AN: Next Chapter! Enjoy!

Taemin stared at Minho quietly, watching his mouth open and close over and over again. Had he finally stumped the rapper? The three eldest were silent, waiting for the fight to explode after that one line. Even though Jinki held onto his hand tightly, Taemin felt his adrenaline continue to surge.

Minho finally slumped down onto one of the chairs in the living room, staring blankly into space. From the maknae’s view, he could tell that he was trying to figure up a counter argument.

Taemin quietly sighed, “You never told Jinki to work it out with me and we had been together for three years. But never once did I actually tell Jinki to break up with you for my sake. That was his decision and no fault of mine.”

Jinki whimpered when Taemin ripped his hand out from his.

“Taemin-ah.”

“Just leave me alone,” Taemin said.

He walked out of the room and into the kitchen, gripping the counter top tightly in his hands. He wasn’t sure how much he could handle without breaking. Minho’s incoherent sputters were starting to piss him off even more.

He felt a presence behind him but he didn’t bother to turn. Soon arms wrapped around him from behind and he felt Jinki’s familiar warmth against his back.

“Taemin…talk to me.”

“No. I want you to leave me be.”

Taemin felt Jinki hesitate for a moment before he sighed and continued to hold on to him. Taemin didn’t mind Jinki holding on to him in the slightest, but the talking? He couldn’t deal with it right now.

Out in the living room Taemin could hear Kibum poking at Minho and the rapper thoroughly speechless. Taemin laid his head back onto Jinki’s shoulder and the leader gazed down at him. He didn’t say anything though, knowing the younger would speak when he wanted to speak.

It was a few minutes later that Taemin gathered up the courage to do so.

“Think it would have been different? Had we actually opened up to each other?”

Jinki was silent for a few moments. He then let go of Taemin and reached for his hand.

 “Come with me.”

Taemin didn’t object. He simply let Jinki tug him to the front door and put on their shoes. The maknae refused to look at Minho who was staring longingly after the leader as he stepped through the door.

Outside Jinki pulled Taemin close as they started to walk down the small pathway and into the forest behind the cabin.

“Hyung, where are we going?”

“For a walk. Just you and me right now,” Jinki said curtly.

Taemin knew he was upset, but he didn’t ask. Like Jinki was trying to figure out, he too, was sorting out their boundaries and what lines to cross.

They continued to walk through the forest, hand in hand. They let the silence grow between them, but Taemin found for once that it was a comfortable silence. He didn’t need to talk at the moment.

This was a time to simply be with each other and out of that cabin for a few moments. If they were going to be together, there were some things they still needed to work out.

They continued to walk under the canopy of trees until Jinki spoke up, “I think it would have been different.”

Taemin snapped his head to the leader and peered at his sad eyes. He knew Jinki was struggling with how he handled things and while it still upset Taemin, he had forgiven the elder. Taemin stopped his walking and tugged on Jinki’s hand.

“Hyung…”

Jinki sighed but he didn’t turn around to face Taemin like the maknae wanted him to.

“I wish I could take it all back. I wasn’t considerate of how alone you were.”

Taemin bit his lip. “We can’t change the past.”

“I want to, dammit!”

Jinki ripped his hand from Taemin’s grasp and turned to face him. Taemin held himself tall, expecting Jinki to start yelling. Instead he was met with a warm pair of lips against his. Hands crawled up over his cheeks, caressing his skin. Taemin whimpered against the surge of Jinki’s strength. No matter how confident he was, no matter how independent he had grown to be, Jinki’s lips moving against his were always a source of weakness for him.

The dancer allowed himself to be backed up against a large tree. Jinki’s arms caged him in, all while still bruising his lips. Taemin his eyes and lifted his hand to caress Jinki’s cheek. Jinki was the first to pull away, panting hard as Taemin held onto him.

“Hyung.”

“You don’t understand, Taemin. I hurt both you and Minho in this process. I was the selfish one because I couldn’t understand how to simply communicate with you.”

The maknae let out a ragged sigh. He could only understand what he himself was struggling with. Soon he saw tears in the leader’s eyes as his hands moved from the tree to Taemin’s cheeks.

“I let you go and it was the worst mistake of my life. But I hurt Minho as well. I couldn’t let you go to be happy with him.”

Taemin knew this. He continued to stare at Jinki before he reached out and touched his lips.

“Hyung, what is it YOU want?”

“You. I just want you. I want the past to rewind so I can stop myself from ever hurting you.”

“Oh, Jinki-ah…” Taemin couldn’t help but chuckle. He let his hands drop and wrap around his waist. “We hurt the ones we love. We can’t help it. Love can make us make crazy decisions.”

Jinki let his head fall into the crook of Taemin’s neck.

“I just want the conflict to stop. I want you in my arms. I want our future.”

“What’s stopping you from believing it will happen then?”

Taemin felt the leader sob into his neck and this time, it was his turn to comfort Jinki. He knew Jinki was always the reserved type, more often wanting to keep his emotions hidden and his vulnerability in check.

But now as the two slid to the ground, wrapped in each other’s arms, it was finally Taemin’s turn to be the protective one. He patted the elder’s back as he came clean about how he felt all those months ago. Taemin finally heard how Minho found the leader breaking down one day after another fight. Soon it had become routine for Jinki to open up to Minho when he had trouble with Taemin. Although it hurt to hear all of this, he found he couldn’t blame Jinki. If he were in his shoes he would have done the same.

“Minho begged me to stop hurting myself, to stop hurting you, stop hurting us. If I had only-”

“Hyung.” Taemin pulled away to look at Jinki. The elder’s eyes were red and puffy as Taemin wiped away the tears. “Breathe.”

Jinki shook his head, “You should hate me. You should hate me deep down to your bones.”

“But I don’t.” Taemin brushed away some of his hair. “I love you.”

“WHY?!”

Jinki sobbed harder and Taemin simply watched him for a moment. He didn’t like how Jinki was shouldering all of the blame. Didn’t he know it wasn’t all of his fault?

“Hyung.”

“It’s all my--”

“Jinki.”

The leader stopped and looked up at Taemin. The maknae held his gaze.

 “It takes two to be in a relationship. I have as much fault as you do. Minho has fault here, too.”

Taemin fell completely on his backside as he took Jinki’s hands in his.

“You opened up to Minho, I know this. There’s no changing our past. I should have opened up to you, you should have talked to me, and Minho should have told you to work it out with me. We can point and place blame but that doesn’t change what happened.”

Jinki sniffled, “You’re way too mature.”

The maknae chuckled, “I like it that way though. You need someone who is mature and confident. That’s what you deserve.” Taemin got to his feet and looked down at the leader. He held out his hand, “The past will repair itself. Time will heal the wounds and we will gain our trust in each other back. Don’t let doubt control your fears in the meantime.”

Jinki stared at the outstretched hand for a moment before grasping it tightly in his own. Taemin helped the leader up to his feet and wiped away the remaining tears on his cheeks.

“Will it ever get better?”

Taemin giggled, “What do you think?”

They walked for a bit before Jinki wrapped an arm around the maknae’s waist.

“I believe it will.”

Taemin looked up from his spot in Jinki’s side.

“You know it will be awkward for a bit right? Our relationship will be different for awhile.”

“I know.” Taemin expected the silence to take over but instead he felt a peck on his temple. “I’m looking forward to working through it though.”

Hearing that made the maknae’s heart soar. He gripped Jinki’s waist in his own hand as they continued to walk. It felt as if a cloud had been cleared from his head. He now understood why Jinki had done what he did and he found that he accepted it. Because to get forgiveness you have to give forgiveness and Taemin knew that deep in his heart.

The rest of the walk was filled with tiny laughter and questions. But Taemin felt closer to Jinki than he had in months. It may have only been an hour or two by the time they made it back to the house. It was quiet inside, but Taemin knew what he had to do now. The two walked inside and though Jinki removed his shoes, Taemin did not. The three were on the couch, silence stretching out in between them.

Jonghyun was the first to look up, “Enjoy your walk?” Jinki turned to peer at Taemin when he chuckled, “It helped.”

“Take off your shoes, Minnie.”

Taemin shook his head.

“Minho-hyung.”

The rapper looked up with dead eyes and Taemin took in a deep breath.

“Let’s talk, just you and me, please?”

Jinki peered at Taemin with wide fearful eyes before he shook him off. The maknae merely stared at the man now causing him an issue. An issue that he wanted settled and he knew the perfect way to do it.

“Let’s settle this once and for all.”

AN: So, two chapters, maybe three left? I’m thinking two though! The epic talk between Minho and Taemin is next!