Kyungsoo didn’t get any sleep after the girl refused to leave and Chanyeol declared to do what he pleased, so he left without much thought, going to the campus’ 24 hour convenience store. He bought himself a few different snacks to eat while he did some studying after he decided it’d be a good idea to stay there the rest of the night and just skip his morning classes to get some sleep. The clerk gave him a few odd looks every so often, but was undermined by the busy student. Once the sun came up, he deemed it safe to go back to his bed, that by this point, was screaming for him to return to it. His tired body dragged him all the way back to his dorm, and this time the door wasn’t locked, “Thank the lord almighty,” Kyungsoo cried as he swung the door open; checking for any signs of Chanyeol before he entered and locked the door behind himself. It felt like forever when Kyungsoo had finished showering and doing the other necessary hygiene steps, but soon enough he was wrapped up in his cozy blankets and ready to sleep.

Loud sounds of ringing attacked Kyungsoo’s ears as it soon woke him from his slumber, earning an annoyed groan from him; his hand quick to slap the button atop the alarm clock. With sleep hazed eyes, he looked at the time and realized it was nearly noon, so his groggy body got up and seemed to mindlessly drift to his wardrobe, picking out a simple black t-shirt and jeans to pair with his black sneakers. He was never one to dress too out of the ordinary, even in his early teen years he never liked the crazy colors and styles from the 80s.

Kyungsoo had learned over the days of talking to Jongin that on Thursdays he only has two afternoon classes, today was Thursday. “I’ll take him to lunch,” Kyungsoo often spoke aloud to himself as a way of reassuring plans or thoughts, it had been a habit of his sense he was young; repeating the list of chores he was given and his plan on how to tackle them. All his things were gathered in his bag from the long morning, so he was ready to go after putting on his shoes and grabbing his keys from the counter. It took about fifteen minutes for Kyungsoo to reach Jongin’s dorm, maybe ten if he speedwalked.

His knuckles knocked against the wood door three times and he waited a few seconds before Baekhyun opened the door with a bright smile. “Hey, Soo! Come in.” He held the door for the other and let him in, though still curious as to why he came over, “What’s up? I would’ve thought you’d have classes now.”

Kyungsoo smiled, looking around before glancing back at Baekhyun, “I do, but I skipped… long night,” the pause was just Kyungsoo’s way of getting out of an explanation. “I wanted to pick Jongin up for lunch before his classes, is that cool?”

“Well, he and I were going to grab a bite from the diner, but you’re welcome to join!” Baekhyun seemed like a delightful person in Kyungsoo’s eyes, even if it were only their second time meeting, he was still so kind and open.

“Only if you two are okay with it, I don’t want to be a bother.”

Baekhyun scoffed at this, “Please, you are not at all a bother, infact, Jongin really likes you,” His smile only grew, “So even if you were a bother to me, it’d make me happy to see Jongin enjoying it.”

Speechless, Kyungsoo’s mind raced with a multitude of thoughts and emotions, he felt his face heat up in the slightest, “Is that true?” He questioned.

Baekhyun put his hands on both of Kyungsoo’s shoulders and gave them a light squeeze, “More than true.”

At the diner, Jongin was insistent on sitting between his two friends that way it would be easier for him communicate, Baekhyun even lectured him about how unhealthy the milkshake he ordered was, but wasn’t heard, he didn’t stop him from getting it, though. Jongin had put on some weight after his mother passed, he couldn’t express his emotions correctly at the time and took up the coping mechanism of binge eating throughout the day. Luckily, Baekhyun was always there to help encourage him to find a better way to deal with his overload of emotions. Together, they found that even if Jongin was a deafblind, his imagination was grand; Jongin went on and on describing Baekhyun’s features as his fingers wandered carelessly over his face. It was nice for the two of them to grow closer and share such a strong bond with each other.

Jongin snapped out of his reminiscent thoughts when Baekhyun had taken his hands and placed them upon the holy vanilla milkshake, his lips curved upward into a large grin and his eyes crinkled at the corners as he sipped on the sweet treat. “Vanilla and coconut are this boy’s favorite artificial flavors,” Baekhyun teased to Kyungsoo, both laughing as they admired the taller. “I never knew why he’s so attached to certain things, definitely amusing.”

Kyungsoo wholeheartedly agreed, because when he told Jongin he was planning on growing out his hair, the pout Jongin wore was too cute to ignore, so he kept the buzzcut. Within the short amount of time he knew him, Kyungsoo knew he would never be able to abandon him, their friendship was strong already, not as strong as his and Baekhyun’s, but it was thriving. However, Kyungsoo has noticed that even with similarities in the relationships, there were also differences. “I have no idea.. But that smile is contagious.”

The lunch date was brought to an end when Baekhyun and Kyungsoo repeatedly cracked jokes to Jongin, which lead to him coughing on his milkshake and ultimately spitting it out, and when Baekhyun reached for a napkin, his hand bumped into the glass; Kyungsoo trying his best to save it, but it was too late. Jongin’s clothes were covered with the cold drink. “Well , Soo! Way to save the shake!” Baekhyun gave him a thump on the head, thinking Jongin would be upset by the fact that his precious milkshake was wasted, but to their surprise, he started laughing again. He used his fingers to wipe up the remaining chunks and proceeded to it off.

“Gross~” The other two said in unison, both helping in the activity of cleaning Jongin up and getting him back home to change.

Once they got to the dorm, Baekhyun took Jongin to the bathroom to help him change into the clean clothes he picked out, the pieces didn’t match, but he refused to wear anything else since they were soft. “You’re letting him go to class like that?” Kyungsoo’s eyes were wide as he took in the appearance of the outfit; a yellow and green striped polo shirt with navy blue joggers and pink sandals.

Baekhyun only shrugged his shoulders, “I tried to tell him, but he refused So, he will have to deal with it.”

Neither Kyungsoo or Baekhyun had classes while Jongin did, so they stayed behind after Mrs. Jane picked him up. They watched a few episodes of random shows that came on the tv, making small talk about the plot or characters, but it always circled around to become conversations about Jongin. He seemed to be the peacekeeper in their worlds, never once failing to make them laugh or smile, and ironically enough, he loved to listen to either’s plans, or how their day went. “He thinks you’re handsome,” Baekhyun announced upon the topic of his imagination, flustering Kyungsoo.

“I wonder if I look the same in his mind as in real life..”

Baekhyun prepared dinner a bit earlier than he normally would, telling Kyungsoo he would be going out to meet his parents for dinner and that Jongin doesn’t even notice if the food has been reheated. “You’re sure you don’t mind staying with him tonight? I can always cancel-”

Kyungsoo cut him short and ushered him off towards the door, “I don’t mind at all, now go enjoy your dinner!”