“Mr. K, I’ve got another file from that one client that’s complaining about his unsafe neighborhood. What do you want me to do with it?”

Jonghyun turns to find one of his coworkers holding out a folder toward him. He resists the urge to growl in frustration. “Just throw it away.”

“But sir-“

“I’m busy enough as it is. I’m booked for the next three months, and most of the cases are more important than that. If you want, go find another lawyer to take care of it.”

“Mr. K, you’re one of the most successful out of all of us in here. Its only normal that you’re getting loads of clients.”

Jonghyun sighs. “I know. But you’ve got to understand that I’m still human. I’m not a robot that can meet everyone’s expectations all at once.”

“I’m sorry Mr. K, but please think about this case before moving on to the next ones. This particular client’s list of defendants is growing, and I’m afraid there’s going to be a lot of lawsuits against this man pretty soon.”

Jonghyun scowls. “I’ll think about.”

“Have a nice day, sir.”

The lawyer nods and turns back to the elevators, exhausted of sitting in his office all day. Just when he was about ready to leave, he’s handed another load of work to do.

He loosens his tie as he walks toward the elevator, quickening his pace to catch the closing doors. He doesn’t look to the side when he passes by a corner, and soon he feels someone bump into him with a muffled grunt.

Jonghyun lets out a curse as he watches the elevator doors close just a few feet ahead of him. He turns to address the person that bumped into him, but his eyes widen as he sees the familiar face.

“Hey!” Kibum flashes his signature smile. “Fancy meeting you here.”

The artist bends down to pick up the box he had dropped, which contained a massive amount of art supplies.

“What in the are you doing here?” Jonghyun asks in astonishment, not even bothering to help out the other.

“I’m in charge of repainting the walls of the offices. They requested for me to design some sort of pattern on some of them. And I’m guessing you work here?”

Jonghyun scowls in return, starting to walk back toward the elevators.

“I’ve heard some people call you Mr. K. I’m guessing that stands for your last name, Kim?”

“It’s none of your busine-“

“Oppa?”

Both boys turn to find a girl dressed in a trench coat and black heeled boots standing behind them. She was looking curiously at the lawyer, who was staring back at her in surprise.

“Minjung?” Jonghyun exclaims.

“It’s been a while.” she smiles.

“I- what brings you here?”

“Just stopped by to visit a friend of mine. How have you been?”

“Well enough. How about you? I haven’t seen you since…..” Jonghyun trails off, knowing she’ll get it without him having to say it out loud.

Her eyes soften in his gaze. “It was hard, I admit. But I managed with time.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” her voice was soft and low, almost like a whisper. “You look different, oppa.”

“Times have changed.”

“Just make sure you don’t get yourself hurt again.”

“Same goes for you.”

Minjung laughs. “I see you still have some of your charms.”

“Old habits die hard.”

Minjung smiles and shifts the bag on her shoulder. “Well I have to go now, and I don’t want to keep you any longer. Say hi to Taemin and Jinki oppa for me, okay?”

“Keep in touch, yeah? You know where to find me.”

“I’ll try.”

With a small wave she turns toward the elevators on the opposite side, catching the closing doors just in time.

Jonghyun watches in her direction for a long time before getting into his elevator as well.

Kibum follows him in. “So was that your ex girlfriend or something?”

“None of your business.” Jonghyun snaps.

“She’s pretty.”

“Do you ever shut up?”

“Not when I’m around you.”

“Sadly.”

“Why not? We’re neighbors after all.”

“And that’s bad enough.” the lawyer hisses.

Before Kibum can respond the floor beneath them shakes all of a sudden. A loud scraping noise comes from outside as the lights flicker on and off for a few seconds, turning back on at the last minute as the elevator halts to a stop.

“What’s going on?” Jonghyun says, clear panic in his voice.

“I think it broke down. Hold on, let’s call for emergency.” Kibum moves to the emergency phone behind the lawyer.

There’s a pause as he picks it up, dialing in the numbers as the instructions say.

“Hello? Yeah, I think it just suddenly stopped……..yeah……...uh huh…………no, there’s just two of us here………okay, thanks.”

“What did they say?” Jonghyun asks.

“They said to wait for at least two hours until they fix the system.”

The lawyer curses under his breath. “Two hours?!? Do they seriously expect us to wait here that long?”

“There’s nothing else to do anyways. I’m sure they’ll get it done soon.”

“I’m so ing done.” Jonghyun sinks to the floor, setting his suitcase down beside him.

Kibum sits down across from him. "Don’t worry, everyone has their bad days.”

Jonghyun looks up to glare at the artist. “It’s bad enough that I’m stuck in here with you.”

“Just pretend I’m not here at the moment.”

“I can’t do that if you’re talking.”

“Fine, I’ll shut up for now.”

They stay in silence for a few moments, with the lawyer’s head tilted back and eyes closed. The artist watches Jonghyun intently, taking in his profile for the first time.

“Will you quit looking at me like that?” the lawyer suddenly says, eyes still closed.

Kibum flinches in surprise. “How do you know I was looking at you?”

“I can literally feel your stare burning on my face.”

“Sorry.” the artist mumbles.

Jonghyun cracks an eye open. “Are you always this jittery?”

“What?”

“Your leg. I can feel it bouncing up and down from here.”

Kibum looks down. “Oh. Well I’m usually an active person.”

“Obviously.” the lawyer rolls his eyes.

“And I can’t keep still so it became a habit to move my leg even while I’m sitting.”

“It must be tiring to be you.” Jonghyun snorts.

“I’d rather be myself than you.”

“Are you trying to insult me?”

“No. I’m just saying you’re so closed off to the world around you. The only people that can get through you are your closest friends.”

“How would you know that?”

“Like from earlier. Your face immediately changed when you saw Minjung. And then when you look at me it’s like I’m a contagious disease or something.”

“That’s because you annoy the out of me.”

“It must’ve been hard to have you as a boyfriend. I feel bad for Minjung.”

“Will you stop talking about her?”

“Fine, change of subject. Where are your parents?”

“Don’t get into my personal life.”

“Then ask me the questions instead.”

“What makes you think I want to know more about you?” Jonghyun scoffs.

“Just ask. It helps pass the time.”

“Fine.” the lawyer scowls. “How long have you been friends with that Minho guy?”

“For as long as I can remember. Our parents were best friends, so it was only natural they introduced me to their son. We’ve been together ever since.”

“How can you live with such a bastard like him?”

“He’s similar to you, in a way.” Kibum replies, earning a glare from the lawyer.

“Why don’t you live with your parents?”

The artist smiles sadly. “They’re dead.”

“I’m sorry.” Jonghyun says quietly.

“It’s fine, really. They never liked me anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just so you know, I’m gay.”

Jonghyun struggles to keep himself from gaping at the other boy. He never really paid any attention to Kibum’s actions but now that he thought about it, his ual orientation had a questioning aura around it.

“The day I finally decided to tell them about what I really was, they kicked me out of the house. They said I was a disgrace, someone that didn’t deserve to live on this planet. They were ashamed of me, horrified that their son had become a monster.”

“What happened next?” Jonghyun asks quietly.

“My grandmother took me in. She was the only person that was proud of whom I was. She understood me, treated me just like a normal human being. Just like everyone else. She defended me against my parents and stood her ground.”

“How come you’re not living with her right now?”

“One day my parents barged into her house and demanded for me to get out of it. My grandmother refused to let me go though.”

Kibum pauses to wipe at his teary eyes before continuing. “My dad had a big wooden stick with him. It was about a meter long and way heavier than it looked. He was about to strike me when my grandma intercepted it and took the blow instead.”

Jonghyun looks at the other, swallowing thickly before asking his question. “What happened to her?”

“She lived, thank god.” the artist smiles softly. “But she has a long scar that runs from her hipbone to her neck now. I ran away after that. I couldn’t get anyone else hurt because of me.”

“And what of your parents?”

“I learned that they died in a building that caught on fire a few months ago. I didn’t go to the burial. The worst part was that I didn’t even care that they had died.”

“How did you manage to come here?”

“For years I moved from place to place, getting farther and farther away from my hometown. Minho eventually found me here, and he immediately began to look for a home. My grandma calls once in a while to check on me and see how we’re both doing.”

“So that’s why you’re currently living as my neighbors.”

“Pretty much.”

There’s a long pause before Jonghyun speaks up again.

“I shouldn’t have asked you to go on.”

“No, its fine. I had to get it out at some point.”

“Do you regret telling your parents about your true identity?”

“You sound like a judge.” Kibum grins.

Jonghyun scowls back at him.

“No, I don’t regret it. It’s who I am, and I’m proud of it. I’m not going to hide that special part of me. Just because I’m different doesn’t mean that people have the right to step on me like dirt. I’m as equal as everyone else.”

The lawyer’s not sure how to respond.

Turns out he never gets to anyways.

The elevator doors suddenly slides open, and a group of men peer down at the two boys sitting on the floor.

“You guys alright in here?”

Jonghyun and Kibum nods.

The guy turns behind him. “Get these guys checked of any injuries!”

“See? I told you we’d survive.” Kibum smiles at the lawyer as they walk towards the ambulance.

“Just barely.” Jonghyun says with a sour expression on his face.

“I see you’re back to your normal self.”

“Shut up.”

After a full on interrogation from Jinki of what happened in the elevator, Jonghyun finally had the time to lie down on his bed to rest for the night.

His head was swimming in circles, his conversation with Kibum playing over and over behind his closed eyelids.

They were similar, in a way.

The lawyer knew how it felt like to be looked down at, to have his heart shattered just by a few mere words. He knew what it felt like to have the weight of the world pressed down on your shoulders, drowning in an ocean of problems and having no energy to fight back and struggle for air.

Except that he didn’t have the confidence that Kibum had, the will and drive to fight for himself and the people around him.

It was part of the reason why he had become who he is today.

He didn’t want to remember the past, to relive any of those painful memories that took place four years ago.

So he focused on Kibum, focused on the way his eyes looked so determined and certain back in the elevator a while ago. He wasn’t afraid to go against the world if he had to.

And Jonghyun wished more than anything that he had that same confidence.

A/N: Decided to update cuz I couldn't wait to write this scene. You guys confused about what really happened with Jjong? Oh, and about what I said that this scene wasn't going to be anything special. I lied. xD

I told you, Jjong's not that bad :P

He's just suffering from a case of getting man periods every five seconds xD

I really didn't mean to expose so much about Kbum but hey, I decided to give at least a full of explanation about one of the characters for once. Maybe I'll explain Minho in the next chapter.......

Anyways, I have an announcement to make. I'm currently hosting a SHINee oneshot writing contest on tumblr so if any of you are interested, click here for more info. There's currently 9 participants, and I need more. So if any of you guys wanna join.......

I have no idea when I'll be able to update again, since I have tons of school work to do for the coming week.

But I'll try to make some time for the next chapter :)

Also, don't forget to vote for this story to get featured ^^

Or you don't have to, if you think my fic isn't good enough to be featured.