The Story of Key

"Psst, do you think that's her?" Taemin nodded at the large red stand in the corner of the street, several blocks down from where their apartment was. Outside of the stand, there were several customers waiting in line.

"No, idiot. She owns the shop, so she must be inside behind the counter or in the kitchen or something. Don't be fooled." Jonghyun craned his neck too, staring intently at the shop along with the other four members of SHINee.

Minho, Key, Taemin, and Jonghyun were all hiding behind a large trash bin, while Onew stood even further behind them, scoffing.

"You guys look suspicious," Onew crossed his arms. "And if you go in there all at once, I'll...I'll..."

"That's right," Key scratched his chin thoughtfully. "If we all go in there at once, then she'll know that we're spying on her." Nobody noticed Onew, still gesturing wildly in the background, unable to find a suitable threat for his dongsaengs. Several people walking in the street gave him sidelong glances, wondering if Onew was someone suspicious.

Meanwhile, Taemin gulped, his eyes growing as large as saucers. Spies! And the way his hyungs were acting - so secretive and careful - surely something dangerous was afoot. In his head he was already imagining the horrors that the shopkeepers of Japan would inflict on a Korean spy. "M-maybe we shouldn't - "

"I'll go first, then." Key walked out into the open, and strode unhesitatingly toward the teriyaki chicken shop. He looked very cool and laid back as he walked. Small chains on his jeans rattled and clinked together in tune with his easy stride. Key wore a confident grin, tinged with a bit of the dark mystery that he sometimes showed during concerts and music videos. In short, this Key was going all out.

"Wait!" Onew called out. For some reason he felt very nervous. But his feeling of worry was not for Key, who was already drawing the attention of several girls waiting in line.

Then who am I worried for? Onew wondered. Ikki?

The ice cold feeling in his chest answered that yes, he was anxious for Ikki.

.

.

Key strode in the teriyaki shop, smelling the scent of freshly made chicken. It smelled amazingly good, especially since it was a little before lunchtime. No wonder Onew had been seduced. "Hello?" He called out in a low, quiet tone that carried. Out of all the members, his Japanese was second best after Onew. He was confident that he would be able to hold a decent - and serious - conversation.

"Welcome!" Rang out a cheerful voice. "Please wait just a moment."

There were only a few customers sitting on high stools before a bar-like table. They were mostly girls, probably from college. Key ignored the sidelong interested glances, keeping his posture relaxed and his voice smooth. He was used to these types of stares.

"I'm looking for a friend of mine," Key continued, letting an easygoing smirk play out on his face. He watched the girl breeze out of the kitchen, her hair tied up with a bandana. His smile faltered.

So this is the girl Onew might be in love with.

Oh damn...she's prettier than I thought she would be.

"I'm sorry, who are you looking for again?" Even as she said this, the girl dropped a large slab of vegetables onto a wooden tray and began to slice them up with decisive actions. She kept her eyes on Key the entire time, expectant but not overly interested.

Key could see why Onew was interested in her. There was a distinct charisma about her that drew people in, similar to the way Onew sang or the way Taemin danced. There was an air of pride with which she did her work. She was good at it, and it showed.

He decided to go for the teasing approach. "Are you sure you haven't met him already?" He smiled at her. "He's quite handsome, pretty tall, like me."

She raised an eyebrow, asking him silently to stop joking.

"Good singer?" Key suggested. "Earnest personality? Beautiful smile? Just like me, by the way."

Except for the last two, he added in his head.

Her eyes flickered away, but her hands never slowed or stopped. She frowned, her eyes returning to his with slight annoyance. "I'm sorry, I don't think - "

"He loves chicken to the point that he'll do anything for it." Key interrupted, keeping his teasing tone.

Ikki looked shocked for a moment. Then her face broke out into a huge grin. "You're Onew's friend! Aren't you?"  

Poor, poor Onew, Key sobbed inside of his heart. The girl has /this/ kind of impression of you? What have you been doing in front of her?!?

"Yes," he replied, fixing his smile so that it wouldn't become a grimace. "That's...Onew for ya."

"Oh! Well actually, you just missed him. He left three hours ago. Maybe you should come again in the early morning if you want to find him, right before rush hour." Ikki's voice was still bright, in contrast to the shocked gloominess of Key's heart.

"Y-yeah, well, thanks." Key left slowly, forgetting about the chicken that he had promised to buy.

The girl was charismatic, that's for sure. And she was pretty. But Key was now quite certain that she would never return Onew's feelings. So businesslike! There always seemed to be this large distance between any customer and vendor. No matter how good Onew was, no matter how many times he went there to eat, he would not be able to bridge that huge gap of professionalism.

Key did not know that Onew was actually working at the shop as a part timer. He had not been able to pry that many details out of Onew. As such, his thoughts flew in a haphazard order, drawing quick conclusions.

His purpose in coming out had actually been to make Onew insecure, to make Onew realize his feelings even faster. But Key had not expected the girl to be so unaware of Onew. Usually girls would remember a handsome face like that, but not this one.  

This girl was too professional in her line of work. "I have no time to fall in love," Onew had said earlier this morning. Well, the same was true for this girl. And she, apparently, had absolutely no interest in any hot guy that might come along either.

In that instant, Key decided that he must not let Onew fall in love with this girl. It would only lead to heartbreak and disappointment. And Key, being Key, would definitely protect Onew's heart at all costs.

.

.

"Hey hey, how did it go?"

Key looked up to see that the other members of SHINee were still hiding behind the bin, piled atop of each other in their eagerness to see what was going on.

He had forgotten that it had only taken a few minutes to have that conversation with the girl. It had seemed much longer.

With a long, heavy sigh, Key sank onto a nearby bench and put his head in his hands.

"I forgot to buy the chicken teriyaki." He said in a dull, dead voice.

"WHAT!??!"