Three months have passed, and Minho has learned things about Taemin that he never would have dreamed of finding out. He discovered how the boy literally purrs when he snuggles up against Minho during the times where they are cuddled up in the elder's office couch at after-hours. He discovered how the boy pouts whenever he doesn't get his way. He uncovered the boy's bizarre addiction to banana milk. He took note of how the boy likes simple, inexpensive things, having chosen a small picture frame with a collage of their photographs over a luxury watch as a present. He found out how the boy doesn't like being left alone in the dark and how he is afraid of loud sounds like thunder and the way he trembles at the sight of lightning. But out of the many things that he has discovered about Taemin, the thing that has surprised him that most is that the boy's real personality is completely opposite to the one he shows at work. As an assistant, he is naggy, irate, and sometimes even bossier than Minho. But not-assistant Taemin is quiet, shy, sweet, and sometimes a bit stubborn.

 

 

So now tonight, like on any other night, Minho rubs not-assistant Taemin's sides as they cuddle up on the elder's office couch because it is after-hours and the younger does not need to put on his work persona. But they only completely relaxed into each other after having made sure that everyone had already gone home, that no one would be around to see them. They had already talked this over with each other, Minho making it absolutely clear that they are not allowed to act like this around other people. Minho had made up his mind that they are not allowed to let people know that... they are whatever it is they are.

 

 

But then this leads him to think: What are we, anyway?

 

 

He hears the distant sound of a truck honking its way through the road across before quietly asking the figure leaning against his chest, "Minnie, am I your boyfriend?"

 

 

He hears a thoughtful sound from the brunette before he hears a reply, "That depends. Am I your boyfriend?"

 

 

The younger pushes on his chest so he can look Minho in the eyes. Minho looks back at him with furrowed brows, "Can I call you my girlfriend, instead? I'm still getting used to this gay thing, you know."

 

 

Taemin slaps Minho's chest lightly, feeling the hard muscle under his hand. He almost blushes because he wants to make his hands explore a bit more of the elder's body, but he doesn't, because he is too focused on reacting violently. "No fair! I may be gay, but I refuse to be called a girl."

 

 

Minho chuckles, threading his fingers through Taemin's long, slightly tangled strands, "You already look like a girl, so what's so wrong in calling you one?" He is only half-kidding, half-taunting.

 

 

"Fine." Minho immediately perks up when he hears Taemin's affirmative response. He sits up, and Taemin almost falls off, as he was leaning against the former. His rear is safe from the harsh fall because Minho's hands had wrapped around his waist as he excitedly asks, "Really?"

 

 

Taemin pouts, but nods anyway. The grin on the elder's face becomes wider than it already is as he presses the boy against himself in a hug, b with joy. The younger is feeling just as happy, but he feels that he has to prove a point to his newly tagged boyfriend. He pushes away from Minho and crosses his arms, "But I'll have you know that length of hair does not serve as a basis for establishing someone's gender." He turns his nose up and tilts his head away in a snotty fashion as he continues, "Besides, I'll be getting it cut soon, anyway."

 

 

"What?! Why?" Blatant un-believing-ness is written across Minho's face, and it surprises Taemin.The younger raises a brow, "You told me before to get it cut because it looks 'unprofessional'. I was supposed to do it months ago, but I never had the time to." The disbelieving way Minho is looking at him and the dim lighting in the office creeps Taemin out as he squirms in his position beside the elder. He decides to just look down at their touching knees because Minho's sudden silence is making things weird. But then he feels a gentle hand run through his hair again. 

 

 

"Did I really say that?" The man's tone is thoughtful, apologetic. "Nevermind what I said. I only told you that so you'd get annoyed with me and want to quit. Honestly, you look really pretty with long hair.  Please don't cut it." Minho's voice is almost pleading at this point.

 

 

The compliment succeeds in turning Taemin red, but the dim lighting saves him from being caught. He is altogether touched, flattered, and amused by how nice and courteous Minho is being, so he pecks the elder on the nose and answers,  "Okay, okay."

 

 

When he pulls away, he does not expect Minho to grab his wrist and prevent him from any further movement, but that is just what the man does. Minho shakes his head and smirks at the boy in his grasp, "Nuh-uh. A boyfriend gets more than a peck on the nose." He taps his lip, and Taemin's cheeks flush deeper than they ever have before. He had never allowed Minho to kiss him on the lips, ever. And he had never even attempted to do so before.

 

 

"What if I don't want to?!"

 

 

Minho only shakes his head with that smirk still on, pretending not to hear him. The brunette sighs and leans forward, hoping to just get it over with. He lands a timid, chaste kiss on the elder's lips, fully intending to end it immediately, but Minho holds him in place. He has a hand gently wrapped around Taemin's neck, and the younger just can't seem to escape from his soft grasp. 

 

 

He struggles for a few moments, because this is his first kiss and he does not want Minho to find out how he is so incredibly inexperienced and awkward, unlike the elder's past lovers. Worries about how Minho might find him inadequate and useless compared to Yuri or Victoria or Krystal (he admits that he is still a teensy bit jealous of Ms. Jung) wreak havoc in his head. But what he doesn't know is that this awkward, honest kiss is what Minho has been looking for all along. A kiss that is far from artificial -- an interaction that is raw and genuine and timidly passionate in and of itself.

 

 

Eventually, Taemin finds himself melting into the kiss, just letting himself go and allowing the elder to take the lead. After a few more moments of hesitant lip-locking, Minho finally pulls away from him, breathless as he speaks. "I really like you, Taemin."

 

 

As he stares into the other's irises, the brunette, in all his breathlessness and redness, does not fail to notice how Minho always says that he 'likes' taemin, and not the other four letter word. It's always 'like', never 'love'. And he doesn't mind. He is fond of it, actually. Because honestly, he feels that it is too soon to start saying 'I love you's' and the 'I'll be yours forever's'. He does not like throwing around statements like that so carelessly, because those phrases, specifically the one containing three words, lose their meaning when they are just blurted out at the most random moments. When he says those three words, he wants it to actually mean something, not just something that he would say simply because he is obligated to say it. 

 

 

So when he replies to Minho's words of affection, he doesn't say the word 'love' either. He replies with an 'I really like you, too.", glad that the elder isn't rushing things, isn't pressuring him into saying things that he doesn't want to say just yet. 

 

 

The taller man smiles when he hears Taemin's reply. This is still very alien to him, this vulnerability thing. He has never said I love you to anyone, not even to his parents. But it is not that he doesn't love them. He just isn't very vocal about emotions and all that jazz. Admitting his feelings to Taemin every now and then is like a refreshing experience to him. But though he is capable of telling Taemin that he likes him, he is not yet ready to say 'I love you' because he has no idea if what he is feeling for the boy can already be considered love. 

 

 

Whenever he is with Taemin, his heart beats a little faster and his day becomes a whole lot brighter. Whenever he sees that endearing, pleasant smile in the morning, his legs feel jittery and his palms would sometimes clam up because his brain would tell him that his hair isn't waxed properly enough or his suit is a tad wrinkled. And he does not know what to make of it, because this is the first time that he had ever felt this way. But what he does know is that he immensely cares for Taemin and that he will do anything, absolutely anything to make the brunette happy. Maybe this is love, maybe it isn't. He'll figure it out soon enough -- and when he is absolutely sure, that is when he will say those three words out loud.

 

 

The brunette smiles back at him, pulling him up as he tells him that they should probably go home now.

 

 

 

Minho leaves the hazard ticking on his black BMW as he parks his car in front of Taemin's building. The month before, Minho had informed Shindong that from that day forward, he will be driving Taemin home. The driver did not question him and only bowed with a 'Yes, sir.', leaving the man relieved that he did not have to explain himself. He opens the passenger door for Taemin and walks him up to his living space at the 9th floor of the simple yet luxurious building. 

 

 

When they reach the brunette's door, Minho does what he always does and stops a few feet short from the entrance. In the three months since they had confessed their feelings to each other, the elder had never stepped foot inside Taemin's apartment. The last thing he would want to do is to overstep his boundaries with Taemin, and he knows for a fact that the brunette still finds it hard to involve himself with others. Letting Minho into his home would only add to that sense of attachment, and the elder would not want to push it by suddenly barging into his home without permission. So he has decided that he will not enter until Taemin offers for him to do so. 

 

 

Every time Minho halts a few feet from his door, a warmth rushes through Taemin. He appreciates whenever the elder does this, because it is as if the man knows that he is still not comfortable with the prospect of letting people into his home, whoever it may be. As silly as it may sound to other people, his home is one of the places where he feels as if he can be himself, and he is just not sure if he can allow for someone to invade his safe haven.The fact that the elder has come to understand him so much in the short span of time they have been together makes Taemin feel as if there are a million butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He turns to Minho, back facing his apartment door.

 

 

"Oh! I almost forgot!" He slings his falling messenger bag higher up his shoulder, "your father called this afternoon. He was requesting for a meeting tomorrow."

 

 

Minho his head to the side, hands in his pockets, "Did he now?"

 

 

"Umhum." The brunette nods and presses his fingers to his temple, "I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you."

 

 

"It's okay." The taller man's low chuckle echo through the silent hallway, "At least you remembered."

 

 

Taemin is fazed, because the past minho would have gotten mad or reprimanded him or something of the sort. He smiles at how much things really have changed and then says, "Thanks. See you tomorrow." He stands on his tip toes and pecks the elder on the cheek.

 

 

He is about to close the door to Minho when he hears a sudden shout of 'Wait!'.

 

 

Taemin immediately pulls his door open again, perplexed. "What?"

 

 

"T-Tomorrow..." He looks down at the carpeted floor, collects himself, and then looks back up, "I want to tell my dad."

 

 

Taemin's eyes widen. He thinks he knows what Minho is talking about but he isn't quite sure, so he gives the man the benefit of the doubt. He doesn't know if he wants to believe what he thinks Minho is thinking. "Tell him what?"

 

 

He gulps, adam's apple bobbing, "About you and me."

 

 

At that, the brunette shoots his hand up to touch Minho's forehead, as if checking his temperature, 

 

 

"Minho, are you delirious or something? Do you have any idea what you're saying?" 

 

 

Minho grabs Taemin's hand and glowers at him, a bit irritated that the brunette isn't taking him seriously, "Of course I know what I'm saying! I want to tell my dad tomorrow, after the meeting."

 

 

"But... why? You have no way of knowing what he'll do." He is happy that Minho is dedicated to him enough to want to introduce him formally to his father as his partner, but he cannot be completely happy if he knows that man might get into trouble by doing so.

 

 

"Because I want to. And you said it yourself, his reaction can go either way. It's either he'll like it or he'll hate it."

 

 

"M-Minho..." Taemin is worried that the elder does not know the gravity of what he is about to do. Taemin is afraid that Minho is being too naive about this, that his father could possibly disown him or do something of the sort, because really, who would ever want a homoual for a son? He is about to try to discourage Minho from doing what he is planning, but then he sees the look of determination and decidedness in Minho's eyes. So what he can only do is nod a hesitant 'Alright then.' before really closing the door and spotting the bright look that had taken over Minho's face.

 

 

 

 

"Minho, if the shipments keep getting delayed like they are now, you may start losing clients. I don''t want our name getting a bad reputation. Pull yourself together, boy."

 

 

Since the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Choi has been in a sour mood, pointing out all of the flaws in Minho's presentation. He had noticed at least 5 inconsistencies in the statistics and 3 major mistakes in their planning. The whole time, Minho would only nod in response to his father as Taemin took note of all of the suggestions the elder man had to offer. 

 

 

For the final time, Minho replies with a, "Yes, sir."

 

 

"Now, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Mr. Choi takes a sip from his coffee as Minho takes his seat across from the man, setting himself down on the seat beside Taemin. 

 

 

"Huh?"

 

 

"You told me that you wanted to tell me something after the meeting. What is it?"

 

 

"Oh, that." Minho awkwardly laughs, and Taemin could practically feel the tension radiating from his body, "Nevermind, it's no big deal anyway. I can tell you on some other time. (Probably when you're an infinitely better mood than right  now.)

 

 

"Minho." The boy can only gulp, because whenever his father uses that tone on him, he knows that he can do nothing to oppose him. He feels like the five year old child that he was so many years ago, being scolded by Mr. Choi for running his paperwork through the shredder.

 

 

"Okay, okay." He turns his head to the brunette sitting beside him. Taemin's eyebrows are bent in an expression of worry, but his chestnut eyes encourage him to go through with what he is about to do.

 

 

He takes a deep breath and, gathering his guts, looks his father in the eyes.

 

 

"I'm in a relationship."

 

 

Mr. Choi takes another sip from the mug of coffee before asking,"That's it?"

 

 

Minho protectively takes Taemin's hand that had been lying on the table, as if ready to guard him when his father explodes as the next words slip from his mouth. 

 

 

"...with Taemin."

 

 

5 seconds of silence.

 

 

"Again, that's it? By god son, you had me worried there. I thought you were involved in another one of those scandals. Remember the one with the woman, Hyuna, was it? When I first heard about that tape, I wanted to strangle--"

 

 

"Uh, dad? Did you hear me right?" Minho eyes his father disbelievingly, not sure about what is happening at the moment.

 

 

"Of course I heard you. I'm not that old, son," He frowns when he lifts his mug to see that his drink is all gone and sets it down with a clank, "But first, a question. Does Ms. Jung know about this?"

 

 

Minho does not understand why his dad's reaction is so different from what he expected, but he answers anyway, "Yes, Krystal knows..." He hears a 'What?!' from the boy beside him, which reminds him that he hadn't told Taemin that he had revealed their relationship to Krystal. But he saves that revelation for another time because this situation with his father is much, much more important. "But why... why aren't you angry? I just told you that I am in a relationship with a man. I just admitted to being gay, dad." 

 

 

"Well, I didn't expect for you to be attracted to men, but I have nothing against it, unlike my own parents."

 

 

Both Minho and Taemin their heads in question.

 

 

His father sighs and shakes his head, realizing that he will have to explain his rather vague response. "I had a brother who was a homoual."

 

 

What surprises Minho is not that his father had a gay brother but because his father actually had a brother. You had a brother? I thought you were an only child."

 

 

"My-- Our parents didn't like talking about him. They practically erased his existence in the Choi family. They were too disgusted when Hyunjoo came out of the closet. They were so disgusted that they locked him away until..." His father shakes his head again, but not out of exasperation. It is as if he is trying to shake away the bad memories that are flooding to the front of his mind. "... Until his health deteriorated and he passed away." 

 

 

Taemin and Minho both have looks of sympathy and horror plastered on their faces, not wanting to believe how cruel people can be when faced with something they do not want to acknowledge. Blood-related or not, Minho will never in his life sink as low as his grandparents as to push someone to their death because of differences in opinion. Especially now that he has met Taemin and his own eyes have been opened to how wonderful and beautiful people can be, straight or not. 

 

 

"Dad..." Minho tries to reach out to his father to try and comfort him, but Mr. Choi only continues. "I tried my best to pull him out of his depression, but with everything that was going on, he just couldn't make it." The elder man resolutely looks into Minho's eyes, conviction etched in his deep brown orbs, "I will never let that happen to you, son. I couldn't do anything to help Hyunjoo back then, but I sure as hell am doing what I can now."

 

 

Minho's eyes are glazed with unshed tears as he tightens his grip in Taemin's hand. The brunette smiles up at him with the same tear-filled eyes and squeezes his hand back.

 

 

"If being with Taemin is what is capable of making you happy, then by all means, you have my blessing.'

 

 

For the first time since he had turned into the grown up workaholic business tycoon that he is now, he lets go of Taemin's hand and walks around the table to hug his father, tears threatening to spill from his eyes as he whimpers, "Thank you. Thank you so much." Wrinkles form in his father's suit from how he is clutching it in his embrace, but neither of the men mind. 

 

 

He laughs lightly, patting his son on the back, "Don't worry about it, Minho."

 

 

The worry that he had been hiding from Taemin, the fear that his father wouldn't have accepted him all disappear, along with the tightness in his chest. It is like a huge weight has been lifted off of his shoulders, and he is so very grateful to his father for being the understanding man that he is.

 

 

"You really love him, don't you?" His father's voice is in a whisper, such that the brunette they are talking about cannot hear them.

 

 

Minho immediately flushes and stutters, "W-Well, I wouldn't say 'love' just yet..."

 

 

The elder man laughs once again, "Son, by the looks of it, you've fallen pretty hard." He pulls away from their fatherly embrace, Minho in arms-length from him as he continues to speak, "But okay, if you say so."

 

 

The younger man sheepishly smiles at his knowing father. Then, he walks away from Mr. Choi's hold as he walks towards Taemin, who had been silently watching them from his seat. The brunette stands up when he sees a grinning Minho approaching him with wide arms, and in a matter of seconds, he is engulfed in Minho and his scent as well. Needless to say, they are both extremely relieved and thankful for Mr. Choi's genuine approval. 

 

 

Mr. Choi smiles at the two young men, pleased at seeing the happiness on his son's face as the smaller boy in his arms hugs him back. But then he belatedly remembers something.  

 

 

"Although... there is someone you do have to worry about. I'm not the only one you should be asking approval from."

 

 

Minho's eyes widen, and his jaw drops ever so slightly as he mutters, "."

 

 

The brunette looks up at him and tugs at his sleeve. What's with the sudden change of mood? "What's wrong?"

 

 

The elder keeps staring forward as he breathes out a reply, "I forgot about my mom." 

 

 

---

 

It's either Mrs. Choi will totally love them or totally hate them, haha. This chapter was particularly hard for me to right, I'm not sure why. :/ Apologies for any grammatical errors and confusions! :(