Along For The Ride - 2/?
Title : Along for the Ride
Pairings : 2min, Minkey, (maybe) Jongtae
Genre : Angst, Fluff, Slight (if any) Smut
Rating : M for language and possible smut
Word Count : in progress
---
Taemin loved the fall season. The colors were bold and daring yet emitted a soft undertone with just a second glance. Most people hated fall. It came right after the forever-loved summer of beaches and shorts and plenty of sun. It was right before the not-so-loved winter of frostbites and winter coats and Christmas. Personally, Taemin hated both of the other seasons. For him winters were torturously cold, day or night, and the scalding hot summer temperatures could make anyone prone to heat stroke. He could just tolerate the spring, though. Spring meant rain, and how he longed for the smell of wet air blowing through his window.
“Taemin-ah?”
Taemin blinked and turned away from the window toward the voice. He was sitting at his workbench of his cooking class. He looked around and noticed the lights were still off (when class started the teacher had informed them that they’d be watching a documentary on popular Indian meals to ready them for the week they’d be cooking said types of meals). He turned to his right and saw Kibum looking at him with his head cocked.
“What’s wrong, hyung?” he whispered once convinced the teacher was not paying them attention.
“I should be asking you,” Kibum frowned a bit. “You’ve been spacing out since the lights went out. You ok?”
Taemin nodded and opened his mouth to respond when the teacher let out an intentional cough in warning. Instead, he gave his hyung a tired smile before turning to the projection screen of the movie. A Korean woman was talking about the origins of something called Bread Pakoda, which coincidentally was written out on the blackboard on the right side of the classroom. And while everyone else in the room was scribbling down notes as quickly as they could, Taemin found himself gazing back out the window at the brown and yellow and orange leaves of the trees with a wandering mind.
Work. It was Tuesday so he’d have to get to his job soon. He worked at Leverage, a small retail business owned by a couple in their late forties. The store itself sold clothes for teen girls to early thirties since the shop owners’ children were all girls, it was something like familiar territory to them. One of the daughters, Kim Haeri, had been a middle school classmate of Taemin (also dubbing him a close friend of the family) so the hiring process had been painless and simple.
He and Mr. Kim were the only men to work the shop, lifting boxes and doing heavy inventory in the back of the shop, leaving the less strenuous work to the girls and Mrs. Kim. From time to time when they didn’t have anything needed to unpack or load, Taemin would work the register, leaving the daughters to have as much free time as they’d like. He didn’t have a problem working. He needed the job to pay the rent and light and gas and heat and his cell. And for the work he did do, the Kims paid him fairly well (sometimes he thought they paid him more than enough just because he was a family friend). And besides the obvious, it gave him something to do in his dull little life.
“Yah!” He felt something poking his arm and jumped a bit in shock. His eyes turned to Kibum, blinking back the black spots from the light that was now on. “You were gone for the whole movie. Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
Taemin noticed the other students were already packed up and leaving the classroom. He rubbed his eyes a bit before stuffing his notebook in his backpack and standing. “I’m fine, hyung.”
Kibum caught up to him, wrapping am arm through one of Taemin’s as they walked down the halls for the exit. “Fine? You didn’t even hear the homework, did you?”
Taemin smirked. “Hyung, we don’t get homework when we watch a movie. The next class we’re cooking whatever that lady was talking about in the movie, and after that seonsaengnim will have us research the next country we’ll be cooking after.”
“Ah,” Kibum nodded with satisfaction, “my dongsaeng knows well.” He released Taemin’s arm to button up his jacket and rewrap his scarf around his neck before coming face to face with the autumn draft. “I hate autumn,” he muttered in annoyance.
Taemin laughed. “You say that about every season, hyung. You hate fall because it’s too gloomy. Winter is too cold. Spring is too wet. And summer is too hot.”
“All of those points are true,” Kibum frowned, slipping his arm back into Taemin’s. “Not to mention, spring-or maybe Mother Nature in general-is one indecisive bitch. One minute it could snow, the next it’s nice and sunny. Pisses me off.”
Taemin chuckled at his hyung as he searched his pockets. He pulled out his lighter in one hand and a box of cigarettes in the other. Kibum watched with a scowl as Taemin lit the stick in his mouth before putting the lighter and box back in his pockets. Taemin noticed the look and breathed out a cloud of smoke. “Will you stop looking at me like that?”
“When are you going to stop?”
Taemin held the cigarette in his hand of his arm that wasn’t being glomped onto by Kibum. He took the fumes into his lungs and blew deftly away from his hyung before shrugging. “When I die.”
He felt Kibum stiffen against his arm. “That’s not funny, Taemin-ah. Those are fucking death sticks. They can kill you sooner than you’re naturally supposed to!”
Taemin sighed, already knowing how this conversation was going to play out. He knew out of all of his hyungs, Kibum hated his habit the most. The elder loved pampering the younger as if he were incapable of doing things for himself, and though such things did get annoying, Taemin never found himself rejecting his hyung’s attention. Maybe it had to do with the lack of attention he received from his biological parents that he put up with it. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he secretly yearned for such warmth and care from someone, anyone.
Yet warmth, and care, was the furthest thing he’d get from Minho. If he hadn’t seen the way Minho treated Kibum differently from the rest of their friends, Taemin would have sworn Minho hadn’t a loving bone in his body. And it wasn’t that he was heartless. It was just the opposite. With Minho, he worried over everyone. He’d watch them silently and observe their behavior before confronting or even just being a shoulder to cry on. It was one of the many reasons Taemin found himself falling deeper and more horridly in love with him. But after he started seeing Kibum in a different light, so to speak, things changed.
“Taemin-ah!” Taemin flicked the ash off the end of his smoke and tossed Kibum a glance. “Am I boring you or something? You keep drifting away…” the elder stuck out his lips in a pout Taemin couldnt help but find cute but didnt dare voice.
“Ani. I just have a lot on my mind, hyung. It’s nothing to do with you,” he smiled and took another breath of nicotine. “Smoking relaxes me, hyung.”
“I thought dancing relaxed you?” Taemin and Kibum both took dancing classes as elective credits, both having a fond spot for dancing in their hearts. “If you smoke, your lungs turn bad, and if I remember correctly you need to breathe to dance.”
“Hyung,” Taemin laughed. “That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
Kibum turned up his nose at a few strangers walking past them, also smoking. “What is wrong with the world? What’s so great about these things?” He tried snatching the cigarette from Taemin but the younger held it away.
“No, hyung.” Taemin saw Kibum about to have a fit and throw more questions at him before continuing. “Just because I have a bad habit doesn’t mean I want you to join in on it. Arasso?”
Kibum scoffed. “What is this? My dongsaeng scolding me?”
“It’s because I love you, hyung. I want you to be healthy.”
“Hypocrite,” he let out a sigh, of defeat, before ruffling Taemin’s hair. “I want you to be healthy, too. At least try to cut back. For me?”
Taemin smiled. “Sure.” They finally arrived at the bus stop Taemin took to his job. He put out the cigarette against a lamppost. “I’ll stop smoking around you, ok?”
Kibum smiled cheekily back at his dongsaeng, obviously touched. He nodded before pulling Taemin in for a brief hug. “Ok. Hopefully you can stop smelling like this long enough for me to hug you properly.”
Taemin watched as Kibum left him at the bus stop to wait for his bus before sitting on the empty bench. He stared out into the street at the passing cars. His fingers rolled the stick around and around mindlessly and his foot tapped lightly on the ground. His mind churned softly. He had something he was supposed to do. He knew he was supposed to remember something, but what was it?
The bus finally rolled in and he boarded it. He trailed his way to a seat near the back exit. It was a habit he’d gotten on his own. In case someone older or a pregnant woman came, they’d have the option of an immediate seat over hiking all the way to the back. During the thirty-minute bus ride he tried unsuccessfully to remember what he was supposed to do. It wasn’t until he was off the bus and walking up to the store that he saw a familiar rustic copper-red Toyota parked right out front that it clicked. He checked his watch and saw he had a good fifteen minutes before his shift started and walked over to the car. The person in the driver’s seat opened their door and got out.
“How did I know you’d forget?”
Taemin smiled at the sarcastic tone. “Sorry, hyung.” Said hyung walked around his car. Taemin opened his arms for the hug he knew was coming next. “I’ve been spacing out a lot today. I forgot you told me to call you for a ride to work. Mianhae.”
“Taemin-ah, I hope you’re telling the truth. You don’t prefer the bus over riding with your favorite hyung, do you?”
Taemin laughed. “Of course not, Jonghyun hyung. Honestly, I forgot.”
Jonghyun smiled at Taemin’s laughter. “Well, I guess I can believe you. Have you eaten yet? I wanted to get something before bring you to work, but…”
“Ah, no. I came straight here after class. I’m not all that hungry anyway, hyung.”
“You’re never ‘that hungry’ Taemin. Until someone ties you to your chair and puts food in front of you, that is.”
“Well, my shift starts soon. I don’t have time.”
“We’ll see about that.” Jonghyun grabbed Taemin’s wrist and pulled him into the store. The bell chimed as the door opened and they were immediately confronted by fluorescent lights, and lots and lots of clothes.
“Annyeonghaseyo! Welcome to Leverage-ah! Taeminnie! Jonghyun!” Hyera, the eldest Kim daughter, called to them from the register. Taemin allowed himself to be dragged to the register where Hyera continued to fuss over them. “Taemin, Jonghyun, it’s been so long since I’ve last seen you!” She went around and gave them both hugs.
“Noona, I didn’t know you were going to be working today,” Taemin ran his fingers through his bangs after Hyera mussed it. Hyera was four years older than Taemin, one year older than Jonghyun, at 24. She had graduated her senior year of college over a year ago. Majoring in journalism, she had been offered a full time position at a company she’d been interning at. After accepting it she was moved to the larger corporation in another city, which she gladly accepted. The second eldest daughter, Haera, was still a student but was currently in America. So the two eldest girls’ presence had been scarce, leaving the shop to the two youngest daughters.
“Yea, I’m only here for the night. Umma called and asked if I could help since Hyerin couldn’t come in.” She turned to Jonghyun. “Favorite cousin, why are you here?” her deadpanned question caused Taemin to chuckle while Jonghyun blinked innocently.
“Why do I have to have something to visit my relatives?”
“Because you are Jonghyun.”
“Well, for your information, I just wanted to ask if Taemin could be a bit late. I wanted to get him something to eat.”
Taemin shook his head and pulled away from Jonghyun’s grip. “I’m ok, hyung.” He turned to Hyera. “Noona, you don’t have to-”
“I think that’s a great idea. You need to eat more, Taemin. You’re skinnier than Hyerin and she’s fourteen.”
“Right?” Jonghyun nodded in agreement. “Well, you heard noona. Let’s go, Taemin.”
Taemin narrowed his eyes back at Hyera as Jonghyun dragged him back outside. He let out a tired sigh as he was pushed into the car. He really should have known there was no helping the situation. Jonghyun and his family were very persistent. He’d known this growing up with them. Though he was closest with Haeri in age, the other daughters clung to him, making him feel apart of their family. And because he’d been surrounded by so much estrogen, when he met Jonghyun he was glad to have a hyung that cared about him as well.
“So where are we going, hyung?” Taemin propped his elbow on the window as the car drove off.
“What do you have a taste for?”
“Nothing. Honestly, hyung, I’m not hungry.”
Jonghyun nodded. “Right, right. I forgot this was a forced trip. So I get to choose.” Taemin rolled his eyes and sat back, allowing Jonghyun to do what he wanted. “Tell me about school.”
Taemin tilted his head a bit. “It was fine. I had two classes today. I just came from Cooking.”
“Right, you do take a cooking class. Why didn’t you eat, then?”
“Because we didn’t cook today. We learned about how to prepare what we’ll cook in the next class.”
“And that is…?”
Taemin shrugged. “I wasn’t paying attention. Kibum hyung will fill me in.”
Jonghyun nodded, tapping the steering wheel with his index fingers. “That’s the one you tutored that one time?”
Taemin shook his head with a smile. It amused him how bad Jonghyun was with names. “No, hyung. I met him in high school. He and Minho hyung were in the library working on a project. There weren’t any more tables so they let me sit with them. Now he’s one of my best friends.”
“Ah, right, right. And Minho is…?”
Taemin bit his lip as his eyes fell to his lap. How could he describe Minho? Sure he was his best friend, or he was at one point. But the immediate increase of his heart rate at just the mention of his name told Taemin anything he planned on saying would have been a lie. True, in Minho’s eyes there was only Kibum he had a small tangent of hope that he held a special part of his hyung’s heart as well.
“He’s a good friend, too. They both look after me. Kibum hyung nags me just as much as you do, hyung.”
“All for your own good,” Jonghyun smirked and petted Taemin’s head.
“Yah, I’m nineteen, hyung. I’m not a baby.”
“Sure, kid. Sure.”
---
“Taemin-ah! Can you bring out the new arrival of black shirts! They should be in large white boxes!”
“Neh, ahjumma!”
Taemin walked around the back of the store searching for the boxes. His shift was pretty much over and he was just wasting time before he’d go to catch his bus home. When he found them, he used a nearby box cutter to open and check a white box. He took it out to the store front where Haeri and Mrs. Kim were working on dressing a mannequin. “Where do you want this, ahjumma?”
“Behind the counter. Hyera! Count the shirts in here and add it to the inventory before we put them out. Taemin, can you bring out two more boxes? What size are these shirts?”
Taemin tilted the box a bit. “Small.”
Mrs. Kim nodded. “Ok, the other two should be the next two sizes up. Medium and large, please?”
“Arasso, ahjumma.”
“Umma,” Haeri smirked from behind the mannequin. “Don’t you think we should have uniforms?”
Mrs. Kim looked at her curiously. “You’re wearing the store shirt. Is that not a uniform?”
Haeri shook her head. “No, umma. Shouldn’t all employees wear uniforms? Maybe we should have Taemin wear the merchandise and have him stand around outside to bring in customers.”
“Yah! Haeri!” Taemin glared at her, setting the box down by Hyera.
“Umma, that would be so cute!” Hyera clapped before pulling a shirt from the box. “Taeminnie, come try this on!”
“N..noona, please don’t joke like this,” he backed away slowly, discreetly looking for a quick getaway. Unfortunately Mr. Kim wasn’t working tonight-he had to take the youngest daughter to the dentist. His eyes flickered over to Mrs. Kim, who had a finger on her chin, studying Taemin with a glint in her eyes. “Ahjumma, w..wae?”
“You don’t have to stand outside. We just want to see how it will look,” she smiled, taking a step closer.
Taemin’s eyes shifted from Mrs. Kim to Hyera to Haeri. All three were closing in on him. “Wait!” They stopped moving and he grabbed a shirt from the box. “I’ll put it on myself. Just…back away. All of you.” The women were all smiles as they took a few steps away. Taemin walked over to the floor mirror with the shirt. He could feel their eyes on him as he lifted his arms upward. His eyes darted toward the conveniently close door before rushing toward it. “Mianhae!” He tossed the shirt on top of a rack, ignoring the calls as he ran.
When he got home the first thing he did was grab a shower. He let the warm water cascade from the showerhead down his body. He could feel his muscles unclenching under the steam. Leaning his forehead against the shower wall, he let out a sigh and rolled his shoulders back and forth. It was a common thing for him to need to unwind at the end of every day. He’d do so much dancing or lifting or moving in general which caused his muscles to bind up until he took the time to rest properly. Even walking was sometimes hard enough to handle.
But he had to handle it. He had things that needed to get done and they would only get done if he did them. He lived alone for five years now and was used to having such independence. And though he wasn’t ashamed of his home, none of his hyungs (or other friends) have been to his house. Well, with the exception of Jonghyun seeing as he’d dropped him off one or two times. Taemin didn’t feel comfortable with allowing anyone in his sacred place. His home was his solace. Any outsiders would ask questions, questions he would not enjoy hearing or answering, so he kept to himself.
It was back in his sophomore year of high school that Jonghyun made the younger promise to attempt to make friends outside of the Kim family. Sure he had Hyera and Haeri attending the same school, but he knew Jonghyun wanted him to try breaking out of his comfort zone. And it was thanks to him that he met Kibum and Minho.
The two had been childhood friends growing up just houses apart. They did everything together and had their pick of friends in school as well. So after meeting and befriending the two, Taemin found himself also surrounded by the two different groups of friends of Kibum and Minho.
Taemin stepped out of the shower slowly. His knees cracked at the joints as he stretched in front of the mirror. He stared at his reflection, eying each part of himself visible in the small glass. His skin was pale, as it usually got in the fall; he wasn’t out in the sun like he was in the summer. He could see his brown roots peeking out in the crown of his head; not yet noticeable, but he’d get it fixed before they got out of hand. His eyes were dull and showed obvious signs of fatigue; with the way his joints were cracking, he knew if he didn’t get a proper night’s sleep he wouldn’t be too useful in his dance class tomorrow.
He quickly brushed his teeth and slipped on his boxers before heading to his room. He was in the process of putting on his pajamas when his phone rang. He glanced at the clock near his bed and frowned, confused as to who it could have been.
And when he answered the door, he was surprised to see Minho staring right back at him with a predatory gaze. “What are you doing here?” Taemin looked at him in confusion, trying to close the door a bit but failing.
“I came to see you, obviously,” Minho pushed his way into Taemin’s apartment and turned to the younger. “Well?”
“Well what?” Taemin closed the door and stared up at him.
“Are you going to properly invite me in?”
“Since I apparently have no other choice, come on in, Minho.” He led the elder further into the house. Taemin looked at Minho suspiciously. He knew all of his hyungs knew where he stayed, but never had they stopped by unexpected or uninvited. Which meant they never came by. Minho’s sudden appearance made the younger uneasily suspicious. “Hyung, what’s wrong?”
“Why does anything have to be wrong?” Minho ignored the bewildered look Taemin was giving him. “So, I heard you’re quitting,” he announced, holding up a half empty pack of cigarettes from the counter.
“Where’d you hear that?” Taemin scoffed at the false accusation.
“Kibum.”
“Ah,” Taemin shook his head. “Ani, I said I’d cut back on smoking around him. Not that I’d give it up completely.”
“Well, hyung seems to believe you made a promise to quit. You wouldn’t be going back on that promise would you?” Minho gave him a hard glare.
Taemin sighed, growing irritated with the conversation. “Look, whatever I promised hyung is none of your concern. So just drop it. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll clear things up with him.”
Minho shrugged. “Whatever. So, why are you half naked?”
He looked down at his topless body and let out a sigh. “Because I had just got out the shower when you knocked.” He turned to go to his room to get a shirt. Minho followed behind him. “Are you going to tell me why you’re really here? Or are we going to have to fuck for me to get answers out of you?”
Minho bit his lip, watching the bare back of the younger as he searched his dresser for a shirt. He stepped fully into the bedroom and hugged Taemin from behind. Taemin shivered as his lips grazed his neck.
And soon teeth nipped at his neck and Taemin was gone. The search for a shirt was abandoned, as were the pants he’d just had on. Taemin lost himself in the feel of Minho’s warm, calloused hands trailing down his stomach and sides, past the waistband of his boxers. Somewhere in the back of his mind, past the prodding and caressing and squirming, Taemin remembered just how tired he had been prior to Minho’s visit. He knew he should have been trying to sleep, or else the next morning would be a bitch trying to wake up to.
He knew there were a lot of things he should do when dealing with Choi Minho. But his weak resolve rendered him defenseless against the elder. That night, most like every other time, Taemin gave all of himself to Minho without so much as a second thought. And the night was so intense and unrealistic he had a hard time believing if he was dreaming about it or not. And there was nothing to help him to distinguish the difference of realities outside of the stiff lower body and red splotches on his neck and chest. Because when he woke up the next morning, Minho was already gone.
Unfortunately, smoking wasn't his only bad habit.