Dance Performance or Soccer Match...

Lee Jinki hated having to choose between the two most important people in his life. On one hand was the ticket to see Taemin's performance which he had been practising so hard for and wished for his one and only older brother to come and support him on the account that both their parents were overseas on a business trip and would not be able to make it, while his other hand held this ticket which his love shyly put in his hands after their date which was full of Minho's soccer antics with his teammates. He then proudly mentioned that his team had managed to get to the finals of the inter-university championship and would be fighting against their biggest rival. Minho bit his lower lip as he tucked his hair behind his ear, making Jinki weak in his knees before he looked into his eyes and asked softly if Jinki could come for his match to support him. On hindsight, Jinki may have been bewitched under Minho's spell because he had readily said yes without checking the date.

Now, he faced this dilemma...

Slapping his forehead, he cursed his ability to get himself into situations which could have been avoided. Jonghyun was telling him to come clean to both of them and then choose one to go to. It was better to disappoint one than to disappoint both at the same time and there would be other chances for Jinki to show his support for both of them. However, Jinki was reluctant. He could not bear to see the disappointment and besides, it was not like he could choose which one to refuse. That was why this dilemma existed in the first place.

Sighing, he decided to man up to his faults and just have to ensure that his grand plans to go for both would be successful, hopefully with lots of luck and stamina as it required him to do abit of travelling from one place to the other.

Step 1 : Go to Taemin's performance first at Itaewon. Meet him at the entrance and pass him the bouquet of flowers. All paid for by their parents who felt guilty for missing out on their baby's performance.

Step 2 : Wait until Taemin goes to his dressing room before rushing out to the nearest subway to go to Konkuk University Station about 35 mins away, just in time for the first half to be done, so that Jinki could quickly sneak towards the benches to wave excitedly at Minho. A few minutes of small talk and maybe, a kiss or two. Jinki would give Minho one last wave of encouragement, waited until the whistle blows to indicate the start of the second half and quickly rushed back in time for Taemin's performance as he would be the last to be on that stage.

Step 3 : He would then give a standing ovation that his brother deserved as his smile beamed with pride and joy. After a quick hug and some congratulatory words, he would quickly rushed back to Konkuk University to see Minho's winning shot at the nick of time just before the referee declared the end of the match. He would wait patiently nearby with some of the team's supporters while waiting for the players to come out of the locker area.

Step 4 : Bring Minho back to his home for a celebratory dinner. Taemin mentioned that he would not be home as he planned to go to an after-performance party hosted by one of his friends and since their parents were not around, this would be the perfect chance for them to have some alone time. Yup, a candlelight dinner and soft, romantic music would do fine as an appetiser. Jinki blushed as he bit on his lower lip to keep himself from grinning like a fool in public.

With that plan in mind, Jinki waited till the day arrived to execute his foolproof idea. When he told Jonghyun and Key about it, they just shook their heads, patted his back and wished him luck. He pouted a bit before declaring that he would succeed.

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Unfortunately, Murphy's Law did not agree with his plans. Yup, life have this way of tormenting Jinki in the worse possible way especially on days when he really needed the luck the most. First, he woke up late AGAIN. No thanks to his numerous alarms, making him skip breakfast as he needed to collect the bouquet of flowers from the florist. When he arrived, he found out that there was a mix up with his order and Taemin's bouquet was given to someone else. The florist assistant apologised profusely for her mistake while the florist had to quickly make a new one for him. By the time he reached Itaewon, Taemin had already went inside to start his warming up exercises. Since there was no way he could enter the backstage to pass him the bouquet, Jinki was forced to bring it along to the football match. Thank God, his dad prevented his mom from getting the biggest set of bouquet.

He quickly rushed to the subway to go to Konkuk University only to mentally slap himself on the face. He had forgotten that it was still the peak period thus the train would be cramped with human traffic. As the train jostled about, Jinki prayed hard that Taemin's bouquet would survive the ride and sighed in relief when he alighted. Ignoring the whistles and snickering of people whom he had passed by, Jinki tried his best to suppress his blush amidst jokes of a sports venue proposal from those who knew Jinki as Minho's boyfriend. However, he was not able to see Minho before his match started. According to Changmin hyung, he had just missed Minho who came out from the locker room to look for him before his coach called him back to discuss their strategy. Frustrations started to build up inside him and he almost threw Taemin's bouquet onto the ground and stomped his feet, but a quick check at the time made him gasp before he ran out of the stadium to go back to the subway station. If he could take the train within 5 mins, he would be able to at least catch Taemin's performance.

Determined not to let the day get any worse, Jinki sprinted like the wind as he avoided obstacles along his way. One would think that he was practising for a competition. It was to his relief that the train door were just about to close as he dashed into the carriage, earning looks from the nearby passengers while he gasped for breath. Wiping off his sweat, he prayed that there would not be anymore derailment to his plans. He just had to make sure Step 3 and 4 would go on smoothly. Jinki took a look at Taemin's bouquet and cringed. The bouquet had barely survived the mad dash to the subway station. At least, there were still some stalks that looked like a rose.

Bracing himself for Taemin's anger towards him when he finally made his appearance AFTER he had performed, Jinki could only grin sheepishly when Taemin glared at him. Remembering his parents' bouquet, Jinki quickly gave it to Taemin, hoping that it would make things better. After a few words which would have burned off the ears of young kids, Taemin exhaled dramatically and just shook his head. He left among the company of friends, mumbling to himself that he needed a drink even though he's technically still underaged, leaving his brother behind.

Jinki bowed his head in shame and went home with the weight on his shoulders getting heavier by the minute. He was angry at himself but the ringtone blasting from his pocket prevented him from dwelling on it. To his dismay, it was Minho which meant that Jinki had also missed watching his baby's match.Now, he's too miserable to even consider Step 4. Feelings of disappointment and frustration caused his voice to be unsteady when he answered.

"H...Hi, baby.. I... I'm so s...sorry. I missed your important m.. match... I.. I didn't mean to, I s.. swear..."

"It's okay, hyung.. Are you okay? Your voice sounds different?"

"I.. I'm okay.. S.. Sorry I wasn't there. Things just... Things just..." Frustrated, Jinki just sat in front of his house and poured everything out. Whatever that happened to him from the time he woke up till now. "And... and now, Taemin is angry at me and you are disappointed at me. Arrghh, why can't I do anything right?"

"Pabo... Hyung, I would have understood if you told me you can't make it. Taemin is your brother and it's only right that he should take a higher priority than me right now." Minho chided. "There are other matches of mine that you can go for that will not clash with Taemin. Right now, I think you better apologise to Taemin and show him how dependable you can be as his brother. Don't worry about it too much. Taemin loves you alot and will not be angry for long."

After Jinki put down the phone, his heart felt slightly better. For all the bad happenings that could possibly happen to him, he would always be grateful as one of those clumsy moments had brought him Minho and he would never want to exchange Minho for anything else in the world.

Now, he just have to tackle a grumpy younger brother and life would be perfect.