Kibum stared at the white wall, his lips curved in a small frown. He was confused. Did Jonghyun really love him? Or was he just messing with him just to get the money? Jonghyun would never do that...he told Kibum sincerely that he loved the model; he wouldn’t lie like that, would he?

Kibum just sighed. It was hard for him to believe it would end up like this. He thought they were perfect for each other, too. 

Maybe not.

“Hey, Kibum, are you okay?”

Kibum turned around to face Nicole, who was blinking down at him with an umbrella in hand. “Hey,” Kibum replied quietly.

Nicole frowned, and put the back of his hand on Kibum’s forehead, brushing his blonde curls back. “Are you feeling warm? Do you need medicine? I can get Mir to go buy something for you,” she told him, her tone turning concerned.

“No, I’m fine. I was just...thinking,” he replied, pursing his lips slightly. His eyes were dark, and there were a hint of anguish in his eyes; he didn’t usually appear like this.

Nicole only put her palms on Kibum’s cheeks, squishing them inward, so his lips were perked out awkwardly. “Yah..” he attempted to mutter, with Nicole’s hands on his face.

“Look, Kibum, I know when you lie, okay? Tell me what’s wrong, babe.”

Kibum bit his lip once Nicole let go of his cheeks. He didn’t know if he should risk telling Nicole about this.

He took that chance anyway.

“Jonghyun’s using me,” he blurted.

Nicole’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?” she asked, in a hushed whisper.

“I-I..well, I went to visit his company the other day to surprise him, and a secretary told me that he was speaking with the president. When I went upstairs to wait for him, I overheard the president saying that he wanted Jonghyun to ‘bring me in’ to the company within the next week, and then he’d get a whole raise. Then he started going on about some ‘expo’–”

“Expo?” Nicole interrupted. “Like as in the showcase we’re having in March?” Her eyes were wide.

“I-I guess...but, yeah..” Kibum trailed off. Nicole simply stood up. “You should stay away from Jonghyun for awhile,” she stated.

“B-but–”

“Just do it.” Nicole put a palm to her forehead, hissing through her teeth in disgust. “I can’t believe Jonghyun would do such a thing...” Kibum heard her mutter through clenched teeth.

“Nicole, I can deal with this myself, arasso?” he told his stylist. Nicole stared at Kibum for a moment, then sighed. “Okay.”

--

Kibum stepped out into the sidewalk, looking down at the grey cement. Sighing, he glanced up. Where to go...? He stopped at a crosswalk and waited for the red stop symbol to turn into a walking figure on the pedestrian light across the street.

Jonghyun, knowing Kibum had a day off, had offered to take the model out for the day, but then again, Nicole had warned Kibum to stay away for a bit. Jonghyun reluctantly replied over the phone, “I understand,” and hung up. Kibum felt honestly terrible about the whole issue..but what could he do about it anyway?

Once the light flickered again, people hurried by Kibum to get to the other side of the street quickly. Kibum stepped out on the dark concrete slowly, still looking down.

“KIBUM!” a voice suddenly shouted, over a sudden loud horn of a car.

Kibum looked up to see a silver SUV headed right at him. Within that mere second, a strong arm grabbed his wrist, pulling him back onto the sidewalk and into the person’s chest. Kibum tried to catch his breath, still recovering from the sudden shock. “You idiot,” the person muttered, as he let the model go.

Kibum glanced up and exclaimed, “M-Minho!” The sight of his taller friend made his heart leap with happiness, but at the same time, guilt from the last time he had seen him.

“Yeah, I know my own name,” Minho replied, sarcastically. He dusted his jacket off, looking away with disinterest. Kibum was loss at words. Everything that rolled off his tongue became an incoherent mess.

“M-Minho...I-I–I’m sor–oh my god, I was an i–”

“Aish, you talk too much,” Minho said, cutting Kibum off with a hand over the model’s mouth.

Kibum wrenched the taller boy’s hand away, and spluttered, “I’m sorry, okay?”

Minho simply stared at the model, his chest heaving a sigh. Kibum didn’t know what Minho was thinking at that moment. Was he mad at him?

Minho simply took Kibum’s hand and led him down the sidewalk.

--

“I overreacted, I’m sorry,” Minho said, when they had reached Minho’s place. Kibum had a thick, multi-colored, quilt over him, since earlier, it had begun to drizzle over their heads as they walked back to the apartment.

Kibum brought the edge of the quilt closer to his cheek and stared at the pattern on the blanket, purposely adverting his eyes from his friend. “I-I...I shouldn’t had acted that way when you came back,” Minho continued. He glanced up at the model. Kibum’s gaze was still glued to the blanket. “I like the native-american pattern; where’d you get this?” Kibum asked quietly, obviously trying to get away from the subject.

Minho sighed, frustratedly. “Kibum,” he said in a dark tone.

Kibum blinked back at the artist. “Yes?”

“Listen to me, will you?” Minho told him, his eyes narrowing. “Stop it.”

Minho felt like he was talking to a four-year-old. He stood up abruptly, startling Kibum so the blanket fell from over his blonde locks. “Why are you so stubborn..” Minho grumbled, grabbing Kibum’s chin, not too roughly. He tilted his chin up to face him, and pressed his lips on the model’s.

--