Onew liked living in the dorm with the rest of SHINee.  He really did.  There had been times when some of them missed their families or their old homes, especially the younger members, but those times had passed quickly.  This was their new home, and their new family, and they felt a certain sense of belonging here.  As leader, Onew had done his best to make the others feel at home in the dorm.  Taemin, the maknae, had taken the longest to adjust to his new home, but when it was apparent that Taemin was fine, Onew finally relaxed.

Unfortunately, relaxing meant that he had time to think about himself a bit more.  He thought about his old home.  No, he wasn’t homesick.  He didn’t miss his family; he could visit them any time, and he liked it better here anyway.  There was, however, one thing which he really did miss.

Onew slipped into a bit of depression, which he tried his best to hide from the other members.  He thought he had done a pretty good job of it, too, but he didn’t realize how closely Taemin was always watching him.  Those sighs the leader would let escape when he thought no one was looking, Taemin saw them.  The fake smiles, the way he ate less chicken, how he spent more time by himself, the maknae noticed all of it.

Onew lay on his bed one evening staring at the ceiling above him, remembering what used to comfort him whenever he was down.  He missed the warmth of the cuddling.  There was nothing here to replace it, and he wasn’t allowed to bring it here with him.  “I miss my cat,” he sighed, unaware of the ear pressed against the bedroom door.

The eavesdropping maknae covered his hand with his mouth in surprise.  He never would have guessed that was what was bothering their leader!  He didn’t even know the older boy had a cat.  A smile crept to his lips as an idea struck him.  His favorite hyung had done so much for him already, and he wanted to help him in return.  Now he knew just how to do that.

The next day, during dance practice, Taemin was helping Onew work out a move the older boy had been struggling with for a while.  Onew just couldn’t make his body move in quite the right way.  Taemin was amazing!  How could he dance so well?  He pulled off the moves and made it look easy.  He looked so natural and relaxed.

Onew, on the other hand, was completely tense.  Taemin was scolding him for that.  “Hyung!  You have to relax more, you’re stiff as a board!”  The younger boy pouted and Onew had to hold back a laugh.

Taemin furrowed his brow.  “What’s so funny?”

Onew shook his head.  “Nothing.”  You’re just too adorable.

The maknae rolled his eyes.  “Moving on then.  Take a deep breath and let it out slowly.”  Onew complied.  “Do that a few more times, and try to relax your body.”

Onew breathed in and out, in and out, in and out.  He did this several times before Taemin stopped him.

“Now try that move again.  Stay relaxed.”

The leader tried the move, but he stiffened again as he started.  “No!  Stop!”  Taemin grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes.  “You’re waaaay too tense.  I think you’re trying too hard.”

Too hard?  Really?  How am I going to get the move right if I don’t try?!

“Try relaxing again, and then do the move again, but this time, don’t think about it.  Just do it, just let your body move on its own.  When you think too much you get all stiff.  Your body knows the move by now.  Just let it take over.”

Onew nodded and tried it again.  He breathed.  In, out, in, out…  He closed his eyes.  Then he started moving, letting his body take over.  When he was finished, he swallowed hard.  How did I do?  He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of Taemin’s adorable grin.

The maknae cheered.  “You did it, hyung!”  He ran forward and hugged the older boy tightly.  “You finally got it!  See?  I knew you could do it!”

Onew blinked, surprised.  Taemin had never hugged him before.  He wasn’t sure how to react, but when the younger boy didn’t pull away, Onew wrapped his arms around him, returning the hug.  He grinned.  “I did it!”

Taemin squeezed his arms around the leader a little tighter before he let go.  His grin widened, causing the leader’s breath to catch in his throat.  SO CUTE.  The maknae grabbed two bottles of water and tossed one to Onew.  “Let’s take a break for a bit.  You look exhausted.”

Onew smiled gratefully.  He opened the water and guzzled down about a third of the bottle before he stopped for air.  He glanced over at the younger boy and his smile returned.

Since that day, Taemin had been hugging Onew a lot.  Taemin must like hugs, Onew thought, and he certainly didn’t mind them either.  Taemin was so adorable it was practically impossible to refuse a hug from him anyway.

A few weeks after the first hug, Onew was sitting on the couch getting ready to watch a movie by himself.  He had been wanting to see this movie for a while but hadn’t gotten a chance to rent it until now.  Minho was reading a sports manga, Key was out and probably had Taemin with him, and Jonghyun was playing games on the computer, so none of them wanted to watch with him.  He got up to get some popcorn and just as he sat on the couch again, Taemin walked in the room, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“Hyung.  Whatchya doing?”

Onew blinked.  “Taemin?  I thought you were with Key.”

The maknae shook his head.  “Mm, I was sleeping.”

Onew smiled.  “Wanna watch a movie with me?”

The younger boy’s face lit up and he nodded.  The leader patted the spot next to him on the couch, and Taemin sat there.  He sat surprisingly close to the older boy and, even more surprisingly, leaned his head on his shoulder.  Onew just sat there stunned for a minute, popcorn and TV remote in his lap and maknae on his shoulder.

“…hyung?”  No response.  “Hyu~ung~”  Taemin picked his head up and poked Onew’s shoulder.  “Onew-hyung!”

Onew snapped out of it and looked at the younger boy.  “What?”

“Are you gonna start the movie?”

“Oh yeah…”

Onew pressed the play button and the movie started.  Taemin grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth before snuggling up against the leader, leaning his head on the older boy’s shoulder again.

Taemin became progressively more affectionately physical with Onew.  He hugged him whenever he got a chance, and when they were alone, he would snuggle up against the leader.  It started to seem like he was cuddling.  Sometimes he would even nuzzle his face into Onew’s neck.  Each new step Taemin took up the cuddly affection scale surprised Onew at first, but he became used to it after a while, and he couldn’t deny that he liked it.  The maknae’s actions were starting to remind him of his cat.

One night Onew had a nostalgic dream.  In his dream, he was lying on his bed back in his old home, in the room he grew up in.  So many memories flooded his mind as he looked around the room and saw everything on the walls and the bookshelf and on his old desk.  It was so familiar, yet so strange to him at the same time.  He couldn’t quite put his finger on what was wrong.

The door was open a crack.  It creaked open more and a small head poked itself through.  Its eyes met his.  Onew smiled.  He patted a space next to him on his bed and the cat pushed the door and entered the room.  The feline jumped up onto the bed and curled up next to him, snuggling against his side and nuzzling its wet nose in Onew’s hand.

Then suddenly, something changed.  The creature next to him wasn’t a cat.  It was much larger, and the feel of the creature was strikingly familiar.  The creature – a human, Onew now recognized – lifted its head, and Onew found himself staring straight into the eyes of his favorite dongsaeng, Taemin.  He was stunned.  Why was he dreaming about Taemin?  It must have been caused by the way Taemin had been acting lately.  He had grown quite accustomed to Taemin’s cat-like habits.  Had his subconscious been associating Taemin with his old cat?

Onew felt as if he was half-awake now, drifting out of his sleep and back in.  Was it morning already?  It was impossible to tell time while dreaming.  Some dreams were short but took hours, some were long but took minutes.  The weight and warmth of Taemin next to him suddenly felt a bit too real.  But that meant…

Onew gasped and opened his eyes, jerking out of his sleep.  He felt the weight shifting beside him, followed by a warm pair of arms wrapping themselves around him.  “…Taemin?”

“Hmm?” he heard the maknae mumble sleepily.  “Oh…you’re awake?”

Onew frowned slightly.  “Why are you here?”  Even with all the cuddling Taemin had done, he had never snuggled into Onew’s bed with him before.  He had never imagined that to be something Taemin would consider doing.  Quite frankly, the leader was shocked, though not necessarily displeased.  It was warm and comfortable.  He kind of liked having Taemin there, and he almost regretted questioning his presence, afraid the maknae might get up and return to his own bed.  He didn’t want to lose the warm body next to him.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Taemin replied, burying his face against Onew’s chest and tightening his arms around him.  Then came his muffled question, “Can I stay here, hyung?”

Onew found himself smiling.  “Sure.”

Taemin snuggled closer.  “Goodnight hyung,” he whispered.

“Goodnight Taeminnie.”  Onew knew it was his imagination, but he almost thought he heard Taemin purr.  He closed his eyes and easily fell back into a comfortable sleep.

The next morning, Key came to wake Onew as usual, and he nearly fell over at the sight that met him.  The leader and the maknae were sleeping in the same bed, snuggled up together, with their limbs tangled, and their faces so close that their breath mingled.  He freaked out and ran out of the room before either of the other boys could wake up and see him there.

After that incident, Key watched the two more closely, and noticed how intimate their relationship had become.  He grew increasingly jealous of all the hugs Onew received from their precious maknae.  Onew just assumed Taemin liked hugs a lot, and he never noticed that he was the only one getting the hugs until Key confronted them one day.  He smiled at the maknae.

“Taebaby, can I have a hug?”  He spread his arms invitingly.

Taemin shook his head and wrapped his arms around Onew’s waist.

Key frowned.  “Aw, come on...umma wants a hug too.”

In response, Taemin only clung more tightly to Onew, who was nonplussed.

Key pouted.  “Humph…fine.”  He folded his arms and walked away, leaving a confused Onew with a clingy maknae.

“Taemin…”  Onew pried the younger boy’s arms off of him.  He looked into Taemin’s eyes.  “I thought you liked hugs.”

“I do,” Taemin stated simply.  He beamed.  “I like hugging you!”

Onew scratched his head, only more confused than before.  “But…”  He wrinkled his forehead in thought as he tried to work it out.  “Why only me?  Why are you doing this, Tae?”

Taemin’s smile softened and his eyes twinkled.  “You miss your cat, right hyung?”

The leader froze in surprise.  His cat?  Yes, he missed his cat, but how could Taemin possibly have known that?  He wasn’t aware that the younger boy even knew he had a cat.  He noticed Taemin was still waiting for an answer, so he nodded slowly.

“Well…”  The maknae hugged him tightly.  “I’m being your cat!”

Onew smiled, wrapping his arms around Taemin gently.  That’s so sweet…  “You’re so precious, Taemin.  You’re much better than my cat ever was.”

Much better…and I’m glad you’re my maknae.