Taemin sighed as he stretched in his seat. He'd finished taking notes for the day, and he allowed himself a peek at Minho. He giggled softly to himself when he saw how confused Minho was. He could practically read the other boy's mind.

What in the is wrong with Romeo? What's a friar? What is he doing with a bucket?

Taemin sighed almost dreamily. He pulled out a small pen and scrawled something on the corner of his paper. He tore off the little scrap, biting his lip as he looked at the boy who was so near him...

"Minho," he whispered. He threw the little crinkled ball at the older boy, physics equations zooming through his brain. He proudly watched it arch and land perfectly in front of Minho. Being a genius had its perks.

Should I tutor you at your place today? Minho mouthed. He turned to Taemin with a pout and nodded before both boys laughed quietly. Minho flicked the paper back at Taemin, the little ball hitting the rim of Taemin's desk and bouncing onto the floor. The boys locked eyes and had to struggle to stifle laughter. Taemin broke down first, his head bowing and his hair hiding his face as he shook with silent. Minho had to disguise his fits as violent coughs.

"Hey, Minho, you and Taemin seem kinda close," Yuhno observed. Minho let his laughter die down a little and he looked at his friend with the dredges of a chuckle still in his throat. He shrugged at the notion of the word "close."

"Yeah, we're close," he conceded. "We're friends." He smiled at that word. Friends. It was a safe distance away, but not a thousand miles in the distance. He could still touch Taemin of he stretched out his arm. He looked at the boy. (His ing beautiful friend, his gorgeous little genius, he perfect boy.) His friend.

"Any questions?" the teacher asked as she turned around from the board. Silence. Absolute silence. She scowled and marched over to Minho and Yuhno, glaring at the two. She would make examples of them, yes she would!

"Minho, what's a friar?" she snapped. Minho blinked in surprise. ! He stole a glance over at Taemin, who had his hands pressed tightly together and bowed his head over them.

"A... Erm... A religious person? A monk? Something like a monk? A monk that doesn't live in a monastery?" he asked in a machine-gun clip of questions. The teacher sighed and moved on to interrogate Yuhno.

"What does Friar Tuck think of Romeo switching so quickly from Rosaline to Juliet?" she asked, pursing her lips and hoping that Yuhno got it wrong. She needed to show the class that at least this guy wasn't as smart as he thought. Yuhno gulped and his eyes flicked to Taemin, who was swiping his hands in a cutting motion.

"Bad call? Stupid decision? He shouldn't have done it. The friar guy thought that it was a bad choice," Yuhno said, uncertain but willing to believe the genius with an IQ of 186. The teacher's eyes narrowed and she made a low snarling sound, bristling at the haunches. She glared at Taemin, who was looking out of the window with a disinterested look on his face.

"Fine! Since you guys know everything, why don't you guys just take the rest of the period off?" she snapped, storming back to her desk. In a flash, Taemin was next to Minho's desk, grinning like a dog waiting for a treat. Minho laughed and pulled Taemin in for a tight hug.

"My little genius," he said with a chuckle, patting Taemin's rosy cheek. Taemin giggled and poked Minho's cheek before patting Yuhno's shoulder and sighing happily.

"What would you do without me?" he teased gently, blinking cutely at the pair. Yuhno and Minho laughed and they tugged Taemin closer, laying him across their laps with with the boy's head on Yuhno's thighs.

"You're so lucky you have your personal genius," Yuhno said as he rubbed his palm on Taemin's hair. He laughed as Taemin's brow furrowed and his tongue stuck out from between his lips. Minho wrapped his arm under Taemin's waist and pulled him up. He didn't know why, be he'd felt the sudden urge to punch Yuhno in the face.

"Yep, my own 186 IQ friend," he said, chuckling as Taemin nodded with pride. "It sounds like a TV show. 'My 186 IQ friend.' It could be a drama," he laughed. Yuhno snorted and shook his head.

"Like I need more of you two showing the rest of us up in class," he teased. He pinched Taemin's cheek, and if the bell hadn't rung, Minho might have shoved him. Yuhno turned to get his things together and Taemin clambered to his desk to pack up. Minho was left to sit there, trying to calm down enough to pack his own things away.

He knew he wanted Taemin. He also knew that he shouldn't. Now all he needed to know was how to make it stop, and yet he felt so happy wanting Taemin. What the was wrong with him?

Maybe staring at the boy during lunch wasn't the best solution, he thought as he did just that. He watched as Taemin was joined by all of these people. Key, Jonghyun, Onew, and that Chang Sun guy. What the ? Why didn't he sit with Minho, huh? The boy's fists tightened.

He thought that they had a special friendship. Why didn't Taemin sit here?

"Minho! Come join us?" It took a few seconds for Minho to register that Taemin was beckoning him over, a smile on his face. Everyone else looked less than enthusiastic, but Taemin's grin was all Minho needed. He stood up, tray in hand, and made his way to the boy's side.

"Hey," he greeted stiffly as he sat across from Taemin, his body too close to Key's for comfort. He felt a genuine fear for his life, sitting so close to this maniac. He tried to get more comfortable by fixing his eyes on Taemin, only to see Chang Sun and Onew both hovering around Taemin like hawks.

"So..." Jonghyun said awkwardly as Taemin smiled brightly from one face to another. Chang Sun swooped in for a little peck on Taemin's lips, and Minho felt himself go red. Onew wrapped his arm around Taemin's shoulders, and Minho ducked his head down to stuff his face. The food tasted horrible and bitter and disgusting.

"So, you're going to Minho's house tonight?" Chang Sun asked. Minho looked up to see the guy with his hand practically on Taemin's . Taemin nodded happily, looking to Minho for affirmation.

"Are you eating there?" Onew asked, kissing Taemin's temple. "If not, I can have Luna make something for you." Minho felt like smacking everyone in the face.

"I don't know," Taemin said with a shrug. Minho swallowed a low growl as Taemin blushed, Onew's lips touching his. Minho was about three second away from flipping the table.

"He's staying over," Minho snapped. Taemin lit up like a Christmas tree and his eyes got nice and large. Minho smiled from the reaction. At least this time Taemin was looking at him.

"I am?" he asked happily. Minho smiled and nodded, and would have probably been happy if not for the death-glares Chang Sun and Onew were giving him. The two older boys seem poised for the attack or something. Only Taemin didn't seem to notice, so wrapped up he was in the fact that Minho was letting him stay over to share a meal. In many species, this would be the start of a new level to their relationship. Even in humans, food meant something, right?

"Yeah, if you want," Minho said with a grin. Taemin nodded eagerly and immediately jumped up, bouncing to Minho's side and hugging him tightly. Minho smirked as he wrapped his arms around Taemin's waist, humming as he rubbed the smooth back.

He liked it when Taemin chose him.

Minho sighed as the bell rang and everyone packed up to go. He grabbed his bag and waited by the lunchroom door for Taemin. He scowled when Taemin approached with that Chang Sun guy so close to him. It was all Minho could do to not shove the bastard. Taemin bounced over, hair springing up as he situated himself in front of Minho, all teeth and gums.

"Oh yeah! We have practice today, right?" Taemin asked sweetly. Minho nodded, suddenly remembering. Taemin grinned and tapped Minho's chest, smirking slightly as he drew circles in the fabric. "You'd better do well! I'll be watching, mister!"

"Yes, sir!" Minho announced, saluting jokingly. Taemin slapped Minho's arm gently, his smile bright as Minho's hand slipped into his and they walked off to class. Their hands seemed so natural together that Minho didn't even give them any though until it was time for them to separate.

"You behave, now!" Taemin chided gently as he fingers slid from Minho's grasp. Suddenly, the place his hand had been felt like ice to Minho. The older boy watched his friend walk so confidently into class, into a room with other people. No doubt, he had friends in that room. Maybe the boy he liked was in there. Maybe they were secretly going out and he just didn't want to tell Minho. Maybe... With a heavy sigh, Minho turned to get to chemistry.

"Hey, bro!" Jonghyun said loudly, jumping onto Minho. "Dude, what's up with you today? You've been looking like you want to stab someone." He frowned slightly as Minho gave him the same look. It was a dangerous look, and yet...

"I need to talk to you," he said, looking away. "But not now. After practice. It's... It's important." He sighed, squeezing his temples to stave off the imminent headache. He got to chemistry, sighing as he plopped into his seat with Jonghyun's eyes on him.

Jonghyun's head was whirling. Was Minho... No way! Not Minho! Yet, he'd seen that look before. He'd seen it on his own face, just a few years ago. That look of anger and frustration. He'd seen it the night after he and Key had slept together the first time, when he'd been drunk off his and the party had been so wild and he'd given in to Key's advances. When he'd woken up, he'd questioned his own identity for a long time. He'd seen it when he saw Key in a lip-lock with some random guy at a club and he, like an idiot, had turned away, telling himself that he didn't give a damn. He saw it the day he'd grabbed Key by the waist and taken him, no words or warning, against the bathroom wall. They'd both seen this coming, but maybe not like this. Still, it couldn't have been more perfect, because Key had been ing there, in his arms and wrapped around and just there.

And he knew he'd had that expression, that angry expression of shame and confusion and enlightenment, when he whispered, for the first time, "I love you."

, was Minho in love with a boy? And if it was a boy, it had to be Taemin. Those two were practically going out! Yet, Minho didn't seem like the type to fall in love like this, loins aflame with manly jealousy and testosterone. He'd always imagined Minho as being some rough, gangster type of lover. There was a surprise in everything.

"If you apply Boyle's Law..." The teacher's voice drained into the background as Jonghyun watched Minho carefully. He didn't notice that the whole room was staring at him.

"Huh? Oh! Oh !" he hissed when he realized that he was the one supposed to answer. He fumbled for a calculator and dropped it on the floor, hearing the chorus of laughter. And yet, Minho didn't notice anything. All he noticed was the fact that something was wrong with him today. Something had been wrong with him, and it had something to do with Taemin.

He waited until the last period, drifting through the school like a zombie. He hated this, this haziness and this blindness. He looked away from the board, unable to take another second of history. Instead, he looked outside at the track, looking down from the second floor. He could see the gym class from his seat, with Taemin's slim body circling the track.

Minho sighed as he let himself watch, noting Taemin's form and figure. The boy panted as he finished his third lap, getting tired from the mere thought of the last lap he'd have to do. He slowed, pulling over to the side for a breather. He looked up and saw Minho looking down at him. He felt so embarrassed, so weak, so he decided; he wasn't going to stop. He got back on the track, glaring at the path ahead. He had an oxygen deficiency, and his muscles were probably soaked in lactic acid, but damn everything if he'd seem like a wimp in front of Minho!

"Congratulations! You made under 6 minutes today," the teacher said as Taemin flopped onto the grass. Taemin laughed softly as he looked up, grinning at the barely-visible face in the window. Minho couldn't help but feel proud of Taemin, watching his friend lay on the ground like a boy about to make snow angels.

"How can this be so hard?" Taemin whined as he got up, still gasping for breath as he dragged himself to the locker room. He threw off his gym clothes and hopped into the shower, leaning his head back to let the water flow over him. He liked the feeling of warm water on his skin after running. It felt nice. It was... Refreshing.

Maybe it was the distraction of his shower that kept Taemin from hearing the football team enter the room. Humming, he stepped out of the shower languidly, stark and initially unaware of the eyes that were glued to him.

"HOLY !" he screamed when he looked up and saw a legion of half- boys, all wide-eyes and staring and slack-jawed. Minho walk in late, nearly dropping his things as he noticed the crowd of flabbergasted teenage boys.

"Yah!" he shouted, rushing forward and grabbing Taemin's towel, holding it in front of the boy like a curtain. "Get your ing clothes on!" he snapped, eyes blazing as he noticed Taemin's immobility.

"Minho!" Taemin gasped as the strong boy pushed him into the stall. Minho grabbed Taemin's shirt, trying to wrestle it over Taemin's head. "M-Minho what the Hell? S-stop!"

"Shut up! , why is this so tight?" he growled, finally forcing the shirt on. Taemin pulled his arms through the sleeve-holes as Minho grabbed the boxers. He held it down to Taemin's knees.

"Minho, give me a minute!" Taemin snapped. "Damn it, don't move so quickly! You're going to tear something!" He tugged his shirt to get comfortable and sighed, raising an eyebrow at Minho's low growl.

"Spread your legs and raise them," Minho ordered. Taemin groaned and snatched the boxers, yanking them on and glaring at Minho as the boy grabbed the jeans from the bench outside, shaking them out and shoving them at Taemin. The boy let out a moan of frustration at Minho's impatience.

"You're going to get my pants dirty, Minho! Just leave them like that!" Taemin hissed. Minho gave a little snarl as he obeyed, watching Taemin dress. The younger boy finally put on his pants and stepped out, snatching his socks and sliding his feet into him. Minho came out and watch Taemin put on his shoes before storming away, snatching a clipboard from the stunned coach. Minho didn't seem to notice that all eyes were on him as he started to get changed.

"ing Hell, I try to help a guy out and he practically rips off my for it," he snarled, causing jaws all around the locker room to drop. Nobody moved an inch as Minho jammed his helmet onto his head and tucked the football under his arm. He glared at the frozen team, still fuming about their having seen Taemin .

"Move it, lead-asses!" he snapped, storming out of the locker room to catch up with Taemin. The rest of the team looked at each other, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Spread your legs. Don't move so fast. Tight. Dirtying pants.

"You don't think..."

"No way! Minho's no !"

"But Taemin was when he went in..."

"No. Minho would never a guy. That's final. He's as straight as any one of us."

"Twenty bucks says that Taemin and him end up together. Look at them. They're practically doing it over a desk or something."

"Fine, I call your twenty that Minho would never be with a guy. He's not a queer and we all know it." In five minutes, the whole room had taken sides, even the coach. They shook on the bet and headed out, finding Taemin and Minho in a heated argument in the middle of the field.

"... And I'm telling you that the ball is deflated! I studied for three years on air pressure in relation to confined spaces, Minho! Move your lazy and get another ball!" Taemin snapped. Minho was towering over him, but Taemin's eyes were narrowed and he wasn't budging.

"I was playing football before you even knew what a confined space was! Trust me, I know when a ing ball is deflated!" Minho roared, slamming the ball onto the ground. Taemin let out a frustrated shriek.

"CONSIDERING THAT I LEARNED ABOUT CONFINED SPACES WHEN WAS 3 MONTHS OLD, I DOUBT IT!" Taemin screamed. He picked up the ball and smashed it into Minho's chest.

"Hey, hey, the kids don't like it when mommy and daddy fight," Kris interjected, pushing his way between them. "Come on, papa. Give it to me." He held out his hand for the object in question.

"Fine! You tell our little genius here that the ball isn't ing deflated, since apparently he's always correct and I never do anything right around here!" Minho snarled, glaring at Taemin. Kris rolled his eyes and felt the ball.

"Mommy's right. Go get another ball," he said sternly, pointing to the supply closet. Minho yelled out in frustration and marched inside, past a team of stunned teenagers who were sharing one common opinion by this point:

These two need to get a room. And fast.

"Here's your ing ball!" Minho shouted as he stormed back up to Taemin, shoving poor Kris out of the way and smashing it into Taemin's chest. Taemin's eyes narrowed as his hands clasped over it, not even bothering to mention that Minho was the one who needed the thing in the first place.

"Thanks, darling," he sneered, turning away and marching towards one of the field goals for no reason other than to be away from the infuriating quarterback.

"No problem, honey," Minho yelled back acridly. Kris limped back to hide among the team. No one could blame him. Even the coach was too scared to move. Taemin walked to the field goal and check off something angrily on his clipboard, drawing a line from the post to centerfield. Knowing that Minho had nothing to do infuriated him.

"Why don't you make yourself useful for a change and go set up for practice?" Taemin yelled across the field. Minho bristled and crossed his arms, glaring daggers across the grass.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over your big, fat ego!" he shot back. The whole team gasped and held its breath as Taemin prowled closer to Minho, eyes narrowed. Immediately, everyone on the sidelines started creating alibis in case one of the pair murdered the other.

"What did you just say to me?" Taemin whispered dangerously. Truth be told, Minho was terrified, but Hell if he'd let a little pipsqueak like Taemin intimidate him. He snarled and stepped closer, until his arms were nearly touching Taemins's. He leaned down, eyes boring into Taemin's dark orbs.

"I said, I could hear you over your big, fat ego," he hissed. Taemin and him glared at each other for so long that the rest of the guys nearly shat themselves with the mere anticipation. Finally, Shindong stepped forward, picking Taemin up without a sound and carrying him off.

"Let me go! Let me go! I'm going to kill that bastard, I swear!" Taemin screamed, beating at Shindong's back as he was slung over the older boy's shoulders. Minho felt another type of fury boil in him, but as most humans did, he mixed it with his existing anger, playing it off as contempt.

"HEY, MAYBE WITH YOU GONE, WE'LL GET SOME PEACE AND ING QUIET!" he spat out before going to set up the blocking dummies. The rest of the boys slowly filed in to help, some of them piling together blocking shields while the others set up the high step trainers. The coach tried to regain authority by directing them, although everyone was pretty shaken up about Taemin. At the sound of the whistle, they started their unified stretching, everyone avoiding Minho's angry glare as it slowly melted into guilt.

By the time Taemin came back, Minho was fully ready to apologize. Taemin, however, wasn't so ready to forgive. He shook off a trembling Shindong and marched to the bench, flicking his hair from his face before sitting down to edit the playbook. Seeing Taemin's cold face made Minho angrier than ever, and he just turned his face away.

"They're really mad, huh?" Jay puffed out to Eunhyuk as they did jumping jacks. The other boy just smiled and sighed. He didn't really say much.

"Alright, ladies, get to work! Front backs, you're on the dummies. Tackle, guard, and defense, you're on the shields. Center, you and the punter work on tossing and field goals,. Wide receivers, go do the high steps," the coach growled, effectively dispersing the team. Minho blinked, noticing that he was completely left out of the picture.

"What about me?" Minho asked, steeping up as the rest of the guys went to their posts. The coach jabbed a thumb in Taemin's direction, giving Minho a look that meant business. Minho sighed and walked over to Taemin, still a little sore.

"What do you want?" Taemin mumbled, playing it cool even though his heart was beating erratically. Minho sighed and sat down, taking off his helmet and looking at Taemin softly. He put his hand over Taemin's playbook, causing the boy to glare up at him.

"I'm sorry I'm a ," he said gently, smiling with a sort of begging quality to it. Taemin sighed and tried to hold out for a little longer before pressing his forehead to Minho's shoulder like a shy puppy, his face red with embarrassment.

"I hate you," he mumbled, his eyes slowly drifting up to Minho's face. The older boy smiled, his hand cupping Taemin's jaw warmly. He pressed their foreheads together, and he tried not to notice how the temperature spiked between them. Instead, he just took in Taemin's scent, Taemin's smooth skin and silky hair, Taemin's absolute perfection. Not that he noticed or anything.

"Still friends?" he asked. Taemin let out an exasperated breath before smiling and nodding. The sealed it with a hug, and the whole team let out a sigh of relief. Taemin pulled away and gently patted Minho's cheek.

"Alright, now go out there and do some work, you lazy ."

Practice wrapped up on a high note. Taemin had perfected the plays and eliminate the obsolete ones, the coach had hauled the team effectively through the stations, and no one had died. All in all, pretty successful.

"Hey, what did you want to talk to me about?" Jonghyun asked as they all got changed into regular civilian clothing. Minho had to remember back to what he was thinking before. Such dark, morbid thoughts. He waved his hand.

"It's fine," he said, throwing his bag over his shoulder. Taemin was making rounds, checking up on everyone and making sure that no one had hurt themselves or forgotten anything. Jay chuckled at the thoughtful sentiment.

"Mama Taemin," he observed. Minho smirked as he wrapped an arm around Taemin's shoulders, looking down at Taemin with softer eyes than he usually had.

"Come on, mama. we have some studying to do," he said, tugging Taemin forward. He barely heard the chorus of farewells. He just kept walking with Taemin, his arm eventually lowering down to take Taemin's hand. They kept walking, fingers locked, easy conversation and gently teasing flowing between them.

Maybe, Taemin thought, there could be something more, but for now, this was enough.

A/N - I loved writing "Mama Taemin" and "Papa Minho's" scene <3 XD And the team betting on 2min's future... Kind of rigged, but oh well~

Btw, someone very important makes an appearance next chapter ;) Dinner at the Chois', anyone?

More to come, comments are love <3