Minho had helped Jonghyun pack. He had made sure to put the elders phone charger into the backpack Jonghyun was now using, after Luna finally convinced him to throw away the old duffel. He had slipped little notes into each of Jonghyun’s pockets. He had taken at least a dozen pictures with the shorter male. And he had spent at least an hour with Jonghyun, alone in their room, doing nothing but kissing.

He was utterly addicted to the feeling of the elder in his arms, the smell of his skin, the heat of his body. He knew he would never tire of seeing Jonghyun’s big, brown eyes, or hearing him sigh as their slightly swollen lips pressed together over and over. He would never forget the taste of Jonghyun’s tongue.

When the time came for Minho to let Jonghyun go, he almost couldn’t. He insisted on carrying Jonghyun’s backpack and laptop bag out to the car, and stood awkwardly in the driveway as Jinki put the car in drive and took Jonghyun away. He had stood out there so long Taemin had actually grown concerned, tugging on his hyung’s hand and pulling him back inside.

“He’ll be back.” Taemin said, and Minho only nodded, heading toward his room. Luna watched the whole thing with a seriously worried expression.

“What’s going on with him?” She finally asked Key. The diva sighed.

“It’s the first time they’ve been apart.” He explained, and Luna tilted her head.

“No it isn’t.” She said, and Key looked up at her with a sad expression.

“Since Jonghyun was kidnapped...it is.” He explained, and realization dawned on her face.

“Is it...too soon?” She asked softly, and Key shrugged helplessly.

“I think so.” Taemin said from the doorway.

“What’s he doing?” Key asked, and Taemin swallowed.

“He locked himself in his room.” He said. Worried glances were exchanged around the room, and Taemin sank into the couch beside Key.

“He was ok when Jonghyun was gone, though.” Luna said. “I mean, he broke some stuff, but for the most part-”

“That was different. Jonghyun got taken away.” Taemin said. Luna didn’t seem to follow his thought process, however.

“Jonghyun willingly left this time.” Key clarified, and Luna’s face scrunched up slightly.

“But he’ll be back.” Luna said. Key sighed.

“That doesn’t matter.” Taemin said. “He still left. Minho hates being left behind. People have been doing it to him his whole life.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Luna asked, and she was met with two solemn faced negatives.

Jonghyun himself wasn’t doing much better. Less than ten minutes into the drive Jinki had had to pull over. Roo, a normally quiet and relaxed dog, had suddenly started barking - a warning that Jonghyun was having a panic attack. Jinki put the car in park and went around to Jonghyun’s side, reaching up a hand to his sons hair as Jonghyun gave in to his emotions.

“Did you change your mind?” Jinki asked, and Jonghyun gripped his sweatshirt sleeves.

“I...I can’t...” Jonghyun took a shaky breath. “I need Minho...”

“Oh.” Jinki said, blinking a few times. “Do...do you want to see if he’ll come?”

Jonghyun nodded instantly, and Jinki felt guilty for not realizing this would happen. He pulled Jonghyun’s phone from the boys sweatshirt pocket, knocking a folded sheet of paper into his lap as he did, and went right to his contacts. Jonghyun picked up the note, opening it silently to see what it was. He was surprised to find just a heart, but there was no doubt in his mind who it was from as the appa pressed the call button on Minho’s contact ID. When the phone began to ring he handed it back to the teary-eyed shorty, glancing at the paper in the boys hand curiously.

“Y-yoboseyo..” Jonghyun greeted softly, not missing the tremble in Minho’s voice when he answered.

“Is everything alright?” He asked softly, and Jonghyun clenched his teeth for a moment.

“Can you come with me?” He finally asked, his tone pleading. He sat in silence for a long moment, waiting for Minho to respond. Jonghyun was starting to think he never would when he caught the sound of Minho sniffling.

“Am I allowed to?” He asked, and Jonghyun felt his eyes widen.

“De...” He said, and Minho was quiet for a moment.

“Just give me a few minutes to pack.” He said, and the line went dead. Jonghyun closed his phone, then looked up at Jinki.

“Is he coming?” Jinki asked, and Jonghyun nodded. Jinki sighed softly in relief, then leaned forward to press his lips to Jonghyun’s forehead. “Alright then. Let’s head back.”

Jonghyun was silent as they pulled into the driveway, looking slightly guilty. He didn’t want to force Minho to go with him, but then again...Minho had seemed pretty upset about him leaving in the first place. He pushed the door open as soon as the car stopped, rushing toward the house right away. Jinki barely had time to blink before the door to the house was slamming.

“Jjong?!” Taemin cried out in surprise. Jonghyun didn’t even pause, instead continuing straight to the stairs where Minho caught him halfway up.

“Slow down, I’m right here.” Minho said, and Jonghyun wrapped his arms around the younger boy. “What happened?”

“I couldn’t leave you.” Jonghyun admitted, his voice muffled by Minho’s chest. Minho pressed his lips into Jonghyun’s hair, kissing him softly.

His heart had just about stopped when Jonghyun said those words. To Minho, it was more powerful than ‘I need you’ or even ‘I love you.’ He was still surprised, however, when tears slid down his cheeks and plopped into Jonghyun’s hair. Nearly seventeen years, he had spent, waiting for those words. Even Jinki, his appa, someone he had known for seven years, had never told him that - but Jonghyun.

Jonghyun, after eight months, managed to say the one thing that erased any doubt about their relationship that may have lay buried deep in his subconscious. He took a shaky breath and moved back just enough that Jonghyun could look up at him, and his lips found the shorter boys in an instant.

It was a little while before they pulled apart again, and they seemed completely unaware of their audience even after the fact. It was silent as Jonghyun wiped the tears from Minho’s face, but after a few moments a small giggle came from Jonghyun, followed shortly after by Minho’s low chuckle. Jonghyun leaned up, kissing Minho’s cheek, then just hugging him tightly.

“You promised you wouldn’t leave me behind...” Jonghyun said. “Is it alright if I promise you the same?”

“De, Jjongie..” Minho said, letting out a shaky breath. “It’s perfect.”

“Guys?” Jinki said from the bottom of the stairs. “We...we do need to get going, you know.”

Jonghyun jumped slightly, as though he had forgotten there was anyone else in the world but Minho. In a way, he had. Minho rolled his eyes at the elder, then took his hand and lead him down the stairs. They were going to be in the car for at least six hours based on what the appa had said, and while Minho wasn’t really looking forward to that, he was glad to be going nonetheless.

Jonghyun tugged at his hand insistently, and Minho just smiled as the elder led him out to the car. Roo was sitting in the back seat, looking impatient as Minho opened the door and slid in beside her. Jonghyun was about to get into the passenger seat when Jinki stopped him. He looked at the appa curiously, and understanding, and no small amount of shock, met him as the appa handed him the keys.

“I was going to do this after the first rest stop, but I think it’s better if I just have the two of you switch out.” Jinki explained. Jonghyun swallowed and nodded shakily, going around to the drivers side. Minho quickly fastened his seatbelt, the appa copying his actions once inside the vehicle. “You’ve both done fine in the driveway. I figured this is the best practice you can get.”

Jonghyun didn’t respond, instead just sliding the key into the ignition and turning it. The car came to life under his fingers, and he carefully adjusted his seat and mirrors before sliding on his seatbelt and putting the car in drive.

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Holy crap! Thank you to everyone who subscribed! <3 I'm going to do a two-part shameless advertisement now, if no one has any objections~

I've been working on this new fic for maybe a month, and it's already gotten a lot of views subscribers. I don't know why exactly, because it's not something I really put a lot of effort into, and it started off as a one-shot idea, but there's a pretty insane amount of pairings in it (2min, JongKey, OnJoon, GoHo, MirDoong, XiuTao, HunHan, BaekYeol, KaiRis, Suho/D.O, Chen/Lay, and BaekRen) and it also features Rain. I don't actually know why I'm this out, but. Yeah. Check it out if you're interested. It mostly focuses on 2min, HunHan, XiuTao, BaekRen, and KaiRis becaise, well, it IS called "Caring For A Maknae" (And, yes, I consider Kai a Maknae. He's younger than Tao.)

Description: Taemin goes for a Maknae outing with Mir, Sehun, Tao, Ren, and a few others. When he comes home, he's in tears and refuses to tell what took place - only that Mir was the one who caused it all. Similar situations seem to be popping up all over the place as the Maknae's from each group start complaining of odd feelings and discomfort, and Seungho and Papa Rain's phones are sure to be broken by the end of the night if the calls don't stop pouring in.  There's only one question on everyone's mind:

What the did Mir do?

So, here's that: >>> Click Here <<<

And going on from there, has anyone here heard of Narcotica? She is, by far, my favorite author on this site. I've spoken to her many times, and we're even facebook buddies (she's just the sweetest unnie), and I know she has a lot of people following her, but I don't think she's getting the recognition she deserves. So, I'm going to put links to her three chapter fics, along with a small description (taken directly from her fic), and if you're interested, please go read them. She's really good!

Now I Know It's True:

**CAUTION:  HEAVY ANGST**

Taemin is new to high school, and not off to a very good start (socially).  He's tormented by jealous students, and every day becomes a battle.  One day though, he's found by Minho, who offers him solace, and a strong but confusing friendship is forged.  Minho introduces Taemin to his friends (the rest of SHINee), and all seems well.  But under the surface, each of them is harboring their own confusion about their feelings, and what it means to be in love with someone of the same gender.

Unapologetic:

Having a lot to offer in the way of looks and personality, it's not hard to see why Minho is admired by so many... but he's yet to date any of his countless prospects, always politely declining yet offering friendship (though no one will ever be as close or important to him as Key, Jonghyun, and Onew).

Why?  Because he's a dreamer.  Minho is waiting for 'the one', holding back on dating because he believes he'll just know when the right person comes along.

Enter Lee Taemin, the new transfer student.  No slouch in the looks and personality department, either, there's just something about him that people naturally gravitate to.  It only makes sense that Minho starts that long, glorious fall toward being in love with him.  

But then one day an incident occurs that reveals something about Taemin, causing a chain-reaction.  More things about Taemin begin to surface, shattering Minho's illusions of him.

I Won't Let You Drown: 

Minho struggles with the pain of living in an abusive home.

Jonghyun struggles with the pain of being non-existent to his family.

In the midst of the vastly different types of pain and heartache they each endure, they have only each other as shelter from their individual storms as they fight to get out.

Sometimes, when all the opposing forces of the world are as an ocean around you, all it takes is one hand, outstretched, to keep you from succumbing to the crashing waves of hardship...

To keep you from drowning.

Ok, I'm done with the insanely long Author's Note. Bye guys~