The next morning, it was friday. Taemin didn’t have a class for about three hours. He woke up feeling groggy, dizzy, and exhausted even though he had slept for quite a while. He hadn’t been eating well like Key wanted him to. The thought of food made him sick at the moment. Taemin got out of bed and tiptoed across the room, trying not to wake up Jonghyun, who must have been dead tired, seeing as how he was usually the first one up. 

 

All Taemin wanted was to do was see Sulli. Hyoyeon had told Sulli what was going on and Sulli had texted him a million times the night before asking if he was ok, if he needed anything, if he needed her to come. Taemin wanted to see Sulli today, or tonight depending on when she was free. 

 

Taemin realized he was really thirsty so he grabbed his phone off of the bed side table and went outside his and Jonghyun’s room and headed to the kitchen. There in the kitchen sat Minho with his head in his hands, in a very nice looking black suit. He looked like a movie star or a spy. Taemin approached Minho, hugging his shoulders from behind in a friendly good morning hug. Minho sighed. 

 

“Good morning, Taemin.” 

“Going somewhere?” Taemin asked. 

“Yeah.” Minho answered. 

“I hope it goes well. Are you missing classes today?” Taemin asked, trying to keep the conversation friendly, although he was getting a weird feeling. 

“Yeah.” Minho said as he got up and left the house. 

 

Taemin had no idea what had just happened. Key walked into the kitchen soon after Minho left. 

“He left?” Key asked, startling Taemin out of his wandering thoughts. 

“Yeah. Where did he go?” Taemin asked, concerned. 

“I’ll let him tell you later. It’s not my place to say.” Key answered quietly, giving Taemin a morning hug. Taemin couldn’t believe that Key was up and ready for the day after all he went through yesterday. 

“But he told you where he was going?” Taemin asked sadly. He didn’t like being out of the loop. 

“Tae, he only told me. No one else. He just has to do something today.” Key replied, reassuring Taemin. 

 

The conversation was dropped. A few minutes later, when Jonghyun woke up and Key and him began having a private conversation, Taemin went to check on Onew, who was fast asleep, and then went to his room. Taemin sat on his best and pulled out his phone and texted Sulli. 

 

To: Sulli Hi~ so sorry i didn’t respond to your texts yesterday :(

 

To Taemin: It’s no problem! Hyo told me everything. Is everyone ok?

 

To Sulli: Onew hyung is resting, Key seems a bit off, Jjong hyung and Minho hyung seem off too...it was really scary

 

To Taemin: I’m so sorry. R u ok? 

 

To Sulli: I’ve been better. R u busy 2day? 

 

To Taemin: U know i would love to hang out, but I’m on the way to something right now 

 

To Sulli: What about tonight? Will u be back on campus? 

 

To Taemin: Yeah. Me and Minho oppa should be back around 5 30, is 6 ok? 

 

To Sulli: You’re going with Minho hyung? He wouldn’t tell me where he was going...he was dressed in a suit. Let’s meet at that one coffee shop

 

To Taemin: Yeah that sounds good. C u later~

 

Taemin was confused why Sulli never answered his question about Minho and he really wanted to know where they were going. Was it a Choi family mafia meeting? Were they spies? Was Minho testifying? A wedding perhaps? Taemin went over all the possibilities in his head and then eventually got bored, so he prepared for his classes and packed up his dance attire. 

 

Hours later, Taemin was finished with his exhausting day and headed off to meet Sulli for their coffee date. A date? He hoped it would be a date. He really became much closer to Sulli and liked her a lot. She was funny, clumsy, and totally cute, not to mention smart, caring, and unlike any girl Taemin had ever met. 

 

Taemin was sitting sort of near the window of the coffee shop when he saw Sulli and Minho. Minho was in his suit and Sulli was dressed in a lovely black dress and looked absolutely breathtaking. But sad, she had sadness in her face and eyes, as did Minho. Minho hugged her, squeezed her hand and walked off, leaving Sulli alone to enter the coffee shop. The closer she came to the table after spotting Taemin, the more visible her red puffy eyes were. This told Taemin that she had been crying. Taemin connected the dots. 

 

“She went to either a funeral or a memorial.” Taemin thought sadly as he slid over in the booth so Sulli could sit next to him. She didn’t look up. She sat there looking down at the table. Her hands were folded on the table top, her tarnished silver bracelet in view. Taemin then remembered that he was very curious about the bracelet. Maybe this would be a good thing to start a conversation with. 

 

“Sulli ah. I like your bracelet.” Taemin said, as he putt his arm around her shoulders in what seemed like a friendly hug, but its intent was romantic. 

 

Sulli then began to cry. “Oh god. That wasn’t supposed to happen.” Taemin panicked. 

 

“Sulli ah! I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry. Did something happen today?” Taemin asked, with concern. 

“The bracelet has everything to do with where I went today with Minho oppa.” Sulli said. She leaned her head on Taemin’s chest, surprising Taemin, but making him very happy at the same time. 

“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s painful.” 

“You should know. I bet you anything Minho oppa would try to keep it locked up inside him forever. You deserve to know.” Sulli said, preparing herself to tell the tale that Key had heard before. 

 

“This bracelet. Minho has one too. They are from a set of four bracelets Minho’s mother bought. Auntie wanted four daughters so she brought them friendship bracelets. She didn’t have any daughters and ended up having two sons. Minho, and his older brother Minseok.” 

 

Taemin was shocked. He had no idea Minho had a brother. 

 

“They thought it was silly to wear friendship bracelets, so she kept the bracelets in hopes to maybe give them to the children Minseok or Minho might have in the future. Minseok oppa was so sweet and caring and an amazing cousin and older brother. He would do anything for Minho. Things got rough for him in highschool, especially after his girlfriend had to move away so suddenly. He began to self harm...his wrists mostly. Minho found out and he couldn’t keep it a secret and so they tried to get Minseok oppa help. He went too far one night and passed away...” Sulli began to sob quietly on Taemin’s chest. Taemin felt his heart break four times over. Minho lost a brother, Sulli lost a cousin. This was too much.

 

“At the funeral, Auntie brought the four bracelets out. One was given to his girlfriend, Victoria, who came all the way back for the service. They were in love. One for Minho oppa, one for me, and one was buried with Minseok oppa. We wear them on our wrists to remember his life and the pain he had to go through. It makes us strong, and we never take them off.”

Taemin could not even imagine the pain that they felt. Taemin hugged Sulli tightly. “It’s beautiful, Sulli ah. Wait did you say Victoria?” Taemin asked, still hugging Sulli very tightly. 

 

“Neh. She works at the school. In the fashion department.” Sulli replied. 

“Do you and Minho hyung ever talk to her?” 

“I do.” Sulli replied. 

“But...Minho hyung...he...” Taemin began. 

“He’s afraid, and she’s afraid. To talk to the younger brother of the person you loved the most but lost would bring back memories, both good and bad. Maybe Vic unnie can’t handle it at the moment. She knows oppa goes here of course, so I hope in time, they can meet again and talk. They talked not too long ago, but really it was just a simple conversation. I don’t know if anything about anything was mentioned.” Sulli said. 

 

Taemin was incredibly affected by all this new information. Minho losing a brother, not being able to talk about it with anyone...except Key. Sulli losing her cousin, Victoria losing her beloved boyfriend. The amount of pain the Choi family must have gone through. The way Sulli talked about her cousin made Taemin think about how amazing the guy probably was. Smart, handsome, caring, an amazing older brother. He probably made Minho the person he was and maybe that was why Minho was so competitive. Always striving to be better for his brother. 

 

Taemin didn’t want to change the subject if Sulli still needed to talk, but he thought he and Sulli’s friendship was turning more romantic and he wanted to be honest and tell Sulli his secret. The one that Key knew but no one else. 

 

“Why aren’t you eating anything Taemin?” Sulli asked, curiously. Minho ate a lot, and so did all the other boys, really. Taemin was tall and lean and a dancer, so he should be eating well. 

 

“I’m not much of an eater.” Taemin replied. 

“Small stomach?” Sulli asked. 

“You could say that.” 

“You should eat though. You’re looking really skinny.” Sulli said, concerned. 

“That’s a good thing then. I want to be skinny.” Taemin said. 

“But...” Sulli began. 

“I have worked a long time trying to become thinner. It’s good!” Taemin defended. 

“You’re trying to be thinner?” Sulli asked in surprise. 

“I’m a dancer, I need to be thin as possible.” Taemin explained, worry rising at the back of his head. 

“But you want to be healthy first and foremost!” Sulli argued back. 

“My umma said I can’t get anywhere unless I’m a certain size and shape and she’s right. So I’m doing my best to prepare myself. Dancing is all I want to do and...”

“Taemin. Are you...” Sulli began. 

“Don’t ask.” Taemin said, he was certainly angry that this had come up. He knew however, she should know and he couldn’t be mad at her. 

 

Taemin told her the story of his eating disorder and his body image. Sulli calmed him down and was nothing but sweet and supportive. 

 

While Taemin and Sulli were out discovering more about themselves and each other, Minho was at home. He didn’t feel like doing anything. They had visited Minseok’s grave out in Incheon. Minho honored the grave and placed flowers on it. It was emotional, exhausting. It felt like forever, but went way too fast. Minho wanted to talk to his brother. He wanted to hear just one reply. 

 

Minho continued to sit on the couch when he started to wring his hands out of boredom. No jingle of a chain. No cold feeling on his skin. No weight on his wrist. His bracelet was gone. Minho couldn’t process it, couldn’t imagine was terrible fate, luck, karma, made him lose his beloved bracelet on this day out of all others, the anniversary of his brother’s death. Minho couldn’t think. So he just cried. And cried. And cried. 

 

Jonghyun walked behind the living room couch where Minho was sitting, so he could get something from the fridge. He saw Minho crying. 

 

“Minho!” Jonghyun said loudly. Minho didn’t answer. Jonghyun went over to the couch and ran his fingers through Minho’s hair. “Minho...” 

“I lost it.” Minho sobbed. 

 

 

Share the burden, tell a friend. You hold something, don’t pretend. 

Openly seek comfort, you need some love. 

If you lose it. Rise above. 

 

A/N: Hi everyone! Busy week but finally an update. Hope you like it!