Safe and Sound

September

"Hey, can I talk to you?"

Sehun blinks stupidly at Kyungsoo, who gives him a sheepish smile.

"I brought mangoes as a peace offering."

Sehun lets Kyungsoo in without a word and offers him a seat on the couch. Kyungsoo is comfortable; after all, he has been here a lot when he and Jongin were together.

"How've you been?" Of course Kyungsoo starts off with small talk.

"Okay. School's starting to kick in. Can I get you anything to drink?" Sehun offers.

Kyungsoo shakes his head. "I actually want to finish before Jongin gets back. I've done a pretty good job at avoiding him the past few months and I want to keep it that way." Kyungsoo has a bitter smile on his face, but he doesn't seem angry. "I know this is long overdue, but I wanted to talk to you about that, if that's okay with you."

Sehun gulps and nods, settling down in his armchair. "I assumed you and Jongin talked about it, but I guess not?"

"I understand why we ended, Sehun. I think I understand a lot more than I let on, and definitely a lot more than Jongin thinks I know." Kyungsoo looks down at his hands and picks at the peeling skin on his thumb. "He never replied to my 'I love yous' and he always hesitated when I kissed him. He wasn't as committed to it as I was." Kyungsoo looks up. While his nose is beginning to show a pink tinge, his voice and eyes are surprisingly clear. "I always saw the way he looked at you like you were more than his best friend. But for some reason I never understood, you didn't see it. No offense, but you literally looked like you didn't care that Jongin was shooting hearts out of his eyes whenever he looked at you."

"I never realized it," Sehun says weakly.

"You also never realized that you looked at him with the same affection I do, did you?" Kyungsoo isn't upset, his tone isn't sharp. He sounds...disappointed, and Sehun finds that the most upsetting thing of all. "I'm not here to start a war. I came with a peace offering after all. I just wanted to end on a good note." Kyungsoo sits up a little straighter and sticks his hand out. "Because I've grown to really like you two. And I want to stay as friends. If not with Jongin, then at least with you."

Kyungsoo's grip is warm.

"When did we get mangoes?"

"Someone brought them over earlier."

"Oh. Can you cut some for me? I have an essay due in exactly four hours and twenty-two minutes."

"Goodness. Yes. Go write your damn essay, Jongin."

Sehun is on his way back from his philosophy class when he hears the words, "faggot" and a voice that sounds like Jongin's. He peeks behind the biology building and sees Jongin and a few other guys in a circle, apparently ready to duke it out.

Cursing mentally, Sehun strides up to them and pulls Jongin out of the circle, ignoring the, "Speak of the devil, there comes the faggot himself," that comes with his arrival and Jongin's protests.

"What's going on here?" Sehun asks in a low voice. "Why did it looked like I walked into World War III?" He glares back at the tallest male in the circle, who he remembers as Lee Dongjoo, and then looks back at Jongin.

"The ass was talking shit about you," Jongin bristles.

"So you were going to fight him? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Hey, charity students should mind their own business and keep their toes in line. But I guess all you gay shits band together," Dongjoo taunts.

Jongin lunges forward, and Sehun has to use all his strength to push him back. He holds Jongin by the collar before continuing. "I'll deal with it. Stay here," he orders.

He whips around with his phone and enters the circle and stares right into Dongjoo's eyes. With Sehun's height, Dongjoo is actually looking slightly up.

"Hey. If you're going to talk shit, say it to my face." Sehun shoves his phone into Dongjoo's face. "Say it. I'll show this and that video of you smoking pot with your friends to your dad." Dongjoo's eyes widen at the mention of the video. "Say it to my face, Lee Dongjoo. I'll send it to your dad right now."

"That's blackmail," one of cronies say.

"It's not blackmail when you happened to be in the frame of my fucking video. I had to re-film that shit because of you guys." Sehun raises his eyebrow at the male. "You want to be in the video too? And you?" Sehun spins in a circle to make sure all their faces are captured, but before he can finish, they all disperse like ants. Facing Dongjoo again, who is turning red from being humiliated, Sehun smiles. "Charity students should keep their toes in line. Everyone knows you're only here because of your dad. Better not screw that up and bring him down with you," Sehun says sarcastically. Rolling his eyes, Sehun walks back to Jongin, who's looking at him with a newfound respect. "What?" he asks as he drags Jongin away from the building.

"You're freaking amazing."

"And you're freaking stupid!" Sehun smacks the back of Jongin's head and clicks his tongue as Jongin whines. "Do you know who he is? Director Lee's son. That's right, your precious Director Lee, head of the performing arts department. If you laid a single finger on that boy, you would have been out of the dance troupe for good."

Jongin can only duck his head sheepishly and he clings onto Sehun's arm. "I'll buy you coffee."

"God, I wanted to punch him in the face."

"I'm surprised you held back. You're so amazing."

"Hell yeah I am."

Where Jongin is always the one to rely on his fists to solve problems, Sehun is more eloquent and uses his words to bruise. Only Sehun can deal with Jongin's impulsive tendencies, and only Jongin has enough thick skin to hear Sehun snap and rage without batting an eyelash. Together, they're invincible.