There was a shadow looming around Minho.

In the early morning, he took a lukewarm shower, singing old tunes in his head. He could swear something was behind him, waiting for Minho to turn around and scare the shampoo out of its container. Finishing his shower, he ran half- back to the room he shared with Taemin.

Speaking of the boy, he hadn’t seen him at all. It was odd in a way since he knew for sure Taemin’s classes started later and they promised to go meet an acquaintance of the honey head before ultimately leading him to college. With his bad habit of losing his phone, and who knows what else along the road, it was Minho’s duty to keep an eye on the boy.

The hairdryer blowing at full speed made him deaf to the shadow still lurking nearby.

While searching for something to wear through his still unpacked bags, crouching with only a towel around his waist, Minho thought hard about his relationship with the other.

He had always been the older brother Taemin never had, taking care of him through every step, making sure he wouldn’t get in trouble and most of all, it was Minho’s duty to give him a shoulder to cry on. Other times, the hyung was the one in need. With nobody to ramble at about his failures or whine of how horrible the new photos looked, Taemin rushed at his side without him ever asking. Most of his ‘you deserve a punch for being such an idiot’ remarks were in Minho’s head and he rarely dared speak up, so Taemin acting on his own to evaporate those crude self-slaps felt rather… fuzzy.

It was a relationship based on mutual affection and Minho was sure that, in spite of what the future had planned for them, they would remain good friends for the rest of their lives.

Well, he hoped so, since the dinner fiasco proved him wrong. Humans drift apart all the time, that is what he learned from all the fighting (he was rather surprised none raised their fists sooner). Taemin might be naughty at times and a little temperamental when no one was watching, yet it was the first time he stormed in such a manner that brought thunder and lightning inside the apartment.

Or maybe Minho doesn’t know him at all. Maybe everything he knew about his so-called friend was nothing but lies for the world to see. He juggled with that idea while dressing up and again, the same shadow from before was somewhere breathing over the back of his neck.

Dashing to the kitchen, he laughed the sensation away and opened the fridge to get something to eat. Since both parents were extremely busy, none had time to prepare them breakfast and Minho was cool about it. Well, first he had to return the towels to the bathroom and only after considering his hungry stomach, heavy steps made him jump for a second. Somebody was around him, he was sure of it. Yet, it could also still be that he wasn't adjusted to the new environment and the Korean air he hadn’t sniffed in a while.

Finally, he decided yet again to ignore his intuition and peek inside the fridge.

What he saw there made him fear for his dear life and the same shadow’s hands were ready to strangle him.

Minho finally decided to confront the sensation.

He got face to face with Taemin, sighing loudly as the boy merely glared at him, hands in air and then on hips before wrapping his arms over his chest and pointing his chin upwards.

“I’m sorry,” Minho mumbled his apology, only for the boy to press his head closer to Minho’s mouth, poking Minho’s cheek with a straw.

“Ah ah ah? I didn’t hear ya!”

Minho rolled his eyes, took the empty milk bottle from the fridge and closed the door to keep the cold. He placed it in Taemin’s hands and apologized again, not before grabbing the straw and bending it out of harm’s way.

“Is this why you’ve been stalking me?”

True, when in the shower, Taemin waited behind the curtain with the empty milk bottle, ready to stab Minho with the plastic straw and demand an explanation. Since the older one of the two was much faster than he anticipated, Taemin had to next sneak inside the bedroom and wait behind the bed until Minho would turn to grab his other stuff. To his surprise, the photographer defied his hopes a second time.

Luckily, Minho made a detour on his way to the kitchen and before he got there, Taemin was able to put the bottle in the fridge and waited in a secluded spot until Minho found it, straw still in hand.

His hard work paid off. Minho left to buy banana milk.

It all happened because Taemin was too angry to talk anymore after his encounter with Jongin and didn’t answer Minho when he asked if he could take the banana milk Taemin so dearly waited to drink the following morning. To his horror, Minho had gone with the act, despite his silence. He found the empty bottle in the trashcan after a throughout inspection of the curious case of the missing banana milk. He knew deep inside his heart burning with revenge that Minho was going to get it once he woke up.

It tempted Taemin for a second to fill a bucket with icy cold water and pour it down Minho’s sleeping body, yet they did share the same bed. Not in a y what-a-fine- way, mind you, but in a totally inoffensive bromance right after a huge pillow fight (Minho’s ridiculous attempt to cheer the other), culminated when Taemin’s father burst in the bedroom with a rolled newspaper and told them to shut up.

Wetting Minho meant also wetting his bed and Taemin wasn’t that cruel.

Since Minho was out of the picture for at least twenty minutes, Taemin took his chance to rummage through his old notebooks and photo albums, through his wardrobe and even Minho’s stuff, creating a complete mess in the already cramped room. Turning around, twisting, throwing and almost flirting with the walls out of desperation to give him a sign, he gave up and dropped to the floor, Minho’s underwear right near his nose.

At least they were clean.

Staring at the ceiling, Taemin remembered when he said goodbye to Jongin and as much as he tried to understand what in the world he had done wrong, he couldn’t quite know what went through Jongin’s mind, let alone what in the world he expected the honey head to do after all those years. It wasn’t like he flew to USA or Europe or somewhere in West or South-East Asia. He had been right there, mere hours away in Japan, right over the goddamn sea and never once had any of them tried to contact or visit the other and Taemin couldn’t understand why even to that day.

The only concrete thing Taemin knew was that he sent him letters and he was one hundred percent sure that he delivered them. Taemin sometimes wasted hours to write to his Jongin, telling him of this and that, yet the reply never came. All of his fears, all of his wishes, everything that pained or joyed him in a single day, he wrote everything down and sent thick envelopes to his dear friend.

By the time Minho returned and gasped at Taemin’s artistic predisposition of using his stuff as material (smiling and battling eyelashes won’t work with the taller guy), he kicked the blond’s out of the house followed by Taemin’s yellow backpack and two banana milk bottles.

“I’ll clean here,” he said with a forced smile and a vein popping from his forehead, fingers grasping at the door “you just go do your thing. Be a good boy now!”

With the door slammed before Taemin could defend his masterpiece or offer assistance in cleaning, he pouted slightly and gathered himself off the ground. With the backpack on one shoulder and head down low, locks of hair in every direction for he had no time to comb and headphones soon in his ears, Taemin scampered towards classes, wondering how Onew was doing.

;;;

Chanyeol didn’t feel well.

The stomachache from the previous night doubled in power, forcing the boy to rest in Jongin’s bed for the remaining morning. With Yunho leaving earlier for work (that blasted Changmin missed an important meeting and it was Yunho’s job to clean it up before the higher-ups got notice of it), Jongin had two choices: follow that day’s schedule and hope Chanyeol could handle himself alone or nurse his friend back to health.

As much as he couldn’t wait to try that new dance move and impress the teacher (or the hoard of fangirls waiting by the door with their faces glued over the large windows), Jongin knew that family and friends should always come first since everything else didn’t matter in the end.

What the worried boy rushing to the elevator to buy stronger medicine didn’t know was of his friend’s real intentions.

True, Chanyeol felt sick, but it was nothing related to the body. His heart hurt. Not in a way that would need an electrical shock to recover but closer to the kind of pain he felt when his mother wouldn’t buy him his favorite toy. He felt betrayed, yet couldn’t fully hate his mother as he couldn’t hate Jongin. Mixed feelings like that shouldn’t exist.

So Chanyeol spent the entire night thinking of how to keep Jongin by his side and possibily forget about that Taemin. It included dressing up as a girl among the many other extravagant ideas sketched over his mind’s canvas. Yes, he shall, one way or another, make Jongin his.

Wiggling his toes and with the widest smile he could muster, Chanyeol daydreamed of becoming Jongin’s Kim and the other his Park. Plus, it sounded extremely good. Kim Chanyeol, Park Jongin, they were perfect, like two peas in a pod or two droplets of water in a serene lake or perfect like Jongin’s smile, Jongin’s laugh, Jongin’s dance and passionate expression when the music echoed through the dance studio and possessed his body in repetitive vibrations.

No longer containing his excitement, Chanyeol pulled the blanket over his mouth and nose, muffling his hyperactive chuckles before his entire body exploded in a violent tremble.

Kicking at the mattress and giggling to himself didn't impress Jongin. He threw the bag of medicine over at the man, boiling with anger from the little trick he pulled.

The oversized puppy could be so annoying sometimes and he had done it that time.

“Weren’t you sick?” he taunted, voice low and eyebrows furrowed, ready to grab Chanyeol by his clothes and shake him back to the world in which Jongin was Kim and Chanyeol a Park.

“I am…,” Blanket pulled further over his head, Chanyeol didn’t dare look the other in the eyes “…really Nini!”

“Don’t call me that!”

Jongin grabbed the blanket and swiftly pulled it off, revealing Chanyeol’s topless body and loose pants. Sweat glistened down to his navel, as his cheeks were burning red. Each hastened intake of air lifted and lowered his chest, drawing attention to his s and the medallion tied to a thin golden chain between his pecks.

Needless to say, Jongin returned the blanket and showed Chanyeol his back, waving his right hand and covering his eyes with his left arm.

“When did you undress?! Don’t you know that exposing your stomach gives you diarrhea?!”

Chanyeol only wrapped his arms around him, grinning like a fool and brushing his cheek over Jongin’s back. He gave his a kiss and slapped it.

“Awww, so you do care about me!”

Jongin shoved him off and kicked Chanyeol back in the bed.

“Take your meds and sleep, I’ll go work two shifts before Onew comments about you skipping.”

If the giant had dog ears, they would be flat against the head, seeing as Jongin decided to leave him alone after all. Stuck in the darkness with a newfound fever, he groaned remembering Taemin. He was sure the honey head cursed him or something.

;;;

Taemin strolled lazily on the streets. It hadn't been long since his classes finished and he was now making his way home. His hair was as much a mess as he had it the time Minho had basically thrown him out and even though he had tried to salvage it, the locks of hair stuck in every direction possible. In the end, he opted to tie it in a messy ponytail and be over with it.

As he was still walking down the street, he felt his stomach rumble and he sighed slightly since he hadn't eaten anything apart from the two bottles of banana milk Minho had thrown, as well, at him earlier and as much as Taemin loved banana milk and he would drink it forever and ever, that could do nothing to replace the hunger he was feeling at the moment. 

He thought about going home, but since Minho was still probably cleaning he decided against it and opted insted to go to the chicken restaurant he remembered was around the corner of that same street. 

He happily made his way to the front door and made his way inside. 

It seemed no one was at the front desk so Taemin shrugged and walked to a table near the back of the shop. As he sat down and looked over the menu, he didn't notice someone coming closer to his table. 

It wasn't before said person talked to him asking whether he knew what he wanted already that Taemin looked up startled by the voice. Whom he saw was expected and at the same time, not quite.

"Jongin?!?!"

Said male, not having paid much attention to the person itself nor the way the voice reminded him of someone, looked down and his face contorted in an ugly frown. "Ugh."

Taemin raised an eyebrow at that. "Well... That's quite a nice reaction you've got there. I'm not sure whether to feel insulted or not."

Jongin grumbled and looked away. "You should, stupid."

Taemin chuckled slightly but didn't say anything else. Jongin made it a point to speak up and get this over with. "So what do you want?"

Taemin tsked and looked at Jongin from the corner of his eyes. "That's no way to treat a customer, dear waiter." 

Jongin gritted his teeth and took a deep breath to calm his rage. "Whatever, let's get this over with so tell me what you want, damn it!"

Taemin rolled his eyes and gave Jongin his order, the later flying away to the kitchen as soon as he was done, Taemin supposed. This sure was some kind of twisted fate they've got there, making them see each other so soon after the disastruous dinner that took place the day before. 

Taemin wasn't sure if he liked this kinda of coincidence. He would have rather not meet Jongin so soon. He still wasn't sure how to confront the other and he was sure that if he did, as clueless as he was about Jongin's rage, this thing between them would only get worse and worse and Taemin didn't want that to happen so he had to get the other to speak to him but he was damn sure it would be one hell of a task since Jongin was stubborn beyond belief. 

He shrugged, thinking that something would come up to mind and he could always ask Minho if he knew about some kind of solution or anything that could help him out. 

Before long, the chicken he had requested earlier was making his way to the table, carried by none other than Jongin who looked right about to go grab Taemin and throw him over a bridge. Jongin didn't really tell him anything, just putting down everything and then making his way to yet another table. 

Taemin looked at him for a while and saw how the other smiled politely to the ones seated right next to him and how he wished them bon appetit. Taemin blinked several times, feeling a bit down by Jongin's behavior and he was more than sure that he had to do something since he didn't want the other to be so cold towards him. 

He watched Jongin until he disappeared in the kitchen again and started to eat slowly, savouring every little bit of chicken he brought to his mouth. He had never been much of a chicken fan but it sure was delicious so he had it every now and then, making sure to eat it all. 

He knew of someone who could eat chicken three times a day for his entire life and never get tired. Taemin smiled fondly at the recollection of the past. 

Jongin used to be so sweet before, and he always tried to make Taemin eat as much as himself tho Taemin refused time and time as he couldn't eat so much chicken altogether. 

That only served to fire Taemin more. He was now more than convinced he should bring the old Jongin back no matter how much it took. He couldn't afford the other to be so harsh towards him. 

With that in mind, he continued to eat not noticing the figure that kept on watching him from the kitchen. 

;;;

Chanyeol was about to pass out from boredom. 

He had been in Jongin's bed from the time the other left to work. It wasn't like anything hurt him but he just couldn't stop thinking of Taemin's and Jongin's relationship. 

He, for one, knew that he could never come between them. No matter how much Jongin denied it, he still longed for his friend and Chanyeol was sure that he wanted them to be as good friends as before but Jongin had a lot of pride and he would never be the one to tell the other so, even more after the whole dinner fiasco. 

So, being sure that no matter the outcome, whether Jongin and Taemin become friends again or not, he had to do something to make Jongin his, and his alone. 

The problem here would be on how to do it. 

A lot of differents plans had come and gone through his head but none never seemed to do it. 

At first, he thought about being the perfect gentleman and try to do a lot of things for Jongin, like buying him chicken every day, carrying his bag for him and things like that.

But, after a while he stopped his train of thoughts and another problem came up. 

First and most important problem, did Jongin even like guys? 

Ever since they had knew each other, Jongin had never gone out with anyone, be it female or male. And he never really talked about his preferences, not to mention Chanyeol had never dared ask him whether he was straight or not. 

Chanyeol sighed and stoped thinking about everything midway. He curled on Jongin's bed and hugged the pillow that was next to him. 

For a few minutes, he had his mind blank, nothing came to mind and he liked it that way. It was rather calm and nothing pained him so he stayed like that. 

Before long, he started to think again about the parallel world, that Chanyeol was sure existed somewhere, where they were KimYeol and ParkJong. 

Chanyeol chuckled slightly at his silly thoughts but no matter how much he tried to shake it off, it would always come back to him. It wasn't like something like that would end up happening but Chanyeol was content with knowing there was even a little chance and he would take it. 

Just when he was going to go deeper into his own world, an idea struck his head and he jumped up on the bed. 

He smiled triumphantly at the brillant idea that had suddently appeared. He remembered some shoujo manga he read quite some time ago about how the charismatic lead male had wowed the girl he liked. 

The idea was to act cool and indifferent. 

Cool in the way that he would amaze Jongin so much the other would look at him with sparkles in his eyes and the bag would slide of his shoulder slightly because he would be too shocked by Chanyeol's awesomeness and then they would come closer and closer and Chanyeol then would use indifference to leave Jongin in between, whereas the other would feel more captivated and he would fall just right into Chanyeol's arms. 

As he finished thinking about the image, he patted his own back for having such an amazing idea and he couldn't wait to put the plan in order. 

Jongin, no matter where you look at it from, would sure be in for a surprise tho maybe not in the same way Chanyeol expected him to react. 

;;;

Taemin had just finished eating and was making his way to the front desk to pay for what he had eaten. 

When he arrived there was no one there so he waited a few minutes before an older man made his way out and went right in front of Taemin. 

When Taemin looked up to ask how much it was he was taken aback by the face that greeted him. Immediately his face brightened up and he almost squealed. "Onew hyung!"

Onew, having heard his name, looked at the customer but he couldn't quite make out who it was as he had never been acquaintance with a girl as beautiful as that. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

Taemin sighed. "I'm Taemin, hyung, Taemin. Don't you remember me?"

Onew blinked a few times before realization seemed to hit him. "Taeminnie?? Our Taeminnie?? When did you become a girl?"

Taemin furrowed his eyebrows and brought his hand up to slap Onew's head slightly to see whether the guy would come back to his senses. "I haven't become a girl, I'm still a guy damn it!"

Onew looked at him some more, not really bealieving Taemin. "You don't look much like a guy to me."

Taemin, once again, sighed and decided to leave that aside. "Whatever, hyung, how have you been?"

Onew smiled at that and started telling Taemin about how his life had been up until then. "As you can see, I've opened my own shop. And, Jonginnie, do you remember him?" Taemin nodded and Onew took that as a sign to continue. "Well, he and his friend have come to work here as well. I do get Jongin working but not really Chanyeol. His family seems pretty rich to me already. "

Taemin noted that Jongin and Chanyeol were really close if going to work together, going to college together as well and staying the night at each others (or so he thought, since he was pretty sure Chanyeol did stay at Jongin's the other day because of his stomach ache) was anything to go by. 

He didn't quite feel good knowing that. He kind of felt jealous in a way. To Chanyeol, Jongin seemed sweet, caring and he always looked over him but with himself, well, they could only argue. 

"Oh by the way, Jongin, even thought he works here, he's our best costumer too." 

Taemin snapped back from his thoughts at that and raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Onew smirked slightly at that and pointed to a picture that was hangged on the wall next to other kind of papers. Taemin hadn't paid attention when he had first come in so he didn't see it but now that he looked closely that was Jongin in the picture, smiling slightly with the various plates around himself empty. 

Under the picture there was a caption and Taemin read that out loud. "Chicken... King..."

It took a few minutes for Taemin to fully process that and it continued to repeat itself inside his mind until he finally snorted. "Oh my god, hyung, those that mean no one has eaten more than him?"

Onew seemed proud to nod at him and there was so much Taemin could handle before bursting out into a fit of laughter. He shook his head trying to stop in some way but it was in vain. The words stuck to his mind and the more he thought about it, the image of Jongin having all kind of plates full with chicken being eaten and then having his picture taken, mouth still full, looking like a squirrel caught on camera the moment it had nuts in his mouth, but smiling slightly was too much for him to handle. 

He keep on laughing, holding his stomach and doubling over himself. 

Onew watched from next to him. A small smile displayed on his face as he too found it quite funny and cute when it happened though he didn't have quite Taemin's reaction. 

On the other hand, Taemin's laughter started to subside a little and he put a hand on the desk as he used to other to wipe the tears that had gathered at the corner of his eyes. 

"Ah, I laughed too hard. My stomach hurts."

Onew chuckled. "Well you sure seemed to enjoy yourself there."

Taemin laughed a little again. "I sure did. I would have never expected something like this. It was too good not to laugh about it."

And as Taemin and Onew kept on talking to each other, neither noticed the dark figure that stood not far away, secluded in the kitchen and listening to their conversation. 

Jongin stood there, just about to take Taemin over his shoulder, bring him the Han river and throwing him there, never to be seen again.