SBB 2011 Entry #06: It's Not A Carriage (1/2)
Title: It's Not A Carriage
Pairing/Focus: Minho/Key, slight Onew/JongHyun
Rating: PG-13
Final word count: 14,495
Summary: Kibum drives a hearse. And he wants to know: would club music be appropriate to play while driving?
As far as Kibum was concerned, black matched with everything- it meshed with all the colors and was suitable for practically every occasion and every season. Basically, black was and always would be appropriate.
But even he knew that’s a lame excuse for driving a funeral car.
---
What does one do while driving a hearse anyways? Should he be completely silent?
“Is music allowed?” he wondered out loud, ironing his black suit. “And would club music be pushing it?”
Tae Tae, Kibum’s beloved Tonkinese, quirked his head. With a yelp, Kibum quickly set down the iron before burning a hole through his pants.
He studied the dark slacks. It wouldn’t do to have a gaping area in the area of his balls- it didn’t exactly shout “I respect the dead.”
“I suppose ghost stories would be a bit much?” Kibum later said, a chuckle on the edge of his lips. Tae Tae flicked his tail.
Kibum sighed. “Yeah. No ghost stories.”
---
If Kibum’s family owned a funeral home, it would be called something like “Kim & Sons” or something fancy like that. Just saying.
Kibum just wishes he could tell that to every person who stares at the car when he drives to the cemetery and back. “To a Better Place” isn’t exactly the greatest name for a funeral home business, but it wasn’t like he came up with it. Surely those horrified ladies driving by should understand.
He was just a graduate student in need of some extra money, and turns out, driving funeral cars pays a lot more than mixing coffees all day. Besides, Kibum was also promised a free ride to his final resting place whenever that time might come, and based on the current economic crisis, that didn’t sound too bad.
Just saying.
---
Kibum’s first experience went better than he expected.
“Just an elderly man,” Mr. Lee, the owner, said. He didn’t even look up from the paperwork. Kibum couldn’t help but notice how different Mr. Lee was from his son.
“His name is Mr. Hwang. He seems like a really sweet man,” Jinki said. He smiled, all crinkled eyes and wide teeth, despite the dead man lying on the table.
Kibum briefly wondered if it was tradition for funeral home owner’s sons to work as embalmers. If so, Jinki was spot on.
“I even found a picture in his pocket,” Jinki continued. He pulled out a worn photo of an old man and what appeared to be his grandchildren. “Oh, let me show you his dentures!”
In his excitement, Jinki tripped over air to land on the floor with a rather painful thump. Kibum briefly feared for the safety of the dead.
“I’m good,” Kibum said, stiffly smiling. “Just wondering about the first dead person I’ll be driving.”
“Ah,” Jinki replied. “No big deal- just stand at the back of the room during the wake, and head over to the car afterwards to drive. The families usually carry the coffins, so you shouldn’t have to worry about anything else.”
As Jinki stood up, his voice softened a bit. “No big deal,” he repeated with a small smile. Jinki softly patted Mr. Hwang’s hand.
Kibum thought Jinki was a bit endearing- definitely creepy, but endearing.
---
Turns out, dead people weren’t that difficult to talk to. If anything, Kibum had one of the best conversations in his life with Mr. Hwang- a fully stimulating discussion about the reason why tuitions were so damn expensive.
“I mean, it’s not like the professors want to teach. They have to,” Kibum complained. He whizzed down the highway, relishing how empty the roads were, especially with the police parade surrounding the funeral procession.
The wake hadn’t been too bad- Mr. Hwang’s family seemed to be particularly accepting of his death. The biggest scene had been when his granddaughter had tried to crawl into the coffin, but other than that, it was relatively uneventful.
Kibum laughed at the irony of the situation. He had witnessed a stranger’s wake and was currently driving that dead stranger to his final resting place- yes, very uneventful.
“I always knew I was a rather emotionless individual,” Kibum mumbled.
Mr. Hwang’s silence rang in agreement.
---
“Did it go well?” Jinki said, poking his head outside the embalming room. Kibum nodded, twirling the hearse keys in his hand.
“Nice!” Jinki said, offering a high five (which Kibum so graciously ignored.) “Soon you’ll be a pro at driving the old carriage.”
“Huh,” Kibum replied, trying not to cringe at the word carriage. Well, that made the job ten times better.
“Want to meet tomorrow’s client?” Jinki excitedly asked.
Kibum was never good at making up lies, but he found himself mumbling an excuse about his grandmother’s sudden need for him to put on her socks. Right now.
“Ah,” Jinki said, a sad smile on his face. “That’s all right. You’ll meet the client soon anyways.”
“Yeah, very soon,” Kibum replied, already halfway out the door. He thinks he might have a heard a faint goodbye as he hurried out.
“Kibum,” Mr. Lee called out from the front desk. “Tomorrow’s client won’t require the carriage. So you can just come back the day afterwards.”
It’s not a damn carriage, Kibum wanted to shout. But he felt that a free day made up for Mr. Lee’s lack of jargon.
---
“So you’re driving a carriage?”
Kibum gritted his teeth, trying not to strangle the person on the other end.
“Not a carriage. It’s a hearse. You know, for driving dead people.”
He could actually hear Amber rolling her eyes on the other line.
“Yeah, because that makes it any better.”
“Well, it pays for my education so whatever.” Kibum shuffled through his notebook, precariously balancing his Mac and his textbooks on his lap. “Which reminds me- I have an exam for management tomorrow. Why am I talking to you again?”
“Uh, because I’m your best friend? And because I’m the only person willing to listen to you complain about your job all the time.”
Some best friend.
“If you dislike me that much, I can always find other friends,” Kibum huffed. Amber laughed loudly.
“Kibum, you and I both know that you are terrible at making friends. Your chances at finding friends are about as low as the success level of your dating life.”
He briefly wondered how long the prison sentence for killing one’s best friend was. Maybe the sentence was shorter in America than in Korea.
“I actually made a friend already,” Kibum retorted. Amber chuckled again, and Kibum just realized how much he hated the sound.
“Where, at work?"
“Actually, yes. I am quite the popular individual at my workplace.”
“Yeah, I bet people are dying to be friends with you.”
Kibum mildly hoped his best friend would die from respiratory failure while laughing.
“No seriously. I have a friend at work. His name is Jinki.”
---
Kibum knew Jinki didn’t get out much; he kind of figured that if you’re an embalmer, your social life is pretty much nonexistent. That being said, Kibum assumed that Jinki would literally jump at the chance to be his friend. But the current situation indicated otherwise.
“You’re…too busy,” Kibum said dumbly.
Jinki sheepishly nodded, shrugging around the room with his shoulders.
“There’s going to be a rather large ceremony next week, and I have to prepare for that.”
Kibum wondered if he was that socially awkward, to the point where even Lee Jinki, resident embalmer, was turning him down on a Friday night.
“I can’t believe this,” Kibum muttered. “It’s Friday night and you’re going to begin your weekend by embalming some old guy and setting up for his wake?”
Jinki frowned. “It’s not some old guy, Kibum.”
Kibum merely shook his head. Second day on the job, I’m already being rejected, by Jinki no less, and for an embalming session?
“You know, you could join me,” Jinki said, brightening up. “I could use the help, and preparations for the ceremonies are actually a lot of fun.”
“Someone kill me,” Kibum moaned, stomping out of the room.
“I could pay you extra!” Jinki shouted after him.
“Kibum,” Mr. Lee called from the front desk. “The ceremony for Monday’s client is rather important so come a few hours early.”
“Over my dead body,” Kibum retorted without a thought. He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide.
I’m so dead, he thought.
Kibum decided he hates puns.
---
“Tae Tae, that job at the coffee shop is looking wonderful right about now,” Kibum sighed, pulling the cat into his lap.
He looked around his apartment, noting with minimal satisfaction that he had already cleaned the entire place, organized his closet three times, finished all the management homework, and even read through his favorite manga series. It was three o’clock in the afternoon, Saturday.
“I’m pathetic,” Kibum wailed, hand reaching for his cell phone. Tae Tae remained silent, watching as the boy dialed a certain number with apprehension.
“Hello?”
Kibum couldn’t believe he was doing this.
“Hey Jinki, it’s Kibum. You still need help with setting up for that ceremony?”
---
“Thanks again, Kibum,” Jinki said as he opened the funeral home door. “I promise I’ll pay you extra later.”
“It’s cool,” Kibum said. I doubt your dad will want to pay me, much less even keep me employed, after what happened earlier.
“Well, either way it’s really considerate of you to help me,” Jinki smiled, leading to the main room.
Kibum nearly fainted when he saw the mess- chairs scattered everywhere, cobwebs in the corner, and dust dancing across the room. It was his worst nightmare.
“How long has this room been in disuse?” Kibum said incredulously, nearly shrieking when he spotted a rather large spider in the corner. “I think it’s illegal to place even dead people in a room as dusty as this.”
Jinki sheepishly rubbed his head, knocking over a lamp stand in the process. He flailed, trying to catch the stand only to knock over nearby chairs.
“Well, we’ve mostly had small wakes,” Jinki replied. “This ceremony is going to be rather large, so this bigger room is necessary.”
Kibum cautiously made his way to the windows, feeling better once sunlight shone through.
“Is your dad going to help you?”
Jinki paused, his bright face dulling for a brief moment.
“No, he’s busy today,” Jinki said, the smile on his face too forced, too stretched, to be real. “So I’ll be cleaning mostly. Once we get the place aired out and relatively breathable, we should be able to start decorating.”
Kibum coughed as he pulled back curtains. This place will literally be the death of me, he thought, nearly groaning at the amount of cobwebs everywhere.
“I can’t believe you were going to clean this place by yourself,” Kibum said. “It’ll probably take hours just to dust.”
“Well, I knew you were going to come and help,” Jinki said happily. “You’re my friend.”
Kibum paused, watching as Jinki struggled to get up on a ladder to dust the cobwebs. He rushed over to hold the ladder steady.
“Jinki, we’ve only known each other for about two weeks. And that includes orientation.”
Jinki beamed down at him, hitting his head against a chandelier. “So? I make friends with people all the time, and I only meet them for a few hours, three day tops.”
“Oh?” Kibum replied, moving to open more windows.
“Yeah, like Mr. Hwang, Mrs. Kim, little HyeWon…”
“You’re quite the stud, Jinki,” Kibum whistled. Jinki grinned as he continued to list names.
Kibum found he didn’t have the heart to say that those were people Jinki had embalmed.
----
“So what is this ceremony for anyways?”
It was nearly six at night, but the room had begun to look a bit more presentable. Kibum had successfully managed to get rid of all the dust and Jinki had replaced all the lights so that there was now a fluorescent glow to the place.
“I mean, what calls for such a large ceremony all of a sudden?” Kibum asked.
“It’s a military funeral,” Jinki replied. “I think the man died in battle a few weeks ago, and the family and other soldiers are paying tribute.”
“Whoa,” Kibum said. “You think this is fancy enough for a military funeral? I mean, shouldn’t there be like an entire orchestral procession and gold curtains and stuff?”
“A simple funeral is more than sufficient,” a voice said. Kibum whipped around to see a tall man at the door.
“Mr. Lee?” the man said, stepping in slowly. Guy doesn’t look too happy, Kibum thought, observing the man’s dark demeanor. But then again, this is a funeral home. Can’t be too chipper about that.
“Um, my father is away at the moment, but I can help you,” Jinki said, shaking the man’s hand. “And you are…”
“I’m Choi Minho,” the man replied. “This is my brother’s funeral. I’ve come to check up on the arrangements.”
“Ah,” Jinki replied. “Well, this is what’s been done so far.” He waved his hand around the room.
Minho stared at overturned chairs, the dusty chandelier, and the yellowed carpet. Kibum cringed as he noticed how gaudy the curtains were.
“This is unacceptable,” Minho said. Kibum thought that tall men had an unfair advantage- whatever they said automatically came out as commanding or threatening, hence Jinki’s slowly shrinking form.
“Er,” Jinki said, “Well, we just got your reservation yesterday and only had a day so far to clean and-“
“I expected better from the services your funeral home so boasted about,” Minho interrupted. He glanced at the curtains with disdain. “Do you find that such terrible settings are suitable to honor my deceased brother?”
“Well…” Jinki said, shrinking even further down.
“My brother deserves the best for his last farewell, and you offer nothing more than a pigsty that’s falling apart.” His voice was dangerously calm, about as cold as his appearance. “How dare you insult my brother’s presence with such a place?”
“Well if you’re that dissatisfied, go dig your own hole and drive your own motherfucking hearse, you ungrateful brat.”
---
“You want to do what?” Kibum deadpanned. He wondered if all those chemicals floating around in the embalming center had killed Jinki’s brain.
“Bring Minho to dinner with us?” Jinki asked again meekly.
“Do you realize that I just insulted one of your clients?” Kibum hissed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I was fired by tomorrow morning. So, no, I do not want to eat dinner with the man who currently hates me.”
“But I think he’s just lonely, Kibum,” Jinki continued, tugging on his arm. “You have to understand, people get emotional and easily upset in funeral homes.”
“And how will inviting a random client to dinner help his feelings?”
“We’ll cheer him up?”
For a guy who worked, and partly owned, a funeral home, Jinki was pretty dense about the current situation.
Kibum sighed. “When did I even agree to eat dinner with you, let alone Choi Minho?”
“Since you were so nice and since we decided we were friends?”
Without a doubt, this would be one of the most difficult friendships Kibum had ever begun.
---
Apparently Jinki was not the only person who was terrible at assessing social situations. That was the only explanation Kibum could come up with as to why Minho was currently sitting across from him at the pizza place.
I can’t believe the guy actually tagged along, Kibum thought incredulously. If I were him, I would have punched myself.
“I can’t choose!” Jinki whined, glaring at the menu. “Kibum-ah, what’s an anchovy taste like?”
‘Kibum-ah’…good God, he’s already getting chummy with me.
“It’s a very salty fish,” Minho said, not even looking up from the menu. “Unless you prefer excess amounts of salt, I would recommend you stay away from it.”
“It’s actually not that bad, and fish is always good for the body,” Kibum countered. “Try it, hyung.”
“Fish is good for the body unless it gives you edema,” Minho retorted.
Kibum clenched his napkin. “Well, I can’t remember that last time someone got edema from eating anchovies, so that’s a bit over the top, don’t you think?”
“Oh, I apologize. I was just looking out for Mr. Lee’s health.”
“What the hell? Mr. Lee? Are you really calling Jinki that? What are you, an over-bloated prick?”
“I haven’t even the faintest idea what that even means. If you’re going to insult people, do so properly. Otherwise, you’re wasting my oxygen, so stop talking.”
“The fuck I am.”
Jinki, oblivious to the boys glaring at each other, wailed into his menu. “This is so difficult!”
Yes, Kibum seethed. Very difficult indeed.
Minho’s face couldn’t have agreed more.
---
“So where are you from, Minho?” Jinki asked, balancing sugar cubes on his fork.
“I was born in Incheon, but am currently serving at the Osan Air Base,” Minho said. Kibum could actually see the guy’s chest swell in pride.
“Whoa, the air base,” Jinki said, admiration shining in his eyes. “That’s pretty cool.”
“Jinki, how many times do you see military planes fly over the city?” Kibum asked. Jinki shrugged his shoulders. “Exactly. None. That’s how many times Minho here flies one of those planes, so there’s really nothing to be so impressed about.”
“Excuse me-“ Minho started.
“Well, just because we don’t notice them doesn’t mean they’re not there,” Jinki said thoughtfully. “Besides, I’m sure they have more important things to do than fly over the city at random times.”
He continued to stack the sugar cubes, each cube balancing precariously on top of the metal. All three boys found themselves deeply immersed by the act, and Kibum unconsciously held his breath as another and another cube was stacked onto the pile.
“Bathroom break!” Jinki suddenly shouted. Standing, he headed towards the bathroom. “Don’t knock it over, Kibum-ah!”
“Like I would,” Kibum grumbled. He glanced at the pile, half-tempted to crush it all.
Maybe this is why I’m terrible at making friends, he thought glumly.
“How long have you known Jinki?” Minho asked. Kibum glanced over, idly noting that the guy had huge eyes.
“Two weeks, give or take a few days,” he replied.
“Oh, you guys seem closer than that.”
Kibum shrugged. “It’s all relative.”
“Indeed.”
He looked through his overgrown bangs to see Minho sigh before rubbing his hair. It made him look ages older than a young soldier should. Kibum lightly tapped the sugar cube tower.
“Don’t do that,” Minho said quietly. Kibum raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, judging by the way you were intently staring at that thing, I didn’t think you wanted it to fall,” Minho continued. “And, Jinki worked hard on that thing. “
“Yeah, I would hate to see the guy cry over a sugar tower,” Kibum agreed, bringing out a small grin from the other.
“Well, I don’t think it really takes much to cause Jinki to become upset,” Minho chuckled.
“Tell me about it. The guy actually cried last week because he left his favorite embalming gloves at home.”
“He has special embalming gloves?” Minho choked.
“I know right? I was kind of freaked out the first time he told me that too,” Kibum laughed. “Don’t even let me get started on that one time I caught him trying to dance with one of the bodies.”
Minho grunted before erupting into giggles. Manly giggles, Kibum thought. They suited Minho, in some weird way. Better than his stoic expression, I suppose. It makes him almost attractive.
“He does seem rather attached to the bodies,” Minho said once he had calmed down. “A bit more than other embalmers, I assume.”
“Yeah, he considers them his friends,” Kibum replied, idly tracing patters on the table. “As he said, just because we don’t notice them anymore doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
He paused. “We just pretend the dead aren’t here anymore, like they don’t matter.”
“Unless we want to forget…” Minho said, so quietly Kibum barely heard it. He watched as small tears gathered around Minho’s eyes.
“Did you hurt my tower?” Jinki asked, bounding over to the table. Minho quickly covered his eyes and started laughing.
“Did I miss something?” Jinki said, looking around confusedly. “Are you guys secretly making fun of me?”
“No, hyung,” Kibum said. He handed Minho a tissue. “I was just telling Minho about how you dance with the people you embalm, and apparently it was so funny he started to cry.”
“Oh,” Jinki smiled.
He turned back to his tower, stacking rows higher and higher, before pausing.
“Wait, so you were making fun of me!”
---
“So let me get this straight.”
Kibum sighed as he organized his kitchen, cradling his cell phone to his ear while Tae Tae tried to weave around his legs.
“You spent your Saturday cleaning a funeral home, insulting some guy Minho’s dead brother, and then eating dinner with said random guy and creepy embalmer dude?”
“Yes, Amber. That is what I said, so can you please get over it?”
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t realize exactly how socially deprived you were.”
Kibum slammed down a pot. “I am not socially deprived! And it was actually kind of fun.”
“Uh huh.”
“It really was,” Kibum said defensively. “Jinki’s a really nice guy, and Minho wasn’t that bad of a prick once you got to know him.”
The evening really had turned out to be relatively “fun.” Jinki had ordered some fruitcake variation of a pizza, much to the disgust of his friends, and thus, didn’t make it ten minutes without having to run to the restroom. That had left Kibum and Minho with plenty of time for small talk about their jobs, the latest economic crisis, and belittling poor Jinki. The jokes had continued once Jinki returned, who looked a little like his clients- pale and somewhere between dead and undead.
There had been no further mention of Minho’s sudden tears, but Kibum had caught himself sneaking little glances at the guy throughout the evening. Something about the man intrigued Kibum, and it wasn’t just his striking jawline. There was something mesmerizing about those dark eyes.
“Look at you, making friends everywhere,” Amber interrupted his thoughts.
“Shut up, bitch.”
“And you wonder why you don’t have more than three friends.”
“Amber Liu, I swear to God that if you don’t stop talking within the next second, I will personally go over to your apartment and kill you.”
“Will you drive me to my grave for free then, or is there an extra cost for best friends?”
---
“Hey Kibum?” Jinki’s voice echoed through the phone. “Are you awake?”
Kibum resisted the urge to toss his phone away. Instead, he slammed his head against the pillow and groaned loudly before talking again.
“Jinki, do you realize what time it is right now?”
“Um, five thirty. Is there something wrong?”
What’s wrong? What’s wrong is me getting up at five in the fucking morning when there obviously is not a fire, there is no apocalypse, and H&M is definitely not holding a break-of-dawn sale. So yeah, there is a bit of a problem.
Kibum breathed out through his nose. “Is there an emergency, Jinki?”
“Oh, no. Well, I wanted to ask if you could come by the funeral home today to help with the preparations again. We got a lot done together yesterday, and oh yeah, I’ll pay you.”
It was amazing how obliviously happy some people could be.
“And um…you’re my friend, so I’m hoping you’ll say yes.”
That friend thing again. I swear, if the guy wasn’t so innocent…
“I’ll be there, but just let me wake up properly first.”
“Oh, thanks Kibum! Well then, I’ll see you in like thirty minutes or so? Bye!”
Kibum chuckled as he heard the phone click. Rolling over, he buried himself underneath the covers, clutching his alien plushie.
Like hell he was getting up that early.
---
“I fucking hate the mornings,” Kibum groaned. He rolled his shoulders, trying to get rid of that knot in his spine.
He couldn’t believe he was actually awake and functioning at this time of the morning. He was pretty impressed with himself; how he had managed to drive to work without killing anybody was a bit of a miracle really. In addition, he had shown up thirty minutes later, as Jinki had requested.
There has got to be something wrong with me, Kibum thought as he nearly fell asleep locking his car door.
“Good morning, Kibum!”
For some reason, Kibum was not at all surprised to find that Jinki was a morning person. Actually, does the guy even sleep? The latter bounded towards Kibum’s car, excitedly looking inside the small Civic.
“It’s so sleek and shiny,” Jinki said in awe. He gently rubbed his hand over the black exterior of the car. “Is this a new car?”
“Um, no,” Kibum said warily. “I did just get it waxed however.” So if you could stop molesting it, that would be great.
“Wah,” Jinki hummed to himself. Grabbing Kibum’s hand, he pulled him inside the funeral home.
“I have some banana bread and milk for breakfast,” he said happily.
“Oh, I don’t eat banana bread…” Kibum said, lightly pulling his hand free. “But milk is great, thanks.”
“But you need to try my banana bread!” Jinki pouted. “It’s really the best. “
Kibum decided it was unfair that Jinki had such squinty eyes and such a pouty mouth, because it made saying “no” extremely difficult. Refusing Jinki seemed to have the same consequences as refusing a dog its food. A poor, tiny puppy that had just been lost and lonely in the rain.
And so, Kibum found himself staring at a rather large slab of banana bread with a small pink mug of milk.
Damn this friendship, Kibum seethed.
“So, do you have a car?” Kibum asked, poking at the bread. “Other than the hearse, I mean.”
Jinki smiled wistfully, popping a piece of bread into his mouth. “Ah, not exactly.”
Kibum raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, my dad has a car, and he gives me rides sometimes so …yeah.”
“Is he that protective?” Kibum said, gulping as he lifted a forkful of bread.
“No. I’m just not allowed out that often.” Jinki’s eyes slanted down. “Actually, I reached my limitation for this month when I went out with you guys last night.”
He ran a finger along the hardwood counter, tracing the holes and lines. “It was really fun though!” Jinki added, light trembles in his voice. “We should do it again sometime.”
Kibum tapped his fork lightly, wanting something, anything to fill the silence that ensued.
“Can I get some more banana bread?”
Kibum knew he sucked at social situations, but when he saw that bright smile on Jinki’s face again, he figured he was doing at least something right.
---
“So when are those new curtains coming in?” Kibum called out, polishing the last crystal on the chandelier. He looked below where Jinki held the ladder steady.
“Um, mid-afternoon?” Jinki squinted as he thought. “They should be coming with the chair covers as well.”
“Hm, that should give us enough time,” Kibum said, going down the ladder. He surveyed the room, feeling a bit satisfactory as he saw the progress that had been made.
The entire room was swept and dusted, and sunlight poured in from all twelve windows. The chandelier sent rainbows scattering across the polished marble floor and all in all, it didn’t look too bad. Much better than yesterday, Kibum thought with pride.
“It looks great,” Jinki said gleefully, skidding across the polished floor.
“Well, I certainly hope so. Otherwise, his majesty might be absolutely mortified that his dear brother’s wake is not up to his standards.”
Jinki giggled, continuing his trek across the room. He really is like a kid, Kibum smiled.
“As long as this place doesn’t look like that pigsty from yesterday, I’ll be fine,” Minho said as he walked into the room.
Jinki yelped as he fell to the floor in surprise. Kibum huffed as he walked over to help Jinki up. He eyed the bouquet of white roses in Minho’s arms.
“Oh dear, Minho. I’m afraid that I’m not seeking a relationship right now, so I’ll have to refuse your lovely gift,” Kibum said cheekily, nodding at the bouquet.
Minho flushed, clutching the roses tightly. “These are not for you, Kibum. Besides, I don’t know what fool would ever want to be in a relationship with you.”
“So kind,” Kibum said dryly. “What do you want?”
“Kibum, he’s a guest and a client. Be nice,” Jinki chided. “What can I help you with, Minho?”
Minho stepped forward, eyeing Kibum warily. “I came to drop off the flowers for my brother’s wake tomorrow.”
Kibum snorted. “You do realize flowers are living things, right? They’ll wilt or die by tomorrow, much less resemble a white color by then.”
Jinki rushed over, lifting the roses from Minho’s arms. “I’m sure if we put them in water, they’ll last until the funeral. Don’t worry, Minho.” He patted Minho before rushing to the back, grabbing Kibum on the way.
“That wasn’t nice at all,” Jinki lightly scowled as he dragged Kibum to the back room. He rushed around searching for a bowl. “Didn’t you see how crushed Minho was?”
“I’m sure the guy will survive,” Kibum rolled his eyes. He filled a small vase with tap water, handing it to Jinki.
“Kibum, he really did seem very sad.”
He sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. It really was too early for this.
“Would you like for me to make him feel better?” he said sarcastically.
Jinki grinned, placing a rose one by one into the vase. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“And what would you like for me to, dear Jinki?” Kibum said through clenched teeth.
---
Kibum could not believe he was caught sitting across Choi Minho for the second day in a row. Forget about all those extra hours he was working; it seemed like all that hard-earned money was going into paying for Minho’s meals.
“Why isn’t Jinki here?” Minho asked, looking up from the menu.
“He already came out last night,” Kibum replied shortly. Minho nodded, eyes wide as if he understood everything. Creep, Kibum scowled.
“Too bad. It was fun with Jinki last night,” Minho sighed.
Yeah, I wish Jinki was here so I could kick his nice and fun ass all the way to fucking South America, that idiot. How could he make me eat with Minho again and alone at that? And how in the world will this make the guy feel better? Last time I checked, food did not bring back one’s dead brother.
“So you like Thai food?” Minho asked, breaking Kibum from his thoughts.
“What?” Kibum snapped. Looking at Minho’s alarmed face, he breathed deeply. “Sorry, what?”
“Um, well you picked a Thai restaurant, so you like Thai food?” Minho said.
“Oh, I thought you would like it,” Kibum replied, looking through the menu.
“You thought…I would like it…?” Minho repeated.
“Yeah, aren’t you like Thai or something mixed like Thai-Korean?” Kibum said. Didn’t they have anything vegetarian on this menu?
Minho sniggered before exploding in loud guffaws. Kibum looked up, a frown slowly coming across his face.
“I’m not Thai,” Minho let out, trying to hold in his laughs. “I’m not mixed or anything. I’m pretty much as Korean as you can get.”
“Oh,” Kibum said. Oh, well this makes things rather awkward. “Sorry?”
“No, it’s fine,” Minho said, letting his laughs subside. “I’ve wanted to try Thai food for a while so this is a good opportunity.”
He looked at the menu again before glancing over at Kibum. “Do I really look Thai?”
Kibum shrugged. “I don’t know. Your eyes are really big and you’ve got that grimy kind of hair.”
“Hey, this is the standard military cut,” Minho said defensively. “Besides, you’re the one with dark skin, so if anything, you should look foreign.”
“This is the result of spending too long in the garden,” Kibum retorted, pointing at his tan arms.
“That’s so lame. A garden? I’m training to defend our country, while you’re chilling in a vegetable patch.”
“Excuse me. There is no chilling involved whatsoever. In fact, there’s a lot of heating while I smolder under the sun in order to get some decent vegetables.”
“At least I’m becoming buff.”
“And I’m growing fucking vegetables!”
Kibum seethed as he stared at Minho. Stupid haircut, stupid military, stupid stupid stupid Minho.
Minho’s face twisted, his scowl coming undone as a second set of giggles overcame him.
Stupid giggles, Kibum thought. He picked at his napkin, wondering where that goddamn waiter was.
“Sorry about earlier,” Kibum suddenly blurted out. “About the whole flower thing. It was... inconsiderate of me.”
Minho stared at him. He rubbed his neck before closing his eyes. “It’s fine,” he breathed. “I was pretty stupid about that.”
He laughed, hollow. “Can’t even get fucking flowers right.”
Kibum decided he didn’t like how empty Minho’s eyes looked then. It didn’t suit his face. The manly giggles made him look years younger.
“And that’s why you grow vegetables,” Kibum said. “You learn these kinds of things, like flowers need to be placed in water.”
Minho chuckled. “Well then, maybe I’ll consider starting a garden at the base when I return.”
Yeah. Kibum definitely liked the giggles better.
---
“Did you guys have fun?” Jinki asked. Kibum and Minho walked into the main room, watching as the other set out curtains and chair covers.
“It was interesting,” Kibum said. Minho rolled his eyes.
“Where did you go?” Jinki continued, pulling at the long lengths of fabric. Kibum reached out to help him.
“Some Thai place. It was pretty good, and their kai phat khing was rather delicious,” Minho replied.
“Kai phat khing?” Jinki asked.
“Chicken,” Kibum answered. He looked up to see Jinki pause.
“Chicken?” he repeated, a slight whimper to his voice.
“Yes. Deliciously stir-fried chicken with vegetables in this savory sauce,” Kibum said, a smirk on his face.
Jinki looked at him before pulling at the cloths with more vigor.
“You should try some, Jinki,” Kibum said, nudging him.
“Yeah. Maybe we can go there sometime.” Jinki found the gold cloths very interesting all of a sudden.
“Why not try some now?”
Jinki looked up, watching as Minho pulled out a take-out bag from behind him. Squealing, Jinki grabbed the bag before jumping to hug the two.
“This is so amazing!” Jinki shouted, running around. “You guys are so amazing.”
Kibum laughed, accepting a second hug from Jinki. From the corner of his eye, he saw Minho staring at him with a funny look on his face.
---
“So you worked twelve total hours, not to mention get up before the sun this morning?” Amber said incredulously. She settled herself on Kibum’s couch, picking up Tae Tae.
“You sound extremely surprised of me lately,” Kibum muttered.
“This is unbelievable,” Amber said to Tae Tae. “Your owner is actually becoming a productive member of society.”
“What’s unbelievable are those pants you’re wearing,” Kibum retorted, snatching up his cat. “There are so many holes you might as well strip.”
“Aw, don’t be jealous of my gorgeous style, Kibummie,” she grinned, sticking out her tongue. “So, tell me about this mysterious Choi Minho.”
“What’s there to be mysterious about?” he replied. “The guy’s a stuck-up military kid that has detachment issues with his dead brother.”
“Really? Because I remember hearing something along the lines of handsome and large eyes,” Amber said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“You look like a damn raptor when you do that,” Kibum said, pointing at her face. “And I never said handsome. If anything, he looks like something out of a sci-fi movie with those huge-ass eyes.”
“Intriguing,” Amber said. “I want to meet your friends.”
“First off, Minho is not my friend,” Kibum said, kicking Amber’s feet off his couch.
“Not yet, you mean,” she corrected, throwing her feet back on the couch.
“No, as in he’s not my friend and won’t be,” Kibum retorted. “And why in the world would you like to meet an embalmer?”
“Because I want to be sure I’m in good hands once I pass on. Why else?” Amber smirked.
Kibum fell onto the couch. “You’re ridiculous,” he muttered, playing with Tae Tae’s paws. “Jinki is a good guy, so don’t worry. Stop bothering me about him and Minho.”
He played with Tae Tae for a while longer before noticing Amber’s stare.
“What?” he said, defensively.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “You actually want to be friends with these people.”
“Stop sniffing crack, Amber. It kills precious brain cells you desperately need.”
“No, wait. You’re hoping to be friends with these people.”
Kibum laughed. “Please, people can’t get enough of me.”
“I bet,” she replied dryly, leaning back into the couch. Amber picked at Kibum’s pillow before beginning hesitantly. “Have you called back home yet?”
“Nope,” Kibum replied nonchalantly. He toyed with his cat’s fur. Tae Tae needs a bath soon.
“Kibum, they do miss you.”
“Like I miss your hairstyle from last year.” I wonder if cats can get their fur dyed…
“Kibum.”
“Speak my name with reverence.”
“Your grandmother misses you.”
Kibum stared fixedly at his cat, cursing himself when he noticed his trembling hands.
“Call her. Please?"
He closed his eyes before curtly nodding. “When I have the time,” he said softly.
Satisfied, Amber smiled before moving on. “So, did you meet any new people at university, or are the funeral dudes your only friends?”
“You make me sound so antisocial,” Kibum frowned, placing his cat on the floor.
“You live in an apartment, alone, with your cat. Your only friends are an embalmer and a military stud, and you don’t go out past eleven unless there’s a midnight sale.”
“Why are you here again?” Kibum said with gritted teeth. “I didn’t ask for my self-esteem to be lowered today, thanks.”
She grinned, holding up a bag of Thai food. “Because I feed you unconditional love?”
Kibum rolled his eyes before snatching the bag from her. “You know, it’s funny because today, Minho and I got some Thai food. And it was because I thought he was of some Thai origin or another…”
Amber smiled as she listened to Kibum ramble on and on. And then she saw it, that hint of smile in his eyes, something she hadn’t seen in a few years.
This was going to be interesting.
---
Mondays apparently didn’t work too well with Jinki, because the next morning he was tripping and running into things everywhere, more so than usual. He leaned onto the coffin as he pushed it to the wake room.
“Jinki, are you all right?” Kibum asked, catching Jinki from running into the wall for the fifth time. The latter grinned, eyes drooping heavily.
“I actually didn’t sleep last night, so I guess this is what happens when I’m a bit tired?” he replied, rubbing his face. “The body took much longer than I had thought, so I was up all night preparing him.”
“I thought you worked all Friday on him,” Kibum said, wheeling the coffin away from Jinki. The last thing they needed was for a corpse to wheel into the parking lot. Kibum snorted. I bet Minho would absolutely love that.
“Well, my favorite TV show came on and…”
Kibum sighed. “Go home and sleep, Jinki.”
“I’ll leave after the wake,” he smiled. “I want to make sure things are perfect for Minho’s brother.”
And it ended up that Kibum did the majority of the work, as he set up the chairs and adjusted the lighting while Jinki lightly dozed against a window. When Kibum lifted the coffin lid, he realized just how well Jinki did his job. The face was pristine and smooth, lips and cheeks still rosy as if the man was merely napping.
It was also at this moment that Kibum saw the striking resemblance between Minho and his brother. They shared the same thick eyebrows, the striking jawline of clenched muscle, and the little curve of the lips that seemed to be smirking with pride- yes, this man definitely shared Choi Minho’s blood.
“He’s rather handsome, isn’t he?” Jinki muttered, leaning against Kibum’s shoulder. “Definitely a military man, what with his build. He’s very muscular and he’s got one of the best postures I’ve seen in a long while.”
“Jinki,” Kibum said, patting the latter’s head. “You do realize this man is dead. Hitting on him is considered necrophilia, an act that many, if not practically all, people disapprove of.”
Jinki chuckled, yawning into his hand. “Come on, Kibum. Even you’ve got to admit this man was very attractive.”
Kibum shrugged, moving over to rearrange the flowers. Seems like Minho’s white roses survived the night.
“Do you have anyone special in your life, Kibum?” Jinki asked, sweeping the floor.
Kibum paused before fixing a well-practiced smirk on his lips. “Jinki, there isn’t a person good enough for me,” he said. Jinki laughed, poking Kibum with the end of the broom.
“How about you?” Kibum asked. “You have someone?”
It was Jinki’s turn to pause and fix a smile on his face, only he wasn’t as well-practiced as Kibum. There was still the drooping of his eyes, the tilt of his lips and the sudden exhaustion that seemed to age Jinki within seconds. Suddenly, he straightened.
“Minho,” Jinki said. Kibum raised an eyebrow.
“You’re dating…the military brat,” he said incredulously.
“No, I mean Minho,” Jinki shook his head, pointing towards the door.
Minho entered the room, regarding the neatly cleaned setting with a raised eyebrow. He clutched a bouquet of white roses in his left hand.
“This looks nice,” he said quietly. Glancing towards the front, he grinned upon seeing the flowers from yesterday. “They made it.”
“Yeah,” Jinki said with a smile. “See, things worked out fine.”
Minho sighed with relief before rubbing his head. “Well, I just wanted to make sure things were set up properly. I better go get dressed for the ceremony now.” He waved at Jinki before heading out, pausing to give a slight nod at Kibum.
As he nodded back, Kibum decided that people these days looked too tired. As straight as Minho stood, his shoulders drooped heavily and his feet dragged a bit as he walked away. It was like watching a military version of Jinki, and it just didn’t seem right for people as young as they were to be so lifeless. Even if we’re in a goddamn funeral home.
“Jinki,” Kibum suddenly barked out. “Do I look old?”
Jinki stared a bit before breaking into a smile. “Of course not.”
Satisfied, Kibum nodded before moving to rearrange the flowers again.
“Unless…” Jinki continued, moving slowly towards the door. “You’re talking about those wrinkles on your face.”
Jinki ran down the hall, clutching his stomach in laughter as an enraged Kibum chased after him with a shriek. Minho stared with wide eyes as the pair made their way to him, a small smile playing on his straight lips as he watched Kibum try to strangle Jinki. And after Kibum had sufficiently beaten Jinki with the broom, which Minho did his best to prevent by grabbing Kibum around the waist, and Jinki was laughing like he was young and Minho giggling like he was his age and not some overly mature prick, Kibum decided funeral homes did have some life about them. You just had to bring it back every once in a while.
---
“So this is what a military family is like,” Jinki quietly murmured to Kibum, trying to blend in with the back wall as inconspicuously as possible. Kibum leaned back as well, cursing that the room’s walls were white when he clearly had to wear black to the ceremony.
Minho’s family had arrived perfectly on time, each male member of the family donning some form of military fashion or another. In fact, Kibum was pretty sure that the old man in the wheelchair with the oxygen tank might have partaken in WWII, what with the number of medals he donned on his faded uniform. Even the children wore miniature military outfits, as a toddler solemnly paraded in wearing a blue suit.
“Those must be Minho’s parents,” Jinki whispered, nodding to the entrance. A tall man with silver hair in full uniform walked in, a thin woman dressed in a black dress following shortly behind. The father clearly commanded the area, people bowing and nodding as he walked past with long strides.
“Just like his son,” Kibum muttered, noticing the father’s hard stare. “Well, this is going to be loads of fun.”
“I’ll leave you to it then,” Jinki said, getting up. Kibum grabbed his arm, alarm clearly written in his eyes.
“I thought you said you were going to stay for the wake,” he hissed, digging his nails as far in as they would go. Jinki winced.
“That was before I realized how intense Minho’s family was,” Jinki replied, wrenching his arm free. “And, I just realized I have to prepare another body.”
“That body’s going to be your dead ass if you leave me in this mess.”
Jinki sighed, sinking back into the seat. “Why are you so mean?” he whined.
Kibum smiled sweetly. “Because we’re friends.”
Before Jinki had time to come up with a retort, the doors opened and Minho walked in. Kibum watched as the room visibly stiffened as the male walked up the aisle, bowing to his parents before sitting in the front seat.
Kibum could see why everyone was staring at Minho. The male looked particularly handsome in his blue uniform, complete with dangling metals and white gloves. With his jet black hair and piercing eyes, Minho made quite the military hunk, Kibum had to admit. But judging by how hard his mother slapped Minho’s face, Kibum guessed that Minho’s appearance had nothing to do with the frozen atmosphere.
“How dare you show up,” she spat at him. Minho’s father pulled her into the seat before turning forwards, not even acknowledging his son’s existence.
“Can we leave now?” Jinki whispered. “I feel like we’re only going to be casualties if we stay any longer.”
Kibum didn’t respond as he was too busy gaging Minho’s response. It astounded him how nonchalant Minho seemed, as the male sat down calmly. If it weren’t for the reddening hand print on his cheek, it would appear that Minho did not have a care in the world. His father had not just ignored him, his mother had not just slapped him across the face, and his brother was definitely not lying in a cherry oak casket right before him. That was what Minho’s eyes seemed to suggest as he turned around, fixing his burning gaze directly on Kibum.
“Okay,” Kibum finally responded. “We can leave now.”
---
“Hey, mind if I ride with you?”
Kibum turned to see Minho standing near the hearse, hands awkwardly fiddling with his gloves. It was the first time Kibum had seen the other so shy, so insecure- so small, and Kibum found that he didn’t like it.
He pointed at the black car. “You want to ride in the hearse?” Kibum replied. Minho nodded, looking carefully at the sky, the trees.
“The other cars seemed pretty full, and I feel like I’m going to get lost if I drive on my own there…”
“Sure,” Kibum nodded.
As he and Minho got into the car and the engine started, Kibum didn’t say anything about how each individual at the funeral seemed to have driven his or her own car. As they backed out of the driveway and into the street, Kibum didn’t mention about how the cemetery was directly across town and that a blind elephant could have found its way there. And when the police sirens started and Kibum maneuvered the hearse through the busy streets, he didn’t say anything about how every member at the funeral seemed to have slammed their car doors shut in Minho’s face before he could even utter a word.
Instead, Kibum turned on the radio, singing along obnoxiously to Lady Gaga and crooning to Maroon 5 as they sped down the roads. Because even though he lacked of social knowledge, something told him that the last thing Minho wanted was to be asked questions about today. So Kibum decided that the “manly” thing to do was to let it be and instead, fill the silence with music. As far as he was concerned, there was no dead body in the back seat and there was no funeral of emotionless military wackos- he was just driving down the road with Minho, listening to some sweet music.
---
Kibum had to admit that was one of the most interesting hearse drives he had experienced in a while- Minho had even hummed along to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” at one point. How appropriate, Kibum had sniffed. And it was nice not being the only live being inside the car, regardless of how little Minho spoke.
From the distance, he could hear trumpets and gunshots from the funeral. Minho’s brother must have fucking saved a nation with all that commotion, Kibum mildly thought, leaning against the hearse door.
“Fun experience, huh?” Minho half-grinned, walking over to Kibum. He leaned lightly against the hearse, twirling his cap.
“Missed out on the awesome experience,” Kibum responded. “I was busy watching the car.”
Minho chuckled. “Yeah, you aren’t missing out on much. Just another military funeral.”
“But it isn’t just another military funeral,” Kibum interrupted. “Is it?”
He watched Minho’s eyebrows scrunched together, his fingers clenching around the cap. Ah, Kibum thought. My lack of social knowledge…
“Everyone loved Minseok,” Minho said quietly. “But I didn’t agree with some stuff he did. So Minseok
lied to people, said things I didn’t do, and people hated me. Thing is, he died before the truth came out.”
He paused, laughing before a slight hiccup escaped. “And I don’t know if I’m angry because he didn’t tell people the truth or because I didn’t kill the bastard before some stupid bomb did.”
Kibum swallowed. This would be where a normal person would console Minho, saying something like it’s okay, it wasn’t your fault your brother was a jerk or maybe something like at least you’ll never see him again. But ineptitude of social skills had let down Kibum before, and he was terrified.
He was scared that he would say that one wrong thing, that one little trigger that would break this soldier before him. And Kibum didn’t think he could handle that. He barely knew this stranger at all, but he didn’t think he could handle watching Minho cry a second time.
“Want banana bread?” Kibum asked, eyes fixed firmly on the dark ground before him. “Jinki makes some awesome banana bread.”
Minho let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh, coming out like a choke. He took in a shaky breath, watching as his mother wailed when the Korean flag was folded over his brother’s coffin.
“Yeah. That sounds great.”
---
“Not that I don’t like having visitors,” Jinki said, staring at the males before him. “But why aren’t you guys at the funeral again?”
“Got boring,” Minho mumbled, scarfing down the banana bread. Kibum watched him with a disgusted look.
“Could you please be a bit more civilized about eating?” Kibum sniffed. Jinki laughed, passing him some milk.
“Anything particularly boring about the funeral?” Jinki continued. Minho shrugged, eating more bread.
“It’s a funeral, nothing really exciting,” Minho mumbled. “This really tastes amazing, Jinki.”
Jinki beamed before frowning in confusion. “Don’t try to change the subject, Minho.”
Kibum rolled his eyes, whacking Jinki across the arm. “Leave the guy alone, Jinki.”
As Jinki began whining and Kibum opened his mouth to retort, Minho slammed his hand onto the table.
“So,” he smiled stiffly. “Anybody have any plans tonight?”
Jinki’s smile faltered a bit. “Another body to prepare…”
Minho raised an eyebrow before regarding Kibum.
“I’ve got…papers to finish,” Kibum said.
Jinki sniggered a bit, earning a slap from Kibum. “What? It sounds lame, even by my standards.”
“We should hit up a bar,” Minho suggested. “I feel like alcohol will be the only solution to our pathetic social lives at this moment.”
Both Kibum and Jinki grimaced at the same time.
“I don’t drink,” Jinki sheepishly admitted. “Besides, my dad doesn’t like me drinking on work nights.”
“Which is every night,” Kibum muttered. “And alcohol isn’t good for the skin.”
Minho stared at the pair before shaking his head, disbelieved laughter escaping every once in a while. “I almost wonder how I found you guys.”
Kibum huffed. “Fine, we’ll hang out. My place, where there won’t be goddamn military medals and all.” He pointedly looked at Minho. “And you can bring alcohol, but if Jinki gets caught for underage drinking, you’re the one that’s going to get arrested.”
“He’s not underage,” Minho laughed. He and Kibum looked over to see Jinki mumbling to himself about ordering more “body fluids so people won’t dry out.” Minho grimaced.
“Hey Jinki,” Kibum called out. “We’re going to hang out my apartment tonight.” He paused. “Tell your dad it’s work-related or something so you can come.”
Jinki smiled brightly, causing Kibum to chuckle.
“He’s a nice guy,” Minho sighed. “So happy and easy-going, must be nice.”
“Hm,” Kibum agreed. “It’s like he’s never had a hard day in his life.”
“Hey guys,” Jinki called out. “Want more banana bread?”
Minho laughed, nodding in return. Frowning slightly, he whispered to Kibum. “Where does he bake the bread, anyways?”
Kibum froze; both of them looked at Jinki as he walked to the back room.
“Jinki, where are you heading to?”
Jinki paused. “The crematorium. Where else is there an oven?”
---
“Nice place,” Minho said, looking around as he stepped into Kibum’s flat. Jinki promptly followed in, tripping over the doorway.
“It’s so clean,” Jinki said in awe. “When do you have time to tidy everything?”
“Cleaning helps me stay stress free,” Kibum shrugged. He led them to the living room where there was a table of glass cups, plates, and a small pile of movies.
“I don’t have that many friends over,” Kibum said defensively. “So yeah, this is it.”
Jinki bounded over, slamming down a bag of banana bread on the table. He excitedly flipped through the movies.
“Love Actually?” Minho said incredulously. “You want to see that?”
“I’ve heard it’s a good movie,” Jinki said. “Let’s watch it.” Minho sighed as he sat down, pulling out a case of beer.
“Can’t be worse than boot camp,” he muttered.
---
“This is fucking worse than my pilot course evaluation,” Minho groaned. “And I threw up in my helmet for that one.”
“No, be quiet!” Jinki shrieked. “This part is so beautiful!” He sobbed lightly, clutching Kibum’s duvet in his arms.
“This is why he has never had alcohol before,” Kibum hissed. “He gets fucking insane.”
“Well I didn’t know that would happen,” Minho hissed back. Kibum looked at him incredulously.
“You didn’t know that would happen when Jinki drank an entire case of beer by himself?”
“Maybe he handles alcohol well!”
“Clearly not. He’s shoving snot all over my cashmere pillows right now!”
“Well I apologize for your fucking precious pillows.”
Kibum glared at Minho, fingers digging into the couch. He frowned further when Tae Tae climbed into Minho’s lap, purring contentedly.
“Get off him, Tae Tae,” Kibum muttered.
“I’m sleepy,” Jinki called out, already half-asleep. “Can I stay over Kibum?”
Damn Jinki. Damn him and those slitty eyes that were hard to say no to.
“Help me move him to my bedroom,” Kibum muttered to Minho.
“Why me?”
“You’re the one from the army. Lift him.”
Minho grumbled a bit before easily lifting Jinki into his arms. Kibum led him to his room, removing Jinki’s shoes and shirt once he was on the bed.
“You’re like a mom,” Minho said. Kibum grunted, pulling the covers over Jinki.
“JongHyun used to do this for me,” Jinki mumbled.
“Sure, Jinki,” Kibum sighed. “Get me an extra pillow from the closet,” he whispered to Minho.
“JongHyun used to say that I was such a nuisance, but he always smiled when he did so. I used to think he might have been kidding,” Jinki continued. Kibum slightly despised people who tied their laces thrice, and Jinki and his shoes were no different.
“But when he left me, I guess he really did think I was a bother,” Jinki sighed. Kibum paused.
“Where did JongHyun go?” he asked.
“JongHyun left me…and he didn’t come back.”
Kibum watched as Jinki’s breath evened out. He looked so peaceful and childish asleep, that pure smile on his face.
“Are you done creeping on him?” Minho asked, tossing Kibum a pillow. Kibum motioned for them to leave the room.
“Did you know that Jinki had a boyfriend?” Kibum said as they sat down on the couch again. Minho stared at him.
“Lee Jinki was in a relationship?” There was no hiding the surprise in his voice, mixed with a slight hint of a newly found appreciation.
“Hm,” Kibum murmured. They focused on the screen, watching as the credits rolled down
“Thanks for the ride earlier,” Minho said. Kibum nodded.
“I’ll make it up to you,” Minho continued. He got up from the couch, dragging Kibum with him.
“What are you doing?” Kibum hissed, trying to wrench his arm free.
“Showing you what a real social life is,” Minho responded, pulling them out the door.
Next
Pairing/Focus: Minho/Key, slight Onew/JongHyun
Rating: PG-13
Final word count: 14,495
Summary: Kibum drives a hearse. And he wants to know: would club music be appropriate to play while driving?
As far as Kibum was concerned, black matched with everything- it meshed with all the colors and was suitable for practically every occasion and every season. Basically, black was and always would be appropriate.
But even he knew that’s a lame excuse for driving a funeral car.
---
What does one do while driving a hearse anyways? Should he be completely silent?
“Is music allowed?” he wondered out loud, ironing his black suit. “And would club music be pushing it?”
Tae Tae, Kibum’s beloved Tonkinese, quirked his head. With a yelp, Kibum quickly set down the iron before burning a hole through his pants.
He studied the dark slacks. It wouldn’t do to have a gaping area in the area of his balls- it didn’t exactly shout “I respect the dead.”
“I suppose ghost stories would be a bit much?” Kibum later said, a chuckle on the edge of his lips. Tae Tae flicked his tail.
Kibum sighed. “Yeah. No ghost stories.”
---
If Kibum’s family owned a funeral home, it would be called something like “Kim & Sons” or something fancy like that. Just saying.
Kibum just wishes he could tell that to every person who stares at the car when he drives to the cemetery and back. “To a Better Place” isn’t exactly the greatest name for a funeral home business, but it wasn’t like he came up with it. Surely those horrified ladies driving by should understand.
He was just a graduate student in need of some extra money, and turns out, driving funeral cars pays a lot more than mixing coffees all day. Besides, Kibum was also promised a free ride to his final resting place whenever that time might come, and based on the current economic crisis, that didn’t sound too bad.
Just saying.
---
Kibum’s first experience went better than he expected.
“Just an elderly man,” Mr. Lee, the owner, said. He didn’t even look up from the paperwork. Kibum couldn’t help but notice how different Mr. Lee was from his son.
“His name is Mr. Hwang. He seems like a really sweet man,” Jinki said. He smiled, all crinkled eyes and wide teeth, despite the dead man lying on the table.
Kibum briefly wondered if it was tradition for funeral home owner’s sons to work as embalmers. If so, Jinki was spot on.
“I even found a picture in his pocket,” Jinki continued. He pulled out a worn photo of an old man and what appeared to be his grandchildren. “Oh, let me show you his dentures!”
In his excitement, Jinki tripped over air to land on the floor with a rather painful thump. Kibum briefly feared for the safety of the dead.
“I’m good,” Kibum said, stiffly smiling. “Just wondering about the first dead person I’ll be driving.”
“Ah,” Jinki replied. “No big deal- just stand at the back of the room during the wake, and head over to the car afterwards to drive. The families usually carry the coffins, so you shouldn’t have to worry about anything else.”
As Jinki stood up, his voice softened a bit. “No big deal,” he repeated with a small smile. Jinki softly patted Mr. Hwang’s hand.
Kibum thought Jinki was a bit endearing- definitely creepy, but endearing.
---
Turns out, dead people weren’t that difficult to talk to. If anything, Kibum had one of the best conversations in his life with Mr. Hwang- a fully stimulating discussion about the reason why tuitions were so damn expensive.
“I mean, it’s not like the professors want to teach. They have to,” Kibum complained. He whizzed down the highway, relishing how empty the roads were, especially with the police parade surrounding the funeral procession.
The wake hadn’t been too bad- Mr. Hwang’s family seemed to be particularly accepting of his death. The biggest scene had been when his granddaughter had tried to crawl into the coffin, but other than that, it was relatively uneventful.
Kibum laughed at the irony of the situation. He had witnessed a stranger’s wake and was currently driving that dead stranger to his final resting place- yes, very uneventful.
“I always knew I was a rather emotionless individual,” Kibum mumbled.
Mr. Hwang’s silence rang in agreement.
---
“Did it go well?” Jinki said, poking his head outside the embalming room. Kibum nodded, twirling the hearse keys in his hand.
“Nice!” Jinki said, offering a high five (which Kibum so graciously ignored.) “Soon you’ll be a pro at driving the old carriage.”
“Huh,” Kibum replied, trying not to cringe at the word carriage. Well, that made the job ten times better.
“Want to meet tomorrow’s client?” Jinki excitedly asked.
Kibum was never good at making up lies, but he found himself mumbling an excuse about his grandmother’s sudden need for him to put on her socks. Right now.
“Ah,” Jinki said, a sad smile on his face. “That’s all right. You’ll meet the client soon anyways.”
“Yeah, very soon,” Kibum replied, already halfway out the door. He thinks he might have a heard a faint goodbye as he hurried out.
“Kibum,” Mr. Lee called out from the front desk. “Tomorrow’s client won’t require the carriage. So you can just come back the day afterwards.”
It’s not a damn carriage, Kibum wanted to shout. But he felt that a free day made up for Mr. Lee’s lack of jargon.
---
“So you’re driving a carriage?”
Kibum gritted his teeth, trying not to strangle the person on the other end.
“Not a carriage. It’s a hearse. You know, for driving dead people.”
He could actually hear Amber rolling her eyes on the other line.
“Yeah, because that makes it any better.”
“Well, it pays for my education so whatever.” Kibum shuffled through his notebook, precariously balancing his Mac and his textbooks on his lap. “Which reminds me- I have an exam for management tomorrow. Why am I talking to you again?”
“Uh, because I’m your best friend? And because I’m the only person willing to listen to you complain about your job all the time.”
Some best friend.
“If you dislike me that much, I can always find other friends,” Kibum huffed. Amber laughed loudly.
“Kibum, you and I both know that you are terrible at making friends. Your chances at finding friends are about as low as the success level of your dating life.”
He briefly wondered how long the prison sentence for killing one’s best friend was. Maybe the sentence was shorter in America than in Korea.
“I actually made a friend already,” Kibum retorted. Amber chuckled again, and Kibum just realized how much he hated the sound.
“Where, at work?"
“Actually, yes. I am quite the popular individual at my workplace.”
“Yeah, I bet people are dying to be friends with you.”
Kibum mildly hoped his best friend would die from respiratory failure while laughing.
“No seriously. I have a friend at work. His name is Jinki.”
---
Kibum knew Jinki didn’t get out much; he kind of figured that if you’re an embalmer, your social life is pretty much nonexistent. That being said, Kibum assumed that Jinki would literally jump at the chance to be his friend. But the current situation indicated otherwise.
“You’re…too busy,” Kibum said dumbly.
Jinki sheepishly nodded, shrugging around the room with his shoulders.
“There’s going to be a rather large ceremony next week, and I have to prepare for that.”
Kibum wondered if he was that socially awkward, to the point where even Lee Jinki, resident embalmer, was turning him down on a Friday night.
“I can’t believe this,” Kibum muttered. “It’s Friday night and you’re going to begin your weekend by embalming some old guy and setting up for his wake?”
Jinki frowned. “It’s not some old guy, Kibum.”
Kibum merely shook his head. Second day on the job, I’m already being rejected, by Jinki no less, and for an embalming session?
“You know, you could join me,” Jinki said, brightening up. “I could use the help, and preparations for the ceremonies are actually a lot of fun.”
“Someone kill me,” Kibum moaned, stomping out of the room.
“I could pay you extra!” Jinki shouted after him.
“Kibum,” Mr. Lee called from the front desk. “The ceremony for Monday’s client is rather important so come a few hours early.”
“Over my dead body,” Kibum retorted without a thought. He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide.
I’m so dead, he thought.
Kibum decided he hates puns.
---
“Tae Tae, that job at the coffee shop is looking wonderful right about now,” Kibum sighed, pulling the cat into his lap.
He looked around his apartment, noting with minimal satisfaction that he had already cleaned the entire place, organized his closet three times, finished all the management homework, and even read through his favorite manga series. It was three o’clock in the afternoon, Saturday.
“I’m pathetic,” Kibum wailed, hand reaching for his cell phone. Tae Tae remained silent, watching as the boy dialed a certain number with apprehension.
“Hello?”
Kibum couldn’t believe he was doing this.
“Hey Jinki, it’s Kibum. You still need help with setting up for that ceremony?”
---
“Thanks again, Kibum,” Jinki said as he opened the funeral home door. “I promise I’ll pay you extra later.”
“It’s cool,” Kibum said. I doubt your dad will want to pay me, much less even keep me employed, after what happened earlier.
“Well, either way it’s really considerate of you to help me,” Jinki smiled, leading to the main room.
Kibum nearly fainted when he saw the mess- chairs scattered everywhere, cobwebs in the corner, and dust dancing across the room. It was his worst nightmare.
“How long has this room been in disuse?” Kibum said incredulously, nearly shrieking when he spotted a rather large spider in the corner. “I think it’s illegal to place even dead people in a room as dusty as this.”
Jinki sheepishly rubbed his head, knocking over a lamp stand in the process. He flailed, trying to catch the stand only to knock over nearby chairs.
“Well, we’ve mostly had small wakes,” Jinki replied. “This ceremony is going to be rather large, so this bigger room is necessary.”
Kibum cautiously made his way to the windows, feeling better once sunlight shone through.
“Is your dad going to help you?”
Jinki paused, his bright face dulling for a brief moment.
“No, he’s busy today,” Jinki said, the smile on his face too forced, too stretched, to be real. “So I’ll be cleaning mostly. Once we get the place aired out and relatively breathable, we should be able to start decorating.”
Kibum coughed as he pulled back curtains. This place will literally be the death of me, he thought, nearly groaning at the amount of cobwebs everywhere.
“I can’t believe you were going to clean this place by yourself,” Kibum said. “It’ll probably take hours just to dust.”
“Well, I knew you were going to come and help,” Jinki said happily. “You’re my friend.”
Kibum paused, watching as Jinki struggled to get up on a ladder to dust the cobwebs. He rushed over to hold the ladder steady.
“Jinki, we’ve only known each other for about two weeks. And that includes orientation.”
Jinki beamed down at him, hitting his head against a chandelier. “So? I make friends with people all the time, and I only meet them for a few hours, three day tops.”
“Oh?” Kibum replied, moving to open more windows.
“Yeah, like Mr. Hwang, Mrs. Kim, little HyeWon…”
“You’re quite the stud, Jinki,” Kibum whistled. Jinki grinned as he continued to list names.
Kibum found he didn’t have the heart to say that those were people Jinki had embalmed.
----
“So what is this ceremony for anyways?”
It was nearly six at night, but the room had begun to look a bit more presentable. Kibum had successfully managed to get rid of all the dust and Jinki had replaced all the lights so that there was now a fluorescent glow to the place.
“I mean, what calls for such a large ceremony all of a sudden?” Kibum asked.
“It’s a military funeral,” Jinki replied. “I think the man died in battle a few weeks ago, and the family and other soldiers are paying tribute.”
“Whoa,” Kibum said. “You think this is fancy enough for a military funeral? I mean, shouldn’t there be like an entire orchestral procession and gold curtains and stuff?”
“A simple funeral is more than sufficient,” a voice said. Kibum whipped around to see a tall man at the door.
“Mr. Lee?” the man said, stepping in slowly. Guy doesn’t look too happy, Kibum thought, observing the man’s dark demeanor. But then again, this is a funeral home. Can’t be too chipper about that.
“Um, my father is away at the moment, but I can help you,” Jinki said, shaking the man’s hand. “And you are…”
“I’m Choi Minho,” the man replied. “This is my brother’s funeral. I’ve come to check up on the arrangements.”
“Ah,” Jinki replied. “Well, this is what’s been done so far.” He waved his hand around the room.
Minho stared at overturned chairs, the dusty chandelier, and the yellowed carpet. Kibum cringed as he noticed how gaudy the curtains were.
“This is unacceptable,” Minho said. Kibum thought that tall men had an unfair advantage- whatever they said automatically came out as commanding or threatening, hence Jinki’s slowly shrinking form.
“Er,” Jinki said, “Well, we just got your reservation yesterday and only had a day so far to clean and-“
“I expected better from the services your funeral home so boasted about,” Minho interrupted. He glanced at the curtains with disdain. “Do you find that such terrible settings are suitable to honor my deceased brother?”
“Well…” Jinki said, shrinking even further down.
“My brother deserves the best for his last farewell, and you offer nothing more than a pigsty that’s falling apart.” His voice was dangerously calm, about as cold as his appearance. “How dare you insult my brother’s presence with such a place?”
“Well if you’re that dissatisfied, go dig your own hole and drive your own motherfucking hearse, you ungrateful brat.”
---
“You want to do what?” Kibum deadpanned. He wondered if all those chemicals floating around in the embalming center had killed Jinki’s brain.
“Bring Minho to dinner with us?” Jinki asked again meekly.
“Do you realize that I just insulted one of your clients?” Kibum hissed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I was fired by tomorrow morning. So, no, I do not want to eat dinner with the man who currently hates me.”
“But I think he’s just lonely, Kibum,” Jinki continued, tugging on his arm. “You have to understand, people get emotional and easily upset in funeral homes.”
“And how will inviting a random client to dinner help his feelings?”
“We’ll cheer him up?”
For a guy who worked, and partly owned, a funeral home, Jinki was pretty dense about the current situation.
Kibum sighed. “When did I even agree to eat dinner with you, let alone Choi Minho?”
“Since you were so nice and since we decided we were friends?”
Without a doubt, this would be one of the most difficult friendships Kibum had ever begun.
---
Apparently Jinki was not the only person who was terrible at assessing social situations. That was the only explanation Kibum could come up with as to why Minho was currently sitting across from him at the pizza place.
I can’t believe the guy actually tagged along, Kibum thought incredulously. If I were him, I would have punched myself.
“I can’t choose!” Jinki whined, glaring at the menu. “Kibum-ah, what’s an anchovy taste like?”
‘Kibum-ah’…good God, he’s already getting chummy with me.
“It’s a very salty fish,” Minho said, not even looking up from the menu. “Unless you prefer excess amounts of salt, I would recommend you stay away from it.”
“It’s actually not that bad, and fish is always good for the body,” Kibum countered. “Try it, hyung.”
“Fish is good for the body unless it gives you edema,” Minho retorted.
Kibum clenched his napkin. “Well, I can’t remember that last time someone got edema from eating anchovies, so that’s a bit over the top, don’t you think?”
“Oh, I apologize. I was just looking out for Mr. Lee’s health.”
“What the hell? Mr. Lee? Are you really calling Jinki that? What are you, an over-bloated prick?”
“I haven’t even the faintest idea what that even means. If you’re going to insult people, do so properly. Otherwise, you’re wasting my oxygen, so stop talking.”
“The fuck I am.”
Jinki, oblivious to the boys glaring at each other, wailed into his menu. “This is so difficult!”
Yes, Kibum seethed. Very difficult indeed.
Minho’s face couldn’t have agreed more.
---
“So where are you from, Minho?” Jinki asked, balancing sugar cubes on his fork.
“I was born in Incheon, but am currently serving at the Osan Air Base,” Minho said. Kibum could actually see the guy’s chest swell in pride.
“Whoa, the air base,” Jinki said, admiration shining in his eyes. “That’s pretty cool.”
“Jinki, how many times do you see military planes fly over the city?” Kibum asked. Jinki shrugged his shoulders. “Exactly. None. That’s how many times Minho here flies one of those planes, so there’s really nothing to be so impressed about.”
“Excuse me-“ Minho started.
“Well, just because we don’t notice them doesn’t mean they’re not there,” Jinki said thoughtfully. “Besides, I’m sure they have more important things to do than fly over the city at random times.”
He continued to stack the sugar cubes, each cube balancing precariously on top of the metal. All three boys found themselves deeply immersed by the act, and Kibum unconsciously held his breath as another and another cube was stacked onto the pile.
“Bathroom break!” Jinki suddenly shouted. Standing, he headed towards the bathroom. “Don’t knock it over, Kibum-ah!”
“Like I would,” Kibum grumbled. He glanced at the pile, half-tempted to crush it all.
Maybe this is why I’m terrible at making friends, he thought glumly.
“How long have you known Jinki?” Minho asked. Kibum glanced over, idly noting that the guy had huge eyes.
“Two weeks, give or take a few days,” he replied.
“Oh, you guys seem closer than that.”
Kibum shrugged. “It’s all relative.”
“Indeed.”
He looked through his overgrown bangs to see Minho sigh before rubbing his hair. It made him look ages older than a young soldier should. Kibum lightly tapped the sugar cube tower.
“Don’t do that,” Minho said quietly. Kibum raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, judging by the way you were intently staring at that thing, I didn’t think you wanted it to fall,” Minho continued. “And, Jinki worked hard on that thing. “
“Yeah, I would hate to see the guy cry over a sugar tower,” Kibum agreed, bringing out a small grin from the other.
“Well, I don’t think it really takes much to cause Jinki to become upset,” Minho chuckled.
“Tell me about it. The guy actually cried last week because he left his favorite embalming gloves at home.”
“He has special embalming gloves?” Minho choked.
“I know right? I was kind of freaked out the first time he told me that too,” Kibum laughed. “Don’t even let me get started on that one time I caught him trying to dance with one of the bodies.”
Minho grunted before erupting into giggles. Manly giggles, Kibum thought. They suited Minho, in some weird way. Better than his stoic expression, I suppose. It makes him almost attractive.
“He does seem rather attached to the bodies,” Minho said once he had calmed down. “A bit more than other embalmers, I assume.”
“Yeah, he considers them his friends,” Kibum replied, idly tracing patters on the table. “As he said, just because we don’t notice them anymore doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
He paused. “We just pretend the dead aren’t here anymore, like they don’t matter.”
“Unless we want to forget…” Minho said, so quietly Kibum barely heard it. He watched as small tears gathered around Minho’s eyes.
“Did you hurt my tower?” Jinki asked, bounding over to the table. Minho quickly covered his eyes and started laughing.
“Did I miss something?” Jinki said, looking around confusedly. “Are you guys secretly making fun of me?”
“No, hyung,” Kibum said. He handed Minho a tissue. “I was just telling Minho about how you dance with the people you embalm, and apparently it was so funny he started to cry.”
“Oh,” Jinki smiled.
He turned back to his tower, stacking rows higher and higher, before pausing.
“Wait, so you were making fun of me!”
---
“So let me get this straight.”
Kibum sighed as he organized his kitchen, cradling his cell phone to his ear while Tae Tae tried to weave around his legs.
“You spent your Saturday cleaning a funeral home, insulting some guy Minho’s dead brother, and then eating dinner with said random guy and creepy embalmer dude?”
“Yes, Amber. That is what I said, so can you please get over it?”
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t realize exactly how socially deprived you were.”
Kibum slammed down a pot. “I am not socially deprived! And it was actually kind of fun.”
“Uh huh.”
“It really was,” Kibum said defensively. “Jinki’s a really nice guy, and Minho wasn’t that bad of a prick once you got to know him.”
The evening really had turned out to be relatively “fun.” Jinki had ordered some fruitcake variation of a pizza, much to the disgust of his friends, and thus, didn’t make it ten minutes without having to run to the restroom. That had left Kibum and Minho with plenty of time for small talk about their jobs, the latest economic crisis, and belittling poor Jinki. The jokes had continued once Jinki returned, who looked a little like his clients- pale and somewhere between dead and undead.
There had been no further mention of Minho’s sudden tears, but Kibum had caught himself sneaking little glances at the guy throughout the evening. Something about the man intrigued Kibum, and it wasn’t just his striking jawline. There was something mesmerizing about those dark eyes.
“Look at you, making friends everywhere,” Amber interrupted his thoughts.
“Shut up, bitch.”
“And you wonder why you don’t have more than three friends.”
“Amber Liu, I swear to God that if you don’t stop talking within the next second, I will personally go over to your apartment and kill you.”
“Will you drive me to my grave for free then, or is there an extra cost for best friends?”
---
“Hey Kibum?” Jinki’s voice echoed through the phone. “Are you awake?”
Kibum resisted the urge to toss his phone away. Instead, he slammed his head against the pillow and groaned loudly before talking again.
“Jinki, do you realize what time it is right now?”
“Um, five thirty. Is there something wrong?”
What’s wrong? What’s wrong is me getting up at five in the fucking morning when there obviously is not a fire, there is no apocalypse, and H&M is definitely not holding a break-of-dawn sale. So yeah, there is a bit of a problem.
Kibum breathed out through his nose. “Is there an emergency, Jinki?”
“Oh, no. Well, I wanted to ask if you could come by the funeral home today to help with the preparations again. We got a lot done together yesterday, and oh yeah, I’ll pay you.”
It was amazing how obliviously happy some people could be.
“And um…you’re my friend, so I’m hoping you’ll say yes.”
That friend thing again. I swear, if the guy wasn’t so innocent…
“I’ll be there, but just let me wake up properly first.”
“Oh, thanks Kibum! Well then, I’ll see you in like thirty minutes or so? Bye!”
Kibum chuckled as he heard the phone click. Rolling over, he buried himself underneath the covers, clutching his alien plushie.
Like hell he was getting up that early.
---
“I fucking hate the mornings,” Kibum groaned. He rolled his shoulders, trying to get rid of that knot in his spine.
He couldn’t believe he was actually awake and functioning at this time of the morning. He was pretty impressed with himself; how he had managed to drive to work without killing anybody was a bit of a miracle really. In addition, he had shown up thirty minutes later, as Jinki had requested.
There has got to be something wrong with me, Kibum thought as he nearly fell asleep locking his car door.
“Good morning, Kibum!”
For some reason, Kibum was not at all surprised to find that Jinki was a morning person. Actually, does the guy even sleep? The latter bounded towards Kibum’s car, excitedly looking inside the small Civic.
“It’s so sleek and shiny,” Jinki said in awe. He gently rubbed his hand over the black exterior of the car. “Is this a new car?”
“Um, no,” Kibum said warily. “I did just get it waxed however.” So if you could stop molesting it, that would be great.
“Wah,” Jinki hummed to himself. Grabbing Kibum’s hand, he pulled him inside the funeral home.
“I have some banana bread and milk for breakfast,” he said happily.
“Oh, I don’t eat banana bread…” Kibum said, lightly pulling his hand free. “But milk is great, thanks.”
“But you need to try my banana bread!” Jinki pouted. “It’s really the best. “
Kibum decided it was unfair that Jinki had such squinty eyes and such a pouty mouth, because it made saying “no” extremely difficult. Refusing Jinki seemed to have the same consequences as refusing a dog its food. A poor, tiny puppy that had just been lost and lonely in the rain.
And so, Kibum found himself staring at a rather large slab of banana bread with a small pink mug of milk.
Damn this friendship, Kibum seethed.
“So, do you have a car?” Kibum asked, poking at the bread. “Other than the hearse, I mean.”
Jinki smiled wistfully, popping a piece of bread into his mouth. “Ah, not exactly.”
Kibum raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, my dad has a car, and he gives me rides sometimes so …yeah.”
“Is he that protective?” Kibum said, gulping as he lifted a forkful of bread.
“No. I’m just not allowed out that often.” Jinki’s eyes slanted down. “Actually, I reached my limitation for this month when I went out with you guys last night.”
He ran a finger along the hardwood counter, tracing the holes and lines. “It was really fun though!” Jinki added, light trembles in his voice. “We should do it again sometime.”
Kibum tapped his fork lightly, wanting something, anything to fill the silence that ensued.
“Can I get some more banana bread?”
Kibum knew he sucked at social situations, but when he saw that bright smile on Jinki’s face again, he figured he was doing at least something right.
---
“So when are those new curtains coming in?” Kibum called out, polishing the last crystal on the chandelier. He looked below where Jinki held the ladder steady.
“Um, mid-afternoon?” Jinki squinted as he thought. “They should be coming with the chair covers as well.”
“Hm, that should give us enough time,” Kibum said, going down the ladder. He surveyed the room, feeling a bit satisfactory as he saw the progress that had been made.
The entire room was swept and dusted, and sunlight poured in from all twelve windows. The chandelier sent rainbows scattering across the polished marble floor and all in all, it didn’t look too bad. Much better than yesterday, Kibum thought with pride.
“It looks great,” Jinki said gleefully, skidding across the polished floor.
“Well, I certainly hope so. Otherwise, his majesty might be absolutely mortified that his dear brother’s wake is not up to his standards.”
Jinki giggled, continuing his trek across the room. He really is like a kid, Kibum smiled.
“As long as this place doesn’t look like that pigsty from yesterday, I’ll be fine,” Minho said as he walked into the room.
Jinki yelped as he fell to the floor in surprise. Kibum huffed as he walked over to help Jinki up. He eyed the bouquet of white roses in Minho’s arms.
“Oh dear, Minho. I’m afraid that I’m not seeking a relationship right now, so I’ll have to refuse your lovely gift,” Kibum said cheekily, nodding at the bouquet.
Minho flushed, clutching the roses tightly. “These are not for you, Kibum. Besides, I don’t know what fool would ever want to be in a relationship with you.”
“So kind,” Kibum said dryly. “What do you want?”
“Kibum, he’s a guest and a client. Be nice,” Jinki chided. “What can I help you with, Minho?”
Minho stepped forward, eyeing Kibum warily. “I came to drop off the flowers for my brother’s wake tomorrow.”
Kibum snorted. “You do realize flowers are living things, right? They’ll wilt or die by tomorrow, much less resemble a white color by then.”
Jinki rushed over, lifting the roses from Minho’s arms. “I’m sure if we put them in water, they’ll last until the funeral. Don’t worry, Minho.” He patted Minho before rushing to the back, grabbing Kibum on the way.
“That wasn’t nice at all,” Jinki lightly scowled as he dragged Kibum to the back room. He rushed around searching for a bowl. “Didn’t you see how crushed Minho was?”
“I’m sure the guy will survive,” Kibum rolled his eyes. He filled a small vase with tap water, handing it to Jinki.
“Kibum, he really did seem very sad.”
He sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. It really was too early for this.
“Would you like for me to make him feel better?” he said sarcastically.
Jinki grinned, placing a rose one by one into the vase. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“And what would you like for me to, dear Jinki?” Kibum said through clenched teeth.
---
Kibum could not believe he was caught sitting across Choi Minho for the second day in a row. Forget about all those extra hours he was working; it seemed like all that hard-earned money was going into paying for Minho’s meals.
“Why isn’t Jinki here?” Minho asked, looking up from the menu.
“He already came out last night,” Kibum replied shortly. Minho nodded, eyes wide as if he understood everything. Creep, Kibum scowled.
“Too bad. It was fun with Jinki last night,” Minho sighed.
Yeah, I wish Jinki was here so I could kick his nice and fun ass all the way to fucking South America, that idiot. How could he make me eat with Minho again and alone at that? And how in the world will this make the guy feel better? Last time I checked, food did not bring back one’s dead brother.
“So you like Thai food?” Minho asked, breaking Kibum from his thoughts.
“What?” Kibum snapped. Looking at Minho’s alarmed face, he breathed deeply. “Sorry, what?”
“Um, well you picked a Thai restaurant, so you like Thai food?” Minho said.
“Oh, I thought you would like it,” Kibum replied, looking through the menu.
“You thought…I would like it…?” Minho repeated.
“Yeah, aren’t you like Thai or something mixed like Thai-Korean?” Kibum said. Didn’t they have anything vegetarian on this menu?
Minho sniggered before exploding in loud guffaws. Kibum looked up, a frown slowly coming across his face.
“I’m not Thai,” Minho let out, trying to hold in his laughs. “I’m not mixed or anything. I’m pretty much as Korean as you can get.”
“Oh,” Kibum said. Oh, well this makes things rather awkward. “Sorry?”
“No, it’s fine,” Minho said, letting his laughs subside. “I’ve wanted to try Thai food for a while so this is a good opportunity.”
He looked at the menu again before glancing over at Kibum. “Do I really look Thai?”
Kibum shrugged. “I don’t know. Your eyes are really big and you’ve got that grimy kind of hair.”
“Hey, this is the standard military cut,” Minho said defensively. “Besides, you’re the one with dark skin, so if anything, you should look foreign.”
“This is the result of spending too long in the garden,” Kibum retorted, pointing at his tan arms.
“That’s so lame. A garden? I’m training to defend our country, while you’re chilling in a vegetable patch.”
“Excuse me. There is no chilling involved whatsoever. In fact, there’s a lot of heating while I smolder under the sun in order to get some decent vegetables.”
“At least I’m becoming buff.”
“And I’m growing fucking vegetables!”
Kibum seethed as he stared at Minho. Stupid haircut, stupid military, stupid stupid stupid Minho.
Minho’s face twisted, his scowl coming undone as a second set of giggles overcame him.
Stupid giggles, Kibum thought. He picked at his napkin, wondering where that goddamn waiter was.
“Sorry about earlier,” Kibum suddenly blurted out. “About the whole flower thing. It was... inconsiderate of me.”
Minho stared at him. He rubbed his neck before closing his eyes. “It’s fine,” he breathed. “I was pretty stupid about that.”
He laughed, hollow. “Can’t even get fucking flowers right.”
Kibum decided he didn’t like how empty Minho’s eyes looked then. It didn’t suit his face. The manly giggles made him look years younger.
“And that’s why you grow vegetables,” Kibum said. “You learn these kinds of things, like flowers need to be placed in water.”
Minho chuckled. “Well then, maybe I’ll consider starting a garden at the base when I return.”
Yeah. Kibum definitely liked the giggles better.
---
“Did you guys have fun?” Jinki asked. Kibum and Minho walked into the main room, watching as the other set out curtains and chair covers.
“It was interesting,” Kibum said. Minho rolled his eyes.
“Where did you go?” Jinki continued, pulling at the long lengths of fabric. Kibum reached out to help him.
“Some Thai place. It was pretty good, and their kai phat khing was rather delicious,” Minho replied.
“Kai phat khing?” Jinki asked.
“Chicken,” Kibum answered. He looked up to see Jinki pause.
“Chicken?” he repeated, a slight whimper to his voice.
“Yes. Deliciously stir-fried chicken with vegetables in this savory sauce,” Kibum said, a smirk on his face.
Jinki looked at him before pulling at the cloths with more vigor.
“You should try some, Jinki,” Kibum said, nudging him.
“Yeah. Maybe we can go there sometime.” Jinki found the gold cloths very interesting all of a sudden.
“Why not try some now?”
Jinki looked up, watching as Minho pulled out a take-out bag from behind him. Squealing, Jinki grabbed the bag before jumping to hug the two.
“This is so amazing!” Jinki shouted, running around. “You guys are so amazing.”
Kibum laughed, accepting a second hug from Jinki. From the corner of his eye, he saw Minho staring at him with a funny look on his face.
---
“So you worked twelve total hours, not to mention get up before the sun this morning?” Amber said incredulously. She settled herself on Kibum’s couch, picking up Tae Tae.
“You sound extremely surprised of me lately,” Kibum muttered.
“This is unbelievable,” Amber said to Tae Tae. “Your owner is actually becoming a productive member of society.”
“What’s unbelievable are those pants you’re wearing,” Kibum retorted, snatching up his cat. “There are so many holes you might as well strip.”
“Aw, don’t be jealous of my gorgeous style, Kibummie,” she grinned, sticking out her tongue. “So, tell me about this mysterious Choi Minho.”
“What’s there to be mysterious about?” he replied. “The guy’s a stuck-up military kid that has detachment issues with his dead brother.”
“Really? Because I remember hearing something along the lines of handsome and large eyes,” Amber said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“You look like a damn raptor when you do that,” Kibum said, pointing at her face. “And I never said handsome. If anything, he looks like something out of a sci-fi movie with those huge-ass eyes.”
“Intriguing,” Amber said. “I want to meet your friends.”
“First off, Minho is not my friend,” Kibum said, kicking Amber’s feet off his couch.
“Not yet, you mean,” she corrected, throwing her feet back on the couch.
“No, as in he’s not my friend and won’t be,” Kibum retorted. “And why in the world would you like to meet an embalmer?”
“Because I want to be sure I’m in good hands once I pass on. Why else?” Amber smirked.
Kibum fell onto the couch. “You’re ridiculous,” he muttered, playing with Tae Tae’s paws. “Jinki is a good guy, so don’t worry. Stop bothering me about him and Minho.”
He played with Tae Tae for a while longer before noticing Amber’s stare.
“What?” he said, defensively.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “You actually want to be friends with these people.”
“Stop sniffing crack, Amber. It kills precious brain cells you desperately need.”
“No, wait. You’re hoping to be friends with these people.”
Kibum laughed. “Please, people can’t get enough of me.”
“I bet,” she replied dryly, leaning back into the couch. Amber picked at Kibum’s pillow before beginning hesitantly. “Have you called back home yet?”
“Nope,” Kibum replied nonchalantly. He toyed with his cat’s fur. Tae Tae needs a bath soon.
“Kibum, they do miss you.”
“Like I miss your hairstyle from last year.” I wonder if cats can get their fur dyed…
“Kibum.”
“Speak my name with reverence.”
“Your grandmother misses you.”
Kibum stared fixedly at his cat, cursing himself when he noticed his trembling hands.
“Call her. Please?"
He closed his eyes before curtly nodding. “When I have the time,” he said softly.
Satisfied, Amber smiled before moving on. “So, did you meet any new people at university, or are the funeral dudes your only friends?”
“You make me sound so antisocial,” Kibum frowned, placing his cat on the floor.
“You live in an apartment, alone, with your cat. Your only friends are an embalmer and a military stud, and you don’t go out past eleven unless there’s a midnight sale.”
“Why are you here again?” Kibum said with gritted teeth. “I didn’t ask for my self-esteem to be lowered today, thanks.”
She grinned, holding up a bag of Thai food. “Because I feed you unconditional love?”
Kibum rolled his eyes before snatching the bag from her. “You know, it’s funny because today, Minho and I got some Thai food. And it was because I thought he was of some Thai origin or another…”
Amber smiled as she listened to Kibum ramble on and on. And then she saw it, that hint of smile in his eyes, something she hadn’t seen in a few years.
This was going to be interesting.
---
Mondays apparently didn’t work too well with Jinki, because the next morning he was tripping and running into things everywhere, more so than usual. He leaned onto the coffin as he pushed it to the wake room.
“Jinki, are you all right?” Kibum asked, catching Jinki from running into the wall for the fifth time. The latter grinned, eyes drooping heavily.
“I actually didn’t sleep last night, so I guess this is what happens when I’m a bit tired?” he replied, rubbing his face. “The body took much longer than I had thought, so I was up all night preparing him.”
“I thought you worked all Friday on him,” Kibum said, wheeling the coffin away from Jinki. The last thing they needed was for a corpse to wheel into the parking lot. Kibum snorted. I bet Minho would absolutely love that.
“Well, my favorite TV show came on and…”
Kibum sighed. “Go home and sleep, Jinki.”
“I’ll leave after the wake,” he smiled. “I want to make sure things are perfect for Minho’s brother.”
And it ended up that Kibum did the majority of the work, as he set up the chairs and adjusted the lighting while Jinki lightly dozed against a window. When Kibum lifted the coffin lid, he realized just how well Jinki did his job. The face was pristine and smooth, lips and cheeks still rosy as if the man was merely napping.
It was also at this moment that Kibum saw the striking resemblance between Minho and his brother. They shared the same thick eyebrows, the striking jawline of clenched muscle, and the little curve of the lips that seemed to be smirking with pride- yes, this man definitely shared Choi Minho’s blood.
“He’s rather handsome, isn’t he?” Jinki muttered, leaning against Kibum’s shoulder. “Definitely a military man, what with his build. He’s very muscular and he’s got one of the best postures I’ve seen in a long while.”
“Jinki,” Kibum said, patting the latter’s head. “You do realize this man is dead. Hitting on him is considered necrophilia, an act that many, if not practically all, people disapprove of.”
Jinki chuckled, yawning into his hand. “Come on, Kibum. Even you’ve got to admit this man was very attractive.”
Kibum shrugged, moving over to rearrange the flowers. Seems like Minho’s white roses survived the night.
“Do you have anyone special in your life, Kibum?” Jinki asked, sweeping the floor.
Kibum paused before fixing a well-practiced smirk on his lips. “Jinki, there isn’t a person good enough for me,” he said. Jinki laughed, poking Kibum with the end of the broom.
“How about you?” Kibum asked. “You have someone?”
It was Jinki’s turn to pause and fix a smile on his face, only he wasn’t as well-practiced as Kibum. There was still the drooping of his eyes, the tilt of his lips and the sudden exhaustion that seemed to age Jinki within seconds. Suddenly, he straightened.
“Minho,” Jinki said. Kibum raised an eyebrow.
“You’re dating…the military brat,” he said incredulously.
“No, I mean Minho,” Jinki shook his head, pointing towards the door.
Minho entered the room, regarding the neatly cleaned setting with a raised eyebrow. He clutched a bouquet of white roses in his left hand.
“This looks nice,” he said quietly. Glancing towards the front, he grinned upon seeing the flowers from yesterday. “They made it.”
“Yeah,” Jinki said with a smile. “See, things worked out fine.”
Minho sighed with relief before rubbing his head. “Well, I just wanted to make sure things were set up properly. I better go get dressed for the ceremony now.” He waved at Jinki before heading out, pausing to give a slight nod at Kibum.
As he nodded back, Kibum decided that people these days looked too tired. As straight as Minho stood, his shoulders drooped heavily and his feet dragged a bit as he walked away. It was like watching a military version of Jinki, and it just didn’t seem right for people as young as they were to be so lifeless. Even if we’re in a goddamn funeral home.
“Jinki,” Kibum suddenly barked out. “Do I look old?”
Jinki stared a bit before breaking into a smile. “Of course not.”
Satisfied, Kibum nodded before moving to rearrange the flowers again.
“Unless…” Jinki continued, moving slowly towards the door. “You’re talking about those wrinkles on your face.”
Jinki ran down the hall, clutching his stomach in laughter as an enraged Kibum chased after him with a shriek. Minho stared with wide eyes as the pair made their way to him, a small smile playing on his straight lips as he watched Kibum try to strangle Jinki. And after Kibum had sufficiently beaten Jinki with the broom, which Minho did his best to prevent by grabbing Kibum around the waist, and Jinki was laughing like he was young and Minho giggling like he was his age and not some overly mature prick, Kibum decided funeral homes did have some life about them. You just had to bring it back every once in a while.
---
“So this is what a military family is like,” Jinki quietly murmured to Kibum, trying to blend in with the back wall as inconspicuously as possible. Kibum leaned back as well, cursing that the room’s walls were white when he clearly had to wear black to the ceremony.
Minho’s family had arrived perfectly on time, each male member of the family donning some form of military fashion or another. In fact, Kibum was pretty sure that the old man in the wheelchair with the oxygen tank might have partaken in WWII, what with the number of medals he donned on his faded uniform. Even the children wore miniature military outfits, as a toddler solemnly paraded in wearing a blue suit.
“Those must be Minho’s parents,” Jinki whispered, nodding to the entrance. A tall man with silver hair in full uniform walked in, a thin woman dressed in a black dress following shortly behind. The father clearly commanded the area, people bowing and nodding as he walked past with long strides.
“Just like his son,” Kibum muttered, noticing the father’s hard stare. “Well, this is going to be loads of fun.”
“I’ll leave you to it then,” Jinki said, getting up. Kibum grabbed his arm, alarm clearly written in his eyes.
“I thought you said you were going to stay for the wake,” he hissed, digging his nails as far in as they would go. Jinki winced.
“That was before I realized how intense Minho’s family was,” Jinki replied, wrenching his arm free. “And, I just realized I have to prepare another body.”
“That body’s going to be your dead ass if you leave me in this mess.”
Jinki sighed, sinking back into the seat. “Why are you so mean?” he whined.
Kibum smiled sweetly. “Because we’re friends.”
Before Jinki had time to come up with a retort, the doors opened and Minho walked in. Kibum watched as the room visibly stiffened as the male walked up the aisle, bowing to his parents before sitting in the front seat.
Kibum could see why everyone was staring at Minho. The male looked particularly handsome in his blue uniform, complete with dangling metals and white gloves. With his jet black hair and piercing eyes, Minho made quite the military hunk, Kibum had to admit. But judging by how hard his mother slapped Minho’s face, Kibum guessed that Minho’s appearance had nothing to do with the frozen atmosphere.
“How dare you show up,” she spat at him. Minho’s father pulled her into the seat before turning forwards, not even acknowledging his son’s existence.
“Can we leave now?” Jinki whispered. “I feel like we’re only going to be casualties if we stay any longer.”
Kibum didn’t respond as he was too busy gaging Minho’s response. It astounded him how nonchalant Minho seemed, as the male sat down calmly. If it weren’t for the reddening hand print on his cheek, it would appear that Minho did not have a care in the world. His father had not just ignored him, his mother had not just slapped him across the face, and his brother was definitely not lying in a cherry oak casket right before him. That was what Minho’s eyes seemed to suggest as he turned around, fixing his burning gaze directly on Kibum.
“Okay,” Kibum finally responded. “We can leave now.”
---
“Hey, mind if I ride with you?”
Kibum turned to see Minho standing near the hearse, hands awkwardly fiddling with his gloves. It was the first time Kibum had seen the other so shy, so insecure- so small, and Kibum found that he didn’t like it.
He pointed at the black car. “You want to ride in the hearse?” Kibum replied. Minho nodded, looking carefully at the sky, the trees.
“The other cars seemed pretty full, and I feel like I’m going to get lost if I drive on my own there…”
“Sure,” Kibum nodded.
As he and Minho got into the car and the engine started, Kibum didn’t say anything about how each individual at the funeral seemed to have driven his or her own car. As they backed out of the driveway and into the street, Kibum didn’t mention about how the cemetery was directly across town and that a blind elephant could have found its way there. And when the police sirens started and Kibum maneuvered the hearse through the busy streets, he didn’t say anything about how every member at the funeral seemed to have slammed their car doors shut in Minho’s face before he could even utter a word.
Instead, Kibum turned on the radio, singing along obnoxiously to Lady Gaga and crooning to Maroon 5 as they sped down the roads. Because even though he lacked of social knowledge, something told him that the last thing Minho wanted was to be asked questions about today. So Kibum decided that the “manly” thing to do was to let it be and instead, fill the silence with music. As far as he was concerned, there was no dead body in the back seat and there was no funeral of emotionless military wackos- he was just driving down the road with Minho, listening to some sweet music.
---
Kibum had to admit that was one of the most interesting hearse drives he had experienced in a while- Minho had even hummed along to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” at one point. How appropriate, Kibum had sniffed. And it was nice not being the only live being inside the car, regardless of how little Minho spoke.
From the distance, he could hear trumpets and gunshots from the funeral. Minho’s brother must have fucking saved a nation with all that commotion, Kibum mildly thought, leaning against the hearse door.
“Fun experience, huh?” Minho half-grinned, walking over to Kibum. He leaned lightly against the hearse, twirling his cap.
“Missed out on the awesome experience,” Kibum responded. “I was busy watching the car.”
Minho chuckled. “Yeah, you aren’t missing out on much. Just another military funeral.”
“But it isn’t just another military funeral,” Kibum interrupted. “Is it?”
He watched Minho’s eyebrows scrunched together, his fingers clenching around the cap. Ah, Kibum thought. My lack of social knowledge…
“Everyone loved Minseok,” Minho said quietly. “But I didn’t agree with some stuff he did. So Minseok
lied to people, said things I didn’t do, and people hated me. Thing is, he died before the truth came out.”
He paused, laughing before a slight hiccup escaped. “And I don’t know if I’m angry because he didn’t tell people the truth or because I didn’t kill the bastard before some stupid bomb did.”
Kibum swallowed. This would be where a normal person would console Minho, saying something like it’s okay, it wasn’t your fault your brother was a jerk or maybe something like at least you’ll never see him again. But ineptitude of social skills had let down Kibum before, and he was terrified.
He was scared that he would say that one wrong thing, that one little trigger that would break this soldier before him. And Kibum didn’t think he could handle that. He barely knew this stranger at all, but he didn’t think he could handle watching Minho cry a second time.
“Want banana bread?” Kibum asked, eyes fixed firmly on the dark ground before him. “Jinki makes some awesome banana bread.”
Minho let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a laugh, coming out like a choke. He took in a shaky breath, watching as his mother wailed when the Korean flag was folded over his brother’s coffin.
“Yeah. That sounds great.”
---
“Not that I don’t like having visitors,” Jinki said, staring at the males before him. “But why aren’t you guys at the funeral again?”
“Got boring,” Minho mumbled, scarfing down the banana bread. Kibum watched him with a disgusted look.
“Could you please be a bit more civilized about eating?” Kibum sniffed. Jinki laughed, passing him some milk.
“Anything particularly boring about the funeral?” Jinki continued. Minho shrugged, eating more bread.
“It’s a funeral, nothing really exciting,” Minho mumbled. “This really tastes amazing, Jinki.”
Jinki beamed before frowning in confusion. “Don’t try to change the subject, Minho.”
Kibum rolled his eyes, whacking Jinki across the arm. “Leave the guy alone, Jinki.”
As Jinki began whining and Kibum opened his mouth to retort, Minho slammed his hand onto the table.
“So,” he smiled stiffly. “Anybody have any plans tonight?”
Jinki’s smile faltered a bit. “Another body to prepare…”
Minho raised an eyebrow before regarding Kibum.
“I’ve got…papers to finish,” Kibum said.
Jinki sniggered a bit, earning a slap from Kibum. “What? It sounds lame, even by my standards.”
“We should hit up a bar,” Minho suggested. “I feel like alcohol will be the only solution to our pathetic social lives at this moment.”
Both Kibum and Jinki grimaced at the same time.
“I don’t drink,” Jinki sheepishly admitted. “Besides, my dad doesn’t like me drinking on work nights.”
“Which is every night,” Kibum muttered. “And alcohol isn’t good for the skin.”
Minho stared at the pair before shaking his head, disbelieved laughter escaping every once in a while. “I almost wonder how I found you guys.”
Kibum huffed. “Fine, we’ll hang out. My place, where there won’t be goddamn military medals and all.” He pointedly looked at Minho. “And you can bring alcohol, but if Jinki gets caught for underage drinking, you’re the one that’s going to get arrested.”
“He’s not underage,” Minho laughed. He and Kibum looked over to see Jinki mumbling to himself about ordering more “body fluids so people won’t dry out.” Minho grimaced.
“Hey Jinki,” Kibum called out. “We’re going to hang out my apartment tonight.” He paused. “Tell your dad it’s work-related or something so you can come.”
Jinki smiled brightly, causing Kibum to chuckle.
“He’s a nice guy,” Minho sighed. “So happy and easy-going, must be nice.”
“Hm,” Kibum agreed. “It’s like he’s never had a hard day in his life.”
“Hey guys,” Jinki called out. “Want more banana bread?”
Minho laughed, nodding in return. Frowning slightly, he whispered to Kibum. “Where does he bake the bread, anyways?”
Kibum froze; both of them looked at Jinki as he walked to the back room.
“Jinki, where are you heading to?”
Jinki paused. “The crematorium. Where else is there an oven?”
---
“Nice place,” Minho said, looking around as he stepped into Kibum’s flat. Jinki promptly followed in, tripping over the doorway.
“It’s so clean,” Jinki said in awe. “When do you have time to tidy everything?”
“Cleaning helps me stay stress free,” Kibum shrugged. He led them to the living room where there was a table of glass cups, plates, and a small pile of movies.
“I don’t have that many friends over,” Kibum said defensively. “So yeah, this is it.”
Jinki bounded over, slamming down a bag of banana bread on the table. He excitedly flipped through the movies.
“Love Actually?” Minho said incredulously. “You want to see that?”
“I’ve heard it’s a good movie,” Jinki said. “Let’s watch it.” Minho sighed as he sat down, pulling out a case of beer.
“Can’t be worse than boot camp,” he muttered.
---
“This is fucking worse than my pilot course evaluation,” Minho groaned. “And I threw up in my helmet for that one.”
“No, be quiet!” Jinki shrieked. “This part is so beautiful!” He sobbed lightly, clutching Kibum’s duvet in his arms.
“This is why he has never had alcohol before,” Kibum hissed. “He gets fucking insane.”
“Well I didn’t know that would happen,” Minho hissed back. Kibum looked at him incredulously.
“You didn’t know that would happen when Jinki drank an entire case of beer by himself?”
“Maybe he handles alcohol well!”
“Clearly not. He’s shoving snot all over my cashmere pillows right now!”
“Well I apologize for your fucking precious pillows.”
Kibum glared at Minho, fingers digging into the couch. He frowned further when Tae Tae climbed into Minho’s lap, purring contentedly.
“Get off him, Tae Tae,” Kibum muttered.
“I’m sleepy,” Jinki called out, already half-asleep. “Can I stay over Kibum?”
Damn Jinki. Damn him and those slitty eyes that were hard to say no to.
“Help me move him to my bedroom,” Kibum muttered to Minho.
“Why me?”
“You’re the one from the army. Lift him.”
Minho grumbled a bit before easily lifting Jinki into his arms. Kibum led him to his room, removing Jinki’s shoes and shirt once he was on the bed.
“You’re like a mom,” Minho said. Kibum grunted, pulling the covers over Jinki.
“JongHyun used to do this for me,” Jinki mumbled.
“Sure, Jinki,” Kibum sighed. “Get me an extra pillow from the closet,” he whispered to Minho.
“JongHyun used to say that I was such a nuisance, but he always smiled when he did so. I used to think he might have been kidding,” Jinki continued. Kibum slightly despised people who tied their laces thrice, and Jinki and his shoes were no different.
“But when he left me, I guess he really did think I was a bother,” Jinki sighed. Kibum paused.
“Where did JongHyun go?” he asked.
“JongHyun left me…and he didn’t come back.”
Kibum watched as Jinki’s breath evened out. He looked so peaceful and childish asleep, that pure smile on his face.
“Are you done creeping on him?” Minho asked, tossing Kibum a pillow. Kibum motioned for them to leave the room.
“Did you know that Jinki had a boyfriend?” Kibum said as they sat down on the couch again. Minho stared at him.
“Lee Jinki was in a relationship?” There was no hiding the surprise in his voice, mixed with a slight hint of a newly found appreciation.
“Hm,” Kibum murmured. They focused on the screen, watching as the credits rolled down
“Thanks for the ride earlier,” Minho said. Kibum nodded.
“I’ll make it up to you,” Minho continued. He got up from the couch, dragging Kibum with him.
“What are you doing?” Kibum hissed, trying to wrench his arm free.
“Showing you what a real social life is,” Minho responded, pulling them out the door.
Next