The remainder of the week passes quickly, though with less Kibum than Minho would’ve liked. They see each other Wednesday when Minho brings his class; he notices that Kibum seems to be more relaxed this time around. On Thursday, when Minho’s class goes Heechul for an attempt at a history lesson instead of art, Kibum stops by before students arrive to deliver the artwork for the kids to take home. It’s only five minutes, but it makes his day a bit brighter. Especially considering all the teasing he’s been taking from Suho and Kyuhyun.

On Friday, as Minho sits down to eat his lunch, he’s surprised when Kibum comes into the break room with his own lunchbox. He sits somewhat across from Minho and smiles before pulling out his lunch.

“Decide you didn’t want to eat in the admin lounge?” Minho asks.

Kibum begins poking at the salad he’s brought and doesn’t look up when he answers.

“Well, I don’t know anyone in admin yet and there weren’t any chairs available when I got my lunch out of the fridge so I came over here hoping that you were still having your lunch at this time and I got lucky. So here I am.”

“Ahh. Well I’m glad you came, even if it’s because you didn’t feel like you were welcome over there. Admin can be a little scary, mostly because they hold my job in their hands, but I’m sure you’ll find a friend over there to eat with soon.” Minho says, finishing up his chips.

There’s a silence for a while, just Minho eating his sandwich while Kibum tries to eat his salad. The radio begins to crackle but goes silent again. There’s a knock on the door and a student comes in. Kibum looks at Minho, confused on why a student is in the teacher lounge, but Minho just smiles at the boy.

“Hi Kyungsoo. Are you looking for me or someone else?”

“I was looking for you, Mr. Minho. Mr. Suho asked me to give you this.”

Kyungsoo hands Minho an envelope and leaves quietly. Kibum returns to poking at his salad; he’s eaten less than half of it and Minho’s worried he won’t finish it. Not wanting to embarrass him, he turns his attention to the envelope. He opens it to find $20 and a sticky note inside.

M-

You were right about C/K. It was the

coffee shop on 5th they met at, not

the winery on 9th. Sorry for doubting

you, who’s had to deal with them for

four more years. Here’s your bet.

S-

Minho can’t help but laugh as he puts the note back inside the envelope. Kibum’s looking at him again, with an equally amused and confused look. “Sorry,” he says, offering a cookie from his lunchbox. “Suho and I had a wager about Kyuhyun and I won, is all.”

Kibum raises an eyebrow.

“Kyuhyun and his boyfriend, Changmin, the one who teaches PE at the high school. Suho was trying to remember where they met. He was thinking it was this winery that they both love almost more than each other, but I said it was this cafe closeby. I knew I was right, because I was literally there when it happened, but he insisted I was wrong and bet me money on it.”

Kibum laughs, covering his face with his hand so that salad bits don’t go everywhere. Minho decides he likes Kibum's laugh, and he wants to hear it again, and see it without his hand in the way.

“Wow, what a stupid bet. I wish I knew some good places to eat around here. I’ve only been here for a week so I have literally no idea where to go,” Kibum says when he finally collects himself.

“Well, if you like, I don’t know what time you’re done today but we could go to the cafe. I’m free after 4. It’s on 5th avenue if you know where that is. I don’t know what kind of food you like, but it’s a German bakery, I think? I’ve had almost everything they make and it’s all super good. Even the like, ‘diet’ options. It’d be my treat with Suho’s money.”

Kibum looks surprised at the offer, seemingly almost blushing.

“You don’t have to waste your money on me,” he starts.

“Kibum, please? It’s your first week and I want to do something nice for you. Maybe we’d actually be able to talk about ourselves a little more freely outside of here.”

“It’s on 5th, you said? I live on 7th so I should be able to find my way. Is 6 o’clock okay to meet up?”

“Yeah, 6 would be great. It’s called Kuchen, it’s right between the hardware store and the liquor store.”

Minho’s timer buzzes and he packs up to go collect his class.

“I’ll see you later, I hope the rest of your day goes better,” he says as he leaves.

*

Minho leaves his apartment at 5:30 even though it’s only a five minute walk to the bakery. While it’s never been full before, he wants to make sure that he and Kibum have proper seats. It’s been a long time since he’s been excited to meet up with someone -- friendly or otherwise -- that isn’t Kyuhyun or Suho. He’d opted for jeans and a hoodie rather than his work clothes; though everyone says he looks nice in a button up and khakis, he doesn’t think that gives a very let’s-be-friends-outside-of-work vibe. Now he hopes that Kibum comes similarly dressed. When he gets to the bakery, he orders a coffee and picks a nice booth that’s out of the way but in view of the door. He almost wishes he’d given Kibum his phone number just in case; Jonghyun, the music teacher that comes in only on Fridays, had about it. Actually Jonghun had about a lot concerning this situation. But either way, he’s here now and there’s nothing he can do about it. His phone buzzes; it’s still only 5:40 so he checks it.

Suho: uhh not to be creepy, but look up.

The realization that this meeting had be ever so gently been forced into being hits Minho the moment his eyes meet Suho’s. He’s sitting at the booth so that he’s facing Minho, wearing a hoodie in an attempt to hide. He waves but Minho doesn’t return it. He should’ve known that Suho sending the money was a trick, especially since it was in the middle of the school day. His phone buzzes again.

Suho: I’m only here in case you need an out, ok! It was Changmin’s idea!

Minho rolls his eyes. He’s annoyed at how easily he fell for the trick but he’s appreciative of the support nonetheless. The bakery is getting busy and he’s glad that he thought to come early. Finally, Minho spots Kibum coming in. He waves and Kibum comes over to the booth. He’s relieved to see that he’s in equally comfortable clothes.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Kibum says when he finally makes it over.

“Oh no, you’re not late! I just got here early. I wasn’t sure how busy it’d be.”

It’s Kibum’s turn to look relieved.

“So is this place actually authentic or just well themed?”

“Honestly? I’ve been coming here for five years now and I still don’t know,” Minho explains, laughing. “Either way, the food is worth it and the coffee is decent so that’s enough for me.”

Kibum doesn’t respond, but simply looks around to admire the decorations.

“So, what can I get you? If you want, you can go look at the counter and come back and tell me and I’ll get it for you. I’m afraid if we both leave the booth it’ll get stolen.”

“Oh, um. I’ll just take a coffee, however you like it, and like whatever they have that’s closest to a cinnamon roll.”

Minho goes up to the counter and orders a cinnamon roll, 2 coffees, and his favorite plate of cookies. Suho comes up behind him and orders something too, but doesn’t say anything. When Minho sits back down, Suho moves somewhere else.

“So. What did you want to talk about?” Kibum asks, tearing a chunk off his roll.

While Minho had been thinking of questions the whole day, now that the moment was here his mind blanks. He shoves a cookie in his mouth in an odd effort to buy time. Kibum seems to notice and take pity on him.

“I guess I’ll start since you seem to be having a moment with your cookie. Uhm. Is this supposed to be a date or a joke or something?”

Minho chokes on his cookie.

“No! It’s not a date, I would’ve dressed nicely if it was and asked you properly. And it’s not a joke either. I respect you enough as a person that I wouldn’t do that and I certainly wouldn’t bring you to this cozy place if I was going to. Why? Did I say something that made you think that?”

“I was just making sure. It’s...It’s just been a long time since someone has done something nice for me without cause and I...” he trailed off and began tearing his roll into smaller pieces.

“Oh...I’m sorry to hear that, Kibum.”

“So what should I know about you, Minho?”

“About me?”

“Yeah. About you. You asked me here to talk about ourselves, so tell me about yourself.”

Minho finishes another cookie and lets himself talk. He starts with talking about the misfortunes of his first year teaching and the little girl that would bite him every single day until she was removed from his class; about how this is the second year he’s had Chanyeol in kindergarten and how he’s excited to see him move on but also worried about him still not being ready to start school properly. He moves on to talk about his volunteer work at the sports league for disadvantaged youth and how he loves watching his team bond together and work on building each other up. How rewarding it is when he’s able to encourage them to success. All while he talks, Kibum is mostly silent. He eats his cinnamon roll slowly and asks small segue questions but doesn’t offer any comments. Eventually, Minho hits a roadblock, not knowing how personal he should get.

“So, that’s probably incredibly more than enough about me. What about you? What should I know about you, Kibum?”

Kibum shifts around uncomfortably. He’s finished his cinnamon roll so he takes a drink of his coffee. Worried that he’s upset Kibum in some way, Minho tries to pacify the situation.

“It doesn’t have to be big things or stories like I told you. I mean, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t feel comfortable. I just...I’m just curious about you. No, that sounds creepy I’m sorry I-”

“Minho,” Kibum starts, cutting him off. “I appreciate it. And I feel more comfortable with you than I think you realize. There’s just...nothing really to say about me.”

“There’s always something. What’s your favorite color?”

Kibum tilts his head and purses his lips.

“Pink. No, not pink. Peach!”

“Mine’s periwinkle. See? That’s something.”

Kibum properly blushes this time. He looks like he’s about to say something else when there’s a shout behind him.

“MINHO!”

They both look up and Minho realizes that Suho has been joined by Kyuhyun and Changmin. The three walk over to their booth and Changmin pretends to not notice Kibum at first.

“Hey Minho, what are you up to on this fine Friday evening?” he asks, putting his hand out for a fist bump.

“It’s the end of Kibum’s first week and since I seem to have had the greatest luck out of everyone in being friendly to him, I offered to bring him here for some celebratory goodies.”

“Kibum, this is my devoted pain in the as- I mean boyfriend Changmin.” Kyuhyun explains.

The two explain pleasantries and then it’s Suho’s turn to talk.

“We were thinking about going to The Barrel in a while if you guys want to join!”

“Yeah, you’re free to come along. We have a ton of funny stories about Minho if you’re interested in that, Kibum.” Changmin says with a wink. “We’ll let you guys know when we’re headed over if you decide to come along.”

The three head to the counter to order and there’s quiet between Minho and Kibum again.

“What’s the barrel?” Kibum asks quietly.

“It’s the wine place I was talking about earlier. I think they have a few new reds today, which are Kyuhyun’s favorites.”

“Do you guys go there often?”

“We take turns between going there and going to the bigger wine collection, aka their apartment.”

Kibum laughs, then turns serious.

“Is it really okay if I come along? I don’t want to intrude...”

“Kibum, I promise it’s fine. They literally wouldn’t have invited you if you weren’t welcome. Suho’s too nice for that and Changmin wouldn’t bother. It’s usually pretty fun, unless the two of them get handsy. But that’s more so the risk of having wine night at their apartment so we should be good.”

*

Unsurprisingly, the five of them do end up going to The Barrel. They cram into a circular booth and Kyuhyun immediately orders for them. While Minho’s somewhat upset that the others interrupted, Kibum seems to relax more as they start drinking so he’s grateful in the end. Things start out light: they all talk about their weeks, how funny their students are, how this or that teaching requirement is cramping their style. As more and more wine is brought out, things get variably more bright and dark. Changmin tries to take the bright side; Minho can’t understand what he’s saying, but a rosy-cheeked Kyuhyun is laughing on Changmin’s shoulder so it can’t be that bad. Suho gets serious, per usual. He picks up his glass, sighs, puts it down. Every now and again he turns to Minho and says something vague like “I can’t believe that’s how it is” but he never explains what ‘it’ he’s referring to. Minho and Kibum don’t drink as much as the others, though Kibum does drink comparatively more than Minho. Every now and again, he turns to Minho, grabs his hand, and thanks him for taking him out for the evening. When a few hours have passed and the staff won’t serve them anymore (they have a strict drunkenness policy), Minho pulls everyone out of the booth and collects money to pay. He doesn’t ask Kibum for money, but Kibum hands him a few small bills anyway. Outside, he hails a taxi for Suho, then another for Kyuhyun and Changmin. Something tells him that he needs to walk Kibum home.

“Where do you live on 7th? How far from here?” he asks.

Kibum looks at him, sways a bit, and scrunches his face in thought.

“King’s Court. I think,” he manages after a while.

“I live at Sunrise apartments, the one on 6th. Is it ok if I walk you home, Kibum?”

Kibum nods and sets off in the right direction. Minho watches him sway and offers his elbow for him to hold onto. Surprisingly, he takes it and the two walk silently but arm in arm for the 6 blocks between The Barrel and Kibum’s apartment. When they reach the door to the building, Kibum tries to shoo Minho home, but Minho isn’t convinced that Kibum will be able to get into his apartment and insists on accompanying him to the door. The elevator ride to the 5th floor is quiet. Though he’d tried so hard to shoo him at the door, Kibum silently invites Minho in. He seems to have sobered up somewhere between the front door and his apartment door and it comforts Minho in some small way. He looks around the small apartment and realizes he’s been in it before. Three years prior, he’d volunteered in a program aimed to help repair some of the poorer apartment complexes in the area. He’d been assigned to King’s Court 5th floor. Kibum’s apartment, 53A, had been the worst of the whole lot. He recognizes the patches in the flooring and walls as his own. There’s not much in the apartment that he can see. An old couch and a barely standing table are the only visible furniture.

“It’s not a good apartment but it’s all I can afford right now,” Kibum confides, sitting down on the couch. “The move here cost more than anticipated and I couldn’t get approved for the other apartment in my price range.”

“I’m not judging you for living here. I was part of a crew that fixed it a few years ago and was just seeing how everything held up.”

“You did the repairs? To be honest, I think those few repairs are the only place holding this place together...”

Minho tries to think of a polite way to continue the conversation, but it’s more difficult of a task than anticipated.

“What are you wanting from me, Minho?” Kibum asks. There’s no anger in his voice, but there is fear.

“I want to be your friend. You look lost, reminiscent of the boys I volunteer with, and I want to make things easier for you if I can. But also because I want a friend too.”

“Weren’t we just with your friends?”

“Yes, but it’s not as simple as that.”

“Oh. Well, I think I’d like to be friends with you. When I’m more sober I mean.”

“Do you have a pen and paper?”

Kibum tilts his head as if he’s going to ask why, but gets up and finds an envelope and a marker.

“What are you writing?”

“This is my cellphone number and this is my address. If you ever need anything or just want to hang out or something, just let me know. I volunteer on Saturdays, but my Sundays are free.”

“Thank you for inviting me out tonight. It’s the first time I’ve ever gone somewhere with a friend.”

“You’re welcome, I hope you enjoyed it. I’m going to go home now, if you’re all good.”

Kibum nods and walks Minho to the door, shyly waving a goodbye. As Minho leaves the building, his phone buzzes.

Unknown: this isnt a fak numbr right?

Minho:  kibum?

Kibum: ye! I was just testing

Kibum: let me no when u home

Minho laughs to himself and quickly finishes walking home. He still has a lot of questions about Kibum, but is satisfied with the progress he made. Once in his apartment, he makes sure to text as promised.

Minho: home safe

Kibum: ok. Ill let u no if im hungover tomrow.