He is ready is go—his bag is packed, his shoes are on his feet, and his money is in his pocket—but right as he is about to open the front door, he stops himself. His hand leaves the doorknob and he walks to the living room, heading straight to the back wall. With concentration, he examines all of the smiling faces in front of him and he wishes he could be that happy, but then he remembers his smiling face is on the wall and he had been happy.

 

            Slowly, but carefully, he slips the photo out of the frame and replaces it with the photo of his parents. This picture used to mean the world to him, but now, something completely different has that meaning. He places his hand over his parents’ picture before turning away and leaving the house he’s called home for such a short amount of time.

 

            The walk to the train station takes longer than he expected, but he’s made it to his destination, well the first step anyways. He buys a one-way ticket to the airport and luckily, the train is a couple minutes away from leaving when he gets there. He chooses his seat carefully, towards the back in hopes that he’ll go unnoticed, and sits by the window, staring out like it is the last time he’ll ever see any of it again.

 

            When he arrives at the airport, there is barely a line at the desk considering it is still pretty early in the day. The lady behind the desk smiles at him. “Good morning. How can I help you?”

 

            “I was hoping to be on standby to a flight to America,” he answers.

 

            She nods. “Where exactly in America?”

 

            He shrugs. “It doesn’t really matter. Just … America.”

 

            She eyes him suspiciously, but chooses not to say anything. To her, he doesn’t look to be all that home and part of her wonders if he’s running away from home. “Do you have your passport with you?”

 

            “I do.” He reaches into the front pocket of his bag—right when he packed it when he left Suho's house—and hands it to the lady. If one thing Suho did right, it was getting Kris a passport at age twelve. Sure, Kris' never used to it, but times like this one, it comes in handy.

 

            “Alright,” she says as he opens the flap and quickly does the math to calculate his age. “I can’t really help unless you tell me where you want to go. Give me a state and we’ll go from there.”

 

            Kris thinks for a moment before answering. “Ohio.” He’s not sure why, but that’s the first state to pop into his head other than New York, but New York seems too crowded for him.

 

            The lady clicks through the computer in front of her and finds four flights all headed toward Ohio. She prints them off and hands Kris all four boarding passes. “The times on these vary, but the planes will either leave from terminal eight or nine which are across from each other. Pay attention to the times and you should get called if there’s a seat available for you.”

 

            “Thank you,” he tells her before pocketing the boarding passes and his passport. The lady tells him the price of the ticket and he pays for, having enough for it and then some money left over for later.

 

            It is not until four hours later with the third flight that Kris and one other person gets a seat on a plane. He takes the window seat because one, he’s never been on a plane before, and two, he’s flipping going to America. About an hour into the flight, Kris feels his eyelids getting heavier and heavier by the second. He knew he would get tired eventually considering he didn’t sleep the night before, so he lets his eyes close and he leans back into the seat. Might as well sleep now because who knows when he’ll be able to again.

 

            Kris does not wake up until the plane has landed and a flight attendant is shaking him awake. He blinks a few times, adjusting to the light before getting up, grabbing his bag from the designated carry-on space and exists the plane. When he leaves through the sliding doors of the airport, Kris has no earthly idea where to go. He is in a new country where he doesn’t know a soul.

 

            As he adjusts the bag on his shoulder, a cab driver who is parked at the curb rolls down his window. “Hey kid, where you going?”

 

            Kris shrugs. “Anywhere really.”

 

            “Hop in,” the cab driver tells him. “I’m about to get off the clock and I can spare a ride.”

 

            He shakes his head. “ It's alright. I can walk.”

 

            The cab driver laughs. “I’m offering you a free ride, kid.”

 

            “Oh.” Kris' face lights up at the realization. “Well … thanks.” He gets into the backseat of the car.

 

            “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

 

            “Yes, sir.”

 

            The cab driver laughs again. “I know exactly where to drop you off.” He turns forward, so he is facing the windshield and starts the car, making sure the meter is turned off. Throughout the car ride, Kris makes small talk with the cab driver. He answers all the cab driver’s questions on how it’s like to live in Seoul and asked questions himself about what he can do in this state. The drive takes about forty minutes and when the cab driver parallel parks in front of a coffee shop of some sort, he turns around towards Kris and announces, “This is the place.”

 

            Kris scrunches his brow in confusion, but nods anyways. “Thank you for the ride.”

 

            “No problem.”            

 

 With another nod, Kris gets out of the car, and when he takes a step away from the cab, the driver rolls down the passenger side window and says, “You’re gonna be okay, kid.”

 

            “Thanks.” He smiles, adjusts his bag on his shoulder, and walks inside the coffee shop. The moment he is inside, a blanket of warm air hits him and instantly, Kris feels comfortable. He slowly makes his way through the shop, taking in the coffee smell, dimmed lights, small tables, large bookshelves, and earthy decorations.

 

            The top most thing on the boy's mind is food, so Kris takes his place in the line to the counter; however, his attention moves away from the food and towards a bulletin board to his left. Right as he approaches the bulletin board, he smacks into a guy who is a shorter than him and has brown hair.

 

            “Sorry,” Kris apologizes.

 

            “It's alright,” he responds. The two stare at each other for a moment or two, interpreting their accents, before the guy asks, “You’re Chinese?”

 

            “Yeah,” Kris nods. “Korean?”

 

            “Yeah,” he smiles. “I’m Sehun.” He extends his hand.

 

          Kris shakes it. “Kris.” Sehun tacks on a bright blue piece of paper onto the bulletin board. Kris quickly skims the big, bold words and bites the inside of his cheek. “You’re looking for a roommate?”

 

            “Yeah, Luhan and I have an extra room and we could always use the extra money,” Sehun answers. “Wait,” he pauses and looks Kris over. Just in the one minute that he’s known Kris, he already likes him. “Not to freak you out, but d’you wanna see the place?”

 

            “Um …” Kris always thought the majority of people in America were mean, but so far, he keeps being proved wrong. “You don’t drive, like, a white van or anything, do you?”

 

            Sehun laughs like Kris just told the funniest joke in the world. He clasps his hand on Kris' shoulder. “You’re funny, Luhan will love you.” And with that, he leads Kris out of the coffee shop and down four blocks to an apartment complex. “It’s nothing fancy,” Sehun tells him as he unlocks the door.

 

            Right when Kris walks into the apartment, he is directly in the living room. There is a table for four a few feet away from the couch which Kris assumes is the dining room. Off to the left is the kitchen and to the right is a small hallway where the bedrooms are most likely. There are random items of clothing, books, papers, and who-knows-what else all around and it reminds Kris a bit of what Chanyeol's house looked like before Kris started cleaning.

 

            Kris' jaw clenches. Sehun sees this and asks, “Everything alright?” Kris nods and Sehun throws his keys on the same table between the couch and the television. “Everything’s pretty self-explanatory here, so let’s move on.” He walks a few feet before pointing to the left. “Kitchen.” He turns to the right. “Makeshift dining room.” He walks through the entry way to the hallway. To his left, “My room,” to in front, “bathroom,” and to his right, “presumably your room.”

 

            Kris chuckles. “I don’t know about that,” he says as he walks into the room. Surprisingly, the room is furnished with a bed, a dresser, and a night stand. He can tell that it’s been lived in before, but there’s no actual belongings anywhere.

 

            "Sehunnie?” someone calls from the other room.

 

            “Over here!” Sehun yells back. Moments later, a chinese guy with big doe eyes walks into the room. “Luhan, this is Kris. Kris this is Luhan.”

 

            “Hello,” Luhan greets.

 

            “Hi.”

 

            Luhan smiles. “Hey, you’re Chinese!”

 

            Kris laughs. “It’s really not all that exciting.”

 

            “I like him,” Luhan says, pointing towards Kris.

 

            “I knew it.” Sehun grins.

 

 

 

LEFT FOR ONE MONTH: DECEMBER

 

 

 

            Kris adjusts to life in America rather easily thanks to Sehun and Luhan's help. They two agreed that Kris could live in their spare room if he would work with Luhan in Luhan's uncle’s music store, Sounds ’n Stuff . Kris accepted and even offered to keep the apartment clean which neither of the boys could refuse.

 

            On their way home from Sounds ’n Stuff, Luhan compliments Kris on how he handled a customer. “You really did a good job,” Luhan tells him. “Where did you say you worked before?”

 

            He gulps. Kris didn’t exactly tell Luhan and his uncle what he used to do, and he feels like for lying, but he doesn’t really want them to know. That was his old life and Kris' moved on from that. “I worked for my uncle, like you.”

 

            “You must have had to work with a lot of people because the way you calmed that lady down,” Luhan shrugs, “I have no idea how you did it.”

 

            “You could say that.”

 

            Luhan parks the car in the parking lot. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me and Sehun to my parents’ house for Christmas Eve? I feel bad leaving you alone when everyone should be around family. And like, we could make a weekend out of it,” he offers. “I can show you all around Cleveland, like Tower City and the Malley's chocolate factory, oh and Progressive Field, where the Indians play.”

 

            “I’ll be okay,” Kris assures him. “And really, I’d just be intruding and that wouldn’t be right.”

 

            “You really wouldn’t. I mean, ever since Sehun showed up for the first time four years ago, he’s expected to be there every year. My family loves everyone.”

 

            “Luhan, it’s really okay. I’ll be fine.”

 

            He sighs. “Fine, but next year, you’re definitely going.”

 

            Kris chuckles. “Sounds like a plan.”

 

            That night, Luhan and Sehun pack up Luhan's car and take off to their trip to Clevelan. Luhan uncle is also on his way, so Kris doesn’t have to work for the next couple of days and he really doesn’t know what to do with himself, so he goes to sleep. The following morning, he cleans the apartment, but it’s rather small so he finishes quickly. He organizes all of the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen, but Sehun and Luhan don’t have many dishes and things to begin with. In defeat, Kris slumps down on the couch and turns on the television and begins to watch a Christmas movie marathon since it’s Christmas Eve and all.

 

            Another movie begins at eight o’clock at night and Kris leans back on the couch and places a cushion over his face. Every single movie he has watched are all basically the same thing and honestly, Kris does not have the Christmas spirit and these movies aren’t helping. He grabs the remote and mutes the television.

 

            Kris stands up and walks to the room that he’s been calling his own for a little over a month now. He picks up his mobile and without thinking, dials the first number on his speed dial. It rings a few times before the call is picked up. “Hello?” The voice is so familiar that Kris closes his eyes and soaks it in. “Hello?” The voice says again and Kris wants to say something, but his throat closes up and before he can even open his mouth, the call ends.

 

 

 

LEFT FOR FOUR MONTHS: MARCH

 

 

 

            Kris swallows two pain killers and hopes they will mend the headache he is still having from the weekend’s festivities. He knows Sehun loves his beer, but Kris has never experienced any day like he did this day. There was just so much booze and Kris doesn’t even know what actually happened, but he doesn’t mind.

 

            As he changes outs the music playing over the loudspeakers in Sounds ’n Stuff, Kris hears something coming from the back room. He hits play and wanders to the back of the store, letting the sound lead him to wherever it’s coming from. When Kris pulls the door open, he finds Luhan sitting on a stool with a guitar in his lap, sheet music in front of him, and Sehun to the side of the room.

 

            “You play?” Kris asks, pointing to the instrument

 

            “Yeah,” Luhan answers. “Not a lot though because I’m not all that great.”

 

            “That’s bull,” Sehun interjects.

 

            “Sehun.” Luhan says his name in a way like they’ve had this conversation many times and it always has the same output.

 

            “No.” Sehun stands up and walks over to Kris. “Hear him play just for like, ten seconds and you’ll see how talented he is. Luhan doesn’t believe me, but maybe he’ll believe you.”

 

            Kris nods. “I’ll be the judge of that. C’mon Luhan, play something.”

 

            Luhan puffs out a breath of air and shoots Sehun a glare. “Fine.” He begins strumming his guitar and just like Sehun said, it only takes Kris ten seconds for his eyes to go wide and his mouth to drop.

 

            “Oh, my God, you’re brilliant,” Kris exclaims. “I wish I could play.”

 

            He stops playing midway through the song. “I can teach you if you want,” Luhan offers.

 

            “Really?”

 

            “Yeah,” Luhan nods.

 

            Kris smiles. He is glad that out of all the six million people residing in America, he ran into these two because it’s nice to actually have friends. It’s been such a long time since Kris had legitimate friends that he finally feels a bit less guilty about everything he left back in Korea.

 

 

 

LEFT FOR SIX MONTHS: MAY

 

 

 

            With nothing but a pair of shorts on, Kris walks into the living room. Sehun takes one look at him and laughs. “Your tan lines are horrible.”

 

            Kris glances at his arms and sees the distinct line from where his regular t-shirt covers his arms and where it doesn’t. He has gained a bit of a tan, but only on his arms and his face; everywhere else, Kris is still as white as porcelain. “Shut up,” he retorts as he takes a seat next to Sehun on the couch.

 

            “You’re not in Seoul anymore.”

 

            “I know. It’s hot here. Like, I feel like I have to take three showers a day to stay cool,” Kris complains. “It’s ridiculous.”

 

            Sehun chuckles. “You do realize that you’re in America, right? This is nothing compared to July and August. That’s when you get dehydrated from being outside for longer than two minutes.”

 

            Kris makes a face. “I’m never going to get used to this, am I?”

 

            “Of course you will,” he assures the boy. "You just need to invest in some more shorts and less in coats.”

 

            “Why are you two sitting around?” Luhan asks as he walks in the room from his bedroom.

 

            “Because it’s hot!” Kris replies.

 

            Luhan takes the towel in his hands and hangs it around his neck. “And that is why I’m going for a swim. Anyone want to tag along?”

 

            Sehun hops up. “Me. I totally forgot that they opened up the pool. Lemme go put on my trunks.” He disappears into the hallway.

 

            Kris stands up. “Me, too. I gotta fix this,” he says, pointing at his arms.

 

            Luhan laughs. “Yeah, your arms are just awful.”

 

            He groans. “You guys are mean.”

 

            “But you love us!” Sehun calls. “Now, let’s go.”

 

            When the three boys get to their apartment complex’s pool after a short walk, Luhan and Sehun strip off their shirts and jump in the water while Kris lays back on one of the chairs where there’s a lot of sun. Kris pats his pockets and comes to the conclusion that they are too heavy with things, so he begins to pull them out. His phone is the last item he pulls out and he sees that he has called someone. Kris looks a bit closer at the name and his eyes open wide in shock.

 

            He is about to end the call before anyone picks up, but Kris is not that lucky. He quickly moves the phone to his ear just in time to hear, “Hello?” Kris can’t bring himself to say anything once again, so the line goes dead after a short moment. Maybe he’s busy, Kris thinks. It’s been six months.

 

 

 

LEFT FOR EIGHT MONTHS: JULY

 

 

 

            Kris wakes up and he has a weird feeling in his chest. He doesn’t understand it, so he stays in bed and ponders on what it could be. There’s no way he’s getting sick because Kris usually catches a cold in the winter time and that’s about it. There’s no way he’s having a heart attack because he’s sure he wouldn’t be able to breathe if that were true. He can’t place his finger on why he has this feeling.

 

            He turns from laying on his side to laying on his back and staring at the ceiling. There has to be some reason for this because it is such an odd feeling that Kris is positive he would remember if he felt it before. There has to be some reason—

 

            And then he remembers.

 

            Kris grabs his mobile from his bedside table and holds it in his hand. Unlike the last two times, he will actually say something because today marks the one year anniversary of the day where it all started. Today is the day that Chanyeol saved Kris Today is the day when Kris will actually talk to Chanyeol. Today is the day.

 

            It takes him about another half hour before he dials the number. The call rings and rings, and Kris is about to give up, thinking that Chanyeol is probably taking a shower or is busy or doesn’t have his phone on him, but then, he picks up. “Hello?”

 

            He opens his mouth, ready to say something, anything back to Chanyeol, but nothing comes out. Kris takes a breath and the moment he finally chokes out a hello, he hears something that makes his throat go dry again. Chanyeol presses a button for what he thinks is the end call button, but it’s a button for one of the numbers. He says, “How’s my bride-to-be?” and Kris fumbles with his mobile to end the call himself.

 

            The feeling in his chest gets all the more uncomfortable and Kris wants to scream out in agony, but he can’t. His throat is closed and his chest is tight, and he can’t believe what he just heard. How’s my bride-to-be, my bride-to-be, my as in Chanyeol's. Chanyeol is going to get married. Chanyeol has moved on. Chanyeol is going to get everything he ever wanted. Chanyeol is no longer Kris'.

 

            And it’s all Kris' fault.

 

 

LEFT FOR NINE MONTHS: AUGUST

 

 

            In the spirit of....nothing really, Kris bakes a simple German chocolate cake. He plans to do something similar in a couple weeks, to say thank you to Luhan and Sehun for all they've done.

 

            Kris carefully holds the cake in his right hand and turns the knob to Sehun and Luhan's room with is left. He figures Luhan will forgive him for waking him up since he has cake and all, so Kris walks right in. “Tha—oh, my God!” On the bed, Sehun has Luhan pinned down, they are both without a shirt and there are lots of kisses. Kris covers his eyes and turns away. “I’m so sorry!” he shouts as he closes the door behind him.

 

            To be fair, in his time in this apartment, Kris has never once stepped foot into the other bedroom because he never had a need to. If he ever needed Sehun or Luhan, they were in the living room or kitchen, so he has never seen the inside of that room. Kris has wondered why the bedroom he lives in is fully furnished and why Sehun has some of his clothes hanging in the back of the closet, but he never verbalized his wonder.

 

            Everything makes so much more sense now that Kris'  thinking about it. Luhan is a carefree spirit while Sehun is protective and responsible; Luhan is silly while Sehun is somewhat serious; Luhan puts himself down while Sehun pulls him back up. They are opposites and they work well together, and oh, my God, how has Kris not noticed it before? He has been living with them for over nine months and Kris had no idea. Maybe it’s because he’s been too wrapped up in his problems that Kris has been unable to see what has been right in his face.

 

            Then again, why hasn’t Sehun or Luhan, or even both of them, ever bought up the fact that they are together? Do they not trust Kris? Do they think that Kris would take offense because they’re dating? Do they think Kris is some homophobe who will condemn them to Hell?

 

            The couple emerges from their bedroom and finds Kris face down on the couch. They take a seat on the coffee table on either side of the cake that Kris placed there. “Kris?” Luhan calls.

 

            “I’m so sorry,” Kris responds, his voice muffled from the couch cushions.

 

            “C’mon, sit up,” Sehun says. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

 

            “Yeah,” Luhan agrees. “If anyone has to apologize, it’s us.”

 

            Kris turns his head, so he can face them. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

            “Honestly, I kinda thought you already figured it out,” Luhan answers.

 

            He thinks back to all the times where Luhan and Sehun seemed way closer than two friends are, and Kris closes his eyes. He never thought to question it because he never paid any mind to it. It seemed natural to him because that was the behavior Kris had gotten used to right before he came here. Kris turns his head back. He’s an idiot.

 

            “Hey! It’s not that bad, is it?” Sehun asks.

 

            Kris sits up and shakes his head. “No, not at all. It’s great and I’m glad you two are together since you’re pretty much perfect for each other.” There is sadness in his words and both Luhan and Sehun catch it.

 

            “I’m glad you think so,” Luhan smiles. “Now, how about we all have some breakfast? This cake looks amazing.”

 

            He shrugs. “No big deal,” Kris chuckles. “I meant to surprise you, but you ended up surprising me!”

 

            Luhan laughs and Sehun shakes his head. “At least you know now to knock.”

 

            Kris nods. “Yeah, there’s no way I’ll be coming in there unannounced ever again.” He fakes a shudder. “Not a sight I want to see.”

 

            Luhan hits Kris over the head with a pillow. “Oh whatever, you know you loved it.” And with that, he gets up to get a knife and plates for the cake.

 

            “I see why you love him,” Kria tells Sehun.

 

            “I really do.” The smile on Sehun's face is so genuine and full of love that Kris forces himself not to drop into a frown. He could have had that with Chanyeol, but nope, he had to go and be a and now, there’s nothing he can do about it. Chanyeol’s getting married, or who knows, maybe Chaneol's already married. It’s really weird to think how much can happen in such a short amount of time.

 

 

 

LEFT FOR TWELVE MONTHS: NOVEMBER

 

 

 

            Kris is forced out of bed by Sehun. He knows Sehun is an early riser on most days, but there is no need to wake Kris up on his day off. Kris lets out a yawn as he sits in a chair at the table. “Why on God’s earth am I awake right now?”

 

            “You are awake right now because you have been moping around for the past few months and I am sick of it,” Sehun answers. “I don’t know why and really, you don’t have to tell me. Just do whatever you have to do to fix it because it hurts me, even Luhan, to see you like this.”

 

            He sighs. “I have not been moping.”

 

            “Yes, you have,” Sehun retorts. “Look, I’m not going to argue with you about this because it’s early and I know your senses aren’t all intact at the moment.”

 

            “Then, why’d you get me out of bed? We can have this conversation in about four hours, y’know.”

 

            Sehun shakes his head. “Nope, we’re having it now. Today is your day off and you need to do something other than sit on your all day. Ohio is just outside the door and you should go see it. Go to the mall or the lake, or anywhere and have a cup of horrible American tea that you’re always complaining about. Go do something because whatever it is that you’re tearing yourself up about is completely ruining who you are. Either fix it or get over it.”

 

            Kris stares at Sehun wide-eyed. Sehun is always the one to keep Luhan and Kris on track in a fatherly way, but this is different. The words sink in as Sehun turns around and walks away, leaving Kris to collect his thoughts and decide what to do. He finds a piece of paper and a pen and begins writing because Sehun is right, Kris needs to get over this and since he can never get words to come out of his mouth, Kris will let his hand do all the talking. He needs to do this, so Kris can finally get past his mistakes once and for all.

-----

 

A/N: Hello!!!! This is getting suspenseful!!! I'm doing some shameless advertising! Check out my new story called Houdini. It's Kaisoo!!!!!

 

 

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/313850/houdini-comedy-drama-magic-romance-kaisoo