"Oh my goodness, Jinki! Can you please take care of yourself?!" Kibum exclaimed in exasperation, worry seeping through his tone. He flip the elder's wrist in his hand gently, feeling the swell that heated up the arm. "What in heaven's name did you do to your poor hand?"

"I... I don't know," Onew replied, clearly flustered.

"You should ice it... And call your doctor just in case." Key instructed, gently handing back Onew his swollen wrist which he hugged to his chest. Onew did as he was told, digging out his phone since there wasn't any access to ice at the moment. He searched his contact list and finally called his doctor to describe his situation.

"Try putting it higher than my heart..." Onew repeated the doctor's words as he place his injured arm resting over his head and feeling very much like an idiot. "No, I have not been dancing. It's kind of impossible for me right now anyway."

"Yes, that's right, I broke my shin bone so I'm still on crutches," Onew reminded the doctor. "You really think that I have hurt it more because of the crutches? What do I do then?" his voice rose a pitch from slight panic.

"Ok," Onew answered in a resigned tone. "Yes, I'll speak to the manager about it. Thank you for your time, seonsangnim."

"What did he say?" Minho asked.

"He told me to ice it, but I have to visit him soon to check it out. If the ligament tears even more, he might have to do a surgery," Onew answered in a scarily nonchalent tone.

"Why are you acting so calm about this?! A surgery is no small matter!" Key shrieked.

"I'm sure it's nothing much," Onew shrugged off the thought. More than his own injury, he was thinking of how this would finally give him a chance to see Taemin. Sure, it wasn't under the best conditions but he'd take what he gets.

"Hyung, is there any way to draw out some time for my schedule anytime soon? As soon as possible," Onew asked the manager who was driving the van.

"I'll talk to your trainer for you. It shouldn't be much of a problem since you can't participate in the dance routine for the concert anyway." Onew winced slightly at the words. He wasn't the best dancer out there, but not being able to dance for an entire concert which fans spent fortunes on, made him feel bad for not putting forth his everything. If he was given the choice, he would have pushed his limits to start dancing again. He wouldn't have been the first idol to do that anyway. But he couldn't do it in front of the members. They worry way too much about him. More than he deserved to be honest.

Although he said that he had not been dancing, he might have tried to do what little of movements which he wouldn't even dare call dancing during his alone time - when the members were all fast asleep from their tireless practice while he was still wide awake, feeling very much useless for what little he had achieved in the day. What he was going to do after he retires, he had no idea; because right now, he felt that doing just that little in a day was letting himself down, letting the members, the company, the fans down. He couldn't even imagine not doing anything for an entire day after his retirement. So when everyone was far into their dreamlands, he snuck out of his room silently and into the building's dance studio - shared by the other idols living in the building - and did what he called his own physical therapy.

Arriving at the company building for finalizing for all their concert activities, Onew placed as little weight on his injured arm as possible to prevent any further damage. The manager left them on their own while he ran down to the cafeteria for a bag of ice. They returned to the conference room where the trainee was already seated, awaiting their arrival. He quickly scrambled to his feet to give a deep bow in greeting.

"You don't have to be so formal with us; just treat us like your friends," Jonghyun teased but Minho thought differently as he glared a little at Jonghyun.

"Works for all of us except Minho here," Key added, shocking the taller member. "He's really strict about sunbae-hoobae status; even towards me."

"That was eons ago, stop holding a grudge over that already," Minho muttered lowly, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Do you know he used to treat Taemin formally because he became a trainee a year earlier than him?" Key teased, sending a mocking smirk at his fellow member. "And he used to order me around even though I'm the same age as him just because he became a trainee just slightly earlier than me."

"Shut up," Minho growled, blushing deeply. The trainee couldn't stifle his giggle at the thought. On the other hand, Onew was staring in amazement at how Key was talking so casually about Taemin without even a pinch of sadness. Slowly, he broke into a slow smile, finally realizing that the team have grown out of it and became even stronger. Maybe it really was time to let Key know about what happened to Taemin.

"Kibum," Onew called out in the midst of their light-hearted laughter. Everyone turned to look at him, their laughter slowly drifting off. Trust him to make the atmosphere stiff by just calling someone's name. Jonghyun understood what Onew was thinking just by his expression and a small smile crept up his face in encouragement.

"I think hyung has something to tell you, Kibum-ah," Jonghyun said, urging the conversation forward. Key stayed silent for a while before something finally clicked in his mind.

"Ahh... I know what it is," Key held up his index finger towards his temple. "It's about Taemin isn't it?"

"Yes, about him... The thing is that he-"

"Has depression," Key completed the sentence smoothly. Onew's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Minho just smirked in the corner.

"Did you really think I'm that stupid, Jinkiminki?" Key mocked in a childish tone.

"But how..."

"I just had to call Taemin's mother. Easy as 1,2,3." Slowly, the trainee lifted his hand up timidly.

"Yes?" Jonghyun addressed him, holding back a giggle at how the trainee was so awkward around them.

"Should... Should I leave?" he asked softly, sensing the topic wasn't for outsiders to listen into.

"That's all there is to it; there's no difference if you leave now. Just make sure it doesn't get out," Minho ordered in a stern voice. The trainee gulped down tightly and nodded.

"How long have you known?" Onew questioned.

"2 days? The day that Jjong went to visit him," Key answered casually, picking at his fingernails idly. A long silence followed until Onew let out a heavy sigh.

"I feel like an idiot," he whispered. Key wrapped his arm around the elder half comfortingly, half mockingly.

"Then you should have told me earlier, you moron," Key teased.

"Sorry," Onew whispered; a shy, apologetic smile touched his lips. Key just flashed a quick smile back and ruffled the elder's hair. In perfect timing, the manager returned with the ice and threw it to the leader. Onew thanked him and pushed it against his swollen wrist.

"No more secrets, hyung," Key whispered into the elder's ear before drawing back to settle comfortably in his seat.

Secrets. Onew thought about his personalized physical therapy and almost burst out laughing. There will always be secrets between them. It's unavoidable.

May 9, 2013 00:28:55

I was overseas for just 3 days and my tumblr is flooded with Jinkis. There are like a 100 Jinki pictures to 3 Taemin pictures and maybe one or two Key / SHINee group picture. I didn't realize I followed so many more Onew tumblrs than anyone else until now ;x. I'll be overseas for another 5 days starting tomorrow, and I know I won't be able to catch up on all their schedules after I'm back; why do they have so many things on T_T. I'll try to do a 2nd update ebfore I leave though. I'm nervous; it's my first time going overseas with just friends *shivers*