At lunch that day, Kyungsoo doesn't sit with Jongin to eat. Jongin's not sure what to make of that, because maybe feeling relieved about not having to introduce Kyungsoo to his friends -especially Sehun who would probably be appalled-is a bit rude.

But at least it gives Jongin enough time to sort through a few things in his mind.

Like how do Kyungsoo's parents even know he exists? That's a little creepy, but Kyungsoo himself seems alright, really. Even if he apparently tells his parents about everything he does.

Kyungsoo himself admitted he didn't want to get to know him at first. Jongin wonders why that might be. It can't be because he's inapproachable, can it? He's far too sleepy to be intimidating, right?

“Sehun, am I intimidating?” Jongin asks, not anticipating the answer he gets- Sehun laughing in his face.

“You are the least scary person I've ever met!” he squawks, and Jongin squints at him, non-threateningly.

Then why was Kyungsoo so dead set on not liking him? Jongin doesn't get it. Maybe he comes off as...maybe these rumours are getting him? Jongin doesn't know. He'll have to ask Kyungsoo at a later date. It's at this point Jongin realises he forgot to get Kyungsoo's phone number, despite all the times they had their phones out it didn't occur to either of them.

“Screw you,”

“Get lost. No, but you’re like a dog, one of the huge ones with the droopy eyes,” Sehun explains with a smirk,

Or maybe it did, and Kyungsoo just didn't want to make anything awkward. Oh well.

“A St. Bernard?”

“Maybe? I don’t know, you’re the dog nerd,” Sehun chuckles,

“What the , Sehun, that’s ridiculous. I wanted a dog one time, that does not make me a dog nerd,”

The rest of the day is uneventful and fairly boring. He doesn't see Kyungsoo again.

It starts to rain while he’s on the bus and he gets drenched on the short walk from his stop to his home, droplets of water dripping from his fringe into his eyes.

He closes the front door, and removes his sodden jacket and shakes some of the excess out of his hair. 

“Mum?” he calls up the stairs which is where she's most likely to be, probably working on some admin stuff for work. She's not a secretary, but it’s pretty close. Apparently the higher ups don't treat her very well. Probably because she's already had a child, and been on maternity leave, she says fairly often, but Jongin thinks it’s more to do with them just being s.

“Yeah?” she calls back down,

“Nothing, I was just letting you know I'm home,” he shouts, kicking his shoes off and tossing them somewhere near the box he's supposed to put them in with a flick of his leg,

“Oh, ok! Put your shoes away, properly, please!” she demands, and Jongin rolls his eyes and scoffs, but does so anyway, before heading upstairs to his room.

He dumps his school bag on his bed, then moves it before the wetness can seep onto his duvet. Stripping off briskly, he rummages around in his t-shirt drawer for something old, and puts in on and then changes out of his jeans into some loose shorts.

He's too lazy to have a shower, so he just leaves his hair wet. He's never caught a cold from it before, so he assumes he won't now.

He wanders into his mother’s room and plops himself on her bed,

“Have you started making food yet?” he says cheekily, knowing full well she's probably had no time to do anything today except work. She raises one eyebrow at him, and he grins with too much innocence to be real.

“Nope, but there's one of those pasta-bake things in the fridge. If you're hungry go and put it in the oven,”

Jongin groans a long suffering groan and lies back on the bed, legs still hanging over the edge, at this suggestion,

“But that's gonna take, like, twenty minutes; I'm too hungry for that,”

“Go,” Jongin's mum commands, kicking his shoulder lightly and making his whole body rock pathetically, “I'll be down in a minute, lazy,”

Jongin complains about the unfairness of having to make his own food all the way back down to the kitchen, where his mother can't hear him so he stops.

He can't remember how to change the oven settings, so he has to go back up and ask for help, which results in her coming and doing it herself.

She fetches her laptop, and setting it on the table, starts simultaneously typing and asking about his day,

“Anything interesting happen? Any explosions in chemistry? No?” Jongin shakes his head and makes his best 'what the hell' face,

“Uh, no. What do you think even happens in chem?  But remember that really weird guy I told you about?” Jongin breaches the topic of his ex-stalker

“The red haired one?” Jongin nods, “oh yeah, what about him? Is he still bothering you?” she frowns, exasperated at the school's ability to get nearly nothing done, about anything,

“Ah, no. He cornered me this morning, and took me to the field to talk-” his mum cuts him off,

“You didn't get into a fight did you?” she says, her shoulder slumping and face drooping into an expression of incredulity. Parental disappointment.

“No! No, we just talked, really. Like-that's all we did. He's actually not bad.”

“Really?” she purses her lips, and shrugs, “well. If he turns out to actually be a gangster or something, don't hesitate to tell me, I'll call the school and tell them everything. I need to have a good shout at someone anyway,” she smiles amicably, then refocuses her mind on whatever ‘important’ piece of writing she's been made to do this time.

“Call me when this pasta's ready, ok?” Jongin says, as he leaves to go set up his Xbox for the night,

“Do you have any homework?”  she calls after him as he leaves,

“Nah,” he lies. He probably does, he just doesn't know what it is. Technically that shouldn't be a valid excuse, as all the teachers are supposed to put all their homework online now, but Jongin can just say he forgot his password to access the website. He plays on the Xbox until dinner, his mum having to ring his mobile phone to call him down because he had his headphones in. Why didn’t she just come upstairs- its only one flight after all.

After they've eaten, and Jongin inquires as to when his dad will next visit – they're divorced and he spends about two thirds of the year abroad anyway- and his mum doesn't know, he settles in for a long night playing games in which he dies all the time.

The morning is similarly soggy, and he actually has to do up the laces of his converses before he leave the house, so they don't turn black from being dragged through muddy puddles on the way to the bus stop.

At school he heads towards his usual table, and is less surprised than yesterday to find Kyungsoo in his seat, surrounded by his confused friends who seems to be waiting for some sort of showdown,

“Get your own seat,” he says, and he's sad to disappoint them, “that's mine,” Kyungsoo stares him down apathetically, but Jongin doesn't back down. The only difference between today and all the other times Kyungsoo has stared at him, is now there's an undercurrent of amusement. Like the kind an adult might have for a child when they’re being difficult.

Kyungsoo eventually rolls his eyes, and with an exaggerated and exasperated sigh he stands up as though whole world rests upon his shoulders, and goes to fetch another chair. In the meantime, Jongin sits himself down and prepares to face the disappointment of his friends.

He watches Kyungsoo carrying his chair across the canteen in order to avoid making eye-contact with everyone (mostly Sehun, who is gaping at him. Like a fish.)

Kyungsoo dumps it on the hard floor with a clatter, then nudges it into place and with a delicacy that belies his personality, perches on the edge of the chair. Maybe he's nervous. So is Jongin, to be honest.

Sehun nudges him with his foot under the table, hidden from view,

“Yes, Sehun, do you have something to say,” it’s a question, but has sarcastic intonation. Sehun raises his hands and his eyebrows,

“Just wondering what he's doing here,” he shrugs, “cos I thought you were -”

“Shut up,” Jongin kicks him- or tries to, but he misses, and his foot glances off his shin. Sehun gives him the finger, leaving Jongin spluttering for a moment. Then Sehun goes back to texting, abandoning Jongin to the imaginary wrath of his new guest/friend.

Jongin doesn't really know what to say to Kyungsoo, though he feels like he should say something. Anything to assuage to awkwardness that seems to have accumulated since yesterday. They were perfectly comfortable on the field, Jongin wonders why this is. Maybe it's just because they're almost in public now.

Going to sleep would solve these problems, Jongin surmises, so he folds his arms and lays his head on them, preparing for a nice early morning nap.

Kyungsoo is sat next to him, Jongin remembers every few seconds, and that makes it hard for him to slip into unconsciousness. But what to say? They pretty much exhausted all of the decent conversation topics yesterday.

“Do you want to hang out tonight? Or are you busy?” Kyungsoo says, quietly enough that Jongin has to strain to hear him over the canteen noise.

Well that's another solution, Jongin supposes.  He's not really busy any night, as he only goes out with his friends when they bribe him with free stuff. Food, sweets, that kind of thing. They don't usually bother because they're stingy, but Jongin doesn't care.

“Uh, no? What did you have in mind?”  he replies, only a little bit apprehensive. What if he wants him to hang around with some group of equally scary people from his old school?

Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose, “I didn't. Have anything in mind.” Jongin lets out a little of the tension building in his shoulders.

“How about we just hang out at my house, would that be ok?” Jongin supplies, then feels stupid for suggesting it, because that's like stage four friendship or something, and they've not known each other long enough, idiot.

But then Kyungsoo squints at him playfully,

“I don't see any problem in that,” he grins. Not a mocking, or condescending smirk, but an actual sincere smile.

“That's settled then,” Jongin nods, and then the bell goes for first lesson, and Kyungsoo has to go. He waves as he leaves, and Jongin surprises himself and Sehun, by waving back.

“What was that?” Sehun inquires slyly,

“He wants to be friends,” Jongin replies with a shrug. Sehun quirks his eyebrows disbelievingly,

“I see. Friends,”

“Shut up,”

--

its boxing day now, right? right? yeh

comment pls :) it's always nice to know people actually read this