Ha Neul's POV

When I entered the concert hall of the Tokyo Dome I just thought that it was incredibly huge. The building had already looked big from the outside but the inside was even more spacious than I had imagined.

I let my eyes wander around the thousands of empty seats that would tonight be filled with excited fans cheering for their idols. For Jonghyun. Never before had his identity as a famous and admired idol been as real and blatant as right at that moment. I realised that despite me watching his videos, listening to his songs, and seeing him on TV I had somehow never seen him as an idol. At first he was just some annoying jerk that had somehow managed to get Hyo Rin's admiration. Then, he became my landlord who got more and more likable the better I got to know him. Until I realised I had fallen for him; which made him my special someone. But not once in this steep career of his he had been an idol to me.

That was why this realisation hit me even harder. I said I liked this man but yet I had always overlooked an important part of him. He spent so much time on his SHINee activities but I never really thought about it. Did I really like him, then? And what about all his fans? Didn't they like him too? They might not see all sides of him but apparently I didn't either. So, what made me any different from them? I even blackmailed him to let me live with him! Not even those crazy fans would do that! So what gave me the right to say I liked him?!

Question after question pushed into my mind but not for one of them I could find an answer. They just swirled around in my head making me a little dizzy and light-headed and I sat down on one of the concert chairs.

For me, question and answer had always been an inseparable pair. One may not see the connection or only know half of the pair, but after thinking about it long enough it would always become visible.

But with these questions, for the first time, it was different. Without actually giving an answer, one would lead to the next and at the end I would be at the beginning again, being just as clueless as before.

For the blink of an eye I remembered my dramas again; was this what Baek Seung Jo had meant when he said that Oh Ha Ni was a problem he could not solve? And did that mean that as soon as I would stop thinking about it I would be alright again, too?

I decided to give it a try and lifted my head and looked around to distract my thoughts. Everything was still the same. The concert hall was still big and empty except for a few technicians running around on the stage. It seemed that my mental absence hadn't taken that long, luckily.

But then my eyes fell on a group of people that were walking towards the exit, which was exactly behind me. And upon inspecting them a little closer I realised that it was none other than SHINee themselves!

And I panicked. Hell, I was in no mental state to face them right now!

I frantically looked around, searching for a place to hide. But there was none. I couldn't even escape through the rows of chairs because there was a wall right after about ten chairs.

I already mentally prepared myself for a certain Alien Terrorist's outburst – because of me ignoring all his calls –, when I finally got the rescuing idea.

In one fluid movement I let myself drop to the ground and lay flat on the floor between the rows of chairs. I crawled backwards until my feet hit the wall and then I simply prayed that no one would accidentally look my way and notice me. Because then things would get seriously awkward!

Not wanting to risk anything by peeking over the chairs I only watched their feet through the forest of chair legs. Immediately, I recognised Jonghyun's white sneakers and I was surprised that he still wore them. Because after Shil Hye had decided on making Jonghyun her new toy, she had repeatedly abducted the right shoe of this pair to play with it. The black patch – I didn’t have any white ones – where I had tried to conceal the most prominent "scars" after another abduction was clearly identifiable, even from a distance.

That’s why I was even more surprised to see Jonghyun wearing these shoes! I thought he would rather die than touch something that Shil Hye had had her little paws on. Since he always complained that the poor cat was making him “unstylish”!

Or maybe he gave the shoes to Key? I then suddenly thought. It was quite possible that the diva thought those scratches and the patch looked "stylish".

As the white sneakers were approaching the gap between the two rows of chairs that I was lying in between, I decided to risk a glance and lifted my head a little.

There were seven pairs of feet in total; hence I guessed it was all of SHINee plus their manager and maybe a coordi noona. The white sneakers were the next-to-last pair and the closer they got the faster my heart beat in my chest.

Finally, the person wearing the white sneakers entered my field of vision and my heart skipped a beat. Yes, it was indeed Jonghyun. My eyes darted to his face but I could only see it from the side and since I was lying on the floor the most prominent feature I could see was his jawline.

And then he already disappeared behind the next row of chairs again.

But was it only me or did he look thinner than before? And hadn't his step been a little sluggish and unmotivated?

I felt worried all of a sudden. Was he sick by any chance?! Had he maybe tried to call me so often because he needed something?! Oh, God! What had I been doing, not picking up even once?!

I hastily fiddled for my phone, intending to check his messages immediately. But just as I was about to listen to the first one, the phone started ringing! Loudly!

Obviously I started panicking. I mean, this was like shouting "Everyone! Here I am! Come and look at me making an idiot out of myself!"

And in my rush I switched off the phone altogether instead of just ending the call. Oh well, I should have done that from the very beginning anyway! I then squeezed my eyes shut; expecting to be discovered any moment now. But when even after a while nothing happened, I carefully pried over the row of chairs. And breathed out relieved when I saw that they had already left. I guessed they must have already been outside when my phone rang. Phew, lucky!

I did one last check by peeking out the door to make sure that they were really gone and then I headed towards the stage to finally do what I came here for, after all. To fix that stupid bug in the software!

Narrator's POV

When SHINee returned to the concert hall they were informed right away that the technical support had arrived from Seoul and that in a little while everything would be ready for the final rehearsal.

The staff tilted his head towards the main control desk. "She's still working on it but according to her it won't take longer than about half an hour anymore. So if you'd go and put on your costumes right now then we could start as soon as you're done," the staff suggested and everyone agreed. Without wasting any more time the boys headed to the dressing room; only Taemin took a second to glance back towards the control desk. But after he had made sure that Ha Neul was really there he too proceeded to the dressing room.

Ha Neul hadn't noticed anything of that though. When she was concentrating on something then she would shut out everything else around her. Even when people directly addressed her, they would usually have to ask a second or even a third time until she'd notice them.

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Back in the dressing room, Jonghyun’s make-up artist had her work cut out to finish her job. Because Jonghyun just couldn’t keep his expression steady. He kept biting his lips, frowned, and closed his eyes just to open them seconds later again. Reason was that he once more was trying to call Ha Neul but she still didn't pick up.

Finally, Taemin had mercy with the poor make-up artist and he straight-facedly told Jonghyun that the signal was better inside the concert hall and that he should go try it there again. Jonghyun didn't really believe him but as the make-up artist had already given up and told him she was done he decided to at least give it a try. Couldn't hurt, now could it?

He stepped onto the stage and dialled Ha Neul's number once again. But like all the countless times before, it just continued to ring. And ring. He heaved a resigned sigh and lowered the phone.

However, miraculously the ringing didn't become softer. And it actually sounded like the ringtone of a real phone...! Moreover! Now that he listened to it, it wasn't coming from the direction of his phone either!

Jonghyun spun around. His eyes darted around, trying to locate the origin of the sound. Finally his eyes passed by the brown shock of hair sitting at the main control desk and he did a double take.

Impossible! Was he imagining things? Was he finally hallucinating now?!

He just stood there and stared at her, his arm with the cell phone hanging limply at his side. Then, as if in trance, he started walking towards her. He would have almost fallen off the stage, if he hadn't realised at the last moment that it would have been a fall of about two meters and that he thus was better advised to take the stairs. He turned to the side and almost fell down the stairs because he didn’t dare take his eyes of her, fearing that she would disappear as soon as he’d do so.

When he stepped in front of the desk, Ha Neul was still bent over her laptop and Jonghyun couldn't even see her face. But the way his heart pounded against his ribcage, he had absolutely no doubt about who he was staring at. He opened his mouth to draw her attention but no sound came out. He could only stare at her in silence.

The only thing that could be heard was the typing sound of Ha Neul working her keypad and the noise of the busy staff running around in the background. But Jonghyun didn't even notice. He looked at Ha Neul like a prisoner who after months of living in the dark dungeons finally saw the sun again. But he didn't realise that either.

Suddenly, Ha Neul straightened up, though. She stretched her limbs that were a little sore from sitting in that bent position all the time and looked around. And while doing so, her eyes inevitably fell onto Jonghyun.

The moment Ha Neul recognised the man standing in front of her she froze. He had completely taken her by surprise. Her mind blank she just stared back at him with wide eyes.

No one said something; they simply looked at each other in silence. And if this were one of Ha Neul’s dramas then the camera would now be rotating around the two while some soft music would play in the background.

But then Ha Neul braced herself and cleared . "Um, it's good to see you, Jonghyun-ssi..." She said awkwardly. "Have you been well?"

And finally hearing the voice that had accompanied him in his head for the past week in real life, Jonghyun felt like he had just woken up from a very long dream. Like he had just been thrown back into his real life again. He shook his head a little to shake of this strange sensation. But it had no effect; the sensation remained.

"Jonghyun-ssi?" Ha Neul repeated and frowned slightly because the person she had addressed didn't respond. "Everything alright?"

Finally he blinked and lowered his eyes. "Y-yes..." But as soon as his answer had left his lips he looked away and furrowed his brows; for some hilarious reason his voice was shaking! Annoyed, he cleared his throat. "Yes, of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?" He answered again, this time with a deliberate light tone. He put on a carefree smile before he looked at Ha Neul again. But somehow Ha Neul knew right away that it was fake.

“And you?” Jonghyun asked back.

“Me? Fine, too. Thanks,” Ha Neul replied and forced a smile.

“Didn’t I tell you not to lie to me when you know you can't?” Jonghyun mumbled under his breath before he continued out loud. “I suppose you have been busy? Seeing that you’re not answering my calls…” There was a slightly scornful edge but Ha Neul didn’t pick it up.

“Ne…” She answered and it didn’t escape Jonghyun’s eyes how she had to avert her eyes while doing so. He balled his fists. He really wanted to punch that bastard right now and it took a lot of effort to keep the smile plastered on his face.

But before he could give any snide remark, Key’s voice interrupted them. He and the rest of SHINee were also done with their make-up and come out onto the stage to start the final rehearsal. And finding Jonghyun gone they had looked around until Key found him standing in front of the main control desk. “Ah! There you are, Jonghyun! But what are you doing over th—?” He broke off when his eyes fell onto the answer to his question. “Ha Neul? What are you doing here?” He looked at her surprised.

“Ha Neul?” Hearing that name the others came walking over too.

“It really is…!” Minho said as he stepped next to Key. “Hi, Ha Neul!”

“Hi, everyone! It’s nice to see you again!” Ha Neul greeted them all. “I’m here in my uncle’s stead to fix your problem with the music. I’m almost done! Just a second…” She disappeared behind her laptop again, hit a few keys on her keyboard, and looked up again. “So, now, the fifth try… hope it’ll work…” She rolled her chair over to the computer of the control desk and hit the play button.

An anxious thirty seconds passed but then the first beats of Sherlock resounded through the concert hall.

Ha Neul leaned back in her chair and sighed relieved. She grinned widely and pumped her fist. “Yes!”

Onew smiled at her. “Congrats. You did it! All the fans that brought tickets for tonight will be eternally grateful!”

Ha Neul chuckled. “Thanks for saying that. Even though they will never know.”

Jonghyun just rolled his eyes and frowned at his hyung; he wasn’t particularly amused by the flowery interaction between his hyung and Ha Neul. “Okay, can we stop this mushy talk now? It’s giving me goose bumps. Besides we need to practise. Thanks to this problem we haven’t even once rehearsed with music yet,” he grumbled and stomped off towards the stage.

A little taken aback by Jonghyun’s sudden bad mood, s looked after him warily. But only for a moment, and then they too excused themselves and went after him. When they were back on the stage, Key glanced at Jonghyun again who was still looking rather pissed. “Seriously. Just what is going on with him lately?” He wondered and shook his head. “And you maknae? Why are you grinning like an idiot?” He then turned to Taemin who was walking beside him towards the centre of the stage and eyed him suspiciously.

“No reason.” Taemin tried to put on a serious look but failed miserably.

Which only made Key narrow his eyes at the maknae even more. “Yeah, right.”

“No, really. There’s no particular reason,” Taemin insisted and pursed his lips. Another attempt to hide his grin even though his eyes gave him away. “I just feel like this trip is going to be rather interesting…!” And with that he skipped over to his start position for the rehearsal.

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Heeyy, everybody!! New chap is up! ^^

Whaa, my heart feels much better, now that they are at least next to each other again! Kekeke

I completely forgot to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year with the last chapter! So, I'm doing it now! ^^ Thank you for staying with me for, omg, I think it's been already over a year now!! O.o Anyway, thank you for staying with me all this time!!! :DDD