It was a collision course alright.

Kibum knew his relationship with Choi Minho wasn’t going to be as smooth sailing as any sane person could hope for. For one, just to point out the obvious, both of them were males. And everyone knew how society on a whole views such kind of love unacceptable. Kibum would never understand the logic behind this though. Because for him, so should be the case for every other sensible human being, love is love and everyone should have the freedom to love. The argument could go on forever, but Kibum honestly couldn’t be bothered about wasting his time and effort on standing up for himself. He had a right to live the way he wanted to live and this was a right he didn’t need to fight for. It was a right he could choose and did in fact choose. Besides, his motto in life had always been, as crude as it sounds, ‘ society!’ so this actually wasn’t much of a problem for Kibum. Yet, it was still a matter of concern because Minho was after all a public figure. Kibum knew he had nothing much to lose from this relationship. He was nobody in a crowd of people after all. On the other hand, it was a complete different story for Minho… Minho who was in the public eye, Minho who had so much at stake if his ual orientation was exposed, Minho who definitely couldn’t afford such a risk. Even though Kibum had an inkling that the actor didn’t care as much as he probably should, the personal assistant knew it was a fact they couldn’t ignore.

Still, what was more problematic (disregarding the fact that both of them were guys) was the fact that Kibum was working for Minho. Minho was his boss and to get romantically involved with your boss wasn't one of the smartest move an employee could make at a workplace. Just think about it – love is largely irrational while work demanded every human being to be rational. How then could one ever be able to find that balance if romance came into the equation at the workplace? It was just doomed to be a sticky situation. Kibum was pretty sure that somewhere in his contract, there was a term that forbids such romantic relationships with co-workers especially someone who was technically your boss. He probably should pull out that thick stack of papers someday to painstakingly read through each clause carefully now that he was in a situation like this. Imagine if this, together with Minho’s ual orientation, were to be exposed to the public? It would undoubtedly end up as the biggest scandal in the history of Korea’s entertainment industry. Kibum’s point that they were heading towards (or perhaps already on) a collision course was absolutely valid.

Yet, as much as Kibum had his worries about their relationship, he couldn't deny how their working relationship made dating Minho so convenient and easy that it was almost too good to be true. The very fact that he was Minho's personal assistant meant that he had to be everywhere Minho went. And even off work when schedules were done or the actor had an off day, Kibum could still go out with Minho openly on the pretence that they were just friends. Now wasn’t that fantastic? Without a doubt, yes.

It wasn't that they were deliberately deceiving the public because it wasn't their fault that outsiders would only see them as close friends who were extremely comfortable with each other. And well, that played to their advantage as lovers. Of course, that didn't mean they were eagerly engaging in all sorts of public displays of affection; but at the very least, they could have other sorts of physical contact with each other like how Kibum could lean into Minho's personal space or how Minho could have his arm around Kibum in a friendly sort of manner although both Minho and Kibum knew it meant so much more. Besides, both Minho and Kibum were more comfortable with keeping things that should be done in private, well, private, showing only their desire for each other when they were alone together. Not that they had plenty of chances to anyway since Minho's schedules were constantly packed and that left both of them sleep deprived and exhausted most of the time.

In fact, nothing drastic had changed since they admitted their feelings for one another. Work was still work, and both Minho and Kibum were level headed people. They knew it was best to separate business and pleasure. It was an unspoken rule between them that this fine line should never be crossed. So it was only after work that, in what little time they usually had, the couple chose to go out on simple movie and/or shopping dates. Normalcy was the key word. Minho could have all the fame and fortune in the entertainment industry but deep down inside, he was still a twenty one year old guy who wanted to experience love the way it should be. And this was the exact reason why Kibum was currently giving the actor death glares as they sat at the couple seat in the corner of the last row in a movie theatre while the movie, Hotel Transylvania (Kibum had an unfounded love for animation), played on the screen. The cinema was empty save for themselves since Kibum and Minho were catching the 7am show, the earliest movie timing they could find, on a Tuesday and any sane person would not watch a movie this early on a weekday morning. Of course, Kibum and Minho didn’t have much of a choice if they wanted to go on movie dates like this… though Minho didn’t know if he could classify this as a date since his boyfriend was on the verge of being murderous.

“Choi Minho, your arm.” Kibum finally hissed when he realised his glares had no effect on stopping Minho's obvious advances.

“But there's no one here…” Minho muttered, refusing to retract his hand but resting it on the top of the seat for the time being knowing he had to reason with Kibum first.

“So?” Kibum raised his eyebrows.

“Just let me... for once?” Minho was close to putting his hands together and widening his eyes in an attempt to increase his chances of success, but he decided begging adorably would only infuriate Kibum that much more and so he chose to plead in his low bedroom voice that he knew would work better.

“You're making me miss the movie.” Although grumbling with a straight face, Kibum’s defence had indeed crumbled a little inside (all credit to Minho’s irresistible voice of course).

“If you just let me, you won't.” Minho knew he was close to getting Kibum’s permission.

Kibum let out a sigh, remaining silent as he turned his attention back onto the movie. This was enough to make Minho smile because the actor knew that Kibum not saying anything was a good sign. So, instead of secretly trying to slide his arm around his boyfriend's shoulder, Minho openly did it and at the same time went one step further to pull Kibum into his embrace. Upon feeling his boyfriend’s warmth surrounding him, Kibum rolled his eyes but had no intention at all to push Minho away. In fact, he even adjusted Minho's arm to make himself more comfortable as he leaned relaxingly against his boyfriend. Minho was pleased, so very satisfied by such a simple action that he kept his eyes on Kibum the entire time, wanting to soak in every second of this moment where he felt like any other average person enjoying the thrills of dating and being in love. And with such an intense, flaming gaze on him, Kibum couldn't ignore even if he tried because trust him, Kibum tried, only to realise he was challenging the impossible.

“Did you buy tickets to watch a movie called Kim Kibum?” With his eyes still on the screen, Kibum asked seriously. “The last I checked, Hotel Transylvania was printed on our ticket stubs.”

Not even feeling embarrassed that he was caught red-handed, Minho let out a low chuckle. “It's not my fault you're more interesting.”

Knowing that there was no point in trying to focus on the movie anymore, Kibum let out a breath and turned his body towards Minho. “Okay, let's make out then.”

“What?!” This, Minho didn’t expect at all. It was apparent in the way he gasped in pure shock.

Remaining as cool as a cucumber, Kibum shrugged. “That's what you ultimately want, isn't it?”

“No... I wasn’t thinking that far.” Minho slowly shook his head, still recovering from the shock that Kibum was even thinking about that.

“Fine, then let's take it that it's me who wants this then.”

And without hesitating, Kibum slid his hands behind Minho’s neck and brought his boyfriend down low with him as he leaned back on the seats (thank god for no arm rests!) to hide themselves as much as they could while their lips met softly and gently, with Kibum teasing Minho with tantalising kisses and tempting his boyfriend to part his lips. Feeling Kibum’s tongue tracing the outline of his lips, Minho tightened his hug around his lover and finally parted his lips to allow their tongues to meet in a playful battle, deepening their kiss, yet only briefly because Minho had reluctantly ended it too soon with a bruising kiss on Kibum.

“Kibum...” Minho sighed as he leaned his forehead against Kibum and gently rubbed his boyfriend’s rather swollen lips, “As much as I want to continue this, I don't think we should.”

Nodding, Kibum took in a deep breath to steady his heart beat while creating a safe distance between Minho because god knows how difficult it was to resist those lips of his boyfriend.

“It was fun while it lasted.” Kibum grinned and patted Minho on his chest. “Alright then, back to the movie.”

“I can’t watch this…” After taking a glance at the screen, Minho said with a rather annoyed tone. “I don’t even know what’s going on in the movie.”

Kibum shot Minho a pointed look. “And whose fault is that?”

“You’re a major distraction.” Minho tapped Kibum on his nose.

“Are you saying it’s my fault?” Kibum asked with a fierce glare, exaggerating how offended he felt at Minho’s statement when in reality, he only wanted to tease his boyfriend.

Minho chuckled and took Kibum’s hand in his. “I’m saying we should get out of here and do something else, maybe have coffee or something?”

“The movie tickets cost 16000 won.” Kibum stated, a stern expression on his face.

“I paid for them, Kibum.” Minho deadpanned.

“Oh yeah, that’s right!” Kibum suddenly flashed an innocent smile and stood up right away, pulling Minho up with him. “Let’s go then!”

Minho was left with nothing to say to his boyfriend. He had learned that Kibum could be such a realist. Not that it mattered now anyway since after all, Minho got what he wanted in the end, didn’t he? And so, with a tender smile on his face, Minho allowed himself to be led towards the exit of the cinema and brought to wherever Kibum wanted to go.

*

“We should probably set some rules.” Kibum pointed out after swallowing a mouthful of the ham and egg bagel sandwich that Minho had offered a taste of to him.

They were now sitting in a corner of a random café they found at the basement of the shopping mall. It was still too early for the morning crowd to be out and so, the café was rather quiet, the service staff not paying any attention to Minho and Kibum since they were huddled behind the counter too busy preparing for business.

“What do you mean?” Frowning, Minho shifted his attention away from his breakfast and looked seriously at Kibum. He could tell he wasn’t going to like the direction this conversation was heading and Kibum knew this as well.

“Don’t get all defensive.” Kibum said while cutting a generous portion of pancakes for Minho, stabbing the sizeable amount with the fork and bringing it to the actor’s mouth to feed him once his boyfriend willingly opened his mouth and then continued voicing his thoughts out, “I just think it’ll keep us in check.”

“I would prefer if we don’t treat our relationship like some business deal.” Minho stated.

“I’m trying to help us here, Minho.” Kibum reasoned with a pout, feeling slightly wronged that Minho felt that he was likening their relationship to business. “What we have right now… well, it means a lot to me.”

“It does?” Minho asked, his frown disappearing as happiness became evident on his face.

Kibum rolled his eyes and scoffed at his boyfriend. “Do you think I get into relationships for fun?”

“Well, you do look like you have a lot of experience in this area…” Minho couldn’t help but say; he was always rather honest with people who he was close to. “That reminds me, how many relationships have you been in before I came along?”

“Don’t change the subject.” Kibum simply replied instead of answering.

“Are we never going to talk about this?” Minho asked earnestly.

“Is there a need for us to talk about it?” Kibum argued.

“Is there a need for us to set rules for our relationship?” Minho countered.

Narrowing his eyes at Minho, Kibum pointed his fork at the actor and huffed, “Choi Minho, are you picking a fight with me now?”

Minho let out a breath as he reached out to slowly push Kibum’s hand down and bring the fork back to the plate, “Relax Kibummie, you know I love you...”

At that moment, when the all-important three words slipped out of his mouth for the very first time, both Minho and Kibum froze in place (Minho’s hand still awkwardly on Kibum’s arm) and were left in a stunned silence. It was hard to even tell who was more stunned because Minho himself never saw that coming let alone Kibum who never thought he would hear the actor use the word ‘love’ so soon. It had only been a month since they technically got together. Yet, what the personal assistant did next before he could even stop himself caught both Minho and Kibum himself in a bigger surprise.

“I love you too.”

It was cheesy. It was cliché. It was unplanned. But the moment couldn’t feel more perfect. Nothing else had to be said. Their feelings for each other had been clear right from the start, and now, it was only proven out loud. True, perhaps it did come a little too fast, and at a rather awkward situation as well, but the time and place was not an issue for neither Minho nor Kibum. It was always the accidental unintended moments that made everything so much more true, genuine and unforgettable. The widest smile grew uncontrollably on Minho’s face as he slid his hand down Kibum’s arm to find his boyfriend’s hand and held it tightly in his, resting their interlocked hands on the table.

“Well, that escalated quickly.” Kibum remarked jokingly, smiling back at Minho, not pulling his hand away from his boyfriend’s grip.

“God, I just want to kiss you right now.” Minho mumbled under his breath, turning Kibum’s hand and facing his palm up so he could trace random patterns on his lover’s skin in hopes of distracting himself from what he truly wanted to do.

“Okay, we need to slow down.” Kibum laughed as he caught Minho’s playful finger and squeeze the actor’s hand before letting it go. “Let’s just finish breakfast first alright?”

“That sounds like you’re implying we have stuff to do later…” Minho’s eyes lit up with mischief as his mind wandered about the plans Kibum might have in mind…

“Yeah.” Kibum agreed while picking up his fork again to feed Minho another mouthful of pancakes, “Just because you said you love me doesn’t mean I’m going to forget about the rules we should set for our relationship.”

Minho could only groan and was unable to voice out his dissatisfaction since Kibum had cleverly taken the opportunity to stuff the pancakes in his mouth just when he had parted his lips to speak.

“Just a few rules to make things clear, Minho, that’s all I’m asking for.” Kibum tried his best to convince his boyfriend while he was busy chewing the food down.

Once Minho had swallowed the pancakes, he picked up his cup of Flat White and drank a few sips before he looked at Kibum and waved his other hand, gesturing for his boyfriend to continue.

Knowing that Minho was willing to hear what he had to say, Kibum smiled and quickly related his thoughts to the actor. “Okay, firstly, I think we need to stay away from pet names-“

“What?!” With his mood changing so quickly for the worse, Minho interrupted Kibum and instantly shook his head, “No. It’s going to be difficult having to spend that extra effort just making sure I don’t call you Kibummie or baby or-“

“Choi Minho.” Knocking on the table, Kibum knew he had to be stern and stop the actor from blabbering on before he carried on getting all upset and defensive. Mind you, it was only the first rule Kibum had in mind and if the personal assistant wanted this to work out, he had to have Minho willing to cooperate first.

“This is ridiculous.” Minho huffed, still shaking his head and crossing his arms angrily.

Kibum sighed. “Do you love me?”

Minho narrowed his eyes with caution. “Yes but Kim Kibum, you cannot use this to-”

Kibum didn’t care. He was going to be this unscrupulous and use it to his advantage. “If you love me, you would agree to the rules for the sake of our relationship.”

“You’re bad, Kibum, so bad.” Minho stared disbelievingly at his personal assistant who had indeed just mercilessly used his love for him as a bargaining tool.

“I can be worse.” Knowing that Minho wasn’t seriously upset or offended and was just playing with him, Kibum bit his bottom lip and winked suggestively at the actor. “Do you think you can handle me? It’s not too late to back out, you know.”

“I think I’ve fallen too deep to get out now so fine,” Minho let out a breath and smiled defeatedly, “Tell me what rules you have and I’ll try not to break them.”

Kibum’s eyes crinkled in delight. “And that’s why I love you.”

With that said, Minho found himself completely defeated by his sly boyfriend. He was whipped, so whipped. Yet, Minho had never been happier. And he knew that it was the same for Kibum too.

Author's Note: firstly, i sincerely apologise for the long wait for this chapter. i've been so busy this holidays, hardly having the time to even think about it though there was always this nagging feeling that i've been ignoring AAA and making you lovely people wait. so now that it's christmas, i'm finally updating and hoping this is a good enough x'mas present from me to you! so MERRY CHRISTMAS LOVELY READERS! have a blessed one and happy holidays! ^^ i hope this chapter was fluffy enough to make you smile and feel the love between minkey~ teehee, thank you for subscribing and reading! i appreciate it always. :)