"I-I’m.. I’m a... A.." Minki paused, clearly trying to find a nicer way to describe an unpleasant term of some kind. "A... private dancer." 

"W-what?" Jonghyun blinked. "Are you telling me.. You’re a- a e?" 

Minki held his breath and... nodded. “Well," He swallowed. "I'm not sure if that's the right term."

Jonghyun stared at him in awe. What?

"Your boss hired me, because you were so stressed. He wanted me to make you happy. He said he would’ve given anything to see you smile again." He sniffled, tears still streaming down his face. “I’m so sorry, Jonghyun. I’m so sorry. I never meant for it to-" 

"So," Jonghyun blinked again, interrupting him. "You don’t love me. You don’t even like me. You were just doing your job." He suddenly felt so. ing. stupid. All these crazy theories, and this hadn’t once crossed his mind.
He felt like he’d failed. Both as a secret agent, and as a person. 

"I do love you!" Minki shook his head, seemingly confused Jonghyun could even say that. "I hadn’t planned to, to be honest, but I did fall in love with you!" 

"I’m supposed to believe that? You’ve proven yourself to be an excellent liar." 

"Jonghyun, I’m so sorry." Minki took a deep breath. "Please listen to me. I will explain everything." 

"What’s there to explain?" Jonghyun scoffed. "You’ve already explained. You’re a deceptive , it’s pretty clear to see now." 

"Jonghyun, please!" Minki reached out to touch Jonghyun, but he stepped back. 

"No!" Jonghyun snapped. "Don’t ever presume to speak to me ever again! Stay the Hell away from me, Minki, if that is your name.” 

"Please!" Minki cried. "Please don’t go like this!" He begged. "Let me explain!"

"Go find someone else to lie to." He made his way to the door, but Minki hurried to be in front of him.

"Jonghyun! I won’t let you go!" Minki pressed his back to the front door, not about to move. 

"Oh, I get it. You think I’m rude for leaving without giving you a tip, is that it?" Jonghyun reached into his pocket to fetch his wallet, grabbing some of the money inside and throwing it at Minki. "Here you go! Happy now?" 

Minki shut his eyes at the unpleasant sound of coins hitting the floor, cowering slightly. Oh, dear. He’d never imagined Jonghyun to react this way. How naive of him.

“Get out of the way!” 

“N-no. You could get involved in a car accident if you drive like this, you’re not thinking straight!"

"Oh, I’m not thinking straight?" Jonghyun chuckled sarcastically. "Get the Hell out of my way.” He demanded. “Don’t make me hurt you." 

Minki gasped when seeing the genuine anger in Jonghyun’s eyes. Though, he was persistent. “You would never.”

Jonghyun knew Minki was right, but admitting that wasn’t going to help him in this situation. “Try me.” He snapped. 

“Please, listen to me. It’s not like you think it is.” With a heavy heart, Minki stepped away from the door. “And I… I.. I thought you loved me, too... I’m still the same person you fell in love with.” Minki apparently still had a trace of hope left, but it wasn’t going to last long. 

“Hm.” Jonghyun blinked and, for a split second, had to think about what to say to that. “Well, I’m sorry, too.” Jonghyun nodded slowly. “I’m sorry for giving you the idea that I care about you.” His expression turned from dark to worse. “I don’t. I don’t care about you.” He shook his head, knowing damn well that those words would probably hurt Minki more than anything else. “I was just and mistook that for love. I don’t love you. I never have and I never will.” 

“H-how c-could you say that?” Minki stammered, and Jonghyun could quite literally pinpoint the second his heart shattered into a million pieces. “Jonghyun..” 

"I never want to see you again. You sicken me." Jonghyun shot Minki one last disgusted glance before stepping outside and loudly slamming the door shut behind him. When making his was down the steps by the front door, he could hear Minki’s sobbing intensify, yet in his anger; he felt no remorse. 

-----

Exactly one week and four days had passed since Minki had confessed his sins... And Jonghyun had quit his job. He didn’t want to be associated with liars anymore, and his boss was one of them.
Though, it hadn’t made Jonghyun feel better. Quite frankly, he felt like . All he could think of was Minki, that hadn’t changed. And everything seemed to remind him of Minki, too. Especially his best friend.

"You should talk to him." Minhyun told Jonghyun while, with a disgusted expression on his face, removing some empty microwave meals from the couch so that he could sit. 

“That is a great idea!” Jonghyun replied sarcastically. “I’ll call his pimp right away!”

“I’m serious.” Minhyun sighed. “Talk to him. You love him.” 

"No thank you." 

"Please talk to him. You need him. I mean, look at you." The disgusted expression returned for a moment as Minhyun looked Jonghyun up and down. "You look like a bum! When is the last time you’ve showered?"

"I’ve washed myself a million times, thank you very much." Jonghyun told him, stuffing chips into his mouth. A very charming sight to behold. "It’s disgusting to think I’ve been the thousandth man inside of him." 

"Talk about disgusting." Minhyun mumbled under his breath when watching Jonghyun eat.

"What was that?" Jonghyun stopped chewing momentarily, squinting at him.

"Nothing." Minhyun cleared his throat. "Maybe you were his first customer ever. You’ll never know if you don’t listen to him." 

"I doubt it. He took my like a pro. And you’ve seen my ! It’s huge!"

"Hm, well," Minhyun frowned. Jonghyun expected a comment about what a tasteless thing to say that was, but instead he mumbled: "I wouldn’t call it ‘huge’..." 

"Shut up!" 

"Listen. Were you a when you met him? Why is he disgusting for having with others before you and why are you some kind of saint?" Minhyun crossed his arms over his chest, assuming lecturing position. "But whatever, I think that’s not even what upsets you the most. The thing that upsets you the most is that he lied about something like this to you. Am I right? You feel wronged because he apparently didn't trust you enough to tell you sooner. Well, guess what, : Maybe he didn't tell you because he was afraid of this exact reaction." 

"Hmpf." Sometimes, ‘Hmpf’ meant ‘Maybe you’re right’ in Jonghyun language. "I want you to tell me honestly. It doesn't matter anymore at this point: Did you know, Minhyun? Did you?" 

"Of course not." Minhyun rapidly shook his head. "Look into my eyes, can't you see they're open wide? Would I lie to you, baby?" He quoted the song, wanting to cheer up up Jonghyun, but in vain. Oh well. Maybe this actually was a wrong time for jokes. 

"Perhaps." Jonghyun replied with a blank expression, whereas normally, he definitely would've laughed. "It turns out, liars are everywhere." 

"He lied to you, yes." Minhyun nodded. "That wasn’t nice of him. But I doubt that he did it to intentionally hurt you.” Minhyun shrugged his shoulders. “He didn’t mean to cause you any pain. He didn’t expect to catch feelings.” Minhyun blinked in realization. "I bet you lied to him as well. You needed to cover up your stalking, didn't you?" 

Minhyun was stating facts to Jonghyun's disadvantage, and this made him angry. "Jesus, Minhyun, if you love him so much, why don’t you marry him?" 

"But I just-" 

“If all you’re gonna do is defend him,” A complete unreasonable Jonghyun pointed towards the door. “Then leave.” 

“I’m not doing this for him. I’m doing this for you.” Minhyun mumbled, standing up. He was sad to find Jonghyun didn’t appreciate his efforts to fix things, obviously. “You’re my dearest friend. You deserve happiness.. And I know that Minki is capable of giving you that happiness. I’ve seen the sparkle in your eyes when you talk about him, I’m not stupid. Give him another chance. Do it for yourself. Don’t deny yourself a chance at true love and happiness." Minhyun practically whined, clutching his chest. He truly had a talent for drama. "Goodbye, Jonghyun." 

As he went, Jonghyun rolled his eyes, mumbling; "Who does he think he is? My mother?" 

After Minhyun left, Jonghyun kept sulking for a while longer.. But eventually gave in. Minhyun was right. Jonghyun was in love with Minki. Minki meant a lot to him. He couldn’t ruin their relationship because of something like this. Jonghyun’s love for Minki was stronger than any kind of hurt. Minki deserved a chance to explain. Though, he'd have to stop doing this. At once. That was Jonghyun's only condition. 

He stood up, ready to take a shower because, well, he looked like a bum.