You were at the library today. You had finished reading all the books that you had borrowed and wanted to return them and borrow a new batch. But you just couldn’t concentrate on what you were doing. You had taken a few books to browse through to decide which ones you would borrow but your mind kept wandering to other matters.

Right now, the biggest thing on your mind was the fact that Kibum’s birthday was just a week away and you still hadn’t figured out what gift to get him. You had been paying more attention to him all week to try and see if you could figure out if he needed anything but it seemed like he already had everything that he needed.

You had initially thought about getting him a shirt or a jacket but you knew that he was very picky when it came to fashion and since you weren’t entirely confident of picking out something that he would like, you decided against the idea.

You let out a soft sigh and placed the book that you had been trying to read for the past hour down on the table. You couldn’t continue like this, you needed to decide on the gift and get it as soon as you could. Suddenly, you remembered his band members. Maybe Jonghyun oppa would know what to get him, since he is Kibum’s best friend. You randomly chose a few books from the stack to borrow and returned the rest to the cart before making your way back to the apartment as fast as you could manage.

Thankfully, when you arrived back at the apartment, Kibum wasn’t home yet, so you quickly retrieved your netbook from your room and set it up on the dining table. You saw that Jinki was online and quickly clicked on his name to web-call him. When the call connected, you saw both Jinki and Taemin on the screen.

“Hello, Jinki oppa and Taeminnie.” You greeted.

“Hello, ------ah/noona” The both of them chimed at the same time.

You saw that Taemin had a book in front of him. “Are you doing your homework now, Taeminnie?”

Taemin nodded. “Jinki hyung is helping me.”

“Really? Is he any good?” You teased.

“Hyung is really smart!” Taemin defended while Jinki just turned a light shade of pink.

You laughed. “Don’t worry Taeminnie, I was just teasing. Anyway, is Jonghyun oppa around?”

“Nope, he left not too long ago to go for extra vocal training.” Jinki answered.

You sighed. “Oh man, I was hoping that I could ask him for suggestions on what to get Kibum for his birthday.”

“I can help!” Taemin piped, his homework completely forgotten by now. “Omma, likes pink things and he likes to eat yummy food, especially chocolate, even though he always says that he’s on a diet.”

“Er…” You began but Jinki cut you off.

“Taeminnie, concentrate on your homework. I don’t want Kibum to nag me to death later when he finds out that your homework hasn’t been completed. I’ll help ------ah.” He said with finality in this voice.

Taemin immediately went back to doing his homework and Jinki turned to you. “Have you come up with any ideas so far?” He asked.

“I thought of getting him a shirt or a nice jacket but I’m not sure if he’d like it since he’s so particular about his fashion.” You admitted.

“Hmm, have you thought about doing something that only you could do? You don’t necessarily have to buy him his favourite brands of clothes or spend a lot of money on his gift. I think it’ll mean more to him if you gave him something only you could.” He advised and gave you a warm smile.

“Hmm, something only I could do.” You tapped your bottom lip with your index finger and pondered.

“I’ll have to think about this one but thanks for the advice, oppa! And you too, Taeminnie!”

“Anytime, noona!” Taemin chimed before ducking his head back down again to do his homework.

“You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad that I could help, even if just a little. How’s the baby coming along?”

“Oh, baby’s been good. Everything is going fine. I’m still not due for about 3 weeks or so.” You answered.

“Ok, take it easy then. Don’t stress yourself out too much and get plenty of rest.” He reminded.

“I will, oppa. You’re starting to sound like Kibummie.” You teased.

Taemin moved closer to the laptop screen and softly whispered into the speaker, “That’s why he’s the appa and Kibum hyung is the omma. Shhhh.”

You laughed and Jinki looked suspiciously at Taemin. “What did you tell ------?”

“Nothing! Ask noona.” Taemin said, the innocent look on his face told you that he was extremely good at acting.

“Oppa, he really didn’t say anything.” You quickly said.

Taemin gave Jinki an I-told-you-so look and continued to do his homework but not before he gave you a mischievous wink.

“Ok, I should go before Kibummie comes back. Don’t tell him about this conversation ok?” Jinki and Taemin nodded. “Alright! Take care, be good Taeminnie. Talk to you again soon and tell the others I said hi! Bye!” You waved at the webcam and they waved back.

You had just disconnected the call when you heard the muffled sounds of keys jingling, followed by the unlocking of the front door. Kibum walked in and was about to walk straight into the kitchen when he saw you and did a double take. “You’re home early.” He sounded surprised.

“Yup, I wanted to talk to Soojin for a bit before she went to bed. I just finished talking to her when you came back.” You lied smoothly.

“What did you talk about?” He asked.

“Oh, just the usual. I updated her on the how the baby is and then listened to her nag about taking care of myself before she asked me about how my search for an apartment was going.” You answered.

“An apartment? Why?” He arched an eyebrow and looked at you.

“Well, you’ll be going back to Korea in a couple of months and then I won’t be able to stay here anymore, so I’m finding for a place to stay after you leave.” You explained.

“Are you being serious right now?” He looked peeved for some reason.

“Yeah?” You said hesitantly.

He let out a heavy sigh. “Ok, sit.”

You sat on the kitchen counter stool.

“Ok, first things first, you’re right, I am going to leave for Korea in a few months-“ You opened your mouth and wanted to say something but he continued. “But you won’t have to look for another place to live. Did you really think that I would kick you out just because I’m not staying here anymore?”

You gulped, not daring to answer him.

He took your hands in his and looked you in the eyes. “Do you trust me?”

You didn’t say anything but you didn’t break eye contact either.

“Do you believe that I will do my best to protect you? Even if I’m not here?” He added.

His voice was filled with so much warmth but you could see that his eyes were dead serious. Could you really trust another person to protect you? Junhyung had made you promises too and although the memory was fading, you still remembered it, remembered the hurt that you felt after placing all your trust on Junhyung, only to have it broken. You weren’t sure if you were ready to trust another person that way yet.

“I’m sorry. I don’t deserve to have you as a friend. I know I should trust you, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t but… I just can’t. It hurts too much.” You sobbed into his chest when he pulled your hands around him and pulled you into his embrace.

“Shhh… Don’t cry.” He whispered as he ran his hand up and down your back slowly.

When you calmed down, he pulled back from the hug to look at you. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to remind you of those unhappy memories.” He said while wiping away your tears with the pads of his thumbs.

“No, I’m the one that’s sorry. You’ve been nothing but nice, considerate, kind and generous to me. The least you deserve is trust. I just… I’m not sure if I’m ready to trust anyone completely yet.” You said.

He pulled you back into another hug, your chin resting on his shoulder this time. “It’s alright.” He your hair. “As long as you know that I can be trusted, I’ll wait until you’re ready to trust me.”

You sniffled. “Thank you, Kibummie. You’re wonderful.”

He chuckled and you could almost hear his smirk. “Took you long enough.”

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Ok, a tiny piece of bad news. I'll be away for the next few days, so I won't be able to update. I'll probably be back late on the 23rd so I'll do a double post on the 24th ok? 

Love you all! If you still haven't finished your Christmas shopping, do it quickly! :) 

I'll be back soon! ^^