Quintessence, n.

-the most perfect embodiment of something

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To say that Naeun was excited was an understatement. She had been feeling jittery for the past week counting down the minutes until she would see Taemin again. She couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t eat, and her face was always broken into a smile. She was giddy and it was annoying her members, especially Hayoung.

“Naeun unnie!”

“Wae? Hayoung-ah?”

“Can you please sleep? I know you’re excited to see Taemin Oppa tomorrow, but you need to sleep. You might look like a zombie when you see him…and I need some sleep too”

“Mianhae. It’s just…I’m so excited!”

“I know…but, please?”

“Ahrasso. I’ll be quiet from now on.”

Hayoung turned to face the other way and plugged in her earphones just in case, Naeun couldn’t contain herself. Naeun turned to her side and tried to get to sleep. She also her iPod and decided to listen to Taemin’s songs to get her to sleep. That did the trick, and soon enough she was in dreamland, awaiting the arrival of her boyfriend. Her body alarm had woken her at 7am. She made a quick breakfast for herself, left a small note saying that she had left for her members, and then got into the awaiting car with SHINee’s manager to pick up the boys from the airport.

The boys had come out from the arrival gates at 8.30am. She saw him first, and waited patiently, tapping her foot. Once he had seen her, he began to smile widely then picked up his walking pace to get to Naeun quicker. They had seen some photographers emerge and they didn’t want to make a scene, and instead, Taemin grabbed Naeun’s hands and lead her to the awaiting van. Once they were safely inside, he gave her a tight embrace and then proceeded to give her a sweet kiss on the lips. Luckily, the windows were tinted and they were in the back seat. Taemin’s manager joined them and then they were off to the dorms.

Once they had arrived at their destination, Taemin and Naeun headed straight for the bedroom. This time, Taemin held his arms wide open, to which Naeun walked straight into. They stood there, hugging each other, holding on to each other as if their life depended on it, for what seemed like forever. Taemin let out a small laugh as his left shoulder tickled from Naeun mumbling something into his shirt.

“Mworago?”

“I missed you…”

“I know. I missed you too…”

Taemin led her to his bed, where they sat by the headboard. Naeun was snuggling into his chest and Taemin was affectionately her hair.

“I have a surprise for you…”

Naeun’s ears perked up and she tilted her head so she could look into his eyes.

“Where?”

Taemin got up from the bed and walked outside to where they had laid out their luggage. Naeun wondered what was taking him so long but she burst into laughter when he walked back into the room wearing a Superman outfit.

“Mwoya?”

Instead of replying, he just gave her a bag. Inside was the Wonderwoman costume that he bought for her at the DC Superstore at Six Flags.

“I thought that this could be another couple item. You don’t have to wear it outside, but we can wear it when we’re at home together…for fun…”

“Wait a second…”

Naeun picked up the costume and walked into the adjoining bathroom. 10 minutes later she came out wearing the costume.

“Yeokshi…uri Naeun is beautiful…and wonderful…”

“Eyyy…Oppa!”

“You look amazing…”

“And you look super…”

Taemin couldn’t resist and bent down to give her a kiss. After that, he pretended to clear his throat and put on a deep voice.

“As a superhero, we must do good deeds. The first request is from a boy called Taemin. Here, he gave us a list…”

Taemin handed the list to Naeun. It was appropriately titled: “Things I want to do with Naeun”. She started to laugh.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a list that this boy told me he wanted to do with his girlfriend. He said that we, as Superman and Wonderwoman, must help him achieve his goals…”

“How long do we have to accomplish them?”

“He didn’t give a specific time. He just said that they had all the time in the world…”

Naeun turned serious for a moment.

“Sounds like they have forever then…”

“They have forever and a day…”

This time, Naeun led Taemin to sit on the floor. Their backs were resting against the side of the bed, and they sat very close to each other. Naeun began to read through the list.

1.       Watch the sunrise with Naeun

2.       Watch the sunset with Naeun

3.       Go overseas together

4.       Perform on stage together

5.       Go to an arcade together

6.       Couple skydiving

The list seemed almost endless. There was definitely more than one page. As Naeun was about to get to the last page, Taemin’s eyes went wide and he snatched the paper away. Naeun tried to take them back but Taemin was too quick.

“Oppa! Wae? What did you write there?”

“Nothing…”

“It can’t be nothing if you took it away that quickly. You’re hiding something…”

“It’s just…embarrassing…”

“Since when have you ever been embarrassed in front of me?”

“That’s true…but…”

“Show me, Oppa. I won’t laugh…”

Taemin sighed and handed back the paper.

83. Wake up in the morning with Naeun beside me every day

84. Go to sleep with Naeun beside me every day

85. Marry Naeun, for real

86. Make her happy every day for the rest of my life

Naeun began to tear up.

“Nado.”

“What?”

“I want to do all those thing with you too. And more.”

“We can keep adding to it. It’s an inconclusive list.”

“That would be amazing…I love that idea”

“I have one more surprise for you…”

“You’ve done too much for me…”

“Not enough…and besides, number 86 needs to be fulfilled.”

Taemin brought out a voucher and handed it to Naeun. It was a date coupon to go camping with Taemin. She looked confused so he began to tell Naeun a story.

“I figured that when we have free time next, I could pick you up in the afternoon and we would drive to the countryside, near a beach where we could watch the sunset. We could set up a tent, and sleep under the stars. I would cook some barbecue while you wash the vegetables. I would hold your hand and kiss you and hug you. I’d sing you to sleep, and we wake up in each other’s arms. We could watch the sunrise, then have breakfast together. Then we’d play in the water and go for walks and take lots of pictures. I would tell you that I love you over and over again until you get sick of hearing it…”

“That would be absolutely perfect…and just so you know, I would never get sick of hearing those words from you. I love you too…”

Taemin kissed her on the forehead. Naeun leaned up afterwards and pointed to her lips. Taemin jokingly grabbed his cape and pulled it over their heads, as if they were shading themselves from the public.

Naeun spoke up first.

“I can’t wait! When can we go?”

“Soon…”

Taemin and Naeun had something special. They had made many memories together. They experienced many firsts together. They had a young love. They had a pure love. They had an innocent love. But most of all, what they had was a perfect love.