Little Ideas

By the time Onew had woken the next morning, the sun was high in the sky, and Odd Eye had taken it upon themselves to enter his home without his permission. Eugene, blessedly, had not awoken him early, presumably because she was dealing with them instead. He stumbled into the usual room to find the four of them devouring his breakfast. Minho waved to him with a hand covered in glaze and frosting from the buns, while Taemin’s cheeks resembled a squirrel. Onew stared at them, sleep-addled mind slowly piecing together the fact that they were not meant to be here. “How…?”

Jonghyun twirled his picks between his fingers with a cheeky grin. Onew made a little sound in the back of his throat, dropping himself into his chair with a deep sigh. Eugene came in with a coffeepot, muttering to herself, “House has got no security, be murdered in our beds these days, just you wait and see –”

“I’m terrible sorry, but could you make some more, Eugene?”

“And all he can think about is the food, oh, that just takes the cake –”

“Excellent idea, Eugene, I’ll have two slices!”

“Should’ve left a long time ago, not that I’ve got reason to complain –”

“Thank you, Eugene.” His irate housekeeper disappeared, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the windowpanes. Onew interlaced his fingers, looking at the thoroughly unrepentant Odd Eye – Jonghyun had managed to stuff two scones into his mouth, and even Key had polished off a good deal of the eggs. Well, Eugene was an excellent cook, to the worry of his waistline. “So, why’ve you all come so early?”

Jonghyun raised a finger, cracking open his trusty black bag. “Hold on –” He dumped out a magnifying glass, three test tubes, a potato peeler, and a jar containing something that Onew rather hoped would remain inside the human body. “Found it!” He pulled out a sheet of paper. “First things first, the fingerprints were Yifan’s. Bastard wrapped his hand around the pistol after murdering him.”

“I suspected as much,” Key muttered, causing Jonghyun to kick him under the table. 

“While this…is for you.” Jonghyun leaned over the table, so that only Onew could hear his voice. Plucking the sheet from Jonghyun’s fingers, Onew scanned it quickly, nodding quietly to himself. “The toxicology report – what is going on? And don’t you try and hide it from the others.”

“Do you trust me?” Onew stated plainly instead.

The younger man started, mouth drawing into a thin line. “With my life.”

“Then allow me to conceal this information for a little longer. Please.”

Scowling, Jonghyun sat back, giving him a look that indicated he was not particularly pleased about this. He gave a miniscule, reluctant nod. Perhaps Jonghyun too remembered what had occurred those five years ago. Well, it would not be the same, Onew thought. He would not allow it. Sensing the curiosity of the others, Onew turned to address them. “Soon we shall depart to the hall. There are a few little ideas of mine that need testing, first of all.”

“You look tired,” Minho commented, concerned.

“I am,” Onew admitted. Still, he smiled. He had always excelled at doing so.

“What do you think we’ll find?” Minho asked Key as took the omnibus towards the Estate. Onew, Jonghyun and Taemin had taken the seat at the back, forcing him and Key to sit beside each other in a free spot a little away. It was making him rather uncomfortable as it dawned upon him that the two hadn’t spoken at all since Odd Eye’s reformation. This was completely intolerable to Minho – he didn’t like an air filled with unpleasantness. They had not parted on the best of notes.

Key made a motion with his shoulders, glancing studiously out the window. “I’ll be amazed if they come around to the idea.”

In an effort to brighten the mood, Minho continued, “You ought to use your charm. Or Taemin’s.”

The other man turned to look at him with a perplexed expression. “Charm? Taemin?”

“His smile makes hearts flutter, in Onew’s words.”

“I don’t see how I do that.”

“Oh no, you do this.” Minho made a disgustingly adorable gesture near his face. Key smacked his shoulder, caught between anger and amusement. Minho laughed. “You always do it when you’re absolutely drunk.”

“Why in God’s name would I do that with a suspect? And I’ve stopped doing that, I’ll have you know.”

“Huh. I suppose I thought people would remain almost the same,” Minho said frankly. “Or at least, that’s what I’d like to believe for all of us.”

“You and Jonghyun are alike – soft-hearted,” Key murmured. “Next you’re going to apologize for our fight five years late, as though nothing has happened.”

Minho shrugged. “I won’t pretend things haven’t happened.”

“I’m surprised you’d admit that,” Key said flatly. “You’ve changed as well. What brought that on?”

“Bad cases,” Minho said shortly, “Very bad cases.”

“I didn’t know,” Key said after a moment. 

“But changing yourself completely is rare,” Minho continued, dismissing it, “Which is why I could buy you all the things in the world, but you’d still say I wasn’t sincere.”

“I’m not so cold!” Key said defensively. “You were furious that day!”

Minho shook his head. He still knew his friends, after all these years. Key was stubborn as an ox, and he had shoved them all aside after the group had fallen apart. “You always said you could make it on your own.”

“Don’t be a hypocrite,” Key shot back, “Weren’t you finding it easy, surrounded by all your friends as though you didn’t miss a thing?”

“I did it because I wanted to forget,” Minho told him, making Key blink. “I was young and lacking – I still lack. I might have other friends - but they could never be replacements for other ones.”

Perhaps if he had acted sooner, perhaps the group might have reunited so much earlier, borne fewer scars.

“To be honest with you… I can’t actually remember what started the fight,” Minho lied. Because for all their differences, he had always valued his friendship with Key, had missed the four, now five, of them together. None of them could take back what happened. But Minho was an optimist by nature. At Key’s expression, he smiled. “One has to live for the future, don’t you think?”

“You’ve always been a bad liar,” Key told him, swallowing thickly.

Minho nudged him. “I missed you too. Also, don’t start crying – Taemin already believes there’s something wrong with all of us.”

“Isn’t there?” Key said, as though it were something to be proud of. "And if you must know...I still do that when I'm drunk, sadly." 

Minho smiled, shaking his head. He was home.

To their surprise, it was Junmyeon who answered the door of El Dorado Estate, rather than the ever-faithful Baekhyun. “I’m still not