It was only a dare

"Have the members ever been in an awkward situation with each other?" The MC asked looking around at the twelve members of EXO.

The boys shared a few glances, some looking amused, some looking uncomfortable.

"Well...." Kyungsoo coughed, "Kai-ssi and I once had to peck lips as a punishment when we lost a game..."

The audience laughed along with the MC, as did Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Jongdae, whilst Suho looked done with the world, and Kyungsoo and Jongin flushed embarrassedly.

Yixing leant forward subtly and whispered into Kyungsoo's ear, "a peck, huh?" His voice teasing.

Kyungsoo wished he'd never opened his mouth.

***One Month Previous***

The boys were screaming and shouting as Kyungsoo and Chanyeol went head to head in Mario Kart, each of them pushing for first place. But it was Chanyeol who managed to cross the finish line a second before Kyungsoo did.

"YEAH!! ING DAMN RIGHT!!" Chanyeol whooped, high-fiving the other two members of the beagle line.

"" Kyungsoo hissed.

Chanyeol smirked, "So you and Jongin are the overall losers tonight. You know what that means..."

"Punishment~" Baekhyun teased his good friend. Though Kyungsoo only shot him a glare in return.

"What shall we make them do?" Jongdae asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

Junmyeon shot him a warning look, "Yah, all of you be sensible. Remember we have a comeback to prepare for, so no getting hurt, got it?"

"Gees, alright dad" Baekhyun snorted.

"Baekhyun, be nice to him. He's the leader for a reason" Yixing chastised lightly.

Baekhyun grinned again, "You're only saying that because you have a crush on him"

"No I don't! Shut up" Yixing flushed, refusing to look at Junmyeon who was trying to catch his eye.

"Anyway, back to the punishment" Chanyeol grinned, "I think i have the perfect one"

Jongin whimpered slightly, "I'm not sure I want to know.." he said softly.

Kyungsoo smiled, rubbing a soothing hand over Jongin's back, "Don't worry about it. They're not smart enough to cook up anything worth worrying over"

They'd been so caught up in trying to comfort one another, they both got a shock when they realised the others were all staring at them, some looking amused, some looking like Christmas had come early and others looking concerned - namely Junmyeon.

"What?" Kyungsoo asked, at a loss as to why they were all staring.

"Try listening some time, yeah?" Chanyeol snickered, "I said the punishment is that you and Jonginnie have to kiss on the mouth. For at least thirty seconds"

Kyungsoo paused for a second before he looked at Jongin, who looked equally as shocked, then back at Chanyeol, who had a -eating grin on his face.

"I'm sorry, what?" Kyungsoo asked, as though he must not have heard correctly.

Chanyeol only smirked, "You heard me. Have at it, don't pretend you haven't thought about it before, and Jongin's had wet dreams about you a few times anyway"

"HYUNG!" Jongin yelled, looking close to tears as he turned to look at Kyungsoo, "Soo, it's not even like that, I swear..."

Kyungsoo sighed, "Let's just get this over with, yeah?" he said, not wanting to make Jongin feel even more uncomfortable. Even if the thought of Jongin having wet dreams about him did turn him on a little.

Jongin nodded, moving forward to stand next to Kyungsoo, who looked up at him with a small smile before reaching up to hold the back of Jongin's neck and guide his face downwards.

Their lips met softly, and it was a couple of seconds before Kyungsoo hesitantly moved his lips to see how Jongin would respond, and damn did he respond.

Jongin seemed to come alive at the feel of Kyungsoo's mouth moving against his own. He gripped onto Kyungsoo's hips a little tighter than he intended, but the gasp that left Kyungsoo allowed him to slip his tongue into the elder's mouth, so he didn't fret over it too much.

Kyungsoo mewled softly, lowly enough for only Jongin to hear as he returned the kiss with equal verve.

Kyungsoo's hands moved up into Jongin's hair, pulling him closer so that their chests were flush against one another, whilst Jongin slipped his hands around into Kyungsoo's back pockets to pull him forward and press their crotches together, even though Kyungsoo had to tip-toe to do so.

It wasn't until two large hands pulled them apart that they stopped, looking to see Kris's unamused face and the rest of the members gawking at them.

"That... Was a bit longer than thirty seconds" Luhan whispered to Sehun, who nodded in return as he clutched onto Luhan's hand for safety.

Chanyeol smirked slightly, “I’m started to think that wasn’t even a punishment for you guys, maybe I should think of something else”

“No” Kyungsoo snapped back to himself as he spun to look at Chanyeol, “No. that was enough. I’m going. Jongin, come on, we need to talk”

There was a chorus of catcalls behind them, along with Jongdae’s shout of “Use Protection” and Yixing’s “Be good”, but they went ignored as Kyungsoo held onto Jongin’s wrist and dragged him to their shared bedroom where he locked the door behind them.

They both sat down on Jongin’s bed, awkwardly looking anywhere but at each other.

In hindsight, Kyungsoo didn’t really think through how awkward it might actually be to confront what had just happened, but he knew that it was for the best. He wouldn’t jeopardise his relationship with Jongin, how easy and carefree it was over one little – or not so little – kiss.

“So… That was… interesting” Kyungsoo said eventually, looking at Jongin out of the corner of his eye.

Jongin let out an awkward laugh, “Yeah” he replied, “I, um, wasn’t expecting it…”

“Me either” Kyungsoo half smiled, “But here we are”

They fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence again, each of them feeling rather pensive about the situation, though neither of them knew how to voice what they wanted to properly.

Jongin hummed soft before deciding to talk again, “D’you… Do you regret it?” he asked tentatively, wringing his hands and looking up at Kyungsoo in that shy way that the elder always found adorable.

Kyungsoo shook his head, “No” he answered honestly, “Do you?”

“No… I’ve, uh, I’ve been thinking about it for a while, to be honest with you…” Jongin admitted, “I just never had the courage to act on it, you know?”

Kyungsoo nodded, smiling a little as he did, “Yeah, I know what you mean” he laughed, feeling a little lighter about the whole situation.

It wasn’t like either of them were blind of the tension that was between them, what with all the moments captured on camera. The longing stares, the lingering hands, the obvious jealousy. But there was never a certainty that it was anything, making it so that they were too worried to ever act on it.

They knew about the fans, and the shipping, and all of that, they’d seen the things online – the stories, the art work, the fan-theories – but they never openly talked about it, unlike Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who seemed to thrive on it.

It wasn’t as though it was a taboo subject, it was just that neither of them ever knew what to say about it. It wasn’t like it was an elephant in the room, it was more of a ‘So fans like the idea of us being a couple, and I’m not sure how you feel about that’ so it was never really brought up.

But maybe there was a first time for everything, “The… The fans would have a field day if they caught wind of this…” Jongin said after a moment or two, making Kyungsoo laugh.

“Bloody hell, can you imagine the kind of things that would crop up online?” Kyungsoo asked, snorting in amusement.

Jongin smirked slightly, “I’m pretty sure Baekhyun hyung and  Chanyeol hyung would be the ones posting most of it… I actually caught Baekhyun writing one of those stories the other day. Not about me and you though” he gossiped.

“You’re kidding?” Kyungsoo laughed, “Who was it about?”

“Minseok hyung and Jongdae hyung” Jongin told him, “And I think were was something about Junmyeon and Yixing hyungs too… SuLay or something. Basically Minnie hyung and Jongdae hyung were a couple and they were trying to get Junmyeon and Yixing hyungs together, because they were too stupid to realise they liked each other”

“So basically what’s going on now… Apart from Jongdae and Minseok hyung being a couple?” Kyungsoo laughed, “Nice…”

“Tell me about it…” Jongin laughed too.

Kyungsoo paused for a moment before looking up at Jongin determinedly, “I, uh, don’t want to sound too forward or anything, but, um, the kiss… It was nice… And I was just wondering if you’d… maybe… want to try it again?”

Jongin shifted slightly so that he was better facing Kyungsoo, “You really want to?” he asked hopefully.

Kyungsoo nodded, biting down on his lip as he did, “Yeah… I do…”

“Okay” Jongin smiled, “Yeah, let’s… Let’s have another go”

Kyungsoo smiled shyly before leaning in, half way, waiting for Jongin to close the space between them. Jongin let out a shaky breath before doing just that, leaning in and capturing Kyungsoo’s lips for his own once more.

 It started out a little hesitant before Kyungsoo shifted closer, his hands coming up to rest on the back of Jongin’s neck, playing with the fine hair there.

Jongin hummed softly against Kyungsoo’s lips before he deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping into Kyungsoo’s mouth.

Kyungsoo thought it was all a little ridiculous, he never would have thought of doing this. Being in the public eye all the time, having that constant feeling that someone was watching you, it never gave him space, or freedom to do daring, scandalous things. Especially not ones like kissing another member.

Things just didn’t work out like the movies, and Kyungsoo knew that. He thought sometimes it could be funny, the things the media came out with. Like his dating scandal with that one girl or another. He wouldn’t even think about dating someone easily because of the position he was in.

And then there was the fact they were where they were and being gay was frowned upon. The thought of being caught on the arm of another guy scared the out of Kyungsoo. Obviously he had nothing against being gay – though he had to admit, he’d never actually liked a guy before Jongin – but he had a lot to take into account. It wasn’t just a matter of being disliked for being into guys, it was a matter of ‘if I come out, am I going to get hurt? And will other people get hurt because of it?’

Of course there was fan service, and skinship and other little things he could get away with, but what they were doing now… it would have to be kept behind closed doors, for only them to see, to know about.

He was just thankful that he was in a group with eleven open minded young men, that he knew he could trust with his life.

Jongin pulled back far too soon for Kyungsoo’s liking, making him whine slightly, but Jongin’s small laugh of a response made it a little more worthwhile.

“So what does this mean?” Jongin asked, tilting his head cutely to the side.

Kyungsoo smiled slightly, “I, uh, I don’t know… I mean, we could see how things go. Try this out? But we’re going to have to be really careful about it…”

“Yeah,” Jongin agreed, “We will, but… It’ll be worth it, right?”

Kyungsoo nodded, “Yeah… It definitely will” he admitted, “Come on, anyway, we should head back out before they get the wrong idea”

“Jesus, I can only imagine what kind of things they think we’re doing” Jongin blushed, “Let’s go put Baekhyun hyung in his proper place”

With lighter hearts, they made their way back into the sitting room, where the other members were sat around, chatting with each other easily.

They all paused when Kyungsoo and Jongin joined them, sitting side by side on the sofa, close as always, but there was a more comfortable air about them now, even with Jongin blushing like a school girl.

“So, you figured it all out?” Junmyeon asked from the chair, where he was sat with Yixing on his knee, lounging back against the leader’s chest.

Kyungsoo hummed, “Something like that”

“Good” Kris smiled, “But keep it to the bedroom, I get enough of that with those two” he said, nodding pointedly towards Yixing and Junmyeon.

Junmyeon flushed, “What are you… We’re not… You’re just… What”

“Ignore him, he’s being a ” Yixing murmured into Junmyeon’s ear, effectively calming the leader down. He shot Kris a glare, but the tall man only smirked in return.

“Hey Baek” Kyungsoo spoke up, “Are you going to write more stories if they ever figure their out?” he winked, nodding towards Yixing and Junmyeon”

Junmyeon sighed, “Guys… Come on”

“They have a point though” Minseok said, causing everyone to look at him in shock, “What? It’s true! Yixing has been crushing on Junmyeon since like… when he started training, and Junmyeon’s been drooling over Yixing since like debut” he shrugged.

Yixing groaned, burying his face in Junmyeon’s shoulder. The leader rubbed his back consolingly, “Don’t worry about them” he sighed, “We’ll talk properly later”

“Anyway, this is about Kyungsoo and Jongin” Tao inputted from where he was lounging on his stomach on the floor, scrolling through Instagram on his phone.

Kyungsoo sighed, “Why do I feel like this is going to come back to bite me in the ?”

***

“Well, that certainly was an interesting interview” The MC announced, “But it was nice to get to know EXO a little better”

“Thank you for having us” Junmyeon smiled, bowing a little, “It’s been fun, and I hope we can come back again soon”

The MC laughed, nodding as he did, “Of course, of course, so, one last question from our audience…” he trailed off, pointing to a random girl in the front row, who was handed a mic.

“Yes, um, I’m curious, Kyungsoo-ssi said that he and Kai-ssi had to peck lips as a punishment. Is there anyone else that had to do something similar and did it make any awkward situations?” she asked.

There was a brief pause as the members looked around at each other, looking rather panicked before they all let out a resounding “No!” which earned laughs from the audience.

“You don’t sound very honest there” The MC noted.

Kris chuckled, “It’s not like that. We just like to tease each other”

“Yes, don’t misunderstand, we’re a very manly group” Yixing supplied, earning a snort from Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Sehun. Even the MC shot him a disbelieving look.

“Manly my ” Minseok muttered under his breath, making Jongdae laugh quietly, but it thankfully went unnoticed by the MC.

“That’s all we have time for today, thank you EXO for coming, if you can just say something before we go” The MC asked.

Suho nodded, “Yes. Thank you to the fans for watching today, we wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you to the show for having us here. We’ll continue to work hard and show you our best selves, we are one…”

“EXO, thank you” they all said in unison before bowing towards the audience and cameras.

***BACKSTAGE***

Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s howling laughter came from behind Kyungsoo as they walked back into the dressing room to rid themselves of their make-up and change back into their street clothes.

“We pecked lips as a punishment one time~” the latter teased, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of the mirrors and grabbing a few face wipes to start cleaning his face.

Kyungsoo grunted unamused, “I will fight you, Chanyeol”

“That’s hyung to you” Chanyeol grinned.

Needless to say, Chanyeol left the studio that day nursing a sore arm.

A/N: Ain't nothin' wrong with a bit of KaiSoo~