Warning: This is a REALLY LONG chapter.  It was five pages long when I originally wrote it and when I went back to edit it it became a little over six.  Anyway enjoy!

Chapter 29   

Despite the list, only two people were allowed in Taemin’s room at any one time.  His parents went in first, while Taesun and Key waited for their turn. 

“So, you’re dating my little brother.”  Taesun said conversationally, as they sat once more in the horribly uncomfortable chairs that the hospital provided. 

Key’s throat felt dry and he swallowed uselessly, looking at the older man and nodding. 

Taesun turned his head and looked at Key closely.  “It’s obvious that you care for him.  From what little I know of your relationship, the little bit that Taemin has felt safe to tell me about, you’ve made him very happy.”

A slight thrill ran through Key at that statement, but it felt foreign to him at that point.  With so much hurt and pain in the last 24 hours, Key almost couldn’t recognize anything positive anymore. 

“He makes me very happy too.  I love him.  I’ve never felt anything like this before, but I know that I need to be by his side.”  Key’s voice was soft, but sure.  There were few things he knew for sure right now, but his love for Taemin was one of them.  Without him, Key couldn’t breathe, there would be no point.  Everything in his life before he met Taemin paled to everything after it, even though he didn’t realize that it was the dancer at first that had seemed to brighten his world.

“How did it happen?”  Taesun asked quietly, sitting back and leaning his head against the wall with his eyes closed.  Key couldn’t recognize the emotion he heard within the elder’s voice, but he knew that the man was deeply pained right now and he was trying to distract himself from everything that was happening to his brother, and Key wanted to help the man who had supported Taemin so much. 

Key was taken aback for a moment.  He thought back through his memories with Taemin, trying to actually figure out for himself what exactly had led them to this point. 

“There isn’t any one moment or anything that I can point to and say ‘that was it – that’s when I started to love him.’ It might be more of something like, it was already there and suddenly we both became aware of it around the same time.  Or…well that may not be entirely right either…it’s really kind of hard to explain.” 

Key unconsciously scratched the back of his head, while staring at the floor.  He honestly didn’t know what to say.  They had never talked out their relationship with each other before.  Well, they had talked about how they might present it to others, but not really how it had come about.  They had never needed to have it discussed in words before.  Their whole relationship had taken place on feelings alone.  That had been enough for them.  It had helped them through the early stages of their relationship and that had never required that reassurance from each other of vocalizing an explanation of their relationship – they loved each other and that had been that.  Neither of them really had any experience in romantic relationships so they just went with what felt right to them.  It had worked so far. 

“Well, from the first day we met I felt drawn to him.  He had seemed so quiet and reserved that my heart just went out to him.  He was reminding me of myself a bit.  I felt so out of place with the group, but while I react to being uncomfortable with brash actions and a loud voice, Taemin does just the opposite, he gets quiet and just tries to wait until it is over.” 

Taesun nodded, knowing his brother well and knowing that Taemin reacted to new situations by sitting back and watching, protecting himself from anything that he might not like or want to be a part of.

Key kind of half-smiled, a shadow of the smirk he would have usually sported had this been any other occasion.  “I wanted to help him somehow so I kind of just stuck myself to his side.  I think we got really close because I was the first one to try and really reach out to him.”  Key was smiling at the memories of all of the stupid little moments that they had shared over the years, from Key discovering Taemin’s love of banana milk, the dancer’s attempt to help out in the kitchen (to disastrous results, but cleaning it up afterwards had actually been fun, which Key had never thought possible) and their nerves leading up to the debut of each of their singles and comebacks. 

Leading up to the debut of ‘Lucifer’ they both had been so nervous.  Their appearances for this promotion were so far from anything that they had sported so far.  Taemin’s long hair kept surprising him and flying in his face.  Key actually asked one of the stylists to teach him how to braid and kept a black hair-tie around his wrist at all times.  Whenever Taemin’s hair seemed to become too much for the dancer, Key would sit him down and swiftly make a strong braid, keeping the hair free from Taemin’s face.  Taemin had always gifted Key in return with a grateful smile and a, “Thanks Umma!”  After they had gotten together, when no one else was around, Taemin would often lay a kiss to the shaved side of Key’s head between the smile and the wish of thanks, though he no longer said Umma, but rather “Thanks Kibum,” in a softer manner, not as rambunctious as he previously would have.  With them not being able to be open about their relationship, small acts needed to speak volumes and sometimes tomes.    

He remembered the bad times that they had shared as well.  They had never been ones for big fights, or at least they hadn’t had any yet, but they were in a stressful occupation and things didn’t always run as smoothly as they would have liked.    

Early on, before debut, he had come across Taemin practicing alone in their dance room, which was not an unusual sight as the child seemed to eat, sleep and breathe dancing, but the dancer wasn’t moving about the room with his usual grace.  Instead, he was on the floor, his young legs splayed around him and his hands pressed against the wood in front on him.  His shoulders were hunched and from the doorway, Key could see them shaking.  In the mirror, he could see that Taemin’s face had been contorted in a grimace as the boy cried, not even trying to wipe away the tears that raced down his face large streams anymore.  Key’s heart had gone out to the poor child and he had run into the room and hugged the boy from behind without bothering to even say a word.

Taemin had tried to silence his cries but that had only resulted in a horrible case of the hiccups.  Key had gently patted his back until the boy had calmed himself.  “What’s wrong Taemin?”  Key had asked quietly.    

“Nu-nu-nothing…” Taemin had stuttered out, gasping for air but trying to smile at his hyung.

“Riiiight,” Key said softly, wiping away the wet tracks on the chubby cheeks of the middle-schooler.  “I always ball my eyes out all alone and far away from everyone else when there is absolutely nothing wrong with me.”  Key had joked, smiling at Taemin, trying to brighten up the mood a little bit.

“It’s nothing really though,” Taemin had smiled, “I’m just over-reacting I guess.” And Taemin looked all around the room but at Key and tried to pull himself out of the elder’s embrace.

“To what though?” Key asked quietly.  He had countered Taemin’s squirming by pulling the smaller body against his and cuddled the still-shuddering form, offering comfort. 

“It’s…it’s nothing hyung.”  Taemin said, looking away.

Key sighed and grabbed Taemin’s chin, pulling it around to face him.  He lightly tapped the side of Taemin’s face with the same hand, patting him gently on the face.  “You can tell me anything I promise.  I won’t tell the others or anyone else if you don’t want me too.  I won’t laugh.  I won’t make you feel bad.  It feels better to talk these things out sometimes.” 

Taemin had looked at his hyung and contemplated whether he could trust Key and apparently decided that it was worth it.  There was no way that he was going to get through all the tension and stress of this career if he didn’t have someone else to lean on when he needed to. 

“It’s just…” and Taemin mumbled something out before looking away. 

“I’m sorry, didn’t quite catch that.” Key said, smiling at the boy.

“They cut my part.”  He whispered.

“You’re part?”

“I was supposed to sing, they had given me parts on the album…but, they took them back.  They gave them to Onew-hyung and Jonghyun-hyung and you.  What good am I in this group if they won’t even let me sing?”  The tears had started again and Key pulled the boy closer.  “You guys don’t need me here, you’d be better off without me.”

“But kiddo, we do need you.”  Key made sure that Taemin was paying close attention.  “You’re our own little dancing genius.” He said trying to cheer the maknae up but the kid only looked more despondent. 

“Yeah, but you all can dance…”

“Not like you!” Key interrupted.  “Taemin, you are the best out of all of us.  Seriously.  And you are so much younger than all of us, all it means is that you are going to outshine us even more as you grow up and improve.  Besides, you’re voice is only just finishing changing, you’ve haven’t had as much time to practice with it as Onew and Jonghyun have.  As you learn how to master your voice as it is now, your singing will improve and you’ll get more lines.  Watch, in a few years you’re going to be the most accomplished member of SHINee, and I can’t wait to see you then.”  Key smiled and squeezed Taemin for a second in the hug.

“That’s easy for you to say hyung – you’re good at everything!”

“Oh Taemin,” and he ruffled the younger’s hair, “think about it.  I am not the main singer – that’s Onew and Jonghyun.  I’m not the main rapper – that’s Minho.  I am not the main dancer – that’s you.  I’m the supporting act.”  Key smiled sadly.  “I’m here to support the rest of you, because let’s face it – my voice is not Onew’s or Jonghyun’s and it never will be.  Not only does Minho actually like rapping, he’s good at it and he’s even writing his own raps.  And your dancing is so effortless; I can only admire you for it, and try to keep up.  I may be a jack-of-all-trades within the group, but that’s because I have to be, I don’t stand out as much as the rest of you by skill alone.  In order to be worth something in the group I have to be able to cover all areas rather than specialize in one.” 

“Hyung don’t say that!  You’re voice is unique; I’ve never heard any idol sound like you.  And you dance just as well as me, and you try so much harder than the rest of us at it.  You’re amazing and you can talk to people and you’re smart!” Taemin had got up on his knees and was looking earnestly in Key’s face, all trace of his own sadness behind him as he tried to make his hyung smile.

If he had to pick one, that would have been the incident that he would say brought them so close.  That might be the moment that led them down the path to where they were now.  They had each learned of each other greatest insecurities when it came to the group and swore to help each other and always have each other’s back as they worked through the intense schedules and events that they knew were coming their way in their careers.

Key brought himself back to the present to realize that Taesun had allowed him to be in his own world for a minute.

“Um, sorry about that…”

“It’s alright.”  Taesun smiled, “You looked like you were enjoying your memories there.”

“Uh yeah, it was Taemin…um, yeah.”

Taesun looked amused at Key’s uncomfortability.  “So, you were saying about how you got together…” 

“Yeah, I was…um…well, I started it.  I realized that I wasn’t looking at Taemin as someone I wanted to take care of anymore…er…well, I did want to take care of him, but not as a parent or a sibling.  I felt something stronger than that and I was jealous anytime someone else was too close to Taemin on a show or even just around SM…and I just realized that I wanted to be closer to him, I wanted something more, something deeper than what we had.” Key scoffed a bit, “I didn’t want to be ‘Umma’ anymore.”

“When did you realize this?”  Taesun asked curiously. 

“Around the time we started filming ‘Hello Baby.’” Key admitted.  “I think it might have been something about taking care of a child that made me aware of the fact that I didn’t want to treat him like he was my child.  Anyway I kind of stewed around it for awhile, it was my first major crush and being around him all the time, seeing him all the time, living with him…just made me fall deeper and faster.”

“So how did you finally get together then?”  Taesun had to admit, he was curious.  His little brother had been mostly closed-lipped about this relationship and he wanted to know. 

“Well, I’m the one who made the first move if that’s what you’re asking.  There wasn’t any grand plan or anything.  I just stopped trying to take care of him all of the time.  I tried to change and shift the Umma/child relationship into one that could eventually lead to something more one day – maybe.  And looking back now, it was really sudden and I think I really shocked Taemin.  All of a sudden I wasn’t being ‘Umma’ anymore…”

“I remember that.  Taemin thought that you were mad at him or something.  He called me in tears asking me for help and advice.”  Taesun recalled. 

“I know, he told me about that later, after we had gotten together and I had felt so horrible about it that I ran around trying to make it up to him with these extravagant plans – most of which fell apart rather hilariously which Taemin actually seemed to love.”  Key shook his head and almost smiled at the memory of Taemin laughing at his flubbed attempts; one which involved rubber ducks and had Taemin convulsing in laughter on the floor.

“So how did you actually become a couple then?”

“Honestly, one day a couple of months ago it just sort of happened.  We had just been hanging around the dorm; the others were out doing something that day.  I was helping him finish up his math homework so we could go out shopping together and we’d been joking around a little about Jonghyun and his girlfriend and then…then, I was kissing him.”  Key sort of shrugged his shoulders as he concluded his statement.  “I think everything had just built up within me and I couldn’t stop myself anymore.  I just kissed him – and when he kissed back I almost cried I was so happy, actually, I think I did cry.”  Key said joyfully, laughing a slight bit.  “We went out that night.  Nothing huge, just walking around the mall that we had been planning on going to anyway.  I remember I won him a bear in a claw machine, and I never win at those so I was really excited.  It was my first gift to him.  He loves that thing, sleeps with it every night.” Key said fondly.   

After a slight pause Taesun said, “So that’s how it happened…”

“Yeah.  It’s not really a grand story.  We’re not a particularly splashy couple.  Even if we could comfortably act that way, I doubt that we would.  We just came to the realization that we were happier together than we were apart and it grew into love.”

“Hmmm…” Taesun hummed and nodded to himself.  “I’ve been wondering if this person Taemin was seeing was good enough for him, I mean I’m his big brother right?  I’m supposed to take care of him and guide him along the way.  I’ve been after Taemin to tell me who he was with so I could approve of them.  Hearing that it’s you…makes me feel a little better.  You’ve always been good to him, you care for him, I can tell.  And isn’t it great when the one you love is also one of your best friends.”

Taesun turned in his seat to fully face Key and held out his hand.  Key cautiously took the offered hand and shook it solidly. 

“I approve Kim Kibum, of your dating my little brother.”  He said quietly, and yet somehow firmly, and Key’s heart skipped a beat as he let go of that hand, “But don’t you dare hurt him.  He’s got enough on his plate and will for a while now.  Don’t you dare run away from him now, it would break him.”

Key’s response was a fierce, “Never!  I will not run away, I will not leave him alone to fight.  This is our fight and I will be there!” 

Taesun smiled, the lost look that Key's eyes had been bearing for most of the night having been given a violent shove out of his eyes and was replaced with a fire, a determination to succeed and help Taemin do so.  Key was going to be a bigger influence on Taemin in this than anyone else, and he didn’t need someone who was wallowing in his own despair.  He needed someone with a spark to push him and keep him going.  And now Taesun was convinced that Taemin would have that strength in Key. 

Before they knew it Mr. and Mrs. Lee were walking back down the hallway, with Mrs. Lee holding onto her husband for strength after seeing her youngest child in such a state.

“You two can go and see him now.” Mr. Lee said.

And Taesun and Key rose and walked off to Taemin’s room.     

Heads up: Taemin's POV will come up in the next chapter.  I'm having some issues writing it though so it might take a little time.  I'm thinking that this story will probably have only around 10 chapters left...This fic will mark the first time that I have written a fic longer than three chapters so that's really exciting to me.  I'm so grateful that so maybe people have subscribed to my story and are reading my story.  I never thought that I would get this response so that you all so much.

As always: please comment and happy reading.