TaeMin bounced around excitedly in his seat. He watched the stores lining the street in anticipation. He had no clue where they were going but MinHo probably had something great planned out.

            When the anxiousness got too much for the young boy to tolerate he asked, “Hyung, where are we going?”

            MinHo grinned at TaeMin, staring at him from the corner of his eye.

            “Yah, TaeMin~ah! I told you already, it’s a surprise.”

            “You only said that back at the store to shut me up… I’m still sorry, you know… I should have noticed that weren’t in a good mood…” TaeMin hung his head, recalling what had happened earlier…

            “Hyung! Wait! I have to bring this to JongHyun hyung!” TaeMin yelled, racing down the stairs with a text book clutched tight in his hands. He stood at the bottom of the stairs to catch his breath which allowed MinHo to get a good look at him. He was cute with his long hair all mussed up like that.

            “JongHyun hyung’s been looking for this all morning,” TaeMin said, his shoes already being slipped on. He was about to step out just like that but MinHo stopped him.

            “Yah! Don’t think I’m letting you out like that. JongHyun hyung gave me strict orders about this. Get a sweater and I’ll get an umbrella,” MinHo said, gently nudging the younger boy backwards. TaeMin let out a huff but complied nonetheless.

            He was dressed in under a minute, waiting by the door impatiently while MinHo approached him with an umbrella and his pump. He’d been told horror stories about some of TaeMin’s episodes by JongHyun and he did not want to be helpless if TaeMin suddenly happened. It was quite sad actually… MinHo knew TaeMin’s health had been in poor condition during junior high but it seemed to have gotten worse over the years they’d been apart.

            “Hyung!”

            TaeMin’s loud voice brought MinHo back to reality and he hurried to get ready. They made it to his car with only a few drops of rain managing to reach past the umbrella. MinHo blasted the heat in the car so TaeMin could begin to warm up. The car was shifted into gear and the two headed off down the road.

            After a while, MinHo asked, “So where exactly are we going?”

            “The store. JongHyun hyung said he was going there to check if his book was there,” TaeMin answered.

            “Where does he work?”

            “Take a left here.”

            The car turned, bringing them onto a whole different street. A few turns later and the store was in sight.

            The whole ride down this street had been agonizingly tense. MinHo’s grip on the wheel had tightened significantly, turning his knuckled white; his jaw was clenched and he didn’t’ dare take his eyes off the road. TaeMin found it all very strange and actually began fidgeting from the greatness of his discomfort.

            “R-right here; the store with the pink sign,” TaeMin instructed.

            It seemed as if a vortex opened and all the happiness out of the car. TaeMin unbuckled his seat belt with slightly shaking hands. He stepped out of the car, turning back to briefly ask, “Are you going to come?”

            “No.”

            TaeMin cringed and mumbled an okay, slamming the door shut. He flipped his hair out of his face quickly before streaking off into the store. He tried to be quick so as to not let MinHo wait long. He hadn’t even cut the engine in the time that TaeMin was gone. The door had barely closed when MinHo stepped on the gas.

            “Hyung, are you okay?” TaeMin asked.

            No answer came until MinHo turned the corner and the store was completely out of sigh. Once they were a good mile away the smile returned to MinHo’s face. His hand moved from the gear shift and settled over top of TaeMin’s.

            “Sorry I was such a grump,” he apologized.

            TaeMin nervously smiled back and tried to go back to his normal, happy-go-lucky self.

            “It’s fine,” he said even if he did still feel that slight discomfort in the pit of his stomach.

The car cruised gently along the smooth tarmac (thank-you summer construction) until a movie theatre came into view. Every bit of awkwardness TaeMin had felt earlier completely disappeared. Excitement broke the surface and bubbled out in uncontrollable portions.

            “Yah! Hyung! Are we going to watch a movie?” he asked.

            MinHo chuckled and nodded. He stepped out of the car, moving to the other side to open TaeMin’s door. The umbrella was already open and waiting to shield him for the short walk from the car to the building.

            In the lobby TaeMin couldn’t stop his questions from pouring out.

            “What movie are we watching? Can we get candy? Do they have banana milk here?” he asked excitedly.

            The older boy tried to fit in a response somewhere in between his questions but he was just speaking too quickly. He walked until all the questions were out of his system before beginning to answer.

            “We can watch any movie you want; eat anything you want – and I think they do have banana milk here,” he finally managed to say.

            The happy smile on TaeMin’s face made the whole outing worth it. The previous tension disappeared as they studied the posters advertising their respective movies. They settle upon a comedy (MinHo had tried convincing him to watch a horror flick but the young boy just wouldn’t cave). Neither boy really knew what it was about but it looked decent enough for their little outing.

            With their tickets purchased they headed off to the concession stand where MinHo saw TaeMin ogling every single candy. The glass case didn’t stop him from trying to grab the sweets he wanted.

            His finger pointed at the gummy bears, sour patch kids, sour cherry blasters – everything. While he was distracted by the variety of choices he had, MinHo asked one of the cashiers if he could have a couple cartons of banana milk.

            “Hyung, what are you – is that banana milk?!” TaeMin squealed.

            The laugh that escaped MinHo was a very joyful one. There should have been a law against the aegyo he was pulling off at the moment. His chocolate brown eyes widened to the size of eggs. Jubejubes practically swan around in his corneas as he stared at MinHo with admiration.

            “Yes, it is banana milk,” MinHo confirmed. “Now pick your candy; the movie’s about to start.”

            It took longer than MinHo expected to pick out the candy. In the end, they walked away with the hands full of a bit of each thing they saw.

The trailers were already rolling when they took their seats in the near empty theatre.

            The air around the two boys was calm and friendly. TaeMin sipped at his banana milk in utter joy as he watched the moving pictures. MinHo tried to focus on the movie when it started, but he couldn’t stop looking at the young boy. The way his smile lit up his whole face and his hair hung around his face. He loved the length of his hair… So long and framing his cute, chubby cheeks.

            “Hyung…” TaeMin’s soft whispered snapped MinHo out of his thoughts. He turned his gaze to him with a quirked eyebrow.

            “Are you going to drink your banana milk?” he asked.

            MinHo laughed and passed his carton over to TaeMin.

            “Have it,” he said.

            The dancer smiled in delight and sipped at the drink furiously. The movie went on and MinHo still couldn’t stop sneaking glances at TaeMin. From the minute he’d met him in junior high he knew he liked him. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to tell him that secret until he learned more about the him now. And even then, he wouldn’t be able to tell him his darkest secret…