"I'm free tonight. Same hotel?"

"Is it from a woman?" Taemin asked when he saw the message on display.

"Of course, it's from a woman," Minho answered with a hint of irritation. Why should he get such a message from a man? Why could Taemin even consider that this message could be from a man?

"Are you going?"

"Can you stay home alone for a while?" For a short moment, he thought of calling Onew to come over. Yet for some reasons, he erased this idea.

"That's not what this is about," Taemin replied.

"Then what is it about?" Minho asked but feared to know the answer to his own question.

"Will you continue seeing others?"

Minho was right. He knew this conversation was overdue. Still, he had hoped to delay it as long as possible.

"Do you expect me not to?"

To counter a question with a counter question, an ever-working strategy which Taemin immediately noticed. But the younger could play this game as well.

"And what would you think about me dating other men? Because last time a man kissed me, you broke my leg. Remember?" Taemin got right to the point.

"Is that what you’re expecting me to do? That we would love each other? Like… for real?"

"What if I do?" That was the moment Taemin noticed he went way overboard. He should silent urgently. He knew that. Yet, he couldn’t help it. He was fired up for Minho’s response.

"I'm not gay, Kibum. For God’s sake." Minho literally screamed as if he wanted the world to hear. "Do you expect me to never have again?"

"Because you and I, that will never happen. Do you hear me?" Minho lowered this voice after a short pause.

"I got it." Taemin replied, looking straight at Minho as a certification. Minho escapes from his house right away as he couldn’t bear seeing that sad expression on the younger’s face.  

Arrived at the hotel, Minho couldn’t forget the argument. For some reason, he had forgotten how much he hated that Kim Kibum person at the beginning. When did he start to care so much about that boy’s feelings? He had never given a damn about others. He shouldn’t start doing it now. Empathy was poison for business. Because that's so ... human.

"What's wrong with you today?" A female voice disturbed his thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Minho sighed.

"You are not… into it," the young woman said as she lifted her head from between his legs.

"Got someone you like?" This question annoyed Minho. Why did everybody want to talk about feeling today?

"What bull are you talking about?"

"Well, your little man doesn’t want to wake up. That’s never happened before, " she chuckled.

"Then maybe you’re not trying hard enough."

“Oh honey, I’m not the one who’s not hard enough,” she said, mocking.

“Be careful,” Minho warned, grabbing her by her neck.

“Calm down. I just meant I can’t do anything if it’s not me you want to ." The woman explained through her breaths.

She might be right, but that was something Minho would never admit. Nevertheless, it was a clear sign when you're thinking about the fight with your fake husband while a star was lying in your bed.

"Where are you going?" She asked as Minho let go and got dressed.

"Home,” Minho stated before leaving.

Ever since the first day, Taemin had already thought that Minho's living room was way too large, even for such a residence. But as he waited for the elders, the room even seemed to expand. He should be familiar with being home by himself. Yet the last weeks he hadn’t spent one minute alone. Taemin had almost forgotten how much he hated to be alone.

When Minho was finally home, Taemin wanted to ask so many things.

"Where have you been?"

"Whom did you meet?"

"Did you sleep with her?"

But he fell silent. He felt Minho's staring behind his back.

"Do you want to say something?"

"Do you want to apologize?"

"Do you even feel guilty?"

Second, by second the silence became unbearable.

"Can you help me stand up?" And Taemin broke it.

Minho didn’t say a word. Yet he approached Taemin to help. Close up, he noticed Taemin's red nose. Did Taemin cry? Or maybe just an allergy? If he cried, his eyes would be red too. Lost in his thoughts, Minho didn’t realize how close they came. Their eyes couldn’t escape each other. Their breath was synchronized. Finally, their lips touched. Taemin's warmth and the bittersweet taste of Chardonnay – Taemin’s favorite wine. Minho needed more of it.

Jonghyun put down the test tube with a grin as someone knocked on his lab. He had been looking forward to it all day.

"Jjong, are you ready?" Jonghyun smiled even wider when he heard Key's voice.

"God, I love men in white coats," Key added. "You look so y."

"What’s y about this? It's nerdish." Jonghyun blushed.

"I love nerds," Key said.

"You're really strange, you know that?"

"I’m not strange. I’m a limited edition." Key joked, looking around. Did all doctorands at an elite university get such a large and modern laboratory? Or was that the privilege of a minister’s son?

"Is this all researches for your dissertation?" The younger joked.

"Yes, everything except for this DNA analysis. I’m doing my dad a favor."

That sounded suspicious to Key. Why did the minister ask his son to do the test when he surely had professional staffs for that? Did it concern the investigation against his father?

“Your father? Is it for an i