Minnie's POV

My thoughts were interrupted by two plates and a bowl set in front of me. One plate contained rice, the other contained eggs, and the bowl was filled with some delicious smelling kimchi soup. The moment I caught sight of the steaming liquid, a thought clicked in my head and I ran to my phone in the living room, leaving a confuzzled Key and Minho at the dining table cocking their eyebrows at me.

I searched through my contacts and hit my most frequently dialed number, praying they wouldn't put me on hold.

Minho's POV

The minute she saw the food, she smiled widely and booked it out of the dining room, heading straight toward her phone that sat on the coffee table in the living room. As she was waiting for the other line to answer, she anxiously bit her bottom lip and nibbled on her fingernails. Her head perked up when she recieved what I assumed to be an answer, and she put a relieved hand to her chest.

I couldn't help but smile too; her happiness was contagious.

I assumed Key witnessed my reaction to her little fiasco as he nudged my side and sent me a concerning glare.

"Yah, quit gawking."

I looked back at him and chuckled, "I'm not."

"Look, I know she's cute and all, but you can't try anything on her, at least not now. Not when she means so much to the kid already."

I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could utter a word, Minnie walked up to us, clutching her phone and smiling.

"Can we wrap these up?" She asked, pointing at the food and making a small circular motion with her index finger. "I need to be somewhere and you both are coming with me."

After no explaination whatsoever from Minnie, Key and I decided to do as we were told while the girl got herself dressed.

"What do you think is going on?" I asked Key. He shrugged.

"Not sure, but we've got some time. Taemin said he would take a while."

After we wrapped up the food, we waited about ten minutes before Minnie came out of her room, dressed and ready to with her long hair in pigtails, a red knit beanie, an oversized black and white knit sweater and red tights along with black converse knee-high boots, and in her arms was a fluffy beige purse shaped like a rabbit's head with floppy ears hanging off the side. Key's mouth shot open.

"Love the outfit." She smiled and passed us as we stood up, grabbing a pen and notepad and a couple other things from the coffee table and stuffing them in her purse before coming up to us.

"Ka-ja! Let's go!" With that we headed to the door.

"You got the food, Oppa?" She asked me before locking the door behind us. I held up the bag and gave her a thumbs up.

Cameras and producers followed us as we stepped out of the building and into the van.

"Where to?" The driver ahjussi asked us.

"Samsung hospital," Minnie said bluntly as she sat in between Key and I.

"Why there?" I asked. She looked at me and smiled.

"I want you both to meet someone."

"Who?"

"You'll see."

Key chuckled a bit, "My my my, today is full of surprises, isn't it?"

An awkward silence spread through the van. Heck, the producer was having trouble thinking of something before Minnie spoke up.

"So, what's the plan for today?" She asked Key.

Key's POV

I thought back to what Taemin told us earlier and passed the news onto Minnie.

Flashback...

"...I need you two to stay and do some things with her first."

Minho and I furrowed our eyebrows, "Like what?"

"Take her to the square." He held up Minho's phone. "I'm gonna call some people, and I'll text you where to go first. I should have everything done by this afternoon."

"You sure about this, Taemin-ah?" I asked. I didn't want either of them to be too overwhelmed. "I mean, you could just propose over breakfast, or a nice dinner-"

"Ani, Umma! I want it to be special!" He yelled, surprising even himself. I sighed and put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a light nod.

"Arraso. But... why?"

End Flashback...

"...and what did he say after that?" Minnie asked, curious. I opened my mouth to say something, but decided to keep it shut and smiled.

"I don't remember. It must've not been that important," I lied. She looked at me confused, but shrugged it off and turned to Minho, who was casually looking out his window and not paying attention to our conversation. I wiped the smile off my face and remembered what Taemin told me.

"Arraso. But... why? I mean, you met her a couple days ago."

He pursed his lips and turned to sleeping Minnie on the couch and smiled, but I knew all too well it was a sad, concerning smile.

"I... guess a part of me doesn't want her to feel, y'know, invisible anymore.

How was I supposed to tell her when I didn't even know what he meant?

~

About twenty minutes later, we reached Samsung hospital. Both the cameraman and the producer Noona stepped out of the van with us, but Minnie stopped them.

"M-mianhae..." She said, holding her hands up. "But I'm meeting with family and it's a bit of a private matter." They both nodded in understanding and stayed behind.

We walked in and we were immediately greeted by two young looking nurses at the front counter.

"MinKi-ah! You arrived so fast!" One said. Minnie smiled at them and bowed.

"Annyeong, Unnies." They both got wide-eyed when they saw us.

"Omo! You know them?!" Another asked her, pointing to Minho and I. Minnie giggled a bit.

"Neh. I'll explain later, arraso?" They both nodded, and one perked up.

"Oh! She's in her room. Go right ahead."

"Kamsahamnida."

We walked down various hallways, followed a bit by fans but not exactly bothered, much to our relief. There was another awkward silence again and I decided to break it.

"So... Min-Ki, huh?" I said, chuckling a bit. She nearly stopped and glared at me, then looked ahead of her.

"Yeah, so? You didn't know? The fans did."

"Min-Ki is a boy's name..." Minho pointed out. She glared at him too, but smiled when we reached a room labeled A221-07.

"We're here."

She grabbed the bags out of Minho's hand and opened the door.

"Umma, annyeong!" She said softly. We walked in and caught sight of a woman who looked in her late thirties sleeping on a hospital bed. Once we got closer, we realized that Minnie was the spitting image of her. They both had long black hair with a bit of a wave to it, their eyelashes full, and their faces perfectly proportional. There was a heart rate monitor attached to the woman as she slept, showing regular pulses.

Minnie pulled up a couple of chairs and sat them next to the bed, then pulled up a large rolling table that sat on the side and set it against the bed. I looked around as I sat down next to Minho, and realized the walls were littered in notes, letters, photographs and drawings. Most of the notes were recent, however, the photographs were not.

"Key-Oppa, will you help me set this up?" Minnie asked as she started pulling out containers and plates from the bag.

"N-neh." I was so confused. Why were we still there if her mother was asleep?

Even so, I once again did as I was told and soon we all had plates and bowls for ourselves and we started to eat next to Minnie's sleeping mother.

"Umma," Minnie said softly. She sat the closest to her, her chair was right next to her Mother's head. "This is Key and Minho. They're part of SHINee, y'know, the band that To-Ri and To-Shi unnies like so much? Sorry they couldn't come, they had a schedule today along with Yonghwa and Jungshin Oppa." Minnie sat there petting her mother's hair but still got no response. It didn't phase her, though.

Minho and I sat there confused. Why was she talking to her? The whole situation at that point was just awkward.

Minnie glanced at her plate and perked up, "Oh! Umma, I forgot to tell you that I'm on a variety show now. It's called We Got Married. I'm not really getting married, so don't worry. But my 'husband's' name is Lee Taemin. I think he's eighteen, just like me, but still a little older. He's really nice, and I think he's gonna propose to me today. You'll meet him soon, neh?"

"We helped him make this breakfast..." I said as I finally got the idea and a grasp on why she was talking to the sleeping woman. Both Minnie and Minho looked at me, surprised, but Minnie's expression softened as she looked back at her mother.

"I think Taemin reminds me of you, Umma. He even made me kimchi soup for breakfast, just like you when I was little. Well, with the help of his friends..."

She quit petting her mother's hair and turned to her food, tasting the rice and eggs, then the soup. She paused, put the spoon in her bowl and smiled, her eyes welling up with tears.

"It even tastes like yours, Umma." Both Minho and I were staring at her the entire time, and I felt the moisture building up in my own eyes.

"So, if you guys haven't noticed," Minnie said to us, wiping away tears and sniffling. "This is my mom."

"Is she... okay?" Minho asked, trying to find the right words. The girl chuckled, and turned back to her mother.

"She's been in a coma for about a year now. No one knows exactly why, though. Her vitals are perfectly normal, her body weight and nutrient intake indicate she's healthy."

"I see..." I said, staring at the woman. She looked so peaceful. One would mistake her for just being asleep, destined to wake up at any moment.

"The nurses say that being in a coma gives the risk of the patient having amnesia when they wake up. So every time I come to visit, I write notes up and tape them to the walls," She said, pointing to the post-its. "My unnies and CN Blue do the same. They all love her."

"...can we do that too?" I asked. Honestly, I didn't know any other time where my heart felt heavier. She was planning on her own mother to not know who she was.

Minnie looked up at me and smiled, taking out her notepad, ripping the first page off (It had some sort of writing), and handing it to me, along with a pen. I ripped two pages, giving one to Minho and one to Minnie, then sat there writing possibly the most heartfelt letter to a woman that I've only known of for a few minutes.

Annyeong-Haseyo, Noona. My name is Kim Kibum, and I'm from SHINee...

~

"Thank you guys, for coming with me." Minnie said as we walked out of the hospital and hopped back into the van.

"Where to now, guys?" The ahjussi asked us. Minho spoke up.

"Seoul Central Park." As soon as Minho closed his mouth, I my phone buzzed.

From: Taemin

MSG: Where are you?

Minnie apparently saw my phone buzz and looked at me. "Was that Taemin? I thought his phone was busted!"

I nodded, "Yup, but he's on Minho's phone and I changed his name." I looked back and started typing on my phone, "Leaving... Sam...sung... hospital. On... the way... to... the square."

Sent.

Minnie was looking over my shoulder when I got another (almost immediate) text from Taemin.

From: Taemin

MSG: EEHH??? Gwen-chanayo?! What happened?? Are you guys okay??!!

We all chuckled at Taemin's text.

"He's concerned... how cute!" Minho sarcastically cooed and pinched Minnie's cheek. I sent a glare to him that said 'quit-flirting-with-her-or-I'll-kill-you' and this apparently scared him enough where he raised his hands in defeat and continued to look at my texting without Minnie noticing anything.

"We're... fine. Tell us... where we are.... supposed to go. Exclaimation point. Mad face." Both Min's giggled at me.

From: Taemin

MSG: Oh, right. Go to the Big Strawberry Cafe. Daehyun-Hyung is at the counter. Talk to him. He will tell you what to do after that.

I read the message aloud and looked over at Minnie, who was nervously biting her lip. Her cheeks went pale for some reason as she shifted in her seat.

"You okay?" I asked, putting a hand on hers. She looked up at me and nodded.

"Neh... Just a bit nervous... a little scared." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Wae? There's nothing to be scared about." She bitterly chuckled and reached into her purse, pulling out a crumpled note with some writing on it.

"This is my proposal. And the ring that I picked out for him... it doesn't even have a diamond on it. Compared to what he's had planned, I..." She sighed, relaxed her shoulders and threw her note back in her purse.

"It makes me look like I don't care. I don't want him to think of me that way." 

"Don't worry, arraso?" I said, hugging her lightly. I let go and put my hands on her shoulders. "He's gonna feel lucky that you planned anything at all." She pressed her lips into a line and nodded reassured. A moment later, the van parked next to a curb leading into Seoul Central Park.

I smiled, "Let's go then."

When we all got out of the van, the producer and cameraman included, we were immediately being followed by fans. Minnie smiled at them, but latched onto my arm. I didn't blame her; if I was in her shoes, I'd be nervous, too.

The Big Strawberry Cafe wasn't really hard to spot, soley because there was, hello, a giant strawberry at on the roof.

"Have you ever been here, Min-ah?" Minho asked. She looked up at him and shook her head.

"Ani. I rarely came to the square before I debuted. Everything is so expensive..."

"Well, here we are," I said as we walked through the glass doors, our noses immediately filled with the smell of ice cream and fresh bakery pasteries. Minnie's mouth formed an 'O' shape as she looked around the giant cafe.

"Nice, huh?" A familiar voice said happily to her. We looked up and found Daehyun standing in a waiter's uniform.

"You guys came here sooner than I thought!" He yelled, checking his watch and leading us to a small table in the back right next to the kitchen. Minnie sat next to me, and Minho sat across from us.

"I'll be back~ Love your outfit, by the way!" Daehyun said to Minnie and epicly pushed both of the swinging kitchen doors open and strutted his way into the sweet smelling place. Minnie chuckled.

"So is this a strictly-dessert cafe?" She asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, Jjong's Noona owns it and the employees are all part of the Kim family." Not a moment later, our blonde-headed waiter came out.

"Here is your special strawberry milk parfait, Mrs. Lee," he said, setting the small dessert cup filled with ice vanilla ice cream, shaved frozen strawberry milk and topped with condensed milk and a strawberry. He then handed her a silverware roll with a rose sticking out of it.

"Enjoy~" He sang, and left to tend to other tables.

Minnie's POV

I unwrapped the napkin from my silverware and rose, careful not to prick my finger on any of the thorns. There was a small note taped to the stem.

~Go to SWEE-D's candy store. Enjoy the parfait.~

Well, at least he wasn't giving me any confusing riddles.

I shared the small dessert with Minho and Key (though I wish I hadn't, that thing was freaking amazing) and we headed out. I clung to Key again as I clutched the smooth part of the rose stem in my palm.

The candy store was only two doors down. When we walked in, a worker dressed in a Lolita cosplay handed me a cellophane bag filled with sweets and a rose hanging out the top with another note.

~Go across the street to Tukata Factory. You have a little friend waiting for you.~

When we walked in Tukata Factory, I realized it was a kid's store that sold hand-made stuffed animals of all kinds. There were children all over the store, running around, some playing and learning how to stuff their personal creations.

"Ah, Miss Minnie!" A male worker came up to me and handed me a giant beige-colored teddy bear with a rose in its paws.

~

After about an hour and a half, Key ended up holding my purse while I held my teddy bear and candy in one hand and eleven roses in the other. Minho held onto some other small gifts I recieved, including a box of chocolates, a couples keychain and a couples tee, which I assumed Taemin had the other half. The other presents were edible, so of course I ate them. The bag of candy in my hand was something I forced myself to savor and share with my Unnies, along with the chocolates Minho was holding.

The eleventh rose I recieved left me confused. It was to Minho and Key, telling them to take me to his 'special place,' and it also requested that no one else follow us because there were already cameras set up at his location.

Unsurprisingly, it freaked me out.

But still, I followed my two Oppas. We walked through abandoned alleyways and back roads, which scared me a bit.

At least I have this über macho teddy bear to protect me!

...Right?

We walked but after what seemed like forever, we reached our destination. It was an old run-down three-story building, and compared to the other buildings beside it, it was pretty well kept, but the parking lot was cracked and broken and covered in gravel.

"Where are we?" I asked. 

Minho chuckled, "About five minutes away from the square, believe it or not. We take the long way so we don't get followed by fans."

"Ah... But, what is this place?" 

"You'll see. Key and I are gonna stay behind. Taemin's waiting for you." I was hesitant but nodded as I gave Minho my bag of candy and Key handed me my purse. I walked toward the entrance, clutching my roses and opening the warped-glass doors with the words 'CHUN DANCE STUDIO EST. 1993' painted on it.

The first thing I saw when I walked in was a small note held up by an empty picture frame atop a high marble counter, but there was no rose in sight.

~Take the elevator to your right and go to the second floor.~

~Next, go to the third room on your left.~

I gulped and looked to my right. Sure enough, there was an elevator mere inches away from the door.

"Alright, second floor." I said to myself as I pressed the button and it lit up when it clicked. The elevator was a bit shaky but it only took a moment before it made a 'Ding,' indicating that I reached my floor. I exhaled once again and looked to my left and stepped out.

One... Two... Three.

I reached a thin wooden door with a small window. I peeked through it, and found Taemin sitting on the polished hardwood floor with his back turned to me and a big teddy bear identical to mine in his arms. I looked at my own and smiled.

"Look, mister bear. We're matching." I whispered.

He sat in front of the big mirror used for dance rehearsal, but when I quietly opened the door, he still didn't see or hear me, and I found that he was also talking to the big bear in his arms.

"You don't think she's late because she's scared, do you?" He asked the bear, holding it out in front of him. "Maybe the notes I gave her were too long, and she got tired and went home..." He picked up a bottle that resembled something like banana milk, took a sip, set it down, and continued, sighing.

"Aish... I've only  known her for a couple of days, too, but she's so pretty, you know? What if she got me a diamond? What am I gonna do then? Do you think I'm going too fast, mister bear? Neh? Well, gee, thanks for being such a big help."

I chuckled, "Hey, don't blame the bear!" He looked in front of the big mirror and we made eye contact. I waved a bit and smiled, walking up to him with my own bear and purse in one hand and my bouquet in the other. The moment I sat next to him, he smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"Y-you heard all of that?" He asked nervously. I smiled.

"Not all of it." I got a good look at him and realized he was wearing the other couple tee and a pair of ripped red skinny jeans.

He chuckled, "So did you get the presents and everything?" he asked. I looked at him and we really met eyes this time and I smiled and nodded.

"Everything was perfect. Especially that parfait." we both smiled.

"Next time I take you on a date, we're going there. It's probably my favorite place to go, besides here."

A thought clicked, "Oh yeah, I was wondering-"

"Why here?" he finished for me, that boyish grin on his face. I nodded, and his eyes wandered around the room.

"When I first got into dancing, my mom took me to this place, and I got my first lessons here." he clutched the bear in his lap an looked at me.

"I wanted to show you this place because on days that I get upset, or if I have free time, I come here. I want you to know where I'm at if you need anything. But first, I need something from you."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "What?"

He smiled again, reached to the side and pulled out a rose with a ring identical to mine sitting on the petals.

"Your hand in marriage." I looked at the ring, wide eyed for a moment, but smiled and grabbed a hold of my purse, pulling out my own ring box.

"Fine," I said happily, and opened the box in front of him. "But I'm gonna need yours, too."

Guess I don't need the speech anymore...

"We picked the same one!" Taemin exclaimed. I took the ring out and handed it to him but before I could take my ring from the rose, Taemin put them together, side by side. The two halves on the rings  came together and made a whole one.

"It's pretty..." I said, gazing at the silver. Then Taemin mumbled something inaudible to me.

"What?" I asked. He perked up and shook his head as he placed one of the rings on my left ring finger.

"Nothing... There!" He put his ring on his finger and we put our hands side by side. I chuckled and glanced at my purse, but then gazed back at our matching rings. Taemin glanced at the ground and turned, grabbing two envelopes and holding them up in my face.

"What's this?" I asked, taking the pink envelope.

"Our next challenges."

...was that too long for you guys? If it was, MIANHAE DDD:

but THE LONG AWAITED MOMENT HAS ARRIVED

ooohhh i wonder what the challenge is gonna be~~

but there were so many important things that just HAD TO HAD TO go in this chappie.

oh, almost forgot I HAVE A CONTEST POSTED FOR THIS STORY

if you are interested, click here

btw, Tukata in Thai (pronounced THU-kka-THA) means doll :) just thought i'd mention that...

Comment replies will be next chapter :)

COMMENT. SUBSCRIBE.

<3