It was roughly six in the morning when Kyungsoo arrived at Baekhyun's apartment door, shivering and swaddled in a black pea coat that nearly reached his knees. There had been a recent drop in temperature, and Kyungsoo wasn't about to get frostbite -- he'd been terrified of the ailment since he watched Into Thin Air in tenth grade, and Baekhyun never failed to about it. He impatiently rang the doorbell several times before Baekhyun finally answered, looking like a wounded puppy with a bad case of bed hair. He grinned sheepishly at Kyungsoo who only bristled with annoyance, a glare shooting from him to Baekhyun.

"What the hell, Baekhyun? I told you to be ready by now; we've got to get going!"

Baekhyun instantly pouted, trying to be cute so that he would forgive him. "But Soo," he whined, even going as far as to clasp his hands together and try to lean onto Kyungsoo, "your family loves me, I doubt they'd care if I showed up like this!"

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and gently pushed his friend off of him, "do you even have your suitcase packed?"

He only grinned in reply.

"Byun Baekhyun!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Just.. Just, wait here, I'll be back in like, fifteen minutes!" He backed out of the way of the door in order to close it, holding up his finger in an "one second" gesture.

Kyungsoo's eyes widened in astonishment before he spoke, "I'm not gonna sit out here in the cold for fifteen minutes!"

"Then come inside!" Baekhyun huffed, re-opening the door.

Kyungsoo only stepped away and shoved his hands in his coat pockets, giving Baekhyun a mock glare. He was feeling a little more y than usual, and of course, was going to take it out on his friend. Neither of them took each other to heart, however, they just had a giant love-hate relationship. "Sorry, I'm not about to stay in your apartment for more than thirty seconds. It smells."

Baekhyun scoffed and slammed the door, making Kyungsoo's bangs flop out due to the short gust of air that followed. He chuckled and made his way back to the car, where he had heating, and didn't have to suffer in the frigid air.

It was thirty minutes before Baekhyun rapped at Kyungsoo's car window, jolting him from his light snooze. He made a noise of annoyance but unlocked the door nonetheless; Baekhyun threw his things into the back seat and walked around the front (not without Kyungsoo honking his horn at him) and plopped into the passenger's seat.

"You're such a douche, Kyungsoo, you know that?"

Kyungsoo just grinned and backed out of the parking lot, before driving off with the lead of his GPS he and Baekhyun had previously named Nancy--but that's another story.
 

They arrived at Kyungsoo's parent's house an hour or so later. They both remembered it well: the pretty two-story brick building, its huge windows and bright blue door that they repainted every few years. The giant oak tree in the backyard, that used to have a tire swing hanging from one of its branches before Chanyeol broke it and his arm as well, in the process. The front porch with four rocking chairs--one of them was broken, courtesy of Kyungsoo himself when he was using it to try and get rid of an old beehive. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were with him, of course, and they all were in for a hell of a surprise when they realized that the nest wasn't dead at all, and they each had gotten stung several times that day. The two of them shared a grin over the memories, before heading up to the door with their bags in tow.

Before Kyungsoo could even knock on the door, it was flung open from under his fingers and hit the nearest wall inside the house, causing both him and Baekhyun to flinch while the culprit only grinned.

"Sooae, stop slamming the doors!" His father's voice boomed from somewhere inside the house, only making her laugh lightheartedly.

"Hey, little brother~" Sooae said, bringing Kyungsoo into a short-lived hug. She waved at Baekhyun, and received a lopsided smile in return.

Entering his old home, Kyungsoo was immediately smothered in hugs by his mother, who had always the touchy-feely type; that trait had definitely transferred over to his older sister, but not to Kyungsoo himself. The most prominent thing he received from his mother had to be his heart-shaped lips. His father stood a little ways behind them, further in the house, a large smile on his face as he gave his son a thumbs-up gesture.
 

Baekhyun stood awkwardly to the side for the few moments before Mrs. Do noticed him, and he suffered the same fate as Kyungsoo--engulfed in hugs.

"Hello, Mrs. Do~" Baekhyun said as they pulled away, a large grin pulling at his lips.

"Byun Baekhyun, I've told you to just call me Cheongah," she replied, waving him off with a smile. Baekhyun laughed sheepishly.

Kyungsoo whined playfully, "Mom, why are you like this to my friends?"

"Oh hush, Kyungsoo, and show Baekhyun to his room."

Sooae butted in at that moment, clutching onto her younger brother's arm. "Hurry up so I can take you to the shop! I've gotten so many new things in recently, and the doll, the doll! I can't wait to show you it, it's sooo pretty, seriously! I was going to just bring him here so you can see him when you got here, but he's so heavy! Seriously, you'd think he was real or something!"

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and chuckled, "alright, alright. Let us unpack our things and we can go."
 

"Yes!" Sooae cheered and went onto her own business while Kyungsoo and Baekhyun made their way upstairs, where all the bedrooms were. Baekhyun didn't need any help finding his room; he'd stayed at Kyungsoo's house more than enough to know which room was his. And so Kyungsoo made his way to his former bedroom, relishing in its familiarity. He still had his trophies from all of his talent show competitions, the Super Junior poster that had a few tears in it, and, of course, the bookshelf full of fantasy books he loved as a kid, as well as a few recipes and cooking books he sometimes flipped through.

Kyungsoo began unpacking his suitcase; he had only brought some clothes and hygienic products, and his laptop, since most of his things were already there. Obviously, he was taking longer than he thought, as Baekhyun and Sooae both waltzed into his room, whining over how slow Kyungsoo was being. Baekhyun flopped onto Kyungsoo’s bed, arms spread and lips pursed into a pout.

“Yah, Kyungsoo, Baekie and I will leave you if you don’t hurry up~” Sooae taunted, leaning lazily against the doorframe. He rolled his eyes and set his laptop onto his desk, before turning to regard the two.

“Alright, alright, I’m ready.” Baekhyun jumped up and dashed out the bedroom door--his footsteps were heard thudding down the stairs followed by a yell, “I call shotgun!” Sooae and Kyungsoo both rolled their eyes, the latter muttering something regarding why he and Baekhyun were even friends. He looked up, only to find his sister’s eyes, matched in color, staring back into his with a worried tint. Confused, Kyungsoo tipped his head before speaking, “what?”

She sighed, eyes tightening in suspicion, her lips pursed. “Are you okay, Kyungsoo? You’ve been acting weird for months.”

“Gee, thanks,” Kyungsoo scoffed.

“I’m serious! Is it college? It’s definitely college. How much homework do you get? Probably a lot! Maybe.. maybe it’s just a chemical imbalance in the brain! That’s depression, you know. Do you have a chemical imbalance, and that’s why you’re depressed? Or did something happen?” Sooae ranted, and Kyungsoo fought the urge to groan out loud.

“Sooae, nothing is wrong. I’m fine, maybe just a little stressed out from school.” She narrowed her eyes further, but sighed in resignation before turning on her heel and making her way towards the stairs with Kyungsoo following.

“Whatever,” she finally said, stopping just before her feet met the bottom of the stairs. Kyungsoo nearly plowed her over, but was stopped by her finger jammed in his face, “I’m trusting you, Kyungsoo!”

He snorted, “with what?”

“Your sanity!”

“...Oh my god.”

I personally apologise for this horrible chapter with no real plot other than to "set the stage" for everything otll

Jongin should appear in the next chapter (finally)!