The next time Kibum saw Taemin was at the agency while they were both between schedules. It seemed like ages since he'd seen his younger friend, and he smiled at him while simultaneously giving him a once-over for any signs of overtiredness or unhappiness. To his relief, the only thing he smelled was Taemin’s essence scent of fresh pine needles.

"I wanted to ask if you can make it to the trainee showcase," Taemin said to him, a little shyly. "I know everyone is super busy, and actually I didn’t even ask the others because I know it’s not important, but you helped us with the dance and everything, so I thought maybe...it’s really no big deal if you can’t make it." But I’d really love you to be there. Taemin was trying to sound casual, but the words he left unsaid were clear in his emotion scents.

Kibum smiled at him. "Of course I want to come. When is it?"

"This Friday, the night before Minho's concert," Taemin said, looking hopeful.

"I'll have to check my schedule," Kibum said, “you know what these two weeks are like, but I’ll do my best. I really want to see you guys perform.” He hesitated then, because he wanted to ask about Krystal but not in a way that would seem weird. "How is the lift with Krystal going?"

"Jongin made me take it out, even though I'm completely fine." Taemin frowned. "It was just doing it so many times that made it sore."

"Glad to hear at least one of you is sensible," Kibum teased. "And Krystal's doing okay?"

"Yeah, she's really talented. I guess it must run in the family. You'll see if you make it to the showcase."

"She didn't…say anything about me, did she?" Kibum asked hesitantly.

"About you? No," Taemin looked surprised at the question. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Kibum said offhandedly, and projected it's not important as hard as he could.

"Oh," Taemin said, and to Kibum's relief, seemed to forget the question. "Are you having lunch here today, hyung? Want to eat together? Jongin's here too, we've been rehearsing."

"Sounds good," Kibum said. "You and Jongin are pretty close, right?" For when Taemin had mentioned Jongin's name, he’d created the distant snow scent that belonged to Jongin, making him smell like a snowy pine forest.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Taemin said. His words were spoken casually, but his essence scent pulled in around him in a defensive way, and Kibum found it hard not to automatically apologise. He’d just been curious about why Taemin was able to create Jongin’s scent when he spoke of him, but the way Taemin’s essence had responded made him wonder if there was something more going on. However, if Taemin did like Jongin as more than a friend, he was denying it, even to himself.

The three of them ate lunch together in the cafeteria. Jongin had been shy when they'd first met, but now he was much more relaxed, chattering and laughing a bright, happy laugh. He was obviously a lot more comfortable with just Kibum and Taemin than he had been meeting the whole of SHINee at once. Sometimes Kibum forgot how daunting it could be for trainees to meet successful idols. It was hard to think of himself as being intimidating, but he remembered what a nervous wreck he’d been the first times he'd met Super Junior and Girl's Generation members, before he'd gotten to know them as people.

He watched the two younger boys as they laughed and ate. Taemin's essence smell often took on the qualities of Jongin's, and his aura kept reaching out towards Jongin but then pulling back as soon as the auras touched. Jongin, on the other hand, did not create Taemin's essence smell or stretch his aura towards Taemin. Kibum wondered if it meant that Taemin had a stronger attraction to Jongin than the trainee did to him, or if it was simply that Taemin tended to spill more of his energy outward, while Jongin kept his close. It could be as simple as a personality trait, for it was apparent to Kibum that although they were the same age, Jongin was much shyer than Taemin, and lacked the confidence Taemin had grown in the two years since they’d debuted. Whatever the truth, it was obvious the pair were close and Kibum was glad to see it. Their schedules often made it very difficult to make close friendships outside of their own groups, and it was good for Taemin to have friends his own age.

The next time he saw the manager, he asked if he could go to the trainee showcase. He didn’t think much of his chances, as Friday was always a busy night for entertainers, but Daejung told him he had a two-hour gap in his schedule that overlapped with the showcase. He'd have to leave early, but he should be there long enough to see Taemin, Jongin and Krystal perform. Elated, Kibum messaged Taemin and asked him to make sure their act was one of the first to perform so that he wouldn't miss it.

"Video it for me," Jinki requested when Kibum told him in passing that he'd managed to scrape time to watch Taemin.

The night of the showcase, Kibum slipped into the auditorium with as little fuss as he could manage, armed with his phone on camera mode. He projected an air of don't notice me, and was gratified to find people's eyes slide disinterestedly away from him despite the extremely obnoxious jacket he had been put into by his stylist and the full makeup that had been necessary for the show he'd just finished filming. Knowing he had to leave early, he slipped into a seat at the end of the almost empty back row so that he could get out without disturbing the rest of the audience.

Taemin, Jongin and Krystal were to perform third. Kibum watched the first group of performers. Six girls who looked about thirteen or fourteen were attempting a cover of a British pop song and mangling the English lyrics quite spectacularly, though their dancing wasn’t too bad. He intended to watch properly and keep an eye out for any promising talent, but the combination of the warm, dark auditorium and his exhaustion from the last two weeks of intense promotion had his eyelids drooping before the first song was even over. Wake up, idiot, he scolded himself. He mustn’t miss Taemin’s performance. He tried to focus on the stage, but he felt like he was fighting a losing battle.

There was a sudden jolt from his danger sense. He sat bolt upright, instantly wide awake, and twisted around to stare at the auditorium doors. A shadowed figure had just slipped in, holding the heavy doors carefully so they didn’t make a sound upon closing and disturb the performance. In the darkness, any normal person wouldn’t have been able to recognize her, but the rotting smell that hung around her told Kibum exactly who she was.

Jessica smelled as appalling as ever. He stared, transfixed, as she gazed around the auditorium as if looking for someone, and it was barely seconds before her eyes locked onto him. Kibum could see her focus on him even in the darkness. Whether the sickness enhanced her own senses in some way, he didn’t know, but it was too late to try and hide. She walked purposefully over and sat in the empty seat beside him with a smile. The thick, rank stench of decay rolled over him, almost overpowering at this close proximity. He swallowed back a wave of nausea and focused on the densest part of his number web, but it was impossible to screen out all of it.

“Hi, Kibum,” Jessica whispered. Her voice was pitched to be just audible over the music from the stage, though of course Kibum could hear her as clearly as if she were shouting directly into his ear. “Did I miss much? Has Krys been on yet?”

Belatedly Kibum realised why Jessica was there. She’d come to watch her little sister perform, and it was only natural that she would choose to sit with him among this crowd of unknown people. But she’d seemed pur