Jonghyun hears a light tapping on the outside of his window and all he can think is not again.

He groans under his covers, damning the person on the outside not only because this is the third ing time this week, but also because it’s barely past two in the morning and he had just fallen asleep. Jonghyun decides for the time being to ignore the tapping and closes his eyes, hoping that the person on the other side would leave after a while.

They don’t.

Jonghyun stirs again when the tapping comes for a second, third, and, eventually, a fourth time. Finally, he brings his hands over his face, rubs his eyes, and stares up at the ceiling in the dark of his studio apartment. He can feel where he missed shaving on the cleft of his chin, and as he drags himself out of the cocoon of sheets and quilts he’d nestled into, he decides to go over it later—much later, after he’s come back and slept as long as he needs.

The tapping comes again just as he’s standing up, and Jonghyun clinches his teeth, knowing that the person outside won’t stop until he’s seen his face and talked him into doing whatever it is they want.

Jonghyun finally arrives at the window, which is a considerable feat due to the clothes and shoes strewn indelicately on the floor, and pushes it open jerkily—a consequence of still being sleepy and maybe just a bit agitated.

“Get in, loser. We’re going club hopping,” comes the voice on the other side, and Jonghyun squints his eyes at the man because it’s just so ing dark outside and the headlights on the ship have been turned off.

“Kibum, this is the third time this week,” Jonghyun complains, but Kibum is having none of that and flails his hand over the gap between the ship’s passenger porthole and Jonghyun’s window to latch onto Jonghyun’s sleep shirt. Jonghyun shivers in the below-freezing air despite the fact that Kibum’s daring grip has him red in the face.

“The city doesn’t sleep so we don’t either,” Kibum says matter-of-factly, and before Jonghyun can retort, a second silhouette appears behind Kibum’s in the porthole.

“Don’t be such a loser, Jonghyun. You know we wouldn’t go anywhere without you,” the second person says, and Jonghyun can just barely make out the silver studs on his jacket reflecting off the digital clock Jonghyun keeps next to his bed.

“Taemin, not you, too,” Jonghyun whines, mouth forming a pout.

“We already have clothes for you on board. Come on,” Kibum says, his grip still on Jonghyun’s shirt.

“No,” the latter says firmly, trying to pry Kibum’s hands off him.

“Yes!” Kibum says, this time pulling Jonghyun forward over the gap between the window and the ship.

“No!” Jonghyun protests, adamantly trying to pull himself backward.

Kibum’s grip lets up lightly, but still enough to keep Jonghyun from flying backwards. Jonghyun can make out the shapes of Kibum’s face pouting.

“Please, Jjongie? Pretty please with a cherry on top?” Kibum pleads, and Jonghyun grimaces because 1) he absolutely detests Kibum’s aegyo and 2) Kibum knows Jonghyun can’t say no to it.

“Fine. But you realize we’re going to get caught one of nights, right? Our luck’s gonna run out some time,” Jonghyun sighs, finally leaning into Kibum’s still-steady grip.

“Yes, but that night will not be tonight. Come on,” Kibum says haughtily, and releases his grip on Jonghyun’s shirt only to spread his arms out over the gap.

Jonghyun sighs and, with a gulp, puts a foot up on his window sill and latches onto Kibum who drags him over the gap like a child being hoisted up by a parent. Jonghyun can feel the metal flooring beneath his bare feet and shivers again before turning around and closing his window.

Before Jonghyun can do anything else he feels a pair of arms wind around him from behind and relaxes into the touch.

“Thank you, Jjongie,” Kibum whispers into his shoulder, and Jonghyun feels his heart pounding in his ribcage.

Kibum presses a light kiss to Jonghyun’s ear, and Jonghyun squeezes his eyes shut, trying to imprint the warmth and feeling of it all into his memory.

But all too quickly, Kibum is loosening his grip and Jonghyun feels the frigid air wash over him from the porthole again. Jonghyun stays still, not sure what to do next, but regrets it as soon as he feels Kibum’s hand pat his shoulder and hears his platform boots clomp away on the metal floor.

“Anything for you, Bummie,” Jonghyun whispers in the dark once he’s sure Kibum is gone.

 

**********

Ten minutes later, Jonghyun is dressed to impress and sitting forlornly on the bridge of the ship.

The SS Amigo, had been legally bought and licensed by her captain, Lee Jinki, and after two weeks of showing her off to wealthy clients and family friends, Jinki decided it was going to be the main cruiser and hangout spot for him and his four best friends in spite of his parents’ wishes.

“Jinki, are you sure you don’t want to use it for, um, more official matters?” Jonghyun had asked when Jinki had first shown it off to them years before.

Jinki had chuckled, showing off his sly, toothy grin that seldom appeared and said, “Like what? Taking out the girls my parents set me up with and then leaving them heartbroken on another planet at the end of the night? No thanks.  Just because my dad’s the president doesn’t mean I have to waste the coolest ing thing I’ve ever bought on horrible blind dates.”

Jonghyun and the rest had smiled at him and boarded the Amigo for its maiden voyage to their favorite fast food restaurant on the next planet over.

Now, four years later, they still enjoy taking out the Amigo to new, exciting locations, but the world has changed a bit.

Jinki’s father had lost most of his power to a shadow government led by an infamous warlord names Lee Soo Man and plunged the whole Fifth Imperial Galaxy into a time of regimented desolation and mafia-fueled destruction.

The galaxy-wide, presidentially-enforced curfew is eleven at night, and at that time all power that isn’t supplied by personal generators is cut in order to encourage citizens to stay indoors and to keep nefarious activity out of sight.

Which is why, at a time nearing 2:30 in the morning, Jonghyun knows he and his friends are taking a big risk by being out.

Of course, there are establishments that stock up on generators to keep their businesses alive, and a few such establishments have recently become Kibum’s new favorite hangouts.

Which means they’re everyone’s new favorite hangouts.

“Jonghyun are you gonna keep moping around like that, or what?” a voice calls out from Jonghyun’s left and he sees Minho eyeing him from the second controls.

The bridge is somewhat cramped due to the ship’s small size, so Jonghyun knows he can’t evade Minho’s attempt to decipher his mood.

“Sorry. I’m just tired,” Jonghyun sighs, and on his other side, Taemin snorts. Jonghyun sends him a glare which immediately has Taemin back-pedaling with his expression.

“Well I’m sure you’ll feel a little better once you get some alcohol in your system,” Kibum says from the navigator’s chair with a coy smile that dances on his cheeks in a way Jonghyun can’t stop looking at.

Taemin lightly jabs him in the stomach with his elbow, silently saying “Stop, you’re staring,” and Jonghyun bites his lip.

Jonghyun knows he and Kibum are in some weird friend-lover limbo that he can’t figure out, and it’s starting to effect the dynamic of the whole group, but every time Kibum inhales it makes Jonghyun lose his breath.

So yeah, he thinks, some alcohol might be good.

***********

When Jinki docks the Amigo at the first place, Jonghyun steps out onto the grated metal boardwalk and has to hold onto the railing to keep from losing his balance. They’re about fifty stories above ground, which is about as high as these places get without an enclosed dock station pumped with fresh air, and the view between the grating makes him dizzy every time.

“I got you,” a voice calls out in his ear, and Jonghyun immediately feels about ten times dizzier because of Kibum’s presence right next to him.

Jonghyun smiles up at him weakly and loops his arm into Kibum’s as they make their way inside.

The club, called Lucifer’s, is nothing short of what one would expect from an establishment with that name. There is a full, main bar on the right next to the entrance and two smaller mini-bars dispersed further back around two dancefloors. Men and women in various stages of undress dance in cages that are perched about three feet off the ground throughout the bar, and a heavy strobe light washes out almost every identifiable feature of the people on the dancefloors.

Jonghyun feels his stomach flip-flop when Jinki says he’ll buy them a round but to not wait up for him.

“Let’s go dance!” Kibum yells beside him, and Jonghyun nods absently as he’s pulled onto the first dancefloor. Jonghyun can’t hear anything in the music other than the bass, but Kibum immediately finds a groove to it and sets off dancing with his usual grace.

Jonghyun’s movements are a bit jerkier (he was never good at freestyle), but soon he feels a bit more at peace with himself by getting lost in the thump of the bass.  There’s other sweaty bodies all around him and the anonymity makes him feel more relaxed—more alive.

That all comes crashing down, of course, when Kibum holds him by the shoulders and turns him around. He feels Kibum’s pelvis come into contact with his and Jonghyun is suddenly so aware of himself and every movement he’s making.

“Relax,” Kibum coos into his ear, and Jonghyun almost doesn’t catch it because it’s just so loud in the there.

But he does catch it, and he tries to slow his breathing down, focusing on the familiarity of Kibum’s hands on his waist and the steady thump of dance music. It’s not until the middle of the next song that Jonghyun regains his previous feeling of bliss, and he closes his eyes.

He’d give anything to hold onto this moment forever—to believe that Kibum is just as in love with him as he is with Kibum, and to feel that love translated into the body heat and fluid movements behind him.

But a few seconds later, he opens his eyes and sees Jinki grinning in front of him with two drinks in his hands.

“We’re sitting by the entrance! I’ll make sure Taemin doesn’t touch these!” Jinki shouts, and he nods back before Jinki slinks away back into the crowd.

Kibum takes that moment to turn him around again, and suddenly his lips are pressed to Jonghyun’s in a hungry kiss.

Jonghyun is surprised, but doesn’t complain, pushing down the part of him that tells him to run after Jinki and go sit with the other guys. Instead, he leans into Kibum and deepens the kiss, feeling his insides go fuzzy.

“Hey!” a voice grunts beside them, and Jonghyun feels a heavy grip separating him and Kibum. “None of that on the dancefloor!”

Jonghyun blushes furiously and apologizes to the security guard, who eyes them distastefully before disappearing through the crowd. In an instant, Kibum has his arm around Jonghyun’s waist.

“Let’s get those drinks,” he says and Jonghyun groans inwardly.

He knows this will be a long night.

***********

By the time they reach the third club of the night, Jinki is drunk to the point where when they’re docking the Amigo, he hits the front bumper on the enclosed boardwalk, earning him shouts from the other boys.

Jinki just grins back and turns the ship off before they all pile out.

Jonghyun is fairly sure they’re somewhere in the exosphere because the bar is still in orbit but he can’t see any other establishments out beyond them. The height is less sickening considering he wouldn’t necessarily take a direct fall toward his death, but he knows getting outside the enclosed boardwalk would end in no less.

“D’you wanna get a room here, Jjongie?” Kibum asks as he sidles up next to Jonghyun, and the shorter man is just barely less drunk than Kibum to decline due to the growing pit in his stomach.  Kibum rolls his eyes but doesn’t voice his complaint.

This club is a kitschy, avant-garde place entitled JoJo’s with a giant neon sign above the entrance noting the title and the guest DJ lineup for the rest of the week.  Jonghyun is personally not a big fan of the place since it had been in the news a few weeks back for a showdown between some mafia members and the presidential police, although the owner claimed to have made swift repairs.

“Hey,” comes Jinki’s voice behind them, “Can I talk to you for a second?” It takes Jonghyun much longer than it should to realize Jinki means him.

Jonghyun moves to hang back with Jinki as they enter the club, but a tug at his elbow prevents him from doing so.

“What?” Jonghyun nearly growls at Kibum, who is currently performing some weird mixture of a pout and an evil glare.

“C’mon Jjongie. I wanna dance,” Kibum says, tugging at Jonghyun’s elbow again. Jonghyun furrows his brows. Kibum’s words make zero sense—he heard Jinki ask to talk, too. He was sure of it.

“I gotta talk to Jinki first,” Jonghyun says, attempting to walk the two steps it takes to get to Jinki, who seems to be calmly watching over the interaction.

“No, you’re mine, so come on,” Kibum declares, and the statement has Jonghyun’s head spinning. Had Kibum just called him his? Was this real life?

But the niggling itch at the pit of his stomach comes again and Jonghyun frowns, pulling his arm out of Kibum’s with more force than necessary.

“I’m not yours, Kibum. Go inside with the others,” Jonghyun instructs, nodding his head in the direction of the other two men who are awkwardly watching them, not even bothering to move for traffic’s sake.

Kibum’s eyes flash with something Jonghyun can’t put a name on, but quickly his face freezes over into distant nonchalance. “Fine,” he says curtly, and saunters over to Minho and Taemin. When he sees them enter the club, Jonghyun turns to Jinki whose eyes are dancing—but it might just be the alcohol.

“What’s up?” Jonghyun asks as he makes his way to Jinki’s side.

The latter shakes his head, a small, sly smile painted on his face. “Why are you doing this to yourself, man?” Jinki questions, struggling to keep his balance on the walkway.

“What are you talking about?” Jonghyun shoots back, his brows furrowing in confusion.

Jinki giggles—something Jonghyun remotely realizes is a very rare thing to witness—and drunkenly puts an arm around Jonghyun’s shoulder.

“Just tell him you like him. It’s so obvious and it’s getting really painful to watch, y’know?” Jinki says, pulling Jonghyun into the entrance with him. Their other three friends are about six heads in front of them and Jonghyun is anxious to get back to them—to Kibum.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jonghyun mumbles. “He doesn’t love me back.”

Jinki freezes next to him, and Jonghyun feels like he’s just said something he really shouldn’t have.

“You love him?” Jinki questions and he turns Jonghyun to face him head on. The latter grimaces and looks away.

“Sorry,” Jonghyun says, pulling at the edge of his shirt.

Jinki scoffs. “Don’t be sorry, Jjong. I—we just want you to be happy. It’s so horrible to watch your best friends skirt around each other for months on end like this. Just tell him. It’s even more important that you tell him if you love him.”

Jonghyun feels like melting into a little puddle of bones and tar and stardust. Kibum’s always loved the stars. If only he could turn into a star, then maybe—

“He doesn’t love me back,” Jonghyun says under his breath, his voice cracking near the end, and he’s sure he’s near tears. He’s always been a depressed drunk.

Jinki sighs next to him and presses his forehead to Jonghyun’s shoulder. Jonghyun looks down and then Jinki’s eyes are meeting his again in a blurry mix of brown irises and laugh lines.

“You don’t know that for sure,” he says. “You never know until you try.”

Jonghyun frowns, shrugging Jinki off his shoulder. He’d thought about telling Kibum about his feelings for so long. But periodically, Kibum would bring something up about them being best friends, or how he loved Jonghyun—as a friend, or how he met some cute guy at work and he was so glad he had Jonghyun as a friend to talk to, or how—

“Jonghyun?” Jinki calls from his side, nudging him forward. “ID.”

Jonghyun looks in front to see that they’ve reached the entrance and the bouncer is decidedly impatiently waiting for him to show his ID.

“Sorry,” Jonghyun mumbles to the bouncer, shuffling around in his pocket for his plastic ID card.

“If you don’t tell him, I will,” Jinki suddenly announces behind him, and Jonghyun stares back at him in wide-eyed surprise. The bouncer clears him and Jinki just shrugs as his ID is checked.

“You wouldn’t,” Jonghyun says, his surprise turning to anger and fear.

Jinki is cleared to enter and raises a brow. “I really might if you don’t. Wouldn’t it feel better just to tell him? Even if he turns you down, you could finally get closure, you know?”

Jonghyun bites his lip. “That’s what I’m afraid of, though. I don’t want to ruin our friendship. I mean—all of us—the five of us.”

Jinki stops and gives him a pointed look in the multi-colored strobe lights. “Too late for that, Jjongie.”

Jonghyun in air as fast as he can. “What? You mean it’s—What? How? When?”

Jinki shakes his head. “You can’t hide anything from us. We’ve had to navigate your for months, Jonghyun. So just tell him.”

Jonghyun wants to curl up into a ball right there by the entrance of the club and drown himself in music and alcohol. “But he—

“Can’t know how you feel until you tell him, Jonghyun! Please. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, then do it for the rest of us,” Jinki says bitterly. Before Jonghyun can reply, Jinki’s disappeared into the crowd of the club.

Jonghyun stays there, standing in the middle of the entrance, knowing in the back of his mind he’s probably blocking the way for a lot of people, but he just doesn’t care. He didn’t even tell Kibum anything yet and he’s already ruined the dynamic of their friendship. He’s failed before he could even begin. How can he face him now? How can he face any of them now?

“Move it, buddy,” a rough voice comes behind him, and Jonghyun is suddenly jostled to the side, clambering around for his balance.

“Sorry,” Jonghyun says, bowing his head low, only looking up as the guy walks away. His eyes go wide.

Mafia.

Suddenly, Jonghyun’s heart is pounding wildly. There’s more of them coming through the entrance now—largely-built men with matching red tattoos on their necks. Jonghyun feels his breath caught in his throat. If any of them found Jinki—he’d be done for. The ransom for the president to get his son back would cost the entire galaxy system what freedom they have left.

So, with a burning sensation in his chest, he searches wildly for his friends. He scans the bar and the dancefloor, trying to make out signs of any of them—Taemin’s studded jacket, Kibum’s pink hair, Minho’s tall stature, and Jinki’s galaxy-wide known face—but doesn’t see any of them. It’s only when he turns toward the darkly-lit booths does he spy a tuft of bright pink hair.

He runs over, careful to keep an eye on the location of the mafia members, too. He’s about two-thirds of the way there when chaos breaks out.

“It’s the president’s son!” a voice yells loud enough that Jonghyun can hear it over the music.

Suddenly, a dozen or more mafia members are frantically heading straight for the booth where his four best friends are. He sees it happen in slow motion: Taemin’s eyes go wide and shouts something. Minho and Kibum, who are on the edges of the booth, tumble out of the seat like it’s on fire. Minho drags Jinki with him one way while Kibum and Taemin run the other way—toward Jonghyun.

Kibum’s frantic eyes meet Jonghyun’s and suddenly they collapse as Taemin brings them down to the floor. A fraction of a second later Jonghyun’s ears fill with the sound of gunshots and yelling.

“Are you okay?!” Kibum shouts to Jonghyun, who nods erratically.

“We need to get out of here!” Taemin yells to both of them.

“What about Jinki and Minho?” Kibum shouts back. Jonghyun isn’t sure who’s holding onto who, but he knows that one of the bodies near him is shaking. It might be his.

“We can’t wait! We have to go to the ship so we can go when they make it out!” Taemin yells, and then he is standing up again, trying to get Kibum and Jonghyun to stand, too.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jonghyun sees a red tattoo, but it’s too late.

“You three! You’re his friends right? I’ve seen you on TV,” the mafia member shouts gruffly, pointing a bulky metal gun at the three of them.

Jonghyun can hear his heartbeat in his ears now. It’s over. Their luck finally ran out.

“Well? Where is he? Where is the president’s son?” the mafia member spits, and Kibum silently drags Jonghyun behind him.

“Like we’d ever tell you, you son of a—” Taemin begins, but he’s cut off by the sound of the gun. Jonghyun and Kibum both jump as Taemin goes down.

“What the hell was that for?” Kibum cries, the desperation and fear blindingly apparent in his voice.

“Oh, please. It’s just a flesh wound. But if you don’t tell me where Lee Jinki is, I won’t be so nice next time,” the mafia member growls, and Jonghyun can’t stop staring at the dark red liquid staining Taemin’s jeans.

“Kibum, I have to tell you something,” Jonghyun suddenly says, unable to tear his eyes off Taemin, who looks up at him in pained shock.

“Um, Jjongie, I don’t think this is the best time,” Kibum says over his shoulder, careful not to take his gaze off the mafia member.

“No, Kibum, I need to tell you. We might die in the next five minutes and I need to tell you,” Jonghyun says, finally looking up at Kibum.

“Hey!” the mafia member shouts, and Jonghyun flinches. “Are you kidding me? Tell me where your friend is and you’ll have all the time in the world to tell this guy what you need to!”

Jonghyun closes his eyes, refusing to meet the mafia member’s eyes. “Kibum, I love you, okay? This is the worst possible time, but you need to know in case I—”

“Listen, kid,” the mafia member shouts in frustration, and Jonghyun opens his eyes when Kibum shifts away from him. The man has his gun pointed straight at Kibum’s forehead. “Tell me where Lee Jinki is or the man you love dies.”

Jonghyun’s throat goes dry. He realizes his error, now.

“Don’t tell him, Jjong,” Kibum says out of the corner of his mouth and Jonghyun is absolutely positive he’s trembling now.

“Let them go first,” Jonghyun says, raising his hands. He knows this is extremely stupid, but he’s not about to lose his friends like this. “Let them go and I’ll tell you where he is.”

“Jonghyun! Don’t!” Taemin whispers harshly from the floor below, but Jonghyun keeps his gaze trained on the mafia member.

“Fine,” the man says, lowering his gun. “Go,” he instructs Kibum and Taemin. The two exchange terrified looks with Jonghyun before Kibum bends down to help Taemin stand. “Now,” the man says, smacking the end of his gun into Kibum’s .  Jonghyun narrows his eyes in disdain.

Taemin grabs onto Kibum and they begin to wobble away behind the man. Jonghyun’s eyes flash up to Kibum’s, and time slows for a moment. Kibum nods subtly in Jonghyun’s direction and Jonghyun feels his stomach toss. They’d planned this out before, but never had it been put into practice.

“Alright, kid. Where is he?” the man asks as Taemin and Kibum hobble off toward the entrance. The lights, sound, and smoke are still going in the club which makes it extremely difficult to see, but he thinks he sees Minho and Jinki crawling on the floor. There’s still a ton of mafia members around, but innocent bystanders are, too, making the club a giant, dense, people maze.

“He went to the back exit. There’s a presidential ship docked there,” Jonghyun says, hearing his voice waver on the lie.

The man eyes Jonghyun distrustfully for a second before tapping his watch com on.

“Check the back. There might be a ship there,” the man says into the com, and Jonghyun shrinks inside himself. He was hoping the guy would go and check it out himself, or better—let Jonghyun go, but like he thought earlier, their luck has run out tonight.

A few moments later, the com beeps in response and the man holds it to his ear. His face distorts into anger, and suddenly Jonghyun is staring down the barrel of a gun. The metal and LED lights adorning it are glaring.

“You lying little—”

The man goes down and Jonghyun sighs in relief. He sees Kibum standing over the man with a chair in his hands.

“Holy , Kibum, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that and I-I…” Jonghyun stutters and gives up, hot tears pricking at his eyes. He’s still pretty drunk, but he knows his emotions aren’t just due to the alcohol.

“Jonghyun,” Kibum’s voice comes out a few feet away from him low and angry. Jonghyun looks up and winces when he sees Kibum’s face which has been contorted into a thing of pain and frustration.

Suddenly, Kibum is coming toward him and Jonghyun instinctively takes a step back, but then Kibum’s arms are around him and all he can see is Kibum—all he can think is Kibum—and he hears Kibum sniffle in his ear.

“I love you, too, you loser,” Kibum chokes out, and Jonghyun practically melts. He laughs—soft at first, and then nearing hysterics—into Kibum’s ear, and feels himself shake against Kibum’s warmth. “Let’s go. Jinki and Minho made it back to the ship.”

Jonghyun gathers himself as best he can in the moment and nods, wiping at his tears. He meets Kibum’s eyes as they pull apart, and Kibum’s smile is blinding.

As they run back to the ship, hand in hand, Jonghyun can’t stop replaying those words over and over again in his head. He loves him. Kibum loves him. Kibum loves him. They can figure everything else out later—the flighty PDA and wandering eyes and all the little details that he feels now were always a part of Kibum’s insecurity—the only thing that matters now is that Kibum loves him, too.

When they get to the ship, they stumble in and are welcomed by their other three friends who look like they’ve seen not just one ghost, but a hundred.

It’s in that moment that Jonghyun remembers Taemin has been ing shot and as Jinki madly puts the ship into gear, three mafia members appear in the enclosed boardwalk.

“Go, go! Dammit! We have to get Taemin to the hospital!” Minho shouts at the top of his lungs, and when Jonghyun looks back he sees two mafia ships un-docking from the club.

Kibum’s at the navigation controls again, wildly inputting coordinates for the nearest presidentially protected hospital and Jonghyun sits on the bench right behind him, pressing his fingertips into Kibum’s side.

“The destination’s set, Jinki,” Kibum yells out, and Jinki nods before steering them out of the current planet’s orbit.

The mafia ships are right on their tail, unfortunately, and Jonghyun’s getting nervous that he and Minho are going to have to take up the weapons stations, but as soon as he and Minho manage to exchange a worried glance, a presidential police ship appears, coming out of warp. Everyone on board sighs in relief as the mafia ships scatter.

Taemin, who’s been lying on the floor with his leg up the whole time, suddenly calls out, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, we’re going to a hospital now, you’ll be fine,” Jinki says over his shoulder.

“That’s not what I meant, hyung,” Taemin says before pulling at Jonghyun’s pant leg. The later stares down, worried that Taemin needs something, but the younger man smiles up at him. “Are you and Kibum alright?”

Jonghyun feels his face go bright red, and as he tries to come up with an acceptable answer, Kibum is there with his hand over Jonghyun’s.

“Yeah,” Kibum smiles gently, giving Jonghyun a breathtakingly gentle look, “I think we’re alright.”