"Psst!"

"Hmm?" 

"Minho hyung!" 

"What..." 

"It's me! It's Taemin! From soccer! Do you remember me?" 

"Why..." 

"I'm Mrs. Lee's son...you looked lonely." 

"I did?"

"Your parents are getting lunch and my mom is over in that corner so maybe I could keep you company?"

Five days into his stay, a tear exhausted, naseous Minho saw a shadow behind the door. He wondered who it could be. The shadow seemed to be second guessing itself. The shadow would come closer, but then disappear. Minho kept trying to crane his sore neck to see who the figure was that controlled such a shy shadow. Minho siged. Just then out popped that familiar, but still not too unfamiliar brown wavy hair. The eyes were the shapes of almonds. Minho, for the first time, felt the smallest of smiles creep to his face. Was the person he had been waiting for.

Was this a dream? No it wasn't because Taemin had been speaking. Minho of course remembered the small boy who he bumped into after their first game. Minho had completely forgotten that Taemin was the son of the Mrs. Lee, the nurse who took care of him a lot. He wondered why, since he sees Taemin's mom a lot, why he hadn't gotten to know Taemin better. Minho didn't know why, but he thought about the boy a lot. As Taemin inched towards the bed, Minho was able to see him more clearly under the very harsh hospital lights.The boy had long legs and was rather skinny. His hips were very narrow and a pair of slighly too short khakis hung on that tucked in part of his frame. Taemin was obviously shorter than Minho, but still managed to have long, toothpick like limbs despite his height. Taemin had a lot of hair on his head, a sandy brown color, very unusual for a young Korean boy who had not yet hit his "I'm an individual and thus I shalt not haveth black hair" phase. It was wavy, similar to Minho's hair although not as long. Taemin's eyes and nose were the things that stood out for Minho the most. Taemin had such soft features and for some reason calmed Minho's head pounding. His eyes were very large and innocent and of greyish-brown color. He had gentle eyebrows set above them and had a worried crinkle in his forehead, a crinkle that no boy so young should have. His nose had a soft curve to it and was very unusual as well. Taemin had very natural and graceful movements, unlike Minho who was very tall and awkward and didn't really know what to do with his limbs. Minho was staring at Taemin very intensely trying to concentrate on the very real person standing in front of him. 

Taemin's mom was the nurse watching over Minho, and he comfortable enough to stay with her while his parents ate and breathed the fresh outdoor air they deserved. 

"Taemin ah, if Minho is tired, then let him rest." Mrs. Lee said to her son. Taemin sighed and stepped closer to Minho. 

"He's awake. Besides he looks like he needs a friend." Taemin said, smiling. Minho thought he was rather odd, but still there was something about Taemin that made him happy. 

Taemin pulled up a chair and sat right next to Minho's bed. Taemin was able to take in what Minho looked like up close. Minho had a small face. He was much paler than before. Minho had a layers of dark circles underneath his eyes but Taemin was still in awe of Minho's huge brown irises and long eyelashes. 

"Hi." Taemin said cheerfully, trying to find a comfortable position in the chair considering his current height prohibited him from reaching the floor with his feet. He settled on sitting cross legged in the chair and continued to stare at Minho. Taemin couldn't believe he was face to face with the boy he had been admiring since they met at the first soccer game. 

"Hi..." Minho didn't really know what to say. Minho suddenly felt the urge to arch his tired back and when he did so, the clanking of metal and the brush of cold wire on his bare skin reminded him what he was hooked up to. The neck of his hospital gown slipped down a bit, revealing the top of the newly stiched up, red scar that was covered in betadine and translucent binding to keep it from becoming infected. 

Taemin saw it and immediately thought back to when he walked into the room and witnessed Minho's chest tube being taken out. Taemin leaned back away from Minho a bit and felt himself shiver, but immediately regretted it when he saw tears and hurt well up in Minho's enormous eyes. Minho thought that Taemin was scared or disgusted by him and he was terrified that Taemin saw him as an experiment. 

"Hyung...I'm sorry. It just looks painful. I don't think it's gross. It's a battle scar, right? It's cool!" Taemin said, frantically searching for explanatory words. Minho didn't need someone to be freaked out, he needed a friend. 

"You're not? I think it's ugly. It's never going to go away." Minho said quietly. 

"Maybe not, but it shows how brave you are." Taemin said, matter-of-factly. 

"My friends will never want to see me. I have all of these scars." Minho mumbled. 

"Jonghyun hyung was here. He had to drop me off and didn't know if you wanted a visit...but they all miss you." Taemin said trying to reassure Minho that him being here did not change the fact that his friends were still his friends. 

"He was here?" Minho asked, slightly hurt that Jonghyun didn't want to see him. Minho didn't want anyone to visit, but at the same time, wished they would. He knew though that there was nothing pleasant about seeing someone hooked up to beeping machines wearing a stale hospital gown. Really nothing. 

"Yeah. Kibum hyung and Jinki hyung miss you too. I don't get to see you at school so I'm glad I'm seeing you now." Taemin said quickly, immediately blushing afterwards. "I mean...I..." 

"I'm glad you're here, Taemin." Minho said tiredly, blushing a bit himself. 

A few minutes later, another nurse came take his vitals and draw blood. Taemin tried his best not to look away so he wouldn't make Minho feel alone. He smiled and looked straight into Minho's eyes. Minho didn't know what he was feeling, but he was glad Taemin was there. 

After a few visits from nurses, Taemin and Minho were playing Connect Four on Mrs. Lee's iPhone and talking. Christmas had passed and Minho was really devestated that he and his family couldn't celebrate the way they always did. However, the nurses set up a small tree with presents under it so whenever Minho felt up to it, they could celebrate. 

"I think I want to celebrate Christmas tonight, will you be here?" Minho asked shyly. 

"That would be fun! But I didn't get you a present..." Taemin said, looking down at his dangling feet. 

"I don't really need anything." Minho said pretending to concentrate on the game. He felt nervous looking into Taemin's eyes. 

"I'm sleeping at the hospital tonight so I can come if you want me to." Taemin said happily. 

"You sleep here?" Minho asked in surprise. 

"Yeah, my mom works these late hours a lot and my hyung has to study for school so it's easier for me to stay here with my mom. It's kind of fun. I get to sleep in a cool bunk bed and I can play PC games and I get all of the hospital socks with the grips on the bottom that I want." Taemin said excitedly, making Minho laugh. Taemin and Minho both looked at each other in surprise. Minho laughed and felt happy. Taemin couldn't comprehend how magnificent it felt to make the older boy smile and laugh. 

"What about your appa?" Minho asked. Suddenly, Taemin's smile was wiped away and was replaced with a look Minho couldn't read. 

"I know anything about him. He's not around. Taesun and my umma know why he's not here, but they won't tell me." Taemin said. Luckily, the boys were talking quiet enough that Taemin's mom couldn't hear the words they were saying. Minho stared at Taemin, who was looking down again. He couldn't even imagine not having a father around. He felt sad for Taemin and wished he didn't mention anything. Minho was going to speak again, when his parents entered the room. 

"Minho aegi! How are you my love?" Mrs. Choi asked her son. 

"I'm tired but Taemin has been keeping me company. I was wonderig if we could have Christmas today and if Taemin could stay." Minho smiled at his parents. 

"Ah! Taemin ah! Lovely to see you! Thank you for keeping him company! Of course we can and we would love if Taemin and his umma would stay." Mr. Choi said, patting Taemin on the back. 

A while later, Minho was in a wheelchair, snuggled in a blanket next to the tree. Taemin was sitting next to him. Both Taesun and Minseok arrived to celebrate as well. The two teenagers picked up more presents for Taemin and Minho to put under the tree. They were all handing out presents to each other when Taemin remembered something. He ran down the hallway to the quarters he would be staying in that night. He went over to his duffle that was sitting on the bed and ped it. On top of all of the clothes was a red card lined with silver sparkly paper. The front of the card with neat penmanship read out "Min-ho-ho-ho Merry Christmas!" in golden sharpie. Taemin ran back to the hospital room, shyly saying hello to the other nurses and doctors he knew as he passed them. He arrived back to the room and gave Minho the card. 

Minho read it and immediately felt overwhelmed. It was a handmade card made by Kibum, Jonghyun, Jinki, and even Taemin had left notes in the card. 

Minho ah~ I miss you a lot. I think about you everyday and I can't wait until you are home so I can come visit. Everything is good here. I'm sending lots of wishes so you'll feel better soon. I will visit as much as you want me to! Oh! I am trying to gain the courage to tell Jinki hyung that I like him~ maybe you could help me? 

                                                                     Love, Kibummie 

MINHO!!!! I miss you a lot! It's really not the same without you. When you feel up to it, maybe we could watch soccer together! And eat food! And play videogames! I'll come over and make sure you are having fun! I don't know what else to say but I can't wait to visit you~ 

                                 Loveeeee, Jjong

Hi Minho ah~ How are you feeling? I hope you aren't too lonely. Taeminnie said he's seen you since his mom works there. I hope he gets to keep you company. I really miss you! If you ever need help in math ask me! Keke but seriously I want to visit you when you get better! We are all waiting for you when you get home. 

                                                 With love and wishes~ Your Jinki hyung 

Hi Minho hyung! We haven't seen each other since soccer season ended, but I knew I wanted to come visit you. Please don't be sad. I'll help you feel better and keep you company! We can play games and you can show me who is who on Manchester United and all that stuff. I don't know you that well but I want to! You are a very special hyung to me! 

                                                                                                Should I write love here? Taeminnie ^____^

Minho didn't know what to say because he felt the a bit of the weight of lonliness lift from his shoulders. He looked at Taemin and didn't say anything, but Taemin knew exactly what he wanted to say and nodded and smiled. 

A/N: sorry for the wait! im finally on break and feeling better and had energy to finish and yeah! Hope you like this chapter! THanks for reading!!!