"That's the thing about pain... it demands to be felt."

- John Green

*****

Kyungsoo heard the sound of someone being roughly shoved in the room and he heard a muffled yell before the sound of the door slamming shut vibrated in his ears. He rolled his eyes, it must be one of the annoying Music Club members again, reprimanding him about the fact that he wasn't really supposed to be using the music practice room at this late hour. He didn't bother raising his head from the piano and his fingers still danced beautifully across the keys. It was only after a short while, when he didn't hear anyone reprimanding him, only did Kyungsoo raise his head, only to be completely befuddled by the sight of Kai standing there, staring back at him.

Holy . 

Kai seemed just as shocked as him and he quickly walked to the door, trying to open it. He let out a low growl of frustration after failing to do so and turned around slowly to face him again, a strange emotion rippling through his dark brown eyes. "We're stuck." He said hoarsely and Kyungsoo's entire body froze up, as if it was unable to comprehend the situation that they were in. He somehow managed to snap himself back to reality and his heartbeat started thumping at an alarming rate. 

"Uh...." was all Kyungsoo could sputter out.

Kai kicked the door but it remained tightly bolted. He ran a hand through his hair and he looked at Kyungsoo again. "I can't believe this is happening." There was a sharp edge of bitterness in his voice that Kyungsoo couldn't overlook and he felt a strange fury slowly consume him. "What? Do you think I'm not shocked at this too?" Kyungsoo snapped, tearing himself away from the piano and glaring at the stunningly handsome golden boy in front of him.

Irritation flickered in Kai's eyes and he snarked out "Whatever, I can't believe I'm here with you." His voice softened slightly at the last part and a hint of uncertainty appeared in his eyes but Kyungsoo didn't notice it. He felt his temper flare up and he snapped back, his voice unusually high. "It's not like I want to be here with you either."

Kyungsoo regretted saying that the moment Kai's face turned pale. The invisible abyss between them seemed infinite as Kai slowly turned around and walked to the side of the room. He slid down onto the floor and stared off into the distance, completely closed off and inscrutable. Kyungsoo felt a painful ache in his chest and he thought he couldn't breathe. He slumped back down onto the piano and stared determinedly at the white piano keys, his vision blurring slightly with pricks of unwanted emotion that refused to go away. He didn't know why he was so upset, he didn't know why he was so bothered, all he knew was that there was a huge lump in his throat and it somehow hurt to swallow. He stared at the beautiful reclusive boy sitting silently by the corner and he clenched his fists, his knuckles turning deathly white.

He looked at his watch and immediately stood up and walked towards the door. He let out a loud howl of frustration and kicked it repeatedly, the sounds of his foot hitting the door vibrating relentlessly around the room. It was 11pm and the school was completely dark and deserted, and there was a high chance that they were going to be stuck here all night.  How can I be in the same room with him for an entire night if we can't even look each other in the eye right now? Kyungsoo thought miserably as he continued kicking the door until he thought his foot was going to break. 

"Stop doing that. Your foot is going to be badly hurt." A cold, quiet voice resonated from the corner of the room and Kyungsoo turned around and glared at him. "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" He shrieked uncontrollably at Kai, his voice rising up to a level of hysteria, his shoulders heaving as the tears slowly formed at the corners of his eyes. "Don't tell me what to do. I hate you. I hate you. I HATE YOU!" His sensibility seemed to have completely vanished in the darkness of the night as he kicked the door in a frenzy.

After a while, he finally stopped and slumped down on the floor, in the opposite corner of Kai's, his entire body numb and his foot throbbing painfully. The silence that settled between them was resolute and Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel a deep chill sink into his bones. He was about to submit himself into the darkness of the night when he looked up and saw Kai's dark eyes staring right through him. His eyes had a certain hollowness to them that absolutely terrified Kyungsoo, and he realized that the shy vulnerable Kai that he had fell for was already slowly disappearing, fading off into the bleak darkness, as if never to resurface again. 

Just then, Kai asked quietly, his voice completely devoid of any emotion, utterly lackluster. 

"Do you really hate me?"

And when Kyungsoo stared back into those flickering dark brown eyes, he forgot the medley of the piano keys, the disjointed juxtaposition of a thousand beautiful memories, the soft orange glow of the dawn and the reddish murky brown of the dusk, as if everything else had faded into black and white, and nothing else mattered.

Nothing but those beautiful dark brown eyes, lingering thoughts that were set in a pale halcyon, everlasting and evangelical.