The next day Jonghyun slowly made his way down to the third floor, pausing for a moment just before he had to turn the corner to walk down the hallway where the coffee machine was. But this time he wasn’t there for his hot cocoa.

This time he was going to one of the rooms at the beginning of the hallway instead of making his way to the end of it.

He had reassured Minho that it would be easier if he came and picked him up in Taemin's room so they could go on their little outing. Jonghyun really wanted to think of it as some sort of date – and Kibum had continuously called it The Date in his texts when Jonghyun had told him – but then he remembered the way Minho's eyes lit up when he spoke of Taemin and couldn’t bring himself to put any romantic effort into it.

He sighed and determinedly turned the corner, stalking the few steps he needed to reach the door before looking inside through its window, relieved to see Minho sitting there holding Taemin's hand.

He knocked on the window gently as a warning before opening the door. Minho threw a glance over his shoulder and gave the tiniest smile.

“I guess I should introduce you two,” he murmured when Jonghyun reached his side. “Jonghyun, this is Taemin.”

Jonghyun smiled gently at the still very motionless boy on the bed.

“Hi,” he greeted softly.

“I already told Taemin about you,” Minho sighed. “The doctors keep telling me I should speak to him to try and keep his brain active. I don’t know how to do that when I’ll be at work the entire day until late.”

“I think he’ll be happy you’re just coming at all,” Jonghyun said. “And Jinki.”

Minho nodded, squeezed Taemin's hand once and stood up.

“Shall we go?”

It was Jonghyun who nodded this time. There was an uncomfortable tug at his heart as Minho bent down and placed a kiss on Taemin's forehead with a soft ‘see you soon’, but he forced the feeling away. Minho led the way out of the room and to the elevator, which they took down to the garage in silence as neither of them seemed to know what to say.

“Thank you,” Minho suddenly uttered when they were in the car. He glanced at Jonghyun before turning the key in the ignition. “For doing this, I mean.”

Jonghyun offered a weak smile.

“Nah, I don’t have anything better to do and my nan is playing bingo with the other oldies in her ward,” he said off-handedly.

Minho snorted as they left the garage.

“You’re strange,” he mumbled and Jonghyun let out a short laugh. “But nice.”

Jonghyun couldn’t help the faint blush on his cheeks. He bit his lip again and looked out at the passing buildings.

He was being stupid. He should really just ask Minho to stop the car, get out and avoid him for the rest of eternity. It was clear now, how much Taemin actually meant to Minho and while Jonghyun admired the devotion he could see in Minho's eyes and the love and care he put into his actions in handling Taemin, even if the boy was unconscious, it struck a painful chord in his chest and filled it with melancholy.

But Jonghyun was nothing if not compassionate. It was one of his many flaws, and it would really make it difficult for him this time. Because, not only did he want to help Minho, he also had managed to develop quite a crush on him.

~*~

Jonghyun was acting weird.

Granted, Minho couldn’t claim he knew him well enough to actually know he was acting weird. But something seemed off. He wasn’t able to put his finger on it, as Jonghyun was smiling and talking the same way he had done the other times they had met.

Minho glanced over at him, watching his profile as he lip-synced to the songs on the radio they had to fill the silence.

“So, uh…” he cleared his throat and Jonghyun turned his eyes to him, wide and curious. “I just… want to thank you again… you know, for doing this.”

Talk about being awkward. He chanced another glance at Jonghyun and saw that he was smiling softly again. Something still didn’t feel quite right about it.

“Anyway, we should be arriving soon,” Minho added and started looking at the street names.

They had been driving for nearly three hours and he had only realised halfway through he forgot his GPS. And as if that wasn’t enough, Jonghyun didn’t have his phone with him and Minho's was almost out of battery. He would rather look at a map than to waste the battery in case an emergency happened at the hospital.

They had to stop and ask for directions after a while since neither Jonghyun nor Minho could make heads or tails of the map they had bought. It took them another half hour to find the small, rural area Taemin's mother supposedly lived in now. Minho had to park a bit further away, as cars couldn’t enter the small pedestrian streets that weaved between the houses.

He let out a sigh and fiddled with his fingers nervously on the steering wheel after having turned the engine off. He couldn’t quite bring himself to exit the car yet.

This felt like such a bad idea, all of a sudden. He didn’t want to see the life Taemin's mother had built after abandoning Taemin. Minho loved him too much to be able to feel neutral about it and now he wasn’t sure he would be able to handle it.

Suddenly a hand covered one of his and he jumped a little. He had almost forgotten Jonghyun was in the car with him in his growing stress. He looked at him with wide eyes and Jonghyun smiled reassuringly.

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “We could always just leave her a note if you don’t think you can face her.”

Minho blinked at him, wondering how Jonghyun could be so good at reading his emotions. Then he shook his head, feeling a little better with the support.

“No, it’s fine. I just need to gather my thoughts,” he murmured and Jonghyun's hand squeezed his before letting go.

Minho kind of wished he hadn’t. It had grounded him to the present and calmed him down somewhat. But instead of grabbing his hand again he sighed once more, opening his door.

“Let’s go.”

Jonghyun followed him and they walked side by side down the street, Jonghyun's arm brushing against his a few times. It felt oddly comforting and Minho was suddenly extremely glad he had offered to come with him. He didn’t think he would have been able to do this on his own.

“Oh!” Jonghyun exclaimed suddenly and Minho looked at him questioningly.

He ignored him and bent down to pick up a dandelion only to hold it in front of Minho's face. Minho raised an eyebrow, looking at Jonghyun sceptically. Jonghyun shrugged, but a grin spread on his lips all the same.

“When I was little, my grandmother used to tell me to put a whish onto a dandelion and then blow on it so it could be carried by the wind to the angels,” he explained.

Minho's lips pulled up and he couldn’t help the soft snort that left him.

“Hey, don’t laugh! It’s the wisdom of my nan!” Jonghyun scolded playfully.

Minho shook his head and accepted the flower, looking at it thoughtfully.

What he wanted most at the moment was for everything to go back to normal. He wanted Taemin to be awake, his parents to be home and his days to be free of stress. He wanted to rid his chest of all the ‘what if?’s and tell Taemin what he never had gotten the chance to. He wanted Taemin to know how important he was to him, now more than ever, as he was about to face his mother.

He closed his eyes while he concentrated on the wish, imagining it clinging to the seeds of the dandelion like small water drops. Then he looked at it again and blew on it lightly. The small seeds came loose and flew away, high up into the air, dancing with the breeze.

He glanced up to see Jonghyun watching him intently, a soft expression in his eyes. Minho suddenly felt silly and cleared his throat, turning away.

“Anyway,” he said as he started to walk again. “Her house should be this way.”

Jonghyun followed silently and Minho didn’t dare look back at him out of embarrassment. They continued to walk in their own thoughts until Minho spotted a light yellow house that had the right number on it. His steps faltered and his breath stopped. Suddenly snakes came alive in his stomach and he bit his lip.

Gentle fingers brushed against his shoulder and he looked at Jonghyun who gave him an encouraging nod. Minho nodded back and gathered enough courage to start moving again.

Silence continued to rest in the air between them as they made it to the front step. Jonghyun caught his hand to squeeze it once before leting it go and Minho gave him a grateful nod. Then he took a deep breath, pressed the button and held his breath. They heard a ringing sound from the inside and a muffled voice shouting something.

It seemed both of them were holding their breaths as there was a shuffle right behind the door and it creaked open to reveal a little girl, who couldn’t be older than five. She stared up at them with wide, curious eyes.

Minho froze, his heart sinking with dread, but Jonghyun immediately smiled and crouched down.

“Hey there, sweetie,” he greeted cheerily. “Are your parents home?”

The girl nodded shyly, glancing between them. Minho simply stared at her, shocked and scared and angry all at the same time. He had been prepared, but still…

“Can you get them for us?” Jonghyun asked and she nodded again. “Thank you.”

Jonghyun straightened up as the girl turned around to look for her parents and the smile fell from his face.

“Maybe we got the wrong house?” he murmured, but he didn’t sound as if he believed his own words.

Minho could only frown and try to remember how to breathe. How would he explain this to Taemin? How could he?

Soon, a middle-aged woman appeared in the doorway. Her hair was shoulder length and lush, her eyes bright and her skin looked flush and healthy – completely different than the last time Minho had seen her, when she had just been tired and grey.

Taemin's mother.

Her polite smile faltered as her eyes landed on Minho and he could see her pale.

“Choi Minho?” she asked, sounding scared.

He nodded tersely. He felt Jonghyun's worried gaze but couldn’t take his eyes off Taemin's mother.

“Mrs. Lee,” he forced out.

She bit her lip and swallowed harshly.

“It’s Mrs. Park, now,” she nearly whispered.

They stared at each other in silence, Minho in angry disbelief and Mrs. Park in guilt, until Jonghyun cleared his throat. They looked at him and he smiled wistfully.

“Hello Mrs. Park, I’m Jonghyun,” he introduced himself. “Minho and I have something we need you to know.”

Minho was once again very glad Jonghyun was there; he wouldn’t have been able to get another word out. He was already on the verge of turning on his heel and running away.

Mrs. Park glanced between them worriedly but nodded and stepped aside to let them in.

“Thank you,” Jonghyun said and pushed Minho in front of him.

She led them past a nicely decorated living room with trinkets from all over the world and to a homey kitchen, where the little girl was sitting at the table, colouring.

“Areum, honey, could you go to your room?” Mrs. Park said to the girl and she looked up at them, staring for a moment before nodding.

Areum quietly slipped from the chair, bringing her crayons and papers with her, and left with one last curious look over her shoulder. Mrs. Park fiddled with her fingers nervously before turning around to the cupboards.

“Can I get you boys anything?” Minho didn’t miss the tremble in her voice.

He was about to refuse but Jonghyun beat him to it.

“Do you by any chance have hot cocoa?” he asked and Minho could have laughed. “We would like that.”

Mrs. Park threw a surprised look at them, but nodded. Minho raised his eyebrows at Jonghyun who flashed him a grin and a shrug as he sat down in a chair. Minho followed his example, and took the chair beside him.

It was quiet as Mrs. Park prepared the drinks and handed them a cup each. Minho wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to drink a hot beverage when it was warm outside, as it was late spring, but as soon as he smelled the now familiar scent of chocolate his shoulders relaxed somewhat and he sensed Jonghyun calming down as well.

They sipped from their respective cups for another quiet moment while Minho tried to figure out how to start the conversation. It turned out he didn’t have to as Mrs. Park took a deep breath and spoke first.

“I… I have a new life, Minho,” she said quietly, staring at the table top. “Whatever you came here to say, I can’t go back. I was in a bad place back then and I don’t think Taemin would like me to be in his life. It would just give both of us bad memories.”

Minho's jaw clenched and his grip on his cup tightened.

“I’m not here to get you to try being Taemin's mother,” he nearly growled and she winced, not raising her eyes.

Jonghyun gave him a look that clearly said he should calm down and Minho stopped to take a breath.

“He was in an accident,” he said, his heart skipping a beat as if it was news to him as well.

Mrs. Park’s head shot up and she stared at him in surprise. Minho took another breath.

“A drunk driver hit him and he–,” Minho's voice broke and his eyes burned. He cleared his throat, looking down at his trembling hands. “He's in a coma,” he rasped. “The doctors still don’t know if he will wake up or if we will have to… t-to…”

He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t. It was not possible. Taemin couldn’t disappear. It simply could not happen.

Jonghyun's hand found his shoulder and squeezed gently. It gave him strength to look up at Mrs. Park again.

Her eyes were glossy and her breathing stuttered. She swallowed harshly as she met his gaze before shaking her head a little.

“I…” she choked. “I haven’t seen him since he was fourteen. I-it’s been eleven years, Minho.”

Minho pressed his lips together and gave a curt nod. Then he stood up. He was done. If that was the response he was going to get for telling her the worst thing that could happen to her son, he didn’t want to stick around to hear the rest.

“I just thought you should know, in case…” he still couldn’t say it to her. “Anyway, thank you for your time, Mrs. Park.”

He left without looking back, seeing himself out. It wasn’t until he was halfway to where he had parked that he realised Jonghyun wasn’t with him. He let out a shaky sigh and sat down on a large boulder astethically placed so no cars would be able to enter the area to wait. He tried to think of anything else but the entire situation he was in. Sadly, it wouldn’t work and Taemin's teary adolescent face burned in his mind’s eye. It didn’t take long before his vision blurred completely and tears were trailing down his cheeks steadily, his breath hitching and his shoulders trembling.

It was painful to know how Taemin's mother had completely abandoned her son, how Taemin really had no one else except Minho and his parents as every other of his relatives were gone. How sad Taemin had been those first years after he had left and how it had broken Minho's heart every time he had crawled into Minho’s bed because he had woken from a nightmare, crying.

Minho took a shuddering breath.

When Taemin woke up, he would love him so much more than he already did. He deserved it. He deserved everything.

Hands suddenly landed on his shoulders and Minho blinked away the tears in his eyes to look up at Jonghyun. He smiled softly, although his eyes were sad. He rubbed gentle circles into his shoulders to calm Minho down and Minho let himself be comforted. He was never really one for crying so no one had really comforted him before. He had always been the one comforting people, Taemin most of all.

“Why didn’t you come with me?” Minho asked when he managed to stop crying.

“It’s rude to not finish what’s offered, you know,” Jonghyun answered. “And leaving without saying thanks and goodbye.”

Minho managed a scowl through his drying tears and Jonghyun chuckled.

“Come on,” he said and held out a hand.

Minho grabbed it and allowed Jonghyun pull him to his feet. They smiled at each other for a moment. Then Jonghyun turned and led the way back to the car.

Minho listened to him chatter about pointless things as he drove them back to the hospital. He was supposed to meet up with Jinki there and Jonghyun reassured him he was fine walking the last bit back home.

As he listened to Jonghyun, he felt lighter. It was nice not having to think and just listen to the string of words falling from his lips and the laugh that sometimes would bubble out of him at some weird story about his co-worker, who also seemed to be a close friend. He could pretend for a while that everything was okay.

There was a constant twinge of pain in his chest, though, which he would have liked to ignore. Jonghyun's cheery personality and constant chatter reminded him so much of Taemin he could almost believe it was him if he didn’t look. And that wasn’t fair to Jonghyun, who had done nothing but help him.

His stomach twisted when the hospital came into view and Jonghyun fell silent, as if he knew Minho's uneasiness – which he probably did. He seemed to sense all of his emotions effortlessly.

He parked at the entrance of the hospital, since he wouldn’t be there for long anyway as visiting hours were about to end, and they got out, meeting at the front of the car.

Jonghyun hesitated as he turned to Minho, the setting sun behind him turning his hair a light pink. He bit his lip and looked up at him almost shyly.

“Are you gonna be okay?” he asked quietly, concern lacing his voice and masking his features.

Minho forced a smile.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I’ll go get Jinki-Hyung and go home.”

Jonghyun looked a little doubtful but didn’t press on. Instead he gave a nod.

“Okay then… I guess I’ll be… seeing you around?” he said, suddenly sounding very uncertain.

Minho's smile tunred less forced and he nodded.

“I guess you will.”

Jonghyun smiled and waved before turning away to walk home. Minho stood still, watching him go, a feeling he couldn’t put his finger on stirring in his chest. Their day had been nice, disregarding the visit to Taemin's mother, and he would have liked to talk a little more with Jonghyun. Or, well, let Jonghyun talk while he listened.

Suddenly Jonghyun stopped and turned back around, a small smile on his lips but his eyes serious as he walked back the few steps he had taken, the sun lighting up his hair enough to dazzle Minho. He rummaged through his bag for a moment before pulling out a wrinkly convenience store receipt and a ball pen, flattening the paper out on his hand and then pulling the cap off the pen with his teeth to quickly scribble something on it.

“Here,” he said around the cap as he folded the paper and held it out for Minho to take.

Minho just looked at it dumbly.

“What is it?”

Jonghyun's eyebrows rose and he put the cap back on the pen, returning it to his bag before speaking.

“It’s my number,” he answered, waving it a little. “Take it. If you feel like talking about anything, even if it’s about what you should have for dinner, just give me a call. I can’t promise I’ll always answer, but I’ll try.”

Minho stared at the paper for another moment before hesitantly accepting it. Jonghyun grinned.

“Well, then,” he said, swinging his arms back and forth slightly as he rolled on his feet. “Goodbye. Again.”

He chuckled embarrassedly and turned with another wave.

Minho waved back dazedly, not quite following. Then he looked down at the paper, a small, unconscious smile spreading on his lips, before putting it in his pocket and turning to walk inside the hospital.

~*~

Jonghyun felt light on his feet as he made his way back home. He didn’t know where the courage to give Minho his phone number had come from, but he was glad he had. Minho had seemed genuinely glad he had accompanied him today and Jonghyun felt as if they had at last become real friends and not just acquaintances in a hospital.

His steps slowed and his mood fell.

He had seen how hard it had been for Minho to witness the new life Taemin's mother had made for herself. Jonghyun didn’t know much about the story – nothing, really – but he wanted to help…

As if he hadn’t meddled enough in Minho's business, now he was involving himself in Taemin's as well. He should warn Jinki before he got to know him better.

When Minho abruptly had left from the kitchen, Jonghyun had stayed behind. He hadn’t lied when he told Minho it was rude to not say goodbye properly and all that, but it hadn’t been the entire truth either.

Mrs. Park had looked broken and he had felt bad just leaving her like that, even if Minho seemed to have some resentment. So he had given her his number if she ever wanted to actually know what happened to Taemin. He knew it wasn’t his place, but Minho certainly didn’t seem like he would try and contact her again and Jonghyun could see how torn she had been between remembering a part of her life that had presumably not been good or stay blissfully unaware.

He spent a lot of time at the hospital and knew quite a few nurses; it wasn’t like he would go to great lengths to give her information if she wanted it. And he was Minho's friend, so indirectly he wanted Taemin to be happy – even if it was only because of Minho.

He sighed. His grandmother and Kibum would definitely disapprove of his actions, but Mrs. Park had at least seemed grateful for the chance to make the choice if she wanted to know more or not.

Someday, though, Jonghyun would probably get into a lot of trouble for being so nosey. But he would cross that bridge when he got there, he decided.

A/N: I know I ... I'm sorry...

I've been travelling a lot these past months and then I've been working and I had a big project to finish as well, so there really hasn't been much time for me to write OTL So, if you're still there, I apologise for the wait.

Also, I apologise for the the weird state of this chapter since I wrote different pieces on different occasions and I haven't really checked if they fit together -.- I'm lazy

This was mostly Minho's point of view, only a little of Jonghyun, but since I haven't really planned these chapters in advance I never really know who's gonna have more time in the spot light haha. Some chapters might even be just one point of view, I don't know until I write it... I just go wherever the story takes me *shrug*

Anyhoo, I hope you liked it! (Those of you who are still mad enough to wait for me!)

Love y'all! <3

Bye~!