Chapter 11

Sun Hi’s POV:

After escaping from SHINee’s intense security guards, I slowly made my way back to my dorm. I am a junior in college, with the ever-dreaded "Undecided" as my major. I just turned 20 in February, hence, my still being a dormer. At my school, we are required to live in the dorms until we turn 20, so because my birthday was after the start of second semester, I wasn't able to move out. However, it wasn't too terrible because my roommate happens to be my best friend and we were lucky enough to get one of the apartment-style rooms, which had a non-communal bathroom, as well as separately-walled bedrooms, a living area, and even a small kitchen.

Speaking of which, my roommate is probably be super worried by now…Kira, known for her extremely motherly concern for her friends, likes to freak out when I don’t come home at the exact time I told her I would be home. I quickly increased my pace, nearly tripping myself in the process. She’s very cautious, on the side of paranoid. She seems to think that we all risk death by falling piano simply walking outside.

About five minutes later, I arrive at the bus stop. Luckily for me, the bus had just gotten there as well, so I was able to board almost immediately. The ride from the stop nearest the concert hall to the one by my dorm was about fifteen minutes long. Knowing that I had some time to relax, I let my mind drift…

I tried to ignore my desire to think about it, but my traitorous mind kept drifting back to Taemin, that insane pabo of a dancing machine, and how he invaded my personal space in the extreme and kissed me. Every time that I remembered the feeling of his lips, those luscious smooth lips, on mine, my heartbeat quickened, my hands got slick with sweat, and I developed this weird fluttery feeling in my stomach.

Aish, that kid. I had never really been one for romance or even lust for that matter, but there was this irritating voice the back of my mind whispering, this boy will be the stake in the heart for that particular sentiment. Lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice that the bus had arrived at my stop, though luckily, today’s driver was familiar with me and yelled back at me:

“Yah! Aren’t you getting off here?”

“Ne, mianhe. Kamsahamnida.” I said quickly as I rushed to exit the vehicle. The ajumma just glared at me…jeez, cranky old lady. Ugh, time to face the Kira inquisition. I climbed the two flights of stairs to our dorm suite, went inside, then found our room and before I could even unlock the door, I was ambushed from behind.

“Ohmaigosh!!! Where have you been?? I called you like four hundred times!! I thought you were dead!!!” Kira squealed as she hugged me tightly.

“Not yet, but if you keep up that pressure on my lungs, I will be soon,” I answered, gasping as I struggled to escape her forceful backhug.

“Oh, sorry…I didn’t realize that I was hurting my little dongsaeng ” Kira released my arms and torso from their prison and proceeded with her SHINee concert inquisition.  “So how was the concert?! Are they as amazing in person as they are on the internet?! Did you meet them??? Did you touch them?? Are they-”

“Yah!” I cut her off mid-sentence, “Calm down. Remember to breathe.”

Kira inhaled sharply, then released her deep breath quickly. “Arasso, I’m good now. Thanks. Sometimes I get a bit too excited.” She laughed, then asked, “So…how was the concert?”

I hesitated for a minute, trying to decide whether or not I should tell her what happened between me and the maknae. In the end, I figured that telling her now would be better than her finding pictures of us dancing onstage on Tumblr or some random fan site. She’d never talk to me again if I didn’t tell her about it.

“Well…this concert was a bit different…” I replied as I walked into the living room and lowered myself onto our black leather couch, dropping my purse on the floor next to me.  

“How so?” She said as she sat down next to me.

“You know who Taemin is, right?” I inquired.

“Well, duh. I’ve followed SHINee since their debut four years ago.” She gave me a look which told me in no uncertain terms that she clearly thought I had lost it. “What about him?”

“Um…well, he kind of…brought me…uponstageandthenwedanced…

andhekindofkissedmebutthenheleft...andnowi’mreallyconfused.” I mumbled quickly.

“WHAT?!?!?” Kira shouted, springing up off of the couch and starting to jump around and pace in circles, mumbling to herself. After about three minutes of this, she turned abruptly to face me.

“Please, please, explain to me EXACTLY what happened at that concert.” I told her the whole story, from me playing Pocket Planes to dancing with Taemin and his request for me to be his dance partner to his barely-there kiss and giving me his phone number.

Kira just stared blankly at me and then blinked rapidly for a minute before stating in all seriousness, “So…the one time I don’t go to a concert with Yun Hae you get yanked up onstage by the dancing machine maknae, who takes you backstage, kisses you, and then just hands you his phone number?”

“Guess that’s what you get for being an over-achiever and being part of the Honors program.” I poke fun at her a bit, then get serious again. “So what should I do? I’m really confused. Should I call him or just pretend that it never happened? I mean, I think I might really like him, but he’s an idol…It’s not possible that he’d fall for me, of all people. I fear that I may just be setting myself up to have my heart shattered into billions of tiny fragments. I really did like dancing with him though…” Okay, that was a downright lie.

Despite my concerns, I was dying to see him again. And his dancing…I don’t have words to describe how intense I felt watching him pour his soul out through his fluid movements. It was the first time I’d ever met someone who could feel the way I do about dance.

Kira contemplated my ramblings carefully before responding. “I believe that this could be an interesting learning experience for you. You’ve never really had a boyfriend before, and Taemin seems like a good match for you. It’s up to you, but I think you should at least call him and figure out exactly what this dance partner thing is all about before you jump to conclusions and make a snap decision.”

“Hm…” I pondered the situation in my mind. Well, he does seem nice, and he’s definitely good-looking…and I love the way he moves…okay, don’t think about that. Ugh, stupid hormones. I had talked myself into a decision.

“Well,” I said carefully masked my excitement, “I suppose one little phone call couldn’t hurt.” Kira jumped up and down, squealing, unable to contain her delight.

“Ohmaigosh!!! I’m so happy for you!!!” She squeezed me tightly for several seconds before allowing me to breathe again. I stood still for a minute, trying to regain my composure after being glomped suddenly.

“Well?” She said impatiently, and somewhat obnoxiously, I might add. “Aren’t you going to call him?!” I think she may have been more thrilled about this than I was and that was saying something.

“I’m going, I’m going. Chillax.” I swiftly snatched my purse off of the floor and scurried to my room. I closed the door, locking it behind me before falling backwards onto my bed, exhausted from the day’s events. I pulled the crinkled concert program covered in green highlighter from a zippered pocket of my purse. I flattened it out using the edge of my desk, rubbing it back and forth to erase the creases.

Staring at the paper, I memorized his handwriting, laughing at how it looked like my little brother’s handwriting. Well, Jae Jin wasn’t really my brother; he’s my eleven-year-old cousin, but my aunt doesn’t have a lot of spare time to play with him and help him with schoolwork, so I sort of became his noona. I didn’t mind though, because I’m an only child and Jinnie and his umma are my closest relatives. I even lived with them for several years after my parents died. My parents…

Unwanted images of bloodied bodies bubbled up in my mind, the sounds of screeching metal mingled with screams of terror and agony tore through my mental barriers. NO! I will not remember that night! It’s just a nightmare, I tell myself, feeling the overwhelming pain threatening to burst forth, knowing that it did happen and that I can do nothing to change it. Stop. Just stop. You’re only hurting yourself, Sun Hi. I practiced my breathing techniques, inhaling through my nose and exhaling from my mouth, exactly how they told me to in all of my therapy sessions.

Concentrating solely on regulating my breaths, I managed to calm myself down enough to bring my mind back to the present and the matters at hand. In my momentary loss of control, I had torn the paper on which Taemin had written his message and phone number. Sighing, I held the pieces up, examining the damage. Luckily, I had only torn off a small part of the sheet, which was free of green highlighter. Finally. Something good happened.

I d around in my purse until I felt something square and metal, my fingers curling around it as I rescued my phone from the vortex of random objects. Someday, I should really clean that thing out, I thought as I began punching in the numbers written on the concert program.

I double and triple-checked the digits before touching the send button. With bated breath, I waited anxiously as the phone rang…once…twice…on the third ring, he picked up.

A/N: Sooooo...how was it? Didya like it? Lemme know in the comments below~

I have so many ideas for this story, and I'm really not sure if I can possibly incorporate all of them into it, but I'm really excited about it now that I have a definite plot in mind! Sub if you want, I'll love you forever if you manage to keep reading this through to the end because right now, it seems like it may never end with the amount of ideas I would like to include. Well, now I think I'm kind of rambling so thanks for reading, bye!

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