[Fic] The Happiest Days for Patzmelody01;PG13
The Happiest Days...
Couple: MinKey/Broken!MinKey, cheating/bff!JongKey, side!JongYu, MinhoxYuri (blegh...)
Genre: AU, Romance, Angst, Family
Rated: PG13
Summary: Kibum had lost everything four years ago, when he had stupidly turned his own self-doubting into a simple action he would regret for the rest of his life. He lost everything...including his husband....
What if there was a way for life to rewind? What if there was a way to start over on a relationship right from the first meeting? What if there was a way to forget every hurt, and to say everything that was left unsaid? What if you were given the chance to love and cherish him forever the way you should have? What if it’s already too late?...
Prompt by Patzmelody01 (I love this prompt, I hope I didn’t ruin it)
A/N: For Patzmelody01 because I tortured her so much with Remember Me!?!, haha. I hope you like it, and it makes you happy, not only hate me even more. xP
Previous Chapter(s)
“Recognize you...? I...no....I’m sorry. Have...we met before?”
“It was just a dream...it had to have been just a dream...” Kibum whispered to himself as he sat up slowly in his bed, the pale yellow light from the sunrise’s bright rays slipping through the planks of the blinds, just barely lighting the hotel room enough for him to see.
He had been awake for almost an hour, short blurs of memories coming back to him slowly of what he had been sure had happened the day prior. Arriving in Hawaii, walking down the street, seeing the soccer-match going on, the kids and...their coach.
“It had to have been a dream. I...must be imagining things again. I knew I should have slept more on the airplane on the way here. I must have been tired when I arrived and simply collapsed here after I landed and dreamed it all. He must have been still so heavy on my mind that I dreamed again of him. There’s...absolutely no way it could be true. No way he would be here. Absolutely no way he could have been there, seen and talked to me, and yet didn’t have the disgust with me that he deserves, and forgave me enough just to where he could have acted like he didn’t even remember me. It....must have just been a nightmare...” He whispered to himself, as he slowly pulled himself out of the bed and began to make his way towards the small backpack he had brought along, which was set neatly by the bed’s side.
“Though...I don’t remember checking in here...” He muttered quietly to himself as he moved over to the curtains and pulled them aside enough to look out the window.
A pink and yellow sunrise over the ocean met with him, and a soft ocean’s breeze hit against his face due to the left-open window. The air was clean and thick, warm despite the newly rising sun, and made Kibum take in a deep breath, slowly letting it out through his nose. It didn’t matter, the heavy sense of missing the other man that seemed stronger than ever in his heart, the strange nightmare he had had the night prior, or even the fact that he knew he selfishly would have rather been hated than forgotten. Though he wanted so badly for Minho to be able to forget the way he had misused him, mistreated him and all the pain he had caused him, something inside of him wanted so badly not to be forgotten, because he knew he would never be able to forget Minho ever. It had all been a dream anyways, and this time in Hawaii was supposed to be about giving back. Was supposed to be about going out and finding himself, making himself a better person. A person worth remembering in the first place. And until he had made himself that sort of person, he would not allow himself to think of Minho. He didn’t even deserve to think of Minho until he made himself worth something.
With a heavy sigh, Kibum forced himself to place Minho out of his mind again and pulled back away from the window, opening the curtains to fill the hotel room with light as he turned back to his suitcase that was waiting for him by the door, opening it up to find the small paper which had the address of the school he was supposed to be volunteering at.
“Now, I just have to figure out where Waianuenue St. is....” He muttered quietly to himself, as he slipped off his travel shirt and began getting ready for his first day working.
~*~
After a while of struggling with the strange traffic patterns and one-way streets that the busy little town of Hilo threw at him, Kibum had finally found his destination. He was greeted to an old looking school campus with yellow buildings and flocks of students lingering about the entire campus. It was lunch time, because he had been told that he should just come in and meet the students he was going to be tutoring at first so that he could get a drift of things and learn his way around the campus before his first official day. The weather seemed considerably better as a warm sunshine shined down from the thin lining of clouds that still lingered in the sky, and yet it seemed much warmer than Kibum thought any place should be for being in the middle of February.
Before too long of wandering around the campus, listening to the light drones of music that was playing in the front of a old looking building in the middle of the campus, Kibum had found a way to make his way into the principal’s office and finally met his future boss.
The principal of the school was a short, middle aged man with a dark complexion with grey strips running through his dark brown hair. He was dressed in a large, floral patterned and short-sleeved dress shirt (Kibum thinks he was told they were called “aloha shirts”), and khakis, making Kibum feel a bit overdressed in a full-on white dress shirt and black vest, and talked casually compared to how Kibum would have expected. Everyone in Hawaii seemed so layback and comfortable, Kibum couldn’t help but think.
“Welcome, Mr. Kim. I can’t express how thankful we are to have you here!” The principle said happily, placing a hand on Kibum’s back as he led him out of the office to show him around the school. “You see, lately we’ve made a connection to the school you work at in Korea and since then, we’ve gotten a lot more Korean exchange students. They all have seemed to be excelling in their studies here, but seem, for whatever reason, to be having trouble picking up the language. Plus, our Korean language resources are a bit limited, so we asked if we could have a tutor come over. We at Hilo High School can’t be more thankful to you coming to visit us and help our students.” He said happily, smiling back at Kibum as they walked out onto the main pathway of the school.
Kibum smiled back at the man and bowed his head quickly. “Of course. It’s a privilege to come here and help you guys out. Although I haven’t come to Hawaii before now,” He said lightly in English, as he tried to keep eye-contact with the man in front of him, but couldn’t help but be a bit distracted by the groups of children around him and how their way of speaking seemed to make no sense to him. Which wasn’t a good thing for an English-tutor.
The principal smiled before shaking his head and tapping on Kibum’s shoulder to lead him down a small set of stairs towards a classroom. “Don’t worry, I am sure that you’ll fit in with the staff soon. We’re all happy to help you out whenever you need it. Besides, your English seemed good to me. You said that it was your second language?” He asked casually as he led Kibum into a stairwell towards a few classrooms on the second story.
“Mn, my native language is Korean, but I learned English when I went on an exchange program to California when I was twelve. Since then, I’ve just used the language for little things like being an unprofessional translator for a family business.” Kibum explained, but couldn’t help the slight sting in his chest as he thought of the time he had to serve as a translator for an important guest from America that had come to discuss a partnership with Minho’s company since Minho never seemed to be able to learn English very well. With that thought, Kibum sighed again slightly as he remembered the pretty decent English spoken by the Minho in his dream that night. Surely it was just a dream.
“Ah, well, it’s very good. We’re very lucky to have you here with us, Mr. Kim.” The principal said, before leading Kibum towards a door and took a key out of his pocket. “Oh, here we are. This room will serve as your classroom for now, until we can find ourselves a new soccer coach.” He explained, taking the key out of the door and holding it out for Kibum. “This is your key to keep. You’re room BB202.” He explained.
Kibum smiled lightly as he took the key and looked at the large classroom inside of the open door in front of him, but couldn’t stop himself from swallowing hard as he immediately noticed all of the soccer posters that were pinned to the walls still, and the newspaper articles that were laying about. Why was it that he never seemed to be able to escape soccer? Just being in this room made him keep thinking back to Minho in his dream last night. It seemed so fitting, Minho being a toddler’s soccer coach. It was a perfect combination of his most dear loves.
“I’m afraid that this can only be your room for a little while, though, Mr. Kim.” The principal’s voice suddenly cut off Kibum’s thoughts, causing for the young man to snap back to reality and turn his gaze back towards him. “You see, our last soccer coach resigned due to family reasons just a few weeks ago, and this room will be vacant until we can find a new coach. However, we thought that you might like this room until then. You can see the ocean on clear days, and the ceiling fans are a must when it’s hot. We figured you’d like it in here until then.” He explained, smiling as he flipped on the ceiling fans which immediately began spinning and cooling the room. “Only one or two classrooms have real air-conditioning, so you have one of the best.” He added with a joke.
Kibum laughed quietly before bowing his head slightly with thanks before glancing back towards the newspaper articles hanging on the walls, curiosity stricken due to the blurry image of someone’s back moving in one of the pictures. You could barely even notice him, because he was behind the group shot of a soccer team, but something about the short, black hair and muscular arms and legs caught Kibum’s attention. Why was it that in his dream the night prior that Minho had short, black hair? For as long as he knew him, Minho always preferred having his hair longer and it was almost always brown.
“--Im? Mr. Kim?” Kibum almost jumped when he heard the principal’s voice again, snapping out of his thoughts of Minho, and glanced over his shoulder again.
The principal smiled when he caught the young teacher’s attention again before walking towards the door again. “I’ll let you get all set up here for a little while, and then I’ll send in the students that you’re going to be tutoring so they can meet you first. Is that alright?” He asked, as he stopped in the doorway again.
Kibum forced himself away from the newspaper article immediately and walked over towards the white-board before nodding slowly, feeling a bit stupid for accidentally spacing out in front of his new boss on the first day. “Oh yes, of course. Thank you very much for showing me around.” He said politely, dipping his head low out of habit as the principal smiled and nodded before leaving the room.
~*~
Kibum sighed heavily and dropped his posture as the principal left the room again, and the sound of his shoes clicking against the stairwell stopped sounding. “Damn it, I need to get my head straight again...” He whispered to himself quietly. “I can’t mess this up by selfishly thinking about Minho the entire time. I came here to help the students, not be a spaz thinking about his ex-husband all day...” He sighed again before messing up his bangs a little bit out his eyes, when all of a sudden, there was a little noise in front of him causing for him to jump.
“Seonsaengnim?” A light, little voice suddenly asked quietly, causing for Kibum to gasp quickly as he snapped up from the slouched position he had slumped into. There he was, in the first hour of his first day, and already he was slouched about, confessing to his students and possible boss or co-workers that he was a gay man who had selfishly lost his husband. What was it that made him think that that wouldn’t go so well?
However, as he calmed himself enough to take a breath and look back towards the bright pair of eyes that stared at him happily, he found himself suddenly a bit less scared. Something about the big, bright and innocent looking eyes that looked as if they were sitting atop of impossibly high and rosy cheeks, framed by a little halo of dusty-blonde bangs, seemed less than intimidating towards Kibum as he found a soft smile falling onto his lips as he looked at the innocent looking kid in front of him. His face was unmistakably Korean, but his lithe little frame and dusty-blonde hair made him look just all the more young, as he stared but at Kibum with curious but happy looking eyes.
“Hyung, you can’t be my Seonsaengnim, can you? You look like a student yourself,” The kid blurted out suddenly, in informal Korean, still staring at Kibum with slightly skeptical and yet still overly-friendly eyes, voice as small and high as the kid himself looked.
Kibum couldn’t help himself from laughing quietly as he looked at the cute kid in front of him. Something about the boy in front of him seemed so comfortable to him that he immediately forgot his worries to the strange and very compelling want to pinch the kid’s high little cheeks. Something about him wanted just to squeak out a little “Aiguuu, you can’t be my student either. You look like a little baby~!”, but he forced himself to keep it in as he remembered he was supposed to be a professional. Blame it on being a young teacher.
“Heh, I am your teacher, actually. Pleased to meet you, my name is Kim Kibum. I just got here to help teach you how to speak better English.” Kibum answered in Korean lightly, not helping but smiling at the kid’s cuteness as the little boy stuck out impossibly plump lips and pouted slightly at the response he got.
“Kim-saengnim? Really? I’m tempted to call you Kibum-hyung. How old are you, Seonsaengnim?” The boy asked after a minute, eyes tiny little crescents atop his cheekbones again as he spoke with a big smile.
Kibum half laughed at the kid’s ever-present smile. “I’m twenty-three. And I’ll tell you what, since I’m not really an official teacher, and one of the people who doesn’t really like formalities, you can call me Kibum-hyung if you want to. I haven’t come here to be your seonsaengnim as much as I came here to be your hyung and help you out the most I can so you can speak better English with all your friends here.” He said lightly, still smiling from the kid’s happy face, laughing quietly as it immediately lit up at his words.
“Owa! Jinjaa??? I can call you Hyung? Yay....I’m Taemin, by the way! Lee Taemin! Please to meet you, Hyung! I’m really happy I have met you! When I heard I was going to be getting a Korean English tutor, I thought I was going to be getting a grumpy ajumma like Park-saengnim, not a nice person like Hyung!” The little boy cheered out happily, jumping around like a little five-year-old high on sugar, making Kibum laugh quietly, however, as he watched the kid, he couldn’t help but feel a bit saddened upon remembering a phone-conversation he had had with the principal shortly before arriving there.
“Honestly, we can’t explain our thankfulness towards you, Mr. Kim. You see, more than just not understanding the language here, a couple of the Korean exchange students here have been bullied a little because of the cultural differences. I know that it’ll mean a lot to some of them to have not only someone who can teach them English, but also be a supporting adult around school.” The principal had said, his voice soft and quiet. “Especially this one student named Lee Taemin. He’s been bullied a lot from the other boys in his classes, and has been sent in to see me in my office uncountable times because of it. He even went to the nurse’s once because of it, but won’t stick with the groups of kids I try to set him up with. I would love to see him be able to make friends around school.”
Kibum sighed softly as he looked at the kid’s face gently. The kid was so cute and friendly, it seemed impossible to even imagine someone even wanting to tease or bully him. But, then again, he knew high schoolers. They were rude and cruel and let out their insecurities through bullying others....sound familiar? His entire life on the receiving side through high school? How about his entire life of the delivering side until the day Minho changed him? But Taemin...no, Taemin didn’t have to end up like this. Taemin didn’t have to be like this and end up the way he did. Not if the presence of one good friend in his life could change it. Not if he could try to do for this kid what Minho had unintentionally did for him.
“Say, Taemin-ah, since I’m still new to this campus and don’t know my way around very well, how about we both go for a little walk and you show me around for a little while? I would really appreciate it.” Kibum asked happily, after a moment, noticing the way the little boy’s eyes lit up with happiness when he heard the familiar and informal “ah” at the end of his name.
“Yeah, of course! C’mon, Hyung! Let’s go! I’ll show you around the whole campus!! Let’s go, ka ja! Ka ja! Ka ja!!!!” The boy sang happily, immediately grabbing Kibum’s hand and yanking the unexpecting teacher out the door quickly.
Kibum couldn’t help himself from laughing quietly, as he ran to keep up with the little kid who was yanking him around saying little things like “this is the elevator. It’s broken. It has been for six years now, and I don’t think it’ll ever be fixed.” or “this is Pacheco-saengnim’s room, he’s really mean!”, or “this is where the popular kids eat lunch.”. As he felt his hand wrapped around the younger boy’s hand, he smiled lighter and squeezed it gently.
“If I could become someone who is there for this boy, and someone who can change his life somehow, perhaps...just perhaps somehow I could be able to repay you, Minho-yah. Perhaps...I could do for him what you did for me.” He found himself thinking slowly, as he gazed gently at the happy boy in front of him.
~*~
After about half an hour of running around the entire school’s campus, in and out of every single building and classroom, up and down every single step, and after greeting almost every single teacher of the entire school, Kibum was finally allowed to fall over exhaustedly onto the bleachers, panting in attempts to catch his breath as the excited little kid next to him just continued talking-non-stop.
“And this is the pool! It’s really nice to swim in on hot days, and even when it’s raining it’s not too cold. It’s just not any fun to be pushed into...” Taemin began excitedly, but suddenly slowed down as he spoke the last part of his sentence slowly, excited eyes finally looking a bit less hyper.
Kibum stopped over-reacting his panting and sat up a little bit as he glanced over at the boy sitting next to him, noticing how he seemed to become sad for a total of two minutes before looking back at him with a bright smile.
“And that’s the entire campus!! If you have any questions about getting around school at all, let me know! I’m always free and happy to help you find somewhere, Hyung!!” He said happily, smiling larger-than-life as he looked at Kibum happily.
Kibum smiled and messed up the blonde’s hair gently in thanks before glancing back at the water for a long minute, thinking over things to himself before slowly turning his gaze back towards the boy.
“Hey, Taeminnie,” He started after a moment, a small laugh coming out when he noticed the twinkle in the boy’s eyes at the nickname. “Can you answer a few more question for me? How long has Taeminnie lived here in Hawaii?” He asked, curious to learn more about the kid next to him. How could someone so sweet and active not have any friends here or be bullied?
“One year,” Taemin answered comfortably, still smiling widely. “Appa got a job promotion and so he moved Eomma, Hyung and I over here so he could work harder! It’s just....recently he’s lost that job, and now we’re kind of stuck here...” He muttered quietly, little shines of happiness and optimism still hanging in his eyes, even as he pouted slightly. “And then Taesun-hyung went to college, and now it’s just Appa, Eomma and me.” He explained.
Kibum softened a little before looking back at him. “Then, are you guys doing alright? Is hard to find a nice safe place to live if you don’t know English very well?” He asked quietly, now genuinely worried about this sweet boy’s life.
Taemin glanced up quickly before shaking his head happily, smiling wide, optimistic as ever. “Aniyo! We’re really lucky! Appa put lots of money away for us to live off of in case of something like this happened, and our landlords are Korean too! In that way, it’s not hard to talk to them! It’s really fortunate for us!” He said happily, bouncing around on the bleachers happily.
Kibum smiled with relief upon hearing this, but couldn’t stop himself from still sighing deeply as he thought over the principal’s words again. So the only reason why this happy innocent boy was getting into trouble and being bullied was because of his social life in high school? Just like he used to be, when he was in high school too. He nipped his lip lightly as he considered over his words for a long minute, unsure whether or not asking what was on his mind was right.
“Then...can you answer one more question? Who’s Taeminnie’s best friend here at school?” He asked quietly, still a little unsure whether or not to ask the question in fear of hurting the little boy’s feelings.
Taemin stopped and stayed still for a long moment as he glanced down slowly at his hands, immediately making Kibum regret the question as he noticed the smile slipping off of the boy’s face. Suddenly however, as quickly as the smile had fallen off of his face, it returned just as wide as it was before it had left.
“Kibummie-hyung is!” Taemin suddenly cheered out happily, eyes once again happy crescents on his cheeks. “Hyung is the nicest person I’ve met here!! Kibummie-hyung is definitely my best friend here!” He said happily, causing f0r Kibum to want to both laugh and cry at the little boy’s happy innocence. “Who’s Hyung’s best friend? Is he still in Korea?” He asked happily, after a moment.
Kibum sighed softly before messing up Taemin’s gently. “Mmn. I have a best friend over in Korea too. But...you know, Taeminnie is definitely my very best friend here in Hawaii. You’re my very first too.” He said, smiling lightly as the little boy hugged him quickly around his waist, before bouncing back to sitting at his side again happily.
“Then! Then, who’s Kibummie-hyung’s best friend over in Korea? Is he as nice as you?? Is he a teacher too??” He asked happily, as if the pain that had shined in his eyes just a moment before hadn’t even existed at all.
Kibum laughed quietly at Taemin’s childish rebound-rate before shaking his head slowly, a small smile on his face. “Mm-nn. Kibummie’s other best friend isn’t at all like a teacher. Kibummie’s other best friend is a silly pabo, but you know what? He’s been my best friend since I was your age, and I love him very much anyway.” He said lightly, causing for the little boy at his side to giggle a little at his bluntness.
“Wah, I hope someday I can have a close friend that will be my best friend like that too. I want someone like Hyung’s Pabo.” Taemin giggled happily, making Kibum laugh too along with the newly found nickname for Jonghyun “Hyung’s Pabo”. Something told him that that nickname was going to stick to the unsuspecting older man for a long time.
“Something tells me that we’re going to be really good friends too, for a long time, Taeminnie. I haven’t felt this easily connected to someone for a very long time. Besides, you’re my best friend here, so we’ll be together for a while, yes?” Kibum asked gently, smiling lightly as the little boy next him lit up like a Christmas tree immediately at the words.
“Hyung~jinja???” The boy asked quickly, his eyes bright and smile taking up half of his face as he looked at Kibum with big eyes, only to let out a happy squeak when the older nodded slowly, and quickly threw his arms around the other’s waist. “Uwaah! Hyung, saranghae!” He sang loudly, hugging Kibum close.
Kibum laughed lightly at this and put his arm around the boy’s back. “And you know something else, Taeminnie?” Kibum asked after a moment, as he messed up the kid’s hair just one more time (it was jus too cute when he would squint his eyes when his bangs were rustled around). “Since you’re my best friend here, I’ll tell you a secret. There’s a nickname that only my best friends call me, which means until now it was only Hyung’s Pabo. But now, if you want, you can call me Key. That’s what Hyung’s Pabo always calls me.” He said lightly.
Taemin glanced up quickly before smiling widely. “Really!? Okay! Then I’ll tell you a secret too! Only my real big brother calls me Taeminnie or Taem! I can call you Key-hyung, and you can all me Taem or Taeminnie!” He cheered happily, hugging Kibum closer yet.
Kibum smiled lightly before wrapping his arms around the little one’s back as well, sighing softly to himself. If he could become someone important in this boy’s life, if he could become a friend and a comforting shoulder for the boy to turn to, perhaps... Just perhaps he could actually live a happy and loved life like he so obviously deserved.
~*~
Yoogeun pouted a little as he played over and over again with the little, soft soccer-ball toy that his Appa had bought him as he sat in the quiet, cold, funny smelling and uncomfortable office his Appa had dropped him off of at a few hours ago. He was very bored, but didn’t dare speak up or bother the woman sitting across the desk, her long, painted fingernails tapping away at the laptop and phone rested on her shoulder, against her ear.
“Lee Taehyun-ssi, look, I cannot help the fact that you got laid off from your job recently or not. All I know is that your rent is a whole month overdue and I cannot keep letting you off like this. If you do not pay your rent, I cannot allow for you keep living in my apartment. Please have the money prepared as quickly as possible. I cannot keep giving you extensions.” The young realtor/landlord ordered firmly, ignoring the man’s protests as she hung up the phone without a second thought to listen to him.
“Aish! This stupid tenants are giving me such a terrible headache! They’re making me so stressed! I can’t control the poor economy! What can I do if they get laid off!? Augh! I’m so annoyed! They’re going to give me freaking wrinkles!” She groaned unhappily, messaging her temples with annoyance and closing his eyes tightly until something little and light suddenly pulled her out of her semi-mediative state.
“Eomma? Eomeoni, when is Appa going to come? It’s cold in here, and I’m hungry...” A young, quiet and little voice suddenly asked quietly, as it’s owner pouted his little lips sadly looking at his mother with big, slightly damp eyes. He hated having to stay in his mother’s office. He wish his Appa didn’t have to go out and work sometimes. He wished he could just stay at his Daddy’s side all day. His Eomma was scary when she was working.
“Aish! I don’t know, Yoogeun-ah, okay!? I don’t know! Stop asking me all the time! Mommy is working! How many times do I have to tell you not to bother Mommy when she’s working!? If you want your Appa so badly, why don’t you take the phone and call him yourself!?” The woman snapped quickly, obviously too flustered over her tenants to care about hurting her little son’s feelings.
Yoogeun looked away from his mother quickly, lips out in the biggest possible pout he could muster before grabbing the phone off of the desk, pressing buttons quickly as he walked as far away from his stressed mother as the corded phone would allow him to go.
However, only after one or two rings and a few moments, the large pout on Yoogeun’s face was lifted when the phone was answered on the other line, and his Appa’s happy voice sounded over the other line.
“Yoogeuuun-ah~” His Appa sang happily over the phone, already knowing the little angel that was calling him, singing happily and playfully, the same way he would when he played airplane with him early in the mornings. “Appa is on his way to pick you up right now, but can’t talk to you on the phone because he has to drive, okay? I’ll see you in five minutes, baby!” The good Appa said happily, causing for Yoogeun to smile lightly before nodding (even though his appa couldn’t see him), and agreeing to hang up the phone so his daddy could drive safely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
A/N: Oh this is so late...*shame on me*. I'm sorry! Life is....difficult sometimes, sometimes makes updating harder...hmn
Anyways, here it is. Another chapter. Sorry for the lack of MinKey, Minho in general, and Jonghyun (if you care, lol)/Jongyuness, but I got over my little grudge against Taeminnie and actually wrote about him a lot! AH, YES, and about Taemin's age. Normally I don't switch around SHINee's ages very much, but I did in this just because it wouldn't have fitted very well if he was the same age as he would be when Key's 23. it's AU, I can do those kinds of things, right?
Alright, how does Angst sound for the next few chapters? You know, when life gives you lemons, squeeze them in people's eyes....no, just kidding. But yeah, I feel some angst coming on. Did you like this chapter? Comments are my love. And you guys too, of course!! <3
Couple: MinKey/Broken!MinKey, cheating/bff!JongKey, side!JongYu, MinhoxYuri (blegh...)
Genre: AU, Romance, Angst, Family
Rated: PG13
Summary: Kibum had lost everything four years ago, when he had stupidly turned his own self-doubting into a simple action he would regret for the rest of his life. He lost everything...including his husband....
What if there was a way for life to rewind? What if there was a way to start over on a relationship right from the first meeting? What if there was a way to forget every hurt, and to say everything that was left unsaid? What if you were given the chance to love and cherish him forever the way you should have? What if it’s already too late?...
Prompt by Patzmelody01 (I love this prompt, I hope I didn’t ruin it)
A/N: For Patzmelody01 because I tortured her so much with Remember Me!?!, haha. I hope you like it, and it makes you happy, not only hate me even more. xP
Previous Chapter(s)
“Recognize you...? I...no....I’m sorry. Have...we met before?”
“It was just a dream...it had to have been just a dream...” Kibum whispered to himself as he sat up slowly in his bed, the pale yellow light from the sunrise’s bright rays slipping through the planks of the blinds, just barely lighting the hotel room enough for him to see.
He had been awake for almost an hour, short blurs of memories coming back to him slowly of what he had been sure had happened the day prior. Arriving in Hawaii, walking down the street, seeing the soccer-match going on, the kids and...their coach.
“It had to have been a dream. I...must be imagining things again. I knew I should have slept more on the airplane on the way here. I must have been tired when I arrived and simply collapsed here after I landed and dreamed it all. He must have been still so heavy on my mind that I dreamed again of him. There’s...absolutely no way it could be true. No way he would be here. Absolutely no way he could have been there, seen and talked to me, and yet didn’t have the disgust with me that he deserves, and forgave me enough just to where he could have acted like he didn’t even remember me. It....must have just been a nightmare...” He whispered to himself, as he slowly pulled himself out of the bed and began to make his way towards the small backpack he had brought along, which was set neatly by the bed’s side.
“Though...I don’t remember checking in here...” He muttered quietly to himself as he moved over to the curtains and pulled them aside enough to look out the window.
A pink and yellow sunrise over the ocean met with him, and a soft ocean’s breeze hit against his face due to the left-open window. The air was clean and thick, warm despite the newly rising sun, and made Kibum take in a deep breath, slowly letting it out through his nose. It didn’t matter, the heavy sense of missing the other man that seemed stronger than ever in his heart, the strange nightmare he had had the night prior, or even the fact that he knew he selfishly would have rather been hated than forgotten. Though he wanted so badly for Minho to be able to forget the way he had misused him, mistreated him and all the pain he had caused him, something inside of him wanted so badly not to be forgotten, because he knew he would never be able to forget Minho ever. It had all been a dream anyways, and this time in Hawaii was supposed to be about giving back. Was supposed to be about going out and finding himself, making himself a better person. A person worth remembering in the first place. And until he had made himself that sort of person, he would not allow himself to think of Minho. He didn’t even deserve to think of Minho until he made himself worth something.
With a heavy sigh, Kibum forced himself to place Minho out of his mind again and pulled back away from the window, opening the curtains to fill the hotel room with light as he turned back to his suitcase that was waiting for him by the door, opening it up to find the small paper which had the address of the school he was supposed to be volunteering at.
“Now, I just have to figure out where Waianuenue St. is....” He muttered quietly to himself, as he slipped off his travel shirt and began getting ready for his first day working.
~*~
After a while of struggling with the strange traffic patterns and one-way streets that the busy little town of Hilo threw at him, Kibum had finally found his destination. He was greeted to an old looking school campus with yellow buildings and flocks of students lingering about the entire campus. It was lunch time, because he had been told that he should just come in and meet the students he was going to be tutoring at first so that he could get a drift of things and learn his way around the campus before his first official day. The weather seemed considerably better as a warm sunshine shined down from the thin lining of clouds that still lingered in the sky, and yet it seemed much warmer than Kibum thought any place should be for being in the middle of February.
Before too long of wandering around the campus, listening to the light drones of music that was playing in the front of a old looking building in the middle of the campus, Kibum had found a way to make his way into the principal’s office and finally met his future boss.
The principal of the school was a short, middle aged man with a dark complexion with grey strips running through his dark brown hair. He was dressed in a large, floral patterned and short-sleeved dress shirt (Kibum thinks he was told they were called “aloha shirts”), and khakis, making Kibum feel a bit overdressed in a full-on white dress shirt and black vest, and talked casually compared to how Kibum would have expected. Everyone in Hawaii seemed so layback and comfortable, Kibum couldn’t help but think.
“Welcome, Mr. Kim. I can’t express how thankful we are to have you here!” The principle said happily, placing a hand on Kibum’s back as he led him out of the office to show him around the school. “You see, lately we’ve made a connection to the school you work at in Korea and since then, we’ve gotten a lot more Korean exchange students. They all have seemed to be excelling in their studies here, but seem, for whatever reason, to be having trouble picking up the language. Plus, our Korean language resources are a bit limited, so we asked if we could have a tutor come over. We at Hilo High School can’t be more thankful to you coming to visit us and help our students.” He said happily, smiling back at Kibum as they walked out onto the main pathway of the school.
Kibum smiled back at the man and bowed his head quickly. “Of course. It’s a privilege to come here and help you guys out. Although I haven’t come to Hawaii before now,” He said lightly in English, as he tried to keep eye-contact with the man in front of him, but couldn’t help but be a bit distracted by the groups of children around him and how their way of speaking seemed to make no sense to him. Which wasn’t a good thing for an English-tutor.
The principal smiled before shaking his head and tapping on Kibum’s shoulder to lead him down a small set of stairs towards a classroom. “Don’t worry, I am sure that you’ll fit in with the staff soon. We’re all happy to help you out whenever you need it. Besides, your English seemed good to me. You said that it was your second language?” He asked casually as he led Kibum into a stairwell towards a few classrooms on the second story.
“Mn, my native language is Korean, but I learned English when I went on an exchange program to California when I was twelve. Since then, I’ve just used the language for little things like being an unprofessional translator for a family business.” Kibum explained, but couldn’t help the slight sting in his chest as he thought of the time he had to serve as a translator for an important guest from America that had come to discuss a partnership with Minho’s company since Minho never seemed to be able to learn English very well. With that thought, Kibum sighed again slightly as he remembered the pretty decent English spoken by the Minho in his dream that night. Surely it was just a dream.
“Ah, well, it’s very good. We’re very lucky to have you here with us, Mr. Kim.” The principal said, before leading Kibum towards a door and took a key out of his pocket. “Oh, here we are. This room will serve as your classroom for now, until we can find ourselves a new soccer coach.” He explained, taking the key out of the door and holding it out for Kibum. “This is your key to keep. You’re room BB202.” He explained.
Kibum smiled lightly as he took the key and looked at the large classroom inside of the open door in front of him, but couldn’t stop himself from swallowing hard as he immediately noticed all of the soccer posters that were pinned to the walls still, and the newspaper articles that were laying about. Why was it that he never seemed to be able to escape soccer? Just being in this room made him keep thinking back to Minho in his dream last night. It seemed so fitting, Minho being a toddler’s soccer coach. It was a perfect combination of his most dear loves.
“I’m afraid that this can only be your room for a little while, though, Mr. Kim.” The principal’s voice suddenly cut off Kibum’s thoughts, causing for the young man to snap back to reality and turn his gaze back towards him. “You see, our last soccer coach resigned due to family reasons just a few weeks ago, and this room will be vacant until we can find a new coach. However, we thought that you might like this room until then. You can see the ocean on clear days, and the ceiling fans are a must when it’s hot. We figured you’d like it in here until then.” He explained, smiling as he flipped on the ceiling fans which immediately began spinning and cooling the room. “Only one or two classrooms have real air-conditioning, so you have one of the best.” He added with a joke.
Kibum laughed quietly before bowing his head slightly with thanks before glancing back towards the newspaper articles hanging on the walls, curiosity stricken due to the blurry image of someone’s back moving in one of the pictures. You could barely even notice him, because he was behind the group shot of a soccer team, but something about the short, black hair and muscular arms and legs caught Kibum’s attention. Why was it that in his dream the night prior that Minho had short, black hair? For as long as he knew him, Minho always preferred having his hair longer and it was almost always brown.
“--Im? Mr. Kim?” Kibum almost jumped when he heard the principal’s voice again, snapping out of his thoughts of Minho, and glanced over his shoulder again.
The principal smiled when he caught the young teacher’s attention again before walking towards the door again. “I’ll let you get all set up here for a little while, and then I’ll send in the students that you’re going to be tutoring so they can meet you first. Is that alright?” He asked, as he stopped in the doorway again.
Kibum forced himself away from the newspaper article immediately and walked over towards the white-board before nodding slowly, feeling a bit stupid for accidentally spacing out in front of his new boss on the first day. “Oh yes, of course. Thank you very much for showing me around.” He said politely, dipping his head low out of habit as the principal smiled and nodded before leaving the room.
~*~
Kibum sighed heavily and dropped his posture as the principal left the room again, and the sound of his shoes clicking against the stairwell stopped sounding. “Damn it, I need to get my head straight again...” He whispered to himself quietly. “I can’t mess this up by selfishly thinking about Minho the entire time. I came here to help the students, not be a spaz thinking about his ex-husband all day...” He sighed again before messing up his bangs a little bit out his eyes, when all of a sudden, there was a little noise in front of him causing for him to jump.
“Seonsaengnim?” A light, little voice suddenly asked quietly, causing for Kibum to gasp quickly as he snapped up from the slouched position he had slumped into. There he was, in the first hour of his first day, and already he was slouched about, confessing to his students and possible boss or co-workers that he was a gay man who had selfishly lost his husband. What was it that made him think that that wouldn’t go so well?
However, as he calmed himself enough to take a breath and look back towards the bright pair of eyes that stared at him happily, he found himself suddenly a bit less scared. Something about the big, bright and innocent looking eyes that looked as if they were sitting atop of impossibly high and rosy cheeks, framed by a little halo of dusty-blonde bangs, seemed less than intimidating towards Kibum as he found a soft smile falling onto his lips as he looked at the innocent looking kid in front of him. His face was unmistakably Korean, but his lithe little frame and dusty-blonde hair made him look just all the more young, as he stared but at Kibum with curious but happy looking eyes.
“Hyung, you can’t be my Seonsaengnim, can you? You look like a student yourself,” The kid blurted out suddenly, in informal Korean, still staring at Kibum with slightly skeptical and yet still overly-friendly eyes, voice as small and high as the kid himself looked.
Kibum couldn’t help himself from laughing quietly as he looked at the cute kid in front of him. Something about the boy in front of him seemed so comfortable to him that he immediately forgot his worries to the strange and very compelling want to pinch the kid’s high little cheeks. Something about him wanted just to squeak out a little “Aiguuu, you can’t be my student either. You look like a little baby~!”, but he forced himself to keep it in as he remembered he was supposed to be a professional. Blame it on being a young teacher.
“Heh, I am your teacher, actually. Pleased to meet you, my name is Kim Kibum. I just got here to help teach you how to speak better English.” Kibum answered in Korean lightly, not helping but smiling at the kid’s cuteness as the little boy stuck out impossibly plump lips and pouted slightly at the response he got.
“Kim-saengnim? Really? I’m tempted to call you Kibum-hyung. How old are you, Seonsaengnim?” The boy asked after a minute, eyes tiny little crescents atop his cheekbones again as he spoke with a big smile.
Kibum half laughed at the kid’s ever-present smile. “I’m twenty-three. And I’ll tell you what, since I’m not really an official teacher, and one of the people who doesn’t really like formalities, you can call me Kibum-hyung if you want to. I haven’t come here to be your seonsaengnim as much as I came here to be your hyung and help you out the most I can so you can speak better English with all your friends here.” He said lightly, still smiling from the kid’s happy face, laughing quietly as it immediately lit up at his words.
“Owa! Jinjaa??? I can call you Hyung? Yay....I’m Taemin, by the way! Lee Taemin! Please to meet you, Hyung! I’m really happy I have met you! When I heard I was going to be getting a Korean English tutor, I thought I was going to be getting a grumpy ajumma like Park-saengnim, not a nice person like Hyung!” The little boy cheered out happily, jumping around like a little five-year-old high on sugar, making Kibum laugh quietly, however, as he watched the kid, he couldn’t help but feel a bit saddened upon remembering a phone-conversation he had had with the principal shortly before arriving there.
“Honestly, we can’t explain our thankfulness towards you, Mr. Kim. You see, more than just not understanding the language here, a couple of the Korean exchange students here have been bullied a little because of the cultural differences. I know that it’ll mean a lot to some of them to have not only someone who can teach them English, but also be a supporting adult around school.” The principal had said, his voice soft and quiet. “Especially this one student named Lee Taemin. He’s been bullied a lot from the other boys in his classes, and has been sent in to see me in my office uncountable times because of it. He even went to the nurse’s once because of it, but won’t stick with the groups of kids I try to set him up with. I would love to see him be able to make friends around school.”
Kibum sighed softly as he looked at the kid’s face gently. The kid was so cute and friendly, it seemed impossible to even imagine someone even wanting to tease or bully him. But, then again, he knew high schoolers. They were rude and cruel and let out their insecurities through bullying others....sound familiar? His entire life on the receiving side through high school? How about his entire life of the delivering side until the day Minho changed him? But Taemin...no, Taemin didn’t have to end up like this. Taemin didn’t have to be like this and end up the way he did. Not if the presence of one good friend in his life could change it. Not if he could try to do for this kid what Minho had unintentionally did for him.
“Say, Taemin-ah, since I’m still new to this campus and don’t know my way around very well, how about we both go for a little walk and you show me around for a little while? I would really appreciate it.” Kibum asked happily, after a moment, noticing the way the little boy’s eyes lit up with happiness when he heard the familiar and informal “ah” at the end of his name.
“Yeah, of course! C’mon, Hyung! Let’s go! I’ll show you around the whole campus!! Let’s go, ka ja! Ka ja! Ka ja!!!!” The boy sang happily, immediately grabbing Kibum’s hand and yanking the unexpecting teacher out the door quickly.
Kibum couldn’t help himself from laughing quietly, as he ran to keep up with the little kid who was yanking him around saying little things like “this is the elevator. It’s broken. It has been for six years now, and I don’t think it’ll ever be fixed.” or “this is Pacheco-saengnim’s room, he’s really mean!”, or “this is where the popular kids eat lunch.”. As he felt his hand wrapped around the younger boy’s hand, he smiled lighter and squeezed it gently.
“If I could become someone who is there for this boy, and someone who can change his life somehow, perhaps...just perhaps somehow I could be able to repay you, Minho-yah. Perhaps...I could do for him what you did for me.” He found himself thinking slowly, as he gazed gently at the happy boy in front of him.
~*~
After about half an hour of running around the entire school’s campus, in and out of every single building and classroom, up and down every single step, and after greeting almost every single teacher of the entire school, Kibum was finally allowed to fall over exhaustedly onto the bleachers, panting in attempts to catch his breath as the excited little kid next to him just continued talking-non-stop.
“And this is the pool! It’s really nice to swim in on hot days, and even when it’s raining it’s not too cold. It’s just not any fun to be pushed into...” Taemin began excitedly, but suddenly slowed down as he spoke the last part of his sentence slowly, excited eyes finally looking a bit less hyper.
Kibum stopped over-reacting his panting and sat up a little bit as he glanced over at the boy sitting next to him, noticing how he seemed to become sad for a total of two minutes before looking back at him with a bright smile.
“And that’s the entire campus!! If you have any questions about getting around school at all, let me know! I’m always free and happy to help you find somewhere, Hyung!!” He said happily, smiling larger-than-life as he looked at Kibum happily.
Kibum smiled and messed up the blonde’s hair gently in thanks before glancing back at the water for a long minute, thinking over things to himself before slowly turning his gaze back towards the boy.
“Hey, Taeminnie,” He started after a moment, a small laugh coming out when he noticed the twinkle in the boy’s eyes at the nickname. “Can you answer a few more question for me? How long has Taeminnie lived here in Hawaii?” He asked, curious to learn more about the kid next to him. How could someone so sweet and active not have any friends here or be bullied?
“One year,” Taemin answered comfortably, still smiling widely. “Appa got a job promotion and so he moved Eomma, Hyung and I over here so he could work harder! It’s just....recently he’s lost that job, and now we’re kind of stuck here...” He muttered quietly, little shines of happiness and optimism still hanging in his eyes, even as he pouted slightly. “And then Taesun-hyung went to college, and now it’s just Appa, Eomma and me.” He explained.
Kibum softened a little before looking back at him. “Then, are you guys doing alright? Is hard to find a nice safe place to live if you don’t know English very well?” He asked quietly, now genuinely worried about this sweet boy’s life.
Taemin glanced up quickly before shaking his head happily, smiling wide, optimistic as ever. “Aniyo! We’re really lucky! Appa put lots of money away for us to live off of in case of something like this happened, and our landlords are Korean too! In that way, it’s not hard to talk to them! It’s really fortunate for us!” He said happily, bouncing around on the bleachers happily.
Kibum smiled with relief upon hearing this, but couldn’t stop himself from still sighing deeply as he thought over the principal’s words again. So the only reason why this happy innocent boy was getting into trouble and being bullied was because of his social life in high school? Just like he used to be, when he was in high school too. He nipped his lip lightly as he considered over his words for a long minute, unsure whether or not asking what was on his mind was right.
“Then...can you answer one more question? Who’s Taeminnie’s best friend here at school?” He asked quietly, still a little unsure whether or not to ask the question in fear of hurting the little boy’s feelings.
Taemin stopped and stayed still for a long moment as he glanced down slowly at his hands, immediately making Kibum regret the question as he noticed the smile slipping off of the boy’s face. Suddenly however, as quickly as the smile had fallen off of his face, it returned just as wide as it was before it had left.
“Kibummie-hyung is!” Taemin suddenly cheered out happily, eyes once again happy crescents on his cheeks. “Hyung is the nicest person I’ve met here!! Kibummie-hyung is definitely my best friend here!” He said happily, causing f0r Kibum to want to both laugh and cry at the little boy’s happy innocence. “Who’s Hyung’s best friend? Is he still in Korea?” He asked happily, after a moment.
Kibum sighed softly before messing up Taemin’s gently. “Mmn. I have a best friend over in Korea too. But...you know, Taeminnie is definitely my very best friend here in Hawaii. You’re my very first too.” He said, smiling lightly as the little boy hugged him quickly around his waist, before bouncing back to sitting at his side again happily.
“Then! Then, who’s Kibummie-hyung’s best friend over in Korea? Is he as nice as you?? Is he a teacher too??” He asked happily, as if the pain that had shined in his eyes just a moment before hadn’t even existed at all.
Kibum laughed quietly at Taemin’s childish rebound-rate before shaking his head slowly, a small smile on his face. “Mm-nn. Kibummie’s other best friend isn’t at all like a teacher. Kibummie’s other best friend is a silly pabo, but you know what? He’s been my best friend since I was your age, and I love him very much anyway.” He said lightly, causing for the little boy at his side to giggle a little at his bluntness.
“Wah, I hope someday I can have a close friend that will be my best friend like that too. I want someone like Hyung’s Pabo.” Taemin giggled happily, making Kibum laugh too along with the newly found nickname for Jonghyun “Hyung’s Pabo”. Something told him that that nickname was going to stick to the unsuspecting older man for a long time.
“Something tells me that we’re going to be really good friends too, for a long time, Taeminnie. I haven’t felt this easily connected to someone for a very long time. Besides, you’re my best friend here, so we’ll be together for a while, yes?” Kibum asked gently, smiling lightly as the little boy next him lit up like a Christmas tree immediately at the words.
“Hyung~jinja???” The boy asked quickly, his eyes bright and smile taking up half of his face as he looked at Kibum with big eyes, only to let out a happy squeak when the older nodded slowly, and quickly threw his arms around the other’s waist. “Uwaah! Hyung, saranghae!” He sang loudly, hugging Kibum close.
Kibum laughed lightly at this and put his arm around the boy’s back. “And you know something else, Taeminnie?” Kibum asked after a moment, as he messed up the kid’s hair just one more time (it was jus too cute when he would squint his eyes when his bangs were rustled around). “Since you’re my best friend here, I’ll tell you a secret. There’s a nickname that only my best friends call me, which means until now it was only Hyung’s Pabo. But now, if you want, you can call me Key. That’s what Hyung’s Pabo always calls me.” He said lightly.
Taemin glanced up quickly before smiling widely. “Really!? Okay! Then I’ll tell you a secret too! Only my real big brother calls me Taeminnie or Taem! I can call you Key-hyung, and you can all me Taem or Taeminnie!” He cheered happily, hugging Kibum closer yet.
Kibum smiled lightly before wrapping his arms around the little one’s back as well, sighing softly to himself. If he could become someone important in this boy’s life, if he could become a friend and a comforting shoulder for the boy to turn to, perhaps... Just perhaps he could actually live a happy and loved life like he so obviously deserved.
~*~
Yoogeun pouted a little as he played over and over again with the little, soft soccer-ball toy that his Appa had bought him as he sat in the quiet, cold, funny smelling and uncomfortable office his Appa had dropped him off of at a few hours ago. He was very bored, but didn’t dare speak up or bother the woman sitting across the desk, her long, painted fingernails tapping away at the laptop and phone rested on her shoulder, against her ear.
“Lee Taehyun-ssi, look, I cannot help the fact that you got laid off from your job recently or not. All I know is that your rent is a whole month overdue and I cannot keep letting you off like this. If you do not pay your rent, I cannot allow for you keep living in my apartment. Please have the money prepared as quickly as possible. I cannot keep giving you extensions.” The young realtor/landlord ordered firmly, ignoring the man’s protests as she hung up the phone without a second thought to listen to him.
“Aish! This stupid tenants are giving me such a terrible headache! They’re making me so stressed! I can’t control the poor economy! What can I do if they get laid off!? Augh! I’m so annoyed! They’re going to give me freaking wrinkles!” She groaned unhappily, messaging her temples with annoyance and closing his eyes tightly until something little and light suddenly pulled her out of her semi-mediative state.
“Eomma? Eomeoni, when is Appa going to come? It’s cold in here, and I’m hungry...” A young, quiet and little voice suddenly asked quietly, as it’s owner pouted his little lips sadly looking at his mother with big, slightly damp eyes. He hated having to stay in his mother’s office. He wish his Appa didn’t have to go out and work sometimes. He wished he could just stay at his Daddy’s side all day. His Eomma was scary when she was working.
“Aish! I don’t know, Yoogeun-ah, okay!? I don’t know! Stop asking me all the time! Mommy is working! How many times do I have to tell you not to bother Mommy when she’s working!? If you want your Appa so badly, why don’t you take the phone and call him yourself!?” The woman snapped quickly, obviously too flustered over her tenants to care about hurting her little son’s feelings.
Yoogeun looked away from his mother quickly, lips out in the biggest possible pout he could muster before grabbing the phone off of the desk, pressing buttons quickly as he walked as far away from his stressed mother as the corded phone would allow him to go.
However, only after one or two rings and a few moments, the large pout on Yoogeun’s face was lifted when the phone was answered on the other line, and his Appa’s happy voice sounded over the other line.
“Yoogeuuun-ah~” His Appa sang happily over the phone, already knowing the little angel that was calling him, singing happily and playfully, the same way he would when he played airplane with him early in the mornings. “Appa is on his way to pick you up right now, but can’t talk to you on the phone because he has to drive, okay? I’ll see you in five minutes, baby!” The good Appa said happily, causing for Yoogeun to smile lightly before nodding (even though his appa couldn’t see him), and agreeing to hang up the phone so his daddy could drive safely.
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A/N: Oh this is so late...*shame on me*. I'm sorry! Life is....difficult sometimes, sometimes makes updating harder...hmn
Anyways, here it is. Another chapter. Sorry for the lack of MinKey, Minho in general, and Jonghyun (if you care, lol)/Jongyuness, but I got over my little grudge against Taeminnie and actually wrote about him a lot! AH, YES, and about Taemin's age. Normally I don't switch around SHINee's ages very much, but I did in this just because it wouldn't have fitted very well if he was the same age as he would be when Key's 23. it's AU, I can do those kinds of things, right?
Alright, how does Angst sound for the next few chapters? You know, when life gives you lemons, squeeze them in people's eyes....no, just kidding. But yeah, I feel some angst coming on. Did you like this chapter? Comments are my love. And you guys too, of course!! <3