If Do Kyungsoo was in a fairy tale, he would like to be a dashing Prince Charming who travels atop his sturdy white horse.

A prince who has striking features like a tall nose, a set of smouldering eyes and prominent cheekbones. Or someone who has wide shoulders, broad chest, strong arms and long legs. Kyungsoo would like to be a courageous and brave prince who could save the love of his life from the powerful and wrinkly, old witch.

Alas, Do Kyungsoo does not live in a fairy tale. Kyungsoo is just an awkward 17-year-old who is trying to go through high school as passively as possible. Kyungsoo does not have the necessary physical appearance to look the part. His eyes are too wide which sometimes scare people off, his cheeks are too round, his arms are pudgy, his shoulders are too narrow and his height is a sensitive issue. Despite that, Kyungsoo believes that he is not as “cute” and “innocent” as how his peers tend to view him because he knows all the things there is to know in adulthood. Like filing taxes and paying bills. They’re not exactly well-off and his mother had him involved in household responsibilities early. What else is there to know, anyway?

And even if he was in a fairy tale, he would never be the ravishing prince with a majestic white horse-- he would be Pinocchio because Do Kyungsoo is one big fat liar. He doesn’t really remember when it started to become a habit. Maybe it started to that one summer when his 7-year-old self broke their neighbour’s precious flower pot. He was so scared that when Mrs. Kim asked him about the culprit, he lied and pointed to an innocent looking stray cat. Kyungsoo knows it’s a bad habit but the advantages of being a compulsive liar outweigh the disadvantages.

For example, when his sister asks him whether her dress looks nice, Kyungsoo just nods and adds whatever adjective he could think of. Or whenever his mother cooks, Kyungsoo just eats diligently and says praises like “it’s delicious” when the soup is too salty that his kidney must be forming stones from every scoop. Kyungsoo considers them as white lies. And they are because lying saves him from telling Kim Jongin that he is secretly in like with him.

Oh, and yes, Do Kyungsoo is gay and he’s pretty sure most prince charmings do not go about looking for another prince to kiss.

“Hyung!” His bestfriend taps him which effectively wakes him up from his thoughts. Oh, shoot! Was he drooling? “You’re early today!”

“Hey,” he replies.

Kim Jongin is the bane of his existence. They practically grew up together and somewhere along the way he fell for his friend which totally sounds corny and cheesy and cliched but who can even resist Kim ing Jongin with his good looks and equally good manners? No one.

“What time do you plan to go to the party tonight?” Jongin asks.

“What party?”

“Chanyeol’s party. You forgot?” Jongin whispers worriedly.

“What? No. Of course I remember.”

“Right.” the other beams at him. “You love parties, don’t you, hyung?”

“Sure! Yeah!” Kyungsoo lets out a nervous laughter.

Kyungsoo hates parties.

--

They go to Chanyeol’s house together.

The party is wild and crazy and there is booze everywhere. Someone hands him a cup which Kyungsoo proceeds to put on the nearest table. He hates alcohol because that tastes like piss juice. It’s also loud and honestly, that would have been okay if they are blasting Ariana Grande but Taylor Swift is currently singing about haters that are going to hate and players that are going to play and erasers that are going to erase which is precisely what needs to be done with that ugly song (but he will never say that out loud because Jongin enjoys listening to Miss Swift). Jongin says something about looking for Sehun and leaves Kyungsoo by himself.

Kyungsoo plays with the apple juice he found in the fridge, obviously bored in the kitchen where he’s currently hiding from everyone. He knows is going to happen as the night goes deeper. He knows his friends well enough to know that they make it a conscious decision to make Kyungsoo’s life more miserable as often as possible.

“Hey, my boy, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun slurs. He’s obviously had a few drinks already judging by the flush on his entire face. Kyungsoo hums in response.

“You bored?”

“Not really, I’m about to go home act—“

“Let’s play truth or dare!” Baekhyun shouts at him and drags him upstairs where about 8 people are already huddled in a circle.

Zhang Yixing from the upper batch is in the middle of taking off his shirt as a dare when he spots Jongin and decides to sit next to him.

“Baekhyun got you, huh?” Jongin chuckles.

“He could have just asked Zhang for permission to his but he keeps insisting he’s straight,” Kyungsoo whispers condescendingly. Jongin just bursts into a fit of laughter when suddenly people are yelling at him. Apparently, the bottle now points at Kyungsoo and it he’s out of here.

“Truth or Dare!” Park Chanyeol shouts at him.

“Uhm, dare.” Of course Kyungsoo picks dare because duh, liar.

“No fun!” Jongdae comments but everyone’s already thinking of something to force Kyungsoo to do. Kyungsoo would have liked Baekhyun, really, if it wasn’t for his huge mouth and Baekhyun just decides that now’s the best time to make use of it.

“I dare you to kiss the person that you like!” and everyone erupts into cheers (Baekhyun that , Kyungsoo curses).

Kyungsoo pretends to look around him, noticing that Jongin is quietly staring at him. He can’t kiss his bestfriend, can he? So, he goes for his other side and presses his lips to Junmyeon’s cheeks (of course, because he doesn’t want his Junmyeon hyung to get his first kiss and he’s definitely not going to tell the truth in front of everyone). His friends get even rowdier and Baekhyun screams unfair because he kissed cheeks.

“You didn’t specify where to kiss.” Kyungsoo defends then proceeds to smack Baekhyun’s mouth to keep him from saying anything anymore.

The game goes on with Yixing being dared by Baekhyun to strip his clothes until he’s only in his underwear. Kyungsoo thinks Yixing could have objected but he seems to like the attention from Baekhyun anyway. Besides, it’s taking attention away from him. That is, until Jongdae pulls him aside that Kyungsoo starts to get nervous. Jongdae wanting to talk will never be a good thing.

“I know who you like and it’s not Junmyeon,” he announces to Kyungsoo.

“Yeah, sure and you like Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo deadpans.

“No, gross! Wash that dirty mouth with holy water, what the ?” Jongdae punches him in the shoulder. Kyungsoo lets out an “ouch!” before he’s punching Jongdae in return.

“But I do like Junmyeon,” Kyungsoo says with conviction, massaging his sore shoulder.

“See, you’re a compulsive liar but I know you and you can be pretty dense too.”

“I am not dense.”

“Ah, but you are.” Jongdae wags his eyebrows. “You don’t even know that there’s someone in the group who likes you!”

“Please tell me it’s not Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo quips.

“That’s gross. Of course, it’s not Baekhyun. He’s currently Yixing’s ,” Jongdae says pointing at the currently occupied bedroom.

“He finally succeeded then,” Kyungsoo replies.

“True that,” Jongdae nods. “Also, you kissed my man.”

“. What?”

“You kissed Junmyeon, ,” Jongdae mutters.

“You’re together?” Kyungsoo usually researches first before telling a lie and he normally has receipts to back up his lies but how was anyone supposed to know when Jongdae and Junmyeon are even a thing?

“When did that even happen?”

“Yeah, he doesn’t know it yet.”

“Man, you’re delusional.”

“Shut up. We’re getting there. I’m planning to be more subtle with my approach and try not to be a slag like Baekhyun,” Jongdae says. “Anyway, him and I know that you like Jongin, there I said it.”

Kyungsoo blanches at that. Nobody can know about his secret. He surveys his surroundings to check for the percentage of success should he murder Jongdae and bury him under Chanyeol’s house.

“I do like him. He’s one of my closest friends.” Kyungsoo’s voice cracks.

“Boo you .”

“And he’s the least annoying friend I have because there’s you. And Baekhyun. And Chanyeol.”

“Boo you ,” Jongdae repeats.

Kyungsoo mentally punches himself because he knows there’s no way in hell that he’s getting home without admitting to what Jongdae knows. It’s Jongdae’s thing.

“Well?” Jongdae stares at him expectantly.

“Okay, if word goes out about this, I’m gonna ing tell everyone that you have an armpit .” Kyungsoo taunts. He scans his surroundings making sure no one is near enough to hear them.

“Yeah. Whatever.”

“And that you Baekhyun’s more than once.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes at that and murmurs something like “helping a friend in need.”

“Fine. Yes. I like him.” He looks at the other boy on the other side of the room. “But that doesn’t matter because I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” Jongin looks happy talking animatedly to Sehun and Zitao.

“You’re a ing .” Jongdae tells him.

“I know, I know. Stupid uglyass falls for the tall, dark—“

“And handsome bottom.”

Kyungsoo shushes him and proceeds to look at Jongin from across the room. “Just look at him, Jongdae! er thinks he’s so hot looking like an Asian Abercrombie model. Damn it!”

“It’s true though,” his friend retorts.

“That’s not the point!”

“Idiot, you don’t have a point.”

“Correct.”

Jongdae just grunts in reply then shouts, “Hey, Jongin! Come here for a sec!”

“What the are you doing?” Kyungsoo whispers angrily to Jongdae. Jongin makes his way over to them, looking dashing despite his very red face courtesy of the beer he’s holding.

“Kyungsoo isn’t feeling well. Walk him home?” Jongdae tells Jongin.

Kyungsoo adds Jongdae to the list of people he wants to kill just below Baekhyun.

--

Walking home together is an awkward affair. Jongin looks troubled but Kyungsoo can’t bring himself to ask what’s bothering the other. It’s the first time that Jongin and him are unusually quiet like this. They’ve always been a quiet pair and that’s what he appreciates the most about their friendship.

They’re almost at Kyungsoo’s house when Jongin stops walking and breaks the silence.

“Hyung,” Jongin starts, his eyes cast downwards on the pavement. He does that when he’s being scolded or when he feels defeated like that one time when Jongin told his mom that he broke her expensive flower vase when in it  was actually Kyungsoo who did it.

Kyungsoo responds with a hum.

“Do you really like Junmyeon hyung?” Jongin asks, eyes still refusing to meet him.

“Yes,” he blurts out. he’s so screwed.

“Oh,” the other mumbles, walking slowly towards him. Kyungsoo sighs.

“Sorry, that was a lie. I don’t like him.”

“Then,” Jongin stops walking and finally stares at him. “Why did you kiss him?”

It’s difficult to be honest especially when he’s dealing with feelings. Feelings are fragile and he doesn’t want to hurt people. More importantly, he doesn’t want to get hurt. It has always been easier to lie but when Jongin’s looking at him like this-- so open and vulnerable, it’s painful for him to lie to his face. So, he gathers all the courage he can get, looks at the other in his eyes, and speaks.

“Because I like you,” he confesses in a whisper.

“I like you, Jongin. Have liked you for years,” he continues. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship so, I kept quiet and never told anyone.” He holds his gaze at Jongin all the while, tries to read his expression-- tries to get some reaction from him, and gets none.

“Okay, this. I’m out,” Kyungsoo raises his hands in surrender and starts to walk quickly to his house. He’s only a few meters away and he needs to go to his room to save his face and bawl his eyes out and maybe eat some ice cream. See, he was right; he should have just lied and went to sleep.

He desperately fishes his for his keys inside his pocket. his brother for making him wear skinny jeans. Chanyeol for making him kiss Junmyeon. Jongdae and Baekhyun just because. everyone including Jongin.

“Hyung, wait!” Jongin calls out to him. “Wait!” He catches up to him just as Kyungsoo’s opened the door to his house. Jongin grabs Kyungsoo’s hand, looks intently at him with furrowed eyebrows and Kyungsoo feels the urge to smooth them out.

“Kyungsoo!” his mother calls from upstairs. “Is that you?”

“Yes, Ma!” Kyungsoo answers.

The sound of footsteps break their gaze and Kyungsoo’s mother shows herself to the two boys in the staircase.

“Good evening, auntie,” Jongin greets her.

“Good evening, Jongin,” Kyungsoo’s mother replies, eyeing the hand on Kyungsoo’s wrist.  She hums and raises her eyebrows at them both.

“There’s food in the fridge if you boys are hungry. I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” she says with a knowing smile then goes back up.

Silence envelops them. Jongin’s hand feels warm and comfortable on him and it’s making him feel sick.

“I’m going to sleep, Jongin. Good nig--”

“No,” Jongin says.

He tries to break off from Jongin’s hold but fails. “I get it, okay. Just ing forget--”

“You’re not going to bed okay!” Jongin raises his voice which startles Kyungsoo. “You’re not going anywhere until I get to say what I want to say!”

“Fine!” Kyungsoo finally snaps and screams back. “But if you’re going to break my heart just do it quickly goddammit!”

“I like you, too.”

Silence.

He looks at Jongin, tries to gauge if he’s joking but he was never the type to hurt other people by lying. This is Jongin who calls his dogs babies; his friend who is too soft, too pure, too good for this world.

A ghost of a smile threatens to escape his lips before he catches himself and coughs.

“You’re not lying, are you?” he asks.

“No! No! Of course not!” Jongin sputters, eyes wide. “I do feel the same way. I’ve always liked you! I’m certain of that!”

“You do realize that I know judo and if you’re only saying this out of pity then you’re practically a dead man, right?”

Jongin nods, beams at him then hugs the lights out of him. Jongin’s chin rests on the crook of Kyungsoo’s shoulder and he feels the taller man’s hot breath fanning against him and it feels tingly and giddy and comfortable and this is perfect. Jongin is perfect.  

“Does this mean we’re dating?” the younger asks after breaking their hug.

“Jongin, we haven’t even gone to a single date yet.”

“Well, do you wanna go now?”

“We have some leftover pizza?” Kyungsoo suggests.

Jongin just doubles over in laughter and leads him to the kitchen with his warm, warm hands.

Kyungsoo can get used to this.