Taemin looked at himself in the mirror once he had successfully snipped his hair off; he didn't think it through in his emotional state, but he already felt better. He ran one hand through his somewhat messily cut hair, looking at it as he turned his head from side to side. It didn't look that bad, even if the brunette had to say so himself. But he wasn't done yet - he was seventeen, almost eighteen (which he would be in the middle of the year when he became a senior), and so he was still a rebellious teenager for the most part.

He opened his bathroom cupboard and threw out all of his face masks and creams, serums, concealers and chapsticks - the things Kibum made him use so often it became habit for the junior - and grabbed some of the hair dye he kept at the back of the cupboard. He had a few boxes of black, a box of pink and even a box of platinum blonde, all of which he thought would look good on himself.
He held the boxes up to glance at them - black wouldn't give him the effect he wanted, pink was a bit too wild, so blonde would have to do. He wasn't sure if he liked how light it was - almost a white - but he didn't have any better blondes, so this would have to do.

He followed the instructions carefully (though he remembered most of it from when he dyed his hair brown) and then sank down on his bed as he waited for it to set in. He didn't know if his parents knew he was home or not yet, but they hadn't called him via his phone or physically, so he guessed they hadn't realised he was back.
Taemin scrolled through his phone, somewhat hoping there was a message from Kibum; even now, when he was still heartbroken, he still wished his ex had a reason for his behavior. He knew there was nothing that could be explained to make this situation okay; Kibum was caught red-handed, it was true, and there was nothing he could say or do to fix it or make it seem less as bad as it was.

That didn't mean Taemin didn't hope, though.

He was about to put his phone down, attempt to get the image of Minho and Kibum together out of his head, and go about cleaning up his room as a way of therapy when he noticed a text message. It wasn't from someone he expected it to be, but it wasn't a stranger.

It was Jongin.

𝑯𝒆𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚? [19:57]

It made Taemin's heart leap that 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛 out of all people was checking up on him, and especially since he noticed Taemin rushing out of the school like that.
But he didn't know what he wanted to say; he wanted to admit everything, to say what a fool he was, to just cry until he cry anymore, but he also didn't want to open the floodgates to Jongin if he just expected to hear a simple yes or no. This tough persona Taemin was trying to pursue wasn't him, he knew it, but there was no one else he really wanted to talk about at the moment.

𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚...𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒆? [19:58]

This was Taemin's way of hearing just what Jongin was thinking - he had been friends with the freshman for most of their lives, so he knew how to get Jongin to talk about some things.

𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒖𝒑𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖? [20:01]

The junior felt his blood running through his veins and his hands begin to tremble slightly; he had gotten so used to having no one to really rant to (of course, there was Jinki, but he was very busy sometimes, and Taemin didn't want to annoy him), that this made the junior feel nervous for some reason. What could he and what could he not say? Kibum was always strict about what the younger one could speak about - what stories of their relationship Taemin could speak about, whether he could tell people about them dating, and so on and so forth.

𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕? 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅? 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓? [20:04]

Taemin knew Jongin knew which playground he meant - they had always gone there when they were younger, either to rant about parents or school problems, or to just relax and chill out with one another.

𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒇𝒇 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔. [20:07]

With this newfound hope that Taemin would be able to get back into his old friend group, he started checking which outfit he could wear and thinking about how nice it would be to finally speak about everything without worrying about someone getting mad at what he had to say.
He washed out the hair dye once it had set, got dressed, and then set out.

“Hey! When did you get back?” Taemin's mother asked as she glanced up from the TV, and for the first time in a long time, her son smiled at her lovingly with happiness in his eyes.
“Just an hour or so ago...I'm going to meet Jongin now,” He said, and opened to form an o shape from the shock, “really? That's...nice. I didn't know you were friends still,”
“I'll explain it all when I get home,” He assured her, kissed her cheek, then left.

The walk was only ten minutes away, and when he got there, he noticed Jongin was already there.
“Jongin-ah,” He breathed out, and the freshman glanced up from his phone with a small smile.
“Hey,” He replied before he held up a plastic bag, wiggling it slightly to show he had bought some things for them.
“I got us the old stuff,” The freshman said with a grin, and climbed onto the top of the jungle gym where him and Taemin would sit when they were as young as six years old.
“You did? I didn't think you'd remember those things,” The blonde said with a shy smile, taking out the bottle of banana milk, the one container of mochi, and even a lunchbox of food.
“Your mom made us ramen?” He asked in shock; had Jongin been talking about him? The younger one's mom was like Taemin's own mom, that's how close the two students were.
“Yeah,” Jongin said sheepishly, “she was excited to hear we would be hanging out again,”
His mother had made them ramen like this every time they came here, so this small gesture meant a lot to the blonde.

“It all started with Kibum,” Taemin said after some time - one thing about Jongin was that he never pushed someone to talk, and the junior appreciated it a lot in this moment.
“You know how much he meant to me...I...I cut you off because of him,” Okay, so it was mainly Taemin's fault for that, but right now he just wanted to get everything out without breaking down like a child.
“I found out he was cheating on me tonight. He said he didn't feel well enough to come to the show, so I wanted to check up on him afterwards. I caught him with Minho,” The junior admitted embarrassed; he felt like the clown in the scenario, especially since he didn't see any of the signs.
“Minho?!” Jongin choked on the noodles he was busy slurping, slapping his chest to clear his airway, “I always thought it was Jonghyun!”
“I don't think Jonghyun has that in him,” The blonde admitted, eating some of the ramen as well which they shared.
“So...I feel like it's all my fault. I'm sure everyone already knew, or has a suspicion, that Kibum was just playing around with me,” He said as his cheeks turned red at the thought of how people were probably laughing behind his back all this time.
“As long as you got out of that relationship. He never deserved you, hyung,” Jongin said with a genuine smile, patting his best friend's hand, “I've missed talking to you like this. Lucas and Mark are nice but...they're not you,”
This comment made Taemin smile widely, and he laid his head on Jongin's shoulder.
“I've missed you too, Jongin. A lot,”

As they enjoyed their meal, Taemin brought up the situation with Jinki after speaking about all his feelings throughout his relationship with Kibum; how hard he fell, how he tried to convince himself that the senior was always just busy, and how bad he felt towards the end.
“Jinki admitted he has a crush on me,” He said after some time, and Jongin grinned as he helped himself to some of the mochi.
“Yeah? So how's that going for you?” He asked, sipping some of his chocolate milk.
“He's persistent that he wants to be here for me, but I'm not ready for that kind of thing. I'm just glad I have you again,” The blonde admitted with a sigh as he watched the stars. He loved Jinki, but he didn't know if it was a romantic way or not.
“What about you? Do you have your eye on someone?” Taemin asked with a smile, and Jongin felt himself laugh before he could stop it.
“Well...there is 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒...” The younger one said with a grin, a long gulp of his drink, and then shrugged.
“Kyungsoo? Do you know him?” He asked, and Taemin nodded with a chuckle, “the one that's always so quiet?”
“Yeah, yeah! We're in music class together,” Jongin said with a nod, biting into his mochi. This made Taemin frown as he held the chopsticks with some noodles on it, “but he's a senior,”
“I started taking music class after school to see how it would go, and then I got to know him so...” Jongin admitted with a shy smile, Taemin laughing and hitting his best friend's shoulder.
“Are you dating yet?” The blonde asked once he had calmed down from his excitement for the freshman, and put his chopsticks away when the ramen was finished.
“No!” The brunette threw his head back and laughed, “there's no rush. I'm just glad we're talking. We're friends now,”

Once they had finished the mochi and were just about done with the milk as well, Taemin turned to his friend.
“Can I hang out with you again? I mean, you, Lucas, Mark...” He had no idea how they felt about him still, even with all the practice they had attended together.
“Sure! I mean, they might be a little quiet at first because of everything, but they'll be excited to see you again,” He said, and then climbed off the jungle gym once they were done with their drinks.
“So I'll see you tomorrow? And then I want to know why you got this awful haircut and dyed your hair,” The brunette said as they chucked the plastic bag filled the empty milk bottles and mochi container in a trashcan.
“I cut it myself, I'll have you know!” Taemin laughed, followed by Jongin.
“I know. Do you think a hairdresser would be open this time of the night?” The younger one chuckled and then ruffled his best friend's hair playfully.
“Don't worry, I'll fix it for you tomorrow morning, so be up early,” He said, and then gave Taemin a long tight hug.
“Okay,” Taemin chuckled, “text me to let me know you got home safe, yes?”
After Jongin nodded, they went their separate ways, feeling more refreshed than they had in months now that they had been able to meet up and talk like old friends again. Taemin felt good that he could finally open up to someone, and Jongin felt good that he could see a little more into his best friend's mind like before.

Taemin got home, and told his mother about the great time he had with Jongin - of course, not mentioning what they spoke about.

“And your hair? Why did you do this to it?” She asked before he could disappear to his room to get ready for bed, and he blushed a little.
“Ah...I didn't want to wait to cut it,” He tried to shake it off, not waiting for a reply as he rushed upstairs, “good night!”

The next morning, Jongin came by as promised.
“Get up, get up!” He exclaimed when he noticed his best friend still cuddled up with his sheets, and Taemin groaned at the rude awakening.
“I don't want to...” He grumbled and hid his head under the blanket, Jongin tugging it down to reveal a sleepy Taemin who refused to even open his eyes.
“We have to get this mess of your hair cleaned up before school!” He exclaimed, grabbing his best friend's wrist to tug on for a while to get him up.
Once Taemin had woken up (somewhat), Jongin dragged him to the bathroom to give him a good haircut that suited Taemin better. By the time they were done, it was almost time to leave for school, so the older one got ready while Jongin had some coffee with his second parents. They caught up on many things, like what Jongin was planning on doing after college, and how things were going at school. He was happy to talk to them once again, even after a few months, and he left for school with Taemin.

Lucas and Mark were a little less than welcoming to Taemin; they weren't too surprised that Jongin had brought in Taemin again like a stray, but they didn't forget how easily the junior had dropped them all for Kibum. They still had some problems with that, and they wouldn't forgive Taemin just as quick as Jongin would.
There were a few awkward silences - Mark and Lucas couldn't talk about some things in front of Taemin since they just felt uncomfortable about it - and Jongin carried the whole conversation on his back most of the time.
“They still hate my guts, Jongin,” Taemin said with a small sigh as he chewed on a carrot piece from the dry coleslaw salad served from the lunch lady. Sometimes, the junior had to wonder if she knew how to make something other than this salad, fried chicken, and pasta. Most days, what they received from school was pretty boring and dry (literally).
“They don't. You know they just need some time,” Jongin said, but even he could see the strain their relationship was taking now that Taemin was back. That didn't mean he would give up so easily, though. He was happy to have his hyung back, and he was doing his best to keep everyone included in the conversation, even though no one really wanted to work with him.
“I hope so,” Taemin sighed as he chewed on the lettuce uneasily while Lucas and Mark got some of their own lunch on the red trays served by the school; the blonde didn't know who he would turn to without his group now. He only hung out with Minho and Jonghyun because of Kibum, now he couldn't do that...not that he felt really welcomed by them. Of course, they were nice to him, but more like they were tolerating him than anything else. And the way Minho was so nice to Taemin, even where he knew what he was doing behind the blonde's back...

Throughout all the chaos of meeting up with Lucas and Mark again, Taemin forgot all about Jinki. The senior had left him alone for most of the day, but when he noticed the junior in the hallway, he couldn't just avoid it all anymore. Now that Taemin was free from Kibum's clutches, he had to make sure the blonde was okay with everything he had discovered...especially considering his new questionable hairstyle.
“Hey,” He said, and Taemin looked up from his locker with a small smile. He had begun to miss the senior, if he was honest, and it was nice to see him again...even if they had seen each other last only about twelve hours ago.
“Hey there. What's up?” He asked, packing his books away in his bag before shutting his locker.
“Nothing much. I was just wondering if you're free this afternoon until about four,” Jinki said with a smile; he was happy to see Taemin seemed to be okay, but he wasn't sure just ℎ𝑜𝑤 okay he was.
“Sure,” The blonde shrugged, “why?”
“It's the math olympiad, and I was hoping you'd be there,” Jinki said and looked at the junior with hope sparkling in his eyes. He had never wanted someone to come as bad as Taemin, and he really hoped the younger one would be there.
“I'd love to,” Was the reply, and Jinki almost hopped up and down from the joy that bursted from his heart.

“How are you doing?” He asked once they were walking to Taemin's next class since Jinki had a free period to go over some math stuff.
“I'm doing okay. There was nothing really to miss about him,” The blonde wasn't sure he was ready to say the senior's name like it was nothing just yet.
“You know I'm here if you need a friend, right? Or if you need to rant,” The black haired male offered, and Taemin nodded with a strained smile. All this talk was making his heart ache again; he wanted to pretend all of this never happened, and that meant not speaking about it as much as possible until he felt strong enough.
“Yeah. Hey, I gotta go. Thanks for walking me though...I'll see you later to cheer you on!” He said to get away, and then dashed into the empty classroom.

Taemin walked into the auditorium at just past three, meaning everything was just about set up already.
He sat in the front row along with some other students, and flashed Jinki a thumbs up when their eyes met. He was more than excited for the senior, since he knew the older one was fantastic at math; this would all be a breeze for him!

And it was.

Jinki answered most of the questions, and Taemin cheered loudly for him each time he got something right. He wanted the senior to know the younger one was in his corner just as Jinki always was for him; he wanted the senior to know how grateful he was for trying to show him what a snake Kibum really was, and he wanted the black haired male to know he was appreciated.
Maybe recovering from all this would be a little hard, but Taemin felt better about it all knowing Jinki and Jongin were there for him whenever he needed them, even if it was the middle of the night.

He would get better, he knew it, all he needed was time now that he had the right people backing him up. He would learn to love himself before he would love anyone else again; it was only fair to himself. He would be more confident in himself, confident that he would be ready to give his heart up again and not be afraid that it would be toyed with and broken again. He would make sure he was ready for the commitment, and he promised himself he wouldn't let himself down again.