Sohye froze completely when she saw Jinki. He and Key had gone to the park for a picnic, and for some reason, Jinki had come back with his hair… dyed pink.

She was staring at him with wide eyes when he entered the office. He sighed.

“Don’t say anything.”

She really wanted to make fun of him, but to be honest this hair color suited him well.

“May I ask why this… radical change of hair color ?” She asked with a small smile.

“I made a bet with Key and I lost.”

“Oh.”

She burst out laughing and Jinki heaved another sigh.

“I’m sorry !” She managed to say, hugging her belly with teary eyes. “I never thought I’d ever see you dye your hair, even less in pink.”

He remained silent and after a while, she managed to stop laughing. She quickly wiped the tears wetting her cheeks. Jinki was not the type of person to dye his hair, and he was the last person she would expect to dye his hair in such a bright color.

Sohye would have been blind not to notice the effect Key seemed to have on Jinki. Since he had come back, Jinki was in a better mood, almost happy. Jinki didn’t like going on picnics or betting on things, but he still had done it with Key. He apparently had trouble saying no to the younger man and Sohye intended to make the most of it. Going out more wouldn’t hurt Jinki, on the contrary, and it was for that reason that she had approved of Key’s picnic idea.

“Besides that, how did the picnic go ?”

“Fine.”

Jinki had never been much of a talker and Sohye knew he wouldn’t say more. She had seen Key’s smile when they had gone back and she was sure everything had gone more than fine, but she would have liked to hear it from Jinki.

Over the years she had spent working for Jinki, she had learned to observe. Now, she knew how to interpret most of his expressions and silences. She didn’t know how Jinki and Key had met - they had never mentioned it when Key first came to Jinki’s house - but she had noticed that the two men had grown very close. Jinki usually never initiated physical contact - even with his closest friends - but she had seen him take Key’s hand in his several times.

She knew what it meant, but she kept it for herself. Talking about it to Jinki would only make things worse. He could easily be stupid enough to reject Key if he ever found out.

…………………………

On Monday morning, Jinki woke up earlier than usual. The reason of his very unusual awakening was obvious. Key was supposed to leave that morning and he had no intention of letting him go without saying goodbye.

Two hours later, he settled near the front door. His hands were sweaty. Saying goodbye to Key now felt more difficult than last time.

Key walked to the hallway a few minutes later and put his bag down when he noticed Jinki near the door. He walked to him with a small smile.

“I think I have a déjà vu feeling.”

“So have I.”

“You didn’t have to wait for me.”

“It’s rude not to say goodbye.”

Key smiled and Jinki held out his hand. However, Key ignored it and came to crouch before him. He reached out to rest his hand on Jinki’s nape to bring him closer and pecked his cheek. Jinki ran one of his hands in the soft locks of Key’s blond hair as he observed his perfect features. His smooth milky white skin, his feline eyes, his heart-shaped lips… Jinki leaned in and pecked Key’s cheek - which turned to a light pink -, just like the other had done before.   

“Goodbye, Key.”

“Bye, Jinki.”

Key stood up and Jinki just watched him leave with a heavy heart.

………………...…..

When Jinki arrived for practice, all of the players were already on the court, and they all suddenly stopped talking. Jonghyun was the first to burst out laughing, followed by the others.

“I didn’t know we had a new girl player.” Jonghyun said, whistling.

“Hey Barbie !” Hyerim called, a teasing smile on her lips.

“What’s the song again ?” Yubin asked.

“I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world !” Jonghyun sang.

They all started singing and Jinki rolled his eyes. He had expected them to make fun of him, but he certainly hadn’t expected the whole team to sing that song.

“Okay, okay, fun’s over guys.” The coach said, rising his hands in the air. “Barbie, you’re late.”

Jinki heaved a deep sigh and joined the other on the court.

After practice, he met Jonghyun near the bleachers.

“Hey there, pink panther.”

“Very funny. How many more stupid nicknames do you have ?” Jinki asked in a tired tone.

“A lot.” Jonghyun said, smiling widely. “But anyway, why the new look ?”

“I made a bet with Key yesterday and I lost.”

“Oh… You really should have felt confident to make a bet like that. What was it ?”

“Key had to dunk a basketball.”

Jonghyun burst out laughing once again and Jinki glared at him.

“Wait, wait… You lost a basketball related bet ? Seriously ?”

“I underestimated him. I shouldn’t have.”

“Talking about Key… How are you feeling ?”

“Why ?” Jinki asked, frowning.

“The weekend’s over, he’s gone now isn’t he ?”

“And ?” Jinki asked, looking away.

He didn’t really want to talk about it and would have liked Jonghyun not to mention it. Key had just left and his absence didn’t have an impact on Jinki yet, since he wasn’t even at home right now. He was trying to stay busy not to think about it.

“And you don’t miss him ?”

“Why would I miss him ?”

“Well… He’s your friend… right ?” Jonghyun asked hesitantly.

Was Key really his friend ? He had been paid to spend time with Jinki, after all. He could very well have pretended to get along with Jinki. Wasn’t it part of his job ? To make people love him ? But even if it was very likely, Jinki had a feeling Key had been sincere.

“I don’t know.” Jinki admitted. “We barely know each other.”

“But he means a lot to you…”

Key meant a lot to Jinki, it was a fact. He knew it and he didn’t deny it. His life seemed a lot better when he was with Key and for the last few weeks, he had started to hate the loneliness he imposed on himself.

“...and you mean a lot to him.” Jonghyun said.

That was a lot less certain. He had no idea of how Key felt towards him, but a part of him - the still hopeful part, the part which wasn’t scared - hoped Jonghyun was right.  

“Have you ever seen an become friends with one of his customers ?”

“No, but most people meet at work.”

“Jonghyun...” Jinki sighed.

“What ? It’s true !”

“Many people meet on their workplace.”

“Yeah but it’s kinda difficult with you, isn’t it ? You’re not doing anything, like the rich lazy you are…”

Jinki looked at Jonghyun with a raised eyebrow and the latter ignored it.

“I’m still right though. And technically, your house is Key’s workplace.”

“Maybe.”

“It’s not because he is an that he can’t be your friend or… more.”

“What are you saying exactly ?”

“Nothing.” Jonghyun said weakly, avoiding his gaze.

“Jonghyun, it’s not like that at all betw-”

“I know, I know.” He said with a sigh. “I just want to point out that Key isn’t like her-”

“Stop.”

Jinki’s voice had grown cold and Jonghyun immediately shut up. He could see by the look in Jinki’s eyes that he had taken it too far, he should never have brought it up. Jonghyun felt a guilty feeling take over his heart and he looked down in shame. Jinki had made him swear never to talk about her again, and he had just did. He knew it was a bad idea, but the words had slipped before he had even realized what he had said. Jinki could be so quick to withdraw into himself, to shut himself down to everything around him when he was reminded of a bad memory, and this one was one of the worst of them all.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn't have said that.” He said in a weak voice a few seconds later.

“I need to go, see you later.”

Jinki left without looking back and Jonghyun grabbed his head in his hands. He was supposed to make things better, not worse. Everything was starting to get better, Jinki had even started to accept the idea of being friends with Key - someone new -, and now Jonghyun had ruined everything by talking about her. Despite all of the years that had gone by, Jinki’s wound was still open. And Jonghyun had just twisted the knife in the wound.

………………………...

“Yes ?” Minho said, yawning.

He didn’t have practice today and he finally had time to sleep in. But fate apparently had other plans for him, or rather, Jonghyun had decided to be a pain in the by calling him at eleven o’clock in the morning on one of the rare days where he could sleep as much as he wanted.

“I screwed up.”

Jonghyun’s voice sounded weak and remorseful. Minho sat up on the bed, suddenly feeling wide awake upon hearing his friend’s unusual tone of voice.

“What happened ?”

“I saw Jinki this morning. Everything was fine, we were talking about Key and the fact that they can consider themselves as friends now and I… I talked about her.”

Minho’s eyes widened.

“Jonghyun, we promised...”

“I know ! I screwed up… I-I thought he was doing better and he was starting to forget her and… I don’t know, it just slipped… I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Jinki had suffered from depression after what she had done to him and he had made his friends swear never to talk about her or say her name again. They had accepted without hesitation, they were ready to do anything for him to get better. He had recovered, little by little, but his self-esteem was broken, and so was his heart. Jinki had sworn to himself never to be tricked like that again, and the only solution he had found was to avoid any sort of relationship. If he never trusted anyone, then nobody could ever betray him. It was a bit radical, but for him it made perfect sense, and it was the best solution.

But with Key… Jinki had allowed himself to smile, to feel - even if he would never admit it - and he had finally opened himself to someone else than his old friends. Against all odds, he had grown closer to Key. And Minho was terrified of the idea that all of this was for nothing.

“How could you ?!” Minho said, now angry.

Jinki was his childhood friend, they had known each other since they were still wearing diapers. He was his oldest friend and beside Taemin, no one mattered to him more.

He couldn’t help but be mad at Jonghyun, he who had broken his promise even after witnessing the state Jinki was in because of the very woman he mentioned.

“I’m sorry…”

“You should be, you just ruined everything.”

He abruptly hang up and cursed. He prayed for Jinki not to start moping again.

…………………………….

It didn’t take more than one look for Sohye to see something was wrong. Jinki seemed distant and cold, and wouldn’t even look at her. He kept staring straight ahead, his eyes empty of all feelings. She hadn’t seem him like that for a very long time and she wondered what could have happened at practice to make him like this again.

As they drove back home, she kept her hands on the steering wheel and stayed silent, shifting nervously every now and then, sometimes glancing at Jinki in the rear view mirror. He was staring outside silently and Sohye pondered the question of talking to him or not. Would he answer if she asked what was wrong ? Knowing Jinki, it was very unlikely.

Was it because of Key leaving ? Sohye was not blind, she had seen what his departure had done to Jinki last weekend, and she had expected another change in Jinki’s mood, but he had looked just fine that morning...

In the end, she decided to stay quiet for now. If she had to question Jinki, she would do it another time. Seeing the bad mood he was in now, asking him questions would be as efficient as asking questions to a wall.

She couldn’t help but be curious about Key and his relationship with Jinki. The latter had never mentioned him before he arrived a few weeks ago to spend a weekend here and Sohye found it strange. She had no idea how they had met. Jinki almost never went out, so he couldn’t have met Key by himself. Was Key a friend of Minho or Jonghyun ? Or even Taemin ? Jinki rarely went to his friends’ places but he met them at a restaurant every now and then. Maybe one of them had brought Key along.

Sohye doubted it to be the case, since Jinki was not the type of man to invite people he barely knew over at his house, and it hadn’t seemed like he knew Key very well when he first came here. Maybe Minho and the others had asked Jinki to let Key live here for a weekend. After all, they weren’t against the idea of forcing Jinki to meet someone.

She really should question Jinki later.

……………………………

Jinki was in his office, as usual. He was staring at his laptop with a tired look and he sighed. He really wasn’t in the mood to do anything.

He remembered the conversation he had had with Jonghyun and he unconsciously clenched his jaw. He was trying to get busy to avoid thinking about it but it didn’t seem to work at all.

A few years ago, all of his friends - including Jonghyun - had sworn to him never to mention her again no matter what happened. And yet, Jonghyun had broken his promise.

Jinki knew that he hadn’t intended to hurt him, but talking about her after all these years had brought back the anger and the pain he had felt. After all these years, Jinki had thought that the wound had healed, that he had finally managed to forget her and all that had happened. And oh, how he had been wrong…

Everything had come back to him full force, and he had had trouble keeping himself for shouting at Jonghyun out of anger for speaking about her. He had left right away, without even saying goodbye. He just wanted to help, Jinki thought, taking a deep breath. But no matter how many times he told himself not to be mad at Jonghyun, he still was. He couldn’t help it. He knew that it wasn’t Jonghyun fault and that, deep down, he wasn’t really mad at Jonghyun but at himself. But right now he just needed to direct his anger at someone else, because otherwise, he would have started hating himself like he had done years ago.

He had trusted her so much. He had given her everything, everything he could. His trust hadn’t been the only thing that she had broken ; his heart had been as well. It might be the most difficult thing to fix.

When he saw her with someone else - someone he knew and trusted -, when he heard her say all these things to him who had given her everything, who had sacrificed everything for her… The betrayal he had felt had been so horrible he had changed. He had felt it... After all of this, he wasn’t the same as he once had been. His trust in others had been destroyed, he had become so paranoid he had even started doubting his closest friends, those who had been with him for as long as he could remember. His heart had been locked away, protected from hurtful feelings. It was better this way.

He had later realized the only people he could trust were his friends, who had stayed by his side and gone through the worst years of his life with him. They hadn’t abandoned him, and Jinki was extremely grateful for that. It was with their help that he had managed to get better.

He opened his desk drawer to put away some documents and a small card caught his eye. He picked it out and stared at it for a while. The red numbers seemed to contrast even more with the white color of the small card and Jinki couldn’t take his eyes off it.

Key.

For some reason, he had grown closer to Key. It had been years since he had felt an attraction like that - almost surreal - towards someone he barely knew. He had wanted to know more about Key, to get closer to him… And without even realizing it, he had broken the only rule he had ever instaured.

Key’s absence left a hole in his life and he was, slowly but surely, starting to miss him. Something flashed before his eyes, an image - or was it a memory - of Jinki grabbing the phone and dialling Key’s number.

What had happened the last time he had truly loved someone popped in his mind and he felt the cold grip of fear around his heart.

Without thinking twice, he grabbed the card and put it away at the bottom of the drawer, in a place where he would never see it again.

………………………...

It was early in the morning when Sohye walked in Jinki’s office to put today’s mail on the desk. She put the letters on the desk and looked at each one without opening them.

She snorted when she saw a beautiful envelope on which Jinki’s name and address were written with utmost care. She could recognise the symbol on it anywhere. Jinki received that letter every year. It was an invitation to a yearly auction sale organised by Seoul’s richest families. They all gave away expensive goods to be sold at the auction and the money they raised would be given to a charity which helped the poor. Sohye had assisted to one of these events once and she had been disgusted by hypocrisy of it all. The rich who went there didn’t care for the poor at all. All they did was pretend they were interested and present themselves as humanists.

Sohye had grown up in a rather poor family, and she had always hated the rich and arrogant people who looked down on those poorer than them.

When she had presented herself to become Jinki’s personal assistant, she really had believed he was like them. The house and the whole atmosphere of the place screamed rich and she expected the worst. And yet, she had found herself in front of a humble and kind young man, dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Knowing people like him with such a rich background existed had shocked her, but also had reassured her.  

She smiled as she put the envelope back in its place. Her eyes naturally looked down at one of the desk drawers which wasn’t closed properly.

“I always have to do everything.” She mumbled with a sigh.  

She opened the drawer and grabbed the messy documents. She emptied the drawer before placing back all of the documents, neatly this time. A small piece of paper fell and Sohye picked it up with a small frown. It was a small, rather simple card on which one number was written on one side and a key was drawn on the other side. Sohye stared at it questioningly. Nothing else was written on it. This card didn’t look like a typical business card and it picked her curiosity.

She was wondering what type of business card it was and her curiosity got the better of her. She sat on the desk and grabbed the phone before dialing the number. She waited for someone to answer as she stared at the card in her hand.

“Hi there, you’ve reached the voicemail of Key, I’m really sorry I can’t answer at the moment… I’ll make it up to you later baby, I promise… Just leave a message !”

Sohye’s eyes widened when she heard Key’s enticing tone of voice. There was the beeping sound marking the start of the recording and Sohye immediately hung up.

She really needed to question Jinki about Key.

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