Taemin never saw it coming. His life revolved around SHINee, his focus had always been on his career as an idol and the endless schedules that came with it. He dedicated all his time to vocal trainings, dance practices, performances rehearsals, album promotions and everything else that defined his job as 1/5 of SHINee. With so much to handle, it was no surprise that Taemin did not have time to think about love or having a relationship like how any average teenager his age would. Teenager. That's right, Taemin was just a teenager but there was nothing average about him. Lee Taemin unlike an average teenager considered his idol career as his number one priority. Love was not in his dictionary. It was never on his mind. Sure, he had thought about it before and even asked and discussed with his hyungs about love and relationships a couple of times in the past but Taemin never believed he would experience it anytime soon.

That was until Suzy came along.

Suzy Bae was like lightning, striking when he least expected it. Her somewhat confession on Sukira (yes, he knew about it, how could he not when it was so publicized?) was shocking. It made Taemin suddenly very aware of the fact that an idol could admire him, just like how he admired other idols. Perhaps it was because he was the maknae of SHINee and constantly babied by not only his SHINee hyungs but practically everyone else including his Super Junior hyungs, SNSD noonas and even his noona fans which made him feel like he was forever the 14 years old boy who had just debuted. When Suzy's confession came, it struck him that he was no longer that young boy and had grown up so much so that he could actually be someone’s ideal type.

"You should make some friends, Tae." Minho had said to him when the rapper had caught him watching the clip of Suzy’s confession on Sukira. "I mean outside our company… and you could start with Suzy."

Taemin wasn't offended. He knew his hyung only had his interests at heart. Everyone in SHINee had other idol friends outside of SM except him. He never saw this as a problem but he couldn't deny that there wasn't a time he suddenly felt all alone when his hyungs went off to find their other friends at the Idol Star Athletics Championships. Maybe it would really be better for him to make some friends he could call his own so he wouldn’t be lonely when his hyungs went away. It might also do him some good to hang out with other idols his age who might just be able to relate to him better than his hyungs. Perhaps because of this, Taemin suddenly found himself dropping by the set of Music Core in his free time to visit his hyungs.  He had to admit that a part of him wanted to see if there was a chance for him to introduce himself officially to Suzy. True enough, it came too easy since Minho and Onew were in the same waiting room as Suzy. As his eyes met Suzy’s, he smiled a little wider than his usual polite smile and all of a sudden felt a tad self-conscious in front of Suzy. He didn’t want her impression of him to change for the worse because it seemed like he was perfect in her eyes. Thankfully, he could tell that Suzy was too nervous and embarrassed to judge him in any way especially after Minho had so openly. Somehow, that made him happy and gave him the confidence to take the lead.

“It’ll be nice if we can get to know each other… what do you think?”    

Taemin soon came to realize that this was by far the best question he had asked in his life. Suzy was shy, he could tell she was by the slight stutter in her voice and the way she kept avoiding eye contact with him, but luckily, that didn’t stop her from agreeing to meet him spontaneously for ice cream one random night when they were texting each other and realized they were both free from schedules. It was their first date out together as friends after several occasions of texting each other. Although they frequently meet each other at broadcast stations (only having enough time for a polite bow and a courteous hello), the date at the ice cream café felt as if they were online friends meeting each other face to face for the very first time. It was awkward, slightly uncomfortable in the beginning but the atmosphere became pleasant, conversation flowing smoothly when Suzy took the initiative to chat about their albums and schedules (safe topics were always good to begin with). Their first date was everything a first date should be. They talked about everything under the sun (moving away from safe topics to personal matters), laughed, had awkward moments here and there but Taemin would have changed nothing about it if he could go back in time. Okay, maybe just one thing he would change, and that was the part where they got chased out of the café as it was closing time.

From then on, dates with Suzy came naturally as long as they found the time to meet each other. His hyungs began looking at him with teasing eyes every time he became too involved with his phone or left the dorm during their free time. Suddenly, Suzy had become one of the reasons that made him truly smile from his heart. Although they never asked, Taemin himself began questioning his relationship with Suzy and what she meant to him. And that was when he realized the thin line between friendship and love had been crossed. Taemin panicked. He didn’t ask to fall in love. He knew he couldn’t. In the first place, his only intention of getting to know Suzy was to become friends with her. Yet now, he got more than he bargained for. But Taemin was happy. There was a whole new meaning to life and he wasn’t going to make himself miserable by running away and living in denial. It was a risk he was willing to take and he hoped Suzy was willing as well.

“After spending time with you and getting to know who you truly are, I think we could be more than just friends.”

God knows how many times he had practiced this in front of the mirror! Taemin was downright nervous, his heart pounding quickly in his chest, cold sweat forming on his forehead, but nothing was going to stop him from confessing that night. And when Suzy replied “I think so too.” in a whisper that sounded so loud and clear to Taemin, he resisted the urge to grab her into a fierce hug (for fear of scaring her because she looked so fragile) and chose to hold her hand in his as he walked her back to her dorm. He would never forget the feeling when Suzy curled her fingers around his hand and leaned into him. Although he couldn’t see himself, Taemin knew he had been smiling like an idiot the entire time because his cheeks were sore when he got home that night. It was all worth it.

“Oppa!”

Taemin blinked at the voice that had interrupted his train of thought and looked up to see Suzy waving at him with that beautiful smile of hers. It was truly all worth it.

“Sorry I’m late! Did you wait long?” Suzy asked as she speed-walked into the deserted playground where Taemin was waiting for her. Deserted because it was past 1am in the morning and no kids were obviously awake to be playing right now.

“It’s always worth the wait.” Taemin shook his head as he got off the swing and pulled Suzy into a hug.

Suzy widened her eyes in question but Taemin only smiled and reached out a hand to squeeze her gently on the cheek. “You’re adorable.”

A blush instantly coloured Suzy’s cheeks and she looked away with shyness, unable to handle Taemin’s gaze.

“Oppa… you’re making my knees weak.” Suzy immediately covered once she realized she had voiced out her thoughts.

With a laugh, Taemin wrapped his arms tighter around Suzy’s waist. “It’s alright, I’m here to catch you… always and forever.”

Obviously, that didn’t help Suzy at all. She only blushed harder, burying her face completely into Taemin’s chest and wishing her boyfriend would stop teasing her.

“Hey, i mean it okay. Remember that you always have me.”

Upon hearing his promise, Suzy finally met Taemin’s eyes and presented him with a breathtaking smile. “I will.”

Taemin nodded. “And?”

“And?” Suzy tilted her head, throwing the same question back to her boyfriend.

“Don’t you have anything to say back to me?” Taemin asked expectantly.

“Like what?” Suzy decided to feign ignorance. She found joy teasing Taemin too!

“Sooji...” The defeated look on Taemin’s face was too cute in Suzy’s eyes.

“Yes Taemin Oppa?” This time, Suzy even blinked innocently just because she knew it made Taemin even more defenseless against her (and yes, she knew exactly what she did to Taemin).

“You… you’re supposed to… you know… say…”

Suzy let out a giggle and cupped Taemin’s face in her hands, pressing her lips onto his and kissing him into silence to stop her boyfriend from fumbling with his words. And then, Suzy whispered against Taemin’s lips the three words that she knew he wanted to hear.

“I. Love. You.”

And again, even if it had been a long established fact, Taemin didn’t see it coming.