Spring was slowly starting to give way into summer, and days were getting hotter. Taemin was one to enjoy the hot weather, but not one to do so alone.

On a Saturday afternoon, he had his mind set on ice-cream and he wanted his hyung's company.

"But Keeeey-" he whined, grabbing onto Key's arm, stopping him from continuing his work.

"Taemin, go bother someone else, I can't go right now. Mom and dad are out and I have to manage the shop today." Key was trying to shake off the maknae so he could continue wiping down the counter, preparing it for new customers.

"Close early! There's no one here anyway! Please, Hyung?" Taemin have his last ditch effort, throwing in some aegyo and puppy eyes to try to convince his hyung.

"Lee Taemin, I swear-" Key was close to caving and letting the younger have his way, the heat making him weak.

"What if I get Jonghyun to come with us? Will you come then?" He looked hopeful and a little smug thinking that he had found Key's weak spot.

"No. Now leave me alone. Go find Onew or Minho to drag along, I still have a few hours left before closing." Key snapped at him, completely taking him by surprise.

"I'll just text Jonghyun hyung and see if he wants to come wi-"

"He won't be able to go either, so don't bother." Key abruptly cut him off, looking down at the counter to hide the pink tinging his cheeks.

Taemin stared at him blankly for a moment and started laughing rather loudly.

"I swear I will kick you out if you say one word, you little brat." Key glared at the younger, already seeing the gears turning in his head.

"You know you two are weirdly possessive of each other? It's kinda cute though." Taemin's laugh stopped abruptly when he saw Key tap away furiously at his phone, a scary smirk forming on his face.

"You wanna see possessive? I'll show you possessive."

Taemin swore that the laugh that came out of Key's lips was more like a cackle.

And it was honestly terrifying.

Key didn't let him leave after that, he told him to sit a while and wait, that he would get his ice cream soon enough.

Taemin wasn't too sure he wanted it anymore.

Key continued cleaning up and a few customers came in, the whole while Taemin sat on the counter sipping an iced coffee just watching him.

Not fifteen minutes later, a group of teenage girls came in, giggling and ogling at Taemin and Key both.

They sat on a sofa facing a small table, right behind Taemin.

Keeping his eyes on Key, still weary of what that phone-tapping and evil cackle.

He watched Key flirt and sweet talk the girls into buying more sweets and pastries that they could eat along with their coffee, and he held back a laugh.

Key had always been known to be able to speak honeyed words to bend people to his will, and those girls were especially weak to his charm.

For being alone in the shop, Key was doing well. He brought out the drinks for the five girls on a tray perched on his left hand, and a mountain of pastries on a platter on his right.

He shot the girls a killer smile as he put down the platter of pastries on the table and gave each girl her drink.

Taemin actually laughed out loud at the thought of Jonghyun being on the receiving end of one of those smiles. 

"Don't mind him, I think he's been alone too long. He's possibly losing a bit of his sanity." Key said, leaning close to the last of girls as he handed her her drink.

"Awww! But he's so cute! Do you think he'd like to sit with us?" a blond girl tugged at the end of her ponytail, looking at an oblivious Taemin.

"Who wouldn't want to sit with such pretty girls? If I wasn't working, I don't think anyone could pry me away from you lovely ladies." Taemin actually heard Key's comment and he literally fell off his chair laughing.

The thump of Taemin hitting the floor sounded through the quiet building and all five girls rushed to his aid. 

Taemin stood back, smiling smugly as the girls practically lifted the small boy off the floor and ushered him to the couch where they had previously been sitting. 

The girls fluttered around him, asking him constantly if he was okay. Taemin was still laughing, and Key thought he had hit his head because he was surely bordering on insanity. 

After a lot of patting of his limbs by the girls, which seemed more like tickling to Taemin, they came to the conclusion nothing was broken. Once they unhanded him, Taemin calmed down just enough to notice he was wedged between two girls on the couch. 

Taemin was used to attention from people, especially girls, because of his cuteness. He actually kind of grown to like it. 

He had figured out a long time ago that the cuter people thought he was, the more sweets they would feed him. It had earned him the title of 'brat' by Key, but the younger liked to remind him that he was no better for using his charm. 

Within ten minutes, the girls were practically force feeding him chocolate cake. 

The pastries and sweets had stopped being appetizing after the first two cupcakes and three cookies. He looked to Key with wide, pleading eyes, begging for help. 

The elder didn't bother helping him. After all, it was good business. 

A light trickle of customers came and went during the time Taemin was held captive, but the cafe was still nearly empty.

Most people opted to stay home on hot Saturdays such as these, and that was a relatively good thing for Key. No work, no school, no reason to leave the confines of their air-conditioned homes. 

Once Key's parents decided on the business trip, they had planned on closing the whole day. They gave all their workers the day off, a well-deserved break from the regularly busy cafe.

Once Key found out, he volunteered to work half the day for double the pay. 

Needless to say, he was in need of a bit of extra cash.

After a bit of pleading with them, his parents gave in. 

Taemin was nearing the end of his patience, so when he heard the front door open rather haphazardly from across the room, his head snapped up hoping for any possible escape from his captors. 

To his relief and dismay, it was none other than his best friend. 

A tanned, sweaty, panting Choi Minho. 

He looked as though he had been running, shorts and T-shirt hanging loosely on his tall frame and his hair in disarray. 

Taemin wasn't the only one to notice the glory that had manifested in their presence. 

The girls around Taemin became flustered and adjusted their hair and outfits, as if Minho's gaze would even settle on them. 

The second Minho stepped into the cafe, his eyes immediately fell on Taemin and a hint of jealousy flickered in his expression. 

After all, he was nestled in a small group of scantily clad girls. 

Key smirked as Minho rushed over and pulled Taemin up off the couch and nearly dragged him to the door before the youngest could protest. 

"Thanks, Key!" Minho threw the phrase over his shoulder as he pushed Taemin out the door, into the heat. 

"No problem, you freakishly overgrown frog!" Key laughed, watching Minho leading Taemin out of the garden in a hurry hand in hand, through the large wall of windows that made up the front of the building. 

He had told Taemin he would show him 'possessive'.

A couple hours and a few customers later, Key started to close up the shop. 

He had just finished locking up the back door near the kitchen and hanging up his apron when he heard the front door open. He made his way out of the kitchen in an almost exasperated manner.

He had somewhere to be, he didn’t have time for customers who didn’t bother to read signs.

“I’m sorry, but we’re closing early tod-“ his words got caught in his throat at the sight of Jonghyun in a thin white tank top and khaki shorts.  He wasn’t supposed to be here.

He was so caught off guard, he almost reached a hand up to fix his hair. He stopped the second the image of the girls fixing themselves up when Minho had come through the same door popped in to his head.

“Can I still get an iced coffee? I promise I’ll leave you a good tip, Bum.”

Jonghyun had been freaking out all day.

He made sure his room was spotless, that Roo was perfectly groomed and clean, and he bribed Sodam with food so she would keep shut about embarrassing stuff when Key arrived.

“I don’t know what you’re so worried about. It’s just Kibum, he knows you better than you know yourself.” Sodam was leaning on his doorway as he went through the mess of papers on his desk, making sure that there were no papers with songs about a certain someone in plain sight.

“I know. And that’s exactly why I’ve got to be careful. I can’t have him finding out before I can even tell him. The incident on the roof almost killed me. I need time, I have to make sure to figure out how he feels about me.” Jonghyun was starting to feel dejected.

He had set out to capture his best friend’s heart, and he thought he had a pretty good chance.

That was before Key started to miss a certain someone.

Woohyun wasn’t responding to any of his messages, and Key had been freaking out a bit for the past week.

He felt a pang in his heart every time that Key would glance at his phone every time they hung out during the week.

He wanted Key to look at him, to see him and know.

He was feeling jealousy and despair, and he thought that if he didn’t do something about it soon, he would be loving his best friend from afar for the rest of his life.

Sodam saw the sad expression on her little brother’s face, and she laughed.

She laughed at how oblivious he was.

She, like the many people that had been around Jonghyun and Key for any extended period of time, had noticed.

Jonghyun glared at his laughing noona, and she just laughed some more.

When she was finally able to compose herself, she went over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. He was a little surprised at first, but he didn’t hesitate to hug her back.

Sodam ruffled his hair reassuringly and whispered, “Don’t worry too much, Jonghyun, everything will be fine. Just give it some time.”

He sipped on an iced coffee on one of the sofas near the stage on the first floor as Key locked windows and doors.

He was so nervous when he had come in, he wasn’t sure exactly why, but it was very probable that it may have been just Key.

He also wasn’t too sure why he was so hyper. It could’ve been the coffee he was drinking or the thought of spending the whole weekend with Key.

It was going to be their first proper sleepover in years, and Jonghyun couldn’t avoid the scenarios that popped into his head: being woken up by a kiss, an unexpected confession, an ‘I love you’ whispered into the dark with a similar response.

They all made his heart flutter and his mind churn with even more possibilities- some that made him blush crimson.

He sipped the remaining coffee and popped open the lid, sliding a couple of ice cubes into his mouth. He leaned his head to rest on the back of the sofa, taking the ice cubes between his teeth but refraining from biting.

Not even the chill of the ice could erase the image of porcelain skin or the feel of Key’s skin from his mind.

Before his thoughts could wander and turn into impulses, he jumped up from the sofa and onto the stage.

He was glad that there was still one of the acoustic guitars on the stand near the back near the window. One of the performers from the last night may have forgotten to put it in the storage room.

Plucking at the strings, he cringed a bit when he noticed it was not tuned properly. Did someone really play it like that? He absentmindedly ran his fingers on the smooth finish of the front. Poor thing…

Key felt slightly creepy hiding behind the staircase, but he couldn’t help it.

He wanted to listen, but he didn’t want to be in Jonghyun’s line of vision.

Jonghyun was a powerful performer, always full of emotion.

He liked to make eye contact. Key liked to avoid that while he was singing.

In the morning when I wake

And the sun is coming through,

Oh, you fill my lungs with sweetness,

And you fill my head with you.

Shall I write it in a letter?

Shall I try to get it down?

Oh, you fill my head with pieces

Of a song I can't get out.

Jonghyun could see a blond tuft of hair peeking out from behind the stairs and he did his best to suppress a laugh as he sang. Key was hiding a bit too obviously and he found it extremely cute.

Can I be close to you?

Ooh-oo-oo-ooh, ooh

Can I be close to you?

Ooh, ooh.

He continued to strum the guitar, a mischievous plan forming in his mind. He was glad it was such a melodic song.

Can I take it to a morning

Where the fields are painted gold

And the trees are filled with memories

Of the feelings never told?

Moments like these—moments when Key was being shy around him—were the ones that made him think that he was in love with him too.

When the evening pulls the sun down,

And the day is almost through,

Oh, the whole world it is sleeping,

But my world is you.

He had so many overwhelming insecurities and doubts, but he had such a desperate hope.

He made sure to put down the guitar quietly, and he slipped his phone out of his pocket.

Can I be close to you?

He hummed to the tune of the original song, making it sound like it was supposed to be like that.

Can I be close to you?

He hummed again, tapping open the number pad on his phone.

Can I be close to you?

He debated whether or not to do it, there was a possibility that Key wouldn’t even pick up.

Nonetheless, he tapped number one on his speed dial.

Can I be close to you?

The room was silent, save for Jonghyun’s humming, then the chime of Key’s phone sounded through the building.

It kept ringing, but he didn’t move to pick it up.

Jonghyun had been so close, he had almost confessed. He had almost crossed the line between the two of them.

He was relieved, or so the told himself. There was a dull ache in his chest, and he laughed before he could start crying.

“You can come out now, Bum.” He said when he was sure his voice wouldn’t crack.

‘Can I be close to you?’ Jonghyun thought desperately, wondering what would’ve happened if Key had answered his call.

Hesitantly, Key stepped out from behind the stairs. He was sure that even from where Jonghyun stood, he could see how red his face was.

“You ready to go? I’ve got the car today! Should we stop for some ice-cream before we go home?” Jonghyun sounded overly excited to Kibum, but he didn’t think much of it. It had been a very long while since they had slept at each other’s house.

Key cleared his throat as he walked towards Jonghyun and mumbled something about his stuff.

“We need to stop by my house first, I left all my bag there.” Key said when he noticed the confused look on Jonghyun’s face.

“Well, you could borrow some of my stuff, Key.” Jonghyun didn’t even bother hiding the gigantic grin on his face, the thought of Key in his clothes made him a bit too happy.

“There’s no way in hell I’d ever wear your clothes.” Key started dragging Jonghyun towards the front door of the café.

 Jonghyun would’ve come up with some smart- reply, but it didn’t seem like any part of him could function correctly when Key’s fingers were intertwined with his.

Key let go of his hand almost immediately after stepping out. While Key locked the door, Jonghyun watched him intently.

His hair was a bit messy, like he had been running his hands through it, and his cheeks were flushed with pink because of the heat. Just as he heard the click of the lock, Jonghyun turned away and pretended to be admiring the garden.

“Jong? You coming?” Key asked, turning around, a little farther down the path that lead towards the street. Jonghyun nodded, eagerly and bounced alongside Key.

Jonghyun needed to get over his nervousness. If he didn’t stop soon, Key could catch on.

Key catching on could be a really good thing, or a really bad thing.

Jonghyun wasn’t ready to find out just yet.

The drive over to Key’s house was quite a bit more relaxed and less tense than their time spent in the café. Key the second he sat down and switching through stations, looking for something satisfactory.

Jonghyun started laughing when Wheesung’s “Girls” came on, and he stopped him from turning the dial to another station.

Jonghyun poked Key in his side when they were at a stop, and gave him the best of his toothy signature smile.

“You remember this song, don’t you, Bum? I still have the video on my old phone.” Jonghyun smiled, looking at the street ahead and remembered that road trip in middle school with Taemin, Minho, and Onew.

“God, you should’ve deleted it – how embarrassing.” Key completely avoided even glancing at Jonghyun while the song was still playing.

“We should go on another road trip like that this summer, it’d be nice! We could rent a cabin by the beach and have bonfires, we could go swimming and hiking every day!” Jonghyun rambled on about things they could do, and Key partially tuned him out.

That road trip had been a great source of anxiety for Key, he didn’t really want to go through that again.

It had been over three years ago, the summer before the spring Key left. He hadn’t told the others that he was thinking about going overseas to study, and he was nervous for the small holiday because he knew it would be the last time they could do something like that for a longtime if he really chose to go. He was even more nervous because he had decided he would tell Jonghyun how he felt on that trip. He was so sure that Jonghyun felt the same as he did. There were just so many signs, and the others seemed to also notice.

Things just didn’t go as Key had planned them, and he never got the chance.

He took that as another sign – one from the universe – telling him that things in reality weren’t as he wanted them to be.

He decided on the way home that he would go study abroad for those three years and try to forget about his feelings for Jonghyun. It seemed like such a fool-proof plan. Putting the distance of the Pacific Ocean between them seemed like the perfect way to stop his heart from fluttering at the thought of his best friend.

In a way it did work, his heart didn’t flutter when he saw Jonghyun’s face in the Skype calls they did on almost a weekly basis or when he saw he had a new message from him. It didn’t flutter then, but there was an aching feeling. He regretted leaving and came close to giving up and going home, but Woohyun was always there to stop him.

Woohyun had become a source of support during his time in California, although he was also a bit of trouble for Key. He was someone to confide in, someone he could talk to about Jonghyun, someone that was able to distract him from the aching feeling.

As time went on, things changed again and realized that he was never going to be able to run away from his feelings for Jonghyun. They had grown inside him for a very long time, and he knew they weren’t the type of feelings to just go away with a physical distance.

Being back now was confusing Key more than ever.

Key wasn’t stupid.

Key knew something was up with Jonghyun. The incident at the café had proved it. 

He only hoped that his suspicions were true and that Jonghyun did something before he took matters into his own hands.

“Why can’t we just stay here?” Jonghyun said while staring at the ceiling absentmindedly from Key’s bed.

“What?” Key sputtered and paused repacking his bag to look at the figure laying in his bed.

“I kind of just want to keep you to myself this weekend, at least. You were just gone for so long and, I know we’ve seen each other pretty much every day since you got back, but I don’t feel like that’s enough. I don’t want to share you anymore… When I don’t have my eyes on you it’s hard to believe you’re really here. Even when I look at you, I feel like I‘m imagining things.” Jonghyun sighed heavily, still not looking anywhere in Key’s direction.

“I don’t want to wake up one day and find out that you’re still not back.”

“Jonghyun?” Key whispered, scared that if his voice was any louder they would both shatter like glass.

Jonghyun didn’t continue or look up, so Key took a step forward and nudged one of the knees that were draped over the side of the bed.

“Jjong, stand up.” The words were soft and almost inaudible, so he nudged his knee again.

Jonghyun only half obeyed, sitting up in Key’s bed.

Grabbing onto one of Jonghyun’s wrists, Key pulled him up off the bed until he was standing with barely a foot of space between them.

Jonghyun’s eyes snapped up when he felt his hand being placed on Key’s waist, he shivered when their eyes met, and nearly melted as the tips of Key’s fingers trailed up his arm to grip his bicep. 

Under Key’s gaze, he felt paralyzed; unable and unwilling to move. Key placed a hand on the back of his neck and pulled Jonghyun forward until their chests were pressed together. Key chuckled a little when he saw just how wide Jonghyun’s eyes had gotten, and he could no longer help himself.

He leaned down and pressed a light kiss on Jonghyun’s jaw.

“When I’m this close and you’re holding me like this, is it really that difficult to believe I’m back?”

“This seems like even more than a dream than anything…” Key felt a little light headed, quite a bit unsettled by the situation. He felt like the last of his control was slipping when, as Jonghyun spoke, his lips grazed warm skin again. Key didn’t think he could speak, so he soothingly ran his fingers through the soft hair at the nape of Jonghyun’s neck.

“You won’t leave me again?” Jonghyun’s voice cracked, and the guilt Key felt was overwhelming.

Without a word, Key pulled Jonghyun into a proper hug. His arms wrapped protectively around Jonghyun’s shoulders, and the same moment Jonghyun slipped his around Key’s waist.

 “You won’t, right Key?” Jonghyun felt so insecure, his voice was a bit shaky. He was glad it was muffled in the crook of Key’s neck. He just needed the extra reassurance and comfort of Key’s words.

Jonghyun had always been sensitive and honest about his feelings than Key. Hearing all the emotions in his voice and feeling them in his actions made Key angry at himself. He had never realized he had hurt Jonghyun so much when he left. He had always assumed things would be okay because they would still talk, but he was only seeing now that he had broken Jonghyun just a little.

“Jonghyun, there’s no way in hell that I’m going to go anywhere so far for so long ever again if you’re not standing right next to me.” Key wanted to fix the cracks he left in his best friend and make sure he knew just how loved he really was.

~~~~~

So, what did you guys think? :D

Question of the chapter: Where do you think they're going to stay? *giggles*

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I'm soooooooo sorry for not updating for like four months. 

Gahhhh... I just had a lot of trouble with chapter five. 

But it turned out even longer than usual! lol I have no consistency xD 

It was originally supposed to include the actual sleepover, but nahhhhh I like making you guys wait. 

Teeheehee

I already started chapter six, so please look forward to it! :) 

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OOPS

Almost forgot xD

The song I used is called "Bloom" by The Paper Kites *^*