It was a little after office hours when Minho's phone vibrated. Minho couldn't find his phone though since there was just too much paperwork on his desk and his phone was buried somewhere under the various documents. Besides, he was rushing through a file that his supervisor had happily dumped on him at the very last minute to edit by the next morning and he didn't want to break his momentum so he ignored his phone for the time being. After another 20 minutes or so, Minho was done with editing and as he sent the document to print, he began flipping through the papers on his desk until he finally found his phone. Glancing at the screen as he picked up his phone, Minho cursed when he caught sight of Kibum's name. He quickly unlocked his phone and read the new message that was received 26 minutes ago.

Still at work?

With his heartbeat speeding up, Minho wasted no time in replying. He never saw his fingers moved so fast before.

Yeah. Why?

It only took a few seconds for Kibum's reply to come back.

Are you leaving your office anytime soon?

Minho groaned when he saw the message, frustrated that Kibum didn't answer his question. Keeping his cool, he resisted the urge to call the source of his troubles instead and forced himself to type a reply.

In about 10 minutes. Why?

Again, Kibum's reply came in the blink of an eye.

I'm at the lobby. Meet me when you're done.

Minho almost felt his heart leap out of his chest when Kibum's message registered in his mind. Had Kibum been waiting for him to knock off all this while? Minho's mind was in a blur but at least his body knew what to do. Without hesitating, Minho had jumped out of his seat, grabbed the document from the printer, placed it as nicely as he could on his supervisor's desk, rushed back to his desk, shut down his computer, grabbed his belongings and in less than 5 minutes, was out of the office and in the lift that was well on its way to the lobby. The lift doors were not even fully opened when Minho squeezed his way out and as he entered the lobby, true enough, right there standing in one corner, leaning against a pillar, was Kibum looking breathtakingly attractive with his head down as he fiddled with his phone. It would normally take Minho a minute to get to where Kibum was but in less than half the time, he found himself standing right in front of Kibum, somewhat breathless from how fast he had moved to get to the lobby. Feeling a sudden presence in front of him, Kibum looked up and met Minho's anxious eyes.

With a smile, Kibum tucked his phone into the pocket of his black skinny jeans and greeted Minho. “Hey... I thought you needed 10 minutes?”

Minho huffed and replied with questions instead. “Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Then I would have left the office earlier... Were you here long? How long did you wait? You should have called me!”

Kibum laughed and placed a hand on Minho's shoulder. “Relax, Minho... It's alright, I needed some time to prepare myself anyway.”

“Prepare yourself?” Minho frowned in confusion. “What for?”

“This.”

And the next thing Minho knew, he was surrounded with Kibum's scent, his senses overwhelmed by Kibum's touch and his warmth, as Kibum had pulled him down and connected their lips in a searing kiss that Minho instinctively responded to. Kibum didn’t even bother to test the waters with slow kisses at the start because once his lips met Minho’s, it was impossible to take it slow and easy. And with Minho suddenly taking control of their kiss, angling Kibum’s face so he could deepen the kiss with his tongue caressing Kibum’s lips and tongue, all Kibum could do was try to keep up and return Minho’s kisses with as much passion and intensity as he could give.

When Kibum eventually broke the kiss (because he had the decency to remember they were in public, although hidden in a corner behind a pillar), his hands still resting around Minho's neck though, Minho stared into his eyes for a moment before he cleared his throat and broke the comfortable silence.

“You're lucky you're smart enough to make sure that the first thing you did after not contacting me for days was kiss me.” Minho nudged Kibum gently on the forehead with his own and smiled. “Or else, it would be my turn to punch you.”

Kibum chuckled. “I don't think you would have the heart to punch me since you know, you love me and all.”

Minho wiped the smile off his face and turned serious, looking deep into Kibum’s eyes. “You owe me an explanation, Kim Kibum.”

“Doesn’t this say enough?” Kibum eyed the position they were in and gestured at themselves, how he had his arms around Minho while Minho held his waist with barely any distance between their bodies.

Minho shook his head. “I want to know exactly what you've been thinking during this time-out of ours.”

“Well, I can tell you right now, half the time I was wondering why you didn't make a move after that day at the café!”

“Kibum, you asked for a time out!” Minho stared incredulously at the guy in his arms. “I couldn’t risk doing anything except wait for you to come back to me.”

“Are you looking to start an argument with me right now, Choi Minho?” Kibum narrowed his eyes dangerously at Minho, the tone of his voice threatening.

Minho instantly shook his head. “I'm just saying...”

“Mmhmm... anything else you want to say?” Kibum asked, this time much more friendly and with the loveliest smile he could muster.

“Let’s get out of this place...” Minho pressed himself closer to Kibum, fitting his body snugly against Kibum’s, until Kibum was now leaning against the pillar. “I’m really hungry.”

Kibum paused for a second before he shot an amused look at Minho. “Which sort of hungry are you?”

Only getting it after practically blinking at Kibum for a while, Minho let out a laugh. “The proper sort of hungry, Kibum. I haven’t had anything to eat yet... but perhaps after dinner, we could... you know... cause I am always hungry for you.”

Kibum was rendered speechless by Minho’s teasing words but he did manage to roll his eyes and push Minho away. But as Minho was laughing (finding so much fun in teasing Kibum), Kibum reached out to take Minho’s hand and dragged his now boyfriend out of the lobby.

“Come on, let’s find someplace to eat.”

And as much as he felt like a puppy following its owner from the way Kibum was leading him out of his workplace, Minho had never been happier.

*

Bliss.

That was what Minho would call it as he lay next to Kibum on his bed, close enough that their arms were touching and their legs a tangled mess, doing nothing but simply enjoying each other’s company in his dimly lit room. Dinner had been like any other dinner they had before; They ate, they shared food, they talked, they bickered, they teased, they laughed — nothing had changed between them. Perhaps, Minho thought, the only difference there was, if they had to name one, was the atmosphere that surrounded them.

There wasn’t a definite way to describe it but it was the little things that showed Minho and Kibum were no longer just simply friends, that they now had that special something going on with each other. It was in the way their eyes connected more intensely (a little more flirty too), and how they smiled to each other with more affection and tenderness plus a hint of mischief, or even in the way Kibum would shy away from Minho’s touch and Minho would try to get closer to him only to end up getting glared at by Kibum. This feeling was like experiencing a first date all over again, that once in a lifetime experience which would give anyone goosebumps if you thought about it again, except the reality was that it wasn’t. Yet Minho would like to think it was. Although dinner seemed like it was nothing special, Minho knew the atmosphere that surrounded both of them made dinner anything but ordinary.

And of course, the night couldn’t end there. It only took a simple “my place or yours?” from Minho for Kibum to decide that he would be heading to his boyfriend’s apartment after dinner, but whether he was staying for a short while or for the rest of the night, Kibum (and even Minho) was going to let things go naturally. From the looks of a very comfortable and satisfied Kibum with his eyes closed on Minho’s bed though, the answer was pretty much going to be the latter.

“$100 please.”

Minho, whose eyes had been on Kibum the entire time, wore a look of confusion as he watched Kibum slowly open his eyes and turn his head a little to glance back at him.

“What $100?” Minho asked, baffled at Kibum’s words.

Kibum held out an open palm just under Minho’s nose. “For staring at me... do you think it’s free to stare at this beautiful face of mine? Plus, I’m already giving you a discount. Now pay up!”

In contrast to Kibum’s seriousness, Minho smiled, holding back his laughter, as he took Kibum’s hand and held it tightly to his chest.

“What’s $100 now when I’ll give you access to my bank account in the future?”

Kibum raised an eyebrow. “We just got together today and you’re talking about the future?”

“Kibum, why do you seem so unsure about us?” Minho moved to sit upright, letting go of Kibum’s hand and crossing his legs, readying himself for a serious conversation.

Letting out a sigh, Kibum did the same, mirroring Minho’s position, sitting close to him with his knees touching Minho’s.

“I’m not unsure, Minho.” Kibum clarified. “In fact, if I was, I wouldn’t even be here right now. You said you wanted an explanation from me... you wanted to know what I’ve been thinking over the days I didn’t contact you, right?”

Minho nodded and waited for Kibum to continue.

“Yeah, well, I was thinking about you, about us... our past and how we are now. I thought about what you said too... but Minho, what struck me the most was when I wondered, if we didn’t meet at the train station that day, what would have happened to us? Would you have thought about contacting me? I asked myself that question too and in all honesty, I wouldn’t have done anything... I actually didn’t do anything even though I’ve been back for a few months and that scares me, Minho, knowing that we could actually live our lives without each other, that if not for that day at the train station, we would be nothing but ex-lovers... strangers.”

Kibum’s thoughts hit Minho hard. Kibum was right, he had always been right. Because the truth was, Minho knew he wouldn’t put in any effort to get in touch with Kibum again. So if they didn’t bump into each other at the station, Minho would have never thought of Kibum, let alone his feelings for him, like how he managed to do for almost three full years.

“Kibum...” Minho reached out to hold Kibum’s hand and squeeze it tightly, unable to find any words to say.

“Scary isn’t it?” Kibum commented.

Minho nodded. “I rather not think about that. You obviously did too much thinking...”

“I know.” Kibum agreed. “Anyway, I’m not expecting any explanation or reassurance from you, but you wanted to know what I was thinking so, I’m telling you all this now. Besides, you should be grateful that I thought about that... since that was exactly what pushed me to find you at your office.”

“What do you mean?” Minho asked as he fiddled with his boyfriend’s fingers.

“Well, it’s knowing we were lucky enough to have the chance to meet again that made me realise I should treasure what we have and not let it slip away again.” Kibum explained and then sighed in defeat. “Perhaps bumping into you is the Universe’s way of telling me that you’ll always be a part of my life.”

Minho smiled in satisfaction. “I think the Universe did one hell of a terrific job.”

Kibum rolled his eyes and hit Minho on his arm. “Are you happy now? Did I explain my thought process clear enough for you, Mr Choi?”

“Absolutely.” Minho nodded with a smile so wide Kibum found it too glaring for his liking that he resorted to pushing Minho’s face away and out of his sight.

Letting out an audible sigh, Kibum then uncrossed his legs and fell back on the bed, returning to his original position and making himself comfortable all over again.

“I guess I’m stuck with you again, Choi Minho.”

Minho scooted closer to Kibum and reached out to hold his boyfriend’s face as he leaned down to press a teasing kiss to the corner of Kibum’s lips.

“I guess you are.” Minho said against Kibum’s lips in a low voice that sent a shiver down his boyfriend’s spine before he kissed Kibum once more, this time full on his lips. “And well, at least you’re stuck with someone you love... you do love me, right Kibum?”

Sighing once more, Kibum rolled his eyes, refusing to answer Minho’s stupid question and instead, closed the distance between them to reconnect their lips in a bruising kiss that was a better answer than a string of words combined.

But if you had to know, the truth is, when Minho was asking himself if it was possible to stop loving someone, Kibum didn’t even have to consider this question at all. Why? The answer was simple. Kim Kibum never did stop loving Choi Minho. Nor would he ever in the lifetime. Minho too.

Author's Note: FIN! sorry for the wait but i do hope it's worth it. hope you enjoyed the story as much as i loved writing this! told you it would get all fluffy in the end. hehh. alrighty! till my next fic, thank you for subscribing, reading and leaving comments! ❤❤