“Hyung, let’s go to a sticker booth! I’ve never done that before.” Kai suggested. “I want to put a sticker of us on my phone.” He was spread out on the green grasses outside the school with his head on Taemin’s lap, letting the sun bathe him while his hat provided shade for his eyes. The older boy tapped on Kai’s lips, signalling him to part them for a spoonful of rice. “Guys don’t do that Kai. You should do that with a girlfriend.” Kai took the rice into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing. “Then you can be my girlfriend Taemin.” Taemin giggled, spoon feeding him another bite. “I’m not that easy Kai. I have really high standards. Besides, I have a thing for older guys.” Taemin half-joked while pretending to flip his hair over his shoulder. Kai chuckled, sitting up as he leaned in far too close, the tip of his nose rubbing against Taemin’s cheek. “I can act mature if you want me to, hyung.” He placed his hand on Taemin’s upper thigh, nipping at the skin just barely south of Taemin’s lips. “I don’t care how old you act Kai; I need a man with cash in his pockets and card in his wallet. A nice apartment and sports car wouldn’t be bad either.” He stated while his hand lifted to Kai’s chest, pushing him away.

“That’s why he’s been dying to get with me.” A voice came from a third party.

Jiyong sat down next to them with an ice cream cone in his hand. He pulled Taemin farther away from Kai, bringing the boy against his side. He threw an arm around Taemin’s shoulders.

They all sat in silence for a few seconds until Taemin realised that despite his bold entry, Jiyong had never met Kai and vice versa. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” He apologized, jerking upwards. “Kai, this is Jiyong. He’s older than me. Jiyong, this is my friend Kai. He just started school here not too long ago.” They both bowed their heads which was followed by Jiyong snorting. “So you introduce him as your friend but you just introduce me as ‘he’s older than me’? What is this? I don’t know how your boyfriend puts up with you.” Taemin laughed exaggeratingly, pinching Jiyong’s side once it was out of view. “Please don’t joke about that sort of thing, Jiyong-shi.” Hissing in pain, he hit Taemin on the head. “What are you going on about? And what’s this bull, huh?” Taemin whined, and if he didn’t have more to say, he would’ve definitely crawled away to protection. “Jiyong… remember that book?” Raising an eyebrow, Jiyong was considering hitting Taemin once again. “What book?” He asked instead. “The book where the two people were stuck in the changing room all wet after messing around and they relied their friend to bring them dry clothes?” Catching on, but not seeing any reason for the cryptic code, he just nodded. “Well now there’s a new character in the story, except he doesn’t know about that situation or about the friend until very, very recently. In fact, he doesn’t know about the relationship between the other two characters at all, none of it.” Understanding, he nodded once more. “Isn’t that a good book?” Taemin suddenly smiled widely, tilting his head to the side. “Yeah, definitely.” That’s when Kai chimed in with an “It sounds interesting, what’s it called?” Jiyong snorted as Taemin coughed at the unexpected question. “The name escapes me, what’s it called again, Taemin?” Taemin bit his lip for a bit before shrugging, offering an innocent smile. “Ah, you know what? I’ve forgotten it too. That’s why I just said ‘that book’. When I remember, I’ll tell you.” Jiyong laughed, offering Taemin a of his vanilla ice cream as a reward for his quick thinking. “So Kai, why the sudden transfer to this school? Couldn’t you have waited for the new school year?” Kai shook his head. “The opportunity just seemed to come up so I took it. It was a really sudden move and a big one since I like far from the city. My main reason was to be closer to Taemin though.” Jiyong nodded, watching the blonde who was enjoying his treat more than Jiyong was, his lips caked with white. “So where do you live? Did your parents pick a place close to the school?” Kai glanced towards Taemin, smiling. “I moved in with Taemin.” He said, staring hungrily as Taemin his lips. It was a bit of a tease for both of the other boys, really, though Taemin didn’t realise it. “Oh, so you live with Taemin! How does Minho feel about this arrangement?” He teased and received a light punch to the stomach as a reward. “Why would Minho care, Jiyong? It doesn’t relate to him at all.” Done with Jiyong, he crawled back over to Kai who began to feed himself. As Taemin came within arm’s reach, he went to his hair. “So is this the reason you wouldn’t skip school with me?” Taemin nodded, unconsciously leaning into the touches. “Yeah, I have to take care of Kai for a bit before he gets used to all the changes.” Kai nodded in agreement. “But I’m learning quickly.” He quickly nodded. “Are you two really close?” Jiyong asked, genuinely curious. “Very close! I’ve known Taemin since I was a few years old.” Kai answered enthusiastically. “He’s been my best friend since I could walk!” Jiyong smirked, finishing the tip of the ice cream cone. “I see. Have you two considered going out?” He asked with a straight face, looking for any reactions. An obvious blush appeared on Kai’s cheeks as did one on Taemin’s with a hint of annoyance. “No we haven’t.” Taemin confirmed. “Well, I might have a little.” Kai corrected in a joking manner. “Well, okay, maybe a little.” They all laughed. Kai took Taemin’s hand, lifting it to his lips. “I was planning on making Taemin mine before his birthday but he’s just informed me that he only likes older guys.”

“If you’re really as close to Taemin as you say you are, then you should know this. Or maybe he’s only like this with people older than him, either way, Taemin predictable as well as very easy to manipulate and control. If you give me enough time, I can make Taemin fall in love with you.”

Taemin gasped, pouting as he crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not true! That’s anything but true! Kai, don’t believe him! If you do, I’ll be really upset with you!” Kai laughed, patting the boy’s head. “It’s fine, because I already know that.” Upset and embarrassed, Taemin grabbed his bag and stood up, marching off. “Enjoy your lunch, you jerks!” Finding himself feeling extremely guilty, Kai began packing up the lunch. “Taemin hyung, I’m sorry! Please wait!” Jiyong watched the boy go off, not being able to find the effort to follow him. After struggling with all the containers for far too long, Kai looked to Jiyong pleadingly before getting an ‘ok’ to go get him. He threw himself onto his feet, chasing after the blonde who was disappearing into the distance. “Taemin hyung!” He shouted, getting no response. “Hyung!” Giving a final sprint, he caught up, grabbing Taemin. “I’m not easy!” Taemin finally yelled, turning around. “I won’t fall in love with someone just like that!” He clung to one of this bag’s straps, only meeting Jongin’s eyes for a split second. “Hyung…” Kai whispered apologetically. “I’m sorry.” He took both of Taemin’s hands in his own, pulling the older boy closer. Taemin was surprised when he felt Kai’s lips on his cheek. “I’m sorry.” He repeated against Taemin’s skin. He left several kisses on that spot as well as slightly around. When Taemin put an attempt in to creating a space between them, he was only pulled closer. “Are you mad at me?” Kai asked, pulling away just enough to catch Taemin’s gaze. “No… I’m not, so let me go okay?” Kai nodded. “Promise me.” on his tongue, Taemin flicked Kai’s chest. “I promise, Kai, please, I’m uncomfortable.” Obliging, he let go, but only to the point when their fingers were still interlocked. “I left the food and my bag with Jiyong hyung so we need to head back. But please don’t run off like that again, Hyung. You worry me a lot when you do these things.”

Taemin apologized for his childish behaviour, leaning on Kai’s shoulder as they walked back. When Jiyong spotted them, he waved, shortening the distance by picking everything up and walking towards them. “Taemin, are you on your period?” He teased, offering Kai his previously abandoned bag. “It’s because you’re always being like this that I don’t want to be around you.” Taemin said while Jiyong mimicked him in a higher pitched voice. “I’ll punch you.” Taemin threatened. “Do it. Go on, punch me Taemin.” They were now nearing the school building, and Taemin used their location as an excuse not to. “Let’s be honest Taemin, you wouldn’t lay a finger on me because I’m far too strong.” Taemin scoffed, glaring at the boy. “Oh, is that what happened when you picked a fight with me in the hallway that one time, landing us both in detention? My bad, I thought I actually fought back.” Overthrown by the comment, he let Taemin make his valid point without arguing.

After school, Kai's idea of going to a sticker booth was still going strong in his head. Despite Taemin leaning towards being against it, when they met up with Minho, Kai asked him and got an 'ok'. "I don't see why not. I haven't been to one in a while and I’ve never been to one with you.” He said as they began walking in the direction opposite of Taemin’s house. “But hyung, that’s something girls do, or at least couples. Isn’t it weird for three guys to go to a booth like that?” Taemin asked, tugging on Minho’s sleeve. “Well we’re one of those, aren’t we Taemin? Either way, it’s just for fun. Besides, with the subway, it’s not far away.” With odds against him, Taemin went along. As suggested, they hopped onto the subway. Due to the time of day, it was extremely cramped with students constantly getting on and off with each stop. Taemin found himself sandwiched between the other two, his back pressed to Minho’s chest and his head just a few centimeters short of Kai’s. They stood there for a few minutes when Kai sighed, leaning forward, nuzzling into the curve of Taemin’s neck. “I’ll never get used to these packed cities.” Kai mumbled. A seat cleared up close to them and Minho quickly nudged Kai towards it. “Hurry, sit down.” The youngest did as told, dropping into the seat with his bag on his lap. “Good kid.” Minho joked. When Kai’s spot was quickly filled by a stranger, Minho turned Taemin around, holding onto the supports with one hand and lacing his other one around Taemin’s small frame. “I got you.” Taemin blushed, looking up before locking his own arms around Minho’s waist. “If you fall, I’m coming along, so you better watch your step.” Minho looked over at Kai who was analyzing the subway map on the wall. “I hope he doesn’t mind. I didn’t like seeing him so close to you.” Taemin giggled, looking up at Minho who happened to look down at him. “You’re so possessive hyung.” Minho pressed the tips of their noses together, smiling. “I have the right to be. Let’s kiss.” Taemin shook his head, lowering his head again. “If I don’t get one now, I’ll steal one later.” Minho threatened. “I’ll take the chance.”

Their stop was announced over the system and Taemin informed Kai, helping the boy off the stuffy train. “There are too many people.” He complained, clinging to Taemin who in turn clung to Minho. “You can’t whine. It was your idea to come out here, okay?” The boy huffed, following the others.

They arrived at a tall building and Kai was dumbstruck by the floor upon floor of sticker booths and machines. “Wow, there’s so many!” Taemin smiled at his cluelessness, gesturing towards them all. “You can choose which one you want to try out.” Jerking his head all around, he frowned. “I want to try them all… I wish I had more money!” He frowned as he began to step forward. A flashier machine seemed to catch his eye. “Let’s go to this one first!” He jogged inside, Taemin and Minho following. “Since it’s your first one, I’ll pay.” Taemin offered, inserting some money. “So first we take the pictures, then decorate them, then print them, right?” Taemin nodded. “Okay, so let’s pose for four pictures!” He cheered enthusiastically. They all agreed, getting into place.

With each flash, their expressions changed, their hands doing random gestures that made little to no sense. When their photos appeared on the screen, they all took a few seconds to laugh, pointing out the strange things the others did.

“Look at your face here Taemin! It’s priceless!”

“Like you’re one to talk, Minho! You look dumb in that one!”

“Personally I think I turned out great in all of them.” Kai pitched in.

They began to play around with all the stickers and letters, decorating each one as much as they could. “It looks good! Let’s print, print!” Kai rushed, pressing the ‘print’ button on the screen before rushing out to get it. “Oh, they look really cool! Here, take one!” He said, giving them out. “Let’s go to another one now.” Kai urged, walking in another direction. At one of the other machines, just before entering, he turned around. “Actually, Minho hyung, is it okay if I do this one alone with Taemin?” Taemin looked back at Minho who nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine, as long as I get a private session with him later.” He winked. Kai nodded, pulling Taemin in by the wrist.

“Let’s take a lot of good ones, okay? I’m going to put these everywhere so they have to be perfect!” Kai sat down on the bench, pulling Taemin between his legs. Taemin smiled, nodding as he took Kai’s hat and put it on his own head. “Okay, then I’ll smile extra bright.” Kai hugged him from behind, exhaling as his arm’s wrapped around Taemin’s waist. “How many frames do you want Kai?” The elder asked, reaching over to press the buttons. “Let’s do eight, okay?” Taemin nodded, selecting the sheet of eight stickers. “So two sheets with eight stickers.” Before he could press the ‘next’ button, Kai grabbed his hand, changing the number to a three. “I want to have an extra in case anything happens.” He watched as Kai pressed the ‘next’ button this time, the camera preparing to take the shots.

There was a constant thud against his back and he wondered if it might have been the younger boy.

The first one was a very generic photo; Kai’s head was on Taemin’s shoulder, arms around his while Taemin did a peace sign. They both smiled from ear to ear and Kai thought Taemin looked really cute in his hat. Once the camera flashed, Taemin dropped his hand. “I might send this one to my mom; I think she’d really like it.” Taemin hummed, agreeing. “I think so too.”

For the next few, they made silly faces. Kai pinched Taemin’s cheeks, Taemin messed up Kai’s hair, and they made weird shapes that were supposed to resemble animals with their hands. Around half way, when Taemin was in the middle of laughing, Kai kissed his cheek, the corners of his lips curled upwards. “Let’s take one like this.” Kai said, shifting Taemin around quickly before the next photo was to be taken. He lifted Taemin’s legs, turning the boy sideways across his lap while leaning his back against one of the booth’s walls. “Oh my God, this is so weird.” Taemin chuckled, placing a hand on Kai’s shoulder for support. “Just go along with it for one photo.” Kai swiped the hat from Taemin’s head, messing the blonde hair up before leaning in and holding it up in front of their faces. With the room between them being tiny, they both burst out in quiet giggles, anticipating the flash. Kai noticed that Taemin’s eyes glistened in the dark too. There was a light banging on the machine. “Hey, don’t be having too much fun without me!” Minho warned. This made it harder to keep themselves calm for the rest of the photos.

When they were done and decorated, they finally printed them. Minho, being outside, looked over them while the other two came out. He raised an eyebrow, handing two of the sheets to Kai, but keeping Taemin’s to himself. “Hey, hand it over!” Taemin demanded, trying to grab it. Minho used his height to his advantage, putting it out of Taemin’s grasp. After a few attempts, Taemin finally got it. “The fifth one’s interesting.” Minho stated, pointing to the one that looked like the baseball cap was masking an intimate kiss. “Relax, we didn’t kiss. My lips are reserved for a special someone. Maybe if you get me into another booth fast enough, I might consider doing something a little extra.” Taemin teased in a sing-song voice. “Kai, I’m going to borrow Taemin now.” Minho quickly stated, basically dragging Taemin into the closest booth.

The moment the curtain fell and secluded them, their lips met. Minho fumbled through his pockets for a bill before barely managing to get it into the slot. Taemin pulled away for a second, putting a hand between his and Minho’s lips. “What is it?” Minho asked breathlessly as he tried to move past Taemin’s hand. “We have to get the settings right first.” While he looked over at the screen, Minho attacked his neck. His hands struggled to get hit the right buttons, causing him to correct himself several times. “Six… two sheets…” Minho slowly pulled away, pressing ‘next’. Calming his mind and body a bit, Minho took the first two pictures with Taemin simply intertwined in his arms. After the third, or maybe the fourth one, he gave into the urge. But it wasn’t because of his animalistic nature; it was the deliberate, y looks Taemin kept sending his way. It was also a little bit of the purposeful grazes against his lower back that set him off.

Their kiss kept getting more intimate until Minho lifted Taemin off the ground and into his arms. The photos were already taken but they went on. Finally, after a prolonged minute or two, Taemin began to wiggle. He innocently dropped back down to his feet, sneaking out of the booth. “You can put all the stickers you want on it. I’m going to go outside ahead of time so you know who doesn’t see.” He whispered, laughed as he stepped out. Minho agreed, trying to get some air into his lungs as he finally looked at their photos, embarrassed.

Taemin stood outside with Kai next to him, awaiting the photos. He over his lips. He really liked the way Minho’s kisses tasted. There always seemed to be a trail of mint of every one and it made his heart flutter. He really loved Minho; he really, really loved Minho. Sometimes he wanted to tell the world, just yell it out. When the photos were spit out, he quickly took them, shoving on deep into his pocket and handing the other to Minho. “Hey, don’t I get to see?” Kai asked. “Nope. Maybe some other time.”

After a few more sessions, they finally decided to hit the road.

Minho walked them as far as he could before they had to part ways, heading in their own directions. About a block down, Kai began talking about how much fun he had and that he wished they could go do that again sometime.

Taemin’s thoughts began wandering off. When it seemed like Kai wasn’t necessarily looking in his direction, Taemin pulled the sheet of pictures with Minho out. He hadn’t looked at it properly since his first action was to hide it.

With the street lights aiding him, he managed to pick up the writing on each picture. Looking at them in order, he felt the apples of his cheeks heat up.

“Taemin, I love you.”

“I really like holding you.”

“I like sneaking kisses too.”

“When you are in my arms, I am the happiest.”

“I’m happy you are mine.”

“When we get married, I’ll make you mine all over again.”

His heart was definitely on the verge of exploding. How could Minho steal kisses so passionately and then write these sweet things. With was like sweet and spicy. He was tempted to pick up the phone and call Minho then. He wanted to tell him, “Minho, I love you too. I like it when you hold me and my heart races when you kiss me. I want to be yours forever and I want to marry you as soon as I can.”

He felt warm on the inside, he even looked back to see if maybe he would be able to catch a glimpse of Minho is the distance. Unfortunately, all he saw was an empty alley. He tucked the photo away in his shirt pocket, a little bit closer to his heart.

They now stood in the doorway, taking their shoes off and exchanging them for slippers.

Kai still seemed to be talking when Taemin tuned back into the conversation. He wasn’t really sure where the topic had gone to, and so he tried to find the place where the current sentence ended and the new one started, filling in the rest. When he caught up, he doubted both his ears and eyes.

“And so I wanted to know if you would… maybe consider it.”

“Sorry?”

“I… You, you’re making this real hard on me, haha… I want to go on a date with you Taemin. So please think about it, okay?”

Kai seemed to stutter a bit, sighing.

Taemin was paralyzed.

Kai stared at the ground for a while before leaning in.

Their eyes were aligned as their foreheads were pressed together, causing Taemin to stumble back a few centimeters.

                He watched as Kai came closer and their mouths must have met because the corner of Taemin’s bottom lip was burning.

                “I’m going to go clean up.” With that, Kai walked off.

A/n: This is off topic, but I really enjoyed making this chapter's banner.