Once upon a time, there was a young man who was the richest student on campus and the most victim of rumors running around from one student’s mouth to another, all thirsting for some sordid stories. No one knew who he really was, but rumor had it that he had inherited all of his money from his parents. However, no one had gotten close enough to him to confirm it. He had houses almost everywhere, and it was often enough for girls and boys alike to throw themselves at him.

 

But few people dared to approach him.

 

The young man had a strong bad boy image, with a body covered with tattooes and piercings, his heavy leather jacket and his bikers’ boots. He wasn’t very tall, but he had a strong build that was hard not to notice. But his manly appearance and his clothes - worthy of a gang member - was not the thing that caught everyone’s eyes the most. No. What really made people turned their heads when they walked past him... was his hair. It was of a bright electric blue color, and clashed with his rather dangerous-looking looks.

 

Maybe that was what had attracted Kibum. He had always liked what was different, and everyone seemed so dull next to the blue-haired biker.

 

Bad boys weren’t usually his type (most of them only pretended to be manly to flirt with people, Kibum found it rather ridiculous) but as he saw him over there, standing by the bar, he thought he would be okay with making an exception.

 

His brother met him as he was still eyeing the blue-haired man hungrily. Taemin followed his eyes and froze, his eyes wide. He grabbed Kibum’s forearm and pulled him in a corner.

 

“You can’t be serious.”

 

Kibum rolled his eyes but stayed silent.

 

“Hyung, this is Kim Jonghyun. That guy’s a psycho !”

 

Yes, because Kibum had forgotten to mention that very grim rumors were running around campus about the man everyone eyed from afar, but never dared to talk to.

 

“You wanna end up like his exes, is that it ? You know what everyone says about him !”

 

“I know, Taemin, but those are just rumors. If he really had killed his exes, the cops would have arrested him a while ago.”

 

Out of all the rumors, it was everyone’s favorite. And probably the most ridiculous according to Kibum. He had never believed rumors. Most of the time, they were just made up by a bunch of bored students who wanted to have some fun. He knew it, he himself had spread a couple of rumors. Nothing too mean or anything, but they were still rumors. According to some of the students, Kim Jonghyun was a cold-hearted psychopath who lured the innocent souls of the poor students who had caught his eye, using his bad boy looks to take them to his place and kill them. A student had once said she had been at his place before, and that he kept the corpses of his past victims locked up in one of the rooms. Rather gory.

 

Kibum had never believed it of course, but his brother (and apparently the majority of the campus) were convinced it was true.

 

“Alright, I admit it’s a little bit far-fetched but there has to be some truth behind all of this ! There has to be something..”

 

Kibum smirked and Taemin’s face turned pale.

 

“Oh no, I know that look… Don’t even think about it ! I don’t want to see my brother getting murdered by a psychopath !”

 

“You said it yourself, those rumors are stupid… Someone needs to discover the truth, right ?”

 

That guy had caught Kibum’s eye, and he had no intention of letting him go that easily. Not to mention that Kibum was very curious at heart. He was dying to know whether these rumors were true or not, even if he was convinced they weren’t.

 

He walked to the bar - ignoring Taemin’s comments - and stopped by the blue-haired man. Kibum sat on the stool next to him and the man turned his head to look at him. Kibum rested his chin on his hand and his elbow on the counter, pretending not to have noticed him. He could feel Jonghyun’s eyes on him and he smiled mischievously. With his flawless style and his perfect looks, Kibum was rather popular. He was very confident and never hesitated to use his looks if he needed to. He eventually turned his head and his eyes met the man’s.

 

“Kim Jonghyun, right ?”

 

“Do we know each other ?” Jonghyun asked, frowning.

 

“Not yet, but we will soon.” Kibum said with a wink.

 

Jonghyun chuckled and his deep voice made Kibum shiver.

 

“‘Got a name ?”

 

“Kibum.”

 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Kibum.”

 

He smiled and slid a hand along Jonghyun’s muscular biceps. The leather of his jacket was a little rough under Kibum’s fingers.

 

“How about we leave this place ? Hmm ?” He said seductively. “So we could… get to know each other better…”

 

He saw Jonghyun gulp, his eyes now filled with a lustful look, and Kibum smiled mischievously.

 

“My place ?” Kibum suggested, never breaking eye contact.

 

“Mine.”

 

Jonghyun grabbed Kibum’s hand before he had time to say anything and they both stood up to leave the club. Kibum felt a tiny bit worried when he heard him say that, but he quickly brushed it off.

 

In front of the club, Jonghyun got on a bike and gestured for Kibum to get on it. He complied with a smile and sat behind him, wrapping his arms around the man’s waist.

 

It took a few minutes for them to get to Jonghyun’s place, and Kibum’s eyes widened when he actually saw his house. The house was more like a manor than an actual house, it was at least three stories high and the rooms were larger than any room he’d ever been in before. Jonghyun grabbed his hand and guided him to the first floor, and Kibum couldn’t help but take a curious look around, in awe. The blue-haired man seemed to notice, since a little smile etched his lips.

 

“I’ll get jealous of my house, if you keep staring at it like that…”

 

“Oh, sorry.” Kibum said with an embarrassed smile. “I’m majoring in architecture so old houses are kinda my thing.”

 

“‘Want me to give you a tour ?”

 

It wasn’t part of what he had planned, but he wasn’t going to refuse. Kibum lived for architecture, and he had never stepped foot in a manor this old and still in a good condition. Jonghyun showed him every single room, from the living to the bathrooms, through the kitchen and the offices. They went up to the third floor and Kibum’s eyes fell on an old-looking wooden door at the end of the corridor. He pointed to it.

 

“What about this one ? What’s behind it ?”

 

He approached the door and grabbed the handle - about to open it - when Jonghyun suddenly grabbed his wrist.

 

“Nothing interesting. Just an old attic.”

 

His smile faded and Kibum frowned. Without letting go of his wrist, Jonghyun led him far from the attic door and into another room - this time quite modern. A king-size bed was settled in the middle of the room and Jonghyun let go of him.

 

“I think we’ve arrived in most interesting room of them all…”

 

Kibum smiled and so did Jonghyun, before leaning in and capturing his lips in a kiss. The kiss was surprisingly gentle, like every one of Jonghyun’s moves as he got rid of his clothes one by one and led him to the bed. As if he had been bewitched, Kibum forgot everything, from the suspiciousness he had felt towards the man to all the rumors that were going on about him around campus.

 

When Kibum woke up the next morning, he had his head on Jonghyun’s tattooed chest and a muscular arm wrapped around his waist. He raised his head to look at the still asleep man and smiled. Jonghyun eventually opened his eyes and smiled before pecking Kibum’s lips.

 

“‘Morning, beautiful.”

 

“‘Morning.”

 

Jonghyun heaved a deep sigh and turned his head to glance at the alarm clock on his bedside table. He cursed and got out of bed in a hurry, grabbing his discarded clothes lying everywhere on the floor. Kibum sat up on the bed and frowned.

 

“I gotta go, I have something to do. I’ll be gone two hours tops.”

 

“Oh… It’s okay, I have to go too anyway.”

 

“Stay.”

 

Kibum looked up at Jonghyun, surprised.

 

“We still need to get to know each other, remember ?” Jonghyun said with a wink. “Seriously though… I don’t want it to end this way, you and me.”

 

A small smile appeared on Kibum’s lips. He didn’t want things to end this way either. Now that he knew the rumors weren’t true (he was still alive, after all), he didn’t really want to go. He had only intended it to be a one-night stand at first, but things had changed. Jonghyun was very attractive and surprisingly very nice despite his stern looks, and Kibum would have very much liked to see him again. He had no classes today, he could stay a little.

 

“Me neither…”

 

Jonghyun smiled and leaned over his bedside table to pick a key out of his drawers. He sat on the bed next to Kibum and handed it to him.

 

“I’ll be back soon, and I know you love the house so you can take a better look at it while I’m gone. That key opens every single room in this house, you can go wherever you like, except in the attic, alright ?”

 

He had strangely insisted on the ‘except in the attic’ part and Kibum frowned a bit.

 

“Alright.”

 

Jonghyun smiled and kissed his forehead gently before leaving. Kibum was alone now, and he eyed the key suspiciously. He couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was in the attic, and why Jonghyun didn’t want him to go there that much. His phone rang at that moment, making him jump and lose his train of thoughts. He stood up and went to get his phone in the pocket of his jeans before answering.

 

“Kibum-hyung ? Kibum-hyung is that you ?”

 

“Taemin ? What’s going on ?”

 

He heard Taemin heave a big sigh of relief at the end of the line.

 

“You’re alive ! Oh, thank God, he’s alive !”

 

Kibum rolled his eyes.

 

“Of course I’m alive, ! I told you the rumors weren’t true.”

 

“Why do you always have to prove you’re right, huh ? You could have gotten yourself killed ! I was scared to death ! And where are you, exactly ?”

 

“I’m still at Jonghyun’s, I don’t know when I’ll be home.”

 

“What do you mean you ‘don’t know when you’ll be home’ ? Are you his prisoner ?!”

 

“No, Taemin…” Kibum said with a sigh. “Stop freaking out, okay ? I’m fine. Jonghyun isn’t dangerous at all.”

 

“Let me remind you that people say he keeps the corpses of his victims in his house like trophies ! Do you really expect me not to freak out knowing you’re at his place right now ?”

 

An idea popped in his head.

 

“What if I could prove to you that the rumors are stupid one and for all ?”

 

“How ?”

 

Kibum’s eyes fell on the key Jonghyun had given him.

 

“I’ll text you the address, meet me there.”

 

An hour later (Taemin had gotten lost on the way to the manor several times), Kibum and Taemin were standing before the attic door. Taemin was almost shaking in fear and he eyed the key in Kibum’s hands as if it was about to jump out of his hand and kill him any minute now. He gulped.

 

“I don’t know if this is a good idea…”

 

“You want to know if the rumors are true or not, right ? Then it’s the only way. We searched every room, this is the last one.”

 

Kibum may be trying to be brave in front of his brother, but he couldn’t help but being a little scared. He knew the rumors weren’t true, but a little doubt was still there, in a corner of his mind, telling him… ‘what if ?’. The fact that Jonghyun had brought him to his house especially and his warning about the attic had been enough to make him a little paranoid. He knew it was ridiculous, but he couldn’t help but feel it anyway.

 

He gathered his strength and put the key in the lock before turning it slowly. He heard the small click of the door unlocking and his heart started beating faster. Slowly, he put his hand on the door handle and saw Taemin take a step back out of the corner of his eye.

 

They both knew that whatever was in that room must have been something big, otherwise Jonghyun wouldn’t have forbid him to go there.

 

“Y-you know what ? I-I’ll go and be on the look-out, just to m-make sure n-no one’s coming.” Taemin said, before taking another step back and turning around.

 

If Kibum hadn’t been this scared, he would have rolled his eyes.

 

He gripped the handle tighter and closed his eyes before opening the door and letting go of the handle as if it had burned him. He heard the creaking of the door as it opened and slowly opened his eyes.

 

His eyes widened.

 

He had never once imagined that the forbidden room would hide something like that.

 

When he noticed his brother’s silence, Taemin turned around. His eyes widened and he stayed there, gaping.

 

“...Plushies ?”

 

Silence.

 

“Kim Jonghyun. The so-called psycho Kim Jonghyun likes… plushies ?”

 

Kibum remained silent and turned to Taemin. Their eyes met and they both burst out laughing. They both felt relief wash over them and felt so stupid for believing those dumb rumors even for one second.

 

“What’s so funny ?”

 

The two brothers froze when they heard the voice and they both slowly turned towards Jonghyun, who was standing a few feet away, his arms crossed against his chest.

 

“Er…”

 

“Do we know each other ?” Jonghyun asked Taemin.

 

Taemin’s eyes widened.

 

“He’s my brother.” Kibum said. “I can explain.”

 

Jonghyun’s eyes fell on the open door of the room in which he hid his plushies collection and he froze completely.

 

“Okay so… I’m just gonna go then ! It was nice meeting you, Jonghyun.” Taemin said before walking to the exit.

 

“Not so fast.” Jonghyun said, grabbing him by the back of his shirt’s collar.

 

They spent the next minutes explaining the situation to Jonghyun.

 

“Taemin was worried about me, I had to prove to him that all of those horrible rumors weren’t true.”

 

“Why ?”

 

“Because… I like you.” Kibum admitted, lowering his gaze. “And I didn’t want my brother to be afraid every time I am hanging out with my potential future boyfriend.”

 

Jonghyun walked to Kibum and wrapped his arms around his waist.

 

“I like you too, Kibum.”

 

The younger smiled and ran his hand through Jonghyun’s colorful hair.

 

“You forgive us, right ?” Taemin asked in a small voice.

 

“Only if you promise not to tell anyone.”

 

“So… You’d rather have everyone believe you’re a psychopath instead of them knowing you love plushies ?” Taemin asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

Jonghyun stayed silent for a few seconds before answering.

 

“Yes.”

 

“You shouldn’t be ashamed, you know.” Taemin said.

 

“Oh, I forgot it was very cool for a biker of my age to have a collection of plushies.” Jonghyun said sarcastically.

 

“I think it’s pretty cute.” Kibum admitted with a smile. “And who cares about what everyone else thinks, anyway ?”

 

Jonghyun smiled at him before pecking his lips.

At the end of the day, the rumors really were just rumors. Kibum was happy he hadn’t believed them, because if he had let the rumors influence him, he wouldn’t have met the man he would be sharing his life with for many years to come.