Over the next weeks, the sky grew a lot brighter and soon it was sunnier and warmer outside than in any fall Jinki had ever experienced. That, in turn, lured people outside again and more customers came to the coffee shop, increasing the sales the five boys were making.

Now that Jinki had gotten more used to standing behind the counter, he also made timid attempts to hold short conversations with the customers coming in. While talking to them, an adorable smile would appear on his face, his cheeks coated by red, and later Jonghyun always about it.

“It’s too bad,” Kibum complained one Friday evening, as he did the dishes with Taemin after closing the shop for the day. “I really want to see a flustered Jinki-hyung.”

“But you get to see that every day, hyung,” Taemin shot back as he used the leftover foam inside the sink to create a construction that remotely resembled a castle. “Jinki-hyung is literally the most awkward and clumsy person I know. It’s really no wonder you and Minho-hyung keep sassing him, he’s just too helpless.”

A fond smile appeared on Kibum’s face at the thought of his and Minho’s teasing and he shook his head at Taemin.

“I know. I just hope hyung won’t whip out his terrible puns anytime soon. He’ll scare away all of the customers.”

At that moment, the door flew open and Jonghyun marched in with a tray loaded with empty cups and plates, appearing strangely enthusiastic. It was unusual to see the subdued and often even depressed man with such a bright smile gracing his face, his eyes glinting with mischief.

“What are you talking about, my loves?” the older sang as he walked over to Taemin to decorate his nose with a bit of foam, after handing the tray over to Kibum of course. “Are you gossiping? If so, I wanna know, too!”

“Oh, just the usual talk about Jinki-hyung,” Kibum smirked as he handed the dirty dishes right back to Jonghyun. “Here you go, you may as well learn to do it by yourself. I won’t be around to play mum for you lot forever.”

“Actually, I am here to ask you to go upstairs and make some dinner. Minho has been whining my ear off about how his stomach feels like it’s made of a hole – don’t ask me what that means by the way – and he’s demanding ramen.”

“Gosh, ramen again.”

Kibum shook his head as he took a worried glance down his slim body, which was still clad in his self-made apron with its cute pattern.

“It’s so unhealthy. Shouldn’t we be a bit more careful with our bodies? After all, we’re supposed to work hard tomorrow, and the week after that, and so on.”

“Aww, Bummie, stop looking at yourself like that,” Jonghyun lightly scolded as he wrapped his arms around Kibum’s waist and pulled him in close without a warning. “Judging by your build, you could be a gymnast for all I know. But, if it helps any, Jinki went out to by some greens earlier.”

“Thank god!” Kibum muttered under his breath.

Then he forcefully put Jonghyun’s arms back where they belonged and turned to leave, not without winking at the two boys before exiting the kitchen. When he was gone, Jonghyun turned to the maknae, who was looking at the dishes with a sulky face.

“So, Taemin-ah, how’s school going?”

Jonghyun’s question was all it took for Taemin to start whining about just how long his day had been and how annoying his teachers were. After a few sentences, Jonghyun started to question his motives because it seemed a lot like the maknae was just trying to avoid his chores by making the older pity him.

However, even if he had seen through Taemin, Jonghyun couldn’t refrain from spoiling the youngest boy once again by taking the towel out of his hands.

“I’ll do it for you,” he said. “But stay here with me. Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?”

For a moment, Taemin seemed to think while leaning against the kitchen counter, watching Jonghyun work. He shook his head, though, seemingly not remembering anything significant.

“Well, I’m still pretty lonely so there aren’t any people I can talk about besides my teachers. But, I’m used to it all now, hyung, don’t worry. I’ll be fine for a few more years.”

Jonghyun nodded at him without a word, though his smile faded a bit as he scrubbed the plate in his hands a little more violently than usual. It was no secret that Taemin had little to no friends at the school he went to. One reason for that was the fact that his family background differed completely from the one other children had, especially the ones going to his school. Ever since they had met each other, Jonghyun had known that people had trouble understanding where Taemin came from and why he was a little bit softer and quieter than other boy’s his age. All throughout his childhood, Taemin had been told to keep as silent as possible and do his best, and now it seemed to have become part of his personality.

After they had moved in together, Jonghyun and Minho had both worked hard to encourage Taemin to come out of his shell more, and the maknae’s true self most certainly had emerged. These days, it almost seemed like he had no respect left for his hyungs when he talked back at them and adopted Kibum’s behaviour and wit. His dance classes seemed to help a great deal, too, and Jonghyun knew for a fact that one of Taemin’s seniors, namely Lee Seunghyun, had taken a liking to the young yet talented boy.

Still, Taemin remained unaccepted at his school and sometimes Jonghyun wondered if it would cause problems one day. Kibum was facing the same problem, too, as he went to an even more prestigious school than the maknae – he was surrounded by society’s richest offspring every day.

However, each time anyone brought up the topic, the diva-like boy would shrug it off with a laugh, claiming he was better off without depending on others anyway.

Even though Jonghyun was aware that Kibum mastered the task of hiding a lot of his feelings behind his perfectly trained mask of impeccability, he trusted the younger enough to leave him be.

In the end, Kibum was the most responsible and mature member of their little family, anyway, and Jonghyun doubted he could have helped him in any way. If there was one personality trait that could be assigned to the pushy boy once and for all, it would be stubbornness, which in turn kept him from accepting other people’s help.

When it came to Taemin, though, Jonghyun wasn’t as powerless. He knew for a fact that the young boy was in no way asocial and liked to talk for hours if he felt comfortable enough. His soft and airy voice wasn’t unpleasant to listen to and neither was his face repulsive in any way. The only problem Taemin was facing, in Jonghyun’s eyes, was his own inability to approach others.

Even now when Jonghyun’s eyes landed on his small bent over frame, the older couldn’t imagine him going up to another person and joining a conversation on his own account.

As if he had felt Jonghyun’s dark gaze on him, Taemin turned around again, sending him a reassuring smile at the memory of their conversation that had ended only seconds ago.

The frown on Jonghyun’s face told the younger that he was worried again, which Taemin didn’t like quite as much as the carefree and cheerful version of Jonghyun that had come in earlier.

“I’m fine, hyung, seriously. I probably sounded pretty pathetic just now,” the maknae said, “like I’m emotionally constipated and hiding it. Yet, I can tell you without feeling any guilt – there’s nothing wrong with how things are. Living with you and the other hyungs and running this coffee shop is enough for me.”

Taemin had to fight the urge to cringe at his own words after he had ended, mentally beating himself up over how cheesy his statement had sounded. However, something about Jonghyun’s expression had changed while Taemin had been talking.

A determined glint had appeared in the older’s eyes and the longer Taemin observed him, the more dangerous he deemed the change to be.

However, he would not get to find out what was going on in Jonghyun’s head as at that moment, the back door of the kitchen flew open and Minho stomped into the room, his movements holding so much force that both Jonghyun and Taemin flinched.

“Food’s ready,” the second-youngest barked before spinning around in an instant, almost hitting his head on the doorframe as he left the room.

Jonghyun and Taemin scrambled after him as fast as they could, for none of them dared to attract Minho’s wrath in a moment like this – hungry Minho was nothing short of frightening. Jonghyun had actually feared before that the younger would end up eating him or Jinki one day, with how much he acted like a starved wolf.

Making a huge ruckus as they stumbled up the stairs, the three boys soon reached the entrance of their tiny flat and forced their way into the crammed main room that was filled with the delicious smell of Kibum’s ramen.

Jinki was already sitting at the table, looking ready to dive into the food, but when he caught Minho’s eye he quickly left his chair and backed away, only returning when he was sure he wasn’t in immediate danger.

As soon as everyone had sat down, Kibum, whose face was shining with moisture under the poor lighting provided by their only lamp, proceeded to carry over the pot.

His hair was sticking up in all possible directions so the boy ran his slender fingers through his fringe, shaking his head at the fanatic glow in Minho’s eyes.

“You could at least thank me for making dinner, Choi Minho. I sacrificed my hair and my good looks while being attacked by steam for half an hour.”

Of course, Minho didn’t react in the slightest, but Jinki, being the ever-kind soul he was, turned to Kibum, squeezing his eyes shut as he smiled his brightest smile.

“Thank you, Bum-ah, that’s really kind of you.”

“There we go,” Kibum’s mouth morphed into a satisfied smirk. “Go on then, eat. But leave something for everyone else, too, Mango boy.”

Taemin erupted into giggles at the way Kibum had addressed Minho, but he managed to muffle his laughter with the napkin Jonghyun had attentively placed next to his bowl. Any other time, Minho would have retorted something, but today he only had eyes for the food as he filled his bowl to the brim with noodles and broth.

Worrying there might not be enough left for everyone, Jonghyun peeked into the pot with his eyebrow raised. Luckily his fears weren’t confirmed and he was only hit by a cloud of steam before realizing Kibum had made enough for everyone.

Satisfied, Jonghyun filled his own bowl as well and when he picked up his chopsticks to eat his first mouthful, his eyes landed on Taemin yet again. That was when he was reminded of his earlier realization and the thought brought a smile to his face. Soon, it would be time to take action, but not yet.

****************************

Only two days later, the topic of Taemin’s friendlessness was brought up again, this time in a conversation between Minho and Jonghyun. The two of them were in the kitchen preparing two cakes for later while Jinki held his positions behind the counter in case anyone came by.

Typically, the mornings in the coffee shop were rather quiet and tranquil after the daily rush-hour. However, the latter still didn’t affect the boys as badly, since their shop had only been opened a few weeks ago.

Therefore they could afford to leave only one person behind the counter while two of them worked on the culinary dishes in the kitchen. Over the last few weeks, Jonghyun had grown to love those mornings where he could switch between different doing tasks. In the afternoon, the kitchen was occupied by Kibum and Minho, who had claimed it as their working space, and while it was true that Jonghyun’s main tasks had to be done elsewhere, he still wished the younger two boys would let him into their territory on occasion.

During hours like this one, when there were only the three of them present with Taemin and Kibum being at school, Jonghyun was perfectly contented with how things had played out. The short man quietly hummed to himself as he filled the bowl in front of him with flour, baking powder and sugar while Minho prepared the cream for the topping of today’s cake.

That was when the younger boy suddenly spoke up out of the blue, catching Jonghyun by surprise with the topic he chose to address.

“It’s kinda weird picking Minnie up from dance sometimes. You know, he always comes out on his own and I’ve only seen him with another person once. And well, that was his senior who’s teaching there.”

“Seunghyun-ssi?” Jonghyun inquired curiously. “Yes, I think Taeminnie talks to him a bit. But apart from that…”

“You know, when we’re on our way back he talks like there’s no tomorrow, telling me about this and that.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, though. After all, you like talking just as much,” Jonghyun teased slightly, earning a light slap from Minho.

“So do you, Almighty Master of Rambling. We all do – well apart from Jinki-hyung maybe, but hyung’s just too damn introverted. Anyway, what I originally wanted to say was – I wonder if he talks to anyone but us?”

“You mean he’s silent all day?”

Jonghyun stopped running his fingers through the mix of soft flour and scratchy sugar in front of him at Minho’s confession. He was wholly focusing on their conversation now.

“I don’t know. I’ve simply never seen him with other people before. But that can’t be healthy, can it?”

“True that…”

“I mean, it’s even weirder not to have friends at school…like, at all. The only reason I still go there sometimes is simply because I like talking to the people there. I’m pretty popular after all.”

“But you also have no shame,” Jonghyun teasingly retorted, even though the genuine expression on his face gave away the fact that he did take the matter seriously.

Minho pouted a bit at his hyung’s words.

“Hyung, that’s not true! The people there love me because I’m a rebel or something…”

“Sometimes I think it’s kind of our job to find Taemin some friends,” Jonghyun thoughtfully said after a few moments.

He had put his bowl aside in order to prevent accidentally pushing it off the table with his elbows while talking to Minho. Instead, his head was now propped up on his hands as he eyed the younger boy next to him.

Minho gave a curt nod, his expression slightly grim.

“We need to be careful when choosing, though. What if Taeminnie becomes friends with some random thug who influences him in a bad way? I don’t want our maknae to turn to malice, you know.”

A small laugh slipped from Jonghyun’s lips at how fiercely protective Minho sounded and the older shook his head with a quiet smile.

“I’m not sure if you are even allowed to talk about Minnie like that, considering you’re not even two years older than him!”

“Wow, hyung, thanks, you’re really picking favorites now,” Minho whined exasperatedly. “So Kibum can mother Taemin and everyone else all he wants, but the second I get a bit overprotective, it’s suddenly illegal.”

“Shut up, Mingo, you’re a fetus!”

The two of them went back and forth with their bickering for a while, throwing witty comments at each other, but after a while they both turned back to doing their respective tasks, Minho finishing the cream as Jonghyun mixed the rest of the ingredients in his bowl. They remained in comfortable silence for a few minutes, yet in the end Minho, who was the least talented at keeping quiet, spoke up again.

“But, hyung, we really need to do something about Taeminnie’s state of being friendless. He’ll go crazy if he has no one at all.”

“Well, except for his four stupid hyungs who probably all have issues…”

“Except for us.”

“Well…” Jonghyun thoughtfully stirred the ingredients of his bowl as he pondered on the matter for a moment; suddenly, his eyes lit up in enlightenment. “Ah, how about we start our mission at his school? I know that Bummie has a day off next week, so he and Jinki-hyung can run the shop while the two of us take a walk to the grocery store and coincidentally we make a wrong turn and end up near Taemin’s school.

“And if he sees us, we could just tell him that we came to bring him food or something.”

“Sounds like a foolproof plan, hyung.”

Minho made the finger-gun-sign at Jonghyun, his playful side emerging at the thought of them carrying out their newfound mission soon. In a sudden bout of enthusiasm, the younger grabbed a teaspoon that was lying close by and shoved it into the bowl with cream in front of him, extracting quite a bit from the delicious sweetness before sticking the metal tool right into Jonghyun’s face.

“What-“ the older spluttered, but Minho quickly took the opportunity to push the spoon past his lips, his eyes crinkling as his expression morphed into a smile.

“Try this, hyung, it’s supposed to be really good,” he grinned and watched Jonghyun’s lips wrap around the metal as the older devoured the cream in seconds, immediately showing an exaggerated reaction.

“Oh god, Minho, I’m on heaven,” he moaned theatrically while squeezing his eyes shut, quickly the spoon sparkling clean until there was no cream left on it.

Meanwhile, Minho’s smile had transformed into a smug smirk.

“Hyung, I know I’m pretty much superhuman with my many talents and phenomenal looks and all,” he teased, “but you don’t have to call me ‘god’ yet.”

That immediately earned him a sharp glare, but he just laughed it off and Jonghyun was forced to move on, whether he wanted to or not.

“Anyway, I feel really good about our mission suddenly. After eating that cream, I doubt anything bad is going to happen to me ever again! We’re gonna find Taemin the best friends in the world! Apart from us, of course.”

***************************

Jonghyun and Minho had to wait over a week for the opportunity of visiting Taemin’s school, but finally the right day had arrived. In the morning, Jonghyun and Minho were forcefully thrown out of their beds by a strangely wakeful-looking Kibum, who didn’t seem bothered by the fact that today was one of the rare opportunities for him to sleep in.

“Move, I gotta clean!” he loudly commanded, making a sleepy Jonghyun flinch at the noise. “Oh, and Kim Jjong, just because we share a bed doesn’t mean you get to run away from the responsibility of making it!”

Jonghyun pouted at his words but he obeyed, yet not without pressing a small kiss to the back of Kibum’s head, to which the younger responded with a grimace. Minho, who had always had trouble getting up in the morning, chose to roll around on top of his covers for a bit longer.

With Taemin being gone, though, judging by the bright light that was pouring into the room through the window, Minho was responsible for making his own bed, too, which he carried out with an annoyed groan, mumbling words of protest under his breath all the while.

In the meantime, Kibum hurried around the room to collect stray clothes and other items that had been left lying around, pushing a dazed Jonghyun out of the way more than once until the older finally plopped down on a chair.

“You’re both on shop duty!” Kibum announced when Minho had successfully made his bed. “Jinki-hyung and I had to face the morning rush all alone and there were quite a few customers today. Plus, Taeminnie has been up since the break of dawn, studying for his English exam and going to school of course.”

“You didn’t wake us, though, Bummie,” Jonghyun slurred as he tightly held on to the mug with coffee he had been provided with. “You could’ve gotten us earlier.”

“Yeah, right.”

Kibum didn’t even look at his sleepy form, his eyebrows rising up towards his hairline all by themselves as the boy shook his head. Miraculously, he had managed to put on perfect make-up yet again, even if it was still early in the morning.

The boy flitted around the room for a few more moments, leaving Jonghyun and Minho to wake up on their own account before he finally had enough. He positioned himself in front of the two others, arms crossed in front of his chest and his sharp gaze full of determination.

To Jonghyun, who had really been struggling to keep his tired eyes open for the past few minutes, that was an intimidating sight and definitely not one he wanted to be confronted with in the early morning. The boy seemed to shrink even further in his seat, despite already being of a petite build.

Kibum’s gaze softened a bit when he noted the older’s reaction and he took a careful step forward, placing his hand on Jonghyun’s arm and squeezing lightly.

“C’mon, Jjong-hyung, get dressed now. Poor Jinki is waiting for you and I really gotta clean. This apartment looks like a hurricane swept through here.”

“’s not my fault the kids leave their stuff lying around,” Jonghyun quietly whined yet stood up nonetheless, shuffling towards the wardrobe they all shared to retrieve his clothes.

Contended, Kibum turned to Minho, who was sitting on his bed sulkily, staring off into space. The slightly older boy repeated the action he tried on Jonghyun before, gently nudging Minho and sending him a smile when the other’s head slowly rose until they were looking at each other.

“C’mon, Ming, you too. I’ll make you a coffee while you’re getting dressed, does that sound alright? Well, you don’t really have much of a choice. I promised Jinki-hyung you’d be there in fifteen mins.”

With that, he turned around and walked over to the kitchenette, brewing another cup of steaming coffee for his unwilling flatmate.

Five minutes later, both Minho and Jonghyun were shuffling down the stairs, dressed more appropriately for work by now yet still not much more awake. Jinki greeted both of them with a relieved smile as he wiped his hands on his apron.

“Thank god you’re here, it’s hell to be here all on your own. Anyway, can you take over for me for a second, Jjong? I really gotta take care of some…business.”

An awkward laugh escaped him before he spun around and took off, presumably making his way to the toilet as fast as possible.

Meanwhile, Jonghyun stepped behind the counter. He glanced around the shop which was empty this morning, save for two elderly ladies sitting on a table near the main window enjoying breakfast together.

“Jonghyun-hyung,” Minho’s low voice right next to his ear startled Jonghyun enough to make the short man jump.

“What’s the matter?” he replied just as quietly, in order to avoid disturbing their customers casual conversation with his voice. “Please stop sneaking up on me, Minho-yah, it’s still early. You’re gonna give me a heart attack one day!”

Minho merely rolled his eyes as an answer, which made it quite obvious to everyone that he deemed his hyungs complaint to be overdramatic.

“Hyung, what about our plan?” he finally exposed more details about his thoughts. “You know, the finding-Taeminnie-the-right-friends mission? We were supposed to carry it out today, but now Key is cleaning upstairs and who knows how long he’s gonna take. What are we gonna do?”

“We’re gonna be fine, Minho-yah, don’t worry. We’ll just run some errands later, when Bum and Jinki-hyung are on duty. We’re definitely gonna find some friends for Taemin today.”

Jonghyun sent Minho a reassuring smile before his attention returned to the task at hand, his worries seemingly non-existent.

Minho, on the other hand, couldn’t suppress a frown. He felt skeptical about his hyungs assertion. Not being able to do anything to help Taemin for such a long time had made him grow a bit antsy and the second-youngest had never been the best at being patient.

As soon as Jinki returned from his trip to the bathroom, Minho attacked him with the crucial question, “is there anything we need from the store, hyung? More milk? Flour, sugar? Anything for dinner? Jonghyun and I would be glad to get it for you.”

“Thanks, Ming-ah, that’s kind of you, but it won’t be necessary,” Jinki replied with a smile, confused about the reason for Minho’s sudden enthusiasm.

Normally, the second-youngest liked staying in the kitchen the best, yet today it almost seemed like he would do anything to get away from the shop.

When he noticed Minho’s expression of deep dissatisfaction, Jinki quickly added, “the only thing we may run out of is milk, but Bummie said it’ll be okay if he buys some after school tomorrow. Today, everyone can stay at the shop!”

He tried to flash an encouraging smile at Minho and his attempt at cheering the younger up seemed to work, considering his frown vanished to be replaced by an expression of determination that made Jinki only slightly uncomfortable.

“Ah, I see hyung,” Minho quietly said. “I’m glad…”

The rest of the morning went by smoothly and every customer visiting their shop seemed satisfied, which in turn lifted Jinki’s and Jonghyun’s moods. The second-oldest had soon forgotten about his and Minho’s mission, too engrossed in his work and the satisfaction it brought to notice Minho’s subtle signals that grew more obvious when Kibum finally joined them again.

It was only when the diva-like boy let out a noise of surprise after opening their fridge that it dawned on Jonghyun that he had had plans for today, more specifically plans that had almost been prevented.

“Aigoo,” Kibum huffed as he took an undefinable object out of the fridge. “The milk carton must have leaked and now there’s a whole liter wasted! What are we going to do? We’re going to run out…”

“Oh, Kibum-ah, Jonghyun-hyung and I can go and get new milk! We’re gonna be as quick as possible, too. It’s really no problem,” Minho immediately offered and suddenly it became obvious to Jonghyun that the leaking of the milk might not have been a coincidence after all.

“Really, Bummie, let us go!” he went to help Minho while looking at Kibum pleadingly, finally making use of the knowledge of how to win over the younger boy which he had acquired years ago.

Kibum huffed a bit at the thought of being left alone with Jinki only, since he had gotten the impression that their oldest could need a break from his non-stop working too, yet in the end he couldn’t resist Jonghyun’s glistening puppy eyes.

“Fine,” he said, “you can go. But be quick! And take some money from the box in the kitchen.”

“Thanks, Kibummie, you’re the best!”

Jonghyun swiftly pressed a wet smooch on Kibum’s cheek before he quickly sped to the kitchen to collect the money, eager to start their mission as quickly as possible.

Merely seconds later, the two boys in question rushed out of the shop like the police were trying to catch their tails, leaving behind a puzzled Kibum who could only shake his head at the scene. He had no idea what shenanigans Minho and Jonghyun might be up to now, yet with a careless shrug he figured he would let them have their way.

There wasn’t much Kibum could have done to hold them back anyway, as the two overeager boys were already on their way to Taemin’s school. In their excitement, they had sprinted the first minute, but the sudden exercise was now taking its revenge on Jonghyun’s lungs as he wasn’t used to running. He usually had good stamina, unlike Jinki, yet trying to keep up with Minho’s giant steps was a challenge even to him.

“Would you…slow down a little,” Jonghyun panted as he stumbled behind Minho, trying to remain on the younger boy’s trail. “My legs don’t go on for three miles like yours.”

“Finally admitting you’re short, hyung, I see,” Minho laughed cheekily yet he slowed down a little for the sake of Jonghyun’s mood.

“What kind of person should we go for?” the younger then asked. “As a friend for Minnie, I mean. Girl or boy?”

“Definitely boy,” Jonghyun huffed, “girls only mean trouble, especially when you’re as pretty as Taemin-ah. It shouldn’t be some kind of muscle pig, though, who’s only interested in his own masculinity. Let’s look for someone artistic…and sensitive, who likes music and…”

“Why are you describing yourself, hyung?”

“Yah, Choi Minho, I am not sensitive!”

“Sure you aren’t.”

The smirk on Minho’s face only grew as he replayed the memories of a crying Jonghyun that he had collected over the years in his head. It was no lie that Jonghyun, apart from Kibum, cried the easiest and even if the man had just denied it, they all knew for a fact that his heart was fragile.

Life had never been kind to Jonghyun, apart from the moment when he met Kibum and Jinki perhaps, and sometimes, the second oldest failed at pretending that it didn’t take a toll on him. Hence Minho was only stating the facts whenever he called Jonghyun sensitive, and he didn’t mean it in a bad way, either. After all, he was simply a fan of clear words.

“But back to Taemin, we should choose someone who has the potential to be liked by everyone,” Jonghyun suddenly said. “Just imagine if Key didn’t like Taemin’s new friend. We’d be living in hell from now on!”

“Look, hyung, there’s his school!”

Minho pointed at a huge building surrounded by metal fences and a few trees that had appeared in front of him, namely the school Taemin went to. Lunch break seemed to have started only minutes ago, since many students were roaming the vast area in front of the school building, often forming small groups of four or five persons.

A few loners were wandering around, too, and Jonghyun spotted a girl sitting on her own with her lunchbox while drawing into a small book. For a second, the short man’s back stiffened as he worried they hadn’t given Taemin enough money to buy lunch, but then he realized Kibum must have made sure of that in the morning.

As relief washed over Jonghyun, Minho was already on his quest of finding the perfect friend for Taemin. He had spotted a bench a few meters away from the school’s entrance and pulled Jonghyun towards it, determined to make it their observance spot for now.

“We won’t be seen here because of the bushes,” he whispered in order not to attract any attention. “Look, I’ve already found our first candidate over there! That guy looks nice, doesn’t he?”

When Jonghyun followed Minho’s pointing finger with his eyes, he was met with the sight of a lanky boy crossing the square on his own, his shoulder slumping under the weight of his backpack. His face looked exceptionally young and even if you could say the same about Taemin’s, this boy was no doubt a few grades below him.

“Ah, don’t you think he’s a little too young?” Jonghyun frowned, not convinced by the first candidate’s appearance. “We can’t pick someone childish – our Taeminnie knows far too much about life already to be hanging around silly people.”

After a few seconds of letting his eyes wander around, he added, “what about the boy over there? The one who just ed his vest? I think he’s carrying a violin with him, he must like music a lot.”

“Yeah, but do you see his friends? They look a little intimidating… We don’t need that for Taemin-ah…”

This time it was Minho’s turn to be skeptical. The two boys went back and forth pointing out candidates to each other yet never finding a suitable one before Jonghyun let out an exasperated sigh, pinching the skin between his eyebrows.

“We’ll never find someone like this. Maybe we should look for a girl anyway? They’re a lot more accepting and subdued oftentimes…”

“That’s a cliché, hyung, Kibum would kill you for this,” Minho stated, making both of them laugh at the truth hidden in his statement.

It was no secret that Kibum was very particular when it came to the roles assigned to people of certain genders, nationalities, ualities and so on. He never failed to teach all of them a lesson at night when he felt it was needed and Jonghyun’s words surely would have provoked a monologue of five minutes. Therefore, the second oldest was quite glad Kibum hadn’t heard him.

“Anyway, look at that girl over there,” Jonghyun wiggled his brows a little, almost making Minho burst out laughing once more. “She looks like a noona. Hell, she could even be my noona. Plus, she’s super pretty and…”

“Too pretty,” Minho stated with a deadpan expression. “Kibum would loathe her. He doesn’t like it when people make him feel insecure about his looks. That’s why we fight so much.”

“You call that fighting?” Jonghyun chuckled. “Actually, I’m pretty sure you’re having duels of sarcasm. But that’s just your dynamic. And you love Bummie, don’t you?”

“Of course I do, how couldn’t I,” Minho admitted as he avoided Jonghyun’s gaze, flustered by his own confession. “He’s pretty…hot when he’s riled up. Plus he takes good care of us…”

“That’s why we should find someone he’d like, too!” Jonghyun exclaimed. “Also, I think noona is a teacher or something, and that’d be plain weird… If we asked her to befriend Taeminnie.”

“Wait, you actually plan on asking a person to befriend him?”

“Of course, he’s far too shy to do it on his own! Plus, this way we can get a first impression of that person. And intimidate them so much that they wouldn’t dare hurt him!”

Jonghyun seemed absolutely convinced of his own plan, but suddenly he was startled by loud giggles seemingly directed at him and Minho. He quickly ducked his head when he realized a few girls must have noticed his bleached hair, trying to hide himself away as the last thing he wanted to gain today was an underage stalker.

Suddenly, Minho elbowed him in the side, causing Jonghyun to splutter as pain flared through his body.

“Ow,” he whispered, “what was that for?”

“I found someone,” Minho replied in a low voice, “someone who’s just right. That guy over there, with the glasses. He’s listening to music and bobbing along with his head, and he seems to be about Taemin’s age. Plus, he’s leaving the premises so we can go talk to him without the risk of someone calling the police on us.”

“Great, let’s go!”

Determined to finish their mission soon, Jonghyun got up from the bench and walked straight over to the boy, who only stopped when the short man blocked his way, his eyes widening when he realized Jonghyun was about to talk to him.

“Hey,” the second oldest spoke as Minho positioned himself behind him, “do you know Lee Taemin? About your height, soft voice, soft face, pretty scrawny for his age? Dancer? Does that ring a bell.”

“Woah, I think I’ve heard his name somewhere,” the kid said, sounding a bit intimidated by the sudden flood of questions. “Someone told me he’s a bit weird. Rumor has it that he doesn’t live with his parents because they had problems and one time he-“

“Weird…”

The boy jumped at Minho’s dangerously low voice, looking about ready to run away from the two men in front of him. The fact that Minho was towering many centimeters above him, his arms crossed in front of his chest, didn’t help at all.

“Did you just say ‘weird’,” Jonghyun inquired while moving closer, his eyes narrowed.

The kid probably would have fainted on the spot if a voice hadn’t suddenly called Jonghyun’s name, making him step back immediately.

“Jonghyun-hyung, what on earth are you doing here?”

It was Taemin who was standing only a few meters away from them, his bag slung over his shoulder and a half-eaten banana in his hand. At the scene that had unfolded in front of his eyes, a frown appeared on his face and he shook his head at his two hyungs.

“Leave Jihyun alone, he didn’t do anything to you.” Then he added, “I’m sorry Jihyun-ah, you can go now. Please excuse my hyungs, they were probably looking for me.”

“Ah right,” Minho let out a fake laugh as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, T-Taemin-ah, we just came to…check if you had enough money for lunch.”

“Of course, Key-hyung gave me even more than usual since he didn’t need his today.”

Taemin’s voice remained sharp even after Jihyun had taken off and the dangerous glint in his eyes made both Minho and Jonghyun shudder.

“Well, that’s good to hear?” Jonghyun added in a tiny voice. “We should go then, yeah, gotta buy some milk for the shop and-“

“Actually, hyung,” Taemin’s voice seemed to slice into Minho’s and Jonghyun’s flesh like only a knife would, “our afternoon classes got cancelled. I’m off for today. I thought I could help out Kibum-hyung since we’ve both been busy lately, but apparently we have to go buy milk first.”

So the three boys went to buy milk. Minho and Jonghyun were particularly jumpy that afternoon, getting startled by only the slightest approaches as they feared a storm had yet to hit them. They had never planned on letting Taemin find out about their mission, but the younger had practically caught them red-handed and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what the older two boys were doing at his school.

It was only after they had closed the shop that the two guilty boys started to relax a bit, since neither Taemin nor Kibum, who would no doubt scold them for their actions, had approached them so far. Jonghyun was just carrying a pile of dirty plates into the kitchen when suddenly Kibum appeared in front of him, the dreaded look of a scowl gracing his normally flawless facial features.

“Kim Jjong, please hold on for a moment.”

Just like Taemin’s had been earlier, Kibum’s voice was sharp enough to make Jonghyun feel the burn of a cut and he quickly tried to make himself small.

“What’s up, Bummie?” he half-heartedly pretended to be oblivious to the reason of Kibum’s approach, yet the younger boy seemed to see right through him.

“Taemin told me an interesting story earlier,” he smirked as he stepped closer, effectively forcing Jonghyun to back off until his body came in contact with the wall. “Can you believe he said that he’d met you near his school shortly after classes had ended for today? Isn’t that interesting, Jjong? I thought you and Minho only wanted to grab some milk from the nearby store…”

Jonghyun’s dark eyes darted around, looking for a way to escape this unpleasant situation, but the older soon realized there was no running away from Kibum. Finally he sighed in defeat, his entire body slumping as he lost the last bit of posture he had had left.

“Fine… But please don’t be mad, Bummie. Ming and I thought Taemin was lonely, so we- Well, we kind of decided to look for a friend for him. So he would be able to enjoy going to school and stuff.”

When he had finished his confession, Jonghyun seemed to shrink even more as he squeezed his eyes shut, not ready to face Kibum’s wrath or whatever the other had in store for him. The diva’s moods could be unpredictable and Kibum’s anger wasn’t something anyone would voluntarily provoke.

For a moment, everything remained completely silent. However, then an unexpected noise rang out to Jonghyun, something he hadn’t thought he would hear. Kibum was laughing. At first, only little huffs were audible, yet over time it grew louder and louder until Jonghyun was sure everyone could hear them by now.

Even though he was glad Kibum wasn’t furious at him, he still felt weirdly humiliated by the younger’s reaction, even if he knew that his and Minho’s mission had been a little silly to say the least.

“Oh well,” Kibum panted when he had finally calmed down a little, small teardrops stuck in the corners of his almond-shaped eyes, “that’s actually quite cute. Pretty stupid, but still a nice thought you two had there. Of course, making friends doesn’t work like that, and you of all people should know. But I’m sure Taeminnie will appreciate your efforts once I tell him about this.”

Jonghyun opened his mouth to protest, determined to hinder Kibum from exposing their activities, yet before he knew it he was pulled into the younger boy’s arms and squeezed tightly. Puzzled by Kibum’s sudden need for skin-ship, Jonghyun wrapped his own arms around the other’s taller form and hugged him back, a shiver running down his spine when he felt Kibum’s breath tickle his neck.

“You’re an adorable, stupid dinosaur, hyung. And Minho is a dumb frog who’s far too convinced of his own looks. But still, thank you.”

And while it was the only heartfelt ‘thank you’ Jonghyun heard that evening, it still left him feeling a little bit embarrassed despite Kibum’s obvious approving of the situation. Taemin only smirked at his hyungs when their plans were revealed to him later, not failing to reassure them that he could do with just them as his friends.

“I don’t even have the social capacity for bearing more than four annoying hyungs at once,” he announced and when Minho, whose pride hadn’t suffered as much as Jonghyun’s, cheekily inquired if he wanted to try with an annoying dongsaeng to change it up a bit, Taemin whacked him in the head with his pillow.

When the pillowfight that erupted thereafter was finally over, Taemin added, “no matter how long it’ll take me to make another friend, I can wait.”

Little did any of them know at that time that the arrival of a new companion would happen a lot sooner than they expected.

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wow....the amount of jongkey interactions is so high in this part. i'm sorry.

pls don't misunderstand (unless you want to ofc), one of the main points of this story is that it does NOT contain any labels, which means everyone can imagine what they like. i'll try to keep the interactions between the boys balanced out, though i'm having a hard time with jinki. he's a bit difficult for me to write, even tho i love him sm.

anyway, i hope you can bear with me and wait a little longer for the next chapter of my other ongoing fic (if you're reading it, that is). i'm a lazy person >.<

lastly, i've been working on another thing (for shinee) which i might show to you soon, but i want my friend to betaread it first.

on that note, have a nice weekend or whatever, and PLS REMEMBER TO SUPPORT KIBUM'S AND JINKI'S SOLOS! They both deserve it so much, Kibum is working so hard to promote his music and Jinki is so kind to gift us something before going to the army. Our fandom is really blessed by all five members.