By the time Sunday night came around I was completely at ease with having Key, Jonghyun, and Minho nearby. I never discovered who the other person, ‘Roo’, that they had mentioned was, but I figured it was probably better that way. I didn’t mind being touched by Key most of the time, but I was still slightly uncomfortable with Jonghyun. Minho was a different story altogether. Neither of us were willing enough to go past our comfort zones, and so we remained completely separated.

I was sitting between Jinki and Key, dozing more and more as the minutes passed while they all watched a movie. I was leaning on Jinki, but I could feel myself tilting, and I shook myself awake so I wouldn’t fall. After this had happened three times Jinki sighed and tilted my chin up.

“If you’re tired, you should sleep.” He said, his tone sweet as ever. I blinked sleepily and pulled away from his hand, squirming under his arm instead. He smiled at me, and I cuddled against him tiredly. “Is it bedtime, Tae?”

“No.” I mumbled, my eyes closing. I heard someone laughing - Jonghyun? - and huffed a bit. “I have to go to school tomorrow.”

“I thought you were just going to pick up your homework.” He said, running his hand along my side. I rubbed my face against his chest. “Did you decide you want to go all day?”

“No. Just go with me to get my homework.” I said. He said, hugging me to him.

“I have to go back to work tomorrow.” He said. “I can bring you after.”

“School ends before you get out.” I said, looking up at him. He looked surprised.

“Do you want me to pick it up on my way to work?” He asked. I shrugged, settling in beside him. “Or maybe Key can go with you to get it.”

“Maybe.” I mumbled, the small amount of alertness leaving me as I inhaled his scent. He pet my hair and I felt my body relaxing, dropping easily into a dreamless sleep. It wasn’t much later that I woke to Jinki picking me up. I clung to him instinctively, and he laughed softly. “Where are we going?”

“It’s time for bed, Tae.” Jinki whispered. I groaned, resting my head on his shoulder. “You don’t want to go to bed?”

I didn’t answer and he laughed, kissing my cheek. I felt a hand on my back, but I was too tired to care who it was. I blinked tiredly and looked behind me, my head never actually leaving the support Jinki’s body was offering. I was surprised to see Jonghyun behind me, rubbing my back. I waved tiredly at him, my head going back to Jinki’s shoulder as my eyes slid closed.

“Get him to bed before he passes out.” Key said sternly, and I felt Jinki moving.

A second later he had set me on the bed and I curled up sleepily on the pillow. Jinki tugged my jeans down, then pulled me into a sitting position. He lifted my arms and slid my shirt off, and a moment later I was shivering. I opened my eyes slightly and stared at Jinki. He smiled at me, kissing my forehead before he slipped a too-big t-shirt over my head. I groaned, not even sliding my arms through the sleeves before I fell backward. He laughed out loud at that.

“Come on, Taemin.” He said, standing over me with a pair of sweatpants. I forced my hands out of the sleeves and reached out to take the pants. He handed them to me with an amused expression and watched as I tried to figure out which way was correct, then slid them on. “Are you ready for bed now?”

“No.” I said absently, not moving from where I was. I was thirsty suddenly.

“What do you need?” He asked. “Do you want me to get you something?”

“No.” I said again, sliding off the bed and standing on wobbly legs. He stayed close to me as I went out into the living room, then to the kitchen. I went to the fridge, pulling out a container of banana milk and taking a seat on one of the backless chairs at the table. Jinki stood behind me as I tried to maneuver the straw to the weak point in the foil at the top, but I was having a hard time, and I finally got frustrated enough to ask for help. “Jinki? Can you do it?”

“Yeah.” He said, leaning over me and popping the straw through effortlessly. I sighed, leaning on his arm as I popped the end of the straw into my mouth. He kissed the top of my head. “Stay there, ok? I’ll be right back.”

“Why is he up?” I heard Key asking as Jinki made his way past the three still in the living room.

“Leave him alone.” I heard Minho say. He stood up for me a lot, and I couldn’t make sense of it.

“Well, he’s tired. I’m just saying.” Key said, sounding like he was pouting again.

“Let him have his routine. It’s not that late.” Jinki said, coming back toward me. “Taemin, do you want your hair up?”

“Yeah.” I said, nodding sleepily. He started brushing my hair, and I felt my eyes closing without my permission. He knew he would put me to sleep this way, and so I knew I had to hurry up with my milk. It was mostly gone anyway, but by the time I finished he was still brushing, and I could feel my head starting to fall forward, even as he finally put the hair tie to use. “Jink?”

“Yeah?” He asked, rubbing my shoulders. I felt the muscles relaxing as I yawned pathetically, my eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

“I think it’s bedtime.” I said, starting to fear I might slide onto the floor. He laughed softly, his hands stilling and sliding down my back. He lifted me off the chair, keeping his hands on my sides as I stumbled into the bedroom. I slipped under the covers, barely noticing when he kissed my face. He kicked his pants off, then, and slid in beside me. I sighed softly as his arms wound around me, and the blanket covering me just seemed to get heavier as the darkness of sleep took me.

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I woke up before Jinki the next morning, which was saying a lot since he had to be up really early for work. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and scooted in closer to him. His alarm would be going off any minute, and I wasn’t sure if I should let him sleep the extra few minutes, or if I should just wake him up myself. The decision was made for me when the alarm clock began screeching and I let out a loud sound of surprise. Jinki’s eyes snapped open, looking panicked for a moment before he sighed and rolled over, shutting off the alarm.

“Five more minutes.” He grumbled, settling back into the blankets. I rubbed my nose against his.

“Wake up, silly.” I said. He blinked a few times, staring at me like he didn’t recognize me. He flung his arm over me, pinning me down and cuddling closer to me. I giggled loudly. “Jinki, get up~”

“I don’t wanna.” He whined, using me as a pillow. I pushed at him, still giggling madly. The door opened a moment later, revealing a very annoyed Key.

“You two are so loud.” He complained, pouting. I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Tell him to get up. He has to go to work.” I giggled. Key rolled his eyes before stepping into the room and poking Jinki.

“Hey. Get up so he can go back to sleep.” Key said.

“He won’t go back to sleep. Once he decides to wake up, he’s up.” Jinki said, sitting up slowly. He kept a grip on me as he sat up.

“It’s six in the morning.” Key said, looking sad. I looked down awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be quiet.” I said. He sighed.

“No, let’s get up. We can start planning the wedding.” He said. I looked up at him.

“But I have to go to school.” I said. He blinked a few times.

“Do you want to go the whole day?” Jinki asked softly, and I shook my head.

“No, just to get my homework. I told you that.” I said. He nodded.

“I wasn’t sure if you changed your mind.” He said, kissing my cheek. “What do you want to wear?”

“I don’t care.” I said, shrugging. He ruffled my hair, getting up and going to the closet. Key looked at me, then his eyes shot over to Jinki. He seemed a lot more alert suddenly.

“I’ll pick his clothes. And yours. Go shower.” He said, practically pushing Jinki out of the room. Jinki looked surprised, and a little wary, but he left me with an apologetic look.

An hour later Jinki was leaving for work, and I was dressed in dark grey jeans, a lighter grey graphic t-shirt, and a short sleeved hoodie. I was uncomfortable, and kept tugging at the hem of my shirt even as Jinki wrapped his arms around me, kissing me softly. Key didn’t seem to notice my discomfort, and instead started looking through the phone book to call for a cab.

With Jinki gone, though, I had no desire to leave the house. I backed away when Key reached for me, tripping over someone’s bag, and landing on the pull out couch on top of Jonghyun. He woke up with a surprised yelp, and I scrambled to get away from him, falling off onto the floor. I got up and rushed into the room, closing the door quickly and locking it before falling on the floor behind the door. I knew I would have to go back out, but at that moment I was too lost in my own upset.

I tugged off my shirt, trying to focus on calming down, and went into the closet. I could feel the tears starting to slide down my cheeks, and I could hear Jonghyun on the other side of the door. I wasn’t entirely sure if he was trying to calm me down, or Kibum, but either way I couldn’t focus on his words. I kept digging in the closet for a few minutes, and almost missed the sound of the door opening. I jolted back, looking up to see who had picked the lock. I was shocked to see Minho shutting the door behind him.

“Key’s kind of extreme sometimes, hm?” He said. I shrugged, wrapping my arms around myself to hide my partial . He just smiled. “You like long sleeves, right? Hold on.”

I watched him go over to the laundry basket and dig through until he found the long-sleeved shirt Jinki had worn the day before. I was about to argue that I couldn’t wear dirty clothes, but when he brought it to me I caught a whiff of Jinki’s scent, and the argument died on my tongue. I pulled it on, feeling a little silly since it was too big, and a pale blue instead of the grey I had on earlier, but I felt a lot better.

“Thanks.” I mumbled, and he smiled, looking a bit uncomfortable himself.

“Don’t worry about it. Key’s never been around anyone going through this. Jonghyun’s got a better idea of it, but you’ll have to anticipate some hiccups.” Minho said, that strange look in his eye again.

“You..you know, though.” I said. He nodded.

“My boyfriend helped someone out once.” He said.

“Oh.” I said, squeezing the sleeves of Jinki’s shirt in my hands.

“Do you think you can come out now?” He asked. I nodded, and he went to the door, opening it and motioning for me to go through.

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This is kind of a part 1. I didn't want to have the chapter be too long, so look forward to part 2!