Jonghyun buttoned the last button on his white shirt. Finally, he was properly dressed. With difficulty, he tried to erase the picture of Key's bare skin from his memory. And when he succeeded, he only needed to retain himself from imagining Key in the bathtub; then his life would be back to normal like it once was. Yet, he knew it was impossible for him to turn back. Back before their encounter? Before their wedding? He feared he was falling for his husband. What a ridiculous sentence, yet so true.

But now wasn't a good time for daydreaming. He had to find out what had happened between Key and him yesterday night. He woke up the detective he had always wanted to be as a child. If he hadn't become a scientist, he'd have been a policeman now.

So, ready, set, go!

First, the living room; there were two wine glasses on the table and an empty red wine bottle on the couch. However, the couch had no stains, so was the rest of the room. This most likely means it hadn't been spilled. So it implied that they had drunk the whole bottle because when they had left the beach house, it was still unopened. The hosts had prepared it when he heard that they were going out; just like the candles and rose petals on the bed, they found, when they came back from the date.

He knew his alcohol limit very good. He certainly hadn't needed much until his brain had stopped working. Accordingly, the rest must have been drunk by Key. The way Key looked when he woke up, he didn't seem to have a hangover though. That was the moment Jonghyun realized, Key had a great alcohol tolerance.

On the table lay the remote control. As far back as he could remember, it hung on the wall, right next to the TV. Jonghyun took the remote and checked which program they'd watched last.

Please don't be porn.

Jonghyun breathed out in relief when he saw in the history that a movie was played last. So they'd sat here, had drunk and had watched ... London has fallen? An action film that was a good sign, wasn't it? Because it that means no romance. Who knows what might happen otherwise?

Oh, you know exactly what happened, the annoying voice in his head said. No, he wasn't schizophrenic. He soliloquized on occasion. Perhaps slightly more often than he would like to admit. The talks were always harmless. It simply helped him concentrate better. However, today, the conversation only bothered him.

So what would two drunken adults do, after watching an action movie? Jonghyun looked around. His eyes scanned every detail of the room. He turned his whole body in different directions instead of moving his eyes because looking from the corner of his eye ached. He quickly discovered sand on the floor.

Jonghyun followed the clue to the bedroom. There was even some sand on the bed if the tiny grains that he felt under his hand wasn't accumulated dust. Following the lead backward, he went through the living room and reached their private beach as expected.

Things were making sense since he could remember doing something on the beach. Without effort, he discovered his wet shirt in the sand and next to it was Key's. Yet much more striking was a small mountain of sand, which was obviously a mistrial to build something. By this, he could remember. They wanted to build a sandcastle for real. The images in his mind became clearer as he felt the cold water stroking his feet.

"Look, a shooting star," Key screamed suddenly as he grabbed Jonghyun's arm to draw his attention to the night sky. But instead, Jonghyun only looked at Key's face as it beamed with joy. The fact was, he was at the time already drunk; because otherwise there wouldn't be an explanation for seeing two Keys.

"Oh no, I forgot to wish for something." Even when bulking, he was incredibly sweet, Jonghyun thought.

"Did you wish for something, Jong?" Key turned to him. Immediately he looked away, like a student who was caught spiking.

"No, I didn't." He replied.

"Oh, what a shame," Key said, lowering his head. He sat down on the beach and looked up again.

"Want to hear something funny?" Key asked as Jonghyun lay beside him.

"Of course."

" As a child, I tried to count the stars...several times," Key told.

"For real?"

"Yes, how stupid I was, huh?" Key said and laughed at himself. Yet it wasn't an amusing laugh. Even the drunken Jonghyun could hear the sadness in it. For a while, all they heard were the waves and the wind playing with the trees. Key didn't know why he'd told Jonghyun that, it wasn't really a funny story. On the contrary, it was a sad story about a pathetic little boy who had repeatedly tried to count the stars, because the last thing his mother had said to him was that he should never forget how much she loved him. If he ever forgot, he should look at the stars; because she loved him that much.

"I even reached over 100. What an idiot I was." Jonghyun hated watching such a cheerful person as Key being so sad.

"If you want, I'll count them for you." In retrospect, the idea was clearly nonsense. But when you're drunk, every nonsense seemed to be logical.

Key looked at him questioningly and when he realized that Jonghyun had exceeded his alcohol limit, his smile was back again. This time, a real one.

"Yes, please." Key joked and Jonghyun actually began to count the stars.

...

"25, 26, 27," Jonghyun counted while he pointing with his finger at the sky.

"But Jong, 28 comes after 26" Key couldn't resist the temptation to fool the drunken Jonghyun.

"You're right. I'll start from the beginning." Jonghyun said. The moment he heard Key beautiful laugh, he was very proud of himself.

"1, 2 ... Why am I seeing double? These glasses are broken." With that, he removed his glasses and threw them into the water. Key gasped, putting his hand on his mouth. He didn't mean that to happen. Maybe he went too far. But still, that was pretty funny. As Jonghyun continued counting despite his week eyesight, Key pulled down his hand which was still pointing at the stars.

"That's enough Jonghyun, I was just kidding. You don't have to count the stars." Key confessed.

"But I want to count them for you," Jonghyun replied.

"But I don't want to know how many of them are there. Besides, it's crazy." Key said with a smile.

"Then tell me what else I can do for you."

"Why do you want to do something for me?"

"Because you look so sad." Jonghyun's answer puzzled Key. He? Sad? Never had anyone said that to him? He considered himself as a cheerful person and apparently people thought the same about him. The only exception was this stranger, whom he had just met a few days ago.

"I'm not sad." Key smiled to prove his assertion.

"And why are your eyes looking like they want to cry?" Jonghyun asked.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Please tell me how I can cheer you up."

Key wasn't sure what to do. Nobody had made such an effort to make happy. He needed to come up with something to not disappoint Jonghyun; otherwise, he would feel very guilty.

"All right, let me think," Key said. Jonghyun looked at him with hopeful eyes; like a child while unpacking Christmas presents.

"I've never built a sand castle. I want to build one."

"For real? You've never built a sand castle as a child? "Jonghyun asked.

"I had ... let's say an unusual childhood." And once again Jonghyun looked at him as if he were a pitiful person. But he wasn't. He had grown up with men who hadn't wanted to play with a little boy. They had never shown him how to build a sand castle or a snowman, but they'd showed him how to fight. That was fine because martial arts are more useful than a children's game.

"No problem, I'll make up for it," Jonghyun said and began to dig the wet sand with his bare hands.

"What are you doing? I didn't mean right now. We have no tool." Key grabbed Jonghyun's hands and prevented the other boy from continuing. He held Jonghyun's hands firmly in his.

"We don't need to do it now."

"But..."

"Look me," Key asked as he turned Jonghyun to him so that they'd face each other directly.

"I'm not sad. I'm in a wonderful place, with a man I can only dream of. I would be mad if I was unhappy." Key hadn't lied. He meant every word he said. If there was one reason to be dissatisfied; then it was the fact that all this had an expiration date. Exactly in 9 days.

"I think I'm falling in love with you," Jonghyun confessed without realizing.

Just then Jonghyun remembered the kiss that followed. Now he would never get that picture out of his head again. Not that he wanted to erase such a fabulous image from his memory. How he'd kissed Key for the first time, under a starry sky as they listened to the rush of the sea. How Key had passionately kissed back and how Key's lips tasted. He wouldn't exchange these memories for any amount of money in the world. The only thing that bothered him was that he had no idea what happened after the kiss. Although he was able to guess; he was still a scientist. He needed a confirmation, not an unproven hypothesis.

The day passed by quickly, Jonghyun enjoyed Key's companion. The sudden change which was hard to miss, he liked it. He liked holding hand with Key. He liked the spontaneous kisses Key laid on his lips. He liked how Key leaned his head on his shoulder when they were traveling by boat. But he didn't like the uncertainty. The whole day, he made innuendos about last night, hoping Key would tell him what exactly happened. But he was unsuccessful.

When they returned to the beach house after dinner, Jonghyun was about to go mad. He tried one last time to find out the truth. Actually, he couldn't even tell which answer he was hoping for. On the one hand, he wouldn't hate to have slept with this beautiful man. But on the other hand, he intended to take it slow. He wanted to know more about Key first.

"So, yesterday ... it was really fun ..."

"It sure was," Key replied, biting his lower lip in a sexy way.

"Yes, especially this thing ..." Jonghyun put out the bait. Come on, Key, finish the sentence. However, Key just looked at him curiously, as if he knew what Jonghyun was up to and did it on purpose.

"Yes?" Key questioned.

"Nothing, I'm sorry." Key gave him a quizzical look but didn't say anything. That was the moment Jonghyun realized he would have been a terrible detective.

"I want some wine; you?" Key asked and headed to the kitchen as Jonghyun stopped him by holding his wrist.

"I have to tell you something," Jonghyun said.

"Is everything ok? You were acting weird the whole day. "

"I don't remember last night."

"What?" Key muttered softly. And before Jonghyun could ask what had happened between them, he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. Jonghyun was paralyzed. He hadn't seen it coming. He hadn't expected Key to be so strong either.

"Asshole," Key yelled at him and disappeared behind the bedroom, slamming the door closed.

What had he done wrong?

_______________________

After leaving the 14th voicemail on Taemin's phone, Onew lay down in his fluffy bed and curled up in his blanket. In the next moment, he slept tightly like a bear in hibernation. He cried out loud, as a ringtone ripped him out of his sleep. But it wasn't any ringtone but Minho's.
Fully awake, he answered.
"Minho? Did something happen?" Onew asked impatiently. When did something good happen, if your boss called you in the middle of the night? And if your "employer" was Choi Minho, it might mean a natural disaster.
"Nothing. I just want to let you know that you don't have to come by tomorrow. Take care of Woo Bin instead. "
"I can do both. I can have an eye on Kibum and find out what Woo Bin did. "Onew said.
"You do what I said," Minho demanded and hung up.
Onew immediately dialed Taemin's number.
"Damn," he shouted out loud as the voice once again told him to leave a message.
Onew was so worried, he couldn't go back to sleep even though he was bone-weary. He couldn't contact Taemin the whole day and now Minho didn't want to let him see Taemin? Did Minho know something? Was Taemin in danger?

What do you think why Key punched Jonghyun? And what is Minho up to? I hope this chapter wasn't too boring. (╥︣﹏᷅╥)Here, a short pic spam to make it up to you guys.

cre: lansonkai