Tao was bored out of his mind. The teacher was nowhere to be seen yet and he was left staring around at everybody in the class, not knowing what to do. Then, his gaze landed on Kyungsoo and immediately a sudden memory came up to him. A smile slowly crept up onto his face as he wasted no time to approach the other. The seat next to the dazed-looking Kyungsoo was fortunately empty so Tao quickly filled that emptiness by sitting next to him with a creepy smile.

"So, what were you doing in the kitchen alone with Jongin last night, huh?" Tao questioned while purposely elbowing Kyungsoo with a knowing look.

"What do you mean?" Kyungsoo snapped out of his reverie real quick due to Tao's abrupt voice invading his hearing. He furrowed his brows, not understanding the meaning behind Tao's sudden question.

Tao rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. My room is like right next to the stairs. I can hear you both perfectly fine last night while you were heading downstairs."

"I don't know what are you talking about." Kyungsoo said nonchalantly. Tao's immediate reaction to that was rolling his eyes.

Last night...

Kyungsoo had a dream. A real nice dream, where you don't feel like waking up. It felt so surreal and enchanting that he nearly wished to stay there forever.

"Wake up."

Except someone was trying to wake him up. He furrowed his brows unconsciously, annoyed that he was being disturbed in his sleep.

"Kyungsoo, wake up!" The rude intruder said even louder, going as far as to shake his body as well this time. Kyungsoo mumbled incoherently before turning to his left side, refusing to leave the sweet dreamland just yet.

"For God's sake, Do Kyungsoo, wake the up!"

One slap and that was all that it took for Kyungsoo's eyes to finally snap open before his eyes immediately zeroed in on whoever the hell that had dared to slap him. While he was sleeping on top of that. What he found though wasn't exactly what he expected. It instantly confused the hell out of him especially when he was still so groggy from sleep.

"W-What? What are you doing?" He asked the other, who was hovering on top of him. Despite the dark surrounding, he quickly managed to identify the other as Jongin. It was mainly because of his scent. He would never admit it out loud, but he clearly still remember the distinct scent that Jongin always had because the guy never used anything else than this one particular brand of body wash that he had been using since he was like twelve or something. But right now, Kyungsoo was more concerned of the fact that the latter looked distressed and was constantly looking over his shoulder. His eyes kept going back to the door in particular as if he was anticipating someone to burst into the room with an axe to kill him.

"Oh, you're awake?" Jongin said, sounding relieved more than anything. "I just went to the toilet. Thanks to your 'special' spaghetti, I feel like I'm getting diarrhea here."

Kyungsoo looked unimpressed almost instantly. All trace of sleepiness washed away from his whole body as he felt an incoming surge of anger making its way into his nerve system.

"You wake me up in the middle of the night like this just to tell me that? It's already," Kyungsoo took a quick glance at the clock on the night stand. "—nearly three in the morning!"

"Yeah?"

"What am I even supposed to do with that information?"

"Oh, no. I haven't finish talking yet." Jongin hurriedly explained. "Since I've been going to the toilet for God knows how many times already, I think I'm running out of fluid in my body because I'm thirsty as right now."

"And?"

"And, I want to go to the kitchen to drink some water obviously."

Kyungsoo raised a brow. "Still don't see how does that has anything to do with waking me up at such an ungodly hour like this."

"I need to go to the kitchen." Jongin repeated slowly, expecting Kyungsoo to get it this time. Alas, the latter still haven't got a clue from the way his face remained expressionless. "Jeez, do you really have to hear me saying it out loud after all? Fine, I need you to accompany me to the kitchen, alright? Satisfied yet?"

Kyungsoo blinked. "Why?"

"Because I don't feel like going anywhere in this house alone at 3 in the morning." Jongin glanced once at the door before lowering his voice. "You have no idea what you could possibly encounter when you are alone."

"What exactly can you encounter when you are alone?" Kyungsoo questioned back, still not understanding the need for him to accompany the other to the kitchen.

"A lot of things!" Jongin insisted with widened eyes, his face appearing as if he was in a hurry to do something really urgent.

"Like what?"

"You know what!"

"I have absolutely no idea about what are you talking about but since you're asking nicely, I'll just go along with it." Kyungso muttered as he reluctantly got out of his bed. He began walking to the door, only stopping when he realised the other was not doing the same. "What are you waiting for?"

Jongin blinked. "Shouldn't we bring a baseball bat or something? For protection?"

"So you could swing it against my head from behind? No thanks."

"But—"

"I'm going back to sleep if you don't get here in the next 3 seconds. One, two, thre—" Kyungsoo never saw someone moving that fast in his life. The other appeared next to him in a blink of an eye, looking as if his life depended on it.

Kyungsoo raised an amused brow, but decided against saying anything. He turned around to lead the way before feeling the other's hand creeping onto the hem of his shirt, grabbing it tightly. Kyungsoo sighed and decided to just ignore it this once. They made their way downstair without any problem, the other walking closely behind him as if he was about to be snatched up by a mama bird anytime from now.

The moment they arrived in the kitchen and Kyungsoo kindly helped to switch on the light, Jongin didn't waste any time before making a beeline towards the water dispenser. He gulped two glasses of water in one go as if he hasn't drink anything for weeks.

"Did you just come back from the dessert or something?"

Jongin gulped before answering. "No but my body feels like it. So not cool messing with that spaghetti like that by the way. You know I can never resist it."

"I know." Kyungsoo shrugged. "I regret nothing though. It's a sweet little revenge of mine."

Jongin rolled his eyes. "Revenge for what? For going along with your ridiculous act?"

"What do you mean by that?" Kyungsoo squinted his eyes suspiciously.

"Nothing."

"Spit it out, Kim Jongin. Explain what you were talking about earlier as well while you're at it." Kyungsoo urged with a hint of threat in his tone.

"I can spit out the water I've been drinking just now if you want?" Jongin said evasively. "I don't have much left in my body to give you anything else than that."

"You know that's not what I meant!"

"I really don't know actually."

"Bull!" Kyungsoo insisted, looking annoyed to the max. If it's possible for humans to release steam from their ears like they always do in cartoons, Kyungsoo would've totally looked like Thomas the train when it was blowing off steam.

Jongin grew silent while tracing a finger around the rim of his glass. "What exactly happened on that day, Soo?"

"You know damn well what happened." Kyungsoo retorted back, knowing right away what the other was referring to. If he noticed the return of Jongin's slip of calling him with his old nickname, he didn't let it show. "You were behind all of it."

Jongin didn't answer back right away. He lowered his gaze and kept on staring at the glass in his hand instead. He bit onto his lower lip unconsciously, seemingly deep in thought about something. Then, he eventually sighed and straightened his back.

"You are right. It is all my fault." Jongin said in a quiet voice. "Forget about it and let's just go back to sleep."

Despite his snarky responses, Kyungsoo was actually not ready yet to drop the subject. He was curious and fully intended on finding out the truth now that he was wide awake and standing in front of the only person that can give him the answers to his questions. Hence, the consequent slap on the back of his head that Jongin immediately received.

"No, you're not getting away from this again." Kyungsoo declared firmly. "We're going to be here all night long if we have to until I get the answers that I want."

"Ow! What was that for?" Jongin complained while rubbing the back of his head.

"That was for trying to run away again." 

"Did you see me with my running shoes on right now? I'm not running away to anywhere."

"Oh, shut up and start explaining now."

"Explain about what?"

"About the whole entire thing." Kyungsoo answered while crossing his arms. "Start with that little report that you did."

Jongin shrugged. "I did what I had to."

"Why would you? When it was your idea in the first place? Did you feel guilty halfway through it, is that it?" Kyungsoo questioned, his voice dropping into a cold tone.

"Or maybe there's simply more to this than meets the eyes. Have you ever considered that? Even for a split moment?" Kyungsoo blinked, suddenly confused with what he was seeing on the other's face. The look on the other's face, it was something that Kyungsoo never stopped to consider. "Think about that first, Soo. And then, maybe we can talk..."

"Earth to the Kyungsoo? Hello?" Tao waved a hand in front of Kyungsoo's face, bringing the other back to reality.

"What? What did you say?"

"I said stop daydreaming in the middle of the day, Do Kyungsoo." Tao tsked disapprovingly. "I asked you one freaking question and you instantly went into flashback mode as if we're in some sort of a movie."

"Sorry."

Tao waved his hand dismissively. "Nevermind that. Did you hear what the other just said though?" 

"No?"

"They saw that little er Ryu Chanyoung working at Ediya Coffee near here." Tao explained while gesturing towards a group of their female classmates. "Seems like that little good-for-nothing son of a is back. I thought we had seen the last of him when he got expelled from school."

Kyungsoo noticeably pricked up his ears at the mention of that name. 

"Chanyoung you said?" 

"Yeah." Tao made a face. "Out of all places, he just had to choose to work somewhere around here. Let's remind ourselves not to go to this particular branch of Ediya Coffee."

"Yeah sure." Kyungsoo agreed eventhough he was already planning the opposite of that in the back of his mind.

~~X~~

"Welcome to Ediya Coffee. What can I help you—" The young worker immediately halted mid-way once he saw the face of his next customer. "Kyungsoo."

Kyungsoo nodded once to acknowledge the other. "One Iced Americano please."

"Of course." The worker said while lowering his gaze and hurrying to key in Kyungsoo's order. "That will be 3,200 won."

Kyungsoo handed the money without a word.

"Your drink will be ready in a minute. Please have a seat first and I will bring it to you in a moment." 

Kyungsoo nodded once again before turning around to find a seat. He chose a seat next to the window and sat down, tapping his feet lightly against the floor as he waited. The worker appeared with his drink minutes later. 

"Here's your drink. Have a nice day."

"Sit." Kyungsoo instructed before the worker was able to walk away. "Give me just a few minutes, Ryu Chanyoung."

Said boy sighed and reluctantly sat across him. His face seemed resigned, almost as if he was already expecting this.

"Nice to meet you again, Do Kyungsoo." Chanyoung greeted half-heartedly. "I know you will come sooner or later."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Well, some of your classmates were here yesterday so news must have spread like wildfire among you guys. So, now you're probably here to gloat over my misery, don't you? We don't exactly have a good relationship with each other in the past." Chanyoung stated.

"No, I'm just here for some answers."

Chanyoung furrowed his brows. "Now, you've lost me."

"I want to know how did you get expelled from school."

There was a moment of silence as Chanyoung digested Kyungsoo's words. For a split second, there was a look of momentary confusion crossing his face.

"You mean to say that Jongin hasn't said a word to you? You guys are not together yet?" Chanyoung abruptly inquired in disbelief.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Chanyoung blinked, then swiftly burst into hysterical laughter once seeing the sincerely clueless look on Kyungsoo's face.

"Unbelievable." Chanyoung mused while shaking his head a few times once his laughter subsided into amused chuckles. "Kim Jongin, that noble idiot. If you see him, tell him that I said he is the ultimate foolish and ridiculous ."

"What do you mean?" Kyungsoo grew more agitated, sitting almost at the edge of his seat by now. 

Chanyoung sighed. "Judging from the way you are asking me out of all people, Jongin must have really kept his mouth shut for good. Probably planning on never disclosing anything forever so I'm not sure if I'm really the right person to answer your questions."

Kyungsoo opened his mouth to argue, but Chanyoung quickly silenced him by raising his hand.

"But," Chanyoung resumed. "I also do know that I owe you one heck of an apology for what I've done to you in the past and if there's anyone who can tell you everything and deserve the consequences for doing so, that would be me. It's very unfair for the both of you to suffer from what I've done. Jongin shouldn't have to keep all of it to himself and you shouldn't be denied the truth." 

Kyungsoo felt the rates of his heartbeats slowly accelerating as he heard more words pouring out of the other's mouth. He closed his hands into fists, stopping himself from shaking out of anxiety.

"Go on then." Kyungsoo managed to voice out calmly. 

"Alright then, here goes nothing." Chanyoung took a quick, deep breath before exhaling it slowly. "Remember how I told you that Jongin never gave a about you and he gave the green light for us to torment you on that day?"

"Yes..?"

"Well, I lied." Chanyoung confessed, having the decency to look guilty. "It's not true at all. Jongin never said that. In fact, he had been trying to prevent us from tormenting you for weeks before that. He had absolutely no idea about what we were doing at the time. He even only found out you had to be sent to the hospital like hours later when the news finally spread. He immediately suspected me and made sure I paid the price for hurting his loved one. And, that's how exactly I got expelled from school."

"His.. loved one?"

Chanyoung rolled his eyes. "Yes, his loved one a.k.a you, Do Kyungsoo. He likes you. The dumb kid is like totally head over heels for you, which is why exactly I felt the need to torment you back then."

"Why? Why would you feel that way?" Kyungsoo questioned, getting more and more confused with all of the revelations.

"If you haven't figure it out, I'm like the biggest idiot with the biggest crush on Kim Jongin once upon a time ago and I also have an unnecessarily huge need to get rid of you out of jealousy, Kyungsoo. I was young and dumb and as corny as it might sound, my stupid love for him overpowered my ability to think straight." Chanyoung grimaced while saying the few last parts, clearly cringing at the thought of his past action as well. "I did everything I could to gain his heart but nothing works because he only has his eyes on you so I thought perhaps with you out of the picture, he will finally realise my existence. That's why I did all of that and blame it all on Jongin to make you hate him and leave him. But, that clearly didn't end so well for me as you can see right now."

"No." Kyungsoo began shaking his head a few times, clearly in denial.

"Kyungsoo—"

"No! This can't be true. You must be mistaken. Jongin can't possibly lo.." Kyungsoo was unable to finish the word because of the sheer absurdity of it. ".. me!"

"No, I'm not mistaken. There's nothing but the truth in all of my words just now. Now, it's entirely up to you on how to proceed with this information that I've given you. I need to get back to my work now. By the way, I am terribly sorry for what happened to you back then and I apologize once again for my past action." Chanyoung rose to his feet before offering one last apologetic smile. "Have a nice day."

Kyungsoo was left all alone after that. He stared blankly at the drink in his hand for quite some time before he finally decided to leave and head home. He needs to find Jongin and get to the bottom of everything by today.

~~X~~

"Hey, where have you been? The principal asked for you during detention and I had to say you went to the ER because your  is bleeding from constipation so you won't get in trouble."

"Not now, Tao." Kyungsoo said brusquely as he passed through the living room and headed straight for the stairs. He took the stairs two at a time in order to get to his room faster while also cursing the house for having so many floors. When he got in front of his room, he flung the door open and stormed into the room, fully expecting to find Jongin somewhere in the room. He was met with disappointment though as the room was completely void of the latter's presence. He spun around and quickly made his way out of the room before heading back downstairs to find Tao.

"Tao!"

"Yes? What? Oh my god, I'm not deaf. You don't have to yell out my name that loud." Tao whined while rubbing his ears. 

"Have you seen him?"

"Who?" Tao suddenly looked up in alarm. "Don't tell me you are trying to look for that damn ghost that had been haunting me day and night. I appreciate the gesture, really I do but let's not do something stupid like luring that ghost out because that will only end up with me sleeping in Kris' arms tonight."

Kyungsoo raised his brow, temporarily distracted by Tao's revelation. "You have been sleeping in Kris' arms?"

"No." Tao denied in a split second. "Of course not. That's absolutely ridiculous! Where did you get that idea? What do you think I am?"

"That's what you said just now though."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Nope, don't know what you're talking about."

Kyungsoo shot a look of are-you-ing-kidding-me-right-now towards Tao but the latter doesn't seem fazed by it. He was adamantly looking at somewhere else other than Kyungsoo right now, determined to avoid the other's judging look.

"Just tell me if you have seen him then and by him, I meant Jongin."

"Oh, why didn't you just say so? He was with Sehun earlier. I think they are in his room."

Kyungsoo muttered a quick thank you before making his way to the third floor, where Sehun's and Luhan's room is located. He had his hand on the doorknob and was about to push open the door when he heard the voices of Sehun and Jongin having a conversation with each other in the room. He halted almost immediately because he caught his name being mentioned by a low voice that definitely belonged to Jongin.

"I don't know. That doesn't sound like a good idea." 

"You live together under the same roof and in the same bed. It's bound to come out at one point so might as well just let it out now." Kyungsoo was positive it was Sehun's voice this time.

"I know, but are you sure telling Kyungsoo the truth will really do more good than harm?"

"Yes, I'm sure as hell. Cross my heart."

Kyungsoo felt the pounding of his heartbeats growing louder in his ears as he anticipated their next words, anxious to hear the supposed truth. It was one thing to hear it from Chanyoung's point of view, but it's another thing to actually hear it coming out of Jongin.

"Alright then." Jongin said with a hint of resignation in his tone. 

"You can do this, my friend."

Kyungsoo tightened his hold around the doorknob while inching himself closer to the door. He nearly found himself pressing his face onto the rough surface of the wooden door to hear better, mentally urging Jongin to spit it out already.

"Here goes nothing then." Jongin delayed all over again though, which instantenously caused Kyungsoo to have the urge to barge into the room and choked the teasing little piece of dumb lamp. "I hope Kyungsoo won't mind. I would hate to agitate him any further."

"Just say it already, damn it!"

"Kyungsoo! What are you doing here?"

Kyungsoo was positively steaming as he stood over there in front of the door with the door widely flung opened after he can't take it anymore and proceeded to nearly destroy the door when he attempted to enter the room in haste.

"Say it, Kim Jongin!" Kyungsoo hissed while moving forward one step at a time. "Say it to my face right this instant. What. is. that. truth?"

Jongin, who was currently laying on the bed next to Sehun, blinked a few times with his hands awkwardly postioned in the air since he was just about to haul himself up to go back to his room and hopefully find Kyungsoo there. He gave a quick glance at Sehun and the latter immediately signalled him with a nod of approval.

"Umm.. I.. umm.."

"Say it!"

"I have hemorrhoids!"

"... what?"

"Umm and I would really, really appreciate it if you can help putting on the hemorrhoid cream on you-know-where so would you?"

Silence.

Complete silence.

Well, now that definitely took into a completely different direction.