Chapter 15: Getting to Know You

[Jonghyun POV]

Ugh.

It hurts so badly; it feels like I’m on board a capsizing ship, continuously rattling my bed in all directions. Every single thing is spinning so damn strongly; my brain’s gonna crack and crumble. Did I drink too much last night? ‘cause I’m obviously still drunk.

Oh no. My stomach is churning, the acid is slowly rising up my esophagus. And it’s going straight out; I ran to the toilet to arrive just in time.

Ahh, good riddance.

Now I feel so much better; unusually better, not only physically cause I’m.. how do I say this? I’m more at peace? Yes, my mind is clear and my heart is at ease, I’m internally tranquil.

But why and how?

That’s when I realized, for the first time in several months, I slept a dreamless and deep sleep; no nightmares, no fear, no crying. And I even fell asleep right away. It’s because of her, right? I remember seeing her before I closed my eyes; she’s almost an apparition. But the way she indirectly touched my hair, I remember feeling so relaxed, like she unlocked and released all my caged worries. I…

..feel like a renewed person.

“Good morningggg! Want some soup?” She cheerfully chimed, offering me a bowl of sulguk. Ahhh. It smells so heavenly.

“Ne-ko-ya~ Kamsahamnida.” I smiled as brightly as I can, to the one and only person that banished my sleeping problems easily, I am just so thankful. She’s undoubtedly a mysterious and interesting girl, I almost forgot that she’s not even human anymore.

[Chun Hei POV]

“Did you sleep well last night, Jonghyun-ssi?” I asked politely.

“Yah!” he answered, abruptly jerking his head, like some cocky, cool kid addressing the girl that likes him. “Why are you being so formal? You can call me O-PPA.” My eyes widened at how he enunciated ‘oppa’, like he’s teaching me to talk, syllable by syllable. My insides are shaking, I’m completely flabbergasted.

“Jonghyun oppa.” 

Brain lag.

Wait what?

Agghhhhh! Why did I say that?! I even said it in an aegyo voice. My head is so knocked up. Can the ground turn into a venus flytrap and eat me alive?

“Yes, Jonghyun O-PPA.” He tried to imitate my aegyo voice but somehow failed. I scoffed and he smirked in response. “And yeah, by the way, thank you for last night. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have problems in sleeping.” And the smirk stayed on his perfectly carved lips.

“But I didn’t even do much.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You did something very…. Special.” He then covered his face with both hands to hide the involuntary smile. “Ahe~ Now, I’m getting shy. Hahahaha. Turn around and don’t look at me for a moment.”

And I did, while forcing myself to keep my cheeks down.

“Eherm. You can face me now.” An all-smile face greeted me and it was blinding. It was the same smile as before, when I was still alive, genuine and un-fake.

“What’s that smile for?” I mirrored the look on his face.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

Oh.

“Me? Ah~ I think I know that but no, I won’t scare Key.”

“Puhahahahahahaha! No, no! Hahahaha!”

“Then what is it, oppa? I can’t even do much.”

“Can you tuck me into bed, every night?”

“T-t-uck you into bed? B-but why?”

“Because you can.” He’s using pleading puppy eyes on me and its super effective.

“I will try. I hope I can do it again.”

Anything for you Kim Jonghyun. Anything.

“Okay, we have a deal then.” He held out his galaxy mega, while I, unsure of what he’s trying to make me do, grabbed the other end of the phone. He slowly moved it up and down. Wow, Jonghyun is smart, we indirectly shook hands, sealing the agreement of me tucking him in every night.

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For the next 3 weeks, I was with him every single night, ruffling his hair until he falls asleep. And it was an unbreakable streak; I never failed and I do it perfectly everytime to the point that I believe I was born for this job. That and the other things that I do in SHINee’s dorm, was routine. They wake up, always quite chaotically, I cook breakfast for them and they’ll hog it quite well, sometimes all five of them would go out and sometimes individually, when they go home I’d welcome them with a hearty dinner while chatting and teasing each other. After a little more adapting to having a ghost guest, all of them has grown accustomed to me, running around and hanging out with them.

My biggest realization was that SHINee are human, they’re not some fictional characters that live the perfect life. They get tired, really tired that they’ll just pass through me to flop directly to their beds and sleep, they have bad hair days and Key hates these kinds of days and there are times when some of them get grumpy without apparent reason. But overall, they are precious hardworking men and there’s never a day that they don’t make me laugh. My love for them have multiplied a hundred-fold for the last 21 days. They’re not only my idols anymore. They’ve become my family, my brothers from another mother.

And my love for Jonghyun has become…