*****************************EDITED 31/05/2017**********************

I tried to get it here as quickly as I could. I've been sick, sorry.

But here it is. Enjoy :)

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Chapter five

this place is big, Key thought to himself as he explored his new home for the next two weeks or so. When he had booked at that hotel he had done it with poor Mr Gail’s card, which he had managed to acquire by his usual means. Key had initially gone for the most expensive next available room but due to his latest con, he had had to give it up for the one he was currently in. No matter how he looked at it, however, he was well set.

He couldn’t help but quietly thank the er he screwed over for being rich and careless with his private details; otherwise he’d probably be staying at a dingy hotel somewhere downtown and that was something he really didn’t care to do at any point.

He walked around his beautiful room after removing his unwanted shoes, of course, and took a full tour of the place. It was gigant-enormous! As he viewed the chic interior and ultra-expensive deco, he couldn’t help but marvel at all they had provided in the space of one hotel room. 

! Key thought in excitement. After the longest time of riding his hyung’s tailcoat and only experiencing the full joys of his job vicariously through listening to stories, he kind of felt cheated by Onew. Never had he known until then just how rewarding it could be to live off of stolen money. He was simply amazed that he’d gotten all this, all in a day’s work!

  “Yes?” Key heard himself saying in response to a knock on his door. When the person on the other side failed to identify himself Key decided to ignore them and started making his way to a yet another unexplored corner on the far end of the hotel room – though could you really call it a room? To him it seemed more like an apartment… a very cheap apartment. Were hotels rooms even supposed to be so spacious?

“WHAT IS IT?” Key was highly annoyed when the stranger at his door simply failed to take a hint and leave but started incessantly knocking on his door. Key irately made his way to the door and swung it open like it weighed less than nothing, causing it to bang against the wall and fly back in time for him to stop it with his hand.

“WHAT? Oh, Taemin!” Key found himself backing down at the sight of the startled man at his door.

   “I’m sorry to bother you hyung. I-I’ll just comeback later.” He said timidly and began turning around.

“No Taemin. I’m glad you’re here. Come in. And don’t mind me; I get a little cranky after travelling for hours on end.” Key explained.

“You just got here hyung, to London?” Taemin asked interestedly and watched as Key nodded his head in reply. “I just got here too hyung, from the US.” Key’s ears perked up with interest.

“You came here from the US?” he asked in surprise.

“Yup” Taemin said cheerfully.

“Same here. What were you doing there? And alone? I assume you were alone since you’re alone now.” Key led them to the living area and motioned for Taemin to sit down. “Do you want something to drink?” he asked.

“Sure hyung,” Taemin smiled up thankfully at the man and watched as he nodded and walked towards the open-plan kitchen that came as part of the room.

“I was in the States but not alone. I’m never really alone, well not usually.” Taemin continued as he marvelled at the interior of the room. His was the same but still…

“Hyung, have you ever seen a hotel room like this? Can you even call this a hotel room? This place is huge!”

“I know right?!” Key couldn’t help but to pop his head out from the cupboard where he was busying himself looking for ingredients for coffee. “I’ve never been to London before but I’m pretty sure this isn’t really a hotel per se. All I know is that I really appreciate the space in this place… Taemin-ah?” Key suddenly had a thought to solve an imminent issue he found himself having to face at that moment.

“Yes hyung?”

 “How about we just go downstairs and have some coffee somewhere?” He asked, hoping the other would agree because he just realised that the cupboards were all empty.

“Okay! “ Key was glad when Taemin enthusiastically agreed. “And we should also just grab something to eat while we’re at it.  I assume they expect you to bring your own stuff in if you want to cook.” He explained.

Taemin got up from his seat and made his way to the door where he waited for Key.

“What kind of hotel is this any way?” Key asked in a frustrated tone as he put on his shoes at the door and stepped out into the corridor after Taemin.

“I’m just as confused as you hyung.” Taemin said as they started making their way to the elevator.

“We should probably use the stairs.” Taemin suggested when they reached it.

“Why?” Key asked in bafflement at the suggestion. Taemin couldn’t help but to laugh at the man’s reaction. “We’re only on the second floor Key-hyung!” he said in playful reprimand.

“So?” Key asked as the elevator finally opened and they stepped in. “They made these things to be used, second floor or not.” He countered.

Taemin found he was speechless at the man’s logic, or lack thereof, and decided to just let him be instead of arguing. A silence passed between them as they made their way down and out into the fresh air of the London streets.

“So where d’you wanna go eat?” Key asked after they wandered around for a short while. Taemin took a moment to look around and spotted a place across the street that looked like a good place to eat. He pointed towards it, Key nodded and they made their way across the road and into a warm, dimly lit space that smelled of strong coffee and freshly baked goods. Key found himself instantly quivering in approval as he glanced over to see Taemin’s reaction to the place. The other seemed equally impressed as was confirmed by the anticipating smile he suddenly adorned. Key smiled at the excitement in the other man’s eyes; the prospect of the food that was surely to come making his mouth water.

“Shall we sit?” Key asked as he motioned for Taemin to lead the way. Without hesitation the other made his way to an empty table and as they got themselves seated and comfortable Key motioned for a waiter at the small café to come attend to them. “Each of them made their order when the waiter arrived – Key was impressed by the other’s English – and could do nothing else but wait for their food after their drinks arrived.

“Why’re you never alone?” Key had wanted to ask back in his room but had found himself a bit distracted at the time.

“Huh?” Taemin was taken aback by the question.

“You said you’re never really alone when I asked earlier. Why’s that?” Key clarified.

“Oh,” Taemin said and contemplated for a second whether  or not to get into his life issues with a man he’d just met not hours ago, but only for a second did his contemplation last. Things were about to change so he figured ‘what the hell’
  “Well, my father… he… never lets me out of his sight. And if it’s not him that’s watching me then it’s one of our seemingly endless queues of guards always following me around. I’m honestly sick of it. It tires me to no end that he still thinks I need to be babied like some fragile child.” Taemin explained. Key perked a brow in interest.

“So I assume you’re some rich kid who likes to complain about everything regardless of the fact that you probably have everything laid down at your feet, is that it?” Key almost considered changing his mind about making Taemin a target but his mind was firmed by the young man’s next words.

“It’s not like that hyung! I honestly want nothing more to do with my father’s money. I never have understood why money was and still is the centre of his world. All he’s ever really cared about in life is money and what it can buy him, not forgetting the power it gives him over people. I’ve never cared for his attitude, nor do I ever intend on caring for it either. All I want is to be happily independent of him so I can do what I love to do.” Taemin vented his frustrations with a fiery passion that surprised Key. It seemed he didn’t really care that he’d only known the man in front of him for no longer than half a day, he simply has a lot to let loose and he seemed willing to speak to whomever would listen. Key understood the feeling all too well.

“And what exactly is it that you want?” Key asked, genuine interest for the boy (and not his money, not anymore) sparking within him. He progressively inched closer to the other male as they spoke until they sat in a more intimate position, both of them with both elbows resting on the table between them, their bodies leaning towards each other , Taemin sat with his hands balled together and just nearly brushing Key’s.

“I wanna dance.” He spoke and Key’s eyes brightened at the revelation.

“You dance!” He couldn’t help but be excited by the new information the younger man had just given him. He knew they had to have something in common for him to have even wanted to spend time with him. Perhaps he’d been subconsciously drawn to him.

  “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.” Taemin admitted, seeing the sudden change in the atmosphere of their conversation and jumping on the chance to move on to a happier topic.

“I love to dance! That was my thing back home.” Key exclaimed excitedly. Any time anyone brought up dancing he seemed to turn into a little kid again; a kid who’d been more innocent and more carefree than the person he had turned out to be.

At some point in Key’s life, when he was still Kibum and not quite Key, he had a passion for dance that burned the streets and stages of all the places he’d ever deigned to dance just for the joy of dancing. He had once been convinced that he would become a great dancer, renowned for his talent all over the world. But as time passed and he got older, people started to expect things from him that he just couldn’t give them and the pressure he got from the need to take care of his only hope and real love in life, his grandmother, well that pressure caused him to resort to lying, cheating and stealing to make sure he and his halmoni would have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs and a place to rest their hearts at the end of every night that passed while Kibum was turning into Key.

Yes, Key loved dance, but it was a mere ghost of his past that haunted him every once in a while, just like in that very moment. 

“‘Was’ hyung? Why not ‘is’?” Taemin asked as he watched the light fade from Key’s eyes as quickly as it had appeared.  Key looked to the side and thought back to his childhood days for just a brief moment before answering.

“I had to grow up and be a man for my family. Dancing never got me anywhere in life so it faded into the background and became part of what ‘was’ and not what ‘is’” He shrugged as he finished and before Taemin could comment on just how sad that was, the food arrived.

“AH!” Key exclaimed as he set his sights on the creamy pasta before him. He was surprised that a café even had such a dish on their menu but he wouldn’t complain. As long as his taste buds were happy and his tummy was full.

Taemin also forgot about all of their sadness at the arrival of their food and busied himself with eating so quickly that he just barely managed to mutter a brief bon appetite before digging in. It had been a long day and his stomach was feeling neglected so he focused all his attention on filling it.

*

There was a man walking out in the cold air on a London night. He was cold and hungry so he decided to walk into a Café not so far from the place he was staying.

 It was warm inside and it smelled like coffee and freshly baked goods. The smell made him want a muffin, a chocolate muffin, a very big chocolate muffin, so he looked around for a table but found that it was quite full. Disappointment filled his heart as he made his way to the counter to make an order anyway; better to eat back at the hotel than to not eat at all right? He talked briefly with the lady at the counter about what he wished to order and resigned himself to wait while his order was processed and prepared.

Taking a moment to busy his eyes with the task of scanning the place more thoroughly, he spotted something, or rather someone, which caused his heart to jump in his chest.

‘This can’t be happening to me’, the man muttered as he turned abruptly and tried to pretend that he hadn’t seen who he’d seen.  The lady at the counter had just handed him his order when he heard the worst thing he had heard in a long time coming from a table not so far behind him.

“Yah, Minho!” the voice called.

Minho tried to ignore the call and headed towards the door but before he could reach his destination Key was up and grabbed hold of his wrist. Because of this Minho found he has no other choice than to acknowledge Key’s presence.

“Yes?  How can I help you?” Minho asked stiffly as he tried to remove himself from Key’s hold.

 Key pulled him towards his and Taemin’s table and sat him down at the third chair at their table, ignoring the protests he got from the man in his grip.

“More like how can I help you?” Key retorted sarcastically and pointed to Taemin.

  “This is Taemin. Taemin this is Minho. He stole my cab today and caused me hell on the flight here so you don’t have to be too nice to him.” Key said to Taemin and Minho rolled his eyes at the introduction but bowed to Taemin all the same. Taemin returned the bow and quietly chuckled at the brashness on his new friend.

Then something struck Minho. This is Taemin… Lee Taemin, my target! How the hell hadn’t he realised that all this time his target was right in front of him, smiling at him and sharing a meal with Key?! Of all people Taemin could have made fast friends with, Key just had to be the one.

Minho could feel his body starting to overheat in a panic and he suddenly found that he was extremely uncomfortable with his current situation as it was. He couldn’t help but to hate Key for putting him in such a position. How was he supposed to tail Taemin without being recognised or noticed now?

Thanks plenty Key, he thought sourly as he sent a glare in Key’s direction. Thanks for nothing!

“What?” Key asked when he noticed the looks he was getting from Minho. He didn’t like them one bit and he quite frankly didn’t care for the tense atmosphere Minho was creating with his mood, and after Key was so kind as to let him sit at their table.

“Nothing,” Minho said and straightened up in his chair. He took his food out of its bag and asked for a plate to put it on, “I was just doing some thinking. Not that you would know anything about that.” He mumbled as he stuffed some food into his mouth.

“Be careful not to hurt yourself trying to work that brain of yours!” Key struck back in an offended manner. He then turned his attention back to Taemin who had been watching the two in amusement.  “Do you have any plans for tomorrow? I want to do some shopping around town and it’d be nice to have someone to shop with. Wanna come?”  Key perched his chin in his connected hands as he tried his hardest to ignore the sulking man next to him and made plans with the one in front of him.

“I don’t really have plans, no.” Taemin answered as he watched Minho from the corner of his eye before turning his attention fully to him, “Do you have any plans, Minho-hyung? We could all do something together?” he then suggested to Minho’s astonishment.

  Key’s eyes nearly popped out at the suggestion as the prospect of spending the full day with Minho irked him to no end.

Minho considered declining the offer but when he saw Key’s reaction to the suggestion he willingly jumped on it.

 “Sure thing. I’ll be more than happy to join you two.” He replied gleefully, sending a victorious grin off in Key’s direction just to rub him the wrong way.  Key huffed and finished his meal, pushing his plate aside and folding his arms, a new idea donning on him.

“Fine then, all three of us can go shopping tomorrow but we go where I say and that’s that!” He commanded and Minho simply shrugged while Taemin nodded excitedly.

“You seem to have good taste hyung so I really don’t mind.” Taemin complemented, looking at Key’s outfit. Minho merely crossed his arms and smiled as a new strategy formed in his mind about how to eliminate his prey.

“What are you smiling about?” Key asked, slightly alarmed by Minho’s sudden change in attitude. Minho shrugged his shoulders once more before broadening his smile.

“Nothing” He mumbled while inside he thought about how much closer he was to completing his mission. As much as Key had ruined any previous plans he had made in regards to his target by introducing him to Taemin, he could at least rest easy knowing that he had his enemy closer than he had anticipated. Taemin was just within his reach.

***

Hey dear subbies :) 

Hope yo've all been well. If you've noticed,I'm actually editing this fic a bit quicker than usual so lets hope I can keep it up. With any luck I can do two edits a month and get the ball rolling on this one. I know that I've kept you all waiting for this fic for far too long and I truly am sorry. I hope this chapt is a far better version of the old version for those of you who have read it but to those who are reading this fic for the first time, I hope you are enjoying it.

Please DO let me know what you think and continue supporting this fic. 

Thank you for reading :D

Stay well everyone <3

Til next time.