While Minho headed into the bathroom to have his shower, Taemin tossed and turned trying to get comfortable.

He’d been having, what he would consider, a very nice dream when the sounds of someone trying to sneak around his room filtered into his ears and broke into his dreams.

At first he had been terrified.

His arms were bound tight to his body and when he opened his eyes all he could see was total darkness.

For 30 paralyzing seconds, Taemin thought he was back in his foster home at age 9, locked in the furnace room. A room small to begin with, made absolutely minuscule with the ancient, rumbling furnace.

It was the worst punishment he ever remembered, worse than all the beatings and starvation attempts.

It was why he was still afraid of the dark.

Or rather the things that went around in it.

Then, just as he felt his lungs closing and he began fighting for breath, he rolled and his body dropped.

Everything happened fast after that, Minho helped pull him out of the blankets and told him to go back to sleep while he showered and made breakfast.

It was a nice feeling, but uncomfortable. Probably the reason why he couldn’t simply curl up and go back to sleep.

He kept waiting for the other foot to drop and something bad to happen.

In his experience, people didn’t do nice things for others without having an ulterior motive and it was that motive that usually got nice people in trouble.

When the sound of water running stopped, Taemin went still. Soft sounds from the bathroom let him know that Minho was drying off and doing whatever other things he typically did first thing in the morning.

Closing his eyes, Taemin pretended to sleep when Minho walked back into their room.

“Good, he’s sleeping.” Taemin heard Minho mutter to himself. His heart raced as he wondered if Minho liked him better when he was sleeping because he didn’t have to talk to Taemin. “He looked so tired yesterday, the jet-lag must be terrible for him.”

Or maybe, Minho cared about him? It was an interesting concept that Taemin was unfamiliar with.

Eyes closed, breath slowed as he pretended to sleep, Taemin did even realize as he drifted off.

“Taemin? Taemin?” Taemin drifted back to consciousness, body rocking gently as one large hand moved on his back. “Pancakes are ready.”

Blinking sleep crusted eyes, Taemin rolled over as Minho’s hand moved away. Eyes squinted open, Taemin stared blearily at Minho’s face that seemed to be placed rather close to his own.

“Sorry.” Minho said as he stood up straight. “I tried calling your name but you wouldn’t wake up.”

That was unusual. Generally Taemin was a very light sleeper.

He had to be incase one of his foster parents came to wake him up. He had lived on edge for so long that he could be awoke at the slightest sound.

“I guess I was tired.” He muttered, face flushing. “I’m sorry you had to wake me.”

Minho looked confused. “Its alright, I said I would, didn’t I.” Then he smiled. “Come on sleepy head, pancakes are ready. You can get ready for class after we eat.”

Smile still in place, Minho headed out of the room leaving Taemin to get out of bed.

The smell of pancakes and syrup had filled the dorm making Taemin’s mouth water. He had never went for breakfast before getting dressed.

At his last foster house, it was made perfectly clear that all proper people dressed properly before  moving into any of the common house areas.

As he wandered into the kitchen area, Taemin wasn’t sure how comfortable he felt. While it was nice to be able to relax more, it was so different from what he was use to for him to adjust instantly.

The little table was set for two, complete with two tall glasses of orange juice, cups steaming with what he suspected was coffee and a heaping pile of golden pancakes.

Minho was washing the pan he had used to cook in. “I didn’t know if you wanted juice or coffee, so I did both.”

“I like coffee.” Taemin said softly. He used to drink a lot of it to stay awake in school. “I haven’t had orange juice in a long time.”

“Well enjoy then.” Minho smiled, putting away the pan before taking his own seat. “Come on, sit down and eat.”

Taemin nodded, watching as Minho piled three large pancakes on his plate and started drenching them in butter and syrup.

The younger of the two shyly took his place in the empty chair and picked up one small pancake.

Minho stared at him. “You know that you can have more than that. I made lots thinking that if you ate half as much as I can, we’d need a lot.”

Before Taemin could respond the sound of their door opening had Minho sighing. “And of course, Jonghyun and Key have sixth sense for pancakes.”

“Minho-ya! Do I smell pancakes?!” Came Key’s voice as he sauntered into the kitchen.

“Morning Key, and yes I made enough for you two as well.” Minho pointed to the counter where a second stack of pancakes stood beside two plates.

“Excellent! Cafe breakfast is cold today.” Jonghyun complained, grabbing a plate and pushing half the stack onto his plate. “Key aren’t you eating?”

“Is that all you’re eating?” Key asked, staring at Taemin’s plate.

Taemin nodded, cutting his pancake into pieces.

Key gaped at him for a moment before his ‘mothering’ instinct kicked in. Lunging forward he grabbed three large pancakes like the ones on Minho’s plate and plopped them onto Taemin’s before coating them like Minho’s.

“Eat.” He then demanded. “You’re too skinny and we need to fatten you up.”

“Yeah, time to break your fast.” Jonghyun laughed at his own joke. “You know, because its breakfast and...”

Key cut him off, “We know, now can you stop talking while eating, you’re disgusting.”

Jonghyun rolled his eyes and lifted himself up on the counter to sit while he ate.

“Must you park your by the food?” Key grumbled getting his own plate.

Jonghyun cocked his head, pretending to think before nodding.

Key sighed and everything lapsed into silence while they ate.

Taemin stared at the pile of food on his plate, it was the first time he could remember that someone had filled his plate and cared that he had enough to eat.

Maybe Jonghyun had a point though, maybe it was time to break his circumstance enforced fast.
 

Taemin had volunteered to do the dishes after everyone finished eating but after one look from Key, he hung his head and rushed to the bathroom.

The hot water in the shower felt as good as it did the first night and he would have stayed in there longer except that Key came banging on the door.

Hair still wet, Taemin dressed in the bathroom.

He didn’t want to risk anyone seeing the slowly fading bruises and the white lines of scars on his pale body.

“Don’t bother drying your hair!” Key voice came through the door, “I want to help you style it.”

Something about Key’s tone of voice made Taemin’s heart jump.

“Now open the door and let me in.”

“Key don’t push him into something he doesn’t want.” Minho scolded.

“Oh hush, how will he know if he doesn’t want it if he doesn’t try something new. That drab limp looking style just doesn’t suit him.”

Taemin could hear Minho and Jonghyun sigh as he opened the door and saw them perched on Minho’s bed, freshly made.

Suddenly he felt bad that he hadn’t made his bed yet and went to rush to make it, only to find it already made.

“Oh, I hope you don’t mind, but I tidied up your bed.” Key said. “Minho’s as well because otherwise he’s a slob.”

“I resent that.” Minho muttered.

Key ignored him, turning instead back to Taemin. “Come with me.” He said, and without waiting for Taemin to respond, the older boy grabbed Taemin’s arm and tugged him back into the bathroom and pushed him onto the toilet before closing the bathroom door.

“Now I’m just going to dry your hair and straighten it.” He paused as he picked up Minho’s blow dryer. “Right, just wait.” He said as a thought occurred to him and he opened the door, stuck his head out and instructed Jonghyun to go back to their room and find Key’s straightener.

The sounds of Jonghyun complaining, but heading out to do Key’s bidding barely made their way to Taemin’s ears as Key quickly shut the door again.

Then, without wasting anymore time, Key set to work.

“You have really nice hair.” Key commented as he brushed and straightened Taemin’s hair, stopping only once to accept the straightener from Jonghyun. “I mean, I think that we could do lots with it.”

The way he grinned made Taemin nervous. “I like it how it is.” He said quietly, hoping that Key wouldn’t be angry.

“That’s only because you haven’t tried anything new.” Key reasoned as he set down the straightener and dug around in one of the cupboards under the sink. “Ah ha! Here we go. I knew he had some somewhere.” Holding his hand up in triumph, Key brandished a hair tie in his clenched fist. “Anyways, hair grows.”

“What?”

“If you don’t like it, just remember that its not permanent, hair grows.” Key grinned then gestured to his own head as if to try and be reassuring. “Don’t worry, we won’t do something this drastic right away.” He said, noticing the look of horror on Taemin’s face.

“Now sit still and let me finish.”

Taemin didn’t move as the older boy reached for his hair again.

“Hmmm,” Key scratched at his chin. “I think you’re almost perfect, just let me...” His voice trailed off as he once again began digging through Minho’s things.

“Close your eyes.” The stubborn older boy demanded before he turned around, concealing something behind his back.

“Why?”

“Because I said so.” The tone made Taemin feel as if this answer was suppose to be obvious.

Eyes closed, Taemin could hear Key moving and jumped slightly as a light touch played over his eyelids.

It felt nice as Key’s hands trailed over his face. A shiver went down his spine and his skin tingled where Key’s fingers had been.

The snap of a case signaled to Taemin that Key’s ministrations must be done.

“Wow, I wish Jonghyun and Minho could sit this still, it makes things so much easier.” Key smiled as he tugged Taemin’s arm to make him stand up. “Now look in the mirror and tell me what you think. Be honest.”

Shaking his head, Taemin squeezed his eyes shut.

“Oh stop fussing and look!” Key demanded.

Eyes opening not wanting to make Key upset, Taemin stared at the boy being reflected in the mirror.

His black hair was shiny and done up just slightly with his bangs pulled back and held in place with the hair tie.

“I think that long hair suits you, we just need to change the color a bit and give it some shape.” Key said, fussing with the long strands brushing Taemin’s neck.

“I... I...I...” Taemin stuttered, staring at the boy in front of him. The boy, who if Taemin didn’t know was himself, he would have deemed attractive.

“I knew that with the right treatment you’d be just as attractive as me.” Key placed his face close to Taemin’s and smiled. “A little eyeliner and foundation and you look like a whole new person.”

“I...I...I...”

"Minho doesn't really have much makeup wise, only what I've left here." Key glared at the limited cosmetic supply.

"I...I...I..."

“You know, we’re really going to have to work on this monosyllable thing.” Key teased. “Now lets show the boys and head to class. Sulli and Amber will be waiting for you.”

------

Working nights is both a blessing and a curse... I love it because I don't have to wake up until after 9am, but I get no writing time because I'm exhausted... but hey,

Also my heart goes out to everyone in Boston and everyone who was affected by last weeks bombs. One of my second cousins was running in the Marathon but was lucky enough to have finished and been gone by the time the explosions happened.

Love to all of you, comment if you liked it, comment if you didn't, heck just comment for the fun of it!

*hugs*

Kat