There’s that boy that’s hard to not love. He’s young; his positive spirit, heartwarming smile and bright eyes can light up a room. But he’s also smart; he’s full of ideas and opinions and he has a unique point of view of the world. He’s a bit naïve; he believes that there’s good in everyone and everything but he trusts too easily and he still has a lot of growing up to do. It’s hard to resist his innocent charm. Many people hear what he has to say, but he doesn’t want that. He wants them to listen.

What a shame no one took him seriously.

~~~~~

Jinki remembered the first time he met Taemin. It was around four years ago, when the redhead was an innocent ten year old boy, new in town and with no one to cling to but an older brother. Jinki was helping his mother out in the garden one hot summer day, pulling out weeds, cutting the grass and t overgrown branches from the giant oak tree. He didn’t notice the little boy with a black bowl haircut standing by on the sidewalk while he carried the very full and very heavy trash bag.

“I like your tree house.” The light voice was so unexpected, causing the older boy to accidentally drop the heavy load onto the ground, making the younger boy yelp in surprise.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry oh my god. Here, let me help,” the boy said as he frantically began picking up random branches from the ground and putting them back into the garbage can.

It was then that it registered in Jinki’s mind where the voice came from as he watched the boy with shiny black hair and thin frame worriedly clean up the mess. “How old are you?” was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

The younger looked up at the brunette, big brown eyes filled with slight anxiety at hearing the sudden question. “I…I just turned ten.”

Jinki grinned. “I was close to your age when I built this tree house with my dad,” he said, reaching a hand out to the small boy.

“Really?” he asked back, timidly grabbing the outstretched hand from his crouching position and standing straight up.

“Sure did.” The older boy gleamed with that smile that created a comfortable atmosphere. It was a big deal really since Jinki was usually such a shy fellow, but the little boy didn’t intimidate him in the least. In fact, he felt encouraged to make the other feel at ease. “You wanna come up and check out?”

“Sure!”

At the moment, Jinki knew that the little boy who lived a few streets away with the angelic smile needed to be taken care. But seeing that same boy in the same tree house from years ago, sitting cross legged and staring down at his hands, refusing to look at the older boy, broke his heart more than anything.

It was obvious Taemin felt anxious and confused. Jinki was ready to listen.

"The things that he does and says just make me feel special.” Taemin confided. “It feels good to know that I’m the person who gets all his attention. “ He paused briefly, giving a weak smile. "I’m not just the cute but weird little kid that likes to dance and is never taken seriously when I’m with him, ya know? I actually feel important.”

“You really value this friendship with him,” Jinki affirmed.

“I do. But ...I don't think I was ready to take such a big step,” The redhead voiced weakly.

"Did he ...force you?” Jinki asked carefully. “Talk you into it?"

Taemin snapped up, shaking his head and hands vigorously. "No no no," he denied immediately. "I’m the one who started it and he just…I guess he really can’t say no to me."

"But why'd you initiate it in the first place?"

“I just ..." he pulled his knees to his chin, hugging his legs tightly, as if protecting himself. "Jonghyun really did look out for me. There were a few drunken people that tried making a move on me and he was always there to protect me!” Taemin defended. “But ...then I saw how he didn’t hang with his friends and didn’t really play any party games. I knew he wasn’t playing because I’m too young even if he kept denying it.”

A stray tear rolled down his cheek before continuing. “I felt so bad that he wasn’t able to have as much fun as everyone else so I just ... started kissing him and touching and before I knew it we were in a closet somewhere having…well you know." He said dejectedly.

"And he didn’t try to stop you?" Jinki questioned. He didn’t notice how angry his tone sounded which surprised both of them equally.

"How could he? I wasn’t letting go!” Taemin shouted back. At this point, the tears were falling freely down his face. “He kept asking if I was sure I wanted it! “ He bawled into his hands for a bit, before calming down and wiping his face with his sleeve. “And he was being so gentle and so sweet that I couldn’t even stop myself," he added softly.

Jinki crawled over to the boy’s side, putting a comforting arm around the frail shoulders. "Then what exactly do you regret so much?" he asked. Taemin’s body was trembling an awful lot.

"I just ... He’s not even my boyfriend. We've only been friends for about ... two, three weeks maybe? And I’ve given him my everything.” Taemin sighed. “It’s scary. I don’t even feel like a kid anymore."

"Well you are only fourteen years old.” Jinki said, Taemin’s red locks. “I know you’re a smart kid but you’re bound to feel out of place being around an environment of adults. You do remember that he’s eighteen right?"

"Yeah... but I still love him." he confessed softly. "And now I don’t even know if he feels the same."

"What are your doubts?"

"You've heard the rumors!” The redhead blurted out. “He goes around looking and messing around with lots of guys and girls... what if this was planned? What if he doesn’t love me back?"

Jinki looked down at him sternly, arm still holding the other protectively. "Why did this only occur to you now?"

"I don’t know,” Taemin replied honestly, head turned down in what could be read as shame. “I just had this hope that this title of being a Casanova wasn’t true. I guess I shouldn’t have fooled myself into thinking that I was something special. Maybe then wouldn’t feel as lost as I do now..."

Jinki pulled the boy closer to his chest, his bright red locks whispering words of comfort not caring that his shirts wasn’t getting soaked with innocent tears. That’s what Taemin was, innocent as a child should be. He was smart, but he was young. He wasn’t an adult; a child doesn’t know right from wrong.

"Can we just stay like this for a while?" voiced a weak voice.

Jinki held him tighter.

~~~~~

"Lee Onew!” Jinki gulped when he realized it was Key who was making his way over to him at such early morning, on a Monday at that. “Just the guy I was waiting for."

His heart fluttered at the comment. "You were waiting for me?"

“Well yeah. I need to ask you a few things,” he confirmed nonchalantly as if it shouldn’t be of any surprise. “I hear things that go around”

Jinki froze. “Like what?”

“Lee Taemin. He’s a friend of yours, right?”

“Yeah…” he said urging Key to go on.

“I hear he put out with Jjong. That true?”

The brunette looked at the other boy wide eyed. “Where …where did you hear that?”

“I told you. I hear things.” Key shrugged as he walked forward. Jinki followed behind like the obedient love struck puppy he’d always been. “But you can always tell me about that later. I have a more important question to ask.”

Jinki’s eyes immediately brightened. "Sure! I mean, um yeah. Anything for you."

Key chuckled at the other’s willingness. "So by now I’d think that you know the student fashion show is coming up soon," he pointed out.

"Yeah I …saw the posters."

"Exactly. It’s right around the corner and I still need a main model for the show." Jinki furrowed his eyebrows not having a single clue to where the other was heading with this. At seeing the other’s puzzled expression, Key continued. "Originally my main model was going to be Minho but something with his family came up and he won’t be able to make it. So I thought really hard about who could replace him as my model and I think there’s no better person to fill in than you."

"Me?” Jinki asked dumbstruck. “But why me?"

"Remember when I’d dress you up when we had special dinners with the families? Just think of it like that.” Key urged. “You’re a good looking guy and with a bit of work on your clothes and hair it'd be breathtaking.”

Jinki would do anything for Kim Key. So this is how he became a model.

A singer and a model. The titles would look good on college applications.

~~~~~

Jinki looked out the library window. He was alone again; he was hurt again. The difference at that moment, though, was that he was not alone by choice. No one was around and he wasn’t the only one hurting. Luna was hurt, Taemin was hurt, and Key, well, maybe he was hurting on the inside because of Minho not being a part of his fashion show which was a big part of his life. But Key was such a big part of Jinki’s life and Key hurt him; Jinki was too hurt to heal everyone else that was hurting and it was a never ending cycle he was sick of. Jinki wanted nothing more than to break the cycle so that no one would be hurt and no one would be alone. 

From: Onew

To: Jjong

You weren’t in class today. I'm supposed to give you your English homework.

The reply came right away,

From: Jjong

To: Onew

I'll come over later to pick it up.

Jinki paused. He thought of the countless times Jjong had come into his home. He thought of how close the blonde had been into his personal space, into his bedroom, into his music room. Jinki thought of Jjong’s magical voice and it made him want to break out in song and sing. He wanted to sing his heart out, but he wasn’t ready. Jinki realized that he had yet to go into Jjong’s personal space.

From: Onew

To: Jjong

Is it okay if I come over your place instead?

Jinki stared at the screen for several minutes until a message appeared on his screen.

From: Jjong

To: Onew

Why?

Jinki thought of Key and how he knew about what happened between Jjong and Taemin. Word was bound to get out to the rest of the student body, about Jjong’s latest conquest. It would hurt Taemin even more.

But then Jinki thought of the first time he brought Jjong into his home, into his room for studying and the look on Jjong’s face when he apologized for not knowing their age difference. He remembered the look on Jjong’s face, a look that implied hurting. Jinki also remembered the questions he had asked himself about Jjong. Was there more to Jjong than meets the eye or were the rumors about him being a skirt chaser true?

Now Jinki thought of how Jjong would feel about people talking about his love experiences and whether or not he enjoyed it. Were Taemin’s suspicions true, about the conquest being planned all along? Or did the rumors hurt Jjong just as much as they hurt Taemin?

From: Onew

To: Jjong

I just wanna know if you're okay.

An hour later, Jinki received the address he'd go to after school.