Saturday Evening

Kai tapped his fingers on his desk. He was getting extremely impatient. While his one hand did the tapping, his other was holding his cell phone to his ear. For the past fifteen minutes, he'd been trying to get a hold of Jongdae's idiot brother. What kind of son of a locks their younger brother up in a psychiatric ward when he wasn't even crazy?

Kai was determined to get the butler out of there. The woman back at the hospital earlier that day had said he was getting out soon, but Kai just wanted to make sure that was a true fact. The boss' son had seen many things in his life go the way he didn't want them to. Just when everything was looking up, everything came crashing down. Kai didn't want the same thing to happen with the Jongdae situation.

So he tried to get a hold of his brother. To make sure that Jongdae was truly going to be let out of there and not have to worry about going back there ever again. But the damn son of a wasn't answering the phone! Kai had called fifteen times in the past five minutes, and left about ten voice mail messages. However, no matter how many times he said the word 'urgent' or 'immediately' in the messages, Jongdae's brother would not pick up the phone.

And Kai was starting to wonder if the older brother wanted to keep the younger brother in the ward. Maybe they had a feud going on and Jongdae's brother, whatever the hell his name was, didn't want Jongdae come. Didn't want to see his face. Or maybe there was another reason? Kai had no ing clue. He shook his head and hung up on the phone on his most reason attempt.

He covered his face with his hands and groaned. Why did Joonmyun have to die? If the boss' assistant was still alive, none of this would be happening! Everyone would be living happily ever after, like princessess and their princes in the fairy tales. It should have been Taemin who died, not Joonmyun. Taemin was the one who deserved to die.

Kai felt immediately guilty after he had the thought. Alright so maybe Taemin was a good for nothing low class son of a , but that didn't give Kai the right to wish Mr. Lee's son's death or any harm for that matter. He was better than that. Kai knew he was better than that. And besides, what goes around comes around, right? If he wished Taemin something bad, it would only come back and bite him in the . Taemin himself was a perfect example of that theory.

Kai decided to think about other things. Happier things. Like how much fun he, Kyungsoo, and the guys would have in Japan. How he should probably get the scoop on what was up with Lay and Minseok. And the most important thing: where the hell was Kyungsoo?! Kai swore on his life that the doll was behind him just a second ago. Where was he now?!

Kai slammed his palm against the mahogony desk. He hated this drama. He hated all drama. He couldn't stand how much he had experienced in the past three weeks and six days. One more thing like that and the poor kid would explode. Why was everything so ing difficult?! And why'd it all have to start with D.O's replacement?

Speaking of which, Kai glanced at the doll in the case. Mr. Vancini had definitely done a remarkable job on the porcelain figurine. Kai commended the superb work. However, he had no more need for the doll. It didn't belong here anymore. It was useless. So Kai stood up and approached the case. He hesitantly opened it, taking a long look at the doll inside. He felt guilty again. Was he really going to do this?

It's just a doll! It has no feelings! Of course he was going to do this! It's not like it was going to spring to life and start lecturing him about how much pain he had caused it. Thinking this with a new rush of adrenaline coursing through his viens, Kai picked D.O up. The doll was way heavier than Kai imagined it would be. 

Kai prudently dragged D.O out of the room. Even if he didn't have that affection towards the figurine anymore, he still respected its craftsmanship. He was extra careful not to cause any damage to D.O as he carried the doll up the attic stairs. Kicking the door open, Kai weaved his way through all of the boxes and objects from the past and what not. When he reached the corner where he found his mother's diary, Kai set D.O down against the wall.

He took one more long gaze at the doll, soaking in its appearance. But wait, he wouldn't have to try to memorize the doll's face and features. Kyungsoo possessed every single one of them. Bottom line: Kai wasn't going to miss D.O. Not one bit. That page of his life had been turned. He had moved onto a living person, to the delight of everyone who had thought he was insane before. Saluting the doll, Kai capered out of the attic and back to his room.

Sitting back down at his desk, Kai irresolutely pulled out his mother's diary from his drawers. He hadn't taken a look inside of it in a while. Maybe her words of wisdom would cheer him up? He didn't know. All he wanted was someone to take good care of him again. A mother's love would very much be apprecaited. His father was no good, obviously, and neither were the maids. Try as the might, they would never be like Mrs. Kim.

Kai stared at the leather cover. He sighed and flipped to the first journal entry. He remembered this one. Mrs. Kim had written about how they had taken him home from the hospital and how wonderful of a baby he was. Not what he was looking for. He turned the next couple of pages. He wanted something inspiring! Comforting! Something that would make him feel a whole lot better than he did right now! Something that would fix his crappy mood. And after a few more page turning, he found an entry that fit his qualifications.

July 19th, 2003

The weather today was simply some of the best we've had in ages. It wasn't too hot or too cool. The sun was shining but not at such an extremity that made us sweat. I can't remember the last time we had such beautiful weather.

So I decided to take Jongin to the park today. He was very excited since he doesn't get to go out a lot and play with other little ones due to the amount of business trips he accompanies his father on. Sometimes I feel like I'm not a married woman. My husband is married to the business, and wants Jongin to think it's his mother.

Anyways, we got there and Jongin immediately paraded towards the swings. I naturally followed him to see to that he's alright. And, by the looks of what I saw, he certainly was.

There was another boy on the swings. He looked older than Jongin, and I noticed my son was extremely nervous to go up to him. The child was remarkably adorable, and obviously his effects were affecting Jongin. He sat onto the swing beside the boy and they began talking about childish things; I'm not going to get into the details.

I met up with the boy's parents who were sitting on a bench directly across from the swings. They seemed to be just as shocked as I was to see how quickly my son and their son engaged in a conversation. It seemed as though the two had known eachother for years, not a few minutes.

They told me their son's name is Kyungsoo. Like I said before, he's an adorable little fellow. His eyes are larger than Jongin's, almost resembling a baby deer's. He's awfully shy; I can tell that from afar. Jongin quickly dominated the conversation. Almost every single topic that sprung up in their chat came from Jongin.

Kyungsoo's parents and I decided to walk around the playground and talk ourselves, at a distance from which we could still see the boys, of course. Kyungsoo's mother told me much about the boy and also gave me their contact information if Jongin ever wanted to meet up with Kyungsoo again. They look like they could be very good friends.

And I knew that there Jongin had quickly developed something for the older boy. When I told him it was time to go home after four hours in the park, he refused terribly, clinging to Kyungsoo as if the boy was a life preserver. He only let go after Kyungsoo whispered something in his ear and gave Jongin a flower, a dandelion. And my son, to my ultimate shock as well as Kyungsoo's parents, gave Kyungsoo a kiss on the cheek.

I still have the Dos' number. I wonder if I should give them a call. Jongin hasn't stopped talking about Kyungsoo the entire night, and I'm starting to think that my little boy might have a crush. He even called Suho to spill the beans to him.

I don't know what to do though. I know a certain someone won't be happy about this...

~Hee Young

Kai shut the diary with a loud thud. A huge smile spread across his face. Alright. He had to admit that that made him feel a whole lot better. Anything that had to do with Kyungsoo lifted his spirits. He set the diary down and spun around in his spinny chair. What lifted his spirits the most was the doll himself, who was standing in the doorway, sweater draped around his neck.

"Hey." He sounded tired. "Did you get a hold of Jongdae's brother?"

"Nope," Kai replied. He spun around to take a look back at his phone. Its screen was face down on the desk. He flipped it over, hoping there'd be a text or a missed phone called from either Jongdae or his brother. Seeing nothing, he bit his lip and turned the phone over again. This was so frustrating. 

"Kai?"

"Hm?"

"You ok?"

Kai nodded and turned back around to face Kyungsoo with a smile. He stood up, making his way over to the doll to give him a hug. No. Kyungsoo could see that Kai was definitely not ok. The smile on the younger's face was totally forced. He cocked his head when Kai hugged him, angling it so it fit perfectly in the nape of Kai's neck.

"Are you sure you're alright, Kai? I mean, a lot of crap has been happening lately and you look pissed off. Wanna talk about it?"

"No, not really." Kai let go of the older and marched towards the bed. He flopped face first onto it, groaning into the mattress. "I just want it all to end, you know? Get Jongdae back and leave. I want to get the out of here."

Kyungsoo sat down beside him. The mattress squeaked under his weight. "You really wanna go to Japan? Haven't you been there countless times before?"

"Yeah," Kai answered, flipping over to face Kyungsoo. "It's a nice place. But it's not that I wanna go there 'cause it's great or something. I just want to get as far from here as I possibly can without leaving an Asian society."

"Isn't America nice?"

"America doesn't have Kompeito candies."

Kyungsoo giggled. "'Cause you totally need more candies." He gave Kai's stomach a few pats. Kai gasped.

"Are you calling me fat?!" He lifted his shirt up, showing himself off. "Where do you see fat?! Tell me! Where?! From where must it be removed?!"

Kyungsoo laughed and swung his feet onto the bed so he and Kai were laying beside eachother. Kai's arm wrapped around the doll's shoulders, his shirt still ridden up. Rolling his eyes, Kyungsoo reached over and pulled it down. This was not the right time for Kai to be doing this to him. Kyungsoo had had enough of the other's teasing for the day.

But Kai had other plans. He remembered seeing an old pool table in the corner of the attic when he was leaving D.O there. With a huge smirk plastered on his face, Kai lifted Kyungsoo's face by the chin to look at the boy's face. His eyes twinkled with mischeif. Kyungsoo knew that this was a bad sign. Oh no. What was the younger up to now?

"There's a pool table upstairs in the attic. Wanna play me?"

Kyungsoo's eyes widened. Pool? He hated pool. It was a game that drunkards played in clubs to win money only to get more drinks. But hating it didn't mean he was bad at it. Kyungsoo's father was a professional pool player, and naturally had taught Kyungsoo to play too. The corners of the doll's lips curved into a devious smile. He'd enjoy creaming Kai.

"You're on."

"You sure?" Kai asked. "Because now that I think of it, I believe this will end up as a disaster. For you."

"Yah!" Kyungsoo cried, sitting up. "We'll see about that! Where's the pool table?"

Kai jumped out of bed, literally, and gestured for Kyungsoo to follow him. The two made their way out the door and through the end of the hall. It was the same route Kyungsoo had taken with the maid showing him where the laundry room was. But instead of heading straight like he had with her, Kyungsoo went after Kai as the older took a left turn to a narrow staircase. They bounded up it, through the door at the top, and henceforth into the attic.

Kyungsoo could barely see anything. The lights were off, and the main lighting source, the sun, was not available at this time. He clung to Kai's arm, letting the younger lead him through the dark attic. They almost fell when Kai tripped over a small box on the floor, sending both doll and master flying forward. Somehow they managed to regain their balance, but a puff of dust was disturbed with the action, and both boys coughed severly from the particles.

Kai felt the wall for the light switch. He hated how it seemed to get farther and farther from him everytime he was searching for it. But soon he found it, and flicking it on, went to look for the pool table. He retraced his steps from earlier, and Kyungsoo pranced along behind him. Just like a little deer.

"Here it is!" Kai exclaimed, clapping his hands. He looked into the corner pockets and started taking the balls out and placing them on the table. "Here, set these up. I'll go get the pool sticks."

Kyungsoo did as Kai had told him. He watched the younger go in search of the sticks as he performed his task. At one point, Kai reached up to see if they were on an overhead shelf. His shirt rode up a little bit, and Kyungsoo could just make out Kai's hipbones in the small opening of skin. Shaking his head, the doll went back to properly arranging the pool balls. Maybe occasionally peeking at Kai.

As soon as Kai found the pool sticks, he tossed one to Kyungsoo. The balls were all set up too. The game was ready to begin. Kai gestured for Kyungsoo to go first.

A half an hour later, the game had turned horribly awry for Kyungsoo. He was losing by a long shot, something that he had never thought would happen. But it seemed as though Kai's boasts that he was going to win weren't a lie. The younger was much better than the older at the game. Kyungsoo had a lot to teach his father after this experience.

"This is so unfair," he wailed after Kai's strike caused three more balls to roll into the corner pockets. 

"Your shot, babe." Kai leaned on his pool stick, smirking as if he'd done something naughty.

Kyungsoo huffed. "Stop smiling like that. You haven't won yet."

"I'm about to, though. Looks like I get to have you as mine for the night~"

Kyungsoo tried his best to ignore the statement which sent shivers of want through his entire body. He focused his attention on one of two remaining striped balls still remaining on the table. God, he hated pool. And now he had one more reason to hate it. He was regretting accepting Kai's challenge so much...

"Steady," Kai whispered, his hot breath hitting Kyungsoo's neck. "Focus, doll face. Are you focusing?" His arms wrapped around Kyungsoo's waist, one hand travelling downwards to play with the hem of the older's jeans.

Kai was trying to distract Kyungsoo. And boy, was it working. When Kai's lips danced along Kyungsoo's neck, the older jerked away from him, accidentally sending the cue ball into one of the corner pockets. Kai clapped sarcastically, smirking.

"Woops."

"Yah!" Kyungsoo yelled, throwing down his pool stick. "That doesn't count!"

"Oh, but it does."

"Cheater!"

"Tease." Kai reached into the pocket and pulled out the ball. He placed it on the table at a position to his liking and leaned down over the table. "Have you ever read The Three Musketeers?"

"What's it about?"

Kai looked up with a very unimpressed expression. "Uh, the title is kind of a giveaway? Really, doll face? But I assume that you've never read it before since you have no idea what I'm talking about. Anyways, there was a character in the book that Taemin reminds me of." He hopped a little to the side, adjusting his position to the ball. "Her name was Milady. Very deceitful, and by the book, stunning. She used her beauty for seduction purposes. Slept with every man that could give her something she wanted or needed." He eased back his pool stick, gaze locked dead onto the ball, and shot it forward. "Taemin's just like her. And Minho's like the musketeer who loved her, Athos. He did everything for Milady until he found out her dirty secrets and how she had betrayed him. Just like Minho."

All the while, the number eight ball had been flying around the table as he spoke. It skidded to a stop near one of the holes in the corner. It tottered on the edge, as if it were contemplating whether it should fall in or not. Then, slowly, it dropped inside. The winning shot. Kai smiled triumphantly while Kyungsoo's lips pursed into a thin white line.

"See, doll face? Told you I was fabulous at everything."

"You're a cheater!" Kyungsoo snapped, but Kai could tell he wasn't really mad. "You're lucky I love you enough not to shove this stick up your !"

"You love me enough to let me shove my stick up your ," Kai laughed. "Come on, doll face! All's fair in love and pool."

"You mean war," Kyungsoo corrected.

"Same thing." Kai ran a hand through his tousled hair. "Besides, we all know you're still more perfect than I am."

"Not true!"

"Totally true." Kai lifted Kyungsoo onto the pool table. He spoke the next few words with a fancy French accent. "Dees face! Dees eyes! Ah! Tu es spectaculaire!"

"Et tu es un idiot," Kyungsoo giggled. "But you're my idiot."

Kai beamed. He jumped up onto the pool table beside Kyungsoo. They both swung their legs like little kids on a dock, leaning back on their hands. The attic was strangely a very soothing place. There was noone there to bother them, and the dim lighting gave it a tranquil atmosphere. Add a couple of candles and you could use it as a place to do yoga.

And Kai found this as the perfect oppurtunity to ask Kyungsoo something he'd been wanting to for a while now. The idea had been bugging him in his head for days, and when he had told Kyungsoo that he wouldn't want to live without him, he knew it was the right decision. But when he went to open his mouth to speak, the words came out empty. No sound. Just breaths. Kai clamped his mouth shut. He hated being nervous. Nervous was not his thing.

And it struck him how Kyungsoo had the ability to make him nervous. Embarassed. Shy. Though he didn't seem to act like it, Kai was extremely shy around Kyungsoo. He always chose his words wisely in his head before blurting them out. He made sure they came out smart. Kyungsoo's opinion of him was the most important opinion of all.

But he needed the answer to this question. Maybe he could voice it a different way? Like lawyers when their first question is objected by the judge, and they're forced to rephrase it. Kai contemplated how that could be done in a way that wouldn't scare Kyungsoo. The last thing he wanted was for the doll to think he was some sort of freak.

The boss' son rolled a pool ball across the table. It bounced back to him when he hit the edge. Everytime he repeated the action, a new phrase popped into his head. But none of them seemed to be good enough. This question was extremely important. And the answer? Even more. The answer could even mean life and death for Kai. He wouldn't want to live if he got the answer he didn't want to here.

Gripping the poker ball tightly, Kai turned to look at Kyungsoo. The boy's face was lifted up to the ceiling, eyes closed. His breath was even. It looked as though he was meditating, and Kai wondered if Tao had told Kyungsoo how to succumb to zen. Scooting over closer to the older, Kai poked his shoulder. Kyungsoo opened one eye.

Kai gulped. "Doll face? Tell me: where do you see yourself in the future?"

"Hm?"

"Like, where are you going to be a few years from now?"

Kyungsoo fu