sorry, I've already posted this chapter, but I had to reupload it in order to put up chapter 18 ^^ Thanks for reading!

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It was a Monday, a day that reminded Minho a lot of the first day of school. He swore the wind blew the same way, and the same little brown leaves danced around his feet. He was feeling uneasy again, a slight burning in the pit of his stomach, almost like nervousness, though he’d no idea why he was nervous.

                Just like before, Jonghyun stood leaning against a chain-link fence. His eyes scanned for Key, flying right over Minho three times before he noticed his mysterious friend frozen in place. It didn’t bother Jonghyun much that he didn’t know anything about Minho. In fact, he quite liked it. It was a break from his Key’s nagging and Taemin’s pouting.

                Key and Taemin, who were linked because Taemin held onto Key’s little finger, also noticed the ice boy from behind. Unlike Jonghyun, Minho’s silence bothered Key. Key was nagging, flamboyant, nosey… He was all of those things, but only for the people he cared about. He wanted to know more about Minho. He wanted to help his little Taeminnie. But he couldn’t.

                Minho closed his eyes, letting the cold autumn air push his hair back and tickle his lips. He loved the numbing temperature surrounding him, killing the sensation in his limbs. Burning his lungs with every breath he took.

                Then that happened. Minho smiled. He smiled the widest grin he had at school, the most genuine smile. Three boys almost gasped, Jonghyun and Taemin’s mouths held wide open while Key’s eyes were as wide as saucers. Minho smiled. He smiled? Since when did their friend smile?

                Key had an idea. If Minho was smiling, maybe he’s in a good mood. He’d talk to Taemin. With all of his force, the diva pushed his son forward almost straight into Minho’s back. Key turned and quickly ran to Jonghyun.

                “Sorry” Minho said, before knowing who had bumped into him.

                “I’m sorry, hyung.” Taemin bowed, secretly killing Key in his head.

                “Oh, hey Taemin” Minho almost chirped, wearing the same dopey grin.

                “Hi, hyung…” Taemin trailed off, shifting his weight to one side warily. He somewhat expected Minho to reject him again, and so he began to turn away when Minho grabbed his arm.

                “Taemin-ah… Let’s go to class together.” He offered, tugging Taemin twice.

                From the sidelines, Jonghyun and Key watched behind a tree. Key was beside himself with joy while Jonghyun just observed.

                Taemin hesitated, but eventually went with Minho. Of course, Jongkey followed them until the bell rang and they had to part for their different classes.

                The school day passed, with Minho staring out of the window. He wished it would snow. He’d always wanted it to snow when he was walking home from school, so it would seem like he’s in some kind of film. He’d already accomplished that same sort of goal when it was raining on a train ride, and he listened to a soft ballad and pretended that he was in a movie. But other than that, Minho loved the cold.

                Taemin sat in his class, clicking his pen and twirling it between his long fingers, puffing his cheeks and generally not really paying attention. He stared at the clock, counting down the minutes before the bell rang. It was five minutes. He puffed his cheeks again and drew his name in bubble letters on his paper. He looked at the clock again. Four minutes. He stretched back; shivering at his muscles’ restored blood flow. He looked up again.

                Minho chewed on his pencil, still staring out of the window. The bell rang and he slowly packed up, his eyes never leaving the window until he turned to walk down the hall and into the lunch room. He saw the table they always sat at, and, as usual, Jonghyun and Key were already there, flirting with each other.

                Minho wrinkled his nose. “Do you guys have to do that?” He whined, sitting down and resting his head on his arms.

                “Hey! Since when do you care about what we do?” Key answered, raising an eyebrow at Minho.

                Minho shrugged and yawned. He propped his head on his left hand while he dug through his bag for lunch.

                “Hyungs~!” Taemin came crashing down on the table, his papers flying everywhere. “Guess what, Jonghyun-hyung!”

                Jonghyun raised an eyebrow, in a perfect imitation of Key. “What happened?”

                “There’s going to be a dance team!” He shouted, causing the whole group to wince and rub their ears. “I want to audition for it!”

                “Gosh, my Taeminnie will be on the dance team!” Key added, hugging the boy tightly.

                Taemin beamed. “It’s not for sure yet, hyung. But the audition is Friday.”

                Minho bit into his sandwich and stared at his friends as they babbled on about Taemin’s new goal. He thought for a moment. “Taemin?”

                The boys went silent as Taemin acknowledged Minho.

                “You dance?” He asked, his eyes wider than usual.

                “Yes, hyung” He sang, rolling his eyes. “Like, almost everyone knows that! I did it for the talent show last year”

                Key beamed. “Yes, my baby won the talent show. I was a proud mother that day.”

                Jonghyun scoffed. “Why can’t you be his father?”

                “Why can’t you be taller?” Key shot back, smugly grinning.

                Minho drifted out again, but only after meeting Taemin’s eyes and seeing the blush tinting the younger’s pale cheeks. Something inside Minho changed. He didn’t know it yet, but Minho was falling for the Dancing Machine Taemin.