Attention: I've posted 2 chapters in a row, so please make sure to read the 6th one before this one!

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Minho and Taemin came home to an empty apartment and an open shop, with a constant stream of customers trickling in and out of the building. The two boys purposely avoided the front door and went through the back entrance instead, sneaking up the stairs that led up to their flat.

“I guess I’ll have some explaining to do,” were the first words that came out of Minho’s mouth after they had entered their home.

He had calmed down after his outburst, which, in turn, had relieved Taemin’s worries a bit. The maknae had always felt awkward when providing emotional comfort or facing someone who was having a breakdown, so he was glad that Minho was as composed as usual now.

The only hint giving away that he was an emotional mess were the salty tear trails that had been painted on his cheeks like streams in a landscape on a canvas. Taemin fought the urge to wipe them away with the sleeve of his uniform as he knew Minho wouldn’t appreciate it. The older boy already seemed embarrassed because of the tears he had shown.

“I’m sorry this is such a mess,” he apologized again as Taemin went over to the kitchen to boil some water for them. “I didn’t mean to disappear on you.”

“When you didn’t come home, I freaked,” Taemin admitted in a quiet voice, shuddering when he remembered the fright he had felt last night. “I just- My brain went into overdrive I guess, I started imagining all sorts of things.

“Kibum-hyung didn’t deal well with it, either. Jinki-hyung had to keep him from storming out and looking for you even at midnight.”

Minho, whose expression had changed into an obviously guilty one, seemed to slump at Taemin’s words, unable to look the youngest in the eye.

“If I’d been able to, I would have warned you, left a message – anything, really. I’m so sorry, you don’t deserve to be stressed over something so…miniscule. Look, what happened-“

“Hold on, hyung,” Taemin softly interrupted him as he poured them a cup of hot water each. “You shouldn’t tell only me. Let’s wait for the others. But, I’m not mad at you. Peppermint?”

“Lemon please, if there’s any left.”

Minho eyed the youngest warily, obviously skeptical, but decided to listen to his advice nonetheless. After putting in the teabags, Taemin carried the two mugs over to the table where he sat down across from Minho.

“Here. I put in a lot of sugar – you probably need it.”

“Thanks.”

The next hour was spent in silence. The two boys quietly drank their tea, their thoughts wandering to remote places, and when Minho took Taemin’s hand, the younger didn’t pull back. Even though it was such a tiny and hardly noticeable gesture, it was one providing comfort and just what Taemin and Minho needed.

When it was almost eight o’clock and therefore time to close the shop, Taemin squeezed Minho’s hand once.

“I’ll go downstairs and tell them you’re here. Kibum-hyung might storm up here and either tackle or kill you, so take care.”

He left the apartment quietly like a cat on the hunt for mice, padding down the stairs on soft socks and opening the door that led to the kitchen.

“Hyung,” he called Jonghyun who was currently washing the dishes. “Hyung, I’m back.”

“Taeminnie?”

The older boy’s face lit up when he recognized the maknae and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank god, we were worried when you didn’t turn up on time. Did you use the back door?”

“I did. Hyung?” Taemin inched closer, still reluctant to tell Jonghyun about Minho’s reappearance even if his reaction would presumably be the easiest to deal with.

“Hmh?” Jonghyun hummed, attentive.

“I…I skipped school today. Well not the whole day anyway, but my afternoon lessons. I’m sorry, maybe Jinki-hyung can write me an excuse, but… The reason I skipped is because I met Minho. He just appeared right where you were hiding a few weeks ago, when you had that stupid idea of finding me friends.

“H-He dragged me along to his parents’ place and it was horrible, I felt like I was suffocating because the atmosphere was so tense and oppressive. But – I think he’s in real trouble, hyung. I only got half of the conversation he had with his mum but I guess he didn’t tell his parents he’s living with us and… He hid it all this time, hyung.”

“Oh,” the opening between Jonghyun’s lips almost formed a perfect circle as he looked at Taemin with his huge brown eyes that seemed to hold the entire universe on some days.

However, Jonghyun quickly composed himself, placing one of his small and warm hands on Taemin’s shoulder.

“Taemin, darling, can you go tell Jinki-hyung? We just closed up. I’ll deal with Kibum.”

“Sure, hyung.”

Taemin felt a bit uncomfortable at the prospect of having to tell another person, but he was glad he at least didn’t have to worry about Kibum, who would undoubtedly make a huge fuss. Jonghyun was definitely the best-suited for talking to him, if they wanted to get Minho out of here in one piece.

To get it over with quickly, Taemin went into the shop and managed to pull Jinki aside after letting Kibum fret over him for a few moments. He quickly told their oldest about the current situation and luckily, Jinki didn’t seem angry nor disappointed. The clumsy boy simply nodded, acting unusually mature and responsible.

Fifteen minutes after Taemin had told Jonghyun the four boys were trudging up the stairs, entering the tiny apartment they shared like the two youngest had earlier. Without exchanging a word, they all simultaneously decided to stand in front of Minho in a line, their expressions blank, awaiting.

Kibum had his arms crossed in front of his chest and his nostrils twitched occasionally as he stared at Minho, but other than that he managed to hide the fact that he was absolutely fuming very well. Jonghyun kept an arm around the taller boy’s slim waist in an attempt to ground him while Jinki was just blankly staring at Minho, who, for the first time ever, looked intimidated.

Taemin could practically hear his heartbeat ring through the room that was filled with a tense atmosphere and he sent him a sympathetic glance as the older boy cleared his throat.

“I should start off by saying I’m sorry,” he began. “I definitely am. Taemin told me everything was a bit of a mess yesterday, and I feel bad that I caused that.

“Otherwise, I suppose I owe you an explanation. Well…”

He sighed deeply, running his fingers through his hair as the other four boys watched him with hawkeyes.

“You see, my parents have their very own thoughts and perspective they see things from. And mine tend to forget to ask what I think before they decide something. Actually, they never asked me before – if I was happy, if I liked what I was doing, if I wanted to try out for a sports scholarship, which I definitely wanted at some point.

“This probably seems like a luxury problem to you all – it is, I’m so sorry – but it’s still the cause of all this. When I moved in with you, I never told me parents the truth because they’d never accept it. They want me, their son, to finish school and go to a good college for business or whatever so that my future is safe and sound.

“So, I kept them in the dark and made them believe I was living with a cousin who goes to college in Seoul. But as you know, I rarely go to school. Frankly, I don’t hate school – I’m not bad at it or anything – but I hate the exams and the constant pressure that comes with them. They give me so much anxiety and I just can’t bear it all, so I opt for skipping rather than going in the first place.

“You of all people know I’m working hard, too, almost fulltime, and I like this job a lot. But then my school called my parents because I skipped a little too much and I was found out. When I decided to go to my music lesson yesterday, my parents were waiting for me after the break and dragged me back home against my will.”

A look of disgust made its way onto Minho’s face and he cringed.

“Home – I shouldn’t call it that anymore. Anyway, I was stuck there till this morning when my mum sent me off to school. Of course my teachers, who spent all this time thinking my parents were okay with me quitting after this year, kept a close eye on me, but as soon as I could I left the premises.

“I don’t know what exactly I was thinking or why I picked Taemin to go with me of all people. I just thought if I showed my mum that you need me – that I’m actually helping someone and caring for myself, she would let me continue. I was wrong, though… And that’s it, that’s the whole story.”

Minho took a short break before adding in a much smaller, more vulnerable-sounding voice, “I’m just really afraid they’ll send me to a boarding school or something.”

“Minho-yah.”

Jinki’s tone was neutral, but the warm gaze he eyed Minho with gave away how much he cared for the younger boy, who backed away from his stretched out hand like a scared animal. It was a bizarre sight for Jonghyun, who, in all the years of knowing Minho, had never seen the taller boy act like this.

His talk with his mother must have disturbed Minho more than it had disturbed Taemin.

“I don’t really know what to tell you,” Jinki softly said, aware that there was no point in hiding his true thoughts. “I agree that we need you here – only god knows how Jjong and I would manage the shop without you – but they are still your parents. I don’t know if we can help you here. Just imagine if your parents called the authorities and they took away Taemin…”

“So…I have to leave?”

Only the slightest shake could be heard in Minho’s voice, but his hands were trembling so hard that he was unable to keep holding onto the empty mug in front of him.

“I have to leave for good?” the second-youngest repeated incredulously.

At his words, Taemin was gripped by the icy claws of deadly fright, but Jinki answered faster than expected.

“That’s not what I’m saying, Ming. We need to figure something out that won’t get us in trouble.”

“My parents…don’t hate me,” Minho quietly said as he avoided the four boys’ gazes carefully. “At least I don’t think they do. They just at paying attention to me. I’m hoping – maybe the fact that I ran away will make them think. I think there’s a chance we could convince them it’s best if I stay here, but- You need to help me, hyung! I need all of your help!”

Minho’s already big eyes went even wider as he pleaded, gaze fixated on Jinki, who gave a nod at his words.

“Of course we’ll help.”

“So…everything is okay for now?”

Minho sounded hopeful and Jonghyun had already nodded when Kibum opened his mouth, finally letting out all the anger that had built up inside his chest.

“Okay, Minho? Do you really think that’s it? That we’re okay now? Do you even know how ing afraid we were?”

“Key,” Jonghyun warningly said, but the younger brushed him off.

“No, I’m gonna say this now! I imagined the worst when you didn’t come home! You could have been mugged, injured, – dead even. Horrible things happen at night! So no, we’re not ing okay! I still feel the fear in my bones.”

Unlike any other time Kibum threw insults at him, Minho just stayed silent and watched the older boy with huge brown eyes, like a guilty and intimidated child. Again it was Jinki’s turn to step in and send Kibum a stern glare.

“That’s enough now, Kibum. We talked about this, Minho couldn’t have done anything. Don’t make it worse with your words.”

Taemin and Jonghyun, the bystanders, could practically hear the “like yesterday” that Jinki left unspoken and Kibum seemed to get the hint too, as he flinched a little.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, giving in uncharacteristically fast.

Normally, Kibum and Minho could go back and forth fighting for hours, but the seriousness of the situation seemed to shut them both up.

“I was just really scared,” Kibum then added as he shuffled over to Minho, being the first to wrap the younger in a hesitant, slightly awkward hug.

The four boys spent the rest of the night talking to each other and indulging in the physical closeness they hardly had time to initiate these days. Of course, the threat of Minho’s parents lingered on in the back of their heads, but the most important thing for now was that their second maknae was safe and content with them.

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i didn't even realize how short this chapter is until proofreading it. ik it may not seem like much, but at least everyone knows what's going on now - doesn't mean the trouble's over, does it? O.O

it's been like three or four weeks since i returned from south korea, where i acc had the time of my life. it was honestly the best trip i ever went on. i went with my best friend and a group of other ppl around our age and we did so many cool things, went around the country to different cities (seoul, busan, gyeongju, andong & sokcho), went to the beach, saw temples and palaces and ofc a lot of kpop stuff!

i finally got to compare my hands to shinee's at the sm coex artium (acc my only life goal lol) and let me tell you, they have the smallest hands out of all male idol groups i compared with...like even onkeymin's hands weren't big at all and taemin DEFINITELY had the smallest hands out of everyone. they're even tinier than mine (jjong's too).

the craziest thing that happened to me in seoul was when i went to the jyp soul cup cafe and i told my friends beforehand that i wanted to see felix which was a joke ofc, but then my friend and i decided to leave bc she was cold bc of the ac and right as we walk past the building, han jisung decides to casually walk out behind us. it was super awkward tho, i was panicking and everything esp when he caught me looking at him and well, he just quietly minded his own business ofc. but in retrospect, im glad no one took pics of him or anything bc that seems so disrespectful. pretty sure he realized i was a fan anyway.
anyway, so that's the story of how i ran into my skz bias wrecker and didn't talk to him. also, i'm like 95.43% sure that i also saw mj from astro in the underground, but that was even more random so.

anyway, what i wanted to say was that seoul is a great city, and even tho i don't rlly connect it with shinee, i still got a lot of their albums tho. i hope i didn't bore anyone with my stories.

pls look forward to the next chapter where the whole minho drama is resolved. have a nice week! (and wish me luck bc i'm moving out of my parents' place in one and a half weeks and its STRESSFUL AF)