Requested by anon on tumblr | 2min "It hurts to find out that what you wanted doesn't match what you dreamed it would be." - Randy K. Millholland

When Minho first imagined falling in love, when he was only a boy and still happy, he imagined a beautiful woman that he could hold in his arms, make her feel safe, and whisper sweet nothings into her ear. He imagined a simple, and easy going relationship. He imagined living in a large home and having plenty of space for their children to run around.

Now, however, as he stands in their ratty, old apartment, facing his boyfriend who is screaming at him for accidentally ruining his favorite white t-shirt by idiotically putting in his red briefs with it in the wash, he thinks back to how none of this is how he imagined it would be at all.

Taemin is currently shooting glares at him, and if looks could kill, Minho would have been gone and buried, rotting in the ground long ago – when all of this began. The boy in front of him sighs, running a hand through his bleach blond hair, frustrated and still fuming.

“Just – just don't it up again. God, that's all you do is mess things up.” he hisses, finality in his tone as he turns on his heels and storms off to the bedroom, slamming it harshly behind his tense figure. Swallowing thickly, Minho rubs a calloused hand over his face, tired and aggravated.

Why can't we just be okay?

It wasn't always like this, with Taemin constantly on edge and Minho constantly doing something to set his lover off. When they first met, three years ago when Taemin was a struggling dancer and Minho still owned his theater in town, things were exactly as he imagined them to be, minus the beautiful woman. But Minho had been okay with that, because the boy he feel head over heels in love with was prettier than any woman he had ever come across.

He had been walking down the street when he saw the boy dancing, a crowd standing around him in awe of his fluid movements and remarkable talent. Equally as impressed as the crowd, Minho had simply left his business card in the tip jar, hiding it within the hefty amount of a fifty dollar bill he also had the generosity to leave.

Within the afternoon, he received a call, and the rest was history. Taemin was a prodigy within the theater, quickly gaining the recognition he deserved in the plays and scores Minho got him into. After a while, he had realized the beautiful boy's voice wasn't too shabby either, and Taemin skyrocketed through the ranks even faster after that. Soon, he was a lead in every musical the theater put on, and even had a fan base in the frequent visitors of the theater.

Things were going great, Minho discovered his feelings, confessed his heart over a fancy dinner, and got the boy of his dreams. Taemin was everything he could ask for and more, giving him his undying devotion and care in return for Minho's. It wasn't long after that that they moved in together, and Minho knew it was exactly what he had been looking for his entire life.

But then, one night after they had just finished making love and lay sweaty and spent, curled up together in the most intimate of positions, Minho received a phone call. His father had died – a heart-attack, the doctor said – and he needed to come to the hospital as soon as possible.

It took several minutes, what felt like hours to Minho, for Taemin to coax the phone from his hand and lead the shocked man to their car, where Taemin drove as Minho cried into his hands. When they arrived, his brothers and lawyer were already there; his mother had died when Minho was a teenager, so they were the only ones.

After weeping for an hour next to his father's cold side, he was forced to part ways and proceed with helping make plans for the funeral. It was finally then that he was told that his father was in horrible debt, and his brother left him to pay it all off.

The theater was sold, their large apartment and brand new car sold, all of their unnecessary belongs sold. Taemin and Minho were left with the bare minimum, barely having enough to survive on until Taemin finally scrounged up a job as a dance instructor at a small dance school.

Now, they're doing okay, but the damage has already been done and there's a deeper rift than ever before. Minho loves Taemin, and he knows Taemin still loves him, but it's almost as if Taemin blames him for their fall from luxury, as it's almost as if that was the only reason Taemin loved him in the first place. It hurts Minho to think that way, but he can't help it.

Sighing quietly to himself, he trudges after the boy, knocking gently on their bedroom door before twisting the squeaky knob and opening it. “Tae,” he murmurs, and the boy who is laying face down on the bed lifts his head. There are tears, and Minho feels his chest constrict.

He walks over and sits on the bed with the awful spring mattress, pulling his smaller lover into his arms and pressing butterfly soft kisses to his tear-stained cheeks. He feels his own welling up as his eyes begin to sting, and chokes out useless apologies. “I'm sorry, so sorry. I want to give you everything, I want to give you the world, but I can't. Not anymore. I'm so sorry.” he whispers into the blond locks, and Taemin wraps his arms around the elder's waist, gently and intimately, almost like they used to me.

“No, no.. I'm sorry for being so short with you. It's just, I'm so angry.. Not with you, but your father and family. I hate what they've done to you – done to us – and if I could give you everything you've lost back, I would in a heartbeat.” He responds, voice laced with tears and regret.

Minho simply chuckles into the boy's hair, tears wetting the matted locks. “All I need is you. I don't need any of it as long as I still have you. Please, come back to me. Let me love you and take care of you.” He whispers, squeezing Taemin to his chest and holding him there, never wanting to let go.

Taemin lets out a shuttery sigh, and then Minho can feel the head nodding, locks of hair tickling his face and throat as the boy presses light kisses to his neck. “Alright, okay.” He breathes into Minho's collarbone, before pulling away and speaking desperately before pressing his lips to Minho's passionately.

“Love me.”