“Have you met our new neighbors yet?” Jinki asks his best friend, who was currently sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop.

“No.”

“Why not? They’re really nice, by the way. It seems like-“

“Will you stop talking about them already? Minho this, Kibum that, they’re all you ever talk about night and day! My ears are starting to bleed from constantly hearing their names!” Jonghyun says angrily.

It’s been two weeks since their neighbors had moved in, but the lawyer refuses to meet them any time soon. Especially since Jinki has been bugging him constantly to come over to their house.

“Jonghyun, why don’t you just give them a chance?”

“Hyung. I don’t have time for this. I have work to do.”

Jinki rolls his eyes. “You always have work to do.”

“I can’t fall behind. I have a lot of clients waiting in line.” Jonghyun says, intently looking at the screen of his laptop.

“Why don’t you just take a step back and socialize like normal people do? Like maybe turning off your stupid laptop and pushing work back for later.”

“I don’t have as much free time as you do.”

“Maybe because I’m not a workaholic like you.”

The older boy sighs from the couch and closes the book he’s reading. “You had no problem with going out in the past.”

Finally, Jonghyun tears his eyes from the screen, turning to his best friend with a serious expression. “I thought we agreed on not discussing about this.”

“I know. But it’s hard for me, okay? Watching you like this…..” Jinki trails off, shaking his head.

“I’m fine.”

“No, Jonghyun. You’re not. Ever since that day, you haven’t been yourself. You forgot who you are as a person, I feel like you’ve lost your soul.”

“What choice did I have? What else was there for me to do? Mope around and lock myself in my room crying like a big baby? Like I always did as a kid?”

“It didn’t have to end like that. You could’ve stayed the same.”

“But I am the same!”

Jinki narrows his eyes at the younger boy.

Jonghyun looks away back down to the screen. “Just a little more guarded.”

“A little more, huh?”

“Hyung, if you really have nothing better to do than bother me while working, then why don’t you go somewhere else and bother the new neighbors instead?” Jonghyun says drily, fingers busily flying over the keyboard.

Jinki places his book down and stands up, knowing that the mood was gone. He should be thankful that he at least got Jonghyun to open up a little and talk about it, but he couldn’t help feeling disappointed at the short conversation.

There was a lot of fixing to be done with the lawyer.

The older boy knows that his best friend will eventually crack one day, and he hopes that day comes soon. It’s been four years since the incident, and Jonghyun’s still broken from it. The older boy pleads that someone would eventually break into his friend and pull him out of his isolated world. But for now, he had to push those thoughts aside and pretend that nothing was wrong. At least in front of Jonghyun.

“Whatever you say, Your Highness.” Jinki mockingly tips an imaginary hat as he steps out of the door, the house falling quiet almost at once.

Jonghyun fidgets in his seat for a few moments, becoming suddenly uncomfortable with the silence. He focuses on the case in front of him and tries to block out the conversation he just had with his best friend.

Mr. Jung’s allegation on the murder of-

At the back of his mind, he wonders if Jinki’s worrying about him again.

Dr. Lee is requested to be put in the court with-

It wasn’t like him to bring up the past that easily, and Jonghyun starts wondering how long he can continue to avoid talking about it.

one or two more witnesses that stand against or by the murderer which-

He imagines how painful it was to even speak of the topic once again.

all should be logged onto a docket to record the court proceedings-

Jonghyun pushes the power off button of his laptop and drops his head in his hands, pressing his palms against his eyes and blocking out all thoughts of the past and his work. He no longer felt like working, not with his head spinning in circles back and forth between the case he was working on and his conversation with Jinki.

He didn’t know why he let himself ponder over the happenings four years ago. He promised himself he wouldn’t dig into those memories unless absolutely necessary.

He glances towards the window and looks outside, the bright rays of the sun shooting through the glass and almost blinding him.

He takes a moment to rub more at his eyes before standing up from the couch, going into his room and changing into normal clothes.

It felt weird to be wearing skinny jeans and a t-shirt after wearing a suit and tie for so long, but it was more comfortable then his normal working attire.

He heads outside to water the plants out at the front yard, cringing at the cool breeze. He hadn’t noticed the weather was already starting to turn into Fall.

Jonghyun takes the hose and aims for the flowers, mentally reciting all the law terms he knew in order to keep his mind from wandering to dangerous topics again. He stands there for about a minute, not noticing a tall figure approaching him.

“Phlox flowers don’t need that much water, you know.”

The lawyer jumps at the sudden voice and whirls around, almost wetting the person in front of him with the hose. “Jesus ing Christ, you scared the out of me!”

Kibum smiles. “Nice to meet you too.”

Jonghyun scowls, turning the knob to keep the water from spraying out. “What do you want?”

“Just thought I’d step out of the house since your friend is busy with Minho back there.” the artist points back to his home.

Jonghyun stares at Kibum and finally gets a good look at him. He was tall, about two to three inches taller than the lawyer. The shape of his face is slightly angular, his jaw line visibly outlined under his chin. He had smooth and milky skin, his bow shaped lips slightly chapped from the chilly weather. The shape of his eyes looked incredibly feline, yet he managed to soften his look with puffy blonde hair that ran down all the way to the back of his neck. His bangs were messily gelled up over his head and out of his eyes. His pants were blotched with paint, and his left cheek had a streak of white on it.

“You have paint on your cheek.” Jonghyun blurts out, momentarily forgetting that he was pissed.

Kibum wipes at his face furiously and looks down at his hand to find the white mark transferred onto it. “Thanks.”

The lawyer’s scowl returns to his face. He turns to look back at the house next door, where Jinki was probably with Minho.

“I heard you’re pretty close to Jinki hyung.” the artist says.

“Uh huh.”

“How come you never come out of the house unless it’s for work or something?”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“Jinki hyung. And I see you going out of the house through my window.”

“Are you stalking me or something?” Jonghyun reels back with a look of disgust.

Kibum bites at the inside of his cheek before replying. “Course not.”

“Look, can you just leave me alone?”

“Seems like there needs to be a lot of work done with you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon.”

“What in the are you talking about?”

“It’s interesting, how there’s like two people inside of you.”

“I think you need to go to a mental hospital.”

Kibum shakes his head, chuckling in amusement. “Are you really that dense?”

“You don’t even know me.” Jonghyun spits out.

“What I meant was that you have two personalities, or two identities if you would like to call it that. There’s that closed off, working side of you and that normal young boy side that you barely show.”

“What-“

“For example, today you’re wearing a shirt and skinny jeans. And converse? I usually see you with a suitcase and a tie, a watch around your right wrist with a serious expression on your face. But right now you seem distracted, like you’re thinking about something really deep.”

Jonghyun almost drops the hose in his hands as he listens to the artist speak. How could this stranger speak of him like he had known the lawyer all his life? It was scary, how precise and accurate his description was.

“You’re a creeper.” Jonghyun shivers.

Kibum his head to the side. “No, it’s more of observing rather than ‘stalking.’ I’m an artist, and one of the number one rules we have is to pay attention to details. When we paint or draw, we can’t only focus on the object or idea we’re trying to express. We have to keep in mind the little things that make that idea or object come alive. The atmosphere, the colors, the shadows, even the little tiny details such as the table in the background says a lot about a piece of artwork.”

The lawyer had to admit that he was right. Even in his job, details were important and usually the key to being successful in court. But still, Jonghyun had no idea what all this had to do about him.

“How can you know so much about me in so little time?”

“I don’t.” Kibum replies. “I’ve only seen you outside of your house, so I only see what’s going on when you’re guarded and out in public. I’ve only seen the parts of you that you choose to show when other people are looking. So in short, no I don’t know you.”

“And I’m glad to keep it that way.” the lawyer says harshly.

“Suit yourself.”

“Can you go away now?”

“Depends. I still have to tell you my name.”

“What if I don’t want to know?”

“I bet you already do.” the artist grins mischievously.

“Get out.”

“It was nice meeting you, Jonghyun.” Kibum waves, striding back to the way he came from and disappearing further down the street.

He seemed not at all affected by Jonghyun’s cold attitude.

The lawyer flings the hose back onto the lawn, slamming the door shut behind him and angrily brooding over his encounter with Kibum.

When Jinki returns later that night, he’s surprised to find Jonghyun sitting on the couch with the TV on. He would usually be locked in his room and hunched over endless numbers of papers at this time of the night, not coming out until it was time for dinner.

“Did something happen?” the older boy asks knowingly.

“I met a person.” Jonghyun scowls.

“You’re wearing normal clothes for once.” Jinki points out.

“What, I can’t change out of my suit?”

“You wear that thing every day, 24/7. You even pass out on your bed with it on sometimes. Did the fairy godmother stop by while I was gone by any chance?”

“Someone worse than Satan decided to ruin my day.”

“You’re in a bad mood everyday anyways……”

“Hyung!”

“Okay, okay. Sheesh. And what exactly did that person say to you?”

“He’s a ing creep. A that thinks he knows everything.”

Jinki breaks out into a smile. “So you’ve met Kibum.”

A/N: Any guesses on what happened in the past to Jonghyun? I'll be impressed and shocked if any of you get it. 

I'm so glad I actually found the time to update today, I was almost sure I'd be too lazy to write xD

It's so freaking cold here now, so this was my distraction to keep from freezing to death.

So how'd you guys like jongkey's first interaction? 

I admit, I had way too much fun writing it. Maybe because Jjong is badly pwned for the first time in his life (other than by Onew).

Idk if I'll be able to update this fast for the next chapter, but i promise I'll try to squeeze some time in to update sometime this week. Also, don't forget to drop a comment!