It was winter break.

A chance to visit distant relatives and connect with loved ones.

For couples, it was a chance to spend time together and make sweet lasting memories.

For one Lee Taemin, it was a reprieve from all the hustle & bustle in high school.

And a certain blond senior, a voice in his head supplied.

Taemin frowned.

Surely, such a person as Lee Jinki would spend time with his perfect family during this most anticipated break. And of course, the last thing on his mind would be to play around with brokenhearted freshmen.

Taemin didn't know how he was supposed to feel about that thought.

Sighing, he flopped back down on the couch and started flipping through the channels on the TV. His parents were out for the week, spending the holidays at an exclusive 4-star hotel in Seoul, courtesy of his father's company. Apparently, the older Lee was the Employee of the Year or something.

He was just about to get comfortable watching a rerun of Paw Stars when the doorbell rang.

Who could possibly be visiting him now?

He ignored the nervous flutters in his stomach at the thought of Lee Jinki on the other side of the door. Of course the senior wouldn't be visiting him! And he should not feel saddened by that. At all. He opened the door and was promptly tackled.

"Oof! What-" Taemin blinked. "Kibum?!"

The blond visitor gave him a final squeeze before letting go, a scowl on his feline features. "Taemin! I told you to stop calling me that!"

The younger boy smiled sheepishly. "Neh. Sorry about that, I was just surprised." His smile widened. "What are you doing here? Are you staying here over the holidays?"

Kibum sighed. Kids these days. Having a conversation at the front door? He closed the door and sat in the couch, an eyebrow raising over the other's choice of shows, and finally turned to answer the barrage of questions. "Yes Taeminnie, I'm staying over break with my boyfriend. I'm actually here to invite you out for lunch and meet him, but you should've known all of this if you bothered to check your emails at all!"

Taemin let out a soft 'oh'. His eyes lowered in guilt. "I'm sorry Key-umma... A lot of things just happened and, well..." He trailed off, his eyes stinging again at the thought of Minho's betrayal.

Key was immediately at his side. "What's wrong, Taebaby? Did someone hurt you? Whoever it is, I'll kill him!"

Taemin shook his head morosely. "D-don't bother, umma."

Key's eyes were spitting fire. "WHO IS IT?"

The younger sniffed. "Remember I told you I had a crush on this sophomore at school?"

"Yes. Choi Minho, right?" Key asked slowly. At Taemin's surprised glance, he explained. "You mentioned his name a couple of times before. His team came over to have a practice game at Third High a month ago, I think. Didn't you say you got together?"

Taemin couldn't help it, but a lone tear fell from his eyes. "W-we did, for t-two months. And I was s-so h-happy, umma," he confessed brokenly. "But he said it was all just a b-bet."

For a moment, Key's eyes were wide. Then he shot up from his seat in outrage. "That ! I should have wrung his neck and kicked his froggy face in!" He bellowed.

Amidst his tears, the comment drew a small chuckle from Taemin. "He does look a bit like a frog, doesn't he..." He murmured.

Key kept cursing Minho for a few more minutes, getting creative with his insults, until he ran out of steam and flopped back down beside the other boy. "We haven't even met and I'm ready to hurt him so bad," he muttered. "At this rate, it's better not to see him. I could get arrested for murder, and no prison can handle me." He huffed. "I'll just have Dino make his life difficult."

Taemin wiped his tears, amused at Key's rants, and tilted his head curiously at the English word. "D-dino?" He tested out.

Key grinned. "Ah, that's what I call my boyfriend."

Taemin's eyes widened. "Is this the same guy who's been writing you songs for the past 6 months?" At the other's wink, he giggled. "So you do like those types!"

"Well, he is romantic, but he can be very rough too, if you know-"

Tae shook his head vehemently. "No I don't know, and I don't want to know!"

Key laughed and pinched his cheeks. "That's why you're my Taebaby! Anyway, Jonghyun wants to meet up, and I'd like you to meet him, so go change!"

Taemin froze as soon as the name slipped out of the other's lips. It couldn't possibly be...

Key noticed his hesitation. "I think I mentioned before that he goes to your school. Can't believe I didn't think you might know him... He's the council vice-president, Kim Jonghyun."

Kim Jonghyun.

Onew.

Lee Jinki.

Kiss.

Taemin promptly flushed red at the direction his thoughts went. "N-n-no! I, um, don't need to meet him!" He burst out. "You go ahead and enjoy your date!"

Key raised an eyebrow at the vehement reply. "Do you have a problem with Jonghyun?" He asked shrewdly. "Or are you just hiding something from me?" He almost laughed at how Taemin looked like a deer in headlights.

"I'm not hiding anything, umma! There's no guy at all!" Taemin gasped and snapped his mouth shut, his cheeks an even fiery red.

Key's smile was positively evil. "Oh? Who said anything about a guy?" He stood and pulled Taemin up. "Go ahead and change Taebaby. You can tell me all about this new guy on our way."

***

When they arrived at the fancy restaurant where they'll be meeting Jonghyun, Taemin quickly bolted from the car. Throughout the ride, he refused to speak a word about Lee Jinki, even with Key's badgering.

The older boy just laughed and shook his head. Taemin was so easy to read. Throughout the car ride (thank God he finally got his license last summer), his baby remained quiet on the subject of this new guy, refusing to even look at Key. But the latter was confident he will be able to get the secret out of Tae eventually. If worse comes to worst, I could always have Jjong spy on him, he thought merrily. Satisfied with his backup plan, Key went inside and found the two First High students facing one another.

Upon seeing him, Jonghyun’s eyes lit up. He promptly stood and pulled out a chair beside himself for Key, grinning sappily all the while. Key sighed fondly and patted the puppy’s head. Jonghyun’s proverbial tail was wagging in delight.

Taemin blushed. How could Jonghyun be so affectionate? At school, the vice-president always seemed cool and surrounded by a flock of girls. Who would have thought he was the type to write songs as a courting gesture?

“I already ordered your favorite,” Jonghyun started, eager to please. “I know it takes a while for them to get the steak done just right.”

Key smiled. “Thank you, yeobo. You know me so well.”

Taemin didn’t know if he should stare or look away. It seemed like any time now, Jonghyun would launch himself at Key and start glomping the other boy, even with an audience or not. Instead, he looked down on his menu with the concentration required to solve sudoku problems, resolutely not thinking about how Minho was never like that with him. Not even close. So wouldn’t it just mean that everything was a farce after all? Ugh, he was an idiot. Stop it Taemin! Get a grip. It was just then he noticed the plate setting beside him. “Are we expecting someone else?” he thought aloud.

Jonghyun looked up from fawning over Key’s eyes, hair, fashion (everything really). He frowned slightly. “Well, I did invite someone, but he said he has a family dinner or something.” He shrugged. “He said he’ll try to catch up, but it wouldn’t be a problem to start without him.”

“Taebaby, you can order anything you want!” Key gushed excitedly. “Jjong said it’s his treat tonight.”

Jonghyun nodded agreeably, smiling fondly at Key. “My yeobo’s friend is my friend too. Take what you want.”

Taemin promptly decided to ignore them and set about ordering the most expensive dishes.

***

An hour later, a very full Taemin patted his stomach in satisfaction. He had ordered lobster, crab, high-grade beef and everything else that looked good in the menu. When the bill came, Jonghyun didn’t even bat an eyelash, too focused on fawning at the way Key smiled (ate, moved, or even breathed). Instead, he just handed over a gold credit card.

Taemin thinks he might just be a tad obsessed and wondered if he should be concerned for his friend.

Looking at Key’s pleased expression told him otherwise. I want that too, he thought enviously. Jonghyun and Key weren’t even at the same school, but they look so happy together. Ever since the vice president caught a glimpse of Key during one of the city’s interhigh competitions, he vowed to make the other boy his. Key played hard to get at first, dismissing the other’s attempts at wooing him like sending him flowers and love songs. Eventually, he accepted the other’s affections and now here they are. Completely besotted with one another.

Could I ever have this type of relationship with someone? Taemin mused sadly. After his very public and humiliating breakup with Minho, it didn’t seem likely. He sighed dejectedly and decided he can no longer look at the lovey-dovey couple without feeling sorry for himself. “Umma…”

Key looked at him with a smile. “Yes Taebaby?”

He smiled weakly. “I think I’ll go ahead now. Just call me or drop by the house if you want to hang out over the holidays, ne?”

“Let me take you home, Taebaby,” Key offered. “I don’t want you walking alone.”

Aside from the fact that he’s almost 18 now (thank you very much), the sun hasn’t even set yet. “It’s really not a problem,” he insisted. “I think sunbae-nim still has something planned for you two.”

At this, the puppy vice-president joined the conversation. “Of course I do! But our Taebaby comes first! As your appa, it’s my responsibility to make sure you’re home safely.”

Key beamed at his boyfriend who basked in the attention.

Taemin blinked bemusedly. So now he had an appa too, huh? He was about to respond to that when he noticed their attention move past him. Then he felt a presence on his back.

Sandalwood. Musk. Sea salt.

Taemin knew that smell. Without meaning to, he flushed red and stiffened.

Key noticed and raised an eyebrow. Jonghyun grinned and stood up. “Onew! I thought you wouldn’t make it.”

Lee Jinki chuckled, sending shivers down Taemin’s spine. “You know how my Umma is. She wanted to parade me in front all of her friends. I barely got away.”

Jonghyun laughed. “Well I’m glad you’re here. You finally get to meet my wonderful beloved yeobo, Kim Kibum! Yeobo, this is my friend, Lee Jinki. I call him Onew because he’s such a softie!”

Key shook his head at his boyfriend’s antics and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Jinki. Call me Key.”

Jinki grinned and winked. “I’ve been hearing so many things about you Key. I’m glad you finally decided to put him out of his misery.”

“HEY!”

All throughout this conversation, Taemin remained silent and rigid as a board. Do not look at him. Don’t don’t don’t.

“Do you already know Taebaby here, Jinki-ssi?” Key asked. Taemin shot his umma an evil glare. Traitor. “Taebaby, why don’t you stand and greet your hyung?”

Deciding to just get it over with, Taemin stood abruptly and stepped back. “H-hi, Jinki-hyung,” he muttered, staring determinedly at his feet.

There was a pause, in which Taemin could feel his cheeks flush brighter, until the senior spoke in that sinful voice. “Hello, Taeminnie.”

His head shot up at the endearing nickname, and Taemin only had time to see that Jinki was wearing a suit and his hair was now a deep brown that made him look absolutely dashing and oh god, it just wasn’t fair for someone to look so good before Lee Jinki stepped closer and kissed him on the lips.

It seemed like time stopped, nobody moved, until the senior stepped back and smiled softly at him.

“I missed you, Taeminnie.”

And that was totally completely unfair, Taemin thought, because when Jinki said those words, they sounded strangely like I love you.

***

YES! Finally. I apologize for the unplanned hiatus. Hopefully this little chapter kicked my muse into gear once again. HOW CAN JINKI BE SO SWEET?? Here’s how I picture Jinki looked like in that last scene.

Oppa~ marry me!

Reviews make my day! XOXO