Jongin lay in bed, staring up at his ceiling. He could hear rain pattering lightly against his apartment patio, the uncovered slab of concrete that hovered outside his bedroom. Reflecting on the decisions he'd made earlier that day, he had to wonder, was it really that bad to want to help Taemin out? It wasn't like he'd done anything romantic with him. Anyone could have done what he did. But then, if it was just a simple act of friendship and kindness, why did he feel so guilty?

A sudden wave of loneliness swept over Jongin, and he was now painfully aware of the cold, empty space in the bed beside him. The second pillow, untouched, never used since he'd replaced the old one. The fact that the past couple years, his apartment had been so quiet. Was there any way to fill that loneliness? Was there any way to fill the gap in his life that had been left by Kyungsoo's passing? In that moment, he was overtaken by a rather strange emotion, one he couldn't exactly place. It wasn't sorrow, no, he didnt feel sad. Perhaps he was missing Kyungsoo? No, it didn't feel quite like that. It wasn't specific, he realized. It wasn't that he missed Kyungsoo in that moment, it was that he missed the company of another person. It could be anyone, he just wanted someone, someone to make him less lonely, to keep him company at night, whenever he was home, any time of day, it didn't matter, really. 

But Jongin knew, that even if he did miss having a partner, he couldn't do it. There was no way that he had time for anyone like that in his life, not to mention, he didn't think he could go about loving someone else while still honoring Kyungsoo's memory. He still loved Kyungsoo, and he wasn't about to let go.

*****

When he opened the door to the staff room that morning, Jongin was met with quite the surprise. Taemin was there, sleeping in what looked to be a very uncomfortable position in one of the arm chairs, jacket pulled across him as if it were a blanket. 

Not knowing exactly what to do, Jongin just stood there, watching the other boy sleep. His closed eyes were puffy underneath, and the tear tracks on his cheeks let Jongin know he'd probably cried himself to sleep.

Poor kid, Jongin thought, feeling a pang of sympathy for the sleeping boy.

Shaking his head, Jongin simply dropped his school bag on the floor, letting it land with a loud thud. Taemin shot up, startled awake at the noise, before instantly crumbling back into the chair with a mumbled, "ow..."

"You good there, Taemin?"

Taemin looked up at Jongin then, wincing at the pain the movement inspired in his neck. 

"I've been better." He said flatly, rubbing his neck. He looked awful. There were dark bags under his eyes, and his hair was even messier than the day before, sticking out in all directions. He was pale, his face was beginning to puff up, and he looked absolutely exhausted. 

"Why were you sleeping here, anyway?" Jongin asked, already suspecting the answer, and going from Taemin's expression, he was right. 

"He locked me out." His tone was clipped, and Jongin could tell it was taking everything Taemin had not to break down again. 

"Kind of a move, isn't it?" 

"I guess." 

"You don't think so? He knew you had nowhere else to go." 

"I said I guess. I don't know, Jongin. I- I can't be mad..." His voice broke, and he hid his face in his hands, trying to compose himself. 

"He's only giving me today to get my stuff out of there, and it has to be while he's out of the house... But his work ends before mine, and it's not like I can just go while I'm supposed to be here, I need the money more than ever now." 

Jongin nodded, taking in this new information. 

"Jongin, what am I supposed to do?" Taemin's voice was desperate. 

Heart sinking as he realized his own answer, Jongin replied in a quiet voice, 

"I don't know." 

He paused. 

"I'm sure it'll work out somehow, though. It just looks bad right now, you know? Maybe for some reason he won't be home when you get out of work." 

Taemin looked unconvinced, but he mustered a watery smile, pushing his messy bangs out of his face. 

"Maybe." 

*****

They were closing up, the other three employees having already left, when a tall, angry looking man stormed through the door, slamming it behind him so hard that Jongin was sure the glass would break. 

Taemin instantly jumped, but kept his eyes glued to the counter, continuing to wipe it down, though faster than before. Jongin watched the stranger curiously, about to inform him that they were, in fact, closed, and that perhaps if he'd read the sign on the door he would know that, but stopped when the man spoke. 

"What happened to having your stuff out of my apartment before I got home, huh?" The man slammed his hands down on the counter in front of Taemin. He jumped again, but held his ground, slowly lifting his head to meet the man's furious eyes. 

"Minho, you know very well that my job ends after yours. You also know that I have no reason to leave work early just for you." His tone was even, despite the way his hands were shaking underneath the rag he was holding, Jongin observed. 

"And why not? With what you get paid, it's not like it's worth even showing up to this dump, anyway. Maybe if you found a real job-"

Jongin couldn't listen to this guy talk anymore. 

"-Don't you think you're being a bit rude right now? Who do you think you are, storming into someone's workplace and screaming at them? Just how important do you think you are? If you have something to talk about with him, do it outside of here, and maybe try a getting new attitude. Now would you please get the hell out of my shop." He interjected, cutting off the man, Minho,'s yelling. 

"I think I'm important enough to come in here like that if I want to. I'm certainly more important than this bum here, and certainly more than you'll ever be." Minho shot back, eyes burning. At his words, Taemin backed up, looking at his feet, trembling. Jongin knew he wasn't going to hold up for much longer. 

"I said, get out of my shop." 

Minho huffed, reaching across the counter to grab onto Taemin. And that was when Jongin had really had enough. He surged forwards, getting between the two, throwing Minho's arm back. Standing in front of Taemin, who had essentially melted into a shivering pool of tears at this point, Jongin forced his fury back down his throat before muttering through gritted teeth,

"I've said it twice, and I won't say it again. Get out of my shop. I swear to God if I ever see you in here again, I won't hold myself back from attacking you." 

"Doubt it,"Minho scoffed, but he turned and walked out of the shop, not saying a word more. 

Once he was gone, Jongin let out a sigh of relief. 

"You didn't tell me your ex was such an ." He turned around, suddenly remembering the state Taemin was in. He seemed especially small with the way he was hunched over, trembling, practically folding in on himself. 

"Hey now," Jongin was using that tone again. Internally kicking himself, he continued, "He's gone now. It's alright."

Taemin didn't stop shaking, and he wouldn't even look at Jongin. Not knowing what to do, Jongin placed a hand on his back, guiding him to the staff room. 

"Here, sit down." He pulled out a chair for the other, waiting for him to sit down before sitting in the one next to him. 

"Th-thank you," 

"No problem. Sorry if it offends you, but you're much better off without him. I'm honestly surprised someone like you ended up dating a guy like him in the first place."

Jongin wanted to hit himself. Why was he saying these things? Why was he doing these things? He had absolutely no reason to suddenly be helping Taemin out like this. 

"What do you mean? Someone like me?"

"You know, sweet, sensitive, kind. Like you. How'd you end up dating someone like him?"

"He wasn't always like that... he's just... it's just stress..."

"He's like that because he's stressed? If you say so, I mean, that doesn't seem like stress to me, but who am I to say, right?"

Taemin sat up straight, wiping at his eyes. 

"I- I need to get get my stuff from his apartment. I should probably go now-"

"-I'll come with you."

He looked up at Jongin in surprise. 

"You really don't need to, I'll be okay."

"I'm just gonna come. I don't like that guy. I won't do anything if I see him. Just think of me as a way of preventing getting shouted at."

"I guess..."

"Good. Let's go then, shall we?"

Taemin got up, heading out of the staff room. Jongin grabbed his jacket before following him out, shutting off the lights. They locked up, then left the shop, setting out for Minho's apartment, not knowing what was in store for them once they got there. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It's exactly 3:00 am, wow. Good job, me. I swear I am gonna get on that writing schedule soon. I really need to go to sleep now though, lol. Once again, this is completely unedited, so I hope there's not too many mistakes... 

So this chapter was a bit dramatic, wasn't it? Haha! I hope you liked it. Did you guess who Taemin's boyfriend was? Were you right? Tell me in the comments! 

Thank you all so much for the feedback and the support! I love reading the comments, they make me so happy! :D

Thanks for reading!

-H