A/N: this chapter is awfully short, i know, but i needed to get all the necessary filler out the way before the dramatic stuff begins ;;)) next chapters gonna be a packed one i swear! oh and enjoy the 2min <3

The sun was shining brightly when Minho decided to go for a serene walk that Saturday afternoon, hands positioned lazily in his pockets as he scuffed his feet along the gravelled ground. Often, when too caught up in his thoughts or simply tired of sitting around, Minho would escape his house for just a little while and head to the local park, revelling in the soothing environment it provided him with. The large oak trees lining the green terrain swayed softly in the wind, leaves rustling and cascading down onto the blanket of grass below.

It was true that they lived in the same neighbourhood. And Minho supposed that the chances weren’t completely unlikely. However it still came as quite the shock when, as he made his way around the forged dirt track, Minho’s eyes fell upon Taemin seated on a nearby bench. The younger boy was simply staring at his shoes, occasionally kicking at the rocks beneath his feet and watching as they rolled forward before coming to an abrupt halt against the grass.

Minho smiled fondly. From his slightly elevated position, sunlight flittered in at exactly the right angle to land gracefully on Taemin’s skin, highlighting all of his beautiful features. His slighty mussed hair was swept back with the wind, and as light was further shed upon Minho’s feelings, he found himself not really caring in the slightest. Perhaps at first it had been slightly alarming that he had begun to gather feelings for his friends but now, after some careful consideration, Minho figured that he was actually rather lucky. Not only did he get to spend practically every waking moment with Taemin, but the two already knew each other in and out – there’d be no need to hide his true self in fear of judgement.

Taking one last, deep breath, Minho slowly began to make his way towards Taemin, at this closer distance suddenly being very aware of how torn his facial expression seemed to be. Minho frowned in alarm and quickened his pace. The younger boy’s gaze didn’t at all divert from their position on the ground even when Minho stood a mere two metres away, and he coughed slightly to break the silence, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “Taemin. Hey.”

Taemin looked up in astonishment, an obvious red hue immediately flushing against his cheeks. His shoulders had tensed unconsciously, but despite his noticeable discomfort, Taemin replied with a slightly awkward, “Hey, Minho. What’s up?”

“Nothing much.” Minho grinned brightly, taking a seat next to Taemin and crossing his legs. “Just wanted some fresh air. You?”

Albeit slightly forced, Taemin smiled back. “Me too. Just needed to think about some things I guess.”

Minho nodded. “School’s been super busy lately. Kibum and I have got our end of year exams in like, a week, and to be honest…I think I’m gonna flunk. But don’t tell Jinki I said that.”

“You’re probably gonna get a sport scholarship though so I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about.” Taemin nudged Minho’s ribs playfully in reassurance, immediately regretting his actions as Minho’s body stiffened.

Minho opened his mouth as though he was about to say something before suddenly halting in his tracks, settling for a simple, “Taemin...”

The first year held his breath. Was this finally the moment? Was Minho finally going to confront what had happened nearly a week from now? He looked up at the older boy with hope swimming in his eyes and offered a smile. “Yeah?”

“Well um…just…thanks for being a good friend.”

As the words fell upon Taemin’s ears, his hopes were diminished like a fire during winter, simply nodding softly in response. It was stupid, really. But nonetheless, Taemin could feel his anger slowly rising at Minho’s ignorance on the matter and clenched his fists.

“Also, Taem. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tomorrow. Just you and I? Maybe go to the movies or the arcade…I don’t know.”

Taemin remained silent and simply glared at the ground, shaking his head marginally at Minho’s audacity. First he plays with Taemin’s feelings by kissing him, but then never brings it up again and instead thinks that they can just resume their friendship like nothing ever happened. He bit his lip, fighting down the insults which threatened to spill from his mouth, and refused to meet Minho’s curious stare.

Minho frowned at Taemin’s silence. “Uh…Taemin? Everything alright buddy?”

“Y’know what, Minho? Everything isn’t alright!” Taemin fumed, standing up and pacing on the spot. “You have been practically ignoring me for the whole week, haven’t mentioned anything about last Sunday, and now you wanna hang out? Look Minho…I know you hated what happened the other day, okay? I get it! Either let’s talk about it, or you stop acting so awkward! It’s in the past…so just tell me how much you hated the kiss and let’s move o—“

“I never said I didn’t like it, you idiot!” exclaimed Minho, up on his feet and staring Taemin directly in the eyes.

Breath coming to a sudden halt, Taemin’s jaw dropped and he stared at Minho with wide eyes, not quite positive if he’d heard correctly or not.

Minho took a tentative step forward and spoke again softly. “I never said that I didn’t like it, Taem.”

And then, gently and cautiously, so unlike the times before, Minho’s lips were pressed flush against Taemin’s, lifting a hand to rest precariously against the younger boy’s cheek.

“So wait…” spoke Amber, draped over Kibum’s bed like a duvet. “You’re saying that your parents think that Jonghyun is making you gay, and now you’re grounded from going out?”

Kibum sighed and spun around aimlessly on his desk chair. “That’s literally what I just said, yes.”

“Don’t get snappy with me, Kibum. We have to work our way around this. Can’t he just come over like I am now?”

Sighing loudly, Kibum shook his head. “Technically, he could. But…If he came over it would only make things worse, ‘Ber. My father practically hates him, and Jonghyun’s really touchy anyway. To be honest, he’d probably go home more upset than if he didn’t come at all. Let’s just leave it, m’kay?”

Amber sat up and studied Kibum closely before collapsing back onto the bed. “For now. We’re gonna talk about this again later. But for now…” the tomboy snorted loudly. “Can you believe Minho rejected me, yesterday?”

Kibum choked, practically falling from his seat in surprise. “H-He what? Rejected you? You in’ made a move?”

“I just asked if he wanted to chill tomorrow, calm your farm. Y’know…I could’ve sworn he liked me, but oh well.”

Utterly confused, Kibum sat in silence, the gears in his head turning at a million miles per second. His thoughts ran back to the day before, when Taemin had spoken of Minho’s strange attitude towards their kiss. Supposedly, he’d practically ignored Taemin entirely after it had happened, yet he had been the one who had asked to kiss Taemin in the first place. Kibum paused for a second, eyes widening in joyous realization that in Amber’s perspective, seemed to border insanity.

She rose an eyebrow and punched Kibum’s leg, taking satisfaction in the way her best friend yelped in pain. “Get that serial killer smug grin off your face and tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Oh my God,” Kibum muttered, laughing softly under his breath. “Oh my ing God.”

“What?! Tell me, you !”

Kibum chuckled loudly and fell onto the bed besides Amber. “Who would’ve known, huh?”

Fists clenched, Amber grabbed Kibum’s wrists and in a fluid motion and twisted them around his back, digging her elbow harshly in between his shoulder blades. Kibum yelped in pain and attempted to escape the tom boy’s strong grasp, body flailing pathetically before falling into a slump.

“Now, are you gonna stop acting like an and tell me what’s got your knickers in a knot?”

“My what in a what now?”

Amber tutted and applied more pressure. “Stop stalling and answer the god damn question, Kibum.”

Groaning loudly, Kibum stuffed his face into the duvet. “Rradgi b’sekshal Min’o ‘ikez Ta’mmn”

Amber screwed her face into a frown. “What the heck?”

“I said…” Kibum sighed, roughly tugging his wrists out of the younger girl’s grasp. “Raging biual Minho likes Taemin.”

Silence. Thick, drop dead silence. Amber simply stared at the polaroid pictures upon Kibum’s wall, and in concern, the latter worried that she liked Minho a lot more than he’d previously expected. He leaned forward slightly to gauge her reaction, however immediately retreated in surprise upon realising that she was laughing. “Honestly,” she giggled. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“At first glance Minho seems as straight as a stick but like…the thought of him having a crush on a guy is just so natural. I literally can’t believe that my whole friendship group is ing gay.” snorted Kibum, shaking his head at the odds.

Amber looked at Kibum. “Wait, so Taemin is gay too?”

He paused. “Well no…But he definitely has a crush on Minho though, so my statement still stands.”

Squealing uncharacteristically in both a mixture of excitement and disbelief, the tomboy grabbed a packet of Cheetos strewn on Kibum’s bed and shoved a handful in . “If they get together, and you start talking to Jonghyun again, then you guys can double date!”

Kibum hummed, a forlorn glint lingering in his chocolate eyes. “I don’t know if I should even talk to Jonghyun, to be honest… It’s just gonna make things worse.”

With a sad sigh, Amber sat up straight and addressed Kibum sympathetically. She seemed cautious, as though tip toeing around a rose bush, and bit her bottom lip. “There’s nothing wrong with liking a guy, Kibum.” she spoke softly.

Anger sparked in Kibum’s chest, and he glared harshly at his best friend. “I know that, Amber! But I’m just sick of it being so hard… Loving someone isn’t meant to be this hard.” His voice had managed to drop to a whisper within mere milliseconds, and he ignored Amber’s loud gasp of surprise.

“It wouldn’t be this bad if it wasn’t for your parents. You just said it, Kibum – you love Jonghyun! You guys have something really special, and you can’t just give up on something like that. You have to work around this, Kibum. Please. I just…I hate seeing you like this, alright?”

Kibum nodded, but it was safe to say that he wasn’t quite convinced by Amber’s words. She knew his parents pretty well, certainly. But no one knew Kibum’s parents quite like Kibum himself, and deep down, he understood that getting around them would be a lot harder than it seemed. He thought about his father, and his mother who was finally beginning to recognize that he had his own beliefs and feelings. He thought about the slap – the stinging in his cheek which psychologically, had never gone away. He didn’t want to drag Jonghyun down that hell hole. Why would Jonghyun even want to be a part of something like this when he had a perfect family back at home? Where his mother and sister joked around joyously, accepted him for who he was, and gave Jonghyun all the love he deserved. His lifestyle could never match up to that standard, and it was with this mindset that Kibum decided that yes, keeping his distance from Jonghyun certainly was better for the both of them.

Standing outside Kibum’s bedroom door, Kibum’s mother could feel her own heartbeat picking up considerably as she heard her son and his best friend speaking within the room. She should’ve just kept on walking. Gone to her bedroom like she’d originally planned on doing. And she was going to keep on walking after a few minutes, she really was. But as those eight words fell from her son’s mouth so casually and so genuinely, she found herself pausing in disbelief, not quite sure if she’d heard him correctly.

‘Loving someone isn’t meant to be this hard.’

‘You love Jonghyun!’

The woman’s breath caught in , and if it wasn’t for the wall that she was currently leaning against, Kibum’s mother was certain her legs would have gave way by now. She’d had her suspicions, of course. About their relationship being something less than…pure. But an emotion as deep as love had never been on the agenda, and she found her heart slowly tearing apart at the connotations of those short phrases. Her mind went back to just the other day, where Jonghyun had helped her with her groceries. His eyes had been red, bloodshot and puffy, clear signs of crying and sleep deprivation. Had their treatment towards Kibum and Jonghyun inevitably lead to his? Two depressed boys who couldn’t even bring it within themselves to see the other because of what people around them thought?

The guilt was overbearing. Kibum’s mother knew that, along with her husband, she was a key catalyst in this behaviour and caution. Yet before she could even ponder on what this truly meant to her and her family, a sound within the room knocked the woman out of her senses and pushed her on her way, trudging towards the marginally opened hallway door with a fatigued frown lining her features.

Jonghyun stood before the bathroom mirror, staring at his slick hair in nervous anticipation. A bottle of opened dark hair dye lay on the countertop, and if Jonghyun had never done this before, he was sure that at that moment his hands would certainly be shaking. He spun around one last time to make sure that every inch of his previously blonde locks were covered before grabbing a plastic cap and slipping it over his hair. A loud exhale escaped his lips, and Jonghyun slumped onto the edge of the bathtub with clenched fists. Potential song lyrics played within in his mind on repeat, but the only thing which kept Jonghyun from writing them down was the fact that he knew Kibum wouldn’t be joining him at the bar tomorrow. Honestly, he didn’t really know why he’d decided to finally change his hair colour. It had been blonde since he’d left school, and before now, he’d never even considered changing it back to brown. But now it was done – there was no turning back.

He stood below the shower head and allowed the water to run down his face as it washed the excess dye away, thoughts drifting back to his conversation with Kibum’s mother at the supermarket just days ago. While it was indeed a nice offer, Jonghyun still racked his mind for ideas to somehow see Kibum before two weeks’ time, mind coming to a cruel halt at every turn. Whether it be too risky, too public, or just too downright impossible, it seemed that there was no way whatsoever that Jonghyun could meet up with Kibum before the latter’s parent teacher interviews.

The songwriter stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, watching in the mirror as his hair gradually dried to dark, mousy brown. Jonghyun smiled despite his prior melancholy, and could only hope with all his heart that Kibum’s parents worked on Tuesday afternoons.

Minho pulled away softly, hand still softly cradling Taemin’s cheek. A wide, ecstatic smile rested on his face and he watched Taemin’s expression carefully to gauge any sort of reaction.

It was safe to say that Taemin was in a stupor. Unblinkingly, he stared at Minho’s grinning face, not quite positive if he’d imagined that kiss or not. His heart raced at a million beats per second, and although there were no mirrors around, Taemin was fairly certain that at that moment his cheeks were glowing a dazzling red. Awkwardly, he his lips, diverting his gaze to instead stare at the ground. “W-What was that for?” he mumbled softly.

Chuckling melodiously, Minho shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I like you, and I liked that kiss the other day, so why not?”

Taemin froze, head slowly lifting to look at Minho once more. He studied Minho’s carefree smile, he’s relaxed shoulders and his twinkling eyes, feeling his own face distort into a frown as he did so. “You’re lying.” he muttered. “Stop ing with me, Minho.”

And immediately, just like that, Minho’s carefree expression faded away, transforming into something more alike to worry and fear. “I’m not, Taemin…I swear. I like you.”

“Then why did you ignore me for the whole week, then? Last time I checked, you had a crush on Amber!”

Minho gnawed gently on his bottom lip. “I know, I was just scared, okay? Not of liking a boy because I honestly don’t give a about that. But… you’re my best friend, Taem. I didn’t want to ruin things between us.”

With a scoff, Taemin crossed his arms over his chest. “Well…Well how do you know you haven’t ruined things? Why’d you just assume that I like you back, huh? ‘Cause I’m going through my gay ‘phase’ right? I must be jumping at the chance to date a guy like you.” Sarcasm had begun to lace with Taemin’s tone of voice, and Minho felt his oxygen clot with anxiety.

“N-No…Taemin. Why are you getting so angry? I already told you that I didn’t mean it like that when I said ‘phase’. I just thought that maybe—“ His voice cracked, and in fear of shedding tears, snapped his mouth shut. Minho swallowed thickly. “Do you…like me at all? Even just a little?”

Taemin flushed red, immediately turning away. “No, I—“

“Taemin. Please. ” interrupted Minho firmly, raising a brow. “Do you like me?”

The first year’s hands shook, but nonetheless, he responded quietly under his breath. “M-Maybe…just a little.”

That elicited a small smile to flutter onto Minho’s face, and hesitantly, he reached forward to entwine his fingers with Taemin’s. “Then why are you being so…I don’t know…”

“Cautious? Disbelieving? Maybe because…I’ve liked you for a lot longer than you’ve liked me, and this all seems so sudden, Minho. How am I supposed to know that you’re actually serious about this? A week might pass, and next thing you know, you’ll be crushing on Sooyoung or Sulli. I,” Taemin flushed. “I really like you, okay? I just don’t want to be your little experiment.”

Minho gave Taemin’s hand a gentle squeeze, softly lifting Taemin’s chin with the other. “This is new to me, I know. But you’re my best friend above anything else, Taem. And I wouldn’t have acted on my feelings if I thought they were anything but genuine. Just trust me, okay? As your best friend, if anything.”

Taemin’s eyes searched Minho’s frantically, as though they in themselves held the truth to his words. A second past, then two, and then another. And then before Minho could even voice another syllable, Taemin dived forward, wrapping his arms around Minho’s neck and kissing him square on the mouth.

“I trust you.” he whispered after only a short moment, leaning forward once more to instead wrap the older boy in a tight, affectionate hug. Minho’s arms reciprocated the embrace immediately, tightening his arms around Taemin’s waist and resting his chin atop of his head.

He smiled brightly and breathed a sigh of relief. “So…does this mean we’re like, a couple now?”

“Nah,” droned Taemin sarcastically. “We’re friends with benefits.”

It was safe to say that Taemin took great pride in Minho’s flushed face at that comment, and found himself laughing pleasantly.

“T-Taemin!”

“No need to hold your breath, frog boy. You can just call me boyfriend for now.” winked Taemin, grabbing Minho’s hands and pecking his startled look away. “Now c’mon…Let’s go play video games at your house.”

Minho beamed, and together, they set back off down the path with their hands clasped tightly. “Wah, my boyfriend is so cool.” he commented, bumping Taemin’s side playfully.

Smiling mischievously, Taemin bumped Minho back.

“And my boyfriend...resembles a frog.”

It was safe to say Taemin ignored Minho’s complaints the rest of the way back to his house, yet despite their bickering, both boys were simply on cloud nine that afternoon, their lingering smiles never quite fading until the sun had set.