EPILOGUE

Jonghyun groaned while he squirmed in his seat as he tried to regain the feeling in his bottom. He tried by moving an inch back on the silver bench, but grunted in discomfort before moving back to his original position. He really needed to remember to put the reminder of bringing a chair on his ceiling.

If there was any room on his ceiling left that is with all the pink Hello Kitty notes decorating it. But even though Key’s pink infested room was slowly making its way into Jjong’s own room, Jonghyun couldn’t regret it at all. Whenever he would see one of the younger one’s shirts or one of those multi-colored bands that decorated the thin wrists around his room, his heart would swell and he felt as if he was walking on air.

With his lover in mind, the brunette reached next to him and entwined their fingers. His heart missed a beat, composing a song with its erratic thumps as Key sent him a large smile. His russet eyes were gleaming through the rainbow fringe as he leaned closer to whisper to Jjong, “I know we’re suppose to be here to support Minho, Dongho, Kris and the rest of the soccer team, but I have to say that the highlight of the whole game is Taemin.”

Jonghyun snorted at that statement. It was actually how he reacted when he had first gone to a game with Taemin.

His eyes closed when he felt Key’s fingers run through his blond dipped bangs to the back of his chestnut brown hair. He chuckled when Kibum placed a quick kiss on his cheek before turning back to their child who was bouncing in his seat.

Jonghyun looked back at the field before him to see what was going on when he noticed that all the players were shaking hands, signaling that the game had ended. He concluded that their soccer team won when he saw the huge smile that was gracing Minho’s lips.

As people started leaving, the brown haired soccer player ran up to the bleachers where the three were sitting.

“Great game, Minho!” Taemin congratulated him. “You were amazing.”

“Thanks Minnie,” Minho smiled sheepishly as he hugged him.

“Good job.” Key groaned as he stretched his sore and stiff muscles before muttering something along the lines of never wanting to sit on the bench for the rest of his college life.

Jonghyun stood up as Minho went to greet him next. Every time they were near each other you could feel the tension in the room thicken. It was awkward to say the least. Their friendship had a big dent in it and the older brunette was pretty damn sure that nothing could ever repair that. The wound was too deep. He could see that Minho knew that too and was hurt by that fact. However, he also knew that he and Minho would both agree that they had been in each other’s lives for way too long to break off completely. As much as they wanted to disagree, they needed each other’s presences at the very least. That’s why, slowly but surely, they had reached back up to that awkward acquaintance/classmate phase: the one where you would only talk to them in certain situations.

When their eyes met, Jonghyun could see the confusion in them as Minho stared at him. Minho’s eyebrows were furrowed in bewilderment. “Um… What are you-”

“Oh!” Kibum’s smooth voice raised a level higher. “Yah! We can take that off now.”

Rrrip!

The sound of the duck tape peeling off his lips was loud and tortuous to the other’s ears.

“,” Jonghyun screamed at the top of his lungs as the skin around his mouth tingled. “Mother flipper. That ing hurt.” He gently touched his red lips to make sure they were still there. He glared at his boyfriend with glossy eyes. “How could you let him do that to me, Bummie?”

“Jongie~” The rainbow haired man cooed as he brought his shorter boyfriend into his arms. “Tae-Baby only meant well. He just didn’t want to be embarrassed again.”

His brown eyes narrowed as he tried to light the chocolate eyed man’s head on fire. Taemin just ignored the look sent to him by Jonghyun and focused on the soccer player in front of him, who was trying to say something to him.

“Minnie,” Minho started only to take a deep breath before continuing, “I was wondering if you wanted to…um… go on a date?” He tested his luck with the younger one.

Jonghyun’s eyes softened as he noticed Minho’s trembling hands. “Let’s go, Bummie,” he whispered to his lover as he pulled them away from the other two.

“What abou-”

“Key,” he warned.

“Fine, fine. I’ll stay out of it.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Perfect. That was the word Jonghyun would put to the moment. Nights like these were his absolute favorites. The nights where he and Kibum enjoyed a slow, gentle round of love making. The nights where his lover didn’t feel the need to shower and clean afterward, opting to leave it for the morning. The nights where Kibum didn’t complain when Jonghyun immediately pressed their hot, sweaty bodies together, gathering the younger in his arms once again. Another blissfully perfect night spent holding his beloved close as they drifted to sleep. Absolutely perfect.

He drew Kibum closer at the thought, pressing his chest tightly to the other’s back and loving the direct contact of their bare skin. He could feel Kibum’s slowed breathing as the man began to slip into a peaceful sleep. Jonghyun’s arm was draped over his lover’s waist as he kept a secure hold, his hand splayed on the other’s stomach. His other, unoccupied arm was bent awkwardly under his head, but after many nights spent in said position, he had gotten used to it. And, in his opinion, it was very much worth it. It was small price to pay for being able to hold his love close to himself.

Maybe it was just his inner-romantic taking over again, but Jonghyun couldn’t think of any other way he’d rather spend his nights. He truly loved the man he was pressed against, and because of that he couldn’t get a certain thought out of his mind.

He leaned forward, pressing a feather-soft kiss on the back of his lover’s shoulder as he gathered the courage to speak his thoughts aloud.

“Key?” He questioned softly, hoping the other man was still awake. He felt the other shift and sigh softly before answering.

“Mm, yeah?” Kibum sleepily answered.

“I have something to ask you,” Jonghyun said softly.

“What is it?” The reply was slightly slurred, his voice drowsy. The older could feel his stomach twist with nerves as he took in a deep breath, preparing himself.

“We’ve been dating for a while now…”

“Oh god,” Kibum said, now awake as he shot up to a sitting position, Jonghyun’s arm falling off in the movement. “Are you going to do what I think you are going to do?”

“Um, depends…” Jonghyun’s voice trailed off, staring up at his boyfriend’s wide eyes. He sat up, grabbing the other’s hand before continuing. “What do you think I’m doing?”

“Are you proposing to me?”

“W-what?!” Jonghyun choked on his words, eyes widening at the other’s deadpanned question. “N-no, I wasn’t.”

“Oh thank god,” Key breathed a sigh of relief, falling back onto his pillow. His hand was still wrapped in Jonghyun’s. He gently tugged on the other’s hand and Jonghyun lay back down beside him. “I wasn’t ready for that,” he admitted.

“I’ll marry you one day Kibummie,” Jonghyun promised, earning a bright smile from Key.

“We’re already married, Honey.”

“I’ll make it official though.” He brought their entwined hands to his lips, sealing the promise with a gentle kiss to Kibum’s knuckles. “But what I really wanted to ask is if you would wanted to come over to my house this spring break and- and meet my parents.”

“Finally,” Key let out an exasperated sigh, resting his head on Jonghyun’s chest. He continued, “I was waiting forever for you to ask me that.”

Jonghyun’s lips curved up, nervous butterflies flying away. “Really?” He slid his arm around the other.

“Yeah.”

The older’s smile flattered. “But my family isn’t as interesting as yours.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kibum reassured, fingers drawing random shapes on Jonghyun’s skin. “I’ll love them.”

“We’ll see.”

“I know I will,” was the quick reply. He shifted to look at Jonghyun’s face, eyes filled with confidence and a smile dancing on his lips. “Because they’re related to you.”

“Oh~” Jonghyun mimicked. “Such a romantic.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The unwritten rules of friendship, a promise to remain loyal, it was an unspoken code that was commonsense: never have a relationship with someone your best friend has feelings for. Never sleep with your best friend’s exes, no matter what they say.

And unknowingly, Jonghyun did just that…

And he didn’t regret it.

Not one bit.


The Best Friend Code

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading my SHINee fic. It was actually the first SHINee fic that I had ever written and completed and I am happy to repost it onto AFF once again.

NOTES ON STORY: This was actually supposed to have a 2Min compainion fic where you actually get to see what is going on between then and they do play a big part of what happened in this story. Sadly, I never got around to writing more than the second chapter, but maybe one day I will be able to complete it.

With that said, maybe I will see some of you soon for when I post my next fic, but thank you all for reading, commenting, subscribing and/or voting. It makes me happy to even just get one subscriber. So... THANK YOU ALL AND I LOVE YOU <3 *Is weird but doesn't care* :D