“What the-“ Jonghyun jumps back in surprise as he opens his office door, eyes widening at the sight of the artist sitting on the floor just like the day before.

“Yeah, sorry if I scared you. I came extra early so I can work on the designs. Inspiration suddenly hit me while I was lying in bed this morning, so I got up extra early to work on this when the idea is still fresh in my head.” Kibum grins, an array of different sized paint brushes lined up on the floor next to him.

He had a medium sized paint brush in his hand, apron tied around his waist and newspaper scattered on the floor in case the paint spills over.

Jonghyun glances at the wall, impressed at how much the artist got done. The designs yesterday were beginning to show more detail, swirls of blended colors standing out on top of the beige paint. The shades were nice to look at, having the style of sophistication mixed in with modern colors that ranged from light brown to brick red.

It suited a lawyer’s office, and the room had a different feel to it already, even though only less than half of the walls were done.

“You’re getting really messy with these newspapers.” Jonghyun says, stepping through the mashed pile and hopping over to his desk.

“It keeps the floor safe from stains.” Kibum responds, switching his medium sized brush for a small one.

“How long are you going to take in here? My room is starting to smell of paint.” the lawyer says in disgust.

“You should switch rooms. I know it’s a hassle, but it’ll save you from getting headaches while working.”

“And how come you never get headaches from the paint?”

“I’m used to it by now. Completely immune.”

The lawyer falls silent and the room remains that way for a few moments, with Kibum busily decorating the walls and Jonghyun waiting for his laptop to boot up. It was slightly starting to get awkward for him; he still couldn’t believe his actions yesterday.

Talking to the artist about love, asking him questions, offering him a ride home, and that different feeling when their fingertips touched for a fraction of a second. The lawyer doesn’t know what has gotten into him.

Luckily, Jenna knocks on the door and saves Jonghyun from his dilemma.

“Mr. K?”

“Come in.”

She walks into the room with a coffee cup in hand, the McDonalds logo imprinted on the front. She nods toward Kibum and the artist smiles in return, eyes lighting up in hers and almost making her sigh in delight.

“I’ve got your coffee, sir.” she says, offering the cup to the lawyer.

“Thanks, Jen.” Jonghyun takes the cup from her.

As Jenna begins walking out, she turns to Kibum who was still crouched over the wall. “Mr. Kim? Would you also like some coffee?”

The artist smiles and shakes his head. “No, thank you. But thanks for the offer; we appreciate your hard work.”

Jonghyun could literally hear the sound of Jenna swooning as she exits the door, closing the door softly behind her.

The lawyer scoffs. “Your friendliness is starting to get to others.”

“What do you mean?” Kibum says innocently, frowning over his work.

“Never mind.” Jonghyun rolls his eyes.

“Are you always asking your assistant for coffee?”

“She brings me a cup every day.”

The artist chuckles and shakes his head.

“What?” Jonghyun asks, quirking an eyebrow in question.

“Oh. Nothing.” Kibum sing songs.

“Yah. You better tell me or else I’ll-“

There’s another knock at the door, interrupting the two boys once again and making Jonghyun groan.

“What?” he growls.

The door opens and Jonghyun closes his mouth immediately, while Kibum stares at the newcomer and bites the inside of his cheek.

“Hey, oppa.”

“M-m-minjung.” Jonghyun says with wide eyes. “Come in, go ahead.”

Minjung looks back and forth between the two boys in apology, tentatively stepping into the office and greeting Kibum with a soft smile. The artist nods in return, bowing awkwardly from his position.

“Sorry, is this a bad time?” Minjung says, walking up to Jonghyun’s desk.

The lawyer shakes his head frantically. “No, no. Its fine! I’m glad you decided to stop by, actually.”

Kibum coughs and sets his paintbrush down, scrambling up to his feet so fast he almost knocks one of the cans of paint over.

“I’ll leave immediately.” he says, dashing out of the room before anyone can respond.

“What the is wrong with him?” Jonghyun says, standing up to look after the artist and closing the door to the office.

He sits back down to face Minjung, gesturing for her to sit on the seat across from him.

She smoothes her skirt out and carefully sits, fiddling with her fingers in her lap.

“So….” the lawyer starts off, loosening the tie around his neck. “What brings you here? Long time no see, I guess.”

“Yeah, um. I just came to check on you and ask how you’ve been doing, but……I also have something to tell you.” she pauses and drops her gaze.

“What is it?”

“Well, you see….my cousin kind of works here, and well……she’s agreed to hire me in the company.”

“Minjung,” Jonghyun says, taken aback just a little. “That’s great! I’m happy for you! Um, when do you start?”

“Sometime next week.”

“That’s great!”

“Yeah……”

“What’s wrong?” the lawyer asks, noticing the way Minjung’s cheeks were slightly reddening.

“So you’re not at all uncomfortable about this? You don’t mind me working in the same building as you?” she finally looks up, meeting eyes with Jonghyun.

“Of course not. Don’t let me hinder you from getting that job. It’s a great opportunity.”

“I’m glad you don’t mind, but are you sure? I honestly thought you would be really shocked, since I just prance in and barge into your life like nothing happened four years ago.”

“Minjung-“

“I know that you’re uncomfortable with talking about it. And if you still don’t want to, then that’s alright. I won’t force you.”

“That’s not-“

“But know that I’m okay now, and I’m over it.”

“Hey.” Jonghyun says, finally managing to break her rant. “I know I’m still a little touchy with the subject, but that was a long time ago. And it wasn’t your fault, really. It just happened naturally, I understand that.”

There’s a pause and Minjung starts to smile, the corners of her lips tugging upward.

“Thank you. I’m really glad you’re okay with this and all.”

“Of course I am. I’m happy for you.”

Minjung lets out a sigh of relief and slowly stands up, hooking her bag over her shoulder as Jonghyun stands up with her.

“I’ll see you soon, oppa.”

“If you need me, my office doors will be open for you.”

“Thanks again.”

“Anytime.”

“Oh, and oppa?” Minjung calls back just before she reaches the door.

“Yeah?”

“I hear you’re currently working on a case that involves a love affair. Just a bit of advice, don’t judge the situation by using your lawyer skills. Think about everyone else’s feelings. Don’t go off of the book and judge with your heart instead.”

Jonghyun blinks at her before grinning. “Arasso, you little bossy brat. Still the same girl from before.”

Don’t stress yourself out too much!” Minjung calls back before opening the door and walking off.

Kibum walks into the room seconds later, seeming to be recomposed as he takes his original seat and picks up his paintbrush again. “I didn’t know you also work on love problems.”

“You were eavesdropping on our conversation?!?!?” Jonghyun exclaims.

“No, just that bit about the love affair. I’m really curious though, what’s it about?”

“That’s private information, you idiot! I can’t just share it with random people.”

“I’m just kidding.” Kibum laughs. “And besides, technically I’m not a stranger. I’m your lovely neighbor.”

“Lovely my .” Jonghyun snorts.

The artist is about to respond when the lights suddenly go out, leaving the room dimly lit with the cloudy skies outside.

Jonghyun curses as his laptop shuts down as well, leaving the room and entire building in silence.

Jenna bursts through the door soon after, a worried looking expression on her face.

“What’s going on, Jen?” the lawyer asks. “I was working on my report!”

“It seems like the company has decided to shut down the electrical power for the whole building, Mr. K. The storm is on its way and its going to be a big one.”

“What are we supposed to do now?”

“Sit tight and wait it out. There’s no time to drive home, the heavy rain is approaching and it’s dangerous to be outside when it comes.”

“This is ridiculous. How many more times am I going to get interrupt-“

Boom!

Jonghyun flinches as the lightning strikes, followed by a clap of thunder and heavy rain pounding down on the ground. The lawyer looks out the window, noticing how the streets were practically empty with no cars in sight. Other buildings around him were dark and had their lights off as well.

“I’m going to go hide out in my office. Please be careful in the meantime.” Jenna says, bowing as she scurries out of the room.

The lawyer turns back to Kibum, who had completely frozen in his spot with a paintbrush still in his hand. He was sitting very rigidly, feet planted firmly on the floor as he hunched over the wall. The lawyer just notices that he had been quiet the whole entire time.

“Kibum?” Jonghyun calls out.

“Y-y-yeah?”

The younger boy’s voice was soft and gentle, a whole different tone from his usual loud and bubbly voice. His fingers were slightly trembling, drips of paint oozing out of the paintbrush and seeping into the newspaper.

“Are you okay?” Jonghyun asks, starting to freak out a little.

He had never seen Kibum like this before. It was almost scary to see his shoulders shuddering, not responding and keeping quiet for the first time.

Boom!

The artist flinches and slaps a hand to his mouth, as if to stop himself from crying out loud. His shoulders are shaking even harder now, and he’s about ready to fall off the small stool he was sitting on.

Finally, Jonghyun understands.

He’s afraid of thunderstorms.

It was ironic, really. The older boy would’ve never suspected for Kibum to be afraid of such a thing. With his positive and ever flamboyant attitude, it seemed that nothing would stand in his way. And after hearing his story, it was definitely weird for him to freak out over something so small.

“Um.” the lawyer takes a small step forward, not sure what to do.

“Just-just give me a moment.” the artist says quietly, fighting to keep his voice steady.

Boom!

Kibum takes a shaky breath, rubbing his arms and patting his shoulders as if to calm them. His back was still turned to the lawyer, not wanting to face him at the moment. He didn’t want him to laugh and sneer at him right now, not when he was vulnerable like this.

But in reality, Jonghyun wanted to do the complete opposite.

Watching the artist, he felt like he needed to do something to ease his pain away. Sure, he was annoying at times, but he didn’t deserve this.

“You don’t need to be afraid.” Jonghyun says, feeling completely useless.

“I-I can’t help it. T-th-that day my p-pa-parents barged into my g-grandmother’s house, i-i-t was th-thu-under storming.”

The older boy’s eyes soften, feeling like a complete douche for just standing there. He walks over to Kibum and kneels next to him, turning him around to face him.

He’s surprised as the artist offers him a smile.

The gesture is completely warm and thankful, reaching his eyes even. It was almost as if he wasn’t scared at that moment.

Boom!

A hint of hesitation flashes through Kibum’s eyes, but he remains strong, shoulders and hands still trembling but bright smile never fading.

“Would it make you feel better if we hide under the table?” Jonghyun asks gently.

The artist looks away and bites at the inside of his cheek, nodding slowly after a while.

The older boy beckons for the other to stand up, holding out his arms instinctively when Kibum teeters to the right and takes a wobbly step.

Jonghyun sighs and takes his wrist, flinching at that spark again as soon as they touch. He leads the younger boy underneath his office desk, crawling underneath it as Kibum cowers in the corner.

His smile was gone now, replaced by a stoned expression with his shoulders still slightly trembling.

Boom!

Kibum gasps and whimpers, covering his eyes and shielding them from seeing the window.

Jonghyun looks over at him and crawls out of the desk, closing the blinds to conceal the storm outside and walking back towards his desk again.

He reaches out for the drawers on the desk, sliding it open and grabbing for his ipod and headphones. He turns it on and clicks a random playlist, crawling back into the small space and perching the headphones on top of Kibum’s head and over his ears.

The artist looks at him, surprised at the unexpected action but smiles at him nonetheless.

Boom!

Kibum’s barely registers the next clap of thunder, but it was loud enough to be heard just a tad over the headphones.

Jonghyun hesitates, biting the bottom of his lip and clenching his hands. But then he sees the artist, completely petrified but hanging on and managing to keep a cool demeanor.

Before he knows it, the lawyer’s hands are tugging at Kibum’s arms, shifting around to get more comfortable under the desk.

The younger boy looks at him quizzically, heart beating in his chest as Jonghyun guides him to sit in between his legs. Kibum shifts around and his back accidentally leans against Jonghyun’s chest, but to his surprise, the lawyer doesn’t say anything about it.

The older boy hesitantly wraps his arms around Kibum, patting his legs gently for comfort. He was highly aware of the heat emitting from the artist’s back, pressed against his chest so closely he could feel his entire body trembling against him.

Boom!

“It’s going to be okay.” the lawyer whispers, not sure if Kibum hears it.

But the artist nods and his shoulders slightly relax, eyes closing to shut out the world around him and merely focusing on the music. Jonghyun’s constant gentle patting on his thighs was enough to keep him sane, embarrassed beyond repair as he helplessly leaned back into the lawyer for comfort.

The older boy listens to the drumming of the rain on the glass window, tilting his head back and wondering why on earth he had decided to put himself in this situation.

It had been so long since he had done something like this, and it hurt like hell to sit there and think about it.  He focuses on Kibum instead, noticing how his breathing had become even and his body was no longer trembling.

He had fallen asleep, with the headphones still on and settled in Jonghyun’s arms.

Boom!

A/N: Yay, I got to update like I promised! :3

And just for the record, Jjong's only being nice cuz Key is vulnerable at the moment. Just to make things clear. You know, like in regular dramas where the bad guy gets all soft hearted when the girl gets hurt or something? Yeah, I watch too much kdramas.

You guys are quite lucky, the rain scene wasn't supposed to happen at all -_- But yeah, I have a thing for Key and being afraid of thunderstorms so I decided to insert that little part in, hence the slightly long chapter. Did I confuse you with Minjung's visit there?

Also, I noticed that barely any of you commented on chapter 7, so I'm thinking some of u guys accidentally skipped that? If you did, make sure to read that chapter bcuz it explains Key's reaction when Minjung comes into the room. And also it reveals a bit about Jjong.

Oh, and shout out to 2minloveforever for making me such a lovely poster for this fic, its absolutely beautiful and stunning T_T

I'm also currently looking for a good graphics/editing person to help me out on creating some of my fanfic posters and helping me out on my background for my tumblr blog (since I'm renovating it). If any of you guys are interested, please message me and I'll be happy to give u further details. The more help I get, the better! Have a lovely weekend guys, I'm so happy they dsimissed us from school early today.

Love ya lots, don't forget to drop a comment! No silent readers!