible. So even though we live under rather... lame circumstances, she doesn't openly complain to me about it or demands for a lot."
"Sounds like a really good girl."
"Yeah." he agreed and a small smile was back on his face.
So she already was a young lady, in a way.
Suddenly he had an idea.
"Does she like dressing up?"
Chanyeol uncertainly bobbed his head from side to side while thinking.
"Well... I guess so. She doesn't bug me to buy her a lot of clothes but she has a strong opinion on what to wear to school. Don't I dare suggest her the wrong dress, haha. And there was that one time I caught her wearing our mother's clothing when she thought I would be back later-"
"So she's a fashion-loving little princess at heart, like most girls." Kyungsoo concluded with a smile.
"A sophisticated little princess, that is." he added when he got a doubtful look from Chanyeol. With a last sip he threw the can into a trash bin and nodded to himself, blinking the sleep away a little.
I wish ice tea was still able to keep me awake in any way.
"Look, I might have an idea. Are you working here tomorrow as well?"
"Actually no. But on the day after. Why are you asking?"
"I might have something at home so I could bring it, if you have a bit of time to spare."
Chanyeol already got that uncertain look in his big eyes.
"Uhm. Of course I have but don't put in a lot of effort, alright? I don't mean to trouble you. You're busy, after all."
"Don't worryyy...", Kyungsoo said, reassuringly waving his hands in dismissal, "It's not gonna be any trouble at all."
The look he received was still a little doubtful but before he could add any more, Kyungsoo's phone vibrated.

[2:40]
From: LuLu
Yo yo
Soo, are you gonna be back any time soon?
I wanna go hoooome......

On the way back to the classroom he was still grinning wide enough to bite his lips in an attempt to dim it a bit.
Chanyeol had suggested they could hang out more often like this if they coincidentally had the same insane night shifts.
Maybe I should start taking a spare set of nicer clothes from now on. Just in case.
Or at the very least concealer.

It was 3:30 when Kyungsoo finally rounded the corner and his shabby front door came into sight.
He was quietly humming to himself while listening to a hyper Kyary Pamyu song in a volume that should be illegal, swaying the last rest of his instant coffee around in it's cup.
There was no point in drinking it anymore as he was about to go to sleep, but throwing away precious caffeine was no option either.
Sometimes walking home like this made him feel like he was drunk. Probably the mixture of being dead-tired but artificially hyped up by said caffeine.
Bobbing his head from side to side he took out the keys and entered the hallway, lowering the music volume considerably so as not to get into trouble.
Tiiime to do my daily exercise, he thought with the airy type of happiness significant for people who were by now 102% done with everything. He had just reached the second floor when he saw his neighbor sitting on the front step, a huge sports bag wide open as he was clearly searching for something.

"Hello." Kyungsoo said in a friendly way and instantly his neighbor's head shot up just to slightly bow from where he was positioned on the floor.
"Good morning."
"Is... everything alright?" he asked carefully, muting his music.
It took the Chinese man a second of blinking until he nodded slowly.
"I'm fine." he simply replied in a dutiful manner as if it was not half past three in the freaking morning.
"Aaaalright then..." he replied in an 'Okay, nothing to do here, then'-manner and took the next flight of stairs. Then he hesitated and came to a halt though.
Their Chinese neighbor Zhang from the second floor was a peculiar guy. Peculiar meaning that Kyungsoo usually encountered him at either the crack of dawn or way before that, like now.
Chen had even only ever seen him once and since then it had become a running gag among them to speculate what on earth this guy did for a living.
With him often carrying around the big sports bag, Chen had readily thrown in that he might have a shady job(iDon't be racist, Chen" - "I'm not, everybody can become a drug dealer!") or might as well be one of those people locking themselves up at home in fear of actual people("Talk about yourself, Chen" - "Come ooon, haven't you seen Flower Boy Next Door? I'm just listing the possibilities here!").
But to Kyungsoo, whom had encountered the young man on more than one occasion whenever his deadlines were nearing, Zhang seemed like a perfectly friendly guy who looked neither drugged nor dangerous in general. Maybe he was just a little oddball.
An oddball who has obviously locked himself out.
Now Kyungsoo wasn't exactly an outgoing person who tried to throw himself at any person in possible need. But he didn't want to be an , either.
So he ultimately turned and retraced his steps.

7:30 AM. Too. Goddamn. Early.
Those were Chen's only thoughts when he sluggishly went from the bathroom to the kitchen.
Well, that and maybe:
May Cthulu or whatever god is hearing me right now please swallow the earth so I can be free of responsibilities and granted the sleep I deserve.
His sleep-deprived brain was vengeful and articulated like that.
Only when he had closed the fridge and turned with a wonderfully cool package of lemon ice cream to shock-freeze that brain of his into being awake, did he notice the body lying on their couch and made a double take, the ice cream sliding out of his hands and meeting the floor with a dull thud. After making contact with his foot, that is.
"Damn-" he cursed quietly, and the thin blanket rustled as the guy was quietly in reluctance.
I didn't know we had spare blankets.
Nevermind the blankets- WHO IS THIS?
"Uhm..." he began, unsure whether he would prefer to be rude by waking the stranger on their couch or risk his life by trying to rouse Kyungsoo and ask him about it.
The decision was taken from him when the guy slowly shifted into a sitting position, his brownish hair wildly sticking into every direction as he blinked at him in what would be the picture perfect imagery of sleepy confusion.
His lips were slightly parted while he tilted his head to the side as if his surroundings were the one being out of order here instead of him. Ultimately he settled on Chen, rubbing his eyes shortly to give him a slight bow of his head.
Chen hadn't said a word so far.
And there was a reason for that.
"Good morning." the heavily accented voice rasped out and the guy cleared his throat to continue in a more clear but still quiet tone.
"I'm Zhang Yixing. Nice to meet you."
It was because he was a complete goner.
"Kim Jongdae." he heard himself saying with a nod of his head.
"People call me Chen though."
"Chen? Are you a Chinese person?" Yixing replied in serious confusion.
"Ahh, no. It's just my nickname."
"Nick... name...?" Yixing slowly repeated and Chen leaned against the kitchen counter. He really didn't speak a lot of Korean, did he?
"Uh. You know. My friends call me Chen.", he said equally slowly and clearly, "It's easier. It's short."
This seemed to be a better choice of words since a sleepy smile lit up Yixing's face.
"Oh. I understand. Then I am Lay. People call me Lay, because my Chinese name is difficult."
Still a little dazed, Chen turned to re-open the fridge, stack away the ice cream and get out some proper breakfast ingredients.
"You hungry? We don't have much though."
Without waiting for a reply he plucked two slices of toast into their toaster and took out two cups.
"You like tea? Juice? Milk?"
"Tea, please?" Yixing replied equally questioningly while he properly sat up and pushed the blanket aside.
"So... Can I ask you a question? Like why you're sleeping on our couch?" Chen asked casually while preparing a quick breakfast.
"Yes of course. I... Yesterday I forgot my key. I met your friend and he... he offered me to sleep here. He's very nice."
"Kyungsoo. That's his name. So you forgot your key... You should go to the caretaker, she has a spare key. You know the caretaker?"
"Mrs. Park?"
Chen smiled at him while placing the hot toasts on their plates and hauling himself next to Yixing on the couch.
"Yeah, Mrs. Park. She'll help you. But say... Don't you have two keys?"
The Chinese nodded happily in affirmation, only to sheepishly lower his head.
"I have two keys, yes! But... They are all at my home..."
Chen didn't know whether he wanted to chuckle at this or spontaneously combust from the cuteness of his overall language.
Then he had an idea.
"You know, if you want to you can leave your spare key here, as a back-up."
Yixing blinked at him around a mouth full of toast and Chen reconsidered his words.
"I mean... If you want, you can give us the second key. If you forget the first key, you can come here. And we will give you the other key."
Understanding washed over his face in such an obvious way that Chen couldn't hide his grin.
"Ooooh. I got it."
"You don't need to be scared. If you want, I will give you our second key, too. So you feel safer."
Yixing dismissed this easily with a worried face.
"Oh. No, I'm not... Mistrusting. You're very kind, so I feel safe. I will bring my second key later."

Unfortunately Chen had to quickly leave for work, but they exchanged numbers(just because of the spare key thing of course) and while he was sitting in the subway, he was already typing away furiosly.

[9:00]
To: Squirrel-Xiu
OMG
You won't believe what happened
This morning I found our Chinese neighbor sleeping on the couch

[9:00]
From: Squirrel-Xiu
Good morning to you, too :P
The drug dealing one?

[9:01]
To: Squirrel-Xiu
HE'S HOT
Yeah that one
Nevermind whatever I said about him before
Like really, really HOT
And CUTE
He has that accent and a pretty face and dimples

[9:01]
From: Squirrel-Xiu
Oookay man, I got it
Your brain got short-circuited, huh? xD
Did you at least get his number or anything?

[9:01]
To: Squirrel-Xiu
Hah, I sure did!
Godddd, how could I miss out on this gorgeous guy living in the same house for such a long time?!

[9:02]
From: Squirrel-Xiu
Becaaause... He's a drug dealer? :D

[9:02]
To: Squirrel-Xiu
He's NOT!

[9:03]
From: Squirrel-Xiu
Then what DOES he do? You asked him?

[9:03]
To: Squirrel-Xiu
No.... :<
But I will, soon.
He can't be a drug dealer, he's too nice!

[9:03]
From: Squirrel-Xiu
So maybe he's......
.
.
.
A stripper c:

[9:04]
To: Squirrel-Xiu
XIU!

[9:09]
To: Squirrel-Xiu
Though I wouldn't mind a lapdance from him.

[-ding!]

Hello guys~
As I promised, I have my mind fully set on this and thus this chapter turned out rather long for this fic's standarts.
It's super fun writing Yixing speaking Korean since it reminds me of the way I spoke Korean or the way Koreans spoke English when I was abroad. So much fun.

I have the biggest trouble ever finding a fashion designer's work that resembles the one I have in mind for Kyungsoo. I've been literally searching for hours without finding anything. Therefore I'm leaving you with these pictures of some round of AustraliasNextTopmodel until I find something more accurate.
I'll keep trying, I promise.

This chapter's references:
I don't think I have to link you to CinemaSins, right? Right?
(Damn, I've always liked them but this weekend I was listening to them while making chocolate truffles for EIGHT hours. I've almost seen ALL their videos. This voice is gonna comment my daily life from now on.)

Love,
Sugar-and-Salt

P.S.: Kyary Pamyu is a sin I'll readily indulge myself in.
P.P.S.: Next chapter's gonna be a Solo again~