Sunday night is balmy and perfect for a long, peaceful walk that conveniently takes Kibum right to Jonghyun's work. He turns the corner and there he is, positioned beneath one of the streetlights. His guitar is carefully perched on his knee, and his eyes are closed as he sings.

As Kibum gets closer, he spots Roo, settled beneath his legs on her own blanket laid gently across the pavement. He ducks into the cafe before Jonghyun can spot him, paying for his cup of coffee as Jonghyun finishes up his song with his last line sung in a sweet falsetto. 

He plants himself at one of the small patio tables as Jonghyun exchanges a few words with some people who, by the looks of things, have been hanging around for a few songs. Kibum can't blame them - it's a beautiful night to hear some beautiful music, and the street is picturesque. There are only a few small restaurants and lanterns hanging out from upper story windows. A bakery is somewhere nearby; the smell of freshly baked bread is wafting temptingly in front of him. 

It's a much better locale than the lobby of the clinic, where the constant up side of Roo's check-ups is Jonghyun's impromptu acapella singing to keep her nerves down. It had pretty good acoustics, he had told Kibum once, his cheeks dimpling as he smiled. 

That, and the fact that he inevitably ended up charming the receptionists, the nurses, and other pet parents, makes their visits a bit of an occasion. Jonghyun seemed to attract fans wherever he went. Kibum wasn't surprised when the cashier had advised that he take a seat outside for a free show. 

He lets Jonghyun finish up his conversation and resume playing, since it's still early. His coffee is gradually cooling to a drinkable temperature, and Kibum sips at it and lets himself enjoy the unhurried atmosphere. Jonghyun begins a new song, something that sounds vaguely familiar to Kibum, sparks a memory of Roo getting her nails clipped, while Jonghyun her long ears between calloused fingers.

Halfway through is when Jonghyun spots Kibum, mid affectionate gazing at the audience. As his expression brightens, the only right word Kibum can find for it is luminescent.

When he finishes, he nods, smiling, to the other guests in the patio, a couple of them clapping appreciatively. Reaching beneath his seat, he pats Roo's side to wake her up from a light doze and together they trot over to Kibum. His guitar bounces on his hip, producing a small thunk-thunk-thunk.

"Nice song," Kibum greets him, because it was. 

"Ah, thanks," Jonghyun thanks him with a shy quirk to his lips, reaching up to ruffle his hair between his fingers. "You should have told me you were coming."

Kibum shrugs noncommittedly. 

"Spur of the moment thing. Hi, Roo," he says, smiling down as she arrives at the scene and looks up at Kibum like she's trying to place him. He bends down and reaches through the short fence to let her sniff to confirm his identity before he scratches at the back of her head. 

Jonghyun twists back at his set-up to make sure it's secure, before looking down at the petting session fondly. 

"You plan on being here for a while?"

"Not in a rush," Kibum says, honest. He had known for a while that Jonghyun busked regularly, not as his source of income, but for pleasure. He had been meaning to see it for a while, but life insisted on getting in the way. 

Jonghyun looks delighted.

"Any requests?"

Kibum shakes his head, a small smile on his lips as Jonghyun picks up Roo easily with one hand and makes his way back to his station. He pulls his guitar around again to the front and begins strumming. 

It's a bright tune with his lilting voice to go along with it, and it has Kibum tapping his foot in no time. It's perfect music for Instagram-stalking Jinki for only the fourth time since Friday night. 

Picture of Joyonghan. Picture of a wall. Picture of Joyonghan next to a confused-looking blonde man, Jinki's hand stretched around in frame, giving a V-sign. Picture of a chicken coop - that one had sent him into a flurry of hunting to see if Jinki was from the country, and Kibum had been forced to conclude that no, Jinki just felt that those particular chickens were worth documenting. Picture of a street a night, taken from a doorway and looking out into the passing traffic, the cars reduced to blurs of color. He wishes Jinki had turned the front-facing camera on for that one, as he easily imagines his face lit up beneath various shades of neon. 

There had been a few selfies scattered infrequently - too few, in Kibum's protracted analysis. His thumb pauses over the most recent one. It's of Jinki, laying on his side, head propped up in his hand, with Joyonghan positioned in front of him. The cat looks distinctly unimpressed in contrast to Jinki's broad, eye-crinkle of a smile. Kibum thinks he would have remembered him smiling like that in the office, because the first time he saw it he had to close his phone for a moment and just - process what he was looking at. And, after processing, he immediately thought how he could make him smile like that. 

So far, he had narrowed it down to cat, chickens, and bad jokes. Not really Kibum's normal approach, but he could work with it. 

He closes down his Instagram after a few more minutes of perusing, and takes a few photos of his own - of his coffee; of Jonghyun, bent over his guitar, hair falling in front of his face; of the view looking up towards the electric cables, clothing lines, lanterns, and the purple-pink sky at sunset. He texts the second one to Jonghyun instead of posting it. 

The musician finishes up soon enough, the sky transitioning into purple-blue, and packs up his guitar to the voiced dismay of a few girls sitting behind Kibum. 

Their chatter becomes excited again when Jonghyun takes all of his stuff and drops it over the fence beside Kibum, heading into the cafe and coming out a few minutes later with his own drink clutched to his chest. 

"Check your phone," Kibum demands when he sits, and feels a warm glow when Jonghyun exclaims over the photo, pointing out how Roo - unbeknownst to Kibum as he took the photo - is yawning cutely between his legs. 

"Veterinarian and photographer," he says, chuckling. "You should advertise."

"I should charge, more like," he says. "But you can pay me back."

"Oh?"

"Tell me about Jinki."

Jonghyun snorts inelegantly. 

"Ah, now I see what this was all about," he looks more amused than Kibum would like, but it's better than offense. "Surveillance, flattery, interrogation..."

"It's only an interrogation if you make it difficult. And I meant those compliments."

He shrugs, smiling indulgently.

"So when was the last time you saw him?" Kibum asks. 

"Yesterday."

"What were you doing?" 

"Working out together. Then we got breakfast."

"Regular habit?" he asks, fearing the answer and the mental images it could give

"Spontaneous for us. Although I thought this was spontaneous, so maybe my definition is off..."

Kibum ignores the jab.

"Known him long?"

Jonghyun 'mm-hmms' into his cup, one of the guitar strings rubbed between his fingers. Kibum lets the pause between them sit until Jonghyun realizes he wants him to continue. 

"We went to the same school. He was a year ahead, but did some tutoring for my class so we saw each other pretty often. Probably wouldn't have graduated without his help."

His mental defenses are for a sweaty, exercising Jinki, so they aren't prepared for the equally potent assault of a studious, teacherly Jinki. He might have even chewed thoughtfully on his pencil. It's an extremely promising image that Kibum has to forcibly push in his back pocket for review later.

"Is he dating anyone?"

Jonghyun arches back into a stretch, yawning; when he releases with a groan his eyes are full of amusement at Kibum's expression. 

"No."

"How recent is your knowledge?"

His eyebrows dance up. 

"Extremely."

Kibum narrows his eyes, caught on the teasing note in Jonghyun's voice on the last answer. 

"Jjong," the nickname comes out in full force, hoping to use it to full effect. "Do you have something to share with me?"

The other man shrugs, having moved on to dancing a guitar pick across his fingers. Kibum resists the urge to snatch it from him.

"He just seemed distracted the other morning. And the only thing he had done unusual that day was see you, so..."

"That's nothing, Jesus," he sighs. "I thought you were going to tell me he was-"

"What? Had just posted a wanted ad for a hot, single veterinarian with two dogs and no social life? Was whispering 'oh, doctor ' under his breath?"

Kibum is, to his annoyance, very close to pouting. Jonghyun laughs at him and leans forward, grabbing his hand in his. 

"I know Jinki, much better than you," he says sincerely. "I'm not going to speak for him, but I haven't seen him like that since he got dumped senior year and was pining for a month straight. He thinks on things. He's not the type of guy to gossip."

 "...really?" he asks, hating how his voice has become shy, almost vulnerable. 

Jonghyun nods. 

"Just don't scare him off."

"Like I could," Kibum grouses, even though he's feeling much more optimistic. "He's the one with the demon cat."

There's a prolonged groan waking Jinki up, and Jinki is deeply disturbed to find it's coming from himself. He blinks up at the popcorned ceiling. It's Monday. He has to go to work. 

It takes him a moment to realize no alarm has gone off; his body has taken the initiative to wake itself up. A deeply personal and hurtful betrayal, he thinks as he stretches out his legs. The blanket shifts across him as he moves, and as the heavy material drags over his lap he remembers with a start why he woke up. 

He has a serious case of morning wood, the tip of his peeking out from the fly in his boxers. 

As to why he has morning wood, he closes his eyes in a rush of realization. 

Kibum. 

The man had infiltrated his dreams, all dark eyes and sly smiles and the half-remembered details are heating him precisely over his body, like someone is drawing a candle next to his skin. The sides of his torso, just beneath his ribs, where Kibum had slowly moving his hands down; at the points of his hips, where his hands had stopped to grip him tightly; the pinnacle of his shoulder blades, bumping against a wall that didn't exist, pushed there by Kibum, trapping him with his own body.

He cracks an eye open in paranoia - his body is so growing so heated it feels like he's not remembering a dream, like Kibum is somewhere, in his room, watching him and - 

Oh god, Jinki thinks as he lets out another throaty noise. His mind is seizing mercilessly on the idea of Kibum watching him writhe, hard and - he takes stock of his body - leaking. His groan is halfway to a whiny moan and he gives in, too tired for protestations, reaching down to grasp at his . 

Approximately six and a half minutes later, he breathlessly concedes that Taemin may have been onto something. 

The series of events Jinki had been fearing has been changed significantly with his newfound acceptance, he concludes privately over toast a bit later, but it's no less anxiety-inducing.

• Jonghyun could inform Kibum of Jinki's confirmed interest
• Kibum could bring it up on Wednesday
• He will be embarrassed, regardless of what Kibum actually says

"I don't have to do anything about this," he confides to Joyonghan when he spoons food into his bowl, the cat winding around his ankles. With this new bout of consideration, he agrees that Jonghyun is unlikely to disclose things like this. His 4AM voice was right on that point. So, presuming that this little unexpected twist is still semi-private, he could just live with it. 

Joyonghan bites at a loose bit of sock around his little toe. Absentmindedly, Jinki shakes his foot to remove him, only for the cat to take it as a sign for play and gnaw harder. 

"I know, I know," he says as he walks back across the kitchen, dragging Joyonghan along his side on the tile floor, unwilling to release his hold. "But if he doesn't bring anything up, then I can just ignore it. It's not like we run in the same circles."

Reaching down, he slips off his sock, hopping on one foot as he struggles to take it off with the attachment. Once he gets it off, he tosses it to Joyonghan as his prize. 

With the concession won, the cat turns to investigate his food instead, leaving Jinki to continue pondering. 

"Jonghyun, though," he says aloud. Jonghyun knows both of them, and just because their circles have never intersected before, doesn't mean they won't in the future. He likes Jonghyun; he doesn't want to stop seeing him out of some unrealized fear. 

With a sigh, he realizes what he has to do. 

@onewyaong: i need to talk to you

The other man is probably still asleep, but Jinki feels oddly reassured for having sent it. Jonghyun is the best of the two options he has in front of him, for talking things out, since Taemin's figuring it out before Jinki himself did is less than flattering. 

Grabbing his phone, and his bag, he steps over Joyonghan and and heads for the door, already planning out the rest of the conversation. 

The start of the work week is passing slower than the decay of the universe, and Kibum makes sure to say so to Minho as soon as his 9:30AM appointment is done. It was an older man, with his equally old spaniel, both sleepy and lazy, and it's infecting Kibum with ennui much too early in the week. The clock tells him he has at least six more hours to go, and he lets his head fall forward with a barely stifled groan of dismay. 

"Maybe the test results will come in soon," Minho suggests. Kibum can't see his expression, but he recognizes the faux-innocent tone in his voice all too well. He schools his face back into order as he responds.

"It'll be here soon enough." The offsite non-emergency lab typically has their results handed in by late morning, or the early afternoon. 10AM is optimistic; Kibum usually checks his inbox after returning from lunch.

But for this particular day, he's been idly considering skipping lunch altogether so he can be in the office and monitor the mail situation. By the look on Minho's face, he's barely restraining himself from bringing that up himself. Even his suggestion skirted the line of violating their agreement, but it seems his roommate can't resist as his phone pings.

@minhoooooal: go get us lunch

@offki: no. it's your turn.

@minhoooooal: you need a distraction

He ignores them and pulls open a game to fiddle. The rest of the morning is bound to be slow, as most visits aren't booked during a typical work day. He just has to steel himself to wait it out by whatever means necessary. He will proceed as normal. 

The absurd optimism of a 10AM delivery is singularly tempting, though, if only because it should include a certain stool sample. Kibum, completely validly, has to look forward to. 

On Friday, Kibum had been fairly positive it wouldn't come back with anything unusual, but a little more than 48 hours later, he's foregoing the vet equivalent of the Hippocratic oath and finds himself fantasizing about a nice case of intestinal parasites. Nothing serious, of course, but a light case that will provide an excuse for Jinki to spend more time at the office and for Kibum to present himself as a viable dating option. 

He's confident that Jinki finds him attractive; but attraction and action don't go hand in hand, at least not for someone like Jinki - according to Jonghyun, who Kibum had hung around with late into the night, eventually getting it out a few drinks later. 

"He's just...." Jonghyun waved his hands imprecisely. "Squishy and soft. Pillows."

Kibum had furrowed his brow and tried to mimic the motions, ending with a squeeze around imaginary love handles.

"Squishy?"

"Emotional squish," he explains, color high in his cheeks. "Not a physical squish."

He looked at Kibum critically.

"He could deadlift you," he said, completely serious, and Kibum wanted to explode into a thousand pieces for the mental picture that inspired as Jonghyun continued. "Like, right up there. Just..." he gestured up like he's guiding in an airplane.

"People just get the wrong idea about him, you know? Because he doesn't act on everything. Feelings. He keeps it in because feelings are - they're for him to think about first. So if he does want," he poked Kibum in the chest and cooed, impressed, when the other man didn't budge. "He's going to pick over it."

Kibum is, for all intents and purposes, a stranger to Jinki, and he has no intention of pretending otherwise moving forward. It's a little disheartening, thinking about how much better it would have been to meet him through a mutual friend like Jonghyun - and he had been sure to tell the other man that last night, be sloppily over a beer, eventually letting Jonghyun cling-hug to him in apology - but he has never been one to dwell on regrets. He has to deal with the hand he's been dealt, and that hand includes a sweet, slightly goofy man who can probably hold Kibum up. Possibly against a wall. 

So, he'll play it however he has to play it. And if the best path includes intestinal parasites, so be it. 

"Keeeeey," Minho calls him from where he's leaning over the desk, long legs splayed out behind him. "Please, this is for your benefit. Get us food."

"I said no."

"So the plan is to stand around and yearn, or...?"

Kibum snaps up his head to glare and finds Minho clutching his phone tightly. He narrows his gaze.

"I am going to stand here, as a gainfully employed doctor ready to receive patients who may need assistance."

Minho shrugs. 

"Call it whatever you want, but you don't have a schedule until 12:30 and Dr. Liu can handle any walk-ins."

Kibum ignores him and fills up some space with typing.

@offki: thanks for your help last night

@jjongd: ofc

@offki: are you playing today?

@jjongd: yes!! i'm setting up soon

@jjongd: if u have some free time come by later

@offki: maybe 

@offki: i usually have lunch around 12

Jonghyun texts him an excited affirmation back almost immediately, and Kibum puts away his phone with a smile. 

He looks up at the clock: 10:02AM. Excruciatingly slow, it ticks its way to 10:03. 

Minho's high-pitched laughter echoes around the lobby when Kibum goes for the door, jacket slung over his arm and backpack in hand. 

Jinki munches on his piece of toast and stares balefully out the window. His 15-minute break is already on its fourth minute, and his brain is fuzzed and slow as it tries to do the math on what that means for the remaining time.

Monday morning is typically one of their busiest shifts, and today has been no different, keeping Jinki from his intended mental deliberations over what to do, and what to say to Jonghyun when he sees him today. But his mind isn't cooperating with him, having lost the thread of his intent over getting settled into the work for the day.

Eleven minutes. 15 minus 4 is 11. Glancing at his phone, he groans and amends it to ten minutes. 

Taemin slides into the booth beside him and nudges him. 

"You're obvious as hell, you know that?"

"Hell isn't obvious," Jinki responds flatly. "Otherwise there wouldn't be debates about its existence. So I'm not obvious. So thank you."

The younger man snickers. Jinki taps at the table, Taemin's presence unearthing a comment he's been unable to shake, only ignore periodically. 

"You shouldn't have texted Jonghyun."

Taemin twists his head to look at him, a quizzical expression on his face.

"....shouldn't have texted him what?"

"Anything about Dr. Kim."

"Your hot doctor?" Taemin smiles broadly as Jinki mumbles around a mouthful of jam, "he's not my hot doctor, but yeah."

"I didn't send Jonghyun anything about that. Here," he pats at his pockets. "Wait. . Hold on."

Jinki waits patiently as Taemin ducks into the bathroom and comes back out, phone clutched protectively in his hands. He tosses it to Jinki, who fumbles it as the other man slides up against him and rests his head on his shoulder. 

@taeinthemirror: send me a pic

@jjongd: [image attached]

@jjongd: want another?

"See," Taemin says victoriously. "I told you."

Jinki's holding his head, words muffled behind the heels of his hands, pressed against his jaw. 

"Why did you think I did? Hey," he wraps his arm around him. "Share."

"Something Jonghyun said," Jinki slowly responds, digging into the corners of his eyes with his fingers. "About Dr. Kim. I thought you told him that I -"

"Wanted him carnally?"

Jinki huffs out a breath. 

"Yeah, no. See?" he opens up his phone again. Jinki makes an abortive motion to cover his eyes, only to stop halfway as Taemin goes up thread. "What day?"

"Saturday. Morning."

There's nothing incriminating there as Taemin scrolls to demonstrate, and Jinki is stumped. The only conclusion he can reasonably reach is that Jonghyun was being suggestive on his own, like he expected something to happen on Friday. Since the only reason the appointment happened on Friday is because of Jonghyun, there's a growing, weedy suspicion that this was a case of intentional matchmaking, a meet-cute born of potential pet illness. He feels slightly affronted on Joyonghan's behalf. 

But as far as multi-tasking goes, it worked to both of the other man's ends. Joyonghan got looked at by a doctor that knew what he was doing, and said doctor is now the focus of Jinki's lowkey, slightly anxious pining. His previous conversations with Jonghyun are jockeying for attention for an explanation. Did he think that Jinki was lonely?

Jinki wasn't lonely. He had Taemin, and Joyonghan, and Sunyong, and Joon - and others. His fingers itch around his phone, like he has to prove a minimum acceptable social life.

Or maybe - an odd, sad weight settles in his chest that squashes other objections - Jonghyun thought Kibum was lonely. 

This whole new avenue of information is affecting his tentative plan. He turns to look outside again as an escape and spies Jonghyun, setting up outside the cafe and smiling at - at Kibum.

The espresso machine starts screaming and Jinki has never identified with it more. 

"I thought you weren't coming till noon?" 

Kibum shrugs, wrapping his jacket around himself tighter. The nice weather from the day before has evaporated, leaving behind an overcast sky that promises to threaten rain later. 

"Took an earlier lunch under strenuous co-worker advisement," he says. "Need any help?"

"Thanks! Watch Roo for me?"

"Sure," Kibum takes the proffered leash in hand and kneels down to greet the excited dachshund who's sniffing at Kibum's pockets. Laughing, he pulls out a dog treat, his coat always full of something in case a patient needs a little extra convincing he doesn't mean them any harm.  

He holds it in his fist, knuckles over the sidewalk, and Roo snuffles into his hand and nibbles away at the small piece exposed. Jonghyun laughs above him, bright and amused, as he opens up an umbrella and positions it carefully. 

Kibum coos over Roo as she away the crumbs, and fishes around for his wallet, eventually extracting some money and ing it up to Jonghyun. 

"I haven't even played yet."

"For lunch," Kibum says. "Go get us lunch and I won't steal your dog for myself."

Out of the corner of his eye, Jinki sees Taemin waving Jonghyun over as soon as he enters. His throat is dry, and he imagines he can feel Kibum wandering around outside by some hyper-sensitized propioception that should be the topic of a groundbreaking study. He has never felt less prepared for a conversation in his life, including the time he told his parents he was quitting medical school to write. 

"Hi guys," Jonghyun beams as he squishes in next to Taemin. The musician leans over to kiss Taemin on the cheek, but abruptly moves away at the last second, presumably having spotted Jinki in the middle of a crisis. Taemin sulks. 

"What's wrong with you?" he puts his hand on Jinki's thigh and shakes it brazenly. "Bang your head twice on the table if it's about your hot doctor."

bang bang

"Oh, this is progress," Jonghyun enthuses above him. Jinki can't even be bothered to lift his head. "He wouldn't even acknowledge he existed on Saturday. Now he's his hot doctor. Jinki, I'm so proud of you!"

bang bang ba-

Jonghyun has his hand in the space between Jinki's forehead and the wood. He blinks and raises his head up. 

"Thanks," he says, still dissociating. 

Jonghyun looks outside and makes vaguely pointed encouraging noises. 

"Absolutely not."

"What?"

"Look, this is perfect timing -"

"For what?"

" - just go outside and say hi."

"Say hi to who?" Taemin twists around to scan outside, blindly skipping over Kibum to Jinki's distracted relief. 

"No."

"What?" Taemin demands. 

"Key - Dr. Kim - is here," Jonghyun answers. "And Jinki should go talk to him, especially since apparently he's now his hot doctor and - wait."

His eyes light up even brighter, and Jinki could swear that was a con condition he read about once. 

"Was this what your text was about this morning? You wanted to talk to me about Key?" 

Eyeing the cat-consuming-canary expression on Taemin's face, Jinki allows himself a tiny, restrained nod, and Jonghyun practically vibrates in excitement for a moment before deliberately taking a deep breath and calming down, something Jinki is very grateful for. 

"OK then," Jonghyun wraps his hand around Jinki's gently and lifting up his chin with his finger. "Taemin, we need a minute. Go use your coffee powers and make him a cup."

The youngest of the three of them gets up with minimal grumbling, leaving an anticipatory space in his wake.

"I'm not drinking that," Jinki says, just to say something.

"What did you want to talk about, Jinki?" Jonghyun asks, decisively ignoring away the weak diversion.

"Well..."

Jinki, for all the thoughts in his head, isn't quite sure where to start: there's why Jonghyun recommended Kibum in the first place, what he meant, exactly, in his texts; what, exactly, is his relationship to Kibum; what, exactly Kibum is doing there now; and his premature ideas of how to get to know Kibum better. He opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again, willing to go with whatever his mouth decides is good -

"Do you want to come outside with me?" Jonghyun suggests. "It's not going to be as bad as you think."

"How do you know?" Jinki asks, his tangled thoughts sharpening into singular curiosity: Jonghyun doesn't sound like he's just saying it. In general, Jonghyun isn't prone to blind, shallow reassurances, but this intended comfort sounds suspiciously like he knows something. The vague idea of what he could know that is giving him such confidence is deeply relevant to Jinki's state of mind at the moment, and, in particular, that insistent small voice. 

The diffused pinkness floating up Jonghyun's cheeks is particularly questionable. The small voice pushes it way to the front of his mind as he stares at the other man, waiting for him to come up with an answer.

He thinks Kibum is interested in you.

"I just think, "Jonghyun says delicately. "That things could turn out better than you expect."

Roll up your sleeves and go outside, the voice becomes strident. Jinki absentmindedly begins to fiddle with the hems of his shirt, rolling it up and back over his wrist.

Without his express permission, he finds his legs unfolding and his feet positioning to get up. 

 Say hi. Ask if you can get him a cup of coffee on the house.

Or maybe tea? He seems like he would like tea. Jinki thinks, with marginally growing confidence, today could be the day he makes the best cup of tea ever. 

"Break's over," Taemin says, abruptly shoving a coffee so strong beneath Jinki's nose that he reels back and bangs his head against the glass. "Either piss or get off the pot."

He processes that Jonghyun is gasping an objection - that Jinki was just about to! - but the blow to the back of his head has relieved him of the strange bout of bravado. He slips a glimpse outside and spies Kibum holding Roo's head in his hands, a soft smile that warms his face. Jinki wants to feel the glow of it between his palms. 

But he has to go back to work, and he ignores Jonghyun's "wait, come on" as he gets up and puts his apron back on. 

Taemin's coffee, though, he throws right in the trash out of principle. 

 When Jonghyun comes out of the cafe, he has zero food in his possession, a disconcerted look on his face, and he's trailed by another man who looks vaguely familiar to Kibum. 

"What happened to you?" he asks, taken aback. "And where's my lunch?"

"Wow," the other man says. He laughs right in Kibum's face. "You basically are him. Now it makes sense."

"Sorry about that," Jonghyun clears his throat and ignores the other man, who's still looking over Kibum like he's a particularly esoteric curiosity. He bristles at it. "I just came out to see what you wanted?"

"It took you that long," he says disbelievingly, but he gets up regardless and moves for the door with a sigh. "I'll just look for myself."

Jonghyun shoves the blonde man in front of Kibum, causing the two to bump into each other. The confused, annoyed expression on the other's face jogs Kibum's memory even more, but it's still out of reach. He knows him from somewhere, but he's out of context, here. 

"No need. Taemin can help you."

"Taemin cannot," the other man - Taemin - says indignantly. "Just let him go inside and get it over with."

"No, just," Jonghyun sighs. "C'mon, don't do this, Taeminnie. Please?"

Taemin heaves out an extremely put upon sigh and turns to face Kibum. Before he can say a word, Kibum interrupts. 

"Whatever this is," he waves indiscriminately at the pair. "Does this have an intermission? I just want some bibimbap. Is there bibimbap?" 

"Order up," Taemin says, snatching the money right out of Jonghyun's hand. "Thanks for the tip."

Kibum stares after him disbelievingly as Jonghyun perks up, hooking his arm around Kibum's back and trying to tug him back towards Roo and his waiting umbrella-chair combo. 

"Don't tell me that's your boyfriend, Jjong."

"...okay."

"Seriously?" he seethes, still tracing the other man's figure through the storefront window. He's moving in front of the counter, leaning over it to speak with someone he can't make out. He has Kibum's money clutched in his hand, waving it for the other figure to take. 

"He's not really - we're not really, seriously," Jonghyun says. "I'll make sure he gives you your change back, just let it go."

His seething is slowly transforming into a stew, despite Jonghyun's efforts. All he wanted this morning was to pass some time until he got some good, parasitical news, with a little food, a little music, and some good company. Instead, he gets leered at and weirdly insulted by a stranger, whose not-familiarity is making him itch in the effort to identify him, and who may be stealing his money. 

Jonghyun's hand lightly lands on his back, patting soothingly, and Kibum snaps. He doesn't want to feel soothed. 

"Yeah, not today," he says, breaking off from the other man and heading for the door, ignoring Jonghyun's weirdly passionate protests. He throws the door open and goes up to the counter, ready to give a piece of his mind. Taemin turns his body to face him as the door rattles when it lands, his eyes going bright and fascinated. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kibum demands. 

Taemin looks visibly pleased with his outburst.

"I don't think I could tell you," he responds. He props up his chin with his fist, eyes rolling dramatically to the man behind the counter. "Jinki-hyung, what do you think?"

Kibum's heart ing plummets.

 Jinki, blinking rapidly as he watches Taemin watch Kibum look at Jinki, is mentally upgrading his roommate from 'inconvenience' back to 'murder'. 

"Oh, hi, Dr. Kim," he says as casually as he can as the vet stares at him. "Did you - food? I mean - do you want to order some food?"

"Already taken care of," Taemin says brightly, reaching over the counter to clap Jinki on the shoulder. "Oh, and he was nice enough to give a tip. Right?"

Kibum seemingly comes back to awareness, and flaps away the change Jinki holds uncertainly in his hand. 

"No," he says, flustered. "Go ahead."

"Thanks," Jinki says, reaching around the till to stuff the bills into the community jar. He expects him to move away, maybe go back outside to talk to Jonghyun, but the other man just stands there, chewing on some unverbalized thought.

He wants to talk to you, the voice says with an edge of anticipation that makes the hair on the back of Jinki's neck raise. This isn't the office. He's seeking out time with you.  

"How's Joyonghan?"

Thank God, Jinki thinks. He can handle a conversation about cats. He had practically been training for it for five years. 

"Good."

A conversation is defined as an exchange of words, he makes a game attempt at self-justification. Words were exchanged successfully. 

"What about Joyonghan's owner?" the other man asks, a hint of a smile hovering around his lips. The small movement is unfair: the slight angle that hints at laugh lines that must outline his cheeks delicately when he lets himself really smile is a dirty, underhand sneak attack that leaves Jinki's brain reeling as though concussed. 

"Who?" he asks.

Kibum's smile widens so suddenly his heart stutters because it's better than he imagined, his whole face is pinned and balancing on his lips, his teeth, his mouth. 

"You?" he says, laughing. "How are you?"

Oh. 

"I'm fine," he responds, wincing at how boring that answer sounds even to him. "Working."

"I can see that," Kibum's smile has faded a little, but the amusement is still sparking in his eyes, and Jinki feels bizarrely light, like he's dehydrated and dizzy and - he should probably take a seat. He curses the store for putting all the seats out for customers. What a dumb policy. 

The silence sits for a moment before he blurts out - 

"What are you doing here? I mean, - aren't you - working? Saving lives?"

Kibum laughs, a little smaller this time, a little more self-deprecating, and Jinki has to fight the urge to just - run his fingers over the lines of his mouth. Since that would be super inappropriate, he refrains. 

"I think the closest I got to life-saving today was refilling the lobby treats."

"Still important," Jinki says, a little too sincerely even to his ears. "Joyonghan loves those."

"He loves dog treats?" 

"He likes...treats. In general? You know," he stutters. "Food. I meant - the way to a stomach is through the heart, right? If a pet is scared, you're already trying to help them. First thing. Just - walking in and you're already doing what you can before you get to examine them."

He ducks his head as he trails off, Kibum watching him curiously.

"I'll have some treats for him, then," he says firmly. "On Wednesday."

Jinki looks up and Kibum looks - well, he looks a little pink around the ears. Jinki stares in wonder, and the voice is crowing because - because he - 

Taemin appears at his shoulder with a carton that he s at Kibum. 

"Food's ready."

Kibum is having more violent urges in the last half-hour than he's had in the last year, because of one man. The photo of Taemin with Joyonghan and Jinki's hand is now clear and fresh in his mind, when he really could have used it five minutes ago.  

"Thanks," he says as he takes the dish. "I'll take a seat."

"Outside, right?" Taemin says. "Because of Jonghyun. And how you came to see him."

Kibum steals a glance at Jinki, who's busily adjusting the stack of cups that don't seem to be in peril of falling over at all. 

"Right," he slowly says, talking himself down from the light flirting. He wasn't planning on being too forward with jinki anyway, and as promising as this was - his heart still feels oddly off-skew - he shouldn't get overconfident. "Thanks. And I'll see you on Wednesday, treats in hand."

"Looking forward to it," Jinki says. "Fingers crossed for a good poop."

He looks mortified as soon as the words leave his mouth, and Kibum has to bite his lip to stop from laughing as he turns to head outside. 

"You're welcome," Taemin says, as Jinki steadies himself with a white-knuckle grip of the sandwich cooler. 

 "What?"

"For getting him to come inside, so you could talk to him," Taemin looks incredulous that he even has to explain. "You clearly like him. And he thinks you're cute."

"...what," he says weakly. 

"I mean, that's just obvious," he mutters to his phone. "Have to be blind not to see that...see?"

He s the device into Jinki's face, the dangerously high level of brightness instantly making him wince. 

@taeinthemirror: how much does the good doctor want to ride jinki's d

@jjongd: cannot say!

@taeinthemirror: don't respond if it's a lot

"That was a few minutes ago," Taemin says to Jinki's non-processing face. "He hasn't been playing anything between then and now, and Kibum's been in here so. Go ask him into the bathroom for some stall . Or, just aim a little lower. Ask him out."

The phone is still in his face, the read note clear and unmistakeable. 

Jinki takes a deep breath and sets his jaw determinedly. 

"I'm going to take the trash out."

The half-full trash bag held in a slightly sweaty grip swings back and forth as Jinki stares, dismayed, into the street.

"Oh," Jonghyun softly says, stopping his warm-up chords. "He left, hyung. Got an urgent text."

Jinki wanders over to him, not sure what to say. His excuse to come outside seems exceedingly dumb in retrospect. There's some undefined juice splattering by his shoes. 

Before he can chip some response off the lump rock of disappointment in his throat, Taemin comes out. 

"Don't worry, hyung," he says, clapping Jinki on the shoulder. "I'm sure there's a cot at the office you two can bounce on on Wednesday."

@minhoooooal:  lab results are in 

@minhoooooal: doctor kim

@minhoooooal: if you don't get back in the next 5 minutes i will open them

@offki: you're fired

Kibum pauses around the corner from the clinic entrance, steadying his breath with singular purpose. 

When he walks in, Minho snorts. 

"Did you run?"

"Did you need this job?" he retorts, snatching the offered envelope from his hand and tearing it open. He sends a quick, giddy prayer up, because just the brief conversation with Jinki at the cafe had been promising, even with the interruptions. The seeds were planted, the leaves were sprouting, now he just needed a little bit of parasitical infection fertilizer.

Joyonghan (Lee Jinki) - Negative

"Well, ," says Minho over his shoulder. "Pun intended."

Kibum hits him.