“So Kibum, what’d you do for New Years?”

Kibum smiled, trying to hide the condescending look that threatened to come out. Of course JInki knew what he’d done for New Years. He’d been with Minho and their families, so there’s no way he didn’t already know. He decided to humor the older boy, anyway.

“My parents and I went with Minho’s family to a sunrise festival. So, I guess I mostly shivered, yawned, and ate for New Years.” This answer seemed to satisfy Jinki, as he nodded understandingly. “What did you do for New Years, Jinki?”

“Oh, uh…” Jinki shifted slightly in his chair. Kibum noticed Taemin swivel around in his spot to smirk at Jinki, resting his chin on his arm as he leaned on the table and stared knowingly at the eldest, his lips pursed out in a “yeah, tell them” sort of way. Jinki’s eyes shifted towards Taemin, then he looked down and scratched his forehead.

“I, uh… I fell asleep.”

“Oh, no, Jinki.” Taemin interjected. “No, no, tell them what happened. Don’t leave out the good stuff.” The sass was strong with this one.

“I think that was a good enough summary. How was the fes…”

“Uh uh. Nope! Fell asleep? Man, you texted me at 9:30 that you were finishing up some work and would be right over, so we could go to a festival, too. At 12:30, you still hadn’t shown up, so I went to your dorm. Man, you were passed in the entry way with one shoe on! How tired were you that you fell asleep putting your shoes on???”

“Really, do we need to dwell on the past?” Jinki’s desperate words were barely heard over the laughter of the others around him. He half-hearted glared at them, but broke into a smile when his eyes landed on Minho doubled over and clutching his sides. “It’s no big deal. I got my work finished at least.”

The laughter died away and Minho wiped a tear from his eyes, breathing heavily. His face glowed whenever he was with Jinki. Kibum loved it. Minho had always had this incredible energy that Kibum had always admired, but he tended to keep it suppressed some when around others. Jinki brought out every ounce of the real Minho that existed, and he could do it anywhere, anytime. Kibum reveled in it. He was beyond thrilled that his best friend had found his perfect other half.

“Jinki, babe, you’ve gotta get enough rest every day, not just sporadically.”

“I do, it was just a one-off thing. I promise!”

Minho grinned at Jinki, who smiled radiantly back.

“…Did you just call him ‘babe’?” Taemin’s voice sounded slightly distorted from how he was still resting his chin on his arm. He looked up at Minho with big, curious eyes as he asked the question.

Minho faltered. “Oh, uh…” His ears reddened and he dropped his gaze from the others. Jinki’s smile lessened, but not the feeling behind it.

“Because I love it, honestly.”

Minho grinned again, embarrassment still coloring his face. Jinki reached over and squeezed his shoulder. All of this would have seemed to small and insignificant to anyone passing by. But, to KIbum, it was the joy in his days. He looked around at the others around him sitting spread across three picnic tables on a grassy spot on the campus of Jinki and Jonghyun’s school. Jinki and Minho sitting on the benches of one table, Kibum perched on a bench of a neighboring table facing them, with Taemin basically sprawled across both the table and the other bench to that table. The third table was where Jonghyun sat. He was seated on the table itself with his feet on the bench, his hands in his pockets hugging his coat close to his body. He’d barely spoken the entire time. Kibum wondered if, like himself, Jonghyun had been somewhat tricked into being there, possibly believing the other wouldn’t be.

When the five of them were together, it was a tense and stressful atmosphere. Kibum refused to be his usual self around Jonghyun, knowing that is was dangerous, that the older boy would find something to pick at that would bug him for days as he tore apart every single thing the words spoken could possibly mean. Kibum had taken to deciding to not go places if he knew Jonghyun would be there, which absolutely . But it was safer.

Taemin pulled himself up and lay down on his back on the top of the table he and Kibum occupied. Kibum took the opportunity to run his fingers through the younger boy’s shiny black locks. Taemin closed his eyes and smiled lightly at the feeling. For Kibum, Taemin had begun to fill the void Minho was leaving for physical touch. They’d hold hands, hug, and lay their heads on each other’s shoulders when around each other. Their friendship had progressed to that deep level quite quickly, and neither had a problem with it. They were both open and honest about their feelings. Kibum was actually really grateful to Taemin, because without him, he’d probably feel quite lonely after Minho had met Jinki.

Kibum heard Jonghyun click his tongue and turned his head to look at him. The older boy was rolling his eyes and had his lip pulled in a sneer. Kibum’s hand didn’t stop its path through Taemin’s hair. “What? Something wrong with what I’m doing?”

“Yeah, it’s gross.”

“Excuse me?” Kibum’s expression hardened and he stopped Taemin’s hair. Instead he placed his arm across Taemin’s chest, a bit possessively. Taemin stayed in the same position, but the turned his head up so he was looking at Jonghyun upside-down.

“When they do it,” he gestured toward Minho and Jinki who were both frozen, eyes shifting quickly between Kibum and Jonghyun, “it’s cute. But when you do it…” he pulled a disgusted face and pretended to gag.

“Are you serious?” Kibum was angry now. He could deal with it okay when it was just about him, but nobody, NOBODY was allowed to make Taemin feel bad, especially not in front of Kibum. “Don’t you dare. Taemin is my friend, and I…”

Jonghyun cut him off. “I don’t really care what Taemin does or who he does it with. He’s not the gross one.” As he spoke the last sentence, he looked very pointedly directly at Kibum. Kibum’s heart fell. He lost his confidence in that moment. He pulled his arm away from Taemin and shrunk a bit in his seat. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He just wanted to disappear.

Jonghyun didn’t stop there. He stood up. “I don’t know why you do that. I don’t get it. How can you want to be intimate like that with some other dude. I mean, it’s different than Minho and Jinx. They don’t really have a choice.” Kibum could see Minho and Jinki shift uncomfortably in their seats. He was ruining the day. Moments before, Kibum had watched them been ridiculously happy just because of each other, and now he was bringing it down. Even if it was Jonghyun who was saying it, Kibum felt he was to blame. Jonghyun voiced the little angry words that sat in the back of Kibum’s mind every day. His eyes burned and tears pricked at the corners. And then, Jonghyun said the fateful words of the day.

“I could never stick my in any part of a man, personally.”

Jinki choked on his drink and Minho was quick to jump up and smack him on the back a couple times. At the same time, Taemin sighed and took Kibum’s hand in his, intertwining their fingers. “Well,” he said thoughtfully, “you could always bottom.”

Even though they were outside, the world seemed to stop and become dead silent, until Jonghyun spoke, his voice uneven and surprised.

“…What?”

Taemin was still playing with Kibum’s hand, tracing their fingers and examining the size difference. “Huh?” He turned his head back up to look at Jonghyun upside down. “Oh, sorry. I just meant, if you aren’t a giver, you could always receive. Everyone is one or the other, sometimes both. You never know until you try.” He grinned up at Jonghyun, the face of pure mischievous evil.

Kibum didn’t even get to see the rage boil up in Jonghyun’s face, he was laughing too hard. He had doubled over, his head on Taemin’s chest as he struggled to catch his breath. Minho’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head, while Jinki was struggling to control his face, while at the same time, trying to subtly reach over and smack Taemin. Jonghyun’s face, ears, neck all turned beet red. He began yelling at Taemin so loudly and fast that no one could actually understand what he was saying. He started to storm away, but he turned and roared at Kibum before stomping away.

“SHUT UP!!!!”

Kibum treated Taemin to as much food as he wanted over the next week, and would randomly begin giggling throughout the days afterwards.