Once again, I apologise for the delay 😅😅😅

They looked perfect. The Jongin and Taemin from the screen of his laptop moved together like one, returned to each other as if held together by an invisible string. Elegant, electric, complementary and Jongin hated it. It wasn’t supposed to be this good. It was supposed to and their fans were supposed to be displeased. Not this fanaticism for their every touch. Almost as if they desired them to… lock lips. Ridiculous. And yes, Jongin hated how he had been thinking about it long before the fans.

He was so confused. Could you like and detest someone at the same time? Enjoy seeing them but resent them with every fiber of your being? It contradicted every single thing Jongin knew about feelings, about emotions, about how it was to have a crush. Yes, his crush on pretty Taemin crushed him. At least it hadn’t developed any further.

The laptop was pushed away.

It had passed, it was done for. Taemin and him will place this experience behind them like a bad dream and all friendly interactions will cease, returning to the war zone, first and second place. That was the plan until the very next morning when still half asleep, Jongin opened his door to find none other that Taemin there. Perfect Taemin who made him feel quite bad at his own garments and general looks at the moment.

“Greetings, partner. Can I come in?”

Perhaps Jongin was still dreaming? As Taemin sat on the edge of his bed he couldn’t decide if this particular dream was a good one or the exact opposite. Taemin was this kind of mystery.

“Hello,” he spoke, voice rough, pulling himself a chair. “Did something happen?”

Many things had happened and Jongin got his answer in an instant and of course at the core of it all was their joined performance, damned it be. Of course. It was rather simple or so to say. The fans had loved it and the International Skating Federation wanted more. With Worlds weeks aways, the request was into the realms of possibility. And Taemin didn’t even seemed particularly bothered.

So much with done for.

Many things stood on the tip of his tongue… yet that one question.

“Do you even know my name?”

Taemin gazed down at his lap.

“What answer do you wish to hear?” the pretty boy asked in a tired voice. “The one I want to say or the truth?”

“Truth,” responded Jongin in a heartbeat.

Taemin’s eyes raised to meet his.

“Of course I know you, Kim Jongin.” Those lips speaking his name as Jongin watched them shape each word. “Always the name after mine, the second place, the one who wants to breathe down my neck but he’s never close enough to do so. Kim Jongin.”

And here was the uncontained malice. Though, as he was gazing at the other boy, Jongin had the most bizzare feeling that Taemin merely stated facts. He did not sound vindictive, nor did he oazed satisfaction. No, the Ice Prince just spoke.

“And what you’d rather wish to say?” he demanded, yet already knew the answer.

“I don’t know you. You do not matter.”

Which told Jongin he really did.

“Don’t you hate this? Hate me?”

“Does it really matter? Work is work and besides… it has become quite beneficial for both of us… this partnership. Yet if you wish to refuse I’ll oblige.” Taemin stood, stepping dangerously close to him. Jongin realized he hadn’t brushed his theeth just yet. “So. You’re in?”

Work, hate, a crush. Him and Taemin were in different worlds. And he should say no, make his life easier but Taemin and his pretty eyes made the task tremendously difficult. Jongin gazed down at his face, at the tiny mole on the boy’s nose and thought himself lost. Taemin was too beautiful for his own good.

“I’m in.”

The two times Olympic Champion and many other titles raised his chin like a vain child.

“Wonderful. Then we have several things to discuss. Breakfast?”

Jongin nodded.

“Give me a moment.”

He escaped into the bathroom, washed his face with cold water and struggled to erase the image of Lee Taemin into his bed. Oh, what an image. 

Jongin was kind of sure he was in love and Sehun agreed. Stupid as he was, he was falling in love with Lee Taemin. Or he already was… whatever. At the moment the two of them strolled onto the city streets late at night, no sure destination in sight. A tentative friendship had been formed, the result of so much time spent together amidst their joined performance. Jongin had discovered more things than he could count about Taemin… how he was the most stubborn person on Earth, how he always smirked after a perfect landing, how he trained more hours a day than any other skater... But the things Jongin loved were these. Taemin laughed at silly jokes, even the ones Jongin made which weren’t actually funny if you were to ask Sehun. Taemin had a enchanting voice and Jongin always went silent when the boy hummed one song or another at the practice rink. He even knew what food Taemin enjoyed and what food he absolutely hated. Things friends usually knew about each other. So friends they must be.

If Jongin wouldn’t be thirsting after Taemin in an unfriendly way the development would have been utterly perfect.

“What are you afraid of?” he asked, not really expecting a deep answer. Nothing else beside bugs, anyway.

“Falling.”

One word meant so much.

“Falling?” he echoed. 

“Yes, falling.”

“Like messing your jumps during a competition?”

“Like messing something,” Taemin sig