I woke up, only to find a cold empty space beside me. Onew hyung must have left while I was still sleeping. I yawn while rubbing my eyes as I kick the sheets off of me. I reached for my phone,

 ”0 new messages. ”

 I wonder where he went. He usually texts me in the morning about his whereabouts. I was going to invite him out to lunch. Oh well.

 I drowsily stood up from my bed as I stretched my arms and walked outside my room and into the kitchen, surprised to see Onew hyung there, sitting and having a lovely conversation with my umma while stuffing his face with food. How cute. My mom seems to like him a lot.

There I was, just enjoying the sight of my mom bullying hyung at the other end of the room. But then my mom noticed me chuckling and gestured me to come over and join them, so I shuffled my way to my seat and gave my mom a kiss on the cheek.

“Goodmorning, umma. Bullying Onew hyung so early in the morning, I see.” I said, grinning. My mom let out a little laugh as she placed my plate in front of me.

“A-aniyo, we were just taking about you, dear.” She said, smiling.

“Me? What about me?”

“Oh, just some random stuff, nothing to worry about.” Onew butted in as he ruffled my hair.
“Goodmorning, Taemin-ah.” He said before giving me a quick peck on the forehead. My mom jokingly grunted at this.

“Yah, Onew, no PDA in here. House rules.” My mom snorted, glaring at Onew hyung. While Onew hyung just let out a little chuckle knowing mom was just messing with him. My mom just smiled at him as she stood up from her seat, grabbing  her blazer and her bag resting on the chair beside me.

“Well, I’m heading out now. You two, behave. I don’t want any grandchildren yet.” She said as she gave me a pat on the head. I choked on my pancake, Onew spit out his orange juice and my mom just let out an evil laugh as she stormed out of the house.

“Umma! That’s not even possible, you know!” I shouted, clearly embarrassed of my mom’s antics.

“We’ll never know, dear!” She yelled, before she finally drove off. What a crazy woman. I looked at Onew, and smiled sheepishly

“Sorry about that.”

“Nah, I’ll get used to it.”

How I wish we could always be like this forever. I'd be the happiest peron on earth.

~

A few minutes later after Mrs. Lee went out, Taemin suggested we go for a walk around town. I delightfully obliged and went to get our shoes as he changed his clothes. We headed out.

“So, I was kinda planning to invite you out to lunch today. Are you free?” Taemin turned to me and asked with those puppy dog eyes again. He knew it would always work on me.

“Sure, Taemin-ah. Where would we eat though?” I questioned, and he looked kinda dazed.

“Aigoo, you’re inviting me out to lunch, but you haven’t even planned it out?” I chuckled as I ruffled his hair. He just pouted and crossed his arms like a child. I pinched his cheeks and slowly reached for his hand and locked it into mine. I gave him a kiss on the nose and I can see his cheeks starting to get tinged with red. How adorable he is.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find a pl-”

I felt a sudden vibration in my pocket. My phone. I reached for it to find out that I have received a message. From Minho. Taemin just tilted his head out of curiosity. I looked at him,

“Hang on a second, Taemin-ah ” I said as I checked the text message.

From: Minho

Hyung! Can we go out for lunch today? I kinda miss hanging out with you. It’s been so long. Just text me when you have decided, arasso?

“Who was it, hyung?” Taemin asked, his head still tilted, eyes full of curiosity while smiling at me genuinely.

“Oh, it’s just Minho asking me if we can have lunch together.” Upon hearing what I have just said, I can clearly see the look of disappointment on Taemin’s face. I look at him, worried.

“Oh. Right, your dongsaeng.” He said, not too confidently, almost like a muffle.

“Don’t worry, Taemin-ah. I’ll just tell him that I have other plans today.” I said, giving him a reassuring smile as I pulled him closer to me, my hand snaking around his waist before giving him a kiss on the forehead. He looked at me, a little baffled.

“Oh, no hyung. You should go. Besides, you guys haven’t seen each other for years now, right? I don’t want to get in the way of your friendship” He told me, his voice suddenly sounding guilty. Oh, Taemin why’d you have to be so kind? I smiled at him and patted his head,

“Why don’t we just go all together, neh?”

 “T-together? With M-Minho?”

~

"T-together? With M-Minho?" I stuttered. Together? With Minho? Is Onew hyung serious? Why does it seem like he's pushing my closer and closer to Minho? Can't he take a hint that I don't want to see him? All the progress I've made on forgetting about the past. Forgetting about him. It will al turn back to zero. What have I done to deserve this thing? What have I done to deserve being repeatedly hurt by the same person?

Why can't he just go away so I can live my life in peace? Why did I have to know him? Out of all people, why him? 

"Taemin? Are you alright? You look pale. Is something wrong? If you don't want to go out with Minho, I can just tell him." I was put out of my trance by Onew hyung's hand on my shoulder. Yes, that would be great. You need to keep him away from me, because I might go crazy. But I can't let Onew know about what happened in the past between me and Minho. He must not know. I can't let Minho ruin this relationship. I can't let him ruin my life once again.

"Ah. Aniyo, hyung. I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Taemin?" Onew hyung asked,as he cupped my face ever so gently with his warm, loving hands, his eyes full of concern. I placed my hand on his and gave him a smile.

"Yes, Onew hyung." He finally cracked a smile and kissed me on the lips.

"Arasso. I'll just reply to Minho, neh?" 

"Yeah, about that..."

~

Here I am, lying on my bed, the T.V., on to atleast lessen my loneliness, stupidly waiting for a response from Onew hyung. It's been so long since we last hung out. But what I really wanted was to know how Taemin is doing. Try to make Onew hyung talk about him.How they are doing together, if Taemin's happy being with him. If nothing's troubling him anymore. If he's finally pursuing his dream as a dancer. Maybe if I'm lucky, he'll bring Taemin with him so I can ask these questions to him myself. Yes, that would be wonderful. To have another glance at Taemin and atleast one conversation with him. Just one.

I groggily stood up from my bed and headed straight to the bathroom. I reached for the sink and washed my face. After rinsing, I looked into the mirror and all I see is a cold-hearted jerk.

Ugh, look at me. I'm so pathetic. 

If I could only talk to him once more. Say how I really feel and how I acted such an back then. How do I get him alone? Alone with me? Just the two of us. So I can pour all of my feelings out to him. To let him know that I still love him even after all these years. Just to at least let him know. Even if he doesn't love me anymore. Just so he knows that I loved him still despite of my unacceptable behavior.

I really regret everything. I wanna go back. Go back to where we could've fixed this thing. I should've gone after him the moment he stepped out of my door. But now it's too late. He has Onew hyung now. I wish we could at least be friends. Even if it hurts, even if I want more, a frienship with Lee Taemin would suffice. To at least let him know that I'm no longer that he used to know.

At least he could forgive me...

"He'll never forgive you, . And he would never want to see you as much as you want to see him." I said to my reflection in the mirror. Why does this have to be so hard? Minho, why are you such an idiot? I just can't help thinking about what could've happened between me and Taemin if I weren't such an idiot back then.

We could've been happy. 

"You're an idiot. Pabo pabo pabo."

"Don't even think that he'd want to see your face after what you've done to him."

I reached for a towel and went out of the bathroom and slumped myself onto the bed. I looked to my side,

*buzz* *buzz*

I reached for my phone. Onew hyung finally replied.

From: Onew hyung

Sure, let's meet at the park. 

I was happy to see his response. This is what I need for now. Some company to keep me distracted from what I'm feeling right now. Then came in another text...

From: Onew hyung

Oh. By the way, Taemin is tagging along with us, is that okay with you? 

Holy .

_____________________________________________________________________________

So, here you go guys. Another update after 132418341-8341234u2134 years. .__. I'm so sorry I really am. 

Plus my writing got 10000x crappier than before. ;A; But I swear I'll get better. 

I hope you guys bear with me. I love you all who still support this fic. ♥

COMMENTS ARE L♥VE