Chapter 2

...Afternoon Deception...

Jonghyun knew. He just knew it! The feeling just came up to him as soon as he got ready and sat in the living room while waiting for Key. He knew his fashionista boyfriend would spend hours in his room trying to pick the right outfits for whatever function the group would be attending. But as he waited patiently, he suddenly had a strange feeling convulsing in his entire body. A knot tightened in his stomach and his eyes tore themselves from the book he was reading to the hall where the members’ rooms were located.

He narrowed his eyes. What’s taking him so long? Jonghyun thought, the feeling rushing into him like a deadly current. It’s been twenty minutes already. Oh, that boy… He sighed and put down the book and was about to make his way towards his boyfriend’s room when he heard Minho’s voice.

“Taeminnie, can I watch the television now? There’s this programme that I’ve always wanted to watch.”

That stopped Jonghyun in his tracks. Minho wasn’t the type to keep track of what programme on television that he wanted to watch, let alone enjoy it. He would always browse the channels and if he didn’t find anything interesting, he would either shut it off or give the remote back to Taemin, who just loves to simply sit in front of the television and watch whatever there was.

Taemin gave a cute ‘okay’ to Minho and gave the remote to him. Jonghyun turned around and watched as Minho looked for the channel he was looking for. A few clicks of the remote and the channel appeared on… a medical programme? Jonghyun shook his head and blinked for a couple of times before looking back at the television, a wave of disbelief swept through him and the issue about Key being late was put aside for a while. Now this was a side that Jonghyun had not seen in Minho before.

The latter never cared about medical stuffs let alone knew any knowledge about them. So Jonghyun just stood behind the couch and watched the television screen as the host introduced the doctor. Minho had his back towards his hyung and Taemin was all curled up in the other armchair, stealing a few winks before the boys departed for their magazine interview. Jonghyun decided to be quiet and observe what his dongsaeng was watching and if it was worth watching.

The doctor in the programme began talking about the scientific pheromones in the human body and how to relive it for a short period of time. The camera then showed the ingredients in test tubes and the doctor began explaining that what he was about to create, was not drugs.

“Because it is understandable that only drugs can make a person delusional and pump up their adrenaline for ual needs…” the doctor said. And as he droned on and on, more complicated words coming out of his mouth, only two words were glued stuck to Jonghyun’s brain. ual needs… It kept replaying itself over and over again in his mind that Jonghyun, as the eldest of the two dongsaengs in the living room, began to take action.

“Yah, Minho!” The tall boy practically jumped with shock at his hyung’s voice. He thought no one was in the living room except Taemin and himself. He quickly wiped the shock expression from his face and covered it with his usual calm one.

“Mwo? What is it, hyung?” Minho turned to Jonghyun for a split second before turning his full attention back to the television screen. He obviously took it that the programme was more important rather than his own self who was probably going to get yelled at by Jonghyun for watching such things. Jonghyun put his hands on his hips and tried being like Key when he was about to nag someone.

“What are you watching? It looks pretty immoral and unsuitable for you.”

“But, it’s just a programme on medical stuffs. The doctor’s going to show how—”

“My God, Minho! That’s enough! Didn’t you hear those tainted words that you really shouldn’t get your ears to listen to; ual needs? Honestly, I think this programme is not a good one for you. Why don’t you watch dramas instead?” Jonghyun said, quite impressed with his first nagging session with one of his dongsaeng. Now all that was left was for Minho to repent for his mistake and heed Jonghyun’s advice like a good little dongsaeng. Minho turned slowly to his hyung and Jonghyun saw a flicker of an expression cross his face, but couldn’t make out what it was.

The words that came out of Minho’s mouth made Jonghyun forget about his nagging session and bolt towards his boyfriend’s room. “Ne, hyung. Shouldn’t you be worrying about Key? And where’s Onew- hyung?” The moment Onew’s name left Minho’s mouth, the feeling that Jonghyun had felt a few minutes before came back and gushed his whole body. He opened Key’s door, hopefully to find the boy’s adorable diva face there, but no. Key was not in his room. Panic began to electrify Jonghyun’s body as he walked backwards out of Key’s room and laid his eyes on Onew’s door.

He quickly yanked the door open and the sight that met him felt like a punch to the face. Key and Onew were standing opposite each other, but the distance was not the problem although it would have made Jonghyun cry out in rage and tear Onew to pieces. Key had his hands outstretched to the back of Onew’s neck, like he was going to hug the leader and Onew’s hands were on Key’s waist. The both of them turned their heads as soon as Jonghyun opened the door and their faces were not what Jonghyun expected, especially Key’s.

“Oh, Jonghyun! Umm… Are we that late?” Key asked with a brilliant smile. His voice indicated that whatever he was doing was innocent and that he had gotten carried away with it to even lose track of time. Onew, on the other hand had an evil smirk played across his lips and Jonghyun saw his hands tighten around the diva’s waist. Jonghyun couldn’t take it anymore. He stormed towards the two of them and separated them, pushing Onew aside while shielding Key behind his back.

“What do you think you’re doing, hyung?” Jonghyun growled dangerously.

“I had a fashion crisis, apparently,” Onew said, his face and voice back to normal. It made Jonghyun sick. “It was a good thing Key was here.”

“A good thing? Of course it was a good thing! While I was waiting for the both of you, you went behind my back and stole Key from me and doing God knows what in here,” Jonghyun said. The rage was overwhelming and the words just flew out of his mouth. “I told you never to touch him. What the Hell did you do to my Key, you filthy rat?!” Onew’s face was that of mild surprise. He shook his head with disappointment and Key decided to take action.

“Yah! Yeobo, what in the world is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you, Key? What did I tell you about Onew- hyung? Stay away from him!”

“But we didn’t do anything wro—”

“Oh yes you did! I saw it with my own eyes just as I opened the door. How could you go behind my back, yeobo? If you don’t love me anymore, you can just leave me and be with this…” Jonghyun said while gesturing to Onew. “…this rat for the rest of your life!” As soon as he said that, a delicate hand slapped him hard on the cheek. When Jonghyun looked up at Key again, the boy was crying, tears welling down his beautiful fair face.

“H-how dare you, Kim Jonghyun!” Key said between sobs. “I-I was just putting on the scarf for Onew- hyung and you accuse me of such a… A horrible crime! You’re always so j-jealous when I’m around other p-people. It’s so irritating and I h-hate it! I hate you, Jonghyun. I hate you!” And with that, the diva ran out of Onew’s room with tears still flowing, leaving a speechless Jonghyun and a seemingly victorious Onew.

Jonghyun subconsciously covered his cheek that had been slapped by Key with his hand. He caressed it and could somehow feel the pain in it; the pain that Key had felt when he had blurted out those accusations. He felt bad and he wanted to throw up. But as Onew clicked his tongue with that mischievous grin on his face, Jonghyun instantly forgot about his mistake and turned to Onew. He just wanted to beat the leader up and release all the rage that was steadily convulsing in his entire body. He balled his fists and clenched his teeth.

“Oh, Jonghyun. Did you know how hilarious your little outburst was?” Onew chuckled evilly. “I knew you’d come in sooner or later. I had Key pick outfits for me and you came in at just the right time! I thank you for that.” The leader bowed down to Jonghyun in a mocking way, and the latter balled his fists tighter until his knuckles shown white.

“He is so adorable when he’s in his fashionista world. Talking about styles that don’t even matter to me. I had my eyes glued to him all the while he was picking out outfits and dressing me up like a ragdoll. I had fun, Jonghyun,” Onew came closer and patted his dongsaeng’s trembling shoulder. “It’s even perfect that now Key literally hates you. I can do whatever I want with him~”

Jonghyun smacked Onew’s hand away from his shoulder and was about to punch the leader square in the face, when the latter caught Jonghyun’s fist in his hands and gripped it tightly. “Ah- ah- ah! None of that, Jonghyunnie,” Onew teased, the smirk still on his lips. “If you’re going to hit me, why don’t you do it in front of your precious Key? I’m sure he’d hate you forever.”

Jonghyun panted heavily and yelled in frustration before yanking his fist away from Onew’s hands. “What do you want from me?” he muttered.

“Want? All I want is that darling boyfriend of yours and you out of the picture.”

“You won’t get him that easily, hyung. Let’s make a challenge then!”

“Oh?” Onew raised an eyebrow.

“Whoever gets to give Key five kisses in one day, will be his new boyfriend.”

“And the loser?” Onew sneered, his eyes indicating towards Jonghyun.

Jonghyun hesitated, but continued, “Will never bother the couple ever again.” Onew clapped his hands with delight.

“An excellent challenge, Jonghyun. I accept!” Onew smiled and was passing Jonghyun when he whispered in the latter’s ear. “Oh, and by the way, I already got a head start while you were busy waiting. If you don’t believe me, ask Key.” And with that, Onew went out of his room.

Jonghyun let out a frustrated shout and banged the wall with his fist. He didn’t care anymore. He had to win the challenge in order to get Key back. No one was going to stop him, even Onew. He was going to win and show that Key’s heart was always destined to love him; Kim Jonghyun, and no one else in the entire world.

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