~Chapter Twelve~

Who

Taemin's POV~

“Ahh!” I hear Minho hyung's scream and dash toward the classroom. I run into the room without hesitation and see Minho hyung on the floor in front of a dead body, hanging from the ceiling. I nearly yell, but stop as I take a better look at the hanging body. It is just a mannequin. I rush to Minho hyung and hug him.

“It's fake hyung, don't worry.” Minho hyung opens his eyes and looks at the doll.

“What the hell is going on around here?!” The teacher yells and marches in. He tears off the doll and throws it onto the ground. “Lee Taemin, I expect an explanation from you. I asked you to go get Minho and you didn't return for fifteen minutes. Choi Minho you better explain yourself. Why didn't you join the class meeting and ended up trashing my room!?”

~Thirty Minutes Ago~

“Sorry I'm late!” I say as I enter the lecture hall. The teacher sent us an email last night about going to school early and attending the class meeting, but I couldn't go that early since I recently got a morning job. If I didn't check my email, I wouldn't even have come at this hour. I only got three hours of sleep last night and worked all morning, I wanted to sleep for another hour...

“Where's Choi Minho?” The teacher asks.

“I'm not sure. Hyung normally goes to school around this time. Maybe he didn't get the memo and came late?”

“Since you're already late, just go look for him. Both of you will clean after school as punishment.”

“Yes, Mr. Park,” I bow and exit the room. Ever since our old homeroom teacher left for her honeymoon, Mr. Park has replaced her. Unlike her, he is mean, strict, and doesn't like me one bit. I don't know why, but from the past week with him, he seems to hate everyone.

“Jonghyun hyung is calling, pick up the phone~” My phone rings. I pick up the phone and immediately hear Jonghyun hyung's nervous voice.

“I slept in! Did the meeting start?!”

“Yes hyung, I was late too.”

“Darn it! It means I will get scolded for sure!”

“It's okay hyung, Minho hyung and I have cleaning duty today; you can join us!”

“I don't wanna!”

“Don't block my way you freaking dino!” I hear Key hyung's voice in the background.

“Why are you so loud in the morning~?” I hear Onew hyung's sleepy voice.

“Yah! Just because you're late too doesn't mean you can disrespect me, you damn cat!” Jonghyun hyung yells. “Taemin-ah, I need to race with Key and come before him. I'll see you later!”

“Bye hyung!” I hang up and put my phone back in my pocket. I walk around the school for a while, looking for Minho hyung, I am not sure he is in the gym or in our classroom. Since the lecture hall is the middle of the two areas and the gym and our class are the total opposite direction, I need to choose the correct place to go. I look at my watch and hum. There is about a half an hour left until school officially starts. Since he normally enters our classroom about this time, he might be already done with his morning exercise in the gym...I nod to myself and walk to the left, toward our classroom.

“♪ There is a place I'd like to go

Away from here all on my own♪,”

I hear a song as I pass by one of the vacant classrooms. There can't be anyone in their classes since all classes have meetings today in different locations...

“♪Where I can sing and dance all day

Where I can throw my pain away ♪,”

I walk toward the noise and put my ear against the closed door. Why does this song sound so familiar...? It almost sounds like my voice...

“♪There is a place where I will go

Away from here I'll go alone

Life or death I do not care

As long as I'm away from here...♪ ”

This isn't a normal classroom, but an office. This office is none other than Mr. Park's personal office. I reach toward the doorknob and place my hand on the cold doorknob. Slowly, I twist the knob and anticipate what I will find.

“Ahh!” I hear Minho hyung's scream and pull back my hand. I need to go find him.

~Current Time~

I help Minho hyung up and hold onto him, making sure he won't lose his balance and fall over. “Well?” Mr. Park folds his arms across his chest.

“I had some business to take care of in the bathroom, so I ended up taking so long to find Minho hyung,” I lie. I don't want him to know about the song playing in his room.

“What business?”

“I took a dump, Mr. Park,” I say slowly. A blush creeps up on his cheek and he clears his throat.

“And you Choi Minho,” His gaze is fixed on Minho hyung's startled face. “Explain yourself.”

“I just entered the class not too long ago. I didn't know where everyone was so I just decided to go into the classroom. All of a sudden, this fell in front of me and gave me a fright.” Minho hyung looks at the floor, not daring to look up at the teacher.

“He's telling the truth, Mr. Park,” I say. “I heard him scream and came over here. If he was the one who trashed your room, he wouldn't have scared himself.”

“I'll buy it for now. If I find out that SHINee has to do with this, I'll make sure to punish you my own way,” Mr. Park's voice is laced with malice. When he said “SHINee” he was scowling, like he really hated us, but again, Mr. Park hates everyone...The bell rings and startles us. “The prep rally is about to start. You two better clean this up and meet the class in the auditorium. If I don't see you before it is 8 o'clock, you'll definitely regret it.” Mr. Park clicks his heels, turns around in a swift motion, and marches out the room.

“Taemin-ah, I-”

“You don't need to explain yourself Minho hyung, I won't ask.” I cut him off, trying to not have him feel uncomfortable. I grab the garbage can and throw all of the garbage into it. With Minho hyung's help, we gathered all of the trash in less than five minutes. We both flip the desks and chairs upright and put them in the correct positions. Lastly, I go to the bathroom, fill up a bucket of water, and bring it back into the classroom. “Catch,” I say and toss a towel to hyung who catches it with ease. We both scrub the board with the wet towels and manage to clean it.

“We have five minutes to spare,” Minho hyung says. I walk toward the doll that is on the floor. Minho hyung and I exchange eye contact and he nods. I lift up the cloth mannequin and look at its face, drawn on with red ink. The eyes are x's and the mouth looks like it is stitched on. Its chest has a long cloth hanging from it's chest saying “Those who hurt others deserve punishment.”

“This doesn't mean this is directed toward you hyung,” I say after seeing the worried look on hyung's face. “Everyone is capable and have probably hurt people in their life.” I turn the doll around and see another note stating, “Watch your back.”

“I really hope that note isn't made for me...”

“Let's go hyung, we'll be late and if Mr. Park catches us, then we'll be better off with the mystery person getting us.”

“Agreed,” Minho hyung says and grabs my hand. “Let's go.”

“Taemin, Minho!” Jonghyun hyung waves to us. We both smile and rush to our hyungs who saved seats for us. Still holding hands, we sit down next to each other.

“I didn't know you were a fan of skinship, Minho-ah,” Key hyung chuckles. I pull my hand away and put it in my pant pocket.

“Way to ruin the moment you stupid cat,” Jonghyun hyung whispers loudly.

“Oh stop it you two,” Onew hyung says, obviously still sleepy.

“Good morning everybody. I'm glad you all made it in time. Before we start the performances the clubs have created, let's watch a video of the process,” the principal says through the microphone. The lights dim down as the projector comes down. The video starts playing with a burst of loud background music. In the video, we see students fooling around, trying to practice their routines and performances. As a clip of another club comes up, another burst of laughter replaces the last.

“Hey look, it's us!” Key hyung smiles and points to the screen. I see myself with a determined face learning the dance moves and my hyungs in the background doing so as well. Suddenly, the projection turns gray and the loud music stops. Chatter spreads across the whole auditorium as the projection remains gray.

“Please calm down, the video will resume shortly,” the principal shuts us up and we sit patiently, waiting for the video to resume.

“Oh my gosh what is he doing?!” We hear a female voice in the speakers. All of a sudden, the gray projection changes into a video clip. The video is a big blurry and shaky, like it was filmed using a phone. The video is focused on a skinny person with his hair over his face, who is standing on top of the climbing pole. This must be a clip of the Outdoor Adventure club or something...

“He's taking his harness off!” A male screams the video zooms into the boy who is unlatching his clip that is attached to the safety rope. The male opens his mouth and starts singing,

“♪ There is a place I'd like to go

Away from here all on my own

Where I can sing and dance all day

Where I can throw my pain away

There is a place where I will go

Away from here I'll go alone

Life or death I do not care

As long as I'm away from here...♪ ”

“Lee Taemin, stop that! Fasten your carabiner and get down from there!” A person in the video screams.

“Oh my gosh is that Taemin?!” The students in the auditorium ask out loud and turn toward my direction, all staring at me. No, that can't be me. In the video, the wind starts to blow strongly. The boy's hair is blown away from his face. Everyone gasps as the face is seen clearly. The person standing on the climbing pole with his climbing gear unlatched is me...But it can't be..Why don't I remember any of this!?

“Taemin-ah, that can't be really you, right!?” Key hyung places his hand on my shoulder.

“He lost his memory, remember?” Jonghyun hyung says.

“The person in the video looks so much like him...” Onew hyung says slowly. Minho hyung places his hand on mine and squeezes it.

“Please, Taemin-ah, tell me that's not you.”