A/N: Okay, it's been ages. But this chapter is proof that I'm so NOT giving up on any of my stories. 

Uni is a pain this year and guys... I need all the support and understanding I can get.

So I'm very thankful for all the people who actually bother to come back to this story and remind me that they liked it and want more. 

Seriously, tiktakz and loveexodokaibaek you guys were a great help and this chapter is for you. *hearts*

I'm halfway through the next one, so expect a fast-ish update. 

The first thing Kyungsoo heard when he picked up the phone was, “Look, he’s sorry, okay?” in Tao’s demanding voice.

The second being, “Yah, don’t you dare hang up on me again! Why do you keep doing that? Are you playing hard to get?”

The singer was definitely not doing that. Because he and Kai were not in the type of relationship where people played ‘hard to get’ with each other. Tao needed to get his facts right.

Too bad all Kyungsoo could do in reply was groan, angrily.

“Fine, I’m not saying it’s all your fault, here. Kai, too, might have been a bit-” Kyungsoo scoffed loudly from the other end of the line, ‘a bit’ was the underestatement of the century.  

“Well, a lot. Really, very, extremely rude. And scary.” Tao corrected, giving in. “He does that some times. I mean come on, you know how Kai is. Aish, why do I have to explain this!” He sounded like a person forced to do a very unpleasant chore in someone else’s place. He kind of reminded Kyungsoo of Mr Kim, the bar’s manager, when he had to apologize because Chanyeol spilled drinks on a customer.

“Listen, I know you have feelings and problems,” Tao said ‘feelings’ like other people would say ‘lice’. “Not to mention, a distressingly bad taste in clothes and men alike, but I can’t worry about you too right now. I’ve already got Kai, ignoring everything I say and staring at that stupid jacket which smells like dead fish all day. So for once, be the bigger man and come meet us at the Hangang Tennis Courts in Jamwon. Let’s say in… three hours? I think I can get him to walk until then. Okay?”

Kyungsoo sighed.

“Okay then.” The cat-like guy muttered, closing the phone on Kyungsoo’s face and leaving him in the peace of his own room.  

Kyungsoo did as he was told, because as it turns out, he was a tool and could not stay mad at Kai for longer than a week. Also, maybe he was a bit curious to see the damn jerk looking dejected after realizing he was a jerk. So he showered impatiently and rode the bus to Jamwon without giving much thought to the tennis court premise, just yet.

However, for all Tao’s complaining about his boss’ pending depression, the guy himself seemed perfectly fine to Kyungsoo.

And if his eyes were a bit puffy, like he just woke up, or hadn’t slept well lately, Kai still managed to pull off the image of the hotter-than-hell swindler, so Kyungsoo might as well have come for nothing. Not to mention that the jerk stared pointedly away from him, lips pressed shut like he was holding back from saying something. Kyungsoo didn’t want to know what Kai was holding back from, cause so far the comments he made aloud were rude and hurtful. Maybe, Kai keeping his mouth shut for once, was a good idea.  

If Kai was going to be mean and snarky again accusing Kyungsoo of having fallen for him; or if he was going to say, calmly, that this was all a deal for him and he was never going to care about Kyungsoo’s problems, feelings, his anything… then Kyungsoo didn’t need to hear it.

Tao wore sweatpants, had his arms crossed in front of his chest and looked disgusted with the entire world even though it was only eleven in the morning.

“There he is. The source of all the drama.” He said upon seeing Kyungsoo and tossed him a tennis racket.

The singer opened his mouth and closed it again. He had so much to say to that. So much.

“I hate you both. Just so you know.” He added, eyes on Kai this time and he might have finished that statement with an elbow in Kai’s stomach, but it happened (or didn’t) so fast, that Kyungsoo could not be sure.

Kai grimaced at them. Either because Tao had indeed elbowed him, or simply because he just glanced at Kyungsoo and immediately lost his appetite, Kyungsoo was not going to guess which of the two did the trick, he'd only rejoice at the fact that Kai was making an ugly face.   

He schooled his own face into a severe expression and weighted the racket in his hands. It was unexpectedly heavy and Kyungsoo almost slipped into worrying about the tennis part of today’s training, until Tao spoke again. “Don’t you have something to say to Kyungsoo, boss?”

Kai’s nauseated grimace deepened at that. “No one asked you-” He started saying but Tao cut him off.

“If you weren’t a moody teenager all week, I wouldn’t have to interfere. But you were and you even put on Nell on the stereo, when you know exactly how I feel about Nell. So don’t you dare tell me it’s none of my business. You brought this upon yourself.” All of it was said with one breath and Kyungsoo couldn’t help feeling somewhat impressed with the secretary for shutting Kai up so effectively.

“I’m going to let you two kids talk it out now. I’m taking the day off, by the way. I’m sure no one is against that, right boss?” Tao grabbed his bag with that comment and didn’t wait to find out if anyone really was against it. And judging by the way Kai huffed in resignation, no one could stop Tao whether they were against him leaving, or not. 

At the secretary’s retreating form, Kai said, “You can talk now, Feisty Kyungsoo,” in a surly tone.

Kyungsoo glared back, “Are you making fun of me right now? After the way you acted the other – no, you know what? It’s not just the other day.” Breathing in through his mouth, he tried to steady himself and look perfectly stern (even if his ‘perfectly stern’ level only reached at about Kai’s ‘chilled out’ level). “No, you’ve been acting that way since the beginning and it’s been over a month. One month I’ve been putting up with this, like…like some kind of dumb servant. Seriously, if I weren’t scared of Tao I could punch you.”

It was partially true, as it was also true that he would soon punch him despite the threat of Tao, in case he tried making fun of Kyungsoo again.

“What way?” Kai tilted his head looking confused and innocent, which only fueled the singer’s anger.

“Huh?!” A swindler playing the innocent card, that was rich, Kyungsoo was feeling his face go red with anger. He hoped no one was there to witness this.

Kai leveled him with a serious look. “You said I’ve been acting that way since the beginning.” He pointed out. “Well, what way?”

Kyungsoo did… not expect that question. “You seriously don’t see it?”

He eyed Kai carefully to make sure this was not another one of his jokes, but the swindler’s face was blank, his expression unguarded and confused.

“I seriously don’t.” Kai shook his head. “So, what way?”

There was this quote, Kyungsoo had heard it in a movie, once and it had just stuck with him. An expression that went something like ‘he’s good at understanding other people, but not himself’ and back then Kyungsoo had thought it made no sense. Being perceptive is not something one could turn on and off, like a switch.

Only, now he was starting to consider that maybe it was a little like a switch and someone was turning the lightbulb inside Kai’s head completely off, when it came to his own personal matters. Kyungsoo didn’t want to let his imagination run wild again and he’d hate himself even more, if he ended up conjuring new excuses for Kai, only to be proven wrong for the millionth time.

Nevertheless, Kai sometimes looked like the sort of person who would try so hard to read everyone else’s mind, that he would pretty much forget to consider his own thoughts. Like how Chen hadn’t realized how good his own voice was, until Chanyeol recorded it and made him listen. Like that thing where you can hear other people’s real voices properly, but your own voice sounds distorted to your own ears. It was far-fetched and as reasonable as that romantic one-liner Kyungsoo had seen in a movie somewhere. But Kai was always so obsessed with grabbing other people by the feelings, that he could possibly forget to pay attention to his own behavior.

 “It’s like you’re bi-polar, okay?” Kyungsoo blurted out, patience already running thin. “One moment you’re being nice, almost friendly, and the next you act like a complete jerk. You ask me to sing for you, telling me my voice is nice, but I’m not even allowed to talk to people. Do you realzie how crazy that is? You say I’m special and then accuse me that I’m the one in love with you. Every time I sing, you look at me helplessly, like you’re begging for a hug, and when I do it, what? You don’t give a about me and I should go back to my Prince Charming? You’ve got to be kidding me!” This time, Kyungsoo’s face goes crimson for a whole different reason, having more to do with just admitting out loud that he hugged Kai and less to do with being furious at the guy.

This speech was pathetic, came out with a great deal of bitterness and Kyungsoo realized it possibly sounded like he’s been keeping tabs on Kai. As if he had spent actual hours of his time thinking about the jerk’s words and his face and struggling to make sense of everything. The worst part of it was, Kyungsoo  had done exactly that. He’d been moody and restless every time he argued with Kai. His dream of getting close to Kim Junmyun was finally coming true and Kyungsoo was still sitting in his rundown apartment, alone, sulking about something a grumpy swindler had said while scrubbing paint off the wall with his fingers.

Something was clearly wrong with him.

But the point here was that something was wrong with Kai, first and foremost, so Kyungsoo was going to deal with that before worrying about his own messed up head.

“Right.” Kai agreed, for once, tilting his head forward. “It makes sense for you to see me that way, I guess.”

“To see you that way? So you’re perfectly normal and it’s my fault? I’m seeing things now?!” Possibly, Kyungsoo was invested to this weird relationship with Kai. Otherwise there’d be no reason for him to insist on this argument, shouting like a crazy person, even after the guy had admitted Kyungsoo was right.

Nothing speaks of obsession louder than stubborn, meaningless tantrums.

“Look, Scary Kyungsoo, it’s not your fault. You just have no clue what you’re talking about. And-” Kai raised a hand to stop the singer from going off and yelling again. “I’m not picking a fight with you, relax. All I’m saying is, there’s no way for a normal guy like you to understand me. And you shouldn’t try.”

“You’re furious now, because I told you to stop caring about me. Well, you shouldn’t be.” The lines on Kai’s face became more severe, then, like he grew older suddenly, or like he run out of energy and emotions to show. “I was doing you a favor. You’re better off not knowing what’s in my head. Go, just… fall in love, be happy with Junmyun. Ask no questions.”

Kyungsoo swallowed and felt his throat going dry. He wanted to be able to say something, hated to be put down like he was stupid, or an outsider, but in the end Kai had drawn the line. It’s a pretty serious kind of selfishness, the kind that would make a person disregard someone’s wishes and intrude on their minds without being wanted there. Kyungsoo hadn’t imagined he could be so selfish, had always thought he was a cool person who knew when to speak and when to shut up. Now was not the time to break his own rules, Kai was probably not the right person to do that for.

“I have a tennis date in a few days.” Kyungsoo stared at the racket he was holding limply all this while. “And I have no idea how tennis works.”

He sensed Kai looking at him and just waited for the guy to get over it and at least pretend to be teaching him something.

“So we’re good?” It felt at least a bit satisfying to hear the doubt in the swindler’s voice.

Kyungsoo savoured the sentiment before saying, “We’re not good.”

“Because we can’t be good.” He added noticing the shock that came and passed from the other guy’s expression. “I can’t be ‘good’ with someone I’m not even allowed to get close to. But you don’t care either way and I gave my voice up for some hot, rich guy, so you might as well show me how to hold this racket properly.”

And Kai nodded solemnly. He moved next to the singer and pushed the racket in his hand, angling it a bit to the right, in a way that felt kind of right when a tennis ball came flying at Kyungsoo and he managed to hit it.

And they didn’t speak anymore after that and Kai didn’t tell Kyungsoo to come to his office after tennis practice and Kyungsoo was actually thankful for that because he didn’t feel like singing at all.