dead leaves and the dirty ground
title: dead leaves and the dirty ground
pairing: minho/key
author: bingi (indelible-x)
rating: pg-13
disclaimer: OH YEAH, ME AND SHINEE? YEAH, WE'RE TIGHT. HOLD UP, LEMME CALL 'EM ON MY CELLULAR DEVICE. (i own nothing.)
a/n: getting back into things. this is something that i started writing a year ago, then randomly rediscovered and finished today.it's kind of tacky and silly, but whatever, i'm glad it's finished and i like it enough to actually post it, even if it is super ooc. don't hate me. anyway, have fun hope you like it. also, title taken from a white stripes song of the same name, since i'm the best at original titles.
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Minho wasn’t around much, which was fine with Key. Minho was all the things Key hated the most (like being too nice and always smoking when he was in the house.)
When the smell of smoke was long gone and the rooms of his house ringed with silence was when Key finally felt normal.
--
Key lived in a house that he almost owned with a cat that had a stupid name. The house was tiny, but that was fine, Key didn’t need that much space. He stayed in, most of the time, playing games of chess with himself or glaring at his cat.
“Junior, you’re in my fucking way.”
Junior stretched out along the ground, mewling happily as he swiped at Key’s feet, simply making a nuisance of himself. The cat must’ve been suicidal, because messing around with Key was the perfect way to get tossed down the stairs on ‘accident’. Either Junior was oblivious to this fact or he just didn’t care. Wherever Key went, the cat followed, almost literally attached to his feet, making something like walking more difficult than it had any right to be.
“Stupid animal. I should give you away to the neighbor.”
--
Every once in awhile, his neighbor would stop by and remind him to eat and take him out to do ‘normal’ things. The two would usually go shopping, maybe see a movie, and if Key was in a good mood, they might sit around and act like friends are supposed to.
“Oh. Hey Johnny. It’s good to see you.”
“….My name isn’t Johnny. It’s Jonghyun.”
“Hell’s wrong with you? That’s what I said. Good to see you, Jonghyun.”
“Eh…. Okay… Good to see you too, Key. I brought you some chicken. You like stuff like this, right? Have you remembered to feed Junior?”
--
On even rarer occasions, Key would get a phone call. He had a cell phone that he lost more than he actually used, and whenever it happened to ring he’d spend a long while staring at it. He almost always ended up answering it, but he really should learn to start looking at the caller id.
“…Hello?”
“Hey. Miss me yet?”
Key inhales, eyes closed. “…Who is this.” It was stupid to ask, since he knew perfectly well who it was.
“Don’t be like that, Key.” Minho laughs on the other end of the line. “Hm. I bet Minho Jr. misses me…”
Key sighs, head tilting, and he holds the phone a little tighter. “Minho…”
He thought he had something to say, some witty response to get Minho to stop calling him, but his mind draws a blank. He hangs up the phone even if he’s not entirely sure why. He’s smiling to himself, but feels silly, because Minho does things he hates the most (like using dumb nicknames and naming Key’s cat after himself.)
--
Phone calls like that were almost always followed up by a visit.
There’s a knock on the door and Key doesn’t acknowledge it. It isn’t until twenty minutes later when the visitor starts knocking out obscure beats on his front door using his doorbell as accompaniment that Key finally gives in and answers the door.
“I don’t want you around here anymore, Minho. Thought I told you that.” Key says.
Minho is smiling and he looks so happy to see him. “I just wanted to see how my baby was doing.” He says, and Key almost feels flattered until he realizes Minho was talking about the cat.
Minho invites himself in, and in the next moment has Junior cuddled in his arms, the cat purring and nuzzling against Minho’s cheek.
“Get away from him, Junior. He’s a bad man.”
Minho smiles, kissing the cat lightly on the top of its fuzzy little head. “Don’t be rude, Kibum. Minho Jr. is my child too.”
“Then take him. He hates me, anyway.” Key had closed the front door and was leaning against it, arms crossed.
“Well, you don’t exactly make it easy to love you.” Minho sets Junior back on the ground, and he rubs up against Minho’s leg, showing more affection in the short amount of time Minho’s been here than he’s shown to Key in the past two years of ownership. He smiles, just a little bit, before looking back up.
“Did you want a hug, too, Key?”
“No.”
Minho ignores him (like usual) and Key doesn’t move as Minho hugs him around his waist, chin resting on Key’s shoulder and breath hot on his ear. For awhile, they stayed like that; Minho simply holding him.
“You smell like smoke.”
Minho chuckled and didn’t let go. “I quit.”
“Liar.”
But at this point Key is hugging him back, and he can feel Minho smiling into the crook of his neck.
--
Minho did a lot of things that Key hated (like borrowing his clothes without asking and always taking the last of his favorite cereal.)
But that morning when he stumbled out of his room and into the harsh light of his tiny kitchen, he's willing to overlook the fact that Minho is there and wearing all his favorite clothes and munching on a bowl of Frosted Flakes, because Minho made coffee and was reading some gardening magazine Key has a subscription to and it was all a bit too familiar for Key, and he had to stop and catch his breath.
He distracts himself by helping himself to some coffee, and looking anywhere but at Minho feeling flustered even though he can’t really say why.
"Morning, Sunshine." Minho says, and Key's right back to being angry.
"…Don’t make yourself comfortable. You can stay a night, maybe two, but you can’t stay. And when you do leave, take that cat with you." Key realizes that this is the most he's said to Minho in a over four months and he feels a little bad about all the harsh tones he's managed to squeeze in there, but channels all that guilt into something slightly more hateful and directs his gaze at Junior, who has made his entrance and was currently in the process of flopping down on Key's feet.
Since Junior wasn't a small cat by any means, Key doesn't move and Minho finishes up the last of the cereal, wipes his mouth and gives Key such a blindingly happy smile.
Key closes his eyes and breaths through his nose and a second later Minho has a hand on his shoulder; all warm and comforting and Key tries not to acknowledge him.
"How about this," As soon as those words leave Minho's mouth, Key is rolling his eyes, rolling his shoulders, but Minho just grabs on tighter.
"No, stop, this is relevant. Don't give me that look. We play a game. I win, you hear me out. You win, I leave and I won't come back until you want me to."
Minho says this in all seriousness and to Key that means something. Minho is not serious. Minho is Minho and he lives his life like they do in those shitty teen parody movies; punch line after punch line after punch line.
Key doesn’t say anything and Minho must’ve taken that as some kind of agreement because he let go of Key and bent down to scoop up Junior, who mewled happily at all the extra attention, before vanishing down one of the hallways.
Key watched him go, and took a sip of his coffee. He really isn’t sure why Minho kept coming back in the first place.
--
They go two full days without speaking.
Key’s house is just small enough for disappearing to be impossible and he refuses to be the one to leave. Instead he shifts through his own home like a ghost while Minho busies himself by replacing light bulbs and filling up the refrigerator.
When Key can no longer stand Minho’s soft smiles in his direction every time they happen to be in the same room, Key locks himself in a closet with a book and starts to read, pretending he’s alone and things are normal, but it’s impossible to focus on the words because he can hear Minho’s footsteps echoing through his house. Sometimes the footsteps would stop in front of the closet door and Key would hold his breath, not sure if he wants Minho to walk away or open the door. But he never does, and the breath of air Key lets out echoes the sigh Minho makes as he walks away.
--
They find themselves together up in Key’s room by accident, Minho in there dusting off shelves, dusting off the picture of them that Key kept face down on a desk, and dusting off the guitar that Key had shoved under his bed the day Minho had left in an attempt to just forget.
Key doesn’t look at him, just crawls into bed to hide under the covers and it’s silent for awhile. But Minho must have left because the soft sounds of Minho playing the guitar floated up from downstairs and into his head and it isn’t long until Key drifts off to sleep.
It was like revisiting an old favorite memory and left him with conflicting thoughts but pleasant dreams.
--
He wakes up early the next morning and it’s déjà vu, with Minho eating his cereal and wearing his favorite shirt and a pot of coffee brewing somewhere behind him, and suddenly he doesn’t mind being in the same room with him anymore, finds the look in Minho’s eye flattering and his frequent smiles in his direction downright adorable.
--
“What’s the game?”
Key slides down onto the chair opposite Minho, suspiciously eyeing Junior who had made himself comfortable on the other boys’ feet. Minho looked up from the paper he was reading at the question, smirking as he remembered their last conversation.
Key had decided to humor him. Maybe it had something to do with his sudden tolerance or maybe it was because he had always been willing to give Minho a second chance.
“The game?” Minho echoes, picking the paper back up and flicking to the next page. “Mario Kart.”
“Are you fucking with me?”
Key had been expecting something more dramatic, something new and thought up and something entirely Minho, complete with bullshit rules and plenty of loopholes to ensure his own victory. Well, to be honest, Key wasn’t exactly sure what he should had been expecting, but a cartoon racing game definitely hadn’t even been considered on his list of possibilities.
Minho just shrugged.
And after a few seconds of thought, Key mirrored the gesture, figuring Mario Kart was the least dangerous thing Minho could have come up with.
“Alright. Whatever. Game on.” He mumbles, padding over to the TV to set up his Wii.
Ten minutes later found them sprawled out on the couch, Key glaring holes through the TV screen and foot tapping in anger - “Get your shit together, Baby Peach.”-while Minho jerked his controller back and forth furiously, occasionally a threat slipping out - “Fuck you Luigi, I'm the digital kart king!”-and sometime in the middle of all this, Junior stalked out of the room, fur significantly ruffled after having been smacked in the face more than few times with a controller in his attempt to make room for himself between the two of them.
The final ranking was less than satisfactory for Key, who only managed to get first place once, while Minho just so happened to have a red shell to be used at just the right time for him to zoom past Key and leave him in second place every other time.
“That was stupid.” Key remarks very plainly, tossing his controller to the side and leaning back into the cushions of the couch. He turned to face Minho, pout in place.
And Minho turned to face Key, giving him such a blindingly happy smile that Key had to blink and look away at the sight of it.
“I won.” Minho confirms, a little too brightly.
“Wow, I had no idea.” Key glares, before reaching out and smacking him on the shoulder. “Let’s play a different game. My choice.”
“Okay.” Minho agrees, smiling again, this time a little less blinding and Key feels himself smiling back. But before he can get embarrassed about it, he jumps up off the couch, trying to think of something Minho is awful at. It took a little longer than he liked to admit for him to come up with something, but the fact that he came up with anything at all was an accomplishment itself.
He disappears and returns a moment later with a game of chess, watching with amusement as Minho’s smile instantly falters. But never one to back down from a challenge, Minho takes his place on the opposite side of the game board.
Minho barely lasts five minutes before Key knocks down his queen and then proudly declares, “Check mate.”
Minho takes a minute to observe the board before nodding slowly. “So now the score is tied.”
“Yes.”
“…”
“….”
“Now what?”
Key rolled his eyes, not really having an answer for Minho, but deciding that these games were silly when he looked at the big picture. “A truce?” He offers, and Minho nods his head, liking the sound of that.
They go their separate ways, Key cleaning up their game while Minho wonders off to the kitchen, Junior following after him a second later, deciding that things were safer now.
Key lets Minho make lunch for him, and dinner too, and by the end of the night Key is returning all of Minho’s smiles.
Later, while Key is cleaning the dishes, he can hear Minho in the next room over, picking up the guitar again and practicing a few chords, messing up often and laughing at his own mistakes. Key can barely hold in his own laughter when he hears Minho start to serenade Junior and he can hardly believe that just yesterday he wanted Minho gone again.
It was nice, not that he’ll ever admit it, for the house to not be so quiet for once.
--
The next day, there’s a knock on the door.
“Oh. Hey Jim, it’s nice to see you again.”
“Jim? Where do you come up with this stuff? My name is Jonghyun.”
“I know that, Jonghyun. You don’t have to remind me every time you come over.”
Jonghyun is mumbling something, which Key chooses to ignore in favor of glancing over his shoulder, where Junior had appeared, meowing happily up at Key’s neighbor. How his own pet seemed to like everyone but him would forever be a mystery.
“I tried calling you earlier but you didn’t answer. Have you lost your phone again?” Jonghyun is saying as Key lets him inside, mostly to please Junior whose meowing didn’t cease until Jonghyun picked him up and let the cat nuzzle into his neck.
“I think so.” Key responds, closing the door behind him, quickly patting his pockets to confirm that, yeah, he had lost his phone again.
“That’s what I thought.” Jonghyun chuckles. “Anyway, I wanted to know if you wanted to go see that new vampire movie that came out. My sister says it’s great, and you like that kind of stuff, right?”
Key thinks it over, leading Jonghyun through his house and into the kitchen, where Jonghyun busies himself with refilling Juniors food bowl. Normally, Key had no reason to say no. He did enjoy Jonghyun’s company, but his train of thought was lost when Minho walked into the kitchen a second later, being just awkward enough for Jonghyun to notice his presence, who leaned back on his heels, and blinked.
“Minho, this is James. He’s my neighbor. And my friend. Because I have those.” Key explains before Minho can ask, ignoring Jonghyun’s protests. (“But my name is Jonghyun.”)
“And Jonghyun,” He corrects himself, clearing his throat, “This is Minho. My… uh.” He trails off, not sure how to describe him, because at one time they had been more than friends, but too much time had passed between then and now for him to be sure of anything anymore. But Jonghyun seemed to be waiting for some sort of explanation for Minho’s presence and Minho looked just as curious as him to see how he’d end his sentence.
He coughs once, before starting over. “This is Minho. My housekeeper.”
Minho starts choking violently on nothing, before disappearing down the hallway, cackling wildly while Jonghyun blinked after him.
“Wow. If you really needed help around the house, Key, you could have just asked me.” Jonghyun smiles cheekily, lightly scratching Junior behind his ears.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Key mumbles, staring off after Minho and frowning slightly.
“So, how about that movie? I hear the vampires sparkle.”
--
“Housekeeper? Really?”
“Shut up.”
Key face planted onto his bed, burying his face in the pillow and sighing. Ever since he got back from the movie with Jonghyun (and just for official record, the vampires did sparkle) Minho had followed him around the house teasing about how he’d been home alone all night making sure every inch of space was cleaned to Key’s liking.
“But really, you could have said something more exciting. Like ‘handyman’. Or ‘pool boy’. Or hell, even ‘drug dealer.’” Minho leaned against the doorway to Key’s bedroom, arms crossed over his chest. When Key didn’t even both to acknowledge him, his smirk fell and he huffed, looking up at the ceiling.
“Or you could have, I don’t know, told him the truth.”
Key rolled over, eyes set in glare when he turned in Minho’s direction. “Do you want an apology?” He hisses, before turning back over onto his side, away from Minho. “Whatever, sorry for saying the stupid things I said, but I don’t know how I can tell the truth about you when I’m not even sure.”
He falls silent, and closed his eyes, feeling Minho’s eyes on him. “Key…” He starts, but when there’s no response, just the movement of Key’s shoulders rising and falling as he breathes, he took a step forward and tried again.
“Kibum, you said we had a truce, right?” Minho slowly lowered himself onto the corner of the bed, eyes still fixed on the set of Key’s shoulders.
“Yeah, so?” Key whines, still refusing to turn around. But Key’s confirmation was all Minho seemed to need to reach over and grab one of Key’s hands, threading their fingers together slowly before tugging him forward gently, just enough for him to be facing his direction.
Key kept his eyes clamped shut, felt his heart beat double time when Minho pulled him into a sitting position, and he wanted to slap himself because of it. This was nothing new, Minho used to be close all the time, he had been so much closer to him so many times before. But something about this seemed different. Maybe because it’s been months since Minho had even been in the house or maybe it’s because Key knows things aren’t the same as before.
To Key, it feels like things are starting over when he lets Minho kiss him, lips soft and even better than he remembered. To Minho, it feels like forgiveness for all things he’d done when Key finally kisses him back with just a slip of tongue, his free hand curling in Minho’s hair.
For a moment, they both realize how much they missed each other and before Key can be too scared by that thought, he pulls away with a gasp, eyes fluttering open as he blinks to fight away the sudden tears. He must not have been fast enough because Minho wipes a stray tear away with his thumb and frowns at the sight of it.
Key is shaking, shaking his head, shaking Minho’s hand away and Minho takes that a some kind of hint, because he stands up and makes like he’s going to leave and that thought scares Key more than anything.
He reaches out and catches him by the wrist. “Minho. Please. Please stay here.” His voice is barely above a whisper and he’s starting to think that Minho didn’t hear him at all. It’s silent for a long time, and Key lets go, hand falling uselessly back to his side. But Minho turns and looks at him, and whatever he saw in Key’s eyes must have made up his mind for him.
“Okay.” Minho finally says, and they curl up together, Key clutching at his shirt and letting Minho tangle their legs together, lets him tangle his fingers in his hair and pet him softly, soothingly. Neither of them are really tired, but they drift to sleep anyway, just holding onto each other the best way they knew how.
--
They wake up sometime in the middle of the night.
They don’t get up, they just keep lying in bed in silence until Key asks him why and the question is just vague enough to get Minho thinking and it’s awhile before he answers.
“It’s just that sometimes,” He shifted, licking his lips and staring up at the ceiling in the dark before continuing. “Sometimes after a long day, I’ll walk into the apartment I’m staying in, or the hotel room or whatever, and I’ll say as I open the door ‘babe, I’m home.’” He pauses again, staring down at his own hands, folded neatly over his stomach. “And then I’ll remember you’re not there. You’re here. After that, every place seems too empty.”
“You only came back because you got lonely.” Key rephrases for him, almost bitterly.
“No.” Minho spoke very plainly, tilting his head to look at him, eyes shining in the dark. “I came back because I love you and I realize that I need you.”
Key wasn’t prepared for that, still new to the idea of Minho saying what he means and meaning what he says. And maybe that was why he let Minho take his hand in his, and this time when Minho squeezed his hand, he squeezed back and didn’t let go.
"Yeah. I love you, too."
--
They wake up again in the afternoon and laugh together, Key singing along as Minho played his favorite songs on the guitar. They play Mario Kart and a few games of chess and watch Christmas movies even though it's the middle of August.
Key starts to wonder if Minho will stick around for the holidays, but he already knows that he'll be gone the second it starts to get cold again.
It's hard to stay warm if no one's moving.
pairing: minho/key
author: bingi (indelible-x)
rating: pg-13
disclaimer: OH YEAH, ME AND SHINEE? YEAH, WE'RE TIGHT. HOLD UP, LEMME CALL 'EM ON MY CELLULAR DEVICE. (i own nothing.)
a/n: getting back into things. this is something that i started writing a year ago, then randomly rediscovered and finished today.it's kind of tacky and silly, but whatever, i'm glad it's finished and i like it enough to actually post it, even if it is super ooc. don't hate me. anyway, have fun hope you like it. also, title taken from a white stripes song of the same name, since i'm the best at original titles.
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Minho wasn’t around much, which was fine with Key. Minho was all the things Key hated the most (like being too nice and always smoking when he was in the house.)
When the smell of smoke was long gone and the rooms of his house ringed with silence was when Key finally felt normal.
--
Key lived in a house that he almost owned with a cat that had a stupid name. The house was tiny, but that was fine, Key didn’t need that much space. He stayed in, most of the time, playing games of chess with himself or glaring at his cat.
“Junior, you’re in my fucking way.”
Junior stretched out along the ground, mewling happily as he swiped at Key’s feet, simply making a nuisance of himself. The cat must’ve been suicidal, because messing around with Key was the perfect way to get tossed down the stairs on ‘accident’. Either Junior was oblivious to this fact or he just didn’t care. Wherever Key went, the cat followed, almost literally attached to his feet, making something like walking more difficult than it had any right to be.
“Stupid animal. I should give you away to the neighbor.”
--
Every once in awhile, his neighbor would stop by and remind him to eat and take him out to do ‘normal’ things. The two would usually go shopping, maybe see a movie, and if Key was in a good mood, they might sit around and act like friends are supposed to.
“Oh. Hey Johnny. It’s good to see you.”
“….My name isn’t Johnny. It’s Jonghyun.”
“Hell’s wrong with you? That’s what I said. Good to see you, Jonghyun.”
“Eh…. Okay… Good to see you too, Key. I brought you some chicken. You like stuff like this, right? Have you remembered to feed Junior?”
--
On even rarer occasions, Key would get a phone call. He had a cell phone that he lost more than he actually used, and whenever it happened to ring he’d spend a long while staring at it. He almost always ended up answering it, but he really should learn to start looking at the caller id.
“…Hello?”
“Hey. Miss me yet?”
Key inhales, eyes closed. “…Who is this.” It was stupid to ask, since he knew perfectly well who it was.
“Don’t be like that, Key.” Minho laughs on the other end of the line. “Hm. I bet Minho Jr. misses me…”
Key sighs, head tilting, and he holds the phone a little tighter. “Minho…”
He thought he had something to say, some witty response to get Minho to stop calling him, but his mind draws a blank. He hangs up the phone even if he’s not entirely sure why. He’s smiling to himself, but feels silly, because Minho does things he hates the most (like using dumb nicknames and naming Key’s cat after himself.)
--
Phone calls like that were almost always followed up by a visit.
There’s a knock on the door and Key doesn’t acknowledge it. It isn’t until twenty minutes later when the visitor starts knocking out obscure beats on his front door using his doorbell as accompaniment that Key finally gives in and answers the door.
“I don’t want you around here anymore, Minho. Thought I told you that.” Key says.
Minho is smiling and he looks so happy to see him. “I just wanted to see how my baby was doing.” He says, and Key almost feels flattered until he realizes Minho was talking about the cat.
Minho invites himself in, and in the next moment has Junior cuddled in his arms, the cat purring and nuzzling against Minho’s cheek.
“Get away from him, Junior. He’s a bad man.”
Minho smiles, kissing the cat lightly on the top of its fuzzy little head. “Don’t be rude, Kibum. Minho Jr. is my child too.”
“Then take him. He hates me, anyway.” Key had closed the front door and was leaning against it, arms crossed.
“Well, you don’t exactly make it easy to love you.” Minho sets Junior back on the ground, and he rubs up against Minho’s leg, showing more affection in the short amount of time Minho’s been here than he’s shown to Key in the past two years of ownership. He smiles, just a little bit, before looking back up.
“Did you want a hug, too, Key?”
“No.”
Minho ignores him (like usual) and Key doesn’t move as Minho hugs him around his waist, chin resting on Key’s shoulder and breath hot on his ear. For awhile, they stayed like that; Minho simply holding him.
“You smell like smoke.”
Minho chuckled and didn’t let go. “I quit.”
“Liar.”
But at this point Key is hugging him back, and he can feel Minho smiling into the crook of his neck.
--
Minho did a lot of things that Key hated (like borrowing his clothes without asking and always taking the last of his favorite cereal.)
But that morning when he stumbled out of his room and into the harsh light of his tiny kitchen, he's willing to overlook the fact that Minho is there and wearing all his favorite clothes and munching on a bowl of Frosted Flakes, because Minho made coffee and was reading some gardening magazine Key has a subscription to and it was all a bit too familiar for Key, and he had to stop and catch his breath.
He distracts himself by helping himself to some coffee, and looking anywhere but at Minho feeling flustered even though he can’t really say why.
"Morning, Sunshine." Minho says, and Key's right back to being angry.
"…Don’t make yourself comfortable. You can stay a night, maybe two, but you can’t stay. And when you do leave, take that cat with you." Key realizes that this is the most he's said to Minho in a over four months and he feels a little bad about all the harsh tones he's managed to squeeze in there, but channels all that guilt into something slightly more hateful and directs his gaze at Junior, who has made his entrance and was currently in the process of flopping down on Key's feet.
Since Junior wasn't a small cat by any means, Key doesn't move and Minho finishes up the last of the cereal, wipes his mouth and gives Key such a blindingly happy smile.
Key closes his eyes and breaths through his nose and a second later Minho has a hand on his shoulder; all warm and comforting and Key tries not to acknowledge him.
"How about this," As soon as those words leave Minho's mouth, Key is rolling his eyes, rolling his shoulders, but Minho just grabs on tighter.
"No, stop, this is relevant. Don't give me that look. We play a game. I win, you hear me out. You win, I leave and I won't come back until you want me to."
Minho says this in all seriousness and to Key that means something. Minho is not serious. Minho is Minho and he lives his life like they do in those shitty teen parody movies; punch line after punch line after punch line.
Key doesn’t say anything and Minho must’ve taken that as some kind of agreement because he let go of Key and bent down to scoop up Junior, who mewled happily at all the extra attention, before vanishing down one of the hallways.
Key watched him go, and took a sip of his coffee. He really isn’t sure why Minho kept coming back in the first place.
--
They go two full days without speaking.
Key’s house is just small enough for disappearing to be impossible and he refuses to be the one to leave. Instead he shifts through his own home like a ghost while Minho busies himself by replacing light bulbs and filling up the refrigerator.
When Key can no longer stand Minho’s soft smiles in his direction every time they happen to be in the same room, Key locks himself in a closet with a book and starts to read, pretending he’s alone and things are normal, but it’s impossible to focus on the words because he can hear Minho’s footsteps echoing through his house. Sometimes the footsteps would stop in front of the closet door and Key would hold his breath, not sure if he wants Minho to walk away or open the door. But he never does, and the breath of air Key lets out echoes the sigh Minho makes as he walks away.
--
They find themselves together up in Key’s room by accident, Minho in there dusting off shelves, dusting off the picture of them that Key kept face down on a desk, and dusting off the guitar that Key had shoved under his bed the day Minho had left in an attempt to just forget.
Key doesn’t look at him, just crawls into bed to hide under the covers and it’s silent for awhile. But Minho must have left because the soft sounds of Minho playing the guitar floated up from downstairs and into his head and it isn’t long until Key drifts off to sleep.
It was like revisiting an old favorite memory and left him with conflicting thoughts but pleasant dreams.
--
He wakes up early the next morning and it’s déjà vu, with Minho eating his cereal and wearing his favorite shirt and a pot of coffee brewing somewhere behind him, and suddenly he doesn’t mind being in the same room with him anymore, finds the look in Minho’s eye flattering and his frequent smiles in his direction downright adorable.
--
“What’s the game?”
Key slides down onto the chair opposite Minho, suspiciously eyeing Junior who had made himself comfortable on the other boys’ feet. Minho looked up from the paper he was reading at the question, smirking as he remembered their last conversation.
Key had decided to humor him. Maybe it had something to do with his sudden tolerance or maybe it was because he had always been willing to give Minho a second chance.
“The game?” Minho echoes, picking the paper back up and flicking to the next page. “Mario Kart.”
“Are you fucking with me?”
Key had been expecting something more dramatic, something new and thought up and something entirely Minho, complete with bullshit rules and plenty of loopholes to ensure his own victory. Well, to be honest, Key wasn’t exactly sure what he should had been expecting, but a cartoon racing game definitely hadn’t even been considered on his list of possibilities.
Minho just shrugged.
And after a few seconds of thought, Key mirrored the gesture, figuring Mario Kart was the least dangerous thing Minho could have come up with.
“Alright. Whatever. Game on.” He mumbles, padding over to the TV to set up his Wii.
Ten minutes later found them sprawled out on the couch, Key glaring holes through the TV screen and foot tapping in anger - “Get your shit together, Baby Peach.”-while Minho jerked his controller back and forth furiously, occasionally a threat slipping out - “Fuck you Luigi, I'm the digital kart king!”-and sometime in the middle of all this, Junior stalked out of the room, fur significantly ruffled after having been smacked in the face more than few times with a controller in his attempt to make room for himself between the two of them.
The final ranking was less than satisfactory for Key, who only managed to get first place once, while Minho just so happened to have a red shell to be used at just the right time for him to zoom past Key and leave him in second place every other time.
“That was stupid.” Key remarks very plainly, tossing his controller to the side and leaning back into the cushions of the couch. He turned to face Minho, pout in place.
And Minho turned to face Key, giving him such a blindingly happy smile that Key had to blink and look away at the sight of it.
“I won.” Minho confirms, a little too brightly.
“Wow, I had no idea.” Key glares, before reaching out and smacking him on the shoulder. “Let’s play a different game. My choice.”
“Okay.” Minho agrees, smiling again, this time a little less blinding and Key feels himself smiling back. But before he can get embarrassed about it, he jumps up off the couch, trying to think of something Minho is awful at. It took a little longer than he liked to admit for him to come up with something, but the fact that he came up with anything at all was an accomplishment itself.
He disappears and returns a moment later with a game of chess, watching with amusement as Minho’s smile instantly falters. But never one to back down from a challenge, Minho takes his place on the opposite side of the game board.
Minho barely lasts five minutes before Key knocks down his queen and then proudly declares, “Check mate.”
Minho takes a minute to observe the board before nodding slowly. “So now the score is tied.”
“Yes.”
“…”
“….”
“Now what?”
Key rolled his eyes, not really having an answer for Minho, but deciding that these games were silly when he looked at the big picture. “A truce?” He offers, and Minho nods his head, liking the sound of that.
They go their separate ways, Key cleaning up their game while Minho wonders off to the kitchen, Junior following after him a second later, deciding that things were safer now.
Key lets Minho make lunch for him, and dinner too, and by the end of the night Key is returning all of Minho’s smiles.
Later, while Key is cleaning the dishes, he can hear Minho in the next room over, picking up the guitar again and practicing a few chords, messing up often and laughing at his own mistakes. Key can barely hold in his own laughter when he hears Minho start to serenade Junior and he can hardly believe that just yesterday he wanted Minho gone again.
It was nice, not that he’ll ever admit it, for the house to not be so quiet for once.
--
The next day, there’s a knock on the door.
“Oh. Hey Jim, it’s nice to see you again.”
“Jim? Where do you come up with this stuff? My name is Jonghyun.”
“I know that, Jonghyun. You don’t have to remind me every time you come over.”
Jonghyun is mumbling something, which Key chooses to ignore in favor of glancing over his shoulder, where Junior had appeared, meowing happily up at Key’s neighbor. How his own pet seemed to like everyone but him would forever be a mystery.
“I tried calling you earlier but you didn’t answer. Have you lost your phone again?” Jonghyun is saying as Key lets him inside, mostly to please Junior whose meowing didn’t cease until Jonghyun picked him up and let the cat nuzzle into his neck.
“I think so.” Key responds, closing the door behind him, quickly patting his pockets to confirm that, yeah, he had lost his phone again.
“That’s what I thought.” Jonghyun chuckles. “Anyway, I wanted to know if you wanted to go see that new vampire movie that came out. My sister says it’s great, and you like that kind of stuff, right?”
Key thinks it over, leading Jonghyun through his house and into the kitchen, where Jonghyun busies himself with refilling Juniors food bowl. Normally, Key had no reason to say no. He did enjoy Jonghyun’s company, but his train of thought was lost when Minho walked into the kitchen a second later, being just awkward enough for Jonghyun to notice his presence, who leaned back on his heels, and blinked.
“Minho, this is James. He’s my neighbor. And my friend. Because I have those.” Key explains before Minho can ask, ignoring Jonghyun’s protests. (“But my name is Jonghyun.”)
“And Jonghyun,” He corrects himself, clearing his throat, “This is Minho. My… uh.” He trails off, not sure how to describe him, because at one time they had been more than friends, but too much time had passed between then and now for him to be sure of anything anymore. But Jonghyun seemed to be waiting for some sort of explanation for Minho’s presence and Minho looked just as curious as him to see how he’d end his sentence.
He coughs once, before starting over. “This is Minho. My housekeeper.”
Minho starts choking violently on nothing, before disappearing down the hallway, cackling wildly while Jonghyun blinked after him.
“Wow. If you really needed help around the house, Key, you could have just asked me.” Jonghyun smiles cheekily, lightly scratching Junior behind his ears.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Key mumbles, staring off after Minho and frowning slightly.
“So, how about that movie? I hear the vampires sparkle.”
--
“Housekeeper? Really?”
“Shut up.”
Key face planted onto his bed, burying his face in the pillow and sighing. Ever since he got back from the movie with Jonghyun (and just for official record, the vampires did sparkle) Minho had followed him around the house teasing about how he’d been home alone all night making sure every inch of space was cleaned to Key’s liking.
“But really, you could have said something more exciting. Like ‘handyman’. Or ‘pool boy’. Or hell, even ‘drug dealer.’” Minho leaned against the doorway to Key’s bedroom, arms crossed over his chest. When Key didn’t even both to acknowledge him, his smirk fell and he huffed, looking up at the ceiling.
“Or you could have, I don’t know, told him the truth.”
Key rolled over, eyes set in glare when he turned in Minho’s direction. “Do you want an apology?” He hisses, before turning back over onto his side, away from Minho. “Whatever, sorry for saying the stupid things I said, but I don’t know how I can tell the truth about you when I’m not even sure.”
He falls silent, and closed his eyes, feeling Minho’s eyes on him. “Key…” He starts, but when there’s no response, just the movement of Key’s shoulders rising and falling as he breathes, he took a step forward and tried again.
“Kibum, you said we had a truce, right?” Minho slowly lowered himself onto the corner of the bed, eyes still fixed on the set of Key’s shoulders.
“Yeah, so?” Key whines, still refusing to turn around. But Key’s confirmation was all Minho seemed to need to reach over and grab one of Key’s hands, threading their fingers together slowly before tugging him forward gently, just enough for him to be facing his direction.
Key kept his eyes clamped shut, felt his heart beat double time when Minho pulled him into a sitting position, and he wanted to slap himself because of it. This was nothing new, Minho used to be close all the time, he had been so much closer to him so many times before. But something about this seemed different. Maybe because it’s been months since Minho had even been in the house or maybe it’s because Key knows things aren’t the same as before.
To Key, it feels like things are starting over when he lets Minho kiss him, lips soft and even better than he remembered. To Minho, it feels like forgiveness for all things he’d done when Key finally kisses him back with just a slip of tongue, his free hand curling in Minho’s hair.
For a moment, they both realize how much they missed each other and before Key can be too scared by that thought, he pulls away with a gasp, eyes fluttering open as he blinks to fight away the sudden tears. He must not have been fast enough because Minho wipes a stray tear away with his thumb and frowns at the sight of it.
Key is shaking, shaking his head, shaking Minho’s hand away and Minho takes that a some kind of hint, because he stands up and makes like he’s going to leave and that thought scares Key more than anything.
He reaches out and catches him by the wrist. “Minho. Please. Please stay here.” His voice is barely above a whisper and he’s starting to think that Minho didn’t hear him at all. It’s silent for a long time, and Key lets go, hand falling uselessly back to his side. But Minho turns and looks at him, and whatever he saw in Key’s eyes must have made up his mind for him.
“Okay.” Minho finally says, and they curl up together, Key clutching at his shirt and letting Minho tangle their legs together, lets him tangle his fingers in his hair and pet him softly, soothingly. Neither of them are really tired, but they drift to sleep anyway, just holding onto each other the best way they knew how.
--
They wake up sometime in the middle of the night.
They don’t get up, they just keep lying in bed in silence until Key asks him why and the question is just vague enough to get Minho thinking and it’s awhile before he answers.
“It’s just that sometimes,” He shifted, licking his lips and staring up at the ceiling in the dark before continuing. “Sometimes after a long day, I’ll walk into the apartment I’m staying in, or the hotel room or whatever, and I’ll say as I open the door ‘babe, I’m home.’” He pauses again, staring down at his own hands, folded neatly over his stomach. “And then I’ll remember you’re not there. You’re here. After that, every place seems too empty.”
“You only came back because you got lonely.” Key rephrases for him, almost bitterly.
“No.” Minho spoke very plainly, tilting his head to look at him, eyes shining in the dark. “I came back because I love you and I realize that I need you.”
Key wasn’t prepared for that, still new to the idea of Minho saying what he means and meaning what he says. And maybe that was why he let Minho take his hand in his, and this time when Minho squeezed his hand, he squeezed back and didn’t let go.
"Yeah. I love you, too."
--
They wake up again in the afternoon and laugh together, Key singing along as Minho played his favorite songs on the guitar. They play Mario Kart and a few games of chess and watch Christmas movies even though it's the middle of August.
Key starts to wonder if Minho will stick around for the holidays, but he already knows that he'll be gone the second it starts to get cold again.
It's hard to stay warm if no one's moving.