Tossing and turning all night long, Key dragged his heavy head to the side and glanced over at the clock. ‘5:30am? I’ve got two more hours before we have to get up for our 8am practice…’ The weary boy sighed tiredly. He had not been able to get any sleep that night. Except for brief periods of dozing that didn’t last all that long, Key at been restless with thoughts of… him.

‘It’s a wonder I didn’t wake anyone…’ he thought incoherently, ‘Maybe a shower will do me some good.’ Stumbling over his own heavy feet, the idol did his best to quietly drag himself to the bathroom without disturbing any of his band mates’ dreaming.

After closing the door, Key locked the door and gently turned the showerhead on. He lazily dropped his clothes to the cold tile floor and wrinkled his nose in disgust at the feel of his skin. Key felt his sweaty face and groaned quietly. ‘Why did I sleep in my clothes? …Stupid.’

He stepped into the steamed shower and smiled as the warm water beat his back. Sighing, Key closed his eyes as ran his slender fingers through his now soaked hair, soothing his fatigued body with every second of pressure released from the showerhead. He didn’t want to think about anything. Not Jonghyun. Not Se Kyung. Not practice. Not anything. The diva just wanted to relax and let himself melt in the cloud of steam that now filled the tiled room.

After cleaning himself in the shower, Key slowly turned the knob, sighing as the warm water left him, leaving him cold and shivering. He grabbed a towel and wrapped himself in its fuzziness. Look down at it, the idol giggled as a chibi dinosaur pouted cutely back up at him.

‘This is Jjong’s towel,’ Key smiled sadly as he rubbed warmth back into his trembling limbs. Looking in the mirror, a puffy-eyed diva frowned back at him.

‘I’m lazy … Cover-up should be fine today.’ Key decided with a yawn. The fatigue caught up with the weary idol quickly as he pulled his dancing sweats over his mussy head and on his achy legs. The not-so-flamboyant diva glanced at the clock.

‘6:45am already? I don’t think I’ve ever..’ YAWN~ ‘spent that much time in the shower…’ Key rubbed his heavy eyes and made his way to the kitchen. ‘I guess I should make some breakfast before they wake up.’

Key, no matter how tired he was, always made the idols’ breakfast without fail. Popping toast in the toaster, flipping eggs quickly with different seasonings and topping with each member’s taste, Key had the dorm smelling delicious in a matter of ten minutes. The aroma always drifted through the room, leading right into the space the idols all shared, waking the members up with hungry tummies.

Setting the table and covering the eggs, rice, and toast to keep them warm, Key decided to rest on the couch for the others to wake.

“They should be up soon… Maybe I can *yawn* rest my eyes for a few…minutes…”

--

Blinking awake, the mussy-headed maknae yawned and stretched, accidently hitting Minho in the face.

“W-what the –” Minho jerked up, startled by the sudden blow to his head. “Taemin, why are you in my bed again?” he sighed.

Wrapping his arms around the elder’s waist, Taemin snuggled into Minho’s warm, built chest with a yawn. “I was cold, hyung~”

Minho’s face blossomed into a slight shade of pink and stiffened in Taemin’s arms but loosened up a bit when the younger dosed off yet again. Slowly, the aroma of breakfast entered the room and Minho gently nudged the dancer awake.

“Key’s making breakfast, we’d better get up before he does, okay Taeminnie?” Minho blew softly into Taemin’s ear, getting a giggle from the tired boy.

“Not yet, hyung,” Taemin mumbled with a smile. Hearing a thump, Minho turned his head to Onew stumbling across the room to the hallway, then most likely the bathroom. His eyes were squinted shut and slightly covered by his long bed-head hair.

‘One down, two to go,’ Minho thought. Grabbing his pillow, the rapper chucked it across the room to the dino’s bed, hitting him square in the face.

“The hell, Minho…” Jonghyun mumbled sleepily as he sat up and rubbed his closed eyes.

“Key’s making breakfast, get up.”

“Kay…” Jonghyun yawned and got out of bed with a blanket dragged behind him. Grabbing it as the dino went past, Minho chuckled at his “lovely” morning face before turned his attention back to Taemin.

“Everyone else is up, Taemin. Time to get off and get up.” Minho pried the younger’s arms from his waist and leaned down to his ear. “Don’t force my tickling hand, Minnie,” he warned.

Popping off the rapper’s waist, Taemin, tangled in the sheets, fell to the floor. Minho laughed heartily and peeked over the edge of the bed.

“You okay down there?”

A pouting, mussy head Taemin huffed back in response. “That was mean, hyung.”

“I know. Come on, let’s go eat.” Minho chuckled as he held out his hand.

--

Jonghyun emerged from the bedroom with a yawn. ‘So tired… Couldn’t stop thinking about Key…’ he thought wearily. Walking into the kitchen, he was surprised to see it empty. Sure, the table was set and the food was out and ready but there was something missing. No Key. Looking around, the dino spotted a colorful stripe covered foot peeking out from couch. Jonghyun could hear soft breathing as he walked over and sure enough, there was Key, dozing off peacefully.

Jonghyun crouched down to the diva’s eye level and smiled, ‘Everyone’s tired today, I guess.’ Moving Key’s hair away from his eyes, the dino noticed something was off. The diva’s normally bright feline eyes looked puffy and exhausted. His cheeks were flushed and although his hair was damp, probably due from a shower, his forehead was covered in beads of sweat.

Putting his hand on Key’s forehead, Jonghyun frowned. ‘He’s got a fever…’

“Hey… Key? Are you feeling alright?” Jonghyun rubbed the diva’s shoulder softly in concern.

--

Key slowly blinked his eyes open to find Jonghyun’s big brown worried puppy eyes staring at him. Yawning, he sat up, feeling a wave of exhaustion pass over him.

“What was that, Jjong?” Key rubbed his eyes sleepily. ‘I don’t feel any better than before…’

“Are you feeling alright? You don’t look so good,” Jonghyun repeated softly.

“I’m fine. Is everyone up? We have to go soon…” Key mumbled as he rose from the couch and headed into the kitchen. Jonghyun frowned and followed the diva silently.

Key’s head spun dizzily and fuzzy dots started to cover his field of vision. Quickly, he gripped the edge of the counter and closed his eyes, wishing the feeling away.

‘Great, dizzy spells. Exactly what I need today.’ Key thought crossly. The last thing he wanted was for his fellow idols to see him sick. Key had enough of playing the “weak” one for a while. And in front of Jonghyun especially. He was the Almighty Key. He can deal with it.

“Key…” Jonghyun placed a hand on his shoulder, “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

“Of course, you pabo! I’m just a little tired, that’s all. Now go eat before it gets cold.” Key retorted haughtily. ‘I don’t need your pity, Kim Jonghyun. Last night won’t break me. I’m strong and I won’t let you turn me into a heartbroken little schoolgirl. I won’t let you…’

Jonghyun obediently sat at his place at the table, piling his plate with delicious breakfast food but with a suspicious eye on the idol.

Taemin soon bounded in with Minho following behind him. Plopping down in his chair, the younger smiled happily as he filled his glass to the brim with banana milk and Minho shook his head with a chuckle at the sight. Hearing Taemin, Key stood up straight and took his place at the table, not wanting the younger to worry. A wave of nausea swept over the rapper but he shook it off, covering his plate with small portions.

“Where’s Onew?” Taemin voiced echoed with his almost empty cup in front of his mouth.

“Coming…” A mumble of sleepiness was heard from the bedroom before a tired looking idol dragged his feet into the kitchen. “I fell asleep in the bathroom…” he yawned.

“Nice, hyung,” Minho commented as he ate. Taemin giggled and started to fill his cup again. Grabbing his wrist, Key confiscated the carton and gave the younger a look.

“I’m cutting you off. Eat your eggs.”

“…fine.” Taemin pouted, picking at his plate as Onew slumped down in his chair.

“Are you even awake, Onew?” Key muttered feeling light-headed.

Onew’s eyes were squinted shut, hair mussed to imperfection, and a slight frown on his face.

“Yes,” Onew grumbled, “Why is practice this early?” Key rolled his eyes and passed the elder an omelet.

Opening his eyes with a slight squinty face, Onew took a glance at his plate.

“Yes, it’s chicken. Now eat, we’re going to be late.” Key picked up his plate and scraped his leftovers in the garbage.

“Not hungry today, umma?” Taemin questioned as he placed his dishes in the sink. The diva shrugged and gave the younger a slight smile.

Jonghyun took note of it and his eyebrows furrowed in concern. Key snuck a glance at the dino and felt his face flush.

“I’m just a little tired today, that’s all. Now let’s go before manager-hyung has our heads.”

--

“Let’s take a break guys,” Onew sighed in exhaustion, leaning on his knees to catch his breath.

Minho grabbed his water bottle and drank every last thirst-quenching drop before clenching the plastic, throwing it in the garbage. Taemin lied on his back, the cold floor cooling his overheated body. Jonghyun slid his back down the wall and sat on the floor, breathing heavy to fill his needy lungs. Glancing at Key, the younger’s face flushed beat red, dripping sweat as he leaned for support on the wall. His thin powerful legs trembled and threatened to give out.

Key’s body looked like it was about to collapse and fall apart.

He had been struggling to keep up with the others, a beat behind every time. He stumbled frequently and was completely off, unlike the diva in every way. Jonghyun could clearly see that the younger was ill but he couldn’t bring himself to approach those tired feline eyes anymore. Key pushed him away, denied every claim, and pushed himself on. Watching his best friend destroy himself crushed Jonghyun but… his thoughts were still conflicted.

‘Do I feel anything toward him? Anything besides a brotherly love?’ Jonghyun thought hard.

He definitely felt something when he fell…but, didn’t everyone? All of the idols were concerned. When Key looked into his eyes and held his hand that night at the hospital…Was he just being a good friend? When he went to go change… that was an entirely different feeling. Why did he feel so attracted to the diva? And Se Kyung harsh words of jealousy… Jonghyun’s head hurt at the thought.

Suddenly the door opened and everyone turned their heads to manager-hyung. “You guys have worked extremely hard today, I think SHINee has earned the rest of the day off. Have fun, but not too much, okay?” he smiled as he left the relieved idols to themselves.

Jonghyun sighed with relief, ‘Now Key can go home and rest.’

Wait…

Why was he so worried about him? Usually Jonghyun would be concerned but today…his eyes were on the idol every minute, hoping he wouldn’t pass out or hurt himself. Did he have..deeper feeling for Kibum?

Jonghyun ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, glancing off in the diva’s direction. Even in the sweaty, fatigued state the boy was in, Key was still … dare he say… stunning. His feline eyes still gave off a slight sparkle; his white skin glistened with moisture, and... Jonghyun frowned.

His smile.

It’s not there.

Key’s face twisted in pain; face as red as ever, and started to sway a bit.

Jonghyun knew that look all too well. Quickly getting to his feet, the dino walked swiftly made it to the diva’s side, grabbing his waist to hold him up.

“I know you aren’t okay, so just don’t say anything. Can you stand for a second?” Jonghyun looked the younger in the eyes, unfaltering.

“Jong –”

“Can you stand, Kibum?” he repeated sternly. Sighing, the fatigued idol nodded slowly and leaned on the wall to support himself temporarily. Crouching down, Jonghyun turned his head so Key could hear him.

“Climb on. I’ll help you to the car.”

Looking at the dino, Key’s head started to pound again, fuzzy spots covering his vision. Holding his head, he groaned and stumbled toward Jonghyun. Seeing the diva falter, Jonghyun stood up and supported him by holding his shoulders.

“Onew, can you come here a moment?” Jonghyun called to their leader slipping his jacket on. Walking over, Onew sighed and grabbed Key’s jacket. Helping the dino with the coat, Onew placed his hand on the diva’s forehead.

“Just as I thought…fever,” Onew muttered, “Stupid.”

“I’ve been badgering him all morning about it, but you know Key,” Jonghyun replied with a sigh, “Help him on my back?” Crouching down again, Onew helped lift Key onto the dino’s back, grabbing Key’s and his own bag.

“You’re stupid…I’m..fine.” Key muttered against Jonghyun’s jacket.

“Shut up, Key.”

Taemin picked himself up from the floor and joined Minho in picking up their things and putting on their coats.

“Is Key-umma sick, hyung?” Taemin asked.

“Yeah…He’s just too bullheaded to ask for help.” Onew muttered.

“It’s not…bad, is it?”

Minho stuck the younger’s beanie on his head, covering the maknae’s eyes, earning a “hey!” Giving him a smile, Minho took Taemin’s hand. “No, he’ll be fine. Key can just be stupid sometimes.”

“I’m not stupid…” Key softly mumbled as Onew flipped the diva’s hood up, protecting his face from the cold autumn wind before shutting the door to the studio.

Reaching the car, Jonghyun placed Key in the middle and took the seat next to him as Minho and Taemin climbed in the back seat, cuddling close to get warm. Onew started up the van and the heat and radio.

Jonghyun wiped sweat from Key’s forehead with his sleeve and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

“You don’t have to force yourself, Jjong.” Key whispered softly, closing his eyes.

“Force myself to do what?” The dino asked quietly as the tired rapper’s head slid onto his shoulder.

“You don’t have to love me… Forgetting it…would be a lot easier,” Key mumbled as he drifted into a much needed rest.

“Shut up, pabo…” Jonghyun stared at the younger’s pale white hand. ‘I wonder…” Reaching for Key’s lone hand, Jonghyun’s fingers entwined perfectly in his, like a puzzle piece. The idol smiled slightly and squeezed the hand in his.

“I’m not sure if I want to forget.”