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Part 23: I'm  saying,

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“You didn’t even tell me that you are going back to your country.” Kibum said as he walked hand in hand with Hyunae. She had her passport, plain tickets and cellphone in another hand, her yellow bag strapped on her left shoulder.

“Ah, mianhae. I was really having fun with you yesterday, I forgot about my flight today.” She replied with a sheepish smile on her lips. “We should do it again when I visit, ne?”

“You should just stay. School will end soon and we can just bond some more.” Kibum whined, now facing Hyunae.

“That’s why I am leaving, oppa. We still have a month’s worth of school in our country and as much as I would want to just stay here with you guys, I have to attend to my school there.” She replied as she rolled her eyes.

Kibum pouted at that and held both of Hyunae’s hands —her left wrist actually since her hand was occupied. “Just be back soon okay? You still have many stories to tell me.” He said, she just nodded and smiled brightly at him as reply. Then he pulled her for a hug.

“Yah! YAAAH! You two are hugging too long already.” They heard someone say and they broke the hug to see Jonghyun glaring at both of them and his lips were pursed in a thin line. Kibum and Hyunae looked at each other and burst out laughing. Minho and Jinki who were standing on either side of Jonghyun smirked and shook their heads while Taemin just smiled. Everything seemed to be back in place and the sun seemed to shine much brighter.

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“Hey, aren’t you one bit sad that your sister is overseas again? You are smiling like a freaky retard since she went to the immigration booth.” Kibum asked as they were waiting for the light to turn green. His eyes were on the screen of his phone as he browsed through the pictures that they took yesterday.

“Ani. She’ll be back sooner than you’ll know. Plus! I can have you for myself now.”—he then leaned across the gears, held Kibum’s chin with the tips of his fingers and turned his face almost too close for Kibum to go cross-eyed, the iPhone almost forgotten on his lap.

“B-bwo?” Kibum stuttered as he attempted to lean away from Jonghyun.

The singer just wiggled his eyebrows and smiled suggestively. Kibum looked away to hide the blush on his cheeks. Then Jonghyun pulled away and continued driving since the car behind honked impatiently for them to go.

He tried to fix himself and stayed quiet as he typed a reply to Taemin’s message. Jonghyun had his eyes straight to the road as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

“What are your plans for summer?” Jonghyun asked to break the silence.

“I have nothing yet.” Kibum answered honestly.

“Good!  Just leave it to me and I’ll make sure you have the greatest summer this year.” he gave Kibum the victory sign and smiled widely.

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The silver car passed through the luckily empty subdivision street lined with manicured lawns for the third time that afternoon. The summer sun shown off its lazy rays as it went lower on the sky.

“Yah! Just step on the gas pedal lightly! You don’t even have a driver’s license yet!” Jonghyun commanded as the speedometer pointed pass the 80km/hr mark.

“Ha! You’re just jealous because I’m a fast learner~” Kibum sang as he took the next turn, passing through a park. “Shouldn’t you be proud?” he asked as he glanced at Jonghyun.

“Eyes on the road!” the older screamed while pointing on the street ahead. “You are making me nervous!” he placed a hand over his chest trying to calm his heart.

“Cut on your coffee intake okay?” Kibum said as he parked near the lake. He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to Jonghyun completely, then reached out to pat Jonghyun’s cheeks. He smiled and turned to look at his reflection on the rear-view mirror. After fixing his hair, he unlocked the doors and went out of the car.

Jonghyun, who had just got out of his trance when he heard the slam of the door, followed Kibum. They stood side by side in front of the car admiring the setting sun.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Kibum asked, voice just a little above a whisper. His face was illuminated with the warm rays of the sun that made him look like he was glowing. The light reflected from his now blonde hair which made him look like an angel.

“Very.”

Kibum tore his eyes from the view to give Jonghyun a smile but he was not able to. Because when his eyes met Jonghyun’s, he realized that Jonghyun was not talking about the sunset.

They stayed like that, just looking at each other’s eyes, for a good minute or two. Kibum almost drowned in those brown orbs but he was not one to complain. Then, Jonghyun moved his fringe away from his eyes and his hand cupped Kibum’s cheek, thumb rubbing gentle circles. And the singer leaned closer, Kibum held his breath.

He felt Jonghyun’s lips brush his, it was hesitant—almost afraid. But he decided to close the remaining space and he leaned closer. Jonghyun’s hand slid from his cheek down to his shoulder, his arms and it rested on his waist. He felt the singer’s lips turn up in the slightest smile. They parted their lips almost at the same time. They didn’t fight for dominance when their tongues slipped out to taste each other.

It was different from the stolen kisses that they had in front of a gate with the light of street lamps or that one in a messy classroom or the other one in a photo booth. It was better than the chocolate kiss—as Jonghyun called it. It felt perfect.

When they parted, they were both smiling at each other, cheeks flushed and hands intertwined. Jonghyun swayed their linked hands and looked at it before looking back at Kibum. He inhaled deeply and bit his lower lip. Kibum just regarded him with a questioning look. He looked away as he exhaled, his hold on Kibum’s hand tightening.

“Will you be my boyfriend?” he asked nervously. He was just thankful that his palms didn’t sweat when he was. He looked at Kibum hopefully. When the younger didn’t respond and just stare back at him, he bit his lower lip and his free had reached on the back of his neck. “It’s okay if you don’t like... I was just—”

“What?” Kibum said and he stopped rambling.

“What ‘what’?” Jonghyun asked back dumbly.

“Did you just ask me if I could be your boyfriend?” the younger scoffed and looked away, removing his hand from Jonghyun’s and crossing it on his chest. Jonghyun cringed inwardly. “I already kissed you a while ago and you are asking me that just NOW?! What do you think, Jjong?!” he rolled his eyes one last time but he couldn’t stop the smile from his lips when he saw Jonghyun’s face lighten up.

“Does that mean yes?” Jonghyun asked excitedly as he held Kibum’s shoulders. The younger sighed and shook his head a little.

“Yes.”

Then he was yanked into a bone crushing hug. When Jonghyun pulled away he was smiling widely and his eyes were shining. Afterwards, he ran towards the lake, leaving Kibum on the same spot and shouted.

“HE SAID YES!!! KIM KIBUM, SARANGHAE~!” he raised his arms over his head and made the heart sign.

“Pabo...” Kibum said to himself but he was smiling.

But their little celebration was interrupted when water droplets fell from the sky. People ran for cover while the new couple went into the car— Jonghyun occupied the driver’s seat again. They were just fastening their seatbelts when the rain poured harshly.

“Do you want some hot chocolate?” Jonghyun asked as he drove back to his house.

“If only you’d be the one to make it.” He challenged.

“Yah, do you doubt my hot-chocolate-making skills? You’ll forget your name when you taste it!”

Kibum laughed. This was the reality that he always dreamed of.

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a/n: sorry for taking so long to post something. i was really really busy as hell last month. and i got sick because of that. well i hope you could still remember me or the fic, al least? no? ah i'm really sorry. i'm still busy with univ stuff and all right now so i can't really promise anything. either way i hope you enjoyed this latest chapter :)

photo by: zero- @deviantart