Explanation time!

Chapter 2

Key’s comments on eating—not being hungry and swelling/fluid retention are both signs of heart problems (congestive heart failure, specifically), caused by Taemin being sick. They don’t know that yet

Minho’s doctor comment—besides Onew (and Jonghyun and Key, as they are just finding out), no one knows Taemin went to the doctor, so he is commenting on the fainting earlier that morning

Chapter 3

“Passed out on my couch sick as a dog.”—he thinks Taemin is sick from staying out in the cold all night. In actuality, it was from everything building up and finally reaching the turning point where it is known and he doesn’t bother hiding when he is sick anymore

Onew/manager and Taemin/manager—Onew was telling the manager what was wrong without straight-out saying it and so he then did the same with Taemin, saying he knew without saying it with words. He’s acting nice to show he actually cares about the boy

Coughing up blood—later explained with the correct diagnosis, the start of Taemin actually being sick where it is seem and a cause of concern. The blood is from the force of his coughing, not because there was actually blood in his lungs

Chapter 4

Soo Man—I know he isn’t the CEO of SM anymore, but I didn’t have internet when I wrote the chapter and I think more people know his name than the real CEO’s, so it was just easier to use him. Also, many stars (and even Exo recently) still thank Soo Man, not the new CEO

Chapter 5

Stuffed animals—Jonghyun is called a puppy/dino and so he got the puppy to be like him; Key is known for his ‘feline eyes’ so he got the cat; Minho has ‘frog eyes’ so he got a frog; and I think everyone knows Onew’s chicken obsession

Key’s pictures—they all tie into the sequel. So read that and find out!

Key’s shirts—those tie into the sequel too! (or maybe I just forgot about them and am trying to cover up my mistake…)

Chapter 6

Taemin’s uncaring parents—I in no way believe this is how his parents would react. However, I personally don’t like writing about stars’ families in my stories too much, as they never “signed up” for being famous, like many stars did. So, to keep the family out as much as possible, I did this

Chapter 7

Leaders—besides F(x) and SHINee, I personally don’t follow bands to the point of knowing every member. Sure, I know SuJu, but I don’t really know personalities except for my favorite members. I’ve sort of gotten into Exo recently, but not when I was writing, so I knew next to nothing on them. Girl’s Generation was just going out on a limb and using Google because I felt they should be added in if I was using every other band in the company

Kai—I didn’t know much about him when I started writing. All I knew was he was best friends with Taemin and I shouldn’t leave him out because of that. I tried to make his part as small as possible because I really don’t know much

Chapter 8

Taemin feeling sick—an allergic reaction to the medicine. Back pain is a symptom of that (I might have found this fact out researching the medicines and thought it was cool and wanted to put it in)

The water—chemo messes with taste and can make different things taste bad. Water is a common thing for most people on chemo to not like the taste of, and to the point that some people will refuse water until they almost die of dehydration

Chapter 11

“They are saying he might not live from this.”—they being reporters and specialists spreading the news and adding on with “false” facts. Just clearing that up

Chapter 12

“You had one of your worst attacks yet!”—he’s only had two (that the other know of), so that literally means he had another bad attack. Nothing else

Stapled curtains—Key does this to make the room as dark as possible because Taemin always said he couldn’t sleep with light, but he was sleeping all day and it would get through and be bright

Chapter 13

Taemin’s “happy birthday” being ignored—it isn’t happy to them if he is sick, so they just ignored the day. In hopes of seeing a better one

Chapter 15

Elevator problems—have you ever ridden one of those? They are terrifying. So I decided to put that in and have some 2minyu/Ontaeho/??? bonding. Because nothing says closeness like a near-death experience together

Chapter 16

Key’s curse—sneaky way of saying something was going to happen, right?

Roo and Comme Des—I don’t know if they actually live the apartment or not, but I don’t think so. If they do, the boys moved them home when Taemin was sick because he couldn’t have all the dander and everything

What Taemin missed—the planning for the concert night. They didn’t want him knowing

Chapter 17

The apple memories—Jonghyun and Taemin were friends as kids (in my story at least, don’t believe this is true) and it was Jong’s mom that taught Taemin. His memories were the good times, then the times that Jonghyun later explains in his video

Chapter 18

Exo there—let’s all pretend Exo had an early comeback and Exotics were super happy, okay? I needed him there and didn’t feel like coming up with something. That’s literally the reason behind that

Chapter 19

Jinki’s picture—this comes up in the sequel, so remember it!

Taesun coming—Onew’s make-up plan for Key

Chapter 20

Nosebleed—bleeding is common with chemo, as many cells are killed and blood is harder to clot. Thus, a lot more than average would come as well

Taemin’s glove comment—the chemo drugs can be transferred through any body fluid, and contact to skin can cause rashes and other symptoms. Anyone who touches any fluid from Taemin should be wearing gloves to avoid that

Chapter 21

Drinking—like most medicines, alcohol is not supposed to be drunk with chemo. Only small amounts are generally allowed with permission from the doctor

Cookie and juice—common foods after blood draws to replenish sugars and all that and balance everything out so you don’t pass out. That is never fun

Chapter 22

Jonghyun’s story—the tale of his and Taemin’s childhood. Completely made up

What Jin knows—the doctors know Taemin is getting worse and they aren’t sure if the medicine is helping. There is a time limit to his remaining days, though it is not known how long he has

Chapter 23

Pancakes—this isn’t so much of an explanation as a question I have for my readers. Anyone know why a lot of SHINee writers use pancakes as the breakfast? Because I’ve read a lot of stories and they almost always say pancakes for breakfast and it just stuck for me. Maybe it’s because I want them but haven’t had them in forever… But really, why?

Chapter 24

Key’s accident—foreshadowing what happens in the end. And this may or may not have been my cover-up for calling him Kibum when I had the accident scene written first with the line “You call me Kibum now that I’m dying?” in it

Therapist—often, people dealing with major illnesses/injuries/etc. can become depressed or have similar problems with accepting it, so there are actual therapists for dealing with those cases specifically

Chapter 26

Taemin close to Jonghyun’s family—goes along with them growing up together

Chapter 28

Taesun leaving—like I said, I don’t like putting family in my story. So I got rid of him too

Chapter 29

Accident scene—loosely based on the video from the Muzit making video with Key filming the fan car (I think that is what it was from? It sounds right to me). This is the accident in the alternate ending with the coma

Chapter 30

Sick with a cold—chemo weakens the immune system greatly, to the point where being sick with a simple cold can prove deadly in cases. It isn’t something to be taken lightly

45 kg—about 99 pounds. Extreme weight loss from not being able to eat and getting sick is common with chemo as well

38.5 Celsius—about 101. 3 degrees F. A high fever for being on chemo

Needle-less syringe—I couldn’t (and can’t) think of the actual name for it, but it looked like a syringe without the needle (obviously) and has markings for dosage. It is used a lot to give liquid medicine to babies and little kids by mouth. I know my parents used it to stick down my throat since I couldn’t stand the taste of liquid medicine and would just spit it out before I could swallow

Chapter 31

Wearing masks—so that they don’t expose Taemin to any germs they breathe out that could make him sick again. It is never said, but his room is sterilized as well

Chapter 32

“To believe in you.”—this is what Amber was saying all along, so even though it was just s at first, they felt she should be the one to say that. She was, after all, the one that taught everyone to believe in Taemin

Megaphone—I know this isn’t the correct term (at least, I don’t think it is), but I couldn’t think of it. What is the term for an electronic voice amplifier that is handheld (not a microphone)? It’s Key’s thing he yells into in the My First Kiss stage with Taemin

Chapter 33

Exo comeback—their second comeback! I pushed everything up and changed things and yeah. Sorry. Exotics would like me more than SM though, since I didn’t make them wait forever

Chapter 34
Surgery—it has to be planned for a specialist to come and to get everything set because, for a surgery like Taemin would get, there would be little room for things to go wrong and doctors would want to be prepared. Most surgeries are planned unless they are emergency surgeries, so it makes sense in that aspect. He won’t die right then without it, so they will plan ahead for it

Chapter 35

Taemin underage—I’m really bad when it comes to figuring out the Korean age and their specifications of being an adult and all, so I went with the internationally-recognized age and all that. From there, it was literally under two weeks from his birthday when this was said (I made a whole calendar for this) and he was still underage technically

Chapter 36

“I’d give my heart to you…”—you probably hate me for this line, don’t you?

Chapter 39

Jonghyun’s reaction—he knew what Taemin’s reason was and how wrong Kai’s guess was

Chapter 40

2 bathrooms—not really an explanation but a funny thing. I just guessed on that part of Exo’s dorm to make it seem really bad and then a few days after I posted the chapter (so way after I wrote it), I watched an interview or something of theirs where they talked about it and they do, in fact, have only two bathrooms. So I felt special knowing I got that right. Just wanted to share that little fact

Chapter 41

Waking up in the dorm—the attacks were so common that after a few tests, Taemin was just released. He had slept through it all and simply woke in the dorm after everything

Frog, chicken, cat, and dog—the stuffed animals of everyone

Alternate Ending 1

 Bachelor pad/apartment—the boys all moved out of their apartment after and Amber moved in with Key in their own while Onew, Jonghyun, Minho, and Kai shared another. Because they all still needed each other for support and were too close to leave each other then

Alternate Ending 2

“I feel like someone put IcyHot in my chest.”—it is the infection, but they don’t realize yet because it is thought Taemin was just feeling that from the surgery. For those that don't know, IcyHot is a medicine put on skin that makes it really cold and then really hot without having to use and ice pack or heat compress

Clear liquid he had thrown up—I don’t know if anyone else who has had surgery can say the same, but I remember the first time I had eye surgery (not laser, but an actual surgery and all), the doctors pumped me full of so many medicines that I barely drank anything but got sick after a few hours and it literally looked like I spilt a gallon of water. I’m just guessing that is what it would be like for him too, since you can’t eat before surgery and really only drink clear liquids for nausea after

Chapter 43

Blood donation—Amber, Key, and Minho are all blood type B, but like Taemin, so they were chosen. I did not write it, but they went through a bunch of tests to make sure they were healthy and all before they gave blood. As for why they did, I said in passing. A supply of blood type B blood had been brought in (it is apparently a rare type in Korea, but I beg to differ with three of the five being type B. What ya gonna do?) but was then used in an emergency trauma that happened just as Taemin’s surgery did and then other uses throughout the hospital. With the supply low, they were not going to risk it with a surgery involving the lungs and heart and all and wanted to have more, so they gathered the three for a blood draw. With a pint taken from each of them, it would have been enough of a buffer while an ambulance was sent to another hospital in the area to get more

Chapter 44

Medicine switch—the doctors switched Taemin’s pain medicine since the other was making him sick. Between the two times I got eye surgery, I had to get a different medicine because of how the other one made me sick the first time. And I got drugged up on pain medicine the first time because doctors thought I was in pain instead of nauseous, so I had to get more anti-nausea medicine the second time. They do make switches like that (in case you didn’t know)

Chapter 45

Can’t lie down—after some chest surgeries, laying down can cause a buildup of blood in the chest, so you can’t lay down and let it collect. One must always be sitting semi-straight, even when sleeping

Chapter 46

“Dead eyes.”—when I was trying to think of depressing shiny things, this was the first that came to mind and I just had to put it in. They are glassy and reflective, after all

Chapter 51

Lady on the other end—emergency operator

Chapter 52

“Did you expect to not get cut?”—not really an explanation but a funny story. Do you know those glass picnic tables with the umbrellas in the middle? My friend and I were trying to set one up once and I was underneath the table to tighten the umbrella in the stand and I just hear this shattering sound and then there are just little things falling all over me since I was completely under the table and this tinkling noise as they hit the ground. And when it stops I just look up at my friend and go, “Are you alright?” even though I was the one under the table. And she had cut her whole hand and was dripping blood but didn’t even notice because she just sees me underneath her shattered glass table covered in all these little shard-like pieces. I didn’t get cut except for the tiniest of cuts on my leg, but her whole hand was just bloodied. So always be careful with glass—you never know if it will cut you or not. She was the one holding the umbrella above the table so to the day, it is a mystery as to how she got cut unless it was her hand that went through the table. We will never know

Chapter 56

Performance—Key’s last, so it holds a meaning they didn’t realize at first. It wasn’t just a meaningless performance/scene

Chapter 57

“Can you record this?”—proof that he gave his knowing consent to donating his heart to Taemin. It was Key’s way of telling them he knew he was going to die

How calm they are—shock. It can numb you to everything

Minho’s song—I got it from the drama You’re Beautiful. It’s the song Hongki/Jeremy sings. Honestly, it is a very lovely song and it is along the lines of saying ‘I love you’ to someone and telling how they are lovely words. It’s a comforting song, which is why I had Minho sing it to Key in his last moments

Chapter 58

Key’s heart—since he had died only moments before the ambulance, they were able to keep his heart in the proper condition and use it in the transplant for Taemin since they were the same blood type as well

Already-fast heartbeats—a transplanted heart will be on average 100 bpm, slightly faster than a normal heart

Alternate Ending 3

The man they had come to know so well—their lawyer

Hyperacute rejection vs acute rejection—you can look this up on Wikipedia (where I got all my information on the topic from) if you want to know more, but there are three types of transplant rejection, the third being chronic (??? I believe. It has been a while), but I’m not talking about that one. Hyperacute versus acute: hyperacute rejection is right after the organ has been transplanted, within minutes. This occurs during the surgery and the treatment is removal of the transplanted organ. In the case of Taemin, removal of Key’s heart, effectively killing him. Acute rejection occurs typically hours to weeks (??? Again, I believe, I am not sure) after the surgery and is treated with an increased dosage of immunosuppressive drugs to stop the immune system from attacking the new organ. Obviously, both have very different treatments

Two names—Taemin and Kibum

They could guess—that it was Taemin/Key from above. They are both dead though, which is why no one would believe them

Alternate Ending 4

Where it wasn’t shaved off—Key’s hair was shaved so that doctors could have access to his head. Precautions were taken from how hard his head hit the ground in making sure blood/swelling didn’t put too much pressure on the brain, because that could kill him

The note with the smiley face—why don’t I let you all come to your conclusions of who did it all? That is more fun than just telling who I imagined did it

Taemin’s last written lines—written write before his attack. That is why they were shaky and written in haste, he knew what was coming

Alternate Ending 5

The hand wrapped around his disappeared—it was Minho’s and he pulled back because he was crying too hard to still stand there

“You stuck that in his foot?”—I never said what it was and left it to you to guess, but I imagined a big needle. Because, when I was little, I fell off my bike and hurt my wrist, but my mother wasn’t the type to take us kids to the doctor if it wasn’t something obviously bad (I sat with my foot crushed under a basketball hoop for over ten minutes once and she still made me wait two days until my foot was completely purple and numb until we went to get it looked at. I was on crutches for around 4 months after that), so I would tell her it hurt every now and then and we kept it wrapped up for a week before I ended up going to a doctor. And they said to go to an orthopedist, who did x-rays and said it wasn’t broken, but that there was something funny with it. So I had to go to a nerve specialist, who stuck a whole bunch of needles in my hand without me feeling at all and told us I had no feeling in my hand. It ended up getting better without any medicines or anything, but it was always funny for my mother to say “No wonder she didn’t say it hurt too much—she never felt anything!” So doctors do, in fact, randomly stick you with needles to find stuff out. Just a warning to anyone afraid of them

Accident—his dream in chapter 29

Severed nerve—my friend’s dad accidently severed the nerve in my friend’s hand in a knife accident so, although he cannot feel two of his fingers, he can move them enough that you wouldn’t know anything happened if he didn’t tell you. It’s actually pretty cool how stuff like that works with your body, because it repaired the nerve just enough to work and nothing else

That wasn’t going to be the end of his story—playing off his video opening of “I guess my story is coming to its end soon,” a few chapters earlier

Alternate Ending 6

“Since three of us have her blood.”—the three of them actually don’t, but that is the conclusion Jonghyun came too. Because Amber donated with Taemin with his first surgery and donated again with the accident, he thinks they all had her blood. Siwon, Zhou Mi, and a few other stars donated too, along with the supply already in the hospital. Because I was bored and looked up stars with blood type B and decided to make them all look really good and donate for the trio.

Like she had a new prick mark—she really didn’t; they were all thankful to her and were exaggerating

Minho’s limp—from the shattered leg

Key’s sloppy steps—you can’t expect him to be 100% after a street sign post went through his stomach, can you? It damaged the nerves, but he continued to learn to walk after that, just like Taemin continued to get better

So… that’s a wrap! Any other questions anyone wants answered/parts you want clarified? Drop a comment and I will try to explain! I never realized how long my story was until I went back to read all of it and do this… Can’t you tell where I started to get bored and wrote about funny (in my opinion) times that I remember and different people I know, and added some commentary as well? This is the end of this story officially (until I post the chapter with the link to the sequel, but that might be a while with school starting up soon), so yay! Finally! I hope you enjoyed I’d Do Anything and will enjoy the sequel when it is up!