Chen embraces Xiumin in an agonizing hug before releasing the elder with a smile adorning his face. Xiumin, though hesitantly, returns the hug hoping the younger knew the bond between them was nothing more than a mere friendship. 

“I appreciate your coming here, Xiumin-ah.” Chen charmingly smirks. He interlocks their fingers and drags him into the kitchen where two cups of tea, Xiumin guesses, sits readily to be sipped. 

“You know I would do anything for you.” Xiumin smiles, fingers, unusually sweating, trying to free from Chen’s death-like grip. 

With this ordinary comment, Chen lets loose his grasp at last, though the sudden change in his expression makes Xiumin all the more worried.

The traditional smile embellishing Chen’s face now fearfully substitutes a look of sadness stirred with anger. Xiumin cowers at the sudden change in demeanor, suddenly realizing what he had said. 

“Would you, Minnie?” Chen asks. 

“Anything for my childhood friend.” Xiumin emphasizes, mouth dry and tongue heavy.

“If that’s the case, why won’t you date me? Am I not good enough for you? I can change you know. Is it the way I dress? My hair? Just tell me what’s wrong  and I’ll change for you. I promise.” Chen adds, hesitant. 

A pause.

“You know I have a girlfriend.”

Chen’s lip twitches. “And what if you didn’t? What if she was gone from this world? Would you date me then?”

Xiumin stares at Chen, fright evidently forming in his eyes. 

“I love you, Chen. Just not in that way.” Xiumin replies with the absence of ease. “I really hope you find someone for yourself one day, but that person isn’t me.”

Chen pouts with infuriation. “But I love you.” 

“I know you do,” Xiumin exasperatedly steps away, “but you need to know your boundaries.”

Xiumin takes it upon himself to end their conversation, for he knows Chen would do something unexplainable, and possibly cause harm. 

That’s what their relationship has come down to now. Xiumin always being fearful of Chen’s motives. 

On the contrary, Chen does not see the warning signals flaring around him. The slight tremble in Xiumin’s voice, the way his body becomes a defensive barrier, and Xiumin’s lack of amusement all don’t sway Chen’s mind. 

His mind is all set for the elder, and he would do anything to get him. Anything. And Xiumin knows it.

Xiumin slides his feet backwards, careful to not trigger anything from his friend. Chen doesn’t miss this coiled act and confusingly hops off the stool, eyes squinted in anger.

“You’re not scared of me, are you?”

Xiumin watches his friend stumble forward as he plays with his hands.

“I would never hurt my Minnie.” Chen responds. He reaches for his arms. Xiumin visibly flinches and Chen takes notice. He steps away, the look of hurt plastering his face. A dreadful sense of guilt wash over Xiumin, but the sense is ridded away because he knows Chen could do more. 

“The tea’s going to get cold.” His friend suddenly smiles and turns to skip back towards the kitchen.

Xiumin’s jaw hangs agape. Though Chen’s personality change has happened in many instances before, each time it has Xiumin always gasping in shock.

Shivering from his worsening attitude, Xiumin returns to the kitchen where Chen sips his tea delightfully, much like a child.

Xiumin sends him a façade of smiles.

Many times in the past, the thought of ending their friendship has crossed his mind. Not only is Chen’s personality switch uncontrollably these days, but his aggressive-like attitude is also a concern Xiumin ponders on. The act of possessiveness is a clear indication that the man needs help. The man is also a sensitive type. A small conversation with another human being has him floating in anger and jealousy. His attitude goes as far as physical violence, having punched a guy for lightly flirting with Xiumin.

But the thought of ridding Chen from his life pains him deeply. Guilt takes place most of the time, therefore he knows letting Chen go is out of the question. He holds a special place in his heart.

Moreover, Chen truly is sweet. He’s the sweetest in their generation and everyone knows it. Going as far as driving to Busan to buy Xiumin’s favorite cake, which is very costly, to taking the blame when Mr. Kim found empty alcohol bottles in Xiumin‘s locker, resulting in him being held back a year.  

The two have their own homes. Chen’s being an actual house. Where he gets the money? Xiumin has no idea. His family isn’t exactly rich, and having only one year of work experience after college graduation doesn’t really pay the bills fully. Xiumin, on the other hand, opts to live in a small apartment where payments are smaller. 

Now, as they sip their tea idly, Xiumin eyes the latter suspiciously. Chen’s behavior, especially in personality switch, has become bothersome lately. Like the instance earlier, Xiumin’s been fearing for those occurrences. 

“So do you want to start building now? That way we can finish before night.” Chen says. Xiumin looks at his wavering hand, gesturing him to follow. He does, though with caution. 

His original intentions were to help construct a wall down in his basement. Xiumin is led down the basement stairs where the strong stench of cement wafts in.

He walks in and takes a view of the never before seen basement. The floor is solid concrete with a sleek of shine. Grazing his shoes against them, squeaks are heard echoing through the solid place.

At one particular corner, there is a wall that is halfway built. The footing being the base, and the layers of concrete with mortar seemingly holding stable. 

“I know it looks halfway finished, but it took a month for the footing to fully dry before I could actually start laying the blocks on top. Yesterday I worked all day on laying these blocks with the mortar. They’re almost dry but imagine with you here how this can finish quicker.” Chen declares with a clap of his hands. 

Xiumin urges his lips to crown upwards, acknowledging Chen’s hard work. Chen hops over the wall to where he was inside the room, the concrete blocks reaching just below his head. He tells Xiumin to hop on over. Xiumin does so, though not as swiftly as Chen.

“Now!” Chen exclaims. “Let’s get started.”

 

 

“I want to go home.” The voice of a child mopes at his mother, who holds his hand in a protective grasp. 

“Why don’t you play around first? Maybe meet new friends?”

“I don’t want to! I want Daddy!” Jongdae cries out as he plops his tiny five-year-old body on the ground, feet rutting against the air. 

A sigh emits from his mom’s lips. Droplets of tears escape her beautiful eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she push annoying strands of hair behind her ears. He’s made his mom sad.

“Mommy, I’m sorry. I was being a meanie, wasn’t I?” Jongdae struggles to get up as he balls his fists against his mom’s shirt, burying his face in her stomach. She his soft, brown locks as her frail arms embrace the boy in a long hug.

“It’s okay baby. A lot has just been going on.”

Jongdae shakes his head. “Daddy said to never make a girl cry. I made Mommy cry. I’m a meanie.”

His mom giggles at his innocence, fingers threading through his hair. 

“When’s Daddy coming back?” The sudden question his mother has been waiting for finally appears. Having dread this moment for so long, his mom holds the boy in her lap and gives him a gentle kiss on top of his mop of hair.

“I’m sorry, Jongdae-ah. But Daddy is gone. He’s gone off to a better place now.”

Jongdae pouts and looks at his mom for a more child-like answer. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that Daddy isn’t coming back. I’m sorry, baby, but it’s just you and me from now on. Just know that Daddy is always with you. In here.” She pats Jongdae’s chest, right above his heart. Jongdae doesn’t get it, but he’ll ask his dad later when he sees him again.

Not wanting to make his mom sad any longer, Jongdae hops off and enters the playground. “I’ll play and make friends for you. I love you Mommy!” He says as he runs off to the eye-catching slide. His mother waves him off as she watches him roam around and about the playground.

“My name is Jongdae. Please be my friend.” Jongdae says when he enters the slide where another small boy sits with wide eyes. He doesn’t get a reply, which in return makes Jongdae more determined.

“What’s your name?” He proceeds to asks.

“Minseok.” Is the simple answer. 

Jongdae smiles widely and sits beside the boy, wrapping an arm around him. Minseok doesn’t say anything and lets the other do as he pleases, so long as he doesn’t scare away the ants crawling on the slide.

“My mommy is sitting over there with the blue shirt. She’s very pretty isn’t she?”

Minseok eyes Jongdae’s mother and indeed, she is very beautiful. He nods his head with no hesitation.

“Daddy said to never make a girl cry. Have you ever made your mom cry?”

Minseok shakes his head. “I don’t have a mom.”

Jongdae gasps, eyes suddenly watering. 

“Why not? Did something bad happen?”

Minseok shrugs his shoulder, not really knowing what happened to his mother. “Dad said Mom is at a better place. But I don’t know. I’ve never met Mom before.”

Jongdae frowns. “Mommy told me Daddy is at a better place too. What does that mean? I don’t know what it means because I’m only five. I want to ask Daddy but he isn’t here right now.”

Minseok’s heart swells because poor Jongdae is still innocent as to where his dad had gone to. 

“Jongdae, do you want to watch the ants with me?” Minseok asks. 

An excited smile appears on the five year old’s face. “Ok!”

 

 

“So that’s how you do it?” Xiumin asks with no confidence. Chen nods his head, tongue sticking out with happiness. 

“Of course! You’ll be good at this, I promise!” 

“If you say so…”

“I’ll start at this end, and you can start over there.” He points to the other end of the wall. 

Xiumin nods and brings his needed supplies to the appointed station. 

 

 

“What’re you doing here so late? You know my dad has an early flight tomorrow!” Minseok yelps as soon as he opens the door. Jongdae stands there with a smile gracing his cute facial features. 

“Yeah but I missed you.”

Minseok rolls his eyes. “You saw me five hours ago.”

Jongdae shrugs and invites himself in, the two being close enough to do so. They climb up the stairs and enter Minseok’s room. He tells Jongdae to be quiet, for his dad has to leave for China tomorrow morning.

“So I was thinking…”

“That’s new.” Minseok retorts.

Jongdae glares at him but it’s soon replaced with an excited grin. 

“We should have nicknames, you know? Now that we’re entering high school and all!”

Minseok eyes him warily, disliking this new idea Jongdae suddenly sprouts on him.

“No thanks, but I don’t want to be known as something else. Calling me Minnie is already humiliating enough.” 

Jongdae pouts. “What? You don’t like it?”

 Minseok shakes his head in displeasure.

“There’s this cool guy in our grade named Wu Yifan. Isn’t his name cool? Oh and Lu Han! Also Zhang Yixing and Huang Zitao!”

Minseok displays a lopsided frown. “You’re just naming the Chinese students.”

“Of course! I was looking up Chinese names earlier and I think Xiumin matches you!” 

Minseok becomes baffled at the Chinese name, obviously not liking Jongdae’s way of nicknaming each other. “Why would I call myself Xiumin?!”

“Because Xiu means beautiful in Chinese, and Min means clever. Both are very you.” 

Minseok splutters from the compliment. 

Three hours later, the two finally settle on nicknames for the themselves, or more like Minseok begging Jongdae to stop calling him Xiumin. Jongdae confirms Minseok being Xiumin, while he calls himself Chen. 

 

 

It’s after a few hours when Xiumin finally realizes something he should have seen before. Or rather than see, he didn’t see at all. 

“Chen…”

At the call of his name amongst the silence, Chen whips his head to where Xiumin is. “Is something wrong, Xiumin? Oh-wow you’re doing good! We’re almost done! Isn‘t this exciting!”

“Chen…” Xiumin says again, garnering the said boy’s attention. Fully.

“Where is the door?”

 

 

“I love you so much, Chen!” Xiumin smiles, engulfing himself with the freshly baked cake. There’s only one bakery in the whole world that could make this wondrous cake, and Xiumin knew instantly where it came from. 

“I can’t believe you drove five hours just to get my favorite cake! Five hours more on your way back too!”

“I’d do anything for you, Minnie!”

Xiumin holds Chen tightly, hugging him until what seemed like forever. Finally letting go, Xiumin whips his attention back to the cake, dwelling it’s taste on his tongue. 

“It’s so yummy!” Xiumin exclaims, the rich frosting off the fork.

Chen pinches his cheeks with a chaffing flick. “You’re so cute.”

Xiumin doesn’t hear this, too busy downing the once-in-a-lifetime cake. 

 

 

“Didn’t you know, Minnie? I intentionally didn’t put a door.”

 

 

“So? What did they say?” Xiumin asks, sitting with anticipation on Chen’s bed.

“Nothing all too serious. I’m not graduating this year. Mom’s pretty mad. She won’t let me out of the house until the next school year starts.”

Xiumin gasps as guilt gnaws his insides. “Nothing all too serious?! Not graduating in time is very serious, Chen! No! I can’t accept this. It’s my fault this happened. We have to tell them the truth.”

Chen shrugs his usual casual shrug. “It’s fine! If we tell them the truth, they won’t let you graduate in time.”

“But they’re not letting you graduate this year!”

A chuckle sounds from Chen. “It’s fine. So long as you get what you want.”

Xiumin sighs dramatically. He plops down on Chen’s bed, agony written all over. “I should have just thrown those stupid bottles away! I’m so stupid, even letting you take the blame!”

Chen ignores his complaints and saunters his way to Xiumin, running his hand down his spine. “It’s ok. I don’t care about graduation. I just care about you…”

 

 

“How are we supposed to get out now?” Xiumin gulps.

Heart beating rapidly, hair sweating, and body trembling, Xiumin shields himself into the far corner.

Chen smirks, a devilish grin on his handsome face.

“Who says I’m letting you out?”

 

 

“He was just talking to me!”

Chen scoffs. “Like I’d believe that! He was obviously flirting with you!”

“No he was not! And so what if he was? It’s not your business who I talk to. That punch was unnecessary!”

“It’s my business because he’s talking to you!”

“Maybe I don’t want you a part of my business. Haven‘t you ever thought of that?”

Chen becomes relatively silent. It’s a silence Xiumin has never heard of before. Because he’s usually loud, funny, and out-going, Xiumin quickly apologizes afterwards, promising to treat him out later tonight.

 

 

“J-Jongdae… this isn’t f-funny.” Minseok stammers.

Jongdae doesn’t laugh as he nears the elder.

“Minnie, I’ve loved you for so long. Each time you rejected me, it pained me so hard I wanted to kill myself. I was so close to dying. But then I pictured your beautiful face and I knew there was still hope in us.” 

 

 

“This is Minah, Chen.” Xiumin gestures between his best friend and girlfriend. Chen’s not yet met Minah. In fact, Chen doesn’t even know he’s dating someone. With high hopes of the two getting along, Xiumin formally invites the two out for lunch.

“I’ve heard lots about you!” Minah’s sweet voice says as she reaches out to shake his hand. Chen reluctantly does so, eyebrows cocked in confusion. 

“Who’s this, Minnie? Why am I meeting her?”

Xiumin smirks at Minah, who returns a loving gaze. Chen isn’t oblivious to this act.

“Minah is my girlfriend. We’ve been dating for a month now.”

His face distorts to one of disappointment, something Xiumin hadn’t been expecting at all.

“You’re replacing me!”

Xiumin gapes at the accusation. “No I’m not Chen. She’s-”

“That’s why you’ve been sneaking around this past month! You lied to me! You’re a liar!”

Both Xiumin and Minah become astounded at Chen’s attitude. Xiumin tells Minah everything will be fine, fear evident in her eyes, as he tries to calm the latter down. 

“Chen! Calm down-”

“Don’t tell me to calm down when I just found out I’ve been betrayed to!” 

“I didn’t betray you-”

“Bull!” 

“We’re in public!”

He doesn’t listen. “You’re giving yourself to this ?! I would have given you true love. You deserve more than this piece of trash!”

“Don’t call her that!”

“Maybe I should leave.” Minah worriedly stands, obviously saddened by the fact that her boyfriend’s best friend doesn’t seem to like her. 

Xiumin also stands, hands clasping against hers. “We’ll both leave. Jongdae can stay.”

Chen glowers. “You’d leave me for her?”

“When you’re naming her a , then yes.”

Chen stills and pulls his eyes downwards, silence embracing the three. 

Just as Xiumin wraps Minah in her coat, Chen stands beside them, hands reaching for Minah.

“Hi! I’m Chen! Nice to meet you!”

 

 

“Please don’t do this.” Minseok cries as Jongdae locks him in a cage with his arms.

Minseok’s pleads go in through one ear and out the other. He ignores the whimpers escaping Minseok’s mouth and huddles closer to the smaller man. 

“This is so perfect. Now I can have you all to myself.” His breath ghosts Minseok’s neck, lips dangerously close to his skin.

The hands bunching at his shirt forcefully push him away, though Minseok’s faltering body against his is useless against a man like Jongdae. 

“You’re all mine. We’ll be together forever and there’s nothing in the way this time.” 

Jongdae tilts Minseok until their gazes lock. The wide eyes he first met at the age of five now brew with tears. Jongdae thinks it’s beautiful. 

He engulfs Minseok’s lips onto his, the struggling body against his own is nothing Jongdae can’t handle.

“I love you so much, Minnie.”

 

 

 

 

Hopefully someone likes this >< 
I had fun writing this! BTW, the italics were flashbacks... if anyone didn't get it. 
I know there are many loopholes but let's just pretend they're not there?
If it's confusing for anyone just comment below and I'll explain better.