Taemin sat across from Kibum, glaring at the king’s secretary. His fingers twitched against his knees as he waited for Jonghyun to arrive in the lobby and drive them to his school. Kibum was on his phone, no doubt sensing the eyes burning holes into his head, but choosing to ignore it.

 

Just as Kibum was about to ask what the hell Taemin’s problem was, Jonghyun stepped out of the hallway, dangling keys from his hand. “Are we ready to go?”

 

“I call shotgun!” Taemin sprang from his chair and immediately ran towards the limo. Kibum stared with his mouth wide open, before getting up and chasing after the prince. Jonghyun rolled his eyes and walked towards the limo at a normal speed because he’s a regular person.

 

As Jonghyun was opening the door to the car, Kibum was already in the backseat, leaning forward and arguing with Taemin.

 

“Is this revenge because I ed your best friend? Because I could think of a million better ways to get back at me besides just stealing my seat that I ALWAYS SIT IN.” He emphasized that last part by sticking his mouth right next to Taemin’s ear as he yelled.

 

“First of all, ing ow.” Taemin complained, rubbing his ear. “Second of all, maybe I just wanted to sit up front for my best friends’ soccer game. Third of all, I don’t even want to think about you two having so please shut the up.”

 

“Really? You don’t want to hear about him beneath me as I-” Jonghyun and Taemin’s hands pushed against Kibum’s face and he fell backwards onto the seats.

 

“Yah! Do you realize how much this face is worth?!” Kibum yelled, pointing at himself. His mouth hung open again as he heard Jonghyun start the car.

 

“Wait! You’re seriously just gonna let him take my spot?!”

 

“Absolutely.” Jonghyun replied, pushing his foot on the gas.

 

“But that’s not fair! You can’t just let this happen!” Kibum whined, arm shielding his eyes as he fell back dramatically, pretending to sob.

 

“Maybe I want to sit by Taemin...” Jonghyun mumbled, trying not to be heard. He didn’t do a very good job, and caused Taemin to look down and blush.

 

“And put your ing seatbelt on, I don’t want your blood staining my car.” Jonghyun added, louder this time, as Kibum begrudgingly obliged.

 

After crossing his arms and glaring at the two in the front seats, Kibum’s pout morphed into a smirk, and he pulled out his phone. Taemin watched from the rear view mirror, shuddering as Kibum finished typing his message and gave a devilish grin to Taemin’s reflection.

 

This couldn’t end well.

 

 

---

 

 

Taemin barely made two steps out of the car before two large arms were wrapped around his ribcage, successfully restraining him.

 

“I got him, Kibum-ssi!” Said the voice belonging to the person behind Taemin, which he immediately recognized as Minho’s.

 

“It’s payback time, .” Kibum said, cracking his knuckles. Taemin’s eyes went wide and his breath shortened as Kibum approached him with a devious grin. Kibum’s outstretched hands reached Taemin’s sides, and he furiously kicked the air as Kibum began tickling him.

 

“Stop! Don’t!! Stop it!!” Taemin cried as he thrashed around inside Minho’s arms.

 

“Don’t stop it? Okay.” Kibum replied as he continued tickling Taemin’s stomach. Taemin let out an inhuman screech in between his uncontrollable laughter.

 

“Minho-hyung!!” Taemin wailed, tears forming in his eyes. “Let me go and-” He paused to laugh and flail his head around. “I’ll let you borrow Splatoon for a weeHEHEHEHEEEK!”

 

Minho immediately let go, and Taemin made a run for it, ignoring his burning lungs. He crouched behind Jonghyun, who was just getting out of the limo, and peered over his shoulder.

 

“Jonghyun is now my barricade. You don’t stand a chance.” Taemin threatened.

 

Kibum ran behind Minho and hid in the same manner as Taemin. “As if. My fortress is ten times stronger than yours.”

 

“Is not!”

 

“Is too!”

 

“Is not!”

 

“Is too!”

 

A lanky boy wearing the same uniform as Minho approached them and placed his hand on his teammates shoulder. “Minho-hyung, it’s time for the pre-game warm up, let’s go!” He said, jogging towards the soccer field.

 

Kibum pointed a finger at Taemin. “This battle is far from being over.” He threatened, before wrapping his arms on Minho’s waist and turning him around to face him.

 

“Good luck, babe.” Kibum smiled, and placed a sweet kiss on Minho’s lips. Upon hearing Jonghyun and Taemin make gagging noises in the background, Kibum rolled his eyes behind his eyelids, and s his hands down to the curve of Minho’s . The gagging noises turned into retches.

 

Once they pulled apart, Kibum smirked and patted Minho’s as he jogged towards the soccer field. He then turned to glare at Jonghyun and Taemin, who were hunched over and bracing themselves against the limo as they continued to retch.

 

“You better get used to it, nuts, he has an adorable and I’ll touch it as much I ing feel like.” Kibum huffed.

 

“But dude, there’s like, children here.” Jonghyun said, pointing at Taemin.

 

Taemin pushed the finger pointing at him away and glared at Jonghyun. “I’m 18, I’m not a child.”

 

“Yeah, he’s a big boy, he can handle some touching.” Kibum said.

 

Taemin rolled his eyes and started towards the refreshments stand, signaling the other two to follow. “Just because I can handle seeing it, doesn’t mean I want to. You have to pay for my therapy now.”

 

“I don’t owe you anything. You should thank me for educating you on the art of grabbing.” Kibum stated. “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

 

“Maybe you’ll understand when you’re less of a ...” Taemin mumbled, reaching into his wallet as he approached the counter to order his slushie.

 

 

---

 

 

The three friends shuffled along the bleachers as they made their way towards the empty spot. Sitting down, they breathed a sigh of relief that they didn’t drop any of their numerous snacks amongst the people jostling around. Kibum having cheesy fries and orange soda, Taemin with a strawberry slushie, Whoppers, and smarties, and Jonghyun a diet coke.

 

Taemin puckered his lips around the straw and took a huge sip of his slushie. “Jonghyun-hyung, would you like some? You only bought a drink and that’s not very metal…” He said, offering the cup to the man on his right. He totally wasn’t doing it to share an indirect kiss with Jonghyun. Absolutely not.

 

Normally, Jonghyun would decline sweets, but Taemin just looked so cute with his lips tinted red and his eyes sparkling eagerly he couldn’t say no. As he was halfway towards the drink, he had the perfect idea to mess with Taemin. He grinned and opened his mouth larger than necessary, making sure Taemin could see the pink of his tongue. He wrapped his lips around the straw, making eye contact with Taemin the entire time. Once he was done, he popped off and ran his tongue over his lips. He noticed Taemin visibly gulp.

 

“Oh, so you’ll get mad at me for touching Minho’s , but it’s totally okay for you two to make eyes at each other.” Kibum said, crossing his arms.

 

Taemin whipped his head around, face flushed red. “N-no, it’s not like that, I’d share my drink with anyone…”

 

“Then why don’t you share it with me?” Kibum asked.

 

“Gross, I don’t know where your mouth as been.”

 

“You don’t know where Jonghyun’s mouth has been either!”

 

“Kibum, you are dropping the subject immediately.” Jonghyun interrupted through clenched teeth. Kibum rolled his eyes and focused back on the game.

 

Taemin didn’t have time to contemplate what Kibum meant before a deep voice interrupted his thoughts. “Excuse me, but is there any room for me to sit?”

 

“Um sure, just let us scootch down real quick- “ Taemin peered up at the person he was speaking to, squinting his eyes in concentration. They looked really familiar....

 

“...Uncle Jinki?”

 

Jonghyun and Kibum’s heads snapped to the side at the sound of that name. Sure enough, there stood King Jinki. He was wearing a brown scarf around his head and large white sunglasses, but there was no doubt it was him. His two workers stood up and bowed, not even thinking about the other people present.

 

“Aah! No, no, don’t bow, stand back up!” Jinki exclaimed, making rising motions with his hands and looking around nervously to see if anyone noticed.

 

“Uncle, what are you doing here?” Taemin asked, standing alongside Jonghyun and Kibum.

 

“Well, you see, I meant - “ He cleared his throat. “I just wanted to get out of the mansion, that’s all…”

 

“In all due respect, your highness, you could have just requested for us to take you out.” Kibum said, wringing his hands.

 

“No! I mean, no, I wanted to go out by myself.” Jinki slumped his shoulders. “I didn’t want any bodyguards around...you wouldn’t understand....”

 

“I do.” Taemin spoke up, and sat on the bleachers again. “Have a seat. I don’t mind.”

 

Jinki grinned in appreciation and plopped down in between Jonghyun and Taemin, causing them both to frown. , they thought in unison.

 

Barely 5 seconds into the game and Jinki leaned over to Taemin and started asking questions. “Which color is Minho?”

 

“He’s in turquoise.” Taemin replied.

 

“I don’t see him, what number is he?”

 

“Number 12. He has the ball right now.”

 

“Oh! I see him now!” Jinki grinned again like he had just won the lottery. Taemin took another sip of his slushie, blushing when he remembered Jonghyun had just put his own lips around the straw.

 

“Why did Minho just kick the ball towards the other student? That doesn’t seem very nice…” Jinki asked, ruining Taemin’s moment.

 

“Did you see how the guys in yellow were approaching behind Minho?” Taemin asked. Jinki nodded. “Well eventually they would’ve caught up to Minho and stolen the ball from him, so he passed it to his teammate because he’s not surrounded by the other team.”

 

“Oh, okay.” Jinki nodded, focusing on the game again. “And this is…soccer, right?”

 

“Your highness, would you like something to drink?” Jonghyun interrupted, feeling a headache coming on.

 

“Why yes, thank you! Some gyokuro tea would be lovely.”

 

“I don’t believe they sell any here, sir.”

 

“Tie guan yin?”

 

“Apologies, your highness.”

 

“Jasmine Dragon Pearl?”

 

“How about some bottled water?”

 

“Oh, yeah! That sounds even better!” Jinki said, clapping his hands together.

 

“I’ll return in a moment, your majesty.” Jonghyun replied, turning his back and heading down the metal stairs.

 

“I’ll go help him.” Taemin said, rushing after his hyung.

 

Jonghyun smiled as Taemin ran to his side. “Hey.” He drawled.

 

“Sorry, I just didn’t want him asking me any more questions.” Taemin pouted.

 

“I never said I was angry, no need to apologize.” Jonghyun smirked, and Taemin looked to the side, cheeks burning pink.

 

“I just didn’t want you to think I was following you, that’s all.”

 

“Nah, you’re fine. It’s better than walking alone.” Jonghyun pulled out his wallet as they walked closer to the snack stand. “You wanna split a pack of Skittles?”

 

“Only if I get all the red ones!” Taemin smiled, standing beside Jonghyun at the counter. They told the cashier what they wanted, and Taemin began to pull out his own wallet.

 

“What are you doing?” Jonghyun questioned.

 

“I’m gonna pay for half the Skittles?” Taemin answered, thinking it was obvious.

 

“No no, it’s on me.” Jonghyun slid his cash across the counter.

 

“But it only makes sense that if we’re sharing I should pay for part of it!”

 

“Taemin-ah, it’s not that expensive, it’s not a problem…”

 

The cashier giggled from behind her hand, cutting off their quarrel.

 

“Sorry, it’s just...you’re cute together, if you don’t mind my saying.” Both Jonghyun and Taemin felt their faces burning.

 

“No, you got it wrong, we’re not…” He looked towards Taemin for help but he was blushing just as hard, if not harder. “...just please get the Skittles…” Jonghyun sighed, resting his hand against his forehead. The cashier returned with the water and candy, and Jonghyun paid for all of it by himself.

 

“Thank you…” Taemin mumbled, still flushing pink. Jonghyun could barely suppress his smile at how cute Taemin was.

 

 

---

 

 

When they were back at their seats, Taemin’s mouth dropped in shock at what he found.

 

“You guys aren’t even watching the game!” Taemin exclaimed, glaring at Jinki and Kibum huddled around Kibum’s phone.

 

“Well I was ing bored, and his highness doesn’t understand what’s going on, so we decided to play a game instead.” Kibum replied, not taking his eyes off the screen.

 

“What are you even playing?” Taemin asked, trying to peer over their shoulders.

 

“Tsum Tsum…” Jinki and Kibum said at the same time, slightly embarrassed. Jonghyun gasped from the side.

 

“No way! You play Tsum Tsum too?! You have to add me! No wait, first let me see your collection. No, actually, first let me…”

 

Taemin tuned out, rolling his eyes and looking at the scoreboard. His team was winning, but only by a little bit. He opened his Skittles pack and started popping all the red ones into his mouth, occasionally looking to the side at his friends being nerds.

 

Oh well, he thought. At least I don’t have to deal with y Mc pants, clueless ahjussi, and subtle reference dude anymore...

 

 

---

 

 

“Hey guys?” Taemin called, grabbing the three men’s attention. “There’s only five minutes left, do you think you could focus for that long at least?” They all grumbled as they turned away from Kibum’s phone and towards the soccer game. Despite themselves, they were actually getting caught up in the heat of the moment, and stood up with everyone else in the bleachers in the last minute.

 

“Hey, I can’t see!” Jonghyun complained, balancing on his toes in an attempt to see over the other, much taller people in front of him.

 

“You should’ve drank your milk growing up!” Kibum laughed. Only 30 seconds left in the game and the two teams were tied.

 

Just then, Minho had the ball at his feet and was sprinting across the field.

 

“Go, hyung, go!” Taemin shouted, jumping up and down.

 

“Does Minho have the ball?” Jonghyun asked.

 

Minho tricked the goalie by making him think he was shooting for the right side of the net, but then he shot the ball towards the left side and made it in. The crowd went wild, cheering and throwing their empty trash into the air.

 

“I hope they’re planning on picking that up.” Jinki reproached, crossing his arms.

 

“Come on, we have to go congratulate Minho!” Taemin shouted, enthusiastically waving everyone over so they could descend down the stairs towards the field.

 

By the time they were close enough to see Minho, he was already talking to a group of girls. He was wearing a polite smile, but his eyes had a layer of anger around them. When they recognized the girl he was talking to, they understood why.

 

“We were planning on getting ice cream after the game, you should join us.” Han-na said, flipping her hair.

 

“No offense, but I don’t really want to go anywhere with you after what you did to Taemin.” Minho responded, still keeping his polite smile.

 

Han-na’s lip curled up. “It wasn’t a suggestion.”

 

“Hey babe, who are you talking to?” Kibum asked, wrapping an arm around Minho’s shoulder.

 

Han-na scoffed. “Oppa, who is this?” She seethed, looking Kibum up and down.

 

“I’m Minho’s ing boyfriend, and I wasn’t speaking to you.”

 

Han-na stuck her lip out, looking genuinely hurt. “Oppa, you’re cheating on me?”

 

“Han-na, I would never date you in a million years.” Minho said, and turned his head to the side to kiss Kibum. Han-na shrieked and stomped her feet, but when neither men took notice, she huffed away, yelling at her group of friends. Once she was out of eyesight, Kibum pulled away.

 

“You’re really ing sweaty.” He whined.

 

“You weren’t complaining last night.”

 

“Stop being gross and let his best friend through.” Taemin scowled, and gave Minho a quick hug. “You were great out there.”

 

“Thanks.” Jonghyun and Jinki also gave their congrats, and a few students, before Minho started complaining about how ing exhausted he was, and they all agreed to drive him home and then back to the mansion. Taemin stole Kibum’s seat again, but he didn’t say much this time because he was too busy flirting with Minho. Jinki made himself as small as possible in the back seat with the couple, feeling ridiculously uncomfortable, but sang along when Taemin played “We Are The Champions” on the radio nonetheless.

 

And when Jonghyun saw Taemin moving his head and shoulders to the beat of the music, he got his second great idea of the day.

 

 

---

 

 

“Hyung, where are you taking me?” Taemin questioned, following Jonghyun through the corridors of the mansion.

 

“Don’t be impatient, Taeminnie, you’ll find out soon.” Jonghyun said, flashing a smirk that he knew would piss Taemin off. He rolled his eyes.

 

They arrived at a round room with marble floors and a sound system against the wall and a large mirror on the opposite side.

 

“Hey, this is just like…” Taemin mused, being cut off by a slow waltz filling the room. Jonghyun turned around from the sound system and bit his lip, shoving his hands in his pockets.

 

“You gotta be kidding me.” Taemin slumped. “Is this just so you can see me dance again?” Jonghyun nodded. “I’m not going to dance just because you’re playing music.”

 

“I wasn’t expecting you to.” Jonghyun replied, approaching Taemin and slipping his arm around his waist. “This is how I’m going to make you dance again.”

 

He grabbed Taemin’s hand and intertwined their fingers, beginning to step side to side. Taemin let out a short laugh. “This is your plan? Forcing me to waltz with you?”

 

“It’s a good plan!” Jonghyun said, offended. Taemin scoffed, suddenly filled with an odd feeling of deja vu.

 

“If it was a good plan, you wouldn’t be the one leading.” Taemin said, quickly shifting the power to himself. Jonghyun gasped, not expecting the sudden change. “I’m the trained dancer, not you.” Jonghyun scrunched his nose in reply, letting Taemin lead him in the dance.

 

When the song ended, they pulled apart, both blushing a soft pink. “It worked, though! I saw you dance again!” Jonghyun smiled, scratching the back of his head.

 

“Well, not really…” Taemin looked to the side, still blushing. “You can’t really watch me when we’re that close to each other…”

 

“Like this?” Jonghyun asked, and swung his arms around Taemin’s neck, encasing him in a hug. Taemin let out a nervous giggle. “Stop, you’re embarrassing me!” Jonghyun pulled back, but kept Taemin an arms length away, still smiling, admiring him.

 

He wasn’t really sure what made him lean forward. If you were to ask him, he’d say it was Jonghyun’s fault for being so close to him. His heart was fluttering, he wasn’t thinking straight, and Jonghyun was right there. So, who can really blame Taemin for placing his lips over Jonghyun’s?

 

As soon as it happened, it was over. Jonghyun had pulled back, eyes wide with shock. Taemin was redder than a tomato, if that was even possible, the entire top half of his body blushing furiously. He fumbled with the hem of his shirt the same way he fumbled with his words.

 

“Oh my ing god, I’m so, so sorry, I don’t even know what came over me, I’ll just climb into a ing hole now, , I’m so ing so- ” His rant was stopped by Jonghyun’s lips over his again, a hand around the back of his head pulling him closer.

 

Jonghyun’s lips moved slowly against Taemin’s, savouring the feeling of the prince’s soft, pink lips. Taemin was the only one with his eyes still open, not quite believing this was happening. His mouth wasn’t even moving against Jonghyun’s. He clenched his eyes shut, tried to mimic what Jonghyun was doing, and prayed he was doing an okay job. Jonghyun’s hand moved to Taemin’s cheek, rubbing small circles with his thumb. Taemin arms still hung loosely at his sides; what the hell is he supposed to do with his hands?!

 

As Taemin was about to place his hands on Jonghyun’s hips, Jonghyun pulled back again, and rested his forehead against Taemin’s, sharing their breath.

 

“Don’t apologize. Never apologize.” Was all Jonghyun said, and Taemin laughed.

 

“That was so ing cheesy.”

“Get used to it; you’re stuck with me now.”