The stark white walls and floors of the hospital make Taemin feel nauseous for each second that he paces back and forth. He fiddles with his fingers as he moves around, not knowing what to do with himself. Kibum had requested several times for him to sit down because all of his repetitive movement is making him feel dizzy as well, but Taemin does not hear him. He is too absorbed in his own thoughts, in his own worries that this is all his fault.

 

The past weeks have been anything but pleasant. 

 

The day after Minho's big announcement, the news had already spread far and wide. A number of newspaper publications had made the issue their front page article with pictures of both him and Taemin plastered across the pages. There were pictures of Taemin which seemed to have been dug up from who-knows-where and blurred photographs of both of them in restaurants, on the street, and wherever else. The headlines ranged from frank to absurd. Several newspapers and magazines referred to Taemin as 'The Home Wrecker' and 'The Man That Ruined the Golden Couple' while they called Minho 'The Two-Timer of the Century' and labelled him with degrading, tasteless names.

 

Krystal was pulled into the mess as well. The press had been trying to get a hold of her, hounding her for what she thinks about the whole 'affair'. But every time anyone asked her about the matter, she would only say 'No comment.' and move on to another topic.

 

Taemin had been informed by Minho that he had told Krystal about the whole announcement prior to when it was going to happen. He had asked for the woman's permission, and to his great surprise, she was more than happy to go along with whatever he had in mind. 'She was all for it,' Minho had told him.

 

When Minho had asked her why she was being so... nice to him, her only answer was (and perhaps it was the only answer Minho needed), "I'm happy for you two."

 

And with that, Minho had asked her to just not say anything at all if she were to ever be approached by anyone about him and Taemin. She will neither confirm nor deny her 'relationship' with Minho, nor will she make any comments about said relationship no matter how bad the rumours get. She had only smiled and nodded, and Taemin could not be any more grateful to her.

 

He cannot imagine how much controversy would have happened if Krystal had done otherwise. Things were already horrible the way they were without the addition of Ms. Jung's inputs on the matter.

 

Another major consequence of his announcement is that the company had experienced an instantaneous drop of clients where their only reasons for abandoning their contracts were their reputations and their disapproval for Minho's 'moral choices'. Most of them had said that it wasn't right, his uality, his choices, and they said that they were worried that Minho might do the same in terms of his choices regarding their businesses. Taemin had thought it was laughable how pathetic they were for trying to cover up their homophobia for something as shallow as the logic they are following. If anything, they were probably just afraid that people might shun them for being associated with the 'likes' of Choi Minho.

 

And if losing clients wasn't enough, they had also lost a large portion of their workforce. Several employees filed for resignation while most of them had just flat out quit their jobs without so much as an explanation. The others who had informed Minho of their plans on quitting, though, provided him with one.

 

"I don't want to work under a ."

 

Rude pun intended.

 

Taemin had to hold Minho back before the man could lunge at his former employees.

 

(The ones who stayed behind were supportive of them, though. Some of them had expressed their support for them, saying they look adorable together and that they had conducted a bet before about the boss and his assistant being an item. They had proclaimed that they were happy to find out they were right. They had also congratulated the both of them, applauding Minho for snagging someone like Taemin and then praising the latter for having control over the Choi Minho. The women who stayed behind, though, were insanely jealous of Taemin, bashing him whenever they thought he wasn't around.)

 

He also had to hold Minho back before he got a hold of the teenagers who had spray-painted his car with vulgar drawings and messy scrawls of 'h0mo' and 'go 2 hell g@ylord'. Both of them had received messages, both online and through the mail, of the same content -- bashing them to 'the depths of hell and beyond'.

 

But then again, as bad as all of that sounded, Taemin would still consider these forms of harassment as tolerable. The ones that really made him denounce his very existence are when he had seen Minho on the brink of breaking under all the pressure.

 

But it is not the harassment the public directs towards him that makes him break. Sure, when his car and his other properties had been ransacked, he had lost his cool and ended up with a very bad mood by the end of those days. But that is not when he is at his worst; his worst, meaning his weakest. He is at his worst whenever Taemin gets involved in the mess of things -- whenever the people direct their vulgarity towards his Taemin.

 

And Taemin knows this because when Minho feels this way, he acts completely differently from how he normally is. It had first happened two nights after his controversial birthday.

 

At two in the morning, he had heard the door creak as it opened and closed. He would have panicked if it weren't for the familiar beat of Minho's footsteps against the floor. He had rubbed his eyes sleepily and switched on the bedside lamp as he sat up on the bed with his other hand holding him up. He was about to ask Minho what he was doing at his apartment at this time of night but was stopped immediately when the man practically bounded into his arms and buried his face in the crook of his neck without so much as a greeting. He had his arms firmly wrapped around Taemin as he clutched onto the large night shirt, body racking every so often against Taemin's. He was shaking. He was crying.

 

And then he had whispered again and again, "I won't let them hurt you."  

 

They had stayed like that until Minho had been sapped of all his energy from his emotional breakdown. Taemin knows that Minho is exhausted because the man is blaming himself for making Taemin go through all of this torture.

 

Little did he know that Taemin feels the same way.

 

Taemin had laid him down on the bed, having pulled off his coat and shoes and wiped away the tear tracks on his face. He had also dabbed disinfectant on the wounds dotted on Minho's palms before he laid himself down beside the man, laying a protective arm across the elder's torso.

 

The same routine happened on the following nights. And on every night, Taemin had never forgotten to whisper an unheard promise to Minho's sleeping form.

 

"I'll protect you, too."

 

 

So now, as he paces back and forth in the hospital's hallway, he hates himself for not being capable of fulfilling his promise.

 

The events of today are painfully replaying in his mind, and as much as he wants to stop it, he just can't.

 

They were having dinner -- in public. It was another long day at work and they were determined to enjoy themselves tonight. They were beginning to gather new, more tolerant clients who had nothing against their choice of uality, (which really, should have nothing to do with the business) and they figured that that was something to celebrate for.

 

People were staring at them, whispering amongst themselves. This hadn't bothered them much, since this kind of treatment can be considered mild compared to what other people had done to them before. So they had only continued their dinner, absorbed in each other's presence.

 

But then another presence had interrupted them and intruded on their two-person haven.

She was looking down at them with disdain, her arms crossed in that clichéd 'I'm a ' pose. They had stopped their playful interactions with each other to acknowledge her. Taemin clearly remembers the friendly smile that Minho had offered to her before the woman had even spoken.

 

"You're disgusting. The both of you. Do the world a favour and just starve yourselves to death." Her face held that 'I'm better than you' snarl as well.

 

Taemin had stared blankly at her, wanting more than anything to slap her right across the cheek in front of the nosy spectators. He was about to do just that, if only Minho's hand wasn't grasping his own. He had been the one being held back, because in all his life, one of the things he cannot stand is being talked down to. He had willed himself to calm down while Minho stepped in to handle things in the way he saw fit.

 

"I'm sorry," He was still smiling, "We're trying to have dinner here and we'd appreciate it if you went on your way. If you wish, we can be more discrete."

 

The woman had gaped at him. Minho still kept that smile on his face while Taemin had been glaring at her the whole time. She rolled her eyes and then walked away without another word. After that, their dinner went on as peacefully as it could have gone, what with the obvious disgusted glances from the other patrons and the less than friendly waiters. They were lucky their waiter was not one of the homophobic haters like the rest of them, or they fear they could have partaken in food laced with poison and the like.

 

As they were walking home, they chanced upon a group of men near a dark alley. They would have kept walking, if only they had not heard the sound of whimpering from somewhere inside the circle of the scruffy-looking men. At the sound of the weak crying, Minho had immediately halted. Taemin had looked up at him worriedly, knowing full well what Minho was going to do; that he was going to involve himself in a matter that served no purpose for him whatsoever. He tried to urge Minho to keep walking, that they shouldn't involve themselves with those strangers, but the elder was too set in his ways.

 

He had warily let Minho's hand go, letting the man approach the suspicious group of men. Aware of the paparazzi that had been following them from the moment they entered the restaurant, he kept a watchful eye on Minho, trying to make sure he wouldn't do anything too outrageous.

 

Minho had tapped one of them on the shoulder, and Taemin had heard Minho's distant voice.

 

"Mind telling me what's going on here?" Minho was looking right at the intimidating figure, not wavering in the slightest. The men were darkly giggling to themselves, their focus mainly on the thing inside the circle.

 

The man had pushed him away and gruffly answered, "None of yer business."

 

And then there was the tiny cry that, as quiet as it was, reached Taemin's ears from meters away.

 

"Please... help..."

 

Minho instantly pushed the men in his way who were blocking his view. To both his and Taemin's horror, there on the concrete ground sat the hateful woman from the restaurant just a few hours ago with her button-up ripped open and her skirt riding up her legs, trembling under the dim street light. Even from where he was standing, Taemin had made out the blood on her knees, looking as if she was pushed down onto the rough ground. He had also seen the tears that were running down her dirtied face.

 

Minho's voice was rough, harsh as he took one of the men by the collar. "What the hell did you do to her?"

 

The man sneered, "Why? She your girlfriend?" Another man chimed in, sounding drunk. "We were just playin' with her! Stop bein' such a tight-!" The other men laughed along.

 

It didn't take a second for Minho to pound his fist into the face of the man in his grasp. The other males started shouting and ran towards Minho as the woman stayed shaking on the ground. Taemin immediately made a run towards the commotion as he put his phone up to his ear with the police station's number dialled in. Punches were being thrown everywhere as flashes of cameras from several directions captured every moment.

 

People are beginning to crowd around the scene and the annoying paparazzi from the restaurant are still there but he pays them no heed because as the flashes click continuously and when a number of civilians rushed forward to aid Minho, he hears a resounding gunshot travel through the night air.

 

The screams of people running away, the sound of a distant police siren and his frantic voice calling out Minho's name all meshed together in a frenzied blur as he watched Minho stagger backwards onto the concrete.

 

 

Kai and Taesun have just arrived and Taemin immediately stops his pacing in the hallway and jumps into both men's arms. Kibum sighs in relief when he sees the new arrivals, finally making the brunette stop with his endless back and forth movement. He and Jonghyun shake their heads in amusement at Taemin's behaviour while Jinki only watches on with a relieved smile.

 

Taesun rubs Taemin's back as he comforts the brunette. The elder brother furrows his brows and tilts his head at Kibum, as if asking 'what happened?' Seeing that Taesun wanted to talk to the blonde, Kai pulls Taemin entirely into his own arms to let the elder converse with Kibum properly.

 

"Minho got into a fight--"

 

Taemin hysterically butts in from Kai's arms, "He was shot!" and then goes back to burying his face in his best friend's shoulder. 

 

The older brother is taken aback, eyes widening and jaw dropping. "What?!" Jonghyun only nods his head from where he is sitting beside Kibum while the blonde rolls his eyes and tries to explain.

 

"He was, but--"

 

He is cut off again when yet another person butts into the conversation. 

 

"It's only a flesh wound."

 

They all quickly turn to the direction of the familiar deep voice. There in the middle of the hallway is Minho, looking as if he is having a hard time keeping himself standing upright. He has a pained smile on his face, as if trying to reassure them that he is all fine and dandy, but failing miserably. His left arm is slung in a cast while he has a small band-aid placed right under his right eye. 

 

While the other men can only gape at Minho in surprise, Taemin straightaway pulls away from Kai and rushes up to embrace the injured man. He cries hysterically as he wraps his arms around Minho and buries his face into the man's chest, his body pressing against the elder's cast. The relief surging through his body as he basks in Minho's presence is so overwhelming that he does not realize that he is putting pressure on Minho's cast. At Minho's pained hiss, the brunette immediately lets go and jumps back.

 

He apologizes profusely (- I'm sorry! Sorry! - - I'm really sorry!), berating himself for his idiocy. Minho smiles down at him, looking less pained than he was moment ago and pulls him back in with his uninjured arm, "It's fine. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt."      

 

"Are you an idiot?!" Taemin does not pull away, but he raises his head to glare at Minho. He is careful not to hit the limp arm between their bodies. "You got ing shot and you're--"

 

The brunette is suddenly yanked away from Minho's one-armed embrace as Kibum replaces his position and stands in front of the tall man, arms sternly crossed and all. 

 

"Yah," His voice is loud and demanding, "are you even supposed to be out here already?" The nurses are watching the loud commotion, but the blonde could not care less. 

 

Minho sheepishly smiles and rubs the back of his neck, "Not really. I kinda snuck out of my room." Taemin lets out an exaggerated gasp of worry while his brother tries to get him to calm down. Jinki and Jonghyun stand up to talk to Minho as well.

 

Jinki looks at his cast in concern before saying, "You should really get back. The doctors might be looking for you or something."

 

Jonghyun nods his head as he inspects Minho's arm and lightly pokes at the cast, "Yeah. Your parents are coming and they wouldn't like it if they saw you standing around here."

 

The injured man pulls his cast away from his hyung's prying fingers as he frowns at them. "You told them?"

 

The blonde replies for the rest of them. "Didn't have to. It's all over the news."

 

"What?!" He worriedly turns to Taemin who was sulking in his brother's and best friend's arms about stupid boyfriend's and their lack of concern for themselves. As amusing as the sight was, he shakes his head in displeasure. Great, another issue he had to drag Taemin into.

 

"Um-hum. But we can talk about that later." Kibum begins to push him to the direction of the elevator, with the rest of them following behind. "Let's get you rested for now."

 

Taemin tears himself from his sulking and runs up to walk beside Kibum and scolds him, "Hey! Don't just push him around like that! He might trip or something!" The blonde, as per usual, only rolls his eyes and replies in a drab tone, "He's fine. Stop worrying so much." When they reach the elevator, he presses the button for the ninth floor.

 

The younger, completely outraged, is about to retaliate but is stopped when Minho pulls him to stand beside him. He wraps his right arm around the brunette's shoulder and leans a bit of his weight on him. He smiles down at Taemin.

 

"Just stand beside me. I'll be fine until then." Of course, this produces a raging blush from the younger as he holds Minho's hand around his arm, keeping them both standing upright. Kibum and Jonghyun tease Taemin for getting so easily flustered while Taesun glares at Minho and his cheesy one-liners, disregarding his injured state.

 

The elevator doors open, and all seven men step inside. But just as the doors are beginning to close, a voice calls out to them.

 

"Mr. Choi! Wait!" 

 

---

 

209 SUBS. WHAT. IS. THIS. SORCERY. THAAAAANK YOOOOOOU SOOOOO MUCH, PEOPLE. Your comments and your subscriptions really keep me going and it makes me so happy I could just crai ;_;

Anyway, second to the last chapter! :o School is starting soon, and I really want to finish this story before then so that 2min won't be running through my mind the whole school year.  For sure, the next chapter will be quite long. (Though I'm not sure if I will be able to post it this week. :()

Also, a favor: Can you guys maybe leave comments and suggest what kind of endings you would want? Like, among the presented couples throughout the story, who would you want to end up together, how would you like certain aspects of the story to end up, and etc? Just so I can at least give you guys something that would make you satisfied. :) (but that's only if you want to~)