They were studying fairytales in English class. Taemin smiled and tapped his pen when he finished reading the end of the Little Mermaid. It was always his favourite fairy tale when he was younger, and even though it was English, he still could muddle through. He really liked that it was set in the sea, because he liked the ocean.

“All not true,” announced Lacey.

“The love is true, the rest isn’t,” agreed Taemin.

Lacey laughed. “Love? Especially not the love!”

“But the mermaid always wanted to go on shore,” puzzled Taemin. “And when she did, she saved the man. They were soulmates.”

“Soulamtes?” laughed Lacey. “I don’t believe in that. How can you only be destined for one person only? You could fall in love with many people and form a relationship if you both bend to each other. There’s no such thing as soulmates.”

“I think there is,” disagreed Taemin. “Maybe you are supposed to meet someone only for you. And when you meet them you don’t want anyone else, because you know they’re the right one.”

“You’re so innocent!” laughed Lacey. “You say that now, but wait until you and your boyfriend are over. Then you’ll be hating his guts and you’ll know that there can’t be soulmates, just a lot of people you could get along with.”

But Taemin didn’t get along with anyone else.

Taemin couldn’t believe his eyes. 96% on his maths test! Maths in America was unbelievably easy. He only got stuck on the word problems, but he normally got the gist of what the questions were trying to say.

“We have to celebrate afterschool!” crowed his Korean friend, who also had a very good mark.

“What do you want to do?” asked Taemin excitedly.

“Let’s go to the city and play again! We’ll get the whole group to go!” said the friend enthusiastically.

“Yes!’ agreed Taemin.

“How’s your boyfriend?” asked one of the girls in the group, wiggling her eyebrows. The whole group had found out after they had one by one added him on facebook and stalked his page. Surprisingly, they hadn’t rejected him after they found out he had a boyfriend since they were Korean, but he suspected Key’s lovey dovey wall posts written in Korean from weeks ago had made the girls take his side, and the boys didn’t really care.

“Still bad,” he sighed. “it was my fault, but he said things that made me sad. I don’t know how to forgive him and I don’t want to say sorry to someone who hurt me. What do I do?”

“Just talk to him,” coaxed another girl. “You don’t have to apologise. Just talk to him and see what will happen. You can’t keep ignoring him forever. Just be brave, and be normal, and settle it.”

He quickly scoffed the hot pork bun he was eating as he walked in the frigid air with his friends, blowing steam from his mouth.  He agreed. He needed to. After this, he would march over to Key’s house, knock on the door and have a sensible conversation with him. He really wanted to. He wanted to see Key so badly.

“Let’s get bubble tea!”

Taemin sat on the bus, looking out the window, trying to rehearse what he was going to say as his stomach churned.

“Hi Key. Can we talk? Can I come in?” he whispered underneath his breath.

“Hi hyung. I think we need to talk. Can I come in?” he tried again.

His stomach made an uncomfortable lurch and he cursed himself for buying the chilled taro milk tea when it had been freezing. He felt like his stomach wouldn’t settle.  He had always been prone to upset stomachs, and the nerves weren’t making it any better.

“Hello hyung. I want to talk to you. Can I come in and sit with you… somewhere…” trailed off Taemin, rubbing his stomach. He was so nervous.

He didn’t know whether Key would slam the door in his face or nod understandingly and let him in. And the fact he didn’t know scared him. Key wasn’t predictable. Sometimes he was the most understanding person Taemin knew. And sometimes he was the most hardest person to get through to.

He hadn’t known that Key’s life had changed for the worst because of him. But it wasn’t like he had made him not concentrate on his school work, or ditch his friends for him. He had never asked him to do that. Key had made those decisions himself. It was Key’s fault.

But he should’ve just texted Key that he was going to be late. Why hadn’t he done that? Old habits were hard to break.

He hated himself sometimes, how his first instinct was to rebel and defy. It was safe, and he was good at doing that. Why couldn’t he be normal?

The only thing he knew now was that taro milk tea and pork bun did not mix well together.

He took a deep breath and ran up Key’s porch before he could chicken out. He hoped Key’s parents weren’t home. His stomach was churning and his heart was pounding and his palms were getting sweaty.

He had never, ever, ever apologised on such a grand scale. He hadn’t even apologised before Key, ever. But he didn’t want to lose Key, and he wanted Key to know that he had wanted to keep the relationship going, even if Key wanted to break up. Except Key had no right to break up with him. Hell, Key should be the one apologising to him!

He knocked on the door loudly before he changed his mind.

Key opened the door and Taemin gasped.

He was even more beautiful then he remembered. Milky white skin, brown hair, the tall slim build, those striking features and that presence.  That ‘I know I’m hot, I know I’m confusing your uality, I’m ing fabulous, don’t talk to me’ presence.  

Taemin gulped. He knew he had been in love with Key before, but this was ridiculous. He felt like a swooning schoolgirl. He looked so hot in that simple white tshirt and black skinny jeans. How the hell had he managed to be normal with Key was beyond him. It was forced in his face now that Key was very attractive, and Taemin should have not taken him for granted.

“What do you want?” asked Key in that voice, that made Taemin smile secretly in the dark when they would stay up talking because he liked the sound so much..

Taemin gulped again. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

He shifted from foot to foot, trying to remember what he was going to say and gulping. Oh no oh no he couldn’t remember, biting his lip in concentration to try and stop..

“Hey are you okay?” asked Key, and Taemin felt his hands on his elbows. “You look pale,” in that I’m concerned because I worry and I care about you voice and Taemin couldn’t handle it. He looked up into Key’s brown eyes, his own wide and pleading.  This wasn’t supposed to happen this couldn’t happen. He was starting to break out in a cold sweat and his mouth tasted sour. Oh no oh no oh no he could feel it

He could feel it coming up his throat so quickly he couldn’t stop it and his body forced  open his mouth and then

He vomited all over Key.

A/N Mmmmmm, lucky Key! Will update soon! But have to skedaddle for work! 

Inspired by me trying bubble tea for the first time yesterday. I liked it!

I made one of my best friends laugh so hard once she threw up chicken and coffee on my floor. Luckily I had wooden floorboards, not carpet, omg. She later told me that she peed herself as well, she was laughing so hard.

I don't know whether to be proud that I am so hilarious or disgusted that my friend has such little control over her bodily functions :/