BGM:

Apink YOS subunit - Love is Blind 

SHINee - Lovesick 

This chapter is inspired by: Super M on Ellen Show (Oct, 2019)

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SM Practice Room, September 2019.

The Super M members sat on the practice room floor, all exhausted from the intensive practice. With sweat imprinted on his shirt, Taemin walked over to their dance instructor, who filmed their dance practice video. Taemin watched the 7 men on the screen and thought deeply to himself. 

The choreography was fine, but there was something... lacking. It was the bond, the teamwork and the unity. For the team to be synchronised and create better stage performance, the members needed to have a closer bond. Taemin recognises this fact. No matter how the older members try to get closer to the younger members, they need something else for the team to have a tighter bond.

After their practice, Taemin suggested to the members: 

“Guys, are you all free for dinner tonight? We can go out to eat.” 

Kai glanced at him and with a look, he understood Taemin’s intentions. He nodded. “I can join. I have no schedules later.” 

The younger members nodded one by one after checking their schedules. 

......

Inside the restaurant, a room is booked for the 7 members. After sips of alcohol, members loosened up. 

“Let’s play a game. Starting from me, we’ll go in clockwise order. When it’s their turn, the person will need to choose another member, and ask one question to that member. It could be anything that you’re curious about.” Baekhyun suggested. 

The younger members became hesitant. 

“It could be anything! Anything that you want to ask about!” Baekhyun added with a sly grin. 

They then agreed with playful smiles on their faces. 

Before Taemin had a chance to point to someone, he got picked. Ten asked: “Taemin-hyung, do you have a girlfriend!” 

All the other members wooed in response, while Baekhyun and Kai gave a sly look to each other. 

Taemin chuckled. “Yes.” He said with a nod honestly. 

“OHHHHH!!” 

“Who is it, who is it??” 

“Woahhh how long has it been going on?”

“Is she from our company?” 

The 4 younger members asked excitedly. 

“Wait up, I won’t answer those! I’m only supposed to answer one question right?” Taemin said with a smirk. 

They sighed in disappointment. 

The next member was Lucas, and instead of pointing to someone else, he pointed to Taemin again. 

“Taemin hyung! Who is your girlfriend!” He asked with his eyes wide in anticipation. 

Taemin got flustered and chuckled in shyness. 

“Well...” His eyes flickered playfully, “If I tell you guys, then it won’t be fun!” 

“No, no it’ll be fun!” 

“Nooo that’s not fair!! You have to answer the question!” 

They all protested. 

“Fine, Fine, I’ll give you guys a HINT.” Taemin compromised. 

“She’s... a girl group member.” He said carefully. 

“Noooo that’s not enough! There are hundreds of girl groups out there!!” 

“Yea... how could we guess who it is...” 

“That’s too broad!” 

The 4 younger members protested again. 

Taemin glanced helplessly at Baekhyun and Kai, who laughed at him. 

Kai tried to calm his teammates down. “Okay okay, guys. How about we get another hint from Taemin, and then we move on okay?” 

Taemin widened his eyes at Kai. “I thought you’re helping me to get out of this!” He shot a glare at Kai, who returned his look with a smirk. 

Taemin sighed. “Okay fine, I’ll say one more hint.

She’s...slightly younger than me.” He answered hesitantly. 

Baekhyun added on the side. “She’s very pretty!” 

Taemin exclaimed “Hyung!” to Baekhyun, who answered with a cheeky smile. 

While the younger members started searching “Pretty female idols born in 1993 and 1994”, Taemin cleared his throat and started the game again. 

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October, 2019. Los Angles, US. 

The members ate dinner together in the luxurious dorm. Their reality show was shot yesterday, and tonight was a night without cameras.

Taemin was the most experienced out of the members. For the younger members, Taemin was not only a kind-hearted brother, but also a respectful mentor. The younger members had worries, whether it was about their soon-debut in US, stage performance, or whether it was about their future in the entertainment industry. 

When he looks at the younger members, Taemin couldn’t help but to think of himself years ago — when he was young, had fiery passion and energy in him. 

“Hyung, I have a question. ” Taeyong asked. 

“Yea?” 

“How do you manage your private life while being a celebrity? Like for example... dating.” Taeyong asked carefully. 

“Oooh.. Taeyong has someone in mind?” Taemin teased and others followed. 

Taeyong shook his head with slightly redden cheeks. “No, it’s because... hyungs... you guys all have or have had girlfriends in the past... so I was wondering...” 

Mark nodded in agreement. “Yea I’m curious about that too.”

Kai, Baekhyun and Taemin looked at each simultaneously.

Baekhyun said with a forced, bitter smile. “Well... I guess the only suitable person to answer this question is Taemin. He’s the best example out of us three.” 

Taemin opened his mouth to refuse, but he remembered various events that happened to Kai and Baekhyun. He sighed and answered while staring at the cool night sky. 

“It’s hard for us. It will be hard for you when you start dating. You won’t have time to meet each other, and every time you meet your partner, there’ll be cameras everywhere so even if you have the time, it’s possible that you won’t be able to meet her properly. You might only see her a few times in a year. 

It was hard for me back then. I was so busy that I just got used to the life without her, that we’ve lost contact and at one point, it was too late to regret it.” 

He paused. He could almost hear Naeun’s sob across the phone back then, when she broke up with him. 

“But... I think I’m lucky, I met the one who’s right for me, and I met someone who would stay by my side no matter what.” His lips curled into a smile and his eyes softened. 

Taemin’s eyes drifted back to Taeyong, but also the other 3 pairs of sincere eyes. 

“I would say... communication is the key. You have to learn to understand your partner and your partner has to understand you. This is the nature of our jobs, and... we just can’t see each other all the time. But don’t let the distance affect your relationship. Talk to her everyday, no matter how busy you are... tell her everything... because if you don’t, you’ll become distant and the relationship will fade.

Some people get tired after a certain period of time. We felt the same back then. 

But... if you really love that person… and if you’ve found the one that’s right for you, you wouldn’t want to let go.” His lips widened in a grin. 

“But hyung... how do you know if that person is the one for you?” Mark wondered. 

“You guys are too young, you probably wouldn’t know who’s the right one for you, but when that person comes... you’ll know, it’s her.” Taemin said with a encouraging smile. 

The team became silent, as if still absorbing Taemin’s words. Before Mark or Taeyong could utter another word, Taemin’s phone vibrated against the table. His eyes lit up at the ringing phone. He stood up, then patted the younger members’ shoulders with assurance. “Don’t worry about that now. It takes time. Let’s just focus on our performance, our career now.” He picked up h