(From Chapter 42)

The beeps from the heart monitor that had once been steady were steady no more. Now the only noise that came from the machine was a steady high-pitched wail, trying to say what the small pale frame on the metal table could not. It is the end.

Any efforts to end the silence-piercing noise failed. Just as they had been for the past five minutes. And by then, there was only one thing left to do. “Pull it. We just have to call it.”

At eight-fifty-two in the morning on the twenty-ninth of July, Lee Taemin was pronounced dead.

At eight-fifty-six, the worlds of so many people came crumbling.

When the doctor came walking into the silent waiting room not even an hour after the surgery had started, Key had been the first realize what had happened. The man hadn’t even lifted his head from looking at the floor, hadn’t spoken a word, and the umma was on his knees of the rough carpet of the ground, not caring as he let out a wail for his lost child and friend. Amber had been the one to sink next to him first, wrapping thin arms around the shaking frame to hold his head to her chest. Tears fell down her own face and landed in Key’s hair, but that was the least of his worries at the moment.

“I’m sorry. We—we tried our best, but he seemed to have been too weak for the operation. His heart gave out in the middle.” The word were quiet, but heard around the room.

Jonghyun might have been the next to break down. Or it was the girls from the company who had gathered, but the singer was the next to join the duo on the ground, sobbing into his hands. “I lied to him. I told him he was going to be okay.”

“You couldn’t have possibly known.” Jinki crouched beside his friend, holding Jonghyun when he knew that was all the boy needed. That was what they all needed, but that just wasn’t possible then. Minho was on the other side, silent but with tears streaming down his cheeks. The leader pulled him into the hug, holding them tight as if that would keep their falling pieces together.

But they were already only shards on the ground. None of them knew when, but Key had eventually joined in with them, pulling Amber along. Yet she stayed back, knowing it would be wrong to have a fifth person in their group hug only seconds after the news of their empty space. Instead, it was her own group that took her in to give comfort and try and stop the tears falling down the normally-strong rapper’s face.

Nothing was going to make those tears stop.

For anyone.

Kai still sat in his chair by the doorway, but his feet were pulled up onto his and his face buried in his knees as sobs shook his whole body. There wasn’t even time for him to hate himself then, to blame himself for all of it. There was only time to hurt.

That seemed like the only thing the room was doing. Some of the stronger ones tried to comfort those that were absolute messes, but none of them were really strong enough to deal with it. The room was only a breeding ground for sadness and heartache now. But pain brings people closer they say, and that proved true as Amber was pulled in with the grieving four, Kai not too far behind. Henry would have been too—if he hadn’t already been taken in by the other groups the second he had broken down.

“You can say your goodbyes to him… But only a few of you can go.” It wasn’t a hard choice when the group of six were the ones set forward by the others.

Yet Amber stepped back, shaking her head. “I wasn’t as close to him as you five were. I shouldn’t go.”

That seemed fine with the doctor, yet Key stepped forward before she was even finished, grabbing her had to pull the only girl along with them. “Yet he loves you as much as he does us.” No one had the heart to correct him on talking as if Taemin was still there, but he froze as soon as he had said it. More tears came as he shook his head. “Loved. He isn’t here to love us anymore.”

And as he broke down, Amber had no choice but to go as he walked holding her close.

She was holding him just as tight though.

He was already pale and cold by the time the six were allowed to see him. Key had taken one look before turning back to Amber, sobbing into her neck. She simply closed her eyes and turned her head until she was buried in his hair, not wanting to look either.

Kai had been the one they let go first. The dancer was shaking as he grabbed a limp hand from under the blanket to hold. “Hyung, please wake up. Tell me this is some sort of prank…” He paused for a deep breath as tears rolled off his face and onto the white sheet on the body. “I’m going to become as great a dancer as you hyung. Okay? I won’t let you down… You shouldn’t have left hyung.” Sobs came almost as soon as he said that and he gently placed the hand down, walking away from the bed and out of the room. Even after going out to the hall, they could still hear him breaking down, sobbing uncontrollably.

Knowing the four would want to talk to Taemin together and last, Amber stepped forward next. She ran her hand down his face, fingertips barely touching him as she did. “I wish we could have been closer, Taemin-ah. I’m going to miss you calling me noona and asking for pancakes and your smile and your laugh. And your dancing. I’ll never forget that. So dance up there with the angels, okay? I’ll take care of your hyungs. So don’t worry.” As she finished, she leaned over to place a little kiss on his forehead before turning to walk out.

But before she could pass Key, he clung onto her again, stopping her from leaving. “Don’t leave me too. Please don’t.”

And looking at the broken friend, she couldn’t go against him. So Amber nodded and relaxed back to where she had been standing before, Key clinging onto her once again. “I won’t ever leave you. Okay?” The diva only nodded his head into her chest, sobbing silently once again.

Minho stepped forward from the line first. “Minnie… You weren’t supposed to go. You were supposed to get better so we could perform as five again, be complete again.” He grabbed the limp hand like Kai had done. The catheter that had been in there for so long was gone now, but there was still the mark from it and he rubbed right on that spot. “I wish I had done more with you Minnie. I wasn’t all that great of a hyung. You should have just told me and I would have done more… I won’t ever forget you Taemin.” Not even caring who saw, he kissed the hand and then leaned forward to give a little peck on his lips. “I loved you. I always will.”

As soon as he was done, Minho returned to the line. Only now, he was leaning down to be short enough to rest his head on Jinki’s shoulder while the eldest hugged him and tried to comfort the rapper. Jonghyun looked to Key, telling him it was his turn now. And he walked up, but pulled Amber with him. The girl stood a few steps back, so Key wasn’t clinging to her but could still hold her hand easily. “Taeminnie, we never got to spend our day together.” He gave a sad sounding sniff at that, but didn’t do anything else. “I really wanted to do it too… But I guess you’re in a better place now. None of us will ever forget you, Minnie. We aren’t SHINee without our shining baby.” There was a long pause as he tried to collect himself, but he just couldn’t and turned around to bury himself into Amber again.

She guided him back from the bed while trying to silently comfort him at the same time. Jonghyun took the place they were just at now, looking down at Taemin but not saying anything. “I lied, didn’t I? I said you’d wake up and I said I’d film it and I said everything was going to be okay. None of those things ended up happening though.” He wiped away a few tears, giving up only seconds later as the places were retaken immediately. “You told me you were afraid of dying. Were you scared then? Did you even know what was happening? Did it hurt? I guess we won’t ever know… No one is ever going to take your place in my heart Taemin. I’m never going to forget you. I wish I never left you as a kid…” He too had to step back as he started crying, but being the second oldest, he still took Minho off of Jinki’s shoulder to try and comfort the boy.

And now free, Jinki stepped forward and looked at Taemin in the bed, but didn’t dare to touch him at first. “If I had told you to not do this, would you have listened?” There was no reply, not that he expected one. “You’ve touched so many people Minnie. I always thought you would be the one talking at my funeral, but it looks like I’ll be talking at yours first. Will you wait for me—for us? You’re going to open the gates for us, aren’t you? Until then, just have fun dancing and singing with the angels. They are lucky to be gifted with someone like you. If you were an angel on earth, what are you up there?”

The funeral was one of the most star-packed funerals known. Not just from SM, but from other companies as well. Taemin had touched a lot of people and there were many that wanted to be there for his final goodbye. Jinki, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, Amber, and Kai sat front row, with Taesun there and the Lee parents not caring enough to even show. It was raining, as if even the heavens were crying for their loss.

But Taemin had loved the rain. It seemed like the perfect memorial to him, going with his suit he would have been fidgeting with had he been alive to do so and bringing an end to his tale. He had come in on a rainy day and he left on one.

While the loveable and smiling maknae’s tale came to an end, new beginnings came from that day.

“It’s been a year.” Key looked across the small table in his apartment kitchen to his girlfriend, giving a sad smile. “A whole year today.”

“I know. But we have to get ready if we are going to make it to the rehearsal on time.” She leaned across to give a little peck on his lips before straightening, lifting the empty plates from the table and placing them in the sink for later. When she turned back around, Key was still sitting there and still smiling at her. “Are you getting ready or am I taking you out like that?”

“I don’t care. I’m fashionable even in my pajamas.”

“Then come on and I’ll let everyone see your Hello Kitty pants. That you stole from me.” Key was lightly smacked with a spatula on the back of his head when he was caught staring at the girl in front of him. “I’m not kidding.”

“But Amber!”

“When did you turn into a whiner?” She gave a smirk at her boyfriend, but leaned over and kissed him again. “Just go get dressed. I want to stop by the grave before we have to be there. And you were in Japan on his birthday, so you should come to.”

“Just give me ten minutes then baby.” Key leaned forward to sneak another kiss from her, running away as soon as he was done.

“Bummie! Get back here right now!”

“You guys really live in a bachelor pad…” Key scrunched his nose up as he entered a larger apartment, speaking to his three friends in the kitchen though he couldn’t see them. “Don’t you know how to clean a place?”

“We’ve been busy.” Jonghyun stuck his head over the island to see the boy he was talking to. “Nice to see you too Kibum. Hello Amber.” The girl gave a small wave, looking around the place like her boyfriend had done. “Want some cereal?”

“We actually cooked a nice breakfast, thank you very much.” Key cleared a path in the many objects and dirty clothes blocking their entrance, making sure Amber followed right behind. “And we brought some leftovers for if you wanted.”

“What do you have?” Minho’s head stuck out further than Jonghyun’s as he looked at the two, seeing the bags they were carrying. “Please tell me it is better than stale cereal and bad milk.”

“That is just disgusting.” Amber wormed her way into the kitchen, placing her bag down to pull some things out. “We have pancakes and scrambled eggs with homemade biscuits and cinnamon rolls.”

She had barely finished explaining before a plate was grabbed from her hands. “Smells amazing! Thanks!”

“Yah! Kai!” Three people all reached for the boy, trying to get what he had grabbed. The youngest, however, only smirked at them and danced just out of their lazy reaches.

“You snooze, you lose. Eat other stuff. There’s plenty more.” He opened the wrappings on the plate and picked up the first of many buns, biting right into it and at the taste. “Great!”

Where Lee Taemin’s life had ended, he brought six people closer. His promise of Kai watching over his hyungs was filled, and Amber was with Key just as he had wanted.

And while the boy would never be forgotten and would always be missed, they had moved on. While still a band, the four remaining SHINee members were no longer SHINee. And Amber and Kai still stuck to f(x) and Exo, but nothing could stop them from staying with their friends. The times would change, they would grow older, but they would never grow apart.

The end of Lee Taemin’s life had brought many new beginnings.

And he saw it all from above as he sat, waiting for the days when he would begin opening the gates for his friends.

But that was far away. He was perfectly fine with watching until then. Because they would have an eternity after.