Jonghyun's life, to put it quite simply, was dull. He had a few friends, though not many. His grades were good, since he spent most of his spare time studying. He didn't have any special hobbies or talents that made him unique. His life was neither excellent nor terrible, and living between the two extremes left Jonghyun in a perpetual state of mediocrity.

Jonghyun sighed and opened his history book, the edges frayed and worn with use. He heard his sister shut the front door, presumably coming home from dance classes. His sister Victoria spent nearly every spare minute at the dance studio, and her passion showed. She danced beautifully. Although Jonghyun saw her perform all the time, he still was taken aback by her skill every time he witnessed a performance. For her he also felt a burning jealousy. She had found something she loved so much, yet Jonghyun hadn't. His eyes rolled lazily around the page as he attempted to focus, and he ended up staring out the window, watching the leaves fall from the trees in sluggish spirals.

Maybe it was because he felt restless or bored, maybe it was because he seemed to be reading the same sentence over and over in his history book, from which he was supposed to be studying, or maybe it was because Jonghyun realized that every day for him was the same, he woke up, went to school, and came home, and that that was no way to live, but for whatever reason he found himself running outside and onto his sidewalk, his feet rapidly shuffling as he headed downtown. It wasn't the first time he had gone into town by himself, but for some reason on that day the feeling was exhilarating, and he felt almost giddy as he continued down the path.

His feelings were short-lived, however, as the embarrassment set in when he realized he didn't exactly have any plan in mind, and wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He was glad he managed to dodge his sister on the way out, now realizing he would have had no answer to her if she had asked where he was going. Forcing his hands deeper into his pockets he hunched his shoulders in shame, slowing down his steps so he could think of something, anything that he could do. He contemplated calling his best friend Minho to meet him, but soon realized that in his haste he had left his phone at home, leaving that idea completely out of the question. Jonghyun frowned when he saw the first few buildings marking the beginning of the downtown area. He scanned the signs above the shops, and picked the one that looked most appealing, a black sign with bright gold lettering.

Jonghyun noticed two things as he hopped through the door. The first thing he noticed when the rich aroma flooded his nose was that the store he had so randomly chosen was a coffee shop, and Jonghyun didn't drink or know anything about coffee. The second thing he noticed was not so much a thing as it was a person, more specifically, the barista preparing a coffee behind the counter. For a boy, he was painfully beautiful. His eyes were large and a dark black, his lips full and heart shaped. His catlike facial features matched his graceful movements as he moved swiftly behind the counter. He had several piercings lined up his ears. But perhaps the most interesting thing about him was his hair- half of it shaved, the other half slightly spiked. Jonghyun shifted his position, suddenly realizing he had been staring at him from the doorway for quite a long time. For some inexplicable reason he felt nervous. Pushing those feelings aside he took a step forward, feigning confidence as he fell into the line of customers, who seemed to be speaking a foreign language as they ordered their coffee. Jonghyun tried to look at the menu, to pick any kind of pastry or muffin to save himself the embarrassment of trying to order a coffee, but his eyes inadvertently fell on the barista every time. Jonghyun watched his every movement. Whatever he did, no matter the simplicity, came across with a casual elegance that was fascinating to Jonghyun.

"Can I help you?" Jonghyun's eyes bolted up, now noticing that in his distraction the line had moved, and he was now face to face with the barista with no clue what he was about to order.

"Uh… ummm…" Jonghyun mentally slapped himself. Here he was, bumbling like an idiot in the face of such a simple task.

"It's alright, take your time." The barista's voice was slightly high-pitched and almost whimsical, and his comment accompanied with a slight smirk made it seem to Jonghyun that he was mocking him.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Jonghyun said, trying to recover from his previous blunder. It felt absurd to be nervous around a boy who was probably younger than him simply because, or so he convinced himself, he didn't know what to order. The barista's face once again melted into a mischievous smile.

"Give me a second." He confidently commanded, turning quickly on his heels and grabbing a cup to operate the machinery. Jonghyun stood awkwardly behind the counter, unsure of himself. Finding nothing to do with his hands, he settled on shoving them into his pockets. The barista turned around again and faced him, holding a cup straight out, waiting for Jonghyun to accept it.

"Ah, I don't drink cof-"

"Just try it." He interrupted. Jonghyun hesitantly took the cup from his hands and took a tentative sip. His eyes widened as the rich, smooth liquid touched his tongue, heating his entire body as he swallowed slowly.

"It's… really good!" He said. The barista just smiled that same taunting smile.

"I know." He responded. Jonghyun felt his cheeks heat up at his response. Must have been the coffee, he thought. He thanked him, paid, and was about to leave when the barista's voice piped up again.

"Don't you go to my school?" He asked. Jonghyun, surprised, turn back around to face the boy again.

"Tyeville high school?" He asked.

"Yeah. I think I've seen you around. You're kind of noticeable with your bright hair." The barista said. As he said this Jonghyun unconsciously reached up and touched his own blonde hair, smiling shyly.

"Then I'm surprised I haven't noticed you with that haircut." Jonghyun replied, gesturing toward the barista's hair and laughing light-heartedly. The boy simply smiled in return.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard of me either." He responded. Jonghyun wondered what he meant by that, but decided against asking.

"Well... I guess I'll see you around school then." Jonghyun said after a brief silence.

"Yeah. See you." He replied.

"Oh... er... I'm Jonghyun by the way." Jonghyun added hastily, cursing himself for sounding so idiotic. The boy smiled and lifted an eyebrow.

"Key." He responded nonchalantly. Jonghyun couldn't help but feel jealous of this boy's overwhelming confidence. Fearing further embarrassment, Jonghyun turned and walked out the door, clutching his coffee tightly. His body felt warm, a feeling he ascribed to the hot drink. He sped home, bursting through the door loudly.

"Where were you?" His sister asked, puzzled. Jonghyun didn't usually go out during school nights.

"Nowhere." He said casually, running up to his room. He sat down at his desk and sighed, once again opening his book in an attempt to study, and for the first time in a while, he looked forward to school the next day.

Hi ^ ^ This story has been up on AFF for a couple months, so I'm putting it on here. Foreword copied and pasted from AFF:

This story is going to be Jongkey with a little bit of 2min. I have most of the story planned out and it's going to be pretty long. I hope some readers will stay with me through the whole thing ^ ^. I'm a long time reader but first time writer. I'd love any criticism any readers have, and I'm not just saying that. I really want to improve my writing style!

This idea came to me a long time ago when a friend was was kicked out of her house for being gay. This story is loosely based on this event. This kind of thing happens often and it upsets me a lot. On a more personal note, Jonghyun matches an experience I had around a year ago, and he is somewhat an extension of myself. His struggle is the same one I had, so his thoughts are, in fact, mine. At my school people throw a lot of slurs around, making gay jokes and using the word as an insult. With this kind of mentality that looks down on gay people, I realized how difficult it must be to come out to your family and friends. Also, since we live in an unfortunately heteronormative society, it might be difficult for people to even admit to themselves that they are gay, for fear of being "not normal". I want this story to show that love between two people, any two people, is a natural and a beautiful thing.

I hope you enjoy my story :)

Here's the first chapter. I hope you like it! If you find any mistakes please let me know.

-Gelisi