galileo had it backwards

[montellico]

title: galileo had it backwards
pairing(s): onkey (minor jongyu, ontae, onsica)
rating: pg-13
wordcount: 3943
summary: Kibum secretly wants his roommate's ex-boyfriend. Unfortunately, Jinki is too busy sleeping with other people to figure that out.
a/n: for challenge 018 at shawol_haven


It's three o'clock on a warm September afternoon when Kibum broaches the subject.

"So," he says, "I think it's about time you introduced me to this Jinki guy."

"Um, no." Jonghyun rolls his eyes and shuts his econ textbook. The two of them are studying in the bedroom of their tiny, shared apartment, but Kibum keeps trying to make conversation. "When I want to break up with him, I'll introduce him to you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kibum demands, tossing his binder and books on the floor and reclining on his bed.

"You know what it means," Jonghyun retorts. "You scare people away! Remember Kyuhyun?"

"A douche if I ever saw one. You're better off without him," Kibum says dismissively.

"What about Amber? She was far from douchey, she was great - "

"And you were her rebound. It was never going to last."

"Minho. Minho was perfect - "

"Too tall for you." Kibum sighs. "Look, when you bring home someone that's a good match for you, you won't have to worry about me being in the way. Because if they really care about you, they won't let anything get in the way of seeing you, right?"

"I don't know what fantasy world you live in, where people like that actually exist," Jonghyun says through gritted teeth, "but where I come from, no one wants to date a guy with a batshit crazy roommate who yells death threats at any hint of physical contact."

"That was one time," Kibum sniffs, "and only because he was reaching for your crotch. Which no one should ever do in public. Ever."

"He was reaching for my hand!" Jonghyun gripes. "But anyways. Do you see why I don't want you meeting my boyfriend?"

"No," Kibum says stubbornly. "Bring him over tomorrow. Or else I'm throwing away your favorite cologne. And I'll just stalk you on your dates until I meet him anyway."

And that leaves Jonghyun very little choice but to agree.

Jinki arrives exactly when Jonghyun asks him to - six o'clock PM on the dot. He gives his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips, smiles at him reassuringly, and allows himself to be ushered into the living room, where Kibum is waiting. Jinki has to admit he's surprised - from Jonghyun's description of Kibum as "a horrible, fiendish monster," he wasn't expecting this immaculate, attractive young man. Still, Kibum is fixing him with an icy glare that leaves him feeling fairly uncomfortable. Luckily Jinki has a pretty reliable remedy for just such instances.

"So you're Jinki," Kibum says, leaning back into the couch and rearranging his his primly crossed legs.

"Yes," Jinki says. "Nice to meet you."

And then he smiles. He smiles like his life depends on it (well, maybe it does) and he bows and he keeps smiling and Kibum looks a little taken aback. His eyes go wide, like he's never seen such a smile before, and then he sighs and uncrosses his legs and pats the space on the couch next to him invitingly.

"Sit down," he says. "Tell me about yourself."

Jonghyun exhales loudly (he's been holding his breath since Jinki entered the apartment) and Jinki chuckles.

"What, is this a job interview or something?" he jokes as he sits down.

"Kind of," Kibum says seriously, "because taking care of this stupid douchebag is a full time responsibility."

"Hey," Jonghyun says warningly. "I can hear you!"

"I think I can handle it," Jinki tells Kibum. "And I get the feeling that even if I can't, you can take care of us both."

"Jonghyun told me you're a klutz," Kibum says. "What if you fall on him and break his neck or something? How am I supposed to trust you?"

"I promise I won't break his neck," Jinki says with a straight face.

"Or any other body parts?"

"You have my word."

"What about his heart?" Kibum says suddenly. "Can you promise me you won't break that?"

"I can't make promises like that," Jinki says, and Kibum tenses. Across the room, Jonghyun stops breathing again.

"Then I can't let you date my friend," Kibum says coldly.

"Well, can you promise me that he won't break my heart?" Jinki shoots back, a challenge in his voice.

Kibum hesitates.

"I know that you're concerned about him," Jinki continues. "I know that you're a really good friend. And you're really protective. So, because I care about Jonghyun, I'm asking for your blessing. You could make this really miserable for me. You could make me regret ever coming here. Or, you could let him be happy and live his own life." He pauses. "You want him to be happy, right?"

Kibum pales. "I know what's best for him," he hisses.

"If you don't give us your blessing," Jinki says, "he'll move in with me."

"Jinki," Jonghyun says in a strangled voice. "Jinki - "

"He wouldn't do that," Kibum says, confidence in his voice but a spark of panic in his eyes.

"You want to test that?" Jinki says.

There's a brief moment of silence, and then Kibum laughs.

"He's got balls, Jjong, I'll give him that," he says, rising to his feet.

"So is that a blessing?" Jinki says hopefully, standing as well.

"It's the closest you'll get to one," Kibum says, heading off to the kitchen. "I know when I'm beat."

Jonghyun runs over to Jinki and hugs him tightly, burying his face in the older man's neck and sobbing, oh god you did it, you're amazing, you're the best, and Jinki grins broadly.

"Get out of here, you two," Kibum snaps, "go have dinner somewhere. I'm not cooking for you if you're gonna be all over each other like that."

"Seriously?" Jonghyun says. He beams at Kibum. "You're the best!"

"Duh," Kibum says.

"I'm gonna change into something nice," Jonghyun tells Jinki. "Wait just a minute."

"So," Jinki says, following Kibum into the kitchen as Jonghyun dashes off. "Are we going to be friends?"

"It depends," Kibum says. "Are you a dick?"

"Well." Jinki tilts his head to the side and scratches his chin in mock contemplation. "No, no I don't think so."

"Then in that case, I believe we're going to get along just fine." Kibum smiles then, and he's got a great smile, all dimples and warmth and perfect teeth.

"That's good," Jinki says, smiling right back.

"But you better take care of that idiot," Kibum adds.

"I'll do my best," Jinki says with a salute.

And, to his own astonishment, Kibum trusts him.

Jinki is the first of Jonghyun's boyfriends to make frequent visits to the apartment. (Kibum's been single as long as they've lived there.) It's not a large space, and was never really meant to accommodate more than two people, but for some reason Jinki's presence doesn't make it crowded; it feels just right with him there. Kibum can't help but get to know Jinki, bit by bit, with all the time that the older boy spends at the apartment, and finally he (grudgingly) admits that Jonghyun has chosen well. Jinki is polite and kind and thoughtful. He's also the clumsiest, most awkward person Kibum's ever met, and a huge dork on top of it. Strangely, Kibum finds he doesn't mind that at all. In fact, he comes to adore Jinki's smile and laugh, and he even embraces Jinki's bad puns and Donald Duck impersonations.

And maybe the best thing about Jinki is that he gets Kibum's insecurities.

"I'm not stealing Jonghyun from you," he says early on. "I swear, you're still his best friend. No one can ever take that away from you."

"Thanks," Kibum says, flushing, "but I wasn't - "

"It's okay," Jinki says. "He loves you. Not like, you know. Not like that. But he loves you, so don’t even worry about it.”

“Did he say that?” Kibum whispers, all pretense of pride gone. “Did he actually say it?”

“Not in so many words,” Jinki says with a shrug. “But basically, yeah. He’s concerned about you. He wants you to find someone.”

“I ...” Kibum trails off. “God. I agree. I need to find someone. I just don’t have the time. I don’t know how he manages to go through so many boyfriends so quickly, to be honest ...”

Jinki pats him on the shoulder. “You’re going to find someone amazing. You’re going to be swept off your feet. You deserve it.”

And Kibum rolls his eyes and says, “Don’t I look too old to believe in fairytales?” but he’s smiling, and from that day on he actually makes a point of telling Jonghyun to invite Jinki over. When Jonghyun narrows his eyes in suspicion and asks why, Kibum just replies that maybe he likes to have company. Is that too much to ask?

Jinki and Jonghyun break up after three months. Kibum doesn’t notice until about a week later, because, unlike with Jonghyun’s other breakups, there’s very little drama involved. Only when Jinki is absent from the apartment for ten days in a row does Kibum ask why.

“We broke up,” Jonghyun says matter-of-factly. “We said we’d still be friends, though. We’re just gonna wait a while before hanging out again.”

“WHAT?” Kibum screeches. “You broke up? How could you? Why? Why did you break up with Jinki? Your best boyfriend yet? Or did he break up with you? Tell me exactly what happened!”

“Calm down,” Jonghyun says, alarmed. “It was mutual, okay? We both ... I don’t know, there was no passion. I’m a very passionate guy. I have needs. And it’s not like we had a huge fight or anything, we just both decided we wanted to see other people.”

“But ...” Kibum says, looking crushed. “If you don’t marry Jinki, you’ll never settle down. Jonghyun! How could you? He was your best chance at having a long-term relationship ... I mean, God forbid you marry someone like Minho ...”

“Kibum,” Jonghyun says, irritated. “If you think Jinki’s that great, why don’t you marry him. I make my own decisions.”

The words hit Kibum like a ton of bricks: why don’t you marry Jinki? And they’re meant to sound ridiculous but Kibum actually likes the sound of them, he likes the picture they conjure up in his mind. Gentle, compassionate, handsome Jinki - his husband. And it’s almost certainly wrong to think of his best friend’s ex-boyfriend in this way, but Kibum can’t help but suddenly picture Jinki lying languidly beneath sun-dappled sheets and calling seductively, “Come back to bed, yeobo. Breakfast can wait.”

“Did you hear me? Kibum?” Jonghyun’s impatient voice breaks Kibum out of his fantasy-induced daze, and he promptly shakes off all thoughts of naked Jinki.

“Yeah,” he says, shaking his head, “sorry. You’re right. Don’t marry Jinki.”

Jinki and Kibum are still friends - as are Jinki and Jonghyun, for that matter. Jinki comes over for Kibum’s cooking at least twice a week, and he and Jonghyun even swap stories about their latest relationship prospects; Jonghyun has his eye on a fellow fourth-year from the university called Shin something, and Jinki recently met a first-year named Taemin.

Kibum hasn’t told either of them that he’s harboring a newfound crush on Jinki. He thinks it’s probably not healthy and is bound to pass soon enough, and besides, Jinki’s already pursuing this Taemin guy. So why bother telling him? Nothing can possibly come of it.

At least, that’s what he tells himself, but when Jinki announces that he and Taemin are officially dating, Kibum still feels hot coils of jealousy seething in the pit of his stomach.

Still, he wants to be a good friend to Jinki. So he’s as supportive as can be towards Taemin, and once he meets the kid he has to admit that he’s cute, if a bit young for Jinki.

“Thanks for not tearing him apart,” Jinki says to Kibum after he introduces him to Taemin.

“Why would I do that?” Kibum mumbles, remembering Kyuhyun and Amber and Minho.

“Don’t think Jonghyun didn’t tell me in great detail how you treated his old boyfriends,” Jinki says teasingly. “I heard all about the death threats.”

“I’ve reformed,” Kibum says. “You could say it’s thanks to you.”

“Really?” Jinki says, surprised. “All thanks to me?”

“Basically,” Kibum says, embarrassed. “But don’t get a big head, you’re not that special.”

“I reformed the almighty Kim Kibum,” Jinki says gleefully. “I think that makes me pretty damn special.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kibum says. “Whatever.”

Jinki ends it with Taemin in March, when he comes home to a very drunk Taemin and a very naked Minho making out on his couch. Harsh words are exchanged, heavy objects are flung to the ground, and eventually Jinki ends up lying in a fetal position on his bedroom floor, staring at the wall and occasionally shouting obscenities. That’s where Kibum finds him, at least, when he hurries over, prompted by a flurry of texts from a hysterical Taemin.

“Jinki hyung?” he says, alarmed, barging straight into the unlocked apartment. “Hyung?”

Taemin and Minho are long gone, but when he sees Minho’s messenger bag and characteristic white V-neck lying near the door, Kibum knows exactly what’s happened. He hears a muffled “Fuck!” from the bedroom, and runs over.

“Hyung!”

He crouches over Jinki’s trembling form and tugs him into an upright position.

“Kibum,” Jinki says tremulously, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “Why me?”

“It’s okay,” Kibum says soothingly, pulling Jinki into a hug, “it’s okay, hyung, it’ll be okay.”

“I feel so worthless,” Jinki whispers.

“You’re not,” Kibum says insistently, “you’re not worthless, you’re amazing. You’ll find someone ten times better than that cheating scumbag. You deserve it.”

And that’s when Jinki starts to cry, his tears warm and salty and messy on Kibum’s cardigan, but Kibum doesn’t even care. He feels all warm and fuzzy inside, because he’sholding Jinki. Jinki is right here in his arms, and it’s just all kinds of nice, minus the fact that Jinki is bawling his eyes out. And Kibum thinks that he might finally be getting somewhere - because he’s accepted the fact that his little crush isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. And it feels so much better to be crushing on someone when you think you have a chance with them.

But that idea is out the window when Jessica arrives in Jinki’s life.

Kibum still wants Jinki to be happy. And if Jessica makes him happy, then so be it. But she can just be such an obnoxious bitch sometimes, and Kibum has much less patience with her than he did with Taemin. She seems to see that Kibum envies her, and she flaunts it in his face mercilessly. Sometimes he just feels like strangling her.

Still, being with her really does seem to make Jinki happy. Jinki's always happier when he's not single, Kibum's realized. Whenever he's with someone, he glows ten times brighter, he laughs ten times louder, and Kibum's heart aches ten times harder. What he would give to be the person making Jinki feel that way.

Jinki and Jessica break up when she moves to America in July, and Kibum resolves to finally confess his feelings. It'll be perfect, because he's thought of everything he wants to say, and he's even practiced a few times while Jonghyun was out. He calls Jinki and says he wants to come over so they can talk, and then he puts on his nicest sweater and moisturizes his face and fluffs up his hair and takes a taxi to Jinki's apartment.

When he gets there, he spends what feels like an hour standing outside the door. He tells himself this is stupid, that he should turn around and go home, that he's just going to be rejected anyway. Then he scolds himself for thinking that, because he's already spent money on the cab ride out here, so he might as well just go through with it. Still, it takes every ounce of his courage to raise his sweaty hand and knock on the door.

It swings open right away, and Jinki's grinning and looking ecstatic to see him, and Kibum's heartbeat quickens hopefully because maybe it means that Jinki likes him, too, and -

"I met someone today!"

- and then Jinki just has to open his big fat mouth and ruin that idea.

"You ... you did?" Kibum says, crestfallen.

"Yeah, he's a year older than me and his name is Changsun, and Kibum," Jinki says delightedly, "he has got a body like you would not believe."

"Oh," Kibum says dully. "Fantastic."

"Yeah," Jinki says, leading Kibum into the kitchen. "I just wanted to tell you first. I mean, I don't know if we're going to be a thing, but I'm kind of hoping that we are. I'm excited."

"Great." Kibum can feel tears stinging at his eyelids. Could this get any worse?

"Anyway, I made you some tea. I know you prefer coffee, but I just don't have any," Jinki says, handing Kibum a steaming mug. "So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Um," Kibum says thickly, blinking furiously, "I think I'd better not tell you now."

"Oh, come on," Jinki says. "You're already here, you have to tell me! Is it something embarrassing?"

"Yeah," Kibum mutters.

"Even better," Jinki laughs. "So tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me!"

"I love you!" Kibum yells, and Jinki falls silent. "That's it, okay? I love you, and you're too busy picking up men with sexy bodies to even notice."

"I - Kibum," Jinki stutters. "I don't even know what to say - "

"It's okay," Kibum says. Now that he's started, he suddenly feels that he can finish. "Don't say anything. I just need to tell you this. It's going to ruin our friendship, but you have to know." He takes a deep breath. "I really, really like you and I want to be with you. I've watched you go through so many relationships, and each time you look like you're having the time of your life. And Jonghyun, Taemin, Jessica ... they all became just so much happier because of you. You're so ... brilliant. Like, I don't know, some kind of star, just lighting up everyone you see, and God, just being near you makes me so happy ... but you're always with someone else. Making someone else feel like the luckiest person in the world. I just wish ... I mean, just once, can't it be me?"

It's quiet for a long time after Kibum stops speaking. His question hovers in the air, and for some reason Jinki won't meet his eyes.

"Kibum," he says finally. "Kibum..."

And it's in his voice, the rejection. Kibum can hear it. He knows the words before they can leave Jinki's mouth so he just nods and lets the tears fall.

"Okay," he says with as much dignity as he can muster. "I'll go."

So he does. He walks away and doesn't look back.

The whole story comes out to Jonghyun that night, and he takes it surprisingly well. He sits with a miserable, sobbing Kibum for about an hour and pets his hair and listens as he goes on and on about he's so fucking flawless and there's no way I could ever have him, why did I even try, I'm so stupid, but god he's perfect, I wish, I wish, I wish...

Later Kibum's phone rings, and of course it's Jinki and of course he wants to answer it, but of course Jonghyun gets there first.

"Hello?" he says.

"Can I speak to Kibum?"

"No," Jonghyun says curtly.

"Wait!" Kibum screeches.

"Please - " Jinki begins, but Jonghyun hangs up anyway.

"What was that for?" Kibum demands, wiping his eyes. "God, Jjong!"

"He likes you," Jonghyun says simply.

"He rejected me," Kibum reminds him flatly.

"Right, but he still likes you, or he wouldn't call," Jonghyun says. "So make him wait a little. Let him suffer. And then talk to him."

"Your logic is stupid," Kibum says, but he doesn't call Jinki back. He turns off his phone and curls up with Jonghyun on the couch to watch a bad romance flick. Then he goes to bed, falling immediately into a deep sleep that lasts until noon the next day.

He wakes up, disoriented, to bright sunlight, a loud knocking sound, and a faint pressure on his forehead. That turns out to be a post-it, left by Jonghyun: i'd stay with you but i have to meet with a professor :( i'll be back soon. And Kibum figures the knocking will be the landlord, coming to check on the leaky pipe in the bathroom, but it turns out to be Jinki. Kibum almost shuts the door in his face, but Jinki looks so pathetic and haggard that he lets him in.

"What do you want?" Kibum says flatly, crossing his arms over his pajama T-shirt.

"You didn't answer my calls," Jinki says.

"I wasn't feeling well."

"I'm sorry," Jinki says, looking stricken. "Oh God, Kibum, I'm so sorry. I - yesterday - I didn't know how to react. It all happened so fast. But now - "

"Now what?" Kibum snaps. "Nothing has changed. Don't pretend that it has."

"Nothing has changed," Jinki echoes. "But you never heard my response."

"It was a 'no.' I'm not stupid, Jinki, I know at least that much."

"Would you please listen to me for a moment?" Jinki exclaims. "I thought you were in love with Jonghyun. I thought that was why you hated all his boyfriends. So I just assumed I never had a chance with you ... do you honestly think I never felt anything for you?"

"You ... what?" Kibum whispers.

"I did," Jinki says, "but you were my friend. And my ex-boyfriend's best friend, on top of that. It would have been wrong. So I just ... tried to forget about it."

"You loved Taemin," Kibum says.

"Maybe," Jinki admits. "Maybe, once. But he ... well, you know what he did. And that night ... God, you were there that night, you were there for me." His eyes grow glassy at the memory. "I can't even tell you how much that meant to me, Kibum..."

"What are you trying to say, Jinki?" Kibum says impatiently. His heart is beating faster than he'd like to admit, and if this isn't going in the direction he thinks it's going he's going to kill Jinki for giving him false hope, because he can't take any more heartbreak this week -

"I'm trying to say that I want to be with you, too."

Kibum stares at him, his mouth working silently as his mind processes the words.

“What about Changsun?” is the first thing he says.

“I told him we weren’t going to work out. I told him I liked someone else.”

"Really?"

"Really." Jinki flashes that smile, that warm smile that melted Kibum's heart all those months ago. "You said I was like a star?"

"Jesus," Kibum groans, "forget I ever said that - "

"I mean, I don't agree," Jinki continues, "because I think you shine more brightly than I do. You're the most beautiful, perfect, incredible person I've ever met. But I could be a star for you."

Kibum waits warily.

"Because you are my world."

("That was terrible," Kibum grouses. "Could you get any cheesier?"

"Get it, get it," Jinki says eagerly, "because, the sun is a star and it shines on the earth, like the world..."

"I got it," Kibum snaps, "but doesn't the earth revolve around the sun? So I revolve around you?"

"Only if you believe Galileo," Jinki says with a shrug and a grin. "And I personally think he's got it backwards."

"You're a physics major."

"And you are missing the point of my metaphor."

"Whatever."

"You love me."

"Shut up."

"I love you, too.")