The two men stumble out of the taxi with the younger of the two dragging a drunken Minho out of the vehicle. Taemin almost drops his wallet when he takes it out to pay the driver because of Minho's lingering fingers on Taemin's waist and the distracting kisses he is placing on the brunette's neck.

"Hurry up, Minnie~" The elder's voice takes on a childish, tipsy whine right before it lowers to a sensual murmur. "Or I might just take you right here."

It is a wonder how Taemin managers to understand his boyfriend's drunken slurs. He flips open his wallet and sifts through the notes, trying to look for a suitable payment, tip included. (The taxi driver deserves it, what with the show they gave him during the whole ride) He takes out a few bills and replies to the elder -- though he isn't sure why he even bothers; Minho is probably too far gone in his lust-beer-induced haze to understand a single word he is saying. "Babe, that's highly unhygienic. And if you'd just let me pay the man, we can do everything you want right after."

Minho grumbles in impatience, but releases him from his grip. "Okay."

Taemin takes in a heavy breath, having been deprived of it moments ago. He hands the elderly man the bills, sheepishly blurting out a 'Thanks,' and 'Sorry about... him. He's kinda drunk.'

The driver only gives him an amused thumbs-up before speeding off. Watching the yellow car become smaller and smaller as it drives away, Taemin loses his footing in surprise when a hand latches onto his wrist and starts to drag him into the building. He doesn't try to fight it and instead sighs in defeat, because he can never compete with a ually-driven inebriated Minho.

Once the door to Minho's place is slammed shut, Taemin is immediately pressed up against it, his coat being tugged off by insistent hands. He tries to respond to the touches as much as he can, but with everything that is going on in his head, it feels increasingly difficult to do so.

His blood is quickly rushing from north to south as he hungrily showers Taemin with kisses. It is almost as if he has no control over what he is doing anymore -- all he knows is that he wants Taemin, right here and right now. He has the boy breathing heavily under him, flushed and panting for air on his bed.

He dives in to capture Taemin's lips, and he pulls it off easily. But even through the thick blur of alcohol and lust swimming through him, he feels as though something is wrong. Although Taemin has been responding to his touches and his advances, there seems to be something different about the way he is reacting. The touches and sounds that he is receiving from the brunette almost seem robotic and unfeeling.

Pulling away from the boy, he holds himself up by his hands on either side of Taemin's head and looks into the younger's hooded eyes. Though they look to be as they usually are whenever things are beginning to heat up between the two of them, something feels off, and Minho is determined to find out what it is. Screw the alcohol in his system -- if he has to, he will force himself into a level of sobriety just to figure out what is bothering Taemin.

"Tell me what's wrong."

Taemin's eyes widen just the slightest bit, but it is enough for Minho to notice the surprise on his face. He must have thought that he was hiding it well. It had always amused Minho how clueless Taemin is to his transparency. Everything the boy feels, it always shows on his face, body language, and even his voice. And today is no different.

The surprise fades away from his face to be replaced by a reassuring look -- which just serves to worry Minho even more because it is so obviously fake. Hands come to clasp around his neck and to play with his hair at the nape, and then a soothing voice.

"I'm fine, Minho." He feels the hands pulling him back down for a kiss, but he resists and retains the distance between them. He clutches the sheets in frustration.

"You know I hate it when you do that." He isn't angry just yet, only exasperated. But he persists, firmer this time. "Tell me."

Taemin's brows furrow to meet at the center, uncertainty and worry etched across his face. The fingers tangling in Minho's hair stop moving when he talks. "You're already so stressed, though..." His eyes avoid Minho's piercing ones. "So much is going on at work and we're supposed to be celebrating that deal you just won and your birthday's this weekend... I just don't want to have to add your problems..."

Minho softly holds Taemin's chin in his thumb and forefinger, making him look at him. He has done this so many times to the boy, because a lot of times, it is either the boy is too shy to look in the eye or he probably feels bad about something he did. (Which in most cases, weren't as bad as he made them out to be.) He lets himself appreciate how the warm light of the bedside lamp is beautifully splayed across Taemin's features before he says something.

"Shut up. You're rambling. Something must be really bothering you if you're rambling." Taemin's worried expression softens at that, and Minho takes this chance to convince him even more. He assures the brunette that it's okay and that he just doesn't want to see him so troubled, so he kisses him and asks him again to tell him what's wrong.

The boy under him avoids his gaze again and finally answers, but only in a mumble. "My dad- Suho- called."

"What? I thought you had a deal with that bastard?"

"Yeah, I thought so too."

Minho's arms are beginning to ache from how long he has been holding himself up, but due to his irritation, he manages to grip the blankets tightly between his fingers as he grunts out, "What did he want?"

Taemin can feel the heat rising in Minho's voice. Frankly, it scares him -- because Minho rarely gets angry now, but when he does, it is very difficult to get him to calm down. And at most times, the most effective ways to have him relax is by letting him take it out on something -- and at most times, it would end up involving bandages and disinfectants and a lot of scolding from Taemin.

But part of the reason why he is feeling anxious under Minho's burning gaze is because he hadn't been completely honest with the man. He didn't want to tell Minho that he had given his father almost two million dollars just to leave him alone. Minho would never have agreed to it, and he would have gotten upset if he heard that Taemin had conceded to his father's wishes. So instead, he told Minho that his father had agreed to leave him alone as long as Taemin heard him out. At the moment, that had seemed for the best. But now the hateful man has appeared again and Taemin doesn't know if he can get out of this one with a measly 1.5 million dollars.

"He... was asking for a favor."

Minho pushes himself up from where he was hovering over Taemin and sits up properly. He leans against the headboard of the bed and runs a hand through his hair in sheer irritation. "What kind of favor?"

"Minho-" Taemin sits up against the headboard as well, holding his white button-up closed with one hand because Minho had ripped off the buttons earlier.

"What did he want?"

Taemin holds Minho's hand in an attempt to try and calm him down for the moment. "He was asking for some money. It's no big deal."

The elder leans his head back so that it hits the headboard, but his eyes are still on Taemin. "How much?"

The younger stays silent.

"If you're not going to speak up I'm walking out of here."

Panic surges through Taemin. He knows that when Minho speaks with that tone of voice, anything and everything he says has to be taken seriously. He looks at Minho in panic, not able to find his voice. When the man begins to stand up to leave, Taemin immediately grabs onto his hand, immediately seeking the feeling of warmth again. "Wait!" Minho looks down at him with a blank expression. Taemin is almost tearing up at this point. "Please stay."

Minho sits back down and pulls Taemin towards him by the shoulder. "How much did he ask for?" His voice is gentler now, less harsh -- as if he is talking to a child.

Taemin closes his eyes against Minho's touch and answers, "20 million dollars."

"What?”

Minho is staring at him now with a deep frown etched on his face, silently asking for Taemin to explain why the hell anyone would ask anyone for such a large amount of money.

The boy instantly becomes uncomfortable under his scrutiny, so he lowers his gaze to his lap and continues. "He said he was in some sort of debt again. He's asking for some help."

"Like hell you're going to help him! What the makes him think you're even going to give him the time of day?"

"Minho," The younger pulls away from him so that they are sitting face to face, "if I don't give it to him, he's going to tell!"

"Tell? What are you talking about?" The elder sounds absolutely lost.

"About us!" Taemin is almost hysterical at this point, wanting more than anything to go back to when they were at that noisy club, when they were still void of all problems caused by Park Suho. "He knows about us, and he's going to tell people if I don't give him what he wants."

Minho takes a few moments to register this information. He appears to be unbelieving of everything Taemin said, and he proves it even more when he scoffs. "Does he really think you'd fall for that kind of bluff?"

"He already did it before." Embarrassment fills Taemin for having to admit to this. "I gave him what he asked for."

"What the ?" The gruffness echoes in the silent room, save for the air-conditioning and the constant ticks of the clock. "When?"                    

Taemin explains how he and his father hadn't just 'talked things over'. He explained their 'business deal', (in which Minho corrected him and interjected, 'That's ing blackmail and you know it!') and how the man had promised to stay silent about his relationship with Minho.

Minho is pacing in front of the bed now, hands coming up to thread through his ruffled hair as his open shirt sways along with his back and forth movement. His hands are gesturing wildly as he questions Taemin, almost to the point of shouting.

"Why the hell would you believe anything that man has to say?!"

Despite how anxious and terrified and fidgety Taemin feels at the moment, he cannot help but feel offended by the elder's words. He crosses his arms in a stoic manner and managers to ground out, "Well I'm sorry if I'm not as ing clever as you are."

"Taemin," Minho raises a hand to his temple, as if to ease away a burning headache -- or maybe in this case, the alcohol that's been flowing through his system, "you know that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" Even though he is offended by the sole implications of that statement, the hurt in his voice from hearing something like that come from Minho himself is what is most heard.

"What I meant is that--" His voice is still harsh, still stern, and somehow, he manages to catch himself. He stops himself from continuing any further because he knows that if he keeps going, his temper would not allow him to stop. So he takes a moment, breathes deeply, and then starts over in a gentler voice. "What I meant is that that man does not deserve any of the trust you're giving him. Even more so the money he's asking for." He kneels on the floor on Taemin's side of the bed, uncrossing the younger's arms and taking the boy's hands in his. "He's insane if he thinks he's going to get anything out of this."

"What're you saying? I have to give it to him or-"

Minho cuts him off, a smirk gracing his lips as he looks up at Taemin. "We're just going to have to beat him to it."

I think you guys already know what Minho's up to. :)))) Predictability ftw! :((