“I got this one from Tuscany. This one is from America. This is from Brazil.” Key was showing off all his trinkets that he had collected from various countries at various times. “Oh! This one I stole from Austria’s royal family. Right from their secret vault. During the war too. They have a lot of gold framed mirrors in there.” He tossed a gem-encrusted crown in the air, caught it smoothly and placed it back on his table. “This is got out of the Palace of Versailles.”

She would have been more impressed with Kibum’s travels and collection but knowing that some of the stuff was clearly stolen didn’t sit right with her. She spied a case with a sign underneath it. ‘Is that really U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s hunting rifle?’ She looked away. ‘Is that a photograph of Kibum with Winston Churchill? What the hell! He looks exactly the same!’

“I got this rug from China like a decade ago. I heard it was worth something. Even though I think it’s a little ugly…”

“That’s interesting…,” she replied without interest as she inventoried other objects.

Key didn’t seem to notice and continued to talk. “Yeah. Unfortunately I stepped right into a dealing between the Chinese Triad and the Mafia. It wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t see them through the mirror because they were hidden behind a secret wall space. Yeah…things got a little messy after that…” He rubbed his thumb over the faint stain that looked suspiciously like blood. “Hm…probably wasn’t worth it.” He let go of the tapestry that hung on the wall. “Oh well.” He walked over to her. “So. Pretty cool right?” He gestured towards the whole room. “See anything that interests you?”

“Not really…” That was a complete lie but she didn’t want to regret listening to some violent and graphic story of his exploits. And she just knew Key would tell every detail with great feeling. Key frowned at her attitude. The two moved to his bedroom and he sat crosslegged on the bed with his laptop in front of him. “How ‘bout some online shopping? Do you want any new clothes or anything? Ooo….this skirt would look so good on you. I’m getting it for you.”

She watched as Kibum pushed his bracelets and sleeves up and then started happily tapping away at his laptop. She sat across from him on the bed, her bracelet.
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She was on break. Finally. She was no newbie to the music video filming scene, so it irked her slightly that the Ring Ding Dong MV was not coming along as quickly as predicted. SHINee was talented. There was no doubt about that. They could dance. They could sing. They looked good doing it. So what the heck was the problem? Only the director had any real problem with the idol singers.

Rather than do something productive, she sat in the lounge and worked on making braided leather bracelets. It was just a hobby. She liked bracelets and accessories, even though she didn’t wear much of it. She just liked owning them and having the option of wearing them. Right now, she was working on a bracelet that buckled like a belt or dog collar. It was made up of dark green dyed leather, black leather, and brown leather. Already on her right wrist was a black and white braided leather bracelet. The one she was working on now was thicker in width than the one she was currently wearing.

Kim Kibum walked into the room with a paper cup filled with liquid that smelled like hot chocolate. He was talking to another staff member and didn’t seem to notice the girl. The other staff member chuckled, patted the boy on the back and then left the two teenagers alone. Kibum finally took notice the other occupant of the room. He blinked and then registered that this was another staff member. ‘Ah! It’s the girl that helped hyung earlier!’ He approached her but stopped a good distance away, personal space and all that good stuff.

“Eh? Are you making a bracelet? It looks so cool!” Kibum was genuinely interested.

“Huh?” The girl looked up from her quick work and found Key not too far away from her. She knew he had entered the room but she did not expect him to actually talk to her. “Yeah…It’s kind of something I just do when I’m bored.” She put the finishing touches on it and held it at arm’s length to admire her work. She smiled slightly and put it on her left wrist. He came closer to get a better look.

“Oh! By the way, thanks for helping up Onew.”

“It was no bother at all,” she smiled brightly at him. When she smiled at people, she liked to look directly into their eyes but she found that she could not stare at his face for so long. He had pretty eyes. She was jealous. She looked back at the long table in front of her and put both hands on it. She moved to get up. “Well, I’m going to-“ She paused as warm liquid soaked through her plain light blue sweater and hot chocolate slid down her body. Key had been surprised by the depth of her eyes and didn’t move fast enough when she was getting up. As she rose, her shoulder hit the cup of cocoa he was holding and the drink emptied onto her top.

“Oh my god…,” Kibum looked rather shocked. “I am so sorry.” He put down the mostly empty paper cup. His hands hovered close to her body but he didn’t touch her. He didn’t know what to do. “Uh…napkins…napkins…Um…”

“It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s my fault.” To an observer, the scene looked more like she was trying to calm HIM down. Key finally used his eyes and grabbed a few napkins from the dispenser sitting on the table. He wiped at the hot chocolate on her sleeve and then handed her the wad of napkins since it was probably better if she did that kind of thing herself.

She used the napkins to soak up the brown liquid from her sweater but it became apparent to both of them that the sweater was not going to be saved without a heavy duty washer. Thankfully, the sweater soaked up all of the liquid so that her pants were saved from any stains that would have resulted from liquid dripping down her body. “I’ll…go look for another shirt…” She disposed of the soiled napkins and started to leave.

“Wait! My hot cocoa ruined your shirt. I’ll let you borrow one of mine. It’s the least I can do.” Key moved over to a duffel bag that was sitting in the corner and fished out a black shirt. He offered it to her with two hands and head lowered.

“Uh…thanks,” she accepted it awkwardly. She DID need a shirt. “I’ll go change then.”

He stood awkwardly outside the girls’ dressing room. He kind of felt responsible for her predicament and thought it better if he waited for her even though he didn’t know her name. Another female staff member walked by him and glanced at him before entering the changing room. He heard the new woman’s voice through the door. “…Why are you blow drying your bra with the hand dryer?”

Key blushed outside the door. “Oh …”

Inside the dressing room, the girl blushed even more and whispered out an explanation. ‘Note to self: Bring a change of clothes to work.’ She changed into the shirt that Key gave her and put her dirty sweater into a plastic bag. She stuffed it into her locker and looked at her reflection in the mirror. ‘Hmm…’ She rummaged through her locker for anything to make her outfit more fashion friendly.

She exited the dressing room and saw Key talking to Taemin. “Ah! Taemin-ssi!” She gave a small bow and then gave a bow towards Key also. “Thank you for letting me borrow the shirt Key-ssi. I’ll make sure to wash it and get it back to you by tomorrow.”

Key blinked twice before examining her outfit. “Wow. You made my shirt work for you.” She pushed the long sleeves up to her elbows in a nervous manner but one sleeve fell back down and went past her fingertips. The black shirt had white outlines of people she did not know, probably some band, on the front and it reached her upper thighs. One of her collar bones peeked out from the neck of the shirt. The shirt was meant to be a little loose on Key, so it made sense that it pretty much engulfed her. She made it seem like a fashion statement by wearing a white leather-braided belt around her waist. It gave it a feminine touch. Coupled with her light gray skinny jeans, leather bracelets, thin long chain necklace with big silver flower pendant, and black tennis shoes with green highlights on them, it wasn’t that bad of an outfit. She definitely scored some points with the fashion-loving Kim Kibum.

“Why’d you need Kibum’s shirt?” Taemin asked as he looked her up and down.

“I spilled my hot chocolate on her,” Kibum explained.

“Ah…,” Taemin expressed understanding. He blinked at Kibum for a while and Kibum seemed to get the message. ‘How the hell did someone like you get caught off guard long enough to spill a drink on somebody? That was extremely stupid’ He glanced back at the girl he met the other day. ‘Then again, that could have been ingenious. I wonder what color shirt she was wearing…’ “Do you want to borrow one of my shirts? They might fit better than hyung’s,” Taemin offered.

“No. I’m fine with this. It’s kind of comfortable. Thank you for the offer though Taemin-ssi. I’m going to get back to work now.” She escaped the awkward situation, and the two guys watched as she disappeared around a corner.

“Can I have that shirt when she gives it back?” Taemin asked the Kibum.

The other guy looked at the younger one incredulously. “I like that shirt! Why do you want it anyway?” Kibum came to a realization. “Ah! Is that the girl who you said smelled good? So that’s who you’re hooked on now?” He paused. “You can’t kill her!” He whispered urgently.

Taemin looked taken aback. “Why not? You never cared who I wanted to target before? Besides, I don’t want to kill her anymore. She’s different.” The two started walking down the hall. They spoke in low tones but they didn’t look overly suspicious. If anyone was around, Taemin would know it, and he would signal to stop talking about such things. “I thought her scent was that of prey or something. I thought her smell was signaling for me to attack and like eat her or something. But I realized it’s different. It’s more like…a drug? No…that’s not what it is. Well, maybe. Well, not really.” The maknae became frustrated. He was never that unable to articulate his thoughts or feelings before. “She has this effect on me that alternates between making me happy and/or making me calm. It’s weird. But whatever. Why do you care?” The two entered the changing room where Minho and Onew were sitting.

“That girl has style. She’s like a closet fashionista. Plus, she makes cool-looking bracelets, the kind I would wear.” Kibum explained as he went over to the mirror.

“Seriously? There are plenty of fashionably dressed girls in this very building,” Taemin replied dubiously as he sat down in a swivel chair.

“What are you guys talking about,” Onew in.

Minho lifted his head from his arms. He was previously attempting a nap.

“Hyung here is interested in my girl just because she can improvise an outfit. I would like to point out that I smelled her first and so should rightfully have dibs on her,” Taemin claimed.

Kibum kicked Taemin’s chair, causing it to roll and hit the wall. Taemin almost fell off the chair. When he righted himself, he looked like he was about to tackle the older member.

“I did not fall for her! She just has really nice eyes. They’re truthful….and pretty. She’s too nice though. And you’re one to talk! The guy who just wants to smell her!” Kibum stood in such a way that let himself be prepared for a hit from Taemin. Just in case. Taemin could be the serious when it came to human affairs and SM affairs. However, when it came to demon affairs, Taemin was the one that could end up acting the most rash. He was the youngest and the most likely to act on instincts due to his bloodline, in addition to hormones.

“Stop it you two. Save it for home.” Both guys instantly relaxed their postures but their eyes weren’t friendly. Onew continued speaking, “Who are you two talking about?”

“To fight over a girl. That’s kind of pathetic.” Minho put in coolly. He was curious though. She must be some girl for Kibum and Taemin to really prep themselves up for a real fight with each other. The umma and the baby of the group? Yeah, she must be special.

“It’s the girl that helped you up earlier Hyung,” Kibum reminded the leader.

Onew looked surprised. “Her?” Was it possible? “That’s the girl you were talking about? The girl whose scent drives Taemin annoyingly crazy is that girl?” Was this possible?

Taemin’s nostrils flared. There was a knock on the open door to get the guys’ attention. “Hey guys. Sorry to bother you, but the director wants you all back on set.” The girl gave them a small smile of encouragement. “I’ll see you all there.” She turned away from the door and her eyes lit up. She gave a bright smile and bowed once at somebody they could not see before disappearing.

“That’s her,” whispered Kibum.

Minho’s eyes lit up. “Her? Hmm…”

Onew stared at Minho briefly. Jonghyun turned into the doorway and looked excited. “That’s the girl I was talking about! Isn’t she pretty?”

Onew looked at everyone. ‘No way. Is it possible for ALL of us to like the same girl? The same HUMAN girl?’
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Posted: 21 May 2010 (Winglin)
20 July 2010 (Asianfanfics)
Exactly 4 pages out of ~76