“So… you’ve known each other for over a year?” Onew asked, looking longingly at his oh-so-gorgeous plate with delicious chicken.

“Yeah, I guess..” Key replied hesitantly, making the last touches on the dining table. Dinner was ready to consume, with everybody except him already sitting on their places and waiting for him to do the same; in SHINee's dorm, it was an unwritten rule not to start eating before everybody was on the table.

“Year and three months, to be exact.” Gyuri corrected, looking at him while he sat next to her. It was an awkward situation, actually: having him on her side and Jonghyun right in front. She could see the disappointment of the latter with every move he made. Jjong became so silent, so not interested in her all of sudden… But that was what she wanted, right? Right?...

“You counted the months?” Kibum asked, making her snap out of her short lasted thoughts.

“I even remember the date, Bumie…” she sighed, gaining meaningful ‘Ooooh’s from Onew, Minho and Taemin, and a surprised look from Jonghyun. “Don’t get it wrong, it was on my fist month anniversary in ‘Chocopie’ ”she explained, more for Key’s smurf than the others. It’s his smurf, his smurf, your friend’s smurf, Gyu! Remember that! Bros before hoes!!

“Chocopie is the name of her workplace.” Kibum clarified, making another move by placing a thumb on her cheek. “There’s something on your face” he said, smiling at her. Then, without moving his finger, he got closer to Gyu- his gaze never leaving hers- which was too intimidated even for her. “I won’t allow you to chop onions anymore, Gyuri. Your eyes are still red…” he continued with a sly grin, only visible for his friend.

“J-just shut up and eat.” Gyuri stammered, turning pink at the same time. He is playing too strong, she thought, taking a sip from her glass of water, too ashamed to look at anybody.

“Yeah, let’s eat!” the leader agreed, grabbing his fork and carefully tasting the girl’s cooking. Following the example, the rest of SHINee did the same and only seconds later Gyu was praised for her job.

“Are you going to be a cook, noona?” Taemin asked, trying not to choke while eating and talking at the same time.

“Where are your manners, young man?!” Key interrupted, watching him irritated as a tiny piece of what he ate jumped off his mouth. “I haven’t taught you like this!”

“Leave the boy alone, Bumie…” Gyu sighed, thinking about how right were those fanfictions about her friend’s motherly behavior for the youngest. “And no, Taemin dongsaeng. I’m going to be a psychologist. You’re talking with a second year psychology student!” she explained, smiling to the boy.

“Then why are you working in a coffee shop?” Minho asked, breaking his silence.

“I’m trying to be independent!” she said, a proud grin on her lips.

“You’re being rebellious.” Key interrupted, not minding the others. “Not talking to your parents for years is stupid, not a try to be independent.”

Gyuri’s grin immediately disappeared, her face turning expressionless instead.

Jonghyun couldn’t help but look up from his plate, sensing the tension in the air. The fact that he wasn’t participating in the conversation didn’t mean that he wasn’t listening to every word, saving information about the girl in front of him somewhere safe in his mind.

       It doesn’t feel right, he thought everytime when he saw any act of affection between the ‘couple’. His Key-goon acting like that with someone else, with a female especially, felt so weird to him. Everytime they looked at each other; everytime the called their names; everytime they touched felt really strange to him, because he knew that-

“You don’t know anything about my relationship with my parents, Kibum.“  Gyuri said, her voice dead serious, which made Jjong snap out of his tho