One Month Ago

Minho halted to a stop, falling onto soft grass nearby a calm river, not far from the apartment complex which they lived in. He couldn’t believe what he had done to his beautiful Taeminnie. He promised to protect him no-matter what, never let himself or others lay a hand on him. Now look at what he had done, and seeing Minnie’s shocked face wasn’t the worst part. It was the look in Taemin’s innocent eyes, the shock, the horror and the sadness. He hit the ground in frustration, why did he run away? he felt like such a coward.

“Min? Is that you?” A soft voice came from behind him.

His heart and stomach restricted and he hoped, prayed that what he was hearing wasn’t true.  Though god wasn’t on his side this time as a small boy with gorgeous auburn hair sat down next to him. He could see Taemin trying to make eye contact, but Minho wouldn’t allow himself to lift his own eyes. Guilt and anger still whirled around inside him.

“What a beautiful view, ahh Minho, you could always pick the best spots to sit.” Taemin smiled at the sunset.

Minho stayed silent, seeing him cheery and not getting angry was making him hate himself more. Why wasn’t he angry? Minho had acted like a coward and bolted from the scene without so much as an apology. Feeling the tension, Taemin spoke;

“I’m not angry because it was an accident Min, you didn’t mean to hurt me.” Taemin bent forward trying to look into Minho’s eyes.

Finally feeling courage, he lifted his eyes and looked straight at the boy’s nose. It was bruised and dried with blood.

“It looks bad, but it doesn’t hurt, honest,” Taemin smiled, trying to lighten the dank mood that clouded Minho, “You know I would never lie to you Min.”
“I am so sorry, I never should have-“ Minho held back threatening tears because he needed to stay strong for the junior.
“Min. Please don’t be sad.” He tried to smile because he couldn’t make Taemin sad anymore, not after what he did.

They sat in silence for a little while before Taemin’s voice cut through the air, piercing the now darkened skies.

“Min, why did you fight again Jonghyun and Key? I thought you would be among the ones to be ok with it.” Taemin questioned.
“He wasn’t thinking when he did what he did, how this is going to affect all of us.” Minho replied.
“It shouldn’t matter, we’re family, and families stick together always, no matter what. “ Taemin replied.
“But what about-“ Minho started.
“I don’t care if I never get to dance in a performance again. It would kill me, but if Jonghyun could be who he really was, If he could be happy, I couldn’t care less. What would if I had come out instead of Jonghyun, would your reaction have been the same.”  Taemin questioned.

For a second, Minho’s heart skipped a beat and his hopes rose for just a second. He then realised he said he was “hypothetically”. Losing all hope he replied;

“It would have differed slightly but I still would have also been concerned about everyone else’s well-being of the group. But, I suppose family is forever, I will go apologise to Jonghyun and Key.” Minho rose off the ground and Taemin bounded around cheerfully.

“I am so sorry again Taeminnie-“ He started again but was cut off.
“Don’t apologize again, it’s fine Min.” he smiled cheerfully and gently grabbed Minho’s hand and skipped along beside him.

As Minho tried to stay focused, he couldn’t help but feel guilty that the reason he was so angry that Jonghyun confessed to everyone he was gay, because he was jealous that he didn’t do it first. He was worried it would break up the group and destroy their friendships considering he had feelings for a certain Auburn haired dancer.

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Present

The plane rocked gently beneath their seats as they stayed low key in the back of the Coach Class. Wearing sunglasses, hats and dressed down clothes, no-one had yet recognised them which was good news. Onew sat quietly watching a comedy show and he would chuckle every known and again and Taemin had fallen asleep on Minho’s shoulder.

 As much as they would miss performing, it was time for them to move on, and live like regular people. They had spent most of their young lives doing what everyone told them to, always smiling and obeying, but this time, what they were doing, was for themselves. They were going to start anew, something they always dreamed of. Smiling, Minho leaned back on his seat and enjoyed the quiet, smooth journey.

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A/N: This was more of a 2min chapter and I also wanted to give you some insight as to what Taemin, Onew and Minho were up too. I also wanted to make sure it was clear on why Minho was so angry at Jonghyun.  Also, I am sorry if Taemin or Minho are a bit out of character but thank you for reading, please take the time and leave some comments. Thank you very much~!