Jinki looked through the bills, making notes on a paper beside him as he tried to figure out what he needed more of, what he could skimp on a bit. He chewed on the tip of the pen as he muttered to himself.

“Okay, the cherry blossom season is over, so I can remove the blossom cupcakes, but summer is starting to hit full stride, lemon cupcakes could be good. Hot chocolate is at a low right now, but with monsoon season approaching it may rise...”

Jinki sighed and dropped the bills onto the table, rubbing his face with his hands in distress. This was his least favorite part of owning the cafe, and now with the wedding to worry about on top of that, it seemed like he would collapse at any moment.

“Why don’t you take a break hyung? Eat something, and then we’ll look at the guest list again.” Jonghyun patted Jinki’s shoulder comfortingly, taking a seat beside him.

Jinki fought to hold back the groan of despair at Jonghyun’s words. Oh right. The guest list.

While Luhan bugged Taemin about flowers and cakes and all the small details, Jinki and Jonghyun were busy with the bigger things, like booking the venue, and making sure all their friends and family were on the guest list- all the ones that approved of them anyways.

Noticing his friend’s distress, Jonghyun immediately backtracked. “We don’t have to. We could always just pretend it doesn’t exist and let Luhan worry about it later.”

Jinki shook his head. “No, I’ll do it. Besides, if we let Luhan make the guest list it’ll be composed of 200 of his best friends.”

“Awh give him a break. He’s just trying to help out. And you know he’s shy, he doesn’t have 200 best friends.” Jonghyun paused. “Just 199.”

Jinki laughed and stood up. “I’m going to grab a cup of coffee, and then we can get to work on this stupid list.”

When Jinki returned, coffee in hand, Jonghyun had pulled out a notepad and placed it on the table between his seat and Jinki’s. Jinki sat down and took a look at the paper, reading the short list of names aloud.

“You, Luhan, Minseok, Jongin,Hyoyeon, Joon, my parents.” He looked at Jonghyun in surprise. “Is that really all we have?”

“So far, yes. Although Taemin may have some other dance friends we don’t know about, and Luhan is bound to force you to invite his friends.”

“Aren’t they all Chinese though? Do they even speak Korean?”

“I think most of them do, and he does have some Korean friends, though they might be more Minseok’s friends than his.”

“Hmm.” Jinki nodded.

“So we’re probably looking at around 30 people, maybe more depending. You’ll probably want to let guests bring a date as well, so Joon can bring Mir or whoever his latest boy-or girl- is, and Hyoyeon can bring Min, and...”

As Jonghyun talked on, Jinki's mind wandered. The names on the paper blurred before his eyes, while Jonghyun's voice became nothing but a slight murmur in the background.

His mind found it's way back to that room, the piano eagerly waiting for him. It beckoned to him, the air around him calling out his name.

The feeling was strange, this longing he hadn't had for years. He’d done well to lock it away, to forget about his past. Yet here it was, as if it was his present instead.

It frightened Jinki, more than anything had since he’d fallen for Taemin. He thought he moved on from Kibum, and really he did. However, his past was still a dark place he didn’t dare bring to light, and with this new found longing he was beginning to realize that maybe he wasn’t quite as over it as he thought.

After Kibum's death, singing was one of the first things Jinki gave up. Where Jonghyun found singing as a way to escape, to throw his emotions into his lyrics, Jinki found it to be another knife in his heart, too painful to utter a single note.

It had felt like another part of him was torn away, after he decided to quit pursuing his dream of being an idol, but it needed to be done. There was no way he could continue on that path without Kibum by his side.

It was the best decision, he tried reasoning with himself. He was too afraid to audition anyways, he was bound to give eventually. It was time to find a better career path.

So he sold his piano, and moved out of Jonghyun’s apartment. It wasn’t long before he met Joon and bought the shop, the two moving into the apartment upstairs together. Joon had been Jinki’s coworker for all of six weeks, but it was enough to help Jinki get the business running, and he’d been successful since.

Jinki moved past that life and never looked back, never let himself imagine what would have happened if he hadn't given up his dreams. It was in the past, just like everything else, forced to the back of his mind where it couldn't hurt him.

Yet now, after so long, all these emotions were coming back to him, all the longing to sing, to play, to perform. Feelings he hadn't had in years were suddenly at the forefront of his mind, tempting him.

He knew he couldn’t give in. He was terrified of what would happen if he did, what dark place he would return to. He didn’t even know if he’d remember how to play, and he already knew from that time he sang for Taemin that his voice was more than a little rusty.

But still... he wanted to play, wanted to feel the smooth keys beneath his fingers. Just once...

“Yah! Jinki! Yah!” Jinki became aware of Jonghyun’s calls and turned to him, blinking his eyes as he returned to reality.

“Ah, neh?”

Jonghyun glared. “You didn’t pay attention to a word I said, did you?”

“Uuuhhhh...” Jinki rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry Jonghyun, I must have zoned out.”

The sound of the door slamming shut interrupted them, and they turned to see Taemin strolling in, an easy smile on his face.

"Hey Yeobo." Taemin greeted, giving Jinki a quick peck on the cheek. Jonghyun grinned stupidly at the simple gesture. "You guys are adorable." He teased.  

Taemin rolled his eyes. "You ready to go?"

"Go where?" Jinki asked, still dazed.

"Rehearsal, remember? You were going to take me?"

"Oh, ah, that." Jinki bit his lip. He thought of the piano in the rehearsal room, and shook his head. No, he couldn't let himself go back. That was his past, and needed to stay that way.

"Sorry Tae-ah, but do you think Jonghyun could take you? I'm kinda busy with bills and wedding planning right now."

Taemin frowned. "Are you sure you don't want to take a break? You've been at it for hours."

"I'm sure. You know how Luhan is." Jinki shrugged, trying to act normal. He could see Jonghyun staring at him in confusion from the corner of his eye, and avoided turning his way.

Taemin looked at him weirdly. "If you say so." He gave Jinki another peck, though it felt uneasy. "I'll see you late then." Taemin turned to leave, Jonghyun following after him. The singer threw Jinki a suspicious look before following Taemin outside.

Jinki let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and dropped his head into his hands.

What on earth was he doing?

"What the hell was that?" Jonghyun asked, glaring at Jinki. It was late, and he and Taemin had just returned from rehearsal. Both were still drenched in sweat, and, upon arrival home, Taemin had immediately raced to the shower, leaving Jonghyun alone with Jinki.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jinki denied.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. 'Too busy'? Jinki, you weren't even paying attention to anything I said that last half hour. I can bet you didn't do anything after we left either."

Jinki turned away to avoid his face giving away that he was lying. “I was a bit tired before, that’s all.”

“Then why did you lie? Jinki, you’re my best friend, but I’m not going to let you go around lying to Taemin if something is wrong. That boy loves you too much to deserve any distrust.”

“I know, I trust him Jonghyun. I’m not lying. I really am tired. Planning a wedding is stressful.”

Jonghyun glared and crossed his arms. “Whatever. Don’t tell me. Lie to me all you want, but don’t lie to Taemin. If something is wrong, he should know. Hell, he wants to know. He loves you Jinki, and tells you everything. You may love him too, but if you don’t open up, you’re going to end up in the same situation you did a year ago.”

Jinki frowned, and opened his mouth to argue, but at that moment the bathroom door swung open and a cloud of steam poured out, along with a half Taemin, clad only in a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Oh Jinki, I have something I’d like to show- oh. You’re still here.” Taemin paused in the living room entryway, a pout upon his face. Beside Jinki, Jonghyun was slack-jawed.

“It’s okay Tae-ah, he was just leaving. Right Jonghyun?”

“Ri-right.” Jonghyun stuttered, stumbling towards the door as he tried to simultaneously look and not look at Taemin’s bare chest. After running into the wall (twice) he finally managed to reach the door, and with one last pathetic wave goodbye, he disappeared.

“Now that he’s gone... where were we?” Taemin asked, slinking towards Jinki and placing a hand on his chest.

Jinki’s lips curled into a smirk as he let his fingers find the knot tying the towel together. “You were going to show me something, if I recall.”

“You recall correctly.”

The two fell into each other, limbs tangling together, as they moved back towards the bedroom. The closer they got, the farther Jinki’s worries became, and by the time they hit the bed, Jinki had forgotten he’d argued with Jonghyun. Though to be perfectly honest, if it weren’t for Taemin it every five seconds, he was pretty sure he would have forgotten his name as well.

--------------------------------------------------------

I swear I'll get better at posting on time.

Okay. I don't. We all know I'll be late in the future as well. But it's here, and the drama is starting, so.. yeah. :T

Love you all, bye~