The knock on the hotel room door was so soft that Key almost didn’t hear it over the running faucet. He blindly grabbed a towel from the rack over the counter and dried his face. He carried the towel with him, drying his wet hands as he walked to the door. He looked through the peephole, and saw a red-eyed Tao standing outside.

            Confused, Key flung the towel over his shoulder and unlocked the door. He pulled it open, and Tao came into full view. Tao was wearing a long sleeved shirt and black shorts, and he stood barefoot on the hallway carpet. His nose seemed to be running as he looked at Key, blinking heavily.

            “Tao?” Key asked. “What are you doing here?”

            Tao wiped his nose on the back of his hand and smiled half-heartedly. “I was just hoping you were awake, to be honest,” he said softly. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

            Key shook his head. “No, I was just getting ready to go to bed,” he said. He gestured broadly. “Come on in.”

            Tao grinned and stepped past Key, who shut the door quietly. He never would have expected to see Tao in his hotel room, especially not this late at night. The two often saw each other, and they made friendly conversation. He had been able to watch Tao grow from a trainee into a full-fledged idol, and Key could tell that they would get along had they had time outside their busy schedules to interact. Still, Key could not help being surprised at his appearance. He had no clue as to why Tao would be showing up to his room after hours.

Key walked to the bathroom and hung the towel back on the rack and stepped back into the main room. Tao was standing by the nightstand, running his finger slowly along the base of Key’s Best Artist of the Year award.

            “Are you okay?” Key asked softly.

            Tao jumped, quickly pulling his hand back to his side. “Yeah,” he said, his voice trailing off. “You were just the first person I thought of to talk to.” He swallowed, and sat softly on the bed.

            Key stepped further into the room and sat in an armchair across from the bed. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Talk to about what?” he pressed.

            A million thoughts seemed to be running through Tao’s brain at once. He was searching for a response, and Key could almost see him trying to pick the right words. After a few moments, Tao sighed.

            “I felt like such an idiot for crying,” Tao whispered, his voice quivering. He wiped his nose again, and laughed at himself. “The boys kept joking with me about it. They were so excited about winning. But they didn’t understand that it hurt when they laughed about it.” He looked across the room into Key’s eyes. “You were one of the few people who seemed to actually understand how I felt about us winning. I couldn’t stop crying, but I hated feeling so weak in comparison to the others. I was so excited that we had won, but for some reason I just didn’t want to be around them anymore.”

            Tao’s eyes started to well up, and he quickly looked away, pulling his sleeve over his hand and bringing it up to wipe his face. Key jumped up from his armchair and moved to sit beside him on the bed. He pushed aside the boy’s sleeve and wiped his faces for him, just as he had done after the award show.

            “It’s okay, Tao,” Key whispered. He wiped his thumb under the boy’s eye and reached for the nightstand drawer. He withdrew a box of tissues and offered them to Tao. As Tao took one, Key continued, “Crying doesn’t mean you’re not a strong person, or that you like crying. An amazing thing happened today; you deserve the chance to cry. All your hard work finally paid off. You shouldn’t feel bad about that.”

            Tao nodded, wiping his nose on the tissue and crumpling it into a ball. He stared at it, turning it over and over. Key watched him for a second and wondered if he would respond. He decided to press on.

            “We cried,” he said simply. “All of us. We weren’t afraid to show it because there’s nothing negative about it.” He slid his arm around Tao’s back and pulled him closer. Tao immediately responded, letting himself be pulled in, his body meeting and conforming to Key’s. “The other boys may have held it in, but you should be proud that you didn’t. You couldn’t hold it in because you know that it was worth the work. You deserve that award.”

            Tao nodded once more. His eyes still glistened, but no more tears were forming. Key reached up and brushed his hand over Tao’s cheek, despite there being no tears. He smiled, and his eyes met Tao’s and held their gaze. “You really do deserve it,” he said firmly.

            “Thank you,” Tao smiled, his eyes not breaking Key’s gaze. “That really means a lot, Key. It does.” He finally broke eye contact and began staring at his hands again. “From you, I mean. You’ve always sort of been the one I look up to the most here,” he whispered sheepishly.

            Key smiled. “Really?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

            Tao continued to stare at fingers. “Well, we’re both lead rappers of our group, and so I always admired your talent. Your dancing is great, too,” he added. “And, of course, your sense of style.” He looked up finally, grinning.

            Key noticed he didn’t seem embarrassed anymore. He seemed relieved to have spoken. Key rubbed Tao’s back slowly and looked across the room. “You know, that’s very flattering, but I don’t want you to think of me as someone to look up to.” Tao’s expression dropped in confusion, but Key continued, turning back to Tao. “You won that award today, you’re not a rookie idol anymore. You guys have all proven yourselves as talented, amazing performers. You should know that. And for that reason I would much rather you consider us equals. I may be a few years your senior, but I’d much rather be a friend than an idol to you.”

            Tao’s confusion had slowly faded to understanding, and he nodded. “Friends,” he said. “I like that more, too.” He smiled broadly. “Thank you for being so nice to me, Key.”

            Without another word, Tao’s head dropped into Key’s shoulder. Key tensed up reflexively, but relaxed himself, and Tao fit more comfortably. Tao’s eyes closed and he exhaled deeply.

            “You’re welcome,” Key said quietly.

            The two sat in silence for a few minutes; Key enjoyed Tao’s warmth, and the feeling of being a comfort to someone else. He wondered how long it had been since Tao had actually had time to rest and relax, and Key was happy to offer the boy a sense of security and relief to him.

            However, Key remembered how late it was, and gently rubbed Tao’s arm. “We should get to bed,” he said. He rolled his shoulder slightly and Tao raised his head up. He blinked sleepily at Key and frowned.

            “I was actually going to see if I could stay with you,” Tao asked. “It would cause more of a fuss for me to get back to our rooms than it would be for me to go back in the morning. I’m sure most of them have gone to sleep by now…”

            Key stood up and turned back to Tao. He thought for a second, and then decided that the proposition itself seemed perfectly innocent. “I would gladly let you stay here,” he said finally. “if you don’t mind sharing the bed, that is. Normally, I’d room with Taemin, but we all go our own separate rooms this time.”

            Tao shook his head eagerly. “I don’t mind,” he said, beaming up at Key.

            Key smiled and shook his head. “Go ahead and get to bed. I just need to finish up in the bathroom.”

            He watched Tao pull back the covers and climb underneath them, and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he walked back into the main room, Key saw Tao already fast sleep. The covers were pulled up to his chin and he was snoring softly. Key thought he had never before seen someone sleeping so deeply. He gently lifted the covers of the bed and slid under his side. He smiled once more at the boy sleeping next to him before turning off the lamp on the nightstand and laying his head down on his pillow.

---

            Tao blinked the sleep from his eyes and tried to determine where he was. It took him a second to remember that he had spent the night in Key’s room, and in that same moment Tao realized that Key’s body was pressed up against his own, his back fit squarely into Tao’s chest.

            They must have gravitated toward each other in the night. Tao was prone to doing this with whomever he shared a bed with, and he immediately became embarrassed, worrying what Key would think. He shifted his body slightly and he realized his arm was underneath Key’s body. He struggled, trying to pull himself back to his side of the bed without waking Key, when Key moved on his own accord.

            But instead of moving away from Tao, Key’s arm reached backward and locked around Tao’s arm, wrapping it around over and around Key’s chest, and pulling Tao even closer. Tao wondered what was happening, but he noticed that Key still seemed to be fast asleep again.

            Tao didn’t exactly mind being so close to Key, and Key obviously felt comfortable. He chose to merely accept it for now, and fit his chin into Key’s shoulder, letting his body mold to match Key’s. Tao tightened his hold around Key’s waist, and closed his eyes, immediately falling into a blissful slumber.

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Author's Note:

AHHHHHHHHHHH this was thrown together very quickly after I saw the pictures of Tao and Key at MAMA. It's kinda rushed so forgive me if it , I just really wanted to get my feelings out into this!

Personally even I'm not sure if I want it to be romantic or just a really good friendship, so I left this up to be a little ambiguous in that reason! If I get anymore ideas for them I'll definitely write them, but for now who knows whether they could be a romantic ship? Let me know if you have any thoughts!

Again please forgive typos or mistakes because I hate proofreading mbut thank you if you read this and please comment with what you think~ :3