Recently SHINee had had it tough; nearing their debut for their new single 'Sherlock', they each found they were completely piled down with work. If they weren't rehearsing they were on variety shows or doing a big interview but no one had it quite as bad as their leader, Onew. He would rise at the crack of dawn to check everything would run smoothly for his other members, making sure everything was in place so all they had to do was turn up. He would make sure the transport would be where it needed to be and above all else, make sure the other members were happy and well taken care of.

Onew found that as the leader it was his job to make theirs as easy and stress free as possible; the only problem with that being the fact he was now more stressed out than ever. Also, as the leader, he was naturally requested for the most appearances on shows and interviews. With more and more of his time being requested, Onew found it became a regular occurrence for him to have to skip meals and lose sleep, though of course he would never complain. Onew made sure to keep all that bad stuff hidden away behind a mask, but on the outside he was his happy-go-lucky self who was constantly amusing both s and fans with his 'Onew Condition'. On the outside, at least, SHINee was the perfect brotherly family.

As SHINee rode back to the dorm after an exhausting full day of rehearsals, the members amused themselves with jokes and silly stories to relieve their stress with a good laugh. When they reached the dorm, all five members and their manager hopped out of the van into the cold night air, mist swirling from their mouths as they chuckled over a lame joke made by Onew. Key turned to Taemin who was pretending to moan about being asleep on his feet so with one quick motion scooped him up into his arms and carried him inside, ignoring his high-pitched protests. The others couldn't contain their laughter at the sight of Taemin squirming in the diva's arms, but as Minho and Jonghyun were about to follow they realised their leader wasn't with them. They turned back to see where he was but he waved them off with a smile.

“It's ok, you go on ahead. I need to talk to Manager.” Nodding, they trudged inside out of the cold. Manager looked to Onew and knew instantly what this was about; quite a few conversations had passed between them on this same subject over the past few weeks. Onew had always struggled to ask for anything and so their manager knew how important it must be for him to summon up the courage to come to him about this. He knew as a manager he shouldn't have favourites but still, Onew seemed like an exception. So smiling to him, he led the way inside and into his office. 

On the way up to their dorm, it clicked in Jonghyun mind that stupidly he had left his jacket behind in the van. He told Minho he wouldn't be a minute and was about to jog back to get it when Minho grabbed his shoulder,

“Wait a minute; it's dark out, I'll come too.” Jonghyun nodded gratefully and together they sprinted back downstairs. Securing the jacket, they slowly made their way back into the building, enjoying the cool air after such a long day couped up inside a dance studio. The building was silent at that time of night so as they made their way through the corridor their attention was drawn when they heard the soft voices of Onew and Manager coming from his office. Wanting to respect their Hyung's privacy, they sped up to walk past without disturbing them, but they couldn't help when they overheard Onew's next words,

“Please, I need to leave as soon as possible.”

Jonghyun and Minho turned to each other, confusion written on their faces.

“I don't want to just sit here any more, I need to go. I'll deal with the transport and all that myself, I just need your permission to leave. Our contracts end soon ... Oh, but one more thing... please don't tell the others - I don't want them to know.”

Minho and Jonghyun stood frozen outside the door. The confusion had slowly bled from their faces instead being replaced by hurt and anger. As quietly as they could, they turned their back on the door and with that, the two members crept away, hearts heavier as they bore the new information that their leader would soon be leaving them. The last thing they heard before they turned the corner echoed in their minds,

“It's driving me crazy being here...” 

When they reached the dorm, they found both Key and Taemin sitting on the couch laughing merrily over a joke they just missed. They looked up from their conversation with smiles still etched on their faces, until they saw the grave expressions on their fellow member's faces. Key jumped up first and quickly crossed the room over to the two and started fussing over them just like any Umma would,

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