Taemin sat at the large cluttered table coming up with a new design for their family owned fashion company. His brother, Kibum, was on the other side of the table with his eyes barely open. They were both working later than usual to work on the fashion show that was only a month from now. It wasn’t necessary to be working so late, but it would put less stress on them closer to the fashion show.

Looking down at his watch Taemin groaned at the time, 2:37am. Glancing over at Kibum he couldn’t help but shake his head. His older brother was laying his head on his arm almost drooling as he lazily doodled on his paper.

“Why don’t you go home, Kibum? I can tell you’re tired,” Taemin said. 

Kibum glanced up at him and shook his head lazily before sitting up. “I’m not letting you go home alone this late. Do you know how many trolls would be after you if I left you alone right now?”

Taemin rolled his eyes before saying, “It’s not like I’m a helpless fairy, okay? I’m a wizard! I can protect myself from idiotic trolls.”

“Whatever, I’m not leaving you until you’re done.”

“Would you feel better if I called Minho to pick me up?” Taemin asked, pulling his cell phone out of his jacket pocket.

“Oh yeah because a human can totally protect you if trolls come around…” Kibum said in a sarcastic voice.

Kibum watched as Taemin ignored him completely and dialed his boyfriend’s number. Pulling the phone up to his ear, Taemin smiled. “Hey baby, mind picking me up?” There was a pause before Taemin replied, “Alright see ya in a bit!”

He stared at Taemin with a look of displeasure, not happy with the younger. Taemin saw the look he was getting from Kibum and waved him off. 

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” he said caringly, “Just go home and sleep.”

“That’s not what I’m unhappy about, Taemin. When are you going to break up with him?” Kibum asked, crossing his arms. 

“Why would I need to break up with him?”

Taemin knew why he needed to break up with Minho, his boyfriend, but every time it was brought up he acted clueless. Sometimes it angered Kibum and made him wonder how many times the conversation would come up. “You know that if mom or dad find out about your relationship with a human, you’ll be disowned. They want you to marry a prominent witch or wizard, heck I think they wouldn’t care if you married a shape shifter!” Kibum almost yelled.

Taemin shook his head stubbornly. “No, I’m not breaking up with him. There’s no way I’ll just let him go like that.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Taemin! You know what could happen if it gets out you’re dating him? Not only will you disowned, but this company will go down the tube. All of our family’s hard efforts going down the tube for your pleasure, is that what you want?” Kibum asked with anger. Kibum had seen something almost similar happen once before, and he wasn’t going to let it happen again. Not with his brother.

Taemin’s cell phone rang, cutting Taemin off from replying. Picking it up he opened his phone before slamming it shut. “Minho’s here,” he informed. Gathering his papers up Taemin stuffed them into one of his folders before picking up his bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said before walking out the door.

---

Taemin collapsed onto the couch a month later. Minho had been worried about him since he was under so much stress from his work. He told his boyfriend he worked at an office, not some fashion company that is only known in the magical world. Today was their fashion show and if he did say so, the line was a huge hit. It made him proud of his work to see the people in the audience stand and clap as the finale finished.

Minho sat next to him and wrapped his arm around Taemin’s waist. Taemin leaned into his boyfriend and rested his head on his shoulder. The TV’s screen was blank, but they sat there without turning it on. They were enjoying the moment together without distractions.

“Today seems like it was really rough,” Minho said. 

Taemin looked up at Minho and nodded tiredly. “Yeah, it was really crazy today. What about you? How was your day?”

“It was alright, I guess, nothing exciting. I’m just glad I’m here with you,” he whispered into Taemin’s ear before he kissed him.

Taemin smiled into the kiss before pulling away. Standing up, he tugged the arm Minho had wrapped around his waist. Minho looked at him questionably before Taemin gave a seducing smirk, dragging his boyfriend to their shared bedroom. 

They undressed each other as their mouths molded together in passion. Minho pushed his lover down onto the bed before kissing the rest of Taemin’s body. Both of them became one as Minho pushed inside, Taemin’s body arching into the one above. The sounds of the bed creaking and the two men traveled through the apartment as the rhythm quickened. The silence afterward filled with cuddling and sweet gentle kisses.

“I love you,” Taemin whispered lovingly.

“I love you too,” Minho whispered back.

---

The ocean breeze ran through their hair as they laughed, nearly spitting out their drinks. A few of the werewolves in the corner glared at them, mentally telling them to shut up. Taemin set down his cup on the table before covering his mouth. Kibum waved his arms around animatedly as he explained his story.

“He was fatter than Uncle Mart when Aunt Trudy found out he was cheating on her with a e and set him with a balloon pumping spell! The dude couldn’t even walk through the doors properly, they had to get five trolls to push him through,” Kibum explained, laughing between every few words.

“You’re joking! I thought it was impossible to walk if you got that big,” Taemin laughed, slapping his knee.

Kibum shook his head. “Apparently not, it was crazy though. You should’ve been there.”

“I was out with Minho, I didn’t really want to go anyways,” Taemin said with a shrug.

Kibum’s face changed to an unhappy one, frowning at his brother’s words. “I thought I told you, you needed to break up with him.”

“It’s not like our parents want me to get married right now! I still have time-“

“No, you don’t! You’ll always want more time, it has to end now,” Kibum commanded.

Taemin stood up and pulled out his wallet. He pushed some money onto the table and walked out onto the beach. 
Kibum watched him through the window as his brother sat down, looking out into the ocean. After a while Taemin stood up, snapping his fingers. Disappearing into thin air, Kibum sighed.

He couldn’t just let Taemin ruin his life with a foolish mistake. It was all up to Kibum to save Taemin from what could happen. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this, Taemin,” Kibum whispered before taking a sip of his drink.

---

“Taemin, your mother would like to see you in her office,” a young woman said, interrupting Taemin as he was sewing a dress together.

Turning off the machine he stood up and looked over at his brother. Kibum gave him a look of ‘I don’t know either’. Following the woman he walked to his mother’s office, messing with the bottom of his shirt nervously. The woman waved her hand, opening the door for them.

Stepping inside, the door closed shut behind him. Taemin noticed a boy with electric blue hair sitting in one of the chairs in front of the large wooden desk his mother was sitting at.

“Taemin, please, sit down,” his mother said sternly. 

Nodding Taemin sat down next to the boy with odd hair. The boy stuck out his hand and smiled. “My name is Youngwon, nice to meet you, Taemin.”

Shaking his hand he leaned back in the chair. “No offense,” he said turning to Youngwon before looking back at his mother, “But what is this all about?”

“This is your new boyfriend, and hopefully you will marry him when the time comes,” his mother explained.

Taemin shot up from his chair. “W-what?!” Taemin yelled with his eyes wide with fear.

“You are to also to dump that mortal I hear you are dating and I want you to move out of his apartment. You’ll be living with your father and I until you can learn to behave.”

“You can’t be serious, mom!” he protested.

She glared at her son. “Oh, but I am,” she paused as she pulled out a packet from a drawer, “If you don’t cooperate with me, I will sign these disownment papers right now and you’re human boyfriend won’t even be able to see the stars tonight.”

Sitting back down in the chair behind him, Taemin buried his face in his palms. Youngwon placed a hand on his shoulder, probably to comfort him. To Taemin, it was anything but comforting. Brushing the hand away angrily Taemin looked up and cursed a spell, the disownment papers burning with a large purple flame.

Gritting his teeth Taemin looked at his mother through the purple flame. “I’ll do it. But don’t you dare get close to him,” he said before storming out of the room. Every picture on the wall slammed to the ground, shattering into pieces as Taemin stormed past.

Walking into the sewing room he went straight to his brother’s station. Without even thinking his fist made contact with Kibum’s cheek, causing Kibum to fall back onto the floor. 

“What the hell was that for?!” Kibum screeched, cradling the side of his face. By now, everyone in the room was staring at the normally loving brothers fight.

“Don’t act like you don’t know! You told them, didn’t you?”

Standing up, Kibum punched his brother in the gut. Taemin waved his hand forward as he kneeled on the ground, making Kibum whirl backwards into the wall. The wall made cracking noises as a large hole formed around where Kibum’s body was. 

Blood trickled out of Kibum’s mouth as he spat at Taemin. “I had to tell them,” he coughed, “I had to protect you.”

“Yeah right, you ,” Taemin snarled. Standing back up he didn’t bother looking back at his brother as he left the room, just like every other time.

---

Clothes from the closet were flinging themselves into the two black suitcases that rested on the bed. Taemin didn’t even bother using a folding spell. He was too angry to think about how messily he was packing up his things, he was trying to get out as soon as possible. 

Looking at the clock on the bedside, Taemin felt the sudden urge to just quit packing and leave. Minho would be home any minute and he hadn’t even thought about packing anything else other than his clothes. Flashing himself to the office, Taemin summoned a large box for all of his electronics, designs, and other things he’d probably stuffed into a corner and thought he’d never see again. The sound of the door creaking open made Taemin jump, Minho was home.

The sounds of paper flying and setting itself into the box in the quiet apartment made him nervous. Cutting off the spell, Taemin began to move the papers by hand. Footsteps were making their way to the room Taemin was standing in before the door was pushed open completely. Taemin turned around to see Minho standing there in his work clothes and a confused look on his face.

“Oh, Taemin, you’re home early.”

Taemin quickly turned back around and nodded. “Yeah…”

Minho walked into the room and went up behind Taemin, wrapping his arms around Taemin’s waist. His head rested on the shorter boy’s shoulder as he looked down at the box. “What’re you doing?” Minho questioned.

“P-packing…”

Minho’s head pulled away for a moment. “Why?” he asked.

“I’m moving out, Minho,” Taemin said, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice. He just wanted to hug Minho and never let go, but he knew that was impossible at this point.

“You’re joking, right?”

Taemin turned around and shook his head. “This isn’t a joke, Minho. I’m moving out because w-we’re over.”

“What?” Minho asked angrily, “What did I do wrong, Taemin? Why didn’t you talk to me about this before you made up your mind?” He grabbed Taemin’s wrist, looking him in the eye. His eyes were sparkling from the tears threatening to spill over. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, alright?! It was all me, so please just go away!” 

Taemin tugged his arm out of Minho’s grip. Taemin was crying out of sadness and frustration. He couldn’t tell 
Minho anything or else something bad would happen, but he couldn’t stay with him either. If he stayed here any longer the secrets hidden deep within him would erupt from his mouth, he had to get rid of Minho. 

“Is that all you’re going to tell me? I deserve to know more, Taemin! If it’s because I don’t make enough money, I can get a new job. If you want to see me more, I’ll quit my job. Just don’t leave like this!” Minho’s voice had gotten significantly louder. He hadn’t even realized Taemin was crying, too focused on getting an answer out of Taemin.

“I don’t love you!” Taemin yelled, shoving Minho away.

There was a moment of silence between them before Minho whispered, “You’re lying.”

Taemin shook his head before turning around, too weak to face Minho anymore. Sniffling he rubbed his eyes and looked down at his feet. “I’m not lying,” he said, his voice cracking. Taemin could hear as Minho stomped out of the room and the apartment door slammed shut.

It was truly over now.

---

Two months after being forced into his parent’s home once again, he felt trapped. There were creatures around every corner watching him. Kibum would visit every few days, but Taemin refused to speak with him every time. 
Even at work, he would completely ignore him. The bitter taste of betrayal still lingered on his tongue, and it wouldn’t be leaving any time soon. He couldn’t forgive his brother that easily. 

Every time he went out it was only to go to work or go on a forced date with Youngwon. The older boy was nice, but it just felt wrong. Taemin still loved Minho, and even his mother couldn’t change that. She could pry them apart but the feelings will always be like a scar, left behind for everyone to see.

“Taemin,” the blue haired boy said, touching Taemin’s hand lightly.

Taemin looked up to see Youngwon staring right at him. Shifting awkwardly in the booth, he sighed. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. What did you want to talk about?”

Youngwon’s other hand reached into his jacket pulling out a small box. Taemin could feel his stomach twisting into knots knowing exactly what it was. A purple light leaked through the opening of the box, sending shivers down his spine. They were bonding rings. If they were to get married with bonding rings, they would be inseparable. If even one of them was to break the contract they would both die.

His hand was shaking as he placed the small box in Taemin’s hand, nervous and scared. “Look, I know you don’t like me, but your parents are wondering when we’re going to get married. They even gave the rings to me.”

“I-I don’t know if I’m ready yet,” Taemin said. The small object barely weighed anything, but it felt like he was holding the world in his hand. The vibration of the rings was felt throughout his whole body, proving this was the real deal. The need to run away made his legs jump slightly in place underneath the table.

“Just… please think about it, okay? It’s going to happen whether you like it or not. I just want you start preparing yourself,” Youngwon said, Taemin’s hand with his thumb.

Nodding numbly, Taemin gave back the small box and stood up. “I think I need to go, I’ll see you later,” 

Taemin said before almost running out of the restaurant. The city lights surrounded him as he walked down the streets, trying to escape reality. The lights were making him dizzy, everything turning into a blur before the city whooshed by. Everything seemed to stop before he looked around; he was back in his own room.

“I wanted to talk to you.” The voice came from behind him. Turning around, his brother was leaning against the door with his hands behind his back.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Taemin replied with distaste.

Brushing his hair back with his hand, Kibum lifted himself off of the door. Looking at Taemin he groaned before grabbing the other’s arm and dragging him to the bed. Sitting on the edge, he pulled Taemin down next to him.

“Look, Taemin,” he started, “I was once like you.”

Raising his eyebrow, he looked at Kibum questionably. “What do you mean?” Taemin asked.

“Back in high school, I dated a guy. The only problem was he was human. Long story short… mom and dad found out and I watched him get killed right in front of my eyes,” Kibum said sadly.

There was a small pause before Taemin spoke. “Why did you wait till now to tell me?”

“Mom and dad didn’t want you to be “exposed”, and I thought you might be disgusted with me. Even I’m disgusted with myself for putting his life in danger. I knew the risks, but I still decided to take them. I just didn’t want you to make the same mistake as I did and watch that kind of thing happen.”

“But why did they throw me into this relationship with Youngwon? Why didn’t they just kill Minho in front of my eyes too?”

Kibum shrugged. “You’re their favorite and their baby. They didn’t want to torture you like that.”

He felt bad for everything he’d said and done to his brother because of Minho. Taemin had no idea anything like that had ever happened, what kind of brother was he? He wished Kibum would have told him, would have kept him away from the same heartbreak. But even though he could feel his brother’s pain, he still wanted to Minho. Still wanted to be with Minho despite the fact they could both die.

Scooting over, he hugged his brother. “I’m sorry,” Taemin whispered.

Kibum nodded into Taemin’s shoulder. The wet, salty tears began to soak Kibum’s face as they sat like that for a while. Taemin sat there for a long time just comforting his brother. He wished there was some way they could just escape.

If only there was a way.

---

Taemin followed behind Youngwon silently as they wiggled their way through the crowd. Youngwon was trying to get to the tables on the other side of the room, but they kept getting stopped by people wanting to make small talk. It annoyed Taemin to no end. He didn’t even want to be here.

Everyone around him was the top of the top people in the magical world. They were snobs and if he could, he’d smash all into pieces before the night ended. The only reason they were both at this party was to show off that they were now engaged, much to his disappointment. He wished he could have hung on to his hope a little longer, but a year and a half later… that hope was only held on by a single thread.

Youngwon was stopped again for what seemed the millionth time, but by a younger man. His mixture of blonde hair struck Taemin as odd since blonde was an unusual color to see at such a high class party. Youngwon had even changed his hair color brown for the occasion.

Taemin was getting too hot and annoyed so he leaned over to Youngwon and said, “I’ll be waiting for you at one of the tables.” 

Youngwon nodded before Taemin began making his way through the crowd once again. He could feel the eyes of many boring into his head and the whispers filling his ears. Finally making it to the sitting area he took a seat at one of the first empty tables he saw, too exhausted to go back into the farthest corner. Taemin stared down at his ring. It stared back at him with an angry red glow before turning into a blue color. Not even a few seconds later, Youngwon was sitting across the table with a big grin. 

“What are you smiling about?” Taemin asked.

“That guy I was talking to was one of my old friends. He said he’ll be over here in a few minutes. He had to go grab someone.”

Taemin nodded and called one of the waiters over to get him a glass of water. The waiter stumbled off for a few minutes before returning with a goblet almost overflowing with water. He shook his head after the waiter left. “You’d think they’d get better people to be serving,” Taemin said jokingly.

Youngwon laughed for a moment before standing up. The blonde haired man stood next to the table, a tall dark figure standing behind him. “Jonghyun, this is my fiancé, Taemin. Taemin meet my old friend Jonghyun.”

Taemin stood and shook Jonghyun’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Jonghyun stepped back, revealing the person behind him. “Taemin, Youngwon, this is my friend Minho.” 

He could feel the air knocked out of him as he took a good look at the person in front of him. There stood the person he never thought he’d see again. The same person he thought was human almost two years ago. Minho stood there for a moment, but no shock was evident on his face before he bowed and took his seat.
Jonghyun gave a small cough and sat down before speaking, “Sorry he doesn’t speak much.”

“It’s not a problem,” Youngwon said before taking his seat as well.

Sitting down in his chair, Taemin couldn’t help but stare at Minho. Minho’s hair was a lot shorter than what it used to be along with his weight, he seemed so much skinnier. There were also large bags under his eyes that even magic wouldn’t be able to hide. Taemin could tell Minho recognized him and knew he was staring at him since Minho’s eyes were darting around the table crazily. 

Jonghyun and Youngwon did most of the talking, exchanging jokes and stories. Taemin would laugh and say something every once in a while but kept quiet for the most part. It was so hard for Taemin to keep from yelling at Minho to just look at him and hug him, but this definitely wasn’t the time and place. That’s when he decided to get away from the party, hoping Minho might follow.

“I think I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Taemin interrupted before darting through the crowd once again. 

Making his way into the bathroom he looked around in each of the stalls to make sure no one was in there. Taemin even set a spell to warn him when anyone was about to enter before sitting in one of the expensive chairs in front of the mirrors. Taking a deep breath, his head fell back onto the chair. Taemin was happy to see Minho again, but now all of these conflicting things came to his mind. 

Minho was already ignoring him, so how did he know that Minho still loved him? The last thing he told Minho was that he didn’t love him anymore. Plus, now he was engaged after his mom had forced him to stay away from Minho. How did he not know that Minho wasn’t human? Was he too blinded by love?

Taemin jolted up when he felt that someone was approaching the restroom. The door slowly opened, revealing Minho. Taemin’s eyes followed Minho as he walked over to the sink and washed his hands. No one said a word, even after Minho dried his hands off. 

“I guess there’s a lot we didn’t know about each other,” Minho said hoarsely. 

Taemin gave a half hearted laugh. “You got that right…”

Minho slowly turned to look at Taemin out of the corner of his eyes. “Where did you go after you left? I kept looking for you… but now I think I know I was looking in all of the wrong places.”

“It wasn’t my choice to leave you, Minho,” Taemin said standing up and walking over to the sink next to his ex-lover. “I, they, thought you were human. They said they’d kill you if I didn’t leave.”

Minho sighed. “If only we would’ve known,” he said before looking down at Taemin’s hand,” I see you’re engaged now as well.”

“That wasn’t exactly my choice either-“ Taemin was cut off by Minho.

“Do you still love me?” 

“Yes, but I’m engaged now. I can’t just leave Youngwon for you.” Taemin watched as Minho looked him in the eyes before the older boy walked out. You would’ve thought that the first time Minho walked out it would hurt more than it did now, but it hurt even worse than it did before.

---

The wedding was everything Taemin wanted, but with the wrong person. Taemin loved every detail down to the type of silverware that was being used, but it couldn’t distract him from who he was marrying. By now, he loved Youngwon, but not the way he loved Minho.

Taemin was getting the jitters as he waited outside the door. It was almost time for him to get out there and walk down the aisle. Kibum was next to him, trying to calm him down. 

“It’ll be done before you know it, Taemin!” Kibum encouraged.

Kibum had no idea that only months ago he’d seen Minho at that party. He never mentioned it to his brother because he knew that it would change the whole situation. Maybe if he did tell his parents, told his brother, things would change. But would it be the kind of change he wanted? Taemin and Minho had talked a few times since then, but never mentioned their past relationship. Youngwon still had no idea who Minho really was, and there was no indication that they’d had that kind of relationship.

Taemin could hear the music changing from behind the door, and the sweat began to roll down the sides of his face. He made an attempt to wipe it away and fix his tux before Kibum’s hand reached the door. But before the door could be pushed open, someone from behind grabbed both of his arms. Taemin let a shout in surprised before turning his head to see Minho.

“Minho, what are you doing!?” Taemin yelled.

Minho whipped Taemin around in his arms and looked down at the soon to be wedded boy. “Taemin… if I asked you to marry me, would you?”

“I- what?! Yes, but why would you ask me this now of all times?” Taemin was in shock and barely knew what to say. He was about to get married and Minho, who was uninvited by the way, appears out of the blue.

Letting go of Taemin, Minho walked over to the door where Kibum stood and pushed open the door by himself. Taemin ran after Minho as he strutted down the aisle, Kibum’s jaw dropping in shock. Everyone stared at the two as Taemin travelled nervously behind Minho.

“Minho,” he whispered, “What the hell are you doing?”

Turning enough so Taemin could hear him, he whispered back, “Where are your parents sitting?”

“In the front row on the left, why?” 

Minho ignored Taemin as he hurried over to the front, left bench. Youngwon stood at the front mouthing something, but Taemin was too busy trying to stop Minho. The entire crowd watched as Minho stood in front of Taemin’s parents proudly.

“I’d like to marry your son, Taemin,” Minho said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Taemin couldn’t help but freeze right then and there. “You have got to be kidding me,” Taemin muttered before passing out.

---