When Kibum and Taemin went to school the next day, it was unusually quiet in the car.

Taemin was thinking of who the other ert was, with half of his mind on his incident with Minho. He felt overwhelmed by his first time being confessed to. If he thought about all of the times Minho had snuck kisses with him, he started to blush.

Though it felt rather pleasant somehow, he didn't want to think about what that would mean. He hoped Minho hadn't been being serious and was just going through a phase.

Kibum had a similar complicated thought process going on as he tapped his fingernails and stared straight ahead with a less than happy expression, absently chewing on gum as usual. So many thoughts were going through his head and messing with his feelings.

Ever since he turned in Jonghyun the day before, he felt weird. Then with knowing he wouldn't see him from that day on, he felt not just incredibly guilty but a little sad. His mind kept flashing back to what Jonghyun had said and the strange way he'd been acting yesterday. And not to mention their sweet, passionate kiss and the gentle peck.

The scenes kept flashing through his mind like a busted movie but it felt muddled. Kibum didn't understand his own feelings anymore. He was proud of himself for doing the right thing but he also hated himself for it. Because his intuition told him Jonghyun wasn't a bad person.

Or maybe he was just being won over by the message he got yesterday that said 'I miss you already. My world just got so much less beautiful. I hope tomorrow's as perfect as this afternoon.' Kibum was a er for anything romantic.

He hoped that Jonghyun wasn't taking it too hard and didn't totally hate him. Though he didn't think it was right to feel that way about the scumbag.

Before he even knew it or noticed the long strange silence, they were at the school, the one place he really didn't feel like being. Kibum sighed and pulled the Woohyun keychain from the steering wheel.

“Are you okay after yesterday?” Taemin asked in concern.

Kibum had told him all the details and Taemin had been surprisingly accepting and understanding, like he'd been through the same thing.

Kibum avoided the question and said curiously, “What happened with Minho yesterday?”

Taemin blushed and looked away as he spoke, attempting to hide from Kibum's sharp observation.

“Nothing special happened. And I'm sure he's not the other one. He's definitely gay.”

“You really think so? I swear he was flirting with you...” Kibum said unsurely.

Taemin laughed nervously and said, “Minho just likes to bully me like that.”

“Okay, if you think so,” he said with a shrug in an unconcerned voice, his mind still on other things.

“So how do we catch this other guy?” Taemin asked seriously.

“I think we have to get the girls to talk or it will be difficult to narrow down and nail one of our sleazy teachers. Jinki said we should look out for clues about the nurse's office,” Kibum said firmly.

Taemin nodded in understanding, though the mention of the nurse's office made him shift uncomfortably and stepped outside the car. Kibum quickly followed and they walked down the garden path casually in their convincing feminine guises, waving or bowing their heads to friends, superiors, and teachers.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Key was sitting through classes, observing his strange teachers carefully and jotting notes when he realized a connection suddenly.

Onew had said to watch out for signs about the nurse's office. Well, The first day he'd been there, the English teacher had kept looking that direction and the second day, Jonghyun had looked strange when Kibum had said Taemin was there. He also remembered hearing about daily examinations and that sometimes the girls seemed a bit afraid or upset afterwords.

He always just thought they heard something they hadn't liked about their bodies, but now he wondered if one of the staff there was doing something weird.

“Hey Taemin, you went to the nurse's office before, right?” he said during break on their way out to the courtyard.

“Yeah, just for a bit. Why?” Taemin said nervously with his usual blush.

Kibum wondered with concern if something bad had happened to Taemin there.

“Was there anything strange? Did you see anybody else around?”

Taemin looked up in thought for a while as they walked down the path towards a group of their friends they planned on sitting with.

“There were people there and some noises but it was behind a closed door in the next room, so I don't know.”

“Is that so?” he said slowly.

That didn't give him much to go on. But it did seem strange that the door would be closed for a health exam.

Though it was break, they were surprised to see that Minho was in the field drilling some girls who were playing soccer. He had a serious expression, fire in his eyes and blew sharply on a whistle.

Kibum smiled mischievously and pulled Taemin's arm in that direction. Taemin tried to pretend he hadn't seen it but it was no good with Kibum.

“Why don't you ask Minho something about the examinations?” Kibum suggested.

Taemin bit his lip and looked unwilling.

“Do I have to?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” Kibum said firmly and pushed him in the teacher's direction.

Taemin walked over slowly and shyly tapped Minho on the shoulder. Minho beamed a bright smile Kibum had never seen and he was again convinced that he liked Taemin.

They talked for a while, Taemin looking down to avoid Minho's direct, over-friendly gaze. Occasionally, he'd look up with a knitted brow as he listened to Minho's answer. He asked a question back and Minho looked uncertain to the answer.

Then Minho seemed to tell him something funny because Taemin laughed slightly and finally broke out in a smile. Minho laughed and lightly touched Taemin's arm. Taemin didn't brush it away until he decided to leave. They smiled and waved to each other, then Minho went back to watching the students and Taemin jogged over to Kibum.

Kibum smiled knowingly at the heated blush on his friend's face.

“You seemed to have a good atmosphere going there, Taeyeon,” he teased.

“He was just-”

“Bullying you? Yeah, sure, if that's what they're calling flirting these days, I won't say anything about it,” Kibum said playfully.

Taemin glared at him cutely and lightly pushed his shoulder. Kibum's knowing smile when he really didn't know anything at all irritated Taemin a little. Unless he also felt his heart stir when Jonghyun had said he liked him.

“Minho said that they call the girls in by alphabetical order for a private full examination. It takes a while so they only do two girls a day. He said he thinks it's normal for a guy doctor and a female nurse to be there at the time and the door's usually closed.”

Kibum tapped at his lip and murmured high in his throat as he thought. As he popped his chewing gum, he decided he'd have to go and check when his exam time was.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

During lunch, they sat down with the girls and chatted casually about the Infinite oppas and new groups like B1A4, make up, clothes, and drama. Then Kibum decided to get some more information if he could.

“Have any of you had a physical exam here yet?”
 

“I get mine at my family's doctor.”

“I got mine waved.”

“They haven't reached my name yet.”

So noone had before so they couldn't say what personally went on inside. Taemin shared a look of disappointment with him because he understood Kibum's suspicions.

“Have you heard any rumors about it?”

Some of the girls looked clueless and others looked uncomfortable.

“Like was there anything strange? Did anybody look upset afterwords?”

“My friend was crying after it was over, but when I asked her why, she only said the doctor was scary,” one girl said quietly.

They all looked at her with surprise.

“Did she say why?” Kibum asked carefully.

The girl shook her head sadly. “No, that's all she would say about it and nobody's mentioned it since.”

“Did anybody else hear of something like that?”

“I know sometimes girls just leave in the middle of the exams because they said it felt uncomfortable for them,” one girl said helpfully.

“But I've also heard some people say that the doctor is really nice and handsome, so it's exciting when it's your turn,” another girl said.

Kibum pursed his lips in confusion. Then he blew a bubble as he contemplated.

So the guy was scary but nice and handsome? Sometimes the exam was fun and other times it was uncomfortable and girls left? Could there be two doctors?

As Kibum thought to himself, Taemin directed the conversation somewhere else.

“So, what did you guys do after school yesterday? I saw a big group of girls with our uniform downtown.”

They looked at each other, giggled, clapped, and squealed.

“He was so cool!”

“Lucky he's only five years older than us!”

“He looked right at me!”

“He winked at me!”

“Didn't you love the way he kept biting his lip?”

“Who?” Taemin said with interest but Kibum had a feeling who it was.

“Jonghyun oppa!” they squealed.

“Aw,” Taemin said with a long cute drawl and glanced at Kibum.

Kibum was checking split ends in his hair and pretending not to notice or care, though he felt his stomach drop.

So he'd had a live that day? Kibum wondered if he'd been fired before or after.

“Oh, that's right! Gwiboon, didn't you see oppa after school yesterday? How did it go?”

Kibum shrugged coolly.

“What does that mean, unni?!” they complained and teasingly pushed and pulled his uniform until he looked into their expectant faces.

“We practiced piano,” he said matter of factually.

They rolled their eyes and looked suspiciously at each other.

“Did he kiss you or not?” a girl close to him whispered.

They clutched each others hands and looked at him with big eyes and excited faces. Kibum smirked confidently and they all squealed and drew close to his sides.

Taemin watched on in amusement, surprised at how easily those girls took the information from Kibum's hint. Weren't they supposed to be jealous if they liked a boy? He'd be jealous if Minho kissed another girl.

Wait, what was he just thinking?! Taemin groaned and buried his head in his arms in distress.

“We knew he would! Oppa only kisses the pretty girls!”

“But if you go to class after school and flirt with him long enough, you also stand a chance.”

Kibum felt a slight burn of anger or frustration with a little envy as he considered how many other students Jonghyun had kissed.

“And after he kissed you, what happened?” they asked curiously.

Kibum bit his lip and blushed, thinking of the touches, the embracing, the neck nibbling, and the confession.

“No way! You did more?”

“Lucky!”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter