“Baby~!” Minho heard a well-known high pitched voice calling for him. He turned around to see his girlfriend run in his direction with a big smile splattered on her face.

“What’s up, babe?” he asked with a soft smile once she was in front of him.

“Today’s Friday. We can hang around ‘till late, where do you want to go?” she asked him suggestively tracing her index finger up and down on his arm.

“I can’t today” he said taking her hand in his, making her stop the movements on his arm.

“What? Why?” she spat pulling her hand out of his grasp.

“I have something to do” he answered seriously.

“With whom?” she asked crossing her arms.

“No one you should worry about”

“You say so but I don’t believe it” she said scrutinizing him with her gaze.

“I have dinner with my parents, okay?” he said pretending to be upset. He knew that what he told her was a lie but he couldn’t tell Hyuna that he was going to talk with Taemin to ask him help with his father’s task.

“Okay. Forget it. Go and do whatever you have to do with god-knows-whom. I don’t care”

She passed him without saying good-bye. He turned around and followed her with his gaze and saw her chauffeur open the door for her, and she getting into the backseat of the black car.

He sighed heavily, and started walking towards the reading club classroom when Jonghyun appeared walking by his side.

“So…. Did she got mad?”

“Yeah…” Minho answered without looking at him.

“Are you afraid she will do something to him?”

“No, not really. I didn’t tell her I was going to see him”

“What? Why not?” Jonghyun asked stopping his footsteps. Minho did the same.

“Because then I would be worried she will do something to him…” he answered almost in a whisper, smiling softly at the ground.

“If you weren’t dating Hyuna since 3 years ago I would bet you like this guy” Jonghyun said smiling whole-heartedly.

In fact, Jonghyun did suspect his friend liked Taemin somewhat. He was too nice with the boy, always caring and looking out for him. Defending him…

Taemin didn’t have it easy at the school even though he was a very good student. The best of the whole school actually. But that’s what made it so hard. This school was specifically and exclusively for heirs from wealthy families. For young people destined to intercede in the country's economy in a major way, just like Minho. When Taemin came in, the most felt invaded. Taemin wasn’t from a wealthy family or even prestigious in any way. His family was a middle class one bordering on the lower class. He was a Nobody.

Most of his classmates shared the idea that to have someone like him sharing their same school was oh so demeaning for their reputation and their family names. It was demeaning and an insult. A joke to the way they did things in the High Society.

The first months, the other students made a strike asking the Principal to kick him out of school, but he denied arguing that his admission had been a special request from a very respected and important man, that the boy had great potential and he couldn’t just ‘kick him out’. Since their so called diplomacy didn’t work, they chose to make his life difficult, pressing him until he decided he didn’t want to return to the campus. He was made fun of and pushed aside, to say the least.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Minho glared at Jonghyun, resuming his walk.

“Well, if you didn’t tell her you were going to talk with him, why did she get mad?” Jonghyun asked once he got to Minho’s side once again.

“As usual, she’s a jealous girl” he chuckled.

“Forgive me for saying this but she has her reasons to be so protective about you…” Jonghyun said cautiously.

“I know. I was a playboy when we started dating and I cheated on her so many times… She could never prove it, but she always knew”

“And you never admitted it. You always told her she was crazy and obsessively jealous about you. You always tried to make her believe she was chronically jealous and hallucinating stuff” Jonghyun said laughing at the last part remembering how he was always helping Minho covering his tracks. “But you’ve been a good boy since eight months ago. Still she distrusts you”

“I would too, honestly…”

“Well, it’s really hard to believe. And know here I am. Helping you cover your tracks like when you cheated on her”

“Like old times” Minho said smiling widely at Jonghyun, laughing to himself.

“Here we are” Jonghyun said, stopping in front of the reading club’s door. “I’ll leave you alone, now” he said patting Minho’s shoulder as reinforcement before walking away.

Minho sighed heavily and took a seat on the floor next to the classroom door, determined to wait for Taemin to come out from there. Meanwhile, through his mind were playing every possible scenario. He was thinking deeply how to tell him the situation and ask him help and the answer and reaction he might receive. The more time passed the more nervous and insecure he got.

He didn’t knew how much time he had spent there sitting on the ground, thinking, when the classroom door opened and the club members started walking out. He stood up immediately when he heard the door open. Looking at the persons that came out waiting to see Taemin but he didn’t.

‘Didn’t he come to the club? No, he never misses school. Unless… something very bad happens’

He blinked rapidly refusing himself to believe Taemin had missed he’s so loved reading club session. He turned around to see inside the classroom, smiling in relieve when he saw Taemin still packing his stuff on his backpack, kneeling on the floor next to the spot he loves to sit in. He walked inside the classroom until he was in front of Taemin.

“Hello there, Minho” Taemin said from his place in the ground not looking up even once.

“How did you know it’s me?” Minho asked startled watching the younger close the zipper of his backpack.

“Because bullies never come alone. They’re too coward for that. And you’re one of the few people that actually talks to me” Taemin said smiling, getting up from the ground, pulling his backpack up his shoulder. “And your shoes” he added pointing at them cutely with his index finger. Minho followed his finger’s direction, and he looked intently at his shoes wondering how he recognized him by them, they were the same everyone else used, the shoes that went with the uniform code. The only one that wore different shoes was actually Taemin himself.

When he looked up Taemin was nowhere in the room. He ran out the classroom and saw him walking peacefully through the hall heading to the front door. He jogged until he was by his side.

“Taemin, do you have something to do?”

“No. As you know, I don’t have lots of friends” he said smiling sweetly in Minho’s direction.

“Good…” Minho sighed relieved. It would’ve had if after all the courage he spent time gathering, and telling his crazy jealousy girlfriend lies, Taemin would have something else and more important to do.

“Me being an outcast loner make you so happy?” Taemin asked him with a raised eyebrow stopping in his tracks.

“NO! NOT AT ALL! That’s not what I-“

“It’s okay, Minho. I was joking” he said smiling at him starting to walk again.

“I said it was good because I want to talk to you”

“Well, we’re already talking” Taemin pointed out.

Was he making fun of Minho? He seemed to not care at all. He was just walking and smiling without giving a care about what Minho had to say. Or that’s what Minho felt it like and he got frustrated. He took Taemin by his arms forcing him to look at him and pay attention.

“Taemin, it’s important. Please… Can we go for a coffee and talk?” he said looking at him in the eyes.

Taemin was startled by Minho’s actions and his big brown eyes looking so deeply into his own. He wanted to answer him but he felt incapable of talking, so he just nodded.

A little boring T^T Sorry, but it's just a little introduction and a bit of details about past events. A preamble to the big problem that creates Jonghyun's bad idea in the next chaper... LOL See ya! Thanks to the people who commented.