When he legally became an adult, Taemin thought he was done with the childish squabbles and the constant bickering.  He couldn’t have been more wrong.

The chief reason for this was his mistake in thinking none of it was his fault.  You see, he loved being babied, but he didn’t like to be treated like a child.

“What’s the difference?” Kibum had asked him once.  What followed was an eight minute monologue on just what that difference was.  Frankly, he was surprised his hyung hadn’t broken down and duct taped his mouth shut.

Jonghyun caught on quickly, but Taemin didn’t like the way he rephrased it.  “So basically, you want the benefits of being a kid and an adult at the same time.”  Of course he did.  But Jonghyun didn’t have to put it that way and make him look bad.  It kind of pissed him off.

In fact, a lot of things about Jonghyun irritated the maknae.  The way he hid his kinder nature behind his cocky and playful attitude, making noonas and dongsaengs alike fall all over his ‘deeper personality’.  The way his teeth showed when he grinned, and his nostrils were bigger than normal, and his hair never would lie right without a stylist’s help.  The way he’d see right through him like a transparent sheet of paper, never falling for his aegyo even for a second.  He hated all of it.

Hate is a strong word, and in Taemin’s case usually meant the opposite.  But Jonghyun didn’t have to know that.

In today’s particular situation, though, Taemin was being forced to acknowledge that maybe he did have some faults.  After all, he was only human, and even Lee Taemin couldn’t be perfect.  Not all the time, anyway.

“And maybe somebody could,” he muttered bitterly under his breath, “if only he’d come and apologize to me first.”

Of course, Taemin knew by now that while he may have been mad at Jonghyun, he was truly the one at fault.  It wasn’t Jonghyun’s fault he had lost his cool and let his anger get the better of him.  And to top it off, he’d known what he was doing the whole time.  He knew those were his hyung’s favorite sneakers.  He knew how upset he would be when he found out they were ruined.

Which just proved how childish Taemin still was.  Turning one year older doesn’t magically make you an adult on the inside, even if the law considers you one.

Though even if that were the case, even adults fight sometimes.  It’s human nature to screw up from time to time, and no matter how much you may love someone, personalities still clash.  Which led Taemin to his current situation, body draped over the arm of the couch, every now and then letting out a forlorn sigh that made Minho twitch uncomfortably.

“Why don’t you just go apologize?” the rapper suggested, peering at his dongsaeng over the fourteenth volume of Slam Dunk.  “He’ll forgive you.  It’s not like you two haven’t fought before.”

Taemin groaned.  “But this time’s different.  I really screwed up, he won’t even talk to me.”

“I think Minho’s right,” Jinki piped up, falling lazily onto the couch beside Taemin.  He had a carton of strawberry milk in his hand, at which Taemin perked up, thinking Jinki had come to console him with it, until the elder pressed the carton to his own lips and took a long sip.  The maknae resumed his position of moping, even more butthurt at not being babied like before.

“Being an adult .”

“It does sometimes,” Jinki agreed, “but you have to learn to face your own problems.  And when you get yourself into a mess, you can’t always rely on other people to bail you out.”

Taemin sighed again.  Why did Jinki always have to be so right all the time?  “Hyung, what should I do?” he whined, feeling helpless.  Despite his previous words though, Jinki gave in when he saw the pitiful look in his maknae’s eyes.

“Aish…”  He scratched his head.  “You could bribe him with food.  If you want to show him you’re really sorry, there’s gotta be some sort of…action, a gesture of some sort, involved.  Not just words that he’s heard a million times already.”

It took a moment for Jinki’s suggestion to sink in, but when it did, it was like something clicked inside Taemin’s head.  He sat up, eyes brightening for the first time in hours.  He had an idea.  And if this idea didn’t work, then God help him, because he had no clue what else to try.

Five minutes later, Taemin stood outside the door of Jonghyun’s bedroom, holding a plate with a warm bagel on it.  He raised his fist, took a deep breath, and rapped his knuckles against the wood.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me,” he replied in a small voice.

No answer.

“Hyung?”  He gulped.  “Can I…come in?”

Again, no answer.

Resisting the urge to run back to Jinki and whine like a child, begging for his hyung’s intervention, Taemin knocked again.  “Hyung, I’m really really sorry…and I have something for you.”

Yet again, no answer came from the other side of the door.

“I know how much you loved those shoes.  I was wrong, I shouldn’t have let my anger control me.  I was…aish, I’m really sorry, okay?”

Taemin’s heart beat steadily faster as he nervously waited for some sort of response.  He was sure this time he would get some feedback, some inkling of acknowledgement.  Nothing came.  Feeling desperate, he tried the doorknob, finding to his surprise that Jonghyun hadn’t bothered to lock it.

Biting his lip, Taemin opened the door just wide enough to slip the plate through and place it on the other side.  He closed it again and leaned his forehead on it, letting out a long breath.

After a minute, Jonghyun’s voice came from the other side of the door.  It sounded close, as if he were standing right in front of it.  “I don’t like this kind.”

The maknae’s heart skipped a beat.  It was negative feedback, but at least it was feedback.  That was more than he’d had all day.  “What kind do you like?  I’ll go get it.  Anything!”

Jonghyun seemed to hesitate in his answer, and Taemin almost thought he’d lost all his progress.  But then he spoke.  It was only one word, but for Taemin, that one word was more than enough.

“Raisin.”

As soon as he heard it, he ran right to the kitchen, digging through their food only to find that they were all out of raisin bagels.  Just my luck, he thought bitterly.  But he couldn’t give up there.  Jonghyun had offered him the end of a rope; he was going to grab onto that end, regardless of how tiny it was, and he was going to pull it with all his might.

Worried now that Jonghyun might change his mind in his absence and he’d lose his chance, Taemin pulled on his shoes and ran out of the dorm, ignoring the questions from his other hyungs on the way out.  He couldn’t spare any time to talk.  The last thing he wanted was for Jonghyun to think he’d abandoned his quest for forgiveness because he was taking too long.  Sure, he’d done that in the past, trying to find an easy way out, but he wouldn’t let that happen again.  This time, Taemin was determined to prove to everyone that he really was trying his best to grow up and accept the responsibilities of adulthood.

By the time he made it back to the dorm, he was exhausted.  His legs were sore, his lungs ached, and his disheveled hair was clinging to the thin layer of sweat on his face and neck.  He was sure he smelled disgusting, and almost equally sure the bagel he’d bought was cold by now.  Not bothering to remove his shoes, he went straight to Jonghyun’s door and knocked.

When he didn’t receive an answer, Taemin assumed the door was still unlocked and opened it, setting the bag from the bagel shop just inside.  Closing it, he took a few deep breaths and let them out slowly, trying to calm his racing heart.  As a dancer, he’d built up a lot of endurance over the years, but running that far all at once wasn’t something he was used to doing often.

“It’s cold,” Jonghyun complained, and Taemin realized he was looking right into the face of his group mate.  “I don’t like my bagels cold.”

“I…s-sorry,” he breathed, reaching for the bagel.  “I’ll warm it up for you.”

Jonghyun pulled it out of Taemin’s reach and took a huge bite, chewing it and nodding a bit.  The tired maknae watched with bated breath, waiting for condemnation or redemption, whichever his hyung would give him.

“Mm…it’s not so bad, actually.”

Relieved, Taemin bit his lip and looked into Jonghyun’s eyes, fiddling with the belt loops of his jeans.  “Does…does that mean you’ll forgive me?”

Jonghyun met Taemin’s gaze.  He seemed to be seriously considering denying his dongsaeng’s request.  Instead of answering though, he held the bagel up to Taemin’s mouth.

Confused, Taemin took a bite, and Jonghyun wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close in a sort of half hug bro gesture.  “Taem, no matter how much I loved the shoes, it’s still just a pair of shoes.  You’re one of my best friends.  You know you’re more important to me than that.”  He grinned and ruffled Taemin’s hair.  “Aish…pabo.  After you went through all that trouble, how could I not forgive you?”

Taemin gulped down the half chewed bite of bagel and wrapped his arms around Jonghyun’s torso, hugging him tightly.  As happy, relieved, and exhausted as he was, he couldn’t trust his voice, so he squeezed his hyung instead.

“Of course, you know you’re buying me a new pair.”

Taemin let go and pushed him away, whacking him on the arm.  “Yah!  Ruining the moment!”  He laughed.  But really, buying new shoes was the least he could do.  He was just glad they hadn’t let a little temper tantrum and a pair of sneakers leave a stain on their friendship.

The closer two friends are, the more likely they are to have days when they simply can’t stand each other.  But in the end, the true test of friendship is how they’ll handle those days, and how much closer they’ll be from then on.

“Eat your bagel, you stupid dino.”