'I practiced at the rooftop everyday. I liked singing whilst seeing the sky and the floating clouds... Thinking, can I send my voice up to there? Then, when I was practicing there like this, I was found ... by Taemin.'

-Shinee Interview: Onew; Soompi

The sky is blazing blue, pockets of chrome clouds spilling free and shooting across the languid skies like a fresh model of a toy plane going through its flight; an echo of the child’s laughter that follows its cotton heels. Green leaves dance in the creamy, thick breaths of summer winds, their emerald colour shining by the flamboyant sun light, connected to the thin, membrane-limbs of placid trees next to the concrete-grey buildings. Cicadas cry out from their thin trunks, adding an alto hum to the summer orchestra.

A boy stands in the midst of the summer musical, smiling gently in the natural spot-light. He bows to his audience grandly, his childish dimples showing in delight of his performance. His chocolate-brown eyes gaze up at the bunch of white and blue above him, and it reflects back, the azure colour in vibrant pigments around his velvety iris. He listens carefully at the orchestra, silently believing that he should not ruin its perfect music. A low and sweet hum resounds from him as he tests his voice against the simmering tune, and closes his eyes as it fits in with the music; his body relaxes and he starts to sing, his voice weaving in and out, at the colourful threads of the nature’s sound.

A wiry boy stands by a bottle-green vending machine, a wet white towel wrapped around his slim neck from the exercise. His chest heaved lightly and he leaned against the cold glass to gulp through the entire bottle of iced water. His ivory skin glistened with a sheen of thin sweat, and his het-up body condensed the glass, spreading misty spider webs from his back. He breathed in slowly to relax his body, and he stood there, leaning against the vending machine, alone in the silent, white corridor;

And then he heard.

A subtle and a sweet voice that he could not make out if it was terrible or beautiful, sang, hummed and laughed – sometimes so quiet that he could barely hear it, and sometimes so strong that he could imagine the person standing next to him. It went low into a heart-ringing hum, and it flew straight up, raising goose-bumps on his arms. And he stood, transfixed at the confusing tune, unable to decide whether to find or run away from the source.

Taemin decided.

Onew abruptly snapped out from his orchestra as he heard the rooftop doors opening slowly. His wide brown eyes tried to make out the form, half hidden in the shaded lights of the SME building. A slim boy with charcoal black eyes, jet-black hair slowly approached him, and he could literally feel the confidence radiating around the small figure. His eyes travelled lower down, and looking at his towel and tight teddy-bear tank-top, he supposed that the boy belonged to the SM dance classes.

The boy smiled.

‘Teach me how to sing.’

To undankbar (l)

*Please note that I may continue this further in the future :)

~Harumi95