It's been a few days since Halmeoni's health scare and she seems to grow stronger with time. It was a huge relief for everyone, but for Kibum most especially. Knowing that he had a deep desire to be there for his beloved grandmother, he spent all his energy being the perfect, dutiful grandson. Kibum was at her beck and call, and he wanted it that way. 

It had also been a few days since Jonghyun had come into the fold. He got along well with everyone and seemed to find his groove with provincial life. It was almost as if he had been part of the town all along, instead of just a visitor passing through. He had an uncanny ability to make people around him feel at ease, which was great for him, as he always seemed to be talking to townsfolk about Kibum and his impact. Jonghyun could now walk down the street without a care in the world, and be greeted with warm hellos from everyone--everyone but Jinki, that is.

The older man did not like the way that Jonghyun was hanging around so close to Kibum all the time. He always had something to new to ask or something different to clarify. Over the next few days, the older man watched the journalist like a hawk but his feelings about him didn't change. There was something in the way that Jonghyun looked at Kibum that the older man hated. He recognized it instantly because what he saw was the same twinkle in his eye when he looked at Kibum as well. And it made him insanely jealous.

It didn't help that he had to spend one-on-one time with Jonghyun today. The journalist had been scheduling interviews with Kibum's close friends over the past few days and Jinki did his best to steer clear of it. It was irritating to realize that he had finally run out of excuses, and he had no other choice than to give in to his request.

He walks into Taeyeon's grocery store to find Jonghyun all ready and waiting for him. The younger man stands up with a smile and immediately bows politely when he sees Jinki come in.

"Thank you so much for meeting with me. Sorry for being so aggressive with setting this up but I couldn't imagine writing this piece without your input. Kibum speaks so highly of you," Jonghyun says. "I really appreciate you for helping me out."

"Sure. Anything for Kibum," he replies with a twinge of annoyance. He made sure to stress that he was doing this for Kibum, and not as a favor to Jonghyun. There was no chance that he would go out of his way for him despite how nice he was.

"You don't mind me recording this, right?" Jinki shakes his head no as the younger man takes out a recording device and sets it on the table. "So tell me how long you've known Kibum."

"Since we were kids. All the kids in this town grow up together, but Kibum, Minho, Taemin and I were especially close for some reason. It's just always been that way," Jinki says.

"How would you describe the Kibum that you knew then?"

There were thousands of stories that he could have pulled from but one in particular springs to his mind.  

"What's wrong, Jinki Hyung?" Kibum says, as he carefully approached the older boy. He was sitting on the ground a few blocks away from his home with his knees close to his chest. Jinki was doing his best to conceal it but the younger boy could see that he was crying softly. Kibum sat beside him and tried his best to console his friend.

"I... I lost the blue pen that my Appa gave me... He's going to be so mad... And now I don't have a blue pen anymore..."

Kibum's heart fell to his stomach. He knew that Jinki's family struggled and because of this, he valued his belongings very much. There was no way that he was going to get a replacement. That meant Jinki was going to have to save up from his already meager allowance or else he would have to go through the rest of the academic year missing the required color for quizzes and other exams. 

The younger man sits down beside his Hyung, ransacks his backpack and pulls something out. "Here," Kibum says, placing something in Jinki's hand.

Jinki looks down at his palm and sees a nice, shiny pen. He was amazed at Kibum's concern and generosity, especially since he never thought that the younger boy liked him all that much. 

"Go ahead," Kibum reassures. "It's yours now. I have others. See?" He opens his pencil case and shows Jinki that he did have other supplies to use. "I need to tell you something though. That's my favorite pen. I've never failed a test while using it."

Jinki becomes flustered and hands the pen back to Kibum. "No, no... If it's your favorite, then I can't accept it..."

"But I already gave it to you... You have to keep it now. Maybe receiving something that's special to another person can help you feel better because it means that you're special too," Kibum says with a smile. 

"Th-thank you, Kibum... I wish I had something to give you in return," Jinki says, wiping the tears from his eyes, his cheeks flushed in a cherry red. 

"Hmm... Maybe there is something. What about... If I don't have to call you Hyung anymore? That way, I'll always have a special place in your life: The dongsaeng who has permission to be rude," he says, laughing at his own audacity. 

"...Okay," Jinki says, without even thinking about it. "You don't have to call me Hyung."

The younger boy was stunned. This was something that was unheard of and Kibum suddenly felt foolish having asked for it in the first place. "No, I was just kidding... I'm sorry..."

"I think it's a fair trade," Jinki says, holding the pen up. "A lucky pen for a deeper friendship. I'm glad you thought of it."

"Thanks, Jinki," Kibum says, giggling. "Not having to call you Hyung seems weird."

"You'll get used to it."

"That's so cute," Jonghyun says. "Kibum-ssi really has a softer side to him. And you two seem to share a special bond... But... Some people were saying that there was a point in time where you guys lost contact. Would you want to tell me anything about that?"

"There's really nothing to tell... Life happens, that's all. We weren't as close as we once were just because we're leading totally separate lives. It's not anyone's fault... Things just happened to pan out this way."

"And now?"

Jinki heaves a deep sigh. He hadn't given a second thought to the fact that Kibum was leading a completely different life in the city. It was a life that he had built without him in it--and it terrified him to think that things could go on that way when Kibum goes back. 

"Now... I don't know if things will be different, but I do know that this period made us realize the value of friendship... We care about each other. We all do. I think family and friendship are the most important things in life."

The younger man smiles weakly, and Jinki was sensitive enough to tell that something had changed in his demeanor. Jonghyun reaches to pick up his device and turns it off. Immediately, Jinki realizes that the one thing that he didn't want to is about to happen and he was dreading it with his whole being.  "Can we talk off the record?"

Jinki's heart falls to his stomach and he readies himself for the worst.

"People in town were saying that you two were high school sweethearts... And that things turned sour when Kibum decided to move into the city..."

"Are you expecting me to confirm that? Because you should know by now that I won't do that," he says defensively.

"No, no... We're off the record, remember? I'm not going to make it part of the piece or anything so don't worry," Jonghyun says, fidgeting in his seat. "The reason I brought it up is I was wondering if you guys still had something going on between the two of you."

Jinki's heart was pounding so hard in his chest that he was almost scared that Jonghyun was going to hear it. He didn't like where this conversation was going. He didn't like it at all. 

"Jinki Hyung, I've really enjoyed getting to know you and I know that you and Kibum are important to each other. And this is why I wanted to ask you before I did anything that might upset you... I would love to continue being friends with everyone, especially you. I just don't want things to get weird."

"Why would it get weird?"

"You didn't answer me," Jonghyun says, a bit of nervousness coming through in his voice. "The reason I'm asking is--"

"No," Jinki interrupts. There was no sense in prolonging Jonghyun's agony. "No, there's nothing going on between us. I've seen how you look at him... Go ahead, Jonghyun. You don't need my permission."

You could visibly see the relief wash over the journalist's face. "You're not upset?"

"Kibum deserves to be with someone who knows his worth... I think you're doing a good job of finding that out for yourself."

"Thank you, Jinki Hyung," Jonghyun replies with a huge smile on his face. "Wow. I was really nervous about talking to you about this. Turns out I was worried for nothing."

Jinki nods his head shyly, not really knowing what to do with himself. A strange lump was forming in his throat that was a mixture of so many emotions: anger, jealousy, sadness. It took all of his strength not to burst out in tears at that exact moment. 

"I'm really just waiting for the piece to be over and I was thinking of asking him out when we're both back in the city. I'd like to see if there's something there... He's a great person. I'd be stupid to let him go," Jonghyun gushes.

"Yeah," Jinki responds faintly. At least there was one thing that he could agree with Jonghyun on: To let Kibum go is stupid. The older man was trying his best not to let show that his heart dropped to his stomach, or that he felt like he was in a cold sweat. He needed to get out of there quickly. "Hey, thanks for letting me be a part of this but I really need to get back to work now. Maybe you can just call or email me if you have any more questions. I'll see you around?"

Jinki rises to his feet as Jonghyun mirrors his actions and sticks his hand out for a cordial handshake. "Actually, I'll be heading back to the city tonight on the last train. I need to get started on actually writing all of this. Minho offered to take me to the station tonight, so I guess this is goodbye. It was lovely meeting you, Jinki Hyung. I hope to see you again soon."

"Y-Yes, me too. Me too, Jonghyun. Take care," he says. "And good luck with... Everything."

"Thank you, Jinki Hyung. Bye," the journalist says with the most charming smile on his face. 

Jinki quickly walks to his truck and slams the door. A cold wave of panic flows through him, and it's as if he can't feel the steering wheel even though his eyes are telling him that he's grasping it too tightly. He rests his forehead on the wheel and is overcome with despair. This was it. He was losing Kibum. 

*****

"Hey," Kibum says, trying to smile as sweetly as he could. It wasn't that hard. He was elated to see Jinki again. "My Appa wanted me to give this to you."

The younger man sets down a crate filled with glass bottles - his father's goat's milk for the company's new cheese recipe. Jinki nonchalantly glances at the crate and waves his hand in the air. "Ah. Thanks," he says coldly, immediately looking back at the computer screen.

Kibum walks over to him, curious about what was keeping Jinki too preoccupied to even say a proper thank you. But before he could even come close, Jinki snaps at him. "The milk is fine there. Tell your Appa thank you. I'm really busy, Kibum. You should probably go."

"Cranky," Kibum says, rolling his eyes and taking a seat beside the older man who now had furrowed eyebrows. "I won't be a bother if you're busy. I can just sit here and be quiet. And, as a thank you for all you've done for me, I give you the authority boss me around if you need help."

"I don't really need help right now," the older man replies, seeming to grow more annoyed by the second. 

Kibum turns his head and leans into Jinki's personal space. The young man peers into Jinki's eyes, but he couldn't get him to even glance his way.

"Okay. What's wrong? What did I do?"

"Nothing. I'm just busy."

"You can't fool me, Lee Jinki. I'm not going to leave here until you tell me what's wrong," he says, with a sweet kind of determination in his voice. The truth was, he hated it when something bothered Jinki, and he knew that something had been bothering him for a while now. But the older man was completely tight-lipped. "You won't tell me, huh? Fine... I'll just stare at you until you do."

It was unnerving to have Kibum's face so near to his like this. Truth be told, since their close call a few nights ago, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about being close to Kibum. Now that the younger man was taunting him like this, it drove him absolutely insane.

Jinki decides to put his fresh ingredients away properly before he could do anything that he might regret. He quickly rises to his feet, lifts the crate up with ease, and starts to walk to the back of the barn. 

"Hey!" Kibum says, scurrying after him. "I'm trying to talk to you, Jinki. Jinki!"

Jinki heaves a bit and goes into the back room, which was his private space. He places the crate on one of the countertops, busying himself with putting the milk bottles away for the next day. But Kibum was relentless. He was followed all the way inside with the same amount of tenacity that the young man was always known for.

"What is it? Was it when we started eating without you yesterday? C'mon, Jinki. You were almost an hour late and Minho was famished. You know how he can get. And we had a guest with us. It would have been rude to make him wait a minute longer... "

The older man stayed silent and the only thing that you could hear was the clinking of the glass bottles as Jinki stowed them away. 

"Is it because I didn't tell you I was coming over? Do we really need to do that? We've stopped being courteous to one another since we were in fourth grade," Kibum says. "You show up at my house at two in the morning, for goodness' sake."

It was difficult to think about what it was that made Jinki feel this way. Kibum started making a list in his head of the things that could have happened recently that had the potential to piss Jinki off, and all signs pointed to one thing. "You know... Come to think of it... You've been cranky since Jonghyun arrived. This afternoon was your interview with him, wasn't it? That's it... You don't like that a journalist is prying..."

The older man simply looked at him in annoyance. He hoped that Kibum would stop pushing this, or else.

"Jinki, I know how much of an inconvenience it is, and I'll be forever grateful... But Jonghyun is nice. He's polite and sensitive to all of us and he fits in really well... Him doing his job is annoying sometimes but he's a good guy, right? Your interview couldn't have been that bad."

"I didn't know you liked him so much. Good luck with that," he says in response, Kibum's words acting like a dagger to his heart.

"What?" Kibum asks, incredulously. "What are you talking about? I'm being nice to him because one, he's nice too and two, he's writing a piece on me. What are you trying to say?"

Jinki certainly didn't want Kibum to see that he was affected by all of this so he turns and walks away before he was caught with tears in his eyes.

"And even if it was something more, so what? So what if I like him? Why do you care?"

That was it. Jinki turns around to face Kibum and look into his eyes for the first time since he arrived. There was no point in holding it in anymore. If he didn't make his move now, then he might lose his chance forever. The older man marches towards Kibum with so much force and determination that it makes the latter take a step back. 

Jinki reaches out to Kibum's face and pulls it closer to his, pressing his lips to the young man's. 

Kibum's eyes are wide open in surprise. His heartbeat went from zero to a hundred in that split second. Instinctively, the young man pushes Jinki away with all his might out of complete and utter shock. The two of them stand there awkwardly, trying to process what just happened.

"S-sorry," Jinki says, his hands shaking. "Oh, God, Kibum. I'm so sorry, I just--"

Kibum brings a hand to his own lips when he realized that he had just been kissed. Even though his lips hadn't met Jinki's in years, it somehow felt better this time around. And he wanted more.

The young man lunges into Jinki's arms and kisses him back passionately.