A/N: Sorry for not updating in over a week! I've been a fat lazy lard pretty busy with...well...life. I hope you guys like long chapters 'cause this is a pretty lengthy update. There are probably a lot of spelling/grammatical errors as well. Too lazy to proofread. Sorry, chingus. You have been warned. Enjoy!

I took a generous sip of my chai tea frappuccino. 

The delightful, nourishing, soothing tastes of Christmas — cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and spice — mangled with the flavors of the berries, vanilla, and the honey, which were still leaving tenacious impressions on my taste buds. It was a very odd concoction of flavors. The unpleasant taste spread across my sensitive taste buds.

I grimaced, my face contorted in an expression of utter distaste as I made to get up from my seat to toss the objectionable frappuccino in the trash bin. This uncanny action of mine did not go unnoticed by Key.

"Seriously, Taemin. Is there something wrong?" Key inquired, his voice laden with concern. He leaned forward across the table, daintily placing his palm against my aching forehead, checking my temperature. I gently removed his hand and shook my head in reassurance.

"I...I'm okay. I just feel a little sick. I think I have a fever. Take me home, please?" I mumbled softly, staring down meaninglessly at my palms. Key sat back in his chair, huffing in irritation and flipping his bangs out of his eyes in a feminine manner.

"We just got here, though..." he remarked quietly, sneaking a glance at the barista who was creepily staring at our table with a very intense gaze. I whimpered in protest.

"Please, hyung! Can you not be a , just this once?" I whined, placing a heavy emphasis on the word . Key rolled his eyes as he got up from his chair, tossing the remainders of his salad and macchiato into the trash bin. He muttered incoherently about something to do with me being a spoiled brat as he strutted towards the exit.

I couldn't hide the satisfied smirk that crept onto my lips. I silently congratulated myself for yet another victory against my hyung. I overheard the barista let out a muffled sigh of discontent as he gazed at my hyung's longingly as Key half-skipped, half-glided towards his car (is such an action even possible?). I scoffed, muttered the word "pabo", which the barista was meant to overhear, then followed Key hyung to his car with a more average strut.

For the entire brief car ride to my house, Key had pestered me right down to the bone marrow, repeatedly trying to pry out the reasons for my odd behavior. I kept insisting that I wasn't feeling well, but my excuse did not seem to satisfy Key.

I finally snapped at the older boy and advocated that if he didn't shut up, I'd puke all over his leather seats. That seemed to shut him up, but he was still seething. Ha, you're so lame, hyung.

After a few more minutes of suffocating silence, we had finally reached my house. Key pulled his sedan into my driveway.

"Thanks, hyung," I murmured, a grin of gratification lingering on my lips. I made to hop out of the car, but Key suddenly tugged at my wrist, forcing me to roughly sit back down onto the seat. I gave him a quizzical look. "Uh, hyung?"

"Taemin, you know that you're my bestest friend in the whole entire world, right?" I grinned, nodding in reassurance.

"Of course, hyung," I responded plainly. Key returned a satisfied smile, then his expression wove into a more serious one.

"If there's anything you need, anything at all, whether it's someone to talk to, or if you need a ride somewhere, you can always call me, araso?" Key asserted.

"Neh. That is, unless you're busy some poor, unsuspecting boy's ," I teased playfully. Key chuckled, ruffling my hair affectionately.

"Alrighty, then. I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded in response, climbing out of the white sedan. Key flashed me one last look of concern before pulling out of the driveway and speeding down the bare, abandoned street. I was alone.

Even after several hours well into the night, the odd, yet enticing, flavors of berries, vanilla, and honey stubbornly lingered on my tongue. The flavors had all but subsided roughly in half.

I had brushed my teeth repeatedly, over and over, trying to rid the tastes from my mouth, but to no avail. I sighed defeatedly, setting down my toothbrush. I frowned in discontent as I stared at my reflection intently. I had only earned now abused and sore gums which were now an ominous red color.

As I lay there in the dead silence of the evening, I let the now acquainted flavors linger on my tongue, teasing my sensitive taste buds. I did not mind the tastes so much. In fact, they did not bother me at all. Earlier, I was feeling rather concerned and slightly worried.

In actuality, the flavors embedded some foreign calm, the calm now resting in my soul. Normally, I would have felt quite distressed, even a little nutty in the brain. However, I did not feel such things. I had become one with my senses. They had sewn themselves in the crevices of my fragile heart. These incredible senses I was perceiving should belong to me forever.

I lay there in bed, listening to the the sweet, melodic music of the night drift through my ears. Even fully blanketed in the pitch black of night, I could sense the familiar thin, silver wisps hovering in my vision, exuded by the melancholic tune of the old cricket. Soot stained sparks were emitted from the low hum of the buzz of insects.

I let the heavy lids flutter over my dilate pupils. These chestnut orbs see too much. However, I do not feel neither ashamed nor regretful. The crisp taste of fresh winter which only the night could provide lingered playfully on my tongue, only to drown in the sea of overwhelming flavors of berries, vanilla, and honey. For now, winter was no more.

My life is beautiful, I thought, just as I felt my mind slipping into an abyss of unconsciousness. The scent of wildflowers and freshly fallen rain clung desperately to the water vapor in the air. I breathed in greedily, my nostrils craving the scent. I sighed, feeling genuinely content for what seemed to be the first time in my entire life.

For now, every single nerve in my body had grown numb, lead coursed through my veins, the entirety of my being had become heavy with sleep. Just as I felt my soul slowly slither into a foreign world of slumber, I let his name stain the bare mental canvas of my mind. Every crevice, every nook and cranny, plagued with a rush of vivid color. It was all too vivid.

For a moment, I was in my own world. My very own, private, clandestine world overwhelming with colors, scents, and flavor. For a moment, everything that was, that is, that will be, belonged to me, only me.

My life is beautiful, I thought for the second time. I was trapped in this abstract, unreal world. I was suffocating; this was all too much. My mind screamed for release. My heart throbbed, pounding violently against my chest, whispering sinister nothings. Or was I only imagining it?

If I was trapped, why did I feel so free, freer than the wind, freer than light itself? If I was suffocating, why had every cell in my body grown painfully voluptuous with oxygen? My mind, my heart, my soul were at peace, for the moment.

I felt the entirety of my being slowly succumb to the lull and numbness of sleep. Amethyst...a cloud of amethyst...it gradually fades and fades and fades...

Later on that morning, I had wasted no time at all getting ready for the brand new day. I quickly got dressed and scarfed down my breakfast without uttering a word of acknowledgement to either of my parents. Before my mother or father could greet me, I jolted out the door.

I sped towards school with long, quick strides, keeping up a consistent brisk pace. Usually, I would walk to school with easygoing, elongated strides and appreciate the wonderful colors, scents, and smells that I was blessed with every morning.

This morning, I was knotted up in a tangled mesh of hustle and bustle. I wanted to make sure that I arrived at school long before Key would, as to make sure that I had a sufficient amount of time to search for Choi-

I ceased my own thoughts from continuing before they could betray me. I immediately barricaded the walls of my mind. No, I would not let his name slip into my mind. Not when I was so focused on other things.

I arrived at school in a matter of minutes, only to face a barren campus. Not a student in sight. No green haze greeted me this morning.

Huh, I guess I came earlier than expected, I thought listlessly with a shrug of my shoulders.

I must be really eager to find this boy. But how could I not let myself ache with dire curiosity? With such an extraordinary name like his, I can only expect that the boy himself will leave at least as much as an impression as his name has left onto me. I prayed silently to myself that my judgements were accurate. Now, on with the search.

I wandered aimlessly among the campus, strolled down desolate hallways, scavenged the library, and peered into all the bathrooms in the East and South buildings. I headed towards the West building to press my luck there, and that's when I realized...I had no freaking idea who in the heck I was searching for.

I groaned inwardly, tugging at soft tufts of hair out of frustration. The baritone sound reverberated off of the lockers in the vacant corridor, a low echo slowly drifting into my ears.

As eerie as the sound must have been, I was greeted by sunflower yellow bubbles. The bubbles were thick, cloudy, and transparent. They rode along nonexistent currents of air, bopping along playfully. The bubbles disintegrated into nothingness as my echoes died down. 

"Yah! You over there!" a voice boomed out of nowhere, sending out flimsy noodle-like shapes squiggling into the air. I promptly spun around, facing a boy who radiated with that "Don't mess with me or I'll give you detention" authority. I was dumbstruck.

The boy had messy, chestnut-colored hair with several cowlicks. He was looking clad in cyan green rectangular spectacles with a matching cyan green and white striped sweater vest with a plain dress shirt underneath. He was wearing plain black slacks.

As he approached me broadly, I noticed that he was proudly sporting a polished badge bearing the words HALL MONITOR. The word "HALL" is a dingy gray, like old ahjussi socks. The word "monitor" is a dull brick red. Underneath the words HALL MONITOR, in smaller print, was the name LEE JINKI. Lee Jinki's name was an uncanny similar cyan green.

"You aren't allowed to be roaming the halls before official school hours!" he squawked. I stared at him with a blank expression. Hmm, I think I remember him from somewhere. Jinki...Lee Jinki...why was his name so familiar? "Don't just stand there!" he continued to scold. "Out, I say! Out!" Jinki ushered me out the thick double doors. Before I stepped out, I felt a notch in my brain click. Of course!

"Aren't you Key hyung's ex-boyfriend?" I blurted. Jinki's cheeks flushed a furious tomato red.

"I...what...who...it's none of your concern!" he stuttered, obviously flustered. I giggled. He is so silly.

"By the way, you have a pretty name," I remarked mindlessly. Jinki shot me a skeptical look before glaring icy Jinki daggers at me.

"Pretty name? What in the...? Oi! Don't distract me from my hall monitor duties! Do you know how long it took me to earn this badge?" Jinki screeched. I merely shrugged in response.

"No, tell me how long it took-"

"Have a nice day!" Jinki squawked, cutting off my sentence, before giving me one last shove out the door, then slamming the doors shut behind me. Jinki was gone. I chuckled to myself, shaking my head discreetly. What an odd guy. He seems nice enough, though.

As I turned my body towards the main gate, I accidently bumped my elbow right into the side of someone's ribs. Odd how I didn't notice this random stranger's presence before. I gave a low, inaudible hiss and recoiled as a sharp burst of pain tingled through every nerve in my arm, but it quickly faded as soon as it had come. I gingerly rubbed my slightly sore elbow, wincing as I did so.

I glanced up to face my victim with an apologetic expression. I could just slap myself for how much of a mistake that was. I glanced up, only to gaze directly into the depths of the most beautiful pair of eyes I have ever seen. Every atom of oxygen that took refuge in my lungs was no more.

His orbs were deep pools of soft, velvety ebony. His gaze was fierce. Hostile, even. Yet gentle all the same. A chilling rush of bitter cold swept over my entire body, yet the coolness left my skin with a surprisingly comforting tingling sensation, and those were just his eyes alone.

I let my eyes absentmindedly drift across the fine features of his face. His face was perfectly sculpted as if carved by angels. The flawlessly soft, smooth tanned skin of his cheeks were taunting me, willing me to caress the tempting flesh. His Cupid's bow lips were a pair of perfectly molded, pink flesh. I nearly slapped myself for accumulating the urge to steal a single chaste kiss.

I felt my gaze lingering on every crevice of his face before I finally tore my eyes, quite reluctantly, away as to not begin drooling like a love struck idiot.

His hair was a thick, wavy mess of dark locks. I felt my fingers tremble slightly, itching to run themselves ravenously through that perfect mess of unkept, yet y, hair. Every sight my eyes took in sent jolts of pleasure coursing through my veins. I was feeling a little too excited.

I let my eyes wander southward onto the base of his neck. Oh, God. He had an Adam's apple. I could feel all my senses slowly slip into surrender. Since when did Adam's apples ? Shut up, Taemin. You aren't seriously becoming all hormonal over some stupid guy, right? Right. I exhaled deeply, failing to recall when I had started to hold my breath in.

"Erm, sorry..." I muttered unintelligently, staring hard at the plain concrete. He let out a goodnatured grunt before strutting off listlessly to who knows where. I closed my eyes, whimpering silently. What the heck was that all about? I heard a low, sympathetic whistle blow right into my ear. I spun around, shocked, only to face Key.

"What the? Hyung? When did you get here?" I asked, feeling flustered, my eyes blinking at an inhuman pace. Key chuckled, shaking his head lightly at me.

"Boy, you sure got the hots for him!" he jeered, poking my cheek teasingly.

"A-aniyo!" I cried out in protest. "I was just...he was just...we were just...that was just..." I droned inarticulately. Key "tsk'ed" and shook his head at me once more.

"You can't fool me, Taeminnie. I'm your umma, remember? Nothing goes unnoticed by the Almighty Key," he chided, rolling his eyes. I nodded mutely, glancing at little tufts of grass escaping through the cracks on the concrete ground. "Do you even want to know his name?" he asked in a singsong-y voice. I tore my eyes away from the irrelevant grass and stared intently at Key.

"You know his name?" I queried, failing to hide my curiosity. Key giggled at my eagerness, ruffling my hair playfully.

"Aigo! So adorable. Araso, I'll tell you. Only because you're dying to know," he teased. I scoffed, raising my eyebrows and jutting out a little head nod to encourage him to continue. Key leaned in towards me, our faces dangerously close. His lips barely brushed my earlobe. I shivered at our blatant, uncomfortable closeness. Key is such a sometimes!

"That boy just now...his name is..." He halted his sentence, taunting me. I let a whine slip out of my pouty lips. He chuckled darkly before continuing. "...Choi Minho." I wasn't even granted a millisecond to brace myself for the sudden impact of colors, scents, and flavors that violently murdered my senses right then.

My mind was screaming bloody murder as thick pools of amethyst drowned every single coherent and incoherent thought in my mind. My nostrils burned with the desire for fresh air as the overwhelming perfume of wildflowers and freshly fallen rain stung the inner walls of my nose. My throat ached as the flavors of berries, vanilla, and honey seeped into my esophagus.

And yet, as agitating and painful and horrible as this all sounds, my entire being had slipped into a terrain of bliss. I had lost all control of every one of my senses, every single one of my nerves. My entire body started to tremble, my knees wobbled with an threatening instability. My knees plummeted southwards, crashing onto the concrete ground. My entire body went numb. I inhaled and exhaled heavily, gasping greedily for gulps of fresh air. I wailed out in complete frustration.

"Darn it, hyung!" I shrieked, my eyes in tight slits. "What the heck was that for?" I cried, glaring up at him. Key stared at me, the size of his eyes increased to the size of saucers. I couldn't make out his expressionless face. He knelt down beside me, hesitantly draping an arm over my shoulder, still quite unsure of what he had done wrong.

"Taeminnie...I thought you wanted to know his na-" I instinctively clamped my hand securely over his lips, silencing his words.

"Hyung! Please don't say his name anymore!" I pleaded desperately. He nodded in response, prying my clammy hand away. His expression contorted into a mixture of shock and disgust. Shock because, well, it was obvious why. Disgust because he couldn't believe I had dared to touch his flawless skin with my own "grubby" hands. Ugh, such a diva! I swear...

I sighed shakily, my breathing uneven. I scrambled to my feet, nearly toppling over in the process of my sudden jerks of movement. Key had mimicked my actions, and caught me before I could plummet towards the hard concrete. I buried my face into the crook of his arm.

"Thanks..." I grumbled against the fabric of his cashmere sweater. He gently his thin fingers through my mesh of red hair in an attempt to soothe me. The shriek of the bell cried out shrilly overhead, signaling that it was time to head to our classes. I ignored the apparent muddy brown streaks that slashed through my vision, behind my fully-lidded eyes. I cursed silently to myself for this curse I had been maledicted with.

"Let me take you to class, araso?" Key offered, his voice laced with concern. I sniffed in response, complying as he began strutting towards my first class, effortlessly swishing his hips from side to side. I hobbled alongside him silently, shuffling my feet as I did so, all the while still tucked away under his arm. We must have made quite an odd sight.

My classes dragged on at an agonizing, slow pace. I seriously thought I was about to die. However, I forced myself to be more attentive in class than usual, clinging on to every word that slipped out of my teachers' mouths. I was trying very hard to preoccupy my own thoughts, desperately willing myself to not let his name, or any image of him for that matter, carelessly slip into my mind.

How long will I have to keep living like this? I thought miserably. Seconds ticked by like hours before the dismissal bell finally rang overhead, marking the beginning of lunch.

I hung my head low as I slumped down the hallways sluggishly. The familiar green haze loomed in the suspended air, crowning my head. I grunted in annoyance. For the first time ever, I wished that the haze would dissolve into nothingness and never come back. I wished that this abnormal, inhuman ability I had obtained would disappear forever, leaving me in the hands of the rest of the colorless world.

I looked up and noticed Jinki a few yards away. He seemed to be absorbed in an intense discussion with another boy around his age. I think his name was Shinwoo, which was a bright sunkist orange. All I knew about him was that he preferred to be called CNU, a similar orange, only a more mango color, and he was vice president of a new club called B1A4 or something.

The hall monitor's Jinki senses were at the top of his game, since he seemed to sense my gaze instantaneously. He looked up from his conversation, and we made awkward eye contact. I grinned and waved, all the while Jinki's face scrunched up as if he had eaten something sour. He quickly muttered something in CNU's ear before galloping away. What the...can humans gallop?

He carelessly drove through throngs of people. The students were yammering away at him in annoyance, irritated with his carelessness. With every retort he responded with, he blatantly advocated that he was the hall monitor and that he would gladly throw their butts in detention if they didn't shut up. Was he that desperate to get away from me? I felt offended.

Someone cursed at him and threw an eraser at him. The eraser knocked him off balance, and he stumbled into a trash can, plummeting in headfirst. Wow...that kid sure had some serious sangtae. Could an object as small as an eraser really have that effect on anyone, even if it was thrown hard? Poor guy. I gawked at him for a few moments, trying to comprehend all that had happened, before scurrying over to the older boy.

"YAH! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS! AISH, STUPID SOPHOMORES! HELP!" he continued to wail out pathetically. I tried grabbing a hold on one of his legs, but they were squirming and writhing in the air helplessly. He ended up driving his heel right into my face, smacking me square in the cheek.

"Ow! What the heck, Jinki! Stay still, you pabo!" I commanded. He refused to comply, and continued shrieking out in chicken-like squawks. I groaned. This guy was impossible. Finally, I decided to inch my foot towards the base of the trash bin before driving my foot in for a hard kick.

The trash bin toppled over. As it hit the floor, all of its contents spilled out, including Jinki. Without uttering a single word of recognition, he stood up from his sprawled position and dusted himself off. Then he turned to glare at me, his nostrils flaring.

"YOU!" he cried out. I jumped back in surprise. "CLEAN THIS UP! " he commanded before galloping off again, blending into the thick mix of students pouring all throughout the hallway. I sniffed. What the heck was that all about?

Gosh, what a strange guy...I thought as I lifted the trash bin up from the floor and back to its standing position. I continued to think about Jinki until I felt a tap on my shoulder, pulling me away from my thoughts of the weird guy with the sangtae. Key was standing there, his fists jammed into the front pockets of his all-too-tight designer jeans.

"Oh...hi, Key hyung," I greeted my hyung.

"What are you doing?" he asked. I glanced down at the piles of trash pooling around my ankles. As I stared at the littered pieces of trash, a brilliant thought crossed my mind. I glanced back up at him with a wide grin.

"Nothing, hyung. Say, are you busy?" He shook his head in response. I felt my pulse race. "Then how about me and you go find him?" I suggested, the plea evident in my voice. Key lifted an arched eyebrow at me.

"Find who?" Key asked dumbly. I sighed, exasperated by his ignorance.

"Him! Ch- I mean, that boy from earlier!" I whined, grasping onto his arm tightly. I began dragging him down the hallway.

"Taemin...what are you...? Araso! Just stop dragging me..." he muttered. I giggled ecstatically. And so our search began.

...

We scavenged for the boy for several minutes. Students began filing out of the hallways towards the cafeteria or made their ways to the student parking lot to hop in their cars and drive off to a convenience store or a fast food restaurant, their empty stomachs croaking for food. Nearly every hallway was deserted.

"Why are you so determined to find this guy? This is stupid," Key whined.

"Because I like the color amethyst, that's why!" I cried in protest.

"Err, what?" Key replied uncertainly. I felt my cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

"Ugh! Never mind." I didn't have time for Key's diva attitude! He grabbed onto my shoulder harshly, halting me from my quick-paced walk, and spun me around to face him.

"Taemin, why are you acting like this?" Key queried, his lips jutted out in a pout. He had placed a hand onto his hip and was leaning his weight onto one side. He frowned at me, his eyebrows knit together in concern.

"Because!" I responded lamely. How could I ever tell him why I desperately needed to find this boy?

"Because what, Taemin?" Key pressed, his voice laced with impatience. I sighed, staring up at the ceiling, searching for a proper answer. The ceiling lights blared down on me, blinding my vision. I winced and faced Key, sighing deeply. I braced myself for the impact of senses I would be receiving.

"Because...Choi Minho-"

"What about me?" a sweet, deep baritone voice called out from behind me, cutting off my sentence. I gasped and spun around. Oh, dear lord. There he was, all glorious six feet of him. Choi Minho, in the flesh. I was momentarily stunned for several reasons.

One, I did not experience any overwhelming rush of perceptions while in his presence, like I had anticipated. Secondly, I could not help but feel mildly creeped out and concerned that he happened to be in the same exact hallway at the same exact time as Key and me. Last of all, his beauty was just absolutely breathtaking. No god could ever compare to his divine radiance. Alright, the fangirling ends here.

"Kya!" I squeaked. Minho gazed at me intently, his ebony orbs boring into my own chestnut ones. God, oh God. Please don't look at me like that or I might die. It took all my willpower to tear my eyes away from his fiery gaze.

"M-Minho hyung...I...err..." I mumbled under my breath, failing to formulate a coherent sentence.

"And you are?" I heard him drawl. His deep voice was so manly and just...y. Aish! Shut up, hormones!

"M-me? Oh, uh, why do you..." I murmured, my voice faltering. Key used his angled elbow to jab me hard in the ribs. I glared at him before facing Minho.

"My name? Err...T-Taemin. Lee Taemin," I somehow managed to gasp out.

"Taemin, huh?" My name rolled lazily off of his tongue. I loved how my name sounded when he spoke it in that deep, y, raspy voice of his. The familiar colors, scents, and flavors of my name surged through me in quick, violent bursts. This time around, the sensations were even better than they ever had been. Was it because Minho was the one who had spoken my name?

I took a sharp intake of breath before nodding, my cheeks tainted with a deep, pink blush.

"Mmm...yeppeo," he said in a husky voice.

"E-excuse me?" I replied, feeling rather confused.

"Oi!" cried out a familiar squawk from behind me. I spun around only to lay eyes on a quite arrogant looking Lee Jinki.

"E-eh? Jinki hyung?" I muttered in disbelief. What in the world was he doing here?

"You know the rules, you shameless delinquents! No one is allowed in the hallways during lunch! Now, get moving! Aish, I ought to send your sorry little butts off to deten-"

"Onew oppa?" Key cried out suddenly.

"EH? KIBUM?" Onew shrieked. Key squealed girlishly.

"Oh, my God! Onew!"

"Gwah! No, stay away!" Jinki pleaded, sprinting off. Key giggled manically.

"You know you can't resist this hot piece of , Lee Jinki!" Key cried out flirtatiously, skipping after him. What a crazy world I must live in. The sudden realization that I was left alone, in an abandoned hallway with Choi Minho, Choi freaking Minho, hit me in an instant. I glanced up at him shyly, only to see that he was grinning at me.

"Heh, hi," I said quietly. He continued to grin at me. Okay, a little creepy, but...

"Your name is pretty," he remarked out of the blue. I felt my cheeks heat up in an instant.

"Thanks...yours is too..." I responded, feeling rather bashful. He chuckled a deep chuckle. Music to my ears. Oh, lord. Just take me now.

"I don't think my name is anything particularly special, but thanks," he said. I shook my head in disagreement.

"It really is beautiful," I insisted. "It's a very pretty amethyst color." All the color drained from my face as I realized the remark I had made. A lump welled up at the base of my throat.

"Err, what?" he said uneasily.

"I mean," I quickly responded, "I love the smell of flowers and rain." Shut up.

"Taemin, are you okay?"

"N-neh! It's just...do you like berries, hyung? I love berries! And vanilla and honey..." Shut up, you bloody idiot! Now he thinks you're a freak! Just like your classmates did. Stupid little Lee Taemin. When will you learn that no one would accept you if they knew the truth? Stupid little Lee Taemin...

My eyes brimmed with hot tears, threatening to spill out. I sniffed. He was going to tell me that I was a weirdo, a freak, a strange kid. He'll be sorry he even bothered to talk to me. To my surprise, he chuckled goodnaturedly. I glanced up at him skeptically. Was he laughing with me, or at me?

"H-hyung?" I called out uncertainly.

"You're cute, Taemin," he rasped in a low, husky voice. I felt the pale, milky flesh of my cheeks burn a furious deep scarlet. My lungs had ceased operating, my heart had refrained from beating.

I took a major risk by gazing into his deep, ebony orbs through my own half-lidded eyes which were cloudy with longing and desire. His eyes, like deep pools of velvet, were glazed over with mystery, stirring restlessly with emotions and feelings I could not decipher.

The corners of his perfectly pink, plump lips had twitched up into a subtle smile, a smile which seemed to conceal a hidden secret. A plethora of unruly butterflies flittered in a frenzy within the concealments of my stomach. They fluttered around restlessly, their wings like sharp blades of silver, maiming my soul from within.

I felt extremely sick, like I was about to wretch out uncontrollably. Strangely enough, the feeling wasn't all too horrible. In fact, it was rather pleasant. All too pleasant.

Does hyung feel these butterflies, too?

A/N: As I reread this I noticed that my choice of figurative language and the way I describe things is kind of funny. Please don't mind it too much, I'm trying the best I can to describe what Taeminnie sees, smells, and tastes ><

Also, many of you have probably caught it by now, but I apologize for my use of inconsistent tense. It's kind of hard for me to keep track of that kind of stuff. I hope it doesn't disrupt the flow of the story.

Anyway, what did you think of this chapter? Please let me know by leaving some wonderful comments for me to read ^^

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