I feel like Nichkhun may be just a little OOC because I'm kind of unfamiliar with his personality.
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The first time Minho ever met Nichkun, he was pretty sure Nichkhun was going to be someone special. And as the months passed, his meetings with Nichkhun becoming more and more frequent, his intuition turned out to be right. Nichkhun and he quickly became friends.

There was just one problem. Minho had a crush on him. A big one, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore. Especially when Nichkhun would take off his shirt every time you turned around, like he was a character out of Twilight. Sure, he wasn't as buff as some guys, but his body was still nice to look at.

The problem wasn't even that Minho wasn't gay (He'd known he was gay by the time he entered high school. You don't stare at other boys in the locker room after soccer practice and get a if you're not gay.). The problem was that Nichkhun was very very obviously not gay. And really. Minho couldn't have picked a straighter guy. Whenever there were chicks around to impress, Nichkhun almost always ditched Minho. It was kind of disappointing.

But there were times when Minho could almost, almost believe that Nichkhun felt the same way about him. There was a look in his eyes, sometimes, that Minho couldn't read. Which was an oddity. Because, usually, Nichkhun was an open book to Minho.

-

    "NIchkhun-hyung," Minho blurted out one day, "what would you say if you found out someone close to you was gay and had a crush on you?" Nichkhun was quiet for several minutes after Minho's question. Minho was on the verge of a full blown panic attack thinking 'Oh God, he knows' over and over again before Nichkhun finally answered.

    "I wouldn't be bothered by it. But then again, I'm from America. And America is a lot more open about homouality than Korea," Nichkhun looked over at Minho apprehensively. "Why do you ask?" Minho looked into Nichkhun's eyes for a long time, looking for any hint that there might be a chance Nichkhun liked him back.

    "No reason," he finally relented and looked away. Nichkhun turned Minho's face back towards him.

    "Minho.. Is there someone like that in your life? Is it Key?" Minho had to laugh at that. No. At the dorm, Key was far less flamboyant than he was on TV or at fanmeets. Minho had a feeling Key pretended to be so flamboyant because he  liked to keep people guessing.

    "No, hyung. It's not Key. And there's no one in my life like that," 'except me' he added silently in his head. Nichkhun shrugged his shoulders.

    "Okay," the matter was dropped, but Nichkhun hadn't let go of Minho's face and it was starting to feel a little hot. Nichkhun's face got closer and before he knew what was happening, Minho was kissing Nichkhun. And that wasn't supposed to happen. But it wasn't his fault, he had been caught off guard. It happened so suddenly.

Almost as soon as their lips touched, Nichkhun's eyes snapped open and he pulled away, touching his lips. His eyes were wide with shock, as if he couldn't believe he'd done that. Really, Minho couldn't blame him. Who wanted to kiss a guy who was constantly compared to a frog?

Without another word, Nichkhun slowly got up off Minho's bed and walked out. Minho didn't follow him to the front door, like he usually would have. Somehow, he didn't think Nichkhun would appreciate it as much today.

-

Minho hadn't heard from Nichkhun for several weeks. No late night phone calls, no texts during the day. Nothing. It was disheartening, especially when Minho could remember the times when Nichkhun would come over to SHINee's dorm straight after practice, still sweaty. It had made him feel important. Like he mattered to Nichkhun. But that was all gone now.

Whenever he felt lonely for Nichkhun, Minho would try to hang out with Jonghyun. And mostly, Jonghyun didn't ask. He just silently offered another controller and he and Minho would play violent games until Minho didn't feel like crying anymore. It frustrated Jonghyun to see Minho acting the way he was, and not knowing the reason why. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Nichkhun around lately. Maybe that was why.

    "Hey Minho. Why don't you call Nichkhun-hyung and see if he wants to hang out with us?" Minho tensed up, but Jonghyun didn't notice. He forced a smile.

    "Nichkhun-hyung told me he was going to be busy for a while. So he can't come over to hang out," Minho lied smoothly. Jonghyun nodded to himself. So that was the reason Minho had been looking so down lately.

    "Well in that case, we'll go drinking without him," Jonghyun said cheekily. And Minho thought that maybe that wasn't such a good idea. But who was he to argue when it gave him a bit of a break from his feelings?

-

Jonghyun had had a lot more drinks than Minho, but Minho was still pretty drunk himself. He and Jonghyun were out on the dance floor, grinding on each other like they were getting ready to go back to some seedy hotel to . There were people around them, cheering them on, and as drunk as they were they reveled in it.

While they were on the dance floor, Minho let his mind wander. Why couldn't he do this with Jonghyun? It wasn't like he was cheating on Nichkhun or something. And even when he wasn't drunk, Jonghyun could be a lot of fun. Not all the ways he had fun were exactly legal, but Minho wasn't one to judge.

When Jonghyun came out of nowhere and kissed him sloppily on the mouth, he kissed back just as sloppily. He didn't think about it any more. And when Jonghyun pulled back with a shy smile, Minho was too drunk to recognise it as that same longing smile he gave Nichkhun too many times to count.

    "Hotel, or dorm? We'd have to be quiet at the dorm," Jonghyun gasped when Minho reached down to the front of his pants.

    "Dorm, and I'm not the one who has to worry, hyung. I'm not the screamer," Minho smirked and Jonghyun made small wanton noises at the back of his throat at just how y Minho looked. He reversed the situation and grabbed Minho's hand.

    "Nuh-uh, Minho," Jonghyun was breathing heavily, and his pupils dilated as he spoke. "Respect your elders." He really didn't have a say in the matter, and when he woke up the next morning it wasn't just his head that was pounding.

-

It took Nichkhun exactly 6 weeks later to come back for a visit. Thank God Minho was alone, because as soon as he opened the door, Nichkhun was kissing him. It was a kiss with meaning in it. But Minho wasn't sure exactly what it meant. He pulled away slowly, not missing the way Nichkhun's face fell.

    "I'm sorry, Minho," he said quietly. "I was an idiot for not noticing that you weren't talking about someone else that day. When I finally realized that you were talking about yourself, I felt like smacking myself in the forehead for being so dumb. It got me thinking, especially about the kiss. I liked it, Minho. God forgive me, I liked it," the way Nichkhun's voice got just a little deeper drove Minho nuts and he felt himself getting slightly hard.

    "It's okay, hyung," he finally voiced out. "Everything's okay now." He didn't say another word, and went in for another kiss. They stripped off their clothes in Minho and Jonghyun's bedroom, and Minho enjoyed himself. Thoroughly.

By the time the other SHINee members got home, he and Nichkhun were on the couch cuddling and enjoying being together. To Minho's way of thinking, it was an unspoken agreement that they were a couple now. And Nichkhun sure didn't seem to mind.

Jonghyun took one look at the couple on the couch and felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He frowned outwardly, determined not to show how badly he was affected by it.

    "Minho-yah, what's with all the skinship? I thought you hated it," Key joked and Minho blushed beet red. The stake in Jonghyun's chest went deeper. Nichkhun slung an arm around Minho's shoulders and chuckled.

    "It's because I'm his favorite hyung," he grinned cheekily and Minho just stood there smiling and blushing like a girl. Jonghyun went to his and Minho's room and tried to drown out the echoes of Nichkhun's laughter.

-

It started going downhill after about 6 months. Minho noticed their time growing further apart, with SHINee's Japanese debut. And then the bombshell dropped.

    "Minho-yah... They want me to be on We Got Married," Minho felt his heart drop to the floor. He swallowed.

    "Who's your partner?" the way Nichkhun shuffled his feet awkwardly and had a blush on his cheeks, it could only be...

    "Victoria-noona," Just like that, Minho's heart shattered. He knew Nichkhun had had a crush on Victoria for a long time before they were friends. He knew then that it was over between them, despite Nichkhun's half-hearted reassurances. He smiled.

    "Do it, hyung. Don't let me stop you," Nichkhun smiled a little, but it was pained. He hugged Minho, and insisted that they were still together. But Minho honestly didn't expect to see Nichkhun for a while after that.

Later that night, after Minho had let himself cry in private, he was sitting on the couch in the dark when one of the other members came to sit beside him. He only knew it was Jonghyun when he spoke.

    "You know, Minho, when we got so so ing plastered that night and had , I was happy. I thought maybe you felt the same way. But you didn't, so it broke my heart the next morning when you acted like it hadn't even happened," Minho really couldn't have this conversation right now.

    "Hyung--," "Let me finish, Minho," the harsh way it came out made Minho flinch. "Then Nichkhun came back into the picture and everything made sense. I knew you were in love with him, but I was in love with you. It was painful to watch, Minho. It really was." Minho heard the anguish in Jonghyun's voice and felt guilty. "But now, you need comfort. Don't deny it, I kinda over heard you talking to Nichkhun earlier."  Jonghyun hesitantly wrapped his arms around Minho, like he was afraid he might be shoved away. "So take it. Take what I have to offer. I'm not asking anything in return. I just want you to know that I love you."

Minho squeezed back tightly, hoping that his guilt wouldn't prevent him from moving on.

To say he was shocked when Nichkhun showed up a couple of days later with flowers was an understatement. He smiled sadly, and took the flowers. It was a nice gesture. But completely unnecessary.

    "Minho, I--," Hyung, really. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," as he was walking past, Minho snatched Jonghyun's wrist and dragged him close. "Jonghyun-hyung here will take good care of me." It didn't slip Nichkhun's notice how Jonghyun's arm was circled protectively around Minho. He was crestfallen, but he was very good at hiding it. He smiled widely, striving to appear relieved. He wanted to tell Minho the truth. That he had a crush on Victoria, yes, but that Minho was the one he loved. Instead, he laughed and kissed Minho on the forehead.

    "Good, then. Jonghyun-ah will take good care of you, I know he will," Jonghyun's glance told Nichkhun that he knew what was really going on. But he wasn't about to give up now, and Nichkhun respected that. "Bye, Minho. I'll come see you when We Got Married is over, hm?" Minho nodded.

    "I'd like that, hyung," without another word, Nichkhun turned and left. There was nothing left to say. At least, for now.
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I've never written this pairing before. I've had the idea for this oneshot in my head for a while, though. And as always, it didn't end up as I intended. There was less Jongho, for one. XD

But yeah. I feel like this is a crappy oneshot. Mehh. Thanks for reading anyway. :D

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Til next time, loves. ^o~