He fiddled with his passport endlessly, while looking at his picture from time to time.

I’ve changed a lot.

His black hair had become blonde, his skin was more flawless than before, his lips were fuller, his complexion was whiter than porcelain, and his eyes were beautiful.

He never regretted his parents’ choice to bring him to America. He was able to grow and explore other cultures. Sure, he was happy with being Korean, and that was the reason he was sitting in that airport.

After graduating from high school, his parents gave him the freedom to choose between going to college and going back to his home. His real home. He was eighteen years old then, and it was a big decision to make. It took him one more birthday before he had made up his mind and chose what was in his heart.

He was nineteen and beautiful, and his parents had just given him their blessing to go back to Korea and start a life there. They trusted his personality; he would never let them down. He was a very passionate person. When he wanted something, he made sure he got it. But he was strict as hell; his parents were confident that no one could fool him and take advantage of him there.

The intercom called his flight number and he was awakened from his daydreaming. It seemed like every other person in his gate was too sleepy to hear, and he was the only one about to board the plane. He closed his passport, put on his Ray-Ban sunglasses and stood up. He pulled his luggage and walked across the room, over to the gate. Every eye that caught sight of him stared, burning holes on his skin. Whispers ghosted the air, and slaps echoed in the room, most probably from boys who saw their partners ogling him, and girlfriends who caught their men drooling over him. He didn’t mind, he got that reaction everywhere he went. And he loved it.

He sat in his seat, and made himself comfortable. He was in for a long flight, and that didn’t bother him. It was enough that he was going back to his home; a home he hasn’t seen in almost sixteen years.

He was born in Daegu, yet he only lived there for three years before his parents had decided to migrate to America. Definitely, Korea would’ve changed in so much time. He was excited to see it. As the plane took off and the seatbelt sign went off, he drifted into sleep, dreaming about his new life.

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

He woke up just roughly an hour before landing. He was able to befriend some flight attendants while asking about how much time was left before they landed. Stewardesses were cooing over him, while male attendants were nudging each other in the back room. He smiled at himself, laughing mentally.

He hopped into a cab the minute he got his entire luggage from the conveyor belt. He had a map and some suggestions for good hotels where he could stay. He asked the driver to take him through a route that would pass through all the hotels, while showing him the map. He learned a bit of Korean before travelling, of course, but it was just enough to get him through the day. He thought he’d learn more Korean when he had a stable home and job.

Twenty minutes into the trip, he saw a small lodging house by the cliffside. It was like a small mountain log cabin, and he insisted that the driver take him there. The driver said it was rarely chosen by tourists to go there, since it was too far from the city.

“But I’m not a tourist, now, am I?”He said in his best Korean.

The driver didn’t put up a fight and drove him there. When they stopped in front of the house, he thought it was beautiful. The house was perfect, and he somehow felt secure just looking at it.

While the driver was unloading all of his baggage, he spotted a man inside the house, standing behind a counter. From what he could make out from outside, the man had brown hair, styled upwards.

Hmm, he has taste. He looks like an anime character though.

He was muscular and short; probably a good inch shorter than him. He was eating a lollipop while looking at something on the counter. He laughed at himself for noticing all these things about him. After a while, when he had paid the driver, the driver sped off, grabbing the short man’s attention.

The taller boy brought his luggage inside the house, and looked around at his new home. For the moment. He took off his sunglasses and smiled at the man behind the counter. One thing went through both men’s minds.

He’s beautiful.

They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. The taller boy got out from his trance first and greeted with a bow. He didn’t forget Korean customs; he knew he would need it someday.

“Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Kim Kibum. But you can call me Key.” Key said, smiling.

The shorter boy then broke from his own trance and took the lollipop from his mouth to respond.

“Ah, A-a-annyeonghaseyo, I’m Jonghyun. I own the lodge.” Jonghyun replied.

“Hmm?” Key answered, as soon as Jonghyun said the last part. “Oh, Korean, not very good.” Kibum stumbled on words. “Sorry.”

Jonghyun, after much thinking, realized what Kibum meant.

“Oh, uh, it’s, uh, okay.” Jonghyun tried in English.

Jonghyun knew this day would come. He knew he needed those english language classes if he was going to take care of the lodge for his aunt. But it cost too much money, and he convinced his aunt that no tourist would come to their lodge anyway, since it was too far from the city.

But Key had come to him today, asking for a place to stay. He could tell, this was going to be a good day. Just before Kibum arrived, he was thinking of how he would be able to pay the bills this month. The electric company was spending a lot of money to provide electricity in such a remote place. If Jonghyun couldn’t pay this month, they would cut off the electricity and he would go out of business. Kibum was a blessing, to him and to his aunt.

“Uh, Jonghyun, I need, uh, stay, here, just three weeks. Okay?” Kibum stuttered too much.

“Ah, okay. Three weeks?” Jonghyun repeated, holding up three fingers to see if he understood Kibum.

“Yes, just three weeks. I get job already.” Kibum would curse at himself for sounding so idiotic later, but right now, he had to persuade Jonghyun into letting him stay.

Jonghyun chuckled at Kibum’s effort, also realizing that he was having just as hard of a time communicating. “Arasseo.” Jonghyun smiled. Kibum sighed in relief, thankful that they were able to understand each other.

Jonghyun helped Kibum carry his luggage to a room on the second floor, where the foreigner would be staying for three weeks. Kibum thought it was a pretty cozy room. The walls were just the faintest color of pink, and the hardwood floors blended perfectly with the dark rug in the center of the room. The bed was just so inviting to him right now, he wanted to dissolve in it. As soon as he brought in the last bag, he just fell on the bed, tired from his almost fourteen-hour flight.

“I’m going now. Sleep well.”Jonghyun said from the doorway, chuckling at Kibum’s behavior. Kibum sat up straight in bed, forgetting that Jonghyun was still standing there.

“Oh, thank you for your help!” Kibum said just seconds after Jonghyun disappeared into the hallway. Kibum slapped his forehead, and fell back once again. This time, he dozed off.

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Jonghyun woke up to the sound of the TV being . He glanced at the clock on his bedside table.

1:34 am.

He groaned and flipped over to go back to sleep. His eyes suddenly widened, realizing that he only had one customer, so only one person would be watching TV at this hour.

He gathered all his strength and got up, despite the ache he felt all over his body from sleep deprivation. As he was looking for his slippers in the dark, he wondered why he even got up for this man in the first place. He could’ve just gone back to sleep and ignored the white noise that occasionally replaced the silent air.

He dragged his feet out his door, and his eyes squinted. The kitchen light was on, and a figure was sitting on the living room couch, scanning channels, with a blanket wrapped around him. The figure turned his head to the sound of Jonghyun’s arrival and smiled.

“Hi.” Key said, waving his hand. He was wearing a big shirt, long sweatpants and glasses that made him look like a cute nerd.

Jonghyun, who was still half sleep, waved a hand in response. He rubbed his eyes and sat beside Kibum.

“Uh, sorry. I woke you up. Jetlag.” Kibum explained to the boy yawning beside him.

Jonghyun waved a hand in front of Kibum, “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

The brown-haired one then stood up and proceeded to the kitchen.

“Midnight snack?” Kibum asked without taking his eyes off the TV, chuckling.

Jonghyun snickered in return. Apparently, he understood english when it came to food.

After a few minutes of rustling in the kitchen, Jonghyun came back with two mugs, one pink, and one black. He handed the pink one to Kibum.

“You, no, can-- cannot sleep. So, you drink.” Jonghyun tried his best to communicate, even using hand gestures, and re-enacting sleeping with mock snoring. Kibum laughed at how Jonghyun tried so hard to talk to him.

“I get it. Thanks.” Kibum smiled. Jonghyun stared at the blonde while taking a sip. Before Kibum could drink, he looked at Jonghyun with one eyebrow raised. “Poison?”

“Anni, Kibum-ah!” Jonghyun said with wide eyes, surprised that Kibum would suspect him to poison someone. Kibum just laughed at him. “Kidding.”

Jonghyun grabbed at his own chest, breathing heavily in relief while Kibum still snickered at him. “Yah, you can call me Key. My nickname, when I was in America.” Key said into the mug filled with hot chocolate. He spoke in straight Korean, since he knew beforehand that he needed to learn to speak clearly, especially when he needed to introduce himself to people.

Jonghyun took a sip from his mug, and then smiled at Kibum. “It’s okay. Kibum is… nice.”

Kibum then tore away from the show he was watching to look at Jonghyun. When he wouldn’t stop staring at the brown-haired boy, Jonghyun himself sipped at his hot chocolate again, and forced his eyes to watch TV, his eyes darting to look at Kibum from time to time.

They watched TV together for a few hours, the silence being filled by voices from the shows. Kibum’s mind wasn’t on the shows at all. He was thinking about how Jonghyun was being so nice to him, but he passed that off as hospitality. Besides, the lodge didn’t look like it had a lot of customers. Jonghyun was probably doing his best to make Kibum feel at home, so he wouldn’t leave. Kibum then thought of the creepy coincidence that he was drinking out of a pink mug, which was his favorite color.

How would he know that?

Kibum thought that Jonghyun maybe grabbed any mug he had, and grabbed a pink one by chance. Kibum sighed. It was going to be a long night of thinking, since he couldn’t get any sleep at all. His thinking was interrupted by loud snoring and a heavy weight on his left shoulder. Jonghyun had fallen asleep while keeping him company, his black mug already empty and on the table.

“How long have you been asleep?” Kibum asked rhetorically.

Jonghyun’s mouth was only slightly open, with his lower lip curled into a pout. Kibum laughed silently at the brown-haired man.

How could you look like an anime cartoon, a dinosaur and a puppy at the same time?

Kibum shared his blanket with Jonghyun and covered him as well. He sniffed the shorter man’s hair and leaned his head. His eyelids were beginning to feel heavy. Before he dozed off, he saw the clock and discovered that it was almost 6:30am. That’s how they stayed for another few hours, leaning against each other, sharing a blanket, dreaming.

And that was how day one ended.

-> a kyuyunjaemin original.

A/N: So, this is going to be a two-shot or a three-shot. Nah, I'm not going to make it long, since I still have His Whisper is the Lucifer~! to finish. (BTW, sorry for no current updates on that one. I'm having writer's block.) I just wrote this since the perfect idea just sprung in my head, i just HAD to write it.

Comments are loved. :)

key's picture: credits to @Leean_Aseep on twitter