Catch Taemin If You Can; [thirty-eight]

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It wasn’t Taemin’s fault that Jongin and Jieun frequently found him dozing off on the toilet, on the breakfast table, or even on the doorstep during mornings. Technically (and medically) speaking, Taemin was a patient suffering from a low blood pressure condition, and the mornings were treacherous for him to handle… especially after a night spent with Jongin.

This morning, Taemin was helplessly frozen on the floor. Chanyeol peered down at him as he mussed his already irredeemable bedhair. Jongin was sleeping soundly with his hands around Taemin’s waist and one leg over Taemin’s thighs, completely unaware of Taemin's stiff and helpless state.

“Damn… You guys are giving me a morning .” Chanyeol said, smirking after a big lazy yawn.

“Shut up, Chanyeol…!”

Forgetting that he was being squeezed into Jongin’s chest, Taemin bolted upright causing Jongin to stir violently. Having wakened so suddenly, Jongin rubbed his eyes as he looked up between Taemin and Chanyeol.

“…What time is it?” He murmured, and Chanyeol kicked him by the side.

“It’s ing noon, get up if you’re done filming .”

Chanyeol left the room and Jongin merely blinked. He was obviously still half asleep, letting Chanyeol go so easily after such a erted utterance. Taemin glared after the door as Jongin shifted himself up and scratched his head.

“I don’t get it.” Jongin said, smiling like an idiot and still half-conscious from the drowsiness.

“Do you take me for your personal plushie or something?!” Taemin cried indignantly. “You always wrap me between your legs and I can’t get a ing second of sleep.” 

“…Do I really?” Jongin mumbled carelessly as he closed his eyes again. 

“I should install a camera as soon as we go home or something…”

Taemin grumbled. He lifted himself up when Jongin grabbed Taemin’s wrist. Jongin pulled him back down, and Taemin fell forwards until he found himself kneeling face to face with sleepy Jongin. 

“Let’s sleep a bit more.” Jongin said, his eyebrows knitting from the blinding light through the window.

“What?”

“Let’s sleep for five more minutes… I’m tired from carrying you last night.”

“S,sleep then…" Taemin said as he tried to free himself from Jongin's grip. "I’ll wake you up later.”

Jongin didn't let go of him.

“But I want you here. Beside me.”

Taemin blankly stared at Jongin. Nothing seemed unusual about his friend; Jongin's bed-hair was unattractively tousled and his voice was low and hoarse from the sleep. But his behavior towards Taemin had been so open and straightforward these days that Taemin thought his heart never seemed to cease to its regular pace. The change was so subtle but so actual that Taemin couldn’t keep up.

“I’m not gonna do anything.”

Jongin said as Taemin looked hesitant to answer.

“…Does that sound like an appropriate line to say to a friend!?” Taemin gurgled, the room suddenly feeling very warm.

“…We’re not friends anymore.” Jongin responded. “We’re… something in between.”

Jongin tried to fall asleep again and Taemin hastily loosened his grip.

“We have to find Soojung and Sulli so hurry up." Taemin said much too loudly, trying to ignore the heat on his face. "I’ll meet you outside.”

Jongin nodded reluctantly and Taemin rushed out the room, leaving Jongin blinking sleepily behind.

◈

The three boys went outside after breakfast, and saw Jinki waiting for them on a gigantic rotary tiller. The machine roared through the entire village, and Taemin heard Chanyeol’s jaw drop. He hadn’t expected a decent van either, but a rotary tiller(*) was beyond his imagination. 

“I won’t be able to go inside the town of Jungdongjin, but this will take you near enough.”

Jinki waved brightly with Fluffy on his lap, and the boys quietly tottered up one by one. The tiller rumbled as if an earthquake was beneath the ground, and Taemin expected the machine to explode at any minute. As soon as Jinki started driving, Fluffy lunged to the back of the tiller where the boys were seated and growled threateningly.

A few minutes later, the pup had taken half of the back space while Taemin, Jongin, and Chanyeol sat squished by the edge of the tiller. Sandwiched between 184cm tall Chanyeol and 182cm tall Jongin (Taemin was 175cm), Taemin had to keep his legs curled for the rest of the ride.

“I’m going to kill Choi Sulli, don’t you guys dare hold me back.” Taemin gritted, and both Jongin and Chanyeol nodded.

They found themselves debating on Sulli’s questionable identity and what kind of horror movie the two girls would’ve filmed all this time as the tiller thundered down the road, alongside the crop fields. By the time they concluded that Sulli might have somehow murdered Soojung out of pure accident, Fluffy had fallen asleep in the warm sun.

Taemin didn’t realize that he had fallen asleep when the loud rumble of the tiller ceased to a stop. The machine stopped with a light bounce, and Taemin woke up to find himself leaning on Jongin’s shoulders. Taemin whipped his head up as his eyelids flitted in surprise, and found Jongin’s face within an inch. Jongin cleared his throat and looked away.

“Are we here?” Chanyeol approached the driveseat and stooped over the tiller’s front.

“No, but I thought I saw something in the grass.” Jinki replied, his eyes squinting on the thick and over-grown wildflowers.

All the eyes on the tiller landed on the wildflowers at Jinki’s voice, and as if to prove him right, loud shuffling noises came from the thick greens. Something was approaching them, and everyone fell to a dumbfounded silence when the “things” revealed themselves.

Everyone, as in Taemin, Jongin and Chanyeol who were on the back of the tiller, Jinki from the driver’s seat, and Soojung and Sulli, who had just popped out of nowhere.

Thankfully, Soojung broke the painful silence.

“FINALLY! YOU ING MORONS!!! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU THREE BEEN?! IT’S FREAKING COMMON SENSE FOR GUYS TO LOOK AFTER GIRLS!!! DO ALL THREE OF YOU ES WANT A PIECE OF ME?!?! I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT A REAL CAN DO!!!!”

Speechless at Soojung’s enraged tirade, Taemin and Jongin forgot to defend themselves. Luckily, they had Chanyeol. 

“WHAT IS THIS CHICK SAYING, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WE HAD TO GO THROUGH BECAUSE YOU HAD YOUR HEAD SQUISHED AGAINST THE WINDOW AND DROOLING OUT OF THIS WORLD?!! I EVEN THREW MY SHOE AT THE WINDOW TO WAKE YOU UP, YOU BIMBO!!!”

“I DON’T DROOL, AND WHAT THE HELL SO ARE YOU SAYING THAT YOU DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG?!”

Turning away from Soojung and Chanyeol who were screaming and throwing wildflowers at each other, Taemin looked at Sulli who was watching the two absentmindedly.

“What are you guys doing here?” Taemin asked, still dumbfounded at their dramatic meeting. “Where’s the resort?”

“Hm, the resort… I forgot how to get there.” Sulli hummed, and Taemin gaped incredulously.

“…W, what?! Then whe