Jinki was still digesting the realization about what's going on when he suddenly felt there's something  wetting the front of his shirt. Then it came down on him that Kibum was crying soundlessly. His slender body trembled slightly  as his grip on the fabric of Jinki's back tightened.

Kibum smelled like green apple; sweet and fresh like he could feel it right at the tip of his tounge and it was kind of addicting.

You're home. You're home.

...

Just don't get hurt.

The younger kept repeating those words like they were the only things he had to say in order to keep himself alive. Jinki, strangely, wasn't even surprised when he found his own hand slowly moved to Kibum's soft hair as he started to whisper sweet nothings to him.

I'm fine. I'm here.

But another word was still left unsaid. The question, the confusion, the confession.

Jinki sighed slowly as he slowly pulled away. Taking Kibum's face in his hands, he stared at the beautiful watery feline eyes deeply as he moved his thumb to wipe the trail of tears on the younger's damp cheeks.

And when he finally saw that Kibum was staring back at him, in the most vulnerable way he had ever seen, with another new-born tears started to rim back in his feline eyes, Jinki could feel that the others occupants of the room were slowly missing their existence.

There were only him and that breathtaking guy in his arm.

Counting his own breath, Jinki slid both of his hand down to feel the curve of Kibum's shoulder, down to the arms that were still circling themselves on his back and finally slipped under to rest on the younger's hips.

Kibum was looking again at him, with  this beautiful confused stare that Jinki finally couldn't help but to lean in slowly, focusing his gaze on the other's pink lips.

He could feel Kibum's breatch hitched a little when he was coming closer, and the grip of hand on his back was somehow loosening.

But it's too late to go back.

Cause it felt like he finally found a reason for him to live when his lips finally met Kibum's.

It was hesitant at first, just a press of lips. But then Kibum parted his mouth, inviting Jinki to on his bottom lips. And it turned uncontrollable after.

The need was insatiable. Catching Kibum's breathleass moan when his nails digging on the flesh under the bottom of the younger's shirt, Jinki dipped his head down to taste the skin on the side of Kibum's neck. , biting, , loving.

Kibum trashed his head to the side to let Jinki tantalized his skin, while his hand went up to press the older's nape to let him deepen the kiss.

Jinki pulled Kibum's waist impossibly closer to him as he moved his lips down to the younger's collarbones. until he couldn't breathe, lapping until he couldn't feel his own tongue, until he couldn't feel the skin he was supposed to taste.

And then he woke up.

Jinki opened his eyes in the middle of the darkness.  Breathing heavily, he could fell sweats were running down his temple like he was just running for million miles and he still couldn't find the finish line.

Tired and hopeless.

Sighing, he pushed his body to sit up and he his dampened hair. He turned to see the alarm clock on his small bedside table and it mocked him with it's bloody red numbers that showed 12:18am.

Several hours had passed after that occurence but the feeling of the other's lithe body was still fresh in his mind.

Jinki sighed in disbelief as he remembered what he was dreaming of. As good as it was -cause heck, on the reality, Kibum was practically running away ten seconds after the hug, after he looked up and finally realized he was hugging that Onew. No crying, no whispering, no looking back, no kissing-, Jinki realized he had a rather serious hard-on..

He considered that he liked -or maybe  would like- kissing Kibum. And hey no matter how beautiful Kibum was, he's still a guy.

Jinki was trying too hard to rationalize things. Because a part of him realized that he was still the future of the country, wherein most of the people were still holding and believing on the orthodox way.

Would there be a way to straighten this crooked feeling of him ?

Jinki rubbed his face, thinking hard. Because speaking of crooked thing, there's still tons of it hanging on his mind.

He thought again about Chansung. That funny guy. His first friend, enemy, whatever. Jinki suddenly remembered one day when they talked about life and death. And no matter how much crime the bulky guy had committed and how clear the knowledge that everyone had signed the ready-to-die contract once they got in to Kkangpae, Chansung naively said that he just had one little wish in his ed-up life. And it was to die in peace.

And considering he was dead right on the spot with bullet ripping through his head -or whereelse, how could one called it die in peace ?

Then there's Jonghyun. The fact that he wasn't welcoming him since the very beginning made  Jinki think that the short guy just didn't like him and his gut. But the dagger he received from the muscular man when Kibum was hugging him, proved him something worse.

Jonghyun hated him, very. And more specially, when Kibum involved.

Jinki sighed deeply, thinking that tried to go back to sleep was not the most brilliant idea at the time, he got up from the bed and put his jacket on, hoping some fresh air would chase away the thoughts.

--

Kibum curled on his bed, shutting his eyes, pretending to be asleep as he heard the sound of the door hinge. Someone was coming in and he didn't need to turn around to see who the intruder was. Because he knew already. And he also knew what the person intended to do.

So the best way to avoid it was sleeping -or at least faking to-.

Kibum gulped and closed his eyes tighter as the footsteps came closer.

Please, just go... he thought.

"Nice try, Bum, but I know you are not asleep." Jonghyun scoffed at his effort, pulling the blanket that was covering Kibum's body "I can clearly see your pupils moving under the lids."

Kibum could even imagine Jobnhyun's annoyed face  without even  seeing.

And because there's no need to pretend any longer, he sighed and pushed his body up to sit cross-legged on his bed, looking up to the cross-armed Jonghyun.

He knew the other would come to confront him anytime but he just didn't see it coming this soon. He  was sort of not ready yet.

"So... What's wrong with you?" the older said as he walked closer and sat on the edge of the bed, not too close to Kibum.

"Nothing's wrong." Kibum said nonchalantly, looking at the ceiling. Was that spiderman on the web ?

Jonghyun scoffed, "Yeah you're right. Nothing's wrong when Key suddenly hugged a loser like him out of the blue." he laughed sarcasticly, while Kibum tried not to flinch at his high-pitched tone.

Kibum just looked down to his bedcover.

Jonghyun finally sighed "Come on, This is not you ! What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Kibum mumbled.

"You don't know or you don't want to know?" Jonghyun raised his eyebrows.

"And why does it matter to you, Jjong?" Kibum started  to lose his patience, finally looking right at the other.

"Because you don't act like you. Never since he came ! Have you ever hugged the other members when they came from work ? Hell, you didn't even do the same thing to Jiyong at that moment !"

Kibum played with the side of the blanket on his lap. He didn't know what to answer since he knew Jonghyun was saying the truth. The older knew him to o well it scared him sometimes.

"See?" Jonghyun scoffed again "You become this mute and moody, you're worrying too much. You're not as confident as you used to be. Does he bother you?"

"No, he doesn't." Kibum shook his head.

"Then why?"

"I... really don't know, Jjong." Kibum frowned "Just stop asking me these questions, this isn't even important."

"You like him." Jonghyun said after awhile, eyes bulging out "You. Like. Him. Oh God. How could I not see it earlier. You ing like him !"

The younger already opened his mouth to say something but before he could really say anything, Jonghyun had cut him again.

"You were worried about him back then, I-I just.. Why the i just could see it now.." Jonghyun shook his head "When we heard their work through the tracker, you were gasping and holding my hand tighter everytime Jiyong mentioned his name. You're worried if something might happen to him, so when you saw him came home safely, you.. you couldn't control yourself and hurriedly hug-"

"Stop it, Jjong.." Kibum frowned again.

"Why?" Jonghyun challenged him "Because you've realized what I said was true? That you like him ?"

"I-It's not like that, okay." Kibum said, thinking for a good excuse. "I was just.. This was the first time I joined to hear from Jiyong's tracker after years. I forgot how horrible it was to hear, to know directly when life-staking scene happened. It's been so long to know right at the time that your acquitance dead."

Kibum gulped "And it's Chansung, Jjong. Did you know how afraid I was finding my premonition was coming true ?"

Jonghyun got a hold of Kibum's cold hands. If Kibum was even lying, he couldn't find it on his pale face. Because he himself knew. A huge difference in between a witness -even just an ear-witness- and a mere mouth-to-mouth receiver. It was more nightmarish.

"And why did I hug that loser.." Kibum said "You saw it yourself I couldn't think at the moment then you nudged me and i turned around. All that I  could see was the same fear on that face. I didn't even know why I approached him.. You saw it too, Jjong. I didn't even realize it's him until I snapped back to reality."

Jonghyun nodded.

"It's not about him, Jjong. It's about the fear." Kibum sighed "And moreover it's just a hug. You're musing too much, aren't you ?"

Jonghyun sneered at Kibum's remarks. But after he thought about what Kibum said, he realized maybe he was too jealous to oversee anything.

"So, it's just a hug, really?" Jonghyun raised his eyebrows.

Kibum nodded.

"Then hug me." Jonghyun said, smiling, opening up his arms.

"What?" Kibum frowned.

"Hug me? It's just a hug-"

"Jjong, you silly!" Kibum laughed before crawled closer to the older and threw his arm around Jonghyun's muscular shoulder.

Jonghyun wrapped his arms around Kibum's waist without hesitation.

"You know you could always hug me when you're afraid like earlier, right ?

"Eo," Kibum nodded, "Thanks Jjong..."

And sorry for lying.. Kibum sighed soundlessly as he could only surrender when Jonghyun tightened the embrace and he could  feel the older buried his face on his neck.

But Kibum didn't pull awaysince it, truthfully, felt comfortable and so, he closed his eyes as Jonghyun whispered lullaby to his hair.

--

Jinki gulped down his third glass, wincing for a while at the strong taste but he let the fire burned his throat as it went down.

It was almost two in the morning when he arrived at Skeleton -the name of the usual club he just knew- and he didn't ing care that the club was going to close not long after he arrived.

Eventhough he wasn't intended to do so, the barman seemed aware that he's a part of Shadow Dragon who could mess up with his club business if he wanted to, that the barman finally decided to open  the club as long as Jinki wanted to lose  himself.

After what he had just witnessed, from that slightly ajar door, the only thing he could think of to forget all of those sickly lovey dovey moment -the laughs, the smiles, the far more intimate hug- beside brain-washing was drinking. All he needed that moment was losing himself until he collapse and wake up with a bad hangover.

Jinki chuckled at his bad luck, he was busy thinking about 'whys' and 'hows' did Kibum hug him until he's bald, meanwhile the pretty guy he was thinking of could even easily hug another guy at the same night.

He should've known this would happen. He shouldn't even feel surprised though.

Key was Key, the one that everyone loved and spoiled. Jinki should've known it had nothing to do with some pinky hearty feeling. It might be just happening on his side.

Jinki sipped his drink a little more, blaming himself for being too confident while in fact, he's barely accepted there -thinking about that Jonghyun, yes-.

Even Jiyong's trust couldn't guarantee everything. Minho's right, being a part of Kkangpae was not easy.

Jinki hit his forehead on the bar table. And if only he didn't involve his own feeling it won't be this hard.

--

The reality bit him hard in the morning, when he was boiling beef soup for breakfast and he could vaguely hear footsteps slowly coming from the other side of the room.

Jonghyun was another case. But, heck, how did the others think about that public hug ? What had he done? Volunteering himself as a laughing stock ? . Could he just dig a big hole and jump down him and never show up again.. Stupid him. Stupid stupid stu--

"Who's the fool ?"

Amber appeared out of nowhere, making him jump a little. . Did he said it out loud?

"Nothing." Kibum went on looking at his cooking, hoping she wouldn't inquire further.

"You know, maybe you should go to the doctor if you don't want your self-talking habit get worse." Amber suggested, while moving beside Kibum, getting her mug on the shelf.

"Sure," Kibum said "Maybe later, when you start wearing skirts."

"Then your habit will not heal." Amber simply said.

Kibum made a face as he said 'aww' to her, before he turned off the stove and poured the soup into the big bowl.

Amber made herself useful by helping Kibum set the table, while another members started flooding in the room. They did not usually gather together for meal time, but when they did, they used to cook their own meals, but it was mostly Kibum that was picked unanonymously as the chef because his cooking was the most edible and tasty.

"Whoa, beef soup in a cold morning. Thanks Key." Changmin smirked as he took a seat.

When finally they were gathered -not all of them, Kibum noticed, even Jinki didn't show up-, they started eating with silence, only the clink sound of their utensils could be heard.

And when one of them began a conversation, it was rather about trivial things. Like their next work or the soup.

No one touched the topic about what happened the day before -both Chansung's death and the hug-, it made Kibum could breath in relief but at the same time it took him a rare pity.

Sure, this was not a new thing. Before Chansung, there were plenty of them died while doing field works, some of them even had worse fate than Chansung.

Like Henry who was caught by the police, he was tortured before eventually got executed or Junhyung who disappeared and was discovered two weeks later, lifeless, decomposing in the piggery in a suburban village. Jiyong suspected the killer wasn't the authority but their rivals.

But still, what happened to Chansung somehow held something different for him.

"Morning, guys."

Jiyong suddenly came in still with messy hair and huge black circles under his eyes.

He looked tired. He always did, nowadays.

"Sit and eat some soup, man." Joon pulled the empty chair behind him.

Jiyong nodded and sat. While the other member was preparing his meal, Jiyong started to tell them what had been keeping him up last night.

"Mr. Chi will hold a Gala this Saturday." he started "I want one of you  to attend."

"What's the Gala about?" someone asked.

"Auction." Jiyong said "He will auction off some valuables things -some were stolen, you know him- starting at a low price."

The member burst out laughing.

"How low, Jiyong ? A human head to pay ?"

Jiyong rolled his eyeballs "Low enough for our boss." he said and it was enough to shut the members up.

"But why we should we pay ? We could easily steal it." Jonghyun raised his eyebrows

"Not from him, Jonghyun." Jiyong sighed. "Unless you want our biggest drug dealer to cut the connection and you'll lose your head in the way."

Jonghyun only scoffed, while  the Leader continued "Boss wants some rare things from him. Some bloody weapons for us and some collectible goods for himself. You know like the knife Jack the Ripper used back then for his serial murders in 18th century ? Believe it or not, Mr. Chi has it. It was a hot topic among all gangs."

"So there will be the other groups coming to the Gala ?" Kibum asked.

"Yes, baby." Jiyong winked at Kibum. "Many of them."

"Who's going to go then ?" Changmin asked.

Jiyong took a deep breath as he thought for a while, while the members were exchanging glances to one another.

This was different than the usual. Usually, they were sent off to steal, kidnap, deal and sell, but this time they were asked to compete in an auction.

The accuracy of thinking was important.

"How about that new kid? Don't you always think he's good enough to join us ? Let him prove it." Jonghyun said nonchalantly as he chewed his meat.

"He's smart and could easily influence others." Amber chimed in "Don't you think so, Jiyong ? Who knows he can take Mr. Chi's heart... Tho, Mr. Chi would still sell the goods away to the highest bid, not to the people he likes in particular anyway." she chuckled.

Jiyong knew Amber was telling the true points. Jinki was very smart and meticulous in work, although he had just joined but Jiyong believed he could be relied upon.

"Okay, I'll send him then." Jiyong said, while the other nodded before he continued again "But he won't be alone, Key will accompany him."

"What? No!" Jonghyun objected, as expected.

"Yes, he will." Jiyong said calmly "Key is good at analyzing things, he will help Onew a lot."

Jonghyun scoffed "Key can monitor him from here."

"I want him to come, Jonghyun. I've never really sent Key out before and this is a safe auction event. Mr. Chi has told me, although there will be another mobs, he has his own security to avoid unnecessary fight. After all, going out for one night won't hurt."

"But-"

"No but." Jiyong cut Jonghyun in a final tone before he turned to Kibum who looked confused. "How about it, sweetheart ? Beside Mr. Chi, other guests wouldn't know who you are. He has arranged that all the attendants didn't need to reveal their mobs names. It'll be too risky for all of us and themselves. It'll make things easier."

Kibum hesitated for a bit, he glanced at his bestfriend who looked really upset, but Jonghyun wasn't looking at him particularly.

Kibum finally nodded, thinking that this was Jiyong's command that he couldn't resist. "If you want me to go, then I will.."

Jonghyun turned to him with an angry glare, but Kibum was avoiding the older's burning gaze at all cost.

He almost jumped when Jonghyun tossed the spoon he was holding to the table with loud clink and got up harshly after kicking his chair back.

Changmin only chuckled at the walk-out while Amber just didn't give a damn as she his bowl clean.

"Well, that's not new." Jiyong said, half-amused before he looked back to Kibum "Anyway, the work is so simple. I believe you don't even have to open your eyes to do it."

Kibum could only smile a little at Jiyong's words. Yeah... if only he could tell it would be as simple as he thought.

--

Kibum was not seeing Jinki around for some days. Either it was because the other was really busy or he was simply avoiding him.

Well, whatever. It's not like he was supposed to care. Right ?

Yeah, he wasn't.

But he couldn't help but to wonder Jinki's whereabout or what he's doing at the moment, sometimes.

Oh. it ! What Jonghyun said when he was confronting him that night was not true, right ?

He couldn't be falling for a guy like that. That would be the worst turnabout of event of the century.

Kibum sighed as he put his forrhead on Jiyong's study desk. He had nothing to do, so he was borrowing the computer in Jiyong's room to browse the internet.

Sometimes he was upset at his leader for not letting him work outside like the others, 'It was too dangerous for you, dear' was what Jiyong always said, Kibum only rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue with him.

His only job was to be a brain. A planner, a dealer and sometimes, a trainer. Tho, honestly, he never used his brilliant martial arts ability to attack a real enemy.

He was already lifting his head up to stare at the screen, when the door cracked opened and someone appeared from behind it, making him turn his face again.

It was Jinki, who came in soundlessly and closed the door behind him rightafter, he didn't seem to aware of Kibum's presence in the room.

Kibum gulped down as he found himself didn't know what to do. Should he say something like, 'Hey, I'm here first. What do you want ?' or 'Can you please knock the door before come in?' but then he remembered it was Jiyong's room, not his. So it might be not appropriate.

And then it was when he was still thinking about what to say, that Jinki finally looked up and found him sitting comfortably with both legs in front of his chest, up in the chair, while he was wearing only a loose tshirt and short pants.

Jinki seemed startled when he saw Kibum there but instead of saying something, both of them were just staring at each other for a while.

Kibum was too afraid  if he broke the eye-contact and looked away, his cheeks would redden themselves out of this ing embarassing butterfly-flapping thing that had already pooled in his stomach.

"I'm sorry." Jinki looked away from the display of those dangerous white thighs in front of him. Damn. Were they even a guy's legs ?  He gulped " I thought there's no one, so I don't knock."

His voice sounded somehow nervous. And just if it's not Jinki, Kibum would says it's cute. But because it's Jinki, no, he wouldn't admit it. Ever.

But deep down inside he couldn't deny the all sweaty Jinki that was just back from work was unbelivably handsome. And no. Kibum really didn't have the thought to his protruding collarbones dry.

Oh. .

Kibum glanced to the clock on the bottom of the computer screen and it's showing 11:56am. He had been  surfing online for almost four straight hours. No wonder he was dead tired and having weird thoughts.

Blame the internet.

"No, it's fine, I'm just about to leave." Kibum abruptly stood up and pulled down his shorts that had been riding up because of his sitting position.

Jinki was looking at the wall again when he was ready to walk to the door.

Kibum could smell a hint of Jinki's scent -driftwood, mint and masculine sweat- as he was about to pass by him. Then he remembered how it smelled stronger when they were hugging and all that he wanted now was to hug him again but he couldn't because he didn't like Onew and of course it...

"Key..." Jinki said to the blank-faced Kibum, touching his hand lightly and Kibum was pausing like someone had just turned his switch off "Are you okay?"

Kibum was snapped back to life when Jinki's digits electrified him. It just took him a second to jump back to sanity.

What did he say ? Kibum thought to himself. Am I okay ?

Then he realized the question was the same with what Jonghyun had asked to him before that he couldn't help but to be pissed of. Did he really look weird or what? Why did people ask him such question ?

Kibum wanted to say 'No, I'm not, so quit the questions and leave me alone' but he didn't really want to be an , so that he answered, "Yes, I'm okay" instead.

"You just look so pale," Jinki frowned "But if you say you're fine then that's good."

Kibum felt another butterfly flapped in his belly as he realized Jinki was somehow cared about him. Damn. Could someone just shoot the ing butterfly right in it's ing wings or something.

"Just go to sleep it's late. Tomorrow is Saturday." Jinki said.

Kibum nodded to no one in particular -it's rather to the floor-, mostly because he didn't dare to look at Jinki's eyes. And he was too busy contemplating the other's concern about him.

So he hurriedly aprroached and opened the door without sparing another glance to Jinki while reassuring himself that he didn't hear the older was saying a soft 'Goodnight, Key' as he closed the door.

--

The following morning Kibum was sipping his coffee on the kitchen, while glancing to Jiyong who was busy talking with Jinki in the living room -most probably a briefing for tonight's event- with puffy eyes.

Honestly, he couldn't really sleep the night before. He was too worried about his first real fieldwork and too anxious to be around Jinki.

And it would just be both of them for the night. Well, he could recall how awkward it was for them at last night's small talk.

"Excited for tonight?"

"Jjong you scared me!" Kibum scolded as he found Jonghyun was just coming and wrapping his muscular arm around his shoulder, muttering 'sorry' with his puppy eyes.

Kibum chuckled as Jonghyun released him and took a seat beside him.

Kibum suspiciously narrowing his eyes as Jonghyun snatched his mug "You're not mad at me anymore ?"

Jonghyun shook his head as he gulped down the black liquid "I realize I was over-reacting."

Kibum smiled amusedly.

"And if I wanted to be mad. It was at Jiyong, not you."

"Damn right." Kibum nodded "Ya. Make your own coffee ! Stop drinking mine !"

Kibum slapped Jonghyun's hand and Jonghyun was yelping in pain saying Kibum was using a girly tactic. They talked a lot. Laughing, joking, bickering and Kibum just realized he missed the old times so, so much.

Jonghyun made him more like himself and this was what he needed. He didn't need any change-yet- nor anyone to change him.

Because the only thing he needed now was only him and Jonghyun, bickering over one and an half cups of coffee, and whose eyebags were uglier than whose.

And they were too busy enjoying each other's company to notice there's a pair of cresent eyes watching them in silent from the distance.

--

The night had almost fallen, and it meant that the time for them to depart to the Gala had finally came.

Jiyong lent him a new set of black suit since he didn't have a formal dress. He was patting Jinki's shoulder like a real father as he repeated some reminder.

"Remember, be aware anytime and take home only what the boss wants. No need to stay around when you have won all of it."

Jinki nodded to everything Jiyong said. The leader had warned him to work extra careful this time, not to slip out anything since almost all the guests were criminals, if not rivals.

"Oh." Jiyong said when another footsteps filled the room "Here's your date for tonight."

Kibum was as stunning as usual, walking toward him with grey suits and kohl-rimmed daring feline eyes.

But Jinki kept his straight face because he couldn't erase the picture of the earlier morning from his thought. What date ? He scoffed inside his head. He already had a boyfriend.

"And here," Jiyong handed a gun to Jinki, who looked dumbfounded.

"Just in case." the leader smiled reassuringly, so Jinki took the gun and put it in the pocket inside his suit.

They rode Jiyong's black Rolls Royce. Because he told them, he wanted both of them to look glamorous. Even it's just for an auction event of stolen goods that was hiding under the guise of a sumptuous feast.

The first fifteen minutes of the journey was only filled with silence. No one took the initiative to start the conversation. Jinki was focusing himself on driving, following the gps while Kibum was staring blankly to the window. The atmosphere was unbearably awkward.

Jinki pulled the hand brake when the car was caught in the red  traffic light and somehow, he couldn't help but to finally glance at Kibum, tho he looked back to the front of the car not long after.

"How long are you planning to stare at the window?" Jinki asked out of curiosity.

Kibum glanced at him. "Does it matter?"

"Are you nervous? I heard this is the first time Jiyong send you out." Jinki said "How can that be? I mean, you're not new."

Kibum frowned "None of your business."

Jinki laughed heartily, it's almost sarcastic. "Or are you too embarrassed to admit it?"

Kibum rolled his beautiful eyes but he remained silent because actually he didn't know what to say and what actually Jinki meant with the question.

It was true that Jiyong always wanted him to stay at the headquarter to monitor the member works but that didn't mean he knew his reason to do that. He never asked him anyway.

"Silent means yes." Jinki continued, stepping on the gas when the light turned green.

"Whatever." Kibum said almost soundlessly.

But Jinki wasn't going to get away with it "I'm just curious why Jiyong  spoils you so much. When you know, your real work is still at question."

Jinki realized he sounded a little too harsh, but he could care less at the point "Do you let him and the others to touch you? To get the attention and position?"

Kibum frowned deeply as he stared at Jinki in disbelief. "What ? What do you mean by that ?"

And seeing Jinki didn't budge, Kibum looked away from him. He couldn't believe that new guy had the gut to said something like that to him.

Was that what Jinki thought about him? That his job was to satisfy the member to get the attention? He was not that low...

Kibum could feel something hot was prickling his eyes and that his vision had started to blurry. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to punch Jinki, to yell at him to stop the car and get out of here but he's afraid his voice would betray him.

. Since when The Almighty Key could become so weak just because of what people thought about him ?

"What exactly is your problem with me ?" Kibum finally asked, hoping Jinki didn't notice his cracking voice.

But Jinki noticed it. He glanced over to see Kibum was looking down, playing with his own fingers. And suddenly, he felt guilty.

"I'm just talking nonsense. I'm sorry." Jinki said in a whisper, wasn't even sure Kibum could hear him.

--

They walked side by side on the carpeted floor to enter the hall. And Jinki had to admit that he was rather impressed at the decoration.

The theme were all an elegant purple and white. With a huge crystal chandelier hanging beautifully in the middle of the high ceiling and Jinki could smell the nice scent of lilacs and lilies when they reached the middle of the hall.

There were small tables along the side of the room, offering refreshments of various cakes and drink. There was also an orchestra playing in the corner of the room, welcoming the guests with composition of classic songs.

It amazed him to realize about how big Mr. Chi's effort was to camouflage the illegal auction with a luxurious look. Jinki could even pretend like he was attending a royal party at the moment, but with Kibum stood beside him, it was rather impossible.

And seeing the attendants around him was making it more weird. Sure, they were all wearing nice suits and dresses. But the ordinary guest of a royal party usually didn't have only one eye, or a stick of wood for the replacement of a right feet or a tattoo of a devil eye peeking from the nape in behind the collar.

Jinki cringed. He just realized how dangerous this place was now.

"Good evening, Ladies and Gentleman." A man with a black suit and white button-down shirt that seemed too small for his huge belly greeted the guests from the small stage in the middle of the room.

"Thank you for your presence this evening. As we all know that soon, there'll be held a huge auction for Mr. Chi's collections. I hope all of you are well prepared. We will begin it soon. But while waiting, you are all allowed to enjoy the dishes around. Thank you. And good luck."

Murmurs of excitement could be slowly heard from the guests and it strangely mixed with hisses and sinister laugh, that made Kibum shudder a little.

"Chill out.." Jinki whispered, honestly more to himself than to the other.

"Are you sure we can win this auction?" Kibum asked to Jinki while sipping his cocktail, it seemed that nervousness had made him forgot about the earlier word-fight in the car.

Jinki shrugged, "I'll just try my best." he said "Are you?"

Kibum paused for a while like he was thinking about something. "Jiyong said I'm very picky and have a very good feeling. I could differentiate the most valuable goods out of the others. Sometimes, I could also know other people's thoughts. Like what someone thought about something in particular. Like is the pearl she's bragging about really a rare one ? I could read it from her facial expression. I don't know what it has to do with this but-"

"So can you also read mine?" Jinki cut him.

Well... except you.

"I'm not going to tell." Kibum simply said.

Jinki only chuckled but it's enough to made Kibum more irritated.

Then suddenly the murmurs intensified and the guests applauded when a 50s man entering the hall. With a wide smile he's waving to the attendants, followed by his muscular bodyguards.

"He's Mr. Chi." Kibum whispered to Jinki, who just nodded in return.

Jiyong had talked a lot about the man but this was the first time he saw him. Jinki was well aware that Mr. Chi was very influential in this kind of world.

"Good evening. It's nice to see you again-"

"I have to win. I will. You just have to watch and I'll do everything. Jiyong must be proud of us." Kibum said, didn't bother to hear Mr. Chi's greeting.

Jinki smiled a little, liking the fact that Kibum just said 'us'.

--

The auction went well and peaceful as far, but out of the list Jiyong made, they just had gotten a ghost pearl for the boss. Needless to say, it was one of the least desired item of the auction. They just had to raise two bids to win the dull green-ish colored pearl. Jinki couldn't even think why the boss wanted it. It didn't even sparkle.

But Jinki could see Mr. Chi winked at Kibum when the gorgeous boy came to the stage. He said that only a wise-man would want the pearl. But Jinki couldn't tell why.

Jinki could see that Kibum was interested in weapons, especially guns, he says guns were the least expensive and could be smuggled abroad. But he was holding back himself if the item was not on the boss's list.

Then Mr. Chi's men brought out a crate containing a gun. It was the star of the auction -beside the knife of Jack the Ripper, which was unfortunately won by the eye-tattoed man-.

They said it was the only other twin of some old type of gun -which the criminal couple Bonnie & Clyde used back then- that was still exist now.

Jinki knew that Kibum was more than eager to win the gun -since it was the only gun the boss wanted on the list- but to their surprise, they were not the only one who's waiting for the item.

Jinki could hear the excited whispers around him. This won't be easy, he thought.

"I'm going to start with the price of $7,000." the host announced the opening price.

"$8,500." someone said, raising his number board.

"Number seventeen with $8,500 !" the host pointed.

"$9,000." a bald man that was standing not too far away from Jinki yelled out.

And shortly, there was simultaneous shouts of higher price from several different persons.

The bids continued to increase and for a while, it's stopping at $165,000.

"$200,000." Kibum finally raised his board, earning some anticipating murmurs around.

There's no another bid for a while and there's no respond after the host announced the last offer. He almost knock the hammer to the small table on the stage to mark Kibum as the gun winner but then the bald man yelled again, "$230,000."

Kibum only glanced at the man for a moment before raising his board again and finally shouted "$300,000."

With the "," the bald man hissed out after, the host counted down from five before knocking the hammer and announcing Kibum as the winner.

"Congratulations. This item is officially yours. You may come up to see." the host asked Kibum to come forward.

So Kibum stood out from the crowd, walking to the stage as he cooly received the loud applause from the other guests. And that was the Kibum Jinki knew, glowing with boldness and confidence.

But then the thing he and Jiyong  had worried the most happened in a blink of an eye. One second he was looking at Kibum that was still walking to the stage and the next second, after he heard another hiss came from beside him "Boss is going to kill me.." and a quick pull of a trigger, he realized that the bald man next to him was going to shoot Kibum.

He moved to his side to tackle the man down but it was too late. The gun was already firing and the bullet was already ripping the fabric and the flesh of Kibum's right leg.

Kibum screamed, holding his bloody leg as he fell down.

Jinki was trembling with anger as he looked back to the bald guy under him and punched the life out of the guy. His well-polished shoes kicking the gun out from the criminal's limp hand before he caught it with his own hand.

When the bald man's face had turned considerably purple and black enough for him, Jinki stood up and thought to shoot the man as a payback but finally he decided to step on the guy's right hand hardly, until he could heard a loud crack from his bones.

"That's for him, you bastard." Jinki spat down before he finally ran toward Kibum, didn't even notice when did all hell break loose and the guests which previously looked normal suddenly turned into wild animals.

Some of them were attacking each other, while some others took the opportunityof chaos to steal the auction items. It was all messed up. But Jinki didn't give a slightest damn, because the only thing he could think of now was Kibum.

When he approached Kibum, who was still crying in pain, gripping his bloody leg, Jinki felt his blood started to boil in anger again. He should just shoot the bald man right at his head or something, but he knew that saving Kibum was the most important now.

He slipped his hand under Kibum's knees and under his nape, carrying him up as he ran out from the bloody war.

"Hold on, Key. Please."

--

Kibum was as pale as sheet when Jinki finally put him down on the passenger seat of the Rolls Royce. Still opening the door, Jinki was kneeling on the ground and ripping the bottom of his button down shirt before he used the fabric to wrap and twist the wound, to stop the bleeding.

"Hurry.. and d-drive off." Kibum whispered, cold sweats running down his face like waterfalls.

Jinki nodded and got up to close Kibum's door as he hurriedly ran into his driver seat, starting the engine.

"S-should we go to the hospital ?" Jinki asked an idiot question out of anxiety.

"Headquarter.." Kibum said, shutting his eyes to reduce the pain.

Jinki just nodded and followed the younger's instruction.

"Hold on. Please." he said as he glanced to Kibum, whose eyes were already half-lidded.

Kibum smiled weakly to him and Jinki finally couldn't hold himself back to stretch his hand out and caress the younger's sweaty face. "Don't die."

"Not planning to.." Kibum mouthed without a sound and it made Jinki released a shaky laugh.

Then Jinki, out of instinct, slid his hand down to get a hold of Kibum's cold hands, intertwining their digits like he didn't want to let go. And he didn't even until they reached the headquarter.

It was dark, considering it was almost midnight and Jinki already got out from the car, preparing himself to carry Kibum out when the younger resisted.

"Get me Jjong.." Kibum said weakly, rejecting Jinki's hands.

Jinki frowned, frozen in place. "What ?"

"Get me Jjong. Please." he pleaded again.

"Okay." Jinki said, still confused "But.."

"What the is happening with him ?!"

But Jonghyun was already waiting at the front door, Jinki thought as he turned around, seeing the musculat guy climbed down the front step and shoved him away harshly to the side.

"Jjong.." Kibum mouthed as he blinked, catching the blurry silhoutte of his bestfriend.

"What..." Jonghyun gaped, scrutinizing the weak guy on the car seat in front of him, then he closed his mouth as he stared at the red stained fabric wrapping the other's leg "You..."

It took him only a second to realize what just happened and the only thing he needed to do now was..

"You !" Jonghyun turned to grab Jinki at his collar and punched his cheek "What the are you doing.."

"Jjong.. Please.." Kibum called out with all his might, tho it was still almost inaudible.

And Jonghyun finally pulled away, after landing another fist on Jinki's side and practically threw him to the ground. "I'll deal with you later !" he pointed at Jinki before he turned around to approach Kibum.

Jonghyun's punch hurted like hell, Jinki thought as he rubbed the side of his face. But then, as he saw Kibum willingly threw his arms around Jonghyun's nape when the guy carried him up, and as soon as Kibum buried his pretty face on Jonghyun's chest, it didn't even take the wounded younger a second to start crying out like a lost child.

It took everything on him to admit that he would take even a million punch like that again on his face if he could be Jonghyun at the time. To be something closest to home for Kibum to feel safe enough to cry on.