Second barrier;
Better than words;
Jinki leaned onto the street's railing as his vision was fixed onto the CD shop before him. There was music playing with a voice to whom he knew belonged to. The song was soothing and powerful with the high keys in the chorus. Jinki could say confidently that he liked that. Memories from the night before poured inyo his mind, and Jinki shook his head in disapproval. Although he would love to think back on how pretty those stars were and what a deep impression Jonghyun left on him when he smiled, he only had ten minutes to decide what he had in mind before Kibum's car came to fetch him.
Jinki stared at the huge poster which was pasted on the display window as he dug his wallet out of his bag.
Something was really wrong with him.
-<3-
Jinki leaned comfortably back onto the cushioned seat as Kibum stepped onto the engine, speeding up.
"Kibum ah, we aren't in a rush or anything. You can drive-"
"You haven't told me why it took you so long to borrow a phone to call me."
Kibum successfully avoided Jinki's adice to slow down. Well, that was the last question Jinki had yet to answer. Jinki had explained sheepishly to Kibum as to why he got lost this morning when they had breakfast together. It was a simple reason that made Kibum go "I knew it". Jinki just stopped in his steps when he saw an interesting and cute human-sized teddy bear behind the display window, together with the other colorful and moving toys. It got all of Jinki's attention, not noticing how Kibum and Minho's conversation went inaudible as time passed. Then, Jinki went missing.
Then, Jinki met Jonghyun.
"W-Well... it's a long story. Kibum ah, where's Minho?" Jinki tried to escape from the question, just like how Kibum avoided his advice. He didn't know if he should tell Kibum or Minho about Jonghyun. Kibum would probably stare at him with disbelief at how stupidly he went to an abandoned church with a stranger in the middle of the night, just to listen to words he didn't understand. Minho would probably just nod, thinking that he understood, but in reality he was trying to think how it was possible because if Minho were in his shoes, he would probably do this and that. But the main problem wasn't any of that.
The problem was, Jinki couldn't forget.
"Minho has a shooting today. And, Lee Jinki." Kibum gave a slight smirk which made Jinki know that he couldn't avoid the question as successfully, compared to Kibum. "We have a lot of time until I'm tired and want to sleep. I don't have to be in my shop today."
Jinki could only force an awkward laughter out as Kibum's confident smile got wider.
"It's just... nothing." Jinki mumbled as his hands unknowingly went to the plastic bag he was carrying after exiting the CD shop, grabbing onto it tightly. "I couldn't seem to find anyone that understood English, and when it became too late I decided to just grab anyone for help, regardless if the person speaks English or not." There was a silence afterward, and Kibum shrugged nonchalantly as he turned the steering wheel steadily, entering the car park.
"Jinki ah, you lied a little." Kibum mumbled as his eyes searched for a parking lot, yet not oblivious to how nervous Jinki was. He broke into a light smile at that, surprising the poor flustered Jinki. "But well, since seventy percent of it is the truth, I will let you off this time." Jinki watched how Kibum then whistled a happy tune as he found that his favorite parking space was empty. It was then Jinki smiled brightly as he loosened the tight grip on the plastic bag, muttering a silent thank you in his heart.
-
"By the way," Kibum took a quick glance at Jinki who was standing behind him as he opened the door. "What did you buy?"
Jinki never felt that tongue-tied in his life ever before when Kibum eyed the gray plastic bag he was holding to suspiciously. What should he say? His mind went blank the moment Kibum took the plastic bag away from him and entered the house in a lightning speed, grinning happily as he jumped onto the couch. Jinki could only stare with his wide eyes, his mind a little too slow to catch up with what was happening.
"Lock the door, Jinki." Kibum didn't even look at Jinki as he started his 'investigation'. "What's this? A poster?" Kibum took the glossy paper which was rolled up neatly out of the plastic, and his actions stopped when he saw what slipped out of the gray-colored plastic bag as he did so. And Jinki, who had finally got his senses back, locked the door hurriedly and when he saw the scene, he lost his senses again.
It was an album. To be precise, Kim Jonghyun's album.
Kibum opened his mouth to speak, but only closed them as he found that he really had nothing to say. Jinki could only manage to get himself moving to where Kibum was minutes later. And unfortunately for him, Kim Kibum was already staring at him. Lee Jinki was about to receive a lot of questions. He knew it.
"You bought this?"
"You are an anti-fan of Jonghyun?"
"You were never a fan of him, Jinki."
"I...I thought it was worth it when it comes together with the poster. I didn't even know who is he!"
"Oh, so you don't know who Jonghyun is."
Each word Kibum was speaking in that sentence was dripping with sarcasm, and Jinki's throat turned numb due to nervousness when Kibum emphasized the word "Jonghyun". It looked like Jinki would have a hard time today. Jinki gulped as he scratched his cheek, avoiding Kibum's questioning stare.
Lee Jinki was going to be so screwed today.
"I-I mean, he's the first Korean star I ever knew! Shouldn't I buy his album as a form of-"
"The first Korean celebrity you knew was Minho. Choi Minho, you and my best friend, Lee Jinki." Kibum poked Jinki's forehead as his eyes narrowed. "Minho will get upset if he hears that."
Oh, he was screwed.
"I mean, excluding Minho!"
"Why exclude him out of all people?"
Jinki found himself getting speechless. Something told him that he wouldn't like what this conversation was going to lead them to.
"Because-"
"Because you met Kim Jonghyun the night you went missing."
-<3-
Jinki pressed the play button on the CD player as he sat on the mattress, staring at the poster he had just pasted onto the wall. It was a close up shot of Jonghyun smiling brightly. He was wearing a plain white tee with denim jeans, and Jinki smiled at how a simple smile could make the whole picture become so special, even when he dressed so casually. Jinki broke out of his thoughts when he heard Jonghyun's singing through the speakers, soothing his poor racing heart earlier due to Kibum.
-
Jinki opened his mouth only to find that he was speechless, and closed them again to feel his throat getting dry. What was he supposed to do? Jinki rushed to take the album and the poster up without thinking before rushing to the room, screaming like a kid got caught for stealing candy as he did so.
"Kim Kibum, I told you nothing happened that night between me and Jonghyun...!"
And as he closed the door, he could hear Kibum's laugh of victory. He had never felt that stupid in his life before.
"So you really met him that night. Lee Jinki, you are caught!"
-
Jinki sighed in frustration as he pulled the bolster closer to his body, listening to Jonghyun's voice as he did so. He couldn't understand a single word that Jonghyun was singing, but the song was still nice, nevertheless. It reminded him of how he had just laid at the blue mat, looking at Jonghyun's face as he spoke in the voice that Jinki thought was nice. He didn't know why he was thinking so much about that meeting, so much about Jonghyun since they only met once. Perhaps their meeting was special, or perhaps...
Jinki looked at the poster one more time before sighing deeply.
Or perhaps Jonghyun was just special.
As the song reached the end, Jinki frowned and sat up, wanting to listen to the same song again. He was about to press the repeat button until the door flew open, Kibum leaning onto the door frame looking at him. Jinki remained there, looking back at Kibum for a moment before the second song of the track list played, Jonghyun's singing filled the whole room.
"I'm going crazy," Jinki muttered under his breath as he went back to lying onto his mattress, pulling the blanket over his head as he did so. "Kim Kibum...!"
He could hear Kibum's laughter, probably being amused at how silly he was behaving then. He felt a light weight pressing down beside the mattress, and knew it was Kibum without flipping the blanket over to see. He hoped that Minho was here, the taller boy would probably give Jinki more privacy. Jinki wasn't ready to answer to questions about that night's meeting since Jonghyun was just a person that spoke in a language that he didn't understand, Jonghyun was just a person that had a very nice smile. Since they only met once. Since Jinki didn't know why he was so affected by it. Kibum would probably think all of these didn't make sense.
"So," Kibum nudged Jinki's back with his elbow lightly. "Did anything happen that night? When both of you met,"
Jinki scratched his cheek awkwardly as he shifted beneath the blanket a little.
"Actually, nothing much happened. He was just... telling me about himself," Jinki supposed.
Kibum, who was lying beside Jinki, raised an eyebrow at that.
"In English?"
".... In Korean."
There was a long silence after that, leaving Jinki to wonder what was Kibum's reaction worriedly as he continued hiding under the covers while playing with his fingers nervously. Yes, what would Kim Kibum think after knowing his friend took so long to call him because he was busy listening to someone talking in a language which he didn't understand at all. Yes, Kim Kibum would feel like skinning Lee Jinki alive. There was no doubt. Jinki shook his head in utter defeat, at that thought.
The third song started playing before Kibum finally spoke.
"Jinki ah, do you have a lot of questions about your meeting with Kim Jonghyun?"
"A lot."
"... And you couldn't find answers to your questions about the meeting, about your actions. So that was why you decided to hide it from Minho and I?"
"I guess...?"
Kibum let out a soft yawn, as if he already knew what was everything about. Jinki knew he heard a soft laughter afterwards, but he was too caught up in his thinking to even question that. There was just so many questions about why he was behaving like an idiot over here. Perhaps Jonghyun didn't even remember already. The thought of that made Jinki sigh again, thinking of how stupid he was. He just thought way too much. He was the only one that was thinking so much into it.
"Jinki ah, just let time takes it course. You will know what is all this you are confused about then," Kibum closed his eyes.
Let time take it course, Jinki nodded.
That was probably the last thing Jinki remembered until brief minutes later when he started to close his eyes, drifting off to sleep, emptying his mind out of everything and replenishing his lost sleep. He remained under the warm covers, and slept comfortably.
-<3-
Jinki didn't think about the meeting after that afternoon. His university work were piling up, and the lectures were getting longer. After reaching home from the lecturing at university, he could only bury himself in the assignments. And after finishing, he would eat meals that Kibum prepared and quickly go to sleep, preparing for the next day's lecturing. He would look at Jonghyun's poster on the wall at times when he was about to sleep, but he was too tired to even think anymore before drifting to dream land. He thought he could finally take a breather when weekends reached, but in the end he spent half of his Saturday tying up loose ends of his assignments, and the other was spent with Kibum dragging him to the living room, where he saw his busy friend, Minho who was already eating the meal that Kibum made. Jinki, who knew Kibum's cooking was a total thumbs up, immediately sat down and had three servings. The three of them then reminisced about their high school lives before falling asleep late at night, all three of them sleeping soundly at the living room.
It wasn't until Sunday, when Kibum had to tend to his shop, and was too busy to tutor him for Korean to make his life better, while Minho went for a commercial shooting. Jinki was staying at home with nothing to do, spent his morning lazing around the bed, afternoon making Kibum's favorite spicy Kimchi crab soup with rice, and brought it to Kibum's shop through a map translated by Kibum. His evening was then spent there, playing with the clothes Kibum had there while seeing his friend picking out clothes for the customers. Then it was night, which Kibum told him to go home first while he had to stay there to check the accounts before closing. Jinki then went out on the streets again, sitting on the nearest bench to him after browsing through shops that were selling interesting stuff as he flipped open the map again. He looked at the route which would bring him back home, and suddenly noticed how near he was to the park, Lucifer.
Then he was reminded of Jonghyun who he met on last Sunday's night through the funniest way. He flipped open his phone when somebody messaged his phone, ending his thoughts when he suddenly saw the day listed there.
Sunday, and the dark sky reminded him of the same night.
Without him knowing it, he followed the route on the map and found himself standing at the entrance of Lucifer ten minutes later. He then stared at the entrance, and was reminded of how he spoke on the phone with Kibum here, Jonghyun leaning onto the streetlight waiting for him. The thought of Jonghyun's smile got Jinki making his way into the park, past the pond, through the small woods, and to the doorway of the abandoned church.
And as he pushed opened the door lightly, there was this loud creaking sound as he thought if there were anymore beautiful stars to see tonight. He smiled slightly at the thought of that, but it soon faded when his eyes met with this another pair of eyes which were familiar.
"Ah..."
Kim Jonghyun.
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