Minho's POV

I keep running until I'm certain no one is chasing me. I'm a few blocks away from my apartment complex when I stop to take a rest. I stare back at the distance I've run, pretty far from Taemin's neighborhood. A fear creeps up my spine, but I shake it off. Taemin will be fine. He's smart and strong, and I believe in him. He can handle this.

After I catch my breath, I continue walking on at a leisurely pace. I reach home and walk in the door to find Siwon doing the dishes.

"Hello, my dear brother. How was your dinner date?"

I shrugged and passed behind him to get to the refrigerator. "It was alright."

Siwon puts down the plate that he's washing and turns to me. "Don't give me that crap, Minho. Something happened; I can hear it in your voice."

I try to remain nonchalant. "Nothing really happened. We did our lesson, we ate dinner, and then I left."

"Damn it, Minho! What happened?"

"We almost kissed," I smile smugly as I pass behind him again and walk over to sit on the couch.

"WHAT?! Seriously?!" he runs over and sits down next to me. "How did it happen? Who initiated it?"

"Pretty much me," I say, thinking back to that mind-boggling moment. "I told him he had whipped cream on his lips, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to kiss him, so I just kinda leaned in before he could wipe it off."

"What was his reaction?"

"Well, he seemed a little scared at first, but the closer I got, the more he seemed to want it."

Siwon squeals. "It's love! So what happened? How come you didn't go through with it?"

I sighed and bit my lip. "His dad came home. He didn't see me because Taemin told me to run. But his dad seemed pretty angry. When I was turning to run, I heard him yelling something. Something like, "That better not be that you've been with!"

Siwon stares hesitantly for a moment before speaking. "Does Taemin have a girlfriend?"

"Of course he doesn't."

"Are you positive about that?"

I'm about to speak again when a thought hits me. What if he does? He's definitely been hiding from me lately. But he likes me, doesn't he? Isn't that why he was totally cool with our almost-kiss? Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he knows I like him and he doesn't want to tell me the truth. He doesn't want to tell me he just wans to be friends because he has a girlfriend already. Maybe...just maybe...

"That's a ridiculous idea. Taemin's gay."

Siwon laughs. "So what? You are too, and you still had a girlfriend when you were about his age. What was her name? Jessica?"

"Don't bring her up," I grip my temples. I've tried to erase the memories of attempting to live a normal high school life by dating the head cheerleader. Should have known that in my case, the cliche was true: the head cheerleader is a total addict who only dates guys that will do her and probably carries hundreds of STDs. Girls are crazy. That's why I prefer men.

"All I'm trying to say," Siwon becomes serious again. "is that gay people have straight tendencies just like straight people have gay tendencies. It's very possible he could have a girlfriend on the down-low, trying to maintain his image."

Yes, the image that he so excitedly plays out. The scrawny, nerdy, little gay boy that I've fallen in love with because I see everything that they don't. I sigh as Siwon pats my knee before getting up and returning to his dishwashing.

Taemin can't have a girlfriend. He just can't.

~~~~~

Taemin's POV

I wake up with Appa's voice in my head. "That better not be that you've been with!"

"Appa, it's nobody! See? There's nobody here!"

He popped my face. It wasn't that hard, but it still stung. "I saw someone there. Don't you dare lie to me!  There was someone standing right there talking to you."

I nearly choked on the smell of alcohol in his breath as he gripped my collar tighter. "There was nobody here."

"Go to bed, Taemin," he released me gruffly, causing me to stagger back and fall onto the porch. "You are GROUNDED. That means no phone, no friends' houses, and none can come obver here, you understand me? I'll have to discuss this with your Umma. Though I'm sure he'll just stick up for your sorry like always."

He then went inside and I gathered myself before following. He waited until I was up the stairs and had closed the door before he started firing at Umma.

"Taemin, honey? Won't you come down for breakfast?" Umma's voice seems tired and sad. I imagine him walking around the kitchen with a stifled limp like he always does when Appa "punishes" him. I can't bare to see him like that. I quickly change into my uniform and brush my teeth before going downstairs to retrieve my schoolbag and jacket. And then I leave. All the way to school, I feel like crying. I know when Umma realizes I'm gone, it will break his heart. But it would be too painful to see his spirit already broken. All because of me.

The school day moves on in a depressing and agonizingly slow pace. However, Yoona's company puts me slightly at ease. She's so sweet! Honestly, if I was straight. I think I'd end up marrying her. Too bad my heart already has different plans.

"Taemin," Yoona whispers to me in math class as I finish up my work. "Are you good at history?"

"I have a perfect score in that class," I whisper with a quiet laugh. "So apparently yes."

"Can you tutor me?" I look up and see her pleading face. "Like today? After school? I have this huge test tomorrow, and I really just can't understand the notes since our teacher's bad at Korean. Please, Taemin Oppa?"

I flinch slightly at the term she used. I'd never been called anyone's Oppa. How am I supposed to bring her over? Appa was very clear with his rules, and plus I have tutoring myself with Minho! But Yoona looks so desperate for the help, and I can definitely help her. Ugh.

"Okay. Let me use your phone after school so I can call and ask my Umma," I finish the problem I'm working on and flip my paper over.

"Really? Omo! Thank you, Oppa!" she leans over and kisses my cheek, doing an adorable happy dance in her seat.

I feel a slight blush creep up my cheeks. Wow. A kiss from a girl. It was definitely different. But nothing compares to Minho's temple kisses. Nothing.

~

"Umma? This is Taemin. Is Appa home?"

"Yeah, he is," Umma sighs on the other side of the phone. "You might as well go on over to Minho's house. I'll tell your father you had to stay after school for something. No big deal."

"Umm...about that," I bite my lip and grip Yoona's little pink cell phone tighter. "I was wondering if I could bring Yoona over. She really needs help for a test tomorrow, so she needs me to tutor her."

"Who's Yoona?"

"My girlfriend."

There's a silence, and I know it's because Umma's hurt. He doesn't like it even if he knows it's not all the true. "Hold on a minute, please," I hear him choke out before setting the phone down and walk off into another room. There's some muffled shouts and a loud crash in the background before I hear Umma's footsteps return. I cringe slightly at his tone. "You can bring her. But only until I have dinner ready."

"Araso, Umma," I reply, and he hangs up.

"So, can we go?" Yoona asks as I hand her phone back.

I nod, and she cheers before taking my hand. I swallow hard and lead her down back streets to avoid people seeing us. What am I doing? Seriously.

When did life become this confusing?

~~~~~

Minho's POV

I walked into the convenience store quickly. Taemin's Umma had called and told me Taemin would be having his tutoring at my house today. Sure did catch me at a bad time; I'm completely lacking in banana milk! I had to hurry and get some so I could still beat Taemin home.

Ring Ding Dong, Ring Ding Dong.

"Neh, yoboseyo?"

"Minho? Hey. It's Key again. Taemin's Umma."

"Oh, hey," I greet as I walk through the store in search of the refrigerated aisles.

"Umm...Taemin will not be partaking in your tutoring today. He got home and said he wasn't feeling all that well. So I think it would be best if he just stayed home and rested."

"Oh no, that's terrible," I stop walking just as I reach the banana milk. "Well, I really hope he feels better."

"Thanks," he's quiet for a moment before he chokes out something else. "He's really upset that he has to miss today's session. He enjoys your tutoring so much."

I nod and sigh. "Yeah, I do too," suddenly my gaze jumps across the store as a familiar figure appears.

"I know you do, honey," Key seems to be on the brink of tears. Why? Is Taemin okay? I'm about to ask when he speaks again. "I'll let you know, okay? Take care."

The line goes dead and I continue staring at the guy across the store. I then walk and muster up some courage to speak.

"Hey, Jonghyun-ssi?"

Jonghyun turns around and meets my eyes. "Oh, Minho. Hi there."

"Fancy running into you here, " I say, making light conversation. "I'm still waiting for that outing with you and Taemin. Sounds like fun!"

Jonghyun cringes, and I realize I've hit a nerve. "I don't think that will be happening anytime soon. You see...Taemin and I aren't exactly friends anymore."

I try to act shocked. This is my chance to get some information. "Really? What happened?"

He sighs and shakes his head. "You just think you know somebody, you know? But in reality, you don't really know anything. Like, when we ran into you at the ice cream shop, I really thought he liked you. I thought I knew what his eyes looked like when he truly liked a guy. But I was totally wrong. I was wrong about...everything." 

"Why would you think you're wrong?"

"Because he's totally straight. He told me that himself! How could you just...how could you just pretend like that? How could you just toy with people's feelings? Who does that?"

My eyes widen as a tight lump forms in my throat. "You could be mistaken.Taemin doesn't seem like that type of person."

Jonghyun shakes his head again, and I see tears threaten to fall from his eyes. "He's got this girlfriend now. Yoona. I mean, she's pretty and everything, but I can't be happy for him, you know? Especially when he's tutoring her tonight. I wonder if that what he's been sneaking around for lately."

Every part of my body turns to stone. He's doing what? With who?

"Hey, Minho, are you okay?"

I ignore him and walk past. I hear him protest a few more times before I'm out of the store. Once I hit the street, I start running. The more I think about Taemin, the faster I run. I pause for a breath briefly outside his house. When I notice his Appa's car parked in the driveway, I ran around to the back of the house. I find the big window that looks into their living room and stop, letting the scene sink in.

Taemin is sitting on the couch, going over notes with a girl. Her face looks perplexed until he starts explaining. He laughs. She laughs. She starts writing something down, and I look over and see Key standing in the corner of the room, facing me. He acknowledges me before turning back to the scene without a care. Taemin pokes the girl's nose. She pouts for a moment, but then she leans in and kisses him. Taemin seems to freeze for a moment, but then he leans into it, kissing her back. Key immediately turns away and faces me again, tears rolling down his cheeks. I feel like doing the same as the lump in my throat begins to strangle me. Key shoos me away, as if to save me, so I start running again, all the way to my apartment. 

When I arrive, I find the door to be locked, meaning that Siwon is still out at the gym. I take this opportunity to drink a glass of water, lock myself in my room, throw myself on my bed...

...and cry.

~~~~~

Angst. Sorry. There's gonna be a lot for a while.

This is crap. But I've had, like, so much to do and kinda just threw this thing together. I didn't even edit it as much as I wanted to.

More to come, though. Hopefully better chapters. SHERLOCK SHOULD GIVE ME INSPIRATION~ D:

Comments help me sleep at night, so please leave nice ones. :)