Everything was falling into place, Kris thought happily as he walked Kyungsoo to his final class of the day. Sure their friends teased them and still got on Kris’ nerves, but he took it all in stride after all, he had Kyungsoo why would he complain.

Their relationship had even progressed to the boyfriend stage and Kris had Kyungsoo watching all his basketball games cheering silently next to a boisterous Luhan, while he in return attended all Kyungsoo recitals with Tao.

It was perfect Kris thought as Kyungsoo brushed his hand against his to retrieve the books he had offered to carry for him,

“You don’t have to pick me up today, Jongdae, Baek and I have extra vocal lessons. They’ll walk me home tonight,”

Kris fought the urge to pout still slightly jealous of the two, he nodded reluctantly before eyeing the deserted halls. After confirming it was empty he leaned forward swiftly, but Kyungsoo was even quicker turning his head sideways with a small laugh as Kris’ kiss landed on his cheek instead. He took a step backwards eyes crinkling at Kris’ dissatisfied pout.

“See you later, hyung,” he said softly,

“Tease,” Kris muttered as Kyungsoo slid into his class. He turned and started to make his way to the other side of campus. He glanced at his watch eyes widening when he saw the time, he broke off into a sprint coach was going to kill him for being late, again.

-

Kyungsoo dropped his things in his room before going to Kris’ knocking lightly at his door. A few seconds passed in silence,

“Hyung?”

Kyungsoo turned the doorknob brows furrowing when he saw the empty room, he checked the time on his phone. Kris should have been home by now his training finished two hours earlier.

He was about to close the door and head back to his own room when he heard a sound he was becoming increasingly familiar with recently, he entered the room making his way to Kris’ window.

He parted the translucent curtains and peered out past the pool where Luhan was tanning, he shook his head with a small laugh only Luhan would think to tan in winter. The person he was looking for was still in his school uniform dribbling his basketball across one of the courts by himself. He contemplated opening the window to call out to Kris, but decided against it when he saw the focused look on the older boy’s face.

He looked around bored stifling a yawn as he wondered how long Kris would take, his eyes darted to Kris’ untouched bed tempted. Just a few minutes he promised himself as he jumped onto it with a happy sigh.

-

Kyungsoo’s brows furrowed as something warm caressed his cheek, he swatted it away annoyed that his sleep had been interrupted. They were all busy lately and sleep was something he missed dearly. A familiar chuckle forced his eyes open, Kris smiled at him continuing to the side of his face.

By the looks of it he had just gotten out of the shower, Kyungsoo frowned even with his damp fringe stuck onto his forehead Kris looked attractive. Kris poked the furrow between Kyungsoo’s brows, pretending to even it out.

“Tired?” he asked as Kyungsoo sat up,

“I should be asking you that question, don’t you think you’re working yourself too hard?” Kris grinned,

“The finals are in two weeks, Kyungsoo, we have to win,”

A flash of insecurity passed through Kris with just the thought, his teammates were depending on him he couldn’t afford to fail. Kyungsoo reached for Kris’ hand and held it in his sensing his worry,

“You’re going to win, hyung. I’ll be right there cheering you on,”

It was ridiculously really how Kyungsoo could ease Kris’ worries before making his heart soar a tenfold.

-

Kris caught the ball breaking free from his opponent he blinked trying to clear his sweat filled vision as he looked up at the basket. He contemplated his options as the crowd’s chanting and cheering dulled in the background, he took in his teammates position spotting a wide eyed Chanyeol furthest from the hoop.

Their team was falling behind by two points they needed a three point shot to win, Chanyeol shook his head pleadingly as Kris pushed forward past a boy guarding him and passed the ball to him. Chanyeol froze as the crowd went wild indicating the few seconds they had left to score, to win.

“Come on Chanyeol!”

“Shoot!”

Kris and the other boys held back the opposing team, Kris nodded at him

“Just as we practiced Yeol, you can do it,”

Chanyeol took a deep breath decided to trust his best friend and take the shot, the crowd fell silent and Chanyeol shut his eyes just as they erupted into deafening screams. It wasn’t until he heard Kris let out a triumphed cry that he opened them to look at the scoreboard.

75-74

His jaw dropped as his teammates rushed towards him crushing him in a group hug, the crowds had now broke off from cheering and was now singing their school’s national anthem proudly, mocking the rival team and crowd. Tao and Yixing grabbed him as soon as he was free yelling their congratulations at him, he brushed it off knowing he couldn’t have done it without everyone else,

“It was all Kris really, where is he by the way?” he said humbling trying to divert the attention off him.

Tao grinned cocking his head towards the crowd stand where Kris was hugging an elated and proud looking Kyungsoo who looked tiny in comparison.

“Team photo!” Someone yelled, Yixing and Tao pushed Chanyeol towards their school photographer, he grabbed them before they could move away.

“I want you guys to be in the photo,” he said throwing his arms around the two, Kris joined them with similar thoughts as he held onto a struggling Kyungsoo’s wrist. The rest of the team shuffled in behind them with their own group of friends, the photographer was about to take the picture when Kris held up a hand stopping him.

“Wait, where’s my brother?”

It was time to put past grudges to rest, judging by the slight squeeze on his hand Kyungsoo thought the same. Luhan seemed genuinely surprised as Minseok and Junmyeon shoved him forward, Junmyeon anticipating what would happen next dodged Luhan’s hands while Minseok was dragged into the photo.

The two stood in front of Kris and Kyungsoo crouching down low enough for Kyungsoo to be seen, but high enough to hide Kyungsoo and Kris’ entwined fingers. The flash of the camera went off capturing the historic moment.

-

Kris entered the house whistling, he paused when he caught sight of the letter stack on the foyer table. He looked around for Wei wondering why he hadn’t sent the mail to each of their rooms, he shrugged before deciding to grab his own mail.

Oddly enough the mail was already sorted with his mother’s on the top, Luhan’s in the middle and his right under. He brought his mail into the kitchen hungry from his early morning jog, he flipped through his mail stopping at the familiar logo at the corner of one of the letter.

His hand shook as he reached for the letter flap before stopping. This was what he worked for ever since junior high, ever since his father praised his skills in the sport, what was holding him back. Sudden singing from the back staircase leading to the kitchen answered his question, Kris ran to the trashcan dumping the letter in without a second thought. Kyungsoo appeared seconds later,

“Morning hyung, want me to make you something?” Kris nodded heart thumping loudly at almost being caught, Kyungsoo caught sight of the letters on the counter as he opened the fridge.

“Anything interesting?” he asked grabbing some eggs, Kris shook his head.

“Just the usual,”

“Sport stuff?” Kyungsoo asked pulling out a frying pan, Kris froze making Kyungsoo look up at him. He broke out of his reverie to answer,

“Uh, yeah. Catalogues and things, I’m just going to shower real quick,” he told Kyungsoo who nodded before resuming his task.

When Kris came back late that night he was oddly relieved to see that the trash had been thrown out.

-

Chanyeol and Kris grabbed their yearbooks from the office, Chanyeol was already brandishing a sharpie signing Kris’ even as he protested. He handed the book back,

“So did you get your letter y-“

Kris slapped a hand over Chanyeol’s mouth, he couldn’t risk anyone finding out.

“I’m not going.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened,

“You’re kidding? Dude you’re rejecting the big league?” he whispered,

“It’s too far, Yeol, we’re talking about Canada here,”

Chanyeol shook his head shocked,

“But it’s the big league, a professional league,” he stressed,

“I wouldn’t even give a damn if it was the NBA’s, Yeol. It’s too far, I’m not going. Who cares where I play, I’ll just play for a minor league here-“

“He’ll be angry you know,” Chanyeol cut in quickly putting things together, knowing why Kris didn’t want to leave, “Kyungsoo’s going to be so freakin’ mad that you’re giving your career up for him,”

“It’s not a big deal,” Kris lied, “We haven’t even graduated, why are you pushing me to accept the offer? We can always win again next year,”

“Kris, I’m not asking you to dump him, but you have to think about this more before you discard it completely,” Chanyeol looked frustrated, Kris knew if he didn’t stop him now things would get loud.

“It’s too soon to leave,” Kris said, “I’m not declining the offer because I’m selfless so don’t think I’m doing some self-sacrificial crap. I’m declining it because I’m selfish, I want to be with Kyungsoo,”

Chanyeol bit his lip shaking his head,

“You’re an idiot,”

-

Kris entered Kyungsoo’s room waiting for the younger to finish his shower so they could go out for dinner, he looked around the room disinterestedly when he caught sight of a piece of paper sticking out of Kyungsoo’s drawer. He grinned at the unusual sight, Kyungsoo was usually a neat-freak. He walked over pulling the paper out about to put it on Kyungsoo’s table when he caught the first line on the paper,

Do Kyungsoo, Congratulations on your acceptance to…

He frowned Kyungsoo hadn’t told him he had been accepted to any company, he pushed down the weird feeling rising in his chest. Kyungsoo had probably just received the letter he told himself as he placed the paper down beside Kyungsoo’s open laptop.

He lips twitched upwards at the wallpaper of him playing basketball, he sat down eyes flickering instinctively to the minimized email icon. Before he even knew what he was doing the page opened up and he found himself staring at Kyungsoo unsent email declining his acceptance. In his shock he didn’t hear the water in the shower stopping or the door to the bathroom opening.

“Were you waiting long, hyung?” Kyungsoo asked as he grabbed his phone from his bedside table already fully dressed, he turned confused when Kris didn’t answer. The older boy had his back to him, Kyungsoo approached him stopping when he recognized what Kris was looking at. Kris stood up and Kyungsoo grabbed his arm.

“I can explain,” he cried out quickly, Kris shook him off,

“You don’t need to explain, I understand hangul perfectly fine,” Kyungsoo blocked his path when he tried to leave,

“Please don’t be angry, it’s not a big deal,”

“This is your future, that’s not a big deal?” Kris’ voice was controlled but his anger was clear, Kyungsoo didn’t reply,

“Even I know that company is the best Kyungsoo, you’d be a complete fool to reject it,”

“I don’t want it,” the younger said so weakly it was unconvincing.

“Are you really going to lie, Kyungsoo? I’ve heard you gush to Baekhyun and Jongdae on how you’d die if this company accepted you, what’s stopping you now?!” Kyungsoo lowered his head signaling the winner of the fight, Kris shouldn’t have felt victorious after all what he was doing was slightly-

“Hypocrite,” Kyungsoo whispered voicing Kris’ thoughts, the younger boy was looking at him now eyes angry, “You’re a hypocrite!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play innocent. I saw your letter, I also saw it in the trash unopened...” he pushed past Kris opening his drawer pulling out Kris’ letter, Kris grabbed it from him furious.

“You went through my stuff?” he yelled,

“I organize the letters every week, you idiot! I didn’t snoop around like you did!” Kyungsoo yelled back suddenly snapping.

Kris’ eyebrows twitched, he had to leave before he said something stupid. He took a step back as Kyungsoo took a step forward apologetic for his outburst, he tried not to see the sudden pleading look in Kyungsoo’s eyes as he turned around exiting the room.

-

It didn’t take much for the rest to catch on, they had guessed correctly after a few days of Kyungsoo’s constantly tearing up but holding it in and Kris snapping at absolutely everything anyone did. However, only Luhan, who had accidently heard everything, knew why the two were fighting.

It was only when Kyungsoo missed lunch for the fourth time that week that Kris made his decision, he stood up ignoring the glare Sehun sent him. The youngest had gotten overly attached to the motherly Kyungsoo after a few months and hated Kris whenever Kyungsoo got hurt, even when it wasn’t his fault.

He looked at Chanyeol mentioning for his friend to follow him. They entered the first empty classroom they could find.

“How do you feel about singing, Yeol?” Kris asked straight to the point, Chanyeol blinked at Kris stupidly before breaking out into a grin when he understood what Kris wanted him to do.

“I can rap,” he answered confidently, Kris looked relieved. He pulled Chanyeol into a hug,

“Thank you,” Chanyeol patted Kris’ back,

“Don’t mention it, basketball’s not really my thing anyway.” Kris pulled away looking at Chanyeol seriously,

“Are you sure about this?” he asked not wanting to force the boy.

“Are you?” Chanyeol shot back. Kris lowered his gaze, heart stuttering painfully in his chest.

“Look after him for me, Yeol,” Chanyeol nodded determined letting Kris leave knowing he had more to do. The blonde had already gotten his transfer forms earlier in the morning with Luhan, now he had to go look for a few more people.

He entered the Arts building going straight to third floor, he passed the music rooms peering in all of them until he found the person he was searching for. The piano playing stopped as he opened the door, Jongdae's eyes narrowed as Kris stepped closing the door behind him.

"Make it fast, Wu," he said idly pressing a few keys,

"I'm leaving," Jongdae's fingers stilled, he the bench facing Kris fully, the boy had his full attention now.

-

Kris’ hands stilled on Kyungsoo’s doorknob as thunder filled the air, the weather suited him perfectly tonight. He took a deep breath before he turned the knob slipping into Kyungsoo’s semi dark room silently, Kyungsoo was curled up on his side in his bed. His covers pooled at the foot of his bed probably thrown off sometime in his sleep, Kris picked them up covering Kyungsoo properly.

He moved to the side of Kyungsoo’s bed and crouched down in front of him, lightning lit up the room. Kris’ heart fell, Kyungsoo had cried himself to sleep again tonight. He sat down holding Kyungsoo’s hand gently in his, he stayed in that position until the storm let up and the sun started to paint the morning sky.

He stood up slowly when Kyungsoo started to move around in his bed eyes threatening to open. Kris slipped out of the door ignoring Luhan’s frustrated look. He entered his room sleeping the whole morning away and the cycle repeated for two more nights.

It was raining again on the fourth night, Kris held his breath as Kyungsoo flipped over in his bed as he shut the door behind him. He waited a few seconds before approaching Kyungsoo, he ran a shaking thumb over Kyungsoo’s tear stained cheek.

His hands trailed down to rest on Kyungsoo’s shoulders, he fought the urge shake the boy awake and instead leaned forward pressing his lips against the boy’s forehead. He stood up,

“Goodbye Kyungsoo, thank you for everything-“ he stopped voice wavering, “thank you for putting up with my temper, my idiocy, my jealousy and above all thank you for loving me,”

Kyungsoo waited until he heard the door click shut he flipped onto his back staring up at the ceiling as a hand came up to touch his forehead. Kris’ words repeated hollowly in his head and he sat up in his bed bothered. He was still for a few second before the start of an engine made him get up and walk to his window.

Fan Li imo stood under an umbrella arms crossed in front of her chest as she stared at her son loading a luggage into the boot of his car. Kyungsoo froze as he took in the scene playing out in front of him, Kris was leaving, a choked sound left his throat in shock.

Luhan ran out of the house grabbing Kris’ arm yelling out something that was drowned out by the rain. Kris shook his head and Luhan took a step back looking up at Kyungsoo’s window their eyes met. Luhan’s jaw dropped, Kyungsoo turned his gaze away to stare at the tense Kris who was speaking to his mother. Fan Li nodded before pulling Kris into a tight hug.

Kyungsoo took a step back from the window tears and rain finally blurring his vision of Kris, he grabbed for his chair blindly and sat down staring at his wall blankly. His fingers brushed against the yearbook he left on his table, previously shut he vaguely registered it was now open to the page titled 'the weirdest but epic group of friends.' A picture of the twelve of them sitting back on the lawn for lunch after winter passed. He looked at it wiping his tears away as he saw something that wasn't there earlier,

Do Kyungsoo even apart, you hold my heart.

I love you, I regret not saying it to you myself.

From the person who loves you most, Y.

A//N: Hey y’all, this chapter is basically just events leading to the final chapter. Sorry if all the time jumping confuses you. One last chapter before the story ends

:) :(  