The stack of documents were calling Minho but the busy director just kept staring blankly at the papers laid in front of him, eager to be reviewed. Minutes passed like that until Minho finally realized that he had spaced out. Sighing, he shook his head to clear his mind and tried hard to focus on his work.

A certain someone’s words kept replaying in his mind, messing with his head.

The certain someone named Lee Taemin.

Since their disastrous dinner, the cocky man never left Minho’s thought, because of what he said. Minho hated how he was annoyingly right. Like how Lee Taemin said, there was no future for Minho in the Choi Family. Minho was aware that he was just used by the family. No matter what he did, he would never be considered as the part of the family. Worse, he knew he had no right. Worse, he knew the problem was him. Because he was born from a home-wrecker. However, that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurt. That didn’t mean he was unbothered by the cold treatment from his father, the hateful stare from his step-mother, the degrading sneer from his brother, and the indifferent behavior from his grandmother.

He wanted to leave the family so bad. When he was thrown away to Japan, because he wasn’t needed anymore, he was in despair at first. But as the time went by, he felt that it was his chance. He started to build his life in Japan. But he should have known, he wasn’t bounded to be happy. He was forced back to Seoul. He should have rebelled at that time. He should have refused. But the guilt he carried from his mother’s sin, and the debt he owed to the family who took him in when his mother left him, stopped him to act out.

Thinking about the past always gave Minho a headache. And the conversation he had with Lee Taemin made him to think about the past a lot. This just added up Minho’s list of why he hated Lee Taemin.

Just when Minho started to finally focus on his work, someone suddenly burst in his room.

Minho was taken aback seeing Minhyuk angrily stormed towards him. Minho stared back confusedly at his younger brother who slammed his hand on Minho’s desk, looked down at him with furious eyes.

“What are you planning?” Minhyuk asked harshly.

“What are you talking about?” Minho asked back as he stood up, didn’t back down by Minhyuk’s glare following him.

“Lee Taemin,” Minhyuk spat out.

“What’s with him?”

“You think, you can gain power through Lee Taemin?” Minhyuk scoffed, tried to sound unconcerned, but clearly provoked. “What can he give you? He’s just a weak, powerless person who just know running away.”

The news about Mr. Lee’s visit must have gone around, Minho thought.

“You think marrying him will help you, you two-faced, shameless bastard?” Minhyuk continued. “I knew it, Minho. I knew from the start. You act obedient around my father, while lurking around ready to grab any chance to steal my position? Keep dreaming! You’re just an illegitimate son, Minho!” Minhyuk spat every word of it with so much hatred.

Minho knew it was useless to deny him. Whatever he said, it wouldn’t change Minhyuk’s opinion about him. After all, Minhyuk also didn’t need Minho’s explanation. He just needed Minho to vent out his anger, which was caused by something Minho didn’t care what it was. And it was true, because as soon as he was done insulting Minho, Minhyuk stormed out of his office.

When he was left alone, Minho instantly threw his body back on his chair. He leant his head back, staring at the ceiling, before closing his eyes.

This wasn’t the first time he heard the insult. But still, it always hurt everytime.

“Here’s your drink. I hope you enjoy it and please come again!” Taemin said cheerfully as he smiled sweetly to the two high school girls in front of him. The girls were blushing as they accepted the drinks, whispering excitedly to each other and kept glancing back at Taemin until they stepped out of the café. Only until he couldn’t see the customers anymore, Taemin stopped smiling and slumped his on the chair behind the counter, feeling extremely tired.

The café had just passed its rush hour. Now there were only a few of customer left, chatting while enjoying the foods that had been served. Taemin thought it was safe to say that the café was very successful. He was happy seeing the fruit of Jinki’s hard work, yet he couldn’t help but to feel a little sad.

Soon you will be fine on your own, Hyung.

“I saw Mr. Son on the way here. I think he comes to meet Mr. Choi.”

Jinki’s whisper snapped Taemin out of his thought. He quickly gave his full attention to Jinki who had just arrived.

“He moves so fast. I guess he is impatient,” Taemin said.

“Can you at least explain to me further?” Jinki complained in annoyance. “I feel like I’m in the dark every time.”

Taemin chuckled. “What do you mean, when you’re the only person whom I tell everything?”

“But why is it still so hard for me to understand your moves?”

“You’re just too pure-minded,” Taemin patted Jinki’s head, making fun of him. Seeing his hyung sulking, Taemin started to explain, “You know that Mr. Son has tried to marry his daughter off to me, right? Well, now he knows that I’m not interested in marrying his daughter, and that I want to marry Minho.”

“And?” Jinki pressed.

“He needs a good marriage to save his business. He only has two choices, run to Lee Family or Choi Family. He has tried to come to us, but it failed. Now, he will go to his second choice, the Choi Family.”

Jinki frowned. “Wait, what if his marriage proposal gets accepted? Won’t it mean Minho will marry Son Naeun-ssi?”

“No, he won’t,” Taemin said confidently. “The thing Minho won’t do for his family is a forced marriage.”

“Why are you so confident? You’ve seen how loyal he is to his family.”

“That’s why I need to break that loyalty. By driving him to the edge,” Taemin explained patiently. He knew that man would break anytime soon. He had had years suppressing his feelings, and regarding to the information Taemin obtained, it exploded the first time when Choi Family broke him apart with his boyfriend at Japan. Minho seemed to love him so much, this Cho Kyuhyun man. But they broke up at the end before Minho finally came back to Seoul and stayed loyal to Choi Family.

Taemin was sure, sooner or later, Minho would explode again.

The moment his father called him to his study, Minho knew something was off. His father rarely talked to him at home. Scratch that, his father even rarely talked to him at the company. That was why Minho knew right away that this would lead to a catastrophic event.

And he was right.

Minho didn’t know what to say when his father told him to marry the daughter of Son Family. He could only stay silent as his father stressed to him about how important this marriage was. For power, what else? To secure SHINee Inc. shares that Son Family had. His father was so threatened by the connection Mr. Lee had. The good relation between Lee Family and Kim Jongin family was enough to drive his father mad. Minho couldn’t—and didn’t bother to—understand why his father was so worked up with Lee Family. No, not worked up. Instead, Minho felt like he was scared of them. Like they would steal the company anytime.

But who cares? Wasn’t SHINee Inc. owned by Lee Family at first?

And for this ridiculous reason, he wanted Minho to marry the girl he didn’t love.

That’s why the more his father talked, the angrier Minho got.

“I heard it, Minho. Lee approached you to marry his son, right?” his father said. “He even wants to use you to attack me. We should build our defense well. Son Family might not be as powerful, but their support will be a help for us. It’s not like you need too much powerful spouse, anyway.”

Minho snickered in disbelief. Right. Here it was the second person who was suspected would steal The Choi Company: Minho himself.

Hearing his sneer, his father stared at him. Minho, who kept his eyes on the floor, finally looked up to stare back at his father.

“When will you stop?” Minho asked. He didn’t wait his father’s answer, and continued, “Haven’t I been obedient enough all these times? Isn’t it enough? Do you need to dictate whom I should marry as well?”

“Is that how you talk to a father who raised you?” his father’s tone went dangerously low.

Minho laughed. He laughed out loud, feeling the situation was hilarious. He didn’t care his father’s mad glare at him, and his outburst, “Have you lost your mind?”

“Am I supposed to have it? A mind? A thought? I’m just a puppet, right, Dad?” Minho emphasized the last word, dying to show his father that he was indeed his son too. “The puppet you brought when you desperately needed an heir, the rag you threw away the moment your rightful heir wasn’t dying anymore.”

“Minho, don’t cross your line!”

The words went ignored because Minho had gone off of his father’s study with furious steps. He slammed shut his bedroom door off as soon as he went inside. His blood was boiling as he kicked the wall over and over again.

For Minho, no matter how many times he used the word ‘family’, he knew had no family anymore since he was left by his mother to his father’s family at the age of 6. But he was naïve, so he innocently still hoped a family. He thought, the moment he got married, he would finally have a family on his own. When he dated Kyuhyun back then, Minho dreamed of a family with him, until it was ripped away. A few years later when he built a relationship with So Hee, he had planned to ask her to run away with him, especially when he knew So Hee was suffocated in her family just as much as he was. And once again, it was snatched away from him.

Now, his father wanted to take away the very last chance to have a real family from him. Only for power. And he knew he was expected to accept all of it because he owed the family who raised him. He had listened to same talk over and over again since he was a kid, how he should be grateful that he was allowed to have ‘Choi” in his name and raised as a Choi’s son, and how he should be ashamed and guilty to the family that his mother destroyed. But until when would he do this? Why must he go through this all of his life? What was his mistake anyway?

He didn’t choose to be born like this. He didn’t choose his parents.

Because if he could choose, knowing he lived only to be abandoned by his mother and to be tormented by his father’s family, he would choose not to be born at all.

The air was so fresh that Minho kept taking a deep breathe over and over again the moment he stepped out of his car. It had been a long time since he visited the hospital. It was hours’ drive away from Seoul. But Minho needed it right now. He couldn’t sleep. It had happened for days, since the fight he had with his father. His insomnia came back and he had run out of his medicine.

Minho waited for a while, waiting his name to be called. Bored, he took out his phone to play with it. And finally he saw it, an unread message from So Hee.

I heard you take a day off today. Are you okay?

The short message made Minho’s heart clench a bit. He sighed before he closed it and put his phone back to his pocket. He decided to ignore it. He had vowed to forget the younger woman the moment she tied knot with his brother, and responding to her concern wouldn’t help him. He had tried his best to ignore her at the office too, although it was quite hard because she worked right under him. But so far, he succeeded to treat her professionally, no matter how many time she tried to talk to him privately, made him a little mad. Why would she care about his well-being and try to talk to him after leaving him to marry his brother?

Minho was glad his name was called before his mind wandered too far. He quickly entered the room and was welcomed by the doctor, who was also his close friend, his close hyung. He was no other than Shim So Hee’s older brother, Shim Changmin. Changmin was the oldest son of Shim Family, but he decided to leave home, refused to take over the hospital his family owned due to his awareness of how dirty his family business worked, and went to work at the suburbs hospital like this. Unlike Shim Changsun who sided so much with Shim and Kim Family, Changmin was always kind. He was always close to Minho, not caring about his status. He was close to So Hee as well, although she was only his step-sister, whose mother could marry his father only because he accidently got her pregnant with So Hee. That was one of the sole reason why So Hee and his mother weren’t welcomed in the family, and why Minho could relate so much with her.

There was no one who knew Minho’s trouble of sleeping other than Changmin, not even Kibum. Minho asked the young psychiatrist to keep it secret, because he had felt pathetic enough with his situation, and knowing it affected him that much to the point hurting his mental health made Minho feel more hopeless. On top of that, Minho knew Kibum went through so much more than him. While Minho only suffered mentally, Kibum was hurt psychically too. That’s why Minho didn’t want to worry Kibum more.

The session went fast because no matter Changmin tried to dig more, Minho didn’t want to talk much. He impatiently waited Changmin to give his prescription, afraid the older guy would ask again why his insomnia relapsed. He sighed in relief when Changmin finally finished and handed out the paper to him.

“Thank you, Hyung,” Minho said as soon as he got what he needed.

“Minho-yah,” Changmin tried once again, “It has been a long time. Why suddenly?”

“Must be the stress. The work is so hectic right now,” Minho lied.

But Changmin didn’t buy it, instead, he hesitantly asked, “It’s not because of So Hee, is it?”

“No, Hyung,” Minho answered honestly, but his quick response sounded suspicious in Changmin’s ears.

“You know, Minho,” Changmin started. “She actually doesn’t want this. She has her reason and—”

“It doesn’t matter, Hyung,” Minho quickly cut Changmin off. He didn’t want to know her reason, because knowing it wouldn’t change anything. She was still married and Minho still needed to move on. Learning the reason behind it would only make it harder for Minho.

“It’s really not because of her,” Minho assured Changmin once again, before he left the worried psychiatrist.

With his medicine in his hand, Minho felt a bit relieved. He knew he couldn’t depend on it, but at least for the time being, he could sleep. Just until it got better, Minho promised himself.

Suddenly, Minho’s eyes caught a familiar figure coming out from one of the doctor’s room, followed by an old doctor. He contemplated for awhile before deciding it would be rude not to greet, so he approached the person.

“Mr. Lee,” Minho greeted as soon as their eyes met.

Mr. Lee was taken aback seeing Minho. “Minho, I don’t expect seeing you here!”

“Me neither,” Minho hesitantly said as he glanced to the sign displayed next to the door. Why would Mr. Lee visit a cancer specialist?

“Mr. Lee…” the doctor called worriedly, like they were caught red-handed. It made Minho become more suspicious. But Mr. Lee just nodded at the doctor, gesturing it was okay.

“It’s okay, Doctor Kang,” Mr. Lee said. “You can go back, you must be very busy.”

Minho just stood there confusedly, watching the two close old men bid goodbye to each other. But Minho knew he had no right to pry. Although Minho was dying to know, he held back his question and walked beside Mr. Lee in silence.

“What a pleasant surprise meeting you here, Minho. Are you just about to go home?” Mr. Lee asked friendly.

“Yes, Sir,” Minho answered, but his mind wondered if Mr. Lee had heard his rejection of his marriage proposal. “How about you, Sir?”

“I’ll wait here for a bit. Taemin is going to pick me up, but he is held back for a bit,” Mr. Lee said. “You can go ahead, it’s okay.”

“But it will be hours, Sir. Why don’t you just ride back with me?” Minho kindly offered.

“It’s fine, really, Minho. I don’t want to trouble you.”

“No, of course not. I’m going back to Seoul anyway,” Minho insisted. He couldn’t just leave an old man alone. Lee Taemin, how could you make your old father wait like this? Minho thought as he added another things on his “why-he-hates-Lee-Taemin” list.

“Thank you, Minho,” Mr. Lee finally gave in.

Minho politely led Mr. Lee to his car. Both of them got in and Minh started to drive off silently. The ride was a little awkward at first, but Mr. Lee was very friendly that the stiff atmosphere started to melt. They talked about a lot of things, mostly about business, but honestly, Minho’s mind still stuck on what he had found at the hospital earlier.

“I bet you’re curious why I was there, hmm?” Mr. Lee caught on.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” Minho embarrassedly admitted. It seemed he couldn’t hide his curiosity from his face.

“Whatever in your mind, it’s right,” Mr. Lee said softly. “I lately just found out that I have cancer. It’s found late, and it has spread quite greatly.”

Minho gripped his steering wheel hard. It was a great shock for him knowing this kind man was sick. “Do…Jinki-ssi and Taemin-ssi…”

“Yes, they already know,” Mr. Lee told him. “As soon as they know, they went straight back home, to Seoul.”

“Actually, this is the reason why I want to marry Taemin off as soon as possible,” Mr. Lee chuckled. “I will feel relieved if Taemin has someone by his side. He can’t rely on Jinki forever, and as much as he is a strong man, I’ll be much more eased if he has someone to lean on. So when I’m gone later…”

“I’m sure it still can be treated, Sir,” Minho quickly said.

Mr. Lee shook his head. “Unfortunately, my old body can’t take the treatment. I just wait around, I don’t know when I will lose the fight.”

Minho went silent. He didn’t know the appropriate response for this, to the person telling him that he was dying. So he was glad when Mr. Lee continued talking, because the silence slowly felt suffocating and depressing.

“I’m sorry, Minho,” Minho was surprised by Mr. Lee’s apology.

“What for, Sir?”

“Do you get trouble with your family? Regarding my marriage proposal to you?”

“No, Sir. No,” Minho lied right away, but it was useless. Minho was always a bad liar.

“It’s selfish of me,” Mr. Lee sighed. “Proposing to you knowing the relationship my family has with your family. It’s not a surprise you reject it.”

So he knew, Minho thought.

“Sir?” Minho dared himself to ask, the question he was dying to know. “Why me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you choose me?” Minho asked, confused. “I…I have no power. I don’t have anything. Why…do you choose me?”

“Beside the fact that Taemin himself said that he likes you and wants to marry you?” Mr. Lee laughed, looked at Minho with the warm gaze Minho longed but never got. “Because you’re a good person, Minho.”

“I’m not a good person,” Minho denied quietly. I am just a child of a sinner.

“Well, you’re just too humble,” Mr. Lee shook his head. “Honestly, I wasn’t too sure and too happy when Taemin chose you. But when I saw you at the meeting, I like you right away. You’re bright, and you have integrity. When we discussed about the penthouse’s plan, you laid out every analysis you had, and do you know what surprise me the most? You didn’t leave out the locals who live around the mall. You thought about what would happen to them, how they would be forced to leave their houses, if the construction was done. At that time, I was sure Taemin chose the right man.”

Hearing the praise, Minho never felt more embarrassed in his life. He was completely ashamed, because what he said, all of his arguments that day, solely were for attacking Minhyuk’s plan. He did think about the locals, but not as much and as noble as Mr. Lee said. Mr. Lee thought too highly of him.

“I will be very happy if someone like you can be Taemin’s husband, Minho,” Mr. Lee continued. “But still, it’s selfish of me. You have every right to marry someone you actually love, to build a happy family.”

“A family…” Minho thought, not realizing he spoke it loudly.

“Yes, Minho, a family,” Mr. Lee answered him. “As much as I want you to be Taemin’s family when I’m gone later…”

“At least Taemin has Jinki with him,” Minho said.

“Jinki also deserves his own family. Both of them…will be alone the moment I pass away later,” Mr. Lee replied sadly.

Minho didn’t respond on that. His head was a mess. Mostly, he felt sad for them. It was ridiculous because he had his own share of pain. Who was he to feel bad for people like Mr. Lee, Taemin, and Jinki who at least had a warm family right now? But thinking about the future, Minho’s heart clenched. Losing the family they had once owned, wouldn’t it be more painful? Like how Minho experienced it years ago, the first time he became a Choi Minho instead of Han Minho. A family…could Minho really be a family for Taemin?

The routine visit was boring for Minho. He used to do it with So Hee, analyzing the mall from floor to floor while discussing excitedly. Now, he refused So Hee’s company and chose to do it alone. He had a lot of his minds already, he didn’t need his past relationship to add more mess in it.

The talk Minho had with Mr. Lee couldn’t leave Minho’s mind. He had promised Mr. Lee not to tell anyone about his illness. He understood completely it would stir unnecessary attention to his family and company, and Mr. Lee didn’t want that. But, what really messed Minho’s mind was Mr. Lee sincere thoughts about him, and Mr. Lee’s wish of him to be his son family when he was gone.

“Hi, Minho.”

Oh, speak of the devil.

“Taemin-ssi,” Minho politely greeted Taemin whom Minho didn’t know since when had walked beside him.

“Are you busy?” Taemin timidly asked, surprising Minho a bit.

Where did the overconfident, cocky brat go?

“Why?” Minho suspiciously asked back.

“Nothing, I just…” Taemin stopped walking to look at Minho properly, and Minho didn’t understand himself who followed Taemin by halting his steps as well. “I just want to thank you, for giving my father a ride yesterday.”

“It’s nothing,” Minho awkwardly said. “I also needed to go back to Seoul anyway.”

Taemin shook his head. “But still…at least Dad wouldn’t need to wait for me for hours. There was a problem at the company and—”

“It’s really fine, Taemin-ssi,” Minho cut the younger boy off. Taemin was obviously frustrated, and he clearly didn’t want to make his father wait. At least, this annoying guy really cared for his father, Minho thought. It seemed he could cross out one of the reason from his list of why he hate Lee Taemin so much.

“Thank you,” Taemin thank him once again shyly.

They walked in silence for awhile, before this time, Minho was the one who stopped walking. Taemin stopped as well, turned to the taller guy with a confused expression. Minho looked at Taemin deeply, staring into the gorgeous man’s eyes.

“Taemin-ssi, tell me honestly, why do you want to marry me?”

Taemin blinked, then without much thinking, he said, “Because I like you?”

Minho sighed, feeling stupid to think that he could have a decent conversation with the boy in front of him. He started walking again, but Taemin quickly stopped him.

“Wait, wait,” Taemin grabbed Minho’s arms.

“I don’t have time for your non-sense.”

“No, no, listen,” Taemin stubbornly held onto Minho’s arms. “Alright, you’re right. I don’t like you in a way like crazily falling in love with you. But I really do like you. As a fellow human. I like you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re a good person, Minho.”

Minho’s mind instantly went back to Mr. Lee’s words. Why did these people think of him as a good person? They barely knew him, yet they kept telling him that he was a good person.

“And,” Taemin continued as he got no response from Minho, “You remind me a lot of someone I love.”

“Who?” Minho curiously asked before he could stop himself.

“My father,” Taemin smiled cheerfully. Minho gave him a doubtful stare, which he ignored. “No matter how unfair you’re treated, you hold on your good nature and keep being kind. You have a great loyalty. On top of it, you’re willing to do anything to protect someone important for you.”

“Wow, you talk as if you know me since forever,” Minho scoffed by Taemin’s words.

“Well…” Taemin started carefully, “I did read about your life, so I kind of knowing your life since forever, right?”

Minho brushed his brown hair in frustration. “Right. Silly me.”

“Alright, despite me knowing you through this…questionable method, I really did think of you like that.”

“I don’t believe your sweet talk,” Minho still held his suspicious gaze on Taemin. For him, everything about this man seemed suspicious.

“It’s an honest opinion! I mean, aren’t you like that? I know you beat up those guys who bullied Kim Kibum back then at junior high school just because he’s gay. And I know you gave up your career at Japan and went back to Seoul to protect your boyfriend who got threatened by your family all the times.”

Minho went silent by Taemin’s words, taken aback on how well Taemin knew his life. He knew he shouldn’t be, but he felt kind of good hearing all the nice words Taemin said about him, something he never really heard before. A compliment.

The smaller guy looked at him, waiting his reaction, a little bit nervous although he tried hard to cover it. Minho still caught it anyway. He was sure Taemin clearly still remembered the cold shoulder Minho gave him after their not-so-successful talk last time.

Sighing, Minho’s hand pointed to one of the jewelry stores in front of them. Taemin frowned, feeling confused, asking him in silence.

“You choose the ring. But please, nothing too flashy.”

Taemin is a lil bit evil but he doesn't really know how much it affects Minho emotionally.

At the end, Minho gave in not because of his sly moves, but because of his and his father's kind words.

Today's chapter star is Minho, so no Onkey. But we already get many sweet Onkey moments so far, right?

I'm sure I make an error here and there, I'll come back later to check.

I hope you enjoy and please drop me some comments!

XOXO