Taemin slowly backed away and then ran down the hall, going outside. He did not know how to feel, preferring not to feel most of the time, and his eyebrows were furrowed as he met Jongin at the bus stop.

“Did you scare her? Where is she? The bus will be here soon,” Jongin said, looking around him.

“Couldn’t find her,” Taemin muttered, wanting to keep what he had overheard to himself.

“Oh, here she comes,” Jongin said as Eunmi exited the school building, waving goodbye to Daehyun who went the other way.

“What took you so long?” Jongin asked.

Eunmi shrugged and turned to Taemin, “You really should give Daehyun another chance, you know. He’s not that bad.”

“I don’t need you to tell me the difference between bad and good Muffin, I can tell the difference myself thanks,” Taemin snapped as the bus arrived. Jongin and Eunmi looked at each other and followed him onto the bus. It was pretty full so the three of them had to stand.

Taemin then received a text and after reading it looked disgruntled.

“What?” Jongin asked as the bus took a turn.

“My aunt is at home,” he said, an expression of utmost annoyance on his face. “She’s a nightmare.”

“Why?” Eunmi asked. “She’s your aunt! You should be nice!”

“Don’t you remember her from the wedding?” Taemin asked. “Short, plump, load of wavy hair, and more insults to give out to people than me.”

Eunmi suddenly remembered, “Oh yeah. Wasn’t she the one who told me I have bad posture and skinny shoulders?”

“That’s the one,” Taemin nodded glumly. “She’s rude to everyone.”

“Abeoji’s cousin?” Jongin asked as he remembered too.

Taemin nodded, “She always has something to say about my height....”

“Well you are a bit short,” Jongin shrugged as the bus came to a stop and they got off. “How long is she staying?”

“No I’m not, you’re just a giant!” Taemin huffed. “She’s probably going to leave soon, she has to go visit her sister and she’s staying the night there. I think she’ll insult us when we get there and then leave.”

“Ah,” Jongin nodded and the three of them headed for their house.

“Now quietly go upstairs and she might not notice we came and then she won’t have time to tell me I look lanky in the uniform,” Taemin said as they stood in front of the door.

He slowly opened it and as quietly as possible, they tried to take their shoes off and go upstairs.

“Ah are the children home?” a loud voice said, coming closer to where Eunmi, Jongin, and Taemin were.

“Great,” Taemin muttered, straightening up. Ms. Lee came appeared in the foyer where the three were standing. She was wearing a purple dress with three meters too much lace.

“Home from school, are you? About time,” she said, giving them all rather tight hugs. She led them to the living room to look at them properly in the light.

“Still got skinny shoulders, I see,” she said disapprovingly to Eunmi. “You sure you’re feeding her Hyunki?!” she barked at Hyunki who was looking coming into the living room looking exasperated. “She looks like she lost even more weight since the wedding!”

“Yes, Jihyun, she’s being fed,” Hyunki said patiently.

“And I don’t know what happened to you, boy,” she shook her head at Taemin. “Not an inch of muscle and it looks like you’ve shrunk!”

Taemin bit his tongue so hard he was sure it was bleeding.

“Now he is a proper sized man,” she said to Jongin, who she wholly approved of. “What happened to your leg?”

Jongin smiled nervously and then explained the situation.

“Why don’t you three go and change?” Hyunki suggested when Jongin finished, sparing him the new remarks Ms. Lee would have to make about him saving a little girl.

Not needing to be told twice, the three of them left the living room as quickly as possible.

“Total nightmare,” Taemin said.

“I don’t actually have skinny shoulders, do I?” Eunmi asked.

“Exact opposite, all that muffin fat.”

“I think your shoulders are proportional to your body.”

“What time do we leave for the showcase?” Jongin asked.

“5:30,” Taemin said promptly. Jongin nodded and then proceeded to his room.

Taemin turned to Eunmi, “Key has the clothes you’re wearing and during the other performances, we’ll sneak to the backroom and get ready. We’ll have to sit behind him so he won’t notice when we leave.”

Eunmi nodded, “Right.”

Taemin left to change into his clothes as well and Eunmi chewed her lip nervously before going into her bedroom. She threw her bag into her room and changed out of her uniform into a loose white t-shirt and gray sweat pants. As she went downstairs, she hoped Ms. Lee wouldn’t have anything to say about her weight anymore.

“Yes I’ve got Hongki looking after the cats,” Ms. Lee was saying loudly as Eunmi entered the kitchen. “Good Lord, Hyunki, you dress her like a boy? Are those Jongin and Taemin’s clothes from when they were in elementary school?”

Hyunki looked at Eunmi helplessly while she munched on a granola bar.

“No Jihyun, those are her clothes,” he finally said.

“Those are the kinds of clothes our old maid used to wear. Dear me, good thing I brought her clothes too,” Ms. Lee said and it was then that Eunmi noticed the large pile of bags on the kitchen table. “Now we’ll wait for the others to come home and I’ll give you my presents before leaving.”

Eunmi just gave her a smile and then quickly compiled a sandwich which she took to the living room to eat.

Taemin and Jongin came downstairs as well and joined her, Taemin stealing three bites of Eunmi’s sandwich before sitting down.

“Has our dear old aunt found anything else to say to you?” Taemin asked her. Hyunki and Ms. Lee were still in the kitchen, no doubt Ms. Lee was suggesting changes to make in the interior decorating of the kitchen.

“I dress like a boy apparently, wearing you and Jongin’s elementary school clothes,” Eunmi said dryly.

Jongin snorted, “Well those are my sweats.”

Eunmi looked over at him, “Are you serious? No they’re not!”

“I wore them in grade 5.”

“So you do dress in Jongin’s elementary school’s clothes,” Taemin laughed.

“How does something that fit you in grade five, fit me in grade 11?”

“I’m tall, you’re short,” Jongin shrugged. “I’m fit, you’re, uh, a little on the small side.”

“Says who?!”

“5 foot 2 is short, noona,” Jongin said as he turned the TV on and started flipping through the channels.

“Uhm, excuse you I’m 5’25-”

At that moment, Ms. Kim arrived with Taeyeon and Ms. Lee dragged them to the living room.

“Wonderful to see you, dear,” she said to Ms. Kim, giving her a hug. She turned to Taeyeon and gave her a squeeze too.

“Adorable as always! Not that I expected any less, she has my eyes,” Ms. Lee said fondly. Eunmi, Taemin, and Jongin exchanged looks. Taeyeon’s eyes were almond shaped and light brown, Ms. Lee had rounder and a bit darker eyes.

“Okay, gather in the living room! I’ll give you your things and then I’ll leave for Hyeri’s, I should get there before dark. I’ll see if I can come over again before I leave,’ she said. Taemin sincerely hoped she would not come over again.

“Start with the youngest, shall we?” she smiled. She gave Taeyeon a bag with two new Barbie dolls, a cute dress, and some hair accessories.

“Thank you!” Taeyeon smiled, looking at the dolls happily.

“Now for him I had a bit of trouble but I managed to find some things,” she said and handed Jongin a large bag. It contained a dress shirt, a black wallet, and a basketball.

“Hyunki told me you play,” she smiled, happy with her choices. Jongin thanked her and she handed a bag each to Eunmi and Taemin

“Ladies first, Muffin,” Taemin grinned. Eunmi took out two of the most unique (to put it nicely) pieces of clothing she had ever seen. One was a bright yellow shirt with beads and pom pom’s sticking out of it. The other was a light pink dress with white lace on every inch of it, attached to it was a bag with socks and two ribbons for pigtails.

Eunmi tried very hard to look pleased with the gift and it was much easier after finding a pretty white purse and a bag of makeup in the bag as well.

Taemin, she was sure, would never let her go without seeing her in the lacy dress.

“They’re great, thanks,” she smiled and Ms. Lee said, “I do have wonderful taste, don’t I?”

Taemin opened his bag and found a brown wallet like Jongin’s, a customized pen with his name on it, and a dress shirt. It was nothing like the dress shirt Jongin had received, which was black, but it was a plaid, maroon and brown shirt.

Taemin blinked at it but then forced a smile, “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” she waved it away and then handed each of the three older ones a leather agenda.

“You should all use that and be properly organized since you’re in high school,” she said in a voice of authority.

They looked at the agenda and then at each other. Eunmi had lost her agenda the second day of school, Jongin had amazing memory so he didn’t need one and the most Taemin would do with an agenda would be to throw it at someone. Nonetheless they thanked her again. For the parents she had bought clothes and perfumes.

“Better put that stuff in your rooms,” Ms. Kim said and they all went upstairs. Taeyeon dashed up, eager to set up her new dolls in her dollhouse.

“Your dress is very fashionable,” Taemin said. “You know if you lived in the 60’s.”

“What about your dress shirt?” Eunmi shot back.

“I make anything look good,” Taemin flipped his hair.

“Right.”

They put their things away and then met downstairs to say goodbye to Ms. Lee. Hyunki had to leave for the restaurant and apologized for being unable to attend the showcase. It was then that Eunmi remembered the performance and the butterflies in her stomach were re-born.

“Better get ready, it’s 5:00,” Ms. Kim said once Ms. Lee and Hyunki had left.

“What’re you wearing?” Jongin asked Taemin.

“Clothes.”

Jongin rolled his eyes as they got upstairs. Taemin grinned and they went to his room. He showed Jongin the purple shirt, black and purple jacket and black pants he was wearing.

“What’s Naeun wearing?” he asked, still convinced that it was Naeun who Taemin refused to admit was the lead.

Taemin rolled his eyes, “Black pants, purple and white shirt. Now get out so I can change.”

Jongin left his room and went to his so he could find something to wear as well.

Eunmi had changed into plain clothes since she would change at school and was combing her hair.

What if I forget the moves? What if I trip? What if I faint? She thought nervously. Why had she agreed to do this? What if she messed up so bad and Jongin would be forever disappointed in her?

She finished her hair and walked out of her room only to bump into Taeyeon.

“Can you do my hair?” Taeyeon held up the pack of clips their aunt had given her.

“Sure,” Eunmi shakily took the clips and then dropped them.

“Nice one,” a voice that belonged to none other than Taemin snorted as he left his room.

“Shut up,” Eunmi muttered and led Taeyeon into her room. She stood her in front of the dresser while Taemin invited himself to sit on the bed.

He could tell she was nervous, which made him nervous because if Eunmi was nervous, something was bound to go wrong.

Eunmi pinned Taeyeon’s bangs and combed her hair. Taeyeon smiled, “Thanks unnie!” And she ran out of the room to show Jongin her clips.

Eunmi grabbed a bag, put her phone in it and went for the door as well.

“Don’t be nervous,” Taemin said abruptly and Eunmi stopped. “You can’t be nervous, this is the wrong time to be nervous.”

“Thanks, Taemin.”

Taemin grinned, “Just imagine everyone in the audience is in their underwear, they can’t judge you when they’re looking even more ridiculous than you.”

“But there’s the small problem that no one is going to show up in their underwear,” she held up two fingers with a short distance apart.

“Okay. Then how about this: they’re all in the audience scratching their bums while you’re on stage about to show something no one has ever seen of you before and something you worked really hard on,” he said seriously. “You can’t mess up, you won’t mess up because this has been a big effort on everyone, especially you.”

With that he walked out of the room and went downstairs.

Eunmi, somewhat reassured, followed him and met the rest of the family downstairs.

“When is this stupid cast coming off?” Jongin grumbled as he grabbed his crutches. At home he walked around normally but he took crutches when he went outside.

“Next week,” Ms. Kim replied, putting her coat on. Taeyeon was already with Jongin and they were waiting in the foyer. Taemin and Eunmi put their jackets on too and in five minutes, the five of them were in the car.

“Can we sit in the front?” Taeyeon asked.

“We’re definitely sitting in the front,” Jongin said. “I want to see the performance nice and clear.”

Eunmi’s insides squirmed but she tried to ignore it. She did not want to think about almost two months of effort going to waste if she got nervous.

They got to the school and saw many people flooding in through the front entrance.

“Let’s go this way, performers entrance is the other way,” Taemin said and he led them to the other entrance of the school.

“Wow, big turnout,” Jongin said when they entered the school and saw the amount of people who had come.

They found perfect seats near the front. Three for Jongin, Taeyeon, and Ms. Kim (Taeyeon insisted that she and Jongin sit as close to the front as possible) and since the rest of the seats in the front were taken, Eunmi and Taemin had to find seats near the back.

“When do we go backstage?” Eunmi asked quietly as they left Ms. Kim, Jongin, and Taeyeon.

“Later,” Taemin said as they sat down. Eunmi fidgeted with her bag and after a couple of minutes the lights dimmed and the program started. First, Suho’s band played and then there were a couple of dance groups.

Eunmi was amazed with the amount of talent their school held, it seemed quite impossible that her shabby performance would look good compared to their polished moves.

“Let’s go,” Taemin whispered in her ear when the third group went up. Eunmi stood up and was unaware that she was shaking. It was only when she took a step to follow Taemin that she almost fell.

“Oh for heavens sake,” Taemin shook his head and held her up by the arm, half-dragging her out of the auditorium.

“Why did you let me do this?” she moaned as she staggered and they headed towards the door that led to the back of the stage.

“You’ll do fine,” he said firmly and they entered. Key, Jonghyun, Minho, Onew and Sehun were fully dressed and waiting.

“Here,” Key shoved some clothes in her hands. “Put these on quickly.” He led her over to a changing stall and pushed her in. Eunmi breathed deeply and changed her clothes. Had she not been so nervous, she would have wondered how Key knew her clothing sizes.

When she got out she put her clothes into a bag Taemin gave her and was ushered into a chair in front of a dresser by Key once again.

“Sara, hurry up!” he called and to Eunmi’s surprise and relief, Sara was walking towards them carrying a large box.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Who else is going to do your hair and makeup?” Sara asked and opened the box to reveal a range of eye shadows, mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and various other make up products. She tilted Eunmi’s chin up and began her work. If it had been any other time, Eunmi would have taken great interest in what was being put on her face but not right now. From the corner of her eye, she saw Taemin getting his hair fixed by Key.

After a couple of minutes, Sara smiled in satisfaction, “It looks great.”

Eunmi looked in the mirror and saw that her eyes were outlined in thin black eyeliner and her eyelashes were coated with mascara. There was a light eye shadow over her eyes and a light pink lipstick on her lips.

“Okay, we’re on in two minutes!” Onew said as he peeked at the stage.

“Oh God,” Eunmi staggered back and bumped into Sehun. In the reflection of a nearby mirror, she saw that she was extremely pale.

“Noona, stop worrying. You’ve worked really hard, do you remember where you were a month and a half ago? And look where you’re at now, able to do a complicated dance and sing to it!” Sehun exclaimed.

“How come all of you guys aren’t nervous?” Eunmi asked, looking at their calm faces.

“It’s fun, what’s there to be nervous about when you’re having fun?” Minho said quietly. Eunmi looked at him but had no time to think about these words because they were told to get ready, the curtains had closed.

“Into position!” Taemin announced and they all walked on stage, Eunmi couldn’t hear what the Mc’s were saying.

He clapped Eunmi on the back, “Stop worrying, it’s going to be fine.”

Eunmi nodded and stood behind all of them. The next thing she new the curtains had opened and the music had started. She looked at the hundreds of faces that were watching and for a moment forgot what she was doing.

But as her cue drew nearer Minho’s words came back to her. It was fun, just fun.

Her cue came and with newfound confidence that she would have never dreamed of, she began to sing. She caught sight of Jongin’s pleasantly surprised face and her mother’s and Taeyeon’s happy faces and it all seemed to be much more enjoyable now. There were cheers but she only vaguely heard them, it was only her family in the audience.

During the second chorus, Taemin noticed something and his eyes widened; Eunmi’s shoelace was untied. He sneaked a look at her and realized that she had no idea of this.

If she tripped, which was likely, Eunmi would definitely lose the confidence she was now displaying.

The duet was approaching and as it began, loud cheers of encouragement greeted it

and Taemin put what he hoped was an heartening expression on his face. They did the duet dance with no problem and when it was time for Taemin to lie down on the floor for the last part of it, he quickly stuffed Eunmi’s shoelace into her shoe before he kicked off from the floor.

After that the performance passed in a haze and Eunmi was not quite sure how she had done it, but she had. She had even enjoyed it and was sure she had maintained a good expression throughout the performance. Loud claps and cheers, a standing ovation from Jongin, Taeyeon, her mother, and Daehyun and his friends were what she saw before the curtains closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HEYA!

I say heya now too, it looks really retarded in writing but when I say it, it sounds better.

Is it the first weekend of February? Oh my bad, its not. OOPS, let's just let it slide this once~

Didn't do too bad on exams with the exception of one but like I was so done with that class anyways so whatever *gives the class, the teacher, and the window-free classroom, the hand*

NEW FIC ALERT: http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/662286/the-search-friendship-exo-kai-sehun-brotherhood

LOL XD it's Sehun and Kai and two oc's, I didn't know what to put in the tags so I put brotherhood (you have no idea how weird it is to see that tag there) anywho check it out, check check it out *the way Kris says it in Like a G6*

On another note, caught a cold but what else is new?

Well byebye~!