Dropping Nicole off at her dorm, I took a deep breath, contemplating what I had just done.

Did I do the right thing? 

Shakily getting into the car, I couldn’t help but smile and trace my lips with my index finger, “I suppose she’s cute.”

*

Exiting the car, I noticed Jonghyun also departing his car looking rather solemn. I decided to stay put, noticing how he carried a mask with a pair of sunglasses.

It couldn’t have been him at the restaurant surely…

I couldn’t help but see how his posture slouched when he walked to our dormitory, slowly taking the keys out, lazily unlocking the door, finally letting himself in.

I heard the distant cries of Taemin greeting his hyung, a moment of silence heard as he hugged Jonghyun (who was probably suffocating).

I tried shaking all the negative thoughts off, seeing as today was probably the best day I’d had in ages. The thought of dating Nicole frightened me a bit, but it was an exhilarating fright that pushed me to take a challenge. I had vague knowledge about dating, so I’d have to step up my act and get experienced if I wanted to get anywhere with the whole dating concept. 

Entering the dorm, I was also bombarded by three excited mongrels.

“Geez, why are you all so excited?” I huffed, attempting to shake them off.

“What happened with Nicole? Did she kiss you? Did you kiss her? Are you dating?” Taemin completely shattered me with the amount of questions he pressed.

“At least one of the three are true right?” Minho stated slyly, a smirk erupting on his face.

I blushed slightly, taking my shoes off, facing the ground.

“I bet all of them things happened!” Jinki exclaimed, leaping up in the air, “Nicole-ah is such a wonderful lady, I’d be more than happy to have her up here for dinner,” Jinki continued fantasising. 

“And who’d be cooking that dinner?” I shot him a glare, knowing that he’d instantaneously shut up. 

“Come in and sit! We want to know everything!” Taemin started, dragging me by the arm into our living space, forcing me down on the couch. 

“Aish, you guys are so persistent,” I muttered, lounging back into the cushions. All three of them apart from Jonghyun sat on the floor like begging puppies, staring at me with desperation in their eyes.

And so I began explaining every little detail of that day, including the incident where the sneezing man interrupted mine and Nicole’s “moment”. I couldn’t help but notice Jonghyun stiffen up on the other seat, nervously twiddling his thumbs, avoiding eye contact. 

I soon reached the part where Nicole and I kissed, resulting in Taemin gasping, despite Minho clasping his hands around the maknae’s ears. I couldn’t help but chuckle at their childishness and concluded my story, “that’s that!”

“So The Almighty Key has found himself a girlfriend,” Minho pointed out with a smirk.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment so patiently!” Our leader expressed, looking up to the ceiling with his hands slapped together, “I thank you God, for allowing us to see this day.”

We all burst out laughing. All apart from Jonghyun, who still had that look of melancholy glazing his eyes which I found particularly disturbing. 

Taemin and Minho were distracted by fooling around with each other, whilst Jinki went in his room to do god knows what. I found this the perfect opportunity to ask Jonghyun what had been the matter.

“Jong!” I shouted, seeing him about enter the bathroom. He paused momentarily, tilting his head slightly, letting out a smirk before continuing into the bathroom.

I huffed in irritation, “fine! I’ll go in if that’s how it’s going to be.” Marching over to the bathroom, I swung the door open, regretting it deeply because I was met by a shirtless Jonghyun. My cheeks instantly heated up, and I felt that I would melt. He turned to the side to face me, a deceiving look plastered over his face.

“What did you want to say?” He asked, his voice turning unusually low (for him, it’s not common for you to hear him go this low).

“I—I w—wanted to ask y—you if everything's o—okay,” I don’t even know why I'm stuttering, stupid Kibum!

“Why wouldn’t I be okay… Kibummie?”

As soon as he said “Kibummie” my whole insides churned with a nervous emotion that I was scared to pinpoint.

“D—don’t call me that,” I tried to act angry, however the distraction of his chest made my head completely muddled.

“I quite like the name, it suits the cute side of you,” Jonghyun said cheerily, smiling inanely.

“Besides that! You seemed unusually sad in the living room, never mind nervous,” I couldn’t help but  sneer the last sentence, a smirk creeping on my lips.

“What do you mean?” His voice suddenly converted to a worried tone, his eyes becoming petrified. 

“I swear I saw you in the restaurant Nicole and I were in,” I went closer to him, towering over his small self, completely forgetting that he was shirtless.

“I don’t get what you’re on about,” his voice minimised in volume as he stepped back. I took one step closer, ignoring the unusual feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about,” my voice became languid as I continued to tower over him, “the mask and sunglasses you were carrying when you got out of your car were exactly the same as the man’s who was in the restaurant.”

Jonghyun averted his gaze to the floor, stepping back further. I only advanced because I wanted to know if he’d admit to following me. 

“Was it you? Was it you in the restaurant?” He finally reached the wall, looking frightened when he knew there was no other escape, “well?” I pressed.

He nodded slowly, still avoiding my stare. I forcefully brought his face up to look at mine with my index finger, glaring right into his soul, “why?”

He coughed nervously, snatching my hand away from his chin, “I don’t like the idea of you and Nicole.”

“W—what?!” I spluttered, feeling like my heart would split any minute, “you don’t approve?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like Nicole, but when our fans start finding out that you two are dating, it’ll cause a major uproar,” Jonghyun seemed riled up by the whole situation, and it was clear that he saw every part of my day. I felt myself shrink under his stare, not being able to avoid it.

It was now my turn to be stepping backwards as Jonghyun advanced forwards. Now my attention was drawn back to the fact that he was shirtless (how I could forget that, I have no idea) and my cheeks were now the colour of a tomato as my back hit the door.

Yes Jonghyun was small, but when his mood catapulted to a rather devilish one, his height somehow increased, and I found myself being shrivelled under his gaze.

“Just be careful, and not make your relationship too obvious,” his voice was demonic, and he lowered his head closer to mine, placing both of his hands at the side of my head against the door, “don’t spoil your reputation.”

His voice was enough to make you want to dig a hole and never come back out. I now felt utterly humiliated. What happened to The Almighty Key at this moment in time? I needed that side of me!

I fumbled for the door handle, struggling to find it in my moment of fear.

Suddenly, Jonghyun’s hand brushed against mine, gripping onto the door handle whilst his body drew closer to mine.

Geez! What do I do if that bare chest with rock hard abs touches me?!

The door abruptly opened and I fell backwards onto the floor, seeing Jonghyun’s sly face expression smirk at me as he closed the door, leaving me dumbfounded with no idea as to what my emotions were telling me.