Taemin felt that Key was specifically avoiding him by that Wednesday. It wasn’t just that he didn’t see Key during the day; he didn’t see him at all. He tried to stay up waiting for Key, but he’d somehow fall asleep before Key showed up, and when he awoke the next morning, Key would already be gone. It was frustrating. He thought that he’d just started becoming friends with Key, and then suddenly Key was gone. He assumed that Key was employing some sort of laissez-faire policy when it came to dealing with Taemin.

            Well, laissez-faire had its advantages too.

            Taemin passed by the basketball court again every day, and every day he’d say hello to Minho. It was nice to finally have a friend, and the basketball club seemed to like Taemin quite a bit as well.

            “Taemin!” Minho cried that Wednesday as Taemin approached the basketball court again.

            “Hi, Minho-hyung!” Taemin beamed. Minho jogged over to him.

            “Do you want to play with us today?” he asked as Jinwoon walked over.

            “Hi, Taemin-ah,” Jinwoon said.

            “Hi, hyung. Ah, Minho-hyung, Key-hyung said that I’m not supposed to play. My asthma isn’t good.”

            “Oh,” Minho sighed. “Well, you can watch then. Do you have time?” Taemin smiled at him.

            “Of course I do,” he replied. “One day I’ll be able to play with you!”

            “I can’t wait for that day,” Minho laughed.

            “Seriously, do you guys know each other?” Jinwoon asked again, looking between them.

            “Yeah, we’re friends,” Minho replied.

            “But didn’t you meet on Monday?” Jinwoon asked.

            “Yup!” Taemin said happily, sitting down on the bench. “I hope your team wins, hyung!”

            “I don’t get you two,” Taemin heard Jinwoon mutter. “You’re never like this, Minho.”

            “I can’t help it,” Minho grinned, galloping away with the basketball to the other end of the court and completing his show with a layup that went perfectly through the basket. He waved at them from the end of the court. Jinwoon sighed and let out a laugh.

            “Taemin-ssi, even though this is weirding me out,” Jinwoon said, “I like you. Minho’s been happy lately, which is good.”

            “It’s good that hyung’s happy,” Taemin smiled. Jinwoon nodded.

            “I’m pretty sure it’s thanks to you. Basketball alone wouldn’t do it.”

            “You’re welcome,” Taemin laughed, bowing to Jinwoon with a flourish. Jinwoon smiled.

            “You’re pretty much our club mascot at this point,” he chuckled as he too joined Minho on the other side of the court. Taemin smiled to himself.

            Suddenly he had a group of friends. Even though they were all much older than he was, he couldn’t help but enjoy their company. They were nice to him.

            He came back to the basketball court every day, just to hang out with the hyungs. Especially Minho, because Minho seemed to pay a lot more attention to Taemin than the other hyungs did, and he seemed to pay a lot more attention to Taemin than he did to his club members. Taemin felt nearly as attended to as he had when Onew had been around.

            Once Friday came, Taemin stood up quickly in the middle of the basketball practice.

            “Taemin? Is everything okay?” Minho asked, pausing the game. All the club members looked slightly amused at Minho’s worry, but Taemin smiled.

            “I have to go back to the dorm. I won’t let Key-hyung go this long without speaking to me! I’ll jump him!”

            All the basketball players laughed, and Jinwoon looked shocked.

            “Taemin, you can’t just jump your roommate,” he said cautiously. “Why don’t you go and wait for him nicely?”

            Taemin giggled.

            “Okay, Jinwoon-hyung, I will,” Taemin said, skipping off.

            “Taemin, wait! I won’t—” Minho began, but Taemin cut him off as he continued on his way.

            “Sorry, hyung, I have to go! I’ll see you tomorrow!” he trilled as he tore off towards the dorms. He went slowly up all the stairs, so as to not induce his asthma again. He threw open the door, but Key was nowhere to be found. Taemin pouted as he sat down on the ground. He picked up his frog book and rifled through the pages, looking at the illustrations that had always fascinated him so much as a child. He looked closer.

            He knew he’d seen those eyes somewhere. Minho’s eyes looked just like the frog’s eyes, deep brown and wide. Of course, Taemin thought, it was weird to think such a thing, because to compare Minho’s eyes to those of an illustrated frog was completely ridiculous. They were more like the night sky, a galaxy further than anyone could imagine. That sounded more apt and far more pleasant to Taemin.

            But he couldn’t help liking both Minho and frogs a little better than he had before. He smiled as he continued to look at the pictures and read the words in his best imitation of Onew’s voice. He sighed when he realized that his own mousy voice could never compare to Onew’s beautiful, clear one. And Onew had always been the best at imitations. He closed his eyes and leaned against his bed. He didn’t want to fall asleep before Key got there, but Taemin was used to falling asleep early, and it was getting late.

            Suddenly the door opened, and he could hear someone humming vaguely. He looked up to see Key in the doorway, grinning like never before.

            “HYUNG!” Taemin cried, rushing over to hug Key. Key’s smile faltered and he looked disgusted as he tried to push Taemin away.

            “Get off of me,” Key said, but Taemin wouldn’t let go.

            “Hyung, I feel like I haven’t seen you all week!” Taemin cried.

            “That’s because you haven’t.”

            “Well it’s okay, hyung, we have all weekend to hang out!” Taemin said gleefully. He’d been waiting for this moment for a long time. A week was long, in Taemin’s world, and he couldn’t wait to spend time with his unwilling roommate. He truly wanted to become friends with Key, and what better way than to spend a weekend together?

            Unfortunately, his dreams were dashed with Key’s reply.

            “Sorry, Taeminnie,” Key said in a sickly sweet voice. “I’m going to the Paldang Dam this weekend with Jonghyun-hyung; I’m not going to be around.”

            “What? Really?” Taemin asked dejectedly.

            “Yeah, sorry we can’t hang out,” Key said, and Taemin would have been lying if he didn’t see the glint of victory in Key’s eyes.

            “Oh,” Taemin said. He walked over and flopped onto his bed, pulling out his cell phone. He sent a message to Minho: “I shouldn’t have left early. Key-hyung is going to Namyangju with Jonghyun-hyung and now I can’t spend time with him.”

            He sighed as he flipped over on his bed and waited for a reply. It came:

            “Namyangju? I’m going there too this weekend. Maybe you’d like to come with me?”

            Taemin bolted upright and grinned.

            “Yes yes yes!” he replied.

            “Awesome,” Minho sent back. “I think the train leaves early, so you should probably be ready by six in order to get there on time. I won’t be able to take you though, so you should go with Key, okay?”

            “Okay,” Taemin replied, “I can’t wait!”

            He flopped back down on his bed and wrapped himself in his blankets, excited for the next day.

            Taemin woke up to Key’s alarm, and Key was still sleeping. Taemin sat up, feeling the world spin slightly. He held his head. That wasn’t a good sign, but he told himself he’d ignore his dizziness for the time being. He crept over to Key’s side of the room and looked at Key’s sleeping face. Key’s eyes fluttered open, and Taemin smiled.

            “Hyung!” Taemin said with his smile. “I’m coming with you!”

            “No, you’re not, Taemin-ah,” Key said groggily, looking into Taemin’s unusually pale face.

            “Yes I am! Because Minho-hyung was invited also and he wants to bring me!”

            “WHAT?” Key shot up. “WHY?”

            “Minho-hyung…I don’t really know…why he was invited or why he wanted to bring me?”

            “BOTH,” Key screeched.

            “Ah, I don’t know, hyung.”

            “Have you been spending time with that idiot?” Key asked threateningly.

            “No, hyung…well, he is in my botany lab, but that’s only once a week,” Taemin said thoughtfully. Key looked puzzled for a moment, and then suddenly his demeanor changed.

            “Alright then, Taeminnie, let’s pack.” Key patted Taemin on the head, leaving Taemin completely confused. He wasn’t sure why Key was suddenly being cutesy.

            It took them about fifteen minutes to pack everything they needed for their two-day trip, fifteen more for Key to primp a bit, and the rest of the time was devoted to the beginnings of Key’s plan.

            “Taeminnie, are you excited?” Key asked. Taemin cocked his head to the side, slightly worried that Key was now calling him by a pet name. It was a strange development and Taemin didn’t trust Key with it for some reason.

            “Yes, hyung, I think it will be fun,” Taemin said cautiously.

            “Good!” Key smiled. “Is Minho-yah coming to pick you up?”

            “He just told me to go with you and Jonghyun-hyung.” Key gave an annoyed snort and turned when they heard a knock at the door.

            “There he is now! Let’s go, Taeminnie.” Key ruffled Taemin’s light brown hair and opened the door. “Your hair’s getting long.” Taemin shook his head and looked at Key, still slightly frightened.

            “Hi hyung,” Key said, a different type of smile appearing on his face. “Taeminnie’s coming with us; Minho-ssi invited him.”

            “Ah, so that’s who Minho-ssi decided to bring. Alright, let’s go then!” Jonghyun said, beaming at Key. “You look nice today.”

            "Thank you,” Key said, blushing slightly. “You do too.”

            “Hyung,” Taemin interrupted, feeling the world start to spin again.

            “What?” Key said bluntly.

            “I don’t feel so good,” Taemin said weakly.

            “Taemin-ah, maybe you should stay here,” Jonghyun said.

            “But who would take care of him?” Key asked. “No, we’d better bring him along.”

            “You’re right,” said Jonghyun. “Taemin-ah, once we get out of the city, the fresh air will make you feel much better.”

            “Okay, hyung,” replied Taemin, still holding his head.

A/N: BACK AFTER A FOREVER TOO LONG HIATUS. Unfortunately, I can't promise scheduled updates, but at least I've gotten a good start on reviving this story. Thank you all so much for being so patient. I love you guys!

♥ Exie