This one was hard.  There were so many possibilities that I couldn't think of where to take it and was kind of overwhelmed.    

Thank God for another reader who has helped me out! 

I got inspiration for this one-shot from shineelovingsangtae, so this one is dedicated to them.  Thanks a bunch!  They gave me the idea to focus on this from someone else’s perspective.  So far all of the one-shots have been Taemin and Key and I really liked switching it up to show someone else’s view.  Though I think this ended up coming out a little more melancholy than I intended for it to be. 

Anyway – I hope you approve!

This is going to be a little bit different from what I usually write, but it’s nice to change things up once in a while. 

#20 – New

He thought he understood now, why his mother had cried the day that he moved away from home to join SHINee in their dorm. 

Granted he had graduated from school already, he didn’t really need to be dependant on them.

But still.  He was their baby, their one and only baby who was leaving home for the harsh world of celebrity and press and maturity.

Onew sighed as he looked through the room that had once held so much life, but now was nothing but a collection of empty shelves and drawers and boxed up memories. 

He shook his head then came up behind Taemin and clapped the young man (he still had trouble imagining the twenty-one year old as an adult – he would always be little Taemin, his younger brother no matter how old and grey the two men would eventually grow) on the shoulder. 

“Alright Maknae, what’s next?”

Taemin smiled brightly at his hyung.  “Everything left is the stuff we plan on using and unpacking right away so there doesn’t need to be any particular order, just get it into the truck and we should be fine.”

They were moving out – Taemin and Key.  Not leaving SHINee, but the couple wanted to be able to have their own place, their own apartment where they didn’t have to feel like they were crowding anyone else out just by being a couple.  It’s hard to have a date-night in of watching movies and such when three other guys are perpetually walking through the room and spoiling the mood. 

Onew understood, he even supported them, but it didn’t mean that it didn’t feel weird and almost (but not quite) wrong to him.  It was a new feeling, and he didn’t know how they would all handle it – they had been together for almost seven years, living in the same home, caring for each other, looking out for each other, supporting each other – and he didn’t know how much things were going to change, and whether those changes would be alright in the end.

Onew grunted as he grabbed an unexpectedly heavy box – probably full of Taemin’s books – and carried it down to the truck, passing Minho and Key in the hallway as they came back in for another load of boxes. 

Soon – sooner than any of them would have liked – it was done.  The entirely of Taemin and Key’s material lives were packed away in a truck that sat parked down on the street, and their room was left stark and empty, and somehow cold.  A chill rose goosebumps on his arms that had absolutely nothing to do with temperature as Onew looked in on the room, which seemed somehow grayer than it had been just that morning.  As though taking out their possession removed all trace of them from their room.

The five men, no longer boys, sat down around their kitchen table and shared a light lunch of sandwiches. 

They all ignored the elephant in the room, all of them trying to convince themselves that things wouldn’t change.  But that was the point wasn’t it?  Taemin and Key wanted this change, and none of the others wanted to stop them.

And then they were gone.  Key was behind the wheel and Taemin leaning out the passenger-side window waving goodbye and telling them that they still had to come over on the weekend to see their new place. 

Onew waved slowly, stopping well after the rented truck had turned off of the street and his friends could no longer see him. 

*****

The next few days were odd.

The SHINee dorm seemed hollow somehow.  Jonghyun’s rambunctious nature wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of Key’s nagging or Taemin’s laugh. 

When they had returned to their apartment after seeing the couple off Minho had soundly shut the door to the pair’s room before walking silently to the one that he shared with Jonghyun.

When Taemin and Key had broke the news that they were moving out they had pointed out that then everyone would be able to have their own room in the apartment.  But Onew knew that neither man would move into the couple’s room – it was too weird to think of anyone but that couple occupying that space.

Onew stood outside of the door, floored by the realization that they couple was really moving on.  As much as SHINee fought for them and stood up for them, the leader still couldn’t help but be surprised that they had lasted as long as they had together.  How many young couples held it together as well as they have?  It was the first real romantic relationship for both of them but it would appear that they chose right the first time around.  They were always happy it seemed, even when they had a fight – Onew had never awoken to find either of them on the couch, having been kicked out of their bedroom.  It didn’t look like either of them would be calling it quits anytime soon.  Not that he had been rooting for that or anything, he just wouldn’t have been surprised if it had happened.  And as the leader he would have been responsible for handling the fall out from such an event. 

But that wasn’t going to happen.

Suddenly Onew was struck with a sure fact.  As sure as fish live in the ocean and birds fly in the sky, Taemin and Key would be together for the rest of their lives.

And this was just one step along that journey.  He had to be there for them and support them now as he throughout their entire relationship.  Even if it made things seem weird for a little bit.

Onew smiled and lightly tapped his fingers on the door. 

But for now that room would remain empty – one new thing at a time.

*****

Onew carried a bottle of champagne, Minho held a bouquet of sunflowers and gerber daisies, and Jonghyun – well there was a reason his gift was wrapped up in a box and labeled FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. 

The trio knocked on the door and waited, hearing Key’s telltale shriek and the bustle of feet dashing across the floor.

A breathless Taemin whipped the door open and crashed landed on Jonghyun, giving the singer a huge hug.

“Welcome!”  Taemin’s voice was high with excitement as he proceeded to hug his hyungs in turn.  “Kibum’s still working on dinner, but you can take a tour of the apartment while he finishes it up!”

Taemin showed them in and took care of the gifts (raising an eyebrow at Jonghyun’s but saying nothing) while the others took care of their shoes and coats, placing the garments in a closet located next to the door. 

It seemed that in the three days since they had last seen the couple, the two had been busy.  There were no open boxes sitting around still waiting to be unpacked, though there were a couple of collapsed ones in an as yet unused room that the couple was thinking of turning into an office or a den of some sort. 

The apartment was decorated in a mix of blues and browns and creams.  It had a very calming effect, but somehow seemed to belie a level of energy that could not be contained at the same time.  It fit the couple perfectly.

Taemin stood by proudly as his friends surveyed the rooms and commented on how nice everything looked.  The apartment was about the same size as the one that SHINee had shared, but with less people in it, it easily seemed much bigger to the men who had never known living on their own really. 

Then Taemin led them to the kitchen which they had passed by earlier with a quick “Hello,” yelled to their friend.  But now they actually went in and were surprised by the size, but then again Key really liked to cook so it wouldn’t have surprised Onew if they specifically searched for an apartment where he could really have a lot of space for his passion.

Key wore a pair of grey jeans with an over-sized blue sweater falling to his thighs.  The end of a dish towel was shoved in his left front pocket in lieu of an apron.

“Hey guys!” he shrieked, hugging them close in turn as Taemin wordlessly moved to stir one of the pots on the stove. 

“So what do you think?”  Key asked in his loud voice, “Everything isn’t set in stone yet, and we don’t have nearly enough stuff to fill up this place yet, but it’s been fun, and exhausting, moving everything around.”

“It’s great!” Jonghyun answered excitedly, and Minho said that the color scheme was lovely.

Onew just smiled his patented smile and nodded when Key’s eyes raked by him. 

The dinner was lovely.  He realized suddenly that he missed Key’s cooking.  It had only been a couple of days without him, but the other three were not the best cooks in the world.  Their idea of cooking was microwavable, delivery or incredibly simple recipes that you would tire of easily.  Key always prepared something different, was always trying new things, and knew a lot of different takes on dishes so even the same dish didn’t taste exactly the same every single time he prepared it. 

But as he watched the couple, wordlessly doing things for each other: Taemin grabbing Key’s chopsticks before they could roll off the table as the elder male waves his hands about for emphasis to his story, or Key refilling Taemin’s glass seemingly without thought, or Taemin beginning to shift things around the table and remove empty dishes as Key left to grab the dessert he had made (an attempt at American-style Apple pie).  They moved so seamlessly together that Onew wondered why even a small part of him would want to begrudge them this chance and happiness. 

And it occurred to him that this was just another change and adjustment that SHINee would make.  The same way that they had adjusted over the years to living in the same apartment with a couple, they would adjust to that couple no longer being with them all of the time. 

New is not necessarily a good thing for everyone, but even if it’s not – it still doesn’t mean that it’s bad either.  It’s just different – the same way that their love for each other wasn’t bad because it didn’t follow the expected norms, it was just different and beautiful in its own way.

Onew smiled truly for the first time in days and sipped some of his champagne that the couple had just popped to have with the pie, which, if it tasted anything like it smelled, was going to be amazing. 

So….how was it?  It has been a while since I’ve written from another POV so I hope that it worked out well. 

I’ve already finished the next one-shot, I just plan on editing it real quick before I post it so it should be up within the next hour I would think. That one I LOVED writing so I hope that you all enjoy it!