Jonghyun smiled as soon as the door opened and the smell of coffee filled his nostrils. It was one of those things that instantly made him happy because it meant he could now face the world in a less crappy disposition. Forgive him for having to artificially create his own cheeriness, but he suspected anyone who got up with an automatic smile. No one should ever be that happy as soon as their eyes opened.

He made his way to the usual counter, nodded to the cashier, then proceed down the line to retrieve his usual. It was always the same. Mostly because it was cheap and quick to make; none of the staff ever had to spend more than two minutes on his drink: iced coffee, plain and simple.

Taemin, his trusty barista handed him his cup with the usual sunshine smile. “Someday you’ll have to stand in line like the rest of the customers.” 

“Not today,” Jonghyun replied, slipping him the exact amount. “Thanks, really. I’m late.”

“For what?”

“My first day.”

Taemin made a disapproving clucking sound with a slight shake of the head, “Tsk. Kim Jonghyun.” The younger barista handed him another cup of iced coffee, while Jonghyun simply stared at him, he smiled again, “It’s for your boss. I need for you to get paid so you can come back.”


Thirty minutes. 

That was how late Jonghyun was. That was how long Kibum had been waiting. A full thirty minutes. No phone calls in advance, no courtesy email. Kibum stared longingly at his broken coffee maker, a sad mood descending upon him. He meant to replace it, but there was never any time. He could have his house staff replace it, but up until last week, he didn’t have one. Now that he had finally found one, the guy was thirty minutes late on his first day.

His front door opened with a flourish, complete with an out of breath Jonghyun, doubled over, hands holding two cups of what he hoped was the answer to his prayers. Jonghyun took a few deep breaths before he straightened up to give Kibum a lopsided smile. 

“Morning.”

“You’re late.” Kibum announced whilst walking into the living room, with Jonghyun trailing behind him. 

“Ever the charmer,” Jonghyun commented, “but you know what they say, better late than never.”

“My grandma will be here any minute so I do not have time to debate the validity of your statement, Mr. Kim,” Kibum eyed the cup anxiously, “For now, I hope the extra coffee is for me.”

“Or both for me.”

“That, too. But why would you get two cups of iced coffee?”

Jonghyun shrugged, “Maybe I am just an addict.”

“Well, how about you give me one of those coffees,” Kibum said, “and I’ll rethink that salary deduction for being late.”

“Good deal. But for the record, it really was for you.”

Kibum smiled, an answer at the readily on the tip of his tongue. But before he could reply, someone knocked on his door with a good deal of alacrity. That could only be one person. He knew better than to expect Jonghyun to open the door, especially when his employee was looking at him bemusedly. 

“Hi!” Hana greeted him with the usual hug. She was in mid-ramble about her day when her gaze fell on Jonghyun, still standing in the middle of his living room. Hana stopped talking; her long legs strode across the room. “Hello there. I’m Hana.”

“Kim Jonghyun.”

“Jonghyun,” she repeated his name simply for memory sake. Kibum knew she would forget a few days later regardless. “Nice to meet you. I’m Kibum-oppa’s cousin.”

“Ah, finally! Someone who knows how to be on a first name basis.”

“What?”

“Mr. Kim, that is your cousin, keeps insisting on calling me Mr. Kim, that’s me. Since we are both Mr. Kim’s, doesn’t that seem confusing?” Jonghyun asked in earnest, like Hana was the only one who’d understand his dilemma, “Don’t you think we should all go by our first names?”

Kibum rolled his eyes as his ten-years-old cousin pondered over the problem, nodding her head occasionally. Jonghyun sent him a wink coupled with one of those smiles and suddenly, the room became a bit too warm. Some things came easily for people, especially people like Jonghyun and Hana. Kibum envied them for their easy-going personalities. There were too many guards he had around himself, he knew, but it was better to be safe. Besides, hadn’t he learned his lessons about people with nice smiles? They were nothing but trouble.

“Oppa,” she turned to him, voice stern like all the ladies in his family, “I think it’s a good idea.”

“Two against one,” he held up his hands in surrender, “hardly seems fair.”

“Fairness is overrated,” Jonghyun stated with a laugh. 

“It seems you’re full of clichés this morning,” Kibum said dryly. “Now please, take these cups into the kitchen.”

“Your wish is my command.”

With a sigh, Kibum watched Jonghyun’s retreating back. It was going to be a long day after all.

“I like him.” Hana announced to no one in particular, “He’s funny.”

“The door is open,” someone’s voice fussed from the foyer, and Kibum ran a hand through his hair. He got up when she entered the room, moving much too swiftly to be anyone’s grandma. She greeted him with the usual peck, eyes scanned over his features. “You left the door open and you’re too thin. Careless and lack of personal care. Two points.”

“Halmeoni, you’re barely in the door.”

“Where is this butler you mentioned?” 

“In the kitchen.”

Satisfied for now, his grandma handed over her coat for him to hang up, her eyes continued to sweep over his living space. There was no judgment. His grandma never judged his tastes; she was only concerned with him. Kibum was grateful though he really didn’t need to be reminded to take care of himself. 

“I want to see him myself, and then we’ve got to go. We’re getting Hana fitted for a gown, for her birthday party. Of course you’ll be there.” The head of the Kim’s household declared, her expression stoic as if daring Kibum to disagree. She knew he hated public parties.

“Of course,” he simply replied. “I’m afraid the butler is busy at the moment. Perhaps next time?”

“Fine, fine. Come, Hana.” With those final words and some glares from his cousin, who simply did not appreciate being in dresses, Kibum had survived his first home inspection.

He could only let out a breath of relief. It wasn’t over. He still needed to prove that he could handle living on his own while taking care of the business that his dad left him. Kibum never thought he’d have to handle so much at such a young age. It was never supposed to be now.
They had plans, they talked it over. But his dad’s illness came unexpectedly, and they were all trying to ease the burden. There was little that Kibum could do for his dad medically, but business… business he could handle. He was good at investments, good at figures. He knew there were those at the company who doubted his young age, but he had been trained for the family’s business the first time his dad took him to one of the buildings they owned and told him the tenants were his responsibility. All of them: all 300 complexes and townhouses, all 176,658 tenants. That was not something Kibum took lightly.

“Is it safe?” Jonghyun asked, head poked out from behind the kitchen’s door.

Kibum snapped out of his thoughts with a slight shake of the head, “Oh. Yes. You may go home now.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s all I needed you for.”

“So I am not a butler so much as being paid to play one.”

It took a moment for Kibum to distinguish the difference, “Yes. As you can see, I am fine on my own.”

“Let me just get this straight,” Jonghyun said, “You just need me at the beginning of the week for a few hours? I can’t do that. I need one that pays more than just a few hours’ of work. I was under a different impression when I took this job.”

“Well then, you can rest assure that you were not under the wrong impression,” Kibum retorted. “This is a full paying job. You’ll report here every day at eight A.M. These inspections are spontaneous, so I do need you here, on time, every day.”

“Why are you doing all this?”

“I do not have to answer that.”

“Well of course not!” Jonghyun frowned. “I didn’t ask because you had to answer it.”

“While you are under my employment, things will be formal. Lines, boundaries; I need you to understand and not cross them.” Kibum delivered his lengthy speech, not believing his own words. 

There was something about the way Jonghyun regarded him, eyes that stared straight into his. It was scary because it made him feel defenseless. Finally, Jonghyun nodded. It was what Kibum wanted, but now that the lines were drawn, he wanted to erase them. The thought scared him as much as the thought of what it’d be like to see Jonghyun every day and how that’d changed his life. But of course, why would it? 




Jonghyun debated coming back into Kibum’s apartment and explain to him the finer points of being nice, which was all he was trying to do. He knew it was possible, he had seen it on Kibum’s face when Hana had cornered him – there was love there, love and patience. Well, he guessed it was different because he wasn’t family. 

Why it bothered Jonghyun so much, he didn’t know. No one had ever been that formal around him, it made him uncomfortable. But if Kibum wanted a boundary that was what he had to do. It also bothered him because he didn’t know what was expected of him. 

Tired and restless, he dragged himself up the flight of stairs that led to his class, mind running at top speed. The more he was in Kibum’s home; the more he felt the need to tidy up his own. He did really mean to pick up the clothes on the floor, or maybe clean up the kitchen a bit…but there was never any time. Jonghyun sighed. 

Good thing he didn’t sign up for a lot of classes this semester, mostly because he couldn’t afford them anyways. He only could handle two for now, and they were every other day. He knew having one class a day didn’t bring him to early graduation but sometimes things were out of his control. And Kim Jonghyun knew perfectly how to handle life with strides; he didn’t let life bother him.

“Jonghyun!” 

It was Jinki’s voice. 

“YOU!” Jonghyun sneered. 

Jinki blinked, “uh…are you okay?”

“No! It’s all your fault.”

“Uh, are things not going well with Kibum?”

“Not really,” Jonghyun scoffed. “He wants us to have boundaries. What sort of person walks around like something is stuck up his - ”
 

“I can get you a new job, if you want,” Jinki said, his expression sobered. “Look, Jonghyun, Kibum might not be what you expected, but he has his reasons to be careful.”

“I’ll say,” Jonghyun rolled his eyes, “I was expecting some middle-aged woman or something. I’m not sure what a butler does, but I was expecting to do that, too. Not just to sit around waiting to be inspected like a piece of meat.”

“You’ve met his grandma?” This was asked with a fond smile.

“Not exactly. I hid in the kitchen.”

Jinki laughed, “coward.” Then he turned serious again, “Look, do you want me to get you a new job?”

“No,” Jonghyun sighed, he wasn’t sure why. This was the perfect offer, but his curiosity was really getting the better of him. What did Jinki mean when he said Kibum had his reasons to be careful? “I think I’ll stay.”