Tak-ka-bal~ The after-chapter bonus with the Annote! 

This is set before the events of the Epi-epilogue and explains Kyungsoo and his roommate's... period of confusion and the kidnapped trolley of plants (￣y▽,￣)╭ 

Warnings: Almost ? And accidental humping? Nothing too explicit

At first, Kyungsoo never minded it when Baekhyun slipped his fingers under the hem of his shirt and pulled him forward. Sometimes his roommate put enough strength just to lock their lips. Sometimes he put enough strength to pull Kyungsoo on top of him. Tonight, he did both.

The clothes quickly hit the floor. It felt nice to feel Baekhyun’s warmth and to feel his hands sooth over Kyungsoo’s back and shoulders. In giving though, he preferred to use his lips to elicit shudders and soft moans from his roommate.

After around a minute of administrations over Baekhyun’s chest, he pulled back. That was usually Baekhyun’s limit, and he was right as he watched the brunette pant under him. The glow from the T.V screen colored his body as if he was under the moonlight. It had taken Kyungsoo a while, but he admitted that his roommate controlled beauty in ways that escaped his understanding.

He was friendly and outgoing, and his eyes would shine with confidence and encouragement. He blurred the lines between flirtatious and propriety as his eyes smiled and his mouth smirked. He held secrets and vulnerability and knew how to show then conceal them, laughing or dodging at their mention. But maybe it was because he was so skilled in avoidance that Kyungsoo had learned to confront him through his eyes.

Through the TV’s changing colors and the mist of lust, doubt circulated through them. This wasn’t the confusion that became teasing like in the beginning when Kyungsoo didn’t know what to do or what he was willing to do. Recently, he had also felt doubt pulling his limbs back, and occasionally, a familiar face would flash in his mind and stop him completely.

He sat back and held out his hand, and after a moment, Baekhyun took his hand and sat up too. He let go and reached down to grab their clothes, slipping his back on and handing back the others. Baekhyun didn’t follow right away, and Kyungsoo didn’t have the courage to look at him.

“I don’t think we should continue.”

“Is it me?”

Kyungsoo winced at how his roommate’s voice turned so small when it normally filled the room, and he hurried to grab his knee when he thought of how Baekhyun would interpret his reaction. He took a deep breath.

“No, it’s not what you’re thinking. It’s not because I don’t want you but… I don’t think it’s what you want either.”

 Baekhyun’s legs wrapped around him, and he grabbed Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

“How do you know what I want?”

“Because I’ve lived, ate, studied, and breathed with you since last summer now, and I know how you are, Baekhyun. You told me yourself that you’re tired of giving pieces of your heart away. You don’t want to pay that toll anymore even if it gets you a painless night.”

Baekhyun let go of him and swung his legs down from the couch. Kyungsoo clenched his shirt, wondering if Baekhyun understood what he meant. He wondered if anger would make him retreat to his room and heat guilt in his own chest. But his roommate slipped his clothes back on without rage or rush and covered his face with his hands.

“Baekhyun?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for trying to force—”

His voice cracked, and Kyungsoo felt his chest echo in that action. He wrapped his roommate in a hug and patted his shoulder.

“You didn’t. I know that you’re confused. It doesn’t help that I am too, but that’s why we’re such good friends. We get each other, right?”

“Then why don’t I want to want you like that?

Kyungsoo couldn’t answer that, but Baekhyun nudged out of his hold, sighing into his hand.

“Well, if I don’t know the answer, then you won’t either, right? Want to just… finish watching the movie? Properly?”

He smiled and nodded. Thinking it’d probably be a good idea to leave the lights on, he got up to flip the switch and then grabbed water for them both. As the movie started to replay though, Kyungsoo couldn’t really focus on the scenes. Thoughts flicked through his mind in rapid succession, and he couldn’t pick out one to even start deciphering it. He thought that he should just try watching the movie and juggle his thoughts at the same time when Baekhyun hit pause.

“Uhm, Kyungsoo? I can’t focus on the movie at all. The man was taken hostage, I blinked, and now he’s on a date with his kidnapper.”

“I didn’t even get that much.” They both chuckled a little. “Want to talk instead?”

“Yeah, I think that’ll be better.”

Baekhyun exited out of the program, and Kyungsoo shut off the TV, sighing.

“So what’re you thinking about?”

“…A lot of things. Mainly what you said.”

“Technically, you said them first.”

Baekhyun gave a small smile. “Well that, but also what you said that day you came back after hanging out with Jongin-shi and you literally couldn’t hear anything I was saying.”

Kyungsoo felt a blush creep into his cheeks, and he looked away as Baekhyun laughed.

“I don’t know why I was so happy. I hadn’t seen him in a while even though we text so that was probably why.”

“Didn’t you sleep over at his place? Shower and everything? You said that you guys slept in his bed.”

“Y-Yeah, we did but just because we were already ready to go to sleep after watching a movie and too lazy to move.”

He glanced over and jumped a bit at how Baekhyun stared at him. He had learned that his roommate hid how he observed people in public—with smiles or flirtatious looks—but after they got to know each other, he never could get used to the blatant stare his roommate used when he could drop the act and purely watch.

“What?”

“You said that he made you feel safe and comfortable, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Do I make you safe and comfortable?”

“Of course. You’re my friend, and you know that I don’t do well with socializing.”

“Enough to sleep in the same bed without doing anything ual?”

 Kyungsoo thought about it and was surprised at his conclusion.

“Actually, no. With you, I can’t imagine that. It seems kinda weird.”

Baekhyun nodded. Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at how silent he had gotten without ending or switching topics. He assumed though that his answers helped his roommate somehow because then he sighed.

“Maybe I should find someone who’s willing to share their bed with me and innocently sleep first.”

He didn’t get what he meant by that, but Baekhyun looked a little more relieved.

“Thanks, Kyungsoo. For stopping me and for the talk too.”

That he understood, and he smiled and gave his roommate a pat to the shoulder.

~~~~~

The next week turned awkward after that. Kyungsoo didn’t know what to say, and Baekhyun looked at the ground more than at him. His roommate, who usually burst through the door and asked/demanded Kyungsoo’s presence so they could exchange how their days were, now trudged in, gave Kyungsoo a small wave, and sequestered himself in his room. What bothered him the most was that Baekhyun wouldn’t eat anything (and he said before that he loved Kyungsoo’s cooking).

When Kyungsoo couldn’t take it anymore and on a day he came back earlier than Baekhyun, he called Jongin. He texted first to ask if he was free—though his friend always answered yes to the call anyway—and poured his worries to him. He tried not to mention the exact details of their relationship. For a reason Kyungsoo couldn’t pinpoint, he felt… guilty or maybe dirty telling Jongin about his ual activities with his roommate and friend. He didn’t think that Jongin would judge him for being with another male, but there was an impression that Kyungsoo didn’t want to give off even though he couldn’t quite name the label.

He decided that he would tell Jongin everything later, after the worst of their confusion was over.

“If you two had a disagreement, then talked a little, he could just be thinking,” Jongin said. “Krystal is like that.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But would it kill him to eat something too? I doubt he’s eating when he’s out because his classes are back-to-back and he comes back as soon as they’re over.”

“There’s time in between classes even if it’s just five minutes.”

“I know, but… I’m worried. I explained what I meant, but what if he still thinks that I meant it like he’s not good enough? He won’t talk to me.”

The line quieted, but Kyungsoo just waited. He knew that Jongin was simply thinking of his next reply. But his next words crackled with a bit of strain.

“Do you like him?”

Kyungsoo reached to massage his shoulder—because yes, enough to trust his body to him in physical intimacy and tell him about everything that happened while in high school—but also no, not in the way to commit into that level of relationship. Kyungsoo had been thinking too, and he had his own conclusions.

“He’s my friend and someone who really understands my worries without needing to ask to know, but I realized that I don’t see him in that way.”

A sharp exhale into the phone surprised him. Had Jongin been holding his breath?

“Then you should tell him that. You said before that you guys worry about similar things, so maybe he wants someone to reassure him, like how I’m reassuring you right now.”

Kyungsoo felt his eyes widen, half out of surprise, half out of realization. Then he felt the heat on his cheeks, laughing at himself. 

“You’re right. And knowing me, I know that I wouldn’t take the first step until I had talked with someone and was a little more certain of what the other thought.”

He could imagine Jongin nodding and giving him a smile, and ease lifted his chest a little.

“Thanks, Jongin. I’ll tell him.”

“Wait.”

Kyungsoo did, and he heard Jongin take a breath.

“Could you… like other boys?”

He stilled, and he must not have spoken for a while because words tumbled out of Jongin’s mouth.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I know that it can be a private matter.”

His teeth clacked, and that sound that signaled whenever Jongin thought he said too much shook Kyungsoo out of his trance. The only person he had spoken with about his uality was Jongdae, who helped talk him through what he was initially feeling and doing with Baekhyun. If Jongin was asking though, then Kyungsoo felt that he could tell him. It wasn’t like he had to connect his uality with the details of his predicament with Baekhyun.

 “I could. I could like girls and those who don’t identify with any gender too. For me right now, I need to know that I can trust them before I can like them. With Baekhyun, it’s not because he’s also a guy, but… because I just want to stay friends with him, and I think he deserves someone who will love him how he deserves and wants to be loved.”

The line went quiet, but Kyungsoo waited because he was sure that Jongin was thinking about what he said. The sound of the door opening alerted Kyungsoo of Baekhyun’s arrival, and a new determination filled him.

“Hey, Jongin, Baekhyun’s back. I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for listening to me.”

He wanted to catch his roommate before he went to take a shower or something but waited for Jongin first. He always picked his words carefully, after all.

“I think he’ll understand, so don’t worry. You can do it. And thanks for telling me.”

Kyungsoo chuckled at the way his words shied away towards the end. That was another rare thing he had learned about Jongin, something that he saved in his heart. Whispering a bye and hanging up, he stood, turned, and jumped to see Baekhyun at the open doorway. His roommate cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head.

“Hey.”

“Hey. How was class?”

“Fine. Just practiced with contours. You?”

“Memory and sleep.”

The room lapsed into awkward again, but Kyungsoo clenched his phone, remembered Jongin’s reassurance, and straightened up.

“Baekhyun, we should talk again. I’ve been kinda worried since I don’t think you’ve really eaten. If it’s about what I said a week ago, then…”

His roommate smiled, even chuckled a little.

“I’ve eaten, so don’t worry. And actually, I wanted to talk to you about that too. I was thinking about what it would mean if I had finally faced the fact that I’m lonely.”

Kyungsoo widened his eyes a bit at the sudden confession. Baekhyun sighed.

“Well, it ing , but it explains why I’m so messed up now.”

“You’re not messed up. And I’m studying psychology—I know all the unethical experiments that people performed on others. Now THAT is messed up.”

Baekhyun laughed his boxy laugh, and Kyungsoo allowed himself to hope.

“Yeah, that’s true. That one with Little Albert still makes me sad. Uhm, so I wanted to tell you my conclusions if that was alright with you.”

Kyungsoo nodded wholeheartedly, and his roommate took a deep breath.

“You were right—or I guess, I was right—I don’t want to use to feel cared for. I’m not cut out for feeling pleasure as only that, and I’ve accepted that those years of fooling around was just me trying to fool myself. I have this idea in my head that I’m not able to be loved ever unless I’m pleasing someone, and I don’t want to follow it anymore. It’s not true, and I’m better than that, better than being controlled by my insecurity. That’s why I’m going to try changing my outlook and actions with people and when socializing. But you as my friend, I don’t want that to change. Well, except for the ‘with benefits’ part. We can drop that.”

Kyungsoo beamed as Baekhyun gave him a tentative glance, stepping forward to give him the making-up hug. “Agreed.”

They both breathed huge sighs of relief, and when they pulled back, Baekhyun huffed another breath.

“Finally got that off my chest. I was thinking all week about this. I was too afraid of what you might be thinking, but honestly, I should’ve just told you because you wouldn’t have judged me. Oh! And you have to help me right my actions and words, so you can call me out if I say something too flirty, okay? Alright! To celebrate our new profound friendship—again—let’s go to the campus bookstore and grab dunch. tastes better when it’s eaten in solidarity!”

Kyungsoo chuckled to himself that Jongin had been right but only nodded and dodged his roommate’s questioning raise of the eyebrow as he grabbed his light jacket.

The campus bookstore was a block walk away from their dorm, easily accessible in the hub of the campus. The store doubled as a café, books and supplies on the left and tables on the right. Since Baekhyun also insisted on shopping, they toured the shelves and racks. Kyungsoo did need some more graph paper for his math classes, so he went over to the paper aisle while Baekhyun whisked himself away to the snacks section.

He came to the aisle but found two people covering the section he needed, so he waited, looking around at other kinds of paper and journals. He really wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but in the evening quiet before any convenience store rush, the two’s conversation easily cut the space within the aisle.

“You run through notebooks like you’re drinking water,” the shorter one said, their voice pleasantly clear. “Your classes can’t possibly have you use all one-sixty pages in only half the semester.”

“Actually, I need a new one for my compositions. I ran out of room and I thought of this really cool guitar line, so I used what I had,” the other laughed, deep and for some reason familiar.

“In that case, just buy two. Ooh, this one has a little bird singing! It’s perfect.”

“Nooo, Noona, that’s too childish.”

Curiosity brimmed to the top in Kyungsoo, but he shouldn’t look. He shouldn’t look anymore like a creeper than he already did by staring at the packs of pencils for sale that were literally all the same kind. But that deep voice belonged to someone he knew, someone he tutored, and curiosity all but slapped him in the moment he caved and turned his head to look.

The one with the deep voice had ears that stuck out of the side of his head, and that was how Kyungsoo confirmed it. He couldn’t believe it, and shock made him stare a little longer until another movement caught his eye. The other person, the one who was called ‘Noona,’ had turned to look at him, narrowing her eyes. That was when he spun around and decided to sacrifice the neatness of his graphs, running out of the aisle.

Only to run straight into his roommate. A loud pop! boomed between them, and he heard Baekhyun’s groan as he and a shower of sugar hit the ground.

“Ugh, damn, Kyungsoo. I know that you’re strong in the bedroom. Do you have to show me outside of it too?”

Kyungsoo smacked his forehead. He didn’t know that he would be helping to correct his roommate’s words barely half an hour after agreeing to do so. And in front of someone he knew.

“Baekhyun.”

“Oh. Sorry. Ooh, I thought of another one, but I swear it’s innocent. Okay—look, I’m covered in sugar, so that makes me even sweeter.”

Kyungsoo put aside the embarrassment he knew was coming for one moment just to cringe at the terrible pun and at his roommate’s batting eyelashes. He held out a hand and hauled him up. Then his roommate looked a bit past him, and his eyes ballooned out.

“Kyungsoo, there are people,” he whispered.

“Yeah, I know.”

“They probably heard me.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“, should we run?”

“Yeah, we should.”

“Okay. On the count of three. One, two—”

“Kyungsoo?”

Baekhyun stopped, and so did Kyungsoo but in his breath. He slowly turned around and met Chanyeol face to face. The giant was still a giant in terms of height, but now his shoulders had broadened out too. He had dyed his hair a light brown, and the surprise in his expression just made his hidden child-like features soften his face. Kyungsoo couldn’t help but smile a little at his one-day tutee.

“Hey, Chanyeol.”

“You remember me?”

“Of course, I do. You’re Jongdae’s friend.”

“Hey, I’m your friend too.”

Kyungsoo looked away even as a smile pushed itself up his mouth. He hadn’t been sure, and he had always wondered if the giant’s friendliness would be a temporary offer. Maybe in reality, it still was, but the words now felt good despite that possibility.

“Thanks. So what’re you doing here? I didn’t know you attended this university too.”

“I took a gap year to get away from all the drama.” His face froze for a bit before it broke into realization, his hands flying out before them. “Not that that was your fault! Uh, I also had a lot of time to think about what was happening to you, especially after Jongdae told me, and I realized that I was kinda a jerk for not doing anything to help.”

“No, you did. More than you might think.”

His eyes lifted, hope sparkling in them.

“Really?”

“Yeah. You were actually one of the first people who willing came to talk to me without an insult and also to defend me. I learned that making a friend even in that situation was possible.”

He rubbed his neck. He might have rambled a bit, considering that Chanyeol was staring at him like he had just dropped a national secret on him or something, so he knew he had to change the conversation topic.

“Anyways, uhm, I should get going and grab a dustpan for the mess.”

“Didn’t you need some graph paper though?” Baekhyun elbowed him in the arm. “Go grab it. I’ll pay for the popped bag and clean the mess.”

Baekhyun gave a polite nod to Chanyeol and his noona and moved out of the aisle, leaving Kyungsoo without back-up. He could guess why his roommate did so, but his sensitivity with his previous schoolmate and that situation did nothing for his situation with said schoolmate’s noona having caught him looking at Chanyeol. She seemed to be examining him like a doctor would an x-ray scan.

“Graph paper? I think that it was close to where I was looking. Yeah, there it is.”

He stepped back, so Kyungsoo went to grab a pack of his trusted type and brand.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah. Oh, this here is my noona. She’s an alumna and came to visit me since she has a speech event.”

“Hello, I’m Do Kyungsoo.”

“Park Yeona. Nice to meet you. Chanyeol talked about you before. You changed him a lot.”

She giggled as her brother flailed and whined at her. From then, her expression softened, and her smile held kindness.

“It’s not my place to say, but I’m happy that you stood up for yourself and got out of the situation. Graduated too.”

Kyungsoo looked away, feeling heat on his cheeks, but had enough mental capacity to nod his thanks.

“Yeol, want to stay with your friend? I’ll catch you at the event.”

He glanced from his sister to Kyungsoo.

“Do you guys mind if I join?”

“Not at all. We were about to grab dunch. Well, I guess it’s dinner at this point.”

“Great. Then I’ll come with. Thanks, Noona.”

“See you, Yeol, Kyungsoo.”

She waved and left the store. Over the shelves, Kyungsoo spotted the worker handing Baekhyun a broom and dustpan.

“So… is that your boyfriend?”

“What? Oh, no. He’s my roommate and friend.” Then Kyungsoo remembered Baekhyun’s poor choice of words. “Uh, we’re not doing anything like that anymore. We were both… confused, but we talked it out.”

“Hey, I’m not judging. Although, I always thought that you and Jongin-shi would—”

“Kyungsoo, the cashier lady was so nice! She even told me not to worry about paying for the candy I exploded.”

His words tapered off as he saw Chanyeol still in the aisle and nodded politely.

“Hi. Uh, I thought I saw your friend leave.”

“That was my noona. Kyungsoo said that I could get dinner with you guys if that’s alright with you.”

Baekhyun’s eyes lit up. He and Kyungsoo had similar worries, but socializing was definitely a skill and desire that Kyungsoo didn’t have.

“Of course! You’re new-ish to the university, right? I’ll tell you all the food secrets. I’m Byun Baekhyun.”

He stuck out his hand, and Kyungsoo could have sworn he saw Chanyeol subtly wipe his hands on his pants before shaking Baekhyun’s.

“That’d be much appreciated. I’m Park Chanyeol.”

~~~~~

Kyungsoo kinda wished that he had Jongdae, Yuwon, or Jongin to make their study group even numbered and not feel like he was intruding, but at the same time, he was morbidly intrigued. Since they met Chanyeol and his sister at the bookstore, he and Baekhyun have hit it off if not smacked ‘it’ out of the earth’s orbit and into Wumyexing’s. They spoke easily and smoothly, ricocheting off each other’s ideas and energy. They laughed and bantered with each other’s jokes no matter how terrible or cringe-worthy, and neither had any sense of volume and exactly how loud their voices reached.

But for all their similarities, their differences were what kept Kyungsoo’s head up rather than down at his notes. Where Baekhyun would internally rage and sling a sharp quicksilvered insult back, Chanyeol would laugh off the slant (if it was towards himself) and poke fun. Where Baekhyun would inhale caffeine to stay awake and study, Chanyeol would fall asleep at the desk. And Kyungsoo felt that attributes like those were what drove their complementary actions.

Some days when Baekhyun was stressed and close to pulling his hair out, Chanyeol would somehow cheer him up with his lopsided grin and general clumsiness. Whenever Chanyeol nodded off from pulling too many all-nighters, Baekhyun would gently pull the pencil out of his hand, set out the chairs or blankets needed to let him lie down, and rest his head on a pillow.

Kyungsoo couldn’t describe his hunch articulately, but he felt it in his gut, especially as he watched them snicker hushedly at something on Baekhyun’s phone (as if Kyungsoo wasn’t already not-studying). Chanyeol had his right arm draped over Baekhyun’s chair with the left resting on Baekhyun’s wrist holding the phone, and Kyungsoo saw how his roommate would shift to stay nestled between Chanyeol’s arm and torso.

This—This was suspicious.

Baekhyun didn’t mention anything explicit about liking Chanyeol in that way or wanting to get closer with him, just stories about how great they got along. He had told him how he trusted Chanyeol enough to let him know about his past and his resolution, and he always let Kyungsoo know if he would hang out with the giant or if they happened to meet up or if Chanyeol sent him something funny but nothing else. Nothing more.

His roommate had been sticking well to his new resolution, and Kyungsoo didn’t have to point out his flirting with strangers as much as he thought. Baekhyun especially became watchful of his words whenever they hung out with Chanyeol, sometimes opening then closing his mouth or catching himself before the full sentence came out. And Kyungsoo just wondered…

But he didn’t say anything in front of them both, of course. That would be rude. After this particular group study night though, Kyungsoo decided that he had a right as Baekhyun’s friend and accountability keeper to ask him whether he liked Chanyeol.

A buzz pulled him out of his ponderings about his friends. He hurried to check it but saw that it was just a reminder from his psychology club president to RSVP for the event they would attend. Frowning a little, he opened the text just to make the notification go away and set his phone down.

“Who was it?”

Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at Baekhyun’s question, wondering why they both suddenly decided to be interested in his texts when they had been chortling at his screen for ten minutes straight already, but he shrugged.

“Just a reminder from my club. I already RSVPed for the event we’re invited to.”

“Oh, so that’s why you looked so disappointed.”

“What? I wasn’t disappointed.”

“You pouted once you saw the message, so you were definitely disappointed. Was it because it wasn’t from Jongin-shi?”

Indignance flushed heat through Kyungsoo, NOT embarrassment.

“No, I told you that I wasn’t disappointed. And why mention Jongin?”

“Because you don’t get disappointed when it’s not a text from Jongdae-shi or Yuwon-shi.”

Kyungsoo shot him a look as Baekhyun just grinned. He had underestimated or maybe forgotten about his roommate’s concealed ways of observation.

“What event is it?” Chanyeol asked.

“There’s a psychology panel at this fancy hotel, and our club’s been invited since my old counselor told me about the event and I told the club president.”

“Which hotel?”

“The Ovia Lucien.”

Chanyeol’s eyes lit up in recognition for a second, but then he just nodded. Kyungsoo didn’t get why the change in manner, and he could tell that he did so when he brought his arms down from around Baekhyun and back in his own space—a closing off maneuver.

“Okay, we should probably get back to studying, Yeol, or else I’ll never pass the midterm. You too, Kyungsoo.”

He hummed an acknowledgement. They all turned back to their work, but Kyungsoo felt the oddness of Chanyeol’s action lingering in the back of his mind even as he studied the synapses and chemical releases of happiness.

It was probably for the best that the oddness did linger because Kyungsoo found an explanation behind it a few days later. During an evening when Jongin found time from his job as a soccer and physical coach to surprise him at his university, Kyungsoo (totally did NOT run to him in a hug and burst into a blush) took him on a tour around the school. They walked into buildings Kyungsoo also had never been in before and laughed at themselves when they got lost.

Since they kept regular communication over text, Kyungsoo surprised himself when he found a neverending supply of topics and questions to ask Jongin. They were more random and un-thought-through than he thought of himself to consider, such as if Jongin tried these fried shrimp balls near campus and if he wanted Kyungsoo to take him to try or what his opinion about the artwork spread around campus was. He told himself to stop even if Jongin didn’t look to mind answering when Jongin stopped near a door.

They were in the fine arts building, where most rooms had soundproofing, expensive equipment, and therefore locks. A lot of rooms were being used for practice by students, so Kyungsoo didn’t think much about the door Jongin stopped at until he stepped closer. He could actually hear a melody leak out the doors. It sounded like melancholic rock R&B, and Kyungsoo couldn’t distinguish any words. Peering in, he saw that inside was dark with the lights off and the coming night.

“I know this song.”

“You do?”

“It’s from an underground artist Taemin listens to.”

“Want to go in? I can’t see anything, but maybe someone’s inside.”

“Wouldn’t we be disturbing them?”

“Maybe, but if you’re curious, I don’t mind going in.”

He pulled away from the window and froze a little to see Jongin staring at him. Warmth wreathed in his eyes but something else too. This something Kyungsoo hadn’t been able to decipher even though it appeared more frequently, since their second or third year of high school. He also never had the courage to ask Jongin directly, so he just ducked his head, rubbing his neck.

“Thanks. Then can we go in?”

Nodding, Kyungsoo tried the door and quietly opened it when he found it surprisingly unlocked. A dancefloor opened up to them, and the first thing Kyungsoo noticed was how the music sang at a perfect volume—not too soft if someone were dancing inside and not too loud to reverberate in his skull. He started nodding his head as the song played, grooving with the smooth piano and beats.

As the light died after Jongin walked in, movement flickered to his right, reflected in the giant mirror that made up the wall. Pulling out his phone, he the flashlight and walked towards the movement. With the light, he saw a table covered with mixers, each owning a billion knobs and wires streaming out of them. He couldn’t see where the music was coming from, but there was a USB plugged in. Maybe from there.

Thwomp!

Kyungsoo jumped, spun around, and dashed closer to the noise, groans playing under the song.

“Jongin, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

Kyungsoo shined the light and did a doubletake at what he saw—or more specifically, who.

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