Like promised, Onew had brought boxes over to pack up the little stuff JongHyun had. Key wasn’t able to come along with him since they store couldn’t afford to be closed forever (there probably wouldn’t be a store to go back to, though, since Onew had left him working with Jessica).

            A stack of flattened boxes leaned up against one wall and another few lay spread out in the room ready to have things tossed into them.

            They had started with the living room since it had more things in it to pack.

            “Keep or toss?” Onew asked, holding up a ratty old t-shirt with a hole in the armpit.

            “I forgot I had that… Toss,” JongHyun decided.

            The shirt got thrown into the garbage bag full of worn clothing and broken items that had collected during their working time. There was a small clink as the shirt unbalanced a lamp resting in there (a lamp that JongHyun never even knew he had).

            “What about these?” Onew held up a pair of demolished jeans.

            “Toss.”

            For the next couple hours they continued in this manner. The garbage bag to box ratio was getting more and more uneven as they finished up the room. After they took a small lunch break (that Onew had forced JongHyun to let him pay for), they attacked the bedroom. There were even more clothes in here and even more random trinkets for them to pick at.

            “What’s this?” Onew asked, holding up a picture frame. The very picture that JongHyun had tried to not look at for months now.

            His family and TaeMin’s family were all framed by the vivacious silver metal. The glass overtop gave the photo a glossy feel that made the picture look more perfect than it actually was.

            His father stood in the center of the group with his arm around his mother. His younger sister stood on the other side of his father while TaeMin’s parents filled up the space beside his mom. A younger version of JongHyun and TaeMin smiled at the camera and everything seemed to be picture perfect – even with TaeMin’s older brother missing from the picture.

            But JongHyun knew that not to be true nowadays. Everything was beyond messed up now.

            “That’s my family,” JongHyun admitted, smiling slightly as he reminisced. “And TaeMin’s family… His older brother was studying abroad, though, so he wasn’t there to take the picture.”

            “TaeMin has a brother?” Onew asked, lowering the picture so he could look at it more closely. “Is this your sister?” JongHyun nodded. “She’s cute.”

            Not wanting to flaunt the picture any longer or let Onew ogle his sister, JongHyun cleared the length of the room in a couple strides to take the photograph away. He placed it in the box he’d been packing and changed the subject.

            “I know I’ve already said this, but I’m really grateful to you for letting me stay here…” he said.

            “It’s no problem, really. If I’d known you were having troubles before I would have offered sooner,” Onew brushed off. He’d gotten the hint that the younger guy didn’t like the topic regarding family.

            The two continued like they did – setting at a steady pace while making mindless conversation with each other.

            By the time night rolled around, the whole apartment was packed into a dozen or so boxes.

~

            It hadn’t occurred to JongHyun that he would have to tell TaeMin about all the troubles he’d been having. It only hit him when Key was helping him and Onew move his stuff that he had to tell TaeMin he’d moved. Knowing the dancer, too, he was bound to ask a bunch of questions to figure out why and JongHyun would just have to tell him the whole truth. Lying was too hard to keep up, he’d learned.

            “Hey, JongHyun, you said you worked two jobs, right?” Onew asked while wiping sweat off his brow.

            “Yeah… Actually, I work with EunJi noona at a convenience store during the night,” JongHyun admitted sheepishly.

            “I see why you’re always so tired now…” Onew murmured. “Quit.”

            “What?” JongHyun gave his hyung an incredulous look. He couldn’t afford to lose the pay from his night job. Especially with the fall semester commencing in just a short while. He would have double the fees to play plus all the fees from his previous semesters… The math just wouldn’t calculate up in his head as he tried to fix his bills in his head.

            “Whatever she’s paying you I’ll add to on to your salary. Until you get your feet under you again.”

            “B-but hyung! That’s way too much money!”

            “Don’t worry about it JongHyun~ah. I don’t know if it’s hit you yet, but I’ve got deep pockets and I don’t mind sharing money with people who actually need it.”

            JongHyun was stunned into silence. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. That would add up to nearly… Twenty something dollar a hour!

            Noticing the shocked look on JongHyun’s face as he added up the numbers, Onew thought it his job to reassure him that it was fine. Which is what he did during the time they walked towards the stairs together. Before they could go down, Key lumbered up, lugging an – apparently – heavy box.

            “This weighs more than my closet!” Key huffed, dragging it up one more step.

            A chuckle escaped JongHyun and he went down to help the guy.

            “It’s not that heavy,” he teased.

            An angry look passed over Key’s face when he saw JongHyun pick up his load with ease.

            “And your eye isn’t blue,” he shot right back with sarcasm melting off each word like an icicle left out to burn in the scorching heat of the sun. The enjoyment he got out of seeing the other blush couldn’t be compared to anything else in the world – not chocolate and not even Prada or the thrill of buying new shoes.

            He didn’t bother going back downstairs to fetch another box (that he would leave for Onew). He took the stairs one at a time, following JongHyun into his new residence.

            There was nothing new to Key about the apartment spread. Except maybe that plant in the corner had been alive the last time he’d been up here. There was a charming quality to the place, though. Just like the store, the apartment had big windows taking up most of the front wall. Sun light bathed nearly every corner in a majestic shade of translucent yellow. Dust particles swam in the illuminated air, settling only when it had finished jiving with its friends.

            Simple modern furniture was placed strategically among the pale wood floors. Onew called it his dubu feng-shui, but Key had a hunch that he had placed his furniture this way to avoid tripping over it.

            A TV balance atop a shelf in front of the pale leather sofa. A glass table reflected light where it was placed in front of said sofa. The white walls gleamed a cream colour from busking in the rays of sun for such a long period of time.

            Since the apartment resided above the store it was bigger than average. The kitchen was attached to the living room, separated only by a half wall. Two doors made of light cedar were embedded in the wall to the right. When opened they revealed the two bedrooms (Onew’s being the bigger one for obvious reasons). The bathroom was on the left side, a surprising canary yellow that contrasted with the delicate colour scheme of the contouring walls.

            “You going to stand there forever or what?” JongHyun’s voice startled Key who nearly screamed out in fright. It frustrated Key to see the other laugh at him starting. He should have seen it coming, though, considering he’d taken great pleasure in the little ego stabs he’d given to his hyung earlier.

            “I was resting,” Key shot lamely. He wished a big hand would pop out of somewhere and smack him for being so ridiculous.

            “Oka~ay… Well, Onew hyung is coming up with the last box so I’m going to go visit TaeMin,” JongHyun said.

            “You’re leaving?” Disappointment flooded Key. He couldn’t help it – he loved hanging out with JongHyun (even if the majority of the time he pretended to loathe his company).

            “Yeah, I have to tell him I moved and I’m going to stop by the convenience store and tell EunJi noona that I’m quitting.”

            “Call them,” Key suggested, desperate to get him to stay.

            “I don’t have a phone.”

            “Use Onew hyung’s!”

            JongHyun chuckled, launching a ‘just relax’ look to Key and ruffling his hair. “I’ll be back later, don’t worry.” He gave his shoulder a little pat before grabbing his messenger bag and heading out.

            Even though he was disappearing down the stairs, all Key could think about were the tingles running wildly under the skin covering his shoulder and head.

            This might be more than just a puppy crush, he thought.

---

In celebration of me FINALLY obtaining my Onew SHINee World Concert tshirt!!!