A/N:

This was heavily inspired by 'Happy Endings are Stories that Haven't Ended Yet'  by Mayday Parade (which I highly recommend you listen to, not necessarily while reading this fic, but just simply because it's a good song).

Till we collide with heavy hearts and open minds.

     Kim Kibum worked in a bookstore and Jonghyun was a guy running away from a couple of dangerous thugs. It was that quintessential bookstore from a movie or book. Books were crammed into every possible corner of the very, very quaint and dim store with just a small desk at the front. Kibum sat at the desk, reading any book that was closest to his reach and swatting away all the specks of dust. He was doing exactly that when a certain customer entered the store, frantic, breathless but unbelievably gorgeous. His eyes were big and were full of all these dares and mysteries. Kibum wouldn’t have thought that he possessed those very characteristics.

     The customer doesn’t say anything when he skilfully slides across the counter and falls behind it beside a baffled Kibum.

     “Excuse—“

     “Shh!”

     An ordinary looking man enters the store quietly but with a determined, vengeful look on his face. He sports an overused sports cap, ed plaid shirt over a stained wife-beater, loose denim jeans and combat boots and has a fuzzy beard which gives Kibum the impression that the man is completely uncommitted towards it.

     “May I be of any assistance, sir?” Kibum asks respectfully yet with a casual tone.

     The man doesn’t say anything but takes quick peaks through the two aisles and then with a huff departs the store.

     “Is he gone?” the guy crouching beside Kibum asks.

     Kibum looks down, startled. “Oh, I forgot you were there.”

     The guy stands up, knees aching, and smiles. Kibum responds with a kind smile and the guy notes down how beautiful Kibum’s face looks. His eyes are narrow and curl slightly as Kibum smiles and his lips are naturally pink and inviting. “Thank you,” the guy says but not as smoothly as he had planned out in his mind.

     “You’re welcome, but how exactly did I help you?”

     “That guy who walked in is trying to beat me up and you let me hide behind your counter without questioning me.”

     Kibum chuckles at the absurdity and then replies with a warm ‘you’re welcome’ again. The guy smiles once more and then walks out of the store.

     Kibum was sent out on grocery duty. He and his brother Taemin alternate each week; same applies to all the other chores back at home. Kibum is examining apples at a fruit and vegetable stand. He picks out the ones he thinks look nicest and is about to hand them to the guy behind the counter but stops.

     “Oh hey. It’s you,” the guy from the bookstore remarks giddily.

     Kibum smiles, “And it’s you.”

     “My name’s Jonghyun,” the guy finally introduces and then takes the apples and weighs them. He packs them in a plastic bag and then hands it to Kibum, ignoring his extended hand full of money. “No, no, take them for free,” Jonghyun offers kindly.

     “Oh, um, why?” Kibum asks, flummoxed.

     “I think you’re cute.”

     “Oh no I—“

     “Take them.” Jonghyun smiles charmingly and Kibum can’t help but just take the bag, hypnotised. Kibum walks away and laughs lightly as he overhears Jonghyun argue with an elderly woman who also demands to not have to pay.

     Two hands slam down on the desk in front of Kibum loudly and Kibum looks up from his book, at first, irritated, until his eyes connect with Jonghyun’s. “Oh you.”

     “Hi,” Jonghyun responds.

     “Do you need to hide behind the counter again or…?”

     Jonghyun shakes his head. He grabs a plastic chair next to one of the aisles, slides it up in front of the desk and sits down in front of Kibum. He rests his chin on his hands and stares at Kibum interestedly who is preoccupied with his reading. After a minute, Kibum finally looks up and is slightly embarrassed and uncomfortable. “Do you need me to help you find something?”

     Jonghyun shakes his head.

     “Then why are you here?”

     Jonghyun shrugs. “I just think you’re pretty,” he answers unwaveringly.

     “Thanks…” Kibum replies, suppressing a satisfied smile. “But you’re making me kind of uncomfortable.”

     Kibum continues with his reading but after three very brief paragraphs his curiosity overtakes him and he asks eagerly, “So why was that guy trying to beat you up?”

     Jonghyun sighs, puffing his cheeks. “I slept with his girlfriend… No wait—I think I slept with his sister. Or maybe I slept with both of them.”

     “At the same time?”

     Jonghyun shakes his head with a light chuckle. “No.”

     “So you’re that kind of guy but not that kind of guy?”

     “What is that supposed to mean?”

     “You’re the kind of guy who will sleep around with people’s girlfriends and sisters but you’re not the kind of guy who would sleep with both of them at the same time,” Kibum answers with his head down, focusing on the book and quickly losing interest in Jonghyun.

     Jonghyun leans forward and pushes Kibum’s book away from under his eyes. He hears it drop to the floor with a softly resonating thud. Kibum looks up and his nose hits Jonghyun’s.

     “You think I sleep around?”

     “That’s the impression I get.”

     “I think you’re cute. Hell, I don’t even know you’re name.”

     “Why should I bother giving you my name when in the future you’ll only be referring to me as a number?”

     Jonghyun laughs loudly. “My, that was feisty.”

     “Is it not true?”

     Jonghyun smirks. “I sleep around, okay?”

     Kibum rolls his eyes and gets off his seat to pick his book up from the floor. Upon rising to his feet, Kibum is backed up against the wall. Jonghyun presses their foreheads together and stares deeply into Kibum’s eyes with a smirk. “So you’re not interested in me anymore?”

     “Who said I was interested in you in the first place?” Kibum responds. His voice was shaky and his tone unconvincing. “Have you ever even been with a guy before?”

     “No, but I’m open-minded.”

     “You can’t just be open-minded towards dating a guy. You have to want to date a guy, Jonghyun. You have to be actually interested in guys to date guys.”

     “I’m not even interested in the girls I sleep with. What’s the difference?”

     “So you must be, what, aual?” Kibum pushes Jonghyun away so they’re not making any body contact whatsoever.

     “What? I…Nevermind…” Jonghyun stammers.

     “And I guess that proves my point—that I’ll just be another number to you. Please leave, Jonghyun.”

     Jonghyun pushes Kibum back up against the wall and pins him there. “Admit it; you’re interested in me even though you now know that I sleep around. I’m actually interested in you.”

     “Am I supposed to feel special or something?”

     Jonghyun smirks. “Probably. But you’re interested in me. Admit it.”

     “Are you an open-minded person, Jonghyun?” Kibum asks.

     “Very.”

     “How open-minded are you towards relationships?”

     “Only slightly,” Jonghyun replies honestly. “But it’s something, isn’t it?”

     Kibum’s lips curl. He pushes Jonghyun away harshly and Jonghyun almost falls back onto the desk behind him. Kibum extends a hand as Jonghyun finds his balance. “Hi, my name’s Kim Kibum,” Kibum introduces himself formally for the first time since they’ve met.

     Jonghyun shakes Kibum’s hand firmly and looks directly into his eyes. “I’m Kim Jonghyun. Nice to meet you, Kim Kibum.”

     They have noodles together in Kibum’s store way after closing time at around nine o’clock. It’s silent excluding the slurping sounds as they eat. The one light in the store barely provides any lighting at all so it’s dim. Outside it is so silent it’s almost eerie. It’s romantic in some way. In their hearts, at least, they can feel the romance.

     Kim Jonghyun ends up cheating Kibum after three dates in three weeks when Kibum was just about to declare Jonghyun his boyfriend. It takes Kibum another two weeks to realise Jonghyun was sleeping around behind his back and puts up a picture of Jonghyun at the front of the store with a sign underneath it saying, ‘BANNED.’

You could be my compass. Teach me how to read these broken lines.

     After a month, Jonghyun enters the store with a cheeky grin on his face. “That sign out at the front; it’s cute,” he comments casually and hops up on the desk.

     Kibum slams his book down on the desk. “Get out.”

     “Let’s talk.”

     “No,” Kibum deadpans sternly. “Let’s not talk.”

     “Why not?” Jonghyun asks. His hands were planted firmly on the desk. He leans in closer to Kibum’s lips.

     “Because I don’t want to,” Kibum whispers against the advancing lips.

     Jonghyun kisses him and Kibum is quick to back away. “That’s the only way you know how to solve things, huh, Kim Jonghyun? What, do you plan on bending me over and ing me on this desk hoping I would forgive you?”

     Jonghyun shrugs shamelessly.

     “Get out, Jonghyun. Please, just get out,” Kibum dismisses with a wave of his hand. He sits down and tries reading his book again but Jonghyun’s presence distracts him.

     Jonghyun gets down on one knee beside Kibum who looks down at him. “Look,” Jonghyun starts off. “I never believed in love at first sight. I thought it was ing stupid. It was stupid and it was deceiving like fairy tales. Believing in love at first sight, to me, was like believing that your prince charming was going to show up one day, save you, and you’d all live happily ever after. You’d believe it and then when you realised it wasn’t true, it’ll ing break you. But with you…You made me believe in that as much as I really didn’t want to because I have these feelings for you and I don’t even know you. You know I’m no good at relationships and I thought that if you were the one that made me feel this way then maybe you could be the one to teach me all this relationships stuff.”

     Kibum grits his teeth and forces himself to be mad at Jonghyun but to no avail. There are butterflies in his stomach and he places a hand over his heart with a smile. “That was very romantic.”

     “I know. I feel dirty.”

     They laugh.

     Kibum stands up and so does Jonghyun and they share a kiss. “You can’t actually be taught how to be good at relationships, Jonghyun,” Kibum tells him when they break up. “There are some things you learn unconsciously through experience. We can learn these things together because, truthfully, I’ve never really been in a relationship either.

Hold me like a lover .

     They spend a lot of their time together after that. They learn things about each other and establish a stronger bond.

     The first time they make out Jonghyun’s ing Kibum’s pants when Kibum admits that he’s never had before. For Kibum’s sake, Jonghyun was gentle. They moved together slowly and lovingly. Their lips almost never broke apart the entire time and Kibum had never experienced a more magical feeling.

     For the first time in Kibum’s life he is glad that the bookstore never gets any customers. Jonghyun is holding him by the waist gently as he kisses him. Kibum tilts his head and slides his arms around Jonghyun’s neck. Jonghyun’s tongue at Kibum’s lips that open up responsively and their tongues meet in Kibum’s mouth and tangle together languidly.

     Jonghyun pulls away and leaves gentle kisses around Kibum’s neck and chin. “Hey Kibum…” Jonghyun whispers against Kibum’s neck.

     Kibum moans, his fingers in Jonghyun’s soft hair. “Mm…”

     “I think maybe I might love you.”

     Kibum doesn’t say anything at that moment and just kisses him.

     Jonghyun sneaks to Kibum’s house and knocks on Kibum’s bedroom window where Kibum expects him. Kibum invited him in and they immediately share a kiss. Jonghyun wraps an arm around Kibum as they lay in bed together. They realised that the times they enjoy the most are the times when they lay in bed together. They stare into each other’s eyes lovingly. Words are never spoken and nothing ever disturbs them. It’s tranquil.

     “I think I might love you too,” Kibum whispers one night they’re together.

(And never let me go)

     Kibum doesn’t contact Jonghyun for a long time. Every time Jonghyun stops by the store someone else is at the desk. That someone never has knowledge of Kibum’s whereabouts whenever Jonghyun stops by and asks—which is every day.

     Kibum is back to running the store. Jonghyun is overjoyed to find Kibum at the counter, head down and engrossed in his reading. When Kibum looks up, Jonghyun catches his lips in a desperate kiss and tell him that he missed him. Kibum is unresponsive with each touch and when Jonghyun asks him what’s wrong Kibum tells him that he doesn’t want to do it anymore.

     “What do you mean?” Jonghyun asks gravely.

     “I just…I don’t want to be with you right now, Jonghyun. Please go. Please.”

     Jonghyun doesn’t question him and leaves the store slightly offended.

     Jonghyun is packing up the stall at the market at around eight o’clock. Virtually no one is around except for other people packing up their own stall. He’s using a broom to sweep all the rubbish in one corner of the stall.

     He feels a pair of arms wrap around his stomach and his shoulder being drenched with tears. It’s Kibum. Jonghyun immediately turns around and holds him tightly, gently running his fingers through Kibum’s hair and kissing his temple. He finds out that Kibum had been so distant because his grandmother had died. Jonghyun says nothing and cuddles him tighter.

We'll find a way, to run away, tonight.     

     Jonghyun knocks on Kibum’s window unexpectedly. Groggily, Kibum opens the window and Jonghyun steps in quietly and then dumps a few bags onto the floor.

     “Jonghyun wha...What’s with the bags?”

     Jonghyun closes the window. “Parents kicked me out. I told them about you. Turns out they’re not okay with me being with a guy.”

     Kibum sighs and holds Jonghyun’s hands and leads him onto the bed. They cuddle together, kissing here and there, and Kibum tells Jonghyun that he can stay with him. 

     “I love you, Kim Kibum,” Jonghyun whispers and kisses him tenderly on the nose.

     Kibum kisses him on the lips. “I love you, Kim Jonghyun.”

     They stay up for the rest of the night getting carried away with the thoughts of their future together and when they fall asleep they fall asleep in each other’s arms.