"Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore. Don't worry about it."

Yet Taemin still continued to caress my bruised cheek he had so kindly patched up for me. He looked down. "I'm sorry." He went to drop his hand from my cheek but I caught it and brought it back up to touch my cheek. I cupped his. "It's okay. It feels a lot better now. Thank you." He smiled and his fingers brushed into my hair. My face slightly heated from the contact. 

"Did you mean it?"

"Hm?" He asked looking attentive.

"What you said earlier. Do you really...love me or was that just..."

He reached up with his other hand to cup my face and pulled it close so our foreheads touched.

"Onew, please don't think that I was lying okay? I've never felt like this before for someone else. It sort of scares me but I want more of it. I'm really glad that you fought to stay by my side. You mean a lot to me Onew Hyung. I get really sad when you have to go and I can barely wait until you finally return and when you do, I feel like the happiest person ever. Just being around you makes me so happy." He took a breath. "I know I'm young but if that isn't love then I don't know what love is." He glanced up a few times to see what my reaction would be.

I smiled. "Really, you really mean that Taemin?"

His face was so pink from blushing but he nodded. "Y-yes, I love you."

​I pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you Taemin. I can't tell you how happy I am that you really do love me too. You're everything to me." He hugged me back. 

"I love you." I said and placed soft kisses on his exposed neck. He was taken off guard but seemed to like it because he wrapped his arms around my neck.

I couldn't control myself. When I saw Minho kissing him I felt really upset. I wanted Taemin to belong to me and now that he was and was acceptant to my touch, oh boy he was in for it. My lips went a bit lower and brushed across his collar bone before nibbling at the other side of his neck.

"On-new" He sounded out of breath. I smirked. Did he really like my touch so much? Did it drive him crazy like his touch did for me? So much that that's what I found I craved more than anything on a daily basis. 

It amazes me that he 's managed to snatch my heart away without even trying. He means so much to me. I want to make him so happy that he won't need to ask for anything more and it's the best feeling in the world to know that he returns my feelings that I have for him.

I pulled back and he looked confused as to why I stopped. I cupped his jaw and slowly slid my thumb over his alluring lips. He looked startled and suddenly flushed, but allowed it. 

"I have to be honest Tae. I felt really jealous when I saw him kissing you."

"Really?"

I leaned in closer. "I can't help it but I want you to only want me and only kiss me and only love me." He warmly smiled and gently nudged my nose with his.

"But I do hyung." His eyes were so warm and captivating. I couldn't help but keep my smile. His fingers traced down my neck. "I do only want you. I do want you to be the only one that receives and takes my kisses and I do want you to be the only one that I'll always love." 

My heart lifted so much. "Tae." I whimpered."You don't know how happy you're making me."

He gripped my shirt tight. "Then...won't you make me happy too?"

I grinned. "What do you want Taemin?"

He blushed a bit more and looked down. "I'm trying to make it obvious..." His pout was too cute. I gripped him close and leaned into his ear. 

"Tell oppa what you want. He'll do anything you ask for."

"I-I want oppa to kiss me." 

​I chuckled. 

​Time to play.

"Here?" I asked kissing him on the cheek.

"No."

​I kissed him on the forehead. "Here?"

"No."

​He huffed cutely, obviously upset that I was messing around. He lightly pushed me away not wanting to hurt me but trying to prove his point. "Stop it. I don't like your games." He said and walked away.

I pulled him right back into my grip and pressed my lips to his. I heard him softly whimper and he surrendered completely allowing me to pull him closer and kiss him with a bit more passion. It felt so great. Finally, the person that I really wanted to kiss not as a good friend but as a lover allowed me to. 

​We switched sides and he allowed me to enter his lips to deepen the kiss. It felt like my sense of touch was heightened and every brush of his skin against mine made me go insane and shake on the inside.

​I pulled away. "Oppa's sorry for playing silly games okay? Please forgive him." He nodded and closed his eyes urging me to continue what I was doing.

​I did of course and the only sound that filled his bedroom were our heavy breaths and occasional soft moans.

​I didn't care for anything else because everything else didn't matter, not now, not when we were in such a heated and heart throbbing act.

​It was just me and him, Taemin. He was the only thing that mattered right now. The only thing that meant anything to me right now.

​As we kissed we conveyed how we felt for the other, how much we loved them and never wanted them to go, how we wanted to give the other so much pleasure and make them very happy, and how we'll always be there for them. No matter what,from here on out, we would always stay by the others side. Always.

---------------------

​I woke up to find that I was lying on the couch. Taemin's couch. I leaned up and a blanket was spread across me. 

​'They brought me inside even after all that happened? Even after what I did?' 

​Minho felt bad remembering back to when he hit Onew. He hoped he could apologize in the future. He just wanted to protect Taemin. It was his job though right? He had to protect Taemin against anyone that only saw him as a prize and take him away for points. He remembered Onew thanked him for looking after him. What kind of prize snatcher would say that? And when Onew said he wanted to take Taemin away to start a new life with him and when he confessed that he loved him. There was no way someone would go that far and fight for Taemin so much just for a prize. Taemin really meant something to Onew huh?

Even after he had hit him, they would most likely retreat but Onew didn't. He didn't even fight back. He didn't even seem mad that he had hit him. He just held him down and told him that it was okay to let go because someone else was now there for Taemin ready to take care of him and love him in ways Minho couldn't.

​What really made him wake up was when Taemin confessed back that he loved Onew, right there in front of him too! That hurt. That hurt like hell but then he remembered Onew's words. 

'Strength is even if it hurts you, you don't let your pain get in the way of others happiness.'

​Minho realized then and there that Onew was the right one to hand Taemin over to with gentle arms. He then felt a lot of relief rush over him. Knowing that Taemin found another that could always be there for him and protect him and love him, he felt much better. Onew seemed very truthful and caring. Not the type to hurt others.

​Minho sighed contently and stood up. 'Time to go. Their happy together and strangely I do feel happy for them. They...deserve each other.'

​Minho went to walk out but as he opened the door wind blew in and a piece of paper flew off a desk and landed near him. He blinked a moment before leaning down to pick it up. As he turned it over to examine it he was shocked at first but then almost exploded into a fit of laughter.

'What was this? One of Taemin's drawings?' He chuckled softly. 'Taemin please take lessons. It almost hurts my eyes. Maybe Onew can teach you if he's any better. Has he even seen this?' He read the sentence on the corner of the paper and shook his head while smiling. 'Really Tae? I think your overprotective oppa has a right to see this.' Minho walked over and set it on the main coffee table.

​Before walking out, Minho paused at the door turning his head to look back in, knowing that it was the last time he would. "Stay true to your words Onew, please. He's yours now so please look after him and treat him like a jewel. It won't be hard to make him your everything because I know he already is."

​Minho then walked out closing the door behind him. "Good luck you guys. You deserve it...you really do."

​And just like that Minho was released from his chains and leash. There was no need to stay the guard dog anymore because finally...the prince had found his true knight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This is the tale of how that once lively heart that had gone through such deep pain and agony became cold and frozen over, spiking out on the edges allowing no one to come near, but now that frozen heart was engulfed in a warm flame. 

​That once frozen heart could now beat. It was reborn, and it was time to start living again.

​This is only the beginning of that tale...

~*~*~

*bows down on hands and knees*

I'm sorry it took forever for me to upload this chapter. I'm just scared that I might make a wrong turn in this story. If you write, you know that theres so many branches of paths you could go down when making a story...I just hope I'm always making the right once if that makes any since.

Just to let you guys know my main focus is this story right now. I've been uploading so much on my other one 'Seduce Me Unwillingly' and I thought it wasn't fair to my readers here that like this story. So I'll try to even out time between both. I also noticed I get more comments for this story but more subscribers and less comments for the other. I don't know how I should feel about that.

well, feel free to leave a comment. I always look foreword to them because I'm on here daily and they help me feel more motivated to write more.

P.S. sorry if this chapter is really cheesy. I think writing so much for 'Seduce Me Unwillingly' makes me want to make Jinki a ert in this story now and if i do that I feel I'll ruin the story. Same with the thing. It's silly because I put as a tag but now I'm nervous to add it because I'm scared it might over take the innocence in this story. If that makes since.

So please help me out...