“Wait, are you serious?” Kris asks, the smile on his lips faltering only slightly. “You’re how old and you’ve never been kissed?” He tilts his head back and lets out a laugh.

“Yeah, ha ha, laugh it up,” Kyungsoo pouts, throwing a pillow at his taller counterpart. “My pain is just so funny.”

It’s eleven o’ clock on a Tuesday night, nothing really special. Kyungsoo is over at Kris’ house since his mom is working an evening shift and he hates sleeping alone. Kyungsoo and Kris have been friends for so long that Kyungsoo could walk in the front door and Kris’ mom wouldn’t bat an eyelash. She’s told Kyungsoo time and time again that she’s “really quite fond” of him and thinks he’s “such a great friend for my little Yifan.” Kyungsoo thanks her graciously, but makes fun of Kris’ apparent lack of friends when she turns her back.

They’d started the evening watching cartoons, though it didn’t last long, and if either of them were paying attention to the TV at all they would notice that Sailor Moon was blaring. But of course they didn’t care. As the hours ticked by, they spent more time paying attention to each other in the way that best friends do. They talked and sat closer and closer together as their questions got weirder and weirder. Currently, they were laying on Kris’ bed on their backs, their feet propped up against the wall (Kris had poked fun at how far Kyungsoo had to scoot up on the bed in order to get his feet to touch the wall—Kyungsoo merely responded by giving him a playful punch to the gut).

“You’re ting me, though,” Kris says, the disbelief obvious in his voice. He wraps his arms around the pillow Kyungsoo tossed at him.

“No, I’m not,” Kyungsoo says, “I’ve never been kissed. And I’m kind of worried about it, I guess.” Kyungsoo looks up at the ceiling.

“What do you mean? Why?” Kris asks.

“Jongin…” Kyungsoo starts, but the rest of his sentence dies in his throat. Kris knows Kyungsoo and Jongin have been flirting for weeks, and it’s only a matter of time before his best friend leaves the ranks of eligible bachelors and joins the masses of couples. It bugs him—mostly because that means he’ll no longer have Kyungsoo all to himself, like he’s used to.

“Nah, don’t sweat it,” Kris says, glancing over at Kyungsoo. “I don’t really think he’ll care how good of a kisser you are,” Kris says, offering comfort. “He seems like he’d be a good teacher, anyway. Besides, he’ll probably take the lead.”

Kyungsoo lets out a heavy sigh.

“Kissing’s really easy,” Kris continued. “It’s kinda natural, I guess. You’ll pick up on it.”

“I just don’t wanna disappoint him,” Kyungsoo says. “Bad kissers are just… bad. There’s no way around it. You know that,” Kyungsoo says, nudging Kris’ foot with his own.

True, Kris has had his fair share of make out sessions—some of which were better than others. Kyungsoo had a point—even though the bad kissers were able to learn, that didn’t change the fact that their first few attempts at kissing were nothing short of terrible.

“I’ve heard people have gotten dumped for being bad kissers,” Kyungsoo continues.

Kris sits up.

“Look,” he starts. “If you’re that worried about it, I’ll help you.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the thought occurs to him that this is a bad idea, but he brushes it aside. It can’t be that bad; he’s just a friend helping a friend. No harm in that.

Kyungsoo laughs, but stops when he catches sight of Kris’ determined face.

“Wait, you’re going to help me?” he asks incredulously, following Kris’ suit and sitting up as well. Kris nods.

“Look, the only way to get good at kissing is to practice,” Kris says. “And you’ll want to do it with: a, someone who doesn’t judge, b, someone who’s not going to tell everyone else in the world about it and c, someone who actually knows what they’re doing. I’m the only person that falls into all three categories,” he grins proudly.

“You swear you won’t tell anyone?” Kyungsoo asks, after a pause. “I don’t want Jongin to think I’m… like that.” Of course Kyungsoo would want to keep his image of innocence. Kris just laughs.

“Like I’d want the whole world to know I’ve made out with you,” he says teasingly. Kyungsoo jabs him in the stomach again, but its soft, and Kris just laughs. “So do you want to practice, or not?” he asks.

Honestly, he can’t believe he’s offering to do this. Mostly it’s just because he feels pity for Kyungsoo. He hasn’t the slightest clue how someone can get so far in their life without having been kissed. And he understands the desire to do it well. If things work out with Jongin, he’ll be the first boyfriend Kyungsoo has ever had. As Kyungsoo’s best friend, Kris feels that it’s almost his duty to help his friend out in this regard. It’s like being a wing-man, but taking it a step further.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo nods, his lips. “Let’s do this.” He scoots forward towards Kris until their knees are touching, but then stops, looking up at him with wide eyes. Kris can feel the awkward tension in the room, and realizes his heart beat has picked up. He shrugs it off, chalking it up to the aura of painful awkwardness in the room.

It’s only awkward if you make it awkward, he reminds himself.

“Okay,” he says, leaning in a little. “Let’s see what you’ve got.” He’s so close he can pinpoint the exact spot on Kyungsoo’s face that starts blushing first. He can feel Kyungsoo’s warm breath brush across his skin.

Kyungsoo leans forward, bringing them closer together, until their lips are just barely ghosting over each other and freezes, just for a moment, before bringing their lips together. His first kiss didn’t even land in the center of Kris’ mouth, it was more on the corner. And it was a little too soft, as though it was a happy accident. As he continued, Kyungsoo was timid and a little sloppy. Kris was patient, returning the kisses, and trying to give the same signals he would with anyone else, but of course Kyungsoo didn’t pick up on them. After a few seconds of awkward pecking, Kyungsoo pulls away, his face still tinged pink.

“Okay,” Kris says slowly, letting out a sigh. He runs his hand through his blond hair.

“It was terrible, wasn’t it?” Kyungsoo asked, his embarrassment becoming more and more apparent.

“Nah, it wasn’t too bad,” Kris lied. Granted, Kyungsoo wasn’t the worst kisser he’d ever encountered. “I can definitely work with you.” Kyungsoo’s face lightened up a little. “First tip: you could stand to be a little bolder, you know,” Kris says. “Try again.”

Kyungsoo sighs, but leans forward again. Their lips are almost touching, and Kyungsoo lets them barely touch again—Kris feels a surge of electricity fly between the space separating their lips. When Kyungsoo closes the gap, he’s definitely bolder, and he doesn’t miss Kris’ lips. His only problem is he’s a little too bold, a little too enthusiastic. Things are moving too fast, and Kris can’t stop and enjoy the sensations of Kyungsoo’s plump lips against his own, the way he would like to. It’s all go, go, go, mixed with saliva, and a tongue shoved into his mouth a little too early and without warning. Kris doesn’t wait for Kyungsoo to finish before he pulls away, laughing and shaking his head.

“I’m trying,” Kyungsoo whines, sitting back on his feet.

“I know, I know,” Kris says, trying to stop his laughter. “It was a valiant effort, really,” he says, trying to reassure his friend. “That was just a little too much.”

Kyungsoo groans and flops back on the bed, his hands dragging slowly down his face in despair. Kris laughs a little more, grabbing Kyungsoo by the arm and pulling him back up.

“Maybe it will be easier to show you what I’m talking about,” Kris says, as Kyungsoo is back on his knees. The awkward tension has disappeared from the room, replaced with an air of determination, and Kris and Kyungsoo are very focused on each other. “When I back off, you take the lead and just repeat back what I’ve done, okay?” Kris asks. Kyungsoo nods. Kris notices that Kyungsoo’s hands are balled into nervous fists resting on the very edge of his knees. He smiles a little.

He scoots forward, straddling Kyungsoo, and brings their faces impossibly close. He relishes in the teasing distance, the elation of the deep breath before the plunge. His hands rest on either side of Kyungsoo’s face and he can feel Kyungsoo nervously shift beneath him. He smiles and brings their lips together, softly at first. As he’s in control, now is his chance to explore and to feel.

Kyungsoo has to tilt his head up and push himself up to a higher sitting position so that his lips will reach Kris’.  There’s something incredibly endearing about that small movement, but Kris brushes that thought to the side. He notes that Kyungsoo’s lips are just as soft and pliable as they look (yeah, okay, he’d thought about them once or twice). The longer their lips are in contact, the more his own begin to burn in a pleasant way. He kisses him softly once or twice, and then begins to deepen the kiss once he feels Kyungsoo’s tense body relax. His hands pull Kyungsoo in closer, and he can feel Kyungsoo’s small hands fly up to his hair. He lets the long kisses only last a moment, before he lets his tongue run across Kyungsoo’s plump bottom lip. Kyungsoo lets out a soft whimper that Kris can barely hear—it was unintentional, of course, because the second Kyungsoo realizes the sound is escaping his throat, he cuts it off. With that small little whimper, Kris suddenly realizes that it’s taking an immense amount self-control to prevent him from pushing Kyungsoo flat on his back and kissing him hard. And he wants to, so badly.

Kyungsoo’s lips part, allowing Kris’ tongue to slide in and wander the warm expanse of Kyungsoo’s mouth, and Kris’ head is fuzzy. His head isn’t really filled with thoughts of much, just the sensations that kissing Kyungsoo is bringing him. He’s wondering why, all of a sudden, kissing his best friend sounds (and feels) so good to him. He’s never really thought of Kyungsoo as anything other than his best friend. Never thought of him as anything more than the kid who took him under his wing in the second grade, despite the fact that Kris spoke little to no Korean. Nothing more than the person he wanted to keep by his side forever. Nothing more than the person he could always be himself around, the person he could laugh at, the person he could laugh with, the person he could share his darkest fears and secrets with. The only person he needed—

Oh.

Kyungsoo must have felt confident enough to begin copying Kris’ actions, because Kyungsoo’s tongue was now fighting for dominance. And Kris let him take over, his chest feeling like it was about to explode. Kris let Kyungsoo be in control of everything. Not only was he humming happily into Kris’ mouth, perfectly mimicking all of the things that Kris had shown him seconds before, he was filling Kris’ head. His smile, the way he sometimes pursed his lips and looked up at the sky when he was thinking, the way he threw his head back when he laughed.

It takes Kris a while to realize that Kyungsoo has pushed him on his back and is straddling him. But when he does, he doesn’t mind it at all. He notes that Kyungsoo’s fingers are still latched onto his hair. Kyungsoo’s lips are trailing from his lips to his jaw, from his jaw to his neck. He wants more. More kissing, more contact with Kyungsoo’s skin, more time to stay exactly like this. Just more. But he restrains himself from pulling Kyungsoo closer. He kills the thought of sliding his hands up Kyungsoo’s shirt and letting his fingers wander over the soft, milky expanse of Kyungsoo’s chest before it has a chance to come to fruition. He can’t do those things. That’s not what he set out to do.

Kyungsoo places a last, final kiss on Kris’ adam’s apple, before sitting up and removing himself from the top of Kris.

“How was that?” he asks. The blush is gone from his cheeks and there’s a satisfied smile on his face. Kris can feel the flush in his own skin rise to the surface.

Ha, as if you don’t know, Kris thinks.

“Eh,” Kris says, teasingly. “You’ve improved.”

“Seems like I won’t have to worry about kissing Jongin at all, since I’ve managed to please the master of make outs,” Kyungsoo laughs happily.

Right. Jongin. Kris doesn’t want to admit that the mention of Jongin’s name makes his heart sink a little, but there’s really no way around it. He’s jealous—not just because Kyungsoo is his best friend and, by Jongin coming into the picture, having less time with Kyungsoo than he would like. No, it’s because Kyungsoo won’t be his. Sure, he’ll still be his best friend but, Kris realizes, that’s not exactly what he wants anymore.

Kyungsoo doesn’t seem to notice Kris’ mood deflate ever so slightly. Instead he reaches for the remote, finally noticing that Sailor Moon was on the TV, instead of the cartoons he and Kris usually like to watch together. He begins to flip through the channels, but Kris grabs the remote from him and takes over.

“Hey!” Kyungsoo protests, grabbing for the remote. Kris holds it above his head, out of Kyungsoo’s reach unless he’s willing to stand up.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna watch a sappy romance movie, just so you can learn more before you attempt to woo Jongin?” Kris teases, earning a flash of tongue from Kyungsoo. He lets out a laugh as Kyungsoo stands, almost toppling over because he can’t balance on Kris’ mattress very well, and grabs the remote back.

“You’re stupid,” Kyungsoo says, flipping through the channels again.

‘You’re stupid’ is as close as they’ve ever gotten to saying ‘I love you.’ And maybe, they’ll never get to exchange ‘I love you’s.  The thought should make Kris sad, and it almost does, but he’s never really been one to go down without a fight. Now that he realizes he’s actually in the competition, maybe—just maybe— Kris can get to Kyungsoo before Jongin can.