The first bizarre thing that JongHyun noticed when he got to TaeMin’s house was that the car was parked in the driveway. It was a weekday which usually meant that TaeMin’s parents were out at work at this time. It could only mean that TaeMin had had another episode of fallen ill…

            His worries were confirmed when TaeMin’s mother answered the door. Her usually neat as a tack hair was in a slight disarray and bags had made a home under her big brown eyes. She’d probably been up all night catering to her son’s needs.

            “JongHyun~ah! I’m glad you stopped by! TaeMin needs some company,” she greeted.

            “I’m guessing he had an episode?” JongHyun asked while slipping off his shoes.

            “Yeah… He got too hot during a walk with MinHo a few days ago… He was almost better, but then everything suddenly got crazy,” she explained. “I had to take him to the doctor’s and they gave him a few tests and now he’s just resting…”

            “How is he now?”

            “He’s been up all night sick, but he slept all morning so he should be awake enough to see you. Just go right on up, hun – I’m going to finish up this laundry.” She stayed long enough to see JongHyun nod before going back to the clothes piled up in her basket. The faint reek coming off it told JongHyun that it was probably the clothes TaeMin had worn the night before.

            JongHyun took the stairs two at a time. It was quite dark upstairs, just the way TaeMin liked it when he was sick. He didn’t need a light to be able to find TaeMin’s room, though: the last door on the left.

            Out of courtesy, JongHyun knocked on the door rather than striding in as usual. If TaeMin was sleeping he didn’t want to be responsible for waking him up.

            “I’m fine, mom,” he heard TaeMin groan from the other side.

            “It’s not your mom, Tae,” JongHyun said, hiding his quiet chortles.

            “JongHyun hyung?”

            The elder boy nudged the door open, peeking in to look inside. A bucket was poised and ready for use by the bed, medications of all sorts littered the dresser and towels – amongst other garments – were hanging on the back of the chair and the edge of the bed.

            “Hey,” he greeted, stepping in and closing the door behind him.

            TaeMin was definitely an eyesore at the moment. It was nothing JongHyun hadn’t seen before, but it was still pitiful to see him this way.

            Grey circles carved into the skin beneath his eyes. His hair – usually so neat and straight – was scattered in a bunch of different directions and held back with a bandana in case he were to start vomiting again. His already skinny body looked like a pile of bones under the loose clothing he wore. And his skin had taken on such a ghastly shade of yellow-green that JongHyun had an urge to paint it with some skin coloured paint to put the life back into it.

            “What are you doing here?” TaeMin croaked.

            “I had some big news to share with you,” JongHyun answered. He pulled up a chair so he wouldn’t have to stand the whole time. “Good thing I came over, too. It looks like you’re preparing yourself for your funeral.”

            “Haha, you’re funny. As if you look any better. You’re resembling Smurfs more and more with that blue eye of yours… What happened?” TaeMin asked, his sarcastic tone melting into a concerned one.

            “I ran into a cupboard… But that’s not important, don’t you want to hear my big news?”

            TaeMin chuckled as loud as his weakened body could. “You ran into a cupboard?” he asked incredulously, completely ignoring the point JongHyun was trying to make.

            “TaeMin!”

            “Fine, I’m sorry hyung… What’s your big news? Did you find the cure to cancer?” TaeMin asked. Even though he was feeling like a truck hit him e could still crack a joke or two.

            “Not yet,” JongHyun admitted with a breathy laugh. “I came to tell you that I moved… I got evicted actually…” The last part of his sentence JongHyun tried to say more quietly. He wasn’t exactly proud of this bit of information. Saying it in front of his oldest and most treasured friend, too, after keeping it from him for so long was like bearing a piece of his soul to him.

            “You got evicted?” TaeMin gasped. It was obvious by the way he squirmed onto his side that he would have sat up if only he could. Unfortunately, his muscles just weren’t capable of performing this particular action. The only thing they were able to do at the moment was roll and hurl.

            “Yeah… A few days ago. But don’t worry! I already found a place to live in. Onew hyung invited me to stay with him in his place above the store. It’s really nice, too.”

            All of this went in one ear and out the other with the teenager. He was still focused on the ‘eviction’ part of JongHyun’s explanation. “W-what do you mean you got evicted, hyung?” he whispered since his throat was raw (courtesy to the night of heaving he’d had).

            JongHyun decided it was the right time to tell TaeMin about everything that he’d kept secret from him. “Well, you see…” he started. He kicked off with the money troubles that had piled up every since he’d had the falling out with his family. Considering he’d been financially dependent on them, the separation had hit him hard. Being unemployed for a couple months had made him so far behind on his students loans that he’d barely been able to buy the apartment he’d lived in prior to moving in with Onew. Everything from then on had just been an uphill struggle for him.

            By the time JongHyun had finished his story TaeMin was looking dazed. Like he’d taken two weeks’ worth of his medication all at once and downed a large bottle of Mountain Dew right after.

            “TaeMinnie?” The elder whispered, resorting to his old nickname for him because of how nervous he was.

            “H-how… W-what…” TaeMin took in a deep breath. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? You know we’d help you out if you were in trouble…”

            “I know… But I couldn’t bear to admit how bad my situation was. Especially not to you guys.”

            “Hyung, I’m a talking skeleton in front of you right now… Don’t be afraid to show when you’re in trouble.” His voice weaned off with a wheezy squeak. His tiny body was rocked with vicious, dry coughs that made it seem like he would break in half at any given second.

            “You okay?” JongHyun asked when the fit had passed.

            TaeMin’s head bobbed in small nod. The energy he’d built up during his hours of sleep was already beginning to fade away it seemed. His head was sinking deeper and deeper into his pillows if that was even possible.

            “Listen, I’ll leave my new address and number with your mom, okay? When you’re feeling better you can come visit,” JongHyun said. He rose from his chair, angling himself towards the door.

            “Okay… Don’t stress hyung…” TaeMin whispered, halfway gone into his slumber already.

            “Get better, TaeMinnie.” With a final ruffle of the sick boy’s hair, JongHyun tip-toed out of the room. He took care of all he had promised TaeMin with his mother and excused himself so he could go see EunJi and tell her what was going on. With his new income and student loans nearly paid off, he had no need for the second job, he confirmed.

            Things were finally starting to look pretty good…

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Triple update! In celebratin of my new shirt ! keke Now my fingers are sore TAT Stupid carpol tunnel....