Sehun arrived all too soon, pounding on the door and embarrassingly shouting “Kim Jongin! Where’s my Kim Jongin!?” Which resulted in Kai hurriedly running to the front, to make sure Sehun shut the up before Kyungsoo left the bathroom.

“I thought you said you had a spare key,” Kai opened the door, glaring at his friend, who as always looked like he’d just gotten off a runway. Kyungsoo didn’t even know what he was getting himself into.

“I lied,” Sehun smiled, as if it was obvious. The only thing just as great as Sehun’s style and composure, had to be his quick thinking. Kai suspected the boy had been a fox in a past life. A sly, grey, fox that would promise to watch over a bird’s eggs and then eat them up. “You can be really daft, you know.” Sehun pushed Kai to the side and entered, letting Kai notice that Luhan had come too. Only Luhan was too busy eating the bagel, previously forgotten, to really give a about whatever they were bantering about.

It’s not Kai’s fault he had taken Sehun’s key remark seriously. The two had shared, traded, and given so much to each other in the past several years that he wouldn’t even be surprised if Sehun’s body somehow had stolen his birthmarks.

“Alright, where’s the boy toy,” Sehun slipped his shoes off and carefully examined the room, totally not looking for traces of clothes on the floor, taken off and thrown in lustful haste.

“I swear to god, Sehun, if you don’t tone it down,” Kai grinded his teeth. The situation had been fine to him but the more Sehun poked at it, the more he wondered was it fine or was it just awkward? What if he was in Kyungsoo’s place? Was staying at another man’s house, a stranger’s house, all that weird?

“Alright,” Sehun turned, tilting his head. “I will but don’t think I’ve accepted any of this yet.”

Kai rolled his eyes and looked to Luhan. Sehun never knew when his opinion was needed or not.

“So what do you think about this?”

“I only came to retain a good image of this Kyungsoo in case he ends up murdering you and we have no pictures or leads to go by from police,” Luhan swallowed and said honestly.

“You’re a great friend,” Kai said, dryly. “And he’s still in the bathroom cleaning up, so take a seat and don’t make any messes.”

“Yes, mother,” the two of them bowed their heads and plumped down on a coach, already whispering nonsensical gossip.

Kai walked back to the hall towards the bathroom, wondering what was taking so long.

He’s been in there for over an hour.

Kyungsoo had been up to many things in that hour, mostly freaking out. After getting over how big and beautiful a bathroom could be, there was marble floor, towels just like the ones from the restaurant, two sinks, a toilet, a shower, a separate bath, and even windows that could be opened, he’d taken a luxurious wash with some soap that claimed to contain dolphin tears and the secret to reverse aging, of all things. And after that, he remembered he was actually about to meet a peer of this mysteriously well-known Kai, and felt like throwing up. It took nearly twenty minutes to even get these borrowed clothes on because every time he tried to move, his breathing would turn erratic.

But the outfit was on now, nothing too flashy but definitely more stylish than anything he’d ever worn in his life so far. Average black skinny jeans and a silky baby blue button up collar shirt, with a white tie. He even had some borrowed boxers on, which he really didn’t want to think about because it’d just make him blush for an eternity. In all, he looked like a basic, average, college student except one with money.

Currently, he was attempting to tame his hair, which had been a bit volumized by whatever shampoo and conditioner he’d used.

He heard some polite knocks on the door and cracked it open.

“Is something wrong?” Kai asked, eyes trying to peek over Kyungsoo into the bathroom.

“My hair,” Kyungsoo said, with a desperate undertone.

“What about it?” Kai pushed the door open more so he could see. He held in a laugh at the sight. He thought Kyungsoo’s hair had looked crazy when he was sleeping but it was even crazier now, twice as big and almost wig-like.

“I’ll help,” Kyungsoo closed the door behind him. He opened a drawer Kyungsoo had eyed but not opened on his own, in fear of being too nosy. Inside were brushes, hair dryers, flat irons, hair gel. etc. Kai grabbed some of the containers and quickly read the descriptions before deciding on a jar that was a purple tint color. He opened it and dabbed a few fingers into the concoction.

“This won’t flatten it completely but just enough to make it seem like you purposefully decided to look this way,” he rubbed his hands together to spread the gel before running his fingers in Kyungsoo’s hair, saying a quick prayer in hopes that he’d be able to pull his hands out- Kyungsoo’s head was a virtual mini-forest at the moment.

But his fingers slipped through easily in the soft dark strands and he sculpted the hair upwards. This proved to be great and terrible at the same time. Great because now he could see Kyungsoo’s face which was very nice but terrible because it was so nice and they were entirely too close and if he leaned he could rest the bottom of his upper arms on Kyungsoo’s shoulders and tug Kyungsoo’s head forward with his hands still trapped in hair and tilt his head down and-

“I think that’s good enough,” Kyungsoo piped out, clearing his throat and stepping back. He looked down at the floor. Kai blinked a few times, also looking down before turning back to the sink. Fumbling with the faucet, he rinsed off his hands before saying “Don’t be too nervous. He can practically smell fear.”

“That doesn’t make me not nervous at all...,” Kyungsoo attempted to say jokingly, but it came out flat and serious and yeah, he was nervous.

“If it helps to know, you’re older than him and he needed to sleep with a night light until he was fourteen,” Kai opened the door for them. “And the first confession he ever sent to a girl ended up in the hands of one of our teachers, he had to see a counselor for a month because of that.”

Kyungsoo smiled a bit at these embarrassing tales, straightening up his back just as they neared the end of the hallway.

“Don’t tell him I told you any of this or I’ll wake up with pink hair, one day.”

The imagine of Kai with pink hair made him feel strangely light. Distracted by the silliness of it all, he didn’t even notice they’d entered the living room and under the eyes of Sehun and Luhan until the pale friends stood up simultaneously, still chirping back and forth about who knew what.

“Kyungsoo, is that right?” Sehun politely bowed, as if he were meeting another modeling agent. As he lifted his head up, he took in Kyungsoo from socks to hair and had to admit, the boy cleaned up well. He could hardly believe this was a homeless person.

Kyungsoo nodded.

“Yes.”

Luhan was far less formal, beaming and rushing to introduce himself as if if he didn’t do it soon, Kyungsoo would disappear on the spot.

“I’m Luhan, nice to meet you,” he grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand suddenly and shook. “You look really good.” He bluntly added making both Kyungsoo and Kai blush.

“Really, Lu? Geez,” Kai glanced at Kyungsoo, apologizing for his friends’ behavior. “Excuse their oddness. Being celebrities has made them forget how to meet normal people.”

It was true. With Sehun being a model and Luhan being a widely used commercial actor, they were used to meeting business types and other celebrities, used to high end parties where what you wore was just as important as who you were. It was very much similar to navigating in the animal kingdom, how birds flashed their best feathers and showed off by creating intricate songs. There were too many well-known people to keep up with, everyone else had fallen sideways. Which is why Luhan hadn’t realized his comment had been so blunt. Other actors loved to be told they were handsome, especially by someone considered as angelic as him.

“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo smiled to show he was fine. Maybe it was because Kai was beside him, but he didn’t feel nervous anymore. In fact, he was kind of excited to meet new people and after all, what was the point of getting all nervous over a temporary situation? He didn’t have to impress Kai’s friends forever, he wouldn’t have to see them again soon. It was okay to live in the moment for a day or two because these moments would be forgotten. He’d find a new place to stay at so why fret over now?

“Cute and sweet!” Luhan shouted, cupping Kyungsoo’s cheeks with his hands. “I like you already. Look at his face, Sehunnie.” Luhan forced Kyungsoo’s head at an angle for Sehun.

Sehun his lip in passive thought, eyes rolling to the side, before saying “not bad” half reluctantly.

“So that’s all you came over for? To inspect his face?” Kai pushed Luhan’s hands away from Kyungsoo’s face like a cat batting at yarn. Mine.

Luhan smirked at the obvious possessiveness.

“We also stopped by because...” Sehun pulled from the back of his pocket some black envelopes. He opened one up and silver glitter fell down.

“Hey!” Kai glowered at the pretty mess.

“Typical Baekhyun, always one for flare. Anyway,” Sehun shook the folded letter open and pushed it into Kai’s hands.

“An invitation to Baekhyun’s new dance club. Are you serious? And you know, I ran into Kris just yesterday. It’s like everyone suddenly has these new gigs.”

“Time doesn’t stop just because you go to America,” Luhan pointed out, taking the paper from Kai and reading for himself.

Kai knew Luhan had a point but that didn’t stop him sending his friend a sharp look. Are you trying to make me into an ?

“Fine, let’s go to it then. Whatever,” Kai shrugged, like it was no big deal. “You too, Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo’s mouth fell open in surprise, he looked at the three of the boys, stuttering “B-but it’s invitation only,”

Sehun lifted the paper to Kyungsoo’s face and gently dragged a finger across the sentence “dates welcomed.”

Date? With Kai?

It was like when Kai called him “friend” in the restaurant. All these words were popping up and grabbing hold of him, pushing him into these roles he shouldn’t have. He wasn’t a friend, he wasn’t a date, he was just Kyungsoo.

“I’m not really... I mean, thanks but... I shouldn’t... It’s not really my kind of...,” Kyungsoo tried to form some sort of excuse but every time he reached mid-sentence, his train of thought vanished, abandoning him in front of six peering eyes.

“Come on, you’ll be fine. It’ll be fun. And if it becomes too much, you can always sit on the side-” Luhan suggested before Kai elbowed him, painfully in his chest.

“If he doesn’t want to go, he doesn’t have to,” Kai stated, looking straight at Kyungsoo in an effort to show support.

But Luhan did have a point and besides, if he didn’t go then he’d be stuck at Kai’s place alone and that would be weird. What he really should be doing is finding his next spot to stay at, instead of talking over invitations he shouldn’t have known about anyway. Because he shouldn’t have stayed here. He shouldn’t have gone to the restaurant. He shouldn’t have met Kai. He shouldn’t have become homeless. He shouldn’t have gotten into business that wasn’t his. He shouldn’t have left his family. He shouldn’t have done a lot of things.

And yet.

“I guess I could go,”

He never learned.