Jonghyun looked around the table in a strange sort of daze. Right now, everything felt a tiny bit surreal. The table was a little small for five people and Jonghyun’s chair was inserted in a gap that shouldn’t exist between Taemin and Onew. The cutlery was also a strange mix and match, with mismatched forks and only four plates from the same set. This was clearly a room that was set up and designed to hold four people. However, it felt comfortable and welcoming; or Jonghyun was sure it would if the company didn’t make him so nervous. The food definitely looked incredibly appetizing, too.

Key had, in the fifteen or so minutes that had passed – Jonghyun wasn’t sure exactly how long it had been as he hadn’t seen a clock in the living room – whipped up a delicious looking meal. The main dish was some kind of spicy noodle concoction with added meat, possibly pork. To one side was a large salad bowl full of various leaves, mainly bok choi and spinach, and a range of pre-prepared side dishes were also spread across the surface of the table.

“Enjoy,” Key said, looking pleased with himself as he placed down the final dish – a bowl of rice for Taemin, who had been complaining about the food being absent from the table. “For you, Mr Whiny.” He mocked the younger man, “Because I know your obsession.”

“I’sh not an obsheshion.” Taemin complained from around a mouthful of rice. The second the bowl was placed in front of him, the dancer had taken a large scoop of the rice and shoved it into his mouth, without even bothering to add any sauce. Swallowing audibly he continued to speak, “I just think it completes a meal.”

“You’re complaining a lot today,” Minho commented, as he took a dish of what appeared to be tofu and served himself some.

Taemin flipped him off casually as he also filled his plate, taking a large scoop of food from the main noodle dish.

Key watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow, “No squabbling over dinner.”

“Yes, mother.” Taemin said, rolling his eyes. “Whatever you say, mother.”

“Be polite, Taemin.” Onew commented, quietly. “And pass me that when you’re done.” He said, gesturing at the bowl in the dancer’s hands. Taemin looked a little cowed at the leader’s scolding. It was clear he was aware he was stepping into dangerous territory. Upon receiving the bowl, Onew turned to Jonghyun, who was sitting, not taking part in the food serving the others were doing, “Want some?”

Jonghyun startled slightly, turning to his friend, “Uh, yeah, thanks.” He reached out and took the food the brunette was offering and served himself a portion of the meal, passing the bowl back when he was done so Onew could serve himself. “This looks delicious,” he said to Key, “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Key said absently, not fully paying attention to the blonde as he reached for the salad. “It’s a pretty simple meal.”

“Still good,” Taemin said, around a mouthful of noodles.

“Really?” Key asked, turning to the group’s youngest member, “Every time you speak your mouth is full, swallow first. Seriously.”

Taemin did just that, swallowing obnoxiously and sticking his tongue out at the rapper when he wasn’t paying attention. The sassy male was serving himself some food, having waited for everyone else to take some first, and didn’t notice his group member’s actions. If he had, Jonghyun was sure there would have been trouble, judging by the startled look on Minho’s face.

Once everyone had food in front of them most of the talking ceased with nothing being said beyond simple statements such as ‘pass the salt’ as the males all concentrated on eating. Jonghyun learnt that, not only did the food look delicious, it also tasted delicious. Despite the simple nature of the dish, he found himself enjoying it immensely. The side dishes were also tasty and many of them were eaten incredibly quickly by the gathered men. Jonghyun idly noticed that Minho really seemed to favour a certain tofu dish with most of it ending up on his plate.

“So,” Minho said, once he had finished eating, “What are you doing now, Jonghyun?”

“As in work?” Jonghyun asked, receiving a nod from the tall rapper. “Did you not read the forum post?” Almost his entire life was laid out in that post. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the idols had read it. He was aware it was likely a tricky topic, even if he himself brought it up but he was genuinely curious. He knew he wouldn’t have had the self-restraint not to read such a thing even if he liked to imagine he did. As he spoke, he felt Onew place a hand on his arm and rub gently, as if to soothe him. He appreciated the thought, even if he didn’t necessarily need the comfort. It showed the singer cared.

“Nah, seemed like an invasion of privacy,” Minho said, his voice calm though his eyes had become a little angry. Clearly, the male still didn’t appreciate what some people had done to Jonghyun.

Jonghyun smiled, a little touched that the singer hadn’t read the article and, judging by the looks on the other member’s faces – even Key who spent a lot of the night not looking at Jonghyun for some reason – they hadn’t read it either.

“Right now I’m in the entertainment industry, writing music.”

“Whoa, that’s awesome.” Taemin said, grinning at the blonde, luckily without food in his mouth this time. “You said that was your dream before.”

Jonghyun looked at him in shock, “You remember that?”

“Duh,” Taemin said, as if Jonghyun had said something ridiculous. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Told you we didn’t forget you.” Onew chuckled, referring to a conversation he had had with the blonde early in their friendship. Jonghyun had been certain that, after the initial meeting, the idols would have slowly forgotten all about him. He was no one important and there was no reason for them to remember him. The fact that they remembered specific details about his life was even more impressive.

“How’d you get that? They look at your SHINee song or something?” Key said, still looking disinterested though his body was turned towards the blonde slightly, as if he was listening. The rapper began to gather up the used dishes as he spoke, the loud clattering jarring in the small room, though not loud enough to drown out conversation.

Jonghyun flinched, subconsciously leaning away from Key’s arm as he reached across for the blonde’s plate. That question hit a little close to home. That was exactly the accusation those online bullies had made. However, he smiled lightly, taking strength from the way Onew’s grip tightened on his arm, “Something like that. I went to school first, though.”

“Awesome,” Minho said, shooting an unreadable look at Key who had moved across the room and was now placing the dishes in the sink. “I take it you stopped working at that café then?”

“Café Latte?” Jonghyun said, still in a little disbelief that these people – these idols – remembered so much about him. “Yeah, I worked there through college then gave it up when I got the composition job. I still go there occasionally, with my sister and stuff. My boss…” He trailed off, thinking about his statement before amending it, “ex-boss, is cool.”

“So how did you and Onew become friends exactly?” Taemin asked, changing the topic and looking extremely curious. The older male had mentioned to his group mates that he was visiting the blonde after the bullying incident but had never explained why he had continued contact past that meeting.

Jonghyun wasn’t quite sure of all the details either; he still didn’t understand Onew’s motivations. Shooting a look at SHINee’s leader, the blonde implored him to answer the question.

“You know I met him after we filmed that video, to make sure it was ok.” Onew said, stating facts. Ignoring Key’s mutter of ‘yes, and?’ he carried on talking, “We met up, I discussed the video, then we chatted for a while.”

“About three hours,” Jonghyun chuckled, “I almost missed the deadline on my report because of that.”

“Yeah,” Onew said bashfully, “Sorry?”

“Whatever, loser.” Jonghyun huffed in an amused way, crossing his arms and turning away from his friend in an over exaggerated manner. Taemin chuckled from next to him and Jonghyun stuck his tongue out at the younger male – for some reason he felt very comfortable around the dancer, in comparison to the other members of SHINee. Even if the younger man did always look like he was hatching a dastardly scheme.

Sodam had once told him that the singer reminded her of Jonghyun himself. The composer didn’t see it, personally. However, there may have been some credence to her statement as that was the only reason he could come up with that would explain why the idol didn’t make him nervous like all the other members of SHINee did. Even Onew, who he was now totally comfortable with, had been hard to talk to, initially.

“Ok?” Key said, extending his word in annoyance, “That doesn’t explain your whole buddy-buddy thing. You even brought him to our house.”

“Sorry?” Jonghyun said, looking up at the rapper, unsure what he had done to annoy him. Onew’s hand, which had left his arm a while ago, was back, squeezing once lightly as if saying ‘don’t listen to him’.

“I’m allowed to invite friends round if I want.” Onew defended, his tone containing a clear note of warning that sent a flush of appreciation through Jonghyun. “So,” He continued with his story, as if the interruptions had not occurred, “We talked for hours and I thought he was a cool guy, so I asked for his number and gave him mine.”

“Risky.” Key muttered as he sat back at the table, giving up on clearing the dishes. His words were promptly ignored by everyone else at the table. The rapper then huffed and shut his mouth, vowing to himself not to get involved any more.

“He never texted me.”

Jonghyun looked at the older male like he was insane, “You can’t tell me you seriously expected me to, right? You’re” he gestured at all of Onew, “you and I’m” he gestured at himself, “me. Why would I ever think messaging you was a thing I could do?”

“Because I gave you my number?” Onew asked, looking at the blonde like he didn’t quite understand the issue.

“Loads of fans would have completely overloaded his phone with texts.” Minho said, startling to two friends slightly. They had almost forgotten the others were still there at the table with them.

Jonghyun looked at the male and agreed, “Well yeah. But a lot of fans are insane.”

Taemin snorted a laugh and almost choked on his drink. He had taken a sip assuming the conversation would not affect him in any physical way. Coughing and hacking he cleared his throat of his liquid and, seeing the others looking at him spoke, “What? He’s kinda right.”

“So, anyway.” Onew said loudly, before anyone else could disrupt what he was saying, “He didn’t text me, so after about a week, I messaged him. He replied sounding like some sort of uptight business man.”

“I was nervous, ok? You’re from my favourite group, of course I was.” The blonde defended himself, receiving a condescending pat on the head from Taemin who chuckled at the put out look on the composer’s face as he did so.

“So I kept texting him. It kinda made me late for my part of the photoshoot,” He directed this statement at Jonghyun, “So we’re even for the report.”

“That’s why you were late?” Taemin accused, pointing at his leader in judgement. “That shoot went on forever, you .”

“Eventually we decided to meet up and almost got mauled by fans.” Onew continued.

“Told you it was risky.” Key muttered, unable to keep silent any longer. It wasn’t in his nature to do so.

“So we started hanging out at my apartment,” Jonghyun finished, “Him inviting me here was some sort of fair trade.” He smiled at his friend and received a sunny smile in return.

“Yeah, so that’s basically that.” Onew finished, still smiling.

“Like a real princess and the pauper.” Key muttered, standing up abruptly and leaving the table. “Real romantic. Minho it’s your turn to do the dishes.” He shot over his shoulder as he strode out of the room.

“What’s his problem?” Minho asked, as he stood up and began to clear the rest of the plates.

Shooting a worried look at the door, Onew spoke quietly, “I actually don’t know.”

“So, Jonghyun,” Taemin started, speaking brightly. It was clear the boy could sense the tension in the room from his group mate’s attitude but he was ignoring it. “Onew explained why he stuck around, why did you?”

Jonghyun looked at the dancer, glad to have something to talk about. “Isn’t it obvious?” He asked. “I’m a fan, I get the chance to talk to my favourite idol.”

“I’m your favourite, huh?” Onew teased, preening slightly.

Jonghyun turned to his friend and poked him in the side of the head. “You know you are and always have been. Stop acting like a fool.”

“But Onew said you didn’t text him and you said it was because you couldn’t.” Minho mused, speaking from by the sink, the tap on and water starting to cover the plates within it, “So your point isn’t quite true.”

Jonghyun ruffled his hair, thinking. “Well, once he started talking to me, it just got easier, you know? We had a lot in common and he’s easy to talk to. Actually,” he said, as much to himself as the others in the room, “after a while, I stopped thinking of him as Onew, the idol, and he’s just become Jinki to me. He’s Jinki, the dork who complains to me about not being able to eat his favourite foods because of his diet, who stays up way too late and hates waking up in the morning, who watches really bad TV when he has free time…” The blonde cut himself off and chuckled self-consciously. “He’s my friend.” He finished.

Minho and Taemin shared a look that Jonghyun couldn’t identify but didn’t say anything before returning to the tasks at hand. Minho continued cleaning the dishes and Taemin, being helpful for once – an unusual thing, if the shocked look Minho sent him was any indication – grabbed a tea towel in preparation for drying what Minho would wash.

Onew looked at his friend, an unreadable expression in his eyes. The look was clearly fond and definitely a positive expression, however Jonghyun wasn’t able to identify exactly what it was. Reaching over and ruffling Jonghyun’s hair – an action that elicited an annoyed yelp and a flail from Jonghyun – SHINee’s leader stood up from his seat and gestured for the composer to follow him out the room.

“We’re gonna play video games, wanna join us when we’re done?” Onew called to the other two in the kitchen, as he headed out; as if asking them if they wanted to join was a last minute thought.

“Sure,” Taemin called back, “Can it not be a racing game, please? You know I at those.”

“Course,” Onew agreed. “And no, it won’t be football.” He continued, as if anticipating Minho’s comment. “I was thinking Mario Party or something. Something simple we can all play.”

“That works,” Minho said, his hands still busy in the sink.

“Sounds good,” Jonghyun agreed, as he followed Onew out of the kitchen and settled down next to him on the sofa.

“Of course,” Onew said, “My ideas are always good.”

“Sure Jinks, sure they are.” Jonghyun mocked, earning an annoyed swat from his friend.

“They are, you . I’m the leader for a reason.”

“Really? You are?” Jonghyun asked, his voice mockingly disbelieving, “I thought it was just because you were the oldest.”

Onew play growled before launching himself across the sofa and knocking Jonghyun to the floor. The blonde groaned, rubbing his buttocks as they throbbed with pain. Looking up at his friend he pouted as he saw the position he was in. Onew was now sprawled across the entire sofa, taking up every inch of space he could and ensuring there was nowhere near enough space for Jonghyun to sit.

Standing up, Jonghyun turned to look at his friend before shrugging and plopping himself down on top of the other male. Onew grunted as the sudden weight of his friend landed on his stomach.

“Jjong, get off.”

“Nope, you stole my seat. I’m merely reclaiming it.” Jonghyun said, crossing his arms in triumph and sticking his nose in the air.

“Your fat is on my bladder.” Onew commented. He wasn’t able to see the blonde from where he was sat on him, due to being lead on his stomach. However, he could easily imagine the expression on the man’s face right now. It would be indignation and a little offence mixed with amusement at the whole situation.

“I’ll have you know my is very nice.” Jonghyun said, shifting in his seat and causing Onew to groan once more as the composer’s bones dug into sensitive areas.

“Whatever, loser. Get off me.” Onew said. Steeling himself, he rolled over. It took much effort as the other man wasn’t light but he succeeded in depositing Jonghyun on the floor in a heap, which was close enough to what he intended.

Jonghyun pouted and settled himself comfortably on the floor. He leant against the sofa, shifting slightly to get his legs into a comfortable position, and nabbed the pillow from underneath Onew’s head. This action resulted in a gasp of shock from the older male.

“Yoink.” Jonghyun mocked, sticking his tongue out at his friend.

“You ready to play?” Taemin asked, walking into the room drying his hands on his pants. The scene was a little odd with Jonghyun on the floor and Onew still splayed awkwardly across the entire sofa but the dancer had heard enough of the conversation from the kitchen to not question it.

“Nuuuh,” Onew groaned, “set up the console and hand out controllers and we will be.”

“You order them around like minions.” Jonghyun commented from his spot on the floor.

“Retribution for them teasing me all the time on camera.” Onew defended.

Taemin stuck his tongue out at his leader but still did as he was asked, handing a controller to everyone in the room, including Minho who had just entered after finishing up the cleaning. “Key joining us?” He asked.

“Don’t think so.” Minho said, as he entered the room and settled on the couch, pushing Onew’s legs aside.

“Hmm,” Onew agreed, as he sat up and slid to the floor, taking the spot next to Jonghyun. “Let’s start then.”

Taemin, seeing his opportunity, claimed the vacated seat on the sofa and sat down, curling his legs against his body as he got comfortable. 

 

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CHAPTER NOTES: I'm still in celebration mode about my Korea job news. So... have another chapter :P