[one-shot] Reminiscence
Title: Reminiscence
Pairing: Jongkey.
Genre: AU; romance.
Rating: PG
Word count: 2480.
Beta: fingeredheart and I also had black_goose give it a look over.
Disclaimer(s): I do not own them.
Summary: "It might be next to you, but you just can't see it."
It wasn't the first time he woke up in this room. It had happened a lot of times, for an unknown reason. The room looked as if it belonged to a girl: pink walls, some girly clothes tossed in a corner. If this weren't the first time he'd visited it, he would've thought it really was a girl's room, but he'd done that too many times already. It pertained to a boy, a boy who went by the name of Key. Jonghyun didn't think it was his real name, but the boy never wanted to tell him it. Key also had a nickname for him, it was Jjong. He had no idea why he'd chosen that nickname, no one had ever even thought of calling him that, but he liked it. It felt special.
He got up, like he always did, and went downstairs. Key was waiting there for him.
“Morning!” he said in his usual cheerful tone.
Jonghyun didn't answer to this. He never did. The other boy was making breakfast as usual.
“What are we doing today?” Jonghyun asked curious. He always looked forward to the time they spent together. It seemed like Key was the only one who understood him. He always had a fun time with him and he knew all the thing Jonghyun liked, but he didn't find all that weird since it was a dream. Dreams always know everything about you, right?
Jonghyun started eating his cereal and they kept chatting all the way through. He always told Key about how his day went and the boy listened quietly, nodding and sometimes muttering a “mmhm” or “uh-huh” at the right times. Jonghyun liked it when people listened to him and didn't interrupt him, and although Key could really be a bitch sometimes, he liked him. He felt as if he always opened up to Key more than to anyone.
When he finished eating they went out. They usually went shopping, since Key loved it, or maybe to a karaoke, but this time it was different. Key decided to go to a theme park and Jonghyun agreed to it. When they entered, he saw a sea of colors, children fooling around, parents chasing after their restless children. He liked this place. It reminded him of when he was a child, though he didn't have much memory of it.
“I used to come here with my best friend when I was a kid” Key suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
“Really? This place reminds me of something but I can't recall what exactly. They're like quick flashbacks that run through my mind and that I can't get a hold of.”
“Oh. Well, maybe someday you'll remember. It might be next to you, but you just can't see it.” the other boy said while smiling.
Jonghyun chuckled.
“Maybe. So, what do you want to ride first?” he asked.
“Whatever you like.”
They rode everything there was. From the smallest ride to the biggest one. Jonghyun had really enjoyed seeing Key get scared while on the roller coaster even though he was a bit scared too, but he'd never even think of admitting that, and also when they rode this ride that lifted them 100 feet up in to the air and then just let them fall. He'd enjoyed every second of the time he'd spent there. He wished it weren't only a dream, he wished it were real.
When night came, he fell asleep in the same bed he'd woken up in, but when he awoke again, things weren't the same.
~*~
He woke up in the same room he'd woken up in for his whole life, his room. He closed his eyes hoping that he would drift back to sleep and see Key again, so maybe he'd finally remember the face he could never remember, no matter how much he tried. But obviously, that didn't happen.
After deciding to finally get up, he went, took a shower and then got dressed for school. School wasn't exactly his place to be at, but as long as he had Minho and Taemin, he was okay. The same boring day was about to start again. It always followed the same pattern, never changed.
~*~
“He's studying again.” Minho said while looking at a boy in the front row.
“Does he ever do something else?” Jonghyun said sarcastically, and then turned and looked at the boy. Jinki was the class nerd. Jonghyun didn't really like him that much, even though he had never even tried to get to know him a bit. But there was something about him that he didn't like. It happened with a lot of people. Also, Jinki was friends with Kibum, who was his rival since he was good at everything. Jonghyun though of him as mostly a stuck-up person, and he wasn't very fond of stuck-up people.
“Shall we go bother him again?” Minho asked with a smirk on his face.
“Minho.” Taemin threw him a cold glance “Just give the guy a break. It's not like he's done anything to any of us.”
“Well, yes, but none of us like him. And it's fun bothering him.”
“Fun or not, I think mostly not, leave him alone. He's actually a nice person, he's helped me with some stuff, despite the fact that you guys never leave him alone.”
“Taemin,” Minho said while putting a hand on his shoulder “stop being so naïve.”
The boy brushed his hand off.
“I am not naïve, now stop it.” he demanded.
“Tae's right, Minho. Just cut it out for a while.” Jonghyun also agreed with the boy.
Meanwhile, Kibum entered the classroom. Jonghyun noticed how he'd thrown him a glance as if he was hoping for something but then he turned his head to his friend. He kept watching the two, noticing how Kibum threw him a glance every now and then, but he never looked at him for too long. As if he couldn't look at him for too long. Jonghyun wondered if there was a reason behind that, or if it was either just because the guy didn't like him.
~*~
Jonghyun had never told his friends about the mysterious boy from his dreams called Key. He thought they would think he was insane. Maybe he was but he refused to believe that. Key seemed so real in his dreams. He wondered if a dream could ever feel so real. It was the first time it had happened to him, and he realize he could no longer tell the difference between reality and dream. It was confusing.
~*~
They were both lying on the grass in Key's courtyard, staring at the starry sky. It was beautiful. And he really enjoyed the feeling of having Key only a few inches away from him. He felt safer like that. It felt like his dream had less possibilities to end if they just kept laying like this.
“I've always wanted to try something.” Key suddenly broke the silence.
“What?”
“I'm not sure if you'll like it.” the boy said, now turning his head to look at him.
Jonghyun laughed.
“You never know if you don't try.”
“Are you sure?” Key asked again. Jjong could notice the hesitation in his voice.
“Positive.” he reassured him.
“Then close your eyes.”
Jonghyun laughed again. He couldn't believe how shy Key was being.
“Why should I?” he said without stopping his laugh.
“Just do it!” the other boy demanded.
The tone in Key's voice actually scared Jonghyun a bit, and he decided to finally close his eyes and let whatever was about to happen, happen. He felt the other boy moving next to him, shifting closer to him. He wondered what was he going to do, what was this thing that Key was so shy about, but what he never expected for it to be, was a kiss.
He suddenly felt Key's lips press against his gently, and they just clicked, as if made one for another. He sensed Key being unsure if he should pull back or just keep going, so he took that decision for him, because he realized it was all he had been wanting for a long time.
When they separated Jonghyun felt like doing it again, and again, and again, until he got sick of it. Although even then, he'd probably continue.
~*~
He hadn't seen him in days, and now, all Jonghyun wanted to do was sleep, just sleep until he'd finally see him standing there cooking for him, until he could hang out with him again and until he could finally kiss him again. But things were becoming extremely weird. He'd started to have blanks in his memory and he didn't know the reason why. Days weren't making sense anymore, but he'd had that happen before, with Key, but now, without him, everything was just plain confusing.
~*~
Jonghyun could not believe how he'd gotten stuck with Kibum on an afternoon, just because they'd fought and a teacher caught them and grounded them to clean the classroom after school. Cleaning together wouldn't change their bad relationship.
With the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Kibum staring at him. It was weird seeing him do that. It happened a bit too often, Jonghyun thought. Maybe he was interested in him? Jonghyun shook his head in denial at the thought. It wasn't that Kibum liked him, it was the exact opposite, he disliked him. There was no way Kibum was eyeing him like that because he was interested in him, he was just pissed.
Jonghyun brushed away all his bad thoughts and started erasing the blackboard. He hated getting detention and having to clean things. Footsteps were coming from behind. He supposed that the other boy was about to start doing the same thing he was.
“I don't even clean that much at home and now I am supposed to clean here?” Kibum mumbled.
“My thoughts exactly.” Jonghyun thought. At least they had one thing in common.
“Hey, Jjong, could you pass me an eraser?” he heard Kibum's voice from his right.
He was about to pass the eraser to him, when he noticed “Jjong”, there was only one person who called him that, and he wasn't Kibum. Or was he?
“Why did you just call me Jjong?” he asked confused.
Key's eyes widened in shock.
“Ah. My bad, Jonghyun.” He said and took the eraser from Jonghyun's hands and started cleaning.
“You didn't answer to my question, though. There is only one person who calls me that and I know for a fact that it's not you.”
“Or do you know?” a voice said in his head “You can never remember his face, can you?”. He realized that the voice in his head was right. Key's face had always gotten erased from his memory, he could never remember it.
Kibum kept silent, and kept wiping the blackboard, that was already clean.
“Do you know someone called Key?” Jonghyun asked him.
“That is one, um, strange name. I don't know him. Why?” Kibum answered without even turning and looking him in the eyes.
“Well, I don't know. Maybe because I keep having dreams of him, and I can never remember his face. Also, he's the only one to call me Jjong. In fact, he was the one to invent that nickname for me.”
Kibum slowed the wiping a bit, that was when Jonghyun figured out that he did know something.
“Those weren't dreams.” he said softly.
“And how would you, of all people, know?” Jonghyun said angrily. It wasn't his intention to be angry, but he was so confused and sick of all the chaos in his mind, that he became angry.
“Don't talk to me like that!” Kibum yelled “Okay, do you really want to know what happened? We used to be best friends and then you got into a car accident, and when you woke up you remember everything but me! It was as if we had never been friends! But, I don't know what happened, because you started to revert to your old self sometimes, and you came to me, but then you just reverted back, and didn't remember a thing. So, I had to make you believe it was a dream, I had to give myself another name just so you wouldn't know who I was, because you hated me.”
When Kibum was done, he threw the eraser away in anger, stalking off to the opposite corner of the room. He picked up a rag, dunking it into a full bucket nearby, his body so tense that he completely disregarded the dirty water sloshing onto the ground beside his feet. Jonghyun didn't blame him for it, he would've been mad too, if he were him. He thought, and put the pieces into place, and it actually made sense. The black holes he'd had, were probably the moment that he reverted back. Although, he couldn't find a reason why he couldn't remember Key's face, or better why he couldn't remember anything about him during childhood, he's stopped being confused now. It made sense.
“I'm sorry.” he finally said.
“What for?” Key asked in surprise.
“For not remembering you. Ever. I feel bad for it.” he said softly again.
“It's okay. It's not like it's your fault anyway.” Key said, the small lift of a smile on his lips.
“I guess that's what all those cryptic messages where for. You were always trying to make me remember, but I guess I failed at it.” Jonghyun laughed uncomfortably, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
To his surprise, Key laughed too, but he didn't say anything after. They both looked at each other. It was written in their eyes that neither of them had forgotten that last night, but Jonghyun had no idea how to bring it up - it would be too awkward, he thought, fingers twisting into the fabric of his jacket as he swiftly averted his gaze.
“Aren't you forgetting something?” Key asked suddenly, and Jonghyun raised his eyes in confusion. What was he forgetting this time?
“Well, I don't know, ask me on a date, maybe?”
Jonghyun blinked. He hadn't expected him to be that straightforward. “Am I supposed to?” he saw the other boy's eyes darken, and stepped forward. “Not that I don't want to!” he quickly amended. “I wasn't exactly sure about it, that's all.”
Kibum shrugged. “Okay, then. 7 o'clock tomorrow, my house, don't be late!” the boy said and turned around walking to the door.
A/N: I've had writer's block for this past year and this is my attempt at getting rid of it. It's also the first time I'm writing Jongkey! I hope you enjoyed it!