“What's so funny?” Taemin grabbed Kai's phone and jumped out of his seat, running down the isle of the moving bus. They were on their way to a weekend workshop for dance composers, held in a secluded cabin in the mountains.

“No! No! Give it here!” Kai ran after him, trying to catch him before he had a chance to read the messages Suho and him had been exchanging.

“And you'll be gone the whole weekend?” Taemin read out loud. “Aww, poor guy is dying for you.”.

“Knock it off!” Kai sped up, trying to catch him before he embarrassed him to death.

“At least remember to tie your shoes. - What? - I don't want you falling for anyone else.” Taemin roared with laughter as he let himself fall into the back seat of the bus. Thankfully everyone was sitting in the front, leaving the back empty and semi-private, so hopefully no one heard that.

“Who is this guy?! That must be the lamest pick up line I've ever heard... Wait, what... it's not that guy, is it? Are you still seeing him?!” Taemin looked at him surprised, his eyes doubling in size. Kai felt really uncomfortable. Not only because he should have gotten rid of Suho by now, but also because he hadn't told Taemin about it. He told Taemin everything. But somehow, he couldn't tell him about this.

“Mmm...” Kai didn't know what to say.

“How many dates have you gone on?” Taemin asked him with a cryptic expression.

“Ehm.. only two.” .

“So he didn't mind that you're a guy?”.

“Uuuuhm... kinda haven't told him that.. yet...”.

“Don't you think this joke has passed its expiration date? You should put the poor guy out of his misery... you haven't... fallen for him, have you?” Taemin's eyes tried to penetrate his skull and read what was inside.

“What?!?!? NO!! He's sooooooooo cheesy and lame, it hurts!!!” he exclaimed a little too loudly. “He just keeps contacting me...” he added, shrugging, like there was nothing he could do about it.

“Phew.” Taemin sighed in relief. “You know he's straight...”.

“I know, I know... but like... he's still falling for a guy.” Kai pointed out.

“He thinks you're a girl.” Taemin emphasized the word 'girl' so that it echoed uncomfortably through Kai's ear canals.

“But I'm a guy, and he's falling for me. It's me beneath all the clothes.” he argued.

“If you fall for him, the joke is no longer on him, but on you.” Taemin looked out the window, the expression on his face solemn.

“You're going to end it, right?” he added after a while. He was still staring out the window, but he looked more like he was staring into space.

“Yeah... I'm just waiting for the right time.” Kai assured him quietly.

“At the wedding, then?” Taemin snorted. He had returned from his journey into space, and was clearly done with his heart to heart conversation, nudging him teasingly.

“I promised him I'd do it face to face, so I can't do it until we're back.” he told him honestly. He had no choice but to keep in touch. If he didn't answer his messages, Suho would know something was up, and that was pretty much the same as telling him to take a hike. Taemin was right, though. He had to end this before it got more out of hand. He never expected it to go this far, he was sure he would get caught and be exposed as a guy. He was going to tell him the moment he got back from the trip.

“Taemin, hand me my phone.” Kai said as he threw his bag onto his assigned bed at the cottage. He and Taemin were roommates, since everyone knew they were besties they were usually assigned the same room.

“I don't have your phone.” Taemin said distracted.

“What!?! Where is it, then??? You never gave it back! I thought you had it!!” Kai's chest started constricting, making it hard to breathe. If he didn't have his phone, he couldn't answer Suho's messages, and if he couldn't answer his messages, it would look like he had abandoned him. And he had no other way to contact him. If he lost his phone, he would lose Suho with it. He turned his bag inside out, pouring its entire contents on his bed. The phone wasn't there. He checked all pockets. Not there.

He ran over to Taemin's bed, ransacking his bag, throwing his stuff left and right, frantic.

“Dude, it's probably just still on the bus.” Taemin suggested. He was looking at him like he had completely lost it. He hadn't lost 'it', he had lost his phone! And maybe Suho with it!

“The bus!! Did the bus leave?!? Is it still here??!?! What if it left?!?!?” Kai panicked, running in circles, trying to find his jacket. It looked like a bomb had went off in their room, there was stuff strewn all over.

“It's just a phone, man. I'll get you a new one.” Taemin assured him. But he didn't understand. Kai abandoned the search for his jacket and ran out to check if the bus was still there. It was dark, so at first it looked like it was gone. Multiple arrows shot through his stomach. It hurt. But then he saw it. It was right there.

He ran up to it, but it was closed. No. He couldn't wait until the morning. He tried to find the button-thingy that made the door open from the outside, but no matter what he pushed, the door refused him entry. Frustrated, he went back into the house, trying to find someone in charge.

He did feel a little bit bad making the bus driver, who had already turned in for the night, get out of bed and put his clothes back on, but this was important. He didn't want to string Suho along anymore than he had already done. And he had to know if his phone was really there, or if it was lost forever.

The moment he entered the bus, he could hear it. It was ringing. Suho's ringtone. He ran inside, following the sound. There it was, lying on the back seat of the bus.

“Hello?” he answered, his heart doing cartwheels.

“Oh! Hi... I... uh... you just disappeared and didn't answer any of my messages... I thought... maybe... I don't know... something bad...” Suho sounded worried.

“I need to lock it for the night.” the bus driver said, frustration lining the edge of his voice. Kai nodded and gave him a half bow on the way out as thanks. He found a tiny little bench in a patch of garden to the side of the house. It was pitch black and cold, but Taemin was in their room and he didn't want him to overhear their conversation.

“No.. heh.. I'm okay, I just... lost my phone for a bit, sorry.” Kai explained shyly. He could hear Suho breathing on the other end of the line. There was something in the air, the atmosphere was charged. It was like there was this hidden space between them inside their phones, in another dimension, a space only accessible by the two of them, with their unspoken feelings being quiet in the loudest way possible. It woke up the lost butterfly that had taken up residence in his gut, but perhaps it wasn't lost anymore. Maybe it was exactly where it belonged. It was a scary feeling.

“That's okay. Maybe I was overreacting... I just... I uhm...” Suho was being even more awkward than usual. Kai didn't dare speak a word, he just listened. It almost felt like his ear was growing in order to not miss a single sound. “I just really miss you.”.

There was silence. Intense silence.

“Uh...” Kai didn't know what to say, he just couldn't bare the silence anymore.

“I was afraid I had lost you.” he said and released the breath he had been holding for way too long. But then he realized what he had just said. . Why brain, why did you say that out loud? “I mean... lost the phone... like... if I lost the phone, I wouldn't be able to contact you, you know....and not like... I mean... it would have been rude, you see... to like disappear without saying anything... especially because I promised you I'd tell you in person if... “ he rambled, trying to save face.

Suho laughed heartily. He couldn't believe he was making fun of him at a time like this. He pouted so hard he hoped Suho would feel it through the phone. “I know where you live, silly. I've been to your house. And you've been to mine too. You won't lose me that easily.” Suho laughed. Ah. He hadn't thought of that. That made sense. He was an idiot. “But I'm glad you didn't want to lose me.” Suho added in a dorky whisper. Ugh, that guy. Such a dork. He couldn't believe he was falling for a dork of such epic proportions. . He was falling for him. That was dangerous. He didn't fall often, but usually if he did fall, he tended to fall hard, faceplant hard.

“Oh!! And there's something I need to tell you. But I have to tell you face to face.” Suho exclaimed brightly. He sounded really excited. Kai wondered what it could be. Usually when people had to speak to you in person, it wasn't good news. Which reminded him...

“Oh, me too.” he told him. He shivered because of the cold. Or at least he thought it was because of the cold.

“Should I drive up to meet you tomorrow? Maybe we could have lunch? I was actually wondering whether I should just drive up and surprise you...” Suho chattered on, but Kai interrupted.

“NO!!! No surprises!!!” he practically yelled into the phone. “I hate surprises.” he added a little more calmly. It wasn't that he hated surprises. But if Suho surprised him, the one who would get the biggest surprise was Suho himself.

“Oh... he he... good to know. I won't then.” Suho said, deflated.

“Let's meet for coffee on Monday evening, after my classes.” Kai suggested, already dreading it.

That night Kai couldn't fall asleep. He stared at the ceiling, trying to picture how he was going to tell him, and how he would react. 'Hey, Suho.. so speaking of surprises... I'm actually a guy. Surprise!'. Yeah, no. Should he just start stripping in front of him until he got the gist. Would he still like him, when he saw some vital lady parts missing? Would he be happy about getting other manly parts as a bonus instead? After all, you fall in love with the person, not their gender, don't you? He wasn't sure. He worried about his new pet butterfly, which was nervously fluttering around somewhere south of his stomach. He was in trouble. And he had no idea what to do about it.

“I can do this. I can do this. I'll just say it right out, bluntly, like ripping off a Band Aid.” he told himself. And that would be that. And then it would all be over. Over... what if he didn't want it to be over? No. He couldn't think like that. It was a stupid thought anyway. They were a horrible match. And he found him insufferable half the time, and impossibly lame the other half. They were never meant to be. Suho was straight, he was gay. Suho was rich, he was not so rich. Suho was a stuffy business man, he was an artist. They had nothing in common. Not one thing.

The bell that hung on the door made a cutsie ringing sound. Kai looked up, seeing the silhouette of a man behind the door. A handsome man. He held his breath. Even his silhouette was tidy and perfect. A moment later, Suho entered the coffee shop. He looked like a million bucks. That was probably the price of his simple, but extravagant suit. It was so well tailored to his body that there was no question that he worked out. A lot. His hair was almost annoyingly well groomed, not one lock out of place. He bowed slightly to the waitress and looked systematically around the coffee shop, looking for him. When their eyes met, Suho's expressionless face turned into a soft smile. It made Kai's heart jump. His heart was an idiot. He silently scolded it for being swayed so easily. There was no way he was falling in love with that stiff, square bureaucrat. He was everything he didn't want. Suho walked slowly towards him, one deliberate step after the other. Why. Why did he have to be so gorgeous today, of all days.

Now. He had to tell him now.

“I'm a gu... I'm...” Kai swallowed, trying to make his voice audible, but what came out was in a frequency only dogs could hear. He took a deep breath as Suho took a seat in front of him, and tried again. “I'm not a gi... I'm a boh...”.

“I GOT TICKETS!!!!!!” Suho nearly exploded with excitement, whipping out two shiny tickets, waving them in front of his face. He beamed at him, clearly super proud of himself. It took Kai a moment to realize what was going on. He took the tickets and read the title. Suho stared at him, waiting for his reaction.

“No way.” Kai whispered, reading the ticket over and over again.

“Yes way!!!” Suho beamed, proudly.

“But ... but how?” Kai was in shock.

“I have my ways.” Suho tried to smirk mysteriously, but he just looked like a happy fool.

Kai couldn't believe that he had in his hands the most coveted tickets in all of the ballet world. There were people that would kill for these. He wanted to go. He desperately wanted to go. But, he couldn't string Suho along any longer. Although, it would be a crime to let these tickets go to waste. It really would. And maybe three more days wouldn't make all the difference. He had come this far, waiting a tiny bit longer was okay. It had to be okay.

“I can't believe you... “ he shook his head in a daze. Suho chuckled, his face turning red. It was a dream come true. He was going to see his ballet hero. His idol. He could hardly believe Suho had listened to all of his ramblings. That was a first. His ex had always complained that he talked too much about dance. Even when he dated dancers, they were more interested in doing the horizontal dance with him, than talking about it. But they hadn't even kissed and Suho was already making his biggest dream come true. Who was this guy?

“Oh! What was it that you were going to tell me?” Suho asked, curiosity painted on his face. As he waited for the answer, he snatched the tickets back and stored them safely in his wallet. “Don't want to lose these.” he chuckled awkwardly, but Kai knew getting a hold of them couldn't have been easy. He couldn't imagine how he had managed it.

“Ehhhhhhhm... yeeeaaahh... I'll tell you later... it can wait...” he gave him a frozen smile.

Three more days. That wasn't so much to ask. Only three more.