Oh god, I've been so busy lately, couldn't find the time to update and when I finally got the time I just forgot...luckily 'myzashawol' reminded me that it had been too long since my last update (thanks sweetie). 

so here it is, hope you'll enjoy it ^^ 

For three days Taemin ignored his presence and it kind of bothered him, he did tried to talk with him but got a cold shoulder, of course kissing the boy again was a big no no.
Minho kept asking himself why he was still there in Irene's apartment, he thought he'll get Taemin in bed by now– that didn’t happen and it seems the boy was doing fine with Eunji even without his help. 
But seeing him every day still made him want to get the boy underneath him- badly, never before he craved for anyone like he did for Taemin and that drove him crazy, so he stayed. 
"I understand Mr. Hong, yes" Taemin called over Eunji's cries and tried to bounce her in his hand while the phone at the crook of his neck threatened to fall "yes, I'll write it as soon as possible, sure…" 
Minho glanced at him before he turned his gaze back to the TV screen, if Taemin wasn’t going to ask him for help he won't volunteer. 
The doorbell rang and the boy gave him a frustrated look "yes sir, thank you…" he said while Eunji's cries got even louder, Shampoo joined the party and started to bark at the door with all of his strength "I believe we already worked on that sir but I'll check it again"
The doorbell rang again, the person behind the door was getting impatient but Minho kept sitting and watching TV. 
Angry, Taemin hung up the call with his boss "can't you open the ing door?!" he yelled at Minho as he pressed his hand on the knob and swung it open, his face changed with surprise when he saw the social worker. 
"Ms. Byun" Taemin called a little too loud but enough to alert Minho as he struggled to keep the dog away with his leg.  
"Mr. Lee" she said shortly as she invited herself into the apartment, she glanced at Eunji who kept crying and then at the barking dog before she turned to look at Minho who turned off the TV and got up to shake her hand. 
"Mr. Choi" she said without shaking his hand and gave him a harsh look that said 'put a god damn shirt' before she turned back to Taemin "how are you two handling?"
"Not so bad" the boy lied, he glanced at Minho with begging eyes for him to cooperate. 
"Is there any particular reason why Eunji crying?" she asked. 
Taemin looked at Eunji, trying to smile at her before he turned his gaze back at the social worker "she's a little cranky today, not so sure why…" 
Ms. Byun nodded before she started to walk around the apartment, both men looked at her as she checked the place, taking extra look at Eunji's room. Minho grabbed Shampoo's collar and stopped him from barking while Taemin desperately tried to calm the baby, when she came out of the room she shared a harsh gaze between them "well, I've seen enough and to be honest I didn’t like what I saw, you two need to focus quickly" her tone was warning. 
Taemin gave Minho a worried look as he nodded his head.
"The apartment is not habitable for a baby, not to mention I haven’t seen anything nutritious in the kitchen" 
"Ms. Byun..." Minho said but shut when she raised her hand to stop him from talking. 
"I'll be back tomorrow morning and if things won't change, I'll take the right measures"
She left them with wide eyes and confusion. 

The door shut behind the social worker and Shampoo started to bark again, in that moment something snapped in Taemin and tears sprang in his eyes, he understood the hint in Ms. Byun's words, if things won't change anytime soon Eunji could be taking away, he couldn’t handle the thought.
Too much noise, cries, barks, the tears rolled down his cheeks and his body shook, he wanted to scream but luckily wasn’t have to because Minho noticed he was storming with emotions and took the lead, he pulled Shampoo's collar pretty roughly- making the dog shut immediately before he took crying Eunji from his arms. 
Raising his teary eyes Taemin envied Minho for his calmness. 
"Go wash your face, I'll take care of everything in here…" Minho said quietly over the baby's sobs but the boy heard him well "I'll take Eunji with me to the market, maybe the little trip would calm her" 
Taemin just nodded weakly before he went to the bathroom, when he came back Minho was fully dressed and ready to go. 
They worked together for a change, Taemin brought Eunji's clothes while Minho dressed her and placed her in her pram, she probably realized they were going out and her cries turned into irritable whines, before Minho went out of the apartment he called Shampoo and the dog ran toward him when he saw his leash.
"You're taking him too?" Taemin asked surprised. 
Minho hummed "you could use a little alone time" 
He was right "thank you" 
Minho nodded and by the time he rolled the pram out of the door Eunji stopped crying. 
Taemin shut the door behind them and leaned on it, he closed his eyes letting the stress wash away from his body as he took few deep breaths, when he opened his eyes he promised himself that everything would be just fine and pushed himself away from the door, till Minho would be back with Eunji he'll clean the apartment so tomorrow when the social worker would be back for another visit she'll see the different.  

When Minho came back the apartment was clean, everything was in it place and there were no more toys on the floor, it was quiet and dark besides the bathroom were small light reflected underneath the door. 
He released Shampoo from his leash and rolled the pram into the apartment before he pulled the sleepy Eunji from it, he carried her to her room and changed her clothes into something comfortable before he placed her in her bed, she fell asleep almost immediately, too exhausted. 
When he came out of her room he saw Taemin coming out of the bathroom "oh…you're back" he mumbled quietly while holding the towel tightly to his waist. 
Minho eyed him and hummed, hunger grew in his body. 
"Was she alright?" 
"Yes, she calmed at the moment we got into the elevator" 
The boy nodded and Minho could see he felt uncomfortable with his . 
"Go get dressed, I'll place the groceries in it place" he said and went to the kitchen to give him his privacy. 
Moments later Taemin joined him, he was wearing his oversize pajama, the one that hide his beautiful body. 
"Need any help?"
Minho shook his head "already finished" he mumbled as he closed the cabins. 
The boy sat on one of the stools in front of the kitchen island, he thought about turning on his laptop and get some work, just few hours ago he promised his boss to work on an article but he was tired, his brain felt like a mash. 
"Want a beer?" Minho cut his thoughts about work and he raised his gaze at him. 
"Hmm?" 
"Beer, I bought some"
Taemin nodded, yeah, he needed something cold to wash his throat, he watched at Minho who took out two bottles of the fridge and opened it before he handed him one, while he gulped the beer Taemin sipped slowly from it, letting the bitter taste linger on his tongue. 
Minho went to sit on the couch, Shampoo who was laying by the door raised his head to see who was it before he lowered it back and closed his eyes for a good nap. 
For a long moment Taemin struggled with himself and eventually he gave up on work, instead he came to sit by Minho's side, surprising him by his closeness. They sat quietly, not even looking at each other before the boy opened his mouth to speak, his voice was soft and low "thank you for taking her…" 
Minho turned to look at him and waited till the boy turned as well, when their eyes linked he saw honesty reflected in him, he truly meant it when he thanked him "you looked like you needed some time alone" 
"I was a little shaky" the boy admitted "Eunji hadn’t stopped crying for hours and I had no idea what to do and then the call from my boss and Shampoo's barks and Ms. Byun…and…" 
"Sorry for not helping you" Minho said regretfully, he felt like an idiot for treating the boy like he did for the few past days, his ego took it place when Taemin turned down his offer after the kiss. 
Taemin hadn’t respond, he moved his gaze away from Minho and sipped from his beer. 
"She's really important to you, isn’t she?" 
"Eunji?" 
"Hmm"
The boy shrugged and sipped. 
"Why? I mean, what if she's…not yours?" 
"She's Irene's, that's enough for me" he said and turned to look at Minho once again "I know that for you Irene was only a one night stand, you made it clear at the lawyer's office but Irene was my best friend and even if Eunji is not mine it doesn't mean I don’t care for her daughter" 
Minho's eyes turned his surprise "you two were friends?" 
Taemin nodded.
"Were you a couple?"
"No, just friends" 
"So how come you didn’t know about Eunji?" 
The boy's eyes sparkled with tears he held back, his voice became thick "she shoved me away from her life before Eunji was born"
"Why?" 
Taemin eyed him for a moment, he found nothing but pure curiosity "we had a fight" 
"About what?" 
"She wanted to be a couple"
"So why haven’t you?" 
"I'm not, ah…I'm gay" he confessed quietly.  
"So you slept with her just to make sure?"  
Taemin looked offended.  
"Is that a yes?" Minho urged. 
"No" 
"Then?"
"It kind of happened, she knew I was confused about my uality and she needed sort of rebound after breaking up with her boyfriend- Sehun,  she said it's just but better than a one night stand because we knew each other all of our lives. It wasn’t a weird thing to kiss her or hold her, see her was something I did a lot before we slept, she saw me many times before, there was no awkwardness or anything, it felt right. She was my first and my last time with a woman, I was glad it was with her otherwise I don’t think I would have tried with someone else"  
"You loved her?" Minho asked softly, the boy's face changed when he talked about Irene, he could see how important she was to him, it made clear to him why he treated Eunji the way he did- with such a blind affection. 
"So much"
They were quiet for a moment before Minho got up from the couch and made his way to the kitchen, he came back with two more bottles of beer even though the boy was still at his first. 
"What if she's yours?" 
"I'll raise her?" Taemin said with a trembling voice, to be honest, he hasn't thought about it yet. 
"How old are you?" 
Frowning at the question he answered "23"
Minho snorted "a child would raise a baby…"
Though the boy looked offended by his remark he said "well, at least I'll take responsibility"
Minho shut, he gulped from his second bottle and turned his gaze from Taemin, he hadn’t thought about Eunji as his daughter, it was easier to think she's Taemin's. 
They became quiet again, when Minho finished his second bottle he turned to the third, the one that Taemin hadn’t touched. 
"Eunji doesn't even look like me…"
"She doesn’t look like me either. She looks exactly like Irene" 
"This is why it's hard for me to… you know, see her as my daughter. It makes me wonder if Irene was just looking for someone to put the blame on" 
"She would have never done that!" Taemin defended his friend's good name "she shoved me away from her life without asking for help, I didn’t know about Eunji or her disease" his voice cracked a little when he said "her death. If she was looking for someone to put blame on she would have connected me, or at least one of us sooner" 
"Yeah, but…" 
Taemin shook his head "no! You just don’t know her…she would have never done that!" 
Minho sighed, the boy was blind when it came to Irene,  though maybe he was right - he knew nothing about her. 
"She was a good person, don’t make her bad" 
"Never meant to, I barely knew her. We met at the club both a little tipsy, I bet my colleagues I could get her number and I did, she was pretty and I was and that's it, after we ed I left and haven't seen her since then"
Taemin gave him a harsh look "why have you done it if you're into men?" 
"I never said what I'm into" 
"So you're on both sides?" 
"I don’t like to defined myself" 
"Why have you kissed me then?"