“I hope you’re feeling better today Minnie.” The maknae had barely woken before his roommate was speaking to him. He only blinked at the elder, taking a few seconds to understand and a few more to come up with an answer. By then, Jonghyun was talking again. “Because it’s our day out.”

“Okay?” Taemin let out a yawn as he sat up and stretched to crack his back. “Where?”

“It’s a surprise. I’ll lay out clothes for you and you just shower and get ready. Breakfast should be ready by then.” He barely gave time for that to sink in before he was going through the closet, pulling out an outfit for the youngest while the boy tried to wake up.

All too soon, the clothes were being shoved into his arms by Jonghyun. “Just go shower and wear that. I’ll make breakfast. Okay?”

Riding in the car was anything but silent. Jonghyun had let Taemin pick the music they listened to, but both were singing along as they drove down roads familiar to both of them. In the middle of one of the songs they got completely into—complete with dancing in their seats and singing as out-of-pitch as a trained singer can get—they pulled up in front of a familiar house and Taemin’s singing cut off as he looked at it. “Hyung? Here?” He only got a nod at first as Jonghyun continued singing, but there was a smile that said more would be told in a few seconds.

He hadn’t even gotten to turn off the car before Sodam was running out the front door. Taemin’s door was thrown open by her, a huge smile on her face as she hugged him. “Taemin-ah! He actually brought you!”

Jonghyun pouted at that, looking at his older sister. “Didn’t I say I would?”

“Hi noona.” The youngest seemed a little uncomfortable in her grip, but she didn’t seem to notice or care as she let go to help him out of the car. “It’s been a while.”

“You’ve grown so much since last time. Umma’s going to be glad to see you too.” She seemed unable to stand in place for long and was trying to pull Taemin along with her to the door.

And that was when Jonghyun stepped forward, placing a hand on his sister’s shoulder to keep her in place. “Calm down noona. We just got here and you’ve already scared him enough.”

That was true enough when they both looked at a wide-eyed and silent Taemin. Sodam gave him a gentler smile. “Sorry Taemin-ah. I’m just really excited it’s been years since we’ve seen you back here.”

“It’s okay noona.” He shook off her apology and flashed a smile to both of them. “I was just wondering if hyung was lying when he said you hadn’t changed at all.” There was no hiding the laughter from the two.

Just like when they had pulled in to the small driveway, the second the three entered the house, Taemin was being wrapped in a hug from Jonghyun’s short-yet-strong mother. “Never stay away for that long again. Especially when you and my son are doing the same things and he comes back.”

“I got it eomeoni.”  Her hug tightened a little more. “I promise to come back.”

She released him then and patted the top of his head covered in a beanie. “Good boy. Do you want some lunch now?”

Taemin’s eyes flittered around to find Jonghyun, hoping the elder could help him out of the situation he was just put in. After having the breakfast that morning, even if it wasn’t a lot, he wasn’t going to be hungry until dinner time at least. And—thankfully—Jonghyun was there. “Mom…” There was nothing else to say, just the tone of his voice telling it all.

And she nodded. There were a few tears in her eyes that made Taemin feel bad, but it was better than getting sick from eating too much—that would have definitely made her feel even worse. “I understand. Do you want some tea or coffee then?” That, at least, was something he could handle and Taemin nodded with a smile and a “thanks” before being led to the kitchen.

While Sodam and Jonghyun caught up behind them, Taemin followed after the kind mother and listened to her talking about all that had been going on recently. “We watched your anniversary performance on Saturday. It’s been a while since Sodam and I saw you: we were really shocked with how much you’ve improved from the little dancer we knew.”

“Thank you.”

“Aigoo! You’re so formal now. What happened to my baby that acted like I was his mother?” She placed a cup of tea and a cup of coffee in front of him, not even caring that she made both.

“Mother.” They both looked to the doorway where Jonghyun stood with his sister, a small smile on his face. “And I thought Sodam was bad running out to him. Calm down a little.”

She gave a nod to him before turning back to Taemin. “You don’t have to be so formal. You’re family.”

Jonghyun was the only one who noticed the slight tensing of Taemin’s shoulders when she said the last part, but the maknae nodded to her. “Okay. I got it.”

“I promise we will come back some time soon.” Jonghyun managed to pull out of his mother’s hug and grabbed Taemin from his sister. After helping the youngest into his car, he turned to the two on the porch. “I love you!”

He climbed into the car himself and they both waved as they pulled out into the street and started away from a home so familiar to them. “Are we going back to the dorm now hyung?”

“Actually,” he glanced at Taemin before looking back at the road, “there’s somewhere else I want to go first. If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. It’s your day off.” The radio was quietly in the background and other than that, they drove in silence. Taemin was almost asleep by the time they stopped, waking up only when the engine shut off. “Where are we?”

“You’ll see.” Jonghyun got out and went around to help Taemin out, holding out a face mask to the youngest as he did. “And you should put this on or Key will kill me.”

Half asleep, Taemin listened and slid the straps of the black fabric over his ears before following after his hyung. “Is this a music store? What are we doing here?”

“I figured we could look around and see if there is anything that catches your attention. Anything to do during the days in the dorm.”

“I’ve been… yeah. I’m bored there.” He’d started to protest, only to realize Jonghyun had a point and gave up without even trying, earning a chuckle from the elder.

“Then come on. Let’s try and find something you can do.”

“Hyung! Listen to this one.” Taemin was sitting on one of the large amps for the guitars, holding one and smiling as he started to play part of Lucifer as he had done for the performances. “This guitar is so cool!”

“You already know how to play Taemin… And besides, we have plenty that we can take to the dorm. Why don’t you try and find something new?” Jonghyun looked at the smile on Taemin’s face as the boy nodded and put the guitar down, turning to a different section of the store.

Only after following him did he see what made the boy so happy. Taemin stood in front of a boy around the same age as him playing on a violin, as into playing as Taemin was into watching him. “Henry could probably teach you violin if you want.”

“You think hyung?”

“Yeah.” He put a hand on Taemin’s shoulder to shake him from the trance he seemed to be in. “Do you want me to ask him to teach you some time?”

“It’s okay… I won’t be able to use it for long if I learn how to.” He gave one last glance at the boy before turning away. “Can we look at some sheet music? Then I’ll have new stuff to learn for the piano and guitar.”

“Anything you want Taemin.”

As they walked back to the car, Taemin was swinging a bag with a few books in it, smiling as he walked a few steps ahead of Jonghyun. When the elder felt a phone vibrating in his pocket, he slowed up just the slightest to look at the new message. ‘Sure I’ll teach him. He can come by the dorm any time and I’ll take him to the studios for lessons.’ With a smile himself, Jonghyun typed back a reply before jogging to catch up to Taemin.

Not once the whole ride did he mention it.

The second the door to his and Taemin’s bedroom closed, Jonghyun was talking to the others around the living room. “I have something for Taemin to do during the day now while we are running around to schedules.”

“That would be?” Key raised a brow as he looked at the elder, who seemed too happy with himself.

“I took him to the music store earlier and he kept looking at this one guy playing violin so I asked Henry-hyung if he would give Taemin lessons and he said it wasn’t a problem.” His smile got bigger as he looked around at the others. “We don’t have to be worrying about Taemin being here alone and he’s going to enjoy learning something new. It’s a win-win.”

And once they agreed to it together, the dino was dialing a number he was coming to know quickly and as a group they worked out a schedule around everything planned. Taemin’s going to be excited to hear this.