The two sat in the car, the air around them awkward.

                “Hey, let’s just turn around.”

                “No, Minho. Do you want to live the rest of your life without ever seeing your parents again?”

                “No…”

                “Which is why we need to do this.”

                The highway around them was brightly lit by the sun, the fresh, green grass on the ground reflecting its rays made it a bit blinding.

Taemin knew this was hard for Minho and he knew the elder was scared to face the disappointed parents he had never disappointed before, but he also knew Minho still loved them more than himself and that he'd do anything to see them on his big day, whether it was with Taemin or not.

"Why don't we pull over at the next place there's a half decent restaurant and grab some lunch?" The blonde offered, trying not to let his fiancé procrastinate, but trying to give him some time to prepare the speech he had probably been repeating in his head since they got into the car.

"Okay..."

"Hey, can I hold your hand?" Taemin asked as they entered a cozy diner.

"Yes. Why would you ask for permission, Kitten?"

"Because today is stressful for you, right? I know I forced you to do this, so the least I can do is ask you what you're comfortable with doing while we're near your parents' city, in their city, near their house, in their house... You know, if you don't want to hold hands because you think we'll run into them or you don't want them to see us being affectionate, then we don't have to be. It's fine."

"I'm not ashamed of you, Taemin... Being with you is the biggest accomplishment in my whole life." The elder quickly stated, staring so deep into Taemin's eyes that Taemin wondered if maybe he wasn't looking through him.

“You’re so romantic now, Minho. How are you going to step up your game once we’re married?”

Minho laughed for the first time that day and the younger boy felt a huge weight lifted off of his chest.

“I’m only doing this because-”

“You care. I know, Kitten. I may be complaining but… I guess deep inside, I appreciate your push.”

Taemin blushed. Having his good intentions acknowledged made his day, especially when Minho was the one acknowledging him.

Taking Taemin’s hand, the elder smiled.

They were seated at a table for two, a beautiful view of a nearby valley offered to them by a window on the adjacent wall.

“I know we’re not on a date, but this is sort of romantic, don’t you think?” Taemin smiled, looking over the menu.

“It is pretty romantic. What do you want, baby?”

“Spaghetti. What are you going to get?”

“That’s what I decided on too.” Minho laughed.

“It’s because we’re so madly in love that we’re so similar. I bet science could prove that theory.”

“Are you a scientist?” The elder inquired, waving over the waiter.

“Of course I am. You should have known this by now.”

Snorting, Minho stuck his tongue out. Placing an order for one plate of spaghetti and two fizzy drinks, he waited for the waiter to leave. Once they were alone again, Minho and Taemin wordlessly flirted with each other, cool stares and fluttering eyelashes.

“You know, Minnie, when I first met you, you were so shy and awkward.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“That you’re an overly confident flirt now. I bet if we weren’t together for some reason, you’d be out at the clubs picking up every boy that caught your attention while leading a couple dozen on with your teasing.”

“I’m not like that!” He whined, crossing his arms.

“No, but you could be.”

“I’d never pick up anyone at the club! Unless… unless I saw you at the club.”

“What makes that any different?”

“Well… even when we first met, I thought you were incredibly handsome. If I’m as confident or flirty as you say I am, then I’d definitely come up to you, offer you a drink, that kind of stuff.”

Minho decided to play devil’s advocate, amusing himself with his chopsticks. “Ah, but remember when we met, I wasn’t interested in boys. My past self probably wouldn’t respond the way I would now.”

“But it would.” Taemin seemed to naturally answer.

“How so?”

“Well, if I acted all delicate and cute, you’d instantly fall for me, because that’s your type. I bet we would end up ditching whoever we’re with, and then drinking more, and then dancing. Then the next day, you’d wake up in my bed.”

“That’s not fair.” Minho commented, leaving the blonde to be confused.

“What do you mean it’s unfair?”

“Well, gentleman me had to wait half a year until your birthday to claim you for myself, but yet party animal me only had to be there for a few minutes and take a drink from you?” The elder laughed.

“I don’t think that would really matter, because in the end, you’d be the only one to see that side of me, just like now.”

With their food arriving, both of the boys decided they would take their time with their meal, because it wasn’t often that they could enjoy well-made spaghetti with a gorgeous view in a cozy diner outside the city.

                However, once it was noon and their plates were empty, they decided to pay and get back on the road.

                Everything was going fine and Minho couldn’t stop smiling, but then, the moment he got behind the wheel, Taemin noticed the change immediately.

                Staring at the wheel, Minho couldn’t bring himself to turn the keys. Leaning over, Taemin turned them for him.

                “Sorry… I thought I was better but now… It’s… I’m sorry… Whatever, let’s just go.”

                Disappointed with the outcome of such a good meal, the blonde nodded. “How much longer is the drive from here?”

                “About forty five minutes.”

Although the minimal talking on the way there was made up by the great moments they shared at the diner, it was all blown apart by the newly found stress on both of them.

                Taemin spent the time staring out of the window, watching the trees turn into houses, turn into apartments, turn into condominiums, leaving them to drive through a packed city. Minho was focused on the road, eyes glued to the car in front of him and palms sweating.

                The younger boy had only been here once, but he started remembering some sights from that special day two years ago. A store, a building, graffiti. Thoughts of their first kiss started flooding back to him and he found himself blushing.

                He didn’t necessarily know where they were going, but he knew that they weren’t in the right place when Minho pulled into the parking lot of some hotel.

                “Hey, why are we stopping? We’re not too far away… Are you hungry again? I have some snack with me.”

                “Taemin, can we do it?”

                “Do what?”

                “Can we have ?”

                “What?! Absolutely not!”

                “Please Taemin, I’m begging you. I don’t think I can do anything if we don’t.”

                “No! We both spent a good hour and a half today getting ready! We ironed our clothes, showered, I put makeup on, and we did our hair! Having is going to ruin everything!” The younger boy yelled, moving back when Minho tried to reach for him.

                “Kitten, please! Look, we can neatly take our clothes off, do it… we can use the showers in the hotel! They have the tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner! I know you always carry your makeup and cologne in your bag because you never forget to pack it… please…”

                “I-I-… why?”

                “If you do it for me, I’ll… I don’t know… I’m just freaked out, and scared, and I don’t want to see my parents… I just want to be close to you right now…”

                The desperation in the elder’s voice made Taemin’s stance waver, biting his lower lip as he tried to think of how to compromise, how to help his fiancé without making a mess of both of them.

                “What if I give you a in the backseat instead…?”

                “Kitten, please…”

                “What about if we just-”

                “Kitten, I’m begging you, please… it won’t take long…”

                If Minho could ever do anything perfectly, it was getting Taemin to agree to everything.

                “F-fine…”

                “I love you.”

                “And I’m only doing this because I love you…” The blonde reminded him as he watched Minho nod and get out of the car, following his lead.

                They entered the hotel and Taemin stayed quiet as Minho explained that he only needs the room for an hour because they’d been driving for a long time and needed a rest. Being given a key and some directions, the pair headed upstairs.

                After three floors and nine doors, they neared a room and stepped inside.

                Taemin was surprised that the moment the door was locked, he was lifted and carried over to the bed where he was sat down.

                It didn’t take long for Minho to be in front of him, slowly and delicately undressing the younger boy.

                When Taemin was fully , Minho took his clothes and neatly folded them up on the side, undressing himself next. Now there was no clothes, no mess, nothing stopping them.

                The blonde gasped when faced with a fully already being pressed against him, invading the space between his legs.

                “W-wait, you’re already hard?!”

                “Taemin… I can’t stop imagining you from those two Christmases before… I can’t stop imagining that kiss on the porch, but it gets worse… We only kissed that day, but I can’t stop picturing what it would be like if we were there again and I was making love to you on the mattress we shared so awkwardly that night… I thought remembering our first kiss would calm me down, but it only made the situation so much more troublesome…”

                The younger boy found himself flipped and propped up on his hands and knees.

                “Is that why we’re here? You got hard wh-while driving?”

                “Yeah… I… I feel like I have to explain myself and make up excuses… I know that I’m older and that you look at me like I’m some sort of… saint or perfect or something, but you know, I’m still a guy, and when I’m so attracted to someone, I get , and when I’m super stressed out, my body does weird things… when I’m super stressed out while the person I like is right beside me… All… Taemin, all I can think of right now is you being and us doing it behind my parents’ backs… I know it’s horrible and you probably think it’s disgusting… but I need to touch you…”

                Hearing the elder’s voice, hearing him being so desperate and needy, it drove Taemin insane.

                Taemin was reapplying his concealer, watching Minho button his shirt through the reflection in the mirror.

                “You know, we were hoping to be there for one…” He pouted.

                “Well it’s still two so we’re only an hour later than expected…”

                “Honey?”

                “Yes?”

                “Absolutely no more stops until we talk to your parents.”

                “Okay…”

                After restoring themselves to their previous states, they paid for the room and got back into the car. It wasn’t much longer until they arrived at a house that Minho knew very well.

                “I can’t, Taemin. I can’t.”

                “I’ll be with you, okay? Nothing’s going to happen.” The blonde tried reassuring him. “Look, give me a kiss.” Leaning over the armrests, he softly pecked the elder’s lips.

                “They’re probably not home…”

                “We won’t know until we check.” Taemin stated, getting out of the car. Regretting his decision to please Taemin and come here, Minho did the same. Feet heavy and back slouched, he approached the door. To avoid any further debating, Taemin took the liberty of knocking.

                Within seconds, a cheerful woman opened the door, but as she finished assessing the guests with her eyes, her lips warped into anything but a smile.

                “H-hi, mom… it’s been a while.”

                “What are you two doing here? I thought we told you not to come back until you’ve changed your ways, Minho. You’ve made a horrible choice and we condone it. We don’t want you back here until you start acting normal again.”

                Minho couldn’t lift his eyes from the ground, tongue twisted and speech interrupted by frequent stuttering.

                “W-well, y-yeah, I know that’s w-what you said b-but… i-it’s just that… me and Taemin have been engaged for over a year now s-so…”

                “What he’s trying to say is,” Taemin interrupted, “We’ve been engaged for over a year now and we’ve decided to have our wedding on the twenty fifth of July. We have a lot of people coming including friends, classmates, my parents, and so on. More than a hundred and thirteen people have confirmed coming so far, but even if there was a thousand, it wouldn’t be complete without you. You’re our most important guests and the best wedding we could imagine is the one where you two are in the front row… U-um, hold on…” Pulling out a card from his bag, Taemin handed it to her and she reluctantly took it. “That’s our invitation. We decided to hand deliver it. Even if you decide not to come then please just keep it.

                “You know what, Taemin? No matter how polite and nice you try to make yourself seem, I know homouals are nothing but evil and you’re tainting my son. If it was up to me, I’d marry him off to some young lady who is moral, knows how to live a proper life, and carries herself well. All qualities you don’t have. It’s even gotten to the point where my son has completely separated himself from the family. I would never support a relationship like yours. Disgusting. You’ve ruined him and I absolutely hate-”

                “Mom, stop it!” Minho suddenly raised his voice. “Listen, Taemin decided to go out of his way, to come all the way up here to give you a piece of paper you’ll probably end up throwing out, spending hours on the road, and for what? For you to degrade him? For you to swear at him and tell him how much you hate him? He’s been nothing but genuine to you and you’re being so… so horrible. You weren’t like this before, when I look back on memories, but maybe that’s because I fit the frame you cut out for me. If I came out as gay when I was thirteen, would you have been this unbelievable too? Would you kick me out then? Or would you try to reshape me? Force me to be who I’m not?”

                “How dare you?!” She screamed, raising her hand in preparation for a slap she’d put all he weight into. Minho flinched but he wasn’t expecting Taemin to sacrifice his arm in an attempt to keep his lover from getting hurt. Taemin didn’t mind feeling the sting though, because at least Minho wouldn’t.

                “Um, we didn’t intend to start a fight, we just wanted to make sure you got an invitation. Do whatever you want with it and thanks for hearing us out.” Taemin explained. Bowing, and forcing Minho to, they both turned around and headed for the car. Minho took Taemin’s hand supportively, but in the end, he didn’t know who needed the support more.

                Getting back into the car, they pulled out of the driveway, sitting in silence for the next few blocks. It wasn’t until Taemin heard crying that his attention was ripped from the houses they passed by. Minho’s head fell forward onto the steering wheel, causing the car to swerve in the empty street.

                “Oh my god, Minho, pull over, pull over first!”

                Minho nodded and barely managed to park on the side of the road before fully starting to bawl into his hands.

                “Look Minho, I’m sorry you had to hear her say that about you-”

                “About me?!” Taemin’s consolation was interrupted, “Did you hear what she was saying about you?! How could she say such horrible things?! She was never that… she was never that type of person…”

                “I’m  not mad, Minho… I’m sorry you had to hear your mom say that, it’s my fault, really…”

                “Taemin, you’re perfect! How could she ever say that about you?! It upsets me so much… I don’t want her to be there on such a special day…”

                “That’s not true…”

                “It is! I can’t believe she had the audacity to say that about you!”

                “You’re her son and she only wants what’s best for you… your definitions of ‘best’ just happen to be different…”

                “I love you so much, Taemin. I love you so much it hurts me to hear someone talk about you that way. You don’t deserve it…”

                “Honey?”

                “Y-yeah?”

                “When we go to Switzerland, what do you want to do first?”

                “Wh… what?”

                “For our honeymoon, when we get there, what’s the first thing you want to do?”

                Wiping his eyes, Minho shrugged. “I don’t know… eat I guess.”

                “Eat? Eat what?”

                “Um… whatever they eat there. I want to eat some of the local food.”

                “Okay, then that’s the first thing we’ll do after putting our bags away in the hotel.”

                Staring at Taemin’s adorable smile, the elder couldn’t help but to turn his cries into chuckling.

                “You’re too cute, Kitten.”

                “Don’t cry anymore, okay? When you cry, I start to cry, and then we’re both just sobbing and nothing’s getting done.”

                Moving the armrests out of the way, Minho leaned over, wrapping his arms around the younger boy’s waist. “You know… things didn’t go as planned, or, well, maybe I expected this. Point being that this wasn’t ideal but I didn’t expect a positive response… um, I’m still happy we did it. It… Well I was always guessing, but now I know how my mom feels for sure, which probably means my dad feels the same… it , but now I can devote myself to you entirely. I’m two million percent yours.”

                “Please don’t give up on your parents so easily. They’ll always be your parents, you know?”

                “And I’ll always be yours, Kitten. There really isn’t any trading off in life.”

                They suddenly got quiet, staring into each other’s eyes. It wasn’t until Taemin held Minho dearly in his arms and was held back until he continued.

                “I’m really proud of you, Minho. You did something a lot of people wouldn’t, and for me.”

                “It’s only because I’m lucky enough to have someone like you by my side.”

                “Then let’s go back,” Taemin smiled, “I’ll make you something really delicious for dinner once we get back home.”

                “Really?

                “Really.”

                “Okay, then we’re on our way.”