Taemin couldn’t decide what he likes more. Kibum acting like his mother or Minho acting like his lover. The thing is they aren’t. Both of them. Kibum isn’t his mother (cause his mother’s back at home taking care of his sick father). And Minho definitely isn’t his lover. Maybe he just likes the attention.

-

Taemin’s in the back seat watching his second and third hyungs argue over something nonsensical again. Jinki’s beside him laughing over their lame arguments while Minho’s trying- and failing- to settle things between his them. Sometimes Taemin wonders who the leader in this group really is as Jinki bangs his head on the window and Kibum lets Jonghyun win, focusing on nursing his boyfriend’s hurt head.

-

They’re backstage in their dressing room getting their make up done for another performance on yet another concert. Taemin doesn’t even care anymore. All he wants to do is go back home- his real home and cuddle with his brother and just sleep.

Taemin lets his eyes wander and it rests on Minho leaning against the wall looking fast asleep. Taemin knows he isn’t though. Minho could never sleep with this much noise around, unlike Jinki (but that guy can sleep anywhere, he doesn’t even need a bed).

 Taemin notices that Minho has around the same build as Taesun and he decides that he should cuddle with Minho more.  He’s just homesick, he reasons with himself.

-

When Taemin cuts his finger while cutting an apple, it’s Minho who gets to him first, not Kibum. Taemin slightly wonders what happened to his self-proclaimed umma’s super-sensitive Taemin radar when he hears the err… noises coming from the room he shares with his leader and umma. He tries to fight back the blush starting to form on his cheeks. And for some reason he couldn’t look at Minho in the eye for the rest of the evening. Not even to thank him after he finishes bandaging the cut.

-

Taemin doesn’t exactly remember how it came to this but suddenly Minho’s lips are on his and he can’t help but enjoy how it’s making him feel. How Minho’s making him feel. He knows it’s wrong but ! It feels too good. And Minho’s everywhere. It’s like his brain’s going to explode form too much Minho overload, but he wants more. More of these kisses. More of these Touches. More of everything. And just more of Minho cause Minho’s doing these things to him and he knows he wants to feel it again, and again and again until he couldn’t feel anymore.

 Taemin vaguely remembers thinking whether this had any meaning behind it as they ride out their s together.

-

It’s the morning after when everything turns upside down. Taemin wakes up to Minho sitting up beside him. as the day he was born but has the sheets covering his lower half. And Taemin can’t help but admire this god like creature in front of him. That is until he notices the tears falling from his eyes.

Minho finally notices that Taemin’s awake and pulls him into a bone-crushing hug and says something that makes Taemin’s whole world fall apart. Well he’s eighteen. It feels that way to him.

“I’m engaged, Taemin. I’m leaving.”

-

It turns out, Minho’s father had arranged a marriage between Minho and some chick from America saying that Minho was “of age” and was forcing Minho to quit SHINee ‘‘cuz the didn’t want to share’’. Taemin scoffed at that. Lee Taemin didn’t like to share either. But he fails to consider that Minho was never his to begin with.

Minho was completely against this but when his father threatened to disown him, he had little choice but to agree, knowing what a bastard his father was. It was his mother he was worried about.

-

Minho left when he thought everyone else was at their schedule. They weren’t. They had gone to get  party supplies so that they could throw Minho the best going-away party ever because they’re the shining boys, SHINee and they only know how to make things better. But apparently Minho didn’t think that way.  It lead Taemin to think that maybe Minho never belonged in SHINee but that didn’t stop the tears from falling when he came home to an empty dorm.

                -

To say that the mood in the dorm was dark would’ve been the understatement of the century.  With Minho gone, Kibum and Jinki had finally stopped ing like bunnies, Jonghyun didn’t have any funny comment and Lee Taemin lost all his sunshine. The once shiny maknae of SHINee couldn’t remember how to smile as he sat in the living room with the rest of the members. Key couldn’t stop crying. Jinki was trying to console him and was failing terribly cause he kept and failed at keeping the tears at bay himself. And over emotional Jonghyun’s stoic face was scaring Taemin the most. Taemin just wanted to crawl inside a hole and die. Life was miserable without Minho, (not that he’d ever admit it out loud).

-

It was all over the news when Minho goes against his father and comes back to SHINee, comes back to Taemin more specifically. He finally lets the love he felt for Taemin flow freely as he kisses Taemin with a passion he only feels for the Maknae. He lets go of his pride as he says the three words of love over and over again like a mantra that places Taemin’s whole world back together. And Taemin says those words right back, kissing Minho harder, pulling him close and pushing him away at the same time from the mixed feelings of hating him for making him suffer so much and love crossing the thin line between love and hate, making him do things he doesn’t even have time to comprehend.

They finally pull apart when they finally run out of breath and Taemin is shoved aside as Kibum takes his turn to hug his best friend.  Jinki comes over and hugs both of them to his chest, letting the tears flow freely down his cheeks though he has a smile on his lips. Taemin can tell Jinki is glad Minho is back with them, though the two were never that close. This was the first time Jinki had hugged Minho for reasons other than fanservice.

Taemin could tell this whole incident had brought all of them closer as a group, no, as friends, no, as a family. He hears footsteps going away and turns to see the door to Jonghyun and Minho’s room close. It surprised Taemin to see Jonghyun walk away from the sob fest cause he was always the emotional one. Then Taemin remembered something. Whenever Jonghyun cried, it was always Minho who comforted him. Taemin sighed; Jonghyun was never one to forgive easily.

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