He was standing in front of his house, staring down at the skate he had gotten for his birthday.

“Come on,” he mumbled to himself, “it can’t be that hard.”

It was a new trend. One of the popular guys had started skateboarding to school - because walking was ‘too tiring’, as he had put it - and now most of the guys were doing it as well. Taemin had thought it was stupid at first (if they wanted to show off, motorbikes were way cooler) but all of the girls were crazy about skater boys these days, and he wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

Because surely, it wasn’t that hard to skate. If they could do it, why couldn’t he ?

He looked around him to check if the streets were still empty. It was a very calm neighborhood so people never really went through his street unless they lived there. Still, he didn’t want to be caught practicing. It would look totally lame.

He stepped on the skate with one foot and his eyes widened when the skate rolled at the small movement. He suddenly felt scared at the thought of lifting his other foot off the ground. Balance had never been his strong suit.

, how am I going to stand on this thing without falling ?

There was nothing around him he could hold onto to help and heaved a sigh, a bit defeated. He stepped off the skate and kicked it, making it roll away from him on the pavement. It was stupid anyway. He wasn’t even really into skating in the first place. He had just thought…

He remembered the awed looks girls were giving skaters at school. They were looking at them as if they were the coolest people ever. He unconsciously went back to thinking about Kibum and smiled at the thought.

It was simple. Kibum was easily at the top of his list when it came to cool people. He had tons of friends, always had good grades, went to college and was invited to a lot of student parties… Not to mention how beautiful and stylish he always looked. If Taemin wanted to be with him, he had to become just as cool as Kibum was, because right now, his crush was just way out of his league.

If skaters were cool, then skating would surely help him get cooler. And so, have a bigger chance of being with Kibum.

The only problem was, his whole plan was depending on his awesome skateboarding skills. Which didn’t exist.

He sighed and looked down at the skate once more. He wouldn’t know whether he was good or not until he tried. With a renewed determination, he stepped on the skateboard with his two feet and lifted one of his legs shakingly to move forward. He touched the ground with his right foot a few times as the skate rolled down the street, picking up speed as he did so. Soon, he was skating down the street rapidly.

I’m doing it ! Oh my God I’m actually doing it !

“Taemin ?”

He turned his head at the call and his eyes widened when he noticed Kibum on the other side of the road, carrying a bag of groceries.

“Taemin look out !” Kibum shouted, panicked.

He only had time to look turn his head back before he hit the streetlamp hard, stumbling backwards as he slipped from his still moving skate. His head hit the pavement and he heard rushed steps coming his way. He squinted at the blinding sun before Kibum blocked the view. The light created a halo around his head and Taemin looked at him in awe.

“Taemin-ah ? Are you alright ?”

“Are you an angel ?” He blurted out, feeling a bit dizzy.

“I think you hit your head too hard.” Kibum chuckled before helping him sit up. “Are you alright ? Can you stand up ? Do you think you can walk ?”

The older was looking at him worriedly as he tried to stand up. His ankle hurt a little but he was sure he would be okay later. His head was spinning though, and he was having a hard time not falling.

“Er…”

Suddenly, he was lifted off the ground and he let out a very unmanly yelp as he held onto Kibum’s chest. The older was carrying him in a princess-like manner and he felt his cheek heat up at the sudden gesture.

“I-I think I’m a-alright.” He stuttered, uncomfortable at the gesture. Not that he didn’t like Kibum carrying him, but… he just didn’t like Kibum carrying him. He wasn’t a kid anymore. He was fourteen ! He was a man. A very, perfectly manly man.

“Let’s not take chances.” Kibum said as he began walking to his house with Taemin in his arms.

The younger stayed silent as Kibum put him down on the couch and left to get a medical kit. He came back a couple of minutes later and sat next to him. Taemin looked down at his lap, embarrassed. He wanted to look cool in Kibum’s eyes, and there he was, being treated for a bunch of scratches. The older grabbed his chin to examine his face and Taemin was forced to look at him as the other pressed a cotton wool soaked in disinfectant on his forehead and his nose.

He hissed at the sting and Kibum chuckled.

“No need to be embarrassed for falling in front of me, you know. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” Kibum whispered with a smile. Taemin looked up with wide eyes and the older chuckled. “You’re so easy to read… You have that mortified look. I used to be a reckless kid too, you know. I had scratches and bruises everywhere.”

Taemin listened silently.

“See that scar ?” Kibum said as he pointed at his eyebrow. “I fell on a flower pot and cut my eyebrow open. It wasn’t pretty. I think it looks cool now though, don’t you think ?”

Taemin nodded. It definitely did look cool. He had always liked that scar, he thought it gave a certain uniqueness to Kibum’s already gorgeous features. Of course, Taemin liked all of Kibum. Everything about Kibum was beautiful, of course, but Taemin knew he would have liked his imperfections too. If he had any. Which he didn’t.

“There you go.” Kibum said, closing the medical kit. “Is your head okay ? Are you still feeling dizzy ?”

Taemin shook his head. His head was still throbbing a little, but he wasn’t feeling as dizzy anymore. The scratches on his forehead and his nose were stinging though, but it was probably normal.

“Next time, look where you’re going alright ? I won’t always be there to patch you up, skater boy.”

“I won’t do it again. Skateboards are dumb anyway.” Taemin mumbled, looking at his lap.

“Yeah… I always liked rollerblading better.’

Rollerblading ? That was something he hadn’t thought of.

If Kibum liked it, it was maybe worth a shot...