“Please?” 

Minho looked up from the soccer match he was watching with his dad, “No, I’m not in a mood for a party.”

“If my boyfriend didn’t have exams, if my parents weren’t out on a business trip and if I knew how to drive, I wouldn’t have even asked you.”

“Get a cab, please.” Minho murmured. He had been in an awful, unfixable mood all weekend and it sure seemed like it would continue throughout the winter break.

The TV was switched off right then, and Minho looked at his dad with wide eyes.

“Go with her.” 

“I’m gonna miss the match–”

“It's from the last season, you’ve already watched it.” 

Minho got up reluctantly, turning to Yuri, “Fine.”

Yuri smirked in victory and followed him till the door of his room, “Taemin might be there, you know. It’s Miyoung’s birthday party. Cinderella from the drama club?”

Minho was just going to grab a jacket from the coat hanger but he paused, walking back and closing the door to his room before opening his wardrobe, cursing under his breath when he heard Yuri laughing.

It was a long drive to a vacation house out of town. Minho had no idea Yuri and Miyoung were close friends, but it certainly wasn’t a surprise. Minho had made the effort to dress, but again, not too much, not wanting to show that he was keen on attending. But Yuri had been teasing him about it all throughout the way, also very fascinated by the playlist of old songs Minhyuk had made for him. She got hooked onto Dancing Queen and it was all Minho heard for almost an hour straight.

His head was spinning a little as he greeted everyone. There were quite a lot of familiar faces– one of them being Haneul– who his petty self wanted to ignore. But he greeted him normally, just like everyone since he decided to get the formalities out of the way quickly so he could search the surroundings for Taemin.

And he did find him, sitting away from the crowd, Woojin beside him. 

It had been too naive, too foolish of Minho to think Taemin would be here alone. Who actually Woojin was, had slipped from his mind in his eagerness to just be able to see Taemin. 

“Won’t you go talk to him?” Yuri whispered when Minho came back to her side.

“He already has company.” He answered, “I’ll come back to pick you up tomorrow afternoon?”

Miyoung had overheard the last bit, “No way! You are staying!”

When Miyoung was out of earshot, Yuri whispered, “You can leave whenever you want, I’ll handle her.”

“It’s okay, maybe,” He sighed, his heart slipping, looking at Taemin laugh when Rena had dodged Woojin’s attack and pushed him into the pool instead, “If I stay a while.”

After an early dinner, the whole group had gathered inside to play Truth or Dare but with tasks already written down instead of spinning the bottle. Some chits were okay, but some probed about a person’s love life. Minho sighed, finding the latter part of the game a bit burdensome since he didn’t share the same comfort level as the others did with each other. 

The ball was being passed and when the music stopped, it was Woojin’s turn to pick a chit.

“You have been saved, but it’s a life for a life. You have the power to ask one question to anyone and they will have to speak nothing but the truth.” He looked around and his eyes settled on Minho, smirking, “Minho, get ready.”

Minho straightened up, sighing, “Okay, shoot.” 

“Is the person you like in this room?” Woojin asked right away, “Like, as in romantically. You can’t cheat your way through this.”

Minho’s eyes involuntarily settled on Taemin, but he reluctantly looked away, knowing he was under scrutiny. Everyone was silent in anticipation of what he would answer.

“Yes.”

“Who is it?” Woojin asked right away.

“Is it Yuri?”

Yuri raised her brows in amusement as she looked at Minho. 

“The rule was one question, guys,” Minho answered simply.

“You’re no fun, dude.”

A couple of turns later, the ball had landed in Minho’s hands at the end of the music, and Minho pulled out a chit, his smile diffusing as he read it out. “Kiss the person sitting five spots to the left.” He sighed, looking up, “Really?”

“It’s just a game. And you don’t want the punishment, trust me.” Miyoung said as she counted five spots to his left. “Taemin!” Miyoung smirked, before turning to Woojin, “No hard feelings, okay?”

Woojin laughed, “Yeah, yeah.” 

Minho sighed again, he had noticed how startled Taemin was when Miyoung had called him out and he was concealing it well, but it was evident from how he had been tapping his fingers on his thigh, something which Minho had seen him do during exams, that he was uncomfortable with not just this chit, but the whole game. His fingers hadn’t stopped playing that frantic tune ever since Woojin’s turn, after all.

But Miyoung had dragged Minho out of his spot and forced him to sit beside Taemin, who shifted slightly so he could squeeze in.

“Really? Won’t you ask the other party if they are okay with it?” Minho argued, “Don’t write down stuff that could make others uncomfortable.”

“You can always take the punishment, Minho.” Miyoung had a sly smile on her face, “You’ll have to let everyone crack an egg on your head. Do you really want twenty-one eggs on your head now?”

“Yeah–”

“It’s okay.”

Minho turned to look at Taemin, he still seemed discomforted and Minho more or less knew he was agreeing only to save him from the punishment. It softened Minho’s heart, but no way was he going to take advantage of that. So he just whispered, “I’m going to go for the hand.” He took Taemin’s hand, his own heart racing at just feeling his warmth in his own hand, at how small and delicate his fingers truly were. Taemin didn’t pull his hand away and rested his thumb on Minho’s fingers... that was when Minho raised the join of their hands and kissed just above his knuckles. Taemin’s grip on his hand tightened just slightly, Minho could feel he was embarrassed from that little squeeze and Minho’s heart was racing, because so was he. 

Minho dropped his hand gently, reluctantly, and shifted away, making everyone break out in displeasure.

“Hey, that doesn’t count!”

“The dare never specified what kind of kiss it had to be!” Minho shrugged, getting up and going back to his place, trying his best to cover how shaken he was.

There was a lot more arguing and protesting, but the game still moved forward.

“And you were refusing to come,” Yuri whispered with a little smile as she passed the ball.

Minho just cleared his throat; it took everything in him to not smile, to not sneak a glance at Taemin. He knew… he knew this was just a game, but he couldn’t help but feel this way. 

The music had stopped, and the ball was in Taemin’s hands, who read out his chit softly, “Kiss… kiss the person to your right on the cheek.” 

“Okay, who in the frigging world made these chits?” Woojin complained immediately, “Why are some loose-ended and some so specific like this one?”

“Stop complaining, you moron!” It was Miyoung who shouted, “It’s anyway you on his right!”

“That’s exactly why!” 

Woojin was ready and Taemin leaned close to kiss his cheek, but Woojin had turned his face around, kissing him on the lips. They kissed again and everyone was cheering– everyone except Minho– and Yuri, who looked at him, getting worried at how desolate he seemed.

“Okay, now everyone’s just doing whatever they want. Let’s do something else–”

Yuri had turned at Miyoung’s voice, but when she turned back to check on Minho... he was gone.

Minho sighed, finding his breathing getting steady, if only slightly, in the open, the sharp chill of the night not doing much to distract him from his languishing heart. He looked up at the night sky. He still remembered what he had said that night, almost two years ago, about believing those stars existed in places blanketed by the dark, that helped align two constellations.

He had obstinately believed in that despite everything, but today, for the first time, he felt his belief shaken. 

He pulled out his phone and texted Yuri that he was going home, not wanting to stick around and have his heart destroyed entirely.

“Taemin!”

Minho looked up at the voice and found Taemin storming into the parking lot, stopping short on seeing him. It was Woojin who had called out his name, and he was following, seeming agitated.

But Minho’s eyes could focus on nothing other than Taemin, on how his cheeks were soaked, how he was trembling. Minho straightened up, he