The day she first woke up at SHINee’s mansion and the next day were full of laughs and smiles. She seemed to have, maybe foolishly, forgotten how she had arrived at the mansion in the first place. However, the boys were always nice to her. Well, they teased and frustrated her a few times that weekend but those times always ended in her giggling. Admittedly, she had gotten a bit nervous come bed time (at 2 in the morning since the boys kept her up with board games of all things) but true to their word, she had the massive bedroom to herself and woke up alone the next morning.

It was dinnertime on a Sunday evening. She was in the kitchen preparing the boys dinner out of gratitude for giving her a great weekend away from her stresses. The five boys sat at the marble counter and just watched her. She said nothing while scurrying around the big, clean kitchen, and they didn't say anything to interrupt her either. As time ticked by, the boys' eyes grew brighter in anticipation and their nostrils would flair every once in a while to take in the tasty aroma.

As dishes seemed to slowly come together, Key got up to set the table. Jinki helped bring some of the food over. The rest of the boys sat down at the dining table and immediately started picking at the dishes right as the plates touched the table. Jinki glared at them but they didn't seem to care.

"Ah! It's good!" Jonghyun exclaimed. He reached for another piece of food but it was snatched away by Taemin. As Taemin laughed at Jonghyun, Minho stole Taemin's rice bowl because Minho had yet to receive one from the girl who was still in the kitchen bringing out the last few dishes.

She sat down and smiled shyly, "Eat a lot. It's good for you. I hope you like it."

"Nothing tastes better than a wife making her husband food," said Key as he savored a spoonful of yum.

She blushed heavily and hit his arm lightly. "Aiysh...."

They ate quietly, except for the sound of clinking silverware, but it was a comfortable quiet. She cleaned up after dinner while the boys were off taking showers. Afterwards, she packed her few belongings that the guys so kindly brought with them when they stole her from her house. She stood in the foyer and shouted as loudly as she could without shrieking, "Hurry up slowpokes! I have to get up early for school tomorrow!" She waited. She looked at her watch and started tapping her foot. She waited longer. They said they would take her home after dinner. She let out a frustrated sound and moved towards the door to open it and maybe wait by the car to show them how impatient she was. The door wouldn't open though. Was she turning the locks the wrong way? There were only two locks on the door, it couldn't be too complicated. No matter how she tried, she couldn't open the front door. "HEY SHINee! YOUR DOOR IS STUCK! FIX IT SO WE CAN GET GOING!" Crickets.

She let her duffel bag plop to the floor and then stomped through a door and up a flight of stairs; this was only one of the maybe dozens of pathways she was shown that weekend. Two turns later, she stomped through Lee Jinki's open door. He was taking his time towel drying his hair. It was obvious he just got out of the shower. He didn't even button up his black shirt yet.

"You! You people sure are taking your time with getting ready," she roughly rubbed his head with the towel. "Some people don't have a whole week off before an amazing comeback you know!" She huffed and plopped down on his bed with a frustrated, annoyed expression on her face.

He threw the towel over her head. "You are so eager to leave us. I'm so sad," He teased.

With the towel over her head and her eyes looking up at him, the picture was comparable to maybe a puppy peeking out of a blanket thrown over it. So cute.

She pulled the towel off her head, fixed her hair and just waited for him to finish getting ready. She the flatscreen plasma T.V. that hung opposite of her on the wall with the remote. Flipping through the channels, she finally landed on the news.

"Ah! Minho! You are dripping water on my bed!" Minho had walked in maybe a couple seconds ago and invited himself to sit near her on Jinki's bed. He resembled how Onew looked just minutes before: the just got out of the shower look. Except, Minho literally looked like he JUST got out of the shower since his wet hair dripped water all over Onew's white comforter. Onew threw a towel at him and Minho caught it easily. Jonghyun came in next with Key, and they were both ready looking. A brown miniature poodle ran into the room barking and jumped onto her lap. She laughed and petted the animal. Taemin followed soon after. "There you are!" The poodle ran back to Taemin and jumped up. The boy caught the dog and carried it over to her and then sat on the ground beside the bed.

"That heavy thunderstorm that we've been watching all week is finally starting to roll in. If it hasn't already hit your area, expect to at least hear it coming soon...," reported the weatherwoman.

She was now helping Minho dry his hair because he looked busy texting someone.

"The contract dispute between Dong Bang Shin Ki's Park Yoochun, Kim Jaejoong, and Kim Junsu still has yet to be resolved. Both sides are not budging and no details have been released..."

"As popular as Dong Bang Shin Ki has been, the drama starring Leader U-Know Yunho has continued to drop in ratings...."

"JYP and Wonder Girls members speak about former 2PM member Jaebeom on Golden Fishery. Episode to air next week..."

"Survey says that stalking by fans may count as an occupation/job...."

"Stock market down 15 points...."

"A horrible act of animal abuse was captured on camera. Here's the clip...."

Taemin covered the poodle's eyes. "How evil!" He sounded sad but he radiated anger.

"New cell phone on the market...."

She massaged Minho's head with the towel and he looked utterly content. "By the way guys, your front door is broken. It won't open. Which reminds me," she pushed Minho away, "we should have been in the car and on the road over half an hour ago."

No reply. They were staring at the T.V.

"....residents are finally returning to the apartment building that Yeok Deulgi had set fire to a couple of days ago. It is believed that he first set fire to his apartment and then hung himself while the fire burned around him. Letters found in a fireproof safe in his apartment indicate it was indeed a suicide. In his letters, he confessed to every crime, no matter how small, he had ever committed, including speeding two years ago and pulling the fire alarm when he was in high school. Letters also suggest he was mentally unstable and performed self-mutilation...."

She gasped and turned her head away from the photo of the man who caused her injury not a long time ago. "That's so sad...He had such a hard life..."

Jonghyun looked at her incredulously, "You feel bad for him?"

"Well, yeah... he's a human being with feelings too. I know he must have done a lot of bad things.... My uncle thinks he deserved to die...," she whispered. She looked up at the T.V. The weather was on again.

"Your uncle is right. He deserved everything that he got," Taemin said with narrowed eyes.

She gasped, "That's so mean. He must have really have been in a pitiful state if he felt the need to commit suicide. What if he didn't die right away when he tried to hang himself? Then, not only would he feel the bite of the rope, but he'd feel the flames too. That must have been painful."

"Oh he felt a whole lot more than that...," someone mumbled from behind her.

"Huh?" she tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"By the time any flames reached him, he was already dead though," said Jonghyung flippantly.

"How do you know this?" she asked.

"Hm? Oh, just guessing."

She watched him closely. "...well, even if he died quickly. To suffer through self-mutilation...."

"I wonder why the news didn't mention the cut wrists. Did the body really burn that badly before people put out the fire?" Taemin contemplated.

"What?" she questioned.

"Oh nothing." Taemin waved her question away.

She got fed up and brought her legs up onto the bed and sat cross-legged. "Okay. You guys are acting weird. What's going on here?"

Lee Jinki looked at her closely. "You like stories, don't you? Like all those stories with supernatural things in them?"

"Well, yeah but what does that have to do with anything?"

He continued, "You used to gush to us--"

"Rather annoyingly I might add," put in Kibum but he was ignored.

"--how you wished those guys in your books were real, because they were like your perfect guys. You thought they were tall, dark, handsome, and powerful. Yet, sweet, caring and protective of those they loved. What if there was this character, a guy, who could control people with just speaking to someone, or touching them, or looking at them. Someone who had such a power but was really smart, nice, and clumsy in a funny way? Would you like him?"

Taemin spoke up, "What if you read a book with a guy character who could communicate with animals and command them. He'd be cool to get to know, right?" He looked at her hopefully.

Key picked up a hand mirror off of Onew's dresser and turned it around in his hands. "How about a guy who could travel through mirrors. Someone who could reach you whenever you needed him as long as you had his mirror?"

Jonghyun leaned towards her ear and spoke softly, "How about a guy who could control fire. Someone exciting yet warm. Would you feel safe with him?" The warmth of his breath made her blush even though she was more or less confused yet hypnotized by their words.

Minho did the same in her other ear. The cool breath carried his voice to her mind, "What if you met a guy who could control ice? Would you love him?"

"Well...if they were nice to me, why wouldn't I like them? But there are no such supernatural beings. What does this have to do with anything anyway?" She got up off the bed and moved towards the door. "Come on guys. I want to go home now." She looked at Onew pleadingly to get his other members moving so she could get home.

"Please, could you close the door and come sit on the bed?" Although it was in the form of a question, Jinki's voice was obviously commanding.

"Did you just command me Lee Jinki? I am not your slave," she grumbled and continued to move toward the door, intending to leave. But then, she found herself closing the door, and a moment later, she was sitting back on the edge of the bed.

"Huh?" she blinked in confusion.

Jonghyun stood in front of her. Onew threw a white candle at him. He caught it with one hand and held it in front of her. "Don't freak out now." She looked into his eyes which shone brightly, even if they did look worried. She looked back at the candle. "One. Two. Three" He touched a finger to the wick. "Light." The black wick caught fire. He moved his hand away and the candle burned normally as if it was lit by a lighter or match.

She just stared with wide eyes. "Is this...magic?"

Jonghyun rolled his eyes, "Come on. You're smarter than that."

Minho dangled his wet towel in front of her face. Slowly, the blue towel took on a thin sheet of frost. He waved the towel gently and let fine snow fall to the floor. He gave the towel a snap and it became frozen solid. He dropped it to the ground and the ice broke in sections. "I would have made it colder but I like that towel and don't want to shatter it...," Minho said as if it was no surprising thing.

She looked at Minho closely, then at Jonghyun. Taemin was still on the floor somewhat in front of her. She could tell both the boy and the dog were watching her closely. But he watched her with the eyes of someone looking for some fine detail of movement or something. She played back the conversations over the past ten minutes. 'He died before the flames reached him... He deserved everything he got...what if there were guys with these powers...would you love them....' Her face went blank but her mind raced.

Onew reached to touch her shoulder to see if she was okay. Before his hand could make contact, she stood up and bolted towards the door and out of the room. She flew around a corner too quickly and almost fell down the stairs if an arm had not caught her fall. Her heart beat rapidly as she followed the arm up to a face. Her eyes dilated in fright. Key would have looked completely normal if half of his body wasn't inside the mirror that lined the wall parallel to the staircase.

She fainted right then and there.
--------

THEA's Corner <3
Yay!!! I have my laptop back! *cries tears of joy*
As the title says, I will be updating faster from now on. Faster as in before this fic reaches page 3 of the Main Index. Maybe page 2 and a half... I don't know. Maybe just when I feel like it.
I'm delusional. While doing my homework, I suddenly had an idea for a sequel to this fic. I don't even know how I'm going to end this fic and I'm already thinking of a sequel! Yeah...a sequel is highly unlikely. One thing at a time. Got to finish this one. Right now, I see no end...
--------

Posted: 2010 Jan. 18 (Winglin)
Posted: 2010 July 19 (Asianfanfics)
Approx. 4.3 pages out of 40 (FORTY!!!)