Taemin’s POV

                “You haven’t heard from Key, have you?” The words came out more quickly than I had intended, forced past my lips by extreme worry. The scene from the amusement park only two days before flashed continuously across my memory, like the incessant barrage of bright camera flashes at a crime scene: Flash – Key storming away from Jonghyun in fury, my wrist held tightly in his hand. Flash – His strained voice as he called a taxi and paced in front of the park entrance, answering my flurry of questions with a simple “I have to go home.”

                Flash.

                “Hyung…” The cold February wind whipped my hair into my eyes. I pulled my jacket around myself tightly. “What’s going on?”

                “It’s nothing, Minnie.”

                “Don’t give me that,” I retorted, pushing my hair back from my face. “You and Jonghyun have been acting so strange around each other lately. It’s hard to even be in the same room with you two without suffocating from the tension. What happened?”

                Key sighed exasperatedly and placed the palm of his hand against his forehead. “I…I don’t want to talk about it. Don’t worry. I’ll go home and…and Jonghyun will go home…and we can forget about all of this.”

                I scoffed. His tone was weak, shaky, and far from convincing. “You seriously think it’s that easy, hyung? Whatever it is, if Jonghyun hyung hasn’t forgotten about it by now, he’ll never forget about it.”

                Key shook his head. “He needs to forget about it.”

                It was my turn to sigh. I rolled my eyes. “An explanation would be really helpful, you know. We all have no idea what’s going on.”

                “It’s better that way. I don’t want to drag you guys into it.” He glanced up as the taxi came to a screeching halt beside the curb. “Sorry for pulling you out here with me. You can go back to the others… I’ll…talk to you later, okay?”

                My eyebrows rose slightly. He really thought I was going to leave him alone when he was going through so much?

                “I’m coming with you, hyung. You don’t have to talk or anything, but I think you’ll feel better if you have someone with you.”

                “Minho will wonder where you are.”

                I shrugged. “He’ll call me if he gets too worried.”

                And so we both slipped into the dark taxi, pulling the doors closed against the bitter wind. The ride was spent in absolute silence, during which my unease intensified and my worry only grew.

                “No, I haven’t heard from him,” Minho replied softly.

                I sighed quietly and took his hand in mine. The sound of students talking and shouting faded to a dull murmur in the back of my mind. “I tried calling him, but it just went straight to voicemail…”

                Minho squeezed my hand reassuringly. “He and Jonghyun will probably be at lunch, Taemin. We can talk to them then.”

                I nodded and kept my eyes glued to the dull white tile as we made our way to the cafeteria. To be completely honest, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing them. I could already picture their sulking expressions, turned away from each other and eating in tense, angry silence. It would be painfully awkward for everyone.

                And Minho and I still needed to find the perfect opportunity to tell them what had happened between us.

                I sighed again and quickly paid for the food I knew I wouldn’t be eating. My stomach felt tight with worry, and experience had taught me that food and worry didn’t get along well in my body.

                Minho sat close beside me at our familiar table, and I braced myself as I looked up from my plate. Jonghyun and Key sat across from us like they always did, but the atmosphere was far from what I had been expecting.

                Key was wearing what appeared to be Jonghyun’s jacket: it was at least one size too big, falling from his shoulders slightly and made from a material that didn’t even remotely match the rest of his outfit.

                “Jjong,” he mumbled, his lips pushed out in a slight pout. “How many times do I have to tell you that black and dark blue don’t go together?” He tugged at the jacket distastefully.

                Jonghyun rolled his eyes. “You’re the one who was complaining about being cold. It’s not my fault all your jackets are still at your house.”

                I raised my eyebrows. Key hadn’t gone home? My eyes narrowed as I scanned his outfit carefully. Sure enough, I recognized the dark blue jeans and sparkling silver T-shirt that he had been wearing at the amusement park.

                Key stuck his tongue out. “Sometimes I honestly think I’d rather be cold than unfashionable.”

                “Well, you’re more than welcome to take the jacket off.”

                After a moment of hesitation, Key pulled the jacket around himself tightly. “Even if the colors clash, I can pull it off,” he mumbled. “It’s freezing in here.”

                I blinked several times, genuinely confused by their behavior. They seemed…friendly again. Closer than they had been in weeks. Every once in a while, Key would even lean slightly against Jonghyun’s shoulder, earning a small smile from the latter.

                A thousand questions burned in the back of my mind. I glanced at Minho. He shrugged and raised his eyebrows, obviously just as confused as I was.

                Just as I opened my mouth to question the two, Onew and Mi Sun dropped their plates on the table beside me and sat down. They, too, seemed slightly wary. Onew threw Jonghyun and Key furtive glances every few seconds, and Mi Sun kept nudging him in the ribs to make him stop.

                The uneasy atmosphere quickly became annoying. I slammed my palms down onto the tabletop loudly enough to get everyone’s attention.

                “All right, what happened?” I stared pointedly at the two sitting across from me.

                “Yeah,” Onew chimed in, thinly veiled annoyance evident in his tone. “You two seem all…”

                “Lovey,” Mi Sun finished, casually swallowing a spoonful of rice and staring at them with eyebrows raised.

                Jonghyun’s immediate blush made me instantly suspicious. Key only shrugged and stabbed delicately at the food on his plate.

                “Do we?” He replied airily.

                Mi Sun waved her spoon at Jonghyun. “Did you tell him?”

                “Tell him what?” I demanded. I hated being left out of the conversation, and the glances Jonghyun and Mi Sun kept exchanging grated on my nerves.

                Jonghyun sighed and nodded slightly. Mi Sun giggled and clapped her hands together. “I told you!” She declared triumphantly, pointing at Jonghyun and moving her finger over toward Key. She patted Onew on the back and nodded approvingly. “You were right, oppa! It totally worked!”

                By this point, my level of annoyance was reaching its peak. “What the hell is going on?!” My voice came out much louder than I had intended, and the table instantly fell silent. I felt my face heat up, but refused to avert my eyes. The crushing silence continued for several seconds as everyone stared at me in surprise.

                Mi Sun scoffed. “God, if you won’t tell him, then I will. This is getting ridiculous.” She leaned forward to look at me. “Jonghyun confessed to Key.”

                My mouth fell open in shock. In any other situation, I would have laughed at my own comical reaction, but my brain was too clouded with surprise to take notice of anything else.

                “You did?” The incredulity in my voice was obvious as I turned toward Jonghyun. His blush had intensified, and he poked aimlessly at the food on his plate. He nodded quickly.

                Minho laughed lightly. “I honestly didn’t think you’d be the one to do it.”

                I rolled my eyes. “It sure took you long enough,” I muttered.

                “So wait,” Onew said, his mouth full of vegetables. “So you two are, like…” – He waved his fork between Jonghyun and Key – “together?”

                “Yes, we are together,” Key said with a small sigh, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “Are you all happy now?”

                I nodded enthusiastically. “I’m so happy for you guys! I’ve been waiting for this to happen!” The knot of concentrated worry that had formed in my stomach vanished, and a small laugh escaped from my lips before I could stop it. It was so nice, so relieving, to have everyone happy again.

                “Wait,” Jonghyun said, his face still sporting a dozen different shades of red. “Mi Sun…earlier, you were telling Onew that it worked. What worked, exactly…?”

                Mi Sun glanced at Onew, who kept his gaze fixed firmly on his food.

                “You better tell them, oppa. It doesn’t really matter anymore, does it?”

                Onew sighed and balanced his fork on the edge of his plate. He rested his elbows on the table and turned toward Jonghyun and Key.

                “I got tired of you two being so dense,” he said with a shrug. “We could all tell that you were in love, but nothing we did ever seemed to work. It was beyond frustrating.”

                Jonghyun’s eyebrows lowered, and even Key looked a little wary. “Onew, where is this going…?”

                “So I came up with a plan,” Onew continued cheerfully.

                Key’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of plan?”

                Onew gestured toward Mi Sun, who held up two fingers in a victory sign and smirked mischievously. “Mi Sun and I have been friends since middle school. We’ve been in theater classes together for years. She’s the most gifted actress I know, so I decided to ask her for a favor.”

                I leaned forward to stare at them. Where was this going?

                “No offense, Jonghyun, but…you can be a bit stupid sometimes,” Onew continued.

                “Offense taken,” he grumbled under his breath.

                “I knew that if everything else we had done – all the hints we had dropped – didn’t work, then following that same tactic would never work. The only way to make Jonghyun realize it would be to throw another love interest into the equation. That’s where Mi Sun came in.”

                Jonghyun’s eyes widened. “What kind of messed-up reasoning -”

                Onew held up a hand. “It’s not that messed-up when you think about it. Let me explain. I knew that you would accept Mi Sun’s chocolates. We could all see how confused Key was making you, and I knew that having a girlfriend would make you feel like you were in control again. Like things were normal. You would go out with her to take your mind off of Key; to convince yourself that you were straight and that your friendship with Key was nothing more than that.”

                Jonghyun buried his face in his hands. “God, I feel like I’ve been thrown into a drama.”

                Onew laughed. “But I also knew that you were head-over-heels in love with Key. It was obvious, wasn’t it?” He turned toward me and Minho. We both nodded vigorously. “And so I knew that after a while, you’d begin to realize that you didn’t love Mi Sun that way. Yeah, maybe you liked her and wanted to be friends with her, but her face wasn’t the one you were always seeing. Her voice wasn’t the one you always wanted to hear. And spending more time with her would eventually make you realize that the more time you spent away from Key, the more upset you were. You’d eventually realize that you were just trying to force yourself to fall in love with someone else. Someone that you didn’t love.”

                Jonghyun glanced at Mi Sun and sighed in exasperation. “So… you never really had a crush on me? You didn’t want to date me?”

                Mi Sun shrugged apologetically. “Nope, sorry. Not that you aren’t totally awesome and attractive and everything, but my heart belongs to another.”

                “It was extremely convincing,” Key mumbled, playing absently with the sleeve of Jonghyun’s jacket.

                Onew nodded. “I told you, she’s a brilliant actress.”

                Mi Sun shrugged again and stuck out her tongue. “It’s a gift.”

                Jonghyun shook his head. “So that trip to the amusement park…? The chocolates and the phone calls…? Those were all…planned? By you?”

                Onew grinned. “Yep. And then, when I could tell that you were just on the verge of realizing your feelings, I’d have Mi Sun break up with you. She would say that she could tell you weren’t in love with her; that there was someone else you wanted to be with. That whole conversation at the amusement park was carefully planned to happen that way.”

                “I actually improvised most of it,” Mi Sun chimed in cheerfully. “Good, wasn’t it?”

                Jonghyun’s mouth hung open in surprise. “I can’t… What the hell…?”

                “And it worked!” Onew smiled victoriously. “I knew it would!”

                “I deserve an Oscar,” Mi Sun added with a smirk.

                I glanced at Key and Jonghyun, trying to hide the surprise that was surely spread across my face like paint on a canvas. Jonghyun looked completely and utterly dumbfounded, like someone had just told him his parents were moving to Siberia to become reindeer herders. Key simply stared at his plate and continued fiddling with Jonghyun’s jacket. A small smile played around the corners of his mouth.

                I folded my arms. “That is so unfair,” I muttered, my lips unconsciously pushing out into a pout. “How come your plan worked but mine didn’t?”

                “You had a plan, too?!” Jonghyun’s voice rose.

                I hesitated. I had planned on never telling them, but it didn’t seem to matter much now. It hadn’t worked, they were already together, and we were spilling more secrets and personal stories than a bunch of alcoholics at an AA meeting. I sighed.

                “Do you remember the Christmas party we had at your house? When all of us had to suddenly leave at the same time?”

                Jonghyun nodded slowly.

                I shrugged. “That wasn’t a coincidence. Honestly, what are the odds of that happening?”

                Key chuckled. “You did that just so Jjong and I could be alone together?”

                I felt my face heat up. It seemed downright ridiculous when he said it like that. “Yeah…” I pouted again. “And it didn’t work. I was so sure that it would.”

                Key shook his head and laughed again. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, Minnie. Jjong and I were both still a little confused then.”

                I glanced down at the table. “I guess so. And I guess Onew hyung’s plan was more developed than mine.”

                “Well, at least everyone’s happy now,” Key said with a grin. “Jjong and I are together, you and Minho are -” He abruptly cut off the sentence as he realized the information he had just revealed. I felt my face heat up even more.

                “What?” Onew spun around in surprise.

                “Really?” Jonghyun’s eyes were wide with shock.

                “I knew it would happen sooner or later.” Mi Sun shrugged.

                “Hyung!” I narrowed my eyes at Key, instantly uncomfortable with being the center of everyone’s attention. He bit his lip apologetically.

                “Well,” Minho muttered, taking my hand in his. “At least we don’t have to worry about telling everyone now…”

                I nodded and kept my gaze glued to the tabletop.

                Onew laughed and ruffled my hair. “You two are adorable, Taemin. I’m glad you’re happy.”

                I couldn’t help the smile that began to spread across my face. After everything that we had all been through, it was nice to smile and laugh like we used to. I leaned against Minho’s shoulder and my grin widened when Jonghyun took Key’s hand in his.

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                I yawned and stretched my arms above my head. The bitter winter wind whipped across my face, blowing my hair into my eyes and obscuring my vision. I grumbled and pushed it back impatiently.

                Minho’s laughter floated on the wind beside me as he reached over and brushed my hair back into my face.

                I pouted. “Hyung~! I can’t see!”

                Minho chuckled again and came to stand in front of me, gently pushing my hair back from my face. He was standing incredibly close, and I felt my heartbeat stutter as he leaned toward me.

                “Better?”

                “N-n-ne. B-better…”

                He grinned and kissed my nose lightly before grabbing my hand and continuing down the sidewalk.

                We walked in comfortable silence for several minutes, swinging our hands gently. I jumped as my phone vibrated in my coat pocket, causing the peace of the moment to shatter like a wine glass dropped on hardwood. I shoved my gloved hand into my pocket and hastily fished out the device.

                I ran my finger lightly across the touch screen to pick up. “Ne, umma? What is it?”

                My mother’s voice on the other end was apologetic. “Yoon Sae’s baby is sick, and she needs me to come over to help her with all her other kids while she takes care of him…”

                I nodded as I recalled my aunt’s newborn and the five other kids that swarmed around her house like bees in a hive. “Ne, and?”

                My mother sighed. “And you know your father works the night shift at the hospital tonight…”

                “Ne, and?”

                “And I don’t want you staying home alone all night. Can you go to a friend’s house, or maybe get a friend to come over? I’m sure Minho will, won’t he?”

                I felt my face heat up instantly. “Umma, I don’t mind being alone…”

                “Do it for me, then, Taemin. So I don’t worry about you. Okay?”

                I sighed and rubbed my eyes in exasperation. “Okay, umma. I’ll find someone.” With that, I ended the call and dropped the phone back into my pocket.

                Minho looked at me curiously.

                “My umma and appa are both going to be gone all night, so my umma wants me to go to a friend’s house because she’s worried about me.” I made a face.

                Minho nodded. “So do you want to stop by your house to grab some things first?”

                I blinked. “What?”

                “Before we go to my house, do you want to grab some of your things?”

                “What makes you think I’m coming to your house?”

                His eyes widened slightly. “Do you not want to?”

                I sighed and leaned against his shoulder lightly as we walked. “Of course I want to. It’s just… you do so much for me… I mean, this is really last-minute. Your parents aren’t expecting me…”

                Minho shrugged. “I do things for you because I love you. And my parents adore you, too. You know that. They like having you over.”

                I buried my face in my scarf in an attempt to hide my blush. “If you say so, hyung.”

                We stopped by my house quickly, and I swapped the school supplies in my backpack with pajamas, a toothbrush, and a different outfit. Minho took my hand again as we headed back out into the harsh wind.

                “It’s been a long time since you stayed over,” he mumbled softly, his thumb tracing small circles on the back of my hand.

                I knew that all too well. I hadn’t spent the night since he had confessed, and my stomach twisted itself into a knot of anxiety at the thought. Things would be different now… I had no idea what to expect. I buried my face in my scarf once more and tried not to dwell on all the possibilities.

                I slowly climbed the metal steps to the appropriate hallway, my gloved fingers wrapped around the freezing handrail. Minho followed close behind me, his hand pressed lightly against the small of my back in an attempt to steady me as I navigated the ice-coated staircase. He didn’t even seem to notice that he was doing it, and his casual proximity made my heart’s tempo increase tenfold.

                He held open the apartment door for me and I quickly stepped across the threshold, kicking off my shoes and immediately heading toward his room to set my backpack down. The path was ingrained into my memory, and I followed it without a second thought.

                I pushed open the door and placed my backpack gently against the leg of his bed. One corner of his mouth was turned up in a slight smile as he watched me.

                “W-what…?” I asked quietly.

                “I’m just happy to have you over again,” Minho said with a slight shrug. “Nobody will be home for a while, so we’ve got the place to ourselves. What do you want to do?”

                My heart sped up again at the idea of being completely, utterly alone with him for an unspecified period of time. Aish, what was I so nervous about?

                “Umm… Where’s everyone else?”

                “My parents are at work. My brother had some after-school basketball practice or something like that. He’s always got something to do these days.” He waved a hand dismissively.

                I swallowed and nodded slowly. “Oh. I see.”

                He laughed lightly and ruffled my hair. “You seem a bit off. Is there something bothering you?”

                I pouted and reached up to fix my hair. “Ani, hyung. Nothing’s wrong. But I’m not sure what I want to do. What do you want to do?”

                Minho pursed his lips in thought. “Hmmm. I’m not sure. I haven’t had friends over in a while; I’m not used to doing this anymore.”

                I stuck my tongue out at him. “I’m pretty sure I was the only friend you ever had over.”

                He returned the action. “Yeah, so?”

                I laughed and headed down the hallway to the living room. The kitchen counter was littered with dirty dishes – proof that his family had been busy lately. Every inch of the apartment had been spotless the last time I had been here. A half-empty mug of hot chocolate sat on the edge of the sink. The snowman decorating the ceramic mug smiled happily at the empty kitchen.

                I smiled. “Hyung, I have an idea.” I ran to the living room window and pushed down the blinds, examining the grass below. At least three feet of snow covered the wide expanse. Plenty.

                “What is it, Taemin?”

                I grinned at him over my shoulder. “Can we make a snowman? We did that on Christmas, remember?”

                He chuckled softly. “Yeah, I remember. That sounds like fun.”

                “Go get a scarf,” I commanded, staring pointedly at the thin coat he wore ped over his bright green T-shirt. “You’ll get sick if you go out like that.”

                He shrugged and hastily zipped up his turquoise coat. “I don’t have a scarf. I’ll be fine like this.”

                I made a face and tugged on his coat sleeve gently. “Hyung, it’s freezing outside.”

                He smirked and grabbed either end of my scarf, pulling on the material until I was forced to move closer. “We could always share yours,” he said softly, his face mere inches from mine.

                My eyes widened and I glanced down at the floor as the blood rushed to my face. “H-hyung…”

                He chuckled and stepped back. “I’ll be okay, Taemin. Really. Come on, let’s go.”

                I followed him to the front door, my breathing still slightly shallow from his sudden proximity. I pulled on my shoes and headed down the stairs.

                Once outside, we immediately set out to gather as much snow as we could. The strong wind clung to my hair and scarf, whipping them in several different directions. I ran to Minho’s side and added a large snowball to the top of the pile he had created. After countless minutes of this process, we had amassed a suitable amount of snow for the base.

                “This looks good, I think,” I said with a satisfied smile. “What do you think, hyung?”

                Minho grinned and nodded, but I noticed his hands were shaking when he reached out to smooth the giant snowball. His nose had turned a brilliant shade of red, and I could see his teeth chattering ever so slightly.

                “Hyung…” I said quietly, moving closer to him. “You’re freezing…”

                “I’m all right, Taemin-ah. You act like I’ve never been in a Korean winter.” He stuck his tongue out at me.

                I frowned and tugged at my scarf. “Here.” I looped one end of the scarf around his neck, pulling it until it met the other end around my own neck. We were now even closer than we had been before, and I shivered as his warm breath played across my face.

                “Better?” I whispered.

                I heard his breath catch ever so slightly. “Ne. Better.”

                As we stood there in the bitter wind, impossibly close, I suddenly became hyperaware of my hands resting against his chest. And sometime in the last few minutes that felt like half a lifetime, his hands had come to rest on either side of my neck. I could feel the heat of his hands burning through the thin gloves, and a shiver ran down my spine like condensation down a glass of ice water.

                “Cold?” He whispered.

                I laughed breathlessly. “Not exactly. I’m…really warm, actually…”

                “Mmm.” He buried his face in my hair. “So am I.”

                I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, resting my head against his shoulder. I felt him tense as my breath washed across his neck, my lips almost brushing the skin.

                “Taemin,” he whispered, pulling back and running his fingers lightly along my jawline. “I think we should go back inside now… We’ll be warmer there.”

                I glanced at our half-finished snowman, savoring the feeling of his fingers against my skin. My breath condensed into uneven clouds as my breathing became shallower.

                “Ne, hyung. I agree.”

                My scarf slipped from his neck as he pulled farther away. He grabbed my hand in his and headed back up the icy steps, pushing open his apartment door and slowly kicking off his shoes. I did the same.

                The heat in the apartment quickly became stifling. I reached up and tugged at my scarf, pouting slightly when I realized that it had become twisted around itself and pushed down into the collar of my coat.

                Minho laughed softly and reached around my neck, gently pulling the scarf from my collar and untangling the fabric. The scarf fell to the floor as he kept his hands around my neck and made no effort to catch it.

                “You know, I’m really starting to like that scarf,” he said, his voice low and soft.

                I stared up at him for what felt like hours, and I honestly wasn’t the least bit surprised when he leaned down and pressed his lips softly against mine. But the lack of surprise did nothing to calm the wild beating of my heart or level out my uneven breathing.

                As he began to pull away, I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck in an effort to maintain the warmth that his lips against mine spread throughout my entire body. I felt his lips curve into a small smile as I wound my fingers into his hair. His hands trailed along my spine, and he wrapped his arms around my waist, effectively pulling me closer.

                His lips parted against mine, and my breath caught in surprise. He took a step forward until my back was pressed against the edge of the kitchen counter.

                “Wwwhhhooooaaaaaa, bedroom’s down the hall, guys. Seriously, we prepare food on that counter, you know.”

                Minho jerked backward in surprise as the sound of the front door closing echoed throughout the apartment. Minho’s younger brother stood in the entryway, a large black duffel bag slung over his shoulder and his face sporting an amused yet slightly disgusted expression.

                “Jae Hyun, what are you doing back so early?” Minho asked breathlessly, running a hand through his hair.

                “Coach shortened practice because he had some family thing to get to.” Jae Hyun threw his duffel bag into the corner and raised an eyebrow. “But it looks like the guys on the basketball team weren’t the only ones who were gonna score today.”

                Minho’s unbelievably red face was most likely a mirror image of my own as his jaw dropped. “Jae Hyun…! I don’t… w-we weren’t…” He shook his head in exasperation and turned toward the hallway. “I’m leaving…”

                My back was still pressed against the kitchen counter, and my uneven breathing coupled with my blush did nothing to hide my embarrassment.

                Jae Hyun grinned and gestured for me to follow Minho. “Well, go on. I won’t interrupt you this time.”

                My eyes widened as the hot sting of embarrassment flashed through my veins once again. “W-w-w-we… I mean, we aren’t…”

                Jae Hyun strode past me, sprawled out on the couch, and lazily flipped on the television. “It isn’t any of my business, Taemin,” he drawled. “What happens in Minho’s bedroom, stays there. And I’d realllyyyy like to keep it that way. So” – he waved a hand – “go on.”

                I blushed again and all but ran down the hallway. I pushed open Minho’s door hesitantly and closed it softly behind me. A painfully awkward silence saturated the room for several minutes as I stood with my back to the door, watching Minho cast me tentative glances from his perch on the edge of the bed.

                “Sorry,” he muttered, playing with his fingers absently. “I didn’t think he would be home so soon…”

                I shook my head quickly. “It isn’t your fault,” I whispered. “You had no way of knowing…”

                Minho chuckled softly. “God, if that wasn’t the most embarrassing thing I have ever experienced…”

                I echoed his laughter. “N-ne, it…it was very embarrassing…” The blush was only just starting to fade from my cheeks, but my skin still tingled where he had touched me, like I had received an electric shock that refused to go away.

                Minho gestured toward me. “Aren’t you hot? You’re still wearing your coat…”

                The temperature in the room seemed to skyrocket instantly, and I exhaled loudly. “Ne, I didn’t even realize it.” I hastily ped my coat and draped it over the back of the desk chair, sighing in relief as the temperature fell back to normal levels.

                Minho laughed again and patted the space on the mattress next to him. “Come sit.”

                I slowly crossed the room and sat down hesitantly. After what had happened in the kitchen, all of my previous nerves had returned full force, singing with a powerful energy that twisted my stomach into uncomfortable knots.

                I stiffened as Minho wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me against his side. He kissed the top of my head lightly.

                “We could always pick up where we left off, you know,” he mumbled softly.

                I froze as my heart hammered in my chest. One half of my brain was yelling loudly for me to agree, while the other half locked my muscles in place and told me to think about it more carefully. “I- I don’t know, hyung…”

                “I was joking.” He smiled and pressed his lips against my forehead.

                We simply sat like that for nearly two hours, my head on his shoulder and his arm around my waist. Occasionally we would talk about random, trivial topics in muted tones, but the conversations never lasted long. I relished every second that I was curled up by his side, and I sighed in disappointment when his parents called everyone to dinner.

                After a slightly awkward meal – made so by Jae Hyun’s quick glances and Minho’s warning glares in return – Minho’s parents declared it a movie night. They did this often, especially when I was over, so I wasn’t the least bit surprised.

                We all piled onto their large beige sectional, propped up our feet, and settled in for the two-hour show. It was a hilarious movie that I had never seen before, and the fact that I was resting against Minho’s side with my fingers laced through his made it all the more enjoyable.

                When the end credits began to roll across the television screen, everyone stretched, yawned, and called it a night. Minho’s father turned off the DVD player and the TV, turning the living room into a pool of shadows.

                Minho’s hand tightened around mine as he pulled me down the hallway. I snatched up my backpack, headed for the bathroom, and quickly changed into my pajamas.

                I pushed open the door quietly and placed my bag back against the leg of his bed. Minho’s bed was only a twin, so comfortably supporting two people on it was a very tricky and very close task. Therefore, I always slept on the couch when I stayed the night. I turned back toward the door.

                “Good night, hyung,” I called softly over my shoulder.

                “Where are you going?” His soft voice filtered through the dark air between us.

                “To sleep on the couch,” I said quietly, my hand poised over the doorknob.

                “There’s plenty of room here.” His voice was low and ridiculously inviting.

                “Uhmm…” My breathing became uneven again.

                “You know…” his voice dropped even lower, until I had to strain to catch his next words. “If you want to.”

                “Of course I want to,” I whispered. My heart felt like a hummingbird that had become trapped inside my chest, beating its wings frantically in an effort to escape as I walked toward his bed. I pulled back the blanket hesitantly and climbed in, lying perfectly still as the heat from his body washed over me.

                “If you aren’t comfortable, you can go,” Minho said quietly.

                “I am comfortable,” I replied, moving closer to him. “More than comfortable.”

                I heard him laugh softly as he rested his forehead against mine. My fingers laced through his underneath the blanket, and my breath caught once more as he whispered my name in the darkness. I shivered as his lips brushed lightly against my cheek, moving along the skin until they hovered over my own lips.

                I wrapped my arms around his neck and swiftly closed the space between us, delighting in the warmth and the small shivers that chased each other along my arms.

                His hands slid along my spine once again, his arms encircling my waist and pulling me impossibly closer. I wound my fingers into his hair and leaned into the kiss, certain that my heart would eventually escape from my chest and drift upward toward the stars, lighter than air and propelled by pure ecstasy.

                I was the one to pull away first, my head spinning as oxygen returned to my brain.

                Minho laughed breathlessly and buried his face in my hair. I pressed my lips against his neck softly, trying to commit the feeling of his body against mine to memory.

                “I adore you, Taemin-ah,” Minho whispered. “With every fiber of my being.”

                “I adore you, too, Minho,” I whispered back, brushing my lips against his once more. “I love you more every day.”

                He lifted one hand from my waist and played absently with a strand of my hair. “That’s a lot of love.”

                I nodded vigorously. “And it’s all for you. Every last bit of it.”

                One corner of his mouth turned up in a small smile, and he let his hand trail along the side of my face. “But I think I might love you just a bit more.”

                I pouted and caught his hand, holding it securely in mine. “That’s what you think, hyung.”

                He laughed again and rested his head against my shoulder. Another shiver made its way down my spine as his breath caressed the skin of my neck.

                “I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to sleep like this,” he whispered.

                “Me neither,” I said with a breathless laugh, trying to calm my hypersensitive nerves. “We can try, though. I don’t want to be exhausted during school tomorrow…”

                Minho nodded and pressed his lips against the side of my neck, trailing kisses down to my collarbone.

                “Okay, hyung, that is definitely not helping.” My voice was quiet and weak, my breath catching in strange places.

                He chuckled and rested his head against my shoulder once more. “All right, I’ll stop. Get some sleep, Taemin-ah.”

                “You, too, Minho. I mean it.”

                He nodded again and buried his face in my shoulder, tightening his grip around my waist. I played with his hair absently until the gentle rhythm of his breathing stole into my consciousness, making my eyelids heavy.

                I closed my eyes and buried my face in his hair, slowly drifting to sleep as my heartbeat slowed and the sound of his breathing echoed like a symphony in my head.

       Woooo~! Finally another update ^_____^

Guess what, guys? I survived my first semester of college~~! Hallelujah!

The week before finals was a lot like this:

   This may or may not have happened multiple times in my Anthropology class. *cough*  Only it was in an auditorium, so we didn't have desks to rest our heads on. That makes it way more awkward when you're like falling out of your seat and you keep waking up to see the professor staring at you. -_-

The night before finals was a lot like this:

I actually started to fall asleep like this. Then I'd remember I needed to study and it was a lot like this:

But then it eventually turned back into this:

Then I finished finals and I was like this:

And now I'm here. Yayyy~!  ^_____^

I have a glorious winter break that's nearly a month long, so hopefully I get around to updating again soon *crosses fingers*

I hope you all liked this chapter. ^_^  All the 2Min fans are happy, I hope~~

All the 2Min in this chapter is dedicated to Msnow2000

Thanks for giving me an idea because I wasn't really planning on any more 2Min at all before you said that. XP

So here's a 2Min chapter for you ^____^

Minho's younger brother's name is stolen from the TA in my Korean class...

Heh. I wonder how he'd react if he knew I used his name in KPop fanfiction.

I hope he's not the TA next semester, or I'll just laugh every time I see him. -_-

Anyways~! Comments are love and happiness and joy and the things that will surely get me through the busy season working at the movie theater! (Seriously, Christmas time over there. It gets so busy *dead* )

This story probably only has 2 or 3 more chapters left, so thank you all SOOOOOO MUCH for sticking around this long *tears of happiness*

And I reached over 200 subscribers?!?!  :O

*more tears of happiness*  You guys are the most freaking amazing people ever. Like EVER. Really.

\(^___^)/

Love you all~! <3 <3 <3

Let me know what you thought ^__^  <3 <3 <3