"I really should get going, Kai," Taemin said with a half smile after we had spent the last two hours playing video games. "I wasn't even really supposed to leave in the first place," he mumbled.

"Oh god, okay. I'm sorry for keeping you," I responded, feeling a bit more guilty now that I remembered I'd practically demanded he drop everything and come over to my house to work things out. "Thanks though, hyung... I'm glad you came, it means a lot to me," I added with a sincere smile.

"Of course, Kai, you can always count on me."

And with that, he was grabbing his jacket and making his way to the door. I watched him, sad that he was actually going now. He's so much fun to be around... I stood and unlocked and opened the door for him to go, like the gentleman I am. "Do you want me to walk you home?" I asked, still hopeful that he would say yes and that maybe- just maybe- I'd be able to meet his uncle and have him confess the truth about his family to me.

"It's alright," he replied sheepishly. "I live kind of far away, I don't want to-"

"All the more reason. Come on, you don't really want to walk all the way home in the dark all by yourself, right?" I asked with my best cute face on, hoping he'd give in.

"Kai, it's really not necessary," he laughed.

But I was persistant. "Pleeaase~"

He grinned and grabbed my hand. "Halfway. I'll let you walk me halfway there, okay?" I nodded with a huge smile on my face and followed him though the door, closing and locking it behind us.

"So where exactly do you live?" I asked once the two of us made it out of the building and into the freezing winter air.

"Mmm, just a couple miles away once we pass school," he responded vaguely, obviously not quite liking my question. Why, I couldn't understand. I just wanted to know where he lived... I decided to leave it be so we could enjoy the rest of our walk together.

Apparently, 'halfway' doesn't really mean halfway. Once we'd reached the school (it was only about a mile and a half from my apartment), he said that I could go, even though he had mentioned previously that he lived a few more miles down.

"Come on, just a bit longer?" I asked with a pout. I'd secretly been wishing that he'd forget about our halfway deal and only remember it once we'd reached his front door.

"No, no. It's really okay," he insisted. "It's getting late and you should probably be back at home for when your mom gets back from work, don't you think?"

I nodded my head in defeat. No matter, it's not like I didn't plan on following him anyway... Nothing creepy, it's just me checking up on my boyfriend to make sure everything was alright. He was hesitant about something, so it's just my job to make sure nothing's going on. That's all it is. "Alright. Call me soon, okay? I love you," I grinned cheesily at him.

He threw back an small unexpected, warm, and sincere smile back. "I love you too, Kai," he said, reaching forward to hug me.

I wanted to kiss him. God, did I want to kiss him so badly.

No harm in trying... right? I put my right hand on the back of his neck while the two of us were still so close after our embrace. "Taemin, can I...?" I trailed off, knowing he understood where I was going with the question. I knew that we'd been dating for several months, and that I shouldn't have to be asking if I could kiss him, but I still respected his wishes and I wasn't going to just jump him if he was seriously this uncomfortable, even if this is an ungodly slow pace to be living in a relationship.

He fidgeted awkwardly, lips trembling as he tried to force them to move in order to speak, but not quite being able to find the right words to say. "I'm... um, Kai, I kind of... I just.."

I understood what he meant. I felt my heart sink in my chest at the thought of my own boyfriend rejecting me. Did he think I wasn't worth it? Was this his first kiss and he wasn't sure if I was the right person to share it with? Any scenario I could think of just ended in me feeling bad about myself. And communication is good for a relationship, right?

"Taemin, why won't you let me kiss you?" I asked in my dejected voice, because that's truly how I felt.

"I'm just.. Kai, I can't, I'm too..." he trailed off with a sigh, realizing he'd been holding his breath. "I don't know..." he whined in a whisper.

"Baby, I know I promised we could take this really slowly, but this is a bit insane. I love you, and it's not like I'm asking to have with you or even make out with you or anything... I just want to kiss my boyfriend on the lips to show how important he is to me. I want to show my love in some way other than holding your hand or talking. Do you get that?" I asked unsurely, insecurity laced into my voice.

One of my hands was still placed delicately on the back of his neck while my other grasped one of his and brought it up in between our chests, holding it tight right by my beating heart.

He didn't reply with any words, but he blinked rapidly while taking deep breaths.

It's now or never, Kai.

I leaned forward as slowly as I possibly could, to ensure that he wouldn't get freaked out and pull away. I waited to close my eyes until I saw his own flutter closed, and then the only sensation I could feel was the tickle of his shallow, shaky breaths hitting my face lightly due to our close proximity. And then, I was taking a breath of my own before closing the rest of the distance between us.

Taemin inhaled sharply through his nose at the end of that suspenseful waiting, when my full lips made contact with his- so gently that they were hardly even touching.

It was the most innocent and precious thing I had ever experienced in my life- the way he held his breath as I pressed my lips just that much harder onto his, only to the point where it could actually be considered a kiss. My fingers flexed along his neck underneath the bottom layers of his hair to gently hold him in place and feel a little more of him. And it was nothing more than that. The most chaste kiss I could have ever imagined.

I pulled away delicately when I felt it had been long enough, opening my eyes slowly when I was still only an inch away so I could see his face this close to mine. He only opened his eyes when I had gotten farther away, and only then did he release his pent up breath. He looked up at me, his eyes looking a little lost, like he either wasn't sure of what to do now, or he wasn't sure of what just happened. Maybe both.

"Was that so hard?" I whispered, leaning my forehead against his and smirking good naturedly down at the blushing schoolboy.

"No..." he muttered lowly. "But I really have to go."

I released him from my light hold and smiled. "Go ahead. I love you... again."

He nodded his head, averting my gaze. "I love you too, Kai."

And as self-conscious as I was that he might have regretted letting me do that, that last statement was so sincere that I had to believe him. He turned slowly and readjusted his bag on his shoulder as he walked away. I watched him go for a while before remembering that I was supposed to follow him to find out where he lives... But I had to be discreet. If he knew I was going to follow him home, I'd lose his trust forever, and everything seemed so delicate with this situation that I couldn't risk it.

I turned away and slipped behind the corner for a few moments, just to lead him to believe I'd gone back home. When I heard his heavy footsteps grow faint and almost unnoticable from the distance, I rounded the corner again to see how far away he was now.

When I didn't see him at all, I almost went into a panic attack, wondering how the hell I could have lost him already when I heard a quiet whispered "!" coming from the next corner. I tiptoed in a hurried pace to the wall and peeked around it to see Taemin's back to me. He was rummaging through his bag, throwing some of its contents of the floor- clearly frustrated.

", , - no! ! No!" Taemin whisper yelled. My eyes went wide. Who knew the guy had such a bad mouth? Either way, it must be something serious for him to be this worked up over it.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed finally, unceremoniously throwing his belongings back into his bag and standing up, continuing on his original path- jogging now- and I curiously followed behind at a distance. I'm sure he was too preoccupied with something to care about looking back, but I didn't really want to risk being found out. What I was doing was rude and invasive to his privacy, but it was something I'd come to convince myself was neccessary. I just wanted to care for him.

He kept running even after I was tired from the work out, but I made myself continue, now far more than curious about his life than I was previously, and a little sweat wasn't going to stop me from discovering one of the biggest mysteries I've ever personally encountered in my lifetime.

We passed several blocks, and I was certain we'd been going for likely over two miles at this point, when I slowed to look around a little at our surroundings. Apartment buildings looking like they were about to collapse or cave in, alleyways that seemed far more than just suspicious, if the smells and sounds coming from them had any say, and a thin presence of smoke (probably some sort of drug I wasn't experienced enough to identify) clouding the area was all I could make out. Or rather, that's all there was to this place.

In short, this was what I'd always pictured the 'ghetto' to look like. But it's not like Taemin lived here, right? He must just be passing through... I was far more than intimidated by the old, hairy, smelly men smoking cigarrettes and drinking from clear bottles resting their backs against the moldy bricks of the buildings along the sidewalk, and I wondered how the hell Taemin could put up with passing through this place on his way home all the time.

When I realized that I had slowed down significantly to take this all in, I quickened my pace again, now noticing I was lagging behind quite a ways, and I was certainly not too keen on getting lost in this place. I stopped dead in my tracks, however, when I saw one of those greasy men approaching my Taemin, and I dove behind a wall just in case he looked over to see me standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

I could clearly hear what they were saying, and opted to focus my attention on their words rather than the rat that just scampered over my shoes or the overwhelming smell of mold and alcohol.

"Hey pretty boy. Haven't seen your face in a couple days; been up with a lady, you see-"

"I'm sorry, I don't have time to talk," Taemin quickly interrupted, sounding out of breath from his running.

"You misunderstand, kid. I don't wanna talk..." At his words, I gasped and peeked my head arond the corner to see that the man had a firm hold on Taemin's shoulder and was leaning closer, his other hand holding his beer bottle out by his side. I almost threw up at the sight... But before I could do anything, I sighed with relief when I saw Taemin push the disgusting man's hands away from him. That is, until I heard my boyfriend's next words.

"Twenty minutes. Just give me twenty minutes," he spoke quietly, looking at the ground. "I left everything at my uncle's house, but I'll be back."

The man grinned and from my distance, I could hardly make out his snaggly, yellow teeth contrasting against his scruff, dark facial hair. "You got it. I'll be waiting."

With that, Taemin sighed and kept walking in the direction he was originally headed. My eyes were wide, but I couldn't move a single muscle. I wanted to follow him, but that would mean passing that gross man who was now smiling smugly and leaning against the pole of a burnt-out streetlamp and bringing his beer to his lips. Taemin was now out of sight.

The only thing I could bring myself to do was run. Leave. Get out of there, at least.

And so I did.

I slipped out of the little crevice I'd hid in, and ran back the way that I came- back out of that nasty slum- ignoring my heaving, exhausted panting, and I didn't stop until I was at least 6 blocks away. Only when I was once again in a safe area did I allow myself to stop running. I slumped into a bench outside of a nice coffee shop that had already closed for the night and put my head in my hands, breathing heavily from all the running I'd done.

What was Taemin going to do with that man? What was his relation to him? What did he leave at his uncle's house? Where was his uncle's house, anyway?

But question that was burning most of all...

Just what are you hiding from me?