One vaguely infuriating thing about rooming with his crush was that Kyungsoo never seemed to come out of the shower , or halfway , or in any attire more scandalous than wet hair, bare knees and feet. Sehun was always complaining about half dudes walking in and out of his dorm suite's shared bathroom, and yet Jongin would happen to get the prude roommate - that he's in love with.

It's probably a salvation though, because Jongin has been fantasizing about that shower for a week steady now, and fortunately he hasn't yet had a call to completely jump poor Kyungsoo's bones. He imagined instead that he's Kai, and that Kyungsoo is Luhan, the character he wrote about. Or sometimes Jongin imagined he can be Luhan, and Kyungsoo could be Kai? Ultimately though, whoever takes who in the shower is a moot point. Because it was never going to happen, and for that matter it's never going to be anywhere close to happening.

Because Jongin was a wimp, cowardly, and will probably never be able to confess. And also, Kyungsoo never seemed to drink and so... no opportunies to let slip their inhibitions, and maybe kiss as a form of drunken experimentation?

Where did Kyungsoo get all his ideas for fanfiction, when Jongin knew for certain that Kyungsoo's every day life was just as boring as his own? It made no sense.

"Jongin. Jongin, I need help."

Jongin had several ideas in the back of his head about what Kyungsoo might need help with - and he'd be only too happy to please - but sure enough, the kind of help he requested had more to do with his latest serial. It was a circus!au ('alternate universe' as Jongin had to remind himself, slowly, in his mind) over which Kyungsoo had been fidgeting with the idea for the last day and a half.

"Yeah? Did you decide which characters to use?"

"I don't know. I mean, I have... but I'm still not sure. You know a little more about them now though. You can help me, right?"

If by 'little more' Kyungsoo meant the few YouTube variety show clips they'd watched together, then Jongin was by no means versed enough to set and choose member roles for a fantasy/alternate setting. If - but Kyungsoo didn't know this - he meant how Jongin had secretly been reading fanfiction above and beyond the call of duty, and he therefore had a wealth of knowledge for how the fandom at least perceived all the hot dudes of Exo-M, then yes - he could probably help. But he still wasn't ready to admit that yet. 

"What have you got so far?" he asked.

Kyungsoo circled around a few times in his twirling chair, eyes lazily trailing across the ceiling as he mulled. "Well... I've definitely got Lay and Luhan for the main leads. I know, I know. It's not Xiuhan as the main pair..." he sighed dramatically. "But then it is the author's request, so... I think the real question is whether or not this fic should have clowns."

"Were there any other specifications?" Kai asked.

"Nope. None. So basically it could go anywhere. Fluff, Angst, Crack, Horror. Crack-horror." Kyungsoo paused at this thought, then squirmed. "Nah. I hate horror. Ahhhh, this is so hard! Why am I coming up blank now?" 

While Kyungsoo pulled at his hair, Jongin secretly squirmed himself. He really liked Kyungsoo's hair.

"Put it aside maybe, and come back to it later?" he suggested.

"Maybe..." Kyungsoo agreed glumly. "I suppose I could just start on the other request and do that one first? ABO verse Xiuhan with a side/friend of omega Xiutao. Taoxiu? Taomin? What on earth would you even call that ship?"

Since Jongin wasn't entirely good at remembering even the most typical of ship names, he had no real suggestions and opted to keep quiet. He was technically supposed to be doing homework, but side-eyeing Kyungsoo and swooning inside his head was a much more agreeable pastime. He flipped a page of his textbook even though he hadn't fully read it. At least he could pretend to be good at multi-tasking.

"Mintao? Seoktao? Seokzi?" Kyungsoo continued mumbling to the ceiling. He bounced his legs up and down off the ground as part of his concentration technique.

"Do you even have time for all these fics?" Jongin asked after a minute of this. Seriously, he knew Kyungsoo made good grades in almost all of his classes, but rarely did he see him spend as much time studying as he did thinking about or writing fanfiction. 

"Zimin? Zixiu? Wait, what'd you say? Oh. Yeah, probably? I mean there's always time if you make time for it. And if in doubt, I can always lose some sleep. Or a meal or two." He smiled. 

Jongin wasn't absolutely certain that wasn't a joke. In fact, he knew the sleep one definitely wasn't. Would it go beyond the requirements as a friend and roommate to warn Kyungsoo that he should get eight hours of sleep at night? At the very least six? Would Kyungsoo find it weird if Jongin started bringing him food and drinks? Or remind him to get up from the computer desk every few hours to stretch, walk around, shake out his neck cricks, remember to use the toilet? Was it creepy if Jongin had started to wonder silently if Kyungsoo drank enough to water throughout the day to even need to use the toilet? He figured it probably was... He was starting to creep even himself out now.

"So back to the original question." Kyungsoo interrupted his creepy thoughts.

"Huh? What was the original question?" Certainly it wasn't Jongin's fault that he'd lost track of all conversation.

Kyungsoo was staring at him reproachfully. "The original question," he repeated in a low tone, one that reminded Jongin he better start paying better attention if he wanted to stay in his roommate's good graces. "The original question is: Clowns or no clowns?"

Jongin didn't have an answer. He didn't read circus fics. He never went to the circus. He knew they existed and he knew clowns existed, but why was life so hard that he was supposed to help Kyungsoo make such an important decision?

He shrugged, very helpfully.

To his relief, however, Kyungsoo seemed to like this answer. He turned back to his desk and started to write out his summary and character list with very short, deliberate key presses. "No clowns it is, then," he hummed.

Bonus Scene "Layhan Circus" DRAFT MODE!!!!!!! DO NOT POST!

SooTheMan thinks:

Summary: Luhan joins a respected circus troupe expecting to make friends; Yixing just wants to hang him up on the nearest trapeze

Paring: Layhan, obviously

Genre: Circus!au, Comedy, or rather.. bad comedy? Badass!Lay

Rating: .... still up in the air for this one... lol

Length: Chaptered, possibly? Maybe just something short

Warnings: Rope burn(?)

Character List:

• Yixing - a firebreather, contortionist - famous trapeze artist known for his double-joints and fluidly moving body; acts sweet on stage and is a hellion in real life, hates untalented people
• Luhan - dog trainer, comedian, mug juggler - mediocre vaudeville show person, hired to 'spice up' the pre-show entertainment; He doesn't know he's there because his bad acting skills are actually intended for comic relief

Side Characters: 

• Tao - fiery retired lion tamer, now twirls flaming devil sticks, isn't quite as good at it as he was with lions
• Xiumin - fairy-esque gymnist, Yixing's partner on the trapeze, the only person who's nice to Luhan
• Chen - MC of the whole show, has a thing for Tao
• Yifan - works in the pyrotechnics booth, also has a thing for Tao, and Yixing, but he can't make up his mind and so he gets neither
• Suho - a mime with sad-face makeup

>>Why do you keep writing this Suho character into your stories?<<

>Because he's an internet and I like to make fun of him<

>>Have you ever, like... do you know who he is or something, in real life?<<

>No. Why?<

>>Oh. Okay...<<

>Why?<

>>No. It's nothing<<

DRAFT - Scene 4

Luhan never knew this day could turn out so bad. >>use semi-colon here? -- sure<< He'd made a total idiot of himself on stage with his singing and dancing, the audience had laughed at him - at him, not even with him! He'd always thought he was a good comedian, but apparently he needed to rethink this crap because nobody had ever bothered to tell him he was so very bad. He wanted to cry. This was result of having so many friends back in school and thinking he was popular. Those people had actually liked him. They liked whatever Luhan did because to them, Luhan was a friend and apparently it didn't matter there.

Here it was different. Here he was alone, even though Xiumin seemed like a nice and personable guy - as in, he said 'Hello' to Luhan every time they met and smiled and actually bothered to ask him a polite 'How's the day going?' - Xiumin wasn't anything like the rest of this troop troupe. The rest of the guys here were complete s, and it pissed Luhan off immensely that they felt they had license to make fun of him. It pissed him off even more that despite their atrocious face-to-face people skills, they were actually really good at what they did. Well, except for Tao, but then the fire twirler didn't always fling his tools of the trade into people's faces. Usually he was pretty good at them... Luhan wondered perhaps if this was the reason Tao always kept his hair cropped short, >>safer that way - too wordy? delete -- fine<< in case he ever accidentally got the flames too close to his head.

Luhan put his head down, palms caressing his cheeks with his elbows on his knees. It was quieter back in his dressing room. Chen was still out in the arena doing his halftime-show thing. >>What does a halftime-show look like at a circus?? -- I don't know. I've never actually been to one<<  Suho had finished the last of his makeup already and left the room. Luhan needed some downtime while he second-guessed himself and his whole career. It was clear now he was here to be the comic relief. He wondered if that was written somewhere in super fine print on his contract. It . 

He tossed his dancing cane across the floor. It bounced once and rolled away, and he flung his top hat after it. He sniffed hissed? madly at his striped red and white jacket, and pulled his bow tie fretfully. Bow ties... he scoffed at his own reflection. Whoever said bow ties were cool. >>Is that a Doctor Who joke? -- Yes, Jongin..... it is<<

The door to the hallway opened, and Luhan looked up. Lay >>aren't you calling him Yixing in this fic? -- oops<< was there scowling, or rather smirking down at him. 

"So, now. How was Day 1 in the circus?" Yixing taunted. >>shouldn't you write out the word 'one'? -- it doesn't matter really -- ok<<

Luhan didn't want to answer. He knew he didn't even need to. Yixing was just here to torment him further. He'd make made that very clear already, from the moment Luhan first arrived. 

It was a >>billion times unfair - maybe say 'incredibly unfair?' unless you think Luhan would think like that, and then okay -- Yeah I want to keep that wording<< that Yixing was drop-dead gorgeous, or that he had a smile to make women weep, and many did just that. Luhan had already heard whispers about certain ladies of the audience being snuck in after a show. The sound of girlish giggles and heavy panting coming out of his room while the pyrotechnics guy staunchly kept watch, to keep anyone else out (or from finding out that the circus's star performer for was a ladies' man and a heart_breaker >>I think that's two words, not one<<). Yifan had a thankless double job. 

Perhaps Luhan thought it more unfair because Yixing was hot, and if only Yixing had a better personality, Luhan would totally be into that.

"You look disappointed," Yixing was saying now. And suddenly Luhan couldn't remember what he was thinking about before. 

"D-Disappointed?" he stuttered.

"In your performance?" Yixing supplies with an evil smile. 

Disappointed in you, Luhan thinks to himself. >>Aren't you writing this in past tense? -- Oh, yeah sorry I forgot already<<

Apparently though he made the mistake of saying that out loud. Luhan was a stage actor, but a bad one - and that translated to saying the wrong things at the wrong time. No wonder he at his job. 

Yixing cocked his head curiously. "In me?" he repeated.

"Uhhhhhh," Luhan whined, backtracking furiously in his head. 

"Why in me?" Yixing took several steps forward. 

Because you're hot, but you're a . Luhan mercifully managed to keep that thought inside his head. "I didn't... I didn't say anything. I mean, nothing."

"Were you... thinking about me just now?" 

"What?" Luhan jumped backwards. His rolling chair bumped against the makeup counter, however. He was trapped. "No way! I wansn't! I wasn't...!"

"I don't really believe you," said Yixing, and was it just Luhan's imagination or did his voice suddenly drop a half octace octave? 

"You know what I think?" Yixing continued.

"No." It wasn't really the correct response but Yixing didn't seem like he cared.

"I think you were thinking about me." His eyes narrowed and he leaned over. From this angle he had the advantage on Luhan, even though Luhan was technically taller. He seemed to shrink though the closer Yixing got to his face. "I think... you were sitting here all alone, imagining things... about me... and you... perhaps strung up to a trapeze, completely immobile?" 

The room was growing hot. Luhan's face was completely flushed. He didn't even need to look in a mirror to confirm that. 

A heartbeat before it happened Luhan realized that Yixing intended to kiss him, here and now. He closed his eyes and held his breath, not entirely sure if this was unwanted. From the way Yixing was asserting himself over him, he expected to be completely attacked. He saw the way one of those girls from last night had left his room, lips swollen and bruised. It was going to be him now... He just knew it. And he kind of dreaded it, but perhaps the flip-side was getting to taste Yixing?

It didn't happen. Or at least not the way Luhan imagined it. Yixing had his arms braced on the counter top either side of Luhan's chair, and just his head came into contact with Luhan's. And only his lips - his terribly soft lips - touched his. It was light, airy, cushy. Luhan gasped at how sweet it was, but even with his mouth partly open Yixing didn't take advantage of that. Instead he pulled back, and Luhan opened his eyes. Yixing was staring down at him... almost fondly? >Jongin, are you actually proofing this part? I just caught several mistakes myself -- Sorry! Sorry I got distracted...Wait, I'll read it through again.<

"So how was that?" he asked.

And then the sweetness was gone in a poof of smirks. Luhan fumed. He couldn't respond, didn't even realize Yixing was talking to him again.

"Sorry, I'd stay for more," he was saying. "But I got a date tonight. Guy named Kai. I'm sure you'd like him." Then he winked and was gone as well. >>So... who's Kai? He wasn't in your character list... -- Lol sorry. I don't know? Insert dream guy perhaps? Hehe -- You mean your dream guy isn't in Exo-M? -- Lol nah. Exo guys are little more than fiction, you know how it is.<<

Luhan inhaled finally, choked for a moment and then cleared his head. Did that... did that mean that perhaps Yixing wasn't an exclusive womanizer? Luhan... could work with that.

A/N

And here's some more Layhan for my readers... Sorry, it's so weird writing them. I mean I like Layhan but I don't like them, because it always feels like Luhan is cheating on Minseok whenever I write him in another ship. OH well. Hope you liked it!

Also thanks to my new beta, "J" for proofing this. Best friend ever! 

2,744 words

Well that was fun indeed. I think I enjoyed writing this chapter too much hehe. And hey, that was one of the longest, uncut Kaisoo scenes this whole fic! If you just imagine them through the lines of the other 'fic-within-a-fic' where the story deepens. This was a real look at the beta process too in that Layhan draft. Some of those lines were actually my sister's suggestions, cut and dry. 

Thanks to Byberry for the Layhan Circus!au idea, and to Xiuminoppassi for the ABO Xiuhan/Xiutao (or is it Taomin/Zixui??) Lol You'll see more of that particular 'fic' in upcoming chapters. I just wanted to introduce it here. :)

<3 Rosie

P.S. If you want to read an actual Layhan I wrote, please do go and read However You Can Float. Yes, just like Kyungsoo I do write other things than my precious Xiuhan ship.