Six long months had gone by. Taemin still lived his life, or at least tried to. Six months. That was how long it had been since he’d last Onew. He’d simply walked out one night and never returned.

It had been the most selfish thing Onew had ever done, Taemin decided. He agonized over the possibilities. Was Onew dead and no one had ever told him? Had he been kidnapped? And the most painful to think of.. had he left because he’d never really loved Taemin in the first place? The answer haunted Taemin’s dreams and it was never very far from his thoughts.

And then, one day Taemin decided that enough was enough. If Onew had left, so be it. He would stop worrying and just get on with his life. That was all he really could do.

By that time, 3 months had gone by.  He knew that the chances of Onew coming back to him were slim at best.

He moved on. He started going on other dates. No one quite caught his attention the way Onew had, but it didn’t matter. He was only having fun anyway. The way he figured, if he never dated, that was a sign he hadn’t really moved on. Of course, it could be argued that he didn’t have to date to move on, but Taemin tended to largely ignore that argument.

By the end of the 6th month since Onew’s disappearance, Taemin thought he was doing pretty well for himself. He was doing well in school. He had a decent job as a dance instructor. In fact, he danced so well he was constantly being asked to appear in all kinds of variety shows. He’d won numerous awards. And to top it off, he’d been taking voice lessons and he wasn’t half bad at singing.

But 9 months after Onew disappeared… Taemin’s life got a whole lot more complicated.

~~

Taemin was standing at the booth of bok choy, trying to determine which was the freshest. It had been 9 months. If he wasn’t dead, then it had to be that he hadn’t loved Taemin. And Taemin was finally okay with that. He’d finally put Onew behind him.

He was still looking for the freshest bunch when a hand picked one up and handed it to him. He looked up and he stood stock still, not comprehending what his eyes were seeing. He was vaguely aware of his head shaking.

    “Nope,”  he backed away. “Not a chance.” Without bothering to look back, he started walking away from the booth. Away from Onew. The man who’d been missing from his life for almost a year.

    “Taemin! Wait, for Christ’s sake,” Onew came running up to him. He spun Taemin to face him. “I..” Taemin punched him.

    “You what? Are you sorry?” Taemin sneered. He wrenched his arm out of Onew’s hand. “No thanks. I’d appreciate it if you left me the alone. I was doing just fine without you.” Taemin walked away, and he was relieved when Onew didn’t seem to be following him.

That should’ve been his first clue.

The next day, he was just leaving for class when Onew showed up at his apartment. He stared, nonplussed, as Onew tried to regain his breath.

    “You know how many.. Lee Taemins there are.. in Hongdae? There’s.. a lot,” Onew huffed, and then took a deep breath. “I didn’t get the chance to explain yesterday Taemin-ah.” Taemin started walking to his car.

    “You have exactly 5 minutes before I get in my car and leave for class,” he stated flatly. Onew beamed.

    “My brother asked for my help with this new.. er, business,” Taemin said nothing, and Onew continued. “After the business started, he.. well. He ran into a little bit of trouble with the mafia. And.. that’s where I came in. Taemin, I got held hostage until my brother took the deal. I know you have every right to be angry with me, but.. Please forgive me.” Taemin gasped and covered his mouth.

    “Oh my God, Onew-hyung,” tears came to Taemin’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. I thought.. I thought you didn’t love me anymore.” Onew held Taemin to him tightly.

    “No. God no, Taemin. The only thing that got me through was you,” he whispered. “Thoughts of you filled my mind, and I was desperate to see you. God.. You have no idea how much I missed you.” Onew kissed Taemin’s lips fervently, and his hands roamed.

    “Oh, Onew..,” Taemin panicked when he saw the time on his phone. “I’ve really got to get to class. But I’ll be home around 3. Okay? Please tell me you’ll still be here when I get back.” The pleading in Taemin’s voice prompted Onew to give Taemin another passionate kiss.

    “I promise,” he whispered. He smacked Taemin on the . “Now go. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up when you get home.”

That should’ve been the second clue.

~~

After 3 months of Onew being home, Taemin started to notice that he was… for lack of a better word, different.

He had different habits now. Like before, Onew had always woken up in the mornings, and he was most definitely a morning person. But now, Onew seemed to be a night owl. He stayed up with Taemin into the ungodly hours before morning, where the sun was still rising.

And another thing was.. Onew used to have this peculiar habit of twisting his hair into knots whenever he was nervous. Now, Onew was always calm and collected. Right on the heels of that change was that Onew had been clumsy. Before he always had some kind of bruise or small scrape. In the 3 months after his reappearance, Taemin hadn’t once seen Onew trip. Or bang his head. Or drop a glass.

And another thing.. He hadn’t been so touchy. So.. seductive. Taemin shuddered when he thought of how many times he and Onew had had in 3 months. He didn’t remember Onew being quite so.. enthusiastic in the bedroom.

Onew had been a sweet man. And he still was, but.. there was a look in his eyes when he thought Taemin wasn’t looking. A sadness that Taemin didn’t like at all. If Onew was sad about something, he wanted to know so he could help.

He was cleaning up their bedroom when he found a note in Onew’s pillowcase. It wasn’t signed, but the words in that letter shattered his whole world.

~~

Taemin was a lot less enthusiastic about things than he used to be. But it was too late to leave now. He was definitely in the relationship for the duration.

Just because.. Well. It didn’t matter. He loved the man in his arms more than he ever thought possible. Despite knowing what the letter said.

He had cried for weeks. In private, of course. He was just a little afraid of what Onew might do if he found out he’d seen the letter. There was just no telling.

Onew wasn’t Onew. Onew was, in fact, dead. The letter had included a photograph of Onew’s corpse, and it was just barely recognizable. The only reason Taemin had known for sure was the necklace he was wearing. He’d given Onew that necklace for their one year anniversary, and Onew hadn’t taken it off. Ever.

It didn’t matter who it was that was impersonating Onew. Taemin was wildly in love with him. Maybe even more in love with him than he had been with Onew. That hurt to think about, though. It felt like a betrayal to Onew’s memory.

Taemin couldn’t keep up the charade for much longer. He saw Onew starting to get suspicious. For one, he’d moved the letter. It was no longer in his pillowcase. Then, the looks of mistrust.. No. It was time to sit down and talk about the whole thing. He was still afraid, but.. it couldn’t be helped.

It was exactly 8 months since Onew had come home when they sat down to talk. Onew looked like he already knew what was coming, and Taemin was just a little nervous for his reaction.

    “Onew-hyung.. I know,” Taemin sighed. “I know you’re not really Onew-hyung. I saw the letter.” Onew sat silently, patiently. “So.. what happened to him? Will you at least be truthful about that much?” He didn’t mean to, but he started to cry.

    “Onew was my brother,” Onew spoke. “My name is Jinki. We were twins. He was always the better of us.” Jinki shook his head and smiled ruefully. “I was the one who always got into trouble. I was the one who started the business. I had gotten so tired of stealing my way through life. I just wanted to settle down and have a nice, quiet life.” He scoffed. “I should’ve known better. The people I used to work for wanted me to return to my thievery. But I didn’t want to.. So they took Onew. As punishment.”

Jinki looked Taemin dead in the eyes. “They killed him right in front of me, and sent me back with a picture. To remind me that it’s my fault he’s dead.” Taemin’s tears were uncontrollable at that point.

    “So why are you here?” Taemin sobbed. “You aren’t Onew. You didn’t have to pretend to love me. You didn’t have to take over his life.” Jinki wiped Taemin’s tears out of his eyes gently.

    “You’re wrong,” he put his forehead against Taemin’s. “I.. I can’t lie to you, Taemin. I was being selfish when I started living Onew’s life. It was my idea.  It was partly to get away from being Lee Jinki. To get away from being a criminal. But also.. before he died, Onew asked me to look after you. He asked that I keep you safe. And if there’s one thing I can do right…,” Jinki’s smile was half-hearted. “It’s protecting you. Because I don’t have to pretend to love you, Taemin. I love you so much more than I ever thought possible.”

    “I can’t lie to you, either, Jinki,” Taemin whispered. “I love you. Maybe even more than I loved Onew. You drive me crazy sometimes.” Taemin kissed Jinki’s lips. “So.. what do we do now?”

    “I.. I think I want to tell the police about the mafia. About everything,” Jinki confessed. “I’m tired of always running away. And I don’t think it’s right to continue to pretend to be my dead brother.”

Taemin didn’t like the idea, but he had no say in the matter. He could tell just from the look in Jinki’s eyes.

~~

A couple of months later, the trial against Onew’s murderers was well under way. The case against them was pretty much rock solid, and the chance that they’d be convicted of their crime was very, very good.

Courthouse security was supposed to be airtight, so.. no one expected the man in the back row of the courtroom to have a knife. Later, it would be found out that the guard had been bribed with straight cash to carry the knife inside.

Just as Taemin was stepping out of the courtroom to take a personal phone call, the man stood up and stabbed Taemin in the shoulder. It was clear that the man had been aiming for Taemin’s neck, but at the last second, Taemin had turned to the side to take the call.

Taemin shrieked with agony when the man twisted the knife sharply in his shoulder and dragged upward. He dropped to the floor, almost instantly unconscious.

Later, Jinki found out that the man was a known associate of the mafia. The man’s bank accounts had been seized to pay for Taemin’s medical bills, but it wasn’t much of a comfort.

The doctor had said it was difficult to operate on the place where Taemin had been stabbed. A major artery had been sliced open when the man had twisted the knife, and Taemin had come very, very close to dying.

It would take months to heal, and for the time being, Taemin wouldn’t be allowed to dance. The stitches holding his artery were very delicate, and any strain at all might tear them open.

But at least he was alive, and Onew’s murderers had been locked away for life. That was of some comfort when Jinki told Taemin. He had smiled, and leaned into Jinki’s chest.

    “I’m glad that everything turned out the way they were supposed to,” Taemin whispered sleepily. Jinki chuckled.

    “Me too,” he agreed, and kissed Taemin on the head.
 

___________________________________________________________________________

Omg, Ikr? I never update this fast. :'D Don't y'all feel special. Lolol, I feel like being kind of a douche.

Not really, though. To be honest, I had this one already written. -shrug- I just waited to post it.

I kinda feel like this isn't that great, but it's decent, so.. ehh.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. c:

~~

Til next time. ^o~