As he walked along the edge of the cobble-paved street, Taemin understood that he had little to no recollection of anything. His family, friends, and past all seemed like the weeds garnishing the crack in the sidewalk: insignificant and easily brushed aside. The only thing he seemed to understand was that his name was Taemin and that there was a pang in his chest that no amount of whiskey or pricey cigars could cure. It had struck him as completely odd.He had woken up one day, covered in streaks of blood that he just knew wasn't his own, and he was shivering.He didn't question anything but he had an aching in his head and he felt ruffled and irate. He had dodged in and out of the small apartment that bordered the alley he woke up in, and darted in and out to get a pair of clothes. Taemin didn't know much but he had instincts that he could rely on and that was that. He could glide quickly into buildings, charm an unsuspecting woman with his face, and he had a month's worth of cash in a stolen wallet. His life (that he knew of now) was simple and it relied on his pick-pocketing skills, and it had no purpose but to keep surviving. But it frustrated him to no end, because all of a sudden, in the middle of walking out of a bakery or lying on a park bench, memories flooded him.

"Taeminnie!" A voice crooned, sugar sweet and eager to tease. " Hyung, quit it!" A blurry man had drawn a smiley face on his frown with icing. Taemin and the unknown figure were chasing each other around a cozy apartment, and Taemin felt like it was a familiar routine that never lost it's touch. This man that he would call Hyung would chase him, he would protest in good spirit, and then there would be a chase. It would usually end in Taemin draped around his hyung and his hyung endearingly poking his cheek. 

The hyung had grabbed Taemin quickly, and his lithe form was pressed up against Taemin's back. His warmth flooded to Taemin, and his arms encircled Taemin's shoulders. Together, they rocked back in forth, leaning on each other's momentum. A comfortable silence passed between them, Taemin content as ever, until the elder hummed." Taemin-ah, it's your birthday tomorrow, right?" 

" No, we're just baking a birthday cake because I'd like diabetes at a young age, hyung." Taemin responded snarkily, and his hyung pouted in sadness.

" Don't joke about that, Taemin. You're not supposed to say things like that." His hyung's voice got quiet and lower and he pulleld away, clearly upset. Taemin sighed, and looked at his hurt Hyung. He had dealt with this before, and his conscious told him that he shouldn't have crossed such dangerous waters. His Hyung's mom had died an untimely death to the disease, and it bothered the man to no end if anyone even joked about it. He wouldn't ever wish the same fate of suffering for an enemy, and definitely not Taemin. 

Taemin went to the corner of the room where his hyung was crouched, obviously relishing his own pity-party. Taemin sqautted behind him, whilst hearing the man mutter words like brat, spoiled, and irritating. Taemin giggled in spite of himself and lightly tapped the man's broad back with a finger. The man didn't respond. Taemin tried again. He boiled up a bit, and was starting to feel pissed off that this man could hold a grudge for who knows how long just because something that slipped out of Taemin's mouth. But, mustering up the nerve and gathering up enough patience to take caare of a day care worth of kids, he tapped the man's shoulder one last time.

No.Damn.Reply.

Out of fury, Taemin kicked the man's back and the effects were instantaneous.

An hour later, a stone-faced Taemin clutched an ice pack to his toe and his Hyung had a bag of frozen peas on his back. Both were quiet, and the silence were threatening to swallow someone up whole. Taemin didn't mind, because he was still busy fuming, and his anger overclouded his past regrets and there was no chance in hell that he was gonna apologize now. His hyung, on the other hand, was reverted back to his old self. Looking pleading despite his height that called for authority, he was silently attacking Taemin with hearts aimed with his eyes. Taemin ignored him. His hyung looked painfully apologetic, and his face contorted into one of someone facing extreme discomfort.Taemin finally chortled(albeit it being from how sadistical and accomplished he felt at the moment), and his hyung gleamed that his emotion changed from his heartless stare from earlier.

" I'm sorry for over-reacting, Min-ah. I know that I made a huge deal out of it, but it's a sensitive topic. When my mom died, I felt completely torn apart. I was lost for a long time, and even though I don't think I can be completely fixed, you helped patch me up quite a bit. Anyways,if anything like that happend to you-" His hyung cut himself off, he was starting to choke up with tears just by the thought of it.

Taemin rolled his eyes, but his hands were gentle on his hyung'd face as he wiped off stray tears on his face.

" Stupid, hyung. We have a long time for you to worry about my diabetes medicine, and whose gonna die first. Just focus on today, and don't try to emotionally smother all of my plans, okay? We have alot of birthdays to come."

At that, his hyung let out a strangled snort and laced their fingers together.

A/N: Hello, readers(or what's left of them). I'd like to say that I'm really sorry for not updating, but actually I'm not. Before you click away because this author is clearly the douchiest douche out of them all, I'd just like to say that over time it's become quite hard for me to write out of obligation and I can only write if I'm incredibly inspired to do so. Most times I end up deleting everything I wrote, and just reading someone else's fic. Now that we've got the half-assed apology out of the way, I've just got to remind you that the angst is coming, so just wait patiently? *cue aegyo* Any guesses on what's happening here?