Taemin bent down to tie his shoe laces as he was waiting at the main entrance of the school for Minho. They had planned to walk home together today, but Minho was taking a while to come out. Did he get detention?

Taemin was just about to give Minho a call when he heard someone shout his name. He turned around and is met with a panting Minho. Taemin ran down the front steps to where Minho was panting with his hands on his knees.

“What were you doing, hyung?” Taemin called to Minho with a waving hand.

“Sorry, I was running laps,” Minho said through pants.

Taemin nodded and smiled. He looked down at Minho who was still breathing heavily and giggled behind gritted teeth.

“I'm looking down on you, Minho.” Taemin ruffled Minho's hair like Minho always did to his own, messing up his already wavy hair.

Minho stood straight up and looked down on Taemin now, with the advantage of his height. He gave Taemin an eyebrow lift and smirked. “And now I'm looking down on you.”

Taemin pouted and placed his hands on his hip. He was about to talk back but Minho cut him off before he could even open his mouth.

“Anyway, let's go. I have something I have to tell you,” Minho said with not so much smile in his words. He started walking and turned back to look at Taemin, who was following quietly behind him.

“Oh,” Taemin said with a gulp. There was a prickly feeling in his palms as they start to sweat and he just knew what Minho was going to say say. It was bad news. And it was about him.

They walked down a street silently, not even a glance at each other. It was about two streets before Minho's bus stop when he started talking.

He started off with, “You know that I like you a lot, right?”

Taemin his lips that had dried in the sun. He cleared his throat and nodded.

“I know,” he confirmed.

Minho straightened his backpack and continued, “I also care about you a lot, too.”

“Yeah,” Taemin said with a hoarse voice. His fingers fiddled with the strap of his messenger bag as the atmosphere got more serious. He cleared his throat again and he blinked a couple times too, as they also felt dry.

They arrived at the bus stop and Minho stopped and turned around. He looked straight at Taemin with honest eyes. But Taemin only looked straight past Minho, at the bird flying high in the sky. He couldn't possibly look into Minho's eyes now, he'd die from the intensity of it.

But Minho didn't give up. He scooted over and blocked Taemin's view of the bird, forcing him to look only at him. The second Taemin's gaze landed on Minho's he continued talking.

He said, “So I want you to always be by my side, and—”

Taemin panicked. He broke eye contact, in fact he completely turned around, back towards Minho. He blinked again and again but the feeling of worry and discomfort just didn't go away. He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes all together.

He tried to block out Minho's needy voice but it was just too persistent. He turned Taemin around by the shoulders and called for his attention. He yelled Taemin's name and begged, “Listen to me Taemin, please!”

Taemin's eyes looked up at Minho's. He said, “Your bus is coming. You should get ready.”

Minho sneaked a peak behind Taemin and indeed, his bus was coming. It didn't matter though. He would miss however many buses it took for Taemin to listen.

“It doesn't matter. If I can't always be with you, then like me! Just like me a tenth of how much I like you and I'll be happy.” His brows pushed upwards in desperation to get Taemin to understand and to compromise. Exactly when did Minho become so...obsessed with Taemin?

Taemin hawed and clenched the hem of his jacket. He searched for words that seemed to be leaving him faster than he could spit them out. He whimpered and settled with, “Why does it have to be like that? Can't we just be friends?”

Minho's grip on Taemin's shoulder tightened and his heartbeat picked up pace. His head lowered dangerously close to Taemin face, only centimeters between his lips and Taemin's cheek. He whispered into Taemin's ear, “Because my little crush has already grown into love. And uncontrollably, it'll only continue to grow.”

Taemin shuddered from Minho's breath against his skin and tried to back away, but he can't pull away from Minho's hold. It was too strong. He was scared, he didn't know what to do. He had never experienced something this strong and bold. Heck, he hasn't even had his first crush yet. When something as big and suppressing as love is pushed down upon him, he'll only suffocate.

He tried to speak, and his voice started to crack. But he has to say something, to voice his thoughts. So with a cracked voice, he cried, “Your love is too strong, I'm suffocating. If it continues to grow I'll die from suffocation, hyung. Your love—”

Taemin stopped to think of a word he could use to describe Minho's feelings accurately. And for the first time today, he had something under control.

“—its like cancer. It'll continue to grow and grow and grow until—until I explode from it.”

Taemin steadied his breath and gulped. His heart was pounding madly against his ribcage when he realized that he said something he never thought he could pull off.

He stared into Minho's eyes for the first time during this whole dilemma voluntarily. And the second he did, he regretted it with his life. The look in Minho's eyes was indescribable. There was hurt, desire, regret, anger, desperation, stubbornness, selfishness and sadness all blended together with love into the intangible feeling his eyes gave off. The strange stir in his chest resurfaced from the time they were at the movies and caused Taemin a head rush. His eyes flashed white lights and it took a while to die down. And when it did, Taemin was in a difficult situation.

Minho had his arms wrapped around Taemin's shoulders and his chin was nuzzled right into the nook of his neck. He squeezed Taemin's small shoulders and groaned. With his eyes closed he mumbled, “You're wrong. It's not me, it's you. You're the cancer eating all my self-control and rendering me hopeless. Every look I take of you, a little bit inside of me blooms into a bud of love for you.”

Taemin gasped as the stir began to grow in his chest. Too much. He clenched his chest and whimpered. He cried in defeat as the tears threatened to flood his eyes. He surrendered. There was nothing he could do. Against something as foreign as love, it was like putting a newborn baby to war.

“Just kill me then, take me.” Taemin shut his eyes and let his tears soak his skin. He lets it all out.

Minho withdrew from his embrace and stared speechlessly at Taemin's crying face. His hand attempted to brush the tears that stained Taemin's face away, but the better part of him stopped it. It pondered what Taemin had just said, broken the words down and tried to read between the lines. But it was still confused. It muttered, “What?”

Taemin's eyes fluttered open and twinkled with the glossy effect of his tears. His finger pointed to his chest and quivered. He calculated, “It feel a strange stir here. And the feeling is spreading. I'm probably already infected with your love.”

Everything went silent. There was no noise. Only the sound of Taemin's breathing was heard through Minho's ears. His wavering eyes examined Taemin's glossy ones with prolonged carefulness. The meaning of what Taemin had just said slowly digested in Minho and he was finally enlightened.

“So you mean you—”

“Yes. Yes, I caught your disease.” Taemin gazed into Minho's orbs one last time before he removed them and plunged himself into Minho's chest. He clipped his hands onto Minho's back and pulled him as close as he could get. “Because I also want to do this.”

Words, really, what are words when love is place right in front of you with a ribbon tied on top? Minho dipped his head once again, into Taemin's neck and embraced him there for as long as time would offer him. He let his scent mingle and mesh together with the younger one's. He fondled the boy he loved with all his heart till the dusk dawned upon them.

Silently, he whispered, “Thank you.”
 

Riiiiing. Riiiiing. Onew's phone rang as he was in the middle of his sleep.

Lazily, he got out of his cozy bed to pick it up. He answered, “Hello?”

“Ah, hyung. I wanted to apologize.”

Onew sneezed from the chilly air of the night. He rubbed his nose and moaned, “What?”

“Sorry, I fell for his trap.”