Clara woke up a bit sad. Her alarm was ringing and it was time to go back to work. She got out of her bed and checked her pocket, but it was empty. She sighed disappointed.  So all this was just a game of her imagination after all? What an awful game. She walked in direction of her desk when she walked on something. It was all flabby and made a plastic sound. She took off her foot from the mysterious object and what she saw made her the happiest she ever be. It was the cute package containing the elastic loops Key bought her. She widened her eyes smiling and jumped all around the room. She then squatted in front of the little present. She looked at it smiling. It was meaning so many things. It was meaning that her dreams were real, meaning that she really met Key. She met him and talked to him and he talked to her. He was with her only and looked at her only, not in fansign, not in concert but face to face. He touched her. He touched her hair! He laughed with her; he was there next to her. What a wonderful feeling. A lonely tear ran along her cheek. She was so happy. There was more, he request her something! And it was real! Everything was REAL!

“I might have save earth in an other life” she told to no one.

She picked the package up and chose a loop. She needed to go back to work! She needed to finish that project fast if she needed to do Key request! She took a pink one and tied her hair up. Suddenly motivation was back. She was smiling like an idiot singing happy songs in front of her painting. Like the little girl in the book she found something in her dreams and took it back with her into reality.

It was mysterious, strange even, but Clara didn’t care. It was amazing that’s all!

During this time in the neighbour building.

“This is going to be Clara’s birthday soon no? – asked Gabriel to Lila in the embrasure of her bedroom door.

-Clara’s? No it’s in four months, why?

-Then it’s her little brother’s birthday?

-Uh? No it’s later than Clara’s, why are you asking?

-Really? I thought there was a birthday soon. Maybe I’m mistaking. Anyway, I’m sorry to have bothered you. You can go back to your work.”

Gabriel got out closing the door behind him.

“It’s going to be my birthday in two week - whispered Lila in her empty room – but as always only Clara counts”

She looked at the door where Gabriel was few seconds before and felt her heart ache while the memories were coming back.

**

Lila was new in town. Her family had to move because of the birth of the new member.  It was the fourth already. Lila who was the third child had a hard time to accept the fact that she wasn’t the baby of the family anymore. Moreover she had to move to this new town. She had to leave her friends and her school because of this creature.

She didn’t want to be here. She didn’t like the new house. She disliked the “You have to be a big girl now, you’re a big sister like Lorana”.  What was so good about this baby? All it was doing was crying, eating and sleeping? She escaped home as soon as she could and ran to this child play area.

“Hello” – Said a little red haired boy”

The tiny girl on the swing didn’t answer.

“You don’t talk? You don’t know how?

The girlie still didn’t answer. She was shy and didn’t like to talk to strangers. She was just ignoring him when suddenly she felt both of his hands on her shoulders.

“It’s okay, don’t worry! I will learn you how.”

The boy smiled reveling two missing teeth to the little Lila.

“Gabriel what are you doing? The game isn’t finished yet. - Another boy screamed from afar.

-Coming! –Yelled Gabriel back at him. – Come tomorrow, same place, same time. I will have more time to teach you how to talk.”

**

Lila sighed. That day Gabriel saw her in the middle of the other. Now she was invisible.

Kibum stayed in the hall a bit longer than necessary in case Clara could still be there but of course she wasn’t. He sighed and looked at the book.

“I need to study you. You are very mysterious and I like. No one can resist me, be careful book. I’ll find your secret.”

He was on the way to his car when his phone rang.

“Kibum! – Said Minho – Can you come to the dorm? I have something to give you.

-Eh?

-Will you?

-Yes I’m coming. Hum in about 15min.”

He put the book in his bag and drove to the dorm.

Unlike Jonghyun and Taemin living in their parents’ home Key was living alone. Jinki and Minho were still living in the dorm they shared before the split last year.

Key left the dorm but kept the keys. Sometimes when the schedules were really hard and tight he would still sleep in his old room. He entered the code and unlocked the door.

“SURPRISE!!”

Key jumped of fear.

“What surprised? It’s not my birthday.

-We know but we wanted to do a small party for you because you seems really out these days.”

They were all here: Jonghyun, Minho, Taemin, Onew, Adelina and also Joo Hee.

“It’s ok guys, I’m just tired. I worried you. I’m sorry.”

The four members didn’t trust it because they knew Kibum by heart but they didn’t show it. If Kibum didn’t want to talk about it, no need to force him. He’ll open when time will come.

“Oh, well never mind – Smiled Onew – Let’s party anyway!”

They all agreed and walked to the living room where all the food and drinks were prepared prettily. “Surely the work of Adelina” thought Key.

They ate, they drank, they laughed. Key was looking at the cute couple that was his hyung and Adelina. When he saw the stylist for the first time he knew that these two would end together.

The small girl had blue hair that day. She had some special style that was fitting Jinki’s special style. Her eyes were soft but her leadership could be felt. She was a hard worker and you could guess it on the way she worked for her first day. She made no mistake at all and even forestalled SHINee’s request. Yet her smile was the sweetest and her laugh so clear. Yes the perfect girl for Jinki.

When Jinki saw her, he wondered who that mermaid lost out of her ocean was. His eyes didn’t let her go the whole time they spent together. When it was time and all the members left the room he went to her shyly.

“Adelina?

-Yes Lee Jinki?

-I … love the color of your hair.”

The girl looked at him for some seconds and laughed. That was so weird.

“Well thank you – She smiled at him

-Then… See you next time. – He told her before walking away.

-Will you eat with me next time? – She asked when he turned his back.

-Yes! Absolutely, with pleasure! – He answered right away facing her smiling”

And that’s how they were here back hugging each other now. Jinki sometimes was giving her cute kisses saying how cute she was or sometimes scolding her.

Key was alone on the sofa looking at them, feeling a bit lonely. He surprised himself thinking about Clara. Wondering what she was doing. Wondering if she was wearing the elastics he bought to her. That made him smile.

He chuckled imagining her doing cute faces while doing her pony tail. Everyone stopped talking and looked at him having fun alone. When he realized that they were all starring at him he stopped and blushed of embarrassed.  

“Are you sure you’re alright Kim Kibum – asked Joo Hee

-Yes, well I’m a bit tired to be honest and …

-You are all red. Maybe you got a flew – She cut him. “

And before he could deny it she tested hi fever.

Joo Hee had decided not to give up. She will stay by his side. One day he will realize that she is the one he needs. She was so much more worthy than this white girl.

She was looking straight in his eyes showing all her determination but Key brushed her hand away and moved from her. He wasn’t touch by her emotions. It was almost a burden. He couldn’t give her what she was looking for. He needed to show her and stop giving her false hopes.

“You are a bit warm. I think it’s a small fever. – She finally said.

-I’m fine. I’m not sick Joo Hee.

-But your face is all pink.

-It’s because I drank and because it’s so hot here.”

Sounds of surprise came from Minho and Taemin because they were all wearing sweater.

“What are you saying hyung! It’s not that hot here. – laughed Taemin – You might really be drunk or sick.”

Joo Hee looked at Key worried. “Please stop that” thought internally Kibum.

“I’m not! – He defended his self.”

He looked at each one of his friends with an insistent stare.

“If you say so. – Concluded Jonghyun sat on the floor in front of him”

The party went on and many laughed had been shared. Kibum couldn’t bear to be next to Joo Hee anymore. She was too clingy. He stood up to change place but fall back on the sofa. He was a bit dizzy and his legs were a bit weak.

“Wow, Kibum – Minho on the opposite side of the couch got worried – you really seem unwell.”

What was with them tonight? Why worry that much? It was getting heavy and bothersome.

“I just drank too much guys! What’s with you tonight – He answered a bit rush.

-I think you are sick – Claimed Joo Hee holding his arm.

-Let me go - He snatched his arm away. – I’m not sick, I’m never sick. I’m just drunk!”

Key was rarely ill, since their debut he had been blocked in bed only 3 times.

He tried a second attempt but failed again.

Onew left Adelina side and helped him getting up.

“Gosh Kibummie, you’re burning of fever. You sleep her tonight. I don’t want you to go back alone.”

He leaned against his leader and they walked to his unused bedroom.

Joo Hee stood from the sofa wanting to follow them. She wanted to look after the boy she loved, but Adelina caught her. The intern fought for her sunbae to release her but Adelina was stronger.

“Don’t go! – She said harshly – It’s not your right. Let him alone. I think his message was pretty clear last week. You should stop or you’ll get hurt.

-Release me! Let me out! I need to go. He needs me. – She ordered her.

-He doesn’t. He has , he is with his leader. And maybe he prefers to stay alone. He didn’t ask you anything.”

Joo Hee was still fighting Adelina to get free, so that the pink haired girl let her off giving up. A lesson was needed and nothing better than the truth. The young girl ran after the boys.

“I’ll take care of him, Jinki-ssi. You can go back to your girlfriend.”

Key mumbled thing that Onew understood.

“Key hates when someone takes care of him. He isn’t ill often so he prefers to stay alone to rest. Go back to the living room, now.”

Jinki’s eyes scared Joo Hee. He was like a mother lion protecting her children. Key looked up to her and saw that she didn’t have fully give up. He sighed.

“I don’t need anyone, and even less you. You and I are nothing. If I need someone I’ll ask my members. Now go away. I don’t want to see you.”

Key words hurt Joo Hee, but there was no other way with her. He never wanted to really hurt her but she would never give up without straight words.

She stayed here looking both boys entering the smallest bedroom of the dorm.

Onew put Key to bed and covered him with covers.

“No, no I’m too hot. I don’t need covers. – He weakly requested.

-You’ll be freezing soon. You’re fever is really high. I will go get some medicine, to make it cool down.

-Wait… Before you left can you give me the book in my bag… ah my bag isn’t here …

-A book? You want to read in your state?

-There is a mystery in going and I want to know what it is. Will you please hyung? –Key made a cute aegyo”

Onew chuckled. He found that too cute.

“Ok, ok. I’m going to take it.”

Onew left the room and left him alone. He bumped on Joo Hee and pull her away to the living room.

Key’s room hasn’t change. On the wall there were pictures of the group growing over the year joined with some of his family. He suddenly missed his grand-mother, that granny who raised and support him.

“How is Kibum? - Asked Jonghyun, Minho and Taemin at the same time.

-He started doing aegyo, so not that well. Do we have painkiller? – He asked Minho

-I do – claimed Adelina – She looked inside her handbag and gave a pill to her boyfriend. – Give him this. It will at least cool the fever down.

-Thank you cutie – He kissed her cheeks.”

He eyed the OT3 worried. Key wasn’t sick a lot but when he was it he would have a hard time.  

Jinki got back with the book, a glass of water and some anti-fever medicine.

“Here’s your book. I put the glass and the pill on your bed-side table ok? You should take it.”

Kibum didn’t answer and Jinki didn’t ask for some. He checked on him a last time and closed the door.

Kibum sat on his bed at stretched his arm to turn on the light on his bed-side table. While reaching it the book fell on the floor. Kibum was so weak right now so he cursed at the book and bent to catch it. The book was open on its middle and a question could be read.

Do you travel?

Yes/No

“What is it? It wasn’t there some hour ago.” thought Key. He read it out loud and answered “Yes”. Yes he was traveling a lot for work so he just naturally answered “yes”. The question disappeared but nothing happened.

“That’s all? Were you curious about me book?” – He talked to it.

He foliated it again but nothing more than when he first read it. It was still empty. He closed it and dropped it on the floor. He was so tired that he fell asleep forgetting his pill. 

Clara was painting joyfully in her flat with some SHINee songs playing loudly. The last illustration was almost done and she couldn’t wait to start working on Key’s request. He asked her clothes for the ballads part of their next concert. He gave her precise instructions that she writes on a notebook as soon as she remember one.

Her playlist ended and silence filled her place. She looked out then at her clock on the wall. It was 4 p.m. She felt hungry and since her work was almost done she got up and head to the kitchen. She took some slice of bread and spread jam on them. She also put the kettle on. It was always great when a job was finished because she could finally rest. She has always wondered why the edition houses were giving her so close time limits. As Clara always says “it is not human”.

She sat on her sofa waiting for the water to be hot.

“How great it is to have nothing to do – She smiled at her ceiling.

-Ding – The kettle rang and Clara walked back to it.

-Water’s ready! Yeah, thank you! – She talked to her kettle”

Since Clara lives alone for some year already, she often talked to her utensils or object in general. It was her way to break the loneliness of her life.

She made her tea without forgetting to add some milk to it. A tea without milk was just impossible. She put her bowl on the little table next to her bed and walked to her desk to take her laptop. There was no better place for a tea time than in her bed with a laptop on her lap and for a break to be very effective opening twitter, spying on SHINee news was necessary.

She took off the bed’s cover to sit under and screamed. Someone was in her bed! How was that even possible? She never left her flat and would have heard if someone entered her flat. Well she would right? Did she lock her door already? She was frightened by the thought of someone entering without her realizing it.

But then she recognized the man features, the small nose, the special eyebrow, pretty even if closed eyes. It was Key, it was Kim Kibum!

“How? – She asked the teddy bear on the side of the bed. – Well if I can travel on one side maybe the travel on the other side is possible?”

She was thinking out loud and Key murmured things. At first she thought that she was too loud but then understood that the light was bothering him. She rushed to her windows and closed all the curtains. There was still light entering but it was more diffused.

Then she realized another thing. Key of SHINee, the real Key was sleeping in HER bed! He was inside her OWN bed.

“Wow”

She was so happy that a “kya” escaped her and woke up Kibum.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Go back to sleep. I’m sorry.

-Where I am? Who are you?

-Ah … Well you are in my flat, in my bed and I am Clara.

-Clara… CLARA? Ouch my head. – He bumped his head on the bed head while raising it.

-Omo! Be careful. This bed-head is treacherous.”

She touched his head accidentally more by reflex than by a full minded action to pat it because of the bump.  

“You are boiling! You’re sick! – Now that she was looking at him his lips had lost their colors and his eyes were so tired because of the fever. – Wait here. I have the miraculous mix.”

He sighed. Why everyone was taking care of him today. Now even Clara was taking part of it. He sat in the big bed and looked around him. It was a big flat. There were picture of Clara’s family on the walls, some painting around her work place. By the way the work place was so messy. Notebooks everywhere paint tubes on the floor, brushes all over the desks and unfinished draw forget there because useless. “A mom could never find her baby in this mess” thought Kibum.

“Here! Take these! Ah … wait water.”

She walked away again and he followed her with his eyes until she disappeared at a corner. She was wearing completely different clothes than when he saw her earlier. She was in cool mode. Maybe clothes she wears a lot when she is painting so she is not sad if they get dirty. It was giving her a fluffy feelings and Key loved it. He was so happy to be here. He looked at the bookcase on the right of the bed. There were only drawing lessons books, and romans. But one book took all his attention. “How to become a clothes designer” was its title. He walked on the bed and grabbed the book. He opened it and saw that Clara wrote so many annotations next to every difficult part. She drew some faces of, probably, her emotions of the moments. One little sentence made him smile.

“You can do it! Clara you are stronger and smarter and more skillful than you think! Never give up! You can do whatever you want because you can!”

This was so cute but when he remembered that she failed to pass this contest he felt a bit sad.  How did this Clara felt when she failed? She might have been so sad and lost all her confidence.

“Here I am! Here glass – Key took the glass – Here pills. – He looked at her with mistrust – I won’t poison you –She laughed. – These are the pills I take when I got sick after a project. I don’t sleep nor eat enough during those periods so I get sick very often.”

She smile and signed for him to drink. He looked at the white thing in his hands wondering what those pills were.

“It’s not something dangerous – She sighed – You’re worse than a child. It’s plants pill, it’s all natural and helps immune system to be stronger. Now drink or I force you – She frowned.”

Of course she won’t force him for real, but his state was really bad and she wanted, for once, to be of help to him.

Key swallowed the tablets and looked at her with a look meaning “Satisfied now?” so she answered with a look saying “Yes very.” They stared at each other and laughed at their stupid reaction.

“Now go back to sleep, okay.”

He lied down again and Clara covered him. She left his side grabbing her bowl of tea. With all this her tea was cold. She whined at it and went to the kitchen to microwave it. “There’s no tea to be waste” said Clara.

She went back to her work after drinking it. It was just almost finished. Some work was yet needed.

Key finally got up, and strangely, felt better. Her medicine had worked beautifully. He watched Clara painting, and found that relaxing somehow. While watching her he saw that she was wearing one of the elastics he bought earlier and that high up his spirits.

She was painting the last touches when she heard a voice saying “Pretty” behind her making her jump.

“Oh right you’re here. Sorry I forgot. How are you?

-I don’t know. I think I feel better.

-You do look more colorful. Let me check your fever.”

She stood up in front of him and stretched her hand but then remembered that her hand was full of fresh paint. She couldn’t paint him all over because it would be hell to wash it all off. The thought for a minute then tippy toed and her forehead met Keys’.

She was looking up at his forehead as if she could see the temperature. This move surprised Key and made him uncomfortable. Yet he didn’t move. He looked at her nose, then at her lips that were only inches away from his. It was suddenly hard to swallow and his heart started to beat faster. He bit his lips because the thought that crossed his mind wasn’t really catholic.

Clara got back on her feet and smiled at him.

“Yep no more fever! See this mix is miraculous. I told…”

She couldn’t finish because Kibum caught her wrist.

“Ya, I’m full of paint, you’ll get some all over.”

He didn’t care. His stare was only on Clara. She was so pretty, and her lips might taste so good. He tightened his grad when Clara tried to get away from it. Making her looked at him. She saw the way he was watching her and froze. Her heart beat faster and Key felt it under his fingers around her wrist. He pulled her closer to him but she walked back. He pulled her again closer this time and unclosed her against him with his free hand. He could feel the warmth of her back and how tiny she actually was. Clara felt his hand on her waist that gave her goosebumps. He brought her so closed to him so that her lips were all he could see. A smile drew on his face and he leaned toward her … 

HI GUYS !!! 

How was it? Did you enjoyed it? 

I started to talk about other characters past. There'll be more in the future. 

Key traveled too !!! WOWW!! How is it possible you say? Well ... it's a secret =3 

How lucky is Clara tho T_____T Can I be her ?

Anyway! Thank you for reading ^^ 

Comment, and subscribe ! ^^ 

XXX

Love

Lexie