Taemin POV:

“Do you feel like telling me your name now…?” Holy. . The second our lips touched, I swear, the sparks flying between us could have powered a city block in Seoul for about a month. I guess she felt the electricity too, because I felt her shiver involuntarily in response to both my voice and my proximity.

Now, normally, I don’t get all up in people’s business like this, but something about this unusual girl caused me to do things that previously, never would have crossed my mind. Or perhaps they crossed my mind and were then immediately dismissed as crazy or way too forward.

“I…er…I am…I mean, my name…it’s…um, Sun Hi.” The girl, Sun Hi, finally stuttered in response to my intense inquiry after about a minute spent recovering from the almost-kiss.

“Sun Hi, is it?” I asked, wanting to be sure that I had heard her correctly. (A small part of me simply desired to feel the taste of her name on my lips, though I’d never own up to that particular longing) “That’s a beautiful name…much like the woman to whom it belongs,” I mused quietly to myself, at least, I that’s what I thought, but then the girl shifted nervously, probably signaling that, like the pabo I was, I had accidentally voiced my inner musings. Smooth. Reeeeaaaal smooth. Lee Taemin, you are an idiot, I scolded myself. I’ll just ignore it, and maybe she’ll think that she simply imagined it. Yeah, sounds like a plan. Not necessarily a good one, but a plan, nonetheless.

 “Sun Hi, I would very much appreciate it if you would consider my earlier proposal,” I said quickly, attempting a confident smile, trying to cover up my accidental slip of the tongue. She replied with a undecipherable grunt. Proposal?? What the hell?! Am I trying to ask her to become my dance partner or my wife??? Ugh. I inwardly cursed at myself again, this time with a virtual slap added for emphasis. I need to run away. Far away. Where I can’t make an even bigger fool of myself in front of Sun Hi.

“YAH!!!  Lee Taemin!!! Where the bloody hell are you boy?!” A shout interrupted my rambling brain. Ohmygod, manager-hyung!!! Finally, he does something that benefits me. Time for my escape, what to do, what to do…oh! I know! I reached into the pocket of my pastel pants and dug out the slightly crumpled concert program on which I had written “Let me know your answer soon” along with my cell phone number during her spectacular performance earlier on stage, already formulating a plan to capture her attention and ensnare her affection.

I quickly grasped her hands in my own in a farewell embrace, secretly placing the distressed-looking note into her left hand as I did so. “Arivaderchi, bella.” I whisper before walking away swiftly, knowing that my manager-hyung would not be happy if I dawdled, a fact that, for the first and quite possibly last time, I was actually grateful for. I waved backwards over my shoulder at Sun Hi as I followed the somewhat shrill sound of my manager’s shouting.

“What is your problem?!?! I’ve been searching everywhere for you for the past ten minutes!!! Where have you been??? You know that you have to go back onstage after everyone’s solos!” My manager greeted me with irritated and frantic tones. “Go! Onew just finished his solo!” He pushed me roughly back onto the stage, causing me to stumble slightly before catching my balance again. Aish. Manager-hyung, wae so pushy?

I joined my bandmates onstage, preparing myself for Ring Ding Dong. For some reason, I had the passing thought that I wish we could dance in water again, and then the more indecent thought that I’d like very much to see Sun Hi dance in water, in decidedly less clothing than we wore for that music video. Definitely not the right time, I told myself as I shook my head quickly, trying to dislodge that highly inappropriate image from my brain. After all, I only met the girl half an hour ago.

I struggled to focus on the concert, diligently, but without fail, I found my eyes wandering towards her now vacant seat near the stage, pondering whether or not she’d actually call me (most girls would, but then, Sun Hi wasn’t like most girls), caught between hoping that she would accept my offer and despairing that my dreams of us dancing would remain only dreams, so near, yet so very far.

Eventually, inevitably, I lost my concentration entirely, tripping up dancing to one of our ballads, to which we literally have NO choreography, unless you count swaying back and forth and acting somber, which I do not. And so, the Great Maknae Dancer Lee Taemin, fell, flat on his now vividly red and very ashamed-looking face. While basically doing nothing but standing. Oh, how hard the mighty fall.

I lay there for several long seconds, hearing the collective gasps of both the audience and my hyungs. Key-umma rushed over to me, saying frantically “Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?” And just when I thought my face couldn’t get redder, it seemed to transform into a shining beacon of embarrassment.

Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to focus on the concert any longer, I nodded in response to Key’s questions, grabbing my arm for dramatic effect. (I had scraped it up a bit, along with my knees, but I was completely fine otherwise)He helped me to my feet, concern and curiosity burned within his darkly eye-lined orbs. I understood that look to mean that I’d be in for a Key-inquisition as soon as the concert ended.  I was not looking forward to that particular conversation, but first things first, I needed to get the hell off of this stage.

Staggering tragically and grasping my arm as if in great pain, I made my way off of the stage to a enormous round of applause. I really hated doing this to the fans, because I really do love their support, but right now, I just need to get my thoughts in order. Arriving backstage, I toned down the injured act and scurried off to the dressing room lounge, the only place I knew I could get a few minutes of peace and quiet.

It only took a couple of minutes to get there, and luckily for me, there wasn’t anyone nearby to see me sneak into the room. I shut the door behind me carefully and quickly locked it to prevent any interruptions.

“Ah,” I sighed. Alone at last. As I mulled over the bizarre yet wonderful events of the night, I heard the faint sound of vibration accompanied by soft music. Locating the source of the noise, I realized that the song playing was Bbi Ri Bop A by Narsha and that it was my cell phone ringing. Grabbing it, I checked the caller ID and saw an unrecognized number. I answered breathlessly, desperately hoping that it was Sun Hi, “Yeobosayo?”