Do Kyungsoo isn’t your average kid from the block. Innocent & demure he may seem but everything takes place in his skull. When you’re making your first move, Kyungsoo probably came up with five different types of outcomes in his head. He isn’t a person who acts on impulse. The last time he acted on impulse he had to come up with a solution fix it. It all happened too fast he couldn’t remember what happened exactly. All he could recall was crying to the Police man taking his statements, his palms still stinging from the oxygen & bacteria eating his freshly wounded palms; but still he lied without flinching a single bit.  That was Do Kyungsoo at the age of 10.

-Ω-

In 2014, Do Kyungsoo was leading the Narcotics Team B after joining the Police Force for barely 12 months. No doubt Kyungsoo had the brains for cracking down these criminals but in the corporate ladder, you work from the bottom with blood & sweat, not brains. Kyungsoo wasn’t a very sociably likeable kid. He’s a little cold on the outside, he’s quiet and stares a little too long at people with his big pearly eyes for he’s constantly observing everyone down to the smallest details.

The seniors didn’t like him much, he can’t seem to hold a decent conversation without ending his sentences with an open ended discussions. Kyungsoo isn’t good at making his sentences sound nicer for there are more than one thing going on in his head while he speaks his mind. They say the faster the climb, the harder you fall.

Heechul always told Kyungsoo, ‘Don’t step too hard on the hands of others while you climb the ladder up. You never know when you’ll have to face them again when you go down.’ But Kyungsoo would always scoffed and assure Heechul, ‘I won’t let that day come.’

Kyungsoo never liked Heechul for Heechul is the Black in the White. Keep your friends close but keep you enemies closer, they said. And that is how the world works, plant their own seeds in each other’s yard to grow. There’s no definite Black or White, there’s no sides to take a stand. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, it’s only a matter of time you decide what are weeds, what are crops & remove them for good. But it’s a never ending cycle, it’s only a mess of Grey.

Kyungsoo has noticed that many a times the tipper or informant were sent by Heechul. Heechul would always be away when the phone call came. Heechul would give off hints of who needs to be arrested, the supposedly ring leader are usually some scapegoat.

It’s not just natural selection in the Black world but also artificial selection. The dumbest and weakest would always be the first to be eliminated or used internally while those who fakes their way to survive tends to be the sacrifice when the time comes for external forces comes into play. Think you are smart enough? Maybe not, it’s a cruel world out there and sometimes the stakes are more than what you can take.

-Ω-

Kyungsoo couldn’t say explain how he felt about Jongin. He didn’t like how Jongin disobeyed his order but Jongin was merely doing his job as a protector of the citizens. He could feel the difference in the way Jongin looks at him compared to the others and that made him slightly uncomfortable.

‘Is there anything you to say to me?’ Kyungsoo asked Jongin, annoyed by Jongin’s every 5 second checks.

‘Nope, nothing sir.’ Jongin kept his head hung low.

‘You look nervous.’ Kyungsoo observed that Jongin was scratching his cuticles with his thumbnails. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘Nothing’s wrong, sir. I’m sorry.’

‘You better not up this raid, follow me closely and learn from the others, smart aleck.’ Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. There’s just something about this kid that isn’t right. He can’t seem to read his mind. Jongin isn’t as predictable as the other and that pisses Kyungsoo off. Maybe over time, he will be able to see what’s wrong inside that coconut shell of Kim Jongin.

-Ω-

On his way home, he couldn’t help but think about Jongin. He seems to have seen this kid somewhere before but it definitely wasn’t recent. Maybe he was just annoyed with himself the whole day for getting ed by Heechul. Kyungsoo has never ed up before in his entire career but it has only started to crumble a little today because of Jongin.

In Kyungsoo’s world, there’s no second chances, no opportunity for mistakes but only space for improvements. Kyungsoo was a perfectionist, his world must be flawless & so must his backup plans. Kim Jongin was never part of his plans but now he must be included, otherwise Kim Jongin will have to be his backup plans.

But things never goes according to plan & so does life. Kyungsoo’s life’s about to change with the addition of the new bronze boy, Kim Jongin.

-Ω-

The drive home today seems shorter than usually probably because his mind’s elsewhere while he’s driving. Baekyun welcomes Kyungsoo home with his awful cooking again & nasal singing of TTS’s Holler on KBS Music Bank again. Sometimes Kyungsoo questions his choice of partner, why did he have to deal with this after a ty day at work.

-Ω-

Baekhyun & Kyungsoo were high school classmates. Baekhyun used to be the most popular member in Seoul High School until Kyungsoo came in as a transfer student. Even though Kyungsoo was quiet and cold compared to Baekhyun’s friendly and bubbly nature, Kyungsoo seems to have created a larger fan base than Baekhyun over time.

Baekhyun was jealous of his effortless attempts to be liked but yet surpassed his hardwork all these years. Perhaps the cold hearted, innocent eyes were his selling points, his charms, something that the small eyed & noisy Baekhyun didn’t have. The more you can’t have it, the more you want it and the same theory applies for Kyungsoo.

In their final year, Baekhyun thought that it would be a good idea to get Kyungsoo to sing with him for the graduation ceremony since singing has always Baekhyun’s forte. But to Baekhyun’s surprise, Kyungsoo was better than he imagined. Unknowingly Baekhyun seem to have taken a liking for Kyungsoo’s vocals; He was attracted to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo was drawn to Baekhyun’s high notes but what Kyungsoo even more attracted to was Baekhyun was confident and that he wasn’t plastic; he wasn’t afraid to show his true intentions. Kyungsoo liked challenges and Kyungsoo never likes to lose. Kyungsoo smiles at the end of the practice sessions while Baekhyun’s heart flutters at the sight of his pearly white teeth.

At the end of the performance, they had the loudest applause, the most whistles and screams. Baekhyun grabs Kyungsoo’s tiny hands and rise them high up being bringing them down with a bow.

Amongst the screams Baekhyun confessed, ‘I like you, Kyungsoo. Will you go out with me?’

All Kyungsoo did was smile and Baekhyun assumed the answer was a yes.

Ever since then, they moved in to stay together in a small apartment in their college years while they both pursue their own purpose in life.

Like coming home to a stay home house husband who makes bad dishes isn’t bad enough. There’s literally nothing Baekhyun’s good at other than singing. It wasn’t as if Kyungsoo didn’t know about this after living together for 4 years, Kyungsoo knew it since the first month they lived together but he just sick of having to tell Baekhyun what to do & he never takes instructions. Perhaps Jongin reminded him of Baekhyun in a way or another. He doesn’t want to go into another wave of arguments in different octaves, he just wants to take a shower & sleep.

‘Dinner’s ready. Just help yourself when you feel like it.’ Baekhyun eyes glued onto the TV. Kyungsoo drops his keys loudly on the glass side table, trying to get Baekhyun’s attention but to only get none. Baekhyun’s attitude has changed a lot ever since Kyungsoo started working in as a Narcotics Officer. It’s probably due to the ungodly hours he works at, the amount of work and temper he brings home day to day and Kyungsoo knows that he’s the cause of this cold treatment. He understands that Baekhyun’s probably lonely at home but being his partner, Baekhyun could have been more supportive and understanding which he obviously chose not to.

-Ω-

Three months down the road, Jongin was promoted by the Commissioner after constant praises from Heechul. No one in Team B understood the Commissioner’s & Heechul’s reasons for the promotion, it wasn’t as though the rest of them worked less than Jongin did but who were they to say ?

Kyungsoo wasn’t too happy with the escalations of ranks, he knew this was karma; he finally knew how the others felt when he was promoted based on his intelligence. But Kyungsoo know the reason why Jongin was chosen. Because Jongin took instructions like an obedient dog. Jongin is still a potent cell that could morph into whatever they wanted him to be. Jongin would be their puppet. The Grey that’s manipulated by both the Black & White.

 ‘What goes around comes around, Do Kyungsoo.’ Heechul whispered into Kyungsoo’s ears at the parade ceremony causing Kyungsoo to flinch at the ticklishness, ‘Don’t ruin my game of chess again.’

The heat of anger burns through to the roof of his head, Kyungsoo has never felt so insulted and challenged in his life.

You wanna play? We’ll play.

Kyungsoo’s eyes fixed on the fool who’s smiling widely with his new medallions and pins. ‘Your chess piece shall be mine, Kim Heechul-sshi.’ He hissed.

Heechul pats Kyungsoo’s shoulders and flashes his signature smile, ‘We’ll see to it, Do Kyungsoo-sshi. ’