With the amount of calls and texts Kibum sent Jonghyun that night and the next day, he was well on his way to reaching stalker status. He cringed to think of the messages he sent the elder, knowing he probably came off as really desperate.

He was pretty desperate.

What worried him, though, was that Jonghyun wasn't picking up the phone or answering any of his messages at all. He thought he would have at least told him off by now, there was no way his countless attempts at contacting him weren't getting annoying. So why wasn't he saying anything? It only reinforced Kibum's suspicion that Jonghyun hated him now.

Kibum was sitting on the couch in his living room, gnawing on one of his finger nails as he mulled over these thoughts. Suddenly, his mother put a hand on his shoulder, speaking kindly, "We're glad you've given up on that boy, Kibum. He was nothing but a bad influence on you."

Kibum's heart went cold at those words. He had never heard his mother speak in that kind voice before, and now she did simply because they had taken his only happiness away. "No, he wasn't," he said quietly, voice wavering slightly.

"What was that?" Kibum's father asked, voice a warning.

"He wasn't a bad influence. You... you don't know him. At all," Kibum's voice got stronger as he spoke, until he was almost shouting. "You don't know me, for God's sake, you never bothered to try." 

With those words, Kibum got up and left, slamming the front door behind him. He walked a ways away from the house before letting out a shout of frustration, dragging his fingers through his hair. He hated his parents, hated them for making him this way. It was their fault he was scared all the time. It was their fault he was alone.

He wouldn't let them do that to him anymore, he decided. He wouldn't let them rule his life, make him this unhappy. Most important of all, he wouldn't let them ruin his relationship with Jonghyun. He had to get Jonghyun back... But what was the point? Jonghyun would end up hurting him in the end anyway, right? There was no way they would work out. Jonghyun was playing with him, he was just having a little fun with him until he found someone better, he wasn't serious about him and--

Stop. Kibum squeezed his eyes shut, running his hands through his hair. He knew those were the kinds of thoughts that were keeping him from what he really wanted; he knew he was the cause of his own unhappiness, and he had to change it.

And somehow or another, Kibum found himself standing in front of Jinki's cafe, panting after having ran the whole way there. His heartbeat was deafening in his ears, fear overwhelming him as he thought about what he was doing. Don't think about it, Kibum told himself. Why are you here?

Jonghyun. I'm here for Jonghyun. Kibum took a deep breath, jogging the rest of the way to the cafe's entrance. He tried opening the door, but found it locked. , it's past midnight. He felt tears prick in his eyes, that familiar feeling taking over. I came all the way here, Kibum thought. I'm not giving up that easily. Kibum took out his phone and found Jonghyun in his contacts, pressing the call button. The phone rang a few times with no response, so Kibum started pounding on the cafe's door. "Damn it Jonghyun, open up!" Kibum shouted.

Dogs started barking next door, lights turning on in some of the windows across the street. He was being