<<<

"I'm going out with noona!" Taemin grabbed her hand and swayed it in the air with his as they strolled towards his apartment. Amber could've declined his movie offer but he pleaded with his puppy-dog eyes that made her instantly agreed to come. It was the only technique he always used and it always worked.

They sat in the middle of the couch—she sat at the corner resting her arm on the armrest but Taemin pulled her closer to him. Taemin was jumping on his seat obviously excited about the film they were about to watch. An animation film. They shared a large bowl of popcorn because, apparently, Taemin saw it in a chic-flick he watched with his hyungs. He tried to grab some popcorns at the same time as her for a few times so he could hold her hand inside the bucket(like what he saw in other romantic films) but each time he failed. But he succeeded on putting his arm over her shoulders.

She froze for a moment. She could feel her cheeks heating up as she glanced at him. He was just calm, like it was normal for him. He just knew how to keep it cool while she couldn't, well, not anymore. Now, he was making her nervous.

Her nervousness was soon gone when the older boys who were living with Taemin arrived and the blinding lights.

"Ah, I told you not to go home till midnight!" Taemin was really furious. He stood up and started ranting at his hyungs walking back and forth in front f them. He was like a little boy who didn't get what he wanted and was complaining to his parents.

"This is our apartment too." Jonghyun answered actually mocking the youngest. He winked at Amber and she laughed silently.

"I'm gonna sleep. Good night, noona. See you tomorrow!" Taemin happily waved at her as he walked into the bedroom.

"Oh, and noona, you're so pretty!" He stated before he closed the door.

She smiled at him before looking at the four boys who were all raising their eyebrows. She knew what that meant. They gathered around the kitchen table, far from Taemin's room so he wouldn't hear them talking. They confronted Amber. Again. It wasn't the first time they had that talk. The boys were worried for Taemin. They were afraid that if Amber continued to lead on Taemin, she might hurt him. So they told her she should stop going out with him. Amber defended herself saying that she wasn't going out with him. They were indoors. And because Taemin hated going out on dates. It was just hanging out in her defense. "I'm not leading him on!"

"If you don't like him, just tell him." Key said patting Amber's back as he accompanied her to the door.

That was the problem—she didn't know what she felt for him.

<<<

Aside from being the cutest dongsaeng, he's also very possessive, and they all thought Key was the most possessive one. They were both very possessive. Their only difference was that Key was possessive with material things while Taemin was possessive, really possessive with people, well, with one specific person, one specific girl—Amber.

She was very close to every single guy he knew and other guys he didn't even know the names. But he couldn't do anything about it. She was just that friendly and everyone loved her.

But when it was just among him and the other SHINee members, he would pretty much push them away from Amber. He adored his hyungs but not as much as he adored Amber. No one could lay a hand on her nor simply poke her when Taemin's around. He was, sort of, her bodyguard because he would always tell her that he wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt her. He would always protect her.

Another weird thing was that Amber didn't mind. She liked the feeling of being "owned". Of being protected in some way. Of being liked. Maybe that was the reason why she never tried too hard to stay away from him. Because he was the only boy who had shown interest in her when all the others, well, they were just being amicable. Taemin. He was different.

"Amber, do you like Taemin?" Victoria asked her as they were doing some stretching during the practice break. The three younger girls went out for coffee.

"Hmm?" Amber raised her head a little as she did a split.

"Do you like prince Taemin?" Victoria repeated her question.

"Ha-ha. Prince Taemin." Amber chuckled. She created that nickname. If Krystal was f(x)'s princess, Taemin was SHINee's prince. They all treated him like one since he was so young when he started being a trainee and he needed extra attention. Tons of extra attention. He was a growing kid after all.

"Why aren't you answering my question? Do you like Taemin or not?" Victoria required again. Amber put her legs together and stretched them forward before she answered "No, I don't." then she stood up and grabbed her bottle of water and took a sip.

"Then tell him that."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I can already imagine his devastated face. I don't want to break his heart."

Little did they know, Taemin was just outside the room, leaning his back against the wall and listening to their conversation. He grimaced. He then wiped off the sweat falling from his forehead(caused by the long hours of nonstop dance practice) before he walked away and sighed so very deeply. His heart was crushed and smashed.

<<<

From that day on, Taemin barely saw Amber. Actually, it was the other way around—Amber barely saw Taemin. He was never around anymore. He stopped coming during break time, he stopped inviting her to have lunch, to go to their apartment to hang out. He stopped phoning her and asking her how her day was. He stopped greeting her when they bumped into each other in the hallway or at the reception. He stopped calling her "noona". He stopped telling her "you're so pretty". He just... stopped.

Amber was starting to feel down. She was really missing Taemin's presence, his sweetness and affection towards her. She thought it was a bit silly to feel that way but she couldn't help it.

"Taemin!" She called him when she saw him passing by the door of f(x)'s practice room. She peeked from the door and saw him turning his head a little to look at her but instantly looked ahead again and continued walking completely ignoring Amber. She furrowed her eyebrows fully weirded by his cold actions.

<<<

She heaved a sigh leaning her jaw on the cold stainless steel railings on the rooftop of the SM building. She couldn't understand what she had done wrong to him. She really wanted to talk to him and ask him what was really going on. But she was scared. Maybe it's better off this way. She thought to herself. She thought that Taemin had finally stopped liking her and that she didn't have to try avoiding him(because now, he was the one avoiding her).

She sighed again and trailed her hands along the railing. She really missed him. Her head was doing all sorts of flashbacks. Scenes with Taemin kept repeating in her head. He, calling out her name, kept replaying. She felt like she was going crazy. She hit the side of her head trying to erase Taemin's image inside it.

"What's happening to me?" She frustratedly asked.

"Amber noona," she heard his voice. She thought she was really going crazy. She thought she was starting to hallucinate. She wanted it to stop. She didn't want to hear it anymore because it was really driving her nuts.

"My pretty Amber noona," but then she heard his voice once again and so she turned around and saw him standing a few meters away from her. He was chewing on his lower lip as he walked towards her.

"I'm sorry I acted cold around you for the past weeks. Honestly, I tried. I really tried to stay away but I couldn't stop thinking about you. I knew I just had to see you and talk to you and hear your voice." Taemin was fiddling with his own fingers and was staring down at them but he had to look at her and when he did, he felt his heart melting. She had a confused look, cute confused look. It was the same look that she used to give everyone when she couldn't understand their Korean. He found her really enticing. Well, whatever she did was enticing to him.

"Noona, tell me the truth. Do you like me?" Taemin asked straightforwardly without even a sign of anxiety. He actually prepared for that moment.

"No, don't answer yet. Whatever you're answer will be, I just want you to know that I really like you. I'm crazy about you. I know you feel uncomfortable when you're with me. Maybe sometimes I even bore you and that I'm no fun. But noona, you... you are my everything. You make me happy. You make my heart flutter. You may not believe it when I say you're so pretty, but you really are." Taemin memorized everything. But he felt like what he said was not enough. He could feel his heart begin to crack.

"Ah, noona, just, don't answer. I already know what you're going to say. I don't wanna hear it—" he was about to turn around and ran but Amber grabbed the collar of his blue navy polo shirt and pulled him close to her before she made their lips meet. Taemin's eyes were wide opened wholly surprised of Amber's sudden action. Amber noona is kissing me! He screamed inside his head that was then full of colorful fireworks. Their lips parted after a few seconds.

"Does that mean...?" Taemin couldn't finish his question but Amber nodded knowing exactly what he was trying to say.

"This must be a dream! Pinch my cheeks and tell me I'm not dreaming." Taemin said grabbing both of Amber's hands and squeezing them but she just gave him another peck on the lips.

Amber was smiling from ear to ear. She was smiling like a cute dinosaur, like Jonghyun after finishing up writing a new song, except she was a lot cuter and girlier. Taemin couldn't ask for more. Amber was all he wanted and now she was his.

Amber knew she wanted him too. There was no way she could deny that anymore. Because the days she didn't see him, the days she didn't hear his voice were the worst days of her life. She hated it when he ignored her. She hated it when he made her feel invisible. Because she liked being noticed, not by everyone, not by every other single person in the world. She didn't even care if no one knew her name. She only liked being noticed by Taemin. She liked him.

"Amber noona!" He called her as he stopped running down the stairs.

"You're sooooo pretty!" He yelled that echoed through the empty halls, through her ears to her thumping heart.

Amber thought that he needed to stop doing that—calling her name and telling her she was pretty. 'Cause it was only making her fall for him even deeper. But then again, she didn't care anymore because she had already fallen for that little kid, that pretty boy, that prince, Lee Taemin.