Loving Him Was Red
Colours [A One-Shot Collection]
Loving Him Was Red
Inspired by Taylor Swift's 'Red.'
Kibum wore a confused expression as he looked at the male who was sitting across from him as Jinki glanced sideways to avoid any eye-contact that could’ve possibly been made with the other person. The flame of the candle on the table between the two flickered in the dimly lit restaurant. Other occupants took no notice of the situation of the two and neither did the waiters or waitresses.
“I think we should break up.”
The blond male shook his head in disagreement while giving a nervous laugh. “You don’t mean that, right?” A pause was taken for a reply, but when no words were said, Kibum tried reaffirming what he wanted to hear. “Right?”
“I mean it Key. I—”
“Don’t.” Kibum got up from the comfortable, cushioned, red seat of the restaurant the two were at. He bypassed people who were eating and conversing when he heard some murmurs. Presumably, it was about the outburst he had, though Kibum personally thought it was a quite calm reaction compared to some he had seen. Keeping in mind to not go back there in fear some of the employees would remember him, he exited the restaurant through the main entrance and passed a concerned-looking host when he heard steps behind him. Kibum had a good idea on who it before turning around against his better judgement to face his now ex-boyfriend.
“I want you to understand that it’s better off this way,” Jinki tried explaining, “we haven’t been connecting recently and—”
“Three years,” Kibum growled, “we’ve been together for three ing years, and now is when you decide to tell me it’s not working out?”
The other male sighed, letting his shoulders slump in defeat. “I didn’t want to hurt you. I- I still care for you.”
“Apparently not enough.” Tears threatened to drip down his face, but Kibum held onto his strong facade. “I guess this is the last time we meet. Have a nice day, Jinki.”
He headed towards the train station thinking about how the one that had once filled his world with vibrant colours, now dyed it a dull, depressing blue.
Kibum’s eyes opened slowly, waking himself from his slumber in a composed manner to the start another day. He hadn’t awoken particularly early; a fact he came to realize when turning to glance at glaring red numbers from the clock on his nightstand.
12:30 P.M.
It was quite late actually but in terms of his schedule these days, normal. Kibum hadn’t planned much for later on in the day either. Just a blind date his friend had set him up with, though it wasn’t anything special. Not for him, anyway. Kibum unplugged his phone from the nightstand that was placed on the other side of his bed and stuck it in the pocket of his pajama pants as he headed to the bathroom to begin his daily routine.
Washing his face, Kibum looked at his hands that leaned on the feminine side. Many often commented on the feature, saying that he was ‘gay’ because of them. They were right, though, on both aspects. Kibum was a homoual and he was happy being one. Well, most of the time at least.
He grabbed the hand towel that hung on a nearby rack to dry off the water drops that still clung to his skin and parts of his hair. Exiting the bathroom, Kibum instinctively checked his phone for social media notifications, only to be greeted with the smiling faces of him and Jinki on their second anniversary.
Ah.
The memories came flooding back; all the happy times they had shared together began to replay in his mind like a movie that seemed to have a fairytale ending until he remembered.
Jinki wasn’t his anymore.
Then, all at once, the times that he had shared with him felt as if it were out of Kibum, leaving behind a shell of who he used to be.
But it’s better off this way.
That’s what Jinki had told him when they broke up, but Kibum couldn’t help missing him. Their relationship had lasted them three years until Jinki had said they weren’t going anywhere, later explaining their relationship had become ‘dull.’ Kibum would’ve laughed at the events playing through his mind if it didn’t hurt so much.
He wiped the tears he didn’t even know he was letting out when Kibum realized that his knuckles were slight bruised. Staring in slight confusion, he finally registered that he had somehow managed to punch the wall unconsciously after noticing the slight indent beneath all the dark paint. Of course, it’d be him who had to suffer so greatly from the break-up. He was the only one to have invested in their relationship in the first place.
Recomposing himself, Kibum walked towards his bed again just to lay down on it like he had been earlier. The previous warmth it held faded as he sunk into the blankets. Maybe he’d stay like this for the rest of the day— or, at least until he had to get ready for the date, but that wasn’t until a few hours.
Kibum turned his head to the window on the right side of his room. With blinds open so he could see and hear the pitter-patter of the oncoming rainfall that caught his attention, he noted how the previous clear blue skies now turned a dark, stormy grey.
Kibum was just the slightest bit annoyed when the male his childhood friend, Taemin, set him up with, hadn’t appeared on time. Checking his watch, Kibum realized he was indeed late.
By half an hour.
That was more than enough incentive for him to leave, especially since he didn’t have the other’s number to ask where they were. However, as he got up, a voice interrupted him.
“Wait, don’t leave. I only just got here.”
Turning towards the voice, Kibum saw an attractive brown-haired male that had cleaned up rather nicely, save for the stains on his velvet-colored suit that were most likely the cause of the downpour outside. Off the record, he looked very familiar. Attractive, yes, but somehow familiar, though he couldn’t remember from where.
“Another chance please?”
He gave a smile that reminded Kibum so much of Jinki, except he wasn’t Jinki, and Kibum had to stop thinking this way.
With a nod of approval, the man's smile widened even more than Kibum thought was possible, showing off his straight teeth.
“My name’s Jonghyun, by the way,” he said as he sat down on the cushioned seats of the booth. The sudden statement took Kibum from his thoughts and he was taken aback when Jonghyun’s hand extended out over the table.
“Kibum,” he spoke, accepting the hand as he introduced himself. After all, it would’ve seemed rude to do otherwise.
“Sorry about the delay,” Jonghyun sheepishly apologized. A grin finding his face as he scratched the back of his neck in nervousness. “I wasn’t planning on the rain so I didn’t exactly dress for it. Not to mention, the traffic, omigod the traffic, it was just terrible. When I got here I couldn’t find a good parking space, so I had to park far away. Probably wasn’t my best idea since I had to walk in the rain and I didn’t bring an umbrella with me, but—”
The blonde found him vaguely interesting. Breaking out into a small smile, he stopped Jonghyun from speaking more on the useless subject.
“It still looks great on you,” Kibum interrupted, “the red suit I mean.”
Instead of getting angry at Kibum for interrupting him, Jonghyun smiled. Had he not been so confused as to why Jonghyun smiled, Kibum would’ve smiled back just as brightly because— wow. His smile was beautiful; it lit up the room and, just as it was beautiful, it was contagious.
“W-Why are you smiling?” Kibum managed to get out, slightly tongue-tied.
“I saw a little smirk on your face,” Jonghyun teased.
Trying to hide the growing heat he felt, Kibum put his hands on his cheeks and pouted. It wasn’t a bad thing though he hadn’t felt this way in a long time and he definitely didn’t expect someone like Jonghyun to sweep him off his feet so fast. “What of it?”
“Nothing.” The other male grinned as he took a sip of the coffee that remained untouched till then. “It just means that I’m doing something right. Which also means that you don’t completely hate me, and that’s always a plus.”
Kibum looked at Jonghyun with furrowed brows. “But I’ve never said I hated you?”
“Taemin said you hated people who weren’t on time,” Jonghyun admitted sheepishly as he put his closed fist up to his face, trying to hide the lower half of it, “I was really late for this date, so I thought that you’d hate me automatically. Although you accepted to stay, which was something I was surprised about actually.”
Of course, Kibum internally rolled his eyes, only Taemin would say something that stupid.
“Look,” he wanted to set the records straight, “first off, Taemin is an — don’t try and defend him,” Kibum added after seeing Jonghyun getting ready to speak, though the other closed his gaping mouth after he mentioned it. “Second of all, Taemin’s one of my closest friends. In fact, because of him, I’ve gotten over one of my biggest pet peeves. Wanna guess what it is?”
The blonde hoped Jonghyun didn’t answer the question, it was meant to be rhetorical. After a slight pause, he continued, “do you even know how ing late he is? It’s not once and it’s not even just a few times, it’s all the time. ‘Hey let’s meet up in 5 mins.’ ‘Sure.’ I call him up an hour later— ‘Hey, where are you?’ ‘Huh? Oh, sorry. I was getting some.’ ‘Of course, you were Taemin.’”
“Knowing Taemin, it was probably with Minho too.” Jonghyun laughed as he put in his comment; a statement Kibum couldn’t disagree with.
“But really, it’s so ing annoying how often it happens, I want to bury him 5 feet under every time he does it, but that’s a one-way trip to jail, and I don’t really think I’m cut out for that kind of life, you know?”
“Same here.” His voice sounded considerably lighthearted to Kibum, especially paired with his smile. “And, to be honest, I’m glad that I wasn’t that big of a turn-off. It might’ve hurt my pride as CEO of SHINee Effects.”
“Your pride as what?” Kibum wasn’t sure he heard right, or rather, he desperately hoped he heard wrong.
“CEO of SHINee Effects?” Jonghyun supplied though a bit confused. “I thought Taemin mentioned this to you already.”
Kibum could hardly comprehend the many thoughts running through his mind. Taemin definitely did not mention that he had set me up on a blind date with the very handsome CEO of SHINee Effects, my favorite clothing brand. I knew he had connections being a pretty well-known actor, but . I didn’t know he had this many connections. That would explain why Jonghyun looked so familiar...
“You think I’m handsome?”
Or, at least, the thoughts he thought were in his mind.
Kibum was taken out of his thoughts only to see a ridiculously cocky smirk on Jonghyun’s face and, if he wasn’t so shocked by the question asked, he would’ve slapped it off the other’s face.
On a side note, Jonghyun wore cockiness damn fine.
“Maybe,” was the response Kibum gave as he turned to face the booth’s window that oversaw the street and used a hand to rest his head on, though, really, it was to hide the ever-growing blush.
The brunette grinned even wider. “I’m taking that as a yes.”
“Take it as whatever you want,” came a slight mumble.
Jonghyun chuckled before receiving a ringtone played. Kibum looked over to him as the other was trying to find where his phone was.
“One minute,” he said checking the caller ID on the screen of the smartphone after locating it, “I have to take this.”
Save for the occasional nod of the head and “okay,” Kibum wasn’t able to hear the conversation between Jonghyun and the caller, deciding to sip his own coffee as he waited. A few moments passed when a cup of coffee had been finished and Jonghyun ended the call with a sigh. The blonde didn’t want to ask questions in fear of appearing nosy, but he did want to know what it was about. Thankfully, Jonghyun answered his thoughts not long after.
“I’m sorry this date has to end early,” Jonghyun apologized raising a hand for the bill, with his wallet out and getting ready pay. “A surprise meeting about our stocks popped up and it’s scheduled for 6:30 P.M.” At that, Kibum checked his phone.
5:17 P.M.
“Okay, I guess it’s fine,” Kibum shrugged. Truthfully, he was disappointed that he couldn’t spend time with the charming, optimistic CEO, but it couldn’t be helped. Not to mention, why would someone like Jonghyun want to spend more time with a depressed like himself? Kibum guessed it was only fair. He wasn’t one for making the mood, Taemin was usually there for that.
After thanking Jonghyun for paying, both men walked to the exit of the cafe where Kibum said his goodbye and started heading towards the train station two streets down.
“Kibum!” He turned around, raising an eyebrow. Who was calling his name and why?
Jonghyun paced to where Kibum stood and took his hand with a boyish grin, leading him to the opposite direction. A slight heave made an appearance as he spoke. “Where did you think you were going?”
Was this supposed to be a trick question? “Um, home?”
“That’s a funny joke,” Jonghyun replied bringing Kibum in front of a car, “why are you taking the train when I could drive you home?”
Kibum didn’t know specifics as cars weren't something he kept up with, but just the pure silver sleekness of the machine blew him away. Before he realized, Jonghyun had already opened the door of the passenger seat. Kibum thanked him and entered the car only to realize it was just as nice, if not nicer, as the outside. The inside was silver and finished with the occasional wood lining. It didn’t reek of money like the cars bought by most wealthy people, but it definitely still showed off the wealth Jonghyun had.
“-Live?” Kibum shook his head to knock himself out of his admiration of the car.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
Jonghyun chuckled showing his teeth in his smile before restating his question. “Where do you live?”
“Um, take that turn,” he said, pointing his ring adorned index finger in the direction of a road that led them to a highway. “My apartment is on Exit 31.”
“Okay.” Jonghyun replied with a nod of his head as he started up the car and they were on the road. Not long after, only the sounds of the light drizzle hitting the windows were heard. It stressed Kibum as silence slowly overtook the setting, save for the few “turns here”’s and “take that road”’s. Fear overtook his conscious mind. Did he decide that I wasn’t good enough? I thought we had a good start. Maybe I’m throwing myself into a relationship too fast. After all, I was against this in the first place—
“We’re here,” he was brought out of his thoughts when he looked out the window to see the entrance of his apartment complex.
Kibum smiled slightly. “”Yeah, I guess we are.”
If he was being honest, he didn’t want to leave Jonghyun. They had a good time together, and, despite only meeting him earlier that day, Kibum had been treated like he was someone Jonghyun cared about, but that couldn’t be right. This was Jonghyun he was talking about. CEO of SHINee Effects and one of the most eligible bachelors out there. And he was Kibum. A simple fashion student who worked part-time at a small store of SHINee Effects. Maybe all that hoping that Jonghyun would be all that Jinki wasn’t was taking over his mind.
Maybe this was why he got his heart broken in the first place.
Jonghyun had gotten out of the driver’s seat to open the passenger door for Kibum, but the latter didn’t do anything to respond. In the another pregnant silence, the brunette led other towards the glass doors of the apartment building.
“Thank you for the drink and drive back home,” Kibum gave a ninety-degree bow once they were situated at the entrance, “have a nice evening.” He turned to enter the complex when he felt Jonghyun’s hand on his shoulder.
“Kibum,” the blonde turned around, “why so formal?” He answered almost emotionlessly.
“Because I am only your subordinate at the end of the day.”
Turning away from Jonghyun’s frown, Kibum tried to enter the complex for the second time but was stopped once more only to be met with a soft pair of lips against his.
What the—
It was innocent, a touch of the lips and nothing more. Kibum’s eyes widened and stayed that way even when Jonghyun’s lips left his.
“Just saying,” Jonghyun winked at him, “I don’t give a kiss to just any ‘subordinate.’”
A blush quickly covered Kibum’s face as he put his hands to cover it, only leaving his eyes free to see the CEO that still had seemed to have the brightest smile on the planet walk away, back to where his car was parked.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow then?” Jonghyun yelled from where he was, “6:00 P.M. here?”
The blonde couldn’t find the voice to reply, so nodded instead.
Jonghyun’s smile got wider. “Can’t wait!”
Seeing the other males drive off, Kibum couldn’t help smiling at himself as he the thought of tomorrow’s date. He entered through the doors and walked up the stairs to his second-floor apartment. There, he took off his coat and shoes before lying down on the bed in content. For the first time, in the longest time, Kibum’s world was in colour again.
It wasn’t a depressing blue or a daunting grey; it was a bold, vibrant red.
Just like Jonghyun’s suit.
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