Kibum never wanted to go out that night; he was against the idea body and soul. Breaking and entering was never high on the list of ideal activities, but even lower on that list was breaking and entering into a haunted house. 

But alas, they were already here. He and his group of “friends”, which consisted of himself, Woohyun, and a random mixture of Woohyun’s other friends that Kibum didn’t know.

One of them had taken charge and cut a hole in the back fence of this haunted house- well, er, it’s actually just a spooky looking abandoned residence. But it’s big and overrun by a dead garden, and it’s the middle of the night. So it’s definitely haunted.

It was going perfectly fine, too- aside from Kibum having the creeps and feeling just a little too worried that someone was watching them, it was really just a house. No activity aside from Woohyun suddenly squeezing him in the sides and forcing a high-pitched shriek out of him. To which he was returned a hard elbow to the gut. 

But just as Kibum was starting to curl his upper lip at Woohyun, there was a crashing noise from above them that caused the floorboards to creak and dust to burst from the ceiling. Then, silence. For just a moment. The moment lasted only just long enough for Kibum’s heart to jump out of his chest, beat wildly and almost painfully against his ribcage, and then slowly it settled back down. He could tell the rest of his party was just as frightened. The noise was definitely not one of them.

“It sounded like something fell.” Woohyun stated, his throat dry as he gazed up at the ceiling and squinted at the remnants of dust that settled in his eyes.

“...Maybe-“ Kibum didn’t even get to finish his sentence (which for the record, was ‘maybe we should just leave’) before there was a very deep, booming yell, gaining in volume and ferocity as heavy footsteps thumped the hallways and a shadowed figure emerged at the top of the staircase, their hands gripping the railings.

The moment that yelling started there was a panic, the whole group was screaming and scrambling to get out of there, knocking over a vase and a small table in the process- except Kibum, who just screamed, voice shrill and coarse and full of sobs as he crouched down to the ground and clasped his hands tightly over his ears. He didn’t even know what he was thinking, just ‘Oh, god’ in a horrible panic. Woohyun didn’t even stop to help him out, he was suddenly alone and someone was at the top of the staircase. A murderer. Some kind of serial killer. His family would never hear from him again, his friends would make up stories about how they tried to save him; he’s going to die here, oh no-...

Silence?

Yes, silence. By now, Kibum had expected to be grabbed, or spoken to again, at least. But nothing, not even footsteps. Maybe... maybe it was some kind of illusion? Okay, it definitely wasn’t an illusion, but whatever will to survive he had inside of him forced his eyes to peek open and peer up to the top of the flight of stairs. 

Still there.

Kibum’s heart was in his throat, his eyes were teary and he was just plain frightened, pale as a ghost with the life drained from his face as he stared through the darkness at this vague outline of a person at the top of the staircase.

He didn’t expect the next part.

“Oh, I’m sorry..” came the softest voice he’d ever heard. It was the complete opposite of that ferocious yelling just a moment ago. Kibum had to double take. His hands peeled off of his ears and his expression twisted into the most confused and almost offended frown he could muster.

That voice wasn’t just soft; it was truthfully apologetic. It was smooth, gently worded, kind even. 

“I thought you were my friends, I was trying to scare you...” came the voice. The owner of which quickly emerged from the dark and took a few apprehensive steps down towards the frightened crouching figure that was Kibum. Who was still painfully confused.

“You-? Who-“ was all he could manage, voice trembling as he frowned angrily up at this new and admittedly, handsome, face. 

“Um, I’m Jinki… I’m not some crazy axe murderer.” he smiled and laughed apologetically, face lighting up as he held a hand out to the other. “I might have left that impression.”

Kibum still wasn’t able to give an answer. He was crying just a moment ago, he honestly thought he was going to die. So Jinki just waited, smile slowly falling into a sheepish look as he let his hand drop down to his side.

“I’m really s-”

“Just what do you think you were doing?!” Kibum suddenly shouted, standing up and baring his teeth at the other, clearly very angry. It caught Jinki by surprise and he was just staring back, wide eyed. “Were you trying to give your friends a heart attack!? What do you even mean? Friends? I didn’t see anyone else!”

Huffing loudly, Kibum was wiping the streaks of tears from his face and adjusting his hair haphazardly, just glaring off in the other direction so he didn’t have to look at that innocent and attractive face. He might feel bad for snapping, then.

“My friends were going to come here tonight, I came to wait so I could scare them.. I didn’t think another group would come the same night.” he admitted, chewing his bottom lip a little and tilting his head to look at Kibum’s face. “I really am sorry.”

And he really did sound it. Kibum couldn’t ignore that. With a little frown, Kibum was reluctantly unfolding his arms and looking over at this ‘Jinki’ character, meeting his eyes and suddenly feeling a warm flush in his cheeks.

“It’s fine..” he exhaled, glancing downward for a moment. “And I’m Kibum.”

“Nice to meet you...” Jinki couldn’t help making that comment, he was grinning at his words and even laughing softly at them. This was definitely not a nice way to meet. Memorable, at least.

And somehow, under all that pressure, after all that commotion, Kibum laughed. Maybe because he’s become hysterical after fearing for his life, or maybe because Jinki’s joke just now was actually funny. He was just laughing, cackling as he bent over and hugged his stomach, tears forming in his eyes once again as Jinki stared on. 

It was Kibum’s unique laugh that had Jinki snorting and laughing, himself. He’d never heard something so appalling. 

“Oh- oh my god... who does that sort of thing and then says ‘nice to meet you’?” Kibum gasped, laughter bubbling out of him as a wide grin stretched across his face and he met eyes with Jinki, who was just smiling right back.

“Should I have said something else? ‘Let’s get coffee’?” Jinki replied, just chuckling softly as he watched Kibum laugh.

“I think you seriously owe me one, Jinki.” Kibum retorted, smiling back at him.

And yes, they did get coffee.