Chapter Text
Kyungsoo tapped on his calculator, stopping short when the numbers appearing on the screen did not match any of the four objective choices. Heck, it wasn’t even close.
He looked at his working on the scrap paper under his right hand, and then the question booklet propped up against the wall before him again. Am I reading the wrong question? he wondered. No, it was definitely question fourteen, and he definitely wrote the equation correctly on his scrap paper. So what was up with the hiccup?
He squinted at his work, cocking his head to one side.
And as if someone popped Kyungsoo’s bubble, pounding music from outside suddenly reverberated through the window and Kyungsoo gave an incoherent shriek, throwing his papers into the air.
“Those college boys!” Kyungsoo wailed at no one in particular. This was the thousandth time he lost his focus tonight thanks to the repetitive, throbbing beats of some club song. Kyungsoo knocked his head on his wooden desk repeatedly, despairing on ever finishing his work tonight.
You’d think that after two in the morning, the college kids at their dormitory house would give their neighbours a break and cut the music off or at least turn it down a little, but no.
Nope. It was just after three in the morning now, and Kyungsoo was nowhere done with his work. Every time he came close to solving a question, the music would distract him and he’d lose his concentration and consequently his train of thought. It was disconcerting to say the least, and it was getting hard to focus when there was no peace and quiet.
And to think that he stayed in Seoul this weekend because he wanted to get away from his parents’ wedding anniversary party back home… If he knew those Seoul University fuckboys would be throwing their own rave dance party at their dorm just down the road, he would never have stayed. Might as well go home and face all his relatives and their probing questions.
If he had someone to do his assignments with tonight, it would probably distract him enough to get some of his work done but obviously, things weren’t working out to his advantage right now.
Kyungsoo whimpered piteously, holding his head with his two hands. He was never going to get shit done at this rate. Sighing heavily to himself, Kyungsoo began to collect the papers on the ground and arranged them neatly together, placing it on his desk once more. Grabbing the question booklet from where he’d propped it up, he folded it roughly and slapped it over his things, getting up to go to the bathroom.
Even while washing up, he could still the music playing. Kyungsoo tried his best to tune it out and gritted his teeth till he was done in the bathroom, stepping out and flipping the light switch off. He scrubbed at his face with a hand tiredly, standing there at the hallway all by himself.
Wonder how Baguette is doing outside, Kyungsoo mused. Probably no better than him.
Baguette was his slightly overweight, mini Pomeranian with fur the colour of lightly baked butter biscuits who loved to sleep outside on cool nights like these. She never tried to escape, ever (she was too well fed for that), but Kyungsoo wouldn’t blame her if she ran away tonight to get away from the music.
Like, how long can you actually dance before you start to get tired? (Apparently, quite long.)
I’ll go check on her, Kyungsoo thought. He’d bring her in tonight, and let her sleep with him where the music wouldn’t be as loud as outside.
Padding over to the front door of his rented home, Kyungsoo could soon see shadows moving haphazardly across his front lawn. No doubt, it was probably the college boys wandering around the area drunk as hell.
Kyungsoo was willing to bet they came from a fraternity called Kappa Kappa Tau or something like that. Predictable, Kyungsoo snorted, opening the front door. He never understood why those kind of boys loved to party so much; Kyungsoo barely had enough time to devote to his social life as it was. How do they even get any work done? he wondered. It was a bloody mystery.
Peeking out, Kyungsoo immediately saw his neighbours from across the road standing by the sidewalk, a couple who were in their late fifties, bundled in their robes. They were probably about to go over to the dorm house to have a word with the party animals, judging from the angry expressions on their faces.
All Kyungsoo did was give them a weak wave. He didn’t want to go near any drunk boys, or girls, for that matter. Things had a tendency to get messy when there was a lot of alcohol involved.
Instead, he glanced at the porch, expecting to see Baguette curled up in her little dog basket but it was empty. Kyungsoo figured she must’ve wandered towards the side of the house away from the noise, where the grassy lawn curled in a U shape all the way to the back. He shuffled into a pair of flip flops and began to call for Baguette, albeit not too loudly since he didn’t want any noise complaints either.
“Baguette?” Kyungsoo called and whistled as he walked onto the wet grass, footsteps muffled. No sign of his beloved mini Pomeranian bounding over the grass to greet him. “Baguette?” he tried again. Nothing.
“Ugh,” Kyungsoo groaned, walking all the way to the back of the house. It was pretty dark around the back since it was only an alleyway and nothing more. Plus, the lightbulb went out months ago and Kyungsoo never got around to replacing it… He was starting to regret that now; he hated the dark.
Steeling himself, Kyungsoo trudged forth, trying to make out the shapes in the dark. He could still hear the music from the dorm house, but it wasn’t as loud near the back.
Swallowing thickly, he stepped towards the washing machine (it was the only thing he could make out in the inky darkness) and called once more, in a very cautious voice, “Baguette?”
Kyungsoo suddenly heard familiar panting, and sighed in relief. “Oh for the love of God, Baguette, you were starting to make me worry—”
“Baguette is a kind of bread, isn’t it?”
Kyungsoo jolted, freezing in position at once. Last time he checked, Baguette couldn’t talk. Furthermore, she was a female dog and that voice didn’t sound like a bitch at all. It sounded like a man, and if Baguette was a werewolf why would she sound so masculine?
The panting stopped abruptly, and he heard scampering before Baguette burst out of the darkness, wagging her tail happily as she looked up at Kyungsoo. Frowning, Kyungsoo picked her up carefully, wondering if he’d imagined that voice.
“Baguette, were you talking to someone?” Kyungsoo asked her, petting her fur gently.
“Dogs are so great,” the voice said again, and this time Kyungsoo was sure either someone was lurking in the dark, or his tool shed had come alive and was talking to him right now. He held Baguette close to his chest defensively.
“Who’s there?” he called. He didn’t sound very brave.
Some shuffling, the sound of bones cracking and the darkness began to move, materializing into the shape of a human. Kyungsoo cursed his astigmatism silently in his head; he couldn’t see for shit in darkness, and he wanted to know if it was a vampire or werewolf before he died. After all, he deserved to know what creature of the night was going to take his life, right?
Something clanged loudly to the ground. “Ah, shit,” the voice muttered, and Kyungsoo thought he saw someone attempt to pick the item up from the ground. “I dropped your— Your spade. Or something.”
Was it just Kyungsoo or did the voice actually sound… drunk? Could werewolves get drunk? Baguette whimpered briefly as if she knew what Kyungsoo was feeling, and he held her tightly in his arms.
Instead of a vampire, werewolf or zombie, a boy slowly stepped out of the darkness, hair tousled and eyes unfocused as he stared at Baguette. Perhaps stepping out was a kind way to put it though; to Kyungsoo, it looked more like the boy couldn’t balance his own weight on his long legs.
He had a face that Kyungsoo did not recognize at once; full lips, sleepy looking eyes, and sharp jawline. Kyungsoo had to take a deep breath to steady himself; this boy was obviously someone from the dorm house but shit, nobody told him the boys from Seoul University looked this good (and the guy was drunk. Who actually still looked attractive when they were drunk?) If it weren’t for the current state that they were in, Kyungsoo might’ve said he looked pretty sexy too.
“Dog,” the boy said bluntly, pointing at Kyungsoo’s pet.
“Pardon?” Kyungsoo said politely.
“Dog,” the boy said, and this time he sounded petulant. Not knowing what else to do, Kyungsoo put Baguette down and the traitorous dog scampered back towards the drunken boy, who was obviously in his late teens or early adulthood.
This knowledge didn’t settle the lump in Kyungsoo’s throat though. Why the hell did he have to be so good looking? And why was he in Kyungsoo’s backyard? To become his hot gardener?
The boy got down on his knees to pet Baguette again, rubbing her behind the ears and running a hand over the fur on her back. She wagged her tail and looked like she was on the verge of purring for him, Kyungsoo had never seen her this happy for someone else. Baguette lost interest in people easily if they didn’t have any treats with them, but this boy was clearly quite the charmer.
“What the hell are you doing in my backyard?” Kyungsoo said to the boy, frowning at him.
It came out sharper than Kyungsoo intended, but he supposed it delivered the message well enough. The boy looked up at Kyungsoo, hands still petting Baguette lovingly. “Came t’ pet yer dog. Obviously,” he slurred.
No, actually. It was not that obvious at all, not on Kyungsoo’s part.
“Well, okay, but you’ve petted her enough already, I think, so could you please leave—”
“Do you have a bucket somewhere?” the boy cut him off with a light voice, gaze fixated on Baguette. Kyungsoo frowned at him.
First he broke into Kyungsoo’s property (though technically this was his landlord’s house but whatever), now he wanted something from Kyungsoo? “What bucket? Why do you need a bucket?” Kyungsoo asked, this time sounding well and truly turned off by this guy.
No sooner did he finish his sentence than the boy puked right onto Kyungsoo’s lawn right at Kyungsoo’s feet, head lurching forward with the motion.
Surprised, Baguette yelped and ran away from the scene and rounded back curiously when the guy chortled and covered his mouth (super gross, Kyungsoo shuddered), swaying dangerously back and forth.
“Hey, don’t fall into your own mess—” Kyungsoo stepped forward instinctively to push the guy backwards and felt his foot sink into warmth as the guy flopped onto his back, lying on the grass. Kyungsoo looked down at his soiled, slippered (and therefore relatively unprotected) foot and croaked in disgust.
Baguette came dangerously close to the puke, and Kyungsoo had to shoo her away hurriedly, flailing his arms around as he tried not to slip on the guy’s gross regurgitated shit.
It was sort of slimy and slippery, and Kyungsoo could only imagine how difficult it was going to be to get back into the house. Then there was the guy to contend with; what the fuck was he supposed to do with a stranger lying unconscious on his lawn?
As if to rub it in, the guy started snoring lightly, and Kyungsoo ground his teeth together in supressed anger.
-
Jongin was awakened from his sleep when he jolted and fell off his bed, landing on the hard ground elbows first. He hissed, eyes popping open at once to grab at his elbows. He missed knocking his skull open by mere inches, and turned over to lie on his back with a groan. A headache throbbed painfully behind his eyelids as he made sure he didn’t just shatter his elbows into pieces.
A great start to his morning indeed; physical pain upon mental pain. The sour taste of vomit in the back of his throat didn’t help. And why the fuck was it so bright?
As his eyesight adjusted to his surroundings, he soon realized the angle from which the sunlight came in wasn’t right, since his window was usually a little off to his left and his walls weren’t white in colour. Unless someone came in and took down his roommate’s stupid posters, but that was unlikely.
It was far too quiet as well, enough so that he could hear the faint chirpings of a bird’s song from outside…
Did I die without realizing it? Jongin thought.
That would be great actually, because wasn’t heaven supposed to painless and hence, migraine-less? Or did someone kidnap me? Jongin frowned belatedly. Just as his confusion was starting to give him a hard time, someone cleared their throat loudly from Jongin’s left, and he whipped his head up in the direction of the sound.
Jongin caught sight of a boy, pale skin with dark eyes, even darker hair framing his pretty face. Probably in his final year of high school or freshman year in college; the boy looked younger than Jongin, and somewhat frail too.
He was, to Jongin’s dismay, very much his type (or so as his friends like to put it anyway) but also very, very angry. And the boy had yet to say anything.
“H-Hello?” Jongin tried weakly.
“Who are you?” the boy demanded at once, folding his arms. His voice was deeper than Jongin expected, one that sounded like he was in full control of himself. He sounded sure, like Jongin’s favourite lecturer who was incidentally, thirty years older than the boy standing above Jongin; he certainly didn’t expect a <i>boy</i> to sound like a full-grown man.
But wait, if Jongin was looking at a stranger then wouldn’t it mean he was in a stranger’s house? He looked around to hastily confirm his suspicions; Jongin had no idea where he was.
“Where am I?” Jongin asked, voice cracking embarrassingly.
“Where are you? FYI, I met you last night when you were drunkenly patting my dog in my backyard at three in the fucking morning and when I very politely asked you what the hell you were doing, you slurred something about dogs being great. And then you threw up on my feet, and then fifteen minutes later you were passed out rather comfortably on my couch, so that’s why you’re here right now, in my house.
“Also what the fuck is your name and why were you patting a dog in a stranger’s backyard in the middle of the night?”
Jongin blinked a few times, unsure of what to make of everything. Bits and pieces were starting to come to him now; there was a party at Chanyeol’s dorm house, and he had been trying to get away from everyone after they tried to make him go into the closet with Soojung to play seven minutes in heaven.
He didn’t know how to let them know that he was only interested in guys without making it sound like an insult, but the rest of the night was pretty much a blank.
When no answer was forthcoming, the boy loomed over Jongin like an ominous storm cloud and said, “Well?”
“I’m sorry?” Jongin squeaked. The boy’s charming looks and temper was making it hard for Jongin to react as he normally would; the boy probably thought Jongin was an asshole for making his life so difficult.
Sighing, the boy rolled his eyes at Jongin’s reply. “If you’re sorry, you’d clean the lawn but I’ve already done that so,” he waved a hand flippantly, “just… you know what, you don’t have to tell me anything. Just leave, and never come back, please.”
Jongin scrambled onto that, standing up on his jelly legs to protest. “What— No, I’m not gonna do that, that’s rude and— I-I’m sorry, um,” he gestured eloquently at the boy.
“Kyungsoo,” the boy supplied. He looked irritated in the next moment, as if he’d just let that reply slip out by accident.
Jongin went on, “Kyungsoo. I’m so, so sorry about what I did last night. I-I puked, didn’t I? Can I repay you for that in some way, like money or something else you might have in mind?” Jongin griped, trying to salvage the situation.
“No, I don’t want money or anything, it’s fine—” Kyungsoo was shaking his head when the door on Jongin’s far right gave a loud creak, followed by an indignant yap. They looked at the door at the same time, then Kyungsoo yelled, “Stop throwing yourself at the door, Baguette!”
“Baguette?” Jongin echoed hollowly.
“Yes, that’s my dog, who you were patting last night,” Kyungsoo sniffled, daring Jongin to comment on the unusual name with his eyes.
“Right,” Jongin acceded, then shifted his weight from foot to foot uncomfortably. “So, about paying you back…”
“I don’t want payment,” Kyungsoo said almost vehemently, as if he was insulted that Jongin would even suggest that. He was downright disgusted as he said, “I’m not asking you to do anything than to leave, so if you could do that then we’ll be fine.”
Jongin bit his lip, a little disappointed. This Kyungsoo boy was cute, tragically so, and Jongin would be lying if he said that he wasn’t fishing right now for an opportunity to see him next time, even if it meant cleaning up his own mess from last night which was bound to be extra gross by now. And he has a dog, that’s so fucking cute, Jongin thought.
“Can I say goodbye to your dog, at least? Baguette, right? Like the bread?” Jongin asked tentatively, well aware that he was toeing the limit here.
After a breathless second, “Fine. And you already asked me that last night as well,” Kyungsoo groused, walking over to the door. Jongin was left feeling mildly confused, wondering what exactly did he do to leave someone so disgruntled.
Pattering after Kyungsoo obediently, Jongin noticed that the area was clean, but almost sparse and lacking in any sort of personality. There was an ugly couch which he must’ve been sleeping on before he rolled off, pristine white walls, floors and ceiling all over, and flimsy curtains hanging over the window. Jongin couldn’t tell if these were the signs that Kyungsoo was a cheapskate, a neat freak or just too poor to afford good furniture (but he had a dog, so that seemed quite unlikely).
Kyungsoo reached the door first and opened it carefully, capturing a cream-colored, wriggling handful of fur into his hands before it could escape and lifted the dog towards Jongin. Baguette’s tail wagged excitedly when it spotted Jongin, plump little body wiggling in Kyungsoo’s hand.
“Oh my God, he’s so cute,” Jongin gushed, unable to hold himself back and petting Baguette on the head.
Baguette licked at his fingers while he caressed it, little paws reaching out as if it could hurtle into Jongin’s chest if it tried hard enough. Jongin could feel Kyungsoo’s gaze resting heavily on his face as he fussed over Baguette.
“It’s a she, actually,” Kyungsoo said stiffly.
“Oh. Hello Baguette, you’re a pretty little girl, aren’t you?” Jongin cooed at the dog shamelessly.
He had always loved dogs, always wanted one (or two, or three) of his own, but his parents were allergic hence his dreams were shattered before he ever had a chance to really even think about it. And though he lived apart from them now, in a rented apartment with four other roommates, the building still didn’t allow residents to own pets. Life just seemed to keep getting in the way, unlike Kyungsoo who could probably have another few more Baguette’s running around the house. Jongin was a little envious of the space he obviously had.
“Can I hold her?” Jongin asked. He didn’t think Kyungsoo was going to relinquish his hold on Baguette any time soon, but Baguette’s fluffy and round body was too cute to resist. Kyungsoo made no expression, seeming to ponder on it for a second as he assessed Jongin with his eyes once more and handed Baguette over to him.
Jongin plucked her out of Kyungsoo’s hands gently and held Baguette to his chest, laughing when Baguette wriggled and moved around like an energetic fluffball, paws tickling Jongin’s chest.
“She likes you,” Kyungsoo said shortly.
Jongin laughed nervously in return. He thought Kyungsoo sounded a little angry, maybe even annoyed; well, who wouldn’t be if he had to put up with a stranger hogging the attention of his pet dog? Jongin felt a pang of guilt and regret, and pecked Baguette on her head once before he lifted her up and passed her back to Kyungsoo.
“Thanks for letting me pet your dog. I’ll um, I’ll go now,” Jongin pointed in the opposite direction awkwardly.
“I’ll show you the door,” Kyungsoo grunted, holding Baguette with one hand. That was when Jongin caught a look at Kyungsoo’s hands and noticed that his hands looked really… manly, even to a guy like Jongin. He didn’t think anyone around Kyungsoo’s age could have such adult-looking hands. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought Kyungsoo was a full grown adult.
“Your parents aren’t home?” Jongin asked casually, as Kyungsoo led him towards the front door.
“I live alone,” Kyungsoo glared at Jongin, as if he could read Jongin’s thoughts. Jongin blinked in surprise, furrowing his eyebrows together.
“Alone? But you don’t look any older than a high school—”
“Student, I know. Well, I mean I kinda still am a student, studying for my masters. You’re not the first one to make that mistake,” Kyungsoo interrupted him, sounding resigned. They stopped before the front door, and Kyungsoo placed his hand on the handle, ready to let Jongin out.
Masters though? Jongin widened his eyes. Jongin himself was only in his first year of pursuing his degree in entrepreneurship; Kyungsoo had to be older than him, then.
“That makes you a little older than me, Kyungsoo hyung,” Jongin said, hoping the honorific would soften Kyungsoo up for him (he still wasn’t giving up on Baguette and her owner just yet). Kyungsoo lifted an eyebrow at him.
“I’m only in my first year at Seoul University,” Jongin said shyly. Kyungsoo’s upper lip curled in distaste.
“I know. Hope you enjoyed your wild party last night, regardless,” Kyungsoo replied. Jongin cocked his head to one side; how did Kyungsoo know that Jongin was at Chanyeol’s party last night? Unless he was there or…
Kyungsoo caught the expression upon Jongin’s face and pushed open the front door, motioning for him to step out. Jongin noticed his own shoes outside and felt guilty once more for being such a burden to Kyungsoo; if it had been one of Jongin’s college mates who had rescued him last night, they would’ve pranked Jongin in some way. Jongin really hoped he could make it all up to Kyungsoo somehow.
“Your friends, I’m assuming, live in the dorm house just down the road,” Kyungsoo said, padding out onto the cement front lawn with his bare feet. Jongin stepped shoved his feet into his worn sneakers and shuffled out.
Kyungsoo pointed somewhere over the gate to the right and Jongin said, “Oh,” numbly.
He was living very close to Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s dorm house; it was a shame the entire place was full, otherwise maybe Jongin would’ve requested to live here instead of the apartment nearby.
“Were we really um, loud last night?” Jongin asked, grimacing at how it must’ve been last night. When he had arrived in a four seater car packed with nine people, the party had yet to start and people were just starting to park their cars by the side of the road. By the time any sort of music playing, Jongin was already drunk enough to start giggling at Yifan’s stupid jokes and had no fucks to give.
“Loud would be an understatement,” Kyungsoo replied coolly. <i>Shit</i>, Jongin cursed himself.
He knew he wasn’t exactly giving Kyungsoo the best of first impressions right now; he probably thought Jongin was some kind of party animal who had absolutely no consideration for others. It was, in fact, his first time getting so drunk last night that he can’t even remember what sins he might’ve committed during that time. God bless his soul that it just had to happen in front of the most attractive guy Jongin had seen in months.
Kyungsoo lingered with Baguette tucked under his arm as Jongin reluctantly made his way to the front gate, digging his hands into the pocket of his jeans.
“So I guess I’ll see you around?” Jongin offered weakly. Kyungsoo shrugged, finally offering him something that resembled a half-hearted smile. And Jongin literally meant half-hearted smile, because his lips curled into the shape of a heart for a very brief second and took Jongin’s breath away.
“I guess so…” Kyungsoo trailed off questioningly, and it took a beat for Jongin to realize what he meant.
“I-I’m Jongin,” he stammered, blushing at his lack of manners. “I’m so sorry again, for being such a drag, hyung,” he added.
“It’s water under the bridge,” Kyungsoo stroked Baguette languidly, who already had her eyes closed and nose pointed up proudly. Jongin laughed lightly at Baguette, before pulling at the gate, stepping out onto the other side.
“Have a safe trip home,” Kyungsoo quipped, shutting the gate decisively. Jongin pouted, both at Kyungsoo’s evident eagerness to get rid of him and at the fact that this was his first and probably last time he’d see Baguette. She was so fluffy and plump and cute; Jongin already knew he was going to miss her (maybe even her owner a little more).
“Thanks. Bye,” Jongin waved, and began to make his way towards the dorm house. Kyungsoo waved back briefly for a few seconds, then turned and re-entered his home, the door shutting tight with a click of finality.
All the air went out of Jongin and he puffed an exhale of air, his fringe flicking upwards then back down over his forehead again. Jongin didn’t want to believe that this was the last he’d ever see of Kyungsoo. Sure, Kyungsoo was pretty surly and brusque but Jongin wasn’t going to give up just yet; he knew he had to chase this down until something happened, either rejection or perhaps (his heart fluttered at the thought) something else.
He was already going through a whole list of ideas by the time he pressed the doorbell outside the dorm house repeatedly.
-
Kyungsoo sat in the front seat of Yixing’s car, staring outside the window blankly as his friend drove him back from college.
He had so many assignments today he didn’t even know which to start on tonight, and he had to think about dinner too. He contemplated instant noodles, but that wasn’t too healthy and his mother would yell at him if she knew how much he depended on them.
He sighed; he didn’t actually mind cooking, loved it in fact, except that it was so time consuming and assignments kept coming in faster than he could fix up a meal and go through the process of cutting up ingredients, cooking them and washing everything up when he was done. Kyungsoo had to choose between the two for most days, and he always opted for his studies over his health more times than he’d like to admit.
Sometimes he thought time was a little bastard; it passed too fast on a daily basis, but the year didn’t seem to catch up fast enough. He felt like he’d aged years since he started his second year in college.
“You okay, Kyungsoo?” Yixing asked, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to glance at him.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kyungsoo laughed tiredly, shifting in his seat, “just feeling the weight of everything. There’s a lot we gotta do right now.” Yixing was in the same course as Kyungsoo and nodded understandingly, though Kyungsoo had never seen the guy look remotely affected by anything in particularly.
Yixing was as cool as a cucumber right out of the fridge, and was kind too, picking up and sending Kyungsoo home every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
“Don’t worry, Kyungsoo. You were top of the class in the last test, you’ll be fine,” Yixing smiled, reminding Kyungsoo about the upcoming test in two weeks. Kyungsoo sighed and scrubbed at his hair, shaking the strands out of his eyes.
“Past records are just that; a part of the past.”
“Oh c’mon, Kyungsoo, don’t be so hard on yourself. Maybe you should get yourself a guy or something, y’know, to loosen you up,” Yixing teased light-heartedly.
Kyungsoo wrinkled his nose; he didn’t see how getting a boyfriend was supposed to be a way for him to let loose. For some reason, his mind flickered to Jongin, the drunk boy from a week ago, and he scowled at himself.
“I don’t need a man to make me happy,” he replied a little too hastily, to which Yixing shrugged at.
He had to admit, Jongin was really attractive, but there was no love lost between them for sure; Jongin had been far more interested in Baguette than in Kyungsoo. And he had been so rude to the guy that day (though he felt he deserved to be angry since the guy had puked all over his feet, after all), he was pretty sure he had burned down all bridges before they were ever there.
Jongin had insisted on ‘repaying’ Kyungsoo for all the trouble he caused, but Kyungsoo didn’t want any of it. It wasn’t like the guy could clear up his gross mess in Kyungsoo’s backyard, since Kyungsoo stayed up till 5AM just to scoop everything up with his spade into a plastic bag to throw it away and scrub his spade clean with a brush after that. There just wasn’t anything left to ‘repay’ or ‘forgive’, really.
A patch of grass in his backyard was now shrivelled up and very much dead, thanks to whatever was in Jongin’s puke. But Kyungsoo’s landlord never said anything about making sure the lawn looked pretty, so he was okay with it.
He was cute though, Kyungsoo thought wistfully.
He’d been so different from what Kyungsoo expected; a little clumsy and surprisingly genuine, no trace of what he seemed to be during the previous night. Kyungsoo had honestly expected him to be an asshole about everything, seeing as he looked like a stuck up, rich boy (from what he glimpsed from the night before anyway). But if they’d met under different circumstances, Kyungsoo could honestly say that he might’ve liked Jongin right off the bat.
If only Baguette wasn’t so cute and captured all of his attention, but who could blame pudgy, little Baguette? She was the definition of irresistible.
Yixing was just turning into the street where Kyungsoo lived, indicators ticking loudly in the interior space of the car, when Kyungsoo widened his eyes as he slipped his backpack over his shoulders.
“Jongin?” he blurted.
There the boy sat by the gutter outside Kyungsoo’s house in all of his long-limbed, tan glory, still handsome as ever as he glanced up from his phone when the car’s headlights washed over him. Kyungsoo frowned, and proceeded to get out of the car while Yixing peered over the steering wheel curiously and asked Kyungsoo, “Who is he? Is he your guy?”
“No,” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Just someone I met last weekend,” he muttered, shutting the door. A knowing smile plastered itself over Yixing’s face and he started nodding, rolling down the window to continue the conversation.
“Oh, I see what’s going on. Alright, alright, so it isn’t official yet… Damn, Kyungsoo, you shouldn’t keep a guy like him a secret. Look at the dedication he’s showing,” Yixing gestured at Jongin, who was standing up by now and waved tentatively at Yixing. Kyungsoo looked at him, then back at his friend.
“He’s polite too. He’s a keeper, Kyungsoo,” Yixing said, giving him a thumbs up. Kyungsoo sputtered, struggling to come up with a smart answer before he just decided to storm off, going over to Jongin.
“Hi, hyung,” Jongin smiled shyly. His black tee and dark blue jeans made him look so, so, so attractive, and he held a small paper bag in his hand delicately. Kyungsoo pretended to look away to dig into his pockets for the keys to the gate. “Hey. What’s up?” Kyungsoo asked.
“Well, I was wondering if I could talk to you…? A-are you free right now?” Jongin asked hesitantly. Kyungsoo looked over his shoulder; Yixing was still there in his car, a smile on his face as he watched them like it was some kind of live action movie or something.
“Uh. Sure, I’m free. Wait, how long have you been waiting though?” Kyungsoo frowned, unlocking the gate noisily.
Jongin rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Hm. I dunno, maybe an hour?”
Kyungsoo stopped, and looked up at Jongin. “You’ve been sitting here waiting for me for an hour?” he asked.
Jongin shook his head hastily, “It’s not what you think! I was j-just at Chanyeol’s dorm just now. We met up to study Advertising together and since I was in the neighbourhood, I thought I’d just stop by to say hi and drop off a little gift.” He held up the paper bag and Kyungsoo blinked at it.
“A gift?” he repeated, pushing the gate open with a loud creak.
Jongin nodded his affirmation. “A gift. For Baguette,” he smiled, and Kyungsoo’s heart sank a little. Of course it was for the little bitch.
“Oh. You didn’t need to get her a gift,” Kyungsoo said in a lightly chiding tone, taking the paper bag. He peeked into it and glimpsed pink fabric, pink feathers and twinkling rhinestones. “It was nothing. I just thought we sort of got on the wrong foot when we first met and I wanted to fix things,” Jongin beamed.
With Yixing still watching them in the background, Kyungsoo suddenly felt oddly obliged to look at the gift now and began to fumble with the paper bag to take a look at the gift. When he shook the plastic wrapper out, Kyungsoo was looking at a small, pink and extremely girly dress just the perfect size for Baguette to wear. It was so sweet Kyungsoo’s teeth hurt and for the first time in his life, he hated his dog.
But only by a tiny bit. She was still his dog, regardless.
“It’s so cute,” Kyungsoo fake-squealed in a strained voice, teeth clenched together as he attempted to smile.
Jongin, unfortunately for Kyungsoo, saw right through it and his shoulders slumped. “You hate it, don’t you? The girl at the pet store recommended it, she said it was selling out really quickly even though they only had it in the store for about a week.”
“No, no, I don’t hate it,” Kyungsoo shook his head, looking at it again.
What was there to hate? Its sparkling beauty? A lot of effort clearly went into the dress and it was pretty tasteful (though verging on ratchet) Even Baguette would probably love it. He tried to sound as sincere as possible as he said, “I really like it, actually, Jongin. I think Baguette would love it too.”
He smiled, and Jongin froze for a moment, probably from the way Kyungsoo’s face scrunched up weirdly whenever he smiled. But whatever, since Jongin was only here for Baguette anyway.
Kyungsoo looked over his shoulder once more to send Yixing a death glare, gesturing to him that they were going to go in now. He was going to get a whole stream of texts tonight, all of them asking him about what was going on between himself and Jongin, he could feel it. But they could ask him all the questions they wanted, because Jongin was going to come in and just coo all over Baguette for the rest of the evening, leaving Kyungsoo to hang around like an awkward turtle.
Yixing gave him a weird oh-yeah-I-got-it look, but at least it meant he was finally turning the car to drive off, and Kyungsoo returned his attention to Jongin, who was waiting for him to invite him in expectantly.
“Well. Um, come in,” Kyungsoo swept his hand to one side.
When Kyungsoo unlocked the front door, Baguette came bounding on her short feet like a furry rage of happiness, yapping at the both of them. She jumped at Kyungsoo’s legs first, then at Jongin when Kyungsoo didn’t pick her up right away. He felt oddly betrayed as he turned on the lights and went off to put his backpack in his room while Jongin held Baguette up in the air like a trophy and giggled at her.
Kyungsoo pursed his lips when he was out of sight, listening to Jongin coo at her. “I got you a gift, Baguette. Did you miss me?” he asked excitedly. Kyungsoo was still holding the dress in his hand and was tempted to set it on fire.
Then we’ll see if Baguette still misses you, Kyungsoo thought, steaming in his own angry thoughts. He caught himself mid-scowl just in time to put on a neutral expression just before he went back to the living room.
He did not, however, have any expression prepared for the sight before him; Jongin was sprawled on the ground near the sofa, Baguette perched neatly on his chest. He was scratching her behind her ears (which she loved) and he was humming a familiar tune quietly under his breath. Jongin looked more at home here than Kyungsoo ever did, and Baguette looked especially comfortable on Jongin’s chest.
And he’d only been here for a grand total of five goddamned minutes. Something bubbled up within him, something that felt ugly and stupid, not to mention childish.
“Uh,” Kyungsoo didn’t know what to say to break the quiet.
Jongin immediately glanced up in Kyungsoo’s direction, smiling in embarrassment. “Are you gonna let her try on the dress?” he asked.
“Y-yeah. If you could just…” Kyungsoo trailed off, holding up the dress and pointing at it weakly. Jongin nodded, collecting Baguette into his hands gently as he sat up. Her limbs hung loosely over his fingers, eyes still blissfully shut while Kyungsoo came over and crossed his legs to sit before Jongin.
“So um, do you go to Seoul Uni as well?” Jongin asked conversationally as Kyungsoo took Baguette from Jongin, “I only ask since you’re living near one of the dorm buildings, though I’ve never seen you on campus…”
Baguette’s eyes opened briefly to look around while Kyungsoo planted her unto his lap to get the dress out of the wrapper first.
“No, I go to International Studies, do you know it?” Kyungsoo replied, shaking the dress out and scrunching the wrapper up to toss beside him. Baguette sniffed at the dress curiously as Kyungsoo began to manhandle her into it; he only had winter clothes for her, since clothes for pets were actually pretty pricey. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if this dress was over twenty bucks, which was awfully nice of Jongin…
“Oh, that college,” Jongin nodded. “What do you study there?”
“Nothing interesting. Mathematics,” Kyungsoo said, buttoning up the dress from underneath Baguette.
“Math? They actually offer Masters for Mathematics?” Jongin laughed.
Kyungsoo pursed his lips, lifting an eyebrow in amusement. “Yes, they do. I take it that you weren’t a very big fan of Math back in high school.”
“Big time,” Jongin admitted, splaying his fingers wide open as a gesture of speech. Kyungsoo tried not to let Jongin’s slim, smooth hands (and those pretty nails) distract him from his task at hand. This boy is only out for my bitch, Kyungsoo thought dryly, nothing more.
“I barely passed in high school,” Jongin continued.
Kyungsoo nodded, adjusting the dress on Baguette and smoothening any visible creases out. “A lot of my friends were the same. Meanwhile, I messed up every other presentation in front of the class during high school. Math was the only subject that didn’t require me to speak up, so,” Kyungsoo shrugged.
He liked Math; it was a challenge, but not as spontaneous as the challenge of life itself. There were solutions, alternate solutions, different calculations to get the same result. But socializing? Interacting with more than five people at a time? Calling people up whenever he needed to find out something?
Oh hell, no. Kyungsoo sucked at that. It was a minor miracle that he still had his shit together.
“Well, that’s normal,” Jongin frowned, “everyone gets nervous sometimes. At least you channelled your energy into something else that you were good at. And studying Math is really cool actually,” Jongin said, smiling at him, “it’s not very common and all, y’know. It’s special.”
His eyes scrunched up into crescents and Kyungsoo shrivelled up into a dried husk and died on the inside.
“I guess,” Kyungsoo mumbled, blushing just a little. He plopped Baguette down on the ground and watched her shake the dress out.
That was the closest thing to a compliment that anyone ever said to Kyungsoo about his chosen educational course. Everyone literally had the same initial reaction as Jongin when people closest to him found out about it; either that look of surprise on their face because wow, who actually wanted to study math, or oh God, he must be some kind of socially awkward, nerdy genius. It was just his luck that Jongin could be sweet to him even after how he treated Jongin so badly the last time he was under Kyungsoo’s roof.
“Ngaw, you’re so pretty, Baguette, it fits you perfectly!” Jongin’s squeal interrupted Kyungsoo’s thoughts.
Yes, Baguette did look pretty, especially since she filled out the dress nicely and the skirt was all puffed out near her back legs. Kyungsoo felt his thoughts go haywire through an array of different, conflicting emotions.
“She does look pretty… Now you’re making me feel bad for being so rude to you the other day,” Kyungsoo said to Jongin begrudgingly.
Jongin just laughed, and oh. He had the sexiest, cutest laugh if Kyungsoo ever heard one.
“Don’t worry about it, hyung. It’s water under the bridge,” he tossed Kyungsoo’s words from that day right back at him. Kyungsoo allowed himself a tiny smile as their gazes met over Baguette, and Jongin caught it just in time, smiling widely in return.
God, he was like some kind of human sized puppy.
Like water flowing between small cracks, Jongin started to wiggle his way into Kyungsoo’s schedule and subsequently, into his home over the next few months.
At first, Kyungsoo never thought he’d see Jongin again after he dropped by with the pink dress for Baguette. Perhaps they’d wave at one another if Jongin ever passed by Kyungsoo’s place while on the way to the dorm house to see his friends (or to attend another wild party), but it didn’t go down like that at all.
Surprise, surprise, because on Friday afternoon, Jongin pressed the doorbell and Baguette practically flew out of the front door to greet him.
Kyungsoo let him in (again, entirely out of good manners), and the hours went by quickly as Jongin played with Baguette and chatted with Kyungsoo conversationally. Jongin asked questions about Kyungsoo’s background, like where did he come from and why was he living alone in a three-bedroom house.
“My parents knew the landlord. He didn’t want any rowdy parties,” Kyungsoo had looked up at that particular bit, “so he’d preferred it if it was just me and maybe a few others that I trusted. But there was no one, since everyone I know already has their own place somewhere in Seoul so they gave us a good discount on the rent and here I am, paying for two other rooms that I don’t use.”
Jongin had blushed while stroking Baguette’s fur. “Chanyeol and the guys aren’t all that rowdy…”
Apparently, there were ten guys living in the dorm house down the road, Chanyeol being one of them. That fateful party was supposed to be the start to a great semester (though Kyungsoo didn’t agree that an all-night party was a good way to start off the semester), and it was the first time Jongin ever attended their parties. No one had warned him that Chanyeol mixed drinks like a mad scientist, pouring extra shots of vodka and whiskey into everything.
Kyungsoo had pursed his lips when Jongin told him all of this, but it was at least an explanation for his behaviour.
That wasn’t the only thing Kyungsoo found out from the time they spent together over the months. Jongin was single. Jongin loved fried chicken and everything that should fuck up his skin. Regardless, he was close to flawless (not that Kyungsoo didn’t already notice this from before). Jongin also couldn’t stand the taste of most herbs. Jongin had a heart breaking smile, one that Kyungsoo couldn’t stare at for too long if he wanted to maintain good eyesight.
And Jongin had the nicest body Kyungsoo had ever seen; he didn’t know how to put it in words without sounding like a Shakespeare wannabe. All he really knew was that when Jongin was spread out on the ground and arms stretched over his head, his shirt would lift up to reveal a sliver of taut, bronze skin and Kyungsoo’s fingers wanted to touch.
Besides his newfound inappropriate thoughts, Kyungsoo also found out that Jongin had always wanted a dog for his own, but most of his family members were allergic and the rented apartment he now lived in with two other guys didn’t allow pets, hence the fixation on Baguette.
As if it wasn’t already adorable enough that he liked Baguette this much and she liked him back too, now Jongin had Kyungsoo pitying him.
Fuck, Kyungsoo thought in alarm, two months too late into this weird thing they had going on. Jongin was rolling on the ground beside Baguette out in the living room, trying to entertain her. Kyungsoo sliced up the spring onion and threw it into the pot of boiling stew, trying to calm his nerves. I actually really like the guy, Kyungsoo realized.
Not only do I pity him, I have the fucking hots for him, Kyungsoo thought in a panic as he cut up the mushrooms.
They did actually have rather nice, easy conversations in between his play sessions with Baguette and over their shared meals. Plus, he seemed to know that Kyungsoo wasn’t into skinship and never made any moves to touch Kyungsoo, even if it was something as simple as passing something over to him. It didn’t look good for Kyungsoo though, especially when Jongin clearly wasn’t looking for anything beyond friendship and the opportunity to throw rubber toys around the house or lawn to watch Baguette scamper after them.
So why did he have to be so cute and sincere about everything? And irresistibly sweet?
Kyungsoo felt flinging the knife in his hand at the wall. He turned around briefly, spotting Jongin playing tug-of-war with Baguette now. He faked a growl at her, laughing his sexy-but-dumb laugh when Baguette tried to shake him off. Kyungsoo faced the pots and pans before himself once more, wishing he could slice something more than vegetables.
This is too much, he thought, cutting into the mushrooms with more force than necessary. “Too fucking much,” he added under his breath. He didn’t sign up for any of this shit. All he wanted in the first place was some peace and quiet at three in the morning.
Jongin stopped for a moment outside, relinquishing the thick piece of rope to Baguette. “Did you say something, hyung?” he called.
“Uh, no,” Kyungsoo replied. “It’s time to eat,” he said, grabbing two bowls and placing them by the rice pot.
It was an unspoken deal now, for Jongin to fill and serve the bowls of rice, as well as setting the table with coasters and cutlery. He once told Kyungsoo that he was absolutely useless in the kitchen, for which Kyungsoo was grateful. He didn’t need an Asian, tanned version of Jamie Oliver in his life, thanks very much. Jongin already made Kyungsoo feel enough of strange feelings as he was.
“Alright,” Jongin replied, already getting to his feet and leaving Baguette to chew on her toy. They moved around the kitchen quietly, bringing all the food out with practiced ease.
“You know, you’re actually over here a lot,” Kyungsoo commented as calmly as he could manage when they finally sat down to eat.
Not that he minded, but it was scary that he didn’t mind having Jongin over so often. He should’ve minded, should’ve been annoyed with him by now. He wanted to know if Baguette was really the reason why Jongin kept coming over twice a week like clockwork. Could there actually be something more for Kyungsoo here or was he just supposed to suffer in silence as Jongin continued to stop by his place?
Jongin chewed his lower lip, looking decidedly sheepish. “I’m sorry, hyung. Do you want me to stop coming by? I-I could, it’s just that I like playing with Baguette…”
“No, no, it’s not like that,” Kyungsoo shook his head, pressing his spoon into his rice, “I’m not trying to chase you away or anything, just. Don’t you have anything better to do, maybe? I mean, it isn’t all that fun here…” Well, it was fun for Kyungsoo because it meant eye candy, but he couldn’t say the same for Jongin.
Jongin shook his head. “Nope. I like it here, hyung. There’s you to talk to and baby Baguette to play around with,” Jongin said, smiling at Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo’s heart dropped into his stomach as he scooped some of the stew for Jongin, just for something to do to distract himself. Jongin was so dedicated and loyal to Baguette; Kyungsoo might as well give her up to him, though that would mean he’d never see Jongin again for sure. Baguette evidently seemed to be the only thing around keeping Jongin interested.
“Well, if you put it that way,” Kyungsoo glanced up briefly, forcing a smile.
-
“Oh, it’s you. Again,” Junmyeon said flatly, narrowing his eyes when he opened the door to find Jongin on the doorstep of the dorm house.
“Hey, hyung,” Jongin greeted him sheepishly.
He knew he’d been stopping a lot more often than usual for the most mundane of reasons these days. Anything from helping Chanyeol out with his Advertising assignments to borrowing something from Jongdae’s closet, Jongin had used it as an excuse to stop by the dorm house and dump his bag there, pretend to hang around with whoever was there for half an hour or so, and then rush over to Kyungsoo’s house.
“Hey yourself,” Junmyeon shut the door, shoving his hands into his pockets. Some of the guys were seated around the television, greeting Jongin with a nod or a half-smile. They were busy watching Descendants of the Sun.
Jongin never told any of the guys what he did when he left the house but Junmyeon, the unofficial mother hen of the house, was obviously starting to get suspicious about why he seemed to drop by a lot, only to disappear for hours on end. It’s not like he didn’t want to tell them, but he was afraid that he’d seem like he was just using the house as an excuse to be in the area (which was exactly what he was doing).
And it just so happened that Junmyeon was around almost every time Jongin stopped by. The others didn’t really seem to notice or care if they did notice.
Jongin laughed nervously. “Had your dinner yet, hyung?” he asked conversationally.
“Yes. But the question is, how did you come into this house smelling like your dad’s cologne in the afternoon and return once again in the evening smelling like rice cakes and bean paste stew?” Junmyeon tapped his foot like an annoyed mother would when facing her errant son.
He tried his best to evade the question. “How do you know how my dad’s cologne smells like?” Jongin tried to inch towards the stairs. Junmyeon wasn’t having any of it and came two steps forward, coming dangerously close to Jongin. He looked ready to murder him, or at least, ban him from ever stopping by the dorm house again.
“I know it’s your dad’s cologne because my dad uses it as well. Seriously, it just smells old. And nobody puts on cologne unless they want to impress somebody so tell me. Who have you been banging? Is it some housewife in this neighbourhood?”
Jongin shook his head in horror when he realized where the conversation was headed, but Junmyeon was not one to be deterred.
“Mrs. Choi from three houses down, maybe? She makes some really great shepherd’s pie and I won’t lie, she’s kind of hot but I swear, Jongin, if you make a bad name for the university in this neighbourhood—”
“Hyung, it’s not like that,” Jongin cut in with a strained voice. “I’m not even straight,” he said weakly.
That stopped Junmyeon short. “Oh. Is that so?”
Jongin nodded almost frantically.
“Well, you certainly look straight,” he wrinkled his nose, baffled. Jongin just shook his head, feeling weak around the knees at the thought of Junmyeon wondering if he was mucking around with middle aged housewives.
Not that he had anything against that but no, he wasn’t into them. He was only into Kyungsoo, his smooth calves on the rare occasion when he’d wear knee length shorts, the way it felt like sunshine peeking through the clouds on a dreary day whenever he smiled and oh, his red lips whenever he ate something spicy. Jongin was undeniably, irrevocably gay for him.
And Baguette too, of course.
“I-I’m not. I just— Don’t,” Jongin stuttered, shaking his head once again. Junmyeon looked visibly relieved at that, nodding at Jongin.
“That’s good to know then. I don’t want any trouble from you, you hear? We still have to maintain a sense of dignity around here as Seoul Uni students…” Junmyeon said warningly.
Jongin resisted pointing out that people in the neighbourhood probably didn’t like them very much, since some of the dorm house residents (namely Chanyeol and Jongdae) were notorious for throwing open parties every chance they get. But as long as he could still come by as an excuse, then he didn’t mind keeping his thoughts to himself.
It would only be a matter of time anyway, before he’d attempt to hit on Kyungsoo for real and see if they’d go anywhere as being something more than friends.
But according to Chanyeol, all gangly limbs dangling over the top bunk of the double decker bed like it just couldn’t contain him, Jongin wasn’t moving fast enough.
“Dude, I can’t believe you’re still coming back here every night. Haven’t you sealed the deal yet?” Chanyeol commented without looking away from his phone when Jongin came in to get his things. Baekhyun, at the bottom bunk, glanced up from his laptop and smiled briefly at Jongin.
“I keep thinking you’ll stop by one of these days and never come back for your things ‘cause you’re too busy getting it on with your guy, but you’re still here every night like you’re on some kind of curfew.”
“It’s only been two months, Yeol. I can’t move too fast,” Jongin replied.
Only the both of them knew about Jongin visiting Kyungsoo every week (they’d even gone so far as to check him out too), since it was next to impossible to keep matters like this a secret from them. One other guy was sharing the room as well but he was never around, so that saved Jongin from explaining himself to him.
“Do you even hear yourself right now? It’s exactly because it’s been two months. You’re taking way too long, Jongin. You gotta strike while the iron is hot, man, or in this case, strike while your boy is still single,” Baekhyun chirped from the shadowy bottom bunk.
Jongin made a face at the both of them. He would never be so brazen with Kyungsoo, especially since they didn’t get off on the right foot and he needed to be sure he was in Kyungsoo’s good graces before he could really plan on hitting on him.
“And besides,” Baekhyun went on flippantly, “I wouldn’t come back to this shithole of a dorm if I had someone cooking me hot meals like a wifey every other day.”
Jongin raised an eyebrow at that. “Do I really smell like home-cooked food?” he frowned, sniffing at his shirt sleeve. He couldn’t smell anything in particular, certainly not the pungent smell of food.
“We live in a dorm chock full of testosterone, Jongin, surviving eight percent of the time on instant noodles,” Baekhyun stated plainly, “nobody living under this roof can even slice an onion, so I don’t think it’s weird at all to say that I can smell home-cooked food from a mile away.” Chanyeol swung an arm over for a high five.
“Well,” Jongin replied shortly, “I wouldn’t really know about that, but he isn’t my wifey—”
“But you want him to be! And that’s all that matters, ya son of a gun,” Baekhyun suddenly exclaimed loudly, bursting out from beneath the bunk like an angered squirrel.
Jongin began, “I really don’t see—”
“Just shut up, Jongin. Go home, and think of the best pick-up lines you can come up with. Then, use the best one on your boy. That is all.”
Jongin grimaced. He wasn’t really sure if pick-up lines even worked on a guy like Kyungsoo, but at least they were pushing him to do something. And to be frank, maybe it was a step in the right direction. He needed all the charm he could get if he wanted Kyungsoo to see him in a different light.
“Or what if I try to do something romantic instead?” Jongin asked.
Baekhyun pondered on it, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Cliché, but still workable if done well.”
Yes, Jongin bit down on a smile. If that was the case, then hey, it was all he needed to hear.