Their Kyungsoo is still not back. Jongin manages to convince his manager to allow him to take half the day off, despite taking the entirety of yesterday off to keep Kyungsoo company. It was an uneventful day, as Kyungsoo spent most of it in bed. He seemed to be taking it even harder than the first day, so Jongin kept his distance.

Jongin had to wake up early today, so he hasn’t seen Kyungsoo all day yet. In between acting and singing lessons, he doesn’t have much time to think about the man either, even though he does slip in there every now and then because it’s hard not think of Kyungsoo when acting or singing.

When Jongin does finally return to the dorm, exhaustion  he’s surprised to find Kyungsoo talking to Baekhyun at the kitchen table.

"So what's the other Jongin like?" Baekhyun asks. “Is he completely different from this one? He has to be if you’re engaged to him right?”

“Um, excuse me?” Jongin interrupts with a scoff.

But Kyungsoo answers with a smile. “He looks just like this Jongin, but maybe a little more more good-looking”— he winks at Baekhyun —”He's a dancer too, but he works as an accountant to pay for our rent.” With a speculative look at Jongin, Kyungsoo continues, “I’m not sure how different you two are actually. Right now, I see a lot of similarities.”

Jongin raises an eyebrow at that. "Really? But you're different from my— I mean, this Earth's Kyungsoo."

"Am I?"

"Yeah. Kyungsoo here, he's a lot more aggressive. He would've beat me up that first day we met.” Baekhyun chuckles.

Kyungsoo's eyes widen. "I would never! I can't believe this Earth's Kyungsoo is a bully!"

Baekhyun bursts out laughing, and Jongin almost spits out the water he’s drinking. "No, no! He's not a bully. He just... doesn't take anyone's . Not even mine,” Jongin clarifies quickly.

Kyungsoo nods, still processing the information. "So, you and this Kyungsoo are not together?"

That depends, Jongin wants to answer. That depends on how you define together. Because to Jongin, they are together. They watch movies together, they take naps in between schedules together, they eat lunch together. They are together, even when they are apart, as they text each other funny pictures and videos of cute dogs. But Kyungsoo's definition of 'together' is different, and in that version, they aren't together. But those words sound wrong to Jongin.

"We're not a couple," Jongin settles for. "We're just best friends."

“Yep, that’s why they have so many fans who ship them,” Baekhyun adds, sticking his tongue out at Jongin’s glare. “What do they call you two? KaDi?”

“I guess,” Jongin mumbles, playing with the hem of his sweater. “I don’t pay attention to it though.”

“Your fans ship you two together?” Kyungsoo asks, curiosity in his expression. “As in together, like a couple?" Jongin can tell by the smile that forms on Baekhyun’s lips that this is not going to end well for him.

“Did no one tell you? These two are quite a popular ship among our EXO-L’s,” Baekhyun sings, fishing his phone out of his back pocket. “Here, I’ll show you a few of their posts.”

Jongin groans. “Please don’t.” It’s so embarrassing, especially since this Kyungsoo actually is with Jongin on their Earth. He’ll probably find this silly.

Jongin busies himself with washing the dishes in the sink. He’s rinsing a bowl when he hears Baekhyun chuckle, “Ah, I remember when this blew up on SNS.” His curiosity gets the best of him, and he walks over to glance at what they’re looking at.

His voice becomes stuck in his throat when he sees the video they’re watching. He recognizes the scene, can almost feel himself in the moment again. Their eyes locked and Kyungsoo mouthed those words to him, and they shared a smile that they thought no one else was watching. He swallows the lump in his throat and goes back to the kitchen sink without another word.

“That’s so cute,” Kyungsoo finally says with a laugh. “I can't wait to tell Jongin— ah, my Jongin, that is."

Jongin nods even though Kyungsoo probably can’t see it, his back facing him. He feels the same. He wonders how Kyungsoo is, if he's where this Kyungsoo comes from. Jongin misses him. He hopes he's okay, hopes he isn't traumatized by the other Earth's Jongin trying to kiss him. He wants to tell Kyungsoo all about this, even though he's sure the man will know more than he does once he returns. He'll leave out the kiss though, because his cheeks warm every time he thinks about it.

“You’re much nicer than our Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun tells him. “Hey Jongin, how about we just keep this one instead?”

“No!” Jongin answers, maybe a bit too quickly, spinning around. “I mean, no. He wants to go back to his Earth, and we need our Kyungsoo back on this one.”

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at the dramatic reaction. “Relax, I’m just joking.” He turns to Kyungsoo before winking and saying, “Kind of.”

Kyungsoo laughs. “You are so different from the Baekhyun I know, it’s amusing. I mean, he’s funny too, but you’re a different kind of funny.”

“The best kind,” Baekhyun agrees. He stands up, pushing his seat back. “I have to go rally the troops now, before our manager gets upset. I’ll see you when I get back, Kyungsoo.”

“See you,” Kyungsoo says as the man walks to the room next door to grab Jongdae.

Jongin takes the seat that Baekhyun was occupying, ignoring how disgustingly warm it feels. “You look better today.”

Kyungsoo smiles at him, eyes as kind as the first day they met. Jongin is relieved that there is no dark cloud looming over him today. “I feel better. Baekhyun sort of dragged me into doing some chores with him, and it was nice having something to do.”

“Ah.” Jongin nods. “Well, I’m free for the rest of the day. Is there anything you’d like to do?”

There’s a moment of silence before Kyungsoo starts humming. “Maybe cook?” he offers. “I usually cook when I’m stressed.”

Jongin stands up and opens the fridge. There are leftovers, some kimchi, a lot of condiments, but no produce. He supposes he shouldn’t be surprised, considering they’re in the middle of preparing for a comeback so everyone’s too busy to even eat at home, but he sighs anyway.

“We’re going to have to go buy some groceries,” he says, closing the fridge. “Let me just grab a hat and a mask… you should do the same too.”

“Oh. Right,” Kyungsoo says, walking over to his room. “I forgot you can’t just go outside.”

“We can, but unless we want a new picture of us uploaded to SNS within the hour, we try to hide ourselves. And even then, there’s no guarantee.”

Kyungsoo nods somberly, pulling a baseball hat over his head. Jongin lends him one of his own masks when they get to his dorm, and then they head off to the nearest store.

“What do you want to cook?” Jongin asks, eyes cast downwards as they walk.

“I don’t have anything in mind. Is there something you want to eat?” Kyungsoo offers. “I’m a pretty good cook when I want to be.”

“If you’re anything like our Kyungsoo, I’m sure you are,” Jongin assures him. “How about kimchi spaghetti?”

Kyungsoo glances over, and even with the hat and mask on, Jongin recognizes the surprised look. “That’s my Jongin’s favorite too,” he explains.

“Glad to know I have good taste in both worlds,” Jongin jokes, and it earns him a laugh.

The store is only a block away, but as soon as they leave the building they’re flanked by fans. Whenever news leaks about a comeback, fans seem to flock to their dorm building, hoping to gleam a catch of a new hairstyle from their favorite idol. Jongin keeps his head low though, only raising it to watch for Kyungsoo.

“Wow, I didn’t realize this was your reality,” Kyungsoo murmurs in a low voice, careful of the fans that are getting a little too close for comfort. Jongin wants to tell him that this is actually relatively tame so some of his past experiences, but figures this isn’t the time or place for a story like that.

Once they get to the market, Kyungsoo knows exactly what he needs. Jongin follows close behind holding the basket of produce. He can’t remember the last time he went grocery shopping himself. It was probably during his last vacation, when he went home to see his family.

But this feels different. With his family, Jongin has to wait for his mom to go through each product and make sure it’s perfect. He has to stay and help his grandma finish reading the label on a tea product she wants to buy. He has to watch over his niece as she chooses which candy she wants, always torn between a gummy type and a chocolate type.

With Kyungsoo, it feels domestic. Like he’s a partner in this simple action of finding groceries for the next meal, rather than an accomplice on standby. He wonders if this is how Jongin on that other Earth feels, and bites his lips when he realizes he may be envious.

That doesn’t make sense. Jongin has nothing to be envious about. He has his own Kyungsoo in this world too.

But it’s not the same, a voice in the back of his mind tells him. Of course it’s not the same. Or else Jongin wouldn’t miss Kyungsoo even when he was in the same room as him, practicing their new song. Or else Jongin wouldn’t have to text Kyungsoo days in advance just to grab food with him. Or else Jongin could have told Kyungsoo as soon as he got a role in his first drama, instead of calling and calling just to get sent to voicemail each time.

The Jongin of Earth-88 doesn’t have to share his Kyungsoo. This Jongin can’t imagine a reality where he gets to be so lucky.

He doesn’t realize he’s been stuck deep in thought until Kyungsoo nudges him and he startles to realize he’s already at the cash register, with a nervous cashier telling him the price. Jongin fumbles to take out his wallet and hands the cashier his credit card.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo murmurs, voice low.

“Yeah, I was just thinking.”

“About?”

Jongin takes back his credit card and picks up the grocery bag. “Nothing.”

“You sure?” Kyungsoo bumps his shoulder as they walk out of the store, and Jongin sighs when he hears the squeals from a few of the fans. A picture of this moment will be uploaded somewhere online by the end of the night, Jongin is sure of it.

“Yeah, let’s just get back and make some kimchi spaghetti.”

The walk back to the dorm attracts more fans. Jongin does his best to ignore them, only giving them a small smile when he happens to catch someone’s eye by mistake.

“Is that red hair I see?! Ah!”

Jongin curses mentally. He had somehow forgotten that this Kyungsoo had a different hair color. Yikes, hopefully management doesn’t make too big of a deal over it.

“Kyungsoo, you’re so cute!”

It’s nothing new, Jongin probably hears the fans say that at least a few times a day. But it’s the way this Kyungsoo responds that gives Jongin pause.

“Thank you!” comes a happy reply. “You’re cute too!”

Jongin chokes, eyes widening as he hurries his pace and grabs Kyungsoo’s sleeve to pull him along. Luckily they’re already basically back to the dorm, and the security stops the fans from following them into the building.

“That was fun,” Kyungsoo chuckles as he presses the elevator button, smiling as he begins taking off his hat.

“Don’t!” Jongin pushes the hat back down. “They can still see us. Wait til we’re in the elevator.” His voice is strained.

“What’s the big deal? Did I do something wrong?” Kyungsoo frowns, peering up at Jongin. “You seem upset.”

Jongin sighs, placing his hands on his head in thought. “No, you’re fine. It’s just that Kyungsoo doesn’t really… react that way when fans call him cute. I was worried it would give it away.”

“I don’t think any of your fans, or even anti’s, would guess what’s really happening,” Kyungsoo says, a teasing lilt to his voice. But when Jongin only spares him a slight smile, he continues, “Sorry though. I just figured I should thank them for the compliments. I don’t mind being called cute, I mean, Jongin tells me that all the time.”

“Right. That makes sense. Sorry, I probably overreacted.”

“You’re fine. I understand why you’re worried about his image.” There’s a pause as the elevator arrives and they step in.

“I always wondered what it would’ve been like if we debuted,” Kyungsoo murmurs, leaning back as Jongin presses the button for the fifth floor. “I guess now I can stop wondering.”

Jongin raises an eyebrow. “You haven’t really experienced it yet. You’ve been holed up in here for the past three days.”

Kyungsoo pouts. “I got to be D.O. when I walked outside with you. That’s a unique experience in itself.”

He chuckles at that. “I guess. I mean, the real fun is being able to record and perform though, in my opinion.”

“Performing was my favorite part too. Nothing beat the thrill of hitting a note just right and seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces affirm you for it.”

“Yeah, I can see it on your— I mean, this Kyungsoo’s face. When he finishes singing, his face is always so bright. I can’t look away.”

Kyungsoo is looking at him with a curious expression that fades into a soft smile.

“When I was talking to Baekhyun earlier, he told me you were preparing for a comeback. How’s that coming along?”

Jongin shrugs, letting Kyungsoo step out of the elevator first before following. “It’s fine. I know the choreo already, just helping Junmyeon and Chanyeol with it now.”

“Actually, Baekhyun said — and I don’t know if he was just joking about it but — he said that they might ask me to fill in for Kyungsoo. Like during the recordings.”

Jongin is quiet as he unlocks the door.

“Did he?”

“Mm. He said if Kyungsoo doesn’t return within the week, they’re going to have me come in to the studio and sing his parts. I told him I wasn’t sure about that though. I haven’t really sang for an audience in years.”

“Then don’t do it,” Jongin says, placing the groceries on the kitchen counter. “If you’re uncomfortable, don’t do it.”

“I feel bad though. I’m slowing all of your progress down. And I could try it if—”

“No,” Jongin interrupts him, hoping his voice isn’t too curt. He clenches and unclenches his fist. “It’s not- it’s not your fault. And it’s not your responsibility to sing his parts.”

And the truth is, Jongin is uncomfortable with the idea of anyone but their Kyungsoo singing his parts. Sure it would help speed up the process, and this Kyungsoo probably sounds just like theirs so it wouldn’t be very noticeable, but still. It feels wrong to Jongin, unfair to Kyungsoo.

“It was just a thought,” Kyungsoo reiterates. “Who knows if it’ll actually happen.”

“I hope not,” Jongin admits. He freezes, realizing he may be coming off as hurtful. “I mean, I’m sure your voice is as beautiful as our Kyungsoo’s. But it’s not…”

“The same,” Kyungsoo finishes for him. “No, I understand.” He begins taking out the pot to boil the water for the spaghetti.

Jongin watches as Kyungsoo gets the ingredients ready. He offers to help, but Kyungsoo shoots him down with a gentle smile. He’s on his phone, thinking of what to do as he passes the time.

“So what do you and, uh, Jongin usually do in your free time?”

Kyungsoo shrugs as he turns the stove on. “Cuddle, watch movies, eat. Normal couple stuff I guess.”

“We could do that too,” Jongin offers, before stammering once Kyungsoo gives him a confused look, “I mean, as friends! I-I just figured you missed him, so you would want to do something you usually do with him.”

“Thank you, Jongin, but it’s fine.” Kyungsoo salts the water. “What do you usually do in your free time? If you get any, that is.”

“I don’t really,” Jongin admits. “And I usually go home for vacation. But if I have any free time to kill in between schedules, I’ll just skim through SNS and read stuff. Kyungsoo sends me interesting articles he reads too, so I’ll look at those.”

It’s quiet again when Kyungsoo doesn’t reply. Jongin fidgets in his seat, tapping his foot against the floor and his fingers against the table. He’s running through other things he could talk about, but a lot of his go-to small talk options center around current events and he’s not sure how many of theirs overlaps with Kyungsoo’s Earth’s.

It doesn’t matter though, because the silence is soon filled with soft melodies. Jongin spins around to see Kyungsoo singing under his breath as he cuts the kimchi. He really does sound the same. Maybe a little less smooth, but it’s still the same rich voice that Jongin is hypnotized by after every performance.

“You sound great,” Jongin comments once the singing dies down. “You sound like him.”

Kyungsoo smiles, stirring the pasta. “I’m sure he sounds better.”

“Maybe,” Jongin admits. “But that’s because he’s gotten a lot of practice over the years. Have you?”

“No. There’s no need to.”

There’s hesitance but Jongin pushes past it. “What happened? That you couldn’t debut?”

Kyungsoo freezes in front of the stove, back facing Jongin. It’s quiet for a moment, before Kyungsoo resumes his actions again. “Nothing that we could control.”

“What do you mean?”

But Kyungsoo doesn’t reply. Instead, he strains the pasta and rinses it. Jongin watches as he prepares two plates of food, actions identical to ones he’s seen before, and brings them over to the kitchen table.

“Eat up,” Kyungsoo tells him with a soft smile. “You’ll need the energy for tomorrow.”

Jongin mumbles a thanks before taking the first bite. It tastes like their predebut days, when Kyungsoo would have the time to make a meal for everyone. Jongin remembers fighting with the members over who could get seconds, and Kyungsoo punching each of them before giving the last two plates to Jongin and Sehun, calling them ‘growing boys.’

Their group dinners are now few and far between; with all of the members having different schedules now, it’s lucky if they can even get four of them at one meal together for longer than half an hour.

“Does it not taste good?”

Jongin blinks and looks up. “No, it’s delicious. Why?”

“You looked upset,” Kyungsoo comments. “I thought maybe I didn’t cook as well as you’d thought.”

“No, really, you’re… just like him. It’s kind of scary, actually,” Jongin admits, biting his lower lip as he twirls the spaghetti with his chopsticks. He expected to see more differences between this Kyungsoo and theirs as time progressed, but instead he sees more similarities, like the way they watch YouTube as they brush their teeth, or when they kick their blankets off in their sleep.

“Why is it scary?” Kyungsoo asks with a laugh. “Shouldn’t that be good?”

It should be. This is the most time he’s spent with Kyungsoo in weeks, even if it’s not really his Kyungsoo.

But it feels wrong, because he knows this isn’t really their Kyungsoo. “It’s just confusing,” Jongin finally says.

“Confusing,” Kyungsoo repeats. “Do you want to elaborate?”

“Not really,” Jongin says with a sheepish smile. “I don’t really know what I’m saying myself.”

Kyungsoo stares at him for a second too long, and Jongin wonders if he’s seeing right through him. It feels like it. He feels under those eyes, the way his Kyungsoo makes him feel exposed whenever he tells even the slightest of lies.

But then Kyungsoo goes back to eating. Jongin lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and takes another bite himself.

When Jongin gets up to grab a cup of water, he accidentally twists around too fast, sending a sharp pain shooting up his already aching hip. He stumbles backwards into his chair with a groan, and Kyungsoo is crouching by his side before he can even register that something’s happened.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo asks, alarm clear in his voice. “Did you hurt yourself?” He prods at Jongin’s legs with soft touches.

“I’m fine,” Jongin mumbles, slowly pushing the hands away. “I’ve been having problems with my hip lately, I just turned around too fast.”

“You should be more careful,” Kyungsoo chastises, voice stern and he sounds exactly like their Kyungsoo in this moment. “You’re too young to have hip pains. Have you seen a doctor?”

Jongin raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t argue. He’s heard this all before. “Yeah, they said it’s fine, I just need to make sure to stretch and let myself rest after long practices.” When Kyungsoo is still frowning, not even meeting Jongin’s eyes because he’s too focused on Jongin’s hip, he assures him, “I’m fine, really.”

“That’s what you said then too,” Kyungsoo bites. He finally stands up, his breath shaky. When he meets Jongin’s eyes, something in him softens. “Just be careful, okay?”

There’s more than he’s saying, but Jongin doesn’t push it. “Okay,” is all he settles for.

Kyungsoo ends up grabbing him the water and a bag of iced string beans from the freezer. Despite Jongin insisting he’s fine, he was just shocked by the pain, Kyungsoo insists on helping him to the couch.

“You’re 24 but you still remind me of him when we were teenagers,” Kyungsoo sighs, helping Jongin lay his leg out.

“Hey, I’ve matured too,” Jongin defends. “Just in a different way, probably.”

“Not probably, definitely.”

Jongin pouts. “Well, it’s not like I had a boyfriend to support me these past few years. Of course I’m going to be different.”

When Kyungsoo doesn’t respond, Jongin turns to look at him. He gulps, realizing he may have said something he didn’t quite understand the impact of himself.

“You and your Kyungsoo are just friends?” he asks, and Jongin finds himself swallowing a gulp of air.

“Best friends.”

Kyungsoo seems to be in thought. Jongin doesn’t want to know what he’s thinking about, too busy trying to quiet his own screaming mind. He grabs the remote control for the TV and turns it on to the first channel available, a sappy Korean drama rerun. He doesn’t recognize any of the characters, but that doesn’t matter. It’s a distraction.

No one says anything. Jongin lets out a breath of relief when Kyungsoo finally leans back in his seat and resorts to watching the TV with him. It’s not until the door opens and in file Baekhyun, Jongdae, and Minseok that he gets up to greet them and offer them kimchi spaghetti.

“Wow, I haven’t had this in a while.” Jongdae whistles. “Shoulda known you would make this no matter what Earth you’re on.”

“It tastes great,” Minseok compliments gently.

“What’s up with Jongin?” Baekhyun asks.

“He hurt his hip. You should make sure he doesn’t overwork himself.”

Jongdae snorts. “No one can make Jongin do anything. But I’ll pass the message along to Kyungsoo when he returns if that’s what you want.”

Jongin sinks further into his seat as the other members make small talk with Kyungsoo. It seems they’ve gotten used to his presence in the last three days. While the other members haven’t made much of an effort to check up on Kyungsoo, Baekhyun at least draws Kyungsoo into each conversation they have as a group. Eventually Jongdae warms up to him too, and Minseok, well, Jongin figures Minseok was at the very least welcoming to Kyungsoo from the beginning, even if it started out awkward.

When Kyungsoo excuses himself to wash up, and Baekhyun and Jongdae go to their rooms, Minseok takes the seat beside Jongin.

“How’s the hip?” he asks, tapping gently on the area.

“Fine,” Jongin mumbles. “Kyungsoo was just surprised is all.”

“Yeah, because he cares about you,” Minseok reminds him.

“He cares about a version of me on a different planet,” Jongin corrects, trying not to let that ugly emotion from earlier today seep back into his words.

“Even if that’s the case,” Minseok acknowledges, “the Kyungsoo from this planet cares about you too. And I’m sure he won’t be happy if he comes back to know you’ve hurt yourself so badly you can’t perform.”

Jongin sighs. He hates that Minseok has a point. He’s been lectured by Kyungsoo one-too-many-times about taking care of himself. Even if they rarely see each other, Kyungsoo will send him a text now and then asking if he’s making sure to stretch like the doctors told him. Jongin’s not sure who’s been snitching, but he has a feeling it’s Sehun.

“Let me know if you need anything, I’ll be in my room,” Minseok says, patting his leg before leaving.

That would be a nice offer if Jongin only knew what it is that he needs.

An image of a heart-shaped smile and crinkling eyes flash in his mind, but he shakes that out of his system. Of course he wants Kyungsoo back, that makes sense. He wants his fellow member, his best friend back. Jongin has so many stories to share with him.

From the bathroom he can hear a YouTube video playing alongside the sound of teeth being brushed. There’s a quiet laugh that carries into the living room, and Jongin tries his best to ignore the pang in his chest and instead focus on the TV screen.

It would be nice if his problems could also be resolved in less than an hour and a half.

A/N: The last two chapters are unbeta'd because I'm a MESS. Thanks for reading / subscribing / upvoting if you have so far, and please leave a comment if you have the time. I haven't written a story of this length in so long, I'm actually scared it's a lil boring heh