It didn't take long for Taemin's questions to begin again, the younger male being much too concerned with his brother's health to allow the other more than a moment of peace. And while Jinki wanted to complain he couldn't bring himself to, as Taemin had every right to act as he was. 

"You sure you're okay?" Taemin asked once more, watching from the doorway as his elder brother scrambled into his bed, eyelids heavy and nose burning from how many times he had run tissues across the sensitive skin. "I can stay in here with you."

Jinki just shook his head, a wane smile curling onto his lips before he pulled the blankets up over his shoulders. "I'm fine Taem, just go rest too." He said, voice barely above a whisper as he watched his brother sigh before smiling back and leaving the room, door snapping closed behind him, leaving Jinki in the dark. 

It was then that his thoughts were allowed to roam free, his eyes locked on the ceiling above him, fingers clutching the blankets that he had wound tightly around his body, as he felt without them, needing something surrounding him, covering him, keeping anything from the outside from touching him. He shivered, eyes closing tightly as his breath hitched, throat beginning to tighten as he felt tears coming once again, as though had hadn't cried enough already. 

He felt betrayed, dirty, broken, as though what little hope he had for the future had been ripped from him and torn to pieces right before his eyes. Jinki shook his head, fingers sliding over the faint curve of his cheek, slowly trailing their way over his temple to his hair, gripping on firmly once they got there, his chest heaving with suppressed sobs. "Why am I so ing stupid?" The male hissed, a single tear running along the cheek his fingers had brushed over seconds before. 

He wanted to be comforted, to be held, told that everything was going to be ok. But he had no one to go to, not wanting to bother Taemin any more than he had, having seen the way the other's shoulders slumped, and how drained his eyes were of their usual liveliness. And he couldn't even think of the man he had taken to for comfort before without breaking down. 

It wasn't long before he shot up from the bed, tossing the blankets aside and stood, fumbling for his slippers and making his way down the stairs. His hand pressing again the wall as he stumbled, flipping the switch to turn on the bedroom light when his fingers brushed against it. His tongue darting out to wet his lips before he sat at his desk, flipping open his laptop carefully and hitting the small power button. 

Part of his mind was protesting what he was planning to do, another part convinced that nothing would come of it and the last part goading him on. His shoulders shaking as he finally logged into the computer and opened the internet, bottom lip rolling between his teeth as the tears continued to flow. "Why can't something be easy?" He muttered, voice breaking as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, the other typing away at the keyboard.

Jinki felt almost dead, thinking he mind as well be, what with no friends, his pride and hope shattered, mind flooded with thoughts that only made him cry, his chest aching with the pain that tore at him from the inside out. How would his family react? Would he tell them? Was Mr.Shen still out there. Was he running? Was he sitting in his office where he had done those awful things? Or at home, laying on the bed that Jinki had helped him pick out months ago? 

Was he ok? Jinki's lip curled, for once he wished that man nothing good, he wanted him to be paranoid, he wanted him to rot, he wanted the man to feel pain beyond belief, wanted him to cry as much as he had, to feel as much worry and unease as Taemin had. 

A sob broke past this lips, head falling forward, forehead thudding against the wooden desk as the tears came faster, his thoughts on Taemin, on how this had hurt his brother, The boy he had wanted to shield from his own pathetic life. His brother, the only one that still cared about him enough to sit through all this pain was probably so worried, thinking of protecting his older brother, of protecting the male that should be protecting him! 

Jinki shook his head, trying to calm down as he raised his head slowly, not caring that it was throbbing in pain as he went back to his computer, fingers flying over the keyboard as he typed out a simple message, hitting send before he could change his mind. 

"." Jonghyun scoffed, rolling the neck of his beer bottle between his hands as his eyes locked with Minho's the male having told him everything that occurred in the past few hours.

"What?" Minho asked, blinking in shock as his friend rolled his eyes and took a long drink of the beer in front of him, Sulli having gone to bed long before Jonghyun showed up at the door with a six-pack and a pizza that was now gone. 

"You expect Jinki to just run into your arms because you saved his ?" He asked, laughing, "I feel bad for the boy, but he has a good head on his shoulders, you caused him more pain than anything, we don't live in a K-drama, Minho. The heads don't live happily ever after here." He aid, slowly nudging Minho's beer our of the taller man's hand before he could drink any more, not wanting him to be angry and drunk. 

"I'm not a dickhead! And I don't want him to run into my arms, I just want a chance to make it up to him." Minho whispered, letting go of his beer and folding his arms in front of his chest, eyes downcast as a small sigh slipped past his lips. 

His friend scoffed, legs crossing as he swirled the beer around, watching it with faint interest. "You had a chance to make it up to him it lasted years Min, look, just..." Jonghyun groaned, leaning forward to face Minho eye to eye. "Show up now and then, not every day, bring him things. Soup maybe? Find out what comforts him, show him you are there, maybe he will eventually let you have a second chance." 

The Choi sighed, putting his head down as Jonghyun watched, focusing for a moment before losing interest and pulling out his phone, unlocking it and skimming his apps as he tried to pick one to play on, waiting for Minho to finish his train of thought, only to jump when his phone went off, the loud tone surprising him thought he quickly recovered, ignoring the sound of Minho's laugh as he opened the email he received. 

His eyes flickered over the message, lips parting slowly before reading it once more, checking the sender and finally slowly placing his phone down. "Min," He muttered, watching as the other raised a brow. "I got an email," He continued, glaring when Minho rolled his eyes. 

"I heard the tone." The Choi said sternly.

"Oh shut up, it was from Jinki," The male said, standing up and brushing off his shirt, watching as Minho leaped up as well. 

"What did he say?" The younger asked, moving to stand beside Jonghyun who shoved his phone and keys into his pockets.

"From what I could tell past all the typos, it's that I am the closest thing the boy has to a friend, and he feels bad but he needs the closest he can get." The Kim said shaking his head as he made his way out to the living room, Minho hurrying behind him. "So, I'm going to go and tell him I am his friend, because he sure as hell needs one." 

The other blinked, watching as Jonghyun tugged open the front door and spun on his heel to face him, "I could be his friend too." Minho whispered, watching as Jonghyun sighed, looking up at his younger friend and tugging his shoes on. 

"You could be, look, while I'm there maybe I'll mention you once or twice, but, Min, worry more about him rather than you making up for it," Jonghyun said, patting the other shoulder. 

"I- how did he even get your email?" The other asked, eager to change the subject as Jonghyun was almost out the door. 

"We had the same class, so our emails are shared for notes." The Kim called before jogging to his car and slipping inside, leaving Minho to close the door and wallow in his self-pity. 

A/N
?? Good? Well, the next chapter will be better!
This one took forever mainly because the wifi changed in my house
God, it's awful now! 
Then I went on vaca X3 I'm eager for school now haha
Anyway! I hope you guys liked it! Thank you for reading.