“Hurry over to the hospital! Taemin has been hurt and the press is waiting outside the room.”

Jinki hated that the first thing he saw on his phone was about Taemin’s accident. Of course he had already heard about it since it had gotten on the news even as it happened and the country’s favorite dancer collapsed in the middle of the day after a confrontation with angry fans.

He contemplated on whether or not he should actually go and visit his brother at the hospital, because he was sure that Taemin wouldn’t want him there anyway; Taemin hadn’t wanted him around for years. Yet, it was something he had to do because he was the older brother and Taemin was his responsibility after their parents passed on in house fire years ago.

So, Jinki did as every older brother would do and got a bunch of things Taemin would like, and brought them to the younger’s room in the hospital. True to his manager’s words, the press were crowding around the younger’s room and were cooing at Jinki the second he stepped out of the elevator and made his way to Taemin’s room.

“So noisy.” Jinki muttered to himself with a sigh, considering all the press reporters immediately bombarded him with questions and concerns. Jinki wanted to remind them that none of them actually knew Taemin well enough to stand there and worry about him, but being the angelic person he was supposed to be, he smiled and slipped into the younger’s room.

Taemin was looking right back at him, and though his eyes had softened upon the elder’s arrival, they also quickly hardened and the younger looked away childishly. Both of their managers were huddled against the wall and talking to each other about hushed things, but Jinki didn’t care for them at the moment.

He walked up to the younger’s bed and held out a bottle of banana milk; Taemin’s favorite. Taemin stared at the protruding object before he decided it was worth the effort and gladly took the milk before turning away again to pretend the elder wasn’t there at all. Jinki was amused by this, of course, but he couldn’t let Taemin know about that, so he just walked around the bed to the suspicious managers.

“Does anyone want to explain to me how this happened?” Jinki’s voice was levelled, and that’s what made both of the managers freeze where they stood as they turned back to him, “You know his heart can’t take that kind of stress, yet you let him go to the anti-fans alone?”

The managers would have defended themselves, but Taemin’s scoff had Jinki turn to the younger in annoyance, “It’s not their fault I snuck away.”

Taemin was born with a weaker heart than most people, so back when they were close, Jinki always warned him not to strain himself. Back then, Taemin listened because he knew the elder just wanted to make sure he was alright, but not anymore. Now, he just found himself being annoyed whenever the elder mentioned his heart problem.

“Actually, it is our fault.” Taemin’s manager sighed, and he moved forward to pat Jinki’s shoulder, “We’re sorry, Jinki. We’ll take full responsibility for it.”

“How?” Jinki asked, though he was talking to his own manager and not his brother’s. His own manager usually spent his time with Taemin and his manager, because Jinki was stubborn and didn’t need someone constantly following him.

“We’re going to get you two bodyguards.” Jinki’s manager replied, though he was afraid of what Jinki would say since it wasn’t the first time they suggested a thing.

“What do you think?” Jinki asked his brother, his own thoughts whirling around because it just made their privacy that much thinner.

Taemin seemed to be surprised that Jinki was asking him, and the younger gave out a hesitant nod, “I’m alright with it if you are.”

Jinki wasn’t completely alright with it, of course, since he didn’t think they needed to be guarded like other idols, but he couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Taemin get hurt again while he wasn’t around, so the elder nodded and turned to leave the room.

“I’ll trust you to pick someone that can protect Taemin well.” Jinki cleared his throat and turned to Taemin, glancing at the now empty bottle of banana milk in the younger’s hand, “Call me if you need anything, and please, don’t stress yourself out too much, Taeminnie.”

The both of them froze at the slip up of the nickname Jinki had once given Taemin, but he was quick to pretend it happened at all and left the room, almost scowling at the mess of reporters that were still lounging around to get answers to questions they didn’t need to ask.

He never got a call from Taemin, so he assumed Taemin was going to be alright and hadn’t bothered to go and visit him at the hospital again because Taemin wouldn’t want him to be around anyway. Instead, the elder Lee spent all of his time at the recording studio because being home when Taemin was in the hospital just didn’t feel right to him.

It didn’t matter much anyway, because Taemin was discharged from the hospital two days later, and when Jinki got the message from his manager, he heaved out a sigh of relief and decided he’d go home earlier that day to make sure his younger brother actually was better.

Except, when he arrived in front of the house he lived in with Taemin, he couldn’t help but notice the male who stood in front of it and stared up at the house in what seemed to be intimidation. Jinki didn’t know the male, and he was sure he’d never seen the male around their property before, so he walked up beside the male and turned his head to stare at the male.

He was almost as skinny as Taemin, though he wasn’t as tall, and his short black hair framed his face perfectly enough for his feline-like eyes to pop out. The male noticed his presence immediately and turned to him with a scowl.

“Are you also here for the bodyguard position?” the male asked, and Jinki was slightly taken aback by the blunt way the other male used to speak, and decided that he liked this person, whoever he was.

“I suppose.” Jinki muttered, though he found himself wondering how it was possible for his manager and Taemin’s manager to have been able to find bodyguards so quickly, “What’s your name?”

“Why should I tell you my name?” he shot back with narrowed eyes, and Jinki found himself shrugging at the question.

“Fair enough.” And then, Jinki brushed past the strange male and opened the door, glancing over at the bewildered male once more, “Come on in, I’m sure they’ve been expecting us.”

After giving Jinki a suspicious glare, the stranger followed after him, and gaped when Jinki pulled out a pair of house slippers for him, “Do you work here or something?”

“Or something.” Jinki grinned as he waited for the male to put the slippers on. Slowly, the male did so, and then Jinki led him to the living room where the two managers, his brothers, and another male sat.

Jinki could only assume the other stranger was another bodyguard, a muscular male with short blonde hair, a sturdy jaw, and Jinki could see the tattoos poking out from under his tee shirt. He wasn’t sure if he liked the second bodyguard as much as the first. He also noticed that the bodyguard beside him had tensed at the sight of the second bodyguard, as if they knew each other and didn’t exactly wish to see each other again.

His eyes then fell on Taemin, and he noticed that Taemin still looked a little pale as he sat on one of the longer couches with the spot beside him empty. Jinki wanted to check if he was alright, of course, but he couldn’t let Taemin know that, because Taemin wouldn’t want Jinki to even look at him.

“It seems you two have met!” Taemin’s manager shouted in glee, gesturing between Jinki and the stranger beside him.

“Come and sit, Kibum.” Jinki’s manager said gently, and the male next to him, Kibum, slowly made his way over to sit beside the second bodyguard.

Taemin glanced up at Jinki then, and Jinki glanced back at him before the younger turned his attention back to the managers. Jinki sighed under his breath and sat down beside his younger brother, though he made sure there was a cushion of space between them.

“Kibum, Jonghyun, from now on, you’ll be tasked with the protection of these two males.” Jinki’s manager directed, and the two bodyguards turned their attention to the idol celebrities. It was obvious they knew who Taemin was, since he was on the news just recently, so the manager just waved over to Jinki, “That’s Jinki, but he goes by Onew as well.”

“Ah, the guy with the angelic voice.” Kibum hummed in thought, and Jinki raised an eyebrow in amusement, “You’re the one all the girls are fawning over now.”

Taemin snickered, and even Jinki couldn’t help but chuckle at the male’s choice of words. Kibum would be great fun to be around, that was for sure.

“Anyway,” Taemin’s manager cleared his throat so that the rest of the group could get back into focus on what was more important to them, “Because of the age differences, we’ve decided to put Taemin under Kibum’s care. Jinki, you’ll be under Jonghyun’s watchful eye.”

Taemin snickered again at his manager’s words, and Jinki felt his lips quirk into a smile, and he could see the two bodyguards had also found amusement in the conversation.

Jinki stood up and the rest of the men in the room turned to him, although his attention was directly on the two bodyguards as he spoke, “You are required to live in this house; we have two rooms downstairs for you two to live. Second, you’re allowed to have dinner with us when we have dinner, but you are not forced to stay with us while we’re inside this building. Finally, if I see any missing property or any leaked pictures of my brother or I, be warned that I won’t let you off.”

With that, Jinki bowed and trailed out of the room with his manager calling after him, and shortly after, his brother. Jinki was convinced he didn’t actually need a bodyguard because other than his tendency to fall over anything, he wasn’t in any real danger like Taemin. It wasn’t like the managers would even care to hear his argument though, since they were just as stubborn as he was.

Jinki jogged up the stairs and into the studio room he had gotten so he could work on his music when he was home. While Taemin was known to be an amazing dancing prodigy, which Jinki opposed to due to his weak heart, Onew was one of the singers that had girls and even boys following his every note. Thus, Jinki spent every free moment he had in his studio so that he could make more music that would hopefully sound better than his earlier music.

As he was currently editing one of the songs he was planning to use for his next album, someone knocked on the door to his studio. He knew it wasn’t Taemin, because Taemin just didn’t care for his life, and Jinki’s manager knew better than to distract him while he was working. That left the only one to be at his door to be Jonghyun.

“Come in.” Jinki called as he paused his track, making sure his room wasn’t too messy and that there was a chair for Jonghyun to sit.

The male slowly entered the room, and Jinki swore he could see something in Jonghyun’s eyes sparkle as he took in the room. Jinki didn’t notice before, but Jonghyun was a little on the short side, and though he didn’t say anything, his lips curled into a grin.

Jonghyun noticed immediately and sobered up, standing by the door with his arms at his sides in a protective manner. Jinki furrowed his eyebrows and looked around, but they were alone in his room and there was no danger other than the music he sometimes tended to make too loud.

Jinki rolled the other chair closer to him before turning his attention to the track he was editing, “Feel free to sit, if you’d like.” Even though he glanced repeatedly at the chair from the corner of his eye, the chair remained empty, and Jinki forced himself not to think too much about it.

“Tell me, Jonghyun.” He paused his track again and turned his head to Jonghyun, who seemed not even slightly interested in anything other than standing around like a soldier, “Why did you become a bodyguard?”

Jonghyun just stared at him for a moment, and Jinki turned back while hiding his dejection because it was obvious the male wouldn’t answer him. At least, that’s what he thought until he heard the male’s voice answer in response, “Why did you become a singer?”

Slowly, Jinki turned his head to Jonghyun and narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure the male out, but Jonghyun was meeting him with his face void of any real emotion. Again, Jinki didn’t know if he liked this male.