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It took Taemin several months to finish reading the book Minho had given to him when he left the small town by the sea. Months that the blonde spent without free time. Months he spent by studying. Months he spent being shouted at by his parents who were never satisfied no matter what grade he brought home.

It were lonely months. The people he used to be close to seemed different from how he remembered them to be. Was it them who changed or was it him? He wasn’t sure. Honestly, he wasn’t sure about anything but one: he really wanted to read. He wanted to understand the book Minho gifted to him. So, whenever his parents left the room, he tried to read page by page, a dictionary constantly next to him where he had to look-up at least every fifth word.

At school, in maths-academy, during dinner – basically whenever he wasn’t reading - he thought about Minho. He blamed himself for never exchanging phone numbers with him – but honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if the taller was uncomfortable calling on the phone. Everything about him felt so real. As if interacting with him is even harder if they were not meeting in person – in the best possible way. From time to time he could even see patterns he was familiar with from Minho’s behaviour in the ones of the British gentlemen in “The Picture of Dorian Grey”.

As his highschool graduation, and therefore the finals, got closer, he was barely able to touch the comforting cover of the gifted book. If he thought he had been busy before, it was nothing compared to the number of extra classes his parents made him attend durring this time. It was nothing compared to all the group projects he was part of.

Old Taemin would have slacked off, rebelling. But he knew that he needed to get through these exams to finally get away from his parent’s hold. He had already signed up to join the military about three weeks after his graduation ceremony – just enough time to take care of everything and visit his grandmother. Of course, he never told his parents the real reason behind the last part. He loved his grandmother, but the reason for traveling all this way was a certain tall male who just happened to cross his mind a little too much.

Distancing himself from his former friends as well as his family, Taemin buried himself in books, also ones that weren’t about Dorian Grey. And when the time came, he was fully prepared for the exams.

Time passed in a blink when he held his certificate in one hand, flowers in his other, posing for pictures right next to his parents who smiled proudly at their perfect son. One grade especially surprised them – knowing that Taemin barely spoke five words in English, he still managed to get a decent score on his final exam. Unknown to them that the reason for it wasn’t the expensive academy they payed for.

He packed light, a backpack with a few shirts and underwear plus the book he finished a few days prior to his journey. Right in time to give it back to its original owner. He didn’t have much time before his enlistment ceremony, just enough to stay at his grandmother’s place for a few days.

14:45

It was a strange feeling to get out of the train, walking into the town again after almost a year. It was what he had worked for and to his surprise it was as he had never left. Of course, the first place he went was the coffee shop. It was a little past 3PM when he entered the familiar place, seeing his grandmother behind the counter and a female part-time worker cleaning an empty table.

“Taemin-ah” the old lady said when he spotted her grandson in the doorway. “How good! You made it!”

“Yes Halmoni, have you been well?”

“Of course, take a seat, you must be tired.”

The young woman that had been cleaning the table walked over to Taemin as soon as he chose a table – the one Minho always sat at, of course he left the seat in the corner unoccupied.

“Hi. I am Jinju.” She introduced herself, smiling at the blonde male.

“Hi.” Taemin just answered. He wasn’t really in the mood to talk but knew that it would be rude not to do so.

“Can I bring you anything?”

“One café latte please.”

“Sure thing. Oh, and make sure to free the table before 5.” Jinju said, turning around to get his order ready.  

Taemin had barely known her for a minute and he already didn’t like her. Like, at all. Of course, he knew that this table was occupied. And he didn’t care. Because Minho would allow him to sit there. When she brought him the coffee it wasn’t the way it used to be and he already knew Minho would not be ok with that.

“How was your ride?” He heard his halmoni ask right before she came into his vision, sitting down on the chair that was usually Minho’s.

“Long, but alright.” Taemin answered shortly.

“You’re here for Minho, aren’t you?” the old woman asked, knowing her grandson way to well.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” She smiled. “he sometimes asks about you. But I could never tell him much as your parents barely tell me anything and neither did you.”

“I am sorry. I was so busy with getting through this last year of school. I barely slept.” Taemin said and his grandmother just smiled at him.

“Don’t worry about it. I haven’t told him that you would visit. So, I guess he will be surprised to see you.”

“You didn’t tell him?!” Taemin exclaimed a little too loud – which made some of the other customers look in his direction. “Dammit.” He said softly so his halmoni wouldn’t hear him swear.

“He will be so confused and overwhelmed with the situation. Urgh”

“Minho will be glad to see you. Honestly, the new part-timer never really got through to him.”

“Not surprising.” Taemin commented, earning a judging look from his grandmother.

“Watch your words young man.”

When his grandmother had to go back to work, Taemin concluded that it would be best to place the book on the table first and then come out when Minho got the hint. That way he hoped not to overwhelm the older with his presence.

17:25

Minho walked to the café as he always did. It was summer break at university, and he had many essays and papers to write. While he did most at the library, he never missed a day to get his caffee latte.

There was a wet spot on the street, someone probably spilled water. It must not have been long ago since the hot weather would have evaporated the liquid, leaving this spot dry again. Minho thought about what could have happened as he turned into the familiar street where his café was located.

The doorbell sounded like it always did and he walked towards his seat when he saw something on the wooden table he was very familiar with. He immediately sped up only to see that his eyes did not fool him. There, on the table was his book. The one he hadn’t seen in almost a year. There was a little damage on the left corner, but he was sure: this was his book. The one he had given to Taemin.

If the book was here, its owner had to be close as well. Just seconds later, Minho found himself looking around – something he rarely did when he was in the coffee shop. There was a picture on the wall he had never seen before, they had added a few new chairs – but other than that everything was as it used to be. The new worker behind the counter, Halmoni working somewhere in the kitchen judging from the sounds coming from the open door.

He couldn’t bring himself to look around any longer and sat down as he used to. The café latte was in the usual spot - exactly how he liked it, he noticed when he took the first sip. It was almost too perfect. In no way could the new worker be the one who made it. She hadn’t gotten it right for over a month now and he had lost hope in her barista skills.

This one was perfect. It was the perfect ratio; it had the perfect temperature. It reminded him of the time he spent with Taemin. Did he make it? Was he here? If he was, why wasn’t he here to greet him? There were so many questions, so many things that didn’t make sense.

Minho’s hands caressed the cover of his treasured book, feeling the familiar texture of it - it calmed him down. He was happy to have it back. Somehow, he had missed it. After not hearing from Taemin for a few months, he had given up hope to see his book ever again, but now it was right here, on the table in front of him. Wrapping his head around it wasn’t easy but after a few minutes, he realized that it was real.

It was a good day. Getting his book back and drinking a perfectly made café latte. The questions about Taemin’s whereabouts slowly pushed to the back of his mind, he couldn’t have wished for more.

Hearing his voice made Minho’s insides tickle.

He knew that voice, he missed hearing it. And it was there. Right beside him.

“Hi” Taemin said, smiling down at Minho whose eyes moved rapidly, looking at the blonde’s shoes first before settling down on his hands, recognising the younger instantly.

Taemin waited for half a minute, giving Minho time to accept his presence, hoping he would be able to talk to the older man soon. It took a few seconds more before he felt Minho calm down, his shoulders relaxing and his face turning to his side.

He didn’t look at him directly but definitely took in Taemin’s overall appearance before finally speaking up.

“You were gone.” Was all he said and much to his surprise, Taemin started laughing.

“No Sherlock.”

“I am not Sherlock, Sherlock is a fictional character made up by Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle”

“That’s great.” Taemin said, nodding while his smile did not leave his face. Minho was exactly like he remembered him. It was so good to see him again after all this time.

“Can I join you?”

“Of course, take a seat. The chair over there is vacant.” Minho said softly, his lips curling slightly as he enjoyed hearing Taemin’s laugh.

“Thank you mister.”

“Mister is not a word commonly used in Korean, you can just call me by my name.”

Taemin was in awe, Minho was incredible.

“Never mind then, MINHO. How’s the coffee?” the younger asked

“It’s really great.”

“Well that is because I made it.” Taemin proudly said. “I didn’t forget”

“I didn’t forget either.”

A/N

Hello everyone, I know it has been ages since I last updated this. But (I am not exaggerating) I needed 14 versions of this chapter until I found a storyline that I found worthy of being published. In the end I chose to have some time-jumps and hope you don't mind Minho not going after Tae - it felt really pushed when I wrote it that way - He's just not ready for steps like this. And since I am going for a  more unconventional storyline here, this is what you get.

Also, I wrote this version while listening to this song. I came across it on "Melon" and the title of the album was "The Picture of Dorian Grey" so I was immediatly intrigued - and now I am sharing it with you, so you should definitly check it out!!!

I knew I let you down by not updating for so long, but I would still be happy to see at least a few of you in the comments ><

XX

R