[Shinee] Middlemen | #6.1
PrevSix: Kim Jeeyan
Whatever it was that made Jinki do what he did, there was no turning back. He’s a lot quicker than he pegs himself for. But he had to admit; stomping the man’s foot from behind him and elbowing him between the chest right after was not playing fair. The man loses balance not long before he shoots the gun upwards, the bullet hitting the ceiling making Jinki fear, unreasonably, for it to go astray and aim for his head. He falls to the ground, hands over his head, the man falling in front him as well.
It catches the attention of the entire room and guns are being drawn by the bride’s men, hammers clicking, aims all directed at the remaining four. Kibum doesn’t waste his precious time. He catches a fistful of the bride’s fringe and throws her on the ground along with his morals. She falls to the floor, hands flat beside her head as her dress hitches up due to the pressure of her collision with the white tiles reeking of polish and the scent of her own, almost tangible fear.
Kibum proceeds to ruin her dress by pressing the face of his boot right on the bride’s back before drawing out his own gun and directing the barrel behind her head.
“Put your guns away!” He shouts at the men with a look of determination as Minho rushes to Jinki’s side and pulls him up and away from the temporarily distracted man who held him captive.
Jonghyun watches Jinki’s quivering form as he’s being wrapped in Minho’s arms. He’s torn between wanting to shoot the bride for putting Jinki in harm in the first place and shooting Minho for touching him the way Jonghyun should have.
Taemin carefully reaches for the shotgun he had been eyeing in the case display behind the bride’s seat. He takes it in his frail fingers and walks over to Kibum.
“Kibummie.”
Kibum cants his head towards Taemin as he holds out the shotgun by the stock to him. The older boy grins with pleasure as he exchanges the gun in his hand for the shotgun, fingers ghostly running over Taemin’s. He grabs the younger boy by the collar and yanks him forward, lips crashing into a shameless kiss before turning back to the men who remained unmoving, armed and obviously bothered the show of affection. Minho sighs as he rolls his eyes. Jonghyun is too busy glaring at Minho to notice.
With Kibum’s hand merely gripping the forestock, he shakes the gun up and down and a bullet shell flips out and falls to the ground, an indication for the bride that the gun is loaded and that a bullet is itching to dig into her head. She panics, hands clawing at the tiles and shaking simultaneously, her breath staining the surface of the tiles in faint, white vapors.
In that moment, the room is dead silent save for the bride’s heavy breathes, tension trickling in every corner. One wrong move and everything will be over, either for the bad or for the worst. Jinki’s hands are tightly securing Minho’s sides in a death grip that is almost painful had the taller boy been under different circumstances.
“Put. Your fucking guns. Away.” Kibum commands once more, “Or I swear to every religious higher being, including Tom mother fucking Cruise that I am going to paint the goddamn floor with this bitch’s brains.”
As the three men exchange confused glances, hands still occupied by their guns, Minho, Jinki, Taemin and Jonghyun stand next to Kibum in a crooked line. Jonghyun draws his gun out completely. Minho pushes part of his jacket away to reveal two guns safely tucked in his waist. He pulls one out and hands it over to Jinki who takes it in two hands, careful not to show just how much of a novice he actually is. Taemin arms himself with Kibum’s hand gun, still by Kibum’s side.
“One!” Kibum shouts when none of them make an attempt to lower their guns. “Two--!”
“Do what he says.” The bride mumbles from the floor. “Do it!”
They lower their guns the moment she commands them to making Kibum think that they were not as retarded as they looked.
Except for one.
In the space of a second a bullet flies and scores the muscles of Jinki’s shoulder, a clear cut sign that Kibum tends to underestimate people.
Jonghyun only freezes momentarily, but he’s been holding back for way too long. And as Jinki falls to the floor on his knees, losing his grip on the gun, Jonghyun squeezes the trigger and shoots the man who had caused Jinki’s injury right between the eyes.
Blood splatters onto the wall behind the man’s head, red and vibrant unlike the corpse it came from now on the floor. And before the other two can manage to get any bullets in the air Taemin extends his arm forward and shoots them in the chest, one bullet each. It was just that easy,
“Jinki,” Jonghyun dives next to Jinki instantly.
Jinki releases the hand he has over his wound and on his palm no space is left untouched by his own blood.
“Come on,” Jonghyun tries to help Jinki up by placing his arm over his shoulders, but his balance is off. He turns to Minho. “Help me.”
Minho complies and as they try to get Jinki back up on his feet a rustling of several footsteps resonate from the outside.
“You’re not getting out of here alive.” The bride exclaims from underneath Kibum.
Kibum rolls her over on her back, revealing the pleased smirk on her ruby red lips. “You would’ve made a beautiful bride.”
Her face disappears into a mess of skin and blood as a result of the impact of the shotgun’s bullet, smoke lifting from the remains of her skull in the aftermath.
“Jonghyun.” Kibum says as he pushes off the bride’s corpse. “Run to the fire exit and take Jinki to the nearest hospital. We’ll make sure the hallway’s clear.”
Jonghyun stares at Kibum, lacking an appropriate response.
“Now, Jonghyun. He’s losing a shitload of blood.” Kibum shouts back as he stalks towards the door. The rest of them follow suit while Jonghyun is left to hold Jinki up on his feet. Kibum rests the side of his head on the wooden door, the one hand gripping the shotgun held back to cease the other two from coming closer. He listens cautiously, trying to estimate how many men would be positioned outside when he hears a shuffling noise similar to when a two barreled shotgun’s forestock is being pulled back in order to ready the two bullets for an attack.
Kibum’s eyes widen briefly before he uses whatever time he has to turn away from the door and run towards Minho and Taemin. “Get down!”
The trio fall to the floor, Kibum’s arms over both their heads, merely seconds before the bullets shoot in a straight line, severing the door in its flight.
The blow of the bullets flood the room as the door holds considerably large holes where a surface used to be. Kibum, Minho and Taemin pull their weight against the floor to make it back behind the mini bar in the room where they know the marble will block the bullets from cutting through. Jonghyun pulls Jinki as quickly as possible in the very same direction but falls behind the couch when the chorus of gunshots starts drowning the entire room and tearing through anything in its way. The three continue to crawl and finally reach the bar, bottles breaking and liquid flowing due to the series of bullets flying into the room.
Bullets shoot through the walls, through the furniture, the mirrors, the windows, leaving no item whole as Jonghyun tries to shield Jinki’s head with both arms from behind the couch, eyes shut. Taemin pulls both legs to his chest as he covers in between Minho and Kibum behind the counter of the mini bar. Shards of glass fall upon them due to the bottles and glass shelves being shot from above them. Minho gradually tries to peak by the corner of the mini bar, in search of someone to shoot, anyone. But the moment he tips his head forward a bullet inches past him, a breath away causing the taller male to jerk back in place.
“Fuck!” Minho tries to shout above the noise. “I can’t see shit! They’re shooting through the walls.”
“What do we do?!” Kibum shouts back, Taemin caught in the middle of it all. “Think of something!”
“I’m working on it, Kibum!”
“Work on it faster.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s real helpful, thanks.”
“I have an idea.” Taemin says as he remains facing forward.
Taemin pushes his legs underneath him as he cautiously reaches for a few bottles of random hard liquor-brandy, gin, rum, just whatever he could get his hands on-situated below the ruined shelves. He mixes the liquids into one bottle, carefully not to spill most of it in his rush, then shuts the lid and hands his mixture to Minho.
Minho stares at the bottle with puzzlement written all over his face. “Is this supposed to lessen the pain of death?”
“No, Minho. Are you retarded?” Taemin shakes his head.
“He probably is…” Kibum mutters as he keeps a close eye on the couch by the other end of the room where he sees Jinki’s foot peeking from below.
“Throw it at them and make sure they shoot it!”
Minho observes the bottle of fluid, hesitation still on his eyes. “You sure about this?”
“I’m a fucking Korean Mcgyver. Do it. Shake it first though.”
Minho does as Taemin instructs and before he rises up he makes sure he estimates the position of the door hole just right. When he thinks he’s nearly accurate, he rises up as quickly as he can just to throw the bottle forward and as it lunges a bullet goes through the glass, spark sending the bottles and alcohol to create a infinitesimal explosion that halts the men’s gun fire.
“NOW!” Taemin shouts and all three of them fly to the door. In a perfectly coordinated manner Taemin, with his head hidden just beneath the door hole, turns the knob open and Kibum and Minho shoot in unison the first man holding a shotgun in front of them. The next targets are the men on opposite sides of the hallway to which Minho and Kibum take on half and half.
Minho’s aims are precise, hitting chest after head after arm after leg, not one bullet out of place. Soon, the groans of pain are much more audible than the gunshots. It takes Kibum more effort to reload his shotgun what with having to pull back the forestock after every fire. With every shot he releases he counts the shells that he loses and he’s pretty sure he’s about to fire his last two.
“I’m out.” Is all Kibum has to say before leaning back into the room while Taemin takes over, both hands on the gun as he finishes off what Kibum started.
Three men are left on Minho’s side, but he’s losing bullets quick. When the last bullet digs through one of their foreheads, leaving two more standing, he jumps out from the door, landing on his head as he flips over back to his knees, grabbing one of the guns left on the floor in the process. Once on his knees he positions himself and fires, catching the last of them with every bullet he shoots.
When the halls have been cleared apart from the sea of bodies and guns across the halls, Kibum calls out to Jonghyun and Jinki, making them aware of the temporary vacancy of the hallway. When Jonghyun manages to get to the door, Jinki’s good arm around his shoulder, Kibum allows them space to pass by the door.
“Get out of here quick, Jonghyun. There might be more. Go through the elevator instead.”
Jonghyun nods, but before he turns around completely he gives Kibum one last look. “Thanks.”
“Go!” Kibum snaps finally.
~o~
Victoria reaches the hospital forty-five minutes after receiving Kibum’s text about the negotiation gone astray. She didn’t mind losing a client. They come and go. But losing a middleman, that was not an option. If news about Jinki’s injury were to reach Papa Bear then he would be gravely upset. She knows this for the very fact that Papa Bear had expressed to her time and time again how important it was to have Jinki join the Underground and how he must be protected at all cost.
Whether she should be worried or questionable towards his mysterious motives she still does not know. For she was just as clueless as the rest of them. If not more.
~o~
What Victoria has that Kibum does not is a childhood that she can actually remember. Victoria grew up in a world where she was drowned with luxuries and spoilt with compliments. Life was easy for her. She was rich, beautiful and her reputation at school was like none other because of these attributes.
But she was never really sure about what friendship actually meant if she were to exclude the money that she pays for her and her friends’ lunch almost everyday, the way boys always tell her she’s pretty and never funny or smart or interesting.
But Kibum was different. And Victoria liked different. In fact, she loved it. She liked the fact that she could speak to her brother about almost anything and the way his breaths could easily send her to sleep like waves of the sea crashing over one another in a dark skied beach.
There were even instances, due to her parents’ continued absence, that she only knew Kibum as her family and no one else.
On the day of her fifteenth birthday she met a boy in school during homeroom whose eyes engraved themselves in the corners of her mind. He took the seat right next to her in class. She would have been more enthused if he had the choice to sit anywhere but chose to sit beside her willingly. But the class was full. And her seatmate was absent.
He smiled at her, lips red as they thin out into a smile that Victoria finds foreign yet completely welcoming. She’s never seen a boy like him before. Never.
She doesn’t exactly know when she started following him around school. She wanted to know everything about him. What food he likes, what televisions shows he watches right before bedtime, what color pajamas he wears and what he thinks about the differences between coke and Pepsi.
But she has yet to spark up a conversation with the boy that didn’t contain merely four sentences. She can’t help it really because he smells a little too good and his skin was just a little too smooth to the point where Victoria would just find herself in a daze.
Her heart would do this dance in her chest, to the beat of the boy’s footsteps as he walks right by her and he doesn’t even know her name.
Before she knew it Christmas time was upon them. And she had pretty much fallen in love with the boy at school, homeroom instantly becoming one of her favorite classes just because she knew that he would be there. They never sat together again after the first day and they only ever greeted each other outside of the classroom with polite bows and nods.
Victoria wants to try harder. She wants him to know that she could quite possibly be made for him. Because it baffles her. He baffles her. The way he doesn’t pay special attention to her the way other boys do. The way he doesn’t even try to talk to her or impress her. It makes her appreciate being able to acquire the things and affection that she already has because, apparently, it isn’t always the case.
Her homeroom teachers comes up with the ever original idea of a secret Santa gift giving theme in which you have to include a handcrafted card along with your present. Not only was this meant to spread the cheer of Christmas but it was also added to their grades.
Victoria prayed that she would be granted the piece of paper in which he had written his name on as her hand rummaged through the sea of rolled up papers in the hat. She let her fingers do the choosing, hoping that maybe fate would work in her favor. But as she rolls the paper open it was not his name scribbled in the middle, but another female classmate she had in homeroom. Her heart sank at the paper, but she didn’t let it show. Maybe he got her name instead.
Come the day they have to exchange their presents, Victoria enters the nearly empty classroom thirty minutes earlier than the beginning of class. She settles in her seat, releasing the present from her hand bag just to make sure the wrapping and the card she had made would not be ruined from its state of perfection.
Just then a weight, warm and wide, is being set on her right shoulder. She looks up and nearly forgets to breathe when the boy smiles down at her.
“Jeeyan sshi.” He addresses her formally.
“Yes?” Victoria tries to keep her heart in her chest as she continues to stare up at him. Strands of her hair fall to her face and pushes them back with one hand.
“Merry Christmas.” He greets as he hands her a card.
Victoria feels numb. She couldn’t believe that the Gods have actually paid attention to her heart this time. He had chosen her. And it was wonderful. But the card was very generic. It was probably something he only purchased at a department store, but it didn’t faze her at all. She was content with whatever she can get from him. He leaves almost immediately the moment she takes the card in her hands.
When Victoria peeks at the message inside, she realizes that there was nothing really special about it. Just the usual “…and a Happy New Year!” with snowflake designs.
It’s not as if she was expecting him to confess his love for her, but she did expect more than this. The only sincerity in the card was his name written carelessly below the message.
A few minutes later after the class starts to fill in their teacher enters with a massive smile on her face. She was obviously a Christmas person. She instructs that the exchanging of gifts begin. This makes Victoria wonder whether the boy would want his card back just so he could give it again to her. But then she thinks that maybe the reason why he gave her the card in advance was so that he could save himself from the humiliation of having to walk over to her and present her with one card amidst the exchange of grand gifts and colorful cards.
Victoria stands up the moment her name is called and she walks by the boy as she hands her gift over to the girl whose name she had picked from the hat. Another name is being called to deliver their present as well and as Victoria spins around she is caught by surprise by the next girl assigned to exchange gifts.
“Sorry.” Victoria smiles politely as she tries to move out of the girl’s way.
“Jeeyan, wait.” She laughs. “Here.”
Victoria stares at the carefully wrapped blue and white present being offered to her along with a card stuck next to the ribbon. “What?”
“Merry Christmas. I picked your name out from the hat. This is yours.” She explains with a cautious smile.
Victoria still doesn’t reach for the gift. “You. Me? What?” Victoria’s head instantly spins in the direction where she knows the boy is seated in. He stares back at her, a smile spreading on his lips before shyly looking down at his hands.
It all started to fall into place after that. He made her smile in a way she knows is only meant for him and made her knees feel like liquid with every kiss. It was beautiful, what they had.
They stay together for a year. A year filled with nothing but bliss. And as they lie, arm in arm, in his bed; they stare into each other’s eyes as if tomorrow was never going to come. Victoria soon finds herself wishing that it doesn’t.
“I wanna marry you, Jeeyan.” He says in a deep, husky voice that sends shivers down Victoria’s spine.
His words reach her lips, making them thin out into a smile, as her chest tightens due to the swell of her heart. “Okay.”
~o~
Jonghyun stares holes into the floor as the four of them occupy the seats of the waiting room. Jonghyun has been in the hospital for hours after having dragged Jinki all the way to the emergency entrance. The other three made it a few more minutes later, now trying to regain their energy by resting on the benches with their guns digging into their backs.
Victoria makes it to the waiting room with fear in her eyes. The four turn their heads to her direction, reflecting the same expression of worry and puzzlement.
“How is he?” Victoria asks as she walks inside, out of breath.
Kibum scoots closer to Taemin in order to make room for her on the plastic covered bench.
“We don’t know yet.” Minho informs her. “They’re still trying to get the bullet out.”
“Where was he shot?”
“Shoulder.”
“Where else?”
“Just the one.” Jonghyun provides, hands flat together in front of his lips.
Victoria exhales for the first time since leaving the meeting she was in minutes ago. “Thank God.”
The clock ticks away and still no sign of a doctor or anyone that has the slightest idea as to how Jinki is doing. Jonghyun tries to breathe through his frustration. Frustration at himself and in the rut that he and Jinki are in. This is not even close to the life that he wants for the both of them. And they’re getting farther and farther away from it by the second. If only time could stop, only for a minute or slow down at least. Then maybe he can try to piece together a puzzle that can show him how to get back to when everything was simple.
But regret, as Jonghyun has now figured out, is not going to help him regain whatever he had lost in this battle. And time was very unforgiving. It waits for no one and eats those who fall apart. Jonghyun was never weak until Jinki. And now he’s dying inside because of the other boy.
During his sixth cup of coffee a doctor finally appears in the entrance of the waiting room. His gloves are painted with what Jonghyun and the others know is Jinki’s blood as he pulls away his surgical mask.
“The operation went through smoothly. We got the bullet out fine, but he’s going to need to give his arm a rest for a few days.”
Victoria stands up from her seat the same time Jonghyun exhales a breath he didn’t know he holding. “Can we see him?”
“And you are his…?”
“Mother.”
“Ah,” The doctor nods.
“And they’re his brothers.” Victoria gestures about the four other boys.
The doctor doesn’t question Victoria’s statement and it keeps Jonghyun calm because that’s one less obstacle away from seeing Jinki conscious again. “You can see him once we get him into a room, which should be in a few minutes. I’ll let you know, ma’am.”
“Okay.” Victoria crosses her arms. “Okay. Thank you.”
~o~
The beeping of the monitor is the first thing that reaches Jonghyun’s ears as the five of them let themselves into Jinki’s room. Once they get a bit closer Jonghyun notices how Jinki’s skin is almost similar to the white of his hospital gown. There was a cord wrapped around his nose and some sort of needle sticking into the vein of the back of his hand connected to a tube that lead to the IV bag hanging by a steel rod near Jinki’s bed. His eyes flutters open the moment Victoria sweeps his brown colored fringe away from his forehead.
“How do you feel, baby?” Victoria places her other hand on Jinki’s chest. Kibum and Minho walk over to the opposite side of the bed, leaving Jonghyun and Taemin to stand behind Victoria.
Jinki clears his throat before he replies in a grungy tone. “Like five bucks.”
Victoria smiles. “Well, you look like a billion won.”
Jinki mirrors the smile weakly.
“I came as soon as I heard.” Victoria continues to stroke Jinki’s hair. “It’s a good thing Jonghyun got you here in time.”
“Jong..” Jinki’s eyes automatically search the room and land on Jonghyun. They stare at each other for a moment and Jinki tries to think of something appropriate to say. “Thank you. Jonghyun.”
Jonghyun shakes his head. “It’s nothing.” He replies with a tiny smile.
“D’you, uhmm-“ Jinki begins. “D’you guys mind if I rest for a while?”
“Of course not, Jinki.” Victoria smiles as she lifts off the bed. “You rest all you want. We’ll be here if you need anything.”
The pain killers make Jinki drift in and out of sleep every now and then. He can’t even tell his dreams apart from reality anymore. There are instances when he thinks he’s awake and riding a bus, the next thing he knows, when he tries to get off the bus he trips over a step and falls back into his hospital bed. There are nights when he thinks he sees Jonghyun sleeping on his arms beside him, then his eyes flutter close and it makes him think that maybe that’s a dream too.
When Jinki finds himself fully awake the first thing he sees is Taemin slapping a male nurse’s hand away just as it is about to grope his ass.
“I mean it, Taecyeon.” Taemin warns as he straightens up from leaning on his elbows over the foot of Jinki’s bed.
“Tae,” Taecyeon coos as he tries to bite on Taemin’s ear, hands almost circling around Taemin’s slim waist. The younger boy pushes Taecyeon away with his arm as if he were swatting a fly away with a scowl on his face. He swings around just to make sure the distance between them is maintained.
“Fuck off.”
“But my girl’s outta town and it’s been so long-“
“Oh my fucking God. Not my problem, homo!” Taemin exclaims as he darts his finger in the center of Taecyeon’s chest to shove him away with surprising strength.
“Stop being a little bitch, Tae. Just last week you were humping my dick to no end. What? You too good for me now?”
“I was always too good for you.” Taemin smirks.
“C’mon, baby. Throw me a bone here. I’ll make it quick, I promise.”
“It’s always quick with you.”
“Whatever.” And just as he’s about to cup Taemin’s crotch his knees hit the floor instead, a groan tearing through his teeth when Taemin gets to his hand first and bends all of his fingers back. Jinki’s eyes widen at the scene and he wants to cover his ears or go deaf just so he wouldn’t have to hear the way Taecyeon’s fingers are breaking one by one.
When Taemin releases Taecyeon’s hand from both of his it falls limp on the floor with a thump.
“Wah.” Jinki lets out before he can stop himself, causing Taemin to turn to him abruptly, a smile growing on his lips.
“Jinki.”
Taecyeon doesn’t even look at Jinki when he flees from the room, broken hand held at the wrist by his good hand.
“Is he gonna be okay?” Jinki asks out of pure concern as Taemin perches up on the bed beside him, face distorting into confusion.
“Who?” Taemin whirls his head around. “Oh, you mean, Taec? He’s fine. He’s just being dramatic. But I don’t think he’s gonna be jerking off anytime soon. How are you?”
Jinki tries to mentally keep up with the conversation. “Good. Better. Than last time.”
“Nice. You hungry?” Taemin lands back on his feet as he crosses the room to the table by the window. “Umma made me bring over fruits and kimchi chigae.” He starts to reveal stainless lunch boxes from what looked like one of Victoria’s branded handbags.
Jinki thinks he’s too weak to eat. But when Taemin unscrews the lid of the thermos containing the soup, the scent drifts all the way to Jinki, enveloping him in a blanket much warmer than what is donned on him at the moment. The soup’s contents make his mouth water. Then he realizes that he might not have eaten for days. The grumble in his tummy confirms his theory.
“How long was I out, Taemin?”
Taemin thinks for a minute as he pours the soup into one of the stainless bowls. “I dunno. Around two days. Jonghyun’s been out for two days now, so…yeah. I’d say around two days.”
“Jonghyun’s been here?”
“Yeah.” Taemin nods. He takes the soup, rice and fruits in a tray and places them on the surface of the retractable table before pushing it towards Jinki. “He’s been sleeping here and looking after you during the night times. You know, in case you wake up. Someone’ll be here.”
Taemin proceeds to search for the button that makes the top half of the hospital bed rise up. “Is he coming back?”
“Uhmm,” comes Taemin’s reply as he finds the button and starts pressing it until Jinki’s almost upright. “Yeah. Probably later. Six o’ clock, he’ll be here.”
“Six o’clock.” Jinki repeats as his heart starts to beat triple times in the most irrational way. But if he were to give his beating heart a reason it would be because he kind of missed Jonghyun. More than he already did years ago if that were even possible.
“You better eat something, Jinki. And better this than hospital food. They brought some in earlier and I gotta tell you. I think these doctors are trying to kill their patients through their food just so they won’t solely be blamed on their death.”
Jinki smiles at how fast Taemin speaks. He finds himself amused mainly because, as it turns out, he’s never had a decent conversation with the younger boy. But he has seen Taemin naked. That was just wrong, wasn’t it? “Doctors don’t cook the food, you know.”
“They don’t?” Taemin looks up from pouring himself his own bowl of soup.
Jinki shakes his head. “The cooks do.”
“Cooks?” Taemin laughs as if Jinki just said something funny. “Kibum can do a better job of making jello.”
Jinki watches as Taemin walks back over to Jinki’s bed, hip perched up by his side as he shares half of the table by placing his bowl of soup in front of Jinki’s. The moment the sour, spiciness hits Jinki’s tongue it’s like a parade is going on in his mouth.
“This is so good.” Jinki says through a mouthful of rice. He’s careful not to move his injured shoulder around too much which is why he only uses his good hand to feed himself, but he doesn’t mind. He just needs to get as much food in his mouth as he can.
“Kibum made it.” Taemin explains as he licks his spoon clean.
Jinki runs the rice and soup around his tongue, cheeks puffing as he continues to stuff his mouth. “So,” Jinki muffles through his mouthful of food. “You and Kibum.”
Taemin looks up with one brow higher than the other, a trace of a smile hovering on his lips. “What of it?”
Jinki looks down almost instantly, unsure if he’s invading a lot of Taemin’s personal space. If he had any to begin with. “Sorry. I just. I. Uhmm, I think it’s great.”
Taemin snorts out a laugh. “Thanks.”
After that all that could be hurt was the both of them slurping on their food, Jinki mostly. When they’ve licked their bowls clean Jinki leans back with a satisfied smile.
“You’re going to be fine too.” Taemin says suddenly, causing Jinki to gaze at him.
“What?”
“You and Jonghyun.” Taemin explains as he leans back on his hands. “It’ll get better.”
“I’ve been hearing that a lot.” Jinki replies after a pause. “You’d think I’d believe it by now.”
“You should.” Taemin says without missing a beat. “If it’s any consolation I’d kick him in the balls just so he could get back to his senses. You know. If it weren’t inappropriate.”
This makes Jinki smile gratefully. “I would too. You know. If I could.”
~o~
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