And a massive shout out to ILOVEKPOP_156 for helping me with this prompt.  It gave me something to do while I was sitting home sick on St. Patrick’s Day instead of being out and celebrating in all of my revelry. 

Note: This chapter and concept were written when all I was aware of was the fact that Jonghyun had a sister.  I don't know her age or name so I wrote her as I liked.  That is why there is the discrepancy here.

#52 – Machine

Jonghyun was tired. 

He had spent the whole day running around after little Chohee.  Onew’s daughter was a handful.  She never liked to be in one place for longer than a few minutes and had run him ragged, at the park, down the streets, in the store…just pretty much everywhere. 

Jonghyun yawned as he gave up on slipping off his shoe and reached down to yank it off and toss it against the wall with its partner.  He stayed leaning against the wall for a moment before lurching away and entering his apartment proper. 

Jinki’s wife, Hosook, had gone into labor and Onew had called him at 5 in the morning, asking him to come and babysit their daughter Chohee while they went to the hospital. 

Jonghyun had raced over and spent the day with the little bundle of energy until Minho had showed up to relieve him after dinner.

It was barely pushing seven o’clock but Jonghyun was ready for a shower and bed. 

He smiled as the hot water pounded down on his back.  He heard the phone start to ring and sighed. 

“Figures…”

He wasn’t worried about missing the call though.  He still had an answering machine.  The guys would make fun of him so much for it, calling it the dinosaur’s dinosaur when they came by, but it sat there, next to his apartment phone all the same.

Hwayoung had actually gasped upon seeing it her first time in his apartment.  They had been dating for a couple of months and he had invited her over for his attempt at cooking Italian (not perfect but edible).  She had asked over dinner why he still had it.  He had given his standard answer at first – it’s a great conversation starter.

She had just raised an eyebrow at him and demanded for him to tell her the real answer.  Jonghyun stopped up short then, laying his fork down and staring at his plate. 

The atmosphere had changed, no longer jovial but somber.  “I keep hoping that they’ll call.”

She had creased her forehead.  “Who?”

Jonghyun sighed and picked up his fork again, “My family.”

“I thought you didn’t talk with your family…” she sounded confused.

“That’s by their choice.  But I keep hoping that one day…” Jonghyun swallowed, “one day they’ll want to check in, that I’ll hear their voice again.  And if that ever happens – I don’t want to miss it.”  Jonghyun sounded a bit frantic, he had never admitted this aloud before.  “I paid a lot of money to get the phone number for this apartment.  It’s the same as the cell phone number I had when they were last speaking to me.  It’s the last number any of them had to contact me by.  And the machine is there so if I’m not here…”

“You won’t miss them…or at least you’ll have their voice.”  She finished.

Her eyes were round and she reached across the table grabbing his shaking hand and squeezing hers tightly around it.  She smiled, “It’s beautiful.  Don’t ever stop.”

Jonghyun managed a crooked smile but inside he couldn’t stop shaking.  He had told someone, and they hadn’t laughed at him and told him that it was pointless.  She had encouraged him to keep at it. 

Looking at her across the table, so sincere, it was the first time that Jonghyun had thought that he might actually get married one day, if she could be the woman that he pledged his life too.

Jonghyun shook the memory away.  That had been well over a year ago now.

He figured it was probably Jinki on the phone saying thanks again, which he’d already said a dozen times so far between sporadic phone calls updating him about the delivery.  The last time they had spoken Jinki had announced that he had another little girl and Hosook had fallen asleep.

Jonghyun was happy for Jinki.  He could hear the smile through the phone and knew that the older man loved his life as a father and husband.  And he was good at it too.  He seemed to know the words to say to cheer his daughter up or make his wife smile.  Maybe it came from all those years mediating between his younger bandmates and having to appear on television?  He shrugged and began to shampoo his hair, massaging his scalp gently and his eyes drifting closed. 

The phone rang again and he almost laughed.  Telemarketers will call when you’re eating dinner and anyone else will inevitably call while you’re in the shower.  Jinki had probably forgotten to add something before. 

He let it go once more and finished up. 

Turning off the water, goose bumps frantically formed at the loss of warmth. 

He grabbed a towel and began to dry himself off, wandering into his bedroom to slip on some black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt for bed.

Still running a towel through his hair, Jonghyun walked out to his living room and pushing the blinking red button that shined all the way across the room. 

BEEEEEEEP

“Hey Jjong!” Yup, Jinki.  “Just wanted to say thanks again.  Seriously, you were a lifesaver today.  Hosook wants to say thanks too.”  There was a fumbling noise as the phone was passed and Jonghyun thought it was funny because he was positive that phones weren’t allowed to be used in the hospital. 

Hosook’s tired voice came on the line, “Thanks Jonghyun,” she sounded truly grateful, “I’m not sure how we could have managed if we had to have Chohee running around the hospital.  Jinki might have torn his hair out with two ladies screaming at him, one bored and the other in pain.”  Jonghyun smiled at the image.  “Get some rest and come by and meet Myunghee tomorrow after you wake up.”

BEEEEEEEP

Jonghyun rolled his eyes as the message ended, the woman who just gave birth was telling him to get some rest.

An automated voice announced the second message.

BEEEEEEEP

The line was quiet. 

Maybe Jinki had pocket dialed him on accident – it’s been known to happen.

“Um…”

Jonghyun’s head jerked back a little bit.  That was a woman’s voice.  And it defiantly wasn’t Hosook.  The voice was too high for that.  It sounded young and nervous.

Jonghyun stared at the machine as though it would answer his questions.

Who was it?

“Um…” the voice began again, “I’m sorry if this is the wrong number…”

Jonghyun’s heart dropped to his stomach.  The voice sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn’t place it. 

She cleared her voice, “I’m looking for Kim Jonghyun.  This is the last number that I had for him.  My name is Kim Hyunok and I can….”

Jonghyun’s knees gave out.

He slammed the floor and knew without looking that he knee was bleeding.

Hyunok…she called.

His baby sister had called.

He didn’t hear the rest of the message.  His ears were ringing too loud.  The blood pounded fast in his veins and his chest heaved with exertion. 

She had called him.

His weird, out-on-a-limb, not-a-shot-in-hell plan had actually worked.  For thirteen years he hadn’t heard from his family, but now one of them calls.

He came back to his senses and crawled over to the machine and hit play again, automatically skipping Jinki’s message and moving on to his sister. 

Her voice had changed over the years.  Gone was the youthful voice that would whine “Oppa!” at him when he had to leave to go back to SM and the dorms.  She had become a woman.  Has gone to college and it probably married with children of her own by now.  He tried to picture his little sister as a mother but the images wouldn’t come. 

He didn’t even know what she looked like now.

People could change a lot in thirteen years.

He reached up and played the message again.

She left a phone number and Jonghyun fumbled for a pen and something to write with before she started listing off the number.

He stared at the number, penned down in shaky hands. 

The joy had turned to terror. 

Now he had to call it.  Call the number of the family that had tossed him away all those years ago.

He had gotten used to his life, come to terms with it most of the time.  And now, here was that past coming back to him.  It was terrifying. 

The exhaustion hit again and Jonghyun ran a hand over his face.  He placed the number next to the phone and pushed himself to his feet.

Sleep now.  Call in the morning.

*****

Kibum spit out his coffee all over Taemin who yelped out of shock.

Jonghyun snorted as Kibum just a bunch of napkins at the his fiancé without looking.

“Your sister called!”

The three had been at the hospital meeting the newest member of the Lee family and were having coffee in a little shop by Jonghyun’s place. 

Jonghyun hunched his shoulders, suddenly cold for some reason, “Yeah, she left a message on my machine.”

It was Taemin’s turn to laugh.  “Well, that old thing is finally good for something…”

Jonghyun rolled his eyes at his dongsaeng. 

“She left a number…”

Kibum’s eyes went wide and Taemin exhaled slowly while leaning back. 

“Have you called it yet?” Taemin asked slowly, shaking some of his dark hair out of his face.

Jonghyun pulled the scrap of paper, the corner of a random magazine, from his wallet.  “Nope…”  He stared at the number before placing it on the table and pushing it over to the couple.  “Don’t know what to say.” 

Kibum picked up the paper and looked at it, before glancing up at Jonghyun.  Before anyone even knew what he was doing, Kibum had whipped out his phone and was dialing. 

“Wait Kibum…!” Jonghyun jumped up from the table.

“It’s her work number,” Kibum mumbled, causing Jonghyun to pause, “There is a message from an accounting firm on right now.”

“Transferring to the human resources department…”

Suddenly the phone was into Jonghyun’s face and he grabbed at it out of instinct.

Kibum arched an eyebrow and a slack-jawwed Jonghyun put the phone to his ear. 

“You’ve reached the office of Kim Hyunok, who’s calling?”

It wasn’t his sister on the phone.  So it must be a secretary.  Jonghyun was impressed for a moment that she was high enough to need a secretary. 

“I’m returning a call I received from her night.  Tell her Jonghyun is called please.”

Suddenly Jonghyun seemed to be filled will a foreign sense of poise.  As he stood with his friends, he though no matter what, he could handle it.

“Hold please,” was the bored sounding response. 

Jonghyun was subjected to hold music while he waited. 

The music suddenly cut out.

“One moment sir, she is finishing up a call and she will be with you in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.”

And the crappy music was back. 

The music cut out once more.  But no one spoke on the other end. 

Jonghyun waited.  He hadn’t started any of this, it was her responsibility.

After a long moment, “Jonghyun-oppa?”

He felt his heart clench to hear her say that again.

Her voice sounded a little more like the sister he remembered when it wasn’t coming out of his old answering machine speakers. 

“H-hey Hyunok,” his voice hitched.

He looked at the ground and scuffed his shoe, unwilling to look at Taemin and Kibum whom he knew were having some silent conversation with their eyes about what was happening just now.

“Um…I didn’t think that calling that number would actually work…” she sounded surprised, and not necessarily happy. 

Jonghyun frowned.  “I kept the number so you all would have a way to contact me if you ever needed to.”  He didn’t add, ‘or when you come to your senses,’ but he really wanted to.  This wasn’t sounding like a reunion. 

She fumbled around on her end of the line for a moment without saying anything. 

Jonghyun sighed and made the mistake of looking up and meeting Kibum’s eyes. 

The man knew in an instant that it wasn’t going the way that they wanted.  Kibum’s hand flew up to his mouth and Taemin ducked his head from where he sat still at their table outside the café. 

“Look,” Jonghyun began, unable to take the silence anymore, “Did you call for a reason or…?”

“Y-yeah…” She seemed to jump at the other end.  “Uncle Insu passed away.”

Jonghyun nodded.  He remembered the man from when he was a little boy, but he had left the country to study music in Russia and rarely returned to Korea anymore.  And besides, he was sure a lot of people had passed away in the thirteen years he had been cut off from his family, why was Insu so important.

“What happened?”  He asked dully. 

“Cancer,” she answered.  “But they read his will.  He left almost everything he owns to you.”

That made Jonghyun start.  “To me?”  He asked, “Why me?” 

He knew that he was confusing Kibum and Taemin, but dammit he was confused too!

“If you want to know I’ll set up an appointment with Uncle’s lawyer for her to read you the will.”  She paused, “You’ll understand then.”

“Alright,”  Jonghyun answered.

“I’ll give him your number to call you.”  She sounded distant, like she was pretending that it was a client on the end, and not her brother.

Jonghyun was getting angry, mainly because he was heartbroken.  He had made himself think that she wanted to see him again, wanted to talk to him again. 

“You never intended to actually find me, did you?” Jonghyun asked flatly, trying to hold back the few tears that threatened to fall. 

She was silent, “Frankly – no.”  She sounded so incredibly business-like in her answer, “They told me to try and find you if I could.  I thought I would at least try your old phone number and see if it worked.  I was actually hoping that it wouldn’t.”

Jonghyun looked up to the sky and felt one of the tears slip out and run down the side of his face. 

“Alright.” Jonghyun nodded, even though she couldn’t see.

“Don’t think that this changes anything Jonghyun…” she warned.

“Oh heaven forbid…” Jonghyun whispered.  “So yeah, you give that lawyer my number.  I promise that I won’t bother you again.”

*****

Kibum felt his heart tear.  Jonghyun sounded so small.  He had thought for a moment that the little girl who had looked up to them all when SHINee first started out was finally coming around.  He had thought for sure she was calling to have a reunion with her brother.

He’d been wrong. 

As Jonghyun hung up the phone, Kibum walked forward and hugged him tight. 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, knowing that Jonghyun was crying and trying to help him save face by not letting anyone else see. 

After a few moments, Jonghyun pulled back.  He looked like he’d been crying, but the tears had stopped.  “I should’ve known better…” he said sadly. 

Taemin clapped a hand onto Jonghyun’s shoulder, “You’ve still got us.”

Jonghyun smiled then, “That I do…”

*****

A week later Jonghyun came home to a message on his answering machine.  He still couldn’t bring himself to delete his sister’s voice, even after how mad he was at her.  So he skipped past her message to hear the new one. 

The lawyer.

He’d forgotten. 

Jonghyun called up and set up the appointment and two days later he was meeting up with a Mrs. Choi.  It seems Uncle Insu had invested his money relatively well in Russia and had left Jonghyun a pretty sum.  There was a request though that his property and house be used as a music or language school.  Jonghyun had no problem with that, it might be nice to help set all that up. 

But the will…well, frankly the will was hilarious. 

The man hadn’t known everything that had gone on with Jonghyun until the later years of his life.  And at that point he didn’t know how to track the man down.  He lambasted his relatives left and right for cutting such a good and decent man out of the family because he had made the choice to stand up to bigotry and defend his friends and dongsaengs.

Jonghyun cried again, but tears of laughter, as he pictured his parents sitting there, think that they were going to get something in the way of inheritance and all they get is a tongue-lashing.  It was beautiful. 

The lawyer found it perfect irony and smiled at him at the end. 

“Mr. Kim, if you are what your Uncle thinks you are,” she paused and twitched her head slightly, “Well, the world could use more of people like you.”

“Thank you,” Jonghyun bowed.  He signed a couple of forms, took the lawyer’s card and got some phone numbers of places to call in Russia that spoke decent enough Korean to start his Uncle’s plans for a school.

“Have a good day ma’am,” he said, turning to leave.

“Have a good life young man,” she smiled, “you deserve one.”

I have no idea what Jonghyun’s sister’s name is….so it’s Hyunok which means Wise Pearl.  And Insu means Preserving Wisdom. 

In other news.  For some reason lately I’ve been getting inspiration to write an Onew/Original Character Story.  I never write original characters but I have this fear of creating a Mary Sue.  For now I’m just writing the scenes that are coming to me.  Who knows, maybe I’ll end up posting it later when I have more of an idea about a story line or structure for it.  I’ve already banged out 10 pages of snippets for it.  I dunno though…any thoughts?

I had started to write an Onew/Minho but that inspiration fizzled out before I got very far.  I still have the file saved though if I need to go back to it at any point.

As always - please leave a comment!