The first two weeks with Taemin in my life where probably the best I had ever lived through.

He was so joyful and beautiful that I always had problems with tearing my eyes off of him. He often did things that were cute, adorable and sometimes even y, but I doubted that he realized the last one much. Whenever I blushed he would giggle and ask what I was imaging all there by myself … but of course I couldn't let him know, he'd probably be embarrassed about it or wouldn't believe me.
And even though he often met Jinki during the week – without me coming along at all – I didn't fees as jealous as before anymore … but that was because I just told myself that Taemin liked Jinki as a friend, and not a boyfriend … but that was plain hoping though.

Since he had earned some money on the cruiser Taemin had recently bought himself some kind of playstation thingy and a couple of games, even some that we could play together.
I was not really into gaming, but I played with him just because he really liked it. But after a while Taemin had started playing a Japanese role-play game and was totally absorbed into playing it all by himself and kicking some guys' .

He was playing right now as well while I was sitting next to him, watching.

He was wearing a really tight looking jeans and a way too big pullover that reached slightly over his thighs. I had to control myself not to stare at his body.

“Aw, no!” he suddenly shouted and grimaced. I looked away from his legs and back to the screen just to see how his character got stabbed from behind by a monster. “That was so unfair!” he whined and kicked the air with his feet. “He came up behind me …” he pushed his lower lip forward and pouted at the TV. “Kibum Hyung!” his lips curled up into a smile suddenly and he tossed the controller into my lap. “You try!”

I raised an eyebrow at him and wanted to say that I wouldn't do it, but I just couldn't resist the way he looked at me from then on … and so I grabbed the controller and let him tell me what to do.

He told me how to make the character run and which buttons I had to press in order to use magic and physical attacks. To be honest, I didn't really listen but just watched how his mouth moved and hummed a Yes whenever I heard him asking whether I understood. And when his lips curled into the most beautiful smile I felt like I was falling and tried hard not to blush again.

“Show that monster guy, Hyung!” he exclaimed and raised his fist as he added a cute Fighting!

“Y-Yeah.” I mumbled and looked at the screen where some scene was now played. “What kind of game is this anyway?” I asked a bit worriedly because Taemin spoke along to the dialogue – he was playing too much.

“Huh?” he stopped speaking and looked at me with wide eyes. “Hyung, you don't know!?” he took a deep breath. “It's Final Fantasy XIII!” he said it so proudly that I felt like I should react in some positive kind of way, but the name didn't mean anything to me at all.
So I only looked at him and then back at the screen to watch how a woman with red hair – my character and probably the protagonist – drew her sword.

“Who's that?” I asked.
Taemin stared even more when I asked that. “How can you not know?” he whined again. He started hammering onto my arm softly with his fists then. “That's Lightning … she's my favorite character!”
I watched as Lightning and her opponent ran towards each other and with a bright light shining up all of a sudden the battle started.

“Hyung!” Taemin shouted when I didn't react. “Run! Come on! After that monster!” he bounced up and down on the couch and pointed at the TV as he tried to tell me what to do.
I couldn't focus at all with him being like that. Not because he was loud, rather because I hated how my gaze was fixed on his thighs.

“Hyung!”

I twitched and looked back at the screen.

“He's gonna stab you!”

I blinked rapidly and started pressing all sorts of random buttons just to be met with a pleasurable surprise. Lightning suddenly did a back-flip and dodged the attack.
Taemin squealed happily and jumped to his feet, walking over to the TV. “Get him now!” he encouraged me and jumped up and down on his toes.

I just continued to press the same stranger buttons and couldn't focus at all when Taemin turned his back to me. My eyes were glued to the lower part of his back and I actually felt really ashamed of myself for staring like that. However, God seemed to have mercy on me, because I somehow managed to give Lightning the order to do some sort of super-attack and my opponent died right in front of me within just one second.

Taemin gasped at that and before I knew it he jumped right onto my lap and hugged me tightly, nuzzling his face into my neck. “You did it!” he cheered against my skin and giggled. “You were right! Kibum Hyung isn't silly! He's really gifted!” he kept showering me with compliments, but I was too distracted.
I had both of my hands on his back and held him real carefully because I didn't want to get even closer to him … well, actually I did, but I was a bit scared about that.
I could already feel his hips pressing against my belly and he had his hands on my chest now, but moved them up to my neck so that he could hug me all over again.

His touch felt so good that I hated myself for wishing for more of this.

I shouldn't feel like this towards him.

He probably didn't even feel the same about me.

Taemin seemed too innocent to think about what kind of thoughts I had right now, and he didn't seem like the type of person who'd be into guys like me anyway.

“Hyung …”
His whining pulled me back out of my thoughts and into reality.
“Hyung, you're not listening to me …” he pouted, causing me to stare back at his lips one more time … would he hate me if I tried to kiss him now?

“Sorry, Taemin-ah.” I said and felt a sad smile spread out on my face. “What did you say?” I ruffled his hair and told myself that Taemin was forbidden for any sorts of those dirty thoughts of mine …

I didn't want to ruin our friendship after all.




*




Another week with Taemin in my life had passed and I thought that it was fair to say that I had gotten used to having him with me all the time.
He was not working at the moment, but that was fine with me, because he was busy anyway.

Even though he had been with me for a little while by now he was absolutely overwhelmed with the city he lived in now.
Seoul had become a natural environment to me, I was used to everything, but he just didn't seem to be able to get enough of it. He always asked me to go somewhere with him and he never wanted to go back home then. By now he was also going out on his own whenever I was at work. He would come and pick me up after work then.

He came by today as well and I thought that he had come for me, but that turned out to be a wrong assumption.
 

Instead of me he came for Jinki.

I was bringing some coffee to a couple at a table when I saw how Taemin entered. He carried a plastic bag and had his camera at a necklace, dangling around in front of his chest – he often took many pictures and showed them to me at the end of the day.
I had given him a lot of space on the walls so that he could stick them up there.

“Hey.” I smiled and put the coffee down on the table. “What are you doing here, Taemin-ah?” I asked. “My shift's not over yet.”
He giggled and shook his head as he said: “I'm here because Jinki Hyung called me. He asked me whether I wanted to go to Hongdae with him tonight, because he needs to buy something.”

“Oh …” my smile faded at that and I walked back to the front with him. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“Hyung called half an hour ago …” Taemin replied and shrugged. “I was out at the fountains when he called so I came right over.”
I nodded and stepped back behind the counter. “I think he's in the kitchen, Taemin-ah.” I told him and pointed at the door. “Just make sure that you don't break anything, alright?” he saluted to me and hurried inside, leaving me with a new customer coming up.
The man had short, black hair and really big eyes, but the smile he gave me was very beautiful.

“Good afternoon.” I said and sighed as I looked at him properly. “What would you like to order?”

“What would you recommend?” he asked suddenly, causing me to freeze for a second – I hadn't even realized that he had asked me a question.
I even accidentally wrote the What would you recommend down onto the paper before it dawned on me.
“Huh?” I blinked and looked back up at him. “You mean me?”
He chuckled and nodded. “I've never been here before, so …” he grinned at me. “What's your best coffee?”

“Well …” I tilted my head a little bit. “E-Everything's really good here.” I said and furrowed my brow. “You could drink the faucet water and it'd be freaking delicious.”

I was being sarcastic of course – the faucet water was the worst.

However, he still laughed and asked: “May I treat you to a cup of coffee? I'd like to hear more about that.”
I knew he was flirting with me and that I shouldn't accept that since I was already crushing on my cute Taeminnie, but the Yes came over my lips before I could stop it.
“Perfect then.” he said and I saw him beam a little at that. “I'll sit over there.” he pointed at a bench nearby. “Let me know when you have a break, okay? I'll wait for you.”
I nodded and watched as he walked over and sat down. He started reading a book right away, but I caught him glancing at me from time to time … it would have been a lie for me to say that I didn't find him attractive …

His black hair, the perfect and manly jawline …

I snapped out of it when I caught myself checking him out.

Just when I blushed I heard the door open and saw Taemin and Jinki leaving the kitchen. They were holding hands and I saw Jinki carrying the plastic bag that Taemin had brought along – for a moment I wondered whether whatever was inside was a present for Jinki.

“Hyung!” Taemin came to me and gave me a tight side-hug before breaking away again quickly. He beamed at me and then back at Jinki. “Hyung said that he would treat me to Dinner again tonight!” he giggled and covered his smile with the back of his hand – I was about to remind him not to do that, but, to my surprise, Jinki was faster. He grabbed Taemins hand and held it tightly so that we could see him smiling.
“I hope that's alright with you?” Jinki then asked me and gave me a grin. “If you already prepared something then we can go tomorrow as well, no problem.”
I furrowed my brow and swallowed down the anger that was burning up in my chest. “I'm not Taemin-ah's mother. Do whatever you want.” both of them laughed, exchanged a smile and before I knew it they were on their way out, leaving me all to myself again.




*




When my shift was over – about an hour or so later – I was relieved when the man from before was still there, reading his book.
I hung up my apron and walked over to him, drawing his attention at once. I had brought along two cups of coffee and put them both down on the table that was in front of him. Without waiting for an invitation I sat next to him and crossed my arms.

“Shift's over?” he asked me and put the book onto his thighs.
“Yeah.” I replied with a soft smile. “What are you reading?”

“This? Oh this is just something that I have to read for University.”

“Can I see?” I reached over and let him hand it to me. “Wow, you're studying sports?” my eyes widened when I saw the title.
“Yeah.” he leaned forward so that he could see my face properly. “You like sports?”

“It's okay. I'm not really into it though.” I skimmed through the pages but gave it back to him when I saw that there was lots of maths in there. “And I hate maths.”
He laughed and put it into his bag when I gave it back. “I can understand.” he agreed. When he held out his hand I was confused for a moment. “I'm Choi Minho.” he introduced himself. “I'm studying at Seoul University and will graduate with a good report … I hope.” I chuckled at that comment and took his hand.
“I'm Kim Kibum. I'm not studying, but work here … not for the rest of my life I hope though.”
Minho nodded at that. “Where are you from, Kibum? Are you from Seoul?”

“Not really. I'm from Daegu. And you? Seoul?”

“Almost. Incheon.”

“Incheon is great!” I blurted out without thinking. “I've been there when I was younger! I always went with my …” my voice died a little. “With my parents …” I ended that kind of lamely and laughed uneasily. Minho didn't seem to notice though. Instead he nodded again and handed me the coffee that I had brought along. We drank it while chatting, which was a quite nice experience, and afterwards he even asked me whether I'd like to get something to eat as well. I told him that I was really tired and didn't want to sit around for much longer, causing him to ask whether he could walk me home.

“Are you sure about that?” I asked and drank the last bit of coffee. “It's not close by.”

“I don't mind.” he said. “I can drive you.”
My heart felt a bit squeezed at that. “Car?” I repeated. “With you?” he seemed to get what I was indicating and burst out laughing. “Don't laugh!” I said and hit his arm playfully. “I'm serious about this!” some people that were close to us looked at us as Minho started laughing loudly. I saw two girls checking him out and gave them quite an evil glare at once, causing them to blush and turn away.
As soon as Minho had calmed down he said: “I'm not , Kibum. Don't worry.” I actually found it really cute how his nose and cheeks were a bit red from his laughing. “I'm just interested in you.” my brows went up even higher at that and he laughed some more. “Are you not used to attention?” he questioned. “You're quite handsome … but kind of pretty as well … Difficult to explain.”

“Am I?” I asked and felt myself blush when he nodded. “Well …” I in my bottom lip and thought of what to say so that I wouldn't look like an idiot. “I guess I am pretty amazing.” I then said and ruffled my own hair softly.
“Yeah.” Minho grinned. “So? May I drive you home?”
I thought about it for a second before I smiled and nodded.

We walked out of the shop together, talking well and having a great conversation overall. I started to like him and was a bit disappointed at the thought of having to part later on. Still, as he drove me through Seoul I got a bit nervous when we got into the inner part of the city. I looked out of the window in an attempt to see either Jinki or Taemin – maybe they had come here, who knew?

“Hey? Kibum, are you listening?”
I looked back at him and apologized. “Sorry, I was lost in thoughts.”

“That's alright.” he said quickly. “I just asked whether you had siblings or something like that?”

“Not really … but my best friend and I … we used to be inseparable.”

“Used to be?”

“I'm sharing my flat with someone now and I need to care for that person more than for my friend.” Minho had frowned a little when I had said that I was sharing my flat with someone. Though, when I noticed, I added: “He's just a friend as well, don't worry.” I didn't know why I was trying to justify myself.
“Are you talking about the little boy from the coffee shop?” he asked. “The one who hugged you?”
I nodded. “His name is Taemin and he recently moved in with me.”

“I see … but he's only a friend, yes?”
I nodded but added a sad Sadly only a friend in my head so that he wouldn't hear it.

We got back into a nicer conversation and I was a bit sad when we finally drove into the street which I lived in. He parked right in front of my house and asked: “Can I have your number? I'd love to meet up again.” his smile was so heartwarming that it caught me off-guard and before I knew it we had exchanged phone numbers. We shook hands before I got out of the car and walked over to the house entrance. I looked back to see how Minho waved me Bye.

He really was a nice guy …




*




When I went to sleep that night Taemin still hadn't come home. At first I had been really worried, but shortly after midnight Jinki had sent me a text-message, saying that Taemin was going to stay over at his place tonight.
Of course that hurt me a lot, but after I thought for a while I didn't bother as much anymore. I had known that Taemin didn't like me that way, apparently he was more into guys like Jinki … and that was totally fine with me …

… well, not really, but I couldn't tell him to stop, could I?

It was not his fault that I had fallen for him after all.

However, I was really surprised when I woke up the next morning.

The door to my room was wide open and when I looked around in my room I found Taemin on the floor, sleeping right in front of my bed.
He was curled up like a ball and had his body covered with his thick jacket. His hair was really messy and I got worried when I saw his flushed face – was it just me or did he look like he had cried?

I carefully got out of bed, stepped over him and sat on the floor next to him.
“Taemin-ah?” I asked quietly and poked his cheek carefully – his skin was really hot. But he didn't wake whatsoever. “Taemin-ah.” I repeated, a little louder. “Hey, sleepy head … wake up.” he didn't even move though. So I started shaking him pretty roughly and felt my heart hammer in my chest – why wasn't he waking up?
“Taemin-ah, stop it!” my voice had risen a lot by now and I pulled him up so that his torso was resting on my legs. “This isn't funny!” as soon as I had pulled him up though his head fell back, revealing his pale nose and almost blue lips. He had his eyes closed.

I got scared for real now.

“Why aren't you waking up!?” I put my finger under his nose and my other hand onto his chest, waiting for any sign of his breathing – when it really came I almost had a heart-attack because I was so relieved. I put my hand onto his chest, feeling for a heartbeat and sighed deeply when I felt it beating underneath of my fingertips.

I tried waking him again, but he only groaned after a few more minutes and grimaced in – what I believed – discomfort.

I was worried, but also getting angry right now.

Whatever had happened last night, I was gonna find out what. And if Taemin couldn't do it now then Jinki would have to be the one to tell me … but not right now …

“Come on, Taemin-ah.” I said loudly so that he'd hear it. I put my arms around him carefully so that I could lift him. His head rolled back and hung in mid-air as I carried him out of the bedroom and to the living room. I put him down on the couch and started taking off his jacket and shoes together with his socks.
Taemin whined quietly whenever I moved him and to his side before falling silent again and drifting back off to sleep.
I rolled my eyes at that and put my hand onto his forehead – to my relief he only had a slight fever which was probably going to go down soon.

I put his shoes aside and wrapped one of the fleece-blankets – which I always kept in the cupboard next to the TV – around him. And as soon as I saw that Taemin was sleeping peacefully I stomped out of the room and dialed the number of my boss. He was a nice man named Kim Heechul, but he really was a little crazy and very strict. Since I had worked so much lately I was certain that he wouldn't mind if I took this day off, and to my relief he really didn't.

“Make sure to be back by Monday though, Kibum.” he said. “You can have tomorrow off as well, I don't mind. I'll try to put Jinki on duty then.”
I promised that I was gonna be back by Monday and thanked him a lot for understanding that I couldn't work because I had caught a tough cold … when in reality I figured that Taemin would need me to look after him.

After that was cleared I checked on Taemin again before I went to call Jinki. He didn't pick up though, so I tried two more times just to be met by the same result. In the end I texted him and demanded him to call me back as soon as he saw this message.

After that I felt like a heavy weight was lifted off of my shoulders.
I might not have known what exactly happened, but it didn't look like their evening had been a success … maybe they would finally stop 'dating' now? If I was lucky then Taemin would realize that I was much better for him than that clumsy guy from the coffee shop …

I shouldn't talk about Jinki that way … he was my friend after all. It wasn't his fault that we both liked Taemin as well …

However, Taemin didn't wake up for a few hours and when I did hear him groan from out of the living room I was in the kitchen, preparing lunch already. Since I was listening to music I hadn't heard him at first, but his groaning seemed to be stuck on repeat, so that it caught my attention soon. He was sitting upright on the couch as I glimpsed through the doorway. I smiled at him and turned back to the Kimchi that I was making right afterwards.

“Good morning!” I said loudly so that he'd hear it and turned the music off. “You're up again?” out of the corner of my eyes I saw him wrapping the blanket around him a bit tighter. He waddled over slowly and stood in the door-frame to the kitchen, watching me.
“Are you better now?” I put the frying pan aside for a second and turned my attention to him. “You sure did scare the hell out of me, Taemin-ah …” even though I was more than curious about what happened I felt really bad when his eyes suddenly watered. He looked down and I saw his knuckles turning as white as his face.
“Hey, what's wrong …?” I asked quietly and put my hands onto his shoulders. “Did something happen?”

Before I knew it though Taemin started crying real badly and dropped to the floor, still having the blanket wrapped around him.
I wanted to hug him, but when I tried he only pushed me off and shook his head.
“What's the matter with you?” I asked loudly and knelt next to him. Just when I was about to try and force him to tell me what was wrong though my phone suddenly rang, and to my relief it was Jinki calling me back.

“Kibum?” he asked when I didn't say anything at first – I was too busy with trying to let Taemin know that I was only trying to help him. “What's wrong?”
I felt anger burn up inside of me and I repeated that question so loudly that Taemin flinched. “What's wrong!? What the hell did you two do last night!?” he seemed to be caught off-guard and hesitated before he asked: “W-Why …? What's wrong with him …?”

“He's crying!” I said angrily and glared at Taemin when he sobbed – I wasn't angry at him though, just angry at the whole situation because I couldn't explain or understand it.
“C-Can I talk to him …?” Jinki sounded really broken and that surprised me, but I tried not to care too much.

He was the guilty one now and I was sure of that.

“Taemin-ah?” I asked quietly and pulled his head up gently. “Jinki Hyung wants to talk to you …” I said and offered the phone to him. “Do you think you can talk to him for a second?” he stared at me, then at the phone and back again. Then, suddenly, with one quick movement he slapped the phone out of my hand and wrapped his arms around me, causing me to yelp and fall back onto my back. Taemin was now lying in between my legs with his face buried in my stomach and his chest resting slightly below – I almost died at the feeling of having him so close all over again

I could hear Jinki talking on the phone but was too occupied with the way that Taemin was starting to cling to me.
He was holding onto me so tightly that his hands turned into fists and I felt my shirt getting wet because of the tears that ran down his cheeks. When I tried to get him to sit up again he suddenly started shivering and choking.
“A-Are you alright?” I asked shakily and fought against his grip until I finally managed to sit. Taemin curled together tightly and within the blink of an eye he suddenly started vomiting right onto the kitchen floor.

I screamed out of shock and quickly pulled him up so that he could bend over and breathe better as he continued to spit. He was choking and crying so much that I could feel my heart break into two and before I knew it my eyes started to water and I trembled a bit. I just held him tightly as he knelt there and made sure that he wouldn't collapse or anything.
Still, as soon as he seemed to have finished he fainted immediately and crashed against my chest.

I was desperate now, because I didn't know what to do.

Taemin was lying in my arms, his body heated up and eyes closed as his breathing became really weak and shallow. By now I was the one crying and I tried to wake him again more than just once, but it was just not working.
My brain was working on its highest level now, I was trying so hard to figure out what to do now. The first thing that came to my mind was definitely that I needed to get him to a hospital, but I didn't have a car in order to drive him and I didn't have the money to pay for a paramedic to come and pick him up …

Though then, when my phone rang again, an idea struck me.
It must have been rude, but at the moment I was too scared to care … above of that, this was out of my control … I hoped that he would understand …
Leaning over the floor I felt really bad when I had to put Taemin down on the floor for a moment – but my heart beat up a lot when he inhaled loudly.

I picked up quickly and almost cried harder when it was exactly the person whom I wanted to talk to now.

“Good morning, Kibum!” I heard Minho say. “How are you? I was wondering whether you were free today?”

“Minho … please …” I ignored his question, but only because of the situation I was in. “I-I … I need your help …” he hesitated, but soon asked me what was wrong. I sniffed a bit when I got back to Taemin and pulled his head onto my folded legs. “My friend … he collapsed …” I said quietly in an attempt to stay calm. “I-I need to get him to the hospital …”

“I'll be right there.” he said immediately. “I'm on my way to somewhere, but I can go later as well, that'll be alright.”

“Are you sure …?”

“Of course.” he insisted at once. “I'll drive you two to the hospital. Give me ten minutes, okay?”
I thanked him lots and was relieved when he didn't hang up but continued to talk to me until he finally parked right in front of my house. “Shall I come in to pick up your friend?”

“I-It's fine … I think …” I mumbled and got onto my knees. “But it'd be great if you could wait for me at the entrance downstairs …?”

“Of course.” with that we hung up and I pulled – the still unconscious – Taemin back into my arms. I lifted him up, having his head dangling around in the air again and cringed a little at the sight and the bad smell that came from him and the floor. Above of that, the burned Kimchi on the hotplate was not quite delicious as well … but as long as it didn't start burning …
So I tried not to care about my kitchen being ruined and just quickly walked out the door, pulling it open somehow and closing it with my feet. As I hurried down the stairs I cursed quietly when I realized that I had left my keys in my flat, just like my cellphone … damn …
I opened the door by bumping against it with my hip and found Minho standing there, right at his car.

His eyes widened when he saw me and hurried over. “What happened?” he asked and put his hand onto my back, guiding me towards his car. “Did he really just collapse?”

“I-I don't know.” I stuttered and glimpsed worriedly down at Taemins pale face. If I wouldn't have checked his breathing and heartbeat before I would have thought he had died. “W-When I woke up he was sleeping on the floor … a-and he didn't wake up and had a fever and–“

“Was he drunk, maybe?”
I blinked at that question. Minho opened the car-door and took Taemin away from me and into his own arms. “I-I don't know … maybe …” I muttered in response and shook my head.
“I assume he vomited?”

“Y-Yes …” I furrowed my brow at him.
“He'll be okay then.” he placed my friend on the seats, wrapped the blanket – which I obviously hadn't removed from him – around his torso and put the seat-belts around him so that he wouldn't fall.
I sat in the front with him the entire time, but had my arm twisted somehow so that I could always touch Taemin somehow. I was looking back at him all the time, just to make sure that he was still breathing.

“Do you really not know whether he drank?” Minho then asked again, but I only shook my head. “It'd make it easier to explain …” I didn't reply to that and afterwards we did not talk to each other again. Minho drove directly to the casualty department where we were taken in immediately. When Minho told the doctor what I told him – because I was too upset to talk – they wasted no time and took a look at Taemin immediately. I wasn't allowed to see him for a while, but when the doctor came back I cried out of relief when they told me that he'd be alright.

“What happened to him?” Minho asked and put his arm around my shoulder – I didn't mind at all … In fact, it felt really nice.
The doctor handed him the papers he was holding and started talking about Taemin having a mild intoxication of alcohol … apparently his body wasn't able to handle drinking at all, so he had just 'snapped' so easily.
“It could have been just a couple of glasses, maybe even just mild alcohol.” the doctor said when he noticed my shocked expression. “His body is just not used to drinking, maybe not even capable of handling it well. That is all. He will be alright. We'd just like to keep him here for one or two days. Just to make sure though.”

I sniffed, wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and nodded. “Thank you …” I mumbled and let Minho pull me into a hug. The doctor eyed us with a weird expression on his face before he asked: “In which way are you related to him?” I glanced at him. “Parents? Maybe?”
Minho chuckled, but I slowly turned red and shook my head wildly. “We're just friends.” Minho replied. “And I am in no way related to him.”

“Taemin-ah moved in with me …” I added quietly when the doctor raised his eyebrows. “We're just friends though.”

“Can you pay for the treatment? Or do you know whether he has a health insurance?”
I felt like there was a stone dropping in my chest. I didn't know whether Taemin had an insurance … I did, but that wouldn't help him out at all … And I didn't have enough money for anything that they were going to do here, at the hospital …
So I explained that to the doctor and he asked me to go ahead and ask Taemin whether he had an insurance as soon as he was awake again.

Minho accompanied me to the room where they had put my friend in the end.
We were allowed to go in and visit for as long as we liked – that was until nighttime at least. They said they weren't sure yet whether I could stay overnight – if I wanted to – or not.

As soon as we entered the room I felt my eyes stinging once more. Taemin was lying in bed, sleeping peacefully this time, and with an oxygen mask on his face.
When I got closer I saw how tiny little tubes were inserted into the veins on his forearms, just like his index-finger was connected to a machine that could measure his pulse and stuff.
I muttered something weird into my hand and got closer to the bed together with Minho. Just when I was next to Taemin I had to control myself not to burst out into tears, panic or just scream at him for drinking. I was relieved to know that it wasn't too serious and that he could go home again soon, but still … seeing him like this was somewhat devastating.

“He'll be alright.” Minho said. “Mild intoxication is not particularly bad … If he takes care from now on he'll be fine for the rest of his life, I'm sure.”

“How come you know so much, Minho …?” I asked quietly. “I-I thought you were only … studying …?”

“I am.” he said with a smile. “I study sports and medicine … In case someone who is important to me gets sick … I want to protect that person with all I can …”
I wiped my nose with my sleeve and knelt next to the bed, resting my hand on his now flushed cheek. I smiled when Taemin let out a sigh at this contact, causing his head to roll to the side.
“He's really pretty.” Minho was next to me again. I felt his hand on my shoulder again. “Where is he from?”

“Korea.” I mumbled and didn't take my eyes off of him. “He moved in with me because he wanted to return here … Said he never came to Seoul because it was too expensive …”
Minho patted Taemins hair softly and sat next to me. “Kibum?” for one second I removed my eyes from my friends emotionless face and turned to the man next to me. He was smiling as he said: “Thank you.”

“… for what …?”

“For asking me for help.”




*




In the end I stayed until eventide, waiting for Taemin to wake up again. The visiting times were as good as over when he finally moved.

I had been taking a nap when Minho – who hadn't left me alone with Taemin all day – woke me up.
He whispered to me that his eyes were opening, and because of that I had felt like he had smacked me awake.
I sat next to Taemin again immediately and stared down at him. Minho had really been right, his eyelids were fluttering and his lips were twitching softly.

“Taemin-ah …” I whispered and his cheek with my thumb. “Hey …” I smiled when he opened his eyes completely again. His pupils were huge though, I could barely see the usual brown color in his eyes when he glanced up at the ceiling. His vision seemed blurry, hence he couldn't see me properly. However, when I brought my hands to his hair and leaned closer I was happy when he finally managed to focus on me.
“Are you better now …?” I asked quietly. “You sure scared me … idiot …”
The way Taemins lips curled into a faint smile made my heart jump and I leaned down to him so that my forehead touched his. “I'm so glad …” I hiccuped once when I felt one teardrop roll down my nose.

Taemin sighed and I felt him getting a hold of my hand.
“I-I'm sorry …” he whispered, his voice hoarse and broken. “I-I didn't mean for it to go this … this far …”

“You can tell me later.” I said and leaned back up again slowly. “Just get better now, alright?” he nodded and yawned softly right afterwards. “Oh, and, Taemin-ah?” I added before I sat up straight and gave him a scolding look. “Don't you ever drink again, you hear me?” it was just an assumption, but the way he blushed told me that it was probably correct.

Taemin had drunk again.

And Jinki had seen it … even allowed him to do it …

“Jinki Hyung …” I muttered and tried not to start yelling – my teeth were gritted. “This time he'll get into trouble for real.”
Taemins eyes widened slightly and his grip on my hand tightened. “Hyung, don't.” he said quickly. “Don't make Jinki Hyung feel bad … please …”
I furrowed my brow at him and ignored Minho when he tapped my shoulder and told me that we had to go now. “He's the reason you're here, Taemin-ah.” I said a bit too loudly, causing Taemin to twitch. “If you only drink whenever you're together then I will not allow you to see him again!” my voice had risen so much that I was yelling, but when I saw the tears in his big eyes I felt bad at once though. He looked so vulnerable that I felt like a knife was cutting through my chest.

And so, before I could say anything else I did the worst I could have done …

I left.




*




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Sorry for the huge delay again D:

I actually finished this chapter two weeks ago already (written by hand) but was too lazy to copy it ... ^^;;

I typed it while watching a Let's Play to Amnesia and ... oh god, I am so freaking scared now ... *cries in corner*

Thanks for reading!!~ ^_^