"Up early, I see."

Chin turned around in surprise, and came face-to-face with Taemin, who was as always, holding a carton of banana milk. 

"Want some? I have my own personal stash."

He pulled her towards the refrigerator, opened the door, and then pointed to the five by six stack of banana milk cartons.

"I've seen your 'personal stash' a gazillion times, Taemin-ah. Every single time I open the fridge. Five or six times a day for the past couple of days." She giggled as she turned around and sat down, placing her glass on the table.

Taemin quickly sat in the seat next to her and commented, "You can get from my stash any time you want. I wouldn't make this offer for everybody, noona! Fans would kill for banana milk directly from me!"

"You have a big head," Chin answered back as she lightly whacked him on the head.

She was suddenly alarmed when Taemin held on to her chin, slightly pushed it up and then whispered, "I have you and your beautiful face to blame for my gigantic yet undeniably gorgeous head."

"Hey hey hey, what's going on here Taem?"

Taemin let go of her chin then turned around to give Jonghyun a high-five. 

"Nothing, hyung! Just...goofing off."

Chin smiled and then added, "That's right. What's wrong?" She raised an eyebrow at him and then remarked, "You jealous?"

Jonghyun did a quick mehrong at her before answering back, "With my looks? My charm? My wit? I don't have anything to be jealous about, arasso?"

"Alright, alright. Don't get all bigheaded with me like him, too." She pointed to Taemin, stood up from the table and then leaned against Jonghyun's rock-hard arm. 

"So," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's your schedule for today?"

"We're going to SM for rehearsals! We have one more month before we go to Singapore for our concert!" Taemin stood up and then started jumping up and down. "Noona, come with us, ah? It'll be fun, and you can meet So Nyuh Shi Dae!"

"Ne, arasso! I'd like that."

Taemin stood up, put his arm around her and said with aegyo, "You stay right by my side, okay? Don't leave my side, Chin noona."

____

"Annyeong! So you're Chin Sun Bae? You're so pretty, omo!"

Sunny immediately pulled her into a hug, much to the surprise of all the other members. 

"Sunny, not so close! You might scare her!" Hyoyeon slowly pulled Sunny away, stretched out her hand towards Chin and then said, "Annyeong haseyo! Cheonun, Hyoyeon imnida. It's so nice to meet you!"

Chin shook her hand, looked around at the rest of the members and then commented, "Uhm, it's so nice to meet all of you." Immediately after she said this, Taemin slowly stepped beside her and gently took her hand.

Sooyoung peeped from behind the group and replied, "It's nice to meet you too, ah!"

"Anyway," Tiffany said as she bowed, "We have to get back to our rehearsals, and I think the shining SHINee has to start theirs! We'll be going now. Annyeong!"

"Annyeong!"

The rest of the members continued to wave, then turned around and walked away, heading for their rehearsal room.

Seohyun, however, stayed behind as she asked, "Taemin-ah, you still owe me lunch! Maybe we can have it today?"

She stepped forward and was about to link their arms when she happened to notice that Taemin's grip on Chin's hand was getting tighter and tighter as she walked closer and closer to them. 

"Oh, sorry, uhm..." Seohyun scratched her head and then commented, "I guess...I'll just see you all later? Ah. Again, it was nice to meet you, Chin."

She turned around quickly and then awkwardly walked away.

"Am I missing something?" Key asked as he stepped in front of them and then directed his gaze to their hands.

"What? No!" Chin immediately replied as she let go. "He's just being a caring dongsaeng. Right, Taemin?"

She then linked her arm with Key, looked up at him then asked, "Rehearsals time, right oppa? Lead the way!"

Key and Chin cheerfully strolled away, their arms linked together, with Minho, Onew and Jonghyun dutifully following behind. Taemin however, was still standing there, quietly brushing his shoes against each other. 

"Ne...just a caring dongsaeng..."

____

"Step, one two. Step, three four. Minho hyung, bend your knees a little bit more, alright?"

Taemin paused the music and then said, "Okay, let's take a quick break. I need to get Seohyun that lunch she's been bugging me about." 

He laughed, ran to where Chin was patiently sitting, leaned in close and then whispered, "Noona, I'll be back right away, okay? Don't get too comfortable with my hyungs while I'm gone."

"You're always joking around." She laughed and then turned away from him to watch Key and Jonghyun goofing around like little children.

Taemin slightly frowned and then replied, "I'm not joking, I'm serious."

He reached for her right cheek and then lightly brushed his hand against it. "Hmmm. Be back soon..."

He picked up his bag and ran towards the door of the rehearsal room. Just before exiting, he turned around and then announced quite loudly, "Chin noona is mine!"

With that, he quickly ran off, leaving the other members slightly bewildered.

____

"Where is Taemin?"

Minho looked around as they were about to leave the SM building. "Hmm, you're right. I didn't see him when we visited So Nyuh Shi Dae again."

"Chin? Stand here with me, you don't have a sweater on." Jonghyun reached out and pulled Chin by her arm. He slowly put his arm around her shoulder as he asked, "You warm now?"

"Taemin isn't here, so you don't have to do all these cheesy things to make him jealous." She tried to remove his arm from around her shoulder but he kept on reaching out. 

"Is that how you want it?!" Jonghyun shouted and the two of them immediately started tickling each other. Suddenly, everyone heard a voice say, "Noona!"

The two stopped tickling each other, and Chin turned around to see Taemin standing there, a slightly shocked look on his face. "Jonghyun hyung, what're you doing?"

Jonghyun smiled and then replied, "Nothing! What're you talking about?"

"You better not try anything on Chin noona, arasso?"

"Why not? Are the two of you secretly together or something?" He raised an eyebrow as he looked directly at Taemin. "But wait, don't you already have Seohyun?"

Taemin quickly replied, "Aniyo-"

Just as Taemin was about to reply, Seohyun came up behind him and cheerfully asked, "Taemin-ah, are you ready to go?"