After Onew closed the door behind him and left the dorm, Key got up from the floor and fixed his clothes. He glanced over at the front door for a moment and gave a light sigh, still wondering why the leader suddenly got up and left without answering Key's questions. Did he get annoyed from all the complaining? Or maybe he was having a bad day? Key didn't know. There were many options for why Onew hurried out of the house after Key asked him about Jonghyun. Jonghyun -- who was now out, enjoying the day with his oh so precious girl. The thought made Key shudder. Minho and Taemin were still at Lotte World and it seemed like they wouldn't be back until later tonight. The rapper shuffled lazily into the kitchen where he saw an empty coffee cup on the table.

"Aishhh, leader hyung can't even put his cup in the sink."

He scoffed to himself, and being the umma he was, he took the cup and instantly washed it, dried it, and set it back in the shelf. Satisfied with his work, Key took a look around -- everything was clean. The whole dorm was clean. He had nothing to do and he was all alone. That's definitely not how he imagined his day. Key hated being alone. It was one of the situations he tried to avoid the most -- loneliness. An awful feeling. Deciding to call Onew and check if he was okay, he pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialt the leader's number in hope he would pick up his phone and tell Key that everything was alright. After a minute -- still no response. Biting his lip, Key hung up and  glanced down at his phone in concern, now starting to get worried. Onew always picked up his phone, like he said himself, "A leader has to be reachable 24/7!". Key couldn't help but to laugh at the thought of Onew's quircky way of saying it. It was funny how he suddenly found himself thinking about the memories he had with Onew. During Hello Baby, he called Onew honey, they washed the dishes together, played together in bed. Whenever Key needed someone to listen to him Onew was there. No matter in what kind of mood he was, he always listened to Key -- well not only to Key, but to all the other members too. That's why he was the leader of SHINee. In Key's eyes, Onew was the most responsible and caring person he knew. ..Why was he thinking about Onew? Usually his thoughts were filled with Jonghyun. Key quickly shook his head to snap out of thoughts and made his way to the front door, putting on his boots and jacket, fixing his hair in the mirror before he left the house as well, deciding to go and search for the leader who left without any proper explication.

"Pft, leader tasks my . Onew hyung was always bad in lying."

The rapper huffed as he walked down the sidewalk, looking around for the older male. It was obvious that his excuse about having leader tasks to do was a huge lie. They had a week off. There were no leader task to do.

--

Onew found himself sitting at a lake in a park -- the place where he could relax and get rid of negative thoughts. The cool air made him shiver a bit, causing him cross his arms over his chest, lightly hugging himself. He knew that it would be better to go back to the dorm, where it was warm and the posibility to catch a cold was rather low. But he couldn't go back. Facing Key... no way. The way Key complained about wanting Jonghyun to like him more than a friend -- he could still hear his words in his head. Onew shook his head quickly, trying to distract himself by looking over at little ducks who were having fun in the lake, even in this cold weather. The brown-haired male grinned and waved at the ducks, but soon let his grin fade, now staring plainly at the lake. No one was at the park. The silence was calming, yet slightly terrifying. Onew was used to the loud dormitory where Key got into his umma mode and scolded Taemin for not doing his homework properly, Jonghyun being the big noisy kid he was, and Minho.. oh, Minho. Minho was always the calmness in person who sat on his precious couch, keeping himself busy with video games. No one dared to challenge him, they knew they'd lose instantly. The thought of this made Onew laugh, but his laugh faded off as he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and cleared his throat at the sight of the person in front of him.

"Aah, so, that's how leader tasks look like, eh?"

Key glanced down at Onew and crossed his arm in front of his chest, keeping a straight face as he spoke scoff-ish, his foot tapping a few times on the ground. Onew blinked a few times and slowly got up from the spot he was sitting on, brushing the grass of his pants before eyeing the younger male in front of him, scratching his head.

"I-I'm sorry... I really had to do something important, though."

"Don't lie. You didn't have to do anything. You left because -- well, why did you leave?"

Onew stared blankly at Key, not really knowing how to response. Why did this boy always ask questions which left him speechless?! Damn him and his almightiness. Key kept tapping his foot on the ground, impatiently waiting for the leader to answer. He really disliked it when someone didn't answer him, or simply ignored him. A long moment of silence came up and Key lowered his arms, taking a step closer to Onew, having his concerned face set on.

"Hyung, what's wrong?"

Another shudder ran through Onew's body as he heard the soft tone in Key's voice, his concerned face making it even harder for Onew to resist the urge to just grab Key and kiss him. But he kept telling himself that to Key he was only a hyung, a hyung who was always there for him, just like a best friend. The leader took a step back as Key stepped closer and lowered his gaze, his eyes now eyeing the grass underneath his feet, his hands gripping onto the edge of his jacket as he stayed quiet. Key raised an eyebrow at the older's actions, taking a step closer to him once again, his hands reaching up to grip onto Onew's collar causing the older male to gasp. Why wasn't he answering? Why wasn't he saying anything?

"Hyung,"

Key spoke out loudly, still keeping his grip onto the collar of his jacket, his eyes being fixed at the male in front of him. Onew looked slowly up, right into the eyes of the person whom he cared for the most. Those eyes, he could look at the the whole day, getting lost in them. They were like a neverending maze, making Onew feel like he was trapped in them. Key of couse noticed the intense stare, his eyes widening a bit, since he never had such an intense eye contact with his hyung -- but this didn't prevent him from saying what he wanted to say, which he would say, and he wanted an answer. And he would make sure that he would get his answer.

"Hyung, do you like me? Like, like-like me? More than a friend? Answer me, hyung."

Onew froze on his spot, opening his mouth to say something, but couldn't.