The Secrets We Keep - Taekai

the one where EXO went on tour

Jongin had never fucked up quite as badly in his life.

They had gone out for drinks to celebrate the end of their tour. Jongin and Kyungsoo had both gotten a little too drunk and had gone back to their hotel room.

And when Jongin woke up the next morning - naked - in bed with Kyungsoo, he knew he had fucked up badly.

Jongin got out of the bed quickly and began packing his suitcase, knowing that they were flying back to Korea within a couple hours.

And he'd be seeing Taemin.

Taemin. Shit, how was he supposed to explain this to Taemin? That he had probably - definitely - had sex with Kyungsoo?

Jongin had been lonelier than he expected while on this tour. He was used to Taemin being gone, sure - but he had never been the one out on the road since they had gotten together.

He had been lonely every time Taemin went on tour, but he had always been able to go hang out with his old friends or family or even his bandmates.

But being on tour himself, things had been different. He was away from home, both literally and figuratively. Home was South Korea, but home was also Taemin.

If Jongin was being honest, being a member of SM held nothing of interest to him if Taemin wasn't also an idol. Taemin made things worth it, every long day of training Jongin had ever trudged through had been worth it at thinking that one day he'd be able to share a stage with Taemin.

Even when Taemin had debuted and Jongin was still in training, he still trained all the harder hoping that one day he would debut and maybe earn Taemin's respect for being a fellow idol.

Then when Taemin had gone and admitted that he liked Jongin and Jongin's fear and his mouth had gotten in the way, he focused on training harder in order to be more comfortable with himself - hoping that he'd grab Taemin's attention again and that he'd be able to apologize for all he had said, that he'd be able to explain that he liked Taemin more than anyone else he had been with.

So Taemin was home for Jongin.

And Jongin had probably fucked that up.

Jongin had tried to call Taemin the night before, before they even went out for drinks. He probably wouldn't have even gone out with the rest of EXO if Taemin had just answered the phone.

■

Jongin was sitting on his bed at the hotel, where everyone had gone back to after the finish of the concert. The rest of the guys were planning on going back out to some club for drinks, but Jongin wasn't sure whether or not he was going to go with them. He knew he probably should, be a team player and celebrate the finish of their tour.

But part of him - the majority of him - wanted to spend the night on the phone with Taemin. He missed him a lot and spending time on the phone with him seemed about as good as seeing him in person tomorrow afternoon.

And it definitely sounded better than going out with his bandmates and getting wasted.

Only issue was that Taemin wasn't answering his phone.

Their nightly phone calls had become a routine, every night at the same time Jongin would call. So it wasn't like it was out of the ordinary for him to be calling. Taemin knew he would be.