Taemin’s POV

I was in my dance studio which I personally built as my stress reliever. I dance whenever the exams were close or whenever I couldn’t answer Key umma’s confusion about certain things that I can never tell him.

I turned the stereo up to maximum volume and SHINee’s Lucifer pound against my eardrums. I tapped my foot on the floor as I closed my eyes and lose myself in the rhythm of the song. Then, my body moved on its own accord as if it had a brain of its own, weaving choreography out of thin air.

When the song was over, my dream state vanished. The dance moves disappeared as quickly as they had come on and the worry hit me in full blast. Key was not home yet.

I paced back and forth in the living room, my eyes darting to the door every now and then. I was losing my mind with worry. I stopped walking for a second and fished out my phone from my pocket. I speed dialled Key umma and waited impatiently, clenching and unclenching my fist.

“Hello? Key? Where are you?” I gushed in relief when the line connected.

“I’m not Key. I’m her colleague at work,” answered a deep voice.

The panic in my chest rose to a crescendo. “Why do you have hi- her phone? Where is she?” I had to remind myself that this guy, whoever he is would know Key as a girl.

“She’s safe so don’t worry. She had fainted earlier and I brought her home since I don’t know where she lives.”

“What? You brought hi- her to your house?” I freaked out. What if he wanted to do ‘that’ to him and found out he’s actually a guy? What if he tells his boss and they fire Key? What if he still wants to get it on even if he had found out that Key’s a guy?

 I won’t let that happen. Not to my Key umma. 

“Relax. I won’t do anything to her. I have no such interest. Besides, we’re enemies at work.”

“Isn’t that the more reason to hurt her when you have the chance?” No way was I letting this unknown person to fool me. I might be young but I’m definitely not naïve.

“Listen, Taemin. I know that there are things going on with Key and that you know what I’m talking about. So I’ll be frank and clear,” he sounded impatient, like he was talking to a retarded child. “I’m not going to touch him and I’m not going to report him for now. I don’t have any intention to harm him. I just need him to heal so I can kick him out. Is that clear enough for you?”

I was too shocked to speak. This person…whoever he is, he knows? How? When? And why does he sound protective over Key? Did he know Key from before the incident and could recognise him in his disguise? Most importantly,

“Who are you? How did you find out? Do you know a guy named Kim Jonghyun?” I asked in a rush.

There was a short pause and then, “You don’t have to know that for now. I will tell you when we meet so look out for my call. And if you tell Key about this, I will tell him who you really are.”

I froze. He knows me, as well?

“Yes, Lee Taemin. You might not know who I am but I know who you are. So watch your back.”

Just like that, the line went dead.

Minho’s POV

I kept a close watch on Kibum as he bustled around, working very hard. A smile played at the corner of my lips when I saw him smile at a customer when he served him his drink. It was the most beautiful smile in the world. I remember when he used to smile at me like that. It always put me at ease and away from all the burden I had to carry; be it from my good-for-nothing parents expecting me to take over their companies or from the pestering football and basketball coaches to join their team for competitions as well as from the teachers trying to get me on their good sides knowing that I will grow up to be one of Korea’s most influential figure in history. I used to get so worked up just trying to find my way out of all those troubles. But one smile was all it took. One smile from Kibum was enough to blow them all away.

“Hey, you alright?”

I shook myself back into reality and looked at Se Kyung who had spoken. I realized that I had been standing there staring at Kibum for a while. “Yeah. I’m fine. I’m just worried that Key might collapse again. Help me keep a lookout for her, will you?”

She nodded with a frown and I could see the jealousy written clearly in her head.

“It’s nothing like that. I’ve already got plenty on my plate so I don’t need her fainting to add to it. Besides, Jonghyun wouldn’t be too happy if his girlfriend fainted twice on my watch.” I stressed on the words Jonghyun and his girlfriend.

Se Kyung smiled. “Right. I’ll watch out for her so don’t worry.”

I sighed. Girls are so easy to please.

I heard the bell jingle and said a welcome towards the open door to find Jonghyun coming in. He had gone off for something (I know he went to sit in Kibum's room again) when he dropped us off earlier but said he was coming back later. And here he is now. His eyes found me and he raised a hand in my direction. I nodded back and went to the kitchen to collect more dishes. I saw from the edge of my vision the way Jonghyun searched around for Kibum and his lips stretched in a wide smile as he made his way to her. I chuckled. I was right to make him come here.

All the time I was working, I made sure to check on the two of them. Kibum doesn’t seem that hostile towards Jonghyun anymore. In fact, he ungrudgingly took Jonghyun’s order which he had refused when I asked him to do it the couple of days ago, although his expression wasn’t a happy one. Well, I cannot blame him for that, though. Customers left and right were all obliviously cheering and congratulating them for making up yesterday. They seem to think that these two were a genuine couple. Jonghyun took it graciously, though,  smiling and thanking them for the compliments while Kibum grimaced a smile and said a reluctant thank you. It was a good decision to call Jonghyun for help, after all. Everything was going according to plan. One more score for me.

I looked at the time. We’re about to close soon. I walked up to Jonghyun and sat down opposite him.

“Don’t you have to work?” he asked with a frown.

“They can manage without me for a while.”

“Is there something you need?”

He’s smart. He knows I never come to him if there isn’t something I want but today was different. I was, out of the blue, in a very good mood, today so I just want to annoy him for the fun of it.

“You look alive, recently.”

Jonghyun snorted. “Are you saying that I have been dead all these times?”

“I wasn’t the one to say it.”

He scowled. “The point, Minho. Tell me the point. You’re always doing this.”

I chuckled. “Doing what?”

“This!” he exclaimed. “Leading me in a whole circle before you spill what you really want to know.”

“No, I don’t. You think too much.” I put on my straight face once more. “Anyway, the counter needs me. Bye, hyung.” I got out of the chair and walked off.

I heard a groan behind me and the shout, “I hate you, Minho!”

I chuckled again. “You should leave soon. We’re about to close.”

“No wonder you don’t have many friends. Not everybody can stand your attitude.”

I looked over my shoulder to see Kibum shaking his head at me.

“Well, look who’s talking. Did the words actually come from the person who only has one contact number in her phone?” I smirked, knowing that I had hit a weak spot. I was actually planning to keep this for later when everyone else had gone home but well, he asked for it.

His eyes widened at me, showing fury and surprise at my accurate discovery. He quickly built a defensive wall against me. “You went through my phone?”

I shrugged. “How else will I find Taemin’s number and tell him not to worry about your safety? Besides, aren’t you supposed to be grateful to me for saving your life?”

Kibum thought about it for a second, seeing the logic in my spoken words. “I only fainted. I wasn’t anywhere near dying, thank you very much. But that still doesn’t give you the right to invade someone’s privacy.”

“I wasn’t invading, Key. I didn’t even have to search for anything. That was the only number there to contact besides this café’s. So that must mean you’re living with him instead of with your parents. Mind telling me why that is?”

“That’s none of your business,” he snapped, storming away.

I clucked my tongue. Such a temper. Well, I will just have to put aside the hundred or so questions I have for him to another day. I guess the saying old habits die hard is true, after all, although this is not actually a habit.

I will have to get my answers from Taemin instead.

I waited behind a wall in a quiet alley as I kept a close watch on the coffee house opposite where I was standing. I have been doing this a lot, recently. Maybe I should consider writing down ‘spy’ in my list of possible occupations which included almost every job in the world since I still cannot make up my mind yet. But one thing was so sure, I refuse to step up to my parents’ positions in the company when they leave.  

It was fifteen minutes later that a figure I was waiting for appeared. It was a boy probably at the age of sixteen or less. He was wearing a simple black shirt and a pair of black slashed up jeans like he said he would. I scrutinized his looks and my mind goes through every face I have met in my life to find some sort of identification of this boy; any kind of familiarity at all.

There was none.

I came out of hiding and brushed at the invisible dust on my shoulders. I wouldn’t need to waste any brain cells coming up with a fake identity and background story, after all. This was going to be easier than I thought it would be.

I approached him from the back, taking in his appearance. He was as skinny as Key was with flaming red hair. No wonder they could get along well.

“You must be Taemin,” I announced my presence and he startled, turning around quickly to look at me.

His eyes widened at the sight of me and his mouth took on an ‘O’ shape. “Choi Minho?”

I frowned at the incredulity of it. He knows me? He knows who I am when I do not know who he is? How is this possible? How did I, the know-it-all, let such a thing happen? I even told him that I knew who he was and had threatened to expose him to Kibum if he told him about my call. I could hear the heavens laughing at me right now.

However, I did not let that faze me and maintained a blank expression as I took a seat opposite him. “You know who I am?” I asked calmly.

Taemin laughed once without humour. “Who wouldn’t know who you are? The famous Choi Minho with his even famous brains and perfect physique that can do anything and everything.” He then slapped a hand to his forehead in frustration. “God! I should’ve moved out of here a long time ago if I had known this would happen.”

I tilted my head questioningly at him. He really does know me. There is only one possibility of this happening and that is he must have attended the same school as us at some point. But how is it that I do not know him when I could recite every person’s name that has attended our school even if it was only for a day?

“What would happen? Explain it to me.”

Taemin scoffed. “Why should I?”

I glared into his eyes, my patience wearing thin. I need answers and if he was not prepared to give them to me, I would have to pry into his thoughts to get what I want.

Taemin met my glare head on without a hint of fear in his eyes and that really surprised me. I do not usually glare and when I did, people flee from me like I was firing lasers at them. So why does this person has to be the exception to it? Why does he have to be the one and only to make me, the Choi Minho, question myself? Who is he? Or rather, what is he?

“I’m not afraid of you.”

One side of my lip curved up in a taunting smirk.  “Oh, I know that. I can see it in your eyes. You are not afraid of me but rather, you are afraid of what I am capable of doing.”

That is true. He may not fear me but I see that he fears my ability. He especially fears my mind reading skill above all else. I wonder how he knew about it when no one else does except for Jonghyun, Onew and Kibum. Yes, Kibum. He knows I could read him or rather, he suspects it so at the first sign of danger he sensed from me, he puts up a shield around his thoughts which might have had an effect if he knew what I was looking for instead of trying to block everything from me.

The strength in Taemin’s eyes flickered for a brief moment and I knew I had nailed him. “You are afraid of what I might do to Kibum when you are not able to watch over him.”

The strength died away completely and his stare faltered. “You know who he really is?”

“Now, now, now. You said you knew who I am so shouldn’t you expect this to happen?”

He was starting to panic now. He was going through our earlier phone conversations to see if he had let slip anything that might have ticked me off. There was one. The hesitation when he said ‘hi-her’ when he was referring to Kibum. Well, I wouldn’t say that I knew from there. It was just the 0.1% confirmation to my 99.9% accurate theory. 

“But you’re friends with Jonghyun,” he was muttering to himself but my ears caught them, anyway.

So he was only afraid of Jonghyun finding out. That was the reason why he was brave enough to meet and confront me. Because I am not Jonghyun. He recognizes his voice but he does not know mine. It was a good thing that I lied to him on the phone saying that I had brought Kibum back to my house instead of to Jonghyun's place. But that must mean he knew the relationship between the two of them and what had occurred after the incident. It is definite that he was the only one who could tell me what had happened to Kibum.

“Listen, Taemin. I know your fears and worry. They are as clear as water to me. Therefore, I’m telling you that Jonghyun does not know anything about Kibum being in a girl’s disguise and I’m making sure it stays that way until I figure out what is really happening so that I would know how to deal with it later. All I’m asking from you is the full disclosure of Kibum’s case which I had suspected to be a severe memory loss but I need to know why and how it had occurred as well as how you had found him and nursed him back to being himself again. Oh, and I need to know what you had told him and what you are keeping from him.” I said seriously.

Taemin gulped. He was thinking that he shouldn’t have come here to meet me. That it was a mistake. That he should have just ignored my call.

How wrong he was to think that. If he had truly investigated about me, he would have known that nobody escapes me when I have set my target on them.

He finally let out a sigh of defeat. “Swear you’re not going to tell Jonghyun what I am about to tell you.”

I smirked. “I swear.”

O.M.G. I actually uploaded two chapters in a day!

I already have 10 CHAPTERS!!!

I have no idea why I'm so hardworking all of a sudden...^^

Anyway, hope you enjoy reading!

P.S. It’s the first ever Taemin's POV as well as the appearance of 2min!

Hope you like it~

And as always, comments please~ ^^