Update 3/3 for today!  I hope that they all meet your expectations!

This one I have had written for a while, and it has evolved over the past few months with me continually coming back to revise it.  I try to reveal a little of my thought process here when it comes to the two men.  I'll be glad that this one is finally put to rest.

This one takes place kind of during The Showdown...its during that recooperation period that Taemin has to undergo before their comeback.

#64 – Playboy

They were idols.  They lived their entire lives, every waking moment it seemed, in front of the entire country, and for people around the world.  They were used to the media swirling around them and becoming a general pain in their asses.  They were used to reporters praising them beyond their abilities, as well as unfairly disparaging them for relatively small things. 

But they had never seen it like this.

As a result of the press conference when Taemin and Key had outed themselves to the rest of the world, the media had had a field day with the pair in the press.  The stance of reporters became readily obvious as they would write jabs against the two into completely unrelated stories.  Jabs that looking back would likely be hard to see, but knowing the pop culture climate at the time, they were very easy to pick out now.  Snide comments that had a way of getting under their skin and repeating themselves over and over so that the men could not forget them.    

Reporters and journalists were seemingly taking a fiendish glee in trying to tear down the images of the beloved idol singers, relishing in their ability to shape the public’s perception of the boys and the issues that they were facing now. 

For instance, while neither of them had ever had the image, nor ever acted like a playboy, ever since they were revealed in the press as being a couple, as being gay, anything even vaguely odd or deviant was being attributed to them.  So now their past antics, even when it was just them goofing around with friends, that had been caught on one camera or another were all being used as evidence of their being “playboys” and messing around with everyone that they were in contact with. 

Taemin had laughed out loud when he read that though.  “They didn’t think that one through very well.  Now they’re basically accusing every male idol that we’ve ever so much as interacted with of being gay.”

A fact that had been in fact noted by several other male idols who were not happy with the way that the press was treating their friends, especially after what had happened to Taemin.  Jo Kwon in particular was voicing his disdain at comments accusing Key or Taemin of being playboys and pointed out that if those antics were indicators of homouality than practically every idol must be gay, not to mention just the average Joes of society.  The media had him temporarily, but the leader of 2AM had just laughed it off and didn’t let the comments stick to him and his fans forced those lines of attack to cease.

The fans, the public, could be a very powerful force. 

It was around this time, while SHINee was promoting as a four person group and Taemin was focusing on rebuilding his stamina and strength, that an interview request came into SM for the pair.  It wasn’t the first to appear, but it was the first time that the couple gave serious thought to actually granting the interview.  The request came from a reporter who had actually been rather supportive of the couple after their news broke.

SHINee sat down together and decided that the pair would have to do interviews eventually, so they might as well start with someone that they know will not be openly hostile, and who just might even be supportive.

So Taemin and Key agreed to sit down to an interview with one Park Minhee, a reporter for a popular teenage entertainment magazine that also operated its own television show.

When they arrived at the hotel suite where the interview would take place, Taemin looked around and noted that the décor was really simple, pale beige walls with a fake green plant in the corner.  Three hard-backed chairs with pale blue cushions sat in the middle of the room, two next to each other and one facing opposite.  Lighting rigs were positioned around the chairs lighting them up– a lonely island amid a sea of imposing shadows.    

Taemin and Key took their seats and waited on Ms. Park who was on a cell phone over by the window running through some last minute topics with her editor and talked quietly between themselves about rather random topics that people only discuss when they’re completely comfortable around each other.  Things as simple as whose turn it was to clean the room or organize the closet, to how Taemin thought he was going to fair on his upcoming math exam, and if he wanted Kibum’s help in order to study for it.  Simple things that wouldn’t have been seen as strange before their relationship, but seemed to point to something deeper now that people knew what to look for.

In fact, they were so consumed with their conversation that they didn’t realize that the reporter had walked over and was listening to them talk.  She finally cleared to get their attention.

Taemin blushed in mild embarrassment and Key laughed lightly and apologized, earning a smile from the young woman.

“That’s quite alright,” she laughed lightly as she took her seat, “All couples do things like that, and just because you’re two men doesn’t mean that you would be any different.”

They wouldn’t have been surprised to hear a statement like that from any reporter.  It could easily have been a calculated statement designed to put them at ease and encourage them to be less guarded in the way they were planning on answering her questions.  Something that could hurt them later if she suddenly sprang a question that they hadn’t prepared for and their guards were down. 

But it didn’t come off that way.

After so many interviews as SHINee, not to mention the mock interviews they put the trainees through at SM, the boys had become adept at being able to read reporters and could tell the slight changes in lilt that came when the reporters were trying just a little too hard to make you believe them so that you’ll open up to their questions.

Minhee showed none of the signs of trying to get one over on them.  She spoke in such a matter of fact manner, like she wasn’t even entirely paying attention and was speaking without fully thinking the lines through.  There was no way to fake that kind of distraction.  She had given them her honest opinion on the matter and without her knowing, had effectively disarmed the couple without pulling out any of her tricks from her bag.

Taemin stood up slightly and bowed reaching his hand out to shake hers.   “It’s nice to see you again and thank you for understanding.”

She blushed slightly at the sincerity in Taemin’s voice and shook his hand slowly with a slight bow of her own, and moving on to shake Key’s as well, who had stood up after Taemin.

“I hope you’re doing well.  I was so surprised when my editor told me that you had agreed to speak to us so soon after…well…”  She glanced sideways at the photographer who was starting to shoot some pictures of the couple speaking with her.  At the same time she made a subtle gesture to the cameraman with her left hand, indicating that he was to start rolling tape and record the conversation for the record. 

“I can’t hide away forever.  And we thought you would do the story justice and be fair about whatever you decide to print.”  Taemin gave the woman one of his darling smiled. 

She blushed slightly, “Thank you for your consideration.”

“Well,” Key began, wrapping an arm around Taemin’s shoulders, “We’re ready whenever you are.”

“Well then,” she smiled at Key, “Let’s start with you then Key.”  She readied her note pad and started her tape recorder.  “It’s been reported that you hardly left the hospital while Taemin was in his coma.  In fact, rumors say that you even spent more time with him than his own family did.”

She paused, and Kibum nodded saying, “Yes, that’s all true.  The timing was horrible for his family, not to mention the strain of seeing your son, or brother, in that terrible situation.  I had absolutely no obligations at that time since SM had put SHINee on hold.  So I was able to stay there with him, and to be honest it made me feel better to be able to see him.  It was like if I walked away and couldn’t see him with my own two eyes then the fact that he had survived, that this had not killed him could have been a figment of my imagination.  Also, I refused to let him be alone in there and to have to endure that fight on his own.  I had promised him when the whole fiasco began, when our manager first found out, that he would not be in this alone and that I would be with him.  I was determined to keep my promise to him.”

He unconsciously rubbed at Taemin’s shoulder, soothing himself more than the young dancer, as the images of Taemin in the hospital assaulted sprung from his memory once again.

“But more than that…I just didn’t want him to wake up all alone in that room if I could do anything about it.  I knew how scared he would be, or at least I knew how scared I would be and I would want someone there if it were me.  Especially since the last thing he would have been aware of would have been loosing consciousness on that stage with Jonghyun, and I knew that he would be afraid if he woke up in such a different surrounding from what he last remembered and there was no one else around.”

“You were there when he did eventually wake up correct?”

“Well, actually I had just stepped out for a minute to go and get some more coffee from the cafeteria and I came back just a few moments after.”

Taemin laid his head gently on Key’s shoulder, trying to sooth the older man as unobtrusively as possible.  The rapper’s body was incredibly tense and Taemin just wanted him to calm down.

“It was scary, actually that doesn’t cover it.  It was terrifying.  I don’t know what I had imagined in my mind about when he woke up, but I never imagined that.”

“What was it like?”  She seemed genuinely interested in Key’s answer and she wasn’t looking down at her notepad or at Taemin or the camera, but rather just watching Key with rapt attention; as though there was nowhere else she would rather be than sitting here listening to him at just this moment. 

“It was terrifying.” Key said blankly, eyes glazing over slightly as he delved into his memories of that day.  “He couldn’t breathe.  He was choking on the tube that they had put down his throat to help him breathe but he just couldn’t adjust to it.  I guess most people don’t do well waking with one of those down his throat, but still – it was intense.  He was freaking out and it almost looked like he was having a seizure of some kind.  He was kind of screaming, but because of the tube it came out more like…like…like a gurgle.” Key waved his free hand in a kind of circle as he searched his brain for the right way to describe the moment to someone who had not been there so that they could follow the terror and fear and desperation that he had felt at the time.  “I thought that he was going to hurt himself because he couldn’t calm down.”

“It wasn’t any better living it.”  Taemin said as Key slowed.

“How did that feel Taemin?”  Minhee asked, suddenly turning her attention onto the dancer and staring at him with the same attentive attitude that she had just graced Key with a moment before. 

“I remember being in a lot of pain when I woke up.  Everything was hurting, but the weirdest thing was that it felt like I couldn’t breathe.  Now I know that I was still getting oxygen because of the intubation, but at the time, my body could not function the way that it was trained to and I can only thank the nurses who sedated me before I could do myself more harm.”

Taemin opened his mouth to continue, but found himself unable to voice what was in his mind.

“It’s…it’s really hard to explain.  Breathing is supposed to be something that your body can do without you.  It’s an involuntary action that your body just does without your consent.  Suddenly not being able to do something that is supposed to be an instinct…you react without thought.  There is something that is sheer madness about waking up that way…there are really no words for it – you have to live it to understand, but it is something that I would hope that no one ever has to live through.”

Minhee was quiet for a moment as she wrote her notes and contemplated what Taemin had just said.

“Taemin, I know that this is a bit of a loaded question but, you have endured a great trauma because of your love for Key.  Is it worth it?” 

Taemin smiled and looked at Key, mindless of the camera flashes that started flicking again in the background and the cameraman who was suddenly much closer to Taemin’s face with the 40 pound camera than he had been just a few moments ago. 

“I regret nothing.”  Taemin said, tilting his head slightly and staring into Kibum’s eyes.  “Whenever I feel like it’s too much and like I will never make it through my rehab and make it back on stage, Key is there.  Pushing me and backing me up.  Without him I would have given up already.  I would have just learned to become accustomed to a half-life where I can barely make it down the hallway without getting winded, but he’s always there pushing me and sometimes even taunting me, trying to help me back to where I want to be.”

“But there are some who would argue that if you had never been in your relationship with each other in the first place then this would never have happened to you.”

Taemin turned back to face her.  “That is true.  And I know that a lot of people think that and place some of the blame for my injuries on the fact that I lead an ‘alternate lifestyle.’  But that doesn’t make what he did right.  It doesn’t give him the okay to act that way.  I love Key.  I love him more than myself, more than my own life, and the thought that kept running through my head as I was being attacked was that if it had to be one of us I would rather it be me because I don’t think I could have gone on if I had seen Kibum in as bad a way as I was in.  I actually remember very clearly that that was the first thought that ran through my mind after it was over.  Better me than Key.”

Minhee lost some of her professionalism for a moment and caught herself just before an audible ‘Awww’ that would have gotten her in trouble at work when others watched the video or listened to the recording that they were making as well.  “You two are incredibly sweet.”  She said instead.

She moved on to the next question on her list.

“The video tape from the green room where you were attacked was recently released as a part of the trial.  Have you seen it?”

“I haven’t seen it,” Taemin said simply.  “I don’t need to.  I lived through it once; I don’t need to see it from the outside to know exactly what happened.  I think the nightmares that I still get sometimes about it are enough, I don’t need to see it from any other perspective.”

She turned to Key and asked him the same question. 

“I tried watching it once,” Key stated.  “I don’t think I even made it a minute in though.  It was too much.  I couldn’t bring myself to watch him be attacked and beaten.  It was too brutal.”

“Have any of the other members watched the video?”

“I believe they have all watched it.  In fact, Jonghyun saw it the night of the incident – the police actually showed it to him in the hospital while Taemin was in for tests about what was wrong.”

“And how did they react?”

Taemin quirked his head and bit the inside of his lip ever so slightly.  “They all reacted in their own way.  We don’t really talk about that as much.  It’s been gone over and discussed so much already at this point that we just want to focus on my recovery.  They all show up and help me through my rehab and encourage me and help me out as much as they can – even if sometimes that is just to be the person who hears me complain about how much I miss performing and want to be back on stage with them.  Or how much I hate rehab because it makes me feel like a child when walking around the house without holding onto anything is an accomplishment worthy of a celebration.  Or how weird it is to be back and living at home with my parents when I’ve been away for almost three full years.”

Taemin shook his head. 

“It was a horrible thing that happened to me.  Something that shouldn’t have ever happened to anyone, but I don’t need to be stuck on that horrible event.  I need to focus on moving forward and be able to build my strength and stamina back up.”

“You have some very good friends.”

“The best in the world.”  Taemin smiled.

Minhee jotted something else down and then looked up with a smile.  “You mentioned moving back home…what’s it like living in your childhood home after having lived the lifestyle of an idol for so long?”

And the interview continued on those lines talking about the incident and its affect on their lives.  They then moved in to talking about their love story.

“How has the attack affected your relationship?”

“It’s kind of funny in a way.”  Key started, “He was determined to break up the relationship and everything he was doing what trying to force Taemin, since he only knew about Taemin at the time, to stop ‘being gay.’  But all he ended up doing was to draw Taemin and I closer together and caused us to actually grow closer and lean on each other even more.”

“Definitely,” Taemin agreed.  “We are closer now than we were before any of this happened.  We became more reliant on each other and felt more responsible for one another as the stress of this whole situation grew.  When we first started our relationship, I would wonder sometimes if this was going to be like most first relationships that result in a break up that will stick with you the rest of your life.  But now I can’t help but think that if we can get through this alright, and we seem to be doing pretty good so far, that there would be nothing else that we couldn’t work out in the future.  I think that I could see this lasting forever and being happy with every moment of it.”

Taemin and Kibum smiled at each other then, oblivious of the camera for a couple of milliseconds before their consciousness rushed back and forced them to focus back on the reporter who was already speaking. 

“Some might say that that view is a little overly optimistic.  After all, you’re still in high school Taemin.”

“Well, I’m happily so then.” Taemin smirked slightly.   

“We’re happily so.”  Key corrected and the couple laughed.

“We’re starting to wrap down a little now, and we’ve got some questions that were sent in by fans and our readers through the website.”

“Sounds fun,” Taemin said lightly, but was secretly glad that this was almost over as interviews can be more tiring than you would think. 

Minhee smiled at him, seemingly in on that thought as he thought she was stifling a yawn and she proceeded to the first question.  “Our readers are interested in what is your favorite attribute of each other?”

“Physical attribute?” Taemin asked, before blushing as Key broke out in his raucous laugh.

Minhee was snickering, “It could be something else, but if you want to go in that direction…”

Taemin was visibly red and he just knew that that picture was going to make it in the article.  He scratched the back of his head subconsciously while Key lightly rubbed the back of his neck at the same time.

“Um…I don’t know how to describe it.  It’s like – his presence.”  Taemin stumbled through his explanation.  “I always know when he walks into a room and it just makes me feel so much lighter and more comfortable.  When I was in my coma, I swear I could tell that he was sitting next to my bedside and it was a comfort to me.”

Key smiled gently and laced his fingers together with Taemin’s. 

“I should have gone first,” he said lightly, “mine doesn’t sound nearly as nice and poetic.”

“Well that’s alright – we can always write your answer first if you want anyway.”

Key just laughed and held up their laced hands.  “His hands.  I’m always trying to grab hold of them.  They are always so warm and soft and comfortable…they make me feel like I belong somewhere.”

“That was plenty poetic Kibum…” Taemin said lightly.

Key laughed, “Well I was kind of trying…”

“That was very well said both of you,” she said smiling, not able to mistake the affection that they shared for anything else.

“We’ve had many inquiries about how you two knew that you were gay.  Would you like to enlighten us?”

The men looked at each other. 

“It’s not really complicated,” Taemin started, “My brother asked me the exact same question when I came out to him.  It’s really the same thing that everyone else feels, just that most guys feel it when looking at girls.  I happen to feel that when I saw males.  And as I got to know Key more and more, my attraction to him grew and I knew that he was the guy for me.”

“And you Key?”

“I actually never really thought of myself as gay.  I have looked at women and thought that they were attractive.  At the same time though, I’d never been interested in someone enough that I ever thought about perusing them either.  I’ve never really had a serious crush on a girl, or a boy for the record, before Taemin.  I just thought that it was because I was busy and I really didn’t have time for a relationship with someone who I would never been able to see really so I just thought that my brain wasn’t letting me think that far.  But mostly I think that I just like who I like and Taemin drew me to him.  I wanted to be around him and be important to him.  I love Taemin and it has absolutely nothing to do with gender and everything to do with him and who he is.”

“So Key, would you say that you are biual then?”

“No I really wouldn’t say that either.  It’s more like I can understand why some people are attractive to others.  I can see what most men see when they look at women, and understand why that is attractive, but I would never think about following up on anything like that.  Even if I wasn’t with Taemin.  I don’t really fall for people based on their appearances alone.  It’s the person themselves and their personality that cause me to really take an interest.  I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense and some people who read this are going to criticize what I’m saying, or think that I’m not telling everything but it’s the truth.”  He gave a small laugh, “Just say that I’m ‘Taemin-ual.’”

Taemin busted out laughing, chest hitting his knees as he bent forward to try and alleviate any pain that might begin from his sudden, forceful mirth.    

Minhee and Key both began laughing as well.

“Well, there went all that ‘poetic’ talk right out the window.” Kibum said, his blush so profound that he could actually feel the heat traveling down his chest and arms in addition to his cherry-red face.

Minhee cleared and tried to stop her own laughter, “Would it be fair to say then, do you think, that you both look at the issue a bit differently?”

“I guess we do a bit,” Taemin replied. “It is something that is completely unique and personal to each individual though.  There are people out there like me who find males in general attractive, there are men who find females attractive, there are men who find both attractive and there are others like Key who find specific people attractive more than just generalities like gender.”

“Taemin, does knowing that Key finds women attractive too ever make you nervous about your relationship?”

Taemin shook his head, “No.” He said simply, but continued on when it was clear that she wanted more than his succinct answer, “I trust him, with every fiber of my being.  I know that he would never cheat on me or do anything like that, so the fact that he can notice an attractive woman – no that doesn’t make me nervous at all.”

“You’ve definitely given me and our readers something to think about both of you.”  Minhee said smiling and perusing her list for the next topic, eyes lighting up in amusement as she read the next question.  “Now some of your fans are interested in knowing which one of you takes on the more female role?”

“Neither,” they both said at the same time and both laughed. 

“Seriously though,” Key started, “neither of us acts any differently than we did before we got together.  We’re both guys and we act like guys.  I mean, I know that when we first debuted there was that whole cross-dressing thing but that had nothing to do with our choices or our uality.  Neither of us does that, or cares for fashion and make-up any more than any idol does.  It’s a part of our jobs and livelihood, not our relationship.”

Taemin nodded gently, “Yeah, if I wanted to be with someone who acted like a female…I would be with a female.  I like Kibum as a guy, so I want him to be a guy.  I don’t need him to dress up as a woman or act like a woman.  And I don’t need to do that for him.  If one of us acted like a female if would kind of negate the point a bit.  If one of us were to ever do that, it would be a joke, the same way it would be if a heteroual man were to dress up or something.”

Key stepped in again, “Neither of us is looking for a replacement for a woman.  I was looking for Taemin, the person, the man, that he is.  I was not looking for anything other than that.”

Taemin smiled, “Me either.” 

Minhee asked a few more inane questions and they called the interview to a close.

As the crew started to pack away everything that they had brought with them for the interview, Minhee wished them the best.  “You two are adorable as a couple.  I hope that the road ahead of you is easier than the one you’ve already had to travel so far.”

“I doubt it, but thanks for the thought and your understanding and open-mindedness about our situation.”  Taemin said, bowing once more before he and Key bid her farewell.

Key, Taemin and SHINee awaited the publishing of the article with some concern, wondering how it would come out after she wrote it up and had to get it past her editors and the magazine executives.  They wondered if it would be possible for an entirely positive article to come out about them at all, or if Minhee would have to make changes to the article to present a different spin on the story. 

When the article finally surfaced it ended up as the lead of that issue, and one that was so popular that it had to run additional printings as it sold out of newsstands across the country.  The front page of the magazine was one of the pictures taken of Taemin and Key before the interview officially started, with them both sitting and talking to one another.  They looked rather peaceful but somehow completely consumed with one another at the exact same time.    

The magazine had ended up running the interview in a question/answer style rather than having Minhee attempt to write up the various threads into a cohesive narrative.  Some of the questions that had been asked were cut from the publication, but not in any way that affected the reader from understanding the story, as Taemin and Kibum had meant it to be understood.  Questions that had been answered in other places were cut out to avoid repetition and redundancy rather than to skew one’s understanding.  The interview spanned five pages with occasional inserts from Minhee about how the boys had interacted with each other between questions or seemed to have trouble not being in physical contact with each other. 

The story wrapped up with a small comment from Minhee.

Over the course of the two and a half hours that I spent with SHINee’s Taemin and Key that day I learned more about them than I had in the years I had spent covering them as a member of  the media.  While their lifestyle and choices may not be easily understood by many and outright abhorred by some, they have a quiet sense of dignity and an undeniable affection for each other that I could not fail to notice.  I challenge anyone else, approaching the couple with an open mind, to not see the care that they both have for each other.  They had a casual affinity with each other that most girls dream of receiving from their lover and they don’t even seem to be aware of how much they silently move to support the other if they think that the other might need it. 

There are many in the media who are calling this a cry for attention or a false relationship meant to draw attention to SHINee.  However, no one is thatgood an actor.  I cannot help but think that this couple is the real deal and we will not be seeing the end of them any time soon.  Taemin was right.  If they can get through all of this and still be together, I can’t see anything else that might come up to break them apart.  Besides, SHINee is sitting on the top of the music industry and also one of the groups riding the Korean Wave outside of our borders and into the rest of the world.  A scandal like this could only harm their standing and status so the idea that they would use this to try and get their group ahead in the industry just does not make sense. 

Taemin and Key – Fighting!  I’m rooting for you!

And Minhee means pleasantness and intelligence 

Okay - so please let me know what you think about all three of these new one-shots!

Oh and remember, if you come up with any good prank ideas let me know - it's integral to Revenge (the next one shot) so the quicker I start getting ideas and sooner I can get another update out to you guys!

Comments are beloved!