Kibum is in the showers when he thinks he hears Jonghyun's voice outside the bathroom. He assumes his roommate must need the bathroom urgently and lucky for him, Kibum is just about done with his bath, giving himself a final rinse from head to toe. When he turns off the shower, he confirms his suspicion because Jonghyun is indeed talking to him. Still, Kibum can't hear what on earth Jonghyun is saying because he's drying himself with the towel and the sound is already muffled as it is with the door shut. It is times like this Kibum wonders how his best friend can be so dumb. He shakes his head, wrapping the towel securely around his waist, and is out of the bathroom quicker than usual.

“Alright, stop talking, I'm out of the-”

Kibum ends up doing what he tells Jonghyun to do because when he comes out of the bathroom and enters their living room, he sees a stranger – make that a handsome stranger – who looks ridiculously good in a basic white tee tucked into dark denim jeans, standing next to his best friend who can't hide the amusement from his face.

“Umm, I guess you couldn't hear me in the bathroom?” Jonghyun asks as he breaks the awkward silence.

Kibum's hand subconsciously moves to hold the towel while he rolls his eyes at his hyung and mutters, “Obviously.”

Jonghyun doesn't hear what Kibum says as he continues, “I called Minho for help to fix that flickering light in the hallway. Jinki hyung introduced him so we don't have to pay as much. You can thank me later, Kibum.”

Kibum wants to smack his hyung on the head for acting like he did him the biggest favour. or at least roll his eyes again, but he does neither because he is consciously aware that the stranger, apparently named Minho, is staring at him, or better put, checking him out. Kibum isn't embarrassed to be standing almost in front of a stranger because let's face it, he has nothing to hide. Still, it isn't the best scenario to be meeting someone you've never met before for the first time fresh out of a shower, still dripping wet, in only a towel.

“Hey you. Minho is it?” Kibum clears his throat to get the handyman's attention and says, “Eyes up here.”

Jonghyun stifles a laugh while Minho’s eyes slowly travel up Kibum’s body to meet his eyes. Doing a fantastic job in hiding his emotions, the handyman remains silent and simply raises an eyebrow in question once his gaze is locked with Kibum’s.

“You better not do a half-assed job just because we aren't paying as much as you normally charge.” Kibum warns, giving Minho a pointed look, before he finally makes his way to his room and lets his best friend deal with the handyman.

*

When he gets back home the very same night after leaving his apartment in the early afternoon when Minho was still fixing the lights, Kibum realises 3 things. One, think twice before trusting Jonghyun. Two, never to trust Jonghyun's boyfriend, Lee Jinki. And three, Minho at his job. Either that or he's out to cheat their money, having ignored Kibum’s warning.

“Kim Jonghyun, were you not around when that guy Minho was doing his job?” Kibum demands to know as he barges into his best friend's room.

“I was.” With his attention on his MacBook, Jonghyun spares a look at Kibum, “Why?”

“The damn light is still flickering and annoying the hell out of me since I can’t turn it on at all.” Kibum huffs as he points to the back.

Jonghyun snaps his fingers and nods, “Oh right, that reminds me. Minho didn't have the parts he needed to fix the lights today so he's coming back tomorrow. You'll be at home right?”

“Yes...” Having a bad feeling about this, Kibum regrets answering so quick.

“Yeah, so make sure you'll be around to let Minho in at 3 tomorrow.” Jonghyun informs, “He'll be coming around then. It’s your responsibility to take care of everything now, Kibummie.”

Kibum groans, “You need to stop making decisions without asking me first, Kim Jonghyun.”

“Hey, I'm still your hyung even though you don't ever respect me.” Jonghyun retorts and then adds, “Besides, I'm paying more rent than you so shut up.”

Obviously, Kibum is left with no room to argue and so, he sighs and resigns to his fate.

*

“What do you mean you have to come back again?”

With one statement, Kibum stops wasting time on the internet and stares incredulously at the handyman who stands before him, once again making the simplest of all basic tees (this time, black in colour) and faded denim jeans look like this season's hottest fashion.

“Exactly what you think it means.” Minho simply nods and repeats once again, emphasising his point, “I have to come back again. Tomorrow.”

Kibum finds himself at a loss for words, utterly speechless at how the handyman has wasted so much of his precious time being cooped up at home when he could be, well, wasting time in better ways outside. With no classes for the day, Kibum could have put his free time to better use; although admittedly, it isn’t that bad to be lazing around at home, mindlessly surfing the net and catching glimpses of tight, toned abs every time the handyman stretches and his shirt lifts up. Wait, focus, that isn’t important right now. Kibum reminds himself that he has a point to make.

“Can I ask you then, what on earth you were doing for the past hour if you have to come back again?!”

“It's more serious than I thought.” Minho ponders out loud before he shakes his head at Kibum, “You wouldn't understand if I explain.”

“Try me.”

“If you understand, I wouldn't be here repairing your lights right now.”

As much as Minho is pissing him off, Kibum has to give it to the handyman for being able to make so much sense. He can't even argue against that and so, Kibum settles to say, “I'm not paying you until you get those damn lights fixed.”

Minho mumbles, “I'm not even earning much from you...”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Minho shakes his head and answers instead, “I understand.”

By this point in time, Kibum is staring rather judgmentally at Minho and he is caught staring when the handyman raises his eyebrows in question.

Kibum sighs to himself and then comments, “I guess you can leave then?”

“Right.” Minho replies but doesn't make a move as his tools remain all over the floor and the ladder left deserted under the faulty light.

It's Kibum's turn to raise his eyebrow at the handyman.

“What are you waiting for?”

Minho shrugs, “What time will you be at home tomorrow?”

“Oh.” Kibum says first before he curses out loud, realizing that the responsibility to deal with the handyman will once again fall on his shoulders since he knows Jonghyun’s schedules by heart, “Jjong will be at Jinki hyung’s tomorrow…”

“And you have to curse because…?”

With no choice but to deal with the handyman again, Kibum rolls his eyes at Minho and ignores his question, saying instead, “How’s 5pm for you?”

“No problem.”

“Alright, I’ll see you then.”

Minho nods and finally turns around, gathering his tools and leaving with a suspicious smile that Kibum doesn’t see.

*

The moment Kibum spots Minho sitting against the wall outside the door to his apartment looking more comfortable than one should look after waiting almost an hour, he mouths an expletive and quickens his footsteps.

“I’m really sorry for the wait, my class ended late.” Kibum apologies as he takes out his keys and inserts them into the lock, “I would have called but I don’t have your number and Jjong-”

“It’s alright.” Standing up from the floor, Minho interrupts Kibum and waves the apology away. “It’s not entirely your fault.”

Kibum opens the door and lets them in, busying himself with turning on the lights and placing his stuff down as he continues, taking a quick glance at Minho, “I hope this doesn’t affect any of your other schedules…”

Minho shakes his head and prepares to fix the lights, “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”

It is then Kibum finally settles down and comes to stand in front of Minho in the hallway.

“So? Can you get it fixed by today?”

Minho nods, “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Right.” Kibum smiles slightly as he then asks, “Can I get you anything to drink?”

Minho returns a smile, one more generous than Kibum, and replies, “Just water will do.”

“Okay, be right back.”

And so, Kibum turns around and heads towards the kitchen. He is actually glad to escape the eyes of the handyman for the time being because he finds himself stunned by the smile Minho has given him. All of a sudden, it hits Kibum that the handyman is actually charming, handsome and attractive enough to make his heart skip a beat. Getting two cups from the counter, Kibum thinks he probably has to get a glass of ice water for himself too.

*

“Are you done?” Kibum asks when he notices Minho stepping down the ladder from the corner of his eyes.

According to the time on his laptop, almost half an hour has passed and Kibum assumes the handyman’s job is done.

To Kibum’s surprise, Minho shakes his head, “I have to leave for a while.”

“What?” Kibum says, confused at Minho’s reply, “Why?”

“I, umm, brought the wrong bulb.”

Kibum’s mouth falls open, “You got to be kidding me.”

Minho rubs the back of his neck and smiles awkwardly, “Sorry.”

If it isn’t for Minho’s somewhat adorable apologetic smile, Kibum will have given in to his urge to smack the guy upside down.

Instead, he breathes in and out, calming himself down, before he questions rather seriously, “How much experience do you actually have as a handyman?”

“Plenty.” Minho answers confidently before he adds, “Enough to be trusted by many.”

“Seriously?” Kibum isn’t convinced and he goes straight to the point, “Then why are you so terrible at your job this time round?”

“I’ll have you know, I’ve already fixed your lights.” Minho retorts, feeling rather wronged.

“But you brought the wrong bulb.” Kibum scoffs.

“I have a lot to handle these days.”

“You have other jobs to get to?”

“Not exactly.”

“So what exactly is your problem?” Kibum demands to know, evidently frustrated with how incompetent the handyman is as he callously points out, “Because you know, you’re really wasting a whole lot of my time.”

Minho shrugs his shoulders and simply replies, “I guess it’s fair then.”

“What is?” Kibum snaps.

“The fact that you’re taking too much of my time too.” Minho explains as if he is casually commenting about the weather.

Kibum narrows his eyes dangerously at Minho, “Excuse me, if it wasn’t for you-”

“I just can’t seem to stop thinking about you, Kibum.”

With that, Minho successfully shuts Kibum up.

At the sound of his name leaving the handyman’s lips, Kibum goes weak at the knees. There is just something about Minho’s voice that has the power to make his ordinary, boring name sound so special. That’s not to say the confession before doesn’t have an effect on Kibum because god knows his heart does skip a beat. Forcing himself to act as unaffected as possible, Kibum hides his emotions and puts up a front. Kibum still has questions for Minho that need to be answered.

“Why?” Kibum starts with the simplest of all questions.

“I like you… at least I think I do.”

“You think?” Kibum is unimpressed.

“I don’t know, Kibum.” Minho admits as he fidgets awkwardly in his position, “This hasn’t happened to me before so I don’t have a clue on how to deal with all that’s been going on.”

“You’re telling me, you may have feelings for me when we know nothing about each other and have only met each other… what, thrice?”

Minho nods.

Kibum goes silent for a moment before he decides to do a quick check with Minho.

“Does this have anything to do with the fact that I was half when we first met?”

A smile slowly spreads across Minho’s face, “Maybe?”

Kibum makes a face, “You’re disgusting.”

“Hey, come on, it’s not my fault you’re attractive.” Minho quickly defends himself.

The smile now appears on Kibum’s face, “You know Minho… I think I like you already.”

*

When Jonghyun returns home after staying the night at his boyfriend's and sees that the light is finally fixed, he concludes three things. One, always trust his boyfriend. Two, Kibum is worth trusting too. And three, since he came home to his best friend and the handyman looking all cozy together on the couch, it looks like his best friend has indeed made sure everything is well taken care of.

Wait. That’s not all.

Jonghyun realises that he has to add one more thing to that list after a couple of minutes goes by. He is hiding in one corner, pretending to leave the two alone, as he watches Minho lean towards Kibum for that famous, unavoidable first kiss.

Kim Kibum has got himself a boyfriend.

Author's Note: i think my writing skills (if i even have any) are getting rusty (this took too long to write)... but i'm glad i can finally share this with you. and that makes it the 9th prompt completed! ヽ(；▽；)ノ till my next story, thank you for subscribing and reading, dear readers! ♡♡♡♡♡