Ha Neul’s POV

“She’s lying almost on top of him!”

“And look at his arms! Hyung’s hugging her back! Awww!”

“Heh, and he’s still sleeping so peacefully…”

“Yah, what’s taking you guys’ so long? He can’t possibly still be sleeping?! Our manager will be here any mo— Heol!”

“Nice picture, no?”

“Haha, Hyung’s speechless!”

“Hey, Onew, come in here real quick! You’ve got to see this; Jonghyun— Ah, look!”

“Oh, congrats Jonghyun. You finally did it.”

“Hyung?!”

“Yah… what a sight this early in the morning!”

Their voices reached me like through a fog. Fluffy clouds were dancing in front of my eyes. A dream.

“But just when did they get this close? Weren’t they always fighting?”

“Hyung, are you blind?” A cheery voice.

“Excuse me? Since when did you get so smart, maknae?”

But somehow the voices sounded very familiar.

Then somewhere I could hear a door being opened.

“Morning boys!” A new voice. “Huh, where are you all?”

The question followed rapt silence.

Then the same new voice again. “Oh, here you are.” It sounded deeper and older than the rest. “What are you all doing in h—“

When he broke off there was another silence.

“What’s going on here? Who is this girl?” It was still the same new voice but it didn’t sound as pleased anymore. “Do you know her?”

“Sort of?”

“Yah! Look at his face! He’s smiling now!” It was the cheery voice again… Wait, was that Taemin…?

Someone snorted. “Looks more like a silly grin to me…” And that had sounded like Minho…

“Oh. My. Gosh!” And that was unmistakably Key’s voice!

What were they all doing in my dream?!

“Yah, look! I think she’s waking up!” Onew!

Then the person with the deep voice was Jonghyun? But it hadn’t sounded like him at all…? What a weird dream.

I felt my eyes flattering open and the clouds suddenly gave way to a completely different view. Turning my head a little I found myself facing five rather baffled people. But Jonghyun certainly wasn’t among them. Slowly I turned my head around again. And there it was, waiting for me only centimetres away from my nose; Jonghyun’s angelic sleeping face.

I cursed silently. It hadn’t been a dream.

The entirety of SHINee plus their manager – probably – was standing around Jonghyun’s bed and looking down at us with curious-to-shocked expressions. Just how on earth had they managed to get into Jonghyun’s apartment?!

Well, I could worry about that later. Right now, I should probably be more concerned with waking up the person beside me. I swallowed hard and nudged Jonghyun with my elbow. Of course there was no reaction. I elbowed him again. “Yah! Jonghyun! Wake up!” I whispered but still, nothing.

Behind me I heard Minho whispering. “I can’t believe it. He is so deep asleep she has trouble waking him up!”

I paused for a short moment. What was that supposed to mean? It sounded as if Jonghyun would usually wake up early too…? I mean I knew Jonghyun had trouble falling asleep. But as far as I knew, sleeping in had never been a problem. Wasn’t it only natural for him to rest as long as possible when he finally did fall asleep? How weird…

And it wasn’t that him sleeping in had only happened once or twice… It had happened often enough for me to be able to try out all kinds of ways to wake him up until I had finally found the one that worked!

I played with the thought of using that method right now but quickly decided against it. With all of them staring at us like they were watching some drama I’d rather die than do that!

So, I hit him again. “Yah!”

And finally, finally he stirred! Thank God!

But I had rejoiced too early. Instead of waking up completely and helping me solve this embarrassing situation, he decided to remain in some semi-conscious state and embarrass me some more. Before I could react he had pulled me into his arms and snuggled up to me. And as if that wasn’t already ambigous enough, he then had mumbled just loud enough for our spectators to hear: “Just five minutes more…”

I closed my eyes with dread. How on earth did I manage to manoeuvre myself into this kind of situation?! I didn’t even want to imagine what they were thinking of us right now!

Moreover, how could that jerk still continue sleeping?! I pushed against his chest with all my strength but it only resulted in him pulling me even closer! My mind was one big mess. And despite our current situation I couldn’t keep my heart from beating faster. It was insane!

YAH! Won’t you wake up already, you lazy bum?! I screamed at him in my mind and kicked against his shin. Yet the only response I got was an unwilling grumble.

Finally I gave up. I guess there wasn’t any other solution but to use that one method… Hence I tried to tilt my head upwards as inconspicuously as possible, so that my mouth would come to lie next to his ear.

But even though it had only been a small movement, since I still hadn’t gotten up from my lying position, they obviously still noticed. “What the hell is she doing?!” Key commented in hushed tones.

I tried my best to ignore their presence and blew once against Jonghyun’s ear. The next moment his eyelids twitched and he stretched. And I could hear a collective intake of breath from the audience behind me. Someone just kill me now, please.

“She did not just do what I think she did, right?” The maknae sounded just as embarrassed as I felt. I bet my face was burning red right now.

Then I felt Jonghyun turning his body to face me. I risked a glance through my eyelashes and instantly turned even redder. He was now propped up on one elbow, his head resting on his hand. He had his lovely tousled bedhead and as I had feared he was staring right down at me.

“Mornin’ Ghosty… you’re up already?” He said while yawning. “I thought you said you were dead tired yesterday night?” His morning voice was as always. Raspy and a bit deeper than usual. And it made my stomach do a backflip.

“Huh, but why is your face so red?” He continued. It seems he hadn’t heard our audience choking on their own saliva just now. “Do you have a fever?” He reached out to touch my forehead.

Before his hand could reach me though I raised my own and pointed behind me. I saw him frowning confusedly but he still let his eyes follow my finger. And the moment he realised what I was pointing at he shot up straight.

But instead of salvaging as much of this situation as he could he shouted the most stupid thing he possibly could: “YAH! What the hell are you guys all doing at my apartment?! And in my BEDROOM no less?!”

It wasn’t that I didn’t find his accusations justified. I mean I had been wondering the exact same thing. However, then I took in their expressions. Onew looked the most unaffected, only grinning down at us amusedly. Next was probably Minho. He was grinning too but his expression also showed a hint of surprise. In contrary to Key and their manager, who were both displaying their stupefaction openly. Their mouths hanging wide open, they stared at me with eyes as big as saucers. As for the maknae, his grin was stretching from ear to ear and he looked as if he was very pleased with the sight in front of him.

“Be-bedroom?” Key finally managed.

“Yeah, hyung.” Minho added. “This isn’t your bedroom…”

It wasn’t? I looked around and frowned. It really didn’t look like Jonghyun’s bedroom. Not at all. If anything, it looked like a hotel room…

And for the second time this morning, I almost let a string of profanities escape my lips.

I choked and immediately sprung off the bed. It now all came back to me. The two of us playing with his nieces and nephews yesterday evening… The hot springs… How he had laid his head in my lap… Meeting his older brother after being woken up from such an embarrassing sleeping position… And finally, how we – tired to death – had trudged to his hotel room somehow thinking that it was his bedroom and that we were back at the apartment…

I wanted to hit myself! How could I possibly mistake a hotel room for his bedroom?!

Taking a glance at Jonghyun I saw my embarrassment and dread perfectly mirrored in his expression. I gave him a pleading look hoping he had an idea how to get out of this misery now. However, seeing the way he looked back at me I figured he was just as clueless as me.

“Wow, they’re even talking with their eyes now?!” I faintly heard Key whisper and immediately lowered my head. Just from hearing him say that, I could already feel my cheeks heating up. And before Sherlock Key would also notice this detail, I decided it was time to leave.

“Err, I guess I’ll be going back to my room now.” I mumbled and tried to stealth-walk my way to the door. But since I was currently the centre of attention that undertaking had of course been doomed from the start. I had assumed though that they were expecting me to leave anyway as they had a schedule and all. It seemed I had assumed wrong.

I hadn’t even taken a step, when Taemin raised his hands in the air. “Nooo waaaay!” He said with a big grin. “You’re coming with us! She can right? Right?” He then asked their manager. However Choi Jin – I finally managed to remember the manager’s name – looked hesitant. Obviously. If I were in his place and had the responsibility for these five famous boys I would probably try to get rid of me as soon as possible!

Yet, apparently, the maknae wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Oh, come on, please hyung?” He continued trying to convince the elder man. “Ha Neul works at SM too. We often eat lunch together. Pretty-pretty-please?”

I looked at Choi Jin again and I could see him wavering. Maknaes are scary…

“Also, I think it’ll have a good effect on Jonghyun hyung’s photo shoot…,” Taemin then added and I perked up. What? I turned to look at Jonghyun; he was sending daggers at the maknae with his eyes. I frowned. Why would me accompanying them be good for his photo shoot?

But I didn’t get to dwell on it any longer because Choi Jin had just come to a decision. “Fine, you can tag along, if you want,” he said to me. “But you’ve all got to hurry up! We need to be on location in forty minutes and you kids still have your bedheads!” And with that he turned and left the room.

“Alright, let us go prepare too.” Leader Onew then took command and started shoving the other members through the door.

However that didn’t keep Taemin from looking over his shoulder and winking at me. “You can thank me later!”

I slightly shook my head and chuckled; not quite sure what to make of that statement.

Then I turned back around to Jonghyun again. “Is it really alright if I come along?” I asked meekly and without directly looking at him. He didn’t answer though and so I looked up. He was still sitting on the bed and looking at me with an unreadable expression.

I frowned at him. “What?” Somehow that stare made me feel all self-conscious and I started checking my clothes. But I couldn’t find anything unusual. They were only a bit wrinkly because I had slept in them.

“Nothing.” He shook his head, still expressionless. But then his lips curved into a smirk. “Just a nice hair style you’ve got there…”

“What?!” Immediately, my hands flew to my head and I ran to the nearest mirror. And then I groaned. I mean I knew I wasn’t gifted with that naturally perfect morning hair as were all the ladies in my dramas, unfortunately, but today just had to be exceptionally bad. Since I had forgotten to tie it into a bun before sleeping yesterday my hair now stood away in all directions making me look like I had just crawled out of the jungle!

I made a weak attempt to smoothen it by wetting it with saliva. To no avail; they just popped up again after a few seconds. I needed a shower to fix that!

“No time for that.” Jonghyun’s soft voice right next to my ear me told me I once again had thought aloud. I tensed; I hadn’t noticed him stepping behind me! I wanted to turn around but he put his hands on my head and I froze. What the hell was he doing now?!

“Use this instead,” he then said and I finally got it. Hair gel!

Feeling him gently massaging it into my hair, my heart beat sped up even more though. I made a weak attempt to tell him I could do it myself but he just brushed it aside, saying he was almost done anyway. And when he was done, I actually wished he’d continue. Stupid me.

But at least now my hair miraculously looked presentable again. I then grabbed my bag and we were headed out. Jonghyun and I were the last ones to leave the building; the rest was already in the small bus. They had left us the seats right behind the driver’s seat, so we sat down and Choi Jin drove off.

Narrator’s POV

Ha Neul had hoped maybe SHINee would spend the ride in silence so as to catch some more sleep, considering their busy schedules. But she had hoped in vain. After the polite second had passed, they began with the interrogation straightaway. Especially Sherlock Key seemed to be almost bursting from curiosity.

“So, hyung, care to tell us why Ha Neul was sleeping on your bed just now?” He questioned and everyone leaned in.

Jonghyun exhaled, like the question wasn’t even worth answering, before he spoke. “Ha Neul fell asleep last night on the taxi. So, because I didn’t want to wake her up but also didn’t know her room number I just decided to let her sleep on the couch in the living room.” He lied as if it was the most natural thing ever. Ha Neul exchanged a glance with him and made a mental not to herself about idols’ nice acting skills. She was pretty sure to have not yet been made acquaintance with the said object. She didn’t even know there was one. Not like she was going to tell though.

“And how did she get from the couch to your bed then?” Key continued and raised an eyebrow.

“Err… maybe she turned the wrong way after going to the toilet or something?” Jonghyun suggested and all heads turned towards Ha Neul.

“Did you?” Sherlock Key asked.

“Umm… I’m not quite sure?” She said and risked a glance at Jonghyun. He seemed to be trying to convey some cryptic message to her through his eyes but all she understood was ‘just agree!’ “I only remember going to the toilet once…” She thus added unsurely and lowered her eyes.

But it seemed to make sense to the others. Well, it probably only did to Key and Minho. Because Onew was still eying Jonghyun and Ha Neul attentively and the maknae was also still grinning like he knew something the others didn’t.

And promptly, Onew asked why Jonghyun then confused the hotel room with his bedroom at his apartment just now. Onew threw Ha Neul a side glance and she suddenly wondered how much he actually knew.

Jonghyun simply shrugged his shoulders. “How would I know?! Maybe I had been dreaming?” He provided.

From the look on Onew’s face, he wasn’t buying it though. But he didn’t inquire further either.

So, Minho’s took the chance of the short silence to ask his question. “By the way, Jonghyun, talking about your apartment, how is Shil Hye doing? Did you give her to an animal shelter for these two weeks? Since you barely even let us and your family into your apartment…” He added.

A bit taken by surprise by the sudden change in topic, Jonghyun frowned. “Shil Hye?” He asked confused.

“ Yeah?” Minho raised his eyebrows. “The cat you said you’d taken in. Don’t you remember?!”

“Ahhh, the little monster…?” Jonghyun smirked upon remembering the cheeky little tiger. Then, the next second the smile vanished from his face and was replaced by pure dread. “THE LITTLE MONSTER!!” He yelled as if it meant the world was ending.

The car swerved a bit and everyone looked at him surprised. Even Ha Neul.

“’Little monster’?” Minho was the first to speak again, confused by his hyung’s terminology.

But Jonghyun had no time for that right now. “Yah, Ghosty!” He spun around to Ha Neul. “What did you do with the little monster?! You’d better have brought her to the animal shelter or friend or something! If she’s roaming about alone at home right now, I’m going to kill you!” He was now looking, no glaring, at Ha Neul trough to slits narrowed eyes.

“Why would hyung ask Ha Neul about his cat?” Key asked Minho quietly. But Minho didn’t know either so they continued to attentively tracing the spectacle unfolding in front of them.

Ha Neul ducked her head and tried to lean as far away from Jonghyun as possible before she spoke. “Ehee… about that… Actually, I didn’t. But—“ She didn’t get to go further.

“BWOH?!” Jonghyun interrupted her horrified. “You DIDN’T?! YAHH! Don’t you remember what happened that day you bought me that hideous sweater?!” His eyes were spitting fire now. The rest of SHINee exchanged surprised and curious glances. Hideous sweater? Bought by Ha Neul for Jonghyun? Things were sure getting more and more interesting. They leaned in more to not miss a single thing.

“That was only because she was drunk… You know that,” Ha Neul tried to defend her cat. “She’s alone almost every day and nothing happened again ever since! Besides—“

“Besides what!”

“If you would just hear me out for once…?!” Ha Neul huffed, earning her a grumpy glare. She ignored it. “Besides! She isn’t alone. Hyo Rin is keeping her company and making sure she’s behaving.” She had thought that was a pretty good solution since neither had Shil Hye had to go to an animal shelter nor would she ‘enjoy’ the empty house.

But it appeared that Jonghyun was of different opinion. “YEEEE?!” He screeched and would have jumped up from his chair if not for the safety belt. “You WHAT?!”

“I—“

But Jonghyun wouldn’t even let her say a word. “Yah! You do remember who owns and lives in that apartment, do you?!”

“Of course, but—“

“But what?! You just invite some stranger to live in it for a week?! Without even asking me first?! Are you crazy, woman?!”

The other members gasped; Key even choked and Minho had to pat his back. Ha Neul could invite someone to Jonghyun’s apartment?! Meaning she had a KEY?!

“But Hyo Rin isn’t a stranger. She’s my friend and you know her.”

“And she’s my fan! Yah, have you forgotten who I am?!” He exhaled exasperated and racked his hair. The other members were watching with fascination. They had never seen Jonghyun talk this agitatedly with a girl before. Especially not while holding himself back! Sure he was angry and he let it show in his voice and expressions. But compared to the Jonghyun from a few days ago at the photo shot that smashed his phone in silent fury, this was nothing. Jonghyun was still choosing his tone and actions carefully. Almost as if he didn’t want to offend Ha Neul with it, Onew thought and smiled.

“I guarantee you, she’s sane.” Ha Neul smiled at Jonghyun winningly. “Most of the time,” she couldn’t help but add in a low voice though.

“Ghostyyy!!”

The rest of SHINee looked at each other again. ‘Ghosty’? Was that a… pet name?!

“Pet names?! When the hell did they get this close?” Key whispered to Taemin. But the later only gave his hyung his I-know-something-you-don’t-grin.

"Yah, hyung! What’s going on here?" Key thus turned to Jonghyun, unable to withstand the suspense any longer.

Finally, Ha Neul and Jonghyun realised that they weren’t exactly alone and their whole conversation just got heard by all of them.

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Hey, everyone!

I kno! I said I would update more often now that exams are over... And I'm really sorry for not keeping my promise!! ><''' But somehow my lectures finally got interesting, which means I want to take my time and actually try to learn what I'm taught... Though, I guess that's a good thing, lol
But I don't want to stop writing either! So, I guess I'll just have to find some compromise and hope that you guys aren't too angry with me already... >.<

Btw, you guys owe this chapter to darkmercuryplanet ^-^ (she reread the whole fic because my update is this late! ><)