like never before | beomkai

32 | be safe

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A twist in events and it turns out Kai was worried about the wrong thing.

Beomgyu was bright the day before his best; they just got out of the car and were walking on the fairly busy sidewalk of Yeonseo when Kai told him about his predicament. After days when Kai diligently worked with time, bending and compromising to balance his studies and birthday preparations, he decided that Beomgyu had to know about a potential hindrance to his attendance.

"You have a test?" It almost broke Kai's heart when Beomgyu falters.

Kai wanted to lie, but Beomgyu doesn't deserve that. "In the afternoon."

"So, you won't.. Be there?"

"I'll be there!" Kai said, stern. "I wouldn't miss it. Plus, I'll give you your gift."

Beomgyu takes a second to respond. "You being there is enough, Hyuka. I wouldn't want any other gift besides that."

Words immediately turned Kai into a puddle. "I never pegged you to be this cheesy."

"Did I make your heart flutter?"

You almost gave me a heart attack, Kai thought. He doesn't reply and just bid the older one farewell with a stolen kiss on reddened cheeks, then he's running away from his calls and stupid giggles.

Their schedules don't sync the entire day, and Kai doesn't see him until he comes home. For lunch, he had to spend it with Taehyun and Soobin who both had an hour before their next class; Kai had 40 minutes.

"Yeonjun hyung and I have already started pumping the balloons," Taehyun announced. "I don't know how to feel about the design."

Kai saw the balloons. It was him and Beomgyu who took them from the store after Yeonjun's persistent pleas, and they saw the designs first. To say that Beomgyu was annoyed would be an understatement when he was more amused than mad. ("Purple and blue." "How did Yeonjun hyung manage to draw me this ugly?")

"They're not so bad," Kai hides a smile as he flips through the remaining parts of his reading. "I told him about the test tomorrow."

"I heard," It was Soobin who hummed to the information that just surfaced.

Kai tisked. "News travels fast nowadays."

"He tells me everything about you—with a bunch of crying emojis and heart emojis."

Taehyun finishes the last of his meal. "I never knew Beomgyu hyung was an emoji type of guy."

"Kai changed him," Soobin sighed, dramatically. "You don't even know how annoying he was when Kai started working in the cafe last time. He followed this cutie everywhere, and finally had the decency to actually walk to the counter and order."

The nickname sounds foreign in Kai's ears. "It's been a while since you last called me that."

"Did you miss it, cutie?"

"A bit. It reminds me of my sister."

"Aren't you a lovely bunch?" Soobin pokes the younger one's cheek. "Beomgyu is a lot more possessive than you think."

Taehyun groans. "I don't want to hear about Beomgyu hyung's jealousy! I'm more curious about Kai's gift because I have a suggestion."

"But I already have a gift."

Taehyun brushed it off with a wave of his hand. "This one is better!" He hissed. "Give him the privilege to be your boyfriend."

Soobin wasn't impressed. "Aren't they basically boyfriends already?"