20 HONEST

Kibum wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing, and in his list of loathsome ways of waking up, this is at the top. But before he becomes fully awake to annoyance, he catches a glimpse of a beautiful face near him— Taemin is lying on his stomach, snoring softly, with one leg draped over Kibum’s. Suddenly, everything is right in the world, and Kibum smiles.

The phone screen flashes the number of his mother’s institution so he quickly but carefully pulls himself away from Taemin. Kibum takes the call inside the bathroom.

“Bummie?”

“Umma, it’s me. How are you?”

Kibum’s mother Heekyung fills him in on their activities in the “home”.

Taemin wakes up and hears Kibum talking on the phone since the bathroom door is left ajar. Out of curiosity, Taemin stands by the door, almost certain that it is Jonghyun, calling to warn them against crossing lines that must not be crossed. Taemin cannot help but smirk. Too late, Jjong-hyung.

But Taemin soon realizes that it is a female since Kibum has put the call on speaker. Kibum seems to be talking about the cities they’ve visited.

“We’re leaving Brazil tomorrow, umma. Rio has been magical. I’ll never forget this place.” At this, Taemin smiles.

“Bummie, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. You’ve been through a lot of hardships. You sound really happy.”

“I am, umma. I love my job, I get to travel, and I’ve made new friends.”

“This celebrity you work for… how is he? How’s he treating you?”

“His name is Lee Taemin, umma. We’ve actually become friends.”

“Honey, be careful with those rich and famous people, okay? I just don’t want you running with the wrong crowd. Don’t forget what happened to your stepdad.”

“Don’t worry, umma. Taemin is nothing of the sort. Yeah, he’s a superstar, but he’s down to earth and kind and really nice to people. He’s different, umma. No, he’s special.”

“Do you like this Taemin boy, Bummie?”

“What do you mean? Umma, I work for him. I…”

“What I meant was- do you like working for him? Bummie, is there something going on?”

“No, umma. Nothing’s going on. Oh, I gotta go. We have an interview in an hour.”

Silence. And then… “Kibum? Is that you? Are you in school? I’m hungry,” Heekyung says, quite childishly, before going silent again on the other line.

Perplexed by what his mother said and by the sudden change in her tone, Kibum is about to ask what she’s talking about but the line is suddenly cut. It appears that Heekyung hanged up on her son.

That was strange.

Taemin hears Kibum’s deep sigh… and movements that sound like he’s filling the tub with water. And then Kibum starts to sing…

Nothing is so good it lasts eternally… Perfect situations must go wrong

“It doesn’t have to go wrong,” Taemin says as he pushes the door wide open and enters the bathroom.

“Oh… hi, Taemin. Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Kibum smiles at Taemin, and in spite of their activities the previous night, Kibum looks a bit shy.

“What do you think? Of course I slept well. It was the best night of my life.” Taemin wants to pull Kibum into his arms but he also feels shy all of a sudden.

“What about you, hyung? Did you sleep well?” Taemin smiles when Kibum nods. “Then why were you singing such negative lyrics?”

“Oh, that. No, it’s a song called I Know Him So Well fom ‘Chess the Musical’. I starred in it in Brooklyn. That song was actually sang by my two fellow actors. Don’t laugh, but in the musical two women were fighting over me, in a sense, and that song was their duet.”

“Maybe Kai and I should learn that song. It’ll be our second duet after Pretty Boy.” Taemin laughs but immediately stops when he sees Kibum’s panicked face.

“Kai! Taemin, I haven’t replied to his messages. He has sent me like a thousand. He’s so sweet. And I’m terrible. .”

“We should tell him.”

“Tell him what, Taemin? We’re not in a relationship. And we can’t tell him we slept together.”

Taemin is usually grateful for frank, honest people because he’s the non-confrontational type. But Kibum’s bluntness felt like a dagger in his heart.

Kibum sees the hurt in Taemin’s eyes so he quickly sits on the toilet and pulls Taemin to settle on his lap. He wraps his arms around Taemin’s waist and rests his chin on Taemin’s shoulder.

“As much as we loved every second of last night, we both know it was a mistake. Taemin, we both agreed to make ‘one mistake’. You know we can’t carry on as lovers.”

“I know. I know, Kibum. But it doesn’t mean