After dreaming of Minki all night long, Jonghyun woke up thinking of Minki.
He realized then more than ever that Minki was all he wanted; that Minki was all he needed. It was crystal clear to him now.
Jonghyun loved Minki. Regardless of the weird things he sometimes did and said. Minki made him happy; the happiest he’d been in years. Why should he let stupid suspicion based on apparently nothing ruin that? Minhyun was right. He had to forget the useless stalking and enjoy every minute spent with Minki. 

Jonghyun had been hesitant before. What had it brought him? Nothing but loneliness, emptiness and the feeling that work was all that mattered.
When Minki came along, everything changed. Beautiful, ethereal, sweet, bubbly Minki brought color into his life. When he was around Minki, suddenly Jonghyun realized that he was blind before he saw the world through Minki’s eyes. 

For the very first time in his life, Jonghyun genuinely believed he'd found the key to happiness. 

----

Before going to work, Jonghyun visited the jewellery shop to spend an eternity studying the necklace that Minki liked so much. It was beautiful, truly. White gold, with a small, elegant diamond pendant. A little expensive. But nothing was too expensive for dear Minki. Dreamy sigh. Minki-

“Do you want me to take this one out for you?” A female employee interrupted his thoughts, nodding towards the display case. 

“Oh-" Jonghyun chuckled nervously. He had always hated getting caught in the act of daydreaming. "Yes, please.” 

“It’s really nice, isn’t it?” She smiled sweetly, taking a key to open the case, carefully removing the necklace from the mannequin’s neck. “For your girlfriend?” 

Girlfriend? The audacity. Jonghyun couldn’t help but shoot her an annoyed glare, but quickly pulled himself together. “Sort of.” He shrugged nonchalantly, though he was internally screaming at the mere thought of Minki as his boyfriend. 

“I see what’s going on here!" She smiled widely. "You’re going to confess, aren’t you?” She continued asking questions, handing over the necklace to Jonghyun. 

Jonghyun cleared his throat. “You guessed it.” He flashed her a smile, taking the necklace from her to admire it closely.

“You’ll make a good impression for sure! Who says no to a necklace like this one?” She giggled at her own joke, and Jonghyun smiled politely. "Your significant other surely is lucky." Hey. That was much better than girlfriend. She was a quick learner. 

Jonghyun nodded to show his approval. “I’ll take it, it’s really pretty.” He smiled to himself, remembering that Minki called it the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. He was going to get his pretty necklace today.
Jonghyun turned his head to face the girl again, and when noticing the way she grinned, he realized she hadn't been referring to his generosity when saying Minki was lucky, but his appearance. It made Jonghyun a bit shy, but he concealed his emotions perfectly well as usual. 

“Good choice, honestly.” She nodded excitedly. “This is the last one, too. No one will be able to copy you.” 

“Even better.” Jonghyun returned the necklace to her, and followed her to the counter, where she put the necklace in a very nice, small box. 

“That’ll be 5,397,567.05 won.” She said without even stuttering, now putting the box in an equally pretty bag. “I assume you want to pay by card?”

“Um. Yeah.” 

-----

Jonghyun was very thrilled to see Minki. But... Minki didn’t show up to work that day. And he didn’t answer his phone either. 

Naturally, Jonghyun was worried sick. What if he’d actually died last night? Jonghyun decided to give Minki two hours to call back. When those hours had passed without any sign of him, Jonghyun resorted to other measures.

He left the building early, once again abandoning projects and reports he was supposed to finish in time. He had to make sure Minki was ok.
The entire ride to Minki’s place, Jonghyun kept coming up with terrible things. Minki fell down the stairs. Minki accidentally took too much sleeping pills. Minki was murdered. And so on and so forth. He had to pinch himself to stop coming up with theories. 

----

But, in the end, Minki was fine.

In fact, he answered the door within seconds.

“Jonghyun!” His eyes widened, startled by the presence of the person on the doorstep while he could've seen this coming from miles away. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” What kind of question was that? “Just making sure you’re still alive. Why aren’t you answering my calls?” Jonghyun spoke sternly, but that was only because he loved Minki. 

“I- I, uh-“ Minki lowered his gaze, sighing deeply. “Please, come inside. I’ll explain.” He stepped out of the way, keeping the door open for Jonghyun. 

Jonghyun nodded and followed him inside, studying his features. Something in his aura, or something, was different today. 

“I was gathering the courage to tell you…” Minki sighed again when inside. “I’ve been fired.” He swallowed. “It’s best if we don’t see each other anymore.” He still avoided eye contact. “I was gonna tell you--“ 

“What?” Jonghyun blinked a few times. "No." 

“I mean it. It’s for the best. You- You can’t be seen with me anymore. O-Or the chairman will fire you, too.” Minki stammered, nervously folding his hands together.

“Then he can go ahead and fire me." Jonghyun shrugged. "You’re more important to me.” He nodded solemnly.

“No-“ Minki whined in frustration, finally looking at Jonghyun. “Don’t say that. I don’t want you to lose your job. You need to stay away from me.” 

How could he say that? Jonghyun knew the feelings were mutual. “Minki! I’m serious. I’m about to show you how serious I am.”

“W-what do you mean?” Minki tilted his head to the side. 

Clearing his throat, Jonghyun took out the box from his back pocket. This was it.

“Minki. You are the most beautiful, wonderful person I have ever met. In these past few weeks, you’ve made me smile more than anyone else in this world. I don’t even know how to express the way you make me feel. But I can tell you that I will do anything to make you happy. I would never make you sad and I will never break your heart, I know that’s what you’re afraid of, but you don’t have to be anymore. Nothing would make me happier than to officially have you as my-“ Mhm. “- my boyfriend.” Jonghyun opened the little box, revealing the necklace.

Minki stared at it, and before Jonghyun knew it, he broke down in tears. 

"Jonghyun.." He whispered, so softly it was barely audible. "I-I can’t take this."

"Yes, you can." Assuming Minki was overwhelmed and crying tears of joy, Jonghyun insisted. He took a step closer, but Minki took one back. 

“N-No. You don’t understand.” Minki shook his head, more tears following the ones from before. "I’m so, so sorry, Jonghyun. I’ve lied to you." He looked down, sobbing quietly. His cries were heartbreaking, even when he covered his mouth with both hands to muffle them.

”What do you mean?" Jonghyun swallowed. Oh no. 

"I’m not who you think I am. I’m not a secret agent at all." 

Jonghyun suddenly felt lightheaded, as if he were about to faint. He was out of his depth. His intuition had turned out to be right all along? After trying so hard to convince himself nothing was wrong, everything was wrong? He couldn't believe this, and yet he wasn't surprised. He blinked slowly, dropping the necklace when completely and utterly lost in thought. He didn't know what to do. 

“Then.. who are you?"