Onew-yah, 5pm, same place okay? I’ll go after practice ‘ㅂ’

Jinki smiled upon reading the message and wrote a reply,
“See you later, Key ^▽^”

It has become a habit for them, ever since the first time they met up for their promised coffee for an after-school caffeine rush. They would meet up about twice a week at the cozy little café just around the corner to the school, before they walked back to their dorm rooms together.

If they had any more time to spare, and if caffeine wasn’t kind of addictive and bad for health, they might have made it a daily affair. But sometimes Kibum was too busy with dance practices that went on three times a week, and there were Council meetings on top of that. Not to mention Jinki who had to juggle double the workload of others and hardly even had time to meet up with his band mates to just play among themselves for the fun of it.

Come to think of it, it was pretty amazing, how things turned out to be, how well they hit it off with each other despite having such different personalities and years between them. Maybe it was the way Jinki was so likeable and all smiles, prone to accidents and cracking jokes that weren't really that funny. Or maybe it was the way Kibum still laughs appreciatively even when he doesn't quite catch Jinki's drift. Whatever it was, they became close friends in a short time, an unlikely pair of friends who happened to just click.

They dropped the formalities after some time, and nobody really minded the transition. Maybe it was because Onew was so young at heart and closed the distance in age between them. Onew. It was the name given to him by Kibum, or rather Key.

They were walking back towards the school dormitories after their usual coffee, and it was already dark out. Jinki knew from Kibum that he stayed in the dorm too because his house was in Daegu, a city that was way out of Seoul and it would take him hours just to travel to and fro every day. Even though Kibum misses his family and especially his grandmother dearly, he knew that staying at the school dorm was the more sensible option.

Kibum was talking about the upcoming recital the school’s dance club planned to put up to raise their club’s maintenance funds, since most of the extra-curricular activities were self funded, and grumbled about how long and hard he had to practice for it now.

Jinki walked alongside him, an easy smile on his face as he listened to Kibum’s rant. He knew that Kibum doesn’t really feel it a chore to have to increase the intensity of practice, he loved to dance. He knew that no matter how tired or down Kibum was feeling, he could let all of it go as he let the music guide him in his fluid movements when he danced. That much, he could tell from the way the boy always looked rejuvenated after practices or how his eyes looked just a little brighter whenever he talked about it.

Out of nowhere, a speeding bicycle careened down the sidewalk towards them, leaving too small a margin between itself and Kibum, who was walking nearer to the side of the speeding bicycle. In one moment, Jinki had placed his hands on Kibum’s shoulders and pulled him in closer just as the bicycle wheezed past. Kibum, who was oblivious to the oncoming bicycle because he was grumbling too much, was shocked as he was suddenly jerked to the left of the sidewalk, towards Jinki. He looked up and saw the bicycle speeding away, its handlebar would have otherwise jabbed his sides if Jinki had not pulled him in in time.

“What on earth…” Kibum breathed disbelievingly after the cyclist who rode his bicycle recklessly, while being thankful that Jinki hauled him in before any damage could be done.

“It’s okay, you’re okay now Kibum.” Jinki’s reassuring tone oozed with unspoken gentleness and he patted Kibum’s head to calm him down while they continued walking. Just to be on the safe side, Jinki kept an arm on Kibum’s shoulder for the rest of their walk back.

“Jinki-yah, I think you should have a nickname.” Kibum suddenly said, as Jinki was dropping him off at the door of his room.

“Hmm?” Jinki raised his eyebrows, slightly confused at the sudden statement from Kibum.

“Onew. You should be called Onew. It means gentle!” Kibum’s face broke into a wide smile as he felt happy with himself for coming up with such an apt nickname for the older boy.

“Sure, if you like it. And I’ll call you Key, okay? K-E-Y, Key.” Jinki innovated.

“It’s just short for Kibum.” Jinki quickly added before Kibum could ask why.

“Well, okay it’s only fair I guess. Goodnight Onew, I’ll see you soon. Text me when you get back to your room alright?”

Kibum thought he was gentle. Jinki smiled at that thought.

They were at the café again 2 hours later, sitting in their favourite seats by the large window, watching the people outside pass by and sharing random happenings in the day. This was their way to unwind after a hectic day at school: A nice, steaming cup of coffee for each of them, soft jazzy music in the background and the rich smell of coffee brewing in the air.

“Onew… How long more do you think it’s going to take for me to get over this?” Kibum stared into his coffee as he muttered the words, barely audible above the lively buzz in the café.

There was no further explanation. But Jinki understood perfectly what he was saying.

“When you allow yourself to, Key. You need to set yourself free.” Jinki set down his cup and looked at Kibum earnestly.

“I’m trying, I’ve been trying so hard. I’ve done everything I could possibly do! I deleted his texts, threw out everything he has ever given me or reminds me of him. I even burned the notes he’d written me and our pictures too. It’s been a month already and I only feel slightly better than the day I broke up with him. Why? What else do I have to do?” Kibum released his pent-up frustrations and desperation tinged his words as tears formed in his eyes.

Jinki’s heart clenched as he tried hard to not let it show on his face. He doesn’t like to see Kibum being so wasted over his ex-boyfriend, Jonghyun. It's not that Jinki disliked him, in fact it was quite the opposite, they are friends. Jonghyun was the vocalist in Jinki’s band, and a really good one at that. Even though the two of them were never the chummiest pair, their band was small and it was hard to not be somewhat close to everyone.

Jinki knew Jonghyun as a hyperactive boy with limitless energy and was often the happy pill of the band. He wasn’t a bad person, granted. But he made Kibum cry a lot when they were still together.

Of course Jinki would know, it has been more than a few times in the dead of the night when Jinki would pick up a call from a sobbing Kibum, saying that he was in pain and telling him what happened again. It was always the same issues. Jinki would then go over to Kibum’s room and coax him to sleep, saying that Jonghyun loves him and will not let him go. He didn't just say that to comfort Kibum too, it was what he truly believed in at that time. 

It was that girl. 

There was another girl that came between them some months after they got together, Jonghyun’s ex-girlfriend Jessica. She came back wishing to patch things up with Jonghyun while simultaneously deploying all her friends to make Kibum’s life difficult, hoping he’d know better and leave Jonghyun automatically. The thing is, Jonghyun didn’t have the heart to push her away, remembering how much he gave in this love and the hurt they caused each other. She was his first love, and he was unable to cut it off cleanly because he thought he was responsible for her feelings too.

Kibum was a self-confident boy and didn’t let these things faze him. But when he was a defenseless freshman pit against senior girls whose malicious comments and sharp glares became an everyday affair, tirelessly taunting him in every nook and cranny of the school compound, even the toughest nut would crack. He eventually caved in.

It’s been a month since Kibum got tired of receiving hostile glares from the older girls around school whom he didn’t even know, Jonghyun’s indecisiveness and his lackluster responses whenever Kibum asked if Jonghyun was going to leave him.  Kibum realised that the initial joy of their relationship had evaporated, there was rarely a day they met up that they felt truly happy and unburdened. What were left in its place were his growing insecurities, increasing frequency of arguments between them, too many disappointments and plain unhappiness.

"This is not how I pictured my love to be like, Onew. Love should not be like this, it should not hurt so much, right?" 

The assurances that Kibum was looking for, he never got from Jonghyun. So, he decided that enough was enough; he was saving his heart for someone better, and called it quits between them. Jonghyun didn’t beg him to stay, maybe because he too was jaded of having to choose between the love of his past and his present, and all the fights that began to surface in their relationship.

Jinki didn’t feel that he was in a position to ask him about it either.

They were together for about 7 months, and Kibum had spent weeks after that crying himself to sleep almost every other night while Jinki sympathetically his hair and dried his tears, telling him that since he’d decided to leave Jonghyun, it only means that better things are awaiting him.

Actually, Jinki could see that Jonghyun did love Kibum a lot. Whenever they fought, Jonghyun came to practice looking sort of drained and unlike his usual energetic self. Yet the way he behaved differently to his emotions puzzled both Kibum and Jinki. He loved Kibum, but yet could not leave Jessica. In the end, he chose to give both of them up.

“I want to be free so badly. I want to love and be loved again…” Key mumbled as he raised his eyes to the ceiling, seemingly talking to the air surrounding them instead of to Jinki.

“You will be, Key. Trust me that there is someone out there who loves you like the world, and is waiting for you to find him, and love him too.” If only you knew, Jinki added inwardly.

Kibum kept his eyes up, chewing on his lower lip and inhaling deeply, trying his hardest to fight back the tears. Despite of all that, a drop still fought its way out and rolled down his cheek. Jinki reached out to gently ruffle Kibum’s hair and wipe away the single tear that had escaped those sharp eyes he’d fallen in love with.

Gently. Just the way Kibum likes him to be.

Jinki cried with him inside. 
If only you knew, Key.

A.N.: Keke hello, I'm back! :) Thanks to the people who've left a comment and/or subscribed, I really appreciate it. I'll try to 'release' a chapter everyday so do subscribe if you like it! Comments are greatly loved as well <3 Lol but here's a warning that this story is kind of slow-paced and long, and there'll be a bit of Jongkey as well, though I'd tell you that it's worth it hehe :X

Oh can somebody tell me, if I reply you guys by posting a comment on this story, will you guys see it (like will you be notified)? Or should I post it on your individual walls instead? (Sorry I'm new....) Thanks to everybody in advance! ^^