When Kyungsoo woke up the next morning, his eyes were puffy from crying so much, and his overall appearance was in a complete state of dishevelment.  Despite this, Kyungsoo got out of bed and got ready for school just like he would any other day, repeating over and over in his head that happiness was a choice.

          After his mom kissed his cheek goodbye, giving him a confident smile and a thumbs up, Kyungsoo made his way to school.

          When he got there, Jongdae immediately came running over to him to give him a hug so tight, Kyungsoo thought that he might just be killed before he had to face Kai again.

          “Kyungsoo, are you okay? I didn’t call you yesterday because I thought I should give you some space, was I right?”

          “Thanks Jongdae, that’s exactly what I needed.  Once again, you know me better than even I know myself.  And as for your first question, yes, I’m fine.  I’m determined to keep doing me and get over that er and his ing -ish-ness.”

          “I can see you’re better already! Only my spunky Soo Soo would be able to be so vehement with his words so quickly.”

          “Kyunggie!” And Kyungsoo once again found himself being squeezed to death by a hug, this one smelling distinctly of Baekhyun.  “I knew Kai was an to you, but I never thought he would be capable of doing such a thing.”

          Kyungsoo pushed Baekhyun away from himself gently, only to see that he was crying.  “Baekhyun, why are you crying?” he asked, almost laughing at the state of his friend.

          “Because I can only imagine the pain my little Kyunggie is going through right now!” And he cried even harder.

          “Baekhyun, I’ll never be able to hold myself together if I see you crying like that.  Your tears are like that of a wounded puppy, please stop.”

          “I’m sorry Kyunggie, I just can’t help myself.”

          “Jongdae, please do something about this.”

          “I’m on it,” Jongdae responded.  Leaning forward until his face was less than two inches away from Baekhyun’s, he suddenly yelled loudly, “YAH! BYUN BAEKHYUN, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER MAN! THIS IS A MAN’S WORLD AND LITTLE SISSY BOYS LIKE YOU CAN NEVER SURVIVE IN IT!”

          “Sir, yes sir!” Baekhyun responded in kind, stopping his tears, standing straight, and snapping his hand up into a military salute.

          “You guys are ing idiots,” Kyungsoo began, “but I really don’t know what I would do without you.”

          “And you’ll never have to find out,” Jongdae smiled, throwing a customary arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

          “Red alert,” Baekhyun interrupted, “target approaching from the south, moving quickly.”

          As Kyungsoo and Jongdae snapped their heads around, trying to figure out just where exactly south was, Kai approached the trio in the hallway.

          “Kyungsoo,” he began upon his arrival.  But before he could say anything more, Kyungsoo was already moving off rapidly down the hallway.  He may have decided to come to school, and he may be doing his best to take his mother’s advice and not wallow in misery, but he was not ready to see or hear from Kai.

          “Kyungsoo, wait!” Kai shouted as he tried to follow him down the hall, only to have his path blocked by Jongdae, who pushed him backwards roughly.

          “You leave him the alone, Kim Kai! Don’t you think you’ve done enough?” And now Jongdae was following Kyungsoo down the hallway himself, making sure he didn’t encounter any other s on his way to homeroom.

          Kai looked at Baekhyun pleading.  “Baekhyun, please help me out here.”

          “I’m sorry Kai, but you’ve ed up.  You’ve ed up really bad, and I’m not bailing your out this time, it’s all up to you.”  And with that, Baekhyun also left to go to his own class.

          Throughout the course of the day, every time Kyungsoo and Kai would see each other in the hallway, it would end with Kyungsoo turning around and scurrying off into the other direction, his ever-present bodyguard, Jongdae, sending threatening looks to Kai, and Kai himself looking as if he wanted to follow until Baekhyun would stand in front of him and shake his head.

          Kyungsoo’s avoidance of Kai could only last so long, however.  They still had English class together, and today was when they were supposed to present the very thing that had brought them together in the first place.

          Kyungsoo took his time getting to class, arriving right when the bell to begin rang, meaning Kai was already in his seat and Kyungsoo could avoid talking to him right away.  As he sat down, Kai kept trying to make eye contact, but Kyungsoo made sure to focus all of his attention to the front of the room where his teacher was writing down the order of presentations.  He and Kai were to go third, meaning that he wouldn’t be trapped in conversation like he would be if they were to go last, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

          The presentations before theirs were good, or at least Kyungsoo assumed they were.  He wasn’t actually paying that much attention to them, instead dreading having to do his own presentation.  Fortunately, he wouldn’t have to do much actual speaking since their project was all on a flash drive they would plug in.

          When it was finally their turn, Kyungsoo stood up and immediately walked to the front of the room, not even bothering to check if Kai was following him.  When he got to the front of the room, Kai joined him and once again tried to make eye contact with him.  Ignoring him, Kyungsoo announced their project.  “The book we chose to translate into modern life was Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.  Please enjoy it well,” and both he and Kai bowed to their classmates before Kyungsoo pressed the play button on their project.

          They had decided to go with a music video concept for the presentation aspect of their project.  Kyungsoo had worked to write the lyrics and compose the song, with a little bit of help from Kai.  In the background of the video could be heard his pure voice, at times singing softly and tenderly, and other times, belting out the lyrics soulfully.  While their ears were occupied by Kyungsoo’s voice and powerful lyrics, the viewers’ eyes were focused on Kai dancing hypnotically across the screen.  His movements so exactly matched Kyungsoo’s song, it was almost eerie.  Watching the screen, Kyungsoo got chills, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

When the video ended, their classmates responded positively, clapping loudly and enthusiastically.  They too had noticed the harmony of Kyungsoo’s song and voice and Kai’s perfect dancing, and to say that their teacher liked their project would be an understatement.

Despite the enthusiasm and the smile on Kai’s face, Kyungsoo could feel nothing but relief that it was over at last.  He no longer had any reason to talk to Kai, and he was now at liberty to avoid him to his heart’s content.

Unplugging his flash drive from the computer, Kyungsoo bowed once more to his classmates before hurrying back to his seat.  As Kai walked past Kyungsoo’s desk on his way to his own, he deposited a piece of paper in front of him before sitting down.

As the next presentation got under way, Kyungsoo unfolded the piece of paper to find out that Kai had written him a note.  Though he didn’t want to hear any excuses from the who broke his heart, he read it anyway.

‘Kyungsoo,’ the note began, ‘I know that what I did to you Saturday was unforgiveable, and that you completely hate my guts right now.  We had made so much progress over these last two weeks, and in one night, I ruined that.

‘There really isn’t much I can say to you to make you forgive me, and a note is definitely not the format in which I want to say it.  I really care about you, Kyungsoo, and having you avoiding me is more painful than I ever imagined it would be.

‘Please just talk to me, let me explain why it is I did what I did.  I’m sure you’ll never forgive me, but please just allow me to try to make you understand.

‘Please, Kai.’

Kyungsoo found himself tearing up once again after finishing reading Kai’s note to him.  Finding out that Kai does in fact care about him just made the events of Saturday night that much more painful.

Kyungsoo now more than ever wanted to avoid Kai.  He didn’t want to hear any bull explanation as to why he had done what he did.  That’s why, when the bell rang signaling the end of the period, Kyungsoo crumpled up the note and threw it back to Kai, whispering a quiet “ you,” and ignoring the hurt on his face as he walked out of the room, deciding to skip the last period of the day and just go home.