[fic] Minho/Key – SHINee – Never Say Goodbye – Chapter 3/7

[rabenhorst]

Title: Never Say Goodbye
Author: fonulyn
Rating: NC17 (overall)
Warnings: mentions of violence (nothing very graphic) and prostitution. also I quite possibly made up half of the stuff when it comes to the police force so some factual inaccuracy.
Pairing: Minho/Key (plus ninjaing!Qmi)
Characters: Minho, Key, Ryeowook, Jonghyun, Kyuhyun, Sungmin, Onew, Donghae, Heechul
Disclaimer: I own no one, only my dirty imagination.
Summary: It's been over two years since Minho lost Kibum, lost him without knowing why. He never expected to see him again. He definitely never expected to see him again like this. (aka Minho is a policeman and his job brings him much closer to his past than he ever thought possible.)
Comments: The third chapter! I’m incredibly busy these days since I’m in the process of moving but I’m trying to get at least a chapter a week out since the story is basically written already. haha I never knew moving would be so much work! Anyhow, I hope you enjoy~





Previously: Chapter 1, Chapter 2

The next day at work is hell. Minho considers calling in sick but he can’t fool Jonghyun who simply tells him to drag his ass into the station before he will rip him a new one. It’s one of those days when they’re not out on patrol but instead on desk duty, and that’s probably why Jonghyun is dead set on not being left alone with all those reports and files he hates with a fiery passion.

With the help of six cups of coffee Minho somehow manages to get to work, even if he spends a good fifteen minutes with his forehead pressed against the cool surface of his table, trying to ignore Jonghyun’s yapping and the pounding of a headache. He somehow got a grand total of half an hour of sleep last night, as the time he spent in his own apartment consisted mainly of staring into the ceiling in a darkened room.

“C’mon, man,” Jonghyun sighs as he hits Minho’s head with a folder. “Try to be at least a little useful so I don’t have to deal with this all. I have a list of a dozen grannies I need to call later on so I’d appreciate if you’d file some of these. Can you believe one of them called and told us someone stole her cat? The damn thing probably ran away, the woman reports him missing at least twice a week.”

Minho stays silent and eventually Jonghyun stops talking. He eyes his partner for a moment, before releasing another deep sigh. Wordlessly he pushes his coffee mug in front of Minho, who gratefully takes a long sip.

“Wanna tell me about last night? What got you into this mood?” Jonghyun asks finally, after the coffee is long gone.

There’s another pause as Minho traces the edge of the mug with his index finger. “I found him.” He doesn’t need to elaborate any further and Jonghyun knows exactly what he means.

Instantly Jonghyun’s eyes fly wide and he nearly jumps off his chair, grinning like he’s won the lottery. “You did!? Oh man that is awesome! Where did you find him? What did he say? Did he explain what happened? Where’s he now?”

There’s no answer and Jonghyun frowns at the way Minho pointedly avoids his gaze. “Please tell me you talked to him.”

“No, not really,” Minho says. He leans back in his chair, eyes closed.

“No?” Jonghyun’s frown deepens. “Then what did you do?”

“We fucked.”

Minho doesn’t really listen to the loud rant that Jonghyun launches off at that. He knows he deserves every bit of it and that he has pretty much screwed the only opportunity he had. Second chances don’t come in pairs.

Yet when he thinks of the perfect arch of Kibum’s back, the way Kibum shivered underneath his fingertips, the deep brown of Kibum’s eyes… he can’t convince himself that he’d do anything differently, given the chance to relive the night.

Losing Kibum is even more bitter the second time around.





“Would they goddamn hurry up with the order I’m starving!” Jonghyun groans as he drops his head against the table in a theatrical manner. Sungmin is sitting right next to him and reaches out to pat his shoulder sympathetically, but no one else is quite that patient with the whining. Donghae, who is inexplicably having his lunch hour at the same time as they are, offers him a sunny smile, but everyone else pretty much ignores him.

The diner is almost directly across the street from the police station and thus they’re a common sight there. The food is good, not overpriced, and the service is usually tolerable. Right now though they’ve been stuck here sitting for the better part of their lunchtime, and they know they’ll run overtime. Not that anyone cares much, not when they’re on desk duty.

“Hey but this gives us a good opportunity to make a plan!” Sungmin pipes up, too cheery for Minho’s headache. “You know! A strategy.”

“A strategy? Are you high?” Kyuhyun looks at Sungmin from across the table pointedly. They’re all crammed in a corner booth, Kyuhyun and Minho occupying one side of the table with Sungmin, Jonghyun and Donghae opposite to them.

“Oh, oh!” Donghae nearly bounces on his seat. “Strategy sounds good. Don’t be such a grumpy old man, Kyuhyun. We all know you would have never gotten laid if we hadn’t planned it for you.”

That earns him a frown. “Seriously, you told me to go to him and ask if he plays video games. What do you think we are, five?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Donghae beams. “You’re as good as married and Zhou Mi even tolerates your gaming!”

There’s nothing Kyuhyun can say to deny that but he is damn well trying to come up with a good rebound. Too bad he has no time for it before Minho speaks up in the most pleading tone he can manage. “Please, could we just leave it be? I am really not in the mood.”

“Nonsense.” Sungmin waves aside. “We already filled Donghae in on the details– ” A thought which makes Minho groan. “–so now all we gotta do is to figure out how you go on from here. I don’t suppose you got his phone number so you could call him for another date, right?”

It’s a bad joke, so incredibly bad that it should make Minho want to punch his friend’s lights out. Instead it makes him crack a tiny smile and he shakes his head, sighing. “I can’t believe you guys.” There’s a heavy weight on his mind and the dramatic part of him still feels like curling up and hiding in his room forever, but for some inexplicable reason his idiotic friends do make him feel better.

“Thanks, really.” Minho tries for a smile as he looks up but he’s pretty sure it turns out rather a grimace. “But you don’t need to bother. He made it pretty damn clear he doesn’t want to see me again. I’m done. I’ll just… do what I should’ve done two years ago and move on.”

Somehow Minho expects agreeing nods and murmurs but he gains none. Instead all of the others stare at him like he’s grown a second head. The silence lasts so long that the waitress appears all suddenly, bringing in their orders with apologies of it being late.

It’s only afterwards that Jonghyun breaks it and speaks, not even touching his burger and fries although he has been complaining about starving for the whole day. “No you don’t.” He says it like it’s decided and when Minho opens his mouth to protest he’s silenced instantly. “Since when do you give up, man? Since when do you let others tell you when you should stop?”

“You didn’t even talk to him,” Sungmin says. “You have no idea what’s going on, it could be that there’s a bigger story behind this all. C’mon who ditches a good job and a gorgeous boyfriend for living on the streets and sleeping with strangers in shabby motels?”

“He did,” Minho begins, but that’s as far as he gets.

“Minho, even I am not that dense,” Kyuhyun says pointedly. “I might not have known Kibum as well as you did but I worked with him, too. He’s one of my boyfriend’s best friends. He wouldn’t just wake up one morning and decide that oh this is a good day to hit rock bottom.”

Finally, Minho stops trying to interrupt. He slumps back in his seat, even less hungry than before. Although he refuses to look up at any of his companions, they know he’s listening to every word.

“You need to go there, find him and talk to him,” Donghae says. His tone is gentler, in contrast to the sharpness from the others. “Focus on thinking with your upstairs brains, okay? You can still work this out.” Everyone else is nodding at that, chorusing in agreeing sounds.

“Fine,” Minho grunts after a short break. After all, his friends are right.

If he’s been holding on to nothing for years, it doesn’t make sense to give up now that he knows he’s not chasing a ghost.





That is how Minho ends up roaming the third district again after work hours, with Sungmin. They agreed that it makes no sense to go there as a big group so they decided to go in pairs, Sungmin being the first volunteer to get acquainted to the area with Minho. It’s a sunny day turning to an evening, so warm that people are rolling up their sleeves as they hurry down the streets. Minho is wearing a plain button up, again, but Sungmin does a much better job at blending in.

“So you randomly ran into him at a bar?” Sungmin confirms for the millionth time. It’s the only sign that he’s somewhat nervous, as otherwise his appearance radiates cool confidence. “Has he changed a lot?”

“No,” Minho says, and gives a curt headshake. “His hair is blond now. Otherwise he’s… he’s the same.” His mind flashes back to the night they shared, to the way soft skin felt under his touch and it makes him shiver, the memory of it clear as day. Quickly he tries to force his thoughts on a safer tract, dodging a couple that nearly runs into them. Automatically his hand goes to his wallet then, and to his surprise it’s still there.

They go into the same bar from earlier, and there’s nothing there. Nothing that would interest them, anyhow. So their search goes on in the next place, and the next, until they stop to grab something to eat in a small diner. It looks sleazy but the food is surprisingly good, and they spend a good while watching the other customers. Who knows where they’ll find Kibum eventually, could as well be here. He needs to eat too.

Finally they somehow end back in the bar they started out in, and once they step inside Minho’s heart skips a beat. There’s singing. A melancholy song carries through the air, sung in the same crisp voice he recognizes from earlier. “Ryeowook,” Minho whispers, frozen in place for a second.

“Ryeowook?” Sungmin frowns. “Who is that?”

“He’s the singer I mentioned, remember? The one Kibum was with when I saw him.” Minho grabs Sungmin’s wrist and pulls him further into the establishment, not wasting any time in dragging him to the tables closest to the small stage.

Ryeowook has more make up on than before, his clothes designed to draw attention with the sequins and flashy colours. Frantically Minho looks around but there’s no sign of Kibum anywhere, much to his dismay. He’s already willing to jump on stage and shake Ryeowook’s petite frame to get some answers to his questions, when Sungmin makes him sit down again. “Let’s wait. He might pop up later and if not, we talk to this Ryeowook guy when he’s done.”

With a slow, hesitant nod, Minho agrees.





Kibum does not appear even later. They end up staying until Ryeowook is done with his number and once he’s finally collecting his things to leave, they decide it’s time to go talk to him. They don’t even manage to say anything before Ryeowook looks up and frowns as he recognizes Minho. “It’s you again.” He doesn’t seem to be hostile, just wary and suspicious, in the way he turns a little to be able to bolt if needed.

“Hey, take it easy,” Sungmin says and gives his warmest, friendliest smile. “We would just like to ask you a couple of questions, if that’s alright?”

That seems to work as Ryeowook keeps watching them for a second, before melting into a small, tentative smile. Only when he looks at Sungmin, though, he still seems to be ready to run as soon as Minho takes half a step closer to him. Then again, Minho isn’t exactly the picture of friendliness right now, towering over the other two with a grim expression etched on his features. Sungmin knows it’s just worry and uneasiness, but it does look like anger.

“Fine,” Ryeowook says finally. “What is it?”

Sungmin glances at Minho but then decides to do the talking instead. Minho doesn’t object. “You were here with a friend a couple of nights ago, right? We would really like to talk to him.”

“A friend? I have lots of friends,” Ryeowook says, a bit too quickly.

That’s when Minho speaks up for the first time. “You were with Ki–” Don’t call me that. “Key. You were with Key, when I saw you.”

It’s clear from Ryeowook’s expression that he knew that to begin with, but he still sticks to the script. “What do you want from Key?”

“What do people usually want from him?” Sungmin counters with a question.

Ryeowook gives a small humming reply, but then hoists his bag on his shoulder and gestures for the two to follow him. “I’ll take you to Onew. He handles all the… business arrangements.” The way he says it is almost like it’s a joke, but no one laughs. Instead Sungmin grabs Minho’s sleeve, this time being the one to drag the other along.

No one says a word as Ryeowook leads them outside, through the right alleys to an unknown destination.





“No. He’s not available.”

This Onew turns out to be the man who holds all the reins in his hands when it comes to the business. Everyone seems to have the right to arrange their own gigs but if Onew says no, it puts a full stop to everything. And right now he is vetoing all of Sungmin’s and Minho’s attempts to get even a minute of Kibum’s time.

Everything about Onew’s appearance screams of gentleness and one could mistake him of being a nice man to the point of being a complete pushover. He smiles even at the two new customers when he first sees them, polite up until the point when he hears what they want. Then, it’s like he goes through a transformation into the complete opposite. “I’m sorry but you will have to forget about it.” Despite the polite words there’s nothing but icy coldness in his tone.

“We are willing to pay, though,” Sungmin offers, again. “Of course for only one of us. If it’s against your… policies to let the two of us in the same room with him at once.” There’s a clear offer laced in there to pay even more than the regular pricing, but nothing seems to be melting Onew’s determination.

“Do I have to get the guns?” Onew asks and already raises his hand. It makes three tall, bulky men straighten in the corner of the room, ready to jump up whenever he indicates it’s needed.

Minho has been willing to let Sungmin do the talking up until now, simply because he knows that he’s the one more emotionally invested in this and Sungmin can keep his cool in any given situation. It’s beginning to seem absolutely desperate, though, and he can’t just stand there and not do anything at all. “No, no. We’re good. We just… heard that you’d have the best service in town,” he aims for flattery, “and we were hoping to, uhm, celebrate.”

“Celebrate, you say?” Onew arches an eyebrow. For a moment he pauses, as if he’s measuring the situation, and gives the two men before him a critical once over. “Fine.” He turns around and waves at the two to follow him. “You pay in cash, in advance, and I will tend to your wishes.”

Not-so-discreetly Sungmin flashes a thumbs-up to Minho as they’re being led upstairs. They are separated into different rooms and although it might look like a basic set-up for getting beaten up, they both notice how the rooms have big windows and the fire-escape right behind. It’d be easy for them to run if anyone a bit more suspicious walked into the room with them.

It only takes a few moments and the door creaks open. Minho spins around, hope flashing across his features as he sees the milky white skin and the kohl-rimmed eyes.

“Okay how do you want this, I don’t have all day,” the man sneers, looking at Minho as if he’s evaluating a piece of meat at the market. “I’m Heechul, and I’ll be tending to you.”

That much for the plan, Minho thinks as he tries to figure out if running through the window is the best option.





“It was so awkward,” Sungmin groans as they recount their attempts to their friends the following day over lunch. “I stood there, not really knowing what was going to happen since I figured they’d leave Kibum to Minho, but I was kind of prepared to meet him too if they mixed it up or something. But then it was Ryeowook who walked in!”

“Who?” Kyuhyun asks, frowning over his bacon cheeseburger.

“Ryeowook,” Sungmin repeats, “the singer? He seemed like such a sweet guy, quiet and intimidated but oh boy you should’ve seen him when he walked in all seductive! If I was into guys at all I wouldn’t have given a damn about work ethics, I would’ve done him.”

“At least you got the sweet and nice one,” Minho says. He’s already over it, even if it had been one of the most awkward ten minutes of his entire life as he’d tried to get away from the situation without busting his cover. He couldn’t exactly pull out his badge and go all ‘oh hi I’m a cop I don’t want this really sorry’ so he had instead aimed for the first timer guy getting cold feet.

“So, you actually went to see prostitutes? Male prostitutes?” Jonghyun asks just to be sure, before bursting out in laughter. “Man, I hope you didn’t have to use all of your paycheck on that. How high class are they?”

“It was surprisingly cheap,” Sungmin begins but only one look at Minho’s stern face makes him shut up. It’s so easy to forget that one of them is more emotionally invested in this than the others. Even if they all were friends with Kibum, except for Jonghyun who never met him, it’s still different. It’s a whole another world.

The silence is remotely awkward for a moment before Minho speaks up, almost carefully. “So what now? This Onew guy is not going to let me get even close to Kibum, no matter what I do.”

“Me neither,” Sungmin sighs. “He saw me with Minho so I bet I’m blacklisted as much as he is.”

“I could go,” Donghae volunteers, raising his hand. “I can pull off the desperate single guy who just needs to get laid. Although Kyuhyun would be better.”

“Me!?” Kyuhyun snorts, appalled. “C’mon, you’re one to talk!”

“You’re the desperate nerd,” Donghae says.

“I am the one of us who is practically married,” Kyuhyun spits right back.

Sungmin sighs. “Children, children. Calm down. Kibum knows both of you so I’m not sure if he’d even take the job, you know? I have a feeling he has no desire trying to talk to us, if he made the pimp throw me and Minho out already. So that leaves…”

Slowly they all turn to look at Jonghyun, who is innocently enjoying his onion rings. It takes a moment before he realizes that he’s being stared at, startling lightly. “What?”

“How do you feel about brothels, Jonghyun?” Sungmin asks with a sinister grin.

No one takes Jonghyun’s protests seriously. In the end he has no other choice but to comply.





Only after some gentle prodding from Sungmin they realize that Jonghyun has only ever seen one old picture of Kibum before and thus has no idea how he looks like. Down at the alley he’d been way too busy focusing on the moving targets, on actually staying alive without many bullet holes shot into him. So he’s invited over to Minho’s apartment after work to go through anything that might be helpful for him.

Right off the bat he’s faced with a heap of old photographs. “Wow, man,” Jonghyun says, whistling as he sits on the floor surrounded by leather bound photo albums. “You have …seven albums full of him? Are you sure you’re not a teensy little bit obsessed?”

Minho grunts, purposefully dropping the last four albums on Jonghyun’s toes. He gains a yelp, but ignores it completely in favour of handing the first album – one with a burgundy red cover – over, albeit slightly reluctantly. “Remember, I’m only showing you these because of the mission.”

Immediately Jonghyun tries the best puppy dog impersonation he can manage, aiming for the wide-eyed-adorableness. “Aw I thought you wanted to share because we’re friends.”

“Don’t even dream of it.”

The answer has Jonghyun mock-sulking only for a brief second before he opens the book and lazily flips through the first pages. Everything looks so familiar, and soon the dots connect in his mind. “You went to the academy together?”

“Yeah,” Minho says. He pointedly avoids Jonghyun’s eyes, looking anywhere but at him. “We got assigned to be roommates the first day in. I hated him, so much.”

That now doesn’t sound anything like it should to Jonghyun, but he manages to stay silent long enough for Minho to go on unprompted. It feels like if he says anything too loud or somehow wrong, the moment will be broken and he doesn’t want that. Jonghyun does consider Minho his friend, now even more than ever, and he wants to know what made him the way he is.

“I hated his preppy attitude and how he was always such an early riser, all sunshine in the mornings. Loud sunshine. Even if I slept through my alarm I couldn’t sleep through his voice.” Minho sighs, but there’s a small smile dancing on the edges of his mouth. “The bathroom was full of some… products and the dresser was full of his crap. I thought he was such an annoying show-off.”

There’s another pause but this time it doesn’t last long. “He hated me as much as I hated him. So I guess we’re even.”

“What happened then?” Jonghyun asks, suddenly unbearably curious. He starts to look through the pictures again, but his attention is mainly on Minho, who seems to be struggling to decide whether he wants to explain or not.

Finally, he does. “We became friends during the last year. Then we got assigned partners in the rookie year on the force. I… didn’t mind it as much, then. Actually I was kind of hoping for that.”

“And then you knocked him off his feet, right? Married with children and all that jazz?” Jonghyun smirks.

He actually manages to make Minho laugh with that one, even if it’s accompanied by a disbelieving headshake. “…something like that.”

“I can’t blame you,” Jonghyun says, flipping the album over to show Minho one of the pictures. It’s a simple photograph of Kibum in his uniform, grinning at the camera. “He’s smoking hot.”

Something flashes in Minho’s eyes at that and he quickly snatches the album off Jonghyun’s fingers, slamming it shut as if he could somehow make him forget the contents with that. He grits his teeth for a second but then looks up, gaze levelled with the other man’s. “Jonghyun?”

Jonghyun flashes a smug grin. “Yes?”

“Touch him and I’ll chop your dick off.”

---
(3914 words)


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I kinda wanna write that minkey backstory too but idk too much to dooooo~

also, thank you to everyone who wished me luck with my broken toe ;) it’s a lot better already!

oh and Becky: this was the first appearance of Chul are you happy now? 8)