The walk to Minho's apartment wasn't long, but the cold February winds bit into the two men as they made the short trek. Jongin put his head down against the wind, wishing he'd worn a warmer coat. There'd been a silence between the two since they'd left the coffee shop, and Jongin couldn't help but to feel that he'd just put himself into a very awkward situation. After all, he barely knew Taemin, yet here he was, escorting him to his ex-boyfriend's apartment.

Why did he do this?

Taemin was the first to break the silence.

"Wait, Jongin, don't you have somewhere to be? You're always saying that you have something to do after work." 

Jongin coughed nervously. In all honesty, he'd completely forgotten about the fact that he had night classes to attend today. Well, despite not wanting to miss his classes, he couldn't just leave Taemin here, he'd feel guilty. 

"Ah, I don't have anything today, it's fine." 

"Oh. Well, thanks for coming with me. I'm sorry, I'm completely wasting your night off."

Although Jongin couldn't help but to agree, he knew better than say it out loud.

"It's no problem. Just helping you out, man." 

Taemin nodded, and they fell back into silence for the rest of the walk there. 

*****

Minho's apartment was surprisingly uninhabited when they arrived, a much-appreciated miracle to both Taemin and Jongin.

"Well, go on, get your stuff and then let's go. Who knows when he's coming back." Jongin urged Taemin, who looked hesitant to even head further into the small space. The other nodded, disappearing into a room off to the right. 

And so, Jongin was left standing there, in the middle of the apartment Taemin used to share with Minho. The apartment was decorated in a fairly minimalistic style, a small couch was on the left wall, in front of it, a round glass coffee table with a few spare papers strewn across it. There was no TV, no armchairs, no other furniture in the living room except for those two pieces. The carpet was a dull gray, and looked well worn. The walls were clean and whitewashed, and in the place of paintings or decoration, framed certificates were hung on the walls. Stepping closer to one, Jongin saw that it was Minho's bachelor's degree. 

Weird thing to hang on a wall, Jongin noted, feeling vaguely confused. 

"Jongin?" 

He turned around. 

"Yeah?"

"Um, I'm done, we should probably go now..." 

"Yeah, let's. Remember to leave your house key on the table. I don't think he'd be happy with you keeping it."

Taemin nodded, setting down the box he was carrying to get out his keys. 

Jongin eyed Taemin's single box, raising his eyebrow. 

"That's all?"

Taemin laughed bitterly. 

"I don't own a lot, I didn't need to. I would just use Minho's stuff if I needed anything. It saved money." 

"If you say so," Jongin said, disbelief evident in his voice. 

Taemin finished fidding with his keys, setting the key to the apartment down on the coffee table. 

"Should we get out of here now?" He asked, looking up at Jongin. 

"You should." A voice from behind startled them both. Minho was standing in the doorway, an annoyed expression on his face as he watched them. 

The room instantly became still, as if everything were holding its breath. How long had he been there?

Taemin, who looked like he was about to start wailing right then and there, was frozen, looking at Jongin with wide eyes. Jongin, having no idea what to do, just hoped whatever came out of his mouth next wasn't completely idiotic. 

"Well, I quite agree. It's definitely time to go, so how about that. Here, Taemin, I'll take this, uh, let's just leave."

Internally sighing in relief that he didn't say anything stupid, like he'd anticipated, Jongin bent down, picking up the box Taemin had left on the ground. 

Taemin unfroze, heading for the door, cautiously slipping past Minho before disappearing outside. 

Jongin went to follow him, but before he could walk through the doorway, Minho moved, taking up the whole space. 

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Jongin stopped, catching Minho's spiteful glance. 

"What? I'd like to leave, please." There was obvious irritation in Jongin's tone, and at this point, he couldn't care less.

"Who are you, anyway? His boyfriend or something? I doubt he has any friends, and I wouldn't be surprised if that little rat had been cheating on me the entire time." 

"Okay, Minho. I just have one question for you, though. What the actual is your problem? It's very clear exactly how much you hurt him when you broke up with him, you don't need to go around acting like he's garbage. Do you have no sympathy? What could he have possibly done to you? Honestly, the hell?"

Minho looked taken aback, and using this to his advantage, Jongin continued,

"Now let me through, I don't have time for your bull."

The tall man moved aside, not saying a word.

 Just as Jongin walked out, he heard the man say something. 

"What?" 

"I... Tell him I'm sorry... he'll understand." 

Jongin didn't reply, just shook his head and continued on. Taemin was waiting by the elevator, instantly looking relieved once he laid eyes on Jongin. As he approached, he shook his head in disgust before saying, 

"Taemin, how you ever put up with him is beyond me." 

*****

It was outside, while they were waiting at a bus stop, that Jongin had a realization. 

"You don't have anywhere to go, do you?" He asked, turning to face the boy beside him. 

Taemin shook his head, looking at the pavement beneath his feet. 

Jongin took a deep breath, hating himself for what he was about to do. 

Kim Jongin, I hope Kyungsoo's soul tortures you forever for doing this. 

"You, uh... you can stay at my place for tonight if you want. You'll have to sleep on the couch since I only have one bed, but it'll be better than sleeping in the staff room again."

"Oh my gosh, really? You'd let me do that?" 

Jongin nodded, swallowing down his regret. 

"Oh, Jongin, thank you so, so much. You have no idea how much that means to me. I don't know how I'll be able to pay you back for this, thank you so much."

He chuckled nervously. 

"It's no big deal, don't sweat it. It's only a night, after all."

That's right, just one night. It won't be that bad. 

*****

Taemin was still there at the end of the week. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So Taemin is staying at Jongin's place now... wow. Did anyone see that coming? Haha! 

I'm so so so so sorry for publishing this so late, I've been sick, and I've been resting a lot, so this didn't get done very fast. :((   I promise I won't be this late on the next chapter!! I'll work harder now that I'm feeling better. :)

This is unedited like the other chapters, so I'm sorry if it's bad or there's a lot of mistakes. 

Thanks so much for all the feedback and support I've been recieving, it makes me feel so good! Thank you so much to all of my lovely subscribers for giving this story so much love. :D <3 

I need to sleep now though, it's late, as usual, haha. 

Thanks for reading!

-H