"Are you going to come inside or should I leave you out here to gawk on the front porch?" Minho said, snapping me out of my trance.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm coming." I said as I rushed inside. I followed Minho through the house, past the living room, through several hallways, (I think we passed the kitchen too) and into a lounge area. In the lounge there were two sofas placed adjacent to each other with a coffee table in between. A piano had also occupied the room further towards the back of the lounge and there was even a fireplace next to a book shelf and across from a mini foosball table.

"I guess we can work here." He told me as he dropped his bag and spread his legs out on one of the couches. It didn't really look like he was going to be working.

I sighed. 

Let's just get this over with so I can go home and relax. 

Right now the further away I was from Minho seemed to be the best. After what happened yesterday I could barely seem to think straight or even make sense of the thoughts I did have. It was annoying. I had given up the feelings I had for Minho long ago when we entered high school and he started using me as the target for his and his friends pranks and beatings. To let those feelings resurface would just make things between us all the more complicated. 

 Taking my backpack off my shoulder, I sat at the end of the couch near Minho's feet.

"Okay so I pretty much have an outline of how we will conduct our experiment. Now we just need to actually do the experiment and collect our data." I told him. 

"So I guess we'll need to find some time that works for both of us to use the lab then?" He asked.

"Yes. Maybe during our lunch period if that's good with you?" I suggested to him. 

"Yeah I don't mind, I'll just bring my lunch there." 

"Good, now you just need to know how to use the equipment, and a background story of how the science behind muscle contractions work." I began to explain.

"Ughhhh, that sounds boooooring." Minho moaned. " can't we just skip that whole part?"

"We could. But then you wouldn't be ready to answer the questions our teacher will ask after our presentation." I smiled a little.

Although Minho was reluctant at first to learn the material, he was catching on really quickly. I didn't understand why he was having such a hard time in the class because he really understood it all, I guess he just wasn't applying himself. We were coming up with possible questions that were going to be asked of us and the answers to those questions. Nothing felt forced or uncomfortable between us which was a weird but nice feeling.  Maybe working with him alone wasn't going to be so bad.

Could we actually be friends?

Asking myself this question brought up so many more questions about Minho. I really didn't know what to say but once I started talking, the words just sort of came out.

"Hey, Minho." I started. "Why is it that.... You guys pick on me all the time?

He had been writing something down in his notebook and once he heard this question he completely stopped. 

"I mean, I know you guys don't like me but..."

"Taemin stop." He interjected. 

My mouth opened and closed as I looked for the right words to say. But that was just it, I really didn't know what to say with Minho. I didn't know what was okay and what wasn't. What was it that made him go from 0-100 in a conversation and what was it I should avoid saying when we spoke.

"I'm sorry..." I breathed out. 

"Its okay." He said softly.

Neither of us said anything after that nor did we move. I just looked down at the carpet to avoid looking at Minho. I didn't want to annoy him but I just wanted to get some sort of answer to the many questions I was beginning to have when it came to him.

"You know," Minho said, causing me to look up. "When I was younger, I lost my mother. We had been going out to get some ice cream because I had just come from a football game."

As I was looking at Minho I could see his eyes watering up a little. 

"Even though we had gotten what we ordered, I wasn't satisfied and wanted more sprinkles and gummy bears. My omma.... she was so nice and went back in the ice cream store..... but she told me to wait  in the car." He was now pausing, trying not to cry, between what he was saying. It was hard to see him like this, so vulnerable and hurt.

"It happened so fast. There was a shootout between two gangs in the store and she didn't even see it coming. She was caught in the crossfire because, because...." Minho began to sob. "Because of me. If I could have just been satisfied with what I already had then she'd still be here!"

Oh my

Has he been carrying this pain all this time?

 I could feel a few tears roll down my cheek as I saw Minho break down in front of me. I placed my hand onto his in a reassuring way.

"No, it's not your fault." I told him. "She went back in there because she loved you. What happened was unfortunate but you can't blame yourself for it."

He didn't say anything. 

"You know, I lost my parents too before I could even remember what they looked like. I know it doesn't bring her back but just know that you're not alone. I'm here." I tried telling him.

Minho looked up at me and brought me into a strong embrace. His arms were wrapped tightly around me and I could feel his heart racing again. I couldn't help but feel warm like this.  He then looked up at me, not crying anymore, and started kissing me on the lips. I could feel the passion coming off of his mouth and onto mine. I could also feel something else, growing, on my thigh. 

"Minho stop." I panted and put my arms on his chest to create some distance.

I could feel my body drawing itself towards Minho even though my mind was wanting to do the opposite. It was a battle where it had been hard to fight the attraction happening between us. Before I could gather my thoughts, Minho grabbed my harm and pulled me closer to him. He was now making small kisses on my neck and I could feel his teeth a few times. 

"Ahh." I moaned and allowed Minho to pull me closer. Soon both of our clothes were off and we had fallen to the floor. I had been fully consumed by Minho and couldn't help but give in to every touch, kiss, and move he made. 

That night we accomplished nothing related to our biology project and I had even forgotten about it until he next day. If it hadn't been for Key snapping me out of my daze, I would have most likely walked into incoming traffic.

"Why is my Taeminie not listening to me!?" Key yelled into my ear. "First you blow me off yesterday and now you won't even listen to what I have to say!?!"

He then placed his palm on my forehead. "Are you okay? Your face looks a little bit flushed. What happened to you yesterday!?!?" Key shouted in concern.

"I'm sorry umma, I just had something that I..." I paused. "Had to do yesterday." I told him.

"Something so important that you had to BAIL on the Almighty Key without even so much as a text or phone call explaining yourself!??" He scolded

I shrugged my shoulders, not saying anything in the process. We continued our walk to school with me evading Key's questions of yesterday and him going off about how one girl was being cheated on by her boyfriend and today was the day she was going to confront him. Key always knew the drama and gossip going on I in our school and it sometimes baffled me. But I guess that's what made him the self proclaimed "Almight Key." When we reached the school I immediately saw Minho standing by the front entrance with Taecyeon and a few others. I stopped and instantly the events that happened yesterday played into my mind. 

Did we really....

"Taemin  what's wrong?" Key asked.

"Oh, nothing." I reassured him and we continued on into the school. As we passed the group of boys and girls, one of the guys tried tripping me. Had Key not been there to catch my fall, I would really have fallen face first into the building.

"YAH!! Watch where you're placing your legs Daehyun!" Key yelled while rising his fist. 

"No Key it's okay. Let's just go." I calmed him down and led us through the doorway and down the hall to his locker. He scolded me for not letting him "teach Dumb-hyun a lesson." I just laughed at the nickname and told him it wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't want to cause a seen especially not in front of Minho. 

During that short altercation, Minho didn't even once look in my direction. He just laughed with the others and continued on with whatever conversation they were having. 

It had now seemed like Minho was trying to avoid me . He never showed up for our Bio class nor was he in the lab for our lunch meeting. I had seen him in the hallway towards the end of the day and was hoping to make some arrangements. But he and his friends shot me down with their glares when they saw me walking in their direction. 

I was conflicted on how I should feel. Should I be surprised since it was Minho we were talking about or should I feel hurt because I thought maybe there was something between us? I went home both hurt and confused with so many questions. Why did I feel this way, like I felt something towards Minho? Was I falling for him? No, I couldn't right? I mean, we have shared a few personal (and even intimate now) moments together. 

Several days had passed and still Minho seemed to be avoiding me. We didn't have time in class to work on our projects because it was now something we had to do on our own time. This meant that we weren't obligated to work together. Everything seemed to be going back to how it was before we were assigned this project.

I still continued on with the experiments even without Minho. I wouldn't be getting an A but at least I had a chance for a solid B. Key even helped me out on a few days which I thanked him so much for. He didn't know Minho was my partner and I wasn't planning on telling him that either. If he knew Minho was my partner and chose not to do any of the work, that would only make the situation between us worse.

I thought everything was over until I received a text that read "I want to see you again" from a number I didn't know. I dismissed it at first but when I saw Minho standing in front of my locker, everything I had thought up until that point became but a blur.

It was just him and no one else, waiting for me. I slowly walked to my locker, trying so hard to not actually get there. Minho soon looked up and gazed at me while I approached.

"Hey Tae."