Key smiled sadly as he shut the door to his room. Taemin and Minho had arrived home earlier from the fair and started a movie with Onew. Jonghyun sat with them soon after the two had returned.

‘Jonghyun…’ Key’s eyes started to tear up again and he let them fall. Being alone, there was no reason to keep them in. Key sighed miserably and turned the lights off before stumbling over to his bed. Without bothering to change out of his clothes, the boy fell to his mattress in exhaustion. 

‘And I thought I felt ty before I told him…This has to be ten times worse,’ Key thought sadly as tears ran down his face, soaking his pillow. He lied there, hugging the plushie toy for what seemed like hours before falling into a dreamless sleep…

--

Jonghyun plopped down onto the couch next to Onew. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Key slip into their room and shut the door quietly. The idol sighed sadly. He hated to see the younger upset but…he needed time to think.

Flashback~*

Jonghyun froze in his seat. ‘Key… loves me? My…best friend? I can’t believe she was right…’

Key stared silently out at the park as their car lowered little by little toward the ground.

‘…What do I say?’ Jonghyun’s brain was about to implode on itself. The idol swallowed nervously and fiddled his fingers. Sneaking a glance at the younger, Jonghyun saw that his face had gone pale and now glistened with tears; his body still trembling.

‘It must have taken a lot to confess that…’ Jonghyun realized, ‘He’s probably dying inside because I’m not saying anything… What do I say?’

“I… need time to think. I’m sorry for such an …ugly answer, but… I really need to think things over… Is…is that okay?” Jonghyun asked nervously.

Key nodded as the car jerked to a stop and the employee helped the idols off.

“Take all the time you need.” Key whispered softly. So soft… as if he would lose any composure he had left if he spoke any louder.

“I’m…sorry, Key.” Jonghyun walked slowly beside the diva.

“No need to apologize… I should be the one saying that.” Key sadly hugged his plushie cat.

Jonghyun frowned sadly and bit his lip. ‘He shouldn’t feel that way but… what can I say to make him feel better? I don’t want to say anything before I figure my own feelings out…’

“I-”

“It’s okay, Jonghyun. You don’t have to say anything… I’ll be fine,” Key mumbled, eyes cast on the ground. “Can we go home?” he asked quietly.

Jonghyun nodded, wondering how this would turn out…

~~

Onew stared nervously at Jonghyun off in a daze. The light underneath their door had also had gone dark. ‘This isn’t good.’ Taemin and Minho had noticed the tense atmosphere as well but tried to shake it off by watching the movie. Suddenly, Onew stood up and started for the kitchen.

“I’m in the mood for popcorn. Jonghyun, want to come help me?” Onew called. Looking up, Jonghyun sluggishly stood up.

“Sure…”

Once joining the elder in the kitchen, Onew reached up and grabbed a small bag of popcorn.

“How was the fair?”

Jonghyun sighed. ‘Onew knows…Here we go.’

“I don’t really want to talk about it, Jinki. Sorry.”

Onew crossed his arms and frowned, ‘I promised Key I’d stay out of it but it looks like I need to meddle.’

“Jonghyun, I’d have to be brain dead not to notice how glum you two are. Something happened. What’s going on?”

“I didn’t deny it, Jinki, I just don’t really want to talk about it right now… I really need to sort things out right now…” Jonghyun rubbed in head in exhaustion.

The elder gave him a stern look, “Look. I can tell Key’s really upset, and I would like to know why.”

Pacing, Jonghyun ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “Fine..fine.”

“Key told me he…loved me.” Jonghyun confessed.

Onew slowly nodded and motioned his hand, “And..?”

“What do you mean ‘and?’ He told me he loved me! Does that not surprise you at all?!” Jonghyun sputtered.

“I noticed Key acting a bit strange so I confronted him about this morning, and he told me. So, no. It doesn’t. What did you say?” Onew replied calmly.

“Oh, great! Am I the only one that didn’t know?” the idol muttered.

“Basically.” Taemin walked in calmly and grabbed a bowl from the shelf, “Is the popcorn done yet?”

“What?!” Jonghyun’s eyes bugged out. ‘Everybody knew?!’

“It’s kinda hard not to, hyung,” Minho called from the couch, “Are you really that oblivious?”

Jonghyun was freaking out. ‘How the hell did everyone know?! Do I really not pay any attention to Key?!’

“I’d take that as a yes.” Onew chuckled patting the idol on the back, “It’s okay, Jjong. Se Kyung must have really distracted you. Or you may really be that inattentive.”

Taemin took notice as Jonghyun’s face fell at the sound of the girl’s name.

“Did…something happen at the fair, hyung?” he asked softly.

“You can say that…” Jonghyun sighed and sat on a stool. “I broke up with her.”

“What?!” Onew’s jaw dropped, “Without telling manager-hyung? You know how much this is going to blow up, right?”

Jonghyun buried his head in his hands. ‘…she might tell everyone about Key!’

Minho got up from the couch and took a stool next to the dino, “Why?”

“I…might have taken Key on a…rollercoaster and-” Jonghyun started.

“You took Key-umma on a rollercoaster?! Which one?!” Taemin’s eyes shown with worry, “ It wasn’t that one right next to the ticket gate, was it?”

“Ummm..yeah.” Clenching his eyes shut, Jonghyun waited for the worst.

“Oh my god. Why?! Why would you do that?! You know he’s afraid of heights!!” Taemin cried.

“Yeah, I know. It was stupid. I wasn’t thinking…”

“You think?!” Minho placed his hand on the younger’s shoulder. “That’s enough, Taemin. What’s done is done. Let him explain, okay?”

Taemin sighed in frustration but stayed silent.

“Go on…” Onew urged.

“At first, Key told us he didn’t want to ride… And I didn’t want to leave him alone, so I tried to get Se Kyung to go by the carnival games but she didn’t want to. Then Key suddenly wanted to go with us… I guess he didn’t want to be a bother about it so…I asked him about it and he kept telling me that he was fine with it. So we went on.” Jonghyun explained sadly.

“Sounds like Key,” Onew sighed, “That idiot.”

“After the ride he ran off to the bathroom. I went to go follow him, to make sure he was alright but… Se Kyung and I got into a bit of a…fight about it…” The dino’s face darkened and he bit his lip.

“She didn’t want to wait around for him, I’m guessing?” Minho asked softly.

“No…she didn’t. Then she accused me of- well that’s not important but basically she started insulting him and I broke it off.” Jonghyun stated emotionlessly.

“,” Taemin muttered bluntly and earned a smack upside the head from Minho.

“You can rant about it later, Minnie.”

“So…what about Key?” Onew walked over to the microwave and took out the bag of popcorn, setting it on the table.

“It took a while but I calmed him down a bit. Then we walked around the fair, playing games and stuff. Near the end of the night though, he pulled me on the Ferris wheel. It really confused me, considering what happened earlier…” Jonghyun explained softly.

“Really?” Onew raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Yeah… He was able to open his eyes at the top too. He was trembling a bit but he did well. I was really proud of him. Then…he confessed to me.” The dino squirmed in his stool a bit.

“Awh…” Taemin smiled.

“I was pretty shocked…cuz apparently I don’t pay attention to anything. And… I didn’t really know what to say-”

“Please tell me you said something, hyung,” Minho interrupted.

“Of course I did! Stop interrupting me!” Jonghyun muttered annoyed, “I’m just getting over Se Kyung, and I just…really need to think about this for bit, okay? That’s what I basically told him, and he said he was okay with it, but obviously he’s not…” he groaned.

Onew mussed up the dino’s hair and smiled, “He’s waited this long, hasn’t he? Take your time.”

Jonghyun sighed. Then his head flew up in confusion. “What do mean ‘this long?’ How long has he liked me?”

Onew held up his hands in defense, “That’s not my story to tell, Jjong. Ask him yourself.” He chuckled as he walked off to finish the movie.

“Good luck, hyung.” Minho smiled as he grabbed the bag of popcorn, heading for the living room.

“Fighting…” Taemin smiled slightly before heading toward the couch, and plopping next to Minho.

Jonghyun sighed in frustration. “Easier said than done…” he muttered. Looking toward the door of their room, he ran his hand through his hair.

‘I wonder how he’s doing…’ Jonghyun slowly picked himself off the chair and headed toward their shared room. As quiet as he could, the dino opened the door and slowly shut it with a soft click. Walking over to Key’s bed, Jonghyun knelt down to see his friend’s face. The boy lay still on his bed, fully clothed holding the small plushie kitty in his arms. His eyes were closed yet one could easily tell he had been crying. The dino heard Key’s shallow breathing but with slight sniffles distorting it. Jonghyun wiped the boy’s tears away with his thumb and brushed his soft hair out of eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner…?” he whispered softly, running his fingers through Key’s long brown locks. “I’m sorry I’m such an … I just need to figure some things out… okay?” Jonghyun leaned down but hesitated. Sighing, the dino softly kissed the boy’s forehead before taking a blanket from his own bed and covering the younger with it. Jonghyun started for the door and looked back at the diva, lying still on the bed.

‘I’ve got a lot of figuring out to do.’ He sighed as he opened the door and shut it with a soft click.

Key’s eyes opened slowly and pulled the blanket closer to him and the plushie before snuggling back into his pillow.

“It’s not your fault, Jjong… That’s what I get for falling for a pabo.” Key whispered softly.