He couldn't be perfect, but they were perfect for each other.

Title: Perfect
Pairing: 2min
Rating: PG-13 (cursing)
Genre: Fluff/Angst (Flangst!)
Wordcount: 2951


“未来と過去どちらか一つを
見れるようにしてあげるさ
どっちがいい？”
“I’ll give you a choice, past or future. Which do you prefer?”
/オーダーメイド・Radwimps/



 That light was seriously getting on his nerves. If he had to listen to it buzzing and flickering any longer, he was really going to go crazy. He’d called maintenance over an hour ago and yet he was still sitting here listening to it blink on and off, on and off, buzzing constantly as it did so. Really, he should just turn it off, but then he’d be sitting in the dark with just the closet light on. He sighed and decided that the headache that he would probably get from using his computer in the low light would be less annoying than any more of the flickering. He rose up out of his seat at his desk and flicked off the light switch, but he didn’t feel any less annoyed than when the light was flickering over his head.

Minho knew it wasn’t really the light that was annoying him, it was the fact that Taemin was still out with that ing jerk, Byung-ki. Even the guy’s name was revolting to Minho and when he attached it to his face, smirking in that disgusting way of his as he blatantly checked out girls in front of Taemin, Minho swore he was about to lose his mind. If the younger boy stayed in that idiot’s room tonight, he swore that he was going to end up killing something, preferably Byung-ki. Taemin had been dating him since high school, but Minho couldn’t for the life of him see why. Taemin swore up and down that Byung-ki was the sweetest guy he’d ever met when he’d tutored Taemin in high school math, but he must have changed a lot since high school because Minho had never once heard a nice word about Taemin come out of his mouth. He was constantly making fun of Taemin and not in a funny way, more like in a degrading or humiliating way like Taemin could never do anything right. It always made everyone around him feel awkward because Byung-ki was the only one laughing, except when Taemin would half-heartedly laugh along with him. He’d also lately taken to breaking up with Taemin without any warning, sending the younger man into days and days of depression, just sitting in his and Minho’s dorm doing nothing, eating barely anything, and just wondering what he'd done wrong. Taemin would always take him back though, when he eventually approached the younger again. Minho closed his eyes and imagined his fist connecting with Byung-ki’s annoying smirk and smiled a little at the satisfaction just imagining hitting him brought.

Taemin was the most beautiful person Minho had ever met, inside and out. He was always worrying over Minho when he didn’t sleep because he was studying for exams and sneaking stray cats into the dorm even though he was allergic and cats weren’t allowed. When Minho skipped dinner because of the ridiculous amount of homework in the math class that his father had made him take, Taemin never failed to show up later with ramyun and coffee. And even though the flavors didn’t mix well, Minho knew Taemin was just caring for him in the best way he could. And his looks. He had pretty, full lips and eyes that turned into the most adorable crescents ever when he was laughing for real, not at one of Byung-ki’s humiliating jokes, but like when Minho would spit his soda everywhere screaming “Red card! ing red card! Who the is this referee anyway?” when he got a little too into one of his soccer games on TV. Minho thought he was perfect, was waiting and waiting to tell him when he finally came to his senses about Byung-ki, but he never did. Sometimes Minho didn’t even want to live in a world where someone like Byung-ki could think he was deserving of someone like Taemin.

He opened an eye and looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand by Taemin’s bed; it was seriously getting late and the younger boy wasn’t back yet. Minho was starting to worry a bit, even though he knew he shouldn’t. Taemin had spent the night at Byung-ki’s place more than once, not that Minho liked that one little bit. Just as he was thinking about turning in for another restless night, the door creaked open as Taemin attempted to sneak in quietly, thinking Minho was already asleep. The younger boy’s long honey-colored hair draped over half of his face as he kept his eyes on the ground, taking his shoes and backpack off, throwing the backpack on his computer chair.

“Tae” Minho said quietly (Taemin jumped anyway); “I didn’t think you were coming back.”

“Ahh, Byung-ki-hyung has to get up early tomorrow” Taemin said, smiling slightly over in Minho’s direction. His bottom lip shone a little too red in the low light and it didn’t escape the older boy’s notice.

“Is your lip bleeding, Tae?” Minho said, instantly over by Taemin’s side and inspecting his bloody lip. He grabbed Taemin’s chin and examined the younger boy’s face closely, noticing his cheek was slightly swollen as well, “did he hit you?”

“It’s nothing, hyung, I mean I kind of deserved it” the boy said, chuckling a little without humor.

“No, Taemin, this is the last straw! You have to break up with him!” Minho said, shaking Taemin’s thin shoulders a bit as he tried to get him to look him in the eyes.

“He kinda beat me to that, hyung,” Taemin’s eyes were suddenly filling with tears again, and Minho knew that Byung-ki was repeating the same cycle again, breaking Taemin down and just when he would stop crying, taking him back. “He said I was looking at other guys.”

That was ridiculous, Byung-ki had already chased away most of Taemin’s other friends besides Minho and that was only because Minho was Taemin’s roommate and Byung-ki couldn’t chase him out of his own room. “But you never do…not that I can understand why you stay with him in the first place” Minho said, completely fed up with the situation, words flowing straight from his brain out of his mouth.

“Hyung, can’t you see? I just can’t be good enough for him. I’m ugly and boring and too thin and I can’t ever do anything right. No one else will have me. I’m just lucky that he looks past all my faults.” Taemin said, slipping down onto the floor, arms clutching his legs close to his chest, “I barely have any friends! And you, hyung, I bet you can barely stand living with me…”

“Tae, is that what you really think?” Minho sat down in front of him, pushing Taemin’s hair behind his ear, thumb brushing over his swollen cheek just slightly, “the reason why no one hangs out with you is because of Byung-ki. Everyone loves you, Tae, they just can’t stand him. Tae, you could do so much better.”

“But” Taemin sobbed, “he was there for me when my parents kicked me out for being gay, he took me in off the street. I don’t even have a family anymore, not even they could stand me.”

“But, even if he was there for you then, you can’t think that he’s treating you right now. All he does is put you down, tear you up, break up with you,” Minho tentatively touched Taemin’s lip, “and hit you when you so much as look at anyone else.”

“I really didn’t mean to, hyung! I would never cheat on him, really, I wouldn’t!” Taemin said, reaching out for Minho’s hand and squeezing it gently to emphasize his point.

“I know you wouldn’t, Tae, I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t take your chances with someone else; God knows they couldn’t be worse.” Minho said, his thumb along Taemin’s hand and leveling his eyes with the younger boy’s.

“Name one person who would have me, hyung” he said, thinking it impossible that Minho could even name one person who would possibly think of dating Taemin.

“Well” Minho said fumbling awkwardly for an answer for a moment, “I would for one, but there’s also Jieun, you know that girl with the really long hair that sits behind you in lit class? She definitely likes you.” Minho made a point to purposely ignore all the boys that had crushes on Taemin, because frankly, wanting to kill Byung-ki daily in a fit of rage was quite enough for him.

“You mean like “if I was gay I would totally date you”, right?” Taemin tilted his head a little to the left and smiled “Hyung, that doesn’t count and neither does Jieun-noona; you know I’m gay. Plus I think she likes you better anyway.”

“No” Minho started, playing with Taemin’s fingers and looking at their joined hands. Taemin’s hand really did fit perfectly into his. They were a little smaller than his, but Taemin’s fingers were longer, better for piano playing. They had little red scratches on the back from where he’d been scratched by another of his stray cats and just a hint of roughness on the palm from where he’d been trying to lift weights lately. Minho thought they were perfect.

“No, I really think she does like you better” Taemin said, interrupting Minho’s thoughts and laughing softly, but his eyes were still sad and Minho knew his thoughts were still on Byung-ki.

“No, I mean, I don’t mean “I would totally date you if I were gay”,” he started again, looking up at Taemin’s expectant face so he wouldn’t get distracted again, “I mean I would have you if you’d let me, I’ve wanted to for forever now, but you’ve always only looked at him.”

“But, hyung, you’re perfect! How could you want something like this?” Taemin said, gesturing vaguely at himself and looking down at their entwined hands. He loved Minho’s hands. They were so big and warm and covered his just perfectly. They were rough from working out with his soccer team and gripping his pencil too tightly, but to Taemin they represented Minho perfectly. Just from looking at them, you could tell how hard he worked at everything. Some people thought that Minho was just naturally good at everything and hated him because of it, but Taemin knew that he worked harder than anyone he knew. Sometimes he stayed up all night studying equations for the math class he didn’t even want to be taking, just so he could make his parents happy, and then he would wake up early in the morning for classes, not showing any signs of weakness until he collapsed in his bed after soccer practice that night. He was perfect; he could have anyone. Why did he want Taemin?

“Taemin, can’t you see yourself? You’re perfect. And not just your looks, you’re funny and witty, a damn good dancer, you take care of me the best you can even when I’m being stupid, what’s bad about you? Can’t you see that he’s made you this way? He knows that he’s not good enough for you, so he breaks you down and makes you think that no one else would want you so you won’t leave him” Minho reached out and put his hand on Taemin’s cheek gently, avoiding the swollen part so he wouldn’t hurt him. He wiped at the tears that Taemin didn’t even know were spilling out of his eyes until Minho's hand was there and smiled softly at him. “Tae, please don’t go back to him. I know it’s your decision, but if you take him back, just know that I’ll fight you every step of the way because he’s not good for you, he doesn’t deserve you. And even if it’s not with me, I want to see you happy because I care about you a lot, you know?”

Taemin scooted forward, burying his face into Minho’s shoulder, “I’m just so scared of being alone…” His arms clasped around Minho and he basked in the feeling of Minho’s strong arms coming up to at his sides.

“Don’t you trust me?” Minho said, playing a little with the hem of Taemin’s shirt as he pushed the boy back a little to look into his eyes.

“Of course I do” Taemin mumbled, arm swiping a little at the remaining tears as his eyes started to dry.

“Then can we try this? If you’ll have me, of course” Minho smiled, hand cradling Taemin’s injured cheek as he leaned into the gentle touch.

“Of course I want you,” Taemin said, playing with the short hairs at the nape of Minho’s neck, “who wouldn’t?”

Minho moved forward, looking for any kind of hesitation in Taemin’s sparkling eyes, and seeing none, pressed his lips to the younger boy’s fuller ones, tilting Taemin’s face softly to the side. Fireworks were going off behind his eyelids, their colors lighting up the darkness in the room and he wondered briefly if everyone in the dorm would wake up from all the noise they were making. Not that Minho could hear anything besides the tiny noises Taemin was making as he slid their lips together easily, the younger responding whole-heartedly. He smiled a little and started to pull away, but Taemin whispered “not done yet” and Minho could feel the words more than he could hear them.

Taemin crawled into Minho’s lap in earnest then and pressed his smaller frame against Minho’s larger one, melding their lips together again and opening his mouth against the older boy’s, tongue swiping gently against Minho’s bottom lip before he opened his mouth as well. Taemin’s tongue his lazily as if they had all the time in world, which they did because there was no way Minho was going to go to classes tomorrow and Taemin had Tuesdays free. Minho briefly on the younger boy’s bottom lip before releasing it and smiling at Taemin’s close-up face. His fingers kept tracing patterns on Taemin’s back as he hugged the younger tightly against him, kissing his chin and nose, before briefly pressing their lips together again.

“Hyung, I love you so much,” Taemin said, smiling a true smile now that reached his eyes easily, “I couldn’t help thinking about you even when I was with him.”

“And I couldn’t help wanting to kill him every time you came home frowning” Minho said smiling at Taemin’s perfect smiling eyes as they curved into little crescents, “I love you so, so much.”

“Can we just stay like this forever?” the younger boy said, massaging the back of Minho’s neck a little as he looked into his big, perfect eyes.

“I’d say yes, but my back kinda hurts from sitting on the floor,” Minho said laughing lightly, “but we can move this to one of our beds if you’d like?”

“Mine! My blanket is softer than yours” Taemin said, springing out of Minho’s lap and helping the taller boy to his feet. He rushed to his bed and opened his arms for Minho to join him, which he did, gathering the smaller boy in his arms as they lay down, staring at each other in the soft light coming from the closet. “Why were you sitting in the dark anyway?”

Minho groaned, remembering the annoying blinking light from before, “the light kept turning on and off, and it just got so annoying that I just turned it off.”

“You’ll get a headache from sitting in the dark so much, hyung” Taemin said, running his hand across Minho’s arm, making the older boy shiver a little.

“Hmm, I don’t mind if you’re here to take care of me” Minho said, Taemin’s back lazily.

“Freeloader” Taemin laughed, shoving Minho a little. Since the dorm beds were so narrow, he almost fell out, but Taemin grabbed his arm before he could, pulling him back into his embrace and kissing his shoulder briefly to make up for it.

“Trying to get rid of me already?” Minho joked as Taemin shook his head vehemently back and forth.

“Like I would try to get rid of you, I’m more afraid you’d get tired of me.” Taemin said jokingly, but Minho could see the insecure look in his eyes that Byung-ki had put there.

“That's impossible,” Minho said, placing little kisses all over Taemin’s face as the younger boy giggled slightly.

Minho knew that it would take time to remove the insecurities and self-hatred that Byung-ki put there, but he also knew that it would be worth it every time Taemin’s smile reached his eyes effortlessly. With every kiss and every little compliment he would build Taemin’s confidence and self-worth back up to where it should be. Minho promised himself that if Taemin cried again, it would only be from happiness and that he would help the younger in every way that he could, because he knew Taemin would do the same for him, he always had. The younger boy wouldn’t stand for his self-destructive studying habits and his way of always trying to keep everyone happy at the frequent expense of his own happiness, not to mention his frequent sacrificing of a normal sleeping schedule. They'd both change a little from the influence of the other, but they would be good changes.
Because they fit together perfectly like two pieces of a puzzle, just two people who needed each other. Proof that you don’t have to be perfect, just perfect for each other.



A/N: This is based vaguely off a situation my sister actually went through.
I named the guy after one of the professors at my school who is apparently a huge jerk >.>. And also partly because his name means "weapon" in Korean, hahaha.
I think the ending was not so good, but this was the story that WOULD NOT END. Also, should I be sad that this fanfiction is about as long as the paper that I have to write 2 weeks from now that will probably take me 4x the amount of time it took me to write this?

GUYS. Listen to the "アルトコロニーの定理" Radwimps CD, I listened to it on repeat the whole time I was writing this, lolol. SO GOOD.