Kibum fell back onto the ground with a huff, relishing in the feeling of the cool, damp grass on his sweaty skin. His chest heaved with labored breathes as he gasped for much needed oxygen. His limbs ached with the strain of dancing, and it felt good to rest them, even if it was on the hard ground of a football field. The music from his iPhone faded into something softer as it reached the ballads in his playlist, and it soothed his minor headache.

“That was fun, Hyung.”

He glanced over to the owner of the voice, smiling softly at the sight of him. Taemin lay next to him, sprawled out on the grass much like he was, and sweating just as much. His pale skin glistened in the lights, blonde hair sticking to his wet forehead. His cheeks were flushed pink with excitement as he stared up at the night sky, and Kibum tried not to stare too much at the beauty of him. “Yea…,” he sighed dreamily.

He watched Taemin’s plump lips stretch into a small, sad smile. “I’m going to miss this, Bummie.”

Kibum’s felt the butterflies in his stomach come to life at the sound of his nickname. Taemin rarely used it, simply calling him ‘Hyung’ a majority of the time. His name always sounded so pretty coming from Taemin’s lips, he wished he could hear it more.

Taemin’s sad smile turned into a light chuckle, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “Remember the time we convinced Jonghyun-hyung there was a ghost in the basement of the school and when we dared him to sneak in there, he came out screaming like a girl?”

Kibum laughed at the memory, “Yeah, and he swore he saw the ghost, but it turned out to be the old janitor.”

“We about it for months! Oh, remember when we snuck onto the roof together?”

“How could I forget? Your sat on the railing, and I had to pull you off before you fell!” Taemin laughed lightly, but Kibum could still remember the heart-stopping feeling he had when the boy almost fell. “Hey! It’s not funny! You better not do anything stupid like that when I’m gone, because I won’t be there to save your , and tell you how stupid you are.”

“I’ll try to stay out of trouble, but I can’t make any promises,” Taemin gave a sly smile.

They lay there together, reminiscing about their days in school together, laughing until their stomachs hurt and talking until their mouths felt dry. Kibum loved to simply watch Taemin’s lips as he spoke, or admire the way his eyes sparkled when he laughed. He wanted to imprint the memory of it in his mind forever.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but they both eventually grew too tired to keep talking.

“I really am going to miss this,” Taemin whispered after minutes of silence, his voice thick with emotion.

“Me too, Taem,” Kibum looked over at him again, watching as he blinked excessively. It was often a sign of his nervousness, but Kibum knew that this time, it was to keep the tears away.  “It’s not like I’m leaving forever, though…I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I know,” Taemin whispered. He avoided Kibum’s eyes, and continued to stare up at the sky as though there was something there that interested him. It looked empty from where they were, the lights around the football field shining too bright to see any of the stars. “But it will feel like forever.”

Kibum hated the soft strain in the boy’s voice. It was very rare to see a sad Taemin; the boy was always bright and playful, acting as the mischievous little maknae in their group of friends. The knowledge that he was the one to make Taemin sad made his heart ache with a longing to make him smile again.

He didn’t want to leave Taemin, he truly didn’t. He knew Taemin was feeling like he was being left behind, and he hated that there was nothing he could do. Jinki and Jonghyun had left for college already, and he and Minho were leaving this year, while Taemin was going to be stuck back in high school without any of them.

Kibum was scared.

He was scared for Taemin, and he was scared for himself. He didn’t know what he would do without the boy by his side every day.  

He was excited for college, excited to get out of the small town he was cursed to grow up in, and leave his hellhole of a high school and move onto bigger and better things.

But there was a part of him that wanted to forget about all of that and stay in this dinky little town until Taemin was old enough to go with him. They had grown up together, went to school together, been best friends for as long as they could remember. He couldn’t imagine a life without Taemin glued to his side every second of the day.

He still had regrets. He still had things he should have told Taemin years ago. He wasn’t ready to leave yet.

“You won’t forget about me, will you?” Taemin turned over on his side, settling his elbow on the ground and leaning his head on his hand. He looked to Kibum with glistening eyes, desperately searching for reassurance.

Kibum swallowed the large lump in his throat, holding back the tears that stung his eyes. “Taemin,” he said firmly. “How could I ever forget you? Do you really think I would?”

“I don’t know…You’ll probably meet a lot of people that are more interesting than me. I’m just…me.” Taemin avoided his eyes, eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as he looked down and fidgeted nervously with the bottom of his shirt. “There’s nothing special to remember.”

Kibum stared at him in shock, a part of him expecting the boy to admit he was joking. The realization that Taemin thought so little of himself hurt, a lot.  He felt like he had failed to show Taemin how important he was to him. Did he really think Kibum did not value him at all? “Taemin, I care about you more than I care about anyone in my life. That’s the way it’s always been, and it won’t change.”

“You promise?”

Kibum knew, as Taemin stared at him with desperately hopeful eyes filled to the brim with unshed tears, what he had to do. He had waited too long, he had let too many chances pass by, and he had wasted too much time worrying about the unknown. It was now or never.

“I promise.”

He leaned over, watching as Taemin’s eyes grew wide with surprise, and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

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And here is a short, cheesy keytae oneshot for you because I was really inspired by that gif. The way Kibum is looking at him is just the cutest thing ever.

Here's some more cute keytae to make up for how short and ty this is