Taemin hadn't really meant to say he loved Minho, but when Minho said it back to him, he was without a doubt glad that he did. It was the only thing on his mind as he fast-walked to Key's house, also wondering what had been so urgent that he had to be there right this second. 

When he got to Key's, he didn't even have to ring the doorbell before he was snatched inside by a skinny feminine arm. Everything was a blur, but somehow, Taemin then found himself sitting on Key's couch, Key sitting in front of him with 4 boxes of brown hair-dye. 

"Key, what's this about?" Taemin demanded, watching Key hold the boxes of hair dye beside his hair. Key put down the hair dye box he was holding and clapped his hands together loudly, making Taemin flinch.

"Taemin, I have a plan." Key announced. "I know how I'm gonna prove to you that Minho likes you once and for all."

"Key, would you just let this go?" Taemin sighed. "I know he likes someone else, I don't want to pester him."

"But how can you be so sure he likes someone else? Tell me, when he described the person he liked, what did he say about them?" Key crossed his arms.

"He said that they have blonde hair and brown eyes. That's it." Taemin recalled.

"Well, look at that. You have blonde hair now. And if we dyed it....Auburn, Chestnut, or Brown, per say... Do you think he'd say his crush had brown hair?"

Taemin's eyes widened. Why hadn't he thought of that? If he dyed his hair, and Minho's crush still had blonde hair, then it wasn't him!

"Hyung...That's a silly idea." Taemin gulped. Here it comes. That always inevitable moment where Key's right and Taemin has to admit that he never thought of whatever great idea that Key had thought of first. It was a common situation. 

"Is it?" Key asked, and gave him that familiar hard stare, the stare that made it seem like a demand instead of a question. Taemin paused.

"No.." He whimpered. 

"Perfect." Key bounced and grinned happily, shoving the boxes of dye at Taemin. "Pick one and come to the bathroom."

Taemin sighed as he picked a light brown color and followed Key to the bathroom. This better work. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even after Taemin left and Minho had arrived at his home, Minho still felt guilty. He couldn't get any of Taemin's sad, dissapointed expressions out of his mind. It made him feel even more guilty that he had been the one who had caused them, and he hadn't done anything to make them better.

One good thing had come out of the situation however. It hadn't been long since Taemin and Minho had exchanged 'I love you's for the first time. Minho dreamed of the day where they could say 'I love you' to each other freely- and truly mean it. But unfortunately, for all he knew, Taemin's heart was somewhere else. Although it hurt, Minho had still decided he needed to do something to apologize to Taemin. He'd surprise him, but with what?

Minho recalled the little appreciative moans Taemin had let out when he was eating the café food. What was it he had ordered? Oh yes. Pie. Some kind of banana cream pie. Minho could totally make that. And then he'd wrap it up all nice and pretty and tie it with one of those big floppy bows. Maybe he could even make a card while the pie was in the oven. 

The plan was set, Minho decided. Time to get right to that pie.

It had been easier than expected to make the desert. Minho had underestimated his cooking skills, and just like that, the pie had turned out better than he thought it would. He hoped Taemin would like it, Minho was sure he would. He had wrapped it in shiny golden tinfoil that his mom saved for special occasions, and tied it down messily with a blue bow. Minho looked at his wrapping job grudgingly. Perhaps he wasn't the best wrapper, but hopefully his cooking would make up for that. And to top it all off, he made a card too! It was a simple, home made card that said 'I'm sorry' on the front and had Minho's signature inside, surrounded by doodles of little moments that he and Taemin had spent together. 

Speak of the devil, Minho felt his phone vibrate, and when he checked to see who's texted him, sure enough, it was Taemin. 

'I'm near ur house. Can i pick up sum stuf?

-Minnie'

Minho responded excitedly with a 'sure'. Looks like he gets to give Taemin his present earlier than he expected. And so he waited. That's all he did. Wait by the front door. He knew Taemin wouldn't be long, he never was. In fact, Minho was still there when Taemin rang the doorbell. He waited a couple seconds before he opened the door so that he didn't seem creepy, but when he pulled open the door, he wasn't even sure if it was Taemin. The hood of Taemin's hoodie was up pulled over his head right above his eyes. Minho could barely tell it was him. 

"T-Taemin?" Minho asked.

"Neh." Taemin lifted his head, not removing his hoodie, and Minho sighed with relief. 

"Oh, thank goodness. Come in." Minho moved away so that Taemin could come inside and remove his shoes. Still, Taemin didn't remove his hood.

"Tae, don't you want to put down your hood?" Minho questioned curiously. Taemin gulped.

"Alright hyung, but you have to promise you won't overreact, okay?"

'Overreact?' Minho wondered. 'Overreact about what?'

Minho's question was answered when Taemin slowly pulled his hood down, revealing long auburn hair that went down just a bit past his collarbones. Needless to say, Taemin looked amazing. Minho nearly gasped, but Taemin shot him a look.

"Key did it for me. I only wanted my hair dyed, but he went ahead and put in extensions too. I know people already think I'm a girl, and this isn't really helping my situation, but I kind of like it." Taemin smiled. "What do you think?"

Minho resisted the urge to squish Taemin in a tight hug and run his fingers through that beautiful, beautiful hair. He had to have some self-control. Instead, he opted for a simple smile. 

"Taemin, you look beautiful."

"B-beautiful?" Taemin stuttered and began to blush. "I'm a man, just like you hyung. I shouldn't look beautiful..."

" Well then you look handsome." Minho corrected. "Like, really good. The long hair suits you."

"Thank you hyung." Taemin smiled. Looks like everything was going according to plan. Maybe Minho really had liked him all along, and Taemin had actually been too oblivious to notice it.  Taemin's heart filled with hope. "Hyung, I have a question for you, can we go sit down on your couch?"

"Of course." Minho smiled back, leading Taemin to the couch. They sat down, particularly close to each other, nearly leaning against each other. Minho looked over at Taemin. "What was it you wanted to ask?"

"Well, I know the topic makes you kind of shy hyung..." Taemin smiled slightly. "...But remember when we were talking about our crushes?"

'So Taemin's been thinking about it too..' Minho thought. 'This should be interesting.' "

"Yeah, I remember. What about it?"

"Well... You know how you told me your crush's hair color? What was it again?"

Minho choked. His crush's hair color? He'd have to stay calm for this. 

'Think, Minho. What was the answer you told him before?' Minho vaguely remembered telling Taemin that his crush had blonde hair and brown eyes. And he was telling the truth back then too- because back then, Taemin really did have blonde hair and brown eyes. But now it was brown. 

Was that what Taemin wanted him to say? Was Taemin trying to trick him into confessing first? Did Taemin even like him in the first place, or was he just genuinely curious? Nevertheless, Minho had to be honest.

"He... He has brown hair." Minho said shakily.

"Really hyung..." Taemin's eyes narrowed, the corners of his lips curling up in a smirk. "He has brown hair you say?" Taemin slowly began to move closer to Minho, if even possible. He was nearly sitting in Minho's lap when Minho responded.

"Neh, brown hair."

"I swear..." Taemin whispered teasingly, breath tickling Minho's red ear. "You told me his hair was blonde."

Minho let out a little gasp, half from the sensation of Taemin whispering in his ear, half from the realization that, oh goodness, Taemin knew what he was talking about. Had he figured it out? Minho grew more and more nervous by the second. Taemin knew that he liked him, but is this what he wanted? Well, of course it was. But he wasn't ready. He didn't even know if Taemin liked him back! Letting his shyness get the best of him, Minho lied.

"Did I say he? I meant she. My crush is a girl and.. I'm straight. Not that I have anything against gays or anything." Minho cringed even as the words left his mouth. He didn't even bother to look at Taemin's face. How could he, when he'd just probably made the biggest mistake of his life. Taemin had been a dream that had been so close, and at that moment, Minho let it slip through his fingers. And just like that, Minho could feel everything go backwards. As if time was going in reverse, Minho slowly felt Taemin's warmth remove itself from his lap, and smelled his scent drift far, far away. And he watched that beautiful long hair he'd admired moments ago disappear from his line of vision, as Taemin sadly and awkwardly placed himself on the other side of the couch. 

"Is that so?..." Taemin murmured disappointedly, clambering up to his feet. Minho swore he heard Taemin sniffle as he turned to leave. "In that case, she's a very lucky girl."

Taemin left it at that, and Minho didn't do a thing as Taemin walked out of the room, and out of the door, slamming it behind him. 

~~~~~~~~

A/N

OMG MINHO YOU NOOB.

Wow, I am just terrible. But don't worry. The next chapter is coming in like 5 minutes and this chapter is just kind of a "hey guis im stil aliv" so no hate.

Comments are love!

And yes, I totally gave Taemin sherlock hair. Haters gonna hate.