February 14, 2008. 

 

I discovered something very pleasant today: Noona and I followed the same route back home.

 

It was strange that I never noticed before. For almost three years, I’ve used this route, and I assumed that she’s been using it longer than I have.

 

I should have figured it out when I saw the familiar, lackluster red of her bike parked just outside the local bakery my car passed by; or when I thought I was merely hallucinating when I got a blurry glimpse of her tall stature behind the frosted glass of the bookstore.

 

Or when she came to the park at the exact moment I was crying my eyes out. _[1]

 

I should have known it wasn’t just mere coincidence.

 

But then again, I was quite the ignorant teenager: always off at LaLa-land during the ride. It was the orange sky—quaint but entrancing—that sought my full attention whenever I was on my way home.

 

 

I asked to stop the car, and quickly told the driver that I would be walking back. I didn’t stop to hear Mr. Park protest, as I swiftly turned the handle and burst open the car door.

 

I ran, right to where Noona was.

 

 

 

Would it be too weird if I suddenly grabbed her shoulder? I debated with myself as I sprinted towards her and Jong Hyun-hyung. Even though Noona had made it clear that she could tolerate physical contact with and from me, I still found the privilege rather eccentric. I was happy, but I couldn’t help feeling as if I were being too imposing, acting as if I’ve known her for years when I only met her a few months ago.

 

I decided to take the plunge, however, because Noona, despite what the others said, radiated a very warm aura to me, and I can’t help but yearn for that warmth.

 

 

 

“Noona!” I exclaimed, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking any farther. Immediately, Noona turned around, about to deal a painful karate chop, but when she realized it was I, she halted. Noona blinked owlishly, observing me as I bent forward to regain my breath. 

 

“Taemin,” she stated.

 

“Oh, hey, Taemin!”

 

It was Jong Hyun-hyung who sounded more excited to see me.

 

Weakly, I stood up straight, giving them a sheepish grin. “I, umm, would it be all right if I walk with the two of you?”

 

There, I said it.

 

Noona raised an eyebrow, and gently pried my hand off—to my disappointment. Her palm was rough, but it’s more comforting than anyone else’s. The look in her eyes, however, was anything but comforting.

 

They say that the eyes were the windows to one’s soul, but Noona’s were never enough to be that. Her piercing eyes always had a dullness in them that made them even more intimidating, more mysterious. They were like curtains, rather than windows—always shutting everything out. There was no way you could delve into a mind of a person whose eyes that were devoid of any emotion.

 

And with the look she was giving me, I knew I shouldn’t have been too forward. I was being too childish, thinking that just because I had a few lunches with them, I could join them whenever I pleased.

 

 

 

It felt like an eternity as Noona continued to stare at me with those eyes. Despite my insecurity, I couldn’t look away. My brain told me to turn to Jong Hyun-hyung instead, because he was friendlier, more simplistic. But Noona’s eyes were just too dominating, and it was as if my brain had shut itself down.

 

It was very strange, because, after an eternity, I saw a tiny spark. It was like that of a weak, spontaneous glint that flints produced when struck against each other. It was fleeting, so much so that I would have thought it to be an illusion if not for that fluffy feeling squeezing my heart.

 

 

And then came Noona’s small smile. The end of her lips twitched slightly, only for her to purse them together again, as if she was unsure of smiling. A sliver of white poked out as she bit her lip, but eventually returned to its place as her lips formed a full albeit tiny smile.

 

 

 

It wasn’t a particularly beautiful smile. It was small, and average—restrained, too. It was hardly a smile.

 

But, I’ve never felt so awestruck.

 

 

“Of course you can, Tae-goon!” Jong Hyun-hyung chirped, winding an arm around my neck as he brought me closer to and in between him and Noona. Jong Hyun-hyung laughed heartily, saying that because Onew-hyung had to run some errands, their usual trio was incomplete, and that I just came in the right time. He then proceeded to filling me in on what he and Noona were talking about just before I arrived.

 

 

“Can you believe it? She got more chocolates than I did! And to think that they’re all from girls!” he complained, pointing accusingly at Noona.

 

I chuckled at the topic of their conversation.

 

Valentine’s Day.

 

 

Jong Hyun-hyung continued to whine, scornfully cursing the girls for having bad taste in “men”. 

 

I always knew that Noona had quite the reputation at school. Even when I was in first year, news about the cold-hearted Tae Kwon Do varsity player reached my department. I didn’t realize until now, however, that she was popular for a different reason: Noona fulfilled the criteria of “tall, dark. handsome and enigmatic,” words that perfectly described her, and words that were sure to deliver an all-kill to the girls. Even with her usually nonchalant disposition or her aggressive ignorance towards others’ affection, Noona was the physical manifestation of what girls looked for in a guy.

 

It was no mystery as to why many of the boys, including Jong Hyun-hyung, were intimidated by her.

 

“I’m the real guy here!” he stomped his foot, consequently pulling me towards him.

 

I almost choked against his grip, but it was a good thing Hyung quickly let go of me. He followed it up with a shower of apologies as he got his bag to give me a bar of chocolate. While Hyung was busy fiddling with his things, I quickly stole a glance from Noona, in time to see her shrug coolly in response to Hyung’s acrimonious words. She lazily scratched her cheek as her bored eyes drifted to another element in our environment.

 

There really was nothing special about the scene, but I found myself absolutely adoring her aloofness. There was something about Noona being apathetic that drew me in. It was ironic how I find it to be the most interesting thing.  But I suppose I just got used to the sight of seeing unfamiliar faces that pretended they knew me, that perceived me as someone on top of the world. Having been pampered, and treated like a prince my entire life, I never knew what it was like to be unnoticed, or to be an object of disinterest.

 

 

Noona caught me staring at her, but I neither flinched nor switched my gaze. For the split-second that our eyes met, I remained rooted in my spot, ceaselessly looking at her. I don’t know why I continued to do so. Perhaps I was expecting something—a reaction—from her, but all I got was another blink before Noona turned to Jong Hyun-hyung.

 

I silently watched as Noona sighed in exasperation, yanking Hyung’s bag away from him. “It doesn’t take twenty seconds to look for a damn chocolate bar, Jjong,” she said, hand diving inside the compartment. She took out a random bar, and I noticed the familiar logo of an expensive brand printed on the wrapper. She handed it to me.

 

Hyung looked mortified the moment he saw the bar. “Whoah, wait! I like that bar! That’s an expensive brand!” he hollered, snatching it from Noona’s hand. He hugged the small rectangular prism close to his chest, and used his other hand to reclaim his backpack. He stuck his tongue out childishly, then dug out another pack of chocolates. This time, it was a bunch of chocolate balls wrapped in foil then sealed in a pink translucent paper bag (I did notice, though, that the sticker keeping it closed had already been torn off).

 

It was very cute and I had to wonder why on Earth would Hyung simply give me homemade chocolates the giver obviously put her heart and soul into making. 

 

Hyung noticed my distraught expression, and grinned at me. “Don’t worry about it, Tae-goon!” he dismissed my worry, waving a hand in front of my face. “I’ve already tasted these, so there’s no problem.”

 

But that’s not the issue here, Hyung, I mentally facepalmed.

 

I continued to stare at the chocolates in his hand. Hyung laughed—as if he didn’t even care about the girl who made this—and took my palm so he could place the paper bag on it. “Take it, Tae-goon,” he smiled boyishly at me.

 

“Well, I gotta run. I go home in this direction,” he said, turning the other direction. But just before he completely walked off, he shot Noona a wink and a knowing grin. And I just had to wonder what those meant.

 

 

 

My heart began to race. Ten seconds into walking with Noona, I realized I was walking with Noona—alone. When the epiphany hit me, the pink paper bag slipped out of my already slippery grip and the chocolates scattered in the ground, tumbling off to multiple directions. I shrieked, and immediately bent down to collect the wayward pieces. Noona followed suit, grabbing the ones that were really far off with her long fingers.

 

“I’m sorry, Noona,” I lamely mumbled, head bowed to avoid showing her my very hot face.

 

Noona sighed—a reaction I was not very pleased in receiving. “That Jjong,” she clicked her tongue, “My mom will kill that brat."

 

I blinked at Noona's choice of words.

 

"Um..."

 

"Well, anyway, we're wasting time. It's almost dusk, and I don't want your mom to worry about you," she spoke, gathering the chocolate balls into the paper bag that I had dropped. She held out her hand, motioning for me to give her the remaining chocolates that I had. Flustered, my own hand darted out to place them on her palm.

 

My fingers brushed against her rough palm.

 

Now even more flustered than ever, I retracted my hand and took a step back, looking like an awkward mess in front of the very person I wanted to impress.

 

"I..."

 

With my face as red as a wild cherry and my mouth grotesquely opened, I merely stared at Noona. I tried to speak, tried to redeem myself, but no words came out of my stupid mouth. Instead, I started to whimper and mumble incoherently. Weird, embarrassing sounds flowed freely, and no matter how many times I willed to stop them, my efforts were futile. Noona raised an eyebrow at me, watching me as I continued to humiliate myself.

 

I would understand it if she never talked to me again.

 

"Um...That is...Noona...Well..."

 

And then there was that tiny smile again, followed by velvety laughter.

 

Noona chuckled, and reached out a hand to pat my head. I bowed in response, delighted at the feel of her hand on my hair. Despite what everyone said about her harsh characteristics, Noona was gentle, my hairstrands with utmost tenderness. It was drastically different from the touch of the maids or the stylists who would tidy me up whenever there was an event; it was also a stark contrast to the possessive, bordering-insanity, s of the girls who surrounded me today and every day.  Noona's touch—whether fleeting or like this—was filled with nothing but sincerity and care.

 

It was time, I told myself, that I get used to this, because she told me that I'm the only one she'll ever like to hold.

 

"Taemin, you're acting very silly for no good reason," she said, transferring her hand to my cheek and giving it two light taps.

 

"Sorry," I mumbled, growing cold the moment her hand returned to her side.

 

Noona chuckled again, rolling the ends of the paper bag to seal it. "Don't be. Now, come on, let's go. I'll walk you to your house."

 

She held my hand and led me forward.

 

 

~

 

 

I wish I had the power to stop or slow down time, because fifteen minutes later, we found ourselves standing in front of my gate.

 

By the time we arrived, the sky had already been painted a lovely shade of purple, and I could already see the faint white of stars as they started to appear on the dark canvas. The fuzzy silver ball was beginning to take the shape of the full moon hidden behind indigo clouds. The quirky lamp mother had personally designed and set up beside our gate was already lit—its neon pink light showering the cobblestone path with a bubbly radiance.

 

My fingers twitched as I hesitated to ring the doorbell.

 

Just five more minutes.

 

I glanced at Noona who studied the exterior of my house.

 

She furrowed her eyebrows as her eyes seemed to zoom in on a particular object. I followed her gaze and saw the glass statue in my front yard.

 

"That's new, isn't it?" she pointed out. "That wasn't there the last time I was here," she said, blinking at me.

 

I blinked in response, but my face lit up a few seconds when an idea popped into my head. If I keep this conversation running, then Noona will stay longer. And maybe I can invite her over for dinner. I grinned, nodding my head enthusiastically. "You're so observant, Noona!" I chirped.

 

She shrugged. "Ah, well, how could I not be when something as huge and as eccentric as a glass statue of the Queen of England appeared before your very eyes? Ah, wait, that is the Queen of England, right?" Despite her monotonous voice, and her blank facial expression, Noona's eyes—for the second time today—had that glint again. It was a tiny spark, but it was more than enough to melt away my lack of confidence.

 

And my heart.

 

I tittered, regaining what little respect and composure I had for myself. "Mother said that during the summer she'll be replacing that with an ice sculpture of JYP! I wonder if it would last a week, though!"

 

"I wonder if it will," Noona pondered, showing me another small smile.

 

"My Taemin!" mother's screech pierced through the air as she opened the door. Even in the impending darkness, I could see that her face was a contorted mixture of panic and excitement. She ran to me and immediately devoured me in her tight bear hug. "Aigoo, Taeminnie!" she said, pinching my cheeks, "When Mr. Park told me that you ran off on your own, I almost had a heart attack! But when I realized that my dear Taemin was walking home by himself, I was overjoyed to hear that our Baby Taemin was finally acting like a man! Ah, but you're still young, okay, Taeminnie? Don't be quick to grow up, okay?"

 

Mother was talking so fast that, honestly, I had not the slightest idea of what she was talking about. The only words I picked up were my name and "okay." I nodded, nonetheless, smiling in a somewhat sleepy haze as I replayed in my mind the numerous times my mother's countenance changed from worried to jovial to proud.

 

Mother finally let go of me, and turned to Noona. Her face lit up in delighted surprise at the presence of a guest. "Oh, Kwonnie, you're here! I'm sorry for not noticing before!" Mother apologized. It was strange how my Mother had taken a quick liking to Noona despite this being only their third meeting. But I'm not complaining.

 

It was perfectly fine with me.

 

Noona bowed. "It's no problem, Mrs. Lee. Anyway, I just wanted to drop Taemin off. It was quite the pleasant surprise when Taemin suddenly came running towards me and Jong Hyun. Onew-hyung had some stuff to do, so our usual trio was missing one member.” Noona smiled, and after another small bow and a soft “Goodbye” , turned around to start the walk home.

 

My smile faltered.

 

No.

 

I still wanted to talk to her, to spend time with her. Due to the onslaught of Valentines’ Day, I didn’t even get to hang out with her today. Truthfully, I didn’t think I’d even be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her because for one thing, there did not come a time that I was not surrounded by girls (and some boys, to my dismay), and for another, I knew Noona and the Hyungs were busy receiving chocolates themselves.

 

I still have so much to say, Noona.

 

I thought that perhaps I sounded a bit too desperate, that I was being to nosy for a kid who met her only a few months back. But Noona drew me to her, and I still wanted to say so much.

 

 

Abruptly, Noona stopped in her tracks, and there came into my heart a flutter of hope that she would turn back.

 

And she did.

 

She approached me, lifting her hand to remind me of the pink paper bag of chocolates that she held. She halted again, and blinked, as if realizing something. Noona’s lips parted in surprise, but gradually arched into a tiny curve as she got her backpack and stuffed the paper bag inside. I tilted my head in a quarter of confusion, and three-fourths disappointment that she was going to keep the chocolates Hyung gave me. A few seconds later, however, she revealed a similar-looking paper bag—only this time, it was sealed with a sticker of a soccer ball. It was odd for something as feminine as the pink paper bag to be kept closed by a sticker of a soccer ball.

 

Noona smiled at me. “Here,” she said, handing me the paper bag. “My mom, like me, isn’t good at cooking. In fact, she really at it. But for some unexplainable reason, she makes the best homemade chocolates. So, here,” she dropped the paper bag on my hand. “I told her to make five bags this year.”

 

And with that, Noona bowed and left.

 

I won’t forget that tiny, fleeting glint in her eyes.

 

It was ephemeral, but I knew it was there.

 

 

“Aigoo,” my mother cooed, enveloping me in yet another constricting hug. “My Taemin is still too young! But when the time comes, just tell me when Kwonnie’s officially my daughter-in-law, okay?”

 

I could only smile at my mother’s words.

 

 

Ah, maybe.

 

 

---

 

Author's Note:

Hello, everyone! 

 

And yes, this fic is ALIVE, even though this chapter isn't following the storyline :)) Anyway, I just wanted you guys to know that this fic will not die! I've already listed what I wanted to do for the last three weeks of this saga, so don't give up on this fic! 

 

As the title says, this is a very late Valentines' Day special; it is also a tribute to SHINee's comeback (which is something I've waited for since forever!). Needless to say, I love their comeback, but I absolutely hate Taemin's hair and his over-all image. I miss Baby Taemin, which is probably why I wrote this chapter as something from the past. :)) 

 

COME BACK, BABY TAEMIN! I miss you and your huggable maknae-ness :( 

 

[1] An event from their first meeting (soon to be publised in Roommates) 

 

And now, to release all my feels for Dream Girl. 

 

For one things, I love the concept. Honestly, I hate it when SM imposes a manly image on SHINee, because that's not what SHINee is supposed be, what they were originally! Whey they debuted, SHINee had that "Boys next door" image and I think that should always be their concept, just with a few twists and turns to show their maturity as the years passed. When they showed the teaser, I was like "FINALLY, SM, FINALLY, SOMETHING RIGHT." In spite of my satisfaction with the teasers, I was afraid that SM would forget this concept in the video. Let's be honest here, SM has been doing that blunder since y, Free and Singl, or maybe even before that. 

 

So imagine my glee when the MV was released. 

 

FINALLY SOMETHING RIGHT.

 

And another thing: the album. Oh my gosh, the songs are all so nice, and you could confidently say that all the songs came from a single album (unlike the songs in Lucifer. God, that was such a mess of an album. I loved the songs individually, but not as an album). 

 

I'm just so happy, guise, that SHINee is slowly going back to their roots. I hope their next album will be RnB, like their first album (which I still think is their best). 

 

 

 

P.S. Remember to leave a comment or two! :-) 

 

See you all next time!