I Wanna Be (Key Fanfic)

4

Kibum and Kathryn met several times at the café before he invited her back to his appartment.

Kathryn trusted that it would be okay to be alone with him, so as she knocked on the door, she tried to chase away her nerves.

"Hi! Come in." Kibum stepped aside and immediately two fur balls were at her feet.

"Who are these?"

"Comme Des and Garçons. Don't worry, they won't bite you."

Kate tentatively stroked one before following Kibum to his sofa.

"Do you want anything?"

"Just water, thank you."

Kibum's place was big and light, with a huge terrace. It looked pretty neat with some personal touches here and there, including some of his albums.
When he came back with the glass he noticed her looking, so he handed her Bad Love.

"The packaging is so unique," she spoke as she examined it.

"Thanks, I thought it up. How was your week?"

"Oh you know, same old. Met up with my friend Shaniece and we'll meet up again this weekend."

"Do you have many friends?"

"Well, I used to, but over time so many of them went home. I'm grateful I have Shan, along with Martin and Lily. I'm sure you have many friends."

"To be honest, over time the group has gotten smaller. I'm happy with the friends I have though." Comme Des climbed up on the sofa, surprising Kate. Kibum smiled and patted him.

"Do you like dogs?"

"I'm not used to them. I've never had any pets. Mum used to say she had too many children to take care of."

Kathryn was the second of five children, unlike Kibum who was an only child.

"I can get that." Kibum laughed. "I would have liked a dog when I was younger. It would have been less lonely."

Kathryn began stroking Comme Des as well as Kibum mentally slapped himself for mentioning his loneliness.

"Were you lonely a lot as a child?" Kate asked softly.

Kibum shrugged. "I had my grandmother, but yeah sometimes I was lonely."

"Things are better now though, right?" Garçons was now clamouring for her attention so she began stroking him.

"You can pick him up, don't hesitate," said Kibum, artfully dodging the question. If only she knew how lonely he really was.

"They're so cute." She smiled as she admired his dogs. Her pure joy put a smile on his face.

"They're cute now, but they can be little demons. They love to bicker and pee around the house."

"But you love them though. How could you not?"

Kibum smiled and watched her play with his dogs, beginning to feel warm inside.

As they continued to meet, the pair became friends. Kibum appreciated that she listened and she liked having another friend. Truth be told, she didn't have many male friends.

"So, how's it going with your new client?" Shan asked as they walked through Gangnam one day, enjoying a street festival.

"Good actually."

"You mention him a lot. Is there something there?" She smirked, clearly wanting the tea.

"No, there isn't. We've become friends."

"Spill the beans, is he hot?"

Kathryn almost choked on her drink. Yes Kibum was attractive, but she didn't want to admit that to Shan.

"I'm not gonna get with my client."

"Aw, shame." Shan pouted. "It'd be nice to see you get some action."

Shaniece was the queen of Tinder and she was always trying to convince Kathryn to date, but Kate wasn't interested really. She'd had a bad experience with a guy at uni, and the men in Korea were either uninterested in her or weirdly interested. In any case, she felt better off alone.

"I'm going on a date this weekend," Shaniece announced, throwing her paper cup away.

"Again? What about the other guy?"

"It didn't work out." She shrugged. "I matched with someone else and we had a conversation, he seems nice."

"Okay then, well good luck. Maybe he'll be the one."

"We live in hope." Shan crossed her fingers.

"If not, maybe it'll be another one of your funny stories." Kathryn laughed. Shan was infamous for her disastrous and hilarious dating stories. Kate didn't know what made her keep trying. Was love really that worth it?

"Let's go see one of the shows, come on."

Shan dragged her by the arm as her phone pinged with a text.

Sorry for the short notice, but can we meet on Friday at the same time instead?

It was from Kibum. Kate hurried to answer.

Sure. See you then.

"You were smiling," Shan commented.

"Oh shut up," Kate laughed, brushing it off.