Kyungsoo collapsed to the floor and gulped down half the water bottle Minseok handed him, grateful for the quick break.  One day I’ll get the hang of this dancing thing.  Singing came much easier to him, and was considerably less painful.  He massaged his aching legs and looked around for Kai who didn’t seem to be amongst the group of sweaty boys. 

Kai sat against the practice room wall a ways off from the other trainees, legs splayed out in front of him.  Kyungsoo continued to stare at him, hoping to catch his attention, but Kai just stared into space, a deadened look in his eyes.  He turned back around to Minseok, Chanyeol and the others, but his mind lingered on Jongin. 

There was something wrong with Kai today.  True, he was always a bit removed, but he seemed especially quiet and exhausted today.  Kai was very good at hiding it, but Kyungsoo had noticed he had the slightest limp when he put weight on his right side.  He had hoped it was nothing, but he knew Jongin would try to cover up even a severe injury.  He admired his dongsaeng’s perseverance, but it worried him.  There was no way he’d accept help right now, so he made a mental note to watch him carefully for the rest of practice and check up on him later. 

“Helloooo, Kyungsooo.”  Minseok’s hand waved in front of his face, bringing him out of his thoughts.  “You’re in such a funk today.”

“What goes on in that head of yours?  Aish,” Chanyeol grinned goofily, ruffling his hair. 

“Wae?” Kyungsoo asked, pulling a serious face.  His hyungs just laughed, as he hid his embarrassed smile behind his hands. 

Not too long after this, Kyungsoo was pulled out for Mandarin lessons.  Not exactly a preferable change.  To him, Mandarin was a labyrinth of garbled sounds, and the writing only confused him more.  Within half an hour he had excused himself to go to the ‘bathroom,’ and went looking for Kai. 

He hoped he would find Kai alone, or else this trip would be useless and Kai wouldn’t tell him anything.  After so many years in the company, though, Kai had a lot of free reign over individual practice time.  He bought a bottle of juice he hoped Kai would like from one of the vending machines and headed toward one of the few places Jongin could be. 

It didn’t take long to find him.  He seemed to prefer the small practice room with 360 degree mirrors, maybe because no one else used it.  Luckily, Kai was alone, but that’s where the good news ended. 

Through the glass door, Kyungsoo saw Kai ease himself to the ground, allowing himself to wince, believing he was alone.  He was panting heavily and clearly in pain.   

Kyungsoo pushed open the door and forced himself to walk at a normal pace to Kai’s side.  Kai gave the slightest nod in greeting, but smiled wide when he offered him the juice in his hands.

“Ah - it’s my favorite.”

“Lucky guess,” Kyungsoo smiled.  So far, so good.  He knew something that would probably make Kai feel better, something he had done for his mother and brother many times, he just wasn’t sure how Kai would take it.  Well, here it goes.

Without a word, Kyungsoo sat behind Kai and began to massage his shoulders with mechanical swiftness.  The sweat on Kai’s skin made it glisten like copper, and although the boy was thin, his muscles were firm beneath his black wifebeater.  He was warm and soothing to the touch.  Kyungsoo could see his look of surprise from his reflection in the mirror, but he was probably too exhausted to have any other reaction. 

“Mwoh?”  He breathed.  Kyungsoo smiled reassuringly.

“Where does it hurt, Kai-sshi?” Kyungsoo asked as his hands moved in circles down Kai’s back. 

“I’m not hurt, I – ARRRRRGH” Kai yelped as Kyungsoo found the sore spot on his lower right side.  There we are!  Can’t deny it now.  More gently now, he worked out the tension with his fingers.  Kai made no further arguments except for the occasional wince.

“You should take it easy if you’re hurt, Jongin-ah.  If you push yourself too hard, it could become a serious injury.”

“Thanks, umma” Kai muttered sarcastically.

Kyungsoo chuckled at that.  Not exactly what I was going for, but let’s go with it. 

He moved around in front of Kai and briskly rubbed down his calves in case they were sore as well.  He looked up to see Kai watching him with a half-amused, half-puzzled expression.  He had seen it before.

“Now, if I’m your umma, you have to listen to me, okay? Take it easy, and tell me if you’re hurting.”

Kai looked down at his hands, and Kyungsoo was unsure if that counted as assent.  He preferred to be optimistic about it.

“I’ll be going first then,” he said, and rushed back to Mandarin, where he hoped it wasn’t too conspicuous that he had ditched. 

Since Kai hadn’t said thank you, Kyungsoo worried that he had gone too far, and perhaps made everything worse.  If it happened again though, he knew he would do the same thing.  He just couldn’t stand seeing his dongsaeng in pain.   

      ________________________________________________________

The next day as Kyungsoo entered the SM building, he felt an arm swing around his shoulders.  He looked up to see Kai in a much better mood. 

“Hello, umma,” he teased. 

Kyungsoo glared at him, but couldn’t help dissolving into laughter.  Was this some erted way of saying thank you? It needs work, Jongin-ah.

“Ho-how is your back? Are you okay –“

Kai scrunched his face with a finger to his lips, motioning for Kyungsoo to keep quiet.  He doesn’t want anyone to know. Figures.  But as they continued walking, Kyungsoo noticed that Kai was leaning rather heavily on him.  Shocked, he turned to face him and Kai flashed him a forced smile.  You’re a stubborn idiot, Jongin-ah, Kyungsoo thought, wrapping an arm around the boy’s waist.  All of it felt so natural.

As they walked together toward the main practice room, he let out a sigh of relief.  At least he is letting me help him.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

THANKS TO ALL SUPER-SCRIBERS - NEW AND OLD, COMMENTATORS, AND SILENT READERS!!!

Things are heating up huhuhu.  It tickles me to imagine Kai giving D.O. the nickname "umma."  Delusional fangirl alert!

For some reason, I find it a lot easier to write Kai's POV than D.O.'s  (I must be a tease >_<), so I apologize if the last two chapters were awkward.  I will still continue to write equally in both though.

@WeirdoTheGreat:  I so crave Chef 'Soo's cooking!  He is perfect husband material - alas he is already married to Kai TT^TT

@PrinceDubu: More skinship for you XD  And plenty more to come!  Please anticipate!! 

It might be a few days before I update again, so please bear with me!  And always remember to give KaiSoo lots of love ^^

Hearteu.