bang three times on the ceiling (if you want me)
title: bang three times on the ceiling (if you want me)
type: oneshot (5829 words)
fandom: shinee
pairing: au!onkey
rating/warnings: pg for cussing
author's notes: another one inspired by a song; this time, it is tony orlando and dawn's "knock three times". beta'd by meicdon13 and pinkweather~ <3
There was a loud clamor when the new tenant first moved in, loud enough to distract Kibum from the magazine he was perusing. The young man glared daggers at the window, tossing aside the copy of Ceci in favor of stomping out onto his balcony with the intent of yelling at the idiot that had dared to interrupt his free time.
The moving van that he had heard rumbling in earlier was there, the back hanging open to reveal a set of household items halfway through unpacking. A few meters away from the van, just in front of the entrance to the apartment building, lay a man sprawled on his back with a tightly sealed box on top of his chest. The new resident, Kibum concluded, rolling his eyes as the man shot a sheepish smile at the elderly woman who lived on the second floor.
He had wanted to reprimand the idiot for making such a racket in their perfectly peaceful compound. But now, looking at the man politely decline the woman's offer to help him up and then flail his arms around uselessly in an attempt to get the box off him-well, he was sure that the newcomer needed no help in embarrassing himself further.
I'll let it pass this time, Kibum grumbled.
He shot the man one last look before retreating inside, intent on finishing that article about the latest hot hairstyles. Red and green highlights were apparently in this season.
---
"Hi, this is Lee Jinki! I'm away from the phone right now, so, uh, I can't reach it. And, uh, you should probably leave me a message so I can ring you up again when I'm actually here, and. Um."
Kibum heard the muffled curse from directly below him, and realized with no small amount of dread which apartment the new tenant had moved into.
Aigoo, and he still insists on being loud, Kibum groaned to himself. He gave the stew one last stir before letting it simmer and took off his frilly apron, hooking it over the back of a dining chair. He flopped down on the couch, letting his head loll back as the delicious smell of beef stew filled the apartment.
"Hi! This is Lee Jinki! I'm away from the phone at the moment, so I can't answer it. Ah-Of course I can't answer it. Ugh, what am I saying? Ah! It's still recording this, erk!"
A loud beep was heard as a heavy hand slammed down on the record button, followed by the unmistakable clatter of a phone falling to the floor.
Kibum unwittingly let out a small chuckle. It was like having your own private sitcom, only without the video. His lips pursed in thought, wondering what his new neighbor actually looked like. He had seen him a couple of days ago when he had first moved in, but hadn't actually gotten close enough to see his face.
Was he old? Kibum made a face. Probably not. A middle-aged man wouldn't be so horribly bumbling.
He was probably young. Maybe around his age, give or take a few years. Younger, Kibum hoped. Maybe there was still a chance to wean that clumsiness out of him.
Kibum was startled out of his train of thoughts, suddenly remembering the stew he had left to simmer. "Ah, damn it," he snarled, throwing on his apron and dashing into the kitchen to see if his meal could still be saved.
"Hi! I'm away from the phone right now, so please leave me a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Oh, yeah! This is Lee Jinki, by the way!"
---
...from the phone right now, so please leave me a-
The sounds of frantic running, and a phone being picked up in the middle of the recorded message. "Hello?" Jinki's gasps were loud enough to be heard from Kibum's apartment. Actually, Kibum could hear almost everything Jinki did, although the latter probably didn't know it.
Kibum would have felt bad for eavesdropping on most of Jinki's life (everything from his raucous laughter at evening game shows to his impersonations of Michael Jackson), but technically, it wasn't eavesdropping when your neighbor practically spilled it out for you to hear.
Besides, it wasn't as if he were interested in Lee Jinki's life. There was nothing remarkable about the man (whom, in the span of a few weeks, Kibum had determined to be only two years older than him, and that this was the first time he had actually lived away from his parents, having found a job that was too far from his old residence; he also happened to enjoy tofu, graduated as salutatorian of his batch, and was fond of making Donald Duck impressions) that lived below him.
"Ah, mother! Good evening!" Jinki greeted, his voice high and cheery.
Just their nightly phone call, Kibum observed absentmindedly, tapping away at his laptop for the upcoming fashion special he had been assigned to.
"Yes, I'm doing well. Work is great! I'm still learning a lot, but everyone's always willing to help me out!"
Literally, Kibum rolled his eyes, having heard Jinki bemoan tripping into the water dispenser during his first day of work. There were no injuries, except perhaps to Jinki's pride. Ever since then, everyone always half-expected him to bump into something or another.
"Eating healthy? Um..."
There was a very long pause. Kibum paused briefly in the middle of a paragraph, half-pondering the best way to criticize some pompous designer's winter line and half-waiting for the reaction of Jinki's mother.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I swear I eat at least three meals a day!" Jinki yelped frantically. If Kibum listened hard enough, he could almost make out the sound of the mother scolding him for buying nothing but chicken and tofu. "I have a perfectly balanced diet! ... Ah, you mean soy milk doesn't really count for calcium?"
Kibum snickered, finding just the right scathing adjective to demean the horrendous choice of fabric for the centerpiece jacket. He wrapped up the article and sent it to his editor for checking, absentmindedly humming as the sounds of Jinki's attempts to placate his mother's worries drifted up from the balcony.
The confirmation message popped up onscreen. Kibum shut the laptop down and stretched out his limbs, mentally patting himself on the back for a job well done.
Unbidden, his gaze drifted to his chosen meal for the night: stir fry vegetables and steaming jjampong, perfect for the cool evening weather.
He briefly thought of offering Jinki some just so he and his mother would stop having the same conversation over and over again, but his phone suddenly vibrated with a text message from his editor, and the thought was quickly forgotten.
---
"You are obsessed," Jonghyun said through a mouthful of kimbap.
"Don't talk when your mouth is full," Kibum responded automatically. "And I am not."
Jonghyun swallowed before attempting to speak again. "Come on, Kibum. You've memorized his schedule, know how much the food costs when he orders from that fried chicken place, and eavesdrop on his phone calls. I wouldn't be surprised if you knew his parents' contact numbers better than he does."
"It's not a hard schedule to learn, he always announces how much he owes the delivery boy, and it's not eavesdropping. I just happen to hear the conversations because they're so damn loud," Kibum stated, sneaking a piece of meat from Jonghyun's bowl.
"You could always, like, not listen," Jonghyun leered, tapping at Kibum's chopsticks as they reached for another clump of rice. The two spontaneously engaged in a mini utensil war that ended only when Kibum rapped Jonghyun's knuckles smartly with the chopsticks and declared himself the victor.
"I still say you're obsessed," Jonghyun muttered, miffed, and cradled his sore fingers against his chest.
"And I say I'm going to eat the rest of your meal if you're just going to cry there, you big baby," Kibum rolled his eyes.
"Yes, umma," Jonghyun drawled, shooting Kibum a light glare, but drew the bowl closer to himself anyway.
("Hey, you didn't deny that you've memorized his parents' contact numbers!"
"Shut up, Jjong. Seriously. You're such a teenage girl.")
---
But, and this he would never admit to his best friend, there was something strange about how his thoughts always turned to Lee Jinki.
It was suddenly more than listening to his mother worry over his limited food options and his pathetic attempts to wave her worries away.
It was going grocery shopping and trying to think up which ingredients would help make the healthiest meals out of tofu and chicken.
It was more than hearing him enter the apartment at ungodly hours, exhausted groans and tired shuffling resounding through the quiet night as he prepared to catch only three or four hours of sleep before heading out again.
It was sometimes peering out of his balcony just before he went off to work to find that Jinki had forgotten to turn the lights off before flopping into a fitful rest, and wondering if he had a blanket with him.
It was more than listening to his purposely off-key singing (and Kibum knew that Jinki could sing when he really wanted to) as he thanked the delivery man for another night's meal.
It was actually singing along to his made-up lines and then laughing with him instead of at him.
And it wasn't until they ordered Chinese food for takeout on movie night and Kibum had automatically belted out, "Chicken in my heaaaart!" upon seeing the spring chicken did he realize how deeply he had fallen.
---
"Fuck, I think I'm in love."
Three pairs of eyes stared at him for the second time that night (the first being after his spontaneous proclamation of his love for poultry).
"So that's what you want to call it," Jonghyun snorted, and dug right back into his chaofan.
"I'm serious, Jonghyun. You were right, okay?" Kibum practically snarled, swiping at his friend with his chopsticks.
"Wait, seriously? You've finally admitted it to yourself?" Jonghyun crowed with triumphant laughter, dodging Kibum's half-hearted swings with practiced ease.
"With who, hyung?" Taemin asked patiently, setting down his meal to turn a wide-eyed gaze on the distressed man.
"With Lee Jinki," Kibum bit out with a stupefied look, as if he still couldn't believe it himself.
"With the guy who lives right below him! And they haven't even met!" Jonghyun guffawed.
"Shut up! He's going to hear you, you elephant!" Kibum hissed.
"How did that happen?" Minho inquired, curiosity piqued.
"He's been eavesdropping on him all this time," Jonghyun explained for his friend. He shuffled closer to the Kibum and patted his head comfortingly. "You little stalker, you," he beamed affectionately.
"Not a stalker," Kibum gritted his teeth.
"Is that where the chicken song came from?" Taemin suddenly exclaimed, slapping a fist into his hand in realization.
Jonghyun broke out into another peal of laughter, and Kibum dropped his head into his hands. "I hate my life forever," he whimpered.
---
"You really should tell him, hyung," Taemin said an hour later as they watched Jonghyun rifle through Kibum's massive DVD collection.
"Tell who what? Tell Jonghyun that his new pants make his ass look really big?" Kibum deadpanned, hiding his smirk behind the latest issue of Oh Boy! magazine.
"I'll put in Amityville just to spite you," the older man responded, his head never leaving the cabinet where Kibum stored his movies.
"I'm shaking," Kibum rolled his eyes. "Please, if you'd just listened to me when we were buying your new pants, I'd-"
"Tell Jinki-sshi that you like him," Taemin finished the sentence.
Kibum sputtered, and Jonghyun banged his head on the top panel of the cabinet because he was laughing so hard. "You can't be serious," Kibum gaped in horror.
"It's better than moping around here all the time just listening to him," Minho put in helpfully, handing over a bowl of fresh popcorn.
"I do not mope," Kibum scowled, but accepted the proffered food anyway. "Anyway, what would I say to him? Hi, I'm the guy that lives one floor up, and you don't really know me, but I love you?"
"That sounds pretty romantic, actually," Taemin acquiesced, reaching out for a fistful of popcorn. "In a stalker kind of way."
"Okay, guys. My Sassy Girl or The Notebook?" Jonghyun asked, holding up the two DVDs for them to see.
"Neither. You cry buckets at both." Kibum gave him a mild glare. "What's with the choices, Jjong? Ladies' Night?"
"Says the one who actually owns them in the first place," Jonghyun shot back, not even trying to dodge the popcorn that Kibum hurled at him.
"What if you send him a note?" Taemin suggested, more of an attempt to distract Kibum from tackling Jonghyun than actual love advice. "It isn't face to face, so you don't have to worry about confronting him directly."
Kibum considered this over a mouthful of popcorn. "I'd like some confirmation, though, first," he swallowed. "That this won't be a complete failure."
"What? Like, knock three times on the ceiling if you want me?" Jonghyun sang in a snicker.
Kibum paused in his chewing. "Hey, that's actually a pretty good idea."
Jonghyun pulled himself out of the cabinet to gape at him. "That was meant to be a joke, you know."
"Well, we're doing it anyway," Kibum said decisively. He stood up, brushing the remnants of butter from his fingers, and hauled Jonghyun to his feet. "You write the note, and we'll figure out a way to send it to him."
"This is so much better than movie night!" Taemin clapped delightedly.
"I'll make more popcorn," Minho excused himself before Kibum could shove him into a Cupid outfit.
---
By the time the next batch was finished and Minho had left the relative safety of the kitchen armed with a new bowl of popcorn, Jonghyun had set up camp in the middle of the living room while Taemin and Kibum attempted to figure out how to work a fishing rod.
"I didn't know Kibum fished," Minho commented to Jonghyun, setting down the bowl beside him.
"Doesn't. Bought it for purely aesthetic purposes," Jonghyun replied from where he had laid himself out on the floor, kicking his legs back and forth and twirling the marker along his fingers in a manner eerily reminiscent of his older sister.
While Minho contemplated the beauty of the fishing device, Kibum demonstrated casting a line to a fascinated Taemin. This would have worked out rather well had they actually been sailing on the open sea instead of being perched on a small balcony. The hook ended up going through a potted plant, which was then lifted out of its container and flung all the way down to the parking lot of the apartment building.
Kibum stared at the remnants of the plant, looked over at a wide-eyed Taemin, and shoved the fishing rod into his hands.
"Smooth move, Ishmael," Jonghyun chortled as Kibum stalked back inside.
"Shut up, Moby Dick," Kibum retorted, seating himself on the sofa next to Minho. "What have you got so far?"
Jonghyun leaned back on his elbows to appraise his work. "Well, I've been trying to decide how to best word your request. Would you really want him to knock three times on the ceiling? Or would the word 'bang' convey the idea better? 'Thump' was another word up for consideration. And since you do not have any exposed pipes on which to tap on, what would then be the appropriate action in case he decides to deny the request? Should he call your phone and let it ring twice? Or would you prefer something more concrete such as sending you flowers and chocolates with an apology card?"
Kibum snatched the paper off the floor, ignoring the affronted noise Jonghyun made. "What the hell, Jjong, you haven't even written anything."
"I told you I was working on the wording. You don't exactly have infinite pads of shiny paper," Jonghyun defended himself, tugging the paper out of Kibum's grasp. "Now decide so I can actually write it."
"The word 'bang' might work better. Your floors aren't exactly paper thin, hyung," Minho suggested, regarding the carpeted floor with a meticulous eye.
"Okay, so that's bang three times on the ceiling if he wants me," Kibum dictated, and Jonghyun dutifully wrote down the lines.
"And nothing for rejection," Kibum nodded.
"How will you know if he rejects you, then?" Jonghyun gaped at him.
"He won't!" Kibum scowled. "Who in their right mind would reject me?"
"Hyung, you can't do that," Minho said patiently. "Not providing an alternate option would only pressure him into making a choice, and it would most likely be the one you don't want him to take. If you put a choice for rejection, his mind will be more at ease, thus making him more open to the option of accepting."
"I... guess that makes sense," Kibum kind of gaped at Minho.
Jonghyun gave a low whistle at Minho's charisma. "So, ring the phone twice?"
Kibum made a face. "Too easy. Besides, what if it's someone else that rings up and chickens out?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "If he chooses to reject," and here Kibum made another face, "then he can come up and buzz my door twice."
Jonghyun gave him a look. "Isn't that more nerve-wracking? I thought we were supposed to put his mind at ease."
"If he wants to reject me, he's going to have to work for it," Kibum sniffed.
Jonghyun looked over at Minho who merely shrugged, having used up his quota of words for this particular conversation and not wanting to argue further with a determined Kibum. He acquiesced with a sigh, writing the second option neatly under the first and signing it with Kibum's name and apartment number.
"Okay, it's done," Jonghyun announced, passing the paper over to Kibum, who inspected it with a critical eye. Upon finding it surpassed his criteria, Kibum gave Jonghyun a quick hug and dashed out to the balcony where he waved it excitedly in a startled Taemin's face.
Jonghyun sighed heavily, crawling across the floor to flop onto the sofa next to Minho. "You think this is a good idea?" he asked, gratefully accepting the popcorn that was offered to him.
Minho chewed thoughtfully, contemplating his answer. "I think it's a pretty stupid idea, but it seems to make him happy."
Jonghyun made a noncommittal noise at the back of his throat. The two ate in silence for a while, watching a highly excited Kibum drag Taemin into an enthusiastic hug.
"I'm worried he'll get hurt," Jonghyun finally admitted.
Minho looked over at him. "Lee Jinki? Or hyung?"
Jonghyun considered the way Kibum's face lit up like it hadn't done for months each time he talked about Jinki; how his friend's sharp gazes and steely tongue softened at the edges when he detailed yet another story of how his neighbor had tripped over thin air.
"I don't even know anymore."
---
"Okay, go for it!"
Sweat beaded on Taemin's forehead as he slowly released the wire inch by painstaking inch. The four of them watched apprehensively as the note descended until it came to dangle in front of the balcony below them.
"Uh, okay. What now?" Jonghyun remarked.
"We wait till he sees it," Kibum answered, leaning forward to check if the note was dangling within good view of the window.
The four of them stood around awkwardly for the next few minutes. Jinki didn't come out for the note during that time, nor do anything to indicate that he had spotted it.
"Maybe we should put in something that would catch his attention?" Taemin suggested, his arms tiring from having to hold the rod still.
"Like what? A piece of chicken?" Jonghyun asked incredulously.
"Minho, go get a drumstick," Kibum ordered.
"What," Minho deadpanned.
"Hyung, it'll probably be too heavy for the line," Taemin reasoned, reeling the note back in. "Something lighter but equally eye-catching should do."
"Jonghyun's hair," Kibum drawled, eyeing the shock of bleached hair atop his friend's head.
"What about that hideous bracelet of yours?" Jonghyun shot back, his hands rising up automatically to shield his hair from Kibum's prying gaze. "The one that blinds everyone within a ten foot radius?"
"Fuck you, Jjong," Kibum scowled, but went inside to fetch the aforementioned accessory. He returned shortly with a crystal-studded arm band that reflected the cheap fluorescent light from the balcony, sending prisms of color in every direction.
"Kibum's private lighthouse," Jonghyun chuckled, winding the bracelet around the note. "She's ready to set sail, Captain Lee," he bid Taemin, fondly ruffling his hair.
Taemin did a mock salute and threw the wire over the edge again. The descent was even slower this time, having to compromise the added weight of the bracelet. Jonghyun and Kibum made encouraging noises and shouted out instructions ("Little more to the left! No, no, too much, bring it back-I mean back to the right, not back here!") while Minho lingered at the door, waiting for the inevitable fall.
And, as expected, it came. Rather spectacularly, too, considering that the sight of the bracelet slipping off the hook and shattering into a hundred tiny pieces was enough to stun Jonghyun and Kibum into at least ten seconds of silence. To make matters worse, it had dragged the note along with it.
"The note!" shouted Taemin and Kibum as the former reeled the line back in frantically.
"My bracelet!" added Kibum-hideous or not, each crystal was worth an entire week's salary (plus he had grown rather fond of watching how it sparkled in the lamplight).
"Minho!" yelled Jonghyun, whipping his head around.
There was no reply. Minho had headed down the moment Kibum had inhaled to shriek.
---
"If I missed any, I'm not going to go back down for them," Minho warned, spilling the contents of his pockets onto the table.
"I don't think it's possible to repair this, hyung," Taemin frowned at the dozens of tiny crystals. "Maybe you can just make something else out of them?"
"Or sell them and give the money to charity? You like helping those poor kids, right?" Jonghyun suggested, one arm hooked consolingly around the sulking man.
"I never even got to wear it to a decent event," Kibum mourned, although he perked up a bit at the thought of donating.
"Well, it was hideous anyway," Jonghyun patted his arm.
"Completely clashed with your wardrobe," Taemin chimed in.
Kibum gave a hesitant smile, and the others heaved a collective sigh of relief at having diverted another potential breakdown.
"By the way," Taemin turned to Minho, who had settled down beside him, "where's the note?"
"I gave it to Lee Jinki," he replied offhandedly, still digging through his pockets to check for remaining crystals.
The atmosphere in the room visibly froze. Jonghyun and Taemin glanced frantically at each other, simultaneously wincing as they prepared for Kibum's reaction.
"WHAT THE FUCK CHOI MINHO YOU GAVE THE NOTE TO LEE JINKI WHAT," Kibum snarled.
"Yeah. Room 2314, right? Right below yours," Minho affirmed placidly.
"BUT WHY," Kibum roared, slamming his hands onto the table and not even caring when a few crystals stuck to his palm.
"Well, it would have gotten the same reaction. Safer and more immediate than just dangling it in front of his balcony, too."
Kibum started choking on his own spit. Jonghyun thumped his back in alarm, Taemin ran into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water, and Minho nonchalantly plucked out a stray crystal that had somehow gotten under the lining of his shirt.
---
"What the hell do I do now, huh?"
Kibum paced around the living room like an agitated lion, rearranging the sofa cushions for what seemed like the millionth time that evening.
"Stop him," Minho mouthed at Jonghyun from a dining chair, having been shooed off the sofa to accommodate Kibum's nervous habits.
Jonghyun shook his head furiously. He pointed over at Taemin before going back to browsing through Kibum's DVD collection and trying not to look like a wildebeest.
"You wait for Jinki-sshi's response, hyung," Taemin answered calmly, plucking the throw pillow out of Kibum's grasp and returning it to its overstuffed fellows on the couch.
Kibum huffed indignantly at having been deprived of his makeshift stress ball. He settled for flopping down on the couch and staring miserably at the floor.
There were a few blissful moments of peace, before-
"Was that banging?" Kibum bolted up from the sofa, eyes sweeping across the room almost manically.
The others shared nervous glances. "I-I don't think so, hyung. I didn't hear anything," Taemin said hesitantly, looking at the others for approval.
"Yeah, I didn't hear anything, either," Jonghyun added his two cents.
Minho shook his head when prompted.
Kibum scowled. "I swear I heard someone banging on the floor," he insisted.
Jonghyun stared at the carpet in consternation. "You think it's him?" he asked hesitantly.
Kibum dropped his gaze to the floor. "I don't know," he said gruffly, lacing his fingers together till the knuckles turned white.
Jonghyun sighed, making his way over to the couch. "You know, your voice gets all thick when you're worried," he said flatly, although the way his arm wrapped around Kibum's shoulders conveyed an entirely different message.
"No, it does not," Kibum argued in the same rough tone, and Jonghyun stifled a snicker. He quickly sobered at the stiff way Kibum held himself-an unfamiliar sight, for it was a rare occasion when Kibum was this unsure, this nervous, this hopeful.
"Hey, don't worry so much. Let's wait a little more. If you hear it again, we can go down to his apartment and check for sure, okay?" Jonghyun said softly.
Kibum merely nodded in response. Jonghyun hesitated a little before he rubbed his arm supportively, his hand lingering on Kibum as he stood up to resume searching for a good movie.
By the time Jonghyun had unearthed what he deemed were the best titles for this particular movie night (Zombieland or Shaun of the Dead - nothing like making fun of the impending zombie apocalypse to cheer up lovelorn best friends, even if they did scream and hit you during the surprising parts), Kibum was no longer on the sofa.
"Hey, where did hyung go?" Taemin asked, walking out of the kitchen.
"You don't know, either?" Jonghyun's brows furrowed.
"He was still here when I went into the kitchen. I wasn't very long. I just put the bowls into the dishwasher," Taemin explained, equally baffled at Kibum's disappearance.
"He just went out," Minho answered from where he had taken to flipping through a book. "He didn't take a jacket or anything with him, so I assume he's just waiting out in the hallway."
Jonghyun dashed for the door and took a peek through the keyhole. Sure enough, there was Kibum sitting at the top of the stairs. He tried to go out to join him, but Taemin's hand on his arm stopped him.
"I think Kibum-hyung needs this time alone," Taemin remarked softly, sharing a knowing look with Minho.
Jonghyun opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it. Sometimes Minho and Taemin were far too insightful for their ages, but in those particular instances, they were always right.
He shot the door one last look before giving in to Taemin's tugging, and headed back into the living room to show them the final contenders for the night's movie feature.
---
They had finally settled on a movie (Zombieland; they'd seen Shaun of the Dead about half as many times as Taemin had forced them to sit through Goblet of Fire), finished making one more batch of popcorn and were in the process of popping the disc into the player when Kibum quietly re-entered the apartment.
The others were careful to continue with their bright chatter and segregation of popcorn, even as they watched Kibum from the corner of their eyes, taking in his still rigid posture and the thin line of his lips.
The three of them settled on the couch around Kibum, keeping their eyes trained on the screen and trying not to focus on the wordless tension that filled the room.
It was somewhere in the middle of the slow-motion montage that Kibum finally cracked, hands clapping over his eyes as his head lolled back against the backrest. "He's not coming up. Lee Jinki isn't going to come up."
The movie was immediately paused, popcorn very nearly flying everywhere as the three of them rushed to comfort Kibum. Jonghyun attempted to crack a lame joke about the apartment flooring, Taemin rattled off possible reasons why Lee Jinki could have had trouble banging on the ceiling, and Minho pushed more popcorn towards Kibum.
Their chatter was stopped by the unmistakable sound of buzzing. Jonghyun, Taemin and Minho stared at the door in abject horror while Kibum drawled a defeated, "One."
Their faces fell when a second buzz was heard, and Kibum's voice audibly cracked as he counted, "Two."
"That bastard," Jonghyun hissed.
"Oh, hyung," Taemin said sympathetically.
"Wait, that was another buzz," Minho remarked.
Kibum sat up quickly, staring at the three of them with suspiciously damp eyes. "Three?" he counted hesitantly. "I heard three buzzes, right?"
"I definitely heard three buzzes," Taemin nodded frantically.
"But I wrote two buzzes!" Jonghyun exclaimed defensively, incredulous at the turn of events. "I'm sure of that!"
"Hyung, go open the door," Minho encouraged Kibum, gently pushing him towards the entranceway.
Kibum swallowed, and slowly approached the door. His hand rested on the doorknob, trembling as they gripped the metal. He didn't dare look through the peephole, not for something as important as this.
Something like this, something so potentially life-changing and disastrous and wonderful all at the same time-something like this deserved to be seen for himself.
He took a deep breath, turned the knob, and yanked the door open to find-
-a bemused-looking young man, one hand raised to the door as if he were about to knock right before Kibum opened it. He laughed sheepishly, pushing his floppy bangs out of his eyes and bestowing upon Kibum the most gorgeous slightly bucktoothed smile he had ever seen.
"Kim Kibum?" he asked hesitantly.
"Lee Jinki," Kibum stated, feeling an odd warmth rising up to his cheeks.
The man smiled a slightly more confident smile that added more color to Kibum's already heated cheeks. "Yep, that's me! Your, uh, downstairs neighbor!" Jinki said brightly, extending a hand out for him to shake, which Kibum accepted dazedly.
"I, um, got your note," and here Jinki mirrored Kibum's current blush, "and I tried to bang on the ceiling, but it took me a while to find a pretty solid surface that I could stand on. I kind of messed up my apartment because of that," and here Jinki let out an awkward laugh, "but I finally got up and I started banging, but I don't think you heard me because nothing happened, so I was worried about what to do because the note never really specified what I should do if banging didn't work.
"So I kind of flailed around for a while, trying to figure out what to do, and I called up my officemate, and he just kind of yelled at me to come up here and kiss you senseless," and here, all the blood in Jinki's body seemed to rush up to his face, "-er, not that I'm going to, unless you wa- er, I mean, uh-so I came up here and buzzed your door three times so you wouldn't think I was rejecting you, because I've actually kindoflikedyou for a while now even though I just hear you sometimes -oh, God, I swear I haven't been stalking you-"
"Would you like to stay for movie night?"
Jinki blinked, a bit off balance now that his prepared speech was cut off. "Movie night?"
"Uh, yeah. My friends and I hang out every Saturday night to watch movies and bond and shit, so I thought you might like to join us," Kibum coughed a little awkwardly.
"What he means is, would you like to stay overnight?" Jonghyun's voice drifted from the living room. The leer in his tone was practically tangible.
"Shut up, you raptor," Kibum snapped back, embarrassed, and turned back to Jinki. "Sorry about that. But, uh, I guess we could take this, um, time to g-get to know each other a bit."
Kibum mentally smacked himself over the head-since when did he suffer from verbal diarrhea?-but, to his relief, Jinki merely smiled and nodded. "Movie night sounds great," he said warmly, beaming at Kibum.
"Oh. Okay. That's good, then," Kibum exhaled, and returned Jinki's smile with a tiny one of his own.
"Hurry up, you two! It's the cool car scene!" Jonghyun whined.
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming!" Kibum rolled his eyes, and impulsively reached out to grab Jinki's hand. He refused to glance back at his neighbor as they headed into the living room, but secretly gushed when Jinki threaded his fingers through his.
After a quick round of greetings and a lot of Jonghyun waggling his brows inappropriately, the five of them finally settled in to watch the movie. Somehow, the room became much cozier with an added person, and Kibum found that he liked the change.
The main character was just introducing another of his essential zombie survival rules when Kibum felt a hand tugging at his sleeve. He batted it away impatiently, brushing it off as Jonghyun trying to scare him again, but soon realized that Jonghyun was actually sitting on his other side.
Kibum turned quickly to see Minho staring at him. He fumed, about to yell at the other man for startling him, but quickly closed his mouth when he saw what Minho was holding out to him.
Taemin gave a surreptitious thumbs-up from his seat on the floor before the two turned back to the movie, and Kibum stifled a half-hearted groan. Nevertheless, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he passed the box on to Jinki.
"Your favorite," Kibum whispered, pressing the cheap cardboard container into Jinki's hands.
Jinki yelled out "CHICKEN!" at the same time that a zombie snuck up onscreen causing Kibum to yelp and reflexively smack Jinki's arm, sending bits of rice and spring chicken all over them.
Movie night didn't continue for at least half an hour later, and despite all the mock whining about ruined clothes and sticky hair, none of them really minded.
(Least of all Kibum, who actually did end up convincing Jinki to stay for the night. And the next night. And the night after that. And many, many nights after.)
type: oneshot (5829 words)
fandom: shinee
pairing: au!onkey
rating/warnings: pg for cussing
author's notes: another one inspired by a song; this time, it is tony orlando and dawn's "knock three times". beta'd by meicdon13 and pinkweather~ <3
There was a loud clamor when the new tenant first moved in, loud enough to distract Kibum from the magazine he was perusing. The young man glared daggers at the window, tossing aside the copy of Ceci in favor of stomping out onto his balcony with the intent of yelling at the idiot that had dared to interrupt his free time.
The moving van that he had heard rumbling in earlier was there, the back hanging open to reveal a set of household items halfway through unpacking. A few meters away from the van, just in front of the entrance to the apartment building, lay a man sprawled on his back with a tightly sealed box on top of his chest. The new resident, Kibum concluded, rolling his eyes as the man shot a sheepish smile at the elderly woman who lived on the second floor.
He had wanted to reprimand the idiot for making such a racket in their perfectly peaceful compound. But now, looking at the man politely decline the woman's offer to help him up and then flail his arms around uselessly in an attempt to get the box off him-well, he was sure that the newcomer needed no help in embarrassing himself further.
I'll let it pass this time, Kibum grumbled.
He shot the man one last look before retreating inside, intent on finishing that article about the latest hot hairstyles. Red and green highlights were apparently in this season.
---
"Hi, this is Lee Jinki! I'm away from the phone right now, so, uh, I can't reach it. And, uh, you should probably leave me a message so I can ring you up again when I'm actually here, and. Um."
Kibum heard the muffled curse from directly below him, and realized with no small amount of dread which apartment the new tenant had moved into.
Aigoo, and he still insists on being loud, Kibum groaned to himself. He gave the stew one last stir before letting it simmer and took off his frilly apron, hooking it over the back of a dining chair. He flopped down on the couch, letting his head loll back as the delicious smell of beef stew filled the apartment.
"Hi! This is Lee Jinki! I'm away from the phone at the moment, so I can't answer it. Ah-Of course I can't answer it. Ugh, what am I saying? Ah! It's still recording this, erk!"
A loud beep was heard as a heavy hand slammed down on the record button, followed by the unmistakable clatter of a phone falling to the floor.
Kibum unwittingly let out a small chuckle. It was like having your own private sitcom, only without the video. His lips pursed in thought, wondering what his new neighbor actually looked like. He had seen him a couple of days ago when he had first moved in, but hadn't actually gotten close enough to see his face.
Was he old? Kibum made a face. Probably not. A middle-aged man wouldn't be so horribly bumbling.
He was probably young. Maybe around his age, give or take a few years. Younger, Kibum hoped. Maybe there was still a chance to wean that clumsiness out of him.
Kibum was startled out of his train of thoughts, suddenly remembering the stew he had left to simmer. "Ah, damn it," he snarled, throwing on his apron and dashing into the kitchen to see if his meal could still be saved.
"Hi! I'm away from the phone right now, so please leave me a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Oh, yeah! This is Lee Jinki, by the way!"
---
...from the phone right now, so please leave me a-
The sounds of frantic running, and a phone being picked up in the middle of the recorded message. "Hello?" Jinki's gasps were loud enough to be heard from Kibum's apartment. Actually, Kibum could hear almost everything Jinki did, although the latter probably didn't know it.
Kibum would have felt bad for eavesdropping on most of Jinki's life (everything from his raucous laughter at evening game shows to his impersonations of Michael Jackson), but technically, it wasn't eavesdropping when your neighbor practically spilled it out for you to hear.
Besides, it wasn't as if he were interested in Lee Jinki's life. There was nothing remarkable about the man (whom, in the span of a few weeks, Kibum had determined to be only two years older than him, and that this was the first time he had actually lived away from his parents, having found a job that was too far from his old residence; he also happened to enjoy tofu, graduated as salutatorian of his batch, and was fond of making Donald Duck impressions) that lived below him.
"Ah, mother! Good evening!" Jinki greeted, his voice high and cheery.
Just their nightly phone call, Kibum observed absentmindedly, tapping away at his laptop for the upcoming fashion special he had been assigned to.
"Yes, I'm doing well. Work is great! I'm still learning a lot, but everyone's always willing to help me out!"
Literally, Kibum rolled his eyes, having heard Jinki bemoan tripping into the water dispenser during his first day of work. There were no injuries, except perhaps to Jinki's pride. Ever since then, everyone always half-expected him to bump into something or another.
"Eating healthy? Um..."
There was a very long pause. Kibum paused briefly in the middle of a paragraph, half-pondering the best way to criticize some pompous designer's winter line and half-waiting for the reaction of Jinki's mother.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I swear I eat at least three meals a day!" Jinki yelped frantically. If Kibum listened hard enough, he could almost make out the sound of the mother scolding him for buying nothing but chicken and tofu. "I have a perfectly balanced diet! ... Ah, you mean soy milk doesn't really count for calcium?"
Kibum snickered, finding just the right scathing adjective to demean the horrendous choice of fabric for the centerpiece jacket. He wrapped up the article and sent it to his editor for checking, absentmindedly humming as the sounds of Jinki's attempts to placate his mother's worries drifted up from the balcony.
The confirmation message popped up onscreen. Kibum shut the laptop down and stretched out his limbs, mentally patting himself on the back for a job well done.
Unbidden, his gaze drifted to his chosen meal for the night: stir fry vegetables and steaming jjampong, perfect for the cool evening weather.
He briefly thought of offering Jinki some just so he and his mother would stop having the same conversation over and over again, but his phone suddenly vibrated with a text message from his editor, and the thought was quickly forgotten.
---
"You are obsessed," Jonghyun said through a mouthful of kimbap.
"Don't talk when your mouth is full," Kibum responded automatically. "And I am not."
Jonghyun swallowed before attempting to speak again. "Come on, Kibum. You've memorized his schedule, know how much the food costs when he orders from that fried chicken place, and eavesdrop on his phone calls. I wouldn't be surprised if you knew his parents' contact numbers better than he does."
"It's not a hard schedule to learn, he always announces how much he owes the delivery boy, and it's not eavesdropping. I just happen to hear the conversations because they're so damn loud," Kibum stated, sneaking a piece of meat from Jonghyun's bowl.
"You could always, like, not listen," Jonghyun leered, tapping at Kibum's chopsticks as they reached for another clump of rice. The two spontaneously engaged in a mini utensil war that ended only when Kibum rapped Jonghyun's knuckles smartly with the chopsticks and declared himself the victor.
"I still say you're obsessed," Jonghyun muttered, miffed, and cradled his sore fingers against his chest.
"And I say I'm going to eat the rest of your meal if you're just going to cry there, you big baby," Kibum rolled his eyes.
"Yes, umma," Jonghyun drawled, shooting Kibum a light glare, but drew the bowl closer to himself anyway.
("Hey, you didn't deny that you've memorized his parents' contact numbers!"
"Shut up, Jjong. Seriously. You're such a teenage girl.")
---
But, and this he would never admit to his best friend, there was something strange about how his thoughts always turned to Lee Jinki.
It was suddenly more than listening to his mother worry over his limited food options and his pathetic attempts to wave her worries away.
It was going grocery shopping and trying to think up which ingredients would help make the healthiest meals out of tofu and chicken.
It was more than hearing him enter the apartment at ungodly hours, exhausted groans and tired shuffling resounding through the quiet night as he prepared to catch only three or four hours of sleep before heading out again.
It was sometimes peering out of his balcony just before he went off to work to find that Jinki had forgotten to turn the lights off before flopping into a fitful rest, and wondering if he had a blanket with him.
It was more than listening to his purposely off-key singing (and Kibum knew that Jinki could sing when he really wanted to) as he thanked the delivery man for another night's meal.
It was actually singing along to his made-up lines and then laughing with him instead of at him.
And it wasn't until they ordered Chinese food for takeout on movie night and Kibum had automatically belted out, "Chicken in my heaaaart!" upon seeing the spring chicken did he realize how deeply he had fallen.
---
"Fuck, I think I'm in love."
Three pairs of eyes stared at him for the second time that night (the first being after his spontaneous proclamation of his love for poultry).
"So that's what you want to call it," Jonghyun snorted, and dug right back into his chaofan.
"I'm serious, Jonghyun. You were right, okay?" Kibum practically snarled, swiping at his friend with his chopsticks.
"Wait, seriously? You've finally admitted it to yourself?" Jonghyun crowed with triumphant laughter, dodging Kibum's half-hearted swings with practiced ease.
"With who, hyung?" Taemin asked patiently, setting down his meal to turn a wide-eyed gaze on the distressed man.
"With Lee Jinki," Kibum bit out with a stupefied look, as if he still couldn't believe it himself.
"With the guy who lives right below him! And they haven't even met!" Jonghyun guffawed.
"Shut up! He's going to hear you, you elephant!" Kibum hissed.
"How did that happen?" Minho inquired, curiosity piqued.
"He's been eavesdropping on him all this time," Jonghyun explained for his friend. He shuffled closer to the Kibum and patted his head comfortingly. "You little stalker, you," he beamed affectionately.
"Not a stalker," Kibum gritted his teeth.
"Is that where the chicken song came from?" Taemin suddenly exclaimed, slapping a fist into his hand in realization.
Jonghyun broke out into another peal of laughter, and Kibum dropped his head into his hands. "I hate my life forever," he whimpered.
---
"You really should tell him, hyung," Taemin said an hour later as they watched Jonghyun rifle through Kibum's massive DVD collection.
"Tell who what? Tell Jonghyun that his new pants make his ass look really big?" Kibum deadpanned, hiding his smirk behind the latest issue of Oh Boy! magazine.
"I'll put in Amityville just to spite you," the older man responded, his head never leaving the cabinet where Kibum stored his movies.
"I'm shaking," Kibum rolled his eyes. "Please, if you'd just listened to me when we were buying your new pants, I'd-"
"Tell Jinki-sshi that you like him," Taemin finished the sentence.
Kibum sputtered, and Jonghyun banged his head on the top panel of the cabinet because he was laughing so hard. "You can't be serious," Kibum gaped in horror.
"It's better than moping around here all the time just listening to him," Minho put in helpfully, handing over a bowl of fresh popcorn.
"I do not mope," Kibum scowled, but accepted the proffered food anyway. "Anyway, what would I say to him? Hi, I'm the guy that lives one floor up, and you don't really know me, but I love you?"
"That sounds pretty romantic, actually," Taemin acquiesced, reaching out for a fistful of popcorn. "In a stalker kind of way."
"Okay, guys. My Sassy Girl or The Notebook?" Jonghyun asked, holding up the two DVDs for them to see.
"Neither. You cry buckets at both." Kibum gave him a mild glare. "What's with the choices, Jjong? Ladies' Night?"
"Says the one who actually owns them in the first place," Jonghyun shot back, not even trying to dodge the popcorn that Kibum hurled at him.
"What if you send him a note?" Taemin suggested, more of an attempt to distract Kibum from tackling Jonghyun than actual love advice. "It isn't face to face, so you don't have to worry about confronting him directly."
Kibum considered this over a mouthful of popcorn. "I'd like some confirmation, though, first," he swallowed. "That this won't be a complete failure."
"What? Like, knock three times on the ceiling if you want me?" Jonghyun sang in a snicker.
Kibum paused in his chewing. "Hey, that's actually a pretty good idea."
Jonghyun pulled himself out of the cabinet to gape at him. "That was meant to be a joke, you know."
"Well, we're doing it anyway," Kibum said decisively. He stood up, brushing the remnants of butter from his fingers, and hauled Jonghyun to his feet. "You write the note, and we'll figure out a way to send it to him."
"This is so much better than movie night!" Taemin clapped delightedly.
"I'll make more popcorn," Minho excused himself before Kibum could shove him into a Cupid outfit.
---
By the time the next batch was finished and Minho had left the relative safety of the kitchen armed with a new bowl of popcorn, Jonghyun had set up camp in the middle of the living room while Taemin and Kibum attempted to figure out how to work a fishing rod.
"I didn't know Kibum fished," Minho commented to Jonghyun, setting down the bowl beside him.
"Doesn't. Bought it for purely aesthetic purposes," Jonghyun replied from where he had laid himself out on the floor, kicking his legs back and forth and twirling the marker along his fingers in a manner eerily reminiscent of his older sister.
While Minho contemplated the beauty of the fishing device, Kibum demonstrated casting a line to a fascinated Taemin. This would have worked out rather well had they actually been sailing on the open sea instead of being perched on a small balcony. The hook ended up going through a potted plant, which was then lifted out of its container and flung all the way down to the parking lot of the apartment building.
Kibum stared at the remnants of the plant, looked over at a wide-eyed Taemin, and shoved the fishing rod into his hands.
"Smooth move, Ishmael," Jonghyun chortled as Kibum stalked back inside.
"Shut up, Moby Dick," Kibum retorted, seating himself on the sofa next to Minho. "What have you got so far?"
Jonghyun leaned back on his elbows to appraise his work. "Well, I've been trying to decide how to best word your request. Would you really want him to knock three times on the ceiling? Or would the word 'bang' convey the idea better? 'Thump' was another word up for consideration. And since you do not have any exposed pipes on which to tap on, what would then be the appropriate action in case he decides to deny the request? Should he call your phone and let it ring twice? Or would you prefer something more concrete such as sending you flowers and chocolates with an apology card?"
Kibum snatched the paper off the floor, ignoring the affronted noise Jonghyun made. "What the hell, Jjong, you haven't even written anything."
"I told you I was working on the wording. You don't exactly have infinite pads of shiny paper," Jonghyun defended himself, tugging the paper out of Kibum's grasp. "Now decide so I can actually write it."
"The word 'bang' might work better. Your floors aren't exactly paper thin, hyung," Minho suggested, regarding the carpeted floor with a meticulous eye.
"Okay, so that's bang three times on the ceiling if he wants me," Kibum dictated, and Jonghyun dutifully wrote down the lines.
"And nothing for rejection," Kibum nodded.
"How will you know if he rejects you, then?" Jonghyun gaped at him.
"He won't!" Kibum scowled. "Who in their right mind would reject me?"
"Hyung, you can't do that," Minho said patiently. "Not providing an alternate option would only pressure him into making a choice, and it would most likely be the one you don't want him to take. If you put a choice for rejection, his mind will be more at ease, thus making him more open to the option of accepting."
"I... guess that makes sense," Kibum kind of gaped at Minho.
Jonghyun gave a low whistle at Minho's charisma. "So, ring the phone twice?"
Kibum made a face. "Too easy. Besides, what if it's someone else that rings up and chickens out?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "If he chooses to reject," and here Kibum made another face, "then he can come up and buzz my door twice."
Jonghyun gave him a look. "Isn't that more nerve-wracking? I thought we were supposed to put his mind at ease."
"If he wants to reject me, he's going to have to work for it," Kibum sniffed.
Jonghyun looked over at Minho who merely shrugged, having used up his quota of words for this particular conversation and not wanting to argue further with a determined Kibum. He acquiesced with a sigh, writing the second option neatly under the first and signing it with Kibum's name and apartment number.
"Okay, it's done," Jonghyun announced, passing the paper over to Kibum, who inspected it with a critical eye. Upon finding it surpassed his criteria, Kibum gave Jonghyun a quick hug and dashed out to the balcony where he waved it excitedly in a startled Taemin's face.
Jonghyun sighed heavily, crawling across the floor to flop onto the sofa next to Minho. "You think this is a good idea?" he asked, gratefully accepting the popcorn that was offered to him.
Minho chewed thoughtfully, contemplating his answer. "I think it's a pretty stupid idea, but it seems to make him happy."
Jonghyun made a noncommittal noise at the back of his throat. The two ate in silence for a while, watching a highly excited Kibum drag Taemin into an enthusiastic hug.
"I'm worried he'll get hurt," Jonghyun finally admitted.
Minho looked over at him. "Lee Jinki? Or hyung?"
Jonghyun considered the way Kibum's face lit up like it hadn't done for months each time he talked about Jinki; how his friend's sharp gazes and steely tongue softened at the edges when he detailed yet another story of how his neighbor had tripped over thin air.
"I don't even know anymore."
---
"Okay, go for it!"
Sweat beaded on Taemin's forehead as he slowly released the wire inch by painstaking inch. The four of them watched apprehensively as the note descended until it came to dangle in front of the balcony below them.
"Uh, okay. What now?" Jonghyun remarked.
"We wait till he sees it," Kibum answered, leaning forward to check if the note was dangling within good view of the window.
The four of them stood around awkwardly for the next few minutes. Jinki didn't come out for the note during that time, nor do anything to indicate that he had spotted it.
"Maybe we should put in something that would catch his attention?" Taemin suggested, his arms tiring from having to hold the rod still.
"Like what? A piece of chicken?" Jonghyun asked incredulously.
"Minho, go get a drumstick," Kibum ordered.
"What," Minho deadpanned.
"Hyung, it'll probably be too heavy for the line," Taemin reasoned, reeling the note back in. "Something lighter but equally eye-catching should do."
"Jonghyun's hair," Kibum drawled, eyeing the shock of bleached hair atop his friend's head.
"What about that hideous bracelet of yours?" Jonghyun shot back, his hands rising up automatically to shield his hair from Kibum's prying gaze. "The one that blinds everyone within a ten foot radius?"
"Fuck you, Jjong," Kibum scowled, but went inside to fetch the aforementioned accessory. He returned shortly with a crystal-studded arm band that reflected the cheap fluorescent light from the balcony, sending prisms of color in every direction.
"Kibum's private lighthouse," Jonghyun chuckled, winding the bracelet around the note. "She's ready to set sail, Captain Lee," he bid Taemin, fondly ruffling his hair.
Taemin did a mock salute and threw the wire over the edge again. The descent was even slower this time, having to compromise the added weight of the bracelet. Jonghyun and Kibum made encouraging noises and shouted out instructions ("Little more to the left! No, no, too much, bring it back-I mean back to the right, not back here!") while Minho lingered at the door, waiting for the inevitable fall.
And, as expected, it came. Rather spectacularly, too, considering that the sight of the bracelet slipping off the hook and shattering into a hundred tiny pieces was enough to stun Jonghyun and Kibum into at least ten seconds of silence. To make matters worse, it had dragged the note along with it.
"The note!" shouted Taemin and Kibum as the former reeled the line back in frantically.
"My bracelet!" added Kibum-hideous or not, each crystal was worth an entire week's salary (plus he had grown rather fond of watching how it sparkled in the lamplight).
"Minho!" yelled Jonghyun, whipping his head around.
There was no reply. Minho had headed down the moment Kibum had inhaled to shriek.
---
"If I missed any, I'm not going to go back down for them," Minho warned, spilling the contents of his pockets onto the table.
"I don't think it's possible to repair this, hyung," Taemin frowned at the dozens of tiny crystals. "Maybe you can just make something else out of them?"
"Or sell them and give the money to charity? You like helping those poor kids, right?" Jonghyun suggested, one arm hooked consolingly around the sulking man.
"I never even got to wear it to a decent event," Kibum mourned, although he perked up a bit at the thought of donating.
"Well, it was hideous anyway," Jonghyun patted his arm.
"Completely clashed with your wardrobe," Taemin chimed in.
Kibum gave a hesitant smile, and the others heaved a collective sigh of relief at having diverted another potential breakdown.
"By the way," Taemin turned to Minho, who had settled down beside him, "where's the note?"
"I gave it to Lee Jinki," he replied offhandedly, still digging through his pockets to check for remaining crystals.
The atmosphere in the room visibly froze. Jonghyun and Taemin glanced frantically at each other, simultaneously wincing as they prepared for Kibum's reaction.
"WHAT THE FUCK CHOI MINHO YOU GAVE THE NOTE TO LEE JINKI WHAT," Kibum snarled.
"Yeah. Room 2314, right? Right below yours," Minho affirmed placidly.
"BUT WHY," Kibum roared, slamming his hands onto the table and not even caring when a few crystals stuck to his palm.
"Well, it would have gotten the same reaction. Safer and more immediate than just dangling it in front of his balcony, too."
Kibum started choking on his own spit. Jonghyun thumped his back in alarm, Taemin ran into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water, and Minho nonchalantly plucked out a stray crystal that had somehow gotten under the lining of his shirt.
---
"What the hell do I do now, huh?"
Kibum paced around the living room like an agitated lion, rearranging the sofa cushions for what seemed like the millionth time that evening.
"Stop him," Minho mouthed at Jonghyun from a dining chair, having been shooed off the sofa to accommodate Kibum's nervous habits.
Jonghyun shook his head furiously. He pointed over at Taemin before going back to browsing through Kibum's DVD collection and trying not to look like a wildebeest.
"You wait for Jinki-sshi's response, hyung," Taemin answered calmly, plucking the throw pillow out of Kibum's grasp and returning it to its overstuffed fellows on the couch.
Kibum huffed indignantly at having been deprived of his makeshift stress ball. He settled for flopping down on the couch and staring miserably at the floor.
There were a few blissful moments of peace, before-
"Was that banging?" Kibum bolted up from the sofa, eyes sweeping across the room almost manically.
The others shared nervous glances. "I-I don't think so, hyung. I didn't hear anything," Taemin said hesitantly, looking at the others for approval.
"Yeah, I didn't hear anything, either," Jonghyun added his two cents.
Minho shook his head when prompted.
Kibum scowled. "I swear I heard someone banging on the floor," he insisted.
Jonghyun stared at the carpet in consternation. "You think it's him?" he asked hesitantly.
Kibum dropped his gaze to the floor. "I don't know," he said gruffly, lacing his fingers together till the knuckles turned white.
Jonghyun sighed, making his way over to the couch. "You know, your voice gets all thick when you're worried," he said flatly, although the way his arm wrapped around Kibum's shoulders conveyed an entirely different message.
"No, it does not," Kibum argued in the same rough tone, and Jonghyun stifled a snicker. He quickly sobered at the stiff way Kibum held himself-an unfamiliar sight, for it was a rare occasion when Kibum was this unsure, this nervous, this hopeful.
"Hey, don't worry so much. Let's wait a little more. If you hear it again, we can go down to his apartment and check for sure, okay?" Jonghyun said softly.
Kibum merely nodded in response. Jonghyun hesitated a little before he rubbed his arm supportively, his hand lingering on Kibum as he stood up to resume searching for a good movie.
By the time Jonghyun had unearthed what he deemed were the best titles for this particular movie night (Zombieland or Shaun of the Dead - nothing like making fun of the impending zombie apocalypse to cheer up lovelorn best friends, even if they did scream and hit you during the surprising parts), Kibum was no longer on the sofa.
"Hey, where did hyung go?" Taemin asked, walking out of the kitchen.
"You don't know, either?" Jonghyun's brows furrowed.
"He was still here when I went into the kitchen. I wasn't very long. I just put the bowls into the dishwasher," Taemin explained, equally baffled at Kibum's disappearance.
"He just went out," Minho answered from where he had taken to flipping through a book. "He didn't take a jacket or anything with him, so I assume he's just waiting out in the hallway."
Jonghyun dashed for the door and took a peek through the keyhole. Sure enough, there was Kibum sitting at the top of the stairs. He tried to go out to join him, but Taemin's hand on his arm stopped him.
"I think Kibum-hyung needs this time alone," Taemin remarked softly, sharing a knowing look with Minho.
Jonghyun opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it. Sometimes Minho and Taemin were far too insightful for their ages, but in those particular instances, they were always right.
He shot the door one last look before giving in to Taemin's tugging, and headed back into the living room to show them the final contenders for the night's movie feature.
---
They had finally settled on a movie (Zombieland; they'd seen Shaun of the Dead about half as many times as Taemin had forced them to sit through Goblet of Fire), finished making one more batch of popcorn and were in the process of popping the disc into the player when Kibum quietly re-entered the apartment.
The others were careful to continue with their bright chatter and segregation of popcorn, even as they watched Kibum from the corner of their eyes, taking in his still rigid posture and the thin line of his lips.
The three of them settled on the couch around Kibum, keeping their eyes trained on the screen and trying not to focus on the wordless tension that filled the room.
It was somewhere in the middle of the slow-motion montage that Kibum finally cracked, hands clapping over his eyes as his head lolled back against the backrest. "He's not coming up. Lee Jinki isn't going to come up."
The movie was immediately paused, popcorn very nearly flying everywhere as the three of them rushed to comfort Kibum. Jonghyun attempted to crack a lame joke about the apartment flooring, Taemin rattled off possible reasons why Lee Jinki could have had trouble banging on the ceiling, and Minho pushed more popcorn towards Kibum.
Their chatter was stopped by the unmistakable sound of buzzing. Jonghyun, Taemin and Minho stared at the door in abject horror while Kibum drawled a defeated, "One."
Their faces fell when a second buzz was heard, and Kibum's voice audibly cracked as he counted, "Two."
"That bastard," Jonghyun hissed.
"Oh, hyung," Taemin said sympathetically.
"Wait, that was another buzz," Minho remarked.
Kibum sat up quickly, staring at the three of them with suspiciously damp eyes. "Three?" he counted hesitantly. "I heard three buzzes, right?"
"I definitely heard three buzzes," Taemin nodded frantically.
"But I wrote two buzzes!" Jonghyun exclaimed defensively, incredulous at the turn of events. "I'm sure of that!"
"Hyung, go open the door," Minho encouraged Kibum, gently pushing him towards the entranceway.
Kibum swallowed, and slowly approached the door. His hand rested on the doorknob, trembling as they gripped the metal. He didn't dare look through the peephole, not for something as important as this.
Something like this, something so potentially life-changing and disastrous and wonderful all at the same time-something like this deserved to be seen for himself.
He took a deep breath, turned the knob, and yanked the door open to find-
-a bemused-looking young man, one hand raised to the door as if he were about to knock right before Kibum opened it. He laughed sheepishly, pushing his floppy bangs out of his eyes and bestowing upon Kibum the most gorgeous slightly bucktoothed smile he had ever seen.
"Kim Kibum?" he asked hesitantly.
"Lee Jinki," Kibum stated, feeling an odd warmth rising up to his cheeks.
The man smiled a slightly more confident smile that added more color to Kibum's already heated cheeks. "Yep, that's me! Your, uh, downstairs neighbor!" Jinki said brightly, extending a hand out for him to shake, which Kibum accepted dazedly.
"I, um, got your note," and here Jinki mirrored Kibum's current blush, "and I tried to bang on the ceiling, but it took me a while to find a pretty solid surface that I could stand on. I kind of messed up my apartment because of that," and here Jinki let out an awkward laugh, "but I finally got up and I started banging, but I don't think you heard me because nothing happened, so I was worried about what to do because the note never really specified what I should do if banging didn't work.
"So I kind of flailed around for a while, trying to figure out what to do, and I called up my officemate, and he just kind of yelled at me to come up here and kiss you senseless," and here, all the blood in Jinki's body seemed to rush up to his face, "-er, not that I'm going to, unless you wa- er, I mean, uh-so I came up here and buzzed your door three times so you wouldn't think I was rejecting you, because I've actually kindoflikedyou for a while now even though I just hear you sometimes -oh, God, I swear I haven't been stalking you-"
"Would you like to stay for movie night?"
Jinki blinked, a bit off balance now that his prepared speech was cut off. "Movie night?"
"Uh, yeah. My friends and I hang out every Saturday night to watch movies and bond and shit, so I thought you might like to join us," Kibum coughed a little awkwardly.
"What he means is, would you like to stay overnight?" Jonghyun's voice drifted from the living room. The leer in his tone was practically tangible.
"Shut up, you raptor," Kibum snapped back, embarrassed, and turned back to Jinki. "Sorry about that. But, uh, I guess we could take this, um, time to g-get to know each other a bit."
Kibum mentally smacked himself over the head-since when did he suffer from verbal diarrhea?-but, to his relief, Jinki merely smiled and nodded. "Movie night sounds great," he said warmly, beaming at Kibum.
"Oh. Okay. That's good, then," Kibum exhaled, and returned Jinki's smile with a tiny one of his own.
"Hurry up, you two! It's the cool car scene!" Jonghyun whined.
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming!" Kibum rolled his eyes, and impulsively reached out to grab Jinki's hand. He refused to glance back at his neighbor as they headed into the living room, but secretly gushed when Jinki threaded his fingers through his.
After a quick round of greetings and a lot of Jonghyun waggling his brows inappropriately, the five of them finally settled in to watch the movie. Somehow, the room became much cozier with an added person, and Kibum found that he liked the change.
The main character was just introducing another of his essential zombie survival rules when Kibum felt a hand tugging at his sleeve. He batted it away impatiently, brushing it off as Jonghyun trying to scare him again, but soon realized that Jonghyun was actually sitting on his other side.
Kibum turned quickly to see Minho staring at him. He fumed, about to yell at the other man for startling him, but quickly closed his mouth when he saw what Minho was holding out to him.
Taemin gave a surreptitious thumbs-up from his seat on the floor before the two turned back to the movie, and Kibum stifled a half-hearted groan. Nevertheless, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he passed the box on to Jinki.
"Your favorite," Kibum whispered, pressing the cheap cardboard container into Jinki's hands.
Jinki yelled out "CHICKEN!" at the same time that a zombie snuck up onscreen causing Kibum to yelp and reflexively smack Jinki's arm, sending bits of rice and spring chicken all over them.
Movie night didn't continue for at least half an hour later, and despite all the mock whining about ruined clothes and sticky hair, none of them really minded.
(Least of all Kibum, who actually did end up convincing Jinki to stay for the night. And the next night. And the night after that. And many, many nights after.)