“Hyung, what’s wrong with Jonghyun hyung? He’s been acting weird,” Taemin whispered from Kibum’s side. Kibum looked to his other side and looked at how uncomfortable Jonghyun seemed to be, sandwiched between Minho and himself. Why he was putting himself through this torture, Kibum would never understand.

“He’s just being an idiot…” Kibum said a bit louder so that Jonghyun could hear him above the noise around them. They were waiting for the meeting Jonghyun’s father had called to commence while villagers were still filing into the makeshift shaded area at the centre of the town. It was the same place where the fight had taken place yesterday and Kibum thought that if he inhaled long enough, he could still smell the rusty smell of blood in the air.

“Tell me what’s new…” Taemin said, chuckling silently while Jonghyun casted a glare their way before turning to face the front again.

“What have you been up to, Taemin-ah? Your dad told my grandmother the other day that you were searching for a college already. Why so soon? I mean, you’re younger than me…” Kibum started a conversation with Taemin. It felt like it has been ages since he last talked to the youngest among them.

Taemin was two years younger than Kibum and yet, here he was planning his future already (or rather having his future planned for him, if a certain someone is pushing him to do it just like Kibum suspects.) All Kibum saw himself doing in the future is farming and running away from war- not the life he wanted for himself but what was he to do? At least Minho would be by his side while he was figuring his life out, right?

This was not about Kibum. This was about Taemin. So the older between the two forced himself to put his own issues to rest. At least for now…

Taemin sighed like he was carrying the weight of the world on his frail little shoulders. He looked way more mature when he did that. Kibum focused on Taemin even though he could hear Minho’s voice trying to make conversation with Jonghyun and curiosity peaked in Kibum to listen to his best friend’s reaction.

“Locked up in my room studying…” Taemin said, resigned. He looked so exhausted that he seemed to have aged so much. Kibum placed a hand over his to comfort whatever burden it was that he was carrying.

“Why? Your father again?” Kibum asked, his suspicions coming close to being proved right. He knew how overprotective his father could be. He wouldn’t be surprised if he had banned Taemin from the leaving the house in fear of everything that had happened so far with the Japanese army and so forth.

“I think I’ve learned enough to be sitting for a university entrance exam, hyung! He uses my education as a reason to keep me from leaving the house. Hell, he only allowed me out today because Jonghyun hyung’s father insisted every living soul to be here! He just doesn’t want to stop treating me like a baby…” Taemin exhaled a long breath after saying that, his brows furrowed at the centre of his forehead. He glanced at something on the raised area where the elders were gathering and Kibum followed his eyes to see Taemin’s father talking to Jonghyun’s father and a few other men.

Kibum reached out with his forefinger to smoothen out the lines on the younger’s forehead. Taemin looked at him curiously before breaking out into a smile.

“Don’t stress too much, Tae… This will all end soon and we will all see a brighter day when it is over…”

“Thanks, hyung…”

Kibum smiled warmly at him back. The boy needed to smile more often, before he turns into one of those soulless geniuses that ended up doing things to only please others. He knew how some of Jonghyun’s school friends turned out that way.

Feeling burdened by so many things suddenly, Kibum took to staring blankly up at the black sky. Talking to Taemin reminded him of the few goals he once set for himself, only to have forgotten it due to the many things going on in his life. Will he ever be one of those scholars to graduate college? Will he ever learn enough to start a peaceful revolution? It all seemed like a faraway and impossible dream to achieve. But it was also the thing that made Kibum feel that there was something more to his life than just farming and fighting.

 There was a new moon tonight so it was totally dark. But even in the expanse of never ending blackness, Kibum caught two sparkling dots on the sky in the far north direction. His smile grew wider, remembering something Minho told him a long time ago.

He looked down to find a pair of jet black orbs fixed on him from Jonghyun’s other side. Kibum pointed at the two stars, gesturing for the other to look at it. Minho followed the direction Kibum was pointing with his eyes, curious. Kibum saw a smile creep up on those kissable lips of his. Oh how appropriate it is that Kibum would think of that with Jonghyun sitting between them.

Minho looked back down at him, his eyes saying a million things to Kibum –a million things that no amount of words would ever be able to describe.

Then, there was a headful of black hair blocking Kibum’s view of the other’s face. Jonghyun cleared his throat awkwardly, showing that he was aware of the secret exchange going on between them.

Kibum saw Minho shake his head, laughing as he turned to face the front again. He too did the same, planning the perfect murder in his head.

“Attention! Is everybody here…- about to begin…” a man’s voice carried over in broken phrases from the front as the crowd was settling down. Soon, people got the hint to quiet down and pay attention, leaving Kibum’s view of the raised area unblocked. Jonghyun’s father stepped to the front, scanning the crowd with stern eyes.

“As you all already know, we are gathered here today to discuss an issue important to each and every one of us here. Our actions yesterday have no doubt enraged the Japanese army. We are now left with no choice but to come up with a plan to keep ourselves safe. I am no more willing than you all are to be enslaved by the army but I would rather have that than losing the lives of the innocent children in our village due to war!” Jonghyun’s father said, speaking in a very formal and business-like tone.

Kibum looked around to gauge the crowd’s reaction. They all looked confused and scared. A buzzing sound began as the crowd began to chatter among themselves about what they could do.

“We will fight until our last breath if that is what it takes to keep our families safe,” a young man seated in the front row shouted enthusiastically. Kibum suppressed a smile of satisfaction. The young, hot blood apparently didn’t only flow in him but also in the other young men. He could see a few of the man’s friends also nodding and pumping their fists in the air with passion.

Jonghyun’s father’s seemed to heave a deep sigh before continuing.

“You can do that. But it won’t be of much help and in the end, you’ll have sacrificed your life for nothing.  All we can do now is plan to avoid the wrath of the army. Lives are too precious to be lost to a pathetic reason such as war!”

“Are you suggesting that we go into hiding then? Like fugitives?” the same young man asked. Jonghyun’s father did not directly address the question. As much as Kibum admired Jonghyun’s father for his concern for the lives of the villagers, he still thought defending oneself is a much better option than running away. When you run, you only make your enemy’s desire to chase you grow and this would lead to a never-ending cycle of running and being chased.

Until they stop running and everything ends.

“We can’t do that!”

“This is our home!”

“We are no cowards!”

The crowd started with an uproar against the suggestion. They were getting out of control. Some of the youth were now standing up to voice their objections as the elders try to make them calm down. Jonghyun’s father lost control over the crowd as each villager piped up different opinions at the same time.

Kibum couldn’t take it. He stood up and started walking towards Jonghyun’s father, feeling Minho hurrying after him with Jonghyun stumbling after.

“Kibum, don’t do anything rash!” MInho warned from behind him. Kibum heeded the warning but that didn’t mean that he stopped walking. This time he had thought this through. He wouldn’t do the same mistake twice.

Jonghyun’s father looked in Kibum’s direction despite the commotion in front of him.

“Why aren’t you telling them that we have the British army with us?” Kibum whisper-asked him once they were close enough. The village head’s eyes widened as Jonghyun came to stand beside Kibum.

“Because that would mean that it’s okay to retaliate when it’s not. Let the army do the fighting for us while we take care of ourselves, Kibum! This is not about pride. This is about innocent lives being put in danger.”

“Then, why are you suggesting we move?” Kibum asked again.

“So that no more lives shall be taken when a battle erupts here.”

“But sir, the other villages are also as bad a threat as staying here. The Japanese have already taken over all the villages around here and being the vindictive army they are, they won’t stop to torture every soul from Yongin to teach everyone else a lesson,” Minho added to Kibum’s argument, surprisingly.

“I thought of that already! The best we can do is split up and move to different villages and blend in with the locals there, hoping that the army doesn’t discover!” Jonghyun’s father was barely keeping his voice low now.

“But this is our home! How far will we continue to run before we finally get tired of being stepped over on our own lands?” Kibum pleaded to the village head, who seemed to have stopped abruptly to consider Kibum’s words.

“I agree with him! We have seen all the other villages fall without a fight. The least we can do is put up a fight to show that we locals are not pushovers…” a friend of the young man from earlier said in the same pleading tone as Kibum. He must have heard the exchange between the village head and Kibum. He didn’t seem to have heard the bit about the British army, though, since he didn’t question it.

The chattering of the crowd died down slowly. Everyone seemed to be paying attention suddenly. Jonghyun’s father was internally conflicted, obviously. The man’s first and foremost priority is to keep his people safe and what Kibum and the others were suggesting would place all his subjects right in danger’s way.

But this has long become about their nation as one rather than just a small village Yongin fighting back. It hadn’t been said in words but Kibum could tell that everyone here was thinking the same. News after news of how their countrymen suffered were already too much to bear and to think that they would be the next line to fall in the same pattern, well, it was an unpleasant thought.

Once again, Kibum found himself pondering over the irony of the situation he was in. How he loathed the war and the military men and yet, here he was, suggesting a fight- one to defend themselves but a war, nonetheless.

Jonghyun’s father dismissed the meeting sooner than planned. Kibum saw the forlorn expression in his eyes but there was something new as well. A determination. Kibum couldn’t tell what for, but he was sure he had seen it. The villagers had dispersed silently after seeing their leader withdraw the way he did today. It was obvious he had something in mind and the villagers did not want to be in his way.

Jonghyun’s father did not return home that night. Taemin said that he saw a few elders getting into a car and going off in the direction of the next village while Kibum was waiting for Minho to be done talking with the other army men undercover, but he wasn’t really sure. After that, the three of them, now joined by Minho (Kibum received a look from the other army men when Minho was walking back to him and it suddenly made Kibum feel like he was at the military base camp once again, being judged) and Songdam noona and his grandmother had walked home in silence, each in their own world.

Taemin wanted to stay over because his father was not home and of course, Kibum and Jonghyun couldn’t refuse him. Songdam noona brought Kibum’s grandmother straight to bed and Kibum followed them to tuck her in. Then he had joined the other three, who had all piled into Jonghyun’s room, wanting to keep each other company as they all thought long and hard about how everything in their lives could change in the blink of an eye.

“The Japanese army could attack tonight and we might all be dead by tomorrow for all we know…” Taemin contemplated out loud, his head resting on Kibum’s lap while he stared up at the ceiling.

“They are not that reckless. If anything, they would first declare a war and let us prepare to face our death before they attack. It’s the satisfaction they get, watching their victims succumb to fear before they die,” Minho said nonchalantly, hands tucked in his pockets as he scanned Jonghyun’s collection of books. He spoke of the Japanese army’s nature so casually as though he spoke of the weather.

“Don’t touch that!” Jonghyun said, peeved. Minho immediately retracted his hand from the comb of a book. Jonghyun shot him a glare before returning to staring at his clasped hands before him. Kibum gave Minho another apologetic look. He seemed to be doing that a lot now because of his best friend’s attitude.

“That’s just so stupid! Why do they have to be so mean?” Taemin let out, oblivious of the three-way cold war going on in the room right under his nose. Kibum looked down at the troubled expression on the boy’s face and he reached to his hair, comfortingly. In his peripheral vision, he caught both Minho and Jonghyun eyeing that small action.

“Kibum-ah, aren’t you tired? You need to get some sleep…” Minho asked him. Kibum looked up at him. He was just about to answer when Jonghyun interrupted him.

“What? You take orders from him too now?” Jonghyun scoffed under his breath. Minho’s patience seemed to be thinning at this. Kibum swallowed nervously at the tension between them.

“Look, hyung. I know you don’t really like me now but I really am trying to show you that I’m not here with a hidden agenda,” Minho said, looking directly at Jonghyun.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, why are you so cold towards Minho hyung? I mean, you two were friends before even Kibum hyung became friends with him. What happened, hyung?” Taemin piped up innocently, turning his head on Kibum’s lap to catch sight of the two men staring at each other.

“We used to be friends, until I found out what scheming little liar he was,” Jonghyun said under his breath.

“When did he ever lie to you, hyung? And what scheme do you actually think he’s planning to pull off here?” Kibum defended Minho. If Taemin was oblivious before, well, it was safe to say that he was no longer unaware of the tension between the other three. He sat up to look at them in confusion.

“I don’t know, Kibum! But he’s up to something! Why else would he be corrupting you this way?” Jonghyun burst out.

Minho took a threatening step towards Jonghyun. Kibum jumped off the bed to quickly get between the two. He placed both his hands on MInho’s chest, keeping him at arm’s length from himself and Jonghyun behind him. Minho continued to stare at Jonghyun over his shoulder before his eyes fell to Kibum’s. Kibum pleaded for him to be patient with his eyes and immediately felt Minho release a breath full of tension.

“Hyung? What’s going on?” Kibum heard Taemin ask, not really sure who the question was directed at.

“Everything you know about me and Kibum is the whole truth. I care for him just like you do. I would never hurt him,” MInho said, more calmly now.

“Like hell, you care! Even if I wanted to believe that what you’re saying is the truth, how could I? You don’t the first thing about Kibum’s life to care for him. Hell, do you even know what’s his favorite colour?! Now, you put yourself in my shoes and tell me, how am I supposed to believe nonsense like this?” Jonghyun said from behind him. Kibum wanted to tell him to shut up but just then, he caught a look of hurt cross Minho’s eyes. No, no, no. He can’t let Jonghyun’s words hurt him like this.

“Hyung, you better stop this instance! I can only be patient for so long!” Minho warned. He was already reaching for Kibum’s hand to push it off his chest and close the distance between him and Jonghyun.

“Do you think I’m afraid of you? Kibum’s my best friend and I’ve known him all my life. He’s not one to think of things like this. It’s obvious you corrupted him. You just wait and watch, I’m going to save him from you,” Jonghyun said again, pushing all the wrong buttons.

“HYUNGS! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!” Taemin finally burst out in frustration. The other three immediately turned their attention back to Taemin.

“Taemin, it’s-“ Kibum was beginning to explain when he felt his hand being pushed away and then suddenly being pulled again. Minho wrapped a protective arm around Kibum’s waist and turned to Jonghyun.

“Try all you want, hyung. I will repeat what Kibum told you already since you refused to believe it the first time. I love Kibum and there is nothing that you or anyone else can do to take him away from me!”

The words echoed in the room and rang over and over again in their ears. Well, it was not news to three out of four of them. But it was to the youngest boy there. Kibum found himself dumbstruck and unable to do anything as he watched Taemin’s confused expression turned into one of understanding and then again, confusion.

“Hyung, are you two….” Taemin couldn’t finish his sentence as he stared between the two of them in aghast. Then, his eyes settled on the arm around Kibum’s waist and that did it.

“I’m going home,” Taemin said, still a little perplexed. Kibum shook MInho’s hand off of him to move towards him but Taemin put a hand up, as if telling him to stay away. The gesture hurt Kibum more than he let his face show.

“I’m going home.”

Taemin repeated resolutely before he turned to leave. The door slammed shut. Kibum was rendered speechless by the turn of events tonight.

“Are you happy now, Kibum?” Jonghyun asked him, before starting after the boy. The door slammed shut for the second time.

“Kibum…” Minho called to him softly, a little uncertain of how Kibum would react. How would Kibum react? How should he?

Kibum walked out of the room, hugging his arms around his body. Minho followed him wordlessly. When he reached his room, he climbed onto the bed and curled into himself, numb of all feelings as he stared out the window.

Kibum felt the bed dip behind him. It was obvious from the moment Minho stepped into the house that he wouldn’t sleep anywhere Kibum was not present, so no servant’s chamber tonight (or ever.) He felt the warmth behind him, lingering. Hesitating. Scared, almost.

Kibum did nothing about it, forcing himself to shut his eyes and just go to sleep. He wanted to forget. Forget everything and just sleep. For one night only.

Please…

Apparently, sleep wouldn’t come unless a strong arm encircled his body or a sturdy, warm body pressed against his back. Sleep would only come if he could feel the steady rhythm of the heartbeat against his back and moist, warm air brushed against his hair and cheeks. So that is how Kibum fell asleep, wrapped up in a blanket of warmth he was beginning to recognize as home.

“Minho…”

“Mmm?”

“I love you.”

Morning came too soon. Kibum had hardly slept for a full couple of hours before the first rays of sunlight filtered through the windows. Used to waking up this early at home every day, he couldn’t continue to sleep, even though he had no reason to be awake now. He missed doing his farm work. He missed doing the chores that kept his mind off things. He wondered if the workers Jonghyun’s father put in his house were taking care of his poultry well.

Kibum rolled around so that he was no longer facing the window, to find Minho wide awake and looking at him. He didn’t say a thing at Kibum’s surprised squeak to see the other awake. It was a peaceful silence that settled over them after that. Kibum laid back down on the pillow to watch the sunlight from behind him catch Minho’s dark locks, making them seem almost brown at the tips. Kibum reached out to play with the locks while Minho kept studying his face like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“What is your favorite colour, Kibum?”

Kibum blinked in surprise at the sudden question. His fingers that were tangled in the slightly longer-than-the-military-cut hair, stopped moving.

“Is this about last night, Minho-yah? If it is, don’t wo-“

“What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? What is your favorite dish that your grandmother cooks? What is your favorite season? Do you like playing in the rain? Do you like it when the sand on the beach gets stuck between your toes? Do you-“

Minho’s lips were soft against Kibum’s. They were somewhat stubborn, not liking that Kibum cut them off, but not quite hating it either as they returned the kiss with just as much as enthusiasm.

“Minho-yah…” Kibum whispered against his lips, the hand in his hair him lightly again. He knew Minho liked it because he hummed in appreciation.

“We have the rest of our lives to learn about each other so let’s go slow, alright?”

Minho smiled at this. Kibum knew why. Because an eternity together, through happiness and sadness and all the perks in life, sounded somewhat nice.

“Come on, Mr. Gardener-slash-Bodyguard, you have duties to attend to!” Kibum said, pulling Minho off the bed and to his surprise, he was met with no objections whatsoever.

“Wow, someone’s being very obedient today,” Kibum mused out loud.

“Only because that someone senses promises of a shower together in the air,” MInho answered, indifferently, earning himself a slap on his chest. Kibum immediately made a face at the suggestion and made puking gestures. Minho only laughed, his laugh more devilish than boisterous.

“And for the record, it’s pink. Pink and black…”

“Mine’s blue. And now, pink and black too apparently…”

After the both of them had showered (separately) and gotten dressed and had their breakfast, they had gone out to the garden. Jonghyun’s father did not seem to be home yet. Jonghyun was missing from his room. Songdam noona had taken Kibum’s grandmother to the temple. They were pretty much alone in the house, besides the servants, of course.

The butler of the house had instructed the head gardener to give Minho some chores so they had received the chore of t the hedges that were so overgrown that they were covering the beautiful white fence that surrounded the estate. Minho was told to start from the back part of the house.

Equipped with a pair of gardening scissors, Minho and Kibum had started the chore. Or more like, Minho started the chore and Kibum made it his personal responsibility to make sure Minho trimmed every branch and every corner at a perfect angle. Fanning his hands in the sweltering heat of the afternoon sun despite the slightly chilly wind of the autumn, Kibum could have easily been mistaken for a slave driver the way he was working the other.

All in all, it was nice that he got to be this childish with Minho at least for a while. Some might call it running from your reality, but Kibum simply considered it his time out from his life.

“Minho, you missed the one over there. It’s making your work look sloppy,” Kibum had commented gleefully.

At this, Minho had straightened up, his back still facing Kibum, as he threw the scissors to the ground. He beckoned Kibum over and Kibum went over, unsuspecting. As soon as he was within reach, Minho suddenly tackled him to the ground and started tickling him senseless.

“This…is…what you get… for-“ more huffing and puffing “-ordering Choi Minho around!”

“Yah, quit it! You’re… AHAHAAA… You’re ruining my shirt with sweat and dirt!” Kibum gasped out between fits of giggles. Minho immediately stopped, his eyes glinting dangerously.

“You don’t like sweat, huh?” Minho asked, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. Then, he brought the hand down, closer and closer to Kibum’s face.

“Oh my god, you’re juvenile! You think that would scare me?” Kibum asked, laughing out loud and still eyeing the hand approaching. Minho seemed to notice it.

“Doesn’t it?” Minho asked, already knowing the answer to his question. Kibum wanted to prove him wrong because he was wrong. Kibum caught a drop of sweat rolling down from his forehead to his chin and clinging onto the sharp jaw line.

Kibum raised his head and the drop off as teasingly as possible. A salty, slightly bitter taste clung onto Kibum’s taste buds. Kibum had to admit that although the taste was not too pleasant, the smell, the manly scent of the product of his lover’s labor was far too enticing. Too addictive.

When he drew back, he was tremendously satisfied to see the shell-shocked look on Minho’s face.

“It’s your sweat, Minho. I find it-“ Kibum swiped a thumb over the other’s face, leaving a dirt trail on his cheek, unbeknownst to Minho, “-alluring…”

MInho started choking on his own spit then. Oh the satisfaction of causing this type of mental short circuits to Minho was ever-gratifying.

Someone cleared their throat quite loudly and Kibum’s head snapped in the direction, Minho’s following a fraction of a second later.

“Taemin…”

(A/N) Surprise, surprise!!! A surprise (and a pretty long) update for you, my lovely subscribers!!!! XD

So.... DID YOU LIKE THE DEADLY AMOUNT OF FLUFF IN THIS ONE?? I feel like I'm going to start puking rainbows from all the fluff (in a good way, of course (is there a good way to puke anyway??)) And of course, there's Taemin and his enlightenment of MinKey.... Leave me comments on what you think guys!!!

On a different note, does anyone feel that my story's getting a little draggy and perhaps, boring?? Go on, throw it at me! I'm strong! * braces self to handle the TRUTH* Please be gentle guys!!! I swear this story just grows everytime i write. I intially intended it to end at 30. But the way things are going, I'm not sure if I can make it before 40! This means, longer chapters and more frequent updates but only after my exams are officially over!! I want to finish this before I tire my readers out... :( Besides, I have ideas for an Onho fiction and a side story for Jongyu for this one in mind... 

Thank you for reading and commenting and subscribing people!!! Have a great day ahead guys!! <3