As a result of staying up so late Taemin and Jinki slept right through breakfast and woke up around lunchtime. Taemin told Jinki he had a surprise planned for the day, and they started out by going to lunch at a nice restaurant downtown.

Over salads the two boys swapped childhood stories. They were both becoming more comfortable around the other, and Taemin found it easier to bring up his brother around Jinki. He knew now that Jinki was going to be there for him and not judge him or offer him empty pity.
 

Before Jinki it was easiest for Taemin to pretend he'd never had a brother around people he didn't know. His past was something personal that he preferred to keep private. He didn't want strangers' hugs or sad faces or hollow apologies. Even if they really did mean it he didn't want that. They didn't know his brother, and they didn't know him.

Maybe he didn't want to admit it to himself, but it also made it easier for him. Taemin was not a person who could think of depressing things and quickly forget them. If something was bothering him it bothered him for a while. And yet...deep down Taemin wished he had someone to talk to about his brother, someone who would listen and would care, but wouldn't try to tell him how to feel. Jinki was special. He didn’t force him to say anything he didn’t want to, and he didn’t ask prying questions.
 

"and then my neighbor got her mom to tie her leash to the front porch while she sat there and barked at passing cars. My brother and I went over and tried to feed her dog treats but they made her throw up." Taemin finished, giggling.
 

Jinki roared with laughter. "Why did you think it was okay to feed a person dog treats?"

"It wasn't my idea! And besides, my brother said he'd tried them before..."
 

Jinki almost choked on his salad from laughing and Taemin reached over to slap him on the back.

“Heyyyy, I’m sure you did something stupid like that as a kid, don’t try to pretend you didn’t!”

Jinki raised his hands in defense and made the most innocent looking face he could. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was an angel.”

In response to Taemin’s look of incredulity Jinki giggled.

“Okay, okay...this is pretty bad, but one when I was a kid,” he paused. “I was young though, really young.”

Taemin pushed him in frustration, “Get on with it!”

“Ahh, yea. So, we used to have a pet fish, and, uh, once I thought he was lonely, you know? So I dumped a bunch of those goldfish crackers into the tank so he could have some friends. It, uh, didn’t end well.”

Taemin snorted and almost spit out his drink. “And you think mine was bad?!”

“But I was waaay younger than you.”

“Excuses, excuses!!”

They laughed for a bit.

“Ok,” Jinki admitted, “We’re even.”

Taemin nodded. “Are you ready to go? I’m not going to be able to finish all of this.”

Jinki nodded in response.

The two gathered their stuff together and headed out to the car. Once they were inside Taemin started to fiddle with the keys and looked at Jinki nervously.

Jinki reached out to touch his arm. “Are you ok? What’s up?”

Taemin lowered his eyes. “I wanted to show you something today, but I don’t know if I’m ready.”

Jinki moved his hand up to ruffle Taemin’s hair and left his arm on his shoulders.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You don’t have to push yourself for my sake. I don’t mind waiting.”

Taemin rested his head on Jinki’s arm comfortably. “But I really want to.”

Jinki let him rest there for a bit while Taemin made up his mind. He didn’t know what Taemin was thinking, but knew whatever he decided would be the right choice.

After a couple of minutes Taemin sat up, determined.

“Ok, we’re going.”

He backed out of the parking space and headed out onto the road. The radio played muted in the background and Jinki hummed along absentmindedly looking out the window and occasionally turning to make sure Taemin was okay. They drove out of town and kept going for what felt like half of an hour until they reached a medium sized building across the street from a large park.

Taemin pulled into the parking lot and let out the long breath he had been holding. Jinki put his arm back around Taemin’s shoulders. “You’re not alone. I’ll be here with you.”

Taemin looked back at him, eyes trusting. “Yea. Well, here goes nothing...” He grabbed his keys and ipod and led Jinki inside. They entered into a lobby area that looked similar to a living room with couches and bookshelves. Jinki could here piano music playing softly in the background, which stopped after the door slammed shut. Taemin was visibly nervous. They heard footsteps and a middle aged woman rounded the corner.

“Can I help you?” She started, but stopped, stunned at the sight of Taemin and rushed at him with her arms open. “Taemin, Oh my god, it’s been forever, how are you?”

Taemin let himself be smothered by her hug and squeaked out, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

When she finally let him go Jinki saw Taemin’s eyes were a little watery. He turned to face Jinki.

“Jinki, this is my old dance teacher. She used to teach my brother and I.” He turned to her, “This is Jinki, a friend from school.”

She wrapped her arm around Taemin and pulled him close, ruffling his hair affectionately. “Thanks for coming here, honey. I really appreciate it.”

Taemin leaned into her touch. “Uh, is the downstairs studio free? I was hoping to show Jinki around?”

She beamed at him, “Of course, of course. Take your time. I’m in the middle of teaching a class now, but I’d love to catch up later if you have the time.” She squeezed him one final time and let go.

Taemin headed off to the stairs and Jinki went to follow him, but turned around as Taemin’s teacher grabbed his arm. Her eyes were kind as she looked up at him.

“Take good care of him, honey. He’s been through so much. I haven’t seen him around here since we lost his brother. If he’s going to dance for you you must be close so please, don’t hurt him.”

“Don’t worry.” Jinki reassured her. “I promise.”

“Jinki?” Taemin called after him.

“Coming!” Jinki rushed to meet him. He held out his hand and Taemin grabbed it and held on tight. 

Together they descended a flight of stairs and walked down a hallway to find a small, deserted studio. They took off their shoes and Taemin led Jinki across the floor to a stereo system where he plugged in his ipod. He then pointed to a spot on the floor in front of the mirrors and facing the rest of the studio.

“You can sit there.”

Jinki squeezed his hand and let go to go sit down and look up at him.

“I, uh, I made this for you.” Taemin said softly.

He pressed play on his ipod, walked to the center of the floor, closed his eyes, and began to dance. 

I hope you liked this chapter.^^ I'm really looking forward to Jinki getting to see Taemin dance, and I'm going to try to make the next chapter really sweet. <3

Thanks so much for reading and subscribing and commenting. It means a lot. :) Have a nice day!!