Taemin had been too lost, too caught up to notice before, or maybe it had been so insignificant that it hadn't caught his attention till now. The ring that was still on his left hand. He hadn’t told his parents, had made both Jinki and Jonghyun swear that they wouldn't tell them anything. All they knew was that he had fallen when he was drunk and the injury was the result of that. They still thought Jaeyoon and he were together and Taemin, though knew that he had to break it soon, he was hesitant. Because Jaeyoon hadn’t just been someone he was seeing. He was also involved with their company and he didn’t want his father and mother to take rash decisions just for something like this. He never wanted to see that bastard’s face, nor hear his name another time, but he also didn’t want this matter taken to the police, worse, the court. And his injured face would just become a trigger… so he was going to wait it out until his wound was better. Maybe then, this would settle over a conversation, with no harm done to both companies and with Jaeyoon forever out of his life.

But they had an idea, of course, they would, because Jaeyoon wasn’t like him, staying quiet and letting things pass, letting them settle. He had probably left feelers of what had happened indirectly, maybe through Mr. Park even, because his mother had already asked him twice if things were alright between them.

Jonghyun just watched Taemin, staring at what, he knew not, but that page of his textbook hadn’t turned for a good twenty minutes. Exams were coming up and though he knew Taemin always managed, he was worried this time. Even more so after what he’d probably got a whiff of after he had met Minho the other day.

“Are you guys okay?”

Taemin slowly raised his gaze to look at him, and he understood who the question was about. “What do you mean?”

“Taemin…” Jonghyun began, “You have pushed him away, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Taemin returned his gaze to his book.

“And that was the reason why he was so taken aback when I mentioned you were engaged.” Jonghyun murmured to himself, “He did shake it off like he knew though, so I wouldn’t suspect what’s really going on.”

Taemin was silent at his words.

“Something happened.”

Taemin looked at him again, putting two and two together very quickly, “You told him something.”

“I told him what Jaeyoon did to you–”

Taemin’s face had faded, “Why did you do that–”

“It just happened while I was talking…” Jonghyun said, a little heatedly, “And I had no idea you guys weren’t even on talking terms. You guys seemed fine whenever we had a group chat or call… and I thought that at least something was okay… that no matter what happens, at least you guys were speaking– at least about important things. I… I didn’t know about this– that you had just drifted apart– I thought that you guys would at least stay friends–”

“I can’t,” Taemin said immediately, “I can’t do that. I can’t be around him pretending something I am not.” He took a deep breath, “I am no longer his friend, Jonghyun. I crossed a line… and I don’t even know when.”

Suddenly the door opened after a knock. It was Taemin’s mother.

“Taemin,” She began, slowly walking in, “Honey, is everything really alright? Jaeyoon has been calling the residence–”

Taemin, irritated at his mention, irritated at just about everything, took off the ring from his finger and threw it across the room, sending it smashing into the wall. He began to calm finally when the ring was off him and he turned to his mother, “When the next time he calls–”

His mother’s face had become stern, she had understood everything from that one action, “Don’t worry, dear. I know what to tell him.” She walked to where he was sitting and gave him a hug, which he only returned a few moments later, his passivity finally breaking as he buried his face into his Mom’s shirt, tears clouding his eyes.

And they weren’t at all for the ring he had thrown or for the one who had given it to him.

They were for himself, for how much more he was in love with Minho, for how harder it was getting to live with it, a heart that was constantly breaking.

Minho was out by the next day. But he had spent the entire night in jail, glaring at the officer who was trying to rile him up so he could put him away for more time. Minho knew what it was all about. Jaeyoon had put him here. Bribed this officer to make him stay here for longer. After all, there was Jaeyoon’s fault in this as much as it was his and they won’t be able to keep him here for long once it all gets out. It would be evident once his medical reports rolled in. He had taken a beating before he acted. He was far more battered than Jaeyoon was, after all, and there was also the security cam he had noticed in Jaeyoon’s house that he had tipped the police about. Jaeyoon hadn’t probably thought this far in his spite, or he probably hadn’t expected Minho to have noticed that detail... because the police got a warrant after his account and were able to easily cease the recordings. And everything was on it, clear and untampered.

It was afternoon by the time the settlement was over and the paperwork was done, and Minho stepped out with his mom and Kibum. His mother had called Kibum right after the police had taken him away. She wouldn’t have if she knew that they had broken up almost a week ago. It was his fault, for not having conveyed it to his mom and to have pulled Kibum into this mess unnecessarily.

Kibum drove them back home and Minho stayed seated after they had reached, asking his Mom to go ahead. The radio was playing music softly. The song changed and Minho stiffened, forgetting what he had wanted to say at the faint melody, at the faint lyrics of the song. Of that song. And suddenly everything was clear, crystal clear. How he had once told his mother when they both had been watching this old movie, drinking some wine, that he would sing this to the one he will fall in love with. How he had admitted the same to Taemin one day. How it must have played a bunch of times when he was driving Kibum in his mom’s car but all he did was enjoy it. Quietly. How the thought had never crossed his mind, that he should sing it for Kibum. At how, now that he thought about it, he couldn’t ever have. And it struck him then, At how, he had hummed it, sung it softly uncountable times whenever Taemin put it on, so compelled by his presence, so lost in his company.

If only, if only he could have understood what these little things had meant then.

The words were faint but were resonating in him loudly.

The world is so beautiful because it’s you…

He shook them off, breaking that lingering silence between Kibum and him.

“I’m so sorry,” Minho began, “But… thank you so much.”

“From now on,” Kibum answered him, “You don’t have to say you’re sorry or thank me.” He smiled, “I’ll gladly be there when you need me.” He paused, his voice softer, “That’s what friends are for.”

“Kibum…”

“We’ve been calling it something else all this while, trying to make it into something else, but that’s what we’ve been all along, Minho. Friends. And I don’t want to lose a friend. Such a good friend at that.”

Minho smiled, “Thank you, really, thank you, Kibum.”

“Tch,” Kibum clicked his tongue, “I just told you–”

Minho laughed, “Got it.” He got off, “Take care.”

“You too,” Kibum responded, gesturing worriedly at the bandage on his arm, “You fly out in a couple of days.”

“Yeah…” Minho’s face faded slightly. “Bye, then.”

“Bye.”

Minho watched him drive off, sighing to himself as he roamed his eyes around the neighborhood. Something had hit him at that moment which made him stay like that, standing in front of his apartment gates, staring at the streets he had walked down uncountable times, staring at every graffiti on the walls, some of which that he had never admitted was his handiwork, but Taemin somehow knew and had added his own right next to it. The memories were as vivid as what he could see on the walls, Taemin scribbling on the wall with crayons as Minho stood guard, making sure no one saw.

He glanced over the other buildings in the area, at how he knew every hiding spot Taemin had chosen, at how he used his knowledge of the neighborhood to easily find Taemin and make him scream at how unfair it was. He then glanced at the little path through the park to the supermarket, that little shortcut he had shown Taemin one day so they could sneak out late in the night to eat ice cream… and then he finally glanced up at his apartment balcony, in which his mom was standing, a little sad smile on her face… like she had understood what had hit him right then.

Minho’s sight blurred slightly and he lowered his gaze, staring at his feet.

He was going to miss this place. Very badly. If only he could pocket it and take it with him. The thought made him chuckle a bit and he sighed again, shaking the feeling off, the feeling that he was leaving behind everything.

But he knew in his heart that it was true.

He really was leaving everything behind.

And most of this everything that he was leaving behind was in one person.

Taemin.

Jonghyun cautiously entered the Engineering building, following Jinki’s directions from his last text to where his lab was. The moment he had found it, the door beeped open and Jinki was standing there, holding the door so he could get in. Jonghyun got inside. It was the week off before the exams so no one was in, but of course, Jinki was. Jonghyun was kind of relieved that he wouldn’t be wasting Jinki’s time at a coffee shop because honestly, all he needed to talk to him about was something not of consequence, but something he just wanted off his chest.

When he stepped inside, all he saw were computers and messy desks and he stopped short in confusion, “Wait, are you sure this is a lab?”

“Yeah,” Jinki shrugged, following Jonghyun’s quizzical eyes that were scanning the room.

“Then where are the machines?” He thought a bit to find a word and his eyes lit up when he did, “And the motherboards?”

Jinki chuckled, “Circuit boards.” He corrected him.

“Then… what are motherboards? Are they even a thing? , am I just mispronouncing a word or something?”

“No, you’re not–” Jinki pursed his lip in how adorable Jonghyun’s confusion was, “They are a thing, be rest assured.”

Jonghyun sighed with relief and was gonna take off his coat to hang it on the stand but Jinki stopped him, “Wanna go to my other lab? There are actual mother– circuit boards there.”

Jonghyun pulled his coat back on him, interested, “Sure!” He watched Jinki lock up and while he was doing it, he finally asked something that had been eating at his mind for a long time.

“Is fatherboards also a thing then?”

Jinki was shaking in suppressed laughter and the lab keys dropped from his hand. He finally gave in and laughed out loud, leaning against the door and Jonghyun puffed up his cheeks, whispering, a little embarrassed, “You could have just said no…”

Jinki calmed down, but the remembrance of how adorably serious Jonghyun was when asking, broke him again and he laughed, putting an arm around his neck as he began to walk towards the other lab, “Gosh, you’re precious.”

Jonghyun scoffed, but that little sentence had also spread a little blush across his cheeks.

Jonghyun just stared as he watched Jinki solder some circuit boards carefully. He was wearing gloves and safety goggles and had even Jonghyun put them on even if he was going to sit a bit far, afraid of the melting metal wire and the soldering gun. Apparently, the circuit board was part of a prototype fortune telling system he was randomly making for a volunteer event for their local high school fair. Along with a few others, he was going to teach students what a PCB is, all the components that went on the board and how to solder it. He would then help them assemble the PCB into the pre-made kit and watch them play with the program that generated random fortunes at every coin insert.

Most of what he said, like always, had gone over Jonghyun’s head. It could also be the fact that Jinki looked super hot in those safety glasses, his sleeves rolled up and hair combed to the side, that was falling over his forehead slowly again. Additionally, it could also have been that ridiculously wide smile of his, that he wore whenever he talked about the things he liked. It was just so unrestrained and handsome, and always had Jonghyun smiling too.

“I…” Jonghyun began when the gun was out of Jinki’s hold, “I think I did something bad.”

Jinki looked up at him, “What did you do?”

“Taemin and Minho aren’t on talking terms really and I didn’t know and…” He sighed, “I told Minho what Jaeyoon did.”

Jinki looked back to his PCB and picked it up, cutting off the extra metal and examining it before he pushed it towards Jonghyun, “Then I did something worse.”

Jonghyun blinked, confused.

Jinki bit his lip, “I told Minho where Jaeyoon lived.”

Jonghyun got up, “Was he asking?”

“Yep.”

“But why?”

“I have no idea,” Jinki shrugged, “But I do hope he asked because he wanted to smash that bastard to pieces.”

“We both know…” Jonghyun smiled, sighing, “...that won’t happen.”