Hello Chap. 13

[kumo_is_kumo]

Title: Hello

Pairing: Jongkey

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Smut, Drama, Semi-Angst

Length: Series

Summary: They were young when it all happened; the young love, the separation, the sadness, the fake hurting words. They are matured now when it all happens; the second meeting, the hesitation, the fear of getting hurt, and… the bit of remaining love inside.

Chapter 13



Jonghyun sits still on his leather seat in his office. As he looks around the room, he realizes that he has everything. Perfect job, countless money, great employees, stable company, and good friends.

The only thing he doesn’t have in his life is... love.

He once had that love, but because he was such a loser, a wimp, he lost it.

His phone rings and Jonghyun answers the call.

“Hello, Jonghyun? How did it go?” Minho’s cheerful voice asks from the other line.

Jonghyun smiles at how supportive his friend is. He is thankful to Minho for being such a very good friend. No one else is being so kind to him.

“Jonghyun?”

“Hey,” Jonghyun answers softly, clearing his throat.

“How was it?”

“Well, it’s ended now.”

“Great! Now you two could just- Wait, what?!”

Jonghyun chuckles, his voice chokes. “It’s over now. He doesn’t want me.”

“Why? How?”

“Who wants a coward like me? No one.” He mutters, covering his eyes with the heel of his palm.

“Jonghyun, you are no-”

“I-I have to go now, Minho. Thanks... for caring.”

As he drops his phone down onto the desk after turning it off, Jonghyun allows himself to break down for a moment. It has been so long since the last he had a time for himself. His life always revolves around people and truthfully speaking, it’s hard to cope with. People expect too much on him. He has such high expectation to shoulder on.

He wants to be free. He wants to choose his own choice.

“Shit.” He hisses, wiping his tears away.

It hurts now that he allows himself to feel. For so long he locks himself from feeling. He does not need feeling in business world. He has to be smart and to avoid any loop hole. He is expected to success.

He lost everything. He lost his only chance to love and he lost himself. He often questions about his identity.

Just... Who is he?

The name plate on top of his desk tells that he is

Jonghyun, Kim.

Chief Executive Officer of Kim Media Group

Is he really?







The intercom beeps and Jonghyun wipes his tears away.

“Mr. Kim. Your father wants to meet you in the meeting room, Sir.”

Jonghyun freezes. Why now?

“Tell him to wait. I will be there in ten minutes.”

“Most certainly, Sir.”

He hopes ten minutes are enough time to dry his tears and put on his walls back.











“You are wasting my time.”

Jonghyun bows lowly.

“I’m sorry, father. But there are some important paper works that I have to finish immediately.”

His father waves him off without listening to his excuse. Jonghyun stands still and keeps his mouth shut.

“I heard you were rude to Taemin yesterday.”

“Who...?”

“Your fiancé.”

“No, father. He was distracting my works and-”

“There is no way to talk about your fiancé, Jonghyun. I thought you know better than that.”

He keeps silent and grips onto his fists tightly.

“You must know this deal is very important. I don’t need you to ruin what I have planned for so long. This is all for you.”

Yeah, for you. Jonghyun doesn’t even want to know from which perspective that this will benefit him.

“The announcement for the engagement will be held next month. You better fix your attitude and take him out. Make him like you so that he would say good things to his family.”

Jonghyun keeps mum.

“Do you understand me, Jonghyun?”

“...yes, father.”

His father nods before leaving him alone in the meeting room. Jonghyun rubs his face.

He is tired.

Very, very tired of this.











Kibum can’t help but to feel so conflicted. He is fidgeting for the whole working hours and everyone can see how he is so on edge.

“Teacher Kim, are you sure you are alright?”

His co-workers are so worried because he is not acting like himself.

“I-I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Thank you.” He sends a smile to the worried co-worker. He is kind of thankful that they are so kind.

It has been a few days and Kibum couldn’t reach Jonghyun. None of his messages are replied and none of his phone calls are connected. What’s wrong? What happened? Is Jonghyun so busy that he doesn’t have time to use his phone?

He is so worried because that last time Jonghyun was out of reach; he starved himself without eating and buried himself in his works. What if he is sick?

Kibum goes back home with mind full of the thought of Jonghyun. He almost misses his stop.

He tries calling Jonghyun again but to no avail, the call is not connected.











Jonghyun sits still as he watches the male in front of him sipping onto the champagne.

“Nice dinner. I enjoyed it.”

“Glad to know.” Jonghyun mutters flatly, dropping the napkin down to the table before standing up from his seat.

The male smirks. “You want to get away from me that bad?”

“Taemin,” Jonghyun sighs, “is there anything else that you want?”

“We can talk, you know? I’m not that bad.” Taemin shrugs, before propping his chin on top of his palm.

Jonghyun gives up and drops back onto his chair.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Anything. Your works, your friends, even... your lover.”

Jonghyun sends him a sharp gaze. “I don’t have a lover.”

Taemin has an amused smile. “You sure? Because it didn’t seem like that the last time.”

The words stop Jonghyun from talking any further. He sighs.

“He is not my lover. Not anymore.”

Taemin leans closer to him. “I’m a good listener.”

Jonghyun doesn’t seem convinced and he keeps his mouth shut. His companion notices his hesitation before muttering, “I don’t seem that bad, you know. You can tell me anything. I won’t tell anybody.”

The offer is tempting. Jonghyun needs someone to talk to. And seeing that he will be married to him, it doesn’t hurt to spill a bit about his memory.

“You really won’t tell anyone?”

Taemin nods. “Cross my heart.”

“But, why are you being so kind though? I mean, you are different from the way you usually act. You always act like-”

“A spoiled brat? I know, I heard that a lot.” He smirks.

Jonghyun blinks in awe. His companion seems to be quite interesting.

“People say I am a spoiled brat, so I act like one. Public wants what they want, why don’t give them a show then?”

“So... you are only acting?”

“Yep. Well, not really. I’m quite spoiled, honestly.” Taemin grins.

Jonghyun feels a smile tugs on his lips.

“Why do you always act so annoying then?”

“It’s fun. Moreover to see your response. It’s very entertaining and I find myself want to tease you more and more.”

“It’s not funny.” Jonghyun grumbles, relaxing into his seat.

Taemin chuckles before he blows out in a full round of laughter. “You should have seen your face! And also your tall friend. He looked like he wanted to kill me with his eyes!”

Jonghyun imagines Minho’s gaze and that makes him laughs.

“You don’t seem so bad.” He comments. The male across him rolls his eyes.

“Please,” he mocks, “everyone wants a piece of me. Look, I know we are both are… forced in this but let’s not make anything more difficult. The least we could be are friends.”

Jonghyun sees the outstretched hand in front of him. Taemin waits with a wide grin.

And he sees himself agreeing to the offer.

“Friends.” He says while taking his hand for a handshake.











“Kibum! It’s surprising that you asked me out for a dinner!” Jinki breathes in surprise, sitting down onto the chair.

Kibum smiles at him. “I feel bad for ignoring you. And sorry about that last time.”

Jinki waves his hand. “Ah, don’t worry about it. Everyone has their own bad day. So, whats up with life?”

“Nothing new. Hey, let’s order something. I’m hungry.”

Jinki helps him with his chopsticks while Kibum blanks out.

“There is something bothering you. You can tell me, I will try my best to help. What’s wrong?” Jinki asks, looking concerned. Kibum hesitates in telling people about what’s bugging his mind. People judge too fast, what if Jinki would judge him too? That he is being the wrong one here?

“Nothing. Eat your meat.” He sighs, shaking his head.

Jinki frowns.

“You keep ignoring my offer to help you. Try to open up a bit, Kibum. Don’t keep everything to yourself. It’s not good.” He says softly.

Kibum puts down his chopsticks and takes his glass of soju.

“Okay, so I… I think I made one fatal mistake that I could never fix.” He mutters lowly, pouring himself more to drink.

“And what kind of mistake is that?”

“My mistake is not being honest enough.”

Jinki says nothing. Kibum takes that as a cue to continue.

“What should I do? I kept telling myself that I didn’t have the right to feel that. It was not my position. Not anymore. What happened before was half of my fault, but I wanted to have it back. When the chance was offered in front of me, I was not honest and now I lost it. I don’t know anymore.”

Jinki slowly pats his arm.

“Is it about Kim Jonghyun?”

Kibum looks up at him. “You know about him? Ah, yeah, you know. You business people know each other. Say, what do you know about him? Have you met him recently? Because I haven’t.”

Jinki glances away, “He is… okay, I guess. I don’t really have any grudge or problem with him, so he is okay. And no, I haven’t met him. I don’t have any business with him for a moment. Why… why would you meet him? What’s between the two of you?”

“Funny,” Kibum chuckles, chugging another shot down his throat, “because I don’t know myself. I don’t know what’s between us.”

“You are friends?”

“Nope. Far from that.” Kibum mutters, sighing. “I don’t know how he is. The last time I met him was… so long ago.”

“Kibum –”

“I think,” he cuts off, “there is nothing between us. Nothing is left between us. We are just two people who used to be married to each other and now we should live our own respective life.”

Jinki stops him from chugging another shot. “Kibum, you have drunk enough.”

Kibum sobs. “Everything was supposed to be like this from the beginning! But why would I feel so hurt here?” He hits his chest, turning into a full crying. Jinki panics and pays for their bill before bringing Kibum to his car.

“You are drunk.” Jinki sighs, watching Kibum lolling his head up and down.

“I’m not. I’m just depressed. I need alcohol in my blood.”

“Kibum, alcohol doesn’t solve your problem!”

“I don’t care! Nothing can solve this so I need distraction.”

Jinki shakes his head before he drives towards Kibum’s apartment. “I’ll take you home. Try to sober up or you won’t be able to go to teach tomorrow.”

Kibum ignores him and locks his blurry gaze out of the window.







Yeah, he is not honest enough, even with himself.

He keeps denying everything, when it’s as clear as the day that he is still… still… that.

See?

He can’t even tell it to himself.







“Kibum, do you have any plan for Saturday?” Jinki asks suddenly, driving into the intersection around Kibum’s apartment.

“No. Why?” Kibum mutters.

“I… I got this movie tickets from my cousin. Would you like to watch a movie with me?”

Kibum glances at him right at the time Jinki stops the car in front of his building.

“Lee Jinki,” he calls.

The male looks awkward.

“You don’t… you can’t possible asking me out for a date, can’t you?”

Jinki looks awkward and he glances away. “Uh, a… a friendly date?”

Kibum sighs, “Oh my God.” He opens the door and climbs out of the vehicle.

“Wait! Kibum!” Jinki scrambles with his seat belt before finally flying out to run after him.

As Kibum nears his building, Jinki stops him by grabbing onto his wrist and spinning him around. “Hear me out, okay?” He pants nervously.

“Jinki, please don’t sa –”

“I like you, Kibum. I have always liked you for so long!” Jinki blurts out, holding onto his wrist tightly.

Kibum’s eyes widen as he hears it. His friend likes him? How come he doesn’t realize or see the sign?

“Lee Jinki, you are kidding.” He takes a step back.

Jinki chews on his bottom lip nervously, before tugging him close. “I have always liked you. I don’t think I would tell you this but you seem sad and down and I just want to tell you that I will do anything to make you happy and lift your mood again. I don’t want to see you being so sad just because of one person.”

Kibum shakes his head. “No, you are mistaking your kindness with liking. Jinki, you don’t like me.”

Jinki looks conflicted before he pulls Kibum into a hug. Kibum yelps against his shoulder.

“Kibum, can you please give me a chance?”

“Look, Jinki, we don –”











His words stop and Kibum feels his breathe hitches when he sees a familiar car across the street.

That’s Jonghyun’s car.

And Jonghyun is standing, waiting beside it.







Kibum’s mouth parts as he wants to call for his name but no sound could come out.

Jonghyun stares at him with a gaze full of sorrow. He gives a sad, reassuring smile at Kibum before he gets into his car and drives away.







Kibum has never felt this kind of pain. It’s like he can hear his heart breaking into million pieces.

It’s really over, isn’t it?









***








A/N: Main drama comes out hueheheh. And the fiance is Taemin! Conclusion of the chapter: Taemin is a good guy, Minho is a good friend, Jinki is in love, Jonghyun is heartbroken, Kibum is stupid, and I need to end this story sometime soon. Yes? No? Heheh. I live the angst.

Thanks for reading! Comments will be very much appreciated and will make me very happy! Hehe~