A sleepy Minho stirred under his sheets. The sound of his roommate’s whispers had reached his ears and woken him up from his fragile sleep. He straightened himself and ran a hand over his face.

"What?" Onew said. "Wait, slow down..." A sigh left his lips. "Where are you?" he asked, his features scrunched up into a frown.

"Who is it?" Minho asked. He was wide awake now and curiosity laced his thoughts.

"Kibum," Onew mouthed, phone still glued to his ear. His eyes shifted from left to right a few times, before he added, "Okay, I’ll come get you. Don’t move." The blonde put the phone down and got off his bed. Clearly disoriented, he stood still for awhile, staring into the blue of one of their walls.

"What’s going on?" Minho inquired. He had put his sheets aside and moved to the edge of his bed.

"He is really drunk...," Onew explained as he finally started to get in motion. He picked up a shirt that he found on the floor and put it on, messing his hair up even more in the process. Eyes half closed, he then moved to his wardrobe and took out some pants.

Minho smiled at the sleepy leader and got off his bed too. "Jinki, go back to sleep, I’ve got this," he ordered gently.

Onew turned his gaze to him. "It’s okay... I think it’s better if I go anyways," he replied sleepily.   

The younger one walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, pressuring him back onto his bed. The leader let himself fall onto his mattress, showing no resistance. "Well... maybe it’s better if you go," he admitted with a smile. Without losing any more time, he wrapped himself up in his sheets.

Laughing quietly, Minho made his way to his side of the room and put on more decent clothes. He found his keys and started walking towards the door. Just as he was about to turn the knob, he was hit with sudden realization. He marched right up to the older one’s bed and shook his arm. The blonde let out a soft moan, consequence of his drowsy state. "Hmm?"

"You didn’t give me the address," Minho pointed out.

He watched as the other one’s arm moved to grab a paper from the nightstand. "Here you go," he muttered, before letting his arm drop back to his side.

This time there was no silly omissions and he got out of the house quickly. Once inside his car, he turned his keys into the ignition and hit the road. He knew the place. He had gone there with Key a few months ago. When they were still... Images of that time came rushing back to him and he immediately tried to drown them with insipid radio music, but they didn’t go away. His mind made him walk down a painful memory lane until he finally parked in front of the establishment.

He was nervous now. He would have to deal with a drunk Kibum and that was never an easy thing to do. Even more so in their given circumstances. With a mind full of encouraging words, he got out and entered. Loud music instantly reverberated against his ear drums and made him wince. It had been a long time since he’d been in this kind of place.

 He looked around a few seconds and that was all it took for him to find the brunette. He was sitting on a stool and from what he could see, he was still drinking. He made his way up to the back and as he was getting closer, he suddenly noticed a man beside him. They seemed to be deep into conversation.

He halted. ‘Maybe he’s okay...’ Minho thought. Not sure what to do, he just looked at them from a distance. Key kept laughing and really seemed to be enjoying himself. For some reason, that made his body stiffen. And then, he knew what to do. It had only taken a hand on his ex’s thigh to decide him to intervene.

He stopped right in front of them. "Kibum, we’re leaving," he said sharply.

The older one looked at him confused and then burst out laughing. "Wh-Why do you look sooo seriiouus?" he slurred. He let out another shrill laugh.

"Hey man, we’re having a good time," the stranger said. "Everything’s fine."

Minho glanced at him, hand aching to punch. "I didn’t ask for your input."

"Wooah, Minho. Calm dooown. Everything is-" Key’s words were cut by the sudden pull on his arm, bringing him to the taller one’s side.

The stranger got up.  "What is your problem?" he asked, clearly pumped up.

"There is no problem. Just move along and get on with your night," Minho suggested with as much calm as he could muster.

"Not without him," the guy replied.

Key freed himself from Minho’s grip. "Yeah, I want to stay with hiiim," he protested in a childish tone.

Minho looked at him, irritated. "Didn’t you call Jinki to come pick you up?"

"Yeah, but now I’m fine. Go awaaay," he insisted, pushing him lazily.

"No. We’re going home." Minho took his arm again, turning them away from the other one.

"Prick," he heard the guy say in his back.

At that moment, Minho could’ve just turned and let his anger out on him, but he made the better choice and just walked them out of the place.

Cool air greeted them both as they stood on the sidewalk. Key looked blatantly into his eyes.

"Why are you here?" he asked. His tone was more assured, his head now more anchored into reality.

"You called, Kibum," Minho reminded him.

"I called Jinki," the older one retorted.

"Jinki was really tired so I decided to come instead." It was the truth, but in the back of his mind, he knew it had more to it than that.

"Whatever. Thanks for ruining my fun," Key said as he opened the car door on his side.

They both climbed in, but Minho didn’t start the car right away. "If I hadn’t come up to you two, what..." He stopped himself. He shouldn’t even be asking that

"What, Minho?"

"How would the night have ended?" he finally brought himself to ask.

Key chuckled. "It would’ve ended the same way you ended yours last night."

The other one’s mouth fell open and he looked away, embarrassment coloring his cheeks. "So you know..." He glanced quickly at Key. His stomach was tangled into a knot and his mouth turned dry.

"Yeah well, it was bound to happen at some point. It’s not like I have been a saint since we broke up." Key buckled his seatbelt. "Can we go?" He suddenly felt really tired. The fun edge of his drunken state had now turned into sadness.

"Bummie... I am sorry."

Key snorted. "Why are you apologizing? You’re a free man." He looked out the window and into the night. "And so am I," he added.

Minho had a million thoughts running through his mind, but he shut them all off and started the car. It didn’t feel appropriate to verbalize any of his current thoughts.

The car ride was silent. Key had his eyes closed all the while, alcohol putting him in an apathetic state. Minho stole glances at him any chance he could. He finally allowed himself to take in the beauty he had learned to ignore those past few months.

Key woke up startled. A loud thud had suddenly brought him back to consciousness. His eyes immediately fell upon his best friend who was smiling at him.

"Finally you’re up, I was starting to get really worried," Jonghyun said.

The younger one stared at him, irritated. "What made that noise?"

"I threw one of your shoes against the wall," he admitted with amusement.

Key sighed. "You’re so dumb sometimes, Jjong." He buried his face in his hands. He had a terrible headache.

"There is a Tylenol and a cup of water right beside you," the older one indicated with his hand.

Gaze shifting to his nightstand, he found the two items and lost no time to make them disappear into his system. The cool sensation that filled his insides made him feel a little better.

"What time is it?" he then asked.

"It’s already 2." Jonghyun raised his phone and showed him.

"Oh god... You should’ve woken me up earlier."

"And disturb your beauty rest? No way," he replied with a laugh.

The younger one gave him a deadly stare.

"Bummie... what happened last night?" Jonghyun asked, tone suddenly serious.

"I went out to drink... that’s it," he answered sharply. He wasn’t in the mood to talk when his head was throbbing so much.

Jonghyun shifted on his chair. "But why?"

Key sighed. "Because I wanted to," he retorted, wishing for the other one to leave.

"Is that why you broke your phone?" the older one persisted.

"Jonghyun, seriously.... don’t." Key could feel his anger build up.

"I just want to know what’s going on with you." He brought his chair closer to the bed. "You can still talk to me you know..."

Key felt his anger melt away as he stared into his hazel eyes. "Just give me a moment, okay?" He put a hand on his thigh. "We’ll talk later."

Jonghyun’s disappointment was clear, but he still got up and left.

A sigh of relief left the younger one’s lips. He got off his bed and went straight to where his shattered phone was. He picked it up. ‘So pathetic,’ he thought as he opened one of his drawers.

He silently cursed himself. He had forgotten that he had stacked some pictures in there. Pictures that he’d rather never see again. Not able to look away, he picked up one of them. There they were, huge smiles on their faces in front of their hotel in London. It seemed so unreal now; like it had never happened. A tear ran down his cheek, but he wiped it right away. Nonetheless, more joined in and blurred his vision as the memories played in his head.

A knock on his door made him jump, but he was immediately pulled right back into his thoughts. He couldn’t take his eyes off the picture. He wanted to go back to that time. He wanted to be happy. Sobs shook his body as he put down both the picture and his phone.

The door suddenly opened and Minho came in. He felt a pang in his heart as he stared at the older one. Face smeared with tears, Key looked up at him, biting his bottom lip to render himself silent.

Minho walked up to him and wrapped his arms around his body. "What’s going on?" he asked softly.

The other one couldn’t utter a word; instead he let himself cry again as his head rested on the taller one’s chest. The latter didn’t know what to do. He had just wanted to check up on him, expecting to find a snarky Key, not a sad one.

They stayed still like that for a moment, before Key finally found his voice back. "You should go," he uttered as he pulled back.

Minho wiped his tears away. "Why are you crying?" he asked, eyes intently fixed on his face.

"Why do you care?" Key retorted, completely freeing himself from his embrace.

"I still care about you, Kibum," Minho replied.

The brunette snorted. "That’s good to know."

Minho sighed. He let his back rest against the drawer, which made something fall down. He looked down and saw that it was a picture. Before he could even take it, the older one picked it up. "Please go, Minho," Key pleaded.

Minho stared at him. "That’s a picture of us, isn’t it?"

He was answered with silence and an angry stare.

"I am really sorry for everything. I really am. I..." He stopped.

"You’re right, I should go," he ended up saying.

He walked out of the room, leaving a confused Key behind him. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you enjoyed and Happy Holidays! :D <333