Why do I have a drunk SHINee member in front of my mansion?

…Wait a second, is that…oh God.

“Taemin…?”

Okay, everything is going to be in No-One’s POV, only for this chapter. This is entirely written in third person to make my life easier, I’m being serious here. Hey, it’s hard to write from a drunk person’s perspective and I’ve never been drunk before (I’m 15 going on 16! I’M UNDERAGE—and the last time I was, I was nine—I SWEAR TO GOD IT WASN’T ON PURPOSE I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW) sooo… yeah. …THIRD PERSON! I feel so much comfortable writing in third person when it comes to chapters like this and memories. I as writing as a 5 years old and how they think so I gave up that part when I tried. (I don’t even remember me being 5 years old omg.) And if you were used to reading it in first person, I’m sorry, but it’s only this one chapter where it’s fully third person, I promise! (Maybe next time Mi-ja will be drunk as well and – what? No, I didn’t spoil anything! D<)

Also, I’d like to give my thanks to Swarna, SHINeePreethi and CheiriPiano for sending out ideas. Thanks to them, I (omg, finally) had more ideas than expected. Please don’t be disappointed with the fact that I deleted your comments, it’s because I don’t want anybody to know whose idea I’ve input in here. (Even though some may have already seen it….) (Don’t worry, I had your ideas saved in Word. If you want to remember what you put down, just ask me and I’ll upload it onto Google Doc LOL)

And as you can see I'm changing the posters for each chapter. Hard work, but hey, at least I like doing it!

Mi-ja sat next to him on the couch in the living room, the lampstand lit on next to her. She watched as Taemin’s head lolled back and forwards. The lights from the Christmas tree was still on, blinking happily but it doesn’t know that Christmas is now over.

“I miss you sooo much, Mi-jani~” he cooed, giggling, his eyes out of focus. He stretched out the ‘ni’ to make it sound cuter, but to her, it was annoying as to even hear it coming out from the drunk brunet. Perhaps it would be better when he was more clearheaded…

She let out a sigh, her hands on her temples. How did he get here drunk? How did he even make it here alive? Obviously, he looked bombed out of the world, his face flushed dirtily red.

“Taemin, why were you drinking?”

Taemin looked up at her before frowning. “You made me sick…”

“Sick? How?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

He stood silent before grabbing her hand. Mi-ja was startled when he placed it over his left side of his chest, feeling his heart pound underneath her palm. Taemin’s other hand slid up to her cheek, his fingers fondling with the loose locks from her messy ponytail.

“Here,” he told her, pouting cutely. “I’m sick here…”

Way to throw away your manly aura on which you worked on so hard to get for five (or six) years, Lee Dork Taemin. Must you have to kill me with your aegyo?

She withdrew herself, shying away from the male before she decided to look around the area, hiding her blushing face away from his sight. Then she stammered after hesitation of speaking, “Y-You’re so wasted… You don’t even know what you’re saying!”

“Yes I do!” He yelled. The female shushed him to keep his voice low, scared of the other two relatives that are in the house—the other two that are slightly a heavy sleeper. I can’t let my step-sister nor my step-brother know that I have a drunken person inside the house! “I know exactly what I’m saying!”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “And what are you talking about?”

“Batman!”

She smacked her palm onto her forehead, appalled by his stupidity when he’s drunk. Batman? Really?

“No, no, not Batman…” He mumbled to himself. Mi-ja’s eyebrows rose in surprise. So he wasn’t as stupid as I thought?

Taemin looked at her with hazy, glossy brown eyes before smiling in such a casual manner. “It was Spiderman~”

…I give up.

“Because one day!” He yelled out, and suddenly she didn’t feel like covering his mouth. She just felt so tired. She suddenly felt so worn out by just staring at this man. “I’m going to be a superhero and catch all of the women’s hearts!”

You’re already doing that though… “I thought you’re an idol?”

Taemin blinked before giggling sheepishly. “I am? Oh, I didn’t know~ I must be really handsome to be an idol, aren’t I?”

Yes, yes you are.

Mi-ja gazed at him before rolling her eyes. “Yeah, you definitely need a glass of water to sober up,” she muttered under her breath as she began to get up from her seat, but yelped in surprise when she felt thin, yet shocking strong arms around her waist, pulling her back down onto her seat. She felt a heavy weight press against her shoulder, she assumed that it was a head. She looked to see Taemin resting his head there, his eyes heavy as he attempted to fall asleep. “Oh no, don’t you dare fall asleep on me!” she shook his shoulder to shake him off but he wouldn’t budge.

“My head is heavy and it hurts~” he whined, shifting his head into a more comfortable position.

She clenched her teeth, her blood boiling in annoyance, disliking (but liking?) his drunk persona. On the other hand, her face burned red and her heart rate sped up because of the intimacy.

Who knew that drunk Taemin can be so touchy and annoying?

Min-Ae yawned, her footsteps slow as she staggered towards the living room. She heard noises from downstairs, so she decided to get up and sort it out herself so she could have her beauty sleep. It was loud from the ground floor, and the second floor was only two floors up!

Yet, she could hear the noises.

“I swear to God, if it’s Mi-ja, I’ll strangle that girl for making so much noise,” she hissed underneath her breath, her bare feet softly thumping on the floor with little noise or creaks from the wooden terrain.

Kangdae is so lucky that his room is much further away. At least he’s able to sleep.

The brunette ruffled her unruly hair as she quietly went down the stairs, planning to scare the living daylights out of the girl—if it was Mi-ja.

But then again, who else aside for Kangdae? She knew it’s impossible for her mother and step-father to wake up since she knew that they were both heavy sleepers.

She learnt that the hard way.

She paused on the staircase, thinking thoroughly. But what if it’s a burglar?

Min-Ae stood there for a couple of minutes before walking down with a chuckle. No big deal, I’ll just snap his neck and make him cry for Uncle.

However, she didn’t expect to see a giggling, drunk Taemin leaning onto Mi-ja on the couch. She bit her bottom lip as she hid in the shadows of the dark, the living room area was the only place that was lit up along with the Christmas lights.

From the angle she was standing from, she could see their faces clearly. She assumed Taemin was drunk from the look of his reddened face and the slurring in his speech.

Why was he so stoned in the first place anyway? Why was he here so late at night?

“Mi-jani~” she heard him coo. She snorted at the sudden nickname which she found that was ridiculous.

She found that Mi-ja was annoyed and definitely having trouble with him as she held her forehead. “Don’t call me that, it’s stupid.”

Taemin pouted. “But it’s cute! Just like you~”

Who would have thought that in a body of a 21-years-old is a 5-years-old child?

“Mi-ja,” Min-Ae was surprised at the sudden tone of seriousness. Mi-ja was surprised too, but that was gone as she sighed, knowing that he’s still wasted.

“Mwo?”

“Do you like me?”

The brunette could see that the auburn was shocked of his sudden question before looking away. “Of course,” she answered. Min-Ae tensed up a bit. “You’re like my friend.”

…Wow, you really have no experience in love, do you? She wanted to yell out and smack her forehead, but restrained herself to do so.

Taemin huffed, narrowing his hazy eyes at her. “That’s not what I meant,” he said, grabbing her hands and pulling her close, kissing her bottom jaw. Min-Ae’s eyes widened at the intimacy and felt Mi-ja’s uncomfortableness in the situation.

Mi-ja squirmed and pulled back, her face red. “Why did you do that for?!”

“To make you love me,” he replied before asking again, “Do you love me now? Do you accept me?”

“No!” Min-Ae almost growled at the way her step-sister didn’t hesitate to answer back. But then again, to do such thing to me…yeah, that’s not what I wanted with a drunk friend.

“Good,” Min-Ae furrowed her eyebrow at this strange response. “Because I love you.”

…

…

…

Finally.

She let out a sigh, a small smile on her face. She knew that he likes her to the point that he would indirectly talk about her. But she frowned at the times when Taemin would still stare at Sulli whenever she walked past him or stammer over his words whenever they say hello to each other.

Sometimes, she wished to know his mind. She wished to know who is in truly in love with: is it Sulli, or is it Mi-ja?

A part of her says Sulli as he’s still not yet over the breakup, even though it was essential since it was their debut. It wasn’t that they had a bad breakup, but it wasn’t a good one either. There’s no such thing as good breakups, but people in relationships were lucky enough to have a normal breakup without any grudges or revenges.

They were the same as them.

How did she know all this? She heard it from a certain blabbermouth.

Min-Ae heard the hesitation in Mi-ja’s voice before strongly denying it, “You’re drunk. You still don’t know what you’re saying.”

She let out another sigh. How many times has she been sighing tonight? It’s almost becoming a habit to when she hears something nonsense or whatnots.

People who are drunk spills out their emotions and secrets without knowing it, but they remain true. All of what they say is the truth, because they know it unconsciously. If they were conscious, they would know what they’re going to say and change it into a lie.

She would know. She has been there with Mi-ja, when she admitted that she likes her.

But was it true enough for Taemin?

Honestly, Min-Ae didn’t know. She knew he would say it one day, but she wasn’t sure if it was true, despite the theory she came up with.

“I’m hurt…” Min-Ae tilted her head at his response. “Do you really find me that annoying? Am I a bastard who thinks that I can get every girl for myself?”

Mi-ja seem to be shocked by this answer. “How did you—?” Her voice stopped before groaning in apprehension. “You eavesdropped on me… I was with my step-mother.” Then she denied. “Aniya, that’s not true. I lied to her because I don’t want her to know.”

Aish, Umma… you forced her to say that? Min-Ae shook her head. I wonder why I liked her when I was younger…

“Don’t want her to know what?” Taemin asked.

Min-Ae heard silence. She assumed that Mi-ja didn’t want to answer that question. “That…that I’m friends with you! She rather want me to live miserably for the rest of my life than to have friends who cares for me, I think.”

“Oh. Your step-mother is ed up.”

Min-Ae and Mi-ja both snorted before agreeing about her attitude during that situation. “She is,” they both murmured to themselves.

Deciding that she had heard enough and not wanting to risk getting seen by Mi-ja, she quietly made her way back upstairs to her room.

She chose to stay quiet about it and not tell them that she has heard everything, confession included. She believed that it was best that it never came to them – at all.

Mi-ja sighed as she laid on the couch, with Taemin’s body on top of her. Her face was blushing red when she felt his warm breath breathing upon her cheek.

Taemin was hugging her like a plushy doll to go to sleep with, his legs tangled with hers.

How they ended up in such a position like this, she’ll never know. One moment, he was—literally—crying about his dying puppies (last time she checked, Adam and Eve (his puppies, not the people) were doing absolutely fine, so he’s over exaggerating) and how much he missed them, now the next thing she knew, Taemin had surprise-tackled her down onto the cushion.

Hence the reason why they are like this, with a drunk Taemin being extremely touchy and having the need to cuddle something all of a sudden.

Mi-ja was strangely reminded of the puppy plushy in her room, although she doesn’t know why she suddenly thought of that but, with the way he’s acting, she was being reminded of a puppy.

Only that it’s plastered and deprived in heat because of Taemin’s pitiful groans and his whining.

“Get off.”

“No.”

“You’ve been on me like this for over an hour now. I need to get you water.”

“ you, I don’t want it.”

Mi-ja gasped at his rude profanity and behavior before growling, strangely having an urge to punch him in the face.

Drunk Taemin can be amazingly stubborn…

Surely, haven’t the effects worn off by then? But he probably drank a large load of alcohol, so she doubt that he’ll be getting back to normal anytime soon.

The auburn-haired tried hard to shove his weak body off her, successfully doing so when she heard the latter groan, moving away from her. She got up from the couch and turned around before pointing at him, who was lying face first onto the cushion. “Stay,” she commanded, as if she was talking to a dog.

He only let out a whine.

She went into the kitchen, going to the opened cupboard where she was earlier to get a glass of water before all this…drunken incident happened, now she has to take care of an idiot who she surprisingly looked up to in a famous group called SHINee.

And who is that idiot?

That’s right. SHINee’s Lee Taemin.

Honestly, she thought with a small smile, I didn’t mind. That just shows how innocent he could be – and I like that kind of charm…

She grabbed a glass cup, the object in her hand before closing its door, now hurrying over to the sink and turned the level to pour in tap water.

It’s not like tap water can kill him anyway. Besides, we have a purifier.

She turned off the pipe before rushing back to the living room.

…

…

…

But she didn’t expect to see an empty spot on the sofa, the cushion punched in caused by the idol sitting on it for too long.

He’s gone.

Her eyes widen when she saw that only his buttoned-up black shirt was there.

, she thought. I’ve forgotten about his habits when he’s drunk.

“Damn it!” Mi-ja hissed as she looked around the area. She went over to the couch and grabbed the shirt before going down the hallway.

He couldn’t have gone far, he couldn’t have! Not inside this house!

“Taemin, stop playing with me!” She hissed again, more loudly and audible for the other party to hear as she jogged down the hallway. The indoor pool must be one of the places he could have ended up in out of all rooms.

When she curved around the corner, she felt her arm being pulled back. She shrieked, losing her grip on the glass cup that then fell out of her hand. The loud shatter came out as it hit the floor, splashes of water everywhere at the moment she was pushed against the wall. Her other hand that gripped onto the cloth has loosened as well, the shirt slipping out of her grasp and landing softly beside her feet.

As she looked up, she was met with coffee, serious eyes.

“I don’t understand…” He whispered to her softly, his breath on her nose. She could smell the bitter tang of alcohol which irritated her nose, but slowly got used to it after a few whiffs.

He’s definitely stoned for sure.

She gulped audibly, her face red. He had her trapped between him and the wall now, no method of escape since he used his arms as a lock gate and he’s awfully close to her, her eyes almost cross-eyed as she gazed into his chocolate eyes, the swirling effect of the alcohol churning in his irises.

The fact that he’s half is not helping me at all.

She stammered, pressing her hands on his bare chest, her cheeks red when she felt his hard buds underneath her palms. She tried to push him away, but he hardly budged from his spot and instead, placed his hands unto her hips, pressing his body against her.

“Why,” he whispered, his head against her shoulder, his nose into the crook of her neck. “Why do you fall for Minho? Why do you fall for Key?”

Was he…jealous? Her heart sped up as she bit back a moan when he began to kiss her neck, hitting the most sensitive spot at first try.

“It’s annoying… so ing annoying…” He growled underneath his breath. She could feel his grip on her hips growing tighter. She gasped in surprise when his hands slid from underneath her thighs, holding me against the wall as he lifted her legs up. She didn’t mean to, but she had to wrap her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck to keep her upper body up and not fall to the ground and look like a dork—she fears that she’ll be a better dork than Lee Taemin in front of her.

I swear, my face must be entirely red. But this position is… compromising…

“Am I not good enough?” He asked but she couldn’t answer. She could only feel him place butterfly kisses against her neck, her collarbone, her jaw. Mi-ja squirmed in his arms, whimpering as he did all that. “Have I not gave enough to make you fall for me?”

But drunk Taemin can be seductive and honest too…

“I’ll give you more kisses than Key have,” he whispered as he pressed his lips against her soft cheek.

I have to admit, I like it when Taemin showed his y and mature side, but if this continues on, I’ll be for sure and that’s something we both don’t want to have—especially when I’m the only sober person here with zero alcohol in my system.

Mi-ja could feel wet liquid dribbling down her collarbones. She was surprised to know that it was tears, but not hers.

Taemin’s.

She knew of him as a person to cry the least tears, and when he does, he doesn’t cry waterworks like Key and Jonghyun does.

It surprised her to feel the amount of tears dripping down her cheeks and to her neck. He’s crying.

He’s crying a lot.

He froze midway in his actions, his lips near her jaw as he began to cry, his grip tight onto her shirt. “Why can’t you love me too? Am I still not good enough even if I do this?”

“I…I can’t.” She answered back softly. She didn’t know why she told him that answer, she just…she just couldn’t. She couldn’t put anybody in danger if she did. Her mind goes to Minho, but her heart speaking otherwise. And no way was she following the ‘listen to your heart’ , because most of the times, her heart gave her mixed feelings and acted out like a to her, so nope, she wasn’t going to follow her own damn heart.

And she feels like she’s doing something wrong, but she don’t know why she’s feeling like that she just does when he’s around her like this.

She forced her legs out of his grasp, now standing on the ground in a proper position. She hugged him instead, holding him still and patting his back to calm him down. “Stop. You need to get some rest.” I pulled away and was surprised to see his eyes watering.

Hmm…and drunk Taemin can often act like a girl who’s pregnant and have crazy mood swings.

…Shouldn’t that be Key’s habit when he’s drunk?

“Ne,” he answered, his voice crackling. His cheeks were still flushed from the chemicals roaming inside his system when she looked at him. “I liked you first though…” he mumbled underneath his breath, but Mi-ja couldn’t hear it as his voice was too low. She didn’t hear him as she bent down to grab his shirt from the floor before standing up and grabbing his hand. He looks like he can hardly hold himself or know his sense of direction, so of course, she have to lead him the way.

Mi-ja bit her bottom lip at the thought of letting him sleep in her bedroom. I couldn’t risk using the guest rooms we have because who knows if one of my family members will go in and check? She forced herself to think, but then this came up: What if one of them saw him half and thought I had him in for…

She shook her head and yanked at his hand, before softly apologizing when he stumbled over his two feet. She forgotten that he’s still drunk when she was in her thoughts.

She rolled my eyes at his hiccupping and his giggles in between as she pulled up the stairs. How did he recover that fast? She’ll never know. She thought of the other members that has to deal with him. She wondered how they keep him down and make him sleep when he’s in a mixed-up state like this.

“You have to be very quiet! Min-Ae will freak to know if I had you here!” Mi-ja hissed, but he doesn't seem to be listening as his eyes loomed over her, out of focus.

Ugh, this is pointless.

As they arrived in front of her bedroom door, the auburn heard the door open which is two doors apart from hers.

Kangdae.

Quickly, she opened the door and shoved Taemin inside, throwing the shirt inside along with him before closing it shut, now seeing Kangdae’s sleepy figure as he came out of his room. He was covering his mouth as he yawned, his eyes closed shut. When he opened his eyes, he saw Mi-ja standing outside the door, her hand on the doorknob.

“Eh? Mi-ja? What are you doing out of bed so late at night?”

She bit her bottom lip, chewing on it before answering, “Well, err… I just came up here after drinking water.” Then she questioned him, “What about you? Why are you up?”

He chuckled as he staggered towards her, his movements slow and sleepy. She could smell his own cologne wafting over towards her nostrils. She had to admit, he smelled good despite getting out of bed. “I was about to get some water.”

Mi-ja chuckled, nodding her head in response before acting naturally, “Could you turn off the lamp downstairs in the living room? I think I’ve forgotten to turn it off before I left.”

He nodded. “Not a problem. I’ll keep that in mind. Get a good night’s sleep then.”

Heh, I wish, she thought with a mental roll of her eyes. She watched as he left the girl by her bedroom door as he went down the hallway and as soon as he was not in sight, she quickly went inside her room, closing the door behind her. She pressed her back to the door, sliding down in exhaustion as she let out a sigh of relief, glad to have not created any suspicion in the house.

She looked down, seeing a foot in her view.

Taemin was still on the ground, face flat on the surface.

“Taemin?”

He groaned.

Good, he’s still alive.

Mi-ja crawled down to him, my arms looped under his arms. She stood them, but it was hard as Taemin literally feel like a rag-doll. Alternatively, she held him up with a grunt, now having the male to stand up on his own feet so she could walk him to her bed.

“God, you’re heavy!” she muttered out as she wrapped one arm around his hip, holding him tight to steady his balance.

…

…

Bloody hell! This boy needs to eat more meat! I can literally feel his hip bone jutting out from here!

Mi-ja carried him over to her bed with a bit of a struggle, but still managed to do so. She threw him over, watching as his drunk body plopped onto the mattress, automatically curling his body into a ball as he eased into the softness of which she calls, ‘her bed’.

“So tired…stop yelling…” He mumbled under his breath, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

…I wasn’t even yelling. Heck, I haven’t even talked more than once!

She sighed heavily, walking over to the other side of her bed as Taemin took over her usual right side. She sat down on the left, looking at the brunet whose face looked tired, patting his back. He turned over and blinked at her drunkenly, making her fully aware that he needs to sleep.

“Aish,” Mi-ja sighed, ruffling her messed up hair. “Why do you have to be such an idiot?”

Taemin giggled. She was about to get up until she heard him.

“Mi-ja, do you remember?”

She looked at him with bemused eyes.

“Remember what?” she asked him.

“Our waltz.”

She nodded. She remembered the waltz. They danced that back in the dance studio. “Yeah. We were in the dance studio back then.”

Taemin shook his head. “That’s not the waltz I meant.”

Confused, Mi-ja sat there, staying discreet to let him carry on.

Taemin struggled to sit up in his bed, but successfully did so as he faced her. He took her hand and held it tightly, the hand position for the waltz dance.

A white flash occurred before her eyes, and she found herself seeing at the same hands, but in a much smaller version.

—Too small.

Mi-ja blinked back to reality before staring up at his face. She took in his sweet smile that broke through the drunkenness, the sparkles in his eyes and the way his cheekbones rose up.

“I remember. I remember seeing you. You were small and cute…”

Small and cute?

Taemin intertwined their fingers towards, his eyes turned to their hands as he smiled. “You were doing your ballet at the park. I saw you and the way you moved was so graceful. So beautiful and light…”

Her eyes widened slightly as the reminiscence began to mend itself. She recalled that. While her mother was chatting up with her friends, she left her to practice her ballet in the forthcoming production based on ‘The White Swan’.

“Adagio,” they both muttered before looking at each other in amazement. Mi-ja gulped, knowing that this was a part of her overlooked memoirs. She didn’t want to believe it, but she has to know. “Tell me… what happened then, Taemin?”

Taemin hummed, playing with the rainbow ring on her ring finger. “You were going to stand on your toe, but you lost your sense of balance, so I caught you because I didn’t want you to stop dancing from a broken ankle. You had that passion in her your eyes and I didn’t want an injury to take that away from you.”

“Are you okay?”

No wonder, even his voice sounds so familiar. But she still denied it, and ushered him to continue.

“That’s when we first met.”

Mi-ja could see it. She could see her five-years-old self red-faced in front of a younger boy who looked older and taller than her. They both bowed bashfully to each other, expressing their hellos.

“We sat together on the grass. It was really awkward but your silence was comforting. You were like a twinkling star in the night sky that I thought you were born in the universe,” Taemin chortled at the imagery in his head. “Like some fairy or angel in fairy tales…”

Mi-ja scrunched her nose at the ludicrous yet original imaginings of his. The male pinched her nose, however, his vision was blurry so he ended up pinching her cheek instead. “Then we spoke. I told you that I liked your dancing. I was envious of you because I couldn’t dance. I knew how to dance, but I couldn’t because my father wouldn’t let me. He wouldn’t let have my freedom on dancing. I felt much happier dancing without force than to be forced to play piano all day long.”

“I like your dancing.”

“I wish I could dance…”

The brunette clamped her lips into a thin line, feeling her eyes growing watery. Why was she crying? Was it because she finally found her memories? Or was it because she was upset that Taemin was keeping such a thing from her?

If it was the latter, why? Why would he do that to her?

Did he not want her to remember? Did he fear that if she did, she’ll tell everyone that she knew him when she was young? Did…did he hate her?

Now that’s absurd. Earlier in the living room, he just said he loves her, why would he hate her?

Unless it was all an act. Taemin may be weak in drama, but at least it’s foolproof. Mi-ja looked down, wiping her eyes as she began clutching onto the brunet’s hand as he continued on, his drunk rants echoing in her ears.

“You were strangely quiet. I didn’t know anything until I heard the music. That music…I like the music so much that we made a song out of it. ‹Orgel› was indeed my favorite,” he explained. Mi-ja knew now, why the melody from the music box sounded so similar. “You told me to show my father what I can do by teaching me waltz.” He blushed, the redness on his face brighter than his drunken blush. “I was so embarrassed, I mean, a girl is teaching a boy who is older than her, waltz? Not that I dislike it, it was just… just so strange. You were a strange girl. Like E.T.”

Mi-ja narrowed her eyes at the comparison. Did he just compare me to an alien from outer space? You got to be kidding me…

He seems to know because his reddened, bloated eyes went wide, letting out of her hand and shaking them in front of him to show denial. “No! I didn’t mean like you look like an alien, it’s your personality that reminds of me of something so illusory,” he lowered his hands as his clouded eyes averted to his lap. “So mystic and eccentric… so… alien.

“I mean, how could I meet a five-years-old little girl who spoke so wisely like a young adult? How can a five-years-old give me wisdom and advice? Your mother must be a good teacher, but to hear that from a kid younger than me back then was strange.”

The auburn hummed at this. I suppose that is strange. Normally, five years old would think of playing with toys and drawing and dolls. Wisdom is not something people would expect from a child that young…

“But it was the good kind of strange. I liked you then.”

She smiled at his words, replaying the moment when they danced together.

Then Mi-ja gasped, looking up at him and observing his face much more closely. N-no wonder…

She saw him. ‘Tae-oppa’ was standing in front of her.

“Hey, what’s your name?” Five-years-old Mi-ja asked her after the fun dance of waltz.

“I’m ­­Tae.”

“Tae-oppa…? Mhm, nice to meet you! I’m Baek Mi-ja!”

She knew that he didn’t fully say his name, but she ended up calling him that. The auburn looked at the male in front of her, whose head was lolling from side to side. “Tae-oppa,” she whispered to herself before biting onto her lower lip.

“We introduced ourselves before I saw you looking sad. You were sad that the music was finished, so I asked you to dance with me again. That’s why when I saw you in the dance studio, when we stopped at the same time the music did, you had that sad glint in your eyes,” he told her, looking her fully in the eyes, but failing as his focus began to wander. “I knew. I knew you wanted to dance again. I fulfilled your wish, Mi-ja, your passion to dance will always be with me.”

Mi-ja’s cheeks was stained rosy pink. No wonder why he felt so familiar when she stared at him in the eyes that day. No wonder why she gave in so easily like that, knowing that he would grant her wish to dance again that day.

“I really~ like you, Mi-ja!” Taemin suddenly cried out, his head shooting upward, arching back. It staggered her, since he was quiet for a while. “I like you! I wish to meet you again…I wish to dance with you again, Mi-ja. You’re my favourite friend, I like you – I wish we could see each other again…” he trailed off before laughing. “You have no~ idea how much I wanted to say those words! It’s not fair!” He then wailed, leaning his body over as if he was hurting, his eyes squeezed shut as tears began to form.

, is he going to start crying again!? No more, jebal! I had enough with this boy’s crying fest!

Taemin gripped onto his own pants as he wept. Mi-ja patted him on the back, shushing him to keep quiet. She didn’t know if Kangdae was still downstairs, but she couldn’t risk having him to hear all the racket from inside her bedchamber. “I liked you first! Why did you start to like Minho-hyung? Ne, we liked you all when we first met you, that five-years-old you…”

“Wait, what?” She did a double take on this. So the other members knew her when she was young? She knew something was strange when another part of her memories came up to her as she was with Key at their old school, on the thought why she had never seen him before in his life. “SHINee knew me? How?” She prompted. She didn’t want to take advantage of his drunken state, but she has to know.

She never liked secrets in the first place anyway.

Taemin plopped down on the bed, lying back as he yawned, his mouth stretching open like a black hole. It flabbergasted her. That was a sudden mood change.

“I’m sleepy~ I’m going to bed,” he moaned, wiping the tears from his eyes and turning his back onto her.

She groaned and shook his body on the bed. “Oh c’mon, tell me!”

“I don’t know, alright!?” Mi-ja pulled back, her hands shooting up as if they have been burnt. She was stunned by his angry voice, his irritated eyes as he shot up, his face towards her. Geez, his mood swings is much worse than a pregnant woman. “All I know was we all liked you at first sight. I don’t know their side of the stories. Go ing ask them if you want to,” he hissed irately before going into her bed, pulling the covers over him.

Mi-ja almost wanted to seize him by the neck and squeeze the life out of him for using senseless blasphemy in front of her.

The female sighed in displeasure, giving up as she got up from the bed. Since the boy has her bed occupied at the moment (his body is sprawled over the mattress), she’ll be sleeping on the floor for tonight.

Well, not that she minded, that is…

As she turned and looked at the male who was settling in like it was his own house, he mumbled out a name, his eyes closed then. Too heavy for him to open, I assume.

“Sulli…Choi Sul…” Mi-ja froze for a moment, staring at his reddened cheeks.

She didn’t mean to take advantage of his drunkenness for his virtue. She didn’t want to ask him any more questions when he’s unwary, but she had to. Just this one. Only one. She tipped over, her face approaching towards his head as her lips was close by his ear. “Do you still love Choi Sulli?” she interrogated him in a gentle, soft tone, cautious of his return.

He nodded, his head moving against the pillow as he said, “I miss her very much… I want her back… I love her so much…”

She don’t know why she did it, but she grimaced at his answer. It was so hard masking your emotions when they are too strong to be controlled. “Is that so…” Mi-ja mumbled to herself before telling him softly, “Go to sleep.”

Taemin strained his eyes to open. She was able to see that his pupils are dilating in and out. “I don’t want to.”

“I thought you just said you were sleepy?”

“Not anymore.”

“Well, you have to.”

“Why?”

“Just because,” she answered, her eyes not meeting the male, standing up straight. She began to walk around her bed to avoid answering more into depth.

Taemin wasn’t stupid. Drunk or not, he wasn’t stupid. He knew by the tone of her voice that something felt wrong with her. “But why?” He asked again, clutching onto the covers.

She growled. She whipped her head towards the male, her eyes fierce and stern. “Just because, goddamnit!” She abruptly yelled at him, shocking the male in front of her. He winced at her furious tone, her expression beyond livid. Ashamed, he hid away by the covers, but his eyes were still fixated on her. “If you don’t go to sleep, I’ll ing punch you in the guts to make you! I’ll knock the living daylights out of you if you don’t go to bed!”

Taemin squeezed his eyes shut like a child before opening one to peek at her, a bit alert on the fact that she might knock him out with a single punch. “Why are you so cold to me? What did I do wrong?”

…Come to think of it, why was I so cold to him? Why did I yell at him? She remember when she saw the pink envelope in the back of his pocket that day at the university, that day when she saw the two of them chattering together.

Did he even open it yet?

Mi-ja shook her head in discomposure, pulling herself out of her train of thoughts. She walked away from her bed, going to her closet to grab an extra blanket and pillow for the floor. “Just sleep,” she declared as she brought out a compact blanket and a fluffy pillow, kicking it shut with her foot. She has a large furry carpet near the bed and the guitar, so she wasn’t too worried about sleeping on the cold hard floor. Meh. The floor is more comfy than the bed anyway. The carpet is fuzzy and soft.

She decided to sleep near the right side, which is where she would be out of sight from the door.

She almost wanted to pick up her musical instrument (electric guitar) and smash it onto the idol’s head when she heard him snore, clearly telling me that he had—finally—passed out on her bed. She sat up after smoothing down her blanket on the floor, glaring at the brunet.

He has caused me too much trouble and I’ve wasted almost an hour of no sleep. Or was it two hours? Mi-ja scoffed as she grabbed the currently abandoned sheets and pulled it over to him to shield him from the cold. Men. I don’t understand them, she alleged with a disbelieving shake of her head. Then she grasped something that suddenly came into her mind.

I forgot to ask him why he was drinking.

She let out a frustrated groan, smacking my head with her palm numerous times before mumbling to herself, “One task, Mi-ja – you had one task and you couldn’t even finish it.”

Mi-ja stared at him before sighing, getting off the bed at once. “Oh well,” she said coolly. “He needs rest. I’m sure whatever reasons he has for drinking is none of my business anyway.”

The auburn went over to the floor, lying down on the comfy, furry carpet. She stared up at the ceiling, the area lit with only one small lamp by her bed.

She questioned about everything.

She questioned about the name ‘Kim Kibum’ and the boy that she saw at her old school in a part of her forgotten memories. What happened to me that I forgot about them? Why were they keeping my memories a secret that Taemin, in his drunk state, had to tell it to me?

Mi-ja turned her head to see Taemin now in a weird position, one leg dangling over the bed, his lips crooked in such way that told her that he’ll start drooling on the pillow later on in the night. She rolled her eyes and turned her back to him, closing her eyes to shift herself into dreamland.

But she opened them after a couple of minutes later, a thought bothering her as she furrowed her eyebrows, her eyes full of distrust and curiosity.

Why do I find them…familiar whenever I see them?

…

…

Argh!

Taemin jolted up, holding his head with a groan. His head throbbed painfully, each pound making him feel nauseous and lightheaded.

If more than anything, I say I’ve got a hangover, the aftermath of drinking too much.

“Aish, this ,” he mumbled to himself, pulling the blanket over his bare chest.

…Wait, bare?

He looked at himself and saw that he wasn’t wearing any top. But thankfully, he knew that he hadn’t taken off his pants when he was drunk. I really need to control that bad habit of mine. He looked around the space. This didn’t seem like I’m in my own room. He could see that miniature Christmas tree there in the corner, its smell fresh and minty, soaking up the room with its scent. And…a basketball on the shelf?

Who has a basketball on the shelf? And a skateboard? Whose room is this?

He looked to see animal toys lined up at the end of the bed. He smiled to himself when he saw the puppy toy. The bear next to the frog made him recognize whose room this is. Mi-ja’s. He let out a sigh, nodding his head as it all made sense. But then confusion hit him.                                                                         

How did I get here?

The brunet heard a soft moan. He looked over to see Mi-ja sleeping fully on the floor.

Seeing her then, he remembered. Her face flushed red in embarrassment when he remembered her shocked face at the front door, her annoyed face when she had to deal with him and…what else? He blushed, his cheeks colouring vivid red when he remembered that he ‘marked’ her. Well, almost did if she hadn’t stopped him.

I wish I’ve forgotten that one. I hate it when certain things comes into your head after getting drunk…

He racked his brain for more missing parts from last night, more information, but it was bizarre as that was all he remember.

Strange, I could have sworn there was more left…

Taemin looked back at her, seeing her closed eyes and her parted lips, her peaceful face when she wasn’t wearing her glasses. He felt a tad guilty for giving her so much trouble that she has to end up sleeping on the floor.

Other than that, she has some taste in her room. As he looked around the room more, examined everything, he can tell her hobbies easily with the most obvious things that stuck out to him: the basketball and the electric guitar. He knew she likes music, but sports and skateboarding?

I wasn’t expecting her to be the sporty type. She didn’t strike me as a person who enjoys doing sports. She, however, did strikes me as a person who is rather competitive and committed to something.

He averted his eyes around the room again, scanning the place until he came upon seeing his folded up shirt on the bed. He smiled at the gentleness in her heart to take care of his belongings even when she was annoyed with the drunk side of him. As he reached out for it, a loud knock on the door was heard.

“Yah, Mi-ja!”

Taemin panicked at the sound of her step-mother’s voice. And whatever it is she sounded upset about, he knew that it wasn’t a good thing.

He quickly grabbed the shirt and pulled the covers over his head. Mi-ja woke up then, her eyes snapping open. She put on her glasses and met eyes with him, who is panicking and freaking out.

“Help me,” the brunet mouthed to her silently. The sound of the door opening caught our attention. He dug myself deeper into her blanket, giving her pleading eyes. He didn’t want to die by the hands of her evil step-mother.

In a matter of fact, he also didn’t want Mi-ja to die either.

“Baek Mi-ja, get up.”

“I don’t want to,” she answered for Taemin, her eyes still on him as she was giving the boy mental signals. He was mentally notified that he have to keep her back on her at all times, and focus on her only to not panic. She was telling him softly within body language to breath calmly and keep calm.

Taemin did just that, breathing evenly to steady his heart, but that still didn’t stop the panic.

He heard her scoff. Even without looking at her appearance, he can tell that she’s aggravated. “You disrespectful demon, how dare you talk to me like that!”

Mi-ja wiggled her shoulders. He did the same inside the blankets, pretending as if going back to sleep. “I’ll get up in 35 minutes after you leave my room, don’t get hasty with me, geez.” Then she added. “Or rather, should I call out Kangdae-oppa for you get out of my damn room?”

Taemin heard her say nothing aside from gasping and clearing . “N-No, I suppose not. Be ready then, I want you and Min-Ae to be with me. We’re heading over to the Hwangs Company for my photo-shoot and I’ve got a strict deadline.”

Is it me or does this reminds me of idols in a schedule?

…Oh wait, I’m one too.

After hearing the door close shut and footsteps walking away, he got up, letting out a sigh of relief. Taemin placed a hand to my chest, breathing in and out to calm his beating heart before smiling at Mi-ja. “Gamsahabnida,” he told her and all he got was a nod as she got up from the floor, ruffling her hair. Then he glared at the door. “Now I see why Jonghyun complains so much about her.”

Mi-ja chuckled at his sharp response. “Yes, I suppose,” she answered as she walked towards the mirror, touching her face before turning to him. “You know, you should call your manager.”

Taemin took out his phone from his back pocket and turned it on, not knowing why he had it off as he stared at the auburn haired female in front of him with raised eyebrows. “And why should I do that?”

She pointed at his phone which then rang out a lot of alerts. He looked down and gasped at the amount of calls.

2…2,000 missed calls!?

“Um… can you answer them for me?” he whispered in a soft tone, scared to call their phone numbers. She chuckled and walked over, sitting on the bed with him. Taemin watched as her fingers diligently called back the number, setting the smartphone onto loudspeaker so he can hear him speak to her as well.

There was a dial, but it didn’t last once as the male winced as his loud voice.

“Yah! Lee Taemin, where have you been!? You can’t just up and vanish like that! You are going to be in big trouble young man, you cannot have the company looking out for you like this if you chose to disappear from the face of the earth!”

“Yo, Manager-oppa,” Mi-ja casually answered with a giggle. A short silence was indicated before he answered back embarrassingly.

“O-Oh! Mi-ja, is that you? Uh…jwisongsahabnida, I thought you were Taemin… I apologize.”

Mi-ja chuckled, glancing at the idol next to her. “Ani, that’s fine.”

“Is Taemin with you?”

She nodded, answering back, “Yup. Woke up at 2 o’clock in the night and I met a drunk Taemin in front of my doorsteps,” I looked away, feeling bad when I saw her glaring at me. “I lost two hours of sleep and messed up my usual morning routine due to this stubborn idiot.”

“Hey, I’m sorry for that alright?!”

“Actually, you’re right, he can be a bit of an idiot when he’s drunk…”

“Yah hyung! You are not helping me here!” He yelled into the phone, hearing his laughter from the other line. He gaped at the auburn female who giggled at his reaction. Even Mi-ja’s laughing at me! I feel so humiliated…

“Anyway!” The brunet stared at his phone in flabbergast as his manager went back to serious mode. “I’m driving over to pick you up. Because of you, your members are already late for promotions.”

Mi-ja seems to tense up as she answered, “Can you pick him up at the bus stop near my place? I don’t think my step-mother would be pleased to know that Taemin was in my room. Nobody but me knows that he came here drunk in the middle of the night.”

Taemin heard him hum before agreeing, “Alright, I’ll go and do that if that’s fine with you.”

“Gamsahabnida,” she ended the call with a ‘goodbye’ and ‘take care’, pressing the red button on the screen before giving his phone back to the male. Then she pointed out at the window, now staring seriously at him. “Get out.”

He stared at her shockingly. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me, I want you out of my room so you can meet your manager at the bus stop,” she told him.

Taemin let out a sigh, feeling the weight beside him shift before it vanished, the female now up from the bed. “Why can’t you just sneak me in towards the front door?”

Mi-ja shook her head. “That won’t work. My step-mother literally has the eyes of the hawk and she’ll know that I’m up to something within a second. The only way I can pass through her is when she’s sleeping, because that’s when all of her senses are not on. But she’s not asleep now, is she?” she explained before moving on to the next explanation, “And even if I did, Min-Ae would know too. The last thing I need from her is having her make assumptions that we actually did…” she trailed off, her cheeks red.

He knew what she’s hinting at, and he too, grew red at the thought.

“And if she talks about it by accident whilst not knowing the truth behind it,” Taemin started.

“There will be a public scandal,” Mi-ja finished.

The brunet dancer ran his fingers through his hair. Why didn’t I think through that earlier? Of course they would be shocked to see me in the building. They would think that she invited me in secretly to do… to do… that!? She’s still pure for goodness’ sake!

My company would be so pissed if it goes out like this and my group members will be harmed as well. The last thing I need is saesang fans claiming me and them as theirs.

Or even worse, Hwang Su-Min.

He shuddered at the thought of that evil sorceress, rubbing his arms to wipe away the still lingering touches of hers.

“Thinking of Su-Min?” Mi-ja’s voice jolts him out of his thoughts before agreeing, rubbing her bare arms. “Same here. Her touches are always haunting me.”

Taemin sympathized with her because he had felt that experience. Now poor Mi-ja is going through the same thing of feeling her lingering hands and slaps on her.

He then sighed and picked up his black shirt, putting it on. “Alright, I’ll go jump out of the window and die.”

She snickered at his joke. “Alright then, goodbye on your way out,” she teased. He groaned at this, fastening up the last few buttons before standing up and going by the window to check how high it is for him to jump down.

…

Well. He knew one thing for sure.

It’s too high.

“Yah!” He shrieked, looking back at the female who was fixing up her hair. “This is too high! Are you trying to kill me?!”

Mi-ja looked him with a small smile before shrugging. “It’s only the second floor…”

“Second floor my , this is a huge gap between this and the ground floor!” He retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. There really was a huge height difference between the ground floor and second floor, but since it’s a large, modern-like mansion they’re in, he supposed that it was possible.

But it was still too high.

“I thought you like extreme sports.”

“I do, but not to the point where I can die from!”

Mi-ja rose an eyebrow at him, causing him to look back on his words and shyly retorted back, “Okay, I know I might have died if the parachute failed from my skydiving experience, but I had a guide with me! A guide!”

She blinked. Then she blinked again before chuckling. Her hands clutched onto the hems of her shirt in which he has taken notice of. Taemin stared at it.

He stared at it for a little longer.

“Is that… my shirt?” he finally asked, pointing out the Mickey Mouse tee-shirt. He remembered finding it but he never did. It was like it has vanished from nowhere.

Mi-ja looked away, her cheeks faintly flushed. “No,” she lied. To be honest, she has forgotten to take it out of her bag after she left their house. She too, realized it yesterday that she has his shirt.

Taemin narrowed his eyes at her. “Your ears are red,” he highlighted, seeing the redness starting to appear on the tip of her outer ears. Seeing that she didn’t want to admit it, he let out a soft chuckle before shaking his head. “No, I must be thinking wrong,” he pretended to not have noticed, but he knew then. That tucked part near the sides of the waist area was there. It was sown up when a thorn of a plant stuck onto it when he walked past, and when he tried to get it out, it ripped a massive hole. His milky skin can be seen at that time.

He knew that tucked part better than anyone else. It was like scar that he could never forget.

(It’s just a figure of speech—a metaphor. Not that…not that the thorn did make a scar on his skin or anything…)

Then he asked her, “Your step-mother is doing a photo-shoot?”

She nodded in reply. “Since she’s the wife of my father who owns not only a wealthy company, but also a famous one. My Appa’s well-known for his fashion business”—she glared at Taemin who snorted—“Yes, he’s doing fashion. What? Men can make clothes too!”

“Ani, ani, that’s not it. It’s just that I’m being reminded of Key,” he chuckled, knowing his fashion sense and his ways of standing out. Then he looked at her. “But why you have to come along as well?”

She shrugged. “Group photo-shoot? I think we’re doing a family photo-shoot for their magazine she wants to act nice around us when we’re doing. Especially me,” then she sighed. “Or it’s just that she wants to show off that her daughters are supporting her. I’ll eventually tell Mr. Hwang about her in secret – they don’t know I’m living such a harsh life because of her. I don’t know what’s going on in there actually…”

Taemin hummed. “Don’t you have a part-time job?”

“Ne, I have two. The first one is my job as a waitress and baker at a café.”

The brunet idol looked at her in awe. “A waitress and a baker? At the same café?”

Mi-ja nodded.

“They could do that?”

She hummed as she looked in the mirror, touching her skin before shrugging. “Well it depends on the number of staffs. I do baking on Mondays, Thursdays from 6:15 to 7 and Fridays. I do my shift on Wednesdays from 3 to 5, Thursdays from 4 to 6 and Saturdays from 3 to 8, depending on the amount of customers we get on the weekends.”

Who knew that she could do so much work? “Why do you do so much?”

“Well…” she started off as she turned to him with a small smile. “My Appa’s always stressed out and he’s even more stressed when we use the money from his account. He may be a millionaire, but even millionaires have their problems.” She let out a sigh before continuing, “I wanted to be more independent of myself, so I decided with having part-time jobs to earn money. I don’t want to feel spoiled using the money.”

He now knew that ideal and reality are two different things. What he saw from dramas are different from realities. While it’s true that there are still some people who are rich and abuse their powers (take Hwang Su-Min for example…), there’s someone like Mi-ja, who is considerate and generous, understanding of others’ problems and… innocent.

“My other job gives me higher wage than my first, but it’s more time-consuming and less frequent. It calls me whenever they’re short of members or whatever,” she told him.

“What do you do in your other one?” Taemin’s curiosity was obviously showing—it’s sparkling in his eyes.

Mi-ja giggled in amusement, her cheeks red and her heart racing at the innocent sight in front of her before she shook her head, not wanting to tell him what she does in her second part-time job. “You’ll find out later on.”

Taemin pouted before letting out a sigh, going into defeat knowing that, by the looks of her, she’s not going to say anything. They stood in silence before Mi-ja abruptly snapped at him, “Still, get out.”

“But it’s too high!” He whined, stomping his feet.

“I don’t care!”

They glared at each other until one smirked. “What,” he started, “you’re going to kick me out of the window?”

He was joking, but he failed to see the wicked shimmer in her eyes, or her reddish brown hair going into a rubicund flare of fury until he froze upon her threatening, violent voice near his ear.

“Lee Taemin, you’re dead to me. Starting today.”

Taemin yelped as he landed onto the snow face-first. He heard the slam of the windows above him, now closed shut. He should be glad that snow had piled up long enough to not break his bones and broke his fall.

“Ugh,” he groaned as he sat up, shivering at the cold that entered his once warm body. “She sure kicks hard.” Then he chuckled to himself, brushing the snow off his jeans as he stood up. “I’m wondering how I began to take a liking to her…”

He has to leave the area. If he stays around too long, people around the area will gain suspicion.

Such as, why is an idol in front of a house?

Moreover, just that innocent sentence alone can cause great gossip. It is scary of how reasonable yet judgemental the society can be when it comes to famous celebrities dating someone. Taemin let out a sigh as he shook his legs, shaking the snow from his already snow-washed jeans and his boots before leaving, going to the nearby bus stop when Mi-ja arranged his manager to be.

He thought about Jonghyun. He chuckled at the times when he was obvious around Min. It made it clear that he had feelings for Min and not for Mi-ja, which enhanced him. Though it unsettled him knowing that he was just playing along and hurting Mi-ja because of his act, he was glad to know that Mi-ja was fine with it. (Jonghyun told them what happened that day after…that incident with Su-Min. He never liked the girl to begin with.) He wondered about the consequences that he would have if he managed to have her as his girlfriend. Would the company be okay with it since she’s Minho’s cousin after all?

Alternatively, will they not approve?

He hoped they would. Otherwise, he would have to hate them for it. And he’s not holding back his grudge this time. Last time was fine when it was Kim Jonghyun and Shin Se Kyung. It wasn’t like the company didn’t approve, but they still didn’t want him to be dating since it was only 2 years since they debuted. They allowed him, but only for that one time. It wasn’t long since the breakup and everything went back to normal. He’s definitely not holding back if they refuse this future relationship also.

He didn’t understand fans. If they were truly their fans, they would support him. Why do they get so upset when it’s something involving Jonghyun? There wasn’t much when it was about Minho and Sulli being in a drama together, but there was riots about Jonghyun’s tweets about him supporting some kind of LGBT?

What kind of world is this?

He was glad that there were some that supported his decisions, but he was furious of those that didn’t. He loved them all, each one of them individually, but he cannot take injustice. He hates it when things was unjust. He was happy when their comments on Jonghyun dating was over a long time ago.

He just hoped it wouldn’t happen to him too, even though it was highly unlikely for a superstar idol like him.

He was also happy when Onew showed no interest in the female as well. But he was shocked when he found out that, leaving out Onew and Jonghyun, the only two left who could have confessed to Mi-ja, his two rivals in his very own group has to be Minho and Key. (A/N: He does not know that Key pulled back in the love triangle.) The two whom he likes. The duo whom were like best friends/brothers to him. To think that one of them might be sad when Mi-ja may accept one of them…he wouldn’t know.

Nevertheless, he still liked her first. He liked her first amongst all others.

He was sure for Key and Minho, that they liked her too. He saw how Key acted around her. It may appear that to others, it look like Key being all mother-like and cuddly, but if they were Taemin, even the smallest, innocuous details of those actions can be seen as flirtatious and affectionate. If they looked closely like him, they would know that they meant more than that.

Well, in the last few months, that is. Now he can’t distinguish his feelings for her anymore after that.

Choi Minho…geez, that person wasn’t even trying. Mi-ja was already into him and he didn’t have to ask to know that. Even he himself got in by him.

Taemin shook his head, his face burning red at that thought. He could feel the snowflakes melting off the sudden heat that rose in his cheeks as he walked down the snowy, icy sidewalk, being careful not to slip and fall.

The thought of him being drawn to his friend, his hyung, Choi Minho, freaked him out.

…Not that he minded it or anything. Anyone could fall for him on the spot. Heck, even Key fell for him! Why do you think that men envied him? Why do you think that many idols are friends with him?

As he walked, he thought about the missing pieces that he did not receive during his hangover. Taemin shook it off, thinking that he drank too much that he could not even remember them.

I am sure that it’s not a big deal, he thought to himself as he arrived by the bus stop, seeing the familiar silver van of which belongs to his manger.

Then he bit the inside of his cheek.

I sure hope so…

And that’s everything I suppose! I hope you liked the chapter (…or not…I tried my best okay?!) and now that Mi-ja found out one (large) part of her memories, I think it’s about goddamn time for her to find out some secrets, isn’t it?

I’m wondering why I put in so many secrets in the first place… Wow, what was I thinking when I first joined Asianfanfics?

(´･_･`)  I guess I just wanted to write something, I suppose…

I’m going to give you a warning today that the next chapter, I’ll be time skipping to February. I have three (or four?) reasons to explain this time skip.

One, there’s nothing for me to write on New Years’ Day/Eve although than celebrating and fireworks (even if I had an idea for it, it seems a bit boring for me if you look at it another way).

Two, January is also boring. LOL, no I’m just kidding, I’ll just say that this is the month where SHINee is unavailable for the entire month, and it’s the same as chapter 33, where Mi-ja is waiting for them to come back, and I do not need another repeat of it, so no.

Three, I’m stretching out 2013 a bit too long now. I’m sure you want me to move onto 2014 and have EXO to appear into the story with their newest comeback.

…No, not Wolf or Growl—Overdose. (That reminds me, how did you like the MV? I died when Chanyeol came into the rap part. He’s officially my love (along with Kai and Luhan). I fell for him more when he played piano and guitar… /sighs/ (￣▽￣) ♥♥) I know, it’s a bit confusing, I’ll make it work somehow, like, Min forced her to listen to the two songs (before Overdose came in) without looking at the music videos (because she says it’s a secret—look, more secrets!)

And four… I just wanted to time skip. (・ω・)

Never again am I writing a story without proper planning. ＿|￣|○ …It’s so hard trying to manage a story that came up from your head, that came out of nowhere with no plans on how to end it.

I’ll see you next update on the newest chapter! (Psst, I’m on my half-term break and my exams are coming up afterwards next month (June). I won’t be able to update much (don’t I already do that?) or be able to go onto my computer as I’ll have to study for my science exams and my mocks. I apologize for this inconvenience. I might have some break to be able to do some writing, but it may be posted a little later. I’ll be online on mobile anyway. Nothing’s going to stop me from being on the internet LOL.)

Bye~ sorry for the long author note, omg…

And happy belated SHINee’s 6^th Anniversary! Omg, I knew it happened but wow, they are growing up so fast. I can see them in their thirties already. LOL.

(BTW, did you like how y Taemin was? I find it funny, but eh, it could my personal opinion.)