Jinki rubbed his eyes tiredly while dragging himself through the halls of the main building to the cafeteria with Kibum chattering away by his side about something he long ago had deemed not interesting enough to care about (since it for once wasn’t about a certain tall love interest of his), blocking the blonde out completely while trying to get his brain to stop thinking about numbers and calculations.

Their break was over and he had just had his exam, leaving him to feel like his brain had melted and just wanting to lie down on his bed to sleep the rest of the day away. He barely even noticed what was going on in his surroundings, his head still full of formulas and calculations that really hurt to think about and he wished he could just rip his brain out. He thanked all the deities he knew that the next day was Saturday, meaning he didn’t have to think for at least the two following days.

“Hyung! Are you even listening to me?!” Kibum's annoying voice said loudly, right in his ear, and he started, pulling away and rubbing it while shooting his blond friend a dirty look.

“Yes, I do hear you but I don’t find it relevant enough at the moment to care.”

He huffed. “Why do you always get so unreasonable after your exams?”

Jinki opened his mouth to make an even more unreasonable retort when a shorter, white-blond man suddenly appeared speeding past them, grabbing his friend’s wrist in the process and yanking him forward. Kibum yelped, sending Jinki a bewildered and horrified look which he returned with a blank, puzzled stare.

“HeyJinksI’llborrowKibumforawhilebye!” Jonghyun said in a rush over his shoulder before they both quickly disappeared down the hallway, past the entrance to the cafeteria and somewhere Jinki couldn’t even imagine at the moment. He stopped dead in his tracks, staring after them for a while and wondering what the hell was going on.

“Hyung, wait!” someone yelled behind him, making Jinki and some other students in the hallway turn their heads.

His breath caught in his throat as his eyes landed on the sight of Minho running in his direction. The taller skidded to a stop at his side when he spotted him, his eyes widening with a pleasantly surprised expression and his face breaking into a grin.

“Oh, hi,” he said breathlessly.

Jinki ignored the butterflies in his stomach and his dampening hands in favour of raising his eyebrows at the other questioningly, hoping it would look somewhat unbothered because he was quite sure his cheeks were heating up ever so steadily.

“What the hell is going on?”

Minho made a grimace before shrugging. “I have no idea! Jonghyun just murmured something about Taemin and working and started running! Man, he’s faster than I thought!”

Jinki gave him a disbelieving look before he shook his head with a small smile and the other grinned at him again.

“So, I guess we’re stuck together then! Since Jjong kidnapped Kibum,” Minho said cheerily, not seeming bothered at all by the kidnapping and disappearing of their friends.

Jinki's heart skipped a beat at the warm, gentle look the other was giving him and he nervously glanced around. How was he supposed to make his way out of this one?

“Uh, well…” he mumbled trying to find some excuse for them to go looking for his blond friend at least, “you know, Kibum was actually talking about this new store that opened recently, maybe you two should go! He doesn’t want to go alone and Taemin and I kind of don’t have the time,” he started babbling. “Let’s go find him! He’s been going on about it for days!”

Minho's grin fell slightly and he searched Jinki’s face for a few moments, his expression unreadable. Then he closed his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath before fixing the older with a stare.

“Hyung, I get the feeling you’re trying to set me up with Kibum,” he muttered, frowning slightly.

Jinki gulped. Well, he certainly had hit the nail on the head there. He decided being straightforward was the best way to get his (and Kibum's) point across, since the taller didn’t seem to understand at all.

“He likes you,” he said in a low voice, coldness spreading through his chest without permission. “Don’t you know?”

Minho's eyes widened slightly and he looked like he was hearing this for the first time. Jinki sighed. The stupidity of people sometimes… really.

“I-I-,” the taller stammered, nervously fiddling with his long fingers, which Jinki whished would pull through his hair or gently his face for eternity. “I’m flattered and all b-but… I kind of like-”

“He really is a great guy,” Jinki interrupted hastily. He refused to hear the words Minho wanted to say. If he let the other speak them everything would get so much harder than they already were. If he never heard those words from the other’s own mouth it would make it easier to pretend the feelings didn’t exist.

“Yeah, I know… but-”

“Please, at least just think about it. He really likes you.”

Minho bit his lip, frowning again. “But-”

“Please?”

He stared at Jinki searchingly again before sighing dejectedly. “Alright. I’ll think about it. But don’t tell Kibum something like I’m going to ask him out or anything!”

Jinki nodded eagerly, feeling like a weight lifted off his shoulders and at the same time like he was making one of the biggest mistakes he’d ever made.

“I promise! Thank you!” he managed to force out, smiling with great effort. It must have looked more like a grimace because the other looked at him weirdly.

“Sure.” Minho smiled weakly, then added in a voice so low Jinki almost didn’t hear it: “Anything for you.”

He pretended he hadn’t heard it anyway because it made his heart hurt and tears press behind his eyes. Why was that tall idiot making this so hard for him?! If he could only take the fricking hint, then this would all have gone so much smoother!

“I… think I’ll go back to my room… to think…” Minho said quietly and Jinki felt absolutely horrible seeing his defeated expression, knowing it was because of him. He really wished he could reach out and hug the taller and tell him he didn’t really want to do this. But he also knew that Minho could be happy with Kibum and that Kibum would definitely benefit from a relationship with him.

“Okay,” he replied equally quiet, biting his lip to keep the lump in his throat down.

The other nodded once, giving him another half-hearted smile before turning around and disappearing quickly down the way he’d come from.

When he was out of sight Jinki slowly started to drag himself back to his room as well, suddenly so very tired and nauseous he didn’t want anything more than bury himself under his duvet cover and sleep. Arriving at hi room, he went straight for his bed and pulled the covers over his head, hugging himself tight.

He didn’t know if the shivers going through his body were because of the coldness of the room (since Taemin had forgotten to put on the heater and Jinki couldn’t care less at the moment) or because of something else entirely that he didn’t want to acknowledge. Because he couldn’t. It would destroy everything, right?

But why was he starting to feel so unsure?

He shook his head, trying not to think about it and soon fell asleep, mind spinning with questions and not getting any closer to an answer that would help everyone he cared about.

He woke up to the buzz if his phone lying on his nightstand by noon the next day. Peeling the duvet off his body, he shivered slightly as the cold air hit his skin as he reached for the irritating disturbance. The phone stopped vibrating before he even managed to pick it up, so he let it be and squinted around the room, looking for his younger friend. He noticed a note beside his phone telling him the other had gone to the library and couldn’t wake him up so he let him sleep.

Jinki blinked tiredly at the window and the falling snow outside it, trying to decide if going back to sleep or dragging himself out of bed would be better when the phone started buzzing again, making him jump. He picked it up with a small sigh.

“Hello?” he answered groggily.

“I did not get Jonghyun-Hyung to kidnap Kibum-Hyung yesterday so that you could tell Minho-Hyung to give him a chance!” Taemin yelled into the receiver halfway into his Hyung’s greeting.

“What?” Jinki said in confusion, his brain not quite awake yet, thus not following what the other was saying.

“Hyung! I am so very close to throttling you! I-”

The boy was interrupted by something and there was a scuffle on the other end of the line. Jinki gave the wall across the room a sleepily confused stare, still not understanding a single thing.

“Hey, Jinki,” Jonghyun's voice said slightly breathlessly. “Minho was moping about in our room yesterday and told me what you said. I-” he let out a small yelp, “we think you’re making a big mess of everything, so can you come to the café so we can talk about it?”

“Uh… I-,” he stared uncertainly.

“And take a freaking shower and put on some decent clothes!” Taemin said angrily in the background.

“Please?” Jonghyun pleaded. “I’ll treat.”

“O… kay…” Jinki agreed confusedly and got up heavily. “Give me half an hour.”

“Great! See you then!” the other said cheerily and hung up.

Jinki stared at his phone for a few puzzled seconds before throwing it on his bed, getting ready to set out in the steadily falling snow with a million and one questions in his mind.

He arrived at their usual Starbucks right on time and scanned the place, not finding his two friends anywhere. Letting out a tired yawn, he went over to sit at a secluded table furthest into the café to wait in case Taemin was going to yell at him when he arrived. He started drumming his fingers nervously against the table-top as he waited before deciding to fiddle with his phone instead to keep himself busy. He had just tried and failed to beat Kibum's high score on Temple Run for the eleventh time when a shadow fell over the table and his head snapped up, anticipating the face of a stormy black haired boy. Instead, what greeted him was the surprised face of Minho, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Jinki's breath hitched and he nearly dropped his phone.

“Hyung,” the taller breathed, “what are you doing here?”

“Uh… I, uh…” he couldn’t seem to remember how to speak.

“Anyway,” Minho continued, a small smile playing at his lips although the slightly wary look in his eyes hurt Jinki to see, “Jonghyun told me to come. He was treating me to a coffee for some reason.”

This made the older frown and scan the place once again, still not finding the ones he was looking for. Something was definitely suspicious about this.

“He said he was going to treat me, too,” he said slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly. What the hell?

“Huh.” Minho frowned as well.

Suddenly Jinki's phone vibrated and he picked it up, a message from Taemin lightning up the screen. He glared at it before opening his inbox.

-Could you come to the mall down the road instead? Jonghyun-Hyung and I got a bit caught up there-

Jinki pursed his mouth, giving the message bubble a distrusting look before meeting Minho's eyes again.

“Jonghyun and Taemin are at the mall,” he informed.

“And they want us to come?” Minho filled in questioningly.

Jinki nodded and stood up, pulling on all his clothes again and they exited the café in silence, ploughing through the snow and fighting against the blowing wind to get to the mall. The air between them was slightly awkward and Jinki had no idea how he was supposed to act anymore. He felt torn, as there was a part of him screaming to just forget about Kibum while the other was trying to reason how this would actually help his blond friend.

“I think a snowstorm is coming,” Minho said as soon as they had made it safely inside the warmth of the mall, brushing snow out of his hair. Jinki felt his hands aching to reach over and do it for him instead, but thankfully he managed to keep it under control. He was glad the other wasn’t paying much attention to him at the moment, his cheeks tinting. “We should find Taemin and Jonghyun and get back to campus fast.”

“Yeah,” Jinki agreed distractedly, already punching in his best friend’s phone number to hide his blushing cheeks.

Minho watched him silently as he put the device to his ear and waited for the boy to pick up while staring at a potted plant next to him, fighting the urge to look at his only companion.

“Hello, Hyung,” Taemin said quite solemnly and Jinki gave the plant a confounded expression.

“Taem, where are you?” Jinki asked, tearing his eyes away from the pot to scan the very people-scarce mall.

“We’re in that clothes store, what’s its name… the one Kibum talked about?” he heard Jonghyun say in the background and Jinki's heart skipped a beat, his stomach twisting uncomfortably.

“Kibum is with you?” he asked, sounding more disappointed than he cared to admit. This was one of his best friends, dammit! He shouldn’t be disappointed to see him!

He saw in the corner of his eye how Minho fiddled nervously with his hands again.

“No,” the boy answered. “Just go there, we’re waiting.”

“Wait, can I just-”

The line cut off before he could finish the sentence and he stared at the potted plant again, but now in disbelief.

“What is up with those two?!” he asked it in frustration.

“I don’t know,” Minho answered for the plant in an uncertain chuckle. “You know where they are?”

Jinki nodded. “Yeah, this way.”

They spent about half an hour searching for their best friends before realising they weren’t inside the mall at all. They had tried calling both of them every other minute only to get their calls redirected to voicemail, then blocked entirely. Minho tentatively suggested they headed back when Jinki nearly threw his phone across the ice-rink located in the middle of the mall in frustration.

As if Jonghyun had known they planned on heading back, Minho's phone started ringing when they got closer to the entrance. The taller rolled his eyes and picked it up, his mouth set in a thin line.

“Jonghyun, what are you playing at?” he growled, glancing at Jinki with an uncertain look in his eyes before frowning as the other apparently had a lot to say. Minho only managed to get in a few cut off sentences before he was hung up on. He let out a loud groan and dragged a hand over his face.

“What did he say?” Jinki asked nervously.

“He said they had headed back to the dorms since the storm got worse and that they thought we had the sense to do so too.” He looked out the windows. “Judging by what he said, I think we’re stuck in here until it stops snowing and they can clear up in front of the entrance.” The taller didn’t seem able to look at him. “We’re snowed in.”

“Are you serious?!” he burst out. “Those jerks! They planned this! I should have known!”

Minho gave him the same unreadable expression he had the day before and Jinki felt his chest twist. They got stuck staring at each other in silence, the taller looking slightly bewildered now, and he could see a thousand and one questions go through his head.

“Uh…” Jinki said. “What do we do now then?”

Again, as if they had known, his phone vibrated, this time with a message.

-There’s a nice ice-rink there. Go ice-skating since you missed the last time and you’re stuck there anyways! And if you don’t I’ll kill you in your sleep!-

“Seriously,” Jinki sighed and looked up at Minho. “Taemin wants us to ice-skate since I didn’t go with you last time.”

To his relief (although he didn’t know he had worried that much about it) the confused, guarded expression on Minho's face disappeared, turning into an amused tug of his mouth.

“Really now?” he grabbed Jinki's hand and Jinki thought he would die of shock, a jolt going up his arm. “Why not?”

He let himself be dragged back to the almost empty ice-rink on jelly legs, the world a little pink around the edges. He watched as Minho rented two pairs of skates dazedly, handing one to him, which he put on without really thinking. Then, before he knew it, he was dragged to the ice, stumbling onto it awkwardly at first before getting his jelly legs to work. His brain started working somewhat again as he started moving and he couldn’t help the small smile spreading on his lips as Minho sped past him, challenging him to a race. Jinki let out a laugh and increased his speed, praying his clumsiness wouldn’t kick in and trip him to break his nose or something. The taller turned around to skate backwards, grinning at him from ear to ear and slowing down. Jinki got so caught up staring at him that his skates accidentally caught and he stumbled forward, barely keeping himself upright.

“Be careful,” Minho said as he immediately came up to him, grabbing his arms to steady him.

Jinki bit his lip, his entire body tingling with the other’s touch, making every coherent thought and all the reasons he shouldn’t be doing this just fly out the window, escaping with the wind of the storm.

And he let them.

He didn’t know how he could find the willpower to push the other away when they were so close, so instead he went along. There was no one to see them and there were no obligations at the moment.

They continued to glide around on the ice for some time, Minho never quite letting go of Jinki (not that he ever wanted him to), before the taller decided they should probably go get something to eat or drink after Jinki had fallen to his hands and knees one too many times and probably would start bruising. He then dragged the older to a small coffee shop near the entrance of the mall and sat him down at the window to look out at the storm while he went to order. Jinki had tried to protest, but the taller refused to listen and almost ran to the counter before coming back with two cups of hot chocolate and a gingerbread bun.

The look of hesitation and tension Minho had had around him ever since yesterday when he had agreed to think about Kibum's feelings were gone and they talked and laughed like they had done before the blonde had come back. It made him feel relieved but at the same time uneasy. However, he couldn’t stop himself. And he started to wonder why he ever wanted to in the first place. It wasn’t until the storm let up and they made their way back to the dorms he started to remember exactly why he and Minho should not be doing what they were doing, triggered by a worried message from Kibum. It distracted him the rest of the way home, the taller seeming to become subdued as well.

“I…” Minho breathed as they stood outside Jinki's door. The other had insisted on walking him the two extra stairs, his excuse being the bruises forming on Jinki's knees and the heels of his hands.

Jinki looked up at him, his breath caught in his throat while praying to everything holy the taller wouldn’t voice his feelings. Minho must have somehow seen his thoughts, because his expression saddened slightly and he sighed, becoming tentative and hesitant again.

“It was fun… today,” he said slowly in a quiet voice. “Let’s do it again sometime…” he took a deep breath. “With the others.”

It felt like someone hammered a nail into Jinki's heart and his breath rushed out involuntarily. But this was the way it was supposed to be after all. Not him and Minho alone, but everyone.

“Y-yeah,” he stammered, trying not to sound close to tears.

Minho nodded, his expression stony and unreadable, before turning away to go back to his own room. He stopped midway and seemed to square his shoulders, turning back and pulling Jinki into a tight hug, nuzzling his face into his hair. Jinki's heart stopped and he made a strangled, surprised sound.

“Sorry, I just…” he sighed, “I just wanted to, at least once.”

Then he kissed the top of his head, let him go and quickly made his way down the corridor, back to the stairs. Jinki stared after him for a long time, his knees so jellied he had to sink to the floor and lean against the wall. He probably would have sat there all night if it weren’t for Jonghyun coming out of his and Taemin’s room and ushering him inside with an annoyingly knowing smirk.

Later, when he had laid down in bed to sleep, Jinki (bitterly) congratulated himself for not hugging the taller back, thus not giving him more hope than he already had, although the reason was more because he was too shocked by the action to even have the mind to react, good or bad.

His stomach twisted uncomfortably and his chest went cold when he realised that the wish of hugging Minho back wasn’t as easily drowned out or pushed away by his reasoning of doing what he was doing as it had been. His want for the tall underclassman was getting stronger and he really had no way of stopping it.

A/N: This chapter became quite long... but I couldn't really find a proper way to divide it >_< And once again, I should be writing on my other story but I am completely stuck there and this just takes up the most of my inspiration at the moment! I kind of like this fic a lot! Haha xD

So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and see you in the next one!

Bye~!