"Jieun!" Onew called for the last time before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"She... She hates me..." Taemin muttered in shock. He couldn't believe what his ears just heard.

Jieun had never said something like that to him. A big reason why could be because he was rarely home, but even after moving with SHINee, she had never gotten angry with them.

"That tends to happen when she feels like you have abandoned her all of a sudden." Hyoyeon pointed out with crossed arms.

"What do you mean? We aren't abandoning her!" Jonghyun argued.

"Think about it. She's still young and might not be able to grasp the situation." Yoona said.

"Besides, she's always been clingy to you instead of exploring the world by herself, am I correct?" Seohyun asked.

As if the girls had shot three times through the boys' hearts, they felt empty and regretful.

"She's right..." Minho stated in despair. "We are abandoning her for God knows how long."

"Finally you got that." Hyoyeon huffed and rolled her eyes. "Now, are you going to leave without bidding your goodbyes or are you going to something to it?"

Still baffled, the SHINee members stared at her questioningly.

"Go and find her!" Yoona exclaimed loudly after not being able to take the situation anymore.

"Ah, right." Taemin muttered. His eyes wandered the SM Entertainment's large lobby frantically.

"But where to start?" Onew asked, voicing out Taemin's thought.

"I think it's for the best to divide." Key said after being silent for so long.

"We'll help you." Seohyun offered and the two others nodded.

"I'll go check the practice rooms in the third floor." Hyoyeon said.

"I'll come with you." Key replied and the two went off to find Jieun.

"Tae, go left with Seohyun in case she has gotten lost in these hallways, and I and Yoona will check on the right." Jonghyun said and everyone a complied.

"I guess it's just you and me, now." Onew said to Minho, who just shrugged.

"Let's go to the elevator. It's made of glass so we get to see a lot." Minho suggested.

"Sounds like an good idea."

"Okay, let's move."

Jieun, who had ran away, had stopped after aimlessly going through some hallways. She had no idea where she was since she didn't know how to navigate inside the SM. She was out of breath and her side was aching after all that running.

She thought she had made it far enough to have a moment to catch her breath and wipe all those tears that were blinding her sight and burning her eyes, but the steps she heard coming towards the direction she was at proved her wrong.

Frantically looking around, she spotted the emergency stairways and ran there right before Yoona and Jonghyun turned around the corner.

Jieun collapsed against the closed door as she hold her breath, hoping they wouldn't find her there. Not after what she heard.

The thoughts of staying behind while they'd have fun in Japan seemed unbearable. Not to mention how many new faces she would have to bear.

What she did realize was that she was going to stay with those girls she met in the lobby, those pretty ones. But it wasn't just the three of them. There were nine in total, and she knew it.

And Taemin would just shrug while she'd whine, push her down the cliff, feeding her to hungry hyenas.

How long was she going to stay there anyway? A week? A month? A year? She had no idea and she wasn't so keen to find out.

"Dang, I can't see her here either. I had no idea she'd dash off after hearing about it." Jonghyun muttered, loud enough that Jieun could hear it through the door.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she's here somewhere. We'll find her eventually, I promise you that." Yoona assured, bringing a smile to the worried boy's features.

"Thanks.. I really mean it, Yoona."

"Nah, this is nothing. I guess the responsibility of being her guardian is already rubbing on me." Yoona laughed.

"Then you better keep a good eye on her while we're away. Don't let the girls do anything funny to her."

"Sure, sure. What would they do to her anyway? Besides, you can repay us by buying us some food."

"Food? For all nine of you?" Jonghyun asked shocked. Yoona burst put laughing after seeing his jaws drop to the floor.

"Yes. Or then you could just buy me."

"Jeez, you can't be taken that lightly either..."

"What? Sooyoung is worse!"

"No, she's not. She knows when to stop unlike you."

"Hey!"

Jieun frowned and few more tears fell down. Seeing them chatting this casually hurt her more for some reason. Maybe they weren't seriously trying to find her after all, they were just dating.

It hurt her, it really did. But she knew she had no one else but herself to blame. I should've gone to America with mom and dad..

Finally the voices of the two dissipated and she let out a sigh. Was she really that unneeded? She had made her mind to just keep hiding till they leave so that she wouldn't have to deal with her emotions right now. After only making one floor up, she heard steps coming down the stairs.

First she panicked, thinking it could be one of those that were searching her, but soon she realized the steps were calm. It must've been someone that was casually leaving the building. Or just coming downstairs.

Jieun waited patiently as the steps sounded louder. She let out a breath she was unknowingly holding as a young, not so familiar girl came to her sight.

"Oh? Someone was here?" She questioned calmly and made her way to the teary eyed Jieun. She flinched as the unfamiliar girl attempted to strike her hair and the girl quickly withdrew her hand.

"I'm sorry, I should've asked if that was okay first." She stated and Jieun buried her face to her face to her knees. It was silent for a long time, inevitably caused by Jieun's sudden reaction to her touch. "Are you hiding here?" She asked suddenly and looked at the small human ball on the floor.

Jieun wasn't going to give her an answer, she soon realized, so she let out a sigh and sat next to her. "I'm hiding too." She admitted, gaining Jieun's interest. She peeked at the girl secretly, looking at her light brown hair with tiny waves.

"Why?" She asked the stranger with a small voice. Surprised to hear her talk, the girl turned her head to Jieun's direction. Then she flashed a small, kind smile.

"I kind of messed up with something and a man got angry at me, so I left while he wasn't looking." She said, making a face.

"He must be a bad man." Jieun stated, making the girl laugh. Jieun didn't even know why she was still talking with the other person.

"He isn't a bad man, he's just stressed and a bit sensitive now. He only shouted at me because I was the one that made the mistake." She defended.

"Sounds like a bad man to me." Jieun stated. She hated getting scolded and more than that, she hated when people shouted at her.

"You are one stubborn girl." The girl stated amused. Just then the shouts behind the door they were at sounded again.

"Jieun!" They heard and the little runaway recognized Jonghyun's voice. Panic grew inside her and her eyes widened as she remembered the girl she was with. She wouldn't give her away, right?

As if sensing the mental battle Jieun was going through, the girl turned to her and said. "I won't tell you're here if you won't tell on me either." She said and hold out her pinky that had some cool nail art on it. It reminded her of Key and how he promised to get her the ice cream, but he forgot it over a night. She wasn't sure at all if she could do such a promise with a mere stranger.

Then the shouts of Jonghyun's got another, new voice she didn't know to accompany them. She assumed it was the man the other girl was running away from, so she quickly made her decision and locked her pinky with hers.

He sounded really mad and she didn't want her first impression of that man to be scary. She would hate him if she did.

"We got to hurry, it won't take long until they discover we're here. Let's go to the cafe downstairs." She suggested and Jieun nodded.

They ran down one floor and secured their path as they finally stepped out of the stairway they made their promise in. Sneakily, like spies, they advanced forward on the hallway, careful not to be seen. Jieun didn't even realize she was holding hands with the girl since the thrilling sensation of it all took her focus.

This was like a big scaled hide and seek game, and Jieun loved hide and seek.

"Jieun!" They heard Taemin shout. Startled, they rushed towards the other way and almost gave themselves away as they nearly ran around the corner straight to Jonghyun. It would've happened only if they hadn't heard his shout. Because of the noise he made, they managed to jump behind a big flower pot that was taller than Jieun and hid the other girl quite well, too, thanks to her matching height.

"Yoona, did you just hear that?" Jonghyun asked, meaning the small squeaks that escaped the girls' lips as they hardly avoided getting caught.

"No." She said baffled. She had no idea what he was talking about.

Soon Taemin and Seohyun joined the others and they started to share the news no one wanted to hear right in front of them.

"You didn't find her either?" Taemin asked with a pout. Jonghyun shook his head.

"Let's hope Onew and Key are more luckier than us."

"Yeah."

Meanwhile, Onew's and Minho's search party was going up and down in the see-through elevator in the hope of seeing Jieun wander somewhere. They were coming down for the third time.

"If we don't find her this time, I think we should go to the lobby and wait for others." Onew stated and Minho nodded.

"I agree. Though I expected this to be the most effective way, I guess it wasn't."

"She must've gone in some corner to hide herself." Onew contemplated out loud.

"Yeah, but I think the others could find her if- wait. Isn't that...?" Minho asked as he pointed towards the two backs hiding behind a plotted plant. Curiously Onew turned to watch where he was pointing and let out a gasp.

"Isn't it Jieun and noona?"He asked, not believing his eyes.

"Why are those idiots just standing there when they're right there? Can't they see them?" Minho asked frustrated.

"They are quite small framed. But wow, hiding under plain sight. That's quite smart." Onew complimented with a shrug.

Minho smirked. "Only if it weren't for us, they could've gotten away with it. Those dummies wouldn't even find their shoes if we'd make them search for them."

"There comes Key and Hyoyeon, maybe they'll notice them.... not, it seems." Onew sighed. "Just wait till the doors open and I-"

Bling, the doors opened as the sound went off.

"Finally!" Minho exclaimed and ran out, Onew tailing behind him.

"You didn't find them either?" Yoona asked Key and Hyoyeon who came downstairs to check on the situation.

"No. Where can she be if none of us found her yet?" Hyoyeon murmured.

"Jieun!" Minho shouted as his grand entrance, startling everyone, including the hidden girls that got the idea they were busted.

"Jieun isn't here, you dummy." Jonghyun said and Taemin sat on the ground in the verge of tears.

"It's all my fault..." He said and the others were quick to assure it wasn't. The blame was evenly placed on every member of SHINee.

"No, she's here!" Minho shouted louder, feeling even more frustrated of the others. Shocked, everyone stared at the flower pot Onew had circled around, seeing the two escapees by his own eyes right before him.

"Got ya." He said. "No wonder we couldn't find her, you were helping her."

"Sorry, we made a deal." A female voice said, making the others rush to the place Onew was standing at.

"Unnie?" Seohyun asked in shock, "what are you doing here?"

"More accurately, why are you hiding with Jieun?" Yoona asked. The girl got no time to answer, however, since there was one person even more worried.

"Jieun!" Taemin exclaimed and ran to hug his sister tightly. Jieun didn't response to the hug, she was just staying still as he embraced her. She still wasn't sure what she should feel, but anger was on top of the list at the moment.

"Let go..." She murmured in a defeated tone and Taemin complied immediately, examining her face.

"You aren't mad anymore, right?" He asked and made the puppy eyes. Jieun wasn't affected since she knew she could do it better. After he released her, she ran to the girl she had met in the stairway and hid behind her. The girl let out a surprised yelp as a strong grip suddenly tugged her shirt from behind. After seeing it was only Jieun, she calmed down and let her do what she wanted.

"Jieun.." Taemin muttered sadly and came after her. He wasn't that good with kids, not even with his own little sister. Before he could make it closer, Key stopped him. Glaring at him, he waited for an explanation.

"Look, Jieun's making a friend." Key whispered as he discreetly nudged his head towards the girl, who was trying to tempt Jieun to come in front of her. Only then Taemin realized that Jieun had actually ran to a stranger's safety. He was saddened by the fact that she felt like she needed to escape her own brother, but the fact that she become acquainted willingly with a person she was going to stay with was a good thing.

And they all seemed to agree with that.

"Jieun, when did you come close with Taeyeon?" Yoona asked. She restrained herself from pouting so the situation wouldn't get more out of the hands than it already was. She needed to be careful around Jieun so she wouldn't be misunderstood.

"Taeyeon? Your name was Taeyeon?" Jieun asked with a soft whisper so that the others couldn't hear.

"Yes. And you must be the infamous Jieun everyone was so keen on finding." She whispered back with a playful expression. Jieun grinned and nodded.

"So heartwarming..."Key said and stifled a sob.

"Oh, when does your flight leave?" Seohyun exclaimed in panic. And so Jieun's small, delusional bubble that made her think everything was going to be okay burst.

Jonghyun sighed as he checked his watch. "So soon that we must go." He stated and Jieun shook her head vigorously. She didn't want them to leave, though she knew she couldn't stop them in any way.

"Jieun, come here." Taemin beckoned and waited for the girl to come. She was reluctant, but Taeyeon gave her a push so that she had to go. Little by little, Jieun's trust for the girl lessened.

"You will regret it if you let them leave like this now." Taeyeon pointed out. Jieun sighed and turned her back to Taemin, but she didn't run away this time. It was progress in a way. She seemed to be accepting the truth, although it was a harsh one.

She was trying her best not to cry, but it was getting hard. She wouldn't see her brother for a very long time, maybe even longer than she could handle. The same went to the other members as well.

And so, her tears poured down once again.

"Jieun, we promise to come back soon. I'll miss you until that day comes." Onew said and hugged her gently. After he had done giving his goodbyes to the unresponsive Jieun, he politely bid farewell to the four girls, too.

At this point Taeyeon had made her way next to Jieun, trying to calm her down a bit. Her presence was comforting, but it wasn't enough. She wanted her brother, she wanted SHINee. No one else could ever replace them. The other girls had come closer as well, but they kept a small distance just in case.

"Call me if you get scared." Minho whispered and gave a small kiss on Jieun's wet cheek.

"I won't stop thinking about you even if we are busy. I promise." Jonghyun said in his hug, ruffling Jieun's hair and pressing his head against her back for a second.

"I'll miss you. You can always try to contact us if you feel like it, but we won't be available in every hour, so you might get disappointed. We will call back if that happens." Key said. "We also promise to call you immediately after arriving there." He assured, but it wasn't enough of consolation.

Finally it was Taemin's turn, and he wasted no time at all.

Taemin ran and hugged her backwards since she was reluctant to turn. "I'm going to miss you, Jieun. Be a good girl, alright?" He said and ruffled her hair. After he had said those words and hugged his sister long for the last time, the youngest member of SHINee left the building to cry outside.

"Let's go, Jieun. You're going to live with us in SNSD's dorm. Key said they already said that they sent your stuff there and if something's missing, we got a spare key." Taeyeon said as she bent down to her level and took her hand.

Jieun took a last look back with her teary vision, but she couldn't see any of them. She let them leave without properly saying goodbye. She already regretted it.