No matter how late Jonghyun woke up, he always felt tired. It was insomnia, he knew that, he wasn’t sleeping well or constantly even when he did have all the hours he should have of sleep. So there he was, making his cheap coffee, staring at a wall while doing so, thinking about nothing due to sleep deprivation. One hand was pouring hot water into a coffee filter and the other was at his side dangling limply. He stood like this for a while, then without thought stopped pouring. It was always the same routine, so it became subconscious. His roommates were asleep, even though it was around 11:00 already. He spun around and put the kettle back on the stove, then before he could take a sip of his coffee his phone rang, a loud standard tone, echoing through the thin walls of the apartment. He heard one of his roommates, probably Soojung, groan loudly from their room in response to the noise. Jonghyun woke up a little at this, scrambling to pick it up before one of his roommates got mad at him.
    
“H-hello,” Jonghyun barked out, still in a bit of a surprised panic. A familiar voice sounded brightly from the other end of the line, with no sleep at all in their voice.

“Hellooooooo! You free today? I am for once, which is rare when you’re someone as broke as me, has as many roommates as me, and has two jobs like I do!” The person cackled, then paused as if distracted by something--multitasking, most likely. Jonghyun was already in a state of surprise before he picked up the phone, but now was about three levels deeper in it.

“Kibum? How did you even get my number?” Jonghyun quietly replied, still lost, now tiptoeing over to the door to make his call in the hallway instead.

“Well-- a friend of a friend’s boyfriend’s friend… Long story, but I got it. So? You gonna answer my question Jjong, I have things to do if not.”

    A bit quick to be giving me nicknames… Jonghyun sighed,  a bit exhausted already from the peppiness Kibum radiated. He seemed to be outside too, the bustling sounds of a street or a store obviously in the background.

“Uh, yeah I am. I only have one class today and it’s with you so-- I mean, yeah, but I have work too… The coffee shop on 5th street? That’s where I work, so if you want to meet me there when my shift ends we can--”
“Yep! Okay, what time, Jonghyun,” Kibum continued sounding distracted and busy. Jonghyun wondered how he dealt with such a noisy life, when Jonghyun himself didn’t like even having conflicts with his roommates.

“Around maybe 5:00? I can get you a free drink when we’re closing too, so you don’t have to bring any cash and--”

“Great! See ya,” Kibum ended the call abruptly, leaving Jonghyun to stare at his phone in confusion and shock at what just happened. He bet there was a legitimate reason for Kibum wanting to see him, not just a hanging out kind of thing, though he’d like to think that was why. No, the feline boy was an overachiever, he most likely wanted to talk about the assessment before we got out results. Jonghyun leaned back against the wall, exhaling deeply as if catching his breath. So much was weird and new to him in regards to this class, and he just wanted to take a little bit of time to wrap his head around it all. Of course that’s not how life works, and there are no breaks.
    Jonghyun pried his semi-lifeless body away from the wall and went back inside. He had to get dressed for his job, and pack his things for class, because there wasn’t much of a chance he’d be going home between those two events.

--


Overall, working at a coffee shop wasn’t too shabby of a job. It meant that he could make himself red-eye triple espresso coffees to keep him going most of the day, and it meant he could secretly take as many pastries as he wanted. Of course, there are always things about a job that get a person down, or that are harder for someone than anything else. That thing for Jonghyun was being the  cashier. He was not a people person unless he wanted to be, and greeting countless patrons with all smiles and “yes sir, no ma’am, will that be all?” all the time really was a tiring, draining job for him. The person who usually took that over was a man about his age, maybe a little younger, who had to be almost a foot taller than him. He was all smiles all the time, even off the job, and was apparently a pretty popular sports star across campus. Jonghyun usually mistrusted these kinds of people, and he didn’t even take the time to learn the man’s name. He smiled and greeted and flirted and never looked tired. Jonghyun started to think it was just him who was always tired and moody, because everyone else managed to either be happy, or put on a very convincing mask.
    Thirty minutes before closing time, few customers were around. Just one couple studying vigorously in the back of the cafe, and an older man reading a book and sipping his drink slowly. Jonghyun hoped to god-- if he believed in god-- that the customers would leave so he wouldn’t have to shoo them out. That was always a pain. They typically would get angry with him for “the way he looked at me,” and then ask for a manager, which was the other worker, all smiles and muscles and beautiful dark eyes that pierce into your heart. Kind of like a gigantic puppy that no one can say “no” to.

“Jonghyun, can you pack up without me? I have a class and I gotta go home and get my things for it,” the man said, stripping off his work apron and beginning to untuck his shirt. Jonghyun was always upset when he saw him getting out of uniform for whatever reason because his bodyline was just perfect. Jonghyun hated the feeling of something in between  “wow you’re hot,” and “wow, I wish I was that hot.”

“Yeah, ok,” Jonghyun began stuffing croissants into napkins and then into his bag.

“Thanks man, I owe you,” he replied in his perfect baritone voice with a perfect white-toothed smile before leaving through the front door. As he walked out, another figure walked in, the setting sun shining through the glass at the same time. The figure was Kibum, clad in mostly black; black skinnies, black sweater with grey knit lining, red shirt…

“Why are you staring at me? You said you’d get me a coffee right, get on that instead,” Kibum joked, snapping the older out of the fifth space-out incident of the day. Every time this sort of thing happened, in his head, he blamed it on being “a writer in training, observing his surroundings.” Recently, he was just beginning to think he was lonely or something along those lines.

“Yeah, okay. No, I’m just always impressed by how well coordinated your outfits always are. It’s impressive, really,” he laughed to himself, before asking Kibum what he wanted and getting to work on that. Kibum went behind the counter and sat on one of the stools kept in case of slow business, so that him or the other worker didn’t need to stand for hours.

“So, what do you think you got on the assessment yesterday? Or-- more importantly, who do you think did it?” Kibum grinned. How could he be this excited all the time?

“I said that the boyfriend did it. It’s always the boyfriend.”

“Same here.”

“Drowning?”

“Drowning.”

Kibum laughed again, taking a small scone from the pastry case and stuffing it in his bag. Jonghyun was somewhat relieved at the similarity in that small movement.

“I guess if we fail miserably, we fail miserably together then, right?”

Jonghyun smiled at that, down at the espresso machine. He finished up and stuck a lid on the cup, as well as a cardboard cup-holder. Finally, he handed it over, not really thinking about the gesture much until his hand brushed against Kibum’s, which were slender and significantly colder than his. With that he looked up, not really knowing what to think when their eyes met. After a moment Kibum pulled back though, and the action was over with and forgotten.
    Kibum leaned back on the stool, putting his feet on the bar in the middle of the stool and rocking it back until his back touched the wall. He took a sip of his drink and sighed quietly in satisfaction.

“Kibum,” Jonghyun started, beginning to wash utensils, “why did you call me today? I mean, not that I don’t want you here, I’m just– you know, wondering.”

Kibum chuckled, “Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“Honestly I wanted a ride to class, and free coffee sounded fantastic because of my lack of cash… But also, I mean, you seem cool so there’s also that. I don’t really know anyone in the class.” Kibum smiled, his bangs brushing close to his eyes as his head moved to the side.

“That’s pretty legit to me. My car’s pretty crappy though so–”

“Crappy ride is better than no ride, my friend.”

“Point taken.” They both laughed again, going into a comfortable silence afterwards, though Jonghyun’s head was still somewhat scrambled. Jonghyun put away the washed utensils and began wiping off the counters behind the register, then asked another question.

“So are you from here? Dumb question but I need to ask something, right?”

“No, I’m from Daegu. My parents and I aren’t on great terms so I wanted to go to the school farthest away from them as possible,” he gave a hollow laugh, “but I mean, everything’s okay more or less. My mom’s alright, my dad is… Scary, but that’s not something I’m going to talk about now.” Kibum gave another hollow, empty laugh. Jonghyun’s breath hitched in regret of asking that question.

“Ah– Yeah I should have noticed you were from Daegu because of your accent… But if it means anything I know a thing or two about scary, deadbeat dads too so you’re not alone on that one.” Jonghyun smiled as comfortingly as possible before turning away again to continue cleaning up. Though, he was about done now, and somewhat regretted bringing up another deep topic before leaving.

“It’s fine, I’m… getting by and that’s good enough.” Kibum didnt take the effort to laugh this time, just looked blankly at his Doc Martens. Jonghyun didn’t want to ask how he could afford Doc Martens and not a cup of coffee.

“Well good, and I’m pretty broke too but I’m here whenever, even though we just met and all.” Jonghyun smiled, taking off his apron and watching as Kibum’s eyes trailed up his shirt nonchalantly. He seemed in quite a daze, either that or he was checking him out. Jonghyun felt dizzy. He fixed his dark brown hair and pulled on his shirt so that it wasn’t ruffled and picked up his bag, and by then Kibum was responding by picking up his own somewhat-expensive looking coach bag.

    When Jonghyun said his ride was crappy he really meant it. The thing was a 1968 Plymouth that would look classy if it wasn’t so worn down. The seats were beat up and the car needed a completely new paint job, but Jonghyun never got around to it or had the cash. He was just glad he had a car. Keeping up with repairs was tricky, seeing as the car was so old, but he managed to find time on weekends. Even though it was old and rusty, he was attached to it– his mother and sister put together enough money to buy it for him when he was 18, because they knew he’d need it for college. It was the most important, touching gift in his eyes, and he was determined to make it work.

    Kibum on the other hand looked at it with disdain. It was ugly, and Kibum did not favor ugly things. Jonghyun found some humor in watching Kibum look at it and try to hide his unfavor of it.

“Come on, it’s not that bad.”

“Jonghyun, I love classic cars, classic outfits, the whole American 60’s thing but… That’s so…” Kibum trailed off, darting a finger across chipped paint.

“Well, I work at a coffee shop. I don’t know what your job is, but if it pays more feel free to lend me some cash to fix ‘er up.” Kibum laughed loudly but said nothing about his income or line of work, as usual. Jonghyun didn’t want to mention how mysterious he was being about his daily life. He rolled his eyes when there was no response and got into the driver’s seat, starting the car with a few coughing, spluttering noises coming from the engine. Kibum slid cautiously beside him in the passenger’s seat, clutching his mint green bag.

-


Thirty minutes into class and the teacher still hadn’t said a word. Jonghyun chatted with Kibum and Kibum showed him a few of his design projects, some of which were used in his theatre classes, conveniently. Students were talking in the lecture hall, and nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, yet Jonghyun could feel the uneasiness of the entire class at the new assignment and who might become the elite five.

When her voice finally did sound, she told the class to quiet down, then she’d go over the results. Kibum put his hand up to his mouth, as if going to bite his nails, but then stopping in the realization that he didn’t want to damage them. Jonghyun was anxious, sure, but not nearly as much as Kibum looked like he was. Tension was thick in the air, and no one made a sound in the crowd. Jonghyun moved up in his seat, putting his elbows on the desk and folding his arms in front of him.

“I assessed everyone and the results are all in. They were all pretty scattered, but that makes sense to me seeing as it’s only the second day and most of you are new to deduction and law. But, nonetheless, I still have my aces.” The teacher pushed up her glasses, and looked down at her documents before continuing.
“I’m not going to waste your time today with full evaluations and scoring, and after I announce the selections I will let the rest of you leave early. The few i’ve selected will report to me after class, and I’ll give out the first case file. The five will be able to talk amongst themselves about when to meet for the case, and etcetera. Now here we go.” She looked up, a knowing smile on her face. That was less relieving and more stressful, in Jonghyun’s mind.

“From last to first, I’ll begin. Fifth recruit, with about 93% accuracy,” the teacher looked out across the students, gaze as sharp as a knife.

“Jonghyun, Kim.”

    Kibum beamed grabbing both Jonghyun’s hands and squeezing them tightly in excitement. Fifth place out of about sixty students? That was more than good enough for him. Jonghyun smiled as well, looking at his newfound friend in extreme surprise and joy. His smile faded as he heard the teacher begin to speak again and his eyes went wide in anticipation.

“Fourth recruit, with approximately 94% accuracy,” She turned to another part of the audience, and Jonghyun felt the tightness of Kibum’s hands dwindle a bit.

“Minho, Choi.”

    The brunette turned to the part of the audience everyone had their focus on and looked for the person called. His eyes grew wider in surprise; it was the guy that worked on his shift with him at the coffee shop. He didn’t even notice the man– or, Minho as he now knew– was in his class. Then again, about sixty students were in the seats in the lecture hall and Jonghyun couldn’t study all of them. As much as Jonghyun didn’t like to automatically stereotype people, Minho seemed like the kind of person to be more athletic than thoughtful, but apparently he was the full package. Whatever girl he’s with must be lucky.

“Third recruit with a solid 97%,” the teacher went on, still not focusing on Jonghyun and Kibum’s section of the hall.

“Taemin, Lee.”

    That was the smug looking pretty boy Jonghyun saw after he was assessed. The smugness must have been for good reasons, because he had a huge 97 percent. His hair was long and looked soft, which was the first thing Jonghyun could see when he looked over for a second glance. It was brown and past his shoulders, but not to his elbows. His eyes were big and pretty, and his lips were full and basically perfect. At this point Jonghyun was curious whether or not he thought everyone was gorgeous, or he just happened to be around very beautiful people. He considered himself dull and kind of short, personally.
    Kibum’s hand felt colder than before and his eyes were cast downwards towards the desk now. It was obvious that he was losing hope, as there were only two more people left. Jonghyun noticed their hands still together, just one instead of both, but together nonetheless, and he clutched on to his hand a little bit tighter to try to comfort him in some way.

“Second recruit, bringing in a 98%,” he heard the teacher begin after the class quieted a bit,

“Kibum, Kim.”

    Kibum’s head darted up, making his blonde bangs swish across his face. Jonghyun heard him mumble “98 percent…” a few times before Kibum said anything actually to him or made any movement at all. He eventually grew a grin and spoke.

“We’re both in, what are the odds?” Kibum beamed at the brunette, not paying attention to his hand still holding on to Jonghyun’s somewhat tightly.

“Finally, our first recruit, who must be a genius because of their 100% accuracy without asking any case questions.”

    The pair of them zeroed in on the instructor’s voice now, because one hundred percent seemed impossible. The teacher turned to a part of the room, and in a twist of events began to walk towards the very back of the room. Eventually she walked towards a seat with a guy sitting in it alone, with no one in the seats beside him. His eyes were very crescent shaped, and he wore the most unflattering, yet comfortable looking hoodie Jonghyun had ever seen. His brown hair was somewhat long, almost like a bob, just barely above his shoulders. He seemed unphased by this whole event, and smiled when the teacher held out her hand to shake, and he complied.
    Jonghyun thought about the possibility of one hundred percent. It really did seem impossible, and by the look of the guy, with no text books or bag in sight, he seemed kind of like the person to steal a test to get the top grade. But then again, would a slacker really want to be part of the elite and just work harder? Jonghyun’s head raced. He had to be a genius, or a mastermind, and any work with him in the future Jonghyun decided must be careful, because any slip up could be used against him. He didn’t know what the man was like, or if he really was a fraud after all but the idea of getting a complete ace scared the living daylights out of the brunette who had scraped his way up just to go to college in general. He’d have to remember the name if he wanted to get out of this assignment in one piece, he thought.

“Jinki, Lee.”







AN

hello it is me! and i havent updated in 700000000 years so like Sorry omg..... . . . . . hahgfhgfjj i hav been busy also not inspired 2 write but I AM BACK NOW SO I MEAN HABAHGAH
so like yeah heres this im sorry if its ty i literally like never edit my stuff so idk WHAT  could be in there that i glossed over but just..........yeah 
i hope thsi is GOOD ENOugh because its 3AM AND I NEED TO GET UP AT LIKE 9 TO CATCH A FLIGHT TOMORWO so HAGAHHAHAHAHAAHA
sorry there was no or anythign (hahsfahha believe ME i want to but family keeps lurking not to mention thats not the point im at in the fic yet but i might write some oneshots for either 2min or jongkey idk u can leave me a suggestion for something to write in the comments if u want to i'll be hapPY TO DO IT) also i really like writing jonghyun just rly in love with like every boy in the world bc he has so much love 2 give and he jsut thinks everyone is very pretty ok i mean sure it could foreshadow stuff maybe but i mean also jonghyun just Loves People and boys especially ok thanks
good NIGHT thank you for READING please COMMENT and all that jazz thank u alot seriously the only reason i even thought about updating was 
the fact i was getting new subscribers and i was like yoo  oo oo oo o o o o o o i dont want to be a and not update bc i know how terrible uncontinued fics r
(coughs at myself cliQUE coughs) so yeah! here is! this thing! 

please comment like Please it brings me life so dont be shy because im a LOSER and whatever u got for me i will take thank u goodnight


ps: wow. so mysterious kibum. what is he up to. what does he do. u will find out stay tuned


-ki