Minho and Kibum were good friends. As a matter of fact, Kibum had introduced him to his current boyfriend, Taemin. Taemin was great and everything, but... Kibum was something special. Minho had always known that.

He just didn’t realize (or maybe he didn’t want to realize, more accurately) how special.

It had started out innocently enough. It always does, doesn’t it? Minho had come to know Kibum through a mutual friend of theirs, Jonghyun. Jonghyun had warned Minho that Kibum could be a little much to handle at times, though Minho had never had a problem dealing with Kibum’s occasional diva outbursts. Yeah, Kibum could be a little annoying. But that was a part of his charm, Minho supposed.

They had always been attracted to each other, but neither was willing to admit it. It was that same old cliché, tiptoeing around the issue like it was a sleeping lion. Though, as it happened, it was cliché through and through. Because everyone knows that sooner or later (most of the time, it’s sooner), that sleeping lion is going to wake up and then everybody is ed.

For Minho and Kibum, their sleeping lion woke up in the form of a party they went to with Jonghyun. There was alcohol there, and ecstasy. Which, as it turns out, had been a very bad idea to take.

That first time, they woke up and pretended that the hickeys on their necks weren’t from the night before. They pretended it hadn’t happened. The second time it happened, they didn’t have any excuse at all. They were both stone cold sober, and in their workplace. It was Minho who initiated it the second time, and every time afterwards. Kibum tried to protest it at first. He always was the smarter one.

Taemin, bless him, was totally unaware. Minho was a good actor in front of Taemin, and Kibum didn’t see Taemin much anyway. It was a blessing in disguise, really. Because Kibum wasn’t such a great actor, and Taemin would’ve known something was up.

Kibum tried to break it off, more than once. But each time, Minho would come slinking back with his tail behind his legs and promises that this would be the last time. It never was, and Kibum couldn’t find it in himself to turn Minho away anymore after a while.

It was one such night, when Minho had come back with a thousand empty apologies on his lips, when Kibum made the worst mistake you can make in an affair. He let his feelings get the better of him. He might as well have admitted out loud that he loved Minho. That he wanted a real relationship with Minho.

                “Please,” Kibum begged, and Minho flinched. Even though Kibum’s voice wasn’t very loud at all. “Please stay.” He knew this moment had been coming. He’d known it all along. It was inevitable, really. There was an awful vulnerability in Kibum’s eyes, and Minho’s face flushed with shame.

                “I’m sorry, Kibum,” he sounded strangled, trying to prevent tears of shame from escaping.  “I can’t.”

The sound of Kibum’s heart breaking was almost audible in the few moments of silence in the room. Minho knew if he turned to look, he would be able to see the timid hope and love dying in Kibum’s eyes, and that was something he simply couldn’t make himself look at. Minho didn’t think he could possibly feel any lower. Until Kibum spoke.

                “Oh… Okay,” the fact that Kibum was striving to seem okay hurt Minho more than any razor ever could have. “Maybe next time.” Minho choked back a sob at the words. It was like salt being poured into an already blindingly painful wound.

                “Yeah, Kibum. Maybe next time,” he heard the tears in his own voice, and took a deep breath to calm himself. He walked out the front door, knowing that Kibum knew there would never be a next time.

He felt like the lowest form of life when he realized that he was the reason Kibum would no longer be able to trust his partner in a relationship. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but one he felt like he had to swallow. Because he deserved it.
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Ugh, AFF is kind of pissing me off. :/

Another short oneshot. Ah well. XD And it's another Minkey.

I hope you enjoyed reading it anyway. c:

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Til next time, loves. ^o~