Being a fashion student brought a whole lot of adventurous and ridiculous problems, but first and foremost Kyungsoo was still... a student.
Well, he might have more lessons than actual lectures but it all came down to the same thing, basically.
And Kyungsoo was an excellent student, meaning that he knew exactly what kind of settings would prolong his phone battery and therefore enable him to text for 7 or more hours.
"Your screen is so dark, are you having a secret CS session?" Dara whispered as she nudged his shoulder playfully.
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes though he had the decency to blush at the memory of a particular Super Junior fanfiction he had read the day before that may or may not have included a hot kitchen scene between Yesung and Ryeowook.
No regrets.
"Nonsense, I'm texting with my roommate."
"Besides, who still uses the term CS?" Chaerin threw in from his other side.
"Whyyy? Isn't that what you call naughty text messages nowadays?"
Chaerin snorted so loud that Kyungsoo flinched a little.
"Naughty text messages? How old are you again? Today this is called ting, granny."
"Well excuse me for not knowing these things! Unlike you I'm more focused on the real deal and I know much more fancy and exciting stuff like, like beads and the likes-"
"You only know those from watching 50 shades of Grey!" Chaerin snarled back and Kyungsoo shifted in his seat uncomfortably  as the two got more fired up.
"Oh, how would you know? Did you watch this movie as well?"
"We watched it TOGETHER at the girl's movie night, goddamnit-"
"But there were no beads involved in there - didn't you say you didn't read the book because it went 'against everything a woman should stand in for and it was a disgrace that the author was female in the first place'?!" Dara added heatedly while giving a good impression of Chaerin's feminism-mode.
"Well, didn't YOU say you didn't read it either? And besides, the book DID -"
Having enough of this Kyungsoo shushed them to throw in his own hissed opinion.
"Guys, can you please stop?! First of all yes, the movie and the book can't be any better and if you wanna watch do it like guys do it and don't go for some hyped pseudo- wannabe-scandalous movie that downgrades women for god's sake. Just search up some real . And don't watch that degrading man, I thought you were better than this!"

"And the second point?" Dara innocently asked after a brief silence.
Kyungsoo blinked, taken off guard.
"The second...? Oh. Right. I can't text like this, the teacher's been staring at us, so please keep it low for now."
Dara pouted and Chaerin rolled her eyes but indeed they got quiet.
And Kyungsoo re-opened his Kakaotalk to take a look at his new messages.
There was a message of his cousin Suho who asked if he and Chen were free at the weekend(which he had to discuss with Chen first, so it went 'un-read' for now), a screenshot of what looked like a sea of tiny leather straps by a frustrated Amber, a new message of Henry and a series of messages in the 'Beagle Beagle ▽・ω・▽("Doesn't it sound like wiggle, wiggle?" - No, Baekhyun.)' group chat he shared with Baekhyun and Chen that would most likely only be spam.
So he opened the chat with Henry who had sent him a picture of some pretty impressive European-looking church and one of a huge plate of french fries with a sausage alongside a message.

[3:24]
From: Mochi-chi
Hey Soo~!
I think I'm slowly getting the hang of this country!
You remember that incident on my first day when I greeted them with "Heil(like 'highl')" which sounds like "Hi" but seemingly wasn't judging by their shocked looks?
Yeah, they forgave me the mishap. One guy even invited me again and as a thank you I kissed him on the cheek when I greeted him - I think this was a bad idea since all the girls were giggling and he looked a little baffled.
Why is this so difficult?! In France(which is a neighboring country!) it was perfectly acceptable!
Anyway, the girls seemed disappointed when I didn't make a move to kiss them, buuut it was for the sake of social conventions! ò_ó
Though they were cute... ._.

P.S.: This is apparently the most common street food here and it's pretty good c:

Oh yeah, that pitiful incident where some guy tricked Henry into using some old and rather nazi-ish greeting. Chen would never let him live it down. Then again, Henry committed too many social faux pas to keep track off. Far too many. It had been almost a year since he started to work & travel himself around the world and while he had a never-ending amount of love for any country he never failed to accidentally offend almost half the people he met.
Kyungsoo was in the midst of replying that he should not look for a girl if he couldn't take a long-distance relationship when another message came in.

[10:30]
From: KimKai
-KimKai sent a video-

Kyungsoo didn't even need to switch on the volume as he watched a disgustingly cute poodle pup stumbling over his sibling and then sneezing in a cavities-inducing way.

He sighed.

[10:31]
To: KimKai
You never work, do you? Stop watching dog videos and pay attention to the guys telling you how to actually care for dogs! :P

The reply came promptly.

[10:32]
From: KimKai
Well, then you should maybe stop drooling over online fashion slide shows and pay attention to the guys telling you how to actually MAKE this stuff :PP

[10:33]
To: KimKai
Touché.

[10:35]
From: KimKai
How are you doing, Hyung? c:
Let's meet up again~

[10:36]
To: KimKai
You only want to get treated, do you?

[10:36]
From: KimKai
Chi-cken, chi-cken~
Aren't you my Hyung? Don't you love me?

Kyungsoo sent him a picture of a horribly adorable ball of fluffy little chicks on a conveyor in response.

[10:38]
To: KimKai
Don't YOU love (fluffy) animals?

He didn't get a reply after that.

Shrugging it off he skipped back to replying Henry when another incoming message caught his attention due to it being completely written in Capslock.

Beagle Beagle ▽・ω・▽
[10:42]
From: 100<3snsd
WHO OF YOU RETARDS SWITCHED MY EYELINER FOR PAINT?!

[10:44]
From: ChenChen
Paint, pff
What kind of an artsy student are you? That's ink, excuse you

[10:44]
From: 100<3snsd
WHY. THE . WOULD YOU DO THIS.

[10:45]
From: Soo
Capslock, Baekkie, your capslock...

[10:45]
From: 100<3snsd
I AM WELL AWARE OF MY CAPSLOCK.

[10:46]
From: Soo
What's so horrible about having ink for eyeliner anyway? It's all black, right?

[10:47]
- 100<3snsd has sent a voice message -

Scrunching his eyebrows he looked up to check whether the coast was clear and plugged in one of his earbuds, purposefully downgrading the volume - a wise choice.

[10:47]
- 100<3snsd has sent a voice message -
    "Yeah right, it's all black, VERY FUNNY Do-ing-Kyungsoo! I applied it this morning since there's an important lecture today and oh, yeah, it was all black, no big deal, until I went out and it began to RAIN. Do you have any idea what I looked like?! No? Well, let me tell you - I looked like a motherin' teenie actress from a cheap horror flick that wakes up after a bad drug trip!
I LOOKED LIKE KAYAKO FROM THE GRUDGE!"

[10:48]
From: Soo
o.o
Did no one have make up remover?

[10:49]
From: 100<3snsd
'Course they had
But I was late and didn't actually check myself in the mirror and just went into the classroom
THANKS FOR RUINING MY CHANCES WITH FASHION DESIGNER KIM HIMCHAN, .

[10:50]
From: Soo
Easy there, I didn't even DO anything

[10:51]
From: 100<3snsd
ARE YOU ACTUALLY DARING TO GIMME PUNS RIGHT NOW?

[10:51]
From: Soo
What?? No, for God's sake!
Sorry for my in' name, BACON
Chen! Say something, this is all your fault anyway!

[10:52]
From: ChenChen
Wellll, you shouldn't be late, ay?
IFTB

[10:52]
From: Soo
Are you STILL on to that.

[10:53]
From: 100<3snsd
What... The , Kim Jongdae.
WHAT.
THE.
[10:54
.
DO.
YOU-

Aaaand Kyungsoo minimized the chat. There went his role in the conversation. Besides, he had already received a bunch of new messages.

[10:40]
From: KimKai
LOL
Baekhyun looks like he escaped a rehab center
Nice one
But srsly tho, are you suicidal?
Imagine him haunting you with that face, are you prepared for that?

[10:43]
From: Chaerin
So you did read 50 shades of Grey??
It totally , didn't it?

[10:45]
From: Dara
...You... Probably only know gay sites, riiiight?

He sighed when he saw the amount of new messages. A student's life was full of hardships.

"I can assure you I neither watched nor read 50 shades of Grey!" Kyungsoo repeated for what felt like the hundredth time while sitting with the 4 girls during their break.
"I merely watched a video on Youtube pointing out the flaws of the movie in twenty minutes and read a detailed book review once-"
"Are you embarrassed about it?" Dara curiously inquired and Kyungsoo groaned.
If only they knew what he knew. As if some soft like shades of Grey was worth being embarrassed about.
"Guys, do you really think Kyungsoo would be into straight soft ?" Minzy threw in casually while getting out her food.
The other three made a knowing 'aaah' at the revelation.
"Of course, that was silly, you're only interested in men obviously." Chaerin said knowingly as if now everything was clear.
"Something about your tone feels not right to me-"
"But aren't homouals into and the likes?" Bom asked curiously, not the least bit of shame in her voice.
"Why would you even think that?" Kyungsoo asked in exasperation.
"Because there's always one being the 'girl' in the relationship, right? So you're automatically kind of into role-playing?" Dara added with earnest curiosity.
Kyungsoo probably didn't look very intelligent as he stared at her judgingly, but oh, he didn't care.
"There's no 'girl' in a gay relationship. That's why it's gay. No s involved." he said as if explaining to a bunch of delusional fans that their idols were actually human.
"Really? But doesn't one have to... You know... Take it?" Chaerin asked in mildly embarrassed confusion as she vaguely made some hand gestures that didn't say anything at all.
Kyungsoo sighed.
That was the thing - they didn't actually mean any harm. It probably wasn't their fault that they had no idea about it and they never actually meant to offend him so it was hard to stay mad at them.
"Well, yeees, one usually has to 'take it' during -", he began while quoting Chaerin, "
-but that doesn't necessarily have to say anything about the overall relationship. It's not like gay couples are any different from hetero couples. And you surely saw enough couples where the man is more aggressive, or the woman is... Or maybe they are just healthily outbalanced, for god's sake.
Also think about it, doesn't the assumption of one being a 'girl' kinda include that you think girls are generally submissive in a relationship? That's kinda offensive against your own gender, isn't it?"
At this, especially 'independent woman No. 1'-Chaerin became quiet. But the other's looked thoughtful as well.
"Hmm... I see... I think I get what you mean... But there is still the top and bottom thing, right? And the bottom's submissive so that's what people refer to as the 'girl', right? Even though of course you said it's not about being a girl." Dara added with newfound curiosity and proudly adding her new-found knowledge.
Kyungsoo almost spluttered hearing these expressions from innocent little Dara.
"Where did you even-"

"So, are you a top or bottom, Soo?" Bom asked, as usual not beating around the bush and the girls(even the quiet Minzy) eyed him with interest.
"That... I'm not exactly comfortable with this question."
Bom nodded knowingly.
"Ah, I see. You're a bottom then, yeah? You're also very petite, so it makes sense."
"Excuse me?" Kyungsoo asked blankly.
"Well, only bottoms would react like this, wouldn't they?" Bom replied as if it was a given fact.
"Yeah, you don't need to worry, we'll accept you either way." Dara reassured him generously.
"In a way, girls shouldn't have a right to look down on bottoms since they're not that different." Minzy added helpfully.
"I. Am. Not. A GIRL. Did it ever cross your mind that I merely don't want to discuss my ual preferences with you?"
"So you ARE a top, after all! I always knew it! Since you don't shave your legs and all." Dara stated as if she had won a prize.
"WHAT?"
"So then you must be into the pretty boys, riiight?" she continued totally undeterred with a playful wink.
Kyungsoo really wanted to cry.
"For the love of God-"
"Kyungsoo, please. You're not religious." Minzy cut him off earnestly.
He rolled his eyes.
"Fine. For the love of my Ryeowook - I. Am. Gay.
That does not make me a girl. I will shave my legs if I feel like it -which I don't, for your information- and will dress however I like but I do not want to look like a girl.
Because I'm looking for someone who's into MEN, why would I wanna be like a girl?
And also I'm not on the look-out for a guy who looks like a girl cause if I wanted that I'd just date a GIRL instead!"

A highly offended sound came from the door where a blond head poked inside the classroom.
"I'm not exactly sure why, but I feel very offended by your conversation."
"No one was talking about you Luhan, get lost."
"Pff. Prissy ."
"ANYWAY. That's the way it is. I do not wish to look, talk or be like a girl in any way. Got that?" he ended his speech and got four nods in response.
At this he slightly calmed down again.
It took approximately five seconds for Dara to meekly raise her hands for the next question.
"So... Do s disgust you?"
A sigh.
"What is there to disgust me, it's basically just fat. I'm not that into man-s though, if you know what I mean." he said in resignation.
Chaerin nodded in agreement.
"So... You're not actually disgusted by women, right?" Minzy surprisingly threw in that calm voice of hers.
Kyungsoo shrugged.
"Why would I? Just cause I'm not getting by a women's body doesn't mean I'm appalled by it. Women can be attractive in their own way just like man."
Minzy hummed and continued to her actual question.
"So does that mean you could actually fall in love with a woman?"
Of course the dedicated catholic Minzy would be interested in this, but it wasn't a silly question so Kyungsoo found no reason not to answer it.
"Mh. That's... Not exactly a question I can answer. I mean, it's probably different for everyone. I can only talk for myself. For me... I guess I could? Though it's probably unlikely with all the hormones and , but in a way you can also love your friends, right? Even though there's no ual attraction playing into it you can be attracted to someone's character. It didn't happen to me before, and I think it would reeeally since I honestly couldn't enjoy a physical relationship, but yeah. It must be possible, right? After all, you fall in love with the person, not solely the body."
Minzy nodded in contemplation and the others seemed to agree as well. He had always appreciated the fact that Minzy was polite in her questions and never tried to force her beliefs onto him. If everyone was like her, the world would definitely be a better place.

"Wah, that was pretty beautiful Kyungsoo."
Kyungsoo closed his eyes and exhaled in deep resignation.
That deep voice.
He's behind me, right?
This was slowly getting ridiculous.
I'm not even shocked anymore. Dear life, think of something new to shock me, you're getting lame.
...Was what he really would have liked to say if not for the fact that he had been talking about his ual preferences and Chanyeol didn't even know he was into guys and-
"I'm not Kyungsoo." he instinctively answered, trying to cover his eyes with his hand.
"You're mistaking me for... Someone else."
"Haha, you're so funny~ Sorry for barging in on your break, I wanted to properly greet you but I didn't mean to interrupt your speech."
Aaand I give up.
"Oh, don't mind it. Guys, this is Chanyeol."
"Hello, I'm Dara~!"
"Minzy. Nice to meet you."
Chanyeol waved at them cheerily and Kyungsoo offered the tall boy in his usual shabby working uniform a seat.
"Ah, that's nice but my break's gonna be over soon - I just wanted to quickly exchange phone numbers with you."
Kyungsoo froze mid-movement.
Oh. Are we on that level already?
Or rather, are we on ANY level already?
"W-what?" he dumbly replied and fought the urge to blush like an idiot.
"Phone numbers? You know, so we can text? We can also exchange KKT ID's? I'm usually running low on money anyway but I got an internet flat."
Fumbling for his phone he awkwardly turned it away so his crush would not see his phone wallpaper of Ryeowook innocently posing with a bag of chips. And much less his home screen wallpaper which was a cut version of their selfie together.
"Yeah, sure. Why not. My ID is csb2. You got it?"
"Yepp, I'm adding you nooow...", Chanyeol said with his tongue stuck out in concentration, "Okay, I think I got you. A profile pic of some Super Junior guy, is that right?"
"Oh. Uhm. Yeah." Kyungsoo stammered while internally facepalming.
Which picture do I currently have as a profile pic?
Please don't let it be Heechul in his Lady Gaga outfit. Pretty pretty please.
But Chanyeol only smiled brightly, put away his phone and patted his shoulder.
"Well, now that we have that down I gotta go back or Taeil Hyung will have my head, haha... See you tomorrow, Kyungsoo. Bye Dara, by everyone~"
And with this he already bustled out of the room and they looked after him walking past the huge window front outside, giving them a last wave.

"Did you hear that, he mentioned my naaame!" Dara squealed a little.
"So?" Chaerin replied nonchalantly while typing something on her phone.
"You're just envious he didn't mention yours."
Yeah, damn right I am. Why did he remember Dara's name? He only met her like two seconds ago! He didn't say goodbye to the others. But he said 'See you tomorrow' to me.
Hah! Wait. What did he mean by that?
Fuming a little on the inside, Kyungsoo reached for his phone to distract himself, oblivious to the scrutinizing gaze of Minzy, and found that he had two new messages(letting aside the 46 messages in the Beagle group chat).

[12:12]
From: ChenChen
Btw, Chanyeol's gonna come over tomorrow evening since we wanna make a YT collaboration
Thank me laterrr ;D ;D

[12:12]
From: PCYeol
Hey Kyungsoo~
This is my ID.
Chen said you cold accompany tomorrow since I've never been at your place?
I gotta work until 5 tomorrow, though... Are you still around at this time? :<

[17:16]
To: PCYeol
Hey
Sorryyy, I was busy with school
Yeah, I make overtime most of the days anyway.
5 is totally fine by me~

[19:33]
From: PCYeol
That's ok
I was also kinda working...
Really? Okay then!
Why did you call it school though...? I thought you're a student?

[19:35]
To: PCYeol
Yeah, I thought that too -_-
And then I got a timetable telling me I had politics on friday afternoons
POLITICS. At a fashion school.

[19:36]
From: PCYeol
Aaah, I feel you man
That's not what you signed up for, eh?
[19:38]
By the way, what you said earlier today

[19:39]
To: PCYeol
The thing about man-s? Uh, please forget I ever said that

[19:39]
From: PCYeol
Huh? No, no
I meant the thing about being able to love someone regardless of the gender
Since the soul comes before the body
[19:40]
That was actually a pretty cool thing to say.
I mean it
There should be more people thinking like that.

[Soo is typing...]

[19:41]
From: PCYeol
Also I didn't know you're into guys!
Don't worry, I'm not judging you c:
So, you have a boyfriend?

[19:45]
Kyungsoo?

What? Late? Me? Noooo... No, no, you're in the wrong time zone...
Tbh I was just distracted by another fic. But the chapter's pretty long and full of different characters, if that makes up for it?

Okay first of all Kyungsoo's opinion about 50 Shades of Grey is pretty much my opinion - the  video I watched was the Cinema-Sin one. Pretty entertaining, if you ask me. More so than the real thing.
Btw, the chapter name is derived from the fantastic avbyte-musical to 50 Shades of Grey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leT-4Y1l7NY

Oh, also Soo's wallpaper of Ryeowook is pretty much a description of my current wallpaper. Usually I don't have SuJu pics, but there's never been any harm done in loving Wookie, so...~
And the gif shows the lovely girls that are driving poor Soo insane c:

Love,
Sugar-and-Salt

P.S.: Yeah, you really shouldn't greet people with 'Heil' in Germany. Just don't do it, it's gonna be uncomfortable for everyone involved. xD
P.P.S: But do eat fries and currywurst(cut sausage in curry sauce) - can't go wrong with that~