Jonghyun~

Jonghyun threw his towel at Taeyeon as soon as he saw her eyes flutter open.

“Eh? Wha - ew, it’s damp!” Taeyeon protested, flinging it back at his face. Jonghyun caught it easily, clenching his teeth.

“I only used it to dry my hair. And you. You know you talk in your sleep? Really. You realize you shouted ‘wow’ at me, like, three times. And then I woke up and I asked you what, then you said -” Jonghyun shut his eyes and massaged his temples, exhaling through his nose several times. “You said. ‘Wow. Fantastic. Baby.’”

Blushing, Taeyeon quickly rebutted, “well, you sleep with your eyes open! It’s really scary!”

“Were you watching me?” Jonghyun countered, giving her a knowing look.

“Ani. No.” Taeyeon sat up, and Jonghyun snorted at her bedhead. She tried to pat it down, unsuccessfully, before shrugging. “What do you want for breakfast today?”

“Aah, nothing,” Jonghyun answered after a while. “I have another modeling thing to do, so I have to stop by the vet early today. I’ll skip breakfast.”

“No, that’s bad! Let’s stop by somewhere? You can drop me off at the vet so I can play with the animals, too, okay?” Taeyeon excitedly readied herself.

Since she’d been craving Italian, Taeyeon dragged Jonghyun to a recommended restaurant in town. As they sat waiting for the food, Taeyeon grinned at him.

“Thank you for keeping me safe. When Jinki came in so late at night, it reminded me of when my dad would come home late and . . .” Taeyeon’s smile faded. Her lips pulled up again, though not as genuinely, when the food arrived.

“You know, back when I had nightmares about the demon,” Jonghyun started, not sure why he was telling her these things, “and my family, I would sing. Of course, before I turned. But I liked to sing.” Taeyeon’s lips curled up.

“To be honest, I liked to sing, too,” she sighed, staring dreamily at her food as she reminisced.

“Really? You’re going to let me hear, right?” Jonghyun prodded. Taeyeon wrinkled her nose.

“Only if you sing to me, too.” Jonghyun hesitated. Taeyeon’s expression fell and she shifted awkwardly. “If it’s too much to ask -”

“Okay. Promise? Tonight, okay?” Jonghyun insisted, biting into his lasagna. Taeyeon sat astonished before she nodded enthusiastically. “Whatever happened to your father? I mean - I don’t mean to pry but . . .”

“He’s in jail. Neighbors heard my mom’s gun go off, so one thing lead to another,” Taeyeon explained. “It was around then that Tiffany’s family was kind enough to take me in until I was old enough to go on my own. Can I ask about what you had to go through moving from families?”

They spent breakfast learning a lot about each other. Jonghyun had never told this much to someone before; Jinki just already knew, having had spent childhood with Jonghyun, and Minho was just more of an acquaintance. At the thought of Minho, Jonghyun checked the time.

“Oh, geez. We should head to the vet now if I want time to check on those two kittens.” The two paid the bill and sprinted to the vet, laughing now and then if one of them nearly ran into a person or a pole.

Jonghyun left shortly after a brief check on the injured animals. He couldn’t help but smile as Taeyeon waved vigorously after him, shaking his head as he exited the small clinic. He saw IU eyeing the two of them sourly, but he decided to ignore it. That girl was one of many human females who had admired him.

“Hey, Jonghyun!” Minho suddenly jumped in front of the shorter male as he entered the SM building, causing Jonghyun to stumble back. Minho was smiling again?

“M-Minho. Hi,” Jonghyun greeted uncertainly.

“It’s so awesome to have you working with me, hyung,” Minho cheered.

“You’re calling me hyung again?” Jonghyun blinked several times as Minho threw his arm over his shoulder, laughing and dragging him through the halls.

“Don’t you know I get serious when I’m at the job? Remember in high school, when I joined the soccer team? I was always a whole different person out on the field, from beginning to end.”

“Jinki and I always ditched your games, remember?” Jonghyun replied. Minho paused.

“Oh, yeah. Well, sorry if I’m too rude to you when we get to the shoot. Apologize to Taeyeon noona for me, too! Oh, and did you see my fanpage?”

“Why would I . . .?”

“Well, everyone’s freaking over you. And me, of course. But I think SM is going to take advantage of that. We’ll be in a lot of photos together, hyung~!” Minho sang. Jonghyun hung his head as Minho continued to pull him to the other side of the building, where the cars were parked. Apparently, they were going to do a shoot at the water fountain today.

Maybe working Minho was better than annoying Minho.

Jonghyun watched as Minho eagerly got into the company van, pulling out the mirror so he could prepare his expressions. He shook his head as the oblivious model stretched out his features and practiced his intimidating glares.

This guy could be a demon? Doubtful.

“Okay, guys,” the manager announced as he started the car. “The area around the park fountain will be taped off. Most likely, a couple fangirls will be crowding the area though, so keep the image. Don’t do anything stupid, even off the camera, because fangirls have their own cameras.”

“A couple fangirls usually means about twenty,” Minho informed Jonghyun with a wide-eyed nod. The other merely glanced out the window with a careless shrug. He knew he would look fine in any pictures they snapped. Suddenly, he straightened.

What if, maybe, the demon recognized him or his name? Or the fact that he was a half-demon? Jonghyun wondered if that was a good or bad thing.

~~~~~~~

“MINHO OPPA, SARANGHAE!”

Jonghyun closed his eyes and pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose. The photographer mistook that for a purposeful pose and complimented him. Minho glanced down at his friend, a flash of competitiveness in his eyes before he struck a confident glare towards the fountain water.

“MINHO OPPA IS SO HANDSOME!”

“Your fangirls are so loud,” Jonghyun said through his teeth as he tilted his head to the side.

“JONGHYUN AND MINHO OPPA LOOK SO GOOD TOGETHER!!!”

“JONGHO!!!!”

“Did they just call me a hoe?!” Jonghyun gasped.

(A/N: I’m sorry huehueheuhue)

“It’s not just my fans,” Minho said darkly, appearing more aggressive now. Jonghyun rolled his eyes. He had no intention to steal Minho’s fangirls.

“Great!” the cameraperson - now a woman - praised with a twinkle in her eye. “Now can I have you boys go under the fountain water?”

“Eh?!” Jonghyun burst as Minho stepped into the fountain, unaffected. Anything to outshine his competitors. “The manager didn’t tell us about this!”

“Well, I thought that this concept would be a lot more popular. Don’t worry, we have more clothes from this brand you can change into,” the lady assured him. Jonghyun stared back into the water, where Minho had ducked his head into. He wasn’t worried about the clothes.

Fine, fine, he griped to himself, hopping into the fountain. He heard the shrieks of the girls raise pitch as he and Minho let themselves be drenched.

“This is stupid. We’re advertising ourselves, not the brand,” Jonghyun complained as he tugged at the uncomfortably cold fabric.

“That’s actually the point,” Minho snorted, putting his hand on the fountain piece above them, leaning casually yet professionally. Jonghyun grimaced but followed his demeanor. After a while of shooting in the freeing water, Jonghyun was sure he would wake up with a cold the next morning. Then, suddenly, there were screams.

“Rudolph, don’t! No, Rudolph, please, no!” a girl’s voice shouted. However, it didn’t sound like all of the other fangirl cries. This was . . .

“Taeyeon?” Jonghyun said in disbelief as a dog splashed into the fountain. It continued on past the two models.

“Noona?” Minho breathed in his shock, forgetting that his working self only used formal honorifics. The dark-haired girl sprinted after the dog, tripping in the middle of the fountain and falling face-first into the water. She sat up and spat a mouthful of water out before standing up.

“Taeyeon!” Jonghyun shouted. She glanced at him and squinted through the wall of water.

“Jonghyun?” Her eyes turned to the man beside him. “Minho?” Taeyeon shook her head and looked for the dog she’d been chasing. “Rudolph!” Then she was gone. Jonghyun watched her, mouth agape.

What the hell had just happened?

Taeyeon~

“I’m just going to ask you straight out. Are you and Jonghyun dating?”

Amused, Taeyeon glanced up from feeding the bunny in her arms. She let it back in its cage with a sigh, which she dragged out for a long time just to provoke IU. It was working. She didn’t have wide, prettily blinking eyes like she did around Jonghyun, although Taeyeon had to admit that she was still pretty.

“Is that what you’ve been trying to get me to tell you all this time?” Taeyeon asked. IU just pursed her lips. “No, we’re not dating.”

“Oh.” IU looked relieved, but then she frowned. “Then what’s your relation? Cousins?”

“No. No blood relation. I’m just living with him.” IU gasped, and Taeyeon turned away to face the animals, not wanting to reveal her huge grin.

“Listen. I don’t know what you’re trying to imply, but if you hadn’t noticed, I like Jonghyun oppa!” IU stressed. Taeyeon forced herself not to flinch at the term. Oppa. Were they that close already? She was sure Jonghyun hadn’t even called her noona yet.

Which reminded her that she was older than him. Taeyeon closed her eyes with a bitter groan.

“Taeyeon-ssi?” Taeyeon raised her eyes to look at IU; she hadn’t been listening. “Did you hear me?” When Taeyeon didn’t answer, IU huffed. “Do you like Jonghyun?” Taeyeon didn’t reply again, just blinked several times. “Well, if you do, just know that I’m going to be your competition.”

Taeyeon suppressed a snort. Even if she did like Jonghyun, she didn’t consider IU competition. That led to the thought - did she like Jonghyun?

When her heartbeat raced at the thought of him . . . it was just fear, right? I mean, she was living with a demon after all. Taeyeon glanced out the window. Her eyes widened when she saw Doctor Jung holding a small puppy. She quickly sprinted out of the daycare to confront the little animal.

“A little girl just told me she found it in a box. I couldn’t very well tell her to drop it off at a shelter, so I suppose I’ll do it myself.”

“I’ll take her!” Taeyeon eyed the whining puppy with loving eyes. “It’s a long haired daschund, isn’t it?” Doctor Jung looked surprised, and he nodded. “Yes!”

“Taking care of a dog is a lot more work than you may expect, Taeyeon,” Doctor Jung started.

“Nonsense! Jonghyun and I can take care of her together.” Taeyeon grinned as she scooped up the puppy. “Oh, can I, please, please!” Doctor Jung smiled when she mentioned Jonghyun.

“All right,” he sighed. “But first I’ll need to give you the basics . . .”

“Hm, what should I name her?” Taeyeon thought aloud as she ignored Doctor Jung. “Roo, right? She could be a Roo number two. Roo . . . dul?” (A/N: when you count in Korean, two is ‘dul’) “Roo-dul. Rudolph.” Taeyeon nodded eagerly at the name, causing the puppy to stop and mimick the movement.

~~~~~~~

Maybe Taeyeon should have paid more attention when Doctor Jung was lecturing her about the attention span and energy of a puppy. Rudolph was absolutely restless. One second, Taeyeon turned to say goodbye to Doctor Jung at the door; then Rudolph had yipped and ran off.

“Rudolph, no!” Taeyeon cried, trying to keep up with the dog. Chasing after her had only made Rudolph more set on running away.

Taeyeon wasn’t sure how long she’d been running and apologizing, but her lungs were on fire. Her stomach twisted when she saw Rudolph heading towards a large crowd of girls (and some boys [shoutout to fanboys aaaay]).

“RUDOLPH, PLEASE NO!” Taeyeon continued to shout and apologize as she burst through the girls, who hissed and cursed at her. Oh, look, there’s caution tape. Oh, look, I’m jumping over the caution tape. “Rudolph, don’t!” Rudolph did. He ran through the water fountain. Taeyeon, unthinkingly went after him. “No, Rudolph, please, no!”

Oh, I think the ground is coming closer to my face.

Splash! Taeyeon blinked into the dirty fountain water before sitting up and spluttering.

“Taeyeon!”

Shocked, Taeyeon turned, only to meet a pair of familiar eyes through the fountain water.

“Jonghyun?” There was a figure next to him. “Minho?” Oh. That meant Jonghyun saw the surprise that Taeyeon had for him . . . the surprise . . . “Rudolph!” Taeyeon got up and continued to sprint after the little pup. She thought she heard someone else behind her, but she was too focused on getting Jonghyun’s new pet.

Taeyeon found Rudolph sitting outside a small toy shop, waiting for her loyally.

“You misleading pup,” Taeyeon scoffed, but she couldn’t resist the little dog’s cuteness. She stooped down, dripping wet and all, and hugged the black-and-brown haired dog to her.

“Taeyeon?”

“Jonghyun!” Taeyeon exclaimed, smiling widely as she spun towards the recognized voice. Jonghyun stared at her for a second before his eyes blinked down to Rudolph.

“That looks like . . .”

“Roo, am I right? This is Rudolph! Get it? Roo - dul? I got her for you!” Taeyeon enthused, holding out the puppy. As Jonghyun reached for her, Taeyeon pulled Rudolph back suddenly. “Whoa. You’re even more soaked than I am.” Jonghyun looked down at himself, as if he’d just realized.

“Oh.” He glanced back up at Taeyeon with unfathomable eyes. “Let’s go home. I think I’m done with modeling for today. They can contact me if anything.”

~~~~~~~

“ . . . You really got this dog for me?” Jonghyun questioned, almost suspiciously. He had taken a shower after Taeyeon and had a towel draped over his head. Rudolph jumped at his shins until Jonghyun picked her up.

“Of course. I thought that it would help you to grow fond of me,” Taeyeon admitted. “Plus, Roo was actually a good memory from your childhood. That one’s a stray, you know. Left in a box. I think it’s better she ended up with us.” Jonghyun looked at her for a long time, his hazel orbs shining with something Taeyeon couldn’t place. “ . . . What?”

“Thank you.” Then Jonghyun gave her the most genuine smile he’d ever given to her.

Ba-dum. Taeyeon placed a hand to her chest. Was that her heart?

“Are you alright?” Jonghyun asked, concern laced in his words. Oh, don’t look at me as if you care, Taeyeon begged mentally, feeling weird in her chest and gut. “I heard your heartbeat stutter.”

Taeyeon let her lips pull up weakly.

“I don’t know. I’m not feeling so well,” she admitted. It was true. She didn’t. This foreign beating of her heart, the unfamiliar twist of her stomach . . . this feeling . . .

“You think it’s from the cold fountain water?” Jonghyun continued, eyebrows drawing up with worry. Taeyeon’s heart leapt again. “I heard it again! Come on; let’s take you to bed.”

Taeyeon felt impossibly embarrassed as Jonghyun led her to his room - again! Before, she hadn’t thought much about it. But now . . .

“I’m going to stop by the pet store and get some things for Roo . . . Rudolph. Right,” Jonghyun mumbled, apologizing quietly to the puppy in his arms as he tucked Taeyeon in. “Rest! Don’t move. If I come back home and you’re not asleep, I’ll kill you. Oh, wait. You need dinner. Did you have a big lunch?”

“Doctor Jung bought me and IU food . . .”

“You’ll get a big breakfast tomorrow then. Sleep!” Jonghyun ordered, taking Rudolph and himself out of the room. Taeyeon heard the front door open and panicked.

“Wait, Jonghyun! I’m fine! Don’t leave me alone!” she whined, still secretly scared someone would burst in without her knowledge. There was a silence.

“Don’t worry. I’ll bring the key inside.” And the door closed.

Taeyeon stared up at the ceiling, blinking several times in confusion.

“But . . . I’m really not sick,” she whispered. She pressed her palms to her closed eyelids and groaned loudly. “I’m just . . . crap. IU was right. I like Jonghyun . . . I like Kim Jonghyun!” Taeyeon focused into space, feeling like she was in a daze. She thrashed in the bed, moving the sheets around violently.

Oh, god. Someone help me.

“I’ve fallen for a half-demon!”

A/N:

Hohohohhohoho

Min-hohoho

So Taeyeon has finally disovered her feelings...?

Eottoke?!

And she also got him Roo #2 <3

Aaaah, I really want to start my next story so badly

I think I'm going to change the layout of my writing

It looks too close together

But I'll save it for the next story

And I don't have an interesting story to put in gifs BUT

I shall spam you with perfect SHINee gifs.

So. Perf.

Bai-bai! Thanks for reading~