', I left my homework at home.'

'Did Jessica really just ignore me like that?'

'Nice, I failed another test. Mom and Dad are gonna kill me.'

Kyungsoo mentally cursed himself for forgetting to turn off his mind reading abilities before he stepped into the school today. With a deep breath, he focused on his own inner voice and the loud thoughts of surrounding students almost immediately vanished, leaving Kyungsoo's mind quiet.

He was born with the power to read minds, as it was passed down from his mother's side of the family. The reason why the power existed was unknown to him, but as a child, he was told by his grandfather that he would begin to hear thoughts that weren't his when he hit puberty. Thank god for his grandpa because if it weren't for him, Kyungsoo was sure he would believe he were schizophrenic.

The power was only passed down to boys, and even then, there was only a 50/50 chance that a child would receive such abilities. Kyungsoo happened to draw the short end of the stick: his brother showed no signs of mind reading at all.

His grandpa taught him how to control his power and how to use it to his benefit. Kyungsoo learned that he was able to turn his power on and off, and that he could read individual minds by concentrating on individual people. However, Kyungsoo didn't like using his powers often. To him, it felt like an invasion of privacy. He felt this especially towards his close friends and family.

He refuses to intentionally use it unless absolutely necessary.

"Did you go hang out with Sehun yesterday?"

Kyungsoo closed his locker after retrieving his english textbook and turned towards his best friend, Jongin. It was Friday and there were kids, like him and Jongin, scattered around in the hallway socializing and waiting for the first bell to ring. 

"Yeah, he asked me if I wanted to go get some boba and I said yes. Why?"

Jongin gave Kyungsoo his signature pout and furrowed eyebrows.

If Jongin were anymore cute it would be illegal, Kyungsoo believed.

"But Hyunnggg, we always walk home together! When did you get so close to Sehun?"

Kyungsoo giggled and reached out to ruffle Jongin's soft, brown hair, causing Jongin to pout harder.

"You know that you're my best friend. Nothing's gonna change that." Kyungsoo reassured Jongin.

Best friend.

It was weird to hear himself call Jongin his best friend, and he hasn't been used to it since he first developed feelings for the taller boy. He's called him his best friend his entired life, but deep down, Kyungsoo knew that there were more than just platonic feeelings towards Jongin, which dated back to when he first found out about his mind reading powers. What scared Kyungsoo the most was ruining what he had with Jongin, since the two could have been considered brothers (by others obviously, Kyungsoo thought it was gross because he had a stupid crush on his closest friend). He doesn't want to tell Jongin about his abilities because he doesn't want to be known by him as a freak. He doesn't want to tell Jongin about his feelings for him, because what if it ruins their relationship?

Kyungsoo doesn't even know if Jongin likes guys for god's sake!

Now, he's well aware that he could have looked into Jongin's thoughts a long time ago, but how could he? He's scared of looking into his best friend's thoughts and realizing that he only saw Kyungsoo as a friend.

Plus, Kyungsoo knows it's wrong to take advantage of Jongin like that.

Kyungsoo swears he saw Jongin's face drop into a sad trance for a moment.

"Um yeah. Of course, Soo," Jongin smiled slightly, "You know what, I should head to class early."

Kyungsoo felt a twinge of guilt pull at the pit of his stomach. Did he say something wrong?

 "You don't want to walk to class together?"

Jongin shook his head, "Nah, I just remembered that I have to go do something. I'll see you at lunch, though."

"What do you have to do?"

"Just...nothing really. Anyways, I gotta go. Seeya later, Soo." Jongin waved at Kyungsoo and quickly walked away before Kyungsoo could respond.

Kyungsoo leaned on his locker and ran his fingers through his hair.

That wasn't norrmal. At all.

Pushing what just happened aside, Kyungsoo decided that, with a heavy heart, maybe Jongin didn't want to be around him anymore.

That's okay, Kyungsoo tried to convince himself.

The first bell rang, signaling the beginning of the school day.

Kyungsoo was confused. He noticed how Jongin had become distant towards him. He noticed how Jongin detatched from their conversations, so he assumed that it was okay to hang out with his own friends.

He continued on with the day as if it were normal, but Jongin's distance stayed in the back of his mind at all times. Each class seemed to drag on into hours and before he knew it, it was already lunch time. Hoping for some closure, Kyungsoo sped into the cafeteria to find Jongin.

The cafeteria was busy as usual, and Kyungsoo once again thanks his grandpa for showing him how to turn off his powers. He couldn't imagine how loud everyone's thoughts were, especially all crowded into one area.

Jongin was no where to be found, but in the corner of his eye, he spotted Sehun smiling and waving at him to come over to the table he was sitting at. Kyungsoo grinned back and made his way over to the round table where Sehun, and his friends Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae sat. The group of friends were chatting happily.

"Hey Kyungsoo!" Baekhyun greeted, "Where's Jongin?"

"Uh, I'm not sure actually. I was gonna ask you if you guys have seen him." Kyungsoo responded flatly before he took a vacant seat right next to Sehun.

Sehun chuckled and wrapped his arm around Kyungsoo, "It's okay. You can sit with us while you wait for him."

Kyungsoo smiled lightly, and sat unmoving. He was aware that Sehun was a touchy person, and even though he didn't personally like being touched, he knew that Sehun meant no harm by it.

Jongdae raised his eyebrows at Kyungsoo questioningly, "Are you okay? You're not as enthusiastic as you usually are."

Chanyeol nodded while shoving a piece of kimbap into his mouth, "Yeahmph ahnd youh nehver come to luhnch wihthout Johnghin."

"Yah, Park! Swallow first!" Baekhyun slapped Chanyeol's back, causing the latter to choke on the rice that he hastily began to swallow. The table erupted with laughter, but Kyungsoo couldn't seem to find the courage to be present in that moment. Instead, he scanned the room for his best friend.

He didn't see the tan skinned boy until he finally turned to the entrance of the door, where he spotted his best friend standing to the side and looking around for what Kyungsoo believed was himself. Before Kyungsoo could pull himself away from Sehun, Jongin made eye contact with Kyungsoo.

Jongin's expression showed to be him to be indifferent, but without taking his eyes off of Kyungsoo, he walked towards a table on the complete opposite side of the cafeteria and sat down next to someone that Kyungsoo didn't seem to know.

A sharp pang pierced through Kyungsoo's chest, which only seemed to burn more when he saw Jongin look away and focus his attention onto the boy that Kyungsoo didn't know.

"Huh, I didn't know that Jongin was close to Taemin and Ravi," Sehun watched the entire event unfold alongside Kyungsoo, "Did you know about this, Kyungsoo?"

Kyungsoo blinked hard, aware of the boys at the table staring at him with concern, "Um, Yeah I guess. I knew that he had friends aside from me."

"Did you and Jongin have a fight or something?" Sehun wondered aloud, causing Kyungsoo to wince. The burning feeling in his chest spread further, and Kyungsoo pushed Sehun's arm away.

"No no, we're okay. I think Jongin needed to talk to them or something."

Baekhyun glanced at Chanyeol and Jongdae then softly nodded, "Okay. Just talk to us if you need to."

"I'm fine guys! No really, it's kind of like how I'm friends with you guys!" Kyungsoo forced a smile, trying not to grimace when he looked back at Jongin, who was now laughing and hugging Taemin.

He only ever did that to Kyungsoo.

"Um, anyways, did you guys wanna hang out again some time? Sehun? Do you wanna get boba again?" Kyungsoo tried to take his mind off of the surprising closeness between Jongin and the boy that he didn't know well.

"Nah, I'm okay Hyung. I think you should hang out with Jongin today."

"Baekhyun? Chanyeol? Jongdae?" Kyungsoo continued desperately.

The group of boys silently declined, making Kyungsoo feel a little more awkward than he usually does.

"Kyungsoo, we know you like Jongin. You don't have to pretend to be okay with this." Jongdae sighed.

Kyungsoo was shocked, well, mainly taken aback that he was hearing someone else say it.

Yes, Kyungsoo likes Jongin, but he would never get in the way of his best friend's happiness.

"But I am okay! I promise!"

Chanyeol pursed his lips, "Whatever you say. Anyways, if you wanna hang out, why don't we do it tomorrow? If you're down?"

Kyungsoo nodded his head enthusiastically, praying that he seemed happy enough to avoid further suspicion, "Yeah. Just text me where we'll hang out, I'm free the whole day!"

They no longer pressed Kyungsoo further, and continued lunch as usual. Kyungsoo tried not to pay attention to Jongin, but he couldn't help his wandering eyes.

The rest of the day was just as slow, if not slower than the first half of the day. Kyungsoo trudged to his locker bitterly.

He always waited for Jongin at his locker so that they could walk home together. It was their routine, up till recently when Kyungsoo started to hang out with Sehun more.

Would Jongin even walk home with Kyungsoo today?

To Kyungsoo's surprise, he heard Jongin's voice call out for him.

"Hyung!"

Jongin jogged lightly up to Kyungsoo, "You're not busy, right? We can walk home today?"

"Yeah." Kyungsoo said meekly, now silently wishing that he could hang out with Sehun instead walk home with Jongin. He's afraid of the confrontation, and there was a heavy awkwardness between the two that Kyungsoo was sure he could cut with a knife.

Despite every bone in his body screaming at him to try to get out of it, Kyungsoo's need for closure pushed him forward.

They both walked outside, and suddenly Kyungsoo was glad that he was wearing a white, short sleeved shirt. The sun was hot and almost blistering: a sure-fire indication of summer. Jongin, unfortunately, wore his usual long sleeve plaid button up..

", it's so hot," Jongin whined while adjusting his back, "Why didn't you convince me not to wear this shirt?"

"Because you woke up late again, Dummy." Kyungsoo still felt as if he were treading on thin ice around Jongin, but he knew he had to confront him eventually.

They walked for a few minutes in the direction of their neighborhood. Kyungsoo lived only a few blocks farther, so he was aware that if he didn't say something soon, he wouldn't be able to say anything at all.

"I'm hanging out with my friends tomorrow." Kyungsoo hesitated, not sure how to break the metaphorical ice.

"Huh. Cool."

"Jongin."

Kyungsoo stopped, letting his best friend tread in front of him for a moment. Jongin stopped and turned back to Kyungsoo, after he realized that they were no longer walking side by side.

"What's wrong, hyung?"

"Why did you avoid me?"

Jongin guffawed and crossed his arms, "I don't know, why were you sitting with Sehun today?"

"I was waiting for you!"

"No, you were getting it on with Sehun! I figured that you needed space!!"

Kyungsoo swallowed hard, and he felt hot tears fill his eyes, "Space?! I thought you needed space! You've been distancing yourself from me recently, don't think I haven't noticed! If I knew you were just gonna around with Taemin today, I wouldn't have bothered with walking home with you!"

Jongin's face flashed a mix of anger and hurt. He sighed and turned around, walking away.

It was at this moment, Kyungsoo's mind filled with fury, which eventually settled into confusion. Why was Jongin acting this way?

Kyungsoo trailed behind Jongin, who gradually picked up his pace.

"Jongin?"

The tanned boy walked faster, almost jogging.

"Jongin!"

Kyungsoo's best friend ignored him once again.

At this moment, Kyungsoo wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to keep fighting with Jongin like this, what if they never make up?

So, as a last resort, Kyungsoo took a breath and closed his eyes as he attempted to focus on Jongin. He felt a tight pulling in his head, before something in his mind snapped back almost like a rubber band.

'Don't cry'

'Don't cry'

'Don't cry'

Kyungsoo heard his best friend's voice now swimming in his head and clashing with his own inner voice. He felt undeniable guilt, but Kyungsoo had no idea how he could have possibly try to get Jongin to talk to him again.

'God, I'm so sweaty. Did I put deodorant on?'

'Why is Kyungsoo hanging out with Sehun instead of me?'

Realization hit Kyungsoo like a truck. How could he have been so stupid?

Was Jongin actually jealous of Sehun?

"Jongin I-" Kyungsoo mumbled softly and stopped in his tracks.

'Is Kyungsoo crying? , go back to him'

Kyungsoo held in a giggle when Jongin spun a full 180 degrees and jogged back to him.

"What?" Jongin huffed, looking away from Kyungsoo.

It was actually endearing, seeing Jongin care about Kyungsoo so much.

"Are you jealous of Sehun?"

Jongin met Kyungsoo's eyes once more, with a pout forming on his face.

'Yes.'

"No, I'm not. Are you jealous of Taemin?" Jongin grumbled, making Kyungsoo snicker a little bit.

"For the record, I was jealous of Taemin. You only ever hugged me like that."

'I want to hug him so bad.'

As if on cue, Kyungsoo pulled Jongin towards him and wrapped his arms around Jongin's waist. 

'What?'

'What? What the hell?'

"I'm sorry, I was making a big deal out of nothing." Kyungsoo buried his head into Jongin's shirt and listened to his rapid heartbeat.

'I'm such an .'

Jongin returned the hug, bringing Kyungsoo closer to him.

"Yeah, you're such an . I'm sorry for avoiding you." Jongin pouted into Kyungsoo's hair, not caring how sweaty the top of his head was.

Kyungsoo laughed happily and pulled away from Jongin.

There was no reason for Kyungsoo to keep reading his mind, so he began to turn it off. He in a deep breath and closed his eyes, then focused on his inner voice, but before Jongin's voice went away completely, he heard a faint sentence.

'I'm going to tell him tomorrow.'

Tell him what?

Kyungsoo and Jongin walked for a few more minutes and finally arrived at Kyungsoo's house. They both said their goodbyes and Kyungsoo went into the house.

It was 6pm, a full 4 hours after he had said goodbye to Jongin but Kyungsoo still had Jongin's words repeating in the back of his head.

"What is he gonna tell me?" Kyungsoo grumbled to himself.

Kyungsoo hopped onto his bed after doing his English homework. Although he was only a Junior in high school, it didn't mean that he could slack off on his schoolwork just yet. Even if Jongin was invading his thoughts for hours at a time.

He pulled out his phone and checked the time, which was 6:43 pm to be exact. His lockscreen was a picture of him and Jongin sharing a seat on an obviously single rider carousel. He remembers the repremanding the two of them got afterwards when security had to them off of the ride. Kyungsoo was so nervous, but in Jongin's arms, he felt like nothing mattered. He remembers how fast his heart was beating, not because of the security guard pulling the two of them off and causing a commotion, but because the entire time, Jongin did not let go of him.

Kyungsoo smiled at the memory, and wondered if Jongin remembered it the same way he did.

Not a full minute later and his brother, Seungsoo, called Kyungsoo down to tell him that their parents left for a dinner date.

They told Seungsoo that they could eat whatever they wanted, since they wouldn't be back until tomorrow morning.

Kyungsoo cringed at the fact, knowing that the reason that they were going to be out all night would be for...

Unholy purposes.

Pushing that aside, Kyungsoo saw it as an opportunity to go to Jongin's house, because he was curious.

What did Jongin want to tell him?

Kyungsoo knew that this was a consequence of using his powers on someone he loved, but it was a split second decision.

And Kyungsoo feels horrible, but it wouldn't be too bad to do it again. Just one more time.

Right?

Kyungsoo told his brother that he would be going over to Jongin's house for the night and hastily packed up a few blankets and pillows for a blanket fort, and a box of popcorn. Since Jongin and Kyungsoo liked to come over to each other's houses unannounced, they both already had clothes and toothbrushes kept specifically for the two boys. He double checked that he had his phone and said goodbye to Seungsoo before he left the house and walked over to Jongin's.

Jongin only lived 5 minutes away from Kyungsoo on foot, so he didn't find it too concerning when he saw the sun went down as it approached night time.

When he finally arrived Jongin's house, he hesitated in front of the front door.

Kyungsoo's done this plenty of times, but it was different this time.

He's read Jongin's mind. And he's going to do it again.

Guilt flooded back through Kyungsoo's body, he should know that this is an invasion of privacy but he wanted to know what Jongin was keeping from him.

Regardless of his racing mind, he stood outside the door and searched for Jongin's consciousness. He could only read minds if he was near enough to hear them talk. Kyungsoo closed his eyes and lulled Jongin's voice into his mind once again.

'I was so scared when I went into that haunted house with Kyungsoo, but he doesn't have to know that.'

Kyungsoo held back a laugh and almost dropped the blankets he held onto. He remembered that day. It was the same day they were escorted of the carousel. Kyungsoo thought the haunted house was made for kids and he thought Jongin thought so too, but apparently not.

He rang on the doorbell and knocked on the door. Within a few moments, Jongin opened the door with a look of surprise.

', I have to hide the book.'

Book? Was he reading something?

?

"Impromptu movie night?" Kyungsoo asked lightly with a pleading smile. Jongin sighed and bit his lip.

"Um yeah. Come in, I'll take the blankets and pillows. You go pop the popcorn. Mom's in the kitchen right now."

Jongin plucked the soft blankets out of Kyungsoo's arms and marched upstairs to his room. He felt the voice become almost inaudible as Jongin walked farther away. Kyungsoo walked into the kitchen and greeted Jongin's mom, who sat at their dining table.

"Hi Mom #2! I brought popcorn!" Kyungsoo waved at Jongin's mom and looked through the cabinets as if it were his own house. Jongin's mom smiled and looked up from her phone.

"Hi Son in Law #2, did you tell your parents you came over?"

Kyungsoo almost dropped the bowl he was holding at the implication that he was married to Jongin, "Wow, you've never called me that before."

Jongin's mom hummed slyly, "I can only wish. You'd be my favorite son in law too! Jongin's sister's been having trouble with her boyfriend."

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes while he put the popcorn bag into the bowl and shoved it in the microwave to start popping it, "Yeah, well if Jongin proposes to me I'll make sure that you know first."

"Don't you mean when he proposes?"

Kyungsoo felt his ears heat up, and he heard Jongin's inner voice drum in his head.

'I hope mom isn't being weird to Kyungsoo again.'

"Mom! You're not being weird, are you?!" Jongin yelled from upstairs, almost like he was aware of what was happening downstairs.

"No Honey, just talking!" Jongin's mom winked at Kyungsoo, making him blush once more.

"Mom, stop harassing Kyungsoo!"

"Your boyfriend doesn't mind!"

"MOM."

If his face was completely red, Jongin's mom didn't say a thing. 

Kyungsoo laughed nervously and pulled the now popped popcorn out of the microwave, "You're funny. I'm gonna go upstairs now, it was nice talking to you."

When he walked into Jongin's room, Jongin was already setting up a small fort in front of his TV.

'That should be enough.'

'The popcorn smells really good, I'm so hungry."

The room was almost completely dark except for a small light being emitted from a lamp on a nightstand. Kyungsoo stood at the doorway, simply watching his best friend toss the bedding around into a tent like shape. He even took the courtesy of pulling out his favorite plushies, which Jongin shamelessly displayed on his bed: a brown teddy bear and a blue penguin that had matching velcro on their paw/flipper to attach to each other and hold hands.

It reminded Kyungsoo of him and Jongin.

'Oh , he's staring.'

"Hey Soo, what'd you wanna watch?" Jongin shuffled over and grabbed a handful of popcorn, shoveling it into his mouth and sighing in contentment.

Kyungsoo shrugged, "I dunno. This is your house, Nini."

"Yeah, but it was your last minute idea."

They both walked back into the room and plopped into the makeshift fort that Jongin made. Kyungsoo felt kind of bad that he made Jongin do it himself, but he had to admit that Jongin did way better at making things like this more comfy. They laid on their stomachs side by side and placed the bowl of popcorn in between each other. Jongin pulled a remote from under him and began to pull up Netflix.

'I should check out The Promised Neverland, the manga made me cry uncontrollably'

"Actually, there's this anime that I've been meaning to watch. I loved the manga so I wanna see if the anime does it justice."

"The Promised Neverland?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Jongin questioned Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo knew that Jongin hadn't talked about The Promised Neverland to him yet, so he must have only recently started reading it. He tried to make up an excuse to cover it up.

"Best friend instincts I guess. Also, I think I've seen you read it at school before."

'Ah, he said best friend again. Get it together, jongin.'

Get it together? Did Jongin feel weird saying it too?

"Wow, those are some good best- uhm friend instincts."

Jongin searched up The Promised Neverland and clicked on the first episode. It started off with an orange haired little girl looking into what seemed like a dark hallway that was blocked off by steel bars. Kyungsoo couldn't concentrate on the show though, he was mesmerized by Jongin's features being illuminated by the blue light cast by the TV.

'He's so close, oh my god.'

Kyungsoo moved away, worried that Jongin felt uncomfortable by his presence.

'Pure thoughts, Jongin. Pure thoughts. , why does he smell so ing good?'

Does Kyungsoo really smell good? What's exactly happening right now?

Soon after the introduction of a white haired boy and a black haired boy in the anime, the theme song began playing and Jongin stood up abruptly, "I'm gonna grab us some drinks."

'My heart's gonna implode on itself. I hope he doesn't go near the wardrobe.'

What's in the wardrobe?

Kyungsoo stopped himself from wondering further. He knew he was already crossing the line of privacy and he didn't want to go any further than just reading Jongin's thoughts. Deserved that at the very least. Jongin walked out of the room, leaving Kyungsoo to his thoughts and the blaring music coming from the TV.

Guilt was eating up at him, he shouldn't be doing this. But he so badly wanted to know what Jongin wanted to say to him.

He was a horrible friend, he should just quit doing this before he ended up hurting Jongin.

He couldn't bring himself to turn his power off, instead he laid there and just stared off into space.

'Oh my god, he looks so comfy. I want to cuddle him so bad.'

He heard Jongin come back into the room and nonchalantly throw an ice cold water bottle towards Kyungsoo. He hid his face, hoping Jongin didn't see him blush at the thought that Jongin just had.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Hmm not really. The orange haired -"

"Emma."

"Uh yeah. Emma. She was just playing hide and seek with the kids in the orphanage."

"Cool, it's almost exactly like the manga so far."

Jongin laid back down and got comfortable once again, grabbing more popcorn and shoveling it into his mouth.

For a moment, Kyungsoo didn't move an inch, until he grew the confidence to move the popcorn bowl to the side and shimmied closer to Jongin.

Jongin's breath stuttered for a moment, but moved closer to Kyungsoo as well.

'What is he doing?'

Right then and there, Kyungsoo pulled Jongin's arm over himself and forced Jongin to roll over onto his back.

'What'

'What'

'Is he? Is he hugging me right now?'

'Don't panic don't panic'

Kyungsoo rolled over onto his side and wrapped his limbs around Jongin in a koala-like manner.

'Are we? Cuddling? Oh my god, I don't know if I can handle this.'

Did Jongin not like it? Was this a mistake? Maybe Jongin was joking to himself when he thought that he wanted to cuddle.

Before Kyungsoo could pull away, Jongin wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo as well. Kyungsoo couldn't breathe, this was everything he imagined doing with Jongin when he had first fallen for him.

'Kyungsoo is so ing cute.'

And with those thoughts, Kyungsoo immediately pulled away guiltily.

', did he not like it? , I ed up. Oh god, Kim Jongin he's your best friend for god's sake.'

"Is- Is some thing wrong, Kyungsoo?"

Anime long forgotten, Kyungsoo sat up and faced Jongin, who did the same.

'Kim Jongin you're a major up.'

Shut up.

Shut up.

SHUT UP.

Kyungsoo took in a harsh breath and forced his eyes shut, focusing on his own voice and letting go of Jongin's.

He's a horrible person.

He's a horrible person for invading Jongin's privacy like this.

"Jongin, I- I have to tell you something."

Jongin stared into Kyungsoo's eyes with concern and something resembling fear, "What's up? You can talk to me? What was all that?"

"First off, you aren't a up."

"Huh? Did- did I say that aloud?"

"No! No you didn't, I just-" Kyungsoo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Jongin I'm just so sorry."

"Sorry for what? Kyungsoo, you aren't explaining anything!"

Kyungsoo had to tell him. He couldn't take advantage of Jongin like this anymore, he loved Jongin to bits.

"Promise me you won't think I'm a freak, okay?"

"Soo, I could never think of you in that way!"

Kyungsoo nodded and bit his lip, "So um. I can read minds."

"What?"

"I've been- I was born with the power to read minds. I started to take control of them when I was about 12 and..." Kyungsoo looked away from Jongin, "I've been reading your mind for a little bit now.

Jongin's look of confusion phased into hurt, making Kyungsoo's heart break.

They sat in silence, with only the sound of laughing children coming from the long forgotten anime in the background. Kyungsoo was scared, what would Jongin say? Would he believe him? He wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to speak to Kyungsoo ever again. To Kyungsoo's surprise, Jongin simply believed him.

"I've...noticed that you've been doing things that mirror my exact thoughts today."

"I'm so sorry, Jongin. I understand it was an invasion of privacy and I've been feeling so guilty-"

"How long have you been doing it?" Jongin whispered sadly. Kyungsoo didn't know how he could possibly mend the divide that he knowingly caused between him and Jongin.

"Does that mean you know I like you? That I fell in love with you? Are you reading my mind now?"

At those words Kyungsoo lost his breath.

Jongin?

Jongin is in love with...?

"W-wait. Jongin I didn't know- I... I only started doing it when we had the fight this afternoon. I just didn't know what to do. I've never done it to you before now, I could have never imagined doing it because I knew that it was an invasion of privacy but I was so scared of losing you over some dumb fight and I thought it was a last resort-"

"."

"Is that what you were gonna tell me tomorrow?"

Jongin blushed a deep red and tears began to fill his eyes, "I- I was. Kyungsoo, I love you so much."

"Jongin. Jongin, Nini don't cry-" Kyungsoo leaned over and cupped his cheek and contemplated whether he should kiss him or not.

Well, it. Kyungsoo has gotten this far.

Kyungsoo in a shaky breath and softly pressed his lips onto Jongin's.

Jongin hiccuped for a moment, but soon closed his eyes, returning the kiss.

When Kyungsoo pulled away again, Jongin pulled him back into a second, deeper kiss. Jongin stopped the kiss this time, with a shy smile. Kyungsoo melted a little bit.

"I love you too. I've loved you for so long, Jongin. I was so scared of telling you about my ability because I thought that you would think I'm a freak but I just- I love you too much to lose you. I loved you too much to read your mind and see if you loved me too, I didn't want to take your thoughts away from you."

Jongin nodded and smiled, "I trust you, Kyungsoo."

"Me too."

Jongin got up and walked over the the wardrobe that he had mentioned in his thoughts.

"You have a book in there, right?" Kyungsoo asked.

"Yeah, you don't know what it is though, right?"

"No."

"Good, because it's a present for you."

Jongin opened the wardrobe and dug behind some clothes before he pulled out a relatively large, leather album, "It's all the pictures that we took with each other. All the stupid moments we had that made me fall for you."

"God Nini, you're so ing cheesy."

"Only for you," Jongin chuckled as he returned to his original spot. He handed the album to Kyungsoo and urged him to open it, "I even have some pictures from when we first met in preschool."

Kyungsoo flipped through the book and found that, just as Jongin said, all the moments that they managed to get on picture together.

Including the carousel incident.

"Do you remember when the security guard yelled at us to get off the horse? That was embarrassing but I couldn't take my eyes off you. I just used that moment as a way to pull you closer to me." Jongin laughed sweetly. Kyungsoo was so unbelievably happy, so happy that Jongin felt the same as him. It was almost too surreal.

They spent a good few hours reminiscing about their childhood and talked about the first time they realized they fell for each other.

They both fell asleep with their arms holding each other together.

When Kyungsoo woke up, his head hurt. His head was buried in Jongin's neck, who was surprisingly wide awake and admiring Kyungsoo with loving eyes.

Kyungsoo still couldn't believe it.

He wasn't sure what to call themselves now, but he knew that they were no longer best friends. No, they were so much more now.

"Good morning, sleepy." Jongin placed a quick kiss onto Kyungsoo's temple, making Kyungsoo whine.

"Good morning, stupid,"

"Wow, harsh considering how you confessed your love to me last night."

"You did that first!"

Kyungsoo felt like he was on cloud nine still, his stomach filled with butterflies. Kyungsoo nuzzled his head further into Jongin's neck, making him laugh.

"Okay Mr. Mind Reader. What am I thinking right now?"

"I don't need to read your mind to know that you want to kiss me."

Jongin smiled brightly, "Touche."