The following morning consisted of Taemin readily neglecting his breakfast to instead watch by the window for Jonghyun’s arrival, and then flying out to meet him without so much of a goodbye to anyone.

Wearing his bedhead hair almost proudly, Jinki said, “You’re complaining that your teenage ward is now gone, leaving us in peace, and with that big bottle of lube I know you have stashed in your bottom drawer?”

Minho locked the door after Taemin.

with Jinki was different the second time around, and not only because he was the one giving himself up, vulnerably exposing himself, and trusting Jinki not to hurt him. It was still awkward, there was a lot of fumbling, and it took more than on try, but it was almost better. There was a deeper emotional bond between them now, more of a connection, and Minho felt alive in Jinki’s embrace.

“So, I know I said I’d help you out for the next few days,” Jinki said, spent and lazily lying on Minho’s sweaty chest, “but how about we scrap all that and just lay in bed?”

Minho laughed heartily.

“No, I’m serious,” Jinki continued jokingly. “I’ve given this a lot of thought. It can work.”

“Come on,” Minho said, patting Jinki’s backside. “We have just enough time to take a shower before I have to open up downstairs. The twins are going to be here soon, especially since it’s the weekend. They’re annoyingly on time.”

“The twins?” Jinki questioned.

“Jinki,” Minho introduced when the twins came filing through the door, their faces identical but their clothing as radically different as possible, “meet Jo Youngmin and Jo Kwangmin. They’re earning school credit being here as an after school work program. They’re very good at filing paperwork, apparently. Kibum swears by them.”

Minho could tell Jinki was trying to memorize the different features about them, but he’d probably end up failing. The twins were the sort to try desperately to differentiate themselves from each other, but in the end they were just too similar facially.

“Try the hair,” Minho whispered into Jinki’s ear as the twins set off on their tasks. “Youngmin likes to style his up, and dye it colors. He’s the more bold twin with his appearance.”

Not that Minho would say, but Youngmin was also the sterner twin. He was the one who stuck to his task and didn’t bother with small talk. Minho rather liked Kwangmin instead. The younger of the two was more playful, and easier to get along with.

“Thanks,” Jinki whispered, but there was still uncertainty on his face. Minho considered making the twins wear nametags.

Quickly Minho discovered something rather concerning as he started his work day.

“What’s wrong?” Jinki asked from Minho’s desk. He was currently organizing Minho’s schedule through his laptop, sifting through his e-mails, making appointments and acting more like a secretary than anything else. Minho absolutely couldn’t let Jinki handle any of his client’s personal information regarding their cases, but everything else was fair game. “You look upset.”

Minho kicked Kibum’s chair away from his desk angrily and watched it slide across the room.

Youngmin caught the chair easily and sent it right back.

“What’s wrong?” Jinki asked again.

“Kibum’s been breaking the rules,” Minho said, pulling open the rest of the drawers on the big metal desk that Kibum used. “We have a rule, Jinki. It’s to protect the quality of our work as much as our own health and constitution. We only work one case at a time. We can work cases back to back, even within minutes of each other, or set aside one to take another with the intent to come back to the first, but only one at a time. Never more.”

Minho guessed that Kibum would have wanted to split hairs with him over what he’d been doing recently, with letting his missing person’s case sit on the backburner while taking new cases for the sake of a paycheck. But he’d balanced them out in precise and particular ways, never having his attention on more than one.

“He’s been doing more than one?”

Minho pointed to three files, then added a fourth to the pile. “These are all open right now, and in various states of investigation.”

After a moment of contemplation, Minho looked across the room to the twins by the filing cabinets. Almost immediately Kwangmin ducked away, pretending to find the wall very fascinating, while his brother sent Minho a challenging look back.

“You knew,” Minho accused.

Youngmin nodded, bold for his age. “We do almost all of his paperwork. Of course we knew.”

Kwangmin added, “We’d do your paperwork, too, if you’d let us.”

“I like to do my own paperwork,” Minho grumbled. “I know nothing will get misplaced that way.”

Jinki cleared his throat pointedly.

“You’re different,” Minho promised. “I trust you.”

Youngmin crossed his arms. “Key trusts us.”

Minho ignored him, his frown deepening as he realized the extent of what he had in front of him. “Jinki,” Minho said in his direction, “Kibum was working multiple cases at once, and never told me. He must have been stressed, and under a lot of pressure. He should have told me. I should have … realized.”

It was depressing, more than anything, to realize there was something else that Minho hadn’t been able to see. There was more that had been right in front of his eyes, that he had ended up blind to. It was depressing and even more shameful.

“What are you going to do?” Jinki asked. “Key can’t come back to work right away.”

Minho pulled Kibum’s chair under him and sat slowly, realizing, “I’ll have to take all the cases myself. We have to make progress, and I don’t see any other way to avoid losing our clients.” More like losing the money they’d paid. Some of it they’d earned, and would get to keep, but if they had to return the rest, they’d be losing out on money that was going directly towards Taemin’s upcoming college tuition.

Jinki pointed out, “You just said one person isn’t supposed to work on more than one client’s case at a time.”

“What other choice do I have?” Minho put his hands up, at a loss. “Do I just let these go? Do I ignore them and the people counting on this service?”

“What can I do to help?” Jinki asked.

“Coffee,” Youngmin announced, heading to the machine. “I’ll start the coffee. You’ll need lots of it.”

It was probably the warmest thing Youngmin had ever said to him, which was saying something, but its impact wasn’t lost of Minho.

With the twins busy making the coffee, Minho moved to Jinki’s side, and said quietly, “Even if I cut out food and sleep, there’s no way I’m going to be able to handle my cases and Kibum’s, I’m going to need your help.” The previously unmentionable idea was becoming a reality quickly in Minho’s mind. “With the things I said you couldn’t help with.”

Jinki blinked in surprise. “You’re going to let me work a case?”

“I’m going to let you dig up information and put case files together. No field work for you.”

Unsure, Jinki asked, “On which case? Your missing person?”

It pained him to have to say it, but with a shake of his head, Minho told him, “That case is going to have to wait. It’s cold, compared to some of the others. We’ll clear those out first, not take anything new, and then go back to that case.” It wasn’t exactly cold, not with the new lead to follow, but it could stand to wait. Some of the others couldn’t, especially since at least half of them were close to competition. Kibum had done most of the work on them, and Minho just needed to finish up.

“Where should I start?” Jinki asked.

Minho pointed to the bottom draw on his desk. “I’ve got files in there for my active cases. We only shelve the completed ones in the filing cabinet over there. Get the file with the red tab on the top. That client is suing another and wants proof to back her claims in court. Start with that. I’ll show you how to put everything together in a second. I need coffee.”

Jinki thumbed over the files in the desk, finding the red tab and puling it free. “You sure I don’t get to do any field work? I could be amazing at it, you never know.”

“No field work,” Minho repeated, still feeling uneasy about having Jinki working on a case. On more than on occasion he and Kibum had run into violence, and there was no way Minho was going to risk that with Jinki.

At the end of the day Minho was frustrated and overwhelmed. There was no time to see Kibum at the hospital and skipping dinner in favor of more sleep was Minho’s priority.

The second day Minho was exhausted and snappish. Kibum’s release from the hospital had been pushed back a full day, and with tensions running high, Minho managed to pick a fight with almost everyone, including Jinki.

“Slow down,” Jinki said, watching Minho rush to put on his coat before going out. It was late into the evening hours and Taemin was already asleep upstairs. “You’re running yourself into the ground. Do you want to end up in the hospital like Key?”

“I’ll be back,” Minho said, ignoring the concerned look on Jinki’s face.

Kibum came home on the third day, and Minho swore both Taemin and Jinki to secrecy that neither of them would tell him Minho had taken on his cases.

Jinki told him vocally as they waited for the last of the release paperwork, “I think it’s stupid you won’t tell him.”

“For what purpose?” Minho demanded. “So he can worry?”

“You can’t do it all on your own. I’ve watched you try and it’s not going so well.”

Minho didn’t want to fight with him, fighting with Jinki was always something terrible.

“I just have to clear out the cases we have,” Minho said, perking up a little as he a saw a nurse wheeling a still drowsy looking Kibum their way. Jonghyun hadn’t been able to get away from work for the early morning release, but Minho had no doubt he’d be by later.

“I don’t want to see you burn out,” Jinki said quietly. “I don’t want to be playing Jonghyun’s part like with Key, sitting by your bed when you’re admitted because of exhaustion or worse. Can you understand that?”

Taemin rushed out to greet Kibum and Minho felt Jinki’s fingers thread through his. It was a sure sign that Jinki was only frustrated, and not mad.

“Come on,” Jinki pulled at him. “Let’s go get Key.”

With a weak voice Kibum asked Taemin in the car, “What’ve you been doing the past few days?”

“Nothing,” Taemin shrugged, happy to be sitting in the back with Kibum while Jinki rode in the front of Minho. “It’s too early to get my test results back. Oh, but Minwoo took the test at the same time as me. Do you remember Minwoo?”

Kibum nodded.

“He invited a bunch of us to Jeju Island with his family as a reward for taking our college entrance exams. I wanted to go … but I didn’t want to leave you …”

Jinki turned in his seat and said, “Jeju Island is very beautiful this time of year.”

“You should go,” Kibum urged, his head leaning back as they rolled along. “I’m fine.”

“You need me to stay and take care of you,” Taemin said with sincere finality.

“Speaking of helping,” Kibum said, clearing his throat, “Onew, I hear you’ve been glued to Minho’s side. Making sure he takes care of himself while I’ve been gone.”

“The best I can,” Jinki laughed. “But we’re more concerned with making sure you’re okay now. You’re an important person to me, Key. Please try to take better care of yourself.”

Kibum begged, “Not you, too. Everyone wants to lecture me today.”

Minho turned down the street to their home and remarked, “Jonghyun is going to come by after he gets off work today. You haven’t heard anything yet.”

Kibum sunk down in his seat. “Great.”

The hard part wasn’t getting Kibum into bed. In fact he still seemed as exhausted after his release as he did the first time Minho had seen him in the hospital. However Minho could already anticipate that keeping him in bed was going to be the far harder thing. It was essential to Minho that he finished Kibum’s cases before his friend was able to make it downstairs without getting winded. It was probably going to be the only thing that would keep him on bedrest.

“Go to sleep,” Minho said from the doorway to Kibum’s room, watching Taemin tuck the blankets in around Kibum and then hurry off to get him a glass of water. “You still look tired.”

“Minho.” Kibu gestured him closer.

Minho knelt by the bed, his hand reaching instinctively for Kibum’s. “You need something?”

Features pinched, Kibum asked, “Is Taemin okay? He seems … anxious. Worse than usual, and that kid can be high strung at the best of times.”

Minho made sure the doorway was still clear, then reminded Kibum gently, “We’re the first people he’s loved in a long time. We’re the first people he’s loved since his parents died. This is as close as he’s come to losing one of us, too. Give him some time. When he realizes that you’re really okay, he’ll calm down.”

“He should go on that trip with his friends,” Kibum decided. “It’ll be good for him to just be with people his age, and he can relax.”

Minho agreed and stood. “I’ll try to talk him into it.”

“I brought you some juice instead!” Taemin announced, coming back into the room at a near run. “I brought your favorite.”

Minho laughed at Taemin’s hovering and headed out into the main room where Jinki was staring pointedly at his phone.

“Something wrong?” Minho asked.

“Other than my lousy cousin still not returning my phone calls?” Jinki gnawed a little on his bottom lip and asked, “Do you think I should go look for him? I know where he likes to hang out.”

“I think,” Minho said thoughtfully, “you should give him some time. Everyone comes back to you in the end, Jinki. It’s impossible not to.”

Still looking unconvinced, Jinki said, “I’m more worried about why people avoid me sometimes and go away in the first place.”

Minho wanted to tell him that that was other people, and he wasn’t going anywhere, but it sounded ridiculous even in his own mind.

“Come on,” Minho said, gesturing with his head towards the door. “We should go get some work done. Taemin’s fine enough for today to keep Kibum in bed, but he won’t be around all of tomorrow.”

And Minho was very aware of the fact that Jinki’s time with them was coming to an exclusive end. Soon, very soon, he’d have to go back to work and Minho would only see him on his lunch break, or after work if he finished early, which wasn’t very likely considering Jinki’s job and work ethic.

The day after Kibum came home from the hospital, Minho was surprised to note that Kibum made no attempt to fight him on going back to work. In fact it was a little worrisome because Kibum had never been known to do anything easy. But nonetheless, Minho was thankful as he nursed a pounding headache behind his left eye that was almost debilitating in its ferocity.

The following day they lost Taemin all day to a daytrip with a friend and Jinki to his job. Kibum made several attempts to make it down the stairs, and Minho, with his growing headache, struggled to contain both Kibum and his cases.

It was the third day after Kibum came home that whatever semblance of control Minho had been holding onto, slipped right out of his grasp. He’d managed to close half of Kibum’s cases with help from both the twins and Jinki, and one of his own simpler cases, but he hadn’t been able to shake his headache.

With trembling hands he shook two pills for the throbbing pain into his palm and was reaching for a glass of water when the door to their apartment burst open. It wasn’t anything new for Taemin to enter the apartment like an elephant on steroids, but it hadn’t happened at all since Kibum had come home from the hospital.

“Quiet,” Minho told him without patience, swallowing down the pills. “Kibum is taking a nap, and I want him to sleep through the noon hour before I have to fight with him to stay up here again. I’ll be thankful when I can go back to being his friend, and not his mother.” Hopefully that would be by the end of the weak, when the doctors expected him to be recovered from his surgery.

Minho was started by the ferocious look of anger on Taemin’s face as he viciously threw his bag down, the heavy item bouncing off the table and sending the contents inside scattering everywhere. The bigger items slid across the table that held one of their lamps and made contact. The lamp wobbled for a second, then tipped and shattered on the hardwood floors.

“Taemin!”

Taemin ignored him, sprinting to Kibum’s door. He threw it open and demanded, “Wake up!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Minho asked, wrenching away by the arm harsher than he’d ever handled Taemin before.

“What’s going on?” Kibum asked, sitting up.

“I have no idea,” Minho said, boiling with anger.

Then that anger faltered, Minho freezing at the wetness of Taemin’s eyes and the tears on his cheeks.

“How could you not tell me?” Taemin demanded, viciously ripping his arm away from Minho’s grasp. “All these years and you just pretended not to know? Or didn’t you think I deserved to know? What is it?”

Kibum got shakily to his feet, asking, “What are you talking about?”

Behind him, heavy feet clanked up the stairs, and before a second more had passed Jonghyun was in their living room, breathing hard and frantic in the face.

“Oh,” Minho breathed out.

Two sets of lighter footsteps came up behind Jonghyun, and the twins entered behind him. Yongmin called out, “We told him not to come up here.”

“It’s okay,” Minho waved off. He knew the twins had seen Jonghyun before, but they didn’t know he was family. “He can be here. He should be here.”

“Taemin,” Jonghyun’s voice cracked, and the older man reached for him. “I’m sorry.”

Minho chided, “You picked a great time to tell him.”

Taemin spun on him. “Would you have even told me at all? Huh, Minho? Because obviously you didn’t think I deserved to know that I had a blood relative still alive. You didn’t think I needed to know I had a brother.”

“No,” Minho corrected, not moving an inch. “I thought that it was Jonghyun’s secret to tell, and that it wasn’t the kind of thing that a child needed to know. Not when you already had so much to deal with.”

“I’m not a child!”

“Wait,” Kibum said, suddenly looking just as startled as Taemin. “What are we talking about? Taemin? Who is your brother?”

Taemin’s face crumbled a little. “You didn’t know?”

Kibum shook his head and Minho felt terrible for keeping it from Kibum as well.

Jonghyun took another step further into the apartment. “Taemin, I didn’t tell you because …”

“Because why?” Taemin asked curtly.

Minho cut in smoothly, “Because he didn’t want to mess your life up, Taemin. He did it to protect you, even if it was the last thing he wanted to keep from you.”

“Protect me?” Taemin asked, his eyes dangerous slits. “Or protect himself?”

“Protect you,” Jonghyun clarified. “I didn’t even know we were related until I was assigned your parent’s case. I was startled, and scared and I didn’t know what to do with the information. By the time I had worked up the courage to tell you what I knew, you had built a family with Key and Minho. I watched you with them and I saw how close you were, and how much you loved them, and how your life was finally settling down. The last thing you needed was for me to come barging in, claiming to be your half-brother, disrupting everything.”

Taemin jabbed an accusing finger at Jonghyun. “You’ve known me just as long as Key and Minho. You know what family means to me, so you’re an idiot if you were able to convince yourself that I wouldn’t want to know we share blood. Did you think I didn’t have enough room in my heart for three brothers?”

“Don’t call him an idiot,” Minho admonished. “And take a second to think You were a kid when he found out. You may not be one now, but you were back then. You were just starting to get some stability in your life. I don’t agree with Jonghyun’s decision, but I understand why he made it. He made it to give you the best shot at having a normal family life.”

“I didn’t plan to hide it forever,” Jonghyun promised. “I just wanted you to get through school without having to worry about this unaccounted for variable. I have always done what I thought was best for you.”

Taemin seethed, “I never asked for you to do what was best for me. And I wish you’d never told me. ” He turned to Minho and added, “I will never forgive you for this, Minho. I will never forgive you as long as I live.”

Minho staggered back against the bedroom door as if he’d been hit, watching as Taemin’s legs took him off in the opposite direction and out of sight.

“Ow!” Minho jumped as Kibum hit him hard in the arm.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kibum demanded. “What’s wrong with both of you? Why would you hide something like this?” He gestured at Jonghyun. “Come here so I can hit you too.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Jonghyun said, inching forward. “Please don’t hit me.”

“Neither one of you has a brain, right? That’s the only explanation for this,” Kibum said, his voice going hoarse. “At the very least, why would you keep this from me?”

“It was Jonghyun’s secret to keep,” Minho said defensively, still rubbing the spot he’d been hit by Kibum. It hadn’t been a gentle hit. “And I meant what I said earlier. I understand why Jonghyun didn’t want to tell him. Taemin was too young, first, and looking for stability. Then his studies were important.”

“Idiot,” Kibum mumbled, then smacked Jonghyun hard on the arm. “Taemin is going to hold this against you forever.”

Minho, his heart still aching a little from Taemin’s words, asked, “Why’d you pick now to tell him?”

Jonghyun heaved himself to the floor where he was, resting his elbows on his knees and lowering his head shamefully. “I didn’t mean to, but I kept thinking about you, Key.”

“Me?” Kibum sat next to him, and Minho felt compelled to follow suit, even if it felt awkward.

Jonghyun nodded. “I kept thinking about what would happen if Taemin were in any kind of accident, or had a medical emergency like Key. What if I had to go to the hospital for him? It would be like it was for you, Key. I would have to wait for information, because I’m not his proxy. I wouldn’t get to be the first person to see him, either. And I’m not his guardian legally, so if there was a medical decision that had to be made, I wouldn’t be the one to make it. I would have to go along with whatever you both decide. That’s not … I don’t want that to happen.”

Minho saw the burst of panic on Kibum’s face before anything else, and he put a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder as Kibum said, “You can’t take guardianship away from us. We went to court. We have the legal right to Taemin.”

“I don’t think that’s what Jonghyun wants to happen,” Minho said calmly. “He’s not trying to take Taemin from us.”

“I want more control over his life,” Jonghyun said, looking between Kibum and Minho. “I’m his brother and the secret is out now.”

“Taemin is seventeen,” Kibum said, “not seven. He doesn’t need you making choices for him. You’ve made enough already, haven’t you? Choosing to keep your relationship a secret.”

Jonghyun frowned. “I understand that you’re upset I didn’t tell you, but I don’t want you to fight with me. I don’t want to take Taemin from you. I don’t want him to come live with me, or for much to change. I understand he’s almost a man now, but if it’s important, I want to be consulted. I want to be involved. I want what little time I have left with him before he’s completely grown, to matter.”

Kibum had no response, and when it looked like he wasn’t going to say anything at all, Minho wondered, “Do you think he really hates me?”

“He didn’t say he hated you,” Jonghyun said.

“He won’t forgive me,” Minho said. “That’s close enough.”

“He doesn’t hate you.” Kibum leaned over and bumped his shoulder into Minho’s. “He loves you. He’s just upset.”

Jonghyun looked towards the door. “Where do you think he went?”

More importantly, Minho thought, when would he come back?

“Probably to the ice cream shop near Onew’s work,” Kibum supplied. “Taemin’s comfort food is ice cream. Plus, the woman who owns the shop loves Taemin and gives him free ice cream whenever he goes by. I’d put money on him being there, drowning his sorrows in ice cream.”

Hesitantly, Jonghyun asked, “Should we go get him?”

Minho let out a low laugh, one that he hadn’t even known was coming. “Are you serious? Trying to make Taemin do anything is a recipe for disaster.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “He needs to calm down and come back on his own. But I’ll send Jinki a message asking for him to keep a lookout for Taemin.”

“I’ll text some of his closer friends,” Kibum said, reaching for his own phone. “There’s a chance he went to them, at least to vent.”

His head throbbing, Minho rubbed at his temple, eyes squeezed closed as he tried to process all that had just happened.

He hated how hopeless he felt.