Taemin ran without any thoughts. His vision, getting blurry because of the tears that threatened to escape his eyes. But he won't let it out this time. Not until he reached his room. So he ran faster but his legs gave up in the middle. After pausing for a second, he turned back to his past following and caught up to him. He didn't want that. Not anymore. Unfortunately he had no energy to run anymore. So he walked slowly to the nearest bench and sat down staring at the tall figure that approached him in the following second. 

 

Taemin was done with his past. He had enough of it. But he didn't know that just a mere eye contact with it would freshen up the wound that he thought was well healed. 

 

" What do you want?" taemin asked when he felt the other was staying quiet. He wasn't desperate but he didn't want to drag it anymore. 

 

" I just want to talk. Can we do that?" minho asked, breathless from all the running. 

 

" What's there to talk? Is there anything left? " Taemin knew that he was being harsh but that was his least concern. Because he was trying his best to not breakdown Infront of minho that even he didn't realize the pain in the celebrities face. 

 

Taemin moved a little, patting the empty space to let minho know that he can sit beside him. He did that so that he doesn't need to directly face the elder. 

 

Minho adjusted his cap and mask properly before sitting down. He didn't want any unwanted attention on them. So he sat down at a safe distance. 

 

" How have you been?" the elder asked. 

 

" That's what you want to ask?" 

 

" I don't know where I should start." minho admitted. 

 

" You are still the same. Aren't you?" taemin said, a little hurt. 

 

" I guess." minho replied, shrugging . 

 

~~~~~

 

"Why are you crying baby?" Mrs Lee asked her son. 

 

" Mom, Minho didn't come to school today. I'm worried about him" little taemin said, crying more. 

 

" Taemin, look at me. Minho must be sick or he may have some emergency. Don't worry. " she told her son while patting his hair softly. 

 

"Whaaat? He can't get sick. He promised me that he won't get sick." It made taemin cry more thinking about a sick minho. 

 

" If he get sick, that means he broke our promise. I hate that. " taemin told his mom sniffing. 

 

Mrs Lee wrapped his son in a big hug, occasionally patting his back. After calming him down, she made taemin's favorite hot chocolate to bring back her bubbly son but no hot chocolate could compete with taemin's minho. So she just let it be. The occasional sniffing and murmurs from her son was breaking her heart but she also knew that taemin needs to understand that he needs to learn how to stay patient. So she gave her 10 year old the space the little man needed. 

 

~~~~~

 

"Who was that with you yesterday?" Kai asked his best friend. 

 

" No one" taemin said and kai knew that he shouldn't interrogate more just by seeing how his best friend was reacting. 

 

" How about we go for a movie tonight?" Kai suggested. 

 

" Which one?" 

 

" Anything you want" 

 

" Okay. You are paying and I'm selecting the movie" taemin said after thinking for a while grinning. 

 

" How is that fair. No. You don't get to do that taemin" kai told his friend annoyed. 

 

" You want to go to the movie or not?" taemin asked rising his eyebrow like he is threatening Kai. 

 

" You brat. Okay. But next time you are paying" 

 

~~~~~

 

" So you think this is a public place or what ?" key asked the intruder who just entered his apartment. 

 

He didn't get a reply. Instead, he saw the other went straight to his sofa and sat down. 

 

" Hello? Am I invisible?" Key asked again. 

 

" Why? Can't I come to see my best friend at least ? "minho asked. 

 

" No you can't "Key replied as he settled down beside his friend. 

 

Minho didn't say much but key knew that minho wanted to. So he sat there without complaining while waiting for minho to start whatever that is bothering him. 

 

" If you are wrong about something and want a second chance but what if the other person isn't ready to give you that chance?" minho asked. 

 

" WOW. I know that something was on your mind. But this is much more deep than I thought." key chuckled. 

 

" Key, you know taemin? "minho started hesitant at first. 

 

" Yes. What about him? "key enquired. 

 

" I saw him "

 

" WHEN? WHERE? "

 

" At a cafe. "minho said. 

 

" Did you talk to him? How is he? Did he see you? "key wanted to know everything. 

 

Minho explained everything that happened to his friend. 

 

 

~~~

 

" Is it too late taemin? "minho asked. 

 

" For what? " taemin wanted to scream but he didn't. Because if he did, he would destroy the wall he built all these years. But all it took was just some minutes with minho for that wall to come down without even trying and that scared him. So he tried to pretend like he wasn't getting affected. 

 

" For me. Ummmm… Please… will you?" minho hesitated. 

 

" No." Taemin stood up as he couldn't handle it anymore and he walked straight towards the library. 

 

This time, minho didn't go after taemin. He sat there for some more minutes and went back to his life. 

 

~~~

 

" What do you think? "

 

" What should I think minho? Don't you think it's time for you to move on? I think taemin has." key was sad. He wanted to comfort minho but not with lies. He didn't want that for his best friend even though he knew how much it affected minho. 

 

" But I got this feeling key. Even though it probably won't go well, I think I should at least talk to him and explain everything. He deserves to know it. Seeing him today, broke me. The moment I saw him, I wanted to hug him but I know he won't like it and I already lost that position in his life because I was a fool. But I still am the same. Not a single thing changed. Maybe my feelings for him grow more but definitely it's there. "minho felt so bad for making taemin's life difficult. 

 

" I know minho. I know that. But it's been so long. Your initial thought is just to explain him and talk to him. But I know you so well that I don't need any 7th sense to know where this will lead and I don't think you can handle a heartbreak one more time minho. " key said carefully not to make minho sad. 

 

" Do you miss him key? " minho asked. 

 

" Of course . I miss him. Not only taemin. I miss you too. I miss the three of us together alot. But it's all in the past and it's better to not go there now. " Key told his friend one more time even though he knew that minho will eventually do what his heart wants and his heart will always go towards his first love even though it is a broken road. 

 

But key wasn't any different. He also found it really difficult to move on. It's not easy when the thing you want to move on is your whole childhood and who you are. 

 

" Hey minho? Just give it a lot of thoughts and I don't want you both to be hurt again." key said, concerned about his friend. 

 

" Okay." 

 

~~~~~

 

" WOW the movie was so good." 

 

" Told you right, it's good" kai replied. 

 

Taemin and kai was coming back from the theater. Contrary to what taemin thought, he really did enjoy the small get away. Kai was also glad that taemin was enjoying it. He wanted to help taemin but was limited to what he could offer to his best friend. 

 

Taemin put his hand over kai's shoulder and pulled the other along the way. 

 

" Taemin, everything is okay with you right?" 

 

" Yes." 

 

" It seems like you are stressed out." kai said. 

 

" It's the assignments and projects. I'm not getting enough sleep. Don't worry" taemin said, smiling after dragging his friend with him. 

 

After a while taemin reached his room while Kai went to his one. Not even bothering to change his clothes, taemin sat Infront of his laptop to check his project. A little over 30 minutes, he checked his phone. 

 

There was one message from Kai which told him to sleep early. One from his other classmates and others were all study related until he saw a message from an unknown number. 

 

" Hey, it's me minho . I got your number from your friend at the Cafe. Sorry to bother you like this. Save this number. If you want to, we can atleast keep in touch . Or just we can send each other messages. Can we do that?" 

 

Even before replying, he got another message. 

 

" Oh. You are awake? Do you usually sleep late? "

 

Taemin decided to not reply. So he closed his phone and kept it aside. But his notification came again indicating a new message from minho. This time he didn't open it but saw it from his lockscreen to avoid any new messages from minho. It was a simple good night message.

 

He put back his phone on his desk. After changing into his pajamas, he light a scented candle and decided to call it a day. That's what he wanted but even though he was very tired, he couldn't sleep. 

 

So that night, Lee taemin went through alot to just get some minutes of sleep to only get flashbacks from a time he wished he would forget how happy he was and how much that happiness costed him. 

 

~~~~~

 

" Taemin?" 

 

" Yes?" 

 

" What are you doing?" 

 

" I'm making a card" 

 

" Why are you making it? Wow it's so good. Can you teach me too?" 

 

" No. I won't. What if you get better than me. What if you will start giving someone else these cards? So no. I won't teach you" taemin replied, seriously. 

 

" I won't give anyone else. I promise you that I will only make cards for you. Can you teach me now? Please" minho asked. 

 

" I have to think about it." taemin pouted. 

 

" Awww. You are so cute" minho said holding taemin's face. 

 

There were obvious pink shade on taemin's cheeks as well as the boy was avoiding any eye contact. But Minho wanted to look at the youngers eyes so much. But he didn't forced. He just let it be. He was always like that. He will just let everything as it is. No explanation needed. No further than what is already there. 

 

~~~~~

 

" Taemin, please let me explain" minho rushed towards taemin. 

 

" No. Don't. I understood everything. You don't have to say anything." taemin said as he tried his best to hold back his tears. 

 

" You don't. It's not what you saw. I can explain" 

 

" No. I have seen enough. It's enough minho. Let's just…. Let's not drag this anymore. Even I'm getting tired of this. " taemin said sniffing. 

 

" You are getting tired? Are you? Really? Is that all it is? " minho was almost crying when he asked that. Because he couldn't believe what he was hearing. 

 

" I tried my best minho. And I can't do this anymore. Let's end this. " taemin said as a tear rolled down his cheeks. Minho hated that. He hated when he saw taemin cry. But this time he was the reason. This time he was helpless because he couldn't protect taemin from himself. This time, the pink tint was not because of the blush and as he stood there, when every atom in his body told him to wrap the boy in a tight hug and not let go and to beg him to stay, he just couldn't. He froze in his place as he registered what taemin was saying. He couldn't do anything and he just let his happiness go in that helpless moment. He didn't even rum after the younger. He just couldn't. 

 

A little later, key found minho and when he did, minho cried his heart out like never before. He couldn't understand himself. He broke all of his promises and may be that's why he didn't run after taemin. He blamed himself for that single moment a lot . It took him many years to get over the mistake he made. And key made sure that he is always there for him in every step. That's how they became inseparable and till now, holding onto each other. 

 

But the chapter they closed there was not entirely over as minho coincidently found taemin at the Cafe. Minho was not the same. He had gone through some major changes and that's why he wanted to talk to taemin. But taemin also changed. He was not the old taemin minho knows. The time they spend together made them go through two entirely different journeys and finding a middle ground now was out of the question. But minho was confident for some reason. For some reason, he still knew that somewhere inside they were still the same. As so minho hoped. 

 

 

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AUTHORS NOTE 

 

Im really sorry for the late update. I was really busy with work. It was lots of stress. I'm still trying to adjust to this new job. 

 

Don't worry about the story line. The last part was sad. I know. But it's the past. I'm still developing this fic. I wanted to keep both their past and present in line. So that's why this chapter is going back from two time lines. I hope it's not too confusing. I just want to connect their stories. I think this format will be there in the next chapter too. Please bare with me. I promise that I will have a very happy and good story line. I have some ideas. I hope you like it. 

 

 

Hope you all are safe. 

 

Can't believe that I wrote half of this 2 weeks before but because of work I was held back. Today after talking with key on bubble, I got some energy back. Yall have to thank him for this chapter. Hehe

 

ALSO OMG MINHO NOW HAS AN INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT. CAN YALL BELIEVE THAT? 

 

The way taemin commented hearts in minho's first post. Awww that was so cute. The monkey interactions are so gold. Onho phone call during minho's vlive was so precious. I was squealing so much. Hsnsnsnndnxnndkskskndndkskms d 

 

Sorry for the  rant. See you all in the next update.