JongHyun had debated whether or not to follow the ambulance to the hospital. In the end he’d decided not to and just headed home. Key probably didn’t want anything to do with him at the moment anyway. So instead of follow after the yellow van he set back on foot and traipsed off to TaeMin’s house.

            Considering that TaeMin’s parents weren’t home he just walked right in. Being an older brother figure to him had its advantages. He got to hand out at TaeMin’s house, eat his food and really just chill with his best friend. It was great!

            “TaeMinnie! Are you here?” JongHyun called, climbing up the stairs to reach his room.

            There was some shuffling upstairs before JongHyun heard TaeMin’s voice squeak an answer to him.

            “I’m in my room, hyung!”

            That was odd; his voice sounded strained. The more JongHyun neared the room the weirder it got. By now TaeMin was usually meeting him in the middle of the stair way and he would have been nearly killing them both by tackle hugging him.

            The rustling and giggling coming from TaeMin’s room wasn’t doing anything to put him more at ease either.

            “TaeMin?” JongHyun asked, closing in on his door.

            “I-I’m in here hy – ah!” TaeMin let out a little squeal and giggle and another giggle accompanied it.

            Worried about his dongsaeng, JongHyun cleared the hallway in four long strides before pushing open the door. He was ready to fight, to scream, to defend TaeMin with everything he had against whoever was possibly violating him (willingly or not) but he was surprised to see TaeMin a good meter and a half from the person in the room with him.

            He was met with first TaeMin’s bright smiling face and studied it closely to make sure it wasn’t bruised or anything before turning to stare at the other guy.

            Even by sitting JongHyun could tell that this stranger was tall. That pissed him off. Hi face was adorned with big, bugging brown eyes and a wide smile. He had dark hair, waving down to his shoulder to polish off that tall, dark and handsome thing he had going on. This guy was everything JongHyun didn’t want for TaeMin (and simply just because it was everything he wasn’t) which is why his own brown eyes narrowed at him.

            “Who’s this?” he asked suspiciously.

            Oblivious to the different tone in JongHyun’s voice, TaeMin began to introduce the two to each other in his normal, chipper self.

            “Hyung! This is MinHo hyung! We met back in elementary school but I haven’t seen him since junior high since he graduated before me and went to a different high school,” he said.

            JongHyun continued to stare suspiciously at MinHo. He seemed to be normal with his welcoming smile but he had to make extra sure that he hadn’t turned into some crazy guy for TaeMin’s sake.

            “Where did you meet?” he asked.

            “He was getting ice cream and I just happened to walk by,” MinHo explained.

            “So you were stalking him?” JongHyun grinned in success as MinHo squirmed under his gaze. TaeMin however had a slightly confused look on his face. He’d thought that JongHyun would have been happy about him finding his old friend. Now he seemed almost jealous…

            “No hyung, we just ran into each other…” TaeMin said clueless

A laugh escaped JongHyun as he took a seat beside TaeMin on his bed. He ruffled his hair playfully and flashed him a cheeky grin.

“Okay TaeMinnie, whatever you say,” he agreed.

After that TaeMin seemed to forget about him. All his attention was focused on MinHo. He asked what he’d done once he’d went to high school, what he was doing now since he’d graduated. It was one question after the other thrown from one person to the next.

            JongHyun took advantage of his nonexistence by lying down on the bed and then pondering over what had happened that day. It’d been weird… He’d gone over there prepared to face yelling and insults and instead he was met by something he never wanted to see again. The way he’d leaned (more like swayed) against that mop, his bruised eyes half lidded as if he could just drop right there.

           
            “Hyung, are you coming?”

            TaeMin stared down at JongHyun, eyes full of excitement.

            “Sure?” He followed TaeMin and MinHo down the stairs, noticing how MinHo’s eyes lingered on TaeMin as he led the way. Feeling a protective surge come over him, JongHyun nudged past MinHo to swing an arm around his dongsaeng. The younger boy merely smiled at him, knowing he liked his skin ship. Judging by the holes burning in the back of his head, though, Minho wasn’t liking all the touching.

            “Where exactly are we going?” JongHyun asked once they’d reached the bottom of the stairs.

            “To get some good; I’m hungry,” TaeMin answered. In a flash he’d darted out from under his hyung’s arm and raced off to the kitchen. His socked feet skidded across the wooden floor as he turned the corner.

            MinHo and JongHyun followed TaeMin’s trail at a more leisurely pace, goofy smiles on each of their faces.

            “Is he always this hyper?” MinHo asked.

            “Yup…”

            “He hasn’t changed at all…”

            The pair finally reached the kitchen just to see TaeMin’s head shoved in the fridge. His skinny bottom hung out and up in the air, swaying a teensy weensy bit with each movement he made. How could JongHyun resist? In one swift movement he’d closed in on TaeMin and smacked his – hard.

            A resounding sound from the slap echoed throughout the kitchen. TaeMin’s head smashed on the door as he let out a string of meaningless screams.

            “Yah! JongHyun hyung!” he yelled, chasing after his friend.

            Laughs bellowed out of JongHyun’s body as he listened to his young friend holler those words at him and smacking him lightly over and over. His guffaws were so loud and strenuous that he keeled over, clutching his stomach while gasping for breath.

            “That hurt hyung!” TaeMin pouted with a hand rubbing his violated cheek.

            “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist,” JongHyun apologize. He took a seat at the kitchen table, still giggling a bit. Out of the corner of his eye he could see MinHo grinning as well. He probably enjoyed that smacking and rubbing. Sick bastard.

            TaeMin gave JongHyun a final smack on the arm before going back to the refrigerator. He rustled about until finally emerging with a bottle of banana milk in his hands. Not surprising since he basically worshipped the stuff.

            Since his dongsaeng was intently on a straw, JongHyun took it upon himself to find his own food. He pulled open one of the drawers that was stocker to the brim with tangerines and pulled a couple out.

            “You want one?” he offered to MinHo.

            “Sure,” the taller answered.

            The tangerines in his hands were tossed to MinHo and he pulled more out for himself and TaeMin.

            It was quiet for some time. TaeMin sipped up every last drop of his milk while the other two peeled their fruit. It wasn’t awkward at all, in fact, it was quite cozy and JongHyun took advantage of the moment to continue on his study of MinHo. It was a short lived study since a sudden thought came disrupting into TaeMin’s banana milk filled mind.

            “Yah, hyung, where were you this morning? I tried calling you but you weren’t answering,” he said, worry creasing his forehead.

            “Sorry, I was actually uhm… I actually went back to that store we went to yesterday,” he admitted sheepishly.

            TaeMin choked on his tangerine, completely taken aback by that. MinHo raised a curious eyebrow, wondering what the big hype was.

            “Why would you do that?!” TaeMin demanded.

            JongHyun scratched the nape of his neck in embarrassment. He stumbled over his tongue to find words to explain. Even if he did explain TaeMin probably wouldn’t understand why he’d gone back because he’d basically just woken up that morning with guilt gnawing at his chest and an urge to see the fiery diva again.

            “I wanted to apologize for being a ,” he ended up saying.

            Judging by the look on TaeMin’s face he was on the verge of throwing a fit.

            “What?!”

            Or he was just going to throw that fit now.

            “Why?! That guy was a total as-” JongHyun’s eyes narrowed, causing TaeMin to quickly change his choice of words. “He’s a jerk! Why did you go back?!”

            “Look TaeMinnie, it doesn’t matter why I went, okay? It’s a good thing I did go, though, because he got robbed and was barely conscious when I found him,” JongHyun said.

            MinHo tensed up, his hand squeezing the tangerine in his hand to the point where juice trickled down his palm. JongHyun cast him a suspicious glance before turning his attention back to TaeMin.

            The young boy’s mouth was hanging agape, his eyebrows still furrowed together like he was having a hard time piecing every tidbit of information he’d just heard together. It as somewhat amusing to JongHyun, watching TaeMin go through a series of emotions that were clearly being expressed on his face in the span of twenty seconds. Finally his face froze on a pouted expression and he crossed his arms and mumbled, “He deserved it…”

            A dry chuckle rasped out of JongHyun even if he found no humor in what had happened to Key. His mind drifted, hearing TaeMin’s complaints somewhere in the background of his mind. He noticed MinHo forcing a smile onto his face as he nodded to whatever TaeMin was saying. Curious… That was also pushed to the back of his mind, though, as he pondered over the day’s events once more… God, it’d been weird…