It’s something they’ve agreed upon right from the beginning – an open relationship, no strings attached – but the moment Taemin meets Jonghyun’s eyes when he’s distractedly kissing a casual hook-up in the club they love to frequent together, the 21 year old knows he has screwed up big time.

"Oh ." Taemin breathes out as he breaks the kiss with the stranger and pushes him away.

He makes eye contact with Jonghyun again in the next second and this time, he feels as if he has committed the most devious of crimes. The hurt that flashes across Jonghyun’s face sends warning bells ringing in Taemin’s head that he may just lose the best thing that has ever happened to him.

"Oh ."

Before Taemin knows it, he’s frantically pushing through the crowd and going after Jonghyun, who he realises, can actually run really fast with those shorter legs of his.

"Jjong!" Taemin calls out once he’s out of the club and on the quiet streets of late night Seoul.

Jonghyun is already a short distance away from him but Taemin’s shout is loud enough to stop him in his footsteps. He doesn’t turn back though, simply giving Taemin the time to come to his side.

When he’s close enough, Taemin reaches out to hold Jonghyun’s arm and turn him so he can see his face. And when he does, Taemin feels utterly horrible about himself for allowing his lips to be on another’s.

"Hyung…" Taemin’s grip tightens around Jonghyun’s arm.

"I’m okay," Jonghyun forces a smile as he wipes the tears off his face, "It’s just- you know, unexpected, that’s all. I thought we could hang out tonight so…. But it’s fine, Taem, you know I cry easily and-”

"No." Taemin stops Jonghyun from continuing, "No, it’s not okay, this is not fine. This is obviously not working for us."

There’s a pause as they look at each other and allow the seconds to tick by until Jonghyun breaks it.

"So is this the end then?" Jonghyun smiles bitterly as he visibly deflates, unable to hide his disappointment in himself for not being able to control his emotions better.

"Yeah," Taemin mumbles as he lets go of Jonghyun’s arm, "I guess it is."

"Right." Jonghyun murmurs in reply before he raises his volume back to normal, "I’m sorry about that… for ruining your fun just now, I didn’t think you would see me. You shouldn’t have chased after me, I-"

"Hyung?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to babble this much all the time?" Taemin asks a question that clearly leaves Jonghyun confused if the adorable tilt of his head says anything, "Because if you are, I may just have second thoughts on committing myself to a relationship with you."

"I don’t understand…" Jonghyun voices his confusion at the turn of events.

"I want to be with you, hyung." Taemin spells it out for his ex-friend-with-benefits as he smiles apologetically, "Sorry it took this long for me to realise that you’re the only one I want."

When Jonghyun looks at him slack-jawed with large puppy eyes, Taemin wonders why he has never realised Jonghyun had been enough for him all this while. Oh well, Taemin thinks as he pulls Jonghyun into a hug, better late than never.