(Two days later)

Yawning, Onew stretched his arms, waking up from his slumber. *They’re all still sleeping? What time is it?* Onew thought to himself, glancing at the clock, only to realise that it was already 9.30am. “Weird… Key never wakes up this late…” Onew muttered to himself softly. Somehow, Taemin managed to hear it, waking up too.

He looked at Onew tiredly, smiling at his boyfriend. “Hi hyung, you’re awake,” Taemin greeted, covering his mouth as he yawned.

“Annyeong!” Onew joked, kissing Taemin on the cheek, causing the younger male to blush. “Are you ready for our date? Of course, you got to have breakfast first… But afterwards, we’re going out, arasso?”

“Where? And duh… of course I’m ready!” Taemin exclaimed a little too loudly, causing Key to groan and flash Taemin a death glare that said ‘keep quiet’ before going back to sleep. Taemin scratched the back of his head sheepishly, feeling a little guilty.

“Why’re they so tired, anyway? You made them stay up with you? Or what?” Onew asked cheekily, grinning like a kid.

“Well… you were the only one who went back to the dorm last night, so I was feeling kind of lonely? And bored, I guess. But yeah, I did keep them up till about 3am… Was that too late?” Taemin asked, looking at Onew.

“Erm… duh…” Onew answered sarcastically, rolling his eyes for the fun of it. However, Taemin took it as something else, and he tried to calm himself down.

*Hyung’s not tired of me already, is he? After all, we’ve already been through so much… what could possibly break us apart?* Taemin thought, laughing to himself nervously.

“Tae, what’s wrong?” Onew asked worriedly, moving closer to his lover. Shaking his head, Taemin managed a small smile.

“Nothing…I just wanted to go to the toilet… please?” Taemin asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.

*Something’s definitely wrong…* Onew thought, but supported Taemin into the toilet before going back into the ward.

The minute Onew left the toilet, Taemin let the tears fall, suddenly feeling depressed. *It’s my leg, isn’t it? Hyung’s worried that he’ll have to take care of me forever…* Taemin thought, laughing to himself coldly. He sat down, covering his face with his hands as he cried silently.

After ten minutes, Taemin still wasn’t out, and Onew was getting worried. *What’s he doing in there? Did he get injured?!* Onew screamed in his head, banging on the toilet door. “Taeminnie, it’s me. Open up!” Onew ordered, contemplating about whether he should kick the door down, but afraid to hit Taemin accidentally.

“NO! I did nothing wrong, so why’re you getting tired of me?!” Taemin demanded.

“Tired of- WHAT?! Since when?” Onew asked, trying to calm himself down.

“You… you rolled your eyes at me just now…” Taemin wailed.

Behind him, Jonghyun and Minho had woken up due to the loud banging, glaring at Onew angrily. “Yah! Hyung, you know how late we stayed up till?” Jonghyun asked in annoyance, not noticing the expression on the leader’s face.

“3am, I know. Taeminnie, I’m sorry… I meant that as a joke… Please don’t be angry,” Onew pleaded, ignoring the curious stares of the other two.

“What’s wrong?” Minho asked, feigning concern for Onew when all he really thought about was why Taemin was mad.

“He asked me if keeping you guys up till 3am was too late, and when I replied ‘duh’, I rolled my eyes… But just for the fun of it! I didn’t know he would be so sensitive…” Onew said, feeling horrible for trying to make a joke like that when his boyfriend was injured and fragile. Jonghyun sighed, not knowing what to do with the leader.

“Hyung… you know that he’s really emotional right now. He probably thinks that you see him as a burden, so you rolled your eyes at the question…” Jonghyun explained.

“I know, but I didn’t think of it at that moment!” Onew exclaimed exasperatedly, waking the other three people up.

“Hyung, why don’t you just apologise, instead of quarreling over whether you meant what he thought you meant?” Minho asked. Onew just looked at the younger male, not being able to comprehend the ‘complicated’ suggestion.

“Huh?” Onew asked.

“I mean, why not just apologise? I think it’ll do more good than quarreling over whether you were tired of him or not,” Minho explained, hating himself for actually helping his rival. *But if I don’t do this, Taemin will be more hurt than anyone else…* Minho thought, deciding to take this as a sacrifice for Taemin.

Nodding, Onew knocked on the door. “Tae? Mianhae, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have rolled my eyes at your question, even as a joke. Sorry…” Onew apologised. When Taemin didn’t open the door, he thought about kowtowing to the maknae, just to earn his forgiveness. Luckily for him, Taemin opened the door slowly, revealing his tearstained face.

“Fine… it was my fault too…” Taemin admitted, leaning against the door.

“Come on, get back onto the bed already,” Onew told Taemin, smiling as he supported Taemin back to the bed. Key, Mrs. Lee and the manager just looked at OnTae in confusion, waiting for an explanation of what happened.

“From what I know, OnTae were discussing something, and then Taemin asked Onew hyung if keeping us up till 3am was too late. Hyung answered ‘duh…’ and rolled his eyes, causing Taemin to think that hyung was tired of him. He went to the toilet, stayed in there for quite some time, caused hyung to get worried and bang on the door. The banging woke us up, me and Minho, and we tried to help. Hyung listened to Minho’s suggestion of apologising and now,” Jonghyun paused, taking a few breaths as he was rushing his explanation, “they’re ok again.”

“Ah… I see…” the manager said, understanding the situation. Key and Mrs. Lee nodded too, smiling at Jonghyun in gratitude.

“So, who’s ready for breakfast? And Onew, I heard that you’re going somewhere?” Mrs. Kim’s voice was heard as her head popped out from the corner of the door.

Laughing in embarrassment, Key waved in mother in. “Just get in, umma… You’re already, what? 51 years old? Stop acting so childish…” Key chided.

“It’s a secret…” Onew sighed, tired of saying the same thing to the same people over and over again, as if they didn’t understand what a secret was.

“Yah! I’m your umma, so why’re you scolding me? KIDDING! And Onew, I won’t ask!” Mrs. Kim exclaimed, walking into the room with a tray in her hands.

“Kamsa hamnida!” Taemin thanked, starting to eat. Onew’s stomach growled and it was obvious that he hadn’t eaten yet. “Hyung, go and eat. But be back by 10.30am!” Taemin told Onew, shooing his boyfriend out of the room.

“Arasso. Who wants to eat sandwiches? Again…” Onew sighed, thinking of how he’d been eating the same thing again and again.

“Just bear with it, seriously… Everyone eats sandwiches. And coffee. I’ll follow you, hyung,” Key offered. Onew smiled and nodded, walking out of the room.

“Well, I’d better get back to work, too. Bye!” Mrs. Kim exclaimed, leaving the room hastily to get back to work.

“Awkward…” Taemin said after ten minutes of silence.

“I heard you’re going out with Onew hyung later?” Minho asked. Taemin beamed, nodding furiously. “Where?” he asked again.

Shrugging, Taemin sighed. “He wouldn’t tell me…” Taemin whined, pouting at the others.

“Maybe he’ll tell you later,” Jonghyun told Taemin. The younger male smiled and nodded, continuing to eat his food.

At the hospital canteen, Key was bombarding Onew with questions: ‘Where are you bringing him?’, ‘Do you need me to carry those?’, ‘Come on, stop complaining about the sandwiches! We’ve been eating them too, you know?’, ‘When are you going to be back?’, ‘Why won’t you tell me where you’re going?!’ and so on and so forth. It was driving Onew mad.

“Stop. Asking. Me. Questions!” Onew finally exploded, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Key sighed, taking the food from the counter as Onew paid.

“Well sorry. You didn’t answer me…” Key complained. Onew wanted to smack Key’s head, but refrained from doing so. It would only incur the diva’s wrath, and he would have to listen to complaints of ‘MY HAIR! IT’S RUINED! Hyung, fix it! Please?’, and he knew he couldn’t handle that, so he just kept quiet.

“Remember to follow Minho for as long as it takes, ok? Then I’ll follow you shopping. For ONE day only,” Onew stressed, knowing that Key would try to take him shopping everyday to get more clothes. Nodding, Key continued walking, and the rest of the walk back was silent, apart from the cries of happiness and sadness from other patients’ families.

They finally made it back to the ward at 10.10am, and everyone started eating their bread. Surprisingly enough, Taemin finished his food faster than the others, and this was definitely the first time he did that.

“Whoa, Taeminnie, are you that hungry?” Onew asked skeptically. Taemin nodded, beaming at his lover while waiting for him to finish eating. After five minutes of random chitchat, Onew finished his bread and coffee, and threw the cup away while waiting for Taemin to change in the toilet. When Taemin unlocked the door, he was wearing baggy pants as his jeans couldn’t fit his cast, and a hoodie.

“BYE~” Taemin sang, wanting to hop out but was stopped by Onew.

“Remember what happened the last time you hopped?” Onew asked. Taemin pouted, hanging his head and letting Onew support him on the right while using a crutch on the left. Onew was carrying the dolphin and a bag for the picnic stuff, but Taemin didn’t notice that. He was way too busy concentrating on keeping his calm, this being the first time that he left the ward for fun, and not checkups, since he stayed there.

“Freedom!!!” Taemin exclaimed, attempting to hop with his right leg.

“Yah!” Onew chided the maknae who smiled cheekily.

“Where are we going?” Taemin asked again, for the umpteenth time.

“It’s a surprise…” Onew sighed, resisting the urge to just give in.

Both of them were oblivious to Minho following them. However, Minho himself was oblivious to JongKey stalking him, at Onew’s order.

“If you keep trying to hop, I’ll put you on a wheelchair!” Onew warned as Taemin attempted to hop once again.

“Mianhae…” Taemin apologised, but he forgot the warning as soon as it was said, and in no time, he tried to hop again.

“Nurse! Can you help me get a wheelchair for this patient?” Onew asked the nurse nearby, smirking as Taemin pounded his boyfriend’s shoulder in protest. In less than a minute, the nurse Onew had called had returned with a wheelchair in front of her.

“Kamsa hamnida!” Onew exclaimed, pushing Taemin onto the chair.

“No problem. But if I might ask, are you Onew and Taemin of SHINee? Cause I heard Taemin was staying at our hospital, and rumours that you’re together are being spread like wildfire,” the nurse explained.

“We are, and again, we are. Thanks for your concern nurse… Nurse Jung,” Onew paused, thinking of what he just admitted. “If you don’t mind, we’d like you to keep the fact that OnTae is real a secret, please? From colleagues, family and friends. Thanks!” Onew requested.

Without hesitation, Nurse Jung nodded, but she seemed to want to say something. “Not to be thick-skinned, but can you both give me your autograph?” she asked shyly.

“Do you have paper?” it was Taemin who spoke now. From the pocket of her uniform, Nurse Jung took a notepad out, along with a pen. Taemin signed on the right while Onew signed on the left, making it look as if it were really OnTae.

“Omo! THANKS!” Nurse Jung squealed like a fan girl, but stopped after a few seconds and bowed. “I’ll be going now, bye!”

“Bye!” OnTae shouted in unison. Nurse Jung smiled at them and took her leave, leaving the couple alone. Onew started pushing the wheelchair to his intended destination, Taemin whining in protest from being treated like a baby.

“Hyung… I want to walk…” Taemin complained.

Shaking his head, Onew grinned. “You’ll hop again, I just know it. We’re almost there, anyway,” Onew told Taemin.

“Aish… Arasso,” Taemin said, giving in because he knew whatever persuasion he used would never work, not on a determined Onew, anyway.

“And… we’re here!” Onew exclaimed after a few more minutes of walking. Taemin looked around, realising that it was indeed the hospital garden.

“Wah! I’ve never been here before, even during my two stays in the hospital!” Taemin exclaimed in awe, looking at the well-decorated garden.

There were many different flowers everywhere, but the most common of them were asters, small pink or purple flowers with many petals that are believed to have healing properties, and symbolize love. There were yarrows that represented healing.  Of course, there were also flowers like eremurus and lucerne, symbolizing endurance and life. And then, there were the more common such as roses, violets and lilies.

“Hyung, why isn’t there anyone here?” Taemin asked curiously, just noticing the lack of patients and families.

“I managed to book the place, just for a short four hours. There’s another garden, but I thought that you’d like this one better,” Onew told Taemin gently, using his hand to sweep through the entire garden. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Onew asked the younger male, who beamed and continued to admire the inspiring place.

“Of course! Hyung, what’s this flower?” Taemin asked, pointing to an arbutus.

“It’s an arbutus,” Onew said simply as Taemin’s mouth formed a wide ‘O’ shape, surprised by his boyfriend’s sudden knowledge of flowers.

“What does it mean?” Taemin asked excitedly.

“It means that you only love that one person,” Onew told Taemin, looking at the younger male while smiling. “Just like how I love you.”

Feeling goose bumps on his arms, Taemin smiled shyly and tried to change the subject quickly. “How about this?” he asked again, pointing to a heliotrope.

“That symbolizes devotion,” Onew told the maknae who obviously knew what was coming next. “The same devotion I have for you.”

Taemin felt himself blush, covering his face as Onew started to chuckle. “Yah! Hyung! Why do you suddenly know so much about flowers? And stop with the mushiness, please?” Taemin asked, changing the subject again. Onew clucked his tongue, knowing how desperate his lover was for a subject change, and decided to stop teasing his lover.

“I went to research on them. Asked the staff, gardeners, and went online to check. It took me about… since you were hospitalized this time, but it was worth it, after all,” Onew said happily, feeling that some good had come from his persistence. *It’s only for you that I would do this…* Onew thought, wondering if Minho was following them.

“Hyung…” Taemin said, feeling touched by the older male’s efforts, just for their anniversary. He felt tears well up in his eyes, wiping them away before Onew could see them.

Unfortunately for Taemin, Onew saw the quick action, wondering what was wrong. “Taemin, what is it? You’re not happy?” Onew asked sadly.

“It’s just that… this morning, I was so mad at you, but you still did all this… thank you…” Taemin sobbed, trying his best not to cry. Onew smiled, kneeling down to hug his boyfriend. Unable to hold it in any longer, Taemin started to cry tears of joy, not bothering if anyone saw the unglamorous side of him.

“Shh… Don’t cry. Didn’t you always say that you shouldn’t cry about good things? That’s why you never cry about us winning awards, even when it’s a big award. So why are you crying now?” Onew asked, trying to calm Taemin down.

“But… I was so m-mean…” Taemin sobbed, trying to stop the tears from flowing.

Patting Taemin’s back, Onew sighed. “Aish, babo. That wasn’t your fault, it was mine. I should’ve known that you would think that I saw you as worthless, cause of your injury and all… I should have been more considerate…” Onew blamed himself. Taemin shook his head, but decided to leave the matter alone as he just stayed in Onew’s warm embrace.

About 20 meters away, Minho was watching the couple in envy. *Why can’t that be me?! Why didn’t I confess to Taemin earlier? WHY?!* Minho questioned himself, pissed off.

He watched as Onew broke the hug and lay out a picnic mat on the floor before carrying Taemin down. They sat and talked, eating their food, which was mostly chicken, and laugh their hearts out, as if there was no tomorrow. “You’ll pay for this, hyung,” Minho threatened, knowing that no one would hear him. He started towards them, but was pulled back by two pairs of arms. Looking back, he realised that it was only JongKey, heaving a sigh of relief.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Key demanded.

“Key, you know that I can’t just watch Taemin be with Onew hyung. I just can’t. Let go of me or else,” Minho warned, but that only made the couple tighten their grip on him.

“Minho, go back while you still can. Don’t harm Taemin in the process of fighting for him,” Jonghyun said to Minho: a piece of advice.

Struggling, Minho ignored the elder male’s words and broke free of their grip, running towards OnTae quickly. He knew that Key would never ruin his shoes, and he was a slow runner. Jonghyun might pose as a challenge, but that was no problem because Jonghyun had much shorter legs as compared to Minho’s.

“Onew hyung, what are you doing?!” Minho screamed, acting as if he hadn’t had a clue of what was going on.

Glaring at Minho, Onew spotted JongKey running towards them. “What do you mean? You know that I have a date with Tae today, don’t you?” Onew asked accusingly, glaring at the younger member coldly. JongKey finally made it to where the other three SHINee members were, and they saw Onew and Minho glaring daggers at each other while Taemin sat on the floor, looking very confused and afraid.

“Minho, you’re scaring Taemin! Stop it already! It’s not worth it!” Jonghyun shouted, not giving up on persuading Minho.

“I. Don’t. Give. A. Damn.” Minho said, not looking away from Onew.

“JongKey, didn’t I tell you guys to keep a close eye on this… jerk?” Onew asked, sounding furious as he tried to find a better word, one less vulgar. The word he originally wanted to call Minho was ‘er’, but he decided against the vulgarities. After all, Taemin was still quite innocent for his age, and he didn’t want to ruin that.

“We did, but he managed to break out of our hold…” Key told Onew guiltily, feeling really bad that they couldn’t even do this for their leader.

“Minho hyung, STOP IT!” Taemin screeched, causing Minho to flinch. Onew turned to Taemin, bending down and hugging the younger boy.

“Taeminnie, I’m sorry you had to witness this,” Onew whispered into Taemin’s ear, an apology for Minho.

“It’s not your fault. It’s his,” Taemin said, shooting Minho a brief glance, but it was enough to shock Minho, nonetheless. It wasn’t very often that their well-tempered maknae was this angry. In fact, he was hardly ever angry. This was one of the few times, and Minho was the cause of it once again, just that he didn’t know about the first time, two days ago.

 

[Flashback]

Once Minho and the manager left the room, Taemin went into serious mode, looking at the others intensely. “Who was the one who kissed me last night?” Taemin demanded, praying hard that it wasn’t Minho, and instead was Key or his umma.

*He and Onew hyung are way too similar… what should we do?* JongKey thought at the same time, contemplating on whether to tell the truth, or lie, as they did with Onew.

Mrs. Lee, however, was just confused. “You were awake?” she asked, Taemin nodding in reply. “Well, it wasn’t me… Are you sure it wasn’t Jinki?” she asked. Taemin shook his head confidently, already knowing what the answer would be by now.

JongKey looked at each other, and Jonghyun decided to speak, just in case Taemin saw through Key’s bad lying. “Taemin, I’m sure it was Onew hyung. I mean, who else would kiss you? No offence intended,” Jonghyun apologised. Taemin shook his head and waited for Jonghyun to continue. “Was it on the lips?” Jonghyun asked curiously as Key nodded in agreement.

Nodding, Taemin held back a scream, unable to believe that the JongKey couple would help Minho instead of him. *How could Key umma lie to me?! Am I less important than Minho hyung now?* Taemin thought, feeling a little sad but brushing it off, focusing on the matter at hand.

Pissed off, Taemin gave up on holding in his anger. “Oh for god’s sake, hyungs, STOP LYING! Why would you lie about something like this?! Especially Key umma!” Taemin screamed angrily, feeling betrayed. The other threein the room jumped in shock, never knowing that the fun-loving maknae of SHINee could be so angry.

[End of flashback]

 

“Tae, calm down,” Onew soothed the seething boy, patting his hair lovingly.

“How can I? Sure, he claims that he loves me, or whatever, but he ruins my anniversary celebration! He thinks he loves me, but then again, he’s still a selfish, self-centred BASTARD!” Taemin spat out, eyeing the taller male in contempt.

“T-Taemin…” Minho stuttered, at a loss for words. He wasn’t prepared for an outburst like this. *I never knew that this was his impression of me…* Minho thought, regretting his actions a little but since he already did it, he’ll finish what he started.

“Lee Taemin! What did your umma say about calling your elders names?” Key asked. Taemin scoffed at the feeble attempt to calm him down, rolling his eyes, irritated.

“Oh please, Key. I don’t give a freaking about what I say right now. The main point is that I’m ing pissed off that my perfect date was ruined! Hyung managed to get such a great place for a picnic, then when we started talking and laughing, SOMEBODY,” Taemin stressed, glaring at Minho, “ruined our moment by butting in. How inconsiderate can people be, huh?”

“Taemin, I know you’re peeved and all, but just chill, please,” Jonghyun pleaded with the maknae, receiving a glare for his attempt.

“JongKey, how would you feel if your anniversary date was ruined by another member who CLAIMS to love one of you? Especially if you were quite close to that member, how would you guys feel?” Taemin asked JongKey sceptically, stumping them with a simple question like this.

“We… I… erm…” Jonghyun tried to answer, but was stunned by the question.

“Let me make this simpler. Let’s say Onew hyung wanted OnKey to be real, and then he went to ruin your date. And Key, if you knew that it was going to happen and Jonghyun had a premonition. Even though you might ask me and Minho to follow Onew hyung, if we failed and your 2^nd or 3^rd year anniversary was ruined, spoilt, by a member whom you trust so much, how would you feel?!” Taemin asked again, outraged by his hyungs’ behaviours. The others seemed to notice that Taemin only called Onew ‘hyung’, but not the rest of them.

“We would be angry, I guess?” Jonghyun replied, but it sounded more like a question.

“Right. You’re telling me that you GUESS you would be angry. Wow. We’ll make sure to ruin your date next time then. But seriously, if you knew that someone close to you was going to steal your beloved from you, and you could do nothing, how would you seriously feel?” Taemin asked, trying to calm down. Onew’s constant patting of Taemin’s back seemed to allow the younger to relax a little, but he was still quite tense from the situation.

For the first time, the other members were intimidated, and it was by Lee Taemin, the maknae of SHINee. They felt disturbed and fidgety, but no one spoke a word.

“YAH! SOMEONE ANSWER ME!” Taemin screamed, and whatever anger that had subsided came back again.

“We would feel peeved, annoyed, angry, insecure, panicky, outraged, and restless. Is that enough answers for you?” Key asked, starting to get annoyed too.

“Well, why didn’t anyone answer me earlier?” Taemin demanded. Nobody answered this question, and Onew kept patting Taemin in reassurance.

*That’s it. Taemin was supposed to be happy, to recover faster. This isn’t working!* Onew thought angrily. He had appeared to be calm the entire time, but that was only because he was trying his best to soothe Taemin first. Standing up, Onew walked over to Minho and gave the taller male a punch in the gut. He then landed another punch on Minho’s face, and then he started kicking Minho, starting an all-out attack.

“OW!” Minho screamed in pain, fighting back as well. Somehow, Onew was stronger than him this time, and Minho was losing the fight. *When did Onew hyung get so strong?!* Minho questioned himself incredulously.

“Get lost, NOW,” Onew ordered, once he managed to beat Minho to a pulp. “JongKey, bring this dickhead to check into a hospital ward. Keep him there,” Onew instructed sternly. JongKey nodded, speechless and scared out of their wits, and helped Minho to the counter to ‘check-in’.

“Onew hyung, are you alright?” Taemin asked worriedly as Onew fell to the floor with a thud, looking as if he was going to faint anytime soon.

“Ne… I’m just glad you didn’t get hurt again, or I’ll have it on my conscience forever…” Onew sighed, feeling quite contented with himself.

“But seriously, when did you get so much strength?” Taemin asked in awe.

“Ah, the power of love,” Onew murmured, feeling somewhat bemused.

“Ok… well, true enough. I could feel your pats getting harder and harder by the second… I’m sorry for causing so much trouble and not being able to fix the problem quicker…” Taemin apologised, bowing his head.

“Come here,” Onew told Taemin, pulling his lover in for a kiss. “It’s not your fault, like you said to me. It’s Minho’s fault. By the way, I noticed how you only called me ‘hyung’ just now. I’m touched, but always remember your respect, no matter how angry you are, arasso?” Onew asked. Taemin sighed and nodded, smiling tiredly.

“Let’s continue eating. That bastard was such a retard. I’m hungry… feed me?” Taemin asked cutely. Although Onew had pretty much used up all his strength, he picked two pieces of sushi up and put them into Taemin’s mouth. “Kamsa hamnida!” Taemin exclaimed with his mouth still filled with food, so it sounded more like ‘kangsa hamida!’ to Onew.

Onew burst into laughter, leaving Taemin to look at him as if he were on high. “Sorry, just that when you said ‘kamsa hamnida’ to me, it sounded more like ‘kangsa hamida’!” Onew explained, still laughing.

“Yah!” Taemin whined once he swallowed his food.

That’s how their date went, the two of them talking and laughing about old times. It seemed that the earlier matter was forgotten, and Minho would leave them alone for now.

“Oh yeah, Tae, this is for you!” Onew exclaimed, out of the blue. Taemin stared at the object that seemed to be a stuffed toy. After a few seconds, he snatched it from Onew and hugged it tightly, as if someone was going to steal it.

“DOLPHIN!” Taemin squealed, kissing Onew on the cheek. “Aww, thanks hyung! I’m going to name it… OnTae? What do you think?” Taemin asked, looking at Onew’s facial expression which turned into a smile.

“How about making it our ‘son’?” Onew asked, a random idea that a pre-schooler would say. Nodding furiously, Taemin beamed and kissed Onew on the lips.

“Yay!!!” Taemin shouted happily, hugging Onew tightly.

“Come on, let’s eat,” Onew told Taemin, calming the younger male down.

“Arasso!” Taemin replied, still happy from receiving the dolphin.

Meanwhile, Minho had gone to SM’s building to find Changmin, his brother-like sunbae. He managed to escape JongKey, telling them that he would be back by 1pm. After all, it was only 12pm now. He had plenty of time.

“Changmin hyung!” Minho called, knocking on the door of DBSK’s dorm. Yunho was the one who opened the door, looking at Minho in confusion.

“Minho, what are you doing here? And what happened to you?! You look like crap!” Yunho exclaimed, his mind still sleepy from being kept up till 2am.

“Looking for Changmin hyung. Where is he? And I got beat up,” Minho informed the sunbae who nodded.

“He’s eating. Come on in,” Yunho invited Minho into the dorm. Nodding, Minho followed his sunbae and sat down on their couch. He looked around at the neat dorm, not able to believe that two people could make it look so neat and beautiful.

“Minho, what did you come here for? And you got into a fight?” Changmin asked, walking to the living room with a bowl of cereal in his hands.

“I wanted to ask you for advice. And yeah, I got into a fight… What if you liked someone and you did everything you could for him, even ruining his anniversary date, and he hated you in the end?” Minho asked helplessly, not knowing who else he could turn to.

“Minho, who’s this person you like? And ruining his anniversary date is a big mistake. Of course he’ll hate you, especially if he ever thought that you were like a brother to him,” Changmin told Minho who nodded and thought about his actions.

“It’s… Taemin, I like Taemin. I didn’t mean to ruin his date, I was just so angry that I went to them and shouted at Onew hyung…” Minho trailed off as Changmin’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Then JongKey came and tried to make peace, but that made Taemin more pissed. He started shouting at everyone, except Onew hyung, and interrogating JongKey. He kept asking them how they would feel if someone close to them liked one of them, and that person ruined their anniversary date. He called everyone by their names except Onew hyung. He ONLY called Onew hyung as ‘hyung’, but called Jonghyun hyung as ‘Jonghyun’… what do I do?” Minho asked Changmin.

Just then, Yunho walked into the room, seeming to have heard everything. Changmin was still shocked, his mouth gaping as he tried to comprehend what Minho just said. *Taemin’s THAT scary?* Changmin thought in horror, glad that he, as a maknae, would never be like that.

“Minho, seriously, if you love someone, you’d do everything to make that person HAPPY. If Taemin’s happier being with Onew, then just leave them alone. What you’re doing is just… you’re doing everything to make YOURSELF happy, understand? If my Jae- if my beloved was happier without me, and went to someone else, I would wish them good luck, all the best. I wouldn’t do everything in my power to break them up for me own good. Minho, you got to understand what Taemin wants, instead of what you want, got it?” Yunho advised, trying his best not to use ‘Jaejoong’ in front of his hoobae.

“Arasso, Yunho hyung. I’ll try that next time,” Minho said, bowing and thanking the sunbaes before leaving.

“Wait! Did Onew beat you up?” Changmin speculated, knowing that he was spot on when Minho hesitated and nodded reluctantly.

“When did Onew get so strong?” Changmin asked Yunho as soon as Minho was out of earshot. Shrugging, Yunho sat down on the couch beside the maknae, looking at the ceiling.

“What Minho just said, well, if someone went to ruin YunJae’s anniversary date, even if that person was stronger than me… though that’s highly unlikely,” Yunho paused, thinking about who was stronger than him. Whomever he knew, anyway. “I’ll be real mad and feel like murdering that person, especially if he made Jae scream and shout at them. And even if YooSu were there, and I told them to make sure our date is perfect, and it was ruined, Jae would be angrier, wouldn’t he? Then I’d really beat that person up, the power of love, maybe?” Yunho thought aloud.

“That makes it sound like I’d be the one trying to steal Jae umma away from you… after all, we have five members, even if we’re disbanded, and SHINee does too… Makes me feel kind of evil…” Changmin complained.

“I didn’t think of it that way… Aish, mianhae, Changminnie,” Yunho apologised jokingly, ruffling the younger male’s hair.

“Arasso!” Changmin exclaimed, smiling as he continued to eat.

Meanwhile, Minho was cabbing back to the hospital. *If Taemin still shuns me, I’ll go to Victoria noona and tell her about OnTae’s secret relationship. Good idea!* Minho thought, congratulating himself for being so smart. He went back to the hospital and found JongKey, going with them to ‘check-in’ to a ward.

OnTae, on the other hand, had finished all the food and were playing card games like poker, and whatnot.

“Hyung, I lost again!” Taemin whined, throwing the cards down in exasperation.

“Ok, let’s stop playing. It’s been three hours already, do you want to go now?” Onew asked. Taemin shook his head adamantly, not wanting to leave the beautiful place.

*Why is it that on dramas, the man always gives the woman flowers on their anniversary?* Taemin thought sadly, not realising that he had spoken aloud until Onew pulled out a bouquet of flowers. Gasping in shock, Taemin took the bouquet from Onew, admiring the flowers dreamily. He noticed a familiar pink flower, and then another familiar yellow flower.

“Hyung, what are these two flowers?” Taemin asked, pointing at the pink and yellow flowers.

“The pink one is an aster, the yellow one is a yarrow. An aster symbolises love and people think that it has healing properties. A yarrow symbolises healing or health. There are red and pink roses, obviously symbolising passion and love, and perfect happiness,” Onew told Taemin who nodded, looking at another flower.

“What’s this then?” Taemin asked, pointing to a red flower. “I know it’s a tulip, but what does it symbolise?”

“A declaration of love, and to ask the recipient of the flower to believe in the sender,” Onew replied nervously.

“Oh. Of course I believe you, hyung! Why wouldn’t I?” Taemin asked incredulously.

“What with the OnToria thing, I just wanted to reassure you, that’s all,” Onew said, heaving a sigh of relief as he smiled.

“Arasso,” Taemin said, smiling back. “And this?”

“A lemon blossom, symbolising that the sender promises to be true to the recipient, and fidelity in love,” Onew told Taemin, smiling brightly at his boyfriend.

“Aww…” Taemin cooed, hugging Onew tightly.

“Suffocating…” Onew gasped, breathing in when Taemin finally released him. “I didn’t know this was how sincerity was repaid…” Onew murmured to himself.

“Mianhae~” Taemin sang, beaming as they discussed more about flowers. Mostly it was just Taemin pointing to flowers in the garden, and Onew telling his boyfriend what they were called and what the symbolisms of those flowers were.

After the last hour of their date, the couple left and went back to the ward. “Tae?” Onew called, wondering if his lover was still awake.

“Hmm?” Taemin replied sleepily.

“Should we go discuss this Minho problem with the sunbaes? Or should we leave him alone? I’ll go with whatever you say,” Onew told Taemin, waiting for his reply.

“We should discuss it. Maybe we’ll do it tomorrow, how’s that?” Taemin asked, wanting to settle the issue as soon as possible. He didn’t really need his Valentines’ Day to be ruined by Minho again.

Nodding in agreement, Onew sighed deeply. “How did things even end up like this? Minho should be the calm one, but he turned out like this… I’m quite sorry for beating him up, but I couldn’t bear to see you so angry anymore…” Onew told Taemin, smiling sadly.

“It’s alright, he deserved it. Text the sunbaes now,” Taemin suggested. Onew nodded, taking his phone out to text all the sunbaes who were always involved with the plan.

“Should I tell the DBSK sunbaes? It’s just a feeling, but I think Minho went to Changmin hyung for advice… I think I should tell the JYJ sunbaes too. Maybe they can give us some better ideas…” Onew told Taemin who nodded in agreement.

 

{From: Onew ♥ Chicken

Sunbaes and f(x), meet us in Taemin’s hospital ward tomorrow, at 2pm. It’s an emergency! But not Victoria noona this time… And it’s the Seoul General Hospital, East Wing, level 3, room number 718. PLEASE BE ON TIME! Kamsa hamnida :) and JYJ hyungs, come too! We need your advice :D Gomawo ^^

Onew snapped his phone shut, looking at Taemin and wondering what he did to deserve such a great boyfriend.

In the DBSK dorm, Yunho had just seen the text message and looked at Changmin worriedly. “Changmin, Onew just told us to meet them at the hospital, in Taemin’s ward. When was he hospitalised? And JYJ is going too… Wonder what’s so important. And what does this have to do with Victoria? Aish…” Yunho sighed, not knowing what they were getting into.

“Cool! I get to see Jae umma again!” Changmin exclaimed, beaming at his ‘appa’ happily.

“But under what circumstances?” Yunho pondered. Changmin shrugged, not caring as long as he could see his previous band mates again. In the end, Yunho decided to ask Jaejoong if JYJ was really going to go.

 

{From: U-Know

Jae, is JYJ going to go tomorrow? Sounds really urgent but… I don’t really want to know… Minho came here just now and asked us for advice on what to do if he loves someone who’s attached. That someone would be Taemin. And I miss you…

To: My Hero :)}

 

At the JYJ dorm, Jaejoong read the two messages, informing the YooSu couple of their change in plans for tomorrow.

“YooSu! We’re going to the hospital to visit Taemin tomorrow. No going out. Luckily, we don’t really have a schedule apart from a photo shoot at 5pm. You’ll get to see Yunho appa and Changminnie!” Jaejoong shouted. At the mention of Yunho, the couple ran out and looked at Jaejoong excitedly, bouncing on the spot.

“Jinjja? AWESOME!” they exclaimed simultaneously. Jaejoong shook his head, knowing that his ‘sons’ were high on sugar. Again.

“Let me just tell Yunho of our plans… And we have song recording, singing practice and dance practice in an hour! Get yourselves changed!” Jaejoong ordered the pair who nodded and ran into the room. *What does this have to do with Victoria?* Jaejoong thought to himself, feeling confused as he didn’t know about OnTae's problems yet.

 

{From: Hero Jae :D

I miss you too~ see you tomorrow! I think SM will cancel your schedules. Since we’re going, and he knows about OnTae, he’ll give everyone a short break for tomorrow. I have a photo shoot at 5pm though, tomorrow… :( annoying schedules… love you ^^

To: I ♥U-Know Yunho}

 

Yunho read the message and smiled. “We’re going,” he mumbled to Changmin.

“Yes! YooSu and Jae umma, see you tomorrow~” Changmin sang.

Yunho shook his head at the maknae’s childishness, replying Jaejoong before keeping his phone.

 

{From: U-Know

See you~ Changminnie misses you and YooSu :)

To: My Hero :)}

 

Jaejoong read the message and smiled.

 

{From: Hero Jae :D

I miss him too! Tell him for me!

To: I ♥U-Know Yunho}

 

Yunho felt the vibration in his pocket, relaying the message to Changmin. “Jae misses you too,” Yunho told Changmin. The younger male beamed and nodded, going back to whatever it was that he was doing.

In the SuJu dorm, Leeteuk read the message and was telling the members. “We have a meeting at 2pm tomorrow in the hospital, OnTae's problem again. Not Victoria this time though… CANCEL YOUR PLANS! And KyuMin, what did I say about skinship?” Leeteuk demanded.

“Mianhae…” KyuMin said, breaking the hug.

“EunHae can still go out in the morning, right?” Eunhyuk asked, not wanting his mountain climbing plans to be ruined.

“Yes…” Leeteuk sighed.

“And ZhouRy are going shopping, till about 12pm, so it’s fine!” Henry exclaimed.

“YeWook are just going to stay home and stare at my turtles, so it’s fine,” Yesung said simply. Ryeowook sighed, not understanding his lover’s obsession over turtles.

“I suppose the two single people and the one engaged person have no plans?” Leeteuk asked, referring to Siwon, Heechul and Shindong.

“We are not single… our boyfriends just aren’t with us…” Heechul told Leeteuk, trying to stay positive.

“God would want me to help others, but I’m climbing with EunHae, so I guess I’ll still go but make sure we’re back on time,” Siwon said, reading his bible.

“Nari wants to meet me for breakfast. She’s coming over, so be nice! And I have no plans whatsoever,” Shindong said, eating potato chips.

“I got nothing. Be back here by 1pm, that’s all I ask. Got it?” Leeteuk asked strictly. The members nodded, going back to what they were doing previously.

Meanwhile, Taeyeon was telling the SNSD members of the change in plans. “Be back by 1pm, ok? Especially YoonYul. I know you’re going to climb a mountain tomorrow, so be back early,” Taeyeon instructed.

“Ne, unni,” the eight members said in unison.

SM, on the other hand, was exasperated. “Secretary Seo, cancel SuJu, SHINee, SNSD and f(x)’s plans tomorrow. And help me call JYP,” SM requested.

“Ne. He’s on the phone now,” Secretary Seo said.

“Yeoboseyo? JYP, long time no see! Why I’m calling you? I wanted to ask if you could reschedule JYJ’s schedules tomorrow to another day. Why? They’re visiting Taemin and we’re discussing something at 2pm. I don’t know how long it’s going to take… All they have is a photo shoot at 5pm? Oh, sure. Then ignore my request then. It’s better if you reschedule it, still. Oh, you can? Thank you,” SM said, putting the phone down.

“Boss, I’ve cancelled all their schedules. But their practices are changed to 6pm. Is that ok? And the recordings will be done on Friday,” Secretary Seo informed SM, walking into the room.

“It’s fine. Thanks. You can do your work now,” SM told the secretary. She nodded and walked out, returning to her table.

At the f(x) dorm, Sulli was telling the other three members of their plans. “If it’s not unni, then who is it?” Luna speculated.

“Who knows? Let’s just take our short break. I think SM’s cancelling our schedules again, anyway,” Amber guessed.

Just as she said that, Victoria received a message.

“Schedules for tomorrow cancelled. Practice at 6pm. Song recording on Friday,” Victoria announced loudly.

“Ok!” Krystal shouted, heaving a sigh of relief.

“Unni, we’re leaving to visit Taemin oppa tomorrow, at 2pm, arasso?” Sulli asked.

“Fine!” Victoria replied.

“Kamsa hamnida!” the four members thanked, deciding to head to practice.

Key had received the message too, scoffing at Onew’s lameness. “We’re going to be there, like, all the time… seriously, hyung?” Key asked himself, walking back to Taemin’s ward.

“It’s cause he mass messaged everyone, that’s all,” Jonghyun said, when they reached the room. “You’re back!” Jonghyun exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Onew whispered. The couple then noticed that Taemin was sleeping, and decided to be quieter.

At the same time that Victoria received the message about the schedule change, the respective leaders of DBSK, SHINee, SuJu, SNSD and even JYJ, received the message as well, announcing it to their members.

Meanwhile, Minho was alone in his ward, and he stared at the ceiling for a long time, wondering what he should do next.

“I’ll talk to Taemin now,” Minho told himself, taking his phone out to call the maknae. However, it was Onew who picked up, and Minho felt anger boil inside him.

“Yeoboseyo? Hyung? Can I talk to Taemin? I want to apologise to him…” Minho pleaded.

He heard Onew ask Taemin to wake up, and regretted waking the injured boy up just to apologise. On the other end of the call, Onew asked Taemin if he wanted to speak to Minho, and the latter said ‘no’ harshly, complaining that he wanted to go back to sleep.

“Hyung? Yeah, I heard what he said… tell him I’m sorry for me, ok? Bye,” Minho said, ending the call and putting his phone down.

*I meant what I said about telling noona… I’ll call her now!* Minho decided, picking his phone up and dialling the number of the elder female.

“Yeoboseyo? Victoria noona, I need to tell you something. OnTae are still together. I’m not lying to you, I swear! Onew hyung really is cheating behind your back. Don’t tell anyone that I told you, and keep it a secret, please? You can take revenge, but not on Taemin. Onew hyung betrayed your trust, go after him instead! Why? Cause Taemin’s injured and in the hospital… I am too, though. Ok, see you tomorrow morning? Oh, afternoon works too. At 1.30pm, arasso? Kamsa hamnida!” Minho exclaimed, ending the call as he grinned menacingly to himself.

*Onew hyung, you won’t know what hit you! You’ll pay for this!* Minho thought.

Victoria felt betrayed. She didn’t know what to do, so she decided to call Onew to make sure that Minho was telling the truth.

“Onew-ah, you and Taemin are still together, aren’t you? I won’t hurt him, I swear. Oh… you are, huh? Ok. I’ll visit him with you after our mountain climb tomorrow, arasso? Which mountain? Seoraksan. The one with the cable car, then we continue climbing from there till we reach the top!” Victoria heard Onew hesitate, and sighed.

“Is it safe?” Onew asked.

“Yeah, of course, and the view is awesome, seriously! I’ve been there before, it’s like a valley filled with trees and plants. It’s really beautiful! Ok, see you at SHINee’s dorm at 8am then. The cable cars start operating at 9am, and we can take some snacks before that. We’ll leave at about 12pm, and then go to the hospital! See you!” Victoria exclaimed, managing to keep her voice steady as she ended the call.

As soon as Onew hung up, she let the tears flow down her cheeks. She ran to the toilet and locked the door before crying out loud, feeling more betrayed than ever.

*Why’d he lie to me?! But loving a person means wanting him to be happy, no matter what it costs… I’ll leave him alone, unless he proposes!* Victoria swore to herself, attempting to give Onew a chance to love her.

At the hospital, Onew looked at Taemin’s sleeping face. It looked angelic to him, and he knew that he would never forget it. All he wished is that Victoria would keep her promise, and wouldn’t hurt Taemin. If she did, Onew would never forgive her.

Minho wondered why Victoria was so calm, feeling confused. “Maybe she knew already…” Minho muttered, cursing in his head. *Maybe I should send a flower, for forgiveness?* Minho thought, not knowing which flower meant forgiveness.

 Minho looked it up on the internet, finally finding out that an Ophrys Fly meant ‘mistake’. It was as close to forgiveness as he could think of, so he decided to order one online and send it to Taemin’s ward.

In Taemin’s ward, sometime at night, a flower was delivered.

“An Ophrys Fly,” Onew mumbled to himself. *Mistake* he thought of the meaning, and knew who sent it instinctively. Since Taemin was sleeping again, he signed the receipt and put the flower in the vase, beside his own bouquet.

“Sorry, Taemin. I didn’t mean to do that… Mianhae…”

 

 

 

 

 

Well, this chapter came out way faster than expected, so I'll probably update again next Friday XD keep reading and commenting!! ^^ and thanks for supporting this story :) tell me what you think about the current plot X)