It’s weird how time can seem to both be flying and dragging past at the same time. One moment you’re struggling through your multitude of school work and activities, so overwhelmed you feel like you might be drowning, and the next you suddenly realize you’re done, the whole semester has flown by and you’re free. You look back on that time and remember all the moments you wanted to give up and you feel a small inkling of pride, or maybe accomplishment, that you continued on and now you’re done.

     That’s how Kibum felt at the beginning of June as summer vacation started. He looked forward to his long break before the beginning of his final year of high school. Really, he should have been done by now, but as children, both Kibum and Minho’s parents has made the joint decision to hold them back a year. They’d hoped that perhaps this would help them gain social maturity and let them branch out and make more friends. It did not work. The two clung to each other more, but what was done was done.

     Since it was the beginning of the summer and still not quite hot enough to melt your skin off, the group of friends had decided to have a little party at Minho and Kibum’s houses. Technically the food would be at Kibum’s house and the movie would be in Minho’s backyard. Something the two boys really liked about summer was that both of their houses seemed to just merge into one. Kibum and Minho would go between either house with no qualms, eat and sleep and just hang out. Sometimes they would end up at each other’s houses without the other, an odd occurrence that eventually their parents got used to. Similarly, their parents had had to get used to finding them sleeping in odd places in each other’s houses, the oddest of which was the time Kibum’s mom walked into her bathroom at 3am to find both boys sleeping in the bathtub.

     It was a Thursday and neither Jinki nor Jonghyun had to work the following day, so they decided it would be a good time to start the summer right, with a long weekend of hanging out, eating and watching movies together. They could come and go as they pleased all weekend, starting off with grilling burgers and watching a movie Thursday night, and ending with a feast Sunday night before they all parted ways. Taemin was ecstatic to be invited. He’d almost choked Kibum with how tight he hugged him.

     They agreed to meet up in the afternoon. Jinki had chosen to only work half-day so he could get there early to help prepare. Jonghyun, however, couldn’t get off work until 3:30 and ended up being the last to arrive. Kibum stood at his kitchen counter making a list while Taemin peered over his shoulder excitedly. He glanced up as the doorbell chimed.

     “That’ll be Jonghyun. I can get it.”

     His mother scurried to get there first. “Oh don’t worry about it, Hun. You guys are here to have a good time, let me help out, too.” She swung the door open wide, a bit too wide for any normal encounter, honestly. Kibum rolled his eyes and sighed.

     Jonghyun stood on the front porch, his hand reached up to scratch the top of his head. As the door swung open, Kibum saw him freeze in that position, his eyes fixed on Kibum’s mom. His mom stood there, blocking the door way. She looked the new boy up and down in an exaggerated way.

     “You must be Jonghyun.”

     Jonghyun nodded stiffly. Kibum hadn’t considered how it would be when Jonghyun met his parents. He knew his parents probably wouldn’t make as big a deal out of it as Minho’s parents would have (Minho had been sure to keep them away from Jinki so far, as he knew somehow they would overreact and throw a huge party or something embarrassing like that), but now that he was faced with the actual situation, he really didn’t know what to expect. He hadn’t discussed it with any of them beforehand, and his parents, especially his mother, was known to enjoy teasing people.

     This was no exception. She pivoted slowly on her heels, arms spread wide and her eyes met Kibum’s. His heart dropped. She had a mischievous grin on her face. Crap. “Please, do come in,” she sang as she waltzed across the living room towards the kitchen. Jonghyun hesitated, looking to Kibum as if for permission. Kibum’s lips where pursed and his brow furrowed at his mother’s actions, but he jerked his head telling Jonghyun to enter.

     Once she reached the counter, his mother leaned halfway across it, resting her chin in her hands and looking sweetly up at Kibum. “Dear, could you please get me the pink envelope from the draw on your left?”

     Kibum cocked his eyebrow at her. “The stationary drawer? Why? What’s it for?”

     She reached out her hand and shook it impatiently. “Just give me the envelope.”

     He sighed and pulled open the drawer. Inside, right on top, there was indeed a sealed pink envelope. When he picked it up, he could feel something solid slide around inside it. He opened his mouth to ask what it was, but his mother again shook her hand impatiently, before leaning over more and snatching it from his fingers. She turned to Jonghyun, who now stood hesitantly behind her, his bag still hanging from his shoulder.

     “This is for you. Whenever you need to… or want to, I guess, use it. No worries, dear.”

Jonghyun politely accepted it into his hands, thanking her, and then looked expectantly at Kibum.

     “Why are you looking at me? I don’t know what that is. Open it.”

      Jonghyun stepped to the counter, carefully dropped his bag to the floor, and delicately opened the small envelope. He tipped it slightly and the contents fell into his open palm. It was a single silver house key. He looked at Kibum again, confused, but Kibum’s expression only mirrored his own.

Kibum’s mother clasped her hands and held them to her cheek, gazing fondly at Jonghyun. “It’s our house key.”

     “WHAT THE HECK, MA??” Kibum shouted, feeling Taemin double over behind him with laughter. Jonghyun’s ears turned an amazing shade of tomato red, and the color just kept creeping down his neck and onto his face. Jinki and Minho’s heads appeared around the corner from Kibum’s room where they’d been watching a movie, curious as to what all the noise was about.

“YOU JUST GIVE HIM A HOUSE KEY? YOU’VE NEVER EVEN MET HIM BEFORE!”

“Honey, he’s your soulmate! It’s not a big deal.”

“NOT A BIG DEAL?”

“Of course not! My soulmate has my house key! Yours should, too!”

“MA, YOUR SOULMATE IS DAD! YOU LIVE TOGETHER!”

“And your point?”

“OH MY GOD! DADDDDD!!! COME GET HER!”

     Now Minho was also laughing, having collapsed onto the couch, while Jinki stood beside him and attempted to hide his own grin behind his hand. Kibum’s father appeared from the hallway, take ahold of Kibum’s mother’s sleeve and tugged it gently, trying to get her to follow.

“Love, how about we leave them alone for now. They’ll be here all weekend. We have plenty of time to mess with them.”

“I’m not! You weren’t even in here, you don’t know! I’m being a good person!”

“I know, and believe me, it’s hilarious, but come on before Kibum kicks us out. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

     As he finally managed to pull her away down the hallway, she reached out her arm in fake struggle and called out. “By the way, Jonghyun, you’re beautiful! God did a great job on you!”

     This only caused Jonghyun’s face to grow even darker red and he kept his eyes fixed on the floor, though his lips were pinched together in an effort to keep his smile hidden. Taemin was fully on the floor at this point, while Jinki collapsed onto the couch beside Minho, shaking with laughter. Kibum’s face was also beginning to turn a deep shade of pink, and he pressed his palms firmly into his eyes to hide his embarrassment.

     “All of you so much!” His voice was whiney and it helped the others know that he wasn’t really angry. He loved his mother, and it was his own fault he hadn’t prepared himself for her antics. He’d have to think of a way to get her back.

     The laughter died down and Kibum took his hands away from his eyes, focusing again on the list before him. It seemed full enough for now, and he was starting to get hungry. He folded it neatly and pushed it into his back pocket. Stepping around the counter, he headed for the front door. “I’m going to the market for some things.”

Minho wiped a few remaining tears from his eyes and stood up. “Yeah, I’ll go with you. I need to walk a little anyways.” Jinki automatically stood up to follow. Kibum glanced at Jonghyun as well, but the boy seemed to be occupied with struggling to put the new key on his keyring. Kibum swallowed thickly. After that whole encounter with his mother and how embarrassed he’d felt, he didn’t feel comfortable asking out loud if Jonghyun was coming as well.

     “All of you are going?” Taemin whined, still laying on the kitchen floor and out of eyeshot of the others. “Awww but I wanted to stay here.”

“Then just stay here,” Kibum responded, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t want to stay aloneeee,” the whining continued.

“What do you think I was making the list for, Taem?”

No response.

“Taemin,” Jinki called. “Did you just shrug?”

A hesitant response. “…Yeah.”

“You know we can’t see you, right?”

“Yeah,” Taemin sighed. “But I’d still rather stay here.”

     Now Jinki sighed. He turned to Minho and Kibum. “I’ll stay, too. No big deal.”

     Minho stepped toward the oldest boy slightly. “Do you want me to stay, too?”

     Jinki shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I’ll drag him into Kibum’s room. Or… actually, I’ll just go hang out in there and see how long it takes for him to get bored and come find me.” He smiled, happy at the idea of annoying Taemin for his inconvenience.

     “You know I can hear you, right?”

In response, Jinki nodded. Taemin sighed, again. Kibum chuckled.

     He and Minho slipped on their shoes and headed out into the afternoon sunlight. Shielding his eyes, Kibum gazed up at the sky, gauging where the sun was in the sky. “I think we’ll have plenty of time to play a little before it’s dark enough for the movie.” Kibum smiled at Minho by his side. The younger returned the look, then glanced over Kibum’s shoulder.

     Kibum turned his head and there suddenly stood Jonghyun. He looked awkward, attempting to shove his hands into his pockets to seem more natural. Kibum looked at to Minho again, who shrugged. “Alright,” Kibum turned to head down the path to the market. “Let’s go.”

     Even though it was a Thursday afternoon, the market was fairly crowded. The three boys maneuvered through, Jonghyun and Minho having to keep an eye on Kibum. Not that he would get lost, but he did really enjoy cooking, so he had a habit of stopping at stalls unexpectedly to inspect the products. When Minho got tired of having to search for him, he simply pinched a bottom edge of Kibum’s shirt to keep ahold of him, so he could look around as well without fear of losing the boy.

     “Go ahead,” Kibum heard Minho say behind him. “Honestly, it’s really the only way to keep track of him here.” He turned slightly to see Jonghyun’s hand hesitantly reached out toward him, seemingly wanting to replicate Minho’s action. He turned back to the tomatoes before him and spoke over his shoulder to the older boy.

     “It’s fine. He’s right, anyway.”

     He felt the edge of his shirt pull away from him slightly and the corners of his lips tweaked upwards. He his lips and swallowed before stepping to his right to get a better look at some avocados. He felt the edges of his shirt tighten slightly and then relax as the others followed his movements. It made him smile again, slightly.

Avocados would be good on the burgers. Kibum picked up one to inspect its ripeness. He squeezed gently. Too hard. He placed it back and picked up another. Also too firm. Back it went and he tested another, and another. He guessed that 75% of these would end up being far too under-ripe, but maybe he could find a couple good ones.

     “Hey, kid! Stop squeezing my fruit! Buy something or go away!”

     Kibum looked up at the man working the stall. He was quite burley and Kibum didn’t recall seeing him here before. He smiled politely at the man.

“I'm just testing their ripeness. I promise, I'm being very gentle.”

     The man didn’t seem to like this response. He pointed rudely at the boy.

“No one’s gonna want any of these after you’ve mashed them all up. Just go mess up someone else’s produce.”

     Kibum felt a hand on his shoulder and Jonghyun appeared in his field of vision.

“Hey,” Jonghyun’s harsh tone called out. “He already said he was being gentle. Why don’t you calm down, sir?”

     Behind him, Kibum felt Minho grab Jonghyun’s sleeve and pull on it while muttering, “No no no no no no no no no…”

Jonghyun shook off Minho’s hand and stepped closer to the stall, his chest puffed out. The man certainly didn’t like that.

“None of you kids know anything about this stuff anyway. I bet you’re just here on some errand for you little mommy. Get out of here.”

Jonghyun puffed up even more, drawing in a big breath to fight back.

“Wha…”

     Kibum elbowed Jonghyun hard in the side, glaring at him. The older boy stumbled slightly and looked at Kibum with confusion.

“Stop it. Now.” Kibum’s tone and glare were harsh and it shut Jonghyun up quickly. He dropped his gaze, though Kibum saw his eyes flick up occasionally to glare at the rude man. Said man now wore a ridiculously smug smirk after watching the interaction.

     “Yeah, you should listen to your pretty little boyfriend. Just go home.”

     Kibum froze. Who the hell did this guy think he was? What gave him the right to speak to Jonghyun like that? As annoyed as he was that Jonghyun had overstepped what Kibum considered a boundary, he was more annoyed with this jerk of a seller. He glared at the man, but something caught his eye. Over the man’s shoulder, a familiar face appeared.

“Hi, Mr. Park.” Kibum waved.

“Oh, hello, Kibum. Minho. Making dinner tonight?”

     Kibum smiled sweetly at the old man now standing beside the burley jerk. “We’re making burgers. Having some friends over to celebrate summer.”

Mr. Park smiled broadly. “I remember nights like that in my youth. I hope you were planning to use some of my tomatoes. Avocado would also be delicious on them.”

The burley man now looked back and forth between Kibum and Mr. Park with a dumbly confused expression that was hard for Kibum not to laugh at. Mr. Park turned to him and remarked, “Ren, this young man makes such delicious food. Sometimes when he uses my produce, he’s been nice enough to let me try some of it. I didn’t know my produce could make such amazing foods until I met Kibum, here.”

     The burley man, Ren, dropped his eyes and nodded in an exaggerated way. “You don’t say?” He shifted his eyes to Kibum and then ducked his head in a shallow bow of apology. Kibum returned the gesture and Ren retreated to another section of the stall.

     A short while later, Kibum, Minho, and Jonghyun were headed back to the house, each carrying a small cloth tote bag with ingredients for the night’s festivities. Kibum and Minho were chatting about nothing in particular when suddenly the older of the two stopped short and spun around to face Jonghyun. The oldest boy almost crashed into him, but managed to quick step backwards slightly to avoid a collision.

     “I didn’t say this earlier, because it wasn’t the right time, but don’t do that.”

Jonghyun furrowed his brow. “Don’t do what?”

     “I’m going on ahead,” Minho called over his shoulder. Kibum waved his hand lazily toward him, though neither actually made any effort to look at the other.

“Don’t defend me.”

Jonghyun’s brow furrowed deeper. “What?”

“I don’t need you to protect me. I’ve been doing just fine so far without you.”

     Jonghyun crossed his arms, his tote bag dangling from his hand. “So what, I’m supposed to just stand there and let people do or say whatever they want to you?”

“I had a plan.”

“How was I supposed to know that?”

“I always have a plan.”

Jonghyun cocked his head to the side. “And what about when you don’t? What happens then?”

     Kibum faltered. He wasn’t exactly wrong. He usually did have a plan. But that didn’t mean he always would.

     Jonghyun’s tone softened some, though still held a hint of annoyance. “I know you’re used to doing this alone. You insist you do it alone. Too bad. I’m here, now. I can be the plan.” He stepped forward, suddenly far too close for Kibum’s comfort.

“I like you. it up.”

     Then, Jonghyun stepped around Kibum and followed Minho’s figure down the sidewalk. Kibum stood there frozen in place, staring at the spot Jonghyun had stood moments before. He attempted to digest the words the older boy had just said, but he just couldn’t. He slowly turned around and headed back to his house.

      When he arrived, the others were all gathered around the counter, laying out ingredients, with Kibum’s parents helping out. It wasn't the time to ask Jonghyun about what he’d said. In fact, the entire rest of the weekend, Kibum never found the right time, or worked up enough courage to bring it up at all. Even when he woke up on Minho’s bedroom floor, surrounded by the others, and his eyes found Jonghyun’s face, awake and also looking at him from across Taemin’s sleeping form, he couldn’t say anything.

     “Go back to sleep,” Jonghyun had whispered. Kibum had just stared at him and Jonghyun whispered again. “Don’t worry about it, just go back to sleep.” He’d nodded to Kibum to lay his head back down, so he had. The slow, rhythmic breathing surrounding him had gradually lulled him back to sleep.

     As they parted ways Sunday evening, the others heading out with Minho to say goodbye, Kibum stopped Jonghyun at the door.

“Jonghyun… I…” but somehow, he still couldn’t say anything. Jonghyun looked at him curiously, but when it became clear that Kibum couldn’t continue, his mouth open but no words coming out, Jonghyun tilted his head sweetly and smiled.

“You don’t have to say anything. It’s fine.”

      But Kibum wanted to say something. He just couldn’t. No words would come out. So instead, he reached out and took hold of Jonghyun’s forearm, where the countdown used to be. He expected the tingling again, but instead he felt a gentle, deep warmth spread from his hand slowly up his arm. Jonghyun smile faded as he looked at where they touched and he slowly inhaled. When he turned his eyes up to meet Kibum’s, once again, Kibum saw the glow. The golden glow that Kibum had become to hope to see in the eyes of the other. Neither of them moved for a few moments, but then Jinki called Jonghyun, and they stepped apart.

     “I’ll… I’ll text you.” Jonghyun promised, before smiling quickly and turning to follow the others away. Kibum watched as Jonghyun subtly lifted his forearm, the place where Kibum had touched him, and pressed it against his closed lips.