We met by accident. I was just finishing up my routine, spinning and popping my arm in the air, but as I stared at myself in the mirror, I groaned, my arm dropping back to my side. My form still isn’t right, I thought dejectedly. My dance captain's gonna have my head when she sees this. I went to the side of the room for my water bottle, picking it up and taking a long drink.

Turning around, I saw a stranger at the door, so of course I nearly spit water all over them in surprise, but I caught myself just in time. But because my luck was obviously not on my side that day, water ended up flying down my throat and choking me. Oh, great. Wonderful first impression you have there, Taemin.

The guy rushed forward, patting my back as I coughed, trying to clear my throat enough to breathe. The whole time, he was ranting on and on in a babbly sort of voice that I had to admit was a little bit cute. Of course, it would have been cuter had I not been coughing up a lung or two.

“Are you okay?” The guy asked, but of course I couldn’t answer. But it seemed he didn’t expect any sort of reply as he kept babbling on. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just got lost on my way to the bathroom and saw you dancing and I thought you were really good and oh God I shouldn’t have come in here now you’re going to die and it’ll be all my fault and I’ll have the death of a stranger on my conscience and oh no I don’t think I’ll be able to handle that…”

He kept going on, even after I stopped coughing and managed to catch my breath. Massaging my throat, I tried to get his attention. “Hey, uh…” he didn’t hear me, instead continuing to blabber about how he’ll eventually have to kill himself or something. “Hey! Look, I’m fine!” I shouted, effectively shutting him up. But of course, the shout irritated my throat again, and I was left with a terribly sore throat as the guy looked up at me. Really, he was rather short.

“Oh, you are okay,” he muttered before grinning widely, showing off two rows of gleaming white teeth. It was then that I noticed his oversized nostrils and the fact that his face shape made him look strikingly like a dinosaur, though his large eyes added an effect of innocent puppy to his features. It seemed like a strange combination, but it worked well for him. Honestly, he really was very attractive.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, clearing my throat and taking a small sip of my water, which was still clutched in my hand. And you’re overdramatic, I thought, screwing the top back on the plastic water bottle. “So, you said you got lost?” I asked, getting straight to the point. I wanted to get this guy out of here so that I could finish practicing before Key showed up to take me home.

The short dino-guy nodded. “Yeah, I was on my way to the bathroom. I came to pick up my little sister from her ballet class, but while I was waiting on her to finish I had to pee so I went to the restroom but then on my way back I got lost and ended up here,” he explained with a shrug.

I raised an eyebrow. Hadn’t he gone from the dance room to the bathroom once already? Couldn’t he just retrace his steps and find it again? He must really be an idiot, I thought before sighing and walking towards the door. “Well, I’ll show you where that class is. You said the ballet class, right? It’s all the way on the other side of the building. How did you even end up all the way over here?” I asked incredulously, already opening the door. Hopefully I can get back in time to practice some more so that Hyoyeon doesn’t kill me later.

The guy merely shrugged with a good-natured grin as he took the door from me, holding it open. I stepped through as he answered. “My mind tends to wander a lot. This isn’t the first time I’ve gotten lost, and I’m sure it won’t be the last,” he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

I couldn’t help but smile at his stupidity. Seriously, this guy had to be a real idiot or something, though I didn’t exactly mean that in a bad way. He seemed like a nice guy, but he also seemed like a .

“So what’s your name?” The guy asked, startling me.

“Oh, uh…Lee Taemin. And you?” I asked, more to be polite than anything.

The guy smiled. “Kim Jonghyun. You look familiar, Taemin-ah. What school do you go to?”

I blinked. This guy sure did ask a lot of questions. “I go to Gyeong-di High School,” I answered.

Jonghyun gasped, and I glanced over at him. He was grinning again. Seemed he liked to smile even more than he liked asking questions. “That’s my school!” He said, and I couldn’t help but smile a little at his excitement. “What year are you?” He asked, and I couldn’t help but give a small sigh before answering.

“I’m in my first year.”

“Really? That means that I’m your hyung! I’m in my second year,” he said. “I didn’t really have any dongsaengs before I came to this school,” he mused, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. It looked like he was going to spill his life story to me. “In middle school, I would always hang out with older kids, so I was always the maknae of my group. But when I came here, I met a kid in your year who’s now my best friend. I mean, he can be an sometimes, but I guess that’s just his job as my best friend.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I know what you mean. My best friend can be a total when he wants to be. He’s annoying as hell, but—“

“But you’re lucky to have me!” I flinched at the sound of the painfully loud and familiar voice. That was Key, here to pick me up. I guess I wouldn’t have a chance to practice again after all.

Turning around, I saw the blond walking—or actually, it was more like strutting—towards us from the direction of my practice room. “Minnie, I was looking everywhere for you! You weren’t in your usual practice room, so I had to come looking!”

Ignoring the slightly embarrassing nickname, I rolled my eyes. “Kibum, you just got here and when I wasn’t in the practice room, you walked down the hall until you found me. Don’t exaggerate like that,” I said, but of course it went ignored.

“And who’s your friend? I don’t believe I’ve met him,” Key said, moving towards Jonghyun with his hand outstretched. The gesture seemed innocent enough, but I could see how Key’s eyes were narrowed as he looked Jonghyun up and down, appraising him. I fought the urge to roll my eyes again.

“Kim Jonghyun,” the shorter said with another grin, and I raised a brow. It wasn’t often that people weren’t immediately intimidated by Key. He’s part of the reason I don’t have many other friends. But of course, most of it is because I never bother to talk to anyone except for him.

“Kim Kibum,” Key said with a nod, dropping his hand. “But you can call me Key. So Taemin,” he continued, turning to me. “How did you meet Jonghyun?”

“He got lost and came into my practice room. I was just showing him the way to pick up his little sister from her class,” I explained in a monotone, pretending to examine my fingernails.

Key cocked a brow before shrugging. “Alright, if you say so. I’ll just be waiting in your practice room, so come right back and we can go home, okay?” I nodded, and he started back down the hall towards the practice room.

I sighed. “That was my best friend,” I explained, starting back down the hall again, away from Key. “I told you he was annoying.”

Jonghyun grinned. “He seems like a nice guy, though. I think he would get along well with my friend Minho.”

I scoffed. “Key doesn’t get along with anybody. The only reason we’re friends is because I’ve known him since before he became really antisocial. We grew up as neighbors, so we’ve always been friends. I honestly can’t remember a time from before I knew him.”

“What happened to make him antisocial?” Jonghyun asked, sounding like he was genuinely curious.

I hesitated, staring directly in front of me and not looking at him. “I don’t think I should say. It’s not my secret to tell,” I said, stealing a glance at Jonghyun, who, to my relief, nodded and dropped the subject. It didn’t take long after that for us to reach the right room, and I nodded to the door, stuffing my hands in my pockets. “That’s your sister’s classroom. It’s the only ballet class going on right now, so you know,” I shrugged.

Jonghyun grinned. “Thanks. She should be finishing up here in a few minutes. But hey, I’ll see you around, right? You know, at school?”

I blinked. I hadn’t been planning on talking to this guy ever again, but I nodded anyway, adding a smile in for good measure. “Yeah, I guess I’ll see you later. Bye, hyung,” I said, walking back down the hallway.

~.~.~.~.

After that incident, Jonghyun continuously bothered me at school, following me around in the hallways and even going so far as to sit with me in the cafeteria at lunch. This is what surprised me the most—I hadn’t thought he would even try to find me in the cafeteria. I usually sat alone in a corner and ate as quickly as I could before going back upstairs to my classroom, where I would read or draw until class started. But all of a sudden, Kim Jonghyun—who I later discovered had a rather large circle of friends—was sitting across from me, babbling away about pizza and soda. I didn’t know what exactly was said, as I didn’t really pay attention to what he said.

It surprised me even more when he sat with me the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. Finally, after four days of him sitting with me at lunch and me wondering how the hell I was supposed to shake this guy off, I cracked.

“What do you want from me?” I blurted out, interrupting his rather one-sided discussion on why salad shouldn’t count for a whole meal.

Jonghyun blinked at me in surprise. “I just….what do you mean?” He asked, his eyebrows coming together in either concern or confusion; I couldn’t tell which.

“Why do you keep sitting here? Why do you follow me around through the hallways? Is there something you want from me?” I demanded, crossing my arms and leaning back in my seat, completely ignoring my completely untouched plate of food.

Jonghyun’s mouth dropped open in shock. “I...I just thought you might be lonely….” He muttered, and this time it was my turn to be shocked.

“Lonely?” I asked, blinking in confusion. “Why would I be lonely?”

Jonghyun shrugged. “Well, I found out from my first year friends that your friend Key doesn’t go here, and I noticed that you’re always sitting alone, so I thought you might like some company,” he explained, staring at his plate and using his fork to absently push some peas around.

“I’m…not lonely…” I said, though even as I said it, I knew that the words weren’t true. How many times had I wished that Key and I could go to the same school? How many times had I wished for someone to talk to over lunch, joke with in the hallways? How many times had I wished for the incessant teasing from the other boys in my class to stop? Or at least to have someone there to help me get through it. I’m always lonely. I’ve just figured out how to hide it, and it seems that I’ve hidden it so well that even I forgot the feelings of loneliness were there.

“Oh…” Jonghyun’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. “Okay….well, I’ll just leave, then. If you don’t want me to bother you….you should have said something earlier. I’m sorry. I won’t bother you again.” He started to get up from the table, looking down at his feet dejectedly.

I don’t know what made me do it. Maybe it was the promise of crushing, depressing loneliness returning to torture me if I let him walk away. Maybe it was the sad, puppy-like look on his face. I didn’t know why, but I do know that I called him back. “Wait! Don’t go!” I said, and he looked up at me. “Please don’t go,” I repeated, and Jonghyun sat back down slowly. “I…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Jonghyun merely smiled, setting his plate back down on the table and leaning forward, crossing his arms and resting them on the table. I probably should have leaned back, but something in the back of my mind had me staying where I was, staring at his smiling face. Though, in all honesty, what I was calling a smile really looked a lot more like a smirk.

“Will you go out with me?” He asked, and I dimly remember hearing my own voice say yes.

Finally....here it is >.< This is actually only one-third of the first draft. I ended up not liking the format of the first draft, so I just took the first part and edited it and here it is. ^^

I don't know when I'll have the next chapter up. I'm going to try to keep them all around this length, but I don't know if I'll be able to because I always write a lot, no matter what. But yeah. Comment, rate, and subscribe if you liked it! :D

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~AA