To Kiss You (Chanyeol/ D.O)
Title: To Kiss You
Rating: PG13
Length: 6239
Summary: Kyungsoo doesn’t believe in fairytales, but when’s he’s cursed with falling asleep everywhere, Kyungsoo let’s himself be kissed by Chanyeol.
Notes: Thank you to CP and Dyosaywhat for betaing the first draft and to Amlika for being so patient with me and encouraging me to take this on. It was initially meant to be fluffier but this is how the story came out for me, I hope you like it! Thank you to the mods for dealing with my incompetence at things like deadlines. Originally written for takostation.
Kyungsoo steps down from the cable car, handing over his ticket to the conductor on the way out. He groans as his socks begin to soak from the puddle he's stepped in. Quickly, he shakes off the water from the leather shoes and walks out of the traffic, dodging milk boys and hackneys, and onto the sidewalk.
The lamppost on the street starts to flicker to life as the sun grows dimmer. Kyungsoo is late. He pulls the collar of his coat up to cover his neck from the oncoming night's cold, and well other things. The breeze rustles his caravat in response. Squinting at the nearby clock post, Kyungsoo is sure now he is definitely late. Between the busy main street and the smaller street to his left, Kyungsoo decides to take a shortcut.
Walking quickly down the smaller street sparse with people, Kyungsoo notices that the lampposts grow brighter as he passes them. Or, as he looks up, the night was coming quicker. He hurries his footsteps along and if ir echoes strangely behind him, Kyungsoo pays it no mind.
He's late for Chanyeol's birthday party, after all. It's not the being late part he cares about. He'd hate to have to face the disappointed face and the slumped shoulders and long sighs of his friend.
Baekhyun, his other friend, never took the shortcuts, claiming that he would get lost in the maze of side streets. His more sensible friend Jongdae had disagreed and said he's never gotten lost before. It pains him to admit it but perhaps Kyungsoo has about the same amount of directional awareness as Baekhyun.
Which is to say, he's lost.
Now along with being late and not having a present, on top of that, he's lost.
Fog nips at Kyungsoo's ankles and he wonders if he's going to miss the dinner entirely at this rate. He worries his bottom lip and stops at a street corner to consider his choices. However something across the street catches his eye.
There's a shop.
In it... A twinkle, a gleam, a something.
Like many others shops in that area, it was of the colonial style. It is paneled and bordered resembling picture frames attached to square columns attached to brick. In the biggest frame, with the widest window, was a beautiful chandelier.
Something about the chandelier twinkles and winks at Kyungsoo, as if beckoning him closer. Kyungsoo should be getting on, but the brightness and the lightness of the chandelier held him captive. He figures, as he is already late, a little later could hardly matter. And there was the matter of a birthday present as well.
Coming closer, Kyungsoo can see that the careful lettering on the window spells out that it was an antique shop. As the distance shortened, Kyungsoo could see that was true. Stacks upon stacks of things long forgotten built up but somehow never overtook the chandelier inside. Kyungsoo was curious.
Kyungsoo put a careful gloved hand on the brass knob and turned. Although the glass on the door let him see through, once he went through he felt something different, a pulse.
The air instead seemed alive even if the various things in the room were not. But at that thought, Kyungsoo realized that the many books, old lamps, dusty shelves, muddy mirrors, and bewildering contraptions seemed just that. Alive. Breathing.
"Can I help you?"
Kyungsoo's head swiftly turns to the direction of the voice. A thin woman sat upon a trunk surveying Kyungsoo with interested eyes. Her eyes shone a beautiful brown coupled with her short dark hair that seemed to gleam like embers at the ends. She was both the most normal and extraordinary woman Kyungsoo's ever met. Her name tag told him that she was the "Mysteric Witch Extraordinaire."
"I'm looking for..."
What kind of present does Chanyeol even want?
"A fairytale."
The Witch's eyes lit up and she began to look around her shop as if she sold exactly that.
"Book." Kyungsoo finished. "A fairytale book." She looks mildly disappointed but Kyungsoo couldn't think of why that could be.
The Witch sighs and twitches her lips in irritation. "I would help you but... I misplaced my moon crystal. Can't seem to do anything without it."
"Oh, I'll help you look for it." Nevermind that Kyungsoo was late, being a bit more late wasn't so bad. Together he and the Witch split up to look for said item somewhere in the vast ocean of the shop.
Kyungsoo wasn't sure how long they had looked for. After covering about a quarter of the room (or so he thinks), he sits down on a stool to rest. He wonders where the forgetful Witch could have misplaced her crystal. Spinning on the stool, Kyungsoo suddenly found himself looking at a sharp wooden stake-like object connected to a wheel. On the wheel, in the threads, there was what was unmistakably the moon crystal.
Excited, he shouts to the Witch, "I found it, look-"
The Witch appearing suddenly trips Kyungsoo a few steps from where he stood. A sharp pain comes from his hand. Looking down, he realizes that he had accidentally struck the wheel and wooden stake contraption from before. He drew a little blood and tries to reach into his pocket for his handkerchief but suddenly stops.
He stares at his hand again. The bleeding didn't seem too deep yet he felt his knees give way. The beautiful lights in the shop blinked in and out of his vision and blurs. His head sways and all movement in the shop ceases as if his time decides now to stop. His head whirls towards the ceiling and he feels his knee hit the marble floor beneath. The shock travels excruciatingly slowly from his knee to his spine to the back of his head. And soon, there was only darkness.
A hand on his shoulders shake him away. "What-"
The Witch hurriedly shoves a book into his hands. "You found my crystal so here's your book."
Kyungsoo wants to argue, but his head seems heavy and words were hard to find.
"Oh it's all my fault you pricked-" Pricked? "You have to go to him-" Who? "He will wake you." What even- "True love's kiss-"
Kiss?
Before he knew it, Kyungsoo was upright as the Witch ushers him out into the waiting fog of the night. He wanders away, not fully comprehending what happened.
Chanyeol opens the door to a soaked Kyungsoo. He's half worried until Kyungsoo grumbles about a cloudburst and something or other. What matters is that when Kyungsoo pushes Chanyeol aside to get in, he also gently nudges a small parcel into Chanyeol's hands. He would tease him but Kyungsoo is giving him a small careful smile and giving him his coat and disappearing down the hallway to greet their other friends.
Chanyeol looks at the small parcel in his hands and shoves it inside his pocket. He'll look at it later in private.
Catching up to his friend, he overhears Kyungsoo recount his story. "She seemed like any other normal witch but she started to say all these weird things and that's how I got Chanyeol's present."
Chanyeol wonders all evening what it could be.
What he finds later, after corralling all of his friends into the gardens where the house staff are no doubt keeping an eye on their drunken selves and escaping into a drawing room, is that Kyungsoo's gift was a storybook. A collection of fairytales in it. Chanyeol smiles to himself. It looked to be the first edition translated into Korean that Chanyeol had been looking for. Kyungsoo wasn't really the type to read fairytales but Chanyeol loved them. Dragons, foxes, forest spirits, and princes and princess. What isn't there to like in a little fantasy?
The book itself is a piece of art. The hardcover had beautiful grooves in its borders and the leather that bound it was worn but sturdy. The pages while yellow from age matched perfectly with book's gilt. Chanyeol loved the book even before he'd read a single page.
He flips through the book, landing on Sleeping Beauty before he hears a crash from out in his garden.
"Hm, his vitals seem fine. Probably just tired."
The black and white blob announces. Kyungsoo thinks he's right. He is pretty tired.
"Yixing, he suddenly fell over and wouldn't wake up no matter what... Are you sure?" Another blob insists to the first blob.
The Yixing blob squiggles a bit and says, "I'm quite sure there's nothing wrong with him. He's perfectly healthy. Now if you don't mind." The Yixing blob disappears from Kyungsoo's vision.
A groan sounds through the air. Oh it's from me.
A strong arm comes around his shoulders and a hand steadies his swimming head. Leaning against what must be a backboard, Kyungsoo blinks at the nearest blob. After a couple seconds, it turns out to be a Chanyeol blob.
"Hey, are you feeling alright?" His voice was surprisingly gentle, a tone Kyungsoo has only ever heard him use in private, and on few occasions.
"Groodsh."
"Oh! I'll translate! I'm fairly certain he said he's good."Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at the Baekhyun blob excitedly plopped near his feet. He should kick him.
A yelp. A definitively shaped Jongdae laughs out loud. "I think he's fine. Except for the falling into the pond thing."
"Yeah, good thing Chanyeol is large and can be used as a floatation device." Chanyeol, who has long since stopped being a blob, laughs good naturedly. He also throws a pillow at Baekhyun.
Jongdae laughs at the antics and even Kyungsoo, who was by now a little bit more awake, smiles at them. Turning to Kyungsoo, Jongdae asks, "Kyungsoo, is there something you're not telling us? A medical condition? A supernatural ailment (I would be totally fine if you were a werewolf, just saying)? Did you offend a ghost?"
"Oh, I bet a witch took the last tofu at the market and-"
"Witch." They all turned to Kyungsoo. "I was... at an antique shop."
Chanyeol holds up his fairytale book. "Where you got me this." A chorus of appropriately timed oohs and aahs from the others. "Wait, what happened at the shop? Did she curse you?"
"Why would she curse me?" Annoyed Kyungsoo recounts what happens again because his friends obviously did not pay attention the first time. From the chandelier to the books to the wheel-
"Did it look like this?" Baekhyun helpfully points out a picture from Chanyeol's book. Recollection flashes in Kyungsoo's mind. He nods.
"Wow. This is great! Kyungsoo got a death curse!"
"How is that great?" Jongdae stares at his friend incredulously. "Kyungsoo could've died- wait why isn't Kyungsoo dead?"
All three of his friends turn to stare at Kyungsoo. Annoyed, Kyungsoo drily replies, "I'm not cursed. These-" he gestures towards the book. "-are just fairytales. I've just had a long day. Come off it now."
With that, he closes his eyes, and falls asleep, despite his friend's protests.
Kyungsoo wakes up to loud screams and vicious shaking of his body.
"What is wrong with you?" He roars at his intruder. Chanyeol's eyes are wide open and scared.
Three bodies pile on top of Kyungsoo tightly with sobs and forlorn cries.
Again he asks, "what is wrong with all of you?"
Chanyeol pulls back from the huddle and says in a strange tone, "You... wouldn't wake."
Kyungsoo's eyes widen. I wouldn't wake? His body stiffens as he contemplates what was going on. His heart beat faster as if desperate to prove that he was awake and alive.
"We shook you so hard and screamed so loud-"
"Jongdae screamed, I tried singing instea-"
"You mean wailing."Offended by the comment, Baekhyun jabs a finger at Chanyeol's face and yells to Kyungsoo, "Chanyeol kissed you!"
Immediately Chanyeol puts both hands up in surrender to find Kyungsoo's kick had landed. "I did not give you permission to kiss me. AND-" He points a finger accusingly at both Jongdae and Baekhyun. "I did not give you permission to get on my bed. Off."
Guiltily, his three friends sit themselves around Kyungsoo's small tea table across the room.
"Explain."
With great difficulty, Kyungsoo finally understood. They had tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't budge after much effort. Chanyeol was nominated to kiss Kyungsoo awake because as Jongdae was supposedly not allowed to (Kyungsoo internally rolls his eyes at Baekhyun). Also since Chanyeol had already kiss Kyungsoo the previous night (resuscitation was the excuse), it shouldn't be a problem to do it again.
Glaring at his three friends, he pointedly asks, "Do you really think that I'm cursed?"
All three nod. His hand comes up to his face, ruffles his hair, falls down to his neck, rubbing it while thinking. Logically, it made no sense to Kyungsoo. Fairytales were not real and curses along with it. Everyone knew the witches of today were really only good for medicinal potions. After considering it some more, he chases his friends away, citing disturbed rest.
Later on, Chanyeol carefully sneaks into the study where Kyungsoo is sitting by the window with a notepad on his lap. He had been trying to work on his novel all morning to no avail. It was an incredibly boring day and his eyes were already drooping to a close. He barely registers Chanyeol closing the door and sitting down at a nearby table to read the fairytales in his book.
Seeing Chanyeol read the present he got him so happily makes him smile to himself. He gets up to sit across from him but one step from the alcove has him on the floor. Pain shoots from his knees.
"Kyungsoo!" With a few quick strides, Chanyeol was gripping Kyungsoo by his shoulders. Kyungsoo felt it again.
His heart beats slows down, his vision slurs, his mind whirls.
"Don't get mad at me, alright?" Chanyeol nudges Kyungsoo's head against his shoulder and tips his chin up so that he's looking right into Chanyeol's large eyes. "Is this...?"
Kyungsoo nods. Without another word, Chanyeol dips his head to meet their lips. At the touch, Kyungsoo's heart beats faster. As Chanyeol presses closer, Kyungsoo's eyes close. Kyungsoo tilts his head towards the kiss, and his mind stills time and motion.
When Kyungsoo opens his eyes again, the room was as exactly as it should be. When he looks up at Chanyeol though, something about the way his eyes were staring at Kyungsoo was different. Feeling his ears growing hot, he sits up and out of Chanyeol's embrace.
"I'm- I'm fine now. Thanks."
Chanyeol sits cross legged in his spot and cradles his head with one arm. "So it was the kiss..."
Kyungsoo could feel the hotness spreading down to his neck but he doesn't argue. He just gets up and leaves Chanyeol on the floor to look thoughtfully out the window.
After that, it happens more often. At first, Kyungsoo had not wanted to admit it. He would come to Chanyeol while he was studying or working on his family accounts and tug on his sleeve. Chanyeol was surprised at first too. The first kiss Kyungsoo asked for was followed by a Cheshire grin from Chanyeol so much that he was embarrassed to ask when it came again. The second time, Chanyeol silently came to him, straightened him up, softly kissed him, gave him a small secret smile, and left.
It slowly becomes a habit. Kyungsoo will suddenly get sleepy and he will seek Chanyeol. Chanyeol always pulls him into his arms, and gives him a kiss to wake him up. He always gives Kyungsoo the same small smile afterwards, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to kiss your best friend. Jongdae and Baekhyun eventually catches them at it, much to Kyungsoo's chagrin. They call Chanyeol the Official Kisser of the Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo threatens to disown their friendship. It becomes almost normal.
Two weeks went by with Kyungsoo's "condition" not getting any better.
In fact, Kyungsoo's symptoms even begin to get worse. Before it was just slower heartbeats, drooping eyes, but eventually they became shorter breaths, and inability to stand. Chanyeol moves into Kyungsoo's small apartment to stay close to him. Why they didn't move into Chanyeol's much bigger and grander house is beyond anyone's guess.
Kyungsoo starts to develop a fear as the new symptoms arrive. The first night after a bout of sickness makes Kyungsoo want to throw up. Kyungsoo rocks himself to sleep, worried he might not wake up and wakes up to dread.
The night that comes after losing his breath the first time, he wakes up shivering in cold sweat. Chanyeol hovers over Kyungsoo's body with a furrow in his brow and a frown. Gripping the front of Chanyeol's sleep clothes, Kyungsoo pulls Chanyeol closer. He digs his hands into the fabric as Chanyeol pulls him into him, enveloping him. Kyungsoo feels safer than he's ever been.
Kyungsoo looks up at Chanyeol through the embrace and realizes that his eyes were full of tears. Chanyeol gently wipes away Kyungsoo's tears with the thumb of his hand that cups Kyungsoo's face.
"Hey it's alright. I'm here for you."
Relief at Chanyeol's words fill Kyungsoo. He feels like affection for Chanyeol's steadfastness grow to proportions in his chest. Looking up at Chanyeol, Kyungsoo pulls him in closer.
He captures Chanyeol in a kiss. Much like their other kisses, it is soft and sweet. Affection for Chanyeol starts drumming Kyungsoo's chest, wanting to be let out. Kyungsoo wants it to. He wants to show Chanyeol how much he wan- no, how glad he is that Chanyeol is here.
Kyungsoo presses closer to Chanyeol. His hands finding purchase on Chanyeol's chest, pulling him closer as if maybe putting their chests together, Chanyeol would be able to feel the coursing affection. Even in his drowsiness, Kyungsoo feels a bit embarrassed. The heat in his ears though become heat in his lips as Chanyeol kisses back.
Chanyeol's one hand on Kyungsoo's chin changes the angle of their heads while his other places it on his waist. The kiss becomes harder, more bruising, less air, less space between them, and Kyungsoo doesn't want it to stop.
From that night on, Chanyeol starts to sleep in the same bed with Kyungsoo. They don't talk about what happened and Kyungsoo thinks it might've just been a dream. But one thing he's certain is, Kyungsoo sleeps better when he knows he will wake up to Chanyeol. It means he's still living. That he didn't waste away in his sleep.
"You know," Baekhyun was looking up from the fairy tales book. "I think the curse should've been lifted by now."
Kyungsoo bites down his derisive comment about fairytales again since he knows how much Chanyeol likes them. Jongdae has already put down his pen and tore his eyes away from his sheet music to focus on Baekhyun. He plays along to listen to whatever theories Baekhyun may have come up with. Chanyeol focuses on his family accounts but nods to indicate that he's listening.
"All the princesses wake up after the kiss."
"And?"
"There's only ever one kiss to do the trick, Kyungsoo."
Kyungsoo coughs at what he thinks is a suggestive comment. He doesn't know why he needs so many. I'm not purposefully doing it!
He wants to say something but when he sputters, he remembers the one time, he wasn't exactly sure if he was falling asleep or not.
He was honestly blinking really slowly, and he was staring right at Chanyeol, so if Chanyeol thought he needed a kiss, it was perfectly logical. Perfectly logical. After the kiss and the small smile that Kyungsoo admits he's getting used to, Kyungsoo didn't bother to tell him that he wasn't actually sleepy.
But he really wasn't doing it on purpose.
Kyungsoo stops coughing to glare at Baekhyun. "I'm not in a fairytale, Baekhyun. Maybe real 'conditions' don't end with just one."
Jongdae bites back a smile and comment. Kyungsoo already knows what he wants to say, so he takes a bite of a cookie extra loudly to stop the conversation. In the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo can see that Chanyeol's writing had paused a little before starting up again.
Kyungsoo had thought about visiting the Witch again. He tried to bring the others along as well. Every time they went out, they were never able to find the antique shop again. If it weren't for the obvious fact that the book existed, Kyungsoo felt he might've hallucinated the whole thing.
"I wonder if she ran away after cursing you." Jongdae says thoughfully one night as they sit on the roof of Baekhyun's manor to watch shooting stars after unsuccessfully searching for the shop.
"You mean when he cursed himself..." Baekhyun teases.
"I will kick you off your own roof, Baekhyun."
"Don't worry, I'll run down and catch you!" Chanyeol happily offers.
"You can't possibly run fast enough. Your legs may be long, but goodness are you clumsy."
And just like that, happy bickering fills up the spaces in between the friends. Jongdae takes the chance to sit closer to Kyungsoo. He smiles at Kyungsoo and takes his hand between his own and they happily swing it back and forth without any words. Kyungsoo likes it when they have fun like this.
Baekhyun stands up to announce that he's going to get some more pastries and Chanyeol follows after him.
As they walk away, Jongdae comments to Kyungsoo, "The kiss is broken by true love's kiss."
Kyungsoo stops their swinging hands and looks at Jongdae. Jongdae looks back at him, steady in his gaze and with meaning. Kyungsoo worries the bottom of his lips and glances at Chanyeol, wondering if he had heard or not.
Later, Baekhyun drags Jongdae to play darts with him in the drawing room, leaving Chanyeol and Kyungsoo behind.
Stuffed with pastries and champagne, for a Baekhyun party always includes it, Kyungsoo leans back against Chanyeol's arm, resting his head at the point of Chanyeol's shoulders. Looking up at the sky, he muses they had not seen a single shooting star yet.
"All these festivities are making me sleepy." He happily comments. His voice however delivers a low scratchy line. It must be all the alcohol. Suddenly he feels Chanyeol move away from Kyungsoo, only to see his upside down face as his back slowly hits the blanket they're sitting on.
It was soft and so quick, Kyungsoo wasn't sure if it had actually happened. He could feel his eyebrows furrow as he opens his eyes and looks up at Chanyeol, questioning.
Instead of an answer, Chanyeol asks, "Do you still feel sleepy?"
Kyungsoo shakes his head. No. He can feel his pulse grow quicker, whether energized from the kiss or beating because of something else, he won't admit. He wills himself to calm down before answering, "I'm good now."
They turn back to the night sky, searching for fallen stars. Kyungsoo is distracted and he thoughts wander to what Jongdae said about true love's kiss.
They're at a masquerade and Kyungsoo wants to leave.
Little gatherings between good friends, he likes. Large parties full of debauchery and boys who think they're men trying to outdo each other in everything from wine to dices while the girls bet on who loses their shirts or their millions first is not what Kyungsoo likes.
He decides to leave but he had come with Baekhyun's car and Baekhyun was nowhere to be found. He finds Chanyeol instead, outside trying a rain stick that everyone was passing around. By the way Chanyeol was shaking the stick, Kyungsoo was sure if it actually worked (but of course it shouldn't work), there would be a storm.
"I'm headed out." He simply says to Chanyeol and turns to walk away.
He hears the chair scratching against the floor as Chanyeol gets up and walks to catch up with Kyungsoo. "I'll walk you home."
"I hardly need-"
"I want to." Chanyeol gives Kyungsoo a big bright smile and starts waving goodbye. Being Chanyeol, a son of an important businessman, he took long to escape the throng of people. By the time, he had his coat on, Kyungsoo was down the block waiting for him.
Rain fell as Chanyeol drew closer to Kyungsoo and he already had his open. Chanyeol stops halfway to watch Kyungsoo. The lamppost diligently shone in the dark while Kyungsoo looks at from under his umbrella, smiling without an inhibitions. That's the Kyungsoo that Chanyeol likes best. The rain fell harder, but it didn't deter his smiles.
Kyungsoo always liked rain. The light shining through the rain was especially nice and he wanted to show it to Chanyeol.
Kyungsoo felt a weight on the back of his umbrella. He turns his head to see Chanyeol's hand gripping the edge. He tilts the umbrella up so that he could see Chanyeol. His head was bent and eyes were closed, like he sometimes looked when he finished kissing Kyungsoo. He would always open his eyes to look at Kyungsoo with a strange expression that made Kyungsoo's heart feel alive. There was that look again.
"Did you... want to get under the umbrella?"
Chanyeol opens his mouth a little and closes it, as if wanting to say something but decided against it. Instead he quirks his mouth to the left and answers, "If you let me."
Kyungsoo raises his arm up so that Chanyeol could fit in the space alongside him.
"There's not enough room here, Kyungsoo." He starts to walk in the direction of Kyungsoo's apartment.
Kyungsoo grabs his sleeve and insists. "Just try... Get..."
Chanyeol takes a step closer to Kyungsoo, squaring him off and looking right down at Kyungsoo. "Closer?"
His eyes had that look that made Kyungsoo feel warm despite the cold rain. But it was also a look that Kyungsoo was beginning to see only belonged to when he looks at Kyungsoo.
"You know, Kyungsoo... I think I want to be closer to you than anyone else."
His traitorous heart skips a beat and Kyungsoo doesn't think they're talking about the umbrella anymore. Angrily, he doesn't know why he's angry, Kyungsoo backs away from Chanyeol. Refusing to look him in the eyes, he stomps off. Chanyeol follows silently behind, just in case Kyungsoo falls asleep again.
After that night, Kyungsoo starts to avoid being alone with Chanyeol. If Kyungsoo ever becomes sleepy, he quickly starts exercising to fool himself into having energy. Long with copious amounts of coffee, Kyungsoo stops sleeping. His fear of sleeping forever gives him enough motivation to last a couple of nights. However after three, Kyungsoo warily starts to eye his two other friends to see if he could kiss them. Jongdae and Baekhyun of course notice. They don't say anything. Kyungsoo hears Jongdae say "lover's quarrel" once and has since refuses to speak to him, too. When it happens, Baekhyun takes Jongdae away to soothe his hurt looks but he confronts Kyungsoo after Jongdae stops moping.
Cornering Kyungsoo in the study of his house, he suffers a wrestling match with Kyungsoo before they're both too exhausted to pull the other off. With a steady and serious gaze, Baekhyun says from under a loose chokehold, "Whatever happened between you and Chanyeol needs to stop now."
Kyungsoo's strength bleeds out of his arms and Baekhyun stands up.
"It's just all the kissing is making me confused."
Baekhyun leans against the wall across from Kyungsoo, his thumb rubbing his bottom lips as he listens. Being this quiet and this still, Kyungsoo knows his friend won't let him walk away from this conversation so he continues.
"I think I know what it's doing to us," Baekhyun scoffs at Kyungsoo, but he continues, "The physical intimacy is making Chanyeol-"
"Wow."
"What?"
"You may be right most of the time, but this time Kyungsoo, god just-" He sighs. "Even if you stupidly deny your own heart, how can you not know his?"
Baekhyun runs a hand through his hair and smoothes his wrinkled shirt and collar down. From inside his jacket, he pulls out a crumpled letter and throws it haphazardly in Kyungsoo's direction.
"Chanyeol's dad is sick. He wants him to go down to Busan to take over the business. He's leaving tomorrow. If you bothered to talk to your friend, you would know."
With shock and a prick of hurt in his chest, Kyungsoo picks up the paper to read the missive from Chanyeol's father. With every word, a heavy weight is added to Kyungsoo's chest and his eyes grow heavy. Beakyhun thinks it might be the beginning of tears.
"Good." Kyungsoo hears his hollow voice say. "Being physically apart will get us both back our sanity."
Baekhyun's mouth falls open but instead of saying anything, he just shakes his head and walks out, leaving Kyungsoo to deal with himself. The letter in his hand becomes wetter as Kyungsoo sits there longer.
Kyungsoo didn't need to open his eyes to know whose arm lightly rested on his waist. The familiar breath was upon his neck and the weight on his bed. "Chanyeol."
A low voice answered. "I just wanted... to see you before I left."
Kyungsoo couldn't stop himself from saying, "I'll be fine. Baekhyun will be here to kiss me if I need it."
A huff of breath tickles the hair behind Kyungsoo's ears and the pressure of Chanyeol's hand at his waist gets stronger. Kyungsoo doesn't know why he said it, as if Chanyeol didn't already know. Somehow as if saying it aloud, Kyungsoo was reminding himself as well.
"Just in case you need me tonight."
Kyungsoo wants to laugh and he does, bitterly. "While I sleep?" The irony doesn't escape Kyungsoo but the tone surprises him. He doesn't understand it. He doesn't understand himself.
Chanyeol moves his head, resting slightly on Kyungsoo's own. His lips above Kyungsoo's ears, he whispers, "Even while you sleep"
Kyungsoo scoffs but leaves the matter. The fear he usually has of never waking up abates with Chanyeol next to him. Kyungsoo feels like tonight will be the first time he's really slept since that night. He supposes that Chanyeol is right.
He doesn't wake up to Chanyeol. He supposes that it's his own fault.
"No it's definitely your fault." Baekhyun quips.
They're gathered together having afternoon tea at Jongdae's insistence. Kyungsoo stares at Jongdae now to get him to stop Baekhyun, but Jongdae steely looks back at Kyungsoo without saying anything.
"I just-"
Throwing himself on the couch, Baekhyun throws out all his limbs in the air. "Do I have to say it? It's so obvious. Why are you fighting it? What do you want, Kyungsoo?"
"I'm frustrated too!" Kyungsoo retorts as he huffily puts down his cup of tea. It splashes and spills over. Jongdae looks forlornly at the heavy sound it made.
"Maybe," Jongdae starts softly. "You should logically think about it, Kyungsoo."
"I-" A sharp pain pierces Kyungsoo's heart. Gasping he falls towards his knees, knocking the table in front of him over.
Oh god, it's happening This time, Kyungsoo couldn't see beyond his outstretched hand. His hand immediately finds Baekhyun's and Baekhyun pulls Kyungsoo towards him. Baekhyun smashes his lips to Kyungsoo's and pulls back.
Kyungsoo still writhes in pain.
"How- can- you- be- so- bad- at- kiss-"
"Baekhyun, call Chanyeol now. Tell him to meet us at Daejeon immediately. It's the halfway point from Seoul and Busan. Hurry."
While Baekhyun scrambles off his feet to make the call, Jongdae pulls Kyungsoo onto his back, his feet dragging behind him. Outside, a taxi was already waiting to take them to the station as hurries out.
Once at the station, Baekhyun rushes to get them onto the next train, all the while Jongdae tries to keep Kyungsoo's eyes open and him awake.
Once the train pulls into Daejeon's main station, Kyungsoo struggles to get out, trapped against the door of his private room from the throng of people departing. Not even bothering to take a second look at Baekhyun or Jongdae, he gets off the train with much difficulty but lots of speed.
The people all head towards the exit but that's not where Kyungsoo wants to go. He needs the train from Busan. Frantically stumbling forward, he looks for a departure board. He spots one at the end of the platform. Joining the crowd, he desperately looks for Chanyeol's train as his head grows heavier by the second and all the while clutching his heart.
The letters on the board flip and flip and Kyungsoo finds his blinks too slow to catch up to what the boards say. Finally, the Busan train shows up and Kyungsoo's heart sinks. He's on the opposite side of the station.
His heart pangs.
Clutching his chest, he tries to rush down stairs, down hallways, searching each face he passes by. Without realizing it, he began to mutter Chanyeol's name under his breath. His breath that was shorter with every call of Chanyeol's name. For every heartbeat, he calls for Chanyeol four times. It becomes a chant for him. A line to cling him to being awake and not.
When Kyungsoo eyes finally find Chanyeol, he gets a sudden burst of energy. He runs straight for him, all the while calling his name.
Chanyeol, spotting Kyungsoo, rushes towards him.
When the distance becomes short enough, Kyungsoo throws himself at Chanyeol. He catches him and immediately, Kyungsoo's heart beats loudly and more painfully. Looking into Chanyeol's eyes, he manages to breath out:
"Kiss me or I'll die."
Chanyeol's eyes that always looks at Kyungsoo start to water. Eyes that always looked at Kyungsoo with affection and... sadness. The pain makes Kyungsoo's vision clearer than before. Chanyeol buries his face into Kyungsoo's neck as if he was found out.
"I'm sorry." Chanyeol apologizes into Kyungsoo's neck. "I'm sorry. I can't keep kissing you when you don't- and I do- and-"
God, no that's wrong. That's all wrong. I'm wrong. I-
"I-" Kyungsoo huffs out. "I want you."
Kyungsoo pushes Chanyeol from his embrace to see Chanyeol's shocked expression. He braces himself with what feels like that last breath, "It has to be you. I love-"
Before he could finish, Chanyeol lifts Kyungsoo off the floor and kisses him. Chanyeol kisses so fiercely that Kyungsoo can't think about anything except that Chanyeol's arm across his shoulder is pulling him in and his other arm around his waist is keeping him there. Kyungsoo can't think about anything except that his own arms are thrown across Chanyeol's shoulders and in his hair.
Kyungsoo can't think about anything except his heartbeat is beating loudly and painfully because it now matches Chanyeol's and his breath is short now because the kiss demands it.
The kiss becomes deeper and Kyungsoo gives himself in. Now that he knows himself, he also knows Chanyeol's. The tongue that swipes against his lips distracts him.
In the distance, he vaguely hears Baekhyun apologizing.
"I'm really sorry, they haven't seen each other in awhile and it's very- I'm sorry I know we're in public but-"
Jongdae's voice chimes in, "Conductor, mister, sir, they're in love, can't we just let them alone for a bit?"
In love.
With Chanyeol.
Yes, that's what I want
Sometime Later
Kyungsoo leans back against Chanyeol's chest as they sit to watch the stars. Baekhyun mentioned that there would shooting stars tonight. Last time, Kyungsoo was too preoccupied by his thoughts to really appreciate them.
Last time, he also didn't get to appreciate Chanyeol. Finally he's arrived at this place of understanding, and he's a bit upset that Chanyeol had reached it before him. Not only had he done so, he had also built himself a place there and Kyungsoo felt the gap.
He tilts his head to look at Chanyeol who was gazing at the stars with a soft smile on his lips, his dimple just shy of appearing. Noticing Kyungsoo staring, he looks down at Kyungsoo with a question. Not saying much, Kyungsoo figures he can bridge the gap if he only tried. Using both hands steady on Chanyeol's thighs, he lifts himself up so that his lips meet Chanyeol's.
Kyungsoo felt Chanyeol's strong arm grab his waist to keep him steady and it made his heart spring with happiness. Another hand cupped Kyungsoo's chin. The warmth of Chanyeol's hands on him coupled with that on his lips makes the evening much less cold than before.
"Sleepy?" Chanyeol teases in a low voice close to Kyungsoo's lips as they part.
They both know that Kyungsoo doesn't get sleepy like that anymore. After Kyungsoo realized that he was in fact in love with Chanyeol, he's never needed to be kissed for that reason. Now there are other reasons.
Kyungsoo's heart rams against his chest as he looks from Chanyeol's lips to his beauitful eyes. They're not sad anymore. Here, Kyungsoo could just stop here. Go back to stargazing. Keep quiet, but the gap. Kyungsoo doesn't want it anymore. Sometimes, even if Chanyeol knows, it's always nice to hear it.
Carefully he starts, "No."
Chanyeol stops surveying Kyungsoo's face and focuses on him. Kyungsoo can tell he wasn't expecting it, but looking at his love, he replies confidently, "I always want to kiss you."
Rating: PG13
Length: 6239
Summary: Kyungsoo doesn’t believe in fairytales, but when’s he’s cursed with falling asleep everywhere, Kyungsoo let’s himself be kissed by Chanyeol.
Notes: Thank you to CP and Dyosaywhat for betaing the first draft and to Amlika for being so patient with me and encouraging me to take this on. It was initially meant to be fluffier but this is how the story came out for me, I hope you like it! Thank you to the mods for dealing with my incompetence at things like deadlines. Originally written for takostation.
Kyungsoo steps down from the cable car, handing over his ticket to the conductor on the way out. He groans as his socks begin to soak from the puddle he's stepped in. Quickly, he shakes off the water from the leather shoes and walks out of the traffic, dodging milk boys and hackneys, and onto the sidewalk.
The lamppost on the street starts to flicker to life as the sun grows dimmer. Kyungsoo is late. He pulls the collar of his coat up to cover his neck from the oncoming night's cold, and well other things. The breeze rustles his caravat in response. Squinting at the nearby clock post, Kyungsoo is sure now he is definitely late. Between the busy main street and the smaller street to his left, Kyungsoo decides to take a shortcut.
Walking quickly down the smaller street sparse with people, Kyungsoo notices that the lampposts grow brighter as he passes them. Or, as he looks up, the night was coming quicker. He hurries his footsteps along and if ir echoes strangely behind him, Kyungsoo pays it no mind.
He's late for Chanyeol's birthday party, after all. It's not the being late part he cares about. He'd hate to have to face the disappointed face and the slumped shoulders and long sighs of his friend.
Baekhyun, his other friend, never took the shortcuts, claiming that he would get lost in the maze of side streets. His more sensible friend Jongdae had disagreed and said he's never gotten lost before. It pains him to admit it but perhaps Kyungsoo has about the same amount of directional awareness as Baekhyun.
Which is to say, he's lost.
Now along with being late and not having a present, on top of that, he's lost.
Fog nips at Kyungsoo's ankles and he wonders if he's going to miss the dinner entirely at this rate. He worries his bottom lip and stops at a street corner to consider his choices. However something across the street catches his eye.
There's a shop.
In it... A twinkle, a gleam, a something.
Like many others shops in that area, it was of the colonial style. It is paneled and bordered resembling picture frames attached to square columns attached to brick. In the biggest frame, with the widest window, was a beautiful chandelier.
Something about the chandelier twinkles and winks at Kyungsoo, as if beckoning him closer. Kyungsoo should be getting on, but the brightness and the lightness of the chandelier held him captive. He figures, as he is already late, a little later could hardly matter. And there was the matter of a birthday present as well.
Coming closer, Kyungsoo can see that the careful lettering on the window spells out that it was an antique shop. As the distance shortened, Kyungsoo could see that was true. Stacks upon stacks of things long forgotten built up but somehow never overtook the chandelier inside. Kyungsoo was curious.
Kyungsoo put a careful gloved hand on the brass knob and turned. Although the glass on the door let him see through, once he went through he felt something different, a pulse.
The air instead seemed alive even if the various things in the room were not. But at that thought, Kyungsoo realized that the many books, old lamps, dusty shelves, muddy mirrors, and bewildering contraptions seemed just that. Alive. Breathing.
"Can I help you?"
Kyungsoo's head swiftly turns to the direction of the voice. A thin woman sat upon a trunk surveying Kyungsoo with interested eyes. Her eyes shone a beautiful brown coupled with her short dark hair that seemed to gleam like embers at the ends. She was both the most normal and extraordinary woman Kyungsoo's ever met. Her name tag told him that she was the "Mysteric Witch Extraordinaire."
"I'm looking for..."
What kind of present does Chanyeol even want?
"A fairytale."
The Witch's eyes lit up and she began to look around her shop as if she sold exactly that.
"Book." Kyungsoo finished. "A fairytale book." She looks mildly disappointed but Kyungsoo couldn't think of why that could be.
The Witch sighs and twitches her lips in irritation. "I would help you but... I misplaced my moon crystal. Can't seem to do anything without it."
"Oh, I'll help you look for it." Nevermind that Kyungsoo was late, being a bit more late wasn't so bad. Together he and the Witch split up to look for said item somewhere in the vast ocean of the shop.
Kyungsoo wasn't sure how long they had looked for. After covering about a quarter of the room (or so he thinks), he sits down on a stool to rest. He wonders where the forgetful Witch could have misplaced her crystal. Spinning on the stool, Kyungsoo suddenly found himself looking at a sharp wooden stake-like object connected to a wheel. On the wheel, in the threads, there was what was unmistakably the moon crystal.
Excited, he shouts to the Witch, "I found it, look-"
The Witch appearing suddenly trips Kyungsoo a few steps from where he stood. A sharp pain comes from his hand. Looking down, he realizes that he had accidentally struck the wheel and wooden stake contraption from before. He drew a little blood and tries to reach into his pocket for his handkerchief but suddenly stops.
He stares at his hand again. The bleeding didn't seem too deep yet he felt his knees give way. The beautiful lights in the shop blinked in and out of his vision and blurs. His head sways and all movement in the shop ceases as if his time decides now to stop. His head whirls towards the ceiling and he feels his knee hit the marble floor beneath. The shock travels excruciatingly slowly from his knee to his spine to the back of his head. And soon, there was only darkness.
A hand on his shoulders shake him away. "What-"
The Witch hurriedly shoves a book into his hands. "You found my crystal so here's your book."
Kyungsoo wants to argue, but his head seems heavy and words were hard to find.
"Oh it's all my fault you pricked-" Pricked? "You have to go to him-" Who? "He will wake you." What even- "True love's kiss-"
Kiss?
Before he knew it, Kyungsoo was upright as the Witch ushers him out into the waiting fog of the night. He wanders away, not fully comprehending what happened.
Chanyeol opens the door to a soaked Kyungsoo. He's half worried until Kyungsoo grumbles about a cloudburst and something or other. What matters is that when Kyungsoo pushes Chanyeol aside to get in, he also gently nudges a small parcel into Chanyeol's hands. He would tease him but Kyungsoo is giving him a small careful smile and giving him his coat and disappearing down the hallway to greet their other friends.
Chanyeol looks at the small parcel in his hands and shoves it inside his pocket. He'll look at it later in private.
Catching up to his friend, he overhears Kyungsoo recount his story. "She seemed like any other normal witch but she started to say all these weird things and that's how I got Chanyeol's present."
Chanyeol wonders all evening what it could be.
What he finds later, after corralling all of his friends into the gardens where the house staff are no doubt keeping an eye on their drunken selves and escaping into a drawing room, is that Kyungsoo's gift was a storybook. A collection of fairytales in it. Chanyeol smiles to himself. It looked to be the first edition translated into Korean that Chanyeol had been looking for. Kyungsoo wasn't really the type to read fairytales but Chanyeol loved them. Dragons, foxes, forest spirits, and princes and princess. What isn't there to like in a little fantasy?
The book itself is a piece of art. The hardcover had beautiful grooves in its borders and the leather that bound it was worn but sturdy. The pages while yellow from age matched perfectly with book's gilt. Chanyeol loved the book even before he'd read a single page.
He flips through the book, landing on Sleeping Beauty before he hears a crash from out in his garden.
"Hm, his vitals seem fine. Probably just tired."
The black and white blob announces. Kyungsoo thinks he's right. He is pretty tired.
"Yixing, he suddenly fell over and wouldn't wake up no matter what... Are you sure?" Another blob insists to the first blob.
The Yixing blob squiggles a bit and says, "I'm quite sure there's nothing wrong with him. He's perfectly healthy. Now if you don't mind." The Yixing blob disappears from Kyungsoo's vision.
A groan sounds through the air. Oh it's from me.
A strong arm comes around his shoulders and a hand steadies his swimming head. Leaning against what must be a backboard, Kyungsoo blinks at the nearest blob. After a couple seconds, it turns out to be a Chanyeol blob.
"Hey, are you feeling alright?" His voice was surprisingly gentle, a tone Kyungsoo has only ever heard him use in private, and on few occasions.
"Groodsh."
"Oh! I'll translate! I'm fairly certain he said he's good."Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at the Baekhyun blob excitedly plopped near his feet. He should kick him.
A yelp. A definitively shaped Jongdae laughs out loud. "I think he's fine. Except for the falling into the pond thing."
"Yeah, good thing Chanyeol is large and can be used as a floatation device." Chanyeol, who has long since stopped being a blob, laughs good naturedly. He also throws a pillow at Baekhyun.
Jongdae laughs at the antics and even Kyungsoo, who was by now a little bit more awake, smiles at them. Turning to Kyungsoo, Jongdae asks, "Kyungsoo, is there something you're not telling us? A medical condition? A supernatural ailment (I would be totally fine if you were a werewolf, just saying)? Did you offend a ghost?"
"Oh, I bet a witch took the last tofu at the market and-"
"Witch." They all turned to Kyungsoo. "I was... at an antique shop."
Chanyeol holds up his fairytale book. "Where you got me this." A chorus of appropriately timed oohs and aahs from the others. "Wait, what happened at the shop? Did she curse you?"
"Why would she curse me?" Annoyed Kyungsoo recounts what happens again because his friends obviously did not pay attention the first time. From the chandelier to the books to the wheel-
"Did it look like this?" Baekhyun helpfully points out a picture from Chanyeol's book. Recollection flashes in Kyungsoo's mind. He nods.
"Wow. This is great! Kyungsoo got a death curse!"
"How is that great?" Jongdae stares at his friend incredulously. "Kyungsoo could've died- wait why isn't Kyungsoo dead?"
All three of his friends turn to stare at Kyungsoo. Annoyed, Kyungsoo drily replies, "I'm not cursed. These-" he gestures towards the book. "-are just fairytales. I've just had a long day. Come off it now."
With that, he closes his eyes, and falls asleep, despite his friend's protests.
Kyungsoo wakes up to loud screams and vicious shaking of his body.
"What is wrong with you?" He roars at his intruder. Chanyeol's eyes are wide open and scared.
Three bodies pile on top of Kyungsoo tightly with sobs and forlorn cries.
Again he asks, "what is wrong with all of you?"
Chanyeol pulls back from the huddle and says in a strange tone, "You... wouldn't wake."
Kyungsoo's eyes widen. I wouldn't wake? His body stiffens as he contemplates what was going on. His heart beat faster as if desperate to prove that he was awake and alive.
"We shook you so hard and screamed so loud-"
"Jongdae screamed, I tried singing instea-"
"You mean wailing."Offended by the comment, Baekhyun jabs a finger at Chanyeol's face and yells to Kyungsoo, "Chanyeol kissed you!"
Immediately Chanyeol puts both hands up in surrender to find Kyungsoo's kick had landed. "I did not give you permission to kiss me. AND-" He points a finger accusingly at both Jongdae and Baekhyun. "I did not give you permission to get on my bed. Off."
Guiltily, his three friends sit themselves around Kyungsoo's small tea table across the room.
"Explain."
With great difficulty, Kyungsoo finally understood. They had tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't budge after much effort. Chanyeol was nominated to kiss Kyungsoo awake because as Jongdae was supposedly not allowed to (Kyungsoo internally rolls his eyes at Baekhyun). Also since Chanyeol had already kiss Kyungsoo the previous night (resuscitation was the excuse), it shouldn't be a problem to do it again.
Glaring at his three friends, he pointedly asks, "Do you really think that I'm cursed?"
All three nod. His hand comes up to his face, ruffles his hair, falls down to his neck, rubbing it while thinking. Logically, it made no sense to Kyungsoo. Fairytales were not real and curses along with it. Everyone knew the witches of today were really only good for medicinal potions. After considering it some more, he chases his friends away, citing disturbed rest.
Later on, Chanyeol carefully sneaks into the study where Kyungsoo is sitting by the window with a notepad on his lap. He had been trying to work on his novel all morning to no avail. It was an incredibly boring day and his eyes were already drooping to a close. He barely registers Chanyeol closing the door and sitting down at a nearby table to read the fairytales in his book.
Seeing Chanyeol read the present he got him so happily makes him smile to himself. He gets up to sit across from him but one step from the alcove has him on the floor. Pain shoots from his knees.
"Kyungsoo!" With a few quick strides, Chanyeol was gripping Kyungsoo by his shoulders. Kyungsoo felt it again.
His heart beats slows down, his vision slurs, his mind whirls.
"Don't get mad at me, alright?" Chanyeol nudges Kyungsoo's head against his shoulder and tips his chin up so that he's looking right into Chanyeol's large eyes. "Is this...?"
Kyungsoo nods. Without another word, Chanyeol dips his head to meet their lips. At the touch, Kyungsoo's heart beats faster. As Chanyeol presses closer, Kyungsoo's eyes close. Kyungsoo tilts his head towards the kiss, and his mind stills time and motion.
When Kyungsoo opens his eyes again, the room was as exactly as it should be. When he looks up at Chanyeol though, something about the way his eyes were staring at Kyungsoo was different. Feeling his ears growing hot, he sits up and out of Chanyeol's embrace.
"I'm- I'm fine now. Thanks."
Chanyeol sits cross legged in his spot and cradles his head with one arm. "So it was the kiss..."
Kyungsoo could feel the hotness spreading down to his neck but he doesn't argue. He just gets up and leaves Chanyeol on the floor to look thoughtfully out the window.
After that, it happens more often. At first, Kyungsoo had not wanted to admit it. He would come to Chanyeol while he was studying or working on his family accounts and tug on his sleeve. Chanyeol was surprised at first too. The first kiss Kyungsoo asked for was followed by a Cheshire grin from Chanyeol so much that he was embarrassed to ask when it came again. The second time, Chanyeol silently came to him, straightened him up, softly kissed him, gave him a small secret smile, and left.
It slowly becomes a habit. Kyungsoo will suddenly get sleepy and he will seek Chanyeol. Chanyeol always pulls him into his arms, and gives him a kiss to wake him up. He always gives Kyungsoo the same small smile afterwards, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to kiss your best friend. Jongdae and Baekhyun eventually catches them at it, much to Kyungsoo's chagrin. They call Chanyeol the Official Kisser of the Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo threatens to disown their friendship. It becomes almost normal.
Two weeks went by with Kyungsoo's "condition" not getting any better.
In fact, Kyungsoo's symptoms even begin to get worse. Before it was just slower heartbeats, drooping eyes, but eventually they became shorter breaths, and inability to stand. Chanyeol moves into Kyungsoo's small apartment to stay close to him. Why they didn't move into Chanyeol's much bigger and grander house is beyond anyone's guess.
Kyungsoo starts to develop a fear as the new symptoms arrive. The first night after a bout of sickness makes Kyungsoo want to throw up. Kyungsoo rocks himself to sleep, worried he might not wake up and wakes up to dread.
The night that comes after losing his breath the first time, he wakes up shivering in cold sweat. Chanyeol hovers over Kyungsoo's body with a furrow in his brow and a frown. Gripping the front of Chanyeol's sleep clothes, Kyungsoo pulls Chanyeol closer. He digs his hands into the fabric as Chanyeol pulls him into him, enveloping him. Kyungsoo feels safer than he's ever been.
Kyungsoo looks up at Chanyeol through the embrace and realizes that his eyes were full of tears. Chanyeol gently wipes away Kyungsoo's tears with the thumb of his hand that cups Kyungsoo's face.
"Hey it's alright. I'm here for you."
Relief at Chanyeol's words fill Kyungsoo. He feels like affection for Chanyeol's steadfastness grow to proportions in his chest. Looking up at Chanyeol, Kyungsoo pulls him in closer.
He captures Chanyeol in a kiss. Much like their other kisses, it is soft and sweet. Affection for Chanyeol starts drumming Kyungsoo's chest, wanting to be let out. Kyungsoo wants it to. He wants to show Chanyeol how much he wan- no, how glad he is that Chanyeol is here.
Kyungsoo presses closer to Chanyeol. His hands finding purchase on Chanyeol's chest, pulling him closer as if maybe putting their chests together, Chanyeol would be able to feel the coursing affection. Even in his drowsiness, Kyungsoo feels a bit embarrassed. The heat in his ears though become heat in his lips as Chanyeol kisses back.
Chanyeol's one hand on Kyungsoo's chin changes the angle of their heads while his other places it on his waist. The kiss becomes harder, more bruising, less air, less space between them, and Kyungsoo doesn't want it to stop.
From that night on, Chanyeol starts to sleep in the same bed with Kyungsoo. They don't talk about what happened and Kyungsoo thinks it might've just been a dream. But one thing he's certain is, Kyungsoo sleeps better when he knows he will wake up to Chanyeol. It means he's still living. That he didn't waste away in his sleep.
"You know," Baekhyun was looking up from the fairy tales book. "I think the curse should've been lifted by now."
Kyungsoo bites down his derisive comment about fairytales again since he knows how much Chanyeol likes them. Jongdae has already put down his pen and tore his eyes away from his sheet music to focus on Baekhyun. He plays along to listen to whatever theories Baekhyun may have come up with. Chanyeol focuses on his family accounts but nods to indicate that he's listening.
"All the princesses wake up after the kiss."
"And?"
"There's only ever one kiss to do the trick, Kyungsoo."
Kyungsoo coughs at what he thinks is a suggestive comment. He doesn't know why he needs so many. I'm not purposefully doing it!
He wants to say something but when he sputters, he remembers the one time, he wasn't exactly sure if he was falling asleep or not.
He was honestly blinking really slowly, and he was staring right at Chanyeol, so if Chanyeol thought he needed a kiss, it was perfectly logical. Perfectly logical. After the kiss and the small smile that Kyungsoo admits he's getting used to, Kyungsoo didn't bother to tell him that he wasn't actually sleepy.
But he really wasn't doing it on purpose.
Kyungsoo stops coughing to glare at Baekhyun. "I'm not in a fairytale, Baekhyun. Maybe real 'conditions' don't end with just one."
Jongdae bites back a smile and comment. Kyungsoo already knows what he wants to say, so he takes a bite of a cookie extra loudly to stop the conversation. In the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo can see that Chanyeol's writing had paused a little before starting up again.
Kyungsoo had thought about visiting the Witch again. He tried to bring the others along as well. Every time they went out, they were never able to find the antique shop again. If it weren't for the obvious fact that the book existed, Kyungsoo felt he might've hallucinated the whole thing.
"I wonder if she ran away after cursing you." Jongdae says thoughfully one night as they sit on the roof of Baekhyun's manor to watch shooting stars after unsuccessfully searching for the shop.
"You mean when he cursed himself..." Baekhyun teases.
"I will kick you off your own roof, Baekhyun."
"Don't worry, I'll run down and catch you!" Chanyeol happily offers.
"You can't possibly run fast enough. Your legs may be long, but goodness are you clumsy."
And just like that, happy bickering fills up the spaces in between the friends. Jongdae takes the chance to sit closer to Kyungsoo. He smiles at Kyungsoo and takes his hand between his own and they happily swing it back and forth without any words. Kyungsoo likes it when they have fun like this.
Baekhyun stands up to announce that he's going to get some more pastries and Chanyeol follows after him.
As they walk away, Jongdae comments to Kyungsoo, "The kiss is broken by true love's kiss."
Kyungsoo stops their swinging hands and looks at Jongdae. Jongdae looks back at him, steady in his gaze and with meaning. Kyungsoo worries the bottom of his lips and glances at Chanyeol, wondering if he had heard or not.
Later, Baekhyun drags Jongdae to play darts with him in the drawing room, leaving Chanyeol and Kyungsoo behind.
Stuffed with pastries and champagne, for a Baekhyun party always includes it, Kyungsoo leans back against Chanyeol's arm, resting his head at the point of Chanyeol's shoulders. Looking up at the sky, he muses they had not seen a single shooting star yet.
"All these festivities are making me sleepy." He happily comments. His voice however delivers a low scratchy line. It must be all the alcohol. Suddenly he feels Chanyeol move away from Kyungsoo, only to see his upside down face as his back slowly hits the blanket they're sitting on.
It was soft and so quick, Kyungsoo wasn't sure if it had actually happened. He could feel his eyebrows furrow as he opens his eyes and looks up at Chanyeol, questioning.
Instead of an answer, Chanyeol asks, "Do you still feel sleepy?"
Kyungsoo shakes his head. No. He can feel his pulse grow quicker, whether energized from the kiss or beating because of something else, he won't admit. He wills himself to calm down before answering, "I'm good now."
They turn back to the night sky, searching for fallen stars. Kyungsoo is distracted and he thoughts wander to what Jongdae said about true love's kiss.
They're at a masquerade and Kyungsoo wants to leave.
Little gatherings between good friends, he likes. Large parties full of debauchery and boys who think they're men trying to outdo each other in everything from wine to dices while the girls bet on who loses their shirts or their millions first is not what Kyungsoo likes.
He decides to leave but he had come with Baekhyun's car and Baekhyun was nowhere to be found. He finds Chanyeol instead, outside trying a rain stick that everyone was passing around. By the way Chanyeol was shaking the stick, Kyungsoo was sure if it actually worked (but of course it shouldn't work), there would be a storm.
"I'm headed out." He simply says to Chanyeol and turns to walk away.
He hears the chair scratching against the floor as Chanyeol gets up and walks to catch up with Kyungsoo. "I'll walk you home."
"I hardly need-"
"I want to." Chanyeol gives Kyungsoo a big bright smile and starts waving goodbye. Being Chanyeol, a son of an important businessman, he took long to escape the throng of people. By the time, he had his coat on, Kyungsoo was down the block waiting for him.
Rain fell as Chanyeol drew closer to Kyungsoo and he already had his open. Chanyeol stops halfway to watch Kyungsoo. The lamppost diligently shone in the dark while Kyungsoo looks at from under his umbrella, smiling without an inhibitions. That's the Kyungsoo that Chanyeol likes best. The rain fell harder, but it didn't deter his smiles.
Kyungsoo always liked rain. The light shining through the rain was especially nice and he wanted to show it to Chanyeol.
Kyungsoo felt a weight on the back of his umbrella. He turns his head to see Chanyeol's hand gripping the edge. He tilts the umbrella up so that he could see Chanyeol. His head was bent and eyes were closed, like he sometimes looked when he finished kissing Kyungsoo. He would always open his eyes to look at Kyungsoo with a strange expression that made Kyungsoo's heart feel alive. There was that look again.
"Did you... want to get under the umbrella?"
Chanyeol opens his mouth a little and closes it, as if wanting to say something but decided against it. Instead he quirks his mouth to the left and answers, "If you let me."
Kyungsoo raises his arm up so that Chanyeol could fit in the space alongside him.
"There's not enough room here, Kyungsoo." He starts to walk in the direction of Kyungsoo's apartment.
Kyungsoo grabs his sleeve and insists. "Just try... Get..."
Chanyeol takes a step closer to Kyungsoo, squaring him off and looking right down at Kyungsoo. "Closer?"
His eyes had that look that made Kyungsoo feel warm despite the cold rain. But it was also a look that Kyungsoo was beginning to see only belonged to when he looks at Kyungsoo.
"You know, Kyungsoo... I think I want to be closer to you than anyone else."
His traitorous heart skips a beat and Kyungsoo doesn't think they're talking about the umbrella anymore. Angrily, he doesn't know why he's angry, Kyungsoo backs away from Chanyeol. Refusing to look him in the eyes, he stomps off. Chanyeol follows silently behind, just in case Kyungsoo falls asleep again.
After that night, Kyungsoo starts to avoid being alone with Chanyeol. If Kyungsoo ever becomes sleepy, he quickly starts exercising to fool himself into having energy. Long with copious amounts of coffee, Kyungsoo stops sleeping. His fear of sleeping forever gives him enough motivation to last a couple of nights. However after three, Kyungsoo warily starts to eye his two other friends to see if he could kiss them. Jongdae and Baekhyun of course notice. They don't say anything. Kyungsoo hears Jongdae say "lover's quarrel" once and has since refuses to speak to him, too. When it happens, Baekhyun takes Jongdae away to soothe his hurt looks but he confronts Kyungsoo after Jongdae stops moping.
Cornering Kyungsoo in the study of his house, he suffers a wrestling match with Kyungsoo before they're both too exhausted to pull the other off. With a steady and serious gaze, Baekhyun says from under a loose chokehold, "Whatever happened between you and Chanyeol needs to stop now."
Kyungsoo's strength bleeds out of his arms and Baekhyun stands up.
"It's just all the kissing is making me confused."
Baekhyun leans against the wall across from Kyungsoo, his thumb rubbing his bottom lips as he listens. Being this quiet and this still, Kyungsoo knows his friend won't let him walk away from this conversation so he continues.
"I think I know what it's doing to us," Baekhyun scoffs at Kyungsoo, but he continues, "The physical intimacy is making Chanyeol-"
"Wow."
"What?"
"You may be right most of the time, but this time Kyungsoo, god just-" He sighs. "Even if you stupidly deny your own heart, how can you not know his?"
Baekhyun runs a hand through his hair and smoothes his wrinkled shirt and collar down. From inside his jacket, he pulls out a crumpled letter and throws it haphazardly in Kyungsoo's direction.
"Chanyeol's dad is sick. He wants him to go down to Busan to take over the business. He's leaving tomorrow. If you bothered to talk to your friend, you would know."
With shock and a prick of hurt in his chest, Kyungsoo picks up the paper to read the missive from Chanyeol's father. With every word, a heavy weight is added to Kyungsoo's chest and his eyes grow heavy. Beakyhun thinks it might be the beginning of tears.
"Good." Kyungsoo hears his hollow voice say. "Being physically apart will get us both back our sanity."
Baekhyun's mouth falls open but instead of saying anything, he just shakes his head and walks out, leaving Kyungsoo to deal with himself. The letter in his hand becomes wetter as Kyungsoo sits there longer.
Kyungsoo didn't need to open his eyes to know whose arm lightly rested on his waist. The familiar breath was upon his neck and the weight on his bed. "Chanyeol."
A low voice answered. "I just wanted... to see you before I left."
Kyungsoo couldn't stop himself from saying, "I'll be fine. Baekhyun will be here to kiss me if I need it."
A huff of breath tickles the hair behind Kyungsoo's ears and the pressure of Chanyeol's hand at his waist gets stronger. Kyungsoo doesn't know why he said it, as if Chanyeol didn't already know. Somehow as if saying it aloud, Kyungsoo was reminding himself as well.
"Just in case you need me tonight."
Kyungsoo wants to laugh and he does, bitterly. "While I sleep?" The irony doesn't escape Kyungsoo but the tone surprises him. He doesn't understand it. He doesn't understand himself.
Chanyeol moves his head, resting slightly on Kyungsoo's own. His lips above Kyungsoo's ears, he whispers, "Even while you sleep"
Kyungsoo scoffs but leaves the matter. The fear he usually has of never waking up abates with Chanyeol next to him. Kyungsoo feels like tonight will be the first time he's really slept since that night. He supposes that Chanyeol is right.
He doesn't wake up to Chanyeol. He supposes that it's his own fault.
"No it's definitely your fault." Baekhyun quips.
They're gathered together having afternoon tea at Jongdae's insistence. Kyungsoo stares at Jongdae now to get him to stop Baekhyun, but Jongdae steely looks back at Kyungsoo without saying anything.
"I just-"
Throwing himself on the couch, Baekhyun throws out all his limbs in the air. "Do I have to say it? It's so obvious. Why are you fighting it? What do you want, Kyungsoo?"
"I'm frustrated too!" Kyungsoo retorts as he huffily puts down his cup of tea. It splashes and spills over. Jongdae looks forlornly at the heavy sound it made.
"Maybe," Jongdae starts softly. "You should logically think about it, Kyungsoo."
"I-" A sharp pain pierces Kyungsoo's heart. Gasping he falls towards his knees, knocking the table in front of him over.
Oh god, it's happening This time, Kyungsoo couldn't see beyond his outstretched hand. His hand immediately finds Baekhyun's and Baekhyun pulls Kyungsoo towards him. Baekhyun smashes his lips to Kyungsoo's and pulls back.
Kyungsoo still writhes in pain.
"How- can- you- be- so- bad- at- kiss-"
"Baekhyun, call Chanyeol now. Tell him to meet us at Daejeon immediately. It's the halfway point from Seoul and Busan. Hurry."
While Baekhyun scrambles off his feet to make the call, Jongdae pulls Kyungsoo onto his back, his feet dragging behind him. Outside, a taxi was already waiting to take them to the station as hurries out.
Once at the station, Baekhyun rushes to get them onto the next train, all the while Jongdae tries to keep Kyungsoo's eyes open and him awake.
Once the train pulls into Daejeon's main station, Kyungsoo struggles to get out, trapped against the door of his private room from the throng of people departing. Not even bothering to take a second look at Baekhyun or Jongdae, he gets off the train with much difficulty but lots of speed.
The people all head towards the exit but that's not where Kyungsoo wants to go. He needs the train from Busan. Frantically stumbling forward, he looks for a departure board. He spots one at the end of the platform. Joining the crowd, he desperately looks for Chanyeol's train as his head grows heavier by the second and all the while clutching his heart.
The letters on the board flip and flip and Kyungsoo finds his blinks too slow to catch up to what the boards say. Finally, the Busan train shows up and Kyungsoo's heart sinks. He's on the opposite side of the station.
His heart pangs.
Clutching his chest, he tries to rush down stairs, down hallways, searching each face he passes by. Without realizing it, he began to mutter Chanyeol's name under his breath. His breath that was shorter with every call of Chanyeol's name. For every heartbeat, he calls for Chanyeol four times. It becomes a chant for him. A line to cling him to being awake and not.
When Kyungsoo eyes finally find Chanyeol, he gets a sudden burst of energy. He runs straight for him, all the while calling his name.
Chanyeol, spotting Kyungsoo, rushes towards him.
When the distance becomes short enough, Kyungsoo throws himself at Chanyeol. He catches him and immediately, Kyungsoo's heart beats loudly and more painfully. Looking into Chanyeol's eyes, he manages to breath out:
"Kiss me or I'll die."
Chanyeol's eyes that always looks at Kyungsoo start to water. Eyes that always looked at Kyungsoo with affection and... sadness. The pain makes Kyungsoo's vision clearer than before. Chanyeol buries his face into Kyungsoo's neck as if he was found out.
"I'm sorry." Chanyeol apologizes into Kyungsoo's neck. "I'm sorry. I can't keep kissing you when you don't- and I do- and-"
God, no that's wrong. That's all wrong. I'm wrong. I-
"I-" Kyungsoo huffs out. "I want you."
Kyungsoo pushes Chanyeol from his embrace to see Chanyeol's shocked expression. He braces himself with what feels like that last breath, "It has to be you. I love-"
Before he could finish, Chanyeol lifts Kyungsoo off the floor and kisses him. Chanyeol kisses so fiercely that Kyungsoo can't think about anything except that Chanyeol's arm across his shoulder is pulling him in and his other arm around his waist is keeping him there. Kyungsoo can't think about anything except that his own arms are thrown across Chanyeol's shoulders and in his hair.
Kyungsoo can't think about anything except his heartbeat is beating loudly and painfully because it now matches Chanyeol's and his breath is short now because the kiss demands it.
The kiss becomes deeper and Kyungsoo gives himself in. Now that he knows himself, he also knows Chanyeol's. The tongue that swipes against his lips distracts him.
In the distance, he vaguely hears Baekhyun apologizing.
"I'm really sorry, they haven't seen each other in awhile and it's very- I'm sorry I know we're in public but-"
Jongdae's voice chimes in, "Conductor, mister, sir, they're in love, can't we just let them alone for a bit?"
In love.
With Chanyeol.
Yes, that's what I want
Sometime Later
Kyungsoo leans back against Chanyeol's chest as they sit to watch the stars. Baekhyun mentioned that there would shooting stars tonight. Last time, Kyungsoo was too preoccupied by his thoughts to really appreciate them.
Last time, he also didn't get to appreciate Chanyeol. Finally he's arrived at this place of understanding, and he's a bit upset that Chanyeol had reached it before him. Not only had he done so, he had also built himself a place there and Kyungsoo felt the gap.
He tilts his head to look at Chanyeol who was gazing at the stars with a soft smile on his lips, his dimple just shy of appearing. Noticing Kyungsoo staring, he looks down at Kyungsoo with a question. Not saying much, Kyungsoo figures he can bridge the gap if he only tried. Using both hands steady on Chanyeol's thighs, he lifts himself up so that his lips meet Chanyeol's.
Kyungsoo felt Chanyeol's strong arm grab his waist to keep him steady and it made his heart spring with happiness. Another hand cupped Kyungsoo's chin. The warmth of Chanyeol's hands on him coupled with that on his lips makes the evening much less cold than before.
"Sleepy?" Chanyeol teases in a low voice close to Kyungsoo's lips as they part.
They both know that Kyungsoo doesn't get sleepy like that anymore. After Kyungsoo realized that he was in fact in love with Chanyeol, he's never needed to be kissed for that reason. Now there are other reasons.
Kyungsoo's heart rams against his chest as he looks from Chanyeol's lips to his beauitful eyes. They're not sad anymore. Here, Kyungsoo could just stop here. Go back to stargazing. Keep quiet, but the gap. Kyungsoo doesn't want it anymore. Sometimes, even if Chanyeol knows, it's always nice to hear it.
Carefully he starts, "No."
Chanyeol stops surveying Kyungsoo's face and focuses on him. Kyungsoo can tell he wasn't expecting it, but looking at his love, he replies confidently, "I always want to kiss you."