Everything in him screamed to run, to flee from the scene playing out before him. To leave and never come back, never see Jinki again. Instead he stood rooted to his spot, unmoving. He fought against his instinct, gritting his teeth as his eyes burned.

He couldn’t run, not again. No good had ever come from running away from his problems. Maybe he could hide from Jinki, but he couldn’t hide from his emotions.

Besides, no matter how awful the situation looked, he knew he couldn’t leave without knowing the truth. If he left now, he would be forced to live with the knowledge that he may have just made the biggest mistake of his life. No, He couldn’t run away without knowing exactly what was going on.

Lost in thought, he was nearly knocked over by a thin girl running towards the back. He watched as she stopped at Jinki’s table and pulled the boy off his husband’s leg. Even from a few tables away, he could clearly hear her reprimanding the young boy for running away from her. She looked like the other woman, but with straight, black hair and a younger face. A younger sister maybe?

Taemin didn’t have a clue. But he intended to find out.

Finally reaching the table, he put on a fake smile and said sweetly, “Hello hyung.”

Jinki’s head snapped to the side, eyes focusing on Taemin’s face. Across from him, the two women looked over as well. The first woman seemed surprised and intrigued, with none of the fear Taemin expected. The girl showed no expression and hid behind her hair, exterior cool but eyes startled.

“Taemin? What are you doing here?” Jinki asked, looking panicked. Taemin crossed his arms angrily, gritting his teeth together, about to lose control of his emotions. Really now. He didn’t need to look so scared. Unless he really was guilty of cheati-

“Wait, Taemin? You’re Taemin?” The dark haired girl’s ice melted as a sunny smile took its place.  Taken aback by the unexpected reaction, Taemin could only nod.

The girl’s eyes widened and she smiled brightly. “Oh. My. God!” She squeaked out in English. “So you’re the Taemin that Jinki is always talking about? Waaah you’re even cuter in person!” And then she was hugging Taemin, and he had no idea what was going on anymore.

Pulling back, she cupped her hands on either side of Taemin’s face, squishing his cheeks slightly. “Wow Jinki. How do you always find the prettiest men? I want a flower boy boyfriend too!”

“Eh...” Jinki mumbled.

“Uhmm....” Taemin shifted uncomfortably, trying to pull his face from her grasp.

Noticing his discomfort, the woman smacked the other’s , face scolding.

“Jung Soojung, leave the poor boy alone!”

“Sorry, I’m being rude!” The girl- Soojung?- dropped her hands and pointed at the table. “Why don’t you take a seat oppa?”

“I, uh, okay?” As if on autopilot, he sat beside Jinki silently, hands folded together in his lap.

Soojung leaned forward with her elbows on the table, her chin resting on her hands.

“So oppa, what brings you here?” The other woman smacked Soojung again, this time on the shoulder. She squealed and rubbed her arm, shooting the other a venomous look.

“Unni!” She whined.

“Krystal, let him breathe for a moment. It’s obvious he has no clue what’s going on.”

“What do you mean?” Krystal said, looking from face to face in confusion.

“Jinki! I thought I told you to stop keeping secrets from people.” Jessica flicked Jinki’s forehead.

“Ah! Noona, that hurt!” Taemin’s hands fluttered in the air, torn between wanting to help his husband and wanting to flick him as well.

“Good.” She sat back in her seat and turned her attention to Taemin.

“I’m going to assume he never told you about me, did he?”

Taemin shook his head, anger flairing back up at the mention of Jinki’s deceit. Jessica sighed.

“Aish this boy... I’m Jessica Jung. I was friends with Jinki and Jonghyun when we were kids.” Taemin’s eyes wandered to Soojung and the little boy currently crawling into her lap.  

“This is my younger sister Soojung-”

Soojung wrinkled her nose and elbowed her sister. “Ani. Call me Krystal.”  Holding the squirming kid in her arms, she added, “and this is Sica’s annoying cutie Jung Yoogeun. Yoogeunnie, say hi.”

“Hi!” The boy chirped, grinning brightly at Taemin, and the dancer felt his heart melt a bit at the sight.

“So what brings you here oppa?” Krystal asked again, smiling expectantly.

“I, uh, was passing by and saw Jinki so I thought I’d come say hi.”

“Oh! Well it’s nice to finally meet you. Jinki oppa is always talking about you, it’s like I know you already.”

“Does he really?” Taemin said, shooting Jinki a glance. Jinki pretended not to notice, staring out the window as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

“To the point of ridiculousness, yes. But what can you expect from this boring kid?” Jessica teased. Taemin laughed at the pout on Jinki’s face as a result of her words. He was beginning to feel guilty for wanting to murder her a few minutes earlier.

“He’s not so bad. Just a little forgetful at times. Like when it comes to telling me about you two.”

“I really am sorry about that. You must have been so confused coming in.”

“You don’t have to apologize noona. It’s not your fault.”

“I suppose you’re right. But since you’re here, why don’t I tell you some stories of Jinki as a child?”

Jinki’s “Noona you wouldn’t-” was overpowered by Taemin’s enthusiastic “I would love to hear those stories.” And moments later Jessica was telling the story of the time Jinki got his head stuck in a bucket.

For the next hour, it continued that way, with Jessica recalling embarrassing childhood stories while Krystal and Taemin laughed and Jinki sat in the corner, beat red. If anything though Taemin felt more frustrated than before, because Jinki hadn’t just been keeping a secret, he’d been hiding these wonderful people Taemin could have been friends with long ago.

(Okay maybe he was partially upset because he was just now hearing the story of the time Jinki declared himself “antenna man” and proceeded to break off every phone and tv antenna in the house “in the name of justice”.)

After over an hour had gone by, Taemin realized just how late it had gotten and decided it was time to leave.

“Goodbye noona, goodbye Krystal.” Taemin said, smiling brightly. Kneeling down to Yoogeun’s level, he gave the child a small wave. “Bye Yoogeunnie~”

“Will Yoogeun see Taemin appa again?”  The boy whimpered, lower lip sticking out in a pout. Taemin chuckled and ruffled his hair.

“Of course Yoogeun.”

Yoogeun cheered happily and hugged Taemin goodbye. Taemin stood back up and took Jinki’s hand in his, the two sporting twin smiles. It seemed as if their hearts were completely light, like all their problems were gone.

Jinki had the sinking feeling it wouldn’t last long.

Jinki was right.

As soon as the door slammed shut, the storm that had been brewing inside Taemin since he saw the picture finally escaped him.

“How could you not tell me!” Taemin yelled, eyes rimmed red though no tears dared fall. “How could you keep them from me? Jinki, I thought you let me in, but these people- I never even knew they existed!”

“I’m sorry-”

“Sorry? You really think that’s going to solved everything? You can’t keep hiding things and expecting sorry to make it okay.”

“Taemin, I was going to tell you, I just-”

“Just what? Was afraid to? Thought I would be upset? Jinki, I don’t care about your past. Did you really think I wouldn’t understand? Don’t you know me better than that?”

“I know you don’t care, but Taemin, they just turned back up in my life, I needed time to get used to the situation first-”

“I still don’t see why you didn’t tell me.”

“I-”

“Jinki, they knew all about me. My name, my age, my career, our entire relationship. And I didn’t even know they existed! If you care enough about me to tell your friends about me, why is it you don’t feel the need to let me in? It just doesn’t make sense.”

“I know I made a mistake, but please forgive me.” Jinki pleaded.

“A mistake is when you do something once. This isn’t the first time you’ve kept me out hyung. How do I know if you won’t make this ‘mistake’ again? How can I trust you if you refuse to trust me?”

“Taemin, that’s not it, I do trust you, please, believe me.” Jinki stepped close to Taemin, and though the younger tried to turn his head away to hide his emotions, it was too late. Jinki finally saw all the hurt, the anger, the sadness filled in Taemin’s normally warm eyes.

“ I love you, I really do. But if you’re still too afraid to let me in, how can I really know you love me too?”

Jinki’s heart nearly broke. Had he really caused Taemin to become so upset he questioned the elder’s love for him? He really had royally screwed things up.

“Taemin, of course I do-”

“Do you really? Do you really love me? If you can’t let me into your past, how can I be part of your future?”

“Taemin, I....” Jinki reached out for Taemin, but he backed away, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.

“Hyung... I want to forgive you, but I’m questioning if I should let myself. How can I know you won’t do the same thing all over again?”

Jinki bit his lip. He had to fix this, but how? Catching sight of Taemin’s dance bag, he realized he knew exactly what he needed to do.

“You’re right Taemin. I shouldn’t have been keeping secrets from you. I swear I won’t keep anymore secrets, from now on. I know you don’t believe me, and that’s completely understandable, but please, give me another chance.”  

“And to prove to you that I’m serious,  I... I have one more thing to tell you.”

Taemin’s eyes hardened. “What else have you been keeping from me?”

“Please, don’t give me that look. It’s nothing bad, I promise.”

“What is it?” Taemin questioned again, voice coming out in an angry hiss.

“Come with me.” Jinki replied, taking Taemin’s hand without warning and pulling him towards the door.

“Hyung, what are you doing?” Taemin stressed, confused.

Jinki turned back to Taemin, face serious and eyes burning with a determined flame Taemin had never before seen.

“I really love you Taemin. Please, let me show you.”

“Just tell me where we’re going, please.”

“To the dance studio.”