Taemin dreamed of a simpler time in his life when he was still a child. He dreamed of just being free in the wild and running with the animals. No schedules. No manager. No contract to follow. No faking smiles and pretending to be nice to everyone. Ah...the good old days. What he’d give to go back to his younger days....But wait. His more stressful life was what led him to meeting HER. He wouldn’t trade that for anything.

He blinked awake as he felt coldness slide over his body. Eyes widening, he jumped up and wiped dirt and mud off of his arms and neck, flinging it off his hands with disgusting alarm painted across his face. The thick mud that had been creeping up his body, aiming to suffocate him, had awakened him from his peaceful nap in his indoor garden.

As he scrubbed his brown-stained skin with his hands, he watched the piles of mud seep into the ground and disappear. Taemin’s nostrils flared and his eyes darted around in apprehension. “What?!” He fell forward somewhat as his feet started sinking into the earth as the grass and soil underneath him dampened and became muddy. Before it could his foot in any more, he jumped away and pulled himself onto a low tree branch. From the spot he was standing on moments before, a boy emerged. He looked about Taemin’s age but who knew how old he actually was for he obviously wasn’t human.

Taemin kept quiet as he examined the solidifying mud pile.

“What’s so special about you? You’re not nearly as good looking as people say.” The red headed intruder said with his hand on his hip. He was maybe Jonghyun’s height but was slightly more muscled than his hyung. His flaming red hair annoyed the beast demon a little. It reminded him of a troll. “You kind of actually look like a girl. I could so totally be a better idol than you.”

The “troll” reminded him of all the bullies at his human school. Of course, he couldn’t kill those humans because that’d be suspicious, but this guy was not human so Taemin growled deeply and his eyes glinted with promise of pain even as his lips upturned in what would otherwise be a friendly smile. But before the maknae could play with his new friend, he had to satisfy his curiosity. “How’d you find this place? How’d you get in?” the maknae asked in a innocently inquiring tone.

“Well, obviously, this place is built on top of dirt. And I am dirt as you can see,” the boy haughtily replied.

“Oh! You’re right! You ARE dirt!" Taemin acted like he just had an epiphany. "How stupid of me!” Taemin responded with fake cheeriness. The red head glared at Taemin but the other boy rolled his eyes. “What do you want with me stranger boy?”

“Oh I have nothing against you really. It’s my hyung who is holding grudges. I just don’t like you. I’m not a big fan of SHINee but for some reason, you’re my least favorite member.”

Taemin ignored his antagonism. “What does your hyung have against me? I don’t think I’ve done anything bad to any of your people,” he contemplated with furrowed brow.

“I don’t like your voice. Stop talking.” The mud man jumped at Taemin but the maknae flipped backwards off the branch to plant his feet on the ground. His enemy overshot the branch and rolled to a stop on the ground. However, he didn’t pause and came at Taemin again. “Actually, stop living!” For someone made of sticky mud, he was very agile. That annoyed Taemin.

SHINee’s maknae leaned to the side at the very last second and twisted around as the boy flew past him. “Oh! You want to play with me? Fun! I’ve been so bored!” He was now facing the boy’s back and so curled his long fingers into claw-like shapes. “Let’s play!” He brought his durable nails down across the boy’s back from shoulder to opposite hip. The stranger’s shirt shredded with the attack, and the red head fell to one knee with the force before rolling to the side and back to standing. Taemin examined his nails and scowled. “Ew…,” he flicked his wrist to dislodge the dirt beneath his nails. “I just got a manicure yesterday!” He glared at the boy across from him before tightening his muscles and launching himself like a puma might.

The boy had the nerve to smirk and put up his hands like a boxer! He blocked Taemin’s punch with his forearms and moved to retaliate with his own punch. Taemin went to jump back but found himself stalled slightly, earning him a clip to his cheek. The beast demon looked at the redhead incredulously, replaying what had happen in his mind. Did he underestimate the guy’s speed? No, that wasn’t it. He felt for a short moment, his body lurching forward after he landed his punch. Looking at his knuckles, Taemin pondered how more than just his knuckles were covered in mud. He didn’t have any more time to wonder as he blocked a punch from behind. “Hey! That’s cheating!” He shouted but he couldn’t complain more as he observed his hand that had caught the punch get engulfed by mud, pulling him forward slightly. Taemin’s eyes widened and he ducked an arm swing by the guy before forcefully wrenching himself away from the boy’s sticky grip and stumbling back from the effort.

‘Okay…no more playing.’ The innocent maknae’s face turned serious, and he attacked with caution. But every time Taemin would punch, kick, or swipe at the boy, his limb would get stuck in the guy’s body and Taemin would have to jump back quickly before he’d get pulled in closer to his enemy. Yes, this guy was really pissing Taemin off.

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THEA's Corner <3

Okay so short chapter yes but I really have nothing else to say about this chapter. Current song I've been replaying nauseatingly is Park Jung Min's "Not Alone". Can I just say throughout his whole MV, all I could think was 'My goodness. This man is too good looking? How can he look that good?' The whole time.

So all of you said to not change a thing about my writing style. Okay, thanks for your input! Some of you wrote some really interesting/moving comments! I wasn't going to really change anything. Was just wondering if anyone ever got sick of the long descriptions. I know I sometimes skip/skim long descriptions when I'm reading books because I get bored. Or maybe that's just because they're books I have to read for school and just the thought of the mandatory-ness of it makes me not want to read them... Yeah, so this story is my baby and no matter what people say, it's mine and I'm going to write it my way.

I still want to try a romantic comedy one day though... Like as a whole separate story.

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Posted 29 January 2011
Word count: 981