The next two days fly by as I struggle to keep up with work and all the complaints flowing in, finding it almost impossible to concentrate when I'm working 4 extra hours while simultaneously trying to keep Taemin and his crazy ideas under control.

--The night before Kibum's supposed to come home, 9:00 PM--

"Oh come on Jong!" Taemin bellows, "It's a great idea!" He adds leaning forward in his chair, grinning at me when I roll my eyes

"No it's not Taemin, in fact I think it's the worse idea you've come up with so far, well next to the mariachi band idea that is." I say recalling the idiotic plan.

"The mariachi band was gold and you know it!" He yells defensively and throwing his hands up in the air, making me scoff

"Uh huh, yeah sure Taemin, whateeever you say.." I reply in a mocking tone

"You just have no taste in originality!" He shoots back while turning his nose up at me

"What's next? You gonna want me to deck the house out with tiki torches and dance the hula for him?" I say waving my arms around in demonstration, making burst into a fit of giggles

"Now that would be a sight to see!" He says still laughing, but soon regains his composure when a quark up an eyebrow. "Okay okay, I'll be serious.." He mumbles looking at the table.

"Why can't I just do something simple like, oh I don't know, just straight up tell him I like him?" I grumble "I mean it's not like I'm proposing to him! Why do you want to make this all complicated?" I huff at my best friend, who's currently not listening to a word I'm saying as he stares down at the table in thought. "Taemin!" I yell

"Hmm? What did you say?" He asks with those fake innocent eyes

"I said, why do you have to make this complicated? Why can't I just tell him that I like him?" I say waving my arms around in frustration.

"Because then it's no fun for me!" He chirps with a cocky grin

"This isn't suppose to be fun for YOU, it's supposed to help me win over Kibum!" I bellow

"Well duh! Of course you're gonna win over Kibum, so why can't I have some fun with it too?" He says still grinning

"Oh you're impossible!" I shout throwing my hands up in defeat. "I'm just gonna go with my original plan!" I add glaring at him

"What seriously? But that's so cleeshay! So unoriginal!" He replies looking at me in disbelief

"Well it's all I've got, so that's what I'm doing." I say in my 'matter of fact' voice that means the discussions over.

"Fine whatever. But when turns you down you'll be wishing you'd gone with the mariachi band!" He says teasingly, but goes quiet when he sees the look on my face from the mere mention of being shot down. "Oh I'm just kidding!" He yells standing up and shaking my shoulder,

"I'm sure everything will go great, you just gotta show up and be yourself then everything else will fall into place. " He adds nudging my shoulder, and for once I'm actually in awe of his wise words.

"Thanks Taemin." I say giving him a hug, "Really, I don't think I could go through with this if you weren't here to shove me along." I add smiling at him

"Ugh! Save the mushy crap for tomorrow!" He bellows as he gently shoves my shoulder, then smiles back at me when he adds, "Good luck Jong, I'm sure you wont need it, but still.. I hope everything turns out the way you want it to.." Then he gives me a quick hug before ushering me towards the front door. "Now get back so you can finish getting ready for tomorrow, I know you're gonna spend hours just trying to find the right clothes.." He says mockingly

I open my mouth to protest but shut it when I remember I DID in fact spend hours last night digging through my closet and dresser in search of the perfect outfit, so I just grumble something incoherent as I bend down and pick up my bag. Stepping out of the door I give Taemin a small wave as we say our good byes and I turn to leave, pulling my jacket tighter around me when a gust of wind blows right through me. "It sure got cold quickly.." I mumble to myself as I pull the jacket closer, ducking my head down to avoid a passing cars lights. "I hope tomorrow's warmer.." I think to myself as I continue down the sidewalk, knowing my plan will flop if it rains. "Well if it happens there's nothing I can do about it.." I add to myself before shooing all the negative thoughts away as I step onto the subways plat form and head for home.

--10:00 PM--

Walking up the front steps I fumble around in my pockets, looking for my keys as the motion sensor flicks on. "That's weird..I thought I turned that off.." I mumble to myself looking at the light. So focused on trying to remember if I turned it off that I don't notice the front door swing open as I hear,

"Jong!!! Oh I missed you so much!" in a familiar squeal, before being tackled, and inadvertently pinned against the stairs railing as two arms wrap around me.

"What the..?" I mumble looking down at the little blond head now buried in my shoulder "K..Kibum? What are you doing here? I..I thought you were supposed to come home tomorrow?" I say in shock as he lifts his head and smiles at me

"Well..I might have fibbed a little about the day.." He says grinning at me, "I wanted to surprise you by coming back when you weren't expecting me to..but then you ended up being gone when I got here.. " He adds blushing

"Wanted to surprise me.." I repeat as he stares up at me with those bright feline eyes, "Oh you're such a goof ball Kibum!"  I say with a laugh as I wrap my arms around him and he lays his head back on my shoulder. "Well it worked..I'm surprised that's for sure.." I mumble into his hair as I feel him giggle against my neck. "Alright, now lets go back in the house before you freeze to death." I say when I notice his shivering, probably because of the fact he's in shorts and a t-shirt. But he doesn't step back when I let go, in fact he does the opposite by leaning against me harder and grabbing onto the back of my coat while nuzzling his face into my neck. "Kibum..?" I say questioningly, just before I feel his hand travel down my back and stop on my hip, then tug lightly on one of my belt loops. "Kibum...what are you doing?" I stutter as he tugs on the loop again, this time harder as he shifts his weight and carefully pushes me back against the railing.

"I really missed you." He says in almost a whisper, then looks up at me with an expression I've never seen him make before. "And I just..well..can we stay here for a little longer..?" He mumbles with pleading eyes, causing my breath to hitch in my throat so all I can do is nod. Smiling up at me he releases the belt loop and goes to hug me again, only to give me an odd expression when I stop him and my coat. Holding it open he finally figures out what I'm doing and wiggles into my arms as I wrap the coat around him, pulling him closer when I realize just how cold he is.

"Kibum you're freezing!" I say as he snakes his hands up my shirt and presses his palms flat against my back, causing me to shiver.

"But you're warm so it's okay.." He whispers, then presses his cold nose against my neck as if to prove his point

"We should really get inside before you catch a cold.." I mumble running my hand across his back, attempting to give him some of my heat

"But I don't wanna.." He whines holding on tighter

Sighing I lift his face to look at him, "You can hug me all you want when we get inside, so come on before you get sick.." I say brushing my thumb across his cheek before letting go and stepping backwards, then side step his attempt to re-latch to me as I open the front door and go inside. "Come on.." I coax waving a hand at the now pouty faced Kibum, who shuffles in rather quickly when another gust of wind blows.

 "See? Isn't this better?" I say teasingly as I flick on my bedroom light and crank up the heat

"Yeah.." He grumbles coming up behind me and plopping down on my bed, watching as I put away my bag and kick off my shoes.

"Oh by the way," I chime going to the dresser and grabbing the pink vest, "I got you something while you were gone." I say lifting it into the air

Smiling widely he jumps off the bed and walks over to me, grin growing wider as he scans the beaded material. "It's so pretty.." He murmurs turning it every which way, making sure not to miss a single detail. "And it's really mine?!" He asks in disbelief staring at me.

"Yup, all yours" I reply, cringing when he lets out another squeal

"Thank you! thank you! thank you!" He yells before throwing himself into my arms and hugging me. "This is the best gift ever!" He adds bouncing

Laughing at his ecstatic behavior I pull him into a hug, "I'm glad you like it." I whisper tussling his hair

"Like it? I love it!" He exclaims letting go off me and pressing the pink material to his chest, then lets out a gasp before saying, "This would match the shirt I got in Seoul perfectly!" then bolts out of the room as I hear what I'm guessing is him trifling through his suit case.

"I knew he'd like it.." I mumble to myself as I glance at the clock, "Crap it's 10:30 already?" I exclaim remembering I still have to work tomorrow. Letting out a groan I shuffle over to the closet and grab my pajamas before going over and closing my bedroom door, then switch out of my day clothes and go see what Kibum's doing. Peering around the corner I watch as Kibum twirls in circles in front of the mirror, twisting and turning before spotting me and motioning for me to come in. "It looks great on you!" I chime walking in and plopping down on his bed, watching him do a few more twirls.

"You really think so?" He asks knowing full well it does

"Really, like it was made for you." I reply playing along, to which he just beams back before sitting down next to me

"Thanks Jong..normally you at picking clothes..but this time you did a good job!" He says smiling at me

"I'm not sure if the was an insult or a compliment!" I scoff pretending that he hurt my feelings

"Oh you know what I meant!" He exclaims, playfully hitting my arm

"I know.." I reply quietly before standing up, "Anyways.. I gotta get to bed so I can get up for work tomorrow, so I'll see you in the morning ." I add letting out a yawn and stretching my arms over my head.

"Already..?" He whines looking up at me

"It's almost eleven Kibum.." I mumble looking at him as he pouts up at me, "We can hang out more tomorrow okay?" I add turning towards the door

"But I just got back..." He grumbles pulling at his vest

"I know that..But I have to work tomorrow so I need to go to bed now..I promise we'll do something fun when I get off work okay?" I say glancing back at him, which I realize is a mistake as soon as he looks at me with those pleading eyes and I can't stop myself from going back to him. Sighing I squat down in front of him and run a hand through his hair, "You're not going to make this easy are you?" I ask fixing my gaze with his, to which he just smile and nods no. "Well if that's the way you wanna play." I say pulling him into my arms and carrying him back to my room, flicking off the light before plopping down on the bed and holding him in my lap.

"What are you doing..?" He asks giggling when I lay back and pull him with me

"Well I need to go to sleep and you seem to be hell bent on staying with me..so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone." I reply while reaching over and grabbing the blanket, lazily tossing it over us as I wait for Kibum to give up and let me sleep. Feeling victorious when he pops his head up from under the covers I go to roll him off of me, but instead of flopping over like he usual does, he holds on tighter until I stop moving. "come on Kibum! I need to go to sleep!" I mutter starting to losing my patience

"Then go to sleep." He says matter a factly, then sits up and practically straddles me as he pulls off his vest and shirt.

"K..Kibum..wha..what are you doing..?" I stutter as he lays back down on top of me before wrapping his arms around my waist

"Going to sleep, duh." He replies with out looking at me, as if he's not laying on me half

"That's..that's not what I meant. I mean why are you going to sleep on top of me?" I choke out, trying to ignore the fact that my heart is about to beat out of my chest

"You put me here." He says nonchalantly, leaving me to gape at him like an idiot

"Well...well I figured you'd move once you realized I was going to sleep.." I mumble, "I mean that's what you always do.." I add fidgeting with the blanket, trying to fight the urge to caress that oh so soft looking skin.

"Jong?" He says quietly, pushing himself up with his arms to look at me, making me almost jump out of my skin when his groin grazes mine

"Y..yes Kibum?" I stutter, trying to ignoring the growing heat in my stomach

"Do you want me to move?" He asks, his calm and collected face fading into a rejected one

"Oh..well um..I mean if you're comfortable you don't have to.." mumble trying to avoid eye contact, but he reaches up and places a hand on my cheek, turning my face back to his and looking me straight in the eyes

"Are you sure I'm not bothering you..?" He whispers in an insecure voice as his hand drops, the voice that he uses when he comes into my room in the middle of the night because he doesn't want to be alone. And when I realize that I can't help but feel bad for trying to run him out of my room, I mean he's been by himself all week and here I am trying to push him away the second he seeks the comfort he used to having at night.

Letting out a sigh I lift one of my hands up and place it on his back, gently pulling him down as he looks at me with questioning eyes, " You're not bothering me at all Kibum..I promise" I murmur bringing up my other hand and his cheek, causing him to close his eyes as I feel him untense and lean into my hand. Giving me a small smile, he slowly lays back down with out any further questions and nuzzles into my neck, his body completely relaxing against mine when I drape both arms around him and lean my head against his.  

After awhile I hear him mumble, "It's nice to finally be home.." as he rubs his thumb against my chest, sending a wave of goosebumps down my body when his lip grazes my neck at the word 'home'

"I'm glad you're finally home.." I whisper into his hair as I feel his breath against my skin growing closer, my eyes practically popping out of my head when a pair of bow-tie lips press against my neck.

"Ki..bum.." I barely squeak out as my hands fumble against the bed when his lips part and his tongue meets my skin.

"Yes Jong..?" He replies in an innocent voice, slowly sitting up before giving me a shy smile

"What are you..why are you..." I stammer, unable to process what's happening

"I'm just showing you how much I missed you.." He answers, before leaning forward and capturing my mouth with his, causing my whole body to jolt in surprise. Unable to resist, I lean into him and I slide my hands up his back, a small hum emanating from my throat when his tongue invades my mouth in response. I don't hesitate to clash our tongues together, to taste his sweet lips as he buries his fingers in my hair and pulls me closer.

It's even greater than I'd ever imagined it would be, his soft lips pressed against mine as I feel his heart beat racing with my own. The muffled moans he lets out every time I drag my fingers down his spine, and how he arches his back at the touch. The small giggle he lets out when I roll us both to our sides, my stomach filling with butterflies when I see those flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes gazing back at me. Those soft hands gliding down my arms and intertwining our fingers, as gentle kisses are placed across my jaw. And how our lips finally meet and the world seems to fall away, leaving only him and I in this moment.

After what seems like an eternity in bliss, he pulls pack and rests his forehead against mine. "Jong..?" He whispers with his eyes still closed, all the while tracing small circles on my arm

"hmm?" I mumble sliding a hand up and resting it in on the back of his neck, curling the short hair around my fingers

"I love you." He murmurs, leaning back a few inches before slowly opening his eyes, gazing at me in a way that makes my heart flutter

"I..love you too." I reply biting my lip, unable to look away from the growing smile on his face

"You..do?" He asks sounding surprised, his pink cheeks becoming even more flushed

Feeling the words catch in my throat I simply nod in assurance, feeling my heart skip a beat when his eyes light up before burying his face in my chest.

"I..I never thought that..that you'd feel that same..." He stutters, holding on to me so tight I can barely breathe.

"Kibum..." I say with a quivering voice when I feel a tear drop run down my chest, instinctively holding onto him tighter when a small sob escapes his lips. "Bummie..what's wrong..?" I coo at him, his hair in an attempt to console him.

"I'm just..just so happy.." He hiccups looking up at me as more tears stream down his face. "I've loved you for so long and..and to finally know that you love me back it's just..so over whelming.." He adds smiling shyly

"That's why you're crying..? Because you're happy..?" I ask, feeling like an incredible weight has been lifted from my chest when he nods and leans back into me. "You're so adorable.." I whisper in amusement, before gently kissing his forehead and re wrapping my arms around him.

"Can you..say it again..?" He asks quietly

Letting out a small chuckle I gently lift his face to mine,"As many times as you'd like.." I murmur placing a kiss on his nose, then let my fingers linger down his cheek before gazing into those beautiful feline eyes.

"I love you Kibum.."