After days of planning, writing, reading, re-reading, and going over the twins’ book, plus writing the actual biography (the one that was supposed to be completely non-fiction instead of just half and half), the day finally came that Taejun and Chaejun were to attend the press conference about the book with SHINee. Safe to say, the twins were freaking out.

    “I swear to God, if they even think about putting makeup on me, I will take every last stick of eyeliner, every ounce of foundation, and every pad of eyeshadow and shove them up the stylists’-”

    “Hyung, please. It’s not the stylists’ fault. They’re just doing their job.”

    Taejun turned to his younger twin beside him. “Do I look like an idol to you?”

    “Well…” Key said.

    Taejun rounded on him. “You hush. I am not wearing make up and that’s final.”

    Chaejun, Key and the rest of SHINee squirmed in their seats in the van. Even SHINee was a little on edge. This was their first time being seen with the twins publically. They had no idea what the fans and the media would think about what all had happened. As far as they knew, the general public knew little to nothing about what SHINee was doing with two twin boys. They had tried their best to hide the twins’ faces from the media when they all went out together, but a few pictures and stories had leaked none-the-less. Now came the press conference and the media’s response. None of them had any idea how the public would react.

           Eventually, they arrived at the place where the press conference was being held. The front was packed tight with fans and media and, of course, cameras. They looked like a swarm of multi-colored bees around a hive. They went around to the back, parked, and quickly got out and into the building. A staff member directed them to the dressing rooms, where the stylists quickly set to getting SHINee in their outfits and applying their makeup and what not.

           The twins sat in a corner, out of the stylists’ way, completely in awe. After putting on their luxurious, ornate outfits, SHINee sat in the stylist chairs completely still. They were statues and the stylists were the artists. They didn’t move, not once. It may have been because this was a time to be serious, or it may have been because there were no other idols there to talk too, but either way, they let the stylists do their job quickly.

           Minho and Onew were done first. They walked over and grabbed each of Taejun’s arms, pulling him up. They shoved him behind the curtain that was used for the changing area. He came out looking like he was a member of SHINee, dressed in skinnies, high tops, and an iconic t-shirt with a loose jacket and several accessories. Then, Minho and Onew plopped him down in one of the empty stylist chairs and held him still. He swore the entire time, but complied. Chaejun laughed. Then, up came Taemin with Key. They did the same thing, only Chaejun didn’t grumble through the makeup. Of course, they came out with the twin look.

           “Conference starts in five,” a staff member popped in once all seven of them were done with clothes and makeup.

           “My face feels like it’s covered in acrylic paint,” Taejun reached up to touch his face only to be stopped by Key.

           “No touching. Just ignore it and you’ll forget about it. You’ll get used to it eventually,” Key promised.

           “Also, let us do the talking. If they ask you a question, answer it, but don’t say anything more,” Jonghyun warned. “It’s better that way.”

           Minho nodded. “The media is tricky in any country.”

           “And remember to smile! Fans like smiles! Don’t look stiff, like you don’t want to be here,” Taemin pointed out.

           “I don’t want to be here,” Taejun said.

           “Try to look like you do,” Onew revised.

           “How about you Chaejun? Gwenchana?” Key asked.

           “Ne. I’m fine,” Chaejun nodded.

           “Well, let’s get this over with then.”

           They sat in a row of four and a row of three in the back, spread out slightly so the cameras could capture everyone. The twins were in the front, Key next to Taejun and Taemin next to Chaejun. Minho, Jonghyun, and Onew, respectively, were directly behind the twins. No one had said anything yet and the cameras were already snapping pictures every second. The twins had gone stiff, despite what Taemin said. Yet SHINee couldn’t do anything to console them like they usually did (better to not give the media anything to talk about other than the release of the twins’ book).

           After a few minutes of photo-snapping, a box shaped microphone was passed to them and smaller mics were clipped onto the front of each of their shirts. Onew took the box microphone, they were cued to start talking, and the five idols bowed, reciting their introduction.

           “Good morning everyone. This is our press conference on the release of the book everyone has most likely heard about by now. Today, we will be talking about what the book is about, when it will be released, about our authors here, and any other information as well,” Onew started. He passed the microphone to Jonghyun.

           “Ne, so, here in front of us we have our authors who worked hard on the book, as well as another book to go with it. The book is, as they call it, a ‘fictional biography’ imitating how our lives were or may have been from the day we entered SM Entertainment as trainees to the period of our Japanese debut. For example, struggles we went through as trainees, our thoughts and feelings on our debut day, the three, almost four years we’ve all been together, and other things like that. We found this story and we, as well as our manager and Lee Sooman liked it so much that we decided to publish it.”

           “Would the two boys please introduce themselves?” a female interviewer asked.

           Jonghyun handed the mic to Taejun. He took a deep breath and spoke, bowing. “Annyeong haseyo. I am Shin Taejun. My brother and I are twins, and together we wrote the book titled Forever SHINing: SHINee’s Story. Also, I am the elder twin.”

           Taejun passed his brother the mic. “Annyeong haseyo. I’m Shin Chaejun. And…I suppose I’m the one who suggested the idea for the story.”

           “So you’re fans of SHINee?”

           “Yes. Definitely,” the twins answered.

           “How did you come up with the idea, and how did SHINee find the story?”

           “Well,” Chaejun said, “we were on a fansite for K-pop and we noticed that some of the stories people wrote were outrageous or unrealistic, so we decided to create a story of our own to prove that you can write a fan story without making it outlandish. We were surprised to see how successful it was.”

           Taemin took the mic. “Actually, I was the one who found the story. I was bored one day so I decided to just look up SHINee for the fun of it and I happened to come across this site and found their story, ironically, by just clicking the random button. I showed it to my hyungs, and we showed it to manager and he showed it to Lee Sooman who wanted to publish it.”

           “What is the other book that will be released with the fictional biography?”

           “It will be a non-fiction version of the book with parts written by us specifically as well,” Minho said.

           “Ne, the boys are working hard to write the non-fiction book, seeing as how it’s easier to just create events for a plot instead of following actual events. But we’re proud of them for working so hard,” Key said. The twins smiled at his words.

           “When will the books be released?”

           “The same date as the Barcelona travel guide,” Taejun said.

           “And also there will be a fansigning the same day as the fansigning for the travel guide,” Onew added.  

    So the interview went on, the interviewer asking a range of questions about the books and even having SHINee read the prologue as a teaser. The press conference seemed to be longer than most, although, that may have been because it was about two fanboys having their SHINee fanfic published. But, of course, with any media in any country, there are going to be questions like this:

    “Are the two of you close to SHINee?”

    There was exactly three seconds of silence before Chaejun covered his face and bent over to keep from laughing at the embarrassment and Taejun promptly said, “What?” SHINee squirmed, knowing that it would look bad if they diverted the question to save the poor twins from answering that question like the media wanted them too.

    “Are you close to SHINee?” the interviewer asked again. “Do you hang out with them a lot? Do you go to their schedules often? What kind of relationship do you have with them?”

      Taejun supposed this wasn’t the most personal question ever, and when worded the right way, it may have even been the most logical next question, seeing as how they did write about their lives. But that didn’t make it any less awkward. Common sense, he knew that he probably shouldn’t remark on just how close they had gotten with SHINee.

    “Well, since we are writing about them in the biographical sense,” Taejun started carefully, “I suppose we did have to get sort of close with them. We’ve done a few things together-done a few activities.”

    “Like what?”

    Okay, that was a little bit too close to personal. Luckily, Jonghyun saved him. “We’ve gone places and showed them around Seoul. They’re from New York, so we decided that we should give them a tour of Seoul, since they’ll probably be here awhile.”

“Um,” Taemin spoke up. You could literally feel his hyungs tense up, afraid of what would come out of the maknae’s mouth. “I think that, with them writing our biographies and us learning about each other, we’ve become like brothers. I think they make a nice addition to the SHINee family.”

The twins smiled and the rest of SHINee visibly sighed in relief and laughed at their maknae. Taemin just smiled at everyone and patted Chaejun’s shoulder. The two of them laughed. So, the question wasn’t that bad. Just maybe a little uncomfortable.

“You all do seem like brothers and like one big family,” the interviewer agreed.

“So, I guess now we’re SHINee plus two,” Onew smiled and made peace signs with his hands.

“I guess so,” the others agreed.

    The rest of the press conference went smoothly. The twins and SHINee were also interviewed separately, which went better than expected. When it was over, they all went back to the dressing rooms to take off their makeup and change into more comfortable clothes.

    Taejun washed off the remaining makeup off of his face. He looked in the giant mirror in front of him, seeing his brother talking with Taemin on the couch, Jonghyun listening to music, Onew picking at a lunch of fried chicken that he had brought with him, Key coming out of the dressing area fixing his normal street clothes, and Minho gathering his stuff together. Remembering how the interviewer said they seemed like one big family of brothers and Onew saying that they were now SHINee plus two, he scoffed.

    Instantly, the others turned to him. “What? Was the makeup that bad?” Key asked.

    “No, that’s not what I’m scoffing at.” He threw the wet towel down on the table. “So we’re all family now, huh? Chaejun and I aren’t just some fanfic-writing fanboys rooming with the five of you because Sooman wants our book and a biography written and published. I find that hard to believe.”

“Hyung!” Chaejun shot up from the couch. “How could you say that?! After all they’ve done for us?!”

Taejun turned around. SHINee was still and quiet as the brothers exchanged debates. “I’m not saying I’m opposed to the idea. I’m saying that the media makes it sound like we’re all going to be together for the rest of our lives. Do you really think that we’ll have any reason--other than our heritage--for being here in Seoul after we’ve finished with our books? Once we’re done, we’re going back to New York and SHINee is off, back to Japan.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t be family!” Chaejun cried.

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t help when the media talks like we’re some sort of recently added new members of SHINee. In fact, the most ridiculous thing I can think of right now is SM changing SHINee from a quintet to a septet!Seriously, do you have any idea how much heat not only us two, but SHINee and SM would get if that were to happen!? Not only that, but it’s pretty much impossible anyway! We don’t know the first thing about being idols!”

“Why are you acting like this?!”

“Because I’m not going to attach myself to something as fleeting and evanescent as this! We’re here to write a book and that’s it! I’m not going to let the media put the idea into our heads—or at least not mine—that we’re going to be here even after we finish the book! I’m not going to get attached to all of this just to have myself emotionally butchered when it’s time for us to leave!”

“Oh, right. Because you’re so good at not attaching yourself to things! I suppose I can’t say I’m surprised, cause you’re a player! That’s what you’re good at! Putting on a show then leaving and moving on to the next interesting thing that passes you by! Just like you do to all the girls at school back home!”

Taejun didn’t say anything after that, SHINee gave a little gasp, and Chaejun covered his mouth, shocked by his own outburst.

“Hyung, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“No, you’re right. I’m good at avoiding attachments. So this is me, avoiding what’s going to eventually hurt everyone when the time comes.” Taejun grabbed his bag and walked out of the dressing room.

Chaejun blinked back tears as he fell back down to the couch. Taemin tried to comfort him, but he pushed him away.

“He’s just stressed,” Onew said. “Both of you are.”

“You’ll be okay,” Minho added. “We all will.”

Chaejun just nodded as silent tears dropped from his eyes. He wiped his face with the back of his hand.

They found Taejun already in the SHINee van, ready to go. The drive back home was long, silent, and tense. Once back home, Chaejun hurried up to his and Taemin’s room, and Taejun headed up to the room he shared with Key and Jonghyun. Chaejun threw his bag into a corner, landing on a pile of stuffed animals; one of them squeaked. A few tears still silently falling, he grabbed one of the large teddy bears Taemin told him he could have, and clutched it to his chest, hiding on the other side of the bed, sitting on the floor, his knees drawn up.

The door creaked as Taemin quietly came in and moved over to Chaejun. He sat next to him, cross-legged. He looked at him sadly, watching him cry quietly. Watching him, he was reminded of when he was younger. He knew how hard it was to be so young and on the verge of becoming famous. Although they were famous for different reasons, the outcome still stood: Stress and tears. But all that plus hard work eventually led to success.

After a couple of minutes, Taemin pulled the bear from his arms and replaced it with a hug. Chaejun had stopped crying, but he still held on to Taemin for comfort. Taemin rubbed his back and his hair.

“It’ll be okay. The both of you are just stressed out. This is all new to you. I know you didn’t mean all that. You love your brother.”

“I know what he’s saying,” Chaejun sniffed and pulled away from Taemin, wiping his cheeks with his palms. “But still, we can be family. We don’t have to see each other constantly to be family. I mean, look at you five and the other SM artists. And, really, it’s like all the Kpop groups are family. Even the groups you haven’t met. You’re all like one big, surrogate family away from all the homes and family that you left to become idols. You never forget your real family. You miss them and even cry over it, but the family you guys make throughout your careers make up for the pain. And don’t even get me started on all the fans.”

Taemin nodded. “You’re exactly right. But... I don’t think Taejun can see that just yet. Just give him time. He’ll realize that sooner or later. And, in a way, we’re already family”--Taemin nudged Chaejun with a smile--“whether he likes it or not.”

Chaejun smiled back and laughed.

In the three boys’ room, Jonghyun and Key found Taejun sitting on the floor, digging through his things and sulking. Taejun ignored them and pulled out a yearbook from the previous year. He flipped through it, stopping on certain pages. The two SHINee boys came up on either side of him and sat down next to him.

Taejun flipped back to the beginning of the book. He pointed out a Freshman girl. “Annette,” he said to them. “Last year she was so quiet and to herself that no one really noticed her. Typical Freshman, nervous and unsure of herself. I noticed her though. She was small and cute with the softest brown hair. I called her Lin Lin--like those Lindt Lindor truffles--because her hair reminded me of them.”

He pointed out another Freshman girl. “Lilianna. She hated her middle name, Samantha. She had hair the color of white beach sand. People made fun of her for it. She hated me at first because I nicknamed her Sandy. She wouldn’t talk to me for weeks. Then I decided to just call her Lily and it went from there. She was a hard girl to keep up with. Energetic and peppy.”

He flipped to the Sophmores and pointed out one. “Jacqueline. She was the Sophmore--that’s tenth grade--class representative. I called her Miss First Lady ‘cause she reminded me of Jacqueline Kennedy, our thirty-fifth president’s wife. She had short brown hair like her too. She’d always blush when I walked into a class I shared with her and announce her like she really was the First Lady. She was one of my favorites.”

He picked out a Junior. “Jannelle. Your typical kpop fangirl, but she wasn’t possessive and crazy. She actually picked me out. I think I ran away from her for the first three days but I gave up when she put a gift basket filled with candy and little notes on my homeroom desk. She wore me out physically and mentally, but I had a soft spot for her. My nickname for her was Nell at first but she kept saying she liked Ne-Ne better.”

Taejun sighed. “There’s too many Seniors for me to pick out, but...” He shook his head. He flipped through the book until he got to the back, which was filled with other pictures of the students. He stopped on one picture: a picture of himself with yet again another girl. This one had short, black hair and sported a raver-rocker chick style outfit. Taejun said nothing.

“And her?” Key asked. “Who’s she?”

He snapped the book shut. “Adrianna Mackenzie Morgan. I call her Neveah. She keeps asking why.” He laughed, “she doesn’t realize it’s ‘heaven’ spelled backwards. Her nickname for herself is either Kenna or Enzie--the last part of her name. She’s...someone that I’ll never have. She’s who I really want, but she ignores me then calls me friend. And, no, she’s not playing hard to get. She’s not like that. Chaejun doesn’t know I really want her. And by ‘want’ I mean she’s the one I want for myself, not just a week or month long fling. He just thinks she’s smart enough not to fall under my spell.”

Taejun stood up and moved to sit on Jonghyun’s bed. “Yes. I’m a player. But I remember all the girls’ names that I’ve ever been out with. I’ve got a yearbook for every year of middle school too, and just like this one, I’ve got all the girls I was with throughout the year circled. I remember the nicknames I gave them, what they were like, their personalities, and their likes and dislikes. I even remember everywhere I took them.”

He looked up at Jonghyun and Key. “I don’t plan to add any Korean girls to the list, especially not an idol. Friends are fine, but no flings like back home. I’m not going to do that. Not when I know I’m probably not going to come back here or ever see them again.”

After that, they all got ready for lunch. But before they went downstairs, Jonghyun said to Taejun, “How do you know? Nothing’s impossible. I wouldn’t put any ideas past Sooman-nim, as long as it sounds like it has even a remote potential for success.”

Taejun tried to ignore Jonghyun’s words, but they had already stuck.

“Just don’t tell Chaejun about Neveah.”

“You mean Heaven,” Key joked. 

a/n Yeah! got back into writing now that I've graduated and all that's standing between me is my personal motivation and self-control. (i hope i hope) No one forgot about this story, right? *worried*