- X X X -

 

 

"I wonder when Taemin's gonna be back," Kibum muttered, his lips pursed, as he stirred the pot of seaweed and egg soup while the sticky rice was being made in the rice cooker. 

In the next room, Jonghyun and Minho were on the couch, chilling. It had been a long and boring day so they were pretty much exhausted from doing absolutely nothing when they were used to so much more. Practices, concerts, fansigns, fan meeting, traveling, they were used to doing all that but now? Now their schedule was completely cleared except for Jonghyun, who had Blue Night Radio show going on. 

"He's probably gonna be another month considering it is LA," Minho replied, throwing a fist in the air seeing his custom made animated character kick the soccer ball straight in its goal causing the goalie to jump out of the way.

Jonghyun rose an eyebrow, looking at Minho. "Why do you say that?"

Minho shrugged, a light smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "I don't know. I mean, well, think about it." He paused his game. "He's in LA." Jonghyun nodded slowly, still not grasping Minho's point. "By himself. " He nodded again. "No managers. Only a couple bodyguards." He nodded once again, getting slightly agitated with Minho's slow explanation (point). "LA is full of clubs, hotspots, and thousands of cute girls." He unpaused his game. "Put those together, and let me know what you get from it."

Jonghyun shrugged, a small frown along his dinosaur like features. "Still. LA really isn't all that. It's just a couple of big lights, and loud music."

"Yeah," Minho replied, completely in the game. "You're talking about at night but during the day?" He nodded. "It's pretty quiet, and nice. The sun shines just on all of the right places. It's better than you think."

Jonghyun rolled his eyes, and continued going through his tlist on his Twitter. "Alright Minho. Taemin should still come home. Kibum wouldn't exactly jump with joy if he got kidnap-"

"You miss him," Minho said, more of a statement than a question. Jonghyun gave him a funny look.

"What? No I don't! I was just saying that for Kibum's sake! He's the one that mi-"

"You miss him, so stop denying yourself or stop lying to me. You've always been like that with Tae though." He shrugged. "Remember when he used to go to his parents house a lot during the night and you would call him and beg him to come back home because you were lonely and missed him?"

Jonghyun sunk further into the couch, his lip pursed firmly out. What Minho got as a response was a grunt and that told him everything he needed to know. He smirked and nodded.

"Your boyfriend's gonna be back tomorrow. He texted me earlier this morning saying that he was just making sure everything was set so put that lip back in and straighten up."

Jonghyun's mouth opened and closed for some minutes before he realized what Minho had said. He used all of his nonexistent strength and hit Minho with the pillow he had in his lap. Minho laughed, and moved further down the couch away from his hyung's clutches and possible injuries.

"I'm going in the room. Don't bother me." Jonghyun got up, and began making his way to his and Taemin's shared room, slightly sulking and slightly agitated from Minho's pointless teasing. Sure, Jonghyun admired the maknae but he didn't have a crush on him or anything like that, but to Minho he saw it as a possible crush. Jonghyun's eye twitched at that. He wasn't gay.

"Your boyfriend's coming home tomorrow so you might wanna throw something tight and y on in the morning~" Minho yelled out to him in a sing song voice. "You are the girl in the relationship right?"

Jonghyun felt his cheeks grow hot at that and that only made him even more agitated. He rolled his eyes, and slammed the door. He plopped on Taemin's made up bed, then laid down on his back. Minho was right. Not about the crush thing! No! He was right about him missing the annoying, cute maknae. He felt more closer to Tae than the other members. He almost felt like they were brothers. Him and Kibum used to be roomies but ever since Kibum was switched with Taemin, Jonghyun grew more closer to the maknae. They actually had a pretty good amount of things in common. Music, clothing, girls, lots of things. Jonghyun felt like Tae was a part of him. The other half. He didn't feel whole without Taemin near. Onew would sometimes sleep in Taemin's bed to make it seem like Tae was in the bed but it didn't really help Jonghyun too much. His heart still longed for the maknae to come back home. He had been gone for more than two weeks, and it was making Jonghyun sick and go crazy. He needed the maknae around to annoy him, play pranks, and brighten up the dorm. All of the members needed Taemin back. Kibum missed his futile attempts at making surprise breakfasts and leaving his dirty socks in the living room for the older to pick up and scold him for. Minho missed having a partner for his sport needs and game playing. Onew missed the maknae for watching old movies with and annoying Minho and Jonghyun. They all missed him, and hoped that he was okay, which they all had a feeling he was. It was just time for their maknae to come back home.

Jonghyun rolled onto his stomach, not really wanting to think about that anymore, and got back to what he was previously doing before Minho said something stupid. 

As he went through his tlist, he came upon a picture of one of Taemin's teaser pics. It was the one where he was shirtless and completely gray. Jonghyun chewed on his lip for a moment, then favorited it and kept going. Then, fed up with his tlist, (which wasn't filled with anything really interesting) he typed in Taemin and waited to see what he would get. 

A whole bunch of pics came up then there were the tweets. He scrolled up, and smiled when seeing a very heartfelt one. He scrolled up a little more, then seen something that completely caught his interest.

I think it's okay that Taemin got a solo first, but Onew or Jonghyun deserved it more. Even though Taemin approved over the years in singing, it just still sounds the same to me tbh. #태민 #괴도

Jonghyun's eye twitched a little. How could someone even think that? He couldn't understand that. Even though him and Onew sounded the best in the group by their fans, neither of them were thinking about going solo. Taemin was, and only him. Jonghyun was just completely shocked, and immensely hurt. He saw that the person's @ name was @tae_ace_lover. He rolled his eyes. 

Some Taemint, He thought.

Then he thought for a moment, and shook his head. He shouldn't say anything about it. What he needed at the moment was a good ole drink. Maybe that would cloud his mind for a moment or two. He really hated that Taemin was getting hate for something he's wanted to do ever since he was a trainee. He couldn't understand why fans just couldn't simply be happy for him.

He got up, and made his way to the kitchen where Kibum was just finishing up cooking. He gave Jonghyun a look as the elder opened up the hidden cabinet that Onew and Minho kept their secret wine stash. He grabbed a wine glass from a different cabinet, poured himself a glass, and quickly downed it. Kibum rose an eyebrow in his direction, but didn't make a teasing comment like he usually would. Jonghyun only drank from Onho's wine stash when he was stressed, and that meant that Jonghyun was stressed, but Kibum just couldn't help but want to know why. It was rare that Jonghyun was stressed because so far this past year and half of last year too, it had been going really good. He just didn't understand, so that's when he decided to ask him.

"You know," He threw a couple of chopped up carrots in the soup. "-you don't usually drink wine unless you're stressed. Wanna share?"

Jonghyun looked at the empty glass in his hand, then poured himself another shot of the expensive wine. After downing that glass, he let out a breath. "I was on Twitter, and...and I saw this tweet about Tae, and it was....it was very bad. I don't understand. They're a taemint. How could they have said such a rude thing about him?" He turned to face Kibum completely. "He deserves this solo more than all of us. He's waited, improved and took a leap of faith with this. He deserves this. It's his time to shine. He's always been the maknae...I just..." He felt tears welling up in his eyes. "I don't understand..."

"Hey..." Kibum wiped his hands on the apron he was wearing, and pulled Jonghyun into a tight hug who didn't respond. He just rested his head on the Kibum's shoulder and continued sobbing. "We all know that Taeminie deserves this solo more than any of us and anyone. He's trained and waited so long for this. We're gonna make sure that he gets all the support he needs from us okay? Don't worry so much. I'm quite sure there's more fans supporting him than hating on him. Believe me." He rubbed the crying man's back. 

Even though Kibum's heart-warming speech made him smile a little, he was still hurting. Whenever it came to the maknae, his feelings were heightened. When he felt sad, he was angry. When he felt happy, he was overjoyed. Maybe that was way he loved being around him.

Jonghyun nodded, and pulled away, wiping his tears away. "Thanks, Kibummie. I'm just gonna...gonna go back to the room and clear my thoughts okay? I'll be okay. Let me know when dinner's ready."

Kibum nodded, and smiled a little. "Okay.." He watched as Jonghyun took the wine bottle and his glass back to him and Tae's shared room, shutting the door behind him. Kibum frowned and continued on cooking. He really hoped Taemin was going to come home earlier than by morning. Jonghyun really needed him at the moment. 

Kibum was great in situations as these. He knew just how to make the members feel better whenever they were sad about something. However, this time was a little more complex. This was about Tae, and with Tae situations only Tae could fix them. Only problem was, Taemin wasn't there to fix it this time around. So, that thought drove Jonghyun to drinking a whole bottle of wine, and sobbing. 

And Kibum couldn't do a thing about it.

♠♤♠♤♠♤♠♤♠♤♠

Onew came out of his room, and plopped down in their massaging chair, letting out a content breath. Then something hit his mind. 

"Minho-ah, when's Tae coming-"

"Tomorrow morning," Minho quickly answered, eyes glued to the tv screen, and fingers rapidly tapping buttons. Then, he threw a firm fist pump in the air seeing his animated character strike another ball in the goal. He smirked slightly. "The goalie had no chance."

Onew rolled his eyes at the younger's gaming mode, and settled with closing his eyes instead of being tortured by watching Minho kick some soccer playing butts, as said by the latter. 

Onew couldn't stay in his room because Jonghyun's sobbing could practically be heard through the separated walls, and it made him feel a little upset knowing that he could do nothing to make him feel better. He knew that Taemin was the only one that could cheer him up almost everytime he cried. However, this time was different. It was a Tae issue, and only Tae could fix it. Although, he opened his eyes to look at Minho again, and saw just how unworried he was and how more focused he was on his game than anything else, it didn't seem like Minho was exactly worried about anything else but what was in front of him. 

Onew snorted.

Minho had a hell of a way of being worried if he was in the first place.

"Okay guys! Dinner is ready so come on, and-"

Light taps at the front door cut Kibum off, and made Minho actually pause his game. Before Minho was able to spring up and get it, Onew was up before him and looked through the peephole. All he could see through the hole was a head full of blond moppy mess, but that's all he needed to see to know just exactly who it was. He smiled slightly, and opened the door.

Taemin turned around at the sound of the door opening, and a tired smile found it's way along his worn out features. Onew quickly brought the younger into a hug. "We've missed you.." He whispered. Taemin nodded, and rubbed his leader's back with his free hand.

"I know."

Onew let him go, and stepped aside so he come in and get out of the cold air. He took the blonde maknae's bags, and set them down by the coat rack. Taemin was quickly hugged by Kibum which Taemin had a feeling was going to happen. He did lie and say that he was going to be back tomorrow morning. He knew just how ecstatic they were to see him so early. He smiled, and wrapped his arms lightly around the elder.

"I'm glad you came back early, Taeminie... We really missed you. A lot." He quickly pulled Taemin back and gave him a stern look. "Did you do anything stupid while you were up there?"

Taemin chuckled and shook his head. "My whole week up there I practiced and perfected the dance moves. Ian was surprised that I learned the choreography so quickly. Oh, but I did meet this girl," Kibum rose an eyebrow causing Taemin to laugh and shake his head. "Nothing really happened. She was a part of Ian's dance crew, and who I worked with also. Her name is Tamera, and she was really nice. She's also pretty cute, but I didn't want to pursue her or anything because I know how the idol life is and if I add her into it all," He sighed. "-things will just get even more complicated. But," He smiled. "I did see some cool sights, eat at pretty nice restaurants, and go to the beach. It was really nice. I wouldn't mind going back, but this time on vacation."

Kibum smiled, and hugged his grown up baby again. "Well I'm just glad you came back unscathed and had fun."

Taemin smiled. "Yeah, I'm glad you guys are still holding up pretty well." Then he noticed a member missing. He pulled back with a small pout. "Where's my overexcited Jjongie? I thought he would be practically hounding the door waiting for me to come home."

Kibum bit his lip, and cut his eyes at Onew who looked at Minho who looked at Taemin. Taemin looked at his three members with a raised eyebrow. "Is he okay?" Then his eyes widened. "Did he get in an accident again?!"

Kibum shook his head. "No, no, not this time, however, he is hurt. Just not physically."

Taemin let out a breath of relief, but there was still a small ball in his stomach. "What's wrong?"

"He told me while he was getting some wine from Onew hyung and Minho's wine stash," Minho punched Onew's shoulder who shook his head and muttered to the younger, "We gotta get a lock man. This isn't working out too well."

Kibum continued, blocking the two out. "He told me that while he was on Twitter, he came across a hateful comment about you doing your solo and told me that he couldn't understand why a fellow fan would say something like that about you. He looked really hurt Taemin. Afterwards, he took the bottle of wine, and went back in his and your room." He sighed. "I'm afraid that he probably drank the whole thing out of hurt."

Onew collapsed in Minho's arms at the thought of Jonghyun drinking a whole bottle of expensive wine that was probably a favorite. "I got you man. Don't worry. We're gonna make that lock thing happen real soon."

Onew blinked. "Promise?" Minho nodded.

"On every signed soccer ball I have."

Taemin sighed, and rubbed his neck. "How bad is he?"

Kibum rubbed his hands on his apron, nervously, and nodded. "He's pretty bad, Tae. Go talk to him."

Taemin nodded, and headed quickly to their shared room.

Kibum looked at Onew and Minho and rolled his eyes. "It's just a bottle of wine. Get over it."

Onew slowly stood back up, shaking his head, his eyes widened. "It is not....just a bottle of wine. It is a high priced bottle of Crystal wine. It's rich, and tastes better than any wine you've ever-"

"And how do you know that that's the bottle he took with him?" Kibum asked.

Minho rose a finger. "Correction, how do we know exactly which bottle he took."

"Because he's Jonghyun, and when he's upset and stressed he hurts people without even knowing it. So, that's how we know he took the Crystal wine," Onew finished.

Kibum threw his hands up and rolled his eyes. "Oh god, I'm done with you two." He walked back into the kitchen and checked to make sure that everything was made for dinner and cleaned up so he wouldn't have to clean things up when dinner was over.

Onew looked at Minho and shrugged. "He just doesn't understand."

Minho nodded. "Yep, but how are we gonna replace it? We won it in an auction. I don't think they have Crystal wine auctions."

Onew snorted, then slapped his shoulder with a knowing grin. "Ohhhh, we're gonna replace it alright."

Minho rose a curious eyebrow. "How though?"

Onew nervously bit his lip. "I...have no clue but I'll uh," He nodded. "I'll let you know when I come up with something." He quickly left the younger to go back to his room to do god knows what. However, Minho knew that he was gonna probably try to think of something. Minho shrugged, and went back to his game. One could only hope with Onew though.

♠♤♠♤♠♤♠♤♠♤♠

Taemin opened the door slightly, knowing that Jonghyun would only grow more agitated if he had knocked. Knocking when Jonghyun was stressed and in a damper? Yeah, basically a death wish. 

He saw the dino laid back on his bed, the wine bottle in hand. Taemin frowned slightly, then went over and just sat down beside him. Jonghyun had stopped crying a while ago, so he was now in his sulking mode.

"Tae....when did you-"

"Just now. How are you...you holding up?" Taemin laid back beside Jonghyun, turning his head to the side so he could see him better. Jonghyun shrugged.

"I don't know. I just....when I read that tweet, it really upset me.."

Taemin let out a breath, and nodded. "I know...but jong, you can't let it get to you. I've been staying away from the comment section because I know there's always going to be someone or many people that are going to disagree. That goes for anyone." He sent him a smile. You just have to learn how to block it out. Remember when we first debuted and a couple of people didn't like us at first? Now they're hardcore shawols, and support us in everything we do."

Jonghyun looked at the bottle in his hands, then handed it to Taemin who smiled in return. "You're right," The elder muttered, then sat up. He winced. "Maybe you should have given me that speech before I made a tweet or two."

Taemin rose an eyebrow, then groaned. "What did you do this time?"

Jonghyun looked around, then just decided to show him. After getting to the first tweet, he showed the maknae who just shook his head, then he was shown the second one that was about the negativity Taemin was receiving. Taemin sighed, and nodded. Jonghyun thought he was going to be thrown another speech, but what he got made him raise an eyebrow.

"First it was vampire oppa, now it's fairy prince. What?"

"Wait.... Huh?"

Taemin took the phone out of his hands, and went back to the first tweet he had shown him. Taemin gave the phone back to him, and Jonghyun's eyes widened a little then he laughed.

"Ohhhhh~ that. Well," He shrugged. "y plus cute equals fairy prince." Taemin gave him the evil eye. Jonghyun continued laughing and shrugged again. "So I heard from fans."

Taemin smiled a little and tackled his hyung, and tickled him as his punishment for continuing to call him cute. Jonghyun tried to pry his slender fingers away from his sides but it was no use. Then something hit Taemin. He stopped tickling the elder who was beyond relieved. Oxygen was becoming pretty scarce. 

"Did you just call me y?"

Jonghyun blushed. "N-no..."

Taemin chuckled, and nodded. "Yeah, you did! So you think I'm y, hyung?"

"Wha-"

Taemin put a finger against his lips, and smirked. "It's okay. I know I am. I couldn't have been this way without your help. If we hadn't of done Internet War back in 2012, I wouldn't have grown up so....well."

Jonghyun could practically feel his heart thumping against his chest. He didn't think that was possible, but it obviously was. Taemin leaned closer, and pressed his soft, plump lips against the elder's forehead. He smiled softly. "I think you're y too. I don't want you to worry so much about me anymore. I'm 22. I can do this hyung. You have to let me go sometime."

Jonghyun felt a tear run down his cheek. He placed his hand against the younger's cheek. "Why so soon, Taemin-ah? Why do you have to grow up so fast?.."

Taemin shrugged. "I'm not. You're just holding onto me too long. It's a mind thing hyung."

Jonghyun chuckled softly. "Yeah. You might be right."

Taemin sent him a wink, and smiled cheerfully even though he was beyond tired. He hopped off the elder, and stretched. "I think Ki-eomma made dinner, so let's go eat before he-"

Jonghyun was already up, and made a big decision. What Minho had said made him think of some things. So what if he liked Taemin who was also a guy. Who cared. Well, he was sure fans did but it was his life. Jonghyun had put off his feelings for the younger for six years. He had fell in love with the maknae right when he stuttered his name to him. Taemin was cute, and quiet back then. However, he managed to become bubbly and a happy spirit throughout the group. He made the other members laugh, and sometimes cry. He made Jonghyun feel so weak and powerless. It was as if the roles were switched. Every chance he got, Jonghyun would always try his best to sit by the younger or just be close to him period. He couldn't see himself without being close to him. Taemin was another part of Jonghyun. So, it only made sense that Jonghyun kissed him.

Taemin wasn't exactly surprised by the action, whereas he was grateful. He grabbed the elder's hips and pulled his small body into his, moving his lips gently against Jonghyun's. If he could, Taemin could kiss Jonghyun for days. He loved his hyung more than anyone else he could think of. His mother, Kwang Lee, was at the top of his list but best believe that Jonghyun shared that first place on his list. He loved him. A lot, and he wasn't exactly afraid to show that sometimes. Especially at their concerts. He loved making the fans go crazy whenever he would let his touches linger with Jonghyun or when he would give him longing looks. His feelings for elder was beyond real, and he didn't care who didn't like it. He was in love Kim Jonghyun, and he wasn't afraid to admit that.

Jonghyun wrapped his arms around the younger's neck, smiling into the kiss. Taemin smiled too, then pulled back a little, and leaned his forehead against Jonghyun's. "I would say that I like you, but then I would be lying, and when it comes to my true feelings about someone I don't lie." Jonghyun bit his lip, holding in the oncoming tears. So he didn't love him nor even like him. Jonghyun couldn't process it. So why did he kiss me back? He thought, confused.

"But why did yo-"

"I love you, Kim Jonghyun. I don't like you, I love you. I love you. You hear me? I. Love. You, Jonghyun."

Taemin smiled and nodded, seeing his hyung's tears rolling down. Jonghyun couldn't form the right words to say back so he instead just pressed his lips back against the younger's showing him what he felt at that moment.

♠♤♠♤♠♤♠♤♠♤♠

"For the last time, that wine is-"

Minho gave Onew a look then shook his head. Onew let out a sigh, and shrugged.

"-was very expensive, Kibum. I can't honestly stress that enough. We won it in an auction." Onew crossed his arms over his chest. "That's why I've decided-"

Minho gave him another look. Onew rolled his eyes.

"-we decided to make him pay for it." Onew finished.

Kibum rolled his eyes. "Why am I even talking to you two about this..."

"He drank our expensive wine." Onew said.

"So he's paying for it. Point blank." Minho finished.

Kibum waved a hand. "Alright, alright. How are you two wanting him to pay for it?"

Minho smirked. "Simple. He's gonna become our slave until the debt is paid."

Onew gave him a low five, smirking too, and not even looking when slapping Minho's hand. It was the perfect plan.

"What a plan," Kibum said. "Who even came up with that?"

Onew shook his head. "It's brilliant! He won't be doing anything too major. Just washing our dishes, helping us release some stress, and-"

"Say what now?"

Minho shrugged. "Yep. just doesn't do the trick these days anymore."

"We're positive he's good in that field," Onew said, earning himself another silent low five.

Kibum tried to not laugh but ended up letting out a small chuckle. "Well, who would've known that you guys were frolicking in a rainbow field of flowers."

Minho shrugged. "Hey. We're open to different fields. Like you, Kibum."

Kibum rolled his eyes, and walked back into the kitchen. "Yeah, okay. Whatever. We kissed once. Honestly, I don't see how that gives you the thought of finding your gay card."

Onew rose an eyebrow. "Gay card?"

Kibum nodded, then glanced at Minho who adverted his eyes elsewhere. Kibum smirked. "Yep. Minho found his a loooonnnngggg time ago. Actually," Kibum swung his arm around the nervous younger. "I helped him find it."

"What the hell are you talking about Kim Kibum?" Onew asked the younger, finding himself bringing his eyebrows together in complete confusion.

"Well, your little wine buddy is surprisingly, and impeccably gay. True story."

Minho let out a breath. "I'm not gay."

Kibum rolled his eyes. "Okay, you're not gay. However," He leaned in close, their noses almost touching. "-you're gay for me."

Minho blushed darkly, and moved away from the older noticing Onew's surprised look. He sighed. "I'll be in my room." He quickly scurried off to his room, locking the door behind him.

Kibum shrugged. "He gets embarrassed easily."

Onew blinked, then brought the younger to him against his body, and whispered in his ear, "You're my toy, understand? You do what I say, when I say it or there will be consequences."

Kibum felt a shiver run down his spine. "O-ok.."

Onew rose an eyebrow.

"Yes, oppa," Kibum corrected himself.

Onew smirked and nodded. "Good. I'm feeling a little . Meet me in the room with the bag, understand? And, if you follow my instructions perfectly, I might even throw a treat in there."

Kibum bit his lip. "Yes, oppa."

Onew pecked his lips, biting his bottom lip before slapping his , and heading to his room to wait for the younger. Kibum let out a shaky breath, then quickly hurried to get the bag of surprises, and something extra to make his 'oppa' extra happy.

---

// sorry about the mistakes, I hope you still enjoyed it even though it was also late and bad timing LMAO cx thanks for reading ~ //