Leaning back into his chair, Kyungsoo stretched and let out a groan at how stiff his shoulders had become. He had just finished today's homework. The rest he would do tomorrow. He always split his homework load on weekends. With upcoming tests in three of his subjects, he planned on extra studying too. Now that he was done, he decided that he had a couple extra hours to enjoy his hobbies. First though, he had to wash the dishes from dinner and cooking. His mom was coming home on early Monday morning, and he had wanted to make sure there was enough food left in the fridge for her to have a hot breakfast.

As he washed the bowls and utensils, letting his mind relax with mindless scrubbing, his phone rang in his room. Kyungsoo pulled off his gloves and went to the source, singing along with the song he had set his ringtone to. The same moment the song reached a long note in the chorus, Kyungsoo saw the caller ID and sang an octave higher as his note shot up into a shout. He fumbled with the device while trying to grab it then stared down at the name. He rubbed his eyes too, to make sure that he wasn't seeing things before he swiped to accept it.

"Hello?"

"Kyungsoo?"

He froze a bit, because the caller name and the voice actually matched, which shouldn't have thrown Kyungsoo off-guard but shock made everything harder to grasp.

"Y-yeah. What's up, Jongin?"

Something muffled the receiver, like Jongin had planted his phone into, say, his bed and started rubbing it across the blanket before it became clear again.

"Are you busy right now?"

"Not really. I'm washing dishes."

"Then wanna go to Stay Mallow with me? Joonmyeon hyung said that he perfected his cranberry drinks and wants opinions. He can drive us home afterwards."

Kyungsoo actually dropped his phone onto his bed and quickly scooped it back up.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Sounds good."

"Okay, wanna meet at the bus stop in fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah, sure. Sounds good."

"See you then."

"Yeah."

Jongin hung up, and Kyungsoo dropped his phone onto his bed again.

"Did that just actually happen?" he asked to no one.

He flipped over his phone, saw the call log, and gasped. 

"It did just happen."

Which meant that he had to get ready. Flying to the kitchen, he slid to a stop in his slippers and turned back around. He had to tell his mom that he was going out if it was going to be this late. Kyungsoo tapped out the question for permission before once again flying to the kitchen. He power-scrubbed his way through the dishes, made sure that they were clean, and ran back to his room. He pulled out some of his clothes, contemplating which would be presentable to Jongin, then stopped in his thoughts. 

Why did he just have that thought? Why did he have to find something presentable specifically to Jongin? Shouldn't he try to be presentable regardless? Jongin was a friend though, so it wasn't as if he had to try try. He wasn't trying to impress him or anyone else, and he didn't normally mind dressing baggy and comfy.

Kyungsoo shook his head at himself and reracked the clothes he had pulled out. Instead, he took out the thin hoodie Yuwon had bought for him, jeans, and changed into them. He did fix his hair in the mirror, but aside from that, he had prepared as he would if he was going to hang out with Jongdae and Yuwon. Casually.

Satisfied, Kyungsoo pocketed his wallet and keys and his phone. His mom had sent a whole-hearted approval, and he covered his face in embarrassment when she wished him a good playdate with his pepper friend.

"It's not a date," he started texting back. "It's an important customer feedback and consumer product testing... meetup."

He backspaced his text and checked the time, turning off the lights and stepping out the house when six minutes was left to their meeting time. The spring night was cool, on the verge chilly, but the excitement energized Kyungsoo so he didn't mind it too much. When the bus stop came into view, Kyungsoo saw that someone already stood under the stop's roof. He walked a little faster when he recognized the red patterned scarf.

"Jongin."

His tutee turned and smiled, giving a little wave. "I like your hoodie."

Kyungsoo covered his face with a sleeve and rubbed his neck.

"T-Thanks."

"Does that count as a compliment too?"

"Huh? Uh, well kinda. Anyways, let's go. The sooner we try these drinks, the sooner I get paid in cranberry juice."

Jongin chuckled behind the back of his hand, and Kyungsoo pouted that he had covered his laugh again but started walking. They stayed in step with each other the entire time, and Kyungsoo secretly smiled to himself at the fact. They had come a long way since their last walk to Stay Mallow.

As they walked, Kyungsoo recognized a few of the turns and the shops that passed. He remembered the car and bike shop and glanced over at Jongin when they passed it. He peered in through the window, and his steps slowed the slightest bit, but he didn't stop. Kyungsoo knew now that his mom was a mechanic, and seeing the shop probably reminded him of his childhood or of her. He leaned out to catch Jongin's eye.

"You wanted to be a mechanic when you were younger, right?"

His eyes widened the slightest bit, and he nodded.

"Was it because of your mom?"

"Yeah. She looked really cool when she worked on the cars."

"Do you still want to be a mechanic?"

"Not as much. I don't think I could do it for the rest of my life."

Kyungsoo hummed, thinking of what Seulgi said.

"You don't have to do one thing for the rest of your life. I don't know how car shops work, but maybe you could get a part time job there and see what it's like first."

Jongin stared at the space in front of him, but he seemed to be thinking. After another block of walking, he twirled the ends of his red scarf.

"Nothing really interests me, so I don't want to think about the future."

Kyungsoo noticed how the consonants of his words sagged and how the vowels barely held them together. He felt that, nodding.

"I don't want to think about it either. It feels like too big of a concept to guess or plan out." He sighed. "But I think we still have time to decide. Well, don't you think we should have all our time to decide what we want to do? It is our time, right? I mean, I guess there are deadlines for certain things but still."

He cleared his throat and covered his face.

"I'm rambling. Nevermind."

"I think you make solid points though," Jongin chuckled, the back of his hand covering it again.

Kyungsoo tried not to look obvious as he bore his gaze through Jongin's hand, willing it to come down. It did, but Jongin had stopped laughing by then, so he considered his telekinesis a half-failure. Half, because Jongin's smile didn't disappear.

They reached the parking lot, empty like last time, streetlamps beaming cones of light down into the lots. The door chimed as they entered the café, the scent of soil and food wafting in the air. The devil's ivy curled even more vigourously along the trellis walls, and the built-in plant beds now sprouted seedlings and flower starts. Kyungsoo hopped closer to one to inspect the plants. A few had tiny buds, and others had full blooms. 

"Jongin, Kyungsoo!"

He turned at his name and saw Joonmyeon hyung wave from behind the counter. The wrinkles at his temples smiled as he did.

"Long time no see, Kyungsoo. How've you been?"

"Pretty okay. How's business?"

Joonmyeon hyung leaned forward and folded his hands in front of his nose.

"You want to know the truth?"

"Always."

"Then it's going pretty well. Well enough for me to add a new menu item, which you two will be taste testing for me today. Are you two ready?"

"Yes, sir!"

Jongin nodded.

"Great! Go sit and wait for me. I'll make the drinks and be out after a bit."

Joonmyeon hyung vanished into the kitchen, and Kyungsoo and Jongin went to find seats. The tables were almost all empty except for a few groups towards the back. Picking a table instead of a booth this time, he and Jongin sat down across from each other, and Kyungsoo turned to look out the window. Their reflections shone back him, and he poked a finger to the glass, noticing Jongin slip off his jacket. He kept his scarf on though and pulled it up so that his mouth sunk into the wraps of fabric. Something in Kyungsoo's chest jumped, and he beat a fist to it, thoughts and a rush of emotions following.

Was that his heart just now?

No way. It was probably just a burp or something. He most definitely did not just think that Jongin looked adorable snuggling into his scarf, because that would not be...

But he does look adorable.

Kyungsoo slapped his face next and covered it when the heat wouldn't die from his cheeks. Was he so excited to be hanging out with a friend that his mind had transported to the land of dancing animals and rainbows with hands for feet again? Was he losing it after ten hours of homework and studying? He felt light but not lightheaded, so he didn't think that he was sick or delirious. Wait, why wasn't he allowed to think his friends good-looking or not? He praised and acknowledged Yuwon's style all the time, and Jongdae too when he wanted to dress nice. Although in this case, it hadn't been what Jongin was wearing but what he was doing. Did that count?

"Kyungsoo?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Why did you just slap yourself?"

He didn't have a truthful answer that didn't lead him to more embarrassment.

"Before too. On two separate occasions, you slapped yourself during tutoring too. Is that a habit of yours?"

Kyungsoo thought for a moment and realized that he only started slapping himself after he met Jongin. He only did it because he had needed to focus, but he seemed to be having more and more of these occasions.

"It's not. I swear."

"Then why do you do it? I think you said that it was because you didn't want to get off-task, but we're not studying right now."

He almost wished that they were so that he could have an excuse to blame his random self-slapping on. He had to act like usual, casual, and try to direct the topic of conversation elsewhere. At least his face had started to cool, though not enough to drop his hand-cover, but Kyungsoo pulled his fingers down enough to look at Jongin. The scarf had fallen from his mouth and hung from his neck normally again. He might as well just ask since he was curious about it.

"Is that scarf special to you?"

Jongin looked surprised, but he nodded, wrapping his fingers into the cloth.

"My sister made it for me."

"Made?"

"Yeah. She had a knitting phase at one point and made this for me. She still knits, but not as often since she's working."

"That's funny," Kyungsoo chuckled. "Did you have any 'phases'?"

Jongin leaned back in his chair, looking up in thought.

"One time in middle school, all I wanted to eat was peanut butter. I got sick after a month of eating it though and missed a school trip."

Kyungsoo knew that he should have contained himself out of respect of Jongin's experience and their current public location, but the laughter had burst out of him before he could stop it. He laughed so hard that he couldn't sit up in his chair and he had to clutch at the edge of the table for support. When the laughter finally simmered down, he saw Jongin laughing behind his scarf.

"So do you blame the peanut butter or your middle school self?"

"I blame the fact that peanut butter is delicious."

"You still eat it after that?"

"My family says I'm stubborn."

"I think I'll have to agree with them on that one."

They laughed, and their conversation settled into quiet. The background chatter from the café wasn't as loud as last time, probably from the late night and because the café was soon closing. Kyungsoo noticed a radio playing somewhere near the utensils stand, and the game shelf with its giant arrow label sat a couple tables away. He was going to ask Jongin if he wanted to play something when he saw that he had reached to rub the inside of his elbow. Apprehension stirred in Kyungsoo. Was he making Jongin nervous about something?

"Kyungsoo?"

"Yeah?"

Jongin looked down at the tabletop and took a breath before looking up at Kyungsoo again.

"You like gardening and cooking. What else do you like?"

"Do you mean my other hobbies?"

"Anything."

Kyungsoo traced a few swirls in the wood top, but he didn't miss the way Jongin relaxed when he started answering.

"I did martial arts when I was younger, but I don't remember most of it now. After that, I swam, and I usually beat everyone in the class, but they were other eight year-olds so." He shrugged. "I like reading and watching psychological thrillers or stuff about society, sometimes horror, but I don't like gore even if it's fake and badly done. Most of the time, I just watch cooking shows or look up plant facts."

Glancing at Jongin, Kyungsoo crossed his arms on the table.

"Are you nervous in asking me stuff?"

Jongin's eyes widened, questions running across his face, so Kyungsoo nodded towards his arms.

"You do that a lot."

Jongin looked down and pulled his arms apart. He nibbled his bottom lip under the cover of his upper lip, and Kyungsoo's hands came up in a flurry.

"Wait, don't not do it just because I pointed it out. I was just saying, and I think it's interesting. And you can ask me stuff. I don't mind."

Jongin played with the ends of his scarf, staring down into the tabletop. A minute must have had passed before his mouth curled the slightest into a smile.

"You're really observant."

"N-No, I'm just good at guessing."

Jongin snickered under his scarf.

"You need to learn how to take a compliment."

Kyungsoo tossed a dismissive wave but felt his neck heat up and rubbed it.

"There are more pressing things to learn."

"Like?"

"Like... learning how to make pizza. That's the next thing I'm trying to learn how to make."

"Pizza? You're really learning how to make it?"

"Yeah. There's no place nearby with quality pizza and dairy-free options. The one near school doesn't allow workers to not include the cheese, which I think is unreasonable, but yeah, that's why I'm going to learn how to make pizza next."

Jongin stared at him for a moment, and Kyungsoo wondered if he had said something strange. But when he glanced up at him again, he saw that warmth lighted in Jongin's eyes. Almost like gratitude but not quite, the name of the emotion alluded Kyungsoo's vocabulary, but maybe his mind recognized the look Jongin was giving him. He felt a familiar tickle in his chest, and even the tinge of nervousness couldn't smother down the feeling.

"Jongdae would like that," Jongin said.

"Huh?"

"That you think of him." 

All his words scattered. It was true that he mainly wanted to learn how to make pizza so that he could make it for his best friend to eat, but he didn't mention Jongdae. Did he?

Or did Jongin just guess? Did he use all their tutoring sessions, conversations, and interactions to infer Kyungsoo's reason? Did... Jongin think of him as a kind person?

He wanted to know the answer so badly. For once, he cared what someone else thought of him. Not for the rumors, not for their opinion based on which side of the line of muck they stood on, but because the opinion came from Jongin, his friend. Impulse spurred his mouth open.

"Jongin, do you—"

"Aish, I get it! I'll do it the next time I see him."

Kyungsoo froze. He knew that voice, maybe not well, but he recognized the same deepness and where the tone spiked up in alarm and irritation.

"Kyungsoo?" Jongin said.

He looked up, past Jongin, deeper into the café, and stopped breathing. Minho stood in the walkway, looking back behind him. Then his head turned, and his eyes landed right onto Kyungsoo. He stopped, his face dropping into shock. Kyungsoo didn't even have time to look away before another person, someone he knew, stood up and came up behind Minho. Surprise seized his face too, but his broke into a grin and a wave.

"Kyungsoo!" Chanyeol shouted.

The basketball giant grabbed Minho's wrist and jogged them to their table. Kyungsoo shrunk away, finally tearing his gaze away and looking down at the table.

"Kyungsoo! Oh, Jongin-shi, hello."

Jongin nodded his greetings.

"You guys come here too? How do you know this place?"

Kyungsoo glanced up. Chanyeol's grin didn't look as confident as he sounded, but that could have been from the look of concern he was giving Kyungsoo. He had to hold himself together.

"Jongin showed this place to me."

"I hear that that's how anyone knows this place. Someone has to introduce it to you first," Chanyeol laughed. "My sister goes to the uni close by so that's how I know about it. Then I showed it to my friend, Minho, here. Oh! I forgot introductions. This is Lee Minho—we're on the same basketball team as Jongdae."

He didn't continue, and when Kyungsoo looked up again, he saw that Chanyeol was glancing from Kyungsoo to Jongin.

"This is Kim Jongin, my friend."

"Nice to meet you, Jongin-shi!"

Chanyeol stuck out a hand, and Jongin shook it. Two different kinds of fear stopped him from looking at Jongin's and Minho's faces. For Jongin, he was afraid to see his reaction. For Minho, he was afraid to see a look of disgust. How would he be able to handle that in front of Jongin?

"Hey, Kyungsoo, I know that now might not be a good time, since you're hanging out right now, but this guy—" Chanyeol clapped Minho on the back. "—has something to say to you."

"What? No, I'm not... I can't right now."

"You said that you would the next time you saw him. This is the next time."

"But—"

"Do it, Minho. You owe him that much."

Chanyeol crossed his arms, staring down his friend until he sighed. 

"Can I at least do it privately?"

"No."

Kyungsoo looked up at Jongin. Rage seethed behind the neutrality glass in his eyes, and his words cut the air with an edge that made Kyungsoo flinch.

"I don't trust you."

"It's not like I'm going to do anything to him."

"If you're reluctant, then I'm not leaving my friend with you."

"Don't treat me like some thug."

"Then don't give me a reason to."

"Hey—"

Kyungsoo pulled his chair back and stood up, pushing it back in halfway. He had done so as soundless as he could, but their conversation cut off as if his chair had screeched across the café.

"I'll talk with you, Minho-shi. Jongin, I'll be back."

Without looking at them, Kyungsoo walked to the back of the building. He stopped at one of the last tables and stood on the side of the walkway, taking deep breaths. He would be fine. He doubted that Chanyeol would set him up for Minho to humiliate him, though that idea crawled along the shadows of his thoughts. He shook his head.

He would have to handle whatever came by himself. He couldn't have Jongin defend him or else he would just be depending on him. He decided that when he stood up from his chair. A talk he could handle. At the sounds of footsteps, Kyungsoo took one last deep breath before turning around. 

Minho stopped in front of him, sideglancing at the floor, his eyebrows furrowed. Kyungsoo waited for him to speak first since he was the one who needed to have something said. Eventually, he sighed.

"Can you answer something for me?"

"What is it?"

"Are... The people at school who say and believe that stuff about you... me when we met... Are you afraid of them?"

"No."

Minho looked up, taken back. Kyungsoo was too, at how immediate his response had been.

"You're not? But then why did you look scared when..."

He didn't continue, but Kyungsoo needed a little more context.

"When what?"

"When I said those things about you."

Thinking back to that day, he saw what Minho meant. He wondered if that had been how Jongin saw him in the beginning.

"You asked if I'm afraid of them. No, I'm not. I'm afraid of what might happen to Jongdae and Yuwon if they find out about the rumors. I'm afraid of how far people at school will push the limits against me and how I can hide it from my friends."

"That's not being afraid of them?"

"No, because when I hear them and I'm alone, I'm not afraid. I just..."

I just hate myself.

Kyungsoo looked down at his hands.

"It just hurts."

Kyungsoo didn't see his hands anymore, and the skin at his neck burned. He forced himself to pull his hands down and hold the ends of his hem. He tried swallowing down the lump growing in his throat instead. When that didn't work, he took a step back from Minho to gulp down air.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Kyungsoo looked up and saw Minho giving him a worried look. Past him, he saw the back of Jongin's head and reminded himself that he had to handle this talk. He had to keep it together. Reaching to massage his shoulder, Kyungsoo nodded.

"Minho-shi, I'm not afraid of you. Don't worry."

"How'd..."

Minho shook his head and muttered something under his breath in the same tones, like a mantra. Then his eyes sharpened. He looked at Kyungsoo, flattened his arms to his sides in a loud plak, and bent forward in a bow.

"I'm sorry for believing and saying those things when I hadn't met you or gotten to know you."

Kyungsoo blinked at him, stunned, his ears ringing a bit from how loud Minho had shouted. It took a second for him to process what Minho had done. Then he gasped.

"Wait, you don't have to bow to me."

"No, I do. You even answered my question when I didn't have a right to ask you one. I'm sorry about that too."

The ends of his words tapered from the earlier confidence. Kyungsoo didn't know Lee Minho that well, but he could hear the sincerity in his apology.

"It's okay. Thank you for apologizing. You should stand up straight. Your back will hurt."

Minho looked up and righted himself, but he kept his gaze down.

"So, uhm, Chanyeol told me about his tutoring session with you and how you and Jongdae act around each other in class, and I realized that I hadn't actually met you before so it was wrong of me to say those things about and to you. And you said okay to talking with me even though your friend said no and you probably didn't want to, so thanks."

He scratched his arm, awkward, but tried a smile, and Kyungsoo managed a smile back. 

"So... I'll just get out of your hair now. Sorry for interrupting your hangout."

"Wait."

He turned back around.

"Please don't tell Jongdae. Or Yuwon."

His eyebrows furrowed.

"About my apology?"

"About the rumors. The apology is your choice."

"Oh."

"And can you tell Chanyeol not to tell them either? I forgot to last time."

"Why don't you want them to..." Minho shook his head. "Nevermind. Okay, I'll tell him."

"Thank you."

Minho shuffled on his feet then stepped back, gesturing back toward their table. Kyungsoo followed and saw that Chanyeol had pulled up a different chair. He was chatting to Jongin about sports until they came closer. Chanyeol sprung up from his seat, his smile stretching across his face.

"Good. You did it."

Minho nodded and glanced at Jongin before nudging Chanyeol towards the door.

"Let's go. We're technically interrupting their hangout."

"Oh, right. We'll skedaddle then. Nice talking with you, Jongin-shi! See you two later!"

Chanyeol waved, and Jongin waved back as they left, the door chiming on their way out. Kyungsoo sunk back into his seat. He blinked at the tabletop. Thoughts and emotions washed around in his mind, but he couldn't distinguish them. The more he tried to find shape to them, the more they blurred again.

Should he have been happy? Someone apologized to him, which meant that their perception of him had changed. The false image that the rumors created could be peeled away. It had with Seulgi, Chanyeol, and now Minho. Kyungsoo as his real self, as an individual, could make friends out of his own merit. 

Should he have been worried? Another person who knew the truth meant a higher chance of someone being tempted to tell Yuwon and Jongdae. He had asked them not to tell, and from their past behavior, they likely wouldn't. 

Should he have been sad? Kyungsoo dug up more answers and truths than he wanted to tonight. Even if he knew that they sat in the back of his mind, eyeing him, he tried not to disturb them. He watched his thoughts on the best days, let the truths consume him on the worst, but today neither seemed to happen. Kyungsoo looked directly into the shadows, watching them as they watched him. They both stood at a standstill, unsure of what to do. 

The slightest scrape against the floor distracted him out of his thoughts, and Kyungsoo looked up. Jongin had gotten up, moved his chair next to Kyungsoo's, and sat down again. Kyungsoo remembered that this had happened before, back at one of Rho Eta Omicron's tutor meetings. Jongin had silenced the people laughing at him by ostentatiously changing his seat, sitting next to him. The traces of a smile curled on Kyungsoo's lips at the memory and how it had repeated itself.

"Thanks."

He heard Jongin shift.

"For sitting next to me. Today and at the club meeting back then."

"You remember that?"

"Too hard not to. You made so much noise."

The feeling of a chuckle vibrated within him, but it didn't come out. He stared down at his hands and rubbed them together. He didn't feel cold, but the heat felt nice. Next to him, something rustled, and he couldn't have guessed what it was until a soft red fabric fell over his neck. He stayed still as Jongin layered his scarf around him and buried him up to his nose with each wrap. The scarf was made out of yarn and rubbed softly against the bottom half of his face. A scent lingered on the cloth, and Kyungsoo nuzzled his nose into it as the smell fleeted in and out of his senses, feeling himself untense, relax. The action comforted him as much as Jongin coming to sit next to him.

The music from the radio drifted in, filling their space of quiet. Kyungsoo listened to it for a moment, then turned away. It had started playing an upbeat pop song, and he wasn't in the mood to listen to pep. Glancing at Jongin's hands, he saw the little scar on his left index finger and reached over to feel the ridges with his thumb.

"Where did you get this from?"

Jongin moved his hand closer to him, resting his hand between the divide of their chairs.

"When I was first learning how to help cook. I was cutting carrots, and they were harder than I thought. I didn't grip it well enough, and my hand with the knife slipped."

Kyungsoo hummed to tell him that he heard. Jongin's hand was cold today, and he wondered if it was from the weather or from the air conditioning of the café. Leaning over to grab Jongin's other hand, he sandwiched them between his own hands and started rubbing them.

"Your hands are cold," he explained.

Jongin turned in his seat to give them better positioning. As Kyungsoo felt the heat grow in his hands, a twinge of guilt poked him. He felt better, or at least okay enough to not seek a corner and hide, but he knew that he wouldn't have felt okay enough again without Jongin. Part of Kyungsoo wondered why that was wrong, because Jongin didn't seem to mind. He didn't hesitate in telling him the story behind his small scar, and he didn't question him about wanting to rub his hands. The other part of Kyungsoo whispered that he was using Jongin to distract himself. Whichever outlook was correct, he knew that he needed to explain himself.

But was his reason hypocritical? He told himself that he didn't want to depend on Jongin too much. That included not letting their friendship be burdened by his muck. He had already turned their cheery hangout into a dreary night, so the right thing to do would be to tell Jongin, even if he exposed how much of a coward he was.

"Jongin, I think I'm using you to distract myself. From what just happened. I wasn't thinking about the gossip from school until I saw Minho-shi, so I wasn't prepared. I know that he apologized to me, and I guess that I should be relieved, but somehow I don't know how to feel."

"Isn't that okay?"

Kyungsoo looked up from their hands. Jongin looked at him, steadily, patiently.

"But it doesn't make sense if I'm not..."

Kyungsoo didn't like the way that sentence sounded. He didn't want to finish it. Jongin seemed to understand though, because he shook his head.

"Why do you say you should be feeling a certain emotion?"

"Because if I'm not, then how do I stay here? How do I pretend I'm okay enough to be outside and to try drinks for Joonmyeon hyung?"

The slightest of frowns slipped the corners of Jongin's mouth down, and for a long moment, he didn't respond. Kyungsoo waited because he wanted to hear his answer. He knew the answer that was likely, but he wanted to hear for certain, an answer that could tell him what to do. Jongin looked down at their hands.

"Do you want to leave? Joonmyeon hyung would understand."

Jongin was giving him an option instead, but Kyungsoo couldn't reply right away, which surprised him. He expected that 'yes' would have instantly left him, but the word sat back on his tongue, watching a different word walk to the walls of his inner lips. This different word was followed by others, quiet but defiant, and knocked, and Kyungsoo easily let them out.

"No. I wanted to help Joonmyeon hyung with this, and I wanted to hang out with you. I don't want to leave yet."

He wondered if that was selfish of him. He wondered if he was desperate for the chance of a fun time to distract himself for when he got home or if he was trying to find optimism in his mess of emotions. That kernel of hope dug at him, asking for which direction to go towards. Kyungsoo looked down, Jongin's red scarf flooding the bottom half of his periphery vision, and squeezed their hands together.

"Your hands are warm again."

Jongin's fingers twitched, and Kyungsoo opened one side of his hold. Jongin's hand flew out of their grasp and to his face, covering his mouth. He turned away, but Kyungsoo had already spotted the deep red that spread from his nose bridge to his cheeks. That earlier chuckle that couldn't quite come out now escaped Kyungsoo, free.

"Are you blushing?"

He shook his head, but his ears had turned red too. Kyungsoo chuckled again and set Jongin's other hand back in his lap. 

"All I said was that your hands are warm again. Does that make you embarrasse