Minho’s appa and umma decided to leave after visiting Taemin in his room; he was still not awake after the surgery, so they decided that Minho staying with him would be enough.

“Take care of him, Minho. Let us know immediately when he wakes up” as soon as they left, Minho turned to Taemin and held his hand. He had asked the doctor whether there would be a scar on his arm; the doctor said as long as it heals well, there would probably be a thin, barely visible line on his arm, nothing too bad. Minho stared at Taemin’s flawless skin, because of him; Taemin would now forever have a scar on him. He would somehow have to break it to him when he wakes up.

“How is he doing?” Minho entirely forgot that Onew was still here.

“He’s still not awake yet, but the doctor said he should be up soon. I would like to thank you for being there for Taemin, he might not be doing this well if you hadn’t been there” Onew smiled and said it was nothing.

“He is my baby brother, of course I have to save him” but Minho didn’t understand one thing.

“Why did you wait until to look for him?” Minho stared at him, and then he heard another voice behind him.

“Yeah, why did you wait until now to look for me, hyung?” both Minho and Onew looked behind them; Taemin had woken up and was in tears staring at them.

“It’s complicated, it’s a long story. You just had a surgery, you need to rest” Onew didn’t want to tire out Taemin on his first day back.

“If you don’t tell me the whole story, I won’t be able to rest” Minho stared between them and was about to get up and leave when he felt a hand grabbing his, he looked down and saw Taemin, he must’ve been scared and needed someone beside him. Minho gripped his hand and sat back down.

“Start talking, hyung. Why did you leave me? Why didn’t you look for me when our parents kicked me out and disowned me? Why only come back now?” Taemin stared at Onew and saw that Onew couldn’t look him in the eye.

“You want to know the whole story, Taemin? Then I’ll have to go back to when you were 9 years old.” Onew sat down and continued his story.

7 years ago

Taemin was just 9 years old when Onew had turned 16. There were a 7 years difference between them, but not once had Onew found Taemin annoying. He adored the boy and was happy whenever Taemin looked up to him. He was considered the heir to their parents’ company and they expected him to be perfect. They arranged meetings with other girls so find him the suitable wife for him, but not once did he look at their way, he would always find excuses to not go to the meetings or he would not go at all. What Taemin didn’t know, and Onew didn’t want him to find out was that Onew already had a boyfriend and his name was Lee Joon. They were classmates from school and it was considered love at first sight. Onew was considered the school nerd but girls approached him because of his money. Joon was the school jock but unlike Onew, he was an average student, his parents weren’t rich nor were they famous, but fate brought the two unlikely people together and a couple was formed.

For the first few months, things were going smoothly; they would date in secret and would usually hang out as much as they could during school hours.  Joon’s parents had accepted their son for who he was so Onew would sometimes hang out at his house and might even stay for dinner. However, Onew’s parents somehow found out and they had forbidden him from seeing Joon. Onew knew that Joon was the one so he would rebel against his parents and would sneak out whenever he had the chance. One day, Onew received a text message from Joon saying that he can’t sneak around like this anymore and he wanted to break up. Onew would not accept that, so he went over to Joon’s house and demanded an explanation. Joon opened the door and Onew saw that someone had beaten him up, badly. Onew asked him what happened but Joon would not tell him anything. He knew something was off since both of them always told each other everything, he then asked if it was his parents or not, Joon didn’t answer, but he also didn’t deny it. Onew ran out of the house, ignoring Joon’s calls and ran back home to confront his parents.

As he arrived home, his parents were already arranging another meeting with another man’s daughter. Onew yelled at his parents and asked them for a damn explanation. His parents excused themselves from their guests and dragged him upstairs. They said that they did nothing wrong, that as a parent, if they saw someone with a bad influence, they would have to get rid of it immediately, and Joon was considered one. Onew asked his parents are they ever going to stop harassing him, they said not until their son stops being a . That was the last straw, Onew packed up his stuff and was about to walk out the house. As he opened the door, his parents told him once he takes one step out of this house; he would not be considered a part of this family anymore. Onew didn’t care and said I’m happy I’m not your family anymore. I don’t care you if you don’t treat me as a son, but please look after Taemin for me. His parents said that they would train Taemin to take his spot and then he would realize what a stupid mistake he made. Without another word, Onew left the house and never looked back. Or so he thought.

Throughout the whole 3 years, before Taemin turned 12, Onew had asked for one of the maids to sent weekly reports about how he was doing, he wanted to make sure Taemin was living well, even without his brother looking after him. One day, a few months after Taemin had turned 12, the maid reported that his younger brother was kicked out of the house and disowned, but she does not know the exact details. Enraged, Onew went to his old house to ask his parents why. His parents said that they thought Taemin would follow Onew’s footsteps and become the next heir to the company, but they did not expect him to also follow his older brother and become a also. They had already kicked out one son; they did not hesitate to kick out the other. They always wondered what they had did wrong for them to have two sons that disobeyed so much, but Onew said it must be a blessing for both of them. Since he’s pretty sure Taemin didn’t want them as parents either. So he left and for the past 4 years, he had looking for Taemin ever since. It was only a few months ago that he had received news about a Lee Taemin that might be his brother, but had recently moved and still unable to locate.

End of long boring flashback

“After searching for a month or so more, I finally found a Kim Kibum and he was seen with a Lee Taemin going to St. Juliette. Taemin, you grew up but I could still tell it was you, in my heart, you were still my baby brother” Onew stared at Taemin as he tried to digest everything.

“So, it was not that you didn’t look for me, it was because you didn’t find me” Taemin smiled, his hyung had not abandoned him in the end, his hyung still cared about him. He gripped Minho’s hand harder and Minho could tell that Taemin had already forgiven Onew. Maybe he’s not that bad after all. He seemed like a nice hyung to Taemin and that’s all that’s important to Minho right now.

“I’m really sorry about leaving you in the first place, Taemin. I had no choice, I just couldn’t stand living in that place anymore, and I thought you would be taken care of, but it turns out I made a terrible mistake in leaving you in the hands on the devils themselves and made you suffer for all these years” Onew was already crying as he thought about the hard times that Taemin had to suffer, listening to his parents’ harsh words and forced to fend for himself at such a young age.

“But I didn’t suffer hyung, I had Key umma who looked after me all these years, then Minho came into my life and now you appeared again, I won’t call it suffering, I would call it a blessing” Taemin giggled and Minho and Onew stared at him as to how someone could be such an angel. He could hold no grudge, and was always optimistic about everything.

“Oh yeah hyung, what happened between you and Joon hyung? Are you two still together?” Taemin asked eagerly, he would like to have another older brother to love him. Onew chuckled and held up his left hand, on the fourth finger was a ring that said ‘Joonew Forever’. Taemin’s eyes lit up and asked when he can finally meet his brother-in-law.

“When you get better and finally get out of the hospital, he’s still away on a business trip so he should be back in a day or two” Taemin bounced in happiness and Minho was forced to hold him down, just in case he bounced out of bed and injured himself even more.

“Minho...” Onew started, Minho looked up as Taemin stared at him.

“I would like to thank you for looking after Taemin when I wasn’t there, I could tell that you are a very important person to him? Are you his boyfriend?” Minho started to feel nervous, he had to deal with a diva umma already and now another protective brother appeared. Minho wondered whether he would be able to get their approval at all.

“Yes, he is my boyfriend, and he had been taking care of me very well” Taemin held Minho’s hand and gripped it tightly.

“It doesn’t seem like it, look at where you ended up at” as Onew glared at Minho as he pulled Taemin’s hand away. Taemin pouted, Minho caressed his cheek and turned to Onew.

“Hyung, I know the first impression I gave wasn’t the best, however, I promise you, and I will protect him to the best of my ability. I will love him and keep him from harm. All I want to ask is for your blessings” Minho took Taemin’s hand in his and looked at Onew. He could tell that Minho really liked Taemin and for no doubt, he was sure that Minho would protect his baby brother.

‘Do you love him?” Onew asked Taemin, who blushed and nodded. Onew looked at Minho and said something that made Taemin cry.

“Minho, you protected him with I couldn’t, I hope you will keep your promise and keep him safe, or I will find you!” Taemin looked at Onew and pulled him into a hug.

“No, hyung. Don’t blame yourself for what happened, it wasn’t your fault, now I know that you didn’t abandon me, just promise that you wouldn’t leave me ever again” Onew promised and took Taemin and Minho’s hand.

“Now, I placed him in your hands, look after him and never make him cry again” Minho said he will and thanked Onew for his approval.