Chapter 29

Give yourself a spa day. Do facials and give yourself a manicure/pedicure. We rustle outside the door as I try to decode my security lock. From my peripheral vision, I saw Key dancing (or more like he’s a fish being electrified, just kidding!) and singing in his high pitch tone on my side.   “Key!” I hiss. “Be quiet, you might wake up my neighbours and my baby.”   “Baby?” He asks quizzically.   “Yeah, so be quiet now.” I tell him. I hear him muttering something to his self. I just shrug and roll my eyes. I push the door and open the lights—still, Ki Bum’s cursing under his breath. He’s so annoying. I pass by Ddak Ji’s casket and was quite surprise to see him wide awake. I bent down and pat his head.   I went to my room and I was about to change my clothes when I hear Key talks in a really loud voice. “And who’s this ugly dog?”   My ears flare in anger. How dare Ki Bum insult my Ddak Ji. I peep outside, glaring at him. “Yah! Watch your mouth, okay? That’s my baby and he’s not ugly!”   Unexpectedly, he starts to laugh—a weird one, like it is torn in between of nervous and relief. He scoops Ddak Ji in his hand and I snarl at him while he’s not looking. Ki Bum’s murmuring something to Ddak Ji and I couldn’t quite perceive, but I catch a phrase. He said, “I thought she was—”   I went to my cabinet again and draw some new clothes.   “Yah. Gyu, what’s the name of your cute dog?”   “Ddak Ji. His name is Ddak Ji.”   “Oh. What a lovely name.”   Aigoo, he’s such a liar and hypocrite. Earlier, he just said that Ddak Ji’s ugly and now he’s close to worshipping him. I pull and tie my hair back and went outside, wearing black shirt and pyjamas.   Key sits at the couch with Ddak Ji on his lap. I pass by them going back to the main door. I pick up Jonghyun’s box and back to Key as I stand in front of him. “Ki Bum, I need you to do me a favour.”   “What?”   “Can you return this to Jonghyun? He left these, it’s all his stuffs. I need you to give it back to him.” He looks at me with lips part. Ddak Ji jump out of him and sprints back to his bed. I pass the box to Key’s hands. He blinks twice at me before gazing back at the box.   I let him take his time to examine the contents. After two minutes, I clap my hands and say, “come on, let’s do it!”   I sit beside him—too close and grin at him. “I promise you, didn’t I? That I’ll give you a treat, remember?   “Yeah—that’s why we’re here. But what exactly is your treat?”   “Oh.” I chuckle. “That’s a secret and a surprise. But first, I need you to remove your clothes—” Key’s eyes turn bright and wide. He snorts and I hear him catch his breath. He blinks a countless of time as he clutch his chest.   “Yah. Kwon Nam Gyu, what are you going to do with me?”   “—or you can use Jonghyun’s shirt, because I know you love your clothes more than anything, so if we get it—” I stop and laugh really loud at his sentiment. “—what? I’m not going to harm you.” I assure him with a smile. “It’s just that, I know your clothes are very precious to you. If we got it stained or rip, I’m pretty sure you’ll kill me.”   Key smiles at me unsurely.   “You have two choices. Either go topless or use Jonghyun’s clothes.” Key look at me with wide eyes again. His body stiffened and literally, I heard him swallow hard. Seriously? What is he thinking? “—I’d rather choose the latter, because if you choose the first option you’ll get hypothermia or something.”   “Yeah. Yeah. You’re right.” He says casually, but there were gaps for each word like he’s unconvinced. I rummage inside the box and pick up Jonghyun’s oldest short and hand it to Key.   “Komawo.” He says, I just nodded and then I notice he’s twisting the t-shirt in his hands. “You can change now.” I tell him, “at the bathroom or here. Don’t worry I won’t peek.” I raise my right hand to guarantee him that I’m keeping a promise.   He laughs loudly but too tense. “I’ll just use your bathroom.”   “Okay.”   I wait for him to stand up. But he’s just staring at the coffee table. I cleared my throat, “or do you want me to change your clothes instead?” I suggest.   Ki Bum crosses his hand over his chest, like I’m going to rip his shirt from him. As if I can do that, tch.   “No! I can do this! I’m a big guy now. I can take care of my own.” Oh really? I wanted to ask him. I thought Key’s backpedalling into a kid again who can’t even change his own clothes. I shrug my shoulders as a response. I wait for him to move or anything—but he stayed still like he’s mulling over onto everything.   I place a hand on his knee, and to my surprise he trembles from that slightest touch.   My eyebrows wrinkled as I look at him. “What?” I ask.   “N-nothing…” He says stuttering, it got me more perplex.   “Are you sure? Key, you’re sweating bullets.”   “Am I?”   Aish. I just said it, right? He’s being spacey and redundant. “Yes. You are.”   “I’m j-just being nervous. This is my first time.”     I let out a good laugh. “Stop being funny Key, I know you guys do this… Everyone’s doing it… so what’s wrong with us doing it?”   “Well… Uhm… Ugh… We have a choice, and we cannot do that.”   “But a promise is a promise!”   
“Don’t you get it, Gyu? It’s okay if we won't do it.” He chuckles nervously and my eyebrows crook. “I like you—a lot. And didn’t you say that you’re not ready yet? Let’s take it slow. We don’t need to rush things. We don’t need to be like them. We don’t need to follow the convention right?”   I gape blankly at him. Key smiles at me, I'm pretty sure I have this questioning look on my face. What the hell is he talking about? And what's with the convention thingy? I'm just planning to surprise him by giving a facial treatment!   “You know what Key? You’re so weird, really.” I look at him, quite in dubious. “What are you thinking? And what’s with that speech?”   “I thought we’re going to do it?  I’m convincing you, not to.”   “Yes!” I shriek. “It—a spa treatment! You don’t want to?”   Key chortles enthusiastically like he never laughs like this before and like it’s his first time to express this amusement. He fans his self and jerks his shirt. “Oh. Thank heavens. I thought it was having—we’