CHAPTER EIGHT

The other’s head was tilted to the side, not by a great amount where it would he practically horizontal; it was just enough so that it was at the right angle. Jonghyun mimicked the action as he leaned his head to the side. He bent forward a little. His lips tightly pulled together and pushed outward. As he puckered his lips, Jonghyun’s eyes slowly shut closed.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Jonghyun nearly jumped out of his skin. He fumbled with the remote that bounced from one hand to the other before firmly grabbing it and pressing pause on the movie. The frozen screen showed a couple in a heated kiss. “I… uh…” Jjong looked at his older roommate. His eyes were wide with shame and embarrassment. “I…”

“Say no more,” Onew raised his hands up in the air. “I know what you’re doing and all I am going to ask is why?”

Jonghyun bit his lower lip as he said, “I… I have to practice, because he’s been trying to kiss me.”

“It’s as easy as one, two, three, just kiss him. I don’t see any problem or why you would have to practice for such a thing.”

Jjong groaned as he followed his friend to his room. “I have many reasons. One, he’s had lots of boyfriends before me. Two, I’ve only ever dated online. And three, I’ve never even had my first kiss.”

“What about that time when we played spin the bottle when we first started college?” Onew asked as he put down his bag and sat on his bed.

“D-does that even count? It was just a peck,” the younger brunette said confusedly. “And it was by Shin Se Kyung nonetheless. I don’t really want to count that as my first kiss.”

“Okay, so you never had your first kiss,” he agreed with the other. “Just get it over with.”

“What if I’m a bad kisser?”

“Then practice-”

“That’s what I was-”

“On him,” Onew finished his sentence. “What’s the big deal? You practice to get better. All he did was just try to kiss you.”

“No, Onew. He didn’t just try to kiss me,” Jonghyun stated as he sat next to his roommate. “He keeps on trying. It all started on our third date.”

Jonghyun stared blankly at the screen in front of him. His leg bounced up and down as his need to get up and walk around increased. Don’t get him wrong, he loved movies with a passion. He was the type of person who would go movie hopping if he could. There was only one reason he was sitting there trying to have patience and that reason was Key.

Anyone and everyone that knew him knew Jonghyun was a er for tears. When he saw someone crying he went weak and would do anything to have them smiling once more. That’s why when his boyfriend had looked at him with tearful pleading eyes the older man couldn’t say no. Key knew how to get what he wanted, when he wanted, and how.

Jonghyun thought Key was generally sad over the fact that their scheduled date was on the one day the movie theater was having a special feature. That was until after he agreed and promised they would go, Key’s tears dried instantly as a bright smile replaced the frown followed by a “hurry up before they sell out” and shooed him away.

That brings him to where he is now, sitting in the movie theater watching some action movie on the big screen. Did he mention it was in English? He could barely even comprehend what the movie was about.

He grabbed his soda from the cup holder with his hand that wasn’t preoccupied holding Kibum’s. He placed his lips around the clear straw that turned a dark color as he took sips. He left the straw in his mouth while he bit and played with it. It was definitely more entertaining than the movie.

“Jonghyunnie,” Key whispered his nickname for him as he squeezed his hand.

Jonghyun placed his cup down as he acted like he was interested in the movie and was only taking a sip. He turned to his boyfriend and muttered, “What is it?”

“Kiss me.”

His heart skyrocketed. His palms became sweaty and his breathing uneven. He leaned forward as he told himself he could do it. He watched as pale lids covered russet eyes. He followed the other, his own eyes closed. He kept leaning forward until their noses bumped each other’s and Jonghyun panicked. That wasn’t supposed to happen, he yelled at himself in thought. He couldn’t kiss him now. He then did the worse thing ever to recover from that mess up. He rubbed his nose back and forth against Key’s before he pulled away.

Key’s eyes snapped open and stared at him in disbelief. “What the hell was that?”

“An Eskimo kiss,” Jjong whispered nervously. “Cute, no?”

Jonghyun cursed himself for getting nervous. He wasn’t going to let Kibum kiss him now. Not until he knew that incident wouldn’t happen again.

“An Eskimo kiss?” Onew chuckled as Jonghyun finished telling the story. “You seriously gave him an Eskimo kiss?”

“I panicked!” the brunette yelled in defense.

The elder bent at the waist, doubled over in laughter. He clapped as a loud raspy laugh left his wide open mouth.

“And then he tried to kiss me during class!”

“I-I can’t believe this!”

Jonghyun shook and convulsed with silent laughter as Key slid the paper closer to him. The student that was presenting their paper was forgotten as they passed the note back and forth. On the paper was a quick horribly, but at the same time cutely drawn chibi dinosaur. Underneath in bubble letters it said, ‘I may look cute but my bite is worse than my rawr’.

The brunette grabbed his pencil and drew a circle. He added pointed ears to it. He then drew another circle with four tiny ovals near the bottom and a tail. He rapidly sketched almond shaped eyes and a small mouth to give off an angry look. Under the cat he scribbled, ‘Warning: Diva Cat Alert. Sharp Nails. Will Claw’.

Key let out a light, almost silent gasp as he read what he wrote. He smacked Jjong’s arm playfully.

Meanie! D:

): B-but I’m not mean! Kibummie~

Make it up to me

What do I need to do? <3

Kiss me

ˆɜɛˆ

“Idiot,” Key whispered.

Jonghyun’s heart nearly stopped when he felt his boyfriend’s slim fingers grasp his chin and turned his head to face him.

His warm breath hit Jjong’s lips. “Not on paper.”

The older brunette thanked the heavens when his teacher’s voice echoed in the nearly silent classroom. “Who would like to present their final next?”

Jonghyun flew from his chair, away from Key as he grabbed his half-assed paper and yelled, “Me!”

“I actually volunteered in English, Onew. In freaking English class!” he yelled as he began to pace back and forth in front of the other’s bed. He made sure to not trip over the occasional article of clothing. “It didn’t stop there. He then tried to kiss me in the hallway as people passed. I mean, do you realize how embarrassing that is; to have a bunch of my schoolmates staring at me as I tried to figure out how to kiss my boyfriend? I got nervous and I told him I had to do a lab and ran.”

“Oh god, Jjong,” Onew rolled his eyes at his friend. “Just kiss him already. You are so weird. I’ve never met someone like this before. Run to him and kiss him!”

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

Jonghyun tapped the wooden door with his knuckles. He had no idea if Key was home, but he needed to talk to him. His stomach did back flips and he instantly regretted knocking on the door. He wasn’t ready for this.

“Jjong?”

The sight of the reddish-blond man was one that he was thankful for. “Taemin!” He smiled at his friend.

Taemin gave a small smile back before the tiny curve flattered. “Are you here for me or Key?”

Jonghyun opened his mouth to say that he needed to talk to his boyfriend, but the other interrupted.

“You know we haven’t had time to hang out together ever since you and Key started dating, and you promised Jjong.”

It was right then and there that Jonghyun finally realized that after years of knowing and being around his diva-like boyfriend, his friend must have gotten the skill on being persuasive down packed, because the next thing the brunette knew he was sitting on the couch playing Mario Kart with Taemin.

Even though he wanted to go to Key, he forced himself to stay seated and play the game. He and Key had both promised the youngest one that their relationship wouldn’t get in between their friendship with him.

When Taemin hit his character and sent him flying over the edge, Jjong couldn’t hold his anger in. “Stop cheating!”

The younger one laughed. His eyes never left the television. “I’m not cheating.”

“You’re making me fall off on purpose!” he whined as he tossed his controller on the ground.

“That was the point of the game. I needed to do that to win.”

“What’s going on here?” The voice was low and raspy almost as if he had just woken up, and by the way Key was rubbing his eyes with his hands he must have just got up.

Jonghyun smiled brightly at the man standing in his pink pajamas. He left his controller on the floor as he jumped up, excited to see his boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around the tired man’s slim waist and pulled him into a hug. Jjong’s pink lips brushed against Key’s ear. He felt the taller one slightly tremble in his arms. “Had a nice cat nap?” he whispered. Even though he couldn’t see Key’s face, he knew the other rolled his eyes because of the slap he received on his arm. “Ow. Kibummie.” He pouted.

“What are you doing here?” Key asked as he wrapped his arms around his short dino before snuzzling into the crook of his neck.

The sound of a cough behind them forced the two to separate. Jjong looked at Taemin who was obviously sulking with a displeased frown on his face.

“I came here to hang out with Tae. I haven’t hung out with him in forever,” the brunette said.

“Aw,” Key pouted. “But I missed you.”

Jonghyun smiled back at his adorable boyfriend. “I missed you too.”

“Can we get back to the game?” Taemin asked annoyed.

Jjong’s brown eyes connected with Key’s russet ones. Ask him, he tried to telepathically tell him.

Key immediately turned toward the younger one and asked, “Can I stay and watch Tae-Baby?”

Yeah, Jonghyun and Kibum’s telepathic ability was way more superior and on mark than his and Minho’s.

The game continued with the diva-like man snuggling into Jjong’s side. The brunette was stuck on one phrase the entire time they played, “come on”. It was all he could say while he leaned forward as if his character would do the same and go faster. His character, Yoshi, passed the computer playing Donkey Kong. He was right behind Baby Mario, who was controlled by Taemin. He was so close to winning.

He turned a corner on the rainbow road nearly falling off in the process. He hit the colorful cube. The sound of the game randomly choosing an item was like heaven to his ears. He got shells.

He equipped the three green shells. They swirled around him for a few seconds before he sent them flying toward Taemin. One missed not even reaching him before it fell off the corner. The second one flew past the reddish-blond and slid off the side. The third one was a direct hit. “Bulls eye!” Baby Mario flew upward giving Yoshi a leeway to the finish line. As his character passed the white and black checkered line in first place Jonghyun yelled, “Yes! I did it!”

Taemin rolled his eyes at his overjoyed friend. “I’m going to get something to drink.”

As Taemin walked to the kitchen, Jonghyun moved his arms up and down as he did a little dance. He turned towards Key, “Aren’t you proud of me? I totally kicked the champion’s ~”

Russet eyes sparkled with a gleam of mischievousness. “So proud that I think you deserve an award.”

Jonghyun gulped. He knew what Key was trying to do. He his dry chapped lips and said, “Actually… I’m kind of thirsty.” Jjong tried to stand up, but Key grabbed his hand and pulled him back down.

“Why won’t you kiss me?”

“I-I-” Jonghyun wasn’t sure how to answer that question.

The feline-like man leaned closer as he tried to persuade the other. “I swear Jongie, I’m a great kisser if that’s what you’re worried about,” he rambled.       

A great kisser? That didn’t help Jonghyun at all. His palms started to sweat and his heartbeat accelerated. His mouth opened and closed as he was in a state of shock. “Uh…um…er…”

The brunette jumped off of the couch and ran as the sudden feeling of an overwhelming fear spread though out him.

“Get back here, Jonghyun!”

He could hear Key’s foot steps behind him. The stomping noise was getting closer and closer to him as he slid through the first door that was open, which to his dismay was his boyfriend’s. “Ah!” he yelled as he tripped over the small rug. His arms flailed around as he tried to regain his balance, but to no avail. Jonghyun met the floor face first. He groaned in pain as he rolled onto his back. “Ow,” he grunted as Key straddled his waist, sparks of pain traveling throughout his body.

“Why can’t you just stay still and let me kiss you?!”

“Because!” Jjong yelled, never really giving an answer.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” he muttered. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Key. You’ve been amazing.”

“Then why? Why won’t you kiss me already?”

“It’s just that…” Jonghyun took a deep breath before he decided to tell him the truth, “I’ve never really been with anyone before. I’ve only ever dated online. I have no experience in this whatsoever. I haven’t even really had my first kiss yet. And I know you’ve had a few and I know you must be a great kisser, but I’m not!”

Key stared down at the man beneath him, eyebrows raised with disbelief, “A-are you kidding me?”

Jonghyun’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. He wanted to crawl and hide under the other’s bed. Anywhere away from this moment was fine with him. “No…?”

It was a quick motion. Kibum was quick and swift as he swooped down and placed his lips on Jjong’s while he was distracted by his thoughts.

The feel of the soft lips on his own rough ones had Jonghyun momentarily stunned. He stayed frozen. His body was as stiff as a board when those pink lips claimed and moved against his as if trying to coax him into kissing back. He felt the hot breath of Key’s sigh hit his lips before his boyfriend sat up.

“I can’t believe it,” Key said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

The brunette’s fingertips caressed his lips. The feeling of the other’s kiss still lingered there. “W-what?”

“Jonghyunnie, you’re amazing. You’re so handsome. You have the biggest eyes I’ve ever seen,” he said as he traced the small bags that resided underneath the large brown eyes from sleepless nights. His finger moved, gliding across his skin as he kept talking. “You have the cutest nose…Your sharp jaw line gives you a very masculine look, which contradicts your adorable and always wanting to help personality… Your hair,” he touched the dark stands, “It’s so soft. You can pull off the messy look so well. I have never found a man wearing sweats so attractive and y until I met you. I just can’t believe that a guy as good looking as you has never really dated anyone or has never even kissed someone. However, seeming that I had just kissed a statue a few minutes ago, I will say that you need work in the kissing department. All you need is a little practice though.”

Jonghyun felt a spark ignite within him when Key finished his speech. He didn’t expect him to just kiss him right then and there. He was shocked. He wasn’t ready for it! He felt the need to prove that he wasn’t bad at all at kissing. Jonghyun grabbed Key’s waist as he pulled himself up into a sitting position while simultaneously bringing the younger one on top forward.

“!” they both yelled in pain as their hands flew up to check their newly bruised noses.

This couldn’t get any worse, Jonghyun thought to himself as tears collected at the corners of his eyes. “I’m so sorry!” he apologized.

“Idiot,” Key whispered affectionately after making sure he wasn’t bleeding. “Turn your head.” He grabbed the masculine jaw and tilted his head.

The older one’s eyes fluttered shut as their lips connected in a short, soft breath-taking kiss. “Better?” he asked hopefully. He was like an open book at this moment. All his insecurities were scattered around for the other to see. He abused his bottom lip with his teeth as he waited for an answer. His heart slammed against his chest when Key stared at him through slightly wet lashes.

A smile quickly stretched across the younger one’s lips as he brushed them against his dino’s. His voice came out like a low hum, “I think you need to practice more.”