There were hundreds of places that Minho could have been taking him, at least, Taemin thought so as he practically jogged after Minho to keep up with his long stride. They didn’t speak, a silence just short of being awkward settling over them. Taemin fidgeted nervously. Minho acted like he always did; cool, calm, and collected.

At some point, Minho lit another cigarette, and Taemin watched as he didn’t actually smoke it; just lit it and let it hang pointlessly in his hand.

“Why do you do that?”

Minho looked over at him. “Do what?”

“Just… light it and not smoke it.” He shrugged, gesturing towards his hand.

Minho looked at him like he had just asked him the most idiotic question he could think of. “Because smoking is bad.” He said it slowly, smirking before looking forward again. “I’m hungry. C’mon.”

And that was how they ended up in one of Blue Meadows many McDonalds sitting at a booth across from a window. Minho had ordered four burgers, a large fry, and a vanilla milkshake and had proceeded to eat while Taemin watched, sipping idly at his medium Dr. Pepper and occasionally stealing one of Minho’s fries, wondering how he could eat so much but still be so skinny.

Taemin quickly realized that Minho’s reputation stretched way beyond just the school. Taemin had never seen faster service at a restaurant in his life, fast food or not. Not even thirty seconds after his order they were practically shoving the food at Minho, trying to get him as far away from them as fast as possible. It made Taemin wonder just what had happened here. He figured Minho owned the men’s restroom here, too.

Odd looks were being sent his way, but after the tenth person gawked at him through the window he figured he’d have to get used to it. The people here were defiantly not used to Minho being around anyone but Onew.

Still, Taemin knew next to nothing about Minho, so as the older boy was in the middle of his third burger and Taemin had finished his Dr. Pepper he asked, “Why is everyone here so scared of you?” Even as he spoke he glanced over at a custodian who was fumbling with a mop and his head down as he cleaned up the soda some girl had dropped with a shocked gasp when she saw Taemin sitting with Minho.

A dark look crossed over Minho’s face and he grinned wickedly as he remembered. “A year or so ago me an’ Onew were here and some tried to start some with him for no reason. And since Onew is just so damn nice to everyone he just kind of stood there and took it while I tackled the guy over the counter.” He chuckled darkly, taking a sip of his milkshake. “People say it took five workers and all of that guy’s stupid friend to stop the fight, but really, it ended when the cashier girl started crying.” His gaze softened slightly and he shrugged. “We were kicked out and told not to come back, but they didn’t say anything to me when we came back the next day, so it’s really not that big a deal.”

Taemin blinked and before he could dwell on that longer than he should have, he asked another question. “How did you and Onew become friends anyway?”

Minho leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and bit right back, just as fast “How did you and Jonghyun become friends?”

Taemin laughed slightly at that. He and Jonghyun being friends must have seemed just as weird as Minho and Onew being friends. Either way, he answered. “Because we’re neighbors. He’s just… always been there.”

“uh huh.” Minho tapped his fingers on the table, looking to the side before looking back to Taemin. “So is that why you hate him?”

At that, Taemin spluttered and was slightly thankful he had run out of Dr. Pepper, because if not it would currently be all over the table and Minho and that would be bad considering this was probably the first real conversation they had had. “W-what? He’s my best friend. I don’t…. hate him.”

“Right, and me and Key like to go star gazing on the weekends.” Sarcastic eye roll included.

Taemin tensed up, matching Minho’s glare, ready to defend Jonghyun because that’s what friends do, right? That’s what Minho had done for Onew at this same McDonalds last year sometime and it’s what Taemin should be doing for Jonghyun right now. But he balked. Only for a moment, but it was enough for him to take a deep breath and collect himself before asking softly and therefore changing the subject completely. “….you go star gazing?”

And without missing a beat, Minho smiled. “Yeah, wanna come sometime?”

“Sure.”

--

When Minho got home that night, he wasn’t surprised to see Onew there, sitting on his doorstep with his headphones clamped over his ears and comic book in his hands, bopping his head to whatever he happened to be listening to. He looked like he had made himself comfortable making Minho wonder just how long he had been waiting there.

Minho stopped beside him, kicking him lightly to get his attention and Onew looked up, pushing his headphones back over his neck and flipping his comic closed, settling it on his backpack that was sitting beside him. “Hi. Your mom isn’t home.”

“I noticed.” Minho headed to his front door, pulling a key out of his pocket and opening it up. “Don’t you have your own key?”

“Yeah, but it’s at home. I didn’t want to walk back.” Onew pouted, hosting himself up and following Minho into his house. “And I was looking forward to raiding your fridge and talking with Patty about your questionable behavior.”

Minho scowled, flipping on the lights to the kitchen. “What questionable behavior? And leave my mom out of this. You guys aren’t allowed to hang out anymore.”

Onew took his usual spot at one of the high chairs around the island, smiling knowingly at Minho, who was currently rummaging through the fridge. “Minho was out all afternoon making new friends. I think that falls under questionable behavior.” He stated, letting out a startled yelp as he had to duck in order to catch the soda that had been hurtled at his face. “What are you trying to do? Decapitate me?”

“Yes.” Minho smirked behind his own can of soda.

Onew gripped the edges of his seat, looking up at the ceiling. “You got the school talking, you know.” Glaring out of the corner of his eye, he added “well, more than usual.”

Minho gave himself a mental pat on the pack. “Since when did I care what they say?”

“I know you don’t care. But does Taemin?”

Minho looked curious at that, setting down his drink. “What are they saying, exactly?”

Onew made a noise that sounded like he was trying to stifle his laughter and sigh dramatically at the same time. “That you’re taking him to the ‘dark side’. I mean really. You and Taemin? Who would have thunk it?”

“I don’t see the big deal.” Minho huffed. “People should mind their own business. Who cares, anyway?” He stalked out of the kitchen, Onew following obediently, hands stuffed in his pockets as he spoke.

“You’ve got quite the following. Even the teachers are curious to see how this turns out.”

Minho stalked up the stairs. “See how what turns out? Okay, so we hung out.” Onew was staring, looking at him in a way he wasn’t used to. He filled the weird air between them with words.

“God, whatever! So we’re friends. Whoop-dee-ing-doo.”

Onew paused, giving him a disbelieving look, crossing his arms over his chest. “Uh-huh.”

Standing in the doorway of his room, he stared at Onew over his shoulder, hand on the doorknob, torn between just slamming it and locking Onew on the other side therefore ending the conversation entirely and from trying to figure out just what the hell Onew was talking about.

“Whatever.” And then he closed the door, leaving Onew whining on the other side and threatening that once his mom got home they were going to gang up him, which was probably the truth because Minho’s mom had a very soft spot for Onew. But Minho stopped listening and just his music, turning up the volume to drown Onew out and felt proud of himself, not only for not slamming the door, but also for how his day had turned out even if he couldn’t place exactly why.

Whatever torture Onew and his mom were going to plan for him seemed worth that much.

--

“What did you do?”

“I’ve never seen him act like that…”

“So cute!”

“So dreamy!”

Arriving at school ended up being a bigger deal than Taemin ever imagined it would be. No sooner than he and Jonghyun had gone their separate ways, students from his class had been coming up to him, wondering just how Taemin had managed to have a conversation with Minho—the Minho—and come back alive.

The freshman girls in particular were the most curious, pestering Taemin every chance they could, commenting on just how ‘dreamy’ Minho was and asking for pointers on how to get the courage to talk to him. They wanted to know what he was like, what they had talked about, if any of the rumors were actually true.

Taemin managed to stutter his way through a few of the questions, but ultimately decided that ignoring the girls would be the best plan of action; no matter how many questions he answered they always seemed to come up with more.

He was thankful when lunch came around. There, he sat with Jonghyun and Key, and even though Key asked just about as many questions as the girls he didn’t feel so bad for ignoring them.

“Ughhhh, C’mon Taemin, can’t you at least tell us what happened? We’re you’re best friends” Key sighed dramatically, flopping himself down on the table as he reached for Taemin who was sitting on the other side, clutching at his sleeve and tugging. “At least tell me where you went. That’s all I need to know, I swear.” He switched his gaze to Jonghyun who was seated beside Taemin, hand still clutching his sleeve. “If he won’t tell, I’ll find out. I have eyes and ears everywhere.”

Taemin glared at the hand, mentally cursing Key’s very existence and his ability to somehow make friends where ever he happened to be. He also decided that Key should stop talking about him like he wasn’t there.

Jonghyun apparently still has some sense and with a look from Taemin promptly frowned, prying away Key’s hand. “Whatever happened yesterday was between Taemin and Minho. He doesn’t have to tell if he doesn’t want to. It’s not even a big deal. Why are people freaking out about it, anyway?” But judging from the sideways glance he casted towards Key, he was just as curious as the rest of them.

Taemin groaned, forgetting his lunch entirely as he slumped his head down on the table. “All we did was eat! It’s really not that exciting.” He whined, not looking up from his spot.

Key, who had previously been sighing dramatically and keeping his gaze low after Jonghyun’s little speech suddenly perked up at that information, clutching at Jonghyun as he spoke in an excited whisper, “Ya hear that Jonghyun? They went to get food! A bit boring for a first date but we all have to start off somewhere, right?”

Taemin would have been perfectly content on just ignoring Key and everything he said for the rest of his life but at that comment, he whipped his head up, gripping the edges of his seat as he stared wide eyed at Key, mouth dropping open as he struggled for his voice to come back. Key continued talking, pointing out exactly what he had done on his first date. Just as he was going into detail about the proper shoes to wear, Taemin found his voice and managed to interrupt in a startled whisper, “Wait, back up. First what?”

Key paused, stopping mid hand gesture as he blinked, looking to Jonghyun(Who was conveniently looking off into the distance and ignoring all things that were happening at the table) before settling his gaze back on Taemin. “Uh. Yeah. Remember? Your first date with Minho that’s got the school talking?”

“B-but! That wasn’t a date! What’re you talking about? That doesn’t even make sense!” Taemin let his head slam back down on the table, groaning. “Ughhhaaaa, is that what everyone thinks happened? I’m doomed.”

Key seemed scandalized by that information, but quickly waved it off. “Whatever. First date as friends. A play date. Hanging out. Chilling. Whatever the hell you kids call it these days. It all means the same thing, right?” He was pulling out a cell phone, and the small thing was bright and glittery in his hand.

“What? What?! It all means the same thing? Whaaat?!”

Taemin had lifted his head up long enough from the table to shout these words before he went back down again with a heavy thunk, whimpering to himself. Jonghyun felt slightly sorry for him. Key paid him no mind.

“I mean,” Key continued, fingertips flying as he texted out a message on his phone. “Minho is local bad boy extraordinaire with a hot bod and a personality to match. I mean, his hair is like, gorgeous. Even I’m jealous of that. He’s totally ripped without looking uh, ya know… totally ripped. He’s wicked good at sports. And my god, have you seen that ?”

It was obvious Key was getting sidetracked, and it seemed like Taemin wasn’t even listening (but he was, and was currently raking through all his memories of Minho and noticing that everything Key had just said was basically true). Key was still on the subject of Minho’s when Jonghyun butted in, flicking Taemin on the forehead to get his attention.

“So basically, Minho is every girls wet dream.”

Key cleared his throat, flipping his phone shut and nodding his head in agreement. “Ask any girl who’s gone to school here if they’ve had a thing for our local bad boy, and if they’re being honest, you’ll see that, yeah, he is every girls wet dream.”

Taemin slowly looked up from the table, eyes wide as he listened. “I still don’t get where all this is going.”

Jonghyun leaned forward on his elbows and Key flipped his hair, muttering something about naïve little kids.

“Basically, Minho could have his pick of any one of these hotties” (and here, he gestured out to the rest of the cafeteria) “But he hasn’t. He hasn’t dated a single one of them. And as far as I can tell, hasn’t even been looking.”

Taemin blinked dumbly, Jonghyun’s expression mirroring his own. He wasn’t sure what Key was going about either.

“Minho’s dating history here in Blue Meadows doesn’t exist. You could argue that he’s picky, which he undoubtedly is. Hell, you could maybe even say that he just isn’t interested. In fact, that’s what we all decided. Minho just isn’t interested.”

Taemin wondering vaguely who ‘we’ was, but then decided he didn’t want to know.

“Minho doesn’t hang out with anyone other than Onew. And then you come along.” Here, Key paused dramatically, but the effect was lost since Jonghyun hardly looked interested and Taemin still had that wide eyed look.

“You come along.” He repeats, picking up his phone again. “You show up in Minho’s life and suddenly all his interest is on you, you, you. I had never seen Minho act so friendly in his life. I think I even saw him smiling.”

There was a moment of silence to allow all this information to sink in. Clearing his throat, Taemin broke the silence. “So, you’re saying that because Minho is now one of my friends people think we’re dating?”

Key nodded, sliding his phone shut. “Yeah, basically.”

Jonghyun snorted, leaning back in his seat. “Ridiculous.”

“But true.” Key quickly added. Then, he looked to Taemin. “Right?”

Taemin slumped in defeat. “No. No, what the hell? Not true.” He looked to Jonghyun, silently requesting his help. Key always listened to Jonghyun.

Jonghyun caught his gaze, sighed, then spoke. “If Taemin says it’s not true… then it’s not true.” But he hardly looked convinced, and he shrugged once before falling silent again.

Taemin’s jaw dropped. “B….But I mean it! It wasn’t a date! Not even close!”

Two unbelieving stares. "It wasn't!"

Key blinked. Once. Twice. Ten more times. Seconds ticked by.

“You mean… it wasn’t a date? Oh my god, hold on, I need to make a few calls.” And then he was flipping out his phone again, dialing in a number as he pranced away from the table heading straight for a table full of gossiping girls who all shrieked loudly as they saw his approach, waiting eagerly to see what news he had to tell them.

Taemin made a noise that sounded like he was trying to give a frustrated groan and choke on the sound at the same time when he smacked his head, once again, on the table. Jonghyun very slowly and very carefully gave him a reassuring pat on the back. When Taemin didn’t even twitch at the contact, just continued to lay face first on the table, he figured he should probably say something to make sure he hadn’t died of mortification. “You alright there?”

All he got was a muffled groan in reply.

--

After lunch he stalked quickly down the hallways toward the senior bathroom, a dark look on his face that made people think twice about walking up and giving him grief. He had only skipped out on class once before and really had no desire to skip class again. It must have been a strange coincidence that both times he skipped out were because of Minho. But then again, probably not. Minho just seemed to be indirectly ruining his life.

He reached the bathroom just as the bell for class sounded, swinging open the door, catching Onew in the middle of a story.

“—running around. And it was a chicken! A chicken! And people say that it was me, because earlier that day, I—“ He cut himself off, looking away from Minho, who was sitting with a book in hand, looking like he wasn’t listening to Onew at all.

Onew had opened his mouth, ready to greet Taemin, all smiles and laughs, but catching his expression he stopped, glancing at Minho, who had looked up from his book at the silence. Taemin didn’t even acknowledge Onew, just walked in like he had every right to be there heading straight over to Minho.

Minho looked slightly surprised. “Uh… Hi Taemin? What’re you doing here…?” The question died on his lips, expression confused at Taemin’s sudden entrance. Wasn’t class about to start? Taemin wouldn’t willingly skip class, would he?

“Have you heard what people are saying?” Taemin hissed, tugging nervously at his sleeves, not sure if he should be angry or depressed about the rumor.

Minho stared at Taemin like he had never seen him before in his life, before looking past him towards Onew. Before Minho could say anything Onew was collecting his things, giving a nervous chuckle “Oh maaaan! Look at the time, I’m late for class!” and all but bolted out of the bathroom.

“No, I haven’t.” Minho muttered, still staring at the door Onew had just disappeared behind, wondering just what the hell that had been about.

Giving an exasperated sigh, leaning back up against a wall, Taemin crossed his arms across his chest, refusing to look Minho in the eye as he pouted, interesting himself by staring at a paper towel dispenser. Minho figured that this must have been Taemin’s version of sulking and couldn’t help a dark half-smile at that thought.

Still, Taemin didn’t seem like he was going to say anything and the silence was a bit overwhelming. So Minho, stood up, dropping his book and fixing Taemin with a sideways look unsure of what to tell him. “….Are you alright?” And that was a good enough start, he supposed.

Taemin snorted, still looking at anything other than Minho, opening his mouth like he was going to say something, but thought better of it and stayed silent.

“….”

It was obvious it would take a bit more effort of Minho’s part to get Taemin to tell him what happened, and frankly, Minho had never been good at comforting a sulking teenager; that was Onew’s job. But Onew had left first chance he got and left Minho alone, so what was he supposed to do? Before he could potentially make the situation worse by asking more questions, he shrugged, kicking his backpack into a stall and stalking in after it. “Okay, you can just stand there, I guess. Dork.”

Once there was a bathroom stall door safely between them, Taemin shifted, waiting a moment before speaking in a soft voice. “They…” He trailed off, voice cracking. Fists clenching, he started over. “What did you mean by yesterday?”

There was a short silence from Minho’s stall before he pushed the bathroom door open, freshly lit cigarette in his hand. “What do ya mean what do I mean?” He grunted.

“Yesterday. When you took me out.” Taemin’s jaw was set, shoulders tense, and he looked more than a little pissed off. Minho was a bit surprised by the sight of it.

Waving the hand with the cigarette he stared at the smoke. “Um. I thought we were hanging out?” Cue the confused look. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what Taemin was getting at.

Taemin looked relieved, but only slightly. His shoulder were still just a little too stiff, eyes just a little too dark. “Right. But… you didn’t mean anything by it, did you?”

By what? Hanging out with him? Minho kicked a pile of ashes. “No. Not really.”

“Not really?!” Taemin squeaked.

“I mean….. yes?” At Taemin’s face, he rephrased. “I mean no.”

Taemin let out a breath, eyes slipping shut and when he opened them again he didn’t look at menacing, didn’t seem as angry as before. “Okay. That’s all I needed to know.” He said, smiling.

“Uh… huh…?” Seriously, what the hell?

Seeing that Taemin was no longer ready to cut a , he his heels. “You should go back to class.” He suggested, not looking back at Taemin as he swung his stall door closed. He really should be reading that literature book. Where did he put that, anyway? He was leafing through the junk in his backpack when he heard Taemin.

From under the door, he could see the nervous shuffle of his feet, and could just imagine him twisting a strand of hair between his fingers as he stared at the ground. “You don’t care if I stay here, do you? I’m already late….”

Minho smiled to himself, knowing that if Taemin stuck around, he’d have an excuse for not reading his literature book. So he settled for grabbing his box of cigarettes and waltzed back out of his stall, tossing the one in his hand to the ground and sitting on the end of the counter, Taemin sitting on the opposite end. He lit another cigarette.

Minho leaned his head back, watching the smoke curl up and realized that he could see more than just the ceiling. Just out of the corner of his eye he could see Taemin, silent and still, the top of his head resting against the wall as he sat and watched; but if Taemin was watching him or the smoke, he couldn’t tell.

His lips quirked up and figured that this new view wasn’t that bad.

He flicked the end of the cigarette against the edge of the counter, watched the ash crumble and fall and tacked on, almost like an afterthought, spoken so softly he wasn’t even sure if he said it out loud.

“God damn it Onew, why do you always have to be right?”