Taemin hummed to himself as he stretched, his eyes studying and practically judging his reflection in the mirror. His body ached and protested when he did his regular warm up — he couldn't blame his body though, it had just turned 6 am, and he was sure the only thing fully awake was his brain.
He wasn't back in the studio so early intentionally, he just felt riled up after an argument with Jongin; a stupid argument about stupid jealous Jongin and Taemin couldn't take it. At 1 am in the morning he had run out of his shared apartment with Jongin (duffle bag slung across his back) and straight into Yuta's apartment, who, thankfully, only greeted him with a raised eyebrow and concerned eyes.
Even after being in Japan for a year, Taemin hadn't made a lot of friends, except for Jongin (who was originally a ballet class mate) and Yuta (who was Taemin's Japanese pen-pal for years before meeting), so he was thankful for Yuta's hospitality and concern — hell, he almost felt guilty that Yuta stayed up the whole night with him despite having a full day of classes the next day. "I'm only being a good friend, Tae." The black-haired boy had said when Taemin voiced his concerns.
Taemin ran a hand through his blue-gray hair and slumped against the mirror, giving up on productivity.
"Hmm," He hummed to himself, "I could almost fall asleep here."
The mirror was cool and soothed his burning skin through the thin, black, cotton shirt he donned, and his legs splayed outwards comfortably on the panelled wood floor.
Why did Jongin have to be so tormenting and insufferable sometimes? Taemin's eyes slid shut as he mulled over his boyfriend. Jongin was really great; a fun friend, a loving boyfriend, and a talented dancer, yet, Taemin couldn't move past the times when Jongin acted obnoxiously or possessively to the point of metaphorical suffocation. Jongin's "bad moments" always left the elder with a a sour taste in his mouth and a thumping rib cage.
Jongin has a tendency to become pissed quite easily, which, at times, was a benefit to Taemin (who got angry, downright aggressive sex as a reward, or got a sick satisfaction from teasing and working his boyfriend up), but, when Jongin got angry while Taemin was minding his own business (like last night), it always ended up in a fight.
Pulling him out of his reverie, Taemin's phone rang — its loud, tinkling, wind chime sound startling the dancer. Taemin could only grunt in acknowledgement and scramble to retrieve his phone because, although he was forgetful and lost things easily, he was extremely good at answering his phone.
The phone continued to chime softly and, without looking at the caller's name, Taemin answered, his Japanese sounding rough and rusty.
"Hello?" Taemin grimaced at the apparent disuse of his voice
"Taemin-ah?" The Korean pronunciation struck Taemin as strange; he didn't know any Korean girls in Japan.
"Who is this?"
"Ah, you don't remember me?" The girl's voice was playful, "It's Taeyeon."
Taemin clicked his tongue as he tried to remember ever meeting a Taeyeon. After a moment, Taemin only came up with the Taeyeon that shared a vocal class with Jon- it couldn't be the same Taeyeon right?
Wrong.
"Y'know, from Jjongie's vocal class a while ago?" She sounded enthusiastic and Taemin swallowed a groan; why did this girl call him up out of nowhere, wasting her international credit, even though Taemin knew next to nothing about her?
"I- I remember." Hardly — but Taeyeon didn't need to know that.
"That's good! I just wanted to ask you something..." Taeyeon trailed off.
"Well?"
"Jonghyun and I are getting married and we want to invite you and your boyfriend, Jongin!"
Taemin's brain short-circuited. He, Jonghyun's fucking ex, was invited to his wedding with a woman?
"What the fuck." Taemin whispered to himself, hoping that Taeyeon didn't hear.
The same Kim Jonghyun that had grabbed him a week after they broke up and gave him a black eye? The same one who sobbed in front of his whole dance class? He was getting married, despite shouting that he wouldn't forget Taemin ever.
"Taemin-ah, are you there?" Taeyeon's sweet voice was grating in Taemin's ears by now, "Jonghyun wanted to use this as an opportunity to say sorry about all he's done and also to meet Jongin."
"Wait, Jongin?" How the fuck did they know Jongin? Taemin wondered as his nails dug into the wooden floor.
"Yeah! Jonghyun was composing a song for Jongin's dance troupe, didn't you know?" Taeyeon chirped.
"Oh." Taemin simply said and ripped the phone from his ear, quickly turning it off.
Jongin hadn't told Taemin that he was acquainting his ex; hell, Jongin hadn't told him that a Korean guy was composing for him. Taemin's blood boiled.
