oh, look. an update in less than a freaking month. I just started college so I can't promise any more updates this fast. Maybe every couple of weeks. 

and just for future reference, I'm gonna start calling the process of their wings emerging as 'fledging'. It just sounds a lot better than 'getting your wings', don't you think?

Key’s POV

“Alright everybody, dinner’s ready! Get your asses in here before I let Taemin eat it all!”

Three set of heavy footsteps could be heard barreling towards the kitchen. Taemin was already seated at the table, waiting for the rest of his hyungs before he started eating; just like the polite maknae I’ve raised him to be.

Jinki was the first to arrive since he’d been watching tv instead of lazing around in his room on. It pays to have a member about to get their wings. We were given a month off of performances and only had small schedules like radio shows and the occasional variety recording.

Minho came in next, dragging behind him a half-dressed, sleepy looking Jonghyun. All three of them glanced at Taemin with accusing eyes to make sure that he hadn’t in fact, eaten all of the food. They had the right to be worried. Ever since I’d actually let Taemin eat everything I made for dinner one night when the others thought they could come down to eat whenever they felt like it. We were a family and damn it, we were gonna eat together like one. Call me old fashioned but I wanted us to be as close as possible and eating together seemed like the perfect way to maintain that closeness.

“Oh thank god. I thought we were gonna go hungry again.” Minho joked, although I could see that he was genuinely relieved.

Jonghyun sat down at the table and stretched his arms up over his head, obviously still half asleep. Then, just like every single night, he stretched his wings out as far as they would reach, with was about seven feet on each side. I’d asked him why he would keep them out so much. The only answer I got was, “It just feels right.”

 Don’t get me wrong, I love my wings. But you try washing a sixteen foot wingspan in a 6x4 shower.

The entire time Taemin had been sitting in his spot watching us, he’d begun to slowly nod off. It was perfectly understandable, though. The last three days before you got your wings, you were completely drained of energy. It was your body’s way of conserving the energy it would need to get you through the process. He’d been asleep about twenty minutes ago and it had taken me about ten to wake him up. None of us complained about him suddenly falling asleep in the middle of a conversation or a video game match. We all knew that the more he slept, the easier it would be on him for his wings to emerge.

However, he DID need to stay awake long enough to eat.

“Taemin-ah, wake up sweetie. I know you’re tired but you can’t sleep right now. You can go back to bed as soon as you finish eating.” Poor kid was close to being face first in his rice.

It looked as if it took every ounce of strength he had to simply lift his head. “Sorry umma. I’m just too tired to do anything. Please tell me this ends after I get my wings. I hate feeling this weak.” There was that adorable pout again. The one that got every one of his hyungs to bend to his will.

Minho was, of course, the first to fall victim and caved. “Taeminnie, come here. How about I feed you so you won’t have to work as much?” Taemin’s sweet smile was believable to all but me. Don’t think I didn’t know about SM’s evil maknae club. I managed to tickle it out of Kyuhyun-ah about a year ago. Since then, I’ve started to notice their tactics; acting cute when they wanted something their hyungs had, being shy when they wanted people to baby them, that sort of stuff.

“Thank you Minho-hyung. That’s really sweet of you.”

Poor bastard. Fell right into that one.

Unfortunately for me, just knowing about it didn’t make you immune to its effects. I still fall for his aegyo every once in a while. It’s those damn big brown eyes that get to me; those same brown eyes that were currently pulling Minho deeper and deeper into their depths as he fed the maknae mouthfuls of food.

I caught Jonghyun’s eye and mouthed to him, “er”. He laughed that barking laugh of his and flapped his wings at the same time; a habit he claimed gave him a stronger push behind his voice. He’d probably do it on stage too if it weren’t for the fact that no one outside of SM knew about the experiments.  That’s why I was so pissed at him about flying during the day and without a valid reason.

Speaking of which….

“Jinki, punish him!” I yelled at the leader. He froze in absolute shock at my sudden outburst in the relatively relaxed atmosphere. He looked more confused than Taemin when he was doing his math homework.

“What are you talking about Kibum-ah?”

Oh my god, I’m surrounded by idiots. “I mean punish him for flying during the day! He broke one of our biggest rules and I absolutely refuse to let him get away with it!” There, now to watch the fireworks. I wonder if we have any popcorn.

“Oh, yeah. Jonghyun-ah, we need to have a little talk.”

Jonghyun’s POV

Oh . I knew Kibum would tell Jinki about that. Well, time to bribe my way out of another mess. Diversion mode activated.

“Actually hyung, I want to give you guys something first.” I knew getting those gifts was a good idea. I mean, I love my friends and would get them gifts any other day, but I thought I would be needing them this time.

I ran back into my and Minho’s shared bedroom and pulled the shopping bag out from under my bed. By the time I made it back to the kitchen, Kibum had his arms crossed over his chest and I’m pretty sure I caught a glimpse of his foot tapping underneath the table.

“Okay, I know what I did was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it. As an apology, I went out and got you guys something to make up for it. I really put a lot of thought into these, so please enjoy them. I took each box and placed it in front of their respective member.

“Well, open them!”

Minho’s POV

See, this is what happens when I take a nap during the day. An entire freaking TV drama takes place in our dorm and I’m tuning in at like the season three.  I had absolutely no idea what was going on so I decided to just roll with it.

I picked up my box and lifted the lid.

Hyung, you brilliant idiot.

Jinki’s POV

I knew what Jonghyun was up to. He would always try and buy his way out of punishment, and most of the time it worked. But no, not this time. I would stay strong and administer a punishment even Kibum would be proud of.

I grabbed the small jewelry box. As I opened the box, I made my decision. I wasn’t going to back down and go through with-

Oh…..my…..god.

Kibum’s POV

I couldn’t believe it. That dino puppy was trying to wiggle his way out of another punishment. The thing is, he knew Jinki would probably give in and let it slide. Well, if our leader fell, I would step up and take control of this situation.

Now, I had a lot of jewelry to begin with. I’ve seen most of what this city had to offer. Every store in Seoul knew me by name and gave me special discounts for being a longtime customer.

I mean, what could he have possibly gotten me that would make me-

Oh, you play dirty Kim Jonghyun.

Taemin’s POV

So let’s recap, shall we? Jonghyun-hyung screwed up royally and got reamed by Kibum hyung. Jinki hyung was supposed to put his foot down and pass judgment on his miserable soul. But, as usual, Jonghyun hyung managed to find a way to get out of it with all of his limbs intact. As for Minho hyung, he was still as clueless about the entire situation.

So you know, a normal boring day.

Might as well get this over with. I’m tired as hell and all I want to do is strip down to my boxers, climb into bed, and fall into a coma for about three months.

I glanced down at the box in front of me and noticed something weird about it. Instead of the black velvet outside like the others had, mine was white with a gold lining around the opening. When I opened the box, I understood why.

The chain of the necklace was a simple silver one, no links or anything fancy. The charm hanging from it was a pair of wings with diamonds embedded into the feathers. The wings were also bent into the shape of a heart.

Jonghyun-hyung, you really know how to dig your way into people’s hearts, don’t you?

Jonghyun’s POV

Oh my god, why didn’t I bring a camera?

The looks on their faces were absolutely PRICELESS!! Kibum was trying to look like he was still pissed at me but you could tell he just wanted to start gushing over his present. Minho still had no idea why he was getting a gift, but smiled at me in thanks all the same.

As for Jinki, the leader stood up slowly and made his way around the table. When he finally got to me, he threw his arms around m neck and proceeded to lock me in a spine-crushing hug.

All that was left was the person I wanted to please the most. Taemin had been worried about getting his wings for a while and I knew he doubted his ability to make it through the process. I wanted him to know that all of us would be by his side and wouldn’t let anything bad happen.

After seeing his necklace, he sent me a smile that held the innocence of a five year old. When our eyes met, he knew. He knew what I wanted to say to him; about his wings and that we’d always be there for him. He just knew somehow, and I knew that he did.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Mission Accomplished

And here we are with Taemin's charm: