Standing at the railing I stared out over the sea, thinking about what I could do to get out of here.

 

A voyage … what made my parents think I'd enjoy this kind of trip?

I got seasick easily and I didn't like the sea anyway – it was scary and uncomfortable. Just the thought of drowning made me shiver, plus there were thousands of meters underneath this cruiser, it could swallow all of us in an instant.

 

“Calm down.” I thought and sighed. “Two weeks of this won't kill you …”

 

A two-week long voyage – I got it as a birthday present. I turned 20 last week and apparently my parents believed I'd love nothing more than a trip on a five-star rated cruiser through the Caribbean.

Still, I would have rather stayed in Korea with my friends and my books.

I really loved books. I had a huge collection of books at home and I read all of them at least three times because all of them were amazing. Romance books were my favorite, especially the ones which had a soppy and way too cute happy-ending.

Sounds strange for a boy, I know. Most people at school thought I was gay because of that … but to be honest I didn't mind that because I wasn't not too sure about whether I was into girls or boys.

 

“You should get your head out of these books and start dating!”

Jonghyun snapped and ripped the books I was holding out of my grip, causing them to drop to the floor. “You're gonna die a if this keeps on!”

“Yah, shut up!” I cursed and glared at him madly. He returned the look and watched me as I bowed down to the floor.

“I'm not gonna die a .” I mumbled and picked the books up carefully.

“If you don't stop locking yourself up in your room in order to read then you will.” he insisted. “Seriously, Kibum, have you ever dated anyone?”

Instead of answering I decided on taking my time on reaching out for the last roman – the answer was obvious. Of course I haven't.

“You haven't, have you.”

Still not answering – he sighed and grabbed me by the upper arm, pulling me up again. “Kibum, I'm your friend.”

' Not that again. ' I thought and rolled my eyes without him spotting it.

“And I only want you to be happy, so-”

“So why won't you let me read?”

 

Well, I have to admit, that was a bit mean. But still, he wouldn't have gotten it if I would have been nicer. He never really understood me when it came to things like dating.

Jonghyun was the heartthrob of all of the girls at our school – he got every girl he wanted just by calling her name.

Of course he wouldn't understand the situation I was in. I wasn't even sure about my uality … the only thing I could say about myself was that I was pathetic.

Pathetic in so many ways.

 

I sighed and renounced myself from the railing – it was getting kind of cold, maybe I should head back inside. My parents were bound to be wondering where I was, it was a miracle they weren't spying on me already. They probably think I'm into hard drugs or alcohol or something like that.

 

 

“Isn't it beautiful, Kibum?”

 

“Neh.”

 

“Answer in full sentences!”

 

“Neh, it is beautiful.”

 

“And don't say that 'Neh'-word all the time! It's irreverent!”

 

“Yes, father.”

 

I shot my father an evil glare as we walked into the dining hall of the cruiser.

Okay, it was kind of pretty – still no reason for him to treat me like a child. I knew how to talk respectfully, I was raised in a rich family and was taught by a private teacher, for goodness sake.

 

The hall was gigantic, probably bigger than three or four soccer fields. There was a chandelier right above us, covered in gold and silver and candles were scattered all over it, making the precious metal glitter brightly. Right underneath it was an area with a marmoreal floor, standing out from the carpeted floor which spread through the room. I assumed it was some kind of dance floor.

All around there were round tables, all of them full to the bursting point.

Though, there were hardly any occupied tables next to the big windows that were spread across almost any wall of the ship.

Everything looked so exclusive and fine … I couldn't deny that I loved it. Despite me being a guy I could be quite a Diva sometimes.

 

My father and my mother went on ahead, heading straight for one of the waiters while I only followed them and tried not to drag too much attention.

I must've looked like a punk between all of these upscale people and their oh-so-well-dressed children. All of them had black hair, wore a suit – or white dress – and lack shoes.

' How boring … ' I thought and looked down at myself.

I was wearing my usual black sneakers with a fitting pair of skinny and also black jeans. There were little rivets and ties on it, making it look like it was actually a leather pants instead of casual jeans – I loved it. Above all of that I wore a white shirt with a black vest and a couple of leathern bracelets. Not to mention all of my earrings and my bright blonde hair.

' Better be unique than just one of many. '

 

We were actually guided to a table near one of the biggest windows – I couldn't believe my parents had actually booked a table for us … so embarrassing.

 

“May I take your order already?”

I looked up to see a Butler next to us. He was holding a tiny notepad and a pen.

 

' Aish, they don't have portable computers? '

 

“Two glasses of your finest claret.” my father said and nodded at the waiter in a “If you know what I mean”-kind of way. For a second I was actually wondering what that glance was suppose to mean when I decided that it wasn't important after all. I was too lazy to think about it anyway.

 

“And for the young man?”

 

“One beer, please.” I replied

“Kibum!” my mother gasped and stared at me in shock. “You're not drinking alcohol! Please withdraw that order, he'll take a bottle of water only.”

The waiter looked at me, then at my mother and back to me. “Oh well, fine then.” he said and shrugged, writing it down.

“Thank you.” my mother said and we watched him as he walked off again. “What do you think you are doing, Kim Kibum?”

Oh darn it … using my first and last name … ' Guess who's gonna be lectured now. '

 

“You know you are not allowed to drink alcohol!”

' There she goes. '

 

“Listen to your mother!” my father stepped in. “No alcohol. You hear me?”

 

“Neh.”

 

I chose to overhear his second lecture about me saying 'Neh' all the time, I got to hear that at least four times everyday no matter what I did.

Alcohol wasn't something I was addicted to, I was just using it as some kind of refreshment from time to time – and I didn't see the problem with that.

' For the love of god, I turned 20 last month, I am allowed to drink it! '

 

The evening went on and didn't get better.

My parents kept on talking about their business and were ignoring me pretty much, so I was forced on entertaining myself on my own. I did so by looking around the room, trying to find something interesting to spy on for the time being. At first I didn't find anything until … until I spotted something interesting a few tables away from us.

It was a boy with bright blonde hair, he seemed to be a bit younger than me. He was serving food at the other peoples table and I could see that he was very clumsy when it came to that.

Tripping a couple of times he actually managed to almost drop a plate and almost ended up on one of the mans lap when he was putting the wineglasses down.

I couldn't help but stare at him – it wasn't just amusing, watching him felt quite nice somehow. He head such a nice face and such a warm aura … it was hard to explain.

He headed back to the kitchen and I felt a bit sad when he didn't come back after a few minutes. I had to find myself a new source of entertainment – and I hated him for leaving already.

My parents must have noticed me pouting because they were suddenly paying attention to me.

 

“What are you pouting at, Kibum?” my mother asked and gave me a fake smile. I didn't even bother looking at her when I answered: “Nothing in particular.”

And with that, the conversation between us ended again. They knew it had no sense talking to me when I wouldn't answer in a proper way, the relationship between us wasn't what anyone would call a good relation of parents and their child.

Being bored as hell I decided to stare out of the window, hoping to see something more interesting than all of those snobs around me. It didn't do me any good though.

There was only … water … everywhere.

' No surprise though. What did you expect. '

 

My parents kept on eating and eating, they even ordered desserts while I had been stuffed after the first menu we had ordered. I didn't even like lobster, I only ate it because they expected me to … they'd always say things like:

“You're the son of a wealthy family, it is your duty to behave like one.”

And I couldn't really deny that wish. I was already dressing like a punk – at least in their eyes I did – and I wasn't doing anything they wanted me to do so I was trying to behave at least a bit when we spent time together.

 

When it was finally time for the dirty dishes to be put away I felt myself frown when I noticed who had come to pick them up.

There he was, that boy from before. He was leaning over my shoulder now and grabbed the plates carefully, I could see that he was trying hard not to make any mistakes. His sleeve slid up a bit when he longed over the table and I spotted a couple of bruises on his milky-white skin – I wondered where they came from. He must have noticed me staring at his arms because he moved faster than before and removed all of the plates and glasses quickly.

“W-Would you like something e-else?” he stuttered as soon as he had placed everything on his arms, looking into my fathers cold eyes. I bet the boy was nervous about the way his look was returned.

“No, you may not.” he answered coldly and scanned the boy from his head to his feet – he didn't like what he was seeing, that was obvious. I was pretty sure that he found the blonde hair disgusting already since he didn't like mine as well.

“Neh- uh, I mean, thank you for your staying. I wish you and your family a good evening.”

I smirked instinctively when I heard him saying that one word and turned at him, directing my smile to him. He stared down at me for a second. His lips were slightly parted and his eyes were screaming at me not to look at him at all – but I didn't advert my eyes. Especially not when I saw him blushing furiously. I chuckled and caused him to walk off hastily, staggering every now and then.

 

“Seriously, what kind of people do they hire these days.” I heard my father mumble and turned to him again, giving him the most evil glare I could put up now. I really hated intolerant people.

“Did you see that blonde hair?” my mother gasped and looked after the boy who had reached the kitchen again and disappeared now. “Unbelievable. It looks so unnatural.”

“Why, thank you.” I hissed and fake-smiled at her. “I thought it looked cute.”

 

 

The next two days passed quickly – and I was fine with that.

I spent most of my time on deck, lying under an umbrella and reading the books I brought along while listening to my iPod.

' What would I do without these two things in my life? '

 

I even saw the boy again. It seemed like he had to be serving us everytime from now on, because he was always there, taking care of our table every single time.
I enjoyed it of course, I could stare at him some more that way. Plus he made my parents go crazy which was quite a bonus as well, I loved seeing them upset about something they didn't understand.

But I understood him – at least I understood what I had seen of him. His blonde hair was just like mine, but I thought it looked better on him than on me. It only made him look even more innocent and even cuter than he already looked like.

 

On one evening, when he was bringing my parents two new glasses of whine, he somehow managed to trip and dropped to the floor – of course the two glasses burst and the whine was spilled over the pretty expensive looking red carpet. He squealed in shock and stared down at what he had done.

I noticed the way everyone was staring at him. They gave him those typical “Well that's third class staff members”-looks and looked pretty dumb with their ugly and so normal faces – it made me wanna throw up. The boy sat up and tried to figure out what to do.

“Are you okay?” I asked and got off of my chair, kneeling down next to him. “Are you hurt?”

When I touched his shoulder he flinched badly and tumbled to the ground once more. His eyes were widened and he stared at me as if I was going to throw a knife at him.

“I'm not gonna hurt you.” I said immediately and rose my hands to show him that I meant it. “I just wanna help you.”

“I-I don't need your help.” he managed and looked down at the mess he made. “I h-have to clean this up before-”

But before he could finish his sentence I saw a very fat man in a white work coat heading towards us, he was looking furious and glared down at the boy in front of me.

“Oh crap.” he whispered and shielded his right arm protectively – I remembered the bruises I had seen a few days ago and wondered whether that guy was the one responsible for them.

The man reached us and grabbed him by the hair, pulling him up roughly. He yelled out in pain as he got up as quickly as possible. The whole dining hall became silent at once when they heard his scream, it seemed like everyone was watching this scene.

“The hell are you doing!” the man roared and shook the boys head wildly, causing him to whimper and shriek quite often. “I told you to be careful! You clumsy piece of-”

“Let go of him now!” I demanded and practically jumped to my feet. “What do you think you're doing!?”

“What the-” he stopped shaking the boy now and stared at me instead. “Mind your own business, kid.” he snapped and shrugged only when I glared at him. “This is none of your concern.”

“My parents paid for this trip, of course it is my concern!” I snapped back at him and was about to start demanding again when I felt my fathers hand on my shoulder, pulling me back.

“Kibum, this is enough.” he said and stepped in front of me so he could face the angry fat man himself. “Please excuse my sons behavior, he's not quite … used to being polite around adults.”

“Better get a hold of your kid.” the man grumbled. The boys face tensed and he shrieked quietly, obviously the tight grip on his hair had become even tighter.

“Of course.” my father bowed in an 90degree bow and added: “Please continue with your work.”

 

The man only nodded and walked off, dragging the blonde boy with him – I could hear his yells and whimpers even when they had already reached the kitchen again. The noise died when they closed the door behind themselves though.

 

“Kibum.” I turned around to see my mother at the table, massaging her forehead.

 

' Great, she's mad. '

 

“Sit down.”

 

“Yah, no way.” I disagreed and crossed my arms in front of my chest – everyone was looking at us now. “The hell do you think you just did, father?”

“You're first class, Kibum.” he said and gestured for me to sit down as well. “Third-class people like him,” he nodded at the kitchen door, “aren't even worth our time.”

“Just because they're not as rich as you are!?” I barely noticed my voice rising – I only felt madness spreading through my body. Somehow I felt so responsible for what had happened to the poor boy just now, I felt like I could've done something about it.

 

' What if that guy hits him? '

 

“Seriously, father,” I grabbed my temples and slid my hands down the sides of them slowly, trying hard not to start yelling, “just because you are rich doesn't mean people who aren't are worthless scum.” I shook my head wildly. “That boy didn't do anything bad! He just tripped, I could've gotten him out of that if you would have just kept your nose out of other peoples business!”

 

“Kibum!” he grabbed my shoulders roughly, but I shook him off. “Don't you dare talking to me like that! I only told the man to continue his work.”

' Well I don't care. It's your fault – definitely. It's always your fault … '

 

“Thanks, father.” I mumbled sarcastically and turned away from him, making my way through the silent dining hall – I just wanted to get out of this sticky room, I just wanted all of them to disappear and leave me alone.

 

 

I was sitting on deck again, just like this afternoon – the only difference was that I was hiding from other people as good as possible now.

There was this nice spot next to the swimming pool on the upper deck, it was well hidden by a big plant planted next to it, covered in shadows.

I had actually managed to get myself something to drink nevertheless – when I had reached the bar I was relieved to see that it hadn't closed yet so I went and bought myself a bottle of alcohol.

Nothing strong, but still strong enough for me to relax a bit more.

 

The boy was still on my mind. That cute angelic face seemed to have burnt itself into my brain and his voice was echoing in my head.

I had to admit I didn't really understand what was happening with me but it felt good somehow.

 

Sighing I took another sip of my booze and shivered a bit when I felt the burning liquid on my tongue.

' Damn it, this feels even better. '

 

I had never been drunk before – well, not a whole lot at least.

Jonghyun had dragged me to a party once – in order to set me up with some girl – and I ended up breaking the sprinkler-system in the garden. I didn't even remember how I did it, all I knew was that I was suddenly holding a couple of cables and that my clothes were soaking wet.

Still, Jonghyun said as long as I didn't end up in bed with anyone I didn't know I hadn't been really drunk … I trusted him, he knew what he was talking about.

 

I tilted my head to the side in order to take a look at what was happening at the pool because I had heard noises. There were a bunch of people walking around, they looked like couples but it was hard to make out who was the man and who the woman because they still looked quite the same to me.

Though then I saw the door of the bar open and a familiar person left it, causing me to sit up straight at once. He was tumbling and clasped his head with both of his hands, staring at the ground and walking slowly towards the pool.
 

“Hey!” I called out and crawled out of my hiding place. “You there!”
The boy from the restaurant stopped and looked up slowly – I could see the bruises on his face even though I was quite far from him. Leaning the bottle against the plant I got to my feet and sprinted over to him, luckily I hadn't drunk a lot, I was still the same as always.

 

“Yah, are you okay?” I asked when I stopped right in front of him and examined his face. They looked quite bad, there was a trace of blood at his nose and at the right corner of his mouth, his left eye was swollen and was bound to turn purple soon. “You look terrible!” I stated and narrowed my eyebrows at him. “Who did this to you?”
“N-Neh.” the boy said and blinked at me shyly. “I-I'm fine, thank you.” he brushed his bright blonde hair strains out of his face and tried to smile at me, completely ignoring my second question.

I didn't buy it.
“You're kidding.” I mumbled and furrowed my brow in concern when I noticed that his hurt eye was twitching a bit. “Come on, I'll take care of you.”

His jaw dropped a bit and he flinched when I grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him along, all the way back towards the dining hall which we had to pass by in order to get to my cabin.

 

“P-Please, I-I really can't, I have to-”

 

“Shut it, will you.” I cut him off merciless and continued panning him with me. “We're almost there, don't worry.”

 

“It's not that, I just-”

 

“What's your name?”

 

“M-My name?”

 

“Neh, your name.”
 

“I- uh, my name is Taemin.”
 

“Nice to meet you, Taemin. I'm Kibum.” I looked over my shoulder and smiled at him as brightly as I could, trying to gain his trust. He blushed when I said his name and I had to giggle at that sight.

 

' I've never met a boy this cute … '

 

When we reached my cabin he had finally decided to stop resisting and had been following me like a cute little puppy – though he seemed to be quite embarrassed about me holding his wrist all the time.

I made sure that my parents weren't near when I unlocked the door and we quickly slipped inside, turning the light and air conditioner on. I dropped onto my bed, sighing deeply and spread my arms all across the mattress.

Without even looking I could tell that Taemin was just standing in the middle of the room without doing anything – he was so shy he wouldn't dare touching anything at all.

 

“Taemin-ah?” I muttered and lifted my head so I could look at him, standing – just like I thought – in the room with his gaze fixed on the floor.

“Neh?”

 

“How old are you?”

 

He gulped and brushed his hair again, I noticed how he did that quite often. “I'm turning 19 soon.” he answered and blushed once more.

 

“Yah, no need to blush, you know.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“No need to apologize either.”

 

“S-Sorry ...”

 

I sighed again and kicked my shoes off carelessly before getting to my feet. “Come on, sit down.” I told him and pointed at my bed. When he didn't do anything except staring at me I grabbed his wrist one more time and pushed him down. Taemin seemed quite uncomfortable.

“Wait here, I've got some medicine in the bathroom.”

 

 

He looked a whole lot better now that some medicine had been applied to his bruises. The blood was gone and the swelling of his left eye had reduced a lot. I couldn't stand looking at his messed up hair so I decided to brush it until it was completely smooth and shiny.

Touching him all the time really got my heart racing … but I tried to ignore it as good as possible though. Still I couldn't take my eyes off of him for one second.

 

“There.” I put the brush down and smoothed the resistive hair with my hands some more. “You look so much better now.”

Taemins face was flushed – I was starting to wonder when his head would burst – and he tried hard to avoid making eye contact with me. It was quite disturbing but I found it cute.

“You feeling any better yet, Taemin-ah?” I lowered my head and looked at him from the side.

' Such a handsome profile. '

 

“N-Neh, I do.” he said and an actual smile appeared on his face – I felt my heart skip a beat. “Thank you, Kibum hyung.” Taemin raised his head a bit and looked me in the eyes for a split second before staring at the sheets again.

Then the most awkward of all things happened – I actually blushed. My face heated up when our eyes met. I hadn't even noticed the beautiful brown color they had.

 

“Yah, you're welcome.” I replied and giggled childishly.

 

' What the hell was that!? Don't giggle, you sound like a girl! '

 

Taemin chuckled shyly and covered his mouth with his left hand. His sleeve slipped up a bit and I could see the other bruises on his arm. I decided on not saying something about it now, he seemed to like me somehow, I didn't want to ruin it now by asking about topics he was bound to be uncomfortable with. I hadn't asked about what happened to his face as well.

 

“Kibum hyung?”

I blinked and noticed that I had stared at him – luckily he hadn't been looking at me … would be weird to explain why I'd be gazing at him like that. “Yes?”

“I'm … I-I'm sorry for spilling your parents whine … you know, earlier. In the restaurant.”

 

Somehow, that apology didn't catch me off-guard at all. “It's okay.” I answered and shrugged. “I found it funny. Well, at least the fact that they didn't get their oh-so-precious drinks. My parents are real snobs, you know.”

 

“But they seem so fine ...” Taemin pouted a bit and actually kept the eye contact when our eyes met for a second time. “They have really nice clothes.”

“Clothes?” I repeated and narrowed my eyebrows at him. “You like their clothes? But they're only wearing business-clothes.”

 

“Neh but … there aren't clothes like that from where I come from.”

 

“Where are you from then?”

 

“Uhm … I live in a town near Seoul, in a cheap rental apartment. It's very poor and the people there can't afford clothes like the ones everyone here is wearing …”

“I see … Do you live on your own?”

 

“Neh. My parents are … not there anymore.” he choked and I saw his eyes getting teary after a few seconds. I inhaled through my nose and was pondering on what to do.

I wanted to hug him more than anything but I thought it was a bit too early for something as personal as a hug. So I just put one of my hands on his shoulder and him gently.

We stayed in that position for a few minutes until he had calmed down again.

 

“S-Sorry.” Taemin mumbled and wiped his eyes quickly. “What I meant to say was … I live on my own, but I left home a few weeks ago. It was my parents dream that I'd be rich someday and live in … a better place than home. So as soon as I got the chance I decided to set off.”

 

“How did you end up here? I mean … the Caribbean is quite far from Korea, isn't it?”

 

“It is but my parents wanted me to go abroad and to be honest, as much as I love home, I wanted to get away from there … ”

 

I nodded at him and thought about it a bit. It sounded like quite a hard fate. His parents were gone and he had left home even though he was underage.

 

' Such a tough boy … '

 

I would've loved to leave home as well but I knew I couldn't. My father expected me to take over his company when he'd become too old to do so and my mother would probably jump off of a cliff if I'd just set off like that. Not to mention me being completely useless on my own since I wasn't much of a good student or anything similar to that.

Sighing I nodded slowly and closed my eyes for a second, thinking about what to say next. I felt somewhat relieved when Taemin started talking again.

 

“Kibum hyung, don't you like being … rich?”

 

“Yah, I don't.” the answer came immediately, I didn't even have to think of it for more than a mere second – I felt a bit guilty for thinking about it like that though. “I mean … I like the fact that I don't have to worry about money but I don't like being rich at all. I'd rather be normal, just like my friends.”

Taemins eyes lit up for a second and I furrowed my brow at him when he did. Something about that sentence had gotten him excited and I was trying to figure out what it was that caused his face to light up like that.

 

“What are your friends like, hyung?” he asked and leaned in closer on me, revealing his brightest and prettiest smile. His cheeks were flushed and for some odd reason I felt my heart beat fast.

 

“Uh .. well, Jonghyun is … he is ….” I choked when I realized that I didn't know how to describe him. “He is … special.”

' What a lame statement. Think of something better to say! '

“Jonghyun is the heartthrob of all of the girls at school. He is not very tall but still very handsome. Also he has a good heart, he always takes care of me and has great marks at school. So all together I'd say he's the perfect mixture.”

' There, that's better. '

 

Taemin was gawking at me with his bright brown eyes, his lips slightly parted and his shoulders tensed in anticipation. I held the eye-contact with him – it was quite awkward though. I didn't really know how to react to his gaping.

Then, after a few minutes had passed, he straightened himself and giggled a bit, ruffling his hair. “He sounds like a great person … ” he mumbled and kept on tousling his hair slowly. “Wish I had friends like that.”

 

“What are your friends like, Taemin-ah?” I asked and tried desperately to change the topic from my miserable life to his.

' Don't say your life is miserable! Remember what the poor boy told you about his parents! You're so lucky compared to him … Plus, you didn't even talk a lot about yourself … '

I mentally slapped myself.

 

“My friends are … well, they are … “ he avoided the eye-contact once more. “I don't have any friends ever since I left home … They don't have enough money to leave. I could only leave because the company my father worked at asked me to work for them – they were looking for cheap staff and I told them I'd work for any money.” Taemin bit his lower lip and shifted on his sitting spot, repositioning himself carefully until he was sitting on only one of his legs. “Aren't I pathetic.”

 

I was about to say something when I heard someone knocking on my cabin door – Taemin yelped and threw his arms over his head, obviously trying to protect himself from something. Narrowing my eyebrows at him I got to my feet and walked over to the door.

“Yes?” I asked loudly before opening the door. “Who's there?”

 

“Kibum, open this door right now.”

' Crap … it's father … '

 

“What do you want, father?” I asked and opened the door, careful not to let him glimpse inside. If he saw Taemin both of us were bound to get scolded, not to mention that Taemin would probably get into trouble with the fat guy from before.

Father was looking horribly mad, his forehead was knitted a lot and his eyes were shooting me death glares each second. I wouldn't let myself be intimidated because of this though.

He started lecturing me loudly, pointing at me with his index finger all the time and raising his voice every now and then. When he was about to push me aside and enter my cabin – in order to shout at me in private, I assumed – I blocked the way and caused him to become more furious.

 

“Step aside right now!” he demanded madly. His face was reddening because of his anger.

 

“Yah.” I simply said and returned the mad stare. “Leave me alone already, will you. You've lectured me about Dinner enough.”

 

“Don't you dare talking back to your father like that, young man!” he grabbed me by the vest and shook me wildly, causing my head to throb back and forth at a rapid speed. “The hell are you doing in there!? Just let me in already!”

I shook my head in response and squeezed my eyelids shut tightly – the back and forth moving of my head was actually making me feel quite dizzy …

“Kibum hyung, please, stop ...”

I flinched a bit when I heard the now familiar voice behind me. The cabin door opened and Taemin stepped beside me, staring down at my fathers feet.

He stopped shaking me but kept his grip on my vest, obviously gazing at the younger boy next to me. I was begging that he wouldn't recognize him.

 

“I am deeply sorry, Sir.” Taemin said quietly and bowed at an 90degree angle. “This is my fault.”

 

“You … Aren't you that boy from the restaurant?”

 

' Darn it. '

 

“I-I'm … I am a waiter from the main restaurant, I've served you the past two days.” Taemin answered slowly and returned to his straight position. “I'm v-very sorry about this misunderstanding, I will-”

But he didn't get to finish his sentence. My father had let go of me and had hit the younger right across the face in less than a second.

There was a bright red stream on his face now, his eyes were widened in shock, his mouth hung open – he seemed to sink to the floor in slow motion.

“Father!” I yelled and pushed him away strongly. “What the hell are you doing!?”

 

“The hell are you doing!” he replied and glared at both me and him. “This is a third-class staff member, Kibum. You are not allowed to be in touch with someone like him!”
 

“Who decided on that!?” I knelt down next to Taemin and put an arm around his trembling shoulders – he had covered his face with his hands and was apparently crying quietly. “I'm getting in contact with whoever I wanna be in touch with! That's none of your business!”

 

My father cursed silently, raised both of his hands and sighed angrily before turning away from us.

“Fine.” he snapped. “Do what you want.”

I raised an eyebrow – he gave up … just like that?

“As soon as we get home I'll make sure that you'll get an apartment of your own. You're moving out.”

 

“What!?”

 

“You heard me, young man. If you won't behave properly then you'll have to move out. You won't do what your mother or I say, your behavior is bad, you won't accept your status in society … And I thought god made us suffer because he didn't give us a daughter.”
He his heel and walked away, mumbling quietly.

“Now I realize that he was punishing us by giving us this.”

 

 

The next couple of days went by without any new incidents.
I was avoiding both of my parents now since my mother had agreed to the idea of me moving out as soon as we got home again. She even said she regretted giving birth to me … I had to admit, that statement really got to me in a bad way and I had spent a whole night crying about being unwanted by my own parents but in the end I decided that it wasn't much of a big deal after all. I had always known that I didn't fit into my family. Maybe living on my own in a normal apartment in a big city would help me find out more about myself.

 

I was getting Dinner on my own everyday from then on and spent all of my time either on deck or under deck with Taemin.

Seriously, I was into that cute boy a whole lot. He was perfect in every single way, I couldn't even describe it if someone asked me to.

The way he talked, the way he laughed, the way he moved … everything about him fascinated me in every possible way.

 

We were in the kitchen now, he was helping to prepare Dinner for the cruise-guests while I was helping every now and then. There weren't many people in the section where Taemin was working, so we had a lot of privacy – I really liked that.

I was sitting on a counter next to where Taemin was cutting vegetables right now. He didn't do it perfectly but it was somewhat fine so I didn't say anything about it.

' You're not much of a cook as well anyway. '

 

“Say, Taemin-ah.” I said while I was watching him cutting a bunch of carrots for a soup. “Where do you live on this cruiser? I never seen your room or your cabin.”

“That's because I don't have a cabin or a room.” he answered simply and shrugged, only looking at me for a split second before turning back to his work. “I live in the shipping space, you know, where they keep the cargo and stuff.”

 

“Yah, how can you live in a place where they keep the cargo!?” I complained and tensed a bit. I didn't really believe that to be honest. But the fact that Taemin never seemed to lie made it impossible to distrust him … especially that face made it hard to believe that he was saying something which was not true. He was personifying innocence.

 

“Well there's this sealed off space down at the shipping space.” he said and flinched when he actually managed to get himself another tiny cut on his fingertip – that was probably the third one within the last two hours.

' Aish, so clumsy … '

“And all of the cheap-workers live there – people like me. We're only … I think … three or four though. It's cold at night but I guess it's okay otherwise … No comparison to your cabin though ...”

I shivered just thinking about him being down there, accompanied by only two or three other people – I remembered how easily he got lonely …

 

“Yah, Taemin-ah ...” I said and tried to shake the thought of him crying himself to sleep off. “You wanna move in in my cabin?”

 

“M-Move in?” he looked up.

 

“Neh. As in, move in until I … leave.” I choked. “Then you could at least sleep in a warm bed for one week ...”

 

“N-Neh … that'd be great.” his cheeks became bright red and he gave me that angelic smile once more, causing my heart to skip a beat. “Thank you, hyung.”

 

 

It was a strange but also good feeling to have someone in my cabin over night.

Strange because I wasn't used to anyone being with me when I fell asleep, good because I got used to it.

I got to know Taemin from a whole other side, he told me a lot about his life in the town he came from and the way he used to live. In exchange for all of his stories he wanted me to talk about my life – he said he was curious about the way rich people lived because he didn't know any.

Even though I felt pretty awkward telling him about all of it I found it rather cute how absorbed he was when I talked about my school and especially my friends – or more likely my best friend Jonghyun.

 

“Kibum hyung, you got such a nice life ...” Taemin moaned and looked up at me. “I envy you …”

 

“Yah, don't say that.” I shook my head and grunted in disbelief.

 

We were sitting on my bed, completely filling up the bit of space on it. Taemin was bracing himself on his elbows, resting his palms on his cheeks and had his legs crossed in the air. I was sitting just in front of him, leaning against the wall behind me and crossing my arms in front of my chest.

It was almost past midnight already but we could still hear the sound of the party above – there was a disco every single night … I haven't been to any of them and didn't plan on doing so. Discos were noisy, there were drunk people everywhere and it always smelled like old – or maybe even fresh and new – puke.

I loved Taemin for not wanting to go up there.

 

“But I am.” he insisted and dragged my attention once again. “I never had things like … a cellphone or a computer. You got more than one of it already, I'm curious about those things.”

“About my cellphone and computer?”

He nodded and pouted at me cutely by pushing his lower lip forward and puckering his eyebrows slightly – I broke the eye-contact before I could blush.

 

I actually showed him my iPhone later and couldn't stop laughing when he was very keen and preoccupied by it. He played with it for a while until it ran out of battery and I had to take it from him in order to recharge it. When he spotted my laptop he was begging me to show him how to use it but I refused under the pretense that he had to get up early.

 

To be honest I just wanted to see him pleading like that – he looked so darn cute, it should've been forbidden for anyone to be this adorable.

 

 

“Taemin-ah?”

 

It was the 12^th day of my journey on this ship, the penultimate night I'd spend here.

 

“Neh?” I heard Taemin answer from the floor – he was refusing to share a bed with me because he thought it was rude. So he had decided on getting himself a sleeping bag from the staff of the cruiser and slept on the floor – it was warmer than his usual room anyway.

' I wouldn't mind sharing a bed with you though, Taemin-ah … '

It was late already and we were actually trying to get some sleep but we just kept on talking and talking, so I didn't think he would mind if I kept on talking as well.

 

“What do you want to be when you're older?”

' What kind of question is that!? God, Kibum why the hell are you so- '

 

“I want to be a dancer.”

 

' Woah, maybe not that stupid after all … '

 

“A dancer?”
 

“A dancer.”

 

“Are you that good at dancing?”

 

“I don't know … hopefully I am.”

 

“What can you dance?”

 

“I like breakdance … “

 

“Breakdance!?” I repeated and instinctively sat up in my bed, staring down at the small frame on the floor next to my bed.
I didn't know why this was surprising me that much … Taemin was so thin, he was bound to be quite casual – or starved. No, I'd definitely go for the casual theory.
He chuckled and I saw him sitting up straight.

 

“You sound so surprised, hyung ...” he said and giggled quietly. “Don't you think I can dance like that?”

“Y-Yah, that's not it ...” I answered and felt heat spreading through me again – damn, thank goodness it was dark. “I guess the last dance I would've though you'd do was breakdance.”

“Because I'm so thin, right?”

“Guess so ….” he laughed once more and I couldn't help but joining him.

 

' I'll miss you so much, Taemin-ah … '

 

 

I spent the last day of my voyage with packing my stuff and with helping Taemin in the kitchen. Because of me helping him all the time I had gotten myself quite a bad name on board, but I couldn't care less about that.

I was in huge disfavour with my parents already so there was nothing worse that could happen anyway.

Instead I tried to focus on making some nice memories with the boy I had come to love over the last two weeks. We were laughing and acting childishly, especially in the kitchen and at the places he had to clean, we didn't mind the cruise guests staring at us in annoyance or irritation – we were focusing on each other only.

Taking a whole bunch of pictures we promised each other to stay in contact – no matter what.

 

The only problem about that promise was … Taemin had no cellphone, no computer, no laptop, no … anything.

But I got an idea. And it would work. If he wouldn't accept it I would force him to keep it.

 

When the sun started to set Taemin finally managed to get himself a break and we ran off to the highest deck, me holding his hand firmly.

It was a beautiful sunset, the sea was dyed in the red and orange color the sun was releasing, making it sparkle and glitter like nothing I had ever seen. Taemin didn't seem very impressed by it, of course, he saw it every night, but it was quite something to me. The sunsets in Seoul weren't as amazing as the one I got to see here …

 

We gave ourselves support on the railing and watched the waves beneath us and the sun disappearing in front of us – I felt how Taemin rested his head on my shoulder, clasping to my arm with his skinny hands and felt incredibly good.

' Aigo … this is just perfect. '

 

Even though I got used to ignoring the gawking of the cruise guests I felt somewhat relieved when I saw that there were hardly any people on deck. They were probably squeezing themselves into their ugly and formal dresses.

 

“Hyung, can I tell you something?”
Taemins voice was surprisingly low, I could barely hear him over the sound of the noisy waves.

“Shoot.” I replied and rested my cheek on the top of his head, wondering what he wanted to talk about.

“Remember when we met for real? When you intercepted me at the pool?”

I nodded in response.

 

“You asked me about the bruises I had … and about the one who had caused them … I didn't answer to that.”

 

I nodded once again, still not sure about what he was heading for.

 

“Well … the guy who pulled me away from your table that night is the head cook on this cruiser and he is my mentor as well. He kind of hates me … I think it's because I'm clumsy and not very good at waitressing. When I came here and started working he confined himself on yelling at me only but when I didn't get better he started hitting me because he thought it would teach me on how to do it properly. But … well … I think it's obvious that I didn't get better and that he keeps on getting rougher and rougher each time.”

 

I didn't answer to that at first – I wasn't surprised and I wasn't shocked as well. Somehow I had known about this, I had felt that he was the one responsible for Taemins bruises.

The fact that he hadn't made any major mistakes during his waitressing was because I had been there to help, I had waited tables one or two times before and could help him out quite a bit. If I wouldn't have helped him … I would have probably seen that fat man hitting him.

 

“I-I'm sorry, hyung.” Taemin said and I felt him tensing a bit. “I d-didn't want to tell you at first but … now that you're about to leave I thought … I'm sorry.”

He removed his head from my shoulder and tried to take his hands back, but I wouldn't let him.

I clutched them.

 

“Don't apologize.” I said toneless and turned my head away from the – already darkening – sunset. “I'm happy that you told me.”

 

“Y-You're happy?”

 

“Okay, not happy about that fat prick hitting you but I'm glad that you trust me enough to talk about this.”

“Oh, okay …. Neh, hyung, I trust you a lot.” he blushed slightly and the corners of his mouth curled into a shy smile.

 

' Don't do that! Oh god! Kibum - don't blush, don't blush, don't blush, don't … '

 

“Taemin-ah, I got something for you.”

 

“A present?”

 

“Something like that. Come on, close your eyes.”

He smiled happily and closed his eyes, grinning from ear to another – he looked like a little kid form preschool. I took out what I got for him and held it in front of his face, suddenly regretting that I hadn't had any wrapping paper to make the surprise even bigger.

“Open them.”

Taemin slowly opened his eyes and looked at what I was holding, his eyes widening fast. He was trembling slightly and gasped quietly.

“H-Hyung.” he breathed. “Y-You're giving me … you're giving me your cellphone?”

 

I giggled and nodded slowly, this was exactly the reaction I had hoped to get. “You happy?”

“B-But you can't give me something as expensive as your phone.”

“I want you to have it.”

 

“But I c-can't-”

 

“Taemin-ah.” I raised my voice a bit, trying to show him how much I meant it. “I want you to have it. I can buy another one … but you can't. So in order for us to stay in contact I'll let you have mine. My phone number is saved in the contact list and I know the number of this one by heart, I'll give you a call as soon as I got myself a new one.”

 

He was still staring at the white phone in my hand, obviously not sure whether to accept it or not. I cracked a smile and felt my eyes getting all teary – I didn't want to leave him.

 

' Don't cry just yet … Wait until you're out of his sight … '

 

But I didn't have to wait until tears appeared. Taemins usual milky-white skin was all red now, red streams of tears were running down his cheeks and he started sobbing quietly, leaning against me again.

I handed him the phone and unlocked it for him, dragging his entire attention.

 

' Aish … Poor Taemin-ah … Don't cry, honey, don't cry. '

 

Scrolling through my contacts I showed him the number of Home and the number he'd have to dial if he wanted to talk to me.

 

“I'll show you how to text message me tomorrow, okay?” I whispered and wiped some of his tears away. “You can always reach me that way.”
 

“N-Neh.” Taemin replied and sniffed lowly, wiping his nose with his underarm. “Thank you, hyung ...” he turned to me and pushed himself against my chest – I felt my shirt getting all wet but I didn't mind at all. Taemins tears were welcome to soak me if they wanted to. “I'll miss you so much ...”

 

My heart literally jumped at that. I was worried he might have felt it.

“Neh, I'll miss you, too.” I answered and pressed my mouth onto his blonde hair – it was shining in the setting sun, it was almost dazzling.

 

We stayed in that position for what seemed like an eternity and broke away only when we heard the orchestra behind us starting to play.

 

' They start playing … Dinner must be served … '

 

“Yah ...” Taemin moaned and wiped his face with his sleeve until the red streams were almost not visible anymore. “I-I gotta go … or I'll be late.”
 

“I'll go with you.” I said and reached for his hand again. He accepted it and we intertwined our fingers, both giggling uneasily. Making our way over to the dining hall hastily I said:

 

“Taemin-ah?”

 

“Neh?”

“You smell like parsley.”

 

 

4 months later

 

From: Taemin

 

Msg.: Good morning, hyung! :3

I hope you slept well. Thank you for your message yesterday night … sorry for not answering, but I was still working and saw it just now … I'll definitely reply faster next time, I promise! I'm doing fine, btw. I got into a couple of arguments with my mentor yesterday but … well, let's just say I'm still alive and it's not hurting that much anymore. So don't worry … >:

I miss you a lot, it's just not the same without you here … I can't wait to see you again in spring <3 I can't wait to get off of this ship ….

~ Taemin

 

 

To: Taemin

 

Msg.: Hey there, Taemin-ah ^^

Aigo, it's fine. I figured you were at work so I didn't think much about it. Yah, that doesn't sound good at all though … I hope you're okay otherwise ….? Neh, I can't wait to see you again, too. I wanted to ask something though. You earned quite a bit of money by now, haven't you? What would you say about … you know … moving in with me?

~ Kibum

 

 

From: Taemin

 

Msg.: OMG are you serious!? I could move in with you!?

 

 

To: Taemin

 

Msg.: Of course I'm serious.

 

 

From: Taemin

 

Msg.: Yes, yes please! <'3 I'd love that, hyung … I love you.

 

To: Taemin

 

Msg.: I love you, too Taeminnie ~

 

 

 

This time I started crying immediately, not even bothering to hold the tears back.

' This is perfect. '

 

I put my phone away and looked around my humble flat – yeah, it would be big enough for two people, I was sure about that … Most couples shared a three-room flat, so it should be fine.

 

I had been right when I told Jonghyun that I'd wait for the right person to fall in love with.

 

It had been just a matter of judgment after all.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

First KeyTae ff ever ... this is the result of me and a friend playing a little game about writing ff's ... Well, I tried to make this somewhat cute and romantic and would have probably extended it a bit if I would have had more time but ... well, I hope some people will like it ^^

 

Thanks for reading~