They walked back to the bus stop holding hands. A few people stared, but they didn’t care. Key always thought that he wouldn’t kiss someone before a few months of being together, but nothing seemed wrong anymore. He was so happy he felt like his heart would explode. What luck that Jonghyun would forget a staircase. The bus ride back was quiet, because Key and Jonghyun were both tired from their afternoon. Jonghyun fell asleep, resting his head on Key’s shoulder. Even though the ride wasn’t long, Key let Jonghyun sleep, his hair and almost dozing off himself.  The bus stopped near the house, and Key gently shook Jonghyun to wake him up.

“Jjong, we’re here,” Key said softly. Jonghyun opened his eyes slowly, and looking at Key, he smiled. They got up off the bus, and the sun was setting, putting a warm glow over the area. Jonghyun took Key’s hand and they walked the short distance back to the house. They unlocked the door with the set of keys Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun had given them (Kyuhyun had made a bad joke when giving Key the keys), and they realized that nobody else was back yet.

“Kyuhyun said to be back at five. Here it is, already five thirty, and we’re the only ones here,” Jonghyun said, faking annoyance.

“That’s okay with me,” Key said, kissing Jonghyun’s cheek. “They’re bound to be back soon though.”  Suddenly music started playing; a song Key recognized but couldn’t remember what it was.

“Yah, that’s my phone!” Jonghyun said, scrambling over to answer it. “Yeoboseyo?” He suddenly pulled the phone away from his ear and then put it back and spoke. “I’m sorry, hyung, I forgot it. He what? Is he okay? Good, good…Aish, okay. Yeah, I guess so. Okay, bye.”

“Who was that? What happened?” Key asked.

“It was Zhou Mi-hyung. Taemin had another asthma attack and they’re at the hospital now.”

“Is he okay?” Key asked, more concernedly than he wanted to sound.

“He’s fine,” Jonghyun said, “but Zhou Mi-hyung wants us to go to the hospital anyway.”

“Okay,” Key answered. They left the house right away, still holding hands, and took the bus to the hospital where Taemin was. The receptionist there directed them to the room where Taemin and the others were, and Key burst in angrily.

“CHOI MINHO!” he bellowed. “What did you do to him this time?” Everyone looked at Key, even Taemin, who still looked pale, but not much worse for the wear. The others gave him blank looks, but Taemin smiled.

“Nothing, hyung,” Taemin said. “It just happened. I think I was already ill, you know how it goes.”

“Well, he should have taken better care of you,” Key said, pouting.

“I took care of him fine, look, he’s not dead and he’s conscious. Maybe you should have paid more attention to him when he said he was sick,” Minho put in.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have—” Key started, but was interrupted.

“Okay, that’s enough, kids,” Zhou Mi said sternly. “Taemin-ssi is okay now and we can go home and have samgyupsal for dinner, okay?” Kyuhyun nodded in agreement. Key and Minho glared at each other.

“Zhou Mi-hyung is right, Kibum, don’t worry about it,” Jonghyun said, touching Key’s hands.

“Hyung,” Taemin said, getting up out of his chair as he addressed Key, “don’t let me ruin your day, okay?” Key had to admit that the kid was intuitive. Minho and Kyuhyun helped Taemin get on his feet, but he was fine to walk.

Back home, everything went better. Zhou Mi wouldn’t let anyone in the kitchen as he prepared the meal, and he made Kyuhyun do the grilling outside. Zhou Mi told Minho to keep Taemin company while he rested, which left Key and Jonghyun to set the table. Luckily that didn’t take very long at all, so they went to sit outside in the front of the house, away from the rest of the group. Key leaned his head on Jonghyun’s shoulder, enjoying the evening air.

“Jjong,” Key whispered, playing with Jonghyun’s fingers. “Today was amazing.”

“Yeah, I think so too,” Jonghyun replied. Key stood up, and sat down again on Jonghyun’s lap, facing him.

“Now I can see your pretty face,” he laughed, feeling himself start to blush. He locked his hands around Jonghyun’s neck and smiled down at him. Jonghyun put his hands up to caress Key’s smooth cheeks before kissing him again.

“Mmm,” Key hummed. “Can we just stay like this forever?”

“Kids, dinner’s ready!” Zhou Mi called. The two parted.

“I guess it will have to wait until after dinner,” Jonghyun laughed. They got up and joined the others inside. They were both hungry since all they’d eaten that day was the ddeokbokki. Everything looked delicious: there was rice, kimchi, samgyupsal, and dumplings. Zhou Mi was indeed a good cook; the dumplings he made were better than any restaurant dumplings Key had ever tasted.

“Thanks for bringing us here, hyung!” Jonghyun said to Zhou Mi. “You too, Kyuhyun-hyung. Thank you!”

“Oh, it’s no trouble! So what did you all do today? Besides having an asthma attack, Taemin-ssi,” Zhou Mi asked.

“Taemin and I went fishing,” Minho said, “but we didn’t catch any fish. It was fun though.”

“That does sound fun! I guess it’s too cold for fish?”

“No, we saw fish at the Han River,” Key said.

“Oh, that’s right, you went there! Did you have a good time?”

“Yes, we had an excellent time,” Jonghyun said, looking at Key with his goofy grin. Kyuhyun looked between them, and smirked at Zhou Mi, who looked a little bit confused.

“That’s good,” Zhou Mi said. “Kyuhyunnie and I went shopping!”

“Tomorrow we’re going to go play video games at the internet café,” Kyuhyun said, as if bitter that he had to go shopping.

“We could do that in the city,” Zhou Mi retorted.

“We could shop in the city too,” Kyuhyun replied, still straight-faced.

“Anyway, what are you kids doing tomorrow?” Zhou Mi asked, playfully ignoring Kyuhyun.

“Ah, we haven’t thought about that yet,” Taemin said. “We should do something outside.”

“Good idea,” Jonghyun said. They resolved to decide the next morning after breakfast.

Once they’d finished their dinner, Taemin suggested that they try karaoke. Everyone agreed. Key had always been confident of his singing abilities, and he knew that Jonghyun took singing lessons also, so it was bound to be interesting and enjoyable.

Kyuhyun went first, singing a ballad. Key wasn’t surprised that he was an amazing singer; he already had a nice speaking voice. He easily scored 100 and passed the microphone to Zhou Mi. Zhou Mi chose an A-Mei song, which he sang powerfully, scoring a 94. Kyuhyun grinned at him.

“No luck this time, hyung,” he said. Zhou Mi flashed his brilliant smile, laughing.

“Who wants to go next?” Zhou Mi asked. Taemin raised his hand. “Are you sure it’s good for your lungs, Taemin-ssi?”

“I really want to!” Taemin replied excitedly.

“Alright then, which song are you going to sing?”

“I want to sing a children’s song,” Taemin said. “Three Little Bears.”

“Three Little Bears?” Minho asked. Taemin nodded.

“Alright, Taemin-ssi,” Zhou Mi laughed. “Go ahead.” He began, and even though the song wasn’t impressive, even though Taemin’s voice was by no means perfect, everyone had their eyes on him. It was fascinating to see a first year college student singing a song for toddlers with so much passion.

“Aw,” he said once he’d finished. “I only got an 88.” But nobody responded. They were still looking at him.

“Taemin,” Minho said finally. “That was so…heartfelt.”

“Ah, yeah, I really like that song,” he said. The others sang their songs, each earning above a 90 except for Minho who also got an 88. But nobody much paid attention to those songs, because they’d never heard Three Little Bears sung so earnestly. By the time they were done, it had started raining, and the rain was loud on the roof.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it became a thunderstorm tonight,” Kyuhyun said.

“That’s okay, I sleep like a rock anyway,” Minho replied. “Nothing will bother me.” Taemin laughed.

“Well then, shall we set up the futons?” Zhou Mi asked. They agreed and went to their work. The room was tight, so the futons were touching each other, but there was enough room that they wouldn’t be totally squished. They agreed on the order: Kyuhyun was on one end, followed by Zhou Mi, Jonghyun, Key, Taemin, and finally Minho on the other end. Zhou Mi seemed to think that because nobody complained, the organization was genius. Key was just happy that he didn’t have to sleep next to Minho, and thrilled that he got to sleep next to Jonghyun.

The weather did, in fact, turn into a thunderstorm. The rain became almost torrential and the thunder sounded like huge bass drums. It was quite loud, and it was a wonder anyone could sleep through that noise. However, Zhou Mi was like a strict parent: he made them turn off the lights and be quiet promptly at eleven o’clock, because they had things to do the next day. Every time someone tried to talk, Kyuhyun would shush them on Zhou Mi’s behalf, since he had already fallen asleep. Key and Jonghyun held hands as everyone else fell asleep. After almost half an hour, Key felt Jonghyun’s grip slacken and knew that he too had dozed off. Key was nodding off himself when he heard sniffling next to him. He tried to ignore Taemin’s crying, but for some reason, he felt bad about leaving Taemin to cry all by himself.

“Taeminnie,” Key whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“Key-hyung, you’re awake?” Taemin sniffled.

“Yeah. What’s going on? Why are you crying?”

“Key-hyung…it’s just that…I’m scared of thunderstorms.”

“It’s okay, Taeminnie, it’s just weather. Nothing to be afraid of.”

“I know, but…the truth is…well, you know the accident?”

“Yeah,” Key replied.

“It h-happened here, in Namyangju. That’s why I chose T-three Little Bears. Singing that was the l-last thing I ever did with my parents. The hospital where I went today…that was where I stayed. A-and for the whole time I stayed there, all alone, after the accident, it thunder stormed every night. I-I was nervous to come back here, and when I heard the thunder, it…it reminded me of that day, that whole week, where I was all a-alone in the world. No parents, n-no family. Then Onew-hyung took care of me after that. B-but now…even he’s gone!” Taemin sobbed. “I’ve never felt so alone.” Key felt a lump welling up in his throat. He had no idea that Taemin was having such a hard time. He moved towards Taemin, enveloping him in his arms. Manipulation or not, Taemin was a person, just a kid, who needed someone to take care of him, just like everyone else.

“You’re not alone, Taeminnie. I’m here for you. If Onew-ssi is your appa, I’ll just be your umma. Cry all you want; it’s okay. You’re safe.” Taemin’s sobs subsided, and in a few short minutes, he finally fell asleep in Key’s arms.

A/N: Meehehehehe Key-umma just makes me so happy and warm and fuzzy on the inside. And it’s about time, don’t you think? And I like kissy Jongkey too. Yay!

@iDream: NEW FAVORITE? Omooooooo that makes me so happy! I’m really glad you like it! And I hope I can continue to meet your expectations…I’m happy you like the Jongkey too~

@Kwangminniie: Well, I think you’ll definitely start to like Key better, hopefully after reading this chapter kekeke

@maedeh: I’ve never tasted ddeokbokki and I really want to…Tae is quite clever though :)

@AZUMIX: Kekekeke I’m happy you liked the chapter! Keep reading~

@naznew: There’ll be 2min, don’t worry!

@vampireme12: Please do keep reading, I promise it will be worth it!

@KOBRAKID: Jongkey = ♥ Thanks for reading as usual~

@WritingWithoutTalent: Thanks for commenting/reading! I hope you continue to read :)

♥ Exie