It had been almost ten minutes since the two of you had left the store - ten minutes of awkward silence, of walking side by side and avoiding each other's eyes and trying not to bump arms. Ten minutes during which you conducted a frantic debate with yourself in your head, heart pounding uncomfortably at your throat.

 

What on earth had just happened?

 

All of him, all of what he had done and said, it knocked you off-balance. His sincere words, his soft touches, and- you would have hidden your face behind your hands at this thought, but that would probably arouse his suspicion, so you settled for burrowing deeper into your hood behind your scarf -that kiss. Your stomach felt as if it had been suddenly invaded by a colony of butterflies each time you thought back to the moment, and you wanted to let out a scream of some sort that you knew would be garbled, as your throat was uncomfortably tight. 

 

He'd almost kissed you. And you would have let him. And that...worried you. But strangely, that wasn't even half the story. What worried you more was the pang of disappointment you had felt when you felt his lips against your forehead instead. And then, utter confusion and a tremor of fear when you acknowledged that disappointment - because why on earth were you disappointed?!?

 

"Because you wanted him to kiss you. Don't even try to deny it."

 

This time, it wasn't Sooyoung's voice in your head. It wasn't even Heechul's. It was your own. 

 

But why? What did that mean? 

 

"Wow, how stubborn are you?"

 

Before you could argue some more, you felt fingers brushing tentatively against your own, and you instinctively jerked away. Startled, you looked at the man walking beside you, catching the tiniest flash of hurt and embarassment in his eyes before he stared forward again. "Sorry." He stuck his hands into his jacket pockets.

 

And for some reason you felt awful all of a sudden. 

 

Maybe it was because your body got tired of listening to your obstinate conscious, but before you knew what you were doing, you had reached out and tugged on his sleeve. He stopped, and turned to stare at you in surprise. Your eyes widened as you processed your actions, but it was as if your hand had glued itself to his jacket.

 

It was like one of those cliched moments in dramas, when 'time stopped' and the universe traversed in the gaze between them, when the crowd around them blurred out, complete with dramatic pans of his intense gaze and her shy, timid one, filled with love and adoration--

 

Haha, no.

 

The reality was that your pause in motion created the equivalent of a small island in the river of people trekking down the busy street. Almost immediately, people jostled the both of the you, sending you accusatory glares and opening their mouths to protest before taking note of Kris' giant stature and resorting to mumbling under their breath as they hurried past. 

 

Nonetheless, one particularly hard shove sent you toppling again, and his hands left his pockets to catch you. The flurry of movement ended with you pressed to him, wrapped in his arms. 

 

Now people were flat out staring, regardless of how tall and intimidating he was. Or maybe his height was part of what drew their eyes. 

 

The still moment ended when he let go of you, abeit slowly. Your breath of relief caught in your windpipe when he  laced his fingers through your own with a small smile, saying nothing before tugging you back into motion. 

 

You tugged at your scarf with your free hand, loosening it, then pulling back your hood, as you suddenly felt uncomfortably warm. The sudden coolness caused you to shiver slightly. You focused as hard as you could on the stores that you were passing, the wind ruffling your hair, the chatter of the people bustling around you, but everything swirled together into a massive blob of disjointed nonsense. It was as if all feeling in your body redirected to your hand clasped in his. Your arm was strangely numb, a pins and needles effect settling in, but you could still feel the jolts of electricity sparking up from your fingers. And the soft squeeze of them.

 

"Jinhye..."

 

Your head snapped sideways to look at him. Your steps slowed to match his.

 

"Are you...okay?" His eyes were disarmingly soft. You gaped at them for a few seconds, not really hearing the question.

 

"Jinhye-ssi?"

 

"W-whu--huh? I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

 

He smirked - a one-sided twitch of his mouth that caused his eyes to become slightly uneven - and raised your hand in his. "You're shaking."

 

And lo and behold, the fingertips of your hand that were visible, curled along his long pinky, were trembling minutely. 

 

He squeezed your hand again, then let go.

 

"Please tell me if anything makes you uncomfortable, okay? And I'll try not to make any more assumptions about...er...what you may or may not want." His tone went from reassuring to somewhat awkward. 

 

"I..."

 

"Sorry about that...it's just, you....so I thought..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his head stiffly. 

 

"...but..."

 

"Sorry. Won't happen again-"

 

"Kris?" His name left your lips with a small tremor, as if you were tasting it for the first time, and it made your tongue a little numb.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"I..." 

 

Your throat closed up, and you didn't really know what you would have said. You knew what you wanted to say, sure, but your stubborness extended so far that it prevented you from putting those feelings into words. Instead, you reached out and clumsily gripped his index finger, desperately staring at your feet and hoping that your skin would not start to steam from the heat you felt.

 

He was still for a moment, then he let out a quiet, shaky chuckle, his large hand once again encasing your smaller one. 

 

"Okay."

 

 

--

 

 

After a while, you stopped thinking about it, and found yourself falling into a state of peaceful comfort. You pointed out things in the displays of the shops as you walked by them, laughing at the more ridiculous ones. You refrained from actually entering any stores though - you weren't trusting him not to completely empty his wallet. 

 

You were teasing him about his apparently extensive cosmetic usage after passing a MISSHA store when you noticed a small crowd of people on the side of the street in front of you. It consisted mostly of girls, and several were taking pictures with their cellphones.

 

Curious, you tugged a reluctant Kris after you as you went forward to investigate.

 

After squishing between the bodies, you found yourself face-to-face with an old lady sitting on a small wooden stool behind a large cardboard box. You greeted her with a smile and peered into the box.

 

Kittens.

 

Twelve of them. Furry little roly-poly bundles, crawling and tumbling over each other, letting out small mewls. You could see black ones, white ones, tabbies, and calicos. They couldn't have been more than a few weeks old.

 

You couldn't help but let out a squeal of delight at the sheer amount of cuteness, concentrated in one place. 

 

"May I hold them?" The old woman smiled at your wide-eyed enthusiasm, and gestured for you to go ahead.

 

You picked up a small grey kitten with a white muzzle and white paws that had been getting squashed between the side of the box and a feisty tabby, and had been emitting a soft but shrill yowling. Its short limbs flailed around in fright before you gathered its small body with both your hands, cooing softly to it. You clasped it against your chest carefully, its soft fur with one hand, and it wasn't long before the kitty began to purr luxuriously. 

 

Meanwhile, Kris had edged his way through the cluster. Upon seeing what the fuss was about, he let out a snort of disbelief. You looked up at him with disapproval.

 

"What was that for?"

 

He was taken aback by the frost in your question. "Well, they're just cats..." He trailed off at the affronted look on your face.

 

"What kind of cold, frozen heart do you have? Look at it!" You retorted indignantly. You carefully lifted the small creature in front of his face. "How can you call this 'just a cat'?!?!"

 

Kris stared at the tiny face in front of his own. The animal had just opened its mouth wider than he thought possible for such a small thing, and let out a sharp cry. You quickly brought it back to your chest, mumuring gently to it, but not after shooting him a glare.

 

"You scared it! Poor thing, did the giant angry bird scare you, don't worry, mommy's here..."

 

He felt nonplussed. He'd never really cared for animals. He never really came into contact with any in his life. To him, they didn't really have a relevant purpose in their life, so he had never really spared them any thought. His...father...hadn't allowed pets, at any rate.

 

Yet, here he stood, finding himself becoming increasingly jealous of the kitten purring contentedly in your arms.

 

"Giant angry bird?"

 

You didn't even spare him a glance, too busy cooing at the kitty. "It's your eyebrows."

 

His hand jumped to rub at them, suddenly self-conscious. He had always been told that his eyebrows were an attractive point - that they made him look intimidating and powerful.

 

He was jerked out of his thoughts when you sighed mournfully. Apparently the ahjumma behind the box had just asked if you would like to take the animal home.

 

"I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to provide it with enough proper care," you replied sadly, but you still clung tightly to the cat. As if sensing that something was wrong, it peered up at you with it's watery grey eyes and let out a piteous mewl.

 

The expression that crossed your face was utterly heartbroken, and the words left his mouth before he knew it.

 

"We could take care of it."

 

"What?"

 

Kris cursed himself, but he was already in too deep. At the look that you gave him, disbelief tinged with wide-eyed, innocent hope, he sighed inwardly. "I mean, we could keep it at our place...more people, you know. More total time for it. And you...could visit, whenever you wanted..." Suddenly, he felt that maybe taking in the cat wasn't such a bad idea. "The cat, I mean. Visit the cat."

 

However, you weren't convinced, despite the hope already evident in your eyes.

 

"You were just calling it 'just a cat', and I'm supposed to trust you with its care?" you asked incredulously.

 

"I'm not the only one though. Kyungsoo's good at taking care of things. And I'm pretty sure Tao was bugging me about wanting a pet the other day anyway." The latter part was a lie, but if he remembered correctly, Tao had been at least more fond of animals than he was. Or maybe it had been just cute things in general.

 

You bit your lip, still uncertain. You the kitten's head, gazing down at it with adoration, and its pink tongue stretched out to your fingertips.

 

The look that you gave the cat made Kris want to throw something. Preferably the cat itself, but he reminded himself that it could be a valuable asset.

 

"Miss...?"

 

You turned to him again. "You're sure about this? You can't neglect it you know, it's a living being. It has feelings. It needs to be cared for and loved." 

 

"I'm sure." To be honest, he would have answered that even if you were asking him to take in the entire box of kittens, because resisting your anxious pout was simply not possible. 

 

In the back of his mind, he could already hear the rest of the team laughing at him. 

 

'Ge...a cat...?'

 

But Tao liked cute things...right?

 

'...seriously, Kris. There's a word for this...'

 

...shut up Luhan.

 

'...yeah. Whipped.'

 

...nah, Jongin wouldn't dare-- okay maybe he would, but only because he never thinks before he talks.

 

'Hey now, don't , he was just trying to be nice-'

 

Yes, Joonmyun would be understanding.

 

'Yeah well, he's never been this nice before...'

 

Chanyeol would just be still bitter about the time he went for hot pot without him.

 

'...duizhang, you've really got it bad, haven't you?'

 

...and Yixing would be too damn perceptive for his own good. As usual.

 

But when your face lit up with a brilliant smile, he couldn't bring himself to care.

 

"Thank you, then."

 

He'd deal with them when the time comes. 

 

"You're welcome."

 

Anything, for you.

 

 

--

 

 

Kris found if very hard not to regret his decision afterwards, however. Because of the cat, both your hands were occupied, holding it tightly to you, protecting it against the cold. He had asked why you hadn't simply put it into one of your pockets, but you had retorted with a scandalised look that it wasn't safe and that it would be cold and how could he even think of such a thing and that he had better stay far away from the 'precious little baby' back at their dorm.

 

Anyway.

 

Because of the cat, your hands were occupied, which meant that he couldn't hold on to one of them. He felt as if the cat had punted him back to square one.

 

And then things just started getting worse when he spotted a familiar head of blond hair at the same time that the other man spotted the two of you. Grinning, he loped towards you, followed by four others.

 

He was dressed in a blinding white trenchcoat, decked out with countless black leather belts and buckles. On anyone else, it would have probably made the person look as if they belonged in a mental institution, but somehow he managed to make it look as if he had simply walked out of the pages of some haute-couture magazine. Kris bristled silently.

 

"Jinnie! Nice to see that you're safe! And--" he raised a suggestive eyebrow at Kris, "--with company. You're the guy from the Gala, right?"

 

His eyes narrowed, and the accompanying frown created an expression that usually sent people cowering. It didn't seem to work on this man, however. "My name is Kris. I don't think I caught your name....?"

 

"Kris, huh? That's not your real name, is it?" he replied with a laugh. Kris felt his expression harden and his jaw clench. "Well, mine is G Dragon, then. GD, if Jinnie lets you."

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" he growled, but the blond's smirk just widened.

 

"Guys, be nice," you cut in before the other man could reply. "And Kris, GD is older than you, be respectful."

 

His left eye twitched, and that annoying grin on the blond's face stretched even wider. "You...know each other, then?"

 

"Oh yeah, me and Jinnie are real tight, right Jinnie?" And as if to emphasize the point, he sidled over beside you to casually drape an arm over your shoulders. To his annoyance, you did nothing to remove the offending limb, simply rolling your eyes.

 

"Close. Only because he sticks to you like a leech. The greasiest leech of them all. Hey guys." You nodded to the remaining four strangers, all of whom were just as eccentrically dressed.

 

"This is T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri. They're Big Bang, another team from the tracks. Not from SM though. Guys, this is Kris, from EXO."

 

He inclined his head stiffly at the introduction, the action mirrored by the other four, though their expressions were more amused than his own.

 

"Any, ah, friend, of Jinnie's is a friend of ours!" the blond piped up, the pause before and implications placed on the word 'friend' being lost on none of you.

 

 Your cheeks turned pink, and you (finally) shrugged off his arm. 

 

"Yah-- what's that supposed to mean--?"

 

"IS THAT A KITTY??!"

 

Kris almost jumped at the sudden outburst from the black-haired man in the knee-length denim jacket. However, there was no 'almost' in your case.

 

"Jeez, Seungri, calm down," the taller man beside him said in an unusually deep voice.

 

"But hyuuuung, it's so cuuuuute~~" the first man- Seungri? - whined. "Where'd you get it, Jinnie? Did your boyfriend get it for y--"

 

"Maybe we should go get something to drink! You know, to properly catch up, since the Gala was such a mess, hahaha!" The shortest one of the five cut in hurriedly, grinning and cutting off your would-be objection.

 

"That's a great idea! You can tell me more about yourself, Jinhye's friend."

 

A lifetime of reading people allowed him to not miss the calculating glint in the blond's eyes, beneath his surface cheery demeanor. 

 

"The name," he said, calmly but with the undercurrent of a warning, "is Kris. And I wouldn't mind getting to know you better as well, G Dragon-ssi."

 

 

 

 

-------

 

THEY WON MAMA OMFG. AND NOT ONLY FOR KOREA, BUT FOR ALL OF FRIGGIN ASIA. AND THEY WON IT AS ONE, INSTEAD OF ONLY EXO K. AND THEY COVERED MIROTIC. F CUFKCSAJDLFKsergl;iejsrlse r DREAM COME TRUE LITERALLY I'VE BEEN HOPING FOR THAT DAY SINCE THEY DEBUTED I YOU NOT AND KRIS RAPPING AND as:FDGLJs:EFRGJLSRT:GLJESRG:POEjs;erkse;----

Ahem.

 

......................lol. I blame school. QAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ

On the bright side, ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS. ISH. UNTIL I FINISH MY STUPID EXAMS AND WINTER BREAK AND THIS STUPID SEMESTER WILL BE OVER AND I CAN WRITE.

Also, remember when I said two or three more chapters to finish up the fluff?

.....ehehehhehee--- *brick'd*

bUT TECHNICALLY NOT ALL OF IT IS GOING TO BE FLUFF NOW BECAUSE BIG BANG AND GD AND DRAAMMAAAAAAA----?!?!?!!

...shutting up. 

(Also Seungri's obsession with the kitty - inspired by Fantastic Baby. I regret nothing.)

 

Here have some MAMA. Hehe they performed MAMA during the MAMAs-- *shot*

 

 

Finally, if you still haven't heard it: CLICK THIS DAMNIT, CLICK IT. CLICK IT NOWWW

 

-Ace

 

PS: This was kind of a huge monster of a chapter, so please give me some feedback for my work? LOL YOU GUYS I WROTE THIS WHILE I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CRAMMING MOLECULAR BIO SO. TT______TT