It was one of those rare days when it was just the two of us without schedules. We had so many plans, but when it was time, we were both to lazy to actually leave the dorm.

We were in the bedroom, both of us on top of each of the bunk beds.

Kibum was laying on his stomach, a hand outstretched, reaching to touch the ceiling.

"Hyung?" he addressed me with a soft absent minded whisper, "How far do you think we'll go? Do you think we'll ever be as big as the Super Junior-sunbaes?"

"With me in SHINee, we'll probably be even bigger-" I was trying to keep a straight face while answering his question, but once his pillow hit my face I couldn't contain my laughter.

"Yah! Jonghyun! I was being serious!" Kibum, now sitting up, glared at me, another pillow ready in his grip.

"So was I!" I laughed again and threw back the pillow, "and respect me! I'm your hyung!"

"Could've fooled me! Seeing as you're so short!"

If there was anything that bothered me more than tall people-- like Choi Minho-- it was people calling me short.

Especially Kibum.

"YOU, ME, TAEMIN'S BED. GRAB A PILLOW AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN."

"ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS TO YOURSELF JONGHYUN? WHAT IF YOU CAN'T REACH ME?"

"HELL, I'LL CLIMB YOU IF I HAVE TO, BUT I'M TEACHING YOU A LESSON."

"BRING IT ON, GNOME."

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME A GNOME?!"

"YOU HEARD ME." he was already standing below, on Taemin's bed, smug smile on his face. I sputtered for a minute, having no idea what to say back.

"I thought you wanted to fight like men. What are you still doing up there, Princess?"

Our pillow fight seemed to be endless, hit after hit, neither of us wanted to back down. It only ended when they were nearly empty of feathers, soft white tufts falling around us like snow.

Breathing hard, we collapsed onto the bed.

"That-" I paused to take a breath, "was a tie."

"Only because you elbowed me in the stomach," he was trying to sound serious, but without even looking at him I knew there was a smile on his face.

There was silence in the room, save for the sound of our slowly steading breathing. For a while, I laid there thinking about his question while I ran my fingers along a feather.

"I think we will, 'Bum." I mumbled absentmindedly.

"We will what?" he was still a bit short of breath and his voice sounded strangely heavy and deep in my ears.

"Be as famous as Super Junior and all the other sunbaes, maybe even more."

"It'd be nice, but I don't think we should bring our hopes up too much." he sighed and rolled over onto his stomach, his shoulder bumping into mine.

"It's good to have hope though. And we all have potential and talent, we'll be fine."

"Almost all of us..."

I was confused at first, as to what he meant, but after a minute of thinking, I understood.

"Kibum, don't." I pat the bed between us, searching for his hand. When my fingers finally made contact with his, he recoiled at my touch and moved away a little. I sat up and looked at him. His head was turned away from me, into the crook of his right arm.

"'Bum, please, don't be like this."

"How can I not? I feel like an extra, everyone's good at something, a-and then there's me. I'm just okay." his voice cracked, and I knew he was holding back tears.

"You are not an extra. You're important. You're important to me, to SHINee, and to the fans we already have." I reached for his hand again, and he pulled away for the second time. I didn't let him go so easily. This time I linked our fingers together, not letting him go when he tried to tug back his hand.

"They don't like me. Everyone likes the rest of you, I just stick out-" he takes a shaky breath and tightens his grip on my hand. "There's still time, I can still drop out. You'll be better off, I won't drag you down."

"I like you. You have a good voice, you can dance better than me, Jinki, and Minho all together! I won't even add Taemin onto that mix because, honestly, there's no one better than that kid on this planet. We don't need those fans if they can't see how amazing you are. I even-- I swear I'll end you and hide your body where no one will find it if you ever repeat this to anyone-- I think you're good looking. Your eyes are pretty and your smile makes me smile and sometimes I just want to touch your cheeks or your lips because- how are they even like that?" I rambled on and suddenly stopped when his last words finally hit me.

"There's still time, I can still drop out. You'll be better off, I won't drag you down."

I felt horrible, I had been rambling on about stupid things and he was probably still feeling inadequate.

I nudged his shoulder with my free hand and he turned towards me. His eyes were teary and red and there were feathers stuck in his bangs, but he looked so lost.

I pulled him up until he was sitting across from me. He pulled his hand away from mine and avoided looking at me, but I let him.

"Kibum, I've told you before. I'm not gonna do this without you. I can't- as much as I like those other guys, none of them are my best friend, none of them are you. If you're leaving, it, I'm leaving too. By some miracle, they put us in the same group, having you here makes things so much easier. I'm not as close to anyone as I am with you, we've just been through so much together. My old friends from school, I can't smack them in the face with a pillow or mess around with them like I do with you. Jinki, Minho, and Tae- with them, things still get awkward. I can't be with them, I always seem to say the wrong thing at one point. I just- god, I don't know- none of them are you." I took a deep breath, sighing a bit and looking down at my fists, resting on my knees.

"Please don't go, I don't want to do this without you. At one point, I didn't think I needed anyone to get through any of this- then I met you a few years ago. Is it weird that I think we were always meant to be friends? I don't think it was just luck that we started talking in the practice room back then-"

"Jonghyun, just shut up already. You're saying weird stuff and you're making me feel bad." he sniffed a little, and I looked up. He was grinning at me, his eyes still red.

"You shut up, it's your fault anyway. You worry me too much, you should love me more." I stuck my tongue out at him and smacked his arm with the almost-empty pillow case I was still holding on to.

"I think I love myself a little too much to have any room for you. But I have one way of expressing my gratitude for your cheesy, dorky ." he smirked, leaning over and poking me in the stomach.

"Noraebang. Lets go, on me. Just a couple hours. We can consider it our vocal practice for the day." he jumped off the bed, taking off his baggy T-shirt an heading towards the closet.

"Including food?" I yelled after him.

"Including food."

It didn't take me long to get ready after hearing the word "food", but it took my long enough to drag Kibum out of the dorm.

Hours later, I ended up on a couch watching Kibum belt out the last song. He looked so happy and carefree just singing for the sake of having fun. I couldn't wait to see him doing the same thing on a stage right next to me.

He was smiling through the instrumental, watching me with shimmering eyes. Lights of all colors spun all around the room, and my head felt light.

He was there, swaying slightly in the middle of the room, legs clad in skinny jeans, loose tank too showing off what could be considered too much of his chest, and his eyes partially covered by messy hair. I watched him, a heavy feeling falling on my chest.

It was strange, I had felt it before, but it was more intense, more compelling. I couldn't turn away from him, and it frustrated me.

He was singing again, and it was like his voice was calling out to me. I stood up and walked to him like a sailor dooming his his ship to an end at the jagged rocks of a siren's island.

I brought up my microphone to my lips and sang along to the lyrics I already knew. He threw an arm over my shoulder and pulled me into his sway. Without thinking, I wrapped an arm around his waist and shut my eyes. We just sang through the last bit of the song obnoxiously, not even bothering to try to match the notes.

I was dizzy, drunk with his energy and the music coursing through my veins.

The music was fading out, slowing to a stop, and all I could really hear was Key's laughter. His head was thrown back, his eyes shut in crescent shapes, and his laugh was like a melody. He held onto me for support, stumbling a little every once in a while. Everything about him seemed to be contagious; his energy, his smile, his laughter. Everything was pulling me to him, making me remember all the time we had spent together, and I realized I could never let him go.

He was there, by my side, both of us already leaning onto one another at the end of one of our many days just enjoying being teenagers. Our laughter was subsiding, but his smile was there. That smile I knew was one reserved especially for me. One that told me that he would rather be here with me than anywhere else. It was a smile that told me that-- although he knew we would probably be in trouble once we got back to the dorm-- he was happy to be with me.

I started laughing again once the realization hit me. I was happy, ecstatic, that that smile was meant for me, and only me.

It was long past our curfew, far too late to be out, and I was with Kibum. Although what was supposed to be the last song was ending, a new song was beginning and I was falling for my best friend. 

 

~~~~

Woooo!

The idea hit me out of nowhere and I was itching to write something new, so it worked out. xD

I spent ALL DAY trying to get this as close to perfection as I could.

And it's still not there yet xD

I like it a lot for the most part, and there's a good response, I may continue with a sequel!

Comments are appreciated! :D
Thank you all for reading!