"Now tell me why I have to come again, Key?" Lee Jinki whined at Kim Kibum as he was reluctantly dragged by the latter to Lee Taemin's house.

Key grinned inwardly and continued to pull Onew's arm. "Relax, Onew hyung. We all just wanna hang out together, and besides, you're too lazy." he replied. Actually, this is for Jia... hehe~

FLASHBACK

Lee Jiayi kept staring at Onew the whole time he was in Fashion 101 classroom. Key finally decided on his models and focused on Jia at the moment. When he worked on the measurements around Jia's shoulders, he suddenly noticed her stares towards a certain person.

Immediately Key smirked at Jia as he thought of a plan. "Hey, Jia, how close are you to Onew hyung?" he asked curiously.

Jia blinked and turned to Key. "You mean JinJin oppa?" She calls him JinJin oppa? Omona. This girl's got it bad for him. "We're not much close as just good friends. I'd like to get to spend more time with him more often, but I doubt that'll happen. Hehe~" she giggled and scratched her head.

Right when she giggled, Key noticed Onew glancing at them now. He smiled inwardly as he tapped Jia to focus on standing straight. I know that look in his eye - aish, these 2 are meant for each other!

As he measured Jia's waist, he smirked at Onew intentionally to see his reaction.

Bingo.

Onew's eyes furrowed at Key's hands and glared at him while Jia was distracted with the color sashes Key was using to measure her waist. "Yah, Key. I don't like pink." she stated.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Anyways Taemin invited me to his house and since only he and Jia are going to be there, I want an even amount of people there, so I'm bringing you. Is that a problem?" asked Key.

Onew looked up from the ground quickly and faced Key. "Jia's hanging out with us, too?"

Key blinked animatedly until he snickered at his friend. "Onew hyung, do you happen to like Taemin's sister?" he .

".....actually stepsister...." he mumbled quietly to himself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that?"

"She's cute," Onew blurted out before he figured out what he just said and turned red.

Key laughed beside him until they reached in front of the Lee residence. It wasn't a mansion, but their house was indeed big for a family of 5. Onew insisted on pressing the buzzer, but Key thought otherwise.

He hopped over the short gated fence (when the gate was already open) and ran to the front door. He fumbled with the doorknob a bit before opening the door and pushed it open for Onew to see.

Onew gaped at him. But he didn't have a key! How did he - oh yeah, Almighty Key.

He shook his head and followed his dongsaeng into the house until they stumbled upon a blonde boy in the kitchen, baking cupcakes. The boy looked up at his hyungs entering the kitchen and smiled.

"Key omma! Eh? Onew appa's here, too! That's great!" he chirped up and left his post to engulf them in a hug.

Key's eyes landed on Taemin's unfinished work. "Yah! Don't leave your post when you're doing something like this in the kitchen! Aish~" He scurried to the cupcake mix and continued his work from there. Onew and Taemin laughed at the cooking diva and turned to each other.

Taemin snapped his fingers as if he had an idea. "Oh! Wait here, okay, Onew hyung?" he gestured Onew to stay where he stands and ran out of the kitchen and halfway up the stairs. Taemin cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, "LEE JIAYI COME OUT NOW!!!"

"AISH, WHY DO I HAVE TO GO SEE THAT DAMN DIVA?!" came out Jia's voice in a holler.

"BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T, I WON'T BAKE A CAKE FOR YOU!" Key hollered back, earning a glare from Onew as he held his ears away from him.

Jia rolled her eyes and walked down the stairs anyway, meeting Taemin halfway. Onew decided at that time to walk out of the kitchen. When he did, he practically drooled over looking at Jia's image.

“Jiayi?”

Jia paused at the stairs and turned slowly to look at Onew. , he still looks amazing.

“JinJin oppa?” She blushed as he smiled brightly in reply.

Key snickered quietly to himself as he high fived Taemin, who decided to walk towards him and let those 2 be for a while just to chat.

Mission Accomplished.

Key felt content and praised Taemin for the outfit selection. “You know, I never knew Jia could look so pretty, thanks to your selection of clothing today!” he ruffled the boy’s hair as he decided to help Taemin with more baking cupcakes.

Taemin bit his lip and focused his eyes on the batter. “Actually, I didn’t do that. One time Minjoo noona came over and bought that outfit for Jia.”

Key stopped what he was doing and faced Taemin. Before he said something, Taemin continued, “Key hyung, Jia really misses Minjoo noona, but she’s still hurt that she never told her that Jonghyun hyung was her host family. I don’t even get why -”

Then Taemin suddenly stopped mixing the bowl and looked up at Key. They both thought the same thing: Oh my God, Jia has the hots for both of our hyungs.

Key sadly shook his head and went back to work with decorating the cupcakes that are already out of the oven and cooled down. “You know, I’ve been talking to Minjoo lately, and it really sounds like she’s depressed. I mean, with her aggressiveness, she barely has girl friends, you know? Plus, how was Minjoo supposed to know that the guy Jia keeps bumping to is not only our friend, but her host family? Psh, sometimes Jia can be so ignorant -”

“…..what?”

Pots and pans were dropped to the floor immediately as Taemin & Key turned in shock at the kitchen doorway. Jia stood there, shocked as well, besides a confused Onew.

Onew raised his hand sheepishly. “Ummm, I happen to be the only one to know where Jonghyun and Minjoo live, right?”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Choi Minjoo continued to mope around and pout on her bed, speaking in silence as she laid on her stomach and tried to sleep.

Kim Jonghyun looked worried and couldn’t find anything wrong with her. Omo~ my baby - is she sick? Why hasn’t she said anything lately? She hasn’t even said one word! Is she on her period? Gosh, she hasn’t even eaten yet since…… Jonghyun literally counted his fingers. OH MY DAMN SHE HASN’T EATEN IN 2 DAYS!

Jonghyun decided to enter Minjoo’s room and sat down on the edge of her bed. He stared at his ‘daughter’, who was bundled up in a mess of blankets and pillows, staring at the window. The weather outside was cozy and warm for the springtime.

He patted her back. “Yah, Minjoo. Wakey wakey.”

Minjoo continued to lay still.

“JooJoo~ wake up. It’s 12:28p.m.! You haven’t eaten…” he murmured loudly, making sure she hears correctly.

Still no response from the teen.

Jonghyun puffed his cheeks in a cute pout and thought for a bit. “JooJoo, I have a chocolate bar if you’re hungry…you know, for your monthly period. I hear it helps your digestive system or something like that.” He waved the chocolate bar close to wear he assumes is Minjoo’s face.

With little success, he was able to get a response from her. Minjoo swatted the chocolate bar away and buried herself into the bed more. “Aish, go away, Hyungnim. I’m sleepy.” she mumbled audibly and closed her eyes.

Jonghyun’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Yah! You’ve been sleeping for 2 days now! You haven’t even eaten!” He shoved her a bit to lay down beside her. “You go eat while I take your sleeping position.” he proclaimed as he pulled the thick blanket off her and wrapped himself in it.

Minjoo slowly got up and glared at Jonghyun. “Give. Back. The. Blanket.” she spoke in a monotonous tone.

The elder popped his head out of the blanket and pouted at her. “No.” he firmly stated and crawled back into the blanket.

The teenage girl sighed as she gave up and flung her body onto the bed. “Whatever. I’m not getting up.”

Jonghyun frowned at this and finally removed himself from the blankets, but also kicking them to the floor so Minjoo won’t have to wrap herself up again. His eyes lit up as he thought of something.

Hmmmmm……..maybe Minho can help.

He sat up from the bed and used the home phone on top of Minjoo’s bedside table. He punched in the numbers and waited for 2 rings, then heard someone pick up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Yah, dude, my baby won’t wake up. Help me out here.”

“Your baby?”

“Yeah, JooJoo. I think she’s on PMS - OW! DON’T HIT ME LIKE THAT!”

Minho suddenly heard in the background, “I’M NOT PMS-ING, YOU F***ING RETARD!” Then he heard mumbling profanities from Jonghyun’s mouth. He chuckled over the phone.

“Okay, maybe she’s just sleepy, hyung. Just let her be.”

“Minho,” Jonghyun called softly into the receiver. He had Minho’s full attention now; Jonghyun rarely talks in a serious tone. “I’m worried. She hasn’t eaten in 2 days, and she just denied a chocolate bar. A chocolate bar!”

“Oh. This is serious. Was it her favorite one?”

“Yeah, Hershey’s Cookies & Cream. She just flicked it away from me.”

“Is she sick?”

“I don’t know, she won’t open up to me.” There was a pause on the phone before Jonghyun spoke again. “Hey, do you think she’s depressed or something?”

Minho’s eyes widened. “I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” he quickly stated and hung up.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Jonghyun was baffled as he witnessed the scene before him.

There, on Minjoo’s bed, was Choi Minho playing Mad Libs with Minjoo. She had been smiling since Minho hopped on her bed a few minutes ago and tickled her to death.

That’s when they found out that she had a cold sore on the side of her tongue, so that’s why she was gloomy. Plus the fact that she’s been ignored by Jia makes her even more depressed…she’s friends with Jia? And Minho, too?

That was what Jonghyun learned the 1^st 15 minutes since Minho dropped by. He was glad that Minho would be here to lessen Minjoo’s depression. Jonghyun walked away from Minjoo’s room and went to the bathroom the two shared. He opened the cabinet and pulled out a case tube from the highest shelf.

He scanned the medical tube case in his hands. The label was prescribed to 브러니까, to which Jonghyun found confusing a week ago until her parents called him.

Her father was pretty ticked off that I’m a guy, but at least I reassured him that she’s safe, though. Her mother, on the other hand…. Jonghyun glanced at the medicine case in his hand and gripped it tighter. Sounded like her parents were arguing with each other. Minjoo’s mother wanted her to take this, but her father insisted I throw it. What should I do?

Jonghyun glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He slowly smiled at himself. I’ll keep it just in case something bad happens to her, though I doubt she’s suicidal.

He placed it back to where he got it from and hid it behind the other stuff on the top shelf before closing the cabinet mirror. He walked back to Minjoo’s room just as Minho started giggling. He raised his eyebrow and looked at Minjoo in confusion. Minjoo looked lost as well, staring at Minho’s uncontrollable… giggles.

“Hyung, read this,” Minho told Jonghyun as he handed him a piece of paper. Skeptical, Jonghyun took a gander at what they’ve been working on.

Fill in the blanks.

A Crazy Night at the Library

 

adjective lonely

verb ending with -ing cutting

character in a book Cinderella

verb ending with -ing hurting

character in a book Rapunzel

your hometown 노르 워크

character in a book Aurora

your favorite book Fear Street

pet's name Jjong

state or province United States of America

librarian Jiayi

exclamation “Is this the reality you wanted?”

past tense verb forgetting

your grade 12

 

　

Jonghyun couldn’t comment about Minjoo’s depression in order to not make things worse or lessen the happy vibes in the room, so he stared at Minho instead and said, “You have bad writing, Minho.”

Minho frowned as Minjoo laughed out loud, but tried to stifle her giggles when Minho glared at her. Jonghyun chuckled and noticed writing on the back of the paper. He flipped it and read it aloud:

One night something really lonely happened at the library. The characters in the stories started cutting from their books!

Cinderella climbed into Charlotte's Web and started hurting with Wilbur the Pig! Rapunzel wandered into an encyclopedia and ended up lost in 노르 워크!

The craziest part was when Aurora wandered into Fear Street and said, “Jjong, I don't think we're in United States of America any more.”

Then Jiayi walked in and said, “Is this the reality you wanted?! Everybody back in place!”

The characters forgetting around the room. Just in time! The students in grade 12 came in to get books for their reports, but it was safe. All the characters were back in the books where they belonged.

Jonghyun, Minho, and Minjoo ended up falling on the floor, laughing their asses off at the weirdest Mad lib ever. Jonghyun wiped a tear from his eye and smiled at Minho. “I wanna do the next one!” he exclaimed and grabbed a piece of paper from Minjoo’s study table.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Meanwhile, Jia bolted out the car door as Onew parked in front of Jonghyun’s apartment building. Key immediately got out of the car from the backseat along with Taemin.

“YAH! LEE JIAYI! THERE’S HUNDREDS OF BUILDINGS AROUND THIS AREA! HOW THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO FIND JJONG’S APARTMENT?!” Key yelled at the top of his lungs. Jia froze immediately as soon as she realized what he said makes sense. S***, now how are we supposed to find her?!

Onew pointed ahead of them. “Jonghyun lives in there at the 3^rd floor in Rm. 624.” he mentioned innocently. Jia thanked him with a wave and off she sprinted.  Key was right under her tail as Onew & Taemin ran not too far behind them.

Jia ran up the stairs and into the 3rd floor until she spotted Rm. 624.  She immediately stopped and waited a few seconds for Key to follow.  As soon as Key stopped running beside her, he bent down to catch his breath.  Jia pointed at the doorknob.

"Open the door." she commanded him.  Key glared at her.

"Why would I - "

"Jonghyun's in there alone with Minjoo.  ALONE."  Jia emphasized.  She only called on bluff, but right when she said that, Key's eyes darkened in anger.

"MOVE."  Key growled at Jia as he pushed her aside and worked on the lock on the door.  In less than 30 seconds, the door was flung open and they popped into the apartment, with Onew and Taemin trailing after them.

All 4 people gaped at the living room.

"..................................the f***?"  Key blurted out.  Taemin's eyes widened and he covered his ears quickly, trying to forget the swear word.

Onew & Jia looked around the place in awe.  "How can Jonghyun afford this place?"  Onew breathed out.

Just then, they all heard (except for Taemin) a voice from one of the rooms in the hallway.

"Aish, Minjoo, you're just as dirty as oppa~"  - [Jonghyun's voice]

Key & Jia's minds froze for a bit.  Then, in a snap, their eyes glazed with fire and charged through the hallway.  Giggling noises erupted from one of the closed doors.  The duo backed up a bit and both kicked the door open.

The door fell down........and yet it grew unnoticed by the people inside the bedroom.

Why?

Well........... :

 

 

 

 

 

Minjoo was too engrossed on watching Jonghyun and Minho as she sat on the bed.  Jonghyun & Minho were trying so hard to stop laughing and stopped right after the door got knocked down.  Jonghyun was standing nearby the window as Minho sat on the comforter chair in the corner with a script, still giggling.  Jonghyun cleared his throat and tried to stay serious.

An Ode

Radio Announcer [Minho]: Thank you for tuning in today. We are here in Seoul to celebrate National Poetry Month. In just a moment, the nation's poet laureate, Kim Jonghyun, will read a poem about a bed. And here is Kim Jonghyun.

Kim Jonghyun: Thank you, everyone. This is a very hyper poem I wrote about a bed.

An Ode to a bed

The bed is as big as a pill.
It reminds me of small clothes drinking.
O, the bed. O, the bed!
What do fun people think when they see you for the first time?
Perhaps they know there are happy days ahead.
O, the bed. O, the bed!
For some, you are active, but for others, you are blissful.
If we are , we pause when we think of you.
May you always think.
O, the bed. O, the bed!
The end.

Radio Announcer [Minho]: On behalf of the poets, thank you for ing.

 

"........................................................................................................................................................................."

Jonghyun, Minho, & Minjoo began to laugh at their new erted Mad Lib.  The 4 people waiting by the door had faces like:  =.=""

And here we thought it had been something else........

Minho was the one who stopped laughing first as he noticed the people by the doorway.  "Jiayi?" he whispered.

The mention of the girl's name stopped the other 2 from laughing and looked up at the doorway as well.  Key looked down at the small girl and frowned, pushing her towards Minjoo.  Jia gulped in nervousness at first, but then she composed herself and looked towards her best friend.

She ran up to her and hugged her to death, squeezing the life out of her.  "I'M SO SORRY, MINJOO!  I DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT I BUMPED INTO HIM AND THAT YOU KNEW HIM AND THEN I GOT MAD THAT YOU DIDN'T TELL ME AND I - "

"Jia."

"WHAT?!"  Jia looked over Minjoo's shoulder and at Jonghyun.  For some reason, her heart started pounding repeatedly fast in her body.

"Minjoo's got a cold sore on the side of her tongue." he mentioned.

"........oh."

Suddenly, Jia felt a poke on her shoulder and turned back to Minjoo.  She smiled at her brightly.  All depression was thrown away from her body as she felt giddy.

Minho noticed this and smiled at JIa as he stood up from his seat and walked over to the others.  "I think she already forgives you and the fact that you're here talking to her again makes her really happy." he translated (though there's really not much to translate since all she did was smile).

Jia almost got teary-eyed and sniffed with a smile on her face.  "Minjoo~" she cooed.

Minjoo gasped lightly and quickly turned to grab a tissue box from the countertable and give it to her.  Jia thanked her silently and blew her nose.

"Ahem,"  all eyes were now on Key.  "I just want to know one thing - "  he marched up to Jonghyun and pulled him by the ear.  "OW!  KEY, WHAT THE HELL?!"

"WHAT THE HELL, INDEED, YEOBO!!!  HOW CAN YOU AFFORD THIS PLACE?!  LOOK AT THE GODDAMN KITCHEN!"  Key yelled in his ear as he dragged him to where the kitchen is.

The rest of them laughed like it wasn't a big deal how Jonghyun got whiny and how observant Key is.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Jonghyun spread his arms wide open.

"GROUP HUG EVERYONE!"  He exclaimed in English.....or Engrish, to him.

Everyone in the dining room/kitchen looked up at him weirdly as they were eating what Key cooked for dinner.  From where Jonghyun is standing, the seating arrangements were:  on his left sits Key, Jia, and Minho; on his right sits Minjoo, Taemin, and Onew.

They all bursted out in laughter, making Jonghyun feel a bit humiliated.  Minjoo noticed this and became the first person to stop laughing.  She mirrored his pout and stood up to hug him.

"It's alright, hyungnim," she called softly to him, "I'll hug you."

Jonghyun smiled as he looked down at Minjoo and hugged her back in return.  Although Jia was a bit jealous, she noticed the guys sitting on each side of her. 

On her left, Minho glared flaming daggers at Jonghyun's head.  On her right, Key stared at Jonghyun & Minjoo hugging....then he broke his metal chopsticks.

Woah~ I know that look!  BOTH OF THEM like Minjoo?!?!

An oblivious Onew & Taemin suddenly felt bad that they made Jonghyun sad, so they stood up as well and gave him a hug.  Jia suddenly got struck with an idea and grinned, jumping off her seat and running towards the group hug.

As she hugged right before Minho & Key stood up from their seats as well, Jia quickly stood on tip toes and whispered into Jonghyun's ear, "Meet me in the bathroom.  I found out something."

Jonghyun blinked, but gave her a look that meant I'll meet you there soon.

After a few minutes of a heart-warming group hug, everyone broke off once Taemin's phone started ringing.  He sighed and pulled out his phone, answering it.

"Hello?"

"Taemin-ah!  How's it going?"

Taemin froze as he recognized the familiar voice.  "T-Taesun-hyung?" he quivered out, causing Jia to snap her attention towards him, her eyes widening in fear.

"Uh-huh......yeah.......I'm fine.........yeah, she still lives with us.....aish, hyung, don't be like - what?  You're living with us?!  Why??  ................oh, she left for vacation?  ..........Mm..................um...............HYUNG!  DON'T BE LIKE THAT!  IT'S NOT HER FAULT! SHE - "  Taemin started yelling at the phone as everyone else stared at him.

Jia couldn't take it anymore and ran to the restroom.  Jonghyun noticed this and ran after her to comfort her.  Onew looked at them with a longing look.

I wish I was comforting her right now.....

Jia, in the meanwhile, sat nearby the sink and dangled her feet in the air as Jonghyun closed the door behind him.  He turned to look at Jia and blinked numerous times.

Has she ever been this beautiful?  Oh wait, she has, like all the time.  Hehe~

"Jonghyun," Jia called out softly, making Jonghyun focus on her more.  "Mm?"

"Can we just....talk about what I found out?" she asked.  Hmmmm.....I think it's okay to not talk about whatever issues she has yet....

Jonghyun nodded.  Jia took a deep breath and sighed, looking at her socked feet.  "When Minjoo hugged you, I figured out that Minho & Key might like her...."

Jonghyun blinked again.  "What?"

"Well....either that or they must hate you for some reason.  Although they might be, since you have this pretty apartment and you work like Minho, plus the fact that you used to date Key."

The elder chuckled and walked towards Jia.  "Actually, I already know Key's crushing on Minjoo.  And now that you mention it, that would explain Minho's sudden closeness towards her.  He's usually quiet, right?"

"Haha~ well, should we team up together?  To help Minjoo find her true love?"

"Mmmm.....that's right....we should."　Jonghyun replied as he leaned forward in the sink, both of his arms trapping Jia.

Jia looked totally confused at him.  "What are you - "  Jonghyun lightly planted a kiss on Jia's forehead and slowly pulled away, grinning from ear to ear.

"I always wanted to do that...."  Jonghyun trailed off, biting his lip and looking away as a blush crept onto his cheeks.

Jia blushed, too, and felt her heart beating faster.  What is this feeling?

She slightly pushed Jonghyun out of the way and ran out of the bathroom.  She ran through the hallway and bumped into Minjoo & Minho.

"Woah~ easy there, buddy!"  Minho exclaimed with humor in his tone.

Minjoo, however, looked at Jia with concern.  "Onew hyung & Key hyung dropped Tae at your house.  Tae requested you stay here for the night." she reported.  Jia slowly nodded her head, immediately understanding what she meant.

 

 

 

Taemin stood in front of his hyungs as they altogether stand in front of his house.

"Taemin-ah, be careful..." Key warned him in a low tone as he glared at Taesun waving at them.  Taesun was oblivious to the older guys's stares and focused on his little brother.

He ran up to him and hugged him really tight.  "Taemin!  I missed you so much!"  he cheered happily.

Onew noticed Key's glares and was confused at the whole thing.  As the Lee brothers waved goodbye to them and left to go inside their house, Onew faced Key and asked, "Why didn't Taemin bring Jiayi along?  Isn't she a part of this family?"

Key looked solemnly at the house and began to walk towards Onew's car, with Onew trailing behind.  "To Taesun, Jia was never a part of the family.  He barely warmed up to the idea that his parents will never get together, but he hasn't let go of his hatred for Jia."

Onew and Key got into the car and Onew started the engine.  He looked up at Key, who was in the passenger seat.  "Why Jiayi?  Is it only Jiayi, or her mother, too?"

Key shook his head.  "Jia, at the time when she moved in the Lee residence, barely accepted the idea at first as well.  But, she later learned to love Taemin."  He sighed deeply and paused before speaking again.

"Taesun, on the other hand, gave a bad impression on Jia, and ever since then they've been on odd terms.  You know that Jia rarely gets along with strangers, which includes Taesun and his behavior.  Taesun is more of a rebel than Taemin....."