“Ok-ay, let’s take a break,” Onew turned off the music and stretched. He noticed the disappointed look on Taemin’s face and laughed. “For now. Taemin, we can’t dance that long like you. Give us a time-out.”

          "You’re the one that said it, not me,” Taemin shrugged, smiling before skipping to the other side of the practice room for water.

          “Oh, my Jinki-hyung is sweating,” Key scooted to his side and patted his face dry with a towel. Onew beamed.

          “Thanks, Kibum.”

          “What about me? I’m sweating, too,” Jonghyun pulled down his shirt to show his sweaty neck. “I need to be dried off as well.”

          “Here, dry off then,” Key threw the towel and making it land perfectly in his outstretched hands. Minho laughed at his disappointed expression.

          He was resting against the mirrored wall, and he couldn’t help think about Krystal. The whole dance practice, he had been so distracted than the usual focused one. But none of the members really seemed to notice.

          “Kibum-umma,” Taemin called from the other side. “There’s no more water left.”

          “Are you sure?” Key yelled back while playing with Onew’s fingers. “I thought it was refilled several days ago.”

          “I’m pretty sure. It’s all out. I’m thirsty,” Taemin complained, trudging back to where the other four members were resting. “I’m really thirsty.”

          “I’m hungry,” Onew admitted. “I’m hungry and thirsty.”

          “Someone should go out and get some things for us,” Jonghyun stated, looking around, scanning his group members. “I choose Minho.”

          "Hey wait-“ Minho started but Key interrupted him.

          “I vote for Minho as well.”

          “If Kibum voted for Minho, I vote for Minho as well,” Onew grinned.

          Minho looked up at Taemin, a pleading look in his eyes. Taemin giggled before bending one leg forward and outstretching his arms. Minho closed his eyes and groaned, knowing what Taemin would vote for.

          “Minho-hyung, I choose you!”

-

          “Always picking me to do things for them,” Minho muttered as he walked out of the SM building, muttering to himself. “I’m not their slave.”

          The day was sunny, and Minho squinted his eyes as he followed the familiar path to the mart right next to the SM building, a place where a lot of the SM trainees and the idols went to for food. Also, they had a little coffee house next to it, but Minho didn’t feel like being very grateful to his band mates.

          Just as he was about to push his way through the mart door, he felt a light figure bump against his back, making him stumble forward. Both landed on the ground and Minho winced, turning around in anger to see whom it was.

          Oh god, sorry,” Krystal looked frazzled, as she got up quickly, teetering, before offering her hand out to him. Her eyes cleared up when she saw that it was Minho. “Hi.”

          “Hi,” Minho coughed, getting up without using Krystal’s hand as help. She looked at her still outstretched hand and quickly drew it back to her side.

          “Alright, then,” Krystal glanced at him one more time before brushing past him. He sighed before entering the mart, the cool air hitting his face refreshingly.

          Minho’s phone rang.

          “What do you want?”

          “Yo, it’s Jonghyun.”

          Minho rolled his eyes as he continued to look through the refreshments in the freezer section. “Hyung, I know it’s you already. Why do you think I didn’t sound happy?”

          “You always sound like that,” Jonghyun cheerfully replied and Minho rolled his eyes again, muttering lightly under his breath. “So, the thing is, I want coffee.”

          “Okay,” Minho said slowly, putting back the can of soda in its rack. “So what do you want me to do about it?”

          “Go get me coffee.”

          “I don’t like your tone of voice.”

          “Sorry,” Jonghyun scoffed. “Go get me some coffee.”

          “I don’t like how you’re saying it,” Minho rolled his tongue around in his cheek and looked around the mart for no apparent reason. “Say it nicely.”

          “Minho, I swear-“

          “-Do you want your coffee or not? I’m not getting you anything if you’re not going to be nice about it. That’s the way it works.”

          “Fine, god. Please get me some coffee. I love you, Minho. With a burning passion. I love you so so so so so so much.”

          “You’re disgusting,” Minho hung up the phone, bowing politely to the woman in the counter before strolling out the mart to the next-door coffee shop. He could already smell the aromatic scent of coffee before opening the glass door.

          The coffee shop was practically empty, only a few people here and there. With so little people, he could hear the faint music playing in the store better. The counter seemed empty. Minho shrugged before walking up to the counter. Krystal’s sudden voice made him freeze.

          “Vic-unni,” Krystal sounded disappointed. “They said that there’s something wrong with the machines and stuff. I have to wait a bit for the coffee, is that okay? You’re not in a rush? Alright. I’ll be there soon.” Krystal laughed. “I love you, too. Oh, and tell Luna to not eat the last—oh you already told her? Okay, love you, bye.”

          “Excuse me, mister?” A voice startled Minho and made him slowly turn his attention to the counter lady.

          “Ah, yes?”

          “There’s a problem with our coffee-makers today,” the lady looked apologetic. “We’re getting it fixed at the moment, so if you want, you could wait 15 minutes until they’re working again.”

          “Oh, is that so?” Minho wasn’t surprised, since he just heard Krystal say it all a few seconds ago. But he still smiled. “That’s alright, I can wait.”

          “Oh, thank you, mister,” the woman looked relieved. “We still have bread and cookies so if you want-“

          “-No it’s fine,” Minho said, walking away slowly, towards Krystal’s direction. “I’ll just wait.”

          The lady shrugged before disappearing underneath the counter. Minho slowly walked up to Krystal. One step, two steps, three steps, four steps.

          “Hi.”

          “Oh god, you scared me,” Krystal yelped before turning around. She laughed while Minho gave a mischievous grin. “Hi, what are you doing here?”

          “Jonghyun-hyung wanted coffee, so I was forced to come here and get some. But now I have to wait. What about you?”

          “Victoria was craving for some coffee,” Krystal lightly laughed. “I offered to go get some for her, since she came here last week to get some for me.”

          Krystal scooted onto one of the booths, beckoning for Minho to sit. Awkwardly, he slid on his seat, directly across from Krystal.

          After moments of silence and coughing there and then, Krystal spoke up quietly, her eyes staring out the window.

          “I asked the show producers to edit out my part.”

          “What?”

          “’Strong Heart’,” Krystal explained, running her hands through her long hair. “I asked them to edit out all parts about…him.”

          "Why?” Minho couldn’t break away his gaze at her and Krystal just laughed and sighed. She shrugged, finally looking away from the window and locking eye contact with him.

           “I don’t want people to know about him,” Krystal twirled a small ring around her pinky finger. “I don’t know, it just feels so unfair on his side. It’s his life; I don’t want to tell everyone about him dying. I was such a bad friend. That would make me a worse one.”

           Minho didn’t’ know what to say, since he never was in a situation in which Krystal was in. He coughed.

           “But how does your f(x) members know-“

          “Of course, Sooyeon unni told them as soon as recording finished, before I came home. And, she probably told her group members. And there are the other people who were at that set. But other than that, I don’t want anyone else to know.”

           Minho bit his lip, and desperately tried to find something else to talk about, noticing it ruining Krystal’s mood.

           “What’s that ring?”

           Minho pointed with his long finger at the small ring Krystal continued to twirl. Krystal stopped and placed it on the coffee table, positioning it gently so the little plastic colored gem was facing Minho. The ring was definitely small, and wiry. It looked old, and probably for a little elementary student.

           “He gave it to me,” Krystal looked fondly at the tiny ring. “In the 4^th grade. He proposed to me in front of our class, in the playground.”

           Minho chuckled lightly in awe and examined the ring, picking it up gently.

           “He said it was expensive, yet he bought it at the little store a few blocks down from our school. Silly thing, he thought I never knew.”

           “He must have really loved you,” Minho looked at Krystal, who had laid her head against the coffee table, cheek pressed against the cool surface. She suddenly looked dejected.

           “Who knows?” Krystal bit her trembling lip. “He’s dead. He’s been dead for 8 years. He will never come back. How will I ever know?”

           “You’ll know,” Minho promised, and Krystal just smiled slightly. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Krystal’s hand and got up. He tugged her hand, to silently motion her to get up as well. Blinking rapidly, Krystal got up and stumbled as she followed Minho out the door.

           “Where are we going?”

           Minho just grinned at her before deciding on which direction to take so they could find the nearest bus stop.

           “You’ll see.”

A/N : finally, updated. now need to update lunew sometime soon. srsly guise, don't hate me. ;_;