So far things were as normal as they got.

    Kibum ran into Jonghyun on the street while walking to the cafe and didn’t acknowledge the tension from the night before. He spoke and laughed as if nothing odd ever happened, and Jonghyun thanked the heavens for that. They walked together for a block and then made it to the coffee shop. Jonghyun suggested getting two coffees while Kibum found a table. For the most part, things were back to the way they were before– the bubble of perfect, early friendship bliss.
    Except it wasn’t perfect, and Jonghyun could swear he was rotting on the inside. Every time they spoke, Kibum made some kind of physical contact with him; a hand on his shoulder, a slap on the arm after a bad joke. It was driving Jonghyun up the damn wall. Whenever Kibum touched him, he would freeze or fidget and the worst part of all was that he couldn’t solve this issue. Either he endured it and ended up in a state of romantic anxiety, or asked him to back off and well, that was the last thing he’d want to do for multiple reasons. There was no escape.
    To add to Jonghyun’s burdens, Kibum looked amazing today. Not that he didn’t typically look amazing, but he appeared more rested than usual, and he was completely dressed out. His hair was curled into waves and the dark, shaven part was more visible, creating a wonderful contrast. He wore dark, somewhat circular sunglasses, and a few black stud earrings per ear. His outfit was simple but more elegant than anything Jonghyun had seen him wear before; dark maroon jeans that were tight enough to look painted onto his legs, a white button up shirt, and a long, cascading black garment that was something between a jacket and a sweater. The work that the man put into his outfit really astonished him. Jonghyun considered himself more of a person who saw the big picture – the forest before the trees – but Kibum was very different. He analyzed and made very particular decisions. He noticed the small things, like the aesthetics of his outfits, and it made him clever and a stellar student. He didn’t notice bigger things, or many things put together to make a bigger picture, like say, Jonghyun’s longing stares at him, jumpy reactions to contact, and overall lovey-dovey awkwardness.

Jonghyun took a breath, glancing down at his phone while he was in line for coffee. Kibum had told him to just get a regular coffee with, “like a billion cups of cream,” and he knew that truly that wasn’t what he wanted to order, but he didn’t want to ask for anything too expensive from Jonghyun. It was a sweet gesture, but it made him a little concerned for Kibum and how he persisted in avoiding help from him.

“Jjong, that you sulking over there?” a mellow voice called from behind him. Jonghyun turned and saw that it was Jinki, who must have just arrived.

    “Yeah, it’s me, but do I look like I’m sulking?” Jonghyun half-joked, now almost to the register.
 

“Maybe not, but you definitely seemed to be thinking really hard about something. You gotta convert all of that deep thought to this case soon, so keep that in mind. Anyways, where are the others sitting?” Jinki ran a hand through his hair, a tinge of social anxiety showing through his movements and words. He always wore a big, dull sweatshirt. Jonghyun didn’t want to admit it, but he wondered what he was hiding under that thing; he could be totally ripped, who knew.

    “I think it’s just me and Kibum right now, and he’s at the outside tables to the left. If I see anyone else walk in, I’ll direct them over, so don’t worry about that. I’ll be out in a sec.” Jonghyun smiled and the older boy smiled back. His smile was very warm and understanding, and it made his already-crescent eyes close almost completely. Jonghyun was growing to like this happy eyesmile, even if behind his eyes he seemed like a much darker and more complex person.

Jonghyun proceeded to order his drinks and pay, ever-grateful for student discounts. He forgot to ask Jinki for anything, and wondered if he should get something simple for him, but then lost focus as he noticed his coworker walking in the glass doors, apparently not seeing the two already sitting outside. He skipped the conversation this time, just pointing to his two classmates through the window. Minho looked a little lost for a few moments, but then he looked over and got it. At that point he noticed that Taemin had already seen Jinki and Kibum outside, had sat down with them, and had started talking to them. That kid really was astute, and yet acted so clueless and optimistic; it was kind of scary. Eventually he made his way back to the table and sat down with the rest of them. He assumed he didn’t miss much because all they seemed to be discussing was which place was the cheapest to buy ramen. Through this conversation, he slipped Kibum his coffee, and he gave a small smile in response before going back to his stance on “that kind of ramen that comes in a little bowl.” The group had an odd dynamic. There were ties that Jonghyun couldn’t guess between the students; Kibum’s strange grudge towards Minho, Taemin’s weird cold shoulder vibe towards Minho, Jinki’s isolation towards everyone in a sense, and he could imagine that he himself gave off a weird vibe toward everyone else. He decided he’d figure it all out in time, but for now it was a very interesting thing to observe

Jinki quieted everyone so he could explain the case, and put on a pair of large circular glasses he was keeping in his jacket pocket. Jonghyun fidgeted with his straw, and he could tell everyone else seemed to be on the edge of their seats. The worst part of it all was the fact that it was impossible to tell Jinki’s opinion on the matter due to his face being completely unreadable.

    “The case is a double homicide dealing with two well-off business people. They knew each other personally due to the fact that their businesses were often in competition. One night, the man who was killed, Oh Minhyun, called a meeting with the second victim, Park Jungah. Eyewitnesses, mostly co-workers of the two, say that the meeting had been planned for a while due to a deal Mr. Oh was making with Mrs. Park. This meeting was made to seal the deal and finalize the finances involved. It took place in Mr. Oh’s meeting hall. No one attended this meeting but Park and Oh, and eyewitnesses say that it ended somewhere between 8:30pm and 9:00pm that night. The next morning both were found dead; Oh in his office at work, and Park in an alley a few blocks from the establishment.”

    Jinki shuffled his papers to find the next document. He seemed very thorough in his planning, but not incredibly organized. A few moments passed and he began reading his documents again, pushing up his oversized glasses a bit shakily.

“We don’t have DNA files yet, so we don’t know about fingerprints or any other forensic evidence that may help us, but the teacher wrote that she’ll have it in a day or two. I don’t have a car, so honestly I don’t want to pick it up. Can someone else get it? Address is on the back of this sheet.”

Just as Jonghyun opened his mouth to volunteer, Minho’s voice sounded out ahead of him, and he took the sheet. Jonghyun wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or annoyed, but he said nothing and continued to listen.

    “Alright, so there’s alot more data to assess than what I just told you, so we’ll have to meet up at some point to read and look for things that went unnoticed. I guess we can individual sections later, but for now I’ve got copies of the case file for everyone, and I know that the interviews with suspects and witnesses start on Tuesday.”

    Tuesday? Really that soon? And didn’t Jinki mention on Friday that most interviews took place pretty early in the day? Did this teacher enjoy watching students struggle? He had other classes to attend to, and this wasn’t even his major. Even in his distress, he couldn’t help but to think about poor Kibum, stressed out of his mind with more things to do on top of his other classes and activities. Yet when he looked over, Kibum seemed to be totally collected and ready to handle this somehow. Jonghyun wondered if this was a facade or if he was honestly this dedicated to the class. He sat the way he usually did, poised and royal, and looked ready to take on anything. When Kibum looked back at him, Jonghyun almost jumped in his seat out of surprise and mortification to be caught staring again. He really needed to work on that. Kibum just smiled and turned back to face whoever was talking at the moment (at this point Jonghyun had lost all focus on the case.) As soon as that embarrassment ended, another began as he looked over to see who was talking to find that Taemin was looking at him with a catty, suspicious expression pasted on his face. They stared off for a good thirty seconds before Taemin re-joined the conversation.

“Jinki; Jonghyun and I are gonna go get some pastries from the shop real quick, cool?” Taemin calmly interrupted, a eating smile on his face. Jonghyun could swear his eyes were twice their usual size. The kid barely knew him, so what could he want?

“Yeah, hurry up though,” Jinki waved his hand dismissively.

    Taemin rose, his low bun swaying a bit due to his eagerness to get up. Taemin really was pretty. Even without makeup, he had naturally pretty skin and long perfect hair and perfect body proportions. It was almost annoying. The younger boy dragged Jonghyun by the wrist through the doors of the shop and then further to a spot near the back before looking him in the eye. He raised an eyebrow and scanned Jonghyun’s face, which displayed pure confusion and twitched a bit more than it should have.

“What the hell is up with you and the blond guy?”

    “What?”

    “You heard me.”

Jonghyun was relieved that this wasn’t in fact a totally creepy question, but wasn’t sure how to answer it. He had a few questions himself for the boy staring into his face as if blinking was a crime.

“I really do not know how to answer that.”

    “Mhm, alright well let’s get down to business then.” The boy moved a piece of hair from his face and continued. “That boy must be really damn blind because you’re so obviously into him that it hurts, and he’s not doing anything.”

Taemin seemed honestly concerned as to what was going on and he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it’s just his strange analyze-everything-possible outlook, Jonghyun thought to himself. He was pretty torn between telling this kid what he actually thought on his situation, or just telling him to back off. Seeing as he needed to trust these people, Jonghyun begrudgingly decided the first option.

“I don’t know either, honestly, I get stuck staring at him so often I’d think it would be obvious.”

    “So what’s going on between you two? Like did you date before and now you’re still kind of infatuated, or like is this new and he’s just super blind, or like did your parents murder his parents, or–”

    “Look, Taemin I wasn’t involved in any murders alright, it’s just… Yeah, I guess it’s pretty new and he’s just not confronting or noticing it.” Jonghyun glanced to the side, regretting his decision to be honest.

“That’s really weird to me, I’ve never gone through that honestly, but anyways how long have you been pining? Please don’t say anything over a year, then you’re just sad.”

    This kid is so brutally honest.
 

“No, like a week.”

    “Only?”

    “Since the class began basically, yeah.”

    “Oh,” Taemin went quiet. “Have you slept together?”

    “What?!”

    Honest to god, Jonghyun had barely considered that. Kibum’s part time job tended to get in the way of that idea quite easily.
 

“Do you need me to repeat, Jjong?”

    “No– no, its… No. I’ve barely had time to think about that and I mean with his job and everything it’s just–”

    “Right, okay. I just checked off like all the bases, so that means there’s basically nothing stopping you from just going straight up to him and confronting him about how you feel.”

    Jonghyun felt a little ridiculous getting romantic help from a freshman he’d known for only a few days, let alone a freshman who hadn’t directly spoken to him ever before.

“Nothing stopping me? What about the fear of rejection? Or the awkward period after that? Or the fact I’ve known him for a week? Those are huge things stopping me.”

    “Not really.”

    “Not really?”

    “I mean,” Taemin put on a somewhat frustrated expression and placed one hand at his hip, “weigh out your options. On one side you have the idea that he’ll reject you and hate you forever or something, and the other side you have acceptance and you’ll be able to do whatever cheesy couple things you want to do with him. And I mean– you know he’s gay, you know he at least likes spending time with you… I’d say your shot would be totally worth it.”

Jonghyun took a moment to think about what Taemin had just blurted out. He did have a point, but it was still so premature. Nonetheless, this made him much more optimistic about his situation with Kibum. He sighed and looked back at Taemin, getting a little bit confused as to why he was even so concerned with him in the first place. Jonghyun barely knew the guy, let alone enough to trust him with his precious personal information. Then again his personal information was basically known to anyone who had ever seen him drunk.

“Why do you care so much about my romantic life in the first place?”
 

Taemin froze and this made Jonghyun even more suspicious. This whole time he had been shameless and blunt, but now he was making a face as if he’d been caught in the midst of a crime.
    “I don’t know, it’s just… Similar things happening in my life I guess.” He avoided Jonghyun’s eyes. “It’s not a big deal and it’s too long to explain, so…”

    “Oh don’t you dare, I tell you my drama you gotta cough up yours, it’s only fair.” Jonghyun smiled and crossed his arms, now extremely amused with this conversation.

    “Okay, okay fine, just don’t go blabbing to people, including this group…” Taemin took a deep breath, still looking uncomfortable and above that embarrassed, his boldness suddenly draining once the spotlight was on him.
 

“A year back or so I kind of had a… one night stand with someone… and I’m pretty sure they completely regretted it the next day and disappeared from my life until kind of recently, and now I have to see them sometimes in classes and whatnot and it’s just… You know, I totally think they’re disgusted by me but–I mean I don’t know…”

    Taemin paused, as if wanting to say something more but not figuring out if it was a good move or not to do so. He bit his lip.

    “But what?” Jonghyun pushed, giving the same comforting look he gave to Soojung when she was telling him about a breakup or family issues.

“But, honestly, I guess,” he took a breath, “I guess I still want them.”

The younger boy looked utterly defeated, which wasn’t Jonghyun’s intention when he asked what was up with his questioning. He suddenly felt weighed down with guilt, and didn’t know exactly how to make it up to him other than to give advice. He was older than Taemin was, shouldn’t he be better at this?

    “Honestly, I think you should take your own advice and just confront them straight up. I mean, if they’re already not talking to you what could go wrong? If that takes a while for you to muster up the courage for, then maybe try to be their friend first, and at least talk to them, you know?”

    Taemin looked back to the upperclassman and nodded, acting closer to his own age for once, and taking the advice given gratefully. He smiled for a moment before coming back to his senses and squinting in suspicion.

“So what you’re saying is I’m already ed so whatever?”

“No– wait, no… Well it kinda does sound like that but wait–”

“Calm down you useless weirdo, I was joking. We should go anyways, they’re probably thinking we’re plotting against them or something.”

    Taemin smirked and turned around, strands of his annoyingly perfect long brown hair almost hitting Jonghyun in the face as he did so. He bought a few croissants, waving his hand flippantly when Jonghyun offered to pay part of the bill, then walked out the door to the outside table. As Jonghyun slid back down into his chair, Kibum nudged him to ask what he’d gotten in the shop, and immediately Taemin’s eyes were narrowed and staring directly at him. The knowing eye contact wasn’t noticed, as the group was still talking amongst one another about the class, but nonetheless Jonghyun was at the edge of his seat with anxiety. Finally Taemin gave a smug, stupid wink and stopped watching him. Jonghyun exhaled, noticing he’d been holding his breath for a while; he was about ready to stand up and grab the kid by the collar by the time he stopped looking at him.
    The conversation had moved on now to more personal things; other than the occasional strange past grudges, the group was still pretty new to one another. Jonghyun learned that Jinki was interested more in a vocal career than his actual major, which was very enticing to him because of his own major. Taemin tried to get him to sing, but that just made him shrink back down into his gigantic jacket. Minho continued to try and convince Kibum that he wasn’t actually all that interested in a sports career, but one in acting. This hardly stopped the feline boy from continuing his odd cold shoulder. Jonghyun found their quarrelling pretty amusing, and watched them as if he was on a safari and two animals were fighting over their prey.

    Jonghyun wasn’t sure how to do what Taemin had suggested. When he thought about the words he could conjure to make his confession seem casual yet meaningful, his mind went blank and his inner monologue turned to panicked screaming. All of this had him wondering what was going on in Kibum’s head. He couldn’t figure out what his thinking process was like, other than it being very literal, analytical, and precise. Those were very specific things – the trees but not the forest – so what was the overlying context of his thoughts? Jonghyun couldn’t think of any reason Kibum would want to be around him so often, other than wanting to make friends and be polite. If anything else was there it was completely lost to him. One of the few things he could make out about Kibum’s personality was that he was very good at being discreet– telling the truth, but not the whole truth. Telling the truth, yet leaving out the important, seemingly gruesome details.
    And man was that infuriating, because Kibum showed no sign of being flustered or pining or anything, and yet continued to get close enough to make Jonghyun’s skin crawl. He never asked questions deep enough to put him at risk of showing genuine emotion, but somehow extracted every detail of Jonghyun’s life with ease. It was kind of terrifying, but it was also a shame. Jonghyun wanted to know all there was to know about the mysterious blond boy who had appeared in his life and instantly started tearing down all of his walls in a way that was so pleasant he didn’t even care, or want to care. He really wanted to know that he was okay, that he was happy and if he was in any way interested in Jonghyun. On top of that it was a shame for somewhat more selfish reasons. Jonghyun didn’t just want to know more about his way of thinking and his personality, but his physical features as well. Though Kibum didn’t wear the most prude clothes, there was still so much left to the imagination. Jonghyun kept himself awake at night in a cold sweat thinking about anything from how his back must look when it’s arched and trembling, to things lower than that.

His hips… Didn’t he say something about his hips aching in the last week? He must know how to use them really well because of his job, and the fact he could dance. How would he look using those hips, totally disheveled and clawing at Jonghyun’s back. What would that sound like, and–

    “Jjong, are you okay you look like you’ve seen a ghost, you’re like totally pale.”

    “Wait, what, sorry what’d you say?”
 

    Christ, did he need a sense of self control. He could feel his soul exiting his body for the umteenth time that day.

    “I said, are you okay? You really look like you’re gonna pass out,” Kibum asked, looking genuinely worried that he was getting sick. To Jonghyun’s surprise and relief, the rest of the group was distracted, either talking or getting ready to leave. They hadn’t noticed his spacing out. Jonghyun gave a small, defeated smile, and Kibum returned the favor.

    “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little stressed out I guess… This class really takes a lot of time, doesn’t it…”

    “You have no idea, Jjong,” Kibum half-joked, “Come on, you wanna go study at my place? I’ve got no plans other than finishing a sewing project.”

    Jonghyun felt like a giddy high school girl spending time with her crush, probably with a weird grin on his face and enough enthusiasm to conquer the world. The only thing preventing him from looking too dopey was the ever-lingering watch over him by Taemin on the other side of the table, putting his case file in a small string backpack. Jonghyun was about to start walking somewhere when Minho tapped him on the shoulder and started walking in the same direction with him. Maybe they’d settle whatever weird feud they had after all.
 

“I’m assuming I’m driving, right?”

    “Yes my young cityslicker, for you are like a child to me in the ways of public transportation.” He shrugged an expensive-looking bag onto his shoulder. “I took the bus.”

    “Hm. Alright, that’s fine but I gotta stop at the grocery store on the way back. I told Soojung I’d make pasta tomorrow night for some damn reason… That was a stupid idea…” Jonghyun trailed off suddenly remembering some of his responsibilities, “Oh, and you can’t insult my car anymore. That’s the other rule. Leave her alone, she has done nothing but good for you.”

    Kibum burst out laughing at his comment on the car, going into how he could easily just give it a paintjob himself. Jonghyun continued to argue, waving his hand in Kibum’s face and continuously trying to prove that the car was beautiful just the way it was.

Kibum’s apartment from the outside was dull and painted with cool colors. It was in a middle class part of town, surrounded by a few office buildings and a plaza down the street. Jonghyun examined at the four story building, surprised by its appearance though he wasn’t sure what exactly was so surprising.

    “You’re wondering why someone like me lives in such a ritzy apartment, hm?”

    Jonghyun feared Kibum could read minds. Kibum just laughed and retrieved his keys to unlock the door.

    “She’s probably not home right now, but my roommate’s name is Tiffany and she’s from a really upscale business family. Ya know, the kind that own giant properties in Gangnam… Yeah, well like, I’ve known her for years so she offered me a place to stay and I’ve only gotta pay one third of the rent. It’s really nice, honestly.” Kibum mumbled the last part, as his focus turned to the stubborn lock on his door.

“I have two roommates, you met Soojung, and then there’s Joonyoung who’s kind of ridiculous. It’s pretty nice. I share a room with Soojung and Joonyoung sleeps on the couch.”

Kibum’s hand froze for a moment, before he continued in his attempts to unlock the door.

“Soojung– you sleep together?” Kibum asked casually, finally opening the door and removing his shoes before walking inside.
    “Hm?– No! No no no no, not at all, she’s like my sister… The room has two twin beds, I have one side and she has hers. Besides, I’m not usually that into girls most of the time.”

    Well. I sure said that.

“Oh, alright. Just wondering.” Kibum gave a strange half-smile, then walked off into his kitchen.
 

Jonghyun unlaced his shoes before shutting the door and following him. The place was very neat, organized, and somewhat lifeless. There were no photos of people that he could see– no posters either. The living room was connected to the kitchen, and there was a hallway across from the door that he assumed led to two bedrooms and maybe a bathroom. Though it didn’t look very lived-in, the couch was comfortable and plush, and there were several blankets folded and placed on the back of the L-shaped couch. Jonghyun quickly went for it and hopped onto the side of the couch.

“Weird question, but do you have any extra spaghetti from the store?” Kibum called from the kitchen, looking into his fridge with a puzzled look on his face.

“Mhm, yeah. Why?”

“I was thinking I’d make carbonara. I’ve got everything I need for it ‘cept spaghetti.”

    Jonghyun stood up and walked over to the kitchen, sliding his socks across the polished wooden floor. He was surprised to see that Kibum was already strapping on an apron, which was a little cliche, but he had nothing against it. In fact he thought it was very cute of him– he really could get used to this kind of thing. So… domestic.

Christ that’s sappy.

    Handing Kibum the package, he pulled up a stool from the bar part of the kitchen and watched the younger boy glide around the room grabbing things he needed with precision and setting various things in different places.
 

“I learned to cook from my mom, she’s pretty great,” Kibum said, eyes darting back and forth from Jonghyun to his dishes. “She basically raised me on her own, ‘cause my dad was… is ty.”

“Hm, we’re similar there,” Jonghyun said. Kibum glanced at him in slight surprise. “My dad left the family when I was uh… nine? Nine, I think. He yelled a lot at my mom… Some really insulting that I still remember. So, I know a thing or two about ed-up dads.”

    Kibum smiled at him and then continued his story, one hand stirring a pot and the other waving around as he spoke.

    “My dad’s still with my mom, it’s kind of sad… He beat her and me for a long time. Kind of gives me chills just thinking about it. Can you imagine that? Being six years old when you notice for the first time that your mother is hiding bruises under her makeup and dresses… Man is that tragic– almost more so than when you’re in your teens and you’re in the same situation.”

    Jonghyun kept wishing that Kibum would explain some about his background, but he never expected anything this awful. As much as it made him feel sorry for Kibum, it pissed him off more than anything.

“That’s… Yeah that’s really terrible. Did you ever get help?” Jonghyun asked, making Kibum give a small sigh.

    “That’s what everyone asks… It’s not that easy you know. There’s blackmail and threats and fear that stop a person from escaping abuse. The thing is, that constant hurt became normal and as much as I’d fear him every day, it wasn’t nearly as bad as when I got kicked out in the end.”

If Jonghyun thought Kibum’s life was a mess before, now he was feeling that times one hundred. He almost didn’t want to ask any farther, yet he did.

“Why’d you get kicked out?” Jonghyun asked, concerned.

Kibum scoffed. “I’m gay, I wanted to pursue dance, theatre, or fashion. Do the math.”
 

“Kibum, I know that but like… there had to be a specific event right?”

“Hm.” Kibum trailed off, his eyes looking everywhere but at Jonghyun. “I kind of… did something at school in my senior year that got reported to the principal and then to my father. I was almost suspended, but instead I was kicked out of my house and had to attend a public school for the rest of my time in senior year. “ He stored something in the fridge, then resumed what he was saying.
 

“I lived on the street for two days before moving in with my aunt. It was terrifying. I actually had a broken rib for both of those days… My father doesn’t take stuff like that very well.”

“Like what?”

    “Like what I did at school.”

    “If you don’t mind me asking, what did you do that was so horrible? I’ll let you know that I stole a whole guitar from my school’s band room once. Never returned it. Still have it actually.” Jonghyun tried to stay serious but that was one story that never ceased to crack him up.

“I, well,” Kibum flushed red and attempted to focus on the boiling pasta sauce he was making, “I kind of… in exchange for a weeks worth of worksheet answers gave a guy head in one of the school’s washrooms…”

Jonghyun didn’t know how to feel about that answer. He wasn’t expecting anything like that, and had about fourteen different emotions bouncing around in his head.
 

“Look, yeah, I’m a … But like, I wasn’t passing half my classes at the time, and if I didn’t improve by the end of the quarter I wouldn’t get any scholarships…” Kibum looked like he was melting he was so flushed.

Jonghyun took a deep breath. “I think it was reasonable, but your dad’s not. Everyone does crazy in high school, and your parents are supposed to deal with that, not banish you as if this is still the middle ages. I mean why the would you do that? Throwing away your child as if he’s nothing just for one little mistake they made in desperation? That’s really pathetic…” Jonghyun rambled, not even noticing his fists clenching and unclenching and his voice getting deeper and more deadly serious.

    Kibum laughed. He laughed a good, long time too, his eyes closed and shaped like crescents and his arms crossed over his torso. Now Jonghyun was lost and looking at him like a puppy, his head somewhat cocked to the side and his eyes wide with confusion. Kibum walked towards the bar part of the kitchen and placed his elbows on the opposite side from Jonghyun, looking straight at him with a smile plastered on his face.

“You’re so passionate and angry about my past, and it’s something I’ve never seen before from anyone… You’re so… protective.”

Jonghyun ran a hand through his hair and couldn’t help but smile back at him. Their faces were only a foot apart, and Jonghyun could swear that in one quick movement he could easily close that gap. He remembered what Taemin had told him; he should ask Kibum about he felt, but how would his advice apply if he just spontaneously kissed him? If the mood was right, if it seemed right, should he still do it despite the possible consequences? Taemin never mentioned anything about this– about the unspoken. A few inches and a few seconds was all it took for him to finalize what he wanted to describe through words, but couldn’t. The way Kibum’s crescent, happy eyes gazed at him from such a close distance cheered him on, and almost, just almost had him moving closer.

Kibum removed his arms from the table and walked back into the kitchen.

--

a/n:

dudddee.ee..e.e...........this is like the longest fic chapter i've ever written holy heck..... its about 5500 words wow 
sooooooooooo i hope yall are still stickin with me here because honestly i have so much planned out for this fic. 
like literally i have the next three or four chapters already mapped out and now i just gotta write them
unfortunately my break is over today so i'll be kinda busy but i'll try to write as much as i can anyways!! im not 
goin anywhere or anything 
so yea tell me about things you liked!!! tell me your favorite parts!!!! comment whatever you want to about this 
please it really does encourage me to write more and i really love it so much!! thank you !!


shout out 2 sylvie who edits this even though she doesnt know anything about the group or anything