Minho watched as Taemin crossed the courtyard with his usual group of friends. He placed his elbow atop of the table he was sitting at and sighed as he propped his head up, his chin resting on his palm. Minho replayed scenarios in his head about how Taemin would react if he had confessed… would he laugh? Would he be disgusted? Would he ignore it and brush it off? They were close friends, kind of. Minho was treated the same way as Taemin treated the group of people that surrounded him now in front of a tree.

“Are you still looking at him?” Minho dropped his head on the table and sighed again. “Why don’t you just talk to him?”

“I don’t know, why do you think, Kibum?” Minho lifted his head, his lip curling up.

Kim Kibum was another friend of his who had been with him for years, and he knew that Minho had been… “crushing” on Taemin since senior year. And to Minho’s surprise, Taemin had ended up going to the same college as him after he graduated. They had started talking less because every time Minho would try to talk to him, one of his friends would pop up and drag him away. He was in dire need to spend more time with the boy, but he never had the strength and guts to do so. He was afraid that his love would be swept away right before his eyes again and he’d be casted aside like he was nothing.

“Minho, you’re staring again…” Said name directed his gaze to the table surface.

“Yeah, thanks.” He felt a hand pat his back and looked to his left to see Kim Jonghyun, Kibum’s boyfriend. He doesn’t know much him, but all that he does know, he doesn’t want to mention. He has no idea why Kibum chose someone like Jonghyun, not that he’s a bad guy or anything; it was just a habit that disturbed Minho to no end. He stood up, throwing his bag over his shoulder and bid the two boys goodbye before running off.

By the time Minho had arrived at his apartment, the sun was setting. He dropped his bag on the floor and trudged into the kitchen, heading to the fridge to grab a Coke. After opening the bottle, he walked out on his patio, taking a sip as he watched the sun set. He shoved his free hand in his pocket and sighed, closing his eyes as the sound of quiet crickets and the rustling of leaves made their music. He became lost in his own world, the different scenes of him and Taemin laughing together over the silliest of things flashing through his mind. Taemin blowing a pink bubble and Minho cheering for him as it grew until it popped, the material sticking to the tip of Taemin’s nose and all around his mouth. Minho laughed as his opened his eyes again.

“Silly things like that don’t happen,” he told himself. He finished his Coke before heading back inside his small apartment. It wasn’t the best looking place, but it was enough for Minho to handle. Placing his empty bottle on the little coffee table, he lied down on the couch behind against the wall behind it. His face smothered by his pillow and his legs stretched out. He shifted his body to a more comfortable position before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

The next day was cloudy, gray. So Minho brought an umbrella just in case it might rain.

“Minho, do you want to come with me and Jonghyun after school today?” Kibum asked as he and his boyfriend walked up to him, hand in hand. Minho’s eyes found their entwined hands and he felt his stomach churn. “Minho.”

Said name snapped his head up, bowing slightly as an apology before answering, “Ani, I have homework.”

“Come on,” Jonghyun spoke up, slapping Minho’s shoulder. “It’ll be really chill. We don’t really do much.”

“We?”

“Yeah, Jonghyun’s friends are going to meet us there.” Kibum smiled excitedly.

“I don’t want to…” Minho bowed again before walking around the couple. Kibum grabbed his arm with his free hand, and then told Jonghyun to wait before he pulled the younger boy a few feet away from him.

“Minho, you have to,” Kibum begged, pulling on said name’s arm. “You can’t be by yourself like this. You need to go out…”

“Kibum, I’m clearly fine with being by myself.” Minho cleared up, snatching his arm away from Kibum and looking away.

“Minho, come on. Jonghyun and I just want to spend more time with you than we do in school. We want you to try something.” Minho raised his brow. “It’s not bad, I promise. It’ll make you feel better on days like these.”

“’Days like these’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Days when you just know that Taemin’s not going to love you back.” Minho flinched at Kibum’s words, each of them throwing knives at his heart. He cringed internally.

When I know he’s not going to love me back.

Right.

Minho nodded slowly and Kibum jumped up and down, thanking him before running into Jonghyun’s arms. He watched as the couple left the building in each other’s embrace to skip class for the umpteenth time.

“They make a good couple, don’t they?” Minho jumped, a hand raised to his chest as Taemin’s voice was heard. He looked down at him and he was there, smiling as he watched his two walk out the door before looking up at Minho with the same smile. Minho could have sworn his heart skipped a beat as Taemin flashed his favorite smile.

“Y-Yeah,” he said nervously as he scratched the back of his head. “I guess…”

“Yeah… do you want to walk to class together?” Taemin’s smile dropped as he waited for Minho’s answer.

“Um, m-my class is all the way on the other side of the school, so I’ll just go by myself.” Taemin pinched Minho’s arm, making the latter whimper.

“I don’t mind being late! I just want to talk to you,” Taemin said honestly. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a decent conversation.” Minho nodded in agreement, but still couldn’t find the nerve to accept this chance.

“I know, and I’m sorry,” he said as he started to walk backwards. “But I have… a lot of work to do in that class and I need to hurry up and get there.”

“Wait, Minho!” Taemin yelled as said name started running down the hall. He pouted after Minho rounded a corner and was out of sight. Why do you keep avoiding me? I miss talking to you…

Minho had his back against the wall, panting with his eyes shut tightly. He leaned over just a little to peek around the corner to see if Taemin was gone, but he was still standing there. He bit his lip as Taemin caught his gaze, staring right back at him. Minho opened his mouth as if he were to say something, but the pain in his chest kept him from saying anything. Especially when the boy was looking at him with sadness in his eyes. Minho stepped out from around the corner and began to walk towards him, but stopped as Taemin mouthed something.

“I’m sorry for bothering you. If this is really what you want, I won’t talk to you anymore.”

Students began walking through the gap that was left between them, Minho turning his head every way possible so he could see Taemin, even if it meant shoving people out of the way. “Ani, Taemin—“ He gasped as he saw Taemin get pushed against the wall by accident, and covered his mouth with the back of his hand before running off.

A/N: