It was a bloodcurdling scream, probably loud enough to wake the dead. It woke Kyungsoo immediately, causing him to let out a groan as he pushed his pillow over his face.

“What is it?” he asked, his words muffled by the down pillow.

“Um, nothing,” a voice came from the closet.

“Is it a spider?” Kyungsoo tossed the pillow beside him. “I told you to squish them.”

“But what if it bites me!” the voice whined from behind the double louvered closet doors.

“For crying out loud Chanyeol, it isn’t going to bite you!” Kyungsoo pounded his fist into the pillow.

“How do you know?!” Chanyeol called back. “Soo, I see it! Soo! Soo! Soo!”

Kyungsoo got out of bed and stomped to his closet, throwing the door open and glaring.

Chanyeol was pressed into a corner of the fairly large size closet, his hand outstretched as he pointed towards the floor. “There,” he whispered, his eyes wide in terror.

Kyungsoo walked over to his desk, grabbed a notebook, and then returned to the closet. With a solid whack he ended the spider, glaring at Chanyeol as he scooped the evidence off the floor.

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Chanyeol unglued himself from the side of the wall, looking instantly relieved.

“I still have no idea how you are a monster,” Kyungsoo sighed, tossing away the paper and then crawling back into bed.

“Monsters can be scared of bugs!” Chanyeol protested, walking out of the closet.

“Are they also scared of thunder, sad episodes of Little House on the Prairie, and the noise plastic bags make?” Kyungsoo deadpanned as he pulled his blanket up to his chin.

Chanyeol gave him an annoyed look. “I’m a perfectly normal monster, thank you.”

Kyungsoo closed his eyes. When he didn't hear the closet door close he knew what was coming.

“Can I um, sleep in your bed?” Chanyeol asked quietly.

Kyungsoo made an annoyed sound but held the blanket up, giving Chanyeol permission to slip in next to him. After a reshuffling of arms and legs Kyungsoo found himself with a monster wrapped around him, holding him tight. He exhaled, drifting off to sleep quickly.



Kyungsoo didn’t remember a time when Chanyeol hadn’t been there. One of his earliest memories was playing with the monster, who at that time was small enough to sleep under Kyungsoo’s bed. As Kyungsoo grew older so did Chanyeol, and while Kyungsoo didn’t experience a mammoth growth spurt, Chanyeol did. It was the reason he had to start sleeping in the closet in Kyungsoo’s thirteenth year, he could no longer fit under the bed.

“How old are you?” Kyungsoo had asked him one day, truly curious.

“Your age. I’m your monster,” Chanyeol had answered simply, looking at Kyungsoo like it was a dumb question.

Some people would probably accuse Kyungsoo of imagining Chanyeol's existence. But he knew Chanyeol was anything but a figment of his imagination. He was one hundred percent sure he wasn’t hallucinating Chanyeol. He couldn’t be – not when the monster ate most of his study snacks, and broke the closet door once, and maybe kind of bled all over Kyungsoo's comforter when he got a nosebleed (a green nosebleed no less). Kyungsoo knew he was real, which made him vaguely wonder how many other people had monsters hanging around.

And then again maybe other people’s monsters didn’t talk to them, or sleep next to them. Chanyeol, he assumed, was probably just an unusually friendly monster.

In their seventeenth year, something interesting happened. Kyungsoo was a senior in high school and Chanyeol, well, he had gone through an impressive number of television shows over the last seventeen years. He was a like a television encyclopedia, a byproduct of never leaving Kyungsoo's room (or the TV that sat in the corner).

Kyungsoo never told anyone about Chanyeol after he became a teenager, not like he had when he was a child. He had been through the imaginary friend accusations and was done with that. Plus telling his friends in high school he spent evenings doing homework while his resident monster caught up on all of the airing soap operas might make him seem a little odd. People could be so judgmental. Chanyeol was a monster, but Kyungsoo was very fond of him. And even if he teased Chanyeol, it was his monster to tease and it was all in good fun. He didn’t hate Chanyeol, far from it. He knew (though never said) that Chanyeol was his best friend.

His best friend who lived in his closet and had green blood and a strange blue tint to his skin and was terrified of spiders.

In many ways, Kyungsoo mused one afternoon as he laid on his bed, watching Chanyeol sit on the floor and shove pretzels in his mouth, his monster was certifiably adorable.



Partway through senior year the unthinkable happened – Kyungsoo was asked on a date. It was his first date, in fact, and a large part of that had to do with how shy he was. Baekhyun, a cute boy who had been in Kyungsoo’s classes since middle school, was the one who took the honors.

Kyungsoo was on cloud nine that day...until he got home that is.

Kyungsoo had tried to think of how best to tell Chanyeol that he had a date, but he decided there really wasn't a good way. Chanyeol was pretty possessive of him. The monster had always been jealous when Kyungsoo made a new friend (which didn't happen often). His closest friends, Jongin and Jongdae, hadn’t won Chanyeol’s approval for a few years (until Chanyeol realized Jongin watched soaps and Jongdae was really good at video games). Before that the monster had stayed in the closet, scowling at Kyungsoo’s playmates from afar (and earning a continuous scolding from Kyungsoo about being so weird and hostile. “But I’m a monster!” Chanyeol would whine). And that was just his friends. How Chanyeol would take a boyfriend was terrifying.

Kyungsoo couldn't think of a good way to say it so he didn’t. When the day of his date rolled around he dressed with extra care, earning an eyebrow raise from his blue friend.

“I have a choir thing at school,” Kyungsoo lied.

He knew Chanyeol would figure something was going on when he came home later – later than he had ever returned after a real recital. But he would deal with it then, he told himself.



It was five past ten at night when he got back from his date, much later than Kyungsoo was usually out. When he walked in his bedroom he tried hard to look calm. It didn’t work.

“You were crying. What happened?” Chanyeol asked upon seeing him. He put an arm around Kyungsoo and guided him towards the bed, taking a seat next to him.

Kyungsoo couldn’t help it, he began to cry. Chanyeol had his arm around his shoulders, creating the perfect position for Kyungsoo to press his face into Chanyeol’s side and hide his tears.

“Who do I need to hurt??” Chanyeol asked gruffly.

“I, no one. Just a bad day,” Kyungsoo said quietly, not wanting to remember how Baekhyun had all but ditched him in the middle of the date once he caught the eye of a popular guy he had been after “before I decided to ask you out because well, sorry options and all”.

Chanyeol didn’t pry further and Kyungsoo was grateful for it. After a few minutes they ended up lying back, Kyungsoo snuggled into Chanyeol’s side, feeling comfort in the familiar embrace.

“Thanks for always being here,” Kyungsoo muttered into the monster’s grey t-shirt as they both drifted off to sleep.



Kyungsoo didn’t date again until his first year in college. He had ended up being accepted to his first choice, a university about an hour away from where he grew up. Chanyeol went with him, just like he had accompanied him when his parents had moved houses at the age of eight. How Chanyeol managed to just appear in his dorm room (a single one, thank god) on move-in day was a mystery. “It’s a monster thing,” Chanyeol shrugged.

The closet in the dorms wasn't as big as in Kyungsoo's old room, but it still gave Chanyeol a place to hide. And sleep – on the rare days he wasn’t sprawling out on Kyungsoo's bed, tugging the smaller non-monster in to cuddle.

Two months into the semester Chanyeol was more well-adjusted than Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo was still fumbling his way through his first college level project, be the workload while enjoying the freedoms that came with living sans parents. He was tired, overwhelmed, and a bit of a mess. And in the middle of this came Sehun, tall and good looking, he was in Kyungsoo's world history class.

And one day, much to Kyungsoo’s shock, Sehun asked him out.

Kyungsoo had said yes and with some careful planning (aka not telling Chanyeol) the two started dating. Sehun was sweet, caring, and funny. Kyungsoo fell in deep, so deep that by the time fall break rolled around he was considering that he might just be in love with the man.

“Can we meet at your dorm?” Sehun asked one day. “We always meet in mine and you don’t have a roommate.”

Kyungsoo couldn’t exactly tell Sehun that he did in fact have a roommate who was blue and lived in his closet. In fact he couldn’t think of any valid excuse as to why Sehun couldn’t visit, so he mumbled his agreement and then faced an afternoon of fear.

When he got back to his room that evening he found Chanyeol parked in front of the television, a bowl of popcorn on his lap and crumbs down his shirt. Kyungsoo didn't have to look at the television to know what Chanyeol was watching. “Saved by the Bell marathon again?”

“Hey! You try to watch Kelly and Zack's love story and then not want to see it a couple dozen more times!” Chanyeol protested, pieces of popcorn flying out of his mouth and onto the floor as he talked.

Kyungsoo sighed. Unfortunately Chanyeol’s love of 1990s teen sitcoms was the least of his worries. Sehun would be dropping by soon and Kyungsoo had to straighten up – and tell Chanyeol. How in the hell was he going to tell Chanyeol?

Anxiety bubbled in Kyungsoo's chest as he stared at his monster, trying to figure out how best to say “So I have this boyfriend I didn’t tell you about and he is coming over so please don’t try to scare him or do something stupid.”

A heavy knock on the door solved the problem for Kyungsoo. As in made sure that there could be no further worry, as evidenced by “Soo, you there? Sorry, I’m early.”

Kyungsoo swore under his breath, then dared to look at Chanyeol. The monster had one blue eyebrow raised in question, his mouth full of popcorn mid-chew.

“Please, please just go into the closet I’ll explain later.” Kyungsoo rushed the monster and tried to tug him away from the television.

“Who’s that?” Chanyeol asked, kernels dropping as he was all but pushed towards the closet.

“I’ll explain later,” Kyungsoo hissed, giving the monster one last shove.

“Soo?” Sehun called again.

Kyungsoo rushed to the door, smoothing his hands over his hair as he went. He completely forgot about the television, the popcorn trail, and the general messiness of the room as he opened up the door with a bright smile. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Sehun greeted softly, taking a step inside. He was carrying a brown paper bag, which he promptly held up. “I got some food, hope you’re hungry.”

“Yes, very.” Kyungsoo tried to appear calm, but his heart was pounding.

“I didn’t know you liked Saved by the Bell?” Sehun glanced at the television, drawing Kyungsoo's attention back to the disarray of the room and the blaring television.

“Uh, yeah,” Kyungsoo lied, going for the remote. He stepped on a few stray kernels of popcorn, the snack crunching into the carpet as Kyungsoo flinched. His face turned red as he prayed Sehun wouldn’t judge him for a messy room.

“I missed you today.”

Kyungsoo stiffened as Sehun came up behind him and wrapped his arms around the smaller man’s waist, hugging him from behind as he was standing, fiddling with the television remote.

The only thing Kyungsoo could think about was how Chanyeol was watching the display of affection. How he was peering from the closet, probably with an angry glare painted on his blue face.

Sehun placed a soft kiss on the side of Kyungsoo’s neck, murmuring into the skin, “So no roommate, huh?”

Kyungsoo panicked, pushing Sehun away and dropping the remote. He regretted it the moment Sehun looked at him in surprise.

“Is something wrong?”

“No! Nothing! Just hungry, that’s all.” Kyungsoo wanted to punch himself in the face as he jogged over to the bag of food, pulling out the contents. Chanyeol is watching, why is Chanyeol watching, why do I have a monster. Whyyyyyy?!

Sehun gave him another questioning look but didn't say anything. They sat at Kyungsoo’s small table and began to eat in silence.

Kyungsoo glanced at the closet, knowing full well that Chanyeol had his face plastered to the slates in the closet door, watching them. It was unnerving as much as it was annoying, Kyungsoo thought.

“I told my parents about us,” Sehun remarked in between bites of food. “If you don't mind my folks would love to meet you.”

Parents. Meet parents. If Kyungsoo had any doubt about how serious they had become this was the answer. “Sure,” Kyungsoo smiled warmly.

“Great.” Sehun looked like he was on cloud 9 with Kyungsoo's agreement to meet his parents.

Once they finished their meal Kyungsoo hurried to clean up the containers, trying to avoid another uncomfortable display of affection while his monster was watching. Sehun was having none of it though, managing to grab Kyungsoo into a hug as he tossed the takeout containers in the garbage.

Kyungsoo made a squeak as his face was buried in Sehun’s chest, the taller man’s arms coming around to Kyungsoo's waist to hold him put.

“Are you full now?” Sehun asked, moving his hands up Kyungsoo’s back.

Kyungsoo nodded into Sehun’s shirt.

“Good, then we can have dessert,” Sehun murmured, stepping back slightly as he dove in for a kiss. Kyungsoo let him, too taken by surprise to pull away. And honestly Kyungsoo loved kissing him, loved to feel the slide of the other man’s tongue against his lips. Chanyeol was forgotten as Kyungsoo lost himself in the make out session, letting Sehun back him up towards the bed.

But Chanyeol, it seemed, wasn’t about to be forgotten.

A huge crash sounded from the closet, loud enough for both men to startle and pull apart.

“What was that?” Sehun looked at the closed closet doors.

Kyungsoo was seconds away from making something up about his closet being a mess of junk that probably fell, when the closet door burst open.

This can’t be happening, no, no no Kyungsoo thought. He watched in horror as his monster stepped out, an angry look on his blue face.

“Next time you think you can stick a tongue down someone’s throat you should do it to me!” Chanyeol tried to look menacing, which made Kyungsoo flinch in embarrassment. Plus was that an insult? Because that did not sound like the ‘pick on someone your own size’ insult Kyungsoo imagined Chanyeol had been going for. Kyungsoo shook his head and sighed.

“What in the is that?!” Sehun screamed, terrified he scrambled towards the door. “Kyungsoo can you see it?! Soo?! We have to go!”

Sehun grabbed for Kyungsoo’s hand, tugging him towards the door. Kyungsoo tried to act scared as he let his boyfriend pull him out of the dorm room, slamming the door shut on his way out.

Sehun ran down the halls, dragging Kyungsoo behind him. When they were outside he bent over, trying to catch this breath.

“Did you see that? Did you see that thing?!” Sehun asked.

Kyungsoo was livid at Chanyeol but he also knew he couldn’t admit to his existence. And that , because he had to basically tell Sehun he was seeing things. “What thing?”

“Th-the monster that was in your room!” Sehun’s face was flushed as he glanced back towards the dorm building. “You have to be joking, you didn't see that?!”

Kyungsoo shook his head, feeling guilty.

“I swear I saw…” Sehun trailed off, worrying his bottom lip.

Kyungsoo tried to comfort his boyfriend, all the while thinking of what he was going to do to Chanyeol when he got back to his room. Finally Sehun wandered off, saying he had to go lie down. Kyungsoo watched him go, then stalked back up to his dorm room, fire in his veins.

“Chanyeol!” Kyungsoo bellowed when he entered his room, slamming his door in anger.

No answer.

Kyungsoo stalked over to the closet, where he found Chanyeol curled up at the back.

“I didn’t like what he was doing to you,” Chanyeol said softly, looking a bit ashamed of his behavior.

“You!” Kyungsoo wagged a finger at his blue friend, “How dare you! That is my boyfriend, Chanyeol. I like him. No, wait I think I love him! And I am allowed! Are you going to try to keep me to yourself forever?! I won’t let you!”

Chanyeol curled up into himself. Kyungsoo had never been this angry at him before and it scared him.

“Get out! Get out of my room and my life you – you – you monster!” Kyungsoo ordered.

Chanyeol started to protest but Kyungsoo cut him off. “I’m going for a walk, when I get back you better be gone!” He marched out of the dorm room, still filled with rage.

When he returned a half an hour later he found the closet empty. Chanyeol was gone.




Not having a monster was great, Kyungsoo thought. There was no one crawling into bed with him every night, no one he had to kill spiders for. His room was a lot cleaner and his television was free from the wear and tear of soap opera marathons. All in all it was great not having Chanyeol bugging him anymore.

When Kyungsoo visited Sehun's parents over the holiday, he didn’t have to worry about Chanyeol moping that he was alone for his favorite day of the year. He didn’t have to feel bad that he hadn’t got Chanyeol a Christmas present, or miss their holiday tradition of spending a day watching nothing but bad action movies. Because Kyungsoo totally didn’t miss Chanyeol at all. Not one bit. Not even…

“Is everything okay?”

Kyungsoo snapped out of his Chanyeol centered thoughts, blinking at his boyfriend in confusion. “Sorry, did you say something?”

“Yeah, I asked if you were okay.” Sehun sighed. “Soo, what’s been going on lately? You seem distracted.”

Ah, there was that. The fact Kyungsoo was never really listening anymore, the way he liked to stare off into the distance, the way he totally didn’t miss Chanyeol but GDI he kept thinking about him nonstop. He wondered if the monster was eating, if he was warm, and if he found a new closet (the last thought had Kyungsoo feeling jealous, which in his mind was completely unreasonable).

“I’m fine, just tired,” Kyungsoo lied.

Sehun snuggled into Kyungsoo, his arm around the smaller man’s shoulders in a protective gesture. “Rest today, we are on Christmas break for a few more days, so don’t stress about anything and take it easy.”

Kind and gentle Sehun, who always was looking out for Kyungsoo. Gentle Sehun, who momentarily thought he hallucinated a blue monster. Gentle Sehun who was always worried of late because Kyungsoo was growing more distant by the day. Sehun, Kyungsoo knew, didn’t deserve to be treated like this. He felt awful, but he couldn’t help where his mind was constantly wandering.

Stupid Chanyeol. Stupid blue monster.




As the spring semester rolled around, Kyungsoo’s focus worsened. He hadn’t heard from Chanyeol once since their fight, not even a phone call or a quick “hey, this is the show I’m watching right now.”

Kyungsoo found himself thinking of Chanyeol even more, zoning out in the middle of class instead of during his free time. It was hurting his grades and it was hurting his relationship with Sehun, who long ago gave up on buying the ‘I’m just tired’ excuse.

“I think we should break up,” Sehun said one day, right after midterms. Kyungsoo had a feeling it was coming, and honestly it was all his fault. Well, Chanyeol's fault actually but still.

Kyungsoo apologized and wished Sehun well, and with that he found himself single.



When Kyungsoo returned to his parent’s house for the summer, his mood was severely conflicted. He had gone from missing his monster to blaming him, be his single status and deciding it was all Chanyeol’s fault. Or that is what he liked to pretend he was thinking. Instead he was moping, missing the blue guy who had been a constant in his life since day one. No, no, Chanyeol ruined my love life, Kyungsoo would repeat to himself. But I miss him, was the follow up. He was, quite blatantly, as conflicted as any of the soap opera characters that were in Chanyeol’s favorite shows.

“I even miss soap operas,” Kyungsoo whispered one day, feeling a tear slide down his cheek.

Every few nights he would open his closet and stare into the darkness, hoping he would hear the familiar scream from the monster as he avoided a spider. But there was nothing.




Kyungsoo spent his junior year in college focused solely on studying, so much so he had little time for anything else. It was by design he would trudge back to his dorm room too mentally exhausted to think, because that way he didn't miss a certain stupid monster.

Junior year turned into sophomore year and Kyungsoo, at the urging of Jongdae and Jongin, started to have a social life again. He even let his friends set him up on a couple blind dates, which never really ended well. Not when Kyungsoo would stare across the table at his date and compare them to a certain blue guy, nitpicking at every little thing they said or did until he knew for certain they were not right for him.

It was senior year before Kyungsoo admitted it to himself. He was in love with his monster. He was in love with Chanyeol – a love that could never be because Kyungsoo had driven the monster out of his life three years before. It was a tragic situation.




Kyungsoo got a part time job after senior year, a summer to save before his real job started. It was at a small burger stand, a job really, but something that let him horde money to buy the clothes he needed for his professional career.

He took all of the hours offered to him, working twelve hour days, reveling in the overtime. As much time as he spent at the place, he started to notice some strange goings on. Like how he could swear food was disappearing from the freezer faster than it was ordered. Or how the area out back by the dumpster was a mess no matter how many times he cleaned it. Sometimes the fryers would end up half full and a whole rack of buns would go missing.

Kyungsoo assumed it was employee theft and became extra diligent in watching his coworkers. But he never saw anyone steal, yet the disappearing food kept happening. It was starting to get to him, annoy him to no end. One day he decided he would come in early and hide, hoping to catch the thief.

He squatted down behind the chest freezer, listening and watching. Waiting for the criminal. He heard footsteps and then someone banging into the condiment tray. And then, as he peeked out from his hiding spot, he noticed feet. Blue feet.

“Chanyeol?!” Kyungsoo sprang up, coming face to face with his missing monster. His heart began beating erratically as he looked into the eyes of the monster he had drove off three years prior. The monster that had half a hamburger bun hanging from his mouth and a handful of frozen fries ready to be devoured.

“Kyngphsoo?” Chanyeol replied with his mouth full.

“What are you doing here?” Kyungsoo felt the water well in his eyes. So Chanyeol had started living in a fast food joint? How tragic. How lonely. How...exactly like something Chanyeol would do.

“I um, live here.” Chanyeol swallowed his mouthful of food and turned away, letting his back face Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo lifted his hand, wanting to place it on Chanyeol’s back. But he couldn’t. He grasped at air and let his arm fall to his side.

“I’ll go now. I know you hate me.” Chanyeol started walking away from the deep fryers.

“No!” Kyungsoo shouted, not ready to see the monster leave him again. “Chanyeol, I was stupid. I was wrong. You mean more to me than that. I…Chanyeol, I love you.”

Chanyeol stilled. His shoulders stiffened. He turned around, a pained look on his blue face. “You love me?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “I missed you like crazy these past three years and I did a lot of thinking. I don’t know how you feel or if it is even something the universe lets happen but I would like it if you were my boyfriend. Or monster-friend or, yunno – we can kiss and stuff.”

Chanyeol began crying blue tears, running to Kyungsoo and enveloping him in a bone crushing hug. “I’ve always loved you, Soo. I love you so much.”

Kyungsoo wept into the monster’s t-shirt, hugging him tight. Finally he was back and everything would be okay.



Kyungsoo was fast asleep, preparing for his first day at his real job – his adult job – his I -went-to-school-for-four-years-for-this job. He had a hard enough time getting to sleep as it was. He had just moved into a new apartment and aside from sleeping in a new place, he was anxious about his new job.

“Soo!” A scream from the closet jarred Kyungsoo from his sleep.

Kyungsoo groaned. “What is it?”

“Um, nothing.” Chanyeol answered. He normally slept in bed with Kyungsoo but had insisted he would sleep in the closet that night so Kyungsoo could get the sleep he needed.

“Is it a spider?” Kyungsoo asked.

“M-maybe.”

“Just come to bed,” Kyungsoo ordered groggily.

“But you need to sleep,” Chanyeol whined.

“I can’t sleep if you are screaming over spiders!” Kyungsoo was getting frustrated. When the closet door opened and Chanyeol slinked over to the bed, Kyungsoo smiled.

The monster slipped in next to him, cuddling the smaller human into his chest. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, just sleep.” Kyungsoo nuzzled into Chanyeol’s chest. As he began to drift off, he realized how happy he was. How happy he was that his monster was back and that they were in love. Everything had turned out for the better, even if Chanyeol was always going to be afraid of spiders, sad episodes of Little House on the Prairie, thunder, and the sound plastic bags make.