Jonghyun is deeply disturbed after Anna’s visit, so he resides with holing himself up in the house and trying to focus on his work. He’s decided he’s spent too much time playing and for the first time neglecting the things in the office that needed to be done. He got distracted, which cost him terribly and was now stacked with another whole load of work to do.

He shouldn’t really be stressing about this, knowing that he could always pass it on to a different lawyer or attorney since he was the top guy in the company anyways. Really he was just trying to find an excuse to avoid thinking about the past few days, weeks, months. Basically since Kibum had first moved in next door.

Jonghyun curses and bangs his head against the nearest surface, only to be met with a soft padding of some sort. He blinks and unbends his back, rubbing at his eyes.

Oh. Right.

He was working in his bed for the day.

At first he couldn’t believe that he actually felt uncomfortable in his own mini office, since he’d been practically living in there for most of the time he was home. But today there was something different, like the walls were suffocating and the wide space of his room was much more appealing.

Again, this was another side effect that’s occurring with the lawyer. He could literally feel the shift of taste in him, and to be honest it startled him to death.

He had a feeling it had to do something with Kibum, that stupid boy who’s always messing with his life when he least expects it. It’s because of that stupid artist that Jonghyun is in this situation, sitting on his bed unable to focus on his work and thoughts somehow drifting back to Kibum every once in a little while.

There was something about the way the younger boy looked at the doorway when Anna was bidding him goodbye. He looked so devastated and lonely, but withheld the sadness because he wasn’t alone at the time. Jonghyun didn’t know how to put it, but there was just something about it that imprints the memory in his head like a permanent sharpie.

He really shouldn’t be thinking about the artist like this so much. Why did he care anyway? He should be focusing on the murder case in front of him, looking for the burden of proof, examining the client’s cause of action, and organizing the case files altogether. He had no time to be stalling and thinking about useless things, he’s done that already for the past few days. But still, why was his mind always going back to that-

“Woah.”

Jonghyun looks up from his laptop (which he has been blankly staring at for about an hour now), finding a wide eyed Jinki holding a plate of food in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other. The notebook that was balanced on the crook of his arm was in danger of falling to the ground at any second. His voice was muffled by a pen that was clenched between his teeth.

The lawyer doesn’t even bother to make a comment on how the older boy should’ve just jabbed the pen in the middle of the notebook between the pages instead of carrying it in such a tactless way.

“Hold up.” Jinki muffles through the pen, walking slowly to the lawyer’s nightstand and putting all his stuff down.

He lets the pen fall into his hand before he continues speaking again.

“Am I dreaming right now, or are you seriously working in your room?”

“If you were sleeping, I would’ve already jabbed your with my foot and rolled you out of bed so you can make me some food.” Jonghyun retorts.

“Well, that’s true.” Jinki says, scratching the top of his head absently. “No, but seriously. Are you sick or something? This is like, the first time in centuries that I’ve seen you at home in your bed on a Saturday in the middle of the afternoon.”

“I’m still working, hyung.”

“Without your suit on? Without that suitcase and tie that makes you look at least twenty years older? Okay, there’s definitely something going on with you.”

“You’re acting like this is the first time you’ve seen me in sweatpants and a wife beater.”

Jinki snorts. “The only time I see you in sweatpants or a wife beater is when you’re going to work out at the gym. Otherwise you’d be smarting it up with your little case files and skipping on your merry way to the company.”

“Look who’s talking, Mr. I’m-always-working-on-my-terrible-cliché-and-mushy-romance-novels.”

The older boy plops down beside Jonghyun on the bed and recollects his glasses which was dangling loosely off the collar of his shirt, sliding it on and resting it on the bridge of his nose as he grabs his notebook and pen from the nightstand.

“Hey, I’m a journalist as well. And I actually have a life other than typing away on a laptop or debating in court or something.”

“And that life is what?” the lawyer wrinkles his nose. “Flirting with that Minho and having dates while making kissy faces at each other in the theater?”

Jinki blushes hot pink at the mention of the athlete, causing Jonghyun to cackle evilly and shaking his head at his best friend.

The older boy tries to whack the lawyer with his notebook, only for Jonghyun to deflect it successfully and have it fly back around to hit Jinki square in the face.

The author (slash journalist) huffs and sets the notebook back on his lap, opening the pages and clicking his  pen open and waiting a few seconds before he casually remarks,

“And your other life is flirting during office hours with Kibum?”

Thwack.

Jinki just barely manages to duck down and save himself from getting squared in the face again only by Jonghyun’s heavy folder of case files this time.

“So it’s true?” the older boy smirks, avoiding another thwack from his best friend.

“Hyung, I swear. One more word of him and you’ll definitely get hit in the face again. By my suitcase at that.”

“Jonghyun, open up will you? I’m your best friend, for god’s sake. Man up and tell me what’s going on with your life. I need some new inspiration for my new novel anyway.”

“Are you seriously thinking of including me in your stupid love story?”

“I will if you don’t hurry up and tell me what’s going on with you lately.”

“What’s there to tell?”

Jinki groans and face palms, muttering a few incoherent words and sighing so loudly it fogs up half of his glasses. He shakes his head and turns to look at his friend in the eye.

“In all a week’s time you’ve thanked me, followed my directions yesterday to buy that welcome cake, and stayed home for once on a weekend and actually settled somewhere else other than your mini office downstairs.”

“And?” Jonghyun says, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

“And you haven’t talked badly about Kibum for a record of two weeks. Now that is an accomplishment.”

“You make me sound like I’m a terrible bastard or something.”

Jinki really wants to say something along the lines of, ‘because you are’ but he really doesn’t want a raging Jonghyun running around the house after a good night’s rest. So he settles on a less but equally insulting response.

“You’re turning soft.”

For others that might seem to be a really big compliment, but Jonghyun thinks the opposite otherwise. He’s practically King of The Cold Hearted, and he likes to keep his demeanor that way.

The silent whirring of the lawyer’s laptop makes Jinki kind of squirmy and half of him wants to get off the bed and bolt out of the room, but Jonghyun’s stalled enough and it’s about time he spills everything completely.

Like right now.

“Hyung-“

“Now before you go all raging on me,” Jinki interrupts. “I don’t mean this as an insult. I’m just saying it as a friend and as a bystander from the sidelines. There’s something about you that’s changing, and I have a good feeling on what it is. Answer me, Jonghyun. Have you been feeling differently for the past few weeks?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think I’m sick or anyth-

“Okay, stop right there.” Jinki holds up a hand. “See that? You actually feel something. And no, I’m pretty sure it’s not because you’re sick or something. I’m guessing it’s an internal feeling, maybe along the lines of having something in your mind that just distracts you from staying on task and everything else in between. Am I right?”

From this point on, Jonghyun is honestly stunned. His best friend had just perfectly described his life at the moment. And for some reason, he does not like the idea at all.

“What if I’m just really distracted and tired of work?” the lawyer tries to counteract.

“You have a blank page on Microsoft Word right now. Your case files are closed and your hair isn’t tousled from all the pulling on it you should’ve done by now. There’s no sign that you’ve done work, Jonghyun. And you’ve been sitting here for a pretty long time now.”

Okay, so maybe the lawyer shouldn’t have tried to counteract that. But he tried, didn’t he?

“It’s Kibum, isn’t it?”

Jonghyun jolts at the name and almost drops the laptop resting on his knees, quickly resting it on the bed before it wobbles off his lap and causes a major disaster.

“See? I told you I can-“ Jinki stops midsentence and takes a moment to examine his best friend.

He was looking at him with a flabbergasted expression, a wave of hopelessness and a spark in his brown eyes that was difficult to spot from a long distance.

It was like he was almost pleading for the older boy not to say it. And by that single look, by that single action that just screamed the obvious answer, Jinki knew that deep down in Jonghyun’s heart, the lawyer knows his feelings.

He knew, but it still can’t get through his mind and heart. It was swimming in the lurks of his brain, trying to find a way in the barrier that was wrapped around so tightly around his soul that it was acting as shackles that ties him down from being free again.

Jinki wanted to reach out and grab Jonghyun by the shoulders, shake him senseless and tell him that it’s okay, that it has been four years since the incident happened and it was time to move on with life. It was okay to let someone else in and trust them wholeheartedly.

But Jinki knew that pressure wouldn’t solve anything. He knows that his friend is almost there, and he just needs that little push and a bit more work so he can fully recover. For the first time, the older boy starts to think that there’s hope again. Maybe his best friend could be saved after all.

But he had to take things slow, until Jonghyun was ready.

“Okay, I’m sorry.” the older boy says, starting over a new sentence. “I didn’t know what I was saying. You’re right, I’ve written to many romance novels. Tell you what, how about you do me a favor instead and bring over those ingredients to Kibum that he needs for that recipe he’s been asking me for a while now? The groceries are on the kitchen counter.”

“But I’m working!”

“You’re obviously not getting anything done.” Jinki narrows his eyes.

Silence.

“Alright, fine. Jeez, am I turning into your personal slave or something?”

“I love you too!” the older boy calls out as Jonghyun stomps out of the room.

The lawyer doesn’t even bother to change into something more fashionable, just grabbing for the grocery bags downstairs and having the sense to grab a sweater from the coat rack before pushing out the door.

, it was cold.

What was he thinking, wearing sweatpants and a tank top in early December? He was so used to being warm under the layers of his suit and coat most of the time that he’s forgotten how it felt like to wear actual normal clothes.

The walk to Kibum’s house lasts for a few mere seconds, but it has the lawyer shivering under the thin cloth of his sweater once he gets to the front porch.

He’s about to ring the doorbell when he suddenly stops, finger just about to press the small button. He hasn’t really registered the fact that he was going to the artist’s house until now.

The boy who he’s been thinking about for a long time now.

Six weeks to be exact.

Has it really that been that long already?

Jonghyun stands there and contemplates on setting the groceries down, ringing the doorbell, and sprinting back to his house as he stands there in the freezing cold. He doesn’t really understand why he’s being so reluctant to push that goddamn button already. Why was he even thinking about this? He’s been doing a lot of thinking lately. He has a vague idea that it-

Wait.

He should just ring the doorbell and bring Kibum these damn groceries already. Why was he even second guessing this?

Without thinking the lawyer pushes the button, faintly hearing the sound of a light chime from the other side of the door.

There’s a set of footsteps padding down the hallway, then a clicking sound as the door swings open and reveals a slightly shocked but ever still bubbly and chirpy Kibum.

For a minute Jonghyun forgets his wide range of vocabulary and stands there staring at the artist.

He has an apron tied around his waist, those familiar stains of paint splattered all over it. His bangs are tied up to the top of his head apple style, revealing his cute pale white forehead. A paintbrush is in one of his hands and he’s wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a gray knitted sweater rolled up to his elbows.

It looks impossibly fashionable.

“Oh hi, Jonghyun.” he smiles, and the lawyer swears he can literally hear the choir of angels singing at the other’s happy voice.

“Um.” for some reason Jonghyun’s speech is still somewhat disoriented.

As a form of response he holds the bag of groceries up, hoping that the artist will somehow understand.

“Oh, the recipe!” Kibum takes the bags from his hands and sticks a foot out to hold the door open for the lawyer.

Jonghyun steps inside and looks around, noticing the massive amount of paintings hung up on the wall. The artist hums and walks into the kitchen, leaving the lawyer to gaze at the works of art.

He hadn’t really noticed it yesterday since he was busy paying attention to Anna, but now he could see every detail of the artist’s artwork. It was like his walls were ready to come alive at any moment, photographs of time, space, and nature all captured in stilled paintings. It was breathlessly amazing, and Jonghyun finds himself turning a three sixty to take it all in.

And then Kibum’s head pops out from the kitchen, snapping the lawyer out of his reverie.

“You can come in here, if you want.”

“No thanks.” the lawyer answers almost immediately.

He’s not sure if he said that out of instinct, or the thought of being alone with Kibum in the same room was just a horrifying prospect.

“Aw, come on!” Kibum laughs, tugging the older boy by the wrist and dragging him into the kitchen.

On the way there they pass by Minho, who was wiping his wet hair with a towel in hand. He literally hisses at Jonghyun as the two walks by.

“I think it’s a good idea if you go over to Jinki hyung’s house for a sec.” Kibum suggests.

Minho couldn’t have been any happier to comply.

“Let go, will you?” Jonghyun wrenches his hand away once they arrive in the kitchen.

The artist looks at him quizzically, obviously confused of his actions. Jonghyun knows he’s been a little too kind for the past few days, and he’s not sure how to act like in front of the younger boy anymore.

“Relax.” Kibum tells him, looking through the groceries in the bags. “I’m not going to bite.”

The lawyer doesn’t respond.

“What’s wrong?” Kibum asks, back turned as he washes his hands in the sink.

“Nothing.” Jonghyun answers a little too quickly.

“It’s okay if you’re not comfortable with me.”

There’s a bit of hurt in the other’s voice and Jonghyun almost wonders if it was just his imagination.

“I am, it’s just…….” the lawyer trails off.

“You don’t know how to act in front of me now because you’ve been shifting back to treating me meanly and nicely for the past few weeks.”

Exactly.

“Have you been getting lessons on how to understand people from Jinki hyung?” Jonghyun asks bitterly.

Kibum laughs, reaching for a knife and a cutting board to dice the vegetables into little pieces. “No, I’m just a people person.”

Silence again.

“You know, you’re not bad once people get to know you.” Kibum says, hands busy with the knife.

“Am I really that menacing?” Jonghyun asks, leaning against the doorway.

This felt way too familiar, but he couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. He can let go of it all, just for today. For once he doesn’t have to worry.

“No. People just misunderstand because that’s the first impression you give.”

“So I have to be social and always happy like you?”

“You can smile, for one thing.”

“I don’t do smiles.” Jonghyun frowns.

“I’ve seen it before, it looks really pretty.”

The lawyer stiffens and Kibum stops chopping for a second, both boys frozen in place. Jonghyun looks at the artist and expects for him to turn around, but he doesn’t. He continues cutting a few moments later and slides the vegetables into a small pot, and the lawyer takes it as a cue to keep talking.

“Yours does too.”

Well , so much for making it less awkward.

Jonghyun thinks that maybe he needs a physiatrist or something.

“Thanks.” Kibum responds, and the lawyer can hear the smile in his voice.

“You need some help with that?” Jonghyun settles for a new subject.

“Yeah, want to cut these potatoes for me?” the younger boy says, finally turning around to face the other.

Strands of his blonde hair are messily strewn on top of his forehead, and Jonghyun is kind of tempted to walk up to him and brush the hair away from his face.

What in the world was he thinking?

“Yeah sure, just give me a sec.”

The lawyer looks away and takes off his sweater, glad for the momentary distraction. Out of the corner of his eye he thinks he sees Kibum eyeing his arms, but again he thinks that maybe he’s just imagining it.

“You’re not wearing a suit.” the artist points out.

Good, so he wasn’t staring at his arms.

But when Jonghyun turns around, he sees the unmistakable tinge of pink creeping up on the younger boy’s cheeks. It was actually kind of……...cute.

“Damn it, stop!”

Kibum flinches and Jonghyun almost clamps a hand over his mouth, mentally hitting himself because he just realized he had said that out loud.

“Uh, I meant to say, damn it can’t I wear suits when I’m not in the office.” the older boy lamely covers up.

“Oh.” Kibum says simply.

Another silence.

There’s been an awful lot of a silence today, Jonghyun realizes.

He clears his throat and grabs for his sweater again. “You know what; I think I’m going to go.”

“But-“

“I need to check on Jinki hyung at home. Can’t let Minho get too close to him.”

“You just-“

“I’m going now.”

Jonghyun whirls around and accidentally brushes against the cutting board, causing the knife on it to shift a bit and fall onto the floor.

It barely nicks onto a part of the lawyer’s arm as it falls, cutting close enough to draw a trickle of blood.

The older boy doesn’t notice the pain until Kibum screams out.

“Oh my god!”

The artist sets everything down and races for the bathroom, reappearing with a first aid kit in his hand and guiding Jonghyun to lean against the counter.

“I am so, so, sorry.” Kibum says, plucking out a cotton ball and drenching it with rubbing alcohol.

The lawyer winces at the sting, in a breath sharply. “S’okay. It was my fault.”

“Oh god, thankfully it didn’t cut in too deep. But you’ll have a scar for the next couple of weeks.”

Jonghyun nods and closes his eyes, holding in shivers whenever the other boy’s long fingers would brush against his skin.

That spark he had been feeling was nothing compared to this.

“I covered it with disinfectant and I’ll just patch it up now.” Kibum says, his voice sounding so close to the lawyer’s ear.

It’s the first time he’s so bummed out at their height difference.

“There, all done.” the younger boy breathes out.

The older boy opens his eyes and meets gazes with the other, immediately regretting the action soon afterwards.

A wave of emotion hits Jonghyun right in the chest and he actually almost doubles over because of it.

Kibum was perfectly standing underneath the kitchen lights so his blonde hair was practically radiating, feline eyes sparkling almost as if it had its own glow. His lip was curled into a tiny smile, that tinge of pink still splotched onto his face like paint on a canvas.

It was overwhelming and confusing at the same time.

But it couldn’t have been any clearer.

The conversation with Jinki, the weird spark, being stuck in an elevator together with the artist, being with him under the desk, comforting him, being mean to him, being pissed at him, being annoyed of him, it all comes rushing back at Jonghyun. It makes him want to jump for joy and stab a sharp dagger through his heart at the same time.

No.

It can’t be.

It was impossible.

After four years of avoiding it, after four years of effort building those walls around his heart, Jonghyun can feel it slowly breaking apart. This couldn’t be happening.

He had feelings for Kim Kibum.

A/N: Don't get all too excited, guys. Just saying, don't jump into sudden concusions here. So I've finally managed to come up with Jinki's career in this one, and yup he's a journalist. Isn't that just so cute?

Kay, I'm going to make this quick since my mom is bothering me to get off the computer *rolls eyes*

Since alot of ppl guessed correctly what Taemin meant, I won't state the winner and just say the answer for all of you. Yes, the answer was that he meant Jonghyun's hidden feelings for Kibum (as expressed in this chapter).

Sorry, no gifs again today guys my mom is really pushing it tonight -_-

Congrats to SHINee on winning Best Dance Performance on Mama awards, btw <3