Punch Drunk Love (Jongkey/2MIN)

Thirty Four

A/N: lmao this is like the most i've ever written. are you proud i'm proud that I've gotten to chapter 34 i mean c'mon yay <3 -v

A/N: All of my previous stories end before chapter 20 so I'm glad that this one hasn't ended so soon! -f

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JONGKEY

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

Key's breathing was definitely irregular now, staring at the seemingly huge stadium, with thousands of people in the crowd and all of them chanting his name.

"SHINee! SHINee! SHINee! Taemin! Jonghyun! Minho! Key! Onew!" He heard the crowd roar and he smiled in triumph.

Key was already sweating, his hands clammy as he glanced at Jonghyun from the corner of his eyes. He saw him smiling and waving, grinning - as if all the people out there weren't bothering him at all. And they probably weren't, or he was just good at hiding it.

Key wished he had Jonghyun's charisma, but he didn't and at the moment he was stuck being Key - a nervous Key.

"It's SHINee!" Minho yelled, holding out his hands and grinning as he waved to their fans. Everyone cheered, chanting, calling at them. Almost as if they wanted SHINee to notice them, but Key couldn't focus on anything other than not fainting. He didn't know why he got like this everytime they went on stage, but it didn't look as if it was going to change anytime soon.

The rest of the show was a blur; song after song went by until Key's throat hurt but he wasn't about to give up anytime soon. He was grinning from ear to ear as he sung his heart out. Yet he didn't leave Jonghyun's side once - he was a reassuring comfort, and every now and again, Key would reach out to hold his hand or just simply to look at him for a second.

As Taemin started his solo performance, Jonghyun grabbed the shaking Key (which was partly from the nerves and partly because of the adrenaline pulsing through his veins) and pulled him to the side, away from Onew and Minho who were waiting patiently for their turn to return to stage. They had approximately five minutes to talk.

"Key, are you okay?" The shorter boy asked, a genuine note of concern in his voice and a worried frown on his own sweaty face. Key only gave him an odd look, as if to say 'well, why wouldn't I be?' but he knew well enough why.

"You seem more nervous than usual," he added gently when Key didn't say anything. Jonghyun took his hand, squeezing it in the obvious attempt to soothe his boyfriend. Key's frown only increased.

"There's nothing wrong," Key muttered, trying to pull away from Jonghyun's strong grip. "Everything's okay."

"I know, I know."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward silence before Jonghyun finally said what he had intended to: "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

It took a moment for Key to figure out the answer to that question. Of course he wasn't having second thoughts, but then again, he definitely was. So much could go wrong within the next hour or so; he didn't even want to begin to think about it.

"Yes - I mean no! I mean, yes I want to go through with this, and no, I'm not having second thoughts."

"Don't think about it too much, okay?"

Key nodded: he understood. Thinking means more thoughts and more thoughts means second thoughts.

"I love y--" Jonghyun started.

"Get on stage. Now."

"Shit," he muttered, grinning sheepishly to himself when he saw Key's flushed face - a different kind of flushed.

"Don't think, just act!" Jonghyun whispered before entering the stage the opposite direction to Key who was staring after his boyfriend with a look of pure defeat on his red face.

***

"Punch, Knock Down!

Nan ne sarange sseureojin geol!"

The song ended. It had ended, it was finally over. Well, at least the song was. There was still something to do.

Key recalled what his manager-hyung had said only an hour or so ago: "No funny business."

No funny business, my ass, Key remembers thinking as he made his way to Jonghyun who was waiting expectantly (though trying not to show it) on the opposite side of the stage. He was biting his lip and had a nervous gaze on the crowd, it looked as if he wasn't truly seeing - or hearing - the fans who were waving and shouting. The bright lights weren't the only thing blinding him.

Now or never.

Now or never.

He looked into Jonghyun's eyes and rested his hands on the latter's waist as the fans screamed in awe.

Fan service; that's all it ever looked like to the fans.

They didn't realise that some people did this out of love, not just a way to please their fans.

And that's what they were about to prove.

"You ready?" Jonghyun whispered as his lips edged closer to Key's, and he could feel their manager's intense gaze locked on the closing gap between their lips.

"Yeah," Key breathed. He was nervous, hell, he'd never been this scared in his life, but if it was for Jonghyun then he would do anything to ensure their future together.

3

"If you want to back out, now's the time." Jonghyun said, ensuring that his boyfriend was 100% okay with this.

2

"No, I want to," Key mumbled and closed his eyes.

1

"Then let's do it."

...

And they kissed.