Taemin tapped his dark-haired friend on the shoulder from behind.  “Will you go on a walk with me?” he inquired quietly.

Minho shifted his body to see the younger’s serious face and his brow furrowed.  He turned off the television and raised an eyebrow.  “Huh?  Yeah, sure.  Where are we going?”

Taemin just jerked his head towards the door and started towards it, looking back once to make sure Minho was following.   Once they reached the empty hallway, Taemin turned to face Minho.  “I just needed to talk,” he muttered, avoiding his eyes.

“Oh—Okay!” Minho stuttered, wondering what the heck was up with his friend.   

Taemin shifted his weight nervously, wringing his hands and not speaking. 

“So…what was it you wanted to talk about?” Minho prodded, trying to initiate the conversation.   He reached out and placed a hand on the younger’s shoulder, turning the boy to face him. 

Taemin sighed and turned his gaze away again.  “Well, I was just thinking.  About the board that we all wrote on.  Like, with all the things we know?”  Minho nodded, and Taemin continued quickly, “Something just doesn’t make sense!”

Minho started, shaking his head.  “What?  What doesn’t make sense?”

Taemin grimaced.  “It’s just about this whole game thing.  I don’t understand what we’re supposed to be expecting.  How is this game going to play out?”

“We don’t know Tae. That’s the whole point, I guess.”  

Taemin clenched his fists and turned away again, walking slowly away down the hallway.   Minho began to follow him tentatively.   Suddenly he whipped around, growling in frustration.  “But that’s not the whole point!  That can’t be the whole point.  I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I just don’t understand.  I don’t understand why this person would tell us the goal, but not the procedure.  If anything, don’t tell the goal!  You tell someone what they’re supposed to do!  Why give away the whole point, but not how to get there?”

Minho bit his lip before mumbling, “Well, I don’t—“

“It just doesn’t make any sense!” the younger interrupted, throwing his arms into the air.  Without waiting for any response, he just barged forward, “There has to be a reason to not tell us everything.  Why leave something like that out?  It just doesn’t make sense to me, Minho.  They tried to purposely leave us in the dark…”

Taemin tossed his head and stomped down the hallway to the stairwell.   Minho followed slowly, his eyes widening as Taemin kicked the door open, slamming it into the wall.  The smaller boy banged his way down the first few stairs, and Minho ran after him.   “Taemin!  Wait!  What is so important about this?!” he cried, catching the boy by the shoulder and tugging him to a stop. 

Taemin shook his head and tried to pull away.  “Never mind.  I don’t know how to explain it!  I just…I just need some time to think.  Never mind, Minho,” he muttered as he shook off his friend’s grip and continued to run down the stairs. 

Minho shook his head, a little stunned and confused, and ambled back to the apartment.  Right as he reached the door, it swung open with a bang.  Onew stalked away from the scene, brushing past his tall dark-haired friend with an angry grunt.  He grumbled incoherently, clomping away from the apartment without a second look back.  Minho shrugged and sighed.  What was up with him, now?

Onew was fuming.  He couldn’t stand being in that apartment another minute. 

Jonghyun and Key had been acting like two love-crazed idiots all morning.   He didn’t understand.  What was so special about now?  Why did they start acting like this now?

Onew knew—well at least he was ninety percent sure—that neither of them were gay.  Why would they choose now to be...like that?  

He muttered under his breath angrily and kicked the carpet with the toe of his shoe.   

“Are you okay?”

A quiet voice from behind him made Onew spin around in surprise.  “Huh?” he gasped. 

To his disbelief, a short, older woman was standing there.  “I asked if you were okay,” the lady repeated slowly, watching him with curious eyes.  She seemed to be in her late forties or early fifties, and her eyes crinkled a little at the corners.   She had a very pleasant face, and her lips were lightly curved up in a small smile. 

“I—uh—I’m fine,” Onew stuttered, shaking his head a little.  He was stunned at the sudden appearance of this woman; how the heck did she get here?   “Um…I hope you don’t mind me asking, but who are you?”

The lady’s smile grew, and she replied sweetly, “I’m Mrs. Jung.  I live down on the second floor!  You’re Lee Jinki right?  A part of that singing boy group, right?”

Onew grinned and nodded, his heart telling him that something was wrong here.  That something wasn’t right.  However, his mouth moved on its own accord, and he said, “Yes, that’s me.  And yes, I am part of SHINee.  But if you’ll excuse me, I’m not in the best mood right now.  If you don’t mind, I’m going to go on a walk by myself.” 

She chuckled lightly.  “Oh honey, is everything alright?  Why don’t you come down to my apartment for some tea?  I can make us some cookies, and you can tell me what’s going on.”

Although his intuition was telling him that something was definitely wrong with this picture, that this woman definitely should not be here right now, Onew had already decided that this must be the best hallucination he’d ever had.   He needed to talk, so maybe he should take advantage of this opportunity.  

He nodded and thanked the woman, following after her shuffling footsteps towards the elevator.   There was something about this mysterious lady that made him feel warm and calm, even if all logical sense was protesting. 

A/N: Ooh, what's Onew gonna do? XD