A Sparkly Encounter (A JongKey Fanfic)

A Sparkly Encounter (A JongKey Fanfic) FIFTY-SIX

Bright lights and the twinkle of a piano sonnet welcomed the young couple when the door opened. TaeMin’s mother was smiling ear to ear in her nice, casual yet formal evening gown and her hair all made up. The light of the entire universe’s stars gleamed in her eyes and embedded itself in the aura that embraced her. It was the happiest JongHyun had seen her since TaeMin had fallen into his coma.

            “JongHyun!” she exclaimed, waving him and Key indoors. “I’m so happy you came! Everyone was worried that you wouldn’t show up. TaeMin will be so happy to know that you showed up! MinHo! MinHo! Where is that boy? MinHo!” She blabbed a mile a minute with barely any pauses for breath. JongHyun wasn’t even sure she’d noticed his partner so fast was she talking. It wasn’t till they were ready to round the corner out of the foyer that she stopped dead in her tracks to confront Key.

            “You must be the friend TaeMin said JongHyun was going to bring!” Her words came out airy, either from being short of breath from talking so much or from her surprise at the boy’s appearance.

          “Yes, Mrs. Lee, I’d like to introduce to you Key…” JongHyun gulped in a large batch of air. “My boyfriend.” He watched her face change from an inquisitive look to one of wonder – surprise even. There might have been a bit of disbelief thrown in there as well, but he wasn’t able to tell for certain.

            “Your boyfriend?” she asked as if to make absolutely sure that she hadn’t misheard. It would spare her the trouble later if she confirmed things now.

            At that point JongHyun began to feel uncertainty settle in like salt at the bottom of a glass of water. He could sense Key feeling the same from the way he was gripping his hand with an amazing strength that left his fingers almost at a cracking point. Of all the people he had thought to disapprove TaeMin’s mother was not on the list; considering her own son had a boyfriend.

            “Yes… M-my boyfriend,” JongHyun muttered.

            Something seemed to dawn on TaeMin’s mother. The surprise on her face disappeared in a quick second and she raced off onto another tangent.

            “Oh, JongHyun! Don’t look so scared! I’m not against you being with this beautiful boy – I love your skin by the way; do you use BB cream? – I just never thought you were like that! I’m really, very pleased to meet you Key! I’m Mrs. Lee, TaeMin’s mother. I believe I’ve seen you at the hospital a few times; is that possible? Oh, you really do have such beautiful skin…” She pressed her palm to Key’s face, caressing his cheek adoringly like she would have done to JongHyun and TaeMin. Right away the shorter male knew she had accepted him as one of her extended sons.

            The grip Key had on JongHyun’s hand slackened as he engaged in a small conversation with the slight woman. They didn’t have long to chat considering she had the couple moving on into the larger room where she let them slip in unnoticed so they could make the rounds themselves.

            The first person JongHyun sought out was TaeMin. He was the easiest person to find in the crowd and the easiest to get along with considering he already knew of the two boy’s situation. He was sure that he’d be able to get Key to loosen up, too – and maybe he would even be able to get him to loosen up to normalcy.

            “Hyung! You came! I thought you weren’t going to show up.” TaeMin’s lips puckered up into a pout which gave him the look of his usual self. JongHyun enjoyed those glimpses of TaeMin’s old carefree life, especially now that he was confined to a wheelchair. TaeMin liked to call it his free ride but because he was limited in movement he was battling the deterioration in his muscles; primarily in his legs.