The thing that draws Kibum back to the present is a gentle prodding at his chest. He looks down, away from Taemin, to find himself being poked with a relatively small parcel wrapped in sparkling red with gold ts. He looks up again, in disbelief, as Taemin continues to shove the present at him.

When he fails to make any move to take it, Taemin clears his throat and begins to speak. “Uh…saenggilchukahamida, Key-hyung. I…um…I just dropped by to give you this.”

In the time that it takes for Kibum to lose his voice and for Taemin to speak, Woohyun and Nicole come to the door to see whose guest it was that had arrived.

Neither of them recognise Taemin at first, not even when he waves at them and says “Annyeong, sunbae-nim.”  

It is Woohyun who finally says it aloud. “TAEMIN? Lee Taemin?”

The rest of the house falls silent, and there is suddenly a rush of feet towards the door. Then Jonghyun and Jinki are by his side, the former being held back by the latter.

“For the love of …” Jonghyun grips Kibum’s shoulder painfully, eyes narrowing. “What the are you doing here?”

Taemin takes a step back and waves the red box at them. “It’s nothing, I was just here to give this to Kibum-hyung.” He shoves it at Kibum again, holding it away from himself as if he’s just waiting to bolt down the stairs.

Now Yixing, Seop and Changmin have joined them, and the ruckus they are beginning to make causes one of their neighbours to open her front door and look out. She rolls her eyes when she sees which house it is disrupting the peace, which is unwarranted, Kibum thinks, because they are so quiet otherwise.

Kibum takes a step back and holds the door open. “I suppose you should come in.”

Taemin shakes his head. “I should go.”

Jonghyun reaches out and shoves him. “Go on, then. off like you did the last time.” He’s about to shove Taemin again when Jinki and Nicole catch him around the waist and pull him back into the dorm. Seop sidesteps the struggling bunch and comes to stand by the door.

“Come in,” Kibum says again.

Taemin takes one, two hesitant steps forward, and then catches Kibum in a hug. The air is knocked out of Kibum’s lungs. Taemin’s clothes squelch between them and Kibum’s face is pressed into his wet hair, and all Kibum remembers is the hundred of times he has grabbed Taemin like this – winning on Inkigayo, on his birthday, while they are resting backstage – and how it feels exactly the same.

It’s over too quickly and yet not soon enough, and Taemin is stepping back, ready to leave now that the present is in Kibum’s hands. He reaches out and catches Taemin’s wrist -  

“I said come in.”

- and Taemin does.