It was around three in the morning, and yet Jongin was still awake. This had been a recurring problem over the past few days, and despite the fact that Jongin had gotten a grand total of around 16 hours of sleep over the last four days and was completely exhausted, he just couldn't fall asleep that night. At least tomorrow was his last day of finals, and then maybe he'd finally get some rest, since all the stress from taking exams would be gone. 

There was a noise outside his bedroom door. The faint sound of someone lightly knocking on the wood filled the silent room. 

"Jongin?" The door opened just a crack, moonlight from the window in the living room spilling through.

"Taemin?" The door opened further, revealing the slim silhouette of his boyfriend. "What're you doing up?" 

Taemin rubbed his eyes, sniffling. He was trembling, shoulders shaking as he stood in the doorway. 

"I'm sorry if I woke you up," he whispered. "But I... I just-" His voice broke and he swayed on his feet, leaning against the door frame.

Jongin was up in an instant, at Taemin's side before he even knew it. 

"Hey, hey," he cooed, reaching out to the boy. "What's wrong?" 

Taemin grabbed Jongin's hand, pulling himself so that he stood up straighter. He rested his head on Jongin's shoulder.

"Talk to me, Tae. What's wrong?" Jongin freed his hand from Taemin's to wrap his arms around the smaller. Taemin shook his head, pressing closer to Jongin.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, so quiet that Jongin could barely hear him. 

"For what?" 

There was no response. 

"Taemin," Jongin stepped back, looking him over. "It's late, let's go to bed. We'll sort this out tomorrow, okay?" He guided Taemin to the bed, lying down on the other side. 

They lay in silence for a few minutes, and Jongin was nearly asleep when he felt a warmth against his side. Taemin had curled up against him, closing the space between them. Jongin sighed, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend before drifting off into a dreamless sleep. 

*****

"Jongin," Sehun's voice called. "Jongin!" 

He reluctantly stopped walking, waiting for his best friend to catch up. The taller boy was quickly beside him, smiling in his usual puppyish manner. 

"How do you think you did? I'm pretty sure I completely failed my accounting final." Sehun laughed, slinging an arm over Jongin's shoulders. 

"I don't know, I think I did fine, I guess? I probably would've done better if I wasn't so tired." Jongin rubbed his face, trying to keep his eyes from drooping closed. 

"Taemin keeping you up at night?" Sehun teased. 

Jongin frowned. "Yes, actually. He came into my room at 3 this morning. Not sure what was wrong, but he was a complete mess." 

Sehun shrugged. "Didn't have anything to do with Minho, did it?" 

"What?" Confusion flooded Jongin's mind. "Why would it?" 

He knew that even though Sehun wasn't happy that he and Taemin were dating, Sehun still remained friends with Taemin. And now, at such a convenient time, it just occurred to Jongin that perhaps Taemin told Sehun things he wouldn't want Jongin to know. 

"I don't know, forget I said that. I'm sure it was nothing," Sehun reassured Jongin, patting his arm. "So, you need to go rushing home to your man, or do you wanna come get something to eat with me?"

Jongin chewed his lip, considering his options. He wanted to see Taemin, but he also didn't feel like actually making dinner. If he went out to eat with Sehun, he could probably just get Taemin take out and avoid having to cook for either one of them. Or, of course, he could just go home and order food, which seemed like a much more appealing choice than either of the others. And being his typical self, Jongin went with the last one. 

"I think I'm just gonna go home, sorry," He tried to ignore the crestfallen expression on his friend's face. "Some other time, okay? I promise. Just not when I have a most likely upset boyfriend waiting for me at home." Jongin shot Sehun a small smile. 

"Okay, I'm going to hold you to that. I feel like we haven't hung out in ages." 

"Yeah, I know. Bye, Sehun." They parted ways, Jongin hurrying towards the bus stop, Sehun meandering in the direction of downtown. Jongin kept thinking about Sehun's previous words. 

Didn't have anything to do with Minho, did it?

What was that supposed to mean? Was there really something Taemin wasn't telling him about the situation with Minho? There was only one way to find out. 

*****

Taemin was on the apartment patio when Jongin came home. He had almost forgotten they even had a patio, the small, windowless door to it nearly blending into the wall. It wasn't much of anything to remember, anyway, just a small slab of gray concrete enclosed by cheap plastic fencing. To be completely honest, he'd never even been on the patio. He couldn't remember telling Taemin about its existence, and yet, there he was, sitting cross legged on the concrete, resting his head in his hands as he watched the horizon. He turned at the sound of Jongin approaching, but didn't say anything, just sat there, gazing at the boy in the doorway, unblinking. 

"Hey," Jongin said, unsure of what he should say. 

"Hey," Taemin echoed. They lapsed into silence. There was so much Jongin wanted to ask Taemin, but instead he found himself standing awkwardly in the doorway, struggling to find words. Finally, Taemin spoke again. 

"I'm sorry about last night. How did your finals go?" His voice was warm, but he made no move to get up from where he sat. Jongin wanted to go to him, but there was no way he was setting foot on that balcony. 

"They were okay. I see you found the patio." 

"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't tell me about it. It's great. Don't you ever go out here?" 

"No, not really. I don't really see what's so wonderful about it, I mean, it's just a concrete slab thirty feet off the ground."

"Well I like it." Taemin stood up, brushing himself off. 

"So, uh, about last night," Jongin began. Taemin looked up. "It didn't... did it have anything to do with Minho?"

"Did Sehun say something?" 

Jongin nodded. There were tears in Taemin's eyes. As much as he tried to tell himself to calm down, to trust Taemin, he couldn't help but to feel nervous that something had suddenly changed, that Taemin was going to leave him and go back to Minho. 

"I'm sorry, it-it's not like what you're probably thinking, I just didn't want to say anything..." 

"About what, though?"

Taemin stepped through the doorway, embracing Jongin and hiding his face in the taller's neck. Jongin sighed, wrapping his arms around the smaller.

"It'd be helpful if you actually talked to me, Tae." 

"He's just... I guess he didn't delete my number or something, because he's been texting me. And he's been saying stuff, and it's not just anything, it's stuff he knows is going to bother me and get under my skin, and even though I blocked his number I can't stop thinking about it..." His words came out in one rushed, scattered breath, and Jongin wasn't sure he'd even heard it all. Even so, his skin heated with anger at the news. 

"I swear, I'm going to find this guy and give him what he deserves. Why can't he just let you move on?" 

Taemin shook his head, tightening his grip on Jongin. 

"He didn't threaten you, did he?" 

"No, no nothing like that. He would never, he just said... things." 

"What kind of things?" 

"I'd rather not say." 

Jongin pulled back in surprise, surveying Taemin's face. 

"Really? Are you sure? I really want to help you feel better..." 

"It's okay, really. I'll be fine. Just don't be surprised if I end up coming to you in the middle of the night again." Taemin shot Jongin a brief smile, the sadness in his eyes hurting Jongin's heart. But he understood that for right now, at least, there was nothing more he could do than be there. He pulled his boyfriend closer to him once again, whispering, 

"Okay, if you say so." 

He knew he could make Taemin happier, if he couldn't, what else was he here for? 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N 

I'm so so so so so so so so sorry for the slow updates, school has been absolutely killing me lately. Next chapter is up tomorrow, I can't say when the next one will be, hopefully before Sunday/Monday, but if it isn't you'll be getting a double post to get me back on track. 

Thanks so much to everyone who's reading and subscribing! Sorry I can't say much right now, I just wanted to put this up before I go to sleep, I'll update you fully hopefully tomorrow. 

Thanks for reading! <3

-H