Jonghyun’s first day back at work after his Christmas break was interesting. He had taken off all the days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day and so, it was early January when he reentered the office once more. It had only been just over a week, yet the mood in the office felt different, somehow. The composer knew that the employees of the purchasing department had all worked through the break, only taking the public holidays off, and somehow, in those few days Jonghyun was gone, something had changed. They were all acting very suspicious.

In fact, nearly everyone he knew was acting strange. Over the last few weeks, ever since that embarrassing phone call as he was getting his hair dyed, Jonghyun had been talking regularly with Taemin. They never talked about anything deep or meaningful, not like Jonghyun and Onew had, but the composer now definitely considered Taemin his friend and not just an acquaintance. However, for some reason, the singer had been acting evasive over the last week or so. It almost sounded like he knew something that Jonghyun didn’t. Initially, Jonghyun had attributed it to the idol’s close friendship with Onew and assumed his ex-boyfriend had mentioned something. However, with the way everyone else was acting, it seemed like something deeper may be going on.

Jonghyun honestly didn’t know why so many people were acting so suspicious. Even Sodam had been acting strange over the holiday break. She would often make comments about Jonghyun’s job and his next big project, what his future may bring, where he saw his career going. Considering the girl had very little interaction with people from SM Entertainment and definitely didn’t have any influence over Jonghyun’s work load these comments seemed strange and out of place. Hopefully Sungkyu would be able to shed some light on the situation.

Talking of Sungkyu, it was almost time for Jonghyun to head to his meeting. Standing up from his desk, Jonghyun headed towards the door, ignoring a ‘good luck’ from Youngchul that indicated, once more, that he knew something the blue-haired male did not. Walking over and knocking on the door of the office next door, Jonghyun was quickly allowed access and ushered into the familiar room. Taking his usual seat, the composer relaxed back against the hard back rest.

“So, want to tell me what’s going on?” Jonghyun asked, crossing his arms and tapping his foot mockingly.

He initially, hadn’t been sure that Sungkyu was involved in whatever was causing the people around him to act so strange. However, the man gave himself away almost immediately. His mentor looked far happier than he usually did during their weekly meetings. Not that the other man ever looked annoyed or bored, however he usually put on an air of professionalism, as was expected of a boss when speaking to an employee. Also, more often than not, the man was also working on something else simultaneously.

Right now, the man was not exuding professionalism at all. In fact, he was practically grinning and he was completely focused on his protégé. Also unusual was the large stack of paperwork piled in front of him. The fact the paperwork was there, was not the unusual thing; Sungkyu’s desk was often covered in paperwork, waiting to be filed or thrown out. However, this paperwork just seemed out of place somehow. Like it wasn’t for Sungkyu.

“I don’t know what you mean.” The man said, his acting leaving a lot to be desired.

“So there isn’t something you, the others and even my friends know that I don’t?” Jonghyun asked, raising one eyebrow. The man was a terrible liar. He wasn’t the type to lie to people – especially people he was close to – and thus, when he did it always came out stilted and odd sounding.

“Nope.” The man said, rotating the papers and sliding them towards his prodigy. “Nothing at all.”

Jonghyun looked at the papers then up at his mentor, then back at the papers. He wasn’t quite sure what this was about. Flipping open the brown paper folder, Jonghyun quickly scanned the front page and looked up at his mentor when it dawned on him what the words said – job contract.

“What’s this?” Jonghyun asked, gesturing at the paper, “You got a new job?”

“Me? No.” The man said. “This is for you.”

Jonghyun looked up in shock from where he had been scanning the first page of the document. From the little he had read, this already seemed like a fantastic deal. He hadn’t fully read the job description yet but it appeared to be a permanent full-time composition job that came with a heap more benefits than his current job as well as a significant pay rise.

“What do you mean for me?”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Sungkyu said, looking amused at Jonghyun’s shock. “The higher-ups approached me with this job opportunity for you and, after checking it was really as good as it sounded, I agreed to approach you about it. It will be a shame to lose one of my best employees – everyone else complains when I assign them song rearrangements and editing work – but it’s a fantastic opportunity for you.”

“Wait, they approached you?” Jonghyun asked, flabbergasted. He wasn’t even aware that most of the higher-ups knew who he was. Let alone appreciated his work enough to offer him an opportunity such as this.

“Read through the contract and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.” Jonghyun’s boss said, ignoring his question. Turning to his computer screen was a clear sign he wasn’t planning to answer and the blue-haired composer accepted his boss’ suggestion.

“Ok, I’ll do that.” Jonghyun agreed, weakly.

From his study of the many pages of the contract, Jonghyun was able to determine several things:

1)       He would be insane not to accept this offer. His initial thought that the job came with a pay rise was absolutely correct and he was being offered a sum far larger than most people at his point in his career could expect. Not only that, but he would be working as the sole composer with a single idol group, creating all the songs (with some collaborations if he deemed them necessary) for any upcoming albums. It was all phrased and set up to be something about a unified sound throughout the album through the use of a single composer. He was to tail the group to all activities, including those overseas (all paid and financed), and learn about them as a group in order to create an album that truly represented who they were. Basically, it was a massive stepping stone in his career and was a fantastic opportunity for personal and professional growth.

2)       This job was really suspicious. Why would he, Kim Jonghyun, rookie composer extraordinaire, be hired for such a prestigious job over any of the more experienced composers employed at the company?

3)       This explained why everyone was acting so suspicious. Clearly, everyone knew about the opportunity. How they knew was questionable. His co-workers made sense, they must have heard from Sungkyu over the week Jonghyun had off of work. However, how did Sodam find out? She wasn’t exactly in regular contact with anyone Jonghyun worked with. And Taemin, why was Taemin acting so strange?

Looking up at Sungkyu, once he finished reading, Jonghyun was wide-eyed and a little startled, “Is this real? And they want me?”

“Yes and yes,” Sungkyu said, looking away from his computer screen, smiling in an amused way. “The higher-ups requested you specifically. You’ve impressed someone in high places, my boy.”

“I have?”

“You have,” Sungkyu repeated. “If you want, you can take the rest of the day off in order to think about it.”

“But it’s only my first day back.”

“And you just had a major shock. Take the time and discuss it with some people and let me know your decision tomorrow.” Sungkyu explained, standing and shooing Jonghyun out of the room.

Following a supportive pat on the shoulder from his mentor, Jonghyun found the door shutting in his face. Turning robotically, he walked the few feet back to the office, the large packet of files still clutched in his arms, and pushed open the door. Immediately he was bombarded with congratulations and cheers from his co-workers. They had clearly been impatiently waiting all morning for this, which made their strange behaviour from earlier make a lot more sense, and they all seemed genuinely happy for him. Jonghyun would miss them if – when – he started his new job. He may not officially be a member of the purchasing department but they had really made him feel welcome during his time in their office. He supposed, now, he would be moved to the composition rooms proper. He had heard they had been expanded and rearranged recently. He just hadn’t been moved because there hadn’t been a need before now and his being close to Sungkyu was more important than him being near other composers.

Smiling at their enthusiastic congratulations, Jonghyun gathered up his things, placing the folder reverently into his bag and packing up the other belongings he had unpacked when he arrived.

“Look at the big shot,” Youngchul teased, “Only just got a promotion and he’s already forgetting the little guys.”

Jonghyun stuck his tongue out at the man and enjoyed the small gasp of mock shock the man gave. He really would miss these guys.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” He asked, as he slung his bag over his shoulder and headed towards the door.

“Absolutely, we’ll have to have a leaving lunch for you before you move on to bigger and better things.” Junghee said, already looking like she was planning the event in her head.

“I haven’t even accepted the job yet.” Jonghyun chuckled, the easygoing atmosphere of the office aiding him in getting over the shock of the job offer.

“If you don’t accept it, we’ll fire you for being dim.” Sungho commented, “I’m happy for you.”

Jonghyun flashed one last grin at his colleagues before slipping out of the office. He knew they were right, he wasn’t going to turn down this offer.

-

And he didn’t.

Jonghyun was nervous on his first day. He had had a series of meetings over the last few weeks with his new bosses and he had met almost everyone he would be working with. He would be still be reporting to Sungkyu directly – something he was incredibly happy with – however the upper management were taking a much more active interest in his work now. He would also be interacting very closely with the idol group’s manager who, on every meeting so far, had remained mostly silent and out of the way. The man was nice enough, which was good considering the amount of time Jonghyun would be spending around the man, although he was a little odd in that he refused to be addressed as anything other than Manager. Jonghyun supposed the man had a really embarrassing name or something and just shrugged it off as a small peculiarity.

Now, after all those meetings establishing exactly what was expected of him on this job (an album worth of songs that met the manager, upper management and idol group’s approval) as well as what he would be doing day to day (mostly tailing the idol group in question) he was finally starting work.

He had dressed up for the occasion, wearing a slightly smarter suit than usual, and he was starting to regret it. The nerves were making him sweat and it was resulting in a very uncomfortable heat building up around his collar and under his jacket. Shifting uncomfortably he pulled at the restricting fabric and looked around the room as a means to distract himself.

The room was small, one of the many free-use meeting rooms on the first floor of the SM Entertainment building, and was packed with slightly uncomfortable seating. Whoever had been using the room before him had clearly been giving some kind of presentation as all the tables were pushed to the side of the room and the chairs were arranged in rows facing the projector screen. The projector was off right now however, as this was intended to be a casual meeting between Jonghyun and the idol group he would be working with.

Setting about moving the chairs, Jonghyun stacked all the excess seats to one side and was working on moving one of the tables to the centre of the room when the door opened. He was thankful when a pair of hands reached out and offered him help in unfolding the table and lining it up straight.

Looking up to thank his mysterious helper, the words died in his throat and a strange rasping noise came out instead.

“What, not happy to see me?” The male asked, running a hand through his rumpled hair.

“Taemin,” Jonghyun stuttered, “What are you doing here?”

“I heard you got a new job and I wanted to cheer my friend on.” Taemin said, like it was obvious. There was clear humour in his voice and he obviously found Jonghyun’s confused reaction very amusing. “Shall we finish rearranging the room?”

“Yeah,” Jonghyun agreed, faintly. There was still another table to set out and he needed to unstack enough chairs to surround them after that. He didn’t technically have to do this, however, in many meetings he attended, people complained about needing to rearrange the rooms every time they used them. So he was helping out the next people to use the room as well as taking his mind off of his nerves.

Just after the two young men finished setting up the room to their preference, the door opened once more. Taemin looked unconcerned, from his seat to the side of the door. Jonghyun was much more nervous. He had arrived early, which is why he wasn’t freaking out too much when no one was in the room when he arrived, and Taemin had also arrived before the official start of the meeting time – although why he was there, Jonghyun was still unsure of – so the person opening the door now was perfectly on time.

Jonghyun gaped unattractively as the door opened fully and the person in question was revealed, he really didn’t understand what was going on here.

This didn’t make sense. Did it?

Was this some kind of strange joke that everyone he knew was playing on him?

There was no way he, Kim Jonghyun, would be selected as the sole composer for this idol group. Right?

No. There was no way.

“Long time no see,” Minho commented as he took the seat opposite Taemin. “Congratulations on the job, your compositions are amazing. I can’t wait to see more.”

Jonghyun just mutely nodded his thanks, his thoughts were still rushing noisily through his head and he was unsure what exactly he was supposed to say in this situation. Currently, two members of his favourite idol group were sat at the same table as him and he didn’t understand why. He could theorize, but, the more he thought about it, the less that theory made sense. There had to be some other, rational, explanation of why these two were here. There had to be.

When the door opened again, admitting Key, who just nodded regally at Jonghyun and sat down next to Taemin, Jonghyun was pretty sure his brain short-circuited.

It was clear now, what was going on and it was clear that the members of SHINee were all aware of the change in his employment situation too. However, that didn’t exactly make the information easier to process. His inner SHINee fan was practically catatonic at this point and his external self wasn’t doing too much better.

“Are we missing anyone?” Manager said, as he swept into the room. He looked like a force to be reckoned with, as always. His slate grey shirt was fitted to his body and, although he wasn’t the fittest man, it still managed to give him a slightly intimidating air. It was probably a good trait to have as a manager, Jonghyun mused, so he could scare away anyone who wanted to get too close to or harm his idols.

“Onew,” Taemin chirped, looking very smug for some reason.

“He’ll catch up,” The man said, dismissing the comment. “So, Jonghyun, welcome to the team.”

“Thanks,” Jonghyun said, quietly, still not quite to terms with what was happening. An echo of welcome came from the three idols sat at the table.

“I’m sure you’ll do us proud,” Manager said, “your work is exemplary and I look forward to seeing what you can create for us. Now-“

The man’s statement was cut off as the door banged open and a panting Onew entered the room. His hair was disheveled, knotted and a little damp from sweat at the neck and hairline. His jacket was flung haphazardly over a scruffy looking shirt and his pants were riding low on his hips, as if they slipped as the idol was running. Even so, Jonghyun found himself staring, the male as attractive to him now as he had ever been. Even when he was panting like a dog and looked like he had rolled out of bed not ten minutes previous, despite it being fairly late into the morning. Even when Jonghyun could see yesterday’s make-up still clinging to his eyebrows. Even when his eyes were closed from fatigue. He was still attractive to Jonghyun.

The singer flopped gracelessly into the seat next to Minho. Sighing heavily and pushing his hair from his eyes, the singer apologised, “Sorry I’m late, I was in vocal lessons on the fifth floor and then the lift stopped on every floor on the way down and it was basically a mess.”

Manager rolled his eyes, clearly used to this from his idol, “As long as you aren’t late to anything official.” Onew nodded in agreement empathetically and Manager nodded at him, glad the singer understood. “Now, Onew, I would like you to meet our new composer, Kim Jonghyun.”

Onew turned sharply, looking directly at Jonghyun, his eyes suddenly open fully and his mouth falling slack. Jonghyun was also a little sad to notice a flash of hurt travel across the singer’s face. However, Jonghyun couldn’t judge him for the feeling as he was sure his facial expression was much the same when he saw Onew enter the room.

“We’ve met.” Onew said, faintly. “Welcome to the team.”

“Thanks,” Jonghyun muttered, equally as quietly, looking down at his lap.

“Perfect, that makes things easier then, doesn’t it?” Manager said, apparently oblivious to the sudden tension in the room. The other members of SHINee were obviously aware and were all shooting wary glances between the two males, as if afraid they would do something to give themselves away.

SHINee’s manager then launched into a long speech about what Jonghyun’s job would entail, explaining it to the idols who hadn’t been fully briefed. He also explained what the idol group’s next batch of schedules was, including a trip to Japan that was coming up for a large-scale concert, more for Jonghyun’s sake than the idols’.

Jonghyun found himself concentrating on everything the man said, taking note of anything important in his notebook so he didn’t forget things that would be useful to know. He found all thoughts of Onew pushed to the back of his mind as his desire to do the best he could at this job took over. He knew this position would be a challenge when he accepted it and Onew’s presence just made everything a little more complicated but he was ready for the challenge. He would create the best SHINee album there had been yet.

 

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CHAPTER NOTES: SHINee’s back.