Minho and Jonghyun had split up; it was a good thing that it was still during the daytime so it would be easier to spot Taemin. Since Taemin rarely ever leaves the house, Minho had no idea where he would go, after searching for an hour or so, he finally saw Taemin lying on the bench with his eyes closed. When Minho was about to walk over, a few other boys surrounded Taemin and blocked Minho’s view.

                “Wow, look at him, he’s beautiful. Do you think he’s a ? His cheek is bruised, maybe he ran away from home” the boy reached over and Taemin’s face, Minho could feel his anger flare up. Taemin must have cried himself to sleep since he wasn’t waking up even though he was being surrounded. The boys were about to lift Taemin up and take him away when Minho rushed forward and confronted them.

                “What are you doing to my wife?! Do you want me to call the police?” the boys ran away at the word police and left Taemin lying on the bench. Minho gently picked Taemin up and brought him home, as soon as he got home, Key rushed forward and ordered Minho to bring him upstairs. After Minho tucked Taemin in, he called Jonghyun and told him to stop searching and come home. Key came back with a wet towel and wiped Taemin’s face, careful of his bruise. He glared at Minho when he lightly his cheek.

                “You didn’t have to slap him! He must’ve be in so much pain” Key went downstairs to get some ice for his cheek, Minho waited until he was out of sight before he sat down on the bed beside Taemin.

                “I’m sorry, Minnie, I don’t know what came over me. My hand just moved on its own, I guess I was angry that you doubted my love for you. I would never stop loving you! I should’ve trusted you instead of that !” Minho brushed Taemin’s hair away from his eyes and leaned down to place a kiss there. Key had came back with ice wrapped in ice and carefully placed it on Taemin’s cheek to make the swelling go away. Taemin’s eyebrows furrowed as if he was having a nightmare, he started and tears starting flowing down his cheek. Minho wiped them away and grabbed Taemin’s hand.

                “Don’t worry, Minnie. I’ll always be here, I’ll protect you forever” Minho gripped Taemin’s hand tightly and he felt relieved when he saw Taemin relax.

                “My baby’s having nightmares again, it stopped for a while, but for some reason, it’s been coming back” Key Taemin’s face, wiping the remaining for the tears away.

                “What nightmares are they? It seems that when I mention about his parents, he seem to shrink away. Do his parents have something to do with the nightmares?” Key nodded, he knew that Minho would know sooner or later, might as well tell him now.

                “His parents didn’t really love him, and they just tend to ignore him, and even if he followed all of his parents’ orders, they would never acknowledge him. It was when Taemin was 12 years old that it happened; he was coming home from school when he found the house was empty. All the furniture and clothing were gone except for his room that remained untouched. He ran around the house but was unable to find anyone, it was when he went to his room that he saw a letter for him on his pillow.

Taemin,

We can’t do this anymore; we don’t know why we even brought you home. You were adopted. You demanded too much of our attention and it was starting to wear down on us. We realized that we are not fit to be parents. We can’t take care of you anymore, not that we even did in the first place. We left you half our fortune. It should be enough to last. Please forgive us, but we don’t love you anymore. We’re leaving you forever. You can go to this address; they will take care of you. Good bye.

                                                                                                                                Mr. and Mrs. Lee

It was that night that Taemin showed up at our doorstep with his luggage and all the plush toys that he could carry. My parents took him in and that was when the nightmares started, it took him a while to start trusting people again. He was afraid that once he trusts them and let them into his heart, they will get tired of him and leave him. That’s why he was so hesitant with accepting your proposal, he didn’t know what the future would be for the two of you” Minho never knew that Taemin had this kind of past. Key and Minho heard the door opened and they knew that Jonghyun was home, they heard him run upstairs and entered the bedroom.

                “Is Taemin okay?” Minho nodded; he continued to hold Taemin’s hand without letting go.

                “Key, you told him about Taemin’s past? Now you know why Taemin was possessive when that waitress tried flirting with you. You could say he had trust issues before, I think it was when he met you that he found something that he wanted to hold onto again. He was afraid that she was going to take you away and you would leave him like his parents did. When Taemin was younger, his nightmares were about his parents leaving him, over and over again. Later when he met you, his nightmares were that you took Yoogeun with you and left him all alone” Jonghyun sat down beside Key and grabbed Key’s hand. They really were his umma and appa.

                “When did you two first became Taemin’s umma and appa?” Minho asked, he saw Key finally smile as he thought back to the past.

                “It was about a year after he started living with us. Taemin was still very shy and wouldn’t talk much, whatever we tell him to do, he’ll do, no questions asked. There was one night when Taemin was having a nightmare and I heard him whimpering so I went in and tried to comfort him. I sat down on the bed and started his head, trying to calm him down. It was then that Taemin woke up and grabbed me; he called me umma and begged me not to leave him. At that point, I realized that I loved Taemin like a son so I decided to ‘adopt’ him and take care of him. Taemin didn’t remember what happened that night, but gradually, he started opening up to me and started calling me umma” Key smiled as he caressed Taemin’s face again.

                “As for me, it was when I started dating Key. Key’s parents were barely home so I would usually stay over. Taemin would avoid me and would only talk to Key; he couldn’t even look me in the eye. I think the time that he started to slowly accept me was when we were going on a walk but Taemin somehow sprained his ankle. Its very cliché, but I carried Taemin home and he started getting used to being around me. I asked him to call me appa since he calls Key umma, it took a few months, but after a while, it was like we became his real parents. He would tell us everything and we would always protect him and always be by his side” the bond between Taemin and Key and Jonghyun was strong, something that Taemin and his adoptive parents would never have. Minho finally knew how big of a deal it was for Taemin to finally accept his proposal. He was willing to trust Minho that he wouldn’t abandon him like his parents did, but today, Minho had hurt him.

                “I’ll leave you two alone now. When he wakes up, he might freak out, you’d better be there for him. Or else, I’ll come back and kill you” Key said menacingly, his umma personality was always the scariest. After Key and Jonghyun left, Minho climbed into bed and pulled Taemin’s body closer to his, he brushed Taemin’s hair from his eyes and inhaled his scent. Minho caressed the bruise that he made on Taemin’s face, after applying ice to it, the swelling had gone down, but it was still a little bruise. Minho gently pressed his lips to Taemin’s and then pulled the covers over both their bodies.

                Taemin woke up and gently rubbed his cheek, it was still hurting a little bit but not as much as before, he shifted around and realized that his head wasn’t on the pillow. Taemin tilted his head and saw that he was lying on Minho’s chest. Taemin was confused, he wanted to be with Minho but he was afraid that Minho would push him away again. He didn’t want to feel the pain that he felt when his parents first left him, it was too much for him to handle. He decided that he didn’t want to be hurt again, so he had to leave before that happened.