"And there's our favorite little crow, all in black as always! Long time no see, Kyungsoo!"
For once, Kyungsoo had no sarcastic comment to give and with a small smile, he greeted the group of girls, sinking into his familiar seat. Sure, it majorly that spring break was over, but seeing the girls again wasn't an unwelcome-
He only got a split second of warning in form of a plastic bottle before unknown liquid was sprayed into his face.
"Urgh- what the ?!"
"Shh, you need to cover everything," Bom began, big eyes appearing behind the bottle as she already lifted it for a second spray, which Kyungsoo didn't notice -because he was temporarily blinded- but suspected anyway, flailing with one arm to stop her.
"What is this, pepper spray?!"
"Nooo, you dummy. It's an anti-swelling spray, it's good for your skin." the aloof girl protested, and a tissue was pushed into Kyungsoo's free hand. His eyes were still slightly teary when he angrily blinked at her. Bom looked unfazed and merry as ever, her hair now dyed in a matte, turqoise color that clashed with the obnoxious prints on her dress. Next to Bom sat Dara, shaking her head at her.
"See? I told you guys don't appreciate stuff like this."
"Kyungsoo is just grumpy..." Bom protested and really, had he just thought it was good to be back? Cause he'd like to scroll up and strikethrough that statement.
"You see, Bom here spent 95% of her summer holidays with people she met on either tinder, lovoo, facebook or the streets, with zero success as always." Dara explained matter-of-factly, twirling a strand of curly hair that was falling out of her purposefully messy braid. Yes, it was obviously the first day of a new semester - where people still had the will to put some effort in their appearance.
"You make it sound like I picked up homeless people." Bom pouted and Dara shot her the 'unimpressed big sister' look.
"What about that one guy you mentioned-"
"That was one guy!" she defended herself immediately, "and he was hella cute with that little stubble-"
"And then you sprayed him with this stuff?" Kyungsoo asked, equally unimpressed. Bom rolled her eyes.
"Well, it was meant as a favor, I don't share this with just anybody!"
"Only with bad pets, huh?" Kyungsoo retorted and Dara giggled.
"I didn't know you're into this sorta stuff, Soo, ."
"The mere fact that you know about this has me question what you did during the holidays." Kyungsoo countered with a raised brow, not missing a beat. The girl spluttered, much to the amusement of the other two. Bom was giving her a sly smile while Minzy looked perfectly entertained, leisurely sipping on her packed juice.
"It's not- I wasn't very busy, I took it easy, you know? You gotta recharge after that last semester." Dara hummed vaguely.
"You've been glued to your couch, surrounded by snacks, buried in a blanket, curtains closed and watching stuff on netflix for four weeks straight, haven't you?" Kyungsoo asked blankly. Dara blinked. Placed a hand on Kyungsoo's shoulder and laughed awkwardly.
"Nooo... what a vivid imagination, I would never..."
She trailed off, looking into the distance before focusing back on the group.
"Is my life sad? It's sad, isn't it?"
It was their turn to quickly reassure her that 'Nooo', of course not, before Dara could start overthinking. It turned out that Minzy was one of those unsettling people who actually went out to do stuff in summer, while Chaerin had a poorly concealed sunburn that betrayed the fact that she had worn her fake Ray Ban sunglasses way too often on her three weeks trip to Tenerife.

Kyungsoo didn't feel all that bad about his summer anymore, which had mostly consisted of lazying around at home, playing games or hanging out with Chanyeol, in retrospective. Just yesterday he'd brought Sohee to school on his behalf (he was horrible at dealing with kids, but it turned out that handling Sohee wasn't unlike dealing with his mother - a well-placed, occasional hum and he was good to go).

Kyungsoo felt very bad about his summer consisting mostly of full-time procrastination when the teacher announced that this semester's main project for Fashion Design was to create a collection with four outfits -not really a surprise- and Dara claimed she'd already started on them ("just the concept, guys, I'm not a nerd. Just a few sketches - oh, and did I show you my moodboard?"), and even Chaerin and Bom had already found their general motif during summer break.
Was Kyungsoo the only sane student in his year?

"All these girls are making me nervous."
Luhan nodded in understanding, looking mildly tired as he clutched a cup of coffee - an obvious improvement from the zombie-like status he'd been in for about half a year.
"I know, right? You can't force inspiration. It's either there or not. In my fifth semester, my muse was overseas, I think, and I only started on my collection like, a month before the deadline."
"Stop it, I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it." Kyungsoo groaned, burying his head on his arms. Luhan shrugged, plucking at the bento Kyungsoo had made himself. His final presentation may be over, but the credentials had yet to be given and the Chinese had merrily stated he'd exploit the opportunity of sewing at the school's industrial machines for at least that long.
"So how are things going with Tao?" Kyungsoo began, genuinely interested. Luhan sent him a suspicious look, gauging his intentions. Understandable, since so far he'd been mostly mocked by others for his pathetic crush. But who was Kyungsoo to judge, really? Besides, he'd taken quite the liking to Luhan. He was no longer that slightly lunatic, but intimidating upperclassman, but a friend. Who tended to go a little loony if fashion was involved. Or Tao.
The boy ultimately sighed, placing his coffee cup down.
"...I'm not even sure Tao is swinging that way." he murmured, and Kyungsoo couldn't help it - he snorted.
"Dude, I think Tao is swinging so enthusiastically that he's threatening to overturn and end up on the straight side of things again." he deadpanned and Luhan looked hesitant, but hopeful.
"You think so? I know, right? I mean. He's not like Baekhyun, but-"
"Baekhyun is not the one who sets the standards here. He's more gay than all of us together and he's bi, for god's sake." Kyungsoo grumbled, thinking back to a small selection of moments where Baekhyun had embarrassed all of them by being too gay to function in public - he couldn't recall all the moments, for that would not only be a very ing long flashback, but also because he refused to let Baekhyun occupy that much space in his brain.
"Anyway. Everything about Tao says 'I don't want s' in neon letters. Probably embedded on a plush and fluffy background. With handcuffs-"
"I get it alright?" Luhan interrupted him, taking an exceptionally huge bite of cucumber as if the vegetable was at fault for planting internal images that included Tao and plush handcuffs into his mind. After all, Luhan was the macho type and had standards. Plush handcuffs, pfft. More like high quality police cuffs made of polished steel.
"So... if you're fairly certain that he's into men. And you're into him. And you are a man. Then what exactly stops you...?" Kyungsoo asked carefully, trailing off as Luhan glared at him. Kyungsoo wasn't fazed because no one glared at him, it's supposed to be him doing all the glaring.
"You're saying it as if you were all that - I don't see you and your mechanic guy making any progress!"
"Ah, shut up." Kyungsoo snapped, but it was a half-assed reply. Good thing that his poker face was so incredible - or maybe Luhan was just really convinced that Kyungsoo couldn't have possibly made any progress. Which might be offensive, but alright. He wasn't about to correct him, because oh boy, what a surprise, Kyungsoo was a private person. Relationship trouble belonged under the S-category of important information and the only person occupying the S-rank on his friendship scale was Jongdae (heck, he'd probably invented that category for him). Luhan was more on the B rank, and that meant that Kyungsoo wasn't about to spill any too-intimate information about himself. He did care, though, a feat that not many people had earned themselves.
"Maybe he didn't get that you're interested." Kyungsoo probed carefully, and it was Luhan's turn to snort.
"I'm practically throwing myself in the dirt to have him step all over me and be grateful about it."
Kyungsoo silently nodded to himself.
"Alright," he slowly began, "it's good that you're realizing that... but what if Tao didn't get the message that you're gay?"
Luhan blinked. And blinked some more... tilted his head. Obviously this concept was as foreign to him as French literature.
"Everyone tells me I'm the most obviously homoual person they've ever met. My grandma says she knew it when I was about nine months old, somehow concluding it from my baby photos."
"Really? Looks aside, you always came across as pretty manly to me, you know? Seriously." Kyungsoo said and meant it. Luhan grinned.
"Thanks man-"
"Except when you're around Tao, cause then you turn into a thirteen year old girl." Kyungsoo added and Luhan's smile got a little wider, taking on the quality of a forced employee who's done with your .
"-aaand you."
With an indulgent 'you're welcome' nod, Kyungsoo picked up his bottle of iced tea, leaving Luhan to devour the rest of his second breakfast.
"I don't know, maybe you should give him a more obvious hint. And by hint I'm talking about coming out and making it clear you wanna be his lover and not his maid or anything," Kyungsoo proposed, re-thinking his statement to add, "except you're into that."
"It certainly wouldn't be me wearing the maid outfit, that I can tell you."
Kyungsoo, who definitely didn't want to imagine big, bony Tao in a maid dress, and who wasn't all that keen on crossdressing anyway -though he clearly respected it- grimaced. Unaware of this, Luhan abandoned the chopsticks and reached for the spoon to shove food into his mouth more effectively.
"Eibe ou ait to-" he began around two mouthfuls of potatoes and Kyungsoo glared at him - and since Kyungsoo's glares are much more effective and trademark-worthy, Luhan obediently swallowed most of the food before starting anew, determination lighting up his already sparkly eyes.
"Maybe you're right though. Maybe I should just go for it and risk it. I mean, it's not like I'm shy. He shouldn't expect having to make the first move, right? I just gotta be careful and considerate and ."
"Don't talk about while having my food in your mouth." Kyungsoo sighed, half-heartedly nudging him. Luhan only cackled.
"Naughty, Soo. Feed it to me~"
"Oh, for s sake, Luhan. You're awful."
The Chinese only kept chuckling until he choked on a piece of paprika, much to Kyungsoo's satisfaction.

Yes, he surely wouldn't tell Luhan about his state of relationship with Chanyeol. Because he wasn't even sure anymore. It certainly was going somewhere for once, but where to, he didn't know. Probably off to find Emerald city, where everybody lies to themselves.
Even Chen was getting exasperated with Kyungsoo at this point.
'You're telling me he kissed down your neck and you did not deem it necessary to bring that up.' he'd said in this deadpan tone reserved especially for Kyungsoo's antisocial escapades.
But it wasn't his fault, for once! He'd meant to say something, he really did, but they were in the middle of this concert and by the end of the song, Chanyeol had withdrawn again, never going further as the polite hands on his shoulders. And after the concert they'd visited his seniors backstage, and then went home, and Kyungsoo went to sleep, and he'd never mentioned it in the end. But Chanyeol had behaved so naturally and hadn't said a word about it either! It was probably a hormonal fallout, or maybe he'd even imagined it altogether, mirages being triggered by the overly stuffed, hot room.
Kyungsoo stared at his feet which diligently carried him towards the core of the celtic knot forming in his brain - see, he's even casually asking you to come over, just like before. Nothing happened.
...except Kyungsoo knew that couldn't be true. He'd seen Chanyeol drunk before and while clingy, he had definitely not tried to hit on him. And he'd had nothing but one cup of beer that evening, half of it spilled before he could drink it.
Nooo, no, this definitely happened.
Maybe, Kyungsoo thought -and the idea alone made him feel mildly sick- maybe he should adhere to the advise he'd given Luhan. The one he had gotten from Chen before, albeit in a less patronizing choice of words that he didn't dare repeat.
Make a move on him.
Sure, Kyungsoo was an awkward mess all around, but that wasn't the only reason stopping him from actively approaching Chanyeol in that way. He'd considered it, plenty of times even, because a man could dream, right? But Chanyeol had voiced out to be into women, and had never showed any interest in him going beyond platonic friendship. Now he had though. This was like a green light, it was alright to reveal his interest now, just a little, wasn't it?
It shouldn't be this nerve-racking, but Kyungsoo couldn't shake the fear of rejection. Imagine you're straight, have a gay friend and then the pathetic guy starts to hit on you, because he misinterpreted your affection, and oh my god. Kyungsoo didn't want to be that guy.
"Hi Soo!" the voice crackled through the speaker and with a buzz, the front door opened, and Kyungsoo realized that he'd somehow reached Chanyeol's home while being lost in thoughts. Which hadn't led anywhere. Making a move or not? And if so, how would he do it? Usually, he'd be overly nice and attentive, smile a lot... but he did that around Chanyeol, anyway. Only now did he realize that he had no clue about how to take the first step in an appropriate way. Saying 'hey, by the way, wanna date?' seemed like a horrible idea. Up to this day, Kyungsoo had somehow assumed that stuff like this would resolve itself automatically, that the right moment would just come and he'd just know what to say. Now his world view was seriously crumbling under the harsh reality that he had no idea what a first step would actually look like. Kiss first, ask questions later probably only worked in dramas.
"Hi Soo, come in-" 
"Kyungsoo!! I learned how to braid a fishtail!" Sohee cut both of them off, already tugging Kyungsoo inside, who tried to stop spacing out before people were assuming he was lost in a tragic flashback of Yu-gi-oh extents.

An outsider would probably scoff at Kyungsoo, telling him how he got all his opportunities served on a silver platter and was too fear-constipated to use them. Kyungsoo would... agree. Because currently they were sitting side by side, watching Howl's Moving Castle while Sohee had gone to sleep. She'd whined about being left out when they were watching her DVD, but she had to go to school the next day, and after making Kyungsoo promise to watch another one of her movies together with her the day after, she had relented with a half-consoled pout.
"Don't mind her, she's seen all these movies a hundred times already." Chanyeol reassured him, making himself comfy on the couch. Kyungsoo made sure not to have their sides touch, though his mind was racing. This was his chance, right? They were alone and not really busy with anything other than watching a classic movie they both sort of knew already (Chanyeol more so than him), and this could be it, right?
Halfway into the movie, Kyungsoo was still sitting orderly, hands kept to himself as they were watching the adventure unfold. He wanted to cry.
I'm such a failure. This could be my biggest chance.
He heard the voice of Captain Jack Sparrow in the back of his head, merrily stating that those were the moments to happily wave at as they pass by. He shouldn't be quoting C-listers, he should be doing something! Maybe... start it easy, place your head on his shoulder. No big deal, Chanyeol does it to him all the time.
Except Kyungsoo couldn't find an appropriate moment. Not during the action scenes or the funny ones... the movie would be over soon, right?
They were already at one of the last scenes where the poor main character thinks all hope is lost, and hey, it's a sad scene - now or never!
In one swift motion, Kyungsoo placed his head on Chanyeol's shoulder, already regretting the unnatural move. Chanyeol didn't show an immediate reaction, but he didn't shove him off, and that was enough to count as a success in Kyungsoo's book. The position wasn't all that comfortable from this angle, but it was the gesture that counted and he was determined to see this through. He felt the others steady breath and it felt almost natural like this. Innocently snuggling up to each other wasn't that hard. This was really nice, actually. Chanyeol was nice. The way their sides were now pressed together was nice. Some of Chanyeol's simmering warmth must have melted something in his brain, because before Kyungsoo knew it, he'd lifted his head, timidly leaning in to peck his cheek-
Chanyeol chose that exact moment to turn towards him and Kyungsoo froze in the movement, staring at him wide-eyed. Caught red-handed. . Just like him, Chanyeol flinched away the tiniest bit, looking startled. They were still much closer than appropriate and Kyungsoo nervously wet his lips, parted them to say something, anything, when Chanyeol beat him to it.
"That's not a good idea." he murmured quietly, eyes forcefully breaking away from Kyungsoo.
No.
Kyungsoo's mind was wiped blank except for this thought, one drop of icy water on the sudden void of his head.
No.
"Kyungsoo. Sohee could come in any moment." he added, gently reprimanding him, and , Kyungsoo felt awful. He was right. Of course, how could he make a move on her brother while she was in the next room? The door was probably even open, he was an irresponsible, terrible-
His breath hitched when Chanyeol got up, carefully tugging at his upper arm and coaxing him to follow. Kyungsoo did, and by now, his racing thoughts were back in full force, having called for plenty of backup. That was it, Chanyeol would take him outside, away from Sohee's possibly prying ears to talk to him about this. He'd ask him what on earth he was thinking, what was wrong with him and tell him to please refrain from like this in the future. And he'd be so ing nice about it, too. Without a word, Chanyeol pulled him into their kitchen almost calmly, closing the door under Kyungsoo's helpless stare. With a light, but sure grip, he steered Kyungsoo in front of the door, leaned in and... kissed him. A rather chaste brush of lips against his, warm and just plush enough and it squeezed the air out of Kyungsoo's lungs, replacing it with tension all over. Chanyeol was kissing him, the sensation painting colorful dots against the black of his vision. What? Why was this happening? What was he supposed to do? He felt the other withdrawing, probably for his lack of response, and desperate to make up for it, Kyungsoo's eyes fluttered open just long enough to chase his lips, catching them again, a little harder this time. Please don't stop, please never stop, this is amazing, he wanted to say, and while he was deeply scared he might up, he nipped at the others bottom lip, a very tentative hand reaching out to lightly touch his upper arm. It seemed like this was enough confirmation for Chanyeol, who hummed in approval and god, Kyungso felt it, felt the vibrations of his voice. Both his arousal and heart loved it. Chanyeol steadied one lower arm against the door, effectively keeping it closed as his free one came up to cup the back of Kyungsoo's head, brushing his neck in the progress and sending a full body shiver through him. He tried to mimic the other, mouthing at his top and bottom lip, mapping out their shape, tugging at them occasionally, drowning in the tiny hums and the way Chanyeol's body gradually pressed closer against his.
Kyungsoo would have never pictured to have his first kiss happen like this, but there they were, standing between kitchen tools dangling off the wall and cramped shelves, under the artificial, yellowish light. Such an undramatic, simple scenario, and yet it felt ing perfect.

 

♪  Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel... like you're less than ing perfect  ♪

Things are happening, as promised!
And don't worry, this time I'm not gonna fake you out with a time skip, promise - you've been patient enough already!
Summer break is over, more fashion-related stuff is ahead - because like most of us, Soo doesn't have two s to give for education-related stuff during his time off.

Love all of you~ ♡

P.S.: I'm taking a leap here and claim that at least 50% of the authors telling you that the first kiss between two kiss-s will be a perfect, hot french kiss... have not had their first kiss before. What do they say? Let them dream?
(though Yeol obviously isn't a in almost every sense in this)
(still, it just doesn't work like this)