Bite [5&6/10]

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  Kyungsoo's thoughts are messy and the best word to describe how he feels is troublesome. He failed two tests in the past week and that triggers something in him, he never failed. That morning after the party is a mess and he's falling asleep that afternoon at work – he can't say he regrets going but he knows his mood was way better the day before. Is just that the image of "Kai" flies to his mind every couple of minutes, and it's the portrait of everything he feared – popular, the one that is too busy and important, the one that will let go. Sehun pushes Kai in his imagination and laughs, hard, tears form in the corner of his eyes – "I told you so, hyung"

Kyungsoo punches his desk and types angrily to the keyboard – coding was never so annoying.

Being ignored is not new – he was never a popular kid in school and he was always distant to his friends, not because he wanted but because that's how things always were and it worked, before he met Kim Jongin. Kyungsoo thinks about texting Jongin two days after the party, but he stops himself because Jongin said he would call – sometime.

Time passes, and the call doesn't come.

As January ends, Kyungsoo can only hear Jongin in the new songs from the album "Bite". He wants to know if Jongin had anything to do with the production or lyrics in his songs since they get a whole new meaning when he sits and actually listens.

"You can coax the cold right out of me.
Drape me in your warmth.
I'm pulling on your heart to push my luck.
Kiss me on the mouth and set me free...
But please don't bite."

Kyungsoo catches a glimpse of Jongin on TV by accident – he looks different somehow, as if his eyes are covered with something other than makeup.

"So please explain the meaning of this song!" – a girl asks, her hair is long and very dark.

"I would say it carries a deep meaning" – Jongin says looking at the girl and then at the camera shyly – "It's about being vulnerable, but at the same time giving up yourself to vulnerability...trusting a solid person and hoping they will protect you"

Girls scream. Jongin smirks. Kyungsoo endures and hour and a half of a silly music show with too many screaming girls just to see Kai perform the song. His hair seems much lighter than that night at the party, he's wearing a variation of yet the same outfit, his makeup is dark.

It's almost a test to grab the phone and stare at the last chat he had with Jongin, on January 24th – he closes it before he says something stupid.

Kyungsoo misses him a lot. He wants to go back to being just his friend, to think about Jongin just as that funny friend he once had last spring and he curses he even brought sex up. His absence is like a lazy Sunday, one that drags all week and doesn't let him act. Jongin disappeared – and it's funny to think that none of his other friends text him often either, but the one that hurts is Jongin.

- - -

"The new heart-throb of the nation..." – a woman says on the TV in the cafeteria, Baekhyun and Jongdae sit in front of Kyungsoo – "...And his new single keeps playing in every club of the country..."

"Hey, isn't that your Jongin?" – Jongdae points and it takes Kyungsoo by surprise. He flips his neck so quickly that Baekhyun raises a brow.

"Where?" – he says.

"On the TV" – the older mutters. The flat screen mixes images of the music video Kyungsoo knows by memory and some candid pictures of Jongin in parties, on the streets and in a recording studio.

"Many of his past school mates have commented how he has matured into this sensual man– but some others declare that his personality is the same! He's simply a sexy man by nature!" – the commenter screeches and the rest of her work partners laugh, it feels fake and forced.

"Did he feel like a sexy man back then?" – Jongdae leans on Baekhyun with a frown on his forehead.

"I was too drunk that time I met him" – Baekhyun says – "What do you say, Kyungsoo? Was he always the sexy type?"

Kyungsoo groans and rolls his eyes, he hasn't said anything about Jongin or how their relationship apparently ended abruptly. The two older men take their eyes to the TV once again.

"Kai has been involved with singer Hyeri lately!" – another woman giggles – "They have been seen together outside of night clubs. And they are the same age but from different companies, so this can be a Romeo and Juliet sort of situation!"

"What? How is that like Romeo and Juliet?" – Jongdae says loudly.

"But wait, is that his beard?" – Baekhyun interrupts and looks at Kyungsoo once again – "Is that fake?"

Kyungsoo turns around, he feels like his cheeks are burning...

"Wouldn't know...I haven't talked to him for a while" – he mutters and drinks the rest of his lemonade with big gulps. The other two exchange looks.

"You broke up?" – Baekhyun asks quietly.

"We weren't dating" – Kyungsoo cuts.

"But...you were close, weren't you?"

Kyungsoo shrugs seemingly indifferent and Baekhyun gets it. He doesn't talk about it anymore and Kyungsoo is thankful. He pushes the images of Jongin having fun on some night club with a bunch of other people, with that girl, way to the back of his mind. It's the hardest thing he can do at the moment – it's fresh, it stings like a new burn on the stove. If Jongin was so busy, so much that he can't give Kyungsoo a call; how could he go to night clubs and have dates with a girl?

Kyungsoo appreciates once the TV show goes to a commercial break and Jongdae changes the subject rapidly.

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