“Annyeonghaseyo, we are shining SHINee!”

Oh, My God.

“What?”

“U-Uh, I must apologize! If this was your table, I-I am really sorry, I’ll go move now,” I quickly said, stammering over my words as I stood up, picking up my bag and my lunch. However, they stopped me, the tall person being fast enough to grab me by the wrist, preventing me from moving any further as he stared at me with wistful eyes that begged me to stay.

“Aniyo! That is fine! Please, sit with us,” the tall man told offered with a soft smile, his lips curving and his cheeks rising, pink in colour. “We would love to know more about you.”

I tried to protest, but with their eyes staring up at me like Puss in Boots, I hesitantly sat down. I could feel all this angry glares from the females and I just wanted to hide away from this world.

“What is your name, if you don’t mind us asking?” The angelic, gentle-looking boy asked me. I rather fumbled with my rings, biting my bottom lip as I hesitated for a momentary time.

I played with my fingers for a bit. “Baek Mija,” I finally answered after a minute of silence. The dino-looking boy chuckled at my answer.

“Such a pretty name for a pretty girl,” he cooed, giving me a wink. He was then whining when the feline-looking fashionista and the tall person smacked him upside on the head. I could have sworn I felt my face grow red at his compliments—and it did not help when it reminded me of Min.

Now I know why the girls fall for him the most…

I just do not understand his motives at all—what is the point of making girls blush when he could just ask one out on a date to fulfil their dreams?

“Why?” I mumbled and their attention turned back to me.

“Huh, what did you say?” The tall person said, urging me to repeat what I have said, as if they did not hear me the first time. I gladly obliged.

“…Why me? Why are you sitting with me? Don’t you all have your own table to sit? I’d understand if it was taken by somebody else, but still… why come over to me?” I asked, ignoring the glares and the hateful comments that they may have on for me “seducing SHINee over to my table.”

UM, EXCUSE ME YOU ES. SHINee came over to ME. I got nothing to do with this…seducing, puh-lease! You could have hit me with a feather.

…Sorry, that was my other ego talking, ignore that.

The ‘cute’ black-haired male pursued his lips for a moment before he answered honestly, “We found you interesting, and it’s your first time here in Korea, right? We’d thought you need some friends.”

I could have sworn my heart just swelled up with happiness—how sweet of them, but they do not need to do that.

The feline boy somewhat caught me twisting my silver rings on my right hand, especially the rainbow one on my index finger of my left hand because he just pointed it out, “Hey, that is a unique ring you have on.”

“Huh?” I said aloud then looked at the rainbow ring I was just twisting around my index finger. “Oh, um, well, err,” I stammered a bit before bowing my head, saying “gamsahabnida,” in a cautious tone. “I got it from when I was a kid. A group of boys gave it to me, if I remember clearly, but I do not remember their names. It was too big at first so I used it as a necklace then until it could fit on my fingers,” I told him. He only nodded before he resumed staring at it. In fact, the rest of the men were staring at my hand, eyes fixated onto the accessories, looking as if they seem to be so interested in it.

Wow, spacing out much? I snorted to myself before looking at my ring again, beginning to wonder again.

Nevertheless, what happened to those boys I met 14 years ago? I thought while staring at the group sitting at my table.

Then I realized that I do not really know their names.

“I’m sorry, but…who are you guys?”

Well, that was not a good way to ask because their eyes went wide. Okay, is not being known, that shocking to them?

“What is this? You don’t know us?” The dino-looking boy exclaimed in shock and I bowed my head in embarrassment.

“How could you not know us? We’re practically the famous and worldwide stars!” The angelic male stated and I just sighed and put my arms on the table while directly looking at them all straight in the eyes, startling them for a second.

To be honest, I am startled myself—why did I suddenly become so confident with looking at them?

“First of all, I am still new here to Seoul, despite the fact that I was born here. Secondly, I never knew much about K-pop. I did listen to a few back in America but because of the final exams, I never got any time to learn the names nor their personality.” Then I snorted. “I don't even know their birthdays!”

They chuckled a bit at that, but went silent when they saw that I was sombre, seeing my unimpressed glare. “And lastly, does it really matter? It is not as if the world is going to end just because someone does not know you! Does it really matter that much to you all?” I finished with a question, my eyebrows raised. I sat there, watching them while they stayed silent.

Wow, since when did I become so straightforward? High-five, Mija!

It was a couple of minutes since they had not spoken, and the students caused even more uproar, gossiping that I insulted them.

Suddenly I began to panic as I saw their solemn faces. “W-Wait, I didn't mean it like that! I didn't mean to hurt any of your feelings!” I pushed my glasses that slid down to my nose, putting it back in place. “I was just saying that you shouldn't expect much from me! We've only met for the first time, how was I supposed to know your names?”

I really thought I screwed up.

Then they smiled.

They all smiled, the curves of their lips rising gradually as their eyes squinted into playful crescents. Confusion had hit me once again.

“M-Mwo—”

“I knew you were pretty interesting. That’s why we want to talk to you and get to know you better. Somewhat behind that reserved you is a dominant you,” the tall guy said, the rest nodding in agreement.

Ack! How did they found that so quickly? I looked away to avoid looking at their still smiling faces—I’m surprised their cheeks haven’t broken yet—and let out a silent huff, “W-Well! That’s because you asked me a question and I gave you a reason. It’s not like… my personality just changed all of the sudden!”

They didn’t seem to buy it completely. Damn it.

The tall guy shook his head at me in disbelief and said, “Whatever you say, Mija. Whatever you say.”

That reminds me so much of Min…

“We’ll be sure to bring that side of you a lot.”

Good luck trying because that will not be happening.

“Err, I still need to… um, know your names.”

“You’ll have to guess.”

“Eh?” I exclaimed, staring at the feline-looking boy who had this diva smirk playing on his lips.

“You probably hear us through rumours and gossip, right? You’ll have to guess who is who,” he explained to me, a smirk on his heart-shaped lips. I pouted slightly while staring over the Kingkas before sighing and agreed to it.

I looked over the males who were patiently waiting for me. Geez, even more glares are shooting at me.

Girls, please stop this, I never asked for this to happen.

Minae, quit crushing that soda can. You have already drained out the poor thing.

I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest as I looked over them behind my glasses.

All right, so far, I have heard them call the girls call them out individually: Minho, Key, Jonghyun, Onew and Taemin. Now is the time to guess who’s who.

I decided to start with the angelic-looking male first, so as soon as I turned to him, he perked up and smiled. I examined his appearance for a bit. He has light blond hair, locks pointing in certain directions. I could see that he has small eyes and a cheeky smile. He also has a bit of this awkward aura but it was the good kind of awkward, more like a warm feeling. He seems soft-hearted, and the way his eyes went into crescents reminded me of a bunny.

“Your name is…Onew?” I asked rather than answered. I guess I got it right because he smiled widely at me and nodded.

Ok, that is one down, four more to go…

I then turned to the diva-looking boy who looked back at me with a smile, his eyes sparkling as he examined me as well. He had black, ebony hair that looked fluffy, his bangs over his feline eyes. I examined him closely. He has plump pink lips, almost heart-shaped and a nice face structure. He got smooth, pale skin and a good figure too. He seemed quite easy to figure out! I have heard the name of Key, and they say he is a fashionista.

They were not kidding when I looked at his outfit.

Ooh, those platform shoes look awesome!! I must ask him where he got them later! I smiled a little and answered, “You must be Key. It was obvious because you stand out a lot. By the way, that shirt looks amazing! And your shoes is awesome!”

Key gave me his diva smile and said, “Why thank you!” It was completely in English—but at least I understood him. However, I was a bit shocked and began to doubt him as I stared at him with slightly furrowed eyebrows. Is he from America too? He sounds so fluent! Pushing that thought away, I turned away from him.

I looked at both at the other dark-haired male and the tall person and pointed at the two of them—“You’re Taemin,” I pointed to the male who also had black, fluffy hair. He looked surprised at first, his eyes wide. Then he grinned to himself, his cheekbones ascending to the heavens as he began mumbling things like, “How did she get me so fast?” and such.

With how he is smiling, there is no doubt he is that cute person they were talking about in SHINee.

“And you must be Minho,” I pointed to the tall person who nodded an impressed expression on his face.

I have heard that Minho is tall and good with sports. Even though he is all clothed, I could see his muscles and his broad shoulders.

Then I suddenly remembered a line I heard from the TV that included his name and smiled to myself. “Dibibidis, your name is Minho,” I sang out with a grin, causing them all to laugh. Minho was nodding his head, giving me a thumbs-up before offering me a high-five, which I so gladly gave him, our palms making a slapping sound.

“And the last one would be Jonghyun,” I said, finally looking at him. I examined his appearance – he looked like a carnivorous dinosaur to be honest, the way his cheeks is sunken (in a good way). His hair was also blond like Onew, but a bit lighter—no, rather than blond, he is more on the colour silver-ish white or snowy white. Because of his blue-ish grey eye contacts, he looked a bit like Jack Frost from the Rise of the Guardians.

He looked like he has lost weight. Losing weight is good, but I hoped he does not lose too much of his weight, otherwise he would have to go to the hospital—and that would not be a good sign if he went to the hospital, would it?

I almost rolled my eyes at his goofy grin before I said something unexpected, “The first and last dinosaur to be alive.” His face changed into shock, his mouth gaping open as he stared at me as if he could not believe what I have said. It was then that I realized what I just said and covered my mouth, my cheeks burning in embarrassment.

The rest of SHINee just started laughing like crazy, creating such loud noises. Taemin and Minho were clapping their hands like happy seals. Key was covering his mouth while laughing, his elbow on the table as he was supporting his upper body from collapsing face first onto the table from laughter. Onew just let out his all, holding his stomach and hitting the table with his fist, not caring if his drink spills over from the strong vibrations. I could see Jonghyun glaring at me, smoke coming out of his head, ears and nose, as he looked upset with the statement I gave him.

He looked so serious, but at the same time, he also looked comical. How was it possible to see that such a short man like him could look so cute? I tried to apologize but I could not help but giggle when I saw how Jonghyun got so mad.

“Hey, I do not look like a dinosaur!” He stood up, his face red with anger yet embarrassment. I could not help but laugh as well.

“Y-Yah! Take that back! You people shut up! Aish, I’m being serious, stop it!” Jonghyun whined in exasperation, stomping his feet like a grumpy child. I just laughed more alongside with the others. I did not even care if others were envious of me, but these boys were nice enough to make me laugh aloud in public and forget about my wallflower self for a moment.

I calmed down a bit and saw the group giggling to themselves while Jonghyun just continued to rant about how he does not look like an extinct species, which then moved to a topic of his height (much to Minho’s pleasure and Jonghyun’s dissatisfaction). I smiled. Maybe it is nice to give them a chance to be my friends. I would like to know more of them as well. In fact, I should have them as my friends—they are the first group of people to have not seen me as a bad person because of my looks and be friendly with me.

They are such nice people that I cannot bring myself to hate them. I think I will be able to be friends with them, I thought with a smile as I rested my arms on the table and tried to make conversation with them after Jonghyun’s rage moment.

I had my classes then, and in between, I saw neither members of SHINee in my lessons. Is lunch break the only time they could arrive? Then again, they are idols after all. I let out a hum as I pulled up a slight face. Maybe it is because I did not notice them in my lessons, which could be one reason why…

I packed away my books into my bag, headphones now on my head, the song, “Living Dead” by Marina & The Diamonds blasting into my ears.

I’m living dead-dead-dead-dead,
only alive-live-live-live
When I pretend-tend-tend-tend,
that I have died-died-died-died-died-died~

I bobbed my head to the music and was about to put my last book in until somebody grabbed my wrist. I looked up to see pissed-off Minae, only with his girly troop. I groaned mentally as I inwardly rolled my eyes.

Oh, how lovely, look who is here to on me—and she had brought some friends too! I internally sighed in sarcasm and annoyance whilst I only stared at her in confusion.

“What is it you need?” I asked her, clearly not in the mood to have a fight with her, especially in school.

She only scoffed, staring back at me in disgust, still holding my wrist. I could see her eyes burning red in flames—literally.

Was she mad because SHINee talked to me first and not her? Geez, what is the big deal about that? They just talked to me to make simple conversation and they make it seems like it is a crime for me to be talking to them, like what the hell?

I pulled my wrist out of her grasp, put my books into my bag, and closed it before I slung it over my shoulder.

“Yah, why is SHINee talking to you—and you, out of all people? They should be talking with me—with us,” she told me, gesturing to her friends—or should I say, her little “minions”?—behind her, who nodded and scrunched up their faces in disgust when I stared at them, my eyes looking over their appearances before I looked at Minae with a shrug.

“Molla, I never asked them to talk to me. They are the ones who came to me first,” I mumbled and tried to make my way through, but Minae pulled me back, her grip tight on my arm as she pushed me against my locker.

“Listen, I don’t know what your intentions with SHINee are, but it’s best for you if you didn’t get involved with them, you evil little seductress.”

I haven’t lived life~

“Believe me, only I and SHINee will be best friends. I will be the famous, main character in this story, and you will not—because you do not belong with us. I am the princess and you are the ugly little witch.”

I haven’t lived love~

“—so please, stay away from SHINee before you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Who are you to even laugh with them!? You’re just a nerd who deserves to be unloved and unpopular!” The girls nodded with her statement but I only blinked. I can see moving but her words just went in from one ear and out the other as the music boomed in my ears, filling my head with sound and nothing else.

Just a bird’s eye view from the sky above~

“—again, do not get involved with them. You hear me, Mija?”

I’m dead, dead, dead, dead!

I blinked twice at her, not really listening to her because of the loud music blaring in my ears as I just stared at her finger pointing right at my face.

Yeah, I totally didn’t hear her. I was too busy being in my own world. “Ani,” I told her honestly (as always). Besides, even if she were to repeat what she said, no doubt I would be snoring throughout her boring lecture.

She just gasped in disbelief, her eyes wide with horror.

Then I saw SHINee coming over, their footsteps in sync as they walked down the hallway, eyes fixated on me. They waved at me, clearly happy to see me. I waved back at them nonchalantly, walking over to the group, leaving Minae and her friends stunned of my ‘rude’ behaviour.

I pulled down the headphones and let it rest around my neck as I approached the Kingkas—which I can’t believe I’m talking to, especially when they’re famous idols, I mean, is that even possible?

“Hey! Where are you going now?” I said with a small smile on my face, ignoring Minae’s eyes that were burning fire into my soul.

Onew smiled and told me, “We’re heading over to the SM Headquarters for practice. We were wondering if you want to come with us and watch us for a while—if you want to, that is.”

I looked at the others who were staring at me and I reassured them with a smile as I shook my head, turning them down—the idea was nice, but it’s far too soon to go into their workplace—and the sun was just setting now so it’s too late. They pouted sadly at my rejection, upset that they will not be able to showcase their talents to me. I just smiled at them.

But I can’t blame them. I wanted to go too…

“I understand. It is getting dark out here, so get home safely, okay? It was nice meeting you, Mi,” Onew said before he led the guys to the big, black van behind them.

Did he just call me ‘Mi’? I was a bit surprised to know that we’re already on the nicknames term now. I guess they really did find me that interesting. But… why did they come to me, out of all people? What is the reason for that? That’s a mystery I must solve—ugh, I feel like Sherlock Holmes.

I waved them goodbye, standing in that same spot as they left, waving back at me. The dino—I mean, Jonghyun—cupped his mouth and yelled out, “Be sure to listen to our music! Know more about us! SHINee is daebak, you got that?”

I stifled my laughter when he got smacked on the head by Key, scolding him for forcing me to research about them and listen to them more. I continued to wave goodbye until the van disappeared from my sight. I then sighed and turned to expect Minae and her little friends to at least bombard me with angry threats and questions—but surprisingly I didn’t see them.

Must have gone home earlier then, I thought and I chuckled, feeling a bit glad that I wouldn’t be taking an annoying ‘bug’ with me home. I looked back down the road where SHINee had left a while going before I turned away, proceeding to go home.

As I reached to my home—or, my mansion, seeing that my father’s a rich man (and a loving man when he married my mother, believe me)—I braced myself for Minae standing there in front of the door, but when I entered, no sign of either her or my stepmom rushing out and trying to attack me. I sighed in relief and shut the door behind me. I heard a male voice behind me as I approached the first step of the stairs:

“Hello? Oh, Mija!” Kangdae beamed at me before looking at his watch, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked back at me. “Oh? You’re home earlier than Minae.”

My eyebrows rose at this information before humming a bit. “…I guess I am! I have no idea where she had gone, if you were planning to ask me that question. She’s probably mucking off at parties, I suppose,” I told him with an indifferent shrug.

Right, I guess you also didn’t know that she’s a girl who loves to go to the parties—one of those girls. No! Not like getting wasted with the guys and having with them! It’s not like that!

…Maybe.

Kangdae sighed and put his hands into his pocket, his eyes having this glint of disappointment, as if upset that his little sister has gone out to do such things when she’s supposed to be studying. He turned back to me and nodded his head, directing up to the stairs as he smiled at me, “Let me guess, you’re going up to your bedroom for your daily music time?”

I gave him a small smile and nodded, “You know me.” It hasn’t been long since he figured it out on the second day after moving into the house. I pleaded him not to tell anyone (especially Minae) about my other ego and he, being the nice guy, promised not to. I finished off the conversation with a wave of my hand before I headed up to my bedroom.

I entered my bedroom, and locked the door behind me (in case if Minae ever comes into my room and disrupt my music fun—especially when I’m being cheerful and random).

It’s big and it’s a bit too… boyish for me. Minae is totally different from me. I’m more on the boy side, she’s more on the girly side. But hey, I can dress girly too!—just not all the time. I mean, wearing short dresses to the point you want boys to look up your is annoying and disgusting. Trust me; I think I’d bust them with my feet in their faces.

I walked around, putting my bag down onto the chair that was by the computer on the desk and stared at the posters on my wall, my eyes going past the basketball on the shelf. Yes, even rocker posters were on the walls and a basketball.

Okay, maybe I’m a bit of a tomboy? I wouldn’t say so for myself, as I can sometimes wear skirts and yet still look like a nerd. Sigh, this is a sad life of a wallflower, I thought with a shake of my head.

I began to get changed—it’s freaking hot in this jacket, god—putting on a plain white print-tee that had a Superman logo on it and wore red short shorts, along with red-and-white striped socks for my feet.

I put on a yellow, thin cardigan, to keep my arms warm as I felt the cool chill inside my room. I pulled out my elastic band and ruffled my hair before I redid it into a ponytail.

I then grabbed the guitar was that leaning against the wall and hoisted the guitar strap around my shoulder before setting it up, plugging it into the amplifier. My daily music routine is to play the song that first comes into your head—if nothing comes up then I just go and play DJ, read a book, do my work assigned from university or surf around the net on the computer. Jonghyun’s words echoed around my head, so I made a mental note to find out about them later.

I stood still for a moment before a particular song came to me, making me take my position, taking out my guitar pick and checked the chords before I grabbed my iPod from my nightstand.

I prepared myself as I put on the earbuds, inserting them into my ears before searching for the song. Once it started, I readied myself, holding my guitar and ready for action. Running my fingers through my hair, I waited for the right tune before I started playing the song. I smiled to myself as I strummed the chords, loving the feeling it gives me as the strings vibrated. I giggled a lot and started rocking my body, practically jumping.

I really thought I was onstage, living my dream right here on the spot.

I grinned brightly, laughing cheerfully as the crowd cheered for me, the colourful lights flashing everywhere on the large stage, mixing in with the rainbow glow sticks that her fans were holding, waving it to the beat of the music as I strummed on my electric guitar.

I sang with all my might, my voice carrying out emotion and power as I sang through the microphone. Near the end of the song, I could see Minae and my stepmother at the far back, shocked with my talents, disbelief on their faces as they grimaced at me, not wanting to accept the fact that I actually became famous and they hadn’t. I only gave them a mean, taunting look, one finger pull down the skin under my eye, just to show the inner pink as I stuck my tongue out at them.

I turned around to face my band and I was shocked at whom I saw. As I strummed the last note of the song, I stared at them in surprise.

Why was SHINee smiling at me?

I could see Minho was on the drums, the golden (yes, it was gold) and black drumsticks in hand.

Taemin was on the electric piano, a white beanie contrasting his ebony black hair while Jonghyun on the bass guitar, his bleached blond hair styled handsomely.

Key held the Mustang guitar in his arms; he wore black sunglasses which showed his small face and his button nose. It was strange, I don’t think he ever played an instrument—why was he playing it so well? I averted my eyes to the last person who smiled at me.

Onew was the singer as he held the silver microphone in his hands.

“Annyeonghaseyo, we’re SHINee!”

“Mija!”

“We want to thank you for this wonderful concert planned out by this lovely person!” Jonghyun chimed, glancing at me.

“Mija!!”

Altogether they cried out to the audience, pointing at me, “Give it up for Baek Mija!”

“MIJA, OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR!”

I screamed as I fell, scrambling off my bed and collapsing face first onto the floor. My earbuds were roughly pulled out of my ears, my iPod falling out of my pocket.

Since when was I on the bed? Hastily dismissing the thought, I quickly blinked open my eyes in shock, trying to process what just happened. Then I realized that it was my stepmother’s voice from behind the door. Quickly, I moved towards the door, scrambling a bit in my steps before I accidentally threw myself against the closed door.

Embarrassed, I unlocked it and opening it halfway just to see her standing there with an annoyed look on her face.

“Jesus, child, will you keep it down?! I could hear you jumping from downstairs as well as your silly rock music, aish! I’m trying to concentrate with my work!” She hissed out at me, her dark, muddy brown eyes holding that evil glint.

I glared back at her, mirroring her expression as we engaged into a staring battle. She stared at me in distaste before huffing angrily, looking away first. “Do not play that again. Your music is foolish anyway!” With that, she smoothed down her hair and started walking away from me like she’s the top .

How did I deserve such a crude stepmom? I was standing there in the doorway, my glare going by unnoticed. I made sure that it burned in the back of her head as I held up my hand, pretending that I am a sorceress. “Jap!” I hissed as I pointed at her, hoping that she would have at least gotten bad luck in her life. It must work.

She faltered in her steps, stumbling forward with a small yelp before she resumed walking, smoothing down her dress as if nothing happened.

It did. I smirked successfully and closed the door shut as I went back into my bedroom again.

I was so confused about that daydream I had. It’s strange—why was SHINee playing with me in a concert? I shook my head, erasing the image before lifting the guitar off my shoulder and carefully leaning it back against the wall.

“Eh, must have been some stress that even SHINee’s appearing in my head,” I assumed with a small nod, forcing myself to believe that.

I wish it was.

After reading a novel and doing some of my work I was assigned to do, I decided to reward myself with a break. I got up from my bed, leaving my open books behind and walked over to the computer desk, moving my bag gently down to the ground next to my chair before I sat on it, pulling myself closing to the computer.

Alright, time for me to start some research! I thought determinately and mumbled a “Hwaiting!” to myself.

Hey, it’ll be hard for me to know every single one of them and know what they are like in reality and how they act! Of course I would have to wish myself luck!

And the research begins.

It was fun though, I smiled at lot when watching SHINee in variety shows—they really know how to shine alright. They really lit up the atmosphere. I made notes to myself as I watched from the past videos to the most recent. Their personality was quite unique, especially Minho. I was surprised to see that he can be funny when he wants to be and talks a lot to s and on radio talk.

And Taemin’s cute English talk he made on this one live concert—wow, he really need some work on that. I guess that’s why everybody loves Taemin, he is so adorable you can’t help but want to put him in your pockets.

Now I understand them, I chuckled to myself.

I sat there, fiddling with my rainbow ring as I watched every show they had been on, even the shows from Taiwan and Japan! I look at my rainbow ring for a while before I looked back at the screen. I swore to never take it off, even if I’m in the shower. If I lost it, I’ll find it without even sleeping. Maybe, if I could ever find that group of boys who gave this ring to me in their gratitude, I’d give them something similar like this.

When I had enough laughter from their personalities on the shows, I then went on to the research of each member of the group via Wikipedia. I found out their nicknames – I snickered when I saw Key was nicknamed as ‘Fox’ and Jonghyun as ‘Dino’. It sounded like you’d call them those names in kindergarten or something.

Whilst researching Jonghyun, I found out that he had been dating Shin Se Kyung for nine months before they broke up because of their schedules. Wow, so he had a girlfriend? I thought back to how I saw him flirting with the girls – on the days when I never knew him or rarely saw SHINee around.

Psh, I thought with a scoff. After that break-up, he became a player, what a sad life.

As I looked into him more, I was in shock to see that he was involved in a car accident and had a broken nose, thus withdrawing himself from the makings of “Why So Serious?” Omo, how terrible! I looked at the date and snorted. And to think that it’s not a lie when they said that he got injured on Aprils’ fools! Daebak, just dae~bak. He’s the first man alive to not have made a joke on that day.

Although, I frowned a little at this. He had gotten into a car accident seven days before his birthday. It must have being in the hospital on the day where he’s supposed to be celebrating his birth.

I bet SHINee celebrated his birthday there, I thought with a small smile playing on my lips as I went onto the next member. It must have been nice despite being in the hospital.

I went onto Onew and found out that he was selected by the Lee Sooman after his audition in SM Academy. I was impressed by this. I almost felt some pity for him after knowing that he had suffered many injuries – teeth, neck, ankle, even a trauma after a disastrous light fixture accident. I hope he doesn’t get injured again this year. I’ll pray for his safety!

I laughed out loud, leaning back into my chair and covered my eyes as I laughed when I found that Key used to be a varsity water-skier when he was younger. It’s amazing to see that for a guy who hated exercise used to water-ski. I felt some empathy towards him after learning that he’s the only child in the family and was raised by his grandmother as his mother was sick and his father was always busy.

It must have been hard on him… at least he has someone who took care of him. I was impressed with his multilingual talents: he can speak fluent English, Japanese and Chinese; he had known the girl dances within one look of their music video; was an exchange student in America for six weeks—I could not help but feel a little bit jealous. He is better than I am! Humph, diva fox, I muttered out incoherently, puffing out my cheeks with a pout.

There was not much about Taemin, however, other than being a main dancer and good pianist. I was still impressed though.

Minho was the one who impressed me the most when I looked at his occupations: singer, rapper, dancer, actor, model, lyricist, promotional model, presenter & radio host – heol! He has more than Key! In fact, he has more than everyone else in the group does!

Wah! He is good! I acknowledged with a strong nod, my lips curving upward as my face went into an impressed expression.

I began to compare the dates they have accepted them from their auditions:

“Key was discovered at the 2006 S.M. National Tour Audition Casting.”
“Minho was discovered at the 2006 S.M. Casting System.”
“Onew was discovered at the 2006 S.M. Academy Casting.”
“Taemin was discovered at the 2005 S.M. Open Weekend Audition Casting.”
“Jonghyun was discovered at the 2005 S.M. Casting System.”

That means Taemin and Jonghyun were in SM first before Key, Minho and Onew. Minho auditioned in the same place as Jonghyun but only a year after, I began to think logically about this as I placed my hand on my chin, the other hand pushing my glasses up my nose bridge.

So…does that mean—save for the date they debuted and their age—Key, Minho and Onew are the maknaes of SHINee? I shrugged it off. No…rather than being the maknaes, are Taemin and Jonghyun their sunbaes? Could be possible, but eh.

After learning their careers and birthdays, I went onto their music and the discography. I stared in awe when I started watching “Noona Neomu Yeppeo” and “Love like Oxygen”.

Wow! They were really cute when they were younger! Jonghyun still looks like a dinosaur even back then! I stifled my laughter—I just loved seeing him as a dinosaur. But his eyes were in the size of a puppy! I wonder if he’s actually a dinosaur/puppy/human hybrid…

I watched all their music videos, from “Juliette” to “Ring Ding Dong” down to “Why So Serious”.

Their music had just blown me away—from cute, shy boy image to y, manly image. Wow, they really changed a lot, but their style of music will always be…SHINee. I could obviously see Jonghyun’s absence when I watched “Why So Serious” both through music video and live performance but it was for a good cause. I would be mad if SM forced Jonghyun to do the MV when he had just gotten himself into a car accident. It was for a good reason that they excluded Jonghyun in the music video.

Although it does not feel right just only four members in SHINee (I just realized this as I am getting used to seeing SHINee as five people via YouTube), it was for the best. I giggled and went onto YouTube search for their albums.

Heck, even their songs in their albums were good too! Especially ‘The First’ even though it is sung in Japanese.

I put back on my headphones to listen to them. I swear to God, all of their songs are just so good; it is hard to pick a favourite. I guess that is another reason why they love SHINee—they are just so irresistible… How can they even choose one of them as their bias? I thought to myself while nodding my head to the song named “Start”, the bouncy beat filling up my body.

Yet… if I were to like SHINee, who is my bias then? I wondered as I started at the five men on the album picture displayed on the video of my screen. They all caught my eye but it was hard to find out whom I like.

“And so, the princess goes onto her mission. Her mission is to choose.”

My eyes trailed down to the time and they went wide—it was almost 1:30 AM!

Mwo—! Omo, time goes by so fast! I was too busy doing my work and listening to music and doing other things I hadn’t noticed that it was already tomorrow! I panicked a bit, but then realization hit me—today was a Saturday. Yesterday was a Friday. I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed my body. Of course, SAU is not open on weekends, but if there were one place that would be open there, it would have to be the public library.

Jeez, and I panicked for nothing. Nevertheless, I should really take my sleep! I sighed and looked at the songs. The last one I yet have to listen from the ‘The First’ album of SHINee was “Better”.

Well…one more could not hurt. I can always listen to the others another time.

Therefore, I listened (and mostly watched the subtitles). Their voices were really soft, I felt myself relaxing more, my arms on the desk as I laid my head on it.

It was comforting. It was melodious. It was…a lullaby. It is like the kind of music you want to hear in a music box. I had not realized that I had fallen asleep to their voices, headphones still on my head as the music. I felt the breeze from the window that I opened just a crack, the curtains blowing in the room. With the lamplights still on, it created a warm atmosphere.

I could hear Minho’s soft voice in his singing and rapping, alongside with Key’s English on “Better, Better~”, displaying their talents. I was surprised that Minho can sing though! I expected to hear more from him, I would think with a stupid grin on my face.

Jonghyun’s voice really fit him for ballads and many other songs while Taemin's was soft, yet powerful as he usually is. However, there was this hidden charm in his voice that made it unique and special.

I really fell asleep at the end of the song, Onew’s angelic voice echoing in my head before it ended, the music fading away like cherry blossom petals fluttering in the wind.

The last time I remember, all I could feel was my heart beat thudding softly.

However, for whom?