"Finally! I told you guys that I'm not such a bad driver." 

Jonghyun sang while jumping up and down on his seat as he had at last found a parking spot in front of the luxurious seafood restaurant that the company had arranged SHINee's private dinner at, along with the rest of SM town. The announcement seemed to please the leader the most as his eyes distinctly lit up the brightest compared to the rest at the sight of the eatery.

"Victory!" Onew pumped his fists up and unbuckled his seatbelt, completely ready to get out of his seat. The members marvelled their leader as they watched him unlock the car door and hop away towards the entrance of the restaurant in the speed of light. 

"Aigoo.. As always, the relationship with Jinki-hyung and food is inseparable." Key chuckled with a hint of amusement shown in his smirk.

"I don't blame him. Our leader works hard." MInho added and laughed. "Yah Taemin-ah, let's go!"

After awhile without an answer from the maknae, the three members curiously turned their heads to the back seat to find Taemin fast asleep with his head peacefully laid back, the plug of his earphones stuck in his ear. Jonghyun sighed compassionately at the sight of the maknae, then rested his chin on the head of the car seat.

"Tsk, our Taeminnie must really be stressed out for the past week. His public relationship with Sulli must have brought him so much pressure. The reporters have completely surrounded him all week since the news leaked out. I should know from my own experience.. I went through the same."

"But, this is our emotionless maknae we're talking about. He's tough enough to handle this. He's a man now, isn't he?" Minho uttered his remark.

"Ha, he may be strong, but he's also irresponsible as hell. I feel like I have to follow him around all day just to remind him to bring his passport or cell phone! " Key grumbled his complaint as he shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I don't even know how he's going to handle having a girlfriend let alone date publicly. I'd expect him to forget her in the middle of a date while chasing after an ice cream truck."

"Ah yes, I guess that's true." Minho pouted and nodded his head in agreement.

Jonghyun laughed as he playfully patted both of Key's cheeks with his palms.

"Maybe you should start chaperoning their dates, too. Huh, honey?" 

Taemin stealthily turned his head away to hide himself stifling a laugh as he quietly listened to his hyungs' short conversation.

Hyungs worry too much.

The members never thought he could handle anything alone, even as an adult. In their eyes, they only saw the young, innocent boy they had first met five years ago that they felt the need to protect and be his guidances to the world.

No, he wasn't sleeping. Taemin found it amusing how the members always assumed he was sleeping and oblivious as they talked. Usually, Taemin found it enjoyable to seem fast asleep while the members would provoke certain discussions that they figured wasn't appropriate for the young maknae. Thus, he was able to learn more about them than they realized the innocent youngest of the group would. From the talks they had about Taemin himself secretively to their own biggest secrets. Taemin folded his arms over his chest and smirked proudly to himself as he snuggled his head onto the surface of the window. Little mischievious Taemin knew about them all. 

As soon as Taemin was about to return to his rest peacefully, he was abruptly roused by none other than Key's constant nagging.

"Yah, we're here. Take your earphones off! You listen it too much." Key snatched the cable of Taemin's earphones, swiftly popping the earplugs off of the maknae's ears. Taemin pretended to appear weary from his 'sleep' as he let out a big yawn and lazily stretched his limbs.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you go deaf one day." Key added bluntly as he stepped out of the van.

"Alright, mother, I got it." Taemin gave Key a jocular sneer and obeyed his hyung as he stuffed the object back into his pockets and followed the other members out of the vehicle.

"I told you guys, I don't want to go, really."

Sulli muttered as she timidly walked in the restaurant along with the other f(x) members. It had been a week since her actual exposure to the public, well, excluding her 'meeting' with Taemin. Her arrival initiated some low murmurs from a couple of lounging waiters who intimidatingly watched her from a corner of the dining room. One smirked at Sulli in disdain as she leaned over to the other, still eyeing her as whispered gossip into her friend's ear. Feeling a lot more nervous than before, she knitted her eyebrows as she hurriedly kept her glance away from their direction.

"Yah.. Jinri, aren't you tired of staying at home all day? It's just dinner. Besides, you're only surrounded by the people you know." Luna exclaimed as the others approved her point with a nod as they gave her a genial grin. 

"Look!" She turned Sulli around by the shoulders so that she was now completely facing the entire room. "There's Taeyeon, Yesung, Ryeowook, TIffany, Kyuhyun, Kangta, Suho, Kai.."

Sulli turned red with the mentioning of his name and began to quietly fidget with the end of her skirt. Krystal, who was watching Sulli all along, gave her a frown of curiosity.

"Chanyeol, Eunhyuk, Jessica, One-"

At the sight of the SHINee member, Luna held her hand over her gaping mouth from excitement.

"ONEW!" She screamed and proceeded to smile cutely at the boy as she ran over to his side in a matter of seconds, leaving her confused members behind.   Onew, on the other hand, began to wince once he finally realized the presence of a gleeful Luna jumping all over him. The members pursued their lips in sympathy at an embarrassed Onew's discomfort around their friend while his own friends started to snicker around him in amusement.

"Poor guy. Don't think she'll ever leave him alone." Amber chuckled. "But hey look, all of the SHINee members are here. At the least, Taemin can be here with you, too."

Sulli turned her head at the arrival of the SHINee members. The boys walked in like a group of flawless princes as they made there way to the dining room. Yet, most of her attention was on Taemin as she stood gazing silently at him from across the room. He was a little less suited up for the occasion than the other members, but nonetheless, he was still as handsome. Sulli groaned silently to herself at the sight of him.

She found it unbearable to just act as his friend in front of the cameras let alone having to act a hundred times sweeter to him now that they're 'Korea's Adorable Maknae Couple.'

Taemin quickly catched on to her stare and upon their eye contact, he gave her a charming grin. Oh crap. Sulli's eyes widened once she realized she had been staring at him a little too long. His unexpected notice of her caused Sulli to sheepishly hide her face from further embarrassment. 

Taemin laughed at Sulli who grimaced at the sight of him. My girlfriend is really cute, isn't she? He to himself in his head. Yet, his smile faded as he began to stare inquisitively at her. 

He wondered how she had been doing for the past week since their 'date'. Is she fine?  He was afraid to ask, but he figured by the looks of her, she hasn't been taking their circumstances very pleasantly with the additional troubles coming from her own personal life.

Taemin's own life hadn't been giving him a good break either.

Taemin's visit on his first radio show since the scandal was just the beginning of the immense load of questions concerning the new couple rather than their recent promotion for Dream Girl or the group itself. 

Basically, the host would go on with a question like, "After SHINee's Dream Girl promotions, what are you planning to do next?" in which he would politely smile and reply, "After finishing up with Chapter 2, we will be working hard for our Japan Arena Tour coming soon."

The host would nod to his answers as if he was actually interested, then out of anxiety, questions revolving around the scandal would find its way into the converstation which were completely irrelevant to what they were previously talking about such as, "So, there's been news floating around that the SHINee maknae has recently found his Dream Girl! Taemin-ssi, is that true?" or "How did the romance spark between you two?" and so on. And then the lies would begin to pour in and he would reluctanly put his best fake smile on as he answered them. 

"Yes... We were quite shocked about the news, but we are currently trying our best to not let the sudden publicity interfere into our relationship."

"We just started off as friends, but we are still trying to get to know each other more."

The questions and all didn't bother him too much, but it got tiring to him at some point, well, just the lying part. Taemin wasn't too fond of all the lies he had to tell. It made him uncomfortable to lie to the public so easily like that, but the lives of two careers were in his hands, one which was his.

He heaved a sigh. I guess it was just something I should've already gotten used to anyway.

Amber and Victoria had joined Changmin along with his friends on one table, so it was just her and Krystal now. Not a word came out of either one's mouth, but only an aura of plain awkwardness stood between the two. Sulli was eager to ask her friend how she had been doing; if filming had been successful.

As the questions were about to slip out of , Krystal was the first to break the silence instead.

"I was wond-"

"Sulli! Over here!" 

Krystal held her question back as Sulli turned herself around to see Tiffany and Taeyeon enthusiastically gesturing her over to their table. She nodded and waved at them back with a wide smile. 

"Yes, Krystal?" Sulli lifted her eyebrow as she faced Krystal once again.

"I'll talk to you later. Go ahead." Krystal grinned. Sulli nodded slowly and gave her a quick wave as she walked over to her unnies' table. Krystal bit her lip as she watched Sulli join the SNSD members at their table, frustrated on whether to ask her question or not.

Maybe it isn't the right time.. She concluded as she pursued her lip and walked away.

"Sulli! It's been so long since we've last seen you." 

Tiffany squealed as she gave Sulli a big, friendly hug. Sulli giggled in her unni's embrace.

"Yah, don't hug her too tightly, she's going to choke. I can feel it." Taeyeon added bluntly with a smirk. Tiffany scoffed at her friend's remark as she pulled her arms off Sulli.

"Oh, congratulations! I heard about the news. I'm so happy for you two." Tiffany clapped her hands in excitement. 

"Ah yes, thanks.." Sulli forced a smile, but furrowed her eyebrows as Tiffany suddenly gasped.

"Hey look! It's Taemin. We should invite him over to our table, shouldn't we?" Tiffany gave Sulli a mischievious smile as she playfully nudged Sulli by the side with her elbow. Sulli's smile disappeared quickly as she realized what her friend was implying.

"Wait! No it's oka-"

"TAEMIN!" Tiffany called him as loud as she could to Taemin across the room.

Oh no.. Sulli's eyes bulged with alarm while she watched Tiffany trying to attract his attention as she waved his hands in his direction. Knowing Tiffany, she knew where this was alll going to lead to and it wasn't going to any pleasant for the two of them at all.

As Taemin was about to happily make his way towards Kai, who was eagerly waiting for him at their friend's table, he suddenly heard the sound of his name being screamed from the other side of the room. He cocked his head back to find Tiffany waving at him.

Hey it's Tiffany. He grinned brightly as he waved at her back until he realized she was actually gesturing him to come over to their table as she pointed her finger to the seat beside Sulli who awkwardly stood wincing from embarrassment. 

He looked back at Kai with a worried expression who mouthed the word 'no' over and over again with pleading, puppy eyes as he shook his head, begging Taemin to not come over there and stay with him instead.  

Taemin was sure he wanted to join his friends, but he realized the expectations he had to meet now that he was stuck in a public relationship; that he had to be more careful to not spark any more rumors about them both. 

. Taemin groaned and stopped in his tracks.

Although he was torn between the two sides, he heaved a sigh as he finally decided he must go to Sulli's side.

"HYUUNG! NO." 

Kai stretched his arm out to catch Taemin, but he had already left their table. He drooped his head down in despair as he watched his friend leave him behind while the others stared at him bizarrely, a tad bit concerned with his obssession over Taemin. Chanyeol clicked his tongue as he gently patted Kai on the shoulder.

"Jongin-ah.. I'm so sorry that Taemin left you for another woman."  He teased Kai and proceeded to cackle hysterically, the rest shortly laughing along with him. Kai's ears turned red as he glared at his friends.

"Yah.. Don't laugh." 

Chanyeol gave him a smile and shrugged as he picked up his glass of water. 

Meanwhile, Baekhyun was busy squinting his eyes at a figure across the room. "What's she doing standing there all alone?" Baekhyun tilted his head. The guys lifted their heads to see whom he was referring to. 

They all kept their eyes on Krystal who looked quite lost standing in the middle of the dining room alone.

"It looks like she doesn't have a place to sit. Should we invite her over?" Minho suggested with a smile, causing the guys to look at him like he was out of his mind. The first jaw to drop was Chanyeol's.

"KRYSTAL?" Sehun, who had been playing with his fork, dropped the utensil as he flinched from the booming sound of Chanyeol's voice.

"The cold witch?" Kyungsoo scowled. 

"Krystal?" Kai's face lit up with the mentioning of her name.

"Why not?" Minho frowned and tilted his head.

"She's so intimidating. I don't think she ever really smiles." Kyungsoo said amusedly.

"Whenever I wave at her, she always looks at me like I'm from another species. She rarely talks, does she? I really don't get that girl." Chanyeol scrunched his nose.

"Don't talk about her like that! Those traits are what makes a woman like Krystal-ssi so cool. Aigoo she's perfect.." Kai rested his cheeks on his palms as he stared at Krystal in adoration while continuing to daydream about her in the midst of their conversation. 

"Woah.. Jongin's been totally cast under her spell." Xiumin exclaimed as he pointed at Kai.

Minho laughed at what his friends' silly reasonings for their fear of Krystal. He knew none of these were true as he had known Krystal long enough to understand that she was more shy than frightening. He was the first to approach and befriend her amongst SHINee. A little sister was all he ever thought of her as. 

"I don't think she's so bad. The least we can do is offer her a seat. I'm going to call her over" Minho said decisively and stood up to gesture Krystal over while the rest laid back in their seats and groaned in defeat, well, except for Kai who rose up from his seat as well with the biggest smile on his face.

"SOOJUNG! Over here!"

Krystal furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced over to Minho who gave her a warm smile as he patted the chair next to him, motioning her to come over and sit next to him. Ugh he's there, too? She thought as she eyed Kai who waved energetically at her, but continued to walk over to the boys' table anyway.

"Wah.. I never thought you'd two would end up together some day. You guys were always so.. distant from each other. Sulli-ah, why didn't you tell me sooner about your secret romance? I feel like this was so unexpected." Tiffany crossed her arm and gave Sulli a suspicious look in the eye. 

"I feel the same way." Sulli laughed nervously as she avoided eye contact with Tiffany, trying to avoid her questions as much as possible. 

"We're just getting to know each other, that's all." Taemin smiled politely at his noonas. Sulli cocked an eyebrow at Taemin. She didn't know what he was up to, but she let the idea go. She slumped her shoulders as she laid her head back in her seat and sighed. She just wanted to get out of this place.

"Tell me, how did it all start?" Jessica leaned over the table eagerly to hear their answer.

"Hmmm.. The more I looked at her, the more she looked prettier to me every time I saw her. The next thing I knew, I wanted to see more of her every day. Since then, I just couldn't leave her alone." 

"AAAWWW."

WHAT THE HELL? Sulli widened her eyes while the SNSD members all started too sigh dreamily at the couple. She almost choked at how cheesy that was.

Sulli gritted her teeth as she furiously kicked his foot under the table to get his attention. She shot Taemin a death glare in which he responded by ignoring her as he innocently blinked at his noonas.

Oh god kill me now. Sulli closed her eyes to hopefully calm herself down as she began to massage her temples.

you , please leave some comments below~ c: