A breeze tickled Taemin’s toes as the ringing alarm helped greet him to a brand new day. His fingers found his way into his hair as he rolled this way and back, the bed sheets wrapping around his body, tying him into a struggling lump on the mattress. His outstretched hand managed to find its way onto the Off button on the clock. He slowly sat up, flipping his bangs out of his eyes as he stared at the closed blinds blocking the light of morning. His long thin fingers slip between two blinds, peeking through them, his eyes squinting in attempt to numb the burning pain of the sun against his eyes. He took his shirt off, throwing the soon-to-be laundry onto the floor as his eyes’ next destination was his phone. A yellow little light flickered on and off. He pressed the home button, his screen lighting up to an Arial fonted 6:53 A.M. The bottom of the screen indicated that he had one unread message from a sender named Minho which was received at 2:32 that very morning. 2:32 AM.. What could he possibly be doing at 2:32 in the morning? His fingertip swiped over the alert, opening up a new screen where the message could be read.

From: Minho

Subject: -

Message:  Hey, so uh I talked to my friends about
uh tomorrow and one guy couldn’t make it anyways
and since we need an equal amount of guys you can
come. We’re going to karaoke so I’ll pick you up at
around 5. Bring money unless you want to starve lol.
C U.

                “An equal amount of guys?” Taemin read aloud, “Why?” He turned off his phone and laid back down, staring up at the ceiling. “What should I wear?” he asked, piecing together different outfits against the ceilings backdrop. “I’m meeting his friends too. They’re all older. They’re all adults. What’s a kid like me doing with adults like that anyways?” He scooped himself out of the bed and headed for the shower. He got into the shower, turning up to hot water as he prepared himself. He got in and cozied up to the heated drops. He grabbed a bottle of shampoo, squeezing a decent amount into his hand.  He guided it along his hair, spreading it along his scalp. He purred as the comforting water soaked him. He reached for another bottle filled with conditioner, applying it like before but letting it set in this time. He leaned against the wall, watching as the water poured down to the tips of the hair, breaking air to descend the rest of the way down. After a few minutes of dazing off, Taemin finally tiptoed out, his feet finding his slippers, allowing him to step out of the shower. He had a tower around his waist and a towel on his head. His eyes caught his own as he looked into the mirror. He stopped and leaned in, pulling at parts of his skin to add or take away from the flesh. “My face is so chubby and plain~” He hummed, judging himself from different angles. “So plain..” he repeated. “I’ll go out for a little walk in a few.” He walked out of the bathroom, bringing a hairdryer along on his way. He sat down, toying around with his hair until each strand was finally dry. He laid out an outfit on his bed, a little girlier than what he usually wore, but for a good cause. He put on skinny jeans and a long grey sweater with a pink heart painted in the middle. He threw on some knee high boots and a long coat over it, topped off with a scarf and hat. He looked at himself in the mirror for a few seconds before taking his hat off and jogging over to his bedside table where he found a free hairband, tossed aside days in advance, and fitted it around his wrist. He began arranging his hair into a neat braid, starting at the side of his head and gently falling down his shoulder. He looked again, seeing if he was pleased with his new image which resulted in a nod to himself and his hat being put back on his head. He took a deep breath and headed for the door. He knew where he was heading, he just didn’t completely know why yet. He had his bus pass tightly in his hand as he walked towards the bus stop. His clock showed the time 7:44 AM. Early enough to get there without many people being around or at least that’s what made sense.

                Taemin now stood in front of one of the malls entrances, 45 minutes after opening. He was already shocked by how many cars were in the parking lot this early. He understood it was a popular mall in the center of the shopping district, but this many people on a weekday morning was not something he prepared for. He awkwardly began his walk in, heading towards the giant digital map that stood square in his way. His finger traveled around through different sections, colours, and letter-number combinations until he finally found the store he was looking for. Walking straight down the numerous halls, his eyes caught the sign he was looking for. Etude House. He examined the pink, feminine exterior of the store complimented by a girly interior. Many girls from the ages of 14 to their mid-thirties were buzzing around through the store, laughing in groups while applying different colours to their eyelids and other areas on their face. He took in a deep breath and walked in, looking at all the products that were unfamiliar to him. So many packages with the same words but different uses. Body creams, hand creams, bath soaps, regular soaps, BB cream, BB balm. He didn’t understand any of this. Even if he were to ask, what would he be asking for? He would be making a huge fool of himself trying to figure out what these things were. You know what, this was a bad idea, I should just go, Taemin thought. He began to turn around until his eyes met that of a short and small girl with a pink frilly apron and a nametag on reading Eunhan. “May I help you today, Miss?” Taemin was about to correct her until he realised how he was dressed and the whole point of him being dressed this way. Of course guys would never come to a makeup store like this. He cleared his throat, preparing to raise his voice a few octaves. “Uhm, to be honest, I don’t really know what I need help with.” He admitted with a shy smile “Oh, is this your first time? I would have never guessed from seeing how beautiful you are. I’m wearing a lot of makeup and you still look better naturally. Do you have a specific occasion you’re going to be getting dressed up for?” Taemin shook his head. He didn’t entirely know why he was here himself. “Perhaps it’s for the person Miss likes?” Taemin stared at her blankly. He didn’t like anyone at the moment, so it couldn’t be that he thought to himself. “Alright,” the girl finally nodded, “how about we see what suits you best first?” Her hand waved in the direction of a section lined with different types of creams and colours. “What we first want to do is find a solid skin tone that’ll even all, if any, imperfections out or simply give a shine.” The girl explained as if she was giving him a tour of the store. As they walked down the aisle, she grabbed a few different boxes from the shelves. As they reached the end, she walked towards a small blindingly white counter with a simple rotatable mirror. “These are the colours which I think will suit you best. They’re all about a shade or two apart so bear with me as we test them please.” As Taemin glanced at the little square indicating the tones of the cream on the bottom corner of the box he couldn’t even begin to tell all the shades apart. Was this something girls found easy? The girl took his hand, lifting it and dabbing a bit of each cream on different areas. She began rubbing it in, pointing to each section and explaining how it was better or worse than the last. They finally agreed on a tone that looked just like all the rest to him and moved on to the next aisle. Here there were powders. There were eye shadows, blushes, mattifying powders, and more. The worker explained different types of colours and how they complement different looks. By the end, Taemin was walking out with 4 creams, 2 eye shadow and blush pallets, 3 different colours of eye liner, a brush set, a few lip glosses and lip sticks, and a couple of other things. He stared down at the bag as he put his pin into the machine after putting in the card. He sighed as the big number flashed on the little screen, waiting for the confirmation. As he was turning to leave, shoving the recipe into his bag, a voice interrupted him. “Uh, excuse me, Miss! See, I’m not usually supposed to do this, but, since it’s your first time buying make up, do you want me to help you? To put it on, of course. Uh, if you’re not busy.” The friendly worker spoke, her voice getting quieter and quieter with each word. Taemin looked at her unsure of what to say, but what was he going to do? Go home and place the makeup down somewhere to collect dust until it teaches him how to apply itself? “U-uhm, a-alright.” He stuttered. “Great. Come over here to the back where we have the stools.” She led him over to the back where she sat him down and they began applying the makeup he had just bought. She gave him several tips such as applying eyeliner from the outside rather than the inside to know where the line will end at, or slang such as the “T-zone”. The area composed of your forehead and the bridge of your nose which forms a shape similar to the letter T. After about another half an hour, she finally leaned back and smiled happily, clapping her hands. “We’re done!” She turned Taemin around on his stool to face a mirror and his lips gently parted as he gasped. “Wow..” Taemin blushed as he saw himself. “I’m very pretty. And you didn’t even put on that much!” He lifted the mirror closer to his face as he examined each this artist made on his face. “Since you’re new to this stuff, I tried to keep it relatively natural.” She commented.  “Do you like it?” Taemin turned around happily, “Yes, yes, I love it! Thank you so much. You even explained everything you did! You should be a teacher!” He blurted out. The girl blushed. “Oh, no such thing. I’m just here to make sure my customers leave happy.” Taemin grabbed her hands while bowing. “Well I really am, thank you!” She smiled. “If you ever need something, please come to see me!” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a card which had a name and phone number printed under the huge name of the store. “I’ll be sure to come back! Bye bye!” He waved as he skipped out. The girl waved back before being called on by another employee.

                It was 4:55PM and Taemin kept going back and forth from his couch to the bathroom mirror. Minho was going to be here soon. He had changed and his hair was in a new style, but what about the makeup? Should he keep it on or should he take it off? He personally thought he looked very nice. He’s seen all the male Kpop idols wear tones of makeup but was it alright for him to? His eyes dance between the clock and mirror as he argued with himself.

4:46 P.M.

4:47 P.M.

4:48 P.M.

4:49 P.M

He finally decided on removing the makeup, walking across the living room to the kitchen to get paper towel when a squeak escaped him. “Oh my God.. How could you..” A chuckle arose from the other party. “I was hoping you didn’t mind. The door was open so I let myself in.” A hand waved at the previously open door. “Minho, you’re horrible. You could’ve given me a heart attack! And then what?” Minho laughed once more, walking over to Taemin’s kitchen an rummaging for a glass. “I can’t be too good to you, now can I? Anyways, you’re looking pretty fancy. ” Taemin blushed, realizing Minho was talking about his clothes and not the makeup. “Well, I’m going out with a group of older people! I have to dress nicer, or at least a bit older than my age.” Taemin spoke defensively. “Haha alright. Just remember not to make everyone look too bad.” Minho poured himself a glass of purified water and downed it in one chug. He turned to towards Taemin as he put his glass in the sink and watched as he got dressed. “Are we going, or not?” Taemin hurried him. “Yeah, yeah. I hear you.” They walked through the door and Taemin reminded himself to lock it this time to prevent events like earlier from reoccurring. Taemin soon found out that they were going to the mall that he was at earlier. Taemin didn’t know the place they were going to because he hadn’t been there. He never went out because he had no one to go with. But now there was Minho.

                They arrived at the mall after a while and Minho began to dial on his phone. “Sorry Taemin, give me a second. I have to see what room we’re in for karaoke- Hello? Yeah. Where are you guys? No, it’s okay, just tell me what room. Uhu. Yeah, okay. We’ll be there in a few minutes. See you.” He shut his phone and ushered Taemin on, leading him down the huge, packed halls. They stopped at this one bar with a flashing sign and music drowning into the hallway. A line was forming out along a red velvet rope. Minho held Taemin’s hand as he pulled him forward into a completely empty line, flashing a card across to one of the ushers at the front. They smiled and bowed, going back to the growing line closer to them. “Since we come here often, we all just ended up buying a VIP membership card. You skip the lines and get to bring a plus 1. There’s no room entry fee but you have to pay for all the food. Luckily there’s a 10% discount on everything. Except beer. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers.”  As they made it to the end of the hallway, Minho turned Taemin towards him and whispered, “Don’t let these guys force you into ANYTHING you don’t want to do, understand? Don’t tell them your number, your address, nothing. If they want it they can come to me and I’ll judge whether they deserve to have it. And uh, the other people, well, that’s your own choice. Just don’t get too crazy.” The other people? Taemin ignored the confusion and nodded. “Hey, are you wearing makeup?” He heard a voice come from inside. “Minho, is that you?” He looked towards the door for a second before looking back to Taemin, “We’ll talk about this later.” Minho let go of him and opened the door, a huge smile painting itself onto his face. “Sorry we’re late!” Taemin heard a bunch of guys cheering and then suddenly something he didn’t understand. A girl’s voice. More than one. “Oppa!”  He froze just before the doorway, staring as Minho walked further into a room waving towards a direction he couldn’t see. He turned around and noticed Taemin in the spot he last him, walking back a few steps and grabbing his wrist. “C’mon now, don’t be shy!” Suddenly Taemin felt himself being led in and his eyes instinctively darted towards the floor. “Aww, Oppa brought a girl? That’s no fair! Oppa you’re so unfair! This is for singles, Oppa! Singles!” He heard some girl whine. “Haha calm down! Actually, this is my friend Taemin. Believe it or not, he’s my Dongsaeng. He’ll be the maknae tonight!” Gasps were emitted all over the room making Taemin want to disappear all the more. “You’re telling me that’s a guy?! What is this?! No, I refuse to believe it! Come here Honey, sit beside me.” Taemin looked up as a muscular boy with short black hair patted the space beside him, pushing away another boy. “Call me Oppa too, ne? C’mon we can become good friends!” Taemin nodded awkwardly, taking a step towards the large group in attempt to not get beat up. He stepped over one person’s legs and soon felt himself being lifted. “No, no, no! He’s sitting with me. I don’t trust you guys.” He felt himself being put down on a cushiony part of the couch. “Aw, c’mon man. Don’t ruin the fun.” He argued. “Hey, this guys as innocent as it gets! Someone’s gotta look after him.”

                After a few hours of chatter, it was pretty clear to Taemin that he was part of a huge group date. It wasn’t as unbearable for Taemin as he had assumed it would be. Everyone was generally very friendly and people were already coupling up somewhat secretly.  He was fine just being in the middle of it all. He didn’t have his eyes on anyone specifically because he didn’t need to. Including him and Minho, there were eight guys. On the other side, there were another eight girls. From what he heard, the other boys were named Jun K, Nichkhun, Taecyeon, Wooyoung, Junso, and Chansung. The eight girls were named Yoona, Taeyeon, Tiffany, Sunny, Yuri, Jessica and her sister Krystal, and Hyoyeon. “So, Taemin, sweetie, how do you manage to look so pretty?” Jessica asked. “I-I don’t really know.” He admitted. “Your hair is so long too. What made you decide to grow it out?” her sister, Krystal, asked. “Uh, just, I guess, reasons?” Krystal leaned across the table, her chest nearly pouring out of her blouse. “Awh, c’mon! Tell us! You can trust your Noonas!” Taemin looked down, smiling sheepishly. “I’d rather not.” A few of the other girls whined, posing in an aegyo manner. Should he tell them? That he was bullied and that’s the reason? He just met these people. But they’ve been really nice so far. “Guys, cut it out. Give him a break.” Minho spoke up, the girls finally retreating with little grunts. “Oppa’s so mean!” The girls crossed their arms. “We just wanted to be friendly!” A chuckle came from across the table. Taecyeon, the boy who invited Taemin to sit beside him earlier, spoke up. “Why don’t we play a game to spice things up, hm?” All of a sudden, everyone’s attention was peaked. “Ooh, Oppa! What do you have in mind?” The older boy pulled out a piece of paper from his backpack, waving it around. “The paper tearing game.” All of a sudden a bunch of giggling erupted from both sides. “We’ll each pair up and see who can do it the best. Winners doesn’t have to put in any money towards the total bill.” Through the noise, Taemin pitched in. “Uhm, Hyung, what’s the paper tearing game?” His eyes widened. “Have you been living under a rock?! You don’t know what it is?” Taemin shook his head. “Oh my, he’s so cute. Can Noona play with you?” Jessica asked, her finger running along her glossy bottom lip. “A-alright.” Taemin agreed. “Oh goodie!” She giggled. “Hey, don’t taint his innocence so early on!” Nichkhun commented. She put her finger against her lips, shushing the boy. “Don’t worry, Noona will take good care of you.” Taemin nodded, smiling because he had no idea how he should respond to that. “So Taemin, want me to show you have to play?” The woman asked. “Yes please.” He agreed, thinking it would be interesting. “Taecyeon baby, pass me a sheet!~” She asked in a high pitched voice. “Alright, alright.” A piece of paper was now being waved in front of his face. “So we have to rip this piece of paper.” She stated. “But that’s easy, you just take it with your hands and-“ He took it from her, preparing to rip the paper with his hands. “Oh, no, no sweetie! That would be easy. And nothing in life is easy.” She smiled. “We have to rip it with just our mouths.” Taemin looked at her confused. “So how do you do that? You bite it?” She rested a corner of the paper on his mouth, slipping it between his lips. “Let me show you how.” She suddenly leaned in very close to Taemin, her head tilted so that her lips landed right beside Taemin’s. She kept eye contact with him the whole time as her head moved and the paper began to tear. Soon, they each had half a paper in their lips. “And that’s how you play! The team that can get down to the smallest piece wins!” She smiled. Each person got into a pair with someone of the opposite gender. Taemin and Jessica didn’t win because at a certain point, Taemin was too embarrassed to continue anymore. However, they didn’t need to pay the bill because it was Taemin’s first time.

It was dark when they were leaving and Taemin walked out along with Jessica. “Thanks for your number. So how’re you getting home?” She chirped in. “Ah, I didn’t think about it. The bus I guess.” He began rummaging through his bag in search of his bus pass. “Hey,” Jessica began, “you know, I had a lot of fun today. You’re younger but you’re really funny and charming.” Taemin looked at her skeptically. “Are you sure you’re talking about the right person?” She laughed. Was she actually laughing at what he said? “Yes, I’m positive. So, I was wondering, if you’re not busy tonight, maybe I could give you a ride back to my place. I mean, it’s probably really selfish of me seeing as you probably have school tomorrow and it’s the middle of the week, but I really think it’s a shame to be letting you go like this, y’know? I think we could have a lot more fun.” She stopped in front of Taemin, her hand on his shoulder.

Minho was tossing his bag over his shoulder, leaving after leaving some money for the bill. He opened the door and caught a couple looking as if they were about to get intimate. He walked towards the couple, stealing a glance at their face. His pace slowed down as he noticed Jessica’s face. “So, I was wondering, if you’re not busy tonight, maybe I could give you a ride back to my place. I mean, it’s probably really selfish of me seeing as you probably have school tomorrow and it’s the middle of the week, but I really think it’s a shame to be letting you go like this, y’know? I think we could have a lot more fun.” He overheard her say. “Sorry, I think I’m getting the wrong impression.”  He stopped as he heard Taemin’s voice. “Oh no, I don’t think you’re getting the wrong impression. I don’t mind if it’s your first time.” What? Did he just hear that right? He knew Jessica was easy, but to hit on a sixteen year old kid? That was too much. “I’m sorry, like you said before, school and such-“ Her whine cut him off. “Please, Taemin! I’m sure you’ll like it. Noona will teach you all those things in those magazines.” She pouted ever so slightly. “Well-,” Don’t tell me Taemin is buying into this. What is he thinking? He can’t go and spend the night with some dirty girl who sleeps with someone else every day. No. I won’t accept this. He began to walk towards Taemin, his arm being thrown around Taemin’s shoulder. “So Taemin, let’s get going. I picked out some awesome movies for tonight!” blocked. “We still need to stop by my house so I can get my stuff before going back to yours. I’ll bring over some cool games. Oh hey Jessica. Did I interrupt?” He flashed her one of his radiant smiles. “Oh of course not! Me and Taemin here were just making some plans for a later date. Anyways, I’ll be leaving! See you! I’ll call you Taemin!” She giggled and skipped away towards an expensive looking car. “Taemin?” Minho started. “Yeah?” He pointed to Taemin’s phone. “Delete her number.” He grabbed for his phone but Taemin removed it from his grasp. “Why? Are you being a jealous girlfriend?” Minho snorted. “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. You just don’t need the number of someone like that.” Taemin laughed. “Alright, alright. I’ll consider it. So, you’re coming over tonight, are you?” Taemin nudged him. “Wasn’t planning on it.” Minho spoke, his smile becoming evident in change of pitch in his voice. “Well that’s too bad.” Minho laughed. “Alright Taemin, whatever you say.”

Maknae - Youngest member in a group

A/N: ARRRGHHH so derp! I'm really off my ball today. First I update, but the chapter decides to make itself "M Rated." Then I update it to non-M but I forget to write an authors note. I'm really sorry this has been so late! It was supposed to go up yesterday, and it would've, but I didn't finish the banner. I worked on it a lot and the just decided to scrap it and start again. So, that's always Dandy. It's all good now. Oh and just to bring it up for those who didn't notice, the guys at the bar were 2pm and the girls were snsd with the exception of Krystal from f(x). Speaking of f(x), I had a dream about school today. Why does that have anything to do with f(x)? Because (f)x is some crazy mumbo jumbo math thing. There were only like 7 people in my school (Huge drop for over 1000 to 7, huh?) and I remember having lunch and the cafeteria was like the size of a public restroom. There were 2 people I knew, and 5 I didn't. On another intresting note, I read that you can't make people up in your dreams, meaning that everyone you see, you've actually seen somewhere like on the street or at a coffee shop. So it makes me wonder who those people are? Imagine that. Telling those people "Some random person you don't know dreamt about you." "..great." Why am I telling you all this stuff? Because it's summer vacation, and I'm lonely, and I'm bored, and I talk a lot and have a lot to say but no one to say it too. Yesterday they did construction of my building and it was so loud that even with Big Bang on full blast on headphones, I could barely hear it. So horrible ; ___ ; Anyways, until the next update, tootaloo~ -waves-