Taemin could only stare at his feet while he walked along the crowded hallways. He forced himself to ignore the whispers and gossip that bubbled among his peers.

It has been three weeks since, but the rumor mill has not stopped yet. For some reason, most of the students have also started ostracizing him. The more hateful of Minho's fanclub have also started harassing him.

Nothing overly serious. A foot suddenly sticking out to trip him. Filling his locker with water. Vandalizing his books. It was all very elementary, and the usual Taemin would just have laughed in their faces, but he was no longer that person.

Instead, the Taemin now would just hunch his shoulders and keep on walking.

Three weeks.

Twenty-one days.

Five-hundred four hours.

... And he should really stop counting the days.

He stifled a heavy sigh and leaned on his locker, the cool surface a slight balm to his nerves.

Just a couple more weeks, he told himself. And it's going to be Christmas break then everyone will have other things to think of. He nodded to himself. Yeah, especially extremely hot blond seniors.

It was almost too late that he noticed the whispers around him suddenly stopped, until the noise suddenly increased twofold.

"Isn't that-"

"Oh my god! He's so hot!"

"What is he doing here?"

"Don't tell me-"

Taemin's eyes widened as Lee Jinki leaned on the locker beside his, his blond hair falling over his eyes stylishly and a half-smile on his perfect lips. "J-jinki-ssi!"

The senior chuckled, and was it just his imagination or was the older boy coming closer? "Good morning, Taemin," he murmured. "Didn't I say you could call me hyung?"

Taemin didn't know how to reply to that, so he just nodded and quickly opened his locker to have something to do. "Oh."

It was full of hate mail. Again.

Jinki's eyes narrowed, and Taemin could only watch as the other picked one from the heap and started reading. It was only less than a minute of silence, but Taemin couldn't take it any longer. He forced a laugh. "N-no need to look so grim, hyung. I'm already used to it," he lied.

When Jinki lifted his eyes from the paper and stared at him, his breath caught. "You shouldn't be getting used to it at all." His tone was hard as he crumpled the paper and threw it back inside, closing the locker with restrained force. Taemin’s eyes were wide in surprise. Was the elder angry on his behalf? "I'll deal with this later. What books do you need today?"

Taemin blinked. "Advanced math, English, and world history. Wait- what did y-you mean by that, hyung?"

"Good. I still have my old ones somewhere in the council room. I'll hand them to you later." As if there was a switch, his voice suddenly changed to that warm y undertone. "Have you thought about what I asked?"

Taemin's jaw dropped at the shift, both in the topic and mood of the conversation. "I-I didn't think you were serious..."

"Seems like you were still thinking about that idiot," Jinki murmured. His fingers suddenly found their way to Taemin's hair, and the younger boy gasped as Jinki pulled him closer. "We'll have to correct that."

"H-hyung!" Taemin hissed in alarm. "Other people are looking!"

"I'm glad you're calling me hyung now," Jinki grinned. "And having them look is exactly my goal."

"What?! Wait, hyung-"

"This should reach Minho soon enough," Jinki continued softly. "Then he'll regret ever leaving you at all." His fingers then moved to caress his cheek. "Do you want him back, Taemin?" His gaze was arresting.

"N-no," Taemin answered softly after a moment, looking away. "He lied to me."

"Good. Do you want to hurt him like he hurt you?"

Taemin shook his head. "I-I just d-don't want to think about him at all..." He said brokenly.

He didn't see Jinki's eyes soften. "I can take care of both." They stood there in silence amidst the chattering of the students, Jinki still cupping Taemin's cheek and the latter with his head bowed, eyes closed.

"Taemin, look at me."

Taemin couldn't help but raise his head. The intensity in the hazel eyes froze him on the spot. "H-hyung?"

There was a small smile on his lips, and Taemin blushed just thinking about how they look to other people. Did they look like a couple? "Do you trust me?"

What kind of question was that? "I don't understand, hyung."

The smile didn't waver. "Choi Minho looks like he’s coming over here and he doesn't look happy."

Taemin's eyes widened in alarm and he forced himself not to look. "W-what?!"

Jinki laughed as if he said something funny. "You don't look like you want to talk to him, so my question stands. Do you trust me?"

"I-I'm not sure," Taemin floundered. Why was he asking that kind of personal question???

"That wasn't a no, so I'll take that."

And with that Jinki kissed him.

**

Taemin went through his morning classes in a daze. He didn’t even notice the chatter and looks other students kept shooting his way. What on earth was happening?

Lee Jinki kissed him.

Lee Jinki. Kissed. Him.

Even saying the words over and over still didn’t make any sense to him. He put his hands inside his pockets to prevent himself from touching his lips. Again. Why did the senior do it? Did he really want to help Taemin? Or did he want to get revenge on Minho himself? He ignored the pang in his heart at the thought of the other just using him. But wasn’t that the reality?

Taemin shook his head furiously. Lee Jinki was really dangerous. It would be best if he stayed away. He didn’t know if he could take it if the senior was playing with him as well.

“Taemin-ah?”

He looked up to see one of his female classmates standing shyly beside his desk. She was blushing and- oh god, she couldn’t possibly be asking him out for lunch, right? That would be too awkward. Taemin was already thinking of excuses. “Yes?”

“Jonghyun-oppa is outside looking for you."

Taemin blinked. Jonghyun… Kim Jonghyun? The student council vice-president?! “Um… did he say why?” What could the senior possibly want with him?

The girl just shook her head. “He just said he’s just going to wait outside…”

Mumbling in thanks, he scrambled out of his seat. He found the said senior surrounded by several freshman girls who were obviously fawning over him. The senior, who for some reason resembled a puppy, grinned widely upon seeing him. “Ah! Taemin! Just the person I needed to see!” The younger boy flinched slightly as Jonghyun wrapped an arm around his shoulders in a familiar manner. He blinked when a stack of books was shoved to his chest. He noticed they were freshman books, old but certainly well-kept. At his questioning look, Jonghyun shrugged. “Onew said you needed them, but he’s handling some tricky council business at the moment, so I’m playing the good messenger now.” Onew?  As if hearing his thoughts, Jonghyun blanched. “Oh, you probably don’t know it yet, but we council members fondly call Jinki Onew.”

Taemin nodded unsurely. As if he will ever call the other boy that name. He glanced at the books in his arms. They were all the same titles as the books he had in his locker. He opened the topmost book and snapped it shut quickly, hoping his cheeks weren’t blushing. That.. that guy! He could see Jonghyun grinning from the corner of his eye; and this time, his cheeks really flushed red. “Y-you saw, sunbae-nim?”

The senior’s grin widened cheekily. “Well, you wouldn’t expect me NOT to look, right? Onew hasn’t been interested like this in anyone before.” Jonghyun peered at him curiously, as if wondering what part of the younger boy interested Jinki. Taemin bit his lip and looked away, hoping the other wouldn’t ask because he didn’t know why the enigmatic senior was even talking to him. But Jonghyun just shrugged and ruffled his hair almost fondly. “Well, he has been rarely wrong before and you look like a good kid, so…” He smiled and walked away whistling, his hands in his pockets.

Taemin could only stare at his retreating back. Did he just imply that Lee Jinki was interested in him romantically?

**

By some miracle, Taemin was able to end the day without much hassle. True, students still whispered when he passed. He could hear murmurs about Minho and their very public breakup. However, he could hear his name and Jinki’s added to the hushed conversations, and that somehow alleviated the harsher of the comments.

Of course anyone would break up with Minho, even if he is the star athlete of the school, if THE Lee Jinki was interested in him, right?

Now the rumors have somehow been reversed, and he was the one who planned the breakup all along. Taemin shook his head at the students’ twisted logic. But was this what Jinki planned all along? Taemin couldn’t deny that there was a small part of him very vindicated with the turn of events, but he was more afraid of the backlash this would bring. Minho certainly wouldn’t be happy with this attack on him. It was a wonder he hasn’t confronted Taemin yet after the failed attempt this morning.

He was almost to the school exit when he saw Jinki waiting for him. He stopped, a furious blush again rising to his cheeks as he remembered the kiss and the note. “H-hyung, you were waiting for me?” Jinki raised an eyebrow, as if to say ‘Who else?’, then walked closer and took the books from his arms. Taemin frowned. “I’m not a girl, hyung, I can carry those books.”

That elicited a chuckle from the senior, and now there was a half-smile on his face. “I know you’re not, but technically these are my books, so I’ll carry them,” he offered.

Well. Taemin couldn’t really argue with that, so he just huffed and started walking again. Jinki easily kept pace with him, and they were silent for a while until Taemin spoke up again. “Thank you for the books, hyung,” he said quietly, determined NOT to look at the elder. “The notes on the side were really helpful…”

“I’m glad I took notes back then,” Jinki murmured, pleased. “I’ll have them delivered to your class tomorrow then-“

“NO!” Taemin flushed at his outburst. “I-I mean, I’ll just come early tomorrow and get the ones from my locker. M-Minho’s fangirls should be tired by now. It’s been three weeks and… well…”

“No, girls could be vicious. Drop by the council room tomorrow, I’ll take care of your locker issue.”

Taemin opened his mouth to argue (Why was he acting so protective?), but the moment their eyes met, he clammed up again. He could feel the intense aura radiating from the senior, so he just sighed inwardly. Pick your battles, Taemin.

“We’re here.”

Taemin looked up and indeed found themselves on his street. “You know where I live, hyung?” he asked in disbelief.

Jinki smirked and walked him to the door. “I know a lot of things about you, Taemin.” They stood on the doorstep for a moment, and the younger thought Jinki was going to do something weird and inappropriate again (like kiss him!), but the senior just smiled softly at him and ruffled his hair.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then he started walking away.

Taemin’s jaw dropped. Wait- what? That was it? “Hyung!” He snapped his mouth shut as soon as the word slipped out.

Jinki turned. “Did you forget something, Taemin?”

“I… um… the note…” Taemin stammered out. Jinki tilted his head questioningly. “The n-note you wrote for me on the book…” Taemin forced himself to stand his ground as the elder came closer. “I-is it true?”

There was an odd look on Jinki’s eyes, a certain intensity that took his breath away, and Taemin wondered if it was a mistake to call him back. When Jinki stepped into his personal space, fingers running through his hair, Taemin gasped. Why was he doing this?

“Why do you think so, Taemin?” Jinki asked softly. Oh. Did he say that out loud?

Taemin’s mind was blanking out at that point. How could he think when Jinki’s face is coming closer? Will the other kiss him again? To his surprise (and disappointment?), the older boy just pressed his lips to his temple. “H-hyung…” Taemin was mortified. He did not mean to have that sound needy at all.

Jinki’s lips brushed his ear. “You’ll figure it out,” he murmured. Then he brushed his lips across Taemin’s fleetingly. “Think of me, Taeminnie.” Then he was gone.

**

Taemin opened the topmost book and snapped it shut quickly, hoping his cheeks weren’t blushing. That… that guy! Written on the first page was a message in neat slanted handwriting.

Lee Taemin.

I think I miss you.

Yours, Jinki

**

EPIC CLIFFHANGER once again delivered by Lee Jinki! And now our puppy makes an appearance! There’s one more SHINee member missing eh? Let’s see if and how I could squeeze him in. XD

I apologize for the delay in posting. Plot bunnies keep jumping inside my head that I got confused. BUT I definitely have an idea on how to end this, so I’ll keep you guys posted!

Ugh. He's so beautiful I don't even know what to do with myself anymore. I feel like crying >.<