That red string of fate that’s supposed to tie you together with the one you love… There’s no such thing. There’s no such thing as fate. There’s no such thing as there being someone that you’re supposed to be with forever. If there was, it wouldn’t be so hard if they’re right there in front of you.

It shouldn’t be...

No matter what happened between them, they were always in circumstances where they couldn’t be together. Where the odds were against them, saying that they shouldn’t be together.

All Key wanted was their happy ending to just happen already.

With the way things went, Key first realized he was in love with him when they were younger. It’s normal to love your brother. There’s nothing weird about that all, especially not when you find out that you’re not even related and that you were adopted into his family. The thought that the older boy loved him as much as he did, knowing that they were only bound by papers, meant a lot to Key. It added to the love he already had for the other.

Jinki looked out for him and was always there for him. He was the shoulder that Key would cry on whenever he didn’t get his way. He was Key’s rock when he found out that he was adopted. In middle school, they seemed to have switched roles. Key would protect his big brother from the bullies that went after him for being smart. Key had no problem kicking , and he was extremely good at it. A talent that scared everyone whenever he got to show them just how good he was.

The time for uni came along. The two were separated for two gruesome years - at least they were gruesome on Key’s end. He had no idea how the other felt about them being separated. He hadn’t heard from his hyung at all during the time he was away. When he went off to uni himself, the last thing he expected was to end up at the same school as Jinki, especially since he took time after he graduated from high school to gather up enough money to send himself. Four years had gone by and Jinki should have graduated by then.

Turns out, he had. Key realized that not only were they attending the same school, but Jinki wasn’t a student. He walked into class on the first day to find Jinki at the board, writing his name. Key tried to play it cool, but stumbled into a table.

“Hyung, please, be careful,” came his little dongsaeng, Taemin’s smiling plea, walking him to his seat.

The school year was awkward and neither he nor Jinki made contact outside of the classroom. To Key, it honestly seemed like the other didn’t recognize him. In the four years they hadn’t seen each other, Key had been able to find out about his real parents and had switched to his birth name. He figured that was the reason that Jinki hadn’t recognized him, but, then again, Key was 100% sure that he looked exactly the same, just taller. Well, maybe his features had matured a bit since they were last in contact, but there was no way that he wasn’t recognizable. On the other hand, Jinki had been smart, but still a little dense at times, so Key was left at a complete standstill.

The thing that bothered Key the most: Whenever Jinki would smile at the class, or made a dopey joke to cheer up his class, or when he called Key’s name… Key’s heart would flutter.

Just like it did in elementary school, when he was called from the other side of the playground; and, in middle school, when Jinki would run to him after he got bullied, whimpering his name out as he cried on his shoulder; and when they were in high school and Jinki would call out his name from the bleachers to cheer him on, in all the events that he participated in.

It was near the end of the school year. He’d been in classes taught by Jinki for two semesters and neither of them said anything to one another. Key couldn’t take it anymore.

Unfortunately, Key’s emotions spilled over while he was in the middle of the hallway. Taemin had been walking with him and could see that something had caused the older boy to space out. He waved his hand in front of Key, catching his attention.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

Key forced a smile and waved a dismissive hand at him, “I’m fine. Just go ahead without me. I’ll meet up with you later, okay?”

Taemin frowned a little, but nodded and did as he was asked, but not before he got a hug in. The hug made Key smile a bit, but not before he found an empty hall to collapse in. He caved to his knees and balled up against the wall. He clung tightly to his knees and hid his face in them, allowing himself to cry. This was the first time that he cried about how things had turned out with his hyung. The first time that he realized just how much it hurt him that they were so close before and were so distant now, even being within arm’s reach of one another on a daily basis.

Key heard his name being called. It was a faint, female voice, but it soon disappeared after he ignored it long enough. His peace didn’t last though.

“Kim Kibum,” Jinki’s stern voice called from the end of the hallway.

Key flinched, but refused to look at him, only hugging his knees tighter to his chest.

“I sent someone out here to bring you to my classroom so that I could talk to you,” he continued, walking closer, “She told me you blatantly ignored her.”

“I’m right here. What do you want to talk about?” There wasn’t nearly as much bite in his voice as he himself had been hoping for, but he hoped that it was noticeable enough.

It was. It got a soft chuckle out of the older, “Even when you cry, you’ve got that defiant attitude. You really haven’t changed, have you?”

The blonde lifted his head just enough to look up at him. The glare he gave was completely unintentional, but he didn’t stop himself in the slightest when he realized what he was doing. At first, he ignored the hand that was offered to help him up, looking back down at the floor.

“Please, Key,” Jinki pleaded, “I would really like to talk to you.”

“Why can’t you just say it here? No one’s around anyway.”

“This is a private matter. I would feel better if we could discuss this in the classroom.”

“What is it about, huh? How you haven’t even looked me in the eye once since you noticed I was in your class? About how you didn’t write a letter or anything to me after you came to uni, not telling me you changed your number? Or how about you haven’t said a thing to me all year besides when you talk to me about my grade? And, even then, you keep the discussions so short that it’s almost like they never even happen…”

Jinki narrowed his eyes, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose as a weak smile tugged at his lips. “You really haven’t changed at all, have you,” he questioned, his voice broken as he finally made eye contact with Key before directing his attention down to the empty hallway.

One of the fluorescent lights above their heads flickered a few times, catching both of their attention for a moment. Jinki was still staring at it when Key stood up, wiping his eyes quickly and slinging his bag over his shoulders. His hyung seemed to be fighting with himself about something, but, by this point, Key was fed up – more angry than sad. He turned to walk away, but five words stopped him in his tracks.

“Kim Kibum, I love you.”

Key’s slender fingers gripped the strap of his bag tightly and he could feel himself about ready to cry again, “Don’t just say stuff so carelessly. Think about how it affects me before you blurt out something like that…”

Another soft, broken chuckle, “You wrote a few letters to me…when I first left for uni. I tried to write you back, but… but just like now, I had a feeling you wouldn’t accept how I feel about you.”

Key turned slowly, keeping his head down though as the other continued to speak.

“You told me you loved me in those letters. A lot actually… But I wasn’t sure how I should feel about it. I felt something different about you by the time I was reading them. I wanted to be with you in any and every way possible… More than my brother and my closest friend. I still want you all to myself. You don’t know how much self-control it’s taken me to make it through this school year without blurting everything out to you during a lecture or when you asked me to help you with understanding an assignment.”

Feline eyes looked up at him, slender fingers keeping their death grip on the strap across his chest, “Jinki-hyung, I’ve always loved you; as more than my over protective brother, the best friend I’ve always had to protect, and definitely as more than my teacher.”

Jinki smiled a little, frowning a heartbeat later, “As long as you’re a student though, and I’m a teacher, we can’t be anything more than that.”

Key took his hand, intertwining their fingers and holding it tightly, “I can wait a little longer. Just… Just promise me…promise me that you won’t run away from me again…”

His hyung held his other hand, fingers locking as well as he pulled him closer. Key laid his head on his chest before feeling a gentle touch tilt his head up by the chin.

“I couldn’t even if I tried; No matter where I go, I’ll always end up right where I belong.”

The light flickered in the hallway again, going out just long enough for them to share their first kiss of the happy ending one of them knew they’d meet.