Prologue: Rose Osiria

Eleven thirty in the morning, it was quite unusual to see a certain table in the far left corner of their University’s courtyard slash cafeteria, empty. A live version of either Clash of the Titans or a very dramatic live action of World War Z would usually take place on the said table and would often start at ten o’clock in the morning when the first set of classes would end. It would usually start with Jongdae’s snickers, followed by Baekhyun’s cry that would soon be accompanied by Chanyeol’s low yet loud cackles. That day was quite weird, really, the table was empty, except for a boy that he had never seen before that quickly bolted when Kyungsoo came into view.

“Nice to meet you too, I guess?” He chuckled as he took a seat right by the small rose bush he had been watching since the school year started. Hybrid Rose Osiria – the caretaker told him once, a type of Hybrid Tea rose that had one of the most exquisite color combinations – its petals were blood red on the inside and chaste silvery white on the outside. It was spring and the flower was at its full blossom and Kyungsoo thought it was phenomenal. The way the bush slowly danced along the cool spring breeze, and the way the birds sang along with the gust was making his heart flutter a little bit. The serenity was just a little too overwhelming, he just found himself humming a random tune he created in his head the night before.

D#           Dm          Cm          Gm

The chords registered in his head as he imagined his fingers dancing over the keys of his dream grand piano, as he translated each one into beautiful notes, singing along words that hadn’t been written yet. One day, he said, soon, he even added, he would inscribe those words on each note and would create a song that would not only create serenity, but also love. It was quite a dream, no, a promise, yet Do Kyungsoo was very determined he would achieve it.

Serenity was quite a dream alright, proven right when his juvenile tranquillity started, Clash of the Titans and World War Z came running towards him. He wanted to cry.

“Kyungsoo-aaaaaaaaaaaah~~” Chanyeol cooed, voice booming across the pacific ocean, snuggling onto his arm. It made Kyungsoo feel a little too disgusted, making the elder receive a glare accompanied by a slight kick on the shin. Chanyeol stumbled a little bit and almost fell on Kyungsoo’s roses.

What happened after wasn’t very unpredictable. Baekhyun was heaving for air as he choked on his tapioca. Jongdae wasn’t really any better and was punching the dying Baekhyun’s shoulder, mouth wide open, while Chanyeol was frozen in between what looked a lot like a walking stick having a heart attack and a beat up puppy.

“Touch that rose again and I swear I will beat the out of you then castrate you and feed your ing s to the piranhas in Amazon River then I will put the remaining parts of your body in a grinder and make a burger out of it.”

If they all didn’t know Kyungsoo, they would flinch and probably run away after. Do Kyungsoo, their very much of an over-achiever of a friend, was very creative with words, especially with threats and such. It was quite amusing in Jongdae’s opinion – one time his roommate would be all squishy and and then be murderous the next.

“Who are we planning to kill now, if I may ask?” A young boy, with light blonde hair grazed with black roots shoved Chanyeol, making the elder trip all the way down the floor, and took a seat right beside Kyungsoo. “Chanyeol-hyung I presume?” The newcomer even added without even looking at the whining Chanyeol still snuggling with the floor.

“Well it would be nice if you two hung out with us for brunch.” Chanyeol, who finally decided that the floor was too hard and a little too mossy, finally got up and took a seat across the blonde boy. “Hello to you too Sehun.”

“Well it would be nice too if I was informed.” Kyungsoo piped up, fishing his music sheets from his backpack. Scribbled on the clean sheets, were notes neatly drawn, on the sides were small doodles – from English words written in beautiful cursive pencraft to a very distinct figure of a boy that seemed to be doing some sort of forward ballotte.

D#           Dm          Cm          Gm

The same tune played in his head once more, as his hands traced along the lines of the sheet, with eyes closed, imagining how his notes would look as beautiful as it would sound. As if on cue, his hands started working along with his heart – scribbling notes and chords as he hummed silently in the midst of this chaos he would call friends.  He heard Chanyeol’s deep guffaw once more, maybe he needed some bass note somewhere in along that part. And then there was Jongdae and Baekhyun’s screeches, maybe some sharps too towards the end. Sehun just sighed – yes, yes, a rest would be nice as well. The next thing he knew, Kyungsoo already finished a bar line and half.

bass note: lowest note played*****
sharp: makes a note higher in pitch by a half step*****
rest / music rest: marks the absence of a note***** 
      

“Hi babe.”

The voice sounded a little familiar, Kyungsoo’s heart suddenly skipped a beat – a staccato would also be nice atop that half note. The graphite of his pencil was about meet his music sheet when his eyes decided to flutter open and meet the eyes of the newcomer – sun-kissed skin, sparkling under the beautiful sunlight, eyes cavorting between confusion and glee, smile that could battle the Northern lights. It must be nice to have a good memory. Yet Kyungsoo somehow started wishing he had a very rusty mind. Then he wouldn’t have to remember those eyes that would sparkle under the moonlight. He wouldn’t think of that bronze skin that would look so perfect in the midst of bright stage lights. And his heart wouldn’t create a tornado in his chest as he stared at that gleaming smile – maybe a staccatissimo would fit the note better.

staccato: a small dot placed above or below a note, making it brief in duration*****
staccatissimo: a small wedge or comma above a note that creates an exaggerated staccato*****

“Guys, this is Jongin.” Sehun s an arm around the newcomer’s waist. “My boyfriend.”

Forgetting about his own dilemma, his eyes travelled across the table, meeting Chanyeol’s.

“It’s okay.” The elder mouthed, eyes almost too close to crying yet lips slowly curving into smile. “Nice to meet you! I’m Park Chanyeol!” Deep voice, once again, booming across the globe, their giant of a friend jumped towards his best friend’s new boyfriend and shook Jongin’s hand.

“Uh nice to meet you too?” Jongin awkwardly shook the elder’s hand back before Chanyeol decided to make an excuse that he just got a text from Junmyeon and that he needed to cover a shift at the comic book shop. Kyungsoo knew more yet just decided that silence would always be better – especially when Jongin averted his eyes to him making him flinch a little.

Overflowing with grace, Jongin strode towards him and Kyungsoo wanted to run when the boy reached to him – only to be disappointed when the hand went all the way past him and was just a few centimeters away from his beloved rose bush. “These roses look really nice. I haven’t seen them before.”

“I suggest you not to touch those.” Baekhyun, who was busy fumbling with his phone, spoke. “If you don’t want to be castrated at least. Byun Baekhyun by the way, music major.”

“Huh?”

Jongdae grinned. “Those.” The elder pointed at the roses. “Are his.” The finger moved to his direction. “Babies. And mama bear here is very protective. So you might not want to even look at those flowers, if you don’t want your s getting thrown in a river of piranhas. Kim Jongdae, music prodigy, always kicking Baekhyun’s in everything.”

“ you Kim Jongdae.”

“Ew. No thank you. I’m perfectly fine-“

“With your ?” Sehun almost fell from his chair.

“Better than Baekhyun.” The blonde boy stood up and walked towards Baekhyun, who was in the process of thinking of ways to kill Kim Jongdae without leaving any traces, and held the elder down.

“Junmoney-hyung wouldn’t be happy if you murdered Trolldae.” Sehun smirked.

Jongin’s eyes met his once more. Kyungsoo started feeling quite stuffy, drawing triangular accents over his half note a little more than necessary. He started thinking of a different set of notes, Nocturne Op. 32 from the ballet Les Sylphides – composed by Frederic Chopin, one of his favorite musicians. The doodle of the boy doing a ballotte started moving, it did a triple pirouette, then an a la seconde, then a cabriole, followed by a set of pas de burre. He suddenly felt a little dizzy, how could such memories float around his head so blatantly? Were they really memories even? Because when Kyungsoo tried to reminisce each moment, it seemed more like a dream. It felt like a dream in the middle of a pandemonium he used to be in. A dream that ended up almost like a nightmare. Maybe it really was.

“Hi?” The familiar voice rang inside his head; the dancer on his music sheet did his ballotte once more as he heard silent murmurs and applause in the back of his mind.

“Hello.”

“Have we met before?”

I don’t know. Have we?

Kyungsoo looked back at his music sheet, particularly to the boy stuck in his ballotte. Beside the boy was another figure, barely visible behind the rubbed out graphite and scribbles. Kyungsoo remembered the figure holding a microphone, with notes flying around its head. The figure had its eyes on the dancer, lips curving into a smile. Kyungsoo also remembered scrawling words under the figures – D.O. and KAI. Names that had been long forgotten yet still remembered. Quite impossible they would say yet Kyungsoo had always been different.

“I don’t think so.”

Jongin chuckled, Kyungsoo drew another staccato above his eight note. “Sorry. You just seem familiar.”

“Common face.”

“I’m having a hard time believing that.” Jongin smiled once more – another staccato – and laid his hand in front of Kyungsoo. “Kim Jongin.”

There was a pause, followed by another scribble – how do you express a vivace in writing again?

vivace: very lively and fast, with a tempo of 140 beats per minute****

“Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo.”

“Nice to meet you Kyungsoo-ssi.”

“Hyung.”

“Huh?”

“Call me hyung.” Kyungsoo pursed his lips. “I don’t tolerate impoliteness.”

“Mama bear seemed to woke up on the wrong side of his bed today.” Kyungsoo chucked his eraser at Jongdae.

A rest was drawn on the sheet once more as soon as Kyungsoo heard Jongin’s laughter echoed in his whole being. His world suddenly stopped spinning, and the ticking of the clock was replaced by the same chords that had been playing inside his head, harmonizing with the giggles that caused his everything to stop. A sforzando was drawn as he muted every single sound except for that familiar voice complementing the chords playing in his mind.

sforzando: makes a note louder than surrounding notes*****

D#           Dm          Cm          Gm

“Kyungsoo-ah?” Baekhyun waved his hand in front of him.

“Yeah? What?”

Baekhyun eyed him suspiciously, yet faltered when Kyungsoo just glared back.

“You are spacing out. Sehun and Jongin have to go to class. Are you not even going to say bye? Probably send your son to his classroom? I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want our baby Sehun to trip on his way, right?”

Jongdae tossed the eraser back to Kyungsoo, which Kyungsoo chucked at Baekhyun’s face. However, Kyungsoo really didn’t get half of what his friend said. His focus seemed to be on three specific words – a marcato was drawn on the sheet.

marcato: makes a note slightly more pronounced than surrounding note*****

Sehun and Jongin.

Kyungsoo wanted to cry; maybe he should add another marcato or maybe a double sharp? Kyungsoo’s mind had always been sharp, top student with pictographic memory, and voice of an angel yet why did it seem like his brain somehow started malfunctioning as his eyes met Jongin’s. They were round, and reminded him of chocolates.

Sehun and Jongin.

Kyungsoo hated those words, because before Romeo and Juliet, there was Silvia and Valentine. Before Tristan and Isolde there was Leubald. Before Sehun and Jongin, there was Jongin and Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo with Jongin, Jongin with Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo wanted to scream. A sforzando would really fit that sixteenth note.

*****

A/N: Part 2

A spin off to Sacntuary ChanHun-centric version of the story, but can stand alone. No need to read Sacntury if you dont feel like it, but some implied information might be a little hazy if you didnt tbh. I suggest you do but not required.
Also, first KaiSoo fic I'm kind of nervous since KaiSoo fics just have this certain reputation I'm not sure I can meet lol but I will try xDD
If you liked it please comment and/or upvote. Thanks!

xoxo - rin