As Taemin was packing himself some extra clothing, he felt two hands on his waist, pulling him back against someone’s chest.

                He would probably be a little worried, but he recognized Minho’s smell right away.

                “Kitten…” The elder whispered into his ear, tongue glazing over his neck.

                “Yes, Minho?” Taemin giggled.

                “You know what you are today?”

                “Eighteen?”

                “Legal. You’re eighteen and perfectly legal and we should take advantage of that, don’t you think?”

                Setting his shirt down, Taemin spun around, bravely facing the threatening boy. “We have our whole lives to take advantage of that, don’t you think? I mean, I’m not getting any younger.”

                Chuckling, Minho d around the brunettes body. “Things would get really if you did.” He said, lifting the younger boy and twirling him around.

                Taemin clung onto him happily, screaming when he was thrown onto the bed.

                “Minho, I need to pack my things! And what about you? You’re definitely not packed!”

                “I thought morning would be a nice way to say happy birthday.” Minho mused.

                “You also thought ‘the night before’ would be a nice way to say happy birthday!”

                “Let’s be honest, I’m just looking for excuses. But really, we have to have later. Absolutely. There’s no avoiding it. We’ve been having for exactly a year today so I really have to outdo myself now.”

                Feeling playful, Taemin twirled his finger around some of Minho’s dark hair. “What if for my birthday, I want to do you?”

                “I already told you it’s never going to happen, sweetheart. Besides, I’ll be doing you so hard you won’t have time to think about anything else.”

                Smiling, Taemin gifted Minho’s lips with a kiss.

                “If you say so. Now do me a favour and finish packing, Honey. You’ll have to go pick up the car soon.”

                Easily winning Minho over with the nickname, the elder placed him down, heading for the door.

                “Kitten?”

                “Yes?”

                “I like it when you call me Honey.”

                “Then maybe if you’re a good boy today, it’ll continue.”

                Enjoying the elder’s melodic laugh, he watched Minho leave. “That sounds good to me, Kitten.”

`

                They drove up to Heechul’s apartment, picking up their last guest.

                With the door opening he got in beside Minho, the designated driver. Before greeting anyone, Heechul leaned over, wishing Taemin a happy birthday.

                “Thank you, Hyung.” The brunette smiled from the back row, sitting right beside Jongin. His next words were directed at the person taking up the two seats in the middle, “Hey Ruki.”

                “Hey Heechul.” Ruki replied, giving him a flirtatious glance.

                “Okay, so since everyone’s here, let’s go!”

                “Taemin!” Jongin whined, biting the elder’s shoulder.

                “What?” The brunette asked, looking up from his book.

                “Let’s take a photo.”

                Without waiting for a reply, he placed his arm around Taemin, the other one extending, phone in hand.

                Taemin gave one of his perfect smiles and Jongin took the time to appreciate the closeness.

                “Taemin, you’re so pretty. I think I have the prettiest best friend in the world.”

                “I don’t want to be pretty Jongin! I’m eighteen! I’m so manly today, it’s unbelievable.”

                “You’re right,” Jongin laughed, “I can just smell all the testosterone coming off you.” With his hand slipping underneath Taemin’s shirt, he began tickling his sides, listening to the boy beg.

                “N-no, no, no! Jongin, please! Ruki! Ruki help me!”

                Turning around to see where all the noise was coming from, Ruki’s face made it seem more like he would join Jongin than help Taemin. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he reached around, tickling the feet that Jongin’s two hands couldn’t.

                “Why are you two so mean?! Minho, Minho! Please Minho! Help me! I love you!”

                “Minnie, I can’t, I’m driving the car.”

                “Minho!” He kept yelling. “I’m never going to call you ‘Honey’ again! You don’t deserve it at all!”

                Biting his tongue, Minho managed to shoot the two boys torturing his lover a glare. “Guys, stop. If you don’t, I’ll kick you out of the car.”

                “Oh come on Minho, we’re just playing around!” Ruki pouted, giving his last few pinches before sitting back in his seat and releasing Taemin.

                “Well then play around when he actually has a chance of not completely losing.”

                Irked, Taemin threw a crumpled up tissue at the elder.

                “What do you mean when I actually have a chance of not completely losing?”

                “Sweetheart, don’t be upset. It’s cute how you need someone to protect you. That’s what I’m here for, aren’t I? You need a knight in shining armour like me to save you from the dangers of the world.”

                Staying quiet for a moment, Taemin crossed his arms. "Fine. No tonight."

"What? No- Kitten, why?"

"Because I'm finally starting to protect myself from beasts like you."

Conflicted, Minho was happy being called a beast when it came to the bedroom, but he didn't like it very much when he was told he couldn't put those skills to good use.

"Minho, Taemin's the type of person where sometimes, the less you say, the more you receive." Heechul began, "I've experienced the dilemma first hand. If I had just said less and done more, I would have been the one who stole his ity."

Looking over shocked, Minho punched Heechul in the shoulder. "Shut up." He possessively mumbled, "Taemin's mine. Don't talk about him like that."

Entertained, Heechul pushed him further. "Is this a touchy subject for you, Minho? Someone seeing parts of Taemin that you only want to see? Does it bother you that he comes to my house alone sometimes? Or that we might have done dirty, dirty things and kept them a secret from you? Taemin, you have a jealous partner, you know that?"

Meeting Minho's stare through the mirror, he gave the elder an eye smile only he'd recognize.

"I guess that's why we're getting married."

A light flickered in Minho's eyes before he lowered them back to the road, smile stretched from ear to ear. "Kitten, I love you."

Bored with being quiet, Ruki turned back around, tugging on Taemin's sleeve. "You're lucky you have someone like Minho," He whispered, "I'm envious." Then he caught himself, “Ah, but I’m also jealous he has someone like you. I guess perfect people really do end up with other perfect people.”

Blushing, Taemin reached forward, pinching Ruki’s cheek playfully. “You’re perfect too, Ruki.”

“Oh really?” The blonde giggled, “Then maybe since you and Minho had on your last birthday, then you’ll have with me this year. I’ve had boyfriends before so I have a lot of experience. It’ll feel super good, Tae-chan.”

Shaking his head, Taemin smacked Ruki with his book. “That’s  not how it works.”

“If it did, I would have slept with him a long time ago.” Jongin added.

Sticking his tongue out, Ruki winked, “You just have to act fast.” Pulling the lever on the side of his seat, the back of the chair collapsed into a lying position, pressing down onto Taemin’s lap and trapping him while Ruki climbed over onto him. “You have nowhere to go now, Tae-chan~” He purred, fingers slipping into the brown locks of hair as he leaned in, peppering the younger boy’s face with kisses.

“Can you guys stop harassing my fiancé?!” Minho yelled, turning around quickly and stabbing the back of Ruki’s leg with his finger.

“No I can’t! I’m going to kiss him forever!”

“Then I’ll join too!” Jongin chimed in, his teeth sinking into Taemin’s shoulder.

“I want to go home!” Taemin cried.

Their first stop was a bit outside the city.

Getting out of the car in a single file, Taemin took the first chance he found to run up and hide against Minho’s side.

“Minho…” He whispered.

“Yes?” The elder replied in just as much of a hushed tone.

“Tell Heechul to drive. I want to sit beside you the rest of the trip.”

“Why don’t you just sit up in front of me?”

“Because there’s the cup holder thing in the middle and I won’t be able to lean on your or play with you because it’ll be in the way and you’ll be focusing on the road so you won’t be focusing on me and let’s just sit in the back…”

“Okay, sweetheart. Your wish is my command.”

Holding hands, they joined the rest of the group.

                The water was warm and the sparkling ocean brought out its beauty.

                The couple stood across from each other, Minho helping Taemin undress.

                After having his shirt stripped off, Taemin’s arms wrapped around Minho’s chest, leaving kisses on the elder’s chest while sunscreen was being rubbed on his back.

                “Hyung, do you think we can get ice cream after?”

                “Do you want ice cream?”

                “Yes.”

                “Then we can get two.”

                “Tae-chan!” Ruki called from a distance, waving him over, “Let’s play volleyball!”

                “Okay!” Turning to Minho, he gave him a kiss. “I love you, Minho.”

                “I love you too, Kitten.”

                His feet had already pivoted but before the rest of him could move, Taemin stole a tight hug. “I really love you, Minho. I really, really do. Oh, and try not to get too sunburnt. I’ll be back soon, Honey.”

                They walked apart but their hands stayed together as long as possible until they finally fell apart.

                Watching his beautiful fiancé run towards the water, Minho thanked whoever brought them together.

                Going back to where they set up their towels, chairs, and umbrellas, Minho went to join Jongin, deciding to grab the newspaper he managed to snatch up earlier.

                Dropping himself down comfortably, he flipped to the first page.

                “So how’s it going, Jongin?” He asked.

                When he got no answer, he looked over, catching the younger boy dazed, staring at the person he had left just moments before.

                “Jongin?” He repeated, a bit louder this time.

                “Oh, yeah, sorry?”

                “How’s it going?”

                “Good. How about you?”

                “It’s going well.”

                There were another few minutes of silence before Minho folded the newspaper, placing it down in his lap.

                “Hey, let’s talk for a bit.”

                “Um, okay. What do you want to talk about?”

                “Hmm… well honestly, I just wanted to ask if you were planning on doing anything stupid today, since it’s, you know, Taemin’s birthday.”

                “Depends on what you consider stupid.”

              Rolling his eyes, Minho sighed. “What do you think, Jongin? Anything you shouldn’t do with someone else’s fiancé.”

                “Why?”

                “Because I don’t want you to. Why else, Jongin?”

                “It doesn’t really matter if I was planning something or not. Really, I don’t get why you see a problem with me and Taemin being close. We’ve been best friends since we could walk.”

                Sick of Jongin’s mentality, Minho turned towards him, serious. “Yes, but best friends don’t kiss. They don’t sleep together, or hold each other so close there’s no space in between, they don’t flirt, or proclaim they’re each other’s boyfriends, and best friends definitely don’t plan on having . Whatever your definition of friendship is, it’s wrong and doesn’t relate to whatever you think you have with Taemin.”

                “I can do whatever I want with him.” Jongin combatted with something Minho considered a childish response.

                “No, that’s the thing, you can’t. If I asked Taemin to kiss me, he’d do it in a heartbeat, like second nature. If you asked him, well, knowing him and how unnecessarily cautious of your feelings he is, he wouldn’t flat out tell you no, or well, maybe with some hesitation, he would, but he definitely wouldn’t do it. Why are you using him? He clearly does see you as ‘just a best friend’ and that’s why he’s being so lenient, but you’re just abusing that. Well, okay, I could rant about this for ages, but my point is, I don’t want you laying a finger on him today.”

                “Then you can’t either.”

                Massaging his forehead, the elder tried not to explode. “I have the right to. I’m his fiancé, you’re not.”

                “If he wants me to, then I also have the right to.”

                “But he doesn’t, so back off.”

                “Maybe you should.”

                “That’s like asking a first place winner to ‘unwin’ the race and go back far enough to let the second place runner win instead. Does that sound stupid to you?”

                “No.”

                “Fine. Then let’s see it this way. You’ve dated Taemin for over a year, are engaged to him, love him just as much as he loves you, and then I just come and tell you to back off because I want to make love to your fiancé and it’s my right to act upon that. Does that sound stupid?”

                This time, Jongin didn’t answer that question.

                “It’s my life so I can do what I want. If I think I have to play my cards a certain way, even though it’ll be hypocritical of me later, I’ll still do it.”

                Giving up, Minho got out of his seat and stretched. “Okay then, you keep living with that mindset while I go steal the person you like right from under your nose and then get intimate with them somewhere where no one else can see. I might let you see though. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes, but hey, sometimes we have to be hypocritical, right?”

                Fixing his hair, he went to join Taemin who was currently facing Ruki and Heechul in volleyball, clearly losing.

                Jongin watched, feeling the blood rush through his veins as Minho ran up behind the brunette, picking him up and spinning him around. He felt even worse when Taemin’s response, as Minho said, was naturally to kiss him.

                He wanted Taemin to kiss him like that. He really believed that him and Taemin already had the same bond that two people dating had, they were just missing the physical connection. When Minho was out of the picture, they hugged, kissed, touched each other, pleasured each other, they were even seconds away from having . They had everything, it was just that Minho kept getting in the way and it was annoying.

                He really hated Minho.

                They packed up an hour later and hit the road.

                This time, Minho took the spot beside Taemin before anyone else could even think about it, leaving Ruki to ride shotgun while Jongin was not unwillingly sat in one of the middle seats.

                “Hey Minho, since we’re going to be out all day, let’s do one of those sunscreen tattoos!” Taemin happily chirped, his legs comfortably tossed over Minho’s lap.

                “You mean like… when you draw something on yourself with sunscreen and tan around it?”

                “Yeah!”

                “Okay, then what should we tattoo.”

                Taemin took Minho’s wrist thoughtfully, but before he managed to put his thought into words, he gave each finger a kiss.

                “You should get my face.”

                Laughing, Minho used the wrist Taemin held and pulled the brunette closer. “How would I ever be able to capture your beauty with sunscreen?”

                “You’re right… Then… you can get my initials and I could get yours.”

                Nodding along, Minho’s finger the younger boy’s thigh. “So you’ll have ‘C.M’ and I’ll have ‘C.T’.”

                “’C.T’?” Taemin asked, “You mean ‘L.T’.”

                “Nope.” Minho smiled, “Choi Taemin.”

                “Choi… Tae…min?” Finally understanding, his whole face turned red.

                “Hyung… stop saying words that make my brain stupid.”

                “You’ll have to get used to signing it like that in a year, might as well start now.”

                “F-fine… then I guess I’ll get ‘C.T’…”

                Their next stop was a hiking trail that would occupy them for two hours or so.

                Taemin and Minho told themselves they’d hold hands the whole time.

                “Kitten, let’s take some pictures. It’s your birthday after all so we have to have some memories.”

                “I only want pictures with you in it.”

                “That’s why I brought my tripod.” Minho laughed, “How about we take a picture by that tree? It has a bunch of flowers at the bottom.”

                Nodding, Taemin went to stand at the trunk’s base, watching the elder set everything up. Following his long fingers and the lip he bit while concentrating, Taemin spoke up.

                “Minho, I don’t want you to be a photographer!” He stated.

                “What? Why?”

                “You look too handsome behind a camera and all your clients are going to fall in love with you but you’re mine.”

                Looking up from the screen, Minho felt his cheeks grow hotter.

                “Kitten… you’re too cute…  I’m going to kiss you the moment I get over there so be prepared!”

                “I’m always prepared for you to make me feel good.” Taemin cockily teased.

                Impressed by his boldness, Minho set the camera to take several consecutive shots. “I’m coming for you.” Once he pressed the button, he jogged over. With his hands instantly landing on Taemin’s waist, he hoisted the boy up and kissed him. “Just keep doing your thing,” He told him, “The camera will take a picture every second for a minute.”

                “So I should just… improvise?” Taemin smiled, his fingers outlining Minho’s muscles.

                “Well do whatever you want, but keep it appropriate.” The elder whispered into his ear, “Everything else… we can save for the bedroom.”

                “Everything else? Will you look at those photos of me when you’re lonely in school or at work?”

                “What kind of lonely are we talking about here?”

                “That… kind of lonely…”

                “I’ll look at those photos every time I’m alone. “

                After the sixty photos were taken, Minho packed up his camera and the two went back.

They followed a dirt path until they reached a creek where the group decided to have a quick snack. Heechul was happily surprised when he sat down and found Taemin sitting in his lap moments late, pulling the wrapper off of a granola bar.

Checking the younger boy out, as he frequently allowed himself to, one of his arms s around Taemin’s waist and slid into his pocket on the other side.

“Hey cutie. How’s it going?”

“I’m thirsty.” Taemin answered.

“Do you want me to get you something?”

“Yes please.”

A few feet away from them, Ruki walked up to Minho.

“Hi Minho.” He smiled.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m just looking through the photos I took with Taemin. You know, deleting the blurry ones and stuff.”

Ruki leaned in, glancing over his shoulder. He couldn’t believe how amazing Minho looked in some of them and shifted his gaze to the younger boy’s face to see if it really matched up. He wasn’t disappointed. He wondered how he could have missed it. Blushing, his fingers pinched the back of Minho’s shirt, playing with it.

“You look really handsome…” He managed, although his heartbeat seemed to speed up.

The way Minho looked at him and smiled seemed like icing on the most deliciously made cake on the planet.

“Thanks, Ruki!”

He wanted to ask for a picture with Minho. He wasn’t sure why and he wasn’t sure how to, but either way, the words didn’t seem to want to leave his mouth.

“Well anyways,” The younger boy began, “I’m going to yell at Heechul for drinking what looks like my last juice.”

“Okay..” Ruki managed.

He watched as Minho walked back to his lover, stealing him from Heechul’s lap just as fast as he stole the juice from Heechul’s hand.

He didn’t realise that he was making the same face staring at Minho that Jongin was making while staring at Minho’s fiancé the very same moment.