“Still nothing?” Jonghyun asked as Key closed his mobile phone and sighed.

“She said something’s come up and that she might have the next couple of days away.”

Taemin groaned. “She’s avoiding us.”

“Rochelle may have a good reason,” Minho defended and Onew stared at his hands, knowing the answer.

“No, it has to do with Onew!” Key continued and walked over to the older boy. “What did you do?!”

“Like I said to you all last night, she got upset with me and left. I didn’t enrage or hurt her.”

“Then why would she get upset?!”

“Key,” Jonghyun called and the copper haired boy grumbled unintelligently under his breath. Onew shot him a look and Key stormed off over to the table where their snacks were sitting.

He had reacted slowly in trying to fix things before Rochelle left last night, and by the time he had made it to the elevator, she was already gone. Onew felt incredibly guilty for making her feel so offended by his actions, and watching her almost cry in front of him made his heart break. He couldn’t believe how involved people could get in only a few days, but he had always found their visitors became very comfortable around them. Usually he thought this was a good thing, but after last night, he didn’t know anything anymore. Knowing that Rochelle was avoiding them because of him hurt the most, and Onew felt like doing nothing but crawling into his bed and going to sleep. He wished that he could wake up from it all, and that they could start all over again. Rochelle had immediately become part of the SHINee family, and he felt like he was causing a divide because of his selfishness.

“Are you okay?” Minho questioned and Onew glanced at the dongsaeng.

“Yeah,” he answered a moment later and tried to smile.

“Key will calm down.”

“Oh I’m not worried about Key,” he replied with a grimace. “Although he is pretty annoyed with me.”

“He’s excited about Rochelle.”

“Yeah.”

“Was last night about you two?”

Onew sighed. “Kind of. Maybe you’re right, she might like me.”

“And how does that make you feel?” Minho wondered and Onew shrugged.

“She told me that she wouldn’t date Key, so I don’t see how it’d be different with me.”

“Would you want to date her?”

“Minho-ah,” he said and gave the younger boy a look. “It’s not going to happen okay? I just want the whole nightmare to go away.”

“Alright, I hope it does then. I hope Rochelle comes back soon though.”

Onew nodded and smiled. “I hope she does too.”

“Are you sure this is going to be fine?”

Rochelle nodded. “Of course, I told you I would take you with me one of these days, and we’re going to have fun today!”

“I’m really excited,” Kate told her friend as she followed Rochelle into the boy’s apartment building and Rochelle nodded again. “I feel like my stomach is twisting into a thousand knots.”

You’re not the only one, Rochelle thought to herself, greeting the bell keeper and going over to the elevator. She hadn’t been able to eat any breakfast that morning, and all she could do was think the worst. It had been three whole days since she’d seen SHINee, telling Kate she needed a break to spend with her. When in reality, she felt incredibly foolish. Rochelle had believed she would have fun this summer, and instead she had wound up becoming incredibly dramatic in the first week with the musicians. She hoped that she could get back onto her professional level, and not let her personal emotions her back into the confusing place she had been on Thursday.

“Oh I can’t breathe!”

“Kate, you’re going to be fine, they’re all very lovely guys,” Rochelle assured and looked at the girl. She was hoping Kate would be her secret weapon for the day. Her best friend was really good at keeping conversations going in any situation, and Rochelle hoped that she could hide behind Kate if it got too much for her. She felt guilty for her reason, but knew that Kate wouldn’t guess why it was this particular day she had been dragged out of bed at eight am.

They stepped out of the elevator and Rochelle walked over to the front door, knocking on it lightly. Kate frowned. “I thought you knew the password?”

“ do, but I thought because I’ve been away and they’re not expecting us, that I’d be polite and knock.”

The red haired girl nodded and they waited for the door to open. Taemin soon appeared and his face lit up. “Noona!”

“Hi Taemin,” she greeted, smiling brightly at the boy. “This is my best friend Kate; I hope you don’t mind her being here? I should have rung first.”

“Not at all, please come in,” he ushered them inside and Rochelle slipped her sneakers off, chewing her lip as Taemin rushed down to the bedroom. She heard him tell them who had arrived and the next person to greet them was Key.

“It’s about time,” he said with a smirk and then smiled at Kate. “Hello, I’m Key.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” her friend replied meekly and followed Rochelle into the living room. They boys soon joined them and she tried her best not to appear fake when she smiled. Rochelle attempted to overlook Onew when he walked in, but she couldn’t help but take a quick look at him. He stared back at her, giving her a small wave with his hand. She smiled genuinely then and felt herself relax a little. Hope began to grow in her chest at the thought of things being alright again and Rochelle tore her focus back to the boys surrounding them, catching up on everything she had missed out on.

“And so Chelle wasn’t watching where she was going, and tripped over my foot, falling right onto the coffee table where the cake was sitting,” Kate managed to get out between laughs. “And when she managed to get up, she had chocolate cake everywhere!”

“I ruined my favourite top too,” the older girl added on as they all laughed at the shared memory, Onew grinning at the girl across from him.

“Do you like being called Chelle?” Jonghyun asked when he stopped laughing. “We haven’t heard any of your nicknames come to think of it.”

Kate nodded. “She has lots; Chelle, Belle, Chelle Belle, and her workmates call her Kiwi.”

“Kiwi?” Key questioned and Rochelle nodded.

“New Zealand’s symbol is our native bird, which is the Kiwi.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Taemin said and then smiled. “Who wants ice cream? I feel like some.”

“I’ll have some,” Kate immediately agreed, getting up to go help the younger boy. Onew watched the pair in the kitchen, and then looked around their living room aimlessly. The day had gone better than he thought it would. Rochelle had been pleasant, and as long as they weren’t left alone for long, they were able to hold a conversation well.

“Does anyone else want any?” Taemin enquired and it was decided everyone would have some. They all became preoccupied with getting enough desserts bowls and spoons for each person, the kitchen becoming very crowded. Jonghyun turned the volume up on the stereo as the mood changed and Onew laughed, Kate was incredibly confident. She started to sway from side to side to the beat of the 2PM song, and Taemin soon joined her, the pair bouncing around and getting no where with dishing up the dessert. Key swatted them out of the way and took over, Minho holding each bowl for him. Rochelle just stood near the wall, bopping her head to the music until the song finished.

“Oh Chelle it’s your man!” Kate cried as the next song started up and Onew glanced at the blushing brunette. He recognised the singer to be Jesse McCartney and Kate moved away from Taemin, grabbing her best friend’s hands and made her dance to the song.

“Kate’s lively,” Jonghyun mentioned with a laugh, Onew nodding as he watched the girls happily sing along. The blue hues in Rochelle’s eyes seemed brighter and he wondered why it was so obvious to him to notice that. He vaguely took the bowl he had been handed and spooned some of the icy treat into his mouth, smiling at Rochelle as Kate spun her around. She returned the gesture and then pulled her hands away from her friend’s.

“Dance with Jonghyun, I’m going to have my ice cream,” Rochelle told her, going over to Minho and taking a bowl off of his hands. She went to the opposite side of the kitchen and began to eat, Onew feeling an incredible surge go through his veins. He couldn’t explain it, but found himself getting lost within Rochelle’s eyes, the atmosphere becoming electric. Everything Minho had been saying suddenly dawned on him, and he realised how blind he had been this whole time. The reason he had been so miserable over the last few days made sense to him now and he shook his head, wondering why he hadn’t come to the conclusion earlier.

He liked Rochelle. His denying of the fact had been a waste of time, and all he could think of was how he had been waiting to feel like this about someone. And now that he did, he realised he had to make a move. Before he truly missed his chance.

__________

Words Used...

Dongsaeng: term used for “younger brother/sister”. Used by both es from the older person. Can be used on siblings or close friends.