A long and repetitive vibration on the mattress slowly wakes Jonghyun up, the young man frowning as he blindly catches his phone. Opening one eye, he checks the screen and sighs before he picks up ; on the line, his best friend is angrily whispering things which don’t sound like words to his still sleepy ears. He grunts and mumbles a “call later”, then he hangs up and puts the device away, eventually turning on his left side.

What he doesn’t expect is for his phone to vibrate once again, this time with a sharp, brief rhythm, which signales several texts coming at once. Jonghyun grumbles even more as he turns over and straightens on his forearm, grabbing the annoying object once again to check who’s preventing him to sleep. He opens the messages app and immediately notices capitalized words coming from Minho. 

JONGHYUN HYUNG.

YOU’RE LATE.

WAKE UP AND RUN.

The young man frowns and sits up straight on his bed, rubbing his tired eyes before reading the texts again. Late ? He repeats the word several times in his mind until it hits him. Late. For his classes. Jonghyun swears out loud and types texts Minho that he’s on his way, before he leaves his bed and runs to his bathroom. 

, , . His teacher is going to kill him, the student thinks as he hastily washes his face and puts some decent clothes on — actually the first ones that his hands find in his closet. It’s not the first time he’s running late for university because his sleep doesn’t play the game ; but he knows the excuse won’t last long, as honest as it is.

In no time, he’s outside his house and he runs as fast as he can, holding his backpack in his hand and apologizing to every pedestrian he almost runs into. It takes him less than ten minutes until he reaches his university, and he rushes to his lecture hall. He takes a minute to catch his breath before opening the double-wing door, and he deeply bows without even watching his teacher and the dozens of students who turn their heads towards him.

“Please accept my apologies, I—” he starts to say.

“Maybe you should sleep here, Kim.” The woman in her fifties harshly cuts him short. “This way, we would have the honor to see you on time. Take your seat.”

Jonghyun bows once again and keep his head lowered as his eyes search for a free seat. The one beside Minho is taken, so he quickly sits in the last row, far away from the board. He apologies to the student who was sitting alone before his arrival, making him move his things away. The late man is surprised to notice several items of a biker’s equipment, such as gloves and a helmet. 

He looks up as he finally sits down, and finds his neighbor smirking.

“She’s a .” He whispers. “Don’t mind her.”

“I-I beg your pardon ?” Jonghyun asked, his eyebrows raising at the cuss word coming from such a pretty mouth, with heart shaped lips.

“Park. She’s been harsh with you. I never liked her to be honest, too pretentious.”

“Oh... well, I deserved it since I’m late. Again. Sorry I had to disturb you...”

“Don’t worry about it, it takes a bit more than that to bother me.”

The student smiles to him and pulls a sheet from his notebook before he discreetly passes it to Jonghyun. The latter looks at it for some seconds before understanding he’s being given what he has missed from the beginning of the lecture. He shyly blushes and bows his head as a thank, taking his own notebook and pen to rewrite the main points. He then pushes the sheet back towards its owner.

“Thank you...?” He said, letting the end of his sentence outstanding.

“Kibum, but you can call me Key.” His neighbor said, winking at him with confidence.

“O-Okay, Key. I’m Jonghyun.”

“It’s nice to meet you. So... do you live that far away for you’re often late ? No offense, simply curiosity.”

“No, not at all, I’m living above the music shop, you know ? Barely ten minutes from here if you run fast.”

“And you do, I presume.”

“Really fast.”

Key slightly laughs, and Jonghyun smiles at the sound. The student sitting next to him isn’t a new face, he’s pretty known on the campus since he distinguishes himself thanks to his particular style — all about leather jacket and boots, ripped jeans and nice necklaces, rings and ear piercings. But what catches people’s eye the most is, obviously, his motorbike.

He’s curiously the only student who comes to the university by motorbike, others mostly using a bicycle or the bus, when they don’t own a car. However, his outfits always match his transport and Jonghyun can’t help but find it extremely attractive... his complete opposite, though, he who likes to wear comfy sweaters or checked shirts on a plain top. 

And who uses his feet.

“You must like to run then.” Key states as he highlights some words on his notebook with a bright green color.

“Like to run ?” The other student repeats, dumbfounded.

“Yeah. Since you’re late, you must like to run from your house to university. No ?”

“Hum... it’s not... I mean...”

“Relax, Jonghyun-ssi, I was kidding. Trying to break the ice, this class is boring as .”

“Yeah, it is. I wonder why I even bother running for it. Actually I just have sleeping issues and I often miss my alarm clock.”

“So we got an heavy sleeper here. And you like music ?”

Saying this, Key shows Jonghyun’s open backpack on the table, which let his headset peep. The student nods and without really noticing, he starts talking with more ease by the minutes passing, his neighbor willingly answering and holding a long conversation about everything and nothing, from their respective hobbies to some giggles after their teacher calls them out a few times.

This comfortable moment recurs often, as both students share more classes than they expected... and as Jonghyun keeps coming late and only find a free seat next to Key, who always puts his biker’s equipment away with a wink, or a smile. They share their notes with each other, then their snacks, eventually their lives through anecdotes and confessions — like Jonghyun talking about his fifth years old brother, Taemin, or Key about his hometown.

Weeks flow by and their almost daily meetings are interrupted by school vacations, a short week that feels like three to Jonghyun who’s alone at home while Key’s abroad, spending time with a guy named Jinki or something like that. Even his video gaming afternoons at Minho’s place or helping Taemin with his homework and coloring books don’t satisfy him enough. Something’s missing, and time goes heavily slowly.

At least he can sleep without being scared to be late...

One day, Jonghyun is waken up by a small body climbing on his back, and he slightly laughs before he turns over to catch his brother for a tickling party. Taemin screams and wriggles, and the student smiles, kissing his rounded cheeks. It’s at that moment he notices the little boy is wearing his school uniform. Frowning, he catches his phone and chokes with his own saliva as he become aware of the day and the time : he’s late for his return to school.

Jonghyun’s routine begins again, with him running everywhere and doing his best to get properly ready in the shortest time. He catches his brother on his shoulder as he runs down the stairs, making him scream before he puts him on the floor. He then kisses his mother on the cheek and runs outside, only to abruptly stop in front of the small portal.

There, on the other side, a young man with black hair and wearing a leather jacket turns over to face him, and offers him a smile.

“Long time no see, Jjong.” He says before looking at his watch. “You’re improving, we have ten minutes until the class begins.”

Jonghyun stares at his friend, stunned, and Key can’t help but laugh out loud.

“You should see your face, it’s really funny.” He smiles. “I made some shopping in Japan, equipment is cheaper over there, a blessing. Here for you.”

Key grabs a grey slipcover by its string and hands it to Jonghyun, who takes it. It’s round, as hard as a stone and kinda heavy, what surprises him at first. He loosens a bit the string and unpacks his gift : a helmet, black with a white stripe. The student raises his eyebrows as he examines the object, and when he looks up to ask for an explanation, he finds his friend already straddling his bike with his own helmet on — the visor open — and turning the motor on.

“Get on.” He simply says, loud enough to be heard.

“Behind you ?” Jonghyun bluntly asks.

A simple stare from Key answers his questions and he blushes, putting the helmet on and adjusting it. He tidies the slipcover in his backpack, which he carefully put on his back, before he approaches the engine. After a short moment of hesitation, he firmly holds on to the biker’s arm and gets on ; he sits comfortably and watches Key turning his head towards him, his eyes smiling before he lowers his visor.

“Let’s go baby, hold on.”

He doesn’t wait for an answer and the bike starts moving forwards, surprising Jonghyun who gasps and immediately circles Key’s waist with his arms. He can’t see his friend smiling at the contact, when himself is blushing so hard under his helmet. Without really noticing it at first, he grabs hold of the biker’s top and is pressed against his back. 

Soon, the first ride’s worries vanish from Jonghyun’s mind and he finds himself relaxing against his friend’s body. He can’t really see nor hear anything because of the speed, the only thing he knows is that when Key pulls over in the motorbikes parking of the university, he feels disappointed by the brevity of the moment. When he eventually lets his friend’s top go, he unwillingly caresses his stomach and can feel Key’s abdominals tense.

Jonghyun blushes and clears his throat, checking on his left and his right to think about a way to come down. He manages to make his body slide on the bike, and when he has to make his short leg come down too, he stumbles and falls on his . Key laughs and gets off in his turn, putting the stand down and removing his helmet before he walks to help his friend to stand up. He dusts him a bit and helps him removing his helmet too.

The student’s blonde hair is a complete mess and Key laughs again, styling it with his hand under the dumbfounded stare of Jonghyun.

“See ? You’re on time.” The biker says before he crouches to tie his bike.

“Let’s do it again.” Jonghyun bluntly says, blushing when Key stands up and looks at him. “I mean... not now, but... some mornings ?”

The other student smiles and puts two fingers under Jonghyun’s chin.

“It’s planned, baby.”

I hope you liked this short drabble, feel free to comment ~