Standing casually in front of the clean mirror, Kyungsoo stared at himself with a distorted face. A look of disgust was evident in the way his expression was shaped.

Fat… and disgusting.

His mind repeated these three words in a constant echo-like manner.

Lifting his large t-shirt upward, Kyungsoo grimaced at the image that displayed before him. Synonyms of the word fat jumped around in his fragile mind. He was a disgusting freak, one that radiated shame from his body. 

As his eyes traveled towards the toilet, Kyungsoo felt the luring sensation from last night call for him once more. It was tempting. And tempting as it was, Kyungsoo gave in after a brief glance at his body. 

Just as he was hovering over the toilet, a slight knock interrupted his intentions. 

“Kyungsoo-ah? I need to use the bathroom. Hurry!” Baekhyun’s childish voice whined as the pounding against the door returned. Huffing at the annoyance of being interrupted, Kyungsoo let the dancing boy in. He was quickly shoved out into the hallway and the door was slammed almost as quickly.

“There you are Kyungsoo.” The surprised boy jumped once again, startled from the sudden voice appearing.

Kyungsoo grimaced when he saw the leader of Exo K.

“Here, I saved a bowl for you.” Suho forcefully gave Kyungsoo a bowl of breakfast, one that didn’t look half as bad as the caloric meal from last night. 

“Thanks… Hyung.” Kyungsoo followed Suho into the kitchen where most of the boys were enjoying their breakfast. Suho gestured for him to sit and Kyungsoo did as he was told.

With twelve boys living in a one dorm, being loud was not a problem. Kyungsoo got to experience this first-hand. 

“I can’t believe we have to visit the company today.” Chen sighed crossing his arms, obviously displeased from the early announcement. Kris rolled his eyes. “It’s only a brief meeting.”

“But we’re supposed to be on break!” He retorted. Kris slapped the whining male on the head and that small act shut him up from then onwards.

“Even so, we should appreciate the free-time they’ve given us. Once we debut, we won’t have these amounts of time to just be lounging around and going clubbing. They’re just being lenient on us since we’re rookies.” Suho said, earning groans from various boys throughout the room.

“Not again.”

“Please don’t go ranting on us.”

“No lectures please!”

Suho shook his head in displeasure at the complaints being thrown at him.

The whining soon stopped though, and useless chatter echoed from corner to corner. Kyungsoo sat idly in his chair, spoon moving at an agonizingly slow pace to his mouth. He could only stare with wide eyes at the energy his band was able to emit.

The group chattered among themselves while Kyungsoo quietly ate his non-appetizing breakfast. He eventually lands eyes on a specific dancer, who seems to be enjoying his time.

Jongin smiled. 

Kyungsoo’s breath hitched.

Sehun’s low whispering echoed in Jongin’s ear, making the latter laugh out loud with eyes scrunching like crescent moons. Kyungsoo stared in awe at the scene. 

Jongin truly was beautiful.

Within his exterior, Kyungsoo saw beauty. His laugh was so sincere when Sehun whispered another lame joke. 

It’s then, Kyungsoo realized something. Jongin was a fake. The way he smiled, hands balling up because he couldn’t contain his laughter, it was the real him. The only thing standing in his all-perfect self was Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo was the sole reason Jongin got mad all the time.

It was all Kyungsoo’s fault.

With the incident earlier at the club, a part of the sincere Jongin was there. There was a reason he stepped up to defend his band member, and Kyungsoo loved that side of him.

Jongin had beauty prospering inside him, but Kyungsoo sadly will never get to experience that side. He was only the obstacle. Jongin’s obstacle. 

***

“Now that we’ve all gathered, I’d like to announce information about the New Year’s gathering.” A high-up manager said just as the last of artists and staff quietly presented themselves in the room. 

Kyungsoo listened dreadfully, eyes concentrated on the glass table set before him. 

“As you all know, the occasion begins at six and ends at midnight. Need I remind you guys, this is a formal event.” The old man said with determination, glaring at some who snickered. 

“Ah,” He snapped, “we will also be showcasing a talent show. Our CEO recommends our trainees,” he glared at Exo in particular, “to participate in this, for he hasn’t seen many of your skills and talents first-hand. Impressing him will do you good in the future.” 

Chanyeol, Chen, Tao, Suho, and even Kris nodded. Much to his dismay, Kyungsoo felt a hard nudge at his side. He winced from the pressure and turned to see a hyped Baekhyun glowering at him like a puppy. His mouth was wide open in a rectangular-like shape, eyes wide with enthusiasm, and half hanging from the chair.

Kyungsoo knew Baekhyun’s intentions.

Shaking his head, he got up as the old man dismissed some of the staff and artists. Everyone was making their way through the door and Kyungsoo wasn’t watching his steps, mind concentrated on poor excuses as to why he would not be entering the showcase. 

***

“I thought we were friends.” Baekhyun jutted his lips in an annoying pout as he sat at the edge of Kyungsoo’s bed. The person being accused was none other than Kyungsoo himself.

“We are-”

“Please! Just this once! I really want to do it!” Baekhyun intervened, hopping on the mattress with child-like behavior. Kyungsoo sighed because the latter was too enthused in an event he did not want to participate in. Yet Baekhyun hadn’t got the hint. 

“You know I’m not into things like this.” Kyungsoo informed. Baekhyun shook his head in distaste, crossing his arms. “But you also know I’m into things like this.”

Grumbling to himself, Kyungsoo opted to ignore the latter. But after ten seconds of constant chatter and rambling, he was forced to kick Baekhyun off, though he really didn’t mean to hit him that hard. Baekhyun slouched to the side in a puppy-like manner. 

Silence soon consumed them and Kyungsoo felt that it was odd Baekhyun was actually being quiet for once. Not believing it with his own ears, he turned to see no Baekhyun. He was alone in the room.

Relieved because of the riddance of the pester, Kyungsoo slumbered into his bed and was about to dwell himself in dreamland, but a gnawing feeling began invading his thoughts. Baekhyun’s pout reappeared in mind and Kyungsoo felt himself becoming a falling victim to those puppy eyes. 

Agitated once again, Kyungsoo slipped out of bed and into the living room where most boys were. Some were gone but most remained in the comfort of their dorm.

He saw Baekhyun leaning against Chanyeol, frown obvious to everyone around. Guilt ate him up inside.

“Our rap will certainly win!” Chanyeol clapped as he high-fived Kris, who was just as excited as Chanyeol. 

“That’s good, Chanyeol. I believe in you!” Baekhyun slapped his back and Chanyeol laughed with fighting spirit, though there was a hint of envy within his breaking voice.

Kyungsoo grimaced because he knew he was going to regret what he was about to do.

Walking up to Baekhyun, he smiled with admiration. “I’ll do it.”

Baekhyun tilted his head once, then a grin appeared.

***

“Would you ever date me?”

Kyungsoo was taken aback from the blunt question. Eyes suddenly alert from the attention, Kyungsoo coughed in embarrassment as Jongin awaited his answer. Everyone in the room was suddenly adverting their concentration to the scene unfolding before them.

“I-uh-I d-don’t think so…” he stuttered himself while playing with his fingers. Not only was he twiddling with his hands, but his face was red and heated. 

“What kind of question is that?” Luhan asked in defense to Kyungsoo’s nervous self. He wrapped long arms around the narrowness of the younger’s shoulder, feeling the way his body was tensing. 

“I was just wondering. I mean, it would if someone as low as him would ever want to be with me. My reputation would definitely drop.”

“That doesn’t mean you can embarrass him like that. And someone as low as him? What are trying to say here, Jongin?” Luhan fumed as Kyungsoo gradually turned pale. 

“I know you’re smarter than this, Luhan. You know exactly what you I mean.” Jongin retorted. Luhan scoffed out of annoyance.

“Leave Kyungsoo alone and go play with Sehun!”

Jongin laughed and flicked the Chinese male on the nose. “Whatever, Luhan.” And with that, Jongin left the room, leaving an eerie atmosphere behind as well. Luhan was trying to comfort him while the other members were baffled as to what to do with what they saw. 

Eventually, everyone was back to their normal selves and all was forgotten.

Later that night, Kyungsoo felt his insides burn through his throat, as it was the passage to the way out of his mouth and into the toilet. 

I can now update! School's finally out and they lended their computers to the students over the Summer who have colleges classes, also getting rid of the school security filter! Updates will be more frequent. I'm so excited and hopefully you guys are too! I promise I'm not abandoning this fic! I'm sorry for those subcribers who have to read this all over again, but soon you guys will be reading new stuff and I will tell you when! Thanks for being so patient and I appreciate the comments. They give me so much inspiration, but please, don't beg me to update constantly and instead, tell me how you think of the story so far and how I can improve. It will help me so much. Thanks again!