Along For The Ride - 4/?
Title : Along for the Ride
Pairings : 2min, Jongkey, Minkey, (maybe) Jongtae
Genre : Angst, Fluff, Slight (if any) Smut
Rating : M for language and possible smut
Word Count : in progress
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“Taemin, what’s wrong with oppa?”
Taemin stood up straight from sweeping and looked over at Jonghyun. He was propped against a shelf display texting on his phone. It wouldn’t have been such an odd sight if he wasn’t grinning like a buffoon into the screen. Taemin shrugged and looked back over to Haeri behind the register. “He’s always been weird. Maybe this is a new level?”
“That’s not reassuring,” Haeri frowned with a hint of mockery in her tone. “Is he safe to have out in public?”
“I wouldn’t say one hundred percent, but we should keep an eye out just in case. In the mean time, I’ll go warm up the cage in the basement.”
“Ah, good thinking,” Haeri nodded briskly, before looking back at Jonghyun. “Wow, we’ve insulted his intelligence and his humanity and he hasn’t even noticed.”
“Whoever he’s texting must be really fascinating,” Taemin agreed curiously before going back to sweeping.
“So, what are you doing tomorrow?”
A smile made its way onto his face as his swiftly maneuvered his back to her. “School and work. Same as any other Thursday.”
“Oh, that’s right. Tomorrow is Thursday,” Taemin’s face heated up hearing her mischievous tone. He knew that tone better than anyone. She was about to either pry or embarrass someone, maybe even both. And since Jonghyun was busy on another planet, Taemin was closest prey. “If I recall correctly, you always come in for work extra happy on Thursdays. Why is that?”
Taemin was happy he wasn’t facing Haeri or she would have demanded to know the reason behind his noticeably red face. “No reason.”
“I can hear in your voice the level of blush you’ve reached. Now stop lying and tell noona all about it,” she cooed in a sickeningly sweet voice. Taemin reflexively turned and raised one eyebrow.
“You are not my noona. We’re the same age.”
“Correction, I’m older by a whole week.”
“Try five days.”
“Well, now that I’ve distracted you from hiding your face,” Taemin’s eyes widened and he abruptly turned back around, “care to explain why it’s redder than I first imagined?”
“I just like Thursdays. Is that a crime?” he muttered, scratching his head a bit.
“What was that guy’s name you mentioned last Thursday? You said something about him having ordered your drink before you got there so it was waiting. Minwon? Minhwa? Hwa Su!! It was Hwa Su, right?”
Taemin snorted and shook his head at her. “Do you seriously know someone named Hwa Su? I’ve never heard such a name.”
‘Well, no I haven’t met anyone with that name…per say…but, I like it. And I planned on making it my first son’s name. It’s cute, right? Hwa Su.”
“Sure, Haeri,” he smirked and put the broom away. “My shift is over. I’m going home now.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner? Umma is making kimchi.”
“Ani, I’m not hungry right now. I’ll get something on the way home, though.”
“Arasso. If you say so.”
“Annyeong, Haeri. Annyeong, hyung.”
Jonghyun muttered something incoherent under his breath and waved a hand absentmindedly. Taemin shook his head and waved to Haeri as he left the shop. Haeri looked over at her cousin and shook her head before snapping her head over to the door. “Aish, that brat distracted me!”
To say he was happy would be an understatement.
Taemin didn’t know what emotions ran through him, but all he knew was that happy was not strong enough to describe them. And the best part was that he’d feel them all day. He’d go to sleep Wednesday night, anxious about what was to come, and wake up Thursday morning not the least bit drowsy. He waited for these Thursdays.
The day he’d get to spend thirty glorious minutes alone with a happy Minho.
Sure, he’d spend time with a happy Minho before. But those times were always with Kibum or some other mutual friends around. The only time he really spent time alone with the younger was with one thing in mind (and usually sad or pissed off by Kibum). And after achieving that, he’d disappear into the shadows whether Taemin was conscious or not. And though at first it hurt like hell, he had come to live with it. What else was there for him to do? Stop seeing the older? Not in this lifetime. Any time he could spend with his truly favorite hyung Taemin would take it in a heartbeat.
He learned the hard way the reason why Minho refused to be seen in public alone with him. He hadn’t wanted anyone that knew Kibum (and Kibum knew a lot of people) to see him out with someone. Any time Kibum saw Minho with anyone he’d assume the younger was interested first, and ask for facts later. And he knew if Kibum knew Minho and Taemin were hanging out together it would cause a big misunderstanding.
Unfortunately this was the watered down version of how Taemin heard it. It was back in his senior year of high school. Kibum and Minho were already attending college and one day it had been Kibum’s birthday. A bunch of Kibum’s classmates wanted to take him to karaoke, and Kibum (since he and Minho went to different schools) invited his two dongsaengs. Minho had a low tolerance for alcohol. And someone had snuck in some suju to ‘liven things up’. Taemin, being the good kid he was, decided to take his hyungs home. He’d dropped Kibum off at home first, since he was driving Minho’s car, then doubled around to take the latter to his house.
“I luhb you Kiboom ‘yung!”
“Taeminnie-ah! Guess what? Hehehe, I love our hyung. You didn’t know that, huh?”
“Ssshhhh! It’s a secret, Taeminnie Minnie ah! Don’t tell hyung, ever? Owrassoooo?”
Taemin had endured the car ride listening as Minho listed off the many many many qualities of Kibum that he absolutely adored and why. Minho was so enthralled by his drunken confession and list that he hadn’t noticed the tears covering his dongsaeng’s face. Minho was not very observant when drunk like he was when sober. And unfortunately, or maybe it was really fortunate for Taemin, Minho never would remember what he’d do or say when he was drunk. So Minho didn’t even know that Taemin knew he liked Kibum. But it still didn’t change the facts. Minho admitted to being in love with Kibum right when Taemin had realized his own feelings for him.
Life was truly not fair. But Taemin had already known that.
Taemin blinked and glanced at his surroundings. He was standing right outside of the café he’d be meeting Minho in. He shook his head a bit, trying to clear his mind. Why he had just thought about how unfair his life was he didn’t know. He knew about his flaws without even pointing each individual one out, in his sleep. But here he was, on his most favorite day of the week about to have his weekly face time with the man he loved more than anything, thinking about things he hated thinking about. If he didn’t want to see Minho so badly, he’d have probably taken it as a bad omen.
But instead, he strolled happily through the café doors and over to the usual booth where a delicious iced frappe with whipped cream and chocolate sauce sat waiting with a just as delicious Minho, drinking his own steaming cup of coffee while reading through a textbook.
“Hey, hyung,” the red head sang as he plopped down in his seat, attaching his lips to the straw of his drink.
“Hey, Tae.” Minho gazed at him curiously. The younger was bouncing in his seat with a wide grin. “Why are you so happy?”
Taemin shrugged and looked out the window, trying to stop himself from smiling so hard. “Nothing. It’s just such a nice day out. Don’t you think?”
Minho narrowed his eyes. “It’s going to rain later.”
“Rain causes growth.” Taemin looked down at the open textbook. “What’s that?”
“Trying to study for this math midterm coming up. I have to get at least a C to pass for the semester. And that’s not even counting the actual final and the rest of the class’s quizzes and assignments,” Minho let out an annoyed sigh. He turned the pages angrily. “I hate math. Seriously, when am I going to need word problems and log functions when I become a sport’s journalist?”
“The only people that need math are accountants and math teachers. As long as you know the basic ‘1+1’ you’re good for life.”
“Speaking of basic, there’s this girl in my class, and she told me her boyfriend was some sort of math major. He has this advanced math book that proves that two and two make five…or was it one and one make three? Either way it was something weird like that.”
“Really? So the education system has been screwing us all over all these years?”
“Basically.”
“Interesting,” Taemin grinned with a glint in his eyes. “Think we can sue?”
Minho snorted, slapping the table with his hand. “Under what charges?”
Taemin shrugged. “Misinterpretation? Logic failure? Emotional scarring? False advertising? Anything is possible, hyung.”
Taemin smiled to himself as Minho laughed. He loved hearing the deep baritone of his hyung’s voice. It rumbled through his chest and exploded out, which was shocking for how usually quiet he was. If one didn’t know Minho, they’d surely be shocked by his many ‘odd’ characteristics that don’t seem to go with his personality.
“Guess what.”
Minho glanced up from his textbook curiously. “What?”
“This year, my dance class is putting on a performance. And guess who got a solo?” he sang with a smile.
Minho’s eyes widened and he smiled as well. “Yah, Taemin-ah, that’s great! Weren’t you upset that you didn’t get a solo last semester? Now you have one! Congratulations!”
“Thanks, hyung,” he bowed his head and averted his eyes to the table. “I, ah, well, we were given tickets to give to our families or friends or whoever we invited. And I wanted to know if you’d come. It’s in three Saturdays in our school’s auditorium. I mean, I can understand if you have something else planned or just don’t want to come.”
Minho chuckled and reached over to muss his hair. “I’d love to come. I’ve only ever seen you dance once and that was a long time ago. I want to see how much you’ve improved.”
“Really?” he lifted his head with wide eyes full of sparks. “Ah, thank you, hyung! I’ll be sure to practice extra hard so not to disappoint you!”
“Arasso, arasso. Calm down,” he chuckled again. “Practice well, but don’t over work yourself. Make sure you stay healthy and eat right and get enough sleep.”
“Neh, hyung. I will.” Minho nodded and went back to studying. Taemin propped his elbow on the table and held his chin in his hand as he stared at the elder. He watched as his brow creased when he thought over a hard problem. When he wasn’t sure of something, he’d bit his lip as he wrote down a note or two. When he was confident about something, he’d nod briskly to himself. Taemin found himself smiling fondly at the sight until a stomach growled rather loudly. “Yah, hyung, you should take care of that.”
“I will. I just need to get this last note down…”
Taemin rolled his eyes and walked up to the counter. He ordered a burger and fries with a bottle of water. By the time he got back, Minho was marking his page. Smelling the food, Minho looked up at Taemin as he slid the food towards him. “It’s not good to study on an empty stomach. Eat fast.”
“Thanks, Taemin-ah. I’ll eat it well,” he smiled and picked up the burger. “I had a taste for a burger, too. How’d you know?”
Taemin shrugged with a small smile. “Lucky guess.”
“You’re not hungry?” Taemin shook his head, causing Minho to frown. “You should get something, too.”
“I ate before I came here,” he dismissed easily. Minho stared at him, chewing on his burger. They stared off for a few more seconds when Minho pushed his tray toward Taemin. Taemin sighed and took a couple of fries. “There, happy?”
“No, but it’ll do for now. Hyung’ll make you eat when he gets here.”
“Unfortunately for both of you, I have somewhere I need to go.”
“Where’s that?”
Taemin shook his head. “Nowhere important. Don’t worry about it.”
Minho smirked. “I’m pretty sure that excuse will not satisfy Kibum hyung.”
“Hmm, you’re right,” Taemin nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe I should leave before he gets here then.”
“And why, pray tell, would you do that, dear dongsaeng?”
Both Taemin and Minho jumped in shock. Kibum was standing over them watching Taemin with narrowed eyes. “Ah, hey hyung,” Taemin smiled innocently, knowing Kibum had a soft spot for his innocence. “You’re late.”
Kibum’s glare softened as he scooted into the booth next to Minho. “Yeah, sorry. My teacher felt it necessary to hold the class back until he finished his lecture. Asshole.”
“Well, what was the lecture about?” Minho took a drink of water, staring at Kibum.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention,” he shrugged and stole a fry from Minho. “I’m starving. Taemin-ah, let’s get something.”
“Hyung, I’m not hungry,” he whined, involuntarily forming a pout on his lips. “I ate before I got here.”
“Oh, yeah? What did you eat?”
“…Ramyun.”
“That’s hardly a meal, Taemin.” Kibum stood up. “I’ll go order something and we can split it.”
“You don’t have to do that, hyung. I have to get going, anyway,” Taemin made to get up but was held down by Kibum’s palm on his shoulder.
“Where?”
“Just somewhere.”
“Well, how about we come with you? We’re all free. Come on, Minho.”
“No!” Kibum and Minho, along with a few others near them, stared at him in shock. “I mean, no. You guys don’t have to come along. You’ll be really bored, especially you, hyung. You know how short your attention span is.”
“Well, if it’s so boring, why are you going?”
“Because I have to,” Taemin chewed on his bottom lip nervously. Kibum didn’t seem to be letting up so easily.
“And why is that?”
“Hyung? Why so many questions? Tell us more about your day.”
“I thought you had to leave?” Kibum smirked, obviously happy with ruffling the younger’s feathers.
“I do. So why don’t you tell hyung about your day?” Taemin ignored the wide-eyed expression Minho gave him as he smiled at Kibum. “And I’ll see you later?”
“Where are you going?”
They all looked up to see Jonghyun. Taemin cocked his head in confusion, while Kibum smiled. “Oh, you’re here.”
“Hyung, what are you doing here?”
“I invited him,” Kibum beamed as Jonghyun scooted in next to Taemin, trapping him from escaping.
“Since when do you two talk?” Minho queried.
“Since we exchanged numbers at the theater last weekend,” Kibum rolled his eyes, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Speaking of weekends, there’s this festival downtown, practically free, we should go.”
“Wait,” Taemin blinked as he stared back and forth between Jonghyun and Kibum. “Exactly what is it that you two have to talk about?”
“Waeyo, Taeminnie-ah,” Jonghyun poked his bottom lip out, “I can’t be friends with your friends?”
Kibum scoffed. “Why can he call you Taeminnie but I can’t?”
“He can’t call me that either, he just doesn’t listen to anything I say. But that’s not the point. Hyung, don’t you have…I don’t know, anything you could be doing right now?”
Jonghyun shook his head with a smile. “Ani. I told ahjussi I’d come and help out at the store with you. You know his foot is better but he needs to keep pressure off of it.”
Taemin looked at Kibum, who was smiling fondly at Jonghyun from across the table. He then turned to Minho, who was far from happy, but trying to hide it by giving off an air of indifference. Taemin let out a sigh. “Well, I have to go. Let me out, hyung.”
Jonghyun narrowed his eyes at Taemin. “But I just got here. Why are you leaving now?” Sadness splashed across his features. “You don’t want me here, Taemin-ah?”
“Ani, hyung!” Taemin shook his head and waved his hands rapidly. “I didn’t say that. I was leaving before you showed up, but you sat down before I could get up. I promise!”
“Where were you going?”
“I really can’t say, hyung. I just need to leave right now.”
Jonghyun looked over to Minho and Kibum. “How about I drive you there, then? So I know you get there safely.”
Taemin noticed Kibum’s shoulders sag a bit. He bit his lip thinking how upset Minho must be at the moment. “But, hyung, Kibum hyung invited you. That’s rude to just leave.”
“I know!” Kibum exclaimed before turning to Minho. “You can take him!” Kibum tilted his head indiscreetly toward Taemin trying to communicate telepathically. Kibum then glanced at Taemin desperately.
“I don’t need a ride. Besides, the bus will drop me right in front.”
“So will a car,” Jonghyun countered.
“Well, what if Minho doesn’t want to take me? You can’t just decide things for him.”
The two oldest looked at Minho, who was just staring back and forth between the three. “It’s not a problem.”
Taemin mentally banged his head on the table. Of all the days for Minho to not try and get rid of him…He wrecked his brain, trying to figure out how all of this happened. Jonghyun and Kibum somehow find something interesting about each other, that much is obvious by the stupid grins decorating both of their faces. But at least their interest was mutual. Here Minho was in love with Kibum, who was for some unknown reason fond of Jonghyun, and he didn’t know it. Not that Taemin had room to criticize anyone. He was in the same boat as Minho.
Taemin let out a sigh and shook his head. “Never mind. It’s not important anyway.” He turned to Kibum, “Hyung, can we get something to eat now?”
Taemin rolled his neck around, cracking the tensed muscles in the process as he finished shrugging on his pants in the back seat of Minho’s car. Said hyung was up front driving back to Taemin’s place while the latter finished dressing. After the little get together at the café, Jonghyun and Taemin left for work. The whole time Jonghyun wouldn’t stop talking about how ‘interesting Kibum was’ and how ‘cute his laugh is’ and ‘he looks really good as a blonde’ and ‘Omo! His eyes are so…wow’ and ‘how can his lips be so…so pretty and pink and perfect?’ and he didn’t forget to mention just how ‘fucking adorable his dimples are’.
With each compliment that left his hyung’s mouth, Taemin couldn’t help but wonder if these were the same things Minho liked about Kibum. And if they were, then it was no wonder they were both completely smitten by the blonde haired vixen. He was ideal to anyone with a brain, Taemin knew that. Kibum was everything Taemin wasn’t. Beautiful. Intelligent. Creative. Independent. Considerate. Fun. Confident. And the list goes on. Though Taemin knew he could still strive to try to be a bit like Kibum, he knew there was one thing Kibum was that he could never be. Perfect.
Whole.
He had had these thoughts as he clocked off and left the store in the direction of the bus stop. He had been sitting on the bench when Minho rolled up, gesturing for him to get in. And he did. And Minho drove around until he found an empty lot, surprisingly easily, and pulled the younger to the back of the car where he commenced to snatch off clothes and lick and suck and bite at every inch of pale skin Taemin had to offer.
Taemin knew he was thinking of Kibum the whole time. He knew that even before Minho had accidentally whispered their hyung’s name as he came inside the younger. But even still, it hurt. Sure, there had been slip-ups before (when they were too drunk to function properly) but Minho wasn’t drunk now. And he wasn’t stupid. He knew Kibum liked Jonghyun. And Taemin knew Minho was hurt. That’s why after they both caught their breath, Taemin calmly passed Minho his clothes and asked if the older could drive him home while he put his own clothes back on in the back seat.
Minho obliged, slipping from the back to the front and pulling out of the lot. Taemin didn’t know if Minho realized his slip-up, or if he was hoping the younger hadn’t heard it. He was hoping it was the first one but realized it unlikely since the older kept glancing at him through the rearview mirror. He didn’t catch gazes with him, though. He was already holding back tears behind a forced smile.
He finished buttoning his shirt just as Minho pulled up to his complex. He ducked out of the car and closed the door before leaning over into the passenger window, forced smile still intact. “Thanks for the ride, hyung. You saved me bus fare today,” he internally flinched at how peppy his tone was. Forced.
“Taemin-ah…about what happened...”
His heart sped up in anxiety. He hadn’t really expected Minho to try and talk about it. God, that would just be too uncomfortable. “What happened? When?” The only way to save any source of sanity was to play innocent.
“When we…in the back seat. The sex,” the older muttered, scratching his ear uncomfortably. “About what I said.”
“What did you say, hyung?”
“I don’t know…you might not have heard…but it seems unlikely since it was so quiet. But-”
“What are you talking about, hyung?” Taemin forced himself to giggle-giggle-as he stared at Minho with wide-eyed innocence. “It was really good today, hyung. I was so into it, I zoned out completely. I was so high, I didn’t calm down until after I caught my breath.” He ignored the pang of pain that struck his chest when Minho’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Why? Did you confess to me, hyung?” he added with a taunting tone.
Minho chuckled. “No, it was nothing, Taemin-ah. Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah. Later, hyung.” Taemin held his smile and waved as Minho drove off. He watched as his car turned a corner before dropping the smile. He dragged his feet all the way to his door and didn’t bother wiping the stray tears that fell as he hung his jacket up. He walked to his room and collapsed on the bed, burying his face into his pillow.
His phone rang from his pocket, but he was too emotionally drained to move. Whoever it was, they were persistent and called two more times before leaving a voice message. Taemin let out an annoyed huff as he slid his phone from his back pant pocket. Calls could be ignored, but if someone left a voice message, his phone would make the notification noise every two minutes until it was checked.
When he saw the name of the missed call, he scowled and rolled his eyes before checking the voicemail. He entered the password and waited for the automated woman to shut up about the time the missed call was missed until another voice spoke. A voice he knew well, and wished he could somehow forget. A tone of dissatisfaction he’d grown up with. The constant reprimanding nagging voice that was never satisfied with anything he did. The cold edge latched on the harsh words that always seemed to tear down any protective shield he tried to prepare before hearing them. All qualities belonging to the woman that birthed him.
“Taemin, this is your mother. Doctor Park called to inform your father and I that you missed another appointment. From what he’s told us it’s the fourth appointment this month, plus you missed three last month. You refuse to return my previous calls. The least you could do is pick up a phone and let us know you’re still alive. If you don’t call me, I will come to your house or your school. It’s your choice.”