It had been a while since Kibum had had the luxury of visiting the mall. Given the teen’s status as a trainee with SM, all of his time not in school was devoted to long practice sessions that made his body sore and his voice hoarse all in hopes that one day he would become a star.

He aimlessly followed after the small group he had come with, not really interested in the stores they were drawn to but not wanting to venture off on his own. It was precisely that moment that something – or someone – caught Kibum’s eye and he lost all sense of his surroundings.

“Yah, Kibum-ssi!” one of the other teens huffed, shoving Kibum away as he had so rudely walked right into them. The shove was enough to break through Kibum’s stare, but his heart was still hammering in his chest and his hands were sweaty.

He had known about his uality from a young age, but never had he been so distracted by a boy before. Kibum wouldn’t even call him cute, he was… breathtaking. Distractingly so. The boy seemed to be about Kibum’s age and had big eyes that should have made him look awkward but somehow fit his face. His other features came together to make him more handsome than he should have the right to be. His black hair was a little on the shaggy side and he seemed to be athletic if his toned calves had anything to say about it.

“Kibum-ssi,” the manager startled him from his staring and he looked up at the older man. “What’re you looking at?” he asked under his breath, turning to see what had caught the teen’s gaze and almost doing a double take once he saw the boy.

“You kids stay here, okay? I’ll be right back.” And with that, the manager was rushing through the crowded mall until he was standing right in front of the boy, talking excitedly as if he had found a prize.

Kibum tried not to blush when the boy looked back at their little group and the manager waved excitedly to them, but he didn’t think he was successful as a bright smile spread across the boys’ face and their eyes connected, if only for a moment. The manager handed him a card before making his way back over to their little group, a large smile on his own face as he hurriedly called someone and started talking animatedly.

“You won’t believe what just happened! I think I’ve found our missing element for the 5-member group… Yes! He’s perfect, I’m telling you. …Yep he’s got my card and promised to call when he spoke to his parents….”

~

“Kibum-ah, what if we don’t get put into the same group?” Minho whispered late one night as they were stretching after a long day of practice. Kibum rolled his eyes and tried desperately not to show that he was just as worried. Ever since the boy he had admired from afar in the mall had shown up to begin training as an SM rookie, Kibum had stayed up each night worrying about exactly the same thing.

“Don’t worry, Minho-yah. We’ll still be friends.” He kept his voice soft, leaning his shoulder into the taller boy’s to provide some comfort, when in reality Kibum was afraid his voice would crack if he spoke at a normal volume and he was the one seeking out comfort from the other.

Surprisingly enough, Minho was shy and didn’t feel comfortable with some of the other trainees, but he felt comfortable with Kibum. But that was okay, because Kibum felt the most comfortable with him too.

“Hyung…” Minho said, stirring emotions deep within Kibum’s chest, “do you…do you really think so?”

Kibum took in Minho’s worried gaze, his teeth were chewing at his plush bottom lip and his forehead was crinkled in concern. Kibum had to physically restrain himself from reaching forward to brush a hand over his cheek, from kissing that worried look off of his face so that he would never have to see it again. But that wasn’t what Minho wanted, that was what Kibum wanted. And he would never be able to act on it.

“Of course, Minho-goon,” he chuckled softly, jamming his elbow lightly into the younger’s ribcage. Minho groaned at the impact, playfully butting his head against Kibum’s as the two began to wrestle. Kibum fought back with all his might, not wanting to seem inferior, but inevitably Minho won and Kibum was pinned to the floor.

A smile spread across his face and Kibum stopped laughing, his breath stolen from him as Minho leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Good,” before rolling off and laying next to him on the floor.

Kibum didn’t think he could move.

~

Kibum watched interview after interview on his laptop, telling himself – and anyone that asked - that he wanted to make sure his answers sounded good and he looked okay. In reality, he was too busy watching Minho in each interview to even pretend to know what he was doing in them.

Minho really had been the missing element to their little group – not that Kibum had known what SHINee was before that fateful day in the mall – but he was the flaming charisma that they needed. And everyone loved him. Everyone.

Kibum scrolled through fan blogs and videos, all of which honed in on Minho and his ridiculously dorky smile and his grossly handsome face.

What Kibum didn’t know was that there were plenty of fans for the rest of them, he was just too blindsided by his own infatuation to even bother looking for those videos.

~

Kibum was sitting to the side of the stage taking a break before their next rehearsal when Minho sat down next to him. Jonghyun and Jinki were messing around behind the stage and Taemin was off doing whatever it was that Taemin did, and Kibum relished the few moments alone that he would have but also cursed the frog-eyed boy next to him.

Minho, oblivious to the emotions raging through Kibum’s body at their close proximity, leaned heavily into him without saying a word. This was happening more and more regularly but Kibum was fighting desperately to not make more of it than he should. He had finally admitted to himself, and his grandmother during their last phone call, that he was infatuated with his best friend. Infatuated, in love with, same difference. And it was slowly killing him.

The choreographer called out to Minho and he stood up, using Kibum’s thigh as leverage and making him in his breath. Now it wasn’t just raging emotions that were tearing through his body, but he had a growing to deal with too.

Cursing Minho under his breath, he shifted uncomfortably as he watched him work with the choreographer to go over some new moves for their performance. His shirt was drenched in sweat and showed every hard line of his body. Kibum tried not to stare but was woefully unsuccessful. Soon Taemin joined Minho and the two were laughing, joking together about new moves and who knew what else.

A small flash of something struck through Kibum’s heart but he brushed it off. He needed to get over his infatuation with a certain frog-eyed boy before anything serious happened and he ruined their friendship and their careers.