Kim Kibum first met Kim Jonghyun when his slim, pale fist slammed into the elder’s jaw.  Kibum had recently turned eleven, and Jonghyun twelve, and both boys had just begun a new school year at one of Busan’s run down, lesser known middle schools.   The school’s property was ringed by a rusty metal fence that was often better at letting kids out then in.  The windows were molded and cracked, cement walkways worn, and the center courtyard (home to a few clumps of dying trees and vandalized flower pots) was possibly the main attraction for the school.  There was nothing particularly interesting about the courtyard, but it was often a spot for brawls and debates and the like, and being the adrenaline-rushed kids that they were this place fascinated the population, save teachers and staff of course. 

So no, it wasn’t a surprise when a small freshman decided to take on one of the older kids in that same courtyard.  But it should be noted that the small crowd that gathered to watch the fight were indeed interested as to how such an effeminate student had ended up in this fight in the first place.

“Little punk, what’s gotten into your head?” Jonghyun had grabbed the collar of Kibum’s, lifting the small boy until only by tip-toeing did the tips of his Converse reach the ground.  Jonghyun was shocked that the small boy could pack such a hard punch, the corner of his jaw stinging and red.  Kibum smirked, before shrugging.

“Somebody has to lower your keep you in check and lower your ego. I’m mildly surprised you’re not dating yourself” Was Kibum’s only response.  And although Jonghyun only became more pissed off with his words, he couldn’t help but think that maybe this guy had more to offer than it seemed. And yes, Jonghyun may have been egotistical at times, but he wasn’t half bad looking and he wasn’t about to let that fact go unnoticed around school.

“I suggest you never become a therapist.” Jonghyun hissed in Kibum’s ear, roughly shoving the other boy back and walking calmly away from the center of the courtyard.  Kibum’s warm brown eyes twinkled with mirth as he watched his elder walk off.

“See you later then hyung!” he shouted over the confused chatter of the onlookers.  Jonghyun refused to turn around, but let a small smile show on his face.

Maybe he isn't half bad, they thought.

        Kibum once again straightened his tie, a nervous habit he picked up over the years in his middle school.  He was sitting in the middle of the school’s small, but usable, auditorium awaiting his hyung’s music performance.  He had never actually heard Jonghyun sing before, but rumors around the campus said he was one of the best in the music program.  As Kibum lifted his right hand to repeat his usual habit, a gentle hand caught his wrist and lowered it back down to his lap. Kibum’s eyes traveled upwards, meeting Jonghyun’s smiling face. 

His hyung didn't seem fazed about the concert tonight in the least, or at least that’s what he was aiming for. Kibum could tell by the slightly tensed muscles and constantly blinking eyelids that he was simply hiding his nerves under the surface. 

“I’m glad you came ‘Bum.” Jonghyun said gratefully, sounding almost relieved that the younger boy’s presence was in that room. Kibum gave him a small smile, holding onto the hand that previously was encircled around his wrist.

“Of course I did hyung, you think I would pass up the opportunity to see your voice crack onstage?” The younger said teasingly, patting Jonghyun’s arm to show he was merely joking.

“I’m sure you will do wonderfully.” Kibum corrected.

Jonghyun rolled his eyes, but Kibum caught the slightly raised corners of his lips and knew that his friend wasn't truly mad at him. Suddenly the lights dimmed and Jonghyun sent him a worried glance, not wanting to go backstage just yet.  Kibum gave him a reassuring grin and pushed him gently towards the stage doors. Kibum watched, smiling as Jonghyun disappeared through the doors to join the others in the music program.  He sat back down in his seat, which had a few too many tears in the upholstery for his liking, and cast his gaze once again on the wooden floors of the stage.

As the show progressed through the evening, Kibum fell farther into his bored stupor, much like many of the others students that had decided to attend.  He was uncertain that his hyung would even preform that night, so it seemed.  With the dimmed lights, and hushed voices, Kibum felt himself slipping into the clutches of sleep.   He struggled to stay awake, knowing he would be torn with guilt if he happened to fall asleep before he even got to see Jonghyun sing, which was the only reason he even decided to come to the school after hours. 

With the sudden start of a soft ballad Kibum knew he was going to lose his internal battle, eyelids fluttering closed.

“So goodbye, don’t cry, and smile...”

Kibum jolted up, gaze now sharply trained on the stage.  Jonghyun stood there confidently, center-stage, as he found his comfortable rhythm within the song.  Jonghyun’s black hair was messily styled, but managed to make him look slightly older than he was. His voice rose and dipped with the music, reaching crescendos seemingly with ease.  Kibum was entranced; Jonghyun’s voice soft and melodic as it flowed from the stage and stimulated his senses.   He wasn't even aware that the song had ended, only the loud cheering of the people around him snapping him out of his own personal world.  He clapped, a grin plastered on his face as Jonghyun bowed towards the crowd.

Jonghyun stood on stage a second more, meeting Kibum’s eyes and sending him an elated grin.  Kibum didn't quite understand why his chest seemed to constrict at this, or why he felt his face heat up slightly.  He simply passed this off as happiness for his best friend’s well done performance. 

It was happiness, right?

It was during the middle of the night, the summer before Kibum entered high school and Jonghyun moved up to his sophomore year, that Jonghyun received a frantic call from his best friend, not sure what he was saying as his words were drowned at times by the muffled sobs on the other end of the line.

“Kibum what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Jonghyun was now completely awake, large brown eyes wide in fear as he waited to hear Kibum’s voice once more.  He sat up in bed, the faint light from his phone cutting meekly through the shadows that cloaked his room.  After a minute the crying seemed to die down a bit, and Kibum’s shaky voice was once again speaking clearly over the phone.

“N-No. I’m not hurt hyung, but I need yo-you right now.” He stuttered out over the line.  Jonghyun didn’t need to be told twice before he quickly cancelled the call, throwing on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt along with his well-worn sneakers before opening his window and dropping down onto the ground only five feet below.  He often used this method during the summer to sneak out to late-night parties, or to hang out with less-than-respectable people when he felt like “Society was dragging him down”, if only his temporary break from reality, (and sleep), was only for a few hours at the most.  This time he took off down the street with a reasonable purpose, knowing the way to the Kim’s house by heart as he vaulted over a few fences and took the shortcut through a neighbor’s garden.   

It was probably a good five minutes later, (was it just Jonghyun or did he run faster this time around?), that he stood in front of the east side of Kim Kibum’s home; the small, Victorian style house was painted a tasteful beige with black accents on the window frames and doors.  Jonghyun edged around the rose bushes that line each side of the house carefully, knowing that neither of Kibum’s parents would be very happy to know he had traipsed through their perfectly trimmed plants like the puppy he was so rightly often compared to. Jonghyun smiled as he found the small carvings in the wood paneling along the bottom edge of the window that led to Kibum’s room on the first floor, tracing the scratched in letters that were still visible even though Mrs.Kim had done her best to hide the blemish upon her home.

“Bum+Jjong”

Jonghyun lightly rapped on the glass window, waiting for the younger to dutifully pull it up like he always did. Jonghyun bit his lip nervously as he stood in the soft quiet that only came around once even the rowdiest of people had finally passed out. Perhaps the younger had changed his mind? Maybe he didn't want to even talk to Jonghyun anymore? Or he might’ve even—

His thoughts were cut off with his own sigh of relief as he watched manicured hands lift up the edge of the window, allowing Jonghyun to pull himself up and through-- just like always.  Kibum moved away from the windows and once again huddled under the bright green covers of his bed, pulling the blankets over his lithe body completely so it looked like a much exaggerated, and colorful, ghost lurking under the covers instead of his best friend.  Jonghyun sighed at his childish behavior but sat next to the boy nonetheless, wrapping one of his rapidly toning arms around what he could only assume were Kibum’s shoulders under the soft folds of the blanket.

They just stayed like that for a moment, letting the soft glow from the fuchsia lava lamp on Kibum’s wooden dresser in the corner of the room fill in the silence.  Every once in a while Jonghyun could pick up the barely audible hiccup in the younger’s breathing, telling him that he was still feeling distressed. 

It stayed like this for a few more minutes before a shaky voice suddenly came from under the sheets.

“Do you promise not to hate me hyung?”

Under the sheets Kibum’s hands were clenched into small fists that were clinging to the hem of his baby blue sweatshirt, his cheeks tear-stained and eyes rimmed with red.  He clenched his eyes shut as another rack of sobs threatened to rip from his chest, but he quieted down quickly, if not for his own sake then to spare Jonghyun. 

It was quite a different story for the boy who was now staring at the green blankets as though it truly was a ghost hiding under there.

“O-of course not Kibum…how could you even think I would hate you? You know I’ve done stupid things too, and pretty often, so whatever you did it surely couldn’t have been that bad. Unless you know, you killed someone. But I suppose it depends on why you killed them then perhaps I could overlook that fact…and I know a guy who could take care of the body too if you needed him—“

“Jonghyun hyung please shut up before I regret calling you here.” Jonghyun was cut off as Kibum’s voice cut through the air, sharp and clear now that he had taken off the green shell that had previously been his hidey-hole from reality.  Although his face still showed he was incredibly upset, there was a somewhat amused smirk on his face; Jonghyun always had a knack for cheering him up when he needed him most.

“What’s wrong ‘Bum?” Jonghyun asked, sincerely worried.  He wrapped his arms completely around Kibum in an embrace, letting the other know that someone would protect him no matter what.

“I think I’m gay, hyung.”

Oh.

Freshman year brought about a flurry of changes; Kibum was now Key.

“Key is my shield; he is the better version of me.” Kibum explained to Jonghyun one day as they were watching some sappy k-drama in Kibum’s room; the same day he announced his new nickname he decided to adopt for their high school life.  Although Jonghyun wanted to point out that he liked Kibum as just Kibum, he didn’t want to trouble him even more. Key was already having to prepare himself for the common insults thrown to those whose uality defied what was the norm in society; Jonghyun didn’t need to bother him anymore, not when he was just gathering himself together. 

Another thing the boy changed about himself was his hair.  Gone was the plain black bangs that hung limply in his face; now it was a halo of golden-honey hair that seemed to curl up at the ends, now framing his face instead of hiding it.  Jonghyun also noted the slight sheen on the younger’s lips nowadays and the ever-present eyeliner his already feline eyes; but he didn’t point that out either.  If Key felt better about himself this way, then so be it. He was still the same Kibum in the end, just slightly more fashion conscious.   Speaking of fashion, Jonghyun also couldn’t help but see the overabundance of skin-tight jeans that seemed to glue themselves onto Key’s rather feminine legs.

“How’d I not notice before..?” Jonghyun mumbled to himself, watching Key strut around his house in a new pair of black leather skinnies.

“Notice what before?” Key stopped his habitual pacing, (“It stretches the material, I can’t have the blood going to my legs be cut off can I?”), and faced his hyung.

Jonghyun felt his cheeks heat up slightly once he realized he had voiced his thoughts aloud but merely shook his head.   Kibum was Kibum, cute looks or not, Jonghyun reminded himself.

“Nothing ‘Bum, just thinking about music.” This answer seemed to satisfy the younger for the moment, and Jonghyun was awarded with another one of the boy’s dimpled smiles before he once again began pacing- no, sashaying, around the front living room.  Jonghyun tore his eyes away from Kibum as they started drifting notably lower and decided that yeah, his fingernails were so much more interesting to look at.

It didn’t start until around the fifth month of school that Jonghyun became slightly disappointed with this “Key”.  It had started with the small things; Key talked to him less, and hung out with a clique of girls that simply fawned over the boy endlessly.  Under any other circumstances, Jonghyun would have been okay with this; No, he would have been ecstatic that Key was making friends so easily.  It was when Key stopped dropping by Jonghyun’s house like he lived there (He pretty much used to; it had gotten to the point where Kibum refered to Jonghyun's parents as Mom and Dad as well), and started blowing off his plans to go to the movies or other mindless places with him to hang out with some scrawny kid that had already spouted over Key’s and jJnghyun’s heights.   Was Taemin the kid’s name? Jonghyun couldn’t remember. 

Jonghyun wasn’t doing too bad himself though; his entire existence didn’t simply revolve around Key.  He was fitting pretty well into the music programs at school and had picked up a sizable group of good friends.  And no, Key didn’t completely drop him into the gutter behind him; Key always seemed to come to Jonghyun to about some teacher’s “totally unfair pop quiz” (which the students were actually told about the Friday before; Jonghyun should know, he was in that class) or how “Minho and Taemin are so cute together! The only thing left to do is get Minho to change his uality and problem solved!” Jonghyun had to laugh at the last statement though, because from his experience Minho had a pretty big, not to mention obvious, crush on the new girl Amber Liu.  But Jonghyun could let Key fantasize-  who knows, he might be just devious enough to pull it off. 

But all the school drama aside, Jonghyun could feel him and Key drifting apart. It felt like all those years spent relying on each other solely was now being melted away; Jonghyun was being replaced by those things that Key called friends.  But that wasn’t the part that saddened him the most, oh no.  It was that he knew Kibum was trapped inside there somewhere, beneath the outer shell called Key.   Jonghyun just wasn’t sure he could ever break through that shell and find his Kibum again.

In junior year, things took a turn for the worst.  The previous year Key had gotten a new boyfriend: Kim Heechul.  Jonghyun once told Minho, someday at lunch between mouthfuls of kimchi stew, “That if there was anyone gayer in this school than Kibum, it’s Heechul sunbae.”  Of course, this wasn’t meant offensively, it was simply the truth.  Heck, even Heechul made it as widely known as possible through endless skinship and flirting kisses.  Perhaps the unrelenting confidence (and undeniable love of fashion) was what drew Key in.  Key was all about confidence, and Heechul oozed it.

The pair seemed to click instantly, and was inseparable from the moment Heechul said, “Hey babe, nice hair.” The wink he added could have possibly helped, but Kibum would have to be on the brink of death to ever admit it. 

Jonghyun himself wasn’t quite sure how to assess the guy. He made Key happy, which he supposed was good enough for him.  But no matter how many times he tried to convince himself of that, he always felt a little knot of resentment fill him when he saw the two together.  All he knew was that he was about to lose his best friend for good, and this brat wasn’t helping.  In fact Jonghyun was feeling that perhaps Key was a lost cause; maybe he was wrong, maybe there was no Kibum left inside.  The small, frail kid that packed a mean punch yet had constantly relied on Jonghyun, the one that managed to know exactly what to say to Jonghyun whenever his older sister had gone too far in her taunting, seemed nonexistent.   Invalid. Gone.

Junior year and the "2min" couple, or so Key aptly named them, had finally gotten together.  After Jonghyun had actually gotten the chance to meet the elusive Taemin, he couldn’t resent him for taking his place. Not really.  The kid’s innocent demeanor and shy smile had instantly ensnared Jonghyun, and somewhere deep down, he understood how Minho perhaps made Taemin his exception. 

It was also not too long after the official get-together that Jonghyun was once again woken up from his sleep by a frantic buzzing of his cellphone.  Jonghyun groaned and rubbed his eyes halfheartedly, squinting at the table-side illuminated clock. 3:30 a.m.

“Who the…this better be a good reason Kibum...” Jonghyun muttered as he read the caller I.D. flashing on his screen.  Jonghyun picked up the call and barely got out a tired, “Hello-“before he was interrupted with hysterical sobbing.

“Heechul…cheated…Kan-kangin, I ju-just found...” Came a hiccupped voice from the other end.   Jonghyun didn’t need to understand much more than that to have his blood feel as though it was on fire.  He always knew Heechul was a bit full of himself, but Key wasn’t a toy.  And yet Heechul seemed to have ignored that.  So much like that fateful day three years ago, Jonghyun immediately made his way to his best friend's house, hopped through the window, and found him curled up under that same bright green blanket; just like all those years ago.  Except for a much different reason. 

“J-Jonghyun…” Key peeked his head out from under the blankets and stared at him with teary eyes, looking just like his old 14 year old self once more.
“I…I thought you wouldn’t come. You hung up s-so fast…am I repulsive? Is that why he chose Kangin? Am I not good enough…?” Key whimpered out, eyes zoning out as he sunk further into his mind, his safe haven of sorts.  Jonghyun sighed and sat down next to his friend, refraining from touching the boy.  How do you tell someone that their boyfriend was a total a** to begin with when they were in this state?

“No Kibum, you’re not repulsive. Don’t ever think that way.  You are the beautiful, strong Kim Kibum.  The only guy I’ve seen get into a shoe fight and win.” Jonghyun smiled at Key and rested his hand on the younger’s knee gently, slightly hurt when he felt the younger tense up beneath him.

“Kibum. I haven’t heard that from anyone in years…” Key mused, now sitting up, blankets still tightly encircled around his body.  Jonghyun let out a small noise of understanding and looked down at his shoes. 

“Haven’t heard from you in a while either.” Jonghyun said softly, glancing to Key.   Key looked into his hyung’s eyes and was shocked to see the usually warm brown puppy-eyes darker, sadder.   Key wasn’t oblivious to the fact either, but he did it with a different purpose.

“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable…it’s not easy to be associated with the gay guy in school.  I thought maybe if I distanced myself from you, everything would be easier on you…” Key trailed off uncertainly, not sure how to phrase his thoughts.  He wanted to protect Jonghyun, not hurt him.  It killed him not to be by his side every second, and Heechul had helped ease that pain for almost an entire year. 

Jonghyun simply stared at Key incredulously.   He knew Key was stubborn, a bit rash in his thinking and debating, but he didn’t know the younger would think of himself as an ugly scar on Jonghyun’s record. 

“Kibum…you’re an idiot.  You think I would just drop my best friend because you like guys?  We grew up together; you’re still the same guy who punched me back in grade school just because he thought I needed someone to put me in my place.” Jonghyun smiled and hugged the younger boy lightly, faintly smelling the new perfume Key was so fond of.  Key sighed in relief, Heechul long forgotten for the moment.  He leaned into Jonghyun’s warmth, clinging to the last few wisps of his consciousness before falling asleep in his Hyung’s embrace. 

Jonghyun cracked another smile as the faint light coming from the night light (yes, it was still there.) showed him that the younger boy had nodded off into sleep in his arms.  Jonghyun laid Key down gently onto his bed, eventually snuggling under the covers with him, circling his arms around Key’s waist like they did only a few years ago.

“Maybe Kibum is still in there after all...”

Key was ready to punch himself by the end of senior year.  It was fine to be gay, but it was not fine to be in love with your best friend AFTER he gets a girlfriend.  It wasn’t his fault really; but he should have seen it coming. He really should have.

“Who’re you texting?” Key curled up closer against Jonghyun’s side, trying to peer over his shoulder to see the older boy’s phone.  Key wasn’t stupid, he had noticed that stupid smile the entire time they were watching the movie in Jonghyun’s living room.  Well, more like Key was watching it, Jonghyun was too busy stuffing his puppy face into the bright screen of his iPhone. 

“No one.”

Key scoffed and rested his head on Jonghyun’s shoulder.   He knew it was some girl, why wouldn’t it be?  But why couldn’t Jonghyun even have the decency to tell him who it was?  Key had entrusted his Hyung with his secret 4 years ago, why couldn’t Jonghyun tell him about some silly crush?

“Yeah right. Who is she?”  Jonghyun smiled but shook his head. 

“She is my friend, that’s all.” Key pouted and rolled his eyes.  Yeah, just friends.

“Fine, fine. Her name is SeKyung okay? Happy now?” Jonghyun said teasingly, nudging Key’s side with his elbow.  Key shrugged and let his eyes drift back to the movie, the main characters saying something in rapid English that went right over Key’s head.  His frown disappeared behind a blank mask, and his shields were now raised once again.  Once Key made sure Jonghyun wasn’t suspicious of anything he let himself drown in his thoughts.

‘No, I’m not happy now.  In fact I’d gladly dance on her grave if she were to die from some unknown accident tomorrow.’ Key bitterly thought.  It was as though the universe was mocking him, taunting him to do something about his crush’s love interest.  Key’s heart panged, all hollow and cold and lonely.  He remembered Shin SeKyung; In fact, she and Key used to be friends in their sophomore year.  That was until she had started to make a move on his best friend, at which point Key promptly deleted her from his contacts and never spoke another word to her again.  Was he perhaps overdoing it? No, not really.  Or so he reasoned. 

Five. ing. Hours. 

Key deemed himself to be a responsible friend, and as all responsible friends should do, they wait up for their best friends to get all the details from the first date.  But seeing as Key figured he was better than he average best friend, he waited up every time Jonghyun went out with Shin SeKyung. 

And according to Jonghyun, the movie ended five hours ago.  Now Key wasn’t unreasonable, he would sparingly give the elder approximately 15 minutes to drop the yippy lap dog off back to her house, and then another 20 minutes to get back home (Kibum and Jonghyun decided to rent a flat together, after much persuasion on Key’s part, of course).  And yet here he was, eyes glazed, back stiff, and dead tired at three in the morning, waiting for a boy who would probably not come home that night.  Key didn’t like to view anything he did as pathetic; yet sitting here he couldn’t help but wonder exactly how pitiful he must seem.  He didn’t expect Jonghyun to develop any feelings towards him anytime soon, and Key knew very well his unrequited love would probably tear him up from the inside out until he hit rock bottom.  But you know what they say, “If you hit rock bottom, you dust yourself off and go shopping.” Or maybe that was just him.

Either way, to say Key was pissed when Jonghyun finally walked, or rather stumbled, his way into the apartment, reeking of alcohol and obviously felt up (Yeah, Key didn’t miss those hickeys, the little twit), was an understatement.  Roaring tempest of honey-blond hair was more accurate. 

“Where the hell were you?! You had me worried for five hours!” Key was practically spitting fire, watching as the inebriated Jonghyun managed to feel his way to the couch. Jonghyun groaned, shielding his eyes in a poor attempt to both shut out the living room light and Key’s frantic screeching. 

“I-I’m alright Kibum, just shut up.” Jonghyun folded in on himself and lay down on the couch, preferring the option of sleep than listen to Key’s ranting.  Said boy couldn’t help but feel a bit of a sting at the elder’s words.  Yes he was drunk, he reacted on instinct, but it hurt. 

“I waited five hours just to make sure you were okay.  You didn’t text or call me to tell me not to wait up, and you know how over-protective I am.  This isn’t okay Jjong.” Key sighed and folded his arms, staring defiantly at Jonghyun’s crumpled form.  For some reason, these words sparked anger in Jonghyun he didn’t know he had harbored against the blond, and it all came out in one, bloody go.

“You know what Kibum?” Jonghyun stood up and met his glare just as well,” I don’t care.  You think I haven’t noticed how close you always are? Or how you always seem to stare a bit too long when I hang around?  Well guess what, if it wasn’t painfully obvious before, it sure as hell is now.  So just get your girly out of a twist and stop lusting over straight men!” Jonghyun grunted and walked out onto the little balcony attached to their apartment, slamming the sliding door shut with enough force to rattle the metal frame it was set on.

Key stood there motionless, watching as the person he loved tore his heart to shreds and stomped on them with every footstep he took away.  He was right though.  He was always right.  Key was just an annoying extra on stage, causing more problems rather than solving any.  He bit his lip and turned away, walking out the front door into the biting cold of the night. 

Me, myself, and I.  A solitary shadow moving along the worn sidewalk, echoing footsteps bouncing off the distant walls of abandoned shop along the street’s edges, and an occasional sniffle here and there.  He was moving with no purpose, he was simply moving away.  There was no rhythm to his step, or destination lurking in the back of his mind; just drifting through the motions. 

He hated him.  He would never look at him again.  He couldn’t believe he had put so much trust in someone before.  But Key wasn’t sure who had the right to feel these thoughts; him or Jonghyun?  Perhaps both.  Perhaps neither of them.  So he let himself be led away, a lost soul merging with the darkness, the inky black canvas casting shadows along his porcelain features.  He could go back, but not today. Not today.

SeKyung was gone.  A thing of the past now, Jonghyun blandly reported to Key one morning over a bowl of Lucky Charms (that Key was fairly sure expired weeks ago, but was seemingly edible anyways).  Things had never quite clicked back into place ever since Jonghyun had snapped at him.  Of course, he apologized for his words later on, but the matter was quickly dropped and they had moved back into a somewhat normal friendship between them.  But Key knew better than to test his luck, so he made sure to keep himself in check.  He wasn’t to touch Jonghyun without reason; Jonghyun once told him that just because he was “ually frustrated” didn’t give him permission to feel him up when he felt like it.  He couldn’t just waltz in on Jonghyun’s room freely anymore liked he used to; a habitual knocking became a constant earful for the both of them but neither really minded. 

But Jonghyun would still send him those warm smiles at times; the ones that made Key’s heart unwillingly beat faster and made him fairly sure the room was in fact way too hot to be considered normal. Key relished the hugs and senseless skin ship Jonghyun would occasionally dish out, making all these restrictions just a bit more bearable. But only just.  He supposes he shouldn’t be one to complain, considering Jonghyun’s knowledge of his feelings and the fact he was still in the same residence as his infatuation.  He guessed it was only human to hope for just a little more.

“Maybe one day,” he thought to himself.

 He smiled, taking the other boy's offered hand and instinctively threading his fingers through the others.  He only wished he could pause this moment, the two breathing the same air, the warmth slowly spreading through both their cheeks. No words were spoken, the bustling din surrounding them filling the air.  He wished he could reach out, wished he could embrace the other and seal what little space was left between them.  But he knew he couldn't-- not yet.  He reluctantly let go only as the warning bell rang, a flurry of camo-patterned uniforms rushing past them and seemingly sweeping up Jonghyun with them. He blinked in surprise, the same pavement the other had been standing on before was now empty; the sun's rays glaring off of the pavement now, a shimmering reminder of what was gone.
  

 Kibum numbly remembered turning around, facing the receding stern of the naval ship. He wasn't even conscious of the salty tears running a smooth path down his porcelain cheeks, only the sudden emptiness that seemed to now have filled the warmth where Jonghyun’s presence used to occupy. But he would wait; he had waited 10 years already. He supposed it wouldn't hurt...to wait a little longer.
  

    "Someday."

Ahhhh y ending for y fic >< Ah well. It's done, it's over *breathes sigh of relief* I may now go back to panicing over my insane school instead of berrating myself for not posting this up here months ago.  Thank you for reading, comments and critisisms (constructive, I really don't care for rude) are always loved :3  Love you all :) Annyeong!