Taemin and Kai were walking to school together just like any other day, but Taemin had something on his mind that was really bothering him.
“Kai?” He asked gently, still unsure about wanting to know the answer.
“Yeah?” Kai responded while glancing at Taemin.
Taemin sighed gently, before getting the courage up to ask. “Why do you stay my friend? Everyone makes fun of me, but you don’t. I just don’t understand why.”
“Taemin, from the moment our mothers met, you and I were destined to be friends. When your mom got pregnant with you, my mom started calling herself your god-mom. Then my mom got pregnant like 6 months after your mom and they both agreed we would grow up and be best friends. You’ve been by my side since the moment I was born. And we’ve grown up together. And even though you’re older than me, I can’t help but feel like you’re my little brother, and I need to take care of you. I’m not going to let people hurt you or make fun of you, and I’m definitely not going to stop being your friend just because you like guys instead of girls. It’s stupid that people judge. Especially when some people may be “in-the-closet” themselves…” Kai said looking at Taemin very seriously. Kai couldn’t explain his feelings for Taemin, but he knew they were more than brotherly feelings. He couldn’t tell Taemin that though…not yet.
“Okay…” Taemin said just staring at the ground as they walked.
As they neared the school, girls started appearing and pulled Kai away. Kai looked back apologetically, but it didn’t bother Taemin anymore. What bothered him was that Taemin only ever saw Kai in the morning and late at night, and that was for the short walk from their houses to the school, and when Kai got back home from whatever he was doing. Kai lived next door to Taemin, so unless Taemin spent the night at Kai’s house, Kai went and got Taemin and then they both walked to school. Once they got to school, he was always taken away by girls that gave Taemin the dirtiest looks. He had a few classes with Kai, but the seats around Kai were always taken when Taemin managed to dodge all the bullies and get to class. At lunch Taemin always saved Kai a seat, but Kai always sat at the popular kids table, and after school, Kai had basketball practice, so Taemin either walked home alone, walked home with another boy in his neighborhood who he was sort of close to, or sat around waiting for Kai, only to be passed by like he didn’t exist, or be forced to go home by a teacher.
Taemin pulled at his long sleeve shirt absentmindedly. He wished he had brought a jacket today because the cold December air was getting to him. He always wore a long sleeve shirt no matter what though because he had to hide his wrists. He hadn’t told anyone yet, too afraid of adding one more thing to the list of “Reasons to Make Fun of Lee Taemin”, but he was depressed, severely, and it was getting worse. He hadn’t even told his parents, too afraid of how they’d react.
“Taemin quit daydreaming.” Key said. Key was the other boy Taemin got along with in his neighborhood, and the only other one who accepted Taemin being gay, except his family.
“Oh hey, Key.” Taemin said plainly.
“What’s wrong?” Key asked, his weird motherly instincts kicking in. “Is this about Kai again?”
“Shh!” Taemin glared at Key. “Why don’t you just announce it to the entire school?!”
“Sorry, sorry…” Key defended. “But is it?”
“Yes…He says he still wants to be my friend…but it feels like we are drifting apart.” Taemin said. Snow slowly fell around him causing him to shiver.
“Where’s your jacket Tae?” Key asked.
“I was in a rush this morning, so I forgot it.” Taemin said, shrugging it off. Key took Taemin by the arm and dragged him inside.
“Look, I know you love him Tae…but sometimes it’s better to let things go, before it becomes too painful to.” Key said gently.
“I know…I keep trying to tell myself I need to stay away from him, but it’s hard when he’s such a strong presence in my life.” Taemin says.
“I know. Just think about it over Christmas break. After all, today is the last day of school, and tomorrow is Christmas!~” Key said.
“Hell yeah!” Taemin chuckled slightly and high-fived Key. “Sorry I didn’t get you a present though…”
“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t have a chance to get you one either.” Key said
“Hey look! It’s the two fags of the school!” Some random boy yelled.
“Leave them alone!” Kai yelled from the end of the hallway. The boy looked around ready to pick a fight, until he saw Kai approaching.
“Oh hey, sorry man.” The boy said before quickly running off.
“You okay Minnie? He didn’t touch either of you did he?” Kai asked, really concerned.
“No. We’re okay. Thanks In.” Taemin said.
“In?” Key questioned. “How do you get In out of Kai?”
“My given name is Jongin, but when I was little, I was reading a book with a character named Kai. For like a month I went around saying I was Kai, and the name sort of stuck.” Kai said.
“But I always preferred calling him In as a kid because it was easier to say than Jongin or Kai. And I guess I can’t break that habit.” Taemin added.
“Cute.” Key muttered.
“Anyways, Taemin, my mom called. Your parents are going on a business trip, so they want you to stay with us until they get back, okay?” Kai said as Key glanced at him weirdly.
“Don’t you two live right next to each other?” Key asked.
“Yeah, but I don’t like staying alone, so I just spend the night at Kai’s house. Plus, my parents have been kind of off lately, always fighting and yeah…so I pretty much live at Kai’s house anyways, although my parents are starting to force me to stay home more often.” Taemin said, letting his depression show through a little at the end.
“Hey, you okay Minnie?” Kai asked.
Kai knew what had been going on at Taemin’s house. He had come home several times to Taemin in his bed trying to cry himself to sleep. Kai felt horrible every time it happened. He also felt horrible that he left Taemin on his own all the time, especially at school where there were bullies. He couldn’t help it though. On several occasions he had tried to go to Taemin, but his “friends” had held him back. He was tired of it though and had finally told them to back off and let him hang out with his friend, and they listened. Although this probably hurt his reputation, he didn’t mind, as long as Taemin was safe.
“Yeah…I’ll…I’ll be fine. I think.” Taemin said.
Key was really confused, but after watching the two interact, he felt bad about encouraging Taemin to stop being his friend. He felt even worse when Kai pulled Taemin into a tight hug and told him that everything would be okay.
“Where are your friends and those girls?” Taemin asked after he calmed down a bit.
“I told them to back off and let me actually spend time with my best friend.” Kai said.
The bell rang then, so Kai walked Taemin to class and then went off to his own. The rest of the day went on like this. Kai walked with Taemin and even ate lunch with him. After school Taemin decided to wait to wait on Kai, wanting this day to end in the perfect way, by finally being able to walk home with his friend after school.

A/N: Here's the first chapter! Hope you all like it.

~Kat