"After you," Kibum said with a grin, holding the door open for you. You had just arrived together at your favorite coffee shop, Kona Beans. 
                  "Why, thank you, sir," you said graciously with a deep bow, playing along with Kibum's over-politeness. You giggled and skipped to the counter. A rather frazzled looking employee rushed to take your order, his platinum blonde hair flying all over the place.
                  "Hi, welcome to Kona Beans!" he said while mopping up some spill behind the counter. After a moment of cleaning, he finally looked up and said with a bright, gummy smile, "Oh, I know your order already! You're here all the time. The usual?"
                  You nodded, delighted that the employees at your favorite coffee shop had finally recognized you as a regular. "The usual for me, too," Kibum said from behind you. The cashier nodded and Kibum paid for both of you. You took your food and drinks to a table, sitting across from Kibum.
                  "So, what is it that you've been dying to tell me?" Kibum leaned back and asked, sipping his coffee. 
                  You stirred your drink slowly while you answered, "I have been dying to talk to you! Why do we always have to be so busy with school?" you mourned. "But the thing that I wanted to tell you about happened last week, the day I saw you in the cafeteria with Han Geng oppa and all those girls at my table, remember that?"
                  He nodded and you continued,
                  "Well after that I was wandering through the music practice rooms, and I interrupted someone's practice." You decided to leave out the part about him. "And for some reason…I just wanted to get to know this person more, you know? Something about him, I can’t even explain," you trailed off.
                  Kibum looked at you curiously, "What was so special about him?" 
                  "I guess it was, just, he played the most beautiful music in the world on his violin," you said with a far-off look, the memory of the simple feeling of carefree bliss that had come over you when you listened to him made you smile. "It made me forget everything."
                  He knew how important forgetting was to you. "Don't tell me…you didn't even think of him?"
                  "Yes, and you didn't have to bring him back up!" you said unhappily.
                  "You know, it's not exactly fun for me to talk about it, either," he said, frowning slightly. You blushed sheepishly. 
                  "Sorry, Bummie," you apologized. "I'm just, you know, really depending on this. I've been thinking a lot about it lately, and you're right. It's time to move on from the past. That's why they call it the past—because it already passed."
                  "You're getting too wise for me," Kibum grinned, forgiving you easily for your fast mouth. Your heart soared at the sight of his smile. It was so familiar and warm; it felt like being at home with your parents, tucked into a fuzzy blanket and talking comfortably near a fire.
                  "Well, you little smartass, how about you? You got a girl lately? What about that last one—the one from church?" You , trying to give him a taste of his own nosy, getting-into-your-love-life medicine. The best thing about talking with Kibum was that it was so natural. You could whine to him, you could cry to him, you could blather on and on about nothing to him, you could share your biggest dreams with him. You could and he never got mad.
                  But still, he scowled at you, "You know how that ended, _____."
                  "Okay, okay, sore spot," you said with an apologetic grin. "I'm sorry. She was a little . But that's the point! You need to find a non-, Kibum-ah!"
                  Kibum sighed dramatically, "No one likes guys like me these days. My style's not the trend. I'll just grow old and watch you marry violin-boy."
                  You slapped his arm from across the little coffee table. "Bummie, you're so dramatic!"
                  "I am an actor."
                  You rolled your eyes. "You know you're handsome. You're not growing old alone. And, even though I virtually have no friends but you and our roommates, I have been getting close with some hoobaes. A cute, younger girl might do you some good, you melodramatic old ahjussi."
                  Kibum's expression remained unchanged, but he remarked casually, "You mean the ones from the cafe?"
                  "Yeah!" you said excitedly. "They were really pretty, right?"
                  He shrugged. "They were cute, yeah."
                  "Mmhm," you said. "Then how about I set you up on a date with one of them?"
                  "Sounds okay," he said, still nonchalant.
                  "I KNEW IT!" You shouted, jumpinh up suddenly and pointing your finger at him. "You are interested aren't you?!"
                  He got up and quickly covered your mouth with his hand and pulled you back down into your seat. "Geez, _____, you're too loud."
                  You bit his hand to get his fingers off of you and he pulled back, repulsed. You ignored his pleas for you to be quiet and asked happily, "So which one did you think was pretty? Who do you like?"
                  "I don't know," he mumbled, not meeting your eyes. "Maybe…the short one with the short hair? All of them were pretty."
                  You leaned over and squeezed his cheeks. "Kibum-ah, you're so cute when you're shy!"
                  He swatted your hands away. "I'm not shy; you're just too excited to introduce me to some freshman."
                  "But she might be your true love," you said, eyes shining. 
                  "_____," he said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. "Just because you've suddenly got a man doesn't mean I suddenly have to have a girl."
                  You stopped in your excitement for a second, set back by his statement—which, honestly, felt a little too true. You were pushing too hard for this. But you defended, "Aw, Bummie, I just want you to be happy." You scooted your chair next to his and wrapped your arms around him. "We've been friends all our lives. Your being happy is my being happy."
                  Kibum smiled, but you were too busy squeezing him to see. "Thanks, _____-ah. You know I feel the same about you."
                  "So you'll do it?" you said, looking up at him with big, round, evil, puppy eyes. He never told you, but whenever you turned those eyes on him, looking as cute as that, he couldn't possibly resist anything you asked         . 
                  He sighed again, "Yes, fine, I'll go on a date with your little friend."
                  "Yay!" you exalted, jumping up and down and pulling him with you. He rolled his eyes at your exuberance, but inside, he was amused. He never truly understood what it was that made him like you. You spoke too easily, expressed your feelings too quickly, wore your heart on your sleeve too often—quite the opposite of him, but very much like his hyung, Heechul. But Kibum rather liked that exuberant part about you; it loosened him up. He wasn’t shy at first, per se; everyone else around him was just too loud. But because of you, he felt like being too loud, too, sometimes. He appreciated that you were bouncing off the walls again, because when you had stopped smiling, stopped bouncing, stopped talking, stopped laughing, stopped being yourself, when he happened two years ago, Kibum felt like a part of him stopped existing along with you.

                                                    ~*~

                  "Yah, Kim Ryeowook, are you home?" Kibum called as the two of you stepped into their apartment. "Ryeowook-ah!"
                  "In here!" he finally replied. His voice was coming from his room, so the two of you went in and found him sitting at his keyboard, frowning and scratching his head. 
                  Sadly, the apartment wasn't big enough for Ryeowook to have his own studio, let alone his own piano. Actually, you were pretty sure he couldn't afford a piano at the moment, either, so instead he bought a portable electronic piano, and saved up enough to buy some recording equipment. His makeshift home studio was topped off—not by soundproof walls, but rather a sign on his door that read,

                  QUIET. RECORDING IN SESSION. THAT MEANS YOU, ______.
                  "Wookie!" you greeted him. "You look stressed out. What's up?"
                  "It's this song," he grumbled. "The harmonies just refuse to sound…harmonious! And I can't even begin to start the chord progression. And the spring showcase is in a couple weeks!"
                  Kibum clapped him on the shoulder with a comforting hand, "You'll get it, Ryeowook-ah. You always do, in the end."
                  "Yeah," you encouraged, ruffling his smooth, brown hair. "Everything you compose just blows me away. I hope I'll get to see you sing at the showcase."
                  He smiled gratefully at you guys, his little eyes curving cutely at you. "Yeah, you will. If I figure this out."
                  "Fighting!" you said, then turned to your other friend. "But Kibum-ah, are you doing something at the showcase, too?"
                  "It's not required for actors," he explained, lying on Ryeowook’s bed, tucking his hands behind his head. "I don't know if I want to put the extra effort, but if I prepare a good monologue, someone might see and offer me a job or something."
                  "You should," Ryeowook said, nagging like an umma. "Even if it's more work, it'll be good for your career."

                  "Yeah, you're right," he shrugged. "Maybe you guys can help me pick something good."

         You didn’t say anything, but frowned slightly. This wasn’t like Kibum. The old Kibum would have jumped at the opportunity to improve his acting and get a job. Especially with the showcase—
                  "Oh my god!" you suddenly shouted, startling both of your friends. Ryeowook dropped his sheet music and Kibum nearly fell off the bed.
                  You started pacing back and forth. "The showcase! Why didn't I think of that?"
                  "Huh?" Ryeowook asked, thoroughly confused. 
                  But Kibum understood you right away. "Do you think he'll be there? I mean, he might be a freshman, and they're not usually invited to perform."
                  "Trust me," you said, sure of yourself. "This guy was amazing. Even if he were a freshman, there's no way they wouldn't invite him to perform."
                  "What is going on?" Wookie repeated, impatiently.
                  "Oh! Right!" You hesitated to explain, as you weren't as close to Ryeowook as you were to Kibum. But you knew he wouldn't make fun of you, so, quickly, you continued, "I met this boy, who's about the most amazing violin player in the world."
                  "Oh, really?" he replied, looking genuinely excited for you, his smile growing wide. "What's his name?"
                  You fell to the ground. "That's the thing. I never got his name."
                  Ryeowook threw a comforting arm around you. "Tell me about him. Maybe I've seen him around the practice rooms or something."
                  "Uh, well," you stuttered. "Like I said, his violin-playing is flawless. He is tall-ish, he had short orange hair, and when he smiles without teeth he gets really cute dimples on his cheeks."
                  Ryeowook's eyes widened. "I know that boy!"

A/N: OTL That took me a while to update, and it's not as long as it usually is TT.TT Sorry about that, guys! Anyway, what do I have to say about this chapter...oh yeah. I'm sorry that I made you have no friends, but there's a reason for that. It's quite sad, actually, but it will all be explained in the future ^o^ I wonder what I should have Kibum do for the spring showcase...anyone have anything they want to see Kibum do? If not, I'll just come up with something XD And we have more mentions of him! Can no one guess who he is? Honestly, I haven't made it obvious, but I would like to hear who you think it is! And finally, CLIFFHANGER! I might take a while to update this time, hopefully not this long, because a lot is happening next chapter and I'm stretched very thin for the next two weeks due to exams. But thank you to everyone who commented<3 Your comments mean a lot to me. They're very encouraging and they make me want to write. So thank you very much to those of you who comment and subscribe...I hope you guys will do so for this chapter as well!