A/N: This was a long time in coming! I'm so sorry for the delay in update. See, I had this idea, but then I kinda got stuck and I had to keep thinking about it for a while before it would all come together. The drabble is heavy on OnKey, very slight WooKey (I'm sorry I've just been having OnKey feels since the text message instagram post and Onew coming to the pre-recording). 

Thank you so much as always for the subscriptions and comments, and happy reading!

Some warnings: there is some violence (not much, but present), and bashing of Inspirit fans. Please don't take it personally, this is a work of fiction even if the story is based on real events.

Drabble # 7: Interference

It's past ten by the time Jinki opens the door to their dorm. His luggage is still idly sitting in the living room where he had left it in a hurry, but there's an unfamiliar mess of blankets on the couch. Kibum must have fallen asleep waiting for him. Luckily, a used plate on the dining table indicates that the younger man has at least eaten dinner, so Jinki is spared the task of waking him up. Setting the bouquet of white roses down and the box of chocolate cake inside the refrigerator, he lifts Kibum up, blankets and all, and carries him to his bed.

Once alone in the living room, he heaves a quiet sigh just as his stomach lets out a grumble of protest, reminding him that he hasn’t eaten anything yet, or at least not since the airplane food several hours ago. The plan had been to have a celebratory dinner with Kibum and congratulate him on the success of ToHeart’s debut, something which his schedule had prevented him for properly doing, but it had occurred to him that such a special occasion entailed that he greet Kibum with more than just empty hands. Unfortunately, luck hadn’t been on his side. Traffic at the late hour aside, several girls had recognized him as SHINee’s Onew and some even went so far as to follow him around, making it all but impossible to stop by a flower shop without bothering the clerks and other customers. There was also the question of what flowers suited Kibum best, and which cake looked the most delicious, and before Jinki knew it, dinnertime had come and gone, along with Kibum’s message of Where are you? I’m hungry.

He wonders if he should just order himself a bucket of chicken to cover up his disappointment, but the thought is quickly chased away by an incoming call.

“Hyung! Are you free now? Have you had dinner yet? Is Kibum back at the dorm?” As usual, Jonghyun talks at a mile a minute. Jinki laughs into the receiver. Yes, he’s missed this, missed them. Filming Law of the Jungle has been an unforgettable experience, an opportunity to test himself and meet new faces, but in the end SHINee is his home.

“No,” he replies slowly, “are you eating now?”

Fortunately, it appears Jonghyun hasn’t yet, and he tells Jinki that he’s invited Minho over as well. The serious note in the lead vocalist’s voice when he says they need to discuss something sets off alarms in his head.

The feeling of foreboding turns out to be correct, as he soon finds out.

“I like Infinite and all,” Jonghyun states, popping a slice of meat in his mouth, “but I think their fans have gone overboard this time.”

Surprised by the sudden exclamation, Jinki looks up from the grill just in time to see Minho nod. The rapper’s expression darkens. “They called Kibum names,” he mutters, gaze steadily fixed on Jinki. His eyes burn with barely contained anger, and Jinki remembers why they gave the younger man the nickname of ‘Flaming Charisma’. “Didn’t cheer during his parts of the song. They don’t recognize ToHeart as a sub-unit at all.” He stabs furiously at a piece of rib-eye steak.

Jinki blinks at the news, flustered. Certainly, it would have been a miracle if ToHeart had united the two fandoms without a hitch. Many of SHINee’s fans are in their twenties and in college, if not already holding down jobs, whereas the majority of Infinite’s fans are expected to be in their teens and are far more excitable. Since learning of their collaboration, Jinki has worried about how Woohyun’s fans in particular would react to the news: he knows the SHINee World will accept it as a matter of course, even if they would rather it be with another member of SHINee, but what of the Inspirits? The situation is tenuous enough as it is with the recent merger; from a business perspective it is an advantageous move for Woollim Entertainment, but all the fans need to see are Infinite’s crying faces and off they go on a self-righteous rampage.

If he is honest with himself, it would not concern him at all if it weren’t for the fact that Kibum has voluntarily chosen to embroil himself in this mess. There is a small, selfish part of him that wants to demand Kibum why he couldn’t have been content to start something with SHINee instead. He would have been overjoyed to sing with Kibum, but seeing him with one of the other three would have been just as good. Within the tight-knit circle of five, at least, there is no fear of backlash, no fear of facing the unknown.

Kibum has always been so much braver than he has.

Jonghyun places a careful hand on his shoulder. “Hyung, you’re going to break those,” he points at the tightly-squeezed wooden chopsticks in Jinki’s fist, “and that isn’t the worst of it yet.” Rather than explain any further, the lead vocalist opens up Twitter on his phone and shows the screen to him.

There is a loud splintering sound, and every customer whips their head around to search for the source of the noise. Jinki’s fingers are red, blood is roaring in his ears. He watches in silence as Jonghyun apologizes while Minho shakes his head and asks for the first-aid kit. The chopsticks are replaced and food continues to flow, but he isn’t hungry anymore.

When they leave the restaurant, Jinki briefly comes back to himself, paying for the bill and leaving extra to compensate for the fuss he made, ignoring the cashier’s attempts to return the change. He can hear Minho and Jonghyun arguing in low voices.

“Nice going. You just had to show him those tweets while we were eating, didn’t you?”

“Hey, you started it, ! And how was I supposed to know that would happen?”

Their bickering continues outside as they walk around aimlessly, but Jinki feels too tired to do anything about it, so he just lets them be. Jonghyun, uneasy with the gloomy atmosphere, suggests that they relieve their stress with karaoke. Minho quickly seconds the idea, and before Jinki can say a word about just calling it a night, Jonghyun swiftly sweet-talks the female staff into giving them free drinks and a discount, and then he is dragged off to an empty booth and told to pick a song.

The second half of the night goes significantly better than the first. Minho has just finished making a complete mess of Kibum’s lines in Sherlock, much to Jonghyun’s consternation and Jinki’s amusement. The three of them are still howling with laughter when Jinki spots the last person he thought he would see that day passing right in front of their door. Without a second thought, he runs out the door and follows after him.

He doesn’t appear to have been noticed, and the door shuts right in his face. A moment later, it opens again, revealing one sleepy-looking eye.

“Good evening,” Jinki greets politely, as if he makes it an everyday habit to drop in unannounced at other people’s karaoke booths. “I’m SHINee’s Onew.” The door then swings fully open.

The owner of the hand holding the door returns the greeting, and his six members echo his words a fraction of a second later. He studies Jinki’s strained smile before the two of them reach a silent understanding.

“Woohyun, come out.”

Out of nowhere, Jonghyun and Minho are behind him and ushering Infinite’s main vocalist along. Sunggyu claps a hand on his shoulder in sympathy. “Kibum’s not here?”

“Asleep,” Jinki answers tersely. Embarrassed by his curt tone, he hurriedly tacks on, “I hope you don’t mind.”

Sunggyu snorts, absent-mindedly fiddling with his fringe. “I should be the one saying that. Some leader he makes. Couldn’t even protect his partner from the fans.

“On behalf of the Inspirits and Infinite, I sincerely apologize.”

Jinki barely has time to utter a thank you before Infinite’s leader bows again and closes the door. His mind in a daze, he heads back to the karaoke room, but to his confusion the lights are out.

Minho’s growl is the first thing he hears when he steps inside. “You left Kibum alone for your ing fanservice?”

“I didn’t know he was going to get mobbed by—“ Woohyun’s retort gets cut off by the sound of flesh hitting flesh. “That hurt!”

Jonghyun scoffs somewhere near Jinki. “Stop it with the drama. I didn’t hit you hard enough to leave bruises.” As Jinki’s eyes get used to the darkness, he finally locates everyone: Jonghyun stands close to the doorway, Woohyun in the middle dwarfed by Minho, who stands menacingly behind him.

Jinki should feel guiltier about this, but he doesn’t. The media would have a field day if they caught SHINee acting anything less than the beautiful neighbourhood flower boys their image has painted them as. But just this one time it’s okay, Jinki thinks to himself, and he locks the door behind him.

“I’m not sure what management was thinking when they appointed you leader instead of Kibum,” he murmurs thoughtfully in Woohyun’s ear, causing the younger man to flinch. “Is it because you’re older by a few months?” Jinki pats his head patronizingly. “Kibum has a lot more experience than you, though?” He can’t help the giggle that escapes his mouth.

Jinki catches a flash of platinum blonde as Jonghyun stalks towards the Infinite member. “No leader would be so oblivious as to leave s unprotected in the middle of a large crowd, especially with no managers present, and concentrate on fanservice instead.” Jonghyun’s smile is all teeth. “So tell us, what’s the real story? Why leave Kibum at the mercy of your rabid fangirls, hm?” He taps Woohyun’s cheek once, twice, three times. “Hey, not going to answer?” The lead vocalist shrugs, a smirk forming on his face. “Don’t tell me later that this isn’t the reality you wanted.” He cracks his knuckles. “Minho, tie him up.”

“And with what, exactly?” Minho returns dryly, not batting an eyelash. Jinki takes a solemn look around. Indeed, the booth isn’t quite conducive to carrying out random acts of violence, and he doesn’t think the store manager will be too happy if he starts unplugging wires.

Jonghyun sighs melodramatically. “Do I have to do everything around here?” Before he can do anything irreparably damaging to the karaoke set, Jinki grabs Jonghyun’s hoodie, which has been hanging from one of the pegs on the wall and throws it to Minho.

A minute later, they are all on the floor, Woohyun with his arms tied behind his back and an incredulous look on his face. “Why am I even letting you do this?” He complains, earning three simultaneous slaps to the back of his head.

“Because you’re an idiot.”

“Because you’re guilty.”

“Because you deserve it.”

Jinki squats in front of Woohyun. “You,” he begins, “don’t have the slightest clue how to be a leader. You flaunt your position at every opportunity, but in reality you’re just waiting for Kibum to take up the slack.” He backhands the Infinite vocalist sharply, without warning. Woohyun jerks from the impact, but Jinki knows it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as it looks, not when he has held back. He takes a deep breath, trying to restrain himself from going over the edge. He is still Onew, an idol, after all this; he is still Kibum’s best friend and partner for the ToHeart promotions. “Your naivete will cause nothing but problems for Kibum if you continue like this. Don’t take the title of leader so lightly, brat.” The last sentence turns into a low snarl.

 “Kibum wouldn’t have had to deal with this if he just did a sub-unit with us,” Jonghyun laments, scowling. “Everyone knows that the SHINee World always makes way for SHINee, unlike some other fandoms I could mention.” He tweaks Woohyun’s nose. “This happens again, and we’ll demand Kibum to be taken off your little duet.” He smiles unpleasantly, prodding at the younger man’s chest. “You can just promote as OneHeart, can’t you?”

Minho snorts. “Just because Kibum lets you get away with this doesn’t mean we will.” He glowers at Woohyun. “Why don’t you man up and tell your fans to act more mature. And cut down on the fanservice.” Woohyun opens his mouth to interject. “You’re not part of Infinite right now,” the rapper says sternly. “There’s no need to carry over that fake persona of yours into something you share with Kibum.” He unties the shorter man’s arms and they stand up, emphasizing the clear difference in heights as he does so.

“We’re watching you, Nam Woohyun.”

The Infinite vocalist’s face is pale, his eyes glistening suspiciously as he mumbles scattered apologies and scrambles to exit the room. No one says much of anything after that, and automatically they gather their things, line up at the cashier, and take their leave. Jonghyun says his goodbyes first, since he sleeps at his house and not at the dorm these days. He and Minho take a taxi back together, but the ride is silent. Jinki is lost in thought, and Minho’s expression remains hard and indecipherable.

Has he done the right thing? Jinki’s aware that he isn’t the shining epitome of a leader. There have been times that he hasn’t done right by s, failed to recognize when they were lonely or needed a listening ear. It’s been six years, though, and he likes to think that he’s done his best for the five of them, and will continue to do so for as long as SHINee exists. Perhaps Kibum will resent their interference. Kibum has never mouthed off about what really matters, only about trivial things that often inspire others to believe the worst of him. Ever independent, he has since refused to let others worry about him, preferring to do the worrying himself.

Still, Kibum is no less human, and Jinki knows that for all his bravado, Kibum is the most fragile of them all. He doesn’t miss the soft, dreamy smiles on Kibum’s face when Jinki notices little things, or the way he brightens up when Jinki reassures him he is no less beautiful even barefaced. The name-calling, the open dissing, being pushed around by Infinite fans as if he were no more than rookie trash—it must have hurt him, and with no manager to fend them off, or at least the secure hold of his leader’s hand to guide him to safety, a leader that should have been able to adapt to and control the situation better, Kibum must have felt miserable.  

Yet here he is, sleeping without a care in the world. Jinki smiles at the sight, kneeling right by the bedside to smooth an unruly strand of lavender hair and kiss his forehead. In a couple of hours, Kibum will likely receive news about yesterday’s incident from Woohyun, and he, Minho and Jonghyun will be called over for a scolding. Until then, wretched though it may sound, Jinki plans to savor his one night of delinquent behaviour and not worry about the consequences.

And since he’s already done a bad thing, he figures adding one more won’t hurt:

He leans in and kisses Kibum.