When Taemin woke up the next morning, he was happy to see the plain white walls of his soon-to-be-abandoned room, stripped of all posters, color, and other belongings. This was the day he has been waiting for. The day when he starts life on his own; his own journey to reach his lifelong goal of being a choreographer. It's been years since Taemin woke up smiling, excited and ready to go immediately, since there was nothing in his daily life to really arouse him in that way.

But today was different. Along with proceeding on with his life in Korea, it also meant the freedom and happiness he would enjoy being away from his dad and memory of his brother who has since moved out. To where, was unknown and to Taemin he did not care one bit. Step-mother, he could miss. She's a real sweetheart who shouldn't even be near that poor excuse of a man called her husband. He's still that same pathetic man who dared to strike his love across her face 13 years ago. Yeah, once Taemin is rich and famous, there's no way he'll leave Korea and definitely never go back to Osaka. If Taemin really failed at everything and became a homeless bum, he would never return to that household even I feel it meant dying on the streets. He swears on his life.

Taemin flipped out of bed and onto the carpeted floor to hug it and whisper sweet goodbyes to the floor he'd always been falling on every single morning. For a moment you would think he was crazy, and in fact he might be. The excitement and adrenaline pumping throughout his body was hard to tame when a milestone as big as this was being passed. Patting the fluff beneath him a couple times, the boy rested himself on his haunches and took one last look around his room, reminiscing only the good times within each object.

His window sill: That one time Jongin threw rocks at his window, and convinced him to sneak out. Even if it meant almost breaking his ankle dropping from the two story house, he did it for the rush of defying both the law and his parents.
The desk: Where Taemin did more sleeping than any other work. Homework bored him to tears, literally. Eventually he'd give up on trying to solve equations and rest his head for a while. At least a while was what he planned to do. Whenever he woke up, there would be an energy drink and snacks placed in front of his face, including a little card saying: "Taemin, hwaiting! ^^ ~Mom" Which never failed to make him smile.

And of course, his high quality form fitting mattress sitting atop a mahogany bed frame that will be traded for a springy, low quality mattress in the corner of a room on the floor of Jongin's apartment. It honestly didn't matter where he slept, as long as he had his music player to ease him into a decent nights sleep. Taemin stared at the empty bed until his mind portrayed a distant memory of himself.

Taemin was fourteen at the time and it was his mother's death anniversary. Respectfully, he wore black and carried a picture of his mom around inside of his binder. In classes, and between class- lunch even- the boy was constantly staring at the photo with longing eyes full of depression and sorrows. As he walked the halls, groups started talking. And the talking went around to the boys who hated Taemin without even a real reason to bully him behind. The boy sped-walked as fast as he could to get back to his house, where they were holding a prayer, before he came to a halt in front of the towering teens blocking his way on the side walk.

In a vague memory, Taemin recalls this unfortunate event as his first beating. It was also the first day that he started feeling hatred towards the human race in general. He remembers the bullies snatching his binder away and snorting disgusting and degrading remarks about the picture, without knowing that was his late mother. They taunted Taemin and threatened to rip the photo if he didn't give up his money. The money he never even had in the first place.

"In exchange for the money," one of the boys said, "We'll just use you as a punching bad instead." Taemin only agreed to that if the picture remained untouched.

In the end, the paper was ripped; along with Taemin's face and dignity.

Arriving at his house, battered and bruised, Taemin examined a note left at the door which informed him that his family had headed out for dinner in honor of his mother's death anniversary. It also included personal memos from his father saying, "How could you not be home for the prayer? How dare you disrespect your mother like this!"

Yes, all was going well in his life, putting that in a sarcastic way. The boy wailed a bit louder reading those false accusations from his dad as he dropped his backpack in the middle of the foyer.

Then, Taemin had an idea. Immediately with the thought fresh in his head, he grabbed the torn pieces of the picture that he had gathered from the ground, and headed for the kitchen. A different type of rush powered through Taemin's small and changing body, as his trembling fingers frantically searched through drawers until he found what he was looking for: a knife. This will do. He remembers thinking, as he stomped up the stairs loudly, and locked his bedroom door behind him.

Standing alone in the room, he wiped the tears from his eyes and threw his phone wrapped in headphones and knife on the bed. First thing to do, was write his last goodbyes on a piece of paper. Taemin couldn't recall what he had said, but the whole point of it was absolutely hating life and how he was being treated like nothing. In the end he finished with a page half filled with words and crawled into his bed with salt water dripping from his tear ducts. Taemin extended his hand and wrapped his slender fingers around the wooden handle of the sharp blade. 

He thought of the many different ways and vital spots to choose from, but he thought it would be a bit easier for the stomach than any other place. The acute tip of the utensil was positioned in the middle of his abdomen.
This is it. This is it. He thought to himself. Wait for me, mom. And hesitantly, he withdrew the object forward to gain power in his own blow. 

One. (I don't have anything to live for)

Two. (I'm useless, and better off dead.)

Thr-

Just in the knick of time, a tingling sensation vibrated against Taemin's knee; it was his phone. The boy took a look at the lighted screen between through his tears. It was Jongin. Well, he was one person that actually cared for Taemin, and he thought that maybe he should take a look at this message, and then continue with the ending of his life. The ending his life part obviously never happened, because what Jongin sent made Taemin think twice about what he was doing. It made him realize that what he was going through wasn't going to last forever and that it was going to change.

It was an audio file. Why not listen to it? He remembered thinking. Three minutes wasn't long enough for his family to eat dinner and come back anyway, so why the rush in killing himself? His door was locked and he felt confident that he could do it even if his parents were home.

With shaky fingers, Taemin unraveled long black head phone wires from his pocket and plugged it into the device and popped the buds into the openings of his ear canals. The text message read: "Today is your mother's death anniversary right? Here's a song that might cheer you up if you're feeling bad today. ^^ ~Your best friend, Jongin" 
Following the message then came a melody and soothing vocals which were sweet and smooth like honey. Every word, every long note, was hit perfectly with emotion by this man and his melodic voice. It hit Taemin hard. The whole song. Lyrics and everything.

"A-yo, when it’s tough
Doong tah dak, lean on the rhythm, oh
With our song for you
Everyone a-yo, everyone a-yo

A-yo, when you can’t sleep
Tap brush it off, leave it to the rhythm, oh
With the anticipation of the unfolding tomorrow
Everyone a-yo, everyone a-yo"

Those were the words that sent Taemin bawling and cursing at himself for picking up that weapon with malicious intent. This man- whoever he was- just saved a life and will never know that. One single and precious life. From then on, Choi Minho was Taemin's hero.

A loud boom at his door jolted Taemin out of his daze. His step-mother claimed to be knocking at the door for ten straight minutes to make sure Taemin was up and ready to leave.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a tiny bit attatched to my room," he said gliding his hand over the soft fabric under his hand. "But I'm ready now, so let's head get out of here." Now the young man, gripped his bed for some leverage, and lifted himself up from the ground. He looked to his step-mom who just gave him a benign smile, showing him that she had no oppositions to him moving away.

Her step-son returned the gesture wholeheartedly and watched her disappear from under the doorway. Taemin counted each step she took, knowing how many strides it takes for a person to round the corner and head downstairs. Twelve shuffling sounds later, Taemin lifted the bottom left corner of his mattress and carefully slid out the photo of his mother, pieced together like a puzzle and held by tape. I can't forget you. He thought smiling. Folding it neatly into his pocket, Taemin's hands took purchase on the handles of his suitcases and wheeled them out of his room.

~~~~~

"Minho-ah, don't you love the story line of the drama you're casted in? It's so adorable and you and Sulli looked great together at the meeting yesterday!" Key said clasping his hands and falling like flimsy rag doll onto Minho's sofa.
"I guess you could say that. I wasn't really listening to the director to be honest." The other man stretched as he got out of his bed and chose a random blanket from the pile near him and began to drag it along his shoulders as he made way to the opposite lounge chair from Kibum. "She's cute, but I can't really see myself being with her like that."

"So what about the offer? Are you gay?! There are so many male fans and idols who want to date that woman!" Key exclaimed covering his mouth in shock and maybe just a sliver of joy.

"What the hell?! Just because I said that you think I'm gay?!" Minho fired back surprised that Key would even think that of him. "Don't go around saying those things or else people will hear, stupid." He then said layibf back to recline the chair and resting his head on a pillow.
"Are you saying you'd have a problem if you were a homoual?!" Kibum said launching a random and empty water bottle across from him. Minho just scoffed because this was turning to such a ridiculous conversation.

Just before Minho replied, a knock was heard a the door. "Come in." He said loudly, and then took his turn to talk. "Hyung, don't take this personally! If I had anything against homoual people, half the people in this house wouldn't even be working here, including y-" Kibum cut off the rest of his sentence with a spasm of obnoxious coughing when he noticed that the new employee was standing right behind Jinki.
"Yah, Minho! Let Jinki talk!" He yelled as he sent a pillow hurling towards Minho's defenseless face which hit him with a grunt. The younger only glared at Key, and then switched to the butler standing to the side.

Jinki cleared his throat before talking. "This is our new recruit to our staff, Master Choi. This is Kim Jonghyun." He said elegantly, and then stepped to the side for Jonghyun to come forward. Dressed in a white long sleeved shirt with black vest and slacks, he looked stunning to Kibum. And with the flip of his hair, the warm eye smile, and pearly white teeth, Key nearly fainted right then and there. Actually he was a bit blown back; he lost his balance for a split second and clutched the clothing over his heart.

But to Minho, he looked like a cross between a puppy and raptor of some sort, which humored the man as he busted out laughing at this sight. "Really?! He could be our mansion pet instead! He's so short he's cute!" Minho cackled to himself as he slapped his knees repeatedly until smacked in the face with a pair of clean underwear.
"Minho! Manners!" Kibum screamed sending literally everything in his vicinity over in Minho's general direction. Jonghyun laughed along with Minho though, claiming that he gets that a lot, but that didn't stop Key from creating suffocating mounds over his idol's body. Jinki tried getting Key's attention, but it seemed like he was in his own little world of pain and destruction. Finally, Jonghyun took caution by rounding about the couch and standing behind the war lord.

His timing was perfect, taking hold of both of the man's wrists and stopping him from any further mess. Kibum tilted his head back to find those puppy dog eyes staring back at him. "I told you, it's fine. I get that a lot." He said flashing his warm smile that melted the younger’s heart and flushed his face a bright red.

"Alright, alright! Get out! Now!" Minho ordered as he dug himself out of the suffocating sea of objects he was buried underneath. Minho barely caught a glimpse of Kibum's blushing face before he completely turned away from his vision. He watched Jonghyun send a smile his way, a bow, and then headed out the door with Jinki who shook his head with a smirk. As soon as the door clicked behind the butler, Minho pointed fingers at his friend.

"Kim Kibum, you have a crush on Kim Jonghyun!" He said happily. Kibum said nothing but dug his face further and further into the backing of the sofa and grunted with each bottle, wrapper, and piece of clothing Minho sent back in handfuls.

"No! I don't!"

"Man, he was awfully cute though. Should I marry him because I'm gay?"

"Choi Minho you don't even want to go there!" Kibum said wagging a finger in the air and revealing his face slowly draining back to his normal skin tone.

"And what if I do?" The other taunted him by slowly standing from the chair and steadily moving towards the door.

"Well, you'll definitely prove that you're gay." Kibum said, raising an eyebrow along with the corners of his mouth. Minho's face dropped. Looks like he loses either way. Then the man huffed and returned to sprawling out on his leather chair

"I'll shut my big mouth about you being gay, if you shut yours about Jjong." Key offered as a neutral peace treaty.

"Jjong?" Minho snickered at that pet name. Pet name. Guess it works out well. "And for the last time, I'm not gay. But deal."

~~~~~

"Thank you for being there for me, mom. I really appreciate you being there for me." Taemin said embracing his step-mom in his arms with a crushing hug that made her gasp a bit. "Sorry. It's been a while since I've really given affection." The young man said bashfully. But those words were true, the last time he'd hugged somebody was a year ago when Jongin left for Korea.
"That's alright, but make sure you visit us when you reach your goals, okay?" She said with a loving smile. Taemin's father scoffed in the background, but Taemin ignored it, and gave a nod.

A woman over the loud speaker announced that flight 32 to Incheon, Korea was now boarding, and that was the cue Taemin had been waiting for all this time. With another quick hug from his guardian, the woman whispered in his ear. "I snuck you a couple thousand yen for you to convert. Help you get settled. Call me if you need more."  Taemin only gave an awkward laugh and shook his head, indicating that he won't be taking any more help than that from her.

The speaker crackled again, and the same monotone voice from earlier called for flight 32 once more. One last goodbye, and without even a glance to his father, Taemin adjusted his backpack and headed toward gate numbered 32 above it. Yes, it was time for another chapter of his life to open up. But not without a last word from his dad.

"Taemin, I'll be waiting for the day you beg for money. And I will especially be waiting for the day when you realized you're as cold hearted as I am. I hope you remember this." He said with a smirk. Taemin stopped in his tracks, taking a chance with the two words he's been meaning to say for almost all his life. 

" you." smiled Taemin, and from here on out, Taemin was as free as a bird. A fresh and clean slate; a major milestone.  Here, is where he starts the next chapter of his life.

A/N: Yeah, you go Taeminnie! ^^ Well we got a bit of denial from Minho..... Cute Jongkey.... Now we need 2min! Yes, I can't wait to write it, and for you all to read it! I'm sorry if learning much about Taemin's depressing past hurts you all, but it is necessary to tell this story! Until next chapter!
                             Annyeonghigaseyo!~ Queen S