“Kibum!” Minho called out as he searched the dressing table in his waiting room, “Did you see where I placed my phone charger?”

Silence.

“Kibum?” Eyes furrowing in confusion, Minho looked up and around the room to realise his personal assistant was nowhere in sight when they had only entered the waiting room together just a few minutes ago.

This was weird, because even if Kibum had to go somewhere, he would have told Minho about it before he left. Where could Kibum have disappeared to then? Puzzled, the actor decided to forget about his phone charger for now and search for his personal assistant instead. Pulling the door open, Minho stepped out of the room and looked down both ends of the busy hallway. With little trouble, he caught sight of Kibum’s back and quickly followed after him, making his way past rushing staff members who spared some time to bow in courtesy every time they saw him. It was only when his personal assistant stopped and faced the window upon reaching the end of the hallway that Minho realised Kibum was on his phone. The actor decided it was better if he kept his distance and give Kibum his personal space. Yet, when he caught a glimpse of a troubled expression on Kibum’s face, Minho ended up trying to hide himself from being seen while standing as close as he could get to Kibum and straining his ears to hear what his personal assistant was saying.

“Sorry mum, I’ve been busy with projects.”

Projects? Minho raised his eyebrows in question. Unless Kibum termed Minho’s requests as projects, there was no way his personal assistant was telling the truth to his mother.

“No!” Kibum shouted, shocking himself in the process and Minho could see that Kibum had to take in a deep breath before consciously lowering his volume when he spoke calmly into the phone again. “It’s okay mum, I can take care of myself. You really don’t have to make the trip down.”

Minho watched as Kibum began pacing up and down the already limited space he had.

“Yes, I’m fine. I promise you, I’ll visit home once I have some free time.” Kibum said, “Look mum, I got to go. Lecture is about to start, I’ll call you some time soon alright?”

Upon hearing that Kibum was about to end the call, Minho hurriedly turned around and walked back to where he was supposed to be before Kibum noticed he had been eavesdropping on his private conversation. And as he made his way back to the waiting room, all Minho could think about was why Kibum had used words like ‘projects’ and ‘lecture’ when he was talking to his mother. Kibum was obviously neither in school nor a proper office setting so why did he lie to his mother about what he was truly busy with? Did he lie because he was embarrassed about his job? As Minho returned to the waiting room and sat down on the couch, it occurred to him that he actually didn’t know anything about Kibum at all. Suddenly, the guy who had promised to be his friend felt like a complete stranger to him and Minho realised he didn’t deserve this friendship one bit.

“Minho, sorry I had to go away for a while.” Kibum instantly apologised once he entered the waiting room, “Did you need help with anything when I was gone?”

As Kibum’s voice broke into his thoughts, Minho glanced up and shook his head slowly.

“No… nothing.” Minho answered, appearing out of sorts, his eyes seemingly looking at Kibum but unfocused at the same time. “It’s fine.”

“Everything alright?” Kibum asked, truly concerned because he had never seen Minho in this state before.

“Yeah, yeah.” Minho quickly replied, “I just… umm, can’t find my phone charger.”

“Oh…” Kibum smiled and walked towards where all their bags were placed on the shelf. “You left it lying around before you went for the shoot so I kept it for you in your bag.”

Taking Minho’s leather backpack off the shelf, Kibum headed back to the couch and stood in front of his boss. “Did you need to charge your phone? Pass it to me and I’ll help you plug it in.”

“Thanks.” Nodding, Minho pulled out his phone from his front pocket and placed it into Kibum’s hand. By then, his personal assistant already had the charger in his other hand and once he had Minho’s phone, Kibum moved towards the nearest power socket to help the actor charge his phone.

“So are you done with filming for the day?” Kibum casually questioned while he squatted down to insert the charger into the power socket.

“Yeah.” As his eyes followed Kibum’s every move, Minho replied and then checked with his personal assistant, “My next schedule would be the magazine shoot in Japan 2 days from now... Kibum, has Gyeongshik hyung told you about that? You do know you’re coming with me right?”

Standing up once he was done, Kibum turned to look at his boss with his mouth wide open and eyes sparkling with delight.

“No, he didn’t.” Kibum couldn’t contain his excitement, “I mean, I know your schedule at the back of my hand but I didn’t know I’m flying with you to Japan!”

Minho blinked amusedly at a thrilled Kibum. “Kibum, are you forgetting that you are my personal assistant? That means you have to go wherever I go… even overseas.”

“Oh my god!” Kibum couldn’t stop himself from squealing uncharacteristically, “I am freaking going to Japan with you.”

“Yes, you are.” Minho laughed and then decided it was best if he gave Kibum some necessary reminders. “Please pack light, and don’t forget to bring your passport. Also, Kibum, I think you should know you may not have time to do what you want in Japan…”

“I know,” Kibum interrupted Minho and hastily clarified, “I completely understand, I’m going there to work. It’s just fun knowing I’ll be getting out of the country.”

While Kibum’s mind obviously began to wander, Minho could only stay silent and smile because he didn’t have the heart to agree and tell Kibum straight up that they would hardly have any time to do anything which would come close to ‘fun’ even after schedules were completed. To put it simply, this was a business trip, and nothing more.

*

Minho was seldom distracted at work. Today was one of those rare occasions when he was and the cause of his distraction was something, or rather someone, he least expected would affect him in any way. Yet, the truth was, in between the clicks of the camera, Minho found himself stealing glances at Kibum from the corner of his eyes. At first, he only wanted to know where his personal assistant was so he could find Kibum easily if he needed anything during the photo shoot. Everything was perfectly normal in the beginning when he was having his interview with the writer; Minho noticed that Kibum either had his polite, smiling face on or was expressionless which was considered good based on Minho’s understanding of Kibum at work. However, when the interview took longer than expected due to the writer’s persistence of asking certain personal questions that Gyeongshik himself had to in and answer on Minho’s behalf, this, on top of the time already needed for translating every word they exchanged with each other, ate into the time the staff had actually designated for the photo shoot itself. Of course, this eventually meant that they were very much behind schedule.

It was around his third outfit change for the evening that Minho realised his personal assistant wasn’t looking too pleased. If there was one thing Minho first noticed about Kibum, it was that his personal assistant wore his heart on his sleeve. Kibum never found it necessary to hide his true emotions even though he knew he would end up coming across too blunt or straightforward for the liking of others. It seemed unprofessional of him since he was, after all, still on the job but this was what Minho liked most about Kibum. Only that he didn’t know how something he liked about Kibum could actually end up as a distraction to him at work. Another glance at his personal assistant and Minho realised Kibum had the iest expression on his face (excuse his choice of words because there was no better way to describe it). With a dark expression clouding his face, only the blind couldn’t see that Kibum was obviously unhappy, annoyed and displeased. Minho was troubled, and his expression showed it all. It was his luck though that somehow, the photographer loved such an expression on him and was more than satisfied with how Minho’s photos turned out.

Once the photographer called for a change in lighting, Minho’s eyes travelled to Kibum again, who by then, the actor observed, already seemed resigned to his fate. Stepping off the set, Minho walked towards a blank-faced Kibum who at the same time stood up to pass him a bottle of water.

“I’m sorry, Kibum.” Minho found himself apologising as he took the bottle of water from Kibum’s hand.

Kibum shot a quizzical look at his boss. “What for?”

“How we’re stuck here longer than expected…” Minho drank a gulp of water before continuing, “You’re probably wishing that this would end right now so you would have time to tour Tokyo.”

“Oh.” Kibum replied as an awkward smile appeared on his face. “Was I that obvious?”

Minho nodded while passing the bottle back to Kibum and then allowed the stylists to do the necessary touch ups.

“Sorry.” Feeling slightly ashamed of himself, Kibum understood it was wrong for him to present this unprofessional side especially when his boss was putting his all at work. “It’s just that we were scheduled to have the night off and I made some plans but it looks like that’s not going to happen anymore.”

Minho hummed to let Kibum know he was listening. He remained silent for the time being and waited for the stylists to finish their jobs before he spoke to Kibum again.

“What plans did you have in mind?” Minho asked once the stylists walked away.

“Well, I wanted to-“

“Minho san!”

Their conversation had barely even started but it was forced to come to an end when the photographer assistant’s shouted shrilly for Minho. The actor only had the time to smile apologetically at Kibum before he hurried back on set and took his position before the camera, swiftly and expertly adjusting his facial expressions to suit the photographer’s demands. With that, Kibum could only go back to wishing that the photo shoot would wrap up as soon as possible. Little did he know, he wasn’t the only one wishing for that to happen. Minho, himself, now made it a point to ensure this schedule of his wouldn’t drag on for more than the time needed to complete the job. It was the least he could do for his friend, and for himself… whatever that meant.

*

“Kibum, the lifts are that way.” Waving his room key towards the direction of the hotel lift lobby, Minho caught hold of Kibum by the wrist and brought his personal assistant back to his side. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m not stupid, I know where the lifts are.” Kibum groaned as he peeled Minho’s fingers off his wrist and stated coldly, “I’m heading out.”

“Where to?”

“The streets?” Kibum sighed as if Minho was dumb and pointed outdoors and then to his watch. “It’s only slightly past 7pm, I still have time to shop around!”

Minho frowned. “Kibum, shops close at 8pm in Tokyo.”

“Exactly.” The personal assistant gave his boss a death glare. “I shouldn’t even be wasting precious time talking to you right now.”

Minho studied the dark sky thoughtfully before his eyes flickered back to his personal assistant worriedly, “Do you even know your way around?”

“I can-”

“I’ll come with you.” Disallowing Kibum to speak any further, Minho valiantly offered.

“Okay okay, whatever.” Kibum couldn’t care less though, not even showing a hint of gratitude as he said, “As long as I can leave now.”

However, it only took a couple of minutes for Kibum to have doubts and become uncertain about the whole situation as he and Minho stepped out of the hotel and onto the streets of Tokyo. Of course, he wasn’t one to hold back on his thoughts.

“Are you even allowed to go out on the streets just like that?” Kibum couldn't help but ask as Minho led the way towards the shopping district nearest to their hotel.

“Of course I am.” Minho glanced at Kibum and then looked to the front and murmured, "Unless I'm alone with a lady.”

“Ahh, right.” Kibum knew he had just asked a stupid question so he scolded himself in his mind as he quickly changed the subject to forget about that dumb moment of his. “Is this the way to the shopping mall?”

“Kibum, by the time we reach the shopping mall, you'll hardly have time to shop.” Minho explained in a tone he would use with children who couldn't understand what was going on in the world, “I'm bringing you to a street that has shops with great finds at bargain prices, and you'll be happy to know they close at a later time.”

“I hope you know you're getting my hopes high.” Kibum warned.

Minho chuckled behind his hand. “Trust me, for someone who doesn't exactly like shopping, I spent too much time there on my last visit.”

“This better be good...” Kibum mumbled as he followed Minho through the bustling streets to their destination under the night sky.

*

“Kibum.”

Only the sounds of clothes hangers rattling and sliding against a metal rack answered Minho.

Left with no choice after his third attempt, Minho tapped his personal assistant on the shoulder a little anxiously. “Kibum, you gotta hurry, the lady's closing the store in 15mins.”

Upon hearing Minho’s words, Kibum pouted and spared the actor a glance while he quickened his speed of browsing through the seemingly never ending clothes rack. “You told me they close late!”

Minho let out a breath and deadpanned, “It's coming to 10.”

“What?!” Honestly surprised, Kibum finally spared his attention to Minho and complained pitifully, “But I only shopped for a bit...”

Minho widened his eyes in disbelief, staring at Kibum like the impossible just happened. “Kibum, we visited more than half of the shops on this street, I'm carrying 5 shopping bags for you, in which each of them has smaller bags stuffed inside... Don't you think it's time we finished?”

It almost sounded like Minho was pleading at the end of his sentence. But of course, Kibum had to fight his own case as well.

“But Minho, we haven't walked the entire street… and I won’t be coming back to Japan anytime soon.”

“I know, but I doubt we can finish walking the entire street tonight, the shops are either closed or preparing to close.”

Disappointed, Kibum bit his bottom lip and nodded. “Okay, then let me just finish this one.”

“You have to hurry...” Minho knew he was nagging but he didn’t have much of a choice but to resort to sounding like Kibum’s mother because he was under immense pressure from the shopkeeper who had her eyes stuck on them.

“I would if you could just stop talking to me for now.” Kibum said scornfully, forgetting entirely about a thing called manners.

In an instant, Minho raised his hands up in surrender and then signalled for his personal assistant to carry on with his shopping. Kibum muttered a thank you and turned his full attention back onto the rack of clothes.

“It’ll be awkward if we walk away, not getting anything from this shop in the end…” Although he knew Kibum didn’t want to hear a single noise from him, Minho couldn’t stop the words from leaving his mouth in a low mumble.

“Ah!” Coincidentally, just as Kibum heard Minho’s concern, he came across a suitable piece in just the style he was looking for and took it off the rack to show it proudly to Minho with a satisfied smile on his face. “Not to worry, Choi Minho! Once we get this, things will be fine.”

Looking at the long sleeve navy two pocket plaid shirt that Kibum was holding up in front of his eyes, a confused Minho raised an eyebrow. Judging from the things that his personal assistant has bought so far, the shirt that Kibum had picked out did not suit his taste at all. In fact, it would stick out like a sore thumb among all the shopping that he has done. There was just something too normal about it that Minho noticed wasn’t Kibum’s style at all.

“You like this?” Minho asked incredulously. “But this is not your-.”

“Yeah, it isn’t my style, but it’s yours.” Kibum interrupted, not wanting to waste any more time and going straight to the point.

“What?” Minho was completely caught off guard. “You want me to buy this?”

“No, but count yourself lucky because I’m buying it for you.” Kibum simply announced.

“But-”

“No buts.” Kibum refused to hear anything more from Minho. “Didn’t you say I have to hurry? I’ll go pay for it then!”

“I haven’t even try-” Minho couldn’t finish his sentence because he was once again interrupted by Kibum.

“You don’t have to.” Kibum assured the actor with a smile, “I know you’ll fit this perfectly.”

With that, Kibum sauntered towards the counter where the shopkeeper was impatiently waiting, leaving Minho behind trying to soak in what had just happened and wandering if it was indeed his lucky day…

“Minho?” Returning very much pleased with a shopping bag in his hand, Kibum waved his other free hand in front of the obviously spaced out actor who was standing as still as a statue. “Choi Minho?”

All Kibum got as a reply was Minho blinking at him as he slowly drifted out of his thoughts and focused his vision on his personal assistant. Neither Kibum nor the shopkeeper had the patience to wait for Minho to come back to earth when his mind was clearly still wandering someplace else. And so, without one bit of hesitation, Kibum shrugged to himself and took Minho by the hand.

“Let’s go, boss!” Kibum said out loud with a helpless smile on his face as he led Minho out of the shop.

Completely and utterly stunned, Minho couldn’t get his mouth to work but thankfully, at least his legs were working well enough to keep up with Kibum’s pace. Plus his mind… well, his mind was in an overdrive as he stared at their interlocked hands. And what was that beating faster and faster in his chest? Why was his heart doing things he had never felt before? Minho gulped. He seriously needed to stop thinking about how Kibum’s (note to self: his personal assistant) hand fit so perfectly in his. This… was not a good sign.

Author's Note: slowly, but surely. (: and i don't know if you noticed but this is a long chapter... in fact the longest chapter i've written to date. ^^ hope you lovely bunch of readers didn't have to wait too long and that you enjoyed the update! at least there's finally some progress yes? hehe. alright! i'm 2 weeks away from my finals... which means i'll be forcing myself to stay away from writing for the time being. i'm terribly sorry for always making you guys wait at least a week for a new chapter everytime... i hope though, when i'm finally done with this semester, updates will come as fast as possible. in the mean time, may all of you have a wonderful November! and come back to read this when i do return with a new chapter! many hugs and kisses to all who subscribed, commented and are reading this. i can never thank you enough! (｡’▽’｡)♡