Jonghyun and Kibum stared at each other for a long time, so long that centuries could have passed, before Jonghyun opened his mouth.

“Kibum, I-” his voice broke and he cleared his throat. “I don’t know what to say.”

Kibum bit his lip briefly and felt a tear fall down his cheek.

“You don’t have to say anything.” He murmured while willing himself not to let any more tears fall. It was like his waterworks were broken. He had cried so much more these past few weeks than he had throughout all his life.

Jonghyun blinked slowly a few times, his mouth slightly open, as if his brain was an old computer trying to process information.

“I... Sekyung...”

Kibum dragged the backside of his hand across his cheek. “I know you love each other and I’m not trying to break you apart.”

Jonghyun stared at him as if he was seeing him for the first time.

“I just...” Kibum sighed. “I just need time.”

It looked like a light inside Jonghyun’s head.

“So that’s what you’ve been doing.” He said more to himself. “You’ve been trying to get over me.”

Kibum nodded and pulled his legs up to his chest, hugging them tight.

“And the others... they know?”

He nodded again. “They figured it out along the way.”

Jonghyun’s face went blank as he finally understood the actions of the other members and Kibum.

Just then (to Kibum's great relief and later misfortune) the door opened and Taemin walked in. He stopped abruptly at the sight of them and looked back and forth between Kibum and Jonghyun with narrowed eyes, seemingly trying to figure out what was happening. He caught Kibum's eye and smirked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, if you’re planning to jump him now, Key-Hyung, I won’t be in the way. I just need my phone.” He said cheerily.

Both Kibum and Jonghyun flinched.

“Taemin!” Kibum hissed and glared at Taemin. Jonghyun took a small step backwards looking perfectly frightened.

Taemin’s eyes widened in surprise at their reaction but then he got a mischievous glint to his eyes that Kibum wasn’t entirely sure he liked. He was certain that the boy had something planned.

“Relax I was just kidding.” He said and rolled his eyes while he strode over to his bed. “Jeez, it’s like I just announced I had a bomb on me. The atmosphere in here, really.”

Kibum put his hand over his eyes and took a deep breath. “Taemin, will you please refrain from saying such idiotic things? Just who taught you all that?”

Taemin let out a small laugh and grabbed his phone, shrugging. Jonghyun still looked too scared to move and was staring at Taemin as if he had suddenly sprouted antennas out of his head. Taemin checked his phone for messages, unaffected by the tense atmosphere, and upon finding he didn’t have any new ones, put it in his pocket while turning to Jonghyun and tilting his head putting on a pondering face. Kibum had a feeling that Taemin was going to say something extremely unnecessary and was proven right the moment he opened his mouth.

“Tell me, Hyung, how would you feel about Key-Hyung jumping you? You think he’s y, right?” he asked and Kibum felt his heart drop right through all the floors of the building. He could practically hear the mischievous smile in his voice. This was not good.

Jonghyun’s mouth fell open and he gaped at Taemin for a few seconds before collecting himself enough to try to form an answer. “Uh... I... I don’t...”

He looked at Kibum for support but he couldn’t meet Jonghyun’s eyes. It wasn’t like Kibum hadn’t thought about jumping him or having Jonghyun touch him in ways that would make his head spin. He had woken up from dreams with a hard-on more often than not because scenes that were absolutely not for children had been playing through his mind. But there was no way he was going to reveal such a thing by making eye contact with Jonghyun since he was sure it would show. Also, he was too ashamed to.

Taemin shrugged and left the room without waiting for an answer, leaving Jonghyun to stare at Kibum incredulously while he concentrated on the lines in the floor.

“I-I think I’ll just...” Jonghyun stammered and made his way to the door when Kibum didn’t give any signs to start a conversation again. “Yeah.”

Kibum smiled a small, sad smile at the floor and nodded slightly. He knew Jonghyun’s head was spinning right now with all the new information and realisations.

“I know.” He said and his voice sounded so small and fragile that he wanted to kick himself for not being at least a little bit more sure of himself in this situation. But really, it was an accomplishment just to keep his wits about him and manage to speak when he had just confessed to his best friend.

“I’m sorry.” Jonghyun whispered before he left and closed the door softly behind him.

As soon as the door had closed Kibum let out a small groan and flopped down on his bed, face first onto his pillow. This was not how he had imagined he would tell Jonghyun. He had fantasised about how he would grab Jonghyun’s face and kiss the living daylights out of him and then softly whisper those three little words in his ears. Then Jonghyun would admit he was feeling the same way and they would kiss again, laugh happily and run into the sunset, hand in hand, with pink flower-petals flying around them and everything would be perfect and harmonious. Instead he wound up telling Jonghyun not only his feelings but also that he would get over him (which he didn’t know if he actually could) and making Jonghyun fear for being jumped by him (which he blamed fully on Taemin).

“Life isn’t fair.” Kibum muttered and buried his face deeper into the pillow. He didn’t even want to think about the consequences their conversation would have over the following days.

But somehow Jonghyun seemed unaffected by Kibum's confession the next morning, leaving Kibum to feel utterly confused. He thought Jonghyun would distance himself and not even look at him, but as soon as Kibum entered the kitchen he was greeted by a smile from both Jonghyun and Jinki who were sitting at the table. He didn’t have time to ask him about it though, because Jonghyun and Minho had to hurry off to some recording and the other three were scheduled to dance-practice and song rehearsals for the day. It left Kibum worrying throughout the day over Jonghyun’s reaction and what they would say to each other when they had the chance to talk, imagining all different kinds of scenarios that didn’t end well. He finally decided (when he had forgotten his lyrics one too many times) that Jonghyun had either gone completely insane or that he had somehow forgotten about their conversation during the night. There was no other rational explanation for his behaviour that morning because Kibum himself had hated his feelings, and still did to some degree, when he realised what they meant and what damage they could do.

“Hyung!”

His thoughts were interrupted by Taemin shouting in his ear. He winced and glared at the maknae who gave him a big, toothy smile with a mouth full of ice-cream. They had bought it on the way home because both the leader and maknae had whined about how long it had been since they had eaten ice-cream and now they were sitting and shovelling it down like there was no tomorrow in the kitchen.

“What is it, Taemin?” Kibum growled and rubbed his ear. Jinki helped himself to some more and dropped half of the cream on the table.

“We were talking and you were spacing out.” Taemin explained and put another spoon-full of ice-cream in his mouth.

“Oh, I didn’t know it gave you license to give people tinnitus for free.” Kibum said sarcastically.

Taemin smiled at him again but with a closed mouth this time, thankfully.

“I have a license for everything, Hyung.”

Kibum rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

Jinki raised his eyebrows at them and got up to get something to wipe the mess off of the table.

“You guys, stop it. I was going to ask you Kibum,” he said and turned to the addressed with tissue in hand, “did you actually tell Jonghyun yesterday?”

Kibum blinked at him as he started wiping the table. “Yes. Why?”

Jinki shrugged, tossing the paper into the bin. “Well, he hasn’t shown much of a reaction. Not that I expected him to start running about screaming his head off, but he’s acting too normal.”

Kibum frowned and bit his lip as Jinki sat down again. A silence settled over them for a few moments, the only sound was the scraping of spoon to bowl as they ate their ice-cream, each thinking about their own problems.

He was right; Jonghyun had been acting too normal. But Kibum had twisted and turned the possibilities of that reaction during the whole day and it hadn’t moved him a single nanometre from square one and closer to the answer.

“It’s like that story, what’s it called...” Taemin suddenly said with a mouth full of ice-cream and eyes looking down into his bowl thoughtfully.

Kibum raised his eyebrows at Jinki who shrugged again, looking as puzzled as he felt at the sudden reference.

“Oh, right!” Taemin’s face lit up as he remembered. “The ugly duckling!”

Kibum tilted his head looking incredulously at him and Jinki tried to hold back a laugh by putting another spoonful of ice-cream in his mouth, almost choking on it.

 “What in the world are you going on about?” he asked.

Taemin scooped up some more ice-cream while turning his attention to Kibum.

“You and Jonghyun-Hyung.”

A snort came from Jinki’s direction but Kibum kept his eyes trained on Taemin who seemed oblivious to their confusion, going back to his ice-cream with full concentration.

“There is nothing similar at all.” Kibum kindly pointed out to Taemin when he didn’t elaborate his theory.

He shrugged and waved his spoon in the air, threatening to splatter ice-cream all over the kitchen.

“Whatever, Hyung.” He said and rolled his eyes. “What I mean is: people change.”

Kibum furrowed his brow and glanced at Jinki who was red-faced and biting his lip in an attempt not to burst out laughing.

“So, what you mean to say is...” Kibum spoke slowly trying to comprehend the way Taemin was thinking. “Is that... becoming gay is like... becoming a swan?”

Taemin nodded and put the spoon in his mouth.

“Whatever floats your boat, Hyung.” He said around it.

Jinki couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out in a fit of giggles until it sounded like he wouldn’t be able to breathe. This certainly was the strangest conversation Kibum could remember having and he left it at that. He would have to worry about whoever taught Taemin all those things after he had figured Jonghyun out.

A/N: Sooo, yeah chapter eight. hope you like it! ^_^ Comments are still welcome if you forgot xP It is nice to know if you like it or not but I guess i can't force you haha :D

Have a nice day or whatever time it is when you're reading this!<3