Annyeong :) So i'm sorry it's taken me so long, i've been taking on a lot both on AFF and off recently so i am truely sorry, i really will try to get better at updating. So this chapter turned out to be a bit longer than i had expected, i hope it is alright. Thank you to all of you who have been supporting me and being patient while i get my act together (or try to at least) Anyway, hope you enjoy!! ^_^

Whilst in the car, an icy silence fell over them, broken only by the rather heavy breathing of the oldest of the three. Minho sat in the driver's seat, while Taemin was sitting with his Umma in the back, his arm around him as Key's head gently rested on the young boy's chest; all energy seemed to have left him and although he no longer cried; his whole being seemed to emit his despair. Minho, who was focused on the road, couldn't resist occasionally glancing back at the pair in his rear mirror, his expression clouded with concern. At a few of these moments he would meet his boyfriend's eyes and a silent connection of worry would pass between them. Taemin was trying his best to comfort his Hyung but he didn't know what to say so he had resorted to soothingly running his fingers through his silk-like hair. Key closed his eyes gratefully at the affection but a large part of him still longed for it to by his Jonghyun, and not his son's hand trying to give him comfort at this time.

Eventually the car stopped outside Taemin's house, his parents taken away from the house due to their work overseas. The car engine died and in a couple of moments the back door to the car was opened by the big-eyed boy, who once again took Key into his arms and carried him to the front door. Taemin went ahead, unlocking the front door, flicking on the lights in the entrance hall and leading the others into the living room, where Minho carefully placed Key down on his sofa, as if he could shatter at any moment. Key looked up to his friend and managed a small smile, but it was short lived.

His eyes had roamed around the room and had fallen on a photo frame on the table close by. Inside it was a photo that had been taken the summer before. In the photo stood Taemin, Key, and Jonghyun. Taemin was grinning broadly in the sunshine, while Key rustled his hair playfully, Jonghyun's arm securely around his waist as he stared lovingly at him. That one photo, that one happy memory was enough to send Key back over the edge. His eyes brimmed again with whatever tears he had left and his arms wound themselves tightly around his small and vulnerable figure.

Minho's heart hurt to see his friend like this and he did the only thing he could think of. He sat down next to his Hyung and wrapped his arm around his shoulder, grounding him but not bringing him back completely, at least - not in one piece. This time as Key found himself encased in the frog's arms, he did not melt into them as he had before; he now froze, stiffened and unmoving. His eyes remained on the photo frame.

Minho looked up from the figure in his arms to his boyfriend, hurt and deep concern in his wide eyes. Taemin could only look back, his own orbs mirroring his lovers. Minho glanced down again to the broken boy in his grasp and brought his hand up to gently sweep the back of it across his cheek, until he noticed something.

When Minho now turned to look at Key more closely, he noticed the colour of his cheek now that they were in a more brightly lit room, it had now changed from dark pink to a darker shade of purple as it started to form a bruise on his cheek. Minho's anxiety at what had happened to his dear friend had reached a new level, his voice was cold with building anger and yet at the same time it was warm with comfort for his pained Hyung.

“Key, what happened to your face?” At the mention of this, Key recoiled into himself and tried to hide it, muttering how it was nothing and that he was fine.

Suddenly all the anger seemed to rekindle in Taemin towards his 'Appa', all the anger he had felt which he discarded in his help for Key now came bubbling back to the surface as he practically growled at Minho,

“Jonghyun hit him.” Minho's eyes were suddenly filled with fire, his eyes now focused back on the timid form of the once all-powerful diva.

“He what?” Minho asked, it was all he could do not to shout. He had trusted Jonghyun, they all had, and no one more than Key. He had never thought Jonghyun would have been capable of doing such a thing to his beloved Key whom most of the time, he seemed to worship. The tall boy wanted to shout, to kick something, to go and beat the living daylights out of his dinosaur Hyung but he knew if he did any of the list above, it could only hurt Key even more than Jonghyun had already managed to do so. And so Minho just sat there, gently rocking backwards and forwards, trying to hold the broken pieces of his friend together, determined not to lose him altogether to the black despair that was creeping so close, ready to drag him under, maybe never to resurface.

Eventually Key's sobbing reduced to small moans and his figure finally lost it's built up tension; the stiffness melting from him as he entered a dream; finding at least a small amount of peace away from his horrible reality. By this time, Taemin had already sat down and was fiddling with his fingers, unsure of what else to do. He had never seen his Umma like this before and he had never once had to doubt his Appa before. He too felt like a carpet had been pulled out from under him, he was at a loss and didn't know what to do.

Carefully, making sure not to wake him, Minho detangled himself from his Hyung, placing a blanket over him to keep him warm and made his way over to his boyfriend, crouching in front of him and leaning out to his cheek affectionately. Taemin tried to give him a small smile but it was hard. Minho took his hand and led them out of the living room, giving Key some peace.

They went into the kitchen together and the taller one immediately headed to the fridge to get his love a bottle of his favourite banana beverage, before sitting in one of the seats at the table, pulling Taemin onto his lap so they could cuddle and chat.

“Minho, what are we going to do?” Taemin asked, his timid voice now betraying how much he had been truly affected by all he had witnessed in the last few hours. Minho only sighed and tightened his hold on his boyfriend. He didn't have an answer.

Taemin continued to sip gently at the drink and Minho's mind continued to stir, Taemin's question ringing in his mind; What were they to do now?

“Taemin-ah?” A voice called uncertainly from the living room, causing both Minho and Taemin's heads to quickly turn in the direction of the door. They both quickly stood and made their way swiftly to where Key was now sitting up, a little more colour in his cheeks. Taemin went to the couch and sat himself next to his Umma and took his hand, which had been clutching at the blanket Minho had laid over him, his own hands rubbing circles on them in a calming motion. Key had passed the point of hysterics and seemed to have exhausted himself from his tears, rested and recovered – but not healed. His face seemed to relax a little when he looked into his son's smiling and caring face and he took some sightly shaky breathes.

Minho came over but stayed a good distance away, not wanting to scare his friend, he knew that even if he wasn't crying his heart out like before, Key was still just as fragile as when he had first held him in his apartment.

“Key-ssi? Are you ok?” He asked gently, making Key's head turn to him; his eyes held sadness but the fear had passed, he was able to see more clearly and separate friend from foe. He nodded, forcing a small smile to cross his lips. Minho managed a small one in return and gave him a look as if to ask for permission to approach him, and although Key found it not entirely necessary of his close friend, he appreciated the gesture and nodded in answer.

Minho came closer to them and sat himself down on the chair that Taemin had pulled close to the sofa whilst he had held Key's broken form. Taemin looked into his Umma's face and could see the conflict there, he knew that in a time like this Key would not want to talk about what had happened so soon, and yet he couldn't hold it in to himself any longer. He didn't want to sit in silence but he didn't want to bring the topic up on his own. Taemin continued to rub Key's hands gently.

“Umma, I know you're hurting and I - we want to help, but to help you you need to tell us what happened. Is that ok?” He asked, not wanting to pressure him into talking if he wasn't ready, but the topic had to be addressed. Key took a shaking breath and resigned himself with a nod. He also knew he would have to tell them sooner or later so he might as well just get it over with. He sat himself up straighter and clasped Taemin's hand a little tighter to gain strength from it. He darted his eyes over to Minho who smiled reassuringly showing his support. Key smiled in response and sighed once more.

He started to recount everything that happened from the moment he walked through the door, from when he dropped the clothes in the hall, noting Jonghyun's strange up-tight posture with his phone clasped in his hand, to when he suddenly seemed to fill with anger, throwing accusations at him that he didn't understand, repeatedly shouting about something to do with the phone. How he accused him of lying and grabbed him tightly, shaking him. He even managed to tell them, with a little difficulty about the sudden slap he received and how he was left alone in the living room with Jonghyun tossing over his shoulder that he was kicking him out of the house and wanted him gone by the time he got back from Jinju's.

The looks on his dongsaeng's faces were of shock, disbelief and were aghast. They did not want to believe what Key told them, but how could they not with the conviction that seemed to burn in his eyes. The man that Key described was not the Jonghyun they knew and they could tell something or someone had influenced him in some way, there was no way that Jonghyun could do something like that to his lover when he was in his right mind. When he was finished Key was spent, and yet he refused to cry again. He had cried all he could and now he was trying to see reason.

For a moment the three sat in silence, thinking over the recounted tale of the eldest of them.

“What does this mean?” Taemin was the first to voice. “Why would he do it?” Key could only shake his head, the same unanswered question had been plaguing his mind. Minho seemed to be lost in a train of thought until something seemed to spark a question in his head. His hand went into his pocket and pulled out the rectangular object, something about it seemed off.

“Wait, didn't you say something about your phone? You said he kept mentioning your phone” Minho said as he looked from the device in his hand to Key who was sitting opposite him. Confusion came across Key's face as he thought. He was right.

“Yeah, I don't know what happened but when I walked in on him, he was grasping it tightly and when he was about to leave he threw it at my feet, saying something about not wanting a memory of what I did?” They all agreed that it sounded odd. What could Key have done which involves his phone?

“Wae don't you take a look at it and see if you can find out what happened?” Minho asked as he handed it over to him. Key nodded uncertainly, as if unsure if he even wanted to know what was on it that might turn his boyfriend against him.

Sighing, he unlocked the device and the first thing he saw was a list of texts, confused he started to read them and he recoiled, his eyes widening. Taemin and Minho both looked on, worried about what he had seen. Minho picked up the device and also read them, his own eyes widened and his heart sank, this was worse than he had thought. Taemin was confused and worried, he had seen both his Umma and Hyung look at that phone as if it were tainted, concealing something terrible within.

“What is it Minho? What's happened?” he said and Minho was about to explain but Taemin just shook his head, determined to read it for himself. He pulled the phone from his boyfriend's grasp and his eyes darted across the screen, he froze. “But – but how?” he asked, saying the thoughts that were rushing through all of their minds.

“Key, it looks like these are from Seyun and you?” Key nods, still in shock. After all he had encountered, he thought that nothing else could have shocked him, but he hadn't expected this.

“I know.” was all he could say. Taemin looked up into Minho's eyes,

“How did this happen?” Minho's mind was spinning, trying to come up with a logical answer.

“Well, whatever happened, Seyun is involved” Key looked up at him,

“Wae?”

“Well, you would need her phone as well to do this. You haven't had yours which means that either she did it herself, or someone had her phone as well.”

“But why? And who?” Key asked, it didn't make sense to him, what could anyone gain from doing this? Seyun of all people?

“I don't know. But we will find out.” Minho said and Taemin nodded, once again holding Key's hands in a way to remind him they would always be there for him. Key smiled at them gratefully but he could not hide his concern. He now knew why Jonghyun had hurt him, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

“Umma, you need to rest” Taemin said, he could see Key was fading and he wanted to move him to a bed. Key nodded, knowing it was no use to argue and he was unable to deny that a rest sounded good right about then. He tried to stand but his legs refused to support him, he looked sheepishly,

“Could you... umm, could you...” Minho got the message and smiling, he wrapped the diva's figure in the soft blanket and carried him bridal style up the stairs, Taemin following behind. When they reached their bedroom, Taemin pulled back the covers so Minho could place him in the bed. No sooner than his head hit the pillow, Key was already falling asleep. Taemin couldn't help the small smile that spread across his face as he tucked his Umma in and got to care for him, it felt nice to be able to repay his affections for all these years in some small way. While Key drifted off, Taemin sat by the edge of the bed.

“Don't worry, Umma. Everything will be alright, I promise. We'll work this out” He said and kissed his forehead as Key had done to him so many times when he had had bad days and was in need of some reassurance.

2Min left Key to sleep, closing the door and heading back downstairs. Now that Key was resting and they no longer had to keep calm for his benefit, Taemin suddenly seemed flooded with anger and hurt.

“How could Jonghyun do that to him?” He seethed. Minho looked at him, agreeing with him but also knowing there was more at play than it seemed.

“I know, but you saw the texts, this wasn't just his doing” Taemin seemed conflicted,

“Yeah, I know Hyung. But I can't bear to see Key Umma like that, so hurt and vulnerable. Why would someone do something like that? Who would do it?” He asked. Minho hugged him tightly, his own emotions at war within himself. On the one hand he wanted to pummel his Dino Hyung into the ground for hurting Key in such a way, and on the other he knew he needed to be calm in order to find the truth. He would discover the truth, he swore it. The question kept burning in their minds.

Who would do it?

It was a question that both Minho and Taemin swore they would find an answer to.

I hope you enjoyed this. I think i made the right call in splitting this part into 2 chapters. I hope it was interesting.  Kamsahamndia to all my readers, especially thanks to JjongBumme, MariachanelBD, ufarhazirah, onew23SHINee, Julie1234, and JefanieShawol for subscribing this past month and a bit! I'll try update as soon as i can. (I really am sorry for how long my updates are taking, i will try to be better!) Please feel free to subscribe if you are a new reader and comments are much appreciated! <3

Ppyong,

BabyLocket Xx