I wasn't intending on writing anything today because I am so tired since I slept so terribly last night (which may have been a little bit of the inspiration for this one-shot today) but when I saw that The Showdown had broke 6000 views I decided that I should do something to commemorate the occasion. 

#12 – Tea

Taemin was nervous. 

He had been broken, physically, mentally and emotionally, he had been torn apart by their former manager.  Now, forced to endure over a year of intense recovery and therapy (both physical and emotional) he was emerging as something stronger, born new to be a man who was not afraid to share everything of himself and not afraid of what others might think anymore.  His friends and trainers had helped to put him back together again so that he could continue to pursue his dream with SHINee.

His re-debut as they were calling it was coming up.  One week away, and they were working hard in the studio trying to perfect dance moves and harmonies and a new dance solo for Taemin to show the rest of the world that he hadn’t lost his skills during his time off. 

But despite the exhausting practices, that still left him more tired than he would have been before, Taemin found himself lying awake in the middle of the night, unable to fall asleep. 

He sighed and slipped his hand from Key’s slack palm and quietly left the room, pulling a hoodie over his head to fight against the chill of the night air in the still apartment.

He wandered through their living room and straightened a couple of things, picking the remote up off of the floor, closing books laying open on the coffee table after marking the place of the reader, picking up pillows that lay scattered on the floor and arranging them as well as he could on the couch.   

He sat down on the edge of the cushions and looked around seeing nothing else to do.

He could hear his other members in the silent night.  Light snores drifting from Onew’s room and slightly heavy breathing accented by the occasional cough from Minho and Jonghyun’s room down the hall from the two who were struggling to fight off a cold before their comeback stage but the cold and damp weather wasn’t helping any. 

Taemin slumped back against the couch back.  I just want to fall asleep. He mentally whined, running a hand over his face and ruffling up his hair. 

When he removed his hand he snickered a little bit. 

Standing to the side of the couch was a tired looking Key.  The rapper pouted at the dancer and quickly moved to curl up next to the younger man on the couch. 

“It was cold alone in bed, it woke me up.”  He said quietly, trying not to rouse any of the others.

“Why didn’t you put on a sweater or something?  Pull one of the blankets off of the bed?”

“I just wanted to find you and get you back to bed.”  He gently fixed some out of place hairs on Taemin’s head.  “Trouble sleeping?”

“Yeah, haven’t been able to drift off tonight.” Taemin sighed and laid his head on Kibum’s shoulder.  “I’m tired, but I just can’t seem to shut my mind off tonight…”

“Nervous?”

“I’m always nervous at a comeback, but this is worse.  I don’t think I was this freaked out about our debut…”

“It’s alright you know.  We’re all nervous.  And you’ve been gone for a while.  You haven’t been in the media spotlight; you got a break from everything and had time to just be Taemin for a while.  Now you’re being forced back into everything, I would be way worse than you if it were me.”  Kibum kissed Taemin’s temple, “But if I were you I don’t think I would be strong enough to come back this soon, or ever really.  I would be too afraid of facing all of this given what you’ve been through.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“Actually, it’s you who doesn’t give yourself enough credit.”  Key picked up Taemin’s hand and started playing with the younger man’s fingers and drawing lines on his palm.  “You are so much stronger than you think, than you let others see.  You’re the bravest person I know.”

Taemin pulled Kibum into a hug.  “I love you Kibum.” 

“Love you too,” he replied.  He pulled back then and stood up, tugging on Taemin’s hand within his own, “Now come on, I know the perfect thing to help you get to sleep.”

Taemin was dragged into the kitchen were Kibum sat him at the table and headed for the cabinet that held a wide collection of teas.  It was usually only Onew and Kibum who went into that cabinet so Taemin didn’t even know what was in there really.

“Ah Ha!” Key quietly exclaimed, finding the box that he was looking for.  And he quickly set about brewing some tea. 

Taemin watched as Kibum moved effortlessly around the kitchen and for a moment his mind wandered.  He wondered if it would always be like this.  If this is what his life would be like.  If he and Kibum would make it through and stay together as Taemin so desperately wished that they would.  For a moment he saw their lives like this.  Helping each other out, sitting and talking with each other no matter the time of night, just knowing when the other needed comfort and being there to offer it to each other without being needed to be asked. 

He smiled at the thought, it sounded perfect to him. 

Kibum turned around to lean against the counter and faced Taemin, the tea kettle heating up on the stove. 

“What’s that look?” 

Taemin just shook his head but couldn’t clear the smile from his face. 

Kibum just shook his head, “I’ll figure it out eventually you know.”

“Probably,” the dancer said with a smile on his face.

Whatever Kibum was going to saw was stopped by the beginning shrieks of the kettle which the man jumped to silence before it woke someone else up. 

After a few more minutes of working with the steeping tea, a gently steaming mug was placed in front of Taemin on the table. 

“Chamomile and a little bit of licorice.” Kibum explained, “It tastes really good and it is really good for calming you down and helping to ease you to sleep.”

Kibum took a sip of his own as he sat down on the other side of the table, facing Taemin. 

Taemin blew gently on the hot liquid before gingerly sipping it.  The smooth taste flowed easily down his throat and Taemin savored the unique taste. 

“It’s good,” he said simply.

The two sat there in silence and enjoyed their tea, holding hands on top of the table and enjoying their time together. 

Taemin’s eyelids began to droop and Kibum quietly cleared their mugs and placed him in the sink to be cleaned in the morning. 

They made their way back down the hallway to their bedroom, curled up under the covers and slipped away to sleep finally.

So, like always, let me know what you think!