1300. 11/12/2012. 5Extract. Seoul

A strikingly beautiful figure sits in the coffee shop anxiously waiting for the arrival of the other he was meeting. He hides his face behind a pair of large shades and scratches his head at the itchiness of the wig and the warmth of the scarf that was making his neck hurt.

“Why would they ever agree to something like this?” Taemin asks.

“It’s our only choice. We have no leads; we might be able to find out something this way.”  Onew replies.

“Hold still!” Key says applying mascara to Taemin’s eyes.

“Do you have the proofs?” Jonghyun asks and Minho nods.

“JYJ sent theirs over yesterday. Their company agreed to take private shots. They’re all fake though, they took these in a studio. TVXQ! is sending their over later this afternoon.”  Minho says, shuffling through the photos.

“Come on Taemin, we’ll be backing you up, don’t worry.” Jonghyun says.

“Don’t worry?” Taemin shrieks, “You’ve seen how scary those fangirls are! If they catch even the slightest bit of wind that I’m not who I am…”

“Relax. They won’t. We’ll make sure of it.” Jonghyun says patting him on the back.

“There! You look beautiful!” Key says giggling. Taemin hears a camera click and Minho laughing as the picture is printed out. Taemin crosses his arms and glares at them.

“What? It’s just a keepsake.” Minho says, laughing at the photo Onew took.

“I’m going to kill you guys when I get back.” Taemin mumbles under his breath.

“You look gorgeous.” Key says, handing him a white purse.

“Where did you get all this stuff anyways?” Taemin asks suspiciously.

“Jonghyun’s sister. The female workers from the NIS chipped in though, and the wig is from a costume Key wore a few years ago.” Minho says.

“What costume?”  Taemin asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh, I was dressed as a 1920s flapper. Ugh, we had to perform some kind of musical number that included bootleggers and smoking drags.” Key says, reminiscing.

“Forget I asked.” Taemin says, putting his hands up in surrender.

“Now get in that car and go!” Onew says to him.

He looks over to a side and sighs when he sees Jonghyun wearing a pair of sunglasses, chatting with a few girls from the office. He taps his folder nervously and looks at the thin silver watch on his small wrist. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Onew and Minho bring their coffees to the table adjacent to them on the other side of the divider. They would be able to hear every word of their conversation.

“Three cats call at the break of dawn.” A woman says, approaching him and he replies in his best falsetto.

“One of them is a tomcat and the other is Siamese. Together they sit on the roof, meowing till they yawn.” Taemin replies, taking a deep breath. Bad choice, the woman’s perfume washes over him in a wave and almost knocks him over. It’s so strong; he almost doesn’t need to try on his falsetto.

“It’s nice to meet you.” The woman says, sitting down across from him. She was wearing a pinstriped blazer with a matching skirt and a light purple blouse. If Taemin didn’t know any better, he wouldn’t take her to be a sasaeng fan at all.

“My pleasure, thank you for meeting me.” Taemin replies, the girl gives him the once over, approving his apparel.

“Now you must know that we are wary of accepting new members as of late since the detectives started investigating.” The president says.

“Of course.” Taemin responds naturally, masking his panic that the sasaengs already knew of their investigation.

“How do we know you aren’t one of them?” The president looks at him with cold, steely eyes.

“Well, from what I’ve heard, the detectives are all guys. I’m clearly a girl.” Taemin says and the president is silent for a minute.

Has she seen through my disguise? Is my short hair showing? Gosh, I should’ve put more effort into my appearance. Taemin thinks to himself, his mind on high alert.

“Fair enough.” The president says after a few moments and Taemin silently releases a breath and relaxes slightly.

“Alright, let’s get down to business. What kinds of photos do you have that will be useful to us?” The president asks and Taemin slides the manila folder over to her.

“These are pictures of TVXQ and JYJ in their homes and at work, filming their various projects.” Taemin says as the president looks over them.

“These are high quality shots, where did you get them?” The president asks.

“I know some people.” Taemin says laughing to himself silently that he actually knows the people in the photos.

“Alright, you’re in. Leave your email with me and I’ll send you the access code later today. You start off at the lowest rank, and you build your way up. With shots like these though, I’m sure you’ll do very well in our club.” The president says shaking his hand, “Welcome… what’s your name?”

“Lee Tae…hee.” Taemin says, coming up with a girl name on the spot.

“Lee Taehee? Thank you.” The president says, narrowing her eyes slightly. “We’ll be in touch.” She walks away, her heels clicking on the marble of the floor. When Taemin is sure she’s out of earshot, he taps on the wall between him and Onew.

“Did you get all that?” Taemin asks.

“Yup, looks like you’re an official fangirl now.” Onew replies and Taemin can hear the grin in his voice.

“Just shut up and stop gloating.” Taemin grumbles.

“Once they give you access to the website, tap into it and see if you can find the owner of these threats.” Onew says.

“On it.” Taemin says, pulling his laptop out of his bag. He encrypts his internet connection and sends his signal through 40 different proxies.

“The unsub might not make any more posts within the next few days. Taemin, just monitor it for now.” Onew says, “But first, we’re all going to tactical training.” The rest of SHINee groans, minus Minho who doubles over in laughter.