When Key arrived the next morning JongHyun bombarded him with a shower of small kisses. He tugged a blonde lock on his hair and laughed when he saw how much it contrasted with his blushing face.

            “Morning,” he greeted his blushing boyfriend.

            Key pushed away from the short boy and scrambled to find a mirror to make sure his hair and make-up hadn’t been ruined.

            “Yah! You’re going to make us late again if you keep acting like this!” he scorned.

            “Don’t whine or I might stop doing it,” JongHyun teased.

            That shut Key up fast. Shades of red coloured his face even more which he hid smoothly by floating around the store to poke at one thing or another.

            JongHyun waited until he was walking the path to school with Key before mention what TaeMin had asked him during his visit the previous day. He slid his hand into the blond boy’s and tugged him close, earning him a small smile.

            “What are you doing late?” JongHyun asked.

            “I’m not working… So nothing I don’t think, why?” Key responded.

            “Because TaeMin wants to meet you. I know you two have already met, but he only found out yesterday that we were together and he wants to meet you as my boyfriend now.”

            “Sop, you mean like officially? You’re introducing us officially to TaeMin?” Key all but squealed.

            The other boy chuckled. “Yeah, something like that,” he confirmed.

            “Well then, I am doing something tonight! I’m going with you to the hospital!”

            “Good then, because we’re going after class.”

            “Sounds perfect.”

            Later that day the couple found themselves traipsing along the hospital hallways on their way to visit TaeMin. Although it was the same building and same floor as yesterday it seemed to shine brighter than usual. The grey speckled tile squinted into the glare of the lights above, illuminating their path in a yellow brick road type of way.

            TaeMin’s doorway was agape and free of any obstacles that could potentially bar the way of the excited duo. Right before they were going to step into the room, though, Key tugged on JongHyun’s hand, pulling him jerkily away from the door and into a position that had them face to face.

            “Hyung,” he whispered, panic seeping into his rushed words. “I don’t think I can do this!”

            JongHyun tilted his head to the side in confusion. “But you’ve already met TaeMin… Or is it because MinHo might be in there? Damn it, I didn’t think about that…”

            Key quickly shook his head at the suggestion. “It’s not MinHo; MinHo’s fine. It’s the fact that I’m being introduced as your boyfriend to your best friend for the first time!”

            There was a pause in which JongHyun tried to comprehend what Key was trying to say.

            “So?” he ended up asking when he failed to draw any conclusion from his pondering.

            “So? So this means if he doesn’t approve than I might as well break up with you now!” Key’s voice knocked up an octave, nearly breaking the hushed tone he was trying hard to maintain.

            “But you already met TaeMin,” JongHyun said stupidly. He truly was befuddled as to why Key was making such a fuss over this.

            “You’re not understanding this!” Key yelled. His voice carried, dragging into the room where the young boy’s ears picked it up.

            “JongHyun hyung? Are you out there?” TaeMin called.

            There was a deeper voice that accompanied him – most likely MinHo’s – and then the higher pitched voice of TaeMin’s trilled a series of repeated ‘no’s’.

            “Hyung! We’re too old to be playing these games! You better have brought Key!” When TaeMin still received no answer he kicked it up a notch. “Yah! If you don’t come in I’m going to send MinHo out to get you!”

            “Go in!” Key hissed, moving behind his boyfriend in an attempt to shove him into the room first.

          “I can’t go in without you!” JongHyun grumbled, struggling against the prods he was receiving. What was he? Cattle?

            The bickering continued with their voices escalating. They ended up wrestling each other trying to shove the other in the room first. There was nothing angry or abusive in the way they were arguing, though. If anything it was like a dog and a cat play fighting for dominance.

            “Don’t make me touch your hair!” JongHyun threatened when he felt his struggles were getting him nowhere.

            “Touch my hair and I’ll paint your nails again!”

            JongHyun’s hand reached for Key’s hair, knowing full well that there was enough hairspray in there to cause serious damage with one small touch. The second before he was due to touch the blondness, though, MinHo’s head popped out of the door. He stared in a ridiculously obvious way, baffled by the tangled mess of boys before him. Key had his palm squished against JongHyun’s face, keeping him well away while the other hand wrestled JongHyun’s hands which were reaching for his hair. Or at least, one hand was. The other was shoved up Key’s shirt where it had slipped during the kafuffle.

            “What are you guys doing?” MinHo asked.

            In a snap of fingers the pair had split apart. Key yanked on his shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles and such so he could be presentable for when he walked in. Beside him, JongHyun ran his fingers through his hair and tidied up the disarrayed locks.

            “Nothing, what are you doing?” JongHyun retorted innocently.

            “Waiting for you two to come in; TaeMin’s getting impatient.”

            “We’re coming.”

            “You  better be…” MinHo planted a firm look on the two before disappearing back into the room.

            JongHyun fixed his own firm look on Key in turn and gripped his hand.

            “You go in first,” Key begged.

            “Fine, but I’m dragging you in behind me.”

            At last they both entered the hospital room, greeted by the excited face of TaeMin. He was covered by a thin blanket from the hips down while the top of his body was adorned with a baggy t-shirt that hung like an extra layer of skin on his thin body.

            “Hey you,” JongHyun said, leaving Key to ruffle the young boy’s hair.

            “Stop doing that!” TaeMin wailed like every other time. Even though he complained about it continuously, though, he never stopped the older boy from doing it.

            “Sorry,” JongHyun apologized without much sympathy behind it.

            When an awkward pause ensued no one in the room quite knew how to break it. Key pulled at the back of JongHyun’s shirt nervously, his boisterous self flying out of the window at the worst time.

            “So,” MinHo ended up saying, shattering the ice freezing them. “TaeMin hasn’t shut-up all morning about how he can’t wait to meet your boyfriend.”

            “That’s not true!” TaeMin yelled, smacking MinHo’s shoulder. “But I do want to meet him. Again, I mean. But this time as your boyfriend.”

            An eye blinding smile illuminated JongHyun’s face. He moved so that he could stand half behind Key. The muscles were still all throughout his body so he jostles his hand to loosen him up.

            “TaeMin, this is my boyfriend, Key. We’ve been together for quite a while now…” JongHyun introduced.

            “Hi,” Key mumbled, waving shyly.

            “Nice to meet you Key hyung! I’m TaeMin, JongHyun’s hyung’s best friend and brain!” TaeMin exclaimed.

            “Yah! Is that any way to treat your elders?” JongHyun demanded. Had TaeMin not been bed ridden he would have grabbed him into a head lock and rubbed his head until he cried out to him in mercy and agreed to talk to him in a formal way.

            “I’m just kidding, hyung, we’re not best friends,” TaeMin giggled.

            The elder rolled his eyes, ignoring the comment and asked, “Do you approve of him?”

            “Hmm… I don’t know…” TaeMin made it look as if he truly needed to contemplate this decision. “He gave me banana milk so I suppose he’s okay.”

            Just by holding his hand JongHyun could feel the tense energy leave Key. He still didn’t know why he’d been so nervous about TaeMin’s approval. With the personality Key had he would have ended up either forcing TaeMin to like him or just rubbing off on him.

            “You had Key worried; he thought you wouldn’t like him,” JongHyun said.

            “I would have been worried, too… If your best doesn’t approve of your partner than you might as well break up,” TaeMin agreed.

            “What?” MinHo and JongHyun chorused. Neither could get a word in, though, since Key and TaeMin burst into conversation with each other about the topic that discombobulated them so much. JongHyun supposed it was something he would never understand.

            “Oh, JongHyun hyung! I have something important to tell you!” TaeMin yelled.

            “What is it?” JongHyun asked, moving up behind Key and embracing him around the waist.

            “My mom came over after you left and said she got me one day where I could get out of the hospital because she wants to throw one of those huge dinner party things. It’s obviously not going to be as big as usual because my mom’s all paranoid and nervous and worried about me, blah, blah, blah, but your mom should be talking to you about it soon actually… Anyways, I’m just telling you so you’re warned. You should bring Key!”

            JongHyun stared at TaeMin blankly for a while. So much had been said in such a short breath he wasn’t sure he had gotten everything right.

            “You want me to bring Key to a dinner party hosted by your parents where my parents will most like be?” he ended up asking.

            “What? Is that a bad thing?” TaeMin asked clueless.

            “No, but…”

            “I mean, he’s already met your parents, right? Or at least they’ve heard about you two being together, right?”

            “Uh, well, you see…” JongHyun stumbled, struggling to string his words together. Thankfully he didn’t have to since Key came to his rescue.

            “Let’s just say, the first and last time I met JongHyun’s family was his mother and she caught us, uhm… Kissing at the store.” Key explained.

            TaeMin’s mouth fell open and took on an ‘o’ shape. He hadn’t been expecting an answer like that. He’d thought that JongHyun had at least mentioned that he was with someone to his parents. Considering his mom had seen them kissing and all, too…

            “No one knows about you two then?” he asked.

            “Uh, well… You know, and MinHo knows… And Onew hyung knows… Yeah, that’s about it…” JongHyun mumbled.

            “Yah! Hyung! How come you didn’t tell them? I told my parents about MinHo!”

            “I couldn’t with everything that was going on!”

            “You need to bring Key to the dinner thing then! I’m telling my mom that he’s coming so he has to now!”

            “TaeMin!”

            “You can’t put it off forever hyung.” The way TaeMin managed to stay looking and sounding so innocent that whole time mind boggled the surrounding boys.

            “You’re impossible,” JongHyun grumbled much like a toddler would when things didn’t turn in their favour.

            “I’ve also been told that I’m rather cute.”

            “Doesn’t Key get any say in this?”

            “I actually wouldn’t mind meeting your family…” Key said quietly.

            “Key!” JongHyun screeched. But no matter how much he protested the cards had been dealt. It was two against one meaning JongHyun had no choice but to accept his hand and play with the cards he held.