“You’re spending an awful lot of time getting ready Kibum…” Jonghyun stated, never really able to understand why Key always spent so much time primping and prepping, especially since he was only going out with an old friend tonight for drinks.  Key simply shot him an incredulous look, kohl-lined cat eyes widening, and Jonghyun just laughed softly, knowing that Key had always prided himself on his ability to look equal parts y and handsome. 

Jonghyun had to admit, after watching Key go through half his closet before he’d settled on his final outfit, it was definitely a good choice. He appreciatively let his eyes slide from Key’s perfect bone structure and edgy earrings, to the fitted tee-shirt that advertised some English rock band and showed off his slim torso, down to his lush thighs, to which clung the tightest black skinnies that Jong had ever seen him wear. He unconsciously his newly dry lips, unaware of the sly smirk Key gave him through the mirror’s reflection. 

“How do I look Jjongie?” Key twirled once, full circle, stopping when he again faced the full-length mirror, making sure to stick out his perky bum, throwing a dazzling smile over his shoulder at his somewhat dazed hyung. Jonghyun opened his mouth to speak but only a small noise of awe came out. Naturally Key grinned widely at this response, knowing his fashion sense was impeccable. 

“I’ll take that as a ‘Wow you’re really ing y Kibum.’” Key smirked confidently, waving over his shoulder as he exited his bedroom, unintentionally mesmerizing poor Jonghyun with the sassy sway of his hips. 

“W-wait! Kibum!” Jonghyun shouted after his irresistible dongsaeng when he finally managed to find his voice again. He stood swiftly, pushing himself off of Key’s bed where he’d been enjoying Key’s fashion show while he debated what to wear. “Who’d you say you were going out with again?” 

Key just shrugged. “A couple of old friends from my high school back in Daegu. Don’t wait up~” Key grabbed his black leather jacket, tossing it over his shoulder like they do in high fashion magazines, with a quick goodbye as he disappeared out the front door. 

“Oh, right. Have fun! See you later!” Jonghyun smiled and waved enthusiastically at Key’s retreating figure. And damn it was a nice figure to watch walk away…Jonghyun shook that thought out of his head immediately. That wasn’t an appropriate thing to think about his best friend…even if he was in love with him. Jonghyun sighed. He’d never admit it, but he always felt a little left out, and a lot jealous, when Kibum went out with other people. 

“Hi hyung!!!” An energetic, and LOUD, voice interrupted his moping as Taemin jumped on him from behind, wrapping his arms around Jonghyun’s neck and his legs around his waist to keep himself from falling. “Wanna watch a movie with me and Minho-hyung?” 

Seeing Jonghyun’s skeptical glance, Taemin whined a little, “Plllleeeeeaaaaassssseee Jong~” He put on a cute pout, knowing that it would wear down Jonghyun’s defenses. Damn, this kid.

“Aish, fine. But I’m picking the movie! …and you have to get off of my back.” Taemin clambered down from Jonghyun happily, humming to himself as he walked with Jonghyun over to the shelf of DVDs that they’d collected over the years. Taemin and Jonghyun searched through their collection, trying to find something that would satisfy everyone. 

“How about an action movie?” Jonghyun suggested, glancing at all of the superhero movies they owned. 

“Ooh yeah! Can we watch Superman? He’s my favourite~” Taemin pleaded excitedly. Jonghyun actually detested the Superman movie but he really couldn’t say no when Tae was so thrilled at the prospect of watching it. He let out a soft sigh of acceptance. 

“Sure, Tae, whatever you want…” Jonghyun grabbed the Superman DVD from the shelf, popping it into the player, cringing at the volume as the opening sequence blared in his ears. 

“Good lord Taemin! Are you already going deaf at such a young age? Why is the volume so loud?” Jonghyun snatched the remote quickly off of the coffee table in front of the couch nearly breaking the volume button with the excessive force he used to push the down arrow. 

“Geez hyung, don’t break the remote…” Jonghyun sent a half-hearted glare at Minho who had apparently entered the room while Jonghyun was getting the movie ready. Minho sat down on the couch next to Taemin, casually tossing his arm around the maknae who snuggled closer to him at the contact. Jonghyun snorted at the two youngest members, wondering how long it would take them to get together. He figured it had to be soon since they’d been acting like this practically since the day they met as trainees nearly five years ago. 

Jonghyun decided to sit on the loveseat, rather than intruding on the young idiots lovers. Within the first ten minutes Jonghyun was bored out of his mind and wanted any excuse to leave the room, so he asked, “Hey guys, anyone want popcorn?” 

“Ooh yes please!!” Taemin immediately perked up at the thought of food. Minho laughed and poked Tae’s nose because the kid was just so damn cute. Jonghyun smiled at them and went into the kitchen to make the popcorn.

They didn’t have microwavable popcorn unfortunately (for which he could blame Key who was convinced that “microwave popcorn just isn’t as good as kernels you pop yourself”) so Jonghyun had to get out oil, butter, salt, a large kettle with a lid, and the popcorn kernels, of course. 

He put the oil, salt, and popcorn kernels into the large pot, shaking it up to get all the kernels coated in oil, and then put the pot on the stove, setting the heat to medium temperature. He knew that the popcorn usually took about five minutes to pop fully so he decided to use the bathroom while he waited, feeling the sudden need to empty his bladder. 

As Jonghyun scurried down the hallway to the bathroom, he heard Jinki talking on the phone. Normally Jonghyun wasn’t someone who liked to eavesdrop but he detected an irritated raise in his hyung’s tone, which piqued his interest, because Jinki almost never yelled or spoke louder than normal speaking level. 

“Umma!!!” Jinki sounded rather exasperated. “Just because Kibum is going out with that model girl doesn’t mean that I need to have a girlfriend right now! I’m trying to concentrate on my career!” A short pause, followed by: “I AM NOT OLD UMMA!!!” 

All desire to use the bathroom disappeared as Jonghyun’s mind sluggishly registered what Jinki had said about Kibum. A model? Key’s dating a model? But he’d told Jonghyun that he was only going out with a few of his old buddies…why would Key lie to him? Jonghyun frowned, disliking the intense feeling of bitterness and jealousy that pooled in his gut. Did that mean that Kibum didn’t care about him at all? It had to, didn’t it? After all, why would he lie if he shared Jonghyun’s feelings? Without realizing it, Jonghyun had slid down the wall across from the door to Jinki’s bedroom. He buried his face in his hands, his emotions raging wildly, completely oblivious to the salty pink trails the hot tears left behind as they streamed down his face without his permission. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He woke up in his own bed, the sun struggling to shine through the window, despite the dark navy blue curtains that were draped across it. He couldn’t remember how he’d gotten here or who had moved him. The last thing he could recall was sobbing out in the hallway. He assumed that he must’ve cried himself to sleep and one of the other members had carried him to his bed. He opened his eyes, blinking warily, the room slowly coming into focus. He nearly had a heart attack when a face materialized a few centimeters from his own. 

“You’re awake…” Kibum murmured softly, as Jonghyun finally recognized the face in front of him. 

“Uh…yeah. I’m awake. What happened last night?” 

“Well, um…you sort of…went a little crazy.” Key scratched the back of his neck in secondhand embarrassment.
Jonghyun eyes widened, wondered what on earth he’d done.

“You were…upset about something and you were crying…I guess you tried to forget whatever it was that made you cry because Jinki found you passed out in the kitchen around three this morning, surrounded by empty whiskey bottles. He carried you back to your room…”

“Oh.” Jonghyun really couldn’t think of anything else to say. Well that explains the massive headache he’d woken up with. He wondered why Kibum was here with him though. “Key?”

“Yeah?” Kibum looked at him; he stared straight into Jonghyun’s soul and Jonghyun stared right back, lost in the dark chocolate brown eyes that never failed to reel him in. For a moment, Jonghyun could imagine that everything was okay, but then a gorgeous girl danced through his mind and he saw only his own pain reflected in Key’s eyes. 

“Why are you here, Kibum?” Jonghyun had to look away because he couldn’t stand to be near Key any more than absolutely necessary because his mere presence made Jonghyun’s chest feel like someone was breaking open his rib cage and tearing out his heart with their bare hands. 

“I…I wanted to talk to you about something…when I came home, you said some things to me…I just wanted to know if you meant what you said.” A furious blush crept over Key’s pale cheeks but he held his gaze steady. Jonghyun, overcome with curiosity, tilted his head slightly to the side, much like a confused puppy. 

“What did I say exactly?” He asked cautiously, hoping it wasn’t anything too embarrassing or rude. 

“Well…when I got home…you were already pretty drunk. You came up to me and got in my face, I could smell the alcohol on your breath,” Key scrunched up his nose in disgust before continuing his story. “You…you were angry. You asked why I didn’t tell you that I was going out with a model. Then you…told me you loved me…and you tried to kiss me.” 

Jonghyun wished the bed sheets would just swallow him up and save him from the burning humiliation he felt radiating throughout his body. Failing this, he covered himself with the sheets, hiding from Key’s piercing gaze. 

“Jonghyun…” Kibum’s voice floated softly to his ears. He felt a hand, Key’s hand, resting gently on his back, massaging the skin there through the sheets, trying to coax him into coming out from under the covers.

“C’mon Jongie, don’t hide from me…” Jonghyun still refused to budge, stubbornly determined to remain hidden in this position for the rest of his life. 

The mattress shifted a bit under Key’s added weight, and Jonghyun could feel the warmth from Key’s body as his equally determined dongsaeng settled himself close to his hyung. He inhaled sharply when Key’s breath tickled his ear and neck as Key whispered:

“Don’t you dare ignore me, Kim Jonghyun.” 

Jonghyun let out a sad sigh, pushing the sheets slowly off of himself and turned until he was face-to-face with Kibum. They were quite literally face-to-face, as Key’s perfect features glowed only inches from his own. 

“What do you want me to say Kibum? That it hurt me to the point I got drunk trying to forget when I found out that you’re keeping things from me? That I spend half the time we’re together thinking about us as a couple? That I’m completely in love with my best friend? Is that the reality you want?!” Jonghyun’s voice started out as barely more than a whisper, but by the end of his rant he was screaming, water gathering in his eyes as tears threatened to spill over. Jonghyun couldn’t bear to see the hurt and confusion on his best friend’s face and turn his gaze to the crumbled sheets below him. 

A soft hand caressed his cheeks, the thumb gently wiping away the one tear that had escaped. Jonghyun glanced up in shock. Why wasn’t Key running away? Shouldn’t he be disgusted and furious? He was more than surprised to see that Key’s eyes were also glistening wetly. He froze, stiller than a statue, because Key was leaning towards him and his alcohol-addled brain couldn’t comprehend what was going on. He kept waiting for Kibum to stop but he didn’t. He came closer and closer, until Jonghyun could count every luscious eyelash that encompassed Key’s beautiful eyes.

“Yes.” Kibum stated matter-of-factly. 

Time stopped and their lips met. Fireworks exploded and hearts melted. Words were unnecessary because they conveyed all the passion and love they felt in that kiss. All thoughts of embarrassment and humiliation disappeared, drifting away on the wind as two souls became one.