2003

"Mom! Dad! Wake up!" Taemin called as he rushed into his parents' room, it was 3AM in the morning and he stayed awake till the time has come "come on! We're going to be late!"

Mr. Lee raised his head and yawned while Mrs. Lee slowly got up from the bed.

"Come on!"

"We're up…" Mr. Lee said, he looked at his son who was already dressed and with his shoes on, he smiled and ruffled his hair "let us get dressed, we'll be right down"

Taemin nodded and rushed down, he waited for 15 minutes that seemed like forever before his parents came down as well and were finally ready to go.

After two years Minho's parents finally allowed him to come to Wisconsin and Taemin was thrilled, he couldn’t sleep all night long thinking about the moment he'll meet his best friend again.

They kept talking on the phone everyday, when Mr. Lee got a computer from his work they found out about 'skype' and were able to see each other on camera while chatting but their feelings hadn't changed, they still missed each other very much.

"Dad, please drive faster!" Taemin said now as they drove to the airport.

"I can't Taemin-ah, don’t worry we'll be there on time"

Taemin tried to be patient but at the moment the car stopped he jumped out of it and ran into the terminal.

"Taemin-ah!" Mrs. Lee called "don’t run!"

"Let him, he's excited" Mr. Lee said chuckling and locked his car, he held his wife's hand and they followed their son into the terminal.

"MINHO!!!" Taemin called and threw himself into Minho's hug at the moment they saw each other.

"Are you the Lee family?" the attendant that walked Minho asked when Taemin's parents caught up with the boys, Mr. Lee nodded and signed all the necessary papers that promised Minho arrived safely. After greeting each other with warm hugs they were ready to go home.     

In the car Mr. and Mrs. Lee called Minho's parents to tell them their son has arrived and everything was alright, Minho talked with his parents for a brief moment before he hung up the call so he could be with his best friend, the boys couldn’t stop talking about all the things they could do.

"Minho how was your flight?" Mr. Lee asked.

"Really long but I slept most of it"

"Are you hungry?" Mrs. Lee asked.

"Just a little…"

"The diner is open, should we go there?" Mrs. Lee asked her husband and he nodded.

"YES!" Taemin called to the mention of the diner "they have the best pancakes in the whole world!"

Taemin's parent laughed and nodded with agreement.

"You could meet Debbie…" Taemin told his best friend and the older frowned.

"Who is Debbie?"

"She's the waitress at the diner, she's so funny and she always gives me swirled straws"

Minho smiled "ok…"

When they arrived the diner Taemin jumped out of the car, Minho followed him and they ran inside holding hands "Debbie, Debbie…!" Taemin called and a big colorful woman with a huge smile turned at the counter and called cheerily "sunshine!"

Taemin giggled and climbed on the stool, Minho kept holding his hand but stayed by his side instead of sitting.

"What are you doing here, Tyler?" Debbie asked "it's early…"

"This is Minho, he's my best friend!" the boy announced excitedly "he came from Korea for a visit, so we went to the airport to take him"

"Hi little boy" she offered her hand and a big smile, Minho looked at her a little shocked.

"I eat here with Umma almost every day" Taemin explain in Korean.

Minho bowed slightly his head and mumbled "안녕하세요…반갑습니다"

Debbie smiled, he was just like Tyler when she first met him.

The little bell above the door rang and caught their attention, Taemin's parents walked in, Debbie waved at them as they sat in a privet booth.

"Go sit with your parents, I'll be right come"

Taemin nodded and got down from the stool, he pulled Minho along with him as they went to sit by his parents' side. When they got the menus Taemin was proud to explain it to Minho, they ordered pancakes with tons of syrup and ice cream.

Breakfast was full with laughter and too loud for the hour but that was ok, there weren’t a lot of people in diner anyway, only few cops that looked for caffeine so they could finish their shift without falling asleep.

After they had their breakfast they went back home, freshing up a little before they went out for the day to see all the nice places Wisconsin had to offer, they traveled many places and took many pictures, it was a long day that passed by too fast.

"Tomorrow we'll go bowling" Taemin said now as they were in bed after a long day.

Minho yawned and nodded.

"…and you could meet Kathrin, she'll come with us, she'd love to meet you, I told her a lot about you and she was happy to hear that you're coming for a visit"

Not once Minho heard about Kathrin, after all Taemin used to tell him about her, she helped him a lot with his English and apparently she did a good job because Taemin spoke really well.  

"You're best friends?"

Taemin hummed and shut his eyes, ready to sleep.

"Do you call her Noona?"

"No. we don’t use honorific titles in here but I like here like a Noona, she's nice and funny and very cute…"

"Are you more than just friends?" Minho asked the question quietly.

Taemin yawned "no…she's a girl, it's too weird"

Minho hummed and looked at the boy's pretty face, he leaned and kissed his cheek "good night Taeminnie…"

"Good night Minho"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Well, as much as Minho tried to ignore Kathrin's presence it was hard, the little energetic redhead was too close and too much touching his Taemin. They met at the mall and at the moment she saw the boy she held his hand and hadn’t let go since then.

"Kathy…this is Minho Hyung"

"Again with that 'Hyung' thing, Tyler? We don’t speak like that here…remember?" she teased.

Taemin made a face and glanced at the older who had no idea what they were talking about "right…" he mumbled.

"Hi Minho, I'm Kathrin…" she said turning to the older and reached her hand for a shake.

Minho looked at her and then at Taemin waiting for him to translate her, the boy looked a little disappointed as he did.

They went bowling and Minho felt awkward, it felt like he was a third wheel between their privet jokes, never before he was so…jealous.

"you don’t call me 'Hyung" anymore…" Minho said now as they were alone on their way back home.

"What?"

"At the airport you hadn’t called me 'Hyung', you just called 'Minho' and after that you just kept calling my name instead of 'Hyung'…why?"

Taemin looked at his best friend and bitten his lip before he shrugged "I told you, we don’t speak like that here…"

"But-"

"We just don’t, Minho" the boy cut him off.

They kept walking quietly, Minho was hurt, he felt like he was losing his best friend- Taemin became American.