“Liars!” he hissed, with tears in his eyes. “All of you are such liars.” The rest of SHINee looked at Key with guilty, agonized expressions. But he didn’t care.

    “Key --,” Taemin tried but Key whirled and punched him in the face. Taemin didn’t try to speak after that.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t know,” Jonghyun’s voice was harsh and cold. “You knew, Kibum. We all knew. You’re just not as talented as the rest of us.  It was bound to happen any day now.” The seemingly caring, loyal Jonghyun was gone. In his place was a vain, selfish man Key didn’t know. “Your contract with SM has ended. It’s time to move the out.”

Key’s tears made everybody but Jonghyun visibly uncomfortable.

    “You were supposed to be my best friend Jonghyun,” he took a shuddering breath. “What happened?” Jonghyun shrugged. And Key, trying to pretend he didn’t care anymore, walked out the door with his bags and didn’t look back.

~~ (5 years later)

Key was known by his proper name, Kim Kibum, now. He’d headed straight from SHINee’s dorm and to the airport. He bought the first flight to Tokyo and as soon as he stepped off the plane, he no longer thought of himself as an idol. He was just plain ol’ Kim Kibum, there in Japan as a voracious student who could more than afford to go to school.

He enrolled himself in the University of Tokyo for photography. He passed with flying colors and started his life as an ambitious young artist.

Within those first couple of years, he got famous. Sure, there were some people who only supported him because he used to be a famous idol. But the simple fact of the matter was.. Kibum was just that good at photography. He could take photographs that actually captured the essence of reality. At least, that’s what the reviews said.

His life was going very, very well all things considered. So the last thing Kibum ever expected was for one of his old bandmates to show up at his front door. He opened the door and frowned when he saw Taemin there, looking almost sick with nervousness.

    “K-key-hyung.. I see you’ve been doing well for yourself--,” Kibum shifted his weight, and gave Taemin an unimpressed glare. Even though he hadn’t said a word, his silence gave Taemin a definite sense of fury. “May I come in?” by this point, Taemin’s voice sounded pathetically defeated. It tugged on Kibum’s heartstrings, so he gestured inside.

    “I go by Kibum now, Taemin, because I prefer to forget my past. So.. What brings the mighty dancing machine of SHINee to my doorstep?” Taemin flinched at Kibum’s mocking, bitter tone. He took a deep, shuddering breath, deciding that it was no use to beat around the bush.

    “Minho’s dead,” Kibum choked on his coffee. He teared up because.. well. Minho had been his favorite member of SHINee. Everyone knew it. They’d had a rough start to their friendship, and things had been extremely awkward and forced. But it was so worth it in the end. Minho had eventually taken Jonghyun’s spot in Kibum’s heart. To some degree, Kibum thought that that had directly influenced his dismissal from SM. Jonghyun had been deeply jealous of Minho, and he decided to get even by demanding that Kibum be fired, or he would quit. Because he knew that it would hurt Minho more than anything else he could’ve done.

    “How?” he managed and Taemin shook his head.

    “He just.. went missing one day. It’s been almost 3 years since he disappeared. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier…,” he trailed off when he saw Kibum’s teary glare in his direction.

    “I can see that coming here was a mistake,” Taemin started towards the door, ignoring the ‘damn right’ he heard Kibum mutter. “I apologize for dropping this on you so suddenly. I’ll give you time to grieve.” He walked quickly to the door and let himself out.

All of a sudden, Kibum felt restless, like things hadn’t gone the way he wanted them to. It was frustrating, and even though he had a photo shoot scheduled later that day, he took off to his favorite place in all of Tokyo: Shibuya.

Not only because there were quite a few of his favorite clothing stores there, but also because of the people he saw. All kinds of people. It soothed him to feel like he was just another guy in the crowd, and Shibuya gave him that feeling in abundance.

But he couldn’t get his mind off of what Taemin had come to tell him. He was angry that Taemin hadn’t come before. Hadn’t let him know as soon as they gave up searching. Minho was the one person in SHINee that had actually meant something to him. Who actually, (once the cameras weren’t rolling) genuinely gave a damn about him.

He walked around, took a few half-hearted photographs before deciding that he was taking the day off. He called and cancelled his photo shoot, to the horror of his agent. His agent insisted that Kibum couldn’t really afford to cancel. But Kibum didn’t really care all that much.

It felt like a lifetime ago that Kim Kibum had once been Key of SHINee, one of the most popular idol groups in South Korea. Likewise, it felt that long since he’d actually seen Minho. Kibum thought about how much Minho had probably changed. He had tried to contact Minho those first couple of weeks, just because. But it didn’t take him long to figure out that Minho wasn’t answering his calls or texts not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t want to.

He left Shibuya a few hours later, feeling disheartened and listless. He knew he had something back at his flat that would take care of it, though, and that made things seem just a little brighter.

A half hour later found him sitting on his couch, stoned out of his mind. He took another puff of his joint and exhaled slowly. He felt much calmer now. He looked up at his ceiling for almost an hour, looking at the photographs there. They were his personal favorites. The ones he’d taken and felt the most pride in.

After another hour, he got up and made himself some ramen. Sitting at his kitchen table, eating alone in dead silence, Kibum realized just how lonely his life was. There were no children, though he loved them with all his heart. There was no significant other.

    “It’s lonely at the top,” Kibum whispered, and felt a lump in his throat when there was no reply.

That night, just before he drifted off to sleep, Kibum heard a tapping on his balcony door. Thinking he’d misheard, he settled down. A few seconds later, he heard the noise again. He threw the covers off, and went to look outside.

When he opened both balcony doors, he gasped at the sight in front of him.

There, where Kibum could clearly see with his own eyes, stood Choi Minho. A little dirty and worse for wear, but it was definitely that tall alien-looking bastard he’d known from SHINee. After having all his feelings stirred up earlier, seeing Minho on his balcony made him angrier than he expected.

    “Stay out of my life,” Kibum hissed through gritted teeth. “I don’t need you anymore.” Minho was different (not that it wasn’t expected), Kibum noted when he hadn’t said anything in reply. His face was.. harder. More haunted looking. And there was something else, something he couldn’t quite place.

    “I need your help, Kibum,” Minho sounded hoarse. “Will you help?” Kibum folded his arms across his chest and leveled an angry gaze at Minho.

    “Why should I help you? You abandoned me,” Kibum could feel the tears threatening to spill. “I hate you. I hate all of SHINee. I hate that Taemin came here earlier, acting as if he felt sorry about what he said. And I definitely hate that you appeared mysteriously on my balcony, a few hours after Taemin visited. So tell me. Who the do you think you are, asking for my help?” Kibum was seeing red.

It was difficult to guess which took up more of Minho’s face, sadness or guilt. He had a lost look in his eyes that Kibum immediately disliked, and made him want to punch Minho in the face.

    “I’m a coward, Kibum,” Minho breathed deeply. “A big, fat coward. Something happened to me, and I just can’t deal with it anymore. I need to escape this. Now,” he pleaded. “I’m not strong enough to do this myself, Kibum. Taemin told me you lived here. He’s the only other person who knows I’m alive. He told you I was dead because I asked him to,” Minho scoffed. “And because.. technically, I am.”

Kibum couldn’t make sense of what Minho was rambling about, but he stayed silent. He had a feeling that there was more to it.

    “So tell me what it is you want me to help you with,” Kibum sneered. “I want to get this over as fast as possible, because I want you out of my life.” Minho nodded and sighed.

    “I want to die, Kibum,” his voice was soft, full of yearning. “For real this time.”

    “I’m sorry,” Kibum blinked. “What was that again? I thought you just asked me to commit murder.” Minho nodded sharply. “And… just how do you want to go?” Minho shrugged.

    “Well.. here’s the thing. Regular methods won’t work on me,” there was a long pause while Kibum sensed that Minho was trying to decide what to say. “I honestly wouldn’t care. A wooden stake through the heart should be the most effective way. But having garlic shoved down my throat would probably be interesting.” Kibum couldn’t help laughing.

    “Oh wow, Minho. That almost sounds like you’re…,” Kibum trailed off in uncertainty when he noticed Minho was dead serious. “N-no. It’s not possible. Vampires only exist in stories,” he tried, and failed to hide his nervousness.

He now realized what it was about Minho that looked different. His skin was an unhealthy blue-tinted grey. As if he were a corpse. He hadn’t noticed it right away because of all the grime covering Minho’s skin.

    “That’s right, Kibum,” Minho stepped right up to the doors, just shy of stepping inside. “I’m not human anymore.” Kibum looked into Minho’s extremely vibrant brown eyes, feeling drawn toward Minho. He felt Minho’s arms grab his hip and neck.

    “Do you believe me now, Kibum?” he whispered against Kibum’s neck, and with extreme effort on Kibum’s part, he shoved Minho away from him.

    “Yeah,” he voiced shakily. “Just.. don’t do that again.”

Once again, silence descended over Kibum’s flat. He watched Minho for what seemed like hours, studying his face. It was clear that life had not been very kind to Minho at all. And while he’d gone through his own agony, Kibum found that he had no sympathy for Minho’s suffering.

    “You know what? I think.. no. I’m not going to help you, Minho,” Kibum started to walk away from his balcony doors. “Let yourself out. I’m going to bed.” He ignored the loud, shrieking pleas coming from Minho, and walked back towards his living room. Since he obviously wasn’t going to be able to sleep in his own bedroom, he was thankful that he had a comfortable couch.

The next morning, after Kibum woke up and had breakfast, he decided to have another personal day despite his agent’s pleas. He swept, mopped, and straightened things up. Housekeeping always had been a good stress-reliever for him. That day was no different.

Just as he finished cleaning his bathroom, he heard a knock on his front door. He went to open it, thinking it was his manager. What greeted him instead was a fist to the face. His head snapped to the side, and he immediately spit out a mouthful of blood in Taemin’s face.

    “You’re nothing like the Kibum I used to know,” Taemin’s voice was full of anger. “The Kibum I knew would’ve given someone the shirt off his back if he knew they needed it.” Kibum returned Taemin’s punch to the face with equal force.

    “Likewise,” his voice was full of venom. “The Taemin I knew had a good head on his shoulders, and didn’t stab his friends in the back.” The barb hit home, and Taemin recoiled at the implication. “I loved my life as an idol, Taemin. I enjoyed my job. And you didn’t say a damn thing in my defense when I got kicked out of SM Entertainment, even though I didn’t deserve it. So don’t you DARE lecture me about helping someone out.” Kibum shut the door in Taemin’s guilty face, and made a call to building security, letting them know that Lee Taemin was no longer a welcome guest.

That night, Kibum went to his favorite night club. At the very least, he wanted a quick hookup. If nothing else, he needed to satisfy his base urges and usually.. He had no problem finding someone who wanted to sleep with him.

But that night.. It was different. It was like he was invisible. He’d be chatting someone up, and they’d leave to go to the bathroom, or to get a drink. They never came back, and it intensified the feeling of worthlessness Kibum felt that night.

He didn’t even understand why he’d come to the club in the first place. He was feeling so low in the first place, after the confrontation with Taemin… It hadn’t been a good night.

He was on his way back to his apartment with a case of soju when a hand reached out and grabbed him, bringing him into a small dark alley. It was just his luck. He was about to get mugged. He sighed and held his wallet out to his assailant.

    “Here, there isn’t much in there,” he sounded so tired and defeated in his own ears. He didn’t like it at all. Maybe he’d just skip the soju when he got home, and down a cup of Ny-Quil. When he realized just how awful of a mood he was in, he fought the tears that sprung to his eyes.

    “I don’t want your money, Kibum,” his heart started racing when he realized it was Minho who’d snatched him. “I just want your help.” He struggled to get out of Minho’s grip, but it was no use.

    “I told you already,” Kibum sank to his knees, mindless of Minho’s tight grip on his arm. “I’m not going to help you, Minho. I hate your guts, and I would appreciate if you left me the alone. But you just can’t do that, can you? You heartless bastard.” Kibum was crying, and he couldn’t stop. He had never felt this low. He didn’t like it, and Minho was not helping the situation at all. He felt the control he had over his emotions slipping badly.

    “I guess not, Kibum,” Minho crouched down and wiped the tears away, only for Kibum to turn his head stubbornly. His eyes were shut tight. “Would you like for me to tell you a secret? I’m the reason people stayed away from you tonight,” Kibum’s head whipped around at that, and he glared at Minho. “Every time they left you, I gave them the telepathic suggestion that they would stay away from you for the rest of the night. Now.. You can help me, Kibum.. Or I can continue to make your life a living hell,” Kibum’s glare softened into tears again.

    “ you, Minho,” he whispered. “I’ll never help you kill yourself because that would be too easy. No, you’re going to suffer,” Kibum chuckled without any humor. “So do it. I know you’re ready to kill me. Do it, Minho. Do it.” Minho bent forward, and his smile chilled Kibum to the bone.

    “No, Kibum. Because that would be too easy,” he mocked. “You’re at my mercy, and I’m condemning you to a fate worse than death. Especially for someone so famous as you.” He bent forward even further, and sank his teeth into Kibum’s neck.

The pain was immense, but all Kibum managed was a weak gasp of air. He could feel the life draining from his body, and when Minho pushed his wrist close to Kibum’s mouth, he tried to turn his head. But Minho was having none of that. He forced Kibum to drink, and then.. everything went blank.

Kibum woke up a couple of hours later, feeling inhumanly hollow. Minho was nowhere to be seen, but his wallet was in his pocket. A quick check confirmed that he still had all of his credit cards and cash. He lifted his hands, checking them over with the light from his phone. His skin was chalk white, and despite feeling the distress, he found he couldn’t cry.

He stood up and started walking back to his apartment. When he got there, he found everything in pristine condition. There was a letter on his kitchen table addressed to him, and when he read it, he felt his hatred for Minho grow.

‘So be it, Kibum. You made your choice, and I’m sorry it had to come to this. I really am.
Forgive me,
Minho’

    “Minho, you son of a ,” Kibum crumpled the note in his hand. “You will never get my help. Never.”

A plan for revenge had already formed itself inside Kibum’s brain, but he wasn’t sure how well it would work. He called Taemin, not caring that Taemin would be asleep.

    “Taemin,” his voice was thick with fake tears. “I did it. I helped Minho, and I just… I need someone right now.” He heard the sound of Taemin rushing to get dressed.

    “I’m so glad, hyung,” he sounded relieved. “I’ll be right over.” Kibum made the quick call to building security that Taemin should be allowed up when he comes. He waited, and it wasn’t long before Taemin was knocking on his door.

He let him in, fake tears still rolling.

    “He’s in the bedroom,” he choked out. “But.. just.. hold me, Taemin. Hold me.” Carefully, Kibum folded his arms around Taemin, and he sniffled, getting close to Taemin’s neck.

    “Hyung…? You’re really cold,” Taemin started struggling wildly. “You’re so pale…” Kibum smiled against Taemin’s neck.

    “That’s right, Taemin-ah,” he bit down and took a deep drought. “I lied.” The thought rang clearly in Taemin’s mind. But all he did was laugh weakly.

    “You’re.. just like Jonghyun-hyung,” Taemin gasped out. “He’s.. turned you bitter. You’re.. hurting someone close to.. the person you really.. want to hurt.” Taemin’s laughing turned into coughs. Kibum tried to deny that it was the truth, but he couldn’t. And it made him feel even worse. But he continued to drink. He drained Taemin to the point of death and bit his wrist, just as Minho had done.

He watched Taemin’s body die before walking out of his apartment. He took nothing with him except his wallet and a jacket he wasn’t sure he’d really need. Once outside, he looked up at the surrounding skyscrapers of Tokyo and chuckled.

    “Now, Minho.. We are even,” and with that, he disappeared into the crowd. Kim Kibum was no longer alive. Tomorrow, he would wake up as a completely new man. And that was fine by him.
 

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I didn't even realize until I was finished just how personal this really is. Jfc.
Minho and Key are so antagonistic to each other in this. Idk, I kinda like it. I feel like it's kind of realistic. So I'm actually kinda happy with this.

Hope you enjoyed reading it. c:

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Til next time, loves. ^o~