I don't want to live, what am I suppose to do?
What am I suppose to do without you?
I should have just lived on without knowing you
How was I to know I'd go crazy from sadness like this
________________________________

Taeyong felt as if the ground had been taken from under his feet. He felt like he was falling endlessly. They had actually taken away his leader status without even giving him the chance to fight for it. Taeyong knew that he was still the official leader of the group and that this would only change when the management allowed it. Nevertheless Taeyong felt incredibly miserable. He never thought that something like this would happen to him.Since he had the feeling that his whole world would suddenly collapse and he absolutely didn't know how to deal with it without breaking down himself, he did what he thought was most logical. He drove to his Hyung Taemin. Taemin knew the truth, he would listen to him and maybe even help him. Taeyong just needed a friend, someone he could rely on, someone who would listen and be there for him. Without thinking about it too long, he grabbed his jacket and left the dorm. It wasn't far to Taemin's apartment, so he walked the 20 minutes distance. When he arrived at Taemin's apartment he hesitated. What if he was just bothering Taemin with his problem? Wasn't Taemin in the middle of planning and preparing his comeback? Wouldn't he disturb and distract him?

Taeyong suddenly felt very insecure. He wasn't sure if Taemin even had time for him. But before he could change his mind and turn around, Taemin already opened the door. "How long will you stand there without ringing the bell?" Taemin looked at him with a grin, but when he saw the sad expression on the younger one's face, his good mood immediately turned to concern. "Taeyong? Is something wrong?" Taeyong didn't know what to say without breaking down. Taemin recognized the desperation in the other's eyes and therefore dragged him into the apartment first. He led the NCT singer directly into the living room to the sofa and sat down next to him. "Ok, what's going on? Has Lei done something again?" Taeyong played insecurely with his fingers while telling Taemin about the new events. Taemin listened to him silently and only shook his head in disbelief. Normally the older one would feel honored that the younger one went to his help and turned to him in the first place, but unfortunately he didn't know how to help him and felt frustrated about it. He wanted to help, wanted to take care of the younger one and finally bring back the beautiful smile on his lips and see him happy again. It frustrated him that Taeyong just had to go through all this and he couldn't deny that he was worried. He had just lost one of his closest friends. Jonghyun's loss still hurt him, still tore his heart apart as soon as he thought about it. Taemin had sworn to take better care of his fellow men ever since, to see more behind the masks of others and discover their true feelings, and Taeyong seemed broken and incredibly hurt.

Talking to Taemin helped Taeyong quite a bit. He felt understood by the older one, and he felt safe in his presence, even if Taemin couldn't help him. Taemin also asked Taeyong to stay with him for the next few days and he immediately accepted the offer. He did not want to go back to the dorm, back to Lei and was accordingly very grateful for this offer. Taemin also suggested to invite Baekhyun to make a movie night together to distract and cheer him up. Baekhyun accepted this invitation happily and was not even 30 minutes later at Taemin's apartment. He came fresh out of the studio and therefore had been right nearby. The three of them made themselves comfortable on Taemin's couch and watched a korean drama and even though they didn't really know each other before their SuperM debut they cuddled together. Taeyong leaned his head on Baekhyun's shoulder and he gently stroked his hair from time to time. Both older idols were worried about the younger one and wanted to do everything to make him feel better soon. In the evening they all ordered something to eat. The mood was definitely better and relaxed and Taeyong also forgot his worries a little bit. But maybe this was also due to the wine Taemin had opened not too long ago. When the drama got too cheesy for them at some point, they just decided to turn on a music program and sang along to the songs until the doorbell rang. Surprised that the food was delivered so quickly, Taemin got up from the sofa and ran for the door. Baekhyun filled up her wine glasses while Taeyong sang along quietly to the current song coming from the TV. But he stopped immediately when Taemin came back and he was not alone. He was joined by Jaehyun and Taeyong instantly felt uncomfortable watching his ex-boyfriend. Why was he here? Baekhyun noticed Taeyong was getting paler and paler and put an arm around his shoulder while he looked at the newcomer. "J. Jaehyun? Why are you here?" Taeyong still managed to speak to the younger one. He wanted to know why he was here. Did he want to hurt him again, just like the others in his band, or blame him for something he would never do or even do? Jaehyun took a step towards Taeyong before he stopped, unaware of how he would react to his presence. "I really need to talk to you, Tae."

At the mention of his nickname, Taeyong flinched a little. He had missed being called that, especially by Jaehyun, and looked up a surprise. Baekhyun, who was still standing beside Taeyong, pulled his arm back from his shoulder to cross his arms in front of his chest. "An apology and explanation would be in order, don't you think?" Baekhyun's voice sounded snappy, which surprised Taeyong quite a bit, since he had never heard him speak in that tone before. His voice sounded sour, angry and challenging at the same time.
"Among other things." Jaehyun sighed. "But before that there is bad news. Taeyong I'm sorry but you must hear me out. Lei is planning something, something really bad and I couldn't just sit by and do nothing."

Taeyong immediately became even paler, if that was even possible at all. Lei was planning something again? Wasn't it enough? Hadn't he suffered slowly enough?