The week went on normally, and Key specifically tried to avoid Taemin. Luckily Taemin was still a lot like a kid, and his frail health caused him get tired easily, so Key could leave the room before Taemin got up and come back after Taemin had fallen asleep. A few times, it looked like Taemin had tried to stay up waiting for him, but he’d fallen asleep from sheer fatigue. Even though Key was still mad, he couldn’t help but think that it was kind of cute.

Key still considered Minho’s words. The more he thought about it, the angrier it made him. Minho was just as much of an idiotic brat as Taemin was, and he was bigger than Key, which made him almost worse. It was annoying to see him playing basketball every day, because it reminded him of their first unpleasant meeting.

Staying away from Taemin, though, meant even more time with Jonghyun, and Key wasn’t complaining. They’d touched hands once during their Thursday morning English lecture. They’d had lunch together every day. Jonghyun was amazing in every way. He was hilariously funny, Key found out. And sometimes the looks he gave Key would make chills go down Key’s spine. It was unlike any friendship he’d ever had before. That Friday night, Jonghyun met Key outside of his Korean lecture, and Key was happily surprised to see him.

“Jonghyun-hyung!” Key said.

“Hi, Key,” Jonghyun smiled. “I thought I would find you here.”

“How did you know?” Key asked as they walked towards his dorm.

“I snuck a peek at your timetable yesterday while you were getting our coffees. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Mind? Of course not! I’m pleased,” Key laughed. Jonghyun squeezed Key’s shoulders with his muscular arms. Key almost felt like melting into his embrace, but somehow his legs managed to stay solid.

“I’m sorry I don’t have more time; I have a singing class tonight.”

“I can wait for you,” Key said hopefully.

“Don’t.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, actually, my friends Kyuhyun-hyung and Zhou Mi-hyung from the graduate school are going to rent a place in Namyangju for the weekend. Zhou Mi-hyung invited me and said I could bring a friend, but we’d have to leave early. Are you up for that?”

“Of course!”  Key said as they reached the dorm.

“Great!” Jonghyun grinned. “Can I pick you up at 6? We’ll take the train.”

“Sure, I’ll be ready,” Key said, taking Jonghyun’s hand. Jonghyun looked up at Key and smiled happily. “See you tomorrow.” Their grips lingered for a few seconds, and then Key went up the stairs to his room. Jonghyun went off to his singing class, humming happily. Key smiled all the way up the three flights of stairs to his room. Key hadn’t felt this happy since…ever, really. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d had a better friend, and it had only been five days since he met Jonghyun. Still beaming, he opened the door to his room.

“HYUNG!” Taemin cried, rushing over to hug Key. Key’s blissful mood disappeared in an instant.

“Get off of me,” Key said, but Taemin wouldn’t let go.

“Hyung, I feel like I haven’t seen you all week!”

“That’s because you haven’t.”

“Well it’s okay, hyung, we have all weekend to hang out!” Taemin said gleefully. Key smirked, knowing he’d gotten the best of Taemin this time.

“Sorry, Taeminnie,” Key said in a sickly sweet voice. “I’m going to the Paldang Dam this weekend with Jonghyun-hyung; I’m not going to be around.”

“What? Really?” Taemin asked, looking dejected.

“Yeah, sorry we can’t hang out,” Key said, practically laughing inside.

“Oh,” Taemin said. He walked over and flopped onto his bed, pulling out his cell phone and randomly clicking buttons. Key smirked. He set his alarm and hopped into bed, completely excited for the next day.

The next morning, Key woke up at five, and to his surprise and great annoyance, Taemin was also awake. What was even more surprising was that Taemin was leaning over Key with a huge smile on his face, and Key knew right away that it could mean nothing good.

“Hyung!” Taemin said with his creepy smile. “I’m coming with you!”

“No, you’re not, Taemin-ah,” Key said groggily, looking into Taemin’s unusually pale face.

“Yes I am! Because Minho-hyung was invited also and he wants to bring me!”

“WHAT?” Key shot up. “WHY?”

“Minho-hyung…I don’t really know…why he was invited or why he wanted to bring me?”

“BOTH,” Key screeched.

“Ah, I don’t know, hyung.”

“Have you been spending time with that idiot?” Key asked threateningly.

“No, hyung…well, he is in my botany lab, but that’s only once a week,” Taemin said thoughtfully. Key caught on. Minho had heard that Jonghyun was taking Key, and the only person who annoyed Key more than Minho was Taemin, of course. So Minho must have figured that annoying Key on his supposedly lovely vacation would be an excellent thing to do. Once again, Kim Kibum was being manipulated. But Key wasn’t going to let it happen this time. No, Key knew exactly what he was going to do in order to foil Choi Minho’s evil plans. It was going to be difficult…extremely difficult, but Key, Almighty Key, Diva Key, was sure he would be able to pull it off without a hitch and have Minho’s plan backfire extravagantly. Minho wanted Key to be annoyed by both him and Taemin. Sure, Key was annoyed by both of them, but if Key was able to make Minho think that at the very least Taemin wasn’t annoying him, then Key’s plan would succeed.

“Alright then, Taeminnie, let’s pack.” Key patted Taemin on the head, leaving the kid looking utterly confused. It took them about fifteen minutes to pack everything they needed for their two-day trip, fifteen more for Key to primp a bit, and the rest of the time was devoted to the beginnings of Key’s plan.

“Taeminnie, are you excited?” Key asked. Taemin cocked his head to the side, looking slightly worried that Key was now calling him by a pet name.

“Yes, hyung, I think it will be fun,” Taemin said cautiously.

“Good!” Key smiled. “Is Minho-yah coming to pick you up?”

“He just told me to go with you and Jonghyun-hyung.” Key did his best to keep his fake smile on. Choi Minho…he was doing better than expected. They heard knocking on the door. “There he is now! Let’s go, Taeminnie.” Key ruffled Taemin’s light brown hair and opened the door. “Your hair’s getting long.” Taemin shook his head and looked at Key, still slightly frightened-looking.

“Hi hyung,” Key said, his a genuine smile replacing his façade. “Taeminnie’s coming with us; Minho-ssi invited him.”

“Ah, so that’s who Minho-ssi decided to bring. Alright, let’s go then!” Jonghyun said, beaming at Key. “You look nice today.”

Thank you,” Key said, blushing slightly. “You do too.”

“Hyung,” Taemin interrupted.

“What?” Key said bluntly.

“I don’t feel so good,” Taemin said weakly. Key noticed that Taemin did look quite pale.

“Taemin-ah, maybe you should stay here,” Jonghyun said.

“But who would take care of him?” Key asked. “No, we’d better bring him along.” Everything was going according to Key’s plan so far; he wasn’t going to let Taemin ruin it for him once again.

“You’re right,” said Jonghyun, looking impressed that Key was caring so much about Taemin suddenly. “Taemin-ah, once we get out of the city, the fresh air will make you feel much better.”

“Okay, hyung,” replied Taemin. They set off towards the train station, Jonghyun and Key carrying the bags, leaving Taemin to follow them. Key was excited despite his plotting against Minho. It was going to be an excellent trip: getting the best of Minho and spending lots of time with Jonghyun sounded like the perfect way to spend a weekend. The being nice to Taemin part was only a side effect. By the time they boarded the train, the sun was still low in the sky, brightening everything around them, and Key felt that it was a good sign. They sat near the door of the train, Taemin sitting closest to the door, next to Key, and Jonghyun sat on Key’s other side. Taemin was quiet the entire way there, but Key barely noticed.

“Jonghyun-hyung, what do you think we’ll do there?” Key asked excitedly.

“Do you think we should go see the river? And maybe we can go out for samgyupsal? Karaoke!” Jonghyun said, looking forward to the trip just as much as Key was. It didn’t take long for them to get to their stop and when they got off, two handsome hyungs were waiting for them.

“Kyuhyun-hyung, Zhou Mi-hyung! Nice to see you! This is my Key…I mean, my friend Key,” Jonghyun stuttered, blushing furiously at his Freudian slip, “and this is Lee Taemin.”

“Nice to meet you, Key-ssi, Taemin-ssi,” Zhou Mi said, smiling brilliantly. Key was stunned that anyone’s smile could be so bright and cheerful. “We came last night and we thought it would be nice to pick you up! But where’s Minho?”

“He said he’d be a little late,” Kyuhyun said, putting his hand on Zhou Mi’s shoulder. “He’s taking a taxi, he just texted me saying he’d be five more minutes.”

“Okay! Jonghyun-ah, your friend doesn’t look too well. Taemin-ssi, are you feeling okay?” Zhou Mi asked, looking at Taemin concernedly.

“Ah…I…” Taemin began. Key glared at him. “I’m fine.”

“Alright. It’s not too far of a walk, only two kilometers. But the air is nice, look at those wispy clouds!” Zhou Mi said, beaming again. “So, Key-yah, you’re friends with our Jonghyunnie? How come I’ve never heard about you before this week?”

“Ah, we met on Monday when he accidentally came into our room because he thought it was his. And then Taeminnie had an asthma attack and Jonghyun-hyung helped out.”

“Omo, Taemin-ah, are you okay?” Zhou Mi asked.

“I’m fine,” Taemin said again, though he looked completely the opposite.

“Yah, Kyuhyun-hyung!” someone called. They all turned to see Minho running towards them. Key scowled, but remembering his plan, he suddenly brightened up and put his arm around Taemin’s shoulders. As Minho got closer, he looked slightly annoyed seeing Key’s apparent kindness towards Taemin.

“Hi guys. Kyuhyun-hyung, thanks for inviting me. I guess you already met Taemin,” Minho said, still looking a little put off, but he noticed that something was up with Taemin.

“Taemin-ah, you look really pale.”

“He’ll be fine, Minho-yah,” Key said, tightening his grip on Taemin. “I’m taking good care of him.”

“Key really cares about Taemin-ssi,” Jonghyun explained to his hyungs. Minho laughed.

“Really?” he asked. “Because—”

“Let’s go,” Kyuhyun interrupted, sensing that something was amiss. Zhou Mi also looked slightly concerned but let Kyuhyun keep everything under control. They walked to the house, and the walk extremely awkward. Only Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi were talking, mostly to each other, but occasionally Zhou Mi would ask one of the younger boys a question, to which he’d get a short but polite reply and nothing more. Key and Jonghyun spoke once in a while, but the angry aura that was radiating from Minho stifled their conversations quickly. After what seemed like ages, they finally reached their destination.

A/N: Enter QMi~ They're my ultimate and forever OTP. I know, suprising, right? Considering I only write and usually only read SHINee fics, but it's true!

And yes, this trip is based on the one that Onew organized in SHINee Hello Baby, but not exactly the same. Anyway I hope you guys like this chapter. 

@etherkey: Taeminnie’s smile melts hearts~

@MissEZ: You don’t know how happy it makes me that you’re waiting for nurturing Key. You’re in luck because it’s coming soon!!

@vampireme12: Ah, but would he say it if he didn’t have a reason? Wait and see~

♥ Exie

P.S. Also, if you're looking for more 2min, why don't you check out 366? It's a collection of 2min drabbles written by yours truly. I add one every day!