Jong-in fiddled with his phone, the device hadn't lit up with a response yet, but he was sure that Jongdae would respond when he was finished cooking his food. From what Jong-in had learnt from the few times his supervisors roommates had come into the cafe, Jongdae was probably being dragged into another on of their games. Jong-in could tell from the moment he met Chanyeol and Baekhyun; they liked one another but didn't know it was mutual. Neither seemed to be willing to express themselves and so Jongdae was often pulled in the middle. It might have been when Jong-in had started to think Jongdae was cute; getting flustered and trying to fix the nonexistent problem that the two others were making into a huge deal. Confusion was why Jong-in had rules when he was dating. 

1. Don't get emotionally attached.
2. Be straightforward and always honest.
3. Never make promises he can't keep.

​But still. Jong-in tilted his head as he remembered watching Jongdae dash from one side of the cafe to the other, passing messages from Chanyeol to Baekhyun with increasing begs for them to stop fighting. His cheeks flushed red and his hands being sweatily wiped down the front of his apron when he stood nervously, message being passed on. A small laugh broke Jong-in's lips as he realized he'd being paying more attention to his new boss than he had first thought.

"What's so funny?" A tired voice broke his thoughts and Jong-in's eyes fell to the curled up figure of Kyungsoo who was lying across his lap. They had a thing, and by thing, he meant they did more than they should as friends and Jong-in had sucessfully dodged any hint of tying himself to a relationship.

"Work," Jong-in responded vaguely.

Kyungsoo was the type to be in a serious relationship and Jong-in knew how uncomfortable Kyungsoo felt with their relationship. But Kyungsoo was soft underneath his attempts at masculinity, and Jong-in was good at leading blind people to cliff edges. It made them hold onto him tightly, so then he wouldn't have to hold on back.

"Did something funny happen?" Kyungsoo's voice crackled with a need for sleep, but Jong-in could tell the other was fighting it off.

"Not really," Jong-in paused a little before he decided to explain. "My supervisors roommates come in and visit the cafe a bit. They're usually fighting about one thing or another. And my supervisor gets dragged into the middle. It's funny to watch."

Confusion washed through Kyungsoo as he watched Jong-in's expression brighten with memories that only he alone seemed to understand. He carefully rolled over onto his back, his head still in Jong-in's lap as he tried to focus his tired eyes on the other. The light from the television flickered over Jong-in's face and glazed over the younger boys eyes. Kyungsoo had been hooked on Jong-in's boyish charms ever since they crossed paths in a club. They were never Kyungsoo's kind of place, but his friends had said dancing and drinking would get his mind off his last break-up. Two year relationship, ended. Jong-in had been dancing with a couple girls; but Kyungsoo couldn't help that his eyes found the other in the crowd. It was Jong-in who approached first, bright smile shot as he leaned against the bar next to Kyungsoo and then bit his lip as he asked to buy the other a drink.

"What are you thinking about?" The same voice from the night they met; tone always with an amused hint at the edges.

"How drunk I was the night we first met," Kyungsoo confessed, murmuring the last words as he tried to blink away the tiredness.

A short laugh came from Jong-in's lips and Kyungsoo's eyes connected with Jong-in's who was peering down at him, hand raised up to run brush Kyungsoo's bangs back in order. The other had an obsession with keeping the strands of hair in order.

"You were drunk enough to accuse me of taking advantage," Jong-in paused as he fixed Kyungsoo's bangs to his satisfaction. "When you were the one who was sick on my shirt and insisted to wash it by hand."

Jong-in heard Kyungsoo hum, giving into the need for sleep that had been hanging off him for the last hour. The boy in his lap rolled again, nuzzling and curling up more. It'd been a year since they'd met at the club, and realized that they attended the same school. Kyungsoo had frivolously tried to keep his distance, but that just made Jong-in seek him out more. Every time Kyungsoo turned him down, Jong-in tried to find a date that the other couldn't refuse. People that were easy to win over were boring to Jong-in. Kyungsoo had taken a good three months until he would warm up to Jong-in even the slightest.

Yet now Kyungsoo would start to fall asleep as soon as he was curled up with him. 

"Kyung-ah, you should go to bed," Jong-in suggested, as he tilted his head to see if the others eyes were open.

Another short hum, and then Kyungsoo was most assuredly asleep. Jong-in studied the steady rise and fall of the others breathing before he felt his phone vibrate on the arm of the couch. The brown haired male lifted up the device, clicked open the text message that was from the person he had been waiting for, Jongdae.  

 Jongdae-hyung ^^

Yeol-ah and Baekhyun-hyung argued again. 
Over bothering me. =_=;;
Now I cooked too much food. And am eating alone. 
I don't know what happened. They just left. 
They won't kill each other, right?  ^^;;

They just left you alone? No explanation.
I doubt they'll kill one another. ^^
Is your food good? I bet you cook well.

Should I call one of them? Just to check?
And I burnt it. v__v;; It tastes like burnt..
Food. Burnt fried rice to be exact.
I'm hungry but it's a waste. :^:

Leave them be. 
They'll fix it, they always do. Trust me. ^^
Don't eat the burnt food, just go buy something.
I can't cook either. ㅋㅋㅋ 

Already left to find something else.
And replace what I wasted. 
It's warm out. ^^

What are you going to get? ^^
Why replace it? It wasn't wasted.
Maybe I should come out and meet you?
 

There was no response for a while, and Jong-in glanced down at Kyungsoo who was deeply sleeping, head still rested in his lap. As his eyes rose to the television screen, he realized the movie that Kyungsoo and he had been watching had finished. The credits rolling up the screen. A yawn came from Jong-in's lips and he tried to stifle it with his hands. Just like the other boy, he needed sleep. His bed was much further away the Kyungsoo's that waited in the room over and if he wanted to catch a bus home before all the drunks started to head home, he'd need to leave soon. 

"Kyung-ah?" Jong-in hushed the others name, trying to not wake the other, but tempting to see if he was awake. "I need to go home."

Not even a hum came from Kyungsoo, his eyes lightly shut and a peaceful expression on his face. Jong-in struggled to slip out from underneath the older boy, holding his head precariously and shuffling a little until he gently placed the boys head on a pillow. The other made a soft noise and then snuggled into the pillow more comfortably. Jong-in praised himself mentally. He'd learned well. The television was left on as Jong-in walked further into Kyungsoo's apartment, finding the boys room and the blanket that was neatly folded at the end of a small bed. It was wrapped up in his arms when he paused to realize how much a year had changed Kyungsoo's apartment.

Old pictures were gone, books looked worn out, the posters on his walls had changed and his computer had been upgraded. But mostly, Jong-in realized the presence of himself in there. A couple of his shirts hung up, a jacket of his hung on the back of a chair, a pair of his jeans and CD's of bands he liked. A sense of claustrophobia struck him. 

The blanket was put back in it's place, as Jong-in felt the need to get home and away from Kyungsoo.

Jong-in collected up his phone and wallet from the coffee table, and slung his backpack from the kitchen counter over his shoulder. His cap was picked up from the stool tucked under the kitchen bench. It was loosely placed on his head as he finished collecting up his things. A glance at the sleeping Kyungsoo before he slipped on his shoes and closed the door lightly behind him.

The sound of the door woke Kyungsoo suddenly, his eyes shot open as panic flooded through his body. Was someone breaking in? His eyes scanned left to right before he realized his arms were clutching onto a pillow instead of the boy he'd been looking at when he went to sleep. A couple seconds to process before he slowly sat up. The television was still on, and Kyungsoo ran his hand down to his feet searching for the blanket Jong-in usually covered him with if he fell asleep on the couch. 

"In-ah?" Kyungsoo called out as he turned his body.

Jong-in's things were gone. His shoes. It was the silver badge that glimmered on the coffee table in front of the couch made Kyungsoo stumble to his feet. It was Jong-in's work badge. 

Kyungsoo's knee hit the corner of the table as his hand wrapped around the badge.

"In-ah! Your ba-dge!" Kyungsoo's voice broke a little when tried to call out so loudly just after waking.

His feet were forced into into shoes as he stood in the doorway, pulling open the door to find Jong-in standing on the other-side. The familiar backpack hung over his shoulder and his hand fidgeting with the red cap on his head. Kyungsoo heard him speaking to someone.

"Who are you talking to?" He asked, suddenly worried. There'd been no blanket, the television had been left on, he'd forgotten his badge -- Jong-in wasn't usually like that.

Jong-in turned his head, and Kyungsoo saw an expression that he'd only seen once of Jong-in's face. Something had freaked him out and Kyungsoo was at a loss as to what is was.

"Is something wrong?" Kyungsoo asked as he noticed the phone pressed to the younger boys ear. Had he got bad news?

"I have to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow," Jong-in said abruptly, then there was a pause as he lowered his gaze and focused on the voice on the other end of the phone call. "No, not you. I need to ask you about something. Just a second." 

The phone was lowered a little as Jong-in turned to face Kyungsoo completely, kissing the others lips in a quick and chaste manner. Kyungsoo barely felt it, besides the tingling that ran through his lips. Within a couple seconds, Kyungsoo was watching the others back as he walked away and returned to the phone conversation he'd been having before Kyungsoo had interrupted. The older boy remained in the doorway for a couple minutes wondering if Jong-in would come back, but there was no sign.

"You forgot your badge," Kyungsoo said to no one before his eyes flickered to the silver rectangle in his hand.

He stepped back into his apartment, closing the door and slipping off his shoes. The spot where he had woken up on the couch was less inviting than when Jong-in had been sitting there, but suddenly Kyungsoo felt wide awake. A late night news report was playing on the television, and Kyungsoo saw a familiar face flash in the corner of the screen. 

"Joonmyeon?" Kyungsoo reached over to turn up the television with the remote, his eyes kept on the screen.

"..and both company stocks have continued to rise in the market after the announcement of the pending engagement. Kim Joonmyeon, the only son of the South Korean company, TSK and Li Xifeng, only daughter to the Chinese construction company, M are rumoured to be very close. This speculation seems to be showing a great future bond between the two families and companies.."

Kyungsoo listened to the woman for a moment before he fumbled around the couch cushion for his phone.

 Kim Joonmyeon

Chuka-hamnida! ^^
I heard about your engagement.
Tell me when the date is so I can send flowers.
- Do Kyungsoo

The message was sent and quickly regretted. He only had the number for emergencies. The two barely spoke once a year, but then, Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel the message might mend some of the holes in their old friendship. It'd be strained and wrung and weakened. And as the message confirmed it had been sent, Kyungsoo's eyes fell the badge still in his hand. There were pink lines formed in his palm from holding it so tightly. Jong-in's name covered in a light layer of sweat. Kyungsoo felt the worry dry his throat. 

But he'd already sent one message he regretted, another sent in worry to Jong-in would only leave him more restless.