Jinki rolled his eyes as his mother checked for the umpteenth time to make sure the guest room was spotless. He didn’t even know why she was so obsessed with the arrival of the exchange student they would be hosting for the year, if not longer. Maybe because she missed Korea, and this kid was going to give her a reason to cook more Korean food for them, or maybe because she had always wanted another child. Jinki wasn’t sure, but he had a feeling this was going to be a very annoying year, and the junior didn’t think he could handle any more stress in his already busy school year. School doesn’t even start for another few days and he’s already stressed about the homework for his AP classes.

 

"Jinki, don’t you want to come to the airport with us to pick him up?" His mother asks, and he stares at her with a bored expression.

"Not really, I was planning on hanging out with my friends before school starts on Monday." He tells her, going back to looking at his phone.

She sighs, shaking her head and telling him to be home before five. He grabs his wallet before he leaves, and rolls his eyes because he realizes that she wants him home before them so he can meet this kid. He hangs out at one of his friends’ houses, and they play Grand Theft Auto for a good two hours before Jinki tells them his mom wants him home to meet their new house guest. Most of them laugh at him hosting a foreign kid, but two of them, Jonghyun and Minho, smile and tell him to let them meet the new kid before school starts. Jonghyun hosts an exchange student as well, a kid in Minho’s year who goes by Key. He said Key’s been here for a few days now, and that he’ll probably wanna meet this kid, too.

He arrives home at 5 o’ clock on the dot, and he’s thankful that he beat his parents. He didn’t wanna know what his mom would do to him if he wasn’t home to greet the kid.

They finally arrive around 5:30, and Jinki doesn’t move from his position on the couch when he hears the car pull up in the drive way. He continues watching the cartoon while his parents and the kid walk through the door, and he doesn’t move until his mother is telling him in Korean to come say hello to the kid. He gets up and walks slowly over to the front room to meet their house guest.

"Hey, I’m Jinki." He tells the boy standing in front of him. He has black hair, so different from Key’s dyed bright blond, and he looks so young and innocent and Jinki’s starting to feel protective but dammit he doesn’t even know the kid’s name yet.

"Nice to meet you, Jinki hyung. I’m Taemin." He bows, and his accent is even thicker than his parents’. He’s cute, to say the least.

"Jinki, help him take his things up stairs." His father tells him in Korean, and Taemin’s eyes go wide and he starts shaking his head.

"Oh, no, no. I can take it!" He says hurriedly, and Jinki’s mother is smiling fondly and patting his shoulder.

"Let him help you; you have a whole year’s worth of stuff to take up there, and Jinki can show you where your room is." She says kindly, and Jinki resists the urge to roll his eyes as he picks up one of the silver suitcases.

"Come on, I’ll show you where everything is." Jinki calls over his shoulder, and Taemin is scurrying up the stairs behind Jinki with his other suitcase and his stuffed-to-the-brim backpack.

"This is your room. Mine’s next door, and mom and dad’s is down the hall. Our bathroom is this room right here," He points at the door across from their bedrooms, "and then the living room, kitchen, and dad’s office are downstairs."

"Thank you, hyung." Taemin bows his head slightly, placing his backpack on the bed and the suitcase resting up against it.

"You don’t have to call me hyung, you know. Most of my friends call me Jason, anyway." He tells the younger boy.

Taemin laughs lightly, and Jinki thinks it’s a cute laugh, “I would feel bad, though, if I didn’t call you hyung.”

Jinki smiles, “Alright, then, if you want.”

He turns to let Taemin unpack is stuff before he’s suddenly spinning around, “Oh! A couple of my friends wanna meet you, too. They know Korean, too, if it’ll make you more comfortable. One of them has an exchange student living with him, too, so he’ll probably bring him along.”

"O-Okay. When would I meet them?" He can tell that Taemin is nervous, and it makes him feel so much more protective of the boy.

"I don’t know, I’ll text them and let you know at dinner or something, though, okay?" Jinki smiles, and Taemin nods.

Jinki’s mom asks Taemin what his favorite food is when she comes to see if he’s settled in, and Jinki gets annoyed because whenever he asks for steak, she says no, but this kid just says he likes it and suddenly they’re going to have it for dinner.

It must be because he’s so cute.

Around seven, Jinki’s walking into the kitchen while his mother cleans the dishes.

"Hey mom, the guys wanna meet Taemin. Can I take him out with me for a while? We’ll be home before eleven." Jinki smiles sweetly at his mother, who agrees only because she says she wants the younger boy to make some friends.

"Taemin! Wanna come with me and meet some of my friends?" He asks as he knocks on the door to the room next to his, and Taemin comes out with a nervous smile on his face.

Jinki drives them to the same friend’s house he was at earlier, and he almost forgot to mention that it was going to be a few more than just the three who knew Korean. It made Taemin even more nervous, and he suddenly felt bad for practically dragging him here.

"We’re just gonna eat pizza and play video games, Taemin. Don’t worry, they’ll love you, I promise." He tells the younger boy, who stares at him funny.

"Love me?" Taemin’s voice takes on a scandalized tone, and Jinki snorts.

"Not literally, kid. I mean, they’ll like you; they’ll wanna be your friends." Jinki explains better, and Taemin’s mouth opens slightly.

"Oh, okay, hyung." Taemin looks at his phone, and he’s texting and Jinki wonders who he’s talking to. Probably a friend back in Korea, or maybe his family.

"Hey, did you call your family and tell them you got here safely?" Jinki doesn’t know why he asks it, but Taemin looks like he appreciates the concern.

"Yes, hyung. They were very happy to hear from me, and they were happy that I said your family seems very nice." Taemin shows him that cute smile again, and Jinki can’t help but smile back.

Jinki walks into the house with Taemin in tow, and he shouts when they get inside, “Hey, guys, I brought the kid!”

He leads Taemin into the living room where they all normally hang out, glad that Key is there to hopefully make him feel a little more comfortable. Taemin seems like the shy type, though; far different from Key’s flamboyant sass. He can’t tell if the kid is trying to hide behind him or not, but it makes him feel proud of himself that the kid already trusts him at least a little bit.

"This is him." Jinki says, bringing Taemin out from behind him.

Taemin bows lightly with a nervous smile on his face, “It’s nice to meet you.”

"He’s dressed just like Key." One of their friends points out, and it’s then that he notices Taemin has dressed in a style very similar to Key. Must be a Korean fashion trend or something, he muses.

"Aww, he’s so cute!" Key speaks loudly in Korean, confusing the few of the friends who haven’t bothered to learn at least a couple of his usual phrases.

"What’s his name?" One of them asks, and Jinki turns to Taemin.

"Oh, do you have an American name yet?" He asks the younger boy, who smiles sheepishly.

"Ah, no, hyung." He rubs the back of his neck nervously, and Jinki thinks it’s adorable.

"Hyung? Isn’t that what those three always call you?" Another asks, and the four roll their eyes, having explained the formality numerous times already.

Key rushes over, grabbing Taemin and bringing him to sit down next to him on the couch, effectively pushing Jonghyun aside.

"I’ll name you, then, if you don’t have an American name. What’s your real name, though, cutie?" He asks in Korean, and Taemin suddenly seems much more comfortable.

"Lee Taemin." His happy smile is much cuter than his nervous smile, Jinki notes.

"Do you want it to match Taemin? Like I go by Key because my name is Kim Kibum. Do you want something with T?" They converse in Korean, and Jinki, Jonghyun, and Minho all collectively snort at the confused faces of their other friends.

"Um, it doesn’t have to be, no." Taemin shakes his head.

"Do you have any ideas?" Key asks, and Taemin bites his lip.

"My friend suggested Luca once, but I don’t know if I like it. Don’t girl names end in A?" He asks, looking confused.

Key laughs loudly at that, shaking his head, “Not all of them, no. But what about Lucas? Or Luke? I can call you Lukey, and we can match, oh my God! Do you like Luke?”

Taemin smiles, and Jinki thinks it looks a little forced, “Okay.”

Key turns to the others, speaking in his a-little-less-thick-than-Taemin’s accent, “His name is Luke, and you better treat him well.”

They all introduce themselves to Taemin, who smiles back politely.

"Hey, I’m Eli, but you can call me Minho if you want. It’s my Korean name." Jinki smiles when Minho introduces himself by his American name first.

"Hahahaha, Mean Hoe." Minho glares at the few friends who laugh at his name.

"Hey! Are you gonna laugh every time you hear it? It’s a good Korean name, so shut up!" He throws a pillow at the two of them, but it’s all in good fun.

"Hello, I’m Jonghyun~" Jonghyun introduces himself in Korean, and Taemin laughs a little.

"Yah, what’s funny?" Jonghyun asks, and Taemin only shakes his head a little.

"I have never heard an American accent in Korean before, it is funny." He tells them in English, and Jinki can’t help but laugh at the look on Jonghyun’s face. Key is practically roaring with laughter, and Minho just pats him on the back.

"Anyways, you can call me Jonghyun or Jjong or, if you wanna use my American name, Jack." Jonghyun tells him, and Taemin is smiling widely at him.

"Taemin, Taemin, Taeminnie~ Do aegyo for hyung~" Key is telling him in Korean, and Taemin narrows his eyes almost playfully at the older boy.

"Taeminnie? How long have we known each other?" He asks in English, and Jinki thinks it’s cute how he keeps switching back and forth.

"Do aegyo for hyungs~ You’re our new maknae, so you have to listen to us." Jonghyun tells him, switching between English and Korean, and Jinki laughs as he sits down at the couch across from them with Minho.

Suddenly, Taemin pouts, holding up two fingers, and the four of them all grin when they think he’s going to do gwiyomi.

"Two," He holds up one hand, "Plus two," He puts up the other, "Is four." He’s grinning when he holds up one hand with four fingers, and Jonghyun is practically rolling on the couch laughing at the little troll who’s looking quite proud of himself.

Jinki and Minho can’t help but laugh, too, and Key just looks annoyed. The others all look confused, and that just makes it even funnier.

"Yah, come sit on hyung’s lap, maknae." Key tells him, and Taemin seems to only agree because of his maknae status.

"Key loves skinship, just so you know." Jonghyun tells him, and Taemin opens his mouth in that cute way he did in the car, like it suddenly all makes sense.

"I’m not so good with skinship." The youngest admits, looking nervously at Key who has his arms wrapped around Taemin’s middle.

"Don’t you have any friends who do skinship with you?" Key asks.

"Jonginnie and I are not so good with it, but our other friend is. He has rubbed off on us, a little bit." Taemin tells them, and Jinki suddenly wonders if he misses his friends back in Korea.

"Hey, isn’t that Jack’s name?" One of their friends asks.

"Jonghyun! Not Jongin!” Jonghyun pouts, a little annoyed that their friends still kinda make fun of their Korean names.

"Hey, do you play any sports, Luke?" Someone asks, and Taemin looks a little embarrassed.

"Not really. I do a little, but nothing like soccer." He admits, and Minho’s interest suddenly peaks when he hears the word soccer.

"What do you do, then?" Jinki asks.

Taemin looks sheepish again, “I like to dance.”

Key is suddenly squealing, and they all roll their eyes, “You’re a little mini me!”

"Oh, really?" Taemin asks in Korean, his grin wide.

"I’ll introduce you to the break dance club at school, they’re great. I’m a member, too, so you don’t have to be nervous. We’re all Korean, anyway." He tells Taemin in Korean, and Jinki rolls his eyes. The break dance club is cool to watch, but they’re literally all exchange students. They’re all kind of annoying, really, and Jinki doesn’t want Taemin to turn into one of them.

"Taeminnie, can I dye your hair? You’d look so cute as blond~" Key is running his fingers through the younger boy’s hair, and Taemin’s eyes go wide.

"I-I don’t know, I’d have to ask my umma." He tells Key, who looks at him expectantly.

"Call her now, it’s noon in Korea. I wanna dye it before school starts." Key tells him.

"Hey, I like his hair black! He looks so innocent, unlike you." Jinki tells Key, who rolls his eyes at his hyung.

Taemin suddenly looks confused, asking, “Are we allowed to color our hair at school?”

Key laughs, “It’s very different from Korea. We don’t wear a uniform, either. Not at our school.”

"No uniform?" Taemin looks so surprised, and Jinki can’t help but laugh.

"Nah, that’s only for private schools, kid. Well, some public schools have strict dress codes, but ours is pretty lenient." Jinki tells him, lying down and putting his feet across Minho’s lap while he watches the others continue their video game.

"Call your umma now~ I want you to have blond hair like me and Jjong!" Key tells Taemin.

"But I like my hair black." Taemin says quietly, and Key pouts.

"Pleeeease? Jonghyun! He can be like our son!" Key is getting excited, and it makes Minho and Jinki glad they aren’t part of his little plan.

"Aww, Taeminnie, please?" Jonghyun starts begging the kid too, and Taemin looks to Jinki for help.

"Hyung, will your parents be alright with me coloring my hair?" The younger boy asks.

"I’ve dyed mine before, so they don’t really care." He tells him honestly.

"Can I call my umma later? She is at work right now." Taemin looks at Key, who nods.

"Alright, but you tell me as soon as you find out." He asks for Taemin’s phone, and he puts his number in it.

Jonghyun, Minho, and Jinki all put their numbers in it, too, Jinki telling him that he can call him in case he’s not around and there’s an emergency or something.

A few hours later finds Jinki driving him and Taemin back home, asking if the younger had a good time.

"It was fun, but I did not get to know your other friends very well." Taemin seems nervous, "Did they not like me?"

Jinki laughs a little, “No, I’m sure they like you, they just get a little intimidated when the four of us start switching back and forth between Korean and English. They’re probably just worried about a fifth person being able to speak in Korean, and they can still barely pronounce our names.”

Jinki laughs at the thought of his friends trying to pronounce Minho’s name, because they always make it vulgar, and while the other three always find it funny, Minho always gets a little ticked off.

"Key hyung is very…funny." Taemin admits, smiling a little, "I do not know if I want to be blond."

"If you don’t wanna do it, just tell him your mom said no. He can’t argue with that, no matter how much he might want to." Jinki tells him.

"Do you think it would look good, hyung?" Taemin asks, looking at Jinki hopefully when they arrive home.

"I think you’d look cute either way, to be honest." Jinki smiles at him, leading him into the house.

"You should go to bed, though; you’re probably exhausted after that flight and then meeting the guys. You can take a shower first, if you want." Jinki smiles as they head upstairs.

"Thank you, hyung." Taemin smiles, and Jinki decides he likes it best when the younger boy smiles.

Three days later finds the five of them in the bathroom at Jonghyun’s house, Key getting ready to bleach the hell out of Taemin’s hair, and Taemin looking scared out of his mind with the old towel wrapped around his shoulders..

"Are you sure you know how to do this?" Taemin speaks quickly in Korean, and Jinki’s learned it means the youngest is nervous

"I dye my own hair all the time, Taeminnie, and I even dyed Jonghyun’s last year! It looked great, didn’t it?" Key looks at the other three, an evil glint in his eyes.

"My hair looked awesome, Taemin. See it now? It’s this light all thanks to Key~" Jonghyun grins, "And when he’s done, you’ll look like us! We can be the three muskateers!"

"I already told you, he’s our son." Key smirks, getting ready to start bleaching Taemin’s hair.

"This might hurt, baby, but don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon, and then you’ll look so good~" Key starts working his magic on the youngest’s hair, and the scrunched up expression on his face makes the other three start laughing.

"It tingles." Taemin pouts, and before long he’s whining at Key to wash it out already, "It buuuuuuuuurns!"

"Just a little while longer, baby." Key tries to soothe the pissed off maknae, who only glares in return.

After a while, Key’s finished and turns the maknae around to face the mirror. His hair is blond now, and it hangs below his ears in waves, and Jinki thinks he looks beautiful.

"It’s okay, I guess." Taemin pouts, twirling a lock of his hair in his finger.

"You look adorable!" Key is hugging him, and asking Jinki if they can go to his house so he can help Taemin pick out an outfit for their first day of school.

By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, Jinki’s grown quite fond of his little house guest. Taemin follows him around like a lost puppy most of the time, and he thinks it’s adorable. He also loves the way the boy switches between Korean and English constantly, but when he can tell the younger is having difficulty with English, he always helps him find the right words.

Two weeks before winter break, Jinki and Taemin are camped out in Jinki’s room playing a video game. It’s past midnight when Taemin’s phone starts buzzing, and for a moment they both assumed it was Key texting him until it kept going off. Taemin quickly paused the game and brought the phone to his ear.

"Yeoboseyo?" Jinki secretly loves it whenever the youngest answers his phone in Korean. Taemin starts talking to his mother, and he picks up the sad tone in his voice before he hangs up a few minutes later.

"What’s wrong? Is everything okay?" Jinki asks.

"I won’t be going home for Christmas." Taemin says quietly, staring at his hands in his lap.

He suddenly feels horrible, because he knows how much the younger boy was looking forward to seeing his family and friends again, even if it was only going to be for a week.

"Appa says it’s too expensive to fly back and forth if I’m only going to be there a few days." Taemin mumbles, "Umma said I’d be coming home for summer in a few months, anyways, and that she’ll call on Christmas."

"I’m sorry." Jinki tells him, wrapping an arm around the younger, "But I’ll make sure you have the best Christmas possible with us."

Taemin smiles at Jinki, grateful to have the older boy to make him feel better, “Thank you, hyung.”

"Now come on, we’ve got aliens to kill!" Jinki tries to cheer him up, and he unpauses the game. Taemin laughs, but happily starts playing the game again.

The first night of winter break, they all sleep over at Jonghyun’s house. They decided they would stay up all night, and while they wanted to, it didn’t mean it was easy. Around three, almost four in the morning, Taemin looks half dead, lying on Jonghyun’s bed while he watches Minho and Jonghyun play a video game while Jinki and Kibum are looking something up on the computer. His phone suddenly buzzes to life next to his head, and he shoots up while the others laugh at the surprised squeak he lets out. Taemin grumbles tiredly as he reads the text, but his eyes are suddenly wide and he’s asking Jonghyun quickly in Korean if he can use his computer to video chat with his brother.

"Only if we get to meet him!" Jonghyun is excited at the thought of seeing Taemin’s brother, and the other three all agree.

Taemin hurriedly signs in to his account, and soon a screen pops up and a boy that looks so much like Taemin is grinning widely at them.

"Taesun hyung!" Taemin is grinning from ear to ear, and Jinki doesn’t think he’s ever seen him so happy.

"Taeminnie, who are these people?" Taesun laughs, and Taemin’s smile doesn’t falter for a moment.

"Oh! These are my friends!" Taemin introduces them all to his brother, who only laughs.

"You go all the way to America, and you still only make friends with Koreans?" His brother teases him, and Taemin pouts.

"Only Key hyung is from Korea, though, hyung." Taemin talks to his brother for a while, and soon the other four go back to doing other things.

"I’ve missed you, hyung." Taemin says it quietly, but the others all hear the catch in his voice.

"I’ve missed you, too, Taeminnie." His brother smiles at him, "I’m sorry we haven’t been able to video chat much. Work and university have been hectic." He apologizes, and Taemin laughs lightly.

"It’s okay, hyung." Taemin sniffles, bringing up his hand to wipe his cheek with his sleeve.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don’t cry, Minnie." Taesun tries to make his brother feel better, but it only makes Taemin miss him more.

"I’m not crying, hyung." Taemin says softly, but the shake in his voice says otherwise.

"Taemin," His brother looks so badly like he wants to reach through the screen and hug the younger boy.

"I just miss you a lot, that’s all." Taemin tells him, sending him a teary smile. Jinki can tell the youngest is embarrassed, and he goes over and runs his fingers through his hair.

"You’re probably just really tired, too, huh maknae? It’s nearly four thirty in the morning and we still haven’t slept; that’s why you’re so emotional." Jinki tells him, and Taemin smiles at him gratefully before turning back to the screen.

"Yeah, hyung, I’m just tired. We haven’t slept all night." Taemin’s laughing lightly at the annoyed look on his brother’s face.

"Why haven’t you slept? Are you crazy, Lee Taemin?" Taemin grins at Taesun’s nagging.

"We’re on vacation, hyung." Taemin tells him, "We can stay up late on vacation."

"Well, then, do you think you can stay up a few minutes more?" Taesun asks him in a sneaky tone of voice, and Taemin smirks when he looks to Jinki, knowing they weren’t planning on going to bed any time soon.

"I suppose I could, hyung." Taemin tells him, and Taesun smirks.

"Good, because hyung has a present for you since you won’t be home for Christmas." Suddenly there’s another boy in the screen, and Taemin looks so happy Jinki thinks his face is going to break from the wide grin.

"Jonginnie!" Taemin practically squeals, and soon all five of them are up at the screen again.

"Is this the friend you talked about?" Jonghyun asks.

"Taeminnie, are those your new friends?" The boy asks, and Taemin just laughs.

Jinki watches with a smile on his face while Taemin catches up with his friend, the youngest boy talking with a wide grin on his face as he talks about what he’s been doing in America. Jongin talks to him about people that must have been in their class before Taemin came to America, and then starts talking about some sort of dance class. He notices Taemin become dejected at the mention of the dance class, and wonders if maybe he took lessons and then had to stop to come study here. The thought makes Jinki unhappy.

Around five, Taemin finally ends the call with his brother and friend. It’s still a good couple hours before any of them would sleep, and they decide to finish the pizza they ordered earlier that night before having an intense Halo battle.

They all wake up around four in the afternoon. Key somehow still looks great, where as the rest of them look like they haven’t slept in over a week. Jinki’s almost positive it’s because the sophomore wears makeup to cover the dark rings he has to have under his eyes.

"So, Jinki and Taemin’s tonight?" Jonghyun asks in a scratchy voice while the five of them raid his fridge.

"Just like every year." Jinki agrees, stuffing a cookie in his mouth.

"Do you do this often?" Taemin asks, a cute, confused look on his face.

"Religiously since middle school; it’s a tradition." Jonghyun grins, "And then tomorrow we’ll be at Minho’s, and then we’ll take a couple nights off and repeat the process until it’s time to go back to school."

"There’s something magical about staying up while everyone else is asleep." Jinki says in a faraway voice, and the others laugh at him.

Much later that night, the five of them are sprawled out across Jinki’s living room, talking about anything ranging from school to Korean girl groups. Minho suddenly sits up, turning to Taemin.

"Hey, Taemin, why did you come to America for school? We never asked you. Was it to get better at English?" He asks, and Taemin doesn’t answer.

The four of them look at the youngest when he doesn’t speak, and Jonghyun laughs a little.

"Did you fall asleep, maknae?" He asks.

"No." Taemin’s answer is quiet, and the others frown.

"What’s wrong? Do you miss your family?" Jinki asks, going over to sit next to Taemin.

"No, it’s not that. It’s just," Taemin sighs, sitting up and putting his hands in his lap, "Coming here was more of a punishment than an opportunity, really."

"What? Why?" Key squeaks, because being able to come study here was something he had dreamed about since he was in elementary school.

"I like dancing, right? I took lessons until the end of last year, that’s where I met Jongin when we were little, and then we were in the same classes in middle school, and we would talk about what we wanted to do when we grow up." Taemin’s voice is quiet, but he has the four hooked on every word.

"Our teacher started asking us all what we wanted to do when we grow up, and we had to write an essay on it and stuff. Jongin and I both put the same thing; we wanna be choreographers for SM Entertainment." He tells them, and the others are confused.

"At one of the parent meetings, I guess our teacher let our parents read what we wrote, and my appa wasn’t happy. Told me that dancing isn’t a real career, it’s a hobby, and if it was making me so unfocused from my real studies and what I should really wanna be doing, then he wouldn’t let me take lessons anymore." His voice is wavering, and Jinki suddenly feels horrible for making the younger talk about it.

"He took me out of my lessons, but Jongin kept teaching me the new choreography anyways, at every chance we could get. When appa asked at the end of the year what I wanted to be, my answer didn’t change, and he said if I still have this fantasy that I’m going to be able to live by being a dance teacher, he’d send me away where I would learn to want a real career."

Taemin smirks, “He’s just lucky my teacher recommended me for this program anyways, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to send me so far.”

"I’m so sorry." Key tells him, scooting over to pull the youngest into a hug, "You’re so good at dancing."

"I know. My answer still hasn’t changed. If anything, I want it even more, now." Taemin laughs a little, but Jinki can still see the gloomy disposition of the youngest, "I’m going to be the best choreographer SM Entertainment has ever seen, just you wait."

The passion in Taemin’s words makes Jinki grin, and he can’t help but laugh. His laughing makes the rest of them laugh, and they all blame it on the lack of sleep.

The five of them exchanged gifts a couple days before Christmas, and Jinki and Taemin put their gifts under the tree in the living room. A box for Taemin arrived the day before, and it had written on the top in Korean, “Don’t open before Christmas!” Jinki and Taemin also went shopping for presents for Jinki’s parents, and they decided to combine their money to get better gifts for the two. Those presents were under the tree as well, along with presents for both boys from Jinki’s parents. Jinki had more from his parents, of course, but Taemin was just grateful that the two liked him enough to even buy him a gift.

"Taemin, do you believe in Santa?" Jinki asks on Christmas Eve, and Taemin just laughs.

"There is always a chance that Santa is real, hyung." Taemin tells him, smiling in that cute way that Jinki loves.

"Oh, really?" Jinki asks, and Taemin laughs.

"I think if Santa was real, he would bring gifts to the kids who wouldn’t otherwise get presents on Christmas." Taemin tells him, smiling as he stares at the ceiling while he lies on his bed.

"I think that makes a lot of sense, maknae." Jinki tells him, and the two lie there on Taemin’s bed before Jinki decides to go to his own room.

Taemin laughs the next morning when there’s a present at the end of his bed with a tag on it that says, “To Taemin, From Santa” in Jinki’s handwriting.

Seven weeks before summer break, Jinki realizes that he likes Taemin differently than the protective big brother way he was trying to convince himself of. He talks about it with Jonghyun one day, nearly having a heart attack when Key comes in the room and tells him that he needs to just tell Taemin because the youngest has felt the same way about him since Christmas.

"I didn’t know you guys were that close." Jinki narrows his eyes, wondering how the sophomore got that information out of Taemin.

"He’s my son, he tells me everything." Key says in a huff, turning on his heel and going back into his room.

Jinki grins when he gets back home, going straight to Taemin’s room to ask if he wants to go on a date.

It’s Taemin’s first date ever, and Jinki’s glad it’s with him.

Four weeks before summer break, Jinki and Taemin are sort of an official ‘thing,’ and they hang out as much as they can before Taemin has to go back to Korea for two months.

Jinki’s mother comes in while they’re sitting on the couch watching a movie, and she smiles at the two.

"Jinki, we’re going to Korea this year to visit your grandmother instead of her coming here. She’s getting older, and she wants her grandson to visit the country his family is from." She tells him, proceeding to tell them that they will be on the same flight as Taemin.

"Where does your grandmother live, hyung?" Taemin asks, excitement written all over his face.

"Uh, Seoul." He tells the younger boy, who rolls his eyes.

"Which part of Seoul?” Taemin looks slightly annoyed, but he grins when Jinki tells him the same part he lives in.

"Do you think you could come over? I can introduce you to my umma and my brother and I can show you around and you can meet Jongin and then you guys can have dinner at my house since you’ve been so  kind to me here and-" Jinki cuts him off from his rambling by placing a soft kiss on Taemin’s lips, and the two smile at each other.

While Jinki was first annoyed at the idea of hosting a foreign exchange student, he didn’t think he could ever be happier that Taemin was their house guest.