* * *

“Minho, TELL HIM.”

Along the clouds, a balcony, on the top floor of their company’s building. It was glass-plated, so one could relax and get lost in the enchanting city below (without freezing to death).

But despite the dazzling view, this room mostly passed unnoticed, being on a floor reserved for cupboards and staff members. The latter was absent right now, as it was very late, and Jonghyun, knowing every single perk of the SM Ent. building, had dragged Minho all the way up here so they could talk in peace.

“Aish, just tell him already!”

“Yeeeeeah, sure.” muttered Minho in half-hearted sarcasm.

“Listen up. You’re HOT. And that’s coming from a straight guy. You get what I’m sayin?”

To prove his point, Jonghyun quickly reached over and jerked Minho’s shirt upwards. For one glorious moment, there was a flash of perfectly sculptured abs, until Minho forced his shirt back down, turning a rather unmanly pink and kicking a grinning Jonghyun.

“See? See??? You have a freakin six-pack, Minho! And, really, you’re, like, y all over. My point being, if he turns out to be gay, he’ll definitely go for you!”

“But what if he’s straight? Jonghyun, I think… I really think he is straight.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out-”

“NO, Jonghyun! I’m NOT telling him!!!”

“MINHO.”

Instantly, Minho halted, surprised. Never had Minho heard Jonghyun speak in this voice. Come to think of it, Minho had never seen Jonghyun being even remotely serious.

Until now.

“You know I have a girlfriend, right? Eunsook?”

What the hell does that got to do with me?!

Maybe Minho was being selfish, but he just didn’t have the energy to deal with other people’s problems right now.

Even though he didn’t say anything, Minho’s face betrayed what he was thinking.

“Jeez, Minho. It’s not like I’m gonna bore you to death with my stories. I just thought I’d give you a little piece of advice, you know. Bro to bro.”

Still puzzled, Minho slowly nodded.

“Well, when I told her that, you know, I kinda like her, I mean, like, a lot, I didn’t feel ready either. Every single damn thing you told me, Minho, about how you don’t wanna lose the friendship and you feel like you could keep it a secret forever, well, I felt exactly the same. You know, I think, even though you’re gay and I’m straight, I think the feelings are the same. Liking someone and feeling unsure if they’ll like you back and all that stuff. I totally get ya, man.”

Jonghyun made a little pause to let that sink in.

“But, you know, when we got together, Eunsook told me something. Before I told her I like her, she had booked a flight. A one-way flight. To freakin LONDON. Not Busan or something. EUROPE. Like, millions of miles away.”

“Okay, I think we established that.” mocked Minho from across, smiling, and Jonghyun decided it was high time to get payback for Minho’s kick from before.

“OUCH!!! Jonghyun, can you please stop working out?!”

“But it’s good for my health!”

“It may be good for your health, but it’s ruining mine!”

“As I way sayin”, continued Jonghyun, totally ignoring Minho, who was pouting and rubbing his own sore shoulder. “The flight was two days after I confessed to her. Meaning, if I delayed telling her I like her for only two more days, she would be gone.”

“Wait, but wouldn’t she have told you she was leaving, even if you didn’t confess?”

“No, ‘cause she was leaving because of me. She actually though all that crap I was thinking, that I’ll never like her and such. Exactly the same crap as you.”

Finally, Minho understood where this was going.

Suddenly, Minho burst out laughing, while Jonghyun just stared, totally baffled.

“Aish, what’s so freakin funny?!”

“I get what you’ve been trying to say, Jonghyun. But I can hardly imagine Jinki jumping to another continent just because he thought I wouldn’t like him or whatever. That’s just crazy!”

“I thought that too!!!” exclaimed Jonghyun. “I would never ever have guessed that Eunsook was such a person, she seemed so cool and indifferent!”

Minho only sighed.

“Jonghyun… Okay. I get it, okay?! You’re right about everything. But, you know what? I still can’t tell him. I just can’t.”

“I’m with ya, man.”

Minho chuckled a little, suddenly aware of a little perk of Jonghyun’s. Whenever Jonghyun said something even slightly mushy, he said it a kind of gagsta way, just to sound less sissy and more of a manly man. But, that was only making him cuter, at least in Minho’s eyes.

For a while, Minho was silent, staring at the blinking city below. It looked so peaceful. If someone only saw it from up here, they would think it was like that down in the streets, too – shimmering and silent. But it was actually dirty and chaotic. “Maybe”, Minho thought, “people are like that too? Maybe what I think I see isn’t true at all? For all I know, Jinki may not be straight. He may even like me. And I won’t know that until I ask. You can’t get to know a city until you’re down in the streets yourself. Right?”

With that encouraging thought in his mind, Minho abruptly stood up, startling Jonghyun and then accidentally crushing his best friend’s foot.

“OUCH!!! What was that for?!”

“I’m gonna-!” started Minho, but suddenly halting mid-sentence. As if he’d eaten ice, his insides were frozen in fear.

“I’m… I’m just gonna sit down.” sighed Minho, returning to his spot on the floor.

“OH NO YOU DON’T!!!” yelled Jonghyun, harshly pulling Minho up, beaming like his son had become the class president. “You’ve almost had it! Just try that again!”

Jonghyun’s hilarious fake gangsta accent echoed in Minho’s head.

I’m with ya, man.

Really, Jonghyun had wasted an entire evening to help him – and a Saturday at that. Coming from Jonghyun, that really was a gigantic sacrifice – no joke.

“I’LL TELL HIM!!!”

Jonghyun shone a big grin. It faded a little too quickly, and, suddenly, Jonghyun’s eyes glistened unusually brightly, but Minho didn’t notice.

For a moment, Jonghyun was just eyeing the floor, trying to pull himself together.

“So!” began Jonghyun after a bit, voice joyful and smug again. “What are you going to tell him?”

Answering Minho’s puzzled silence, Jonghyun started a ridiculous imitation of Minho, his voice three octaves higher than normal.

“Hi, Jinki-hyung! Uhhh. Err. Um. I have to confess something! I have to confess that… I… really… like…like… y-y…

yoghurt!”

“Jonghyun? Please… don’t do ever that again.”

Jonghyn only grinned. “Then, what? What exactly are you going to tell him?“

“I… I don’t know.” realized Minho.

“Just start off with something, and we’ll work on it together ‘till we get a glorious, jaw-dropping, drama-worthy confession!”

“Okay. Well, here I go. I…”

Minho approached Jonghyun, determined to make this a full-fledged tryout. Gently, he placed his arms a bit below Jonghyun's shoulders. Under his fingers, Jonghyun’s bare skin was firm and muscular, and it was difficult to imagine Jinki’s soft arms instead. But, as Jonghyun said, if he delays his confession, Jinki may not be there anymore to hear it.

Taking a deep breath, Minho recited: “I… I really…”

Neither Minho nor Jonghyun heard the balcony door creak open.

“I really… like you. No, actually… I love you.”

Proud of his success, Minho smiled down at his shorter friend. But that was nothing compared to Jonghyun’s smile. Jonghyun was practically euphoric, shining brighter than the city below.

At that moment, Minho caught himself thinking something he never thought would even cross his mind. Over the years, Minho had always teased Jonghyun for his awkward hairstyles, his shot build, his dinosaur-like face, the list went on and on.

However, right now, Minho caught himself thinking that Jonghyun was a very, very beautiful guy. Especially with that dazzled smile on his face.

“Oh… Oh, s-sorry… I… I d-didn’t think a-anyone w-would be h-here…”

In total shock, Minho slowly turned to the door. Equally bewildered, Jonghyun still had enough sense in him to quickly back away from Minho – but it was already too late. Jinki was on the verge of tears, the city lights illuminating every single droplet in his eyes, before he sprinted right out.

Frozen in place, Minho stayed where he was, eyes wide as the moon.

Some sort of inarticulate whimper could be heard down the hallway.

Utterly confused, Minho glanced at the door. Then, he looked at Jonghyun, shocked to find his best friend completely broken, knees given in, sobbing on the floor. If someone had told Minho he’d ever see Jonghyun crying, he’d tell those people they were full of . As if Jonghyun would ever do something that pathetic!

Still, he did, which made Minho even more confused. As though watching a tennis match, Minho stared at Jonghyun, then at the door, then back at Jonghyun again.

“GO!!!” roared Jonghyun through his tears. “GO YOU STUPID IN IDIOT!!! GO AND TELL HIM, BEFORE HE DOES ANYTHING CRAZY!!!”

Instantly snapping out of his frozen state, Minho bolted for the door without a second thought.

Somewhere on the ground floor, Minho finally caught up with a wreck of a Jinki, slamming him against a wall to stop him.

“Listen – WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME?!” roared Minho, trying to catch his breath. “Jinki- JINKI. There was nothing between us. Me and Jonghyun, we’re just friends. Get it? Up there, we were just messing about. I was, err, trying to teach Jonghyun how to confess to his crush. Okay?”

When it finally sunk in, Jinki’s sobbing stopped. “Aish, you’re such a mess” said Minho, but with a smile. And Jinki smiled back, his eyes two cute half-moons. Maybe I DO stand a chance with him? hoped Minho.

With that thought in mind, Minho slept well that night, waking up all energized. He was just about to rock the dance training, when their dance instructor gave them some quick news.

“Boys, Jonghyun is no longer with us. Apparently, he’s moved. To London. Now, somebody turn up the music. Everyone, can you all please repeat the moves we did yesterday.”

“Hey, you! Choi Minho, is that your name? Put some strength into it! You’re dancing like an old ajjushi!

… Aish, what’s wrong with you today?”

* * *