Things were definitely not going as how Taemin had expected. After hours of struggling with the overly-complicated directions of the electric massager, Taemin ended up falling asleep on Jongin’s bed. He woke up in the middle of the night, had tiptoed out of the room trying his hardest not to disturb Jongin fast asleep beside him, and had come back home before the sun could rise. Unable to fall asleep, Taemin spent the night wide-eyed in his room, his heart still thumping out of place from the kiss earlier. Though Taemin was still unsure if he could count that act of violence as “kissing”.


 

Eventually morning came but Taemin wasn't even sure how he made it to school. Everything was going fairly normal, except for the fact that he was avoiding Jongin with his life on the line. The Kim Jongin he had witnessed last night was not the Jongin he thought he knew for ten years, and the psychological damage issued on him was far too big to ignore. Though, Taemin admitted, Jongin couldn't be blamed for getting so angry. The thought suddenly filled Taemin up with suicidal desires, and he banged his head against the wall as he headed down the hallway to the washroom.


 

Baldy was right. He hated to admit it, but having a stable family was ing important to being shaped as a normal human being. Taemin curved around the corner, only to halt as soon as he set his foot inside the washroom. Backing up as inconspicuously as possible, Taemin glued himself to the wall and cautiously peered inside.


 

Jongin was in front of the sink, conversing casually with a friend (why couldn’t they talk inside a classroom?! Taemin wanted to scream). Taemin continued to spy on them, silently iterating demands for them to leave, when somebody tapped his shoulder from the back. Flinching violently, Taemin whipped around and found Soojung looking at him judgmentally.


 

“What the are you doing in front of the washroom?” She deadpanned.


 

“I… need to go to the washroom?” Taemin responded, as he crossed his leg in a jumpy manner.


 

“And do you need me to you inside and pull down your pants for you?” Soojung snapped. “I knew you were dumb but I thought you could at least take a piss properly. You’re pee dance is making me want to go too.”


 

“Shut up.” Taemin glared. “Jongin is inside and I can’t just stride in there…”


 

And the words were already out before Taemin could realize that he was talking to Jung Soojung. Soojung of course, being the meticulous feline that she was, caught the unusual whiff of Taemin’s sentence and narrowed her eyes.


 

“Why not?” She frowned. “Are you avoiding him?”


 

Taemin grimaced at his own stupidity and Soojung cried indignantly. “…Something happened between you two, right? RIGHT!?”


 

“Nothing happened.” Taemin assured her reluctantly, trying to shut the girl up quite unsuccessfully to his dismay.


 

“Something did too!! What happened!? Oh my god, what was it!!?” Soojung flared up, and Taemin caught Jongin coming out of the washroom in the corner of his eye. Desperate to hide himself, Taemin quickly covered Soojung’s mouth with his hand and dragged her to the nearest empty classroom around the corner. The door shut just in time to conceal Taemin and Soojung from the hallway, and Taemin breathed out a sigh of relief.


 

“…Tell me what happened before I go confront Jongin.” Soojung spat, as she pushed Taemin’s hand away.


 

“Nothing.” Taemin told her firmly. “…I just gave him a massage.”


 

“…A m, massage?” Soojung repeated, her jaw dropping to the floor.


 

“He hurt his ankle so I…”


 

“And why would you give him a massage?! Doesn’t he have hands? Doesn’t he have money to go to the hospital? Doesn’t he-” Soojung sputtered, flailing her arms wildily until Taemin angrily cut in.


 

“We’re friends!” Taemin gave her a stern look. “I have a right to take care of my friend.”


 

Soojung closed , the empty sound of air gushing out. Seeing Soojung look like she was about to burst in tears, Taemin mussed his hair in vexation. The girl who couldn’t force a single tear was standing right in front of him, eyes watering at the fact that Taemin had massaged Jongin. Taemin suddenly felt bad for being so inconsiderate. Though Soojung was the core of all evil, she did say that she liked him after all. Then suddenly it kicked in; under all that vicious thorn, Soojung was still a fragile girl. Well, not fragile… but still, a girl.


 

“Hey, I didn’t mean to snap at you, I…” Taemin stuttered, getting flustered at how red Soojung’s eyes were turning. He felt completely helpless when girls cried.


 

“It’s just so unfair.” Soojung mumbled, pulling at the hem of her skirt.


 

“…What is?” Taemin asked slowly, trying not to trigger anything to make Soojung cry.


 

“Like you said, you and Jongin are ‘friends’ so you guys still have an excuse to see each other… even after all of this ends...” Soojung’s face flushed red with each syllable. “But what about me?! You’ll probably get rid of me as soon as we graduate, and I’ll just become a mere part of your history. It’s so ing unfair.”


 

Then Soojung turned around to wipe her eyes. Dumbfounded by the sudden confession(Soojung’s tirades always caught him off guard), Taemin shook his head and tried to coax Soojung as he fidgeted restlessly.


 

“That’s only natural you know, we’re all going to be busy at university…”


 

“Take me out for dinner.” Soojung suddenly declared, cutting Taemin off.


 

“What??”


 

“I want to go on a decent date with you. Not just having some cafeteria fried rice, but a real date at a classy restaurant.”


 

“…Jung Soojung, are you aware of the state I’m in?” Pressing down on his pounding head, Taemin furrowed his brows. “I’m having suicidal urges every five minutes, and you’re asking me-”


 

“Or I can just start crying.” Soojung interrupted, and Taemin froze.


 

“…….Fine.” Croaking out an incoherent muffle, Taemin finally sighed. “Let’s have dinner, and mounds of it at that, since you seem to be so ing attached to the idea.”


 

Soojung beamed, and bounced towards Taemin as she brushed an imaginary lint off of his shoulder. “Tonight! You promised!” Soojung squeaked, before giddily skipping out the room.


 

After Soojung left, Taemin gingerly peeked his head out and searched the hallway before stepping out. Taemin knew how ridiculous he was acting, but he found himself shuddering whenever he was unconsciously revived of Jongin’s frightening grip on his wrist and the violent drive of his force into Taemin’s mouth. The aftermath of Jongin’s unexpected rage was enormous on his mentality, and Taemin was determined to put off seeing Jongin as much as possible. 


 

It wasn’t as hard as Taemin had expected. Taemin could handle the avoiding; escaping out of the cafeteria camouflaged in a crowd of freshmans, shuffling down the hallway with his back glued on the wall, and even ducking under his desk whenever Jongin peered into his classroom window. It wasn’t smooth, but it was working. The real problem was the clean-up duty after school.


 

As Taemin moped around at this matter, he was summoned to the office by Shin ssaem during the last break. Apparently the essay Taemin had provided was unacceptably insincere, and Taemin sauntered to the teacher’s office again. When Taemin slid the door open, Coach Kang and the school nurse was conversing at the table while Park Chanyeol was seated at the guest sofa.


 

Taemily bowed, and the P.E teacher curtly nodded in his direction before turning back to Chanyeol.


 

“So, explain to me in specific detail why you don’t want to play basketball.” Coach Kang was saying. “It’s your only future you know, your grades won’t be able to assure you university at this rate.”


 

“…I just don’t feel like it.” Chanyeol replied, and Coach Kang continued in an attempt of persuasion.


 

“If this is about doubts of your ability, let me assure you that you surpass most of our current players.”


 

“I know that already, sir.” Coach Kang seemed to be speechless at Chanyeol’s brisk response, and he fired up after a short pause.


 

“Then what the hell is the matter!?”


 

“I don’t want to cling to it, it’s only a hobby.”


 

, that’s cocky. Taemin thought as he snorted unconsciously, bringing everyone’s attention to him. Taemin cleared his throat, and Coach Kang groaned in irritation as he heavily hefted to his feet.  


 

“Coach, how is Jongin these days?” Nurse Yoon asked as she perused through a folder.


 

“Don’t even get me started on that kid.” Coach Kang said in a gruffy manner, winding a whistle around his wrist. “The big game is coming up but his goddamn ankle is still snapped out of its place.”


 

Taemin winced.


 

“He does take an ice pack every morning from the hospital wing… but you know that can