Amidst the chattering of college students and professors there are two who stick out from the crowd, whether or not it is because they are in the middle of a childish fit whereas the taller, broader shouldered student is hunched over and laughing whilst the shorter, raven-haired student appears angered and has mustard smeared over the bridge of his nose, cheeks red and eyes wide but his lips are shut tight. Is he going to scream? Is he going to cry?

"Stop laughing!" Kyungsoo shouts and throws his left clenched fist into an empty space in front of him where he would have liked Jongin's chest to be. However, Jongin is still doubled over in laughter and almost to the point of tears. His laughter is contagious even so that Kyungsoo cracks a smile and breaks out into a grin, muttring incoherently under his breath when he takes a bite into his fattening hotdog, covered in diabetes in the colors of yellow and red, two colors that attract human eye. 

He's not hungry but Jongin paid for the over-expensive, not the best tasting dogs so he chews and swallows to the best of his ability just to see Jongin's warm smile when he presses his palm harshly into the mid-section of Kyungsoo's back with a short laugh, asking, "Was it good?"

Kyungsoo thinks 'no' but Jongin's smile is radiant and warm and he finds himself slowly nodding and losing himself in a crowd with his gaze, the world slow beneath his feet and all he can hear is his own thoughts, save for Jongin's chattering and while he would like to listen he's too far now, his attention span is thin and he's not ready to go back yet.

"You okay, Soo?" Jongin asks him when he prods Kyungsoo by poking him in his weaker area, dead center of his right hip that has his knees buckling and teeth tight shut.

Kyungsoo retaliates and pulls his hand up when Jongin steps back in time to save himsefl from Kyungsoo's wrath. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He swats his hand in the air and glances around to find the trash can, though he appears lost when he glances around and finds nothing. Just a crowd of people, some with faces he could recognize and others he could not.

"You're zoning out again. Are you sure you're okay?" Jongin wonders aloud and this time his expression is serious, concerned with a mixture of worry and curiosity.

Kyungsoo glances up and waves his hand to dismiss him, eyes blinking open and close when he finds Jongin staring blatantly at him. He doesn't bother answering his question when Jongin moves closer and Kyungsoo whose baffled, takes a step back when Jongin takes one more step forward.

"What? What is it?" Kyungsoo's eyes wander up and down Jongin's body when he becomes increasingly close, even so that he has to hold his breath and stay still when Jongin stares him down and hesitantly brings a hand up close to Kyungsoo cheek.

Jongin's palm rests against Kyungsoo's cheek and his thumb presses lightly onto the edge of Kyungsoo's lips when he waits, eyes full of questions and wonder when Jongin swipes somethng off his lips and pulls it to his own lips, dragging it off the middle of his tongue with a grin.

Kyungsoo stares dumbfounded up at the male who casually wipes his thumb on the front of his pants and looks around as if nothing had happened, scanning the area before he opens his mouth, hand up and in the air as he waves across from them and shouts a name that Kngsoo can barely understand when he's stuck in a stand still. He snaps quickly out of it and glances over to see Jongin and Sehun embrace each other, commenting on something before they bump heads and laugh, and suddenly Kyungsoo feels alone.

✂ ✂ ✂

 

Kyungsoo sits idle on his couch in the hot summer of July, bullets of sweat forming at his brows and rolling down the expanse of his cheeks when he turns the page of his psychology book, a heaviness weighing his breathing down when he draws in a breath and finds that the air is warm and not fresh. He doesn't want to lose his place, nor does he want to get up and lose track of the last sentence he read but he wants to crack open a window or more, maybe pull it all the way up so the room doesn't feel stuffy anymore.

The one room stuido apartment is big but too big for Kyungsoo alone, often spending daying leaving the tv on at night so it's not too quiet or maybe even turning on a lamp or two when he falls asleep on the couch after falling asleep while studying because it's what his mother used to do when he couldn't sleep, when he was young and thought monsters were living under his bed and in his closet.

He steps up from the couch and feels the cold wood beneath his feet, calmly walking in his sweatpants far too baggy for his own good and a shirt that clings to his sweaty chest, makes him feel gross. To his left are the windows that show the streets of the dead city, quiet save for the traffic during holidays where taxi cars and tourist buses ride until daylight.

He gazes out the window before he unlocks the window and pulls the glass up from the bottom when a strong gust of wind comes into the room and Kyungsoo inhales, exhales and makes a noise of delight. His shirt lifts from the bottom to show the expanse of his hips and the air nips in all the right places, cuasing him to curl his toes and lean up to reach up, stretching his arms.

There isn't much noise but few strangers walking the streets when he looks down from a few stories up, the sound of one or two cars traveling at a slow space down the almost empty road.

A knock at the door tells Kyungsoo someone is here but he doesn't remember inviting anyone over, or expecting anyone at that. He takes one glance towards his book and almost slumps forward but does not when he moves towards the kitchen where the front door is.

The person on the other side knocks again and Kyungsoo moves as quickly as he thinks he can when he stares into the gl and comes to see a sun-kissed male looking into the glass as well, an odd look that cuases him to snort and roll his eyes before he carefully unlocks the door and opens it to see the taller latter looming over the door frame, grinning when Kyungsoo looks at him and tilts his head.

"Got room for me?"

Jongin walks past Kyungsoo without a given answer and appears to make himself at home without Kyungsoo's own words, settling on the couch with the book now on his lap when he birefly goes through the pages absentmindely.

Kyungsoo closes the door and glances back only to blow his cheeks out and glare from where he stands, waving at Jongin until he gets his attention. "Hey, I was reading that. I lost my page now," he grunts and moves to the fridge, although small  it is better compared to the one he had in high school when he had shared a room with a friend, usually filled with cheap beer and junk food he didn't like to eat curtousy of his 'friend'.

There's another knock at the door and Kyungsoo glances to Jongin who looks up and seems to brighten.

"Sehun," he states calmly before grabbing the remote and glancing to the tv when he turns it on and expects Kyungsoo to open the door and let their third party in.

There's hesitation and disappointment dripping off like Kyungsoo's sweat when he moves to the door once more and opens it, looking out into the hallway when a ball of rainbow hair meets him, paler skin compzared to his own and bones far more grown than his own. The male bumps int him and walks around him afterwards, heading straight to the couch where he sits beside Jongin, a glance between the two before they get distracted by a game of soccer on tv.

Kyungsoo watches them from afar where he sits at the kitchen table, rounded red oak with marking of where he had dug his nails into ( a history of ex boyfriends he doesn't want to go into detail about ), markings of where plates had slid and scratched their way all over. Kyungsoo wasn't a neat freak but he absolutely had a pet peeve when when people, even closest family members, damaged the things he owned, such as his dining room table.

He studies the two boys from afar from the way they jump and cheer simultaniously or the way Sehun curves into Jongin's body, legs draped over Jongin's lap and Kyungsoo feels Sehun is too close, only because it's summer and he wonders how to people can be so close to each other, sweaty and gross and not because he wished it was him instead, of course, he had expected to spend time with his best friend instead of becoming a third wheel at his own house.

 

✂ ✂ ✂

 

Jongin and Sehun spend the rest of the day at Kyungsoo's given that he didn't have the hear to kick them out and not even when a marathon of his favorite show, House, had been playing. He invited them to stay for dinner and they did, but Kyungsoo wasn't willing to let them stay any longer than that.

They sit down at the round table and share a pot of boiling hot ramen and kimchi, side platters of rice and small portions of seaweed. For Kyungsoo it's an every day simply made meal while to the others they dig in almost immediately like savages, fighting over the last pieces of meat in the bottom of the pot with the broth and Kyungsoo has to break them up before blood is shed.

Around eight o' clock Kyungsoo is exhausted and the other two appear as well but they are more like fighters, arguing over what show they want to watch while trying not to show that they are both nodding off on the couch, Sehun being the first to fall asleep before long. Jongin calls a friend and has them pick up Sehun, Jongin standing at the door when Kyungsoo asks him if he's going, too.

"You can sleep here if you want,"  Kyungsoo speaks quietly when Jongin glances between him and the hallway. It's late and Jongin should be getting home but tonight Kyungsoo doesn't think a lamp light and tv is going to keep him from tossing and turning.

"Are you sure?" Jongin questions with uncertainty but Kyungsoo can see how tired Jongin truly is, the way his lips become thicker and his eyes droop, he knows Jongin well enough to know when he's about to pass out from lack of sleep, not that he doesn't sleep every minute he can.

Kyungsoo doesn't answer and instead takes Jongin by the wrist and pulls him back in, closing the door behind him before he takes him back to his bedroom and leaves him in the middle of the white spotted rug.

The raven-haired, doe-eyed student goes to the closet and goes digging for a extra blanket and blow-up bed when he turns to ask Jongin if he'd rather have the couch, only to find Jongin already curled up on the bed beside the wall, facing Kyungsoo's side.

He doesn't have the heart to kick him off, not now anyway.

Kyungsoo crawls into the bed and saves a few inches between their bodies except he pulls the blanket over them until he's facing his best friend, a moment of silence when Jongin opens his eyes and smiles childishly at the latter who just stares as he always does.

"Thanks, Soo." Jongin murmurs warmly and seems to snuggle closer, wiggling when his legs pull up to his chest. Kyungsoo is still, heart pounding though he can still hear Jongin's every breath.

"No problem. Goodnight."

Kyungsoo closes his eyes and hopes he's comfortable enough to get a few extra hours of shut eye rather than the usual nights where he's uncomfortable and spends hours trying to find a good position. He wonders if Jongin has fallen asleep as minutes pass, however his eyelids are heavy and he isn't able to open them, not even a crack.

The room is dark but beneath his eyelids he feels the smallest bit of imaginary light but he still has trouble opening his eyes.

"Soo," Jongin says as if he's trying to see if the other will respond.

Kyungsoo wants to respond but his chest is heavy now, too. He tries to open his mouth but he feels like his lips are sewn shut and prevent him from speaking back, as much as he'd like to tell Jongin to shut up and go to bed.

"I want to ask you something."

Kyungsoo breathes in and out and finds peace with his steady heartbeat. 'I'm listening,' he thinks.

"What would you think about going on a trip with me?" Jongin asks and seems to move even closer when Kyungsoo makes no mention or sign that he'll move away or closer.

"I- I have a grandfather who recently died and my parents said they're going to be renting out the place and they would like to know if I want to spend a year or two there while the house is being cleaned out and fixed up for rent. I want you to come with me."

Kyungsoo just wants to sleep however his mind is foggy with exhaustion and he can barely remember whatever is coming out of Jongin's mouth. He just nods weakly in his sleepy state and grunts under his breath, feeling a hot breath on his cheek before he feels a familiar hand on his cheek and he naturally tenses under the touch. His body gives in moment later and he presses closer into the warm palm, now realizing how tired he truly is.

"It'll take a few weeks on the road but I don't want to alone. What do you say?"

"If I say yes will you shut up?" Kyungsoo manages through gritted teeth, a surprised Jongin flushing and Kyungsoo doesn't have to open his eyes to feel Jongin's body language seeping with excitement and relief.

"Yes," Jongin quickly whispers and presses closer until their chests meet, but Kyungsoo is already half asleep before he realizes it. Before he feels the warmth of his best friend draped over his body and holding him close.

"Night, Soo. I can't wait for our trip!"

Kyungsoo falls into the black abyss, body, mind and soul, too.

 

✂ ✂ ✂

 

A/N: So I am so very sorry you had to sit an read that awful written asdfgl -- ;v; the whole bed scene was inspired by The Lover's Takuya and JoonJae and uh yeah, look forward to the next chapter I guess! Make sure to comment and subscribe~