Omg, so sorry for the super late update. ): I kind of forgot about this... until, yeah. ):

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Minho was annoyed.

He was trying very hard to listen, and yet his hearing range was being intruded upon by night birds. It was simply annoying.

Minho knew it was late, and he ought to be in bed sleeping, but he really had no choice. There was only the night to do it, to get it over with, because in the day everyone was all around... He really had no choice. He didn't want to do this, too.

So, now he was, straining his ears to hear for sounds of stiring in the flat, although really, nothing could be heard over the birds. As it is, Minho made sure he checked every night that nothing was woken up by his leaving; it wouldn't do for Taemin or Kibum to find out about his disappearances. Thinking of their possible questions, Minho shuddered. Think about the lies he'd have to come up with...

Lies. He had quite enough of them already.

He left the apartment, closing the door lightly behind him, praying as he always did that Taemin and Key would sleep through the night peacefully. The night was cold, a slight gale ruffling his hair and caressing his bare cheeks. Minho shivered. Somehow, he didn't know if his goose-bumps were due to the chill, or to the deeds that he was about to commit. Whenever he left the house like this - sneaking out under the cover of darkness - the bleakness of the landscape seemed to penetrate right through him, holding a vice-like grip on his heart. He hated it, the whole sensation of lying and hiding; it reminded him of how ashamed he should be.

But he had no choice… right? Minho had no choice, so he shouldn’t be ashamed, because he wasn’t doing anything wrong and at least Taemin was safe because –

Taemin.

Taemin.

At the thought of the younger boy, Minho stopped walking altogether. His chest constricted painfully as his heart hammered faster and faster; it almost felt as if it might burst out of him at any moment. It was painful, so painful, just thinking of…

Just thinking of how he could even let Taemin touchhim after all this started. It was wrong, so wrong, and Minho was now just too wrong for someone so pure like Taemin –

His throat tightened, and breathing became difficult.

But then he suddenly thought of something. He wo