The grand hall where Mr. Choi usually hosts his extravagant parties is once again booked, but for an entirely different reason. It is his son's birthday, and as many of the individuals in the business pool know, the Chois always make sure that they celebrate these occasions in style.

The bristling snow outside does nothing to deter the warm light emanating from the large chandelier hanging overhead. An elevated platform upfront serves as the make-shift stage for the woman crooning soft, jazzy songs floating through the room's otherwise quiet atmosphere. The vast room is filled with classy men and women chatting amongst themselves in a manner that would be deemed pretentious by people of the normal class.

They are dressed in perfectly cut suits and refined gowns, and it really wouldn't have to take anyone a second to figure out that this is a get-together for the affluent.

The guests have yet to settle in their seats around the elegantly set round tables, still chatting amiably and wandering around the room in search of potential business partners to up to. (that is, in Taemin's opinion)

He, along with Taesun, had arrived at the venue earlier than most of the other guests. Minho had advised him that they should arrive separately as to not attract any unwanted attention from the media or any nosy guests. He feels guilty for having forced his brother into attending this event of stuffy, showy businessmen, (he would have dragged Kai with him again but the younger man was very adamant in not going [Kai: Hell no, ditch-er.]), but his invitation required that he brought at least one person with him. It just so happened that Taesun was the unlucky person who called him up whilst he was reading the invitation.

They chose to stand in a less-crowded section of the room where people wouldn't notice them or wouldn't ask them what their connection with Minho is. A number of people have expressed interest in them, asking if they were models of the sort. Taemin, in a slightly bad mood due to his boyfriend's absence, let his older brother do all the talking. The both of them are handsomely dressed in matching all-black suits, giving off stoic yet gentlemanly auras, but the brunette is not in the mood to live up to his appearance's expectations. He drops his head on Taesun's shoulder, leaning his body weight onto his older brother. He sighs deeply and tiredly, his boredom very apparent.

Taesun chuckles. "I'm sure he's on his way, Minnie."

"He better be," Taemin grumbles, "Or we're leaving early."

His brother gives a sudden start, making Taemin raise his head from his shoulder in surprise. "Don't say that," Taesun's voice is unnaturally high, but his demeanour still gives off one of amusement. "Be a little more patient, neh?" Taesun pinches his puffed out cheeks, and Taemin only sulks again.

Suddenly, there are sounds of cameras flashing and clicking and conversations dying out. Heads start to turn in one direction, making the two brothers follow along as well. Taemin almost lets out a dreamy, school-girlish sigh when he sees the celebrant walking through the doors.

Right behind Choi Yun-Gyeom, Choi Yura and Choi Minseok walks the Choi Minho. He is wearing an all-black suit (Taemin: We didn't plan this, honest!) and his signature Choi smile that just makes everything else around him seem a tad duller because of its brightness and its brilliance and its sheer perfection. He would nod his head in acknowledgement to the photographers calling him out  and to the guests beaming at him, and Taemin wonders if it is only his imagination that made him see a gaggle of women fanning themselves and their reddened cheeks. He always forgets just how popular his boyfriend really is.

The jazzy woman on stage starts a spontaneous 'Happy Birthday' as the newly-arrived elites walk to their table at the front of the room, right in front of the stage. The guests sing and clap along with the melody. Mr. and Mrs. Choi chuckle lightly and Minseok pats Minho on the back as the elder laughs and claps and sings along to the song dedicated to him. His eyes are jumping from person to person in the tiniest way and he seems to be faintly craning his neck every second or so as they walk, and Taemin is almost tempted to jump from where he is and wave his arms, screaming out 'I'm over here!', but he doesn't, thankfully. The loud, steady claps of the guests and the instruments die down when the family reaches their table and the MC asks for everyone to be seated.  

The MC isn't as cheesy as Taemin would have expected as the middle aged man greets the room at large a 'Goooooooood evening!' and asks for everyone to applaud for tonight's celebrant. A few wolf-whistles and 'Father my baby's' from the crowd have the guests and Minho giggling. Taemin would have laughed along if only he wasn't that distracted by the thought of Minho's toned body that he had had the pleasure of touching everywhere underneath that slimming, hormonal-teenager-inducing suit. Minho meets his eyes for the first time that night, catching him staring from eight tables down. The man subtly smirks and winks at him. Taemin has to pretend to cough to cover his face just to make the instant blush die down. 

A few gags and awkwardly entertaining song and dance numbers later, the MC cheesily asks the guests if they are hungry, and if so, it's dinner time and they have so-and-so to thank as the sponsors for the scrumptious meals that will be served to them. Taemin resists the urge to roll his eyes at how generic the man's script is, and he catches Minho doing the same.

They make eye contact again and they silently snicker at each other, exchanging secret, flirtatious smiles.

The food is served and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. The guests converse easily amongst themselves, and even Taesun finds the stranger sitting beside him entertaining enough to talk to. They have been talking non-stop about last night's formula-something race since dinner began, making Taemin feel the slightest bit left out. But he ignores the sulky feeling again because at least his brother is starting to enjoy himself.

If only I could do the same, he thinks. He pokes his steak around, not caring in the least that it is his favorite food and that his brother told him it is absolutely delicious, instead pouting and brooding because he hasn't been in contact with or even spoken to Minho since the party began. The only contact he's had with the man all day is the phone call they had in the morning. Even then, Taemin was still far too sleepy to indulge in the elder's soothing voice on the other line. He had sleepily greeted him with a ' 'Appy Birfday Babe--' with a pillow-muffled voice and an 'I luff you' before dropping back to sleep. Minho laughed at him and replied with an amused 'I luff you too' and that was about it.  

He is taking another generous swig of his wine when he feels a casual hand land on his shoulder and then a friendly, familiar voice addressing their table.

"So, how's everyone doing?"

The people around the table are suddenly beaming, and Taemin just knows that it is because of the arrival of Minho and his captivating presence. He feels the corners of his lips instinctively tug upwards, but he doesn't feel the need to force it down. He turns his head to the side and upwards, and there Minho is, smiling at each and every one of them. He isn't looking directly at Taemin, but with the way his fingers are intimately pressing into his shoulder, it is very obvious as to who his smile is really meant for.

The man beside Taesun answers, "Never better!" while the middle-aged woman across from Taemin nods her head in agreement. Titters and chuckles bounce around the table when Minho smoothly jokes around with them, and Taemin admires him, sees that indeed, Minho is in his element.

As much as Taemin doesn't want it to end, he notices that Minho is taking quite a while in their table, and the others around them are starting to notice. The tables that Minho had already passed are all good and cheery, but the tables after Taemin's are beginning to eye them suspiciously. It seems that they are all waiting for their chance to speak with and joke around with the celebrant, but this table is hogging all of the chatting time. 

Taemin lets out a tiny cough, and Minho looks down at him. The brunette only has to look at him and then the upcoming tables for the man to understand what is being said. He hears Minho grumble, just as he himself was doing earlier, and so, just to cheer him up a bit, he smiles up at him. They share a meaningful look and suddenly a napkin is falling off the table and onto the carpeted floor.

Minho unfalteringly grunts out a robotic 'Oh, sorry.' before kneeling down and taking the cloth between his fingers, hidden from the other guests' view. Taemin's hands are on his lap, where one of them is gingerly pulled off and a chaste kiss is planted at the back of it. Before he even registers what happened, Minho is already standing straight and is asking a server to bring another napkin in replacement of the (purposely) fallen one. He walks away to the next table, but not before thanking them for attending the party and squeezing Taemin's shoulder one last time.

Taesun sniggers when he sees the millionth tinge of red gracing his brother's cheeks.

A microphone stand is set up at the center of the stage and a chair is situated by the side of it. Minho had been asked to come up front and sit on the chair while his 'most special' people in his life also go upstage to greet him with their own heartfelt messages. Upon being told to do so, Minho shook his head, looking thoroughly amused on the outside, when in truth he just finds the gesture so incredibly corny -- but touching, nonetheless. He shared another secret laugh with Taemin eight tables down before he stood up and walked off to sit onstage.

Quite a number of people had gone up to greet him, and he has to admit that all of their messages were all very moving and it made the young man feel very much appreciated. But as much as he hates playing favorites, the ones that had him almost tearing up were the messages from a certain group of friends, and of course, his family.

First up had been Kibum: "You're getting old, Minho. Lessen the stress so you don't look like an old man all the time, okay? I bought a lot of gifts for you, and that includes the wrinkle-reducing ointment. I'll tell you more about it when you open your presents. Happy birthday!"

Next up was Jonghyun: "Minho has been my close friend for years now, and I guess I just want to say -- How about slacking off a little on the company, huh bro? You're too good at this! My business's going to end up dying if you keep going like this. But aside from that, you know I love you. Happy birthday!'

Jinki was more than happy to take the microphone away from Jonghyun: "Minho, you're not getting any younger. Make the most out of your life, and ignore Jonghyun's advice and keep doing what you're doing. (Jonghyun: Hey!) As long as you're doing what makes you happy."

Minho did not take offense from any of their greetings, because he knows that those are his hyungs' ways of asking him to get some rest from work, to spend some more time with his family and friends; friends, meaning them. He mouthed a 'thank you' to each of them after their respective greetings, and they had thrown him genuine smiles in return.

Next in line was his brother, Minseok. He was "I normally don't do this sappy stuff, but since it's your birthday, I guess I can make an exception. Ahem. You are the best brother any guy can ever have, and I'm glad that guy is me. Happy birthday, hyung. But tomorrow, let's just pretend I never said any of this stuff, 'kay?"

Minho: "Too late -- recorded it."

The last to go upstage were his parents. Mrs. Choi was beaming at Minho on stage while his father still possessed the air of a professional, but still had traces of a father's. His father had spoken for the both of them: "I'm proud of you, son. We are proud of you -- whatever you do and whatever you choose to make of your life, we will be there with you. Happy birthday."

He stood from his seat and embraced both his parents, deciding to move on from all of the drama that they had experienced weeks before. The people had clapped for them, (although Minho isn't sure why), and they shared a few more moments of sentimental hugging before both parents went downstage to give the celebrant the floor.

He is now standing in front of the crowd, all eyes on him. He isn't nervous in the slightest, even in spite of all of the scrutinizing gazes he is under. He does not want to ruin the joy he is feeling right now by being all figety and nervous -- he wants to savor the bliss that he is feeling from the messages he had just received from his loved ones. He can't help thinking that it would have been perfect if Taemin had also greeted him like his friends and parents had, but he decides that the boy can greet him in his own special way later tonight.

Mentally shaking off the erted thoughts in his mind, he plucks the microphone from the stand and flashes a smile to the crowd.  

"To everyone here tonight, and to the ones who weren't able to make it, thank you." He lets the applause die down before he continues. "I'm very grateful that you have all taken some time off of your schedules to attend this event, and you don't know how much it means to me that you all are here tonight." He wants to direct his gaze to the table eight tables down where there is a timidly smiling brunette, but he figures that it would be too obvious if he did.

He just hopes that Taemin will understand that this message is mostly, if not all, for him.  

Yep, all for him.

He clears his throat and then continues. "Now I know all of you are probably wondering why Ms. Jung isn't here tonight." The chatter in the grand room dies down, as if the people are really that curious as to why Krystal Jung isn't present. From the corner of his eye, he sees Taemin perk up. He was also probably wondering why she isn't present.

"Chances are, some of you were looking for her, assuming she'd be here. Am I right?" He sees a number of people actually nodding in confirmation. He shrugs. "Seeing as she is my 'girlfriend', of course you'd think that."

At his somewhat sarcastic tone of voice, mumbles begin to fill the room again. With his voice, he cuts through the buzzing.

"But the thing is, she isn't."

The hall is dead quiet again, and Minho only takes this chance to continue. The photographers standing around are giving him their full attention now as well.

"As corny as this sounds," A boyish grin slips from Minho's lips, "I've got a confession to make." He catches movement from Taemin's seat again, like he was fidgeting uneasily in his seat, and he silently apologizes to the brunette for not telling him about all of this in advance.

Clearing his throat again, (just to stall for time, and perhaps to gather a bit more courage) he continues. "The 'Golden Couple' isn't real. It never was, and it never will be." Minho almost laughs at the collective, audible gasp that the crowd releases. But then he remembers that this is supposed to be a moment of seriousness and of drama, so he fights the amusement down.

"But I am in a relationship. And since it's my birthday, I figured it wouldn't hurt to introduce my partner today." Amid the surprised buzzing and gasps, he finally lets his eyes land on Taemin. He hadn't been expecting the brunette attempting to escape -- which is what he is doing at the moment -- but he sighs in relief when he sees Taesun holding him down by the wrist. He smiles sheepishly at the boy. "Minnie, I'm sorry I didn't warn you about this."

The people's heads and the photographers cameras turn to the direction where Minho is looking. For what feels like the millionth time, women are gasping and men are looking on in disbelief. All eyes are on Taemin now as Minho walks down the stage and toward their table. When he passes his family's table, he sees Mr. Choi's and Minseok's amused expressions and his mother's exasperated one.

Though it only took a number of second, it feels like hours for Minho to reach Taemin's table due to the eerie silence of the room. When he reaches their table, he mouths a 'Thanks' to Taesun before pulling Taemin up by the hand and wrapping his arm around the blushing boy's slim waist, cameras are now flashing and people are still gaping.

"Everyone, this is Lee Taemin." He looks around the room, spotting the excited look on Kibum's face and the smirks on Jonghyun's and Jinki's lips. Then he looks down at Taemin, who has his head bowed. From embarrassment or anger, Minho does not know. But he goes on, anyway.

"He's my boyfriend. I love him. To anyone who has a problem with that, you lot will have to deal with it." He doesn't even wait for the dazed people to react before continuing. "So now, if you'll excuse us, we've got a date to get to." He flashes a charismatic smile to the crowd. "Thanks for coming!"

Their steps against the marble floor echo in the quiet of the hall.

Minho knew all along that Suho was standing by the entrance this whole time, so as he drags Taemin away to the door from the stunned crowd, he stops to stand beside the man, facing in opposite directions.

Taemin is left to stand beside him, staring at his father in astonishment. Minho doesn't even look Suho's way as he smirks.

"Sorry your ty blackmail didn't go as well as you'd hoped."

And with that, he drags Taemin off again, away from the shocked crowd, away from his bastard of a father, and into the cold night where they can pretend that they are in their own little perfect world of two. 

GAH D: