Ten minutes passed before Jonghyun came out of the bathroom, towel around his waist and shirt still on. Kibum had picked out a pair of sweat pants, the least torn pair he had, and sat down on the couch beside Jin, fiddling with his fingers nervously while waiting. When Jonghyun finally appeared in the doorway to the living room, wearing only his shirt and a towel, Kibum thought he was going to pass out from heart failure. His face burned, as it never seemed to stop doing that day, and he couldn’t look above the spot on the floor just in front of Jonghyun's feet, afraid of unwanted reactions.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and held out the folded pants for the other to take, still staring at the floor like it was the most interesting piece of art he had ever seen. Jonghyun's feet approached him and Kibum's eyes followed in front, not daring to look past them, resulting in him staring at his own in the end.

“Thank you.” Jonghyun mumbled as he took the pants from Kibum's hands.

Kibum nodded and placed his palms in front of his eyes to give the other some privacy. Jonghyun mumbled something about them both being guys before he heard him take a few steps back and the rustle of clothes. If only Jonghyun knew Kibum didn’t trust himself enough to watch him change clothes, meaning he would see the other in only his underwear and shirt, which was a dangerous situation. He didn’t dare to remove his hands until Jonghyun lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

“Uhm…” He said uncertainly and handed Kibum the towel once he had lowered his hands to his lap. “Thank you.”

“N-no problem.” Kibum still didn’t dare to look up from his feet. “I-I’ll wash your pants and you can come get them later.”

“Okay.” Jonghyun said quietly and silence fell for a moment before he decided to break it again. “Can I uh… sit down?”

Kibum couldn’t keep his head from snapping up at that question and he stared wide-eyed at the other, contemplating the pros and cons to that situation, which in itself was meaningless as there were no cons.

“S-sure.” He stammered, his face heating up again. “Why?”

Jonghyun shrugged. “Truthfully? I just want to be free of the commotion downstairs for a while.”

Kibum nodded slightly and followed Jonghyun with his eyes as he sat down, one leg bent underneath him so that he was sitting sideways, facing the other. Kibum put the towel down beside Jin, who had curled up in the corner, and fidgeted nervously as Jonghyun stared at him, almost like he was trying to figure something out.

Although he might have made up his mind about confessing but it was a hell of a lot harder doing it than thinking about it. Even if he had already told Jonghyun before.

A lump formed in his throat and he had to let out a small, choked cough, biting his lip to stop the tears. He saw Jonghyun frown out of the corner of his eye.

“Are you okay?”

Kibum nodded. Then he took, a deep determined breath and turned to sit sideways, facing Jonghyun as well. The other tilted his head a little and continued to stare at Kibum with thoughtful eyes.

“There really is something about you.” He mumbled.

Kibum's breath hitched slightly and he tried to ignore the void in his chest that seemed to swallow him every time he had to think about the past.

“W-why did you dye your hair?” He asked to change the subject.

Jonghyun blinked at him.

“Well… because I wanted to?” He said sheepishly, sounding so unsure that the corners of Kibum's mouth turned upwards.

“You don’t know?”

“It just…” Jonghyun shrugged, looking confused, “kind of happened.”

There was a beat of silence in which they looked at each other, Kibum in astonishment and Jonghyun with a crooked smile. Then they both burst into laughter at how idiotic Jonghyun's answer sounded and kept on laughing at how they both started at the same time. It took them a few minutes to calm down and even then there was a slight chuckle every now and then. It was nice. Kibum felt as if his heart was filling up with helium, threatening to fly away.

“You’re going to think I’m weird but it feels like some sort of relief in my chest being close to you.” Jonghyun sighed and leaned the side of his head on the backrest of the sofa.

The smile from Kibum's face disappeared and was replaced by a crestfallen expression. The void was threatening to swallow him again.

Jonghyun's face fell as well.

“You’ve heard that before, huh?” He murmured and straightened up.

Kibum bit his lip, his breathing coming out in ragged chunks of air.

Come on! You’re not going to break down!

“I-I…” His voice was raspy from the sudden dryness of his throat and he had a hard time just keeping his sanity in check and not let it fly away. He swallowed and nodded instead, realizing that his voice wouldn’t hold.

Jonghyun's eyes filled with compassion and he scooted closer. Kibum watched in a slightly horrified amazement as the other reached out to him. To Kibum's mind Jonghyun was moving so slowly they could as well have been underwater or in space for all he knew. It felt like years before he felt two hands land upon his shoulders and squeeze them lightly, only to run down his arms and grab his hands, interlacing their fingers in a way of comfort.

“It’s that other person… was it a he?” Jonghyun whispered and Kibum nodded without thinking about it. “It’s him that’s making you feel like this, right?”

Kibum took a shaky breath and nodded again. He saw something like anger flash in Jonghyun’s eyes, but he wasn’t too sure.

“You… you’re in a romantic relationship with him, aren’t you?” Jonghyun asked lowly.

“Were.” Kibum croaked, finally finding his voice. The past tense made a bolt of pain travel through his chest. This was staring to hurt his head, too. He was talking about Jonghyun with Jonghyun.

No… they’re not entirely the same…

Suddenly Kibum wanted to travel back in time. He wanted to go back to the time where he could have met the Jonghyun he came to love a year ago. Where he at least had time to completely develop their relationship, where he didn’t have to break a curse and where he could be with Jonghyun until their hair turned grey.

But he couldn’t. And now he was having a conversation about someone who was the ghost of the very one in front of him. Or was it the other way around? Kibum didn’t know.

“Kibum,” Jonghyun murmured, not really looking the other in the eyes, “this is going to come out weird but… I want to make you happy.”

Kibum stared at him, not sure he was hearing right. Jonghyun bit his lip briefly before he continued.

“I… you…” He seemed to have a hard time finding the right words, looking down at the small space on the couch that was still between them. “The only way I can explain it is that I just have this feeling of… I don’t know… making you happy, letting you smile and laugh…”

Jonghyun looked up to Kibum's eyes again and Kibum thought he was going to choke on his own heart. There was the small hint of love in those brown orbs that had held a hundred emotions a year ago. And now they were holding love. Well, mostly confusion and frustration, but still… love.

Is it even possible?

Kibum could feel the void in his chest move again. Only this time it was not in that uncomfortable, hurting and devastating way. No, it was closing up ever so little, ever so slowly. And right then and there Kibum decided to take a step forward. He wanted to, needed to take that step.

“C-can I…?” He raised one of their linked hands tentatively.

Jonghyun didn’t seem entirely sure of what he was being asked, but he nodded anyway and slipped his hand out of Kibum's. There was a momentary loss of warmth before Kibum's palm connected with the other’s cheek, cupping it gently. Surprise flashed by Jonghyun's face, but then it smoothed out into a heartwarming smile. Kibum felt his insides go all fuzzy and pink.

“Close your eyes.” Kibum whispered.

His voice was suddenly so much steadier and surer than it had been before that it surprised him as much as it did Jonghyun. However, the other complied willingly and soon Kibum was looking at a peacefully, smoothed out face. A face that he had watched before, seen in his dreams and pulled out in his memories.

He held his breath as he slowly let his fingertips travel on Jonghyun's features, over his brow, his cheekbones, his sharp jawline, gently grazing his eyelashes, running down the length of his nose and finally coming to a quivering stop at his lips.

Jonghyun's eyes cracked open ever so little, a questioning shine in them. Kibum somehow managed a small smile before he bent forward and lightly pressed his lips against Jonghyun's.

They both knew it had been coming, however they both still froze slightly in place as the contact was made. It was an innocent, sweet kiss. Just a press of lips and it was perfect. Kibum felt a little relieved as his mind was concentrating solely on the kiss and not some haunting memories that would make him want to break down.

He was about to make it deeper, since Jonghyun seemed to be following him in order to let him get what he wanted, when the door to his apartment banged open. Jin scrambled across the room in shock as well as Kibum and Jonghyun, who threw themselves to the two edges of the sofa, far away from each other, looking at the other in fright.

“Hyung!” Taemin called. “Why are you taking so long?! You’ve been here forever!”

Kibum and Jonghyun stared at each other, not really sure what to say. Then Kibum cleared his throat.

“In here!” He called back and Taemin appeared in the doorway of the living room a few seconds later.

“So you’re also still here, Hyung.” The boy noted as his eyes fell upon Jonghyun. “Are you okay?”

Jonghyun nodded, looking sheepish. “Yeah…”

Taemin's eyes narrowed slightly as he let his gaze wander from one to the other. Kibum couldn’t blame him. Both of their faces were red and they probably looked really guilty, like they had been caught in the act. Well, they almost had.

“Anyway,” Taemin continued slowly, “Sekyung wanted me to check up on you as well, Kibum-Hyung.”

Kibum nodded. “Is everyone still here?”

Taemin shook his head. “Most have already left. Jinki-Hyung is nagging me that we need to go home, too, so I came up here to say goodbye.”

“Oh, okay.” Kibum stood up followed by Jonghyun.

Taemin gave them both another suspicious look before he turned around and led the way down to the café again, not forgetting to stop by Jin and apologize for scaring the cat.

Sekyung gave Kibum a questioning glance as they came down the stairs before her expression turned into a smirk at how Kibum's cheeks turned an even darker shade of red than it already was. Minho smiled secretively at him as well and Kibum just wanted to go bury himself somewhere.

He let Taemin squeeze the life out of him, waved awkwardly at the other three before he let the door fall shut behind them, locking it. Then he steeled himself and turned around to face Minho, who was obviously going not going to let him go without a thorough interrogation.

Kibum sighed as he approached the taller with a glare. He had a suspicion Sekyung had gotten Minho in on some crazy plan once she noticed he had seen something happening between his best friend and colleague.

And he wasn’t sure he liked their plan.

A/N: Eheee~ >_< Isn't this nice~? ;D

Oh, well... It's late... I don't have much to say right now except that I hope you enjoyed it!!! xD

I LOVE Y'ALL!!! <3

Goodnight and bye~! ^_^