“Well?” Kibum was looking at him expectantly.

 

“Well what?” Minho asked back.

 

“Have you called Jonghyun yet?”

 

The following silence was enough answer for Kibum, making him throw his hands in the air.

 

“Minho, you have to call him. It’s been over a week; he’s probably at home right now, wallowing in rejection. You can’t treat your idol like that!”

 

“We don’t even know for sure if that’s really his number Kibum. Besides, why would he give it to me anyway?”

 

“Maybe some weird bend of the light made him think you’re handsome.” Kibum responded with a shrug.

 

“You just don’t want to admit that I’m more attractive than you.”

 

Kibum snorted at that. “Keep dreaming, frog face. But there’s only one way to know if it’s really his number, and if you don’t call him then I will.” Stalking over to his desk, Kibum picked up Minho’s cell phone in one hand and the signed CD in the other. 

 

“No! I’ll do it.” Minho jumped from his bed, taking his things from Kibum’s hands. Under his friend’s watchful eye Minho typed the number in, heart jumping into his throat as he heard it begin to dial. Kibum crossed his arms, looking proud of himself. 

 

His mind was racing as the phone rang, hundreds of possibilities flashing through it, the only one he could not believe being proved true as the phone was picked up.

 

“Hello?”

 

It was Jonghyun’s voice, unmistakably. A numbing sensation went all the way to Minho’s fingertips, heart freezing painfully in his chest. Kibum smiled, leaving the room. 

 

“Hello?” Jonghyun asked again, which prompted Minho to stumble over a response.

 

“H-hi, um… You left this number on my CD, I’m sorry, I—”

 

“Is this Minho?” There was a smile in Jonghyun’s voice. “Choi Minho?”

 

“Yes…?”

 

“Oh, good.” Jonghyun sighed, only adding to Minho’s perplexed state. “For a while there I thought I’d been too subtle.”

 

Minho didn’t know what to say for a moment. “You wanted me to call you?”

 

“Of course I did.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Jonghyun laughed, making Minho swallow. “Since I’m assuming you know quite a bit about me already,” that statement made Minho sputter a bit “Tell me about yourself, Minho.”

 

“Sorry but… Why?” Minho couldn’t fathom why Jonghyun would want to hear him talk—he still wasn’t over the fact that Jonghyun had purposefully given him his number in the first place, talking to him so naturally.

 

“I’m curious.” Jonghyun said simply. That was it? They were just going to sit here, and converse? It was surreal, but after a few moments of silence Minho felt he had no other choice than to begin talking.

 

Their talk quickly morphed from Minho listing things about himself to the two actually conversing, and the longer they talked the easier it became. They both sensed when conversation finally began to wind down however, and Jonghyun said 

 

"There’s a private event I’m performing in, kind of like a secret show, invite only, and I'd like you to come. If you give me your address I'll mail you some tickets."

 

"That's a little old fashioned isn't it, mail?" Minho teased, but he told it to Jonghyun all the same.

 

"Sometimes I like old fashioned." Jonghyun retorted, a grudging smile in his voice. "I'll talk to you later Minho."

 

"B-bye." Something about the way Jonghyun said his name made it hit him all over again that he'd had a phone conversation with Kim Jonghyun, stuttering into his farewell. As soon as he put his phone down, Kibum entered the room. 

 

"No, you hang up first!" He said, voice high pitched, making Minho roll his eyes. He sat next to Minho, nudging his shoulder and asking "So what all did you two talk about?"

 

"Um... Me, mostly. Lots of stuff."

 

Kibum gave him a look.

 

“What?” Minho defended. “He was asking questions.”

 

“So, when are you seeing him again?” His friend asked, Minho doing his best to ignore his teasing tone. 

 

“He’s sending me tickets to a ‘private show’ or something that he’s having, so then, I guess.”

 

His shoulder was nudged again. “Private show, hm? Get ‘em, tiger.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

 

The secret show wasn’t much of a secret by the time the actual date of the event rolled around, and when Minho arrived at the small venue the perimeter was flooded with fangirls. He pulled his hat down further over his face, trying to sneak past as well as he could. Without Kibum to pull him around, as soon as Minho entered he took a seat in the back, sitting quietly and waiting.

 

From: Kibum

Don’t you dare be late tonight. I’m going out shopping and you’re the only one that has an apartment key right now. Our apartment better not be locked when I get home, I don’t want to wait for you.

 

Minho was about to respond to Kibum’s message when the room went dark, stage lighting up. He quickly set his phone on silent, slipping it onto his jacket pocket.

 

Jonghyun sang through his entire mini album, with breaks to talk in between each one. Minho was mesmerized. Hearing every song performed live, some with choreography, was spectacular—Jonghyun was spectacular. 

 

He spent a lot of time searching through the crowd as he sang, eyes sometimes finding Minho, sometimes not. When he finished performing he bowed, smiling, thanking the crowd as he exited. Not much interested in staying for the rest of the event, Minho got up as quietly as he could, pulling his hat back down over his face and exiting. He got out his phone, about to finally respond to Kibum when he received another text message.

 

From: Jonghyun

Why’d you sit so far away? I barely got to see you. Meet me at the park so I can look at you properly.

 

That made his heart leap into his throat, a huge smile growing on his face as he read the message. Since he wasn’t sure which park Jonghyun was referring to, he decided to drive to the nearest one, hope he was in the right place, and wait for some sort of contact.  

 

It was after dark at this point, park completely deserted. Minho stood around for a while, contemplating texting Jonghyun when two arms wrapped around him from behind, making him jump. 

 

“…you could have just called.” It was Jonghyun, Minho feigning annoyance in his greeting as he tried to steady his breath and calm his heart.

 

“Yeah, but this is more fun.” At his words Jonghyun’s arms tightened around him, nearly squeezing the air out of him for a second. Minho had to agree—a surprise hug from the older man was ten times better than any text, or even phone call.

 

“Why’d you want to meet me?” Minho asked, trying to find something to say as Jonghyun let him go.

 

“So I could actually look at you! I gave you that ticket because I wanted to see you, but you decided to sit in the absolute darkest corner,” Jonghyun put emphasis on the last two words, giving Minho a playful grin. Minho laughed back, keeping his eyes on his feet.

 

“Sorry about that.” 

 

“Am I keeping you from anywhere you need to be?” the older asked, adopting an apologetic expression. The look made “No!” pop instantly from Minho’s lips, and Jonghyun smiled.

 

“Good.”

 

They stood in silence for a few moments before a devious expression grin grew on Jonghyun’s face, the older stealing the hat from Minho’s head and rushing off, sticking his tongue out behind him as he went. How he managed to have this much energy after performing Minho couldn’t fathom, but he ran after the man anyway.

 

It wasn’t much of a chase to be honest, Minho’s long legs enabling him to quickly catch up, but he let Jonghyun keep the hat on—it looked much cuter on him.

 

 

“You were fantastic tonight.” They were sitting on a playscape, two chocolate milkshakes and a large package of French fries (nearly empty by now) between them. Minho finally let out the compliment he had wanted to say all night, looking over to see Jonghyun smiling, biting into his milkshake straw.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“You always are—your voice is amazing.” Minho didn’t know what made him keep talking, but Jonghyun bit his lips at the comment and said

 

“If you keep saying things like that, I might kiss you. What time is it?”

 

Minho barely heard Jonghyun’s question, nerves jumping into his throat at the first statement, the one Jonghyun had said as casually as if it was nothing. He tried in vain to busy himself by taking out his phone to check the time, not wanting Jonghyun to see his reaction.

 

“Just after midnight.” He reported. He had over twenty-two new messages and two voice mails, all of which from Kibum.

 

“And so the carriage turns into the pumpkin.” Jonghyun said, standing. “I’ve probably got to go.”

 

“Yeah, me too…” Minho was skimming Kibum’s texts as he stood as well—all of them looked angry.

 

Jonghyun held out his arms for a hug and Minho complied, stepping into them. Jonghyun fit his chin into the crook of Minho’s neck, Minho able to feel the ghost of Jonghyun’s breath, inhaling the scent of warm sugar and strawberry shampoo.

 

In a moment of what felt to him was utter stupidity, Minho turned his head and placed a light feather kiss on Jonghyun’s cheek. He felt almost nauseously nervous as Jonghyun pulled out of the hug, staring at Minho for a complete two seconds before his face broke into a smile.

 

“You missed.”

 

“I—” Minho froze in surprise, staring back at Jonghyun.

 

“It’s alright, just don’t miss next time.” With another grin, Jonghyun walked to his car.