“It’s three-thirty-two in the afternoon on the twenty-sixth of June.” Taemin pulled the iPod back from the camera after he spoke, still following the same habit after months. “I had another lesson with Henry-hyung today; my fourth one. He said I’m doing very good with it and even gave me his old violin so that I can practice whenever now.” He gave a smile to the camera before grabbing it and spinning around so the whole room he was in was captured. “I’m currently at a music show recording, and we have a radio show after this that I’m allowed to join in on. I think the hyungs feel bad just leaving me locked up in the dressing room this whole time. And I may or may not be supposed to be wearing my mask…”

There was a laugh from one of the stylists who heard him and Taemin flashed a smile before turning back to the camera. “I’m feeling really good today, but that might just be because I know I have chemo tomorrow.” A light flashed in the room and he looked up before smiling a grin so large it looked like he was going to break his face. “I have to go to the ending now, but I’ll be back soon! Bye!”

The camera clicked off and he stuffed it inside his bag before heading towards the door, joining the masses of people in the hallway as the groups started towards the stage. A few of the older stars gave him smiles and Taemin waved at a few that were the same age as him or younger, but there wasn’t really much talking outside of their groups.

Until someone jumped up behind him and wrapped the mask in his hands over his mouth. “You really should be wearing this hyung. Don’t want you getting sick again.” Kai spun around the older dancer, smiling as Taemin fixed the piece of cloth slightly. “I had a feeling you were here today.”

“Don’t tell me you’re saying that because there’s another surprise. I’m really not in the mood for that.” Taemin let out a sigh and saw Kai’s smile drop slightly.

“…I’d better tell them to cancel it then,” he whispered not-so-quietly and then looked back up at Taemin, seeing the elder staring at him with half-worried-half-curious eyes. After waiting a few more seconds, he let his smile come back even bigger. “Got you hyung!”

“I thought you were serious for a second…” Kai smirked at him before nodding as the rest of Exo met them, all smiles as they looked at the two friends. “Hello.”

“So formal all of a sudden hyung… loosen up.” Kai elbowed his slightly before smirking at s. “How’s it going?”

“What’s with the hyung all of a sudden?” Sehun looked between the dancers as he asked the question Taemin wanted to ask. “You’ve never called him that before.”

“…Shut up.” Kai’s cheeks got a little darker before returning to normal as they reached the stage entrance. “Taemin, stay with us. We’ll get you up by the rest of your group if you need.”

It might have been the fact that his younger friend was trying to act tough as he said that or that the youngest of the group joined in, but Taemin was left laughing as he shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ll just stick to the back. I don’t want to be in the big group…”

“They’d probably trample you.” An arm from his dreadlocked friend slung over his shoulder, followed by another from the rainbow boy. “We’ll stay with you. Forever and always.”

“Since when are you so sappy?”

“Shut it Sehun.”

“Are you sure you’re up to singing Taemin?” He nodded for the umpteenth time as Jinki was the last to ask the question out of the group, managers, and staff, ready to snap if anyone else did. “Okay then. Let’s have some fun then.”

The last part threw him off, completely not expecting it. With wide eyes, he looked back at the leader smiling at him. “What?”

“Have fun. This is one of the first times you’re getting to sing this, so enjoy it. Just remember that. Okay?” All he could do was nod, still completely mystified with the new reaction to him saying he would do something.

What got into hyung? No one else acted like that… They all babied me…

“Bucket…” Taemin only had to groan out the one word and what he asked for was in front of him in seconds. Which was the best he could have asked for as his stomach emptied itself into the plastic pail the others used for when they had a little too much to drink.

Around the room, the others tried to not cringe at all at the sound, but that was almost impossible. Only Jinki seemed immune to it by now, holding the bucket for Taemin with a steady hand as he rubbed the boy’s back with his other. “It’s okay… Can someone get a water bottle?”

There was a muffled reply before someone left the living room to race to the kitchen. Key appeared a few seconds later right next to Jinki opening the bottle as he stood there. As Taemin’s stomach calmed a little, he fell back onto the couch and just laid there as Key helped him drink a little water. Jinki disappeared and it was only a minute later that they heard water running in the bathroom as he cleaned the bucket once again. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t apologize for being sick.” Jonghyun looked at the small frame on the couch from where he sat on the floor a little away, completely ignoring Key standing between the two. “Just focus on feeling better. It’s Key’s day with you on Sunday, so you want to be feeling better for that, right?”

“Good morning Taemin.” Minho was the one to greet the youngest first when he walked into the kitchen, still half asleep. “Want some coffee?”

“Yeah…” In his eyes, the rapper was too awake for that early in the morning, no matter what anyone said. Only after throwing himself down in a chair did he looked around and notice something. “Where’s Key-hyung? Is he getting ready for our day together?”

The whole room froze up, even Jinki as he was in the middle of pouring milk into his coffee cup. The mug overflowed over his hand and into the sink, but he still didn’t react until Taemin stepped forward with a towel for him. “Um… Taemin?”

“Yeah hyung?” He looked at Minho with too-wide eyes and they could all feel the pain the rapper was experiencing from what he had to tell the boy.

“He had a schedule pop up today… He said he was sorry that he couldn’t take you out today, so I traded days with him…”

Attention turned to Taemin, waiting for some sort of reaction. But the boy only gave a little nod, his eyes getting a little less wide. “Oh… It’s okay. We are still going to have fun today, right?”

“Yeah.” Minho gave a half-hearted nod at first, before making it stronger as he looked at Taemin. “Yeah, we are.”

“An arcade?” Taemin looked from the neon-and-flashing-lights paradise to Minho and back, looking very much like a confused puppy with how wide and curious his eyes were. “Really?”

“I always told you I would take you sometime…” He was starting to regret his choice of plans when he figured Taemin didn’t actually like it.

And then the maknae gave a huge grin. “Come on! I want to play some games!” So I was right after all…

“Hyung! Let’s have a dance-off!” Taemin was bouncing in place while he pointed to the dance machine, all smiles and laughter and normal again.

“I’m gonna beat you Taeminnie.” It wasn’t the greatest idea, but Minho figured he’d let Taemin do what he wanted. This was the last of the things they were doing there anyways and he could rest later. “You ready to lose?”

“You wish hyung!” He gave a laugh before inserting their coins and pressing start, jumping quickly back to the place. “I’m so going to win! I’m the dance machine. This is nothing!”

As the song started, they both turned quiet to focus on hitting the arrows, neither missing one the entire beginning. While Taemin seemed a little more winded than he used to get from games like that, Minho had to admit he didn’t seem like anything was wrong. And it watching the boy, he missed the first one while Taemin just kept going. “See! I’m doing better than you now!”

“Shut it Minnie or I’ll push you off to win.” They both knew Minho wouldn’t actually do that so Taemin took the time to stick his tongue out at the elder, still not missing a step.

And when the song ended, the maknae was all smiles that he won. “I told you I’d win hyung.”

“I knew you would too.” Minho gave a smirk as they collected all of their tickets together. With a few thousand from their hours of being there, anything on the prize shelves could have been theirs.

“I want to big puppy…” Taemin looked at the small boy crying to his father about not having enough tickets for the largest toy there, but with the few he had clasped in his hand, it was obvious he wasn’t going to even get close.

“Hyung, can I have the tickets?” He didn’t care that he cut into Minho talking, still watching the boy as the stacks were handed over to him by the elder. “Thanks.” Ignoring the questions about what he was doing with them, Taemin walked over to the boy, whose cries had turned into full-out sobs. “Excuse me?”

The father looked up at him with a look of annoyance as the sobbing boy tried to stop a little. “What do you want?”

He gave a smile to both of them and held out the ticket stacks. “My friend and I spent the day here so we have a lot of tickets, but we’re too old to buy anything. Would you like them? The lady at the counter was saying there was enough to get anything up there…”

The boy’s face brightened obviously as he looked at all the little papers Taemin held out. “Really?” He nodded and a little hand tried to reach out for them all. “Thank you so much!”

Taemin only gave a little laugh as the kid had to use both arms to carry them all to the desk and animatedly pointing to the giant plush puppy to the lady. His father, however, stayed back by Taemin. “Who are you?”

“Lee Taemin.” He saw some sort of recognition in the man’s eyes and gave him a bigger smile before waving at the boy as he tried to run over with the toy larger than him. “I hope he enjoys that.”