Author's Note: I don't even know where to begin to prepare everyone for this. Before you read, take a deep breath and get ready.

Taemin would not tell Jongin what he and Baekhyun had talked about, no matter how many times Jongin tried to ask. But from then on, every time he saw Taemin texting on his phone, Jongin felt a twinge of jealousy. Even if it wasn’t Baekhyun (and it usually wasn’t), Jongin still imagined it as so, especially the times Taemin would smile at his phone when the screen lit up with a new notification. Their friendship was unravelling before his eyes, the dramatic part of Jongin’s brain told himself.

One day in early April, things came to a head for Jongin. They were lying in bed, and Taemin was facing him but he was on his phone, and it felt like a metaphor for the way Baekhyun was getting between them. So lying there, watching Taemin happily type away on his phone, something in Jongin snapped. Taemin put his phone down for a moment, and the next time the screen turned back on with a new message, Jongin grabbed it and tossed it away.

“Hey…” Taemin looked up at him with a confused frown, moving to sit up and grab the phone again, but Jongin grabbed his wrist instead.

“Stop it,” he ordered quietly, Taemin’s head tilting in further perplexity. “Pay attention to me…”

After a few blinks, Taemin gave a slow nod, looking apologetic and making Jongin feel guilty. Almost. “I’m sorry, Jongin, I wasn’t trying to ignore you,” he said sincerely. Still, he reached for his phone, Jongin catching sight of the “hyun hyung” in the sender’s name and feeling his skin crawl. Were they even that close? They’d only met once. “Let me just say goodbye…”

“To who?” Jongin shot at him, as if he didn’t already know.

His tone of voice made Taemin glance up in shock, frowning once again. He silently turned his screen to show the conversation, Jongin’s eyes flying to the name at the top. Jonghyun hyung. “Is something wrong, Jongin? You seem upset…”

I’m stupid. Why am I so stupid? Getting all hot and bothered over nothing… “No, I’m fine,” he mumbled, feeling extremely embarrassed by the way he’d made so many assumptions. He’d been acting like Taemin didn’t have other friends. And even if it had been Baekhyun – so what? You’re so self-absorbed. “Tell me what you’ve been up to lately. I feel like I haven’t been able to talk with you much this week…”

Taemin turned off his phone and put it away before moving a bit closer to Jongin. This made Jongin feel a little better, arm moving around Taemin’s waist to hold him there so nothing could separate them again. “You’ve been kind of quiet the last week or so,” Taemin admitted softly. “You’ve seemed like you’re in a bad mood about something, and you always shut me down when I asked, so I’ve been trying to give you space because I didn’t want to bother you.”

Oh.

You know, if he does move on from you with Baekhyun – or anyone else – you absolutely deserve it because you’re always a total dickhead to him. I don’t know why he ever even liked you in the first place; probably just for your looks…

“I’m sorry,” Jongin said quietly, struggling to look Taemin in the eye as humiliation dragged him into its tides. “I’ve just… been worrying a lot about stupid things. I’m sorry for being so cold towards you. I’ve been so absorbed I didn’t even realize.” Reflecting now, he felt horrendous about his behaviour that only seemed to be getting worse these days. Even when Taemin took his hand, it didn’t make him feel better. Jongin only felt unworthy, discomfort thrumming through his veins.

“Do you want to talk to me about it?” Taemin whispered.

“No…” Jongin didn’t deserve to talk to him, nor did he think Taemin ought to be burdened by his mess. But Taemin just sat there patiently, as though waiting for Jongin to change his mind. “It’s stupid. Just me being insecure for no good reason. Let’s talk about something else,” he added before Taemin could ask any questions, because Jongin’s chest had a strange ache just from opening up that much. “Have you been on any dates lately?”

“Dates? No.” Had he given up on that, or was it just because he was pursuing Baekhyun now? The thoughts wouldn’t leave Jongin alone. “I’m not in any rush,” Taemin went on, oblivious to Jongin’s thoughts. “I’m going to take things slow and let things happen as they happen.”

That sounded like it was about Baekhyun too. Maybe that was why they were texting, to get to know each other over time.

Jongin couldn’t stand it anymore. “Are you interested in- someone?” he blurted out, almost sounding angry. He’s not yours. Calm down. “Someone… new?”

Things were quiet as Taemin’s brow furrowed at the question (and his tone), and Jongin clutched Taemin’s hand a little tighter unconsciously, as if silently begging him to say no.

“I haven’t met anyone I’m interested in,” Taemin finally answered, looking Jongin in the eye before looking down in a wave of shyness. It was an honest answer, then. Taemin still had feelings for him – right? Why else would he be so shy with his response?

Something about it made Jongin feel a lot lighter. “Good,” he murmured, drawing a bashful smile from the older that made his heart thud contently. “You're so cute when you smile…” he added fondly, the words escaping his lips without a second thought. Releasing Taemin’s hand, Jongin reached up to his cheek affectionately, feeling it growing warm under his touch. “I can feel you blushing...”

This made him oddly happy, giving him some further sense of reassurance. Maybe Taemin wasn’t going anywhere just yet. Jongin was wasting the time they did have sulking over nothing; he needed to stop that.

“Shut up,” Taemin whined, trying to pull away while also failing to hide his smile that had only grown further.

Ah. Seeing it had Jongin’s heart fluttering, abruptly overwhelmed by odd… affection? Suddenly he wanted to tease Taemin. “No,” he replied, moving his hand to the back of Taemin’s neck to keep him in place. Then he felt the urge to lean in, his body responding automatically before he even had the chance to approve it.

Ah.

His gaze fell to Taemin’s lips, a strange sensation shooting through his chest. When he looked up to Taemin’s eyes, he found them widened, staring at Jongin in complete bewilderment.

“Is this okay?” Jongin breathed, voice nearly inaudible. But Taemin could feel the words on his lips. Something had overridden Jongin’s brain, no longer thinking clearly. Instead, he was just responding to his feelings, letting them guide him for once. Because Jongin was feeling the oddest desire to act on Taemin’s attraction – no, he was suddenly feeling it himself. And Taemin liked him, so it was safe…

“…No…”

Or not.

It wasn’t the answer Jongin expected, to say the least. He pulled back in surprise, staring for a minute and wondering if he had somehow heard wrong. What? Why..? It didn’t make sense; Taemin had said he wasn’t interested in anyone else. But…

“Do you… not have feelings for me anymore?”

Why was his heart suddenly in his stomach? It was making him feel nauseous. He had been assuming nothing had changed, but maybe he was entirely wrong about that. And the longer Taemin stayed quiet, the worse Jongin felt. Had Taemin… moved on? But… I’m starting to… Jongin sat there in the agonizing silence, thinking he’d missed his chance, just too little too late – as always.

By the time Taemin spoke, Jongin felt on the verge of tears. “No.. I do…” Taemin whispered, and some part of it was a relief, yet somehow Jongin didn’t feel all that comforted. “But…”

But? Jongin waited, but he didn’t say anything more. Maybe he doesn’t want to have these feelings anymore. Maybe I am too late after all. Thinking he had crossed a line, he retracted his hand and gave Taemin some space. Meanwhile, Taemin just stared off for a while in confusion, focused on one random spot on Jongin’s shirt as he tried to take in what had just happened.

His heart ached.

For once, Jongin’s did too.

*

The feeling hadn’t left him the next morning, Jongin waking to a dull pain in his heart as he looked at Taemin’s serenely sleeping expression. Silent thoughts filled his head, wondering why he was like this, why he’d never noticed just how pretty Taemin was. (Well he had, but he’d never appreciated it.) A gentle hand moved to caress Taemin’s cheek, fingertips barely brushing over his soft skin. It wasn’t that anything had changed about Taemin, but it felt like Jongin was seeing him differently now. Like putting on glasses, the haziness all fading away as his eyes slipped into focus.

His feelings weren’t new, Jongin realized as he watched Taemin breathing, slowly, peaceful. They’d been happening for a while, so subtle that he hadn’t caught onto them. At some point recently – or maybe just very gradually over a long period of time – he had glided into a new realm of feelings for Taemin.  For a while, Jongin pondered over when exactly it might have happened, when the signs had started to show that he hadn’t picked up on. It seemed like…

The night they had gone out together. That had been the first time he felt things he couldn’t explain. Seeing attention on Taemin from other people had shaken him up, inexplicably jealous and insecure. Up until then, he’d been living in a bubble – one of just him and Taemin, where the rest of the world had no access to his best friend. Then all of a sudden, too many people were looking, talking, touching. Jongin had been wrong to think of Taemin as just his, but it had been that night that he started to realize how untrue this old belief was.

Things had only gone downhill from there. People trying to hit on him, taking him on dates, slowly cutting the strings one by one that kept them together. Even Taemin’s friends made Jongin jealous, only making him feel less and less significant as he grasped how many people beyond him held a piece of Taemin. It wasn’t a bad thing, but it had been something of a shock to his system that he’d had to recover from. Which he had, with Taemin’s friends. Jongin appreciated them…

But it was the thought of other men that he couldn’t get past. The thought of Taemin’s heart being stolen, something that did – at least until recently – belong to Jongin… That part had stirred things up for him – because if he was really just Taemin’s best friend, he wouldn’t have cared. And considering how he was constantly bothered, it started to sneak into his subconscious that maybe he didn’t just see Taemin that way. And so, unconsciously, he had started seeing Taemin differently.

And Jongin liked what he saw. This was nothing new; Jongin had always liked Taemin. It was why they were best friends, why they lived together. But now his gaze had shifted. Now Taemin didn’t just make him smile; he made his heart beat faster. He didn’t just make things happier; he made them a little warmer, a little fuzzy. Jongin had fallen, so gradually and so quietly that he hadn’t even felt it himself.

And I messed it up, he thought miserably. I had a chance, and I pushed him away into someone else’s arms. Even if he didn’t know who that someone else would be yet, the inevitability of someone coming along struck him – painfully. Taemin had waited for him, and Jongin had never even given him a chance. Now it was his turn – and I sure as hell don’t deserve that chance either.

Jongin felt like crying. His hand dropped from Taemin’s face, finding the older’s fingers and lacing them together with his own. When he did so, Taemin’s eyes opened, sleepy and dazed as he always was when he first awoke. At Jongin’s half-hearted good morning, he soon became more alert.

“You seem upset,” Taemin breathed, rubbing at his face and taking a deep breath to get some oxygen to his brain. At Jongin’s quiet, wordless hum, Taemin’s grip on his hand tightened. “So early? What’s the matter?”

So many things. But most of all, Jongin’s intuitive fear that Taemin was pushing him away, that this was turning into a different kind of falling between them.

‘Are we still friends?” he whispered, after a moment of thinking what best to say. Jongin wasn’t sure if that was it, but it was the question he had the most pressing need to answer.

Taemin looked surprised, but gave a slow nod as the memories of their previous night no doubt dawned on him. “Of course. You're my best friend, you mean a lot to me…”

If that was all he could ever get, Jongin would be happy. They could stay the same, never go a step further, so long as Taemin remained his best friend. Taemin meant the whole world to him, so much more than he had ever realized. But he didn’t tell Taemin this. It was too late to try and make his case. Instead he just replied softly, “I feel the same.”

His eyes were cast down, and it was one of the first times Taemin felt like Jongin was wearing his heart so clearly on his sleeve. At least, his emotions were quite clear in his face, and everything was pointing to Jongin still being upset.

“What's wrong?” Taemin prodded, trying to catch his eye, though without much success.

The question made Jongin’s chest clench uncomfortably. “I'm just worried you'll leave,” he mumbled, the feeling riding his words up to his throat and burying itself there too, choking him. This fear of Taemin abandoning him… it would never let him live, would it?

Nor would it let Taemin. “Why do you always say that? I don't understand...”

“I know you're going to find someone else and leave.” Jongin’s tone was so matter-of-fact, but he felt like a child the way he could barely keep himself together enough to say it. Some part of him was screaming inside his chest, so pained because saying it made it feel so real. “It's not a bad thing,” he added, knowing Taemin deserved nothing but someone to be happy with and love him right. “But I don't want you to go.”

At this, Taemin had to blink a few times. Not out of his usual surprise, but because very abruptly, his eyes were swimming with tears. Taking Jongin’s hand in both small ones of his own, he held it tightly and hugged it to his chest. When he spoke, he looked Jongin in the eye, letting nothing hide.

“I'm not going to go, Jongin…”

It felt so honest. And that was the thing about Taemin, he was so honest that just a simple word from him could put Jongin’s heart at ease. Jongin wanted to believe it so bad. Even if he had missed his chance, at least he could still feel like he would keep his best friend. And Jongin would take that, because Taemin was someone he wanted to keep his whole life.

“Okay…” He gave a small sniffle, but was able to smile just the tiniest bit. He wasn’t happy, but at least one of the rocks had been lifted off his chest. “I really do love you, Taemin,” he told the older sincerely, though for the first time he might not have only meant it in just a platonic way. “I don’t think I express it well or often enough, and I'm scared you'll think differently and maybe I won't be good enough…”

Nothing about Taemin thinking he didn’t love him, didn’t truly care about him, would surprise Jongin. He was cursed with the utter inability to express himself about these kinds of things. He never even got this far – getting past the first step of realizing he was experiencing feelings and emotions was hard enough for him, let alone getting through step two of processing those things. Jongin was incompetent at best with all of this, so of course he fell pathetically short when it came time to expressing it. No matter how much he cared, he was abominable in showing it, and Jongin wouldn’t be able to blame Taemin – who was so much better at it than him – if he grew dissatisfied with how lacking he was.

“What do you mean, good enough?” Taemin sounded close to laughing, but his eyes were filled with concern. What is he talking about? “You’re my best friend, you're better than anyone else, Jongin… Don't think like that anymore, okay? I- I love you too…”

Taemin’s heart wasn’t the only one that skipped nervously when he said it. Beside him, Jongin felt his heart flutter in a way that almost made him feel sick – in the best, and worst, way. But he took further comfort in Taemin’s words.

“I'm sorry, I guess I just feel really insecure about it. I don’t know why…” Jongin mumbled, leaning a little closer to Taemin and feeling relieved when Taemin snuggled in. The tiny half-smile Taemin gave him felt like it fixed so many wounds in his heart. But then his next question tore open a vein he hadn’t realized he’d been hiding.

“Has anyone ever left you before?”

Oh.

“…my dad…”

Oh. A lot of things clicked together in that moment, and suddenly Jongin’s vision was blurring. To say it hurt would be an understatement. It was not a realization he was ready to cope with yet, and the moment he blinked, his eyes merely prickled and filled with more tears. The ones that escaped dripped down onto his pillow with quiet little thumps.

“Oh, Jongin…” Taemin’s hands were there, gently pulling him forward, blindly leading him into his arms and letting Jongin lean on him. Jongin hid his face in the crook of Taemin’s neck, clutching onto him like his life depended on it. “I'm not gonna be like him. I promise…”

Jongin just cried. Taemin let him.

*

As always, their vulnerable moment was tucked away into a drawer in Jongin’s mind, kept separate from reality and left behind once they left their bed that morning. Jongin was good at this, living a double life, opening and closing doors. Crying in Taemin’s arms one hour, and cursing at his friends as they played a fighting game the next. Part of it made him glad, because it felt necessary for him to remain functional and keep up appearances of being a normal guy without any problems. But it also reminded him of his father, which made him feel sick.

Taemin was also pretty good at it, in a different way. He liked to deal with things by himself, and Jongin didn’t see the way he would cry and work through his emotions on his own. This happened in places Jongin wouldn’t witness – in the shower, at Jonghyun’s house, on their apartment rooftop. Sometimes he would go for a walk down by the river, find a bench, and stare out at the water for a while. Letting his emotions wash over him, absorb, and then slowly release out again. It worked well enough, kept him from drowning, kept him afloat.

However they managed it, they both returned to some sort of normal. Even with both of them a little lost – because Taemin was overthinking every single second of that night still, and Jongin was just as confused about himself – it didn’t get between them much. Sometimes Jongin would catch Taemin looking at him, his head tilted and eyebrows knitted together in some deep thought. And sometimes Jongin would catch himself lingering on Taemin, thinking about him as inexplicable feelings tangled themselves up in his heart, churned strange things up in his stomach, elicited obscure thoughts in his mind. For days, Jongin felt like he was walking in heavy-yet-weightless clouds of fog. Yet everything was just the same as usual on the outside.

“You don’t have plans today?” Jongin wondered one Sunday morning as Taemin came out of the bathroom. His hair was half-wet, but he was in his cozy sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt, a telltale sign that it was a laze-on-the-couch day for him. Taemin hummed, continuing on his way towards the living room. “Let’s go do something then.”

“What are you thinking?”

Jongin wasn’t thinking anything, truthfully. But the weather was so nice and it felt wasteful to spend the whole day inside. Plus, he couldn’t handle being confined with Taemin and his thoughts like that; he was avoiding that door as much as he could. After a few seconds of racking his brain, he suddenly remembered something he’d been wanting to do. “I know somewhere. It’s a secret though. Go get dressed properly.”

Ten minutes later, both of them had changed into something nicer, Jongin nagging that it needed to be photo-worthy attire as they would be able to take pictures. This had Taemin’s interest, but Jongin wouldn’t spill any other details as to where they were going. They merely made their way to the subway station, quietly riding the train until they reached their destination.

At one point, Taemin looked at his phone and let out a quiet laugh. This had Jongin’s attention flashing to him, raising an eyebrow questioningly. Who’s that? “Jonghyun is mad that I’m leaving him to spend the day alone while doing something with you,” Taemin explained with a smile.

“You were with him last weekend,” Jongin noted in return, frowning a little. It had been Jonghyun’s birthday last week, and of course Taemin had been invited to his party. “What, is he celebrating all month or something?”

Taemin chuckled again and shook his head. “It’s Black Day,” he explained. “I guess he wanted someone else to be sad and single with him.”

Black Day? Jongin checked his phone. April fourteenth. When had that happened? The realization made him frown. Another day for singles which he was also single for. (Not that it had ever bothered him before, but for some reason he felt annoyed about it today.)

“I guess we’ll have to eat jjajangmyun and wallow in our loneliness,” Taemin continued playfully, though this only made Jongin’s frown lines deepen.

“We’re not lonely,” he retorted. “We have each other.” This made Taemin blink, and then he gave another quiet laugh and nodded, looking down at his phone again. As the ride continued in silence, Jongin felt the awkwardness creep in under his skin. He meant because we’re both single. Why did you have to make it weird?

Something pushed on that door. No. Not here. Not now. Jongin locked it, but it kept knocking.

After that, they didn’t say anything more until they arrived at the right station. Jongin tried to think of a new topic, but his mind was stuck on the conversation, repeating it over in his head so he could continue to cringe at himself repeatedly. Fortunately, Taemin wasn’t so stuck in the past, speaking up when they came up outside.

“I’ve never been out here before,” Taemin noted as they started walking along a very unfamiliar street. In all honesty, Jongin rarely ever came out this far to this part of town either. They had gone far past their school, across the river from the place they liked to go clubbing. But there was nothing much around here that would normally attract Jongin to the area. Except now. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” was all Jongin said in response, though he was looking forward to Taemin’s reaction. He only hoped that it would live up to his expectations, focusing on this worry rather than his previous awkwardness.

It was a bit of a walk, and Jongin was starting to worry if he would actually be able to find the place. But then they crossed a street, and there were abruptly swaths of people crowded around, a huge banner indicating that this was indeed the place. Jongin heard Taemin’s little oh of realization and fascination, glancing over and seeing the older’s eyes lit with interest and chuckling to himself. Then he grabbed Taemin’s hand, knowing how easily he could get lost when his attention was rapt on something other than where he was going. The touch made his heartbeat stutter, another knock on the door; but Jongin ignored it again. He led the way past the barricades, making it to the sidewalk and falling in line with everyone else as they took in the sight.

“It’s so pretty,” Taemin breathed as they walked under the endless row of cherry blossom trees. It was the first week they were in bloom, and this was one of the places that turned itself into a festival – blocking off the street so people could come through and admire, take pictures, have cute dates, uninterrupted in the beautiful scenery. Taemin couldn’t take his eyes off of them, reaching up to touch a low hanging branch and admiring the little flowers fondly.

“I thought you might like it,” Jongin said with a grin, feeling proud at Taemin’s blatantly awed reaction. Taemin loved nature, and pretty things, and this was a good combination of both in Jongin’s mind. “And we can take some good pictures.”

“Oh, yes! I should…”

In a flash, Taemin was pulling out his phone, moving to the side of the path so he could capture some photos without being in the way. Jongin had to snort, shaking his head a little. They were very different in this regard. “I didn’t mean like that…” he muttered, though he let Taemin continue.

“Do you want me to take some of you? Let’s find a good spot!”

Taemin understood. While he liked to take pictures of other things, Jongin liked to be the subject of his own photos. (This reflected on their social media accounts – most of Jongin’s pictures included him in the shots, while Taemin’s face was rarely seen on his own pages.) Taemin was nice enough to play photographer for both of them, so once again they walked along until they found the right background for Jongin – somewhere less crowded, where the sunlight hit right and the trees were fully blooming. Somewhere gorgeous and suitable for someone equally as beautiful.

For once though, after Taemin captured several shots of varying poses and angles, Jongin pulled out his own phone. Crossing the sidewalk to where Taemin had been shooting, Jongin cocked his head towards the trees. “Your turn,” he said simply.

“Oh, no, it’s okay-”

“Taemin.” Jongin gave him a stern look, earning a tiny pout. “This chance only comes once a year. You could do with a profile update, or at very least send a picture to your parents.” And after a little bit more whining, Taemin reluctantly agreed to it. Truthfully, it was a rare opportunity, though Taemin really was happy just to photograph the trees themselves. Jongin was not so willing to give up a potentially beautiful photo – with Taemin being the best part.

Unfortunately, someone else had hastily stolen the spot Jongin had been using, so Taemin moved down the street a little to stand in front of an unoccupied tree. He was much more awkward, much less natural in front of a camera than Jongin, but this didn’t bother Jongin in the slightest. Jongin got a few pictures with the blossoms clearly visible, and then moved closer to capture Taemin more clearly. But when he lifted his gaze from the screen to look at Taemin directly, Jongin paused.

Something about the view was surreal. The sunlight filtering through the pinkish-white flowers, coating everything in a delicate glow and making Taemin’s fair hair glisten like thinly spun gold. Even though his roots were coming through now, he looked exceptionally stunning there, fitting in with the beautiful background perfectly. Being here brought out the best of him, complemented his gentle personality – it felt like Taemin belonged there, the loveliest of all the lovely blossoms. Especially when he was practically glowing – happy and relaxed, just enjoying himself, entirely worry-free for the moment.

And Jongin didn’t know what it was – it wasn’t like Taemin was the most handsome, the prettiest, the most attractive person Jongin had ever seen. But in some way, he was; at least, Jongin felt that way. His eyes that were so familiar and warm, his mouth which was turned up slightly in the little smile that Jongin knew so well, all of the delicate lines of his face and body – his nose, his jaw, his neck and shoulders. The way he was so soft and tender and welcoming. Jongin couldn’t explain it, but his very presence lured him in, made him want to burrow and hide in him.

Home. Taemin was home. And that made him very beautiful to Jongin, in a way that even the prettiest of faces could never compete.

“…Jongin?”

His voice was distant. Everything felt distant right now. Jongin was lost at sea as the realization fully struck him. The door had been flung open, tossed off its hinges, splintered into bits as he looked – really looked – at Taemin. It was so abrupt, coming so completely out of nowhere that Jongin hadn’t even been able to brace for it, just taking it full-on as everything clicked together.

Oh.

He swayed a little.

“Jongin?”

This time, Taemin sounded worried. Yet as he took a step towards Jongin, Jongin found himself moving forward, his footsteps carrying him closer so that everything around them could disappear from his periphery, and nothing could get between them. Because Jongin knew, now. And he needed to let Taemin know too.

When he was directly in front of him, Taemin reached up to touch his arm in concern. Goosebumps broke out over his skin, waves breaking through the stupor he was in at the vague reminder of reality. Rather than pushing him away though, it made Jongin long for more. He leaned closer, leaning against the tree to keep himself steady, his hand just over Taemin’s shoulder holding himself up. The world froze, and so did Taemin.

“Jongin…”

He kept saying his name. Something about it was oddly hypnotic, bringing Jongin closer and closer, making his heart clench and relax, clench and relax. It left butterflies fluttering through him, soon bursting as he realized what exactly it was that he wanted. Jongin leaned in, pausing just a few inches away and flitting his eyes up to Taemin’s. Wide, dark, full of questions. But then they dropped to Jongin’s lips, and then Taemin was tilting his head to bring himself in just a tiny bit more.

It was all Jongin needed. Closing the space between them, Jongin felt a rush as their mouths connected. Not a single thought went through his mind, except how velvety soft Taemin’s lips were, and how very right it felt to be kissing him. Everything else was just a mass of fireworks filling every inch of him, soon leaning in to get more as his fingers found the underside of Taemin’s chin and the older tilted his head in a way that made their mouths fit just right together.

Oh.

Jongin had never felt anything like this before. It consumed him, so much he didn’t even have a single thought for the crowds around them, or for anything in the world other than Taemin. He even forgot about needing to breathe, until he finally became aware of a strange ache in his chest that was begging him for oxygen.

When that hit him, he finally pulled back to in a gasp of air. His eyes fluttered open, catching sight of a heavily flushed-faced Taemin who was staring back at him with a flurry of emotions battling behind his eyes. Mostly, Jongin could tell he was wondering one thing. What?

“Taemin,” Jongin breathed, letting his hands fall to the sides of Taemin’s neck. Was it his imagination, or could he feel the rocketing pace of his heartbeat under his skin?

“Jongin?” It was barely audible, but it had Jongin’s heart doing flips hearing Taemin say his name once again. What’s going on?

He didn’t really have to ask. He very much knew.

“I like you.”

Author's Note: This is the note we're ending on :') Was anyone expecting this to be the finale? Jongin's feelings just hit him like a truck. They've been coming for a while, but he's been absolutely clueless and now he's finally caught on! (Too late? We'll see in Part Three...)

Anyway, on a sad note, this is the end of Part Two! More great things will be coming for Taemin and Jongin in Part Three, so don't worry! However, I will be taking a break in order to get ahead on writing, so this is the last you'll hear from me for maybe a month? But at least this time we're ending on a good note! I hope it will hold everyone over until we start again. ♡