Having moved over the heart of Seoul after leaving his hometown in Yongin, Mino was shocked by the difference in the atmosphere.  He felt as though he was literally uprooted from a school where everyone practically knew him into one where he did not even know a single soul and did not quite know how to begin.

It was as though he  was just blindly taking instructions and following like some lost sheep for a good half of the day until the period just before they would break for lunch.

“Hello my new seat partner, what is your name? I am Lee Seunghoon.” The stranger was a thin scrawny boy with a pair of eyes that just twinkled with mischief and harmless trouble.

“Hi, I am Song Minho. I just moved from Yongin.” Mino smiled as he took the outstretched hand for a shake only to have his right arm almost shaken off from its socket from the enthusiasm of this Seunghoon guy.

“God must have answered my call for someone to talk to in class because they sent you.”

“Erm… Okay, I hope I live up to your expectations then.”

Throughout the lesson, the two new friends were chatting happily and getting to know each other. It was then that Seunghoon sort of took Mino under his wing and decided introduce Mino to his group of friends that he knew since childhood.

“Guys, I made have a seat partner finally. He is new here. This is Song Minho.” Seunghoon introduced Mino to three really good looking guys when they gathered in the cafeteria for lunch.

“This is Kim Jinwoo…” Seunghoon gestured to an extremely handsome guy with a pair of pretty and clear doe eyes.

“The one on Jinwoo’s left is Kang Seungyoon.”

“It is nice to meet you!” Jinwoo greeted warmly.

“Finally, the broody looking one is Nam Taehyun.” Seunghoon introduced gesturing to the guy with a pair of droopy eyebrows with pale and flawless skin.

 “Hey guys, I am Song Minho. Please take care of me.”

“Jinwoo is a year ahead of us while Seungyoon and Taehyun are one year younger.” Seunghoon continued.

If he was going to be honest, Mino never really noticed Nam Taehyun probably because he was the quietest out of all of them and whenever the five of them got together it was just loud with bickering or chatting. More often than not their entire lunch break could go on without a word spoken from the maknae or answering with one or two liners when one of them asked something. In those rare occasions when Taehyun actually spoke, he had all three of his hyung’s complete attention including Mino’s and he could not help but to be intrigued by the maknae. 

However, it was not until the second last of their year in high school that Mino really got to know the extremely quiet boy. Mino decided to join the music club as an extra curricular activity for the year since the school made it compulsory for all students to join at least one school club.

“Oh Taehyun-ah, you joined the music club too?” Mino asked with surprised as he saw the younger guy sitting in a corner of the music room.

“Hmmm, I like music... Been a member since I joined the school.” Taehyun answered nonchalantly as the older guy automatically decided to take a seat beside the younger guy.

“Oh I did not know that…”

“Of course you would not know. I never mentioned it to you before. I like music, it helps me to relax.” Taehyun replied letting out soft little chuckles.

Mino could not help but to laugh along with Taehyun. The older was definitely pleasantly surprised because if memory served him well, it was the first time Mino ever heard Taehyun laugh at something.

“You look amused.” Taehyun commented as he saw the look that the older guy was sporting.

“I think it is the first time I ever heard you laugh.”

“Are you sure?” Taehyun asked a little unsure suddenly feeling a little self-conscious.

“Don’t worry, it is a good thing. You should do it more often.” Mino could not help but to reply causing Taehyun to turn away as he could feel the faint blush of light pink appearing on his skin.

As they spent more time together, Mino came to realize that they worked really well together since the younger guy creates really good tracks that went really well with his lyrics. They also talked and laughed a lot more during those weekly two hours session.

Mino did not know when it started but he started to look forward to music clubs activities since he got to see Taehyun more and more… Mino figured out it was most probably due to the way the younger guy acted around him and how he got to see a side to Taehyun that was hardly shown to the rest of their friends.

Perhaps it was the way Taehyun looked when he was deep in concentration with his eyebrows furrowed together or the way he would subtly bite onto his lower lip without even realizing it that really hit Mino’s gut.

It did take Mino long to find himself seeing the younger guy in a whole new different light.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Taehyun-ah!” Mino greeted with affection lacing in his voice that he wondered if the younger guy caught it.

“Mino hyung. I just put the finishing touches to the song. Come and take a listen to it?” The younger guy greeted cheerfully that Mino could not help but to be blinded by it.

“Sure I would love to hear the track.” Mino answered easily as he automatically took a seat beside Taehyun letting himself enjoy the company.

However apart from the good times, they had their disagreements as well just like all creative people do.

“I don’t think this genre will work well.” Taehyun commented.

They got together for another assignment but this time they were in a group of four with another two club members P.O and Zico who Mino got to know and immediately hit off since the three of them shared the same interests.

“Then why don’t you suggest something better then? I think the one we are working on right now is really good.” Mino could not help but to snap exasperatedly.

 It had been a week and a half since they started working on the project and it was going nowhere since Taehyun had his doubts. A little corner of Mino’s mind might be thinking it was for a reason that was entire unrelated to music that had the older guy feeling frustrated with himself but Mino was none where close to coming to terms with it yet.

Mino saw the way the younger guy looked up at him with a hurt look that was obviously evident on his face before he grabbed his phone in the pretense of replying to an important message and promptly left the room.

“Hey, there is no need to get so intense. We still have time to explore our options.” Zico commented.

“Dude, that was not cool. Did you saw how hurt he looked after you said that?” P.O pointed out to the still stunned Mino who was busy trying to figure out what brought out that little harsh outburst.

“What are you waiting for? Go find him and apologize!”

“And also go confess to Taehyun already.” P.O added as he rolled his eye for a dramatic effects.

“How… How did…” Mino trailed off as he stared in disbelief at his friends.

“Any idiot with eyes can tell from the way you look and act around him.” Zico explained as though the fact was as plain as day.

“Now go!” The two all but shoo Mino out of the room to go out in search for the fuming Taehyun.

By the time Mino’s mind fully grasped on to the situation, he was already running all over the school grounds trying to find a certain Nam Taehyun but to no avail. Finally, the older guy decided to try the rooftop of the music building.

Accurately enough, Mino found the familiar silhouette younger guy sitting down on a secluded corner that was half hidden by the walls.

“Taehyun-ah…”

“Go away!” Taehyun answered curtly with the hurt still present in his voice.

“Taehyun…”

“Just leave me alone.” The younger guy could not help but to snap out in answer.

“I am sorry I was a jerk. The little outburst just now was totally uncalled for.” Mino pushed out not willing to be backed down by the younger’s obvious irritation with him at the moment.

“If you knew you were being a jerk then why did you still do it then? I am sure it was totally uncalled for.” Taehyun could not help but to ask as the older guy carefully took a seat beside him.

“I don’t know what came over me. I am feeling a little troubled.” Mino admitted truthfully.

“Troubled over what?”

Over you… Mino could not help but to answer his question internally in his head.

Mino could not help but smile at the younger’s curiosity.

“Nothing serious… Trust me.” Mino reassured Taehyun but the younger was nowhere near convinced.

“But you are troubled enough to let it get to you more than it should.”

“It is really nothing serious.” Mino tried his hardest to deflect but Taehyun just would not back down.

“Come on, we are friends right? Tell me about it.”

“Friends…” Mino mumbled.

“Mino hyung, you are starting to scare and worry me…”

“I don’t think being friends are enough…” Mino said a little louder this time around.

“Huh? I don’t understand.” Taehyun did not understand the change in the topic. If he was worried before, now he was completely baffled.

“I don’t just want tot be your friend. I want us to mean more than that to each other. Something deeper.” Mino explained himself, looking into the familiar brown eyes that he had came to like.

The next few seconds past by painfully slow as the two continued to stare at each other. Mino felt the regret of his words sinking in the longer the silence between them dragged on. Wanting to save whatever scraps of dignity the older guy had left, Mino decided to apologise.

“I-I am sorry. I should not have said that.” Mino quickly mumbled an apology before getting onto his feet to flee from the roof.

“Yah Song Minho, did you mean what you just said?”

Mino slowly turned around only to find a smiling Nam Taehyun staring back at him and he felt his own face slowly breaking out into a smile…

"Yes.... Yes, I did mean it..." Mino answered.

Before he could even have the chance to properly see and react to Taehyun's expression, a pair of arms encircled tightly around his neck. Mino's reflex was immediate and his arms automatically went around the younger's slim waist.

"Good because I feel exactly the same way about you." Taehyun softly mumbled into the elder's neck but yet still loud enough for Mino to hear his words very clearly.

All Mino could do was to hug Taehyun slightly tighter as he made a promise to himself that he will make sure to keep the younger guy happy... 

~~~~~~~~~~

Mino sighed as he stared out of the window of the company van staring aimlessly at the various buildings in Seoul whizzed past him. It was a good memory to reminisce since he realized that he was not harboring some one-sided crush on the younger guy. They agreed to date and even shared their first kiss. In his honest opinion, there was really nothing much not to like about that fateful day.  

They began to date officially as a couple even though none of their circle of friends were remotely surprised. It was as though the whole world was just waiting for them to finally come to terms with the feelings for one another. It was a happy year for the new couple until the time that Mino passed a private audition and was accpted to train as a trainee in a well known agency that things started to go downhill from there.

If only....

The tingle of his mobile phone signaling an arrival of a message broke Mino out of his little trip back to memory land. Settling more comfortably into his seat as they headed towards the site for their music video filming, Mino fiddled with his phone until the new incoming message popped up on his screen.

Taehyun :  I will see you later for the shooting of your music video…

Mino could help but to smile. It had been a few weeks since they last saw each other and he was excited to see the younger guy even if it was going to be for a few hours.

Mino : You are going to be there?

Taehyun :  Yup since it the first shooting afterwards it might depend on my schedule but my team will handle it so I don’t have to be present at all times.

Mino :  WHAT?! So that means I don’t get to see you like all the time when we are filming for our video? But… but we hardly even meet up anymore…  T_T

Taehyun : Don’t worry you will get through it… I don’t want to cause you to be distracted…

Mino : You are definitely not a distraction even if you are then I am more than happy to have such a nice distraction…  >.<

Taehyun: Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Song Minho…

Mino : Such a cold cold man…

Taehyun : Yah!

Mino did not have time to for a chat with the younger guy when he entered the video filming location since the group was quickly ushered into a makeshift corner of their hair and makeup. The older guy was the first to be done and when he went out what he saw had him seeing green all over.

Taehyun was sitting on the couch chatting away animatedly and excitedly to a guy who had his arm casually around the younger’s shoulders all the while listening intently. Mino hated the way they were sitting so close as though they were in their own little bubble sharing private jokes that only the two of them knew about.

“Oh Mino, come over to meet the main producer of your music video. This is Jackson. He is also my very good friend from England.”

Mino could not formulate any reply to the introduction because the green monster that was lurking within him was threatening to free itself so that its ugly head could have a go. However, he managed to reign it before taking the outstretched hand and giving the guy a curt nod.

“Nice to meet you.” Mino all but grinded out his reply.

It was official that he did not liked the guy one bit not when this so called Jackson guy was the same guy that he saw Taehyun with back in England... 

~~~~~~~~~~

Hhihi, first off, i am so sorry for the long delay... i did not have much time to write until the past week... i hope that you all are still tuning in for the updates... no absolute promises but i hope that i can post another chapter before i go for my japan trip in November... if i do not make it in time, i hope that this chapter will be enough to tide you all over until i am back... as usual please leave your comments, would like to hear your thoughts! till then, enjoy!