Minho was on his laptop when Taemin came back from the WGM shooting. Taemin’s rather bubbly expression changed when he saw Minho waiting for him. There was a sense of seriousness in his tone when he called out for Minho, “Hyung, can we talk?”

       Minho smiled at Taemin, “Sure Taem, what do you want to talk about?”
If only Taemin cared enough, he would’ve sensed hurt in Minho’s voice or his teary big eyes that were screaming out “please don’t tell me, I’m not ready yet.” But Taemin didn’t care anymore, he stopped caring since a girl called, Song Naeun came into his life. He didn’t care about Minho’s feelings anymore. He didn’t know when Minho got scolded for going all the way back from the other part of Seoul just so Taemin wouldn’t skip his lunch. He didn’t know when Minho did his schedules so he could rest.. or rather, meet Naeun. He didn’t know how Minho cried himself to sleep. He didn’t know why Minho spent more time at gym than usual. All those “I love you”s were replaced with “me too”.. There was no longer a loving-gaze in Taemin’s eyes when he talked to Minho. Just like that, Minho was disappearing slowly in his heart…

       Minho closed his laptop and there was a period of silence.

       “So… how’s Naeun? Is she treating you well? She better treats my little Taeminnie well!” Minho was still smiling, his tone was still playful, yet, something was off, as if he was trying to ignore the fact that he knew exactly what Taemin was going to say.

        “Yeah, of course she’s treating me well”, Taemin was looking at everywhere but Minho’s eyes, “about that-“

        “Oh! Taem! I forgot I bought you your favorite milk today, do you want some now?! How forgetful of me, let me go get it now!“ Minho tried to escape; he didn’t want to keep on this conversation going. At that moment, all he wished was for their manager to barge in and tell them, they had to go to their schedule.
Taemin held Minho’s hand, “Hyung, you already knew it right?” There was guilt written all over Taemin’s face, at the same time though, he seemed relieved. “I’m so sorry, hyung….” With that, Taemin left the room quietly.
“It’s alright, Taem. As long as you’re happy…..” that was a late reply from Minho after he found his voice to speak again. No one knew how long Minho sobbed himself after that. No one knew how Minho scratched his skin or bit his fingers just so he could feel that he was still alive. That was the longest night Minho had in his life.

        “Yah! Choi Minho! Wake up!!!!!!!” Key was the first one to wake up as usual, “Why are you sleeping on the couch anyway! ing Wake Up!!” Minho opened his eyes as Key started kicking his . Everything seemed unreal, everyone was doing fine on their own, except for himself. He had a sore throat, his eyes were red and dry, there were scratches on his arm and some of them were still bleeding, most of all, he couldn’t feel anymore. The biggest part of him was gone. All the iron walls he put around him broke down and he was barely keeping himself alive. Ignoring his numb body, he smiled at Key, “Alright, alright! Calm down!” and he went to the bathroom before anyone looked at his broken self.

           Key knew something was odd. The Choi Minho never woke up that easily or smiled at people in the mornings. Not to mention running to the bathroom, Minho usually barely washed his face before their schedule. Minho was unusually bubbly on their way to the schedule as well. He kept on making jokes on how Key knew more about make up than their stylist and how cheesy Jonghyun was on twitter. He also kept on talking to Onew about soccer which the leader was not interested in, not even a bit. Everyone knew something was up with Minho except for Taemin, he was too busy texting his new girlfriend and smiling whenever he saw his phone lighted up. It was irony how Taemin was the reason for everything but Taemin being Taemin, he was oblivious to all those things around him.

       As soon as their schedules were over, Onew was the first one to call Minho as Minho just couldn’t stop talking to Jonghyun. “Minho, can you come to my room for a sec?”, with his serious tone, Onew disappeared into his room. “Kay! Hyungie!” … Jonghyun’s jaw dropped as Minho, the flaming charisma Choi Minho did aegyo right in front of his eyes.

“Do you want some drink? I saw Jonghyun buying some the other day.” Onew was being fatherly again, Minho knew someone would find out something was up with him but not this soon. He was not ready to talk about it yet. No, he wasn’t even ready to hear the two names in the same sentence yet. Onew came back with two beer cans and he handed one to Minho. Minho shook his head; he was really going to break down once he drank that. Onew put the can beside him, “Minho-ah, is there anything bothering you?”  
“…….”, Minho just looked down.
“You know you tell me anything, right?”
Minho whispered, “Hyung…… I… I just am not ready yet..”
“It’s alright, when you’re ready. Remember I’ll always be here”, Onew held Minho’s hand and gave him one of his best smiles. When Onew was about to leave, Minho pulled Onew’s hand, “….hyung…. I think I’m dying…” with that, Minho left the confused leader.

       At the other side of the dorm, Jonghyun was getting water out of the fridge as he casually asked Taemin, “How are you and your boyfriend doing?” Taemin looked confused as he turned back to look at Jonghyun then, he seemed to realized what Jonghyun meant “Oh, we broke up.” “YOU TWO WHAT????” Jonghyun’s eyes were as big as golf balls now and he probably took Key’s attention with his scream. Taemin rolled his eyes, “Calm down!! It was just kinda like an experiment, now that I found a girl who I actually love, we broke up and I’m dating her now.” Jonghyun’s jaw dropped, if someone said Jonghyun’s normal face looked like a dinosaur, they should’ve seen this expression. After getting over his shock, Jonghyun put his water bottle back in the fringe and asked, “Naeun, right?”. Taemin just nodded. Jonghyun then sat down beside Key on the couch. “I thought it was impossible for them to separate.” He sighed, “What a small broadcasting program can do to two people…” Jonghyun looked at Key as he said it, Key shook his head, “Song Naeun is more than what he knows….” Jonghyun was left confused with Key’s words. There was also another person listening to all the conversations and that person whispered to himself, “…it was just an experiment… how stupid are you Choi Minho…” A bitter smile never left his face as he stared at the one person who took away his heart. “At least, he’s happy…. That’s enough… right..?” No, he was not crying. After that day, he didn’t know how to cry anymore..