Kibum was eating lunch at the kitchen table when his phone rang. It was the one he was using for work, meaning the person trying to reach him was a customer. He slowly grabbed the phone, pondering whether he really needed to answer or not. He was not in the mood to work these days, but he still answered the call. He shouldn’t let his personal issues influence his work. He hadn’t worked enough these last few weeks and it was time for him to get a grip. Not to mention how he liked to spend money faster than he could earn it and that he would probably be in need of money if he didn’t get back to his usual schedule quickly.

 

“Yes ?”

 

“Kibum ?”

 

He froze when he heard the familiar voice at the end of the line. He had recognized Jinki’s voice right away, but even if he hadn’t been sure it really was him, the fact that he had called him ‘Kibum’ would have been enough to erase his doubts. He was the only one of his customers to know his real name.

 

“...Jinki ?” He asked hesitantly.

 

For a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming. It was the first time Jinki called him and to be honest, he hadn’t expected him to actually dare call him one day.

 

“I’m really sorry if I’m bothering you…”

 

“Oh ! No, not at all !”

 

Great. Just when he had finally decided to get back to work, Jinki was calling him ! Fate was definitely against him.

 

Not that he wasn’t happy Jinki called him, because he was.

 

“I was wondering if… you’d like to spend a few days at my house.”

 

“Is it an invitation or a... contract ?”

 

Jinki was not being very clear and Kibum was wondering if he was calling as a friend or as a customer… His heart sank at the thought that Jinki might just see him as an . Kibum knew he was an , it was his job. But he just hoped he could be more than that to Jinki...

 

“Oh ! No ! I don’t want you to come as- I’m sorry if you thought I wanted to… hire you, but the number on your business card was the only way I had to contact you and-”

 

“Jinki.” He said, chuckling upon hearing the panicked tone of the older. “I get it. I was just asking to be sure.”

 

“Yes. Of course.”

 

There was a moment of silence and Kibum spoke up.

 

“So… When are you inviting me ?”

 

“Oh ! Er… I was thinking next weekend…”

 

“For the whole weekend ?” Kibum asked, surprised.

 

“Yeah… Is it weird ?”

 

“No, it’s just… I wasn’t expecting that.”

 

Kibum had to admit it was a bit weird for Jinki to invite him a whole weekend. They may have been friends, but they still didn’t know much about each other and still, few people invited their friends over for a whole weekend. For the adults, anyway. It was even weirder considering how much of a loner Jinki was.

 

He was about to say yes when he thought of something.

 

“Hang on… Next weekend ?”

 

“Yes, why ?”

 

“I- I’m working that weekend.”

 

A customer had called him a month ago to hire next Saturday. He could hear the disappointment in his own voice. Since when was he disappointed to work ? He loved his work !

 

“Oh…”

 

“We can still see each other another day ?” Kibum suggested.

 

Jinki remained silent at the end of the line and Kinum hoped he wasn’t thinking of cancelling his invitation. He really wanted to see him again.

 

“I have a question.”

 

Jinki’s voice was suddenly more serious and Kibum frowned.

 

“If two customers want to hire you at the same time, what happens ?”

 

Kibum was very surprised by the question but he answered honestly.

 

“It depends on a lot of things… If one of them hired me before the other, if one of them is offering to pay more, if one of them is… nicer, and so on.”

 

He had already had customers he would rather avoid… He could feel a shiver run down his spine at the thought. Fortunately, he could always say no most of the time. He usually refused to work for people with a bad reputation (he knew a lot of other escorts and they all shared information on their customers). However, he was sometimes still forced to work for clients that were not that nice, but every job had its disadvantages.

 

Jinki stayed silent for a while and Kibum wondered if he had said something he shouldn’t have.

 

“I’ll pay twice what your customer has paid if you spend the weekend with me.”

 

So that was why he had asked… Kibum was a little reluctant to go back at Jinki’s knowing he’d be paid, and the older man must have felt his hesitation since he spoke again.

 

“Please.”

 

His voice was softer and Kibum felt himself melt a little.

 

“You were hired twice already to spend the weekend with me… It’s the same thing.”

 

Except it wasn’t. This time, it was Jinki who was calling him.

 

He still couldn’t help but answer:

 

“Alright.”

 

………………...……..

 

The final whistle blew, marking the end of practice, and all of the players left the court. Jinki stopped near the bleachers and grabbed a bottle of water.

 

“Hey, Barbie !”

 

Jinki turned around to see the coach standing at the opposite side of the court holding a thumb up.

 

“Nice game today.” He shouted.

 

Jinki nodded as a thank you and the coach left.
When Jinki turned back around, it was to see Jonghyun staring at him with a teasing smile.

 

“What ?” He asked, taking a sip of water.

 

“Someone’s in a good mood…”

 

“And ?” Jinki said, putting the water bottle in his bag.

 

“It’s fishy.”

 

Jonghyun stared at him suspiciously and Jinki rolled his eyes.

 

“You know, people are generally happy to see their friends in a good mood.”

 

“Oh but I am happy to see you happy ! Even more so because I know why you are…”

 

“And why am I happy ?” Jinki asked, sighing.

 

“Because of Key !”

 

Jinki stiffened. Jonghyun couldn’t have known about his phone call… right ? No, he couldn’t have known. No one knew.

 

“Ha ha !” Jonghyun said, pointing at Jinki. “So it is because of Key !”

 

“Jonghyun.”

 

“I get it, you know. I, too, would have been happy to fall asleep with someone that beautiful in my arms...”

 

Oh. So Jonghyun thought his good mood had something to do with what had happened last time… Images of that night came back to Jinki. He still remembered the pink flush on Kibum’s cheeks when Sohye had woken them up. Jinki had hoped Jonghyun hadn’t seen them like that… Apparently, he had.

 

“Oh… Don’t look at me like that ! You shouldn’t be ashamed of it. And you definitely can’t deny it either. I took pictures.”

 

“Jonghyun !” Jinki said, with wide eyes.

 

“Oh come on, don’t judge me ! It was just in case one of you decided to deny it… And you two were so cute like that, I couldn’t help it.”

 

Jinki raised an eyebrow, staring at his friend in disbelief. The real reason why Jonghyun took those pictures was obviously to make fun of him. He would have to try and make them disappear somehow.

 

“Ah, and don’t even think about trying to delete them from my phone. I’ve got copies.”

 

Jinki heaved a deep sigh. Of course he had copies. Jinki had no other choice but to give up… He would have to bear with Jonghyun’s mocking comments for a while.

 

“Any news from the others ?” Jinki asked, gladly changing the subject.

 

“Minnie’s hangover and Minho bought a new fridge.”

 

“Talking about Taemin, is he still trying to get you to meet someone ?”

 

“Nah, I knocked some sense into him. I was very clear: I don’t need him to find someone. I mean come on, I’m not like you !”

 

Jinki glared at him.

 

“Oh please, don’t look at me like that, you know it’s true.”

 

Jinki shrugged. He had to admit that Jonghyun had always been the friendly one.

 

“I thought you’d like Taemin to help you to find someone…”

 

“I don’t like other people taking decisions for me.”

 

“Ah, it’s unpleasant… isn’t it ?” Jinki teased.

 

Jonghyun’s eyes widened and Jinki smirked. At least, Jonghyun knew what he had put Jinki through.

 

“It’s totally different !” Jonghyun said, trying to justify himself.

 

“Oh, is it ? What’s different ?”

 

Jonghyun stayed quiet and Jinki continued to stare at him with a teasing smile. It was rather pleasant. For once, Jonghyun was speechless.

 

“It’s not over, Jinki !” He finally said, leaving.

 

Jinki chuckled before leaving as well. Sohye must have been waiting for him on the parking-lot and he didn’t want her to wait for too long. Key was coming back today.

 

………………………..

 

Kibum was putting his clothes and toiletries in the drawers of the guest room. That room was beginning to feel familiar. Once all of his stuff was put away, he walked to the French windows and opened them to look at the beautiful view outside.

 

“Already here ?”

 

He turned around to see Jinki, his wheelchair in the doorframe. He must have just come back from practice, since he was still wearing his sports clothes and his hair was all messy.

 

“I didn’t have anything planned today so I thought I’d come sooner.”

 

Jinki must have expected him to arrive in the evening, like the previous weekends, but Key hadn’t had any plans for the day and to be honest, he was feeling a little guilty for letting Jinki pay so much to spend time with him. It wasn’t like Jinki had any intentions of sleeping with him anyway, and he had paid way too much.

 

There was another reason why Key had arrived this early… He wanted to spend time with Jinki and even if he could say they were friends, he still didn’t know when they could see each other for so long again.

 

“I hope I’m not bothering you…”

 

“No !” Jinki shouted, before clearing his throat and saying in a softer voice. “I mean, no, not at all.”

 

They both stayed like that, facing and staring at each other silently.

 

“I should- I’ll go change.” Jinki eventually said with a small smile. “Lunch will be ready in a bit, you can wait for me downstairs if you want.”

 

Kibum just nodded with a smile and Jinki left.

 

Kibum was talking with the cook in the kitchen when Jinki entered the room. His hair was wet from the shower and he was wearing jeans and a black tank top that gave a nice view on his strong biceps. He was rather y like that and Kibum spaced out for a moment while staring at him. He couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like to have Jinki’s strong arms around his body, to feel Jinki’s hands on his skin…

 

Stop ! No. He couldn’t start thinking about things like that about Jinki ! He had been very clear on the fact that he had no intentions on sleeping with Key, and he didn’t want to be close to anyone. Yet the was convinced he had caught the older man checking him out several times… It proved that Jinki was attracted to him, right ?

 

“Kibum ?”

 

He jumped when he heard Jinki’s voice and blushed when he realized he had been openly staring for too long. Not to mention how he had suddenly stopped talking when Jinki had arrived in the kitchen. It was too suspicious.

 

“S-sorry, I was lost in thoughts.” He chuckled nervously.

 

The cook and Jinki shared a look and Kibum blushed even more.

 

“Lunch is ready, Mr Lee !” The cook announced with a smile.

 

“Thank you, we’ll eat in the living room.” Jinki said before going to the said living room.

 

Key followed him without a word and they sat at the table. They talked about this and that while eating and Kibum couldn’t help but stare at Jinki whenever the latter was looking away. This is getting worse… He thought. He felt himself melt every time Jinki was smiling at him. Kibum thought he should have brought sunglasses with him because of how bright and blinding Jinki’s smile was.

 

When they were done eating, they went upstairs to Jinki’s office. It was the first time Key stepped in that room and he couldn’t help but take a curious look around. The room was very big, like most of the rooms in the house. There was a large expensive-looking wooden desk on one side, and a couple of armchairs, a comfortable-looking couch and a small wooden coffee table on the other.

 

In front of the small lounge area was a huge marble mantelpiece, and Kibum smiled at that. He had always loved mantelpieces, it reminded him of his childhood, when he spent long winter nights in his grandmother’s house. When it was very cold, he would spend his nights sitting in front of the fire, curled up in a soft blanket and a mug of hot chocolate in his hands. His grandma would tell him stories and he would just listen, his eyes fixed on the crackling fire in the old mantelpiece. His grandma may have been very modern and open-minded, she still wasn’t very good with technology and she preferred old things. It wasn’t that she didn’t like technology - because she did, she said technological progresses were wonderful - it’s just that it didn’t really agree with her. She had a phone, and that was all she needed.

 

Kibum was feeling the soft and cold marble of the mantelpiece when he noticed Jinki’s silence. He turned around to see the other staring at him with a fond smile.

 

“Still lost in thoughts ?” Jinki asked softly, breaking the silence.

 

“I’ve been spacing out a lot lately…”

 

“Oh… Is something bothering you ?” He asked, his smile gone.

 

Kibum could tell he was worried by the sound of his voice and he smiled, hoping it would reassure him.

 

“No ! Everything’s fine.”

 

Jinki looked a bit skeptical and Key hurriedly talked about something else.

 

“Do you play ?”

 

He walked to a small table, pointing at the chess set resting on it. It must have costed a lot, like everything in Jinki’s house.

 

“Yes, but I hardly ever play. Sohye is the only one who knows how to play and she’s very busy so…”

 

“Oh. That’s too bad.”

 

“Do you know how to play ?” Jinki asked, surprised by Key’s sudden interest in chess.

 

“No.”

 

“I could teach you.”

 

“Basketball and now chess ?” He pointed out, smiling.

 

“You can still refuse.”

 

“No !”

 

He sat on the armchair in front of the table and Jinki moved to be on the other side, facing him. They were separated by the table on which the chess set rested.

 

“You seem a lot more enthusiastic about learning chess than learning to play Basketball.”

 

“I at sports but I’m rather good at mental games. And if I know how to play, you’ll have someone to play with !”

 

Jinki smiled and started explaining the rules. He started by introducing the pieces: the rook, the knight, the bishop, the king, the queen and the pawns. Each and every one of the pieces were already placed at their rightful place on the set. Each piece had a specific way of moving around the board, for instance, the rook could only move horizontally or vertically, according to where the player wanted to place it.

 

“What about the ‘checkmate’ thing ?”

 

“Checkmate is when the king can no longer move. If that happens, the game’s over. When the king is in check, he has to get out of check. He can’t stay in check. Once he moves the game goes on.”

 

Kibum just listened to the rules carefully and after a few minutes, he had almost learned everything. He had always been a quick learner.

 

“Is that it ?”

 

“There are special moves, like castling, but I think it’d be better if you learn those later… Even if you got everything pretty quick.”

 

Jinki looked a little impressed and Kibum was rather proud of that.

 

They started a game and Key focused to try and calculate all of the possibilities. He needed to predict Jinki’s moves to win and it was rather hard to do. Jinki looked like he had been playing his whole life, he was very good at chess and could spot the weaknesses in Key’s strategy right away. In the end, Jinki won without great surprise, but Kibum had still played rather well for a beginner.

 

“So what did you think ?”

 

“I think Sohye pretends to be busy so she wouldn’t have to play with you.”

 

“Why ?”

 

“You’re too good at this !” Kibum pouted.

 

Jinki chuckled and went to pick up something in one of the drawers of his desk.

 

“I’ve been playing for years, it makes sense that I’m better. I’ve had a lot of practice. But you played rather well for a beginner.”

 

Jinki came back to him, stopping right before him. He put a small box on the table and Kibum frowned.

 

“What is it ?”

 

“Let’s say it’s a reward for your first chess game.”

 

Kibum grabbed the box and looked up at Jinki, surprised. He had already had gifts from customers before, but Jinki had never offered him anything and he was curious to know what it was. He hadn’t expected Jinki to give him something, and he was very moved by it.

 

Jinki smiled at him and Kibum slowly opened the box to see a choker. It was a thin choker, composed of a burgundy red velvet ribbon and a small key pendant engraved with two small diamonds. It was gorgeous.

 

“Jinki…”

 

He was speechless and Jinki gently took the box from him.

 

“May I ?”

 

Kibum nodded, unable to say anything. Jinki picked up the choker and opened it before leaning in to wrap it around Key’s small neck. His hand moved to brush Kibum’s cheek and he the soft skin with his thumb. Key couldn’t look away, and they stared at each other for a few seconds, never breaking visual or physical contact.

 

“Beautiful.”

 

He wasn’t sure whether Jinki was talking about the choker or Kibum himself, but something deep in his heart was telling him it was the second option.

 

.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

 

Hi everyone ! :D

 

That was the 13th chapter ! What do you think about it ? Key's back at Jinki's house ! 

Things are going to change in the next chapter... In a good way though, don't worry ~
I think you'll like it... You'll like it A LOT...

 

Thanks to Minewnnie for always proof-reading ♥

 

Thanks to you all of you who comment on my fics, it means a lot ♥
It really makes me happy to see what you think about what I'm writing ! :D