Since making their relationship pretty official, Taemin and Kibum had been nothing short of...excessively romantic around each other. Alone in the apartment, sitting on the couch watching movies, together in the kitchen making meals and snacks, laying on the floor in the living room listening to Jonghyun's old compositions and comparing them to his new ones to see how his musicality has evolved. Even at night in bed together sharing small goodnight kisses.

And even in the presence of company.

"Ew, gross, come on you s, I'm eating here!" Kibum's barking laugh filled the apartment, covering Jonghyun's grunt of distaste, "I mean really, do you guys need to do the kissy-kissy at the table? Where everyone eats?"

"Jonghyun hyung, you're sitting at the coffee table. In the living room. Kibum and I are at the breakfast bar." Taemin giggled.

"Hey, watch it punk." Jonghyun mumbled, stuffing egg into his mouth. They were all enjoying breakfast together, Kibum tracing swirls and circles on the back of Taemin's downturned hand on the breakfast bar counter. Taemin was contented. At least...in the game he was.

Taemin could feel the closer he got to Kibum in the game, the more his current life seemed unappealing. His life had already been pretty boring before, but he guessed that maybe he just didn't realize it until Kibum came into his life. Kibum and Jonghyun both gave him a world where he mattered, where he was relevant. Where he wasn't just some trophy son for two rich parents with a good name in their community, struggling to uphold that reputation even if it meant sacrificing Taemin's childhood to lessons and other responsibilities to ensure that he was whipped into top shape early on.

And Taemin really hated it.

He loved mindless banter sitting on that white couch in Jonghyun and Kibum's apartment. He loved staying up late with them, holding Kibum's hand under the blankets and laughing at Jonghyun's sarcastic commentary of movies they watched at 2:00am. He loved visiting Jonghyun at work in his flower shop, asking about all the different flowers and absolutely gushing over the mini potted cacti. And he absolutely loved sharing stories with Kibum in bed at night, holding their fingers up and entwining them in the dark as they giggled over stories of their childhood and their past.

It never ceased to amaze Taemin - the complexity of the game. It was almost to a point where Taemin wasn't even considering it a game anymore but a legitimate other dimension he entered every time he switched the console on. It was like a magic portal to a better world, just like the advertisement for the game had offered. Kibum and Jonghyun had backstories; real childhoods. They could only be considered real people. Taemin was sure if he approached anyone on the streets in Paradise Planet, or even in the higher level Worlds, everyone would have their own story. Their life story. Which was real. Taemin was sure of it. It may be called a game but how can it be when there were real people with real lives and real stories living in it? Sometimes when Taemin was alone, he let his imagination run and his wonders eventually travelled. What if Taemin was also a character in a game and someone was just playing his game? What if everyone was just a character in a game, and in the grand scheme of things, making it to the top in life didn't really matter like how his parents thought it did? You could just restart if you died. Maybe the reason some people didn't believe in reincarnation was because maybe when you died, you just restarted the game as another character?

Eventually his wild thoughts became too much for him and he'd have to stop thinking about it for a while, but he never really stopped wondering.

It was at the breakfast bar, holding hands with Kibum that he began wondering again. Taemin stared at his character sitting in contentment with Kibum at the table. Taemin himself was really sitting in his breakroom at work. It was his day off, but he couldn't pass up an opportunity to play, so he was currently numbing his in the hard plastic chairs of the breakroom, watching his character cozy up next to Kibum while eating eggs and sipping coffee.

None of which he could taste because he wasn't really there.

The thought depressed him.

"Hey, Kibum?" He asked, mouth full of eggs he wasn't really eating, "I think I'm gonna go back to my apartment." At this, Kibum's eyebrows raised and his eyes slightly widened.

"And why is that?"

"I really want to advance to the next levels. I'm only on the sixth level and I still have four more to go. And since moving back in with you and Jonghyun, I really haven't been making any progress in levelling up...so I think I have to go back for a bit and find a way to upgrade. It's not like I'm not going to come back and visit as often as I can, I just think I have to be spending more time in the higher level worlds to be able to upgrade." He paused to chew and swallow, and Kibum nodded slowly, sipping his coffee and sighing contentedly at the taste. Taemin wrinkled his nose. He had no idea how Kibum drank his coffee with so much creamer and sugar; admittedly Taemin liked his black. In the real world, at least.

"So when are you planning on going back?"

"Tonight, maybe? Tomorrow at the latest. I want to level up faster so...well, you know." He trailed off, a hint of a blush blooming on his cheeks.  Kibum giggled softly reaching across their stools to brush a stray strand of Taemin's hair out of his face, cooing softly. On the couch, Jonghyun made retching noises.

"Yeah, of course. I guess I can help you pack some of your things. You're not taking everything though, are you?" A glint of sadness passed over Kibum's eyes before disappearing, but Taemin didn't miss it. He still felt guilty for leaving Kibum for so long without much explanation from before. Kibum was probably always on edge about feeling like Taemin was going to bolt. But there was no way. Taemin felt as if his home truly was with Kibum. A year of friendship and more stood between them; he wasn't backing out of that anytime soon, if ever.

"No, I'm gonna leave most of my stuff here, actually," he smiled, "so try not to miss me too much." He winked at Kibum who's face immediately colored and he smacked Taemin's chest, turning back in his chair, seeming suddenly very interested in the scraps of egg left on his plate. Taemin chuckled softly before getting up to put his dish in the sink.

He would have to meet Sandy again on the higher levels to discuss how he was going to go about levelling up. He had an apartment already so that would help...he needed to accumulate more points. That would help him buy new upgrades for his character which would hopefully cause him to level up. He could never be too sure though, so he needed to ask her first.

He sighed, arms deep in the soapy water in the sink as he scrubbed the dishes, glancing over his shoulder at Kibum now animatedly chatting with Jonghyun who was still seated on the sofa about some show they were watching. He watched them both throw their heads back in laughter as a particularly funny scene flashed across the screen, then chuckled as he watched Kibum scold Jonghyun about being careful not to spill anything on their white couch.

It would be tiring working his way to the tenth level, but for them, he'd do it.

***

Taemin played with the thought every now and then that maybe he was obsessed with the game. He played it at work whenever he could, going as far as requesting less shifts to work but still showing up to spend his time holed up in a corner in the breakroom gaming his brains out. Anyone who saw Taemin play the game would arguably call him a hermit, receding farther and farther into his own little isolated bubble, away from other human contact and interaction, caring for nothing but the game alone, but to Taemin it really wasn't like that. He knew the public probably viewed him as severely addicted with a hint of desperation and probably a little pathetic, but in all honesty he didn't care. The game was more than just a game. It was a whole new world...just as the game had promised him. It gave him the feeling of belonging that he didn't get in the real world. To Taemin, the game was like his home. He had purpose there, he had friends there.

He had love there. And he wasn't about to give that up.

Taemin diligently woke every morning, brushed his teeth and grabbed something quick to eat before going to 'work' which usually consisted of not actually working and seeming like a zombie attached to the console, headset permanently on his head to the point where it felt like he was missing something if he wasn't wearing it. By now, Taemin had even mastered how to space his bathroom breaks so he minimized the amount of game time he missed when he was away from the console.

Within the first two weeks of moving back into his apartment, Taemin felt like he'd made a lot of progress already. He felt as though he could taste the upgrade on his lips; he'd successfully completed a lot of tasks on the sixth level, he'd even done odd jobs for people which had boosted his credibility in the game. But even though he felt like he was close, he still hadn't actually levelled up yet which was concerning to him, so he called Sandy to ask her about it.

"A job?!" Taemin spluttered incredulously.

"Yeah. C'mon, don't you already have one of those in your world? You know how they work, right?" Taemin was sitting across from Sandy in one of the coffee shops located close to his apartment on the sixth level. They were sitting in an enclosed, slightly isolated booth towards the back of the cafe, sipping their drinks and poking at their pastries. Taemin was looking forlornly down at his giant blueberry muffin, hopelessly pondering this new information.

"I know how they work but I didn't expect I would have to work to level up. That's gonna take up so much of my gametime..." He huffed. Sandy chuckled across from him, pausing momentarily to take a long drink from her extra large coffee cup. Taemin figured making sure everything was in check in the entire game really required a decent caffeine fix from time to time.

"I'm not saying you have to, I'm just giving you suggestions. A job would significantly raise your EXP, plus you'll be getting paychecks which will accumulate to your points. That will allow you to buy things to upgrade your character and your apartment. Besides, how did you think you were going to pay your apartment bills, hmm? Sure, prices here probably aren't the same rates as yours back home in your own world, but don't forget, Taemin. This world is real, too. The citizens go about their lives the same way you do at home. People here work jobs and pay bills too, you know." Taemin sighed, ripping off a piece of his muffin and popping it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing before answering.

"I know, I guess I just didn't figure I'd need to get a job so soon. I already have a job in my world, and I spend so much time there even when I'm not working. I just feel like I'm going to be spending so much time working in both worlds, now. I'm going to need to log in every time I need to work in the game, but I'll need to be present whenever I have a shift in my world, too. Where do I get to spend time with Kibum in that mess?"

"I know the prospect of getting a job doesn't seem exactly thrilling right now, but think about the perks; experience? A salary? You could level up in no time. I'm sure Kibum would understand you needing to take some responsibilities to level up, you guys have already talked about it, haven't you? And besides, you're doing all these things for you and Kibum. He has to understand."

"I know he will, I just..." Taemin trailed off, absentmindedly drawing circles on the cafe table with his index finger, trying to follow the pattern of mosaics decorating the plastic furniture. He knew a job would help him exponentially...but his time with Kibum would be reduced so much.

"Think about it," Sandy said, "like I said, it's not mandatory, it's just a suggestion. I know it will advance you much quicker than other methods of upgrading, but it isn't the only way to level up." Taemin sighed and smiled at her in thanks, quickly finishing up his food. When they had both finished and bid each other farewell, Taemin ambled back to his own apartment to sit and think for a while. If he got a job on the sixth level it would undoubtedly skyrocket him to the seventh level in no time at all...he was already so close to levelling up. But first he had to try to make a schedule of his job and responsibilities in the real world so that he could get a job in the game. It might be hard but he had to do it. There had to be a way.

***

Taemin quickly learned that there might not be a way.

His work schedule severely overlapped his game schedule as it was, and he could tell that the increasing amount of hours he spent in the breakroom despite not working was starting to annoy some of the fellow employees. As far as Taemin knew, the manager was still on good terms with him (whether it was because he liked Taemin or because he 's the son of a wealthy company he's still not too sure) but Taemin knew that if he kept too much of this up, the employees could realistically complain to their boss which would get Taemin the boot from the gameroom.

Or worse, fired.

If he got fired, he'd have to go home and tell his mom that he got fired. She'd be furious and while he didn't much care for her anger, he knew he'd care a lot about the repercussions he'd face. He wasn't ready to have the game system taken away from him again. She obviously hadn't checked the game room since she took the console from him, and the door was still locked. She probably thought he had no way of getting in there, so she hadn't bothered to check if the console was still in there or not. If he got fired he'd have to put the console back in there without getting caught so she wouldn't know it was missing, because he couldn't play at home. If he even dared to play the game at home, she'd catch him and he'd be so ed.

Taemin felt like he was already pretty ed as it was because he could only think of one safe option.

He was going to quit his job in the real world at the froyo shop with some lame story about how his mom was impressed with his change of character and newfound responsibility, so she didn't need him to work there anymore, and then he'd tack on some bull about how he really enjoyed the atmosphere and company in the shop. His final attack would be to say that he'd give his parents - and by extension, his parents' associate company friends - good word about the business in turn for him still being allowed to play in the breakroom despite not working there anymore.

Could they really turn down a rich boy with connections planning on furthering their company name?

The day after unleashing the story to his manager, he learned that no, they couldn't. Taemin was officially free of work, off the schedule, free to play the game to his heart's content in the breakroom until his eyeballs fell out of his head, and on his way to finding a job in the game world.

He ran into Sandy again later the same day after quitting his job and told her the news. She rejoiced with him for a bit before telling him she had plans to refer him to some major name companies in the game as a close friend of hers. Associating well with Sandy in the game was a good thing given how she ran most operations in the gaming world. After their brief meeting, Taemin raced home to find Kibum to tell him the news.

"You quit your job?"

"Yeah, in my world, so I could get a job here, instead. My two schedules were clashing too much and I couldn't fix them to work so I had to-"

"Taemin," Kibum cut him off, "you quit your job." Taemin blinked confusedly.

"Yes, that's what I just said." Kibum chewed his lip into his mouth and raked his hair backwards with one hand, worriedly looking at Taemin. His hair seemed a little more fried that usual without the calming product Kibum normally used on it; he'd been fresh out of the shower when Taemin came over. He could see Kibum's black roots starting to grow back in, making a nice contrast underneath the stark white on top. For a moment, Taemin vaguely wondered if he and Jonghyun now shared the same hair dye and had a brief fleeting image of them side by side in the bathroom by the mirror laughing as they both passed a bottle of bleach back and forth. He was cut out of his reverie by Kibum's voice snapping him back to the present.

"Taemin, I'm getting kind of worried."

"What do you mean?"

"I feel like...you might be losing touch with reality." Taemin's eyebrow arched for a moment.

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying that I'm really worried that you're sort of giving up your entire life for this." Taemin blanched.

"Kibum, this is part of my life, too. You are part of my life, sometimes people have to make sacrifices." Kibum scoffed, dragging a hand through his unruly locks again.

"Yeah, Taemin, like sometimes if you can't make ends meet you have to use less water not to amp up the bill, or you might have to reschedule a vacation since you can't afford it right now, or maybe you can't go out to that fancy diner because it's too expensive for your budget, and sometimes you have to let go of toxic people who bring your life down. Those are examples of sacrifices you make, you don't quit your ing job for a video game, Taemin." Taemin stood, shocked, as Kibum ranted to him in the middle of the living room, the elder boy pacing from foot to foot looking both anxious and angry. Taemin was confused, but now he was mostly upset.

"Is that all you think this is? A video game to me? That it's not worth me making changes to my life? Kibum, you're not just some character in a video game to me, you're real, I know you are." Kibum looked up at him, his eyes now glassing over. Any other time, Taemin would've poked fun at Kibum for getting emotional and Kibum would've scoffed and said 'god, it's just my contacts slipping!' but now the emotion was just too raw and real for either of them to pretend it was anything it wasn't.

"Taemin, I know I'm real. I know how I wake up in the morning, and that I have a morning routine I go through. I either spend the day with my best friend and roommate or I go to work. I cook food that I can eat, that I can actually taste," to this, Taemin flinched a little, the remark jabbing him in the heart, "and I have fun at my job. I socialize with people, I make friends, we can hang out. And I come home at the end of the day and I kiss my boyfriend. Taemin, I know I'm real. I live a normal life. To me, you're the one who seems like a video game character. Do you think anyone else wakes up to find their boyfriend lying beside them in bed, stiff as a log because they haven't 'logged in' yet? Do you think anyone else misses their boyfriend because he disappears for several weeks at a time because he 'hasn't had any time to play the game'?" Taemin could tell Kibum was bordering on either crying or outright exploding by the way his shoulders slightly shook and how his pacing was increasing in speed. Taemin wanted to comfort him, but...Kibum was right. Kibum might be someone he met in a game, but to Kibum, Taemin was the robotic one. Taemin was the game character that wasn't real to Kibum.

"I'm sorry..." He mumbled, "I know you're worried that I'm throwing my life away. But Kibum, I promise you, the life I have is nothing. I spend so much time in this game because the life I have in my own world pales in comparison to this one that I share with you. You and Jonghyun are the best - no, the only friends I've ever had. You're the only person I've ever felt this way about." When Kibum did nothing but sniffle and make quick swipes at his eyes- as though the faster he wiped at them might make it impossible for Taemin to see the tears that were escaping the corners of his eyes - Taemin decided it was best he continue. "I know you're special to me, and I'm not usually this confident, but I have a feeling I'm pretty damn important to you, too. This job is gonna take a lot of my time up so I won't be able to spend much time with you here anymore but I don't want you to feel like that's separating us or pulling us farther away from each other, okay?"

"Kibum, please, I just want what's best for us. I know this might make us a little distant, but in the long run it will be so worth it. I just need to level up as fast as I can and then when I'm at the tenth level we'll be together, and I'll be able to spend all my time with you. We can live together for real, you just have to trust me, okay? Please." Taemin paused to gauge Kibum's reaction but Kibum just reached out his hands to grip Taemin's and sadly looked him in the eye.

"Will we? How do you know for sure we'll make it to be together? Do you really know what the tenth level is even like? What if...what if it's not what we think it is?"

To this, Taemin had no answer.

And around the corner, after listening silently for some time, Jonghyun quietly made his way back to his music room. He wasn't sure if they'd make it either. Jonghyun locked the door quietly and shuffled over to his keyboard, moving it gently to the side. He stepped gently around on the floor behind it until he found the loose floorboard he'd dislodged years ago. He slipped his fingers under the edge that gave way and pried it loose, coughing slightly as some dust escaped along with it. Once he'd waved his hand through the air a few times he reached into the small opening underneath where the floorboard had been and pulled out some old papers and a worn old journal bound together by a small lock.

Jonghyun reached into his shirt, grabbing for his necklace. A plain black string tied around his neck accompanied the key pendant he kept tied to it at all times. 'a Key for Kibum, you get it? Because you're my best friend' he'd laughed saying, when Kibum had asked what it was for, years ago. Kibum had brushed it off with a quick slap and an embarrassed 'you've always been such a sap'. He hadn't thought much of it. Jonghyun had been glad he hadn't been suspicious because he hadn't wanted to need to explain all of the secrets that the key held. Now though, looking at Taemin and Kibum holding each other and near crying in his living room, he realized he needed to do all the explaining now, and then some.

He untied the necklace from around his neck and held up the key to the lock. It slid in easily, unlocking the clasp with ease, the book cover coming loose to reveal the pages inside.

Pages and pages of notes from an old friend's journal. And old friend who had allowed him to keep the book 'for future reference'.

An old friend who made it to the tenth worlds and never came back.

Hey guys, LifeisSHINee here! Wow so it's been a long time since I've updated OTL. Honestly, I've been searching for a job like crazy, and then I actually got one, and yeah I've been trying to learn a lot and adapt quickly so I can get shifts. Ah well I know pretty much exactly how I want the story to go from here on out, there's probably less than 4 chapters left of the story which is nice because as much as I like this one, there's another story that I really want to get to! (another few actually, but I take my stories one at a time so we'll see). Anyways yeah, see if you guys can guess who the friend is who left his journal with Jonghyun! I hadn't planned to include that last part with Jonghyun but I decided I wanted to because even though Taekey are the main characters of the story, I do want Jonghyun to have a decent backstory/character progression as well, I said before that he's an important character and he is! So there's going to be more focus on his character next chapter as well and probably less plot progression and more 'explaining stuff', haha. Anyways, I think I've talked enough, the story will be finished soon so just hang in tight and I'll work on getting more chapters out. As always, until next time, take care!