Chapter 22 (2/2)

“That was the moment I knew I still loved him…” Jinki ended, he looked up only to see Jungah was being comforted by his friend. “I’m so sorry… oh my god, I’m so sorry to the both of you…” Jungah mumbled to which only Jinki laughed at. “Yah! I’m crying here because now I fully know I’m the reason Taemin doesn’t talk to you… I… oh my god… I broke your bond with him…” Jungah began to tear up again. “Aish… will you stop it? I’m fine, he’s fine. No need to cry,” He replied as he patted her shoulder. “Aish… Joon just kiss her already to make her shut up.” Jinki added with a teasing chuckle. That only ended him on the ground being hit by his friends “Yah! This is abuse!” He yelled as they all laughed.

***

A couple of days has past and the members were still looking forward to Taemin’s show, They didn’t like it, it was obvious but it made the maknae happy to know that they were still supporting him. The reason Key didn’t like it was because it looked like Taemin was becoming closer to Naeun… If Taemin happens to like her, what will happen to Jinki? He didn’t want the other to be heartbroken like Taemin was. One heartbreak was enough for these two… or so he thought. Taemin was still doing the show because somehow he was having fun with it, it was scripted but it was fun. He wanted to give up on the plan of making Jinki jealous — it was a stupid plan anyways — considering in his point of view, it wouldn’t work since the boy was with someone else. But he didn’t stop, still having the thought of Jonghyun and Key’s story. Then again, those two were made for each other. He guessed his acting was great considering it was obvious Key didn’t like anything he was doing in the show. When the “Taeun” couple came to visit, Key had complimented the gifts they had brought to make it seem like he liked the couple but he couldn’t hide the fact that he really didn’t. When all was calm in the room Key couldn’t control his mouth for a moment, blurting out “shouldn’t it be about time you guys got tired of each other?” This made everyone look at him, he made it look like a joke to the viewers but the others in the room knew what he meant. Minho and Jonghyun just gave him a warning look as if to say he needed to tone it down a bit because they were being recorded. Taemin gave him a look he couldn’t read which made him more annoyed not knowing what was going on in the boy’s head. Naeun gave him a look as if saying she knew what was happening. But that was impossible right? The girl couldn’t know anything considering Taemin didn’t like sharing anything a lot.

***

Taemin was out today for the show again and Jinki was out with some friends again. The trio was left alone and planned to clean all rooms. They were going to be getting more schedules soon and didn’t want to be leaving a mess they’d have to come home to after a long day. They were just about finished with everything and Key didn’t need to clean his room, it was just so clean, so he was in charge of the the leader’s and Jonghyun’s room since Jonghyun was cleaning the kitchen. He was done Jonghyun’s side of the room and was now cleaning the maknae’s side. He was making the boy’s bed when a notebook fell from the side. It opened to a page when it fell, he didn’t really think so much of it considering he knew Taemin had stopped with journaling awhile ago. He picked it up, still having it open, not noticing anything was written on it since the page seemed to be blank. He glanced down on the page and caught something interesting.

“He kissed me…”

He flipped the page immediately, noticing it wasn’t the last thing the maknae wrote. But something else caught his attention. That page was so different from the others, the others were written in a long paragraph and were later turned into what seemed like song lyrics. This made him wonder what happen the day this was written. He later called the other two as he ran from thee room to the kitchen, showing them the notebook. “I didn’t open it, it fell and opened up to this page. I thought nothing was written in it but there is. I wasn’t planning to look through it but it caught my attention and since I got curious as to what Taemin was doing I read it.” He said hastily. “Yah… I know we’re all curious but don’t you think you’re going too far… it is his privacy.” Minho said boringly. “I know it’s his privacy, but read it!” He shoved the book closer to the rapper and waited for the two to read it already. “It isn’t the last entry… but what made me curious was why this one isn’t like the others…” Key continued as he waited for the two to finally look up. “He kissed me…” Minho read again, out loud this time as he glided his finger underneath the words. “Okay… so what do you mean this was is different from the others?” Jonghyun asked. “Well… the others are made into a song… this one wasn’t, it’s almost as if he wrote it right after it happened.” Key concluded. “So you’re saying someone kissed our maknae?” Minho asked. “That’s what it says frog.” “Okay… ignoring that, I’m guessing you’re thinking it was hyung?” Minho added to which Key nodded. It didn’t make any sense but at the same time it did. “Jinki hyung? It couldn’t be… he has a girlfriend remember.” Jonghyun pointed out as he flipped through all the pages to see if what Key had said was true. “Yah! Don’t look through it so much! I only read this page!” After awhile of thinking to themselves, Jonghyun told Key to put the book back where he found it, to leave the room as it is so that the maknae doesn’t know about what they found out. He wondered though… could the words allude to the night he caught Jinki kissing the boy in his sleep? Was Taemin-ah actually awake? But it seemed impossible to him because that night he got up to check on the boy and the boy was sound asleep with a smile. He couldn’t forget that day because that day was the day he finally saw the boy smile after a long while. So did it happen again? Did hyung really do it? And this time… did he know he was doing it?

***

The members still don’t know anything about his breakup with Jungah and it’s been 2 and a half months already. He told himself he’d tell them if they asked, he thought it was the fair thing to do considering they were keeping things from him also. He had a feeling his members were curious though. He knew that his actions recently had changed — he was giving them more thought now — and he knew they were just afraid to ask. The leader has been staying at the dorm more often than he usually did. He wasn’t going on dates anymore, wasn’t texting a lot anymore and he actually paid attention whenever they ate together. But what surprised the members were that he wasn’t staying out anymore. It was as if he was back to his old self. Jonghyun needed to know answers, answers he wouldn’t share with the others. He needed to know what the leader was planning because not only did he know the maknae was sneaky, he knew the leader was too. It was no wonder they matched. The singer waited for when everyone was out except for the both of them of course. He didn’t need prying eyes, which he knew would later ask him questions as to why he talked with the leader. When the day finally came, he didn’t forget to double check if everyone was out the dorm and when he was sure that they were gone, he walked to the elder’s room, knocking on it. “Hyung… can I come in?” He said as he poke his head in, he noticed that the boy was cleaning and that everything was mostly everywhere as of the moment. He looked back at the leader and when he saw Jinki nod, he entered. “Why is it so messy in here? You usually like it clean…” Jonghyun asked, gesturing to a pile of what seemed like presents. He waited for a while to ask his questions, thinking Jinki might need some time to think about  where to put things. He glanced back to the presents signalling he was curious of them. “Are those fan gifts?” It took Jinki a moment to answer which made the younger a bit more curious. The leader shook his head “Ani… they’re from Tae” now heading to the pile to organize them since he was done with cleaning one side of his room. He wasn’t looking at Jonghyun since he didn’t think the boy would actually be wanting to get some things out of him, he thought the boy came since they were the only ones in the dorm and was feeling bored. Jonghyun walked towards the pile and picked one up. “These are all from the maknae?” Sounding unsure but at the same time the tone he used was as if he was being amused. He didn’t know Taemin was giving Jinki presents. He wondered why they were a lot of them and as if reading his thoughts Jinki answered him. “Yeah… we usually give each other gifts like once a month or so… I was just organizing them.” Jinki was now looking at the two presents in both his hands, still not knowing where to put them since he still kept the bag it came along with them. “You gave him presents also? How come we don’t know?” Jonghyun asked. “Yeah and it was our thing I guess… I guess that’s why we didn’t tell you guys.” “Our thing”? They had a thing? No one was talking for awhile and it only left Jonghyun to think to himself, letting out more questions. Questions Jinki wasn’t expecting to get. “I’m guessing there’s more at your parent’s place, am I right?” Jonghyun was now sitting on the bed looking at the leader and he noticed that the boy froze at what he said. “N-neh…” The singer heard the hesitation in Jinki’s voice and right there, he knew he was right with his assumptions. “So... when did it end?” Sitting up, the singer cut to the chase. He knew he was making Jinki nervous with his tone but he needed to. He wouldn’t be getting his answers if he didn’t. He knew Jinki was afraid to let his thoughts out, always has been ever since debut days. He wanted to help Jinki. Everyone wanted to help in any way they can. Jinki was in fact nervous. There was no way he wasn’t. Jonghyun has now found out that he has been keeping everything he got from Taemin and knowing Jonghyun, the boy must’ve thought he was keeping them for a reason. The reason being obvious. Seriously, everything about Jonghyun right now was making him nervous. From his tone, he knew the boy knew about his breakup. “When... did what end?” He hesitated again and he knew there was no way to go about it. He knew he’d get nervous because of this, damn, he was getting himself ready everyday for when this day would come. But he didn’t know that he’d be this nervous, to the point that he’d be sweating. “Your relationship with her.” The other said in a “duh” tone. “Two… two and a half months ago…” Jinki was now turned toward the singer but he was fiddling with something on the desk. Showing how tense he was being. “Wah… that long already…” There was a long pause. “How come you didn’t tell us?” “I… I don’t-” The leader was going to explain himself this time without pushing what he really felt but he was cut by the younger. With that, he knew there was no way getting out of this would happen. He knew where this was leading, he knew not to hide anymore. Right now, he felt like the younger out of the both of them, it felt as if he was being lectured but he knew he was just being silly with thinking that. “It’s because you’re planning something…” Because of what Jonghyun had said, Jinki finally looked up with a face saying he was curious as to why he said that. The younger didn’t mind so much of it though and went straight to the question he’s been wanting to ask. “So for how long have you known?” Now walking around the room, stopping at a shelf. “I think the presents should go here, don’t you think?” Jinki only nodded, heading to the shelf to place some presents on it. Though he was hesitating, he did think of putting them up there at first but it was an open space. It looked too obvious if he put them there. That was why he was looking for a new spot when Jonghyun first entered. Making up his mind, he placed them on there. Giving Jonghyun another answer to his questions.  It was quiet again but Jonghyun still waited, knowing the leader would eventually say something. As Jinki was getting more presents, that’s when he finally answered. “Uhh… I don’t know… I mean, I found out a long time ago but I thought he gave up considering he said the same things about other guys.” Jinki shrugged. “What do you mean?” He was now helping the leader gather the others, having the other say ‘thanks’. He already knew from a long time ago? That’s… that’s impossible right? They were placing the presents and Jonghyun noticed they came with notes as well but he didn’t say anything. He forgot he even asked a question because he was looking at each one with admiration. That’s why he was surprised the leader answered. “Well… don’t tell him but I read his journal back when we were preparing for our “The First” album…” Jinki’s voice was wavering, knowing the boy would think he didn’t respect privacy. “You… read his journal…” He asked to make sure, in which the leader nodded. Wow… what’s with everyone reading the maknae’s journal? I should get him a lock or something. He accidentally giggled at his thoughts which only made Jinki tense. “I- I know I shouldn’t have but… it was open… and I read a couple of pages-” Jinki was caught off guard when the boy started laughing. “Yah! If you were in my place you would’ve read it too, especially if it was Kibum’s!” Jonghyun only laughed harder. “Yah! Stop laughing!” He was now whining for the other boy to stop, he was flushed red too. He didn’t know how to make the other boy stop, he didn’t even know why he laughed in the first place. He walked to his bed all sulky “I don’t even know why you’re laughing…” It was quiet but the other boy still heard it. “I’m laughing because you’re too obvious!” Jonghyun chuckled, situating himself beside the leader. “Yah! I know I’m obvious but don’t make fun of me for it! The others already do it…” Jinki pouted. What was with everyone… all they liked to do recently was tease him. He was sure no one else teased Jonghyun when people found out his feelings for Key. He was sure no one else teased Kyungsoo when people found out his feelings for Jongin. So why him? Everyone is so unfair... “The others?” Jonghyun finally calmed since this caught his attention. “Yeah… the others, Joon and Jungah…” Jinki said as he started playing with the pillows, not even noticing he was pouting and using his “child” voice. “Noona knows too?” Jonghyun asked, now patting the boy’s shoulder while Jinki hummed. “Was that why you guys ended it?” “Yeah…” By this time Jonghyun thought he was supposed to be comforting the other until the leader stopped his actions with what he said. “She also said I was too obvious and laughed at me for it! Can you believe her?” Jinki chuckled. “I’m confused… she’s okay with it?” There’s no way she’s okay with it… “Yup! She even said she’d help me.” Jinki smiled. “So hyung and noona are helping you?” The singer asked and Jinki nodded again. “Yeah… noona even cried, said she broke my “bond” with Taemin.” Jinki chuckled. Jonghyun was still confused. Nothing made sense to him so he asked the other to explain what happened in the past couple of months and years before that. As Jinki was explaining, Jonghyun was quite surprised that the leader could be such a great actor for pretending not to know anything. He even praised him for it. It was also upsetting to hear Jinki’s point of the story but to know that the leader has loved Taemin from the very beginning made him happy still. To know that the two loved each other. “Aish… then from the very beginning you guys could’ve been together!” Jonghyun snapped and it surprised the other. “Yah! I’m four years older! He was really young when we met!” Jinki yelled. “Still! You guys love each other!” Jonghyun whined. “How was I supposed to know he loved me way back then?” Jinki yelled. “Oh… I don’t know, maybe you could’ve read his journal from the very beginning and not waited ‘till we were in our fourth year to read it!” Jonghyun sassed. “Aish… I wasn’t planning to read it in the first place!” Jinki huffed. “But you still read it, good job hyung.”  All Jinki wanted to do was yell at the boy in front of him. “Jee… you guys could’ve been together…” Jonghyun sighed. “Aish… are you forgetting something? If we were together from the very beginning then by the time we were in our second year, I’d be dating a minor!” Jinki yelled again, wanting the other to get a grip. But Jonghyun was being himself and kept whining. “Then you should’ve asked him out when he turned legal!” Jinki was getting annoyed with his friend, he was wondering if the boy was even listening to what he was saying earlier when he was explaining. “I thought he gave up on me remember! I thought he had a thing with Kai! Aish… You’re not even listening!” Jinki snapped. What was he supposed to do with this guy. “I’m calling Key” He dialled and waited for the boy to pick up, and when he did he yelled. “Yah! Come home and get your boyfriend to calm down!” The said boy got up from the bed, immediately trying to get the phone. “Why did you call him! Yah!” Jinki only ignored him and waited for someone to answer because he knew someone was there, just not speaking. Jonghyun sat back on the bed and Jinki looked at him while shaking his head.  “You know.. You’re only digging yourself a grave… he’s going to ask me why I’m whining” Jonghyun teasingly hummed. Still no one was answering on the phone but Jinki knew someone was there, he heard breathing. But still, Jinki ignored what the other said, that is until Jonghyun said something again. “Sigh… what should I explain to him?... that you’re in love with the makna-” Jinki rushed to the boy and covered his mouth. Jee, does he really need to say it so loud? “Bye Kibum-ah! Have fun with whatever you’re doing and bring something home for me!” He ended the call, breathing hard as if he had just ran. Jinki was only glaring at the boy now, while the said boy was smirking. “Stop that.” Jinki began. “Stop what? Hmm?” If only the boy wasn’t family, he would’ve slapped that mouth to get rid of it. “Aish… are you always this annoying!?” Jinki snapped. “Yah! Why do you got to say that! You know I’m sensitive!” Jonghyun whined however in the end the smirk was brought back to his face. “Okay, what do you want from me?” Jinki finally asked. He knew the boy was up to something and knew Jonghyun was like Jungah at the moment, they both wanted his permission to do something to help. “I want you to do what you have been doing with the maknae even before debut.” Jonghyun said, “And that was?” “Flirting with each other… duh…” “We weren’t flirting Jonghyun.” The glare was back on the leader’s face. “Really? You guys weren’t? Okay… so I don’t know, treat him like how you treated him back then.” The singer suggested. “Back when?” Jinki asked. “Aish… hyung! I know you’re smart! Back before you were dating jeez!” Jonghyun was the one to snap this time, throwing a pillow at him and the ground. “Yah! Pick that up. And back before I was dating, Taemin always hung out with Kai…” There was a pause “so you want me to act jealous. You… want me to do that. Okay sure, I’ll do that.” Jonghyun was now getting frustrated and he knew that Jinki knew what he meant. “Hyung. I’m going to scream.” “Yeah, yeah… you go do that.” Jinki replied as he left the room. He didn’t think the boy would actually do it but he heard it right when he opened the fridge. He thought they boy would stop but the other kept screaming, the octaves getting higher and higher. He rolled his eyes at how childish the boy was. He marched back into his room with a glass of water and threw it at the boy, surprising him considering he had his eyes closed. “Yah! I didn’t say you can actually do it! We’re living in a dorm for God’s sake!” Jinki yelled. “So you’ll do it?” “Yeah, now shut up” Jinki agreed and later mumbled as he walked out “gosh, you’re so annoying.” Jonghyun heard it… and the leader knew he won’t be able to stop the boy this time. He was regretting he said it in the first place. “You… you don’t actually mean that right? Hyung, you don’t right?” Jonghyun chased after the leader, yelling after him. Jinki just kept ignoring him, hoping he’d stop. He didn’t. “Hyung, apologize! I’m fragile!” “Aish… shut up Jonghyun!” Jinki snapped again. “Not until you apologize!” The singer whined but eventually gave up when he thought of something. Jinki caught the smirk of the other to which he raised his brows. He was scared to ask but he still did. “What is it this time Jonghyun?” The boy only turned away while humming a song. This time it was Jinki following. “Jonghyun, what is it?” He asked again. “I… don’t know~” By now Jonghyun was skipping to his room and the leader still followed. Jinki was now standing at the door, observing the boy, noticing that the singer kept glancing at the same direction. “Jonghyun, if you don’t answ-” “So how did his lips feel?”

I hoped you guys like the chapter! Omg… after 9 months. I’m sorry.Okay now a breakdown of what happened.Jungah and Jinki are in good terms. Yay! And now Joon and her are teasing Jinki about Taemin every chance they get. Key doesn’t like the Taeun couple but to all the members, it seems like none of them like it. Jonghyun has a lot of questions…. He asks Jinki and finds out a lot of him and the maknae. And he thinks he needs to get the boy a lock. And now time for a nervous Jinki again...I think that’s all… This chapter was pretty much all Jinki but that’s all good, right?Anyway, I’m sorry there isn’t a lot of Taemin in this chapter… he will be in the next!I really do hope you guys enjoyed it! ‘Till next time, bye! ♥