Taemin POV

I struggled to gain control the whole time Minho dragged me to the car. Before we made it to the passenger door, I yanked my arm away. 

"Yah! What's your problem?!"

"What's my problem? Taemin, you're drunk right now. You should be thanking me for pulling you out of there before you did something you might regret."

I scoffed and slurred, "What are you, my parent? Last time I checked, it's summer! Stop having a stick up your and let me have fun!" Then I turned around to walk back to the party, but his hand on my wrist stopped me. 

"Oh, no you're not. It's getting late anyway. Let's go."

"Why? Huh?!" I smirked. "Is it because you're jealous that I kissed Siwon?"

"Huh-"

"You're jealous that I kissed him instead of you?! Hm?!"

"No. It's because of that fact that you're in there acting like a wild !"

Then there was silence. That really hit me. Did he really just call me a ? My whole aura changed. 

Regret immediately took over Minho. "Taemin, I didn't mean-" I brushed past him quickly and got inside of the car, slamming the door shut. 

Minho slowly headed towards the car and got in. He apologized as he drove me home, but I didn't listen. I didn't care. What he said to me was something unforgivable. I mean, I know I was acting a bit promiscuous, but not once did I think that I was being a . 

He parked a couple of houses down from my house. "Hey, I'm really sorry-"

"I heard you and for the 50th time, I don't care. off."

"I know you don't mean that."

I scoffed. "What do you know about me? We haven't known each other that long for you to say something like that. I mean, the only thing you know about me is that I'm a little right?"

He sighed. "Listen, I don't know if you heard me clearly before, but I was being honest about when I said I liked you. I do like you, Taemin. I just didn't want to see you make a complete fool out of yourself at that party. Again, I'm sorry for what I said."

I avoided eye contact as I sighed. "Just don't say it again...ever."

He nodded quickly. "Text you later," he said as I got out of the car. 

"Sure." I halted shutting the door as I said, "Oh, one more thing."

"What?"

I smirked. "You need to get over your little crush on me. It's weird." I shut the door, but not before catching the grin on his lips. 

I had no idea where this little friendship me and Minho had was going. It was obvious that we liked each other, but neither one of us acted on it, aside from Minho's assertiveness from time to time. Either way, I liked what we had. I wasn't the relationship type and I could tell Minho just went with the flow of things, so there was no pressure to make any moves. He's quite the interesting character. 

I walked down to my house and snuck to the side where my bedroom was. I climbed up the tree as quietly and quickly as I could, hoping I wouldn't wake up Daddy or Jonghyun. 

I perched myself on the branch and leaned over to open my window. I crawled through the opening. Once inside, I slowly shut it and locked it. 

"Glad you could make it home."

I jumped and turned around to see Daddy and Jonghyun sitting on my bed with faces that looked more than pissed off. Why me?

I instantly scowled. "What are you two doing in my room?"

Daddy interrupted, "What are you doing out of your room? I thought you were sick."

I walked to my closet to take off my shoes as I said, "I was getting some fresh air."

"At this time of night," said Jonghyun, surprising me because he usually didn't scold me. It did nothing but make my attitude worse. 

After my shoes were in the closet, I turned to the two of them. "Yes. At this time of night. It's the only time where I'm not bothered by the two of you," I rolled my eyes. 

Daddy slowly arose from my bed. "Taemin, quit it with the attitude. Now tell me. Where the hell were you?"

I smacked my lips. "I told you where I was-"

Jonghyun interrupted, "You're lying."

"Shut up! I wasn't talking to you!"

"Yah!" Daddy got my attention. "Don't talk to him like that. You-" then he paused. "Why do you smell like alcohol? Have you been drinking? Taemin, do you know how irresponsible and stupid that is?! Your diabetes-"

"Ugh! I'm getting sick of hearing about it! I know I have diabetes. That doesn't mean I can't have a little fun."

"A little fun? So you admit that you were out tonight?"

Dammit. I didn't even care anymore. "You know what? Yes. Yes, I was out tonight. I went to a party and actually had fun. It's summertime! Why would I want to be locked up in this boring house anyway?!"

"First of all, you wouldn't even be locked up if you didn't go run off and smoke weed with your little friend! Taemin, I'm getting really sick and tired of you constantly disrespecting me!" His eyes began to water. "I do all I can to provide for you and all I get back in return is disrespect!" Jonghyun stood up and wrapped Daddy in his arms as he cried. 

It was really hard to sympathize with him at that moment when I saw him in Jonghyun's arms. It did nothing but infuriate me even more. 

My eyes began to water as well as I let my frustration out. "Why do you even care?! You're always too busy following Jonghyun around like a lost puppy, you barely have time for me anymore."

"That's because the time that I do have with you is spent with us arguing!"

Jonghyun said, "I think we should all just calm down and have a family meeting."

I scoffed. "Family? What family? This is not a family. It's not my family! Jonghyun, I may have been getting a little comfortable with you lately, but that doesn't mean I ever want you to take the place of my Dad."

I knew I was going too far, that I was crossing all boundaries, but I didn't care. It honestly felt good to get everything out, though I know the consequences were going to be hell. 

Daddy stared at me with wide eyes as tears still streamed down his cheeks. "When did you get so horrible, Taemin? I used to just think it was teenage hormones, but you've gotten so rotten. I can't even believe you're my son right now."

 Now it was my turn to gape. Though it's true that I'm not biologically his son since I'm adopted, Daddy had always made me feel like he birthed me himself. He and Dad never once made me feel adopted, or like I wasn't their own. That's why it hurt to hear Daddy questioning me being his son. I placed my face in my hands as I began to sob. 

He continued. "I didn't raise a disrespectful son, Taemin. I don't know what's going on with you, but if it's something serious, you need to let me know."

I couldn't make out a word. I just sunk down to the floor and continued to sulk. I later felt Daddy's embrace and continued to cry into his chest. 

I heard his voice crack as he continued, "Taemin, please tell me what's wrong! Is it something we need to get help for? I can get a therapist if I have to. Just please! I want my son back!"

I pushed him away slightly as I talked through my tears. "Why do you care now?! Nobody cares! Not you, not Jonghyun, not even Dad! I just want to go some place away from here! I just want to be alone!"

Daddy quickly hugged me and tried to calm me down. "Taemin, what's going on with you? You're not acting like yourself!"

I let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh really? I think I am. I've just come to realize that nobody cares. Jonghyun only talks to me because of you. You're always too busy with work. Jongin is always training. Dad is always away from the country. It's been two years since he's been two a birthday party of mine." More tears rushed to my eyes. "And then what? The only person who I feel like cares about me, the only person I can relate to, I can't even see him because of you!"

"Baby, who are you talking about?"

"Minho! You think he's a bad influence on me, but really, the only bad influence is everything around me!" I let out a loud sob. "I just want to be alone."

"Taemin," said Jonghyun. "We love you very much. I know how hard it must be to accept me. I've told you about it before, but I'm not giving up on you. I'm sorry that you feel like none of us care about you. We really do."

I sniffed and let out a weak, "No, you don't."

He sighed and knelt next to me. "Yes I do. You're loved, Taemin. And I want you to know, I'm not trying to take Kibum away from you. I just want us all to get along."

I didn't say anything and Daddy joined, "And it's not like we don't like that Minho kid. I just don't want you hanging around the wrong people."

I sniffed as I tried to gain control. "But he's not the bad guy. He's actually really nice and sweet, and it just makes me so angry when you guys wrongly judge him."

There was a pause before Daddy asked, "Do you like him?"

I rolled my eyes. "I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to talk about anything anymore."

Daddy and Jonghyun nodded. "You know I'll have to tell your dad right?"

My eyes widened. "About what?!"

"Your meltdown. I seriously believe we need to have a sit down with him whenever he gets back from his business trip."

"No! Please don't! It's already embarrassing enough and I'm still mad at him. I don't feel like talking to him right now."

"You won't have to, but I still have to call him. He's a part of the reason why you're upset."

I just ended it there. I knew there was no winning for me at that point. Thankfully, they decided to leave my room then, but not before saying we'll talk later on about my punishment. Go figure. 

This was definitely not how I envisioned my night going. I just wanted freedom. It wasn't fair how Daddy and Jonghyun always treated me like such a baby. I'm a teen for crying out loud! 

At that moment, I didn't want to talk to anyone, except for Minho. I called him and he quickly answered the phone. 

"Hey," he said kind of shocked. "I'm surprised you're not sleep by now."

"I got busted."

"Again?!"

I sighed. I usually would've given a quick snide remark, but I was too upset. "Yeah."

"Hey, are you alright? You sound a little down."

" You could say that."

"Is it because you got in trouble?"

"It's not even that. I'm used to getting in trouble by this point. I got into a huge fight with my dad and  Jonghyun. I mean, it was really bad."

"I guess not that bad enough since you're still alive." I didn't respond. "That was an attempt to make you laugh."

I smiled slightly though he couldn't see it. "Sorry, I'm just really out of it. But thanks anyway. I really appreciate it."

"I'm sorry for getting you in trouble. This is the second time."

"Don't be sorry. It's my fault. I'm used to it so it's ok."

"Hey.....Taemin?"

"Yeah?"

There was a pause before he said, "I'm here for you, ok? I'm not sure what you're going through, but I'm here as your friend. You can come to me anytime."

Though I didn't want to admit it, that put a full smile on my face. "Thanks. I'll consider that when I'm broke."

He burst out laughing. "I'm talking about dire situations, not situations where you can use me for my money!"

I chuckled. "You're my hyung, remember? You have to treat me."

"Whatever, brat. Anyway, I need to get off of the phone now before my dad hears me. You know how crazy he is."

"That's true. It was nice talking to you. I'll call you whenever it's convenient."

"Ok. Bye, Taemin." 

It was really hard for me to go to sleep. I was so frustrated. I was frustrated at myself more than anything. Though what Daddy said hurt me, he was right. I didn't used to be like this. I was actually a goody two shoes. And even when Jonghyun first came along, my attitude was never this bad. Maybe I did need to take his advice on therapy. 

I don't like to admit it, but I have more problems going on than I 
would like to bring into the light. 

Woo! Ok it's been three centuries since I've updated, then I return with angst?! I'm so sorry for the wait. I needed to get some priorities together. Perfect Stranger got updated more than my other two stories because I had more ideas, but I still feel bad for leaving this story like that. 

I plan on continuing the story so for those who were worried, it's ok! This story will not be abandoned! I just need to get the plot together. 

Anyway, I'm back! Please comment below ^.~