Chapter Two: “You let him into his room? He has narcolepsy!”

The tinkle of soft bells spread into the room as the first rays of sun made itself comfortable. On the large yellow bed standing cozily in the corner, a small figure rustled. Goo Jae Hee reached out a slim wrist and hit the alarm clock that displayed the time as 6:00a.m. The bells stopped.

“Ah…” she mumbled weakly as she sat up, rubbing her sides. Dance practice last night had been a bit more…energetic than usual with the others drilling her about Kang Tae- err, Choi Minho. She blushed at the new name. It made her nervous and anxious at the same time.

Stumbling to the bathroom to begin her morning routine she thought about last night:

The car ride had been nothing but Kai and Taemin going back and forth over why he was acting weird.

“You were talking, actually talking to him like he was me or something,” Kai seemed to accuse despite the grin on his face. Jae Hee watched, trying her best to sort things out in her head before she spoke.

“No I wasn’t,”

“Taemin you punched him,”

The boy paused at that, seeming to ponder why, “I don’t know why, but I feel as if…” As if he knew him…but he couldn’t say something like that. There was this weird feeling he got when he looked at Minho, as if they had met somewhere, in whatever life…It sounded to strange to just say aloud…

“He’s an attractive friend, Jae,” D.O. said, glancing at her in the rear view mirror. “You said you went to the same school?”

“Yeah, he was on the track team and so was I.” she lied.

Everyone looked at her and her eyes widened, “What?”

“That doesn’t explain anything. How did you meet him?” Kai asked carefully. They were all very careful when asking her about last year. Any scrap they collected and tried to figure out why…why…

“I told you, we…” she trailed off and realized her mistake. They didn’t know anything about her pretending to be a boy and chasing after Kang Tae Joon. If they knew they’d never accept Minho. In fact, Victoria would kill her, her brother, and John. Jonghyun would probably try to kill Minho himself. “We saw each other at the gym and…I don’t want to talk about it.”

They were all shut down, but they exchanged looks that said they’d be telling Key and Amber everything when they got to practice.

Sure enough, as Jae Hee dragged Taemin in, she saw Kai go to Key. She sighed and it wasn’t long before the veteran member came over to them. Key cared very deeply for Taemin. The two were longtime friends that had met in middle school when Taemin first came to America. Since Taemin’s mother, her aunt and mother’s sister had passed, Taemin had been alone and very quiet. While Kai and Jae Hee had tried their hardest to open him back up, it hadn’t been until the ‘Almighty Key’ –as refers to himself- came up and shattered his shell. Key didn’t handle him like broken glass, but did tend to mother him a bit. It was exactly what he’d needed…

“Who is this guy, Jae?” he asked firmly. They were the same age, but Key had always been more mature. He had even graduated early –but that was just because he didn’t trust his boyfriend to go to college alone, Jonghyun’s work ethic was horrible before Key got to him.

“This guy who went to the same school as me in Korea. He’s doing his last year of high school here…” Jae Hee said before grabbing his shirt, “Oh, Key…! Key can you help him get along with everyone?! He’s a bit shy and doesn’t open up easily, so can you please bear with him? I don’t want him to be a part from us.”

Key wrapped his hands around Jae Hee’s wrist, moving her away from him with the slightest hint of panic in his gaze. She gave him space apologetically. It was common knowledge that Key hated being touched by people, especially women.

“I’ll see what kind of person he is. You know I hate jerks though.’

“Taemin, get up!” Jae Hee called into her cousin’s ear. It was early, and his father had already gone to work so she could be as loud as she could to wake him. He was so hard to get up when he fell into his sleep fits. Mornings were the absolute worst now that she didn’t have Kai’s help. He had taken to spending his nights at D.O.’s house, which meant he’d be here later.

Honestly in all their years of being together they had tried absolutely everything. Loud noises, shoving him, beating him…She ended up having to drag him to the next house over and dropping him unceremoniously to the soft carpet while she ventured into the kitchen, put down the bag of food she brought and start cooking.

“Taemin!” she called every now and then and threw something at him. “Fine, if you won’t wake up Tae Joon then I will,”

He was still and then started to stir, “No…” he mumbled, “Girls shouldn’t wake up guys in the morning. Guys stuff is going on,”

Jae Hee frowned, not understanding him. She watched him struggled to get on all fours and sighed, “So you’ll do it?”

Comically, he crawled out of the kitchen and eventually she heard him making his way up the stairs. She hummed and continued cooking.

---

Upstairs Tae Joon (from now on Minho) was in the bathroom drying his hair. He was used to getting up early and had heard when Jae Hee had come in…but her constant calling of Taemin’s name had him wondering what the hell was going on down there. He was exiting the shower when he noticed something off about his room…

Someone was in his bed.

In the dim of the room it looked like Jae Hee, and so he smirked and went over, throwing off the covers. “Yah, messy messy…what’re you-?” He paused at seeing Taemin instead. His soft features seemed downright angelic while asleep. He looked so pretty that Minho drew away a bit uncomfortably.

He sighed, deciding to humor the kid. He had really loosened up after meeting Jae Hee, and decided to have some fun. “Taemin, who’s bed do you think you’re sleeping in!?” He yelled, grabbing his foot and yanking him off the bed. He winced, not expecting the boy to stay asleep and therefore not catch his fall. He’d definitely have a bruise later from that. Slowly though…Taemin’s eyes opened and he stared up at him, taking in his damp toweled form for a few seconds before lashing out and kicking his leg.

“JUST LET ME SLEEP! WHY DO YOU PEOPLE NEVER LET ME SLEEP!?” he cried, thrashing before going still on his stomach. Sleepily, he muttered, “What kind of person looks like that? Too many muscles for a normal person…”

Now on the other side of the room, Minho laughed. Did he have a sleeping disorder or something? He should get dressed and get Jae Hee to handle it. All the while Taemin lay on the floor awkwardly, stirring whenever the older hummed.

---

Jae Hee glanced at the ceiling for the fifth time. What was going on up there if they hadn’t come down yet? She was about to go check when Kai arrived. After letting him in she went back to her work, pulling out plates and silverware.

Kai entered the kitchen, looking around and twisting up his lips. “Nice place. Does he live alone?”

Jae Hee frowned, never having really thought about it. “Yes. His father is his only family and he’s working in Korea right now.”

He nodded and looked around for their cousin. “Where’s Taemin? Did he find a corner to sleep in?”

“No, I sent him to wake Minho,” she said, still rolling Kang Tae Joon’s new name around on her tongue. She was broken out of her thoughts when Kai inhaled sharply.

“You let that Narcoleptic go wake someone else up!? It’s morning Jae Hee, chances are he got into bed with him!”

Jae Hee dropped the spatula.

They burst into Minho’s room to find him crouching next to Taemin. He seemed to pause whatever he was doing and look up at them. “Does he have a problem or something?”

“Sorry,” Kai says, sighing with relief. “Taemin’s a borderline narcoleptic since he doesn’t get much sleep at night,” he walked up to his cousin and began to somewhat savagely beat him. He paused, “You’ll notice him falling asleep in weird places,” as he turned to continue, Minho stopped him.

“What are you doing!? Is that necessary?”

Kai nodded, “He can take a lot of hits,”

“Aish…” he pulled Taemin’s unconscious form to him, “I’ll wake him and joining you guys downstairs,”

Kai stared at him in disbelief, “Never mind, we’ll just bring his food and feed him when he wakes up. You don’t get how hard it is to get him up.”

Minho frowned but followed them, standing in the doorway after they left and humming.

Taemin stirred.

----O

“Hmm, you really can cook,” Minho smiled across the table at Jae Hee who blushed prettily behind her fork.

“You can too, I remember when we ran that café for the school festival.”

“I was a barista then, I didn’t cook.”

“I think you can. What can’t you do?”

Kai’s lip curled at their talk, not enjoying seeing his cousin flirt. He stuffed eggs into his mouth and glanced back at Taemin who had somehow came downstairs before falling asleep before he could reach a chair. Occasionally he’d nudge him with his foot and get no response.

“How’s Han Na?” she asked carefully, “Has she recovered well?”

Minho sighed, chewing his bacon thoughtfully, “She’s dating Seung-Ri happily.”

“REALLY!?”

“Are you two dating?” Kai blurted out, looking at them curiously. Jae Hee choked on her food and gave him a wide eyed look. Next to her, Minho looked at her curiously. “I mean, you did come all the way here just for her, and Jae doesn’t seem to really mind…” The pair blushed and searched for something to find interteresting. The athlete struggled for the right words to phrase what it was they had without overstepping any boundaries. Kai snorted, “Just go for it already. The longer you wait, the more open to sabotage you’ll be.”

“You know that from experience?” the older asked, looking at him with a slight tilt to his head. There was something about his face that spoke volumes.

“Yes,” he replied and got up, “We’ll be late if we don’t go now. Oi, you carry him since you have all the muscles.”

There was a pause. “How do you usually get him to school?”

The cousins looked to each other and back him, shrugging, “I don’t know, sometimes we just leave him here and he shows up eventually,” Jae Hee said.

Minho raised a brow, “What, does the school know that he’s like this?”

Another shrug was their response and he was tempted to scold them. Arriving late and not making classes and leaving him like this was weird and kind of…messed up. “Aren’t you guys supposed to take care of him? Are his parents at work or…?”

Jae Hee shifted nervously and Kai muttered something. “Aunt Ra Im passed away a few years ago. His Dad works a lot…” When Minho stared at him he his teeth, “Never mind you wouldn’t understand,”

“Kai…” Jae Hee said quickly as her friend’s gaze dropped to Taemin’s sleeping form with a shimmering emotion.

“I’ll wake him,” Minho said, crouching next to Taemin and pulling him up. The others watched for a moment, about to tell to just bring him to the car, but as he leaned close to the youngest’s ear, they paused and shock took over.

After winning and spending a lot of time on his own…Tae Joon had to find a way to make his days less empty. Time zoomed by when you had someone to resent and people to blow off, but now everyone was gone and he felt pretty lonely. School was out and he was taking time to rest after working so hard and winning…

Which is where music started to come in.

Before he had listened here and there, his preference upbeat songs that he could work out to and was catchy. Before he knew it he was singing the rap parts and memorizing whole songs. He didn’t sound bad, but he didn’t dare sing the other parts. It was embarrassing to be singing, even alone.

It kind of made him feel lonelier.

“Eojjesskeo nege mijyeobeolil geolan sasil maneun nuga boado bun myeong he
Like a hurricane da sseuleoga ge geonjeongeul ja deulaboa
Nan dalla ddag jalangui semeun jeol de an malla”

Supa Luv-Teen Top

He had been humming this in the room, and it for all sorts of reasons should’ve sounded horrible, but it came out confident and strong. It wasn’t…to Taemin, but it was one of his favorites. As he sang it though Taemin began to twitch slightly, as if trying to move but being slightly paralyzed. Little by little he moved more and more until he blinked and looked up.

“What song is that?”

----

‘Genie for you boy…’

Key jerked awake at the sound of his alert going off. It was one he had set for two people: Taemin, who texted him when he needed something, and Kai (who only texted him about Taemin). The fashion designer yawned and stretched, checking the clock and groaning. He had class at eleven and had might as well get up now…

“What the hell…? Kibum, ow that’s my lung!”

Ignoring his boyfriend who was being used as leverage, Key lean over the side of the bed to find his phone. Inside the red skinny jeans he wore yesterday he pulled out his vibrating phone and put it to his year. “Kai I swear to God if this is you asking about flavors again I will call-“

“NO!” came a quick response. “It’s not about that,”

“Mmm,” Key shifted so that he was more comfortable, which lead to the person who’s stomach he was splayed across to wince and attempt to wriggle out from under him. “Did Taemin crawl off and fall asleep somewhere you can’t find him?”

“No, someone woke him up. Easily,”

Key sat up, startling Jonghyun who looked at him as if he were crazy. “What? Who? How?”

“We never even considered it…”

“What?”

“Singing. That guy from Korea rapped him awake.”

“What’s his name?”

“Minho, Choi Minho,”

Key got out of bed, yanking the sheets off Jonghyun to cover himself, “I’m coming for lunch. I have to see this guy now.”

“Yah, Key what the HELL!?”

----

Kai pulled the phone from his ear as arguing erupted from the other end. He didn’t want to call Key really, but he didn’t want to think of what the older would do if he didn’t. He hung up and watched as the other three stood together talking. Every now and then Taemin looked around sharply, his body tensed as if to run for his life. He sighed and decided to ditch them for a quieter place.

Awake-Taemin-at-school was dangerous for specific reasons.

Reasons that made him walk faster as female gazes landed on him.

“Do you drive Jae Hee?” Minho asked, curling slightly away from Taemin. He was giving off a weird vibe and looked as if someone was about to materialize and kill him.

“Yes,” she said happily. “In Korea you would’ve had to wait longer, but here in America you can get your license now and not have to pay a lot. It’s not too expensive to have a car,”

“Yes it…” Taemin looked over his shoulder, “…is. Insurance, gas…”

Minho couldn’t imagine her driving. She seemed too young. It was probably a culture thing because a lot of the students around them had pulled up in their own cars. He remember panicking when seventeen-year-old Kai had gotten behind the wheel. Maybe he should look into getting one. It would be nice to drive around and maybe take Jae Hee somewhere.

“Jae…!” a new voice called, and Taemin flinched so badly that Minho took a step away from him. Two girls, one with long dirty blonde hair and the other, a bit boyish looking with short dark hair. The blonde went straight to Jae Hee and proceeded to glomp the girl, messing up her hair and grinning. “Good morning, I see that Minnie is awake and…” she looked to Minho and tilted her head. “Who…?”

“Choi Minho, I transferred here from Korea-“ he began but the younger cut in.

“He’s stalking Jae Hee,” Taemin muttered.

Minho laughed nervously, shoving Taemin without looking away from Luna. He could tell by her face and stance that Jae Hee was important and close to her. She seemed like the type to claw someone’s face off if provoked. “I’m not, we knew each in Korea last year,”

“Really?” she asked, “How?”

Jae Hee grabbed his arm, “By the way this is Park Sun-Young, but she goes by Luna.”

“If you call me Sun-Young I will kick you,” she smiled sweetly. Looking to her side at the girl she nudged her, “This is Amber Liu.”

Minho would’ve greeted her but she was grinning at Taemin with amusement. He looked and saw that he was freaking out about something and quietly moving away from them. “Yah, just what the heck is up with you? You’ve been acting as if you have fangirls-“

“I FOUND HIM! TAEMIN GOODMORNING!”

He looked over to see a substantial number of girls pouring out of the school and heading straight for them. Minho looked to see what Taemin would do but he was gone. He jumped at how fast he must’ve moved considering they weren’t near anything in particular. They ran past them all squealing and shrieking in a way that made his blood run cold. He remembered mornings at school...especially after he won…

A few of them paused in front of him and took pictures of him almost in surprise. It all happened so fast that in a manner of seconds they were alone again, Luna wrapped around Jae Hee and amber laughing.

“…Hey!” He began, registering that his shirt was halfway ed. When the hell did-?

“Don’t call them back,” Kai said, walking up next them and angling himself oddly next Minho as if hiding. “Taemin’s fast and will get away. Jae Hee did you make sure his iPod was in his bag?”

She nodded, “But it wasn’t at full battery. I found it off the charger this morning so I don’t think that it will last the day,”

“Then we’ll ask one of the Hyungs to recharge it during lunch.”

“Do you have them too?” Minho awkwardly, as if it were a disease of some sort.

“Yes, but they stay away because they have no chance,”

“You’re with someone? They don’t bother her?”

Everyone stared at him and exchanged looks, “I’m going to class before they think of me again. See you all later,” Amber and Luna watched him while Jae Hee peered at Minho’s thoughtful expression with concern. The medalist on the other hand, contemplated the red marks littering Kai’s neck and collar bone.

Looks like there was already stuff they didn’t want to tell him.

---

There you all go. Just a heads up that the chapters are going to get long. I had to cut this one so that I could release it tonight. Otherwise I’d be writing into the sunset. It’s sundown though. Let me know how you feel, because we all know how it feels to get a review!