School had finally ended and Kris was walking his usual route home with Tao and Yixing. They all lived in the same apartment complex – which is how they met – and so they walked to and from school every morning together.

“Kris-gege, if you really like him you should ask him out,” Tao said while fiddling with the keychain on his phone. “Tao is right, duizhang, you should catch him before he gets away. I’ve seen Luhan-gege eyeing him for a while now,” Yixing supplied with a grin. “It’s not that easy. I don’t even know if he knows who I am,” Kris sighed. “Then find out! Ask someone who’s good friends with him to ask his opinion of you!” Yixing smiled.

“I would, but the only person I know who’s close to Minseok is…” Kris trailed off before shuddering. “Who?” Tao asked, looking up from his phone. “Hari, his twin sister,” Kris said with a scowl, kicking a pinecone absentmindedly. “You know her?” Tao asked, and Kris nodded. “Yeah. We were playmates when we were younger and through grade school but she…let’s just say she doesn’t particularly like me at the moment.” Yixing laughed. “What did you do?” he asked, and Kris sighed.

3 Years Ago

Kris and Hari were best friends. They knew each other since kindergarten and they always stuck together. They shared a passion for sports and athletics, as well as a love for rap and hip hop music. They hated math, loved science, and even spent a year in America together and became fluent in English. They had never been romantically attracted to each other, since Kris was gay and Hari was straight, but they had always shared a strong friendship.

In eighth grade, though, they got into an argument over basketball and Kris told the entire school about Hari’s crush on Jongin, a popular boy at their school, and ever since she never spoke to him again.

“And that’s what happened. I regret it, of course, but she won’t even look at me,” Kris said, and Tao scoffed. “Well, yeah, she has good reason. Regardless, you should still talk to her. If you apologize about it she’ll forgive you and then you can win over Minseok-hyung and everyone will have a happy ending,” he said, giving him a cheesy thumbs-up.

“I’ll give it a shot. But if I end up with a black eye I’m blaming you,” Kris compromised. They reached their apartment complex and separated ways to each of their apartments. When Kris reached his he opened the door and let out a frustrated groan before locking his door and face-planting onto his bed.

-

Kris was pacing back and forth in front of Hari and Minseok’s house farther down the street, past the other apartments and on the other side of the park. It was relatively close to Kris’ own complex and he had memorized the way there due to the many other trips there in his childhood. He remembered the strange, coral-colored complex with the adorable white puppy; the pretty white house with the columns where the cutest couple lived and always gave them candy bars; the kind ahjumma’s house that smelled of chocolate-chip cookies where Hari and Kris were always welcome to play; and even the big tree on the park’s perimeter that they always played on and even where Hari fell and broke her right arm.

He remembered that day – that was when he first met Minseok. Although he and Hari had been friends for a while Minseok was always busy being the diligent, well-mannered boy he was – piano lessons on Monday, violin lessons and then soccer practice on Tuesday, extra-long hagwon studies on Wednesday, soccer practice on Thursday, and more hagwon studies on Friday. Kris had to wait a long time until he could finally meet the renowned Minseok who, in Hari’s words, was quite possibly the nicest boy in the world.

Hari and Minseok’s mother took Hari and Kris to the hospital, contacting their father to pick up Minseok and meet them there. Kris waited outside the room, nervously playing with a small, pocket-sized action figure when he finally met Minseok. Minseok was an adorable, chubby-cheeked boy that had the prettiest smile and Kris was smitten – as smitten as a third grader could be – at the boy. They sat in the waiting area talking about their favorite action figures and cartoons until Hari emerged with a blue cast on her arm.

Kris smiled at the memory, before he finally decided to walk up to the door.

What if Minseok answers? That would be awkward, Kris thought before remembering – if he was correct, he’d probably be at hagwon or something. He got the guts to ring the doorbell and almost instantly the door swung open to reveal Hari, hair messily pulled up into a bun and wearing sweatpants and an oversized sweater. She froze for a second before glaring.

“And why are you here, Kris?” she said spitefully. “Listen, Hari, I know we’ve had our differences but I’m here to apologize. What I did was stupid and it ruined our friendship. I hope you can forgive me, but I seriously need your advice,” Kris said quickly, giving her a pleading expression. She visibly relaxed, sighing before giving him a small smile and nodding, opening the door for him to come inside.

He remembered the house like it was his own, and it hadn’t changed a bit. “Minseok’s out playing soccer with Luhan,” she said, going into the kitchen. “Coffee? No sugar, right?” she said, and Kris nodded and smiled. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” she said while making the coffee.

“Okay. So…I kind of have a crush on someone,” he said, slumping onto the dining table and resting his head on his arms. “Really? And here I was thinking you’d never fall in love,” she said with a laugh, sliding a mug of coffee across the table. “Who is it?”

Kris groaned before covering his face completely. “Minseok,” he mumbled, and Hari choked on her coffee. “Minseok? As in Minseok my twin brother?” she asked with wide eyes after she recovered from her coughing fit. Kris nodded. “Oh. And I’m assuming you want me to help you,” she said, and Kris nodded again. “Okay. Well, he does swing that way, you know. He did always try to tell me to make up with you so maybe he likes you. He doesn’t know you all too well though so you should try to get to know him better,” she said and took a sip of her coffee.

“How do I do that?” Kris asked, starting to drink from his own polka-dotted mug. “Simple. Minseok’s English is kind of crappy, so I’ll tell him that you offered to tutor him. So you can study with him after school,” she smiled. “Okay. But can you do me a favor and ask him what he thinks about me?” Kris said and Hari laughed. “Of course. You know, you act like such a badass at school and you pretend to be all tough. I almost forgot you were just a big softie,” she snickered, and he made his signature dying whale sound, which only made her laugh even more.

-

“Well, I don’t see a black eye, so either everything went well or you chickened out,” Yixing smirked, laughing at the glare Kris shot him. Early-morning Kris was always more lethal than usual because early-morning Kris is often a sleep-deprived Kris, which can sometimes be their worst nightmare. “It was good. She’s got me covered,” Kris mumbled, drinking his coffee, no sugar. “I’m going to be his English tutor.” Tao squealed. “That’s so cute! You’ll be all ‘Minseok, how do you say I love you in English?’ and he’ll be all naïve and say ‘I love you’,” Tao rambled in broken English, “and then you’ll be like ‘I love you too’ and oh my goodness it’ll be so adorable.”

Kris stared, shocked (and, frankly, rather frightened) by Tao’s sudden fanboying outburst. “Sure, Tao, whatever you say,” he muttered. When they reached school, Hari found him at his locker. “I told him about the tutoring. He’s going to talk to you in English today so be handsome and don’t scare him,” she said bluntly, smiling and waving a goodbye before leaving without giving him a chance to talk.

Kris just sighed and grinned. That was the Hari he knew – stubborn, blunt, bossy but caring. His mind drifted to him and Minseok as a couple, going on ice cream dates or trips to the amusement park or even just cuddling and watching movies. The thought brightened his entire day.

The first half of his day was boring, and he could hardly contain his excitement for English. When the time finally came around he sprinted from his class to the English classroom where he was greeted with a beaming, adorable Minseok. “Kris!” he said with his angelic, beautiful voice and Kris died a little.

Because Kim Minseok just said his name.

“Minseok, hi,” Kris said with a nervous smile. C’mon, where’s badass Kris? He could practically hear Hari’s voice shouting at him. “So Hari told me you needed English tutoring?” Kris said, regaining his cool and collected composure. Minseok blushed and nodded with a slight laugh, and inner, fanboy Kris fainted. “Ah, yes…I hope I’m not a burden. I know you and Hari are fluent English speakers,” he said, and Kris gave him a shining smile. “Don’t worry, it’s not a burden. I hope we can become good friends,” Kris said, and Minseok brightened up and nodded. “Definitely! Thank you, Kris!” he said cheerfully before retreating to his seat next to Luhan. He noticed Luhan give him a scowl before turning back to Minseok and replacing the glare with a bright smile. Kris rolled his eyes. Of course.

This was Luhan, co-captain of the soccer team, student body vice president, dedicated choir member, and long-time best friend of Minseok. It was clear to many that he had a crush on the chubby-cheeked angel, and Kris was determined to win over Minseok before Luhan could snatch him up.

English droned on, leaving Kris sleepy and bored as he already knew all of this. When the bell finally rang, he got up from his seat, joined by Tao and Yixing, and flashed Minseok a smug grin before leaving the classroom.

Kris: 1

Luhan: 0

-----

a/n *~*

first chapter is up o.o

unedited and i'm not a very talented author so i'm very sorry about grammar mistakes and overall awkwardness. i hope i didn't disappoint anyone with this chapter :(

i guess the chapter is very kris-and-hari-centric and although they aren't romantically related their friendship is a very important part to the story. so this story is most likely going to be two or three chapters. i'm also planning a xiuhan story too with no OCs (lol) and maybe xiukai and/or xiuhun? all fluff because fluff is life. so keep your eyes peeled for those :D

thank you for reading!