D-1 to Krystal's birthday

He is about to go on stage in six minutes and he knows that by the time he’ll have his phone again, it might be too late. The 24th might be over. And because of that, he still stares at his phone in anticipation.

He has been trying to call Krystal all day.

(All he needs to do is press the “call” button.)

Taemin worries and frets and he wonders if he should even do this. Normally, he is a little shy, but Krystal is his friend and he should be able to wish her a "happy birthday" with no problems, but then some manager shouts, “SHINee, you’re on in five!” and he gulps. He gathers all of his courage and at the last possible moment, Taemin manages to press the “call” button.

He listens to the incessant ringing and is only mildly disappointed that it goes to voicemail. But he figures that it is better this way, since he would probably stutter when wishing her a happy birthday.

“Hi Krystal.” he says. His Jonghyun hyung is giving him a wide grin at the mention of Krystal’s name and he shoos his hyung away before he continues. “Happy birthday.”

He takes in a deep breathe and purses his lips. He has been thinking and thinking and thinking all day of what to say to her.

Rapid and fleeting thoughts have come and gone all day as he carefully plans out his message. He cannot take this lightly- she is Krystal Jung, maknae of f(x), little sister of Jessica Jung, High Kick’s Ahn Soojung and the only person in this whole world that can make his heart skip a beat.

Dance for thirty minutes long, non-stop? No problem.

Go out and perform in front of thousands of fans? Done.

Make Krystal laugh and smile? He can already feel his increased heart rate and he thinks he feels rather lightheaded at just the thought.

He thinks with a grimace how easily Krystal can revert him back to the shy, awkward person he debuted as. It has been a long time and he has long since outgrown that image of shy awkwardness- and while he may still be adorable and a child to some of the fans, he likes to think of himself as more of a man now.

And then Krystal smiles at him and all the grown up manliness he has acquired throughout the years goes out the window.

Taemin accepts it nonetheless, although he may not like it. He is, and probably always will be, reduced to a pile of "Taemin oppa" goo whenever Krystal decides it (whether she knowingly decides it or not). She is his friend, his labelmate, his dongsaeng, and someone that he adores very much. He can't help but accept his fate.

He blushes as he remembers his appearance as Krystal’s boyfriend on High Kick 3. He loved being her boyfriend (even if they didn’t last a whole day, technically). He still loved the experience.

“I remember the day I first met you, Krystal.” Taemin says into the phone, cheerful at the remembrance of that first memory. “Everyone already knew you as Jessica’s younger sister. Everyone wanted to meet you and crowded around you.” He laughs a little bit before he continues. “You just shied away from everyone until Jessica noona came in and demanded that everyone stop harassing you. I met you later that day and came up to you- you were pretty, even back then.” Taemin smiles fondly at the thought. “I didn’t know what to say to you, even though I was already right in front of you. I just blurted out something random. I asked you what you liked.” Taemin laughs a little again. “And you just said ‘I like mangoes’ and grinned.” And then I fell in love.

His tone is sheepish. “I’m sorry, I don’t even think that had a point.” He breathes in deeply again. “But I want you to know that-” He pauses for a moment. He remembers how happy she looked back then, how stunning she looks when she is happy. She is stunning all the time, but there is something different when she has a smile on her face. He knows what to say now. “I want you to know that you make me smile, Soojung.” He hears his Jonghyun hyung “aww-ing” in the background and he can’t help but roll his eyes. But no, not even his dino hyung can ruin this for him right now.

“Your happiness, your smile, your laugh- it’s your charm, Soojung. It’s infectious and beautiful.” He is grinning, just thinking about her bright smile. He can't even feel awkward or embarrassed in saying these things because he knows all of this as a sense of truth. “I want you to be happy in everything that you do.” I wish for your happiness.

Taemin wishes so, so badly for her happiness. He loves seeing her happy. “Happy birthday.”

He wants to add an, “I love you, Soojung.” to the end, but he can’t. Not yet. People say it casually all the time, but he can’t. Those words mean to much to him in regards to her. The words hit way too close to home. He hangs up without another word, but he is satisfied.

“SHINee, get ready to perform!” he hears.

Taemin goes out and performs on some music program and wonders the whole time if Krystal has listened to his message yet.

He spends the next few hours thinking about Krystal, whether or not she listened to his message, and how he should call her tomorrow and ask if she is free some time.

Happy birthday, Soojung.

--

Taemin finishes his performance a little later and he checks his phone- one missed call from Krystal, it says. Well, it doesn’t actually say that. Jonghyun has changed the original “Krystal” to “The Love of Taeminnie’s life!!” So technically, the phone reads “One Missed Call from The Love of Taeminnie’s life!!” He frowns a little at the missed call part (and disregards the first part because it might as well be the truth), but he realizes that he has one new voicemail.

He checks his voice mailbox with an anxious heart.

He’s not disappointed when he hears her sweet voice saying, "Thank you for the message Taemin oppa, and for wanting me to be happy in everything that I do. You make me smile too.” He is sure that he is already grinning like a fool, like a kid in a candy store, like Christmas has come early. There is a pause and Taemin is ready to hang up, to go to his next schedule with a bright grin. He hears a little shifting before he hears her voice again. “I love you, oppa.” And then he is sure that the voicemail has ended, but he cannot comprehend anything else. His brain goes into overdrive at the three little words and he stares wordlessly at his phone.

He believes that he is delusional, that he is going crazy. He figures that she meant it in the “I love you like I love a brother” way but he can’t be bothered to care.

She said that she loved him.

Krystal has said the words that he could not say to her.

Taemin comes to a conclusion, right then and there.

If she can say it, so can he.

He figures that he needs to stop being a coward, to actually say what he wants to say to her. Her words, even if he was quite possibly reading too much into them, have given him some type of courage.

(But he also figures that he can do that at a later time. As of right now, he is too busy smiling at everyone and everything. Onew sends Key to ask him if anything is wrong; Minho helpfully says that their maknae is finally going crazy. Jonghyun laughs at them all and insists on saying that their maknae is finally in love.

Jonghyun is not wrong.)

-- (extra!)

Sulli calls Taemin the next day, complaining. “Yesterday was the perfect day to confess to her, oppa.”

Taemin can’t help but pout. “I’m working on it, Jinri!”

--

I think this is the longest one o.O /so biased to TaeStal. OTP FEEEEEELS. ;D <3 Based off the fact that both of them have implied that they can't make the first move of actually asking someone out- and are thus stuck in this limbo-ish relationship.

The last chapter features Jessica Jung of SNSD (the older Jung to our baby Jung).