Boys were meant to be hard and girls were meant to be soft.

It was what you'd been taught all your life. It was in fairy tales, movies, dramas, legends. It was in your father's wrinkles and your mother's scarves. It was in the pink walls of your bedroom and the blue walls of your brother's bedroom. It was in your best friend's stationary and your cousin's soccer ball. Your friends all accepted it, your family all expected it.

Girls were meant to be weak and boys were meant to be strong.

Boys were meant to be crude and girls were meant to be gentle.

That's how it was meant to be. Until you met Kyungsoo.

For the first time in your life, you could be strong without anybody holding you back. Was it weird that you could beat him in soccer or that you liked to keep your hair short? It didn't seem so when he tackled you to the ground laughing after you'd scored a goal or ran his hand through your hair soothingly.

In other people's eyes, you were hard. Hard in heart, hard in hands. But with him, you were soft. Soft with attitude and soft with soul.

In other people's eyes, he was soft. Soft in voice and soft in build. But with you, he was hard. Hard with commitment and hard with love.

And what did it matter, anyway? Who cared what society thought of you two? He made you softer, you made him harder. He made you harder, you made him softer.

It didn't matter what you became when you're with the true love of your life, because in the end, they made you a better person, right? It was such a stupid way to identify the dominance in a relationship, such a stupid way to see whether people were 'right' for each other, such a stupid way to predict how much a boy and girl could love each other. Love could never be measured.

You remember the first time you wore a dress for Kyungsoo, instead of those jeans and trackpants you preferred. It was pink and had a line of pearly buttons going down the front. It only went up to your knees but you remembered being nervous and shy as you tried to pull it down. But then you remembered the light that went into his eyes as you walked out, and the way he hugged you after. The pink was soft, the light was soft but the touch was firm and hard.

Four hours later, he had undone the buttons softly then kissed you hard as your body sank into the bed.

You remembered the time you nearly cried from the pain of the winter's wind on your fingers. They had bled the night before from too much practice on the cello but as you walked out from your apartment, all you did was grit your teeth and curl your hands into fists. He had unravelled them, brushed his mouth over the ugly scabs and toughened skin, then gave you his own gloves.

The hands were hard, your pain was hard but his breath and warmth was gentle and soft.

You remembered the time you were almost on your way back home from the train station. It was dark and a man had suddenly grabbed you then tried to drag you down the alleyway. Sick with fear, you had lashed out, seven years of karate coming back in a surge, and had broken his arm. When Kyungsoo turned up at the police station two minutes later, he found you wild eyed and screaming at the man, who was now hand cuffed next to the unnerved policeman. He had let you rage for a few more minutes (on his behalf, he later confessed) then wrapped his arms around you and pulled you away.

In his chest, your shouts turned into sobs, hysterical sobbing, and all he did in the car was rock you furiously and whisper in your ear. When he got home that night and threw his tear stained sweat shirt away, he felt a surge of fury and revulsion directed towards the man that caused you so much hurt, so strong that it shook him. But when he returned to the bedroom and saw you curled up into a small ball on your bed, his heart melted and all he could think about was tending to you.

His anger was hard, your anger was impenetrable, but his protection and your forgiveness was so, so soft and so good.

Boys were meant to be hard and girls were meant to be soft? Maybe.

Girls were meant to be soft and boys were meant to be hard? Maybe.

With Kyungsoo, you were both soft and hard, you were both the alpha and omega.

Because love is never meant to be measured like this. Love is lambiguous.

But dear lord, love each other you two sure did.

Hard and softly.

~~~

A/N: Ahh, so this is finally the end of the series of one-shots with Kyungsoo :):):) I might do another series, I might not but thank you as always for reading this one. I am very, very grateful.