SHINee {Jonghyun/Key ; Illegal or Just Immoral: A Study by Kim Jonghyun (2/3)}
Title: Illegal or Just Immoral: A Study by Kim Jonghyun (2/3)
Fandom: SHINee (AU, !delinquent)
Pairing: Jonghyun/Key, slight Minho/Taemin
Word count: 4,818
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "You're blackmailing him?" Jinki asked. "Isn't blackmailing wrong?"
"Not when you've got the class president doing your Math homework," Jonghyun said in a sing-song tone, swinging in a circle on Jinki's deskchair.
A/N: only a two week gap \o/! I've been pretty busy so I haven't been able to work on this, but I had some time this morning and part 3 is almost complete, so that means I can post this :DDD the sunglasses that are mentioned in this part are, obviously, these ones that Jonghyun bought Key irl.
Illegal or Just Immoral: A Study by Kim Jonghyun (2/3)
Jonghyun's suddenly improved marks went down a storm with the teachers, who all seemed to be congratulating themselves on a job well done. Kim Jonghyun was attending class every day, he always had an answer when called on, and his homework was always done on time. The praise that he was getting was a little addictive; he'd never realised how good it felt to be praised before, even if it wasn't for anything he'd done. Kibum, seated behind him, had been getting more and more angry with him, with the result that by the time they parted on Friday, Kibum was short and sharp, only answering in single syllables. He seemed to think that his ordeal would be over, since it was the weekend. That made Jonghyun chuckle.
When he turned up on Kibum's doorstep at midday the next day, a reluctant Jinki in tow, Kibum looked ready to spit nails. "Why are you here?" he asked, stepping outside of his house and pulling the door shut behind him. "How do you know where I live?"
"The school secretary is weak to my animal charm," said Jonghyun, grinning at Kibum. "She was happy to tell me where you lived when I told her that I had some work you'd forgotten."
"Why are you here?" Kibum was darting worried looks around the garden and down the street, as if he expected some of his old classmates to appear.
"We wanted to go to noraebang, but we're broke." Jonghyun leaned back, looking at Kibum's impressive looking house and raised an eyebrow. "We figured that you could pay for us."
Kibum glared at him, then at Jinki, who practically withered under such hatred. "It's the weekend," Kibum said.
"So? That doesn't mean I can't tell people where you are."
"Hyung?" asked a muffled voice from behind the door. "What's wrong?" The door was pulled open, revealing the skinny, younger kid from the confrontation outside Chun Ha High School, his long hair pulled back into a half-assed bun on the back of his head. Behind him stood the one who had been called Minho, his height highlighted by the black jeans he was wearing. "Ah," said the younger boy.
"You!" Jonghyun said, pointing over his shoulder at Minho. "Jinki-hyung needed three stitches after what you did!"
"I said I didn't mean to hurt him," Minho said, not really sounding like he much cared.
Kibum looked between them, and then asked the younger one, "Taemin, do you know this idiot?"
"They both turned up at school last week. They were asking about you."
"So when you said that you had contacts," Kibum said to Jonghyun, "really you just meant that you went sneaking around?"
"No, Jinki-hyung really does know some students at Chun Ha," Jonghyun said, thumbing over his shoulder at Jinki, who waved half-heartedly and then dropped his hand. "Anyway, your friends attacked us, so you owe us for that, at least."
"Hyung, what's going on?" Taemin had stepped down from the door, and was positioned by Key's elbow. He didn't really seem like much of a threat, but Minho, who seemed to guard him like a second skin? He was certainly a threat.
"This is the idiot who is blackmailing me," Kibum said, pointing an accusing finger at Jonghyun. "You should have killed him when you had the chance, Minho."
"Hey, can I borrow your phone?" Jonghyun asked Jinki, who fumbled in his pocket for it, looking confused. Jonghyun flicked through the contacts list. "What was the name of that Chun Ha guy?"
"Leave me out of it," Jinki begged, seeing the way Taemin grabbed Kibum's hand.
"Jae Hee, wasn't it?" Jonghyun said, vaguely recalling something Jinki had said. Judging by Kibum's intake of breath, he'd guessed right. "I guess he'd love to know where Key is right now, huh?"
Minho took a step forward, hands balling into fists, but Kibum reached out an arm and stopped him. "Get your coat," he muttered through gritted teeth. "We're going to noraebang."
"You're an awful person," Jinki said, as they disappeared into the house. Jonghyun didn't answer, too busy figuring out what songs he was going to sing. "Why are you doing this?"
"I don't know," Jonghyun said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "He just gets under my skin, you know? Something about him that drives me nuts. I don't like the way he acted like my friend. I didn't want to be friends with him. He bullied me into doing the things that he wanted to do. Why can't I bully him into doing the things I want to do?"
"Two wrongs don't make a right."
"Yeah, but two wrongs do mean that we get to noraebang for free, so you know, make your choice. Morals or free noraebang?"
"God damn you," Jinki said.
"Really," Jinki said earnestly, after Kibum had paid for the room. "He's not usually like this."
"You mean he isn't usually an arrogant douchebag?" Kibum asked sarcastically, glaring at Jonghyun's back as he went ahead to the room that they were going to be singing in.
"...Okay, you've got me," Jinki said weakly. Kibum didn't answer, he just stormed down the hallway and into the room. When Jinki got there, he was sitting on one of the sofas with his arms crossed, flanked either side by Taemin and Minho, both of whom were looking at Jonghyun, searching through the song options, like he was something they'd found on the bottom of their shoes. Jinki sidled up to him.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he whispered.
"Sure," Jonghyun said, handing him a microphone. "Look, F.T Island."
"Stop bribing me with songs," Jinki said weakly.
Half an hour later, Jonghyun flopped down onto the seat next to Kibum. Jinki was still singing, while Taemin had gone to the bathroom, Minho still shadowing him. Kibum shifted along the sofa away from him. "Thanks for paying," Jonghyun said cheerfully.
"Fuck off," Kibum muttered. "I've been saving up for sunglasses. Now I'm right back where I started off."
Looking at his face, Jonghyun did feel a litte twinge of guilt, but only a little and it was easy enough to ignore. "Why don't you sing something?" he suggested.
"What, and interrupt your precious time? No thanks."
"Aw, come on, we could do a duet. I can make anyone sound good." Kibum didn't say anything, just staring at the door, but Jonghyun thought he knew what the twist of his lips meant. "You think I'm a good singer, don't you?" he asked, leaning over so he could stick his face right into Kibum's obnoxiously. Kibum leaned back, making a face of disgust.
"You're not a good singer," he said.
"Yes, I am."
"No, you aren't."
"Yes."
"No."
"Clearly, the only way to solve this is by some sort of singing competition," Jonghyun said slyly. Kibum stared at him for a long minute, before grinning, a little darkly.
"You are so on."
"Hey, hyung," Jonghyun said, standing up and lightly tapping Jinki on the back of his head with the microphone. "We're going to have a competition. Judge for us?"
"Don't you think there'll be a conflict of interests?" Kibum asked, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. Jonghyun shook his head and handed him the microphone that he'd just taken from Jinki, who sat down magnanimously.
"Nope, Jinki-hyung is pissed at me for blackmailing you," he said. "You choose." He regretted saying that when he saw what Kibum did choose. "Gee?" he asked, as the opening notes started. "Really?"
"Shut up, I like this song," Kibum said. "What's wrong, scared you'll lose?"
"There is no way," Jonghyun said.
Once the song finished, however, neither of them even looked at Jinki for what he thought, which was just as well, since Kibum would have won on the basis that he had actually known the words. He looked triumphantly at Jonghyun, who dived for the selection booklet. "Best out of three," he said. "This time I get to choose."
Halfway through Insomnia, Minho and Taemin came back in, and just stood in the doorway staring at them, probably because they were shoving each other to try to put the other off. Jonghyun could barely breathe, he was laughing so hard, and Kibum was on the floor and couldn't see the words. Their joint score by the end of it was a measly ten points.
"That's your fault," Jonghyun declared.
"It was your song choice."
"You were putting me off!"
"You pushed me over!"
"Uh, hyung?"
They all looked at Taemin, who was looking bewildered. Kibum, looking suddenly flustered, shoved the microphone he was holding into Jonghyun's hands and snatched his coat up off the sofa he'd been sitting on. "We've got to go," he said, avoiding Jonghyun's eyes. "Taemin has a -- thing."
Taemin looked so confused by that that it was fairly obvious that he had no such 'thing'. "But we were singing," Jonghyun said blankly.
"You can continue to sing," Kibum snapped, switching to angry in a matter of moments. "I paid for the room for three hours, didn't I? You two can stay here and continue to have fun on my money, can't you?"
"Dude, what the fuck is --"
"I'm going," Kibum said. "I'll see you on Monday."
He left before Jonghyun could say anything more, and they could hear Taemin asking what was wrong all the way down the hallway. Jonghyun turned to Jinki. "What the hell was that all about?"
"I don't know," Jinki said innocently. "Maybe he's annoyed that you're blackmailing him?" Jonghyun just scowled at him.
"What was that about yesterday?"
Lunch on the roof had always been the only thing that Jonghyun really liked about school, and he liked it even better when Kibum was paying for it. Kibum avoided his eyes, lying on his back, shielding his face from the sun with an arm. "I told you," he muttered. "Taemin had a thing."
"What kind of a thing?"
"Dance practice."
Jonghyun raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Taemin dances?"
"We both do."
That made Jonghyun sit up straighter. "You dance?"
"Yeah."
"Man," Jonghyun said, with a low whistle. "There are too many sides to you, you know that?"
Kibum didn't answer immediately. He brought the hand that wasn't sheilding his eyes up to loosen his tie, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. His skin was quite pale. "Most of them aren't really me," he said quietly.
"Hmmm." Jonghyun looked down at his sandwich, then back at Kibum. "The perfect student?"
"Is hard to keep up."
"The hardened deliquent?"
"Got too many people in trouble."
"The dancer with the fetish for girl songs?"
Key lifted his arm so he could glare at him. "It's not a fetish," he muttered darkly.
"That's the real you, huh."
"That's part of the real me." Kibum sat up, sighing, and looked at Jonghyun. "Why are you even asking?"
Jonghyun shrugged. "I'm just interested in knowing."
"Yes, but why?"
Jonghyun frowned. "I don't know. I guess if I'm going to blackmail you, I should at least know the person I'm blackmailing, shouldn't I?"
Kibum lay back down, looking disappointed. "You're an idiot," he said.
"Hey!"
"Why don't I just tutor you?" Kibum asked in frustration, after half an hour spent in Jonghyun's bedroom, working on Jonghyun's homework while Jonghyun himself sat watching television and eating cookies.
"No fear," Jonghyun said.
"Finals are coming up soon. What happens when you suddenly come bottom of the class after doing so well the rest of the time?"
Jonghyun shrugged. "I'll work something out."
"You can't cheat."
"Who says I can't?"
Kibum just stared at him, mouth agape. Then he changed tack. "The more time I spend on your homework, the less time I have to study. If I don't come top of the class in the next set of exams, my parents are going to make me move schools again."
Jonghyun looked at him carefully. "That's a lie, isn't it?"
Kibum grinned despite himself. "Yeah, that's a lie."
"Get on with my homework, slave boy."
Ten minutes later, Kibum said, "No, seriously, it wouldn't be that hard."
"Were you run out of your old school for being too damn annoying? Stop bugging me or I'll tell them where you are."
Kibum asked, another ten minutes later, "Can I at least have a cookie?"
"No, you'll get fat."
"Oh, please, I could never get like you."
"Nicely done," Jonghyun said, and gamely handed a cookie over.
"While I'm pleased that this blackmailing thing seems to be working out for you," Jinki said, twirling his straw in his Coke, "have you ever asked him quite why he ran away from his old school?"
"No," Jonghyun said with a shrug. "I didn't really think about it, to be honest."
"No, I didn't think you wouldn't have. Aren't you interested? I am."
"Kind of. It's not really important, is it? He's at my school now."
"Jonghyun, you're blackmailing him using his old school against him. Don't you think you better find out more? What if he has a legitimate reason for not wanting to meet any old school friends?"
Which was how they found themselves standing outside Chun Ha High ten minutes later, watching as the last few stragglers filtered out of school. It had let out quite a while earlier, and no one left really wanted to hang around and talk to two kids from different schools. Jonghyun slid his gaze along to Jinki, who said, "Fine, fine," in an irritated tone. It had been a wasted bus journey, especially when Jonghyun hadn't really cared about what they could find out.
"Back when he was still being that annoying goody-two-shoes, he mentioned something about wanting to go to university." Jonghyun was staring at the school, at the boarded up windows on the top floor and the broken chairs on the playing field. "You can understand why he'd want to get away from this school's reputation if that was the case."
"Still doesn't explain why he's terrified of his past catching up to him, does it?"
"He said it got too many people hurt," Jonghyun murmured, too quietly for Jinki to hear, looking around and spotting a bunch of guys down the end of the street. They seemed to be shoving something, or someone, and for a second Jonghyun caught a glance of light brown hair. Squinting, he said, "Isn't that that Taemin kid?"
Jinki looked over. "I think you're right," he said, just as Taemin went sprawling on the pavement, bag flying out of his hands. The boy whose feet it landed next to picked it up and promptly emptied the contents all over the ground, then threw the bag into the road, straight into the gutter. After exchanging glances, Jonghyun and Jinki headed over wordlessly.
"Yah, Lee Taemin," one of the boys was saying, nudging Taemin with his foot. "What, you think you're so great since you were Key's favourite? Your precious Key-hyung ran away, you idiot. We told you, it was just a matter of waiting until Choi wasn't around."
Taemin didn't say anything; he just sat up, staring at the floor, hair in front of his face. One of the boys reached down, seemingly to grab hold of his hair, but Jonghyun said, casually, "Hey, Taeminnie."
Taemin's head snapped up, his mouth dropping open as he took in Jonghyun and Jinki standing there, Jonghyun waving one hand down at him, Jinki smiling brightly. "W-what are you doing here?" he stammered.
"We came to see you," Jonghyun said.
"Who the hell are you?" asked the boy who had thrown Taemin's bag into the street.
"Kim Jonghyun."
"Lee Jinki," said Jinki vaguely.
There were a few looks exchanged, before one of them cleared their throats and said, "Uh, we should be going."
After they had left, rather speedily, Jonghyun reached down and yanked Taemin to his feet, brushing him down as Jinki retrieved his bag from the street. It was dirty, and Taemin looked at it blankly before he ignored it and said, "Why did they leave?"
"Hey, just because you'd never heard of us doesn't mean no one has never heard of us," Jonghyun said, bending down and picking a textbook up off the ground. "Jinki-hyung here knows a lot of people, most of whom you would not want to meet on a dark night."
Taemin didn't look like he believed a word of it, especially not when Jinki kindly asked if he wanted to get something to drink from the convenience store across the street. Taemin looked reluctant, but he seemed grateful enough when Jinki handed him a bottle of vitamin water. "What was that all about?" Jonghyun asked, sitting down on the steps up to the store next to Taemin.
Taemin didn't answer straight away, staring at the school across the road. "They don't like that I was friends with Key-hyung," he said quietly, taking a sip of his water. "There's a new leader of the school, a new...regime, I guess, and I won't follow it. It's not right, what they did to Key-hyung."
"What did they do to Kibum?"
Taemin shook his head. "You'll have to ask him that. I don't have any right to tell you if he doesn't want you to know." He had a bruise forming on his cheek, which looked like it would end up being nasty. He touched it gingerly, then sighed and fixed Jonghyun with that scary stare again. "Of course, what you're doing to Key-hyung isn't right either."
Jonghyun shrugged. "You didn't see how he was when he first joined the school."
"He's just trying to--"
"Taemin?"
Minho was standing at the gates of the school, staring across the road at them. Taemin immediately ducked his head, pulling his hair over his face, trying to hide. Minho barely even checked for cars before dashing across the road. He kneeled down, trying to see Taemin's face, but he covered it and wouldn't let him see. "Why is your bag all torn? What happened?"
"Nothing," muttered Taemin.
"Did they do anything to you?" Minho asked, glaring at Jonghyun and Jinki.
"Yah, we helped him," Jonghyun said. "He was getting shoved around by some kids from your school."
Taemin's head shot up, eyes telling Jonghyun to shut up, but all it meant was that Minho was able to see the yellow bruising on the side of his face. Before Taemin could duck down again, Minho grabbed him, holding his head still so he could inspect it. "Was it Dongman? Taemin, was it him?"
"Yeah," whispered Taemin.
"I'll kill him," Minho said furiously.
"Hyung, just leave it," Taemin begged. "It'll just make it worse if you get involved."
"And it's going to get better if I don't? How long before they start going to your house, Taemin? How long before they start harrassing your family? You need to--" He stopped, because Taemin had burst into tears. Silently, Minho pulled him close and rested his chin on Taemin's head, mouth hidden by his hair. "I'm sorry, Taemin," he said. "I'm sorry."
"I miss Key-hyung," Taemin sobbed, looking like he was trying to get hold of himself but just couldn't quite manage it.
"I know, I know."
"Are you still going to blackmail him?" Jinki asked quietly on the bus on the way home.
Jonghyun paused, before saying, "Yeah."
He couldn't see how he was supposed to keep Kibum's attention otherwise.
"You're kidding me, right?"
"Nope." Jonghyun had managed to blag his way up to Kibum's bedroom, which was a lot different to what he'd expected. It was painted a muted cream, with pale wooden flooring and simple funiture. In fact, if it wasn't for the bright, multicoloured bedsheet and the straighteners lying on the floor, Jonghyun would have thought it was someone else's bedroom. Then he remembered that Kibum had only just moved, so not too long ago, it would have been someone else's bedroom. "I need your help."
"I'm studying," Kibum said, motioning to his desk. "Remember? Finals start tomorrow."
Neither Taemin or Minho had mentioned to Kibum that Jonghyun and Jinki had turned up outside their school, and Jonghyun hadn't asked Kibum about why he'd had to leave that school. He kept telling himself that it didn't really matter, but in reality, he was just scared to. It seemed like such a big secret that he knew that Kibum wouldn't tell him. No matter what Jonghyun thought, Kibum didn't seem to think of Jonghyun as a friend, and really, Jonghyun wasn't Kibum's friend. Jonghyun was just blackmailing Kibum into doing what he wanted. That wasn't friendship.
That thought was playing on his mind a lot.
"Eh, finals, you'll be fine." Jonghyun shut the open text book. "More importantly, my sister's birthday is on Wednesday, and I have got no idea what I'm supposed to buy her. I need you to come choose for me."
"How am I supposed to help?"
"You mean beyond the fact that this room looks kind of a lot like her room?" Jonghyun asked, flopping down on the bed. Kibum sighed, and reached over him to pull a stuffed bear from under Jonghyun's head, knee pressed against Jonghyun's thigh.
"Fine," he said. "But give me ten minutes to change out of these things."
It actually took him half an hour to get ready, after deciding that his hair needed sorted out too. He really did own the tightest jeans Jonghyun had ever seen, and he found himself staring at Kibum's ass as he got on the bus ahead of him. He'd been damn right; blue really was Kibum's colour. But then, Jonghyun was beginning to realise, he considered anything to be Kibum's colour.
"How old will she be?" Kibum asked, snapping Jonghyun clean out of his thoughts on how the sun streaming through the bus window really caught the highlights in Kibum's hair, and whether they'd always been there or whether Kibum had just recently got the blonde put in.
"Uh, twenty-two."
"What does she like?"
"I don't know."
"What's her favourite colour?"
"I have no idea, probably pink, she's a girl."
"What kind of perfume does she wear?"
Blank stare.
"You are completely useless."
"She's my sister, I'm not supposed to pay attention to this sort of stuff!"
"You are if you want to get her a birthday present," Kibum said. "What did you get her last year?"
"A body pillow." When Kibum looked unimpressed, Jonghyun said, "What? She wanted one!"
"Is there anything she wants this year?"
"Not that I know of."
"Are you expecting me to perform a miracle?"
"Yup."
The thing was, Jonghyun totally believed that just having Kibum there would help bring about such a miracle. That's what kind of person Kibum was. He knew which shops were best to go in and which shops were good to avoid. There was a tiny store tucked in a back street that sold handmade jewellery boxes and mobile phone charms, where Jonghyun bought a pair of earrings that she would probably adore and a unicorn shaped phone charm. Kibum knew where to get all the best deals, where all the cheapest merchandise was, and even where the best value food was. After lunch, Kibum dragged him into a slightly more upmarket shop, where he pointed out a pair of sunglasses.
"Those are the ones I've been saving up for," he said. "Of course, since I'm spending all my money on buying you lunch, I have nothing to buy them with, but I will own them eventually."
"They're very bling," Jonghyun said, raising an eyebrow at the price.
"They'll look amazing," Kibum said wistfully.
They wandered through the store, Kibum batering his way into buying two shirts at a much lower price than how they'd been marked. Just as they were leaving, Jonghyun said suddenly, "I have to go to the bathroom. You just stay here and I'll be right back."
"Fine," Kibum said, watching him disappear back into the store.
It took Jonghyun a minute or two to find his way back to the sunglasses, and as he handed over the money for them, he couldn't quite believe that he was spending that much on something for another person. It wasn't like it was Kibum's birthday, it was still six months until Christmas, and Kibum hadn't even done anything. He was supposed to be buying Jonghyun stuff, not the other way around.
Lost as to quite why he'd impulsively bought the sunglasses, he tucked them in the bags that he had, hidden from sight before he made his way back to Kibum at the front of the store. Kibum didn't say a word, so neither did Jonghyun, as they headed for the front of the shopping center. Their next stop was the station, so Jonghyun could catch a train and Kibum a bus back their respective houses.
"Yah, Kim Key!"
Kibum looked up automatically, face terrified. Jonghyun looked up, saw two boys on the level above them, staring down, one of them pointing at the top of Kibum's head. Their faces were twisted and nasty.
"I presume you know them?" he asked. Kibum ducked his head again.
"I wish I didn't," he said.
"I wonder where the best place for a fight is," Jonghyun said musingly. Kibum grabbed his arm, fingers tight. The desperate motion was surprising.
"I'd give anything to not deal with them," said Kibum. "Please, Jonghyun, let's just go."
"Well then," Jonghyun said, pushing Kibum forward a step. "Run."
Their sudden movements caused a shout from above them, and Jonghyun had no doubt that they were being followed, but the crowd of shoppers outside soon swallowed them up and by the time they'd both sprinted onto the bus and showed their passes to a confused looking driver, there was no one around who seemed to know who they were. They collapsed onto two seats at the back.
"This isn't your bus," Kibum pointed out.
"I'll get one from your street," Jonghyun panted. "How are you not tired?"
"I'm a dancer, I get more exercise than you."
He was white, looking almost as scared as he had done that day that Jonghyun had first told him that he knew something about his past. The expression didn't suit him. Jonghyun put an arm around him, squeezing his shoulder. "Don't worry," he said. "They don't know where you're going. They won't be able to find you."
"Yeah," said Kibum, with a strange expression on his face. "Thanks to you."
Kibum's mother tried to make him come inside for some dinner -- she seemed overjoyed that Kibum had made a 'friend' at the school he'd transferred to -- but Jonghyun refused on the basis that he had to get home and study -- he winked at Kibum, who rolled his eyes and ushered his mother back into the house. "You aren't really going home to study, are you?" he asked.
"Of course not," said Jonghyun, leaning against the railing of Kibum's porch. "There's a Star Trek marathon on, and there's a seat with my name on it."
"Nerd."
"Bitch."
Kibum's eyes flicked toward the bags by Jonghyun's feet, and then back to Jonghyun's face. "Thanks for today," he said quietly. "I just kind of froze up."
"Hey," Jonghyun said. "Don't even worry about it."
Kibum was looking at him intensely, his eyes raking over every inch of Jonghyun's face. It unnerved Jonghyun, so he stood up straighter, taking a step away from the porch railing; it was then that he realised that doing so brought them both a little too close for comfort. Kibum pushed a hand through his hair, and sighed. "What are you doing, Jonghyun?" he asked. "What is it that you even want from me?"
Jonghyun didn't answer. Without even thinking, he put a hand on Kibum's shoulder, leaned forward, and kissed him, gently. When he pulled away, shocked at what he'd done, Kibum looked stunned. Then the anger descended. "Oh hell no," he said, shoving Jonghyun away, so that he fell against the railing, standing on one of the bags. Something cracked, and a tiny part of his brain hoped beyond belief that it wasn't the sunglasses. Kibum looked so angry that Jonghyun was surprised he hadn't been slapped.
"What the fuck?"
"You can blackmail me into a lot of things," Kibum said, poking Jonghyun painfully in the chest. "I'll do most things to stop them from finding out where I am. But one thing I am not willing to do is that."
"I don't know what the hell you're--"
"Fuck off, Jonghyun." His front door slammed shut behind him.
The sunglasses lay on his bedside cabinet, taunting him all night. At one point, he thought about simply sticking them on ebay and selling them. Then he thought that maybe they'd make Kibum forgive him. Then he went back to wondering what the hell Kibum had been so angry about.
Fandom: SHINee (AU, !delinquent)
Pairing: Jonghyun/Key, slight Minho/Taemin
Word count: 4,818
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "You're blackmailing him?" Jinki asked. "Isn't blackmailing wrong?"
"Not when you've got the class president doing your Math homework," Jonghyun said in a sing-song tone, swinging in a circle on Jinki's deskchair.
A/N: only a two week gap \o/! I've been pretty busy so I haven't been able to work on this, but I had some time this morning and part 3 is almost complete, so that means I can post this :DDD the sunglasses that are mentioned in this part are, obviously, these ones that Jonghyun bought Key irl.
Illegal or Just Immoral: A Study by Kim Jonghyun (2/3)
Jonghyun's suddenly improved marks went down a storm with the teachers, who all seemed to be congratulating themselves on a job well done. Kim Jonghyun was attending class every day, he always had an answer when called on, and his homework was always done on time. The praise that he was getting was a little addictive; he'd never realised how good it felt to be praised before, even if it wasn't for anything he'd done. Kibum, seated behind him, had been getting more and more angry with him, with the result that by the time they parted on Friday, Kibum was short and sharp, only answering in single syllables. He seemed to think that his ordeal would be over, since it was the weekend. That made Jonghyun chuckle.
When he turned up on Kibum's doorstep at midday the next day, a reluctant Jinki in tow, Kibum looked ready to spit nails. "Why are you here?" he asked, stepping outside of his house and pulling the door shut behind him. "How do you know where I live?"
"The school secretary is weak to my animal charm," said Jonghyun, grinning at Kibum. "She was happy to tell me where you lived when I told her that I had some work you'd forgotten."
"Why are you here?" Kibum was darting worried looks around the garden and down the street, as if he expected some of his old classmates to appear.
"We wanted to go to noraebang, but we're broke." Jonghyun leaned back, looking at Kibum's impressive looking house and raised an eyebrow. "We figured that you could pay for us."
Kibum glared at him, then at Jinki, who practically withered under such hatred. "It's the weekend," Kibum said.
"So? That doesn't mean I can't tell people where you are."
"Hyung?" asked a muffled voice from behind the door. "What's wrong?" The door was pulled open, revealing the skinny, younger kid from the confrontation outside Chun Ha High School, his long hair pulled back into a half-assed bun on the back of his head. Behind him stood the one who had been called Minho, his height highlighted by the black jeans he was wearing. "Ah," said the younger boy.
"You!" Jonghyun said, pointing over his shoulder at Minho. "Jinki-hyung needed three stitches after what you did!"
"I said I didn't mean to hurt him," Minho said, not really sounding like he much cared.
Kibum looked between them, and then asked the younger one, "Taemin, do you know this idiot?"
"They both turned up at school last week. They were asking about you."
"So when you said that you had contacts," Kibum said to Jonghyun, "really you just meant that you went sneaking around?"
"No, Jinki-hyung really does know some students at Chun Ha," Jonghyun said, thumbing over his shoulder at Jinki, who waved half-heartedly and then dropped his hand. "Anyway, your friends attacked us, so you owe us for that, at least."
"Hyung, what's going on?" Taemin had stepped down from the door, and was positioned by Key's elbow. He didn't really seem like much of a threat, but Minho, who seemed to guard him like a second skin? He was certainly a threat.
"This is the idiot who is blackmailing me," Kibum said, pointing an accusing finger at Jonghyun. "You should have killed him when you had the chance, Minho."
"Hey, can I borrow your phone?" Jonghyun asked Jinki, who fumbled in his pocket for it, looking confused. Jonghyun flicked through the contacts list. "What was the name of that Chun Ha guy?"
"Leave me out of it," Jinki begged, seeing the way Taemin grabbed Kibum's hand.
"Jae Hee, wasn't it?" Jonghyun said, vaguely recalling something Jinki had said. Judging by Kibum's intake of breath, he'd guessed right. "I guess he'd love to know where Key is right now, huh?"
Minho took a step forward, hands balling into fists, but Kibum reached out an arm and stopped him. "Get your coat," he muttered through gritted teeth. "We're going to noraebang."
"You're an awful person," Jinki said, as they disappeared into the house. Jonghyun didn't answer, too busy figuring out what songs he was going to sing. "Why are you doing this?"
"I don't know," Jonghyun said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "He just gets under my skin, you know? Something about him that drives me nuts. I don't like the way he acted like my friend. I didn't want to be friends with him. He bullied me into doing the things that he wanted to do. Why can't I bully him into doing the things I want to do?"
"Two wrongs don't make a right."
"Yeah, but two wrongs do mean that we get to noraebang for free, so you know, make your choice. Morals or free noraebang?"
"God damn you," Jinki said.
"Really," Jinki said earnestly, after Kibum had paid for the room. "He's not usually like this."
"You mean he isn't usually an arrogant douchebag?" Kibum asked sarcastically, glaring at Jonghyun's back as he went ahead to the room that they were going to be singing in.
"...Okay, you've got me," Jinki said weakly. Kibum didn't answer, he just stormed down the hallway and into the room. When Jinki got there, he was sitting on one of the sofas with his arms crossed, flanked either side by Taemin and Minho, both of whom were looking at Jonghyun, searching through the song options, like he was something they'd found on the bottom of their shoes. Jinki sidled up to him.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he whispered.
"Sure," Jonghyun said, handing him a microphone. "Look, F.T Island."
"Stop bribing me with songs," Jinki said weakly.
Half an hour later, Jonghyun flopped down onto the seat next to Kibum. Jinki was still singing, while Taemin had gone to the bathroom, Minho still shadowing him. Kibum shifted along the sofa away from him. "Thanks for paying," Jonghyun said cheerfully.
"Fuck off," Kibum muttered. "I've been saving up for sunglasses. Now I'm right back where I started off."
Looking at his face, Jonghyun did feel a litte twinge of guilt, but only a little and it was easy enough to ignore. "Why don't you sing something?" he suggested.
"What, and interrupt your precious time? No thanks."
"Aw, come on, we could do a duet. I can make anyone sound good." Kibum didn't say anything, just staring at the door, but Jonghyun thought he knew what the twist of his lips meant. "You think I'm a good singer, don't you?" he asked, leaning over so he could stick his face right into Kibum's obnoxiously. Kibum leaned back, making a face of disgust.
"You're not a good singer," he said.
"Yes, I am."
"No, you aren't."
"Yes."
"No."
"Clearly, the only way to solve this is by some sort of singing competition," Jonghyun said slyly. Kibum stared at him for a long minute, before grinning, a little darkly.
"You are so on."
"Hey, hyung," Jonghyun said, standing up and lightly tapping Jinki on the back of his head with the microphone. "We're going to have a competition. Judge for us?"
"Don't you think there'll be a conflict of interests?" Kibum asked, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. Jonghyun shook his head and handed him the microphone that he'd just taken from Jinki, who sat down magnanimously.
"Nope, Jinki-hyung is pissed at me for blackmailing you," he said. "You choose." He regretted saying that when he saw what Kibum did choose. "Gee?" he asked, as the opening notes started. "Really?"
"Shut up, I like this song," Kibum said. "What's wrong, scared you'll lose?"
"There is no way," Jonghyun said.
Once the song finished, however, neither of them even looked at Jinki for what he thought, which was just as well, since Kibum would have won on the basis that he had actually known the words. He looked triumphantly at Jonghyun, who dived for the selection booklet. "Best out of three," he said. "This time I get to choose."
Halfway through Insomnia, Minho and Taemin came back in, and just stood in the doorway staring at them, probably because they were shoving each other to try to put the other off. Jonghyun could barely breathe, he was laughing so hard, and Kibum was on the floor and couldn't see the words. Their joint score by the end of it was a measly ten points.
"That's your fault," Jonghyun declared.
"It was your song choice."
"You were putting me off!"
"You pushed me over!"
"Uh, hyung?"
They all looked at Taemin, who was looking bewildered. Kibum, looking suddenly flustered, shoved the microphone he was holding into Jonghyun's hands and snatched his coat up off the sofa he'd been sitting on. "We've got to go," he said, avoiding Jonghyun's eyes. "Taemin has a -- thing."
Taemin looked so confused by that that it was fairly obvious that he had no such 'thing'. "But we were singing," Jonghyun said blankly.
"You can continue to sing," Kibum snapped, switching to angry in a matter of moments. "I paid for the room for three hours, didn't I? You two can stay here and continue to have fun on my money, can't you?"
"Dude, what the fuck is --"
"I'm going," Kibum said. "I'll see you on Monday."
He left before Jonghyun could say anything more, and they could hear Taemin asking what was wrong all the way down the hallway. Jonghyun turned to Jinki. "What the hell was that all about?"
"I don't know," Jinki said innocently. "Maybe he's annoyed that you're blackmailing him?" Jonghyun just scowled at him.
"What was that about yesterday?"
Lunch on the roof had always been the only thing that Jonghyun really liked about school, and he liked it even better when Kibum was paying for it. Kibum avoided his eyes, lying on his back, shielding his face from the sun with an arm. "I told you," he muttered. "Taemin had a thing."
"What kind of a thing?"
"Dance practice."
Jonghyun raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Taemin dances?"
"We both do."
That made Jonghyun sit up straighter. "You dance?"
"Yeah."
"Man," Jonghyun said, with a low whistle. "There are too many sides to you, you know that?"
Kibum didn't answer immediately. He brought the hand that wasn't sheilding his eyes up to loosen his tie, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. His skin was quite pale. "Most of them aren't really me," he said quietly.
"Hmmm." Jonghyun looked down at his sandwich, then back at Kibum. "The perfect student?"
"Is hard to keep up."
"The hardened deliquent?"
"Got too many people in trouble."
"The dancer with the fetish for girl songs?"
Key lifted his arm so he could glare at him. "It's not a fetish," he muttered darkly.
"That's the real you, huh."
"That's part of the real me." Kibum sat up, sighing, and looked at Jonghyun. "Why are you even asking?"
Jonghyun shrugged. "I'm just interested in knowing."
"Yes, but why?"
Jonghyun frowned. "I don't know. I guess if I'm going to blackmail you, I should at least know the person I'm blackmailing, shouldn't I?"
Kibum lay back down, looking disappointed. "You're an idiot," he said.
"Hey!"
"Why don't I just tutor you?" Kibum asked in frustration, after half an hour spent in Jonghyun's bedroom, working on Jonghyun's homework while Jonghyun himself sat watching television and eating cookies.
"No fear," Jonghyun said.
"Finals are coming up soon. What happens when you suddenly come bottom of the class after doing so well the rest of the time?"
Jonghyun shrugged. "I'll work something out."
"You can't cheat."
"Who says I can't?"
Kibum just stared at him, mouth agape. Then he changed tack. "The more time I spend on your homework, the less time I have to study. If I don't come top of the class in the next set of exams, my parents are going to make me move schools again."
Jonghyun looked at him carefully. "That's a lie, isn't it?"
Kibum grinned despite himself. "Yeah, that's a lie."
"Get on with my homework, slave boy."
Ten minutes later, Kibum said, "No, seriously, it wouldn't be that hard."
"Were you run out of your old school for being too damn annoying? Stop bugging me or I'll tell them where you are."
Kibum asked, another ten minutes later, "Can I at least have a cookie?"
"No, you'll get fat."
"Oh, please, I could never get like you."
"Nicely done," Jonghyun said, and gamely handed a cookie over.
"While I'm pleased that this blackmailing thing seems to be working out for you," Jinki said, twirling his straw in his Coke, "have you ever asked him quite why he ran away from his old school?"
"No," Jonghyun said with a shrug. "I didn't really think about it, to be honest."
"No, I didn't think you wouldn't have. Aren't you interested? I am."
"Kind of. It's not really important, is it? He's at my school now."
"Jonghyun, you're blackmailing him using his old school against him. Don't you think you better find out more? What if he has a legitimate reason for not wanting to meet any old school friends?"
Which was how they found themselves standing outside Chun Ha High ten minutes later, watching as the last few stragglers filtered out of school. It had let out quite a while earlier, and no one left really wanted to hang around and talk to two kids from different schools. Jonghyun slid his gaze along to Jinki, who said, "Fine, fine," in an irritated tone. It had been a wasted bus journey, especially when Jonghyun hadn't really cared about what they could find out.
"Back when he was still being that annoying goody-two-shoes, he mentioned something about wanting to go to university." Jonghyun was staring at the school, at the boarded up windows on the top floor and the broken chairs on the playing field. "You can understand why he'd want to get away from this school's reputation if that was the case."
"Still doesn't explain why he's terrified of his past catching up to him, does it?"
"He said it got too many people hurt," Jonghyun murmured, too quietly for Jinki to hear, looking around and spotting a bunch of guys down the end of the street. They seemed to be shoving something, or someone, and for a second Jonghyun caught a glance of light brown hair. Squinting, he said, "Isn't that that Taemin kid?"
Jinki looked over. "I think you're right," he said, just as Taemin went sprawling on the pavement, bag flying out of his hands. The boy whose feet it landed next to picked it up and promptly emptied the contents all over the ground, then threw the bag into the road, straight into the gutter. After exchanging glances, Jonghyun and Jinki headed over wordlessly.
"Yah, Lee Taemin," one of the boys was saying, nudging Taemin with his foot. "What, you think you're so great since you were Key's favourite? Your precious Key-hyung ran away, you idiot. We told you, it was just a matter of waiting until Choi wasn't around."
Taemin didn't say anything; he just sat up, staring at the floor, hair in front of his face. One of the boys reached down, seemingly to grab hold of his hair, but Jonghyun said, casually, "Hey, Taeminnie."
Taemin's head snapped up, his mouth dropping open as he took in Jonghyun and Jinki standing there, Jonghyun waving one hand down at him, Jinki smiling brightly. "W-what are you doing here?" he stammered.
"We came to see you," Jonghyun said.
"Who the hell are you?" asked the boy who had thrown Taemin's bag into the street.
"Kim Jonghyun."
"Lee Jinki," said Jinki vaguely.
There were a few looks exchanged, before one of them cleared their throats and said, "Uh, we should be going."
After they had left, rather speedily, Jonghyun reached down and yanked Taemin to his feet, brushing him down as Jinki retrieved his bag from the street. It was dirty, and Taemin looked at it blankly before he ignored it and said, "Why did they leave?"
"Hey, just because you'd never heard of us doesn't mean no one has never heard of us," Jonghyun said, bending down and picking a textbook up off the ground. "Jinki-hyung here knows a lot of people, most of whom you would not want to meet on a dark night."
Taemin didn't look like he believed a word of it, especially not when Jinki kindly asked if he wanted to get something to drink from the convenience store across the street. Taemin looked reluctant, but he seemed grateful enough when Jinki handed him a bottle of vitamin water. "What was that all about?" Jonghyun asked, sitting down on the steps up to the store next to Taemin.
Taemin didn't answer straight away, staring at the school across the road. "They don't like that I was friends with Key-hyung," he said quietly, taking a sip of his water. "There's a new leader of the school, a new...regime, I guess, and I won't follow it. It's not right, what they did to Key-hyung."
"What did they do to Kibum?"
Taemin shook his head. "You'll have to ask him that. I don't have any right to tell you if he doesn't want you to know." He had a bruise forming on his cheek, which looked like it would end up being nasty. He touched it gingerly, then sighed and fixed Jonghyun with that scary stare again. "Of course, what you're doing to Key-hyung isn't right either."
Jonghyun shrugged. "You didn't see how he was when he first joined the school."
"He's just trying to--"
"Taemin?"
Minho was standing at the gates of the school, staring across the road at them. Taemin immediately ducked his head, pulling his hair over his face, trying to hide. Minho barely even checked for cars before dashing across the road. He kneeled down, trying to see Taemin's face, but he covered it and wouldn't let him see. "Why is your bag all torn? What happened?"
"Nothing," muttered Taemin.
"Did they do anything to you?" Minho asked, glaring at Jonghyun and Jinki.
"Yah, we helped him," Jonghyun said. "He was getting shoved around by some kids from your school."
Taemin's head shot up, eyes telling Jonghyun to shut up, but all it meant was that Minho was able to see the yellow bruising on the side of his face. Before Taemin could duck down again, Minho grabbed him, holding his head still so he could inspect it. "Was it Dongman? Taemin, was it him?"
"Yeah," whispered Taemin.
"I'll kill him," Minho said furiously.
"Hyung, just leave it," Taemin begged. "It'll just make it worse if you get involved."
"And it's going to get better if I don't? How long before they start going to your house, Taemin? How long before they start harrassing your family? You need to--" He stopped, because Taemin had burst into tears. Silently, Minho pulled him close and rested his chin on Taemin's head, mouth hidden by his hair. "I'm sorry, Taemin," he said. "I'm sorry."
"I miss Key-hyung," Taemin sobbed, looking like he was trying to get hold of himself but just couldn't quite manage it.
"I know, I know."
"Are you still going to blackmail him?" Jinki asked quietly on the bus on the way home.
Jonghyun paused, before saying, "Yeah."
He couldn't see how he was supposed to keep Kibum's attention otherwise.
"You're kidding me, right?"
"Nope." Jonghyun had managed to blag his way up to Kibum's bedroom, which was a lot different to what he'd expected. It was painted a muted cream, with pale wooden flooring and simple funiture. In fact, if it wasn't for the bright, multicoloured bedsheet and the straighteners lying on the floor, Jonghyun would have thought it was someone else's bedroom. Then he remembered that Kibum had only just moved, so not too long ago, it would have been someone else's bedroom. "I need your help."
"I'm studying," Kibum said, motioning to his desk. "Remember? Finals start tomorrow."
Neither Taemin or Minho had mentioned to Kibum that Jonghyun and Jinki had turned up outside their school, and Jonghyun hadn't asked Kibum about why he'd had to leave that school. He kept telling himself that it didn't really matter, but in reality, he was just scared to. It seemed like such a big secret that he knew that Kibum wouldn't tell him. No matter what Jonghyun thought, Kibum didn't seem to think of Jonghyun as a friend, and really, Jonghyun wasn't Kibum's friend. Jonghyun was just blackmailing Kibum into doing what he wanted. That wasn't friendship.
That thought was playing on his mind a lot.
"Eh, finals, you'll be fine." Jonghyun shut the open text book. "More importantly, my sister's birthday is on Wednesday, and I have got no idea what I'm supposed to buy her. I need you to come choose for me."
"How am I supposed to help?"
"You mean beyond the fact that this room looks kind of a lot like her room?" Jonghyun asked, flopping down on the bed. Kibum sighed, and reached over him to pull a stuffed bear from under Jonghyun's head, knee pressed against Jonghyun's thigh.
"Fine," he said. "But give me ten minutes to change out of these things."
It actually took him half an hour to get ready, after deciding that his hair needed sorted out too. He really did own the tightest jeans Jonghyun had ever seen, and he found himself staring at Kibum's ass as he got on the bus ahead of him. He'd been damn right; blue really was Kibum's colour. But then, Jonghyun was beginning to realise, he considered anything to be Kibum's colour.
"How old will she be?" Kibum asked, snapping Jonghyun clean out of his thoughts on how the sun streaming through the bus window really caught the highlights in Kibum's hair, and whether they'd always been there or whether Kibum had just recently got the blonde put in.
"Uh, twenty-two."
"What does she like?"
"I don't know."
"What's her favourite colour?"
"I have no idea, probably pink, she's a girl."
"What kind of perfume does she wear?"
Blank stare.
"You are completely useless."
"She's my sister, I'm not supposed to pay attention to this sort of stuff!"
"You are if you want to get her a birthday present," Kibum said. "What did you get her last year?"
"A body pillow." When Kibum looked unimpressed, Jonghyun said, "What? She wanted one!"
"Is there anything she wants this year?"
"Not that I know of."
"Are you expecting me to perform a miracle?"
"Yup."
The thing was, Jonghyun totally believed that just having Kibum there would help bring about such a miracle. That's what kind of person Kibum was. He knew which shops were best to go in and which shops were good to avoid. There was a tiny store tucked in a back street that sold handmade jewellery boxes and mobile phone charms, where Jonghyun bought a pair of earrings that she would probably adore and a unicorn shaped phone charm. Kibum knew where to get all the best deals, where all the cheapest merchandise was, and even where the best value food was. After lunch, Kibum dragged him into a slightly more upmarket shop, where he pointed out a pair of sunglasses.
"Those are the ones I've been saving up for," he said. "Of course, since I'm spending all my money on buying you lunch, I have nothing to buy them with, but I will own them eventually."
"They're very bling," Jonghyun said, raising an eyebrow at the price.
"They'll look amazing," Kibum said wistfully.
They wandered through the store, Kibum batering his way into buying two shirts at a much lower price than how they'd been marked. Just as they were leaving, Jonghyun said suddenly, "I have to go to the bathroom. You just stay here and I'll be right back."
"Fine," Kibum said, watching him disappear back into the store.
It took Jonghyun a minute or two to find his way back to the sunglasses, and as he handed over the money for them, he couldn't quite believe that he was spending that much on something for another person. It wasn't like it was Kibum's birthday, it was still six months until Christmas, and Kibum hadn't even done anything. He was supposed to be buying Jonghyun stuff, not the other way around.
Lost as to quite why he'd impulsively bought the sunglasses, he tucked them in the bags that he had, hidden from sight before he made his way back to Kibum at the front of the store. Kibum didn't say a word, so neither did Jonghyun, as they headed for the front of the shopping center. Their next stop was the station, so Jonghyun could catch a train and Kibum a bus back their respective houses.
"Yah, Kim Key!"
Kibum looked up automatically, face terrified. Jonghyun looked up, saw two boys on the level above them, staring down, one of them pointing at the top of Kibum's head. Their faces were twisted and nasty.
"I presume you know them?" he asked. Kibum ducked his head again.
"I wish I didn't," he said.
"I wonder where the best place for a fight is," Jonghyun said musingly. Kibum grabbed his arm, fingers tight. The desperate motion was surprising.
"I'd give anything to not deal with them," said Kibum. "Please, Jonghyun, let's just go."
"Well then," Jonghyun said, pushing Kibum forward a step. "Run."
Their sudden movements caused a shout from above them, and Jonghyun had no doubt that they were being followed, but the crowd of shoppers outside soon swallowed them up and by the time they'd both sprinted onto the bus and showed their passes to a confused looking driver, there was no one around who seemed to know who they were. They collapsed onto two seats at the back.
"This isn't your bus," Kibum pointed out.
"I'll get one from your street," Jonghyun panted. "How are you not tired?"
"I'm a dancer, I get more exercise than you."
He was white, looking almost as scared as he had done that day that Jonghyun had first told him that he knew something about his past. The expression didn't suit him. Jonghyun put an arm around him, squeezing his shoulder. "Don't worry," he said. "They don't know where you're going. They won't be able to find you."
"Yeah," said Kibum, with a strange expression on his face. "Thanks to you."
Kibum's mother tried to make him come inside for some dinner -- she seemed overjoyed that Kibum had made a 'friend' at the school he'd transferred to -- but Jonghyun refused on the basis that he had to get home and study -- he winked at Kibum, who rolled his eyes and ushered his mother back into the house. "You aren't really going home to study, are you?" he asked.
"Of course not," said Jonghyun, leaning against the railing of Kibum's porch. "There's a Star Trek marathon on, and there's a seat with my name on it."
"Nerd."
"Bitch."
Kibum's eyes flicked toward the bags by Jonghyun's feet, and then back to Jonghyun's face. "Thanks for today," he said quietly. "I just kind of froze up."
"Hey," Jonghyun said. "Don't even worry about it."
Kibum was looking at him intensely, his eyes raking over every inch of Jonghyun's face. It unnerved Jonghyun, so he stood up straighter, taking a step away from the porch railing; it was then that he realised that doing so brought them both a little too close for comfort. Kibum pushed a hand through his hair, and sighed. "What are you doing, Jonghyun?" he asked. "What is it that you even want from me?"
Jonghyun didn't answer. Without even thinking, he put a hand on Kibum's shoulder, leaned forward, and kissed him, gently. When he pulled away, shocked at what he'd done, Kibum looked stunned. Then the anger descended. "Oh hell no," he said, shoving Jonghyun away, so that he fell against the railing, standing on one of the bags. Something cracked, and a tiny part of his brain hoped beyond belief that it wasn't the sunglasses. Kibum looked so angry that Jonghyun was surprised he hadn't been slapped.
"What the fuck?"
"You can blackmail me into a lot of things," Kibum said, poking Jonghyun painfully in the chest. "I'll do most things to stop them from finding out where I am. But one thing I am not willing to do is that."
"I don't know what the hell you're--"
"Fuck off, Jonghyun." His front door slammed shut behind him.
The sunglasses lay on his bedside cabinet, taunting him all night. At one point, he thought about simply sticking them on ebay and selling them. Then he thought that maybe they'd make Kibum forgive him. Then he went back to wondering what the hell Kibum had been so angry about.