It would probably be wise to never get too used to something or someone because if you do, you would end up like Minho, all uneasy, uncomfortable and edgy, and feeling as if something was terribly off and nothing was going right. It was a wonder actually, how the actor even managed to get through his schedules safely for the day considering that he realised how dependent he had become on his personal assistant. Said assistant had taken the day off (to deal with personal matters, Minho supposed) and Minho had initially thought it wasn’t much of a big deal without Kibum’s help for one day. Yet, he wasn’t even halfway through his first schedule when he ended up accepting the fact that he needed Kibum at work with him. Throughout the day, there were many times when Minho found himself looking for his personal assistant only to realise Kibum wasn’t around at all. At times, he even called out or came close to calling for Kibum and ended up either with an eerie silence as a reply or his mouth opened awkwardly without making any sound. Sure, he still had his manager around but ever since Kibum came, his manager had washed his hands off all his personal matters. And to suddenly have no one around to assist him with such matters proved to be a task for the actor.

Needless to say, Minho wasn’t in the best of moods when he got back home after his schedules were completed. After dropping his backpack on the dining table, he walked towards the living room and threw himself onto the couch. He then pulled out his phone from his pocket and cleared all notifications that he had missed when he was busy with his schedules. And after he was done, Minho was left staring at the screen, his mind naturally wandering to Kibum, thinking about what his personal assistant was possibly doing on his day off. Now that he had the time to think, Minho was quite pissed about the situation. Here he was, all out of sorts without Kibum by his side for a mere day, while Kibum was most probably enjoying his time off work after having to deal with Minho 24/7 for more than a month on the job. Although knowing he was being childish, Minho felt that it wasn’t fair how he was feeling all troubled while the cause of his misery was almost certainly all fine and dandy. Minho even found himself picturing Kibum’s reaction if his personal assistant had the chance to realise how indispensable he was to Minho now.

In the next moment, Minho was scrolling through his contacts list to find the very person who was occupying his thoughts. Enough was enough. Before he could drive himself mad, Minho decided there was no harm in giving Kibum a call so without hesitating, he tapped Kibum’s name on the screen and brought his phone to his ear. And as he heard the dialling tone as well as the drumming of his heartbeat in his ears, Minho had to admit he was looking forward to hearing Kibum’s voice…

“What?!”

Except that he didn’t expect to hear Kibum like that at all. Minho froze in his position. This was Kim Kibum alright. The Kim Kibum that he first met at the hotel, the rude, unfriendly, y one, but definitely not the Kim Kibum who he got to know and was currently his friend even though he was also his personal assistant. Had he gone back in time? The answer was obvious. Frowning, Minho was unhappy with the fact that Kibum didn’t even have the courtesy to greet him with a ‘Hello’ because after all, he was still his boss (even if Kibum didn’t see them as friends). How dare Kibum snap at him right at the start of the phone call when he hadn’t even said a single word?

Feeling rather miffed, Minho got up from lying down and sat upright on the couch as he threw a question back to Kibum in a rather hostile tone as well. “Did I do something to offend you, Kim Kibum? Because the last I checked, we were on good terms.”

There was a pause and then a groan from the other end of the call before Minho heard Kibum’s voice again.

“I’m sorry alright? This is just not a good time.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Do I have to answer that?”

“Kim Kibum, I swear, if you don’t-”

“Everything, okay!” Interrupting his boss, Kibum had shouted at a volume which could still be heard even if Minho held his phone away from his ear. “Everything’s wrong! My life is screwed. Nothing is going right! Are you happy now?”

“Are you… drunk?” With his brows now furrowed with concern, Minho asked carefully.

“What? No! Of course not!” Kibum answered in one breath with his voice at a high pitch.

“That’s what all the drunks say.” Unconvinced, Minho muttered out loud.

“I am not drunk.” Kibum tried to make himself sound as calm as possible.

Shrugging, Minho decided to let it pass as there was something more important to take care of. “Where are you, Kibum?”

“Seoul station.” Kibum was being surprisingly cooperative. Of course, Minho wasn’t complaining.

“Why?”

“I just came back from Daegu.”

“Daegu?”

“My hometown.”

And with that, everything clicked. Kibum didn’t have to say anything else for Minho to understand what exactly had happened. In the next second, the actor immediately sprung off the couch and made his way back towards the dining table to get his backpack where his car keys were safely stored.

“I’ll come get you.” Minho simply said with finality in his tone that gave Kibum no room to reject his offer.

Not that Kibum was going to reject anyway because the personal assistant had only let out a sigh before he replied, “Thanks.”

“I’ll be there in 20 minutes tops.” Minho told Kibum as he stepped out of his apartment and hurried towards the lifts, “You know how my car looks like. Wait for me at the pick-up point okay?”

“Okay…”

On that note, Kibum had ended the phone call. But the truth was, if Minho had his way, he wouldn’t have allowed the call to end because he was worried about Kibum now that he knew the situation his personal assistant was in. Things had clearly not gone well with his parents and Minho would rather keep Kibum on the phone so he knew precisely what his personal assistant, his friend was doing. Yet now, the actor was force to wait one car ride before he could find out how Kibum was doing again…

*

“I’m not drunk.”

That was the first thing Kibum said to Minho once he got into the actor’s car. Minho took one look at Kibum (a thorough look in fact) and gave a slight smile.  

“I can see that.” Minho said as he turned his attention back onto the road and drove out of Seoul station. “Buckle up.”

Kibum did what he was told and settled comfortably in the passenger seat. “I believe you don’t know exactly where my dorm is… it’s at-”

“Who says I’m bringing you back home?” Minho interrupted Kibum with a straight face, his eyes still on the road.

“You’re not?” Surprise was evident in Kibum’s voice.

“I don’t trust you alone right now.” Minho said the first thing that came into his mind.

“And so?”

“We’re heading back to my apartment.”

“What?!” Kibum’s eyes widened as he turned fully to stare at Minho.

“You’re back at work tomorrow anyway.” Minho sneaked a glance at Kibum and then placed his full attention back onto the road. “Might as well just stay the night to make things easier.”

“I don’t have anything with me.” Kibum protested.

“I have everything you need.” Minho retorted easily.

“Oh really?” Kibum was sceptical.

“Yes, Kibum. You’ve been to my place before. You should know I have plenty of stuff.” Minho answered, “Toothbrush, towel, clothes… everything you need for tonight and tomorrow.”

Kibum couldn’t be bothered to go into details, like how their clothes sizes were different or how he wasn’t exactly comfortable with borrowing Minho’s stuff, and so, he went straight to the point, “I still don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“You do know that I’m driving right?” Minho raised an obvious question just to remind Kibum of his circumstances, “Unless you want to risk your life and jump out of my car, which you can’t because I’ve locked the door, it doesn’t matter what you think.”

Kibum raised his eyebrows and shot an amused look towards the driver as he commented out loud, “Someone’s bossy tonight…”

A smile grew on Minho’s face. “Well, I am, after all, your boss.”

“I guess I’m left with no choice then.” Kibum shrugged and leaned back into the seat. It had been a long day and he didn’t have the will to argue anymore. Besides, although he still didn’t like the idea of heading back to Minho’s place, Kibum knew better to comply with the actor’s decision than put up a fight. It was a losing battle anyway considering his understanding of how determined Choi Minho could be.

As a comfortable silence surrounded them, Minho smiled in satisfaction and allowed Kibum the time to rest while he drove the both of them safely back to his apartment.

*

Kibum never imagined that this day would come – the day (or rather, night) when he took a shower in Choi Minho’s bathroom and changed into a set of clothes that belonged to the very same person. Yet, the reality was that he had indeed stepped out of Minho’s bathroom (after using the exact same shampoo and body wash that the actor uses) wearing a plain grey shirt and black track pants (this was boring Minho’s style after all), and was now feeling so much more refreshed than when he first stepped into the actor’s home.

“You look good.”

His reenergised state was visibly obvious too when Minho’s comment had greeted Kibum once he entered the living room in search for the actor. Making himself at home, Kibum joined Minho on the sofa and rolled his eyes at him.

“Minho, I rather die than be seen wearing these clothes.” Kibum said and then added as an afterthought once his eyes met Minho’s, “No offence though.”

With a smile, Minho nodded, understanding that this was just how Kibum was, and accepted the fact that his style and Kibum’s were complete opposites. He then asked, “How are you feeling?”

“You want to know what happened, don’t you?” Kibum was never one to beat about the bush.

 “If you’re willing to talk about it…” Minho shrugged.

“I’m not.” Kibum flat-out denied Minho.

“Kibum…”

“You gave me a choice.”

Minho fell silent. He wasn’t too happy that Kibum wasn’t keen on talking it out with him because if he didn’t know what had happened, there was no way he could help Kibum even if it was something as simple as lending a listening ear to his friend. If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have given Kibum an option at all. Yet, as displeased as he was with Kibum’s decision, Minho respected Kibum’s privacy and decided to leave things as it was.

“You know, Minho, some lines just can't be crossed.” Kibum thought out loud, “It’ll probably do you good if you weren’t so involved in my personal matters anyway.”

“But you’re involved in mine...” Minho muttered mindlessly.

“Because that’s my job?” Kibum widened his eyes incredulously at Minho, unable to believe he was seeing such a childish side to Minho. “Why do you even want to know about what happened to me?”

“Because I care!” Minho found himself retorting in the fit of the moment before he could had a chance to think about what he was saying out loud.

Kibum instantly narrowed his eyes at Minho. “What… did you say?”

“I said I care?” Minho shifted awkwardly on the couch as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Because well, I want my staff to be happy so work can be productive and that’s why I-“

“Staff?” Kibum raised an eyebrow, pointing at himself. “Happy? Productive?”

“Well, you know…” Minho ran out of excuses and he decided to just shut his mouth before more nonsense escaped his lips.

Kibum kept his eyes fixed on Minho. “You do know whatever you just said was rubbish right?”

Minho kept silent, refusing to answer Kibum’s question although he wanted to agree, because he couldn’t afford any further embarrassment.

“Why do you care, Minho?” With Minho’s earlier statement repeating in his mind, Kibum let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and asked directly, a little hopefully as well.

Minho met Kibum’s eyes, and at that moment, the actor was defenceless as the truth came tumbling out of his mouth.

“You mean something to me, Kibum.” Minho said with so much sincerity and genuineness in his voice that it made Kibum completely tense up, unable to tear his attention away from the actor.

Kibum’s reaction just turned Minho into a bundle of nerves and the next thing he knew, the actor ended up blabbering his thoughts out loud, exposing his true self entirely for Kibum to see.

“Kibum, you mean more to me than just my personal assistant, I mean I see you as a friend, and I know you’re a great friend to have because you’re true and we click and… and I just never felt this way before about somebody you know? I’m happy that I got to know you but it’s frustrating the hell out of me, what you do to me… like how I felt when you held my hand, or how it basically not having you around today, and I don’t think that’s how normal friends should be. I obviously can’t understand what’s going on but all I know is that you mean something to me. And that’s why I want to know what happened to you today… I want to help yo- umm, you’re smiling… that’s a good sign right? I hope you’re feeling better?”

Not even remembering what on earth he had just blurted out to Kibum, Minho abruptly changed the topic and asked optimistically once he caught the smile that tugged on the corners of Kibum’s lips. Kibum had simply allowed the smile to grow into one that made his eyes crinkle and in the next second, leaned towards Minho to give him a hug. And well, if that wasn’t enough to make Minho’s heart stop, Kibum just had to position his lips a few millimetres away from the actor’s ear to whisper,

“You’re actually kinda cute.”

Scratch that, not only did Minho’s heart stop, but it also started racing immediately after.

Author's Note: i made you guys wait long, didn't i? hehheh. i hope you found your way back here and that this chapter was worth the wait though! thanks for waiting, always reading and sticking through AAA if you have. i'll be picking up the tempo of this story and soon, we'll be seeing all sorts of moments between minkey. i promise. ^^ till the next chapter, i'll be looking forward to all your comments! happy December lovely readers! <3