There were three distinct things running through Taemin’s mind when he first stepped out of the Melbourne airport.

1. It was hot. Really hot. He had been shedding layers like an onion ever since the flight from Seoul took off, knowing he was travelling to a different hemisphere altogether where he had to face summer from the harsh winter of his hometown, but nothing had prepared him for the burning under his skin.

2. Jinki. He had not arrived to see him off. Taemin should feel hurt, but he knew he would have done the same in his place. It could not be easy to bid farewell to your boyfriend of three years and ex-boyfriend of two days before he went off to study in Australia, and stay there. Possibly, forever.

3. How bright the smile of the man in front of him was. He looked like the personification of what Taemin imagined Australia as. Tanned, built, tall and friendly.

“I am Choi Minho,” the man beamed, “I took up the initiative on behalf of the student council to pick you up from the airport,” Minho pulled up Taemin’s luggage before he had a moment to object, “I got assigned from the university to help you around the dorm and classes. I think it’s because I am the only Korean on campus who can still speak Korean fluently,” he whispered conspiratorially, as if Taemin and he were long time friends already.

Taemin was immediately mesmerised.

“I’m Lee Taemin,” he spoke softly as Minho loaded his bags in the car. He always liked people like Minho, who took up a lot of space, a lot of energy. It helped him feel less responsible in pushing a conversation around.

“Nice to meet you Taemin. Is it alright if I call you that?” Minho smiled like he was constantly in a toothpaste advertisement. It was endearing, even if a bit intimidating.

“Sure.”

“The university is an hour’s drive away. I hope you don’t mind,” he said once they were seated and on their way. Taemin didn’t care, he was just happy for the air conditioning.

“It’s not like I have an option,” Taemin pointed out, giggling at Minho’s sheepish expression.

“You’re right,” he admitted, a little embarrassed, “I kind of forget how to act around pretty people.”

Taemin blinked. Though being called pretty by near strangers was not a new experience, it had never been said to him with such earnestness.

“So how good is your english?” Minho swiftly moved past, as if the last sentence had not even been said.

“Uh. Passable. I took the exam to get here. My spoken English is not that good- I didn't get anyone to practice.”

Minho shrugged, “That’s fine, you’ll pick it up in no time.”

“Sooner better than later,” he murmured. It was one of his biggest insecurities as a foreign student after all, but he decided to shift the topic from himself, “Are you fluent? You seem like you are from here,” Taemin asked curiously.

“That obvious huh?” he grinned, “My family moved to Sydney from Seoul when I was fifteen. I studied there, and am now doing my masters in Melbourne just like you.”

“Actually, I am here as a research scholar.”

“What?” Minho’s eyes bulged, “No way. You’re younger than me right?”

“I don’t know how old you are.”

“Right, right,” he said absentmindedly, making Taemin laugh onto the sleeve of his long sleeved shirt. Minho glanced at him from the corner of his eye and smiled, “I am twenty-five.”

“Twenty-four. Before you freak out- I skipped a few grades in school.”

“Ah well. It’s still young here. Most people do their master degrees after working or taking gap years. I worked for a few years myself before going back to uni.”

Taemin nodded. Taemin’s age wasn’t too unusual to be a research scholar in his country, but he could see how it might be different here.

“So why did you come to Australia? It’s quite different from Korea.”

Taemin knew. He wanted different. He needed it.

He hummed noncommittally, and Minho for all his talkativeness, seemed more sensitive than he let on, falling quiet at Taemin’s sudden change in mood. Taemin was grateful.

“We’re here,” Minho said, parking in front of the building- Geology department emblazoned in big metallic lettering.

“Thank you so much for picking me up,” Taemin bowed his head out of habit, “I’d be pretty lost otherwise.”

The campus was huge. Everything in Australia was larger than life. Taemin came from a place of tiny offices, tiny apartments, tiny lives. It would take getting used to.

“No problem at all. That’s why I’m here aren’t I? But we are not through yet- I still have to show you your dorm.”

Taemin tried to mirror Minho’s smile.

“Wow you got a whole room for yourself," Minho said in awe, placing his bags in the centre of the room. He had carried them all the way from the car despite Taemin's protests, and well, Taemin would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed the show of flexing biceps in Minho's sleeveless shirt. Taemin might be slightly numb from feeling attraction but he still had eyes.

"Perks of being a research scholar I guess," Taemin teased, but in reality he was a bit dumbfounded too. A room this size would easily be a good apartment in Seoul. Big living space, window with a view- it already felt freeing.

"Research scholar? That's incredible."

Taemin turned around to the sharp voice coming from the doorway, finding a man with dyed blonde hair leaning against the frame, stylishly dressed. He could easily be walking down a street in Seoul and Taemin wouldn't have blinked twice, but here, among neutral toned t-shirts and tracksuits, he was striking.

"Hi! I'm Kim Kibum. I'm also Minho's roommate," he extended his hand. Another Korean. Taemin shook hands in confusion. All he had seen ever since he stepped foot into a foreign country were Koreans. Taemin's bewilderment must have been obvious from the way he turned to look at Minho.

"Australian universities can be a bit," Minho looked like he was at a loss for words, "They tend to categorise people. Country, looks- and all. We were roommates in our undergraduate as well."

Kibum snorted, "That's putting it mildly."

Maybe their countries weren't so different after all.

There were two things Taemin quickly found out over dinner.

1. He missed food from back home. Everything tasted vaguely bland here.

2. Minho and Kibum fought. A lot.

“He said he’s the only one who can speak decent Korean?” Kibum asked, appalled, a french fry dangling from his hands as he waved it around, “Choi you’re such a liar.”

“I’m not,” Minho defended, “Am I not right? What do you think Taemin?”

“I-” Minho’s Korean was definitely better than Kibum’s, but his’ was not bad either. More like broken enough to be chic for a foreigner, but not bad enough to be made fun of. Taemin thought it was impressive for someone born and brought up in Australia, unlike Minho.

Taemin’s phone rang before he could answer the same. It was Jinki. He wondered how he got his Australian number already- probably from his mom. Either way, it served as the perfect outlet for him to excuse himself from the conversation.

“Hello Taemin,” Jinki’s voice was as soft as ever, and Taemin felt like crying at the back of the restaurant. He missed his gentleness, he missed the familiarity. Minho and Kibum were better first acquaintances than he could have ever hoped for, but he was still hit with homesickness, and Jinki’s voice was home.

“Hi Jinki,” he tried to keep the sadness out of his words. Taemin could not be acting like the heartbroken one when he was the one to initiate the break up, and move away. No matter how much Jinki was also aware of their relationship dying for months now, Taemin had not attempted to revive it either.

He heard a sigh on the other end of the line.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you off at the airport. It was childish of me. I regret it now.”

Taemin didn’t think Jinki had a childish bone in his body. Maybe when he smiled, or did something intentionally mischievous to make Taemin laugh. But never pettiness.

“It’s fine. I’ll still come back home sometimes. We can see each other then.”

They both knew Taemin was lying.

“How’s Australia?” He asked instead.

“It’s fine. Really hot,” Taemin glanced at the window, where he could see Minho and Kibum laughing together, “I think I might have made some friends.”

“That’s great,” Jinki knew how difficult it was for him to do that right off the bat.

“Yeah.”

They were silent for a minute. Just hearing each other’s breathing, not knowing what to say next. Taemin thought it would be a good time to get back to his dinner.

“I should-”

“Hey Taemin?”

He quickly closed his mouth, humming to let Jinki know he was listening.

“I am happy for you. I didn’t get to say it that day, but I know how big of an opportunity this is. I don’t think there’s a better country to study geology in than in Australia,” he chuckled lightly, “You’re doing great. I am proud of you.”

Taemin could not keep the sniffle out of his voice this time.

“Thank you Jinki.”

“Family?” Minho asked once he was at their table again.

“Something like that.”

In his haste of getting out of Seoul, Taemin had not thought a few things through. Mainly-

1. English was hard. He was now faced with textbooks and lectures purely in it and he was having a hard time keeping up. His masters degree felt like a complete waste- Australia had a more in depth syllabi for geology, a very given situation considering the diversity of flora and fauna, but it still had him stressed. No wonder the university had him attending classes with the postgrad students faster than he could pronounce the word research.

2. He was homesick. Really homesick. It had only been a month here but he missed it when he did not have to introduce himself by his country. He also missed not being hit on so openly, at least back home people were more conservative about their word choices. If he had to hear a man asking him to come over to his room one more time Taemin would actually rip out their throat.

He was relaying this exact thought to Minho and Kibum in the evening when they congregated in his room to study together, which had soon turned into a how much can Taemin rant before he became hungry, session.

“I did not know you had a violent streak. You always looked so innocent,” Kibum cackled maniacally. The sound of his laughter was kind of funny- it had Taemin smiling too.

“Yeah well hearing that day in and day out can bring out violence in anybody,” Minho commented, arms holding Kibum for support while the other doubled over laughing.

Taemin watched their interaction carefully. They looked comfortable with each other. The kind of comfort that only really happened when you were intimate with the person. Jinki and he had taken absolute months to build up that sort of bodily confidence. Had Taemin really misjudged their relationship?

"Are you two dating?" Taemin asked bluntly.

Minho's face turned tomato red while Kibum's laughter increased.

"No, no we are not," Minho denied, and Kibum looked at Taemin with interest.

"You have really keen eyes, Taemin."

Taemin glanced down at his textbook shyly, absentmindedly reading through the passage narrating the different rock formations native to Australia.

"I've just been introverted all my life. It's a handy tool to know how to observe people."

Kibum smiled, "It's a good talent to have. You're right in a way- we did not date, but we hooked up a lot."

"That was years ago," Minho immediately quipped.

"What he means is we were both young and gay-," Kibum rolled his eyes, "-he wanted to explore his uality but he looked so heteroual only ladies approached him. I helped out."

Minho squawked. Kibum ignored him.

"And it never got complicated?" Taemin asked in surprise.

"No god no," Kibum snorted.

Taemin looked at Minho's stoic expression and sudden silence. One of them definitely didn’t agree with that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude-" Taemin started once Kibum excused himself to get snacks from the vending machine down the hallway.

Minho shook his head, "It’s alright. I don't have feelings for him anymore, but I have always been told I am an open book,” he chuckled self-deprecatingly, “So it’s in the past, but it is sometimes still hurtful to hear about. It's kind of funny how you figured it out so quickly, and he still has no idea."

"Sometimes people who know us the longest turn blind to our feelings."

Taemin was speaking from experience after all.

Minho hummed in agreement.

"You're quite a private person aren't you?"

"I try not to be," Taemin replied,"I'm working on it--"

"--Okay I got Tim Tams for Taemin. I have a feeling he'll like how sweet it is," Kibum announced, walking into the room again.

Minho shared a knowing smile with Taemin while Kibum fussed about, like they were both in on a secret others weren't. It made him feel a strange kinship with him, and Taemin thought he wouldn't mind forging a friendship with Minho deeper than just attending classes and studying together, if only he had the courage to open up.

"Lee Taemin!"

Two months into the semester and Taemin was still not used to his mentor calling out his name as harshly- especially when it came from a white man who certainly had a bias against him.

I'm doing this for the love of science, he repeatedly told himself in his head while Taemin heard the professor bark out instructions and point out all the ways in which Taemin's previous education lacked. While he had to admit he had limited field training, he was pretty sure there was a little bit of racism at play here, and he had no option but to listen.

But he did not feel like remembering this supposed love of science when he walked into Minho's room after the meeting, dejected.

"What's wrong?" Minho immediately asked, a pout on his lips at Taemin's upset face.

Minho brandished his emotions so transparently it was amusing to watch, but also admirable. Taemin thought he could take a page or two out of his book.

“I have to go to the Amadeus basin.”

“Huh? You mean the area around Uluru rock?” Minho closed the book he was reading, sitting up, “All of a sudden?”

Uluru rock was only the large tectonic formation jutting out the huge prehistoric seabed that was the Amadeus basin, but good enough. It only spoke for the popularity of the site.

Taemin plopped down next to him on the bed, huffing his bangs out of his eyes. Kibum had recently dyed Taemin’s hair a blueish green- and he was glad he had allowed him to. The look made him seem intimidating, and it was a nice reminder that he wasn’t in Seoul anymore- where his university would never allow him with such a bright, unnatural colour. Though living in a foreign country was not going as well as he had imagined, he could at least have this.

Minho was staring at him when Taemin turned to face him, and he ignored the shiver down his spine at having the attention of those round, soft eyes. Taemin wondered how many people fell at Minho’s feet for it. He himself had to take a moment to find his voice to answer back.

“I need to collect samples, and then conduct a petrographic study and chemical analysis on them and make a study on how the rocks in the area indicate towards it’s petroleum richness. All to prove that I can handle my own research and thesis.”

“I am pretty sure you know how to do a chemical analysis- even I do and I’m only in my first year of postgrad. So what's the point?”

Taemin sighed, “Beats me. I’ve always wanted to see Uluru anyway, don't get me wrong, it’s monolithic structure--” he spread his hands to gesture how big the sandstone formation was, making Minho laugh, “--is fascinating- but it's not Uluru that’s the point. I have to do the boring work- collect soil and rocks from whatever town around it. At least I hope that’s what he meant.”

Minho hummed in thought, “Alice Springs would be good enough. It’s the petroleum plant town, and the closest one to Uluru, so you can do both your work and some sightseeing. How much time do you have till you have to submit the assignment?”

“About a month and a half. My guide gave me some time to figure it out since I’m new to the country,” Taemin said sarcastically, and Minho snorted.

“How generous of him.”

"I don't know what to do now," Taemin groaned. He was still taking those additional classes, and enjoyed them to a certain extent- he was learning after all, so he'd have to miss them too.

"Are you going back home for the Easter holidays?"

"Huh?"

"We have Easter holidays in like two weeks. Didn't you know?"

Taemin hadn't really looked at a calendar ever since he had arrived in February. Australian semester dates were strange enough to him as it was.

"I didn't," he admitted, "Besides I don't have the money to go back home on a whim."

Taemin omitted the part where he probably wouldn't have gone even if he did.

"That's great," Minho went bug eyed when Taemin shot him a strange look, "No no I don't mean the part where you don't have enough money, I meant the part where you're free."

Taemin chuckled. Minho was adorable.

"You think I should go down there during the break? That's not a bad idea, I just need to figure out transport-"

"I have a car."

"I don't have an Australian license."

"No- I mean, I'll take you."

"Minho, how long is the drive to the Amadeus Basin area? Isn't it basically most of the Northern territory and we are literally in the South?" He asked incredulously.

"Thirty hours probably? I went to Uluru once with my family and we started out from Sydney so--” his forehead creased as he calculated, “--from Melbourne it might be slightly shorter."

"Thirty hours?" Taemin balked. In thirty hours Taemin could probably drive around the circumference of the Republic of Korea twice, "Won't taking a flight be easier?"

"Yeah but what's the fun in that? Let's make a road trip out of it!" Minho smiled.

Taemin opened his mouth. Closed it. In the end, he just chose to gape. Did Minho offer thirty hour road trips to people he barely knew on a regular basis?

Minho patted his shoulder, standing up, "We'll iron out the details later. You'll get an opportunity to finally see the country and I'll have a vacation. It won't be too bad."

"Where are you going?" Taemin croaked out, watching him putter about the room for shoes and his bag.

"The gym!" He grinned, "Want to come with?"

Taemin all but ran out of the room to the sound of Minho's booming laughter.

Taemin noted down three things when they started out on their trip-

1. Minho and his definition of cold wildly differed. April was supposed to be an Autumn month, and the other was excited to set out in such pleasant weather. Taemin did not find the sticky hot car seats very pleasant.

2. Minho looked really attractive while driving. This was less of a point but more of a mental beration to himself. Taemin should not be ualising simple activities like driving- but then again, he had eyes. He could still appreciate it.

3. There was little to no network coverage after a certain point. Either Taemin had to learn how to read a map properly in a few hours or accept the fact that he and Minho would be jumped by a kangaroo when their gas ran out.

Speaking of kangaroos, Taemin had finally spotted one, and he was ecstatic. It had been a while since he had felt such childlike joy. Minho seemed quite jaded to it, which was really such a shame. Though, sitting in a car for six hours at a stretch was testing Taemin's appreciation too. He never had much patience for road trips, but he decided not to complain because for one, Minho was doing a huge favour to him enough as it was, and secondly, he didn't know Minho well enough to gauge how he would take to his whining. He had smiled indulgently enough when Taemin ranted in University, but it was different when you were the sole driver of a thirty hour road trip, considering Taemin did not know how to handle a left hand drive.

“Does it usually take this long?” He started meekly, “To get to another city?”

Minho chuckled, as if he was aware of his misery. Taemin tried hard not to stare at the perfect slope of his jaw.

“It usually does, plus we have to do all the driving in the daylight, so a road trip becomes longer honestly.”

“Are the roads not safe at night?”

“Roadkill. There’s way too many animals who pass by on the highways and it's really hard to see them at night. It’s less of a problem now, but when we get to the Outback it's a pretty serious thing.”

Minho laughed at Taemin’s stunned silence.

“Culture shock?” He teased.

“That’s an understatement,” Taemin muttered.

“But we’ll take a small break, don't worry- Murray Bridge is four more hours away,” Minho briefly checked the map laid out on Taemin’s lap. Taemin was useless at giving directions and he was glad Minho had picked up on it pretty quickly, “So that means we must be around Dadswell Bridge. We’ll make a stop there and stretch our legs.”

“You are doing all the driving here and being far too considerate of my condition.”

“I am used to it. You, on the other hand, have been squirming after the first three hours.”

Taemin found no malice or judgement in his words, just plain concern.

He blushed, “Sorry, I hadn’t realised it was that noticeable.”

Minho flashed him a reassuring smile, eyes as warm as the weather.

“It’s not a problem.”

Once again, Taemin wondered why Minho had embarked on this trip, when he could be spending time with his family in Sydney and not here with an introverted acquaintance who was of no help. Maybe Minho wasn’t such an open book after all.

“Is that--” Taemin gaped, “is that a giant statue of a Koala?”

“Pretty cool huh?”

Taemin raised his face to truly take in the size- it was easily twelve metres tall, probably more, and he felt tiny in front of it. He had never even seen an actual koala in real life, but here he was, in front of a stone one.

"You've never seen a koala? We have to go to this koala park then- maybe not on this trip but definitely soon."

"Huh?" Taemin jumped in surprise, "Did I say that out loud?"

"No, Taemin. I can read your thoughts," Minho said with a deadpan face and then burst out laughing at his expression, “Oh my god you should see your face. Don’t worry, I can’t read minds. I don’t think I’d want to even if someone offered me the ability.”

“I sometimes space out too much and lose my brain to mouth filter,” he stammered, a little embarrassed.

“It’s okay,” Minho was constantly reassuring him today and Taemin wanted to crawl in a hole. What was wrong with him and why was he acting like a robot trying to be human.

Minho cleared his throat when Taemin’s awkwardness became more obvious, “Anyway, want me to take a pic of you? You can make all your friends back home jealous.”

Taemin doubted that- he had pretty much ghosted the few friends he had and Jinki probably would not be thrilled to look at photos of him at the moment, not to mention Taemin hadn’t caught up with his older close friend Jonghyun in what was probably months.

But he couldn’t turn down Minho. Taemin was a weak man.

He posed for a few pictures, wheezing at how Minho acted like a professional photographer- bending down, stretching his legs, almost laying flat on the ground to find an angle that would make Taemin look taller.

“You have a nice laugh,” Minho said softly when he handed him his phone back.

Heat rose up in Taemin’s cheeks at the compliment, and he found it best not to mention that it was the most he had laughed in a while.

It was almost dark when they finally rolled up in the motel at Murray Bridge, a fairly clean one with fresh sheets and good running water- which would become more and more of a luxury the closer they were to the Outback, Minho mentioned. Taemin’s was honestly sore, and not for the right reasons either, he thought dishearteningly.

“Get up lazyhead- I’m done showering and you haven’t even changed clothes yet.”

Taemin groaned, face sinking deeper on the pillows, “Can’t I just sleep?”

Minho laughed, sitting down on the bed next to him, “You sure can, but you’ll regret it later.”

Taemin knew Minho was right, but he couldn’t help but whine anyway, turning to look at the other in the single bed next to him, and instantly regretted it.

Minho was very shirtless, and very seriously focused on the popping messages on his phone now that they finally had wifi. Taemin was glad for the fact that he was concentrated enough to not notice Taemin staring pretty boldly. Minho had a good physique- a really good one. Muscled but lean in a way that made it apparent they were acquired from athleticism, and not just incessant hours at the gym.

When Minho finally looked up, Taemin still hadn't made a move to get out of bed, thankfully not staring at Minho's chest anymore but at his own phone, feeling a bit dismal at the lack of messages. The last one was from his mother ten hours ago, asking if they had taken enough food for the trip.

"Hey Taemin?" Minho drew his attention back to him, and Taemin frowned at how unsure his tone was, "You are not uncomfortable right? We can still book a flight if you need to- I just realised I sort of forced you into a road trip not knowing how on board you are with things like this?" He chuckled nervously.

Minho must have mistaken the cause for Taemin's gloominess.

Taemin had a lump in his throat when he spoke, "No- please. I keep worrying about inconveniencing you with this. I'm fine, I really am, I just need a little time to adjust."

Minho smiled and nodded, reassured by Taemin's simple and honest words. For all his perfection and goofiness, there was a layer of uncertainty that simmered beneath Choi Minho, and Taemin felt upset that there were people who had made him feel that way in some point of his life.

When he got back from the shower after the good part of an hour, Minho was deep asleep, mouth slightly ajar and snoring, and Taemin felt affection blooming in his chest for his new friend.

“Your music taste is….”

“Questionable?” Minho completed the sentence for him, laughing, “You aren’t the first one to tell me that.”

“Kibum?” Taemin guessed.

The other nodded, “But he doesn’t have much to judge me on either. His music taste primarily consists of kpop girl groups.”

From what he knew about Kibum, Taemin was not surprised even one bit.

“I mean? They’re at least danceable?” He offered. Though he didn’t listen much to kpop himself, he was at least not too fond of Justin Bieber, unlike Minho.

“I mean, sure. Do you dance a lot?” Minho shot back.

Taemin loved to dance. It was one of the only things that made him feel alive, besides science- which was ironic since he had picked the branch of it that had him study dead things. He usually went to dance in clubs, sometimes with his classmates, sometimes alone- he didn’t mind either way. It was easy to get lost in the music, to lose all the piling pressure on him in the thumping bass. When will you get a job Taemin? What’s next? More studying? Don’t you want to settle down soon? I want little kids to run after while I still can! - The last one had been from his mother.

Jinki had never liked going out like that- he wasn’t one for loud noises and crowded areas, and in a way, it had driven them even further apart. While Jinki powered through his career in finance, Taemin felt like a child, petulant and stubborn. Stuck. Lost.

“Hey,” Minho tapped on his thigh, “I think you spaced out again.”

“Sorry,” Taemin mumbled, “Yeah, I like to dance.”

“We should all go out sometime then. Melbourne’s no Seoul, but we have decent nightlife.”

Taemin smiled. He’d like that.

He looked out at the road, still green with shrubbery. They were fast approaching Central Australia, after which it would all be mostly barren. Despite his discomfort earlier on the trip, Taemin was much more relaxed today, after a long breakfast and a later start time since the next city was only five hours away. Minho looked more in ease as well, humming songs under his breath and nodding along to the beat while driving. It was nice to see. He seemed so happy and carefree- a nice contrast to the tight lines and anxious faces Taemin was used to. But Taemin knew better than to take that at face value, when in reality, there was not much he knew about Minho.

“So what do you like to do? Besides basketball, soccer, the gym I mean?” Small talk. Taemin could manage that.

“Me?” Minho laughed, “I am a simple man really. Nothing much. I write songs sometimes I guess,” his voice turned hesitant at the end, as if it was something he didn’t tell many people.

“Lyrics? Or Composing?” He asked softly, like Minho was a deer who would skitter away if he was too loud.

“Both,” Minho replied sheepishly, “Simple tunes. On my guitar.”

“I’d like to hear them sometime, if you want of course.”

“Sure,” he agreed easily, smiling at Taemin’s genuineness, “I brought my guitar with me, maybe tomorrow though. We’ll camp out tomorrow.”

“Camp?”

“Have you ever watched Mad Max?”

Taemin failed to see how that was relevant to the conversation but he nodded anyway. He had a weird action sci-fi movie phase at the end of high school, so he knew most of those movies.

“Tomorrow we’ll drive to Coober Pedy, that’s where most of the movie was shot. They have places to camp there so I thought it’d be cool to try that.”

“You mean like the people living underground?”

Minho chuckled, “Yeah. They live underground because of the extreme heat, which is why I was so happy we started now, because otherwise there is no way we would be able to drive and walk around there.”

All of this felt so well planned out, and Taemin let him know as such.

“Actually, I would have gone for a trip anyway. Alone probably,” Minho sighed, “So your assignment just came at a perfect time.”

Curiosity tugged at Taemin’s lips.

“Wouldn’t you have gone back home?”

The kind laugh lines around Minho’s eyes tightened, making him appear older, and weary.

“I don’t think I am welcome anymore.”

Taemin, while sometimes blunt and pushy, understood when a conversation was over, and he nodded, eyes resting on the passing scenery again.

He even let Minho play Peaches on loop thrice. Justin Bieber was a small price to pay for the smile on Minho’s face.

“We’re in the Outback baby!” Minho yelled, arms outstretched. A sole crow cawed in the silence.

Taemin burst out laughing.

Minho spluttered, pretending to be offended before joining him too.

“God, at least let me see how the picture turned out,” Minho demanded, gently taking his phone from Taemin’s outstretched hand.

Taemin knew the picture was bad since his hand had shook, but it was still amusing to watch Minho’s face switch from anticipation, to shock, to resignation. Minho looked practically like a summer wear model with his pushed up black hair and white tank top, reflected nicely on the red sand characteristic of the Australian outback- it was just that he was posing in front of a Hollywood-esque stilt sign announcing they were in Coober Pedy, and spouting cheesy lines, making Taemin laugh.

“Hey Taemin?”

“Mhm?”

“I’m glad you’re here with me.”

“Thanks I guess?”

“-Because you definitely don’t have a career in photography. It’s a good thing you chose geology instead,” Minho replied, straight faced.

Taemin swatted his hand on Minho’s arm, miffed, “You’re still glad I’m here.”

“Yeah,” he said sincerely, “Yeah I am.”

Taemin flushed, hiding behind a nervous giggle. Minho’s sincerity was sometimes shocking- and Taemin liked it more than he would ever admit.

“Let’s go,” he insisted, changing the topic, “You told me you’d buy me an opal in lieu of almost giving me a heatstroke on this road trip.”

“I told you we could switch to a flight,” Minho joked, eyes soft, “I can’t believe you want more rocks. Isn’t studying them enough?”

“It’s a pretty rock. There’s a difference. And there is no way I’m leaving the world's biggest opal producer without one.”

“Well in that case there’s this mine dump that allows tourists to look for opal themselves, we’ll just need to buy the ticket- plus you’ll get some rock samples.”

Taemin gaped, appalled, “You really want me to die don’t you? In this heat?”

Minho poked his arm, grinning, “Revenge for being a bad photographer.”

He shook his head, “You’re still getting me an opal.”

“Why would you want a gem when there’s one right here?” Minho pointed to himself.

“Good lord,” Taemin sighed.

“Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.”

“You’re not even religious!”

“Well I think that went spectacularly,” Taemin’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Look I promised you an opal- we got one.”

“A microscopic one!”

“How much would you hate me if I made a joke right now?”

“Choi Minho!” Taemin exclaimed, having a hard time holding in his amusement. Minho on the other hand had no such inhibitions, laughing at the bucket of rocks they had collected, with an opal they had mined which was smaller than the nail on Taemin’s tiny finger- and Taemin had really tiny fingers.

Minho looked up at the sky, now coloured in shades of orange. They had reached Coober Pedy later in the morning, and then spent the rest of the day walking around. Taemin felt like a nerdy geologist with how excited he had gotten over the abundance of rocks and mines, but Minho was just as enthusiastic as him, and he never had a chance to feel self conscious. He liked that about Minho a lot, Taemin surmised. He was so intense about everything that it was hard for the people around him to feel bad. Minho was also unusually perceptive, understanding Taemin's insecurities before he himself realised that they had cropped up.

"The sunset in Coober Pedy is really pretty," Minho breathed out, "Let's get some meat pies from the servo and watch it before we camp underground."

Maybe not that perceptive- Taemin internally smiled at the thought. There was a long way to go till Taemin understood Australian slang and Minho hadn't picked up on that yet.

Servo turned out to be the Australian word for the gas station, typically with a shop that sold food and supplies, which Minho stocked up and paid for despite Taemin's insistence to at least share the expense.

"I told you I'd take this trip anyway. You're paying half of the gas already."

"That's food for two people."

"It's fine. Besides, start saving up for Kibum's birthday."

"When is it?"

"September."

"That's months away!"

"Exactly," Minho said seriously, "I started saving up last year."

So now they were sitting on the rapidly cooling surface of a boulder watching the sunset, surrounded by the empty wrappers of meat pies and sausage rolls Minho paid for.

The sky looked like it was on fire, the usual orange of the sunset more pigmented because the desert air was drier and cleaner, leading to less particles in it to disperse light and creating vivid colours, the science part of Taemin supplied.

But the rusty romantic part of Taemin was just thrilled at sharing something so beautiful with a handsome, kind man beside him. The handsome man in question uncharacteristically silent as he soaked in the quiet atmosphere of the day coming to an end.

"I practically ran away, you know," Taemin said softly, suddenly feeling the urge to share, and trying his best to. Experiencing vulnerability was rare for him and he wanted to take advantage of it.

Minho turned to look at him. If he was surprised at Taemin’s outburst, he didn’t show it.

“From family?”

“Them. Also friends, and my boy- ex boyfriend. I just put in the application for universities without telling anyone and prayed for a scholarship, and then packed my bags when I received the acceptance letter.”

“Why?” He asked simply. Once again, there was no judgement in his words, maybe only a little curiosity. Taemin wondered how he did that.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “I just wanted to leave. I felt suffocated and like my life wasn't going anywhere. I thought I would be able to like myself better if I wasn’t in the same place I had always been in.”

“Is it working?”

“Not really,” Taemin said honestly, “Who thought running away from your problems doesn’t actually solve them?” He chuckled self deprecatingly.

Minho sighed sympathetically, wrapping a comforting arm around him in lieu of words. When Taemin snuggled into the embrace, he thought maybe running away had not been all that bad either.

An argument in a road trip was inevitable, but Taemin found it funny that their first one happened in an underground camp of all places. That too to decide between camping under an alcove or having the same experience but with a proper room and a bed, which was surprisingly also on offer at the campsite. Minho thought the bedroom would ruin the experience and Taemin indignantly disagreed knowing that no experience could beat the one of laying on a bed after a long day.

Ultimately it was Taemin who won, when Minho had to hesitantly admit that the ‘bedrooms’ still had the same rough rock interiors and the damp chill of living underground for which he had forsaken the other hotels in the city for. Taemin watched in amusement while a sulky Minho laid out a blanket in the centre of the room, arranging it with the leftover food from the servo and his guitar, still intent on making Taemin feel like they were camping.

“If you are this sulky, how are you going to play songs for me?” Taemin teased, sitting down beside him and opening a packet of caramel Tim Tams. Kibum had been right, Taemin liked the sweets and was steadily developing an addiction to them. At some point Minho had joked the biscuits should be renamed Tim Taem, which was a bad joke, but Taemin had laughed nevertheless.

Minho did an experimental strum on his guitar instead of answering him, and once satisfied with the tuning, started playing, which had the immediate effect of shutting Taemin up. He sang softly, in korean- to Taemin’s surprise, of home, and of loneliness. His rich baritone voice filled their little cave of a room, and Taemin hugged his legs and rested his face on his knees as he listened, mesmerised.

“That was beautiful,” Taemin whispered once he finished.

Minho smiled at him softly, the light in his eyes dimmer than usual, raking over Taemin’s face and lingering on his lips. Taemin gulped, and Minho looked away to his notebook of sheet music in front of him.

“Thank you.”

“What made you write it?”

“Well, home,” he paused, “Or the lack of it.”

“Home feels like more of a person than a place in your song,” Taemin observed.

“Yeah, I have kind of given up on it being a place anymore.”

It was obvious Minho was referring to his family, and Taemin pursed his lips in thought, if it would be appropriate to press more or not. Maybe sometimes, even someone like Minho could use a push to talk.

“What happened?”

“Homophobia I guess? I came out to them last year. They didn’t take well to it.”

“I’m sorry.”

Minho shrugged, trying to look unbothered, even if his slumped shoulders told otherwise. Taemin had never even thought of coming out to his family, technically had moved away before he even had a chance to. It was a daunting thing. Taemin had escaped from his responsibilities and the questions, while Minho had faced them outright.

“I used to rent an apartment with my ex boyfriend back in Seoul,” Taemin started, taking the opportunity to change the topic, “My parents thought we were very good friends who are saving rent money.”

"Very good friends huh?" Minho chuckled, and Taemin was happy that it sounded genuine, "Heteronormativity is insane."

Taemin hummed in agreement, offering a Tim Tam to Minho, who took it gratefully after putting his guitar aside.

"Are we good friends?" Minho asked tentatively.

Taemin had often been told that he could be obtuse to romantic advancements. He rarely approached anyone first, and the people approaching him had to be absolutely upfront about their feelings or it would be a lost cause. So he struggled to grapple if Minho was also hinting at something else, but Taemin already knew he had an answer for him.

"Of course we are."

Taemin found himself not minding whichever way it would be interpreted.

“Taemin, I mean this in the most respectful way possible- you look really hot.”

Taemin felt hot. But not in the way Minho meant. His tank top and his bangs were both sticky with sweat, and sure, the lean muscles on his arms from his years of dancing were flexing under the weight of carrying rocks, but he couldn’t appreciate the show he was putting on when he felt near to collapsing.

But Taemin’s traitorous cheeks blushed under the compliment nevertheless.

The thing was-

1. Taemin had decided they needed to go to Alice Springs first. Uluru was closer to Coober Pedy but he wanted it to be the last crowning jewel to their trip after he got work for his research done.

2. So now they were in Alice Springs after a whole day of driving and collapsing in their hotel, flashing their university IDs and collecting rocks and soil. Mostly rocks. Mostly Minho and his uncanny expertise in chipping them for the samples.

3. Minho had become more affectionate and touchy now that Taemin had grown comfortable enough to stop acting like a jumpy cat. Taemin liked it- there was no doubt to that, but he still needed to comprehend how much and what he was going to do about it.

“You’ve got that look again.”

“What look?” Taemin asked defensively, as if Minho really had the ability of reading his mind.

Minho scrunched his eyebrows and pouted sullenly, imitating Taemin.

“That one. You look cute, but also sad.”

“Watch it,” Taemin warned jokingly, “I’ve got some heavy rocks in my hands and that's two compliments under a minute.”

Minho snorted, “I bet you couldn’t lift one long enough to aim it at me.”

Easy for him to say. Minho was carrying more weight than him and hadn’t even broken out in a sweat. Not that Taemin would like to see Minho sweaty. No.

“Don’t test me,” Taemin went after him, to which Minho squeaked and ran- both knowing Minho could outrun Taemin easily, but still playing along.

They collapsed in front of Minho’s car, panting and laughing, the last of the samples deposited safely in the car’s trunk.

“That was fun.”

“That was exhausting,” Taemin countered.

“Fun,” Minho punctuated, looking at Taemin with a kind of tenderness he hadn’t seen before. He was so close, Taemin realised, he could almost feel the heat radiating off him.

Taemin abruptly stood up.

“Let’s go back to the hotel and change. I feel gross.”

Minho nodded, holding out a hand so Taemin could help lift him up from the ground.

He ignored the way their hands stayed together a touch longer than necessary even after Minho had stood up.

“Sure.”

“Minho, this is everything.”

Minho simply smiled at him, content with taking pictures of Taemin nursing a baby kangaroo in his arms.

“I knew you’d like the kangaroo sanctuary. You were so excited when you spotted one on the road before.”

“How can I not be? They’re great!” Taemin whispered, careful not to disturb the sleeping joey.

“This little one was rescued from a road hit and run two months back. We could not save her mother unfortunately,” their guide said softly, a kind woman in her thirties.

Taemin felt sadness for the little creature, pressing her closely to him once before handing her back to the guide.

"Thank you for letting me hold her."

"No problem. I hope you enjoyed the tour!"

"We did, thank you!" Minho and Taemin chimed in, waving her bye.

"Thank you for this," Taemin thanked him for what was probably the tenth time, ever since Minho had dragged him from their hotel room saying he had a surprise planned. Which turned out to be the Alice Springs Kangaroo Sanctuary.

"I knew you'd be tired, but since it's our only day in Alice Springs and they only offer sunset tours, I thought it would be a nice stop before Uluru."

"I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I was cross when you woke me up from my nap-"

"-You are quite moody," Minho agreed.

"As I was saying," Taemin rolled his eyes, "I liked this. I liked this a lot. No regrets."

"No regrets?" Minho repeated his words in a question, unsure.

"None," Taemin confirmed, squeezing his hand before he could overthink it.

He barely heard Minho's quiet thank you in the strong evening wind.

Arkose. Sandstone. Granite.

That was what Uluru was to Taemin, but standing in front of the colossal monolith, he remembered none of those things, just felt a strange reverence.

“Do you know what a Dreaming Track is?” Minho asked gently, as if he too, was aware of the devotion it invoked.

Taemin shook his head, afraid that he would speak and ruin the moment. The sun was shining high above their heads, glittering off the orange of Uluru’s sandstone composition, and Minho’s voice took almost a trancelike quality.

“It is a belief of the Aborginal people,” he continued, “They are paths across the land, and sometimes sky, that connect them with their ancestors, and they sing songs that are passed on through the generations, describing these sacred sites and how to travel them.”

“Is Uluru in one?” Taemin felt so small in the face of it.

Minho nodded, “And the correct direction of the dreaming track for Uluru is down, not up. The Anangu people have fought a lot of years with the Government to stop visitors from climbing it. It is both disrespectful to the sacred site and also wrong.”

Taemin finally managed to tear his eyes away from Uluru to look at Minho, whose lips were parted, as if he were repeating a prayer. Minho was not religious, but this- this was probably his own form of spirituality, and honour.

He was beautiful. Minho was a beautiful person.

“You know a lot about this,” he managed to stutter out instead.

Minho chuckled lightly, “Not really- I don’t know much, and that’s fine, it is not my knowledge to keep. It’s just that, as geologists, we often study the earth, scientifically, clinically, but there’s so much more to it you know? This place-” he spreads his arms, “This is holy. The earth, it means so much to so many people, and I think we sometimes lose that, while conducting all those studies. It’s humbling.”

It was indeed humbling, and the more they walked around it, the more in awe of it Taemin was. There were some interesting formations too, ones that the geologist in him couldn’t miss- like the one where the wind had carved into the rock in small pieces, making it resemble a brain. Taemin took a photo of Minho in front of it, seeing that this spot was allowed to be photographed and also to prove that he wasn’t actually that bad a photographer. At least Minho seemed happy with it, though Taemin had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn’t say otherwise either.

They watched the sunset sitting beside a waterhole, barely talking as the colours on the rock shifted from brown, to orange, to crimson as the sun travelled farther into the west. It was magical- reminding him that science was in fact, magic. Knowing why the sky changed the colours on the rock did not make it any less majestic, just made it seem like he was on an inside joke that maybe others weren’t in.

It’s not until they’re back in the hotel and Minho is fast asleep beside him that Taemin allowed himself to feel the emptiness he had been grappling with all day. The connection that the Aborginal people had with their land was inspiring and unmistakable, and Taemin pondered how he as human had lost touch with his own kind- his own friends, his own family, something he could easily maintain.

He opened his phone, scrolling through the messages- some read, some forgotten to reply to, some unopened and months old. Taemin stopped at a contact name, his closest hyung, and after a moment of deliberation, sent the photo Minho took of him with the baby kangaroo.

Hey Jonghyun hyung! I moved to Australia!

The reply came only moments later- not surprising since Jonghyun was an insomniac, but surprising in the way how it never questioned Taemin.

No way, Taeminnie! You need to tell me all about it!!!! THE KANGAROO IS SO CUTE.

Taemin smiled. Maybe some things were not that hard after all.

“You seem like a changed person.”

“I feel like a changed person.”

“I didn’t know one day at Uluru could do that to you.”

“You are a part of it,” Taemin said forthcomingly, unexpectedly, “You are definitely a part of it.”

“Weren’t you just cussing me out moments earlier for taking you on this hike up the canyon?”

“The duality of man,” Taemin sighed dramatically, “One can certainly do both.”

Minho elbowed him in the ribs, laughing at Taemin’s offended ouch.

“Or maybe it’s okay to admit the view was worth the hour of walking. Like I told you.”

“Maybe,” Taemin grinned, glancing at the spectacular vista of the sheer cliffs that greeted him at the top of King’s Creek, “I actually love heights. I had forgotten how much I do.”

“Of course you are an adrenaline junkie. I should have seen that. It’s always the shy, cute ones.”

“You think I am shy and cute?” Taemin teased, laying out the blanket from his backpack to stretch and drink some water. Thankfully the surface of the canyon was naturally tufted with grass- a handy thing when he didn’t want to deal with the scorching temperatures rocks this high could get.

“Well not anymore,” Minho stole the water bottle from him when he sat down, “Now I think you are a brat.”

“You like me though,” Taemin chuckled. The figurative ropes around Taemin’s heart had loosened enough for him to not even recognise himself anymore. Teasing and playful, a brat- it had been a while since those adjectives were associated with him.

When a witty reply did not come after a moment, Taemin sat up properly, worried if he had been too much, pushed one of Minho’s buttons that didn’t feel like it existed when it came to him.

“Well I do, you’re not wrong.”

“Uh,” Taemin felt awkward again, like his mouth was made of jelly he couldn’t shape into words. Earnestness. Taemin always had an issue responding to earnestness, even when he yearned for it from people around him so much.

“That was definitely not planned. I’m sorry, you don’t have to reply to this. I actually at least planned to take you out to dinner that didn’t consist of servo snacks before I even told you honestly-”

Minho wasn’t looking at him, which was a good thing since Taemin was sure the battle he was fighting with himself showed on his face too. Did he like Minho? Yes. He could admit that- it was a part of this new thing he was trying out where he was honest about his feelings, at least to himself. Was it too fast? Possibly, but also not really. Did he have to overthink this? Definitely not.

“If I kiss you right now, would that shut you up?” He blurted out.

That’s when Minho finally turned to him, the slow smile dawning on his face calming the turmoil inside Taemin.

“Not if I kiss you first.”

It took a maddening few seconds for Minho to pull Taemin close by his waist, and another one to finally make his plush lips meet with Taemin's spongy ones.

An avid lip balm user! Taemin noted with glee, though any coherent thought flew right out of the window when Minho pressed further, pulling on Taemin's lower lip enticingly before letting it go with an obscene pop! sound. Taemin chased back, sighing when they slotted again- this time languidly and softly, only breaking apart when it got a little hard to breathe.

"Did you really have to be competitive even for this?" Taemin murmured- a little incredulous, a little joking.

Minho ignored him, focusing on cupping Taemin's face, which he promptly leaned into.

"So do you like me? Or would you go on a date with me? Like to give this a try?"

Taemin scrunched his nose, "I'm not answering all that until you take me to a proper dinner."

"Okay," Minho grinned, "That's fair."

Taemin mirrored his bright smile.

Taemin was happy about a couple of things, mainly-

1. The realisation that no matter how miserable his research mentor wanted him to be, it simply hadn't worked! Maybe Taemin would even give him a kiss on the cheek for handing the assignment to him.

2. Rocks rocked dude! He was having fun. More fun than he'd admit to anyone in studying samples and writing down his observations. Now he had no qualms that he was fit for doing the research, and Dr. Lee Taemin, PhD had a nice ring to it.

3. Speaking of dudes- Minho. He made him happy too. A little dorky, a little goofy- sometimes overbearing, but it was fine because he liked him, and it didn't hurt that he was a really good kisser too.

Maybe some things were really not that hard after all.

-The End-