Chapter Twenty

Kai had wanted to fix the problems, but all it seemed he had done was made the situation worse. Taemin was angry. He didn’t know how to fix the problem, or if he wanted to fix it. Everything was coming at him too fast. He had never meant to cheat on Taemin. He never meant to break up with him or hurt him. He didn’t plan it nor want it to work out the way it did. Half of him was always jealous of Taemin and wanted him to fail, the other half loved Taemin and wanted to protect him.  Every day was a different feeling, one day he would hate Taemin, the next he would want to make up and hug him and the next he would want nothing to do with him again. But those good memories always crept into his mind.

[Flash back]

Kai had his hand on the doornob and was opening the door when he heard a panicked

“STOP. DON’T COME IN YET” Kai could smell smoking come from inside their apartment and instead of listening to his boyfriend, he rushed inside. Was Taemin getting tortured? Did he light himself on fire? Kai stopped running and looked around their place and started laughing. The sight that was before him made him smile. Taemin was standing in the middle of the room with deflated balloons all around him, a crooked happy birthday banner above his head, and smoke wafting from the kitchen. “I said not to come in yet....” muttered Taemin.

“Babe, there is smoke coming from the kitchen...”

“AH! The food!” Taemin scrambled to the kitchen with Kai right behind him. When they reached the stove everything was black.

“What were you trying to make?”

“Kimchi stew and meat” Kai looked at the blackened food, he couldn’t believe that the pile of carbon could be those delicious foods. “I tried, I wanted to surprise you for your birthday” Taemin looked frustrated. “I even woke up Key umma up for a recipe.”

“We can celebrate another day Taeminnie”

“But today, January 14^th, if your birthday not some random day” Taemin pouted.

“Everyday is like my birthday when you are with me” Kai kissed Taemin’s pout.

“You’re so cheesy.” Taemin smiled

“But you love it”

“Yup. So what are we having for dinner then” Kai laughed.

“It’s my birthday and you expect me to provide the food.”

“NO…. the food idea.” Taemin retorted shamelessly. They ended up ordering pizza and eating on the floor. The blackened mess was in the garbage. They ate with the sad looking balloons on the ground.

“Where were these balloons going to go?” Kai asked taking a bite of pizza.

“I wanted them on the ceiling. But I blew them up and they wouldn’t rise….” Taemin looked perplexed. Kai started laughing. “What?!”

“Aigoo, my boyfriend is so smart at english and math but some how he doesn’t remember bloons float when they filled with helium” Kai watched Taemin’s face light up with rememberence at that.

“I forgot.”

“I noticed” Taemin threw a pillow at Kai. After dinner, Taemin shooed Kai to the bathroom to shower while he cleaned up the kitchen. When Kai got out of the bathroom he headed towards the bedroom. All the lights were already out. “Taemin?” Was he already asleep? Suddenly he saw a ball of light appear, then another and another. Walking closer he saw Taemin with a cake and lite candles on it.

“Happy Birthday Kai” Taemin said as Kai appraoched the bed. Kai bent down to be at the same level as Taemin. He kissed Taemin and smiled.

“Thanks for the best birthday ever” Taemin just laughed and stuck him finger in the frosting, catching Kai on the nose.

[Present time]