My house was a good 15 minute walk from school, Minho's house was 5 minutes away from mine but Taemin had to take a bus home because his house was in another place entirely. Minho and I would walk Tae to the bus stand and precede our silent walk home, it was routine.

However, not once before did we have anyone else accompany us on our walks, especially one that talked a lot, which translates to Kim Kibum. So far he had told me he and Minho were in the same class, Jonghyun and he were neighbors and childhood friends, his favorite color is pink and that he couldn’t take a person seriously if they had a bad sense of fashion. And we were only at the school gate so far.

I liked Kibum, I decided. He was talkative, lively and kind but it was also clear that being on his bad side wouldn’t be a fun thing to do, and I had known this boy for less than 30 minutes.

Kibum had pointed out that I was one of the few with the blessed opportunity to call him Key, and so I told him I would. After that he went on to talk to Minho, leaving Jonghyun and I to walk behind the two of them.

We walked close together on the footpath, close enough for the occasional brushing together of our hands and shoulders, sending shivers up my spine. Key turned back to look at us often as if checking on our situation, finally giving in I decided to start a conversation.

"How far is your house from here?" I asked Jonghyun, who was trying to avoid my gaze as I asked him this. I tried hard to study his expression, he looked like he was a little flustered. "I-I actually stay in the opposite direction" he admitted while running his fingers through his thick black hair. Then realization dawned on me. Kim Jonghyun was walking me to my house, not walking with me.

I could feel my cheeks burn from embarrassment, I didn’t know how to take this new piece of information. Was he being my friend or was this pay up for ignoring me? Or maybe even he liked me..

No silly, I chastised myself upon realizing Key had been the one who insisted we walk together. But yet, Jonghyun had proposed the idea first, joke or not. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and tried to look away but caught Key staring at me, smiling widely like he accomplished something. Trying harder I looked past him and realized I had already reached my house, only that there was someone outside. He was sitting on the ground, his knees drawn close to his chest and his hands wrapped around them protectively, his clothes were dirty with pieces of trash clinging onto the fabric of his sweater and his hair, identical to mine.

I was at his side in a heartbeat, calling his name and shaking his shoulders. "Taemin, Taemin!!" I screamed frantically, kneeling down beside him for a better view.

He smelled like he had been dumped in the trash can and evidence of that fact clung to his uniform, he had dirt all over him too and tears spilled from his eyes as he looked up at me. "Hyu-yu-ng", he managed to say, his voice breaking twice when saying the one word. I helped him to his feet and unlocked the door.

By the time I turned around I saw Key of all people carry his bag and help him inside. Taemin sat on the couch and the rest of us followed to stand next to him and waited for an explanation. Walking to him, I bent to the floor and started folding Taemins pants up to his knees to reveal the scrapped wounds I knew were there.

I didn’t waste a moment and rushed to clean the wounds as Taemin flinched and tried his best to deal with the pain and stop his tears. Key was seated beside him and was carefully removing what he could from Taemins sweater. It was only then that Taemin noticed Key and the others in the room. I too, took a look around the suddenly crowded room.

Key was there, his sly smile vanished and replaced by a caring and comforting one. His fingers gentle as he combed Taemin's hair. Minho stood in a far corner, no longer looking calm and composed but angry and unset