(The same day)

“Oh, you guys are back already?” Victoria asked, looking at her group members as she turned the music off.

“Ne, unni,” Luna said, trying to sound as normal as possible. “I thought you were practicing?” Luna asked.

“I just got back here 10 minutes ago. I’m going out with Onew soon, so you girls better practice hard, even without me here, arasso?” Victoria asked.

“Ok, unni. You can go now. We promise that we’ll practice. Have fun! Bye!” Krystal said, waving her unni out.

“Aish, fine. I’ll be back by 3pm, latest. See you in the dance room later!” Victoria said gleefully before she left.

“Let’s tell Taemin oppa that Onew oppa and Victoria unni are going to the hospital soon,” Sulli said, taking out her handphone and typing out a message.

{From: Sulli~

Taemin oppa, Victoria unni and Onew oppa are heading to the hospital soon. Try to act as normal as possibla, arasso? Hwaiting! :D and good luck for your recovery!! :))

To: Taeminnie oppa}

Pressing send, Sulli smiled to herself. “Let’s hope that Taemin oppa will be alright with OnToria’s public relationship…” Sulli said, smiling sadly as the other members nodded at her.

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Taemin’s phone vibrated. He took it out and read the message. *Let’s hope so too…* Taemin thought to himself before typing out a reply.

{From: Taeminnie:)

Arasso^^ Kamsa hamnida~ I’ll try to recover quickly!!

To: f(x) Sulli}

He pressed send and looked at Key. “Hyung? Is anyone else coming to visit me today? If there isn’t, then I’m going to sleep…” Taemin said, faking a yawn.

*Aish… Onew hyung’s coming soon… Better text him…* Key thought, not wanting Taemin to sleep and disrupt their plans.

{From: Kibum~

Hyung! Taeminnie wants to go to sleep! Text him to tell him that you’re coming, ok? And don’t mention Victoria noona in your message. He might get a shock. You’re only supposed to reveal your plan later, arasso?

To: Leader Onew}

Key had a worried look on his face and Taemin knew exactly why. *Hyung’s really worried… Maybe I should just wait for Onew hyung to come? But that way, they might get suspicious… Forget it…* Taemin thought to himself.

As his cellphone vibrated, Onew took it out to read the message. *Aigo… tae can be really troublesome at times…* Onew thought. Then, he typed out a reply and two new messages.

{From: Onew♥ Chicken

Noona, can we skip lunch? I’m not really that hungry now… And I really want Taemin to know about our relationship sooner… PLEASE? *pouts* Kamsa hamnida^^

To: Victoria noona}

{From: Onew ♥ Chicken

Arasso, Key umma~ I’ll send it now. Kamsa hamnida^^v

To: Key umma}

{From: Onew ♥ Chicken

Taemin-ah, I’m visiting you later! See you soon :D

To: Taeminnie}

Smiling to himself, Onew fixed his hair when Victoria came in. “Noona? Did you receive my text?” Onew asked.

Nodding, Victoria frowned. “Ne… But are you sure you’re not hungry? Victoria asked, worried for Onew’s health.

Onew shook his head, smiling brightly. “Anio! Let’s go!” Onew exclaimed enthusiastically, grabbing Victoria’s hand as she blushed.

“Arasso,” Victoria managed to say before Onew dragged her out. They were both happy, but for different reasons.

*I’ll get to see Taeminnie soon!*

*Onew is holding my hand!*

Checking his phone, Taemin typed out a reply while smiling sadly. Key, who also took out his phone, just nodded to himself.

{From: Taeminnie:)

Arasso, hyung! :D See you~~~

To: Onew ♥ Taeminnie}

*Hyung is doing all this for me. I should appreciate it… I’m sure he’s hurting a lot more than me right now…* Taemin thought, angry at himself for even being upset. “Key umma~ Onew hyung is coming to visit me later!” Taemin exclaimed, beaming brightly at Key, who smiled back at him.

“Oh, really? Arasso. Hope you enjoy his company then!” Key replied, knowing that Taemin would be upset again later on. *Why even get his hopes up? He’ll just start trashing around and screaming again later on… As his umma, I should be protecting him from this kind of things… I’m such a failure…* Key thought, somewhat depressed at being so useless. “Taeminnie…” Key started.

“Ne?” Taemin replied, curious as to why Key sounded so depressed.

“It’s just… Mianhae! I’m sorry for not being able to protect you from this breakup!” Key shouted apologetically, eyeing Taemin for his response. To his surprise, Taemin just laughed.

*Umma has gotten really dramatic over the last few weeks… Seriously…* Taemin thought, still chuckling slightly at Key’s stunned expression. “It’s alright, umma. I’ve gotten over it already…” Taemin said, unable to continue as he was cut off by Key.

“JINJJA?! Ok, fine… Sorry if that was overly dramatic… Hehe,” Key said, scratching the back of his head.

Smiling cutely at his umma, Taemin frowned slightly. “Anio. It’s alright… I’m already used to it! Mehrong~” Taemin said, sticking his tongue out at Key playfully.

“Yah!” Key shouted, smiling brightly while he pinched Taemin’s cheeks while Taemin screamed.

“UMMA! Stop it!” Taemin exclaimed, slapping Key’s hands away. This finally woke Minho and Jonghyun up, and they looked at Taemin in annoyance.

“Taemin-ah… Quiet down… This is a hospital, not a playground, and we’re trying to sleep. You too, Kibum,” Jonghyun complained while Minho just nodded tiredly. Suddenly, the doors opened, revealing a happy Victoria and Onew, hand-in-hand.

*Why does it hurt so much to see them like that? I expected it, but still…* Taemin thought sadly. “Annyeong, Onew hyung, Victoria noona,” Taemin greeted, not forgetting his manners.

“Annyeong, Taeminnie!” Victoria shouted cheerfully.

“Taemin-ah, me and Victoria n-noona are g-going out tog-gether now. Will you w-wish us hap-piness?” Onew asked, stuttering and not daring to look Taemin in the eye. *Jeongmal mianhae, Tae…* Onew thought, looking at Victoria with what seemed to be loving eyes.

*Hyung used to look at me that way too…* Taemin thought, tears threatening to overflow even though he knew it was all an act.

“Hyung! How could you do this to Taemin?! After all he’s gone through, you st-” Minho shouted in anger, but stopped when he saw Taemin nodding. “Taemin…” Minho said softly. *This was completely unexpected…* Minho thought, feeling sad for the maknae.

“Onew hyung, I wish you and Victoria noona happiness in your new relationship,” Taemin said, while Onew’s mouth curved into a perfect O. but Taemin did not say what he really thought: ‘Don’t forget me…’ . Taemin felt the tears welling up in his eyes, finally trickling down his cheeks. *Hope you have fun, hyung. Saranghae~ I’ll never forget the love we shared…* Taemin thought, but then mentally scolded himself for forgetting that it was all fake. *I need to stop being so depressed… Hyungs wouldn’t like me to be so sad, either…* Taemin thought.

“Taemin-ah, are you sure about this?” Jonghyun asked worriedly. Taemin just nodded his head, smilingat the SHINee members. “Then, why are you crying?” Jonghyun asked again.

“I’m just happy for Onew hyung…” Taemin said, lying through his teeth. He saw Onew give a disapproving look. *I forgot… Onew hyung knows when I’m lying, and when I’m telling the truth… Crap…* Taemin cursed himself for being such a horrible liar, and was glad that Onew had decided not to pursue the matter. “Is that all? I’m really tired now. If you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep…” Taemin said, pouting slightly at his hyungs.

“OMO! It’s already 2.30pm?! I’VE TO GET BACK TO PRACTICE! Bye~ See you again soon, Taemin,” Victoria said, a little too loudly, waving at the SHINee members and kissing Onew lightly on the cheek, through which Onew kept a blank expression. With that, she walked away, smirking as she saw Taemin facial expression change to that of sadness. *Phase two of my plan, done. Oops, better get back soon!* Victoria thought, rushing off.

Back in the ward, Taemin pulled the blankets up to his waist and fell asleep almost instantly. Onew sighed softly, pulling the blanket up to Taemin’s chin and kissed Taemin on the forehead. *Saranghae, Taeminnie. I know you’re going through a lot of pain right now, but I am, too, so stay strong for both of us, arasso?* Onew thought, knowing that Taemin wouldn’t answer him. Seeing Taemin start to cry, even in his sleep, Onew turned away to cry silently.

Seeing their leader and maknae like this tore the other members’ hearts apart, but there was nothing they could do about it. Feeling helpless, they went out to give Onew some privacy.

“Onew hyung… Saranghae… Don’t leave me…” Onew heard Taemin say as he kept crying.

“Arasso, I’ll stay here. Mianhae, Taeminnie, this is all my fault…” Onew apologised even though he knew Taemin could not hear him.

Through the window, the members saw what was going on, and they sighed. They knew they were all thinking about the same thing: What happens next?

Abrupt ending much? i really didn't know how to end it... I'm such a failure... :( and Key being drama was just me being damn random when i wrote this XD probably won't update till about 2 weeks later cause school starts next week... Hope you enjoyed this chapter and remember, comments are well loved!! :))