---

When you'd fall on me, I would welcome you with open arms

---

"What happened to your arms, oppa?" he heard his little sister ask as she doodled on her drawing book using her crayons, large orbs staring straight at his soul. Kyungsoo thought that that was downright creepy along with the eerie atmosphere the dim lights in the living room had to offer.

Why were the lights not bright enough when they were paying right? Or were they really? He mentally noted to ask his mother of that later.

Glancing at his sister, he blinked at her innocence and hid the marks on his wrists from her view.

"It's nothing, Seul-ah," he said and smiled at the little girl who just sprawled her legs on the carpeted floor in a careless manner, coughing lightly. He covered her with a soft pale red blanket and patted her small head.

"Did Meredith scratch you again?" his mom remarked as she entered the living room carrying drinks and newly-made blueberry pancakes. She gently put it on the coffee table and sat beside him on the floor. Her pale fingers were feeling the slightly fresh cuts on his arms, him drawing them back in pain. His mother jutted her lower lip, brows furrowed. Pity.

"Y-yeah... She kind of did. Last night," he lied. Truth be told, he had cut again with Jongin and his envy for the younger on his mind just earlier in the bathroom. Boys his age would rather do and think of other things in there, but he didn't. He was different from them after all.

"We should throw that cat away or hand her to the center if she keeps doing that to you."

His mother's voice was laced with worry. He just stared at the hairs on his legs that were trying to free themselves from his slightly ragged shorts. He thought about their cat Meredith and mentally asked for forgiveness for she was an innocent and had never hurt or scratched him a bit ever.

"No. It's... fine, mom. I can handle her just fine," he uttered and shot his arm out to poke at the steaming pancakes. Smiling at his mother, he beamed, "This looks delicious."

His mother, forgetting about his wounds, mirrored him with a smile that was way too big for her face.

"I know, right?"

--

"So I heard you got a ing maths tutor," Chanyeol grumbled from his cup of coffee, showing him a sly smile and writing down both their assignments for English later. They were at the backest back of the library, away from anyone's sight for they were hidden by the shelves. "Damn. Tell me, was she y as ?"

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at his friend's colorful words and sipped his own cup. He mentally cursed himself because he remembered he had learned how to say such words, too, for he had gotten it from his tall bestfriend.

"Yes," he hissed at the elder. "He's not a she. And he's not y as like what you're thinking."

Chanyeol deadpanned. "Too bad."

"And he had to be ing Kim Jongin."

"Really? That's not too bad. We all know he's ing Einstein's son or something."

Kyungsoo glared at him, nose scrunching in disgust. "That's the point!"

"Then why are you acting like it's such a bad thing, eh?"

"He's my ing cousin!"

Chanyeol stared at him. "No , Sherlock. I already know."

He could only let his head fall towards the opened book lying on his lap face-first and grumble.

"You don't get it, do you?" he huffed exasperatedly. "People will mock me even more because I'm being ing tutored by my ing cousin who is one ing year my junior!"

He heard his friend chuckle and felt Chanyeol's hand on his back, his breath hitching.

"Hey, it's not that bad at all. It even seems," his friend trailed off, "...cute."

Kyungsoo grumbled and yanked some of his hair off.

"Cute my ."

"It is."

" you!"

"Sorry, bro. No homo."

"Ugh!"

"Don't ing moan for me, man!"

"Jesus! Shut the up!"

"Hahaha! Fine. But don't you include Jesus again when you curse!"

"Goddamn it."

"Or God."

"Tut."

--

Kyungsoo darted his eyes to his watch that was latched onto his wrist to look at the time and realized that his tutor was late. He ran a hand through his face and smacked it a bit, internally cursing Jongin's tardiness. He mentally noted that – that not only his cousin was bad at telling jokes, but was also a slowpoke. Not really all the time, though. It just had to be during their tutoring sessions. Or maybe the junior had been just busy that time and now, too. Maybe it was just coincidence.

And as he sighed for what seemed like the tenth time already, a panting Jongin came into view with hands on his knees and looking up at him with a flushed face. The boy's hair was wet and beads of sweat were running down his pinkish cheeks that looked liked tears.

I bet Jongin never cried in all his life, Kyungsoo thought. With all that talent and intelligence, he probably only hears praises, not corrections.

"Sorry... Sorry, hyung," Jongin heaved breathlessly. "Had to run all the stairs down."

The boy was always running, Kyungsoo noticed.

He couldn't help but to put his arm around the younger's shoulders to steady him up and bring him to sit on a nearby bench in the school park.

It was 4:30 in the sunny afternoon and the wind was fanning coolly on their faces, making Jongin's flushed one relax. The younger sighed in relief and grinned, closing his eyes. Kyungsoo just stared at him closely, his eyes scanning the boy's sweaty forehead, to his upturned nose, to his plump lips that were gaping a bit; such exquisite beauty he thought he never had and never would have.

"Take a picture if you want to," Jongin said in a teasing tone, now smirking at him and giving him a wink.

Kyungsoo just gasped and shook his head afterwards.

"Why would I?"

The younger shrugged. "You were staring?"

"That's because you looked like a ing dishcloth."

Jongin clutched a hand onto his chest as if he was hurt, but chuckled anyway.

"Let's start?" he asked Kyungsoo, already pulling his notebook and books out of his red Iron Man backpack that Kyungsoo couldn't help but notice.

So immature, he thought and laughed to himself rather loudly.

"What?" Jongin perked, looking up at him through his bangs with eyes as big as the moon.

Kyungsoo chuckled even louder till he was already laughing his off as he saw the younger's expression resembling something like that of a deer's face in headlights.

The boy only watched him in awe, an eyebrow moving up.

"You... laughed," he announced like he had just discovered something, Kyungsoo choking in between his laughing fit.

"Excuse me?" he asked the junior with wide eyes, not really getting the idea of why Jongin was so surprised of him laughing. It was just a normal thing for humans to do when they found something funny or were in glee. He was human after all.

The boy just beamed at him, "You look good when you laugh."

Jongin gave him a cute smile, his eyes crinkling and two of his front teeth showing.

Kyungsoo found his breath hitching at the sight.

---

And I would keep you inside my hearth forever