Chapter 1: Audition

 

"Taeminnie, if ever you get lonely, don't hesitate to come wi-" Key advised but Taemin cut him.

"Just go, I can take care of myself in a few days." he stuck his hands in his pocket while Key looks at him worriedly.

Key sighed as he enters the van with the other members except for Taemin who refuses to go on a vacation with them. Taemin walks back to the dorm while Key waves at his retreating figure.

"Kibum'ah, we've done this countless times and you know our maknae can manage himself." Jonghyun reminded.

Onew and Minho agreed, "He never changes his mature yet distant personality." Onew said.

"That's just who he is since the beginning." Minho added.

Key glared at all of them. "You don't understand how I feel when he has that personality. When I look at him, it's like he needed another person other than his brother to show his true self!" he raised his voice.

Jonghyun was about to raise his fist at him when Onew eyed him down. He slowly placed his hands down as he hissed on his seat.

Onew patted his shoulder. "Alright Key, we're leaving on a vacation so no fights involved."

 

 

"Is traffic your enemy now?" Taemin questioned on the phone while opening the fridge.

"It's not like I'm eager to see you, hyung. Though, I am quite thankful you're my brother so our manager was able to let me off easily." the person on the phone smirked as he cursed at the noisy cars around him.

Taemin tapped his chin. "You know you're making me think you have your own car, Kai. Even though it's kinda weird having my younger brother affording a car before I could." 

"Shut up! I'm not that rich as you are and not to mention that we both don't have license yet. And for your information, I am only one year younger than you so what's the point on that?" he chuckled.

"Says the one who calls me 'hyung'." he teased.

"Whatever man! I'm almost there so leave your door open." Kai ordered.

"Yah! Are you ordering your hyung now??" he asked in disbelief.

"See!" Kai shouted."I guess you're the one who wanted me to call you that!" he laughed.

"Dude! Are you coming or not because I'm starting to change my mind about you coming here!" Taemin shouted back.

"Mehrong~ I'm on the parking lot now." he reminded.

Taemin raised his eyebrow. "So what?"

 

 

Kai slumped back on the couch. "You know, I'm also starting to change my mind about coming here cuz' it's getting boring."

"You can go home if you want. I'm getting bored myself with you here if you ask me." He told him as he flipped a page in the book he's reading.

Suddenly, the phone rang but they didn't bother themselves to answer it or even look at it.

"Kai, can you answer it?" Taemin started pretending to sleep.

"Isn't this your dorm so it's your phone?" Kai smirked. Taemin groaned as he lazily stood up from his seat and answered the phone with a sleepy voice.

"Who is this?" He asked as he ruffles his hair annoyingly.

"I knew you weren't on vacation with them!" the person on the phone exclaimed and Taemin immediately raised his brow.

"You see, I was wondering if you could d-"

"Hello? You didn't even answer my question." he interrupted him.

"Taemin!" the voice shouted. Taemin immediately found out who was on the phone but his face still remains.

"Yes Il Bum hyung?" he asked politely to one of SM's choreographers. Il Bum sighed as he shove away of him getting mad at Taemin.

"Taemin'ah, I want you to do me a favor." he slowly said. 

"Who's that?" Kai suddenly asked loud enough for Il Bum to hear him which he started to grin.

Taemin turned to him. "Are you deaf enough that I just said his name, idiot?"

Kai stuck his tongue out. "Oh, sorry for being 13 meters far from the phone, idiot."

"Oh, sorry for-" Before Taemin could get back at him, Il Bum interrupted.

"Taemin'ah!" he called. Taemin luckily heard him. "Oh, you're still there?"

Il Bum gritted his teeth. "Oh no! I'm not here anymore! Did you hear the sound that I already hung up on you just a moment?" he sarcastically remarked.

Taemin smirked. "Then I should hang up then?" he was about to put the phone down when Il Bum shouted his name, creating attention from the other workers passing by.

"I'll just get to the bottom of it!" he shouted that made Taemin narrow his eyes curiously.

"Get your here in the agency and I'll tell you. Oh! And bring Kai with you." he ordered before hanging up.

Taemin glanced at the phone then met eyes with Kai. "Dude, if he heard you and you can't hear him, then I swear you're definitely deaf."

Kai replied without looking away from the magazine. "If I'm deaf, you're deaf, brother." he smirked.

 

 

"Lee Min Jung, 17 years old, and lived alone in Korea for 4 years with no guardian. Miss, are you an orphan?" the judge asked.

Min Jung looked down before nodding politely with a poker face.

"Your performance earlier wasn't that bad but we have to test your singing abilities first."

 

 

Taemin and Kai entered the audition but they were getting hesitant when they found a girl staring at them. They'd expect she'd be thrilled by their presence but realized she just looked away from them.

"How about trying a nursery rhyme?" the judge asked with a smile which Min Jung didn't obey. The judge looked at the two gorgeous boys, waiting for her to sing.

"Ah~ I see you're getting embarrassed when the two famous brothers are going to watch you sing. Don't worry lass. They won't bite." the judge teased.

But to no avail, Min Jung kept shut like locks wrapped around a treasure box which is . "C'mon~" the judge encouraged.

Min Jung just blinked like she wanted to yawn in front of them. The judge sighed as he whispered the two boys to leave them for a moment. After they left, the judge pleaded some more. "Please, Min Jung'ssi. You have a very exquisite talent and you have a bigger possibility to be accepted her if you just sing!" the judge shouted. The judge looked closely at Min Jung and noticed she was drifting off to sleep.

 

 

Taemin and Kai waited outside and as the judge went out, their jaws dropped as they saw the person auditioning, actually sleeping while standing up. Kai looked at Taemin then back to her. "That's unusual. People would usually shake in nervousness if they got accepted or not but this girl here actually sleeps during an audition?" he chuckled.

"Whatever. Let's go to Il Bum hyung before he thinks we never came." he suggested and walked through the corridor.

 

 

"So, what do you think of her, huh?" Il Bum asked, anticipating their comments but only to get a confused question.

"Who's her? What do you mean?" Kai raised his eyebrow.

"We don't even know who you're talking about, hyung." Taemin said. They were about to leave the building when Il Bum stopped them.

"The girl you watched auditioning earlier!" he called out and they both froze on their spots. Il Bum started anticipating their comments again.

Both of them turned around but Kai spoke first. "You mean the one who slept on her audition?" he mocked.

Il Bum tilted his head in confusion. "Wha~t?"

Taemin walked towards him. "When we watched her audition, it was like she wasn't auditioning at all. She's just worst than any of the amateurs here."

"No she isn't!" Il Bum protested. Kai and Taemin sighed. "We saw her in our own eyes, hyung. She can even open her mo-"

"Her styles are just like the two of you that combined." he stated which made them curious.

Kai stuttered. "W-We didn't catch her d-dance, hyung. That's why. But h-hyung, how could you t-tell that she dances the w-way we dance b-but combined?"

Il Bum placed a smug on his face. "Well that's a shame, because our judges didn't accept her so I don't think you will she her dance again. Not to mention, you gave me negative comments about her audition-"

"But she can't sing!" Taemin exclaimed.

"She sings!" Il Bum spat. Taemin and Kai looked at each other in confusion before turning to Il Bum.

"She never talks to anyone she doesn't know or those she's not close with." he explained.

"So she's... shy?" Taemin asked in wonder.

"She's not even a girl to begin that way. More of a... cold personality. She lives alone for 4 years already independently and she found me to begin here." he smiled gently.

"Don't think that she doesn't care if she passes or not. If she doesn't pass, she will just start over again but her ways in entering here won't change but I know that she's capable already in being one of the trainees here. So, as your own doppelganger, I hope you can guide her to become one like yourselves." he eyed them.