Youngbae was woken from his dreams by a body crawling into his bed. Half-asleep, he assumed it was Daesung needing someone to comfort him. “Have another nightmare?” he asked, worried about his close friend.

“Mm-mm. I just thought maybe I should pay you back somehow.” Youngbae sat up quickly at the hands brushing down his chest to remove his boxers and the voice that definitely wasn’t Daesung. Key blinked up at him.

“What the hell are you doing?”  Youngbae stared down wildly at Key.

"I thought that I should thank you. Why? Don't you want me?"

"Kibum shi, I thought we had just finished talking about how you weren't a object." Key just looked at Youngbae, unable to comprehend that somebody didn't want to sleep with him. Youngbae sighed deeply, thinking to himself that this boy was going to need more help than he had thought. "Why don't you just go back to your bed for now?" With this, Youngbae gently nudged Key off his bed. The SHINee member seemed dazed but nodded his head full of mused hair and headed back to his temporary room.

He had woken an hour or so before deeply disturbed. Key couldn't sleep once he began to wonder if maybe he should repay Youngbae in some way for his kindness. He had nothing to give except his body but Key was definitely experienced in the bedroom. The more he thought about it the more it seemed utterly rude to barge into the older man’s house, talk his ear off, and then sleep in his house without even a thank you or a gratitude . Key had thought to himself "What if he's waiting for me right now? What if he was expecting me to come to him right away? Oh my god, what if he's disappointed in or disgusted with me?" With all these thoughts rattling around in Keys head, he decided to go show his appreciation for the man, ignoring Youngbae’s own words just hours ago and the logical side of his mind telling me that Youngbae wasn't like that. Key never could have imagined that someone would actually kick him out of bed; Key knew he was too much temptation even for the most controlled men. 

“Otokay! I was wrong. What do I do now? He looked so disappointed in me….” Key’s thoughts were filled with concerns about Youngbae once again. He was so busy wondering how to make Youngbae proud of him that he forgot all about Jonghyun and Hyungseop. His meeting with Youngbae was definitely an accident but Key wanted to stay with the Big Bang member because he made him feel safe. He wanted to draw smiles from Youngbae and be by his side to help out the other man too. Most of all, Key wanted to be himself around Youngbae. He wanted to be Kibum and he trusted Youngbae not to abuse that privilege. He wasn’t sure if he should go back and apologize or just sleep in his separated room. The SHINee member didn’t think their relationship would survive if they went to bed awkward like this. Kibum decided to go with his first instinct and turned around to run back to the comforting presence of Youngbae.

When he entered the room for the second time, the older man grunted and said “Kibum, we already talked about this.”

Kibum crawled into bed and replied, “I know. Can I just sleep here with you?” He knew he was asking a lot but Youngbae needed to understand that he regretted his earlier actions.

There was a long awkward silence before Youngbae whispered, “I don’t want just your body, you know. That’s hot, too, but I wasn’t lying when I said you deserve more. I would never take advantage of you like that.” The man sounded like he was insulted that Kibum thought so low of him. Kibum wasn’t sure how to express himself without physical contact and he was having a hard time thinking anyway since Youngbae said he was attractive.

“I know.” Kibum pecked Youngbae on the cheek really quickly so the shorter man couldn’t turn away, then flipped over to lay on his other side, away from Youngbae. “Good night.” Kibum grinned when he heard Youngbae clear his throat before replying in kind. They fell into dreamland quickly, not touching but aware and reassured by the other’s presence.

Youngbae woke up many hours later to the smell of waffles permeating the entire apartment. He frowned in confusion before realizing that it had to be Kibum. The man had stuck around after waking and was even making breakfast. Youngbae grinned like a village idiot and threw an arm over his eyes in happiness. He knew he looked like a fool but he didn’t care. He and Kibum might have something special going on here and Youngbae was for sure ready to give it a chance. He padded out on bare feet to the kitchen to discover Kibum humming to himself while cooking, an activity he looked quite familiar with. Youngbae noticed how much happier Kibum looked now than yesterday and his chest swelled with pride thinking it was himself who brought that change in the attractive man.

Kibum swirled around when he noticed Youngbae simply watching him. “You’re awake! Breakfast isn’t finished yet but I was thinking afterwards we could maybe go shopping?”

Youngbae chuckled, having heard of Kibum’s shopping habits and replied, “You mean like a date? It might depend on how good those waffles are.”

“We can call it our first date, even though we have already slept together.” Kibum winked at the suddenly very flushed man. “And I’ll have you know that my cooking is always fantastic.”

“Well then, I guess I’ll have to force you to cook for me more often.” Youngbae grinned cockily at the thought and Kibum took that moment to quickly brush their lips together before dashing back to the stove to check the waffles. “Oh no, you’re not getting away with that again.” Youngbae snatched the younger man’s arm before he could complete a full escape and pulled his body toward him. He grasped the back of Kibum’s head, playing with the hairs behind his neck and looking into his eyes before leaning forward to properly align their lips.

Kibum closed his eyes and happily accepted the kiss for what it was; a soft conveyal of mutual feelings and attraction. Kibum’s arms were around Youngbae’s waist to claim the man as his own and Youngbae’s hands were cupping Kibum’s face to keep him centered in this moment right now, not the painful past. It was their first real kiss and Kibum’s first kiss that wasn’t to . Their lips fit together like they were designed to be as one. There were no dramatic fireworks in the background, just the smell of the waffles burning, but both thought it was the best kiss they ever had and the first of many between the two. They could see their future together through this one soft kiss. It was perfect. 

Authors Note

I didn't mean in my last note that Tae Yang had total game in this fic, I just meant that's what I picture him like in real life. That shyness has got to be a cover for something smoldering down under. The gif for this chapter also proves his experience in bed, just saying. Anywhosit, what did you guys think if the final chapter? Did you like the ending? My next fic will be another TaecJay so look out for that. :) Leave oodles of comments and criticisms, please. They make my day. <3