There was something unearthly beautiful about the way crystal clear tears trailed down those pale cheeks. A sadistic little pleasure of his that strangely enough also brought a sort of uncomfortable feeling to the pit of his stomach. Just as much as he wanted to wipe the tears away and comfort the boy, he also wanted to just stand there and watch as they gave those dark brown eyes a sort of shine that nothing else could. It was just something about the way his throat constricted as he tried worthlessly to hold back the already falling tears; the way his little nose turned red with all the sniffles; the way his throat whined, wanting to let out a sob but refusing to do so.

 

It was all so eerily, bewitchingly beautiful.

 

Eventually he did wipe the boy’s tears. Regretfully so, he must admit, but he did. Just as much sadness it brought him to wipe the tears away, it brought him just as much happiness. Those watery eyes were looking directly at him now, cute little hiccups breaking through the younger’s throat, reminding him just how out of it the boy was.

 

Just moments before he was chugging down a bottle of whiskey, a grin on his face as he tried to make the most of the night that was clearly anything but fine. There was a mother in the hospital, a father with nothing but hurtful words to say, and a brother who was just too ignorant to do anything about it. There was a smile on his face as he repeated every word his father had said to him.

 

“You’ll never get anywhere in life.”

 

“You’re useless.”

 

“You a waste of space.”

 

“And you want to know the funny thing about it all hyung?” the boy had asked. He’d nodded, even though he knew he shouldn’t have. He should’ve stopped the boy there when he had the chance, but maybe he didn’t because he knew he’d get to see those lovely tears. It was that sadistic drive that started it all, but he supposed it was okay. He’d also be the one to end it. “It’s all true. He’s right about everything.

 

Those words brought the tears. He wanted to tell him that it wasn’t true; that it was all a lie. But those tears; those tears stopped him.

 

Now the boy’s head rested on his chest as he tears continued to pour from those deep brown jewels. He was silent now, the poor soul, and the elder had no doubt that the only thing running through his thoughts were the bastard’s detrimental lies. He wanted to lift the small head to look at him, so that he could see the work of art before him, but he chose to let the younger mourn the loss of his happiness.

 

“Hey Minho hyung?” the younger called to him. Minho looked down to him; in time to witness the boy bring a sleeve-covered hand to his face to roughly wipe the tears.

 

“Yes Taemin?”

 

“Can I stay here; with you? Because I… Because I don’t want to be alone hyung. Because you know… You know appa will get mad at me again if I go home like this.” The younger cut himself off with a little giggle, and Minho smiled comfortingly at him as he held his face in his hands. “He’s gonna… He’s going to remind me of how ed up I am. I mean; I know I’m a up!”

 

Minho shook his head, cooing at the drunken boy in his arms to try and calm him, but a fresh batch of warm tears were flowing now as the boy grinned at him.

 

“Because you know… It’s bad… Bad to be gay you know. Daddy doesn’t like it,” Taemin said. One hand came up to caress Minho’s face, poking it a bit and laughing, commenting on how soft it was before suddenly remembering his previous rants. “But you know… You’re so good to me hyung. That’s why I love you! Did you know that? Because like, I knew that hyung. I’ve known for so long but I didn’t tell you because you’d think I’m weird; just like appa does. Isn’t that funny hyung? I think it’s funny because you didn’t know and I did!”

 

Minho just cooed at him once more, hoping to soothe him and ways he knew real words couldn’t. He held the boy closer to him, lulling him to sleep with his warmth until the boy’s steady breath filled his ear and the rhythmic heartbeat pounded against his chest. He carried the boy to his own bed, hoping to make the boy understand when he woke up just how truly important he was.

 

He stripped the boy and changed him into a pair of his own pajamas. The boy’s body was temptation itself but Minho prided himself on being a gentleman when he could. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to return the boy’s feelings. He wanted to do it when the boy was sober and awake, so that he could see his proper reaction. He laid himself beside Taemin moments later, after finishing his nightly routine. He held the boy close to him, cradling him in his arms unrelentingly.

 

He wasn’t disappointed the next morning. He had the pleasure of waking up to Taemin pressed firmly against him, still sound asleep with his hair falling into his eyes and fanning around his head messily. A mess he knew could be fixed with a simple shake of the head but a mess nonetheless. He watched those slightly opened plump pink lips keep the boy alive with everything inhale and exhale he took. He felt the chest rise and fall against his side, comfortingly, he might add.

 

The boy looked so relaxed. It was so different to the drunk he had witnessed the night before, but it was pleasant. Perhaps he even preferred this to the tears, because he knew that in his dreams, Taemin was safe. A nightmare or two may come but he’d wake up and realize it was all a lie and that was comfort enough.

 

Just enough.

 

He knew he’d have to wake the boy though. It was almost one in the afternoon and there were things to do and people to see. There were fears to face and challenges to overcome and this time Minho vowed he’d be beside him the entire time.

 

He gaze the boy a little shake, hoping not to jostle him too much. Taemin’s eyes opened lazily, head moving up to smile up at him before turning back down to lay on his chest once more. He supposed the boy didn’t notice just what he had done, too sleepy to fully understand it. It wasn’t until five minutes later that a hand was clutching desperately to his shirt and a wetness spilled through the fabric. This time he didn’t want to see any tears. This was no longer a sadistic pleasure, considering all he wanted to do was kiss the boy senseless. He wanted to finally make the boy he loved happy; so he lifted the boy up to him and did just what he had wanted.

 

Taemin’s lips were chapped. They felt rough against his own equally dry ones. It tasted horrible. Neither had brushed their teeth and their breath smelled disgusting, but Minho felt intoxicated all the same. Taemin was reluctantly responsive, hesitantly giving into his own desires. It was nothing more than a locking of their lips but just that felt like everything to them.

 

Even after they pulled away, Taemin’s eyes remained closed, but a smile graced those lips once more. It was more beautiful than any tears Minho had ever seen on the boy. It was like a child’s smile after receiving what they believed was the greatest gift they could ever receive without even knowing that there was so much more to the world. This was Taemin’s blissful moment of uncertainty and love and happiness that Minho watched intently, taking it in just as he would take in air.

 

There were tears once more, but Minho could say now that they were ones of joy, and those were something he pleasantly enjoyed.

 

Those eyes were open again, and Minho stared into the unfocused brown that reflected every ounce of love the boy had in his body. They’d lost themselves in that moment, because Minho had finally gotten the boy he had craved for so much, and Taemin finally had something worth caring for.

 

He heard Taemin exhale loudly, staring at him unwaveringly. He felt weak and powerful at the same time just knowing that the boy lying above him was his just as much as he was Taemin’s. It was liberating and confining, yet even the freedom felt restricting and the imprisonment felt generously liberal.

 

“You really are too much, you know?” Taemin asked. Taemin’s chin was on his chest and his hand was drawing patterns on his chest. Minho gave him a soft and playful smile.

 

“How so?”

 

“You just are. You’re always there when I need you. You always know what to do and say and I really couldn’t live without you hyung.”

 

“Oh, I’m sure you’d be just fine without me here,” he teased. Taemin’s face lost its smile quickly; only to be replaced with a serious expression Minho wasn’t quite sure how he felt about. He didn’t remember the last time he saw such an expression appear on the boy’s soft features, but it was there for him to see now, striking every bit of curiosity in him.

 

“I’d die without you hyung,” Taemin replied. His tone left no room for argument but Minho couldn’t let it end there. Words like those should never leave Taemin’s mouth. Not once.

 

“Don’t say things like that,” he said, taking the boy’s face in his hands. He loved the feeling of the soft skin in his touch but he would’ve preferred it so much more if the boy was smiling at him instead of having that horrid frown and crinkled eyebrows.

 

“It’s true though,” Taemin said back. Minho felt the boy shift until his hips were being straddled and Taemin was towering above him, hands on his chest to keep him up. “You don’t seem to understand that you’re the only one keeping me breathing.”

 

“You really worry me when you say things like that,” he replied. Taemin gave him a sad smile and Minho reached put to caress his hair, attempting to tame the wild strands. “Do I have to start keeping you beside me at all time.”

 

“I wouldn’t mind if you did.” Taemin leaned closer to him. “I’d love it actually. I wish I could stay here with you forever and never leave. I wish we could stay like this forever.”

 

“And why can’t we?” he asked.

 

“Because neither of us are God to be pausing time,” Taemin joked. Minho smiled up at him, happy that the boy was becoming just a bit more playful. “I also can’t keep you from living you life. I’ll have to let you get up at some point.”

 

“But I’d much rather stay like this,” Minho replied. His hand moved down to hold Taemin’s waist. In any other situation the touches would’ve seemed overly ual given their current position but neither cared much for outer thoughts. Being intimate without ersion was a delicacy few could manage, but they pulled it off perfectly. There was the pleasure that came without a single movement and the that swept over them more intensely than any ual confrontation could ever bring.

 

“You know we can’t though.” It was a sad truth indeed. Outside of this home was a world filled with greedy bastards and self-centered narcissists. There was no real space for the weak, and so they blended with the rest. They forced themselves to be like the rest of the world until it fully consumed them and became a part of their entire being. There were few that had survived the genocide of the innocent but so many more that had already fallen to the flames.

 

“For now at least,” Minho pleaded, “Let me just stay like this for now. Can we do that? Can we stay like this; at least for just a few more minutes?”

 

“Life’s waiting,” Taemin said.

 

“My life is right here in front of me,” Minho replied, staring directly into the boy’s eyes. Taemin gave in then, falling back to lie on his chest and hugging him tightly. Minho tightened his arms around him as well, hoping that forever could start in that moment and truly last as long as it was meant to.

 

He’d steal one more kiss for now. The rest could wait until later.

 

They’d spent the day together after that. They’d done something similar before but never had it been so intimate. He’d made breakfast, with Taemin sitting on the counter beside him because the boy wasn’t allowed to even attempt cooking anymore after the honey milk and ramen fiasco. Still, just the boy’s presence made Minho think the food tasted much better than anything ever before. Everything was better with Taemin around.

 

They sat on the couch and watched all kinds of movies together. There was still a space between them but their hands were at least entwined in the middle. Taemin’s smile despite the horror movie playing before them would’ve confused anyone but Minho knew the boy better than even his own family. The boy probably wasn’t even watching the movie. His eyes were glazed familiarly, and he knew the boy’s head was filled with blissful daydreams that could erase any nightmare, real or imaginary.

 

During the action movie there was a gasp and a loud protest as the main character’s love interest had taken a bullet for him and Minho chuckled at Taemin’s obvious disapproval. Minho vaguely wondered whether or not he’d take a bullet for the younger and he found that with no hesitation he’d take a thousand of them so long as Taemin stayed safe.

 

A romance was on now and Minho noticed Taemin shift just a bit closer. It was only a bit but Minho loved it nonetheless. He wanted to completely pull the younger to him. He wanted to cradle the boy in his arms and place kisses where his lips could reach but he knew that Taemin was still shy. Taemin was probably confused too. Minho was impressed the boy could even remember half of what happened the night before. But he did; Taemin remembered every last bit of it, and he supposed that was what made him just a bit bolder.

 

The last movie was a comedy. It was light-hearted and soft, perfect for their predicament. Taemin laughed without reserve and Minho marveled in the encasement of the melody. They felt lighter as their sides were finally pressed together, getting even closer with every laugh they let out. Every laugh was another insecurity flying out the window and soaring down to the concrete beneath it.

 

Far into the evening it was time for them to separate. He could see the terror return to Taemin’s eyes, as he knew he’d have to face the beast that resided in his home. He’d have to fear everything he believed to be true; that Minho knew was nothing but lies. He turned the boy to look at him, watching as the tears pooled down up once more and that small throat constrict to fight them back.

 

“Listen to me Lee Taemin. Everything he tells you is a lie. You are the most beautiful person on this Earth. You may not be the richest money wise but you’re rich in ways that no one else is. You are important to so many people and you can’t let one bastard get to you like this,” he said. Taemin only stared up at him, trying to find some kind of lie in his eyes but he couldn’t. He felt conflicted. He’d believed his father’s words for so long and now there was someone telling him the complete opposite.

 

“I really do love you hyung. You know that, right?” Taemin asked. Minho smiled and pecked him lips. They were much softer now that they’d been wet by the boy’s saliva.

 

“I know. I love you too,” he finally told the boy. A new light shined in Taemin’s eyes in that moment. It shined until he turned and walked away to face his fate. Minho couldn’t help the bit of pride that burst in his chest just knowing how happy he could really make the boy. It was a divine feeling but all the same he wished the rest of the world would treat the boy with the love he deserved.

 

He didn’t close the door until his love was completely out of his sight. He waited until there was not even a speck left of the boy before he retreated back to his room to wait for the next time he’d see his boy again. He hoped it wouldn’t be too long, honestly. Part of him wanted to just drag the boy back to him.

 

He didn’t wait long either. It was a much shorter waiting time that he expected. The only problem was that Taemin wasn’t the one using the phone. It was a bartender asking him to go pick up the drunk who was passed out on his bar. Minho wasted no time in putting on his shoes and leaving his house at midnight to go pick him up. He just barely obeyed the speed limits set on the streets because no speed limit was going to stop him from helping his drunken love in need.

 

The bar was luckily a small one, and Minho didn’t have to worry about anyone hurting Taemin. He spotted him quickly, slumped over in his chair leaning on the counter with his head in his arms. He showed the bartender his phone to prove that he was the one called over and picked the boy up and paid the expenses. Taemin was just barely conscious, but Minho could see a bruise on his cheek and the tears on his face, and it was no mystery what had happened to him.

 

“Don’t take me home,” Taemin mumbled when he was placed in the passenger seat. “Can you believe it?” he asked rhetorically with a little laugh. “Appa said… He… He said I couldn’t go back home.”

 

“Was he the one that hurt you?” Minho asked seriously. Taemin laughed once more, tears filling his eyes once more and Minho couldn’t help but take in the beautiful sight once more.

 

“Appa’s mad,” Taemin replied in a singsong tone. He made it all sound like it was some kind of funny joke to him. The funniest he’d ever heard. “He was so disappointed Minho, you should’ve seen it! He hit me, and he said he’d do so much because that’s what a deserves.”

 

“Don’t say that word Taemin.”

 

“Why not? Appa said it. That’s what I am too. Just a ‘stupid, disgusting, worthless ,’ he said. ‘Might as well kill yourself and do this family a favor before you pollute the rest of the world,’ he said,” Taemin said. The two phrases were only part of the things he was sure Taemin’s father said, but Taemin was probably too out of it to remember the rest at the moment.

 

“Lee Taemin, so help me, I will chain you to my bed just to make sure you don’t do anything stupid to yourself,” Minho threatened. He wasn’t mad at Taemin, but at the world for making him like this.

 

“,” Taemin teased. In any other situation Minho would’ve laughed, but this was no laughing matter to him. Not when Taemin’s mental state was so vulnerable. “He’s right too. I should just kill myself. Appa would be so much happier if I did.”

 

Drunken words were sober thoughts and Minho feared what the boy was capable of. Even so, the boy’s breakdown did nothing but increase his love for him. Everything about him was so precious.

 

His eyes were red and puffy again.

 

His nosey was runny and red as well.

 

His lips were quivering.

 

His throat was constricting again to hold back the sobs.

 

It should’ve looked so ugly but once more Minho find it to be so beautiful seeing the boy tear himself apart from the inside out and just cry his eyes out. Maybe it was the fact that Taemin could only do such a thing in his presence.

 

Possibly, but also possibly not.

 

He drove in the direction he knew Taemin wouldn’t approve of, but Taemin wasn’t even paying attention anyway. Taemin’s eyes were closed, his hands clutching his own shirt as tears were still slipping out of his eyes.

 

He drove slower this time. He was enraged but he knew Taemin wouldn’t handle any sharp turns or forceful stops. He didn’t respond to the boy who was questioning as he undid his seatbelt and got out of the car. The only thing he said was a warning for the boy to stay in the car as he marched up the sets to the house and banged on the door. A gruff, stubby man opened the door for him, glaring at him viciously.

 

“What the hell do you want?” Taemin’s father asked. Minho let his taller stature and build intimidate the man as he stared down at him.

 

“I'm here to get Taemin’s things. I’ll be out of your way soon. I’m just taking what’s important to him,” Minho said. He pushed past the man, not bothering to stop as he was being yelled at and entered the room he knew so well. He grabbed the biggest bag in the room that he found, stuffing it with underwear and a few pairs of clothes. He could buy the boy more later.

 

He grabbed his laptop and chargers; pictures of his mother and brother and friends; he took his camera and anything else expensive or of value that his father could possibly ruin. In the end he had two filled bags but he didn’t mind it all too much. He ran back down the stairs, stopping at the door once more to address the older man before him.

 

“When you land in hell for everything you’ve done, I hope you’ll finally get the chance to realize what a bastard you truly are. Taemin is anything but what you’ve filled his mind with and I swear that if he does anything to hurt himself, I’m coming here to send you straight to hell myself.”

 

With that, he was gone without waiting for a reaction. He threw the bags in the back seat and hopped back into the driver’s seat. Taemin was eerily quiet and it worried Minho but he chose not to do anything about it now. He’d address it when they got back to his own home.

 

He felt bad for sounding so harsh but Taemin’s destructive words were still ringing horribly in his head and Minho couldn’t think properly anymore. None of it was right but Minho was realizing that nothing about anything seemed right anymore. The only thing that seemed to make sense was his relationship with Taemin and even that had him in fits of constant confusion.

 

His rage was towards the world and he wasn’t about to turn it on Taemin. The poor boy just followed behind him slowly, not breathing a word but Minho could see the tears still falling and the lip still quivering. He dropped the bags as soon as both he and Taemin were in the safety of his home and wrapped the boy in his arms, rubbing his back and doing his best to comfort him.

 

“Do you hate me hyung?” Taemin asked. Minho shushed him.

 

“You have no idea how much I care about you, do you?” he replied. Taemin looked up at him, chin on his chest just as it had been that very morning.

 

“Tell me? Explain it to me,” Taemin demanded. He seemed to have sobered up a bit, and Minho nodded.

 

“If you really believe what your appa said was true, you really have no idea just how crazy you’ve become. Even when you look so broken, you’re still so beautiful. You’re a damn gem Taemin, and he’s trying to ruin you,” Minho said. Taemin’s arms came around his neck, pulling him closer.

 

“Tell me more.”

 

“If you so much as attempt anything stupid, I promise you that I’m locking you away forever. If you die, I’m next just seconds after, do you understand? Did you think of how that would affect me?”

 

“More. Convince me,” Taemin demanded again.

 

“I ing love you Lee Taemin. I love you more than you can possibly imagine and if you so much as think of hurting yourself then all you’re doing is leading me to my own death.”

 

“Selfish bastard,” Taemin mumbled. He pulled Minho lower until their lips were touching once more. He could taste the tears on his lips, still as soft as before and heavenly to the touch.

 

Idealistically, he probably was a damned sadist for loving the taste of Taemin’s tears, but this was all just a smaller part of the larger Lee Taemin who was the epitome of everything Minho had every dreamed of.

 

The good and the bad; the ugly and the beautiful; it was all combined into the person in his arms and Minho couldn’t help but fall in love with him all over again in that moment.

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4269 words! Woooh! 

I hope you liked it. I tried to fit the prompt that you gave me as best as I could. ^^

Please comment and let me know what you think!

Bye bye~