Forgetfulness - a gift of God bestowed upon debtors in compensation for their destitution of conscience. 

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"Bye, Shin! Have a good day, you hear?" Jonghyun called after him with that cheery tone that Key already had engraved in his memory. Key smiled to himself, walking down the street again with his head down. Then, he broke into a run, not caring if any fans saw him. In his hand he clutched the pen he used to write his number on Jonghyun's hand, and he kept running, smiling even after the first "Look! It's Kim Kibum!" sounded down the street.

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If there was one thing Jonghyun hated more than having to chose in the first place, it was having to choose between two things he loved equally.

Jonghyun stood in front of a cooler in the dairy isle of the local super market, his eyes shifting between butter pecan ice cream and green tea ice cream. He sighed, pacing the small section of the isle once again. This was so incredibly vexing- but he couldn't just pick one of them at random. No, that would be a terrible waste of money! What was he in the mood for, maybe? Jonghyun thought, and he thought, and he thought some more until he felt like pulling his hair out of his thought-generator. "Damn it," Jonghyun muttered to himself, which might've looked odd to a bystander, but thankfully not many people were in the super market that day. "I can't choose!" Jonghyun shook his head, staring intently at the two tubs of ice cream before reaching in and pulling out the butter pecan. He supposed, since he could have Green Tea anytime he wanted, butter pecan was the greater choice.

Jonghyun tossed the item in his cart, along with all of the other things he'd nearly torn his hair out over deciding whether or not to get, and strode out of the ice cream isle quicker than you could say 'pathetic'. Jonghyun made his way to the check out, unloading all of the things from his cart and not allowing himself to give a second thought about what he'd decided on buying. If he did that, who knew how long he'd be there?

"Weekly grocery trip, Jjongy?" 

Jonghyun's head snapped up just as he'd reached for the bag of clementines which he knew he didn't need but wanted, anyway. A grin spread across his face, and he dropped the clementines on the check out counter, leaning over it slightly. "Onew!" Jonghyun exclaimed happily. Before him stood Lee Jinki, known as Onew to Jonghyun, breezily tossing the clementines in a grocery bag. Onew smiled back gently, raising a hand.

"Hey, Jjongy." Onew laughed lightly, and Jonghyun found himself slightly embarrassed for his little outburst. He coughed, turning away to hide his blush and grab his leftover items. Jonghyun glanced up at Onew and smiled. Onew had been his childhood friend, and now, with High School and dating and homework, Jonghyun and Onew had lost the time they used to spend as teenage boys. Jonghyun still remembered the times they would walk around town pointlessly, no where to be, no where to go, just walking and talking and even stopping when they spotted a cute pair of girls. They used to do what regular teenage boys did, but sooner or later, things like that had to end, and Jonghyun supposed their days as kids faded sooner than he'd have liked them to. 

"What've you been up to, chicken boy?" Jonghyun asked, and even then Onew's cheeks gained a light pink tinge. He held back a laugh, knowing how his friend loved his chicken. Onew had always had a slight oddity with chicken, and while Jonghyun loved watching his eyes light up over chicken -any kind, any time- he still couldn't help but give him the nickname from time to time. 

"Nothing much, honestly. This, mostly." Onew gestured to the bags he was packing full with the items Jonghyun had chosen, and then around the store, where Jonghyun noted little activity. "Pretty boring nowadays, I suppose. What about you? How have you been?"

The smile that graced Jonghyun's face was bound to happen whenever he and Onew talked. Onew had always been the mother hen, worrying about Jonghyun's health conditions and safety. Actually, he supposed Onew was just like that by nature- worry some. Jonghyun shrugged, putting his elbow in the edge of the check out counter, and setting his chin in his palm, looking incredibly and wholly bored. "Nothing, really. And I'm fine. Healthy as a horse, as I always told you. Nothing much has really... happened..." Jonghyun paused, thinking of Shin Choi. Hm... He thought for a fleeting moment of telling Onew about him, but something made him stop. In fact, now that Jonghyun thought about it, he'd never gotten his answer as to why his grandfather had let someone in that early, anyway. Jonghyun frowned and sighed, standing straight and shrugging it off. He'd see Shin soon, anyway, right? Yeah... He had to. Shin promised to, so he would. Jonghyun believed him on that.

"...Hyun...?" Jonghyun was brought back to the world in a snap by Onew's voice. Jonghyun grinned at his friend and shrugged.

"Nothing, nothing. But that's about it. I guess." Jonghyun exhaled, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "I think I'm actually going to go back to the shop and open early, just because I'm bored."

Onew gave a small laugh. "Do you remember the last time you did that, and it was a busy day and your grandfather came back two hours later?" 

Jonghyun's own laugh wasn't as small. He shook with the laugh, covering his eyes as he remembered how incredibly angry his grandpa had been. Oh, those were the days. The days of childhood that Jonghyun oh, so missed. "But I can do it on my own, now, anyway, so that doesn't matter much! I mean, I can cook fine now, and I'm better than I used to be at running the shop. I'm sure he wont be too angry if I do." It occurred to Jonghyun that when he'd thought that, it was a lot easier to believe than when he'd actually said it out loud.

Onew shrugged, grinning. "I'm sure you can, Jjongy." Onew said, putting the last of Jonghyun's bags in the cart. "Need any help out?" 

"No way, I got it. Thanks, man. See you around!" Jonghyun pushed his cart out of the store and unloaded all of the things in his old fashioned Toyota truck. He put the cart back in front of the store, and he hopped in his car, sparing a glance back at the store before driving off. He really did miss Onew, but there were times when Jonghyun felt as if their friendship -the one where they shared everything and anything with each other- was really gone, and done with. He didn't just feel it, but he feared it, as well. It was the kind of thing he'd grown to hate, change. Change was one thing Jonghyun couldn't stand, but it being inevitable was only a detail he never liked to hear. He loved things the way they were, but he supposed the selfish feeling of wanting something to be the way it was because he simple 'wanted' it was just foolish. Jonghyun knew better than that.

Jonghyun also knew better than to believe that Shin Choi was just some random, normal guy that just so happened to come across their store. He couldn't say why exactly he felt the way he did, but he knew that the way he felt wasn't going to go away anytime soon. He also knew the odd desire to see Shin Choi again wasn't going to go away soon, as well. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Not only did you leave in the middle of the process of recording a song, but you left without telling anyone. Key, if we can't trust you to stay and do your job accordingly, how can we trust you to do your job fully?" 

This is bull crap. Key thought to himself. When he'd became a singer, and an actor on the side to boot, he had devoted himself to his work and had made it his purpose to complete everything he did to the greatest percent possible. He was the hardest worker out there, and he still got this insanely ty speech every time he went out. He thought to point out that other celebrities had done worse than just leave for a bit, but knew that'd only dig him deeper, which was something he definitely didn't need. Not at all.

"Where'd you go, anyway?" 

The question genuinely surprised Key, and he glanced up to meet his manager's curious expression. Then, smirking lightly, he shrugged. "No where in particular." Key stood, ignoring his manager's snappish "where do you think you're going?" and grabbing his jacket, despite the blazing degree. "See you later. I'm going out for a bit."

His manager's whines and disagreements flew behind him as Key jogged out of the building, but Key wasn't thinking about that anymore. How the hell was he going to get to the Diner? He'd given Jonghyun his number, but he didn't know how much that helped, considering he'd done it for- yes, because Key had a liking toward him, but it was also to be able to call and ask how to get to the Diner. Which was something he absolutely could not do when he had no idea where it was. Key had a scarf and a new pair of sunglasses on, along with a beanie. He couldn't express in words how extremely hot it was under all of that, and he didn't really want to, either. 

In his mind, he put effort into trying to relive the run from the studio to the Diner. First he'd gone left at the second stoplight... then he'd... he'd... Oh, it was useless. Remembering something like that was impossible! Key sighed and sat on one of the nearby park benches, he looked around and, seeing no one near enough, took off his beanie and sunglasses. He air hit him like a slap in the face, and he allowed himself to breathe deeply. 

What was he even doing out there? Trying to find that blasted diner... but what was worth going there, other than seeing Jonghyun again? The feeling in his chest wasn't unlike the feeling when you were a child, and you'd lost something important, and knew you had to tell your mother. The feeling of panic and regret, maybe? Key sighed, leaning back and staring at the sky. In all honesty, this . This really, really .

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FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

Dunno why I ended it there. ;;>_____________>

MAYBE CAUSE I'M WEIRD AND HATH LOST MUSE FOR TODAY, BUT OH WELL.

8D

Hope you liked it, either wayyyyyyyy and thanks again for reading it~! =D

I'll try to post the next chapter soon, if I have enough muse for it. .C.