The rest of our winter break was rather quiet. We didn't want to do too much so Taemin could have time to settle in at Jonghyun's before school started back up. Occasionally, we'd go out to the coffee shop or hang out at Jonghyun's, but never all of us together. We did so in small groups so it wasn't too overwhelming.

Honestly I wasn't sure if that helped... I'm not sure if anything we were doing helped, but I surely hoped that he was feeling at least a little better. The two of us were going out today, and I was excited that it would just be us two for once.

I'm actually on my way to Jonghyun-hyung's house now to pick him up. I stuffed my cold hands further into the warm pockets of my winter jacket and quickened my steps. From what I've heard from Jonghyun, Taemin hasn't had as many troubles adjusting as he'd expected. All of our families had helped fund simple things such as clothes that fit him properly, a winter jacket, functional shoes, and other various necessities. He still felt bad about it, but he couldn't deny things that he needed, and it's not like he could afford them himself.

He was stressed enough as it is dealing with the arrest of his uncle and turning his life around. There was a lot of uncertainty for him in the future that none of us wanted to bring up to him. What are his plans after high school? Will he be able to afford university? Will he even be able to adjust to this new life at all?

Though when I think about it, these troubles are nothing compared to what he would have been worrying about still had he not been saved from that life- will he be able to get dinner that night? Will he get to finish his homework? Will he be injured when he was sold off yet again? Dealing with drug addicts had gotten him used to a certain kind of lifestyle. He was taught to be cautious around everybody, always having his guard up. He was taught that harsh punishments are received for even the smallest of mistakes.

Still, I couldn't keep myself from being worried over his future now. Because he was living in that kind of home, his grades obviously weren't ideal- he even failed english, which explained perfectly why we had that class together- and though he's only a second year student, he would have a lot of catching up to do. It would take so much extra work to get him back where he would need to be in order to earn scholarships, and that kind of work is so strenuous that I'm not quite sure he'd be up to it.

I arrived at Jonghyun-hyung's house, and walked up the few steps to his front door. Knocking firmly, I rocked back and forth on my heels in a sort of impatience. Jonghyun answered the door only a few moments later, and I grinned politely.

"Hey Kai," he greeted me. "Taem, Kai's here!" he yelled into the house while inviting me inside. I followed his request and stood just inside the door as Taemin came down the staircase to meet us in the front hall. I smiled sincerely, seeing how he didn't need anyone's help in moving around anymore. He was fully recovered physically and ready to get back into dancing.

"Hi hyung."

"Hey Kai. Ready to go?" Taemin asked, slipping on his shoes.

"Yup," I said casually.

"Don't be out late," Jonghyun advised.

"Yes, dad," Taemin joked back, looking at Jonghyun with twinkling eyes and a teasing smile before turning back to me. "Let's go." 

Jonghyun snorted but ushered us out the door and closed it behind us. "So where are we going?" Taemin asked, looking even a little bouncy. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face, seeing him in appropriate winter clothes that would keep him warm and shoes that weren't falling apart. He even looked happy. "Kai?" he questioned when I realized I hadn't answered.

"Oh, sorry," I stuttered with an apologetic grin. "I want to go dance. What do you say? Sehun showed me a studio in the city that's open to the general public and it's pretty nice, actually." I looked over to him to gauge his response to see him looking a bit hesitant. "That is, if you feel up to it. There's plenty of other things-"

"I'd like to try," he cut me off in a quiet voice with a soft smile gracing his lips. "I really do miss dancing. I miss putting everything on hold to just be in the moment."

"Great- I'll get you back in shape before school starts up tomorrow!" 

He laughed lightly. "I was thinking of doing something special with the dance team this year," he mused aloud.

"Like what?" I pushed, kind of excited at the prospect now. He smiled at my anticipation. "I don't know. Usually we just do a show near the end of the year and perform it for the school, but I was wondering what would happen if we maybe took it to competition. There's one where highschools all across the country compete- I mean, most of them are magnet schools for arts like dance, but I think we could stand a chance," he said, sounding more eager as he continued to elaborate until he was left beaming at the end.

"That would be really cool!" I expressed truthfully. Who cares even if we didn't stand a chance against those performing arts schools? The experience would be more than enough, and I know we're good. "What made you decide this?"

"I don't know, it's my first time leading anything, so I really want to make it go somewhere," he admitted. "Now, I think I might actually have time to do something like that, since... I mean, since you know."

I nodded slowly, understanding. He wanted that sense of accomplishment that comes with truly achieving something for the first time. He didn't have time before between all of his 'appointments' and duties back with his uncle, but now that he was free from that, he wanted this to truly be something and even if it's something as simple as a dance competition, I will have to make absolutely sure that this comes true.

"So where is this place?" Taemin's voice broke into my thoughts again.

"Oh, uh, it's only a couple miles that way," I gestured. "We could walk or take a taxi, whichever you prefer."

I saw the internal debate in his eyes. "I want to walk," he decided finally.

"Okay, that's fine by me," I responded, stuffing my hands into my warm coat pockets. Jonghyun's mom was probably stuffing Taemin full of good food so he could get his strength and energy back after his trip to the hospital.

We fell into a silence. I'm not typically one to keep quiet- I usually have something to say for every situation- but right now I just felt so comfortable walking side by side with Taemin that I didn't really want to talk right away. I hope it's not awkward for him, becasue I don't know if he's feeling this closeness too.

I didn't want to chance making him feel uncomfortable, so I tried to think of something that could break the silence. "Um.. Are you excited for school tomorrow?" I asked sarcastically.

"Of course," Taemin answered, completely serious.

I glanced over at him with an eyebrow raised in question. "Excuse me? You enjoy highschool?" I accused in a half-joking manner. This coming from the guy who failed English and had to retake the entry level with a bunch of first year students? The guy who likely failed at least half of his midterms?

"Yeah, I do. I'm excited for it to start back up now that I'll have time to do the work for it. I really want to get some better grades this semester. Onew-hyung said he'll tutor me in every single one of my classes," he beamed, sounding genuinely happy. I couldn't even be shocked at this point, because I'd probably be excited to get back into the swing of things if I were him too. I'd be dying to get back to a normal life, now living it without the same fear and worries. "Oh, and you might not have to spend all English class trying to explain it to me anymore. I know I was a hopeless case, but Jonghyun-hyung has spent so much time with me at home trying to review everything already, and I might actually understand it. Like, about 20% of it, but it's a start," he continued. "And I'm really excited to get back to the dance team- god, everything is going to be better now, Kai. I can't believe the possibilities- I can practice and do my homework and study for tests-"

It hurt my heart just a little hearing how he was so excited to do what normal students would consider a chore just because he hadn't had the chance to in so long. Yet still, my grin grew wider and wider listening to Taemin ramble on about how enthusiastic and happy he was. It made me feel more relaxed and at peace knowing that this new life was already helping him immensely. This may be the most I'd ever heard him say at once.

"I almost forgot to tell you," he cut his own disjointed rant off. "I talked to Leeteuk-hyung yesterday, I think I'd be ready to start working soon. Maybe after a week or two back at school to get used to it, but I think I can do it, Kai."

"I have no doubts that you can," I laughed amusedly at his twinkling eyes and childlike demeanor that had suddenly made itself present at the prospect of a positive change. "I'll make sure to order the most difficult things on the menu so you have an especially rough time. And then I'll forget to tip. How's that sound?"

He pouted but didn't respond vocally. Instead, he just stuck his foot out in front of me discreetly- something I hadn't noticed until I was already tripping.

"YAH!" I yelled in surprise, grabbing his shoulder to keep myself from faceplanting into the sidewalk after my stumbling. "What was that for?" 

"You were being mean," he stated simply, staring straight in front of him with a determined frown in place on his lips to keep himself from laughing at me.

"I was not!" I insisted. "I was just joking~" I whined, stomping along behind him now. 

"Hey," he interjected, pushing me to walk in front. "I don't know where I'm going, you have to lead the way, idiot."

I smirked and stopped walking briefly, making him stop as well. He was about to ask me something when I spoke up. "So now you need my help, do you? I thought I was being too mean."

He shrugged and kept walking away from me now. "No problem, I don't have to go to the dance studio. I could just go to the park. I know where that is."

I left my jaw hanging open, not understanding how this was turned against me again. "Yah! You were supposed to beg me to show you where to go!" I shouted after him, not moving from my spot. When he didn't answer, I huffed. "Taemin! Quit walking away!" I yelled in such a whiny voice that had my mother been here, she probably would have smacked me.

I ignored the questioning looks I received from others using the same sidewalk and focused only on the way Taemin's shoulders were shaking. He turned his head around so I could see his wide smile, mid-laugh. He simply turned his head back around, though, and kept walking.

"Ugh!" I exclaimed frustratedly when I saw him about to cross the road straight ahead when he should be turning left. I broke into a jog to cover our distance and came up on his right side, wordlessly pushing him in the right direction to the studio.

"I knew where I was going," he exlaimed defiantly.

"Yes Taemin, and I have four arms," I countered sarcastically.

"I was going to the park!" he proclaimed. "I was going the right way to the park, wasn't I?"

I took a deep breath. "... No."

"Damn."

"You're directionally challenged."

"Shut up."

Conversation consisting of only playful bickering continued for the rest of our walk in the busy city until we came upon a rather plain-looking building that I recognized. It looked modern and well-kept but I would have had no clue it was even a dance studio had Sehun not shown me. There wasn't any big neon sign, only small lettering on the glass door that gave the name and hours.

Taemin gestured to the door when I had stopped in front of it, silently asking if this was the right place. I nodded and grabbed the handle, yanking it open so we could enter. I led him through a hallway, trying to find an empty room. When we did come across one, I motioned for him to enter while I signed my name on the board outside.

"What was that for?" he asked when I entered as well and closed the door behind me.

"Oh, it's a pay-by-the-hour kind of deal." He frowned, obviously disheartened at the information that I was paying for this when he could give me nothing in return. "Go stretch," I broke the sudden awkward silence.

He stuck his tongue out playfully before bending down quite suddenly to touch his toes. He peeked up at me through his bangs and laughed quietly when he saw me still looking at him.

"Aish..." I mumbled, moving to hook my music up to the speakers. I put my favorite dancing playlist on shuffle and took a deep breath when I heard the bass booming through the speakers. It really had been a while, a couple of weeks at least. Both of us needed this to relax after such a stressful winter break. "Hey, I have a good warmup-" I called over the loud music, remembering something that Sehun and I had done when we came here...

"What is it?"

I clicked on a specific song before skipping away from the music player and into the center of the room close to where Taemin was. He didn't even have to know what I was going to do next when he was already laughing at just the song. "Seriously, Kai? I wouldn't have guessed you'd be one to enjoy dancing like a girl."

"Seriously?" I asked, susprised that-

"No. I was being polite. I totally knew you were hiding this side of you all along," he commented as I began dancing with a goofy grin on my face, getting the choreography perfectly- silent proof that I actually spent time learning the dances to girl group songs....

I was about to let inkling of embarrassment slip through my composure until the chorus to the song arrived and Taemin hopped right into the song, dancing just as I was- which means that he learned these feminine dances at some point as well.

We were both laughing to hard by the time the song was halfway through to even finish it. Once we caught our breaths after the fits of laughter, the song was on its last chords. "So if you want to take our group to competition, you're going to need to choreograph something for it, right? It'll have to be awesome."

"Yeah, I guess I will. But I've got you to help me, don't I?" he asked hopefully with a smile that radiated his confidence in my answer of a yes.

"Of course. We should start that soon, then."

"Well yeah. But not today. I don't want to work today," he said, sounding stubborn. "Let's have a dance battle~" he changed the subject.

We did have a lot of fun, but by the end of everything, I made sure that we took a taxi back. He looked exhausted and I wasn't going to make him walk all the way back when his body wasn't used to all of this exertion and probably needed more rest before even this much.

I returned him to Jonghyun's house safely before it was even dinner time.

It was nice, though. With all of this heavy tension surrounding our group, we needed days like this- days where we didn't have to worry about what if's and tomorrows. After all- in the end, all we have is the moment.