Here's the second chapter.

Enjoy!

Misunderstandings

The day started out quite nice, Minho came home to have breakfast with s, and now, each member were just sitting at the table eating the food Key served. They talked a bit as they ate and with those talks, Taemin learned that they won't be having a lot of schedules for the next couple of days.

The dancer was awfully quiet and was mostly poking at his food. It was noticable that he wasn't himself since the younger hasn't said anything about having his favorite for breakfast, which Key made sure to make so that they could see him smile even if it was just a tiny one. The younger hasn't smiled since the time he had a feeling Jinki was keeping something from him.

Lee Jinki was the only one to not notice the difference in the younger. It was as if the leader wasn't even there considering he was on his phone probably texting his girlfriend a "good morning."

It was obvious that the atmosphere was weird and Minho started to worry that it might result to something worse than their 'Sherlock' era. He didn't wish for it to happen again. The thought that the group could drift apart and never come together again scared him. He makes little small talks here and there, hoping that others will notice that it could help the situation.

“Hey Tae?” The rapper begins, knowing that calling the boy will get his attention somehow. "Yeah?" Taemin replies with his head still down, but knowing that it may seem rude, he looks up only to see their worried faces and the leader smiling at his phone.

Great... he's even texting during breakfast...

With the sudden conversation, Jinki looks up and sees that Taemin hasn't touched his food and got worried for the younger. "Minnie, you haven't ate anything off your plate."

"Yeah" The dancer replied with his voice wavering. However, Jinki was the only one who didn't notice. Saying "yes" was probably all Taemin could say at the moment because he knew that if he said anything else, he'd start to stutter.

Jinki raises a brow towards the younger, wondering why Taemin had not said anything else. "Are you not feeling well today? You know... you can stay here rather than going out to wherever you plan to for today." He said, patting the boy on the knee with a smile. While Jinki was trying to get something out of Taemin, the other three didn't speak, they knew the smile Jinki was giving the younger was the reason why the younger fell for him in the first place but it was also the reason why the younger was hurting at the moment.

All they wanted to do right now was wipe that smile off their leader's face. It was true that Jinki's smile was genuine towards Taemin but he shouldn't be showing how happy he truly was when his best friend was broken. Although Jinki didn't know, he should’ve felt it from the start.

Taemin didn't say anything in return, thinking his voice must be hoarse from crying too much last night and he didn't want to reveal that.

"Minnie, you know you can tell me any-" just before Jinki was about to finish his sentence, his attention was long gone when his phone began to ring. He completely forgot he was talking to the younger; he completely forgot that he was going to comfort Taemin all because his phone rang. Taemin looked up, wondering why Jinki stopped midway and when he saw Jinki on his phone again his eyes began to water. At first, he looked down but when he couldn't take it anymore, he got up to refill his glass so that the others wouldn't see his face.

*Ring Ring*

"Jungie... yeah! Of course I'll go!~ I'll be there in 15 minutes." The trio looked at their leader, they knew Jungah was slowly changing Jinki and they didn't like that. If Jinki continued to date her, Taemin will most likely not be the same anymore either and this could result to having them to be awkward with each other throughout the next few weeks or even months.

Taemin also looked at Jinki when he heard what the other said.

Please, don’t leave again. Please don't. This is the only time we can hang out. Please don't go.

"Hey guys, I'll be out with Jungah, she wants to eat breakfast together. I'll probably be back around noon okay? I have to get ready!" Jinki rushed out as he was putting his dishes into the sink. "Hyung, you already ate breakfast." Taemin tried. "I know but remember, I live to eat!” Jinki chuckled while rushing to his room.

The maknae sat back down and finally ate as if a piece of his heart hadn't shattered a while ago. The trio still kept quiet, not knowing what to say. They thought Taemin would continue to stay shut and play with his food. They didn’t want to ask the younger if he was alright but Jonghyun being Jonghyun, he started to get really worried, so he asked the hated question.

"Taemin-ah, are you..."

"Okay?" Taemin finishes off with his voice wavering in the end. The three just nodded in response. "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" he chuckled. By the time Taemin finished talking Jinki came out of his room and was surprised that the younger was speaking and giggling at the same time.

"Yah! You're talking now, now that I'm leaving!?" scaring the four. "Oh puhh-lease hyung, you didn't even noticed that Taemin here didn't have the appetite to eat earlier." Key rolled his eyes as he said this. He had to say it or else no one else will, he couldn't take that Jinki was being so oblivious to the situation. He was the leader after all, wasn't he suppose to be wise when it came to everything?

"Hyung!” Taemin said with a glare. “H-hyung I wasn't feeling well a while ago, but this glass of water made me feel better." He lied as he held up the glass in his hands.

B-but... I did notice...

The other three couldn't handle that Taemin was once again covering himself up, so they shut up, knowing this would only go nowhere if they start talking but a certain singer just couldn't hold another one of his infamous eye rolls which Jinki didn’t miss. He payed no mind to it.

"Well, I'm leaving now. Taemin I hope you feel better!" He left shutting the door quite loudly because he was rushing. You can almost hear a faint voice yelling “sorry” at the other side of the door.

Once again, Taemin's heart broke just a little this time hearing Jinki calling him Taemin instead of 'Taeminnie' or 'Minnie'. The leader has been using those two nicknames since they met, so the nicknames pretty much meant everything to Taemin.

Once Key knew it was safe, he began to speak. "Seriously Tae, I don't know how you get through all of this." He said while rolling his eyes once again. "Through what?"

"This! Hyung being oblivious to your feelings and you pretending that nothing can hurt you whenever he's around! And don't even act all innocent on me Mr. Lee Taemin. I'm beginning to think that you may be the alien of this group instead of this frog over here because of how you cope with all of this." Key said trying to lighten the atmosphere but still saying the truth at the same time.

"Yah! I'm right here!"

"How do you know I was talking about you huh? But yeah you’re right... you were the one I was talking about and I knew you were right there. Didn't I make it obvious enough? So calm your down please." Key said filling each word with just the right amount of sarcasm. With these two throwing sarcastic words at each other, the other two chuckled at how childish they both were but soon Taemin sighed and started to speak, making the two rappers shut up.

"I don't have any reason to not be okay, right? I mean... I knew he was never mine. So I have no reason to cry, right? When I sat back down from refilling my drink, I told myself that I should give up knowing it's too late anyway. I know I've been waiting for years for him to figure it out on his own since I didn't have the balls to say or write it to him. I had many chances to tell him, but I screwed all those chances up. It was my lost. I'm giving up, because I know he's much more happier with her. Have you even seen his smiles these past few weeks? I don't want to take that away. Also, I now know that I don't have a chance with him fully knowing that he's into girls and not guys." Taemin stopped for a while waiting for his hyungs to let these sink in.

"All three of you... I guess, maybe except Jonghyun hyung, found out about my feelings for Jinki hyung over a year ago. That was the time you guys still saw me as a child. But now, you guys view me as a full grown adult all because of this. Maybe... just maybe hyung still thinks of me as a child. Plus if ever he thinks of marrying her or any other woman, I'll be there to support him." He started to tear up. "I'll be there to support him as the long time friend he always had” He sniffed “not as his stupid dongsaeng who fell in love with him. I'll be there because I want him to be happy knowing that he has us by his side when he steps into a new life with a wife." By this time, he was openly sobbing.

"Don't cry Tae.” Minho said as he wiped the younger’s tears. “Please don't. All three of us will also be here for you not just for hyung. We know it's not easy for you to move on so fast considering you've loved him for years, but we also don't want to see you hurt anymore. We'll be here. We promise, right guys?"

"Aw, Froggy you took the words right out of my mouth, but yes, Taemin we promise to be here for you also." Ending it with a smile. "WE PROMISE!" All three of them shouted at the same time, hugging the maknae to death, making him smile at how supportive they were.

*Ring Ring*

"Yah! Froggy! You're wrecking the moment!" Kibum yelled from his side. "What do you mean me!? My phone's over there charging!" Minho yelled pointing to where his phone was. "It's my phone." Taemin said with an apologetic smile.

*Ring Ring*

"Sorry again." shrugging them off of him. "See it wasn't mine!" Minho yelled. "Yeah yeah. Taemin you should answer it" Key said as if he was shooing a fly.

"You're not even going to bother and say 'sorry'?" Minho said acting as if he was offended deeply. "No, now shut up, Taemin is speaking to someone and it'll be rude if you keep talking at a volume too loud for most people."

The dancer only nodded, telling them that he'll take it now. When he saw who was calling, he eagerly answered the phone.

It was Jongin calling to make sure if the plans of going out were still happening and with the call, Taemin’s mood was suddenly lifted knowing he'll have a great time today.

"Hyungs, I'll probably stay out later than usual, is that okay?" He told them knowing that s would worry if he hadn't. "Sure Taemin-ah, just please don't do anything... you know." Jonghyun eyed him, knowing Taemin can get crazy when he's with Jongin. "Hyung, what do you mea- YAH! Who do you think I am?! Huh!?" He unconsciously pouted.

Wow thanks for trusting me...

The other three were just amazed at how Taemin can be so mature yet be childish at the same time. Same ol' Taemin. The three of them thought.

"Taemin-ah I was just kidding. Now, you should get ready, you might be late." Jonghyun said as he was pushing the younger out the kitchen. "Oh right!"

When Taemin rushed into his room and was far away from the dining room, the trio began to speak quietly amongst themselves.

"What do we do? He's obviously going to forget about everything knowing he'll have fun but I'm sure when he comes back he'll remember what happened just a while ago." Kibum started. The three quietly thought to themselves until the rapper broke the silence. "Oh! I got it!"

"What is it Froggy?"

"Oh come on. Hyung I thought you were on my side." Minho said in a defeated tone. "Who said that? Of course I'll always be on my baby's side" Jonghyun replied as he back hugged Kibum. "Stop it you two. What's your idea alien?"

"YAH!" Minho said as well as sending glares at the two. "Why don't we make sure that Tae has a really great time? I mean when he always has a great time he doesn't shut up about it."

"Woah... This alien is actually smart, but how do we do that though?" Key replied. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that... Anyways we call Kai or Sehun to make sure that whatever they're doing is way beyond fun, so that he can take his mind off of the situation for the mean time." The other two nodded knowing that it was a great plan. They called Kai making sure he got everything he was told to do. Finally Taemin came out looking very... very stylish.

"Hey, I'm leaving now! Don't forget I might come back later than usual! Also please tell manager-hyung. Annyeong~" He closed the door behind him and rushed to the cafe Kai had told him to go. "Was that our maknae? Woah he... looks kinda hot." Minho complimented. "Yah! Alien, he already has hyung! Don't start hitting on my baby!"

"WHAT!? I just said he looks hot! I won't hit on him, don't worry jeez."

After the dancer left. The three decided to stay at the dorm and clean their rooms because who knows what has been kept in there ever since they moved in. They also called their manager to tell him where Taemin was and that he won't be home probably by midnight. For the first three hours Taemin was gone, the three would check up on him. After those three hours they just left Taemin in the hands of Kai, Sehun, and Luhan.

***

It's been over fifteen hours since the maknae left, hence he left quite early in the morning. The leader came back much later instead of noon. It didn't surprise the three in the dorm since it's been happening ever since he told them he was dating. When Jinki came back he realized right away his maknae wasn't around.

"Taeminnie! Are you home?" He said yelling from the door. He realized Taemin was gone because usually he would be waiting on the couch either watching, doing things on his phone, or playing a game with Minho.

"Ah hyung, why are you looking for Tae?" Minho said without taking his eyes off the screen. "Oh nothing... it's just that he would be sitting here and greeting me every time I come home no matter how late it is." The leader said looking around still hoping that the missing maknae would pop out of nowhere.

It soon hit the rapper that Taemin was trying his best to show the leader his feelings for him in the most oblivious way possible with how he waited for the elder to come home no matter how late it was. His smirk grew much bigger because he knew Taemin would take any possible time to get more sleep if he could, but instead he used that time to wait for the leader. The rapper slipped this information to the back of his head, making sure he wouldn't forget it,

"Yah! I asked you a question and please stop making that face, it gives me the chills." Jinki said as he faked shivered. "Sorry hyung. What was the question again?"

"I asked you where Taemin went off to." Jinki repeated. "Oh... Tae went out with Jongin, Sehun, and Luhan for the entire day to have some fun." Minho replied still looking at the screen even when he wasn't playing. "Uhh... What do you mean by fun? You don't mean... wait when did he leave?"

"Hyung... Tae isn't like that and you know it and he left right after he got a phone call probably right after you left." Minho replied as he continued his game. "What!? I've been away for more than fifteen hours!" Jinki began to panic.

"We're glad you know that. He also said that he'll be staying out longer than usual hyung." Kibum said with a little sass when he and Jonghyun came out their rooms to answer some of Jinki's questions. "But Taemin isn't like that! He comes home before ten, are you guys sure that he's with Kai and the others?"

"Hyung we're sure. We even texted them just a while ago asking how things were going. So don't worry. Our Maknae has grown into a fine adult." Jonghyun said patting Jinki's shoulder.

"But he-"

"No buts hyung. He's old enough to go anywhere without us and he's also old enough to stay out for as long as he wants." Kibum cut.

With that, Jinki shut up, he didn't know what to say. He wanted to know everything that's been going around the dorm. He knew the maknae was keeping something from him but he also knew that Jonghyun- maybe even the other members knew about it too. However, what he wondered about was why they knew and he didn't. The last time he remembered, he was the first person the dancer would be running to, to tell his secrets and experiences. Jinki wanted to know what they were hiding from him and when he was about to ask, Taemin came home yelling.

"HYUNGS! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH FUN I HAD WITH JONGIN!" Taemin yelled out as he entered the dorm. Jinki somehow felt a bit angered because his maknae went out without telling him and that the younger came back late at night.

"Taemin calm down. We can talk about it in the room okay, come on." Key told Taemin, taking the younger to his room before Jinki could ask them further questions. "So what happened?" Key asks as they head to the elder's room. "I met this girl..." And that was the last thing the other three heard before the door shut close.

"He... He met a girl..." The leader said shocked because now he was sure something was going on. He knew the younger should be telling him these things first before telling the others. "Seems like it. Come on hyung we should get some snacks, Bummie told me he wanted to watch a movie together with all us." Jonghyun said as he dragged the leader into the kitchen.

***

"I met this girl... while Jongin and I went inside a cafe because Sehun and Luhan went into a shop that didn't have our styles and guess what this girl said to me!?" Taemin began telling him, more excited than what Key expected. "What!? Was it something terrible? Don't worry Taemin-ah, don't believe her-"

"No" he shook his hands in front of him. "You don't get it! I love her-" The younger yelled.

***

The other three in the kitchen were helping each other get the food and drinks ready for the movie. Until they heard the maknae yell "You don't get it! I love her!"

By the time the main singer and frog heard that. They both turned towards each other and then looked towards their leader. For some reason Jinki paled, he thought he found out what the younger was hiding from him but the question was, why was the younger telling another person and not him? The singer and the frog smirked at one another, they knew they’ll get to find out what the yelling was about later and that Jinki won't. Soon there was more yelling but it died faster than what the leader had expected.

***

"YOU WHAT!?"

"HYUNG! Not in that way jeez. Just because I stayed out later than usual doesn't mean I left my brain too. Plus I still... you know... love Jinki hyung..." Taemin barely voiced out the last few words looking at the floor. "Oh... sorry Tae, I just thought... Well it isn't my fault that a certain someone had to finish his sentence off there."

“Hyung, you didn't even let me finish it and it is so your fault since you jumped into conclusions."

"Fine, fine. Now proceed."

"Thank you. So this girl I met at the cafe recognized me and said she was a huge SHINee fan. Jongin of course asked if she was also a huge EXO fan but all she said was that she likes them too but likes- no loves SHINee even more that she can't even express it in any other words or actions. Which got him blushing, well at the actions part." He giggled.

"Taemin, get to the point. As much as I like to hear that we have fans like her I would like to know why the maknae of SHINee is so happy about this girl." Key interrupted with sass. "Fine, jeez. Okay so... she said she was also a huge Ontae shipper! She explained why and said things like... the way I look at him and the way he looks at me. I was fangirling or fanboying? inside my head if that was even possible." He chuckled. "Wait, so why are you so happy again?" Key asked confused.

"Ugh. Hyung listen, She's a huge OnTae shipper. HUGE. ON-TAE. S-H-I-P-P-E-R. Onew plus Taemin. Jeez hyung, I thought I made it clear the first time I said it." Kibum only nodded not knowing how to respond, so Taemin continued. "I know I said that I'll give up this morning, but I don't think I can. Instead I'll remind myself that I can only remain in the friend zone.”

Suddenly the younger remembered that they've been in the bedroom long enough and so he dragged the elder and walked towards the door. “Come on hyung, we've stayed in here long enough. I'm sure that the others missed me as much as you did." Kibum only made a puking gesture to reply with what Taemin said about missing him. He was thinking deeply when Taemin pulled him out his room door excitedly.

Oh Taemin, with doing that you'll only hurt yourself even more.

Key was pulled into the kitchen where he found the others making popcorn and other snacks for the movie night he planned with s. He notices the smirks from two members and makes his way towards them. Once he was with them, they began to whisper amongst themselves.

"We're guessing something good happened?" Jonghyun started. "Well yes, but it's going to keep hurting Taemin." Key replied sadly. "What do you mean? We only heard that he met a girl and that he loves this girl."

"How did you guys..."

"We heard it before you guys closed the door to your room and we heard the other half from the yelling." Minho added on. "So that means hyung heard it as well, right? What was his reaction?" Key asked frantically. "I don't know-"

"I noticed him pale just a bit but I don't know why." Jonghyun replied as he cut Minho off. "HYUNGS! What movie would you guys like to watch?" With Taemin yelling all the way from the living room, the three finished what they were doing. "I'll tell you guys everything later, for now let's stay quiet as if we're also oblivious of what's going on okay? Well the two of you since it's obvious hyung heard me and Taemin. Okay?" Key said as fast as he can.

The other two nodded. The three of them walked out of the kitchen with snacks and drinks in their hands. Once the movie was playing, Taemin sat back down on their couch just a seat away from the person he dearly loves. This had Jinki grow more curious as to what Taemin yelled out awhile ago, the maknae liked to cuddle into him or to anybody when watching a movie.

For the entire movie there were two people who weren't paying attention, one being the maknae since he was on his phone smiling while texting, and the other being the leader. Jinki didn't like how the younger was smiling at texts because he didn't know who or what made the younger smile genuinely. This made the leader want to know more about the younger's life feeling Taemin won't tell him anything.

I bet he's texting the girl he fell in love with. Jinki mocked in his head, still sounding quite upset. He didn't know why his thoughts sounded as if he was jealous.

Maybe it's just because I'm close to him that I'm scared I won't have him be there when I need him. Yeah that's right. Best friends worry for each other. That's got to be it.

During the movie he was trying to create a plan to get his maknae to talk to him about the things he didn't know.

Either way I'll find out myself if he chooses not to tell me.

And that's what Taemin has been wanting for the longest time, except now, it was too late since the leader fell in love, not with him, but with Jungah.

I don't know if I would continue to make it full angst. But anyway I hoped you enjoyed!

Also, I don't really know what's going to happen in this story. I mean I have many ideas but as of now I'm just writing depending on what I feel should go in the story.