It had been more than half a year since Kibum and Minho had crossed boundaries and they were still going strong. Kibum was always excited to meet Minho on Fridays. After all, Minho was his weekly dose of happiness. Although nothing had been going his way, Kibum was confident that all that would change once Minho arrived to meet him at their usual place – the entrance of their university’s main library. His day was only going to get better with Minho around. Still, something didn’t feel quite right to Kibum. Looking at the time on his phone, he then realised that Minho was running late. Although he was getting slightly worried because Minho was never late, Kibum decided to give Minho another five minutes before he sent him a text.

Leaning against a pillar, Kibum looked up and searched his surroundings, eyes looking out for that familiar figure. True enough, he soon spotted Minho a slight distance away, speed walking towards him with the biggest smile on his face. Like it was contagious, Kibum could feel a smile growing on his face as his eyes met Minho’s. Yet, his smile froze when all of a sudden, a girl blocked his view of Minho and instantaneously broke their eye contact. Kibum frowned as he watched how Minho had no other choice but to stop in his footsteps and turn his attention towards the girl. Even though he only had a back view of the girl, Kibum could see how she had taken in the biggest breath to calm herself down before she nodded at Minho. Kibum couldn’t see Minho’s reaction but he watched as the girl shook her head and took a step closer towards Minho. The next thing Kibum saw was her hand reaching into her tote bag to pull out a nicely wrapped gift that had an envelope on top of it before she presented it to Minho, stuffing it in his hands and forcing him to accept it.

Before Kibum could even wonder how Minho would react, the girl bowed and left as quickly as she came. In an instant, Minho and Kibum was left looking at each other again. But this time round, they both weren’t smiling, simply looking almost as puzzled as each other with whatever that had transpired in the last few minutes of their lives. Kibum forced a smile on his face as he pushed himself off the pillar and started strolling towards Minho who immediately began walking again once he saw Kibum moving towards him.

“Hey…” Minho greeted rather awkwardly when they finally met halfway, not knowing what to do with the gift in his hands that hindered his movements, stopping him from waving or reaching out to Kibum. “Sorry, I’m late, I had some issues to settle with my project mates.”

“No worries.” Kibum shook his head before he glanced at the present and asked, “What just happened?”

“I have no idea.”

“Maybe you’ll know once you open the envelope?”

Minho instantly tensed up as he looked seriously at Kibum, “Bummie, I’m not interested in-”

Knowing what Minho was going to say, Kibum cut him off with a laugh, “Hey, Minho, relax. You don’t have to explain to me, you know?”

Minho frowned, looking as if he had so many things to say but not knowing where to start.

“Why do you look so troubled?” Kibum sighed, hating that Minho obviously had a lot on his mind but wasn’t sharing it with him, “Did you have a rough day like me as well?”

Minho stared at Kibum and remained silent.

“Are you not going to talk to me?”

“Kibum, you know I’m not good with words…”

“Mmhmm.” Kibum hummed in agreement and pondered out loud as his eyes lingered on the envelope Minho was still holding on to, “Maybe you should write me a letter then? Just like that.”

Minho followed the direction of Kibum’s eyes and let out a breath. In a move that shocked Kibum, Minho then headed straight to the nearest dustbin and threw both the gift and envelope away.

Kibum gasped once he saw what Minho had done, his mouth remaining open even until Minho was standing back in front of him.

“Alright, let’s go.” Minho simply said as he took hold of Kibum’s hand and led them out of school, “We might still be able to make it for that tea time special you love so much at your favourite café.”

“Minho!” Kibum could only shout as he turned back to look at the dustbin while he was forced to keep up with Minho’s footsteps, “The gift… and the letter… how could you-”

“Why not?” Minho answered even before Kibum finished his question, “It’s not important to me… it wouldn’t make a difference anyway.”

“How would you know?”

“I know.” Minho replied with a smile and squeezed Kibum’s hand, “Just like how you know.”

Kibum fell silent, not at all feeling reassured by Minho’s words but suddenly having doubts about the whole matter. He didn’t know why but in a split second, Kibum found himself unsure of his feelings and questioning whatever he believed in once again. It seemed like this Friday was going to be a rough day after all.

*

“Minho…” Standing before the door to his apartment, Kibum glanced down at their interlocked hands before he looked back at Minho, “How am I supposed to go in if you’re not going to let go of my hand?”

“You’re not inviting me in tonight?” Minho raised an eyebrow in question.

Kibum paused for a moment, letting out a breath, before he shook his head, “Not tonight… I… I’m tired.”

Minho couldn’t say he was surprised with Kibum’s answer. He saw it coming what with how quiet Kibum had been the entire time they were at his favourite café. It wasn’t that the atmosphere was tense or unpleasant but it definitely could have been better. Minho wasn’t one to pry into other’s business especially when he could feel how they didn’t want to talk about it. Besides, he knew better than to force it out of Kibum. If Kibum wanted to talk to him, he would. And so, Minho could only let go of Kibum’s hand, albeit very reluctantly, and took a step back to give Kibum the space he needed.

“Alright then…” Minho simply said as he smiled warmly at Kibum, “I’ll call you?”

“Yeah… see you.” Kibum nodded and watched as Minho waved goodbye and walked backwards for a bit until he finally turned around and made his way down the stairs of his apartment.

It was only when Minho was finally out of sight that Kibum leaned back against the door and began knocking his head against the hard surface as if that would help him clear his mind. There was just so much on his mind ever since they left school together. It didn’t help that Kibum knew Minho could tell that there was something troubling him. He was thankful that Minho didn’t ask what was wrong (because he wouldn’t know how to explain everything all at once) but there was a part of him that was unhappy Minho didn’t do anything at all. Yet, the million-dollar question was, who was Minho to Kibum that gave him the responsibility or duty to care about Kibum’s own personal affairs?

That was the problem, wasn’t it? The fact that Minho, technically, wasn’t anything to him was exactly why Kibum didn’t have the right to have any expectations whatsoever from the guy. It was this uncertainty caused by his indefinable relationship with Minho that was the root to all his problems.

The truth was, even up to that point in time, Kibum still didn’t know if he wanted to let Minho go when the two of them were already standing outside his apartment. Something inside him was actually hoping that Minho wouldn’t leave that easily even though his mouth said something different. It would have probably been a better idea to have Minho stay so they could talk things out. Because obviously, everything that was troubling Kibum had to do with Minho. And god knows Kibum didn’t know how to deal with all that was frustrating him at that moment in time.

As if knocking his head against his door truly knocked some sense into him, Kibum suddenly found himself reaching into his back pocket to grab his phone so he could call Minho to come back.

“Minho!” Kibum instantly said once the call got through, his heart beating a little quicker than usual. “Where are you?”

“Nearer than you think I am.”

“What?”

“I was hoping you’d call me back.” Minho laughed as he suddenly came up the stairs and appeared in Kibum’s vision in the next second, “So I stayed a floor below just in case.”

Slowly bringing his phone down, Kibum’s mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ as he watched Minho hang up the call and walk towards him with a charming smile. Before he could say anything, Minho closed the distance between them and brought Kibum into his arms, hugging him close.

“Don’t push me away, Kibum.” Minho sighed softly before he pressed a kiss on to the top of Kibum’s head, “I’m not asking you to tell me everything… just… let me be by your side alright?”

Kibum closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Minho’s shoulders, “I’m sorry…”

“Why are you apologising?”

“Because I’ve been so selfish… I’m always only thinking about myself and never asking you what you want.” Kibum pushed Minho away to look him in the eyes, “You mean a lot to me, Minho, you know that right?”

Instead of answering, Minho creased his eyebrows and said, “You’re getting me worried, bummie…”

“I just… I want to make sure you know that.” Kibum replied and quickly hid his embarrassment by turning around to unlock the door to his apartment and let the both of them in.

Once the door had closed behind him, Minho instantly reached out to grab Kibum by the arm and pulled him back towards him so he couldn’t escape him for the time being.

“Minho?” Kibum was caught off guard when he turned back and saw a stern expression on Minho’s face.

“You’ve been acting weird since we met in school… does this have anything to do with the girl who approached me?”

Kibum bit his bottom lip, hesitating because he still wasn’t sure if he was ready to talk to Minho about it. Yet that was all the answer Minho needed to continue.

“Bummie, you should know that I lo-“

Kibum’s eyes widened in fright as he immediately pressed a finger onto Minho’s lips before the words could escape his mouth and pleaded, “Please don’t say that… knowing is enough for me. I don’t need to hear you say that.”

Minho gently removed Kibum’s finger away from his lips and switched to hold Kibum’s hand as he shared his thoughts out loud, “Kibum, there are some things I don’t ask you because the answer wouldn’t change anything between us… and I understand that. I do. But that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me about anything…”

“I know… that’s why I wanted you to come back.” Kibum explained as he brought Minho into the living room and pulled Minho down with him to sit on the couch, “I think it’s about time we talk about… stuff.”

Minho made himself comfortable on the couch and turned to face Kibum as he asked, “Stuff?”

“Yeah.” Kibum said as he brought the hand that was still holding onto Minho’s up to eye level and eyed their hands that were locked together, “Like this.”

“Oh… kay?” There was confusion in Minho’s eyes as he looked at Kibum, hoping he would make things clear.

With a smile, Kibum let go of Minho’s hand but only to lean forward and push him back until Minho was lying down on the couch with Kibum on top of him, “And this too.”

“What?” Minho questioned as his hands naturally found their way to Kibum’s waist.

“We have to talk about this.” Kibum clarified, his knees now on either side of Minho’s hips.

“Okay?”

“Mmm...” Kibum nodded while he slowly leaned down and finally closed the distance between their lips, surprising Minho with a quick but firm kiss, “Especially this.”

“Are you kidding me, Kibummie?” Minho groaned as he tried to pull Kibum back so he could continue the kiss but Kibum wasn’t letting him have his way, choosing to sit upright instead as he straddled his hips so Minho couldn’t reach him so easily, “Don’t you know that actions speak louder than words?”

“Weren’t you the one who wanted me to talk to you?” Kibum argued, amusement written all over his face.

“That was before you kissed me.” Minho retorted grumpily.

“I only did that because you were confused and I wanted to make sure you knew what I wanted to talk to you about…”

“Seriously, Kibum?” Minho had his doubts, “Was there no other way?”

“Well, I didn’t want us to get so serious when we started talking… Don’t you think it’s better if the mood was kept light?”

“I don’t think we can talk like this.” Minho eyed the position they were in and smirked, “But I’ll gladly do something else with you.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll get off you then.” Kibum was about to move away but Minho was already one step ahead of him as he tightened his hold around Kibum’s hips, holding him down and refusing to let him move.

“I like how we are now.” Minho smiled as he looked up at Kibum, “Let’s talk. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“You!” Kibum rolled his eyes while resting his hands onto Minho’s chest, “You’re the source of all my problems.”

“What did I do?” Minho blinked innocently.

“Minho… I know I shouldn’t be saying this, in fact, I still don’t know if I should tell you this… actually, maybe I shouldn’t-”

“Tell me, Kibum.” Minho said in the deep, low voice he knew Kibum had a weakness for.

True enough, Kibum found himself spilling his secret, “I think I’ve come to the point where I just can’t see myself with anyone other than you. I'm just... really afraid of losing you.”

A smile grew on Minho’s face, “That actually sounds way better than the other three words… which by the way, Kibum, I know you have said many times to me before in your head.”

Kibum could only pray that he wasn’t blushing at that moment when he punched Minho lightly on his chest, “Don’t think that you can read my mind, Choi Minho.”

Minho laughed as he shrugged his shoulders and became serious, “Look Kibum, I’m happy just the way we are. There’s nothing more that I could ask for right now. And if I even had any doubts of what we are to each other before this, trust me, I don’t anymore.”

“So you’re okay with this?" Kibum asked nervously, "With us like this?”

“More than okay, bummie.”

And finally, Kibum smiled a smile so genuine that his eyes crinkled at the corners in the way that Minho found absolutely adorable… so adorable that Minho couldn’t help but sit up and adjust Kibum in his lap so he could hug him properly and kiss him in the way that proved how words weren’t necessary to express how much he loved him. Some things were just better left unsaid.

And when Minho’s lips met his with his warm hands finding their way under his shirt, Kibum was reminded why he loved Fridays… and, most importantly, why he and Minho were perfect just the way they were.

Author's Note: okay, i've many thoughts on this story, but i am an incoherent mess right now because the boys (minus one) are on the way to my country and i'll be seeing them tmr! as much as i am devastated that i won't be seeing any otp action (that is if minho really doesn't show up), i can't contain my excitement. oh gosh. someone slap me. okay. breathe. so! this is actually one minkey i've been wanting to write, and i'm glad i finally had the chance to do this because of the loveliest Darkbutterfly. when i reread it, i felt that it's left a lil vague? or maybe it's just me. but yupp, either way, i hope you enjoyed the read (plus the fluff) and that i didn't disappoint you lovely readers! thank you for reading, commenting and subscribing! that's what keeps me going every time i feel writing isn't worth it~ ◕‿◕ okie doke. that makes 6/11 requests completed! next minkey story is already in the works... till then, have a great week ahead! ♥♥♥