OST:  Baby Don't Cry by Daesung 

 

          SHINee World, the largest and most popular amusement park in South Korea.  Even on the weekdays, the park was always crowded and busy.  People from across the country and tourists from all over Asia would travel all the way to Seoul just to visit the park for one day.  It was especially popular among families, as there was everything for everyone.

 

          The park was split into 5 districts- Old Korea Town, Jurassic Town, Dream Town, Space Town, and Kid Town.   Old Town was located at the entrance of the park.  This district was themed around ancient Korea with traditional architecture, music, and food stands.  To the left of Old Town was Jurassic Town, which was themed around dinosaurs and the Jurassic age.  To the right of Old Town was Kid Town, the district with rides and games appropriate for kids.  On the right of Kid Town was Dream Town, the center of all the action in SHINee World.  This district was not only themed around Hollywood in the States, but it’s also where the headquarters for the management of the park.  Dream Town is where all live shows are held, including sometimes performances by popular idols and comedians.  The last district between Dream Town and Jurassic Town was Space Town.   This district had a futuristic and space theme.

 

          "What rides should we ride first?!  Oh, what about the Lucifer! That looks like so much fun!  Look at that long drop!”  Seungyeon pointed at the tall roller-coaster, “No, we should ride Replay first!  It’s the fastest ride in the park!”

 

         Nicole laughed as she watched Seungyeon jump up and down excitedly with a big eye-smile on her face.  Her best friend was even more excited than her son, who was holding her hand and staring at the large roller-coasters with big eyes.  Nicole smiled at her son at his amazed gaze at the park.

 

          “Looks like someone is happy,” Nicole giggled as she turned to Gyuri and noticed her sour expression, “What’s wrong with you?”

 

          Gyuri stood behind Nicole with an angry expression on her face and her arms crossed.

 

         “Oh nothing......” she said through gritted teeth and nodded to her right, “but why did you bring this idiot with us?

 

          “Who me?”  Yunho asked with an innocent expression on his face. 

 

          Gyuri growled as she faced the opposite direction from Yunho, who gave his sister a “what did I do?” look.  Nicole shrugged and only shook her head.  She still didn’t understand Gyuri’s sudden dislike (or hatred) for her brother.  In fact, she doesn’t even remember them ever talking to each other much before he moved to America.

 

          “Come on, you two.  Today’s supposed to be a fun day!”  Nicole said excitedly as she bent down to her son’s height, “Are you ready for some fun, Yoogeun?”

 

          Yoogeun nodded as he pointed at the Lucifer roller-coaster.

 

          "Sorry Goonie-Monster.  I’m all down for riding roller-coasters, but you can ride that in about ten years.”  Yunho said as he rustled his nephew’s hair.

 

          “Yeah, you three can go ride some roller-coasters and I’ll take Yoogeun to Kid Town.”  Nicole said while standing up.

 

          “I’ll go with you!” Gyuri blurted.

 

          "Are you sure, Gyuri?”

 

          “Yes, I’ll go anywhere as long as this idiot isn’t near me!” Gyuri pointed to Yunho, who just shrugged and wrapped his arm around Seungyeon’s shoulders.  Nicole thought she saw her blonde best friend’s expression turned into shock at Yunho’s action, but Gyuri went back to an irritated expression before Nicole could think much of it.

 

          “Suit yourself then.  Come on Seungyeon-ah, let’s go!”  Yunho said as he and Seungyeon ran off to ride roller-coaster.

 

           After her brother and best friend ran off, Nicole picked up Yoogeun and turned to Gyuri.  Nicole paused when she noticed that Gyuri was still staring at the direction Yunho and Seungyeon went, even though they were already out of sight.

 

          “Are you sure you don’t wanna go with them?” Nicole asked.  Gyuri turned to her and gave Nicole a reassuring smile.

 

           “Yeah, I want to spend more time with this Power Ranger,” Gyuri said as she took Yoogeun from Nicole’s hands and headed in the direction of Kid Town.

 

          Nicole laughed and followed her best friend thinking, this sure is going to be one fun day!

 

________________________ 

 

          “Mr. Choi?”

 

          Minho looked up from his desk to see his assistant with the door slightly open, waiting for him to allow him enter his office.   As the general manager, Minho’s office was spacious with a large desk, shelves, and even a sofa.  His office doors were even large double doors.  The best part of the office to Minho, however, was the view.  From his office, he could most of the park with the large glass windows.

 

          “Taemin, come in.” Minho nodded as he leaned back in his chair.

 

         Taemin hurriedly entered and bowed nervously.  Even though he has been Minho’s assistant for almost 5 months, he was still anxious in the presence of his boss.  Minho’s cool and sometimes stoic exterior frightened many of the park’s employees.  They were never sure of what Minho was thinking and feared the day he might explode.

 

          “There are three men who have come to visit you, sir.”  Taemin informed.

 

          “Did they give you their names?”  Minho questioned curiously.

 

          “No, they said they want to surprise you.” Taemin shook his head.

 

          Minho chuckled knowingly before shaking his head.  Surpise?  Those idiots.

 

           “You can tell Kibum, Jonghyun, and Onew that already know it’s them, let them in.” Minho ordered Taemin, who bowed before walking out of the office quickly.  Minho leaned on his desk with his chin in his head, a small grin on his face as he chuckled again.

 

          “Yah, Minho!  Why’d you have to ruin the surprise?”

 

           At the entrance of his office stood Kim Kibum, Kim Jonghyun, and Lee Onew- Minho’s best friends.  Minho’s family was close friends with both the Lee and Kim family.  He has known Kibum since they were in the same daycare.  In elementary school, he met Kibum’s cousin Jonghyun and his friend Onew.  Ever since then, the four have been extremely close friends.

 

           “I pretty much already knew when Taemin told me that three idiots came to visit me.” Minho said coolly as he stood up to greet his friends.  Kibum just rolled his eyes before crossing his arms.

 

           “Your assistant seems scared of you.” Onew said as he plopped himself on the sofa.

 

           “I think it’s your flaming charisma.” Jonghyun teased, plopping himself next to Onew.

 

           The three idiots or so Minho called them, all laughed at Jonghyun’s joke.  Minho glared at Jonghyun

 

          “Shut up, only Hara’s allowed to call me that.”

 

          "It’s not my fault that your girlfriend accidentally let that slip in her recent magazine interview.” Jonghyun laughed, “Speaking of your girlfriend- how is Hara anyway?”

 

          “Busy, but we went out to dinner last night.” Minho answered.

 

          “Must be hard dating a model, lucky bastard.” Jonghyun mumbled, “I bet Kibum sees her more than you, he is her stylist.  Damn, he’s a lucky bastard too.”

 

          “You my friend, need a girlfriend.” Onew teased as he put a hand on Jonghyun’s shoulder before bursting out in laughter.

 

          “Shut up, like you’re one to talk!”

 

          Onew’s grin faltered and glared at Jonghyun.  Minho laughed.  It felt nice to be able to relax with his friends like this.  Ever since he started his job at the park, he hasn’t been able to hang out in a long time.  Even on his days off, he would spend it with Hara.

 

         “Anyway, what brings you guys here?”  Minho asked, leaning on his desk.

 

         “We all have a day off and came here to play,” Kibum answered, “And since you’re the manager now, we figured we could grab some lunch.”

 

          “I don’t know……I still have a lot of work to do……..”

 

          “Come on man, take a break!  You’re the boss.  You can do whatever the hell you want!”  Jonghyun exclaimed.

 

          “Yeah, let’s go get some chicken or something!” Onew said excitedly.

 

          Minho looked back and forth between his three friends.  They were giving him pleading looks.  He knew he had work to do, but he also hadn’t actually enjoyed the park in a long time.  Before he became the general manager, SHINee World used to be one of his favorite places.  Now, it was just work.

 

        “Fine, but only for a couple hours.” Minho sighed.

 

________________________

 

          “Nicole! Gyuri!”

 

         The two girls turned their heads to Seungyeon and Yunho waving at them excitedly.  It’s been two hours since they’ve entered the park.  The entire time, Nicole and Gyuri rode the kiddy rides with Yoogeun.  Though it didn’t seem fun at first, the two twenty-one year-olds actually enjoyed riding the kiddy rides.  Right now, they were sitting on a bench chatting while Yoogeun was playing on the playground.

 

          “Hey!  How were the rides?” Nicole asked when they approached.

 

          "So much fun!” Seungyeon said excitedly, “Replay was definitely amazing, even though we had to wait like an hour to ride it.”

 

          "I’m glad you had fun.” Nicole smiled genuinely.  Seungyeon went to reach out for both of her best friends’ hands and pulled them up.

 

          “You should ride a roller-coaster to, Cole!  You too, Gyul!  What’s the point of going to an amusement park if you don’t ride a roller-coaster?!”

 

          “But- I can’t leave Yoogeun!” Nicole protested.

 

          “Your brother can watch him, don’t worry!” Gyuri said excitedly.

 

          “What?”  Yunho said as he watched the three girls start to walk away, confused.  Gyuri turned her head and smirked.

 

          “Keep an eye on him, Oppa.”

 

          With that said, Gyuri and Seungyeon started pulling Nicole to the nearest roller-coaster.  She was still hesitant about leaving Yoogeun.  She was never comfortable leaving her son alone, no matter who was watching him.  Nicole glanced at her son before turning her head to Yunho.

 

          “YOU BETTER WATCH HIM JUNG YUNHO!”

 

________________________ 

 

          “Did you really have to wear your suit out?  You look ridiculous wearing that around an amusement park.”

 

          For the past twenty minutes, Minho had to suffer with Kibum the Fashionista’s complaints.  As much as he appreciated his friend, sometimes he wanted to punch him.  He nagged more than his mother.

 

          “I don’t usually wear casual clothes to work, and plus it’s not too bad……” Minho said.

 

          “Not too bad?  You look like a lost businessman looking for his suitcase!” Kibum nagged even more.

 

          Minho turned to his other two friends with a pleading look.  Jonghyun and Onew just simply shrugged and looked the other way, not wanting to get involved.  Minho glared at his two friends and looked off into the crowds of the park, ignoring his nagging friend.  As his eyes explored the park, he caught a glimpse of a girl with short hair being pulled by two girls.  Why does she look so familiar?

 

          "Yah, Minho!  Are listening to me?!”  Kibum asked, annoyed.

 

          Minho jerked his attention back to his friend and said, “Not really.”

 

________________________ 

 

          “Where are those girls?!”

 

          It had already been an hour, and Nicole, Gyuri, and Seungyeon still hadn’t come back.  Yunho was getting impatient.  He loved his nephew and all, but babysitting was really his favorite thing in the world.  For the past hour, Yunho took Yoogeun on a couple more rides and walked around Kid Town.  Now, he was growing tired from playing with an energetic three year-old.  He sat himself down on a bench next to a water fountain.  Yoogeun sat right next to him and Yunho gave him a toy car to occupy himself with.

 

          “Excuse me, Oppa?”

 

          Yunho looked up to see a tall pretty girl and grinned.  Maybe this isn’t so bad after all……

 

          “Yes?”  Yunho said smoothly, standing up.  He gave the girl a charming smile and she giggled.

 

          “Could you tell me where I can find the Festival Arena?”  The girl asked flirtatiously.  Yunho grinned even wider.

 

          After giving the girl directions, and getting her phone number, Yunho did a slight victory dance once she was out of sight.

 

          “See Goonie, that’s how you get a girl.  Just listen to uncle and-“

 

          Yunho froze mid-sentence when he noticed that his nephew was on the bench anymore.

 

          “Yoogeun?” He called while searching near the bench, but couldn’t find any sign of his nephew, “Oh .”

 

________________________ 

 

          For the past hour, Minho ate lunch and spent time with his friends.  They caught up on what they had missed the past few months since they graduated college.  Onew, like Minho, was a given a job in his family’s business.  After college, he became the general manager of one of his family’s major hotels in Seoul. The Lee family was a wealthy family and was well-known for their hotel business.  

 

          Unlike Minho and Onew, however, Kibum and Jonghyun chose to work outside of their family’s business.  Kibum was currently working as a fashion stylist.  Including Hara, Kibum was the stylist for many idols, models, and celebrities.   Jonghyun was working at a production company as a songwriter/composer.

 

          “Hyung, you had like a truck full of chicken and now you’re eating ice cream?  I swear, one day all that chicken is going to hunt you.”

 

          Onew simply ignored Kibum’s remark and shoved another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.  Kibum rolled his eyes while Minho and Jonghyun laughed.  After eating lunch, the four friends got ice cream from one of the many ice cream stands in SHINee World.  They were sitting at a table near the ice cream stand, catching the attention of many people passing by, mostly the attention of women.

 

          Ever since they were just children, the four have always been quite good-looking.  Their good-looks only increased with age.  From cute and adorable kids, Minho, Kibum, Onew, and Jonghyun grew into extremely handsome men.  Because of their families, the four were actually pretty well-known- especially Minho.  He was not only quite famous for being the heir of Choi Inc. and Goo Hara’s boyfriend, but his handsome looks earned him many admirers.

 

          “Ice cream!”

 

          Four pair of eyes looked down to see a little boy no older than the age of three reaching for Minho’s ice cream bowl that was placed on the table.  The boy was dressed in a red Power Ranger T-shirt under a white and navy blue stripped hoodie and a pair of jeans.  The four young men looked at each other with a confused expression on their faces.

 

          “Um……who’s that?”  Jonghyun was the first to speak.

 

          "I don’t know, maybe he’s lost……” Kibum shrugged before he waved at the boy, “Hello!”

 

          The boy just stared silently at Kibum, before returning his gaze back up at his ice cream.

 

          “You want some ice cream little guy?”  Minho asked and the boy only nodded in response.  He looked up at Onew and ordered, “Onew, go buy him some ice cream.   I’m going to call security about a lost kid.  His mother is probably worried sick looking for him.”

 

          Though Onew was older than Minho, he obliged and quickly went up from his seat to go to the ice cream stand.    Kibum and Jonghyun tried to entertain the boy with funny faces and imitations while Minho called security on his cell phone.  The boy watched the two cousins nonchalantly with an expression that said, “They’re crazy.”

 

          Minho laughed at his two friends before saying, “You’re gonna scare the kid.”

 

          “Yah! Shut up Minho, I’m great with kids!”  Kibum said before doing another funny face, finally cracking a smile and a small laugh from the boy, “See!”

 

          “Hmm……don’t you think he looks a little like Minho?” Jonghyun questioned.

 

          Kibum observed the boy closely before saying, “Yeah, he does.  He could be your son, Minho!”

 

         The two cousins laughed, while Minho just rolled his eyes.

 

         “Hey, if I had a kid- I would know, okay?”

 

________________________               

 

          “YUNHO!”

 

          Yunho looked up, panicked because he still had no idea where Yoogeun was.  He waved weakly at his sister and her two friends.  They had excited expressions on their faces and Yunho cringed on the inside.

 

          “Oh my gosh, that was so much fun!” Nicole said cheerfully, causing Yunho to cringe even more.  These days, it was rare to see Nicole so happy and he would hate to ruin his sister’s mood.

 

          "Yea, even though it was like an hour wait……but it was fun.” Gyuri said.

 

          “We need to do it again!” Seungyeon cheered.  Nicole smiled even bigger, but it faltered when she noticed that her older brother was alone.

 

          “Yunho……where’s Yoogeun?”

 

          The three girls looked questionably at the tall young man, who was looking everywhere but at them.  Nicole’s expression became stern when he didn’t answer her question.

 

          “Where is Yoogeun?”

 

          Finally, Yunho looked his sister in her eyes with an apologetic look.  Just that one eye contact told Nicole all she need to know.  Her facial expressions were a mix of emotions- anger, worry, and fear.   Now her emotions were like a roller-coaster and it only went faster once her brother finally answered.

 

          “I kinda……lost him……”

 

          “WHAT!?!”

 

          Nicole immediately ran off, panicked.  Her anger at her brother for losing her son was all washed away by her feelings of fear of where Yoogeun was.  She needed to find her son.  She is going to find her son.  Even if it meant that she was going to have search every inch of the entire park.  The only thoughts in her mind were, “Please, God.  Let him be okay!”

 

          “NICOLE!”

 

          Her two best friends called after her, but she didn’t listen.  They sighed in frustration.

 

          “You idiot!” Gyuri yelled at Yunho, who only lamented.

 

          “Gyuri, calm down!  Now’s not the time to fight!”  Seungyeon told Gyuri, who looked ready to punch Yunho in the face.  She turned to Seungyeon and her expression calmed as she nodded.

 

          “You’re right.  Seungyeon, you go to security and report Yoogeun missing.”  Gyuri pointed to Yunho, “You and I are going to help Nicole look for Yoogeun.  Let’s go!”

 

          With that said, they separated to search for Yoogeun.  Seungyeon quickly ran to the nearest security station while Gyuri and Yunho split to search the park for Yoogeun.  Nicole, meanwhile, had been searching everywhere in Kid Town before finally moving on to Dream Town.

 

          Nicole had always been quite athletic.  In middle school and high school, she was on many sports team such as track, soccer, and even badminton.  Because of these activities, she actually ran pretty fast.  She raced across Dream Town in search of her son, but it had been so long since she did that much physical activity that she quickly lost her breath.

 

          “No, I...need…to…find…….Yoogeun….” Nicole panted as she bent on her knees.

 

         Nicole felt tears form in her eyes and she closed them to prevent them from falling.  Out of exhaustion, Nicole collapsed on the ground.  Her entire body felt numb.  In her mind, she repeatedly yelled at herself to stop wasting time and hurry to find her son.  However, she outran herself and was already out of energy.

 

          “Wahhhhhhh!”

 

          “Oh crap, he’s crying!  Where’s Onew with the ice cream?!”

 

          As soon as Nicole heard the crying, she immediately stood up.  She could recognize that crying in a hospital full of crying babies.  That was Yoogeun.  She looked around anxiously.  He had to be near in order for her to him crying, no matter how loud he cried.  Her eyes stopped roaming when she saw a little boy in a navy blue and white stripped hoodie across the way at a table that three young men occupied.

 

          “YOOGEUN!”  Nicole yelled as she rushed to her crying son. 

 

          Yoogeun looked up with teary eyes to see his mother running towards him.

 

          “Omma!” He snuffled with his arms opened and began to run towards her.  Nicole quickly bent down and took him in her arms, holding him close.

 

          "Yoogeun!  It’s okay, Baby.   Mommy’s here, no more crying.”  Nicole said, trying to comfort her son.  His crying slowly began to calm down.  Nicole had such a rush of emotion and relief that she didn’t notice the three men her son was with. 

 

          Minho, Kibum, and Jonghyun stared at Nicole suspiciously.  They felt there was something familiar about, especially to Minho, but they just couldn’t place it.  They were all happy that the boy’s mother found him. However, there was something so painfully familiar to her that it made Minho’s heart ache.

 

          After a moment, Minho’s eyes widened when he finally realized who this boy’s mother was.

 

          “Nicole?” 

 

________________________ 

 

I'm so sorry, I know it's been so long since I last updated >.<  I hope none of you have given up on me!  It's just I'm currently packing for college and writing my second story, Sweet Scandal, featuring Nicole and G-Dragon.  Please go and read it, I'm really excited for it ^^  I've also been distracted watching k-dramas lol.  I just finished watching Lie To Me, the best drama of 2011- I swear!  I'm also currently watching Heartstrings and Spy Myung-Wol, they're pretty good dramas so you should go watch them when you get the chance :) 

Anyway, this has to be longest chapter I've written.  I was going to split it, but I thought I already made all of you impatient enough for Nicole and Minho to finally meet!  In next chapter, Nicole's secret is out.  Please look forward to it ^^

FUN FACT:

If you haven't noticed already, I named some of the popular rides in SHINee World after some of SHINee's hit songs.  However, the rides aren't the only thing of "SHINee" in real life that I incorporated into the story.  Each of the five districts of SHINee World represent each member.

Old Town- Onew, because he's the oldest member.

Jurassic Town- Jonghyun, because he's been said to look like a dinosaur.

Dream Town- Minho, because he was on Dream Team.

Space Town- Key, because Jonghyun said something about Key and ET.

Kid Town- Taemin, because he's the youngest member.