(I had given Taemin the health issue I've had for the last three years. But now I found a doctor who was able to help me and I'm so incredibly happy and thankful and Taemin deserves a happy ending as well.)

Taemin stared out of the car. He had been sceptical ever since Kibum had mentioned that he found a new doctor that might be able to help Taemin. He had long since given up on that hope, ever since his parents had decided that he was just faking after two doctors hadn’t been able to find anything. Sometimes he himself wasn’t entirely sure whether the pain was real or just a result of his imagination.

“Key, it’s not even hurting today.” He complained, reluctant to actually walk into the small house that just screamed “Alternative Lifestyle, Bring Your Vegan Recipes”.

“I know Minnie,” Kibum admitted. “But it’s really hard to get an appointment here and that’s the only they had for us. If she’s really as good as my friend said, she will get a clue when you explain everything. Come on, let’s go, we wanna be home for dinner. Jonghyun and Jinki are cooking tonight.”

Taemin perked up. “Jonghyun? Cooking? Are you sure?”

Kibum laughed and got out of the car. “For being only fourteen, you sometimes do sound quite mature.” He chuckled as he opened the passenger side’s door.

“Now what is that supposed to mean?” The pout forming on Taemin’s lips couldn’t be helped. As much as he loved Kibum and Jinki, they were a bit too cryptic for his liking sometimes.

Kibum didn’t reply, just took Taemin’s hand and guided him to the entrance. The doctor’s rooms were obviously part of the living space of the house, only separated from the private part by a curtain in the hallway. There was no receptionist. They sat down on the mismatched, colourful chairs provided. Taemin got out his phone to text Jonghyun and play Doodle Jump, Kibum chose one of the magazines to flip through. A serene silence settled over them, occasionally disturbed by Kibum reading out loud from some of the more interesting parts of the magazine.

By the time the other patient left and Taemin and Kibum were called into the office, they had both made the pact to be vegan, use only natural beauty products and never use a car ever again.

The doctor turned out to be a surprisingly normal looking, middle-aged woman. After the magazine and the interior of the house, Taemin had expected dreadlocks and weirdly shaped, colourful clothes. After fifteen minutes into the appointment, he decided he didn’t care about her looks. She took him serious, a refreshing feeling after doctors who barely had a condescending sneer for him when he explained what the problem was. He had a lump in his throat when she gently exclaimed how hard it must be for him to have to give up dancing. After Taemin was done, she asked Kibum some questions – seemingly undisturbed by the fact, that he was no relative or even close family friend.

“Well, Taemin,” she finally said after 30 minutes of talking. “I think I have an idea what the problem could be. I am going to test you on heavy metal poisoning-“ Kibum snorted in the background. “Sorry, sorry, I was just thinking of the musical genre.” He held his hands up apologetically. “Won’t happen again.” The doctor grinned when she looked back at Taemin. “- because I feel like that could be the reason for your problem. We’re going to make an appointment in the next few days for the test and then we’ll see what we will do, alright?”

Taemin nodded, unsure what to say. He felt overwhelmed by the prospect of a doctor actually knowing what to do for him.

They got back to the car, sitting in silence for a while. Kibum eventually put his hand on Taemin’s forearm. “Minnie, are you alright? You’re awfully quiet.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Taemin said dismissively, not knowing how to put his emotions into words. His head was full of images of him dancing – for Jonghyun, for Jinki and Kibum, for Minho, probably even Garcons and Comme Des. Jonghyun had never seen him dance. Taemin had always been to self-conscious. How much he regretted that shyness when it was unclear whether it would be possibly for him to dance again.

It was only later, right before they got to Kibum’s and Jinki’s house, that he mustered up the courage to say “thank you for taking me.”

❤