Yawning, Jonghyun leaned back against the life vests hanging behind him and sank lower on the stool in front of the register, trying to get somewhat comfortable. He had been too excited to sleep after his date with Kibum; his limbs too jittery, his heart fluttering, and his cheeks aching from smiling so much. He couldn’t stop thinking about tinkling laughter or the small dimple that would accompany every smile or the feel of a soft hand intertwined with his own.

A grin spread on his face as he looked down at his fingers. The best part if his memory, however, was the small kiss to his cheek. The soft push of Kibum’s lips and the scent of his detergent and something so uniquely Kibum were still prevalent in his mind.

He sighed and closed his eyes, a lovely warmth filling him.

Someone cleared their throat and Jonghyun’s heart jumped. He hadn’t heard anyone come in. He wiped the grin off his face, his eyes snapping open to greet the customer. His gaze fell upon a boy, forearms on the counter and head tilted as he studied him, eyes curious. Behind him was another, taller boy, looking around the shop with great interest.

“Hello?” Jonghyun greeted and stood to properly take his place behind the register. These boys didn’t look like they knew what a sail even was, so he couldn’t quite figure out what they wanted, like he might have done with other customers. “How can I help you?”

The boy at the counter shot a secretive smile at him. There was something familiar about him that Jonghyun couldn’t put his finger on. He didn’t have much time to dwell on it as the boy reached up and grabbed his chin, turning his face this way and that as he inspected it closely.

“H-hey!” Jonghyun spluttered, trying to free himself with little luck. The boy was strong. “What are you doing?!”

Completely ignoring him, he let go of Jonghyun’s face and turned to the other, taller boy.

“It’s him.”

The two of them looked back at him, wearing matching smirks which had something crawling in Jonghyun’s stomach.

“What do you mean ‘it’s him’?” Jonghyun asked nervously. “I don’t know you guys. Are you part of the mafia or something? I swear I’m not the person you’re looking for! Please don’t take me to your boss or kill me!” He sounded more and more panicked as his imagination ran wild, voice going shrill. The other two stared at him and he continued rambling. “Please! I still have so much to do! I haven’t finished uni, my parents are waiting for me to return home, I want to kiss Kibum, I–!”

The door opened and his boss entered, interrupting his tirade. The old man appraised the two customers inquisitively and turned to a wide-eyed Jonghyun.

“I finished my lunch so you can go to your appointment now,” he said, way too calm for the tumult inside Jonghyun’s head. “I’ll handle the shop.”

Jonghyun nodded, eager to get out of there and leave the threatening customers. He threw a worried glance at the two silent boys and wondered if they would go to the lengths to stalk him. Maybe he could lose them somehow, if he was quick.

Just as he reached for his jacket, the shorter boy spoke again.

“This is actually perfect timing.”

The two of them proceeded to gracefully jump over the counter, giving both Jonghyun and his boss heart attacks. They grabbed one of Jonghyun’s arms each and marched him past his astonished boss and out of the shop. Jonghyun protested, trying to twist his arms out of their holds, but the hands that held him were impossibly strong. He gave up when his breath ran out and his upper arms stung with the struggle. Instead he settled for bombarding them with questions in hopes it would annoy them enough to let him go. He couldn’t be worth all that much trouble, right?

Soon it became clear they were headed for the harbour and they took the exact same road he had flown down the day before. The boys didn’t bother answering him however much he tried and Jonghyun soon gave up annoying them as well.

They continued dragging him through town, the three of them getting curious glances from the people they passed. Jonghyun spotted a few of his friends, but they simply shrugged at him or gave cheerful waves when he caught their eyes and mouthed for help. He glared back at them. What good friends he had. He would remember that when he came back to haunt the streets.

“Oh my God! Are you going to shoot me in the head and throw me into the water?” Jonghyun gasped in horror when the boats and the Dome came into view. He was sure he had seen something like this in a thriller before. “What did I ever do to you?! I should have the right to know!”

The tall boy heaved a loud sigh while the other boy frowned, looking confused.

“I don’t wanna die!” Jonghyun yelled at them.

“Will you shut up?”

Jonghyun’s breath caught in his throat as the tall boy spoke for the first time, his deep voice growling in his ear.

“You’re not going to die and I have heard enough of your voice to last me for a year,” he muttered.

“So why do you have to manhandle me?!” Jonghyun exclaimed but received no answer. He suddenly realised they were halfway down the bridge leading to the Dome. “Oh…”

“Oh,” his two captors echoed, both sounding amused.

“You know this would have gone much smoother if you’d just told me where we were going from the beginning,” Jonghyun muttered.

They let go of him to open the entrance door and a thought hit him. He stopped right outside the open doors.

“Wait, are you dragging me here to sue me? Because I was trespassing before?”

The two boys turned to look at him, both unimpressed. Jonghyun cleared his throat, his face heating.

“No?” he asked weakly.

“Jonghyun!”

The boys turned around and Jonghyun spotted Kibum hurrying towards them over their shoulders, his blond hair messy. All he managed to register was that he was wearing the same baggy clothes he had the night prior before Kibum crashed into him, arms tight around his neck. Jonghyun staggered a few step back from the impact and the boys snickered.

“H-hi Kibum,” he stammered, hesitantly hugging him back.

Kibum laughed softly, his breath ghosting over Jonghyun’s ear and sending pleasant currents down his spine. After hugging him closer for a second, he let go of Jonghyun to turn to the other two, hands on his hips.

“I don’t remember giving you two permission to go terrorise him.”

They shrugged simultaneously.

“We were free,” the tall boy said.

“And bored,” the other boy added.

Kibum shook his head and turned back towards Jonghyun to grab his hand.

“Anyway, I’m happy you’re here. Come in.”

‘I’m happy you’re here’ replayed in Jonghyun’s mind as he let himself be dragged over the threshold and into the empty entrance hall, sending his heart into a frenzy and putting a grin on his lips. It didn’t go unnoticed, if the snickers from the boys were anything to go by, and he shook himself out of it.

The air inside the Dome was different than the last time he had been there. It was eerily quiet, and the sound of the door closing echoed in the wide, empty space. The interior was as white as the outside and seemed to shine in the sunlight that filtered in through the tall windows, warming the room.

“I guess I’ll introduce you,” Kibum said into the quiet air.

Jonghyun looked at the two boys, who were back to examining him, heads tilted in a matching poses.

“This is Taemin.” Kibum pointed to the shorter boy, who gave a small smile at the mention of his name. He moved his finger to point at the tall boy. “And that’s Minho. Their stage name is The Winged Brothers.”

Jonghyun’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he realised who they were.

“You’re the guys who performed on the trapezes!” he exclaimed, his voice bouncing off the walls. “That was awesome! You’re really good!”

They smiled at him, clearly amusement, and said at the same time:

“Thanks. We know.”

Kibum chuckled.

“Right. And this is–”

“Jonghyun,” Taemin finished for him.

“We know that, too,” Minho added.

Kibum narrowed his eyes at them, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“You’re right. I forget who you are.”

Jonghyun glanced between them in confusion, not quite following. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Uh, well… It’s nice to meet you two.”

Kibum gave him an encouraging smile and squeezed his hand.

“So now that’s done with, let’s go! I need to get back to practice and these boys need to eat.”

Jonghyun was unceremoniously dragged away from the two snickering boys waving at him, and down a long corridor with doors upon doors in the walls. Curious, he looked around, catching glimpses of names he couldn’t place. He had never been backstage anywhere and it felt a little forbidden and exciting.

“All these doors lead to dressing rooms and practice rooms,” Kibum informed him as they moved further down the corridor, turning left at the end into another. “Mine’s at the end.”

“Oh, cool,” Jonghyun offered. It struck him he had never seen Kibum outside the Dome except for their date. “Do you live here too?”

They stopped outside a door where a sign read ‘Kibum/Key’ and ‘practice’. Kibum turned to him with a small, shy smile.

“Yeah,” he answered. “Everyone has their own room on the third or fourth floor. If you sat high up in the audience you might have seen the entrance to the dorms.”

Jonghyun nodded, faintly recalling a door with the sign ‘personnel only’. He watched Kibum as he stared at his door, biting his lip. He took a breath and placed a hand on the handle, his other still keeping a tight grip on Jonghyun’s. Jonghyun wondered why he was hesitating. As if he had heard his thoughts, Kibum spoke.

“I…” he started and stopped. “I usually never let anyone watch me practice. It’s a bit… personal.” He threw a quick glance at Jonghyun and looked down at his feet, his cheeks dusting a nice shade of pink. “But... you’re special.”

His voice grew softer with each word but Jonghyun still heard them all. A giddy grin took over his face and he grew warm and tingly all over.

“Really?” he asked, his voice a low murmur to match Kibum’s tone.

Kibum’s blush spread to the tips of his ears and he nodded before pushing the door open and stepping inside, pulling a euphoric Jonghyun with him. They entered a large room with a high ceiling, empty except for two platforms fixed high up onto opposing walls, connected by a wire. Both had metal ladders leading up to them, and there was a stereo underneath the right one, four speakers fixed to one corner of the room each. Safety nets or lines where nowhere to be seen, Jonghyun noted. He spotted a fluffy pillow on the floor, but that wouldn’t help much if Kibum fell.

“You can sit there.” Kibum gestured to the pillow Jonghyun was staring at.

Jonghyun’s eyes snapped up to him, worry coiling in his stomach.

“Huh?” he sputtered. Kibum raised his eyebrows and Jonghyun swallowed. “But... but what happens if you fall?”

Kibum laughed, looking as amused as he had the time Jonghyun tried to stop him from jumping.

“I never fall,” he giggled. “But thank you for worrying.”

He leaned in and placed a quick kiss to Jonghyun’s cheek before scurrying off to the stereo, his face shining pink but a silly smile stretching his lips. Jonghyun stared after him, fingertips touching the skin, which was tingling after the contact, and another giddy grin lit up his face, butterflies waking up inside him. He floated over to the cushion and sat down. Kibum glanced at him over his shoulder, smile widening. Jonghyun’s stomach flipped as he watched him climb up the ladder to one of the platforms with practiced ease. Once at the top, he pressed a button on a small, black remote Jonghyun hadn’t noticed him holding and took a few, confident steps onto the wire after putting it down on the platform. He stopped in the middle waiting for the music to start, sending a shy eye cast down at Jonghyun. Jonghyun returned it with a wide, encouraging smile.

Then the music started and, once again, Jonghyun had a part of his heart, along with his breath, stolen by the beautiful line dancer named Kibum.