The car stopped as abruptly as it almost tipped over. Kyungsoo felt a strong force hold him back against his seat, something that was covering his chest and pushing him backwards. He opened his eyes looking to his right to find Jongin hiding his head behind his right arm while his left hand was keeping Kyungsoo in place. He was so shocked at the realization that he didn’t take his eyes off of his seat mate until he heard the driver sigh in relief and ask if everyone was okay. 

”What happened man?” Jongin said as he retracted his left arm and put down the other, not sparing Kyungsoo a glance. 

”The storm. I can’t drive in this weather and we’re quite far away from the city. We’ll have to stop somewhere we can wait out the rain.”

Kyungsoo felt tense and shaken by the abrupt movements the cab had just been through. Slowly, he let his fingers relax from the death grip they held onto the fabric of the carseat and the door. 

”Stop where? We’re in the middle of nowhere!” Jongin answered. 

”The GPS shows a motel nearby, just a few minutes of driving and we are there.” 

Kyungsoo wasn’t exactly excited to spend the night outside but he wasn’t going to risk his life to get home. 

”L-let’s go there.” He stuttered as he nodded his head multiple times. 

⋆⋆⋆⋆

When they arrived a small motel with an ’open’ sign flickered its red neon light in the dark. The cabdriver parked the car nearby, thus saving them time under the rain. The driver got out of the car and opened the door for both students. Kyungsoo thanked him with a bow and noticed that Jongin was already ahead of them. He ran up to the boy just in time to catch the front door ajar. 

”Welcome to Motel Trapa!” A woman greeted them with a bow behind the counter. ”What an awful weather, right?” 

”Yeah, horrible.” The driver said as he wiped the water from his vest while Kyungsoo nodded discreetly. 

”I’d like a room, please. Preferably queen-sized.” Jongin said as he leaned on the counter. 

”I’ll check sir.” She answered and typed in something in her computer. ”We’re currently having a lot of residents.” She said nervously. ”But I’m sure I’ll find a bedroom of your liking.” 

Kyungsoo heard Jongin chuckle. 

”I’m glad to tell you that we have a queen-sized available.”

”Great, I’ll take it. How much-”

”But we’ve only got another room left and it’s a single.”

Silence. Kyungsoo knew what was going to happen. He would sleep in the car. 

The night started with the wrong foot, why would it get better now? Dammit.

”There’s a sofa bed in the queen-sized room.” The woman said encouragingly.

”I’ll take the single.” The driver said and went up to the counter to get his key. 

Kyungsoo kept his gaze down. He was waiting for Jongin to say it, to tell him that he would sleep alone and refuse Kyungsoo’s company. He sighed and waited for the hurtful words reach his ears. 

”We’ll take the queen-sized then.” 

Kyungsoo’s head perked up. What? He saw how the woman smiled and gave him the key while he offered a small smile in return. 

”Let’s go.” Jongin whispered only for Kyungsoo to hear while he grabbed his arm and pulled him along. He walked after him up the stairs and into a corridor with different doors decorating the walls. Their door was by the middle-end, being number twelve. Jongin opened the door and let go of him. ”I’m not sleeping on the couch.”

Kyungsoo nodded and couldn’t help but let a tiny smile slip past his lips. 

”It’s okay, I don’t mind.” 

Jongin went straight to the coat hanger and took off his leather shoes, hanging them there. Kyungsoo looked at him questioningly as he closed the door. Jongin then hung his jacket and proceeded to walk across the room as he ed his white poplin shirt. 

”What are you doing?” 

”I would lie to you but I think you already know the truth.” Jongin answered as put the shirt on the radiator by the window. 

Kyungsoo shook his head as he sighed. ”I meant with the shoes.” He pointed at the pair and raised an eyebrow. 

”They dry faster.” Jongin explained. 

”… Alright.” The shorter whispered with both of his eyebrows arched as he took off his shoes and put them by the door neatly. 

When he looked up again he was met with a very bare Jongin taking off his socks with his back to Kyungsoo as he leaned on the pants he put on the radiator — his underwear the only thing covering his body. 

”Wow, wow, wow, hold on for a second!” Kyungsoo reacted and put his palm before his eyes. 

”What?” Jongin asked when he saw his seat mate looking away. 

”I like to respect everybody’s privacy and if you like to flash your skin to everyone on a regular basis that’s fine by me, but please do it while I’m not around.” Kyungsoo answered looking down at his feet with his hand still covering the view in case he dared to look up. He wasn’t sure if the constant shivers that ran down his spine were created from the cold the wet clothes brought on or because of the boy resembling a greek statue just standing there, a few feet away from him. 

Kyungsoo furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he suddenly heard steps getting closer. 

”Wh-what are you doing?” He asked with a shaky voice as he took a step back. 

”Am I making you nervous, Kyungsoo?” 

He could almost hear the smirk forming on the other’s lips and it raged his mind. With determination he tensed his lips and stepped on Jongin’s bare feet hard. 

” off.” He said as he walked past his seat mate and his groans towards the only bureau in the room in hopes to find some clothes the motel may’ve provided. He opened the first drawer to find it filled with sheets, blankets and a duvet. Shaking his head he opened the next one and found sleepwear, but cursed when he noticed the inevitable problem. 

”Guess we’ll have to share.” Jongin said as he stood beside him, every now and then flexing his toes and stretching his feet. ”Unless you want the nightgown of course.” 

”Shut up.” Kyungsoo whispered as he avoided looking at the taller. Without a word he took the only pajama shirt available and locked himself in the bathroom, leaving Jongin alone with the matching pair of pants. 

⋆⋆⋆⋆

Kyungsoo walked out of the bathroom holding his wet clothes in one hand and with the other trying to drag down the pajama shirt as much as possible, even though he knew his boxers were completely visible. The shirt was quiet big on him, but it wasn’t long enough to cover the embarrassing underwear he was wearing. The apples of his cheeks turned slightly pink when he pictured himself walking around the room. 

”So that’s why you chose the shirt.” Jongin suddenly said from the bed. He was laying down on his side, watching Kyungsoo as he put his clothes on the radiator as well. 

”What do you mean?” He asked trying to sound as calm and unknowing as possible. He even dared looking over his shoulder to glance at Jongin.

”Your boxers could pass for a pair of shorts, man.” Jongin laughed. ”Did you rob your grandpas closet or something?” 

Kyungsoo let out a sarcastic laugh covering his true embarrassed state. ”Shut up.” Huffing, he walked over to the bureau once again and pulled out the sheets along with the duvet to the sofa bed. 

”I’ve mixed feelings about this aggressive side of yours.” Jongin said after he had stopped laughing. 

The older boy turned his back towards the other to collect himself while he pulled out the actual bed from the sofa bed. He could hear how  the other male in the room neared him.

At least his legs are covered now.

”Here, let me help you.” Jongin said quietly as he unfolded the bed mimicking his seat mates moves. 

”No, don’t.” Kyungsoo grabbed his hand to stop him. ”I don’t want to owe you anything else.” 

Jongin stood quietly for a bit just looking at him. Kyungsoo’s  embarrassment dissipated slowly when he looked back into his seat mates brown eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows for a millisecond wondering what the other could possibly be thinking about while looking at him so intensely. 

”See it as a… Peace offering.” The taller pushed away Kyungsoo’s hand carefully.

”Peace offering?” The shorter asked.

Odd way to put it. 

”I help you with this and we never talk about what happened today. You will never bring it up and you’ll stop bothering me about it, deal?” 

Kyungsoo considered the offer for a second before picking up the sheets and putting them sloppily on the bed. 

”Will that make you feel better?” He asked with underlying concern hiding in his tone. 

”Nothing will.” Jongin answered after a moment of complete silence. 

Even though Kyungsoo didn’t know his seat mate well enough he could see the shattered expression hiding behind the mask. A sad smile almost escaped his lips, forcing him to inhale deeply to hide it. 

”Let’s make the bed then.” He grabbed two ends of the sheets, tossing the other two in Jongin’s direction.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

Baekhyun woke up to a weird smell. He couldn’t quite identify it but he could almost pick up its underlying smells that were invading his senses. He wriggled his nose slightly to make it disappear but it still hung low over his head. He was too tired to care at all about his surroundings, making him close his eyes harder and press his nose onto the soft, warm skin lying underneath his face.

Wait, what?

He shot his body up immediately in shock. A sudden wave of dizziness and nausea hit him with full force making him gag. His eyes opened up slowly to adjust themselves to the imminent light coming from the window and he was about to throw up when he processed the view. 

Two bodies, excluding himself, were lying on a queen-sized bed — sprawled limbs barely tangled together and torsos covered in body fluids. The room stench made itself more recognizable in Baekhyun’s nostrils and turned out to be a mixture of alcohol and the reek of . 

Baekhyun forcefully pushed himself off of the bed when he realized who the other two persons lying on the bed were. 

No ing way. 

He slapped his face hard to see if the image that greeted his view was real, and unluckily for him it was. 

”.” Baekhyun whispered and looked down at his own body. ”!” He whispered louder and stood up as fast as he could without tumbling back down. He made it over to the mirror and gazed down his own body. 

”This is not good.” He said to himself as he saw the large amount of marks blooming all over his body. He pulled at his own hair in panic, frustration and guilt as he watched the purple hickeys cover the greater part of his throat and neck. He turned around and noticed an obscene amount of red marks on his waist, lower back and bottom. ”How could this happen?” He let out in a high-pitched voice. 

”I need to get out of here.” Baekhyun panicked, grabbing his stuff and putting his clothes on as fast as he could before heading out of the mansion at 7AM in the morning. 

⋆⋆⋆⋆

Kyungsoo woke up because of the natural sunlight hitting his face. He groaned quietly and covered his head with the duvet. 

”I know you don’t want to but it’s time to get up.” A familiar voice said. He couldn’t help but wish for a second he hadn’t followed his seat mate to this motel and he could’ve slept until after midday if he wanted to. With the leftover strength he pulled himself into a sitting position, pushing away the covers. 

”What time is it.” Kyungsoo answered rubbing his eyes. 

”Ten o’clock. The girl behind the counter knocked about an hour ago saying that the driver was ready whenever we were ready.”

”Why didn’t you wake up me then?” He asked as he stood up and went over to pick his clothes from the radiator. He couldn’t help but notice how everything had already been cleaned up except for the sofa bed. 

”I appreciate the ability to sleep.” Jongin answered leaning on his back hands from where he sat on the edge of the bed. 

”Mine or yours? Because it looks to me that you didn’t sleep at all.” Kyungsoo walked over to the bathroom and leaned on the bathroom door. 

”I’m not fond of storms.” Jongin said with an overly forced smile. 

”Neither am I of lies, but I guess some things will never truly disappear from our lives whether we like it or not.” He answered and locked himself in the bathroom to change back to his ’party’ clothes.

⋆⋆⋆⋆

Joonmyun walked down the halls of his house. He’d never liked to leave all the dirty work for his maids, so when he hosted a party or things just went out of control he always helped out cleaning up the mess. So there he was, controlling all the rooms to make sure he didn’t miss any non-cleaned spots. And then, ever so suddenly, the clean pattern broke and a strong smell made his face scrunch up as he entered that particular guest room. 

”What in the-” But something caught his eyes before he could finish the sentence. Something he wasn’t prepared to see. 

”Yixing?” He took a step closer to the bed and confirmed it was the auburn-haired boy. ”Oh my God, Yixing! What- What’s going on?!” Joonmyun shook the boy awake and looked at him in disbelief as he put the puzzle pieces together. 

”Yixing I- What- D-did you…?” He was stuttering and his legs were shaking from the fear of accepting the truth. He just looked at his sleeping beauty wake up in confusion, looking around to locate himself. 

”Joonie, what are you- why are you looking at me like that?” He said with squinted eyes, but even then he noticed how his boyfriend averted his shimmering eyes. 

”What’s going on? Why are you crying?” Yixing sat up concerned and then finally felt the cold morning air hit his bare skin. That’s when it hit him that he could still feel the other boy’s arm around his waist. He turned his head to make sure it wasn’t his imagination, but by the time the guilt had slammed him hard Joonmyun had already ran off from the scene. 

⋆⋆⋆⋆

The ride home in the cab was filled with silence. It wasn’t awkward, at least not in Kyungsoo’s opinion. He’d already let his parents know that he took off not that long ago from the motel and that he would be there in time to make lunch for the whole family. 

Kyungsoo had eyed the younger male beside him carefully during their on-going ride — he’d noticed that the other had not tried to contact anyone since they left the party the day before. He found it weird and it triggered questions to rise up to the surface. 

”Aren’t you gonna let your parents know that you’re finally heading home?”

”They’re probably not even home yet and I don’t want to talk to my brother.” 

”So what, are you just gonna eat alone then?”

”I’ll order something.” 

”Come to my place.” It was spontaneous and it sounded way better in his head even if it had only been during a second. 

”Why would I?” 

Why would he?

Kyungsoo couldn’t come up with a single reason to why he had invited the other over just like that. 

”For no reason at all.”

Jongin arched his eyebrow slightly and eyed him like he had done the previous evening. After various moments of more silence Kyungsoo thought he had been silently rejected until he heard his voice resonate in the car again. 

”Fine.” 

Short chapter, I know I know, I'm sorry, but hey, I updated!