“Are you okay?” asked Taeyeon the next morning, seeing Taemin’s grumpy expression. He looked like he hadn’t slept all night.

“Yes,” said Taemin. “Why?”

“Come on Minnie, I think the whole neighbourhood heard you two screaming at each other last night!  If they didn’t know Koreans lived here, they do now! Are you okay?”

“Of course,” said Taemin sourly as he munched on his toast. “I can’t believe that Key hyung though. He’s so possessive and jealous. I can’t stand him. And he called me bad karma! Did you hear-“

“I heard everything, believe me,”  sighed Taeyeon tiredly. “Why didn’t you just text him back and tell him sorry? I can understand why he would be mad.”

“Why aren’t you on my side?” asked Taemin, wounded.

“I am, what he said to you wasn’t right either. You’ll both see, I guess. You’ll miss each other soon.”

Taemin snorted. “I wouldn’t miss Key hyung at all.”

“Earth to Taemin!” said Lacey as they were both doing worksheets. “What are you doing?”

Taemin had been staring out the window, looking at the clouds, thinking about last night.

“We have to fill in what we want to do in 5 years. Look, I’ll write it for you. What do you want me to write?”

“I don’t know…” said Taemin, fiddling with his earring.

“Well what is your dream? Where do you want to be?”

“Living in a big house!” thought Taemin out loud. “To bring my dogs here from Korea, maybe. Give lots of money to my grandparents and my auntie. Live with.. live with…”

“Your boyfriend?”

“Mmm,” Taemin said, shaking his head.

“Why not?”

“We had fight last night,” explained Taemin.

“Okay, maybe not with your boyfriend then,” said Lacey carefully, seeing the faraway look on Taemin’s face and he went back to fiddling with his earring.

Key sat in the library, staring at a book.

“Dude, it’s upside down,” said Minho, flipping the book the right way up. “You’re all weird today.”

“Late night last night,” explained Key, giving a weak smile.

“With Taemin again?” said Minho, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Ew, we’re not like that,” defended Key. “It’s nothing.”

“You guy didn’t have a fight or anything?” asked Minho. 

“No,” said Key absently, flicking the pages. “I don’t know, just tired.”

“Dude, you’re turning the pages the wrong way!”

“Mmmm,” hummed Taemin to himself as he spread his arms and legs underneath his covers in the dark. He was tired. He was sleepy. He hadn’t had this much space to himself in a while.

It felt a bit weird.

He shuffled into his normal position, on his side, facing the side that Key normally slept on. He closed his eyes. He imagined what Key looked like when he was asleep, his face inches away from Taemin’s. Key always looked and breathed so peacefully when he was asleep. His breaths would go up and down, up and down, up and down….

“Why don’t you just go over there and tell him you’re sorry for getting so angry?” said Key’s mother as she folded laundry and he watched TV.

“Yah, you heard it all?”

Key’s mother gave him a look.  “I would have been the one screaming at you to get back home, but looks like Taemin did it for me. ‘I’m bulletproof and I hate you Kim Kibum’? You know we live right next door, you two were really going it at it, me and your appa woke up when you started screaming at Taemin he was bad karma. Why did you say I said it? Now I look bad.”

“Because you did say it,” said Key, annoyed.

“You were so determined to be with him, Key. You ran away because we wouldn't let you see him and that child followed you and nearly got  himself killed. We have no choice but to accept him. Remember when he came to our house and started crying while he was eating a cookie? Aigoo,” said his mother. “We really have made a bad impression on him haven’t we. He needs to come over again. He was so cute.”

Key suppressed the little smile that wanted to creep onto his face. So his mother liked Taemin now. And Taemin was cute.

He couldn’t forgive the fact that Key had blamed all the bad things in his life on him. Key was supposed to be in love with him. Every time he thought of those words “bad karma,” he felt like crying. He had very nearly started to when Key said it to him. It made him feel like he was good for nothing, that he couldn’t make Key happy, that he was a burden to him, that he didn’t even like him. He had just wanted to disappear when Key had said that to him. He didn’t even know if sorry could make it better. It wouldn’t be enough, wouldn’t regain his trust. He didn’t even know if he wanted them to make up.

Part of him liked the way they ignored each other, how both of them had not tried to contact each other, and Taemin hadn’t seen Key for days. Key probably started taking earlier or later buses to Taemin because Key knew when Taemin took the bus, so it was obvious Key was avoiding him, and it hurt. Every time he got to that busstop and it was empty, he would grow angry at Key again for being a and not trying to apologise, so he obviously didn’t care about Taemin’s feelings, and he didn’t even know how badly he had hurt him. Or he knew and he didn’t care. Either way, Key was still a jerk.

But there was still that part of him that came out at night, the one that had to imagine Key next to him asleep to help him drift off, and he would just dream nonsense about them doing stuff together, or having random conversations, to wake up and try to snuggle someone that wasn’t there. The part of him that thought in 5 years time it would be nice to live in a big apartment with new furniture and Adam and Eve and have that certain someone who would tidy up without being asked, and make them both yummy meals, and who he would talk to every night and make him giggle into his pillow in tears or make out frenziedly with like no tomorrow. That someone who always turned around with those feline eyes and gave him a small sweet smile and a kiss before going to his own house.

He should have just texted him. But now he knew what Key really thought of him. Bleurgh. This was what Taemin thought about every day while he drew in his note books.

Key didn’t even know why he had gotten that jealous and mad. Oh who was he kidding, he knew. Ever since that car crash, Key got anxious whenever Taemin was out of his sight, and it didn’t help that after spending a night together, they would catch the bus together and hang out whenever possible, only separating for school and dinner with their families. Key had started coming over earlier and earlier to a point where he would just come over after he finished dinner. He didn’t feel right without being practically joined at the hip with Taemin, able to see with his own eyes that Taemin was there.

Key was hurt that while he worried obsessively and was so attached to Taemin to a point that even a few hours apart for school got him antsy, Taemin hadn’t felt any obligation to answer his texts. Who didn’t answer texts? Was this the same Taemin that kissed a random girl for no good reason? This was why he couldn’t bring himself to say sorry. He wasn’t the only one who was hurting.

“Look,” said Minho underneath his breath as they were at McDonalds. “Quick, to your right, don’t look like you’re looking.”

Key depressedly with his straw at his Coke with no ice as Jonghyun swivelled around obviously to gawk before turning around and meeting Minho’s eyes with a smirk.

“What a lucky guy,” laughed Jonghyun. “He is sooo lucky, seriously!”

Key looked out from the corner of his eyes to see a very unattractive guy with a tall, very pretty girl holding hands as they walked to the counter. He had to be at least foot shorter and looked like he ate McDonalds for every meal.

Minho and Jonghyun both shook their heads in amazement, laughing in awe.

“It’s not funny,” mumbled Key, staring morosely at his salad. “It’s sad.”

“Why?” asked Minho, munching his way through his second Big Mac. “Maybe the guy’s loaded.”

“Because I bet that’s what me and Taemin look like together,” said Key dejectedly.

Jonghyun gagged on his fries. “What are you on about?”

“Taemin’s so pretty,” Key lamented. “So pretty and cute and hot and beautiful and he doesn’t need to try. He ‘s got great skin. I have to spend at least half an hour on my face every night and still have wear BB cream. He can eat anything he wants because he’s got a high metabolism. I have to eat stupid salads and ban myself from junk food.  If I didn’t try, I bet we would look like that. A pretty person dragging along an ugly fatty.”

“Are you jealous of your own boyfriend’s looks?” asked Jonghyun incredulously. “You seriously think you’re not that goodlooking? Have you told Taemin this?”

“He’s just nice and says sweet stuff,” brushed off Key. Well, Taemin used to say sweet stuff when they used to talk. And he didn’t really know if they were still boyfriends.

“Key, you are goodlooking. What’s in your head? You and Taemin look like fairies together, like from Lord of the Rings or something.  You both radiate iness and prettiness. Both of your looks are out of this world. You’re proud you got someone as hot as Taemin right? I bet Taemin feels the exact same way about you. I mean the girl he picked out to make out with was a stunner. He must have high expectations, looks wise. He wouldn’t date you if you didn’t meet them,” reasoned Jonghyun as Minho nodded in agreement.

“He always goes on about personality being more important,” said Key. “He’s like dating me for my personality, not my looks.”

“Wow Key, he’s sounding a lot nicer than you at the moment. Are you dating him for his looks then?”

“No, I just…I always feel like I have to pretty in front of him. Because if I stop I would end up like that couple. And if I let go of him, he’ll just run away,” sighed Key.

“He followed you to the middle of ing nowhere, he’s not running away,” said Jonghyun drily. “And it’s not like you’re the only one who’s worried about your looks. I might not know much, but I do know that Asians do not get brown hair like you and Taemin that easily.”

Key started picking out the tomatoes in his salad. He felt a bit like they went to waste when Minho guzzled them up instead of the someone else who always looked like he could do with a decent meal and couldn’t pack on a pound. And someone a lot cuter and deserving too.

“Come here, yeppeo,” called Taemin sweetly, squatting down and rubbing his fingers together. “Come on, Faffy.”

Faffy was a name Key made up because it was a combo of the English words fat and fluffy. Taemin had thought it was cute and funny.

He smiled as the fluffy cream cat meowed and trotted over, pushing it’s head into Taemin’s hand as he it. “Aigoo, what a pretty kitty,” he praised as he scratched it’s head. “What a good cat.”

He giggled as the cat rubbed itself against him, slinking around him insistently and purring. He had made friends with it with Key and it lived at the house opposite his.

He kept it as he praised the cat, scratching underneath it’s chin and it’s ears. He used to hate cats back in Korea. But Faffy was cute. In fact, he thought cats were very cute now. Maybe American ones were cuter.

“My pretty Faffy,” he said as the cat sniffed his backpack and he its back.

“Where’s my kitty, kitty, kitty?” sang a voice Taemin knew all too well.

He stood up and turned around to see Key walk to a halt. They both stood there awkwardly as Faffy went to Key and started winding around his legs. Taemin stared at the cat. What a traitor.

“Um.. see you,” mumbled Taemin as he crossed the road to his house.

“So I gather you haven’t made up with Key yet?” asked Taeyeon, who had seen the whole thing outside the window.

“No,” replied Taemin shortly, moving to the window to have a peek to see what Key was doing.

Key was squatting there patting Faffy carefully as Faffy rolled on the pavement, looking sad and deep in thought. Taemin remembered all the days where they would work home from the busstop from school, and they would play with Faffy together and laugh. He liked seeing that side of Key, the side that spoke in baby talk and cooed to animals while playing with them gently. Key always knew what to do. It had been one of the highlights of his day.

Of course Taemin didn’t miss Key yet.

A/N  they're not eating at McDs and petting a cat for nothing! Dedicated to the awesome Tae-Kitty11!! Except Faffy was mentioned in chapter 12. Can you spot her?

To all my regular commenters who are long overdue a shout out (like Kironstree <3 <3) don't worry! you might be referenced and dedicated to soon ;) ;)

Also dedicated to all the readers who like me are y, free, single and very very very ready to bingo. who needs a love life when you have internet and shinee and fanfiction right? OTL OTL OTL OTL OTL

I have to go to work now and spend my day hanging clothes and folding clothes (retail assistants hollaa) :( so comment and make me feel better when i come home with sore feet and sads from rude customers :(

Tell me what you think! If you have any pets! If you like Faffy! How you think they should make up!