Round One: Vitiate (1/3)

[kat_elric]

Title: vitiate
Team: Dystopias and Oddities
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Onew/Minho
Summary: Of losses and discoveries. Things are never as they seem, and sometimes finding out the truth is enough to make one lash out.
Author's Note: With thanks to D & C for helping me with this! Also this is a substitute ending, I will write the proper ending later (ran out of time! D:)
Prompt Used: f(x) - hot summer

Minho glanced over at Jonghyun, before picking up the last piece of apple. It was starting to turn brownish yellow from exposure to the air, but Minho took a bite out of it anyway. After all, it was fruit, rare and most definitely precious to him. He watched with satisfaction as Jonghyun turned to glare at him, before he shrugged, accepting the loss of the tasty treat.

“We should go soon,” Jonghyun said, tapping the thin metal around his wrist. Green digits appeared on its surface, and Minho nodded. He didn’t want to think about how long they had been out driving.
The sky was streaked purple and blue, and Minho could see the bursts of gold against the sky. It was getting late and he knew they should keep going. After all they still were quite far from the town.

“Aliens to catch.” Jonghyun wiggled his eyebrows and Minho laughed softly shaking his head as he swallowed the last part of their shared apple. Minho turned the engine on and letting it idle, before he turned around to look out the back so he could reverse down the drive. They had parked down some abandoned drive to break up their trip back home.

“You know,” Minho began as he put his foot down, keeping his eyes on the undergrowth as they backed down the dirty road, “once I thought the aliens were just a conspiracy story.” He stopped
the truck when they hit the main road, turning to look left and right before driving out onto the road.

“Really?” Jonghyun blinked his eyes rapidly. “I never knew that.”

“Yeah.” Minho bit his lip as he drove forward, keeping to the left. “I thought it was just a story that my dad made up. You know, to scare me or something. Like, if you misbehave the aliens will come and take you and experiment on you and then you’ll be engineered and changed for life, part-alien.”

“Ah, I get that.” Minho could hear Jonghyun fastening his seatbelt, the snap of metal and then the hiss as Jonghyun rechecked the pressure seals of the vehicle.

“Yeah. I mean when you’re young, who actually believes that aliens would come and do something like that? It’s fucked-up shit.” Minho shivered slightly, regretting even bringing the topic up.

“Hm totally, but it did happen. I mean, you’ve seen the last few guys we’ve taken in.” Jonghyun shuddered slightly. , “I almost feel sorry for the poor buggers. That last guy almost seemed full robot, the way he had the metal parts seamlessly added to his human body. Why would you like, replace a leg and one side of someone with metal?”

“Fuck if I know,” Minho shrugged. “But most of them seem more human. That was just a special case, Jjong.” Minho glanced out the window, eyes searching for anything he could bring up to change the subject. It was getting so dark that the land and sky melded together and Minho could barely tell where the sky started.

“Yeah, yeah I guess.” Jonghyun tapped his fingers against the dashboard, “It’s been pretty lean pickings lately, maybe we can take some time off?” Minho could hear the hope in his voice, and it made him want to groan, not wanting to think about what horrible things Jonghyun would think up. Last time they went away for a week and Jonghyun had dragged Minho into the seediest bars possible to drink and play betting games. Sometimes Minho was convinced that Jonghyun took him to awful bars on purpose.

“Hm, maybe.” Minho sighed softly. Time off would be good, but it would just remind him of how empty and lonely his life was. Sometimes Minho hated how people only seemed to like him when he was drunk off his face. Sometimes he worried that Jonghyun only dragged him out drinking because he was sick of him too and could only stand Minho when he was drunk. Minho told himself that it was irrational but a small voice reminded him that Jonghyun had dragged him out drinking on their last couple of days off.

“Fuck, I just meant relax at the beach or some shit. Not hanging out in clubs to pick up people.”

“Yeah, I know.” Minho snapped gazing ahead at the flat road, why did Jonghyun always imply that Minho liked picking up people. It wasn’t as if he did it on purpose, it just happened when he was drinking and most of the time Minho remembered nothing. Frowning Minho wondered if Jonghyun was the real sex addict. He was the one who kept getting messages on his phone and disappearing for a few hours at a time.
“No, you were fucking thinking of sex again, seriously. I hate how you just use people. It’s like you only view them in terms of what they can do for you in bed.” Minho pouted, and unconsciously shook his head, that wasn’t true, it was just sex was the only way to get people to spend time with him, even if he did almost always wake up alone.

“Sometimes, it would be great not to wake up to you fucking someone in the next room. Have you even slept alone this year at all?”

“Fuck you.” Minho shook his head, “That is not true, I haven’t slept with anyone for weeks now.”

“Um, yeah right.” Minho frowned when Jonghyun punched his arm. If he hadn’t been driving he would have punched Jonghyun right back. It pissed him off that he couldn’t retaliate, but there was always later, Minho smirked to himself. He let the silence stretch between them, and watched the road slide by under the wheels. Sometimes he hated still using this old truck, but it made their targets much easier pickings. No one thought you were dangerous if you drove a vehicle, only poor people had a vehicle.

“Anyway,” Jonghyun mumbled, “why did you mention not believing in the aliens? Was it because of the incident?” Minho felt himself tense, and for a moment images flooded his thoughts. Blood. The knife point, sharp and gleaming pressing deeper, the ragged breathing, eyes opened in shock. Minho bit down into his lip shuddering, remembering how human the figure looked, and yet its actions were anything but human.

A soft beeping made Minho glance up wondering what the noise was, and moments later he saw Jonghyun glancing down at his phone, smiling as he read the message. Minho blinked and not for the first time, he wondered who was making Jonghyun smile like that, it had to be a lover he reasoned.

~~*~~

Jinki lowered his feet into the small pool of water, letting a soft sigh slip out of his lips. The pale blue almost green water felt refreshing against his skin. The surrounding garden made him Jinki happy, seeing the dark green leaves that bordered the property, and the trees scattered about everywhere. Jinki let his eyes slide shut as he relaxed in the shade of a droopy leafed tree. He felt happy to have a day off from the cafe kitchen where he worked, the heat was horrible in summer. Jinki wished he could somewhere else, but his mother’s warning still rang loudly in his ears.

Jinki could still remembering being a child and unaware of the differences between himself and the other boys. The way his mother would tuck him into bed and Jinki would wonder why his parents had no friends and why they kept at a careful distance from others. Now Jinki understood and he kept up the squeaky clean image - worked full time in a cafe. He sponsored one of the local schools, helping them always have the latest technology, and he did all the right things to appear normal. But sometimes it was tiresome to be constantly alert and know that he had to keep his distance from others.

Once Jinki hadn’t cared and it resulted in his best friend Kibum finding out the truth about him, which was okay because he could trust Kibum. But if it had just been anyway, Jinki probably would be dead by now. Jinki shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut, wishing that his mother hadn’t passed away and left him completely alone.

“Oi.”

Jinki tensed until he realised it was just Kibum.

“Why do you look so glum?” Kibum muttered as he slumped down onto the grass next to Jinki, his feet sliding in the water next to Jinki’s.

“It’s summer, we should be out there having fun.”

“You mean, you should be.”

“Oh Jinki, lighten the fuck up.” Kibum slapped Jinki’s shoulder lightly, rolling his eyes and wriggling his toes in the water. “You don’t need to lock yourself away.”

“I do... if I want to live.” Jinki mumbled in a soft voice, wetting his lips.

“Yeah and what kind of life are you having huh? Maybe you should just enjoy it and if its short, but sweet isn’t that better than having a long life locked away?” Jinki stiffened and then glanced out at the garden, in the sunlight Kibum’s words made sense, but they also scared him too.

“Just have fun with me,” Kibum reached for Jinki’s hand and squeezed it, “Please?” He turned to bat his eyes at Jinki, who felt his resolve crumbling the longer Kibum sat there batting his eyes at him. It looked ridiculous and Jinki sighed softly before he nodded his head.

“I’m not suggesting we do something horrible, just like you know do something fun.” Kibum repeated and Jinki found himself nodding his head and just agreeing to what Kibum wanted.

~~*~~

Minho stared up at the dark ceiling, feeling empty as he lay there alone. Minho sighed and turned onto his side, glancing out the window to try and distract himself. He still remembered the way his parents would compare him to his brother when they were young, and after his mother died, it still happened. Minho was forever trailing behind, and no matter how high he jumped, how hard he tried Minho could see it in their eyes. The way they would look at him, Oh, you’re Minseok’s brother. Your brother is such an amazing person, you must admire him a lot.

It never stopped the comparisons. The first time Minho got drunk, he couldn’t stop smiling when girls kept coming up to him. It was his first time and Minho had felt high for the whole night, the bubble burst in the morning when the girl admitted she slept with him because he looked like Minseok. No one cared about Minho, who was Minho? But when he was drunk the attention (even if it was false) was enough, and the sex at least made him happy for a little while.

Minho shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the pale green stars and the way they blinked at him, it felt like watching, accusing eyes. He could almost hear them hissing, you’re not good enough. You’re just a bad replica of your brother, not good enough!

~~*~~

“Don’t you think it’s dangerous?” Sungjong glanced across at Taemin, eyes locked on the tiny object resting in Taemin’s hands, in the gloom it was hard to make it out. The sound of the waves was loud, and Taemin wanted to turn to face the ocean and not the blackness of the caves but instead he ignored everything but Sungjong. Taemin shrugged and offered Sungjong a soft smile, everything was dangerous.

“It’s not like he knows where we live,” Taemin replied glancing down to see what his friend had replied.

“Yeah but what if he follows you back one day?” Sungjong frowned, leaning forward to curl an around Taemin’s waist, tugging him in close as they sat on the rocks, turning to glance out at the foamy soft waves, it was high tide making it impossible to leave the cave now.

“He won’t,” Taemin picked up a small stone and threw it into the water.

“Sungjong, he’s my childhood friend, he’s the one who protected me and looked after me when my parents were taken away. He’d never hurt me.” Taemin whispered, clutching the necklace his friend had given him all those years ago. Taemin squeezed his eyes shut, and focussed on the waves to stop himself from thinking about how his parents had been killed all those years ago, and Sungjong held him tighter, brushing his fingers through Taemin’s blonde hair until he relaxed against him.

~~*~~

“Hey did you hear that rumour about a colony of aliens down South?” Minho tapped his fingers against the dashboard, glancing out the window and the skyline. Minho turned when he felt Jonghyun look at him and then look away.

“Do you think we should check it out?” Minho asked, shifting in the seat so he could rest his feet on the dashboard, hands resting behind his head. “We could stop doing this then; it would be a lot of money right?”

“You want to stop?”

“Maybe,” Minho shrugged, sometimes he felt like he should be doing something else. “I don’t know I really don’t.”

“Really? I thought you loved this job?” Jonghyun pulled into the drive of their small flat. They sat in the driveway, and Minho tried to make sense of the thoughts racing around in his head.

“It just feels wrong sometimes, I don’t know it’s weird. Maybe if we can track down that colony it would be good, one last job.”

“I see,” Minho turned to see Jonghyun lighting a cigarette, “I thought you loved it? The job I mean?”

“Seriously... how could anyone love this kind of job? You’d have to be sick in the head to love it.”

“Yeah I guess,” Jonghyun shrugged, “it is pretty messed up when you think about it. We get paid to capture modified people and then they get killed by the government and we get paid.”

“Exactly.” Minho opened the car door and slid down to the ground, the rocks digging into his soft soled shoes. The sky looked milky white, a touch of pale blue and soft green streaked across the sky, it made him feel relaxed again, his muscles loosening as he walked into the house.

~~*~~

Minho glanced around the cafe curiously, it was the first time they had been in it. He liked the way the beams were painted dark green and it how light and airy it was. Plus the fact that there was almost no one in there made it even better. Minho glanced around the cafe, watching the robots hiss and whir as they delivered drinks to the tables, it almost seemed a waste to have the robots for so few customers.

“Wow, I am proud of you man.” Minho frowned, his head snapping to look across at Jonghyun again.

“Eh?” Minho blinked, taking in the shit eating grin across Jonghyun’s face, and the way he winked.

“Last night, you slept alone! Wow, amazing!” Jonghyun stuck his hand up in the air for a high five, and Minho just sat there and blinked at him. He hated the way that Jonghyun insinuated that he slept with someone every night, because it really wasn’t true. It was moments like this that he wondered why he was even friends with him.

“Now we just need to get you a new friend, one you don’t fuck.” Jonghyun wriggled his eyebrows at Minho, “You know, someone to actually be nice to that you don’t want to fuck.” Minho felt his self-esteem sink down to the floor again, a voice in the back of his head reminding him that no one wanted to be friends with him unless there was sex involved.

“Excuse me.” A hissing noise disturbed them.

Minho looked up to see the steely grey eyes of a robot focussing on them, it inclined its head in a slight bow, the hiss decreasing as Jonghyun and Minho eyed the robot.

“Your drinks, sir.” The robot put the tray down on the table, and then instead of shifting away, there was a loud hiss and steam started to gush out of the front of the robot.

“Fuck,” Jonghyun stood up, shifting back to avoid the steam, “Fuck, I think you broke it, Minho.”

“Me?” Minho yelped softly, shifting back to avoid the steam, “I didn’t do anything.” Minho blinked and stood up walking over to the counter, there had to be a human staff somewhere in here.

“Excuse me, the waitrobot broke down.” Minho peered behind the counter, eyeing the solid looking door and wondering if anyone would actually hear him.

“Oh, again?” A soft voice came from somewhere Minho couldn’t see, “Hang on, I will come and fix it now.” Minho glanced around trying to work out where the voice was coming from, it was definitely human. Instead he turned around, his jaw dropping when he saw that someone was already walking towards the robot. It scared him that he hadn’t even heard the guy approach. Minho eyed him carefully, taking in the loose faded jeans and the casual t-shirt, he looked ready for the beach, especially with his golden brown hair.

“Jae-ya, what is wrong with you again?”

Minho smiled and glanced across at Jonghyun, it was kind of cute how the guy spoke to the robot.

“I swear, one of these days I am just going to replace you!” The guy waggled his finger in front of the lifeless robots face and Minho laughed softly, before he shifted so he could see the guy’s face. His face was half hidden under long strands of honey brown hair that framed his face, but Minho could see little else.

“Do you need a hand?” Minho asked, and he could see Jonghyun waggling his eyebrows at him in the background, making Minho roll his eyes.

“No, I’m good. Jae usually breaks down once a week. I should replace him, but we can’t afford to.” The guy shrugged and Minho noticed that Jae, or the waitrobot was no longer steaming, instead his eyes were starting to flicker, a sign that he was turning on.

“Sorry about that!” The guy offered them a smile, and Minho blinked watching the way it transformed his ordinary face into something more, even the way he wiped his sweat away, turning to the side as if he didn’t want them to see it.

“It’s cool,” Jonghyun nodded, “I’m Jjong by the way, and this is Min.” Minho frowned across at Jonghyun, trying to shake his head without letting the other guy see it.

“Oh, I’m Onew,” The guy smiled and bowed slightly, and Minho wet his lips as he watched the movements. “Nice to uh meet you guys, I better get back to work.” He bowed again and then practically ran away.

“I dare you,” Jonghyun smirked across at Minho, “you have to become innocent friends with him, nothing more.”

“But... but he looks,” Minho flapped his hands around, “So plain and simple.”

“So?” Jonghyun smirked, “You’re only looking for a friend Minho, and doesn’t his smile transform that face into a pretty one?”

“No!” Minho shook his head, “No, can’t we find someone... uglier?”

“Wow, it really is hard for you to keep it in your pants huh,” Jonghyun slapped Minho on the shoulder, “I dare you. No backing out on me, or I’ll get to choose your outfit next time you go out.” Jonghyun stuck his tongue out and Minho wished he could throttle his friend to death. Minho could still remember the last time that he had allowed Jonghyun to help him choose an outfit, it would’ve been better if he had picked clothes out of a garbage can. With a resigned sigh he nodded his head, feeling glad that they probably would be too busy travelling to even come back. Minho figured his chances of having time to meet this Onew guy were nil.

~~*~~

“Just relax, damn it!” Kibum pinched Jinki’s arm again, and Jinki nodded trying to get comfortable on the sand. He had never really liked beaches, he didn’t get why people liked to sit on the pale blue almost grey surface, it felt so gritty and uncomfortable, and the dark blue waves made him feel uncomfortable, unlike everyone else who found the colour and the waves relaxing.

Jinki experimentally wriggled his toes in the sand, trying not to scrunch up his face when he felt the sand stick to his still damp feet. It was hot, humid and Jinki just wanted to go home, but seeing the expression across Kibum’s face, he tried to smile and look happy as he glanced around the beach. Jinki wished he could understand the point of sitting there at all; it sure as hell wasn’t comfortable for him sitting in the sand with the baking hot sand and the sticky humid air.

“Maybe we should go for a swim,” Kibum suggested, reaching over to press a cool drink against Jinki’s face, “You’re turning a little red.”

“Sorry, I forgot how much you hate the beach.” Kibum sighed, as Jinki stretched his legs out in front of him, letting them rest against the sand when he felt something nudge his leg and then he looked up to see someone half sprawled across his legs.

“I’m so sorry,” Jinki started to mumble, leaning forward to apologise when he recognised the guy’s face. It was the cute guy that he had met in the cafe earlier that week. Jinki sucked in a deep breath, smiling across at him, hoping he wouldn’t be too angry, “I didn’t mean to trip you up.” He mumbled, feeling himself getting hotter as Min wiped the sand off his chest and shorts. Jinki struggled not to stare at his chest and he half wished he had taken his shirt off, although his body definitely paled compared to Min’s.

“Oh,” Jinki wanted to freeze when he saw the way Min glanced at him, instantly recognising him but unlike Jinki he didn’t look happy. “It’s you, nah its fine, was an accident.” Min shrugged and stood up making Jinki sigh just a little.

“I better get going,” Min offered Jinki a small smile and then began to jog away, quickly.

“Huh, how do you even know him?” Kibum asked, touching Jinki on the shoulder lightly, “He did seem kind of rude though.”

“Oh he was in the cafe the other day, Jae broke down at his table.” Jinki sighed, “He offered to help, seemed friendlier that day.” Jinki shrugged, reminding himself that just because he had promised to have fun didn’t mean he should risk liking someone again. Jinki shuddered as he remembered how bad it had been the last time he had liked someone.

“Again?” Kibum rolled his eyes, “That robot, is a heap of junk.”

“Yeah,” Jinki dug his toes into the sand, frowning when a shadow crossed over him, blocking the sun and he looked up to see a smiling Jjong staring down at him.

“Hello,” Kibum frowned up at Jjong, shifting closer to Jinki and sticking an arm protectively around him.

“Hello,” Jjong winked at Kibum, “I just wanted to say hi to Onew, we met the other day, oh and apologise for my friend’s rude behaviour, he’s just having a sulk because he lost a bet to me.”

“Oh?” Jinki frowned across at Jjong, wondering what he was talking about.

“It’s just a minor thing, but do you mind if I sit here? He is being way too sulky today.”

~~*~~

Minho gritted his teeth together, watching the way Jonghyun was talking to Onew and his friend. Of course he had to trip over his legs, and bump into him at the beach. Minho was starting to think Jonghyun had somehow set this up, the way he had kept suggesting that they go to the beach. Pursing his lips together, Minho tried to ignore them all and just glance forward at the waves. He couldn’t understand why Jonghyun was so determined to do this, why he wanted Minho to become friends with Onew. Did Jonghyun dislike being his friend that much? Minho was about to get up when he felt the bag he was holding vibrate, and fishing around in the bag Minho pulled out the phone, thinking it was his at first.

Hyung, are you gonna visit me soon? Sender: Minnie.

Minho frowned as he read the word, “hyung” it wasn’t a term he knew, if anything he thought it was a term the aliens had used. Minho shook his head and blinked, wondering who this is Minnie was, maybe Jonghyun had a girlfriend? Minho had noticed him sneaking out a lot lately, maybe that was why he wanted Minho to have another friend. Minho smirked as he glanced over at Jonghyun, feeling slightly happier know that he knew something about Jonghyun.

~~*~~

“So who is Minnie?” The sound of a plate breaking and Jonghyun’s face turning white made Minho smirk in satisfaction, he was onto something. It was so obvious that Jonghyun was hiding a girlfriend from him, and yet here he was lecturing Minho about keeping it in his pants.

“How... how did you know about Minnie?”

“You got a message from Minnie earlier, sorry I thought it was my phone but it was yours.” Minho admitted with a shrug, the hazards of using the exact same phone. Jonghyun shrugged and tried to laugh it off, but Minho noticed the way his shoulders tensed, making him insanely curious.

“Oh, he’s just a friend, a kid I used to look after.” Minho could see that Jonghyun wasn’t lying, because when he lied he couldn’t meet Minho’s gaze. But there was still something odd about this, and Minho couldn’t help but frown as he studied his friends face, noticing how pale Jonghyun had been looking all day.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you, are you okay?”

“Ugh, not really,” Jonghyun shook his head, “my stomach is churning, I think I ate something bad earlier.” Minho couldn’t help but think about the message, but seeing the way Jonghyun ran for the bathroom (and he could hear him being sick), made Minho realise Jonghyun really was sick. There was no way he’d fake it, and plus it would just make Minnie more suspicious, but Minho couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t know about Minnie? Did Jonghyun think he would get jealous if Jonghyun had another friend?

Jonghyun was soon lying on the couch gripping his stomach, a bucket down by his feet. Minho sighed, seeing that Jonghyun was in no shape to work or do anything. He kept groaning and his skin was way too pale, Minho shook his head, it was weird. None of the food should be able to make them sick, unless this was a super bug or something he had caught from someone else.

Glancing over at Jonghyun, Minho sat down and began to do some more research. People always assumed that his job was easy, just drive to a location and pick up the “alien”, but in reality there was so much more involved. Like finding out the background information of a possible alien, and collecting a DNA sample to verify if there was alien blood or if the target was completely human. Jonghyun usually did the research, and Minho collected the samples, but since Jonghyun was feeling sick Minho decided he could help out for a change.

Minho found it refreshing to do research today, usually he hated being stuck in front of the console and looking up information on people. Because they worked for a section of the government, it gave them access to nationwide databases and the ability to dig up dirt on anyone. But generally they were too busy to look up anything outside of work. When they first started the job, a couple of Minho’s friends had asked him to look up background information about girls or guys that they were interested in, but it just felt like prying too much. It was bad enough to watch live footage of the people they were hunting, without looking up perfectly innocent people too.

Humming to himself, Minho opened the last folder that Jonghyun had been looking up, the name Kim Kibum written across the top of the file. Minho scrolled down, reading his characteristics, and as always he figured they would have to meet this Kibum and get a DNA sample to verify. The reports were always so bland and never revealed much information, Kim Kibum is a very intelligent student, was one of the top three students of his graduating year. There is little recorded footage of Kim Kibum, requiring that his status be further checked. Minho rolled his eyes, it was always the same, one or two brief sentences about the suspect in question and they always had to research the subject.

Minho closed the folder noting the name down in his phone along with his identity details, and then scrolled down to see the next person that Jonghyun had been investigating. Minho opened the file, picking up a chip to eat, Lee Taemin, is interested in dancing. There is no unusual circumstances but a modified human was picked up at his house, thus he must be kept under surveillance.

Case dismissed. Lee Taemin has been checked out and cleared.

Minho nodded, closing the file, obviously Jonghyun had checked the boy out, although Minho had no clue when Jonghyun had had time to even do that. Minho glanced down and groaned when he saw the long list of people they still had to check out, and he just wondered how Jonghyun could stand reading all these ridiculous files and categorising them into priorities. Minho idly flicked his eyes down the list, checking to see if there were any red statuses but they were all yellow. Red meant urgent and yellow was non urgent, Minho stopped on the last file, he read the name, “Lee Jinki”, but he didn’t open it. Hearing Jonghyun snort in his sleep, Minho stood up and made his way over to where Jonghyun was sprawled across the couch asleep.

~~*~~

“That Jjong guy was pretty nice,” Kibum nodded his head glancing across at Jinki, who was ignoring his friend.

“Pretty hot, if you ask me.” Kibum licked his lips, holding back a grin when he saw the way Jinki grimaced, his lips curling up in disgust.

“No not hot at all!” Jinki sputtered out, shaking his head as he reached for his drink, taking a big gulp, and Kibum smirked seeing how red Jinki’s cheeks were turning. Sometimes, no maybe all the time, it was just too easy to read Jinki and know exactly what he was thinking.

“Ah, Min was hot too eh?” Kibum fiddled with his straw, watching the way Jinki’s cheeks turned progressively redder and he avoided Kibum’s gaze, instead glancing down at the light blue drink set in front of him.

“I uh... didn’t really notice.” Jinki shook his head and Kibum struggled not to laugh at the way Jinki avoided his gaze and the way his nose twitched, a clear sign that he was lying. Kibum grinned as he glanced out the window at the green branches, an idea forming in his head for how to make Jinki have an enjoyable summer.

~~*~~

“How can you stand doing this for hours?” Minho groaned, standing up from the console and stretching his muscles. He turned back to see Jonghyun shrugging his shoulders and just smiling across at him.

“Do I have much choice? You made it pretty clear that you wouldn’t help me,” Jonghyun stuck his lower lip out, “Now you know why I always go out to the gym, or for walks.”

“Really?” Minho felt a little bit guilty, but he hoped that Jonghyun was trying to wind him up. Jonghyun nodded his head and Minho held back his smirk, reaching for Jonghyun and pulling him into a tight embrace.

“Oh I am so sorry, please forgive me!” Minho grinned, feeling Jonghyun tense in his arms at the sudden over the top affection.

“Ew, get off me man!” Jonghyun pushed Minho away, shaking his head, “why are you like this today?” Jonghyun shook his head, and Minho couldn’t help but grin across at him, it was always so much fun messing with Jonghyun.

“I’m just my normal self, Jjong,” Minho batted his eyes at Jonghyun, lips curving up higher when he saw how Jonghyun’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Sure. Minho’s usual morning routine includes climbing into bed with me, waking me up with a hug, seriously why do you keep hugging me today?” Minho wanted to laugh as he watched how Jonghyun took a step back, “And your behaviour just now, what is going on?”

“Nothing, I just...” Minho blinked, Jonghyun had a point. Minho frowned and tried to reason out his actions from earlier but he couldn’t think of anything. Swallowing Minho glanced over to see Jonghyun laughing loudly at him.

“Oh man, I know!” Jonghyun doubled over, “It’s the lack of sex, right?” Minho stiffened and just glared at Jonghyun before shaking his head.

“Come on, let’s go and get coffee, we actually have work to do.” Minho grasped Jonghyun’s bicep and dragged him forward roughly. Was it so wrong to show his best friend that he appreciated his friendship and help with everything?

~~*~~

Jinki smiled as he ran out into the yard, laughing loudly when he saw the chicken pecking away at the dirt. Jinki could hear his mother talking to him in the background, but Jinki ignored it in favour of squatting down near the chicken.

“I love you,” He sang to the chicken softly, smiling happily as he thought of all the ways he liked to each chicken. Jinki felt so much warmth and happiness as the chicken lifted its head and glanced over at him, it was love. Pure love and Jinki had never felt so happy.

Jinki kept playing with the chicken, until it began to lay eggs. Jinki watched happily and once there were 6 eggs he scooped them in his arms and ran inside. Jinki began to shout excitedly for his mother, but she didn’t answer. Pouting Jinki turned back hearing a soft chirping sound, and saw 6 broken shells, and 6 little chicks on his table. Jinki couldn’t stop smiling until he saw his face in miniature staring back at him on the chickens, his small eyes, and on the other three a familiar face stared back too with large eyes in contrast and Jinki fainted.

Jinki bolted up right, panting loudly as he stared wildly around his room, until he saw the flecks of light painted the dark walls with golden patches and he relaxed. It was just a dream. Not real. Just a dream. Jinki swallowed and shivered, trying to work out whose face he had seen on the other chicks, and he tried to calm himself down.

After ten minutes Jinki felt calm enough to get up and go to work. His first instinct had been to burrow under the covers and just hide there until the world ended or something like that. Jinki brushed his teeth and combed his hair like always but there was a tremor in actions and by the time he made it to the cafe, he was desperate to see Kibum. Once Jinki had got the robots working he phoned Kibum, relieved that he knew his friend was free, and then Jinki paced waiting for Kibum to arrive.

~~*~~

“So these are for today?” Minho gestured to the stack of folders in the back of the car, and Jonghyun nodded his head.

“Okay, I’ll help you after we get coffee.” Minho gritted his teeth, holding back a grimace when he saw the way Jonghyun stared at him.

“Um, seriously Minho, starting to wonder what is wrong with you today.” Jonghyun pressed a hand to Minho’s forehead.

“I’ll drive,” Jonghyun offered and Minho grunted in response not really thinking about it, until he realised where Jonghyun was driving them to.

~~*~~

The sound of the door opening, made Jinki throw off his apron and rush over towards the door, “Thank fuck you’re here!” Jinki practically threw himself into Kibum’s arms, it was only after he embraced him that he realised that Kibum had grown over night both taller and a little bit wider too. And the scent washing over his senses, made Jinki want to just lean in and bury his face against the body in front of him, he’d never felt like that about Kibum before.

Jinki blinked and then glanced up, cringing when he saw the confused and possibly slightly enraged face of Min staring back at him. Jinki immediately let go and shifted back, ignoring the coughing coming from behind Min. Jinki was deeply regretting his decision not to stay in bed for the day, especially when he could feel Min staring at him.

“I’m so sorry! I thought... I thought,” Jinki licked his lips, hands darting in front of his chest oddly, “you were my friend, I mean my … my best friend, uh, I’ll just shut up now. Goodbye.”

“Um,” Min finally broke the silence right as Jinki was trying to sneak back into the kitchen.

“It’s okay,” Min offered with a sort of smile but Jinki felt as if he had just dug his own grave and falling rapidly into the pit. And despite the way Min smiled at him and Jjong smiled encouragingly, Jinki could only shoot back into the kitchen to hide. Jinki sat by the ovens shivering and worrying about his behaviour, was it normal? Did it make him look strange? What if they reported him, Jinki clutched his sides until he realised that Kibum was standing in the doorway.

“Oi, you should come out and talk.”

“I don’t want to.” Jinki blinked stubbornly, sandwiching himself in between the ovens, and he groaned when he suddenly saw a tuft of hair over the top of the door and beside it appeared Min’s large eyes. It took Jinki a few seconds to realise the low whining was coming from his mouth and he clapped a hand over his mouth in horror, the fragments from his dream replaying in his head.

“I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up,” Kibum rolled his eyes, “It’s not like you punched him or something.”

“Thanks for the coffee!” Jinki heard through the door, and he tried to avoid Min’s eyes, focusing on where Jjong’s voice had come from instead. Min’s gaze seemed to burn him, it scared Jinki because it felt like he could see right inside of him and know every little thing about him. Jinki shrank back, shifting in further, until Kibum was gripping his arm and yanking him forward again. What Jinki couldn’t understand was why Min’s gaze felt so strong, he wished he knew what it meant.

“And really it’s okay,” Min rumbled from over the door, and Jinki managed a nod before he watched them leave. Jinki breathed out slowly, inching out from between the ovens, he glanced over in time to catch Kibum rolling his eyes.

“Doing things like that,” Kibum hissed, “Is what will get you noticed, why do you always overreact to perfectly normal situations?” Jinki went very still and then just nodded his head stiffly, he knew Kibum was right, but it scared him a little how good Min had smelt and how much he had wanted to keep holding onto him. Jinki swallowed, feeling a little annoyed that Kibum was right, he did need to get out more, perhaps have a little more fun.

~~*~~

“Wow that Onew guy is a real piece of work,” Jonghyun slapped Minho on the back as they settled in the car, “See, don’t you think trying to help him out would make you feel better about yourself?”

“Are you trying to imply he needs some kind of help?” Minho cocked one eyebrow, as his automatic seatbelt clicked into place, “And that I don’t feel happy about myself?” Well it’s true, you don’t feel happy about yourself, a snide voice whispered in Minho’s head. Minho blinked across at Jonghyun, eyes narrowing down slightly, Jonghyun lifted his hands as if to say that wasn’t what he meant.

“Well he did kind of overreact,” Jonghyun shrugged, “I guess it just seems like he’s not used to being around people,” Jonghyun explained and Minho frowned and just wished Jonghyun would stop making sense.

“Doesn’t matter, we have work to do.” Minho shrugged, reaching back to grab the first file. He pointedly avoided looking at Jonghyun so he wouldn’t have to see his facial expression. Minho began to read the file, scanning it quickly, anything to stop Jonghyun from talking.

“I don’t know why you’re resisting, funny I always thought you were the type of person who went out of their way to prove how nice and kind they were.” Minho rolled his eyes and forced himself to keep reading, or at least pretending to read.

“I guess not, seems like now you want to prove how badass you are, you sleep around and treat people like shit huh. I guess Minho finally stopped being the nice guy, good job.” Jonghyun slapped Minho on the back, making him jolt forward, but Minho just continued to ignore Jonghyun.

“Fuck you,” Minho finally mumbled not looking up from the papers.

“No thanks,” Jonghyun replied and Minho knew he was smirking. The last thing Minho wanted was for Jonghyun to know how much his words affected him.

“Okay, fine, how about this! If we happen to bump into Onew in the next few hours until work is over, I’ll do what you want me to do, I’ll try to become friends with him.” Minho smugly smiled to himself, fat chance of that happening. Onew was working in the cafe and they were going to research people, so he was safe, perfectly safe.

~~*~~

Jinki hummed to himself as he cleaned the kitchen up, he could hear the whirring of the waitrobots cleaning up in the cafe area too. The day had got better after lunch and Jinki was feeling relaxed and happy again. Somehow he had a good feeling about the upcoming days and it made Jinki feel calm despite the strange dream he had had. Jinki still wanted to talk about it to Kibum, if his friend was free after Jinki finished work.

It wasn’t long before Jinki was putting the waitrobots into standby and leaving them to charge overnight. The door clicked shut behind him and another day of work had passed by. At moments like this Jinki wished he had been able to go and study something, but it was too risky. Sometimes Jinki wished things were different, but they weren’t and he there was nothing he could do but accept it.

The sky was a soft blue, with silvery grey streaks shot across the sky, and the paler white clouds almost glowed against the sky. Jinki inhaled deeply, lips curving up as he glanced up. He had heard that the sky was a brilliant blue on the alien's home planet, just a solid blue and it was hard to imagine it.

Jinki just walked slowly admiring the sky and letting himself unwind completely from the dream of the morning. It still lingered in his thoughts but he just reminded himself it was just a dream, it wasn’t as if it could reach out and actually harm him, and that helped.

~~*~~

Minho pursed his lips together as he read the last name on their sheet. They had spent the day driving around researching different people. It was tiring but it felt satisfying too, and they had a small ice box with various DNA samples in the back of the car. Sometimes their job felt dodgy, the fact that they often broke into people’s houses to get the tissue samples required. Today luckily, they hadn’t had to break into a single house.

When Minho glanced up, Jonghyun was parking the car in a narrow drive, and Minho smiled as he eyed the green foliage that covered the front of the house, it was like a house made of plants and leaves. All the beautiful green plants twining and pulsating around the house's structure made Minho feel light and his lips kept curving upwards. Shaking his head, Minho put the paper down, wondering if anyone was home. Minho adjusted his cap and made sure his badge was on straight before they walked up towards the front door. They knocked three times and then the door opened, and Minho swallowed his words dissolving in his mouth, Good afternoon! We’ve come to check out your insurance and make sure you have adequate cover.

“Min?” Kibum mumbled and Minho blinked and nodded his head, “Jjong?”

“Um, hi,” Minho wanted to slap himself after he said that, how awkward. But then he spied movement behind Kibum, and Minho had to force himself not to swear loudly. He could feel Jonghyun tugging on his shirt and knew it was too late.

“You guys are insurance guys?”

“Yeah,” Jonghyun replied still tugging on Minho’s sleeve as Onew stepped forward.

“Hi,” Onew sounded surprised and he blinked his eyes as he stared at them both.

“Come in,” Kibum motioned for them to come in, and Minho sighed as he followed them into the house. He was doomed. Completely doomed. The worst thing about Onew was that he pretty much was Minho’s type, and Minho had a sneaking suspicion that that was why Jonghyun had picked him. But he couldn’t work out why he kept bumping into him all the damn time. But now Minho was committed so he was going to do his best, and like hell as if he was going to let Jonghyun win this damn bet.

~~*~~

Because of Onew, Minho changed his morning routine so that he always was in the cafe where Onew worked for breakfast. At first Onew stayed out back, and Minho wondered if the whole thing was pointless. Onew didn’t want to talk to him or deal with him. But over time Onew began to come out of his shell and after the second week right when Minho was ready to give up, Onew appeared out of the kitchen doors.

“Hey!” Minho stood up and practically ran over, never mind the fact that he spilt hot coffee across the floor and his shirt.

“Oh, hi,” Onew bowed slightly, blinking and then he was clutching Minho’s shirt and for a second Minho was ready to pull him in close until he recognised that Onew was wiping at the coffee. Minho released Onew’s arms and avoided his gaze.

“It’s going to stain,” Onew mumbled softly and Minho just nodded his head.

“No it will be fine,” Minho countered, glancing across to see Onew’s gaze, and then he nodded.

“Um, why don’t you join me for coffee?” Minho batted his eyes slowly, it always lured the girls in, but Onew just stared at him like he had just asked Onew to kill him. Minho sighed as Onew began to back away from him, and Minho felt like roaring because he was dangerous apparently. But it was a step in the right direction and it only took two more weeks for Onew to sit down opposite him and drink coffee with him.

~~*~~

“And so he,” Jinki looked up in alarm, pausing midsentence to see who was daring to come into the kitchen. Jinki frowned and then his eyes widened when he saw Min squeezing in through the kitchen doors, one hand resting on top of the door.

“Sorry, I heard you talking,” Min blinked, “I was just curious because… because…” Jinki felt his cheeks heat up, wondering if Min had heard him singing to the robot. Earlier he had been singing to the robot and had only just changed to talking instead.

“Oh, I see,” Jinki mumbled and turned back to the robot, kneeling as he fiddled with the front of its chest, he still needed to fix Jae. Jinki began to see what the problem was, forgetting that Min was in the kitchen, when he suddenly felt something nudge his shoulder. Freezing Jinki began to turn his head, meeting Min’s head half way, he could feel Min’s breath gushing across his cheek and the side of his mouth. Jinki scrambled forward, almost falling onto his palms in his hurry to get away.

“Sorry!” Min apologised almost immediately, “I… didn’t mean to sneak up on you, I was just curious.”

“Um,” Jinki brushed his hands down the front of his tunic, trying to calm himself down. He avoided physical contact with people because of his condition, and he had to calm down now. “It’s okay. I need to fix Jae-ya.” Jinki almost told Min to leave him alone, but it felt too rude. Jinki frowned when Min shifted closer and began to look inside the robot’s open chest. Jinki tensed, sure that Min was about to ruin his robot completely.

“Is he shorting?”

“Yeah,” Jinki nodded, and shifted closer, “Have… you found the weak connection?”

“I think it’s here,” Min mumbled and showed Jinki a small cable that was pulled loose, the wires exposed. Jinki’s eyes widened and he bit his lip feeling stupid because he had spent a lot of time looking for it and he had missed it.

“You have a beautiful voice,” Min commented in a whisper as he set about fixing the cable, “Do you have new cable?” Jinki’s head spun as he processed the compliment, making him smile shyly until he heard the rest of Min’s words and it threw him a little bit.

“Here,” Jinki ran a hand through his hair as he handed the cable to Min. “How… how do you know how to… fix robots?” Jinki frowned, his father had been a robot engineer so he had grown up around them, but for Min to know seemed odd to him.

“Oh, I studied it,” Min shrugged and then smiled across at Jinki, “How do you know how to fix them?”

“My dad,” Jinki crossed his arms in front of his chest, “Thank you, um for fixing Jae-ya, your coffee is free today.” Jinki nodded and offered Min a small smile. He said I had a beautiful voice, he liked my voice! Jinki felt a little giddy and he smiled more brightly when Min stood up and smiled across at him.

“Okay, I better go, if you need a help with Jae-ya again, I’m happy to help you.”

~~*~~

“Jjong, it’s not working,” Minho groaned, shaking his head as climbed up into the car.

“What’s not working?”

“Onew.”

“What do you mean? What, he isn’t throwing himself at you, begging you to have sex with him?” Minho glared across at Jonghyun, reaching over to poke him in the arm.

“No I mean, he won’t even sit and have coffee with me. How can we even be friends if I can’t even get him to drink coffee with me?” Minho turned the engine on, watching the way that Jonghyun nodded his head thoughtfully.

“I even fixed his robot for him, I was hoping he’d say he owed me and we should have coffee some time, but he just gave me a free coffee. It’s hopeless.”

“Just give him time, don’t give up just yet. Well, you can give up.” Minho frowned until he saw the way Jonghyun was wriggling his eyebrows and smirking across at him.

“But if you do, you forfeit the dare,” Jonghyun smugly replied and Minho breathed out slowly. He had a feeling it was going to be a long, slow few months. Trust Jonghyun to pick someone so hard to be friends with, but then again Minho figured this just made it harder to be more than friends too, which was a bonus.

~~*~~

“Did he really protect you?”

Taemin looked up, brushing the blonde hair out of his eyes as he stared across at his long term friend, Sungjong he sighed softly, wishing Sungjong would stop talking about this topic. The dark walls of the caves felt as if they sliding in towards them, and Taemin resisted the urge to clutch his chest to make sure he could still breathe.

“Yes.” Taemin stood up, and turned his back to Sungjong and the walls, focussing on putting his clothes into the plastic bag. His hands shook a little, but he hoped that he would get used to the caves on day in the future. At least they could go up to the farm occasionally or sit on the beach, which was much better than being in the caves. But Taemin knew it wasn’t really safe for him to go anywhere, although he did sneak out to meet his friend once in a while.

“Sorry,” Sungjong spoke right into Taemin’s ear, slipping an arm around his waist, “You’re all tense, relax.” Sungjong whispered as he rubbed his hand down Taemin’s back and Taemin squeezed his eyes shut.

“I need to dance,” Taemin tilted his head back, “But not smoke.”

“Mmm, yeah no more visions,” Sungjong affirmed and Taemin leaned back against the slender body, it was funny that Sungjong was smaller yet Taemin felt protected when he was with him. “I’m sorry, listen, I know it takes time but you’ll soon adjust. You’re safe here.”

“Yeah,” Taemin breathed out slowly, “thanks to my friend, he’s taken us off the list of people to be checked. So we are safe, unless we venture out and get caught.” Taemin’s lips curled up into a smile, and he thought about how he could repay his friend, but Taemin couldn’t think of anything immediately.

~~*~~

Minho sucked in a deep breath, he wasn’t in the mood for this today, but it was his job. So straightening up, Minho opened the door carefully, he had already picked the lock. With silent steps he made his way down the hallway, the alien should be in the kitchen, judging from their surveillance over the last few days. Minho checked his watch, changing the screen to the heat detection screen and then swiping it along the wall. The alien was in place, which was good.

In another few moments, Minho was stepping into the kitchen, silent as always. Minho didn’t breathe as he grabbed the alien, wrapping his strong muscular arms around him and injecting him with something to knock him out. Easy and over in ten minutes, and Minho had the alien knocked out and loaded in the back of the truck in no times.

“Easy,” Jonghyun murmured as he started the car, “Wanna grab coffee after we drop him off?”

“Hm, no,” Minho brushed his hand down the front of his shirt, he felt as if he stunk. “Can we just go home, I think I need to shower.” Minho frowned, he never usually felt this way, after capturing an alien but today he just felt dirty, grimy.

“Ah I see, sure we can do that.” Jonghyun reached across to pat Minho on the knee, “You serious about job change? What would you do instead?” Minho sighed and just sat there, glancing out the window wondering what he would do.

~~*~~

“It’s so fucking hot,” Kibum complained, wiping the sweat from his face with a towel, his hot perched precariously on top of his short dark hair. For months Kibum had had blonde hair, but he’d turned up with shorter darker hair that day.

“Yeah,” Jinki sighed softly, picking up his icy cold drink, ignoring the way it seemed to fizz slightly, wet droplets clinging to the glass. Perhaps sitting outside in the grass on the hottest day of the year was a mistake. “Sorry, Kibum, ahhh mistake to come out here.” Jinki forced himself to go over to the barbeque, whoever thought it was a good idea to cook meat on a hot day was an idiot.

“After we eat, I think we should go swimming or something, before we melt.” Kibum moaned, fanning himself furiously from the deck chair he draped himself across. “And to think I planned to dye your hair today.”

“Dye my hair?” Jinki yelped, a piece of meat slipping back onto the hot plate.

“Yeah, new style for summer,” Kibum winked, “to accentuate that adorable face of yours for a certain someone.” Jinki could feel his cheeks heating up as Kibum said that.

“Kibum, you know I can’t risk it!”

“Risk what?” Kibum smirked across at Jinki, winking at him, and Jinki felt like throwing the food at him, “You mean sex? Who said anything about sex?” Jinki could feel his cheeks turning scarlet and he turned his back to Kibum, turning the meat quickly.

“I didn’t say it,”

“No… but what else where you talking about if not sex?” Jinki turned to see Kibum, smiling innocently across at him.

“I just meant, anyone finding out about me, shut up.” Jinki pouted, “Don’t tease me. You don’t understand what it’s like and to be gay on top of that… that damn curse.”

“Curse?”

“Yes, curse.”

“Actually, Jinki darling, it’s not a curse. It’s DNA, genetics, fucking science.” Jinki rolled his eyes turning back to face Kibum, the tongs held in his hand tightly.

“Yes, I do know that,” Jinki sighed, “but it feels like a damn curse to me.” Jinki bit his lip, wondering if his life would end short, otherwise he had years to remain celibate. Jinki knew he had years to ignore any kind of sexual desire, and to forever deny himself the chance to have sex.

“Or you could just… do it anyway? I mean, if you can find a safe haven and someone who loves you, you never know, they might agree to it.” Jinki stiffened and just shook his head, there was no way in hell that any man (any sane man that is) would agree to that.

~~*~~

Minho sighed as he sipped his coffee, watching the way Onew would avoid coming near his table was instead fixing up the robot that manned the cashier. Minho had offered to help Onew earlier with the robot, but Onew had said it was fine he didn’t need his help. Having had enough, Minho finally picked up his coffee and came over to talk to Onew. Onew seemed to ignore him for the first couple of minutes and then he went stiff when he realised that Minho was right there.

“Hello, how are you today?” Minho smiled down at Onew who was crouched down next to the robot.

“Fine.” Onew mumbled and quickly turned to look at the robot.

“It’s such a beautiful day today,” Minho’s smiled faded when he saw the way Onew was grimacing at the robot. Minho shut up, seeing the grimace, but then a moment later Onew looked over at him and Minho rubbed his hands together, feeling awkward and unsure of what to do.

“Uhh, yeah.” Minho smiled nervously, feeling like such an idiot, as Onew continued to just stare at him, his eyes blinking slowly as he studied Minho.

“Yeah, nice day.” Onew stood up, a hand resting on the robot, “I need to go back in the kitchen now,” Onew nodded once and then Minho sighed as he was left alone. Minho was starting to feel like a failure, he was starting to wonder if he needed alcohol to pick up people or be friendly to them. It felt like he was just scaring Onew away and making him dislike Minho more. Minho buried his head in his hands and just breathed out slowly.

~~*~~

Jinki was feeling a little odd with the way Min would come to the café every morning and drink coffee. It made him nervous and worry about all kinds of things. He refused to let Min touch the robots again, because Jinki was worried that he would bug the robot or something like that. It was getting late and Min hadn’t shown up yet, so Jinki smiled and sat down at a table to drink his coffee by himself and read the latest report on his phone.

Jinki was just getting engrossed in the article when the table began to shake and Jinki frowned, glancing up to see Min sitting down opposite him. Jinki placed his phone down, the white screen and black text mocking him, and Jinki frowned slightly.

“Hey, Onew, how are you doing?” Min asked tapping his fingers lightly against the table, each tap making Jinki sit straighter.

“Fine.”

“I’m glad, that’s great,” Min offered Jinki a bright smile, “Where did you study?” Jinki felt his back stiffening even more, and he shifted backwards. Jinki felt his chest tightening, it all made sense now, the reason that Min was here. He was going to bug him and dig out all the info on him that he could.

“Um, I have to go,” Jinki stood up grabbing his phone and coffee. As he started to walk off, Min reached out and grabbed his wrist.

“Hey, I’m sorry, can’t you stay until you finish your coffee?”

Jinki shook his head and walked out, how could Min except him to stay sitting there when he kept hassling him and asking questions. Seeing Min’s expression and Jinki wanted to sit back down, seeing the way his lips jutted out and he looked so sad. It couldn’t be real, but it made Jinki falter and want to go back. It was ridiculous.

~~*~~

“Uh, I have a problem,” Jinki whispered making Kibum blink his eyes slowly before he glanced around the kitchen. It was empty, completely deserted, so Kibum couldn’t understand why the heck Jinki was whispering. Did he think the walls had ears? Maybe they did, but Kibum was still alive and breathing so even if they did have ears they were obviously harmless.

“Why are you whispering?”

“Because.” Jinki whispered again, shifting closer to Kibum and glancing around the room, his eyes flicking over everything, hands jerking in front of him.

“Sit.” Kibum grabbed Jinki’s sweaty palm, forcing him down into a chair with a rough push, and Kibum stood in front of him with his hands on his hips. “Jinki, what is going on?”

“It’s just... weird. I’m worried, what if I’m being investigated?”

“What happened?” Kibum could feel his heart beginning to race, “Jinki?” He tried to stay calm, but his voice rose at the end, and the way Jinki tensed told him he failed.

“It’s just... Min has been coming in every day to have coffee, in the morning. He sits at the table closest to the doors and he stares my way.” Kibum sucked in a deep breath, relaxing as he heard that. Min seemed completely harmless, although he did make Kibum a little suspicious, he was sure someone that nice could never be someone who captured aliens.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s completely harmless,” Kibum breathed out loudly, “maybe he just likes you, or wants to be friends. It seemed like that when he came over last time.” Kibum grinned seeing the way Jinki relaxed and then tensed, his cheeks dusted a faint pink.

“Do... do you think so? Ah, maybe you’re right, he keeps asking me to sit with him. But I was scared he would start interrogating me or something like that.”

“Sometimes, you’re totally pathetic.” Kibum rolled his eyes and just shook his head. Kibum didn’t think Min would do anything to hurt Jinki, he always seemed to be smiling at him and seemed very gentle towards him. Kibum smiled, somehow he had a feeling that it was going to be a good summer.

“Just go for it, and see what happens?” Kibum suggested with a nudge to Jinki’s shoulder.

~~*~~

“Do you... mind if I sit here?” Onew asked and Minho looked up, nodding his head immediately.

“Hi,” Minho couldn’t help but grin triumphantly, who knew this bet was going to take this long and be this painful. “Please, sit.” Minho wished that Jonghyun was there to witness this, to see Minho being sweet and awesome.

“It feels a bit awkward to say that,” Minho frowned, “After all it’s your cafe, so if anything you should be asking me to sit down!” The way Onew smiled across at Minho, made his frown fade and Minho nodded his head feeling stupid.

“It’s okay, I mean you’re the customer sitting here,” Onew blinked and reached for his coffee holding it in his hands and pressing them forward like a shield between them. “It’s not that weird.” Onew’s voice dropped in tone and he nodded once.

“Anyway I really like the coffee here, you make great coffee.” Minho smiled when he saw Onew’s cheeks flush and he shook his head.

“Ahh, not me, the robot Joon makes the coffee.” Onew nodded proudly, “but I did alter Joon myself, he was originally a baking robot.” Onew offered Minho a shy smile, and Minho found himself smiling back. It was only a couple of hours when Minho was humming to himself that he realised how much he enjoyed drinking coffee in the cafe with Onew, it always put him in a good mood. Maybe Jonghyun was right, maybe simple friendship could work, maybe he didn’t need to always have sex with someone to forge a connection.

Part Two