Monday rolled by with the same routine. Mino, for the first time ever, dreaded the class he shared with Taehyun. His friends have got something up their sleeves, but they won't tell him what, not even his best friend Zico. He did not even go early this time, instead, he trudged along with his friends as they laughed and talked among themselves. Zico came over to him, putting his arm around his shoulders and patted his chest.

"You worried or something, bro? Don't worry, this plan is going to work so perfectly that Taeyang guy won't even know what hit him." he assured his nervous friend.

"It's Taehyun." Mino corrected.

"He's your crush not mine", Zico defended his mistake as they reached their classroom.

Mino prayed Taehyun won't come to class today, and he prayed again so his previous prayer won't be answered. He had already spent the weekend without seeing the perfect boy so he didn't want to go through the gloomy Monday without that same face cheering him up a little.

Taehyun's hair was back to the middle parting again, and he wore black tribal earrings in the shape of a curved horn. Mino was happy to be able to draw that hair. After the class ended, but before the Professor could announce his leave, he spotted Zico moving towards the front of the classroom. His eyes followed him in alarm as he went up the elevated podium to discuss something with the professor. Mino's heart started palpitating. If Zico embarrassed him in front of Taehyun he's going to be so dead, Mino's hands balled in a fist. 

The professor left the classroom without any other word and Zico was left standing up there. 

"Attention everyone, I have an important announcement to make," Zico started and Mino bolted up from his seat. P.O stopped him, pulling his arm.

"Let him continue, I assure you, it's not going to be bad," he assured Mino. Mino roughly shook his hands away but went back to his seat nonetheless.

"This concerns the project we have due... which includes you, 50:50 haired boy," Zico said directing his gaze towards Taehyun who was halfway up his seat, looking like he was ready to leave. "So if you'd please listen?"

Taehyun sat back down without a word and Zico breathed a sigh of relief. There would be no point to his announcement if the boy in question was not there.

"I have been appointed the unofficial administrator of the class," Zico said, lying through his crooked teeth while P.O. and Kyung snickered. "So you have to tell me who you're going to partner with so that we won't have anyone without a partner okay. How many people do we have in the class?" he asked the students.

"22," someone from the front row answered.

"Okay, that's good, we won't have to worry about extra members. Since we don't have this class tomorrow, you decide your partners by tomorrow and let me know on Wednesday okay," Zico said, ending his little announcement. While the class dispersed Zico walked towards the three guys with a satisfied smile.

"How did I do?"

"Perfect. You even spoke to the Professor beforehand for credibility," P.O. laughed.

"Hey! what did you even say to him?" Kyung asked.

"Oh, I simply asked if I could borrow his microphone," Zico explained. "Oh , which reminds me, I have to go return this to him. Yo bro, get my bags for me will you," Zico said running out the class in a hurry.

"So, watchu think?" Krystal asked as they met outside.

"I have no idea what's going on in that pretty head of yours," Mino conceded. Krystal reminded him so much of his sister Danah- pretty, headstrong and completely loveable. Maybe that was why he was so easily influenced by her.

"Oh, you'll see, soon enough. Or maybe not soon 'coz you'll have to wait till next Wednesday", Krystal said mysteriously.

*****

Wednesday class arrived, and Mino was even more nervous than before. He tried to dissuade his friends from going through with their plan but they won't budge. When Sulli found his sketches of Taehyun's hair they were even more determined to help than before.

"Mino, I'm telling you this for your own good, you're really acting pathetic right now," Seungyoon had said to him in his best sunbae voice. "Where's the funny, confident guy I met a few months back huh? I'm sure Taehyun would like that person better than this loony woeful guy in front of me. Bring Mino back," he had adviced.

Seungyoon was probably right, Mino thought. Maybe he should try and stop being in awe of the distant persona that is Taehyun. Maybe it's time he got to know him for real like maybe say "Hi" to him instead of just watching from afar. Maybe... if only Taehyun didn't seem so cold. Mino sighed. He figured Taehyun put those barriers around himself for a reason, and he didn't want to go and break them down like a monster truck. But maybe, with the help of his friends, he could chip away at it little by little.

'He looks particularly good today,' Mino mused as he looked over to where Taehyun was sitting, crumbling his resolve to try and talk to him first. Unlike other days, Taehyun did not bolt out of the classroom. He simply sat back and watched the other students move to where Zico was sitting so they could inform him about their partner choices. Zico took his fake-role seriously, even wearing glasses today for the special occasion which had his roommates laughing at him behind his back. After everyone was done Zico moved to the podium again to make the announcement Mino had been dreading but secretly anticipated.

As they expected, nobody chose Taehyun as their partner which confirmed Mino's earlier belief that his crush really was a loner. 

"Okay, it seems everyone has chosen their partners except two people. Song Minho and who's the other person?" Zico asked as if he didn't know the answer.

"Here," Taehyun said raising his hand from his seat. "And it's Nam Taehyun, NOT 50:50 haired boy all right!" he continued, sounding brassy.

Mino realised it was the first time he had ever heard the boy speak out loud, and it caused some funny sensations in his stomach. The boy had a rough manly voice which he did not expect at all. In his imaginations, he sounded soft, almost feminine. He has a feeling his crush was going to be full of surprises.

"Okay, Nam.Tae.Hyun," Zico emphasised the name, I guess you're with Mino then. That's all folks. My job here is done," he said, stepping down. Mino looked over to Taehyun to see his reaction but the boy only calmly put on his bag and walked out of the classroom.

Mino somehow felt dejected. He listlessly moved to stuff his things inside his bag and made his way outside the classroom. When they exited the door, Zico was about to hi-5 Krystal for a job well done when his hand suddenly stopped mid-air. Mino followed Zico's line of sight to see Taehyun standing near the door with his shoulder against the wall, he seemed to be watching them. They continued their way when-

"Song Minho," the boy called out, lazily removing his body from the wall. Mino stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Taehyun who was staring right at him. He could hardly believe it. Nam Taehyun knew his name. Nam Taehyun was calling him. Nam Taehyun spoke his name. 'Please say my name again' he mentally begged. 

"You're Mino right?" Taehyun asked and Mino thanked the gods his wish was granted in less than a second.

"Yeah, and you're Taehyun", Mino said stupidly. He mentally cursed himself for his lack of a better opening. 

"About the project...." Taehyun started.

"Yeah, wait...guys," he said, looking at his friends, "Why don't you go on without me and save me a seat."

His friends easily agreed, giving him knowing smiles. Kyung even had the audacity to wink at him. Mino prayed Taehyun didn't notice that or at least he hoped he didn't understand. After his friends left, Mino turned back to Taehyun who was eyeing him expectantly.

"Yeah, so, the project," Mino mumbled, he couldn't even look at Taehyun in the eyes.

"I'd like to do it alone," Taehyun stated. Mino's eyes opened wide as he felt his heart drop to the ground.

"Ba..but..."

"I'll give you the credit too of course," Taehyun continued. At those words, in his mind's eyes, Mino saw his heart that has dropped to the ground being stepped on by Taehyun's feet. It hurt.

"That won't be fair," he said, voice small.

"I don't mind, it's just that I work better alone, no offense", Taehyun said lightly.

But Mino did take offense. Who did this guy think he is? Of course he's probably the most beautiful person on the planet with fairy dust scattered around him and all the goodness of human beauty bestowed upon him by the good witches, but still, that did not give him the right to just assume Mino won't contribute anything of value to the project.

"NO!"

"Wha... what?" Taehyun had already turned halfway around to leave and he turned back at Mino's negative response. He looked at Mino direct in the eyes, looking confused. Mino could tell the boy had thought it was already a done deal. He had probably assumed Mino would be happy to shirk work and get easy credit. Mino stared back, defiant.

"I said No. This is a partnered project and I will NOT take credit for something I didn't do. So you're stuck with me," Mino stated, his words coming out harsher than he expected.

Taehyun must have figured he probably won't be able to make Mino change his mind. "Fine," he told Mino with a resigned sigh.

Mino felt a little bad then, seeing the dis-spirited look on that perfect face. "Hey, two heads are better than one right. When should we start? I...I have another class in a few minutes so maybe we should exchange numbers first to set the place and time?" he said, looking at his watch. "Oh , I'm pretty late!" Mino panicked. He pulled Taehyun's hand and quickly scribbled his number on the palm and started running towards his next class. "Text me or something," he shouted turning his head back to the dazed boy before he disappeared around the corridor.

*****

Taehyun looked at the numbers on his palm, wondering what had just happened. He hated being touched by strangers, but he didn't pull away when the tanned boy wrote on his palm, even though it tickled. He was surprised at his reaction, at the warmth he felt from the boys hands. Since he kept to himself ever since the semester started, he has not experienced a human touch for a long time. He figured that must be it, and he quickly shook off the stunned look on his face and calmly entered the numbers on his phone, making his way to the bamboo patch.

At that same time, Mino was sitting in his class grinning like a fool, a little embarrassed by his actions. He thought he could've made a better first impression, but the excitement of Taehyun calling his name and the feeling of soft hands that he held in his hands was overwhelming, in a very good way. Also, the fact that Taehyun had his number and that he would probably call or message him first gave him a great sense of accomplishment. He probably should have taken his number first, he reflected, because now he would have to keep checking his phone to see if the boy had texted him or not. He cursed that there was so little time to talk to the boy. If he had his way he would still be standing on that corridor making useless conversation just to listen the boy speak. But then life had responsibilities, he sighed and checked his phone secretly under the table.

That night, Mino was laying on the couch doing absolutely nothing. He was waiting for a message from a certain wavy haired boy but none came the whole day. He had started becoming a teeny bit impatient. He thought he had to calm his frazzled nerves from the wait so he lit one up. His roommates were having a double tennis match with P.O. and Seunghoon on the PlayStation, while he was just lying there smoking up and replaying the first conversation he had with Taehyun. He had already checked his phone a few times, or maybe 30 times, he didn't count. He had checked to see if there was enough battery. Then he checked again to see if he had forgotten to turn off the silent mode. Then he jumped at the slightest ringing tone, even if the noise came from his friends' phones. He received messages and calls from other people, and he sighed loudly every time the screen showed a familiar friend's name. His buddies in the room conveniently ignored him the whole time.

Another message came, this time from an unknown number. He gingerly swiped on the screen and opened the message with bated breath.

"Da fuq! U wrote ur num w/ permanent marker fool. -NTH"

Mino gave a loud yelp and fell off the couch with a crash. His body co-ordination was off as he was high. His friends all turned away from their game to see what was wrong.

"I'm going to kill myself," Mino screamed, getting up and making his way to the nearest window. His friends didn't even bother to go after him. Their room was on the first floor. When he came back, the other boys had already put away their game and were all ears to find out what the hell happened.

"Ghost Mino, tell us why human Mino killed himself just now?", Seunghoon asked, patting the seat next to him inviting the sullen boy to sit.

"I am so embarrassed. I wrote my number on Taehyun's palm with a permanent marker, and he just called me a fool," Mino said, his voice breaking.

Zico started laughing, he tried not to but his mouth wouldn't stay shut, spluttering as he tried to hold it in but it spilled out of him nonetheless. Mino's face at that moment was just too hilarious.

"Why did you have to write on his palm?" Seunghoon scolded, appalled at his friend's clumsiness. Seunghoon had adopted Mino as a younger brother way back in High School when the boy was still a chubby kid with no friends.

"There was no time," Mino cried out.

"He didn't have a phone?" Zico asked, not really understanding.

"What about paper? We have lots of paper. You have paper in your bag. I'm sure he had paper in his bag too," Kyung added unhelpfully.

"There was no time okay!" Mino repeated, slumping down on the couch. His friends were being such jerks right now. He wished the girls were here instead. They would sympathise and tell him it was nothing to be embarrassed about, even if it wasn't true.

"No time to exchange numbers? I don't get it," Zico asked, still confused.

"I was not thinking straight, okay? He was saying some things and I said some things and the class was about to start because I looked at my watch and he was looking so pretty and so perfect and I just... okay?" he shouted frustrated.

"Okay, okay. We get it. We get it," Seunghoon soothed.

"But..." Zico started and P.O. nudged him, stopping him from saying anything more.

"Okay, let's try and salvage the situation," Kyung said, rubbing his hands together.

"I know! message him back," P.O. exclaimed like it was the best idea ever.

"Of course, I have to say sorry," Mino said glumly, picking up his phone from the ground.

"NO!" Seunghoon burst out snatching the phone from Mino. "Let's pretend that was  intentional"

"No way! That will make it worse" Mino said trying to take back his phone but his roommates held him back.

"What's your plan hyung?" P.O. asked Seunghoon.

"'....so that you won't ever forget it' there, done," Seunghoon said handing back the phone to Mino.

Mino snatched the phone from his hyung to see what he wrote then he burst out with a bunch of expletives. "How could you do this to me hyung? I thought you loved me!" he yelled making his way to the corner of their small living room, sat down on the floor with his back against the wall, his knees hiding his face as he sulked. It was probably not a very adult thing to do, but Mino was high with the joint he just smoked, and he could not care less whether he acted childishly or not because his hyung whom he trusted was being very mean to him.

"Mino-ya, I'm telling you it's for your future. Listen to me," Seunghoon called out. Mino did not reply.

"Hyung, what did you write?" Zico asked.

"'That's to make sure it stays for a long time so that you won't ever forget it', only that" Seunghoon cheekily answered.

Mino's phone rang announcing a new message. He dropped his phone in surprise and then scurried to pick it up and open it. 

"Ur kidding me ryt?" came Taehyun's tart reply.

"HYUNG!" Mino shouted.

"What did he say?" Seunghoon asked coming over to the corner where Mino still sat.

Mino showed him the phone.

"See? It's not that bad. At least he didn't curse and stuff," Seunghoon reasoned. It seemed as if he was enjoying Mino's predicament very much.

"Ho.....wh....how is this not bad?" Mino couldn't comprehend.

"Calm down bro. Don't reply, just sober up and then continue the convo. I'll search for ways to remove marker stains on the internet and you can tell him. You will laugh about this later when you are a couple, I assure you." Zico calmly said, trying to soothe Mino's wounded feelings.

"You think so?", Mino asked, looking up to Seunghoon with such a doleful expression it was almost heartbreaking.

"I KNOW so. Now c' mon let's get you sobered up. Why'd you have to smoke up on a week night anyway?" Seunghoon chided.

"Because." Mino replied simply, getting up and walking to the dining area where the others were having in food.

*****

At the same time in another part of the city, Nam Taehyun could be seen scowling at his phone, sitting on a chair in his bachelor pad-style apartment. "The nerve of that boy" he mumbled to himself. He stared at the screen for a while, willing it to ring, giving a chance to that smiley-faced boy to explain himself but no message came. He scowled even harder, the expression marring his perfect features as if that would induce his phone to ring. He finally threw the phone on to the queen sized bed in frustration and made his way to the study room next to his bedroom. He has to get rid of the damn numbers on his hands, he thought as he looked up Naver on how to remove it. 

It seemed pretty easy now that the internet article explained it, Taehyun thinks as he started rubbing hand sanitiser on his palm, but he was still pretty annoyed and Mino's message didn't help. He especially did not feel like working with him on the project anymore. He shouldn't have given in so easily today, he thought irritably. But that crushed look on the tanned boy's face when he told him he wanted to work alone was so devastating he felt like the biggest douchebag for suggesting such a thing. When had he ever cared about other people's feelings though, he questioned himself. What made the boy so different that he could make 'the' Nam Taehyun feel bad? He did not want to find out the answer, and he wanted to stop thinking about the stupid smiling boy. However, the toothy grin Mino gave him as he disappeared around the corridor kept coming back into his consciousness. Taehyun had never seen such perfect white teeth in his life, except maybe at the dentist. He idly wondered if Mino had ever modelled for a toothpaste advertisement before. He sniggered at the thought.  

*****

Mino had sufficiently recovered and decided to text Taehyun back. They have to set a time to meet for the project after all.

"I'm so sorry. I was high before. I didn't mean to. Thought it was a pen. Have you tried hairspray or table salt or hand sanitiser?" he typed in the words carefully.

There was no reply coming.

"He hates me now" Mino wailed to his friends.

"Oh don't be such a baby," they shushed him as they continued their game on the PlayStation. Mino tried to stop thinking about it and decided to hit his books instead.

The next morning Mino woke up to a new message from Taehyun.

"I'll see u after class" Taehyun had sent. Mino started dancing around the room and his good spirits lasted the whole day. He even stopped being embarrassed about yesterday's mistake and looked forward to seeing Taehyun in class. But during that same class, his palms started sweating and became nervous again. He started running conversations in his mind and thought about what he would say, picking at his choice of words and looking for synonyms and antonyms, changing his greeting style several times. Apparently he had that conversation with Taehyun in his head for so long and too deep he didn't even notice class had ended until P.O. turned his head back from his seat to talk to him.

"Hey! Hey! Are you sleeping with your eyes open now?" he asked giving Mino a nudge.

Mino simply shook his head 'No' and started getting up from his seat to leave the classroom when he noticed Taehyun still in his seat. He walked over to him, as confident as he could.

"Hey!" he called out as he reached in front of the boy. 'Yes, very cool Mino. Short and to the point. Keep it up' he mentally hi-fived himself.

"Hey," Taehyun greeted back, face impassive. "What time are you free today?" he asked getting straight to the point. 

"Umm... I have two more classes so... 4 o'clock, you?" 

"Same time. That's good then. Should we start today? We can meet at Coffee Bean near the library if that's all right with you?"

"Great!... I mean fine...yes, that would be fine," Mino stumbled on his words. A coffee shop? Wow! This is getting serious, he thought. He was really going to be talking to Taehyun on a regular basis now, he couldn't wait.

"Ok, see you then," Taehyun said as he got up from his seat.

"Yeah... oh, wait, did you....were you able to remove the marker from your hand? I'm sorry again. I really didn't know."

"Don't sweat it. It's gone now," Taehyun reassured.

"That's good then. Ok, see you at 4," Mino was so happy he could die.

*****

Taehyun was already seated at a table with his books open when Mino arrived at the coffee shop. Mino deftly moved to where he was and noticed Taehyun did not have a drink yet. 

"I'mma go get something to drink, you want one?" He asked as he settled his bag on the chair.

"I'll have an expresso, here, take my card", Taehyun said as he bent to look inside his backpack.

"Don't worry. Drinks on me today," Mino said and made his way to the counter quickly before the boy could protest.

"Oh! Mino, I haven't seen you in here since forever. Where you been?" the counter boy greeted loudly as Mino approached the stand.

"Oh! 'Sup Baekhyun. Didn't know you still work here," Mino greeted back with enthusiasm.

"Well, gotta pay for dates somehow," the handsome boy cheekily replied.

"And how many girls are you dating at the moment?" Mino jokingly enquired.

"Shut up! What would you like?" 

"One caramel macchiato and one expresso, if you please," Mino asked with fake politeness and the boy smacked him on the head for it. While Baekhyun was preparing the drinks Mino could not resist looking back to where Taehyun sat. This was the first time he has seen Taehyun outside of 'Integrated Design Studio' class and it was a huge deal to him. Although, there seemed to be no change in the wavy-haired boy's mannerisms at all. He looked as if he was still in class, eyes focussed on the book in front of him and ignoring the rest of the world around him. He did not even seem disturbed a little bit by the music playing on the speakers or the loud chatter of the other students near him.

"Here are your drinks," Baekhyun announced, forcing Mino to turn back around. "And here's two choco chip brownies on the house for you and your boyfriend," he winked with his finger on his lips indicating it's a secret from the other workers.

"He's not my boyfriend, stupid," Mino denied but the association of the word boyfriend and Taehyun with him sounded so good to his ears.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that and he'll never be. I saw the look on your face," came Baekhyun's insolent reply.

"Why is everybody so......" Mino started but did not bother finishing his sentence. Maybe he should really start remembering his dad's life lessons one of these days, he thought sourly as he made his way back to their table, after sufficiently thanking Baekhyun for his stupid act of generousity. He hope the boy wouldn't do that often less he gets fired soon. But then free food is free food, Mino thought happily.

"Thanks, I could've paid my own though," Taehyun said lifting the cup from the tray.

"You'll pay next time," Mino said easily. "Hey, I even got muffins 'on the house'," he boasted. Taehyun merely raised his eyebrows.

"Aren't you gonna ask me how?" Mino pursued.

"One of your friends work here," Taehyun answered, not a hint of question.

"How did you know?" Mino asked, genuinely surprised.

"Like it's so difficult to deduce," Taehyun scoffed. "I could hear him greeting you from over here, as well as the rest of the people here." Even though Taehyun sounded sarcastic there was a hint of a smile to be seen at one corner of his lips hidden by his coffee mug, which was probably caused by Mino's look of innocent wonder.

"Oh!" Mino laughed, not even the least put out by Taehyun's inability to play along. "I wanted to brag so badly."

"Shall we pick a topic then?" Taehyun asked changing the subject.

"Yessir" Mino saluted but as soon as he did that he felt a sudden wave of embarrassment wash over him again at his actions. Taehyun merely raised his eybrows again at him and continued the discussion on what he wanted to achieve with the project.

Mino listened to Taehyun talking, but he could not stop staring at Taehyun's hands. They were the prettiest hands he has ever seen- long, lean and artistic. He wondered if he played the piano. He wondered if these fingers are what authors imagine when they say a person has the fingers of an artist. He focussed his attention to the thumb on his left hand. Is that a birthmark? He has never seen a birthmark like that before. He wondered what shape it was. But Taehyun's hands kept moving, flipping through pages of their textbook and he could not focus on it for long.

"Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Taehyun asked, sharply looking at Mino.

"Of course," Mino replied. As if he could ever be distracted from that glorious voice talking. Yes, he may look as if he was focussing more on the fingers, however, Taehyun's low but fruity voice could recite the whole of Old Testament and he would still hang on to every word.

"So what do you think of my idea?" Taehyun asked.

"It's good. We can go with that. But I'd have to work on my computer first to see if it will flow well, and I think maybe we should change that," he pointed at one of Taehyun's designs, "and that," pointing at another, "to something else. It doesn't seem to fit with your general idea. I can't say with what because as I said, I don't have my laptop with me," Mino suggested and Taehyun just looked at him with a blank expression.

"Or maybe not" Mino acquiesced, nervously looking at Taehyun.

"No, No. You can tell me what you think. I'm not entirely pig-headed you know," Taehyun assured.

"I didn't say..." Mino started.

"Yeah, but you thought it. Anyway, since we both don't have our working devices I guess we should call it a day," Taehyun suggested.

"You're right. So I'll try working on your idea tonight based on your draft here, and you can make another draft, and maybe we can reconcile the two tomorrow?" Mino added.

"Okay. Same time tomorrow?" Taehyun asked.

"All right" Mino agreed, face lighting up like a Christmas tree at the thought that he and Taehyun are going to have a pattern now, they are going to say stuff like "Same place" or "Same time" or even "That thing" to each other like their own personal lingo. Mino couldn't wait for the next day to arrive.

*****

Say my name in the wind and in the cold.

Whisper in my ear, give me that special embrace.

Give me what we both long to have,

That love that spark;

Let the fireworks glow within.

Take a good look up there

The light that you see it is my heart and it glows for you.

Don’t let it blind you cause I know it is bright.

Let emotions take over instead of the speechless words.

Tell me; just say my name.

Not with your lips but with your heart.  

Let the silent embrace of my affections take over your mind,

Fall deep into the path of love.

Surrender to the feelings within and let your heart say my name to you.

Breathe my name; whisper it to me slowly, if you please. 

--Anna Ramir  

A/N: Yay!! Finally some interaction. Did everyone watch WinnerTV first ep yesterday? Did you spot all the namsong moments? Man, it was glorious, and Mino trying to sense where Taehyun was with his smell?! OMGD!! It seems like he knew him too well. And did ya'll see Jinwoo trying to sink the namsong ship? I shouldn't have made Mino crush on Jinwoo in the beginning of this fic. lol. Such a my Jinwoo. He's my current bias.