Nicole’s POV

Sitting in the darkness of my room, I laid on my stomach on my plush comforter with my chin resting on the green plush pillow.  Tapping my fingers lightly against the smooth velvet cover, I could not seem to get the conversation I had with Jiyoung and Hara out of my head.  I replayed everything they said to me over and over again in my head.  The same question kept on popping up:  Should I be worried? Sighing in frustration, I reached for my phone and turned it on.  I had no new messages or any missed calls.  I was hoping that I would have one from Key.  

It is true that we only confessed each other’s feeling less than a month ago, so I should not be worried about this quite yet, should I?  I have absolutely no idea.  More frustration boiled up inside myself.  I should be able to trust Key, but part of me believes that I should also be wary as well.  He is very social and he has a ton of girls who are friends.  Do we need to make our relationship official?  I don’t see why we need to announce to everyone that we are dating.  Maybe I am thinking too much.  

A soft knock sounded at my door.  

“Come in,” I said.  Gyuri poked her head in and smiled.

“Hey Nicole, how come you are sitting in the darkness of your room?” asked Gyuri.   She stepped into the room and sat down on the bed next to me.  

“Just doing some thinking,” I replied as I lifted myself up and sat cross-legged.  

“Thinking about what?” she asked and I just shrugged.  “You don’t seem like yourself, Nicole.”

“I just have evaluating things in my life, and I am torn about how I should approach them,” I said.  Gyuri gave me a blank look.

“That is putting it very vaguely,” said Gyuri, “You know that you can trust me right?”

“I know, you are like a sister to me, but I don’t know,” I said.  

“Why don’t you just try me.”  Gyuri rubbed my back soothingly.

“Well, its my relationship with Key.”  

“What about your relationship?”

“I don’t know, that’s the thing.  I don’t know what page we are in our relationship and I have no idea if we actually are dating or not?  If I should get it official or not.?  Should I trust him with other girls who are friends or not?”

“Wow, thats a lot to be thinking about and a lot of questions.”

“Yeah, I had a conversation with Jiyoung and Hara about it.”

“Jiyoung and Hara?”

“Yeah, they were telling me that I should be careful because Key has a lot of girls who are friends and stuff. They also talked about how he could move on from me and other stuff like that.”

“Okay first of all, do not listen to Hara and Jiyoung because they do not know what they are talking about, and second of all, before you jump to crazy conclusions and making these decisions, you should talk to Key about it.”  Instead of fretting over this, I should have just talked to Key in the first place, I thought. My feelings started to calm down and my anxiety began to shrink.

“Thanks Gyuri, you made me feel so much better.”  I smiled and hugged her tightly.  I released her and she smiled back at me.

“Glad I could help, now come on, the others were thinking of going and getting something to eat.”

“Okay.”  We both got up from my bed and walked out of the room.  My spirits were lightened, but a pit started to form in my stomach.  Am I worried about talking to Key?

Key’s POV

Sitting in the dressing room, I begin to ponder more and more about that little question Should I be Worried? That pesky little question kept on popping up in my mind over and over again. Just because she has a couple of close guy friends does not mean that I should be worried about her leaving me, right?

The door opened to the dressing room and the other SHINee members walked in.

“Hey Key, why are you in here all alone?” asked Taemin.  

“Did somebody want to be alone,” teased Onew.  

“No, I was just waiting for you guys,” I said.  Once the other members changed back into their street clothes we piled into the van with Onew, Jonghyun, and Taemin in the back and Minho and I in the middle two seats. We spent the day doing a photoshoot for our new album, and now we have the rest of the day to ourselves.

“So what do we want to do tonight?” asked Jonghyun.

“We should go eat somewhere,” said Taemin.

“What about ‘We Got Married’? It’s suppose to be on tonight,” whined Onew.

“Fine, why don’t we just pick up something and head back to the dorm,” said Minho.

“What do you think Key?” asked Jonghyun.  I shrugged and continued to think about that little pesky question.  I have no idea how I should approach this, should I forbid Nicole from seeing guys again or try not to be bothered by it?  A hand then was frantically moving in front of my face and I turned to see that it was Minho’s.

“Key are you zoning out on us?” asked Minho.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” I replied.  The other members continued to bicker over what to do and I stayed silent.  We finally arrived back at the dorm and the other members decided on ordering pizza and spending the night in the dorm.  As we were walking to the building Jonghyun pulled me aside.

“You guys go on ahead and order the pizza, we will be right in,” Jonghyun shouted to the other members.  They looked at each other and shrugged as they disappeared inside the building.

“Come on Key, lets take a walk.”  I followed Jonghyun around the building to the park behind.  

“You seem pretty out of it,” said Jonghyun.  I shrugged and Jonghyun gave me a concerned look.

“You know that you can trust me,” said Jonghyun.

“I know that, I just have been stressing out about an issue.”

“What kind of issue? Not something within the group is it?”

“No nothing to do with SHINee.”  Jonghyun sighed with relief. He then gave me a puzzled look.

“Then what is your problem?” he asked.

“What would you do if you are in this situation: What if you liked a girl and you are sort of in a relationship, but unsure if you actually are.  She has a ton of guy friends that she is really close with and you are afraid of her running away with some other guy, what would you do?”

Jonghyun smiled. “You are talking about Nicole aren't you,.”

“Yes, and I am completely lost.  I keep asking myself this question of whether I should be worried or not.”

“Well if you are confused about your relationship with her, why don’t you just ask her.  Just ask her what her true feelings are for you.  It would help put your mind at ease.”

“Just go up to her and just ask her for her feelings?”

“Yeah, its that simple.”

“Its not that simple.”

“You’re afraid of her answer aren’t you?” I nodded my head. “Well it would be better for you if you knew her true feelings, good or bad.  That way you are not fretting over it like you are now.”

“That’s true.”

“Come on, call her.”

“What?”

“Call her and meet up with her.  Its better to ask her face to face.”

“But do I have to do it now?”

“Better now than later, you will feel better about yourself.”

“I’m nervous, what if she doesn’t have the same feelings for me as I do for her?”

“Its something you are just going to have to take, but what if she does have the same feelings for you as you do for her?”

I nodded my head and sat down on the park bench.  I slowly took out my phone and slid my finger across the surface.  

“Thank you Jonghyun.” He nodded his head and started walking back to the dorm. Once he was gone, I unlocked my phone and dialed her number.  

Nicole’s POV

Jiyoung, Han Seungyeon, Hara, Gyuri, and I decided to eat out at a restaurant and once we sat down.  I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket.  I grabbed and noticed that it was Key calling.  My heart fluttered and I gave a panicked look at Gyuri.  She gave me a concern look and then understood what was going on.  She gave me small smile as if saying “good luck.”

“Excuse me, I have to take this,” I said to the other members as I got up from the table and went outside.  I looked at the picture of Key smiling on my phone and took a deep breath.  I pressed the button and held it up to my ear with my hand shaking.  I was this nervous to talk to Key? I thought to myself.  

“Hello?” I asked.  It was a long pause until I heard Key reply.

“Hey Nicole, are you busy?” he asked.  His voiced sounded gloomy.  This caused my stomach to drop.

“I’m out eating with the girls,” I replied.  Another long pause.

“Well, I need to talk to you about something,” he said.  

“I need to talk to you about something as well,” I replied.

“Then can you meet me outside your dorm in about ten minutes?” he asked.  I lloked at my watch and thought about it.

“Yes, I will meet you there,” I replied.

“Okay see you then,” said Key.

“Bye.”  I paused a second before I hung up. Knots began to build in my stomach. Calm down. You can talk to him I thought to myself.  I took a deep breath and walked back inside the restaurant where the other KARA members were sitting and talking.  I grabbed my stuff and bowed to them.

“I apologize but something has come up,” I said.  Hara, Jiyoung, and Han Seung looked disappointed.  Gyuri gave me a knowing look and nodded her head wishing me luck.  I took another deep breath as I exited the restaurant.  I hailed a taxi and headed to the KARA dorm.