Well you guys, I thank the one comment that was left from the other chapter lol hopefully this chapter will get more attention because there's going to be a lot of focus on two people *wink wink*

Oh! I'm starting to do the recap thing because I'm sure that some of you guys like maybe forgot what majorly happened in the last chapter so yeah. Don't have to make another tab or go back. RECAPS IT IS THEN~ ^^  

Anywho, I hope that you will enjoy this update, and comment more *sigh*

Ley Enjoy!~

 

Recap

Kimberly sent Taemin a very strong air death threat that practically threatened him to not doing anything stupid. He smirked back, then leaned forward again, and placed a very light, yet lingering kiss to her cheek, then pulled back. Lee Soo-Man clapped. "Perfect! You two are more than comfortable I see. Well, let's move on shall we?"

As the man continued, Kimberly was only half-listening. Her mind sorely on that kiss. Sure, it was just on the cheek, but it stung her harder than she had expected or really expected at all. It made her heart skip a beat, and gave her thoughts that she wanted to get rid of as fast as possible in place of something else, anything. It made her long for something that she either didn't want or didn't know if she wanted.

And she hated Taemin twice as much as she had before for it.

Present

After leaving Lee Soo-Man's office, Onew spoke up and suggested that they give her a tour around the building, and their practice rooms so she'll already know where most of everything's at when it's time for the real practicing to begin for them. However, that wasn't to be until a good while from then since Kimberly hasn't even been introduced to the fans yet. Key was still wondering how Shawols were going to take the news. There were so many dedicated  Jongkey and 2min shippers that Key was worried that they would possibly lose a lot of their fans because of Kimberly. It wasn't her fault, and isn't going to be. It was their CEO's idea to add another member to their group. It wasn't like they had a problem with that (to Lee Soo-Man's knowledge anyway), they just didn't think it was a great idea to suddenly throw one in without notifying the fans first so they could see the response beforehand and decide from there. However, their CEO was known to do things without thinking them through. They would have to just wait, pray, and see. Plus, it was a female member in an original all-male group. How were things going to really play out was what Key wanted to know.

"Ah, this is the first practice room we were assigned to." Key said, spotting a door to their left. They all stopped in front of a rusted door with the letters Practice Room. They could see their group name scratched off, and many others above them. They all except Kimberly and London wondered what group was next to practice in the room. 

Then they kept moving along showing her all the rooms that they went in, and what was done in them. Most of them were from their pre-debut days while others were their present rooms. Rooms that they still went in. However, while Minho and Key were explaining the history behind SM and how it got started, Kimberly couldn't help but stray off and investigate a piano room that they past. So, as unnoticeably as she could, she slipped out of the group (without secretly falling behind of course), and quickly went into the dark piano room. From the corner of his eye, Jonghyun managed to see her go into the room so he secretly slipped from the group, and followed her in without her noticing yet.

"Wow," She breathed out in awe as her eyes took in each and every detail about the room. It was literally a piano room. It had pianos everywhere. There were at least about 5 in there. It was called the piano room for a reason.

Kimberly slowly walked over to closest piano, and ran her hand along it's smooth white surface. Then she let her finger run across the keys without putting any weight into her fingers, not wanting anything to rather to just take in everything about the beautiful piano. Her past life wasn't necessarily all that ty. When she turned 12, she asked her parents if she could get a piano as her birthday present. See, at that age, she still could get whatever she wanted because she still had her 10 year-old baby face, so they got it for her without hesitation.

It always sat in the corner of their living room since she was staying there. Kimberly hadn't seen nor visited her parents or that house in a very long time so she had not an idea if the piano was still there. She remembered the nights when she would have trouble sleeping, and get out of bed and go downstairs and play a song or two until she fell asleep. For as long as she could remember, she was always good at playing the piano. It was actually how her dad got her mom to go out with him. He made a bet with her that if he could impress her or make her cry from playing a piece of his choice within only a minute that she would have to go out on a date with him. He chose a very famous piece called River Flows In You by a very famous Japanese pianist named Yiruma. She ended up crying, and very impressed with it. That was a trait Kimberly didn't mind inheriting. 

"Do you play?"

Kimberly swiveled around to see Jonghyun sporting a light smirk while walking to stand on the other side of the piano. She returned her eyes back to the piano, and smiled lightly. "Yeah, a little. It's been a while to be honest. I stopped playing when I grew out of the Insomnia faze. When I could finally sleep at night without having to walk downstairs and play myself a song." She sighed. Why was she even telling him this stuff? She hated talking about her past. It was lame, and for sorry asses. "No one in the house knew how to play the piano well except me. My dad used to play but he stopped playing it when I was born. Didn't have the time anymore. I miss it, you know? The days where we played together, and just had fun making up stuff on our own. No sheet music, nothing. We just made it up as we went along. Where did that go...?" She asked herself, as she slowly sat down in front of the piano, her fingers still resting on the black and white keys.

Jonghyun sat down beside her, and began tapping one note, then going onto another one, then added more notes as it kept going. Kimberly glanced at him, and rose an eyebrow. She had never heard of that piece before. It sounded weirdly familiar. He looked over at her, smiled, and stopped playing.

"Trap by Henry? Ever heard of it?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.

She shook her head. "Nope. It sounds familiar though."

He smiled. "Want to learn it?"

Kimberly punched his arm, and smiled. "I'm kidding. I've heard it plenty of times from London. How about you play it and I'll sing it. Deal?"

Jonghyun took her other hand, and put it on the keys like her other hand and smiled. "How about we both play it and both sing it. Deal?"

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Noooooo, you sing, and i'll play okay?" Jonghyun pouted slightly, then nodded.

"Now, don't say anything when we start because it's been a while for me. Little rusty."

When she began playing, Jonghyun couldn't help but gap at her. Rusty? If she was cleaner than that, Jonghyun was afraid that Henry was going to be really disapponted when he finds out that someone can play his own song better than him.

 Oh~Woah
Oh~Woah
Oou~Woah~Oh

 

"Well I'll say Mr. Kim," Kimberly started with a smirk. "I didn't know you could sing that good."

Jonghyun rolled his eyes, and sat back down beside her. "I can sing way better than that."

Kimberly rose an eyebrow. "Really?" She asked, interested. He did amazing singing Trap but better than that? She really wanted to hear this.

As long as you love me
As long as you love me
As long as you love me

We're under pressure,
seven billion people in the world trying to fit in.
Keep it together,
smile on your face even though your heart is frowning
But hey now, you know girl,
We both know it's a cruel world
But I will take my chances

Kimberly could feel her cheeks heat up. Even though she hated Justin Bieber with everything in her, the song was suddenly transformed into a song she should listen to any day because she knew she would think of Jonghyun's voice everytime. 

As long as you love me
We could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
As long as you love, love me, love me
As long as you love, love me, love me

I'll be your soldier, fighting every second of the day for your dreams girl
I'll be your whole world, you can be my Destiny's Child on a scene girl
So don't stress, don't cry, we don't need no wings to fly
Just take my hand

He reached out his hand. She took it, and rolled her eyes. He sung looking right into her eyes. All she could do was watch those beautiful lips as his angelic voice tied her down permanently. 

As you love me we could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
As long as you love, love me, love me
As long as you love, love me, love me

He winked, and she could've sworn her heart leaped. 

I don't know if this makes sense but, you're my Hallelujah
Give me a time and place,I'll rendezvous it,i'll fly you to it,
I'll beat you there
Girl you know I got you
Us, trust...
A couple of things I can't spell without you
Now we are on top of the world, 'cause that's just how we do (do)
Used to tell me sky's the limit, now the sky's is our point of view (view)
Man now we stepping out like Whoa! (Oh God)
Camera's point and shoot,
Ask me what's my best side, I stand back and point at you you you
The one that I've argue with, I feel like I need a new girl to be bother with,
But the grass ain't always greener on the other side,
It's green where you water it
So I know,we got issues baby true true true
But I'd rather work on this with you
Than go ahead and start with someone new
As long as you love me

As long as you love me
We could be starving, we could be homeless, we could be broke
As long as you love me
I'll be your platinum, I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
As long as you love, love me, love me
As long as you love, love me, love me
I'll be your silver, I'll be your gold
love me, love me, love me
As long as you love, love me, love me
As long as you love, love me, love me
As long as you love me

"I would usually have my guitar for this song since it's the acoustic version, but yeah," He said, awkwardly since Kimberly hadn't said anything. She just stared at him. He rose an eyebrow. "Say something, Kim, haha."

Her eyes widened then went back to normal as a smile formed. "Jonghyun, I might actually start respecting you."

He faked gasped. She covered as she laughed. Jonghyun moved her hand aside as she blushed slightly. They stared into one another's eyes as the silence settled in. She could hear her heart picking up speed. She felt the lump in get in the way of her swallowing as she saw him lean forward slowly towards her. Unconsciously, she placed her palm against his cheek as he captured her lips softly. He moved his lips against her lips, but he noticed how unenthusiastic she responded. 

"J-jonghyun, I-I..." He pulled back, his eyebrows furrowed, then he sighed. 

"Don't...Kimberly....I-I...I know alright..." He muttered, and looked down at his hands.

She sighed too. "What'd you know?"

"That you're in love with Taemin."

An awkward silence settled as Kimberly too looked down at her hands. "I don't....I don't really know to be perfectly honest. I want to say I'm not but then again I don't want to say I am."

Much to her surprise, he took both of her hands in his and smiled. "Think about it first, okay? You don't have to decide right away. No one's rushing you, but I really like you Kimberly. You took a place in my heart that's been vacant for quite some time. I want to say I'm in love with you, but like you, I'm not really sure."

She rose an eyebrow. "Why not?"

He smiled slightly, and stood up. "Well I can't just hand you my heart without knowing whether or not you're gonna drop it." He smirked, held out his hand, and inclined his head towards the door. "C'mon. They probably noticed we snuck out by now."

She smiled, took his hand, and headed out. 

She didn't know what she felt for Taemin. She wasn't exactly the type of person to put her feelings out there. Well, her true feelings anyway. She would just rather keep whatever feelings that she had to herself, and just possibly hope to get distracted by making music, or just dancing. She didn't think she was all that good of a dancer, but as enough times as London told her, she guessed so. She didn't exactly feel anything with Kai, or Jonghyun. After kissing the both of them, she felt nothing. Not a spark, nothing. It wasn't like she wanted to know exactly, but she didn't think that it would be as............as dull as it was. However, somewhere in her, she expected it. She hadn't had real feelings for someone since Jaewan. She just hoped that she wouldn't have any feelings towards Taemin. She felt incapable of being with someone that wanted a long-term relationship when she felt she couldn't keep that commitment. When she was dating Jaewan, she put all she had into that relationship just to end up getting her heart broken. Their relationship lasted four years. From the tenth grade all the way to college. She shouldn't have left herself so vulnerable. He was her first for everything. She really believed that he loved her like he said he did. She didn't ever want to go through that ever again, so she preferred to play around with our people's hearts instead of the other way around. She wasn't ever going to let that happen again. She was going to prevent herself from falling in love with Taemin, Jonghyun, anyone. She was going to prevent her heart from ever getting broken again. She was a fragile person, no matter how much she would usually deny it, she was. She had always been ever since her little sister died. She had promised to pursue her singing career so that's what she was going to focus on. If she could tell Kai and Jonghyun no, then she could surely tell Taemin the same thing.

Right?

---

"Change is never easy. You fight to hold on. You fight to let go." - Unknown

 

The two managed to catch up with the rest of the group just in time before they realized that the two had even left. However, Taemin knew that they had left. He knew that had done something together because they were holding hands, and smiling. Well, Jonghyun was smiling but Kimberly was just calm looking. She looked over at him, catching his eye, then looked down. Taemin rose an eyebrow, but brushed it off as nothing. It probably was nothing anyway.

"And, yeah. That was it. So Kimberly and Jonghyun," Key turned around to face her and Jonghyun, who instantly paled. He knew what was next and he honestly didn't feel like getting the full blast of his wrath.

"I know you two left the group to go see the piano room, it's okay. However," He walked closer to Jonghyun, and looked down at their joined hands. "If you so much as laid a erted finger on my baby, I swear on Minho's beloved collection of signed soccer balls, I will not hesitate to slap that smi-"

"Kibum-ah, calm down," Jonghyun replied with a sincere smile. "I didn't do anything. We didn't do anything. I would never hurt Kimberly. Ever."

Key looked at Kimberly, then back at Jonghyun. "So are you two dating?"

Kimberly laughed, which Jonghyun found to be a little hurtful. "Of course not, Key. We're just friends." She replied.

Just friends. yeah. It's for the best I guess. Jonghyun thought.

"I was just making sure. Jonghyun has a hard time keeping a girlfriend, you know," Key said.

Kimberly glanced at Jonghyun with a smile, and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Friendship is all i'm hoping for."

"Well," Key began, "I think we should go out to eat tonight. What do you guys think?"

The all nodded, except for Taemin of course, and began heading back to the dorm to get ready.

---

 

Onew knew that they had to get back as early as possible because of the announcement that was held the next day, but he didn't want to rush anyone and make it seem like they couldn't enjoy the night out. The time that they had to be there was around 11:30AM, so they really didn't have to get up, and go get prepared for it until around 9. He sighed. He just hoped things would go smoothly, and that the fans would take the new female member thing nicely. He hoped.

"Let's go guys! It's.." Key looked down at his watch and sighed. "It's 6:30. Even though we rented out the restaurant, that doesn't mean it's polite to keep them waiting for us!"

Onew came down first.

Key smiled. "Well you look casual, huh?" Onew smiled back, and nodded. 

"Yeah, not really in the mood to dress formally."

Key nodded.

Onew looked him over, and nodded. "You look pretty casual too."

"Yeah," Key nodded. "Same reason as you, I guess."

"Talking about me?"

Onew and Key smiled. "No, but since we are now, you look casual too," Key replied.

Minho smiled, and nodded. "Thanks."

"Keybummie, what'd you think?"

Key smiled, and pulled her towards him into his chest, and kissed her forehead. "I think you look really cute. Your outfits always surprise me." She blushed.

"Key-oppa..." She muttered while blushing.

"Do you know if Kimberly's almost done along with the others?" He asked. She shook her head. Key sighed, then looked back down at his watch to see that it was 6:45. They told the restaurant's manager that they would be there at exactly 7, but it would seem that they were going to be a little late. Ever since Key met London, which was actually two in a half days ago, he's now the first one ready. Usually he would've been the last one out. He hugged London tighter, and kissed the top of her head.

"No, it was sitting on the dresser this morning! I know it was! You're such a ing liar!"

"Yah! Taemin-ah! It's just a necklace! Calm down will you! I'll buy you the exact same one!"

"You can't! It won't mean anything! That necklace was given to me by my mom!"

"Taemin!"

 

 

Taemin went and sat down on the couch, and pulled out his phone as a distraction, and a reason to not have to deal with Jonghyun at the moment. Jonghyun went, and stood beside Key who didn't exactly look all that happy that him and Taemin just had an argument. Jonghyun sighed.

"I know what you're gonna say, but it wasn't entirely my fault you know," He tried to explain. Key shook his head.

"Jonghyun, what'd you do this time?"

Jonghyun sighed. "Well, usually Taemin and I borrow stuff from each other all the time, but I think I really I messed up this time, Kibum."

Key sighed. "Explain."

"Well, I remembered that I let Onew borrow my favorite gold chained necklace so I then remembered that Taemin also had one so I went in his room to ask him about it, but he wasn't there, but I saw the necklace sitting on the dresser, so I took it." Kibum gave him a dirty look. Jonghyun hastily continued. "So I went over to his mirror, and tried putting it on, but I dropped it, and when I went to pick it up, I accidentally stepped on it, leaving it broken and bent up."

Kibum shook his head in disappointment. "Jesus, Jonghyun. You know how Taemin gets when it comes to his most prized possessions. You know. Especially from his mother. I want you to apologize. Now."

"Kibum-ah-"

"Now."

Jonghyun sighed. "Sorry, Taemin-ah."

"....."

Key sighed. "Well we're starting off just great before dinner." He muttered, sarcastically.

"London! I need your help!"

London snuggled against Key, and groaned. "No you don't! You look fine, just come down already! We're already late!"

Kimberly groaned. "Yeah, so all the more reason to help me! London, come on!"

Key rubbed her back. "You can help her. You're right. We're already late. I'll just call, and let them know we'll need an extra hour."

London sighed, and shook her head. "No, she's coming down whether she likes it or not. I'll be right back," She kissed his cheek, and ran back up the stairs.

"Hey, London. Good to see you. So, I decided to just not-"

Then a silence fell over, and the next thing the guys heard was the sound of some kind of glass object falling to the floor followed by a girlish scream. It wasn't a scream for help, just a small child scream that meant that London had succeeded in getting Kimberly listen to her.

Then London came back to find them all staring at her, a little worried. Even she could tell by the way Taemin was looking that even he was worried. She smiled warmly. "Everything's just fine. She's coming down in just a sec. Let's go Kimberly!"

They heard footsteps coming down so they all directed their attention towards the stairs, then they stopped halfway. "London, I'd rather just dress casual like I always do. It's just dinner. It's not like i'm partying with Jay Z and Beyonce or having dinner with Obama."

London smirked, and took Key's hand in hers. "Fine, then I'll just let Taemin know about your little unsure cru-"

"Shut up, alright? I'm coming! Damn," Kimberly replied, bitterly I might say.

As she decended the stairs, Taemin felt his heart drop down to his knees. She looked......amazing.

 

The dress fitted her perfectly. Her hair was straighter than he had ever seen it. It would usually be up in it's usual messy curly bun. She looked good with straight hair. She just looked good period. She looked beautiful.

"You look beautiful, Kimberly," Jonghyun complimented, taking those words right out of Taemin's mouth, and probably putting them to better use considering he knew he wouldn't have had the courage to tell her that anyway. He saw her blush, and look down with a small smile.

"T-thanks, Jonghyun," She replied.

"Well," Onew said with a smile of his own. "Let's head out. Not sure that the restaurant workers will be too thrilled with us."

They all filed out of the door and Taemin saw the two holding hands on the way out. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and rolled his eyes. He guessed he would have to step up to the plate then, and 'up' his gameplan a little more.

If that's what it was going to take, then he would do it.

---

When they all arrived at the restaurant, both girls felt like the popularity had already begun. The place was humungous. It looked way more expensive than the two had even imagined. In fact, it looked so expensive, that even if you had to pee, it would probably cost you at least over five hundred dollars. Kimberly wanted to point out that they didn't have to go to such an expensive place to just eat, but she figured that since the place was already rented out to them, it would be an insult to not just eat there.

Once they were seated in a fairly big booth, a waiter came by with a kind smile, and a couple of menus. 

"Hi, my name is Zihao Lin, and I'll be your waiter tonight. It's an honor for one of Kpop's biggest groups to be coming to our restaurant. Big fan, but back to your orders. I know you're probably hungry," He chuckled. "So, what can I get you?"

They all looked over their menus, then decided. Onew spoke first since he was the leader, and the oldest. And the one paying. "Well I'll just have the Deonjang jjigae stew, and Galbi please," He handed Zihao his menu, and smiled.

Zihao nodded, and wrote down the order, then looked at the rest in remaining. "Anyone else?"

"Yes, let me have the Green Onion Kimchi. That's it. Kamsamnida," Key replied, and handed him his menu too.

"I'll have Japchae, and Bossam. Thank you," Minho handed him his menu as well.

"Well just give me some Samgyeopsal, and the Ox Bone Soup. Thanks," Jonghyun said, and gave up his menu.

"Well," London began, and flipped through the menu. "I guess I'll have some Galbi too, and Bibimbap. Thanks," She handed him her menu with a smile, then looked at Kimberly and Taemin who were still deciding.

Taemin handed Zihao his menu. "I'll just get the Haemul Pajeon, and some Samgyeopsal. Thanks."

Zihao nodded. "No problem," He moved his eyes to Kimberly, who everyone else was staring at. 

She looked up at everyone, blushes slightly, then closed her menu, and handed it to him. "I'll get some Bossam and the Nakji Bokkeum. Thanks by the way."

He smiled, and took the menu then winked. "My pleasure for such a beautiful girl. I'll be right back to get your drink orders."

Once he left, Kimberly let out a small sigh, and looked down at herself. Even though the very fitted dress stopped at her mid-thigh, it still showed a great amount of her caramel thighs. She hated dresses, skirts, or just anything that showed any of her legs. It made her feel ty. She hated that feeling.

"Hey, Kimmy," London whispered from in front of her. They made sure to at least sit in front of one another. 

"Hm?" Kimberly answered without looking up. She just felt like someone else's eyes were on her. She'd rather not find out whose they belonged to or she would have to say something smart to him.

"I sent you something," London whispered. 

Kimberly looked up at her confused, but saw her gesturing to her phone. "Oh." She pulled her phone out of her bag, then rolled her eyes and stuffed it back in her purse. "Remember? It hasn't been changed over."

London smirked, and dug into her purse for a minute then pulled out a similar phone to Kimberlys out, and held it out to her. "Heh, almost forgot. When we first got here, I talked with the manager to see if he could get you a new phone and get the service transferred. You're welcome," She beamed.

(Kimberly's new phone)

With a slight frown, Kimberly took the phone, then looked back at London. "It's pink, and it's hello kitty. Really?"

London smiled. "Consider it a gift." Kimberly pursed her lips, giving her an annoyed look. "Oh c'mon Kimmy. Girl up already. You gotta stop being such a tomboy."

Kimberly set the phone face down on the table, and rolled her eyes. "You remember that girl we met yesterday? I think her name was Amber, but yeah. She's a total tomboy." She crossed her arms across her chest. "She may even be my new best friend."

London was very sensitive when it came to her and Kimberly's friendship, and this was the first time Kimberly had ever said anything regarding to a new best friend. Ever. She began tearing up.

"H-hey! London! I was just kidding! You're the only true best friend I will ever have, okay? Don't cry! You know I'm not very good with that," Kimberly said, hurriedly, not really knowing what to do.

Key leaned over and whispered something in her ear followed by a nod from her. They both stood up, and made their way out of the booth, heading towards the washroom. Kimberly groaned, and rubbed at her temples. She forgot just how sensitive London was when it came to their friendship. They had been friends since the third grade. How could she forget?

"You're really nice, you know that?" Taemin commented while smirking and going through his Twitter. "What you said? Yeah, that was nice." Kimberly gritted her teeth. 

"Shut up. I didn't mean to." She replied.

"Ah," He nodded. "But you said it, and now you can't take it back."

Kimberly reached over (since they were unluckily sitting by one another) and snatched the phone out of his hand followed by a weak protest. 

"You're not getting this back until you apologize to me," She said, then stuffed the phone in her bra. Taemin smirked at her.

"Hm, and what makes you think that I won't get it back?"

She blushed, and looked down at her chest then back at him. "Because I know Taekwondo."

Taemin snorted. "That proves what exactly?"

She tilted her head to the side. "I don't know. Maybe succeeding in kicking your ."

Before Taemin was able to reply, Zihao came back.

"Okay, what are the drink orders?"

"Water for me," Onew said.

"Water for me as well," Minho agreed.

After throwing a glare at Taemin, Jonghyun said, "Tea for me."

"I'll just get water," Kimberly said.

Taemin smirked, glanced at her, then decided, "Same as Kimberly-ah, please."

He felt Jonghyun's glare, but didn't acknowledge him. Rather, he turned and stared at Kimberly, his plan to make her feel uncomfortable and possibly hand him back his phone.

Kimberly rose an eyebrow, then took the challenge with opened arms, and stared right back. It quickly turned into a staring contest.

Zihao wrote everything down, then looked around the booth to notice that both London and Key weren't there. "Did the two leave?" he asked.

"Oh they went to the washroom, but they should be back in a couple of minutes. Just get Key some tea, and London water," Jonghyun said, while glaring at Taemin. If looks could kill.

Zihao looked at the three, smiled warmly, and nodded. "Well, I shall return with your orders in just a couple of minutes."

Once he left, Jonghyun found it the appropriate time to throw his balled up napkin at the midnight haired male. 

And that caused Taemin to blink, therefore losing out of the staring contest.

He adverted his eyes at the blonde haired male who was whistling and looking around the restaurant. Really childish, Taemin thought.

Kimberly poked Taemin's cheek with a smirk. "You lost, so you've gotta wait until we get back home."

Taemin looked back at her with a similar smirk but for a different reason. "Home? So you're already considering the dorm to be your home?"

She blushed, and rolled her eyes. "No. What makes you think that?"

He shrugged. "Maybe I'm going deaf in my left ear or you're denying it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I didn't say home, I meant....dome. Yeah! Dome. Can't even call it a home considering you live there too."

Taemin shrugged, and crossed his arms over his chest. "I guess so."

"So, Kimberly-ah," Jonghyun started while smiling warmly at her. Something that Taemin found to be quite low if he was trying to get a rise out of him. "I seemed to notice that you're not fully African American."

She chuckled. "Yeah, um, I'm actually mixed with three other things."

He nodded. "Not to be rude or pushy, but what-"

"I'm Indian (Cherokee), French, and Puerto Rican. Of course, with the African American part with that," She intervened, smiling slightly.

Taemin rose an eyebrow. "Really?"

She glanced at him, and nodded. "Yup." Then she looked back at him, suspiciously. "Why?"

He looked down at his folded arms with a chuckle, then back up at her through his long fringe. "Does there have to be a reason I asked?"

"When it comes to you, yeah," She replied. He nodded.

"Good to know that we're on such good terms then."

"Here you go," Zihao set down each of the fourteen plates across the long, wide granite table. Then came the drinks. He smiled, and bowed.

"If you guys need anything else, please let me know. Enjoy," He sent Kimberly another wink, and went on his way.

She blushed slightly, something only Taemin caught, and took a sip of her glass of water.

"Hey," He leaned over to say as she drank. "Don't acknowledge that guy, alright? Could be some kind of ert or something."

She tried to hold in her laugh so as to not spit out her water. Once she swallowed it down and had the glass back on the table, she looked at him, amused. "And you're not?"

He smirked. "I may come off as a ert, but trust me I'm not. Plus," He stretched. "I'm the least of your worries to be honest." Then he dug into his food leaving Kimberly hanging with questions.

She shrugged, and dug into hers. Then it hit her. What was taking London and Key so long? Meh, she's fine. Hopefully, Kimberly thought.

---

 

"I know she didn't mean it, Keybummie, but..." She sniffled. "I don't know. I thought she really meant it when she first said it." She sighed as he rubbed her back, comfortingly.

Key smiled softly. "Everything's going to be fine, London-ah. Like you said, she didn't mean it."

Key knew that Kimberly was just joking but he also grew to know just how sensitive London was in a short period of time. That's what sort of brought him closer to her.

"I know Kibum-oppa, but it was just a spur of the moment, like, I didn't realize it until just moments ago. I feel," She sobbed more into his chest. "I feel like such a bad friend."

She was also making this into more than it was. He mentally sighed. She also cries a lot.

---

"Listen," Kimberly began, letting out a sigh as she set down her chopsticks. "I don't care, okay? Flirt as much as you want, who cares. Right now, I would like to focus on..." She looked down, then back up at Taemin. "On more important things."

He smirked, and set down his chopsticks. "Like?"

"Like how the fans will react once they find out that SHINee has accepted a female member."

Onew shook his head, setting his glass of water down. "Now, wait a minute. When the contest was put up, fans knew that we were either going to accept a female or a male member. It shouldn't be a surprise from that. However," He looked her over, and sighed. "-the riot may come from your-"

"I know, alright? You don't need to say it out loud even though I'm sure they already know. I'm mixed with other stuff, but I'm black okay? Somewhere in the back of my mind, I just knew that me being this skin color was going to cause some kind of apocalypse for the fans, but I still agreed to try out."

Minho smiled. "And you got in. You're going to grow on them, but you have to have some kind of patience, and earn a little understanding. It won't be easy for them."

Onew nodded, agreeing whole-heartedly. "Yes. Even though they knew the new member would've either been a female or a male, having a female member is going to still bother them in some kind of way, even if they won't admit it." Kimberly looked down at her hands in her lap, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "But, that's just something they'll have to get used to."

"Yeah," Jonghyun added in. "When they see your incredible talents, I'm positive they'll like you." He smiled.

She looked up at him, and smiled slightly, then smiled at Onew and Minho. "Thanks, but we'll just have to see how this will all play out. Good or bad, whatever happens, happens."

"Exactly," the three of them said with warm smiles.

"Well, I know one thing," Taemin began, "They'll definitely go crazy if we do some kind of skinship at that conference." He yawned. "I don't think it's a good idea."

Onew nodded, agreeing. "Yeah, Taemin's right. The fans will already be on edge about this whole thing at first so we'll have to take it slow."

"Slow?" Kimberly said. 

Taemin smirked. "What? You were expecting more to happen?" He shook his head, and chuckled. "Your attraction for me just seems to be increasing by the minute, huh?"

Kimberly smirked also, and patted her bra where his phone was still being held hostage. "And your phone's jail-time just keeps increasing too as you keep on aggravating me."

Before Taemin was able to retaliate, Zihao popped up again, once again cutting him off. He was really getting tired of that.

"Is everything going okay? Does anyone need anything?" He asked, looking around at them all, but mostly at Kimberly, which Taemin didn't exactly enjoy at all.

"No," Taemin said, giving him one of his best glares. "We don't need anything from you, or-"

"I do," Kimberly said with a small smile as she held out her empty glass. Zihao smiled, and took her glass making sure to touch fingertips, then walked away throwing a, "I'll be right back," over his shoulder.

Jonghyun and Taemin catching it all, rolled their eyes. Luckily, for Taemin anyway since he knew that if he had said anything it wouldn't have exactly came out nicely, Jonghyun spoke up.

"Why are you flirting with him? Do you like him?" Jonghyun asked.

Kimberly rose an eyebrow. "And that has what exactly to do with you?"

"Well-"

"What I do with my personal life should have nothing to do with you or anyone else, understand? Just because you and I kissed, that doesn't mean that-"

"Wait," Taemin interrupted, highly confused and highly upset, yet he managed himself from the outside. He wanted to blow up. "You and Jonghyun kissed?"

Kimberly nodded, then sighed. "It's none of your bus-"

"Can't ing believe you," He stood up, and threw a 50 dollar bill on the table. He looked at Onew. "I'm getting a cab back so don't worry."

Before he could walk away, Kimberly quickly grabbed his wrist as he tried shaking her off.

"Taemin! That kiss meant nothing alright?! And why the hell should you even care?! It's not like we're-"

"Meant nothing?" Jonghyun said as he too stood up. "It didn't seem like it after we kissed." He shook his head, put his tip by his plate, and walked out of the restaurant with a very confused, but worried Onew jogging after him. Minho sighed, and went after him too.

Taemin rolled his eyes, and pulled his wrist from her weakened hold. "As if I'd let myself fall in love with someone like you anyway." He scoffed, and began walking away.

Kimberly sighed, and tried blinking back the tears that she didn't even know were coming along but she couldn't. She felt that lump again in . Her heart ached, and she had no idea why. She was used to lying. She had always lied. Why did it hurt so much to lie now?

She shook her head, and wiped the tears away. She got out of the booth,  and realized that she was running. She didn't know why, and she didn't care. She just needed to apologize. Do something to fix her mistake. She needed to.

"Taemin! Taemin!" She called out as she looked left and right for him outside the restaurant. She sniffed as the tears kept cascading down her face. With all the anger built up inside of her, she had to take it out on something. She turned around, and before she was able to punch the stone wall, a hand reached out and took her wrist then pulled her into their chest where she cried and mumbled into.

"G-god...I hate myself...why did I do that? I don't know what's wrong with me... I don't like him... I don't know what the hell I'm saying or what I'm doing... !" She scrunched up the person's shirt with her tiny fists, and cried into it not exactly caring about her unknown image at that point. She was just highly upset and frustrated with herself.

"Hey," They lifted her head up, and smiled slightly. "It's going to be alright. Let me apologize first then. I'm sorry, Kimberly."

She blinked away the tears to see the midnight haired idiot smiling back at her like nothing had just happened. Like she didn't just basically let everyone around know that she had a crush on him, and actually cared about him with real, true feelings.

She blushed slightly, and looked to the side. "S-so I...I guess you know.." She whispered.

He nodded. "Ever since I talked to you on that plane, I knew." He rubbed the pad of his thumb along her bottom lip. "I knew just how much I fell in love with you."

She blinked. "Love me? You love me?"

He laughed. "Yeah, duh. Wasn't it obvious? The constant teasing, the jealously.." He drifted off, then sighed. "I really love you, Kimberly. I don't know if you know how much that is but I love you more than anyone in my life."

"Even your mom?"

He smiled. "Even my mom. She's always had a special place in my heart, but strangely you took that place with ease. Didn't take long either."

She smiled slightly, then frowned. "Taemin, I love you too, but-"

He pressed his lips against hers, cutting her off. She kissed him back, and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. After a couple minutes, Taemin pulled back with a smile. "Don't. I don't wanna hear it. You love me, I love you. Nothing else matters now. The past is the past. Okay?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, gotcha cap'm."

He chuckled. "You're a dork."

"But you love this dork," She teased. He rolled his eyes.

"I do," He kissed her again which she instantly responded to.

Jonghyun peeked around the corner, and blinked the tears away. He sighed, and slid against the wall to the ground, resting his elbows on his knees. He knew he did the right thing, but why the hell did it hurt so ing much? Change is never easy, he knew that. You fight to hold on. You fight to let go. He knew he was gonna hate himself for it later but, he knew he had done the right thing.

He couldn't hang on to something that he knew wasn't his.

It was going to be so damn painful to let her go.

To see her be with someone else.

Someone that wasn't him.

It's a working process.

---

 

HEY HEY GUYS! Sorry this took so long but as you can tell this chapter was well over 7K words so....I apologize! lmao but I have a good reason er reasons I guess I should say~

For about a week, i'll be with my grandparents spending time and hopefully going somewhere for a short vacation~

So, I made this chapter pretty long and didn't leave u guys with a cliffhanger so don't shoot me lmao PLUS I made u guys wait too long and I feel really bad about that~

well, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and I rEALLY hope you'll comment~ ^^

I know it's a drag but it motivates me to continue on and not feel like you guys aren't enjoying the story~

um well, comment, and pls subscribe if u haven't already, and i'll see u guys when I get back arraso? ^^ stay lovely and don't forget to smile kay? :D

now here's taemin to lift up ur spirits!

 

BYE! ^^