Two more days had passed since Taemin had first woken up in Key's bed, and the elder decided it was finally time for the slim, rich boy to start talking, since he was finally getting better and up and moving around.  Well, creeping and tip-toeing about the apartment like a frightened mouse, anyway.

The jet-haired dancer sauntered into the kitchen that morning, where Taemin was quietly eating and, clearly, trying to be invisible.  Key took a seat at the tiny corner table.  "How are you feeling?" He asked with intentionally transparent nonchalance.

"Uh..."  Taemin could sense purpose in the question, and it made him wary.  "I'm feeling much better, k-kumapsumnida..."

"That's good," Key replied with a nod.  "That means this is as good a time as any to have a chat."

"W-what do you wanna chat about?"  Taemin nervously asked his oatmeal.

"Well," Key rested his chin on his laced fingers, "when you first got here, you told me you come from a rich family and that they kicked you out.  I'd like to know more about that."

Taemin fidgeted uncomfortably, his appetite fleeing.  This was the very thing he'd been afraid of talking about.  "I don't want to discuss it."

Key pursed his pink lips briefly.  "I'm sure it's not a pleasant subject for you, and I'm sorry for that, but I feel that I have a right to know."

"Why?!"  Taemin exploded, uncharacteristically, causing Key to raise a brow.  A second later, his cheeks flared with embarrassment and he turned his eyes downward, his voice quieting considerably.  "Why do we have to chat about that?"

"Because I saved your life, for one," Key pointed out.  "I also took you into my home, and have been housing and feeding you.  I have a right to know what kind of person I have under my roof, and why.  For all I know, you could be one of those rich kids that decides they wanna be hardcore and starts selling drugs.  Or the kind that wants to earn their own money and does it by trafficking ography--"

"It's nothing like that!"

"All I'm saying--" Key sat back, raising his hands, "-- is that I don't know if I have a dangerous person or a criminal living with me, and I should.  Shouldn't I?"

Taemin chewed his lip.  Key did have a point, but that begged another question.  "And what if I made up a story, but really turned out to be a... a miscreant?"

Key laughed to himself, shaking his head, then leaned across the table, eyes focused on Taemin and narrowed in challenge.  "For one, most criminals don't use words like 'miscreant'.  Two, your nervous demeanor tells me you don't have what it takes to be a criminal.  And, three, even I can tell that lying wouldn't be your forté."

Taemin visibly withered, cornered.  After nearly a full minute of electric silence, he capitulated with a sigh.  "W-well, as I told you, I come from an affluent family.  My umma teaches literature at a top university, and my appa is a partner in a law firm.  They've always been very strict and traditional..."

He hesitated a bit before continuing, brow furrowed.  "I... I'd secretly been seeing a boy from my college.  I had to keep it a secret because I knew they wouldn't approve.  We were at a park one day, after having gone out to eat, and... he kissed me."

Key stayed respectfully and understandingly silent, noting the look of nostalgia, then pain, in Taemin's eyes.

"I- I guess a friend of my parents' saw us, and they ratted us out.  My parents confronted me about it the next day, and, because I don't lie... I fessed up."  His head hung low for a few seconds, and then he raised his eyes back to Key.  "So... here I am."

Key nodded in understanding, having seen this happen before.  He blew out a breath, his eyes up and to the right as he contemplated.  "Do you... do you have anywhere else you can go, anyone else you can stay with?"

"Ani," Taemin whispered, shaking his head slowly.  "There's no one."

Key inhaled deeply, then expelled it the same.  It was time to take a gamble.  "Have you ever had a job before, Taemin-ssi?"

"Ani."  Taemin shook his head.  "I've always lived with my parents, and I was still in school when this happened."

"Well, I can probably get you a job at the place I work," Key stated hopefully, slapping the table.  "It's not the most desireable job, but you'll probably make decent enough money to help you get by until you figure out."

"O-ok," Taemin bobbed his head.  "Where do you work?"

"I'm a stripper at a club," Key answered lightly, getting up to pour himself a cup of coffee.  "But don't worry, I won't let you become a stripper."  

"Ugh..."  Taemin wrinkled his nose.  When he spoke again, there was no hiding his disgust.  "You mean you take your clothes off and shake your for a bunch of lechers?"

Key's eyes became dangerous, burning slits.  

He was normally a relatively tolerant, patient person, but he'd be damned if he let some pampered little blue-blood, who was younger than himself, speak to him as though he was beneath him.

This kid had never worked for a meal, nor paid his own way for anything, and Key could tell.

"You can say what you want about what I do, when you actually know what you're talking about," Key said evenly, a hint of warning in his voice.  "Until then, I don't ever want to hear you speak of me, or what I do, in that tone of voice again."

He stirred creamer into his coffee and moved by the table, where he looked down at a now cowering Taemin, with serious eyes.  He sipped daintily from his coffee and folded his arms, hips cocked to one side.  "As they say: don't bite the hand that feeds you."

The stare, alone, was enough to put Taemin in his place.  He knotted his fingers, embarrassedly, avoiding the scorching heat from those feline eyes, until he heard the last words, which made him think long and hard:

"The offer is on the table.  You can either take it or leave it."

** A/N:

Well, there you have it: the reason Taemin was kicked out by his parents.  I know that gay acceptance seems to be something of a theme with my stories, but that's because it's still something of an issue, even here in the United States.  Even over here, 1 in 4 teens that comes out to their parents, per year, will end up homeless because of it.  Taemin is (was) a college student, yes, but it's still an issue, especially since he's in Korea.

So then, what will become of Taeminnie?

Subscribe or follow to find out, and don't forget to comment! ^^  **