In the late evening, Kibum stood in the dim room with a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. He had arrived just a few seconds ago and was met by a surprising sight. The ever talkative Key was rendered speechless (not that he was talking before then anyway) by the scene before him. The maknae was currently embracing HIS...he meant THEIR...lover....he meant friend...on the floor propped up against the bed. AND she was letting him! Either that or she was so knocked out that Taemin took the risk of putting her in that position.

Kibum was luckily done his schedule and didn’t have to be back for a full 24 hours so he had decided to relieve Taemin of his duties. He had thought the poor kid would be fatigued and stressed, but screw that! The kid was being all snuggly with the girl. He was surprised the beast demon didn’t immediately wake up when Key entered the room.

The older boy put his bag down on the floor and crouched down next to the pair. With his weight on his toes, he stared at Taemin’s face and then at the girl’s before looking at Taemin again. Then, he glanced at the wolf. “Do you know anything about this?” Luna looked at him unblinkingly. ‘What did I expect?’

He looked back at his junior to examine his face closely before standing up. Using his foot, he nudged the boy in the side. “Yah! What did you do?!” Kibum said in just above a whisper.

The younger demon cracked open his eyes before whining, “Why’d you have to prod me so hard hyung? I was already awake!” Then he scolded him, “What if you woke her up?!”

“I knew you were awake stupid. So why did you pretend to sleep huh?” His hyung flicked the maknae’s forehead. “What’s going on here?” He continued more softly as he looked at the girl whose head rested against Taemin’s chest.

Taemin had his arms around her protectively. “She cried and came to me herself. She kept on saying she was hurting.”

“Bwoh? Is she injured?” Key asked in concern as his eyebrows knitted together.

Taemin looked down at the top of her head. “I can’t find anything physically wrong with her. Besides her fever.”

The two silently observed her steady breaths. However, Taemin’s stomach had to rumble loudly. Kibum lightly pushed Taemin’s shoulder and started pulling the girl away from him.

“Hey!”

“Go get food pabo. I’ll watch her. You should check in too. You’re swine flu excuse is worrying everyone. We were kicked out of our dorm so it could get wiped of germs you know.”

The younger guy restrained himself from protesting and gently extracted himself from the girl’s hold. He WAS hungry and didn’t want his rumbling stomach waking her up from her peaceful sleep. Kibum replaced Taemin’s spot faster than Taemin could get up all the way, and the younger boy threw his hyung a glare. Key wasn’t paying attention as he inhaled the scent of her hair and rested his head on top of hers while holding her with as much pressure as he dared. Taemin decided his hyung needed this and slipped out of the room to call his manager.

Kibum was taking care of his junior but he really just wanted Taemin to be gone so he could hold her. It seemed like he hadn’t touched her in months when it had only been weeks. He could almost cry at how happy he was. He wanted to squeeze her tighter, to never let her go. But he was afraid. Afraid that she would wake up and scream, cry, and push him away again. So, he just settled his arms around her lightly like a security blanket.

He could almost laugh at himself as he felt his eyes wet. All the stress must have finally gotten to him and then this monumental moment (at least to him) happened. Did she really just suddenly reach for Taemin? That little rascal better not be lying. No, he couldn’t be though. Her sleep had never looked so peaceful since her little shock. Not that he had been coming in to watch her sleep all that often since then.... Plus, her arms were wrapped around Taemin, and he didn’t think the boy would manually wrap her arms around his torso. That was just weird.

‘Please let this be a good sign!’ he prayed to a god, any god that would grant his pleas. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the side of the bed. He was so tired and wanted badly to take a nap but at the same time, he wanted to tape his eyes open to gaze upon her form touching him and at peace. However, slumber ambushed him at some point, and his breaths became slow and deep as he fell into sleep.

Taemin came back in, just having gotten off the phone with his manager. Darn. He had sounded too healthy and happy (who could blame his refreshing mood?) and so his hyung had told him to quickly come back, get checked out again by a doctor to make sure, and then get back to work. He wanted to stay a few more days with her. He paused at seeing the pair sleeping soundly against the bed. Jealousy crept into his mind but he pushed it back. Crouching down next to them much like Key had done earlier, he took in his fellow member’s features. Makeup-less and with defenses down, Taemin could see the dark circles under Kibum’s eyes. Despite the tiredness that showed on the demon’s face, there was a small smile gracing Key’s lips that comforted Taemin’s worry for his hyung.

He patted Luna’s head “Take care of them okay?” and then left the room to pack and head back to the city. The wolf shook its head and ruffled its fur. It didn’t need the demon to tell it that. Luna treaded up to the sleeping pair and attempted to wedge itself between Key and the girl to no avail. It settled for laying next to them, head close to Key’s thigh, ready to snap at him if he tried anything fishy. The animal would have preferred that the boy wasn’t touching her at all, but for once, the girl looked at peace, so the wolf let him be her pillow until she was awake and aware.
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“She’s what?!” Jonghyun exclaimed.

Taemin had returned and informed them of what had occurred. The other three members were now eager to see her, to know that she was okay and to sneak in a cuddle before she remembered that she was frightened of them.

But, they restrained themselves. They weren’t all so lucky to be done their schedules for the day. In fact, Jonghyun and Minho were supposed to be on their way to the studio for some variety show, while Onew was supposed to be practicing at the SM company building. Taemin was currently free for a few more hours but by the time would reach the mansion, he’d have to turn back around to make his next appointment.

“We should get her a get well present,” suggested Jinki.

Taemin fidgeted with the zipper on his shirt while lounging on the sofa. “Will she even accept a gift from us? What can we even get her? She didn’t even like when we bought her things even when we were friends.”

“Ugh. I’m so bad with girls. Jonghyun, what do you think?” Jinki asked.

“You’re asking me? I am not the best person to ask right now when it comes to dealing with her...” Jonghyun said a little sadly. He picked up his bag, “Come on Jinki. Time to work.”

Onew followed suit and they both headed out of the dorm.

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It was a break between filming so Jonghyun went out for some fresh air. With a beanie hat and his sunglasses on, he trudged through the streets before stopping in front of a window display. Staring past his reflection for a few minutes, he finally entered the small store.

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“You want me to go where? Why can’t this wait hyung?” Kibum whispered loudly into his cell phone. “....Because...” he tried to think up a good excuse to not leave her side. “I’m just busy. She’s sick you know. What if something bad happens?” He finally sighed. “Fine. Fine.” He carefully moved her to the bed and tucked her in. The sudden coolness from the separation made both of them feel a loss but Kibum’s was obviously more conscious. ‘You owe me Kim Jonghyun....’ He slipped through the mirror of the room and not two minutes later, he came back through with a small potted plant with flowers buds that haven’t bloomed yet. The simple glossy black pot was hugged by a gold ribbon. ‘Really?’ Kibum examined the plant. ‘She’s not even awake to see it.’ He squinted at the little card attached to the ribbon telling of the description of the plant. ‘...Her favorite flower.’ He placed it gently on the bedside table.

Luna now lay on the bed next to her and once again resumed its duties of guarding her. Kibum felt the girl’s forehead and his own. She felt much better now. Still a slight fever but better nonetheless. He almost felt regretful to lose his time to snuggle with her. ‘Yeah...Kim Jonghyun. You so owe me.’

He left the room to change the cloth and bowl of water. When he returned, he almost dropped the new bowl of water at seeing her sitting up and awake while the leaves of the young plant next to her bed. She realized there was someone in the doorway and withdrew her hand before staring at Key with wide eyes.

“Umm....you’re awake,” the ever observant Key said.

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He excused himself after putting down the bowl cautiously. She didn’t say anything to him and had just sat straight-backed and watching him the whole time. It was awkward for him and he didn’t want to freak her out.

After he closed the door behind him, the girl let out her held breath and flexed her fingers. She had been awake briefly, well half awake, when Key was holding her on the floor. When she first became conscious, she thought she was dreaming and she briefly questioned her dream, her position, before remembering her having her breakdown in front of Taemin. Yes, she probably dreamt that part too and replaced the younger guy’s form with Kibum’s at some point. Dreams were weird that way, people, scenes, and situations transforming. But why would she dream of herself holding this demon so tightly and snuggling into his body? The girl was oddly calm in the haziness of her unconsciousness. She dreamed of hearing the boy’s cell phone vibrate but she couldn’t see the scene as her eyes were closed. Her senses seemed clouded and her head hurt from overly thinking in her resting state but she could feel his heartbeat increase, hearing it through his shirt. As she fell into deeper unconsciousness, she could hear him answer the phone. Right before her dream fell into blackness, she felt like he moved her.

After waking up to the empty room, save for Luna, she saw the potted plant and had been gingerly petting its leaves. She loved plants. They were her favorite flowers too. How had they known. Raking her brain, she only ever mentioned it once.

“What’s up with all the flowers?” Jonghyun said aloud as the pair walked past a delivery from the florists to the SM building. It seemed the plants were ordered to decorate for an occasion maybe. The girl and SHINee member were casually walking across the lobby, one to head for the bus stop and the other to meet with a group of trainees he made friends with. “They’re pretty.” As the two walked by, the girl noticed one plant different from all the rest. “Oh! They have my favorite!” She smiled as she looked at them but didn’t pause in her walking. Jonghyun followed her gaze and looked behind him at the plant as they continued on their way.

It had been in passing, her statement. She didn’t think he had paid any attention or made anything out of it. It was one brief sentence that occupied barely two seconds of their time. In fact, it took a long while for her to search her memory for any mention of her favorite flower.

‘So it wasn’t a dream?’ she considered as she petted the plant. And then Kibum walked in and she froze up. ‘It wasn’t a dream.’

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Posted November 12, 2010
Approx. 3.75 pages