The enormous, drab building that is the headquarters of the Guardian community looms over Kibum as he steps out of the car the council had sent for him and Jonghyun. He looks up at it with a sigh, heart heavy. He really doesn’t want to do this. No one in there has anything good to say about him.

Jonghyun comes up beside him and nudges their shoulders together, pulling him out of his thoughts. Kibum looks at him and gives a tight smile.

“I always hated this place,” he mutters. “It’s filled with people who look down their nose at me.”

Jonghyun purses his lips.

“I’ll find a way to insult them and draw the attention away from you.”

A laugh bubbles out of Kibum and Jonghyun grins. Kibum shakes his head and grabs his hand.

“You’re something else, you know that?” he chuckles as he pulls Jonghyun towards the entrance.

“I try,” Jonghyun says cheekily. “Seriously, I’ll do it if you want me to.”

Kibum feels warm with the reassurance Jonghyun has his back and squeezes his hand.

“It’s fine.”

Cool air hits them as they step into the lobby and the bustle from the street quiets down to a gentle hush of papers and shoes clicking against the polished stone floor as a smartly suited man makes his way over to one of three elevators to the right of the reception. The ding as the elevator doors open almost echoes in the wide space of the lobby. At the reception sits Hyejin, a woman with long, black curls and immaculate make-up, and Jinki, a man with soft features and chestnut colored hair. Hyejin is speaking on the phone to someone, taking notes, while Jinki is tapping away on a keyboard, frowning at the computer screen in front of him.

Kibum takes a breath and approaches Jinki, who seems the least busy. He looks up as Kibum nears and his eyes widen a little before he smiles, soft and friendly.

“Kibum,” he says. “It’s been a while.”

Kibum nods but can’t bring himself to smile back, nerves crawling under his skin.

“Yeah,” he mutters.

Jinki's eyes move behind him to Jonghyun and he raises an eyebrow questioningly.

“You’re not really allowed to bring outsiders,” he tells Kibum.

“I’m not an outsider,” Jonghyun says.

Jinki blinks at him and his eyes drop to his left hand.

“Guardian?”

Jonghyun shrugs.

“Not really,” he says. “I’m a witness. Kibum's witness.”

Looking a little confused, Jinki turns back to Kibum.

“Right, the hearing is today.”

Kibum nods again.

“You can sit down in the waiting area.” Jinki gestures to a group of couches by the tall windowpanes looking onto the street and letting sunshine in. “You’re a bit early.”

“Thanks,” Kibum murmurs and Jinki gives a small smile.

“You too…?” Jinki trails off questioningly, looking at Jonghyun.

“Jonghyun,” he supplies.

Jinki nods.

“I’ll call you when the room for the hearing is ready.”

Snakes begin crawling in Kibum's stomach and he turns towards the waiting area, shoulders drawn. He’s not the main suspect anymore but that doesn’t mean that every single councilmember at his hearing won’t try to make him feel horrible or still have suspicions. He falls heavily onto a couch in the furthest corner, somewhat concealed behind some potted Fiddle Figs and marble pillars, and sinks down. Jonghyun takes a seat beside him, looking around the lobby curiously.

“This place’s really big,” he says. “And the guy at the reception seemed nice enough.”

Kibum sighs.

“Lee Jinki, he’s Councilmember Lee’s son,” he tells him.

 Jonghyun frowns.

“The stuck up man who picked us up at the bus stop?” Kibum nods and Jonghyun looks over at Jinki. “Don’t see the resemblance.”

That pulls an amused snort out of Kibum.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Jinki hyung is much nicer and open-minded. He’s about the only one here who hasn’t judged me because of rumors before getting to know me. Councilmember Lee isn’t too happy about our acquaintance.”

Huffing, Jonghyun turns to him, annoyed. But his expression softens as his eyes fall upon Kibum's face. He shuffles closer and slides down on the couch so that their shoulders are pressed together. The nervous crawling in Kibum's stomach calms a little and he wiggles his shoulder against Jonghyun’s.

“Are you okay?” Jonghyun murmurs.

Kibum smiles faintly at him.

“I’m better than I would have been without you here.”

Jonghyun wiggles his shoulder back.

Easy silence encase them as they wait, the side Kibum has against Jonghyun warm and comfortable. It’s both scary and wonderful how fast Jonghyun became his friend and a presence that calms him. It’s as if they’ve known each other forever and Kibum has never had that with anyone before.

The elevator dings and shakes him out of his thoughts. A group of five Guardians spill out of it, all but one of them older men and women. Kibum sinks a little further down when he spots tall, dark, and serious Minho at the back of the group as they move across the lobby to the cafeteria. Jonghyun watches them curiously.

“Who’re you hiding from?” he asks as they disappear into the cafeteria.

Kibum drags a hand down his face.

“Minho,” he mumbles.

“Who’s Minho?”

“The tall, younger one,” Kibum says as a new group of Guardians, this time only three, exit another elevator. They approach Jinki and Hyejin and launch into an important discussion it seems, judging by both Jinki's and Hyejin’s serious expressions. “Guardians sometimes work in pairs, especially younger ones, and he was supposed to be my partner. I never showed up to our cases so he doesn’t like me all that much. Never mind he already formed his opinion of me due to rumors.”

Jonghyun hums and they watch as Minho comes back, holding a bottle of orange juice in one hand and a can of soda in the other. He hangs back and watches the front desk, or more specifically Jinki. He continues watching Jinki work for a moment even after the others have left, a small but fond smile on his lips.

“He’s quite obvious,” Jonghyun murmurs, sounding amused.

“He is. And so is Jinki hyung,” Kibum says and then heaves a sigh. “Neither of them will do anything about it though.”

Jonghyun turns to him, surprised.

“What?” he asks. “Why?”

“They’re Guardians.”

Confusion pulls at Jonghyun's eyebrows.

“Okay?” he says slowly. “And that’s relevant because?”

Kibum looks back to where Minho has now approached Jinki and handed him the juice. They’re talking with soft smiles on their faces and, though he doesn’t like Minho, he wishes they didn’t have to pretend to not have feelings for each other.

“Because all Guardians must carry on the bloodline,” Kibum explains. “And to do that they need to marry a Guardian woman and have children.”

“That’s…” Jonghyun's voice dies out.

“Old fashioned?” Kibum fills in. “Yeah. Not only that, the marriages are arranged, usually by the grandparents.”

Frowning, Jonghyun turns to him.

“Do you have an arranged marriage?”

Kibum shakes his head.

“But my grandparents have grown more insistent lately,” he says. “I’m at the marrying age.”

Jonghyun's frown deepens and he looks down at his hands, folded in his lap.

“It’s like I’ve stepped into a fantasy world that’s way behind our time,” he says and narrows his eyes, looking up at Kibum again. “What about the fate threads then?”

Kibum raises his eyebrows.

“I told you, Guardians don’t have fate threads. Comes with the job of being a Guardian.”

It comes out a little more bitter than he intended and, for a moment, Jonghyun looks at him, searching his face. Then his eyes fall to Kibum's hands and his lips turn down.

“Right,” he says, almost to himself, and looks back at his own hands, wiggling his fingers a little. “I forgot.”

Kibum nudges him with his shoulder again and Jonghyun looks back at him, small smile growing on his lips.

“Do you ever wish you had one?” he asks.

Tilting his head, Kibum looks down at his left hand, spreading his fingers out.

“Sometimes, yeah,” he answers. “I want to know what it’s like to have someone meant just for me and learn to love them because they’re my soulmate and not because I was pushed to marry them.”

Jonghyun hums and silence fills the air between them again. They sit, shoulders pressed together, for what feels like forever until Kibum spots his father arriving and moves to stand up. Jonghyun follows him without hesitation and they’re almost out of the waiting area when Minho, who has moved back and returned to watching Jinki as Kibum's father speaks to him, seems to notice them. His eyes narrow as they land on Kibum, who startles and finds the nearest hiding spot he can – which happens to be behind one of the potted plants.

“Kibum?” Jonghyun yelps, surprised, as he dives behind the plant, hoping against hope that Minho decides his eyes were deceiving him.

Sadly, he’s not that lucky. Through the leaves Kibum sees Minho approaching them, his face set in a scowl.

“,” he mutters.

“Kibum, I know you’re there,” Minho all but growls as he comes to a stop in front of the plant.

Heaving a sigh, Kibum steps out from behind it and casts a quick glance at Jonghyun, who is scrutinizing Minho with narrowed eyes. He doesn’t look impressed by what he sees, but Minho pays him no attention for the time being.

“What?” Kibum says curtly and Minho's face darkens further.

“I really shouldn’t expect anything else from you,” he says, voice icy. “You never contribute anything to our community. Go yourself.”

Kibum just rolls his eyes, not rising to the bait; he had long since grown tired of petty arguments with Minho. But Jonghyun steps up to him. He doesn’t look all that intimidating since Minho is quite tall compared to him, but that doesn’t seem to bother him much.

“Hey!” Jonghyun growls. “What the hell man?!”

Minho squints at him, as unimpressed as Jonghyun had been previously.

“And who are you?”

“Kibum's friend!”

Minho's eyebrows rise and he looks at Kibum.

“You’re not allowed to bring outsiders here. Not that you ever cared for our rules.”

Kibum opens his mouth to reply but Jonghyun beats him to it.

“I can see the ing threads, I’m not an outsider,” he says, icy tone matching Minho's. “Now, if you’re done judging before even trying to fact check rumors, we got somewhere to be. Have a terrible day and please step in water with your socks on, you absolute useless haircut.”

Jonghyun grabs Kibum's arm and pulls him away from a stunned Minho over to his father and Jinki. Kibum has to bite his lip to not burst out laughing and his father looks at them astonished as they come to a stop in front of him. Jinki just looks amused and glances behind them at Minho, clearly trying to suppress a smile.

“Hello, Mr. Kim,” Jonghyun greets Kibum's father, manners turned around one-eighty.

“Hello, Jonghyun,” he replies. “Are you two ready for the hearing?”

They both look to Kibum, whose fleeting joy goes up in a puff of smoke. The snakes are back in his stomach and he wants to throw up. But he nods and tries to breathe. Jonghyun squeezes his arm once in reassurance before letting go. Kibum's father nods back with a tight expression and turns.

“Follow me.”

Kibum swallows harshly and glances at Jinki, who gives him a small smile.

“Good luck,” he says.

This time Kibum forces himself to smile back, though it might look more like a grimace. Jonghyun thanks Jinki for them both and then they follow Kibum’s father, who is already at the elevators.

“I won’t be with you at the hearing,” Kibum's father says as the elevator ascends. “We’re all very busy with everything happening so only the three head councilmembers will be present.”

Kibum nods. He’s so nervous now his knees wobble when he moves.  Kibum feels rather than sees Jonghyun move closer to him and he wants to reach out and take his hand, but he can feel his father’s eyes on them. So instead he looks at Jonghyun and forces another small smile onto his lips. Jonghyun looks at him for a moment and seems about to say something when the elevator doors open and Kibum's father leads them down a hallway with doors in the wall to their right and floor to ceiling windows to their left, lighting the place up naturally. They’re on the tenth floor, so the view over the city is quite good, though Kibum can’t appreciate it in his current state.

Much too soon they stop outside a door and Kibum’s father ushers him and Jonghyun inside, before he gives Kibum a tight nod and closes the door.

The room is more of a conference room than a hearing room. There is an oval table in the middle with comfortable office chairs placed around it. At the head of the table sits Councilmember Park, one of the three head members of the entire community. He’s a wrinkly, old man with wispy white hair like clouds around his ears. The top of his head is bald, moles painted in constellations across his skin, and his bushy eyebrows cling to his forehead as if they’re afraid to fall into his eyes. To his right sits Councilmember Lee, glowering at Kibum, and to his left sits Kibum’s grandfather, a tall, well-built man even for his old age. His hair has only a few specks of grey in them and his wrinkles aren’t as prominent as one would expect of a seventy-year old. That is, if he currently wasn’t frowning, his mouth turned down at the edges. There is a recording device in the middle of the table and it is blinking red, already recording.

“Kibum, Jonghyun,” his grandfather says, voice calm despite his expression. “Take a seat.”

He gestures opposite them, where two chairs are placed at the other head of the table. Kibum’s legs feel like jelly as he moves to the seat and Jonghyun’s fingers brush surreptitiously against his as he follows. Kibum swallows around the lump in his throat, sits down, Jonghyun taking the chair to his left, and faces the three councilmembers who are the backbone of the community. Suddenly he feels small, especially under his grandfather’s eyes, and for the first time Kibum actually feels ashamed for not living up to the Guardian standard. Thankfully, Jonghyun is there. Kibum doesn’t know how he reads him so well, but Jonghyun’s leg presses against his under the table in a way of comfort and it makes it a little easier to breathe and sit straight.

“This hearing has been called to question Guardian Kim Kibum and his witness, Byul Jonghyun, on recent events, which have become a threat to our community,” Councilmember Park begins. “Do you, Kim Kibum, promise to be truthful in your answers and give any piece of information relevant to the ongoing investigation into these events?”

Kibum opens his mouth and tries to answer, but his throat is too dry and he croaks something unintelligible instead. Jonghyun gently bumps their legs together once more in support. He clears his throat and tries again.

“Yes,” he manages to get out.

“Do you, Byul Jonghyun, promise to be truthful in your answers and give any piece of information relevant to the ongoing investigation into these events?”

Jonghyun looks at them, unwavering.

“Yes,” he says with a confidence Kibum wishes he had right now.

“Then the hearing shall begin,” Councilmember Park says.

Kibum’s grandfather leads the hearing, reading questions off a paper in front of him. Councilmember Park listens, watching intently, and Councilmember Lee sits with his lips pressed together tightly, inserting a question here and there to target Kibum and his character. Kibum can feel Jonghyun growing more and more annoyed and agitated with every time Councilmember Lee opens his mouth, but he isn’t allowed to say anything as the questions are for Kibum to answer.

When the hearing ends Kibum isn’t sure what it has accomplished since there seemed to be no new information gained. The fate threads are still severed, there is no trace of a perpetrator, no one knows the cause, and the soulmates are withering away in a hospital, their life slowly draining out.

He leaves room feeling raw and a little boneless. He’d been relentlessly questioned about his Guardianship and his loyalties. Jonghyun had tried to defend him as much as he could, but they only wanted his statement for Kibum's alleged work with fate threads during the week leading up to one of the first severed threads and the scene Councilmember Lee had found him and Jonghyun at. The rest of the time was a through investigation into whether or not Kibum could actually have done it somehow, which Councilmember Lee seemed to wholeheartedly believe. The rest of the Guardian community seem to believe Kibum is somehow involved too, even his own grandfather, from what Kibum could gather during the hearing.

“I really don’t like that Lee guy,” Jonghyun mutters as the door to the conference room closes behind them. “Does he have nothing better to do than try and make things hard for you? Like, there are more important, life-threatening things happening!”

Kibum moves on unsteady legs down the hallway towards the elevators, a lump in his throat. He knew he wasn’t well liked, but to have it confirmed that basically the entire Guardian community thought he was capable of such horrid things was a bit painful. He has never done anything to hurt anyone, but he is still made a villain just because he wants another life. It kind of .

“Yeah,” he whispers and presses the button. “But I’ve said before, I’ve not done much to keep people from believing I hate fate threads and soulmates.”

Jonghyun scoffs.

“Kibum, the whole world and their mother can see you’re innocent and that you care!” he says as they step into the elevator. “He shouldn’t target you just because he doesn’t agree with your life choices!”

A tear slips down Kibum's cheek and more blur his sight. He bites his lip to keep from sobbing but he must have made a sound because Jonghyun spins around with a worried look.

“Kibum?” he says gently.

Kibum tires to say ‘yeah?’ but as soon as he opens his mouth, the sob he held back comes out and more tears run down his cheeks. Jonghyun is immediately by his side and pulling him into a warm hug. Kibum lets his head drop to Jonghyun's shoulder, his tears staining his shirt.

“Why do you believe in me so much?” he sniffles into the fabric. “Everyone else thinks it’s my fault.”

“Well, because…” Jonghyun pauses, hesitates. “I just do.”

The elevator slows to a stop and Kibum pulls out of Jonghyun's arms to wipe his face and compose himself. Jonghyun watches him with a frown denting his forehead and Kibum tries to smile reassuringly.

“Do you want me to punch someone?” Jonghyun asks. “What about that Minho?”

That manages to draw a weak laugh out of Kibum and he shakes his head.

“Why would you do that?”

Jonghyun shrugs.

“Because then the heat would be on me?” he says. “I don’t have any ties to this place, so it doesn’t matter much whose bad side I get on.”

Kibum laughs again and steps out of the elevator.

“Thank you Pinkie,” he says, “but just having your support is good enough.”

Jonghyun grins at him and Kibum feels warm and safe and like everything will be okay.

A/N: I realised it's April 1st just as I finished this, but as you clearly can see, this is not a joke ;D I just happened to have time to finish the chapter today. I took a long time, I know and I'm sorry, but I hope this chapter was worth the wait for those of you who're still waiting.

Anyway, it's not properly proofread but I hope you liked it!

Love <3