Wait for me to catch up.

Attention

I got a call from Key some hours later.

"Hello?"

"Kai, do you want to join Onew-hyung and I for lunch?"

I scrunched my eyebrows. "Ummm... Okay?" It was a bit of an awkward offer.. I'd never hung out much with Taemin's friends when he wasn't there with us, so there must be some alternative reason for his request.

"Be at my house whenever you can. Onew's already here." Key replied as if he knew I wouldn't deny his wishes.

"Okay, bye. See you soon." I hung up my cellphone and slipped it into my pocket with a pensive look on my face. 

"Who was that?" D.O asked from his spot on the couch. "Key-hyung.." I trailed off, seeing his look become questioning as well. "He told me to meet him for lunch with him and Onew-hyung."

"Well that's nice," he said, trying to sound like he wasn't as surprised as he seemed. "Did he say why?"

"No, it's probably just to talk though. I should go now," I replied, standing up and going to grab my coat.

"Alright, well it was nice to see you," D.O stood as well so he could see me to the door.

"Thanks so much for having me," I told him sincerely as I slipped my shoes back on. "It's no problem, you know you're always welcome here," was my reply. It always made me happy to hear, which is nice because he said that to me every time I came over.

The walk to Key's was short; I already knew exactly where I was going. This was one of Taemin's favourite places to hang out, so he was always inviting me along to Key's. It was awkward at first, but eventually Key-hyung and I just grew to accept it as one of Taemin's oddities and moved on. Walking up to the average-sized home, I knocked on the wooden front door three times.

It took all but two seconds for Key to be at the door, inviting me inside. I smiled politely and stepped into the front hall that still looked exactly the same from the last time I was there. Plain walls were decorated sleekly, and the sophistocated theme continued on to the rest of the home.

"Leave your things here, I made lunch." With that, he was out of the front hall and headed towards the kitchen. I left my shoes and coat where he'd motioned for me to and then followed his lead further into the home.

"Hey Kai," Onew greeted me from the table.

"Good afternoon, how are you doing?" I replied curteously.

"Fine. Come sit," he gestured to the chair next to him. I sat and nodded in thanks as Key brought some plates to the table. "I just made sandwiches 'cause I didn't have time to make something nice," he said as he served us like a true host.

"No problem," Onew insisted. "Thanks for lunch."

Key sat down to join us and got straight to the point. "So I was thinking we could just... strategize," he began. "Kai, I thought you should be here because Taemin likes you so much." That part was more than a little bitter. Onew sent him a look that had him rolling his eyes. "So I thought we should talk about what to do."

I was surprised. I had honestly been under the impression that I was here to be chastised and ridiculed, but I was here to help develop a recovery plan? Onew and I nodded and allowed him to continue.

"So he's settling in with Jonghyun-hyung's family today, so I don't think we should try to contact him until tomorrow. Give him time to adjust. But tomorrow, I want to do something really big that he would appreciate."

"Um.." I interjected quietly, unsure of how Key would react. He didn't seem to like me too much.. "I don't know if he'd want something really big.. Don't you think? Maybe just something small to show it."

He raised an eyebrow cockily. "I didn't mean big as a lot of people. I meant big as in meaningful. But let's hear your idea," he challenged. Every conversation with this guy was like a competition..

"What if..." I thought deeply. "What if we took him to the cafe and each of us could present him with something that shows how he's affected all of our lives," I suggested, pausing in my eating to see their reactions.

Onew was nodding his head pensively, considering my offer. Key, on the other hand, just looked confused. "Why?"

"Well," I began to elaborate. "The cafe is because that's like, his favourite place to hang out, right? And also, he'll be working there later, so it wouldn't hurt to gather there. And I think it's a good idea because he's worried about putting us all out and that we may eventually leave him because he's too much effort. Why not show him in the simplest way how much he means to us as proof that we wouldn't ditch him?" I defended myself. I thought it was a great idea, and though Key may be stubborn, he always put his pride aside when it came to making Taemin happy, even before this incident.

His cocky look had disappeared a while ago, and now he just looked deep in thought. "What'd you have in mind?"

"I'm not sure.. I have a day to think about it. But something from the heart, definitely," I replied, feeling a bit annoyed now that I didn't even know how I would show how much he means to me even though this was my idea originally. What could I bring? What could I say that i haven't already said?

"What if we all made a photo album together?" Onew suggested after being silent for a while. "Instead of each of us doing something separately, why don't we work together on putting together an album that reflects all aspects of our relationships with him? I think he'd appreciate all of us getting along and working with one another instead of always doing things on our own. It's another way to show him how he's changed our lives. He brought us together too, right?"

"That's genius.." I mumbled under my breath. "Let's start now!" I exlaimed, ditching the rest of my lunch at this newfound enthusiasm at the idea. I couldn't wait to see Taemin's face when he realized how much we care about him. I couldn't wait to see him when we proved to him that we were staying by his side through everything. Would he smile? Would he cry?

Onew and Key seemed equally as happy to begin work right away, so the three of us began compiling our favourite photos of us with Taemin. It was hours of hard work, but I'd never felt as close to Taemin's friends as I did now. I knew we all shared a mutual love and appreciation for the dancer, but I didn't know that he could bring us together even when he wasn't here. 

The album was beautiful, pictures on pages with heartfelt messages written on each page. Key had called Minho over to help and texted Jonghyun about the plan so he could send in his own words to be written in. I even collected pictures and captions from my other friends and invited them along for tomorrow, knowing that they were also Taemin's new friends.

I'd never been more proud of something I'd made before, but seeing the completed work, I knew that Taemin would love it. It was a gift from all of us as a whole but also from each of us individually- something so unique that it couldn't be replicated- and every last word was entirely truthful and straight from the heart. I wondered if Taemin would get emotional reading them. To be honest, I felt emotional writing my own piece. I knew I loved Taemin with all my heart and I'd do anything for him, but it didn't truly occur to me how much my life changed until I met him... I couldn't even write all my thoughts down; I'd have to tell him the rest in person.


 

"Welcome! Come in and seat yours- Oh! Taemin-ah, Jonghyun-ah! I'm so glad you're here," Leeteuk greeted happily, coming around the counter to give the two a big hug. "The rest of them are sitting over there," he continued, pointing to us in the corner.

We made one huge table to fit all of us by pushing many small ones together, and now we had just enough empty seats waiting to be filled by the two who just arrived. Taemin gave a small half smile and made his way slowly over to the table. I grimaced seeing how Jonghyun-hyung would hold his elbow for support just in case he were to fall, and I could tell how neccessary that was. Taemin looked about as dizzy as the last time I'd seen him, which was quite disconcerting. 

Nonetheless, he looked content to be here with us, and Jonghyun helped him into one of the chairs across from me. "Hey guys," Jonghyun said, slipping into the chair right next to Taemin.

"Hey hyung, hey Taemin," Key greeted with a brilliant smile, seeming genuinely pleased to see his baby out of the hospital already. He leaned over to give him a one-armed hug.

Leeteuk came over then to take out orders. "Good afternoon boys, what can I get you?"

He went around the table, collecting orders like a professional, memorizing them all since he'd known us for so long. It wasn't hard to remember our favourites when we were here so often.

"Just... water is fine," Taemin requested. Leeteuk-hyung nodded with a smile and returned to the counter unfazed, but Key and I glanced at Taemin questioningly.

"Taemin-ah, we can cover you, it's no problem," Key offered.

"No, it's not that," Taemin insisted. "The doctor said I should be drinking a lot of water, and I don't really feel up to anything else..." he trailed off awkwardly, not used to vocalizing how he felt.

Key made a quiet 'oh' sound and focused on wringing his fingers together. It made me upset too that he wasn't feeling 100% but I understood why he wouldn't. He'd only just been discharged from the hospital yesterday after an overdose that nearly killed him. I couldn't see him feeling great for a while to come.

"Anyway," Onew spoke, redirecting our attention to something better, for which I was grateful. "We made something for you, Taemin-ah," he said with a huge smile of anticipation on his face.

"Oh," Taemin's cheeks flared up in pink. "That's not neccessary guys, really, I just-"

"Here, just take it," Key cut him off with a smile of his own. He brought out the book from his bag and placed it right onto the table in front of him. The cover was plain and innocuous, not giving away a single hint on what was inside.

Taemin looked delightfully embarrassed as he slowly brought up one hand to flip it open. The first page consisted of only one photo the Leeteuk had taken here in this shop of all 11 of us. His mouth was resting slightly open as he stared before him at the picture. Leeteuk had come up behind him in that time with a cup of ice cold water for Taemin.

"Oh would you look at that," Leeteuk said, looking over Taemin's shoulder at the book opened to the first page. "I remember that one. It was only a couple months ago, right?"

Taemin nodded mutely, not even taking his eyes away, as Leeteuk placed the water on the table beside the photo album and left to prepare the rest of our orders.

"Guys.." Taemin whispered as he flipped through each page, silentely reading through each of our messages as he enjoyed the memories each new picture brought him. All of us were quiet as we observed Taemin's precious reactions. Leeteuk-hyung had even pulled up a chair to the end of the table once he had finished serving us all. He, too, sat in the same silence, smiling warmly seeing the tears pooling in Taemin's eyes.

"Taemin," Chanyeol squealed quietly once he'd reached the last page. "Don't cry!" he exlaimed happily, knowing fully well that they were not tears of sadness

"I just..." Taemin stuttered, laughing as he wiped his eyes carelessly. "Guys, I don't..." he sighed, not finding the right words. "I didn't know..."

"And that's why we did this, Taeminnie," Key said. "You don't know how much you've done for us. We wanted to provide you with something that you can always look back to to remind you of that. Any time you wonder why we're still here, this will be there for you when we're not physically there. It's just a reminder."

Taemin gave up trying to keep the tears from falling and himself cry openly. "God, I've never cried so much in my life, why do you guys keep doing this to me," he joked with a small chuckle, hugging the photo album to his chest now.

"I'd never even seen you cry before all of this," Onew joined in.

"I don't like it," Taemin laughed, sniffing as he wiped his nose on a napkin. He wasn't a pretty crier, but then again- who is? I was appreciative that he was fully displaying his emotions to us all. "I'm sorry."

"Quit apologizing," Minho chastised. Conversation went on with everyone, laughing about now just to lighten everything. I leaned forward over the table to get closer to Taemin while everyone was preoccupied with talking to one another.

"Can I talk to you in private for a minute?" I whispered.

Taemin looked confused at why I'd need to speak with him privately but nodded anyway. He looked to Jonghyun to tell him discreetly that we'd be back in a minute and the older helped him to stand as I came around to walk him outside the shop. There was a bench just to the side of the door on the sidewalk that I led him to and the two of us sat there together. 

I was glad that this was such a secluded area; I didn't see anyone walking by. I sighed as I dragged a hand through my hair in anticipation. "I couldn't write it all in the photo album because I didn't want anyone else to be able to see it, so I wanted to talk to you in person..." I trailed off, taking a deep breath. "Taemin... I'm just so grateful for the way my life has become because of you. I moved here with hopes of starting over and finding new friends who were true enough to help me forget the past. And I've found so much more than that. I found D.O and Sehun and Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Suho.... and I found you, who introduced me to my other hyungs, and I can't thank you enough for showing me that people do exist who can still care about me. I didn't expect to find a boyfriend or even have as many close friends as I do now because of you, and it would hurt me if I wasn't totally honest with you.."

Taemin looked touched by my words but still troubled, especially at my last statement. "What do you mean?" he asked worriedly.

"I've been lying to you too, Taemin," I said, tears collecting in the corners of my eyes now at the thought of confessing everything. "But mine was just because I'm an , not because I was trying to protect anyone...." I launched into an elaborate backstory of my life up until I'd moved so he might understand just how hard I was trying now to not be like that. "I'm trying to be better, I promise I am," I cried miserably, fat tears rolling down my red cheeks. "My mom's not bad anymore, she's been better for months. I just... I missed having someone always caring about me, so I'd call you, and- I'm so sorry Taemin, I didn't mean to make your life any harder than it was just for my own selfish purposes..." I felt horrible. Everything made so much sense.. "When I'd call you up and you said you weren't allowed to leave the house at the time but I'd make you come anyway... You got in a lot of trouble for that, didn't you?" I sobbed, not wanting to imagine what kind of pain he went through just to be by my side.

Taemin opened his mouth as if to protest but ended up just nodding his head defeatedly. "But... I know you weren't telling the truth, Kai. I could see it. I didn't come because I thought you needed a distraction from your home life. I came because you called for me, and regardless of the reason, that meant that you needed to see me and I don't want to let you down. I would have come even if you said you just wanted to talk to me. You didn't have to make those things up to see me..."

"You... You knew?" I asked in shock. "You knew and you still came? You knew I wasn't telling the truth and you didn't tell me?"

"You needed someone, Kai," he whispered, his hand on my knee. "Who am I to judge? You needed someone by your side and I knew that one day you would confess to me because I believe that you're an inherently good person. You are not made of lies, Kai. I know you're a good person; you're proving it to me right now. I was right all along."

I looked at him with wide, watery eyes. "Why are you... so perfect?" I choked out, lurching towards him to bring him into a surprise hug as I sobbed helplessly into his shoulder. I couldn't feel more bad about how I'd treated him, especially with all that he'd been going through. All that he'd gone through just for me, even. "I'm so sorry. I'm the worst boyfriend. The worst friend..."

"We all have our flaws, Kai," he murmered into my ear, bringing his own arms up to embrace me back. "I have mine and you have yours. It's always best to accept them and move on. I believe that you can make a change in yourself- I'll help you. And in return... I just want you to be truthful with me in the future. Okay?"

I nodded, tightening my grip on him as I buried myself into him. "Why am I the one crying here?" I complained lightheartedly, still unable to restrain my tears.

"You're not the only one," he mumbled. "I lied to you too," he said in a wavering voice. "I lied to all of you and look where that landed us. I wouldn't blame you if you stood up and walked away right now..."

"I can't do that, Taemin-ah... You know I can't," I assured him. "I'm too in love with everything about you to let this get in the way."

He slipped his arms around to rest his hands on my arms, squeezing them a bit as he pulled away from me to look me in the eyes. "I love you too, Kai. Please... Wait for me to catch up."


AUTHOR'S NOTE:

LEETEUK IS BACK. THAT'S ALL. 

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Comments

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dj_808602 #1
Thanks for the hard work author! I really enjoy this story and the emotions it brings out. Will wait for more updates!
woosansweetkins #2
Chapter 26: This is beautiful stories.. please cntinue this.. im new reader here^^
Shihaam1 #3
Chapter 26: I Enjoyed This Chapter It's Good Just As Long As There's A Happy Ending For TaeKai & There Friends:DI Can't Wait For Your Next Update & Good Job So Far On Your Writing:D
Prithi #4
Ah yes finally!!! I couldn't wait until the next chapter. This has got to be one of the most interesting Taekai fic I have ever read!!
jongdae_donghae
#5
Chapter 25: this is such a good story, poor Taemin for what he had to got through but aw Kai and the rest of the boys are helping him so much, can't wait for the next update!
siseon
#6
Chapter 25: I really liked this story, I enjoyed so much reading this. And this chapter felt like it's nearly ending
If you still have beautiful things on your mind, please go ahead and give them to us!
nantae #7
i am new reding her
this the best story ever :_: i love part 18 19 20and all
my fav momint when kai kiss taemin^-^ first kiss ... that story awesame gooooooooood love it .. lovly ....i can't wait for next part
Update please soon .. and really thank you from my heart<^-*>
and i am sorry for my bad english =)
ElizabethCruz #8
Chapter 25: My god that was beautiful to read i hope that if anyone is suffering anything or something like this please know that there's help and i truly wish that once that is over you will to be able to find happiness and see the positive things there are in life
I really really really love this this fiction and i hope to see great things from you
no pressure Hahaha okay maaaybee a little well i hope to see your new update soon and
fighting !!!!!
shawolcj
#9
Chapter 25: AWWWWWWWWWWWW