Jinki groaned in frustration as the traffic seemed to get worse. He furiously honked the horn even though he knew his efforts would be in vain. He ran a hand through his hair and rested his head against the cold window pane, watching the raindrops violently hit the window. He knew he should have left the house earlier today. He took his cellphone from the cup holder beside his chair and almost threw it out the window.

What luck.

No signal.

Meanwhile, a young boy waited outside a tall building holding a white umbrella with one of his hands. He stood in front of the sidewalk while mentally talking to the puppet on his left hand. He giggled as he flapped the puppets mouth open, as if it was actually talking, earning odd stares from the people passing by.

"Looks like Onew hyung is going to be late today, Minnie," The puppet said, turning his head left and right, searching for Jinki as if it could actually see.

"He's probably going to take a while," Minho mouthed. "Let's go to Key's cafe! I'm sure he won't mind." Taemin smiled and nodded at the puppet before turning on his heel and started making his way to his friend's cafe. The cafe wasn't that far from the building Taemin just left from. When he reached the very sparkly cafe, he opened the door, making the bells on top of the door ring.

"Welco-- Taeminnie!" Key exited from behind the counter and hugged his friend. Key and Taemin met during the time Jinki's family adopted him. Key was one of Jinki's close friends and the cafe he owned was passed down throughout his family. The coffee house was renovated by Key after ranting about how old the coffee house looked. So he took it upon himself to re-design the whole place and add cupcakes to the menu. The place itself was quite small but it would usually be packed during the weekends, rush hours and lunch.

Key took Taemin's umbrella and placed it in the basket beside the door before leading Taemin to a seat in front of the front counter. "What brings you here alone? Jinki won't even let you step out the front porch without throwing a fit." Taemin held out Minho and made his arms flail about, trying to communicate with Key through the old puppet.

"Aish, that chicken-loving freak! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind later." Key went to the kitchen and took out a cupcake on a plate and set the plate in front of Taemin. "While you're here, I want you to try my new cupcake: It's fudge and banana." Taemin's eyes lit up when he saw the cupcake. He immediately picked up the small spoon and picked apart the cupcake. Key smiled as his friend ate and made him sweet banana milk tea to go with his cupcake. Key smiled and grabbed a glass of water before sitting beside his friend. Key hated to admit it but he has always been infatuated with the boy. His blonde hair and pouty lips never ceases to make Key's heart skip a beat. Key loved the boy whole-heartedly but if he were to confess, there would be some serious repercussions considering the fact that he was a 20 year old man falling in love with a 15 year old boy.

"How does it taste, Taeminnie?" Key asked. Taemin turned his head to Key and flashed a bright smile, nodding for a seal of approval. Key chuckled and ruffled his hair before taking a sip of his drink. He heard his phone vibrate on top of the counter and reached over to pick it up.

"Hello?" He answered.

"KEY! I LOST TAEMIN. HE WASN'T IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING LIKE ALWAYS. OH GOD, I'M GOING TO HELL. I LOST MY BABY BROTHER. OH GOD. MOM'S GOING TO KILL ME!"

"Relax. Taemin's at the store right now. Look, if you're busy you can come and pick him up la-- hello? Hello? Jinki? AISH! That guy; How dare he hang up on me." Not even 20 seconds after the phone call, Key saw a car nearly run over a couple of pedestrians and furiously stop at the front of his store. Jinki quickly got out of the car and ran over to Taemin, almost breaking Key's door.

"Taemin!" Jinki yelled as he wrapped Taemin in a tight hug, earning a small squeak from the young boy.

"Well, hello to you too," Key said, rolling his eyes.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Jinki asked, looking and touching Taemin's head, face, arms and torso, searching for any signs of injury. Taemin shoved Minho near Jinki's face and said, "Taeminnie's fine, Jinki hyung!" Jinki scratched the back of his head and sighed before plopping down on the seat next to Taemin.

"I'll make you some tea. It'll be good for you." Key got up and started brewing fresh tea for Jinki.

"I'm so sorry, Taemin. I didn't know traffic would be that bad."

"It's okay, Jinki hyung. Taeminnie understands!" The puppet flapped it's mouth as if it could speak. Jinki smiled and ruffle Taemin's hair and thanked Key as he set down a cup of tea.

"Sorry about this, Key."

"It's quite alright. Taemin can come over anytime. He's good company. Speaking of which, do you mind helping me get groceries later? My car's being repaired  at the moment." Jinki took a sip of his tea before setting it down.

"Sure, what time are you closing up?"

"I got Jonghyun to come in early today, so we can leave when he gets here." 

"Can Taeminnie have another cupcake, Key hyung?" The puppet asked. Key smiled and took out another cupcake from the display.

"Here you go," Taemin said, fixing up another banana milk tea for Taemin.

"Thank you! Taeminnie loves Key hyung~!"

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Sorry it took me some time, I really like to take my time with chapters, especially for angsty stories. I hope you guys enjoy :). Minho makes an appearance next chapter.