The Secrets We Keep - Taekai

the one where they figure it out

Taemin's body went rigid beside Jongin. "I mean I already know if that makes it any easier - deja vu right?" Jongin said, running his fingers through Taemin's hair again - trying to get him to relax again.

After it was obvious Taemin wasn't going to speak up, Jongin sighed. "Taem - I've known since that damn day."

"I'm so sorry." Taemin mumbled his voice cracking, not moving from right against Jongin's side.

"It's okay." His hand still running through Taemin's hair, scratching gently and trying to calm him down.

It really was.

Jongin got it. Shit happened. But he had known something was wrong the day it happened.

When he went over to Shinee's dorm to see why Taemin wasn't answering his calls and texts, Key might as well have flat out told him - cause he could sure read it right off his face.

Plus the looks that the staff member, that Jongin would bet money on it having been, gave him every time they ran into each other in the SM building for months around the time of the break up.

Not to mention when he went to pick up his stuff that Taemin had gathered and given to Key in a box. It had been two in the afternoon and according to Key, Taemin had only gotten back to the door an hour before hand - saying he had been up all night - and immediately went to bed.

Sure it hurt him when he put two and two together and figured it out, but he would have done anything for Taemin to have just opened up to him in the first place.

Jongin had always known and it had never mattered. It was something they'd get over, get past - with each other.

Jongin kept running his fingers through Taemin's hair until he relaxed somewhat. "It's okay, Taeminnie." Jongin said again trying to reassure him, "I'm not mad or anything."

"Can you stay the night in here?"

"Yeah of course."

"Thank you." Taemin said, pushing himself up onto his elbows and looking up at Jongin.

"You don't have to thank me." Jongin wanted to kiss him. But he also didn't know if that was alright to do or not. He got out of the bed and walked over toward the door, facing away from Taemin. "Get changed and then we can lay down."

"You really don't have to turn around - not like it's anything you haven't seen before."

"Do I have to remind you that we're not together currently?" Jongin asked, glancing behind him and finding Taemin staring at him while standing there shirtless.

"Caught you looking though." Taemin said, playful grin on his face.

Jongin turned back around, shaking his head. "Hurry up and change." He said, rolling his eyes to himself.

"Done." Taemin said, sliding back into the bed. Jongin quickly joined him once again in the bed - rolling Taemin over to face away from him while he wrapped an arm around Taemin's waist.

Jongin wasn't letting himself lay fully up against Taemin - he didn't want to make things weird between them again. He still wasn't sure what they were or what they were trying to become.

"So you asked the question earlier and we never really answered it. What are we?" He finally said in a whisper against the back of Taemin's neck.

"I don't know. I was hoping you might be able to answer that for me."

"I don't want to rush anything." Jongin replies after a second. "Obviously we kind of ended on a bad note and so I don't want to just jump back in without giving us time to figure out where we are nowadays."