IDK what happened here :c Spacing is weird between different programs and computers.

ANYWAY, I'M SO SORRY I LEFT YOU GUYS WITH A SHORT CHAPTER AND FORGOT TO UPDATE T______T

I was trying to catch up on Winglin :/ Taking longer than I thought

 

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I woke up after a short nap and a waitress immediately came up to my table. "You've been here for an hour. This is a cafe for customers, not a hotel."

I handed her the 20000 Won. "This is for the hot chocolate."

She went to get the change and then handed it back to me. "Your boyfriend still isn't back? You really wanna wait for him or are you going to realize that you don't need a guy who stands up his girlfriend?"

I looked around and realized that Taemin hadn't come back yet. "But we're not boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Then what are you? Siblings?"

I shook my head. "No, just friends."

"Yeah right." She took a seat in Taemin's chair. "But I wonder what's taking him so long. There has to be a drug store around here somewhere, right?"

I noticed that the steam had disappeared and took a taste of my cold hot chocolate. "He'll be back soon." I didn't know if I was reassuring myself or the waitress.

"Hey, hey! Don't cry! I didn't mean to make you cry. Crap, if the manager sees this, I'm screwed." I looked up and realized tears had fallen. I used my gloved hand to wipe them away.

"I'm sorry. It was a harsh day yesterday."

"Ahhh, I get it!" She clapped her hands together. "You got dumped by your boyfriend and then he was there to comfort you!"

I shook my head. "No! Nothing like that. I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Of course not, you got dumped." I thought she was supposed to help.

"No, I've never had one either."

"Really?" She looked out the window. "Welcome to the single life, sister."

We stayed quiet for a while until the bell on the cafe door rang and a boy in crutches walked in. I stood up and helped him over to the table. The waitress got up and went back to her job.

"Taemin, you're back!" I smiled.

He wouldn't look up, though, and handed me a box. "Your medicine." He said quietly.

I looked at the box and then hugged Taemin for his hard work. "Thank you." I whispered.

"Tae Seul," He broke out of the hug and looked at the ground, "May I...May I borrow 10000 Won? I promise I'll pay it back, I promise!"

I stared at him blankly and then took out my wallet and a bill. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, really." He struggled out the door and I followed him.

I decided to question the red head once we got out of the cafe and away from the waitress that didn't help to settle my nerves. "Taemin, what happened?"

He continued walking and wouldn't talk to me. I walked alongside him for a long time in silence before we arrived at a drug store.

"Ah, you're finally here." The pharmacist said.

"I'm sorry for what I did. Please forgive me." Taemin handed the bill to the pharmacist with both hands while still holding himself up.

"Just be prepared with money next time." The pharmacist took the money and then looked at me. "Is that your sick friend over there?"

Taemin nodded and pulled me out of the store. He opened the box of pills that I held in my hand and handed one tablet to me. I lifted my head up to try and swallow it but it wouldn't go down. Taemin stood, watching me struggle with the medicine. We had no water with us and it took a few good minutes before I could actually swallow the pill.

"The subways are working, I think." Taemin said. I nodded and we began walking in silence again.

I sighed and tried talking to Taemin again, "What happened?"

He looked straight ahead and said, "I tried to steal."

I blinked a few times before understanding what he had said. "What?" Did I hear correctly or were my ears just blocked by the fever? How does such an innocent person like Taemin even think of stealing, let alone try it!

"I tried to steal," he repeated.

"May I ask...why?" I was a little fearful. Hey, if this guy attempted robbery, what else could he have up his sleeve?

"Because I didn't have enough money."

"Then you should've taken the 20000 Won! I could've paid for the hot chocolate!"

"But I'm supposed to pay for the food. I'm supposed to pay for everything because I'm the guy."

"So? I don't want you stealing!"

"How else was I supposed to get the medicine?"

"You didn't have to, Taemin! Once we get home and I get some rest, I'm sure I'll be fine. These pills are just to hold back the fever a little. Aish, and you call me the pabo." I folded my arms across my chest and puffed up my cheeks.

He stopped talking and I took it as a sign to shut up and let go of the childish actions as well. We passed a very flashy building and that caught our eyes. Most of the buildings weren't using any of their signs to advertise since barely any people were out and about.

We took a glance at the sign and realized it was a love hotel. My eyes widened and together, our paces got faster and faster to try and get away from such an awkward place.

"Hey..." Taemin stopped and looked at a car in the love hotel's parking lot.

I didn't know what was so interesting about the car and shifted my eyes around, not wanting to look at the hotel. "C'mon Taemin, you can look at cars on the computer." I poked Taemin's back with my hand.

"No, that car's..." Taemin looked at me and I examined the license plate of the car.

"That car...Mr. Choi." I whispered. A lump formed in my throat. Well, isn't this just a swell way to find out why you were abandoned in the middle of a huge city. Us two teens were left alone in such a big city because some stupid lovers wanted to have a fling in a fancy hotel.

"That bastard." I heard the red-headed boy say.

"Taemin!" I yelled even though he was right in front of me. "Don't swear."

"Sorry." He had a look that said he really wanted to wreck Mr. Choi's car. "C'mon, let's go before those two airheads come out."

We got to the subway station and we were both pretty angry. Not at each other this time, but at Mr. Choi; he always ruins the happiness between Taemin and I. In the midst of our angry walk inside the station that almost looked like a swimming pool, our stomachs began growling. It was noon and naturally, we were hungry.

"Eat something first, Tae Seul. It's gonna be a long ride back."

I ordered some dumplings at a food stand and waited for Taemin to order. When he didn't, I asked, "Taemin, aren't you gonna eat?"

He shook his head. "I'm full."

I gave him a look. "From what? Air?" He avoided my eyes and I instantly knew the answer. "I'll get another order of dumplings, please." I asked the lady who was in charge of the orders at the food stand.

The cook handed me my plate of dumplings and Taemin looked at me with an uneasy expression, "Tae Seul, you shouldn't buy everything for me."

"Say ahh." I held a dumpling by his mouth but instead of eating it, he kept his lips shut. "Taemin, eat! You're gonna faint if you don't."

"But it's not my food, it's yours."

"My food is your food, okay? Now eat well." I took the second plate of dumplings from the cook and set it in front of Taemin.

"I promise I'll pay you back for this, too." Taemin looked dejected and I remembered the change in my pocket that the waitress had given me back at the cafe.

"Oh, but you've already paid for a lot of it. I have 16000 Won right here." I handed it all back to him.

He just pushed it all back, though. "It's yours."

"What?"

"10000 Won is for the medicine. 2000 Won is for the dumplings. The other 4000 is for the candy."

"Yah, you're frustrating!" I pushed the money towards him again. "I'm not taking this money."

"Please, just take the money." He pushed it back to me. I started laughing and Taemin looked a little scared. "Tae Seul, are you okay? D-did I get the wrong medicine?"

"I'm fine, Taemin." I covered my mouth to laugh some more. "It's just that I remember my parents would reject money just like this with friends and I found it really stupid. Like, why wouldn't anybody want money?" I could only get a smile from Taemin and I took that time to think about how to make Taemin eat.

"What are you thinking about?" He put his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand.

I picked up the toothpick and stabbed a dumpling. "Remember that day when," I tried to word this properly, "you tried to make me eat the bowl of rice?"

He looked at the cook and then back at me. "No."

I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, that food wasn't mine and you tried to give it to me, right?" Taemin looked at a store behind me and I knew I was winning since he was avoiding eye contact. "And secondly, I want you to know how I felt when you tried to feed me like a baby."

Taemin grimaced. "Can we not?"

"Then eat these dumplings by yourself." I handed him the toothpick with the dumpling on top but he only stared at it. "Or do I have to pretend that it's an airplane and make whooshing sounds?" I could see that Taemin was amused by what I had just said but he still didn't move a muscle.

"You're the one embarrassing yourself." He said to me in a low voice. For a second, I was frozen with astonishment. That did not sound like Taemin at all but his lips moved to those words. When had he started sounding like...like a man instead of the boy that I had known for months?

"Fine, you asked for it." I waved the toothpick around and made sound effects. "Whoosh! Open wide! The airplane's going to crash if you don't-- Oh!" I watched as the dumpling fell onto the wet floor. The cook gave me a look but even he didn't want to pick up the soggy and muddy dumpling. 

Taemin started clapping. "Nice job, pilot."

"Shut up." I moped and turned to my dumplings. I mentally crossed off pilot as a future career of mine. If I couldn't maneuver a dumpling, how could I handle an airplane? "I don't want anymore dumplings to die a horrible death by falling onto the cold ground, so please eat them."

He gave a sigh and I knew I had won. From the corner of my eye, I saw Taemin pick up a dumpling and chewing it slowly. "I see the medicine's working since you're not so tired now?"

"What are you talking about?" I was trying to make it sound like the meds were unnecessary. "I'm dead tired. I'm just a good actress, that's all, and I can make it look like I'm really awake when actually, I'm sleeping. Ooh, I'm like Jonghyun oppa, sleeping with my eyes open."

Taemin watched me go back to my dumplings before saying, "You sure you didn't take an overdose or something? You're acting a bit...strange."

I put on a fake eye smile and patted Taemin's back. "I'm fine, sonnie boy. You just keep eating."

Taemin didn't know how to respond and I couldn't blame him. I was making a fool of myself because I felt drunk from exhaustion and I was drugged up with flu and cold medication. Yes, this is the life.

"Are the trains connecting to Busan even working?" I looked up to see Taemin staring at me instead of his dumplings and noticed that his plate was clean.

"Were you that hungry?"

Taemin shrugged and said, "Answer me first."

"Shouldn't you be asking a person who works there? Why would I know?"

"You're usually the one to know these kinds of things." He slumped in his seat and groaned.

"Umm...are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a small stomach ache. I guess I shouldn't have eaten all that so fast." He laughed softly at himself but clutched his stomach.

I looked at the cook with the dark circles around his eyes and his hands slightly shaking from age. The lady who handled the money kept dozing off from time to time and was probably waiting for us to leave. There was still food left that the cook had made but was not taken and I would've bought everything if it hadn't been for Taemin by my side holding onto his stomach.

"Do you wanna go to the washroom?" I asked awkwardly but he shook his head. "I'll eat quickly and then..." I didn't know what I was supposed to say since I had no clue if the trains were working or not.

"Don't worry about me. The stomach ache will go away soon so just enjoy your food." I began stuffing the dumplings in my mouth but Taemin noticed. "Eat slowly or else you stomach's going to ache, too."

"Okay, mom." I chewed slowly, watching Taemin rock gently back and forth on his tiny stool. He closed his eyes and I could tell he wanted sleep, too. Oh my gosh, when was I ever going to finish my food?

His body drooped as he began to lose consciousness. It drooped further and further until he almost fell off the chair and jolted up, awake again. This happened a few times and it was quite amusing but now was not the time to watch somebody fall asleep on an uncomfortable stool. No, now was the time to eat dumplings.

"I'm done!" I clapped and wiped my mouth with the tissue that was given. I looked over at Taemin and he was really unbalanced in that stool of his, still fighting the sleep. I handed a few bills to the lady operating the stand and took the change before standing up and grabbing onto Taemin. He relaxed and leaned on me to sleep while I tried to get a good grip on him through his puffy jacket.

I heard a squeak and a screech and saw that Taemin was falling off his stool and onto me. Oh, this is just great. I looked around for a bench and found one not far from the food stand. Dragging Taemin over there, I silently thanked him for being so skinny. I roughly got him to sit on the bench, went back to get his crutches, and managed to make it to the bench again before Taemin had toppled over.

I watched him leaning on my shoulder but knew it would be strange to stare at him the whole time while he was asleep. I'd be like Edward Cullen in Bella's bedroom. My hands fished around in Taemin's jacket pocket and I felt like a real pickpocket when I felt his cellphone and took it out. Unfortunately, it was turned off and I didn't have the slightest idea on how to turn it on so I stuck it back in Taemin's coat.

From all the movement, Taemin woke up and ran his hand through his hair. His soft, smooth, red hair that many girls, including me, envied. "Did you want to call your parents?"

"No, just wanted some entertainment while we wait for a train to actually arrive." Taemin sat back and took out his cellphone to turn it on. "What would your parents say if you told them about all this?" I asked.

"They'd probably get angry since they didn't want me to be here in the first place."

"Why not?"

He pointed to his leg and then went back to his cellphone. "They thought I wasn't capable of roaming around in such a huge city with a broken leg."

"Ooh, I'm sorry for dragging you here." I looked down at my hands, finding great interest in a hang nail.

"I had fun, though. It's either this or I stay home all day because of the snow storm."

"Yeah, it's either sitting here on a cold bench instead of at home on a warm couch."

Taemin kept tapping on his cellphone before handing it over to me. "Here you go. Entertainment." I looked down at the cellphone in my hands and then at Taemin.

“Tetris?”

Taemin kept his smile and shrugged. “It keeps me occupied.”

Not being a big fan of Tetris, I didn’t press play. Instead, I went to the high scores page.

“You’re crazy, Taemin.”

He was playing with a receipt that he dug out from his pocket. “What?”

“I don’t even know a thing about Tetris but one million points on a game has got to be worth something.”

“I guess I’ve had a lot of time on my hands back then?”

"Storytime?" He nodded and I looked at him for further explanation. “Go on. I’m not going to be spending the next few hours just playing Tetris.”

“Well, a while ago...” Taemin stopped and pursed his lips, “I think I’m going to die.”

“Is your stomach ache still hurting you?”

He shook his head and laughed. “No, my stomach’s fine. I think if Jonghyun or Key find out what I’m about to say, I’m going to be pummeled.”

This got me even more excited. “Tell me, please!” I begged.

Taemin tapped on his cheek and smirked. “Hmm…should I?”

“Yes, yes, yes, you should.”

“Okay then.” Taemin shifted until he was more comfortable on the bench. “So a while ago, let’s say six months, Jonghyun and Key were having another one of those phases where they get really close to each other again.”

“But weren’t they always really tight?”

“Yes, but…this is different.” I nodded to make it look as if I actually understood. “They kept going shopping together and going to all these fancy stores like Louie Vuitton and Burberry. It was a constant occurrence, too; they were out together almost everyday. So when it came time for practice, Jonghyun and Key were usually late. While we waited for them, I played Tetris.”

“That’s not very interesting…”

“I’m not done, yet.” Taemin rubbed his hands together to keep them warm and I stuck mine into my pocket, remembering the cold temperature. “Usually, their phases last for a few days, right? Well this time, it lasted for months."

"Umm...I don't think I need to know anymore."

"But it's...well, it's not funny...but it's interesting."

I didn't want to hear about how Jonghyun and Key finally confessed their love for each other but I didn't want to disappoint Taemin by not listening to him. "Okay, just tell me the...punchline of the story or whatever." I can already imagine two million girls crying after hearing their idols are gay for each other. The other two million would be rejoicing.

"Jonghyun got a girlfriend and he spent a bunch of money on her."

The strangest sound ever came out of my mouth. "Girlfriend?"

Taemin smiled at my strange reaction. "Yep, you never could've guessed, right? Like, what kind of girl would date Jonghyun?"

"I would!" I raised up my hand and gave back Taemin's phone that was being unused.

"Y-You would?"

I nodded, "Of course! He's one of the kingkas of the school! Do you know what kind of an opportunity it would be to date a kingka?"

"So you're saying you're willing to date a guy because of his status?"

"No, Jonghyun has a great voice, too. He could sing lullabies to his girlfriend every night." I smiled at the scene while Taemin went into thought.

"I've been working on my voice." He said quietly.

I clapped my hands together and said, "Then sing a song for me!"

"But all the songs I've practised are love songs." He either started blushing or it just got colder.

"Aww, don't you love me?" I laughed. "Fine, you don't have to sing for me."

We sat in silence for an hour or so, I was too tired to look at the big clock on the wall. I leaned on Taemin's shoulder gently. Right before I was about to fall asleep, I heard Taemin singing.

"Frere Jacques, frere Jacques, dormez-vous? Dormez-Vous?"

"Hmm? You're singing an English song?" I lifted my head up to ask him.

He shook his head and motioned for me to lie down again. "French."

"Wow, Lee Taemin can sing in French. He's cooler than Jonghyun-oppa."

Taemin chuckled softly. "Cooler than Mr. Choi?"

"Oh please," I remarked softly, "He'd probably be banned from all the karaoke parties."

 

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Aigoo, CULMINATING ASSIGNMENTS ARE OVER. Time for exams :D

And yes, I'm a very cheesy person T_____T I'm hoping that the rest of you are as well and that you enjoyed this chapter (: