Upon reaching the exit of the apartment complex, Sojin finally released the breathe he had been holding. Okay. His parents were alright, and they had no idea that he now knew Shinee. Sure, it may have been a bit embarrassing, but with his parents that was a given. The boy looked at the famous duo. Onew seemed to be looking around to see what shops were in the area. Jonghyun was playing on his phone.

"Well.....now what?" the boy asked. Jonghyun looked up for a brief second, then cringed as his phone started beeping.

"Ya! You made me lose my game!" the idol complained, pointing at his phone. Sojin rolled his eyes, smiling.

"Sorry, hyung!" he replied, walking behind the idol and peering over his shoulder, trying to see what he was playing. "Bejeweled? I'm the master! You should try to beat my score!"

At the mention that the boy played, Jonghyun looked up faster than lightening. "You play?! Challenge accepted! Prepare to be beaten!"

"Ya! How are you gonna beat him when you can't even beat me?" Onew asked, finally joining the two. "Also, don't you have to go film that CF now?" 

Jonghyun's eyes widened. "That's today?! I'm late! Onew hyung, let me borrow your car!" the idol exclaimed, clapping his hands together in a begging motion. 

Onew sighed, letting out a small chuckle, before handing his keys over to the singer. "Be careful with it! And if you see Taemin, tell him where we are so he can join if he wants!"

Jonghyun nodded and waved goodbye to his leader. The singer ruffled Sojin's hair affectionately, then ran off to the car. The half-Korean combed through his hair with his fingers, trying to get his bangs back into place. Finally succeeding, he turned his attention to Onew. Jonghyun had taken the car...so was Onew going to ride the subway back?

"Er...are you going to go back now, then?" the boy asked. Onew shook his head, putting on the sunglasses that Sojin had given him. The boy smiled upon seeing that the idol really was using his gift.

"I can't take the subway! It's too risky. I guess I could take a cab...but we should just hang out around here! I wanna see what this area has to offer!" Onew said, looking around excitedly. Sojin's heart fluttered. Onew wanted to hang out with him? This was really a dream come true. The younger boy shook his head. No! He couldn't actually fall for the idol or show any of his feelings or he might scare him away. There was no way that Onew liked him in that kind of way. Little brother? Maybe. Significant other? No.

"Why are you shaking your head? Do you wanna go back?" the idol asked, giving the boy a look of confusion. 

"Wha? No! No! I definitely want to stay! I was just thinking about something..." Sojin replied, waving his hands in front of him. "Let's go!"

The streets around his parents' apartment were surprisingly empty. It was the middle of the day, so perhaps everyone was at work. For summer, it was a rather cool day, even with the sun beating down on the duo. Ah, this would be a perfect day for a date. Still, Sojin was firm in his resolve to not make any moves. In fact, he refused to even ask the idol to go to any stores out of fear that it would be taken the wrong way. The non-idol simply followed Onew down the street, rather quietly. After a few minutes, the idol stopped abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk and turned to the younger boy.

"Ya...I thought I was your favorite! But why are you being so quiet? I heard you talking so much with Taemin..."  the idol asked, looking directly into the boy's eyes. Crap! He had been trying to avoid drawing suspicion but done just the opposite. Sojin looked to his left, trying to avoid eye contact.

"You are! I just..." the boy couldn't come up with any legitimate reasons. "I'm just nervous!"

"You think I'm scary?" Onew asked, laughing loudly. The older boy wrapped his arm around the younger's shoulders. "Let me show you that I'm not!"

The idol led the boy a little further down the street, then to the right and into an ice cream shop. This was supposed to calm the boy down? If anything, Sojin was more flustered from the touch of the idol. He certainly wasn't complaining about it, though. Finally, the idol removed his arm and pointed towards the ice cream selection.

"Choose anything you want!" he exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. Sojin immediately shook his head.

"No, no! Onew hyung, I can't accept this! I should be buying you ice cream for helping me out," the boy exclaimed, pulling out his wallet. To his surprise, the idol snatched the wallet out of the boy's hands and placed it into his own pocket.

"No!" the idol exclaimed, rather sternly. "I'm your hyung! Choose one or I'll just buy you one of everything!"

Sojin stared at the idol in shock for a moment after the harsh response, then broke into a smile, laughing a little. Onew's cuteness was sometimes too much to handle. How was the boy supposed to contain his feelings now?

Still grinning, Sojin pointed at a chocolate flavor. "I guess this one!"

Onew nodded, content with his success. "Can I have three scoops of that flavor and a scoop of strawberry?" the idol asked the clerk. She smiled and nodded, going to retrieve the ice cream.

"Ya! Three scoops?! Onew hyung, no! It's too expensive!" the younger boy exclaimed, tugging at the idol's arm. "I can't even finish that!"

The idol turned to face the boy, then poked him in the forehead. 

"I said don't worry! Just eat what you can and I'll finish the rest! Now go get a table," he said, his eyes disappearing with his big smile. Sojin felt like his brain was going to explode. Onew was seriously messing with the boy's feelings. At this rate, he would confess in no time. With a sigh, he turned and found an empty table. Taking a seat, he tried to rebuild his resistance. All he had to do was play it cool...which was much easier said than done. 

Moments later, the idol arrived at the table, placing a giant cup of ice cream in front of the boy and a much smaller cup in front of himself. From there, the conversation finally began to flow more smoothly as Sojin got used to the leader. However, it seemed to be taking much the same course as it had when he had talked to Taemin earlier, which meant...

"So, is there anyone you like?" Onew asked, covering his mouth to stifle a giggle. Sojin stuffed his mouth with ice cream, trying to buy time. Surprisingly, he had already eaten two of the three scoops. Now, his stomach felt queezy -- whether from nerves or from too much ice cream, he wasn't sure. Putting his spoon down, he slid the cup across the table.

"Ugh...so full! I told you it was too much! But thank you!" the boy exclaimed, trying to avoid the question. Onew accepted the ice cream, but wouldn't be tricked that easily. Taking a bite, he looked back up at Sojin.

"Well?" the idol asked, expectantly. Sojin facepalmed internally. How was he supposed to answer this? There was no way he could be honest.

"Umm...I don't like anyone right now!" he said. He quickly added, "What about you? You must always be surrounded by K-pop girls...so many options!"

Onew, who had been glaring at the boy's answer, seemed taken aback when he heard the question. After a semi-awkward pause, Onew finally offered a response.

"Hmm...that's true. There are always a lot of girls around. I'm not really interested in any of them, though," the idol said, glancing to the side. There was a long pause as Sojin stared at the leader. Was there some subliminal message hidden in that response? Was he playing the same game that Sojin was playing with him? Realizing how long the silence had gone on, the younger boy snapped out of his thoughts.

"Oh...that's cool," he retorted, not wanting to push the issue.

"Yep!" Onew responded, his happy demeanor returning. "Now, let's go!"

Sojin rose from his seat to follow the idol, but paused. "Go where? I can't just live in your dorm forever..."

Onew shook his head. "Aish, you really have to argue about everything, don't you? There's no way I'm letting you live in your place alone after that. You're definitely coming with me! Let's go!"

The idol placed his hands firmly on the boy's shoulders and guided him out the door. Onew went to the edge of the sidewalk and flagged down a taxi. 

"Jonghyun's not responding to my texts so I guess we are taking a taxi!" the idol exclaimed, swinging the door open and waiting for Sojin to get in. The younger boy hopped in, then turned to the idol.

"I'm paying for this! For sure!" he said, digging in his pocket to no avail. What?! Sojin realized the idol still had his wallet from earlier. Onew looked over at him with a sly smile, wagging his finger. 

"Ya! Give it back! This isn't fair! Really! You can't pay for everything!" the boy exclaimed, shaking Onew's arm furiously. The idol pretended not to notice his friend throwing a fit, happily staring out the window. After a few minutes, Sojin finally gave up, crossing his arms and staring out the other window. Who knew the idol was so stubborn? The pair finally arrived, Onew paying the taxi fee, and entered the dorm.

"Okay! You paid for everything, now give me my wallet!" the boy exclaimed. With a loud laugh, Onew dug the wallet out of his pocket and handed it to the boy.

Snatching it back, he glared at the idol. "I'm not forgetting this! You will definitely get paid back!"

Onew simply kept laughing before collapsing onto the couch. None of the other members had returned to the dorm yet and Sojin wasn't sure what he should do while the leader rested. His questioned was answered as the door swung open to reveal a tired-looking Taemin. Upon seeing his friend, the maknae's face instantly lit up as he ran to the other twenty-year-old. 

"Sojin! Are you staying again tonight??" he asked excitedly. The half-Korean nodded.

"Wahhh, yay! Stay in my room!!"

Onew made a noise of disapproval from the couch. "No way, he's staying with me! I'm his favorite! Remember?"

Taemin looked from Onew back to Sojin, giving his friend a sad look. Oh boy. Taemin or Onew?

"Er.....how about I hang out with you until we're ready to sleep, and then I'll sleep in Onew's room?" the boy suggested, trying to come up with a solution that would please both idols. Taemin hesitated for a moment, then gave the boy a thumbs up.

"Deal!"

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Oof, sorry guys! I've been having massive writer's block T_T I promise the next chapter will be good! It's gonna be an action chapter! ^^