A/N: This fic was inspired by this conversation with my friend

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Beads of sweat rolled down Kibum's neck and into the collar of his uniform. He shivered at the sensation, despite the sweltering heat, and glared at the sun through his military-issued sunglasses. Grimacing, he adjusted his hold on the oars and kept rowing.

He knew he'd be coming away with blisters from this, littered all across his palm and stretching up over his fingers.

He didn't care.

It'd be ing worth it.

The muscles in his arms, back, and stomach burned and pulled as he kept rowing across the sea. Sunlight glittered over the surface of the water. Every time he plunged the paddle of the oars into the water of the Pacific Ocean, a spray of water droplets splashed across his skin and clothes, but soon evaporated under the warmth of the sun.

The RKOS Dokdo was in view, which meant that this ordeal was nearly over.

He wasn't wearing a watch, nor did he have his phone to check the time -- he had to conserve his battery now that he was out at sea -- so he wasn't sure how long it took for him to slip into the shadow of the Dokdo. Once there, he let out a relieved sigh and reached for the canteen of water he tucked beneath his bench, drinking it all in one draught.

With one hand on the hull of the Dokdo, Kibum guided himself over to the thin ladder leading up to the deck of the ship. In any other circumstances, the thought of climbing up such a ladder would have terrified him, but right now, he couldn't care less.

His soon-to-be-blistered hands burned with every rung he climbed. Ordinarily, that would have slowed his progress, but he was so close now….

Kibum clambered onto the deck of the ship, startling a few of the Marines milling about on the deck. Quickly, he stood, brushing himself off and standing tall as several of the Marines ran over, rifles in hand. He lifted his chin as they stood a few meters away, utterly refusing to quail under the barrels of their guns.

"Who are you? And state your purpose!"

Kibum lifted his hand in a salute, ignoring the way the barrels of the guns followed his movement. "Private First Class Kim Kim! Here to meet with Lance Corporal Choi Minho!" One of the Marines lowered his gun a little, pointing it above Kibum's head. Kibum reached up to take off his sunglasses, squinting in the glare of the setting sun. "I'm Key...from SHINee...his bandmate?"

Two more lowered their guns, but the one directly in front of him tightened his grip on his rifle. "Prove it."

With a heavy sigh, he started to hum Ring Ding Dong under his breath, matching the well-known choreography to the tempo of the song. By the time the chorus ended, the last Marine raised his rifle. "That looks like what we danced on Defense TV, right?"

One of the other Marines scoffed. "That's the dance and you know it. He tried to teach us, remember?"

Kibum held back a smile. Yeah, that sounded like something Minho would do. "Can I see him? It won't take too long, I swear."

"He's out on a training mission right now, but they're scheduled to be back soon."

"Here," the Marine to Kibum's left said, resting the barrel of his rifle against his shoulder. "You can wait in his cabin."

"Thanks."

He followed them across the deck, slipping his sunglasses back on until they were safely inside the ship. One Marine, then, stepped inside and motioned for Kibum to follow him down the narrow hallway. The others stayed behind, shutting and securing the door. The boom of the door closing reverberated down the dimly lit corridor.

"Not much further now."

They pressed themselves up against the wall, saluting every time someone higher ranking passed them by. Kibum thought he had used up his luck for the day by getting on board the Dokdo without getting shot, but the ranking officers didn't seem to see or care about his lack of matching uniform to the rest of the sailors or Marines.

The one leading him stopped before room 525. "This is it."

Kibum scoffed. "Did you guys do that on purpose?"

"Do what?"

He pointed at the number, and the Marine's brow furrowed in utter confusion. "Nevermind. Thanks for your help," he said, slipping inside after the Marine opened the door for him.

It only took one glance around the room to find Minho's bunk. Usually, he would just look for the tidiest space and that would be Minho's, but this was the military, so everyone was tidy. However, the plethora of gifts and notes from fans tacked to the wall of his bunk was more than enough to show him where Minho laid his head at night.

He went over to his bunk, slipping inside and sighing at the relief of laying down. After all that rowing, he knew he would sleep well tonight. He almost fell asleep right then and there, reading some of the notes and trying to decipher the languages he wasn't as familiar with. He would have, too, if the door hadn't swung open and Minho stepped inside.

"Bummie?"

Kibum sat up quickly, wincing when his head knocked against the roof of the bunk. "Yeah…"

Minho hurriedly closed the door behind him and tossed his helmet on his bed as Kibum slid off of the bed. He lightly rubbed the spot that Kibum had bumped before he pulled him into a tight hug. Kibum closed his eyes and smiled, leaning into it.

Wow, he had really missed this...

"What the are you doing here?" Minho asked, patting Kibum's back before letting him go.

Right, time to do what he came here to do. "Listen," he said as he dug his phone out of his pocket and sank to the floor, leaning against the side of Minho's bunk. He his phone as Minho slipped out of his boots and joined him on the floor, sitting as close as possible. "Okay, so, our son has been acting out since we've been away."

Minho's laughter filled the small room until it was almost bursting at the seams. He leaned into Kibum before shoving him away slightly, and Kibum cracked a smile as he unlocked his phone.

"What'd Taemin do now?" Kibum opened his gallery, and then his album of screenshots. "Wait," Minho said, chuckling. "Did you take leave just for this?"

"Sure did! Okay so…"

"Wait, why are his legs spread out like that?"

"And on national TV, too." Minho facepalmed and Kibum laughed. "Hold on, we're just getting started." He scrolled through the screenshots, letting Minho read all of the texts he had gotten from their friends in the entertainment industry that detailed everything that Taemin had been up to since they enlisted and he was left to fend for himself. He soon ran out of those, though, but luckily Minho had his phone on him. He opened his gallery as well, but instead of receipts, they looked through candids of them all that Minho had taken over the years -- "You really need to get an Instagram." "You can keep saying that, but it's not gonna happen." -- and Kibum switched albums on his phone so that he could do the same. He lost track of time, reminiscing with Minho, and he got so caught up in it that he jumped when an alarm rang out. Kibum looked up from his phone. "What's that for? Dinner?"

Minho sighed and smiled as he glanced his way. "That means it's time for you to wake up."

Kibum blinked. "What?" he asked, opening his eyes to find that he was back in his bunk. At his base. On land. He let out a quiet groan as he sat up.

"Something wrong?" Youngsoo asked from the upper bunk. Kibum shook his head as if he could see him. "Was it the Minho dream again?"

"Yeah…"

"When does he get his phone back?"

"At eight." Kibum rubbed his hands over his face, sighing. "Hopefully we can talk for more than fifteen minutes this time."

"Did your maknae really do that much since you last spoke?" he asked as he climbed down from the top bunk.

Kibum chuckled, glancing over at the picture of the five of them he tacked beside his pillow. "You're really underestimating Taemin and his ability to try my patience." He reached out, smiling softly as he touched each of s with the tip of his finger before he slipped out of bed.

Even if it seemed like it right now, it wouldn't be too much longer until he was back with them.

He couldn't wait.