{exo; kai/d.o} summer boys
Title: summer boys
Fandom: exo
Pairing: kai/d.o, side baekhyun/chanyeol
Word Count: ~4500
Rating: pg
Summary: During summer vacation, Kyungsoo decides to get a summer part-time job delivering milk in his apartment, and meets the newspaper delivery boy.
A/N: this was written for the sncj_reversebb fic exchange, and my original assignment for this picture drawn by ninprime! i got so excited when i saw it lmao, its just so adorable. imo kaisoo has become the ~angst~ pairing of ficdom, and i never ever thought of them like that? its bcos im a hopeless romantic, but really, i think kyungsoo is made of rainbows and puppies and good cheer, and jongin is so qt and awkward like. they deserve all the fluff, ever ;;;;; so thats what im here for! hope y'all enjoy c:
summer boys
They always meet in the last hallway.
Kyungsoo knows, because he has experimented; rising a bit early than his 5.45 am time or lagging somewhat on the first few floors of the building, yet there is always that punctual encounter, always that sleepy-eyed look when two paths intersect.
He calls him Newspaper Boy and wonders if he himself is Milk Boy. Morning delivery jobs in their apartment building are quiet, daily jobs, saved for the early mornings when the sun peeks tentatively over the horizon at the slumbering world. Now that his body has adjusted to the hour, as the rest of Kyungsoo's neighbors and friends luxuriate in summer holidays by sleeping in, Kyungsoo can say the repetitive burn in his thighs from climbing all those stairs is the most irritating part of the job, or maybe those lonely milk bottles waiting dutifully at the doorsteps of apartments whose residents let the milk spoil, ignorant or forgetful or just lazy. Newspaper Boy probably doesn't have that problem.
Newspaper Boy is there today, as he is every day, and Kyungsoo squats carefully to place the last jug of milk besides the folded newspaper already waiting there. The last jug in his bag, however, he holds out to Newspaper Boy. "Here you go."
"Thanks," says Newspaper Boy, his voice the raspy of disuse and sleep, his trademark cap pulled low over his eyes. He accepts the milk, and not for the first time, Kyungsoo is struck by the contrast of their skin tones. While he is pale, porcelain light, Newspaper Boy's skin is the healthy bronze of an athlete, or maybe someone who lives on the beach. Considering they live in an apartment building nestled deep in suburbia, the beach theory doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe that's just the pigment of his skin.
Before Newspaper Boy opens the milk container, he offers a neatly folded bundle to Kyungsoo. He is as quiet as ever, but when Kyungsoo accepts the newspaper and thanks him, Newspaper Boy smiles, a flicker teasing his lips.
With the exchange finished, they are freed from the obligation of sorts of spending time together--an obligation, for Kyungsoo at least, that is becoming a pleasure. He glances up and notices Newspaper Boy is wearing a black, or maybe navy blue, baseball cap today. The cap pushes his fringe into his eyes, eyes still filled with a grumpy longing for the warmth of his bed, and tries to ignore how nice to would be to raise his hand and gently brush the hair out of Newspaper Boy's eyes, just for that shy, affectionate smile he may get in return.
But Kyungsoo does not brush the hair out of Newspaper Boy's eyes, Newspaper Boy does not smile a full, genuine smile at him, and they part ways wordlessly just as they always have every day in this first month of summer vacation.
✺
"Kyungsoo," Baekhyun whines, a pout tugging at his delicate, cupid bow's lips. "What have you done so far this vacation? Studied?"
Chanyeol laughs a bit, arm around Baekhyun's shoulders and hip slanted toward his boyfriend's, as Kyungsoo frowns at the tiny boy. "Excuse you," he says. "I've had work."
"But that's just in the mornings!" says Baekhyun indignantly. "You're done with your rounds by the time we wake up, you have the whole day ahead of you afterwards."
Slightly guilty, Kyungsoo glances at the neat stack of summer homework, already completed and ready for the school term to return, and Baekhyun catches sight of his distraction without fail. "See?" he demands. "Chanyeol hasn't even started his summer homework yet, at all. The teachers assigned a lot this year, too."
"Hey," Chanyeol says injuredly. "You've done like two pages of notes."
"Three," Baekhyun says. "And half of my mathematics. But Kyungsoo is done."
Chanyeol nods solemnly. "Nobody does summer homework during the summer, Kyungsoo. Summer homework is for cramming and pulling all-nighters for in the week before school starts. Or even the morning of the first day."
"We need to take you out and play," Baekhyun decides, matter-of-fact. He fixes Kyungsoo with a firm stare, arms on his hips. "Get dressed, properly."
Kyungsoo lets Baekhyun drag him over to his closet, where Baekhyun stubbornly rejects all of Kyungsoo's shirts and pants until he uproots a pair of black skinny jeans that fit a bit too tightly around his thighs to wear regularly, and a simple t-shirt with some graphic design on the back that Kyungsoo received has a birthday present a few years back and promptly forgotten about. Baekhyun smoothes out the collar of the shirt, frowning at the creases, and then holds it up against Kyungsoo's torso. "Okay, good enough. Now we have to get you a new wardrobe!" he says cheerfully.
"We're in high school, Baekhyun, we don't have bottomless credit cards. And there's nothing wrong with my current wardrobe," Kyungsoo says sadly, looking at his comfortable sweaters and corduroy pants, but Baekhyun waves him off.
The jeans are a pain to pull up to his hips, but Baekhyun coos appreciatively as Kyungsoo shifts and squirms, trying to get comfortable in the stiff, restricting fabric. "Okay, let's go," Baekhyun says once Kyungsoo is adequately presentable, short hair combed down and collar tucked and straightened, and Kyungsoo thinks wistfully of the sweatshirt hanging over the back of his desk chair.
Baekhyun ushers them all out of Kyungsoo's tiny flat, waiting impatiently for Kyungsoo to lock up the door, and then they take the elevator down to the ground floor. As part of his scholarship to study away from home, in Seoul, Kyungsoo's hometown high school promised he'd have a place of reasonable quality to stay at, with all utilities and such paid for in, and he can't say he has much to complain about. Seoul is infinitely more exciting, infinitely more busy than his home. "We can take a taxi to Myeongdong," Baekhyun says excitedly, reaching around Chanyeol to tug his wallet out of his pocket, and laughs at Chanyeol's long-suffering sigh.
So to Myeongdong they go, Kyungsoo staring out of the taxi seat with wide eyes despite all of the times Baekhyun has dragged him along on a shopping trip. "Bright town," Baekhyun once told him. "That's what Myeongdong means." Even in mid-afternoon, the shopping district is alight with colorful, flashing advertisement boards and LED-laden storefronts, reflected into Baekhyun's eager eyes; Kyungsoo is just glad that Chanyeol actually has some pocket money to speak of, even though they've trained Baekhyun into window-shopping more as well.
"I already have enough pants," Kyungsoo protests as Baekhyun pulls persistently on his arm, leading him from clothing rack to clothing rack. "And I don't need ten cardigans with the same pattern."
"They're so cute though," Baekhyun says. "And they're on sale."
"You get them then," Kyungsoo says.
"I already have them, I got the blue one and the cream one last week," Baekhyun says flippantly.
Kyungsoo sighs.
Three endless rows of shops and boutiques later, the most entertaining of purchases being the leather jacket Chanyeol now carries that Baekhyun positively hissed at a girl to snag, they join the throng at the subway. A crowded ride always makes Kyungsoo uncomfortable, but soon enough, they step out of the subway, back onto the ground floor of the shopping district and into a mass of street vendors selling charming trinkets and hand-knitted accessories, and Baekhyun swerves into one of the commercial-covered buildings. "I know a good place here, for skin care," Baekhyun says, a determined expression on his face as he drags Chanyeol and Kyungsoo inside.
"The Face Shop?" Kyungsoo says skeptically when they near the store.
"Yes," Baekhyun says firmly. He dives into the plethora of tiny bottles, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo hovering by the entrance of the shop as Baekhyun efficiently tests, selects, and purchases his needed supplies. A tiny bag filled with tubes of creams and pots of powders is exchanged for several crisp bills, and then Baekhyun attached himself to Chanyeol's side again. "Okay," he says brightly.
Kyungsoo groans in relief. "Can I go home now?"
"Home?" Baekhyun frowns at him disapprovingly. "Already?"
"I didn't get much sleep last night and it's getting late. We've been here for hours, Baekhyun," Kyungsoo points out. "I have an early morning tomorrow, you know that."
Baekhyun huffs in annoyance but concedes, and the three of them start to leave the building. When they take the escalator down, they pass a flamboyantly dressed woman on the arm of her stoic husband, a family with three children, two boys that look about high school age as well, and a group of curious tourists willing to splurge on Myeongdong's horribly expensive prices. Kyungsoo almost looks past all of them, all of these strangers from the Seoul area, when one of the teenage boys hitches the strap of his messenger bag up on his shoulder in a single, smooth movement that Kyungsoo has memorized even better than his summer homework vocabulary this past month.
It is Newspaper Boy. It is Newspaper Boy and he is dressed in the same outfit as this morning, colored with blue and black and confidence, though the cap is missing to reveal a head of gelled brown hair and the trademark earbuds are tucked into his shirt collar instead. Suddenly, Kyungsoo curses himself for letting Baekhyun change his clothes, for not noticing Newspaper Boy quickly enough, for lacking the courage to call out a hello. He seemed to be in deep conversation with the other boy, honey-brown hair to Newspaper Boy's darker shade, that Kyungsoo failed to catch a proper glimpse of.
Trying to do so subtly so Baekhyun and Chanyeol don't notice, Kyungsoo looks behind him at the disappearing back of Newspaper Boy, traveling up up and away. When he reaches the top, he and his friend disappear almost instantly into the crowd, and Kyungsoo almost trips when he steps off of the other end of the escalator himself.
✺
Kyungsoo does not mention anything the next morning, when he and Newspaper Boy trade their goods and words yearn and stretch and reach off of Kyungsoo's tongue but are always halted at his teeth, his lips.
That boy he saw on the mall escalators the day before, that slicked back hair and that comfortable laughter, is not his, not Newspaper Boy. Newspaper Boy belongs to Kyungsoo, this gently, bleary boy who once told Kyungsoo he was anything but a morning person and considered anything before noon an unholy hour, but needed to find some work this summer to tide over the rent. Kyungsoo was working to get the money for some of his textbooks, filling in the spots his scholarship could not cover, hating to burden his family back at home.
They had begun speaking the second week into the job, arranging these errands with the landlord of the building who had posted a sign in the lobby asking after some patrons to do delivery. Kyungsoo took one set of stairs and Newspaper Boy the other to avoid collisions, but their paths intersected on the last floor, last hallway of their rounds, every morning including weekends. Most of the job was comprised of climbing stairs or dropping things off at doorsteps, climbing more stairs or dropping more things off at more doorsteps, rinse and repeat, but the ending was a welcome change of pace. The morning of Kyungsoo's ninth day, he had passed Newspaper Boy at the end of the last hallway, the nearly empty bag of papers at his feet and nearly empty bottle of water at his lips, hearing the pull of breath on hollow air when Newspaper Boy finished his drink. He was still thirsty, Kyungsoo noticed, watching him rummage through his bag for another bottle only to scowl in exasperation. Before Kyungsoo had even realized what he was doing, he had crossed the brief space between them, holding out the extra jug he had grabbed in his haste, and asked, "Are you still thirsty? You can have this."
Newspaper Boy had looked at him with such startled eyes that Kyungsoo regretting reaching out almost instantly, but his fears eased when Newspaper Boy accepted the milk. "Thanks," he'd said. "I have a spare copy of the paper today. Someone moved out of the third floor, apparently."
"I--Sure," Kyungsoo said, pleased and surprised. He accepted his newspaper, Newspaper Boy took another gulp of his milk, and they parted ways.
After that, Kyungsoo began packing an extra jug out of hopeful habit, always shocked to see Newspaper Boy with that extra paper in return, and their relationship easily settled into something just beyond acquaintances but not quite comrades or friends. It still is, nothing more but nothing less.
At times, Kyungsoo likes to dream, though. He puts Newspaper Boy as his neighbor, his classmate, someone to walk to school with. Once Newspaper Boy has no newspapers, but rather happens to open his door right as Kyungsoo reaches it with his milk jugs, and they strike up an actual conversation. Or Kyungsoo opens his eyes to Newspaper Boy's pretty, pretty face in the mornings, and feels Newspaper Boy wrap his arms around Kyungsoo's waist and mumble something like "five more minutes, the milk can wait." Newspaper Boy can be what Chanyeol is to Baekhyun, their perfect, orbiting balance to the point that Kyungsoo constantly feels like a third wheel beside his closest friends in Seoul, or maybe his best friend and confidant and partner in crime, someone who takes Kyungsoo away from his textbooks and tells him to let go--someone with adventure and rebellion bleeding through his veins, ready to set Kyungsoo alight. Or maybe they'll clash, maybe Kyungsoo will find a real rival in Newspaper Boy as they struggle for first place in the class, for some school award or pride or honor.
(Kyungsoo never dreams about the bad things, like falling in love with Newspaper Boy only to have his heart broken. Or being ignored and forgotten by this boy who has colored his entire summer with interesting, warm hues. Kyungsoo is not that kind of person, not now.)
✺
Three weeks before school starts, wherein Baekhyun coasts through his history notes and Chanyeol complains while Kyungsoo helplessly tries to tutor him in subjects he is almost certain Chanyeol understands but is too restless for and/or bored with to try and work out, Kyungsoo goes for a walk in the park one evening. It's not much, the park down the street from his apartment complex, it really isn't. A few simple, curving paths lead to play structures the city keeps insisting it will renovate but Kyungsoo almost wishes they won't when so many childhood memories find solace in them, and grassy fields are open for sports or dog owners or someone who just wants to lay on the grass and stare up at the sky. Sometimes, Kyungsoo finds himself suffocated by his tiny flat--whenever he visits, Baekhyun always insists the air is stale and goes around opening all the windows, which Kyungsoo always forgets to close until the weather reminds him to--and the park is the perfect solution.
A girl walking her poodle puppy smiles a friendly smile at him when she passes by, which Kyungsoo gladly returns. His spot is under one of the grand, hulking oak trees bordering the soccer field, though he prefers flopping down in the middle of the field and examining clouds when the soccer players aren't having practice. Unlike other days, Kyungsoo brings no book or snack, just hoping to relax a bit until he's ready to go back to his apartment.
He has almost dozed off, nestled in the cool grass, when footsteps stir next to him. "Hey," someone says softly.
Kyungsoo peeks at them, imagining someone he knows from school or maybe Baekhyun (Chanyeol is incapable of announcing his presence quietly), and jerks up into a sitting position when Newspaper Boy swims into view. "H-Hi!" he stutters, hoping he isn't covered in grass stains.
Newspaper Boy offers him a slight smile, awkward but sweet, reminiscent of fingers curled around the neck of a milk jug. "You work in the same apartment as I do, don't you?"
"Yes," Kyungsoo manages. "I deliver milk."
"I'm the newspaper guy," says Newspaper Boy with that same smile teasing his full lips, and Kyungsoo vaguely feels like rolling down the hill when he realizes they are talking outside of their morning jobs. "My name is Jongin, by the way."
Jongin. Newspaper Boy is named Jongin. Kyungsoo almost says it out loud, but instead he corrects his tongue into the syllables of his own name. "Kyungsoo. I'm Kyungsoo."
"Nice to meet you, for real, Kyungsoo," Newspaper Boy/Jongin says. He has a lovely voice, one usually roughened by the early morning, but a day of talking has warmed it up to something smooth and rich and easy. It sounds, if possible, even better, but Kyungsoo misses the raw vulnerability of Jongin in the mornings.
"Same to you," Kyungsoo says, shy.
Jongin--Jongin--hesitates as if fumbling for words, then settles for, "Do you come to this park often?"
"Yes, pretty often," says Kyungsoo. "Do... Do you?"
"No," Jongin says ruefully. "It's a shame when it's so close but my friends like to go into the city, or go shopping at Myeongdong."
"Me too," Kyungsoo wants to shout, but he's too busy wishing he has the courage to say "I wouldn't mind going to the park with you" or something of that sort. In the end, he says, "It is too bad. It's a really nice park. Everyone is friendly and quiet."
Jongin nods in agreement, bits of Newspaper Boy shining through the gaps of his teeth, his open eyes. It'd be easy to sit beside him and talk, talk about anything, if Kyungsoo didn't have to struggle with his dream, the dream of sitting down and talking to this boy who has interest him so in the last two months, becoming reality. He just hopes he won't slip up.
But it gets easier. Their conversation sputters a bit, starts and goes with the introduction of a question then slumps into a pensive silence, and the presence of Jongin beside Kyungsoo is so loud. When the stars start coming out, they begin talking about constellations, about the endless depths of the universe. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could be a star? Or a comet or something?" Kyungsoo comments. Lying in the same spot for hours, surrounded by Jongin's steady voice, has lulled him into a near-stupor, and his eyes are struggling to stay open.
"Sure," Jongin says. "But people shine, too."
"Do they? I never saw it in myself," Kyungsoo says softly. He sees it in Jongin, though, a flare in those clear irises, and wonders what Jongin will go off to do someday. After high school and college, the sky is the limit, right?
Jongin turns to look at him, Kyungsoo's profile bathed in the same starlight filling Jongin's eyes. "I do," Jongin says. "You are very bright. In your own way."
And Kyungsoo has no reply.
✺
Staying up to talk under the night skies, romantic or not, is disastrous on the one who rises with the sun for work. As Kyungsoo gets dressed and sprints down the stairs for his milk jugs, he ends up bumping into Jongin retrieving his papers. They exchange hello's and sympathetic, knowing smiles at the bags under each other's eyes, and Kyungsoo is surprisingly energetic for climbing all those stairs on three hours of sleep.
They bump into each other again at the deli down the street and end up eating lunch together, Kyungsoo grudgingly accepting the teasing for his near-face plant into his turkey sandwich as he begins to nod off. Newspaper Boy becomes Park Boy, Deli Boy, later Neighbor Boy when they discover they live on the same floor (okay, so maybe Almost-Neighbor Boy), all of these melding into one Kim Jongin. And Kyungsoo can't say he doesn't like it, a lot.
✺
The weekend before the last, the very last week of summer vacation, Baekhyun calls Kyungsoo and loudly demands whether he would like to join him and Chanyeol at the beach this week. "I don't know," says Kyungsoo hesitantly. "I have to study so I won't fall behind when we go back to school."
"Not studying, again? You know, Chanyeol still hasn't started his summer assignments, and no sign of him doing so yet. Lighten up! Kyungsoo, you don't do anything fun."
"I went out to lunch with Jongin two days ago," Kyungsoo says defensively.
There is a pause, and Kyungsoo begins to panic when Baekhyun shrieks eagerly, "Who's Jongin!?" Behind Baekhyun, Kyungsoo hears the telltale burst of Chanyeol's laughter, full and from the belly as always.
"Um--"
"Kyungsoo!"
"He's just someone who's also working deliveries at the apartment complex I live in! His name is Jongin and he delivers newspapers and he's my friend, sort of," Kyungsoo says, fumbling.
Baekhyun tsk's. "That won't do. Invite him to the beach with us!"
"I might not even go," Kyungsoo says, but Baekhyun cuts him off sharply.
"Yes, you are! And you are bringing Jongin along, so you better go let him know. Bye, Kyungsoo, I'll email you the details!" Baekhyun trills, hanging up before Kyungsoo can protest.
"I don't even know him," Kyungsoo says to his phone, but even he can tell a lie when he hears one.
Kyungsoo invites Jongin to the beach rather accidentally, words finally bursting out of the dam and hurling themselves into Jongin's ears. First, they are talking about whether they are a dog or cat person (Kyungsoo decided dogs by a narrow margin while Jongin firmly answered he preferred dogs), and then Kyungsoo is blurting, "So, um, do you want to go to the beach sometime this week with me and my friends?"
He knows he has really taken Jongin off guard this time, because Jongin is spinning his baseball cap in his hands as he talks to Kyungsoo in the stairwell and his expression is free from interference or obstruction. Regret blossoms in Kyungsoo's chest, thorns of fear and worry and despair prickling painfully, but Jongin shrugs and smiles. "I'd like that."
They trade contact information, Kyungsoo trembling just so slightly as he enters his cell phone number into Jongin's phone, and he promises to let Jongin know. When they separate ways, Kyungsoo immediately sends Baekhyun a series of hysterical texts. Baekhyun merely replies with a ":)".
✺
Jongin shows up on Kyungsoo's doorstep at noon that Wednesday, a duffel bag replacing the usual messenger bag of newspapers, a pair of sunglasses with oversized lenses perched on his head. "Ready," he says, laughing as he watches Kyungsoo rush around his flat trying to find a pair of swim trunks Chanyeol vehemently denied borrowing.
They finally find the swim trunks tucked into the cupboard in the cramped bathroom, Jongin looking around the tidy rooms with interest, and then they meet Baekhyun and Chanyeol as well as Kris, Chanyeol's friend who is apparently in college and great at driving. Kyungsoo isn't all too sure about that, judging they know Kris through Chanyeol, but he climbs in after Jongin all the same. Conversation flows surprisingly easily, even for Jongin, and they are in stitches at a joke Chanyeol cracked by the time Kris pulls into the parking lot of Baekhyun's selected beach.
"Sehun will be so jealous," says Jongin, grinning, as he looks out at the beach, standing next to Kyungsoo as Kyungsoo digs around his bag for his sunscreen. They are the only ones at the car now, Baekhyun and Chanyeol and Kris setting up towels and umbrellas on the pristine sand, and Chanyeol is already running towards the water when Kyungsoo looks up.
"Who?" Kyungsoo asks.
"My friend, Sehun. About this tall, light brown hair, whiny brat. I'll introduce you some time," Jongin says, oblivious to the warmth his words fill Kyungsoo's chest with. "He bailed to hang out his boyfriend from out of town."
Boyfriend? Kyungsoo wants to ask, but instead he nods and hands the sunscreen to Jongin for some help reaching his back. Jongin's hands are very big, very sure.
Jongin never burns, only tans, but Kyungsoo nags him to put on the most minimal of sunscreen before they join the other three. Baekhyun has refused to touch the water, ironic because he arranged the trip, but by the time the sun is considering the horizon, the other four have ganged up on Baekhyun and tossed him into the ocean, designer sunglasses or not. He screams in pretend outrage, tackling Chanyeol to the sand, and Kris groans at the prospect of all that sand in his truck.
In the backseat of the car on the way home, Kyungsoo lays out all of the seashells and sand dollars Jongin helped him forage for on the shoreline. They sift through them together, until Kyungsoo selects the biggest, most complete of the shells and presses it into Jongin's palm. "For you," he says. "For making today so fun."
Jongin smiles, then, a real smile with teeth and gratitude and the brilliance of all of the stars in the night sky. "Thank you."
Kris drops the two of them off at their apartment, Baekhyun beaming despite his still-wet hair at Kyungsoo's apparent happiness after such a nice day, or maybe how close Jongin is standing beside Kyungsoo as they wave goodbye, and the two of them walk up together to their floor, reaching Kyungsoo's flat first. Jongin hesitates instead of turning away, hand on Kyungsoo's arm to stop him from going inside just yet.
"Wait," Jongin says. "I... I also had fun today. A lot of fun, Kyungsoo. So thanks."
"You're welcome," Kyungsoo starts to say, but the words flicker and die in his throat when Jongin leans forward and kisses Kyungsoo on the cheek.
"Good night," Jongin whispers.
✺
Rather than ending their jobs on Sunday before the start of school like Kyungsoo expected, his landlord lets him, and Jongin, off on Friday. With the plans Kyungsoo had been hoping to form, like proposing some other way to see Jongin around or asking exactly what high school Jongin goes to, now killed and their last opportune summer moment over, Kyungsoo resigns himself to the end of their friendship, the gentle camaraderie of Jongin's shy smiles and baseball cap fringes and milk jugs brought to his lips, of Newspaper Boy.
He is wrong; Newspaper Boy isn't letting go of Milk Boy so soon.
The morning of the first day of school, when Kyungsoo wakes up at an unholy hour and can't fall back asleep, he receives a text from Jongin: "it feels weird not seeing you in the mornings."
"i feel the same," Kyungsoo replies, and sighs.
School is nice, though, finally getting to see friends who went out of town like Joonmyun or Jongdae or Minseok. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are there, of course, Chanyeol scribbling away furiously at his math problems during break. Familiar faces put Kyungsoo at ease, makes the uncomfortable sensation of loss, of missing something he's had for nearly three months, all the more obvious.
He sits down in his assigned seat in homeroom, lifting his eyes to the front of the room, too shy to see who his deskmate is. The boy beside him, however, isn't, and makes a sound that just might be surprise.
A paper is flicked onto his notebook. Kyungsoo opens it curiously, finding a sketch of a jug labeled 'MILK' and poorly disguises the gasp he cannot hold back. Sitting beside him is Beach Boy, Newspaper Boy, Jongin Jongin Jongin, and he is smiling that rare, real smile.
And Kyungsoo smiles back.
Fandom: exo
Pairing: kai/d.o, side baekhyun/chanyeol
Word Count: ~4500
Rating: pg
Summary: During summer vacation, Kyungsoo decides to get a summer part-time job delivering milk in his apartment, and meets the newspaper delivery boy.
A/N: this was written for the sncj_reversebb fic exchange, and my original assignment for this picture drawn by ninprime! i got so excited when i saw it lmao, its just so adorable. imo kaisoo has become the ~angst~ pairing of ficdom, and i never ever thought of them like that? its bcos im a hopeless romantic, but really, i think kyungsoo is made of rainbows and puppies and good cheer, and jongin is so qt and awkward like. they deserve all the fluff, ever ;;;;; so thats what im here for! hope y'all enjoy c:
summer boys
They always meet in the last hallway.
Kyungsoo knows, because he has experimented; rising a bit early than his 5.45 am time or lagging somewhat on the first few floors of the building, yet there is always that punctual encounter, always that sleepy-eyed look when two paths intersect.
He calls him Newspaper Boy and wonders if he himself is Milk Boy. Morning delivery jobs in their apartment building are quiet, daily jobs, saved for the early mornings when the sun peeks tentatively over the horizon at the slumbering world. Now that his body has adjusted to the hour, as the rest of Kyungsoo's neighbors and friends luxuriate in summer holidays by sleeping in, Kyungsoo can say the repetitive burn in his thighs from climbing all those stairs is the most irritating part of the job, or maybe those lonely milk bottles waiting dutifully at the doorsteps of apartments whose residents let the milk spoil, ignorant or forgetful or just lazy. Newspaper Boy probably doesn't have that problem.
Newspaper Boy is there today, as he is every day, and Kyungsoo squats carefully to place the last jug of milk besides the folded newspaper already waiting there. The last jug in his bag, however, he holds out to Newspaper Boy. "Here you go."
"Thanks," says Newspaper Boy, his voice the raspy of disuse and sleep, his trademark cap pulled low over his eyes. He accepts the milk, and not for the first time, Kyungsoo is struck by the contrast of their skin tones. While he is pale, porcelain light, Newspaper Boy's skin is the healthy bronze of an athlete, or maybe someone who lives on the beach. Considering they live in an apartment building nestled deep in suburbia, the beach theory doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe that's just the pigment of his skin.
Before Newspaper Boy opens the milk container, he offers a neatly folded bundle to Kyungsoo. He is as quiet as ever, but when Kyungsoo accepts the newspaper and thanks him, Newspaper Boy smiles, a flicker teasing his lips.
With the exchange finished, they are freed from the obligation of sorts of spending time together--an obligation, for Kyungsoo at least, that is becoming a pleasure. He glances up and notices Newspaper Boy is wearing a black, or maybe navy blue, baseball cap today. The cap pushes his fringe into his eyes, eyes still filled with a grumpy longing for the warmth of his bed, and tries to ignore how nice to would be to raise his hand and gently brush the hair out of Newspaper Boy's eyes, just for that shy, affectionate smile he may get in return.
But Kyungsoo does not brush the hair out of Newspaper Boy's eyes, Newspaper Boy does not smile a full, genuine smile at him, and they part ways wordlessly just as they always have every day in this first month of summer vacation.
✺
"Kyungsoo," Baekhyun whines, a pout tugging at his delicate, cupid bow's lips. "What have you done so far this vacation? Studied?"
Chanyeol laughs a bit, arm around Baekhyun's shoulders and hip slanted toward his boyfriend's, as Kyungsoo frowns at the tiny boy. "Excuse you," he says. "I've had work."
"But that's just in the mornings!" says Baekhyun indignantly. "You're done with your rounds by the time we wake up, you have the whole day ahead of you afterwards."
Slightly guilty, Kyungsoo glances at the neat stack of summer homework, already completed and ready for the school term to return, and Baekhyun catches sight of his distraction without fail. "See?" he demands. "Chanyeol hasn't even started his summer homework yet, at all. The teachers assigned a lot this year, too."
"Hey," Chanyeol says injuredly. "You've done like two pages of notes."
"Three," Baekhyun says. "And half of my mathematics. But Kyungsoo is done."
Chanyeol nods solemnly. "Nobody does summer homework during the summer, Kyungsoo. Summer homework is for cramming and pulling all-nighters for in the week before school starts. Or even the morning of the first day."
"We need to take you out and play," Baekhyun decides, matter-of-fact. He fixes Kyungsoo with a firm stare, arms on his hips. "Get dressed, properly."
Kyungsoo lets Baekhyun drag him over to his closet, where Baekhyun stubbornly rejects all of Kyungsoo's shirts and pants until he uproots a pair of black skinny jeans that fit a bit too tightly around his thighs to wear regularly, and a simple t-shirt with some graphic design on the back that Kyungsoo received has a birthday present a few years back and promptly forgotten about. Baekhyun smoothes out the collar of the shirt, frowning at the creases, and then holds it up against Kyungsoo's torso. "Okay, good enough. Now we have to get you a new wardrobe!" he says cheerfully.
"We're in high school, Baekhyun, we don't have bottomless credit cards. And there's nothing wrong with my current wardrobe," Kyungsoo says sadly, looking at his comfortable sweaters and corduroy pants, but Baekhyun waves him off.
The jeans are a pain to pull up to his hips, but Baekhyun coos appreciatively as Kyungsoo shifts and squirms, trying to get comfortable in the stiff, restricting fabric. "Okay, let's go," Baekhyun says once Kyungsoo is adequately presentable, short hair combed down and collar tucked and straightened, and Kyungsoo thinks wistfully of the sweatshirt hanging over the back of his desk chair.
Baekhyun ushers them all out of Kyungsoo's tiny flat, waiting impatiently for Kyungsoo to lock up the door, and then they take the elevator down to the ground floor. As part of his scholarship to study away from home, in Seoul, Kyungsoo's hometown high school promised he'd have a place of reasonable quality to stay at, with all utilities and such paid for in, and he can't say he has much to complain about. Seoul is infinitely more exciting, infinitely more busy than his home. "We can take a taxi to Myeongdong," Baekhyun says excitedly, reaching around Chanyeol to tug his wallet out of his pocket, and laughs at Chanyeol's long-suffering sigh.
So to Myeongdong they go, Kyungsoo staring out of the taxi seat with wide eyes despite all of the times Baekhyun has dragged him along on a shopping trip. "Bright town," Baekhyun once told him. "That's what Myeongdong means." Even in mid-afternoon, the shopping district is alight with colorful, flashing advertisement boards and LED-laden storefronts, reflected into Baekhyun's eager eyes; Kyungsoo is just glad that Chanyeol actually has some pocket money to speak of, even though they've trained Baekhyun into window-shopping more as well.
"I already have enough pants," Kyungsoo protests as Baekhyun pulls persistently on his arm, leading him from clothing rack to clothing rack. "And I don't need ten cardigans with the same pattern."
"They're so cute though," Baekhyun says. "And they're on sale."
"You get them then," Kyungsoo says.
"I already have them, I got the blue one and the cream one last week," Baekhyun says flippantly.
Kyungsoo sighs.
Three endless rows of shops and boutiques later, the most entertaining of purchases being the leather jacket Chanyeol now carries that Baekhyun positively hissed at a girl to snag, they join the throng at the subway. A crowded ride always makes Kyungsoo uncomfortable, but soon enough, they step out of the subway, back onto the ground floor of the shopping district and into a mass of street vendors selling charming trinkets and hand-knitted accessories, and Baekhyun swerves into one of the commercial-covered buildings. "I know a good place here, for skin care," Baekhyun says, a determined expression on his face as he drags Chanyeol and Kyungsoo inside.
"The Face Shop?" Kyungsoo says skeptically when they near the store.
"Yes," Baekhyun says firmly. He dives into the plethora of tiny bottles, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo hovering by the entrance of the shop as Baekhyun efficiently tests, selects, and purchases his needed supplies. A tiny bag filled with tubes of creams and pots of powders is exchanged for several crisp bills, and then Baekhyun attached himself to Chanyeol's side again. "Okay," he says brightly.
Kyungsoo groans in relief. "Can I go home now?"
"Home?" Baekhyun frowns at him disapprovingly. "Already?"
"I didn't get much sleep last night and it's getting late. We've been here for hours, Baekhyun," Kyungsoo points out. "I have an early morning tomorrow, you know that."
Baekhyun huffs in annoyance but concedes, and the three of them start to leave the building. When they take the escalator down, they pass a flamboyantly dressed woman on the arm of her stoic husband, a family with three children, two boys that look about high school age as well, and a group of curious tourists willing to splurge on Myeongdong's horribly expensive prices. Kyungsoo almost looks past all of them, all of these strangers from the Seoul area, when one of the teenage boys hitches the strap of his messenger bag up on his shoulder in a single, smooth movement that Kyungsoo has memorized even better than his summer homework vocabulary this past month.
It is Newspaper Boy. It is Newspaper Boy and he is dressed in the same outfit as this morning, colored with blue and black and confidence, though the cap is missing to reveal a head of gelled brown hair and the trademark earbuds are tucked into his shirt collar instead. Suddenly, Kyungsoo curses himself for letting Baekhyun change his clothes, for not noticing Newspaper Boy quickly enough, for lacking the courage to call out a hello. He seemed to be in deep conversation with the other boy, honey-brown hair to Newspaper Boy's darker shade, that Kyungsoo failed to catch a proper glimpse of.
Trying to do so subtly so Baekhyun and Chanyeol don't notice, Kyungsoo looks behind him at the disappearing back of Newspaper Boy, traveling up up and away. When he reaches the top, he and his friend disappear almost instantly into the crowd, and Kyungsoo almost trips when he steps off of the other end of the escalator himself.
✺
Kyungsoo does not mention anything the next morning, when he and Newspaper Boy trade their goods and words yearn and stretch and reach off of Kyungsoo's tongue but are always halted at his teeth, his lips.
That boy he saw on the mall escalators the day before, that slicked back hair and that comfortable laughter, is not his, not Newspaper Boy. Newspaper Boy belongs to Kyungsoo, this gently, bleary boy who once told Kyungsoo he was anything but a morning person and considered anything before noon an unholy hour, but needed to find some work this summer to tide over the rent. Kyungsoo was working to get the money for some of his textbooks, filling in the spots his scholarship could not cover, hating to burden his family back at home.
They had begun speaking the second week into the job, arranging these errands with the landlord of the building who had posted a sign in the lobby asking after some patrons to do delivery. Kyungsoo took one set of stairs and Newspaper Boy the other to avoid collisions, but their paths intersected on the last floor, last hallway of their rounds, every morning including weekends. Most of the job was comprised of climbing stairs or dropping things off at doorsteps, climbing more stairs or dropping more things off at more doorsteps, rinse and repeat, but the ending was a welcome change of pace. The morning of Kyungsoo's ninth day, he had passed Newspaper Boy at the end of the last hallway, the nearly empty bag of papers at his feet and nearly empty bottle of water at his lips, hearing the pull of breath on hollow air when Newspaper Boy finished his drink. He was still thirsty, Kyungsoo noticed, watching him rummage through his bag for another bottle only to scowl in exasperation. Before Kyungsoo had even realized what he was doing, he had crossed the brief space between them, holding out the extra jug he had grabbed in his haste, and asked, "Are you still thirsty? You can have this."
Newspaper Boy had looked at him with such startled eyes that Kyungsoo regretting reaching out almost instantly, but his fears eased when Newspaper Boy accepted the milk. "Thanks," he'd said. "I have a spare copy of the paper today. Someone moved out of the third floor, apparently."
"I--Sure," Kyungsoo said, pleased and surprised. He accepted his newspaper, Newspaper Boy took another gulp of his milk, and they parted ways.
After that, Kyungsoo began packing an extra jug out of hopeful habit, always shocked to see Newspaper Boy with that extra paper in return, and their relationship easily settled into something just beyond acquaintances but not quite comrades or friends. It still is, nothing more but nothing less.
At times, Kyungsoo likes to dream, though. He puts Newspaper Boy as his neighbor, his classmate, someone to walk to school with. Once Newspaper Boy has no newspapers, but rather happens to open his door right as Kyungsoo reaches it with his milk jugs, and they strike up an actual conversation. Or Kyungsoo opens his eyes to Newspaper Boy's pretty, pretty face in the mornings, and feels Newspaper Boy wrap his arms around Kyungsoo's waist and mumble something like "five more minutes, the milk can wait." Newspaper Boy can be what Chanyeol is to Baekhyun, their perfect, orbiting balance to the point that Kyungsoo constantly feels like a third wheel beside his closest friends in Seoul, or maybe his best friend and confidant and partner in crime, someone who takes Kyungsoo away from his textbooks and tells him to let go--someone with adventure and rebellion bleeding through his veins, ready to set Kyungsoo alight. Or maybe they'll clash, maybe Kyungsoo will find a real rival in Newspaper Boy as they struggle for first place in the class, for some school award or pride or honor.
(Kyungsoo never dreams about the bad things, like falling in love with Newspaper Boy only to have his heart broken. Or being ignored and forgotten by this boy who has colored his entire summer with interesting, warm hues. Kyungsoo is not that kind of person, not now.)
✺
Three weeks before school starts, wherein Baekhyun coasts through his history notes and Chanyeol complains while Kyungsoo helplessly tries to tutor him in subjects he is almost certain Chanyeol understands but is too restless for and/or bored with to try and work out, Kyungsoo goes for a walk in the park one evening. It's not much, the park down the street from his apartment complex, it really isn't. A few simple, curving paths lead to play structures the city keeps insisting it will renovate but Kyungsoo almost wishes they won't when so many childhood memories find solace in them, and grassy fields are open for sports or dog owners or someone who just wants to lay on the grass and stare up at the sky. Sometimes, Kyungsoo finds himself suffocated by his tiny flat--whenever he visits, Baekhyun always insists the air is stale and goes around opening all the windows, which Kyungsoo always forgets to close until the weather reminds him to--and the park is the perfect solution.
A girl walking her poodle puppy smiles a friendly smile at him when she passes by, which Kyungsoo gladly returns. His spot is under one of the grand, hulking oak trees bordering the soccer field, though he prefers flopping down in the middle of the field and examining clouds when the soccer players aren't having practice. Unlike other days, Kyungsoo brings no book or snack, just hoping to relax a bit until he's ready to go back to his apartment.
He has almost dozed off, nestled in the cool grass, when footsteps stir next to him. "Hey," someone says softly.
Kyungsoo peeks at them, imagining someone he knows from school or maybe Baekhyun (Chanyeol is incapable of announcing his presence quietly), and jerks up into a sitting position when Newspaper Boy swims into view. "H-Hi!" he stutters, hoping he isn't covered in grass stains.
Newspaper Boy offers him a slight smile, awkward but sweet, reminiscent of fingers curled around the neck of a milk jug. "You work in the same apartment as I do, don't you?"
"Yes," Kyungsoo manages. "I deliver milk."
"I'm the newspaper guy," says Newspaper Boy with that same smile teasing his full lips, and Kyungsoo vaguely feels like rolling down the hill when he realizes they are talking outside of their morning jobs. "My name is Jongin, by the way."
Jongin. Newspaper Boy is named Jongin. Kyungsoo almost says it out loud, but instead he corrects his tongue into the syllables of his own name. "Kyungsoo. I'm Kyungsoo."
"Nice to meet you, for real, Kyungsoo," Newspaper Boy/Jongin says. He has a lovely voice, one usually roughened by the early morning, but a day of talking has warmed it up to something smooth and rich and easy. It sounds, if possible, even better, but Kyungsoo misses the raw vulnerability of Jongin in the mornings.
"Same to you," Kyungsoo says, shy.
Jongin--Jongin--hesitates as if fumbling for words, then settles for, "Do you come to this park often?"
"Yes, pretty often," says Kyungsoo. "Do... Do you?"
"No," Jongin says ruefully. "It's a shame when it's so close but my friends like to go into the city, or go shopping at Myeongdong."
"Me too," Kyungsoo wants to shout, but he's too busy wishing he has the courage to say "I wouldn't mind going to the park with you" or something of that sort. In the end, he says, "It is too bad. It's a really nice park. Everyone is friendly and quiet."
Jongin nods in agreement, bits of Newspaper Boy shining through the gaps of his teeth, his open eyes. It'd be easy to sit beside him and talk, talk about anything, if Kyungsoo didn't have to struggle with his dream, the dream of sitting down and talking to this boy who has interest him so in the last two months, becoming reality. He just hopes he won't slip up.
But it gets easier. Their conversation sputters a bit, starts and goes with the introduction of a question then slumps into a pensive silence, and the presence of Jongin beside Kyungsoo is so loud. When the stars start coming out, they begin talking about constellations, about the endless depths of the universe. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could be a star? Or a comet or something?" Kyungsoo comments. Lying in the same spot for hours, surrounded by Jongin's steady voice, has lulled him into a near-stupor, and his eyes are struggling to stay open.
"Sure," Jongin says. "But people shine, too."
"Do they? I never saw it in myself," Kyungsoo says softly. He sees it in Jongin, though, a flare in those clear irises, and wonders what Jongin will go off to do someday. After high school and college, the sky is the limit, right?
Jongin turns to look at him, Kyungsoo's profile bathed in the same starlight filling Jongin's eyes. "I do," Jongin says. "You are very bright. In your own way."
And Kyungsoo has no reply.
✺
Staying up to talk under the night skies, romantic or not, is disastrous on the one who rises with the sun for work. As Kyungsoo gets dressed and sprints down the stairs for his milk jugs, he ends up bumping into Jongin retrieving his papers. They exchange hello's and sympathetic, knowing smiles at the bags under each other's eyes, and Kyungsoo is surprisingly energetic for climbing all those stairs on three hours of sleep.
They bump into each other again at the deli down the street and end up eating lunch together, Kyungsoo grudgingly accepting the teasing for his near-face plant into his turkey sandwich as he begins to nod off. Newspaper Boy becomes Park Boy, Deli Boy, later Neighbor Boy when they discover they live on the same floor (okay, so maybe Almost-Neighbor Boy), all of these melding into one Kim Jongin. And Kyungsoo can't say he doesn't like it, a lot.
✺
The weekend before the last, the very last week of summer vacation, Baekhyun calls Kyungsoo and loudly demands whether he would like to join him and Chanyeol at the beach this week. "I don't know," says Kyungsoo hesitantly. "I have to study so I won't fall behind when we go back to school."
"Not studying, again? You know, Chanyeol still hasn't started his summer assignments, and no sign of him doing so yet. Lighten up! Kyungsoo, you don't do anything fun."
"I went out to lunch with Jongin two days ago," Kyungsoo says defensively.
There is a pause, and Kyungsoo begins to panic when Baekhyun shrieks eagerly, "Who's Jongin!?" Behind Baekhyun, Kyungsoo hears the telltale burst of Chanyeol's laughter, full and from the belly as always.
"Um--"
"Kyungsoo!"
"He's just someone who's also working deliveries at the apartment complex I live in! His name is Jongin and he delivers newspapers and he's my friend, sort of," Kyungsoo says, fumbling.
Baekhyun tsk's. "That won't do. Invite him to the beach with us!"
"I might not even go," Kyungsoo says, but Baekhyun cuts him off sharply.
"Yes, you are! And you are bringing Jongin along, so you better go let him know. Bye, Kyungsoo, I'll email you the details!" Baekhyun trills, hanging up before Kyungsoo can protest.
"I don't even know him," Kyungsoo says to his phone, but even he can tell a lie when he hears one.
Kyungsoo invites Jongin to the beach rather accidentally, words finally bursting out of the dam and hurling themselves into Jongin's ears. First, they are talking about whether they are a dog or cat person (Kyungsoo decided dogs by a narrow margin while Jongin firmly answered he preferred dogs), and then Kyungsoo is blurting, "So, um, do you want to go to the beach sometime this week with me and my friends?"
He knows he has really taken Jongin off guard this time, because Jongin is spinning his baseball cap in his hands as he talks to Kyungsoo in the stairwell and his expression is free from interference or obstruction. Regret blossoms in Kyungsoo's chest, thorns of fear and worry and despair prickling painfully, but Jongin shrugs and smiles. "I'd like that."
They trade contact information, Kyungsoo trembling just so slightly as he enters his cell phone number into Jongin's phone, and he promises to let Jongin know. When they separate ways, Kyungsoo immediately sends Baekhyun a series of hysterical texts. Baekhyun merely replies with a ":)".
✺
Jongin shows up on Kyungsoo's doorstep at noon that Wednesday, a duffel bag replacing the usual messenger bag of newspapers, a pair of sunglasses with oversized lenses perched on his head. "Ready," he says, laughing as he watches Kyungsoo rush around his flat trying to find a pair of swim trunks Chanyeol vehemently denied borrowing.
They finally find the swim trunks tucked into the cupboard in the cramped bathroom, Jongin looking around the tidy rooms with interest, and then they meet Baekhyun and Chanyeol as well as Kris, Chanyeol's friend who is apparently in college and great at driving. Kyungsoo isn't all too sure about that, judging they know Kris through Chanyeol, but he climbs in after Jongin all the same. Conversation flows surprisingly easily, even for Jongin, and they are in stitches at a joke Chanyeol cracked by the time Kris pulls into the parking lot of Baekhyun's selected beach.
"Sehun will be so jealous," says Jongin, grinning, as he looks out at the beach, standing next to Kyungsoo as Kyungsoo digs around his bag for his sunscreen. They are the only ones at the car now, Baekhyun and Chanyeol and Kris setting up towels and umbrellas on the pristine sand, and Chanyeol is already running towards the water when Kyungsoo looks up.
"Who?" Kyungsoo asks.
"My friend, Sehun. About this tall, light brown hair, whiny brat. I'll introduce you some time," Jongin says, oblivious to the warmth his words fill Kyungsoo's chest with. "He bailed to hang out his boyfriend from out of town."
Boyfriend? Kyungsoo wants to ask, but instead he nods and hands the sunscreen to Jongin for some help reaching his back. Jongin's hands are very big, very sure.
Jongin never burns, only tans, but Kyungsoo nags him to put on the most minimal of sunscreen before they join the other three. Baekhyun has refused to touch the water, ironic because he arranged the trip, but by the time the sun is considering the horizon, the other four have ganged up on Baekhyun and tossed him into the ocean, designer sunglasses or not. He screams in pretend outrage, tackling Chanyeol to the sand, and Kris groans at the prospect of all that sand in his truck.
In the backseat of the car on the way home, Kyungsoo lays out all of the seashells and sand dollars Jongin helped him forage for on the shoreline. They sift through them together, until Kyungsoo selects the biggest, most complete of the shells and presses it into Jongin's palm. "For you," he says. "For making today so fun."
Jongin smiles, then, a real smile with teeth and gratitude and the brilliance of all of the stars in the night sky. "Thank you."
Kris drops the two of them off at their apartment, Baekhyun beaming despite his still-wet hair at Kyungsoo's apparent happiness after such a nice day, or maybe how close Jongin is standing beside Kyungsoo as they wave goodbye, and the two of them walk up together to their floor, reaching Kyungsoo's flat first. Jongin hesitates instead of turning away, hand on Kyungsoo's arm to stop him from going inside just yet.
"Wait," Jongin says. "I... I also had fun today. A lot of fun, Kyungsoo. So thanks."
"You're welcome," Kyungsoo starts to say, but the words flicker and die in his throat when Jongin leans forward and kisses Kyungsoo on the cheek.
"Good night," Jongin whispers.
✺
Rather than ending their jobs on Sunday before the start of school like Kyungsoo expected, his landlord lets him, and Jongin, off on Friday. With the plans Kyungsoo had been hoping to form, like proposing some other way to see Jongin around or asking exactly what high school Jongin goes to, now killed and their last opportune summer moment over, Kyungsoo resigns himself to the end of their friendship, the gentle camaraderie of Jongin's shy smiles and baseball cap fringes and milk jugs brought to his lips, of Newspaper Boy.
He is wrong; Newspaper Boy isn't letting go of Milk Boy so soon.
The morning of the first day of school, when Kyungsoo wakes up at an unholy hour and can't fall back asleep, he receives a text from Jongin: "it feels weird not seeing you in the mornings."
"i feel the same," Kyungsoo replies, and sighs.
School is nice, though, finally getting to see friends who went out of town like Joonmyun or Jongdae or Minseok. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are there, of course, Chanyeol scribbling away furiously at his math problems during break. Familiar faces put Kyungsoo at ease, makes the uncomfortable sensation of loss, of missing something he's had for nearly three months, all the more obvious.
He sits down in his assigned seat in homeroom, lifting his eyes to the front of the room, too shy to see who his deskmate is. The boy beside him, however, isn't, and makes a sound that just might be surprise.
A paper is flicked onto his notebook. Kyungsoo opens it curiously, finding a sketch of a jug labeled 'MILK' and poorly disguises the gasp he cannot hold back. Sitting beside him is Beach Boy, Newspaper Boy, Jongin Jongin Jongin, and he is smiling that rare, real smile.
And Kyungsoo smiles back.