Hello! Thank you for getting to the end of the story. This is the first fic I have ever got over 100k+ words and also the first fic I have ever published for the SHINee fandom. I have never thought to actually write this much and so long. It took almost a span of 4 years to complete this so I feel this fic deserves to have an author's note.

As you can probably tell my style of writing has changed over the course of the fic. Mostly the grammar as I am my own beta reader and I'm not a professional writer. It's mostly attributed by fics and stories I read that have differing grammar styles.

I will be splitting the Author's note into 2 sections: my thoughts about this fic and lingering questions about the story. The breaks will split up the sections in case you want to read anything particular.

(Spoiler alert for those who haven't finished reading the fic)

Questions about the story

My style of writing is a 'show not tell'. I find info-dumping is not a good way to tell a story because too much information would lead the readers skim or skip. It's also because I want to avoid info-dumping that I had to take out a lot of information that would not contribute to the story but it would have been an explanation to questions plaguing the readers. After providing the explanations, it'll shed some new light about the characters and to the story.

Q: Who is Onew?

Onew was a scholar during Goryeo era. He found a blue star that granted him immortality. The blue star also gave him enhanced senses, strength, speed, and endurance. Because of his immortality he would have to constantly move or else people will notice. At the end Onew gives his blue star to Minho to save Taemin, giving up his immortality. He will return to Taemin and friends after his vacation at Jeju and reopen his cafe.

Q: Who is Jonghyun?

Jonghyun is an angel. He was originally sent to Earth to investigate the disappearances of the EXO. He gets distracted by Key and was soon drawn into his group. In the end he couldn't stay on Earth too often so he part times at Blue Night podcast and watches over Taemin and friends.

Q: Who are the EXO?

The EXO's were originally human, delinquents which Kai got mixed with, causing his relationship with Taemin to drift apart. Xiumin found a book containing rituals which the group is all too eager to try. One of the rituals claims to set the user free and be given a gift beyond imagination. Unfortunately the group wasn't quite aware the magnitude and severity of what they did, causing them to be wiped out from existence and not be human anymore.

There wasn't a definite answer of the origins of the book. It could have been stolen from Changmin's bookshop, Nickhun's little trick to get rid of the EXO, or Xiumin actually found the book by chance. There's also a possibility that the EXO's botched the ritual, turning them into wraths.

As a result from the ritual, the EXO's became an amalgam of Nobody/Heartless like the Kingdom Hearts game. The EXO's have their hearts/memories taken, leaving a husk of their former selves. They are said to be emotionless but there are still lingering memories within them that allows them to respond to situations correctly even if they don't actually feel it for themselves. They consume human essence to fill the hunger of where their heart should be.

Q: Who is Kai?

Jongin is Taemin's first friend when he first moves into the apartment. He is the only person close to Taemin's age at the apartment. Because of their friendship, Jongin's parents treat Taemin well, often giving him food and things. It all changed near the end of high school when Taemin is studying for college while Jongin fell in with the EXO, the start of their deterioration.

In a lot of the chapters, Kai struggled with his existence as a wrath. Out of all the EXO he still retains a lot of his memories and emotions. Because of this he is not as detached as Sehun or cold as Xiumin. He is unknowingly drawn to Taemin, which is why he acts so familiar with him and why he is reluctant to consume him.

The significance of the rings could be describe as the red-strings of fate. It was actually Taemin who cuts the string when he unknowingly left his ring with Jongin. After the ritual, Kai still has that ring, clinging to it even without remembering the significance. Kai gave up his ring to Minho in order to save Taemin, symbolizes cutting the red string on his end of their bond on his terms. The ring/string now reattaches and aligns itself to Taemin and Minho. After Taemin is saved, the rings were never mentioned again

At the end Jongin was back to normal, reinserted back to existence with everybody and himself regaining their lost memories, like nothing had ever happened. But the reinsertion is temporary, allowing Jongin to tie up loose ends and spend some last moments with the people he cared about. There was a small idea at the end Jongin has become a demon, following after Changmin who took him under his wing.

Q: How did Taemin summoned Minho?

Taemin had gotten a fight with Jongin with the book and had torn out a page from it. The page of the torn book stated that the sigil will bring forth a way to achieve the person's greatest wish. Depressed and out of curiosity Taemin decided to try it out, a wish to get Jongin back as his friend. Coincidentally the day Taemin made the summoning circle was when EXO did the ritual. Taemin had the intent and will to summon Minho but at the same time EXO was wiped away from existence including the ritual book. That's why Taemin doesn't know why or how he summoned Minho, his reason to summon him disappeared along with Jongin's existence.

Thoughts about this fic

Q: What kind of story did you want to write?

Originally I wanted to write a supernatural/thriller 2min story but the feeling comes and goes very quickly (as you can tell the tone of the first couple of chapters). I was left stuck on how to proceed so there was a long hiatus around the middle.

My main issues with the fic is how to get from point A to point B as writing is never a straight process. I have so many ideas and I know what the ending should be, I have trouble organizing and putting them into words (which reflects how I am in real life).

I wanted to write characters and their relationships going through trials and hardships that after everything they would chose each other. A journey of healing and self-reflection. I feel that most readers are disappointed of the ending because at the end explicit words of love still does not appear, even if its about things like “my feelings for him says...” The story is meant to have a kind of unspoken love relationship and words aren't necessary to understand each other.

Q: Is there something inspires you to write this?

Minho, an unhinged, feral murder cat falling for Taemin, a ball of sunshine. Minho embodies the “caring about you was never part of the plan” trope. That was the trope I was aiming for but unfortunately this wasn't enough for me. I have the plot and bio all figured out but the substance of the main characters is lacking and I ended up putting this fic in the backburner for a while.

Later I fell into the danmei fandom in the middle of 2020 where I read so many interesting stories including the big 3 from the famous MXTX. One of the biggest inspiration is Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi. Quick summary of the book; MC (optimist) has suffer a shocking loss, encountering betrayal and suffering every where he turns. The ML (pessimist) doesn't believe humans are innately good so he tempts the MC to the dark side in every opportunity he gets. After a thousands autumns, who could stay eternal?

The danmei actually helped me flesh out Taemin and Minho's character to not just stay in their preselected tropes. You can see that although Taemin is labeled as a ball of sunshine, he struggles with his self-confidence while still keeping to his beliefs. Minho struggles with his sense of self to discover he could be more than what he could be. In a way the RL Taemin and Minho are similar to their fic counterpart.

I'm still obsessed with Thousand Autumns. They are currently translating this to English which you can find the first book on Amazon. There are audio dramas and donghua animation that can be found on youtube. I even included a few quotes from TA in my fic to convey the feelings and effect that had me swooning till this day. I highly recommend not just TA but diving into the danmei fandom in general, you won't regret it (but your wallet might regret it).

(If you want to know more about the danmei fandom or recommendations, feel free to comment below or DM me. I'm happy to discuss. Likewise if you're already in the dnamei fandom, hello!)

How do you feel about this fic?

Exhausted. At first I was enthusiastic about writing this and thought this would be a 5k word fic but then it turned to 20k, 50k, 90k and then it just gets overwhelming. At the final stretch you can see me trying to get everything over with like writing a term paper. Its honestly my fault that it took so long to complete that a lot of my old readers left and moved on which I won't blame them for as I am also the same. But that's all I can do when I only have less than an hour to write a day, going till 1am or longer. There were a lot of ideas that I want to put in this story but that would be another 50k which I have to put my foot down.

As both a writer and a reader, inspiration is everywhere we consume. Sometimes I would be reading or watching TV and saw something specific that would give me ideas. Then I would jot down a quote or a scene and try to see how it would fit into the story. Unfortunately most of the materials don't get used, I had to discard it or put it aside because it doesn't really fit well.

I'm also frustrated that I couldn't straighten out my thoughts for the fic. Here you can tell this touched on multiple genres like suspense, thriller, slice of life, action, etc. I'm also frustrated that I made Kai's role as the 2^nd male lead done so well that sometimes his role overshadow's Minho since this is a 2min fic. Though most of the fics I read are starring the side characters more so that's telling my taste in literature lol.

There's also a sense of accomplishment at the end because this is the literal first fic I have ever made in this fandom and the first fic to actually reach 100k+ words. And happiness because ITS FINALLY FINISH.

Q: Will you be continuing this fic?

Taemin and Minho has reached their ending so the story has ended. IF inspiration strikes, I might make extras or fanart for the fic. If you remember, I have made 2 fanarts and posted on my twitter. But it's a big IF as I want to move on to the next adventure for SHINee.

To be honest I wanted to quit this fic so many times. But I kept telling myself to finish what I started. I have already quit a few fics from my other fandoms, I don't want to start another trend with this one. So with that feeling in mind, I don't think I'll be making any sequels, prequels, or whatever you want to call it. One and done.

Q: What will you be doing next?

Don't know. I have talked about plans for future fics/fanart but with how RL has taken a huge impact to my motivation, its hard to say. But I have a lot of ideas I'm just itching to put it out there so don't worry I'll still be around.

For now I'll be making a plan to post my SHINee fics to my AO3 account TGIntentX. The only reason I put my kpop stuff on AFF and not AO3 is because it's where everything kpop is at. I prefer AO3 as it has a better filtering system, no ads, no censorship, better archive, and better page organization. I also write for other fandoms in AO3 so if you're interested, go and check it out. I'll be fixing the grammar and spelling errors in my fics before posting on AO3. After that I'll be taking a long hiatus to focus on my other responsibilities that I have been putting off.

And thats a wrap! If you have any questions that hasn't been answered yet, make sure you comment below! Or if you want to stop by and say hi, hello! Thank you for coming with me on this journey, until next time!