This is Onew. I mean, Jinki. I'm sorry about--

This is Jinki. About last time, I...I really was taking pictures for Taemin-ssi's site but somehow I ---

This is Jinki. I'm sorry. I'm actually your fan, not Taemin-ssi's and--



Jinki sighed as he read his text over and over, only to press backspace until the whole message was gone. Placing his phone on his bedside table, he rolled over, flinching a bit when he met Jonghyun's eyes which were staring at him from the wall.

He shouldn't have had blown up and printed that particular photo. It was one of his shots from the fansign event, when Jonghyun stared back at the camera. The singer's piercing gaze was transmitted even on the photo, which Jinki thought felt like those weird paintings that always seemed to follow him with their eyes wherever he went.

Jinki rolled onto his stomach and buried his face on his pillow. It had been a little over three weeks since the fansign event, and every day since that day he had been trying to send a message through Jonghyun using the number the singer left on the CD. But Jinki actually had no idea what to say. Should he apologize for embarrassing Jonghyun? Should he assure the guy that even though he was being enslaved by a Taemin fansite, he still preferred Jonghyun? Should he outright say that his favorite was Jonghyun and he couldn't actually remember everyone else's names (except for Taemin because his cousin plastered Taemin's name all over her walls). Every message he typed sounded either weird or insensitive, and Jinki ended up not sending a message at all. He knew it was rude, but he'd rather be rude than regret whatever he sent afterward.

Taking a deep breath, only to sigh the air out, Jinki sat up. Why was he so affected by a stranger anyway? It wasn't as if they'd see each other again. All he had to do was ignore his cousin's requests to accompany her and he can go back to his old, quiet self instead of being under a dark cloud all day, half-guilty and half-worried about what Kim Jonghyun thought about him.

“Oppa!”

Jinki got up in surprise as his cousin bounded into the room. He was sure he had locked the door! But then he remembered how Eunji stole a copy of his keys. “What do you want?” he asked, shaking his head as he got up from his bed. “Do you know what time it is?”

“It's 8 AM?”

Oh. It was already morning? “So, why are you here so early? Don't you have school?”

“It's a Sunday.” His cousin welcomed herself and plopped down on his bed. “I need you to come to the airport with me.”

Jinki paused in the middle of cleaning up. “Why? Are you going on a holiday?”

“No, silly. I'm going to cover airport fashion.” Eunji looked around and smirked when she saw the large Jonghyun poster by Jinki's bed. “You know, SHINE's going to Japan today so I have to take pictures of Taemin's airport clothes.”

“People are concerned of what they wear in airports?” Jinki asked, unbelieving that people would actually take time and talk about other people's clothes, even if they're artists.

“Well, some people are actually mindful of what they wear, unlike you, hoodie guy.” Eunji stood up. “I'll wait outside and make breakfast. You dress up. We'll be leaving in a few!” She walked out of the room, but not before pausing by the door. “Your Jonghyun poster is so big! Don't you just feel like he's watching you even when you're ?”

Jinki stared at his cousin even after she had left the room in a fit of giggles. Sighing, he pulled his shirt over his head and untied the drawstrings of his shorts to pull them off.

Suddenly, he felt someone staring at him and whirled around, groaning when he met poster!Jonghyun's eyes again. Scratching his neck, he stood up and pulled a piece of dark paper and a pair of scissors from his drawer. After minutes of shaping and tracing and contouring, Jinki gave the piece of paper a little smirk. Then, he stood up to tape the paper sunglasses over Jonghyun's eyes. There wouldn't be any stares now.

Somehow, the sunglasses made poster!Jonghyun more handsome, and Jinki almost felt annoyed.

But wait, he actually missed one important thing.

He forgot to say no.

 

“Why are there so many people?” Jinki whined as they waited by the escalator. Apparently, the members of SHINE would be pass through this part to get to their plane. Hundreds of cameras were waiting, and Jinki felt a bit sorry for them. Wouldn't they go blind when all the flashes from the cameras start?

“It's always like this,” his cousin said as she adjusted her camera. “I used to have a friend accompany me but she's busy today., so you'll do.”

Jinki made a face at the comment. “Aren't you going to give me a camera?” he asked as he surveyed the crowd. He was a bit relieved when Eunji shook her head. At least he couldn't die out there in the waves of people. “Okay, so I'm just supposed to stay here?” His cousin didn't manage to answer him because the screams started.

SHINE was coming through.

Jinki feared for his life, so he edged away from the crowd, leaning against the railings by the escalator. His cousin, on the other hand, ran towards the crowd, weaving through people while carrying her supposedly priceless camera. Jinki wondered how people even go through this pandemonium on a regular basis. He hid behind people, willing himself to think that he was just keeping himself safe.

But really, he was just scared to see Jonghyun again.

Well, not really scared. More of nervous? It had been weeks, after all, and he hadn't sent even a “hi” to the singer.. Of course, it could mean nothing to Jonghyun—the man might've even forgotten about him the moment the fansign ended. Still, it bothered Jinki that he had been stupid and he was too ashamed to apologize or even admit it.

It was easy to spot the SHINE members as they approached the escalator. The screaming increased as well as the layer of security. But Jinki couldn't see their faces at all, for they all wore caps and hoods and sunglasses. As they passed, Jinki bowed his head, although he was sure they wouldn't see him through the crowd. The screams slowly died as SHINE rode the escalator downwards, and the security tried to control the crowd from following them.

Jinki thought everything was over, until he saw his cousin escape the security and hop onto the escalator, too. The guards yelled, but Eunji was already descending and following SHINE.

“That idiot,” Jinki muttered as he went out of his hiding place and ran towards the escalator, too. Somehow, the guards ignored him—probably because he had no camera with him—and he was able to ride it, too. “Eunji, come back here, you idiot!” he called out to his cousin.

It was a bad idea to scream, Jinki thought, for like in the fansigning, everyone on the escalator was staring at him. The SHINE members looked at him, recognition on their faces. Jonghyun was somewhere in the middle, also staring at him with a weird expression on his face.

Biting the inside of his mouth, Jinki reached forward and grabbed his cousin's arm. “Come on, let them go. You're being very persistent.” Eunji seemed to have woken from her predatory instincts and realized she crossed the line. Apologizing very profusely, she bowed to SHINE and their managers all the way to the bottom of the escalator. By the time they stepped off, Eunji was crying, saying how she was stupid to get carried away and how she shouldn't have followed and how she was glad Taemin didn't hate her.

Jinki offered one last bow to SHINE, who were already walking away. “We're so sorry,” he said, although he wasn't sure if SHINE could still hear it. Shushing his cousin and telling her to talk with him later, he straightened up to get ready to return to the lobby.

There was very soft click, and Jinki blinked. As he looked up, he found himself staring at the back of a smartphone. He opened his mouth to ask, but there was another click and he flinched in surprise.

The smartphone was lowered and Jinki was staring at familiar deep brown eyes. “Why...” he started to mouth, but stopped midway as Eunji tugged his arm and whined about going home.

Jonghyun pocketed his phone and offered Jinki a small smile before turning around and walking away.

What the hell just happened?

Hi, this is Jinki. I'm sorry about what happened at the airport. Eunji also posted an apology in her website for not following security rules.

Jinki took a deep breath and pressed SEND. He bounced his leg on the bed nervously as he waited, fixing his stare at sunglasses!Jonghyun on his wall. Eunji said they sometimes took a long time replying, so maybe he should get dinner first and...

It's ok, Taem isn't mad. Wow, I thought you had decided to forget about my kkt.

That was fast. Jinki was surprised. There was a small smiley after the message and Jinki wondered if it was because Jonghyun was happy or because he was being polite.

I didn't want to bother you. But I really wanted to apologize for today.

It didn't even take five minutes for the reply to come, and Jinki didn't know if he should feel lucky or not because he probably texted Jonghyun during his very free time.

Don't worry about it. You guys must really like Taem to chase him all the way (LOL).

I am not the one who likes him, Eunji is the one who does.

Then who do you like? (LOL)

Jinki paused, his heart making some crazy rhythm in his chest as he read and reread the message. Would it be okay to tell Jonghyun who he liked? Would it be weird for a guy to like a member of a boyband? There was so much confusion that Jinki decided to dodge the question.

Why did you take my picture?

Did I?

Yes.

Jinki waited for five, ten, fifteen minutes and there was no reply. He was almost afraid he had offended Jonghyun with his question, but he consoled himself by saying he was probably just busy. As a fan he shouldn't be even expecting replies from artists, right?

I take pictures of our fans.

That was true. Jinki asked his cousin before and she said sometimes, SHINE liked to take photos of their fans. But somehow, it made Jinki uncomfortable.

Oh. Ok. Sorry for asking.

You still haven't answered my previous question.

Jinki gulped down the lump forming in his throat. He put down his phone and grabbed his laptop. He had asked Eunji for help as soon as they got home, and his cousin was more than ecstatic to help him. It was pretty easy, especially since Jinki had taken computer courses before, but he found it hard to think of a name.

He was only able to send a reply after two hours and after making sure all his preparations were done. With shaking fingers, he typed his reply, fumbling with the keys and cursing his clumsy hands as he made typos. After the fifth try, he managed to hit send. Then, he held his breath as he waited.

It took ten minutes for the tell-tale chime to come. Jinki had his eyes closed in semi-embarrassment and semi-fright. Slowly, he opened their chat log again, and read Jonghyun's reply. A smile steadily spread over his face as he read the message over and over. Somehow, there was a fluttering in his stomach and he could feel warmth spreading on his cheeks for reasons he couldn't understand. All he knew was that he felt good.

URL: kimjonghyunited.kr

This..this has made me unbelievably happy. You are amazing, Jinki.