Warning: Character death, abuse, (kinda) graphic violence

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Taemin knew what Kibum did was wrong. Not only had he seen movies about it that made him wince (Because they were dead wrong. It wasn’t fear that kept people together, it was love), but he’d heard people talking. His friends, his neighbors. Even occasionally his parents. It didn’t phase him, or at least he tried not to let it.

The scars he tried so hard to hide always brought questions. If any of his employers ever asked, he just quit and moved on. Mostly, though, his employers kept their noses out of his business, which he was grateful for. Just once, though, he would’ve liked to be able to keep a job longer than 6 months.

Kibum’s fist hit his jaw and Taemin had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming. It always hurt more if he was loud. He whimpered in pain, and winced when Kibum grabbed him by the hair tightly. He knew what was coming next. It’s what Kibum always wanted. It’s what he craved, and Kibum always got his way.

~*~

Of course, Taemin woke up with fresh cuts littering his chest and arms. There was a nice size bruise on his cheek from the punch, and he couldn’t be happier to find out that it was in the shape of Kibum’s fist. It was like a sign to the world broadcasting that he was Kim Kibum’s property. He wasn’t ashamed of it one bit.

His friends (especially Minho) begged him to leave Kibum. Eventually, they said, Kibum would wind up killing him. To which Taemin replied that if Kibum wanted him dead, he would be. Minho actually broke down and cried in front of him, and Taemin couldn’t help feeling guilty. He hugged Minho gently and smiled, telling him that things would be fine.

But things were not fine. Kibum was waiting on him as soon as he got home. And Kibum was absolutely furious. If Taemin hadn’t been able to tell by the narrowed eyes, he definitely would’ve been able to tell by the knife in Kibum’s grip. He swallowed nervously. He knew giving Minho that hug had been a bad idea.

    “So, it’s all about Minho now,” Kibum’s voice was dangerously soft. Taemin tried (and failed) to keep the tears out of his eyes. He shook his head, knowing it was all in vain.

    “No, no. Kibum please believe me, I was only trying to be a good friend,” Kibum slowly advanced with the knife still in his hand.

    “Do you think I’m stupid, Taemin? Hm? Do you think I don’t notice the way you look at Minho?” Taemin was desperately trying to control the sobs coming out of his mouth. Being loud would just make Kibum angrier. He hated seeing Kibum angry so he squeezed his eyes shut.

    “No. Kibum, I love you so much. It’s only you. The reason I’m alive is you,” Taemin blabbered on before Kibum cut him off.

    “It’s too late for that,” Kibum smiled and finally raised the knife in his hands. “I’ve seen the way you look at Minho. So now, I’m going to fix that.” Taemin couldn’t help the scream that jumped out of his mouth. His right eye socket was throbbing with pain, and warm blood poured down his cheeks. The scream stopped when Kibum’s fist closed around his throat. “Stop ing screaming!” Kibum yelled in his face. Kibum’s fist tightened around his neck before he felt the same pain in his left eye. He couldn’t even scream before he out from the pain.

~*~

Taemin felt himself rise through various levels of consciousness. When he heard the beeping, he knew he was in a hospital. He freaked out. Where was Kibum, then, if he was in the hospital? He started trying to sit up, and had a gentle hand push him back down.

    “Taemin, you need to relax,” at the sound of Minho’s voice, Taemin’s tension visibly disappeared. He tried to open his eyes and frowned when he felt resistance.

    “Minho,” he croaked, “why can’t I open my eyes?” Taemin heard Minho’s breathing stop for several minutes, and start again. When he spoke, Minho sounded choked up.

    “Taemin… I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to stop him,” Minho was crying, and Taemin frowned harder. The last thing he remembered was feeling pain in his eye sockets… He gasped with realization.

    “Kibum cut my eyes out,” Taemin, despite his love for Kibum, couldn’t help sobbing. He had never seen Kibum that angry before. He was suddenly worried. Maybe Kibum had gotten so mad he didn’t want Taemin anymore. “Where is he? Where’s Kibum?”

    “That bastard is in jail,” Minho spat out in disgust. “And I’m gonna make sure he ing stays there.” Taemin started struggling to sit up again.

    “No! No, I need Kibum, Minho,” he begged.

    “No you don’t, Taemin. You don’t need Kibum. He did nothing but hurt you,” Minho argued. Taemin laid back in his bed, seemingly resigned. Minho nodded in satisfaction.

    “Get out, then,” Taemin said calmly. Minho was startled.

    “Excuse me?” he had to be sure he’d heard Taemin right.

    “You heard me. If you’re set on making Kibum go to prison, you will be dead to me for the rest of my life. I will no longer know a Choi Minho,” Minho felt the words punch him in the chest. He shook his head, trying to clear it from the betrayal he felt.

    “Fine. I’ll go,” Taemin didn’t say a word to him on his way out.

~*~

After he left the hospital, Taemin moved in with his brother Jinki. Jinki and Taemin used to be very alike, with their matching bright smiles and laughs. But when Kibum went to prison to serve a life term, Taemin changed. He grew sullen and withdrawn. Sometimes, for no reason at all, he wouldn’t eat for days. He turned mute, and refused to speak. Not even when it was just him and Jinki in the apartment.

Jinki even invited one of Taemin’s old friends Jonghyun over so they could both encourage Taemin to speak. For the first couple of times, Taemin was tempted to talk just to get them to shut the hell up. But after that, it was fairly easy to ignore their pleas.

Taemin was almost tempted to laugh out loud when Jinki got desperate enough to resort to Minho. Like he thought that would do any good. Choi Minho was as good as dead to him. And as far as Taemin was concerned, it was good riddance. Kibum was in jail because of Minho, which was plain unacceptable.

Minho seemed unsure of himself around the new Taemin. He was used to seeing a smile on Taemin’s face. Even when Kibum was still in the picture, Taemin hadn’t been this withdrawn. Minho cleared his throat, and was a little unnerved when Taemin didn’t acknowledge him. Minho hadn’t seen Taemin since that day in the hospital, and he had a sinking feeling that Taemin had meant what he said.

    “Taemin… please talk. Your brother is worried about you. I’m worried about you too,” Taemin got up and, as though Minho wasn’t there, started towards his room. Without thinking, Minho grabbed Taemin’s arm to stop him from leaving.

When he felt Minho’s fingers wrap around his arm, Taemin stood stock still. His features fell into distraught, and he banged on the wall to get his brother’s attention. Jinki came in the room at a full sprint, worry for his brother apparent on his face. Once he saw Minho’s fingers wrapped around Taemin’s arm, his fists tightened and he scowled.

    “Mind telling me just what the you were doing to my brother?” Minho realized he still had his hand wrapped around Taemin’s arm and dropped it like a hot potato. He opened his mouth to explain, but only sighed in defeat when he looked in Jinki’s face. It was his word against Taemin’s, anyway. He raised his hands in a show of surrender before showing himself out the front door.

Sometimes, life was full of misfortune. And right about then, Minho felt like life was slapping him in the face with them. It wasn’t a good feeling. But he was getting pretty used to it.

~*~

Taemin was excited. For the very first time, he was going to see Kibum in prison. He was beaming, wondering what to wear. Usually, his brother picked his clothes out for him but Taemin wanted to pick his own clothes that day. It seemed more special that way.

By the time they actually arrived at the prison, Taemin was bouncing with energy. It was like they couldn’t get cleared for visitation fast enough. When Taemin finally sat down at the telephone, his cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much. He picked up the phone with trembling hands, eager to hear the sound of Kibum’s voice again.

    “Goddamn, could you have picked an uglier outfit to wear today?” Taemin’s smile dimmed. Kibum’s voice was rough, like he’d just woken up. “Ughhhh, you’re hideous now. Get out of my sight. I never want to see your ugly in’ face in here again.” Taemin couldn’t help the tears that rolled down his cheeks. No matter how much he wanted to protest, he couldn’t. His mouth refused to open.

He heard Kibum yell for a guard, because he was done visiting. Long after Kibum had left, Taemin sat there with his head down crying silently. Maybe he was better off dead, now that Kibum didn’t want him anymore. His worst fear had been realized.

On the way back to their apartment, Taemin was careful not to show any unnatural reactions. He didn’t want Jinki to think there was something wrong.

~*~

Minho fixed his tie grimly. He felt a little overdressed, but he also felt that he had something important to tell Taemin. Jonghyun stared at him in the mirror with a faint smile on his face. He gave a fleeting smile in return, but his heart wasn’t in it. Today was not the day for smiles. Even though they were delivering good news.

All the way to their destination, Jonghyun and Minho were silent. All the words they’d wanted to say were lost. When they finally got there, Minho found himself suddenly unable to shut up.

    “Hey Taemin. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I know you can’t speak, but… I’d just like to thank you. Without your help, I never would have met Jonghyun. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me, you know. We’ve been dating for almost 2 years now. Isn’t that a shocker? You always thought I was a player,” Minho chuckled, and he heard Jonghyun sniffling in the background.

“You know something, Taemin? I think I was in love with you. No, actually, that’s not true. I know I was in love with you. You couldn’t see it, but I didn’t care. I just wish you’d been strong enough to see that Kibum was never in love with you,” Minho touched the ebony headstone and sighed softly.

“I came here to tell you that me and Jonghyun are adopting a child. A little boy named Yoogeun. That’s not so surprising, though, is it? I didn’t think so. Me and Jonghyun always loved kids. Anyway, I think it’s time I let Jonghyun talk. He’s been pretty silent these last few visits,” Minho looked questioningly at Jonghyun. Jonghyun was shaking his head, saying he didn’t have anything to say.

Minho turned back and rubbed the headstone. “Jonghyun doesn’t want to talk. I don’t think he’s through grieving, really. But I don’t blame him,” Minho patted the headstone one last time, and laid a bouquet on the platform at the bottom. “I’ll be back next year, Taemin. Goodbye for now.” Jonghyun wasn’t bothering to be silent with his crying anymore and Minho cried with him, clinging to Jonghyun like a lifeline.

Visiting Taemin was never easy.
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As you might can tell by the title, this was inspired by SHINee's song Y.O.U. OTL I have no idea why the song (which is fairly happy) inspired such an angsty, dramatic fic. It just came to me, so I wrote.

I don't know, I feel like the character death in this fic was a bit cliche and over-dramatic. Even though I try to stay away from that sort of thing. :<

Either way, I hope you enjoyed it. C:

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Til next time, loves. ^o~ ☺ ♥ ♫