Chapter 8

Ever since he had found out about Maddie’s view on them, Minho had been working hard to not let himself be overtly friendly with his hyungs. It had been a difficult task to do all the same, given it was the nature of all his friends to be relaxed amongst each other. He was more aware of it though, and it made him feel uncomfortable how their habits could be mixed up to international fans. Along with noticing his own behaviour, he continued to monitor the four other boys, relaxing a little when Onew seemed to step out from under his dark cloud.

Key hadn’t bought any more girls clothing into the house, and whenever it was brought up he denied it continuously, stating Nicole accidentally left them in his bags. Minho was too afraid to ask why his friend would join Nicole for that kind of shopping anyway. He had always thought it was something you did in a comfortable environment and not with a guy unless they were gay.

The member he was most focussed on was Taemin and his changes. Minho couldn’t quite figure out what was happening with his friend. On one side of things, Taemin was still as awkward around girls they came across in their schedules. However he seemed more relaxed around younger members within their company. Minho tried to justify it with SM being one big family. The Girl’s Generation noonas had always been like older sisters to them, and they treated Taemin well. f(x) were close friends of all the SHINee members and Taemin’s relaxed nature around Krystal and Sulli in particular had always been the same. However, he noticed a couple of times where female trainees would approach Taemin for dancing advice and he would get right into their space to show them how to use their body effectively. Dancing was his passion and he was professional about it too. It confused Minho the more he looked for signs though, trying to decipher if Maddie was right. He often felt foolish, if anyone knew the other SHINee members the most, it was him.

Time passed in practices and activities that all led to the SMTOWN in LA. The flight to America had been entertaining for the idols and then making their way to the hotel had taken some time through the large crowds waiting to see all their favourite SM artists. But they were finally resting from the trip, and everyone had been given a couple of hours to enjoy the sunny weather before settling into stage and dance practices for the evening. Minho had spent his time with Super Junior’s Kyuhyun and Changmin from TVXQ, the three all happily taking photos together as they explored the area. For once he was simply enjoying his time with the two members of “Kyu Line”, forgetting about his issues of getting too close to his hyungs. It was hard to do anything but naturally fuss and share brotherly love with the two older boys anyway.

The day of the SMTOWN showcase was hectic and Minho tried to keep up with all the staff flittering around the place. At the rare chance of a break to sit and get his hair and makeup done, Minho pulled out his phone and checked his emails. He was surprised to see a notification saying he had a private message at the shineee.net forums. Looking back at the hair stylist who was attempting to hold a conversation with him, he placed the phone away and waited until he could get some time in a private spot. When he did, he quickly opened the email and clicked on the adjoining URL link that redirected him to the message. It was from Maddie, indicating that she hadn’t heard back from him to make plans to meet.

He had avoided going to the girl specifically, and so he was surprised to see her listing her details all the same if he wanted to meet at SMTOWN. Minho had told her in his last message that he may be at the event, though he had never expected to connect with her again over it. He knew realistically he shouldn’t anyway, and so he ignored the phone number she had given over and put his phone back in his bag, making the point of turning the device off too.

He didn’t need to worry about the Inner Lives, when he had a huge stage to prepare for instead.

After performing for the massive crowds they had brought in for this years event, Minho felt extremely excited but also on edge. Ever since reading Maddie’s message, he had been hyper aware that his actions were in front of thousands. It wasn’t as if anyone could see behind the scenes, but he jumped visibly when Eunhyuk slapped him on the shoulder and recoiled away from Jungmo from TRAX who took a seat on the couch next to him for no reason. By the time he was scheduled to head back out onto stage with everyone, he was feeling stupid for his overreactions.

Minho decided to play it safe all the same, and stand behind the Girl’s Generation members, singing and clapping along with them. Jessica and Tiffany seemed to like him being next to them and he soon was lost in the fun they all were having. An arm slung over his shoulders and Minho jumped when he noticed Changmin beside him, singing his line happily whilst looking at him. He didn’t know what to do, and Changmin was oblivious that his friend was frozen beside him whilst he continued to serenade him cheekily. Kyuhyun soon joined them, grabbing Minho’s hand and swinging it up into the air. Minho tried to laugh and get back into the song, but he couldn’t. He looked out to the crowd who seemed to scream louder at the older boys’ actions. Did they like how close the three members were? It was no secret that many fans had things called “one true pairings”. He knew that he was involved in many of them. Before it hadn’t even bothered him. But on that stage at that moment it really did.

The song came to an end and Kyuhyun jumped around in front of him, yelling “jump” before a laugh escaped his mouth. He hugged both his friends and started to bounce around, Changmin soon joining in. Minho awkwardly bounced before they all lined up to wait for the MC’s speech about the ending of SMTOWN.

“Minho-ah,” Changmin said into his ear and the younger boy looked up at him. “You alright?”

“Yeah, course I am hyung.”

“Are you feeling sick?” Kyuhyun asked, whilst waving to the fans.

He shook his head. “No, why?”

“Aigoo, our little cherub is so overwhelmed by tonight!” Changmin’s voice was thick with a sickening tone and he instantly slapped the older guy with annoyance. Changmin chuckled and reached to massage Minho’s shoulders. “Loosen up yeah? You look awkward.”

“I do?”

Minho examined his stance. He hadn’t realised just how tense he had gotten whilst thinking of the opinions within the sea of fans. Shaking his entire body off, he smiled at the boys before waving them off and heading over to Onew standing with Luna from f(x). The girl hugged him as he arrived and he instantly relaxed from the interaction with her. He went back to bouncing around and smiling in the company of the girls and waved to the crowds as they were all told they could leave the stage. He bowed a few times before following SHINee to backstage. The high from performing seemed to envelope Minho again and he excitedly talked with s about the event, making plans to get late night burgers as a celebration. 

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Author's Notes...
Mian everyone, I've let my life take over and haven't finished posting this story. I'll be posting the remaining chapters now. Thanks to those who waited.