~*~This is a double update.~*~

Grass pushed through the thawing ground and Taemin vowed to never wear shoes again.  He ran through the halls of the castle only to grab books or Minho’s attention before sprinting out the ever open front doors. The front gardens stayed over grown with thorns but Taemin found paths through them to patches of sunny grass or over grown flower beds.  Often Minho joined him, but being outside still tended to make man nervous from time to time, and he never ventured outside when he wasn’t human. Although he never limited Taemin's time outside, he would watch the boy from the windows. 

Taemin liked to walk along the perimeter of the fence in the morning waiting for the sun to breach their land and free Minho from the walls of the castle.  He would drag his fingers across the rungs and feel the night chilled iron nip at his finger tips.  He would start at the animal field and walk all the way around to the front of the castle until he reached the gate he had first been tied to and he would go back, walking up the stone path way to the large front doors.  So when the day came that he reached the gate and saw it standing open in the dim early morning light Taemin knew something was wrong. 

He did not happily walk back to the castle that morning but ran full speed through the already open doors.

“Minho? Minho where are you?” He yelled but there was no answer other than the dull echo of his own voice.  Shadowlings clung to his feet but he kicked them away as he started up the front stair way but stopped when he heard the kitchen door opening.  He spun on his heels ready to call out but his breath stuck in his throat as his eyes met not the glowing yellow of Minho’s but the dull and sunken eyes of his father. 

“Taemin, my dear boy, you are alive,” he stumbled with weak legs into the main entrance.  He looked aged several years; his skin sagged and his hair had thinned, he was frail looking and dressed in dirty clothes. An anger stronger than any Taemin had ever felt surged through his chest and tore open the wound that had long ago healed over his heart. Taemin walked down most of the stairs but lingered on the last.

“Come, quickly, the beast has yet to know I am here.” he whispered and motioned for Taemin to come to him.

“Why are you here?” Taemin shouted at him.

“Shh, shh, do you want him to hear stupid boy? I am here to take you back home, what else?”

“Why?” Taemin clenched his fists at his sides. 

“Taemin I will explain later, now hurry.”  His father took a step towards the door, still beckoning to him.

“No! I want an explanation now. Why should I go with you if you don’t have my trust, how do I know you won’t just sell me before we reach home?” Tears stung at Taemin’s eyes and his voice was rising with anger.

“Taemin, I-” his father’s voice choked and his eyes looked past Taemin to the top of the stairs.  Taemin didn’t need to turn around to know Minho had appeared.  He could hear the deep breathing and familiar sound of claws scraping against stone. 

“Taemin, run, the monster, he is here,” his father’s fear stricken face made Taemin's stomach twist with hatred.  “Please, child, come with me.”

“Taemin?” Minho’s deep voice shook him, and he turned to look up at him.  Yellow eyes glowed with pain and questioned Taemin’s gaze. 

The boy turned back to face his father. “Give me a reason to leave his side.” Taemin's voice was strong, and his anger was conveyed with every syllable. 

“Taemin, you are my son, I love you, and the guilt of what I did rotted me. I came to take you away from this monster and take you home.” His father’s voice shook and his eyes darted between Taemin and Minho’s looming form.

Taemin took a step back, one stair closer to Minho. “I don’t believe you.” He turned back to Minho and held out his hand.  “You left me here purely out of greed, deceiving both of us.  You forsake me like I was nothing, tossed me aside after seeing nothing in me.  But he,” Taemin grabbed one of Minho’s menacing claws, “even though I was even less to him. He let me stay.  He let me call this home, he let me trust him. So, now the only monster I see here is you.”

“Taemin-”

“Spare me more of your lies.” Taemin backed up so he was standing against Minho’s chest enveloped in his protective grasp. “I can see through them now.  I’m sure you are here because so many of your lies are catching up to you. You used me once, but I am not foolish enough to let go of what I have now.”

“You can’t seriously be choosing to stay with...with this thing?” His father was already backing away from them and into the light of the rising sun.

“Get out, and never come back, or I will come after you myself,” Taemin's voice was low and mimicked the growl he heard from Minho rumbling in his chest.  His father nearly fell over his own feet as he fled the castle. 

Taemin tried to fight back the tears of pain and anger, squeezing his eyes shut.  He calmed his racing heart and let his own words sink in.  It was true, he wanted to be here, he trusted Minho.  He stayed facing the open doors and feeling Minho around him.  Only when Minho’s body shifted against him as his transformation started did Taemin open his eyes.  He felt claws reform into fingers, felt his chest shrink to that of a man, felt his breathing brush the back of his neck and Minho rested his face against the back of Taemin’s head. But Taemin kept his gaze forward.

“You could have left. You could have gone back and left me behind here,” Minho whispered into his hair.

Tears dripped from his eyes as he watched the morning light still creep across the stone flooring, not yet at their feet and clutched Minho’s human hand to his chest. 

“Minho? The light…” he whispered.

“Taemin, I don’t think the light matters any more. I can feel it, the curse, your light, has always been enough.  I was too blind to see it.” He turned the boy in his arms and linked his hands behind Taemin’s back, still holding him close as the first rays of light danced around their feet.  “You have given me nothing to fear, and everything to love.  You have always been enough, and even more than I ever imagined.”

Taemin traced his hands along the sides of Minho’s face, “Minho, I love you. With all my heart.”

Minho leaned forward so his breath danced over Taemin's trembling lips, “I love you too, completely.”

They kissed until the sun light poured in through the open doors and bathed them both in warmth.  That night when the sun set Taemin kept his fingers laced between Minho’s, palm to palm, no pain was felt, no tears were shed, and only small kisses and warm smiles were left to be shared between them. 

(A/N; Thank you for reading! I know my updates are very slow but I am grateful for each of you who keep reading and love 2min as much as I do ^^ my next story will be called Don’t Say You Love Me.)