AN: Rawr. Enjoy, Taemin finally gets a backbone here. XD

Taemin wasn’t sure how long he spent at Daehyun’s house. In between tucking Minah into bed and talking with his friend over a movie, he found himself losing track of time. He felt more relaxed than he had in the past two weeks.

The two boys were curled up on the couch, watching the movie when Daehyun poked his thigh.

“Hyung?”

“Neh, Daehyunnie?” Taemin asked quietly.

He knew the boy could tell. He had spilled everything to him about Jinki and Minho and how his heart still ached from time to time. Daehyun had promised to take that secret to his grave through, and Taemin felt oddly comforted when he grabbed his hand.

“You can talk to me…”

“I’m okay. I’m just being a bother.” Taemin moved to withdraw his hand when Daehyun pulled it close.

“Hyung, I get that you’re older, but sometimes you can let down your defenses. You’re not Taemin the idol to me. You’re just my hyung.”

Taemin raised an eyebrow, “Who happens to be your bias?”

Daehyun rolled his eyes.

“Be that as it may, you don’t have to be that in front of me. If you want to vent to me about Onew and Minho, you can. Whatever you say stays between us.”

Taemin stared at the boy. He hadn’t noticed their bodies get closer until their arms were brushing and Daehyun had laid his head on his shoulder. The maknae sighed and took out his phone. He wasn’t surprised to see the missed calls from Jinki or Minho. He snorted at the text Jonghyun had sent telling him to ignore those calls. He let Daehyun look down at the phone as he tried to clear through all the missed calls.

“He misses you…”

Taemin hated it. He hated the feeling of something still being there and yet so hard to grasp in his hand. Taemin felt himself sniffle and his hands shake. Daehyun grabbed one of his hands.

 “Taemin-hyung…”

“Why does he have a grasp on me? Why is it so hard to break out of this stupid little dance we do?” He put down the phone and looked at Daehyun. The boy was frowning at him, but Taemin could see a hint of understanding in his eyes. “I want to move on so badly…Jinki has Minho but it’s like he refuses to let me go.”

“Maybe he regrets breaking up with you, Hyung.”

Maybe he did and maybe Taemin regretted not fighting for him. But what was he supposed to do about it now? He would not lead Daehyun on, especially when he knew that Jinki would always have a hold on his heart so long as he was around him.

Daehyun patted his hand, “Hyung?”

“Neh?”

“I’m not going to say it’s going to be easy, because I’d be lying. But time does help. You have other band mates who are willing to do anything they can to help.”

“And you?” Taemin looked up at him again, surprised to see a tear rolling down from the boy’s eyes. “I know you feel something for me, Daehyun…I don’t know if I can return it…not when Jinki is still such a big presence in my life.”

“You know that it’s possible to love more than one person, Hyung?” Daehyun squeezed his hand. “Thank you for telling me upfront that you still love him.”

Taemin couldn’t help but smile through his tears. His heart beat just a little bit faster when Daehyun smiled at him.

“Taemin-hyung, I know you have at least a tiny crush on me, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t be telling me that you couldn’t return my feelings.”

“So what if I do? Would you rather me tell you that I like you while I still love Jinki?”

“I just want you to be with me, even if it’s just as my hyung and friend. I’m telling you not to deny your feelings for anyone, me or Onew-sshi.”

Daehyun kissed his cheek then and Taemin felt himself blushing. Taemin leaned his head down on the boy’s shoulder.

 “You’re out to destroy me, I swear it.”

“You’re my bias, Hyung, I can’t help but want to see you smile.”

This boy made him smile. Taemin spent another hour there before he stood up to leave, knowing he should do damage control at the dorm. Daehyun walked him to the door and Taemin found he was fine with the feeling of holding his hand. They stood outside in the late night air, enjoying the silence of the city.

Taemin turned to him, “Did you want to try hanging out this weekend?”

“Like a date?”

Taemin blushed, but he nodded. Daehyun smiled, “I’d love that, Hyung.”

Taemin fidgeted. He didn’t know how to do this. Jinki had usually been the one to initiate everything with him. Daehyun simply snickered.

“Go at your pace, Hyung, even if it means we’re just friends.”

Taemin leaned in and hugged him tightly, placing his lips on Daehyun’s cheek. His skin was soft, but not as soft as Jinki’s.

Daehyun his hand, “Onew still cares for you, Taemin-hyung, just remember that. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t be acting like this.”

Taemin smiled and nodded against the boy’s shoulder. Nonetheless, he was comforted when he pulled away, promising to text him when he made it back to the dorm.

As he walked home, he sighed. He felt so lost about what to do. He would not hurt Daehyun the way Jinki had hurt him, but why was it so hard to just cut himself off? He kicked the stones on the sidewalk as he walked home to his dorm, not surprised to see a light still on. They were probably all bickering like usual, so he set his shoulders straight and took the stairs up.

He sighed when he heard the bickering. He quietly opened the door and ducked when a flying object nearly crashed into him.

“GO SCREW YOURSELF, MINHO!”

Taemin raised an eyebrow as he walked further in. Jinki was sitting on the couch, Jonghyun with his arm wrapped around him. Kibum and Minho were in each other’s faces. Jonghyun looked up when Taemin came walking in, the broken spatula in his hand.

The maknae froze when he saw tears in Jinki’s red swollen eyes. He felt conflicted in that moment, wondering if he should stay or go. Almost as if Daehyun could sense Taemin’s distress from far away, Taemin felt his phone vibrate.

From: Daehyunnie

To: Taemin

09:34:23 PM

Message: He cares for you. I know you care for him too hyung. Do what you feel is right.

Taemin bit his lip and shoved the phone in his pocket. The four were silent as the maknae bypassed the diva and rapper and walked to the two on the couch. Jonghyun was thoroughly surprised when Taemin sat on Jinki’s right and wrapped his arms around him.

Minho snarled at the hug, “Stop touching him, Taemin.”

“ out, Minho. I told you to take care of him, not make him ing miserable,” Taemin snapped back.

He dared to glare at Minho as he rubbed the leader’s back. Jinki had shifted away from Jonghyun and towards his ex now, burying his face in the boy’s neck. Taemin could feel his tears burning his skin and it made him angry. He never made Jinki cry. Nothing could ever make the leader cry, but Minho had done it so easily? That made his blood run cold.

As much as he wanted to stop feeling anything for Jinki, it was nigh impossible. Jinki had made such a major impact on his life and he would always count the leader as his best friend, and seeing his best friend in tears like this made him want to punch the rapper.

Taemin continued to glare at Minho, “What the hell did you do to him? What gave you ANY ing right to do that to your boyfriend of all people?”

Minho crossed over to the two and stood in front of Taemin. The maknae guessed he was trying to intimidate him, but Taemin felt something he hadn’t felt for awhile. He felt confident for once protecting Jinki. Jinki may have hurt him, but he couldn’t take seeing the elder in such pain, clinging to him like he was a scared little boy. Jinki had always been the protective one in their relationship and this time when Jinki needed him, Taemin wouldn’t fail him. 

Taemin stood up, letting his hand drop so he could hold onto Jinki’s hand. He stood toe to toe with Minho.

 “Nothing. NOTHING gives you the right to make our leader cry like this.”

“You’re the reason we’re fighting. You’re the ing reason we’re all like this!”

Jonghyun watched their maknae. The three eldest expected the maknae to crumble like he usually did.

Minho leaned down, “You failed in your relationship and you failed overall. You’ve caused nothing but trouble here, Taemin. If you want someone to blame, blame yourself.”

Taemin pushed away every urge he had to snap and strangle the elder.

Instead he smirked, “I cause the trouble?” He clenched his fist, “I CAUSE THE TROUBLE?”

Somewhere, he could feel Jinki squeezing his hand tighter, almost as if it was giving him the courage to let everything flood out. Taemin snapped at that moment. It hadn’t been Jinki that had hurt him. Relationships faded and he understood that. But to have someone sway another into dumping their other half for them? If Taemin wanted anyone to be mad at, it was Minho. If Jinki was truly happy with Minho, he would never deny that. But to see his love in tears because of the man he left him for? It made him see red.

Taemin grit his teeth and the room went eerily quiet. The dancer raised his hand and pointed his finger at the elder.

“If anyone is to blame for this entire situation, it is you.”

Jonghyun was quite surprised at the way Taemin held himself. He stood tall and for once, he didn’t look afraid.

Taemin pushed his finger against Minho’s chest. “You were the one who took Jinki away from me. You were the one who told me to get over loving him. You were the one who had to rub it in my face that you had him now.”

Kibum smiled. This was a nice change. Even the leader who had stopped his puffy eyes from crying, was smiling.

Taemin squeezed Jinki’s hand tighter, “You can blame me all you ing want, Minho, but nothing gives you the right to make Hyung cry or feel upset. If you were actually a good boyfriend you’d ing understand that!”

Taemin pulled Jinki off the couch and wrapped his arm around him.

“Come on, Hyung, let’s go clean up.”

Taemin had just moved past Minho with Jinki held close when the rapper whirled around.

“He’s my boyfriend, let me do it.”

“ off, Minho. I don’t want him near you right now, even if you are his boyfriend,” Taemin snapped as he continued to walk.

He pulled Jinki into his room, shutting the door and locking it.  Jinki’s hand felt warm in his as he led him to the bathroom. He bit his lip as he held Jinki wash his face and clean up the tear trails running down his face.

He found himself sitting on the bed, Jinki sitting next to him quietly. It wasn’t awkward like Taemin expected it to be. He was always rather comfortable around Jinki, so having him near him now wasn’t a problem. 

Jinki sighed and rubbed his forehead, “Taemin…I screwed up.” 

Taemin snorted. He was with Minho of all people. As if getting dumped by JInki for MInho wasn't a low blow enough as it is.

“What ever gave you that idea, Hyung?”

“Yah…” Jinki looked up at Taemin, “I mean it…what I did was stupid.”

Taemin reached for his hand, “Hyung…”

“I was unhappy. I was unhappy that it felt like you were just bored. We weren’t moving anywhere and it felt like you never wanted to open up to me anymore. It was a stupid reason...”

Taemin listened quietly. He knew part of this was his fault, but it took two to fight for a relationship. Jinki played with his fingers,.

“Why didn’t we fight for each other?”

“You never gave me a chance, Jinki. I got kind of blindsided that night…you were done and in Minho’s arms before I could even get out the words goodbye.”

Jinki frowned as their fingers laced together perfectly. He missed Taemin and he knew the younger missed him as well. Jinki let out a sniffle.

“I hate myself, Tae…I hate myself that I hurt you so badly.”

Taemin bit his lip to keep from crying. Jinki was laying his heart out to him and this time, he would do the same.

Jinki looked up at him, “You’ve grown so much because I hurt you and while I’m proud of you for it, I can’t help but wonder how many times I made you cry. Every tear I made you shed makes me cringe and hate myself even more.”

“Jinki…” Taemin sighed.

This had been what he'd wanted. He had wanted to work through their issues, to see what was left in the aftermath of the months apart and fights. What Taemin saw was something bright. He still saw a future with Jinki, but it was long off. Jinki squeezed his hand tightly.

“I-I know you like this fan a lot and you’re really close with him, but I can’t help but be jealous, Taemin. I still love you.”

“You know you can’t be replaced in my life, right, Jinki?” Taemin asked quietly.

Their bond wasn’t broken, but it was severely damaged, and Taemin knew it would take time to fix. Time they were both impatient to wait for. He Jinki’s hand.

 “What do you feel for Minho-hyung?”

Jinki shrugged. “I don’t know anymore. Honestly, he’s a tyrant in this relationship.”

Taemin listened to the stories, eventually laying down on his side with Jinki in front of him. Their hands remained laced together, but they kept their distances o the other wouldn’t freak out.

Taemin took in a deep breath, “It sounds like he was just a distraction, honestly, Hyung.”

Jinki sounded like he was lying. “I like him, I do, but we don’t…”

“Mesh? It’s Minho, you know he likes to be the one on top, (HAH. PUN) and the one in charge.”

“You’re so easy to compromise with…” Jinki said.

The maknae snickered, “Shouldn’t have let me go then.”

“I shouldn’t have,” Jinki squeezed his hands again. “W-what do we do from here?”

Taemin curled up into a ball. He would have loved to tell Jinki to leave Minho and date him, but that wasn’t going to happen. They had to rebuild their friendship back up and renew their trust in the other. The love was still there as it always would be, but Taemin knew that without a foundation behind it, it would snap and push them away even further.

“Hyung, do you want to be with Minho?”

Taemin wouldn’t deny that he felt slightly better seeing Jinki shake his head.

He smiled, “Then break up with him, for yourself.”

“And us? Will there ever be an us again?”

Taemin nodded, “In time, maybe. You and I don’t trust each other though. We both were hurt and you know as well as I do that we have to repair our friendship and trust before we can think about dating.” 

Jinki seemed slightly put off by that answer and pouted. “You won’t run off with that fan of yours though, will you?”

Taemin wanted to say no, but he wasn’t going to make that promise.

“Who knows what will happen. It’s very likely that you could wake up in the morning and decide to stay with Minho and try to work things out. I could very well find out tomorrow that my fan likes someone else. We don’t know.”

Jinki looked utterly defeated by that until Taemin his cheek with his fingers. “I do know that I love you, but I don’t trust you like I used to. I know you love me, but you don’t trust me. We need to walk before we run, Jinki.” 

The leader huffed at him. “You’ve been around Jonghyun too much. You sound like you’re older than me with all these philosophical words.”

Taemin giggled and squeezed Jinki’s hand, “Can we just be friends? Can I have my best friend back again? I miss you.”

“I miss you more than you miss me. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to kiss you right now.”

Taemin ached for it, he did, but he merely smiled instead.

“Give it time, Hyung. For me?”

Jinki nodded and Taemin didn’t fight him when he pulled him close into a hug.

He whispered into the dancer’s hair, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for hurting you. You’re still the most important person in my life and I hope you can forgive me, Minnie.”

“I forgave you awhile ago, Jinki. Catch up, will ya?”

Taemin smiled though. He missed this feeling of simply laying in Jinki’s arms, protected from the world. Except this time, he was doing the protecting. Jinki hugged him tighter and it was the first time that Taemin saw him calm since that skype call nearly two months ago. They had only been broken up for almost three months, but to Taemin it felt like forever.

“Do what feels right, Hyung. I promise I’ll be your backup when you need me.”

Jinki looked up at him through half lidded eyes. “I will win you back, I hope you realize that.”

Taemin had indeed realized that and he was looking forward to every step of the way. He smiled and squeezed the elder just a bit tighter. Maybe everyone was right and this was meant to happen. He couldn’t wait to see.

AN: Hm….