When Kris and Kyungsoo got to the theater, they immediately walked up to the ticket machine.

“I hope that there are still seats left,” Kyungsoo remarked.  “I didn’t really think about that when I asked to come on such short notice.”

“It’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Kris reassured him as he flipped through the seats. “Aha, see!? There are two seats next to each other right here!” He exclaimed as he quickly reserved the seats before anyone else could get to them.

Putting his money into the machine, Kyungsoo began to protest.  “Kris, let me pay for it! I’m the one who asked you out after all,” he said as he began to dig his wallet out of his pocket.

“Yeah, but I’m the hyung,” Kris responded, shrugging his shoulders and continuing to stuff his money into the machine, purposefully ignoring Kyungsoo as he tried to shove his money into his hands.

“Kris!”

“Kyungsoo!” Kris responded in kind, voice playfully mocking Kyungsoo’s own whining tone.

“Fine,” Kyungsoo pouted cutely, crossing his arms over his chest and looking up defiantly, “But I’m buying our dinner.”

“It’s a deal,” Kris said, grabbing the tickets from the machine and putting an arm across Kyungsoo’s shoulders, drawing him into his lean body.

Kyungsoo flushed at the action, surprised at how confident Kris was, but he couldn’t say he minded exactly.  Kris was so much taller than him, and the action was immensely comforting.  Not to mention, Kris was warm and smelled so, so good.

When they went into the theater, Kris led Kyungsoo to their seats, allowing him to sit first.  Kris soon followed suit, adjusting his long legs so that he was comfortably sitting before pushing the armrest that was between them, upwards.

Kyungsoo had only a moment to be confused by the action before Kris was once again wrapping an arm around him and pulling him close to his body.

Kyungsoo initially reacted by tensing up and sitting stiffly.  Nobody ever touched him as casually as this, with the exception of Jongdae, the person he had been friends with for years, so to have someone be some comfortable with him, especially someone interested in him, was something that took Kyungsoo off guard.  Soon enough, however, he decided to make the most of it, relaxing into Kris’s warm side and resting his head against the ridiculously tall boy’s shoulder.

This is nice, Kyungsoo thought to himself as the movie began.  I could get used to this, as Kris began absentmindedly caressing Kyungsoo’s arm.

The movie passed quickly in this way.  Kyungsoo relaxed more and more against Kris throughout the duration of the film, and Kris never tried to take anything further, only occasionally looking over at Kyungsoo and smiling adoringly.

When the movie at last ended, Kris helped Kyungsoo to stand up, and they made their way out of the theater.

“Where do you feel like eating?” Kris asked, releasing his hold on Kyungsoo’s shoulders, only to grab his hand instead.

“I’m really up for anything,” Kyungsoo responded, holding his hand in return.

“Hmm,” Kris pondered, “How about Jjajangmyun?”

“I could definitely eat some of that,” Kyungsoo agreed, bumping his shoulder against Kris’s.  “But I’m a messy eater and you can’t make fun of me when I get it all over my face.”

“I pinky promise,” Kris smiled, holding up his other hand to entwine pinkies with Kyungsoo’s, pushing their thumbs together to seal the deal.

The two of them walked to the jjajangmyun restaurant, flirting quietly and joking boldly.  Kyungsoo couldn’t stop thinking about how nice it was to be like this with Kris.  He never had to worry about the things he said, and it was nice to be able to hold hands with someone that wouldn’t pull away at his touch.

Despite how much fun he was having, Kyungsoo couldn’t stop thinking about Kai.  He couldn’t refrain himself from wondering what it would be like if the two of them went to dinner and a movie.  Would it be awkward?  Would Kai hold his hand?

His thoughts were interrupted as the door to the restaurant opened, and they were led inside by the ahjumma running the place.  After they placed their orders, Kris poured them both water, and got the chopsticks out of the drawer, handing Kyungsoo his first.

“Thanks, Kris,” Kyungsoo smiled, taking a sip of water.

“No, thank you,” Kris replied, leaning his tilted head against the palm of his hand and staring at Kyungsoo.

“For what?” he blushed, suddenly embarrassed.

“For calling me.  For asking me out.  For the great time I’ve had so far.”

“You’re the reason it’s been any fun, I can’t take credit for that,” Kyungsoo fiddled with his sleeve.

“Well, I certainly am awesome,” Kris teased, making Kyungsoo stick out his tongue.

“Whatever.”

“No, but seriously, I was worried I wouldn’t hear from you after last Saturday.  You ran out so suddenly, and you looked so upset, I wasn’t sure you would even think about me afterwards.”

“Yeah, well,” Kyungsoo began, playing with his chopsticks now, “You’re a hard person to forget.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“It was,” Kyungsoo suddenly smiled up at him.

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.  And you’re okay, right?  About whatever it is that happened last week?”

“Yeah, I’m getting there,” Kyungsoo blushed again, touched by the concern in Kris’s voice.

Soon enough, their meal arrived at their table.  The steaming jjajangmyun smelled so good, and Kyungsoo was enthused to see that there were plenty of shrimp and little squids in his bowl.

Grabbing one with his slick metal chopsticks, Kyungsoo said enthusiastically, “These are my favorite!”

“Really?  Then you can have mine,” Kris said, picking them out of his bowl and putting them into Kyungsoo’s. “I think they’re gross.”

“What, why!? How can that opinion even be possible!?” Kyungsoo exclaimed, stuffing another one in his mouth.

“They’re just so rubbery and gritty and weird.  Not to mention they give me the heebie-jeebies,” Kris shuddered as he deposited the last one into Kyungsoo’s bowl.

“You’re so weird,” Kyungsoo responded, smiling teasingly.

The two boys took their time over their meal, discussing everything from their favorite colors, to the movie they just watched, to their dreams and life goals.

As the night wore on, Kyungsoo became more and more comfortable around Kris.  He still didn’t have butterflies, and there wasn’t as much passion as there was with Kai, good or bad, but Kyungsoo felt himself beginning to like Kris nonetheless.

He doubted he would be able to develop real feelings any time soon, but he was more than willing to try.  Kris was a great guy, and they had so much in common, Kyungsoo felt like it wouldn’t take long at all to say that he really liked Kris.  And he knew that Kris would make a caring and attentive boyfriend; that much was obvious by the way that Kris kept him supplied with napkins and water throughout the meal, making sure he never ran out of either.

When Kyungsoo finished his bowl of jjajangmyun, he set his chopsticks down on the table and leaned backwards in his chair, stretching his arms out and heaving a long groan.

“Oh my God, I’m so full,” he complained.

“I know, me too.  I’m not sure I’d even be able to stand up at this point,” Kris agreed, leaning back in his own chair.

“Gah, so full.  And I drank too much water, I have to go to the bathroom.”

“It’s just out back,” Kris informed him, pointing to the desired location.  “I’ll just wait for you here and give my stomach some time to digest.”

As Kris closed his eyes to rest, Kyungsoo got up and went in the previously indicated direction of the bathroom.  Stepping outside, he was briefly confused and lost until his eyes landed on the sign for the men’s room.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Kyungsoo escorted his overly full bladder to the bathroom.  When he was done, he washed his hands and looked in the mirror to make sure there was no more jjajangmyun sauce on his face.

Satisfied that he was clean and looked presentable, Kyungsoo once again stepped into the restaurant, only to stop dead at the sight that met him when he looked at his table.

Seated across from Kris was none other than Kai himself.  Kris’s relaxed posture was gone, and both boys were staring at each other, gazes hard and backs straight as can be.

Silently cursing under his breath, Kyungsoo approached the table.

“Kai, what the hell are you doing here!?” Kyungsoo spat out angrily.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he returned, breaking his eye contact with Kris in order to look up at Kyungsoo.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m on a date!”

“With this guy?” Kai jabbed a thumb towards Kris.  “Come on Kyungsoo, you can do better than that.”

“Kai, would you please come talk to me alone?  Outside?” Kyungsoo was furious.  “Kris, can you just wait here, I’ll be right back.”

Kris looked at Kyungsoo, concern flooding his strong features.  “Okay, I’ll be right here if you need me.”

“Thanks,” Kyungsoo’s voice softened when he spoke to him.

Sure that Kris would be there when he got back, Kyungsoo firmly grabbed a hold of Kai’s elbow and led him back out towards the bathroom.  When they made it outside, Kyungsoo released his hold on Kai and spun around furiously to stare him in the eye.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Kyungsoo shouted as loud as he dared.  “I am on a date! Godammit Kai, why do you keep doing this to me!?”

“Kyungsoo, calm down,” Kai approached him like he would a cornered animal.

“No, I will not ing calm down, Kim Kai! I am ing pissed!  What gives you the right to do this to me?”

“I just – I heard about your date from Sehun, and I just couldn’t let you go.  Kyungsoo, I’m so sorry about what happened the other week.  Please, please let me explain.”

“No, I don’t ing think so, Kai.  Your apologies just aren’t going to cut it anymore.  I’ve forgiven you time and time again, and you always manage to it up.”

“Kyungsoo, I – “

“No, Kai, get the out of my life.”  And with that, Kyungsoo his heel and stormed back into the restaurant, leaving Kai alone by the bathroom.

“Are you ready, Kris? Let’s go please.”

“Sure, whatever you want to do,” Kris responded comfortingly, getting up and taking Kyungsoo’s hand as they went to pay for their food.

When they made it out onto the street, Kyungsoo let out a frustrated sound and swiped at the back of his eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kris said, pulling Kyungsoo towards him into a hug.

Kyungsoo leaned into Kris’s tall frame, wrapping his arms around the other boy’s waist, and breathing in his warm and comforting scent.

When Kris felt that Kyungsoo had relaxed again, he pulled away, holding Kyungsoo by the shoulders and looking into his face searchingly.  “Are you alright now?”

Kyungsoo nodded his head and replied with a shaky smile.

“How about we go get some ice cream? My treat.”

This time, Kyungsoo’s smile was more confident as he said, “I’d like that.”

Kris led the two of them to an ice cream stand, buying them both a cone of vanilla ice cream.

As they ate their frozen treat, the two of them walked back in silence towards Kyungsoo’s home.  Finishing their ice cream, the two boys arrived outside of Kyungsoo’s apartment complex and stopped just outside the door of the building.

Turning to face Kris, Kyungsoo said, “Hey, sorry about what happened.  Besides that, I had a really great time tonight.”

“I did too,” Kris stepped closer to Kyungsoo, gently brushing a strand of hair out of the smaller boy’s face.  “I’d like to take you out again if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, I think I’d like that,” Kyungsoo responded, smiling and looking up into Kris’s handsome face.

This time when it happened, Kyungsoo knew what to expect, so when Kris’s lips covered his own, he responded right away.  Kissing Kris was really nice, yet Kyungsoo couldn’t help but to remember what Kai’s kiss had felt like, however brief.

Kris pulled away shortly thereafter, not wanting to push Kyungsoo further tonight.  He kept his face close to Kyungsoo’s as he whispered a quiet goodnight and placed his lips on his forehead.

As Kyungsoo walked inside and Kris made his way home, Kai turned away from where he had been watching across the street, a single tear finding its way down his caramel colored cheek.