By the time Taemin makes it home it’s already getting dark, air a little cooler. He rushes up his driveway, hands in his jacket pockets and making a point to keep his gaze forward instead of staring off at the house next to his. But he looks anyway, maybe out of habit or maybe he really was just curious, but all the lights in Jonghyun’s house were off.

He heads inside, slipping his shoes off, and after a brief encounter with his mom, he retreats to his room with a promise to be back down for dinner.

Finally alone, Taemin flops face first down onto his bed and decided to use this time to sort out all the thoughts in his head. It didn’t take very long till his thoughts were filled with Minho and he sighed happily, remembering that not even twenty minutes ago they had been together at the back alley and this time it was Minho – the Minho—who kissed him first.

It was that thought that made him smile widely to himself, curling up on his side and he decided that it was nice, having a secret like this with someone, and he knew he didn’t have to think about it too hard or overcomplicate it with doubts; it was what it was, a happy little something for Taemin to hold onto. And he kept it like that, closing his eyes and remembering.

When he goes back downstairs for dinner as promised, he still can’t wipe the smile from his face. His mom must’ve noticed, because she smiles too as she sits across from him at the kitchen table. When Taemin doesn’t even acknowledge her, just keeps smiling at nothing, she laughs a bit to herself.

“What’ve you been up to, Taemin?”

“Huh? Oh. You know. Just school.” He focuses on eating his food, glancing up at her from the corner of his eye.

His mom nods, swallowing her food before continuing. “You seem to be going out a lot more lately. Are you and Jonghyun making the most of this weather?”

He paused before looking back down at his plate. “Not… exactly.” He explains, biting his lip. “I’ve been with some other friends from school.” He smiles again, bringing his attention back to his dinner.

“Hmm,” She puts down her fork, picking up a napkin and dabbing at the corners of . “Any girlfriend I should be worried about?”

At the mention of girlfriend, Taemin nearly chokes. “I—I, um, well it’s, uh,” He spluttered, grabbing a napkin and managing to swallow, while his mom just stares at him from across the table, giving him an amused look that made him want to sink through the floor.

He composes himself, shaking his head. “No. No girlfriend.” He answers honestly, laughing a bit to himself. “Geez mom, what’s that all about.”

She shrugs, standing up from the table with her plate. “Just wondering!” she laughs, ruffling his hair as she walked by. “You just seem happier, somehow. Whoever these new friends of yours are, they must be a good influence. Bring them by sometime, will you?”

“Yeah, sure thing…” Taemin pauses, wondering what his mom would say if he told her about Minho. He thinks that he should tell her, but after running a few possible scenarios through his head, decides against it. For now, it was his secret.

--

Minho can’t sleep.

Normally, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal. He’d just drag himself out of bed and crack open his bedroom window and sit by the window sill, where’d he’d smoke till he didn’t have any more cigarettes left, flipping through the pages of a book or until he got too tired to keep his head up, whichever came first.

But tonight, the hours were running into the early morning and Minho had run out of cigarettes long ago and there was not a single book left unread in his room, leaving him with little options.

Sighing, he reached for his cell phone which he had tossed on a pile of unfinished homework after he had come home a few hours ago. He spent a moment scrolling through his unread messages (most of which consisted of Onew sending him ‘relationship tips’ that involved way more winky faces than Minho was comfortable with) until he came across a message from Taemin. One message, three words:

See you tomorrow?

Minho couldn’t really figure out why something so simple managed to make him smile. Maybe it was because he could almost see Taemin, procrastinating on his homework, taking more time than necessary to type out this short little message to him. Or maybe it was simply because Taemin was thinking about him, which was a bit of a weird thing since Minho wasn’t really used to caring when or why people thought about him.

The whole experience was something that Minho wasn’t exactly prepared for, so he did the logical thing he could think of and decided to call Onew.

The phone rang at least six times and Minho was tempted to hang up and try again when the line picked up and he heard Onew’s unmistakable gurgles on the other end.

“Hey, you awake?”

There was some shuffling on the other end, Onew grumbling something undecipherable but Minho was able to pick out a few words.“I am now. What time is it?”

Minho took a quick glance at the time himself and knowing full well that Onew was a fan of any sleep he could get, decided to not share that bit of information. “Uh, don’t worry about it.”

There was some more grumbling on the other end, the squeak of bed springs, and then a thunk followed by Onew whimpering to himself, leading Minho to believe that Onew just fell out of bed. More grumbling, then silence before Onew was sighing into the phone, seeming a bit more awake now.

“…It’s three in the morning. People only call other people at three in the morning for two reasons, and neither are very pretty. But just for official record, I don’t take booty calls, Minho, but I’d be more than happy to help bury a body.”

Minho shakes his head, but manages a few chuckles anyway. “I guess I’m breaking the 3am rules, then.”

“I’m glad I can always count on you to be rebellious one.”

Now that Minho had Onew’s attention, he wasn’t exactly sure where to start, or how to phrase his questions. He ended up standing up from his spot by the window sill, shifter his phone to the other ear, scratching the back of his head in thought. After pacing the length of his room once, twice, he still had no idea where to begin.

But luckily, Onew always knew how to read his mind.

“Can’t sleep?” Onew’s voice took on a more comforting tone, concern creeping into his voice the way it did whenever he knew that something was wrong.

“Basically. Just felt like you should share in my misery.” Minho replied, poking at an empty cigarette box with his toe.

“Awww, thanks, pal. Are there multiple reasons for your sudden fit of insomnia or are you just worried?”

“Worried?” Minho echoed. He could almost imagine Onew at home, head tilting as he cradled his phone, staring forward like he was looking Minho in the eye. He decided that worried was a good word for how he was feeling. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

Onew made a humming noise over the line, the kind he was explaining something he thought was obvious. “If you’re worried about Taemin, don’t be. He may be oblivious – no, scratch that—you may both be completely oblivious, but these things take time, is all.”

Minho decided to ignore most of what Onew was saying, partly because he definitely was not oblivious and secondly he was not about to actually talk to Onew about his new found relationship and thirdly because he wasn’t necessarily worried about Taemin; the things that were going on between him and Taemin were good, and there was no use spoiling that by thinking too hard about it.

If anything, Minho was more concerned about a certain someone who somehow keeps worming his way back into his life.

“You know, I’m pretty sure Jonghyun hates me.” Minho started, changing the subject to what he had originally called to talk about, pausing to stare up at his ceiling.

Onew laughed over the line and Minho frowned at the sound of it. “Uh, yeah. You’re just now figuring this out? But I don’t think I’d say he hates you…. Probably just holding a grudge, is all.”

Minho sighed, sitting down on the edge of his bed. “But why?”

“See what I mean? Totally oblivious.” Onew chuckled again, shrugging even though he knew Minho couldn’t see before continuing. “Do you really have to ask me that question? C’mon, think about it.”

There was a long silence and Onew had to double check to make sure Minho hadn’t hung up on him. He hadn’t, and Onew patiently waited, sitting on the floor of his bedroom, blankets still wrapped around him from when he was woken up by this phone call. He leaned his head back, waiting for Minho to figure it out, to fuse together the pieces of all the things that had happened in the past and find the connection with the here and now. If he listened hard enough he could just make out Minho’s sharp intake of breath when he finally fit the pieces together.

“….God damn it.”

Onew sighed along with him, letting silence take over again, long enough for Minho’s sudden epiphany to sink in. “Don’t worry about it, Minho. It’s not your problem anymore, and you know that.”

“But….” Minho trailed off, wondering how he could be so oblivious to everything, how he could forget about something so easily while someone else hated him for it. At the realization, he felt drained and itched for a cigarette, but had to settle for nothing, nothing but the darkness of his room and Onew’s reassuring voice from neighborhoods away.

“Just worry about Taemin, now.” Onew advised. “He’s a good kid, he’s good for you. He doesn’t need to be dragged into old drama between you and Jonghyun. Just… let things play out on their own.”

Minho swallowed, blinking, taking a moment before answering. “Yeah.”

“Do you need anything, Minho?” Onew asked, starting to climb back into his own bed.

Minho shook his head, flopping backwards onto his bed. “I could always use more cigarettes.”

Onew laughed, breaking the tension and Minho managed a smile. “Those things will kill you.”

“That just makes it all the more entertaining.”

Onew is full out laughing now, probably loud enough to wake up all the people sleeping in Onew’s house, but the sound is good to Minho, who lets it echo. “Go to bed, Minho! You have school tomorrow. “

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya.” Minho mumbled. “And… sorry, Onew.”

“Don’t be sorry, you make it all the more interesting.” Onew mocks, words getting swallowed by a yawn, already getting comfortable in his bed to drift back to sleep for a few more hours before having to go to school. “But if you ever call me at three in the morning again, I will hurt you.”

After that, Onew hung up, and Minho tossed his phone off to the side. After a brief moment of thought, he decided that as usual, Onew was right, but he still wouldn't mention a thing to Taemin.

Hours later, the sun was rising and the first bell of school was going to ring soon, and Minho still had yet to sleep.

--

Unlike Minho, Taemin slept fine. Peacefully, even, waking up from an almost-dreamless sleep and feeling alright about the day ahead of him (even if he was a little nervous, but it was a kind of nervous that left him with a small half smile and him sighing happily at nothing.)

He brushed his teeth, his hair, and actually cared enough about what he looked like today to rummage around in his piles of clothes until he found something with minimal wrinkles. It wasn’t long after that that he was slinging his backpack over his shoulders and rushed out the door to get to school on time.

He was running a bit behind but thinks that if he runs the rest of the way he’ll have time to stop by Minho’s bathroom before having to head to class. He thinks about what he’ll say, or what he won’t say, and can’t fight back the blush when he thinks of stealing a kiss or two before rushing to his first hour.

When he finally arrives, the halls are crowded with the majority of the student population. There was a few minutes before any classes started and luckily for him, his first class was close to the senior hall. He takes the short cut across the court yard, ignoring a group of girls who called out his name and headed straight for the doors.

But when he opened to the door to the senior boys bathroom, something felt a little off. For starters, Minho wasn’t leaned up against his usual spot on the counter, nor was his backpack shoved up against the wall, papers spilling out everywhere.

Taemin took a moment to blink at the spot where Minho was supposed to be, wondering where he could have gone.

“Minho?” He called hesitantly, even poking a head into one of the bathroom stalls. But even the smell of cigarette smoke that always seemed to linger was absent, and it was clear that Minho hadn’t stopped by his restroom at all today.

“Weird.” He wondered out loud, biting his bottom lip, wondering if there was any reason why Minho would skip school today. He didn’t have long to think on it before the door opened and Onew came in a second later.

“Good morning Taemin!” He greets, smiling widely, and Taemin smiles back, despite the new feeling of disappointment.

Onew walked over to the counter, tossing his backpack up on it before ping it and rummaging through it. “Where’s Minho at? I gotta give him something real quick.”

“Um. I don’t think he’s here yet.” Taemin admitted, shuffling awkwardly where he stood not really sure what to do with himself.

Onew stopped what he was doing to stare at Taemin over his shoulder. “He isn’t?” He paused, the look at his face almost suggesting worry, but instead he just shrugged before zipping his backpack back up. “That’s weird.” He confirmed Taemin’s earlier thought, but offered nothing more of an explanation.

“Yeah.” Taemin agreed.

Onew caught site of the look on Taemin’s face, and nudged him with his elbow. “Bells gonna ring soon, so I’ll see you during lunch?” Onew was already heading for the door, and Taemin nodded again, following after him. Onew stopped, hand on the door handle, sighing before looking over at Taemin with a reassuring smile.

“Don’t look so worried. Trust me, Minho is around here somewhere. The last thing he’d want to do is skip out on any of his Taemin ‘cuddle time’ or whatever you guys call it.”

Taemin balked. “C-cuddle time?”

“What?” Onew smiled knowingly. “You guys seem to do that a lot.”

“We do not!” Taemin huffed, blushing lightly, arms folded across his chest.

Onew waved it off. “Cuddle time, snuggle parties, enthusiastic nuzzling. Whatever you want to call it, it’s all the same to me.”

Taemin pouted, shoving Onew out the bathroom and into the hall. “Don’t you have someplace to be?”

“Right, right.” He laughed, readjusting his backpack. Taemin managed a smile, too, and Onew flashed him a peace sign before heading off down the hall to class.

Taemin walked off in the opposite direction towards his own class, still trying to fight down the blush on his cheeks, when for the second time that day, something felt a little off.

When he turned the corner he nearly ran right into a group of students, who had formed a crowd of about twenty people in the middle of the hallway. Taemin blinked, taking a moment to wonder just why so many people were crowded up here but decided not to think about it too hard before he started shoving his way through the crowd to get to his classroom. He had already skipped out on too many classes this year and he was not about to be tardy because of whatever was going on here.

He didn’t make it very far before he froze completely, finally finding the reason for the still slowly forming crowd.

A few excited whispers broke at as Taemin saw what appeared to be an upper class man stuffed into a locker, and the poor freshman girl whom the locker belonged to, just staring, on the verge of tears unsure of what to do next. A few students had broken out from the crowd to go help the poor guy out, but Taemin didn’t pay attention to see if they managed to free him, instead zoning in on who appeared to be the cause of it all.

Just a few steps away stood Minho, leaning up against a locker, messing with the cuffs of his sleeves and seeming to be completely oblivious to the smeared blood on his face, trickling from his nose and busted lip. Minho sniffed, wiped at his nose with his sleeve, and frowned at the small stain that appeared there.

He pushed himself off the lockers, stuffing his hands in his pockets and his lips, frowning at the metallic taste that came with it, before turning his head to take a glance at the guy (who was at least three sizes bigger than him) he had managed to stuff into the locker. It was a bit of an impulse move, on his part. He didn’t really want to hit the guy, but he wasn’t about to take a punch to the face like that without doing something. He figured it was a nice alternative.

It was only when he glanced back up, ready to shove through the crowd (when did they get here?) and actually go to class that he saw Taemin. Minho froze. Taemin frowned.

And it was at that moment, a teacher finally decided to show up, and with her arrival, the crowd of students instantly broke up. Once the teacher got to the front, she didn’t seem at all surprised at what was waiting for her.

She sighs, looking bored. “Minho. Office.”

“I know, I know. Sorry about the mess, Mrs. B.” Minho grins, gesturing to the guy still trying to wiggle free from the locker, before sneaking past her. He locks eyes with Taemin, shrugs once, and Taemin takes that as a signal to follow after him, all his earlier concerns about being on time to class vanishing.

Once they cleared the hallway, Taemin wasted no time in grabbing Minho by the elbow and shoving him into the nearest bathroom. It just so happened to be full of Sophomore boys, most of which were still talking excitedly amongst themselves about that fight that had just gone down, but at Minho and Taemin’s rather loud entrance, it only took one look at Minho (scowl looking a little more menacing than usual thanks to all that blood) for all of them to bolt out of there at record speeds.

Finally alone, Taemin wasn’t sure what to do next. He couldn’t place how he had felt just a second ago; pissed off, mostly, not at Minho, but at that other guy for hitting Minho in the first place. But he decided to forget about that momentarily and replace it with the growing concern for the drying blood on Minho’s lips.

“Are you okay?” He finally asks, voice soft as his grip on Minho’s arm tightened.

Minho just nodded, looking sorry even though he didn’t really have anything to apologize for.

“Do you need to go to the nurse or something? I mean, .” Taemin didn’t seem very convinced, free hand instantly brushing against Minho’s lips and the wound there, and Minho smiled against his finger tips.

“Nah, I’m fine, I promise. Besides, I—“ Minho didn’t manage to get much more out, because Taemin suddenly pulled himself close and angled his face upwards until he was kissing him. Minho took a second to be surprised, but didn’t complain, couldn’t complain, just relaxed and let Taemin press against him, the younger boy trapping him tight against the bathroom counter.

For a second, all Taemin can focus on is the metallic taste of Minho’s blood and he thinks that he should be kind of grossed out because of that, but he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t at least a little exciting, so he just presses closer, teeth biting down on Minho’s bottom lip and he feels the other boy wince at the contact. Somewhere in the middle of this, the final bell for class rings and it’s only then that Taemin realizes exactly what he’s doing and he instantly steps back, leaving Minho breathing heavily and looking at him in a way he wasn’t used to, but feels like he definitely could get used to.

His hands fluttered up to his face to wipe at his mouth and to hide his sudden blush, gaze shifting to the ground. “Sorry, uhhh, how about I go get some paper towels for you?”

Minho just breathes, and Taemin smiles nervously staring at him for a moment before he remembered what he had just said and rushes over to the paper towel dispenser. He takes a few extra seconds there to regain some composure, which was easier said than done, since it was hard to focus on much of anything when he could feel Minho staring at him.

He wets the paper towels before returning, handing them to Minho who smiled. “Thanks, I appreciate it.” He murmured, before wiping away the blood from his lip, his nose, the spot where some had managed to dribble onto his chin. It didn’t take very long for him to get cleaned up, and the only sign of the earlier fight at all was a slightly swollen lip and a small bruise that had formed at the edge of his mouth.

Cleaned up, Minho was still looking at him in that weird way, a wicked smirk having replaced his usual bored look. Taemin shifted in spot nervously, biting his lip and looking down. He thinks that maybe he should be more concerned about what had happened earlier, but the only thing he was really wondering was if Minho was going to pull him closer anytime soon.

“Taemin.” He began, but Taemin wouldn’t let him finish, because now was not a good time or place for anything. He has to remind himself that they’re not in Minho’s bathroom and that anyone could walk in.

So he readjusts the straps of his backpack, smiling widely before taking a single step forward, just close enough to brush a quick kiss to Minho’s lips before he danced away, heading for the door. “Promise me you’ll go to the nurse!” He calls, glancing over his shoulder to see Minho blinking after him, looking just a little confused. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

“Huh.” Minho breathes, watching him go.

He waits around for a moment before finally leaving, letting the door swing shut behind him.

--

Taemin’s shirt was riding up and his back was digging into the lock on the bathroom stall door but neither of those things really mattered right now because Minho had his lips working at his neck and his hands were gripping tight enough at his exposed hips to make Taemin whine.

He wasn’t exactly sure how he got into this situation, but he wasn’t about to complain. When the bell rang for lunch, Taemin had skipped out on the long lunch lines and headed straight for Minho’s bathroom. He barely had a chance to slide his backpack off and shout out a greeting before Minho was shoving him into the nearest bathroom stall, only taking a moment to lock the door behind them.

Taemin is already panting, head leaning back against the bathroom stall door, eyes fluttering shut because Minho is lightly placing o-shaped kisses up Taemin’s neck, breath hot and right by his ear, and this time Taemin really does whine. Minho still has a hold of Taemin’s hips, thumbs tracing circles along the dip of his hipbones, teasing, dipping just below the top of his boxers and Taemin can’t help the intake of breath at the contact, hands tangling themselves in Minho’s hair and tugging.

Minho makes a low humming sound right by Taemin’s ear before pulling away just slightly to catch his breath and Taemin took this opportunity to lean forward, catching Minho’s lips in his own, hands still tangled in his hair. He kissed him messily, teeth knocking together clumsily and Minho’s mouth hot and inviting, and with Minho’s fingers still gripping at his waist, he can’t help the shiver he makes from all these new sensations.

He feels Minho smirk, letting go of his grip on him, letting and his hands rest around Taemin’s waist. And suddenly, despite how needy he had felt just a second ago, when Minho let Taemin reposition himself, he suddenly felt a little shy, his grip in Minho’s hair loosening as he tilts his head just a bit to catch Minho at the perfect angle, and Minho kisses him back, just as gently, letting Taemin set the pace after what had just happened, both feeling a little embarrassed – Taemin for all those sounds he had been making and Minho for his lack of self control.

“What was that for?” Taemin laughs, pulling himself upright and straightening his shirt.

Minho smirks. “Revenge for this morning.”

“What? I said I was sorry!”

“And now you’re forgiven.”

Taemin rolls his eyes, but smiles anyway. “Did you go to the nurse?”

“No.”

Taemin pouts, opens his mouth to make a comeback, but is stopped by Minho’s hand being shoved over his mouth.

“Don’t give me that look, it had stopped bleeding by the time I got up there.” And Minho smiled at him, and Taemin decided to let this one slide. “Now let’s get out of here before Onew walks in and starts assuming things again.”

“Should I be assuming things?” A voice replied just on the other side of the stall door.

Minho let out a frustrated sigh ("what the , Jinki."), before pushing open the stall door, and sure enough, there was Onew, sitting up on the bathroom counter, munching on a half of a sandwich, other hand occupied by a book. He looked up from his page, smiling brightly in their direction.

“Don’t mind me. Just, you know, eating lunch.”

Minho frowned. Taemin ignored it, making his way out of the stall and over to Onew, ready to steal the second half of his sandwich. Onew let him, figuring he owed it to him, while Minho continued to glare at him from the stall, but then Onew offered him a pack of cigarettes and all was forgiven between the two.

The rest of lunch was spent with Minho lighting one cigarette after another until the air was left smoky just over their heads, while Taemin tore off the crusts of his stolen sandwich, feeding them to Minho, who would elbow Onew in-between bites for laughing too loudly at certain parts in his book.

--

After school, Taemin went straight home instead of going to meet Minho at his back alley. Minho had told him he wouldn’t be there after school the next few days, since he had to spend his afternoons in detention thanks to the locker incident that morning. But he figured that meant he could finally catch up on some of his homework.


So as soon as the bell rang, he rushed out of school as fast the crowds would let him, plugging in his headphones and beginning the trek home. He took his time once off school grounds, walking slow and kicking at the pavement. His shoes were looking a little scuffed up, the seams looking ready to rip and fall apart any day now. He had just finished making a mental note to go get some new shoes sometime his week, and when he looked back up again, he nearly tripped over himself to prevent from running right into Jonghyun, who just so happened to be walking home the same time as him.

Taemin knew that there was really no point in trying to avoid him, the two of them being neighbors and all, but up until this point he hadn’t even so much as caught a glimpse of Jonghyun. And suddenly, here they were, face to face, Jonghyun turning around to look at him, slipping his headphones down from his ears to rest around his neck.

Taemin freezes, not sure what to do next.

Jonghyun says nothing, just looked at Taemin in a way that made him feel guilty even though he wasn’t sure why. He thinks that he should be mad at Jonghyun since he was the one that started all of this anyway, but he can’t work up the energy for a glare, just frowns not sure what to make of Jonghyun’s reaction.

And in that moment, they both realized that they had a lot to say to each other—mostly about how much of an awful friend they’d been to each other but also Taemin wanted to tell him about Minho and Jonghyun wanted to tell him about what had really happened. But in reality, Jonghyun had no clue and neither did Taemin, so they ended up saying nothing at all.

In the same motion, they looked away from each other, their heels, and walked away from each other. Taemin walked and didn’t stop walking until he had cleared the neighborhood and walked out past school and ended up by the McDonalds that Minho had taken him to on that day that started it all.

And it was there that he finally let out the breath that he’d been holding, letting his hands unclench, and deciding that he’d have to fix things before it was too late.