(of swirly slides, first meetings, and more)

Taemin technically met Krystal roughly three and a half years ago.

Of course, a technicality is really just a technicality.

In his mind, he really met the girl named Krystal Jung three years and forty-one days ago.

(Meaning it only took him two and a half weeks to fall in love with her- but hey, Krystal Jung is amazing. Some people have told him that it was too short of a time period, that he couldn’t actually be in love with her in only two and a half weeks. But the thing with Taemin is that he doesn’t care about the time. He only has his own feelings to base things off of, and that is it. That’s all that matters. And his feelings have told him, are telling him, that he will love this girl to death.)

He remembers, quite clearly, that he had been minding his own business when he first really met Krystal.

In fact, he had been on his way to work. Actually, make that late to work.

Taemin had been walking along, minding his own business, when he decided that he had to take a shortcut through the nearby park. He had ten minutes to get to work and it was normally a 15 minute walk.

All he really needed to do was cut across the park and he would be right on schedule.

He was halfway across when he saw a young lady sliding down the huge swirly slide with tears streaming down her face.

Taemin paused immediately; the good person in him told hm to ask her what was wrong and if she needed any help. But the good worker in him told him that he could potentially be late if he stopped to talk to the crying girl.

In the end, he sighed and slowly walked over- he figured that work could wait a little bit.

And then the girl looked up, their eyes met, and Taemin almost forgot where he worked.

Recognition flashed in his eyes immediately; he knew this girl from somewhere He walked closer to her and she glared at him (even as she continued to cry).

He continued to stare at her, wondering where he had seen her before. But the harsh look and determined glare managed to jog his memory. “You were Minho hyung’s partner during that sports competition last year.”

She linked at him and merely scowled. “Go away.” She told him.

He didn’t know why at the time, but hearing those words just made him take a step closer. (Now, though, he would cheekily say that he has always been drawn to her.)

Taemin remembered with an embarrassed smile that he had told Minho that his partner from the last sports competition was pretty- multiple times.

“Hi. My name is Taemin.” he introduced himself; he felt like it was the right thing to do. She said nothing.

Instead, she clambered up the slide, only to slide back down, and then climb back up. She was clearly ignoring him.

Taemin stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. “Uhm…” She slid down the slide. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” She glared at him; he remembered thinking that he was cold right after seeing her glare.

“Are you sure?” Back up the swirly slide she went.

“Yes.” She stayed up there, staring at him, as if her stare only would will him to leave her alone.

“Are you going to keep sliding down and going back up?” asked Taemin; he took several steps forward so that he was right next to the slide. “I know it’s a swirly slide, but it’s not that amazing.”

He heard a little scoff (that disguised a laugh- he was sure of it) as she repeated her words from earlier. “Go away.”

He stared tentatively at the slide for a moment, and then at her. Taemin never really knew what possessed him at the moment to say what he did. “Can I use the slide too?” In retrospect, he was glad he asked. But at the time, he had mentally face-palmed himself so hard, he was surprised that he wasn’t actually on the ground.

“No.” Of course, hearing the ever so blatant rejection made Taemin pout. And then he decided that was going to anyway. He looked at his watch briefly; he already spent three minutes talking to this girl- he was going to find out why she was crying and be a good person, damn it. And then he proceeded to climb up the swirly slide. “Yah!” he heard.

Apparently, the girl didn’t like slide sharing. “Get off my slide!”

“Who says it’s your slide?” He remembered retorting to her, climbing up steadily.

Right when he was near the top, almost face to face with her, she stuck her leg out.

She kicked him off of “her” slide.

He tumbled down in an unhelpful heap. It was his turn to yell “Yah!” at her. He scowled. “Why would you- you rude little- I’m trying to be a good person!” Taemin remembered his little rant towards her.

And then he heard a tinkling little laugh and suddenly he wasn’t so mad about being kicked down a slide anymore. “Can you share your slide?” He asked with a huff.

He didn’t know why he was still there, why he was still trying to talk to her (especially when he was late to work). All she had done so far was glare at him and make him tumble down a slide.

(But he saw something in her, something that made him want to get to know her.)

There was an awkward silence between the two of them as the girl wiped at her last tears and he stared at her blankly. Taemin still remembered how soft her voice sounded, how hesitant, when she said, “Okay.”

She wasn’t crying anymore, and he was thankful for that.

He climbed up the slide slowly while she moved, making room for him to sit with her. He sat next to her hesitantly, and they spent about a minute sitting next to each other in silence.

“…are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

There was another bout of silence (and Taemin really questioned what he was doing here) before he heard a sigh. “I just had a fight with my unnie.” She admitted this to him with a pout and he found that he was surprised with her answer. “She’s been gone for a while, and the day she comes back home for vacation, we get into one of the biggest fights we’ve ever had.”

He thought that she had broken up with a boyfriend or something; he blamed dramas (and has never watched one since). He waited for her to continue, but realized that she wasn’t going to say anything else on the matter.

He stared blankly at her; he didn’t know what to say that would actually console her. So he said the first thing that came to mind. “Do you need ice cream?”

Taemin had heard somewhere that ice cream was the cure-all for girls. (Krystal would later tell him that he had not heard wrong.)

(Taemin would later find out that Krystal’s cure-all was ice cream, but that she lied about it being the cure-all for all women. He still has the scar to prove it; Jessica had not taken it lightly when Krystal introduced him as the “stranger from the park that followed her home”. No amount of ice cream could save Taemin and Jessica’s relationship in the beginning.)

“Ice cream is like magic.” He remembered how much he laughed, hearing that statement from her. She sounded so sincere and honest that he couldn’t help but laugh.

Taemin ended up taking her to the parlor and spending the next three hours with her, eating ice cream.

“Hey. I never learned your name.”

“It’s Krystal Jung.”

He was fired later that day for never showing up to work.

Taemin didn’t even give a damn.

--

Krystal never expected to actually fall in love with Taemin. Yes, he was there when she was crying. And yes, he became her best friend after that incident. But she never actually thought that she would fall in love.

True to her words, she gave him a chance after her date with Jonghyun (when she realized that her best friend was not just a best friend) and they tried the dating thing.

It was awkward at first, but they got used to the handholding, the little kisses, and “babe” being a nickname with a different type of meaning.

There is comfort in their relationship; there were never any pretenses or the need to try with each other. They were already best friends who knew each other inside-out.

Their relationship didn’t change all that much; they were still snarky with each other, still dorky.

But their actions did become gentler, sweeter to each other. They’re best friends still, but now they’re people that have undeniable and unexplainable feelings for each other.

It doesn’t come as a surprise to Krystal when she realizes something on their first anniversary as a couple. She realizes that she has to tell Taemin this realization immediately.

“I didn’t think we would last this long.” she jokes with him. He hits her lightly on the head for that comment.

“How could you say that?”

She laughs at him and pokes his cheek lightly. “Hey babe.”

He is still pouting at her. “What?”

“I love you.” Krystal has never said those words to him before; this is the first time that she has admitted it to him. She wanted to be sure, if she were to ever say those words. And now she is.

Taemin gapes at her. “Did you just- what did you just- wait, did I hear-”

Krystal shuts him up with a kiss.

--

It is on their second anniversary as a couple that Taemin starts with this sentence. “Hey, I don’t mean to freak you out or anything…”

And then Krystal is promptly freaked out. “What?” she asks him, frown marring her face.

He laughs a little and forcefully moves her frown upside down with his fingers. “Don’t frown at me like that!” His actions make her smile and he continues. “I don’t mean to sound like a creep or anything, but I want to marry you someday.” He confesses this honestly to her, and he almost sounds shy. Almost. There is a little grin on her face that tells Krystal that Taemin means what he just said.

The honest confession sets Krystal’s cheeks on fire as she immediately covers her cheeks and screams, “How can you say something like that so straightforwardly?”

He yells back at her, “Shouldn’t I be the one blushing?”

--

One month later, Krystal proposes.

--end.

Next chapter involves Krystal’s proposal and the TaeStal wedding <3 Last part will be up on Krystal’s birthday! ;D

(This one shot turned into a three shot ;----; oh my TaeStal feelings...)