#jong@jinki for following the plan: ;))))

[justtextmeoppa]

SHINee reaction to their best friend confessing their feelings

Hi cutie! I hope you won’t kill me when you’ll read, but I thought to write something realistic. Love ya,  - M. 

Jinki  

These days you're trying to confess the truth, your feelings are becoming more and more overwhelming because you cannot express them freely. And that night looks like the perfect time, you two are on your own and you're enjoying a great dinner that you spent the afternoon preparing.  

"Jinki.. Can I talk to you about something?"  

He nods, enjoying every food that you have prepared with care, but without giving you his total attention.  

"What would you think if a person close to you.. confess that she or he has feelings for you? "  

Your question catches him unprepared, his thin-edged eyes widen slightly due to the surprise. He had never thought of it, but Jinki, knowing his personality, knows that he could ruin a serious moment. Especially if he doesn't reciprocate the feelings of the person in question.  

"It depends, Y/N. If I also have feelings, I would be extremely relieved because I didn't have to take the first step.. "  

"Otherwise?"  

"I would try to understand that person and above all not hurt his/her feelings," he admits seriously, laying the cutlery on the table and resting his elbows on the wood, "If this person feels something for me, its welfare comes first since I inevitably have to reject it. "  

"What if that person was me?" Your voice almost a whisper and he, at first, thinks he heard wrong. But when you don't contradict what you just said, the panic begins to spread in him and his mind becomes completely blank. He has no idea what to say, especially because he never thought you could develop feelings for him.  

"I understand on my own, you don't need to say anything."  

"You can't expect a lightning reaction," he rises from the chair and starts to walk back and forth from the table to the kitchen window, preying on a thousand doubts, "when you, my best friend for almost seven years, confess indirectly that you feel something for me! "  

"I had to write you small billboards so as to drown the shot?? I just did it, don't take it too seriously."  

"But it's you!"  

Jinki is simply afraid to lose you because he doesn't even know what his feelings are, but for the moment he's aware that he doesn't see you in different ways. You're his best friend and he can't pretend something that doesn't exist.  

"Yes, I am and I still am your best friend even if I like you."  

"Why me? Couldn't you choose Minho? "  

And you snort, your broken heart was there but that small drop of happiness derived from the fact that he didn't seem to want to leave you anyway.  

Jonghyun  

-I have to talk to you about something important! See you later, xoxo- 

Your message was hunting Jonghyun from all morning. You did meet two days before, something special had happened in that little time frame? Or maybe something horrible, but he knew you wouldn't wait in that case. You were his shoulder on which to cry and he was yours for years now.  

When you reach his home, your stomach is so tightened by the anxiety that you want to run away and hide for the rest of your life. You didn't schedule it, but you were tired of hiding your feelings.  

"What's going on? You know I've been struggling to concentrate all day because of you?? "  

"Hi to you, Jonghyun," you giggle, taking off your jacket and accepting the glass of wine that he was giving you, "it's good to see you."  

Jonghyun can hear something different about you and looking at you, he's trying to figure out what. But the more he observes you, the more nothing special or particular appears.  

"So??" He asks you, once seated on the couch, one next to the other while sipping the wine.  

"I like you, Jong."  

"You too, you know very well."  

A little bitter laugh escapes from the lips and he ruffles his browns, confused by a sound so much off. What did he say wrong?  

"No, not as a friend Jonghyun.. It's been a while since I realized it, but it's almost impossible not to fall for you. In a romantic sense, of course. "  

The revelation completely disrupts the singer, who looks at you and feels a sense of suffocation in understanding to be the cause of your torments. As Jinki, he's sure at 50% not to have feelings for you, but the remaining 50 makes him doubt it. He would lie if he didn't admit that every now and then he imagined you two together, in a way different from the "best friends".  

"Y/N, if I asked you out, a real date, would I be bad? Is that.. "  

"You don't know what you feel, I know. And no, you wouldn't be bad, but I'm not sure I could handle it right. I know it could be a way to let you know if you could love me but.. You know I'll easily let my hopes rise. And in this case, it would just be a disaster. "  

Jonghyun understands your reasoning and simply hugs you, mentally trying to find an alternative way to figure out his feelings.  

Kibum  

You had promised to yourself not to reveal what you felt for him. It was a promise made a year ago and if even with some difficulties you were able to keep it.  

You hadn't, however, planned to spit the secret during a fight.  

"It's not my fault you're forgetful!"  

"NO, MY ONLY FAULT IS TO LOVE YOU, YOU MORON!" You shout and the time is totally freezing, as well as your best friend.  

That will observe you as if you had just revealed the next winner of MAMA (A/N: Lil Snake, lmao) without the voting period still started. His mouth is suddenly dry and he sits because that confession is completely unexpected.  

Sighing you sit by his side, your head bent down while you look at your shoes. You don't know what to say and start to be afraid that he can get away since you're sure he doesn't feel anything about you.  

"Bummie.." You sigh after a few minutes and feel his forehead against your shoulder, his heavy and thoughtful sighs. "I'm sorry Bummie."  

"For how long..?"  

"Almost a year," your hands tremble while you admit it and then you intertwine them on your laps, "I wasn't going to tell you, though."  

"Why??"  

Kibum hates himself because he has never noticed anything, he who is always so attentive to every detail and never lets anything escape his gaze. He raises his head and rests his hand under your chin, making you turn your head and your eyes finally meet.  

"Because it's obvious that you're too much for me, Bummie."  

"I want to disagree because this is a huge crap. Maybe it's the opposite, " he whispers, his face is getting closer to your so much that you can feel the softness of his lips touching your own, "it's you who are too much for anyone. But if you give me a chance... " he lets the phrase disperse, without complete it because he crashes lips against yours, molding his on your softness and starting to get lost in the emotions of that kiss. Licking your bottom lip, he smiles because you're breathless and your cheeks are purple, "I prove that I'm worthy to stand by your side no longer as a best friend, but rather as a boyfriend."  

Minho  

Minho has noticed your strange behavior for days. The way you avoid any kind of contact, which was necessary for both to be fine. Or as you always replied coldly to his every message or even avoid answering his calls. And he starts to be worried because he's clueless and wants to see if he said or did something that drove you away.  

What he doesn't know is that you're simply trying to make those feelings disappear, because you're aware that revealing them would inevitably ruin your friendship.  

"May I know what's happening?"  

The cookbook with whom you're trying to hide your blush fails at its attempt and he rips it off your hands, showing your frustrated face and the nervousness that was devouring you from within.  

"Y/N, you know that you can talk to me about everything? Tell me what's going on, I want to help you. "  

"You can't do anything, not this time."  

Minho hates not being able to help you and seeing you so defeated causes him a nuisance that cannot be quantified. Then he sits by your side, taking your hand and squeezing it among his. It's a pleasant feeling that he can again feel the warmth of your skin and Minho realizes that he was missing you more than he believed.  

"Y/N.."  

"I fell in love with you."  

"Oh."  

It wasn't the answer you hoped for, but it was what you were expecting. So your heart didn't break, your hopes weren't broken and your ego wasn't diminished. You were aware that Minho didn't see you like that, and you'd never blame him.  

"Just, please.. I don't want to lose you as a best friend, you know? "  

Minho is still shocked to be able to respond adequately and acts in the only way he knows. He hugs you, you hide your face against his buffed chest and the warmth of his arms soothes at least in part that fear was living with you for weeks.  

"Whatever will happen, it's obvious that you won't lose me. Just that.. "  

"Minho, I can handle it. The important thing is not to lose you, for no reason in the world."  

Taemin  

"But I don't know what I feel for you."  

To hear him say aloud after you had gathered all the courage you possessed and the willpower, it was strangely less painful than you had expected.  

His smile is small and above all not happy. There's only confusion in his eyes and you can't help but feel guilty. Because you could shut up and just let the problem slip, but then you'd be a mess for the time to come.  

"Taemin, don't think too much. They are just feelings, they can disappear. Okay?"  

He looks at you, alienated from your words and trying to put clarity into his mind. But it's too full, the thoughts are too lumbering and he actually fails to hear what his heart is saying to him. "Stop with that face, it seems like someone is killing you, Tae," your laugh reassures him, but he fails to hear how fake it actually is. But you can't let him keep basking in the guilt trying to sort out what his feelings are.  

But in the days to follow is he who cannot help but think. Think of you, how sincerity dripped from your every word, how your eyes were sad in spite you were smiling.  

And slowly, he also begins to think that there is a difference between how he is when you're along with him and how he is when you're away from him. He feels miserable, every moment.  

So without wasting time he runs to your home, where you're trying to study because you have an exam. But your studies have a short life because you find him on the door, panting and forced to rest at the jamb while taking huge breaths.  

"Do you still love me??"  

Your heart loses a few beats when you hear that phrase and you freeze on the spot, your eyes wide open and your breath trapped in your throat.  

"Y/N!!!! Do you still love me? "  

"Y-you know.. It's not that easy.. You can't delete similar feelings in a few weeks.. "  

"Perfect."  

His lips collide with yours and the world literally stops. Also because of his impetus, his forehead has beaten against yours and a scream of pain has escaped from the lips of both.  

"TAEMIN!"  

"Sorry, but admit that this story is perfect to be told to our grandchildren!"

[bubltae]

Ahhh I absolutely love your single dads onho au!! If it isn't too much trouble I'd love to know what happens next, both of them are so silly and in love that even jjongie and kibum noticed i cannot

it’s not any trouble at all! thank you for sending this ask ^^

so after jinki took off with kibum being dragged unmercifully behind him, something kind of shifted between him and minho. kibum and jonghyun didn’t stop being friends ofc (they’re besties) but now they spend their recesses planning out solutions to fix what they created.

and kibum’s like, “my dad totally knows what’s going on and that’s why we left so suddenly. we need a new plan.”

jonghyun nods like a lil pup uwu. “my dad has no idea at all and he just kind of dumbly stared at the wall during breakfast this morning. what are we going to do?”

so kibum thinks actively bc yes jonghyun is older but kibum is notoriously known for being a smooth ten year old with a cute pup to follow him aka jonghyunnie.

jonghyun lights up. “we could pull the fire alarm and then they’ll both come to the school and we’ll get them together here.”

“are you crazy?” kibum yells. “that’s illegal and how would they get together if we’re in the principal’s office for breaking the rules?”

jonghyun sighs dejected but continues to think.

and kibum’s head is hurting. “what about this. your dad volunteers until the end of the school day right?” jong nods again. “well instead of just going home i’ll lead my dad towards the classroom and they’ll have to talk because your dad always cleans up like a good man.”

and jonghyun looks like he just swallowed a whole coca cola bottle and is just bouncing really excitedly in his seat outside. “let’s do it.”

so the end of the day rolls around and right as the bell rings, jonghyun signals kibum to go get his dad, who is already parked in the front waiting for him.

and kibum runs out and gives his dad a hug uwuwuwu so soft. and he says, “teacher heechul wants to talk to you.”

jinki just gulps because what if the news that he tripped over a kid got to him or how he slammed into a wall and knocked over a table of portfolios?

so they get there and teacher heechul, jonghyun and kibum have all disappeared and jinki can see minho sorting papers and his heart falls out of his chest.

and he tries to leave quietly but he trips over a tiny chair and falls face first onto the linolium. and minho hears and turns around and is like, “omg sir are you ok?”

but then he realizes it’s jinki and he’s still kind but a bit tentative since jinki has fled from his house yesterday with a metaphorical tail between his legs. he helps him up and asks if he’s ok, to which jinki replies with an, “i guess, yeah.”

cue the awkward silence…

and jinki just starts talking. “i’m really sorry about leaving so suddenly yesterday. i was very rude and completely out of line but i would love for you to come have lunch tomorrow while the boys are at school.”

and minho is a bit tentative to accept because jinki left out why he took off but he likes jinki too much so he says yes and minho can see jinki’s face light up all sparkly.

outside, kibum is standing on his tippy toes peeking through the window and jonghyunnie is too tiny and he’s jumping up and down trying to see. and kibum is super duper excited because onho are smiling and he thinks he heard something about “coming over” yipee. so he tells jonghyun and he’s excited too even if he can’t see.

but then onho are getting ready to leave and they’re heading for the door and jongkey are freaking tf out bc shit they’re going to be caught again.

and as soon as the door opens, they both just fall on the ground to make it seem like they just fell but onho aren’t buying it and even though they’re trying to be parents right here, jongkey can see how happy they look.

kibum is now ready to move on to the unsaid phase two of “get dads together.”

[onewfantaesy]

so this is something i started writing like at least a couple years ago and i never finished it but it’s pretty decent and i like the story so 🤷 anyways taemin finds out his parents aren’t actually his parents and his sister and brother-in-law are not actually his sister and brother-in-law

"Taemin, what is he doing in my house?" The fourteen year old turns his head quickly at his brother-in-law's voice and grins sheepishly. His own hand is currently gripping his friend's to try and drag him down the hallway to his room, but he wasn't expecting Jinki to be standing right outside Taeyeon's room.

"He's hanging out with me." Taemin tells Jinki sweetly, but the man shakes his head. Jinki's lips are pursed into a straight line, and he does not look amused.

"Why is he in my house, Taemin?" Jinki asks again, and Taemin's grin turns into a pout.

"Luna said I could." Taemin tells him firmly, "We're just gonna be hanging out in my room. It's my room, you said it was!"

"Well it's my house, Taemin." Jinki sighs, rubbing his forehead.

"Please, Onew, please?" Taemin begs, hurrying over to Jinki and folding his hands, "Please, bestest big brother-in-law in the whole wide world?"

"Fine," Jinki groans, "But you better not be doing anything illegal in my house; I know your parents, Jonghyun."

"Yes, of course, Mr. Lee, sir." Jonghyun says hurriedly, letting Taemin pull him down the hall and into his bedroom.

"He's just having a friend over, Jinki." Luna comes over, rubbing Jinki's arm.

"I taught him." Jinki complains, "It's weird having students in my house. Besides, he's too old to be hanging around with Taemin."

"They're only two years apart, Jinki; you're being overprotective." Luna warns him, "Besides, we told him that was his room; he can have friends over if he wants to."

"It's just - your parents said-"

"I know what they said, but they haven't really been sticking by it, have they?" Luna seethes, "Just, please, just let him have his friend over, okay? They're not doing anything illegal or anything."

Jinki lets out a deep sigh, "I just want what's best for him."

"And I don't?" Luna snaps, "I've had to watch them practically ignore his existence for fourteen years, Jinki-"

"So have I." Jinki tells her, and they both decide that they'll end their little spat there so they can go figure out what their three year old is up to; Taeyeon's been too quiet for too long. Naturally, when they find her, she's cut off all the hair from a few of her dolls, and they spend the next hour cleaning up the fake hair from her carpeted bedroom floor and teaching her that doll's hair doesn't grow back.

Once they've got Taeyeon occupied with something else , Jinki's knocking on Taemin's door as he walks into the teenager's bedroom, "Taem, is your friend gonna be staying for di- Oh my God."

"Get out!" Taemin screams as he throws a pillow at the door that Jinki's already pulled closed.

"Oh my God." Jinki mutters to himself as he walks back to the kitchen with wide, terrified eyes.

"No, Jonghyun, wait!" Taemin begs as he runs after Jonghyun, but the sixteen year old is sprinting out of the house and to his car to drive away. Before his sister or brother-in-law can say anything, Taemin's hurrying back to his room to grab his backpack and follow Jonghyun's example of running out the door.

"Taemin, where are you going?" Luna calls, "What happened?"

"Your stupid husband doesn't know how to knock on the stupid door!" Taemin shouts, and he runs out of the house before they can ask him anymore questions.

"What did you see?" Luna asked in an desperate tone.

"They were - oh my God - they were making out!" Jinki holds his head up in his hands, "They were making out right on his bed!"

"They're teenagers, Jinki," She scoffs, "I can't believe you didn't knock!"

"I did knock!" He defends himself.

"Did you do it as you were walking in, because you have a really bad habit of doing that." She snaps, and Jinki smiles sheepishly, "Shit, Jinki, my parents aren't home right now! They won't be home until Wednesday, at least!"

"So?" Jinki's eyebrows furrow, "What's that got to do with this?"

"I don't want him there by himself!" She raises her voice, and she tells him that he has to go bring him back before the end of the night.

On Monday, Jinki's furious, because he couldn't find Taemin anywhere over the weekend, and Luna won't stop blaming him. She's afraid that he's been kidnapped, or hurt, or worse. Jinki knows that he's fine, though, because he can see through the attendance online that he came to school today. Taemin doesn't have Jinki's class until fifth period, though, and Jinki hasn't seen him at all throughout the day. 

When Taemin finally walks through Jinki's classroom door, the older is so annoyed that he just grabs the boy by the arm and drags him over to his desk.

"Let go of me," Taemin hisses, "I'm mad at you."

"I can tell by the way you were AWOL all weekend." Jinki hisses right back.

"You walked in on me," Taemin seethes quietly, "You did it on purpose."

"I didn't do it on purpose," Jinki defends himself, and he's glad that the bell hasn't rung yet, "How was I supposed to know?"

"You wanted him gone the second he walked in the house!" Taemin accuses, "You wanted to kick him out for something, and you found it! Congratulations!"

"Taemin-"

"Don't tell my parents what you saw," Taemin warns, but Jinki can see the worried look in his eyes.

"You are not the one in charge here," Jinki tells him, because despite his best effort to stay as quiet as possible, he knows a few students are listening.

"Just don't tell them!" Taemin says desperately, "If you like me even a little bit, you won't tell them; please."

"Okay, okay; I won't tell them." Jinki says to calm him down, only because he doesn't want the other students to question anything, "But you have to come home tonight; and you have to tell me why."

"Fine," Taemin agrees through clenched teeth, "Dad already wants to take me out of dance; if he finds out about Jong, I'll never be allowed out of my room again."

Jinki sighs, running a hand over his face as the bell rings, "Go sit down, Taemin." 

The boy huffs and walks to his seat in the third row. Taemin crosses his arms and sinks in his chair, not even bothering to take out any notes when Jinki starts going over a new algebra concept. 

Jinki thinks the kid's damn lucky he can ask for tutoring at home. 

When the bell rings fifty minutes later, Jinki grabs Taemin's arm again when he walks by his desk, "You better drop the attitude, mister, 'cause it's not cute."

Taemin looks him up and down with narrowed eyes before spitting out, "You're not my father."

There's a pang in Jinki's chest, but he ignores it and says back, "Just come back here after the dismissal bell, will ya?"

Taemin doesn't say anything as he pulls his arm out Jinki's grasp and stalks out of the classroom. He doesn't come back to Jinki's classroom at the end of the day, and when Jinki calls him, it goes straight to voicemail.

"He's fine, Luna; just in a bad mood, is all." Jinki assures his wife that night, "He's probably staying wherever he was over the weekend."

She yells at Jinki that he needs to make Taemin come home tomorrow, or else. Jinki's afraid of what that "or else" might be, so he does the only thing he can think of.

"Detention, Taemin." Jinki puts the slip of paper on Taemin's desk, "I told you to take your notes out, and you didn't, so detention. Today. After school."

"This is such bullshit." Taemin seethes under his breath, and even though he heard it, Jinki lets it slide.

Taemin comes trudging into Jinki's classroom at the end of the day and falls into his seat, hiding his face in his arms. A couple other students come filing in within five minutes, and Taemin internally groans at the fact that he's not the only one Jinki gave a detention to, today. Once they're all seated, Jinki tells them they can leave after half an hour.

"And keep your heads up." He reminds them, and when Taemin pulls his head out of his arms, he glares right at his brother-in-law.

"Hey, aren't you related to Mr. Lee?" The boy sitting behind Taemin asks quietly, and Taemin rolls his eyes.

"Fuck off," Taemin whispers back, and Jinki shakes his head.

"No talking," He tells them, "Or would you all like another detention?"

They all shake their heads, and for the next thirty minutes, Taemin sends the nastiest glare he can muster to Jinki. When Jinki dismisses them, he crosses his arms when Taemin tries to leave with the rest of them.

"So help me God if you try to run away again." Jinki says loudly, and Taemin stops in his tracks, embarrassed at the fact that the others heard him being scolded by the man.

"I'm not running away," Taemin defends himself as he turns to face Jinki, "I'm not even related to you! You're my sister's husband, so stop trying to act like you're my dad, because you're not!"

"Taemin-"

"Just stop!" Taemin pleads.

"Taemin, what's wrong?" Jinki asks him, "I'm sorry I caught you and Jonghyun-"

"It's not about Jonghyun!" Taemin cries, "It's all this! You and my sister act more like my parents than my actual parents do! And it's annoying and confusing and-"

Jinki pulls Taemin into a hug, holding the teenager's head under his chin while he talks, "I'm sorry that they're not good parents,"

"It's because I'm a mistake," Taemin mumbles, trying to push away from Jinki.

"You are not a mistake." Jinki tells him firmly.

"I'm seventeen years younger than Luna; that doesn't sound planned to me." Taemin chokes out.

"Taemin-" Jinki starts, but Taemin cuts him off.

"Just let go," Taemin pleads.

"Not until you say that you're not a mistake, because you are not a mistake, Taemin." Jinki tells him seriously, holding onto him tightly and putting his face in Taemin's hair.

"Then why don't they love me like how you and Luna love Taeyeon?" Taemin chokes out, sniffling.

"Who knows, Taeminnie?" Jinki says, "But me and Luna, we love you very much, and we want you to come home tonight. Okay? Let's go home."

Jinki's still holding Taemin close to him when they walk out to the parking lot. Taemin's eyes are red, and he looks like he's about to break down at any moment, so Jinki tries to get them home as quickly as possible. He's worried, though, when the boy doesn't talk during the ride home. Taemin doesn't even change the radio station to that techno crap he's been so into lately. When Jinki pulls into the driveway, he puts his hand on Taemin's head and ruffles his hair.

"Don't look so glum, buddy." Jinki teases, his lips quirking into a lopsided smile as he tries make Taemin stop frowning.

"Is she mad mat me?" Taemin asks quietly before they get out of the car.

"No, no, not at all," Jinki assures him, "She's just worried about you, kiddo."

"Can I stay here tonight?" He asks, "I don't like staying at the house when no one's there."

"Course, buddy." Jinki smiles softly, "Luna wants you here, anyway. We both do. And so does Taeyeon."

"How is namesake, lately? Haven't seen her in a couple days." Taemin's lips twitch into a smile at the thought of the three year old.

"Oh, as good as any three year old, I suppose." Jinki says as the two get out of the car, "Tried giving herself a haircut yesterday. Thankfully, she hadn't started cutting any off when we caught her."

"She loves scissors," Taemin mutters to himself, "It's weird."

"Where did she get them, I wonder?" Jinki says aloud, giving Taemin a knowing look.

"No idea." Taemin smirks, entering the house behind Jinki.

When they enter the house, Luna immediately hurries to the door, "Oh God, Jinki, was he at - Taemin!"

The fourteen year old smiles nervously before Luna runs over to him with a serious expression on her face, "Taemin! How dare you just leave and not tell anyone where you've been! Do you know how worried I was? You didn't even call-"

"Taemin, why don't you take Taeyeon into her room and watch her for a little bit, okay?" Jinki cuts in, nudging the teenager towards the toddler who's sitting in the middle of the living room.

"Jinki," Luna growls, but Jinki shakes his head.

"I need to talk to you. It's important." Jinki tells her, and Taemin looks between the two adults with wide eyes before he hurries to pick Taeyeon up and bring her down the hall.

"Hey, namesake. Wanna play a game?" Taemin asks with a grin, and the three year old agrees enthusiastically.

"Jinki, I haven't seen in him four days," Luna starts, but Jinki guides her over to the couch to sit down.

"We need to tell him. Now." Jinki tells her in a desperate tone, "He thinks - he thinks he's a mistake. They - they haven't kept up their part of the agreement, so we don't have to, either." 

"But, we weren't supposed to tell him until he was 18, they said-"

"I don't care what they said." Jinki snaps, "I can't watch them neglect him much longer, or I might snap."

Jinki's voice cracks at the end, and he holds his wife's face in his hands as he stares into her eyes and speaks slowly, "We have to tell him."

"Okay," Luna agrees, her eyes moist, "Okay. Go get it; it's in the safe, with the rest of that stuff."

Luna sits on the couch while Jinki walks to their bedroom. She holds her head in her hands while her elbows rest on her knees. Her heart is beating hard and fast, and she feels tears gathering in her eyes. When Jinki comes back, she composes herself and walks to her daughter's room.

"Taemin?" She asks softly as she opens the door. Taemin is helping Taeyeon build something with her legos, and she can't help but smile at the sight. Taemin's head turns to the doorway where Luna stands, and she watches as he chews on his bottom lip.

"Yes?" His voice is soft, and she gestures for him to follow her.

"Taeyeonnie, can mommy steal Taeminnie from you for a little bit while you play in here?" Luna asks with a slight laugh as she kneels down in front of the toddler.

"Okay." Taeyeon agrees easily as she continues to build her castle. Luna sighs in relief, and she leads Taemin out of the room and into the living room.

"I'm sorry," Taemin says in a strangled voice as he follows behind her, "I didn't mean to make you worry."

"It's not that, baby," She says softly, "We just - Jinki and I need to talk to you. About something important."

"What's going on?" Taemin asks slowly as Luna has him sit down on the couch next to her. Jinki is sitting in the chair next to Luna, and he hands her a document.

"Taeminnie, sweetie, I don't really know how to tell you what's going on, so, so just read this, okay?" She chokes out, handing the document to the teenager.

"What is this?" Taemin furrows his eyebrows as he reads it, and once he reads it, his eyes go wide, and he repeats in an angry tone of voice, "What is this?"

"It's your birth certificate." Luna says softly.

"But - But this is wrong." Taemin spits, "Is this a fucking joke?"

"Don't talk like that," Luna scolds him, "And this is not a joke. We wouldn't joke about this, Taemin."

"This isn't funny," Taemin's voice cracks, "What - what do you think you're doing?"

"Taemin," Luna starts, but Taemin shakes his head.

"What's going on?" Taemin asks, and when Luna moves her hand to wipe the tears off his cheeks, he jerks back and scoots further away from her, "This isn't funny."

"It isn't supposed to be, Taemin." Jinki tells him softly.

"I'm going to tell you what happened, okay?" Luna says quietly, and she only starts talking again when she knows she has Taemin's attention, "When Jinki and I were in high school, you know we were together in high school."

Luna sighs, rubbing her arm as she thinks of how to tell him, "We did what any other high school couple wants to do, you know? And, well, I found out I was pregnant."

Jinki moves to sit behind Luna on the couch and rub her arms while she talks, "My parents, his parents, none of them were very happy with us, as you can imagine. And, well, they gave us an ultimatum: either have my parents adopt you, and have you and everyone else think that you were my little brother, or have us give you up for adoption to - to strangers."

Luna sniffles as she tells him the very condensed version of the story, "Baby, I couldn't just give you up. I never, we never wanted to give you away. We wanted you to be ours, we didn't care about how old we were, but our parents, your grandparents, didn't think that was a good idea. We were going to start our senior year when you born, and they didn't want people to know that their kids had a baby before marriage."

Luna scoffs at the idea, but she turns to send a watery smile to Taemin, who looks like he's going to be sick.

"When were you gonna tell me? Or were you just gonna let me think my entire life was a lie until the day I die?" Taemin snarls at the last few words, and his eyes are narrow and red.

"They said we couldn't tell you until you were 18, but they haven't been taking care of you, Taemin." Jinki tells him, but Taemin starts shaking his head.

"You think that's better?" Taemin snaps, "I just - I can't-"

His breathing is heavy, and his lower lip wobbles as he rises from the couch and grabs his backpack. 

"Taeminnie," Luna reaches out for him, but the teenager moves quickly and heads towards the door.

"Taemin!" Jinki says loudly, and the boy stops for a moment, "Wherever you're going, if you want to tell whoever it is you've been staying with, you can. It's okay."

Taemin doesn't say anything as he runs out the door. Luna starts crying into Jinki's shoulder when Taemin leaves, but he rubs her back and tells her that they still have a toddler they need to take care of. He lets her pull herself together while he goes to tell Taeyeon that Taemin had to go. The only way they get their daughter to not cry over Taemin's absence is to promise her that she can have whatever she wants for dinner, and that she doesn't have to eat her vegetables tonight.

The next day, Jinki's heart beats fast as he waits for his fifth period to file into the classroom after lunch. He knows Taemin is here, he saw the boy at his usual lunch table when he was walking back from the teacher's lounge. The bell signalling the end of lunch hasn't even rung yet when Jinki hears someone walking by the door. He looks up, and he's so relieved to see Taemin standing in the doorway.

"Taemin." Jinki breathes, "Are you okay?"

The boy nods, and it takes him a moment before he walks timidly into the classroom. Before Jinki can say anything else, Taemin starts talking in a nervous voice.

"I've been staying at Jonghyun's house. I know you don't like him, but he's my friend, and his parents said I can stay there whenever I want 'cause they know about, about Luna's parents being not there all the time, and, and they like me, so they said it was okay. I've pretty much been living on his bedroom floor for like, two weeks now. And I know you caught us in my room, but it wasn't really what it looked like, we were just, we were curious, and then it kinda just got too far, but we weren't gonna do anything, like, like that, you know?" Taemin speaks quickly, and he hardly takes any breaths until Jinki stands up and puts his hands on his shoulders to calm him down.

"Take a deep breath, okay? It's okay, you don't have to explain anything to me." Jinki tells him softly, "Just breathe. There you go; that's it."

"I told him," Taemin's voice cracks, "I told him, and I know you don't like him, but he's my best friend, and I didn't know who else to talk to about it."

Jinki wipes away the few tears that spill down Taemin's cheeks as he shushes him, "It's okay. I told you it was okay, didn't I?"

Jinki laughs lightly, trying to make Taemin smile, "It's okay."

Taemin's chin wobbles as he shakes his head, "I don't know what to call you anymore, or Luna, or, or them, and they come home tonight, and I don't wanna be there, because I don't know what to do."

Jinki pulls Taemin over to his desk, and he sits down on his chair and has the boy sit on his lap as he runs his fingers through his hair. He lets Taemin cry into his neck and hit his arm, and Jinki's heart breaks at the sight of his child breaking down. He holds Taemin's head under his chin while the boy practically hyperventilates, and rests his cheek on the top of Taemin's head while he thinks of what to say.

"You can call us whatever you want." Jinki says quietly, "But baby, you have to stop crying. You're going to make yourself sick."

"I'm scared." Taemin chokes, and Jinki shushes him again and smooths down his hair.

"Scared of what?" Jinki asks, but Taemin shakes his head.

"I don't know," Taemin coughs as the tears continue to pour down his face.

Jinki thinks for a moment as he lets out a sigh, and after a couple minutes, he gets up to write something on the board. Taemin watches him from Jinki's seat, and he tries to calm himself down. By the time Jinki finishes writing page numbers and problems on the board, Taemin's stopped crying, but his breathing is still quick.

"Come on," Jinki holds his hand out and motions for Taemin to come over to him, "We're gonna go home, okay?"

"But, but what about-?"

"Don't worry." Jinki smiles, motioning again for Taemin to come with him and repeating, "We're gonna go home."

Jinki puts an arm around his shoulders and guides him to the main office. He tells the secretary that Taemin's sick, and that he's going to take him home and someone will need to sub his next two classes.

He's already had to argue that he's one of Taemin's emergency contacts and that he needs to get him home when the principal walks into the office. The secretary is saying it would be too difficult to get subs on such short notice, and that Jinki needs to stay.

"What's going on here?" Jinki turns to see his boss standing behind him, and Taemin grips Jinki's jacket.

"I know this is short notice," Jinki starts.

"There's two minutes until the next period starts!" The secretary adds in, but Jinki ignores her.

"But I really need to get him home." Jinki tells his boss, who takes one look at Taemin and instantly softens his expression.

"I'll sub for your next couple classes, if it's so hard to find another teacher." The man directs the last comment to the secretary.

"Thank you," Jinki says quietly, and he turns to sign Taemin out and send a nasty look to the woman behind the desk.

Jinki sends a thankful smile to the man as he guides Taemin out to the parking lot. Taemin is quiet for practically the entire car ride until they're about to turn the last corner.

"You didn't name Taeyeon after me, did you? You named her Taeyeon because she's my sister, and you wanted us to have similar names, didn't you?" Taemin's voice is quiet, but Jinki's just relieved that his breathing seems to have evened out.

"Yes, that's why we named her Taeyeon. It was going to be your name, if you were a girl." Jinki tells him, 

"I always kinda wondered why Luna and I had such different names." Taemin mumbles, playing with the sleeve of his shirt.

"My family was more traditional, Luna's wasn't, but she really liked the names I suggested back when she was pregnant with you, so we stuck with them." Jinki smiles at Taemin when he pulls into the driveway, "Taeyeonnie's still at preschool, so it's just gonna be the three of us for a couple more hours."

"That's probably a good thing, though, huh?" Taemin asks as he follows Jinki into the house, "She didn't go to work today?"

"She doesn't work on Wednesdays, remember?" Jinki reminds him, and Taemin looks lost for a moment.

"Oh. I forgot what day it was." Taemin mumbles, and the faraway sound of his voice worries Jinki.

"I looked like you, don't I?" Taemin asks, and it throws Jinki for a loop.

"Yes, yes you do." Jinki agrees, and he leads Taemin over to the couch before he goes to find Luna. When the two of them come back out, they find Taemin sitting on the couch staring at the blank television.

"Taeminnie?" Luna sits down next to Taemin, "Are you alright?"

"Taeyeonnie looks so much like me because I'm her brother, and we both look like the both of you." Taemin says slowly, "But we look a lot like Onew. That's why I look like Onew, not like you."

"We didn't know who you would look like when we decided who was going to adopt you." Luna says softly, and she moves to hold Taemin's hands in hers, "But you do look a lot like Jinki; you're both very handsome."

The small smile that Taemin sends her is a huge relief to the two adults, but the tears that start welling up in his eyes make the both of them feel like their back at square one. 

"I'm sorry," Taemin stutters out, "I'm sorry I ran away last night, and before that, and, and I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Taeminnie," Luna pulls him towards her and wraps him in a hug, "Everything's okay. It's not your fault; none of this is your fault."

"I don't - I don't know what to do." Taemin tells them.

"You don't know what to do about what?" Luna asks him.

"I don't wanna go back," Taemin sobs, "I don't wanna go with them, but they come home tonight, but I wanna stay with you."

"You can stay here if you want, baby." Luna tells him, "That's why you have your room, remember? It's your room, Taeminnie, because we want you to stay here." 

"They're gonna get mad if I'm not home. I haven't been home the entire time they've been gone, they're gonna know." A strangled whine leaves Taemin's throat after he talks, and he leans his head on Luna's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jinki moves so he's kneeling on the floor in front of the couch, "They're not gonna do anything to you, okay? You're going to be okay."

Taemin doesn't say anything, but he nods his head as another shaky breath leaves his mouth. Luna leans back on the couch, pulling Taemin to lie down with her as she runs her fingers through his hair and whispers to him.

"Do you remember when you were little, when you would get sick and we would spend hours watching TV and sleeping on the couch?" She asks him softly, and he nods his head again, "Do you wanna do that now? We can watch whatever you want."

Taemin nods his head again, and Jinki hands Luna the TV remote for her to turn something on for them to watch. She stops once she gets to a show that Taemin likes, because he hasn't said anything as to whether or not Luna should continue looking for something else. The two of them stay like that for a while, and when Jinki leaves to go pick Taeyeon up from preschool, they're still lying on the couch and watching TV.

"Have you been going to dance?" Luna asks him, pulling the blanket Jinki put over them further up Taemin's shoulders.

The boy nods his head and sniffles, "Jong's been taking me. He likes to watch."

"He's a good friend, isn't he?" Luna smiles, because he's been telling her about Jonghyun while they've been lying down together.

"Yeah. I think he mostly just likes to stay so he can make fun of me afterwards, though." Taemin mumbles, and when Luna questions him, he immediately clarifies, "Not for dancing! It's just, there's a girl that I maybe, sorta, kinda like. He likes to tease me about it."

"You like a girl?" Luna asks with a grin, "Who?"

"I'm not telling you." Taemin pouts, "Because now that you're my mom, I can't tell you, because you're going to be embarrassing about it."

"I would've been embarrassing about it regardless." Luna's grin is now more at the fact that he called her 'mom.'

"I'm not telling you," He repeats, gripping her shirt and snuggling his head closer to her neck, "If I take her on a date and it goes well, then I'll tell you."

"It's a deal, then." She smiles, kissing the top of his head.

"Are you going to tell Taeyeon?" The question is so sudden that it takes Luna for surprise, "Are you going to tell her that I'm her brother, not her uncle?"

"If you want us to." Luna tells him, "I'll tell the whole world that you're my baby if you want me to."

"Okay." Taemin agrees quietly, "I don't think she'll understand."

"I don't think you give her enough credit." Luna smiles, "She is a mini-you, after all."

"This is true." Taemin smirks, and the small laugh he lets out warms Luna's heart.

"I love you." Luna says softly, and Taemin smiles.

"I love you, too." He whispers, but his smile falters when they hear the front door open.

When Jinki walks into the living room, the two of them stare at him in confusion.

"Where's Taeyeon?" Luna asks.

"I took her to spend the night with my parents. I figured it'd be best if we figured out what we were going to do about everything before we said anything in front of her, and they've been wanting to see her for a couple weeks, now." Jinki tells them, moving to sit on the floor next to them, "How you holding up, buddy?"

"Better than before." Taemin tells him quietly, 

[shitfics]

One of These Nights (4/?); jongyu; pg

Jinki knows that he’s gay. What he doesn’t know is how to handle a crush on someone as entwined in the music industry as he is.

part 1 - part 2 - part 3

and here’s part 4! ^^ i’ll try and get this whole fic up on ao3 sometime soon as well. this part goes through hello era, up to swc 1, and ends with jongyu having to say some goodbyes for a while since shinee is beginning their japanese debut (2011).

also, fun note maybe: i imagine that in this au, jong got the inspiration for one of his early songs from the last scene -- i kinda wonder if it’s obvious which one, but hopefully y’all can enjoy it! there might be a bigger gap between this part and the next than there was between 3 and 4, because i haven’t started editing the next bit yet. ^^; but i’ll try to keep it MUCH shorter than the gap between 2 and 3 was, lmao.

***

Jinki can’t decide if he has the best luck in the world, or the worst.

The next time he goes to see Jonghyun, it's ten past ten at night, and Jonghyun isn't answering his door. Jinki sends another text message and stretches out his back, opening up a random phone game and prepares himself for a wait.

Two levels later, when the door finally opens, Jinki looks up from his phone, eyes going wide. His greeting is stuck in his throat, somewhere between the realization that Jonghyun is shirtless and the realization Jonghyun is wet.

"Sorry, I haven't finished getting ready yet," Jonghyun smiles, inviting Jinki inside. "I found a good melody, and I got caught up writing, and then I was humming the song to myself in the shower, and--"

"It's fine, hyung, I’m used to it." Jinki steps past him quickly. His nerves prickle at the extra warmth radiating off of Jonghyun's bare skin from the shower. He's always wondered if he'd catch Jonghyun half undressed, considering he’s usually behind schedule, but he hadn't expected it to be today -- or for him to be so far behind that he was only wearing a towel.

In an attempt to imitate his usual actions, Jinki takes a seat on the couch and leans over the coffee table, pretending to be interested in the new stack of books -- anything to avoid looking up.  "How, uh -- how long do you think till you're ready?"

"Not long." Jonghyun trots in front of him, foiling Jinki’s plan to avoid looking at him, and glances down at the books. "Do you want to borrow one of these?"

Jinki grins stiffly. "No thanks. I can a probably read a few while you finish getting ready."

"I won't be that long." Jonghyun rolls his eyes and throws the towel from his hands over his head. "I just have to dry my hair and get dressed."

Jinki's eyes snap to the movement as if pulled by a string, face heating at every flex of Jonghyun's torso as he rubs at his hair. He tries to keep his attention up, on Jonghyun's face, or the little mole that rests between his collarbones, but the trail of dark hair leading from Jonghyun's stomach to the towel around his hips keeps pulling it downwards.

Jinki clears his throat and forces himself to look up, only to flush brightly when his eyes meet Jonghyun’s. He jumps for the first excuse he can think of for staring. "How is it that you work out more than I do, when I'm an idol?"

Jonghyun laughs, a pleased smile on his lips. "You're dancing all the time, you don't need to."

"Yeah, but that's cardio. You obviously lift, which I haven't really done much." Jinki sighs. "And Minho's convinced they'll want us to go shirtless for our next concept. I don't think I'll do it, but I'll still probably show my arms and shoulders more..."

"Hm." Jonghyun's eyes scan down Jinki's body. "You already have a good build right now."

Jinki flushes. "You think so?"

"Yeah," Jonghyun says. "I mean, if you're worried, you could always come work out with me -- I've been skipping way too many days to hang out with you since your rehearsals have started slowing down."

Jinki laughs. "I’ll think about it -- I’m just not sure I’d want to spend the time. I enjoy doing nothing too much."

"It's nice, isn't it?" Jonghyun grins. "Let me get dressed so we can get to drinking and doing nothing."

Jonghyun clutches his towel to keep it from falling as he walks back towards his room. Before he slips inside, he gestures for Jinki to follow, apparently not wanting to end their conversation. Jinki stops, hesitating at the threshold of the door until laughs. "You can come in, I’ll be dressing in the bathroom. There's nothing in here but my clothes and a bed."

That's the problem, Jinki thinks when he steps inside. My imagination has been bad enough without the details.

Even with that in mind, Jinki can’t help but look around the room while Jonghyun files through his closet. At least it keeps him from staring at Jonghyun while he’s shirtless.

The walls of Jonghyun’s room are dark, and the furniture is modern, the same simple mix of white and black that Jonghyun had used to decorate the rest of his apartment. An assortment of candles rests along the shaded window, with a select few placed on a small bedside table and the small set of dressers opposite the bed. If it were anyone else's room, Jinki might snicker at the deliberate sensuousness of the decorations, but in Jonghyun's, it just makes him smile as he imagines Jonghyun humming to himself as he pens new lyrics in the candlelight.

"Sorry again for making you wait," Jonghyun says, interrupting the image when he turns away from the closet back to Jinki. He throws a pair of jeans and a shirt over his shoulder and retreats to the bathroom. "I'll be right back, just have to put clothes on."

"Sure," Jinki says, throat tight as he watches Jonghyun leave.

The door clicks behind him, and he looks away from it quickly, unable to face it when he knows Jonghyun would be naked behind it.

He turns back to the rest of the bedroom. With Jonghyun no longer the center of his attention, Jinki's focus automatically shifts to the single point of color in the room, a large but simply composed photo resting on the mantle above the faux fireplace. The sunset shade of orange that predominates the image adds to the relaxing atmosphere of the room, but the subject of the photograph makes Jinki's heart race.  

The picture is nearly close enough for Jinki to touch, but he has to do a double take of the image to believe what he sees -- the frame is predominated by the bare back of a shirtless man, resting on his elbow as he looks at what appears to be another topless man opposite him. After looking over his shoulder to make sure Jonghyun hasn't left the bathroom yet, Jinki steps closer to the picture and squints at the corner to read what he assumes to be a title: boys.

Jinki swallows. His English isn't the best, but he can understand that. His thoughts race ahead of him. Did the picture mean something? There’s hoping, and there’s being desperate, but...an image like that isn’t the kind of photograph he would expect to find as a centerpiece in a straight man's bedroom.

Jinki jumps away from the piece when the bathroom door swings open, turning quickly to Jonghyun and putting on an innocent smile -- he hopes he doesn't look guilty.

Jonghyun grins back at him. "I told you I wouldn't take long, but I decided to wear my contacts today, and that was a bit of a struggle. You all ready to go?"

Jinki nods absently, still preoccupied with his thoughts.

"Let's go then, I don't want to miss getting a good table." Jonghyun walks backwards toward the door, pointing at Jinki in challenge. "I'm going to beat you at billiards tonight, you should watch out."

Jinki shoves Jonghyun's shoulder, sending him stumbling. Falling back into their usual teasing should keep from thinking any longer about the photograph on the mantle. But when Jonghyun asks him to shut the door behind him, he steals one last glance, pausing to take imprint the bare shoulders of the boys into his memory.

It doesn’t feel real. He can't shake the feeling that tomorrow he'll doubt he saw it at all.

***

realjonghyun85: Hello~ Hello~

majingki: ...Hyung

majingki: How long are you going to use that joke TT

realjonghyun85: Until you make me stop!!

majingki: Well, I couldn't do that to you he he

majingki: I'm too happy you like the song that much ^^

majingki: You've played it a few times on Blue Night already, right?

realjonghyun85: Of course I've played it!!

realjonghyun85: My songs are still on that album too...

realjonghyun85: Promoting it benefits us both he he

majingki: You're so greedy hyung

realjonghyun85: Only because I want to buy you meals~

realjonghyun85: But you know I'm playing

majingki: I can always tell ^^

majingki: How are you hyung?

majingki: I've barely gotten to talk to you since our repackage promotions started TT

majingki: I miss you

realjonghyun85: I’m good

realjonghyun85: And I've missed you too Jinki-yah

realjonghyun85: But you’re nearly done, right?

realjonghyun85: So we can meet more? ^^

majingki: Yeah we’re nearly done with our repackage

majingki: But I'm actually still kind of busy TT

realjonghyun85: Oh?

majingki: We're preparing something big...

majingki: I'm really excited for it

reajonghyun85: Something big?

realjonghyun85: Why are you being so vague...

realjonghyun85: Are you going to tell me what it is???

majingki: Hm...

majingki: Not sure

realjonghyun85: Jinki-yah TT

realjonghyun85: Please?

majingki: No ^^

realjonghyun85: You can't just leave me hanging like that TT

realjonghyun85: You have to tell me!

majingki: Of course I'll tell you eventually

majingki: But I'd rather tell you in person

majingki: I want to see your face when I do~

realjonghyun85: Hmph, fine TT

realjonghyun85: I'll wait till then

realjonghyun85: But I'm not buying you anything until you tell me what it is!

majingki: Really hyung ... you would blackmail me like that? TT

realjonghyun85: It's not blackmail, it's incentive

realjonghyun85: So you should tell me whatever it is the first time we meet again ^^

realjonghyun85: You want something delicious?

realjonghyun85: You're hungry after your promotions, right? How about steak?

majingki: Fine hyung ... I’ll tell you right away when I see you

majingki: Let's meet soon

majingki: I really do want to tell you ^^

***

"You’re having a concert?" Jonghyun blinks at him, excitement already bubbling through from under his shock. "Seriously? SHINee’s first concert?"

"Our first concert," Jinki repeats with a grin, leaning over the table to whisper. "The first show will be in Japan, the day after Christmas."

"In Japan?" Jonghyun's eyes widen as he takes in the information. "Not here?"

"I don't really get it myself." Jinki shrugs and sits back in his seat. "I'm sure some people aren't going to like it, but I guess it kind of makes sense. We're launching our Japanese debut right after, and it's a good way to start things off."

"Mm." Jonghyun's finger runs a slow circle around his drink. "I keep forgetting that's coming up...or I'm trying to forget about it." Jonghyun sighs. "Even though you're usually busy, I've gotten used to having you around, you know? I don’t know what I’ll do with myself."

"Yeah," Jinki agrees in a quiet mumble. The excited buzz that had carried between them dampens, and Jinki watches glumly as Jonghyun traces his eyes absently around the restaurant. The pessimistic part of him is already convinced that leaving will put Jonghyun in the perfect position to find a girlfriend. Spending nearly a year away from home for their new Japanese promotions would be hard enough without that worry hanging over his head.

Thankfully, Jonghyun cuts the silence short. "Come on, let's not make this sad just because of what will come after -- you brought good news. Your first concert! Am I going to have to fight for tickets, or are you going to get me some?"

Jinki tilts his head, confused. "Tickets...for the concert in Japan?"

"I can afford to go," Jonghyun says with a shrug. "I'll just fly out and book a hotel for the weekend. Unless you'd rather me not?"

"No, it's not that. We're just having Seoul concerts a few days later, and those would be easier for you to get to."

"But the one in Japan is special, isn't it?" Jonghyun grins. "I figured you'd be having one here too, but I'd rather go to your first."

Jinki smiles. He doesn't want to encourage Jonghyun to spend that kind of money, but he's having a hard time hiding that he's pleased. "You're sure, hyung?"

"I'm really sure." Jonghyun reaches over the table to squeeze his shoulder. "Besides, I have a new reputation as a fan to maintain."

Jinki raises an eyebrow. "You're really getting invested in that, huh?"

"Of course," Jonghyun says. He leans forward, looking around the near-empty bar before he switches his voice to a dramatic whisper. "So, about getting a ticket..."

"I'll get you one, I promise." Jinki pushes him back with a wide grin. "You'll just have to worry about getting there."

***

Exhaustion weighs on Jinki’s bones the moment he opens his eyes to his blaring phone alarm. His knees are still protesting from the test of their stage entrance, and his arms are sore from the fall he had to break when someone had left a cord in a dark corner of the stage -- but it's not enough to keep him buried under the covers. The excitement of the upcoming concert takes the edge off his aches, and the knowledge that Jonghyun would be meeting him that morning has him jump out of bed to claim the shower before Kibum can even grab his toiletry bag.

After a quick rinse-off, Jinki rushes through drying his hair and doesn’t bother to style it with more than a brief comb-through. That would be taken care of by professionals later, anyways, and he doesn’t want to missing a minute with Jonghyun. He needs to make the most of the time he has left with Jonghyun before the months where his schedule will force them apart.

Jinki takes the elevator down the ground floor and steals a bench in the lobby. His leg bounces impatiently as he waits. A variety of guests filter in and out from the doors at the entrance, smiles and travel-worn frowns peaking out over their high collars and bundled scarfs that protect them from the chilly weather. Gusts of wind slip inside to his seat on the bench, and he shivers, readjusting his jacket as he peers out at the crowds. Jonghyun had said he'd get here about now...

A familiar leather jacket catches his eye, and he stands up, squinting through the small crowd at the entrance until he recognizes Jonghyun. When their eyes meet, Jonghyun’s lips pull into a grin. He pushes through the crowd, rushing meet Jinki at the bench, and stops just in front of him to catch his breath. "See? Told you I'd make it."

"I never doubted that you’d show."  Jinki pulls Jonghyun into a hug. When he starts to pull back, he sees that the bags under Jonghyun's eyes are deeper than ever, and he can’t resist chastising him. "You didn't sleep at all, did you, hyung? You just stayed up all night before your flight."

Jonghyun shrugs. "I'll have plenty of time to sleep today while you're busy with rehearsals. I love Tokyo, but I've been here enough that I don't need to do sightseeing anymore."

"If you say so," Jinki says. He narrows his eyes when Jonghyun covers a yawn against his shoulder before stepping out of his arms. "...Just try not to fall asleep over breakfast, alright?"

"I won't, trust me! I'm starving. And I'm craving pancakes." Jonghyun fixes his bag over his shoulder and peers around the lobby. "Do you know where the restaurant is? They should have pancakes there...I did some research on the trip over."

"Yeah, we ate there last night -- I'll lead you there," Jinki says, eager to get out of the crowded lobby and sit so they can talk properly. Grabbing Jonghyun by the elbow, he steers him towards the restaurant, keeping his head down when they weave around the gathering bundle of travelers by the check out desk. He'd been so preoccupied with the thought of meeting Jonghyun he'd forgotten how public a hotel lobby could be, and he doesn't want to risk running into a group of fans without a translator to turn them away kindly.

Thankfully, they reach the restaurant without interference, and Jinki greets the waitress with his name and the time of the reservation he had booked last night.

"Wow, you planned ahead." Jonghyun's eyes crinkle in amusement, and he nods at where Jinki's fingers are still wrapped around his sleeve. "That excited to have me here, huh?"

Jinki snaps his hand back quickly, but can’t fight the flush that blooms on his cheeks. He doesn’t know why, but something about seeing Jonghyun in a new place is making it harder to keep his feelings in check and his hands to himself. His balance is thrown off, and in the lobby of the foreign hotel, the only tether to his usual life in Seoul is the pleasant buzz in his chest when he looks at Jonghyun. It's hard not to cling to that.

Now overly conscious of his movements, Jinki makes sure to leave extra space behind Jonghyun when he follows him to their seats. Jonghyun is his friend, and nothing more, so he needs to act like it -- he doesn't have liquor as an excuse this time, and he doesn’t want to ruin the memories of his first concert for a feeling he's already gotten used to ignoring.

But at the first smile Jonghyun gives him from across the table, Jinki's resolve weakens, and he smiles back despite the pinch it causes his heart.

After the waitress takes their orders, he places his hand near Jonghyun's to make sure he has his attention. "Thank you for coming to our concert. You know I wouldn't mind if you went to the one in Seoul instead, but you still came all this way...it means a lot."

"I wouldn't want to miss your group's first solo concert, Jinki-yah. It's worth it to me." Jonghyun leans forward and raises a brow. "And besides, I’ve heard rumors that you'll be singing some of my songs."

Jinki huffs and props up in front of his face to keep Jonghyun from reading his expression. "I'm not telling you anything, hyung. I want all the songs to be a surprise -- it'll be more exciting that way."

With a single finger, Jonghyun reaches across the table and tips down the front of Jinki's menu to stare at him until he's forced to look away to keep from laughing. Jonghyun grins victoriously. "Yeah, I can tell you're doing a song or two of mine. You're horrible at keeping things a secret."

"I’d say I’m good at it, actually." Jinki snaps his menu back up to hide his smile. Though Jonghyun probably expects that them to do one of the ballads he wrote for their last album -- and they were -- he probably wouldn't expect Jinki's solo song to be a cover of a song he wrote for a different artist years ago. That was going to be a surprise, he's sure.

The waitress returns a short moment later with their drinks and pancakes, and Jonghyun thanks her briefly. "How are you enjoying Japan? Are all the concert preparations going well?"

"We haven't really gotten to see much of Japan yet, we’re too busy," Jinki says. "And rehearsals are exhausting, but I’m not really noticing it as much as I thought I would. I'm too excited we're finally having a concert. I'm more bothered at spending Christmas night alone for another year...they always plan things right around it. I’d like to at least go see some lights or get a cake."

"You won't be alone though, right?" Jonghyun asks, plopping the strawberry perched atop his pancake into his mouth. "You'll probably still be rehearsing with your members."

"Yeah, I guess." Jinki frowns as he drenches his pancake in syrup. "But that's pretty much the same thing as spending it alone, you know?"

Jonghyun snickers. "Really? Spending Christmas with four handsome men can't be that bad, can it?"

Jinki freezes with his fork in his mouth. He stares at Jonghyun, then glances away, trying not to look uncomfortable as he hurries to finish chewing. It’s a joke, he knows -- Jonghyun had laughed while saying it -- but his pulse is still racing at the mere possibility that some part of him had given his sexuality away.

"Sorry, that was a bad joke, wasn’t it?” Jonghyun covers his mouth with his hand and clears his throat. “I shouldn’t try and be funny when I'm really tired. And the last person I talked to was my sister, and you know I have no filter around her."

"It's fine." Jinki shrugs, trying not to read too much into the wording of Jonghyun's apology. “I'm not offended."

Jonghyun looks up from his plate, stare suddenly serious. "You're really not?"

"Not at all." Jinki fiddles with his napkin in his lap to avoid Jonghyun's gaze. It's irrational, he knows, but he's afraid if Jonghyun looks at him for too long he'll realize the flush on the back of his neck is because the joke hit a little too close to home. Everything about the way Jonghyun had said his last question made it sound like a test.

Jinki fumbles for a change of subject. "So, hyung...you're heading back to Seoul right after the concert?"

"Yeah, the morning after." Jonghyun sighs. "I won't be able to go to your concert there, unfortunately. It cuts too close to Blue Night, and we're doing a New Year's special, and I have to do it live."

"That's fine, hyung. You coming here is more than enough. But you're at least coming to the afterparty, right?"

Jonghyun blinks. "Am I allowed to?"

"Of course you are! I’m inviting you." Jinki smiles. "I already told them I'd have a friend coming. My parents are going to the Seoul concert, so it really isn't a problem."

"I'll be there, then.” Jonghyun grins. “I can't stay too late, but I don't want to miss seeing you all excited after your concert...I'm sure that'll be fun."

***

Somehow, the lights in the hallways backstage feel brighter than the ones they had performed under. Jinki blinks away his last image of the crowd as he tries to adjust to the glaring white walls and drags a sniffling Kibum along with him back to the dressing room. 

After bowing at a dozen staff members, they finally reach the quiet room, and Jinki pulls the rag out of his pocket to dab at the the tears still on Kibum’s cheeks. "You going to be alright, Kibum? Don't cry too hard, we have to sing again in a few days."

"I'm fine...just happy we made it here." Kibum laughs and wipes at his eyes. "Shit, I hate crying like this."

"We deserve to get a little teary." Jinki squeezes his shoulder. "Better to get it out now than when we're celebrating."

"Yeah. I still can't believe we--" Kibum yelps when Minho and Jino suddenly surge up behind him with linked arms and grapple him until he's forced into the middle of their hug. With little luck, he tries to squirm out of it, but only manages to pop his head up from between them with a scowl. "What the hell is your problem?"

"You're crying so much, we wanted to comfort you." Kibum's expression softens slightly, and Minho lets him go with a grin. "We're going to sneak out the back soon with the managers. They already reserved that restaurant for us, so we just have to get in the van."

"It's gonna be great." Jino swings out of their huddle, but keeps one arm around Minho's waist. "We're going to drink so much."

"Hopefully." Jinki pulls out his phone and immediately pulls up his chat with Jonghyun. "We’re going to the same restaurant they were talking about last night, right? I wanted to invite Jonghyun along with us."

"Yeah, it's that one." Jino leans towards Jinki's phone to try and get a peak of his screen, but gives up when Jinki tilts it away. He sighs. "I still can't believe he came out all the way to Japan for our show, even if we are doing some of his songs. How'd you get him to do that?"

"You know we're friends...it’s not like I had to drag him here or anything," Jinki says, trying not to flush. "Working with SM just opened up a lot of opportunities for him, so probably means a lot to him that we were doing his songs live."

"Well, we'll sing them again for him once we're drunk. He'll never get a show like that in our concerts."

Jinki rolls his eyes, choosing to ignore that comment when he hears a ping from his phone to let him know that Jonghyun has responded. With the verification that Jonghyun will meet him there shortly, he tucks his phone away and allows the other members to drag him away to the van. 

As the adrenaline of their concert fades from his system on the ride to the restaurant, his nerves take over, and a part of him begins to worry that Jonghyun hadn’t yet given his opinion of the concert for a reason. What if he didn’t like the arrangement they’d used of his songs? Or thought Jinki breathed in the wrong parts? Or that his voice was too warm for the old song he’d chosen? 

By the time they arrive, Jinki’s palms are sweating, and he grabs the first seat he sees that will give him a good view of the entrance. Taemin sits next to him and chatters away, apparently not noticing Jinki’s nerves or the fact he keeps one eye on the door, but his presence is comforting enough that when Jonghyun finally arrives, Jinki manages to greet him with a smile.

Jonghyun pulls off his hat and gives him a small wave, then circles his way around the table to say hello to the other members and staff. After finishing his last introduction, he pushes his way back to Jinki to squeeze into the seat across him. "Looks like everyone already got started with the drinking, huh?"

"Most of us, yeah." Jinki reaches for the nearest bottle. "You want me to pour you one, hyung?"

"Sure, thanks." Jonghyun unwraps his scarf and pulls off his jacket. "Hopefully it'll warm me up. It’s about to snow outside, I can feel it."

"It'll help." Jinki keeps his eyes on the cup as he pours out the drink, still nervous -- Jonghyun still hasn't said a word about the concert. When Jonghyun’s fingers brush against his as he takes the cup, his stomach does an extra flip, and he finally meets Jonghyun’s eyes with a heated flush across his cheeks.

"Sorry for not talking about the concert yet, I wanted to wait to see you in person--" Jonghyun turns his head to take the drink in one quick swallow, then sets down the empty cup and grins widely. "You were amazing. The whole concert was incredible. I might have cried a little, at the end...and when you did my song. You didn't warn me about that."

Jinki shrugs, trying to play it off, and refills his glass for him. "I figured you'd know, since it was one of the ballads, and you already guessed that we’d be doing it."

"I expected you to sing one of my songs from the last album, yeah -- and you did really well at that -- but you know I mean the one you did for your solo. Why didn’t you tell me?"

"Oh, that one..." Jinki bites his lip. He's been anxious to hear Jonghyun's reaction to that one the most. "Did I pull it off well?"

"I loved it." Jonghyun beams at him. "I really never imagined you singing Love Belt, since I wrote it before I thought I had a shot at working with SM artists, but it was a perfect fit for your voice. You should have asked me before using it, though."

"Why? Are you going to sue me for it, hyung?" Jinki teases.

Jonghyun laughs. "No, of course not. I'm honored you did it. I just wish you had given me the chance to make a special arrangement for you.”

"Next time, maybe?"  Jinki smiles, heart fluttering when their gazes lock, but his attention bounces quickly back to the table when he sees his drink move. He frowns at the hand on the glass, recognizing it as Taemin’s, and pushes it back.  "Really, Taemin? You're going to steal my drink while I’m distracted?"

"If you're not going to drink it, I don't see why I can't," Taemin says. "You let me drink back at home sometimes."

"Yeah, but that's different -- we’re in a different country right now. I don't want to start our Japanese debut with a drinking scandal," Jinki says, fully aware that Jonghyun's watching the exchange. He's not sure if the amused smile Jonghyun's wearing is for him, or for Taemin, but seeing it softens him up -- it probably wouldn’t hurt if he let Taemin drink a little.

Jinki sighs and pushes the glass a subtle inch over towards Taemin. "I changed my mind -- you can have some. Just don’t make yourself sick."

"I won't." Taemin grabs the glass with a grin. After turning his head to drink, he sets the now-empty glass on the table with a loud clink and coughs, mouth staying open as his face puckers from the bitter taste.

When Jonghyun laughs, Jinki grimaces, already regretting his decision. "Please don’t drink at that rate. You’ll definitely get sick."

"I'm just trying to catch up with everyone else." Taemin huffs. "I drink almost as well as you do."

Jinki rolls his eyes, but decides not to dignify that with a response. He doesn't want to open up a chance for Jonghyun to talk about the times he hasn't handled his liquor as well as he'd promised. As if reading his thoughts, Jonghyun smiles at him knowingly from across the table and pushes his own glass towards Taemin. "Here, you can have mine too. I just realized I probably shouldn’t have much since I have an early flight tomorrow."

Taemin smiles, voice as polite as he can seem as he snatches up the glass before Jonghyun can change his mind. "Thank you, Jonghyun-ssi."

Jonghyun shakes his head. “You don’t need to be formal, since I’m close to Jinki. You can call me hyung."

A spike of jealousy stabs at Jinki’s gut. He pushes his foot against Jonghyun's under the table. "Hyung, do you want to go outside?"

A shout as Minho bests yet another manager at arm-wrestling snaps Jonghyun's attention away from him just as he blurts out his question. He blinks widely, then turns back to Jinki with an apologetic smile on his lips. "Sorry, what were you saying? It's a bit hard to hear."

Jinki flushes. Somehow having to repeat himself makes asking Jonghyun for a moment alone seem more serious than he had meant it to be. "I was wondering if you want to head outside for a bit? I know it's pretty loud in here, and I kind of want to see the city..."

"That sounds good." Jonghyun looks at him warmly and reaches back to grab his jacket. "A walk would be nice, and we can grab some street food. I'll slip out ahead of you."

Nodding in agreement, Jinki mumbles an excuse about the restroom to his manager and grabs his own jacket and scarf. Bundling them until he can hide them behind his back, he waits for the clamor on the other end of the table to distract the last of their managers before slipping outside.

When Jinki opens the door and steps outside, Jonghyun looks up from tugging on his gloves. "Not bringing anyone else?"

"No..." Jinki trails off shyly and begins to put on his jacket. "I kind of wanted some time alone."

Jonghyun laughs and steps away from entrance, putting them out of view from the inside. "A little tired of your members?"

"A bit, and I'll be stuck with them for the next few months." Jinki grins guiltily. "I've had enough of them in the past few days alone.”

"I can imagine, with rehearsals and everything. But it paid off, didn’t it? Your concert was incredible."

"You've said that already." Jinki laughs laughs as he pulls up his face mask.

"It's worth repeating." Jonghyun begins to walk, leading the way down the street towards a long line of food stalls. "It was really nice to hear you all sing the song I wrote live."

"You've said that already too, when we were in the restaurant with Taemin."

"Yeah, well -- I wrote it with your voice in mind, and you're my friend. So it means a little more just saying it to you."

Jinki stops in the middle of the sidewalk. "You wrote it for my voice?"

"I mean -- I considered the other members too," Jonghyun waves his hands defensively as he corrects his statement. "But you have a really distinct color to your voice, you know? It makes sense to focus on that when composing. Haven't I said that before?"

"Kind of, I guess," Jinki mumbles. "Maybe I'm just processing it differently because I'm drunk..."

Jonghyun laughs and wraps an arm around his shoulders, squeezing him tight enough for Jinki to feel it even through the thick wool of his jacket. "I know you're not that drunk, Jinki-yah -- you didn’t drink at all after I got there, and your tolerance is way too high for you have gotten drunk before I did."

“Maybe.” Jinki leans into the warmth of the contact just before Jonghyun lets go and sighs. He wishes he had gotten to drink more before they left, but he didn't trust himself to mix post-concert adrenaline and alcohol around Jonghyun -- considering they were alone now, he probably would have wound up doing something stupid.

"Is there anything you want to try?”  Jonghyun says, interrupting his thoughts. “I'll buy you something, since your managers covered all the food in the restaurant. I think you'll really like yakitori."

"Funny, hyung." Jinki rolls his eyes. "I know that's chicken."

"Well, do you want it or not?"

Jinki bites his lip and looks into the small little alley. Even out here, he can smell the food, which is more than tempting -- he'd only managed to get down small one plate of appetizers at the bar before he had jumped at the chance to sneak away with Jonghyun.

Jonghyun already looks triumphant before he opens his mouth, and Jinki sighs, knowing he's only adding to the long list of times he's chosen his favorite food over trying anything radically new. "That sounds good, hyung. You lead the way."

"I thought so." Jonghyun bumps his shoulder against Jinki's before stepping into the alleyway. As he walks ahead, he hums the last song from the concert, and there’s a small smile on his lips when he ends it just as they arrive to the food stall.

Inside the tarped entrance, there's not much room for space between them. The heat from the grill makes Jinki sweat under his bundled clothing the moment they step inside, but it's a welcome relief from the chill of outdoors. Jonghyun orders for them both smoothly in Japanese and pays, nodding politely and passing over his change when the cook hands them their plates.

Jinki waits until Jonghyun passes him the skewers to switch back to Korean. "You speak Japanese, hyung?"

"Just enough to get around," Jonghyun says, smiling widely at Jinki's shocked expression and picks up a skewer for himself and pulls a small piece of the chicken from the skewer with his teeth. "I’m not fluent enough to write lyrics in Japanese, but I can sell my songs here."

"You could have helped me with some of it before I came here. You know how bad I am with languages..."

Jonghyun laughs, covering his mouth. "Would you really want to spend our time doing that? Instead of drinking and everything else?"

"I guess not," Jinki admits. He pouts until Jonghyun gives a nudge that lingers long enough to feel more like he’s being leaned on.

His heart flutters light in his chest when Jonghyun finally pulls back to smile at him. He doesn't think Jonghyun had anything to drink -- he hadn't seen him order a single beer -- but this is touchier than he usually is sober, and it only makes him want more. Jinki takes advantage of the cramped space to press their knees together under the counter as they finish off their meal, and Jonghyun seems to accept that, because there’s a hand on his knee a minute later that feels warm enough to burn his skin all the way up to his cheeks.

There's no excuse to linger after their plates are taken back from them, but Jinki is reluctant to give up the contact. He keeps himself close to Jonghyun when they finally squeeze out of the stall and back into the alley, and his fingers dance nervously in his pocket when they turn onto the street and he stays just as close, shoulder half-brushing against Jonghyun with every step. He waits for a question, or for Jonghyun to move into the new space in the sidewalk, but all he gets is shy smile that strikes him quiet as they continue to back out to the street.

Neither of them mention heading back. Jonghyun walks them in circles around the same two blocks, humming an unfamiliar melody that Jinki assumes is a work in progress. There’s words stuck in Jinki’s throat -- words he can’t say, like how Jonghyun’s hair looks beautiful in the mix of moon and street lights, and words he can, like how much he’ll miss him and how he’ll text him often -- but there’s not nearly enough need to express them to force them past his throat.

All they'll have over the next few months is talking to each other, and what he'll miss the most is the simple presence of Jonghyun besides him. He has that now, and he doesn’t want to disturb it.

When a snowflake lands on his nose, leaving it cold and wet, Jinki stops. He reaches up to feel his hat, yanking his hand away when he feels that some of the knit is already damp. "How long has it been snowing? I somehow didn't realize..."

"Damn, is it? I wanted to stay out a little more." Jonghyun looks up at the sky and sighs. "I guess we should take you back to the restaurant, then...I don't want you getting sick before the Seoul concerts."

Jinki buries his face down in his scarf, hiding a frown. He wants to argue that he'll be fine, but he already knows he wouldn't win -- Jonghyun is too much of a worrier to let him risk his voice for a few extra minutes together. He exhales loudly in annoyance. "Do you remember the way back?"

"Yeah, I led us around the same routes for a reason," Jonghyun says. "I know how easily I can get lost."

They head backwards along the same path they’d been traced several times now, until Jonghyun changes a single turn to bring them back to the restaurant.

“Here it is.” Jonghyun says. He pulls his phone out his pocket and dials a number. "You can head inside, I'm calling a cab to take me back to my hotel. It shouldn’t be too long of a wait."

"No, I don't want you waiting out here alone," Jinki says. He crosses his arms and joins Jonghyun by the curbside. "It’s too late for me to just leave you here."

Jonghyun opens his mouth to protest, but decides against it when the service he’d been calling finally picks up. After giving his current location and the name of his hotel, he hangs up the phone and sighs. "If you insist on staying with me, I won’t stop you. Just go inside if your throat starts hurting, okay?."

"Sure, hyung," Jinki agrees, attention already on the street.

At every cab that passes, Jinki’s heart clenches, expecting each to be the one that will take Jonghyun away from him for the night. When he finally takes his eyes away from the traffic to glance at Jonghyun, he freezes, caught off guard.

There’s an expectant look to Jonghyun. Judging by the fact his eyes didn’t have to move at all to meet Jinki’s, he must have already been staring, and his lips are pursed, hands shoved fully into his pockets as he blinks away the snow dusting in his eyelashes.

He smiles warmly, half-shy, and Jinki smiles back. Jinki’s stomach flutters with hope -- he’s never seen Jonghyun smile quite like that before -- but it twists into a bitter knot before he can even think to do something with the emotion.

He tears his eyes away, biting his lip as he tries to gather himself again.

If he were a girl, he wouldn't hesitate to confess to Jonghyun, and he's even considering it still -- it's heavy on his tongue, held back only by a fear of what he might lose if he says them -- but he can’t say a thing.

He forces himself to meet Jonghyun’s eyes again, and this time, the smile Jonghyun gives him is stiff.

Jinki’s heart tightens again, and he tries to console himself with what he already has. At least he can enjoy the longing. At least he’s able to stand two-feet away from the man that makes him consider the possibility of risking his career.

At least he doesn’t have to worry about rejected, since he’ll never try.

He’s pulled away from his thoughts when Jonghyun inhales sharply and rocks back on his heels. "So, uh -- how long till I see you again?"

"We'll be back for our Seoul concerts, and I'm staying with my family for a bit." Jinki says. He looks down at Jonghyun's feet as he kicks them against the sidewalk. "But then we have recordings, and photoshoots, and interviews...a bunch of performances, too. It's kind of like we’re debuting all over again, so we’ll be busy."

“Ah.” Jonghyun bites his lip. "It'll really be a while till you’re back then, huh?"

Jinki nods. He's tried not to think about it or put it into numbers -- he hasn’t wanted to imagine going so long without seeing Jonghyun in person, and he hasn’t wanted to imagine what Jonghyun might do with his time instead -- but it really will be months.

A taxi pulls up besides the curb. Jinki’s heart stops. And suddenly, there’s arms around him, and he’s being squeezed from all sides as Jonghyun wraps around him in a tight embrace.

"You keep reading, alright? Don't forget the books I brought you. I’ll send you more if you get through them."

Jinki laughs, grinning wide to keep himself from tearing up. "Yes, teacher."

"Don't be a smart ass," Jonghyun grumbles. He pulls back and forces out a smile as his hands linger on Jinki’s arms. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too," Jinki chokes out. He doesn’t trust himself with more words when Jonghyun's eyes are already brimming.

Jonghyun lets go, and steps into the open door of the cab.

"It'll only be a few months," Jinki says, hoping to lift the heaviness already weighing down on his chest.

"Yeah." Jonghyun nods and climbs into the back of the cab, now avoiding Jinki's eyes. He dabs at his own with the sleeve that peeks through the end of his jacket.  "Good luck with your concerts and your Japanese debut, Jinki-yah."

“Thanks."

The door of the cab snaps shut. Jinki bites his lip and steps back. The car takes off in an instant, and he watches the red lights of the cab with a hole in his chest until it disappears out of view.

[katrinawritesthings]

Jinki/Taemin; Moving Day (Part 3/4); PG

still tw for anxiety, abuse mentions, and v smol emetophobia mentions

Jinki heads to his bedroom really quick to plug his phone into his charger and wiggle into some fresh clothes. By the time he gets back to the living room, Jonghyun and Key have tugged Taemin in and laid him gently down on Jonghyun’s bed. Taemin curls up small, hands gripping his water bottle tight. Key pulls a sheet up to his waist and Jonghyun pushes his hair out of his face.

“Just rest,” Jonghyun says quietly.

Moving Day: 1-2-3-4

Week Two: 1-2-3

Extra Baggage: 1

Taemin hasn’t uttered a word for over an hour.

Jinki keeps glancing at him in the rearview mirror, quick little looks whenever they hit a bit of traffic or a relatively empty stretch of road. His head is in his hands, body hunched over with his elbows on his knees, dark hair covering his face. His plastic bag dangles off of his pinky and his fingers haven’t stopped twitching ever since they hit the highway. He hasn’t thrown up yet, but there have been a few close calls of frantic rustling and hands clenching his bag so tightly that his knuckles turn white. Key next to him has their feet crossed on Jinki’s glove compartment but their hand hasn’t left Taemin’s body once this whole time. Not even when they leaned forward at a stoplight to hand Jinki their ipod to plug into his stereo to run through a playlist of quiet, chill songs.

He doesn’t have to speak, obviously; he’s going through a lot and it’s not like Jinki needs help getting back to his own home or anything. It’s perfectly okay for Taemin to stay silent. It’s just… worrying.

Taemin isn’t ready for this. He knew that from the start, they all did, but it still makes guilt and insecurity swirl in Jinki’s chest. He knows that they’re doing the right thing. He knows that Taemin needed to get out of that house and as far away as possible. They’d all made plans together over two years ago and had only been strengthening and improving on them since. He knows that Taemin would never be fully prepared and okay with this, and that was part of the plan too. But still--knowing that in theory and then seeing it out in practise are two very different things.

He doesn’t know how long Taemin’s frequent panic attacks are going to last, how long he’ll carry his constant fears and what-ifs with him, how long it’ll take him to feel safe again. Driving this car, being the one that’s personally transporting Taemin away, makes Jinki feel responsible for his super anxiety. And he wants to help, but he doesn’t know how. It’s best to leave that to Key and Jonghyun, but that just makes him feel helpless. He squeezes his steering wheel and sighs quietly as he slows just enough to let someone merge in front of him. At least they’re almost home.

“Hey… Jinx?”

“Hmm?” Jinki glances in his rearview mirror at Key’s voice. Key is looking at their phone, but they glance back to him after a second.

“Jong says that there’s a really nice diner between here and your place,” they say. Jinki thinks, then nods. He knows the one that Jonghyun is talking about.

“Yeah,” he says. “Like, fifteen minutes from here, maybe. And then just a few minutes from there to home.”

“Okay,” Key says. Then, “Taem?” they ask softly. Jinki glances back again to see Taemin wince. “Did you hear?” Key asks. “Do you want to get lunch?” There’s a silence after that. Jinki doesn’t see or hear Taemin reply, but after a moment, Key tsks soothingly. “Okay, pretty,” they say. “What if the both of them got something and then brought it home with them?” Another pause, followed by another “Okay.” Jinki hears the soft rustling of Taemin’s plastic bag and the soft peck of Key’s lips. “Will you promise me you’ll have some bread or crackers after you’ve laid down for a bit, though?” Key asks. A third pause and a third “okay,” and when Jinki glances in the mirror again, Key is leaning back in their seat.

“No diner?” he asks, just to be sure.

“No diner,” Key confirms, hand rubbing over Taemin’s back. Jinki nods. Alright then. He doesn’t really want a big meal anyway.

“Twenty more minutes,” he tells them both. “Until home.”

True to his word, twenty minutes later, Jinki pulls the minivan slowly passed the neighbor’s side of the duplex, around the corner of his and Jonghyun’s, and brings it to a stop. He caught Choi’s car on the street outside so he doesn’t particularly hurry in getting out to unlock the front door. Jonghyun is probably pulling it open right now. Instead, he smothers a yawn in his hand and clumsily unbuckles himself. Twisting in his seat, he watches Taemin uncurling himself from the position he’d spent the past while in.

He leans back against the seat, butt slouching further towards the edge, hands rubbing over his face, palms pressing into his eyes, mouth open with deep breaths. When he lowers his hands and blearily blinks around the car, his eyes land on Jinki and stay there. Jinki gives him a little wave and little smile.

“We’re here,” he says.

“Mmmgh,” Taemin says. He closes his eyes and rubs them again before sitting up straight. “Yeah,” he breathes. His hand falls to the door, fumbles for the handle, and pushes it open. He stumbles when he gets out, but Key follows with a hand on his back and the backpack Taemin forgot over his shoulder. Jinki slips out of the car as well and stretches his arms over his head. When he circles around to the little walkway to the door, he finds Jonghyun handing Taemin a bottle of ice water with a straw in it.

“Little sips, okay?” he hums, pressing his lips to Taemin’s cheek. Taemin nods, bringing the straw to his lips with a weak hand. He looks up at the house, eyes rolling over the blue paint, the cobbled walkway, the small flowers in the windowsills. He’s been here one time before, snuck here for barely more than two hours during what he told his parents was a trip to the mall with his friends. Jinki had never seen anyone happier during that time. The contrast to Taemin then and how drained and anxious he looks now is almost painful.

Jinki looks passed him and sees Choi standing in the doorway with their usual little smile. He scoots around the other three and heads that way first.

“We cleaned up a little,” Choi signs at him, and Jinki smiles back a quick “thanks.” He and Jonghyun didn’t exactly have time to clean up in their rush yesterday. Stepping inside, he looks around the open living room and nods. Jonghyun’s notebooks and music stuff, usually strewn all over the cushioned floor, are neatly stacked in the corner where they’re actually supposed to be. The pillows and sheets are still kind of a mess, but they’re less of a mess than usual so it actually looks like a big bed for once. When he slips into the kitchen to grab himself a water, he sees that the dishes that were on the table and sink have been washed also. Nice.

He heads to his bedroom really quick to plug his phone into his charger and wiggle into some fresh clothes. By the time he gets back to the living room, Jonghyun and Key have tugged Taemin in and laid him gently down on Jonghyun’s bed. Taemin curls up small, hands gripping his water bottle tight. Key pulls a sheet up to his waist and Jonghyun pushes his hair out of his face.

“Just rest,” Jonghyun says quietly. He leans down to press a kiss to Taemin’s cheek.

“But sit up if you want to drink,” Key says. They fix the sheet up neater and stand up straight, tugging Jonghyun with them to the kitchen. Jinki follows and sits at the table next to Jonghyun, Key across. Choi helpfully hands them all a bag of chips from the counter.

“Thanks, babe,” Jonghyun says, unfolding a napkin and piling some on. Jinki does the same, while Key kind of scrunches his nose and gets up to get some dry cereal. They’re all silent for a few moments, but then, “I’m worried,” Jonghyun mumbles. He rests his palm in his chin and pouts at his chips. Jinki paps his shoulder gently.

“We all are,” Key sighs.

“Yeah, but,” Jonghyun says, and then shakes his head, sips his water. “What if he’s not okay?”

“He wasn’t okay before,” Jinki says.

“He’ll be better, at least,” Key adds. Jonghyun looks between them with his teeth between his lips before he sighs and nods.

“True,” he mumbles. “Did you guys figure out how many boxes you could fit in your car?” he asks.

“I think we’re just gonna be able to take his clothes today,” Key sighs. “I forgot to take my dance bag out of the trunk this morning. Plus all of Choi’s camera stuff.” They shrug again. Jinki hums thoughtfully. They could probably fit some more of Taemin’s stuff in the clothes box, if they’re organized enough. He doesn’t have a lot; maybe a few of his games so he can distract himself from his emotions if they get to be too much.

“You can take the rest next week,” he says. They can clean out their car and he and Jonghyun can just take the leftover boxes with them on the way to The Midpoint, and then they can take it all home with them. “Or, the week after,” he adds, glancing quickly behind him into the living room. He feels like maybe Taemin won’t be up for much next week.

“Mm, yeah,” Key says, nodding easily. “Sounds good.”

“Yeah,” Jonghyun says quietly. Jinki rubs his arm soothingly. “Hmm?” Jonghyun adds at that. Jinki blinks and looks up; a sympathetic pat doesn’t strike him as a questionable gesture. Jonghyun isn’t even looking at him, though, which just makes him even more confused. “No, we don’t have mint,” Jonghyun says. Jinki blinks again and finally follows his gaze to--Choi. Oh. Yeah, okay, that makes sense. Choi sighs, then signs something else that Jinki actually sees this time.

“Ginger,” he repeats slowly, looking to the fridge and trying to remember. “I think we have some, yeah,” he says, pointing. “In the middle drawer.” Choi gives him a thumbs up and moves the check the fridge themself. With them away from the stove, Jinki notices that they have two of the burners occupied. What the fuck. How did he not notice that. One of them is a small pot full of just water and the other is a pan with two pieces of bread slowly toasting inside. “What are you doing?” he asks as Choi shuts the fridge. Choi turns just enough with one hand in the utensil drawer to sign “nausea food.”

“Taemin doesn’t like the crusts,” Jonghyun says, standing up to hover over the pan with a worried little pout. Choi shrugs.

“I’ll cut them off after,” they sign. Jonghyun hums with mild disapproval.

“Also, why are you toasting bread on the stove?” he asks. This time, Choi just taps the carton of eggs that they got out with the ginger.

“Eggs aren’t good for nausea,” Key says flatly. Choi turns to point at themself with a little smirk and Jinki rolls his eyes. Of course.

“Hey, make me some too, please, Minjunggie?” Jonghyun asks, nuzzling Choi’s shoulder gently. Choi gives him a little kiss and a little smile as an answer.

Soon, Choi has a nice little lunch platter put together. A crustless peanut butter and banana toast sandwich cut into triangles with crackers and ginger tea on one side, and a heaping pile of super salted scrambled eggs on the other. They smile at it, arranging everything to be more pretty with a note of satisfaction. Then they grab the little notepad from the counter, fold over the grocery list for that week, and start scribbling a note for Taemin to read. Jonghyun pushes Choi’s plate a little to the side to try to fit his own bowl on, but when Choi sees, they shake their head and push him gently away.

“I think I should sit with him alone for a little bit,” they sign. “No offense, but you three kind of talk a lot.” Even their fingers seem as amused as their little grin when Jonghyun humphs quietly. Jonghyun still nods though, and curls his bowl of eggs close to himself as he sits back at the table.

“He doesn’t like when people watch him eat,” Key says as Choi picks up their little tray. Choi nods that they understood and steps quietly into the living room. Jinki turns to watch them step gently over Jonghyun’s bed and sit down a comfortable distance away from Taemin. He turns back after Choi waves, only to find both Jonghyun and Key still watching. He smiles, amused.

“Jonghyun, did you want to shower?” he asks. He knows that he’s not going to shower until it’s time to sleep, but Jonghyun never cares what time he gets in. Jonghyun chews his bottom lip, looks down at his eggs, shrugs.

“When I finish these,” he mumbles, stabbing a small forkful. Jinki nods. Alright then. He turns to Key, who already finished their cereal, the crispy bread crusts, and the leftover half a banana Choi offered all of them a few minutes ago.

“Wanna go see if we can fit more stuff into Taemin’s clothes box?” he asks.

“Mm, yeah, okay,” Key hums. They stand up, wash their dishes, and then follow Jinki out to the van. Jinki opens up the back and just clambers inside, pushing aside a box so he can nestle into the corner against the back of the backseat. Then he smiles and pats the space next to him. Key climbs in obediently, but comes to a hesitant stop in front of Jinki.

“Hey, um,” they say, sitting on their heels. They tug a box closer and fiddle with the tape. “Can I, like, lean on you?” they ask. “Like, against your chest. Between your legs.” Their cheeks don’t color, but their fingers tap an awkward staccato onto the box. Jinki doesn’t even hesitate before he nods, wiggling his legs out to give Key room. It's not like they've never snuggled before.

“Yeah, sure, no problem,” he says. He makes grabby hands to make Key laugh softly as they move to settle against him. They take the box with them and nuzzle just slightly into Jinki’s neck.

“It’s, just,” they mumble. “Now that Taem is safe and I’m not in mom mode my anxiety is starting to get to me and it helps to have, like. Someone else’s heartbeat and breathing to match mine too.”

“It’s okay,” Jinki says softly. He knows. “You don’t have to explain yourself.” He pats Key’s side and reaches around him to pluck at the tape on the box. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best idea to tape them all up anyway. It’s not like a few hours on the highway are particularly bumpy.

“Yeah, well,” Key mumbles. They bat Jinki’s hands away and stab a pocket knife into the tape instead, slicing it open easily. “Usually I’m on Choi, but. They’re kinda busy at--oh, Jinx,” they say, voice turning from quiet and hesitant to judging and disappointed. “You three just folded everything?” they ask. Jinki frowns, very much noticing their distasteful little frown.

“I--yes?” he says. They folded the clothes and packed them neatly inside of the box. A perfectly sensible and organized thing to do. Key still sighs, though, and shakes their head as they pull some things out.

“You’re supposed to roll clothes when you’re packing things,” they say disapprovingly. Jinki has no idea what the fuck they mean by that, and he says that very defensively. In reply, Key pats his head and starts rolling.

Some half hour later, after a lot of rolling on Key’s part and grumbling on Jinki’s part, they have several smaller bags full of Taemin’s stuff packed into the box as well. As they clamber out of the van Jinki pats both the box and Key’s shoulder before he shuts the trunk and locks it up.

Inside, they find the kitchen empty, but all three of the others sat on Jonghyun’s bed. Taemin is sitting with his back to the couch and his knees hugged to his chest with his mug of tea held between both hands. His straw is in there now instead of in his water. Choi is sitting across from him, slowly signing the end of a sentence. Taemin’s brows furrow, teeth between his bottom lip.

“That’s… please be quiet?” he says, tone raising uncertainly at the end. Choi shakes their head; Jonghyun nuzzles Taemin’s shoulder, messing up his shower-damp hair.

“Don’t be so loud,” he corrects. “Like, quieter, but you don’t have to be completely silent.”

“Oh,” Taemin says, and oh, Jinki thinks. Okay. They’re teaching Taemin some of the general important things first. Good idea. He slips his shoes off and makes his way around them, stepping carefully over the soft bedding. He waves pleasantly when the other three look up at him and Key, then sits himself down comfortably next to Jonghyun. Key takes a seat on Taemin’s other side and pulls another pillow from the couch to hold in their arms.

“Hi,” Taemin says quietly.

“Hi,” Jinki mumbles back. He looks at the little food tray between the four of them and Choi and sees two crackers and half of Taemin’s sandwich left. Well. At least he ate some. He reaches forward slowly and kind of just takes a cracker when no one moves to stop him.

“Feeling better?” Key asks. Taemin opens his mouth, shakes his head, shrugs, and closes it with a slow breath.

“I don’t know,” he says. “I don’t think... I’m feeling anything... except tired.” He sips his tea with his straw and makes a little noise when a few drips fall out and onto his shirt. Jinki puts his chin on Jonghyun’s shoulder thoughtfully. Makes sense, he guesses. A pity that once he has a night’s rest it’ll be the day that his parents find out. His anxiety will tire him out again immediately. At least right now, he might be able to sleep through the trip to Key and Choi’s place and avoid another ride with a rumbly tummy.

“Um… Kibummie?” Taemin asks. “And, Choi?” His voice is muffled; when Jinki looks up, he’s biting the rim of his mug, staring inside instead of at the two he’s trying to speak to. “Um,” he says again. “Do you think… maybe… can we spend the night here?” he asks. “Please?” His eyes are big when he peeps up. Jinki’s own eyes widen too at the question.

“Really?” he asks. “I thought you wanted to get as far away as soon as possible.” That was the plan, has been the plan from the start. Get Taemin, a quick lunch here, and then send him off to live even further away from his parents. To add another two and a half hours to the hour and a half between them and here.

“I know, but,” Taemin says, voice tight. “I can't--I need.” He puts his mug down and takes Jonghyun’s hand in one hand and Key’s hand in the other. “I need both of you,” he whispers into his knees. Key lifts their free hand to run soothingly through his hair. “And… you two. Too.” Taemin adds. He looks between Jinki and Choi pleadingly. “Just… just for tonight,” he says. He sounds almost desperate but Jinki is already shrugging and nodding. Whatever makes Taemin feel the best. Jonghyun nods also.

“It’s kind of late, anyway,” he says. “It might be dark before you get home.” He gestures out of the window at the perfectly sunny afternoon; Jinki muffles a snort into his shoulder. Even with his night driving phobia that’s kind of pushing it.

“Before six thirty?” Kibum asks flatly.

Choi throws their crumpled up napkin at their head.

“Hey--what?” Key hisses, grabbing it and chucking it back at them. “I wasn’t telling him no,” they grumble. “Just, like, if you’re gonna come up with a bullshit excuse then at least put some effort into it.” Choi just smirks at them and fakes throwing the napkin again. Key winces, then glares. Their annoyed half growl is interrupted by Taemin speaking.

“So,” he says. “You’ll stay here?” His voice shakes just a touch, so little that Jinki barely caught it. Key takes their annoyed glare away from Choi, softening it into a reassuring nod.

“Yeah,” they say. “We’ll stay here. With you.”

“With me,” Taemin repeats. Jinki nods even though no one is looking. With him. The babe of ages, the MVP.

“A slumber party,” Jonghyun gasps softly. He claps his little hands together with bright eyes. “Videogames and movies and pizza.” He bounces a little bit on the pillows; Jinki smiles, amused, but also sighs because he has to be the one to remind Jonghyun of the bad news.

“The gluten-free pizza place closed down last month, remember?” he says. There is no deliverable pizza for Jonghyun’s poor tum. Jonghyun’s bouncing immediately stops.

“Oh,” he says, and deflates against Taemin’s side. “Fuck.”

“I can make quesadillas,” Key says. “With… whatever ingredients you two have.” They lean forward so they can peer at Jonghyun around Taemin. Jonghyun gasps loudly and starts bouncing again.

“Videogames and movies and quesadillas,” he chirps, clapping softly.

“God, you’re so cute,” Taemin breathes. He turns to wrap his arms around Jonghyun’s shoulders and squeeze him tight enough to make him squeak and giggle. Jinki smiles as he watches Jonghyun nuzzle the side of Taemin’s head. They’re both cute. And after a moment, Taemin’s tight squeeze turns into more of a relaxed hold, fingers pressing just into the back of Jonghyun’s shirt. Jinki hears the faintest little kissie noises from Jonghyun’s neck and more mumbled words that he can’t catch. What he does catch is the tone: low and flattering, just a touch amused. It puts some of his worries at ease.

Right now, in this moment, Taemin is feeling okay enough to smile and hold his babe and murmur love into his skin. It won’t last, but it’s the first time since yesterday, and that’s a start.

The rest of the night goes well and simple. Jonghyun clambers across the floor first to look through their games and pick out a cute multiplayer one. Taemin takes the other half of his sandwich to nibble on before Choi takes the dishes away to wash. When they get back, they drape themself over the couch behind everyone and leave a hand dangling off of the edge. When Key cocks a brow and asks if it’s for Jonghyun to hold or for someone to put a controller into, they smirk and sign “both.”

They rotate through the game for a few hours that feel like minutes, and another half hour that feels like a day after it starts getting boring. It’s then that Key just gets up and heads to the kitchen, mumbling something about quesadillas that has Jonghyun bright and bouncy again. Jinki watches both of them go, then Taemin and Choi both lazily staring at the ceiling, and decides that now is as good a time as ever to take a shower.

He gets back conveniently just in time to steal a fresh cut slice of cheesy goodness as soon as Key puts the plate on the table. Nice. He has it an inch from his mouth when a hand closes around his wrist and Jonghyun’s pouty face appears in front of him.

“Hey,” he whines. “That’s mine.” He tugs weakly at Jinki’s wrist with his usual puppy eyes and Jinki finds himself just smiling fondly.

“I wasn't thinking, sorry,” he says. It’s Jonghyun’s only OCD thing that actually affects other people; he has to have the first bite of something or else he can’t eat comfortably. Jonghyun wiggles, a whiny noise in the back of his throat, and Jinki surrenders his slice easily. He takes the second slice of dinner and pats Jonghyun’s butt to make him smile.

“Hey, go grab Choi and Taem,” Key tells them. “And get a napkin or something, holy shit.” They flap a hand distractedly between them and turn back to the stove where Jinki can see that they have a second quesadilla already almost done in a second pan. What the fuck.

“What is it with those two and multitasking in the kitchen,” he mutters to Jonghyun as they grab napkins and leave the room. First Choi, now Key both using two burners at once. It’s so extra. Jinki can’t even pour himself a drink and watch the stove at the same time without anything burning. Jonghyun shrugs back, just as clueless as he is. Jinki hums thoughtfully. Obviously neither of them have their lives as together as they thought.

In the living room, Choi and Taemin are hunched over the movie box. Jinki wiggles to a sit next to Taemin, Jonghyun getting to his knees on Choi’s other side.

“Dinner’s ready,” Jinki says, wiggling his napkin. Taemin gasps softly and Jonghyun snatches his own napkin away from Choi’s questing hand with a little whine.

“Give us another minute,” Taemin mumbles. “We’re narrowing it down.” He gestures to the little group of movies laid out next to each other on the tv cabinet. Cars, Charlie’s Angels, The Road to El Dorado, and Chicago… an interesting set of choices.

“How did we get down to all of these?” he asks blankly. He can’t find a similarity between them. Taemin shrugs and pats the space in front of Choi’s knee.

“They’re picking, mostly,” he says. Jinki glances at them; they quickly sign “no parents”  over Taemin’s head with a pointed look. Jinki understands immediately and nods his approval.

“Well,” he says. “I vote for El Dorado, if that matters.” He loves Miguel. He stands up and pokes Taemin’s cheek to remind him that it’s dinnertime before he scoots back into the kitchen. There, he struggles to both eat his first slice and help Key set up the rest of the table with one hand. He should’ve just waited five minutes before getting all grabby at the food.

“This would be easier if you had just waited, like, five minutes for everything to be ready first,” Key tells him, confirming his thought. Their little cocked brow is entirely unamusing to Jinki and he humphs as he takes a big, defiant bite of his slice.

That just makes it harder to do things.

Jonghyun comes in to help soon, followed closely by the other two. Taemin pours everyone drinks with hands that only shake a little bit and when they all finally sit around the table, he has the tiniest smile. Jinki thinks it feels a little awkward; this table isn’t meant for five people and it feels like the same generic family dinners he had for twenty-two years before he moved out. But, whatever. He likes these four much more and Taemin’s comfort is what’s most important to him right now anyway.

“So…,” Jonghyun says after a minute. He sips his milk with his pinky out and props his chin in his hand. “Do all of you lovely babes wanna go out to breakfast tomorrow?” he asks. He flutters his lashes too, for added effect that only makes Choi snort.

“I think… a breakfast date would be good,” Taemin says quietly. He’s picking slowly at a small slice of quesadilla, but looks hopeful at the thought of a diner meal. Maybe he’ll be feeling better about eating tomorrow.

“I’m down for it,” Jinki shrugs. His lukewarm leftover omelette from this morning has had him kind of craving a fresh served breakfast all day. Choi nods simply and Key agrees a moment after, and Jonghyun beams.

“Alright,” he says happily. “And then, after, you three can go home.” He links his arm with Taemin’s and shakes him gently. Jinki raises his brows, impressed. That was smooth, bringing up a heavy plan right after the pep of a light one. Taemin still hesitates, still takes a deep, shaky breath, but he nods with a small smile very quickly after.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I think… straight from the diner. Because. If we stop back here after, like. You all know I’ll procrastinate for three more hours.” His smile twitches feebly and he places his quesadilla slice down on his plate. Jonghyun squeezes him comfortingly.

“Good idea,” he hums, and presses the tiniest of kisses to Taemin’s cheek.

“Mm. Thanks,” Taemin says. Jinki catches the way he catches Jonghyun’s elbow when he tries to pull his arm back. Jonghyun stays, and scoots his chair an inch closer. Taemin reaches a small hand out for Key’s elbow as well and rubs his thumb over their skin.

“How are you supposed to eat if you’re holding both of us?” Key asks, smiling lazily at him and wiggling their arm. Taemin opens his mouth, hesitates, and then lets his head fall on Jonghyun’s shoulder.

“Feed me,” he demands, nuzzling the top of his head into Jonghyun’s neck obnoxiously. Jinki snorts; so do Choi and Jonghyun. Jonghyun pushes Taemin’s head back up and pokes his cheek away.

“You’re gross,” he mumbles.

“Here, Taem,” Key says, already holding up Taemin’s quesadilla slice to his mouth. Taemin takes a second to stick his tongue out at Jonghyun before he takes a tiny nibble and nuzzles gently into the hand Key ruffles through his hair a moment later.

“You’re all gross,” Jinki mumbles, but there’s nothing with fondness in his voice as he watches the three of them. They’re cute.

And then they start getting really cute, both of them feeding Taemin both food and little kisses, all sappy smiles and soft blushes, and Jinki’s fondness turns into exasperation and uncomfort.

“Alright, now you’re actually being gross,” he says, shaking his head as he finishes his last slice and stands up. His repulsion can’t handle this. He washes his dishes and ignores their little grumbles in favor of taking Choi’s plate as well. Then he takes Choi with him back to Jonghyun’s bed to set up the movie Taemin picked. It’s not El Dorado, which disappoints him, but whatever. He’s pretty tired anyway; it’s barely passed nine but his long day is catching up to him.

The other three join them before long, Jonghyun laying down next to Jinki, then Taemin next to him, and then Key next to him. Choi takes up their one-hand-dangling position on couch again. They start the movie and Jinki pulls a thin sheet over himself, tugging some of Jonghyun’s extra pillows close to nestle into.

It’s not long before his eyes are drooping shut. The low volume of the movie fades in and out, sounding distant and muffled one moment and then clear and crisp the next as his brain drifts between sleep and wakefulness. Curled up on his side, he clings to the pillow under his chin, glad to be finally drifting off, until there’s sudden rustling and grumbling from behind him and some words that he can barely make out in Taemin’s voice:

“Mmgh. Too stuffy.”

And then more rustling, and then there are hands wrapping around his side and a body pressing up against his back and soft lips dropping kisses onto his neck as Jonghyun switches to hold him close instead. Jinki grumbles himself, wiggling and rolling onto his back to shake him off. That earns him a quiet, apologetic noise.

“Too ro?” Jonghyun asks quietly. Jinki shakes his head, pats Jonghyun’s hand.

“Too tight,” he mumbles.

“Oh,” Jonghyun says, and then giggles. “Sorry, bun,” he says, and slips his arm over Jinki’s waist again. He’s much gentler now and Jinki sighs contentedly as he nuzzles back into his pillow.

This time when he starts drifting in and out of consciousness, he makes it all the way there uninterrupted and falls asleep with Jonghyun’s head on his chest.