A/N: Well it’s finally here, (the 6k monster) after a long wait. –sorry guys- anyway I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!

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After spending a moment longer in the garden just holding Onew, Key realised he wasn’t really in the mood for a party anymore. Honestly speaking his emotions were a bit of a mess and he was still crazy frustrated after what Jinki had started and not finished. He didn’t feel like yelling at the older boy, or telling him he was in denial. He had no right to talk about denying your feelings for someone, after all, he had liked Jinki more than just a friend or a hook up from day one and he would only admit it now that his feelings were too strong to ignore. Also, he knew the struggle and difficulty he had to overcome about being gay.
 

People always say that coming out is extremely difficult because you are worried how people will react but actually that isn’t the most difficult part, or at least it wasn’t for Key. No, he remembered the endless nights, days, hours and minutes which he spent contemplating what being attracted to another man meant. Was he gay? Did he just appreciate attractive people? If he was gay how was he supposed to accept that? Was he biual instead? There were so many questions that he was battling with and he couldn’t find an answer by himself. Eventually he had confided in Jonghyun about what he was feeling and slowly but surely he began to accept it within himself and experiment to work out his feelings.

Honestly speaking, telling his parents wasn’t a big deal for him because he knew that no matter what happened or how they felt, it wouldn’t change anything anyway so he would just have to deal with it if they disliked it. Lucky for Key, his parents didn’t really care about his ual orientation as long as it didn’t affect his future in running his father’s business one day. Unluckily for him though was that his parents didn’t care about much else in his life either. They never came to his dance rehearsals in primary school, never attended any of his plays and never showed any interest in his basketball team in high school either. No, all his parents cared about was that he was passing his business finance and English classes. They were never home to spend quality time together. If they were home, they would be locked in their separate offices. On occasion they would have a family dinner which consisted of his mother and father talking about business and asking Key about his grades in his business classes. The only time they showed him any affection was when they had a big corporate party to hold or attend and Key had no choice but to go too, they would big him up and act the part of concerned and proud parents. His mother would kiss him on the head and hug him close to her as they chatted with other big and important families, and although he should have hated it since he knew it was just for show, he had no choice but to indulge and take whatever he could get because he actually liked to feel that his parents loved him as a person and not as a business machine.

Anyway I digress; the bottom line is that he could fully understand why Jinki would be denying his feelings or whatever this was between them because he had done it himself. Putting his own hurt feelings aside he decided to do as Jinki wished and go back to being friends, no matter how much that might hurt even more in the long run.

“Listen, it’s cold and I think we’re both pretty drunk… shall we call it a night and head home?” Key suggested.
Jinki just raised his head from the younger boy’s shoulder and smiled a little as he nodded.

Nothing else was said as they walked into the house to bid goodbye to Taemin, Minho and Jonghyun; though that wasn’t what actually happened. The three had told them to stay, just another fifteen minutes and both boys had felt obliged to agree, especially since Jonghyun seemed intent on engaging Onew in discussion and finding out more about the older boy. Jinki was too polite to turn Jonghyun and his friendliness away but none the less, Key was really not in the mood and so he stayed close to Onew’s side. He was waiting for a good opportunity to interject and insist that they really needed to get home. Jonghyun however was currently drinking shots and all but ignoring Key’s protests as he offered the oldest boy more and more shots. One after the other and after a few, Kibum could see that Jinki was becoming more and more lost in the alcohol and at this rate he would never leave.

“Listen Jjong, we REALLY have to go. You can come too if you like, but I think Jinki needs to go home.” Key said to his best friend.

“Awww c’mon Bummie, Jinks is a big boy, he can take care of himself.” Jonghyun responded with confusion at why Key was so protective of the boy.

“Actually he can’t, he doesn’t normally drink at all and now he is wasted. I think it’s better if I just take him home. His parent’s won’t be happy if he goes missing or something.” Kibum now snapped slightly at Jonghyun.

“Oh… well, alright. C’mon Onew … I think you and Key should get going.” Jonghyun said to the older boy and he gave a small smile to Key as if to apologize. Actually, Jonghyun had no idea about Onew’s mental state or where his alcohol limit was and he guessed that if Key was getting snappy with him then Kibum must have a pretty good idea.

“Alright…byeeeee Jjonggie!” Jinki slurred as he patted Jonghyun on the shoulder before being dragged by Key over to the coat closet; grabbing their jackets and heading for the front door. Key felt like he should have said goodbye to Junho or something since it was his party, but he couldn’t find him anywhere.

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Once they reached the pavement outside it didn’t feel as cold as it did before but Key guessed that was probably a combination of the alcohol in his system and that he was now wearing a jacket. He looked over to see Jinki stumbling like the buffoon he secretly is and linked their arms together to try and steady them. It wasn’t the best plan as he felt the older boy almost drag him down to the floor a couple of times when he stumbled, but Onew hadn’t face planted into the concrete floor yet so he figured that was a good sign. They boarded the bus with great difficulty and Key paid for both of them since Onew was in no state to try and find his wallet or anything. The younger boy was a little drunk but it seemed that in comparison to Jinki he might as well have been sober. He didn’t know exactly how much the older boy had drank, but he assumed it to be a lot – or that Jinki was just a lightweight. They alighted from the bus when they reached the bottom of Key’s street and Key asked.

“Where do you live Onew?”

“uhhhmmm….” Was the only answer that the older boy offered and Key sighed again.

“C’mon, show me where you live because I need to walk you home.” He said.

“I can walk home by myself, I’m not a baby Kibum.” Jinki said, but slurred his words together as he did, which meant the whole sentence lost any impact it was intended to have.

“Right… so just tell me where you live and then I’ll let you walk back to your house.” Key said with a raised eyebrow, it was actually quite funny to see the geeky and quiet Onew suddenly so out of sorts.

“I umm…I live…” the older boy stopped to take a glance around the street even though his vision was spinning and he couldn’t tell the trees from the sky. “Over there… that’s my house there.” He finished as he pointed over at the street corner.

“Right… that’s a rubbish bin. You clearly don’t know how to get home right now. Do you want to just stay at my place?” Key asked.

“What about your mum…will she…” and Onew stumbled and apparently forgot to even finish his sentence. The younger boy was clearly starting to lose his patience with Jinki but none the less, he answered the unfinished question.

“My parents are on a business trip but they wouldn’t care anyway, so are you coming or would you rather sleep in the rubbish bin tonight?” Key said with a quirked eyebrow and a roll of his eyes.

“Uhhh…okay.” Jinki offered as a response.

“I’ll take that as your coming with me. Now c’mon it’s only five minutes from here.” Key answered and linked his arms with the older boy once again.
After around twenty minutes they had successfully made it up to Key’s room. Onew kept stopping to say some nonsense on the way back and he kept tripping up the stairs from the foyer to the hallway.

“Oh! I jusss relissd smthingg!” Jinki said as he scared the living daylights out of Key with his suddenly loud voice. Key was rummaging through his dresser to find some clothes for Onew to sleep in.

“Oh my god! Keep your voice down old man! You scared me less!” Key said “What did you even say? It made no sense.” The younger and now irritated boy asked.

“I need to call my Mum…tell her I won’t come back.” Jinki said as he fumbled for his phone in his pocket, trying to see the numbers as they scattered themselves across his screen. The letter H was chasing the zero around and it almost caught it before the rest of the alphabet zoomed in to save it and – “hey!” Onew screeched as he saw the device vanish from his hands and it was suddenly in Key’s hand.

“Should I call your house or her mobile?” Key asked Onew – it was obvious that the older boy was in no state to call his mother when he couldn’t even find where the correct buttons were in his phone.

“No…I…I’ll call. She…you…doesn’t know you.” Jinki said as the room span triple the speed of before and he found himself needing to sit down on the bed. Admitting defeat he finally answered.
“House” and lay down facing the white ceiling and wishing the world would just stop spinning, for just a minute, so he could gain his balance again.

“Hello Mrs Lee? This is Jinki’s friend Kibum. He is going to stay at my house tonight so he won’t be home.” Jinki heard Key speaking into the receiver.

“Ah yeah he is. Oh … you’re welcome. Okay I will tell him… thanks. You too…goodbye.” Kibum hung up the phone and Jinki asked.

“Did she know I’m drunk? Tell me what?” Lying on the bed was helping a little and Onew’s foggy mind was clearing a little bit now.

“Yes… and she said to make sure you come back for at least 7pm tomorrow, something about your sister’s presentation.” Key said.

“erugghhhhhdhfbd!” Onew just let out a frustrated groan before he felt two hands in his own; slowly lifting him into a sitting position.

“C’mon… let’s get washed up and head to bed.” Key said and Jinki no longer protested, the thought of sleep was very inviting right now.
Eventually Key managed to get them both ready for bed and it took all of his self-restraint to not peek at the older boy whilst he was changing his clothes. He was sure Jinki had a solid and nice body, he could feel it earlier in the garden. Shaking his head he dismissed his thoughts and waited in the bed for Onew to come out of the bathroom. Finally Jinki appeared wearing Key’s grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt and stumbled back into the bedroom before stopping at the edge of the bed.

“Uhmmm… is it okay for me to sleep here?” Jinki said… “I can crash on the floor” and that hurt Key a little because he felt like Onew just didn’t want to be near him.

“It’s up to you, but I don’t have any spare covers in here so you can either be warm in here or cold on the floor.” Key said before he turned away to face the wall. After a minute he felt the bed dip as Jinki slid in at the side of him and the younger felt his body tense despite telling himself that they were just friends and just sleeping in the same bed. Finally he decided to turn over and look at the older boy.

“Goodnight, if you need anything, just wake me up okay?” Kibum said as he leaned across Onew’s body to turn off the bedside lamp.

“Night Kibum, thanks.” And the room fell into darkness as both boys tried to find some sleep.

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A few hours later and Key was fuming mad in his head. It turns out sleeping in the same bed as Jinki was not an easy feat. Not because of the constant electricity he felt when their skin touched or because of the small noises coming from Onew no – it was because the god damn old man couldn’t keep still for the life of him. Jinki was tossing and turning on the bed every fifteen minutes or so and each time he turned he would yank the covers with him which would wake Key up.

He finally thought – for the millionth time that night – that Onew had stopped moving and he was just falling into a soft slumber when… BANG! Key sat upright in his bed, the covers nowhere to be seen and when he turned his head to the side, neither was Jinki. Kibum slowly peered over the edge of the bed to see a dazed and blinking Onew looking back up at him. Then the younger boy let out a small chuckle which turned into a loud and full body laugh as he kept looking at the older boy’s baffled face on the floor.

“Ouch! It’s not funny Kibum!” Jinki retorted but the younger boy couldn’t stifle his laugh if he tried.

“I’m sorry Jinki but it REALLY is!” Key chuckled some more and as he saw the older boy stand up from the floor with difficulty, he clutched his sides as the laughing became stronger.

“Well, since you can’t seem to stop laughing…” Jinki said and trailed off as Key felt stubby fingers moving over the bottom of his feet; making him cry out and laugh even harder.

“Ahhhh! Do…do…don’t tickle me.” Key breathed out between laughs as Onew had moved over to tickle his stomach and sides.

“P…please…st…st…stop…Jinki” Key wriggled around the bed, the older boy was now hovering over him with a smile as he responded.

“Say sorry and I’ll stop.” Onew said.

“F…fine…I’m…so…sorry…J..Jinki.” Key said, his face was now hurting from smiling so much and he couldn’t catch his breath as he began panting and trying to move away from Onew’s fidgeting fingers.

Suddenly the torturous feeling had stopped and Key lay there panting for breath and staring at Onew’s smug expression above him. The minutes stretched on however and so did the silence until it eventually became a little awkward.

“Ummm…you can get off me now Onew… if you want.” Kibum said trying to sound cocky and smart but coming out breathless and still weak as he looked from Jinki’s eyes to the ceiling above him. He wanted to tell the older boy not to move, to just let him have this moment for a little while longer but after promisi