Fanfiction: Stop Kicking Me Around
A/n: Another fic, but this one is pretty much fail throughout :/ Sorry, but i haven't add much writing inspiration lately. And school's reopening soon, so yeah.
If you want any part of this editted, or have an alternative ending in mind, do inform me. I'll change it asap. Anyway, Happy New Year, everyone! :)
Comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Beta-ed by metalliclace cause she's awesome like this. Thanks bb!
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Minho was terribly thirsty. His throat was as dry as a desert and he craved badly for Gatorade.
Yet, that didn't stop him from getting his head into the game.
Facing his opponent, Minho's eyes shifted continuously back and forth from the ball to the player. His feet moved like lightning as he dribbled the ball, slowly moving towards the goal post. Making a swift turn, he outran his opponent and bolted towards the goal-keeper.
He kicks, he shoots, he scores.
Choi Yoon Kyeom shoots up and claps in contentment. There was no reason not to be proud of his son. The annual tournament was just around the corner and he was pretty sure Minho was more than ready. It would be a dream come true for both father and son should Minho emerge in Victory. Particularly, Choi Yoon Kyeom himself.
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"Hyung! You're really good in soccer!" Taemin chirped happily as he followed Minho around the dressing room.
Desperately trying to protect the Maknae's precious innocence, Minho suggested, "Taemin, I think you had better get out of here first..." Trying hard to keep his eyes away from the many undressed players in the room, Minho opened his locker, and reached for his towel.
"Come on Hyung, i'm sixteen!"
'Yeah, well, my point exactly."
"Hyung, will you teach me how to play soccer?"
"W-what?!" Startled, Minho dropped his towel and soccer shoes.
"Hyung, will you teach me how to play soccer?"
"I heard you the first time, Taemin, its just...since when are you...interested in soccer?"
"Since just now! When i saw Hyung playing!" A big grin broadened on the Maknae's childish face.
"Sorry Taemin, but no. I'm not the right person you're supposed to be looking for."
"But Hyung! Pleaseeeeee..." Pouting his lips and filling his puppy eyes with fake sparkly tears, Taemin pleaded.
Yep, the face that makes all dongsaengs and noonas go "AWWWW." or "KYAAAAAA".
How could Minho ever say no to those killer puppy eyes. It was as good as granting Taemin's request.
"Fine, but the training is going to be tough and its everyday after school, so if you're going to back out now, i suggest you do befor-"
"YAY THANK YOU HYUNG! OMG OMG I'M LEARNING HOW TO PLAY SOCCER!" Before Minho could even finish his sentence, Taemin had already burst out of the room screaming and exclaiming in delight.
"Well I'd take that as you're not backing out then." Picking up his towel, Minho flipped it onto his shoulder and headed for the showers.
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"WHAT?! TAEMIN?! SOCCER?! ARE YOU CRAZY OR CRAZY?!" Key yelled at Minho as he protectively hugged and shielded Taemin away from Minho.
"C'mon Key, it's just soccer. You don't have to overreact..." Minho shrugged as he proceeded to explain.
"Yeah Umma, it's just soccer!" Taemin pointed out as he struggled to breath under Key's suffocating grasp.
"Just soccer?! No no no, it's too dangerous, no, Taeminnie, Umma is not going to let you play soccer. What if you accidentally get injured and break your arm, or worse your leg, NO worst! Your head?! No no no!"
Taemin and Minho sighed in despair. It was typical of Key to get all paranoid over his baby boy.
Lifting his gaze from the TV, Jonghyun spoke up, "Key, relax, it's just soccer. And its not like Taemin is Onew or something. You don't have to worry about Maknae breaking his limbs and head."
That earned Jonghyun a long evil stare from Onew.
"Kim Jonghyun, you had better shut up before I break your head and kick it around like a soccer ball."
Frowning at the two immature hyungs, Minho remarked, "Anyway, back to the point. Key, don't worry, soccer is rather safe, i'll take good care of Taemin. And plus, if i hadn't agreed to his pleading, he would have followed me into the shower..."
Hesitating for a while before he reluctantly let go of Taemin, Key replied, "Fine, but one scratch, Minho, one teeny weeny scratch on my precious Taeminnie, and you'll lose your head too, you understand?"
"Yeah, yeah." Minho assured Key as he grinned at the sight of Taemin rolling his eyes.
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'Omo, this is tough.'
Taemin thought to himself as he tried hard to dribble the soccer ball, but in a futile attempt, only managing to criss-cross both his legs and falling flat in his face.
"Taemin! Are you alright?" Minho asked in concern as he rushed over to pick up the little mud-covered boy.
"Yes, Hyung i'm alright!" Taemin commented as he wobbled around clumsily.
"Gah, i guess we had better get you home."
"But Hyung! We only started training an hour ago!"
"Fall in mud again and Key will strangle me to death, Taemin. Come on, let's go."
Sulking, Taemin kicked a pile of mud in annoyance and watched it splatter all over another player.
"Oh shit. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- Jonghyun Hyung?! Since when do you play soccer, Jonghyun Hyung?"
"The day you were born? Now, is Minho bullying you again?" Jonghyun asked as he stared at Minho with his usual sneaky brown eyes.
"No...he just won't let me train..."
"Come on Minho, are you that intimidated by Key? Its alright, Taemin, I'll train you-"
"No, Jonghyun, seriously. Don't. Even. Try." Minho snapped at Jonghyun in a scary tone.
"Hey, is that how you talk to your Hyung? This poor boy here just wants to learn soccer, why deny him that chance?"
"Fine, whatever. If you want to be trained by this filthy fellow and get strangled by Umma when you get home, you be my guest, Lee Taemin." Finishing his sentence, Minho grabbed his soccer ball and strode off in silence, leaving Taemin and Jonghyun staring at him in surprise.
"Hmm, maybe Minho Hyung has a bad day." Taemin said as he clicked his tongue and scratched his head.
"Maybe...come on, let's get started."
Minho didn't have a bad day, he was just annoyed at the fact that Jonghyun always had to interrupt when he and Taemin were together. Even if Jonghyun didn't have a ulterior motive, Minho couldn't help but feel jealous at the way Taemin smiled when Jonghyun was around.
Jonghyun was a good and nice Hyung, but Minho didn't completely trust him when Taemin was near him. Those brown eyes of Jonghyun seemed to glint with evil when Taemin was in his sight. Minho just felt offended that Taemin would rather spend time with Jonghyun than him.
'Well whatever, this time, Taemin just asked for trouble. And i'm not gonna help him.'
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"Hyung, are you angry?"
"No, do i look like I'm angry?" Minho answered Taemin as he flipped a page of the book that he was reading.
"Yes."
"I'm not angry."
"But you do look angry. In fact, you've never looked like this before."
"What do I look like?"
"You look jealous."
"WHAT?! Jealous?! Pfft, i'm not jealous." Minho exclaimed as he batted his hand at Taemin as though he was swatting a fly.
"Are you sure, Hyung? You don't look like your usual charismatic and cool self..."
"I'm sure, Taemin. Now go play with Onew or something and stop disturbing me. I'm reading, for goodness sake."
As Taemin walked away, Minho held up his book and frowned.
Was he really that predictable? Even the Maknae could tell that he was jealous.
"Pfft, jealous? Me? Choi Minho, jealous? You gotta be kidding." Minho muttered to himself, oblivious to the fact that Key had been staring at him for the past minute.
"Choi Minho, why are you reading a book about jealousy management?! I'm sure that you have already fully understood the concept of the anger management part."
"Uh..I...what?" Minho dropped his book in surprise.
"What the hell is wrong with you...?"
"N-nothing."
"What, wait. Did you just...stammer? Okay, woah, the Minho that I know never stammers. Come on, out with it. What's wrong?"
Minho sighed in exasperation.
Key just knew his weak points too well. Then again, he was the Umma for a reason.
"Its just, Jonghyun seems to be getting in the way everytime i'm alone with Taemin. I feel...insecure when he's around Taemin."
"Minho, I think you're just being overprotective of the maknae. Its normal to be the protective Hyung, unless...you, uh..."
"Unless what?" Minho asked as he arched an eyebrow.
"You know..."
"I kn- woah. No, Key, definitely not that way."
"Hmm, how sure can you be, Minho?" Key teased as he formed a smug on his face, before heading for the kitchen, leaving Minho pondering by himself.
'I can't possibly...like Taemin, can i?'
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Jonghyun knew that he liked Taemin. And not just 'like' him as a dongsaeng, but 'like like'.
He knew he wasn't a person who would keep his feelings to himself. Heck, he would even openly admit that he's gay, if the circumstances calls for him to do so.
Then again, if the noonas and dongsaengs are looking forward to some ghei in the shinee world, then, all the better.
"Jonghyun? Jonghy-" Onew tripped on air again before he could even finish calling out for Jonghyun.
The loud crash of Onew slamming and knocking into Taemin's LEGO bricks snapped Jonghyun out of his momentary daydream.
"Aw, Jinki-hyung, you destroyed my castle." Taemin whined as he watch the remaining pieces of the wreckage fall dramatically to the floor.
"Sorry Taeminnie, i'll make another one for you later."
"Okay, i want the Great Wall of China this time!"
Gulping at Taemin's remark, Onew turned to face Jonghyun.
"So uh, what's wrong? You were staring into space just now, and you never stare into space."
"Oh, huh, uh, nothing Hyung, i'm fine" Jonghyun replied as he shifted his gaze to watch Taemin building yet another structure. Probably the Eiffel Tower.
Staring at Taemin's innocent outlook, Jonghyun couldn't help but smile.
Surprised at his sudden grin, Onew traced his fingers to the direction of Jonghyun's eyes. Landing his own eyes on Taemin, he frowned. As he pondered for a while, his frown arched deeper and he bit his lips in anxiety.
Spinning back to face Jonghyun, he grabbed the boy's arms and dragged him to the room.
"Sit down. We need to talk."
"You like Taemin, don't you?" Onew slammed the door shut as soon as they entered the room.
"What? Me, no way. Come on, Hyung, I'm not g-"
"Oh yes you do. You were staring, Jonghyun. Not just any type of stare, but that stare."
Looking down at the floor in awkwardness and a slight guilt, Jonghyun remained silent for a while until he spoke up.
"Okay, fine, so what if I do? I just feel responsible in taking care of the maknae. So I just get, uh, overprotective, sometimes. And i tend, to stare. What's wrong with that?"
Glaring at Jonghyun in disbelief, Onew inhaled a deep breath in before speaking "Fine, I'm not gonna care about this, since you want to take care of Maknae that way, you go ahead. But you better be good to him, he's our little baby boy, break his heart and I'll break your face. You hear me, Kim Jonghyun?"
Jonghyun nodded frantically at the stern voice of Onew. The leader had never sounded so demanding and Jonghyun was sure he didnt want to have his face in bits and pieces.
"Jinki Hyung~ You still owe me a Great Wall of China!"
"I'm coming!" Onew called back as he proceeded to step out of the room, pointing two fingers to his own eyes before turning them onto Jonghyun's.
"I'm watching you, Kim Jonghyun."
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The tournament was just two weeks away.
Wiping away a bead of perspiration from his forehead, Minho sighed in despair.
How was he going to concentrate on soccer with Taemin constantly corroding his mind?
Wrapping the soccer ball under his right arm, Minho headed home.
It wasn't like his parents hadn't reminded him to look left and right before crossing the roads, but Taemin had overshadowed his logics and common sense that he simply walked onto the street without thinking.
Tires screeched, a horn blared and a sickening crunch was heard.
The next thing he knew, Minho was lying on a hospital bed with his leg in a cast and hoisted up.
"Minho-ah, what did we say about looking left and right before crossing the road?" Minho's mum gave a small but calming lecture while his dad stood beside her, arms crossed and definitely annoyed.
"Appa...?" Minho stuttered, clearly afraid of his impending doom. It wasn't that his dad didn't care about Minho's well-being, but soccer was everything to him. Whether it was Minho or himself playing. And Minho knew that very well.
"You have two weeks, to the tournament. If you can make your leg miraculously recover by then, otherwise, I suggest you don't even try talking to me ever again." With that, Choi Yoon Kyeom excused himself, slamming the room door behind him.
An awkward silence went around the room as Minho's eyes watered with tears.
"Minho Hyung...I'm so sorry about this." Looking up to meet Taemin's brown puppy eyes, Minho trembled, his mind clouding with all sorts of mixed feelings. Disappointment, fear, confusion...
The other Shinee members crowded around the room, all wearing concerned faces, especially Key Umma.
"Minho-ah, forget about the tournament, your health matters more." Key advised Minho, sounding exactly just like his real mother.
"Forget?! The tournament?! Key, don't be ridiculous. Haven't you seen how my dad reacted just now? If I don't do something about this, he's never gonna talk to me again!" Minho exclaimed as beads of teardrops coursed down his smooth cheeks.
"Minho, is it possible to find a replacement?" Jonghyun suggested.
"Yes, but how am I going to, in such a short time-"
"Minho Hyung, I'll play for you!" Taemin volunteered as he raised his hand high up, enthusiastically.
"Taemin? What, no, you can't even dribble a ball." Minho replied.
"Well, Minho, what you don't know is that while you were busy being the selfish jerk you are, I was training Taemin in soccer, and I'm proud to say that he plays almost as well as you do now." Jonghyun remarked, clicking his tongue in satisfaction.
"Minho Hyung, please, I want to play for you. Just this tournament, please...let me try just once, I promise I won't let you down..."
Again, with the watery puppy eyes and the irresistible pout.
"Dammit, I'm so going to regret this...Argh, fine. But new players still have to go through my dad's inspection."
Key frowned at the thought of Taemin being 'inspected'.'
"Key...not that way." As though he was able to read Key's mind, Minho shot the Umma a dirty look.
"So its set! Taemin will go to your father to be qualified for the tournament, and you, Choi Minho, just sit here and wait for us to bring home the trophy." With a swift snap of his fingers, Jonghyun stated his point and Taemin cheered while Onew and Key frowned, the both of them having similar thoughts.
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"You think you're qualified enough to play for Minho?" Choi Yoon Kyeom asked in a gruff tone.
"Yes Coach! Please let me replace Minho just this once!" Taemin pleaded, however he saved the watery puppy eyes and the irresistible pout for Minho instead, since he was pre-warned that Minho's dad wasn't one to fall for such antics. Minho had said that from his own pleading experiences.
Thinking about Taemin's request for a while, Coach Choi finally turned around and announced, "Alright, you'll play for Minho, but the tournament is only 2 weeks away, and we'll have to put you through aggressive training from now on. It will be tough, but you had better be ready for it."
Gulping at Coach Choi's killer speech, Taemin hesitated. He knew he wasn't exactly ready for this, but for the sake of Minho's welfare and the fact that if he didn't help, Minho may never talk to him again, Taemin decided to go for it.
'For the sake of Minho Hyung.'
Taemin was ready. Or at least he thought so.
"Don't worry Taeminnie, you'll be fine. Hyung will support you all the way!" Jonghyun reassured Taemin while patting the boy on his back.
"Jonghyun Hyung...what if...I don't help Minho win this tournament? Will he get angry at me? I will only cause more trouble between him and his dad..."
"Taemin, don't think that way, Minho's more than happy that you're willing to help, our Taeminnie has grown up, indeed." Ruffling his hand through Taemin's hair, Jonghyun forced a faint smile on his face.
"Really? Alright then, Hyung I better get going for training soon."
"Okay Taeminnie, be careful." Jonghyun replied as he watched Taemin walked away.
Something inside of him ached and his heart felt heavier than ever.
'Taemin, are you that concerned about not hurting Minho? What about...me?'
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Pushing himself past others and plopping down on a seat, Jonghyun muttered a curse.
"Jonghyun, I heard that. Loud and clear." Onew said as he shot Jonghyun a look.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"Come on, its Taeminnie's big game, cheer up!" Key chirped as he adjusted the live streaming camera such that Minho could have a good view of the game too. In his hospital bed.
"How's this Minho?" Key asked, with his phone clamped between his face and shoulder while he made the final re-adjustments.
An affirmative reply came back and Key sat himself down.
"There's still 15 minutes before the game starts, i'm gonna go in and check on Taemin." Jonghyun commented as he stood up.
"But Jonghyun, i don't think the coach would allow that." Onew pointed out as Key gave another one of his 'Umma disapproves' look at Jonghyun.
"Honestly, do you think that I look like I give a fuck about that?" Swearing, Jonghyun made his way down to the players' dressing room.
'Why doesn't anyone understand me? Why the hell do they have to be so concerned about Minho?! Everything is Minho this, Minho that. What about me? Don't i matter? Can't Taemin see that i'm the one who is behind him, supporting him all this while?!'
Kicking at a stone while his angry inner thoughts played out, Jonghyun entered the room.
"Oh, Jonghyun Hyung! Why are you here?"
"Why am i here? What, why am i here? You mean i can't be here? What the hell is wrong with you, why do you give so much concern to a guy who is always only looking out for himself, the selfish jerk that he is, and you don't even know that there's someone here who truly wants to care and look after you? Can't you open your eyes and face it? Stop trusting the wrong person, for goodness sake!"
"Hyung...I'm just curious as to why you aren't sitting on the benches and waiting. The game is starting soon, I'm gonna be fine, you didn't have to take the trouble past those guards to get to me."
"...I...oh, well, I just thought you would need some...support or cheering up..." Embarrassed at the fact that he had misunderstood Taemin's questions, Jonghyun answered in an awkward manner.
"Hyung...are you alright?"
"Yeah...I'm fine. Taemin, I...just...okay, nevermind, good luck for the game Taeminnie, don't get too...nervous. I'm sure you'll play just fine."
"Hyung-" Before Taemin could even complete his sentence, Jonghyun was already out of the room, head down, hands in his pockets and striding off.
"Come on Taemin, the game is starting." Beckoning the Maknae towards him, Coach Choi gathered his players for a final briefing.
Jonghyun silently walked away as his eyes filled with tears. He had wanted to come clean with Taemin just now for he was sick of cooping up all those awkward feelings in his heart. A wave of emotions overwhelmed him and the tears brimmed over his eyelids, flowing down his pale face.
'Taemin, I wish you could tell. I wish you could understand. I know I'm never going to have the courage to face reality and confess. I was always there for you, but you just never realised it. I wish you could see through this and stop...kicking me around. Minho has feelings, and so do i.'
Jonghyun headed for the main gate instead of the seats. He simply wasn't going to sit around and watch Taemin play his guts out for Minho. He wasn't going to do anything, and that was it.
'Maybe keeping quiet is the perfect solution sometimes.'
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The game was going rather well for Taemin had already score 2 goals for the team in the first half.
Key was having fun being Taemin's personal cheerleader as he waved his pink pompoms around in the air when Taemin had scored.
Onew was just happy that there was a store nearby selling fried chicken.
Minho couldn't be any happier as his leg was finally taken down from the hoist and the live streaming surprisingly did not die on him that day.
Everyone was enjoying themselves. Pretty much everyone, except Jonghyun.
He had told himself for the umpteen time, that nobody would ever realise his existence or that he was missing.
Slotting in the keys and turning the doorknob to their apartment, he ran his plan through his mind once again.
'Luggage, clothes, passport, letter.'
Throwing his clothes into a bag, Jonghyun sighed in despair.
'Would they know that he was gone? Would they even care...? Nah, they wouldn't. So Onew wouldn't have a partner to eat fried chicken with, Key would lost his shopping buddy. And Taemin wouldn't have a tutor for maths- oh come on, who am i kidding, Taemin already has that hyung-whore Minho. See, nobody needs me.'
With that, Jonghyun grabbed a pen and scribbled furiously on a piece of pink paper he had casually grabbed from Key's overflowing bed of pink and whats-nots.
When he was done, he folded it into a heart, and wrote 'Taemin' on the front. Staring down at his cliché creation before sticking his tongue out at it in disgust, he took his luggage and headed for the front down.
Taking a good long glance at the apartment, Jonghyun let out another heavy sigh, before he shook his head and proceeded to close the door.
With the pink love letter lying silently on the far corner of the dining table, the apartment never felt any lonelier.
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Taemin's hands trembled as he reached for the pink letter.
Key rushed out of their room, panting as he announced, "Most of his clothes are gone. His passport too."
Onew shook his head at the thought of Jonghyun resorting to stupid things. Like how he had locked himself in the dorm's bathroom when Key and Minho had ate all of his cookies. It was the dorm's only bathroom and Taemin was suffering from a bad tummy ache.
At the thought of that, Onew's eyes widened and he ran straight for the bathroom only to have Key call after him, "Don't bother, Hyung. I already checked."
"Jonghyun Hyung didn't even see me bring home the trophy. And he just left. I thought he would wait..." Taemin whimpered as the pink letter fell from his hands.
Watching the letter float lightly to the ground, Minho finally spoke up.
"Let him go, Taemin. He'll be back. He left his lyrics book here. You know he can't live without that for long." And with that, Minho hobbled towards Taemin with his casted leg and gave the Maknae a huge bear hug. It was something he had never done and had vowed never to do before. He had thought about confessing, but he was well aware that it may only break Maknae's heart even more. And he really didn't want that to happen nor have Onew or Key break his face. The confession would just have to wait.
But desperate times call for desperate measures and he wanted Taemin to know so badly that he was there and would always be if the Maknae should ever need him.
At the same time, Taemin was reading he exact same lines that Jonghyun had written on the letter.
"I hope that hyung-whore takes good care of you Maknae, and don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll come back when i've sort out my feelings. I just want you to know that i've always been there for you, even if you never realised it. And i will always be around, if you ever need me. See you in a while, Taeminnie. Jonghyun-hyung loves you. He really does. "
A teardrop fell from Taemin's eyes.
"Jonghyun-hyung, I feel the same way too."
It was a whisper, but Minho had heard it.
It didn't matter much anyway.
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The End.
Hope that wasn't too much fail, thanks for reading! <3
If you want any part of this editted, or have an alternative ending in mind, do inform me. I'll change it asap. Anyway, Happy New Year, everyone! :)
Comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Beta-ed by metalliclace cause she's awesome like this. Thanks bb!
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Minho was terribly thirsty. His throat was as dry as a desert and he craved badly for Gatorade.
Yet, that didn't stop him from getting his head into the game.
Facing his opponent, Minho's eyes shifted continuously back and forth from the ball to the player. His feet moved like lightning as he dribbled the ball, slowly moving towards the goal post. Making a swift turn, he outran his opponent and bolted towards the goal-keeper.
He kicks, he shoots, he scores.
Choi Yoon Kyeom shoots up and claps in contentment. There was no reason not to be proud of his son. The annual tournament was just around the corner and he was pretty sure Minho was more than ready. It would be a dream come true for both father and son should Minho emerge in Victory. Particularly, Choi Yoon Kyeom himself.
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"Hyung! You're really good in soccer!" Taemin chirped happily as he followed Minho around the dressing room.
Desperately trying to protect the Maknae's precious innocence, Minho suggested, "Taemin, I think you had better get out of here first..." Trying hard to keep his eyes away from the many undressed players in the room, Minho opened his locker, and reached for his towel.
"Come on Hyung, i'm sixteen!"
'Yeah, well, my point exactly."
"Hyung, will you teach me how to play soccer?"
"W-what?!" Startled, Minho dropped his towel and soccer shoes.
"Hyung, will you teach me how to play soccer?"
"I heard you the first time, Taemin, its just...since when are you...interested in soccer?"
"Since just now! When i saw Hyung playing!" A big grin broadened on the Maknae's childish face.
"Sorry Taemin, but no. I'm not the right person you're supposed to be looking for."
"But Hyung! Pleaseeeeee..." Pouting his lips and filling his puppy eyes with fake sparkly tears, Taemin pleaded.
Yep, the face that makes all dongsaengs and noonas go "AWWWW." or "KYAAAAAA".
How could Minho ever say no to those killer puppy eyes. It was as good as granting Taemin's request.
"Fine, but the training is going to be tough and its everyday after school, so if you're going to back out now, i suggest you do befor-"
"YAY THANK YOU HYUNG! OMG OMG I'M LEARNING HOW TO PLAY SOCCER!" Before Minho could even finish his sentence, Taemin had already burst out of the room screaming and exclaiming in delight.
"Well I'd take that as you're not backing out then." Picking up his towel, Minho flipped it onto his shoulder and headed for the showers.
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"WHAT?! TAEMIN?! SOCCER?! ARE YOU CRAZY OR CRAZY?!" Key yelled at Minho as he protectively hugged and shielded Taemin away from Minho.
"C'mon Key, it's just soccer. You don't have to overreact..." Minho shrugged as he proceeded to explain.
"Yeah Umma, it's just soccer!" Taemin pointed out as he struggled to breath under Key's suffocating grasp.
"Just soccer?! No no no, it's too dangerous, no, Taeminnie, Umma is not going to let you play soccer. What if you accidentally get injured and break your arm, or worse your leg, NO worst! Your head?! No no no!"
Taemin and Minho sighed in despair. It was typical of Key to get all paranoid over his baby boy.
Lifting his gaze from the TV, Jonghyun spoke up, "Key, relax, it's just soccer. And its not like Taemin is Onew or something. You don't have to worry about Maknae breaking his limbs and head."
That earned Jonghyun a long evil stare from Onew.
"Kim Jonghyun, you had better shut up before I break your head and kick it around like a soccer ball."
Frowning at the two immature hyungs, Minho remarked, "Anyway, back to the point. Key, don't worry, soccer is rather safe, i'll take good care of Taemin. And plus, if i hadn't agreed to his pleading, he would have followed me into the shower..."
Hesitating for a while before he reluctantly let go of Taemin, Key replied, "Fine, but one scratch, Minho, one teeny weeny scratch on my precious Taeminnie, and you'll lose your head too, you understand?"
"Yeah, yeah." Minho assured Key as he grinned at the sight of Taemin rolling his eyes.
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'Omo, this is tough.'
Taemin thought to himself as he tried hard to dribble the soccer ball, but in a futile attempt, only managing to criss-cross both his legs and falling flat in his face.
"Taemin! Are you alright?" Minho asked in concern as he rushed over to pick up the little mud-covered boy.
"Yes, Hyung i'm alright!" Taemin commented as he wobbled around clumsily.
"Gah, i guess we had better get you home."
"But Hyung! We only started training an hour ago!"
"Fall in mud again and Key will strangle me to death, Taemin. Come on, let's go."
Sulking, Taemin kicked a pile of mud in annoyance and watched it splatter all over another player.
"Oh shit. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- Jonghyun Hyung?! Since when do you play soccer, Jonghyun Hyung?"
"The day you were born? Now, is Minho bullying you again?" Jonghyun asked as he stared at Minho with his usual sneaky brown eyes.
"No...he just won't let me train..."
"Come on Minho, are you that intimidated by Key? Its alright, Taemin, I'll train you-"
"No, Jonghyun, seriously. Don't. Even. Try." Minho snapped at Jonghyun in a scary tone.
"Hey, is that how you talk to your Hyung? This poor boy here just wants to learn soccer, why deny him that chance?"
"Fine, whatever. If you want to be trained by this filthy fellow and get strangled by Umma when you get home, you be my guest, Lee Taemin." Finishing his sentence, Minho grabbed his soccer ball and strode off in silence, leaving Taemin and Jonghyun staring at him in surprise.
"Hmm, maybe Minho Hyung has a bad day." Taemin said as he clicked his tongue and scratched his head.
"Maybe...come on, let's get started."
Minho didn't have a bad day, he was just annoyed at the fact that Jonghyun always had to interrupt when he and Taemin were together. Even if Jonghyun didn't have a ulterior motive, Minho couldn't help but feel jealous at the way Taemin smiled when Jonghyun was around.
Jonghyun was a good and nice Hyung, but Minho didn't completely trust him when Taemin was near him. Those brown eyes of Jonghyun seemed to glint with evil when Taemin was in his sight. Minho just felt offended that Taemin would rather spend time with Jonghyun than him.
'Well whatever, this time, Taemin just asked for trouble. And i'm not gonna help him.'
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"Hyung, are you angry?"
"No, do i look like I'm angry?" Minho answered Taemin as he flipped a page of the book that he was reading.
"Yes."
"I'm not angry."
"But you do look angry. In fact, you've never looked like this before."
"What do I look like?"
"You look jealous."
"WHAT?! Jealous?! Pfft, i'm not jealous." Minho exclaimed as he batted his hand at Taemin as though he was swatting a fly.
"Are you sure, Hyung? You don't look like your usual charismatic and cool self..."
"I'm sure, Taemin. Now go play with Onew or something and stop disturbing me. I'm reading, for goodness sake."
As Taemin walked away, Minho held up his book and frowned.
Was he really that predictable? Even the Maknae could tell that he was jealous.
"Pfft, jealous? Me? Choi Minho, jealous? You gotta be kidding." Minho muttered to himself, oblivious to the fact that Key had been staring at him for the past minute.
"Choi Minho, why are you reading a book about jealousy management?! I'm sure that you have already fully understood the concept of the anger management part."
"Uh..I...what?" Minho dropped his book in surprise.
"What the hell is wrong with you...?"
"N-nothing."
"What, wait. Did you just...stammer? Okay, woah, the Minho that I know never stammers. Come on, out with it. What's wrong?"
Minho sighed in exasperation.
Key just knew his weak points too well. Then again, he was the Umma for a reason.
"Its just, Jonghyun seems to be getting in the way everytime i'm alone with Taemin. I feel...insecure when he's around Taemin."
"Minho, I think you're just being overprotective of the maknae. Its normal to be the protective Hyung, unless...you, uh..."
"Unless what?" Minho asked as he arched an eyebrow.
"You know..."
"I kn- woah. No, Key, definitely not that way."
"Hmm, how sure can you be, Minho?" Key teased as he formed a smug on his face, before heading for the kitchen, leaving Minho pondering by himself.
'I can't possibly...like Taemin, can i?'
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Jonghyun knew that he liked Taemin. And not just 'like' him as a dongsaeng, but 'like like'.
He knew he wasn't a person who would keep his feelings to himself. Heck, he would even openly admit that he's gay, if the circumstances calls for him to do so.
Then again, if the noonas and dongsaengs are looking forward to some ghei in the shinee world, then, all the better.
"Jonghyun? Jonghy-" Onew tripped on air again before he could even finish calling out for Jonghyun.
The loud crash of Onew slamming and knocking into Taemin's LEGO bricks snapped Jonghyun out of his momentary daydream.
"Aw, Jinki-hyung, you destroyed my castle." Taemin whined as he watch the remaining pieces of the wreckage fall dramatically to the floor.
"Sorry Taeminnie, i'll make another one for you later."
"Okay, i want the Great Wall of China this time!"
Gulping at Taemin's remark, Onew turned to face Jonghyun.
"So uh, what's wrong? You were staring into space just now, and you never stare into space."
"Oh, huh, uh, nothing Hyung, i'm fine" Jonghyun replied as he shifted his gaze to watch Taemin building yet another structure. Probably the Eiffel Tower.
Staring at Taemin's innocent outlook, Jonghyun couldn't help but smile.
Surprised at his sudden grin, Onew traced his fingers to the direction of Jonghyun's eyes. Landing his own eyes on Taemin, he frowned. As he pondered for a while, his frown arched deeper and he bit his lips in anxiety.
Spinning back to face Jonghyun, he grabbed the boy's arms and dragged him to the room.
"Sit down. We need to talk."
"You like Taemin, don't you?" Onew slammed the door shut as soon as they entered the room.
"What? Me, no way. Come on, Hyung, I'm not g-"
"Oh yes you do. You were staring, Jonghyun. Not just any type of stare, but that stare."
Looking down at the floor in awkwardness and a slight guilt, Jonghyun remained silent for a while until he spoke up.
"Okay, fine, so what if I do? I just feel responsible in taking care of the maknae. So I just get, uh, overprotective, sometimes. And i tend, to stare. What's wrong with that?"
Glaring at Jonghyun in disbelief, Onew inhaled a deep breath in before speaking "Fine, I'm not gonna care about this, since you want to take care of Maknae that way, you go ahead. But you better be good to him, he's our little baby boy, break his heart and I'll break your face. You hear me, Kim Jonghyun?"
Jonghyun nodded frantically at the stern voice of Onew. The leader had never sounded so demanding and Jonghyun was sure he didnt want to have his face in bits and pieces.
"Jinki Hyung~ You still owe me a Great Wall of China!"
"I'm coming!" Onew called back as he proceeded to step out of the room, pointing two fingers to his own eyes before turning them onto Jonghyun's.
"I'm watching you, Kim Jonghyun."
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The tournament was just two weeks away.
Wiping away a bead of perspiration from his forehead, Minho sighed in despair.
How was he going to concentrate on soccer with Taemin constantly corroding his mind?
Wrapping the soccer ball under his right arm, Minho headed home.
It wasn't like his parents hadn't reminded him to look left and right before crossing the roads, but Taemin had overshadowed his logics and common sense that he simply walked onto the street without thinking.
Tires screeched, a horn blared and a sickening crunch was heard.
The next thing he knew, Minho was lying on a hospital bed with his leg in a cast and hoisted up.
"Minho-ah, what did we say about looking left and right before crossing the road?" Minho's mum gave a small but calming lecture while his dad stood beside her, arms crossed and definitely annoyed.
"Appa...?" Minho stuttered, clearly afraid of his impending doom. It wasn't that his dad didn't care about Minho's well-being, but soccer was everything to him. Whether it was Minho or himself playing. And Minho knew that very well.
"You have two weeks, to the tournament. If you can make your leg miraculously recover by then, otherwise, I suggest you don't even try talking to me ever again." With that, Choi Yoon Kyeom excused himself, slamming the room door behind him.
An awkward silence went around the room as Minho's eyes watered with tears.
"Minho Hyung...I'm so sorry about this." Looking up to meet Taemin's brown puppy eyes, Minho trembled, his mind clouding with all sorts of mixed feelings. Disappointment, fear, confusion...
The other Shinee members crowded around the room, all wearing concerned faces, especially Key Umma.
"Minho-ah, forget about the tournament, your health matters more." Key advised Minho, sounding exactly just like his real mother.
"Forget?! The tournament?! Key, don't be ridiculous. Haven't you seen how my dad reacted just now? If I don't do something about this, he's never gonna talk to me again!" Minho exclaimed as beads of teardrops coursed down his smooth cheeks.
"Minho, is it possible to find a replacement?" Jonghyun suggested.
"Yes, but how am I going to, in such a short time-"
"Minho Hyung, I'll play for you!" Taemin volunteered as he raised his hand high up, enthusiastically.
"Taemin? What, no, you can't even dribble a ball." Minho replied.
"Well, Minho, what you don't know is that while you were busy being the selfish jerk you are, I was training Taemin in soccer, and I'm proud to say that he plays almost as well as you do now." Jonghyun remarked, clicking his tongue in satisfaction.
"Minho Hyung, please, I want to play for you. Just this tournament, please...let me try just once, I promise I won't let you down..."
Again, with the watery puppy eyes and the irresistible pout.
"Dammit, I'm so going to regret this...Argh, fine. But new players still have to go through my dad's inspection."
Key frowned at the thought of Taemin being 'inspected'.'
"Key...not that way." As though he was able to read Key's mind, Minho shot the Umma a dirty look.
"So its set! Taemin will go to your father to be qualified for the tournament, and you, Choi Minho, just sit here and wait for us to bring home the trophy." With a swift snap of his fingers, Jonghyun stated his point and Taemin cheered while Onew and Key frowned, the both of them having similar thoughts.
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"You think you're qualified enough to play for Minho?" Choi Yoon Kyeom asked in a gruff tone.
"Yes Coach! Please let me replace Minho just this once!" Taemin pleaded, however he saved the watery puppy eyes and the irresistible pout for Minho instead, since he was pre-warned that Minho's dad wasn't one to fall for such antics. Minho had said that from his own pleading experiences.
Thinking about Taemin's request for a while, Coach Choi finally turned around and announced, "Alright, you'll play for Minho, but the tournament is only 2 weeks away, and we'll have to put you through aggressive training from now on. It will be tough, but you had better be ready for it."
Gulping at Coach Choi's killer speech, Taemin hesitated. He knew he wasn't exactly ready for this, but for the sake of Minho's welfare and the fact that if he didn't help, Minho may never talk to him again, Taemin decided to go for it.
'For the sake of Minho Hyung.'
Taemin was ready. Or at least he thought so.
"Don't worry Taeminnie, you'll be fine. Hyung will support you all the way!" Jonghyun reassured Taemin while patting the boy on his back.
"Jonghyun Hyung...what if...I don't help Minho win this tournament? Will he get angry at me? I will only cause more trouble between him and his dad..."
"Taemin, don't think that way, Minho's more than happy that you're willing to help, our Taeminnie has grown up, indeed." Ruffling his hand through Taemin's hair, Jonghyun forced a faint smile on his face.
"Really? Alright then, Hyung I better get going for training soon."
"Okay Taeminnie, be careful." Jonghyun replied as he watched Taemin walked away.
Something inside of him ached and his heart felt heavier than ever.
'Taemin, are you that concerned about not hurting Minho? What about...me?'
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Pushing himself past others and plopping down on a seat, Jonghyun muttered a curse.
"Jonghyun, I heard that. Loud and clear." Onew said as he shot Jonghyun a look.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"Come on, its Taeminnie's big game, cheer up!" Key chirped as he adjusted the live streaming camera such that Minho could have a good view of the game too. In his hospital bed.
"How's this Minho?" Key asked, with his phone clamped between his face and shoulder while he made the final re-adjustments.
An affirmative reply came back and Key sat himself down.
"There's still 15 minutes before the game starts, i'm gonna go in and check on Taemin." Jonghyun commented as he stood up.
"But Jonghyun, i don't think the coach would allow that." Onew pointed out as Key gave another one of his 'Umma disapproves' look at Jonghyun.
"Honestly, do you think that I look like I give a fuck about that?" Swearing, Jonghyun made his way down to the players' dressing room.
'Why doesn't anyone understand me? Why the hell do they have to be so concerned about Minho?! Everything is Minho this, Minho that. What about me? Don't i matter? Can't Taemin see that i'm the one who is behind him, supporting him all this while?!'
Kicking at a stone while his angry inner thoughts played out, Jonghyun entered the room.
"Oh, Jonghyun Hyung! Why are you here?"
"Why am i here? What, why am i here? You mean i can't be here? What the hell is wrong with you, why do you give so much concern to a guy who is always only looking out for himself, the selfish jerk that he is, and you don't even know that there's someone here who truly wants to care and look after you? Can't you open your eyes and face it? Stop trusting the wrong person, for goodness sake!"
"Hyung...I'm just curious as to why you aren't sitting on the benches and waiting. The game is starting soon, I'm gonna be fine, you didn't have to take the trouble past those guards to get to me."
"...I...oh, well, I just thought you would need some...support or cheering up..." Embarrassed at the fact that he had misunderstood Taemin's questions, Jonghyun answered in an awkward manner.
"Hyung...are you alright?"
"Yeah...I'm fine. Taemin, I...just...okay, nevermind, good luck for the game Taeminnie, don't get too...nervous. I'm sure you'll play just fine."
"Hyung-" Before Taemin could even complete his sentence, Jonghyun was already out of the room, head down, hands in his pockets and striding off.
"Come on Taemin, the game is starting." Beckoning the Maknae towards him, Coach Choi gathered his players for a final briefing.
Jonghyun silently walked away as his eyes filled with tears. He had wanted to come clean with Taemin just now for he was sick of cooping up all those awkward feelings in his heart. A wave of emotions overwhelmed him and the tears brimmed over his eyelids, flowing down his pale face.
'Taemin, I wish you could tell. I wish you could understand. I know I'm never going to have the courage to face reality and confess. I was always there for you, but you just never realised it. I wish you could see through this and stop...kicking me around. Minho has feelings, and so do i.'
Jonghyun headed for the main gate instead of the seats. He simply wasn't going to sit around and watch Taemin play his guts out for Minho. He wasn't going to do anything, and that was it.
'Maybe keeping quiet is the perfect solution sometimes.'
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The game was going rather well for Taemin had already score 2 goals for the team in the first half.
Key was having fun being Taemin's personal cheerleader as he waved his pink pompoms around in the air when Taemin had scored.
Onew was just happy that there was a store nearby selling fried chicken.
Minho couldn't be any happier as his leg was finally taken down from the hoist and the live streaming surprisingly did not die on him that day.
Everyone was enjoying themselves. Pretty much everyone, except Jonghyun.
He had told himself for the umpteen time, that nobody would ever realise his existence or that he was missing.
Slotting in the keys and turning the doorknob to their apartment, he ran his plan through his mind once again.
'Luggage, clothes, passport, letter.'
Throwing his clothes into a bag, Jonghyun sighed in despair.
'Would they know that he was gone? Would they even care...? Nah, they wouldn't. So Onew wouldn't have a partner to eat fried chicken with, Key would lost his shopping buddy. And Taemin wouldn't have a tutor for maths- oh come on, who am i kidding, Taemin already has that hyung-whore Minho. See, nobody needs me.'
With that, Jonghyun grabbed a pen and scribbled furiously on a piece of pink paper he had casually grabbed from Key's overflowing bed of pink and whats-nots.
When he was done, he folded it into a heart, and wrote 'Taemin' on the front. Staring down at his cliché creation before sticking his tongue out at it in disgust, he took his luggage and headed for the front down.
Taking a good long glance at the apartment, Jonghyun let out another heavy sigh, before he shook his head and proceeded to close the door.
With the pink love letter lying silently on the far corner of the dining table, the apartment never felt any lonelier.
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Taemin's hands trembled as he reached for the pink letter.
Key rushed out of their room, panting as he announced, "Most of his clothes are gone. His passport too."
Onew shook his head at the thought of Jonghyun resorting to stupid things. Like how he had locked himself in the dorm's bathroom when Key and Minho had ate all of his cookies. It was the dorm's only bathroom and Taemin was suffering from a bad tummy ache.
At the thought of that, Onew's eyes widened and he ran straight for the bathroom only to have Key call after him, "Don't bother, Hyung. I already checked."
"Jonghyun Hyung didn't even see me bring home the trophy. And he just left. I thought he would wait..." Taemin whimpered as the pink letter fell from his hands.
Watching the letter float lightly to the ground, Minho finally spoke up.
"Let him go, Taemin. He'll be back. He left his lyrics book here. You know he can't live without that for long." And with that, Minho hobbled towards Taemin with his casted leg and gave the Maknae a huge bear hug. It was something he had never done and had vowed never to do before. He had thought about confessing, but he was well aware that it may only break Maknae's heart even more. And he really didn't want that to happen nor have Onew or Key break his face. The confession would just have to wait.
But desperate times call for desperate measures and he wanted Taemin to know so badly that he was there and would always be if the Maknae should ever need him.
At the same time, Taemin was reading he exact same lines that Jonghyun had written on the letter.
"I hope that hyung-whore takes good care of you Maknae, and don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll come back when i've sort out my feelings. I just want you to know that i've always been there for you, even if you never realised it. And i will always be around, if you ever need me. See you in a while, Taeminnie. Jonghyun-hyung loves you. He really does. "
A teardrop fell from Taemin's eyes.
"Jonghyun-hyung, I feel the same way too."
It was a whisper, but Minho had heard it.
It didn't matter much anyway.
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The End.
Hope that wasn't too much fail, thanks for reading! <3