Taemin shuffled in his spot, staring at the ground. He didn’t know why he’d actually come. He was still pretty mad at Minho, but Jonghyun had also invited him to attend the gathering. He heard Minho call his name, and he reluctantly dragged himself over to his hyungs, plopping himself into Key’s lap.

                “Goodness, my Taeminnie!” Key gasped, hugging the boy tightly and burying his face in Taemin’s soft hair.

                Onew chuckled at the scene and quickly retreated back into the house. He went upstairs into his bedroom after checking on Minki. Onew’s house was really simple, actually. A few pictures adorned the walls and two trophies stood out remarkably. Most of the house was a neutral, pastel sort of green. He ran his hands along the walls until he reached his door.

                His door wasn’t really significant and unlike Minho and Minki’s door, he had nothing on his. He flung the door open and collapsed onto his large, soft bed, kicking his slippers off and letting himself sink into the fluffy goose feather blanket. He grabbed a frame from off of the shelf and inspected it, running his fingers over the woman’s face. He to his back and hugged the photo, remembering the last time he’d seen her.

                It’d been almost ten years ago in uptown Seoul. He was around the same age as Minho was, maybe a bit older. He’d begged her not to go as he stood outside of his doorway in the rain. But left, she did. Carrying two bags of luggage and a full purse, she stepped into the taxi and drove off, never looking back at Onew. He chased after her until his lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. He even chased her then, until he simply couldn’t anymore and he fell over, with pain shooting up his legs as he stumbled down the road. He chased her so hard and she’d never looked back once.

                That memory pained Onew so much that it made it hard for him to remember the good times with her. He didn’t remember the good times. He remembered the love and then the pain. Remembering this was too hard for Onew, and he began to stain the pillowcase with his tears, wishing she would return for him again.

                Jonghyun and Minho awkwardly made conversation while Taemin sat stoically in Key’s arms. Taemin was still so angry, but Minho had pretty much forgot about that incident and he was actually wondering what was up with Taemin.

                “Minho-ya, what did you do to Taemin?” Jonghyun whispered, kicking a football over to Minho.

                Minho shrugged. “Did I do something?”

                Jonghyun scoffed. “Of course you did. I’ve never seen him that quiet in all my five years of knowing him.”

                “I did something…” Minho trailed off, trying to remember what he might have done. “He yelled at me before, hyung. We were eating sushi. I don’t know why he yelled.” He kicked the ball back.

                Jonghyun went chasing after it, and upon returning replied. “Well, figure it out. Fix my son.”

                Minho nodded, biting his lip and glancing at Taemin.

                Eventually Key got fed up with being bored and forced Taemin to get up and enjoy some grilling, which Jonghyun and Minho had offered to do for the four of them, Minki’s friends and Onew.

                Taemin watched Minho from far away, never taking his eyes off of him. Minki noticed this.

                Walking up to Taemin, Minki loudly stated. “You like my hyung, don’t you?” He smiled smugly.

                Taemin froze, his cheeks burning. “N-n-no! Why would you say that?!” He stuttered, taking a small step back.

                “I know when someone likes my hyung” Minki teased.

                Minho heard all of this, but he decided to ignore it until Jonghyun jabbed him in the shoulder with his elbow.

                “Fix this, Frog.”

              So Minho sighed and turned around. “Minki! Don’t bother your hyungs! It’s rude to ask people about those things.”

                Minki sulked and ran off to his friends. Minho walked over to Taemin who stared at the ground, cheeks still a dark red.

                “Are you okay?” Minho asked, his eyes wide. Taemin backed up even more. Sensing Minho was about to screw things up even more, Onew swooped in for the rescue.

                “Minho-gun, let me handle this. Don’t burn the chicken!” Onew scolded, dragging Taemin into the house. Once they were inside, Onew began his speech. “Look, Taemin-ssi, I don’t know you that well and from the looks of it, Minho doesn’t know you that well either. Although I don’t know you, I can tell that you really like Minho. Minho is not ready for a romantic relationship.”
                Tears began to form in Taemin’s eyes.

                Sensing the trouble, Onew kept going. “Do you know about him? I don’t know if I should be telling you this… but if you love him, you should know. Minho was starved, beaten, tortured. Do you know why? Because he loved someone. He loved his own mother and that’s why his father almost killed him over and over. So Minho’s too afraid to love anyone now. He can’t love you right now Taemin-ssi. You need to get him to earn your trust, you need to be his friend right now. He needs to heal from that significant wound. When he’s well again, you can try to get him to love you. But right now, he’s scared that he’ll get hurt if he loved someone.”

                Tears fell from Taemin’s eyes as he realised Onew’s wisdom. It was true, but Taemin had been so selfish. Only putting himself first, he neglected to realise that Minho needed to heal. That Minho had shut out all forms of love so it wouldn’t hurt.

                Taemin nodded, wiping his tears with the tissue Onew offered him. From now on, he would be Minho’s friend. He would earn Minho’s trust and when Minho could trust him, and when Minho was healed, he would see if he could love Minho.