You closed your eyes and recollected the lyrics in your head. The words came in a flow and on your cue you started singing. Taemin’s voice was your voice and his words were your words. The song was one of the oldest songs of Taemin and you were surprised anyone still listened to this. It was a rather simple song from the time ‘he was still struggling with his feelings’ according to the managers. It was Taemin’s song to you. ‘My other half’. As the song continued you opened your eyes and saw all people around stare at you. You stopped when the music stopped. ‘I forgot.. I sound like oppa.’

 

“That was amazing Hyun Jong-shi!” One of the female coordinators sighed. Little Taemin almost jumped on you again in a protective way.

 

“My hyung..” He muttered. It was really cute to see him act as childish even if it sounded really bratty.

 

“Yah maknae, no hogging hyung.” Minho said in a warning voice and gave you a meaningful look, “that was good.”

 

“It really was.. You should consider becoming an idol yourself.” A male coordinator said. You raised a brow in irritation. Not this again.

 

“I’m not doing that Minho.. I don’t want to be known as the cousin of Taemin.” You said calmly even though it wasn’t even Minho suggesting it this time. Minho shrugged.

 

“I still think you should. Why don’t you ask for Taemin’s opinion.” He was looking at little Taemin, but you knew he meant the other one. Your oppa. You shook your head.

 

“It’s not neccessary. I know his opinion and I’m not complying to it..” You said, still calm but losing your calmness little by little.

 

“Funny that you should mention Taemin.. His singing is a lot like Han Taemin’s singing isn’t it?” You spun around at that voice. ‘Don’t get me into more trouble would you?’ You mouthed. Yui shrugged.

 

“How did you even get inside?” You asked. 

 

“That would be my doings.. How are you dongsaeng?” Yunho smiled in the mature way he always smiled. You tilted your head slightly. Yunho brought Yui along today. That probably meant something. Your lips thinned as they curved into a smile.

 

“Yunho.. I see you took a liking into my old friend?” You asked boldly. You were a guy, guys can get away with that kind of things, right? Yunho just smirked as he took Yui’s hand who was trying to sneak away.

 

“Indeed I have.. Can I have your blessings on that?” You almost laughed at his formal language that seemed so much outdated that you couldn’t take it seriously. Yui’s cheeks glowed red. She was blushing! How cute.. She liked him too! You smiled and stepped forward.

 

“I, Yui’s old friend, hereby pledge my trust in your hands,” you started smirking widely as Yui’s eyes widened in terror.

 

“Yah! What are you doing?!” She yelped, trying to get her hand back but as a reaction your put your hand on Yunho’s hand that was still holding hers.

 

“And I expect you to treat her with respect and honour her like a man should. Remember that a man who hurts women isn’t a man at all, but a rat. I leave her in your hands now, until faith calls me again to help either of you.” You stated in a very solemn voice. Yui glared at you as she finally got her hand back.

 

“Was that neccessary?” She asked, slightly ticked off. You knew she was happy with your confirmation but would never admit ti to you. So you nodded and ruffled her hair. 

 

“It was, I wish the two of you the best together..” She smiled softly and hugged you.

 

“Thank you Ae.. I’m happy you’ll still be my friend after all these years.” She whispered. You hugged her back.

 

“I’ll always be your friend, call me tonight okay?” You whispered in your own voice, then you continued in a more manly voice, “but I’m going to give you back to hyung now.. I don’t want him thinking funny things.” Yunho shook his head. He seemed happy. That was good. He deserved it. He was the best appa ever.. Wait.. If he was your appa, even in a joking way, did that make Yui your umma?! No!! That was impossible! Yui was younger than you!! It gave you a small headache and little Taemin pounced on you.

 

“Yah! Hyung! I thought you said your cousin was more important than any girl!” He whined childishly.

 

“Taemin, off me.. That’s not very nice of you to say to my old friend Yui.. Also to the one who’s going shopping with me Sunday.” You emphasised. Yui gave you an interested look. She liked shopping as long as she wasn’t the target(the girl who had to buy new things) and loved to try every kind of clothes on people. You smirked at Yunho.

 

“You had better prepare because shopping with her can be a little intense.” You said. Yunho laughed.

 

“That’s okay, if it’s for her, I can handle it.” He said, giving Yui a sweet look that made her blush deeply.

 

“Yah! Too corny hyung!” Minho complained.

 

“I agree, don’t flirt in front of us please.” You added, “so Yui-ah, are you coming shopping with me Sunday? Stop jumping Taemin! Fine, you can tag along!” Little Taemin cheered happily. Yui smirked at you. Oh oh.. That was the payback face that you hadn’t dealt with in person before, but you knew from experience that those who did suffered terrible fates.

 

“Sure! That sounds like fun! I guess we should leave now.. He’s needed on a set somewhere.” She said.

 

“Don’t call me ‘he’ so coldheartedly.. Call me oppa.” Yunho said in a less mature voice that you hadn’t heard from him. You managed to change your giggle into a chuckle. Yui was shy. But she covered it in a thick layer of toughness. But it seemed Yunho could see through that layer. Good for him.

 

“Please enjoy your on set date. Bye Yui!” You waved smiling happily while Yui gave you a pleading look before she was taken away by Yunho. Minho snickered.

 

“What was the whole ceremony about? Seriously, it looked like a really sappy scene from a cliche movie.” He complained. You shrugged.

 

“It was fun. And I’m good at making scenes.” You said, “now get back to practice you two! It’s your career that I’m working for!” You scolded. Minho nodded with a grin and finally picked up his practice. Little Taemin joined in too after a short period of mocking. You leaned against the wall and watched them.

 

“They’re really something.. I guess my cousin wasn’t boosting as much as I thought he was.” You muttered for the sake of making things look real at one of the coordinators.

 

“So you two really grew up together?” You nodded slightly.

 

“We saw the show, is there really nothing going on in SHINee? I mean, you’re not romantically involved with..-” You coughed.

 

“Romantically involved? I think you misunderstood something.. The SHINee members are straight, as am I. I’m not really looking for a relationship anyway so it doesn’t matter.” You said, trying to maintain your posture. These coordinators were just like fan girls.

 

“Really? But.. What about Key? He just kept stealing glances on that show..” Your eyes widened as you recalled the show that had made Yui laugh really hard. That day your head had been injured, Key had been bugging you about it constantly, but that was his inner umma. Nothing else.

 

“I was injured that day, he was only worried for me since he didn’t know what to do with Taemin should something happen to me. You may have noticed he tends to overreact.” You said, trying to improvise an answer that wouldn’t seem too suspicious.

 

“Ah.. I guess you’re right.. Too bad, it looked really cute.. I mean, he’s such a girly guy, if he dressed up as a girl you could make a couple..” You wanted to choke and laugh at that at the same time. They thought you were more manly than Key? Really? ‘It’s because he’s younger than I am..’ You thought.

 

“Ah, that’s sounds too weird.” You told the coordinators. They pouted which looked really weird.

 

“What about DBSk, do you like their songs?” One of them asked, casually changing the subject. You nodded slightly.

 

“I do.. They’ve been around longer and proved themselves to the audience I guess.” You said, wondering if a guy would actually say something like that. It was far easier to be acting like Taemin, he hated questions, was arrogant enough to dislike other artists and gave people cold shoulders before they could come close to him. But now that he was seeing IU, would it remain the same? You hoped it wouldn’t get harder for him.

 

“Than what about Taemin? You sang a very old song of his, you must be a fan of his right?” You almost sighed in frustration but luckily your phone rang and you quickly answered it.

 

“Yoboseyo?” You said questioningly.

 

“Yoboseyo.. Just wondering if you remembered the promise you made with me. Are you almost done with work?” You bit your lower lip, slightly bothered by the fact that the coordinators were trying to hear your conversation.

 

“I do.. The guys have to finish practice and then we’ll finish. Excuse me I’m going to talk outside.” You walked outside, those people were really nosy! You sighed and sat down in the hall.

 

“Gwenchana? Are you tired from work?” He asked, he sounded really worried, but that could also have been the influence of Taemin oppa the horrifying.

 

“I’m good.. Just people trying to eavesdrop.. The coordinators were acting like fan girls.. Why do these people have a thing for gay? Shouldn’t they dislike it because it makes boys less reachable for them?!” You ranted. Junsu chuckled.

 

“Aniyoh, they like it because if boys in a group date, no girl can come between the group. It makes them less reachable if they’re gay, but for a fan girl the other ten million fans are more threathening than the other group members.” He explained. That actually made some kind of sense!

 

“But I’m not in the group.. Even though.. Never mind. So what are you doing? Are you still working?” A man passed you by and you recognised him as one of the coordinators. The nerve these people had.

 

“Talking to your girlfriend?” He asked softly. You signaled you were talking on the phone and couldn’t answer him. He seemed disappointed but left you alone.

 

“No I’m not working.. I’m finished already.. Finish doing your job so that we can do fun things! I’m super bored here!!” Junsu whined childishly. You laughed softly.

 

“Mianhae.. I’ll come home right after the manager comes with the other three kids..” You said, “oh, did you notice Yunho and Yui?” You smirked.

 

“I did.. So are they official now? They were kissing last night..” Your eyes widened.

 

“Jinja?! That Yunho.. Well, I officially handed her over to him so there’s nothing I can do about it anymore.” You replied, you just knew Junsu had a smug smile on his face. It was almost audiable.

 

“There’s a lot of people getting in relationships now.. Good thing we can still play videogames and forget about it! Ah, I’m hanging up now. I’m hungry. Bye!!!” You laughed at his sudden distraction and put your phone back into your pocket before reentering the studio. Minho and little Taemin were training more seriously and the coordinators were helping them out this time. You sighed and took the schedule, waiting for the day to be over. It took almost two more hours until the other three members arrived. You excused yourself and left. This job got more and more tiring every day. You quickly got in the car and had almost started the engine when you caught someone looking at you.

 

“Ahnyeong.. Hyun Jong right?” You nodded, glancing at the boy in front of the car.

 

“Ne.. You seem familiar.” You said, he looked familiar. There was make up on his face. His clothes were rather fancy. He wore sunglasses in the middle of the day. “You’re an idol too aren’t you?” He chuckled while walking closer.

 

“It’s cool that you react like that.. I don’t see how you are related to Taeminnie. Hyunseung imnida.” You shook his hand. He looked at your hand. You became painfully aware that it was small and soft. Not very manly.

 

“You already know my name it seems. Is there anything you need?” He nodded.

 

“It’s really embarrassing, but I have no means of transportations.. And seeing as you have a car and you’re not a crazy fan girl, could you drop me off somewhere?” You nodded. It wouldn’t hurt. Especially if he kept believing you were a guy. He hopped in on the other side and you started the engine while closing your door.

 

“Thanks man.. You have really soft hands.. Do you use some kind of cream?” You shook your head.

 

“Nah.. Key does that.. I get to be his doll whenever he feels like it.” You said, managing an excuse. You hoped he’d buy it but it seemed he did. He took off his sunglasses.

 

“That must .. I don’t need sunglasses inside. Can you just drop me off at Cube entertainment?” You nodded and turned the car around. You knew how to get there from here. 

 

“So what do you do for a living? I mean, I heard you’re assistant manager.. But what else? Anything in your life? Got a dream girl?” You shook your head.

 

“A pretty boy like you could get any girl.. You sure do look like an idol, if I didn’t know any better I’d swear you were one.” He continued. The guy liked to talk a lot. That much was clear.

 

“So there’s no one? Really? Or are the rumours really true? Are you romantically..-” You sighed.

 

“Not this again? Mianhae, but I’m not romantically involved with anyone at the moment. Also I’m straight.” He eyed you.

 

“Really? Ever had a girlfriend? Now I see it! You look a lot like Taemin! I mean, Han Taemin. The tough guy.. Only you’re like a soft version.. Are you a girl?” You bit your tongue and nearly missed a turn.