Taeil slammed the door and sunk slowly to the floor. Hot tears falling slowly from his eyes, down his cheeks, to the floor. He didn't understand how love could be so cruel, so hateful to him. Wasn't love supposed to be… lovely? Lovely was far from what he was feeling. He curled himself on the floor in a fetal position and stayed their for a while. He could feel the frigid cold floor seeping through his cheeks. It was almost Christmas and today felt a little darker, a little colder than any other day. Two soft knocks could be heard from the door near him. He ignored it and closed his eyes. He wanted to be somewhere else so bad. He didn't want to be in the spot he was now. What he was truly dreading was feeling like this, useless, distressed and confused. Could he ever find peace again? He remembered a few months ago when the group had attended a fan sign. He was happy to be with his fans, he was happy to be sitting with s, his best friends. He was surrounded by people he loved and that loved him back. He remembered that he turned his head to the right and saw Jihoon smiling at him. He had the most perfect smile. Taeil smiled back, he could even feel the warmth of Jihoon’s smile at this moment. Taeil couldn't help it but smile. His eyes already swollen and suddenly he was feeling very tired. He was getting colder and colder every minute he stayed on the frozen floor. He stood up and decided to sleep on his cozy bed but he then found Minhyuk sitting on his bed. When did he come in? Had he not felt his footsteps when he came in? Was it him that knocked on the door a while ago? Minhyuk then interrupted his thoughts.

“You're finally off the cold floor. I was wondering when you were going to get up,” he said almost chuckling.

“What do you want? Just leave me alone, I’m tired, my eyes are swollen, and I don't want to see anyone at the moment so could you please yourself out? Or do you need an invitation?” Taeil took a step back, he was surprised that he said all that. He has never been this irritated before, nor did he use that kind of tone towards Minhyuk before. On the look on Minhyuk’s face he was surprised too.

“Well tough luck, I'm staying here. You're acting so childish hyung, it's not like you to act this way. Why can't you think for a moment but instead you cry about it and sulk. What's that going to accomplish? You're so foolish, why can't you handle this in a mature manner? And…” Minhyuk was getting irritated as well. He suddenly put his hands to his face and inhaled deeply. “What I'm trying to say is, is that… I care about you a lot hyung. I don't want to see you this way. I want to see you happy and smiling. I hate to see you like this, I really do. I'm here for you, so please, let me help you because as far as I can see you're not really doing a great job.”

Taeil chuckled. “You idiot.” He went to Minhyuk and hugged him. Taeil felt Minhyuk’s hand wrapped around him. Their embrace was a warm welcome. Taeil gave Minhyuk one last squeeze and both of them parted.

“Now, let's see how we can fix this mess.”

----------

He got his keys and closed the door. He went out into the freezing weather and went inside his car. He drove to his favorite place to think. He got out and went into a rather tall building. There were 14 floors and each floor was uniquely different. The first floor was the lobby, he said his name and the man searched him up on the computer and said he was free to go to the floor he wanted to go, floor number 10. He passed the floor that was solely for storage, the next was a gym, the next was a gaming room and so on and so forth. He reached to the 10th floor. It was filled with different kinds of flowers: magnolias, lilies, chrysanthemums, sunflowers, roses, you name it. The mixture of all the aromas of the flowers filled his nose with delight. This was his favorite place and he found calmness in it when he wanted to think. This was his escape. His grandmother loved flowers. She took care of them with love and it was always a delight to her to see each flower blossom into different kinds of beauties. He had purchased this floor for her but she soon died of natural causes. He had avoided this place since then, or wanted to forget about this place because it reminded him of her. He put his keys on a nearby table and took off his jacket and had set it on a chair. He never thought he would see this place again. His grandmother's passing was a massive grief to bear and it was ironic to come back to this oasis feeling that same heaviness in his chest. He had maids come in everyday to water the flowers. The flowers look so pretty. Each flower was so colorful, so fluorescent and full of life. He touched the petal of an azalea nearby. It felt so soft. He put his ha