Taemin made it his habit to come by Jongin’s place as often as he could during the rest of the holidays. He knew he wouldn’t have the chance to do so as often once school had started again, so he had to make use of his opportunities as long as he could.

Each time he visited, Taemin hoped to see Key again.

The gorgeous female wouldn’t leave him alone in his thoughts, whether he was dreaming or awake, eating, playing games or exercising. Taemin was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Jongin’s sister a few times and more often than not he was left thunderstruck, four words resting heavily on his tongue.

“Noona is so pretty.”

“What?”

Taemin almost choked on his spit when Jongin piped up all of a sudden, both boys averting their attention from the game they had been playing. Taemin’s best friend nodded at the giant window to their right through which they could peer into the front yard of his house.

There, Key had just appeared, her skirt bouncing along with the green strands of her hair as she turned to walk down the street. Her hair colour was still vibrant as ever and for a moment, Taemin wondered how it still managed to look flawless after weeks.

“She’s so pretty,” Jongin repeated with a small smile and although the rational part of Taemin’s brain knew he was no threat, he couldn’t help an ill feeling from bubbling up in his stomach – he didn’t want Jongin to call Key pretty.

He internally scoffed at himself for having these unreasonable thoughts, and at Jongin for saying out loud what he had been thinking all along. Taemin doubted that he would ever be able to think straight in Key’s company.

Whenever the girl approached them, all he could think of were her sparkling eyes, her pink pouty lips and her manicured hands that had brushed against his arm once during dinner. It was the first time in years that Taemin actually felt attracted to someone, and, frankly, he didn’t remember obsessing over anyone this badly before.

“I’m so damn lucky to have her as my sister,” Jongin went on when Key had disappeared from the boys’ eyesight.

“I-It’s weird.”

Taemin hated himself for having to clear his throat first before being able to speak properly – he felt like his thoughts were more than obvious.

“You never mentioned her back at the boarding school, only talked about your brother. But now that we’re here, you won’t shut up about her.”

“Yeah, Kibum-hyung is great.”

Jongin let out an awkward laugh that would have left Taemin suspicious if he hadn’t been so busy wondering where Key was going on this day. It was quite cold outside, but the girl hadn’t seemed bothered by the weather earlier, even in her skirt.

Apparently, Jongin had decided not to dwell on the topic of his siblings anymore and they soon resumed their game, but Taemin’s mind was, once again, somewhere else, following his best friend’s pretty sister to whatever destination she had in mind.

____________________________

The first day of high school arrived far too soon for Taemin’s liking and before he knew it, he was standing in the entrance hall of his new school, his hands buried in the pockets of his uniform. Jongin, who had joined him on the way here, looked about as excited as Taemin felt at the prospect of listening to their principal’s speech for at least 90 minutes.

Suddenly, he remembered something he had wondered about earlier and quickly hit his best friend’s side.

“Yah, Nini!”

“Don’t call me that,” Jongin hissed, “I’m not ‘Nini’. At least not here.”

Taemin just snickered as his friend’s cheek turned beet-red.

“Didn’t you say your hyung went to school here? Where is he?”

Jongin almost choked on his drink.

“What? You mean Kibum-hyung? Yeah, he’s in his last year. But he stayed over at a…friend’s place and that friend owns a car. I bet he decided to skip the principal’s speech and get here later.”

“Can he do that?” Taemin’s eyes became big.

“Kibum-hyung can,” Jongin laughed. “He’s at the top of his grade, I think. Ever since he transferred here almost two years ago, he’s been having so much success that he’s kind of a legend ‘round here. See that guy over there?”

He pointed to another corner of the hall where a few of the older students were waiting, among them a boy who could only be considered a giant. He had longer hair than you usually saw in students, a handsome face with big eyes – as Taemin’s biual mind noted. His muscular built made him appear like an athlete.

“That’s Choi Minho,” Jongin elaborated, “hyung’s best friend. He can seem scary at first, because he’s really tall and competitive and great at sports, but he’s actually really nice. He comes over to our place a lot.”

“Do you know any other people here?”

Taemin had become curious while looking around, finding himself surrounded by a crowd of strangers. He hadn’t even spotted one familiar face, but maybe Jongin could help with that.

“Not really,” the younger replied, though. “There used to be Jonghyun-hyung, but he finished school the year before, and Jinki-hyung is even older than that. Apart from that, Kibum-hyung doesn’t have too many friends, since Amber-noona goes to a different school.”

“What about Key-noona?”

Taemin hadn’t meant to ask about Jongin’s sister, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. Now he was staring at his best friend with glistening eyes, hoping he didn’t look too much like an overeager puppy.

“Key-noona doesn’t go here…”

Jongin’s answer came a little too fast maybe, but in his excited state, Taemin hardly noticed. He felt disappointment surge up in his stomach at Jongin’s words – he had really hoped he would get to see his sister regularly.

“Let’s be quiet now, though,” his best friend quickly said, suddenly sounding all too keen on listening to the principal’s speech. “We should be respectful, it’s our first day after all.”

Sighing, Taemin turned back towards the stage. Suddenly, he felt even less thrilled to start school today than he had previously.

______________________________________

“Come with me, Taemin-ah, please,” Jongin pleaded in his annoying cutesy voice that he always used when he wanted something from Taemin. “You just told me yourself that you don’t have anything to do this afternoon.”

“Just because try-outs only start next week you don’t have to assume that I don’t have to practice,” his best friend grumbled.

He wasn’t in the best of moods after sitting through a 3-hour-lecture made by their new homeroom teacher. At first, he hadn’t been opposed to going over to Jongin’s place again – he knew his parents wouldn’t mind – but after the younger had told him Key wasn’t coming home until late, he suddenly didn’t feel like going anymore.

After hoping that Jongin’s older sister would go to the same school, Taemin felt crushed by the news he had received earlier. It meant that he would not get to see Key very often, especially when exam season started, and he already hated that thought.

It’s funny, Taemin thought, how I’ve become so infuated with her in such a short time.

He had realized a few days ago that his feelings for Key were not platonic at all – they had to be called a crush at the very least, but Taemin was comfortable with that. Maybe, he hoped, he would be able to pursue Key since he was so close with Jongin.

However, now that he knew they didn’t go to the same school, his hopes were dwindling rapidly.

“Taemin…” Jongin puffed up his cheeks in a futile attempt to look cute. “Please!”

“I said-“

“Please…hyung.”

Taemin froze. Jongin never called him hyung, even though he had told him to when they had first met. The younger always claimed he didn’t need to since they were almost born in the same year, but Taemin secretly disagreed.

He stared at his best friend incredulously. Could he really refuse his offer now?

“I-“ he started, but Jongin grabbed his arm and started dragging him along.

“Great, we can play videogames all afternoon! We won’t be able to do much of that once school really starts.”

He wiggled his eyebrows at Taemin and the older sighed. He would have to join his best friend, he figured, if he wanted to or not.

____________________________________

What neither Taemin nor Jongin had expected when arriving at the latter’s front door was to be greeted by the delicious smell of freshly-baked cake. It seemed to waft around the house like a fresh breeze, invading their nostrils.

The two boys’ reactions couldn’t have been any more different. Taemin sneezed while Jongin frowned.

“Huh,” he mumbled, “no one was supposed to be home.”

Ready to investigate, the both of them stepped through the door and, after kicking off their shoes, paraded into the spacious living room which was connected to a kitchenette that looked quite luxurious. Before they could spot the creator of the steaming cake on the counter, though, they were discovered by said person, who greeted them in a much quieter voice than usual.

“Oh, it’s you two. I…made a chocolate cake.”

“Key-noona.”

A mixture of feelings flashed across Jongin’s face, but it only took him a second to hurry over to his sister and give her a hug. Taemin tried to ignore the ugly feeling of sickness as he looked at the two siblings.

A part of him wished he was the one on whose shoulder Key would rest her head, yet the other, much bigger half of his brain was alerted by the sullen look on the girl’s face. He had never seen her eyes so dull before – what had happened?

Taemin vaguely heard Jongin whisper something to Key, but he couldn’t make out any words. The girl shook her head.

“I’m alright, Nini, it was just… School wasn’t great and all. But hey, now we have cake.”

While speaking those last words, she raised her gaze to look directly at Taemin, who felt himself shiver under her glance. Although her shoulders were slumped when she let go of Jongin, there was still a special kind of strength, of power in Key’s eyes that made Taemin’s legs weak.

He couldn’t put his finger on it, though, so he just accepted that he was absolutely whipped for Jongin’s sister – the younger probably wouldn’t mind, would he?

“How was school for you, boys?” Key softly asked as she carried three plates to the table. “It was your very first day there, wasn’t it?”

“God, it was so boring, noona,” Jongin immediately began to whine. “The principal took so damn long with his speech.”

“He’s really insufferable, isn’t he? He’s always been like that, though.”

Key rolled her eyes, but her face turned serious again when she saw Taemin’s frown.

“What is it, Taemin-ah?”

Trying not to be affected by the way her lips had formed his name, Taemin said, “how would you know about our principal? Jongin told me you went to another school?”

“Oh well…” Key smiled slightly, but her eyes stayed dark. “I accompanied Kibum before. After all, he’s my twin.”

“We didn’t see…him there today,” Jongin added.

“Yeah, that’s probably because he was with Jjong-hyung and me. He really had a hard time getting up this morning.”

“I’m sorry…”

Jongin sounded so genuinely sad that Taemin started to wonder what he had missed. He felt like there was something the two siblings had left unsaid, but he had no idea what it could be.

However, Key kept him from dwelling on the topic in his head when she asked, “so, who wants cake?”

That afternoon ended up being one of the best Taemin had experienced so far. Not only did he get to spend time with Key after losing all of his hope before, he also learned a lot more about Jongin’s sister.

She told him that she loved pink and her siblings, that she excelled in English and wanted to get an actual degree at university. That she shared a room with Kibum and that she liked to sing in the shower. That she would get herself a dog or two one day, but not so soon because her dad wouldn’t allow it.

At first, Taemin wanted to write it all down in order not to forget anything, but he soon realized there was no need to. Those new facts just added to the image he had of Key and, provided that was even possible, he found that they only made her lovelier.

Jongin’s sister also loved eating as much as cooking and baking, as she told them when she was at her second piece of cake. Taemin felt his lips morph into a wide grin at her words – Key looked adorable with her lips stained from the chocolate and he was relieved to hear that she didn’t feel the need to diet like many other girls her age.

She didn’t need to anyway, Taemin realized as he looked at her skinny wrists. She was thinner and lankier than most people, girls or boys, and he would have worried about her if she hadn’t just proven to him that she was fine.

“So, Taemin-ah,” Key chirped after a while of silent munching, “I heard you like dance.”

Taemin looked up from his cake, flabbergasted. Could it really be that – after he had been this lucky already – Key also shared his one passion with him?

“I-I wanna try out for the school’s dance team,” he stammered. “Actually – well, I don’t know if Jongin told you that – but, I chose the school we went to before, the boarding school, because of its dancing courses. Dancing is basically what I wanna do later, I just want to move, to feel the music and the beat and…”

He trailed off when he noticed he was rambling, but Key didn’t seem to mind. She was looking at him with soft, brown eyes, like he was the only person in the world, and that thought made his heart beat faster.

“You’re just like Jongin,” Key said after a while. “And me… Actually, I feel like we’re a dancer family, since everyone likes to dance. Our mother did, too… And even our dad used to… Though, I gotta say that Jongin is a lot better than me. I usually just memorize choreos and copy them.”

She laughed a genuine laugh for the first time that afternoon and Taemin felt like he was about to die. Her presence was just too much for him to handle – how could he live?

Suddenly, Taemin accidentally choked on a piece of cake and he immediately took the opportunity to excuse himself to the bathroom. As he stood there in front of the sink, staring at his own red-cheeked reflection in the mirror, he couldn’t help smiling.

Even though he hadn’t wanted to come at first, he definitely didn’t regret joining Jongin that afternoon.

When he felt composed enough, Taemin quickly returned to the pair of siblings in the living room. He found them talking quietly amongst themselves, serious expressions on their faces, but when Key noticed Taemin she smiled her million-watt smile.

“So, Nini-yah told me you do contemporary dance? I can’t believe he kept that from me, I love watching contemporary performers. Please tell me more about it!”

_______________________________

so the action is starting - slowly but surely. at the moment it may not seem like much since it's slice of life and all, but i promise you a lot of stuff will happen in the future. my beta-readers actually hated me for writing some parts of this story.

hope you have a lovely next week!

(also taemin's comeback is tomorrow i'm so excited asdfgvjmkl)