The last of the tears dried and the tall boy breathed a sigh of relief, shifting around under the still pouring water. Sungmin blinked up at Minho, eyes puffy and red. No words were exchanged instead they silently separated with Sungmin staying to properly wash himself.

Minho awkwardly walked to Dongwoon’s room, knocking on the door. A moment later, a sleepy looking boy appeared, eyes only half open. “Can I borrow some clothes?” Minho prompted, staring up at the surprised face.

They weren’t exactly friends, but Dongwoon was the Vice President. He was just naturally friendly and when a student came by with freaky, dripping clothes at nine in the morning on a Saturday, you have to worry.

“What’d you do?” Dongwoon mumbled, opening the door wider to allow the dripping wet teen into his home. On one of the beds, Minho noticed Mir sleeping quietly, brown hair a tuft peeking out from the blanket.

“Do you guys sleep in the same bed?” Minho questioned casually as he tugged off his shirt and patted his body dry with the offered towel.

The other boy suddenly smiled, softly, breathtakingly. “Yeah, we do.” Okay, so perhaps their circles ran a bit too closely. Dongwoon rubbed his eyes and yawned, trying to wake up a bit.

Minho smiled in return, leaving the silence to speak. As far as he could tell, Taemin wasn’t bothered by anything those days. Then again, he was also spending an extended amount of time at Key’s place. What was that about?  

He pulled on a borrowed pair of jeans and a t-shirt. “I’m taking Sungmin out,” Minho stated.

“You mean like kill him?”

“No,” he retorted in confusion, “I meant I’m taking him out for some fun. Why would you…never mind.”

Dongwoon chuckled and followed Minho back to the door. “I hope he feels better. He and Ryeowook are making the play this year really difficult to produce,” he teased, and then again, maybe it wasn’t really a joke.

“Ah, I will,” the still damp third year nodded, “Thanks for the stuff, vice.”

“No problem,” he mumbled, closing the door and appearing to go back to sleep.

Minho was only halfway down the hall when he saw Sungmin coming out of the shower with only a towel to cover himself. Gulping, he walked over to the seemingly tired and freshly washed boy. “Feeling better?” Minho inquired, slipping hands into pockets.

“…yeah. A little,” Sungmin glanced at him, a small smile touching his lips, “I guess.”

“We’re going out, so get changed,” he grunted, trying to fight the heat racing up his neck.

“Is that right?” the barely clothed one murmured, “hold on…” and then he headed back to his room, shutting the door.

Minho waited patiently outside, expecting Sungmin to lie. However, just as he was considering busting down the door, a remarkably cute-faced, black haired beauty came out, tousling some wet locks of hair out of his eyes. “You’re really listening to me?” Minho asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Well,” Sungmin drawled, “I thought about it while I was showering and figured that maybe ‘the whole, damn, ing ery of the ing ers is still ing up and down and around’ so, I think, I should join them.”

“Oh…,” he cast his eyes down, awkwardly trudging alongside Sungmin, “sorry…I was just really upset. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No. It’s okay.”

Minho looked up to see Sungmin gazing at him blankly – borderline honestly. Looking back down, he swallowed the lump in his throat. “We should hurry up. The North Star is only gonna be here for a little longer.”

“The North Star?” Sungmin repeated, finding that name oddly familiar.

“Yeah, don’t you remember?” he chuckled, “Well, maybe not. It was way back in our first year so I guess you wouldn’t recall. That’s the name of the cabbie that comes around—”

“Oh!” Sungmin clapped his hands together, a light shining in his eyes. “He’s the ‘North Star’,” Minho answered, “He comes here at a certain hour every Friday and Saturday and is only willing to take one car load of people off campus, for a price. If you can’t meet his price then you’ll be stuck. He’ll only wait for ten minutes max before going back to work in the city.”

“Got it?” Minho smiled.

“Yeah…,” he trailed off, a flood of other memories coming back as well. That night was the first time he… “You know,” Sungmin began, catching the taller boy’s attention, “my impression of you changed a little that night.” Of course he wanted to talk about Ryeowook, not Minho. But he had a feeling that if he even mentioned the fantastic, adorable boy, his face would be bitten off by a certain handsome person.

Minho cracked a smirk, “How so?” He still remembered everything that had ever happened between him and Sungmin. It was like a broken reel, a wonderful, broken reel. But what was he referring to in particular?

“I…realized maybe you weren’t a bad person,” Sungmin said carefully, seeming to pick his words without ease, “and although it was a little shallow, I was happy that you complimented that pink sweater.”

“You didn’t show it,” he replied, frowning teasingly.

 “…You’d look good in it,” and then he was leaving the store.

Sungmin gazed after Minho, befuddled. But…a smile crept over the slender boy’s face and he held the pink material close to his chest. “Thanks…,” he murmured to the receding figure.

Sungmin just smiled – a smile that felt just like back then.

***

Sometimes, people say they’ve taken a trip down memory lane, yet only then did Sungmin really understand and feel for those words. He was walking down the street and although it was daylight, he could still see the store from three years ago.

His eyes trained in on the night he was browsing through those racks. He was watching Minho come up behind him and kiss his ear and hug him as if there was no one around. But then they were breaking apart, and Sungmin was smiling after the boy. The faces were fuzzy…probably younger. What had they all looked like back then, anyway?

Sungmin tugged on Minho’s arm, “Can we go in there?”

“There?” Minho’s eyes flashed with nostalgia and he laughed, nodding. “Sure.” They shuffled inside and Sungmin felt his eyes being drawn to a pair of pink pants. Minho followed the gaze and rolled his eyes. “Holy , how many pink things do you own?”

The shorter of the two frowned in annoyance, “Not a lot…I just like pink.” He grabbed the pants off the rack and walked off to the changing room.

Minho suppressed a chuckle, waiting patiently outside. A minute later, Sungmin reappeared in tight fitting pink jeans. They followed the boy’s shockingly curvy legs, hugging every single perfect, jealousy-worthy line.

“Your girlfriend is really pretty!” the store employee remarked, smiling. “Those pants are really popular with the younger kids.”

They blushed, looking at the naïve woman. “Uhm…thanks,” Sungmin mumbled, not willing to admit that he was a boy.

“Yeah, she’s really gorgeous,” Minho played along, hiding a smirk.

“Oh hush!” Sungmin hissed, glaring.

The woman simply laughed and headed off to continue her work.

“You wanna buy it?”

Sungmin stomped back into the changing room.

“What’s that?” Minho asked, pointing across the street. They had been roaming around, visiting old places and new places without much thought. It was just nice to be outside. He wasn’t sure how Sungmin was feeling, but it looked like the kid was cheering up…even if it was only temporary.

Had everyone seriously put too much faith in Sungmin’s ability to pick himself up? Minho felt a pang of anger. If anyone watched Sungmin closely, it was him. How had he been so oblivious to the boy’s crumbling character?

“It looks like a grand opening or something,” Sungmin replied, squinting at the hoards of teenagers outside of the multi-floor building, “what’s it for?”

“Wanna go?” Minho prompted, nudging his head towards the waiting crosswalk.

“Sure,” he shrugged, jogging across the busy intersection and slowing down in front of the looming building. Up close, he could see what all the fuss was about. “It’s a new gaming center.” Sungmin grinned suddenly, but it didn’t quite touch his eyes, “Looks like it’s free too!”

“Free? That’s the best,” Minho agreed, finding the end of the line and waiting for the doors to open. “I didn’t know you liked video games though.”

Sungmin paused and then said, “I don’t mind them. They’re mindless which is nice.” The last thing he wanted was an activity that made him mope about Ryeowook again. All day he had gotten a great filling of memories, but they were mixed memories. The kind that made him see other people and friends around. Sometimes, he could see him and Ryeowook when they were just friends and a part of him would think: hey…maybe we could be like that again.

Not having his love was one thing. Not having him at all was an entirely different deal. Sungmin sighed under his breath.

Was that how Ryeowook had felt when Kyuhyun left? Even now people were unable to see what Sungmin and Ryeowook had together. They made it sound fake and although he knew Minho was only trying to cheer him up, it hurt a bit.  

So what if he didn’t have a long history with Ryeowook? Did they mean they couldn’t have the same feelings as…? He needed to stop thinking. He needed to just shut up and stop drowning in his own misery. It just wasn’t any good. Minho had simply been the only one to say so.

“C’mon,” the handsome boy grabbed Sungmin’s arm, pulling him inside the large facility.

The latter shook his head, allowing Minho to lead him. He wanted to let someone else take care of things. He would let it all go…if even for only a bit.