Kris woke up the following morning and released a deep sigh, he had barely slept that night and all the muscles in his body were being weighed down by gravity. He willed his body to move, knowing full well that he needed to sort things out with Jongin. He groaned when he raised himself off the bed and walked into the bathroom to freshen up before going to the youngers house. After showering, he descended the stairs hearing laughter coming from the kitchen and approached it cautiously. Inside Yixing and Luhan were smiling and joking. In his sorry state Kris had completely forgotten that his girlfriend had stayed with him the night before as all of his thoughts were directed towards his best friend. When he walked in, all laughter ceased as both turned to look at the source of the intrusion. Recognising Kris they immediately looked at him with concern plastered on their faces. “Hey Fan, how are you feeling this morning baby?” Yixing asked with forcing a smile onto her face. Kris smiled at her grateful that she hadn’t reacted to their current predicament as badly as Jongin. He hugged her from behind and whispered lowly “Better now.”

Yixing smiled up at her boyfriend and they both just stood there staring at each other. This made Luhan incredibly uncomfortable so he decided to slip out of the room unnoticed. Yixing smiled brightly and said “Come on love, let’s have some breakfast.” Kris smiled back at her but it didn’t reach his eyes “I can’t Xing. I have to go and find Jongin. No doubt he’s sulking somewhere and acting like he doesn’t care. He’s probably exercising like crazy. That’s what he usually does when he’s upset.” “I understand that you want to make sure that he’s OK and that you want to apologise to him but you need to give him time to cool off. Please just for a bit. Just sit down and eat. I can tell that you barely ate anything yesterday.” Kris nodded reluctantly and she took his hand into her dainty fingers and led him outside into the garden. This was now her favourite place in the house and she tried to spend as much time there as possible. Kris sat down at the table and the maids bought them an array of food. They ate in silence, Kris only eating some fruit just to satisfy his girlfriends concerns about his health. He thanked her and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

As he watched Yixing eat, a shadow of a smile gracing his chiselled features his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and read the message that was sent by his fiancé:

From: The ball and chain (he really needed to change that)

Before you try and talk to Jongin please let me talk to him first. I think I can make him listen to me. I talked it through with his parents and I have a plan to try and fix this mess. Please hold off until tomorrow. I’ve never asked you for anything before but I need to try and save my relationship so please let me try first.

Kris read the pleading message and sighed, a day, she wanted him to wait a whole day. His stomach was in knots and there was no way he could wait a day before trying to sort out their problems. Yixing then interrupted his thoughts “What’s wrong baby?” He wasn’t sure whether he should tell her about the message but he knew that he had to “It’s from Kyungsoo….she wants me to wait before talking to Jongin so she can sort it out. She has a plan apparently. But there is no way that I’m waiting a whole day before sorting this out. Jongin is going to think that I don’t care about him and I can’t have that. I won’t jeopardise my friendship of 14 years for their relationship.” Kris looked torn, he wanted to help Kyungsoo but at the same time he knew that he needed to deal with this. Sensing his inner turmoil Yixing thought that she should weigh in “Fan, let her talk to him first. Kai’s a good guy and he loves Kyungsoo, maybe she can talk him around. Then he’ll be more open to fixing his issues with you.” “What can she say that I can’t Xing?” Yixing sighed because honestly her boyfriend could be so dense at times “It’s not something she can say…she has other ways of bringing him around that I doubt you can do. At least I hope you can’t.” Kris looked at her completely perplexed but then eventually the realisation dawned on him and he began to consider his girlfriends words carefully. “So you really think she can make him listen to me?” Yixing simply nodded taking another sip of her orange juice. Kris quickly picked up the phone and typed out his reply:

To: Do Kyungsoo (he changed the contact name first)

Fine. You have one day and then he’s all mine.

He received a response almost instantly:

From: Do Kyungsoo

Thanks.

Kris sighed again “I hope this works.” Yixing stood up and leaned down to peck his cheek “It will. Have faith baby.” Kris looked up at her in confusion “Where are you going?” Yixing looked at him taking his face into her hands “I have to go home Fan. My parents will be wondering where I am. I told them I stayed with a friend last night but I need to go home before I get into serious trouble.” Kris held her hands that were still on his face, not wanting to let her go “I know. I don’t want your parents to be mad at me for keeping you out so late. Thank you for staying with me last night and I’m sorry for the whole Kyungsoo thing.” “I know baby” she said as she leaned down to steal a peck from his lips. “Tell Luhan to drive you back. I would take you but I’m not in the right state to be driving and besides I don’t want to meet your parents when I’m like this.” Kris had no idea how relieved Yixing was by that statement, she didn’t want to have to lie to her boyfriend again. She smiled widely “I will. Please take care of yourself today. Don’t do anything reckless and if you need anything remember I’m just a phone call away.” They smiled at each other for the last time and then she was gone.

Kris spent the rest of the day moping around the house. He was waiting for a message from Kyungsoo but received nothing. He was slowly losing his mind but there was nothing he could do. That night he checked his phone again for the umpteenth time and sighed when there were new notifications on his phone besides a sweet message from Yixing wishing him a goodnight. He quickly messaged her back before throwing his phone away and turning onto his side before falling into a fitful sleep.

He woke up the following morning with bags under his eyes and a raspy throat. He searched blindly for his phone hoping to have received a message from Kyungsoo or even better Jongin. To his delight there was a message from his fiancé:

From: Do Kyungsoo

He’s all yours.

P.S. We need to talk.

Kris sighed in relief; a smile finally appearing on his face. He had a chance! It was a small chance but at this point he was willing to take anything. He sprang out of bed and got ready for school. He would harass Jongin until he forgave him. He had no more shame or pride left, he couldn’t lose his best friend, he just couldn’t. Luhan drove him to school and bid him good luck before Kris left the car. He entered the school gates and made his way to Jongin’s locker hoping to find him there. Jongin was nowhere in sight but Kris had come quite early so he still had time. He decided to wait by Jongin’s locker and didn’t much care about attending his classes despite promising Yixing that he would take his school work more seriously.

Jongin entered the school hallway pulling out his phone to read the sweet message his girlfriend had just sent him:

From: My Squishy Soo

I miss you already Nini. Let’s have lunch together. I want to see your face.

He smiled before replying:

To: My Squishy Soo

I miss you too Soo. Lunch sounds good but I’m not sure I can wait that long to see you. We still have 15 minutes before class. Meet me in the music room.

He eagerly awaited her reply and it came much sooner than expected:

From: My Squishy Soo

I’m already here. Come quickly, I can’t wait to see you!!! ;)

Jongin ran through the hallway to get to get to his locker and take out his textbooks before meeting his girlfriend. He was surprised to find Kris waiting there for him. Kris hadn’t noticed Jongin’s presence yet, he had been staring at the floor playing with his feet. Jongin noted that Kris looked paler than usual and it was probably because he hadn’t eaten or slept. He tried to push all feelings of concern for his former friend out of his mind as he approached his locker, an impassive look plastered on his face. “Excuse me, I need to get to my locker” at the sound of that voice Kris raised his eyes immediately from where they had been staring at the ground. He had gone through this scenario over and over again in his head and now that it had finally arrived all thoughts of what to say had vanished from his mind. The only thing that Kris managed to say was “Sorry” as he slid off Jongin’s locker and stood up straight as his friend approached his locker. Kris tried to collect his thoughts and strike up a conversation while Jongin began taking books out of the locker while acting completely oblivious to Kris’s presence.

“Jongin…can we please talk?” Kris asked, he had never been this uncomfortable around Jongin before. Jongin was always so warm and loving around Kris, sometimes overly affectionate so this drastic change in character unnerved the blonde. Jongin sighed and responded “There’s nothing to say.” Kris then sighed losing resolve as he saw the coldness on his friends face. He looked around the hallway to see that most students were busy talking and the majority had already dispersed heading towards their first class of the day. Jongin closed his locker and was ready to leave when Kris finally spoke up “I’m so sorry Jongin. I didn’t know that Kyungsoo was your girlfriend. I had no idea that this would happen. I swear to you I would never hurt you like that. You’re my best friend…my only friend. I could never do that to you.” Jongin turned around to look at Kris and saw tears welling up in his eyes and he knew that Kris was hurting just as much. Kris never cried as his Father told him it was a sign of weakness. Jongin remembered the last time he saw Kris cry, it was at his brother’s funeral and he remembered Jian shouting at him to man up. It broke his heart to watch his friend bottle up his emotions all these years instead of sharing them with him. So he knew that Kris must have felt truly awful about this situation to be moved to tears but he just couldn’t get passed the betrayal every time he looked at Kris. All he could see was Kyungsoo with her dainty arm wrapped around Kris’ and how good they looked that night. Jongin felt inferior stood next to his friend and honestly couldn’t understand why she had chosen him when Kris was obviously the better choice.

Jongin simply stared at Kris emotionlessly. He wanted to act, to do something but he didn’t know how. All he knew was that being around Kris was difficult and uncomfortable for him and that he had to leave. “I…have to go to class. I’m sorry but I can’t do this. Take care of yourself Kris.” That was all he said before turning around and heading to his class, quickly typing a message to his girlfriend to apologise for not being able to meet up. Kris was left in the hallway alone in shock his face paling as he slid his back against the lockers for support. He lost all control by this point as his thoughts of losing Jongin made him spiral out of control, he couldn’t lose another person. Images of losing Yixing and his brother flashed through his mind as he slid to the floor of the school hallway. “FAN!” he heard someone shout. Kris lifted his head up and saw his girlfriend frantically running towards him and taking his face in her hands. “Fan, what’s wrong? What happened? Are you OK?” Kris could barely speak as his feelings overwhelmed him. He croaked out “He’s gone Xing. He left. He doesn’t want to….” He drifted off at this point, which worried his girlfriend further. Instead of trying to talk to him she simply dragged him off the floor hoping to get him far away from prying eyes.

Yixing grabbed Kris’ arm and he stood up weakly as he leaned against her trying to gain comfort and warmth from her body. “Let’s go baby” she whispered as she dragged him to the closest unused classroom. She opened the door allowing him to walk through first and she followed closely behind. He sat on a desk as she locked the door. She walked up to him again and gripped his face so that he would look her in the eyes. “What happened?” she asked quietly and gently as she was afraid that if she spoke to loudly she might shatter the last bit of strength Kris had left to fight the tears. She tried to absorb all of his sadness through her caresses in the hopes of lessening his pain even if only slightly. He hiccupped before finally speaking and holding back a sob “He…he said that he doesn’t want to be friends anymore. I’ve screwed up so badly Xing. I tried to apologise but he wouldn’t listen. He just left…he wouldn’t even hear me out. I watched him walk away. Just like…when you left. I can’t take it again Xing. Please, please let him forgive me. Please…please.” Yixing began to cry hearing the desperation in her boyfriend’s voice, she gripped his shoulders and hugged him tightly, pressing his face into the crook of her neck. He had finally begun to relax in her hold but she could still hear his whispered pleas for her to fix this mess “Please..please…please…please.” Yixing didn’t know what to do for Kris in that moment so she simply hugged him harder, hoping that her love for him could overpower the sadness he was feeling.

They hadn’t been dating very long but she had never seen Kris react this way to anything. Even when his Father would break his spirit with cruel words and threats, Kris would usually remain stoic, burying his pain deep enough that no one would see it. But Yixing never expected him to react this way to his falling out with Jongin. She had to admit to herself that while the current situation was awful, she was happy that Kris felt comfortable enough to show her the weakest side of himself. While Kris looked devastated and the tear stains on his cheeks made him look pitiful, to Yixing he was beautiful. His love and devotion for his friend was amazing and if this was his reaction to losing his best friend, she wondered how he must have looked when she left him. Overwhelmed by her love for him she leaned in and tenderly kissed his forehead which surprisingly seemed to calm him down considerably. She took his face in her hands once again and whispered “I will sort this mess out. Just leave it to me baby. Go to class. Remember, you promised me that you would be more serious about school. Now get cleaned up and then go straight to class. And I want you to go to basketball practice after school. I already told them that you are re-joining the team. No complaints.” She pushed him gently to try and force him onto his feet. As he stood up, he stared down at her in shock. He couldn’t believe that she was barking orders at him and he couldn’t believe how much he loved it. Man he couldn’t wait to make her his wife. He wasn’t ready to smile yet but his eyes softened at her and she knew that he felt better. He nodded at her accepting his fate and walked out of the classroom. Yixing then sighed “Now how am I going to convince the other idiot to forgive him?” as she exited the classroom.

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A/N

Hope you guys liked this chapter. Thanks so much for the subscriptions. I never thought that anyone would want to read this, so I'm really grateful for the interest ^^

Until next time,

Take care and keep loving kaisoo~~~

kaisoonoodle