"So tell me again: Why do I have to and follow you around the company building today? You have secretaries to do these kinds of things, you know. I suggest that you use them." Minho said as he set a stack of papers onto his mother's desk with a sharp exhale.

"You're leaving tomorrow and I barely got back, so I thought that we should spend the day together." The aging woman rounded the desk and sat on the side opposite of where Minho was standing.

"And by spending the day together, you mean me doing work and becoming your personal pack mule?" The son placed a hand on the edge of his mother's table and leaned on it with a cocked hip.

"Not only that," She said while typing her password into her computer log-in screen, "but I was planning on talking over some lunch. Aren't you hungry from lugging my super heavy folders and almost airless pieces of paper?" The tone of voice she used indicated a sarcasm that Minho loathed, but kept his peace for the sake of correcting his unpleasant personality.
Ignoring the urge to lash back at her, Minho stated, "I am hungry. What should we order?"

The company owner's eyes glistened and flickered to the visible half of her son's face with a partly concealed smile then turned back towards the white screen. "Let's not eat here today. Tell me where you want to eat, and we'll go." She pretended to pay no mind to Minho, who immediately turned to her with his jaw hung open.

"Are you serious? I haven't eaten outside of the mansion or company in like    like since before my pre debut years ago!" The young man's voice was colored with unbelieving excitement. A huge grin took up most of Minho's facial area now.

"Do big owners, like me, joke around with things as serious as this? Just choose some place busy    so we won't attract paparazzi or my fans." The woman flipped a grouping of her hair over her shoulder and giggled playfully.

"Your fans?" Minho pointed to his parent and towered over the desk, "My fans!" He chuckled and jabbed his index finger into his chest.
Mrs. Choi just clicked her tongue, grabbed a red folder that was near her, and whacked her son's arm with it, "Yah, I made you! And if they're your fans, they're mine too. You got that? Now hurry up and choose a restaurant before I change my mind and lock you up in a cage in the dungeon downstairs." The mother kidded, but did so with a solemn face.

"No! Come on, I know what I'm craving!" Minho shook his hands from side to side in objection and hastily made his way behind the large leather chair the mistress sat in. Using acts of chivalry to add to his good karma, the idol rolled out the chair from under the hollowed out area under the desk and held a hand out to his mom. The feisty woman scoffed to try and hide her jovial mood but took the hand anyways. She could get used to this new Minho. And it was all because of her son-in-law, Taemin, she thought.

Minho looked like a bundled up giant linking arms with a small dwarf, as they approached the automatic sliding glass doors. Catching the tiniest pixel of movement, the motion detector above the doors ordered for the glass to split from the middle and hide in the wall until the mother and son passed through completely and leave the range of detection.

"You know," The man said while walking directly under the sensor and hanging a right, down the corridor of busy people, "I always had a hunch that you kept a dungeon here." He said smugly. His mother just eyed him icily, and continued on.

~~~~~

"You want to eat here?" Mrs. Choi said as if she were an offended food critic. She stared up at the molding sign hanging over the hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant. "You want noodles?"

"Mhm!" Minho replied with a smile that projected a more-than-glad feeling. It was like he had picked up a lost, memory scrap that was lying on the sidewalk and shoved it in his pocket for safe keeping.

"Well," His mother started, trying to open her mind and be less judgmental of the look of this place. Lifting her heel above the ground about an inch and balancing on her toes, she surveyed the busy waitresses and happy faces of the consumers through the outside window, "I'll try it out. It's good that this place busy, too."

Without needing any further words of acceptance, Minho bolted in as fast as his aging mother would let him drag her along. Entering the hustling and bustling room of lively people, they were greeted and seated by a kind waiter. Small-talk was exchanged over the tops of their menus as they scanned each dish that appealed to their appetites. Of course, Minho wanted to eat everything because he was 'so hungry that he could eat a whole field of cattle,' but ended up with something smaller than he hoped to get.

Placing their orders, only minutes later, one large and small bowl of noodles sat in front of them with steam rising up in wisps until it faded out into an invisible gas. The high-class mistress poked skeptically at the perfectly colored brown carving of meat floating atop the unbroken noodles sunken at the bottom of the bowl's dip. Minho picked up his chopsticks and looked down at the food eagerly; mouth watering with the scents his nose was picking up of the combination of ingredients in full harmony.

The longer he stared at the contents of his dish, the more seconds were wasted of precious time that he could be using to stuff his face. There was no time for him to waste, since his stomach was already upset from not being fed on it's 'regular schedule.' Minho's mother examined as her son chowed down hungrily, and soon decided to follow his example. Only more slow-paced remembering her basic etiquette.

By the time she was halfway finished, Minho was back against the leather booth, sighing in a content way. Mrs. Choi felt like a break for water, followed by the talk she wanted to have with her son, was appropriate at this moment.

"I wanted to talk to you about Taemin," She stated from behind her napkin that she was dabbing along her upper lip, "I just wanted to run this by you and have you take precautions in what you do while around him in public."
Minho watched his mom took a sip of water, and then realized that the chicken broth from the soup parched him quite a bit. Considering that he never stopped for a break even for a half of a second. His long fingers wrapped around the small cup and started to gulp down the water as his mother went on.

"I signed Taemin to the company and-"

Minho's eyes widened and the next gulp he took traveled down the wrong pipe, causing him to cough and gag loudly. It seemed like every single person in the restaurant froze mid-action just to look over at their table; some with concern and pity, and others with faces of disgust and disdain. But of course, that was just his imagination. The hard to find    yet popular    family owned business was too loud for his nasty fit to be heard over the constant laughter and naturally loud voices

"Minho, are you okay?!" The woman asked with a startled face and extended her arm across the table to touch her son's hand. At the sudden feel of her finger, the idol jerked his hand away to cover his mouth with a nearby napkin.
"Y-Yes," He managed to choke out, "what's this about signing Taemin to Hallyu?" Minho squinted his eyes and pounded a fist to his chest.
Mrs. Choi sat back in relief, but was worried that maybe she had done the wrong thing because of Minho's reaction. "I made the deal with him yesterday, and the official contract will be signed tomorrow after you leave."

The man cleared his throat before starting, "Wow, right when you get home you're already making deals, aren't you. You never stop working. " He said coldly. It wasn't anything new, though. This was actually the reason why he disliked his mother so much, she never had time for her own child. All she did was work, work, work all day and occasionally, over night. Actually, this was probably the first time they had eaten out together since he was 14 years old. He knew that a casual lunch was too good to be true and it would end up being some sort of a business meeting.

Mrs. Choi ignored that and went straight to the point, "Kibum tells me that you and Taemin have an interest with each other. You know that could hurt the company, right?"
Minho nodded, "So, are you going to tell me that I can't be with him because of stupid work? If that's the case, then I'll just retire." Minho crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Oh, no! I want you two to be happy together! All I'm saying, is that if you guys get together, you shouldn't make it public until way later in your careers. I need you both to be careful; even if Taemin is still in the pre debut stage, I can tell you now: he won't be there for long. His talent is great and training won't take longer than three months. If any sources are leaked, hell will break loose and Taemin's career would go down the drain even before he puts out his debut single." The company owner's face was serious and edged on eerie.

An unsettling feeling waved over him making the hairs on his arms stand on end.

"Just.... be careful."

~~~~~ 6 hours later

He was finally home. It was great to finally be able to see Minho walk through the door and head up to his room with Jongin and Kibum at his heels. Admiring him from a distance was good enough for Taemin.

Egh. I feel like I'm a fanboy again, He thought to himself and made a weird, scrunched up looking face as he retreated back into his room. Lucky for him, his chores were all finished early with the help of his best friend. Pretty much the whole day Jongin had been whining about being bored, so what did Taemin do? Keep him occupied.

In a way, it was a horrible choice for splitting his chores since it only ended up in more whining from the younger but in the end it was worth it now that Taemin got to lounge around his room in peace since Jongin was out of his hair. Shutting the door quietly behind him, Taemin examined the spotless room that looked exactly like when he first moved in. It was nice to finally see the floor, Taemin would exaggerate to Jongin. Earlier Jongin scoffed because compared to Minho's room? That was a different story, said both Kai and Kibum.

Taemin exhaled happily as soon as his back contacted with the bed. Instead of bobbing up and down    like he misses doing on a spring mattress    he fell flatly and sank into the memory foam. The worker closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of clean linen and flowers that floated up from the bed covers and blankets. "Oh god, thanks Kai." He whispered to himself as took purchase of a pillow, curled up into a ball, and took a whiff of the fresh fabrics.

Speaking of him.... are they serving a new kind of dessert tonight or something? If it's true, I wouldn't have a doubt in the world that he went snooping around before he came to wake me up.

The young man's thinking was interrupted when the radio in his holster came to life with a series of cracks and the familiar sound of Kibum's voice calling everybody together into the dining room.

Well I guess that we'll find out, right now.

A/N: Remember last chapter when I said I didnt want to leave you guys hanging...? SORRY kekeke. I feel like this chapter is one of my best. I think its well written. I could be wrong though, because I'm the person writing. Anyways... It's my birthday and I'm so grateful that I reached 101 subs and  uplikes! It realy means a lot, knowing that people enjoy my writing/writing style. I love you all! ^^ Until next chapter!
        Annyeonghigaseyo!~ Queen S