If anything, Minho can’t understand the way Taemin behaved last night. He is so deep in thought to notice Changmin slipping in to his room.

“Man, you look awful.”

Minho turns to see his friend coming in. He doesn’t want to admit it but he is strangely happy to see him here.

“That Tammy kid did this to you? I never know that chick has the strength to. But to think of it, you must feel humiliated to have a baby like him beat you up to this point.” Changmin points at the bruises on Minho’s cheeks.

“I’m thankful there was no one on the street last night. You have no idea how surprised I was when his fist landed on my face.”

“You could always stop him from doing so. It’s like you had never had a fight back on high school. Sorry for saying it out loud but this is just very humiliating.”

If it’s not because of his pained abdomen, he might have reached for something to throw to Changmin’s face. He can’t stand the glorious look on the older face when he relentlessly mocks his life.

“If Jihye suddenly punch you on your ing face, I would like to see if you can even try to dodge.”

“Nah, I’m blessed with a good reflex.” Changmin winks.

“Are you here to make fun of me or what?!”

“I wish so but I’m actually here to bring you the master of Tabby. She should be here in 10 or maybe 15 minutes.”

“Who is the master of whom?”

“My Jihye is the master of your Tabby. Like it or not, she’s the only one who might understand him the most right now. You can claim yourself as his boyfriend but hell, that’s a year ago and barely relevant now.”

Minho sighs in defeat. He has to admit that the girl might know what Taemin is thinking right now. If she really stays with him all this time, then she must know one or two thing about Taemin’s motives. He hates it. He hates the feeling of being pushed aside. He should be the one who understands Taemin the most. He should be the one who tells people about Taemin, not the other way around. He is afraid that this time Changmin is right, Taemin might not think of him as his boyfriend anymore. But it that’s true, then why he bother to come all the way here?

There is a knock on the door about half an hour later and Jihye walks in with a brown bundle on her arm. “This cute little puppy was sitting by the door and got excited when I come and waited for me to open the door. I guess it want to get in.” Jihye puts the puppy down and it runs straight up to its owner.

“No, don’t step on my stomach, baby girl, it hurts.” Minho says as he watches Eve climbs down from his belly to sit on the bed. “Good girl.”

“Did Taemin do that to you?”

“Yeah, can’t believe it, right? It would never cross my mind too, that the Tammy kid would possess the power that can cause such damage on his face.”

“Why would he do that?” She innocently questions.

“That’s what I have been wondering since last night.” Minho answers. “Did he ever tell you the plan?”

“As far as I know, his plan is to find you.”

“If he’s here for me, then, why did he act like that?”

“The only certain thing right now is that he’s searching for you. There is no telling that he’s going to be like ‘hyung omg where have you been I miss you so much please come back to me’ when he finds you. What if he only wants to find you so he can punch you and then leave? What if he’s up for revenge?” Changmin speculates which earns him defiant stares from the other two. “I’ve warned you that no matter how much he loves you, he won’t just throw himself to your arms after what you did to him.”

Jihye shakes her head on Changmin’s silly presumption. “I don’t know why he acted that way either. I haven’t seen him today. I couldn’t find him anywhere, to be exact. But once I get to see him, I’m going to ask him about this matter.”

“Wait. Why aren’t you guys taking my opinion into account? You know, like when people you love are toying with your feeling, your life, it would surely enrage you that it is possible that the resentment wins over the love you have on them and –“

“Because you don’t know Taemin at all, not even the slightest, you better keep your opinion to yourself.” Jihye cuts off. “It would be better if you can come up with the idea of what he should do next.”

“There is no choice other than to give him some time to himself.” Changmin replies, a little annoyed that the two do not take him seriously. “You’ll thank me later.”

***

The ride to Taemin’s apartment is filled with Jonghyun’s chattering about his grand plan during his stay there. Taemin is actually relieved that his hyung decided to voluntarily tell his irrelevant itinerary so he has to just nod his head and give a short response to let his hyung know that he is listening. If he can be honest right now, he is nervous. He is worried about what his hyung would say once he finds out about the place he currently lives in. He is sure the older is going to tell the others and that is what scared him the most. They will probably force him back to Seoul.

“Where is your apartment? Why it takes so long?” Jonghyun starts to complain on the long ride. “Are we even on the right way?” He asks as he looks out the window.

“We’re about to arrive.”

Just a few minutes later, Taemin tells the driver to pull off in front of his apartment. Jonghyun pays the driver and once he steps out of the cab, he looks into the neighborhood before staring at the old building a few steps away from him for a while.

“Hyung, don’t you want to come in?” Taemin’s weak voice distracts Jonghyun from this unpleasant area.

“Ah, sure.” Jonghyun tails behind Taemin. As they are heading to Taemin’s room, Jonghyun’s eyes do not miss any single detail about the place. His eyes are busy darting around the building, making Taemin even more nervous if possible.

“Welcome to my room,” Taemin tries to fake a cheery welcome that fails miserably as his hyung is clearly not pleased with this place. Jonghyun enters the room quietly, quickly examining the room as soon as he is inside. “Take a seat wherever you want, hyung. Do you want a drink?” Taemin is about to make his way to the fridge when Jonghyun says he doesn’t want anything at the moment and urges Taemin to join him on the bed.

“So, do you like it here?” Jonghyun starts.

“It’s been pretty okay here, with college, and this place, and Jihye, and the search.”

“You know you can go back –“

“Not yet, hyung. I’m not going back to Seoul yet.”

There is a silence hanging in the air as both of them opt to stare on the wall and think what should come next. They know better than wasting the time arguing about what Taemin should do.

“If Onew hyung ever finds out about this place –“

“He would drag me back to Seoul for sure.” Taemin cuts off, chuckling on the thought of his two hyungs taking him by force to the airport and flying back to Seoul. “That’s why I don’t want him and Key hyung to know.”

Jonghyun sneers on that, “you just successfully add my concern by living in this place.”

“This place is not bad, hyung.” Taemin whines, defending the place. “Besides, I’m spending more time out in the college than here.”

“I’m not convinced, at all. But whatever,” he shrugs. “Once you find Minho, he will take you to a better place.”

It silences him up. Taemin hesitates a little on how to break the news to his hyung. But he know he has to do that.

“Hyung, what if when I finally meet Minho hyung, my anger just takes over and all I want to do is to punch him right on his face.”

Jonghyun contemplates for a moment at Taemin’s question. “Then be angry and punch him, isn’t it what we want you to do? Punch him for us. But don’t forget that you’re doing this chasing because he can’t do it for you giving his current state. Hit him for he had lied to you.”

"But you might be tending to his bruises after that. You love him with all your heart after all." Jonghyun adds as he pats his head.

Taemin snuggles closer to Jonghyun, “I almost forget how good it feels to have hyungs around me. I miss you so much.” It’s just amazing how having his hyung by his side is enough to blow all his uneasiness and anxiety away and leave him with a clear mind to think everything over again.

Jonghyun smiled proudly, “Nah, we’ve told you to stay but you chose to leave us!”

"You know there is no other choice." Taemin defends. "I met him, by the way." he confesses.

"What?! You did? When? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Yeah, last night. I met him and punched him on the face." Taemin chuckled on the memory.

Jonghyun doesn't say anything. He just stares at Taemin, trying to recover himself from the shock while waiting for Taemin to tell him more.

"I guess it's safe to say that it wasn't your homework that made you cry."

"Sorry I lied to you."

"Okay, I'll think of a way for you to make it up but now, spill it! How did you meet him? And where is he now?"

Taemin tells Jonghyun everything happened yesterday in details. He doesn't feel like hiding anything anymore from his hyung. He appreciates that Jonghyun react pretty well to the news. This is better than he has expected.

"Well, you better have a plan for tomorrow. If you need me to be there tomorrow, I can call my friend and reschedule."

"Honestly, I didn't have any idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. But you show up and remind me that I love him and why I'm here, so now I know. Thanks a lot, hyung. But no, please go on with your plan. I got this. I'll tell you how it goes when you get back here."

"Alright, if that's what you want."

Hi, long time no see~