“Oh, come on, baby.” Key cooed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and leading me out toward the car. I didn’t have the strength needed to argue with him, but I didn’t release my grip on Jinki’s hand. I wasn’t sure I would be able to for a while - not with the strange nightmares that haunted me while we were on the bus. “We’re just looking at a few places today, then we can go home.”

“Ok.” I said, nodding. I slid into the car and curled up in the seat, automatically getting myself as comfortable as possible. Jinki took a seat beside me, reaching around me to secure my seatbelt before letting me relax against him. He looked really worried, and I felt really bad for making them all so upset, but there wasn’t much I could do. I just opted to hold on to Jinki as much as I could.

The majority of the day was spent with me clinging to Jinki’s shirt as we made our way from one rental home to the next, trying to find the perfect one for the five of us. In the end, though, none of them seemed to be good enough for us to settle on, so we decided to just go back to Jonghyun and Kibum’s little place. It didn’t feel nearly as fun this time, because everyone wasn’t playing around and laughing, and Jonghyun wasn’t singing, even Roo seemed to feel heaviness in the air.

But the thing that stood out to me the most was the way Minho wouldn’t stop staring at me. I wanted to yell at him, and ask him what his problem was, but I don’t think Jinki would have appreciated that, so I just burrowed myself into Kibum’s arms and tried to settle down. The next thing I knew, I was waking up to the smell of rice and steak - my favorite food. I let out a small, sleepy sound as my eyes blinked open, and I realized I wasn’t cuddling with anyone anymore - instead I was just laid out on the couch with a pillow under my head. I pushed myself up just as Jinki stepped out of the kitchen.

“Are you all done sleeping now?” He asked with a little smile, and I nodded as I stretched out before jumping up and rushing over to him to give him a big hug.

“I’m sorry I was so cranky.” I said softly, and he brushed his fingers through my hair gently before pressing a little kiss to my forehead. “I’ll go to sleep earlier tonight.”

“I certainly hope so.” Key said from the doorway, and I blushed before snuggling against Jinki’s chest. “I was worried about you.”

“I’m sorry...” I said, my voice sincere and my eyes wide. He offered me a little smile and beckoned for us to follow him into the kitchen.

Minho was sitting at the opposite end, lightly picking at his food and keeping his eyes trained on me, and I climbed up into Jinki’s lap, hoping that I could just blend into his sweatshirt and hide away. I couldn’t figure out Minho’s interest in me to save my life, and it was kind of starting to worry me. Had I done something wrong?

Onew and I fed each other our dinner, and Onew stole little kisses from me between bites, and part of me kind of wanted to hide because I knew that Minho was going to get upset again, but the other part of me just wanted to keep holding onto my husband because he was the most important thing to me. I finally glanced over at Minho again, though, and I saw him glance up and meet my eyes. I was expecting to see something - maybe anger, or sadness, but not the crooked little smile he offered. It was an expression I had never seen on his face before, but it lightened my mood considerably.

By the time everyone was ready for bed I was surprised to find that I was still tired, though I had spent so much of the day sleeping. Key mumbled something about stress as he ushered Jinki and I into the spare room, kissing both of our foreheads before shutting out the light and closing the door.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I woke up earlier than everyone else the next morning, my eyes bright and my ears alert for the sound of anyone else in the house stirring. After a little while I heard the toilet flush, and I snuck out of the bed Jinki and I had been sharing to go out to the living room, curious as to who was up. I was surprised to find it was Minho, and he looked just as surprised to see me.

He took a seat on the couch, gently patting the cushion beside him and watching me carefully, and slowly I took a seat beside him. We didn’t talk at all, and he the television to one of my favorite shows. I really liked those silly comedies, the ones with home movies and dogs that sounded like they were talking, and Minho seemed to enjoy them just as much. It was kind of mindless, and really dumb, but it was an easy laugh and nothing to think on, which was why I liked it. I wondered if Minho liked it for the same reason, or if he just knew - like he always seemed to know - that I would like it.

We sat together that way until the others woke up, and though we still kept our physical boundaries somehow I felt like we were closer. I was able to have a morning of easy calmness with no anxiety, just from sitting with my friend and laughing. It really improved my outlook for the day, and Key seemed so happy to see us sitting together when he woke up that he didn’t even get mad about the fact that he was only awake because we had been laughing so loudly.

Key quickly set about making breakfast and waking everyone up, deciding that if he was up everyone should be, and then he threw himself on the couch between Minho and I, wrapping an arm around each of us and cooing about ‘his babies.’ I couldn’t stop giggling, even as I cuddled into his side, and Minho looked embarrassed.

Jinki eventually scooped me up from Key’s grasp, holding me close and hugging me softly to his chest before kissing me good morning.

Eventually, we ended up going house hunting again. We spent the whole day looking at apartments and houses that were sometimes appealing, but mostly not, and we were getting to the point where we were beginning to think we would have to collectively settle on one with too many carpets and no heated flooring when we were on our way to see the last rental house on our list.

The outside looked nice, and there was even a little yard. Collectively, we were tentatively hopeful, which was a first since we had begun looking he night before. I took it as a good sign, even as we stepped over the threshold into the house. The floors were all wood, another good sign. Even better, they were heated. I looked up at Jinki, and I was happy to see that he was smiling.

Slowly we explored, looking through every room and checking every surface, and gradually we were coming to the realization that it was, indeed, exactly what we had been looking for. Jonghyun looked happy, making silly faces as he wiggled next to Key, and Key was buzzing about, inspecting each of us for honest opinions. Jinki seemed genuinely pleased, and I loved it. It may not have been the little place with just enough room for the two of us, but it was nice to think we could be expanding, opening our hearts and minds to bigger and better things with one another.

The thing that really settled it though, was the little lip-biting smile Minho offered. I had never seen him look so shyly happy before, but he really seemed to like the house, which made Key squeal with delight.

We all sat down with the homeowner, listening to his explanation on why he was renting out his home instead of living in it. Apparently he had some family in another part of the country that he wanted to be closer to, and while that didn’t mean that the house was going to be up for rent forever, it did mean it would be ours for at least a little while, and for now, a little while was good enough for us.

I've been getting a lot of comments and subscriptions on this fic lately, and so while I was sick the last few days and couldn't really get out of bed I decided I might as well revisit this fic. I reread the whole thing, then found the half chapter I had written so many months ago and decided to give it another go. This was what I came out with. Hopefully it's not too disappointing for you guys, and I want to thank you so much for staying loyal to this fic for so long. I know it's been over a year since it started, but would you believe it if I said it was almost done? Once it is I'll be rewriting the whole thing from Jinki's perspective, and I've been seriously considering doing a side story for Minho. I put a lot of thought into his character, and I know him and his story very well. If that's something you would be at all interested in seeing please let me know! Good night for now, this crazy ShaWol ought to be sleeping. I love you!