Three
SHINee's Shining Drabbles
Two languages will be featured in this oneshot.
English will be in Italic Avant Garde!
Korean will be in the regular font!
♦Celebrations of a Maknae♦
03.
Taemin wiped at his glistening face with the white towel in his hands, sighing heavily into the soft fabric before slinging it across his shoulders.
He shuffled across the polished wooden floor towards the stereo which was seated on a narrow table pushed off to the side against the wall, his long finger brushing the large round button and allowing silence to fall across the room as the song played on repeat came to a sudden stop.
Running pale fingers through his soaked black hair as he moved to the other side of the room, Taemin bent down to retrieve his discarded water bottle, downing the little contents left before pocketing it in his oversized pants pocket and exiting the dance studio.
He'd been practising his new title song for a solid three hours now, the time having escaped him once he'd become completely absorbed in the motion of dancing. It was something that happened frequently, and often caused him to be late to whatever he had planned for the week.
Taemin curled his fingers into his palm and raised a fist to the door, knocking on the painted wood to see if anyone was already inside. When he was met with silence the dancer punched in the pin and let himself in.
He toed his shoes off and kicked them carelessly towards the rest of the neatly lined shoes. He knew Key would bust a vein over it later, but right now the only thing Taemin cared about was cleaning himself up.
The rivers of sweat running across his back were starting to dry up and it was leaving an unpleasantly sticky feeling across his skin.
Tossing the empty bottle into the sink, Taemin back-tracked to the room he and Jonghyun shared. The floor was clean and the shelves bare, almost everything untouched as it was hardly ever used. Both of them preferred to stay in their family homes. The only time they ever really stayed at the dorm these days was when they were doing promotions and needed to be close by for convenience.
Rolling the built in wardrobe's door to the side, Taemin pulled out the closest set of clothes he could reach, one of few stored outfits he'd left behind for situations such as this, and trudged to the bathroom, locking the door and shouldering off the used towel along with his damp with sweat training clothes.
When Taemin was finally feeling clean and dressed in fresh clothes he once again made his way to the kitchen, this time in search of something to sate his hunger pangs.
He stopped fussing with the towel draped over his washed hair to reach up to open the cupboards, peering inside and behind the stored food in hopes of finding an easy meal.
If his hyungs were around Taemin would save himself the trouble and ask one of them to look instead, but unfortunately for him he was the only one in the dorm right now and the dancer was much too impatient to wait around for someone to show up.
His deep brown eyes suddenly caught the glimmer of shiny wrapping in the very back of one of the top cupboards, a successful smile stretching his pink lips as he reached a hand inside and pulled out a safely tucked away bag of chips. Well, not so safe anymore.
Taemin wasted no time in messily tearing the aluminium packaging open, almost spilling it's entire contents as he tugged too roughly at the seam.
Shovelling one handful after the other into his open mouth, Taemin his heel to make his way to the living room, only to be thoroughly surprised when he almost collided with a stern figure lingering in the entrance of the kitchen.
“Oi, what is this?” Key pointed accusingly at the opened chip bag in his maknae's stilled hands.
The dancer was about to come up with an excuse, but Key's eyes suddenly widened to the size of saucepans once he glanced over the boy's shoulder. Taemin was quick to step to the side when the diva suddenly dashed towards the cupboard he'd accidentally left open, haphazardly shoving items aside as he stuck his head in.
“My secret stash!”
Taemin blinked innocently when Key spun to face him again, smiling sweetly as the fashionista clenched his jaw and rubbed at his temples, eyes slipping shut with a weary sigh.
“You're lucky it's your Birthday.” He muttered darkly, to which Taemin just shrugged his shoulders up and jutted his head from side to side tauntingly before deliberately eating more chips in front of his hyung.
“My Taemin ah is rebelling against me, did you see that?!” Key yelled to the other members with a pointed finger at the maknae as they finally trailed into the kitchen, having heard the entire thing from the front door.
“Stop being so controlling,” Jonghyun scoffed, coming to place his hands on Taemin's shoulders from behind him and lean up to sniff his shampoo scented hair. “Let the kid have his freedom.”
Minho was quick to step in and pull the singer away by the scruff of his collar, earning a strangled protest from the shorter boy as he quickly took Jonghyun's place.
Taemin felt large fingers pressing against his scalp as the towel was suddenly scrubbed back and forth across his head, soaking up the shower water which had been dripping onto his shirt around the collar and dampening the fabric.
He unconsciously leaned into the calming touch as he continued snacking while Key's and Jonghyun's usual antics played out before him.
“If I give him anymore freedom he'll turn out like you.” Key snapped, shutting the cupboard with an unnecessary slam before leaning back against the bench with an irritated growl.
“Hey, there's nothing wrong with me!” Jonghyun protested, stalking into the kitchen as he immediately went on the defensive.
“Everything is wrong with you.” Spat the diva, crossing his arms defiantly as his hyung attempted to get all up in his face, despite the height difference.
Taemin's attention turned to the sudden rustle of his thieved food as the bag began to move on it's own. His eyes followed the intruding hand up to a hungry looking Onew who'd helped himself to reaching inside.
“Hey!” Came the furious roar of Key, earning startled looks from Taemin and Onew as both boys jumped in place. Minho's scrubbing came to a pause as he watched the second rapper stomp across the floor, fingers lingering at the sides of his Maknae's head. “Keep your grubby hands off my Taeminnie's food!”
Onew blanched at suddenly being scolded, retrieving his hand from the bag as quick as lightning before the younger member had a chance to try and dismember him.
Taemin watched on silently, feeling Minho's fingers working at drying his hair once more as Key finally retreated back to the kitchen to continue throwing insults at the still angered Jonghyun.
He angled the snacks towards the leader, who quietly stepped up to the maknae's side and snuck a chip while the fuming fashionista was none the wiser.
Jonghyun glowered at Key's back as the diva turned to the fridge to put away the groceries the four of them had gone out to purchase, clearly over their heated argument and wanting to end it.
“Make yourself useful and put those away, would you?” The singer fumbled to catch the plastic bag suddenly flying at his head, almost tripping over his own feet as he stumbled back while struggling to hold onto the jostled objects trying to slip from the bag.
“Oi, don't just throw things at me! That could've hit my face!”
Taemin munched on a fistful of chips, quickly losing interest in his hyungs squabbling and heading towards the living room, Minho following along without missing a beat and Onew trailing at the boy's side in hopes of receiving more food.
All three sat on the leather lounge, Minho wiggling in behind Taemin so he could keep on fussing with the maknae's hair, and Onew flicked on the TV with the remote, switching straight to the console and pressing play on whatever game they'd left in there.
Taemin took the second controller from Onew's outstretched hand and chose the same character he always used when playing this particular combat game. He stuffed another set of chips in his mouth as he waited for Onew, who wasn't as familiar with the game nor the characters, to scroll through the list.
He reached into the bag again, pulling two chips out this time. The dancer dropped one in Onew's waiting hand before stretching his arm up and reaching back to feed his other hyung, smiling silently when he felt the chip snagged gently from his grip and heard a mumbled thanks in reply.
All three heads suddenly snapped in the direction of the kitchen when they heard yet another outburst from Key, apparently yelling at Jonghyun who'd also tried to steal from his secret stash. A loud clang echoed through the entire dorm, followed by an almost eerie silence that had the boys in the living room sharing concerned glances.
Jonghyun stumbled into the living room with one of the larger woks covering his head, an unsteady hand reaching up to remove it before falling next to Onew in a dazed state, the wok slipping from his fingers and bouncing noisily across the tiled floor.
All three immediately turned their attention back to what they'd been doing beforehand, the slither of worry they shared instantly ebbing away.
Taemin absently heard the diva grumble something about nowhere being safe in this dorm full of rabid beasts as he stalked by with an armful of food, briskly slamming his bedroom door behind him.
Onew settled on picking a random character when Jonghyun, who'd eventually come back to his senses after receiving such a heavy beating, complained that the leader was taking too long.
The rest of the afternoon continued on like that, the four members sharing the two controllers and versing whoever won the last round. So far Minho was the reigning Champion – as always – but Taemin had come close to beating him several times; and would have if it weren't for the sharp jabs in his side every time he was about to land a finishing blow on the other character dancing around the battlefield.
“Hyung, quit it.” Taemin grumbled, wiggling in the older boy's hold. He'd somehow became Minho's body pillow as the hours passed, the rapper leaning his full weight on his back and using the top of his now dry head as a cushion for his chin, long arms draped lazily across the dancer's lap with controller in hand.
“Quit what?” Minho questioned, playing innocent. Taemin took the chance to move into the lead while Minho was distracted, quickly dive bombing the stationary character with an onslaught of combo attacks.
But Minho snapped back into focus almost instantly, swiftly dodging the ambush and relaying with an attack of his own. Jonghyun scooted forward on the edge of the lounge, leaning towards the TV in suspense as he became completely enthralled in the game and started cheering for his maknae.
Onew kept his trained gaze on the poor controller buttons being mashed into the hard plastic as the two youngest members ravaged the joysticks with lightning fast fingers.
Taemin felt the pressure on his back increase, pushing him forward uncomfortably as Minho straightened up and leaned further into the dancer, too focused on keeping his winning streak going to hear the complaints coming from beneath him.
The maknae jolted to the side as he scrambled to make his character move in time to dodge the oncoming battle axe, turning right back around when he was at a safe distance and twirling the spiked whip above his head before bashing the controller buttons in a memorised sequence to activate the character's special ability.
Minho barely had time to escape the attack before his character was slammed into the cracked, barren ground with a body slam. He growled in frustration as he was now temporarily incapacitated, unable to do nothing but clench his sweaty palms further around the creaking controller in his hands as he watched his character be pummelled blow after blow.
Taemin was grinning widely from ear to ear, the sinister gleam in the dancers eyes a rare thing to behold. Jonghyun bellowed wildly as the maknae mercilessly beat his enemy further into the ground, the singer leaning so far forward that he ended up seated on the floor after slipping from the lounge.
Onew had even joined in, chanting nonsense no one understood in his own special way of encouragement. Taemin could feel every muscle of his hyung behind him tensing with rising irritation, but the maknae kept going without any hesitation. No way was he going easy now, not when he finally had a chance of winning.
A sharp jab in his side caused Taemin to yelp in surprise, jumping up from his seat and sliding away across the slippery tiles in his socks.
“Hey, no cheating!” Jonghyun scrambled from the floor and jumped on the taller boy, accompanied by Onew. The two hyungs held down the rapper the best they could, Onew resorting to sitting on the idol's stomach while Jonghyun wrestled with the arms that tried to break free.
“Why are you playing favourites?!” Minho writhed against the hyungs, craning his neck to peer over the singer's shoulder as he heard his controller clatter to the floor in the chaos.
“Let the birthday boy have at least this round, you flaming bull!” Jonghyun cried, narrowly dodging being head butted by the flailing rapper before adding in a strained voice. “And Taemin ah is cuter than you!”
Taemin immediately hung his head at that, his concentration broken as he couldn't help but smile with exasperation at his hyung. A sudden floor shaking thump had him spinning around to see what the noise was all about, mouth dropping open wordlessly as he realised Minho had thrown himself from the lounge, effectively dragging the other two with him.
The eldest hyungs let out pained groans at the rough landing, Onew slowly rolling away with a wheeze until he met the wall at the other side of the room. Jonghyun immediately released the squirming rapper's arms to clutch his throbbing head, curling up into a ball and rolling over to bury his face in the side of the lounge.
Taemin quickly snapped back into action and kicked the fallen controller further away as Minho attempted to make a grab for it. The two locked eyes, their gazes blazing like a wild fire, the sudden burst of competitiveness flooding through their veins almost causing the air to crackle between them.
Minho leaped forward, going all in. Taemin counteracted, tossing his own controller aside in the process as he dove for the one idling in front of the TV.
The two clashed, the maknae's fall cushioned by Minho's muscled back. His hyung gasped as the air was knocked out of him, giving Taemin enough time to reach forward and snatch up the controller.
Just as he tried to roll away warm fingers grasped his forearm, easily pulling him back. Taemin's world flipped and suddenly he was staring up at the ceiling, the cool temperature of the tiles seeping into the back of his head, his ruffled hair splayed everywhere in complete disarray.
Then Minho was suddenly smirking down at him, waving something black and sleek in the stunned maknae's face. The controller.
Taemin shot forward without a second thought, hands taking hold of the object and pulling forcefully towards himself in a sudden game of tug-of-war. The two idols rolled across the floor in a messy pile of tangled limbs, pushing and pulling against each other until, finally, Taemin managed to get the upper hand.
He pulled on the controller with so much force that Taemin ended up rocketing back into the armchair, a stab of pain shooting up his spine as he landed awkwardly on the corner of the black chair.
But despite the aching he quickly straightened up and glanced wildly around the room for Minho, expecting a surprise attack to come out of nowhere at any moment. Taemin caught sight of the hyung he'd wrestled with as he struggled to get his breath back, eyebrows knitting together in confusion as he curiously stared at the back of the dishevelled idol.
He flicked his brown gaze to the controller in his hands, his thumb which had been rubbing idly at the sleek plastic suddenly coming to a stand-still, along with his heart, as he finally noticed what the flashing green light was indicating.
Player two.
Minho had given him back his own controller..!
Taemin instantly dove to his hands and knees and scrambled to Minho across the floor, throwing himself into the taller boy and trying his best to tackle him to the ground.
The dreaded words “finish him!” blared from the speakers and Taemin cried out as he threw his all into ripping the rapper away from the controller, arms securely wrapped around the boy's neck and legs trying their best to squeeze the life out of his waist as he rocked from side to side.
But bringing down Minho whose blood was burning with determination was like trying to outrun the bull you just waved a red flag in front of; impossible. Soon enough Taemin had to witness the fall of his character, watching helplessly as he fell to his knees on the battlefield before the victorious Minho, battle axe protruding from the armour. Yet another defeat...
Minho let out a breathy laugh as he fist pumped the air, quickly losing balance and toppling the both of them over. “Another win under the belt!”
Taemin huffed and pushed against his hyung's back, quickly untangling himself from the idol and fluidly twisting around until he was sitting upright and facing the other way.
“Oh come on, Tae,” Minho cooed, quickly abandoning his celebrations as he sat up with a sigh. Taemin felt gentle fingers poke tentatively at the sides of his crossed arms, but he didn't move a muscle. Minho only became more insistent when he wasn't acknowledged. “Don't ignore me Taeminnie...”
Still no reaction. Taemin kept his eyes focused squarely in front of him, knowing all too well his resolve would break if he caught a glimpse of the exaggerated puppy eyes he knew Minho was trying his hardest to pull off.
“Taemin ah~” The rapper sang, nestling his chin into the crook of his maknae's shoulder and flopping his head to the side in hopes of catching the stubborn boy's gaze.
Taemin felt the slightest twitch at the very corner of his lips. He quickly bit the inside of his cheek in hopes that his hyung hadn't noticed.
“Don't be angry Tae, I promise I'll let you win the next one.”
The dancer resisted the urge to roll his eyes, pursing his lips in as straight a line as possible as he turned his head in the opposite direction of his hyung. “You always say that...”
“But I really mean it this time,” Minho insisted, winding his arms around the idol's chest. Taemin glanced at the hand held out in front of him, almost losing the battle when he saw a single pinky finger wiggling up in the air. “Pinky promise.”
Taemin gave in. He exhaled the withheld chuckle as his head dropped forward, messy black locks hanging in his eyes. Minho grinned when he noticed the playful pout on his maknae's hidden face, subtly hinting at his waiting pinky with a poke to the boy's side.
“Fine.” Taemin relented, raising his own hand and linking their pinkies together.
“Get off each other already, can't you tell it's too hot to be that close?” The two idols turned to see Key, who was eyeing them on his way to the kitchen. The diva didn't even pause when he noticed the very quiet hyungs still moping over their injuries. “And can one of you get your in here and help out with the food preparation? Why am I always the one having to do it alone?”
“Seems he's still in a stroppy mood.” Came Jonghyun's mumble from one side of the living room. The singer groaned as he sat up, shooting the sheepish rapper a glare as he gingerly rubbed the sore spot on his head.
“It's your fault that he's mad.”
Taemin turned in Minho's grasp to flick his eyes over to Onew, who was busy finally picking himself up off the floor.
“He shouldn't be hoarding food all for himself!” Jonghyun shot back, pulling himself back onto the lounge and proceeding to lie down again, in a much more comfortable position this time.
“Don't talk about someone when they can hear you, fool!”
“Who are you calling a fool?!”
Taemin and Minho shared a glance, both pursing their lips as they tried to restrain the bubble of laughter.
“I better go help Key before World War III happens,” Taemin stretched out his hands as his hyung stood up, Minho understanding the gesture and effortlessly pulling the maknae to his feet. “Take care of the hyungs here.”
The dancer nodded and went to collect the discarded controllers, brusquely checking them over to make sure they were still functioning before heading back to the lounge.
“I'm handing over my winning title to you Tae, try not to lose it on me!” Minho teased as he shuffled backwards to the kitchen.
Taemin's only response was sticking out his tongue at the rapper with a cheeky smile and narrowed eyes. Minho laughed and shook his head with resignation before disappearing behind the wall.
As Onew made his way over, the maknae dropped himself onto the lounge once Jonghyun made space for him, who immediately occupied Taemin's lap with his head. The leader picked up Jonghyun's legs and sat down also, before letting them drape over him.
Taemin handed the eldest member one of the controllers and took the game back to the main menu, starting over with new characters in a new battlefield.
The afternoon soon passed into late evening, the edges of night slowly creeping across the blooming red sky and away the vibrant colours of the setting sun, allowing room for the hidden stars to finally break through and make their presence known to the sleepy world below.
All five boys were gathered around the kitchen bench, amongst several other groups and friends who'd all showed up at the youngest member of SHINee's birthday to help in celebrating his planned party.
Taemin had known from the start that s were planning the party for him, they'd made no secret of it.
It's kind of hard to keep such a thing a surprise when it involves Key, who's prone to going off into very loud, very heated rants when something doesn't go his way.
But the dancer hadn't expected so many people to show up, especially since the majority were members of their own groups under SM and other comapnies, and had busy schedules to keep to.
“Make a wish, Taeminnie!” Key cried, camera already in hand as he leaned around Jonghyun to try and get a good shot of the maknae and his birthday cake, which he'd devoted an entire day to baking and decorating just for this occassion.
Taemin let out a nervous laugh and raised a fist to his lips as he tried to think of something to wish for, his mind suddenly blanking under the unexpected pressure.
“Uhh...”
“Come on Taemin-ah,” He glanced back to see Kai peering at him over the shoulders of the Super Junior members, “You're making a wish, not deciding the fate of the world!”
The dancer couldn't help grinning widely at that, turning back to trace over the intricate details of his birthday cake once more. He glanced at his idle phone placed off to the side of the bench top, staring at the black screen of the sleeping device.
And suddenly, he knew what he wanted. With his wish in mind, Taemin leaned down to blow out the single large candle shaped into the number 24, smiling somewhat bashfully at the uproar of cheers, whistles and chorus of claps resonating through the suddenly very crowded dorm.
Key moved onto cutting the cake while Taemin was swept up into the crowd of familiar faces, accepting the congratulatory hugs and pats on the back as he practically swam through the kitchen to reach the living room.
Plates were prepared and the cake was served, Onew lending Key a hand by passing out the servings to the hungry mouths waiting eagerly on the sidelines.
Taemin was of course given the first – and largest – piece, followed closely behind by a bouncing Jonghyun, who quickly threw a fit when Key denied him a piece and barked at him to move to the back of the line.
Minho and Kai came to sit on either side of the birthday boy in the living room, their calm conversation becoming quite animated when the rest of EXO and a few of SNSD's girls invited themselves in.
Not that Taemin minded of course, but in a crowd so big it was easy for his voice to get lost amongst his louder hyungs. Jonghyun, who had eventually joined the large group once he'd finally been granted his slice of cake by a reluctant Key, took notice of Taemin's sudden silence and would open the conversation up and give the maknae a chance to jump in again whenever he could, which the dancer appreciated.
Friendly exchanges and idle chit chat soon turned into competitive rounds of singing with the mics connected to the console. Since there were too many people to comfortably hold a dance competition, Onew decided idle songs were the better route.
Everyone had to pair up and take it in turns since there were only four mics, so Taemin and Kai were almost immediately glued to each other's sides when Key declared groups of two were best, much to Jonghyun's disappointment.
Taemin flicked the hair out of his eyes after he finished his part of the song on a high note, chest rising and falling as rapidly as his partner's beside him, beads of sweat trickling from his forehead and leaving a slight chill across his skin as the gentle summer breeze blew in from the open window.
He glanced over to his other side, seeing the equally red, flustered faces of his hyungs, Minho and Key. He'd just been in a battle of holding the longest note with the diva, even though the song didn't really call for it.
They were exhausted by the time the high note came around, having already sung two other songs before this without pause, but the two idols threw their all into the finish despite their breathy sounding vocals.
Key caught the maknae's stare and reached over to ruffle his hair, before immediately fixing it with a small smile, earning a winded chuckle from Taemin.
The scoreboard suddenly popped up on the screen, the dark background a stark contrast to the rising bars climbing upwards as the scores poured in. Taemin felt Kai's hand interlace with his own and he turned, seeing his friend biting his bottom lip in anticipation with his eyes locked to the TV.
He smiled and squeezed back before also watching the scores, heart accelerating as the blue bar slowly began to take the lead...until finally stopping on a large number only one hundred points more than the opposing duo.
The two friends cried out in victory and slammed into each other with a rough hug, the momentum causing the idols to lose their balance and tumble into one side of the crowd, earning surprised bouts of laughter from the people.
Taemin released Kai to see Key and Minho coming over to them, the taller boy's usually soft eyes flashing with set determination as he locked gazes with the maknae.
“I take back that promise.”
“Huh? You can't do that...” Taemin pouted, looking up at Minho through his thick lashes.
“All's fair in love and war.” The rapper replied with a tight smile, clearly trying his best to resist the maknae's charms.
“Hyung is just a sore loser.” The dancer teased, ducking the attempted headlock from the idol and darting through the crowd to escape the wrath of Minho, loud laughter bubbling up from inside him all the while.
As the night wore on the guests started to wane, one person slowly trickling out after the other with goodbyes and well wishes exchanged until finally, it was once again just the SHINee boys in their quiet dorm.
Taemin had retreated to his shared room to wind down after such an eventful night, hearing the distant clangs of plates and cutlery being washed up in the kitchen by Jonghyun, who Key had forced into helping with the clean up since he did practically nothing to contribute to the setting up of the party.
Onew had gone off to take a shower and Taemin was pretty sure Minho used the excuse of taking the rubbish out to escape the chance of Key assigning him any work and getting caught like Jonghyun.
The maknae exhaled tiredly as he rolled from his back onto his stomach, his bed still bare of any blankets. Though in all honesty he probably wouldn't need them, seeing as the night's temperature was fairly warm.
Taemin fumbled with the iPod in his hands, pausing the next song before it could begin to play. He shifted onto his elbows and reached for his phone, which he'd hooked up to the charger.
The screen flashed to life as he pressed the home button, bathing him in a harsh white light when the lock screen disappeared to display the contents of his phone.
Brushing his thumb against the contacts list, he watched silently as the alphabetically ordered names opened up before him, some numbers accompanied by pictures of the person they belonged to, others left blank.
The idol scrolled down passed the endless names and faces, absently wondering when and how he'd managed to acquire so many numbers, especially since he rarely called any of them, if at all.
But tonight there was one in particular that he was on the hunt for. One he'd punched in months ago and still had not called.
He was hoping to change that tonight.
Taemin's thumb froze when his eyes suddenly caught the name he'd been after, quickly scrolling back up; Park Heejung. He made to press the shining green phone symbol next to the display of the person's blank profile, but something inside caused him to stop.
He stared down at the combination of numbers, eyes glazing beneath the glare of the light in his otherwise dim room. They were numbers he'd memorised almost the exact same day he'd first received it.
He remembered the torn piece of paper, the urgent scribble and the rushed way it was shoved into his slack hand, almost losing his grip on the frail paper as he watched the owner of the number he'd been given pass through the gates in a fluster and jog down the wide tunnel leading to the aeroplane outside, suitcase in hand.
He remembered peering down at the tiny piece of white, running his thumb across the torn edge as he focused on the scrawled English numbers with blurry eyes. English was never his strong point, but he could at least understand it's number system.
Taemin blinked away the memories as he felt his bed dip beside him, accompanying a new weight. The strong smell of hot water and body wash invaded his nose and the dancer flicked his wide gaze up to the leader, the finger which had been hovering over the green symbol immediately pulling away.
“Taemin ah? I tried calling for you, but you wouldn't answer. The bathroom's free now.”
“Ah...sorry hyung,” Taemin apologised, rolling his shoulders in a sheepish shrug. “I guess my mind wandered too far.”
Onew turned his curious gaze to the phone still in the maknae's hands, his eyes suddenly warming with understanding as he caught sight of the displayed name. “Still can't call, huh?”
Taemin sighed in defeat and turned away, feeling the first of heat spreading across the back of his neck as embarrassment flooded through him like a fire.
“No...” He mumbled, completely deflated as he dropped the phone and pushed it away.
“How about on the other end?” The leader questioned quietly, though they both already knew the answer to that.
“Not even a text.” Taemin decided to reply anyway, flopping onto his back with a huff and tossing his arms out to his sides. He blew half-heartedly at the lock of fringe covering his eyes. Onew changed positions on the bed so he was now directly facing the other idol, legs crossed and hands folded in his lap.
He always reminded Taemin of an old man when the eldest sat like that, hands neatly folded and back hunched over. It was hard not to smile at the similarity, despite how cowardly he felt right now.
“I'm sure it's as hard for her as it is for you.” The leader pointed out, to which Taemin could only nod.
“Of course, but-” He paused, face suddenly flaring up like a firecracker at the memory. He caught the overly wide grin and knowing gleam in Onew's eyes and groaned, hiding his face in his hands before swiftly rolling onto his side. “...But she was the one who did it.”
Onew chuckled, clearly enjoying seeing his maknae's flustered state over something he considered to be so small and insignificant.
“Doesn't that just mean it would be even harder for her to face you?”
Taemin stayed quiet, not really wanting to respond because he knew it would only end with the leader telling him to “be a man”. He was plenty manly, thank you very much. In many aspects, too.
...This just didn't happen to be one of them.
“Oh, right!”
The dancer peeked in between his fingers at the idol, brows furrowing as he watched Onew suddenly jump up and exit the room in such a hurry that he forget to pull the door shut behind him.
Just as Taemin was about to get up and close it himself, the leader came barrelling back in, a small parcel clasped in his hands this time.
“Remember that camera you thought you lost?”
Taemin gave a hesitant nod, pushing up into a sitting position as Onew joined him on the bed once more.
He stared at the outstretched parcel before slowly taking it, twirling the object curiously between his hands before pulling at the tape holding down the sides of the paper.
“Well, I actually temporarily stole it,” Onew immediately went on the defensive when Taemin's head snapped up from the parcel. “But for a good cause!”
It wasn't uncommon for Taemin to constantly lose his belongings. In fact the other SHINee members considered it a miracle if they could get through a single week without having to help the maknae find something.
So when his camera disappeared he'd just assumed it was like every other case. Except it was one of the rare cases where he'd never found it.
Now Taemin knew why.
As he pulled at the last of the wrapping, he stared down at his old camera for a good few seconds before finally turning to the quiet member beside him.
“Why wrap it up?”
Onew suddenly grinned then, catching the maknae by surprise as he leapt from the bed and hobbled towards the door, turning back only to point at the object and say, “Play it and find out.”
Taemin blinked bewilderedly as he watched the eldest shut the door quietly behind his exit this time. It took him a bit before he could find it in himself to turn the camera on, both scared and excited to see what Onew had planned for him.
Whenever the leader was concerned, one always needed to proceed with caution...
The little red light on the top slowly blinked to life as Taemin held down the start button, a wave of nostalgia hitting him as the familiar feeling of his camera returned while it buzzed awake in his hands.
He immediately went into the gallery, noticing that all the folders had been cleared and every photo wiped, not that he could really remember what photos he'd had stored on it anymore. Hopefully nothing important.
There was however one single thing left on the camera. A video.
Of what? He hadn't the slightest, but it looks like he's about to find out.
Taemin stretched out again, making himself comfortable and propping the camera up with his phone in front of him, arms tucked beneath and acting as a pillow for his chin.
He in a deep breath, held it...and exhaled at the same time as he pressed play.
At first the video was extremely blurry and off-center, the unfocused lens whirring in the background as it tried to pick up on the unrecognisable figure dressed in creams and whites.
“Hang on a second, this dumb camera doesn't want to work. I warned Taemin not to buy something so cheap.”
Taemin's brows fell over his eyes at the sound of Key's voice playing from the tiny speakers, his confusion only growing. Why was he speaking in English? Who was he with?
“Is...is it working yet?” More English, but a different voice this time. It was further from the camera and muffled greatly by all the jostling and fiddling Key was doing, but it sounded so familiar to Taemin...he just couldn't quite put a name to it.
“Not yet...almost there...aha! Okay, it should be good now. That's the last time I let Taemin buy his own things.” Taemin chuckled at the last part, only having understood the bit where Key was complaining about him.
And true to his word, Key still has not let him go shopping by himself. How long ago was this filmed?
Taemin watched intently as the blur slowly ebbed away into clarity and the lens panned out after readjusting itself, finally coming to focus on the mysterious person standing against a wall.
The dancer's eyes almost popped from his head when he realised just who it was in the video, his breath hitching halfway down his throat and causing him to choke and splutter on air.
Taemin quickly sat up, taking the camera with him as he coughed up his lungs behind his hand. He stared with wide eyes at the person standing in a digital world before him; a digital version of the very living room connected to the other side of his bedroom door.
It was her.
She sent a shy smile the camera's way, though her eyes couldn't properly meet with the lens for more than a second before she'd squeak uncomfortably and have to look away again.
Taemin felt his heart stutter in his chest, a flood of old memories crashing over him like a tsunami as he stared at the nervous girl fiddling with the musk pink scarf adorning her cream sweater.
He found himself smiling like an idiot as he watched her phobia of cameras slowly surface in the video. She never had liked it whenever the attention was set on her, something that always bewildered Taemin considering what she'd signed up for back then.
“In your own time...” Came Key's voice again. Taemin didn't need to understand English to know he was sassing her.
“Oh hush, I'm getting there.” She huffed back, causing Taemin's grin to stretch even further.
She let go of her scarf and clasped her hands tightly in front of her, rocking back and forth on her feet which were cut off by the bottom of the limited camera screen.
With a shaky sigh, the girl steeled her fraying nerves and shot her wavering gaze directly towards the camera, causing the newly re-caught breath to leave Taemin as his entire body froze beneath her warm eyes.
“Saeng il chuk ha ham ni da,
saeng il chuk ha ham ni da,
sarang ha neun Taeminnie shi...
saeng il chuk ha ham ni da!”
saeng il chuk ha ham ni da,
sarang ha neun Taeminnie shi...
saeng il chuk ha ham ni da!”
Taemin dropped his head into his hand, a muffled laugh escaping him as he dragged his fingers down his face before looking back at the embarrassed girl shuffling in place on the video.
Her Korean was heavily accented and slurred together at some points, while others were sung so slowly it was very obvious she'd been trying to remember the lyrics which were so foreign to her. But it still had Taemin's peeled back lips stretching from ear to ear and a bubbled mixture of giddiness and delight settling like butterflies in his stomach.
He could hear Key encouraging the girl with words he couldn't understand, but her pleased features quickly fell into one of silent horror at the diva's next sentence of gibberish.
“Now say to him what I told you to.”
Taemin watched curiously as her face suddenly flushed a pink as vibrant as her scarf, letting out an unsettled squeak as she buried her nose into the soft cotton wrapped around her neck.
“Do I have to..? What if he thinks it's weird?” The dancer his bottom lip between his teeth, wishing desperately that he could understand what was being said right now.
He had half a mind to pause the video and seek out Key's help, but he knew his hyung would only laugh at his struggles and insist on figuring it out for himself.
“I swear he'll love you for it! He'll hound me all the way to my grave, though.” Taemin's curiosity had reached it's peak at this point.
Was Key referring to him in that last bit? What was his hyung influencing her to do now..?
Her knees practically clacking together, she swallowed nervously and turned her eyes to the floor. Her cheeks were so red that Taemin bet he could probably fry an egg on them.
He grinned at the thought, imagining her exact reaction to such a suggestion.
“T-T-Taemin oppa...” The girl began, but quickly chickened out of whatever she was going to say by lifting up her scarf and hiding behind it.
“Hey! Don't make me come over there!” Key growled, and she understood him perfectly even though she knew very little Korean. Taemin supposed one didn't need to know the language to pick up on Key's infamous threats...
“Taemin oppa...I...”
Taemin tilted his head, shaking the fallen hair from his eyes as he waited patiently for the girl to spit out whatever her tongue was tripping over.
“T-Taemin oppa, I l-l-l-love you..! H-happy b-b-birthday!” She'd practically whispered the last part, but somehow the camera managed to pick it up.
Taemin sat there, stunned. He hadn't realised his jaw had fallen open, hadn't noticed the girl ran from the focus of the camera or that the video had come to an end; and he certainly hadn't picked up on the fact that all his other members were gathered in front of the now wide open bedroom door.
Taemin almost fell from his bed when his hyungs suddenly screamed “Happy Birthday!” at the top of their lungs, party poppers exploding and tossing confetti all throughout the room before it slowly fluttered down to the once spotless floor.
“Hyungs!” Taemin cried, only just realising that they'd all known about the video this entire time, judging by the silly grins and knowing looks they were shooting his way.
The older boys fell into hysterics as they escaped to the living room before Taemin could find something heavy enough to throw at them.
He fell back into his sheets with a sigh, picking up the camera and staring at the video file with a grin so big he thought his cheeks might crack at any moment.
Just as he was exiting the gallery and about to turn off the camera, he suddenly noticed something he'd completely skipped over before.
There was another video, tucked away in a hidden file.
Taemin quickly rolled onto his stomach and opened the last remaining video, his thumb hovering over the button as he wondered about what it could possibly be.
He pressed play before he had the chance to back out.
The camera jumped around at the start, sounds of shuffling and the legs of a chair scrapping across tiles the only noise playing from the speakers.
Then the view suddenly changed from the shaking floor to whoever was controlling the camera; it was her again.
The camera was a lot closer than before, her outstretched arm giving away that she was operating it herself this time. Did that mean Key wasn't around for this one?
Just as curious as he had been during the first video, Taemin made to rest the camera against his bed, leaning forward and over the camera so he was more comfortable.
“Hello Taemin oppa,” She dove right in, rather than fussing and dragging out the introduction. And she was starting off in her broken Korean as well, which pleasantly surprised Taemin. “I'm sorry for the last video. It was...”
He silently chuckled along with her as she tried to find the right word. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders in defeat, smiling nervously as she glanced away at something he couldn't see.
“Bad. It was very bad. But happy birthday!” Her laughter stirred the butterflies in his stomach from earlier, breathing becoming just that little bit harder for him as he stared at the friend he'd been missing for so long.
“I'm glad I... um...what's the word? ...Oh! I'm glad I got to experience what I did with you,” She paused, glancing up at the camera, at him, with a reminiscing smile. “With all of SHINee. I miss you...all of you.”
Taemin's heart clenched, his smile soon turning melancholy as he wished he could reciprocate how much he missed her too. Why can you only make one wish on your birthday..?
She suddenly smiled brightly, shifting the camera to her other arm so she could do the peace sign beside her face with her right hand. Taemin outwardly laughed, knowing how awkward she really found the gesture and never thinking that she of all people would succumb to Korea's corny posing habits.
“I hope you are staying healthy, oppa! ...Let's meet again soon, okay?”
And then the video cuts off, but Taemin still felt the lingering effects of her genuine smile and all too familiar calming presence painting his insides with an indescribable fuzzy warmth.
Getting up from the bed, he finally turned the camera off – for good this time – and set it ever so carefully on his bedside table, tracing the play button with a lingering finger before pulling himself away.
“Okay.”
A/N: Happy birthday Taemin!! I guess you can consider this my birthday present to him?
It's out a little later than I'd planned, but hey I'm an hour and a half safe so it still counts! A lot of things happened in this oneshot, I'm sorry if it's all over the place...I've been busy lately and had to rush to be able to get this out in time.
Also the last part of the oneshot is an easter egg to something I'll soon be introducing to this account, so if you're curious keep an eye out for possible new stories popping up some time this year. Shhh.
I hope this was at least an enjoyable read, there's certainly more oneshots to come, and I'm always open to ideas if you have any!
I'm also going to mention this once again, SHINee is participiating in the 2016 Fan Army Face-Off and there's 4 hours left to get your votes in! You can vote every five minutes so please, please, PLEASE show your support for the boys!
Link here: http://www.billboard.com/fan-army-bracket/
AND vote for Taemin as best dancer here: http://auditionzine.com/4533
The site is in Korean, but you can easily translate anything you don't understand with Google translate to be able to work your way around! The voting in this requires you to choose 3 of the participants, so make sure to also choose two of the lowest scorers (which is currently 트와이스 모모 and 블락비 유권). You can re-vote every 24 hours, so please also support Taemin in this! He has unfortunately been kicked from 1st place and we need to get him back up there as soon as possible!
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