Attraction (3/?)
Title: Attraction
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jonghyun/Jinki
Genre: AU, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Disclaimer: I want to own them because, if I did, they would have done many Boys' Love dramas. So there.
Summary: But, what if it really was love?
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December 15th
“Onyu ah... Wake up...” Changsun quietly sang into Jinki's ear. Jinki only murmured a little. The singing stopped. “Key ah! I don't wanna wake him up!”
“But you were just complaining that you 'needed' to wake him up 'for once'! You go right ahead, and he had better be awake when I get there!” Kibum yelled back. Changsun felt guilt slowly crawl up his throat from the pit of his stomach. Is this how Kibum and whoever else that had to wake up Jinki always felt? Changsun looked away from the sleeping man's face, only to look back and be overcome with his guilt as he collapsed onto one of the chairs and started snivelling. Kibum eventually took pity on Changsun, walked into the room and sighed before flicking Changsun squarely on the back of his head causing the older male to immediately turn to him with a frown plastered onto his face. Kibum chuckled.
“This is how you have to wake him up, Changsun ah.” Kibum smirked as he walked closer to where Jinki was slouched over the table, sleeping. He leaned over the sleeping figure, placing his hands lightly on each of the elder's sides. He then ran them up and down while his fingers moved wildly as he loudly said into Jinki's ear, “Wake up Jinki ah! Wake up!”
Jinki immediately shot up, looking around and trying to wriggle out of Kibum's assault, laughing weakly.
“Ki-Kibum ah, I'm up! Stop it, stop it!” Jinki laughed out, eventually escaping by shoving Kibum's hands away and running to the nearest wall to lean against it. He tried to look accusingly at Kibum but in the end, he just ended up smiling. “Why did you wake me up, we're on vacation.” Jinki said this as his eyes began drooping.
“Because,” Kibum said as he walked up to Jinki, “This place opens in half an hour, or did you forget?” Kibum looked at him as he visibly paled.
“Oh crap! And last night we fell asleep here, right? What happened after that? Where is everyone anyway? What's going on?” Jinki... was obviously freaking out. Kibum and Changsun just waited until he calmed down before they tried to explain anything to him.
“Onyu, you gonna calm down any time soon?” Changsun looked between Jinki, who was now breathing deeply, and Kibum, who was beginning to look like he was going to tie Jinki to a chair. Changsun was starting to feel a little bored.
'Ha,' Jinki thought, 'calm down? Why should he calm down? Who knows what could have happened to everyone while they slept here when the doors were unlocked. What if Jonghyun, Minho and Taemin got kidnapped or something and the kidnapper forged notes in their handwriting which said they were fine but then the kidnapper called and said he wanted and insane amount of ransom and they couldn't pay it and-'
“Jonghyun and Minho had to go and finish some work and Taemin decided he would go with Minho because he wanted 'to bug him', or something.” Kibum totally derailed Jinki's train of thought. Well, Jinki wanted to know, when all this happened- “This all happened a little while ago, if you're wondering.”
Kibum had to stop doing that.
“Oh, okay-” Jinki was cut off as Kibum picked up some clothing and threw them at Jinki, telling him to go use the employee's shower and get changed. “Why do you know about all of that, and how did you get into my house!” Jinki asked rushing the last bit because when he thought about it, he really did not want to know.
“I was bored so I did some exploring, and... as for how I got into your house?” Kibum sang before he added, flatly “I stole your keys, that's how.” Jinki made a face and Changsun burst into laughter. “What's so funny?” Kibum was quite annoyed by the sudden outburst because he was feeling quite proud of himself. But then again, anyone could steal from Jinki. Anyone.
“W-well, you said you stole his keys right?” Changsun laughed even more as Kibum nodded as realization slowly dawned on the younger two. Jinki began grinning a little and Kibum made an annoyed sound. No that wasn't funny - not right now any way, just because Kibum didn't want to give Changsun the satisfaction. “It's like saying you stole yourself, Key!” Changsun guffawed and Jinki giggled - though he tried not to - and he hid his face in the clothing when Kibum glared at him.
“You! What are you doing standing there and giggling? Hurry up and get changed!” Kibum yelled, irritated, as he pushed Jinki into the employee's room before quickly turning and glaring at Changsun who immediately stopped laughing and gulped his laughter and fear down before apologizing.
Kibum sighed, without him what would these two do? Actually, he didn't want to know.
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Jinki sighed and let his forehead rest against the ceramic wall, the warm water feeling like a godsend as it washed over his body. Even inside with the heaters on the cold still bit at them, and apparently he had gotten a habit of wearing those knit sweaters because that's what Kibum brought for him - though he would admit that he was thankful. He sighed, what should he do? He had to make sure to look after the cafe, but it had only been one day and he had a feeling this would be too much work - most employees were already staying home or just plain cutting work. He let out another sigh, he should probably hurry and finish up before Kibum broke down the door and dragged him out. He could already hear the other yelling at him that he had better not have any intentions to make Kibum and Changsun have to do the work - 'especially not me' the younger added.
Maybe he could beg those two to help him out again.
◎♡◎♡◎
Kibum and Changsun were upstairs lazing around and chatting in hushed tones when Jinki had returned, Kibum noticed him first, of course.
“You've finally finished! Quick, go and get to working, you have five minutes until people decide to start filling up the place. Some of those lazy employees showed up today so you may not be alone - but you have to go 'work the counter' or something, they said they need a pretty face to do it.”
“Ah, they're being lazy! Why don't you help me out and do it? You've got a pretty face.” Jinki whined, he didn't like talking to strangers, he would rather give them their drink or whatever and mumble something telling them to enjoy it before scurrying off again. He didn't want to have to talk to them, just - no.
“I don't work here,” Kibum countered, pinching Jinki's cheek, “Besides, you're adorable, people will come in just to say hi to your cute little face, you're good for business!”
“But-” Kibum didn't let Jinki finish as he grabbed the elder's wrist and dragged him downstairs, Changsun bouncing down behind them as he whistled some song. Kibum then set Jinki right behind the counter, patting his shoulders,
“Fighting!” Kibum told him, encouragingly. He then walked around to the other side of the counter, taking a seat on the couch at the table a bit away from Jinki, waving at the now pale elder before quickly turning his head to look out the large glass window. As the bell dinged - announcing that someone had entered - Jinki tried to get Kibum's attention, in an attempt to save himself, and failing miserably as Kibum pretended to count the beads of snow falling from the sky.
“Yah, Changsun, get over here!” Kibum harshly whispered as he saw Changsun lingering around Jinki telling the younger to 'not give up' and 'don't worry' and blah blah blah. Changsun shouldn't be dawdling when they still had plans to discuss.
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Jinki was getting annoyed now. It had been six hours. Six. Hours, yet he was still working the counter. Why hadn't any of the other employees come to take his place? They kept saying 'he does it better than them' and 'people are coming to see his face not theirs'. Jinki probably couldn't deny that there may have been some truth to those statements but that didn't change the fact that he hadn't gotten a break since he had started. Six hours. And all Kibum and Changsun did was talk as if they were discussing some scheme to overthrow the government - and knowing them it may have been that - and cast him some glances and a couple thumbs up.
'Well, no more!' Jinki thought. After he finished serving a few customers and the line had ceased to exist, for the short while that it usually would, he ran into the employee's room finding some of them working and some of them slacking off. “I have to go to the supermarket! We've run out of some stuff!” Without missing a beat, he ran back out, grabbed Kibum and Changsun and ran out of the cafe straight to the supermarket.
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“So, why are we here, Jinki ah?” Kibum questioned, dusting himself off and fixing his clothes when Jinki finally stopped running.
“I couldn't take any more, needed a break...” Jinki panted out. Okay, so he was not the most physical person - that will remain Changsun's forte. “But, since I'm here, there's some stuff I need to get so...” Jinki walked through the large glass doors, leaving Changsun and Kibum wondering for a while before they rushed in after him. There was no way they would let Jinki go into a supermarket to 'shop' alone, who knows what kind of trouble he would unwittingly cause. Kibum knows; Changsun knows, and that's why they were now holding him back - Changsun grabbing Jinki by the hands and spinning around with him until the younger was disoriented while Kibum got a shopping cart and pulled out a small, handwritten list. So maybe when Kibum had gone into Jinki's house earlier, he checked the refrigerator as well, but Jinki didn't need to know that.
“Okay, so... I'll just pick up the basic stuff and I'll text you when I'm done, Changsun. Then, Jinki can get whatever else he needs.” Kibum said looking up from checking the list to Changsun who was currently holding the dizzy Jinki, preventing the latter from falling flat onto his face. Kibum let out a sigh as Changsun tried to salute to him, only to end up losing his hold on Jinki and quickly trying to catch the other who fell over as soon as Changsun had moved his arm.
“Yes, boss.” Changsun settled for and Kibum chuckled a little.
“Well don't lose him, okay?” Kibum had turned his back and started walking off lazily pushing the cart. He stopped in shock though when he saw a laughing Changsun dash off past him at some kind of high speed, pushing his own shopping cart which contained a shrieking Jinki. “You better not get us kicked out, Changsun! Yah!!” Kibum called after them. He thought to run after them - it would be fun - but if he did, they would surely get kicked out. Kibum sighed. Why did he trust Changsun with Jinki?
“Don't worry, they'd have to catch us first!!” Changsun yelled back, before sharply turning a corner and earning yet another terrified wail from Jinki.
Why did he trust Changsun with anything?
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“J-joonie hyung! Slow down!!” Jinki screamed, they were going so fast that everything looked like a colourful blur and his eyes were beginning to water. Plus, Changsun had already almost knocked down seven people in the past minute. Jinki thought it was fun at first but now he was just scared for his life. Changsun was rapidly approaching a television display and Jinki yelled a plea for him to slow down before Jinki resigned himself to his faith. He tightly shut his eyes.
“I never thought I would die by running into a bunch of huge and expensive flat screen TVs!” Jinki called. He expected to here a crash but instead there was a screeching sound as he felt the cart skid and his eyes shot open as he grabbed the metal of the cart, bracing himself for whatever impact.
An impact that never came.
Jinki let out a long breath - how long had he been holding that? He turned to glare at Changsun who was grinning like an idiot and nervously rubbing his head.
“Sorry... maybe I overdid it... a bit?”
“A bit?” Jinki responded, a little miffed, “Hyung, I could have died! I can still feel my heart in my throat!” Jinki crossed his arms and turned back around, trying to find a comfortable position in the metal prison. He huffed as he gave up, drawing his knees close to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. Well, since Changsun wasn't moving the cart, Jinki decided he may as well watch the television.
“Hey, Onyu, isn't that..?” Changsun wouldn't lie, he was a little shocked - looks like this singer's popular after all - whether he recently or not. Jinki stared at the screen as if trying to imprint the picture into his mind's eye.
“Jonghyun?” There was a moment of awe - at least on Jinki's part - but Changsun was impressed, he had only heard few singers successfully belt out high notes like this brunet was currently doing. As the song ended Jinki absent-mindedly kept asking Changsun if he thought the song was nice.
“It was nice, wasn't it?” Jinki repeated for the who knows what time because Changsun sure didn't. Jinki's unconscious fan-boying, whether Jinki realized he was doing it or not, was cute but Changsun didn't really want to hear Jinki keep saying that Jonghyun's song was nice, that he sang nice, that he should sing when he was around them. No, Changsun didn't really like witnessing Jinki fall more and more in some sort of love that seems right out of a fairytale with Jonghyun without even realizing it. Changsun could get some fun out of this, though.
“Ooh, sounds like you like him!” Changsun sang with a teasing expression and tone of voice. Jinki stopped babbling and he turned to look at Changsun, shocked.
“What? How could I like him? We only met-”
“A little while ago, yeah, yeah. Remember Jinki, in a world like this,” Changsun gestured to said world, “Everything is possible.” Changsun sang, looking rather smug. 'I was able to meet a good person like you, wasn't I,' is what Changsun didn't say. Jinki seemed to mull over the elder's words as Changsun's phone rang; Kibum's song. He checked the message, Kibum said to meet him at the entrance, Changsun nodded as he shoved his phone into his pocket.
“Love at first sight can definitely happen, don't doubt your hyung!” Changsun continued, enthusiastically as he gripped the shopping cart's handle yet again before speeding off with it, adding shock to Jinki's confusion.
But, what if it really was love? Would Changsun be willing to let Jinki go to wander freely in that realm? Would Changsun be willing to let Jinki take up a position in which he could get hurt? Could he trust another to keep Jinki safe - to protect him wholeheartedly? What about Kibum, Minho and Taemin? Would they be willing to take a risk like that? Changsun didn't like the various answers that kept repeatedly appearing in his head. He decided to throw away thoughts like those, even if it was just for a little while because right now, he was having fun with Jinki.
“Slow down, Joonie!!”
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Kibum stood close to the entrance - not exactly in front of it, but close enough to garner suspicious looks from some people and employees. Why was he getting those looks? Changsun was the weird one. Why was Changsun taking so long anyway? He sighed and glanced from the list to the objects in his shopping cart repeatedly. He had to stop sighing, he had read somewhere that it reduces your blood count. Kibum heard shouting and he looked up immediately. Sounds like Changsun's finally arrived.
“Why are you still doing that?” Kibum yelled. Jinki looked as terrified as ever - gripping the the cart like his life depended on it and Changsun looked a little less than insane. Kibum felt sorry for just standing there and watching as Changsun ran up to him, coming to a sudden stop before saluting to Kibum and yelling that he had arrived while Jinki seemed to melt into and immobile mass of limbs with a touch of fear, Kibum felt sorry, but it was hilarious so he laughed. “So, I got some stuff for you, Jinki ah.”
“Some?” Changsun asked incredulously. That was not 'some' stuff - even Jinki was a surprised - Kibum had pretty much filled the cart. Changsun picked up some items and inspected them before putting them back down, “Can you even afford all of this?”
“Of course I can, do I look like a hobo?” Kibum retorted, moving to whack Changsun before deciding not to. Changsun mumbled something in response to Kibum while he help Jinki get out of the cart. Kibum looked at them for a while before he decided to ask a question that had been nagging him for the entirety of his food shopping spree, “Why did you put him in the shopping cart anyway?”
“I was wondering if I would be able to buy him, of course!” Changsun replied, giving Kibum a peace sign. Jinki gave him a confused look and Kibum just didn't know how to respond at this point. Changsun went on, “If I bought Jinki, then Jonghyun would have to pay me to be able to see him - and I would become so, freaking, rich.” Jinki broke out in laughter and Kibum just shoved Changsun as he chuckled,
“Ah, you do that Changsun, you do that.” Kibum then looked at Jinki, “Is there anything else you needed? Because I think I got everything,” Kibum finished smugly. Jinki looked over the items in the cart a couple times before shaking his head,
“Nope, nothing else. Kibum ah, why so much stuff though?”
“Well, your house is, like, bare. Besides, it's not like you're living at the cafe and you can't live off of cappuccinos and cake for much longer! Plus I think I wanna stay at your place for a while.” Kibum responded as he walked off with the cart to the cashier. Jinki and Changsun stood there processing Kibum's words. Changsun grabbed Jinki and skipped off after Kibum shouting a 'me too' while Jinki tried not to trip over his feet. These two crazy people staying over at his place for an indefinite amount of time? There was one thought running through Jinki's mind at the moment while Kibum paid for the items and Changsun kept repeating that Kibum was rich,
'Oh, please, let my home remain a whole building at the end of this.'
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They walked out of the supermarket, each holding two full bags. Changsun seemed to managing just fine and Kibum only struggled every now and then but Jinki kept wobbling all over the place. Jinki could carry heavy things, sure, but these heavy grocery bags from the supermarket to his home? That was hard, for him anyway. Changsun fell into step with him and asked him if he needed help, Jinki shook his head in response, saying that he could do it and that they were nearly at his home anyway. When Kibum heard this he fell back with them as well.
“Jinki ah, we don't mind helping you.”
“Kibum ah, if you guys help me now, I'll become spoiled and never be able to carry two full grocery bags.” Jinki replied in a joking manner and, as if fate wanted to dash all of his efforts, he nearly fell over.
“Onyu ah, just give me one of the bags before you end up in the hospital!” Changsun pleaded trying to swipe one of the bags from Jinki.
“Oh yeah, Changsun, flaunt your strength to the weaker ones why don't you.” Kibum grumbled loudly as he rolled his eyes.
“What? I'm not flaunting!” Changsun defended, he just wanted to help Jinki out before the younger seriously hurt himself.
“Oh, look, we're here!” Jinki exclaimed, successfully cutting the other two off. Jinki ran up to the door and fumbled with it a little before deciding to wait for Kibum as he remembered that he didn't have the keys, Kibum did. Kibum sauntered up to him, chuckling a little before he pulled out Jinki's keys - he really did swipe them - shoved one into the locked and twisted it, successfully opening the lock before he pushed the door open with his foot and told the elder two to start unpacking.
“Key ah, you did that like a pro! Or you used to getting into Jinki's house within five seconds?” Changsun asked. It was a joke, of course, but when Kibum replied with a blunt yes accompanied by Jinki's nodding Changsun paled considerably.
“You see, this is Jinki we're talking about.” Kibum said as he shoved a bunch of items into Jinki's refrigerator. He put in more food items before he closed the refrigerator door with a satisfied hum. He then turned to Changsun who had just finished emptying the contents of both of his bags and putting everything where he thought they should go and Kibum continued, “This happened a lot last year, Jinki would somehow become trapped somewhere inside this very house and he would always find some way to call me for help and I would rush in through the door or some open window and save him. This hyung of mine is just too careless! Eventually I got my own copy of his house key but I couldn't resist stealing his keys from him today.” Kibum ignored the little chuckle he heard from Changsun and he walked over to Jinki, taking the elder's hand and dropping Jinki's keys onto the opened palm.
“That actually makes perfect sense!” Changsun exclaimed, taking Jinki's bags and packing it's contents into cupboards and the refrigerator respectively while Jinki shoved his keys into his pocket complaining about them treating him like a three year old and that he can take care of himself.
“You can only do that once every few months Jinki ah, otherwise someone else is usually there with you.” Kibum smirked. Jinki pretended he didn't hear the younger one's comment but Kibum knew he hit home in some way because suddenly he was talking about going back to the cafe and that he still had three more hours before he could close it and hang around at home.
“Hurry up or I'm locking you guys in here!” Jinki called from outside as he repeatedly swung the door with the key already twisting around in the lock. Changsun and Kibum speed walked out of the door, chuckling and giggling about empty threats and how they would just wait for Jinki in the house and scare him when he was asleep, among other things. Jinki just locked the door and quietly ran behind them before pushing the both of them, causing them to stumble before they ran off while taunting Jinki to try to catch them. Jinki laughed and he tried to catch up with them, eventually giving up and just calling after them to wait for him.
Sometimes, they had too much fun.
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Sometimes, Jonghyun felt as though he wasn't allowed to have any fun. Both Jonghyun and Minho had arrived at work the same time and did everything they were supposed to do but Jonghyun had to stay back a while longer before he was allowed to leave while Minho and Taemin had been goofing off. Right after that Minho and Taemin kidnapped him and went out to buy ice-cream, even though Jonghyun had said he didn't want any and took none, in the end he ended up paying for everything. Now, it was about four in the afternoon and Minho and Taemin were quite satisfied with themselves - having dragged the reluctant Jonghyun through an entire mall with them - while Jonghyun trudged behind them, and he obviously was not happy. Taemin eventually became annoyed with the depressing aura that was flowing off of Jonghyun and messing up his good mood.
“Hyung, what's wrong?” Taemin asked as nicely as he could - he was still annoyed of course but Jonghyun was still one of his favourite singers. They stopped walking and the younger two turned to look at their elder as they waited for a response. Minho rubbed the back of his neck and sighed when it looked like Jonghyun wouldn't reply as the elder just looked at the floor again. Minho could feel Taemin's annoyance now and he could tell that this may escalate into some argument, so he did - said - the first thing that popped into his mind.
“He's just having some love problems.” Minho said rather smugly. Jonghyun and Taemin both immediately gave him shocked looks as soon as the words had fallen from Minho's lips.
“What?” Taemin asked. Of course he could have said so many different things to express his surprise and confusion, but that was the only word that came to mind. Minho pulled Taemin a bit further away from Jonghyun and he proceeded to tell Taemin some sort of secret - though it looked as though he was explaining something carefully and thoroughly for the youngest to be able to understand - and Jonghyun could guess what it was. It was funny to watch Taemin's expressions change with every phrase Minho uttered, from one showing that he was listening to one of surprise, then disbelief and then to a knowing smile. They walked back to Jonghyun who was feeling a little left out but he didn't feel like asking anything - they would tell him anyway.
“So hyung, you're in love!” Taemin exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air with a grin splaying his lips. Jonghyun gave him a look of horror, maybe the younger wouldn't prod if Jonghyun acted offended. “Don't try that on me, it won't work hyung.” Jonghyun groaned as he realized that Taemin was too curious about this to let it slide like Minho said he usually would. Well at least it seemed as though Taemin didn't know who the person was- “Jinki hyung really is cute, you have good taste.” Well damn it, Jonghyun thought. “I didn't expect it since on an interview you said you just like pretty girls!” Maybe this cute little boy was scarier than Jonghyun would have ever thought. He isn't scarier than Kibum though, he only met Kibum yesterday and Jonghyun already knew not to screw around with the guy.
“You sure know a lot...” Jonghyun said, almost asking though he felt like he already knew the answer.
“Of course! As a student, I am inclined to learn everything that I'm not supposed to know and disregard all that I should!” Taemin exclaimed, grinning. A hand came down onto the blond boy's head and Taemin made a face.
“That's exactly what you're not supposed to do!” Minho said while he patted the maknae's head. He said that but it seemed to Jonghyun that Minho was congratulating Taemin. It was sort of cute but Jonghyun had the urge to call them weird people. Minho would probably try to beat him up though, so he refrained, just grinning at them instead.
“Well, let's get going then.” Jonghyun announced attempting to march past the taller two when Taemin grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
“I didn't finish,” Taemin said. Jonghyun has just learnt something new, Taemin wasn't the type to get easily distracted from something once he was interested in it. Okay, Jonghyun will never forget this and will be careful with what he tells Taemin from here on out. “I'll help you.” Jonghyun gave him a hopeful and surprised look. “Jinki hyung is kinda... well he's dense. Either that or he chooses to ignore the world but I doubt that's it. And I bet Key umma and Joon hyung will be plotting against you and making it difficult for you.” Jonghyun gave him a look that told Taemin Jonghyun was agreeing with everything he said. “They're not bad people though, hyung, they're just very overprotective, I dunno why though.” Taemin shrugged.
Jonghyun had decided to re-evaluate what he thought of Taemin as he thanked the boy for his alliance while they continued to their destination. Minho had just stood there and watched as Taemin had done what Taemin does best; completely and utterly baffle others with his 'Taemin-ness' as they Changsun had so dubbed it. Minho wouldn't lie, as he looked at Jonghyun's shocked expressions every time Taemin had done his flip from a cute little boy to an almost all-knowing being, Minho had felt extremely proud of Taemin and Jonghyun could see that as Minho just kept smiling and patting the other boy on his back.
“Let's walk faster, it'll be late when we reach if we keep walking this slow! I wanna reach there now!” Taemin whined running across the empty street and ahead of the other two. “You old people should hurry up, or I'll leave you here!” Taemin yelled at them, sticking his tongue out before skipping off. Minho didn't even respond as he ran after the younger, the competitive side of his personality taking over. Jonghyun had no choice but to run after them as well, he didn't want to be left with his thoughts alone. Wait, where were they going anyway? Jonghyun hoped it wasn't another patisserie, he was this close to being broke.
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Well, it wasn't exactly a patisserie, Jonghyun reasoned as they drew closer to the building, it was Jinki's cute cafe. He should have guessed they would come here. The closer they got, Jonghyun realized there were three people running towards the cafe as well and the closer they got the easier it became for him to recognize who those people were. Apparently, the little threesome was able to recognize them too.
“Hi!” Kibum called, waving as the gap between both groups diminished. As soon as they were face to face with each other Taemin ran over to Kibum and hugged him before hugging Jinki and pulling him into the cafe, Kibum telling Minho and Jonghyun that they should come inside too before Changsun decided that they had to pay to get in as Kibum gestured to Changsun who was apparently fiddling with the door for whatever reason he had.
“Hyung, why weren't you in the shop? What if we had come sooner?” Taemin asked Jinki pulling the elder onto the couch-like seat before sliding in next to him.
“We had just gone to buy some stuff.” Jinki defended, “You all would have waited for us, right?” Jinki finished in a sing-song way. Taemin just laughed and replied in a song of his own,
“Yes, we would have.” Then something caught Taemin's eye. Taemin slipped past Jinki and called Jonghyun, “Hyung, over here, come over here!” Taemin pulled the elder one with him and sat him down next to Jinki before sitting down next to Jonghyun, leaving Jinki by the window, Jonghyun next to Jinki and Taemin boxing them in. “Consider this a favour,” Taemin said under his breath and Jonghyun knew he was talking to him, “From here on out if you need help like this again, you will have to pay!” Taemin finished with a grin.
“Thanks,” Jonghyun whispered back with a smile. He was grateful and all but Jonghyun had no idea what to talk about with Jinki and he became confused - Jonghyun's mind had never blanked out on him like this before. Jinki seemed just fine though and smiled at him.
“Jonghyun ah, you never told me you could sing so well!” Jinki exclaimed. Jonghyun just smiled at that, he could take this somewhere, maybe.
“That's why he's famous hyung.” Taemin added with a tone that implied it was common knowledge.
“Yeah, but still!” Jinki argued, gesturing to Jonghyun, “He's really good!”
“I heard from Minho ah that you could sing too,” Jonghyun said to Jinki and the elder glanced away at that.
“Oh yeah, hyung's really good!” Taemin added. The three of them sat there and talked about singing, hobbies and all the irrelevant things of the universe while Kibum and Changsun drilled Minho with their own concerns, the youngest doing his best to respond.
“He's not a bad guy, honest.” Minho promised, holding up a hand in defence.
“Don't lie almost all celebrities have some kind of hidden agenda or terrible habit; you're barely an exception Minho ah!” Kibum exclaimed, Minho frowned a little at his comment. So Minho was over competitive and liked to drag his friends along with him to play sports in the middle of the night, how was that bad?
“Yeah but... Jonghyun hyung's not bad...” Minho was starting to give up on defending his hyung - as long as Kibum was being as stubborn as he was, it would only prove to be a waste of time - but Changsun didn't seem to be as thick-headed as Kibum was right now, though he wasn't really trying to help Minho defend Jonghyun.
“Key ah...” Changsun whispered to the younger. Minho looked at them, frowning a little when he realized he couldn't hear what Changsun told Kibum, all he heard was, “It really looks like Jinki's...” before Changsun's words trailed into nothingness that Minho's ears couldn't pick up. What ever it was, Kibum wasn't too pleased - he wasn't pissed off, but he wasn't pleased. Kibum crossed his arms and huffed a little. Changsun just gave Minho a contemplative look before he spoke, “Uh, you're sure Jonghyun's good?” 'Because I won't trust Jinki to just anyone,' Changsun didn't have to say it; his eyes conveyed the message clearly enough. What could Minho expect from people who were with Jinki for so long? Minho only met Jinki a few years ago but these guys; they basically lived with him, were born with him and Minho did not know Jinki nearly as well as these two.
“If he wasn't, I wouldn't have let him get any closer to Jinki hyung.” Minho promised with a sincere smile. Kibum looked stunned for a split second before he looked like he was fighting with himself. After a while, Kibum heaved a sigh.
“Okay, okay, fine. He'll get a chance.” Kibum groaned. Minho grinned, now he wouldn't have to listen to Jonghyun complain about his love being star-crossed and all the other over dramatic things Jonghyun spewed when he had the thought to. Only day of Jonghyun doing that and Minho swore he would never listen to it again, because sometimes Jonghyun didn't know how to shut up. “But then, if I'm deigning to give him a chance; you have to be willing to help us.” Kibum smirked. Minho nodded, what could Kibum possibly come up with? Changsun and Kibum smirked and then Minho slowly realized what he had possibly agreed to.
This was Kibum and Changsun he was dealing with, it must be trouble.
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They all kept meeting at the cafe at four in the evening, even as the holidays were over and Jinki no longer had to supervise it - Christmas and New Years was the best damn experience they all had for a while - and the students had to return to school and the idols to work. Changsun and Kibum kept plotting and attempting to influence Minho, while Taemin continued to assist Jonghyun and break down the wall of awkwardness between Jonghyun and Jinki who kept getting closer to each other. Another time has come like this and they are just lazing around as usual.
“I wanna go home...” Changsun whined.
“Really?” Taemin asked, incredulous.
“I wanna go to Onyu's home..!” Changsun elaborated.
“That sounds like a good idea.” Minho replied after slurping his drink. Jinki stared for a bit then he jumped out of his seat, exclaiming,
“What! Three people are enough... there's no way all of you could find some place to stay in my house!” Kibum began to smirk as he could feel some sort of mini argument about to take place. He knew where they would all be sleeping tonight.
“Eh..,” Changsun whined, though he was laying across the table he attempted to reach for Jinki's jeans to tug on them, “Why not... Let's all go play at your house, right now!” He gave up on tugging Jinki's jeans and began tugging on the younger's polo shirt.
“Well... it's not like there's any where for all six of us to be able to stay!” Jinki answered, swatting away Changsun's hand earning an annoyed sound from the older male before he grabbed a bit of Jinki's shirt and tugged on it, just because he could.
“Don't you have a guest room, hyung?” Taemin questioned, looking directly at Jinki who froze. Jinki had completely forgotten about the guest rooms, of course they existed. When Jinki began stuttering, everyone was sure of the answer. Taemin sang, “I guess that means we can go then.”
“Lee noona said we could go,” Kibum announced, shocking Jonghyun from his near unconscious state as everything that was going on, along with Kibum's words, caught up to him and he realized that Kibum was talking from right beside him, suddenly. Jonghyun jerked out of his seat, exclaiming,
“What, when did you-”
“While you were off in La La Land, Jjong.” Kibum responded with a smirk. Jinki wasn't as happy as the rest of them though,
“Umma said you could..?” His tone was shocked but it was also laced with disappointment. Then he whined, “But I don't wanna have to look after all of you..!”
“Ah, hyung, we can look after ourselves!” Taemin defended as he stood up.
“But you guys will destroy my place!” Jinki retorted.
“He has a point.” Minho interjected with a grin. Kibum chuckled and Changsun agreed lazily. Suddenly they were all walking out of the cafe.
“Wait, we're really going?” Jonghyun called after them. He got a collective 'yes' for his answer.
“Come on hyung, we can't get into your house without you!” Minho said grabbing Jinki's wrist and dragging him along.
“No,” Jinki exclaimed as he grabbed Jonghyun's hand causing the other to be pulled along as well, “Jjongie, help! Don't let them do this!” Before Jonghyun could respond Taemin called to Jinki from a little ways ahead of them,
“Resistance is futile, hyung!” Before the youngest chuckled and began chatting with Kibum and Changsun. Jonghyun could see Jinki resign to his fate and Jonghyun couldn't help but do the same. Jonghyun heaved a sigh and cast a sympathetic smile to Jinki and the elder smiled back. Maybe Jonghyun was being over dramatic - yeah, probably, but...
Jonghyun wasn't ready to go to Jinki's home yet; his heart just wasn't ready for it.
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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
A/N: Yay~ Finally chapter 3~ To be honest I almost got stuck with this chapter because I thought of everything except for a couple parts, so I'm sorry if it's a little weirder than usual. This chappie is actually just to make some progression in the entire story, LOL, but comments are appreciated and it would be great if you could enjoy this chapter~
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jonghyun/Jinki
Genre: AU, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Disclaimer: I want to own them because, if I did, they would have done many Boys' Love dramas. So there.
Summary: But, what if it really was love?
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December 15th
“Onyu ah... Wake up...” Changsun quietly sang into Jinki's ear. Jinki only murmured a little. The singing stopped. “Key ah! I don't wanna wake him up!”
“But you were just complaining that you 'needed' to wake him up 'for once'! You go right ahead, and he had better be awake when I get there!” Kibum yelled back. Changsun felt guilt slowly crawl up his throat from the pit of his stomach. Is this how Kibum and whoever else that had to wake up Jinki always felt? Changsun looked away from the sleeping man's face, only to look back and be overcome with his guilt as he collapsed onto one of the chairs and started snivelling. Kibum eventually took pity on Changsun, walked into the room and sighed before flicking Changsun squarely on the back of his head causing the older male to immediately turn to him with a frown plastered onto his face. Kibum chuckled.
“This is how you have to wake him up, Changsun ah.” Kibum smirked as he walked closer to where Jinki was slouched over the table, sleeping. He leaned over the sleeping figure, placing his hands lightly on each of the elder's sides. He then ran them up and down while his fingers moved wildly as he loudly said into Jinki's ear, “Wake up Jinki ah! Wake up!”
Jinki immediately shot up, looking around and trying to wriggle out of Kibum's assault, laughing weakly.
“Ki-Kibum ah, I'm up! Stop it, stop it!” Jinki laughed out, eventually escaping by shoving Kibum's hands away and running to the nearest wall to lean against it. He tried to look accusingly at Kibum but in the end, he just ended up smiling. “Why did you wake me up, we're on vacation.” Jinki said this as his eyes began drooping.
“Because,” Kibum said as he walked up to Jinki, “This place opens in half an hour, or did you forget?” Kibum looked at him as he visibly paled.
“Oh crap! And last night we fell asleep here, right? What happened after that? Where is everyone anyway? What's going on?” Jinki... was obviously freaking out. Kibum and Changsun just waited until he calmed down before they tried to explain anything to him.
“Onyu, you gonna calm down any time soon?” Changsun looked between Jinki, who was now breathing deeply, and Kibum, who was beginning to look like he was going to tie Jinki to a chair. Changsun was starting to feel a little bored.
'Ha,' Jinki thought, 'calm down? Why should he calm down? Who knows what could have happened to everyone while they slept here when the doors were unlocked. What if Jonghyun, Minho and Taemin got kidnapped or something and the kidnapper forged notes in their handwriting which said they were fine but then the kidnapper called and said he wanted and insane amount of ransom and they couldn't pay it and-'
“Jonghyun and Minho had to go and finish some work and Taemin decided he would go with Minho because he wanted 'to bug him', or something.” Kibum totally derailed Jinki's train of thought. Well, Jinki wanted to know, when all this happened- “This all happened a little while ago, if you're wondering.”
Kibum had to stop doing that.
“Oh, okay-” Jinki was cut off as Kibum picked up some clothing and threw them at Jinki, telling him to go use the employee's shower and get changed. “Why do you know about all of that, and how did you get into my house!” Jinki asked rushing the last bit because when he thought about it, he really did not want to know.
“I was bored so I did some exploring, and... as for how I got into your house?” Kibum sang before he added, flatly “I stole your keys, that's how.” Jinki made a face and Changsun burst into laughter. “What's so funny?” Kibum was quite annoyed by the sudden outburst because he was feeling quite proud of himself. But then again, anyone could steal from Jinki. Anyone.
“W-well, you said you stole his keys right?” Changsun laughed even more as Kibum nodded as realization slowly dawned on the younger two. Jinki began grinning a little and Kibum made an annoyed sound. No that wasn't funny - not right now any way, just because Kibum didn't want to give Changsun the satisfaction. “It's like saying you stole yourself, Key!” Changsun guffawed and Jinki giggled - though he tried not to - and he hid his face in the clothing when Kibum glared at him.
“You! What are you doing standing there and giggling? Hurry up and get changed!” Kibum yelled, irritated, as he pushed Jinki into the employee's room before quickly turning and glaring at Changsun who immediately stopped laughing and gulped his laughter and fear down before apologizing.
Kibum sighed, without him what would these two do? Actually, he didn't want to know.
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Jinki sighed and let his forehead rest against the ceramic wall, the warm water feeling like a godsend as it washed over his body. Even inside with the heaters on the cold still bit at them, and apparently he had gotten a habit of wearing those knit sweaters because that's what Kibum brought for him - though he would admit that he was thankful. He sighed, what should he do? He had to make sure to look after the cafe, but it had only been one day and he had a feeling this would be too much work - most employees were already staying home or just plain cutting work. He let out another sigh, he should probably hurry and finish up before Kibum broke down the door and dragged him out. He could already hear the other yelling at him that he had better not have any intentions to make Kibum and Changsun have to do the work - 'especially not me' the younger added.
Maybe he could beg those two to help him out again.
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Kibum and Changsun were upstairs lazing around and chatting in hushed tones when Jinki had returned, Kibum noticed him first, of course.
“You've finally finished! Quick, go and get to working, you have five minutes until people decide to start filling up the place. Some of those lazy employees showed up today so you may not be alone - but you have to go 'work the counter' or something, they said they need a pretty face to do it.”
“Ah, they're being lazy! Why don't you help me out and do it? You've got a pretty face.” Jinki whined, he didn't like talking to strangers, he would rather give them their drink or whatever and mumble something telling them to enjoy it before scurrying off again. He didn't want to have to talk to them, just - no.
“I don't work here,” Kibum countered, pinching Jinki's cheek, “Besides, you're adorable, people will come in just to say hi to your cute little face, you're good for business!”
“But-” Kibum didn't let Jinki finish as he grabbed the elder's wrist and dragged him downstairs, Changsun bouncing down behind them as he whistled some song. Kibum then set Jinki right behind the counter, patting his shoulders,
“Fighting!” Kibum told him, encouragingly. He then walked around to the other side of the counter, taking a seat on the couch at the table a bit away from Jinki, waving at the now pale elder before quickly turning his head to look out the large glass window. As the bell dinged - announcing that someone had entered - Jinki tried to get Kibum's attention, in an attempt to save himself, and failing miserably as Kibum pretended to count the beads of snow falling from the sky.
“Yah, Changsun, get over here!” Kibum harshly whispered as he saw Changsun lingering around Jinki telling the younger to 'not give up' and 'don't worry' and blah blah blah. Changsun shouldn't be dawdling when they still had plans to discuss.
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Jinki was getting annoyed now. It had been six hours. Six. Hours, yet he was still working the counter. Why hadn't any of the other employees come to take his place? They kept saying 'he does it better than them' and 'people are coming to see his face not theirs'. Jinki probably couldn't deny that there may have been some truth to those statements but that didn't change the fact that he hadn't gotten a break since he had started. Six hours. And all Kibum and Changsun did was talk as if they were discussing some scheme to overthrow the government - and knowing them it may have been that - and cast him some glances and a couple thumbs up.
'Well, no more!' Jinki thought. After he finished serving a few customers and the line had ceased to exist, for the short while that it usually would, he ran into the employee's room finding some of them working and some of them slacking off. “I have to go to the supermarket! We've run out of some stuff!” Without missing a beat, he ran back out, grabbed Kibum and Changsun and ran out of the cafe straight to the supermarket.
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“So, why are we here, Jinki ah?” Kibum questioned, dusting himself off and fixing his clothes when Jinki finally stopped running.
“I couldn't take any more, needed a break...” Jinki panted out. Okay, so he was not the most physical person - that will remain Changsun's forte. “But, since I'm here, there's some stuff I need to get so...” Jinki walked through the large glass doors, leaving Changsun and Kibum wondering for a while before they rushed in after him. There was no way they would let Jinki go into a supermarket to 'shop' alone, who knows what kind of trouble he would unwittingly cause. Kibum knows; Changsun knows, and that's why they were now holding him back - Changsun grabbing Jinki by the hands and spinning around with him until the younger was disoriented while Kibum got a shopping cart and pulled out a small, handwritten list. So maybe when Kibum had gone into Jinki's house earlier, he checked the refrigerator as well, but Jinki didn't need to know that.
“Okay, so... I'll just pick up the basic stuff and I'll text you when I'm done, Changsun. Then, Jinki can get whatever else he needs.” Kibum said looking up from checking the list to Changsun who was currently holding the dizzy Jinki, preventing the latter from falling flat onto his face. Kibum let out a sigh as Changsun tried to salute to him, only to end up losing his hold on Jinki and quickly trying to catch the other who fell over as soon as Changsun had moved his arm.
“Yes, boss.” Changsun settled for and Kibum chuckled a little.
“Well don't lose him, okay?” Kibum had turned his back and started walking off lazily pushing the cart. He stopped in shock though when he saw a laughing Changsun dash off past him at some kind of high speed, pushing his own shopping cart which contained a shrieking Jinki. “You better not get us kicked out, Changsun! Yah!!” Kibum called after them. He thought to run after them - it would be fun - but if he did, they would surely get kicked out. Kibum sighed. Why did he trust Changsun with Jinki?
“Don't worry, they'd have to catch us first!!” Changsun yelled back, before sharply turning a corner and earning yet another terrified wail from Jinki.
Why did he trust Changsun with anything?
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“J-joonie hyung! Slow down!!” Jinki screamed, they were going so fast that everything looked like a colourful blur and his eyes were beginning to water. Plus, Changsun had already almost knocked down seven people in the past minute. Jinki thought it was fun at first but now he was just scared for his life. Changsun was rapidly approaching a television display and Jinki yelled a plea for him to slow down before Jinki resigned himself to his faith. He tightly shut his eyes.
“I never thought I would die by running into a bunch of huge and expensive flat screen TVs!” Jinki called. He expected to here a crash but instead there was a screeching sound as he felt the cart skid and his eyes shot open as he grabbed the metal of the cart, bracing himself for whatever impact.
An impact that never came.
Jinki let out a long breath - how long had he been holding that? He turned to glare at Changsun who was grinning like an idiot and nervously rubbing his head.
“Sorry... maybe I overdid it... a bit?”
“A bit?” Jinki responded, a little miffed, “Hyung, I could have died! I can still feel my heart in my throat!” Jinki crossed his arms and turned back around, trying to find a comfortable position in the metal prison. He huffed as he gave up, drawing his knees close to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. Well, since Changsun wasn't moving the cart, Jinki decided he may as well watch the television.
“Hey, Onyu, isn't that..?” Changsun wouldn't lie, he was a little shocked - looks like this singer's popular after all - whether he recently or not. Jinki stared at the screen as if trying to imprint the picture into his mind's eye.
“Jonghyun?” There was a moment of awe - at least on Jinki's part - but Changsun was impressed, he had only heard few singers successfully belt out high notes like this brunet was currently doing. As the song ended Jinki absent-mindedly kept asking Changsun if he thought the song was nice.
“It was nice, wasn't it?” Jinki repeated for the who knows what time because Changsun sure didn't. Jinki's unconscious fan-boying, whether Jinki realized he was doing it or not, was cute but Changsun didn't really want to hear Jinki keep saying that Jonghyun's song was nice, that he sang nice, that he should sing when he was around them. No, Changsun didn't really like witnessing Jinki fall more and more in some sort of love that seems right out of a fairytale with Jonghyun without even realizing it. Changsun could get some fun out of this, though.
“Ooh, sounds like you like him!” Changsun sang with a teasing expression and tone of voice. Jinki stopped babbling and he turned to look at Changsun, shocked.
“What? How could I like him? We only met-”
“A little while ago, yeah, yeah. Remember Jinki, in a world like this,” Changsun gestured to said world, “Everything is possible.” Changsun sang, looking rather smug. 'I was able to meet a good person like you, wasn't I,' is what Changsun didn't say. Jinki seemed to mull over the elder's words as Changsun's phone rang; Kibum's song. He checked the message, Kibum said to meet him at the entrance, Changsun nodded as he shoved his phone into his pocket.
“Love at first sight can definitely happen, don't doubt your hyung!” Changsun continued, enthusiastically as he gripped the shopping cart's handle yet again before speeding off with it, adding shock to Jinki's confusion.
But, what if it really was love? Would Changsun be willing to let Jinki go to wander freely in that realm? Would Changsun be willing to let Jinki take up a position in which he could get hurt? Could he trust another to keep Jinki safe - to protect him wholeheartedly? What about Kibum, Minho and Taemin? Would they be willing to take a risk like that? Changsun didn't like the various answers that kept repeatedly appearing in his head. He decided to throw away thoughts like those, even if it was just for a little while because right now, he was having fun with Jinki.
“Slow down, Joonie!!”
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Kibum stood close to the entrance - not exactly in front of it, but close enough to garner suspicious looks from some people and employees. Why was he getting those looks? Changsun was the weird one. Why was Changsun taking so long anyway? He sighed and glanced from the list to the objects in his shopping cart repeatedly. He had to stop sighing, he had read somewhere that it reduces your blood count. Kibum heard shouting and he looked up immediately. Sounds like Changsun's finally arrived.
“Why are you still doing that?” Kibum yelled. Jinki looked as terrified as ever - gripping the the cart like his life depended on it and Changsun looked a little less than insane. Kibum felt sorry for just standing there and watching as Changsun ran up to him, coming to a sudden stop before saluting to Kibum and yelling that he had arrived while Jinki seemed to melt into and immobile mass of limbs with a touch of fear, Kibum felt sorry, but it was hilarious so he laughed. “So, I got some stuff for you, Jinki ah.”
“Some?” Changsun asked incredulously. That was not 'some' stuff - even Jinki was a surprised - Kibum had pretty much filled the cart. Changsun picked up some items and inspected them before putting them back down, “Can you even afford all of this?”
“Of course I can, do I look like a hobo?” Kibum retorted, moving to whack Changsun before deciding not to. Changsun mumbled something in response to Kibum while he help Jinki get out of the cart. Kibum looked at them for a while before he decided to ask a question that had been nagging him for the entirety of his food shopping spree, “Why did you put him in the shopping cart anyway?”
“I was wondering if I would be able to buy him, of course!” Changsun replied, giving Kibum a peace sign. Jinki gave him a confused look and Kibum just didn't know how to respond at this point. Changsun went on, “If I bought Jinki, then Jonghyun would have to pay me to be able to see him - and I would become so, freaking, rich.” Jinki broke out in laughter and Kibum just shoved Changsun as he chuckled,
“Ah, you do that Changsun, you do that.” Kibum then looked at Jinki, “Is there anything else you needed? Because I think I got everything,” Kibum finished smugly. Jinki looked over the items in the cart a couple times before shaking his head,
“Nope, nothing else. Kibum ah, why so much stuff though?”
“Well, your house is, like, bare. Besides, it's not like you're living at the cafe and you can't live off of cappuccinos and cake for much longer! Plus I think I wanna stay at your place for a while.” Kibum responded as he walked off with the cart to the cashier. Jinki and Changsun stood there processing Kibum's words. Changsun grabbed Jinki and skipped off after Kibum shouting a 'me too' while Jinki tried not to trip over his feet. These two crazy people staying over at his place for an indefinite amount of time? There was one thought running through Jinki's mind at the moment while Kibum paid for the items and Changsun kept repeating that Kibum was rich,
'Oh, please, let my home remain a whole building at the end of this.'
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They walked out of the supermarket, each holding two full bags. Changsun seemed to managing just fine and Kibum only struggled every now and then but Jinki kept wobbling all over the place. Jinki could carry heavy things, sure, but these heavy grocery bags from the supermarket to his home? That was hard, for him anyway. Changsun fell into step with him and asked him if he needed help, Jinki shook his head in response, saying that he could do it and that they were nearly at his home anyway. When Kibum heard this he fell back with them as well.
“Jinki ah, we don't mind helping you.”
“Kibum ah, if you guys help me now, I'll become spoiled and never be able to carry two full grocery bags.” Jinki replied in a joking manner and, as if fate wanted to dash all of his efforts, he nearly fell over.
“Onyu ah, just give me one of the bags before you end up in the hospital!” Changsun pleaded trying to swipe one of the bags from Jinki.
“Oh yeah, Changsun, flaunt your strength to the weaker ones why don't you.” Kibum grumbled loudly as he rolled his eyes.
“What? I'm not flaunting!” Changsun defended, he just wanted to help Jinki out before the younger seriously hurt himself.
“Oh, look, we're here!” Jinki exclaimed, successfully cutting the other two off. Jinki ran up to the door and fumbled with it a little before deciding to wait for Kibum as he remembered that he didn't have the keys, Kibum did. Kibum sauntered up to him, chuckling a little before he pulled out Jinki's keys - he really did swipe them - shoved one into the locked and twisted it, successfully opening the lock before he pushed the door open with his foot and told the elder two to start unpacking.
“Key ah, you did that like a pro! Or you used to getting into Jinki's house within five seconds?” Changsun asked. It was a joke, of course, but when Kibum replied with a blunt yes accompanied by Jinki's nodding Changsun paled considerably.
“You see, this is Jinki we're talking about.” Kibum said as he shoved a bunch of items into Jinki's refrigerator. He put in more food items before he closed the refrigerator door with a satisfied hum. He then turned to Changsun who had just finished emptying the contents of both of his bags and putting everything where he thought they should go and Kibum continued, “This happened a lot last year, Jinki would somehow become trapped somewhere inside this very house and he would always find some way to call me for help and I would rush in through the door or some open window and save him. This hyung of mine is just too careless! Eventually I got my own copy of his house key but I couldn't resist stealing his keys from him today.” Kibum ignored the little chuckle he heard from Changsun and he walked over to Jinki, taking the elder's hand and dropping Jinki's keys onto the opened palm.
“That actually makes perfect sense!” Changsun exclaimed, taking Jinki's bags and packing it's contents into cupboards and the refrigerator respectively while Jinki shoved his keys into his pocket complaining about them treating him like a three year old and that he can take care of himself.
“You can only do that once every few months Jinki ah, otherwise someone else is usually there with you.” Kibum smirked. Jinki pretended he didn't hear the younger one's comment but Kibum knew he hit home in some way because suddenly he was talking about going back to the cafe and that he still had three more hours before he could close it and hang around at home.
“Hurry up or I'm locking you guys in here!” Jinki called from outside as he repeatedly swung the door with the key already twisting around in the lock. Changsun and Kibum speed walked out of the door, chuckling and giggling about empty threats and how they would just wait for Jinki in the house and scare him when he was asleep, among other things. Jinki just locked the door and quietly ran behind them before pushing the both of them, causing them to stumble before they ran off while taunting Jinki to try to catch them. Jinki laughed and he tried to catch up with them, eventually giving up and just calling after them to wait for him.
Sometimes, they had too much fun.
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Sometimes, Jonghyun felt as though he wasn't allowed to have any fun. Both Jonghyun and Minho had arrived at work the same time and did everything they were supposed to do but Jonghyun had to stay back a while longer before he was allowed to leave while Minho and Taemin had been goofing off. Right after that Minho and Taemin kidnapped him and went out to buy ice-cream, even though Jonghyun had said he didn't want any and took none, in the end he ended up paying for everything. Now, it was about four in the afternoon and Minho and Taemin were quite satisfied with themselves - having dragged the reluctant Jonghyun through an entire mall with them - while Jonghyun trudged behind them, and he obviously was not happy. Taemin eventually became annoyed with the depressing aura that was flowing off of Jonghyun and messing up his good mood.
“Hyung, what's wrong?” Taemin asked as nicely as he could - he was still annoyed of course but Jonghyun was still one of his favourite singers. They stopped walking and the younger two turned to look at their elder as they waited for a response. Minho rubbed the back of his neck and sighed when it looked like Jonghyun wouldn't reply as the elder just looked at the floor again. Minho could feel Taemin's annoyance now and he could tell that this may escalate into some argument, so he did - said - the first thing that popped into his mind.
“He's just having some love problems.” Minho said rather smugly. Jonghyun and Taemin both immediately gave him shocked looks as soon as the words had fallen from Minho's lips.
“What?” Taemin asked. Of course he could have said so many different things to express his surprise and confusion, but that was the only word that came to mind. Minho pulled Taemin a bit further away from Jonghyun and he proceeded to tell Taemin some sort of secret - though it looked as though he was explaining something carefully and thoroughly for the youngest to be able to understand - and Jonghyun could guess what it was. It was funny to watch Taemin's expressions change with every phrase Minho uttered, from one showing that he was listening to one of surprise, then disbelief and then to a knowing smile. They walked back to Jonghyun who was feeling a little left out but he didn't feel like asking anything - they would tell him anyway.
“So hyung, you're in love!” Taemin exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air with a grin splaying his lips. Jonghyun gave him a look of horror, maybe the younger wouldn't prod if Jonghyun acted offended. “Don't try that on me, it won't work hyung.” Jonghyun groaned as he realized that Taemin was too curious about this to let it slide like Minho said he usually would. Well at least it seemed as though Taemin didn't know who the person was- “Jinki hyung really is cute, you have good taste.” Well damn it, Jonghyun thought. “I didn't expect it since on an interview you said you just like pretty girls!” Maybe this cute little boy was scarier than Jonghyun would have ever thought. He isn't scarier than Kibum though, he only met Kibum yesterday and Jonghyun already knew not to screw around with the guy.
“You sure know a lot...” Jonghyun said, almost asking though he felt like he already knew the answer.
“Of course! As a student, I am inclined to learn everything that I'm not supposed to know and disregard all that I should!” Taemin exclaimed, grinning. A hand came down onto the blond boy's head and Taemin made a face.
“That's exactly what you're not supposed to do!” Minho said while he patted the maknae's head. He said that but it seemed to Jonghyun that Minho was congratulating Taemin. It was sort of cute but Jonghyun had the urge to call them weird people. Minho would probably try to beat him up though, so he refrained, just grinning at them instead.
“Well, let's get going then.” Jonghyun announced attempting to march past the taller two when Taemin grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
“I didn't finish,” Taemin said. Jonghyun has just learnt something new, Taemin wasn't the type to get easily distracted from something once he was interested in it. Okay, Jonghyun will never forget this and will be careful with what he tells Taemin from here on out. “I'll help you.” Jonghyun gave him a hopeful and surprised look. “Jinki hyung is kinda... well he's dense. Either that or he chooses to ignore the world but I doubt that's it. And I bet Key umma and Joon hyung will be plotting against you and making it difficult for you.” Jonghyun gave him a look that told Taemin Jonghyun was agreeing with everything he said. “They're not bad people though, hyung, they're just very overprotective, I dunno why though.” Taemin shrugged.
Jonghyun had decided to re-evaluate what he thought of Taemin as he thanked the boy for his alliance while they continued to their destination. Minho had just stood there and watched as Taemin had done what Taemin does best; completely and utterly baffle others with his 'Taemin-ness' as they Changsun had so dubbed it. Minho wouldn't lie, as he looked at Jonghyun's shocked expressions every time Taemin had done his flip from a cute little boy to an almost all-knowing being, Minho had felt extremely proud of Taemin and Jonghyun could see that as Minho just kept smiling and patting the other boy on his back.
“Let's walk faster, it'll be late when we reach if we keep walking this slow! I wanna reach there now!” Taemin whined running across the empty street and ahead of the other two. “You old people should hurry up, or I'll leave you here!” Taemin yelled at them, sticking his tongue out before skipping off. Minho didn't even respond as he ran after the younger, the competitive side of his personality taking over. Jonghyun had no choice but to run after them as well, he didn't want to be left with his thoughts alone. Wait, where were they going anyway? Jonghyun hoped it wasn't another patisserie, he was this close to being broke.
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Well, it wasn't exactly a patisserie, Jonghyun reasoned as they drew closer to the building, it was Jinki's cute cafe. He should have guessed they would come here. The closer they got, Jonghyun realized there were three people running towards the cafe as well and the closer they got the easier it became for him to recognize who those people were. Apparently, the little threesome was able to recognize them too.
“Hi!” Kibum called, waving as the gap between both groups diminished. As soon as they were face to face with each other Taemin ran over to Kibum and hugged him before hugging Jinki and pulling him into the cafe, Kibum telling Minho and Jonghyun that they should come inside too before Changsun decided that they had to pay to get in as Kibum gestured to Changsun who was apparently fiddling with the door for whatever reason he had.
“Hyung, why weren't you in the shop? What if we had come sooner?” Taemin asked Jinki pulling the elder onto the couch-like seat before sliding in next to him.
“We had just gone to buy some stuff.” Jinki defended, “You all would have waited for us, right?” Jinki finished in a sing-song way. Taemin just laughed and replied in a song of his own,
“Yes, we would have.” Then something caught Taemin's eye. Taemin slipped past Jinki and called Jonghyun, “Hyung, over here, come over here!” Taemin pulled the elder one with him and sat him down next to Jinki before sitting down next to Jonghyun, leaving Jinki by the window, Jonghyun next to Jinki and Taemin boxing them in. “Consider this a favour,” Taemin said under his breath and Jonghyun knew he was talking to him, “From here on out if you need help like this again, you will have to pay!” Taemin finished with a grin.
“Thanks,” Jonghyun whispered back with a smile. He was grateful and all but Jonghyun had no idea what to talk about with Jinki and he became confused - Jonghyun's mind had never blanked out on him like this before. Jinki seemed just fine though and smiled at him.
“Jonghyun ah, you never told me you could sing so well!” Jinki exclaimed. Jonghyun just smiled at that, he could take this somewhere, maybe.
“That's why he's famous hyung.” Taemin added with a tone that implied it was common knowledge.
“Yeah, but still!” Jinki argued, gesturing to Jonghyun, “He's really good!”
“I heard from Minho ah that you could sing too,” Jonghyun said to Jinki and the elder glanced away at that.
“Oh yeah, hyung's really good!” Taemin added. The three of them sat there and talked about singing, hobbies and all the irrelevant things of the universe while Kibum and Changsun drilled Minho with their own concerns, the youngest doing his best to respond.
“He's not a bad guy, honest.” Minho promised, holding up a hand in defence.
“Don't lie almost all celebrities have some kind of hidden agenda or terrible habit; you're barely an exception Minho ah!” Kibum exclaimed, Minho frowned a little at his comment. So Minho was over competitive and liked to drag his friends along with him to play sports in the middle of the night, how was that bad?
“Yeah but... Jonghyun hyung's not bad...” Minho was starting to give up on defending his hyung - as long as Kibum was being as stubborn as he was, it would only prove to be a waste of time - but Changsun didn't seem to be as thick-headed as Kibum was right now, though he wasn't really trying to help Minho defend Jonghyun.
“Key ah...” Changsun whispered to the younger. Minho looked at them, frowning a little when he realized he couldn't hear what Changsun told Kibum, all he heard was, “It really looks like Jinki's...” before Changsun's words trailed into nothingness that Minho's ears couldn't pick up. What ever it was, Kibum wasn't too pleased - he wasn't pissed off, but he wasn't pleased. Kibum crossed his arms and huffed a little. Changsun just gave Minho a contemplative look before he spoke, “Uh, you're sure Jonghyun's good?” 'Because I won't trust Jinki to just anyone,' Changsun didn't have to say it; his eyes conveyed the message clearly enough. What could Minho expect from people who were with Jinki for so long? Minho only met Jinki a few years ago but these guys; they basically lived with him, were born with him and Minho did not know Jinki nearly as well as these two.
“If he wasn't, I wouldn't have let him get any closer to Jinki hyung.” Minho promised with a sincere smile. Kibum looked stunned for a split second before he looked like he was fighting with himself. After a while, Kibum heaved a sigh.
“Okay, okay, fine. He'll get a chance.” Kibum groaned. Minho grinned, now he wouldn't have to listen to Jonghyun complain about his love being star-crossed and all the other over dramatic things Jonghyun spewed when he had the thought to. Only day of Jonghyun doing that and Minho swore he would never listen to it again, because sometimes Jonghyun didn't know how to shut up. “But then, if I'm deigning to give him a chance; you have to be willing to help us.” Kibum smirked. Minho nodded, what could Kibum possibly come up with? Changsun and Kibum smirked and then Minho slowly realized what he had possibly agreed to.
This was Kibum and Changsun he was dealing with, it must be trouble.
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They all kept meeting at the cafe at four in the evening, even as the holidays were over and Jinki no longer had to supervise it - Christmas and New Years was the best damn experience they all had for a while - and the students had to return to school and the idols to work. Changsun and Kibum kept plotting and attempting to influence Minho, while Taemin continued to assist Jonghyun and break down the wall of awkwardness between Jonghyun and Jinki who kept getting closer to each other. Another time has come like this and they are just lazing around as usual.
“I wanna go home...” Changsun whined.
“Really?” Taemin asked, incredulous.
“I wanna go to Onyu's home..!” Changsun elaborated.
“That sounds like a good idea.” Minho replied after slurping his drink. Jinki stared for a bit then he jumped out of his seat, exclaiming,
“What! Three people are enough... there's no way all of you could find some place to stay in my house!” Kibum began to smirk as he could feel some sort of mini argument about to take place. He knew where they would all be sleeping tonight.
“Eh..,” Changsun whined, though he was laying across the table he attempted to reach for Jinki's jeans to tug on them, “Why not... Let's all go play at your house, right now!” He gave up on tugging Jinki's jeans and began tugging on the younger's polo shirt.
“Well... it's not like there's any where for all six of us to be able to stay!” Jinki answered, swatting away Changsun's hand earning an annoyed sound from the older male before he grabbed a bit of Jinki's shirt and tugged on it, just because he could.
“Don't you have a guest room, hyung?” Taemin questioned, looking directly at Jinki who froze. Jinki had completely forgotten about the guest rooms, of course they existed. When Jinki began stuttering, everyone was sure of the answer. Taemin sang, “I guess that means we can go then.”
“Lee noona said we could go,” Kibum announced, shocking Jonghyun from his near unconscious state as everything that was going on, along with Kibum's words, caught up to him and he realized that Kibum was talking from right beside him, suddenly. Jonghyun jerked out of his seat, exclaiming,
“What, when did you-”
“While you were off in La La Land, Jjong.” Kibum responded with a smirk. Jinki wasn't as happy as the rest of them though,
“Umma said you could..?” His tone was shocked but it was also laced with disappointment. Then he whined, “But I don't wanna have to look after all of you..!”
“Ah, hyung, we can look after ourselves!” Taemin defended as he stood up.
“But you guys will destroy my place!” Jinki retorted.
“He has a point.” Minho interjected with a grin. Kibum chuckled and Changsun agreed lazily. Suddenly they were all walking out of the cafe.
“Wait, we're really going?” Jonghyun called after them. He got a collective 'yes' for his answer.
“Come on hyung, we can't get into your house without you!” Minho said grabbing Jinki's wrist and dragging him along.
“No,” Jinki exclaimed as he grabbed Jonghyun's hand causing the other to be pulled along as well, “Jjongie, help! Don't let them do this!” Before Jonghyun could respond Taemin called to Jinki from a little ways ahead of them,
“Resistance is futile, hyung!” Before the youngest chuckled and began chatting with Kibum and Changsun. Jonghyun could see Jinki resign to his fate and Jonghyun couldn't help but do the same. Jonghyun heaved a sigh and cast a sympathetic smile to Jinki and the elder smiled back. Maybe Jonghyun was being over dramatic - yeah, probably, but...
Jonghyun wasn't ready to go to Jinki's home yet; his heart just wasn't ready for it.
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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
A/N: Yay~ Finally chapter 3~ To be honest I almost got stuck with this chapter because I thought of everything except for a couple parts, so I'm sorry if it's a little weirder than usual. This chappie is actually just to make some progression in the entire story, LOL, but comments are appreciated and it would be great if you could enjoy this chapter~