Minho crept into the kitchen, searching for his lover.

                When he heard the sizzling of the pan and the smell of sausages, he knew he found the boy.

                “Kitten… are you here?”

                “Yes, Honey.” Taemin sang.

                “Why?” Minho pouted, feeling the chill of the early, autumn morning. “I was hoping for some early morning snuggles.” He cooed, stepping up behind the blonde and wrapping him up in his robe.

                “I’m sorry. I wanted to make a big breakfast because I invited Ruki and Heechul over.”

                Minho went silent, rubbing the tip of his nose against Taemin’s neck.

                “Are you sure you want him here after all… that?”

                “Yup. I mean, it can’t be helped, right? His feelings can’t be changed in an instant and well… you trust me and I trust you. He’s also my friend so I’ll just have to work around it.”

                “Kitten, if you tell me to never talk to him again, I won’t…”

                “Honey,” Taemin began, spinning around to embrace the elder.

                “Yes?”

                “Do you love me? Do you really, truly, deeply love me and want to be with me and only me?”

                “Undoubtedly.”

                “Then there’s no need for you two not to talk.”

                Sharing a peck on the lips, Taemin turned back around, facing the stove.

                “Kitten?”

                “Yes?”

                “I think you’re the best fiancé anyone could have.”

                A few hours later, the two guests came over and joined them at a table overflowing with food.

                “Wow, there’s so much…” Heechul gawked, happily taking a seat.

                “That’s right. Taemin got up extra early and denied me a morning of cuddling, so you better thank him and apologize to me!” Minho said, watching as Taemin leaned over him and placed foods he knew the elder loved on his plate.

                Chuckling, Heechul nodded, acknowledging as well as ignoring the instruction. “Taemin, can you also put some things on my plate?”

                “Sure.”

                After a few minutes, Taemin had ended up personally serving everyone, including Ruki who quietly sat at the end, clearly keeping to himself.

                “Can I get you anything to drink?” One blonde asked the other.

                Ruki shook his head.

                “Are you sure?”

                There was hesitation before Ruki met his gaze, biting his lower lip. “Why are you being nice to me?”

                “What do you mean why? Because you’re my friend and I care about you.”

                “But I did something so horrible, Tae-chan and-”

                “Water under the bridge. It’s fine, really.”

                “Still… can we talk later?”

                “Sure we can. Should I bring Minho too?”

                “I… don’t know… no, I guess, not…”

                “Okay. So do you want water, juice, or coffee?” Taemin smiled, his hand cupping Ruki’s shoulder.

                “Coffee, thank you.”

                Ruki was surprised by how kind Taemin was, feeling a million times more guilty than he already did.

                Of course he needed to talk to him the first chance he could.

                When all the plates were clean and in the sink, all the other boys were watching TV. Ruki couldn’t join them though, his conscious was stopping him and instead turning him towards the small figure cleaning up after everyone’s mess.

                Picking at his nails anxiously, he walked towards him.

                For the first few moments, he couldn’t find his voice, but as the pile of dishes got smaller, he forced his presence to get bigger.

                “Can we talk now?” He spoke up.

                “Sure, Ruki. Is here fine?”

                “Y-yeah. As long as no one else comes in.”

                “Okay. Here, have a candy. We bought them the other day and I can’t get enough. Anyways, talk.”

                Popping the candy into his mouth, Ruki on it, using it as some weird source of reassurance.

                “Um… I like Minho.”

                “I can tell why.” The younger boy laughed.

                “And I asked Jongin to set up that date so that I could spend an evening with him, just the two of us.”

                “I know all of this, you don’t need to tell me. I told you it’s fine.”

                “I can’t apologize if you’re not mad at me, Tae-chan! Why aren’t you mad at me?”

                Popping a second candy into his mouth, he shrugged.

                “Because I trust him.”

                “What?”

                “Well, I’ve learnt to trust him completely. I mean, I believe that even if you stripped down in front of him and pushed him onto your bed, he wouldn’t lay a single finger on you. I- I mean- I’m sorry, that came out really rude. It’s just that, because I love him so much and he never makes me doubt that he loves me back, I trust him enough to know that he won’t look at anyone else, even if we’re worlds apart. Besides, he still trusts me after everything Jongin ever put him through, so he deserves my trust on a silver platter.”

                “Weren’t you upset? You left the restaurant…”

                “I wasn’t upset, I- well, I guess I felt helpless. You two were getting along so that I thought maybe Minho needed someone more mature, you know? And I basically came to the conclusion that if he was to cheat on me, it would be okay because I’ve probably crossed the line with Jongin so many times. If he cheated, it would be my fault and it would only be fair because I deserve it. I was still kind of… sad, so I guess I just wanted to be alone for a bit.”

                Remembering the reaction Minho gave the moment he heard that Taemin had left, he also remembered his own feelings. He didn’t feel like he lost, he felt like he never had a chance to begin with.

                “How long were you alone for?”

                Taemin laughed, “Until the next bus came by. He was hot on my heels.”

                “U-um, is it okay if I ask what happened after?”

                “Well don’t ask why, but I thought that sleeping underneath the dining room table was a good idea and it would hide me, so that’s what I did. He didn’t see me at first and started running around the house, screaming my name, and when he found me, he was basically crying and telling me he didn’t cheat, even going so far as to scold me when I told me it was okay if he did.”

                “And then?”

                “And, um… well we had on the table…”

                “ on the table?!” Ruki yelled, eyes darting to the piece of furniture he had eaten off of not too long ago. “Wow, how naughty…”

                “Did someone say on the table?!” Heechul yelled. “Why are you guys in the kitchen?! If you’re going to be listening on our conversation, just join us! Don’t be shy!”

                Laughing, Taemin caught Heechul’s stare through the doorway, winking and sticking his tongue out. “We weren’t listening in!” Turning back to Ruki, he took his hand. “Well you hear that? We better go.”

                As the elder’s hand was grabbed, he gasped, being pulled into the living room. “Wait-” He began, his voice getting lower the closer they got to the others. “I didn’t get to the part where I think I like you too…” He whispered.

                “Huh? Did you say something?”

                “No.”

                They joined the others, sitting down on the couches, filling in the gaps. It only seemed natural that Taemin unconsciously left him to go sit with Minho. Now that he was paying a lot more attention to the pair, he could see that no matter where they were or why, they’d always naturally drift towards each other.

                “What were you talking about then?” Taemin asked the group.

                “The craziest places you’ve ever had . I said mine was on top of a mountain, in the bushes.” Heechul informed them.

                “Oh, well then mine is crazier!” Ruki challenged. “My second boyfriend and I had in the attic of a place that was hosting an open house at the time. The realtor was even showing people around and everything.”

                “Wow, how risky. Someone could have come in on you while someone was coming in you.” Heechul added, amusing himself. “What about you two?” He asked, directing the question at the only couple in the room. “You guys are each other’s first times right? You’ve probably kept it pretty sweet and simple, besides maybe bringing toys into the bedroom.”

                They looked at each other, recalling all of their romantic rendezvous.

                “We almost did it in the school shower that one time, right?”

                “There was also the cottage…”

                “What about in the car?” Minho asked.

                “Car- Oh my god, what about the bus that one time? Should we tell them about that one? It’s really- I don’t know if we should…” Taemin suddenly spat out.

                “You can’t just bring up what seems like the secret to life itself and then not tell us! Spill it!” Heechul demanded.

                “It’s too embarrassing. I don’t want to say it.” Taemin decided. “If they’re going to find out, it’ll be by your word.”

                Chuckling, Minho nodded. “Okay well… do you remember what day it was, Kitten?”

                “No… um, it was one of the days when Jongin was sick. I think it was just after Christmas break?”

                “Yeah, I think you pretty much got it. It was cold so it’s close enough-”

                “I was only sick a handful of times and one of them, you even came back home to take care of me…”Jongin chipped in.

                “Where did you two have ?!”

                “On the bus ride to school.” Minho smirked.

                “What?! How?!” Everyone gawked.

                “Well, it was completely packed and when we walked to the very back, there was only one seat left so I said I’d sit on it and Taemin could sit in my lap. Since we were alone for the first time in forever and the bus was completely full, we thought that no one would be looking anywhere beneath shoulder level so we started fondling each other and all that good stuff.”

                “But it was packed! How did you-”

                “Like I said, there were so many people that no one could look lower than their shoulders! Besides, it was cold and we were both dressed really thick so you really wouldn’t be able to tell what’s going on under all those layers. Either way, the bus was pretty bouncy so Taemin used it as a chance to ‘readjust’ himself onto me and well… we just did it like usual. Ah, truthfully enough, Taemin said it was one of the best times ever.” Minho boasted.

                “It wasn’t you…” Taemin pouted, “It was the vibrations from the bus…”

                “But what did you say afterwards when I asked you why you made my favourite foods for dinner?”

                “I don’t remember…”

                “Yes you do. I said, ‘What’s the reason behind all this great food’ and you said…”

                “The great …”

                “But hold on,” Ruki asked. “Did you two e or just stop halfway?”

                “Well we both came. It was a lot easier for me to clean up so I just pulled a tissue out of my coat pocket and wipe myself off, but Taemin’s uniform was completely ruined. That’s why he went home and-”

                “That’s why Taemin came home and said he was too worried about me being sick so he’d take the day off of school to take care of me! Taemin, you actually came in your pants and couldn’t clean it up so you needed to change and just looked for an excuse! Taemin… when did you get so sneaky?!” Jongin asked, taken completely off guard as he put all the pieces together.

                “I still can’t believe you had on the bus… I’ve been having for half my life and I still wouldn’t be able to pull that off or even gather the courage to- On a public ing bus… Where else have you had if you’re so nonchalant about the bus?” Heechul questioned.

                “Well like I said before,” Taemin replied, “The bus, school change room, school showers, the cottage, the car…”

                “Why all these places? You haven’t even been together that long, or at least been having for that long! Imagine all the places five years from now!”

                “Well… if we feel like having and the time and place permits it, we’ll do it.” The blonde shrugged.

                “You’re a lucky man, Minho.” Heechul sighed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in an actual, long term relationship with someone so open and ually active. Everyone is so boring after a week…”

                Minho laughed, proudly holding Taemin by the waist. “Maybe you should wait a few months before trying to get into someone’s pants.”

                “I don’t like it when you word it like that.” Taemin mumbled, making himself comfortable and leaning his head on Minho’s chest.

                “You know that’s not what I had in mind with you, baby.” His lover replied, kissing him on the forehead.

                “What if I never let you have with me?” The blonde asked.

                “Well, I think I’d be fine beforehand because wasn’t something I really cared about but now, if you cut me off from , well… I think I’d do some horrible things.”

                “To?”

                “You.”

                Laughing, Taemin threw his leg over the elder’s, sneaking up for a kiss. “Maybe I wouldn’t mind being forced into some compromising positions against my will.”

                “Well then you’ll be happy to hear that something I ordered came in the mail today.”

                “Ah, I want to see it now.”

                “You’ll have to wait until we’re alone, Kitten.”

                They rubbed the tips of their noses against each other, giggling.

                “How sickening.” Heechul stuck his tongue out. “Get a room.”

                The couple laughed and rejoined the conversation.

                They all continued to talk into the afternoon and evening, from when the sun was in the middle of the sky to when it sank. The coffee and juice turned to pop, which turned to tea, which turned back to juice, which turned to beer.

                Each one of them was at a different level of drunk but Ruki seemed to be hit the worse, slurring as he tried contributing with the conversation. As time went on though, he gave up and crept closer to Heechul, basically throwing himself onto the boy. When nine o’clock came, he didn’t seem to be getting enough. “Heechul…” He whispered into the elder’s ear.

                “Yeah?” Heechul whispered back.

                “Come back to my place…”

                “For the evening?”

                “The evening, the night, the morning…”

                “You mean you want to have se-”

                “You know what I mean.” The boy whined, giving up on words and using his tongue to make up for them, kissing Heechul’s neck.

                “Do we have to leave now?”

                “We can do it in front of everyone right here, I don’t care.”

                “O-okay, okay, we’ll go, just let’s tell everyone goodbye first.”

                Rushed by the sudden uality, the two said their farewells, using the time as an excuse.

                Trying not to be too suspicious, Taemin smiled and walked them to the lobby, waving them off until they get into a car and disappeared down the street.

                It seemed like his brain was counting down the seconds until the guests left to remind him of Minho’s secret present.

                Begging the elevator to come faster, he ran down the hall and into his lover’s arms, jumping onto him. “Show me the gift!”

                “The gift- Oh! Right! Okay. Well Jongin’s in his room so I guess it’s alright.”

                “Come on, come on!” Taemin rushed.

                Taking his hand, the elder led the blonde upstairs, happily skipping as they locked themselves up in the room. There was a big box on the bed, but besides that, he didn’t spot any differences. At least until Minho pointed up at the ceiling, showing him a metal hook that wasn’t there before.

                “Honey… that’s great, but that’s way too high for handcuffs… If you hang me from that, they’ll break and I’ll fall for sure…”

                “Close your eyes.” Minho smiled.

                Taemin listened. He heard cardboard being torn, tape being cut, fabric slapping fabric, and metal clinking. Not too long later, he felt Minho’s lips on his. Being pushed against the door, he smiled, partaking in the short kiss that felt like it lasted forever.

                “Open your eyes, Kitten.”

                Obeying, Taemin did that, only to be faced with several straps that seemed to be hanging from the hook, all somehow joined by metal rings.

                “What is this?”

                “Can I help you into it so you can see?”

                Without hesitation, Taemin let Minho direct any limb to any place. It took a few seconds before all his body parts were being supported, but even then, he still didn’t understand. Minho made it blatantly obvious when took the blonde by the waist and pressed his bulge against Taemin’s behind. “What do you think?”

                Instantly blushing, Taemin tried to escape, only tangling himself up and risking dropping a few feet to the ground until Minho caught him.

                “Is this a s-s… Is this a-”

                “It’s a… swing.” The elder proudly smiled, showing off his stainless teeth.

                “For !”

                “Yeah, so what? I heard that the rocking will make anything we do in bed a million times better. Besides, this is good for basically any position! You’re not mad, are you?” He pouted.

                “N-no… I’m not mad, it’s just… Isn’t it embarrassing?”

                “I don’t think so. I think you’ll feel really good and thank me tomorrow morning.”

                “What?” Taemin stuttered, eyes wide. “What do you mean thank you tomorrow morning?”

                Without saying a word, Minho stripped himself of his shirt, throwing it across the room. Just as silently, he began undressing the younger boy, Taemin being too scared to fall to struggle.

                “Um, I don’t want to do it… it’s- I’ll be- it seems awkward…”

                “I promise it’ll be amazing, so trust me, okay?”

                Against his gut, Taemin sighed. “Okay.”

                The next morning, the blonde rolled over, biting Minho’s shoulder.

                “Ow!” Minho groaned, “Kitten… what is it?”

                “Can we do it again?”

                “I’m sleepy…”

                “I want to one more time… please…”

                “I told you you’d like it, didn’t I?”

                Taemin laughed, kissing his fiancé. “I guess you know me better than I know myself. But yeah, we only tried out maybe a fifth of the positions so now we should… you know, get to the rest?”

                “Kitten…”

                “Honey.”

                “Yes?”

                “I talked with Ruki last night. About what happened, you know.”

                “And?”

                “He said he liked you and felt horrible for being with you that night but can’t help the way he is.”

                “What did you say?”

                “I said I wasn’t upset because I trust you not to cheat on me so I’m fine with him feeling the way he does. I mean, you don’t have any reasons for me not to trust you, right?” The blonde asked, sneaking his tongue into Minho’s mouth.

                “You’ve convinced me.”

                “Convinced you- what?”

                “We can go for a few more rounds on the swing.”