Because they could have been, but they never were.

{KyungHye/JiSoo/SooHye}

-0-

I remember when we were yelled at for talking in the halls
I don’t know why it was so fun even when we were being punished
After that day (yeah yeah) we always (yeah yeah)
Stuck together like the Astro twins, you were me and I was you

“We’re going to get in trouble.”

“No, we’re not. We’re not doing anything wrong. Live a little, Ji Hye.”

It was one of those rare moments where Ji Hye and Kyungsoo seemed to have switched personalities. Ji Hye was continuously glancing over her shoulder while Kyungsoo forged ahead. She had a fistful of his shirt in her hand, crumpling the material. She couldn’t help but wonder what had gotten into her best friend.

‘Kyungsoo, we can’t do this,” she whispered, as if speaking too loudly would immediately land them in detention. “We’re going to get into trouble and we’re going to get kicked out of SM and all that training would have been for nothing!”

The elder rolled his eyes, turning around and gripping her arms lightly. “Ji Hye, would you relax? Where’s your adventurous spirit?”

“I left it in my dorm, unfortunately,” she replied sarcastically, giving him a blank stare. “Along with Hee Jin and Eun Jung. Who are sleeping. Like we should be.”

He rolled his eyes and wrapped a hand around her wrist, tugging her forward. “Stop worrying,” he told her as they exited the dormitories. “We’ll be back before midnight. We won’t get kicked out for  late-night snack.”

“And how many times have you done this before?”

This was actually his first time, but Chanyeol had always told him he’d done it dozens of times and he had never gotten caught, so how hard could it be? Still, he didn’t answer his younger friend because she doubted his troublemaking abilities enough as it was (for good reason) and he didn’t want her to go into cardiac arrest.

“Just trust me,” he answered instead, letting go of her wrist to link fingers with her instead. “Don’t worry so much. You’ll get wrinkles.”

She shoved him slightly, but didn’t let go of his hand. They continued walking down the streets, illuminated by the streetlights. Ji Hye almost wished she hadn’t said anything about not being able to enjoy Seoul since she moved there from Daegu. If she hadn’t, Kyungsoo might not have decided to be a rule-breaker (which was actually her job among the two) and drag her out after hours just to get some tteokbokki and talk. She wasn’t going to complain, though – she got to spend more time with him and that was always a good thing.

“You’re weird,” she said, shoving her hands into the pocket of her hoodie as he paid for their food and they began making their trek back to the dorms. “You’re dragging me out here at eleven at night just to get food. That’s what I usually do.”

“You said you hadn’t gotten a chance to look around Seoul since you moved here,” he said defensively, “so I’m just being a good friend and showing you around.”

“By getting me food.”

“I like food. Shush.”

He liked Ji Hye too, but he wasn’t about to tell her. So maybe the only reason he was dragging her out of the dorm after hours even though they had an early day tomorrow was because he wanted to spend more time with her. Arrest him if you want, but he wouldn’t regret it.

She scoffed lightly and rolled her eyes, but didn’t make any further comments. “Fine. You like food and I’m just an excuse,” she teased. “Hurtful.”

He linked arms with her as they walked back into their dorms, grinning slightly. “I like you too,” he admitted, “so that’s why I’m getting you food. All this time and you still don’t understand me.” He shook his head and pouted, his heart pounding from his almost confession that he was sure Ji Hye hadn’t picked up on.

“Whatever.”

She wished he meant that he liked her the way she wanted him to, but she knew better than that. After all, why would Do Kyungsoo like her, his clumsy best friend? He wouldn’t, so she would just thank her lucky stars that they were friends, even though it kind of stung to only be seen as his friend.

As they sat down in the middle of the hall – their roommates were sleeping and the last thing they wanted to share their food with other people – Ji Hye wondered how she could have fallen for another trainee.

It wasn’t a good thing, because sometimes trainees didn’t debut and it just made things awkward if you ever bumped into each other in the halls. She almost cringed at the thought of bumping into Kyungsoo, who had already debuted while she was making her way to dance class or something.

She didn’t doubt he would debut soon. He was good. Even though he was overly modest, he had a good voice and if SM didn’t debut him soon, they weren’t right in the head.

She bit her lip as Kyungsoo stretched himself out in front of her and hesitantly said, “Hey, Kyungsoo?”

“Hmm?”

She knew she would sound so stupid asking him. That didn’t stop her from asking, “We’ll still be friends even after you debut, right?”

He blinked at her owlishly before nudging her thigh with his foot lightly. “Are you kidding me? Of course! You might even be my sunbae, you know?”

She barked out an incredulous laugh. “That’s funny,” she chuckled. “Like I would debut before you.”

“You might. You’re good, you know?”

She was, but Kyungsoo never understood why she could never see it. The way he saw it, Ji Hye had a complex involving herself. She could never seem to notice all her good points and focused on her flaws. He felt like it was his duty to show her that she wasn’t as flawed as she thought she was. She was perfect (in his eyes) and he intended to show her.

She didn’t respond, chewing slowly on a fishcake as she glanced around the small corridor. She wasn’t meeting his eyes and he sighed slightly. Poking her shoulder, he whispered, “Hey, you are good. Don’t let anybody else tell you you’re not, okay?”

She swatted his hand away, but a smile lifted the corner of her lips. He grinned back at her and winked. “There’s that pretty smile.”

“Okay, stop,” she laughed, shoving him away. “That was so greasy!”

He pretended to look offended, holding a hand to his chest. “That’s offensive,” he cried. “I’m being nice and you accuse me of greasiness.”

She laughed again and accomplishment flooded Kyungsoo at the sound of her laugh.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

They didn’t have long before the beam of a flashlight caught them in its gaze and the two trainees were left to squint up at the blinding light. “What are you two kids doing here?”

They shared a look and winced. Busted.

They stood there, heads hung, the picture of guilt as the security guard ranted at them for twenty minutes about staying out after hours and causing a ruckus. Somewhere between the rant, Ji Hye’s fingers found Kyungsoo's and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Her shoulders were shaking and he could tell from the way her lips were pressed together that she was supressing a giggle.

His lips twitched and he had to cough to hide a laugh, which just sent the security guard on another rant about youngsters and their lack of respect for the older generation.

He didn’t like to get in trouble, but if it was with Ji Hye, then that was fine.

-0-

“Thought I’d find you here.”

Kyungsoo looks up from his drink, smiling tiredly at Ji Hye. Her hair is messy and it’s obvious she just rolled out of bed. Reflexively, he looks at the clock on the wall. In the dim light, he can tell that it’s a little after two in the morning.

“A little early, don’t you think?” he teases lightly, kicking out a chair for her to sit. She smiles wanly as she takes her seat, leaning her head on his shoulder. He stiffens for a brief moment before hesitantly putting an arm around her shoulders, moulding her to his side.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she murmurs. “Weird, huh?”

A little, but he’s up too, so maybe it’s not so weird. They should be asleep though. They’ve had a tiring day of practice and they have an early day tomorrow, starting with more practice and a radio show.

“Me too. Maybe it’s not that weird.”

“Maybe it’s just the two of us.”

He chuckles slightly at that. Now that she’s with Kyungsoo, she’s starting to feel a little sleepy. She won’t succumb to sleep just yet, though. She wants to spend some time with him. Lately, it feels like they don’t ever spend time together, even though they see each other every day. Sometimes she’s worried that they’re drifting apart, but then they’ll always have those late night, early morning talks when they both can’t sleep.

She sighs contentedly. Kyungsoo was always warm, which was a brilliant contrast to her own slightly cold skin. It didn’t matter what season it was – her skin would always be a couple degrees cooler than everyone else’s.

“Tired yet?” he asks softly, rubbing his hand against her arm.

“No.” A yawn escapes her lips. “Maybe a little.”

He laughs a little, gently pulling her off him. She pouts slightly, not appreciating being pulled away from her comfortable place.

“You should get to bed.”

It’s not that he doesn’t want to spend time with her. It’s just that he doesn’t want her to tire herself out any more than she already does. As the lead dancer, there’s a lot of pressure on her to dance perfectly and she can’t exactly do that if she’s half-asleep. It almost hurts to pull her away from him, but she’s tired and the chair is hardly a comfortable place to sleep.

She opens to protest, but Kyungsoo pushes her out of her seat. He doesn’t allow himself to think how tempting it is to place his lips on hers.

“Pushy,” she grumbles, but there’s no real irritation behind it. “I’m going, I’m going. Goodnight, Soo.”

She walks away. It’s the perfect time to tell her what he feels. Maybe then, he wouldn’t feel so suffocated whenever they have their late night talks. She might not even remember in the morning – she always did suffer from slight memory loss whenever she was exhausted – and he’s okay with that. He just wants to tell her.

“Ji Hye-yah,” he calls and she pauses at the doorway, turning around to face him.

“Hmm?”

The sight of her, half-asleep and listening, makes the words in his throat die. If he tells her, he might ruin their fragile relationship. There’s an annoying voice in the back of his mind that reminds him she might not feel the same way. He hates it, because it’s right. Why would she like him?

“Sweet dreams,” he recovers lamely. I love you.

Her smile is sleep-laced and maybe a little disappointed, but he won’t dwell on that.

“You too.” With that, she makes her way back to her room.

She sighs as she lies in her bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. She doesn’t know why she had her hopes up. What had she expected him to say? It certainly wasn’t going to be a confession.

“Idiot,” she mutters, rolling over and burying herself under the covers. “I’m such an idiot.”

I love you too.

You cried so much on the day before graduation.
You held it in firmly since you’re a guy.
Just like that hot summer when we couldn’t say what we wanted, goodbye

“Kyungsoo!”

He turned, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Ji Hye running after him, her backpack hanging off her shoulders and a bouquet of flowers in her hand. He waited as she caught her breath, telling his friends to go on without him.

“What are those for?” he asked, eyeing the flowers she clutched to her chest curiously.

She them towards him. “Happy graduation!” she exclaimed, grinning widely at him.

He grinned back, a little bewildered. “Graduation isn’t until tomorrow,” he pointed out, but took the flowers anyway. He hadn’t thought she would bother, since they saw each other at SM anyway.

“I know,” she answered, shifting on her feet and rubbing the back of her neck. “I’d give it to you tomorrow, but my aunt kind of promised that we’d go back to Daegu so I could see my parents and we won’t be back until late.”

“Oh.” He had wanted her to be there, but he understood that she missed her parents. It wasn’t right for a seventeen-year-old to go so long without seeing their parents. He was just glad that his parents only lived twenty minutes away.

“Sorry I can’t be there, Soo,” she apologised.

He waved a hand dismissively. “Whatever. I get it, so you don’t have to apologise. I wasn’t planning on inviting you anyway,” he teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Rude,” she huffed. “I get you flowers and you weren’t even planning on inviting me. You know what? I want my flowers back!”

“I was kidding,” he laughed, swatting her hand away and cradling the flowers protectively to his chest. “Hey, I like these flowers.”

“Good. I picked them myself.” She smiled and bit her lip. “You should probably get back to your friends. I have homework to do and stuff.”

She didn’t really want to leave, but she hated the thought of Kyungsoo graduating. It meant she couldn’t steal some of his lunch or have him drop by her locker for a quick chat. It that he graduated two years before she did. She’d miss having her best friend around.

He looked behind and shook his head. “Nah. They ditched me. I’d rather spend today with you, anyway.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “Really,” she said incredulously. “You’d rather spend time with a sophomore rather than with your own graduating friends.”

Of course he would. It was Ji Hye they were talking about. It didn’t matter that they would see each other for vocal lessons later or that they would still pass each other at the dorms. They weren’t parting forever, but it was a little different since he wouldn’t see her at school anymore. He would miss that.

“Yes, I would,” he told her, linking arms with her and walking off. “Hey, I’m graduating tomorrow. Humour me.”

“Don’t I always?”

He loved spending time with her, because she was possibly one of the few females that weren’t complicated.

(He loved her too, but that was a whole different thing altogether.)

He watched her as she balanced herself on the ledge of the fountain, making sure she wouldn’t fall into the cool water. With her lack of coordination (off the dance floor, at least), he wouldn’t be surprised if that happened.

They were at the park near their school. It had been an unusually warm spring (global warming, Ji Hye swore) and they had shed the yellow jacket of their high school. He had loosened his tie and both of them had rolled up the sleeves of their uniform.

“Have you heard?” she asked, finally getting down from the ledge and sitting next to him, on an ice cream pop.

“Heard what?”

“They’re thinking of debuting a new group.” Her eyes glinted and she nudged him, kicking her legs out. “I bet you any day now, they’re going to barge into your vocal class and tell you you’re going to be in that group. They already did that to Jongin, you know?”

He gave her an unimpressed stare. “Funny. Don’t you think it might be because he’s a little bit of a troublemaker?” he pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

“So am I, and I haven’t been called out. Ever. Isn’t Chanyeol-ssi like that too?”

Kyungsoo snorted. “Only around you. You’re a bad influence,” he teased, tutting as he gave her a mock glare. “Stay away from Chanyeol.”

She scoffed, grinning back at him. “Oh, now I’m the bad influence.” She stopped kicking her legs and sighed a little sadly, on her ice cream pop silently.

He frowned slightly and nudged her lightly. “Hey,” he called softly. “What’s wrong?”

Her smile was tinged with sadness as she looked up at him from beneath her bangs. “Nothing,” she replied. “It’s just… I’m kind of sad you’re graduating.”

She was mortified to find tears welling in her eyes. She wiped them away hurriedly; it was stupid to be crying. After all, it wasn’t like she was never going to see him again. Somehow, it was different, knowing she couldn’t just bump into Kyungsoo at school anymore.

“Don’t cry,” he cried, sounding a little alarmed. “It’s not like I’ll stop being your friend or whatever. And we’ll still see each other.”

She didn’t reply, keeping her head down and letting her hair hide her face from his worried gaze. She furiously wiped away the tears, not wanting to cry anymore but unable to stop. His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her close, letting her cry on his shoulder.

“I’m being dumb,” she hiccupped, willing the tears to just stop. “It’s just that I’ll miss seeing you in school and seeing you in the ridiculous uniform and just – I don’t know!”

He cleared his throat to get rid of unbidden tears. Hearing her say it like that, he was going to miss all of that too.

“I’ll miss all of that too,” he admitted, rubbing her back soothingly, “but we’ll still see each other at SM and I’ll still be your… friend.” Even if he wanted more, he wouldn’t dare risk his relationship with Ji Hye. She was precious to him and all he wanted to do was be there for her. Even if that meant just being friends, he’d take it.

She pulled away and wiped at the lingering tears on her cheeks and eyelashes. “Right,” she said, more to herself than Kyungsoo. “We’ll still see each other. We’ll still be friends.” It hurt to say that word, but she’ll take it. She didn’t want to risk their friendship just because she was in love with him. All the pain would be worth it as long as she could stay by his side. She smiled up at him, laughing shakily. “That was embarrassing.”

“It wasn’t,” he reassured her. “Besides, it’s just me.”

That was what made it embarrassing, but she wasn’t going to say that. It would make her feelings too obvious.

“Right. It’s just you.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She tried to will down the blush in her cheeks.

“Look on the bright side,” he chirped. “We still have summer!”

“Unless you’re debuting, in which case we don’t.”

“Don’t be a pessimist. Just be happy we can spend summer together.”

“We always spend summer together,” she murmured under her breath, but didn’t argue further with a stern look from Kyungsoo. “Okay, I’m happy. Ecstatic. See?” She forced a grin on her face that probably didn’t look out of place on a mental patient (or Chanyeol).

“You need to stop spending so much time with Jongdae.”

“Oh, now you’re criticising my choice of friends.”

“Ji Hye.”

“Kyungsoo.”

Even with all the teasing, she was happy, because they still had summer.

-0-

“Sehun-ah! Ji Hye-yah!”

Ji Hye looks up at the yell and tries not to face palm at the sight of Jongdae. She wonders how the coordi unnies allowed him out of the dorm looking like that, but she figures they were busy so the vocalist could get away with that look.

She smiles at the sight of all of her members showing up to her and Sehun’s graduation, her smile widening ever so slightly at the sight of Kyungsoo. She excuses herself from the conversation she was having with her classmate and goes off on the hunt for her fellow maknae so they can share a look of disbelief at the sight of their members at their graduation ceremony and maybe go and greet them if they haven’t died of embarrassment yet.

“Why,” Sehun says flatly as he meets Ji Hye halfway.

She snickers, disguising it as a cough. “I think it’s kind of sweet,” she laughs, linking arms with him. “Come on, let’s go and say hi.”

“You’re enjoying this!”

“When don’t I?”

She drags Sehun to his death gleefully, watching as her best friend (next to Yixing, at least) is attacked by an overexcited Jongdae, Luhan and Chanyeol. She hangs back a little, knowing that if she goes forward, she’d be next. It wouldn’t hurt to let Sehun take the duty of maknae for a while, would it?

“Hey, congrats on finally graduating,” Kyungsoo says, giving her a one-armed hug.

“Finally,” she agrees, sighing slightly. “I just can’t believe it’s graduation already, you know?”

“Aw, our baby is all grown up now,” the elder coos teasingly, pinching her cheeks lightly. She makes a face and sticks her tongue out at him, slapping his hands away and rubbing her blushing cheeks.

“Very funny,” she drawls. “Umma, control your excitement.”

“Speaking of umma, your mom came, right?”

She nods, smiling over at what he assumes is where her parents are.

“And my siblings,” she adds, “which may or may not be a bad thing since I’m pretty sure my sister still has a crush on Luhan oppa or something.”

“I almost forgot about that!” Kyungsoo exclaims. “You haven’t told him?”

“I haven’t had the heart. She’ll get over it eventually.” She clears and tugs at the hem of her skirt, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m glad you could make it,” she says softly. “And everyone else, of course,” she adds. He tries not to feel too hurt at being lumped with the rest of the members.

“It’s a shame Yixing hyung couldn’t be here though,” he says and watches as her smile falls a little.

“Yeah, but he had stuff to do, so I’m cool with it.”

It reminds him of the time she missed his graduation, which brings him back to a time he’d rather not think about, because they’re not the same people anymore and it kind of .

She meets his eyes and opens to say something, but is rudely interrupted by Jongdae wailing, “My baby!”

She flails as she finds herself smothered by the vocalist and Kyungsoo can’t help but laugh, because it’s a funny sight (and because if he doesn’t laugh, he’ll end up crying just a little).

“I can’t breathe, oppa,” she chokes. “Help.”

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Kyungsoo chuckles, prying Jongdae off his best friend (could he even say that anymore?) before she suffocated. “I’m pretty sure she and Sehun have to go up on stage soon. So do we, remember?”

Sehun and Ji Hye are ushered on stage, where they receive their certificates. The two maknaes grin at each other and share a hug. Kyungsoo pretends it doesn’t hurt, because she couldn’t be there to do that with him. He pretends it doesn’t sting when they’re standing on stage and her hands kind of interlace with his for a brief moment before the cameras flash.

The friend label is a label that I got to hate.
The feelings I’ve hidden still remain as a painful secret memory.
The photos that can’t define our relationship is a heart-breaking story
I’m sorry, summer, now goodbye, yeah

“Kyungsoo, Ji Hye, hang back. I need to talk to the both of you. Chanyeol, you too.”

The three band members share a look before grabbing their things and heading towards their manager. Ji Hye wonders what she could have possibly done wrong, but if she was in trouble, she’d have Sehun and Jongin by her side instead of Kyungsoo and Chanyeol.

His stern gaze makes her shift a little and she wonders if the day finally came where she gets kicked out of the group. Then again, why are Kyungsoo and Chanyeol here? Then, he breaks out into a grin and she feels herself relax, a relieved sigh escaping.

“For the next SM Town,” Seunghwan begins, “you three are going to do a special stage with f(x)!”

Ji Hye grins as Chanyeol laughs and Kyungsoo sighs in relief.

“What song?” she asks and she regrets ever doing that when she hears the answer.

“Goodbye, Summer,” their manager replies and she tries to keep the smile on her face.

“Oh, yay,” she tries to say enthusiastically, only for her attempt to fall flat.

“That’s… great,” Kyungsoo adds and she thinks she can hear the same reluctance in his voice that’s in hers. Why was that?

Their manager looks pleased at their positive response (Ji Hye is trying so hard not to judge the overexcited Chanyeol next to her, whose babbles are just plain incoherent) and informs them that practice starts next week before letting them go to the van to get some much needed rest.

“Baekhyun, Baekhyun, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol squeals bellows, practically hopping into the van like the overgrown child that Ji Hye has known he is for quite some time now. “You’ll never guess what just happened!”

“Hyung finally realised you were the one who finished his whipped cream and decided to punish you by locking you out of the dorm, and Kyungsoo and Ji Hye are on door duty,” the vocalist guesses, receiving a glare from the tall rapper in reply.

“No,” he drawls, whacking his best friend’s head. “We’re going to do a special stage with f(x) sunbaenim!”

“Only because you’re crushing so hard on Amber.”

“I don’t have a crush on Amber!” It would be a little more believable if his cheeks weren’t red.

The maknae decides that it’d be less tiring to tune out Chanyeol and does just that, leaning her head against the cool window and sighing. She watches as her breath fogs up the window, drawing squiggles and lines and just playing by herself. She pauses when a finger that isn’t her own lands on the window, drawing ‘hey’ in the mist.

She turns and smiles at Kyungsoo, leaning her head on his shoulder and inhaling. There’s the heavy scent of sweat, but there’s also a scent that is entirely Kyungsoo, keeping her in place.

“So, Goodbye, Summer, huh?” he murmurs, wrapping an arm against her shoulder.

“It’s not a bad song,” she muses. In fact, it’s a wonderful song. She loves the acoustics and Luna's and Krystal’s vocals go perfectly together, along with Amber’s rapping. She’s honoured that they asked her to feature in the song along with Kyungsoo, especially since she is far from being good enough to do that. She has a feeling Krystal's pestering might have something to do with it.

The only thing she has a problem with is singing it with Kyungsoo. There’s no one else she finds the lyrics more fitting for than Do Kyungsoo and it might just drive her insane if she wasn’t already there.

Sometimes, she imagines that whenever she’s listening to the song, Kyungsoo's voice is his confession to her that she would readily return.

Kyungsoo can’t help but wonder what Ji Hye is thinking as she leans against his shoulder. He glances down at her, noticing that she’s half-asleep and smiles softly.

“Nah, it’s not bad at all,” he mumbles, pressing a kiss to her temple and wishing he could press a kiss to her lips instead.

It’s just horribly painful.

What do I say, we didn’t have to play no games
I should’ve took that chance, I should’ve asked for you to stay
And it gets me down the unsaid words that still remain
The story ended without even starting

Although Kyungsoo loved summer, this was one of the days where he decidedly didn’t like summer and all that came with it.

“It’s too hot,” he whined. However, it didn’t deter the insistent girl from dragging him forward.

“I honestly don’t care,” she replied, rolling her eyes slightly. Kyungsoo's nose wrinkled. Oh, she was definitely spending too much time around Chanyeol. It was about time he decided it was better not to leave those two troublemakers in a room together ever again. “Come on. I’m always spending time with your friends, so it’s about time you spent some time with mine.”

“But your friends are all…” Kyungsoo's voice trailed off. He didn’t really know how to describe Ji Hye’s friends. They were all different from his (and younger… or so he assumed) and he wasn’t really someone who was comfortable with new people.

“If you’re thinking of badmouthing my friends, might I remind you that you’re my best friend?”

There went the pang in his chest. He brushed it off with a grin, trying to ignore that one label that he wished he wasn’t stuck with.

“Might I remind you that best typically means the others are worse?” he shot back.

“Oh, fine, you win Mr Word-master.”

“I don’t appreciate your sass.”

“I don’t appreciate your overall grumpiness.”

Kyungsoo huffed. He could already see Ji Hye’s ragtag group of friends; Zhang Yixing, a Chinese trainee that always looked spaced out, Oh Sehun, her classmate, Kim Jongin, the guy he thought she disliked but was actually just envious of and Huang Zitao, another Chinese trainee that looked like he could happily murder everyone with a teaspoon. “The things I do for you,” he grumbled, trying not to enjoy the way her hand wrapped around his wrist so comfortably.

“Only because you love me,” she quipped.

He barely suppressed a sigh. Oh, if only she knew…

-0-

“You know you love me,” Ji Hye sings and Kyungsoo has to stop himself from gnashing his teeth because it’s not directed at him and it shouldn’t annoy him so much, but it does. Instead, it’s aimed at his best friend, who is looking decidedly disgruntled and just about ready to slap the maknae in the face with a wet fish.

“Go away,” Jongin growls, “and don’t talk to me. Ever.”

“But it’s just so adorable, the way you’re crushing so hard but you don’t want him to know,” she coos, her voice sickeningly sweet as she pinches her fellow dancer’s cheeks. The tan skin is darker due to the blood rushing underneath it and Kyungsoo watches in slight amusement as he shoves her away, leaving the girl to cackle on the floor.

“I hate you. So much. Really, I do.”

“Aww, I love you too, Jongin!”

Somehow, that causes Kyungsoo to snap, grabbing her off the floor and dragging her out of the living room. He ignores Ji Hye’s protests because he can’t really hear much over the pounding of his ears. He’s furious and he’s not even sure why.

“Okay, what gives?” she demands once they’re locked inside his room. Her arms are crossed and her glare is threatening to send him to the very pits of hell, but he can’t really care because he’s livid. “Kyungsoo.”

“Why can’t you be that comfortable with me?” he snaps. “You never seem to joke around with me when the other members are around or on camera. It’s almost like we’re strangers! You know what the fans are speculating? They say that the two of us are so awkward because we never stop fighting!”

Her lips purse and her frown deepens. “Since when did any of that matter?” she asks. “I love our fans, but they think you and Jongin are a thing when we all know Jongin has the hots for Joonmyun hyung. Why are you being so… sensitive?”

He can’t explain. He can’t explain because that will potentially push her away and he doesn’t want that. He can’t live with that.

She smiles sympathetically, patting his shoulder. “Oh, I get it,” she says, nodding. He swears his heart stopped at that. How did she know? “You’re probably all grumpy from the lack of sleep.”

Lack of…

“Uh, yeah,” he says hesitantly, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. “Lack of sleep.”

She was kind of wishing he would tell her she was wrong – she knows what Kyungsoo really is like grumpy and this isn’t it – but maybe she’s just that good at figuring out his moods. She plasters a teasing grin on her face, punching his shoulder lightly. “Maybe you should get some sleep,” she suggests, pushing him towards his bed.

His hand wraps around her wrist and tugs her along. He doesn’t ask her to say, but he doesn’t really need to as he makes room for her to lie next to him. There’s a tiny part of her mind that whispers this will only make it harder on her, but she ignores it because Kyungsoo.

She hums Baby, Don’t Cry under her breath because she can, tracing random, invisible patterns on his shoulder as she listens to his breathing gradually slow down. He chuckles as her finger traces his collarbone.

“That tickles,” he breathes.

“Shh. You’re supposed to be sleeping,” she chides, poking his shoulder.

She can practically feel his eye roll. “Alright, alright.”

His breathing slows and so does his heartbeat. When Ji Hye looks up, she can see that the main vocalist is fast asleep. His lips purse and briefly, she wonders what it would feel like to steal a kiss. She smiles softly, resting her head on his shoulder once more. She continues tracing patterns onto his shoulder once more, only they’re not so random anymore. They’re forming words. Firstly just simple words, like EXO and Kai. Eventually, she ends up tracing I love you as Kyungsoo's steady heartbeat lulls her to sleep.

Your song on the last day of the school festival, the flickering summer sea
Our feelings that were precious because we were together
Like the deepening night sky, goodbye

“Tell me you’re going to be there.”

Kyungsoo frowned, which only made her more determined to pester him.

“Please, Kyungsoo,” she pleaded, tugging on his sleeve. “It’ll go so much more smoothly if you were there!”

He laughed. “No, it wouldn’t,” he snorted. “You’re going to do fine whether I’m there or not.”

She pouted. She knew that, but she just wanted him to be there. Was it so bad to want her best friend-slash-secret crush to be there to cheer her on? “I just want you to listen,” she said.

She had practiced so hard and as cliché as it was, she was singing a love song with Hee Jin and Eun Jung. Maybe she was just hoping Kyungsoo would see it as an extremely indirect confession and confesses to her first.

She was allowed to be hopeful, wasn’t she?

He glanced at her. “Does it really mean that much for me to be there?” he asked.

She didn’t hesitate to nod vigorously. “All that and more,” she replied.

He sighed in exasperation, but a smile tilted his lips so she knew he wasn’t really exasperated. “Fine,” he drawled. “I’ll be there. But you owe me.”

She huffed. “You’ll be treated to good music. Isn’t that enough?”

“It’s supposed to be good music?” Her punch to his shoulder didn’t deter him from laughing.

To be honest, he hadn’t really planned on visiting the summer festival at all. He wasn’t a student at the school anymore and Ji Hye had never shown an interest in going; maybe she had wanted to go, but she never told him. Nonetheless, he had to admit that he was pleasantly surprised how nice it was. There were stalls everywhere selling everything from food to flowers and overall gave a very happy atmosphere that all students related to summer.

His lips quirked as he spotted Ji Hye backstage, nervously going over her lyrics once more. He weaved his way through the crowd, calling out her name once he was close enough. He didn’t expect his breath to be stolen right out of his lungs.

“You came,” she sighed in relief, sending him a breath taking smile that made his heart beat uncomfortably fast. “I thought you weren’t going to show, since, you know. You don’t really like the crowds and stuff.”

It took him a while to answer – longer than it should have.

“Ah, you’re my friend,” he answered finally, forcing a grin on his face. He tried not to focus on how her smile had faltered momentarily. “Did you think I was going to let you down?”

She tugged on the tips of her hair before tucking it behind her ear. “Nah, I knew you wouldn’t do that to me,” she replied confidently. “Besides, if you didn’t show, I would have had Chanyeol-ssi to track you down or something.”

He snorted, shoving his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. “Great, now you’re planning on using my own friends against me,” he huffed teasingly.

“I’m just a little minx like that,” she laughed. She turned away from him to peer out at the stage and he took the moment of respite to look her over once more.

She was wearing jeans – as usual, he thought with a slight roll of his eyes – and a long sleeveless blouse the colour of the sunset. It ended mid-thigh and flowed freely, allowing for easy movement. A pale yellow jacket shielded her arms from the evening chill, not that it got very cold in the first place. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders in an organised mess and he was pretty sure there were some sparkles in there. Her fringe was clipped back so her face was free of any wayward curls. It was simple, and it fit Ji Hye.

“I’m going to do fine, right?” she murmured, looking back at him with worried eyes. He stared into her eyes, lined with eyeliner to highlight them, before smiling.

“Of course you’ll do fine,” he reassured her. She would. He hadn’t heard her sing the song, but he already knew she’d be great.

She smiled slightly before wrapping her arms around her waist in a hug, resting her chin on his shoulder. He froze, unsure what to do before letting his hands curl around her to hold her close.

“Thanks,” she breathed in his ear.

“No problem.”

If he could, he would stay like that all day. Unfortunately, she was eventually called on stage by her friend (Hee Jin, he remembered) and she left with a press of her lips to his cheek. It was so brief and so light that he wasn’t even sure if it had really happened.

As he had expected, she was brilliant. When their eyes met, she winked at him and he could have sworn he saw her eyes twinkle like the stars above.

-0-

“It’s hot.”

“Shut up, Sehun. Nobody cares.”

Sehun throws a pillow at Ji Hye, who whines. “It’s already hot enough without you adding to it, brat!”

 Kyungsoo refrains from banging his head against the wall. The air-conditioning just had to break down on the hottest day in the year. Currently, the members are sprawled on the floor, trying to absorb whatever vestiges of cold the floor had. It isn’t working very well, because everyone is still drenched in sweat.

“Let’s get ice cream,” Chanyeol suggests, his suggestion muffled from being face down on the floor. It takes a while for his words to register, but when it does, there’s a grunt of agreement from the others before they’re slowly peeling themselves off the floor.

They don’t bother changing and just sneak out of the dorm after painstakingly making sure there are no fans outside. Apparently it’s too hot even for the fans to wait outside the dorm in the sweltering summer heat.

Kyungsoo finds himself walking next to Ji Hye, who looks half-asleep.

“It’s so hot,” she yawns, squinting at the sun. it’s a miracle the six of them managed to sneak away the way they did, but they’re armed with caps and sunglasses. He thinks Ji Hye looks quite different when she wears her glasses; more approachable and attainable, like she’s within his reach.

Sehun swings an arm around Ji Hye’s shoulders, face hidden under the shadow of his cap, and suddenly she doesn’t look so attainable anymore.

“Get your sweaty arm off me,” she grunts, flailing in his grip. “It’s hot enough without your disgusting body heat.”

Her fellow maknae pouts. “You know, a lot of girls would pay for my sweat.”

“A lot of girls don’t share a room with you, you nasty thing.”

He’s so immersed in his misery that he doesn’t notice Jongin sidling up to him until the younger nudges his arm lightly.

“You okay?” the dancer asks, worry evident in the way he chews on the plastic wrapper of his ice cream.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo lies, urging a smile onto his face and succeeding. “It’s just too hot.”

Jongin doesn’t quite believe him, but he lets it slide. The elder can’t begin to say how grateful he is for that. “If you say so,” the younger murmurs. His features suddenly light up. “Hey, a summer festival!”

The others turn to look where Jongin is looking.

“Let’s go,” Baekhyun yells, running into the festival with Chanyeol on his heels.

“Don’t run off – oh, why do I bother,” Joonmyun grumbles, following after them.

They end up separating into various groups. Jongin ends up leaving Kyungsoo's side to play a game with Joonmyun and Sehun runs after BaekYeol, leaving Ji Hye to gravitate towards Kyungsoo.

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” she says brightly, trying not to reveal how happy she really is to be alone with Kyungsoo.

He grins back a little hesitantly. “I guess so.”

She grips his wrist – the way she used to back in their trainee days – and drags him forward. He follows behind, laughing a little. She tries to pretend that it doesn’t make her heart swell; he hasn’t sounded so carefree in a while.

They walk around the festival, conversation flowing easier than it has for months. They buy food from the stalls and steal from each other. Ji Hye tries her hardest not to make this more than it is (he doesn’t feel the same way) but it’s difficult when it feels so much like a date. It feels even more so like a date when he wins her a small soft toy.

“An owl,” she laughs, the top of the soft toy’s head. She looks at its wide eyes and thinks of Kyungsoo.

He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “I couldn’t win the bear,” he explains, shooting her a grin that threatens to make her knees jelly, as cliché as that sounds. “Sorry.”

She shakes her head and hugs the stuffed owl close. “It’s perfect,” she answers, wishing she was hugging him instead.

The friend label is a label that I got to hate
The feelings I’ve hid still remain as a painful secret memory
The photos that can’t define our relationship is a heart-breaking story
I’m sorry, summer, now goodbye, yeah

“Get up.”

“Go away,” Ji Hye whines, pulling the covers over herself as someone pulls the curtains apart, allowing the dreaded winter light to filter into the room. “I’m still sleeping.”

“If you’re answering me, you’re not sleeping,” Kyungsoo points out, ripping her covers away. “Get up. We have practice.”

“No, we don’t,” she yells, covering her face with her pillow.

“Yes, we do,” he grunts, wrestling her pillow from her. “We have practice for the special stage, remember?”

Yes, she does, but she wishes she didn’t. She kicks out at him when he grabs hold of her ankles and pulls. Her body falls to the floor with a loud thud. She hopes Kyungsoo is happy now.

“If I come back and you’re still asleep…” he trails off, leaving his threat hanging before exiting the maknaes’ room with a loud slam. She pillows her head in her arms, groaning quietly into her arms before sluggishly getting up – but not before glaring at Sehun, who had managed to sleep through the whole thing. There was a time where Jongin refused to wake up and got a lovely wakeup call by a bucket of icy water, courtesy of EXO-K’s resident umma.

Twenty minutes later, she’s seated at the kitchen table, squinting at the toast resting on her plate and trying her best to make it less blurry. She glances at Chanyeol, who is dangerously close to falling asleep in his cereal and snorting milk before turning to Kyungsoo, who looks much too awake at eight in the morning.

“How many cups of coffee have you had?” she mumbles past a bite of her breakfast.

“Four,” he answers promptly, tugging Chanyeol straight before the taller drowns in milk.

Ji Hye’s and Chanyeol's heads knock together on the ride to the studio to practice (how that was managed, she still doesn’t know), but it doesn’t deter them from stealing another fifteen minutes of sleep. They’re still sleepy, but maybe a little bit more awake by the time they’re in the studio to practice.

Her head nods as she sits on the chair next to Kyungsoo, leaning against his back just the slightest bit and the faux microphone (a water bottle) held loosely in her hands.

“You look horrible,” Amber comments as she watches Chanyeol attempt to sling his guitar on, only to hit himself in the face with the fret board, “and Kyungsoo looks like he’s half a cup away from caffeine poisoning. Why?”

Chanyeol and Ji Hye mumble something unintelligible. She hears Kyungsoo mention something about late night practice before the strumming of a guitar is heard. The intro for Goodbye, Summer plays and she feels rather than hears (which seems to sum up her whole relationship with the main vocal) Kyungsoo's intake of breath as he sings.

“I remember when we were yelled at for talking in the halls…”

Baby, oh no, oh, oh
I’m sorry that this is a monologue
Oh, actually, I love you, yeah

Meet me on the rooftop after dance class.

His fingers shook just a little when he pressed send. It was an agonising minute as he waited for her to reply.

Okay! I have something to say too~ kekeke

His heart raced and he took a deep breath. Okay. This was it. He was going to do it – seize the day the way Luhan kept yelling at him to. Kyungsoo smiled shakily to himself as he slipped his phone into his pocket. It wasn’t so difficult, he told himself. All he had to do was say the words I like you. It wasn’t difficult… in theory.

What if she didn’t feel the same way? What if she did feel the same way? Where did they go from there? What if they didn’t work out?

He took another deep breath to calm his nerves. He wasn’t going to think about that. He was going to confess, then see where it went. If she liked him back, maybe they could go somewhere. If she didn’t… well, he’d cross that bridge when he got there. Maybe. If he didn’t chicken out, that was.

The music started and he forced himself to empty his mind of Ji Hye, focusing on the piano accompaniment. He in a breath to sing and –

Three sharp knocks on the door reverberated through the room. Kyungsoo deflated, trying not to send an irritated glare to whoever had interrupted him. Their vocal instructor also sighed, standing up and crossing the room to talk to the newcomer. In the meantime, Kyungsoo hummed under his breath, running over the lyrics once more in his head.

It never occurred to him that they could be discussing him.

“Do Kyungsoo,” their vocal instructor called.

The male froze before blinking at the instructor, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head. He didn’t say a word, but got out of his seat. He made to leave, but their instructor added, “Pack your things as well.”

That usually meant one of two things: he was going to get kicked out… or he was going to debut.

He didn’t know which option scared him more.

He could already hear the whispers as he picked up his bag and stuffed his music scores in, grabbing his water bottle before he forgot. His throat felt dry and the door of the music room seemed to shut behind him with finality.

He barely heard as the woman in front of him informed him that he was going to be placed in a group and that he was to report to dance studio fifty three by two o’clock. There was a ringing in his ears as his brain struggled to comprehend what was being said.

He was going to debut.

If only our long-time hidden secrets were revealed
I would hold you in my arms

“What do you think he’s going to say?” Ji Hye asked Hee Jin as they stretched before dance class started. Kyungsoo's text message had been sitting in the back of her mind all day even as she had been sitting in class. She had nearly missed her cue to speak during drama, if it hadn’t been for Sehun elbowing her (which she honestly hadn’t appreciated that much because Sehun had ridiculously bony elbows that could dent metal).

Hee Jin paused mid-stretch and hummed thoughtfully. Then, she snapped her fingers and straightened with a grin. “He’s going to confess,” she squealed, only to shriek slightly when Ji Hye jabbed her side. “What was that for?”

“Seriously, Jinnie,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “We’re, like, best friends.” Although they might not be for long. She breathed out a sigh as she went over her confession speech again, which mainly consisted of I like you, but it’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I’m fine with just being friends. For the most part, she was planning on just winging it.

“You’d make a cute couple,” Hee Jin muttered, rolling her shoulders.

Ji Hye didn’t answer, humming under her breath. She glanced at the spot Jongin used to stand; she wondered if he was enjoying debut preparations.

A knock sounded, followed by a man peeking in. He cleared his throat. All twenty-four eyes turned to him. “I’m looking for Song Ji Hye,” he announced, glancing down at the piece of paper in his hand before looking around the room. “Is she here?”

The girl blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. Her ears were suddenly filled with white noise. What was going on?

It took a shove from Hee Jin to get her moving. “Go,” the elder hissed.

She gulped and grabbed her things – she had a feeling she wouldn’t be coming back into the room. What did she do this time? She just hoped it wasn’t about the time she snuck out with Zitao and Yixing to get ice cream after curfew.

She held her breath the moment she let the door shut behind her. It would be okay, she told herself. She had only given two years of her life to SM and there were always other options available to her. She was young and she had talent, not to mention prior training. She would not give up here.

The man grinned at her. “Congratulations, trainee,” he said, eyes crinkling into a kind smile. “You’re going to debut.”

Her breath rushed out of her in a rush. “Really,” she breathed. It sounded like something out of a dream.

“Really,” the man laughed. “Head over to studio fifty three now. If you don’t hurry, you’re going to be late. Be there by two.”

She bowed multiple times, murmuring thanks before walking off to find the studio. She hadn’t really thought she would debut. It was true that was what she was ultimately working for, but she hadn’t expected it to be so soon. She couldn’t wait to tell Kyungsoo after meeting her band members!

She nudged the door open, sneaking in amongst the noise. She blinked at the sheer number of boys in the room (she was going to debut in a girl group… right?) before being distracted by Yixing and Zitao, who were both babbling excitedly in Mandarin. She struggled to catch what they were trying to say while scanning the room for any other familiar faces. There was Jongin in the corner, sparing her a wave, who was talking to Sehun, who didn’t bother acknowledging her (he was oblivious like that). She also noticed Kim Joonmyun, the trainee sunbae everyone knew, who was talking to… Kyungsoo.

He glanced up at her, mirroring her shock. It took her a moment before she grinned at him, sadness crashing over her.

So much for getting it off her chest.

The friend label is a label that I got to hate
The feelings I’ve hid still remain as a painful secret memory
The photos that can’t define our relationship is a heart-breaking story
I’m sorry, summer, now goodbye, yeah

“I’m not nervous,” she says, her lips quirking at the edges when she feels Kyungsoo's arms wrap around her waist.

“I know,” he says, resting his chin on her shoulder. “You’re weird like that.”

She chuckles, patting his hand. “You’ll do fine,” she reassures him. “Like you always do.”

“I’m just hoping Chanyeol doesn’t mess up,” he huffs.

“It was one time,” she points out a little incredulously. “Get over it, Soo.”

“That’s his line.”

“I’m the only one allowed to steal lines in EXO.”

They stand together in companionable silence. She doesn’t lean back against him and he doesn’t pull her closer. They are friends (even if she desperately wants to be more). She looks up at the screen, showing TaeTiSeo doing their thing on stage. She wonders if their special stage will be just as anticipated. She hopes so.

“I’ll do fine, right?” Kyungsoo whispers, tightening his grip on her. She pretends it doesn’t make her heart beat faster or tempt her to lean into his warmth and just enjoy. The line just friends seemed to have blurred slightly after all those hours crammed into a small studio, trying their best to harmonise and deliver with absolute. Perfection. Too many nights spent with just each other and a half-asleep Chanyeol acting as a buffer (which isn’t a very efficient buffer, when it comes down to it).

She can’t count the number of times she had almost blurted out I love you – too many times to count. It’s so easy to let those three little words slip, but the repercussions aren’t worth it. They work together, eat together, live together and a confession would only bring complication that they can’t afford. The group dynamic is too delicate to break with thoughtless words like that; their friendship is too delicate for her to act without thinking.

“Of course,” she answers. “You’ll do brilliantly. You are singing with me, after all.” She throws in the joke to keep the atmosphere from being too serious – not sombre, but serious – and it works. She feels his chest brush her back as he chuckles and it almost feels like the barest brush of lips against her cheek.

“Thanks.”

“Any time.”

Footsteps sound, echoing loudly as it intrudes in their little bubble, and they disengage, standing next to each other as if they hadn’t been almost hugging.

“You ready?” Chanyeol booms, guitar slung in place.

“Are we the cuties of EXO?” Ji Hye counters as Chanyeol slings his arm around them. She bats at the fret board of his guitar, stopping the pegs from hitting her in the face.

“So… that’s a no.” His reward is her arms to his gut. “Abusive,” he wheezes. “You should be nicer to your hyungs.”

“You should make sure you play the right chords,” Kyungsoo chimes, elbowing the taller.

“Do you the two of you just enjoy completely disregarding my seniority?” the rapper complains. The two vocalists share a look and Chanyeol adds, “Don’t answer that.”

“EXO,” a sound manager calls out, “on in five.”

“That’s us,” Chanyeol says unnecessarily. “You kids go sit down in your seats.”

“Don’t be patronising, Yeol,” the main vocalist huffs.

They take their places, hearing the crowd cheer as TaeTiSeo wrap up their stage. They sit back to back, leaning on each other for support as they wait for the platform to lift them up onto the stage.

“We’re going to do fine, right?” he asks. He doesn’t know why, but he feels like he needs the reassurance. He doesn’t need the reassurance from Chanyeol, who’s been reassuring him since their trainee days. He doesn’t need reassurance from Jongin, who isn’t really that good with his words. He needs it from Ji Hye, who has been with him every night for the past two months. They’ve been spending too many nights in a too small space, arms brushing as they replay their practice tapes to see where they went wrong. She’s told him time and time again – we’ll do fine, we won’t mess up, this is easy compared to Mama – but it always calms him to hear those words from (or maybe it’s just her voice that soothes him).

“Yeah,” she replies. She’s leaning against him and it’s just as comforting as her words. “Stop worrying, Kyungsoo. We’ll do fine.”

“Okay. EXO – “

“ – saranghaja,” she finishes. It’s cheesy, but it goes a long way to calming him down too.

The lights dim and there’s the whirring of gears as the platform moves up. He can hear the intro as Chanyeol strums and from the screaming, he can tell that the rapper has already walked out. He only has a fraction of a second to wonder how the fans are going to react before the spotlights are shining on them.

He doesn’t even have time to lament the loss of the comforting weight against his back.

The friend label is a label that I got to hate
A heart-breaking story, I’m sorry, summer, now goodbye, yeah

“Baby, oh no, oh, oh, I’m sorry that this is a monologue,” Kyungsoo sings, locking eyes with Ji Hye, who is across the stage. There’s so much space between them and he hates how fitting and true the lyrics are. “Oh, actually, I love you, yeah.”

Ji Hye-yah, I love you.

She smiles slightly at him as she brings the microphone up to her lips. “If only our long-time hidden secrets were revealed,” she continues, closing her eyes briefly as she reaches a high note. It’s just a song, but it shouldn’t hurt this much. “I would hold you in my arms.”

Kyungsoo… I actually love you.

They walk back next to each other as they finish the song, brushing past each other like they’re supposed to. She’s glad they don’t have to lock eyes much because she doesn’t think she can take it. He’ll be able to see what she’s feeling and that will only lead to more awkwardness between them.

The song ends with the both of them in the starting position, maybe a little closer than before. The lights are turned off and they rush off the stage to change.

“Good job, guys,” Luhan says happily, practically squishing the two vocalists as he hugs them. “That. Was. Awesome!”

“Hyung, they need to breathe,” Joonmyun reminds, “and change.”

Minseok manages to pry Luhan off to let them change, barely keeping the Chinese national from pouncing on Chanyeol as he enters, brushing his sweat-drenched hair out of his face.

“Told you,” she murmurs, nudging him. There’s a small grin playing on her lips and he can feel one tugging his lips too.

“Shut up,” he retorts as they make their way to EXO’s changing room. He tugs on her hair, catching her attention. She tilts her head, silently telling him she’s listening. “I was just thinking… what was it you wanted to tell me? You know, when we found out we were debuting.”

“That?” She clears . “Oh, it was nothing.”

“Didn’t sound like nothing.”

She shrugs. It’s so obvious to him the way she doesn’t meet his eyes. “I got an A for English.”

He purses his lips. It almost sound like a lie, but he can’t call her out on it. She had gotten an A for her English test that week. She turns to look at him right before they enter the busy dressing room.

“What did you want to say?” she inquires. “It sounded pretty big.”

He hopes he doesn’t notice the way he freezes as he fumbles for a reasonable lie. “Me?” he says. “I, uh… I just wanted to tell you I was debuting.”

“Oh.”

So tempting. So tempting to just pull her in and place a kiss on her lips, to tell her what he’s been keeping in for three years. He reaches towards her, only to open the door for her.

“Ladies first,” he states, gesturing for her to enter first.

She laughs, swatting at his shoulder. “I’m not a lady, but thanks anyway.”

The words shouldn’t be so difficult, but they stick in his throat anyway. There’s so much more to it than being rejected. They’re idols, they’ll mess up group dynamic, he still wants her as his friend… too many reason not to and not enough reasons to.

The feelings I’ve hid still remain as a painful secret memory

-0-

Ironically, this was actually started before Stories of EXO was put up. It was supposed to be the first story, but Roommates got finished first lol. While I'm on that note, Of Sticking Charms and Love Potions was actually written second XD

I know Kyungsoo never went to the same school Jongin and Sehun went to, but creative license?

Goodbye, Summer is an awesome song. 'Nuff said. It is my ultimate favourite song and I want to marry Kyungsoo's voice. Can I marry Kyungsoo's voice.

No fluff. Sorry, not sorry.

I couldn't think of a couple name for them, so I have three! Tell me which one you prefer?

Subscribers, you are wonderful people. Love you tons!