A/N: Oookay, so I do realise that I haven't really uploaded anything new for what is it...? Two weeks? But the deal is I had some personal problems to take care of first which meant my productivity-level wasn't the highest, sorry. 

Anyway, here is chapter 7. I don't think there are many chapters left actually. This became waaaay longer than I thought. So, enoy! :D

“I want to go shopping.” Kibum drawled from where he was laying on the sofa.

By some kind of miracle everyone was back in the dorm, gathered in the living room. Minho and Taemin were playing videogames, sitting on the floor while Jinki and Kibum watched from the sofa. Jonghyun was sitting with his laptop in his lap also on the floor leaning on Jinki’s legs and was apparently looking at something funny because he chuckled every now and then.

“I want to go shopping.” He tried again when no one answered him.

Taemin and Minho continued to ignore him. Jinki grunted something and Jonghyun glance up at him.

“Okay?” he said in an asking tone.

“That means one of you has to come with me since I don’t have anyone else at the moment.” Kibum explained irritated.

Jonghyun rolled his eyes and looked back at his laptop. That was another miracle, Kibum thought. He and Jonghyun had not been avoiding each other for over a week now. Before it sometimes passed a few days and then they would act normal again for two or three days and then go back to avoiding. It was all some kind of push and pull and it had started to tire pout the other three members because they never knew when it would be okay to mention Jonghyun in front of Kibum or not.

“I thought Jinwoon was free?” Jinki said absentmindedly. “Aren’t you bundies?”

Kibum grimaced and made an unintelligible sound. They were and he actually was free but Kibum didn’t really want to be with him at the moment. He had also started to suspect Kibum's feelings for Jonghyun. Kibum was beginning to question how transparent he was and if the fans would also notice sooner or later, since everyone seemed to have the ability to read him like an open book as of lately. Well, everyone except Jonghyun who had to be blind or otherwise subconsciously denying that his best friend had heart-shaped eyes every time they looked at each other.

Jonghyun’s head suddenly snapped up again to look at Kibum.

“Actually, I need to go buy something too.” He said thoughtfully while studying Kibum's face.

He straightened up at once and shot a smile at Jonghyun.

“Good, then you can be my bag carrier.” He stood up. “Let’s go!”

Jonghyun blinked at him. “Wait. What? Now?”

It was Kibum's time to roll his eyes. “When did you think?”

Jonghyun sighed giving up. “Okay, I’ll go change.”

He closed his laptop, stood up and shuffled over to his room to get ready.

Jinki looked up at Kibum when Jonghyun had left the room and he raised his eyebrows in return, daring him to ask something unnecessary. He searched his face for a while but shrugged and went back to watch the game, clearly deciding that Kibum could take care of himself. Minho and Taemin were too absorbed to notice anything else going on around them.

It’s like we’re back to normal, Kibum thought incredulously as they got into their shared car.

And it was. Kibum was laughing carelessly again by Jonghyun’s side every time he said or did something stupid and he would tease Jonghyun like he used to. It all felt so familiar yet so foreign.

They spent the entire day walking around and shopping, having fun seemingly without a care in the world at the moment. Kibum thought that this was the pure feeling of bliss if anything. Spending the day with someone you loved, having fun like any other normal young adult. The only things missing from Kibum’s perspective was linking their fingers together and perhaps steal a kiss, but he was content with what he had at the moment.

And once again it crashed and burned as they sat down at a restaurant to eat. Normally they would have gone to a one where they could eat in a private room but this time Kibum wanted to eat in a fast-food restaurant for some godforsaken reason and that was just what they did.

Kibum realised that it was a bad decision when Jonghyun excused himself to go to the toilet, not because of the few extra glances they got even while wearing disguises or a few cameras taking photos of or filming them secretly. No.  It was because Sekyung found him sitting alone at the table, which certainly wouldn’t have happened if they had eaten in a private room.

She recognised him as fast as he recognised her and she changed her course immediately to the entrance of the restaurant he was sitting in. Of course she didn’t know Jonghyun was there yet but it was only a matter of time.

Kibum plastered a smile on his face as she approached the table and sat down in front of him with only a ‘Hi’ so as to not reveal who he was. He nodded at her while not trying to think that she was sitting in Jonghyun’s vacated chair.

“Are you alone?” She asked and glanced around. Of course she would ask that.

Kibum bit his lip contemplating on whether or not to tell her that Jonghyun was there too. She gave him a small smile while waiting for his answer and he reluctantly shook his head.

“No. Uh... The muppet is in the bathroom.” Kibum said. Calling Jonghyun ‘Dino’ would have been too obvious if fans were listening in on their conversation since it was because of them he had gotten that name.

Sekyung let out a short giggle but nodded showing that she understood who it was. Kibum smiled again, but naturally this time. No matter how much he wanted Jonghyun to break up with her at times, he couldn’t help but like her. That and he wanted Jonghyun to be happy so he made an effort.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Oh, I was just... buying something.”

Kibum noted the pause but didn’t question her. He had a strong feeling that what Sekyung had bought was for Jonghyun and what Jonghyun had supposedly needed to buy was for Sekyung after seeing her hesitation. He did however wonder why she was hesitating while saying it to him. He decided to just ask her if it was for Jonghyun and get it over with when she opened .

“Look, K-” she cut off, realising that she was about to say his name. “I have a feeling that sometimes you don’t really want me to be around.”

Kibum blinked and forced out a chuckle. However much he didn’t want to admit his shameful feelings in that matter he had to mentally congratulate Sekyung since she was spot on. The problem was why she was spot on.

“What are you talking about?” he almost mumbled. “I don’t dislike you.”

Sekyung tilted her head and scrutinized him with narrowed eyes. She didn’t look the least bit hostile, just pondering. Then she closed her eyes and sighed.

“I know you don’t dislike me and I know about your feelings.” She murmured almost like it was to herself.

Kibum flinched and nearly shot out of his chair, tears springing to his eyes from shock and fright.

“What?” he said breathlessly.

“Or actually I just overheard you and tall guy a few days back.” She put her elbows on the table, head in her hands and looked at Kibum expectantly waiting for him to catch on.

Kibum stared at her, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest. He knew tall guy was a reference to Minho but his mind was reeling to find a day when she could have overheard them. It couldn’t have been one of the times she had come over to their dorm to eat dinner because Kibum took every precaution he could then. And it couldn’t have been one of the times she had visited their dressing room when they were in the same building to record because he had taken every measure possible not to let what had happened when he found them on the sofa the first time reoccur.

Kibum froze.

It was that time. It was the first time he saw them kissing and he had stormed out. It had to be it. That had been the only time he had totally lost it when she was around. What he couldn’t figure out, though, was how she had overheard them in the first place. He thought she had been in the dressing room the whole time.

“I just want you to know,” Sekyung interrupted his thoughts and made him flinch again, “that I don’t hate you for it.”

Kibum swallowed and his heart was beating so loudly that he found it a wonder that half of South Korea hadn’t heard it yet. He had actually expected her to start yelling at him, telling him how disgusting he was and that he wasn’t even good enough to breathe the same air as Jonghyun. But instead she leaned forward and took his hands in hers, looking him straight in the eyes.

“You are a really valuable friend,” she said in a soft voice, “and you mean so much to him. Please don’t do this push and pull game you have done ever since I came into the picture.”

Kibum could only stare back at her, every intelligible response stuck in his throat and his head spinning with the speed everything was going at. She had noticed that too?

“Please?” she pleaded. “I know you’re more than a best friend to him, even more than a brother.”

There it was again. Kibum wanted to scream at those words. He knew perfectly well what they meant. More than a brother but still not enough.

“I... don’t... we...” Kibum couldn’t even form a sensible word with the mess that went on inside his head.

“I won’t tell him.” Sekyung promised.

Kibum continued to stare at her finding it somewhat hard to breathe with his heart in his throat. He needed to leave, he decided. He needed fresh air.  Unfortunately for him Jonghyun came back from the toilet just as he was about to stand up.

“Seriously, the line to the toilet is unreasonably long. It’s not like we’re women-” Jonghyun said and cut off when he saw Sekyung, getting that love-struck-cross-eyed-muppet expression on his face.

“Hi there.” Sekyung said happily and smiled brighter than the sun.

Jonghyun's smile broadened. “Hi, yourself.”

Kibum wanted to rip his heart out and put it in a chest, much like Davy Jones, because it would hurt a whole lot less if he did. But instead he did the only thing he could do. He stood up to leave.

“Taemin needs my help with homework.” Kibum managed to get out and didn’t care that he had let a name slip probably revealing who they were.

Jonghyun looked at him as if he had forgotten he was there and frowned. “But Taemin did all his homework yesterday.”

Kibum groaned mentally. Why did he have to remember that right at the moment?

“I-I meant… Jinki.” Kibum said hastily and his heel before Jonghyun could say anything else and bolted out of the restaurant.

He pulled out his phone when he had walked two blocks and called Minho, praying to every god he knew that he hadn’t left his phone in the bedroom while playing. He was not going walk home.

Luck was on his side this time and Miho came and picked him up without a word. He had probably already gotten the gist of what had happened from what Kibum had said and the car-ride back home was quiet except for the radio.

It was definitely not quiet inside Kibum's head though. He was terrified of what would happen now that Sekyung knew. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her but he was afraid she would let something slip and then everything would go even more downhill than it already had. Kibum found himself once again in hatred towards his feelings and the problems they caused not only him but all the band members. It made his life so much more complicated than it already was, and he had a pretty complicated life without an identity crisis.

To Kibum's surprise Jonghyun was just ten minutes behind them and stormed into the apartment just as Kibum closed the bedroom door behind him. He started and gave a little yelp when he heard the front door slam into the wall in the hall and had almost made it to his bed when Jonghyun burst into the room, looking at Kibum with wild eyes.

He jumped and turned to stare at him, slightly frightened.

“What-”

“Here’s how it is, Key.” He said while he strode over to him and grabbed his arm forcefully. “I know that you know that I know that you’re hiding something.”

Kibum stared at him incredulously. His mind was too jumbled to process the mess of words Jonghyun threw at him.

“What the hell have you been smoking?” he asked and tried to free his arm. “You’re not making any sense!”

Jonghyun wasn’t letting him get away, his grip tightened and he drew a little closer.

“Okay, that might have sounded better in my head, but still... I know you're hiding something so will you just please spit it out before I force you to?” he practically begged and the wild eyes turned into those of a puppy. “Neither of us wants this to continue.”

Kibum stared at him. “I... w-we... you...”

Great, he thought, I’m back to nonsensical answers.

Jonghyun sighed and let his arm go to pinch the bridge of his nose and close eyes.

“What’s the deal, Kibum?” he said in a voice that sounded exhausted. “I thought that we were finally back to normal, even though I don’t even know what caused this mess to begin with, and then you just bolt out on me with some lame excuse?”

Kibum swallowed and couldn’t find a single sentence in his head that made sense. Meanwhile Jonghyun had gone from pinching the bridge of his nose to crossing his arms and trying to look firm while staring Kibum down.

“Kibum, I’m still waiting for an explanation.” He said. “I’ve been waiting for an explanation ever since... I don’t know, since you started acting strange?”

Kibum bit his lip and sunk down on his bed, staring out into empty space. He didn’t find anything to say and he didn’t care anymore he realised. Since everyone already seemed to know it didn’t matter.

“I... love you.” He said in a monotone whisper.

Even though he knew he was going to say those words his heart and stomach still jolted with surprise and nervousness. At the same time it felt like something that held him tethered to the earth took flight from his chest and he was left in freefall down into an abyss that could lead to anything at the moment.

He sensed how Jonghyun stilled after he had uttered those three little words that could cause so much commotion.

“Well, I...” there was a crack in his voice and he cleared his throat. “I love you too, Kibum.”

Kibum knew Jonghyun was aware of the actual meaning of his words but chose to pass it off as one of their usual ‘I love you’s they had said to each other before the whole Sekyung thing, which didn’t have any deeper meaning. Therefore he looked Jonghyun straight in the eyes this time to get his message across.

“I. Love. You.”

And this time Jonghyun couldn’t turn it into something else because Kibum was pretty sure that it was written in his eyes, shown in his face and heard in his voice that he actually did love Jonghyun so much more than either of them had imagined.