Jinki slumps down on the thick couch, breathing out unhappily. He lets the couch swallow one third of his body, as he shuts his eyes, brain pounding like mad.

The clicking of heels disrupts the silence as a woman in a low cut, black dress makes her way gracefully over to Jinki, carefully sitting down next to him and reaching to squeeze his shoulders, “Everything alright?”

“Yeah…” Jinki swallows, relaxing his muscles once the other begins to massage his shoulders for him, “Just running into some difficulties with the construction work.”

“Don’t worry sir; I’m sure things will work out sooner or later.” The woman assures while squeezing Jinki’s shoulders, massaging it back and forth,

“After all, their bound to crack once they lose support from ECHO…”

     “Taemin!!!”

“What is it?!” Taemin hollers back, sick of his mother’s constant calling for the past few minutes. He storms out of his room and into the kitchen, where she was awaiting him with a gas tank. Oh no…

“You have a delivery to make,” she states and pats the top of the gas tank. Taemin groans right out at this, “Can’t I do it tomorrow?” He was still feeling exhausted from last day.

“No. The customer wants it there by the evening.” His mother said, before taking out a small piece of paper from her pocket, “The address is on the piece of paper. You’ll need to leave right away, as the trip will take a while.”

Taemin runs his fingers through his messy hair before going over and taking the piece of paper, gazing at the address.

“…Are you freaking kidding me?! Dobongsan Mountain?! That’ll take hours!” He looks up at his mother like she just want crazy. Why did the customer have to live THERE out of all places?

“No exceptions. She paid a lot of money to have it delivered, and we never go back on our word.” Taemin’s mother said, and pushed the gas tank closer to her son, “Take Minhyuk with you if you’d like. Actually, do take him. He’ll provide some help for you.”

Taemin groaned again at this. As much as he would love to have Minhyuk accompany him, seriously, the mountains?

As if on cue, Minho walks out from the guest’s bedroom, rubbing his eyes in a sleepy manner, “What’s going on?”

“Get dressed. We’re going hiking.” Taemin said sourly and pushes past the taller male in order to get changed as well. Minho blinked in confusion and looked to Taemin’s mother, hoping for an explanation, but she only shrugged in response.

After loading everything on the back of the truck, Taemin got into the driver’s seat and buckled his seatbelts. He took some deep breathes in order to clear his mind while Minho got comfortable beside him. Once they were on the road, an awkward silence filled the air. Taemin pretended to be occupied with driving.

“So…Where are we going?” Minho asked, glancing to Taemin as he had his hands folded on his lap.

“Dobongsan Mountain. It’s a 35 minute drive from where we live, not including the trip up.” Taemin said, and leaned back on the seat.

Another silence.

“Wow…” Minho finally let out, “You must be really popular in your job. People are even requesting from the mountains.”

Taemin scoffed at this, “Please, it’s my mom making all the arrangements. She doesn’t care how bizarre or how dangerous the trip is. As long as the pay is good.”

Minho nods slowly, and turns his attention back to the scenery out the window. He does look back to Taemin, once the younger male spoke, “Of course, I don’t expect you to know any of this. Considering you don’t even have a job.”

Taemin was surprised by the other’s laugh. “That’s true,” Minho responds, and rests his head against the headrest,

“I don’t remember anything…”

     After what felt like hours, they arrived at the base of the mountain. Taemin stopped at the side in order to get out and gaze up at the large structure of the whole thing. The roads were bumpy and uneven, as well as broken. If they tried to drive up there, it would be suicide.

“Guess we’ll have to walk from here.” Taemin mutters and slams close the car door, before locking it and going to retrieve the gas tank from the trunk.

“Here, I’ll do it.” Minho offers, hauling the tank on his shoulder and flashing Taemin a smile.

They begin to make their way up the mountain, taking it nice and slow, as Taemin knew he was quite the klutz.

The higher they got the denser and more humid the air became. It got colder as well. Wrapping his arms around himself, Taemin breathes out shakily, breath fogging in front of him.

“You alright?” Minho called from behind him, eyebrows scrunched in concern as he still held the tank.

“Y-Yeah! Just fine…” Taemin replied and quickened the pace, hoping it would warm him up somewhat. He ends up slipping a few times, as the rocks underneath his feet got slippery as well.

The trees around them loomed darkly, blocking most the sunlight.

After some more hours of walking, Taemin’s feet began to ache, and his bones were hurting from the harsh wind slicing through him. He barely noticed as his foot made contact with a loose rock on the side of the road, which crumpled down, causing him to twist his ankle and fall backwards. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as Taemin’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened to produce a scream. Thankfully, before he could pummel to his death, Minho grabbed the other’s hand, holding him just at the edge of the road. The rocks underneath Taemin’s feet crumble as well, resulting in him losing his balance again, and shoot down, only stopped by Minho’s strong grip which still held.

“Oh my god!” Taemin cries, feet dangling from the edge of the road, dark green trees underneath him. The fall was sure to kill him.

“Hold…Still…” Minho grits out while trying to pull the other up. Taemin’s constant fidgeting wasn’t helping the situation. Suddenly, images flashed through his mind: a vase breaking, an unfamiliar man’s horrid face, before it all faded again.

Stopping abruptly, Taemin tries to help the other by pushing his body up, while his foot tried to make contact with any rocks sticking out from the wall that might provide some sort of stool. Sadly, when he finally found one, it crumbled just as easily, causing Taemin to scream again.

Minho grunts out while reaching another hand down to grip onto Taemin’s arm, using all of his strength to try and pull.

“Don’t let me fall! Please don’t let me fall!” Taemin begged while continuing to try and push himself up. His body soon began to rose, before Taemin could pull himself up easily, and roll safely onto the cold road.

The two of them just stayed there, panting hard, adrenaline rushing through their bodies. Taemin pushed his damp hair away from his eyes before staggering to his knees and turning to Minho in order to thank him. His eyes widen once he sees the other holding onto the hand he had used to pull Taemin up, as blood was dripping down from the inside of the sleeve.

“B-Blood! Blood!” Taemin cries and crawls over to Minho in order to inspect his wrist, “What happened?!”

“I don’t know…” Minho utters through grit teeth, sweat glistening on his forehead. He was still too busy trying to interpret the vision he had, before a bunch of others came: the man’s shrill screaming, another familiar looking man with messy blond hair grabbing his wrist and yelling something at him. But he couldn’t distinguish what he was saying, as his head was pounding too hard. Once again, the visions fade just as quickly as they came.

Taemin looked to Minho’s scrunched up face, as his heart sank with guilt. It must have started hurting when the other tried to pull him back up…

Deciding to do something to stop the bleeding, Taemin rips a small section from his white shirt in order to wrap it carefully around Minho’s bleeding wrist, dirtying the white cotton with blood. He tied it tightly around before gazing up at Minho’s face in worry, “You alright?”

Minho gives a small smile in return and nods, “Yeah, don’t know why that happened though. It wasn’t a big deal to pull you up, still it acted like this.”

“Maybe Choi Minho had something wrong with his wrist to start with…” Taemin thought, and he felt his heart soften for the other.

Staggering up, Taemin winces at the burning pain in his ankle, “Ah…”

“What’s wrong?” Now it was Minho’s turn to ask, as he shot up in alarm.

“My ankle…I think I twisted it when I slipped earlier.” Taemin said, and glanced down at his left foot.

“…Come, we’ll find a place to sit and rest.” Minho said, and helped to steady the other, before carefully walking with one arm wrapped around Taemin’s body, and the other holding his hand.

They continued to walk higher up the mountain, until coming to a lake nearby. Minho helped Taemin sit down on the pebbles beside the waters before going over to the lake and peering down, “Look Tae!”

Taemin looked up at the mention of his name.

“There are fishes in this lake. I think we can find a way to catch some and have it for lunch.” Minho stated while watching the grey fishes swim back and forth on the stream.

“Really?” Taemin asked, and tried to push himself up in order to see.

“Stay there; I’ll catch a big one for you!” Minho called from the other side before stripping himself of his shirt and rolling up his jeans. Taemin decided to trust the other and sat back down, watching as Minho grabbed a large stick from nearby, and carefully aimed.

After some failures, Minho managed to pierce his stick into one fish, and lift it from the water, “I got it! I got one!”

Taemin let out a happy sound and clapped at this, watching as the fish wrestled on the stick, before slumping.

     Getting the fire started was the hardest part, and Taemin felt so useless, for he could only watch Minho go and retrieve the wood, as well as create the fire.

Thankfully, it started, allowing the fish on the stick to cook slowly, before it was ready to eat.

“Here,” Minho held the slightly burnt fish to Taemin. Taemin shook his head and pushed it back to Minho, “You should eat first. You did all the work, after all.”

“It’s okay. I can always catch another one.” Minho stated with a smile.

Taemin was hesitant, but his growling stomach pushed him to take it. When Taemin took a bite, he hummed happily, as the fish was properly cooked and tasted so fresh, “It’s delicious!”

“Really?” Minho asked with a grin, and leaned in to take a bite when Taemin offered it to him. The two of them shared the large fish generously, and decided to leave it at that for the day.

Suddenly, a drop fell from the sky and hit and flames, causing a sizzle. Taemin looked up at the grey clouds to feel more drops on his face, and soon it became a downpour. Helping the other quickly to his feet, Minho shields his face from the bullet drops, “Let’s go find somewhere dry to stay for now.”

Taemin nods in agreement and the two of them hurry the best they could, in search of some shelter.

By the time they found a small cave to stay in, their clothes were completely drenched. They both hurried into the dry shelter, which seemed surprisingly warm, and slumped down on their butts.

Taemin breathed out in relief and tousles his wet hair, before glancing to Minho. Then, he remembered, “Omo…Where did the gas tank go?”

Minho looked to Taemin before his mouth hung open, “I…I think I left it back on the road after you almost fell from the edge of the road.”

Taemin lets out a sound of frustration at this, and stomps his feet on the hard rocks, but stops once his ankle stung some more.

“Don’t worry…We can just tell the customer about it once we get to them.” Minho tried to make some light of the situation.

“IF we ever get there…The rain looks like it’ll go on for DAYS.” Taemin stresses each word and bounces his leg impatiently.

Minho bit his lower lip and looked out. It did look like it… He turned his head back to Taemin, but noticed how his teeth were chattering subtly from the cold. Minho scooted closer to the other before wrapping his arms around the younger male and holding him close.

“What are you—“ Taemin tried to push the other away, but Minho continued to hold on.

“Your body is freezing…Don’t worry, I won’t do anything.” Minho assured, and flashed another smile that seemed to light up even in the darkness.

Taemin blinked at the other before flushing slightly and looking back down, “I…I knew that.”

The two of them stayed in the cave, just sitting in silence. The only sounds heard were the sounds of water dripping from deeper down in the cave, where the water was leaking in.

“What if…What if they don’t find us?” Taemin whispers, though it sounded louder in the cave.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they will.” Minho assured as usual, and pressed his lips against Taemin’s damp head.

…

“…I’m sorry.”

“Hm?” Minho tilted his head, “What was that?”

“I’m sorry…” Taemin repeated, “For…For everything. For being so mean to you…I really didn’t mean it.” His heart was racing so hard, he feared the other might hear.

Minho blinked at the other, before a wide smile spread across his face.

“And...” Taemin glanced up Minho, “Thank you…For coming with me, and staying by my side.”

The silence that followed was so long, Taemin feared the other might have not heard him. Finally looking up, his eyes widened once he saw Minho’s softened features, clearly touched.

“Taemin…” He whispers, and moves a hand to caress the younger male’s soft cheek.

Taemin was no longer aware of how fast his heart was racing, for he was locked in by the other’s longing gaze.

The two of them leaned closer and closer together, until their faces were just inches apart. Taemin stops abruptly, and turns his head to the side, shyness consuming him for a brief moment. Minho then gently turns the other’s cheek to face him again, before finishing the deed, and pressing his lips against Taemin’s, silencing any protests the other might have.

Taemin certainly didn’t have any. He wraps his arms around the other’s neck, bringing their bodies closer so that they were pressing, while their lips were moving in such a smooth and addicting way.

“I love you…”

     “Yah! I found them!”

The adults all gathered in front of the cave, after hours of searching, to find the two young men in the cave, still asleep: Taemin’s head resting on Minho’s shoulder and Minho’s pressed against the top of Taemin’s head. Their hands were intertwined in a loving manner, and they looked completely at peace.

“Well it’s about time.” Taemin’s mother huffs, though a small smile lingered on her lips.

**NOTES**

-I’m not even gonna apologize for the lateness, as I hope all of you are used to it by now.
-Sorry if 2min’s relationship seems rushed, I want other events to happen as well, and they can’t really happen unless 2min get together. So yeah.
-Next chapter will come once I get ideas, motivation, and time.
-Leave your comments, questions, rants down below and maybe I’ll reply to some.

-AngelicJoker