Title: Perplexed (32/33)
Author: life_not_knife
Rating: Pg-13
Genre: Fluff, Angst, Drama.
Warnings: None
Summary: "Key has quite an easy life and with Jonghyun beside him, nothing can bring him down… until he meets Jinki... and nothing short of an earthquake can knock Jinki down…. Until he meets one Kim Kibum."
Word Count: 5219

A/N: The end is nigh. This took so long to update MIANHAE *bows chuseok style*

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jinki woke with a start the next morning as he heard the front door to his home slamming shut and the familiar sound of his parents starting up the car. He looked around blearily as his eyes began to adjust to the morning light. As he sat up to look at the clock, he noticed the letter lying beside the alarm clock. His resolve from last night came back to hit him in the head and it made him a little dizzy.

He stood up, threw on some clothes and made himself clean and presentable before he headed out of the door. His stomach was churning and he felt sick as he boarded the bus to the cinema. The boy was pretty glad at this point that he had decided to skip breakfast because he was sure it would be making a re-appearance. As the bus neared his stop, he felt wobbly and dizzy and there was an ache in his heart that he just couldn’t describe. His hands worked against his will and raised to deftly press the bell overhead, signalling to the driver that he wished to alight.

Three steps were all it took to bring Jinki’s feet from the bus to the worn pavement. His heart hammered and he was hoping with all his might that following Kibum’s instructions wasn’t leading him into more heartache. As he walked through the automatic doors, the smell of popcorn assaulted his senses and he noticed, for the first time, that the carpet in the lobby was a navy blue and not black like he once thought. The usual buzz of noise was gone, only a few people milling about. The staff behind the glass counters were few and as Jinki glanced at his watch, he noted it was only 9am. He had never seen the cinema lobby looking so empty, as it was usually filled with queues and busy chatter.

He approached the nearest counter and had to wait a few minutes until the cashier even noticed he was there.

“Good morning sir, what can I do for you today?” The mousy brown haired girl asked.

“Hi, uhmm… actually I was looking for someone. Is Nam Woohyun working today?” Jinki asked, hoping that the boy wasn’t there and he wouldn’t have to continue through with this. He could apologize and dismiss himself, go home and feel more pain over Kibum’s words that were still echoing in his head.

“I’ve seen him this morning, bear with me a moment, I will go and find out where he is for you.” She smiled politely and disappeared from behind the desk and down a corridor in the back.

Jinki tapped his fingers against the glass case, he could see the lines of chocolate and sweets below the thick pads of his fingertips and noted the ridiculous price with a raise of his eyebrow. He scanned the area where the girl had disappeared to once more but she still wasn’t back.

He could pretty much recite the prices of everything in the glass case by the time somebody caught his attention.

“Hi, can I help you?” A short, brunette boy with a strong jawline asked him.

“Oh, someone is already helping me, thanks.” Jinki smiled politely and was about to re-direct his face back down at the counter when the voice spoke again.

“I know, I’m Nam Woohyun, apparently you asked for me?” The boy, Woohyun, asked with a small chuckle.

“O-oh! Sorry…yes… I mean. I’m Lee Jinki, this is going to sound weird but…” Jinki began as he stumbled over his words.

“…Kibum sent you right?” Woohyun smiled lightly and laughed again when Jinki nodded his head with wide, surprised eyes. “I don’t know what it is… I was just told to deliver it to you.”

The boy said and Jinki was about to ask what he was on about, until he saw the item appear from behind the young man.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Woohyun had offered the medium sized jam jar to Jinki along with an instruction not to open it until he reached home. The lid was a shiny black, nothing out of the ordinary but the rest of the jar had been painted with a glossy rainbow pattern – it looked hand-made and it made him curious as to whether Kibum had made this himself. He slowly unscrewed the black lid until he heard a dull ‘pop’.

The first thing he noticed was a piece of paper stuck on the underside of the lid. Jinki carefully pulled it and it detached easily from the blue tack that was holding it in place. He slowly and carefully opened it.

“Hi Jinx, I see you found Woohyun! I didn’t want to leave this in my house in case my father decided to destroy it or in case I wouldn’t be able to get it to you from there. So here are some simple instructions – the papers are numbered and will make sense if you open them in order, save the box until last.
Love,
Kibummie.”

Jinki read the note and tears sprung to his eyes because Kibum obviously wrote this once he found out he would need to leave Jinki at some point.
His digits trembled as he tipped out the jar onto his bed covers. Just as Kibum had explained, small parcels of paper appeared and were numbered on one side. He searched carefully for number one before he found it:

‘Jonghyun picked me up for class this morning and he brought me a bagel. Happyday #1.’

He proceeded to open up the papers in order, one after the other:

‘Taemin made me laugh today in drama class, he fell backwards off the stage and ended up sat on the teachers lap!! Happyday #5’

‘The birds are chirping this morning in the garden and I can see Elise putting out some birdseed for them. The weather is beautiful. Happyday #13’

Jinki quickly picked up that this was a jar labelled with one thing each day that made Kibum happy. He didn’t know why Kibum had left it for him to find, or what he even had to do with it, but he felt his face smiling as he read one after the other.

‘I scared Jinki away today, that should be a bad thing, but his flustered face was just too CUTE! Happyday #24 :)’

‘I kissed him today and I felt butterflies in my stomach. Happyday #29’

‘Jinki kissed ME today, just on the cheek. It was amazing. Happyday #37’

‘I realised I am in love. Happyday #42’

‘He said he loves me!!!!!! :D!!! Happyday #72’

‘His parents are so amazing, just like he is. Happyday #77’

Jinki’s eyes were streaming as each of their beautiful memories were captured in the small squares of folded paper. Each one was always signed the same but the memories in them were unique. They began with small notes about the weather, good exam grades, Jonghyun, Taemin and Woohyun. Jinki quickly noticed though that as the papers went along, his name was mentioned more and more. Even when he didn’t write ‘Jinx’ or ‘Jinki’ or ‘Onew’ … he knew Kibum was writing about him. His cheeks hurt from smiling and his heart ached from longing. He wanted to go back to these moments and re-live them all over again. The small things that Jinki thought didn’t matter had made it into Kibum’s notes. Simple glances and kind gestures. The big things to the small things, everything was in there – noted in day by day. It was like a book of memories and Jinki cherished every piece of paper as if they were Kibum’s heart itself.

‘We did it… made love, for the first time. Jinki was so kind and loving… it was worth the wait. I love him so much. Happyday #84’

Jinki was bawling now, his face buried in his pillow as his hands gripped it tightly on either side of his head. His nose was running and he was trying not to get any tears on the papers.
Finally he calmed down and he reached the blue box that had fallen out instantly the moment he had tipped up the jar.

He unravelled the blue paper from around the outside and his breath caught in his throat as he looked down at the small jewellery box. With still trembling hands, he opened it to gaze upon a bright, sparkling, white gold ring. It looked familiar and he recognised it as the one he had seen hanging around Kibum’s neck that day at the office. It was plain and simple, and as he held it up to the light, he noticed a small inscribing:

‘LJK & KKB #100’

Along with the ring was one more small square paper.

‘Jinki – Keep this ring as a promise. A promise that no matter what happens or what may come our way. I love you. No matter what I say or what I do.
All my love,
Kibummie.’

Jinki was floored…now it all made sense. Kibum had been purposely playing with the ring in front of him that day in the office. It was his way of telling Jinki that he didn’t mean anything he was saying.

‘Stupid Jinki!!’ he thought to himself. ‘I should have found this jar weeks ago, then I would have understood him.’ He sighed. At least his heart wasn’t in pain anymore. He needed to find Jonghyun though, and fast.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kibum weaved through the bustling hallways with folders clutched to his chest. He finally reached his office and placed the folders quickly into his briefcase. He hastily fastened the case and then set off in the direction of the lift. He grabbed a document from the printer quickly and swiftly placed it on his father’s secretary’s desk. He gained her attention and asked if there had been any changes to his father’s schedule. She promptly checked her planner and saw atop it, the document that Kibum had just placed there.

“Oh! How did I miss this? It seems that the meeting with Song Corporations has been moved to tomorrow, could you inform your father please?” She asked sweetly.

“Ah, my apologies but I have an urgent errand to run for my father, can you please notify him yourself?” Kibum spoke quickly and didn’t wait for an answer as he ran to catch the lift.

Once inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. So far, everything was going to plan and it seemed that his father was non the wiser.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

“Hey Kibummie” Jonghyun spoke as the boy opened the door. He was shocked to see his best friend sitting in the back of the black BMW but he jumped in the car quickly.

“Jjong! What on earth are you doing here?” Kibum asked.

“I’m coming with you. I have my charms too you know.” Jonghyun winked.

“Seriously Jjong, you have done enough. I don’t want you getting in even more trouble. If these people don’t sway to our side and they recognise you as Mr Kim’s son… your father’s job could be in danger… and so could you.” Kibum spoke incredulously.

“You know how stubborn I am Kibum so save your