RAMBLES #1___♡♥♡
Annyeong, new and old subscribers!
Thank you so much for subscribing and reading
this fic,and also for giving "Forget Me Not" a
chance! I truly appreciate it :) . I hope you guys
will enjoy this very long chapter!

P/S : Below is the poster for Chapter 9,
indicating how they look like in 2008.

February 2008

Another year had passed. Today is the first day of schooling of the year, and Chanseul is walking alone to school. Taemin is even busier with his intensive trainings compared to back then. Since few months ago, both of them only get to meet once or twice a month as Taemin spends most of his time at the SM Bulding. He is staying in a trainee dorm right now and the company already transferred him to a closer school so he can focus more on his trainings. God knows how much Chanseul cried the day Taemin told him that they can’t walk to school together anymore. And Chanseul knows how hard Taemin tried not to cry that day because the boy is always the type that will never cry easily since forever.

She still remembers their conversation last night on the phone.

“This .. year?” Chanseul asked.

“Neh, noona.. it is going to be in 2008,” Taemin confirmed.

“Taemin-ah, remember back then when you assumed that you will debut at the age of 20?”

“Neh..” the boy chuckles.

“Who would have known you’re going to debut really soon!” Chanseul is excited. Her happiness is evident.

“The company said it will be in April or May,”

“Which means you’re not even 15 yet when you debut later,” Chanseul chuckles and she remembers that Taemin will only turns 15 in July.

“Neh.. I don’t think I’m ready, noona,”

“Of course, you are ready, Taem. They won’t choose you to debut this year if they don’t see the potential in you. And what you have is not just potential. You have talent!”

Even when they are miles apart, Chanseul can actually feel that the boy is smiling upon hearing her words just now.

“Noona, komawo yo. I wish you’re here..”

 

“Oh..omo!”

Chanseul was forced to come back to her senses as she heard a voice of a woman, and right in front of her, she can see the famous Madam Kim trying to catch the oranges rolling on the ground in front of the school gate. It is obvious that the paper bag broke just now.

“Let me help you!” Chanseul said as she quickly bend down and started to collect the oranges one by one. She later puts them all in another paper bag the woman is holding and smiles.

“There,” she said, flashing her sweet smile.

“Thank you, Shin Chanseul,” the woman smiles back as she thanked her.

“Eh? How did you know my name?” the girl asked, widening her eyes at the same time.

“You always appeared in the weekly school magazine,” Madam Kim responded and the girl quickly nodded in understanding. The fact that a respected figure actually read and remember her from the school magazine makes her happy.

Without knowing, both of them are walking together into the school, talking about random things. Madam Kim is one of the biggest sponsors to the school since last year, and she always visits the school from time to time. All of the staff and students of the school know and respect her.

“Do you want to have lunch together today, Chanseul?” Madam Kim suddenly asked, and Chanseul can feel what a caring person she is just by listening to her voice.

“I would love that, Madam Kim, but I am actually.. on a diet now,” she responded, but she doesn’t look so sure of what she is saying at the moment.

An elder of Madam Kim’s age can tell right away that Chanseul is lying, but since they just get to know each other, the woman decided not to ask more and just smiles.

*     *     *

19 year old Kris is sitting at the edge of his bed, flipping through his school picture album. He graduated from high school last year and is now a college student. Chanseul and him remain awkward for the rest of the year, probably because no one is ready to talk about it. He did tried, but the girl refused a number of times, and he finally thought maybe both of them are not even meant to be best friends. Even if Chanseul wants to listen to him, Kris doesn’t really know how is he going to explain himself.

“I love you and I want to kiss you” doesn’t sound convincing enough, the girl will probably hates him for good.

They did bumped into one another once in a while throughout the year. Chanseul would usually just bowed to him. They said their “hi” and that’s it.

Kris turned to another page, and his eyes are now on the first picture. It is the only picture of him and Chanseul ever taken. It was last year, couple of months before he ruined their friendship. A fellow club member snapped the picture during the club activity, and Chanseul looks really happy. Kris let out a heavy sigh, realizing how much he is missing the girl’s smile.

*     *     *

After the school ends, Chanseul quickly ran out of her class, heading towards the public phone in the middle of the school area. She promised to call Taemin today, and there is a limit to use the phone at the orphanage, so the public phone is the best choice. She doesn’t want Taemin to be the only one calling her all the times. She should make efforts, too.

“Noona!” she can hear Taemin’s cheerful voice on the other side of the line.

“Taeminnie! How are you?” she asked. It has been two days since the last time they talked. And it has been almost two months since the last time they meet each other. Chanseul is missing the boy as much as he is missing her, too.

They keep on talking for few more minutes, and Chanseul keep on inserting coins into the public phone unknowingly so they can keep on talking, until she finally ran out of coins.

“Taem, I need to go in one minute. I don’t have any coins left,” she said as she chuckles.

“Ah, jinjja? Noona, mianhae! I’m sorry that you have to spend your pocket money to call me,”

“Aniya, it is okay, Taem. It is not that much,” she said, calculating the amount of money she used just now at the same time with her fingers.

“Noona, do you have money for lunch?”

“Eiii, don’t worry. I already ate my lunch just now before I call you. I ate a lot,”

“Jinjja? I’m glad to hear that! Please don’t spend too much money to call me, neh noona? Think of youself first. I’ll call you next time! Maybe next two days. I’ll call your hostel, okay?”

“Okay! I’ll wait!”

“Take care, noona. I hope I can see you soon..”

“I hope I can see you soon, too. Take care, Taeminnie..”

And right at that moment, the last coin is fully used, and the line ended.

Chanseul sighed as she puts down the phone holder because she started to miss Taemin again. She turned to leave, only to find Madam Kim standing not very far from her, smiling.

“Shin Chanseul,” she called her name.

“Neh!” Chanseul responded.

“You rejected my offer for lunch, because you said you’re on a diet. And just now, you told your friend that you ate a lot. Which one is the truth?” the lady asked as she stepped forward.

“Uh ..” Chanseul tried to say something but find no words as she was caught off guard.

“I saw you left the class just now in a hurry. You haven’t eaten anything yet, right?” Madam Kim asked as she finally stands in front of the girl.

“N-neh..” Chanseul managed to croak a respond, and she looks extremely guilty for lying to the nice lady.

“I get that you think it is okay to lie to me, because I’m a stranger. But, you were talking to Taemin on the phone just now, right? I’ve had my eyes on you since last year, Chanseul. I know both of you are really closed. That's why I was shocked just now when you lied to him,”

Chanseul chose to stare at her school shoes, after trying to find excuses and failed. She is curious when Madam Kim said she had been looking at her for so long, but she didn’t have the guts to ask why. She also felt really bad for lying to such a nice woman, and most importantly, it hurts so much when she was reminded that she had lied to Taemin just now.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Madam Kim asked as she pats on the girl’s back, guiding her to walk together with her.

Usually Chanseul will definitely say no to any invitation by strangers, but not this time. As she is feeling extremely guilty for lying just now, she just nodded her head and follows the nice lady.

*     *     *

Taemin is sitting on the couch in the dancing studio. Still holding his mobile phone in his hand, he can’t stop smiling. He is always happy whenever he gets to talk to Chanseul. It was then when suddenly Jonghyun took a seat right next to him.

“Did you just talk to Chanseul?” he asked, handing a clean towel to Taemin. Taemin took it and used it to wipe his sweat from the dance training just now before he stopped to talk to Chanseul.

“Neh, hyung,” the boy nodded, still smiling. He talked a lot about Chanseul to this favourite hyung of his, that is why Jonghyun knows her name.

“You two must’ve missed each other so much,”

“I don’t know if she misses me too, hyung..”

“I’m sure she is, trust me,” Jonghyun said as he ruffles Taemin’s soft hair, causing the younger boy to chuckles.

*     *     *

Chanseul is really quiet. She is in a car with Madam Kim right now, both of them are sitting at the backseat. Once in awhile Chanseul will give directions to the driver since he didn’t know where she lived. Madam Kim insists to send her home today, so here she is, in the car, as awkward as ever.

Madam Kim is actually waiting for the girl to open , and it seems like she is really uncomfortable to even say anything, so she decided that she should just wait for the explanation. She doesn’t want to sound forceful on her.

“Stop here, please,”

Madam Kim looks outside of the window as soon as her driver pulled over the car, following Chanseul’s words. The woman’s heart skip a bit when she saw the car actually parked right in front of an orphanage. She had been seeing the orphanage many times, but never paid a visit. And she never thought she will meet one of the orphans, too.

“Madam, you want to know why I lied just now, right..?”

After being quiet throughout the ride, Chanseul finally spoke to the very nice lady who offered to send her home today.

“Madam, you can see the kids at the front yard, right? All of them are not around my age. They are younger,”

While listening, Madam Kim looks at the kids playing and running inside the orphanage’s gate. Indeed, most of them are around 4-7.

“Most people who came to adopt kids at our orphanage are parents who couldn’t conceive, and most of the times, they will pick the younger kids. They want to experience parenthood since the beginning,”

Madam Kim started to see where Chanseul’s story is going, but still couldn’t relate to the lie of not eating just now, but she decided to listen more.

“Some of us were not lucky enough to be adopted when we were younger. Someone like me,” Chanseul chuckles a bit, and Madam Kim holds her skinny fingers in hers, trying to make the girl feel better.

“The orphanage did get money from the government every month, but usually the amount is insufficient. Especially these days, there are more kids admitted in here, and the amount of money received remained the same. So we rely a lot on donations. Even for food and clothes,”

Being one of the eldest orphan there, Chanseul understands the difficulties faced by the orphanage more than enough. She is close to many of the staff there, and she overheard their conversations once in a while.

“Majority of the clothes donated are for kids, because they are the majority here. And this..”

Madam Kim looks at the girl when she touches her school uniform she is wearing; the upper piece and the skirt, and later pointed to her school shoes.

“Are the only set closest to my size,” she said, chuckling a bit but Madam Kim knows that deep inside, the girl is struggling as well.

“Actually this is my uniform from last year. We didn’t get any high school uniform donation this year that I can fit in, and.. I’m growing up. This.. started to feel tight and uncomfortable. So, I started to eat less since couple of months ago. I love going to school, Madam. I don’t want my school uniform to be a problem,”

The 40 year old lady looks at the girl with sympathy. Chanseul is far from overweight, but the situation at the orphanage forced her to eat less so she can still wear her school uniform.

“Chanseul-ah, are you free right now?” the 40 year old lady asked.

“ Neh!” Chanseul responded happily. She thought Madam Kim needs her help with anything, and she is willing to help her since she started to grow liking on her.

“Let’s get a new pair of school uniform for you,” Madam Kim smiles. Her intention is to make this young girl happy but the girl’s smile faded as soon as she heard her.

“A-aniyo! Please don’t take me wrong, Madam. I didn’t tell you this story to get your sympathy. I just want you to know that.. that I have no intention to lie to you and my friend.. If Taemin knows I didn’t eat these days, he will be worried. I want him to focus on his training. And, and, and..”

Madam Kim feels pity towards the girl so much, her heart almost bleed. Chanseul continued again.

“I can’t accept money from strangers, Madam. I don’t have money to pay you back. I really appreciate your offer! Thank you for sending me back!” the girl bowed and quickly get out of the car. She bowed again when Madam Kim tried to call her and disappeared behind the gates.

“Shin Chanseul..” the lady said her name, still feeling bad at the fact she didn’t get to help the teenage girl.

*     *     *
 

April 2008

Chanseul stepped into a store in the district with a broad smile. She just received the prize money from the writing competition she entered and won couple of months ago. She quickly tried a few pairs of school uniforms and decided on one that feels most comfortable on her body. She was about to go to the counter to make the payment when suddenly she comes across the food and drinks section.

“Banana milk..” she read the label. Her heart aches as she is missing Taemin so much. They haven’t see each other for almost two months and Chanseul understands that Taemin is really close to his debut day, and really close to leaving her.

It was then when suddenly she feels a pair of skinny but strong arms wrapped around her waist from her back. In normal situations, any girl would definitely scream or at least tried their best to free themselves, but this is a different situation for Chanseul.

Her heart skipped a beat when the person tightened the embrace, bringing her really close to his chest and Chanseul can actually hear his heart beat.

His warmth is familiar on her body. Nobody can ever be this warm except for that one special person in her life.

“Taemin..?” she called for his name, but her voice came out almost like a whisper as her feelings for him grow even stronger right at the moment.

“How did you know it’s me?” Taemin asked as he rests his chin on her shoulder, his lips very near to her ears, he doesn’t have to speak at a loud volume even though the music is blasting at the store’s speaker.

“How can I not know..?” Chanseul asked, smiling as tears started to pool in her eyes. She missed him way too much.

“I miss you, noona..” Taemin whispered before he gives a light peck on Chanseul’s cheek. Both of them have feelings for each other too much, that two months not seeing the other is more than torturing.

They stayed in the same position for another couple of minutes before Chanseul quickly wipes her tears and turn to face the boy.

“Did you get taller again?!” she quickly asked when she realized she needs to look up even more to look into his eyes compared to before.

“I guess so, noona. I’m 175cm now!” Taemin smiles proudly.

“You used to be shorter than me!” Chanseul whined before she pouts.

“And no I have to bend down to look into your adorable eyes,” Taemin said as he bend down a bit, their eyes are at the same level now. Chanseul smiles and palms Taemin’s face.

“You still have babyfat on your cheeks. Kyeopta..” she said, pinching the boy’s cheeks.

“I’ll be sure to shred them of soon so I can be manly,” Taemin chuckles.

“You’re 14, Taem. Masculinity can wait,”

“15, noona,”

“Your birthday is in July, so 14. Now tell me, why didn’t you tell me you’re coming back today? And how did you know I’m here?”

“For your first question, well, I want to surprise you, noona. For the second question, I.. was actually walking with you since you stepped out of the school gate,” Taemin laughs a bit before Chanseul hit his elbow.

“Yah, stalker! Why didn’t you greet me at that time!”

“Ouch, noona!! I did want to greet you, but.. but..”

“But what, hm?”

“I missed you too much.. I just want to look at you longer..” Taemin explained. Chanseul blushed at his honesty and hit him on his shoulder one more time.

“I missed you too,” she chuckles.

Taemin didn't say anything, but he gave Chanseul a proper look from her long hair down to her school shoes.

"What are you looking at?" Chanseul asked.

"Did you lost weight, noona?" Taemin answered her question with a question.

"A..aniya.."

"You did, right? You look.. skinnier.."

Chanseul quickly changed the topic because she doesn't want to make Taemin worried with her current condition. Taemin only stop asking about it after he made her promised to eat more.

Both of them keep on talking about random things happening in their life for the past two months as they walk to the counter, and Chanseul learned that Taemin is going to debut next month. She is happy and worried at the same time. Happy because Taemin’s dream will so come true, and worried that there will no space anymore in his life for this orphan friend of his.

Taemin learned that things are still awkward between Chanseul and Kris, and he is more than relieved actually. He realized that it will be even more difficult for him and Chanseul to meet after his group debut later, and he knows Kris shouldn’t be anywhere close to his favourite girl while Taemin is away.

“Tell me about your group members! I only heard about Jonghyun-shi and Minho-shi so far,” Chanseul asked, trying to brush away her worry about Taemin not having time for her later.

“Okay! There’s this one guy, he looks so fragile like a tofu, noona. His name is Jinki, but I heard the company is looking a stage name for him. At first, many people thought he is younger but he is actually the eldest among us, so he will be the leader!” Taemin introduced the third member excitedly.

“Tofu-like guy, fragile, Jinki, might have another name for his stage name, look young but is actually the oldest, and the leader, okay!” Chanseul repeated, trying to remember.

“We have an omma too in the dorm, noona. His name is Kibum hyung. He nags a lot, and he cooks and cleans almost all the time! He will be using Key as his stage name, because there are too many Kibums in the industry already,”

“Omma, nags, cook and clean, Key, okay got it! Taeminnie, what will your group name be?” Chanseul asked excitedly, hoping to hear something really cool like DBSK, with a cool fandom name like Cassiopeia.

“Um.. I heard that we will be Baby Team..?” Taemin responded, brushing on his nape at the same time.

“B-Baby.. Team..? So will your fandom be.. babysitters..?” Chanseul asked, trying hard to digest the name, and caused Taemin to laugh.

“Omona, noona. Babysitters sounds really funny! Noona, do you know what our concept will be?”

“Tell me!” Chanseul responded excitedly.

“We will be a rap group noona, because we can’t really sing..” Taemin chuckles and Chanseul  joined him.

“Any concept is okay, Taem. I’ll be your No. 1 fan! Go, Baby Team!” she cheers, and both of them laugh together.


LET'S TAKE A SHORT BREAK!___♡♥♡
I am not lying about all the random facts in their conversation above, haha.
Here are some of the tweets related to Taemin's conversation with Chanseul.
And LOL at SHINee can't sing, what the, people! There is no weak singer in
that group, we all know that, LOL.

Okay, let's continue. Both of them are still at the mall!

Chanseul was about to pay for her school uniform when the cashier told her that her item was already paid.

“Eh? But..” she was about to ask for more details from the cashier when she heard Taemin’s voice.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Madam Kim!”

Chanseul turned back upon hearing Taemin greeting the nice lady and indeed, she saw Madam Kim standing right next to them.

“Annyeong, Lee Taemin,” the nice lady greeted Taemin back.

“Oh, you know my name!” the boy said, widening his eyes at the same time.

“Everyone knows you when you were still at our school. You won many dancing competition, and you have a fanclub, too,” said Madam Kim, smiling as she turned to Chanseul.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Madam!” Chanseul greeted her as she bows a bit, and the lady ruffles her hair. Both of them started to get closer since the incident two months ago.

“How are you, Chanseul-ah?”

“I’m doing fine! Um, Madam, if I may ask, are you the one who paid for my school uniform?” Chanseul quickly asked.

“Yes. I actually went to visit you at the orphanage just now, and they told me you’re here,”

“Ahh.. that is so kind of you to visit me..”

Taemin didn’t say anything and just look at both of them. He knows that Chanseul became close the main sponsor of their school since couple of months ago, but he didn't expect them to be this comfortable with each other.

“But Madam.. I can’t accept money from a strang-“ Chanseul didn’t  get to finish her sentence when Madam Kim signalled her to hushed. She took out a white envelope from her bag and opens it in front of the two teenagers.

“It wasn’t just a visit just now,” she said as she handed the letter to Chanseul.

The girl took it from her hand, looking at Madam Kim for a while, and then turns to Taemin who is now standing even closer to her to read the content of the letter.

Chanseul opened the letter, and the letter head caught her off guard right away. Even Taemin widened his eyes before he looks at Madam Kim, and then turns to read the letter again for confirmation.

Chanseul can feel her fingers are trembling. She does not know how and what to feel as she read the content.

It is confirmation letter to her adoption by Madam Kim. Tears stated to pool in her eyes and she quickly blink them away. Taemin pats on her back and squeezed her by her shoulder a bit. He too, is having mixed feelings about Chanseul finally being adopted.

Madam Park steps closer to them and brought Chanseul into her embrace. More than close enough for her to whisper to the young girl.

“You don’t call the person who adopted you a ‘stranger’, Chanseul-ah. You called her ‘omma’,”

And Chanseul finally cried in her warm hug.

As much as Taemin wanted to hug her favourite girl right now,  he can’t. This is the first time he saw her crying, and he really wants to be the one who comforted her, and wipe her tears away.

But Chanseul have a parent now. Taemin can’t just simply hug her like he always did before. He needs permission.

“Let’s go home. We’ll go and pack your things later, but I want to bring you home now,”

Chanseul nodded quickly as she wiped her tears away.

Madam Kim turned Taemin and invited him to come along.

“I know you’re her best friend. Please come along, so later you know where to find her. She won’t be at the orphanage anymore after this,”

And Taemin quickly nods his head. Just like that, all three of them are now in the car. Chanseul is really nervous, but both Taemin and Madam Kim are trying their best to make her feel comfortable.

“I hope you don’t mind that you’re not going to have an appa. My husband dies 10 years ago,” Madam Kim said and Chanseul quickly shook her head.

“You.. are more than enough..”

She actually was about to end the sentence with “omma” but find it hard to do it since all of these happened really quickly. Her new omma just smiles at her and she suddenly took out a necklace from her handbag. She placed it on Chanseul’s palm carefully.

Chanseul widened her eyes when she saw the pendant. It was a simple silver plate with her name on it.

“My daughter was supposed to be your age, if she survived,” Madam Kim suddenly said. Both of the teenagers look at her as they are really curious about the necklace.

“I even told my husband that our daughter will have a Korean name,”

Both Chanseul and Taemin look at each other, and the 40 year old lady saw that and quickly understand their confusion.

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you. My husband is Chinese. We named our first child with a Chinese name, so I wanted my second child to have a Korean name,”

“And you want to name her Chanseul, right, Madam Kim?” Taemin asked.

“Yes. That necklace was made for her much earlier, but then .. I got into an accident. It wasn’t bad, but I lost my daughter because of a miscarriage. I only have her necklace all this while, and I want you to have the necklace now, Chanseul,”

Chanseul quickly hold her new omma's hand, their finger intertwines. Now she understands what does this lady meant when she said she had been paying attention to Chanseul since last year. Whenever she read the news about Chanseul, or her writings in the school newspaper, the young girl must’ve reminded her of her daughter so much.

The journey to her new home took around 15 minutes, and all three of them managed to learn quite a lot about each other within that short period of time. Taemin started to feel comfortable as he is sure Madam Kim will take a good care of Chanseul.

They are still having a good chat when the car pulled over in front of a big house. Chanseul gasped when she saw how big the front yard is. There is a small flower garden which she quickly fell in love with the moment she stepped in to the yard.

She quickly pulls on Taemin’s arm, pointing to the small garden, not saying anything as she is so speechless at the fact that she will be seeing the flower garden everyday starting from now on. Taemin chuckles as he is aware of Chanseul's interest in flowers, and both of them followed Madam Kim into the house.

Chanesul is still holding Taemin’s arm as they stepped inside. The house is so beautiful from outside, but even more beautiful inside.

“You.. live here a-alone..?” she asked, stuttering her words a bit as she is still surprised at the current view she is seeing right now.

“I live here with my son. Come, let me introduce you to your oppa,” Madam Kim said as she took Chanseul’s hand in hers. The word 'oppa' strike Taemin's heart a little bit, knowing that Chanseul will have another guy in her life starting from now on. It was then when they heard someone stepping down the stairs and later, they heard his voice, too.

“Omma, why are you so late today? I’m so hungry, I thought I might die of starvatio-“ and the young guy didn’t get to finish his sentence when he reached the floor and saw his mother with Chanseul and Taemin.

Chanseul is so surprised she didn’t know what she should say to her, well, oppa.

And Taemin who is even more surprised than the girl, quickly tightened his grip on Chanseul’s hand.

It was then when everything started to make sense to Taemin.

“My husband is Chinese. We named our first child with a Chinese name, so I wanted my second child to have a Korean name,”

There aren’t that many Chinese seen in their hometowm. Throughout  Taemin’s almost 15 years of life, he only met a couple of Chinese in the area, and one of them is of course the person he dislikes the most.

“Chanseul-ah, meet my son. Kris.”

Both teenagers froze as they are looking at Chanseul’s brother with a Chinese name, Kris Wu Yi Fan.

Just when Taemin realized he is going to be more distant to his favourite girl next month, he learned that Chanseul is going to live in the same house with Kris starting today, and he doesn’t like it at all.

RAMBLES___♡♥♡
Oh God, I finally get to finished this chapter!
I thought of splitting it into two chapters, but then~
I need to thank all of you for supporting my fic.
So yeah, here's the 4969-words-chapter for you guys!
There are quite a number of developments in this chapter.
Please don't just leave. Your comments will be my
motivations. Tell me what you think of the current chapter, ne?
Thank you, everyone!

PYNKFAERY