Summary: Out of sight, out of mind... is it?

Sehun purses his lips, fingers pausing in the middle of their furious tapping against his phone's screen as he eyes the male sitting three tables away from his own.

The cafeteria is crowded, students chattering mindlessly and girls giggling with each other. Luhan's reply blares brightly on the screen of his phone but the sight of Kyungsoo makes Sehun regretfully send a message of 'talk to you later Han, hyung is here.' to his boyfriend.

Pocketing the device, he catches sight of Baekhyun sitting on the table next to Kyungsoo's, face painted with worry as he glances every once in awhile at his best friend.

There's a huge debate going on inside Sehun's head as he contemplates whether to approach Kyungsoo or not. They have established limited contact within the school grounds to avoid students linking their connection and finding out about their families.

But as he stares more into the older male's expression, he throws it all away and tells himself Jongin is not here to reprimand him later.

"Hyung."

Kyungsoo looks up as he slides next to him. A few students throws glances at them but otherwise, no one pays them heed.

"Are you okay?"

Kyungsoo wordlessly stares at him and after a few seconds, lets a smile come up. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Sehun does not answer, furrowing his brows in honest worry instead. He takes note of the red rimmed eyes and paler than usual color of his skin. The plate of food is also untouched and it makes a sigh slip out from his mouth.

"You should eat." Sehun starts, inching the plate closer to Kyungsoo. "You look like you haven't had any sleep as well. What would Jongin-"

"-is not here." Kyungsoo cuts him off, tearing his gaze away from Sehun's face and picking up a fork.

Sehun shuts up but does not move away, simply stares as Kyungsoo picks up a slice of potato and puts it in his mouth. He watches him a few more times before Kyungsoo drops the fork and stands up, bringing the plate with him.

Sehun watches him dump the rest of his food on the left over bin and leaves before he picks up his phone again and sends another message.

'Not well.'

Kyungsoo repeats the motion for the next four days and by the time the weekend rolls by, his loss of weight goes even more noticeable. It's for that reason that Baekhyun invited himself to his cousin's house no matter how much he despises doing so.

"It's ridiculous how similar you look to a fried pasta." Baekhyun comments as he barges in on Kyungsoo's room.

Kyungsoo is curled against his side of the bed and Baekhyun does not comment on the arm he has curled around Jongin's side of the bed.

"Honestly Kyungsoo," he starts, sitting at the edge of the mattress and running his fingers through his hair. "if you miss him so much why not tell him?"

"I do not miss him."

Those words are muffled against the pillow Kyungsoo is currently hugging but the lies ring clear on Baekhyun's ear who only snorts in response, a movement showing that he's not believing one bit of what his cousin said.

A couple of seconds pass. "I don't know how to tell him."

Baekhyun fixes his expression into blankness, eyes focusing on Kyungsoo who seems to curl up on himself even more. He opens his mouth but closes it immediately after, no words coming up, an entire weird set up to how he normally is.

"I miss him Baek," Kyungsoo breaks the silence, hugging the pillow tighter against himself. His eyes are closed, images of Jongin sleeping on the very bed he's lying on playing repeatedly behind warm lids. It turns into an array of colors, Jongin's smile vivid as he listens to Kyungsoo's retelling of his day. It squeezes something painful on the left side of his chest. "I miss him but I can't even tell him."

Baekhyun fights off a frown at seeing his cousin this vulnerable. He's always known him to be stubborn and childish at most, but never this fragile. He chooses to watch in silence instead, knowing he won't be able to say the right words no matter how wide and colorful his vocabulary is. It just does not work that way.

"Do you want me to ask uncle-"

"If he wants to contact me he should have by now."

The words are brief and calm but the bitterness laced with every syllable is crystal and transparent, drowning the pretense of nonchalance the boy thinks he's currently perfecting.

It's with great effort that Baekhyun keeps his mouth shut, forcing himself to stay quiet and not reprimand Kyungsoo on how ridiculously stupid he's currently being.

Slowly, he cards his fingers through the mess of Kyungsoo's hair and sighs.

"I understand."

Jongin feels awfully light.

The jeans and loose shirt he's currently wearing feels like air as he walks the familiar streets of Shibuya. It's a great contrast to the dress shirts he's taken to wearing every time he accompanies Kyungsoo to an event.

The name alone makes him grimace, the dull throbbing of his chest coming forward to make itself known again. Still, he trudges forward, masking his expression into aloofness even though every corner of the path he's walking shows him a different picture of Kyungsoo from before.

He should have realized it was a bad idea when he allowed his feet to take him to the familiar streets Kyungsoo and he used to walk to. He could see the convenience store the two of them would frequent after sneaking out of the hyungs' watchful gaze; the old, dilapidated bookstore which closed last year, making Kyungsoo tear up as he remembers the kind, elderly couple who owned it.

The image of a crying Kyungsoo does not leave and he scrunches his eyes closed, willing it to go away. It only gets worse, however, when he thinks of Kyungsoo alone in their room.

"I don't sleep well without you."

Those were the words Kyungsoo uttered when they were thirteen after Jongin came back from a camping trip with Jinki and the other. He's only been gone for two days but the sight of Kyungsoo with dark bags under his eyes clearly from lack of sleep broke his heart. He allowed himself the freedom to wrap himself around the shorter male until he hears his steady breathing, not letting up until the sun shines high in the sky.

His breath shortens and his legs cramps up, wanting nothing more than to run back to his apartment, pack up and take the first flight back to Seoul.

He ends up going home but he does not pack, Instead, he falls on his back against the bed, eyes gazing at the ceiling. Maybe nhe should have agreed to stay with Seungsoo instead of choosing to rent a separate apartment. He's a quiet type of person but the silence is suffocating him.

It's broken by the vibration of his phone inside his pocket.

"Hyung." he greets softly, as if not wanting his silent thoughts to shatter.

"Where are you?"

Jongin breathes and looks around, taking his time and then smiles grimly.

He is not given time to answer when Seungsoo speaks again. "Want to go home yet?"

The question have never sounded this tempting, he realizes, as he is filled with thoughts of Kyungsoo again. Would he be happy to see me? Will he.. Did he missed me? Did he pushed through with the arrangement?

He must have taken too long to answer because just then, Seungsoo is speaking again. "Don't forget our meeting with Ms. Kishimoto tomorrow."

Jongin nods even though Seungsoo cannot be seen but it's enough as the line goes dead.

He raises his phone, looking at the black screen before pressing onto it and watching the screen illuminate, settling into color. His heart clenches once more, the image of him and Kyungsoo during the last school trip to the beach greeting him.

"Jongin, come on!"

He looks at Kyungsoo in hesitation, feet not moving and awkwardly digging further into the sand. Kyungsoo is standing a few feet away from his, behind a large boulder, frowning.

"Jongin."

Sighing, Jongin trudges forward with heavy feet, not liking the chill against his skin. It's barely four arm, the sea calm and the night asleep but Kyungsoo does not care when he shook Jongin awake a few minutes ago.

He settles close to Kyungsoo, pressing his arm against his as they sit side by side, back against the boulder. He glances at the male who's fiddling with his phone and looks away with a frown, not appreciating the fact of being awoken and then being ignored in favor of a stupid device.

He chooses to look at the blanket of darkness in front of them instead, dotted beautifully by the stars scattered all over. He glances at Kyungsoo once more, imagining the moles lining the other's skin and flushes, looking away.

"Here!"

He startles, his own face and puffy eyes greeting him as Kyungsoo raises his phone in front of them.

"I wanted to take a picture." Kyungsoo explains when he catches the questioning look Jongin throws at him. "I know you won't want to do this where everyone can see so this is the only time."

"Okay." Jongin finds himself nodding, the chill disappearing and replaced by warmth when Kyungsoo flashes him a grateful smile.

He allows himself to indulge a little bit more, pressing his head down and against Kyungsoo's, a small smile on his face as he lets his guard fall down.

The image of a smiling Kyungsoo while looking down at their picture makes him think he did the right thing.

The memory grips him painfully, swallowing him whole and the longing only grows, too large to ignore.

So he does not as fingers dial the familiar number he knows by heart.

The line clicks and Jongin's heart beat stops at the voice he misses so much.

"Hello?"